A bright flash blinded Buffy and Doyle and they found themselves confronted by two beautiful Grecian style people

Breaking down the Walls

TITLE: "Breaking down the walls" Chapter 2 - 2/12 - Rated PG - B/A Angst, series 6 predictions
AUTHOR: Charlie/Selwyn29
EMAIL: selwyn29@ntlworld.com
DISCLAIMER: They're not mine, they're Joss's. But if they were mine I give them to Duck's for safekeeping
J
PAIRING: B/A, and loads more
TIMELINE: After end of series 5 Buffy, series 2 Angel
SPOILERS: Anything is possible... say all, up to B5/A2
SYNOPSIS: My take on series 6 and what should happen, please read Chapter One or none of this will make sense.
FEEDBACK: Definitely wanted, its my first attempt.
RATING: PG CONTENT

DEDICATION: To Trammie, AlwaysLuv and Mark my Beta readers and Duck's who without her epics I would never had started this one. Also to the Babble Board posters, who have been an inspiration for some storylines

Now on with the storytelling………..

A bright flash blinded Buffy and Doyle and they found themselves confronted by two beautiful Grecian style people. The woman spoke first.

"Slayer, you have been brought before us."

Doyle whispered into Buffy's ear, "Wow, no waiting, no gifts, they must really want to see you."

The man flicked his hand and Doyle vanished from the room.

"Hey, we were talking." Buffy snapped.

"The Powers That Be demand your full attention." They said in unison.

"Well, can you kinda get on with it, cause you know, heaven, redemption, got a lot of partying to do."

The woman looked surprised for a moment.

"But you are not in this heaven you speak of, you are in the limbo world. You chose to come here before your time, you should not have come."

"Can we have a bit less of the cryptic and a bit more of an explanation? You brought me before you, I assume you have a reason."

"You are needed, Slayer. There is no more of your line," the man said simply.

"Oh come on, even I know the drill by heart, a slayer dies, another is called in her place, it's an eternal thing, yadda, yadda yadda, surely you know this by now. I died, some other poor girl has been called in my place…life goes on."

"But your replacement was already called, the slayer line passed on. She is no warrior for the Powers."

"Faith." Buffy whispered.

"She will not fight for our cause, there is no slayer."

"Hey, would love to help, but what do you know, I'm dead."

"It was not your time, you should not have come here."

"But I did, I saved the world, I defeated Glory."

"But others are rising. The world is left unprotected."

"So what are you proposing…?" Buffy asked.

"Slayer, you must return to your world and fight in your role as it was destined to be."

Buffy looked at them for a moment, staring at their passive faces, their voices and emotions giving nothing away.

"I have given up 5 years of my life for your cause, I have fought demon after demon, year after year, I have averted the end of the world on numerous occasions. I lost a normal life because of you and your role for me. I put my family in danger many times and now finally when I have found some peace in this world, when I have discovered an end to it all, you want me to go back and fight again? How would that even be possible? Dawn tried to resurrect my mom and that didn't work, how will you send me back?"

"The witch has been working on the resurrection spell, help will be given." the woman answered.

"And what if I don't want to return?" Buffy asked defiantly.

"It cannot work against your will, but you are needed, Slayer, you are being given a chance most people can only dream of. We must have an answer."

Buffy found herself once more in the white room where she had started. She sat back down on the floor, somewhat stunned by the entire thing.

"How am I supposed to decide?" she whispered into the brightness.

"I would have thought that was an easy choice to make." Joyce's voice carried across the vast room, as she walked over to join her daughter.

"Do you not want to go back?" Joyce asked her.

"A lot of me wants to." Buffy said quietly.

"And the other bits?"

"Want nothing more than to stay here with you." Buffy looked at her mother with tears in her eyes.

"Why does everything have to be such a choice?" she asked her.

"Because that's the way life is. It makes you appreciate the choice you have made for yourself because you have given up so much to make it."

"I've spent so much of my life being the Slayer, being the one responsible for saving the world over and over again. I spent most nights in the graveyards and the crypts, instead of at the mall or at the clubs, talking to vampires and demons, instead of boys, wondering each day if that would be the day I died."

"And you did die. And now you have a chance to go back."

"But to die then was my choice, it was one of the few independent things I did as a slayer. Usually it was prophesised, or written somewhere what would happen, but this time, I took them all by surprise. I took my destiny into my own hands and I chose to give up my life at that point, and not wait for it to be taken from me. This is my redemption, my peace, at last. No more wondering if I'm going to make it home tonight or if I'll return and find all my friends in little pieces at the whim of some maniac. I have peace now, and I have you again, I don't want to let that go."

"I know you don't, darling, but you have to look at the other side. There is no one to take your place, no one to help down there. No one to stop the world becoming over-run by demons. You don't belong here with me, you belong down there, protecting Dawn and the rest. Take the chance now, while it's given to you."

"It's so hard though, I just want to be happy and this is my chance here and now, not to have to think anymore about what I have lost, about what was taken from me. I lost Angel, then Riley, and then you. I don't want to go through any of that again."

"It's a second chance, Buffy, a chance to make things the way you want them to be. You're stronger now, and you know I'll always be watching over you. Please think about it, you belong back there with Dawn. She needs you. Not everyone is lucky enough to be given a second chance."

Buffy looked away for a second and then back into her mother's eyes.
"Then, if I do go back, there's something I need to tell you, something I need to take a second chance on, one the most important reasons for me to go back, and I want you to understand."
"Angel." Her mother said, "You're going to go back to Angel."
"You know me so well, " Buffy said smiling at her mother. "Give him a chance, please; he's part of me, my soulmate. I tried to have the average boy next door as a boyfriend and it didn't work, I just ended up hurting him, and myself."
"I just wanted you to have a normal life, he wanted you to have that too."
"I'm never going to be a normal girl, especially not now, being resurrected and all.

But normal to me is Angel; without him, it's like going through life with a huge part of me missing.

I love him Mom, I've loved him since the first second I looked into his eyes and saw his soul and I'll love him forevermore."
"But Angel can't give you everything you want." Joyce replied.
"Angel is everything I want, and more. As long as we are together, I don't care about the rest; just being close to him is enough, knowing he's there. I need him; the past 2 years have been like living a shadow of a life, watching the world go by, not really taking part. Every night when I came home from Patrol I wanted to pick up the phone and call him, talk to him about my day and about his. I can't even count the amount of times I've called his number and hung up. He makes me believe in who I am and what I am destined to do. He makes the curse of being a Slayer somehow bearable. He understands me, more than anyone else in the world."
"All I want is for you to be happy and I guess if you think that you can find that with Angel then you have my blessing. But please be careful."
Buffy stood up and looked at her mother and wrapped her arms around her. Joyce completed the embrace and held her elder daughter close to her.
"I love you, so much Buffy."
"I love you too, Mom"

A blinding flash brought Buffy before the Oracles again.

"So slayer, have you made your choice?" the man asked.

"I want to know what this entails first. What happens when I get down there? I'm dead, how you gonna fix that one?"

"Things will fall into place, together you are strong."

"Make your choice, Slayer."

Buffy closed her eyes. Her mother's voice echoed in her head, "Please, Buffy, for Dawn." Buffy knew what her decision was; she could never leave Dawn.

"I'll go back."

"You have made the right choice." the woman said, graciously.

"But just so you know, you owe me big time for this one."

The Oracles looked stunned for a moment but recovered quickly.

"The rewards will come to the worthy in the end." And with that last comment they vanished.

Buffy found herself in the room again.

"So what now, I just sit and wait?" she asked the room.

"They have given you me for company, you lucky girl" the voice came from behind her ear.

"Doyle! Did Angel teach you his lurking trick?!"

"I like to think of it more as stealthiness, meself. So you up for a game of scissors, paper, stone?"

"How about you tell me everything about your time in LA, and especially the bits about Cordelia."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Willow looked across the bed at where the sleeping figure of Tara lay. She gently pulled her arm out from underneath the blonde girl's head and got herself up into a sitting position. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed she pulled a pair of pants and a sweater on, grabbed a pair of trainers, and stole across the room. Sneaking one last look at Tara, she opened the door, grabbed her jacket and crept out into the hall.

Willow ran across the campus and started on the familiar route into town, past the empty coffee houses, the shops and the mall, she slowed a little as she passed the ruins of the old high school, so many memories there, so much Buffy. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and ploughed on. Soon she was at the door where she wanted to be. She concentrated her mind on the space in front of her and whispered the words, "Sono il creatore mi concedo l' entrata." [1] A tiny shimmer appeared in the doorway, she walked through the guarding spell and opened the door with the key she pulled out of her pocket.

She walked carefully across the floor of the Magic Shop, trying not to dislodge anything on her way to the ladder. She climbed the ladder in the moonlight, until she got to the top and knelt on the floor next to the bookshelves. Working quickly, her heart pounding in her chest, she got a flashlight out of her pocket and scanned it across the shelves. There, hidden within a pile of dusty books on ancient Norse mythology, was the book she was looking for. She reached over and pulled it out of its space. Holding it carefully in one hand she climbed down the ladder and went over to the desk, near the back, where Giles had had a computer installed for 'research purposes'. She switched the machine on and its screen blinked into welcome life.

As she was waiting for the computer to start up she turned to the book in her hands. She had been hoping that Giles hadn't destroyed it since the night that Dawn had stolen it for her own uses, and fortunately, he hadn't. By the light of the computer screen, the witch scanned the first page of the book, headed resurrection spells.

Willow looked up at the screen and clicked on her e-mail program. She had new mail:

To: Technopagan

From: Merlin

Had a look at that resurrection spell you sent and I found this small section variation of it from a book I managed to trace. I think it will work better than the last time it was tried. Just make sure to follow the instructions exactly and get a group together who can help create a more powerful magic field.

Happy casting

Merlin

To: Technopagan

From: Phoenixes

Are we still prepared to do this? I think we need to get ready, it's getting close to the time.

Willow made a little sigh and turned back to her book again, she read over the words again, pretending that they weren't already drilled into her mind. She slowly looked up again and read the attachment from Merlin, which was now displayed on the bright screen.

"An orb of Thesulah, now why does that not give me a good feeling?" She whispered to herself.

She crept across the floor of the magic shop and looked along the shelves behind the till where Giles put all the 'trade' goodies. She reached up on to one of the top shelves and picked up the glass ball. She left a $50 dollar bill in the space.

"Here's to bringing you back, Buffy, let's hope you can afford some food for us both."

She quickly printed the page off the computer and scribbled down the instructions from Giles' book. She ran up the ladder and set the book back where it had been, switched the computer off and headed back to the door. As she closed and locked the door softly behind her, she whispered the spell again and the magic field reappeared, shimmering slightly in the moonlight. She briefly looked up at the sky; the moon was almost full.

"Three weeks," she whispered to herself and ran off into the darkness.

Inside the shop, darkness encased everything once more, but then, out of the shadows, a pale face appeared.

"Well, well, well, looks like Red's gotta plan." Spike chuckled to himself.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"How long now?" Buffy asked Doyle, for the three millionth time.

"You know, if I'd wanted to spend my life, sorry, death, answering that question I would have had some kiddies."

"I'm just not the patient type."

"You're telling me. It's been about three months down there."

"Three months? It feels like about a day up here. If Willow doesn't get on with it soon I'll be resurrected and die again from old age."

"There'll be no chances of that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Buffy asked.

"Well, you know, resurrection, voodoo, zombies, you might be all singing and all dancing, but you won't exactly be living."

"I'll be immortal?"

"Eternal is a better word, that is, unless something nasty and unforeseen happens."

"And like there's no chance of that, me being the Slayer and all."

Buffy thought for a moment.

"No time for thinking now, Buff, it's showtime."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Willow looked anxiously around the room, it was Saturday night and everyone was over at Xander's. Xander and Anya were sat watching QVC on the sofa, every now and again Willow could hear her voice carrying over.

"Xander, buy me that."

"Anya, it costs money, and it's not worth it, really it isn't."

"But that lady says that everyone should have one, and if she can have one, why can't I.?"

"I thought you liked our money, liked us keeping it."

"I do like our money, but I think I would like that bracelet, I can put it with my money."

Tara and Dawn sat at the kitchen table. Dawn was trying to move the salt and pepper shakers with her mind. Tara was trying to give her helpful hints, without being too helpful or involving actual witchcraft. They had made the decision, that if Dawn really wanted to learn witchcraft, she must develop naturally, rather than be tutored.

Spike sat on the kitchen cabinets, a can of beer clenched in his mouth. Xander yelled over to him.

"Spike, really, do you have to kill the can, I think it might be dead already."

Dawn was giggling at the vampire.

"Oh, I have to have some use for these teeth you know. Actually someone find me some aspirin, I'll try biting Xander."

"Very funny." Xander said, and sunk back onto the couch, as Spike growled at him.

"Willow are you alright?" Tara asked.

"Yeah, just a bit of itchy, witchy feet tonight, I think I might go and have a bit of a patrol."

"On your own? I'll come with you." Tara said, concerned.

"I'll be OK, got those new spells in my head, might try a few out." Willow tried to laugh it off. "Anyway, you stay with Dawnie. I need to be alone for a while."

"Alone, but not dead. I'm coming with." Spike said, jumping off the kitchen counter.

"I'll be OK," Willow started to protest, heading to the door, but Spike was there just as quick.

"Nah, those vamps and demons are starting to gang up, you never know what could be out there. I fancy a bit of fightin' to get rid of all this frustration."

Willow just nodded in resignation and picked up her backpack.

"Be careful." Tara said just before she left.

"I will." Willow answered.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Golly, a backpack, what's in that?" Spike kidded Willow.

"Just some…things to help us patrol tonight."

"What, you hoping to put it over a vamp's head and he'll fall onto a stake?"

"No, it's just some provisions, for a spell."

"It wouldn't happen to be a special kind of spell, that needs a special kind of night, and, maybe, a special type of orb?"

"I don't know what you mean." Willow started, her voice trembling a little.

"Come on, Red, I watched you in the Magic Shop, you're gonna conjure up Buffy aren't you?"

"You shouldn't be spying on people, you know that, don't you?"

"Hey, shoot me." Spike retorted.

They were walking along the road, heading to the tower where the final fight had taken place with Glory.

"Ah, good place to pick, full of all those vibes and stuff." Spike whispered in Willow's ear.

Willow just hurried on ahead.

A young man met her at the gates to the tower.

"Hurry up, time is passing by."

"Oh, he's good." Spike muttered behind her.

Willow walked through the gates and into the yard under the tower. She allowed her eyes to look briefly across at the spot where Buffy's broken body had fallen. Everything came rushing back through her head, everyone gathering around her, praying for signs of life, Dawn's inhumane screeching in the background. Willow shook her head, she couldn't think of that now, she had to concentrate, everything was going to be all right, it just had to be.

She walked across the construction site to where there was a crude pentagram drawn on the floor. A voice called across the yard.

"Willow, finally, can we get started? Oh good, you brought another caster, it'll make the spell more powerful."

"I didn't bring…" Willow started, but Spike jumped past her and sat cross-legged at one of the points of the pentagram.

She sighed and sat down next to Spike.

He leaned over to her.

"Jonathan? You chose Jonathan to help you cast an all powerful resurrection spell?"

"He's a part of some sorcery group, they have quite a lot of power, and they were the only ones willing to help with very little detail."

"But didn't even Xander pick on Jonathan at school?"

Willow looked across to where Jonathan sat, fiddling nervously with the ground, he sighed quietly, then reached into his pocket and put an inhaler to his mouth. Willow kicked Spike to stop him laughing.

Willow's attention turned to the older boy of the group, who called himself Raven. She didn't quite know whether to trust him or not, he seemed very intent on the black arts and it had been he who had put her in touch with Merlin for the rest of the spell. At the final pinnacle of the star sat a young girl who obviously doted on the aforementioned Raven, however, Willow could sense a strong power coming from her. She seemed to have some Romany roots, her big dark eyes, matched with dark hair and slightly tinged skin gave that away.

Willow slowly unpacked her bag and laid her goods into the centre of the circle. As she put each one down she explained its significance.

"That's a lock of hair, from…the person, to signify the body." She said quietly.

Spike's eyes were drawn to the blonde lock pointing towards him.

She laid a silver piece of jewellery next to the hair.

"This is a present from someone, that signifies the soul."

Spike's eyes flickered across the silver cross; the significance of it, being the first present his poofter of a sire had ever given to Buffy, wasn't lost on him.

"This is a vial of blood from the egg of a Mohra demon, to give life."

Then she laid the orb down on the ground.

"And this is an orb of Thesulah, to keep the soul safe until it can pass into the body."

"Are we ready then?" Raven asked the circle.

Willow quickly passed a piece of paper to Spike with the spell written on it.

The group reached out their hands and touched one another, completing the circle. Spike balked a little when Jonathan reached out and touched his hand, but one look from Willow and a look into the centre where all her things lay and he reached out his hand too.

The group closed their eyes and concentrated and slowly began to chant.

"Osiris, giver of darkness, taker of
life, God of Gods - accept my
offering… Bone, flesh, breath -
yours, eternally.

Bone, flesh, breath…

I beg of you - return to me.

Bone, flesh, breath - yours,
eternally. Bone, flesh, breath -
I beg of you - return to me."

Over the quiet chanting, Willow began casting additional spells, first, one to capture Buffy's soul.

"Soulcatcher return to us what is hers,

Give us this essence that completes her."

She slowly chanted this mantra, all the time watching the orb sitting on the ground. Slowly it began to glow, getting brighter and brighter each second. Willow was transfixed on the glowing ball; the wind began to whip up around the yard, blowing soil around.

"Finish the spell!" Raven shouted.

Willow looked across at them, all eyes closed, concentrating. She felt a powerful surge come through the hand of the young girl sitting next to her. She looked at the girl, shocked for a second, then Spike's voice called out.

"Come on Red, finish it, what's next?"

"Her age, I have to count out her age. Up to twenty…"

Willow started counting in the wind, shouting into the dark sky.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5…"

As she was counting, the wind got stronger and the power coming from the young girl was agonisingly painful, but Willow dared not let go of her hand.

"6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13…"

The wind was beginning to drown out the sound of her voice. The objects inside the pentagram began to move about on the ground.

"14, 15, 16, 17, 18………"

At that point a mass of darkness shot up through the pentagram, scattering the objects. Spike broke the circle first, grabbing the silver cross as it whipped past his head. Willow could only watch as the orb was taken up in the air across the yard. The other three spell casters stood up and began to run across the yard. Willow concentrated her whole being and shouted up into the heavens.

"I beg of you – Osiris – return to me!"

Spike grabbed hold of her hand and dragged her out of the yard, Willow looked back from the gates and saw a black mist forming in the centre.

"It's not her, Red, give it up." Spike shouted against the chaos.

Willow took one last look at the yard, tears beginning to blind her sight. She whispered an incantation under her breath. Spike watched, in awe of the young witch, as the site went calm.

"Bloody hell! What did you do?"

"Protection spell, whatever that was, it should be bound here now."

"It's not Buffy, Red, whatever it is."

Willow looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "I know." She whispered.

The two of them had one more quick look around the yard, turned, and walked away.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Cordelia sat at her desk in the office tapping a pencil against the pile of invoices she had been printing.

"Waste of paper," she muttered to herself, "Angel Investigations, we help the helpless and the penniless."

She looked across the office at the other workers. Gunn was out on a patrol in his neighbourhood. Wesley was talking quietly to Fred over near the books. Fred was turning out to be quite a valuable member of the team; her librarian skills were helping with the large amount of demon texts they were amassing. She had fit in well with the group since they had left Pylea. Sure, she was nervous and a bit jumpy, but you had to expect that. Cordelia allowed herself a small smile at the thought of the attachment that Fred had formed for Angel. She saw him as some sort of protector and would sit patiently, day after day, listening to him say, well, very little, if anything at all, about how he was feeling. She would just sit there in companionable silence with him, making sure he knew someone was there for him - if he ever had a complete character change and decided to talk. The thought of her friend drew her eyes to the office. Wesley had graciously given it up to Angel, for the time being, it wasn't a permanent fixture, but they all felt, at the moment, that having a brooding (well, more than usual) vampire in the main office was quite off putting for the people who came in for help. He had the habit of staring through them and mainly ignoring them. He was still working and going out with them to jobs, but Cordelia knew neither his heart, nor his soul was quite in it. It was an improvement though, it had taken them weeks and massive amounts of coaxing to get him even to come out of his apartment.

She could see Angel sitting, staring into space, his eyes dark and empty. She got up from her desk and walked over to the door. Angel was just opening the top drawer of his desk. She noticed a small photograph lying there and she knew whom it would be of.

"Angel, coffee…" she began, when he cried out and bent over double, as if in pain. She ran quickly to his side.

"Angel? What is it, what hurts, oh my god, Wesley call an ambulance, it could be a heart attack."

Angel looked up at her, pain in his eyes.

"Heart attack? Now that would be a miracle." he said.

"Well, what's wrong, what happened?"

"I don't know." Angel said, sitting up slowly. "I just felt this pain, like something was being ripped out from inside of me."

"Something…" Cordelia began cautiously, "something, maybe, soul like? I mean, do any of us look tasty to you, not hungering for a bit of a massacre?"

Angel sat quietly for a minute.

"Everything seems to be in check, maybe, it's just too much coffee." Angel said, trying to make light of the situation.

"Are you sure you're OK?" Wesley asked from the doorway.

"I'm fine." Angel said. "I'll be fine." He looked Cordelia directly in the eyes.

"Well, there goes my hope that the Power's had transferred the horrible debilitating visions to you." Cordelia huffed, as she went out of the office.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Ten days later, Xander was walking down the same road Willow and Spike had walked, towards the construction site. His company had been instructed to tear the tower down and start building some new houses on the grounds. He hadn't told the rest of the gang about the job because he didn't know how they would react. Personally, he was quite happy that the tower would soon be destroyed. It was a pretty harsh memory of what had gone on that night, none of them could pass it by without reliving the events, and he knew that Dawn had been avoiding it completely. No, this would be the best for everyone. Especially Willow, she had been really quite strange lately. It was beginning to worry him, he knew that Willow was taking Buffy's death incredibly hard, as were they all, but Willow seemed to have withdrawn even more into herself the past week or so, and no one could seem to work out why. She wouldn't even talk to Tara about it.

Xander entered the site and began the initial check before any of the men arrived, the boss had sent him down to assess the site, prior to any work starting. Xander was quite proud, it was the first time he had been given this amount of responsibility.

He began to wander around just in front of the tower, checking for drainage and any unstable ground. He noticed a few marks in the ground here and there, some bits of rubbish lying around. Most probably kids, he thought. He began to walk over towards the tower, slow steady steps. His heartbeat was increasing as he passed the spot where her body had fallen. Tears began to well up into his eyes, as he thought of his friend, but he pushed his grief to the back of his mind, he had a job to do. He walked around the side of the tower and a glinting in the ground caught his eye. Glass shards lay partly embedded in the ground, millions of them catching the sun. Something pretty dense had obviously been broken down here. He followed them round to the back of the tower, to check if there were anything more. The shards seemed to stop, there were some crates lying around at the base and a bit of wood debris, but that was it. He was about to turn and walk away, when his brain registered something else. He stepped cautiously over towards the debris and he saw it again. A hand was lying on the ground. He knelt down and closed his eyes, praying quietly to himself.

"Please let this be attached to an arm, which is attached to a body."

"…And a head." he added, as an afterthought. He'd seen too much in Sunnydale.

Still with his eyes closed, he lifted up a large piece of wood on top of the pile. He slowly opened his eyes and looked down.

"Holy, moly Batman." he whispered, under his breath.

There was a body lying on the ground, under the crates. A body in a pink dress, a body in a very familiar pink dress, a prom dress to be more exact, a body which seemed in a very good condition, considering, and which had a very familiar face to it.

"Buffy."

Xander backed away and sat on the ground, breathing heavily. The shrill pierce of his mobile phone, shocked him into some form of consciousness.

"Harris, is the site all right? I want to send some men down now. I need to know what kind of tools and machines we need. Harris, HARRIS?" The voice of his boss rang out in his ear.

"Erm, erm." Xander stalled, trying desperately to think of what he could do or say, people on their way down. He had to do something.

"Harris, is everything all right?"

"Sorry Mr.Taylor." he said, voice shaking. "It's just my mother rang, my grandmother was taken very sick this morning and she's asking for me. Its all a bit of a shock." That was an understatement and probably more of a shock to his grandmother, who was fighting fit at 84.

"Well you'd better go, I'll send Duncan down to assess the site." Mr. Taylor replied, gruffly.

"Thank you sir, I'd better go to her."

"Well, make sure you're back at the site tomorrow. I need all my workers for this contract. But well, grandmothers, they are important, I remember when my grandmother…" Xander cut his boss off before he could start reminiscing about the past and when he was young.

"Have to go boss, sorry, you know, not long to go and all that."

"Yes, right, best wishes to everyone and all." Xander hung up the phone and just sat there, his brain trying to process the mass of information running through it. Whatever he did he had to move fast, the other guys would be along shortly.

Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the crates and swept Buffy up into his arms and quickly walked out of the yard.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Giles was standing behind the counter in the magic shop, trying to make heads or tails of the account books that Anya had been filling in recently for him. His head was already beginning to ache and it was only the start of the day. He had sent the ex-demon out on an errand to get some change from the bank. The knowledge of all that money seemed to keep her happy about that task. He knew he was the only one in the shop, so when a massive crash was heard from the back room, he was alert immediately. He grabbed a broadsword from behind the counter and cautiously walked towards the back of the shop and training room. He heard another crash now, it sounded very much like the back door being kicked through. He held his sword aloft and walked steadily through the door into the other room.

Xander stood in the middle of the training mat, breathing heavily, red in the face.

"Xander, what on earth is the matter, shouldn't you be at work?"

Xander just looked at him, straight in the face and uttered the words.

"Houston, we have a problem."

"My back door, that's a problem looming heavily at the moment, who's going to pay…" but Giles didn't finish his sentence. Xander had stepped to one side, revealing the prone form on the floor behind him.

"Buffy!" Giles whispered.

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Chapter 3


[1] Italian –I am the creator, allow me entrance