Buffy felt like they had been crawling around in these vents for days, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. Already, her hands were going numb and she couldn't feel the cold steel beneath them.

"I see light up ahead, maybe we can get out there and find some clothes and weapons."

Spike stated his agreement and they kept shuffling towards the dim light which was calling them like a beacon. Finally hovering over the vent, Buffy looked down and could see a guard snoozing on top of some papers.

Cautiously, she opened the vent and lowered herself out. Gripping the edge with numb fingers, she started to swing and then landed quietly behind the sleeping guard. Looking around, Buffy saw that there were no other people around, so she motioned up to Spike who jumped out of the portal above with catlike grace; landing in a crouch on the floor.

The light in the room was thankfully dim; all illumination coming from the wall of televisions in front of the guard. Buffy motioned to the sentry, making a wringing motion with her hands. Spike shook his head and pointed to the nightstick that was laying on the desk. Buffy nodded and picked it up, inhaling deeply, she raised the stick above her head and brought it down sharply on the back of the man's head. He didn't stir.

Nodding in satisfaction, she ran over and locked the door. Turning around, she saw that Spike had thrown the sentry on the floor and was removing his clothes.

"Good thinking."

Spike grinned up at her. "As always, I save the day."

Buffy rolled her eyes and kneeled down next to him, helping to take off the man's boots. The guard was very tall and thick around the middle, so the pants that Spike took from him were a little big, but he just tucked them into the combat boots and cinched the belt tightly on his trim waist.

Buffy took off the man's shirt and put it on. It buttoned up the front and had very long tails so it covered her body almost to the knees. As she was rolling up the sleeves, she glanced up at the wall of televisions.

"Oh my God! They have been watching us the whole time!"

Spike looked up from the boot he was lacing. "Did you expect any different, pet?"

"Well, I just...just...and they saw..."

Spike stood up. "Yeah I know. They saw us doing our little primitive dance. I figured you had seen the hole where they stuck the camera."

Buffy shook her head. "At least now if I ever get too down on my luck I can be a porn star."

Spike grinned suggestively. "You know, I think I'd like to see that..."

Buffy smacked him on the arm, regretting ever having said anything. "Shut up."

"Yeah, I can see it now.... you can be Buffy the Vampire Layer... and I can be the director. We can make the movies back at my crypt, lots of creepy atmosphere there..."

Buffy hauled back and punched him in the nose. "You're a pig, Spike."

Spike grinned at her, blood dripping from his nose. "I aim to please, love."

Buffy, disgusted, turned to the desk and swiped a couple of Kleenex from the dispenser. "Wipe off your face. You look gross."

"Yeah, you can dish it out pretty well, but you can't---"

There was a red flash of light as Willow materialized before them. She looked around and spotted Buffy.

"Oh my God, are you ok Buffy?" She ran up to give Buffy a hug.

Buffy, her mouth hanging open, nodded and patted Willow on the back somewhat dazedly. "Yeah, I'm fine... wh--"

"Where the bloomin' hell did you come from, Red?"

Willow turned to look at Spike and, letting go of Buffy, she smiled at them both.

"I found a spell that helped me break through the shield the Watchers put up."

It was technically true, so Willow didn't feel that bad about not telling them everything that happened after that.

"Great! Now how do we all get out of here?"

"Leave that to me, Buff. You guys just work on finding out where they have Liam."

"How are you going to do that, Will?"

Willow smiled, and it wasn't a very nice smile. Buffy took a step back from her. "Trust me, I'll take care of them."

Buffy looked at Willow once more; there was something very wrong here, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Glancing over at Spike, she knew that he felt it too.

"Willow, are you... ok? I mean, you seem kinda...too eager to kick some ass or something."

"Me? No I'm fine. I just feel really pumped up; ready to take on some big bads, you know?"

Buffy nodded hesitantly and walked over to the set of screens against the wall. Gazing at each one in turn, she finally found Liam; cocooned in his sheets and looking very pathetic.

"There he is, now we just have to find out where his room is at and then we can work out how to get there and get out with him."

"I told you, Buffy. I'll take care of it. Just find out where he is so you two can get him."

Buffy looked over at Spike again. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at Willow out of the corner of his eye. Clearing his throat, Spike walked over to the wall of televisions and pointed out something that Buffy had missed.

"It says RN 514 on the screen showin' Liam's room. I'm guessin' that means room number. And over here," Spike moved his finger over to hover above the screen showing their old chamber. "Is our room, 503. So I expect his room is in the same part of the building as ours was."

Buffy thought about which direction she had gone and how many rooms they had passed before getting here. "I think that we are in the same corridor. If there is some kind of number on the door to this room, we might be able to figure out exactly where we are at; then we can follow the numbers down to his room."

Spike went over and put his ear to the door, there were no voices or heartbeats coming from the other side. "It sounds aw'right, we better go now before someone comes to check on our pal here."

Buffy motioned for Willow to follow her as Spike opened the door and crept out. Pointing up, Buffy could see the number above the door, 510. Looking at the door across the corridor, the number read 511. She glanced to the right and decided to go that way.

Walking beside her, Spike allowed himself to hope, for the first time, that they would actually get out of this place alive.

About twenty feet down, the door loomed before them, 514.

"Great, now how do we get in? If we couldn't break down the door to our room, there's no way we can crash this one."

Willow stepped forward. "Allow me."

Placing her hand over the lock, a red glow emanated from her palm and they all heard an audible click as the door swung open.

Buffy spared an odd glance at Willow before she ran into the room and knelt by the bed. "Liam?"

The blonde boy looked up, tears in his eyes. "Buffy? Is that really you?"

Buffy nodded, tears welling up in her own eyes at the sight at his fragile hope renewing itself. "Yes, Liam. We're here to take you home."

"I didn't think you were ever coming back."

"I made you a promise didn't I? I told you that I would do everything in my power to keep you safe." Buffy grinned a little shamefacedly. "Even though it took me a while. Sorry, little man."

Liam smiled. "It's all right. You're here now."

"That's right. Now let's get out of here before someone finds us."

Motioning for Spike to come over, Buffy picked Liam up and hugged him tightly before handing him to Spike.

"You carry him, I don't think he'll be able to keep up with us otherwise. Besides, you can't fight these guys, they are human."

"That don't mean nothin'. I'll have one hell of a headache when I'm through, but it'll be worth it to pound those stupid gits into bloody pieces."

"Down, Rambo. Just protect him, please. That's the best thing you can do for me right now. If I don't make it--"

"Buffy, don't even say that, 'cos I don't want to think about you not making it out of here with the rest of us."

"I know, but we have to think about it, Spike. It's reality."

"Let's just go, we don't have time to bicker over the small points. You'll make it; that is all I'm goin' to say about that. Discussion is over."

Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes, but she didn't feel like arguing anymore about it. "Fine, which way should we go."

"Two of them are coming now to check up on me."

"How do you know?"

Liam pointed one finger towards his head.

"Oh right, I forgot about that."

Buffy scrunched up her forehead in thought for a moment. "We'll ambush them. Spike, get behind the door. I'll stay on this side, and Willow? You can stand over here with me. Get a spell ready. But don't knock them out, I want to interrogate them, ok?"

Willow and Spike nodded and moved to their places. Spike could hear them coming down the hall through the closed door, but they were still far away. A man and a woman who were chatting to themselves quietly.

"Oh, Quentin, you are a such a dear. Thank you for the lovely roses. They brighten up my room ever so much!"

"My pleasure, Patsy. Your room needed some cheering up, it looked like a tomb."

"That is only because I work so much."

"Speaking of work, when do you think that we will see results with those two?"

"We are planning on testing her tomorrow." Patsy answered.

"Well, if she hasn't conceived by now, then we are just going to have to try again. We might have to give him another shot of the serum."

Spike's eyes widened as he took in this information. It was all starting to make sense. The blood in Buffy's fridge, the wall, no clothes.... The Watchers had psychologically manipulated them into doing exactly what they wanted.

Buffy frowned at Spike's look of horror. 'What is it?', she mouthed. Spike shook his head and put a finger to his lips to silence her. He felt confident that the others could not hear a thing through the steel door.

"We are lucky that this Slayer has a thing for vampires in the first place, and particularly fortunate that she chose this one. It cost a lot less money this time." The man stopped walking and sighed. "Good God, when I think about the money that we spent making Liam...We doled out three billion pounds just for the equipment alone! Not to mention the genetic technicians, sample collectors, what have you. And what happens then? Grace takes off with him so she can turn him over to his 'mother' and corrupts him thoroughly. Now he won't do a damn thing we say and keeps crying for his precious Buffy! When I think about it all I get so damn irritated I just want to...."

"Shh...calm yourself, Quentin. This won't help your blood pressure you know. Besides, we are almost here. It won't make things any easier with the boy if he hears you."

"That boy can't hear a damn thing, Patsy. The door is made of steel and the walls are concrete."

"Yes, but you know that he can... sense things as it were. We want him to trust us, hopefully enough so that we can finally get started on his physical training."

"Mmmn, that's true. But I have a feeling that he won't trust us either way and we will eventually wind up eliminating him."

*****

Spike felt like the room was spinning. He couldn't handle all of the information that was rapidly pouring into his ears. It was as if the world had stopped to let him off in some other galaxy. Spike's brain was whirling in circles until Liam placed a still hand on his cold cheek.

"You know that I couldn't tell you. You weren't ready yet." Liam lisped quietly, staring into Spike's eyes, blue to blue.

Spike nodded and then he realized something and it made him smile with quivering lips as he whispered. "Liam...William."

The little boy smiled and put a finger up to his lips.

"They are almost here."

Glancing over at Buffy, Spike grinned a little foolishly. He watched as a blank frown crossed her face. "What's going on?" She whispered.

Spike only shook his head. "I'll tell you later, Buffy. I promise."

There was no more time to talk, the door was being opened. Tensing up, Buffy gestured for Willow to cast her spell.

Muttering a few words, Willow pointed at the doorway and the two people coming into the room froze. Buffy looked closely at the man; it was Quentin Travers, she would recognize that guy anywhere.

"I had a feeling he was behind all of this." Buffy glanced at Willow. "Is there anyway that you can maybe, uh, unfreeze their heads or something? I want to talk to them, ask them why they did all of this crap."

Willow pointed her finger at Travers' head and suddenly he started yelling for help. Buffy slugged him hard in the nose. Even with the force of impact, his body remained upright, but his head snapped to the side with the shock of her blow.

"Shut up! You are going to tell me what the hell is going on; right now!"

Travers laughed. "Why should I tell you anything? You don't even work for the Council anymore."

"No. But that didn't keep you from kidnapping me did it? Why do you want us? And Liam? What do you want him for? Trying to take over the world, Pinky?"

"You can kill me if you want, but I'm not telling you anything."

Willow stepped up to him then. "You know, Mr. Travers... there are fates that are worse than death."

Quentin laughed. "There isn't anything that you can do that will make me say anything, Witch."

Willow raised her eyebrows. "Really? Care to test that theory?" She leaned forward and put her index finger on his forehead. A red light passed from Willow's finger and whirled around under the man's skin until it disappeared.

"Think happy thoughts, Mr. Travers."

Quentin's eyes grew large in his head; it was as if he was seeing something that no one else could see.

"Noooooo...." He moaned out softly. "Not Margery...take me instead....noooo..." Travers' head moved violently from side to side. Buffy clutched Willow's arm.

"What did you do to him?"

Willow grinned smugly. "Just his very worst fears realized, and intensified by a hundred."

Buffy took a step back from her friend. "Willow....that's...horrible. How could you do such a thing?"

Willow looked hurt and suddenly she felt all of her confidence drain away. "B-but he did things just as bad to you and Liam and Spike. He's an evil man."

Buffy shook her head. "But Willow, it doesn't mean that we have to stoop down to his level and torture him! Stop it, right now."

Willow starting getting angry because Buffy had somehow made her feel like that little geek girl again, instead of the powerful....witch? Demon? That she really was.

"Fine! I'll stop." Willow threw her hands in the air angrily and Travers' face relaxed into a less pained expression.

"Please, no more....I-I'll tell you what I know."

Spike walked over to Quentin. "No, I'll tell her that part myself. I know what you wanted us for. Just tell her why you wanted Liam."

Travers blinked twice, and nodded his head. "Fine, I'll tell you about Liam. We.." He stopped to take a breath, the visions Willow had implanted still going around in his head, but with not as much force as before so it was easier to ignore them now.

"We created Liam so that we would have the perfect Slayer. Raised by us, trained by us, so that he would answer only to us. Unfortunately, we didn't foresee him being so stubborn and rebellious. All things considered though, we should have counted on it." He glanced back over at Buffy before continuing with Spike.

"We started to educate him on the basics from the moment he was born. He learned quickly and excelled in every subject. Of course, his education is hardly complete, but as I'm sure you've noticed, he is far ahead of his peers.

When he was about one year old, we discovered that he seemed be able to sense things before they happened. That he was... clairvoyant as it were. At first it was thought that this could be used to our advantage. But as time progressed, we realized that this was more a problem than anything else. Liam sensed that our intentions towards him were...clinical.

He became more rebellious and we could not deal with him anymore. Finally, we confined him to his quarters most of the time and didn't often bother with training since it wasn't making an impact on him.

Then Grace Hathaway, his nanny, ran off with him to Sunnydale and you know the rest."

"No, I don't know the rest. But I'm sure that Spike will tell me, right Spike?"

"Yes, love. I'll tell you. But not right now, it isn't the time for that."

"Yes, because it's time to go home now. So let's all click our heels and--"

"How do we know that they won't try this again?" Buffy cut Willow off.

Willow just smiled. "Because of the threat that I could make those visions real. Isn't that right, Mr. Travers?"

Quentin nodded dejectedly. "Yes, we won't pursue you, Miss Summers... or any of your friends.

Willow pointed her finger at first him, and then Leeves. Both regained their ability to move freely about.

"Just a minute before we go, Red. I want to have a word with the man in private."

Spike handed Liam over to Buffy, who clung to her in a tight embrace. Grabbing Travers by the elbow, Spike roughly guided him into an unused room across the corridor.

Closing the door, Spike leaned up against it and leered dangerously at Quentin. "Now, mate. I heard every damn thing you said in the hallway, the doors aren't that thick. You are going to tell me about that serum you were talking about. What exactly did you shoot me up with while I was out of commission?"

Travers laughed briefly. "Good God, is that all you want to know? Well that's easy. There were two serums; one for the each of you. Their only purpose was to increase fertility to insure that she conceived."

Spike groaned and slid down the door so that he landed on his ass. "Did it work?" He asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

Quentin nodded in the affirmative. "We are fairly certain that it worked. It was the perfect, uh, window of opportunity, as it were."

"Bloody hell. Just a few days ago, I was getting used to the idea of Buffy actually returning my affections. A-and now we have two children?" Spike covered his face with his hands. "I'm too old for this."

Travers took a look at the confused vampire and sat down in a nearby chair. Seeing the humour in the situation, he laughed until his sides ached.

"What?" Spike looked up at the laughing man. "It ain't funny you know. This is all very traumatic... I don't have the first clue on how I'm going to break this to Buffy...a-and...oh my God." Spike hung his head again. Picking at his bootlace, he asked. "So why me? Out of all the vampires in the world, why did you pick me?"

Quentin cleared his throat and wiped a tear from his eye. "Well, for starters you have killed two slayers in your lifetime. That isn't a easy thing to accomplish in and of itself. But also, you are physically strong, good endurance, and intelligent. Beside that, you were easily accessible and you knew the Slayer personally."

Spike took that in quietly. Glancing up, he said. "You know, he gets that psychic bit from my Da. He was always...having visions and what not. Made him quite grumpy most of the time if I recall."

Travers smiled. "We had been wondering where that had come from."

Spike thought for a moment. Cocking his head to the side, he asked. "So what exactly is he? Is he a vampire, a half breed....I don't really understand. This is all new territory for me."

"Yes, I expect that it is that." Travers scratched his head for a moment, trying to think of a way to explain. "Well, you see...Liam is a very special child. Other than the obvious advancement in learning and his psychic abilities, he has access to other talents which he may be able to develop better over time. He has only one limitation of a vampire; but even that is minor. Protect him with heavy sunscreen when he goes outside during the day and he will be fine." Quentin paused for a moment before continuing.

"His strength and endurance are mind boggling, but we have taught him how to control that so he doesn't hurt anyone. Like a vampire, he can move at super fast speeds, but he hasn't learned how to utilize the skill as of yet. My best advice to you is to assume that he has all of the powers of both a Slayer and a Vampire, then act accordingly with his training. You are planning on training him aren't you?" Travers glanced at Spike, eyebrows deeply engrained in his forehead.

"Of course I am. I mean, I have to don't I?"

Travers nodded, wearily rubbing his temples.

"Why are you bein' so nice all of a sudden?"

Quentin shrugged. "Why not? How do you know that this isn't the way that things were supposed to work out?"

Spike stood up and dusted off his rear.

"You're an odd fish, Watcher."

Turning around, Spike opened the door and went across the hall to where Buffy and the rest were waiting for him.

Grabbing Buffy around the waist, he gave her a peck on the cheek. "Let's go home, love."

Willow started chanting and they all disappeared. Leeves, who was still sitting on the bed, got up and went to the room where Travers was still sitting, deep in thought. Pulling the clip out of her dark hair, Leeves shook her head, letting the long, ebony waves flow around her.

"You know, Quentin. I'm not sure whether I enjoyed that particular assignment or not."

"Patsy, you are well aware that it isn't our place to question the Powers. We are only their instruments and everything we did was necessary."

"Yes, but I feel so...evil. Like we are terrible people for treating that child so badly."

"I agree with you on that point. But it was all part of the deal, dear. We had to make the child think that we were the evil ones. We had to believe it so that he would believe it too. It was all an act, and I must say that you did very well. I'm fairly sure that we convinced them all of our 'evil' intentions."

Leeves laughed and it softened her face, making the cold beauty of her countenance more warm and human. "Yes, that one is too smart for his own good. His parents are going to have a hard time raising him, you know?"

Travers snickered softly. "I know. I just spoke to the traumatized father."

"So what do you think the Powers have planned for them?" Patsy asked, kneading her scalp with soft ivory fingers.

"Who knows? They all share a destiny; the entire group for better or for worse."

"I hope that the Slayer's destiny has a good ending. She has been through so much these past few years."

Travers raised an eyebrow. "Becoming a romantic are we, Patsy?"

She smiled gently. "Yes, I suppose I am." Her pleasant look faded as she thought of something. "It is too bad about that young red-haired witch though... she has so much potential she hasn't discovered yet. But now it is too late, she has become a demon."

Quentin frowned darkly. "I think that one has always been destined for darkness. She is too vengeful and power hungry for anything else."

"But she did it to save her friend. Surely that counts for something."

Quentin shook his head in negation. "No, she didn't do it for the Slayer. If she had really wanted to help the Slayer as badly as she claimed, she would have found another way, she is an intellegent girl. But as I said before, she is power mad and saw that as the easiest way out. The quickest way to have everything she wanted at one time. Power, strength, and Buffy too." Travers paused, and stared at the wall with sightless eyes.

"But like the rest, it is her destiny to follow. All were tested these past months. Even Wesley, our instructions to kill Rupert was also a test from the powers. All passed and are now on the road to discover their true fates."