Title: The Changing of the Guard Series: A Way Out 2/7

Author: Written by memarkw, based on an idea by
Aristide.

E-mail: memarkw@yahoo.com

Spoilers: Some of the "past events" take place anytime
during the series, or may be happening in Season 7
according to entertainment articles.

Disclaimer: If you are reading this and think that these
characters are my own creation, you don't belong
here...it's all thanks to Lord Joss Whedon.

Rating: Mostly PG, although there are 3 or 4 swear words,
including one F-word, scattered about.

Special thanks to E James Burns, Bev, and MeB for catching
the little oopses...
_________________________________________

Buffy and Willow sat,neither of them saying a word,
watching Laura finish her soup. Willow was silent because
something was obviously wrong with Buffy.

Buffy was silent because she couldn't believe that
there was a way out of slaying and that Giles had never
mentioned it. When this was over, she seriously planned
to hop a flight to England to confront him. No, this
might just be some kind of prank. She'd just have to wait
and see. The stranger that was eating across from her
might have some reason for doing this. It'd better be
good.

Finally, the presumed former slayer finished her
meal.

"I'm sorry. Since John disappeared, I haven't eaten
much. When Marika went missing, I kind of forgot about
eating altogether."

Willow stood up and took the soup bowl. She walked
to the sink. "John? Marika?" she asked.

"John is my husband, Marika is our daughter."

Buffy hesitated, thinking it had to be an odd
coincidence, but she asked the question anyway. "Merrika?
As in Merrik with an A?"

Laura nodded. "Actually, it's M-a-r-i-k-a, but yes,
as in."

Willow sat back down, having dried and put away the
bowl. She looked at Buffy. "Wasn't Merrik yo-"

Buffy interrupted with the answer. "My first
watcher,
yes."

Willow sat back, confused. "Oh."

Buffy leaned forward, resting her elbows on the
table. "I really don't mean to sound rude, but start
talking. Tell me how you knew Merrik, how you got a
letter written to me nine years ago, and why you are just
now delivering it."

Laura did the opposite of Buffy, leaning back and
crossing her arms. "Ok, but I'm warning you, this is a
VERY long story."

Buffy looked at Willow, who nodded her head slightly.
"Go ahead, we're not going anywhere."

"Sixteen years ago, on my fifteenth birthday
actually, a man stopped me when I was on my way home from
school...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Laura looked up at the stranger. He looked vaguely
familiar, but she couldn't place him. He was walking
directly towards her. Just as he reached her, she
remembered where she had seen him. He had been standing
outside the shoe store last week, looking in the window
while she shopped.

"Excuse me. I know you don't know me and I beg your
forgiveness, but I have something to tell you that won't
wait. I've never been good at this. I really don't know
how to say this, except to just tell you. Into each
generation, a slayer is born. One girl with the..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


For a moment, two voices spoke the same words - Buffy
and Laura, recalling the owrds once spoken to them by a
long dead watcher. "strength and skill to hunt the
vampires,"

Laura stopped as Buffy finished. "to stop the spread
of evil, blah blah. I've heard it. More than once. And
the last time I heard it, I was MADE to understand that I
cannot escape my destiny. That's why I find it a little
hard to swallow, what you told me out there."

"I know," Laura said, "I was made to understand the
same thing. Please let me finish before you interrupt me
again. This is hard enough for me to talk about. I need
your help, but if you don't want me here, I'll leave."
She stood up and turned to leave.

Buffy stood, reached across the table, and grabbed
the woman by the sleeve. "I - I'm sorry. Please. I'll
listen without anymore interruptions."

Willow let out a small laugh. She looked up as she
realized that the other two females were staring at her.
"Oh, sorry. I just meant...well, I meant...Ha! Buffy
can't listen without interrupting. It's just not you,
Buffy."

The slayer glared at her friend. "I will this time,"
she said, with emphasis on THIS. "Let's go in
the living room."

Willow and Laura followed Buffy, the former two
sitting on the couch, the latter pulling up a chair
across from them. Laura continued.

Laura continued. "Anyway, this guy turned out to be
our mutual friend, Merrik."

Buffy interrupted, with a guilty look at Willow.
"I'm sorry. I know I said I wouldn't, but I just need to
say that he and I weren't actually friends. I don't know
what you would call it. I cared for him when he...when
they got him, but we never actually got to know each
other. Sorry, I just had to get that out there. I never
really got to know him. We weren't together very long."

Willow wanted to say "I told you so," but it didn't
seem appropriate when someone was talking about the dead.

Laura waited until it was clear that they were
waiting for her. "Ok. I got it. Let me tell you
something. If he had lived, you would have loved him. He
would've become like a father to you. He would've never
let you down if he could help it. He would've put his
life on the line for you. He did it for me more than
once. That's what this is about, kind of."

Buffy thought about what Laura was saying and thought
of Giles. She missed him so much. She understood what
Laura was saying. If Merrik had lived, she wouldn't have
found Giles. Would the relationship with Merrik have been
like the one with Giles?

"Anyway, I thought he was nuts. But a couple of
nights later, I was attacked. I stayed late at the pizza
place where I hung out. I was about half way home. Two
creatures grabbed me from behind. One of them said
something about being glad that I had denied my destiny.
I saw the faces, I saw the teeth, I felt one of them pull
my head back, and I felt the teeth on my neck. I still
didn't realize what was happening.

"I never believed in monsters. Not even as a kid.
And Dracula never came after his victims the way these
things were attacking me. I was about to use my head, to
head-butt one of them backwards. But when my head reached
what should have been face, there was nothing there. I
felt something hit me in the back though. I turned around
to find a stake on the ground at my feet, and ash blowing
in the wind. The second creature was running away.

"I looked up and saw that man, Merrik, pull out
another stake and throw it at the thing that was running.
I watched the thing disintegrate right in front of me.
Needless to say, I freaked out. I think what I actually
said was 'gag me with a spoon.' It was kind of gross.

"Anyway, Mer said 'That's what you were born to
protect people from.' He told me to come with him so he
could explain some more. I hesitated, but he had just
saved my life. When I hesitated a moment longer, he told
me to close my eyes and feel it. So I did. And as he
described it, I could feel the power corsing through my
body, the strength.

"I still don't know how, but I sensed something and
threw my hands upward and outwards, like this -" The
former slayer demonstrated as she spoke, "and opened my
eyes. I couldn't believe it. This guy had just threw
one of those wooden sticks at me. I mean, really threw
it, like to kill me. And I stopped it. I felt it coming
at me and I protected myself.

"As much as I wanted to run, I knew that he was
telling me the truth, and so I went with him. You can
pretty much fill in the next part. About how I trained
with him, fought him, denied what I was, resented it,
tried to live a normal life, and always came back to him
and slaying.

"This is where our stories go their own ways.
Obviously, you're good at what you do. You're what? 19?
20? And you're still alive. Or should I say alive
again?"

It was apparent that Buffy was trying so hard not to
say anything. Laura grinned and told her to go ahead.

"I was born in 1981. I'm twenty-three. And you know
about, um, being alive again?"

"You don't look that old. And yes, I do know. But I
will get to that later. I really did grow to love Mer
like my own dad. See, I was living in foster homes. The
guy that was the sperm donor for my mom, walked out before
I was born. My mom tried to do good by me, but when I was
four, she turned to tricks. One of them hurt her. She
died in the hospital. I grew up going from whichever home
to whichever home the state saw fit to put me in.

"I think that's why I didn't trust Mer at first, he
reminded me of some beuracrat. But a litle over a year
later, I trusted him with my life. With my unborn baby's
life."

She was looking down at the coffee table as she said
the last part. She looked up at her hosts. "I had been
seeing this guy for almost as long as I had been slaying.
John. Mer tried to keep me from it, going on about how
important it was to keep my secret, but I was sixteen by
then. I was a young woman and I was in love. You know
how it is, don't you? Did you have a boyfriend that your
watcher tried to talk you out of? Of course you did, all
slayers do. We are women, after all. But he was the only
thing fixed in my life. I mean the only thing that was a
constant fixture. Besides Merrik.

"So, although he wasn't happy about it, Merrik gave
in. John started patrolling with me. He got to be good at
it.

"You know how the council pulls strings every once in
awhile to have things their way? They did that for me.
Got me out of government care. They thought I was living
with Mer, but I was sharing an apartment with John. Not
sharing, we didn't get paid for slaying back then -"

"Still don't."

"- and John paid for everything. He took care of me
when I wasn't actually slaying. Things happened and I
ended up pregnant.

"Mer flipped. I never saw him lose it like that
before or after. In the end, he was there for me. He
didn't tell the council. He just got all of these old
books and started researching. It wasn't his style.
Supposedly watchers are researchers, but he liked hands
on. His place was stacked to the ceiling with books,
trying to find out what to do with a pregnant slayer.
Every once in a while, he'd come across a book on
childbirth and child care that John had snuck in. He
really liked Mer and loved teasing him. He thought it was
so funny to sneak those books in there with all of Mer's
ancient writings.

"As far as Mer knew, a slayer getting pregnant had
never happened before. He was wrong.

"Late one night, he came across a very small entry in
a Slayer's journal. The way I understood it is that this
entry was written before the Watcher's Council took
control of the slayers. Anyway, it was in this little
journal entry, the one thing the Council never planned on.
All it said was that she, the Slayer, had lost her
abilities as she entered her third month of pregnancy and
a new slayer had come to her for guidance.

"Mer had never heard this story. He talked to one of
his allies on the Council. She had never heard the story
either, but it was written in the journals. It was an
established procedure.

"We tried to keep my pregnancy a secret until it got
in the way of slaying. Somehow, the Council found out.
Merrik confronted them with the history. They were
infuriated. How dare anyone try to dictate to them what
was acceptable or not. They could not argue with their
own books though.

"One night, just before we were ready to give up my
right to the title of slayer, Mer got word from his lady
friend that the Council planned to have me killed so that
a new slayer could be called naturally without the secret
being discovered. They just couldn't have anymore slayers
finding out about this way out of their duty.

"Mer called in some favors and arranged for John and
I to be married. On our wedding night, he had John drive
us to an empty field. In that van out there, as a matter
of fact. I didn't know why, but I went along. Sometimes
I still regret it.

"We all climbed out of the van. I was startled when
he hugged me. I knew he loved me, but he had never shown
affection like that. He simply told me that what must be
done was done and that this van was one of his wedding
gifts to us. He told us that he wanted us to get in that
van and just drive away. To not look back.

"He went on and told me that I was supposed to be
killed and that he wasn't going to let that happen. He
told me to get in the van and go. John did. He walked to
the driver's side and climbed in. I couldn't though. I
argued with Mer.

"While we were arguing, some vamps came out of
nowhere. I wanted to fight, but Mer threw open the door
and pushed me up and into the passenger seat. I tried to
get out. John wouldn't let me. He just tried to comfort
me and told me that Mer could handle himself. The last
time I saw Mer, he had just dusted one of the vamps.

"But before I was forced into the van, Mer pushed an
envelope into my pocket and told me to open it when we got
wherever 'this' got us where it took us.' The THIS was a
wad of cash. When I counted it later, there was over
$7,000.

"The note simply told me that he was proud of me. It
talked about the council's plans to be rid of me. He
said to go where we couldn't be found and to send him a
postcard. He said not to put anything on the card, just
drop it in a mailbox with a stamp and then pick up and
leave to go somewhere else. He couldn't impress on us
enough that we were to keep moving until I heard from him.
How he planned on getting in touch, I never knew, but I
had learned not to question him.

"A couple of months later, I did just what he said.
I sent him a card. I never heard form him again until I
got the letter.

"Right after Marika's sixth birthday, I got this
letter. I remember getting it, because I recognized the
handwriting and thought he was sending a card for his
namesake. Here's the letter. Read it." With that, she
handed the letter to Buffy.

'My dearest girl,
I am so glad to find you well. I think of you
often and am always pleased to hear that you are well or
that Marika has done something sweet. I am amazed that
you would name your daughter for me, but it is indeed an
honor.
I never told you, but I loved you as my own
daughter. Of course, to tell you then would have
jeopardized your learning.
I fear my time on this earth is drawing near. It's
not an explainable feeling, but I feel compelled to
contact you and make arrangements.
There may come a time when you need me. I will
know it and I will be there. If the time comes and you do
not hear from me, assume I am gone. If this happens, I
urge you to search out the current slayer. Unless I am
mistaken, that slayer will be a beautiful young lady named
Buffy Ann Summers. If that time does come, you are to
give her this second letter, which I have enclosed under
seperate cover.
This girl reminds me of you in many ways. She can
be much more beligerant than you ever were, but she is
good. To be honest, I feel that she will be known in the
future as THE slayer. There is something about her. It
is unexplainable.
I realize that this letter is full of
unexplainable things, however I feel that you will
understand me.
As this may be the last contact we have, let me
tell you again - I love you. You have always made me
proud.
Oh, you may be wondering - how did I keep the
Watcher's Council from you? I used their own plan.
Obviously, I succeeded in ridding the world of the
creatures that attacked us that night. I simply told the
Council that we were attacked and that while I was
fighting one of the ungodly beasts, you were fighting two
of them. I am sure that you will be saddened by this, but
with my hands full, the other two were able to overcome
you and feed off of you. To add injury to insult, they
made you feed from them. I was unaware of this. As I
cradled your dead body, you woke and attacked me. Much to
my own grief, I was forced to put a stake through your
heart.
So, my dead undead daughter, I close. Be kind to
life.
Yours forever,
M'

Buffy swallowed hard. She couldn't let tears come.
Not yet. She needed the rest of the story. She pulled
out her own letter and started to open it. Her heart was
beating fast, her plams were sweating.

"Buffy? Would you mind if I finish my story before
you read that?"

She thought about it for a split second and put the
letter back in her pocket. "Go on."

"I was shocked to get that from him. Except for one
card with a baby picture in it, I had never written or
sent him anything. Well, we settled down outside of a
small town in Texas. Victoria, Texas. Life was good for
years. Marika was growing up, not a clue that we were
hiding from anyone.

"One day she came home and wanted to know if vampires
were real. That scared me more than anything I've ever
encountered. All I could think was that they found us.
She said that some man just walked up to her and said to
watch out for vampires.

"We left that night. Drove around the country for
seven weeks. We ended up in a small navy town in Nevada.
Fallon. We stayed there until John disappeared. I woke
up one morning and he was gone. Did I tell you we were
living in a small trailer, pulling it around behind our
van? That morning, he was gone. The door had been forced
open. Nothing else was disturbed and Marika was sound
asleep.

"That was fourteen months ago. I tried to contact
Mer then, but I found out that he had died. I remembered
the letter and looked for you. It didn't take long to
find out that you were in Sunnydale. When I got here
though, I found out that you were dead, too. Well, you
were here, but somehow you weren't. I saw you with your
friends one night, but the town was over run by vamps and
demons. I figured that it wasn't really you, that if you
were as good as Mer said, then there wouldn't be that many
creatures in this town.

"I read some old newspapers and found out you had
been in an accident. That you had fallen from the top of
a construction site or something. I put two and two
together and figured something had happened to you and
that your friends were pulling some sort of magic on
people to hide your death. I felt like there was nowhere
else to go.

"I didn't know how to explain to Marika about John
being gone. Remember that she was forteen at that time.
Out of the blue, she asked me if it had something to do
with that man and the vampires and the changes she was
going through.

"Again, I was scared more than ever. I asked her
what changes and she described what she felt, exactly what
I had felt fifteen years before, when Mer found me. And
it was then that I knew. A slayer had died. I figured it
was you. A little research showed me that there was
another slayer, a true slayer I guess you'd say, in prison
in Los Angeles. I was really surprised to find out that
you were more of a substitute slayer, but what concerned
me more was that Marika was being called to replace you
when you weren't THE Slayer. That shouldn't have
happened. If she was to be the next slayer, which I would
fight with my last breath, it wouldn't happen until the
one in jail was dead.

"Anyway, I told her this story. She accepted it much
more easily than I ever did. She was excited about it.
So, to keep me sane, more than any other reason, we ran
again. We've been running every since.

"Last week, I was awakened in the middle of the night
by the silence. It was wrong. When I went in the living
area - that's where she sleeps - she was gone. I looked
for her for three days. I couldn't go to the police
because I was afraid the council would find out, if they
didn't already know. That's when I decided to find YOUR
watcher.

"I got here yesterday and discovered that all of
those vamps and demons were gone again. That part, I
couldn't figure out. You were dead, weren't you?"

When Buffy nodded, Laura continued. "I went to the
library and looked you up in the computer. I thought that
if there was any mention of you, that there would be
mention of your friends. I hoped that they could give me
information, that if they didn't really know your secret,
then maybe they could at least give me some clue as to who
your watcher would be. And I found out that you had a
sister. I actually came here to see her, to see if she
could tell me about your watcher. That's when I saw you
on the porch with Willow. I was working up my courage to
approach you, to figure out how you could be here - oh
hell, I don't know. You are really you, aren't you?"

Buffy nodded again. "Yeah, I'm me. I don't have a
watcher anymore. Well, I do, but he doesn't watch me.
He's in England."

"Oh."

"Can I read my letter now?"

"Yeah."

Sunnydale's secret champion opened her letter and
started reading. No one spoke while she read.

'Buffy -
If you are reading this, you may safely assume
I am dead, just as I posthumously assume that you are
still the slayer.
The woman that is giving you this letter
holds a very special place in my heart. She was my third
slayer, and it was because of my love for her that she was
almost my last. She will tell you the story, I am sure.
I am writing this to ask that you do
everything in your power, and that of your watcher,
to help Laura.
I want you to know that I cared a great deal
for you. Had I not died, I think it is safe to say that
we would have grown close. I saw great potential in you,
potential that I have seen in no other, not even my dear
Laura.
I am proud of what you are going to become.
Be kind to life.
From my heart,
Merrik'

Buffy was silent for a moment. She looked at Laura
and wiped a tear from her eye, and Laura did the same.
Buffy took Laura's hand in her own and told the former
slayer to tell her anything that might help them figure
out what had ahppened to John and Marika.

Willow stood up. "I'll get us something fresh to
drink."

While they sipped their tea, Laura told Buffy
everything she could think of that might help. Buffy was
stumped, however. "Honestly, I've never been good at this
detective stuff. I just don't know what to do."

"I do," Willow offered.

Buffy raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Good grief, Buffy! You know what to do. Call
Giles."

Without a word, Buffy stood, walked to the phone, and
began dialing the overseas number.