Virgil found Alan sitting on the top step of the front porch, leaning against the railing. He joined his little brother, sitting down and leaning against the opposite post. "You okay?" he asked, glancing over to the group of girls practicing Tai Chi that Alan was absently watching.

"Good as can be," Alan responded with a small shrug. He fingered the embroidered patch he was holding, that stylized heart and stake that all the kids in the house were wearing. "Carly Overton gave me this. Said we'd be earning it by the end of tonight."

"Carly Overton?" Virgil asked softly "As in Scott's PA?"

"She's a lot younger here," Alan said.

Virgil gave a thoughtful nod. "Well, she would be," he said back. "The you in this world is only nine."

They'd gotten a lot of information thrown at them over a late breakfast/early lunch they'd had after about four hours of sleep. The Tracy family here was a lot younger. Scott was merely twenty-one, John and Virgil eighteen (Irish twins in this world, with John a mere nine months older than Virgil) and Gordon sixteen, leaving little Alan at the age of nine.

There was talk that John might be psychic, but if so, the family was keeping it to themselves. Scott, as soon as he possibly could, had taken over the family business (the corporate one, not the hunting one) and had pulled Gordon and Alan from hunting. He couldn't convince his father to let him pull out John and Virgil though, and Jeff and the two eighteen-year-olds had gone missing during a hunt nearly four weeks ago. Two nights ago, there'd been a break in at the family home in Kansas. The place had been trashed, and Scott, Alan and Gordon were gone.

The speculation of the media was that the family was being held for ransom, although no such claims had been sent forth as of yet. The Council, though, knew that Jeff Tracy's body had been found in the woods after the last full moon, and that the kids had been brought to the Hellmouth for the purpose of a world-cleansing ritual.

"Do you remember when I was about five and decided to make Scotty pancakes?" Alan asked.

Virgil tilted his head, gazing out into the yard. "Those were bad years for me, Sproutling," he said softy, his casted hand rubbing at the scars mostly hidden by this watch band. "You'll have to be a little more specific."

Alan gave him a soft smile. "Dad was out of town, and it was Father's Day, so I decided that Scott needed breakfast in bed," He gave a huff of a laugh. "I set the kitchen on fire."

"Oh yeah!" Virgil exclaimed, smiling himself. "John took the blame for that one, didn't he?"

"Yeah," Alan nodded, eyes going back to gazing into the middle distance. "Told Dad his experiment had blown up. He was banned from doing chemistry from then on."

Virgil laughed. "John hates chemistry."

"I know!" Alan laughed as well. He sobered after a moment, giving a sigh. "After all the chaos though, Scott told me there was nothing I could ever do that would make him stop loving me." He looked over at his older brother. "Do you think that's true?"

"I know it," Virgil stated without a thought. He looked over at Alan's worried face and smiled. "I've done a lot of stupid crap over the years that should have made him hate me and he doesn't. And I'm not even his kid. You are."

"He still calls me his baby sometimes," Alan whispered. He gave another sigh, slumping against the pillar. "Sometimes I feel guilty that Scott is more my dad than Dad is," he whispered, as though telling a secret. "I mean, I was sad when Dad disappeared, but I still had Scooter, so everything was okay you know?"

Virgil hummed lightly. "Dad made a lot of mistakes when it came to raising you," he murmured in return. "I hate to say it's because you look so much like Mom, but I honestly think that's why he was so absent in your life." He nudged Alan's thigh with his foot. "You'll always have Scott though. And me and Johnny and Gords, too."

"I know," Alan said. He didn't mention that he sometimes thought that their father wished that he had died in that avalanche instead of their mother. Virgil never said that he felt the same way. As the only two survivors out of the eleven people trapped in that disaster, the two were still dealing with some level of survivor's guilt even thirteen years on. Their therapists were still working with them on that front.

"Why are you worried about Scotty not loving you?" Virgil asked. The very idea was ludicrous in his opinion.

"In order to stop Belegant, his host needs to be killed," Alan muttered. And it was likely that Belegant was possessing this world's Hood.

"Not killed," Virgil said, shaking his head. "Our job is to stop the ritual and save our counterpart family. Belegant can be exorcised from The Hood at that point." He wouldn't be killed though, as that could only happen if his host died while he was possessing him.

"Which only releases his hold on his host," Alan pointed out. "It won't stop him from trying again later."

Virgil hummed again. "Which is a problem for this world to figure out. We'll be gone by the time that is an issue."

Alan blinked at him, a little startled. "I'm not really used to you leaving a job half done."

Virgil took in a deep breath and let it out with a huff. "We're not fighters, Sprout," he said slowly. "And frankly, I just want to get home. If that makes me a little selfish in this matter, then so be it. I think we deserve to be selfish and leave the world saving to this world's heroes. I just want us to get home in one piece."

Alan nodded, lifting his arm, the scales of HEMERA glinting in the light. "She's charging nicely but won't be charged before tonight." Three green lights glowed steadily.

"Yo, boys," another voice cut in, and Faith dropped down onto the step between the two brothers. She was dressed in short leather shorts and a black tank top, with heeled combat boots. Flicking her hair over her shoulder she gave Virgil a sultry look. "You ready for tonight?" she purred.

"How did you make that dirty?" Virgil deadpanned. "And why?"

"Thought you two needed a little lightening up," she grinned, patting Alan's shoulder. "I swear I could see the storm clouds forming above you, yo."

Alan shrugged. "Yeah. Tonight's good. FAB."

Faith blinked at him. "FAB mean Five by Five?" she asked.

Virgil snickered and Alan grinned. "Officially, FAB means Fine and Bright," Alan answered.

"And unofficially?" Faith asked, eyes sparkling.

Virgil reached over and covered Alan's mouth before he could answer, leaning into Faith's personal space in order to do so. She preened a bit. "That's a question to ask this world's Scott," he laughed.

Faith leaned closer, her breath tickling Virgil's ear. "You wanna ditch the little brother and hang with just me before the showdown?"

Virgil glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure you're happily taken," he said softly, eyes narrowing in humor. He knew, just as she did, that she was just teasing and wasn't at all serious about hooking up.

"And I'm pretty sure you're gay," Faith shot back, grinning as Alan, still being quieted by Virgil's hand, snorted.

"Ohh," Virgil said, smirking. "Gaydar's a little off there, sweetheart," he murmured. "I like my ladies just as much as I like my men," he said.

Faith's grin grew. "Well then, maybe you'd be more interested in joining me and my man before the showdown?" This time he wasn't so sure she was just playing.

Virgil raised an eyebrow, but before he could retort, he turned to Alan. "Did you just lick my hand?" he asked, still not removing it from Alan's face. Alan's eyes narrowed. "You know that doesn't work with me, right? Not after everything we've dealt with."

Alan pried Virgil's hand away, scowling. "I know that you're just playing, but the thought of you in a threesome with Faith and Xander is something I don't need in my brain, Mozart."

"I dunno," Virgil said with a smarmy grin. "It could be fun."

Alan gagged, mostly faking it but clearly not happy with this line of discussion.

Faith laughed, leaning back and meeting Xander's gaze from across the yard. She grinned at him, and he rolled his eyes, smiling back. A few nearby girls started giggling themselves, clearly used to the antics of the older generation of the Council. "Excellent hearing on all of them," Faith commented, still grinning. "Xander included. Hyena possession a while back."

"Huh," Virgil grunted, also sitting back. He was still grinning though, the earlier tension having dissipated with the flirty conversation.

"We're moving out in half an hour," Buffy said, coming up behind the three of them. "All good here?"

"FAB," Faith grinned, winking at Alan. Buffy gave her a baffled look and walked away. "I can guess what it means," Faith said.

"You're probably guessing right," Virgil muttered, shaking his head with humor. He kicked out at Alan's leg. "Up, Sprout. We have an alternate family to save."

"Sure thing," Alan grunted, hauling himself to his feet. He made his way over to Xander, who they'd been told to talk to about 'outfitting' or whatever.

In the end, though, it was decided that their uniforms were best, as Tony had put in plenty of protection, and that the only weapons they should carry were their knives (and HEMERA, who Alan was refusing to regard as a weapon in general). Xander—also known as a prophecy breaker—had mentioned that going too far off the script made prophecies too unpredictable, and in this case, they wanted the prophecy to come to pass, and the Apocalypse to be averted.

Alan and Virgil were to join the Beta team, a group of five Slayers, one witch and someone titled the Destroyer. The Alpha team was in charge of taking out the minions—of which they were guessing out be plenty—while the Beta team was in charge of finding and extracting the Tracy family. All before moonrise, which was when this ritual was supposed to take place. That was different from the usual ritual time, as they mostly called for midnight or roundabouts, but it was working in their favor. At least this way they may get some decent sleep after all was said and done.

IT was very well organized, all told, for a group that was stopping the actual Apocalypse. Or, well, one of them, which was probably why this group seem to have it down to a veritable art form by now. Virgil was actually somewhat impressed, even if Mr. Destroyer seemed super into trying to intimidate him. (Something about a bad breakup with Dawn, and Dawn's seeming infatuation with Virgil—which he really, really did not reciprocate. Xander hadn't been too clear on the issue, as he was too busy laughing about it.)

In any case, by the time the half hour was up, everyone was geared up and aware of their parts in the plan. Giles, who would be staying behind to keep an eye on those not going, wished them all luck and sent them on their way.

And so they went.