Title: The Changing of the Guard Series: A Way Out 4/7

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.

Note: To the best of my knowledge, although Silver
Springs is a real place, there are no motels located
there. The Dusty Inn is purely fictional.

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


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


Giles' determined the Slith hadn't fed from
Laura due to the fact she'd remembered everything from
the time she went to bed, her dreams, and the moment she
woke up. Had she been fed from, she would not have
remembered the dreams, much less going to bed.

The small group spent the next day tossing around
ideas. They were getting nowhere fast. Buffy spoke up
with authority.

"Giles, call the Council. If you won't, I'll call
Cordy. She can get the number for me. Find out where
exactly this Sloth - Slith colony is and let's pay it a
visit."

"Buffy, I don't think-"

"Don't think. Do." With that, she turned and headed
upstairs to start packing. Within the half hour, Giles
joined her.

"Well, it would appear as though the Slith haven't
moved for awhile. They're outside of a small town in
Nevada. Silver Springs, Nevada."

"Let me guess. This Silver Springs is really close
to Fallon, or wherever Laura was when John disappeared."

"Yes."

"So, that means that if they did have something to do
with John's disappearing, it wasn't malicious."

"Um, that's right. How did you-"

"I've had to do a lot of thinking for myself the last
year and a half or so."

Rupert didn't miss the acussatory tone in her voice.
She hadn't entirely forgiven him for leaving. "Buffy,
before I go home, to England, we're going to have a-a
talk."

"I don't think we need to-"

"We WILL have a talk. I'm going to see if the others
are ready. I'll meet you down stairs." He turned and
left in a hurry.

Buffy sighed. She loved him. He knew he loved her.
He never fully realized what his leaving had affected her.
He could say he did all he wanted, but he didn't! If he
knew how hard it had been, how hard it still was, he would
have come back. No, he would never have left.

She finished getting ready to go and joined the
others downstairs. "Road trip?"

That drew a smile from Willow. "Road trip! I just
hope it's a little less boring than my last trip to dry,
dusty, sandy, um, beautiful Nevada."

"Hey," Laura exclaimed, "it wasn't that bad!"

Willow just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

Laura rolled her eyes. "So, it was that bad. You
can't say I didn't try to ease the monotony."

"You're right. It's just that license plate bingo
and '99 Bottles of Beer' get old after awhile. They get
old after an hour."

Laura managed a chuckle. "Actually, they get old
after two minutes."

After Buffy called Xander and filled him in on what
was going on, and where they would be, they all climbed
into the minivan Giles had rented for their trip. Laura
had offered the use of her van, but when Willow groaned,
Giles suggested the rented vehicle instead. To add insult
to injury, when the 298 mile trip took a little less than
five hours, Willow pointed out that it had taken almost
twelve hours in Laura's van.

They pulled up in front of a small motel. As the
others got out, Giles looked up at the neon sign and
noticed the 'S' was burnt out. The Dusty Inn was now the
Duty Inn. He went in and paid for two rooms - one for the
women and one for himself. After getting settled for what
they hoped would be a short stay, they found the nearest
restaurant. While it called itself a restaraunt, it was
more of a grease trap in a local casino.

Over hamburgers - vastly overpriced hamburgers - they
discussed what to do next. They had gone over options in
the van.

"Well, from what you've told us, they like sandy
areas. That covers about, oh, I don't know - the whole
state!" Buffy pointed out.

A little grump and tired from the drive, Giles bit
back. "You're the bloody Slayer! Use your 'spidey sense'
and find them."

Laura tried to bring the tiff down a level, but
didn't have much luck. The noise stopped soon enough when
Willow, who had been unfolding a road map, plopped the map
in the center of the table, taking up the whole area.
Before anyone could complain, she placed a spoon on the
speck that was Silver Springs and uttered two words.

"Greunzyk Slith."

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than the
spoon slip a couple of inches on the map, rotated about
120 degrees, and stood on its' tip. Giles pulled out his
note pad and jotted down the coordinates. He then removed
the spoon and placed it in his hot tea. After taking a
sip, he asked Willow to enter the coordinates into her
PDA. She quickly informed the group that the colony was
seven miles north of town, located 3 miles from US95 by
foot.

Willow paid for their meal and they hurried back to
the minivan. It took about ten minutes to reach a point
where they could pull off the road, past the shoulder and
into the sand.

"Won't the state police have us towed?" asked Willow
as they climbed down into the sand.

Laura put her worries to rest. "It's the highway
patrol. Most of them spend their time patrolling US 50,
just outside of Fallon. They have a fatal accident about
once a week on that road, so they spend a lot of time
there. If they do come this way, they'll just flag it and
give us three days to move it."

"Oh." The explanation was good enough for the rest
of them.

After searching for an hour or so, Buffy noticed a
dark spot on a small sand hill. Closer inspection found
it to be a hole just large enough for a small man to enter
if he stooped low.

Giles', not exactly a small man, got to his knees and
called out. "Onkhu shmaemel." A series of grunts from
inside the hole prompted Giles to return the noise.

To the surprise of slayers and witch alike, a
creature crawled out of the hole. Had it stood straight,
it would have been over seven feet tall; however, all the
years of subterranean living had deformed the creature
into a permanent stooping posture, making it look much
shorter.

With halted English, it spoke. "I have known of you,
Giles Rupert. Said is it that you are like not of the
Council of Watchthings. Seek the male human, Giles Rupert
are. I think of you to come many moons before this time.
Come. Human male in place dwelling of long move of here.
True I am?"

With the exception of Giles, all that the group
understood was that the creature knew of Giles, knew of
another human male, and was expecting Giles to appear
before now.

Giles replied in the language of the Slith. It
replied in its' English as it looked at Laura.

"Human male is of human female. Of harm I want not.
Eat great much. Great much ouch. Of harm I want not.
Come he did I made to place with sickness. Place of shine
birds loud. Many moons to move. Ittle Greun go seeless.
Tribu of made to it of sees light. Speak you to move
human male. No speak I to move ittle Greun. No harm is
I."

With that, he turned and seemed to disappear into his
hole. Buffy moved to stop him, but Giles held her back
with his hand on her arm.

"Giles! We have to find out what he knows!"

"He told us everything. He told us more than
enough."

Laura held her breath. "The human male. It belongs
to me, doesn't it? He told you where John is?"

"Yes. There's more. He said that he knows of me,
that I am to be trusted, unlike the Council. He was
expecting me long before this night. He didn't want to
hurt John. Something, or someone, with eyes like light
took one of the Slith children. Whoever it was used the
child to make this Slith," he pointed to where the Slith
had stood, "do its' will didn't return the child. He said
he didn't want to hurt John, but that he had to feed from
him. He had to feed too much, much more than he normally
would and it made him sick, all of the 'food.' Again, he
didn't want to hurt him and he took him far from here to a
place where sick people go. A hospital in a place with
loud planes. He said we would find John because he told
us
where he was. He said he would not find his little Slith
beacuse whoever used him didn't give it back as he
promised."

Willow whispered, then she spoke out loud. "John's
alive. He's at the hospital in Fallon. Giles, I can't
find its' child. I tried. Something dark has to be
blocking me."

"I'm sorry he lost his baby, but he's not the only
one. Can we go to John and then find Marika?"

With one last look at the hole, the friends headed
back to their vehicle.

There was no conversation on the trip to Fallon.
Each traveler was occupied with his or her own thoughts.

Giles hadn't mentioned it, but whatever had taken the
young Slith had told the older Slith to expect Giles to
appear soon. Whoever it was knew that he would come
looking for them. That bothered him. It would seem that
whoever was behind this mess knew him and the Council.
The Council was a very secret organization. It worried
him.

Willow was bothered by the fact that her magic hadn't
revealed the young Slith. She hadn't wanted to speak out
of turn, but she was almost certain that the creature was
alive. Whatever had it, though, was making sure it
couldn't be found. Willow had had her experience with the
dark magics. While it would never control her again, she
was able to draw from its' strength and use it for her own
magic. She had learned more than she could have hoped for
from the coven that Giles had introduced her to. Buffy
knew that Willow had her self under control and couldn't
lose it, but she had no idea just how powerful Willow was.
No one did, save Giles and herself. The occasion to have
to reveal it had never risen, and she hoped it never
would. For something to be dark enough, powerful enough,
to block her from finding the little Slith scared her.

Buffy thought of the Slith and the missing young one.
The Slith had done something it knew was wrong in order
to protect its' child. Would she do something like that
for her own children? She knew she would. She would do
it for her family. Not the man who called himself her
father, but her real family. Her mom, Dawn, Giles,
Xander, and Willow. She might have done it for Tara and
Anya, but they were in the past. She was the Slayer. If
she had children, she wouldn't be the Slayer anymore.
That wouldn't stop evil from coming after her. It would
still attack her and her family. Even if she gave up her
duty by having a child, she would still have to fight.
Laura was living proof of that. Having kids and losing
the official slayer title didn't end the looking over your
shoulder for danger every step you took.

Laura was lost in her own thoughts. John was in the
hospital. At least, he was alive. What was wrong with
him? She was afraid of what she would find. Would going
to him, taking the time to find him take away from the
time she could be looking for her baby girl? She didn't
think she could ever forgive herself if something happened
to Marika because she had wasted time looking for John.
She wasn't wasting time! He was alive! That was all that
mattered. It wasn't all that mattered, but for now, it
was all she would worry about. She had new friends to
help her and she was going to take this thing one step at
a time.

Buffy was surprised by the size of the hospital.
There was a sign that said Trauma Center, but the building
wasn't much bigger than a large apartment building in Los
Angeles. The Hyperion was ten times the size of this
place. Granted, the Hyperion used to be a hotel, but it
gave her something to judge this place by.

Since it was after hours, the four of them entered
through the emergency room entrance. Laura approached the
small, sliding glass window. She noticed the sign that
said "If you are sick, please take a face mask." She
wondered what good a face mask would do?

A chipper little nurse looked up at Laura. "What can
we do for you?"

Laura wanted to grab the woman and pull her through
the window. She wanted to tell the woman that this was an
emergency room, not a goddamned drive up window! What in
the hell did the woman think she could do for people who
walked up to her little window?

The former slayer gathered her wits and calmed
herself down. "I don't know if you can help me. My
husband is missing. Someone told me he was here. Can you
tell me if he is?"

The nurse started to roll her eyes and realized that
Laura could see her. "Um, have you called the police?
Usually, they're the ones that deal with missing
people."

Trying to keep her calm, Laura repeated herself.
"Someone told me my husband's in this hospital. Could
you just check for me? Please?" She even managed a smile
with the please. She was losing it. She looked over at
her friends, who didn't notice. They were already
discussing how to find Marika. She wished that she had
had friends like that when she was younger.

The nurse continued to be obstinate. "I can call the
police for you. Would you like me to do that?" Her
voiced dripped with fake sugar.

Without warning, Laura reached through the window and
grabbed the nurse by her scrub top. She pulled her up
until she was nose to nose with the pissed slayer.

In no more than a hushed whisper, one that could only
be heard by her and the nurse, Laura spoke, instantly
aware that Buffy, Giles, Willow, and the rent-a-cop that
called himself security were already moving to pull her
off the nurse. "Listen, you bitch! My husband's name is
John Warren. He's in one of those fucking hospital beds
up there and unless you look up his name right now, I'm
going to squeeze those beady little eyes out of your fake
wanna-be Clara Barton head before that chubby little
bastard can get his gun out!" She pushed the R.N. back
into her seat, which rolled a few feet out of Laura's
grasp.

The nurse, having had the fear of something put into
her, waved off the security guard and instantly started
typing on the keyboard, which was still a good eighteen
inches from her body. Pulling herself up to it, she
spoke, quietly and sincerely to Laura. "Is that A-r-i?"

"Yes. Warren. W-a-r-r-e-n. Thank you."

The nurse's eyes opened wide and she opened her mouth
to speak. She instantly thought better of it. She gave
her tormentor instructions to the third floor and sent her
on her way. The second she and her friends were out of
sight, the nurse was on the phone.

"Betty? You have trouble. Get Doctor Andrens up
there right away. The John Doe? The one who only says
John? I don't care if there is only one John Doe! A
woman
is on her way up there right now looking for her husband
named John and she may be dangerous if you don't answer
her
exactly the way she wants. She tried to kill me because I
asked her if I could help her! Get the doctor. You don't
want to be the one to explain what's wrong with the guy!"

When the quartet stepped off the elevator, they found
an older man waiting for them. "Mrs. Warren?" he asked,
waiting for someone to volunteer herself.

Laura stepped forward.

"Let's go in here and sit down. Your friends can
join us if you'd like."

"Oh, god, please don't tell me he's dead or dying."

"No, no! Physically, he's perfectly healthy.
Please, have a seat." He guided her to a sofa in the room
he had just led them into.

"What do you mean, 'physically'?" Giles questioned.

"Just that. He's very physically fit. I wish I was
so lucky. He has a healthy appetite, he's strong, he's
aware, he's fit."

"You said he's physically fit, but what about
emotionally?" Buffy asked this as she looked at Willow.
Her friend had been emotionally unfit and it hadn't been
pretty.

Willow sensed Buffy's thoughts and reached over to
squeeze her hand.

"That's a problem. He seems to have amnesia. I say
seems to because I can't find a clinical cause for it.
There is no head or brain trauma. He didn't appear to be
in any state of shock when he was found."

"Where was he found?"

"Oddly enough, he was sitting on the heliport, right
outside the ambulance entrance. Security cameras make it
look like he was carried in with the shadows, but we can't
figure that out, either. As I was saying, technically, I
can't find anything wrong with him. When anyone speaks to
him, he simply says 'I'm John, I'm John.' I would have
diagnosed him as mentally disabled, but he doesn't seem to
be mentally slow. He's stumped us. Can you tell us
what's wrong with him?"

Laura started to cry. "I don't know. He's been
missing. He was fine the last time I saw him."

The doctor wanted to ask why she hadn't gone to the
police, but he'd heard what happened downstairs when that
sweet admissions nurse had asked the same question. He
gather the people and took them to John's room.

When they walked in, Laura rushed to her husband and
wrapped her arms around him and started sobbing. When she
finally let him go, he grinned up at her and said "I'm
John."

"I know, honey. I know."

After working their way through the red tape of
leaving a.m.a (against medical advice) and signing the
necessary papers, and convincing the one brave soul who
insisted on contacting the police that there was no need,
they headed back to their hotel, 35 miles away. Willow,
Buffy, and Giles ended up sharing a room so that Laura
could have some time alone with her husband. Buffy made
sure that the lost man couldn't sneak out for any reason
in the middle of the night. A hot shower and delivered
pizza later, they were all asleep, dreaming their own
troubled dreams.

The last thing Laura remembered was brushing tears
from her face.

The next morning, Willow checked out while Giles
loaded their bags and Buffy helped Laura get John loaded
into the backseat of the van. The man looked at Buffy and
smiled. "I'm John!"

Buffy smiled back. "I'm Buffy."

Again, "I'm John."

She buckled his seat belt and sat next to Laura,
draping a supportive arm around her. "We'll fix this. I
don't know how, but we will. We always do. It's what we
do. I mean, come on, I've died twice!" She frowned.
"There's a song in that. I think."

When Willow returned to the minivan, they started the
five hour journey. It had been a long twenty-four hours.
After getting this much of the puzzle solved, they all
felt just a little bit better. Finding Marika should be a
bit easier. Together, they were ready for anything.

They thought they were ready for anything.

Giles pulled the van into the driveway.

"Giles, let's get the bags later. I want to get
started on figuring out how to fix John and find their
girl."

"You're right, Buffy. I could use a little rest
after that drive."

She looked at him. What was bugging him?

They climbed the step to the front door, only to find
it opening. Xander stepped out.

"Hey, guys. Um, you might want to-"

Buffy pushed past him. "In a little bit Xander, ok?
We have some stuff to do."

Laura was right behind Buffy, with Willow, Giles, and
Xander not a second behind.

They all stopped. All of them, except Xander, when
they heard her.

"Hey, strangers! Wow! You look just like your
daughter." The woman stood up and looked at Laura again.
"Yep, spitting image." She turned to Buffy. "Glad to see
me?"

Buffy turned away and headed for the stairs, not
realizeng that Faith had mentioned Marika.

"I'm going to take a nap before I try to absorb
anymore of this crap today, Faith."

Four seconds later, the sound of the door slamming
shook the whole house.