Title: The Changing of the Guard Series: A Way Out 6/7

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 a man named 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 and Bev for catching the
little oopses...

___________________________________________


With the sun going down, the small bunch of people
went back into the house. Faith was still going on about
"the damned Council." While Willow went into the kitchen
to start dinner for everyone, Laura demanded Marika
explain her absence.

"Young lady, where in the world have you been?"

"Around."

"Marika! Stop playing games with me. You owe me an
explanation! What do you think you were doing running off
like that?"

"Listen, Mom, if you want me to talk, you have to
shut up. I know how you are. You can't listen without
interrupting."

Buffy cleared her throat accusatorily and looked at
Laura, remembering a similar conversation when the two
first met.

Receiving her mother's promise not to interrupt,
Marika told her story.

"Well, after you told me about slaying, and I felt
this... whatever it is in me, I wanted to find Dad. You
kind of freaked out." She held up her right hand to stop
her mother from protesting. "You kind of freaked out.
Deny it or not, it's true. It was like you had no
intention of finding him. You were more concerned with
finding another slayer to help, to protect me, all because
some dead guy told you to.

"I wasn't sure where to start, but I thought if I
left, that it might light a fire under your ass-" she
shrunk back from Laura's glare, "ok, your butt, you might
take some action. I wanted to find this council you told
me about. I came back here, thinking one of her-" she
pointed at Buffy- "friends might help, but there wasn't
anyone here. I did what you did. I read the papers at
the library. I found out about Faith. Not much. I found
out that she was connected to Buffy, that she got in
trouble, and that she was in prison. So, I went to see
her. She probably told you that already.

"She told me to go home - which I did- but when I got
there, you were gone. I tried to figure out where you
might have gone, but then I decided that I could find Dad
on my own. I did. Sort of. He was in a hospital close
to where we were living, but he's gone now. Someone took
him. I didn't want to ask for help because I was afraid
they would treat me like a runaway. In the end, I figured
I'd come back here again. There had to be SOMEONE that
could help. Here I am."

Laura put her arm around her daughter. "First of
all, you were very wrong to leave. I was scared to death!
Don't you know I'd die if anything happened to you?
Second, you're grounded."

"Mom!"

"No! I mean it! You can try to run off again, but
I'll be right behind you." She stopped Marika from
interrupting, just as her daughter had done to her, "Ah!
I mean it. And we found your dad. He's here."

A squeal of delight escaped from the girl. "Where?
I want to see him!" She jumped up. "Dad?" She started
to look in the adjoining rooms. "Dad?"

Buffy, Faith, and Giles watched as Laura took her
daughter by the arm. "Honey, he's upstairs. Wait. He's
sick."

"Sick? How? He's going to be ok, isn't he?"

"Something's happened to his memory. The doctors
don't know what's wrong with him, but he won't talk,
except to tell us his name. Physically, he's fine.
Mentally...well, we just don't know."

"I want to see him." The teen pulled away from her
mother and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

She found him sitting up in bed. She ran to him,
throwing her arms around him. When he didn't return the
hug, she pulled away to look at him.

He looked back at her. "I'm John."

"Dad? I know your name. What's wrong?"

He gave her a blank look. "I'm John."

Marika started crying then. "Daddy..." She put her
arms around him. "It'll be alright, Daddy, it will. I
promise. Mom can fix it. We'll be ok."

"I'm John."

"I know, Daddy, I know. You're John."

When she said it, he looked in her eyes and smiled at
her. "I'm John," he said again and laughed.

Eventually, the lost man fell asleep, his daughter
still holding him, having already fallen asleep herself.

Downstairs, the group was growing. Xander had
arrived just moments earlier. It took a few minutes to
fill them in.

"Hey! Maybe Laura can make a wish. I'll call Giles
house and talk to Anya. Maybe she can grant a wish to
restore what's-his-name."

"It's John, not what's-his-name, and that won't work.
She can only grant vengeance wishes. This isn't a case
of John wronging Laura."

"Well, it was an idea."

Willow sighed. "The spaghetti should be ready. We
can talk about this when we're done eating. Let's take a
break. It might be easier to think if we do. Who wants
garlic salt on their bread?"

An hour or so later, a unanimous decision was made-
no one had a clue what to do next. They knew they needed
to find whoever was responsible for forcing the Slith on
John, but no idea how to go about it. The Slith they had
spoken to didn't know anything about the man.

Willow's idea to take a break stretched to include
the rest of the evening. Sleeping on it might prove to
offer a new solution. As Laura and Giles headed upstairs,
Xander, Willow, Faith, and Buffy went into the kitchen.

Sitting around the table, they discussed what little
they knew.

"Guys, this really sucks. If Giles can't figure this
out, I don't see that we'll ever be able to help them."

Faith leaned forward, resting her elbows on the
table. "You know what? You guys aren't quitters. Willow
told me about the rampage she went on, and how Xander
stopped her. He didn't quit. B, you never give up. So,
why now? I say we find the council hang out and kick some
ass."

Buffy let a smile cross her lips. Faith wanted to
beat the bad guys. "I didn't say we were giving up, I
said I don't know how we're going to help them."

"Will, what about the coven that helped you take
control of your power? Maybe they can help?"

The witch sighed. "No. I tried. I tried reaching
John with a mind technique I learned. When it didn't
work, I called Sarlan - she's part of the coven - and she
said they couldn't sense anything. They didn't have any
thing for us to go on."

Buffy looked at Willow with a question on her lips,
but Faith asked it first. "How could they sense anything
from England?"

Again, Willow sighed. It's not easy to explain.
Have you ever seen Start Trek?"

Faith and Buffy both snorted.

Xander looked offended by the snort.

Willow continued. "Mr. Spock was able to do this
thing called a mind meld. He would put his hands on a
persons head and chant some mantra and be able to explore
their mind. With all the help and power the coven has
given me, we've formed some sort of mental bond. I can
think about something and they will know it. If I want
them to. It's controllable. It's not like we can read
minds or anything, just sense what someone is feeling."

The two slayers and Xander tried to look like they
really understood it, but ended up looking more confused.

"Hey!" Buffy had a revelation. "You did that when
we were on the porch, when Laura got here. You knew I was
thinking about Tara and what she would think if she was
here! You can sense me?"

Her friend blushed a bit. "Not like I can with the
coven. But yes, I can sense you. And Xander. Dawn and
Giles. Anya. Before Spike left again, I could sense him,
too."

Xander was flattered. "Wow! We share a link. I
mean, a bond. Well, besides the end of the world thing,
the Ascension, the Master, that singing demon, the midget
demon, and never mind, I'll just go babble in the corner."

Before he could actually leave his chair to go to the
corner, the kitchen door burst in. Several demons made
their way in before Willow was able to block the entrance.
"Hold!"

She wanted to hold the demons who had already made
their way in, but the slayers were already on top of it,
and she was afraid she might affect one of them. Or
Xander, who was busy trying to hit demons over the head
with a frying pan. She wanted to laugh, in spite of their
situation. Xander was a man. A real man. A good looking
man. He'd saved everyone from one apocalypse or another
more times that she wanted to count, and still didn't get
the credit he deserved. Just when you were ready to take
him seriously, he did something like chasing demons around
a kitchen with a frying pan - screaming like a girl.

Giles, Laura, and her daughter ran into the kitchen.
Laura's instincts kicked in, as did Marika's. Giles was
torn. He wanted to help the woman and...good lord! Was
that a frying pan in Xander's hand?! Shaking his head, as
though trying to clear an illusion, he stepped next to
Willow. As strong as she was, she was having trouble
keeping up her spell. Several of the demons outside were
casting counter-spells, trying to bring down the invisible
wall Willow was holding up. He threw up his hands and
shouted "Hold!', reinforcing his friend's efforts.

When the demons realized that the number of people
they were fighting had just doubled, they concentrated
their efforts on getting near the teen who had entered the
room. Faith, seeing where the attention was focused,
moved her way between a nasty looking creature and Marika.
Unfortunately, she reached her spot just as a tentacle of
sorts lashed out and it managed to smack her across the
face, leaving a thin laceration.

Apparently, the enemy recognized Buffy as Sunnydale's
chief protector, and increased their efforts in that
direction, while at the same time, trying to get to
Marika. Laura suddenly realized what was happening. They
were trying to get to her daughter. For whatever reason,
this was what this whole mess was about. Someone wanted
Marika! She turned to her daughter and yelled at her, at
all of them.

"They think Marika is special! They don't realize I
am the true slayer, that she's not one! Protect me! It's
me they need because I'm the Slayer!"

All action stopped. The look of bewilderment on her
friend's faces was quickly concealed by all but one.
Marika knew that her mother was offering herself up as a
decoy.

"Mom! No!"

Laura was able to convince the creatures that she was
trying to avoid them, while in all actuality she was
maneuvering herself to be taken by them. As they closed
in on her, no one heard Willow say a simple word under her
breath. "Track."

Giles and Willow released their hold spell and
restrained Marika. Faith crossed the room to see to
Xander, who had been hit in the head one of the invaders
at the last moment. Buffy looked at them, then at Willow
and Giles.

"What the hell was that?"

Giles reached up to remove his glasses, then stopped.
He realized he was more angry then anything else right
now, and he didn't have time to polish his bleeding
glasses. "They wanted Marika. Someone knows who she is
and they want her. I believe Laura knew that. She
offered herself up, indeed, as any mother would do."

"What do we do now?"

Marika used her head to hit Giles in the chest. She
obviously had some strength, as she was able to knock the
wind out of him. Before Willow could double her grip,
Marika was out the door.

Buffy was right behind her.

The girl was able to run almost a block and a half
before Buffy caught up to her. The slayer grabbed the
runaway by the arm and spun her around.

"Leave me alone! They already ruined my dad and I'm
not going to let them do it to her too! Let me go."

Buffy struggled with the girl, trying to calm her
down.

Marika yanked free. "Leave me alone, you stupid
bitch!"

Without thinking, Buffy slapped the hysterical teen.

"Stop it! Your mother an take care of herself. She
won't be able to do that, or to escape, if she's worrying
about you!"

Marika held her cheek. "I don't like you very much.
I wasn't sure about you from the start. I don't know why
my mom put her trust in some dead guy, why she had to come
to you!"

Buffy returned the ice cold stare. "I don't like you
very much either. I got rid of one bratty grown-up
wanna-be this summer and I don't need to deal with another
one. I didn't ask for this. You want to find your mom?
Go ahead."

The girl looked at Buffy with suspicion. She started
to walk past Buffy when the Slayer stopped her with her
next words.

"I'm not taking care of your dad, you know? You go
and get yourself caught, or killed even. Go ahead. He's
not my concern. I've been in a mental hospital. Kind of.
It wasn't fun. It was a nightmare. Literally. Guess
what? Leave him with me and that's where he's going."
She turned, heading back to her house.

Marika didn't follow right away. "You really are a
bitch, aren't you?"

"I like to think so. Any monster or big bad in this
town'll tell you the same thing. See ya whenever."

Buffy was climbing the step to her house when Marika
stepped up behind her.

"I can't lose my mom. Don't you understand that?
She's all I have anymore. She doesn't want me to be a
slayer, I know that. It's not something I can say no to.
She knows that. I don't know what the hell to do. My dad
needs me, but she does too. What am I supposed to do?"

"You sure do cuss a lot."

"What?"

Buffy turned around and smiled at the troubled kid.
"You sure do cuss a lot. Swear. Say bad words."

"Oh."

"I saw you trying to fight in there. With an
attitude like that, you'll fit into slaying easy. I have
to tell you, though, the same attitude'll get you killed
your first week."

"You know about dying, huh?"

"You can say that. I died my first month here.
Maybe it was the first year. Or week. Whatever. Because
of my attitude. The same attitude you have now. Listen.
I didn't want this job. You're nuts to want it. I think
if you'll listen and try to follow our advice, you'll do
just fine."

"You think I can be the Slayer?"

"It doesn't matter what I think. If you're chosen,
you're chosen. Nothing anyone can do about it. Like it
or not. If they're smart, they'll fight with you instead
of against you."

"Ok. You aren't such a bitch."

Buffy put her arm around Marika's shoulders. "Shhhh,
someone might hear you."

The younger girl actually managed a laugh as they
went back into the house.

Across the street, a glowing pair of emerald green
eyes watched until the door closed behind them.