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

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

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,Bev, and MeB for catching
the little oopses...
__________________________________________

Laura struggled as the creatures dragged her into the
building. She managed to break the hold of one,
immediately using her free hand to inflict serious damage
to the unfortunate demon. Sadly, the fallen captor was
instantly replaced with another, who held tighter than his
predecessor. The former slayer knew she had to get free,
but how to do it seemed to be a problem. Every time she
managed to get rid of one of these...things, another was
in its' place.

-----------------

In Buffy's kitchen, Willow had a map spread open on
the table. Her eyes were closed, her hands hovering over
the map palms down. Just as she had found the Slith in
Nevada, she was able to produce similar results this time.
A spoon on the table slid across the map and stood on
end.

"There! She's somewhere near the Bronze. I'll be
able to sense her better when we get there."

Marika walked came in the room. "Dad's out. Those
drugs the doctors sent with him really do the trick.
He'll be asleep for hours."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Buffy asked.

The group - Buffy, Willow, Faith, Marika, Giles, and
Xander - ran out the door.

---------------------------

Just as Laura was ready to give up her fight, the
demons let go. She nearly lost her balance, but caught
herself at the last instant. She contemplated escape when
a voice got her attention.

"Well, I was hoping for the next slayer, but her
mother will do. I wasn't ready for you, but it's just as
well. I can run my experiments on you now, rather than
later."

Laura didn't recognize the man, but he obviously knew
who she was. "What do you mean, 'rather than later'?"

The man sighed. "Please do keep up. Any intelligent
person should have deducted the meaning. I planned to
take you after I was through with your daughter."

Fighting the instinct to break his neck, she managed
to hold herself in check. "Bastard!" she hissed through
clenched teeth. "You won't get her. She's protected."

"Protected? By the same people that protected you?
The way you protected your husband?"

"My... The Council... You did that?"

He laughed. "Yes, I did that. The Council? Highly
unlikely. You know, they used to be powerful. Now,
they're nothing more than a bunch of dottering old fools!
They could have used the Slayer to control humanity.
There are a few young ones that still might be reached,
sitting at their table, but there isn't much hope. No,
the Council will be destroyed."

"And you're going to destroy them by kidnapping all
the slayers?"

Another laugh from the man in front of her. "No, my
dear. I want the slayers so that I can create my own."

"Wha... Create your own? Who the hell do you think
you are? Some kind of god?"

"If only it was that simple. No, I plan to find out
what makes a slayer. I believe it's genetic. Not genetic
in the sense that it runs in the family, but rather that there is a
gene that determines a slayer. The fact that there are so
many of you alive backs up my theory. Come to think of
it, it might be better that I did get you first. I can
run my tests on you and take the girl when I'm done. That
way, I can kill you while I have her and watch the change
in her, see if death is the real trigger for the Slayer genome.

I'm thinking that it's not necessarily a slayer's
death that calls the next slayer, though. It's my intent
to find out just what it takes, then I shall create a
multitude of slayers to to my will."

"You're nuts! Shit...you're not nuts, you're
freaking psycho!"

"You say tom-A-to, I say tom-AH-to." He gestured to the
creatures behind Laura. "Lock her away."

Laura redoubled her struggles with her captors- but she
fought a hopeless battle.
---------------------------

Standing outside an empty warehouse, Faith offered
her opinion. "I say we just go in kicking ass and not
bothering with the names."

"I'd rather think of something a little
less...chaotic, if you don't mind."

The other five looked at Giles.

"Oh, good Lord - how many times do you have to lose
the, um, 'big bad' before you get it? You can't just run
in fighting. We need to split up. Some of us can look
for whoever it is responsible for this and the others can
free Laura. Really, I'm surprised you haven't realized
this after all these years."

The others tried to look like they weren't a little
embarrassed, but didn't succeed. They discussed what
should be done. Giles, Buffy, and Willow found a
different entrance and waited. When they heard Faith kick
open a door, the three of them sneaked in. The plan was
that hopefully Faith, Xander, and Marika could create
enough of a distraction that Buffy and friends could sneak
up on whoever without being noticed.

Faith, having kicked open the door with little
effort, wasn't surprised to find three or four monsters
coming at her. She was ready for them. She was able to
take one out right away, knocking his feet out from under
him with a sweeping leg move. Throwing a fast fist
towards the throat of another, she ducked a bit, causing
the thing behind her to lose its' balance. As soon as the
fist made contact, it was drawn back and yanking the one
who had just gone off-balance over her shoulder. She
didn't see the first creature get up from off the floor.
It grabbed her from behind. Before she could fight it,
she heard a bone crunching snap. The grip was released.
She turned to see the creature in Marika's arms. The girl
had broken the creatures neck easily.

Xander, having managed to decapitate one of the
creatures, joined them and dusted off his shirt. "Well,
ladies, shall we?" he asked, motioning for them to
continue farther into the building.

Not two minutes passed before they were attacked
again. While they were fighting the guards, Giles, Buffy,
and Willow had managed to make it inside the building
without being detected.

Back towards the front of the warehouse, Xander used
a broken board to run through one of the attackers. The
thing looked down as the board emerged from where two
hearts had been previously beating. Before it realized
what had happened, it was dead.

Marika and Faith stood back to back.

"When you feel me turning, you turn. Feel it with
the muscles in your back! Got it?" Faith demanded.

"Yeah, duck!" Both girls ducked as a nasty looking
weapon with a rusty blade came at them. It passed over
there heads a millisecond before the women were upright
again. A chain had appeared in Faith's hand - from where,
she had no idea. She raised her arm and started swinging
the steel in a circle above their heads. When one of the
creatures dared step closer, Xander yelled at it. When it
hesitated, looking to see what Xander was doing, Faith
moved her arm in a snapping motion, wrapping the chain
around the neck of the fool being. However, instead of
disabling the monster, it reached up and grabbed the
chain. It tugged, causing Faith to lose her step,
breaking the pattern that she and Marika had established.
In a moment, the three humans were one-on-one against
their foe again.

Years of experience taught Xander to trust his
instinct in these situations. He wanted to step back from
the thing that was advancing on him, but something told
him that he would be in an even worse spot if he did.
When the creature reached out for him, Xander grabbed it
by its' wrist. Dropping to one knee and turning his
torso, he pulled hard on the arm of the thing. As it got
within reach, he forced his head against its' stomach and
started to stand. The motion carried the enemy over
Xander's hip, colliding the monster with another that was
advancing from the rear.

Fighting for her life, Marika knew she should be
frightened. She wasn't. Instead, there was an
exhilaration that ran through her. The things they were
fighting seemed to multiply. No sooner did she kill one,
than another was in its' place. She found herself looking
forward to the next advancement. Grabbing an arm of one
of the beings, she twisted it up behind its' back, smiling
when she heard the satisfying crunch of its' shoulder
separating.

In another part of the building, Willow was
concentrating. She knew they were close to Laura, but
there was another sense. Someone she knew was in this
building. That was causing her to divide her attention
between Laura and the other person. She was puzzled.

"What is it?" Buffy asked, concerned by the look on
her friend's face.

"Giles? Someone's here. Someone we know. But...
But they aren't in trouble. I think whoever it is is the
one who took Laura."

Giles reached up for his glasses, stopping when he
realized what he was doing. He was determined to break
the infernal habit. "Yes, well, let's find whoever it is
first. If we can take them into custody, we should be
able to put a stop to all of this."

Willow didn't say a word, turning her attention
inward, tuning out the sense of Laura.

Laura's daughter, in the meantime, was in a corner.
She had taken such satisfaction in the pain she was
causing some of these things, that she wasn't paying
attention to where she was going, not realizing that she
was being forced backwards.

Xander, on the other hand, did notice her
predicament. Finishing off the last monster he was
fighting, he got Faith's attention. Whatever breed of
creature Faith was fighting, it was resilient. Her blows
seemed to have no effect. She looked at Xander and
understood what he was trying to tell her. She doubled
her efforts, increasing the blows on the creature. It
faltered, taking a step backwards. The step was what
Faith was looking for. She threw another volley of blows
and the creature took another step back. This time, when
it stepped backwards, Faith stopped punching. She,
instead, reached out and pushed the creature backwards
with all her might. Its' momentum carried it backwards.
It would have taken three or four steps back as a result
of the push. Might have. Instead,it fell over Xander,
who had resorted to junior high schenannigans and knelt
behind it on all fours. The second the monster was on
its' back, Xander stood up, joining Faith, grabbing its'
neck - adding it to the number of things that had died of
a broken neck that night.

They turned, starting for Marika. They stopped
walking when they saw that she had ended the fight by
finishing the last of their opponents.

"You're good, sister," Faith said, ready to offer a
word of advice.

"Yeah, I am. Now let her tell me I'm not going to
be a slayer."

"Wait a sec. I said you did good. You have a lot to
learn before you're patrolling on your own. You should
never have allowed yourself to be backed into a corner."

"Please! I don't need your advice."

Xander stepped between the two. He turned to face
Marika. "Ok, first of all, watch it. You aren't as hot
as you think you are. Buffy and Faith are alive because
they know what they're doing. Well, and Faith's been in
prison for a number of years. But that's beside the
point. They've both been in their share of corners and I
guarantee you they won't get caught there again. Second
of all, You had no business torturing these things."

"I wasn't-"

"Like hell you weren't! I saw you, little girl! You
had a chance to kill that thing, but you ripped its' arm
out and threw him- it aside. Maybe you didn't notice, but
it got up and attacked me. If you plan to slay, you slay.
If you plan to be some sort of monster yourself, then
leave and don't come back!" Xander gave her a look of
disgust before turning away.

Faith looked at her former sexual conquest. She was
surprised by his little speech. She was used to him
cracking jokes to lighten the mood, but he had just set
the girl straight, and made some good points while he did
it. He sounded almost like a Watcher. She smiled as he
said one more thing.

"Faith, make sure she," he gestured with his thumb
towards Marika, "doesn't get lost. Make sure she stays
with us. Let's go find Buffy and the others."

Faith motioned for Marika to follow Xander, taking up
the rear when Marika complied.

A few minutes later, they joined their friends.
Saving the story of their earlier adventure for a later
time, they quietly wandered the corridors.

Just as Giles was ready to call it quits, to go
looking for Laura instead of the mystery person, a door
opened. They could hear a familiar voice.

"Oh, I will, my dear. I intend to wait. Of course,
the result will have an ending that differs from the one
you'd like, but I will wait for your friends to come for
you."

The group stopped. Giles was about to say the
person's name when the man turned and faced them.

"Ripper! Good to see you, chap! I thought you'd
never get here."

"Ethan! What- Why-"

Raine interrupted. "Who, how, when? What order
would you like those answered?"

Buffy stepped forward. "I don't like you. I never
did. It's time you were held accountable for everything
you've done. I may not be able to dust you, but I'm about
to kick your ass."

Faith laughed. "Let me help, B. This bastard tried
to grab me once, before I ever came to SunnyD."

Giles laid a hand on Buffy's arm. "Wait. Ethan,
what are you doing? Are you telling me you've gone bad?
Not bad, but..."

"Nuts? Insane? That's what the old slayer keeps
calling me. No, Ripper, I'm as sane as I ever was."

"You do realize that you've gone too far?"

"Too far? Farther than drugging every adult in town?
Farther than turning every child in town into a monster
or what not? Now, now Rupert, give me some credit. I've
always had a purpose. Who'd think a bungling fool like me
could ever truly be a threat? I had you all fooled. Tell
me something. Did you know that I even tried to join your
precious Watcher circle? Your Council said I was an
incompetent moron."

Xander smirked. "Incompetent. Try Viagra, pal."

Marika groaned. "Incompetent, not impotent, you
idiot."

"I know that," Xander said, turning red. "You know
something? I don't like you very much little girl."

"People, people, people. As much as I'd like to
prolong our reunion, I have things to do. So, if you
don't mind, I'll take Miss Summers, the tart slayer, and
the girl."

Up to this point, Willow had remained silent. She
was concentrating. Something wasn't right. She knew the
whole thing was bad, but there was something wrong at this
instant. She spoke her words at the same time that Ethan
made his move.

Giles' old chum motioned towards Buffy and the other
girls. He motioned for them to come to him. To their
horror, they started walking. They each fought it, but
were compelled to keep moving.

Willow spoke at that second. "Be still."

Faith, Marika, and Buffy froze. Their bodies hurt. A
force was pulling them towards Ethan Raine while another
forced held them in place.

Giles made a move towards the man. He stopped short
when Ethan looked at him, his appearance changing.

Ethan looked down, then back at Giles. His eyes
glowed an emerald green. "You fool! Call off your witch.
She can't beat me. None of you can. Don't you see?
It's all been because of me! If I wished, I could blink
you all out of existence here and now. Her power is
childish compared to mine. I WILL have the slayers. The
rest of you shall die. When I've unlocked the secret of
the slayers, I'll create an army and bring down the
Council that you all think run your worlds. Now. Let. Me.
Have. Them!"

A mist started to rise from the ground where he
stood, as he started chanting under his breath. Willow
tried to hold her ground. She realized she was losing the
battle. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to try a
different spell, but feared that doing so would release
her hold on the slayers.

The ground started shaking. The ceiling started to
crack. Willow was determined to protect her friends at
all cost. She had almost ended their lives once and she
would make amends. Pieces of plaster started to fall,
bouncing off some force field that had gone up around the
group.

Raine raised his voice and starting speaking in a
voice that put chills through everyone. "DARME SUPIM
0LROM DRAME SLAYER DARME!" As he spoke, the field around
the group started to dissolve. The slayers all started
inching forward at the same time.

Willow increased her efforts, lowering her voice in
contrast to that of her adversary. "Still. Hold. Be
still. Calm. Freeze," she continued chanting, although
the magic of the other was much stronger. All Willow was
doing was slowing down the inevitable.

The foundation of the building started quaking.
Raine's eyes glowed deeper green than they'd ever gone.
Before long, they started to become transparent. Blood
began to appear from the pores on his body. He continued
chanting. A surge of energy gave him the boost he needed.
He stood to his full height. "DARME SUPIM 0LROM DRAME
SLAYER DARME!DARME SUPIM 0LROM DRAME SLAYER DARME!"

Giles and Xander both cried out, unaware of the tears
they were both shedding over what was about to happen.
Marika screamed. Willow's forces vanished as she
collapsed to the dusty floor. The three slayers rushed
towards Raine against there will.

The creature that had masqueraded as Ethan Raine for
so long laughed maniacally. It stood even taller, tearing
the skin of the body that had agreed to host it so many
years ago. "DARME SUPIM 0LROM DRAME SLAYER DARME!DARME
SUP-"

Suddenly, everything stopped. No quakes, no shakes,
no plaster, no ceiling cracks, no slayers moving against
their free will. They all stared at the motionless form
of the thing that had almost ended their lives, lying on
the floor.

The sound of a board dropping, clattering on the
floor was followed by a very disheveled woman stepping out
of the room that moments before Raine himself had emerged
from.

"Mom!" Marika cried, running forward, throwing her
arms around the woman who had just saved them.

"He really pissed me off," Laura told them.

For some reason, Buffy thought that was funny. She
stared laughing. Giles tried to contain his laughter, and
it almost escaped him. He stopped when he realized that
Raine was moving and chanting again. They could feel the
ground starting to move.

Willow sat up, having come to seconds earlier. She
quickly took it all in. She pointed at Raine, softly
speaking. "A man he was, and dust he'll be," her voice
was rising, "BE NO MORE SAYS LITTLE OLD ME!"

One nanosecond he was there, the next he wasn't.
Giles stared in wonder at the floor where Ethan had been.
Xander looked at Willow. "Little old me? Are those the
new magic words?"

Willow just smiled and shrugged. "He pissed me off,
too."

Faith moved over to the spot, rubbing it with her
boot. "Red? Where'd he go? Can he get back?"

Willow sighed. "I got rid of the demon that had him.
Ethan's somewhere far away. He won't be bothering us
again for a long time. A very long time.."

Just then, they heard a muffled cry come from
another room. Hurrying in, they found a very young Slith
bound and gagged in a corner.

Giles released the child thing, and tried to comfort it.
While they were discussing taking him back to his home,
three mature Slith walked around the corner. Soundlessly,
two of them took the child and left. The third took
Willow aside and placed it's head against hers. Willow
smiled. The Slith returned her smile, then followed the
others from the building.

"What was that about," asked Buffy.

"He gave me John's memories. I can't access them, but
I can give them back to John."

Laura squealed in delight. "Let's go. I want my
husband back!"

As they all made their way to the warehouse exit,
Giles held Willow back. "Willow, I don't know what
happened here, but I have a feeling your training just
came in more handy than I ever would have imagined." He
pulled her into a quick hug. "I'm very proud of you."

Back at the Summer's house, everyone gathered around
Willow and John. The witch placed her forehead against
John's, much like the Slith had done to her. She whispered
some words to John, words that no one else could hear.
When she was done, John went to sleep.

"Well, that's it. All we can do now is wait for him
to wake up."

Laura sat on the bed. "I'm going to lay with him and
wait."

Her daughter sat on the other side. "I want to sit,
too, ok?"

The Scoobies gave the family some privacy, going back
downstairs.

Xander said his goodbyes, heading home. Willow asked
if she could join him.

Left alone, Buffy waited for Giles to finish his
phone call.

Giles hung up the phone almost an hour later. Buffy
knew from the look on his face that something was wrong.
She sat next to him, waiting.

"Buffy, they were wrong. The pregnancy theory is a
fake."

"A fake? What do you mean?"

"That was Amberly. It would seem Merrick
fabricated the whole story. The Council found another
journal. Merrick tells how he tried to free his slayer,
to get her out of the Council's grasp. He didn't know how
they would react to the pregnancy. An accident gave him a
way out. It seems that the idea of a pregnant slayer
truly was troublesome to the Council of that day. They
found an electrical demon to kill her. Someone informed
Merrick of the plan. He watched as Laura died at the
hands of the demon. He then killed the demon and
resuscitated Laura. He told the Council that she was dead
and made arrangements to keep her from being found. He
didn't have the heart to tell her that she had died, even
for a moment. When she wanted to know how she could
possibly give up slaying, he concocted the whole pregnancy
story."

A startled cry made the Slayer and Watcher turn.
They saw Laura standing behind them.

"I remember! I was fighting a vamp and was grabbed
from behind. When I woke up, he told me I was unconscious
for a few minutes. It wasn't too long after that that he
forced me into that van with John and chased us away.
Why? Why would he do that?"

Buffy went to the older woman, putting her arms
around her for comfort. "Trust me, it was probably better
that way. I've died twice, remember? It's not easy to
live with. It's really hard to keep on going when you
know you've already defeated all this slayer crap. I
can't tell you how many times I almost let myself get
killed when I was fighting. All because I wanted some
peace in my life. I can't imagine trying to deal with
that and with being pregnant at the same time. I knew
Merrick. He was a good man. He did what he thought was
best for you."

"You're right. I'll get over it. I have to. I came
down to tell you that Ari's waking up."

Giles stood up. "That's good. I'll come up shortly
and check on him."

When Laura was out of sight, Buffy had a question for
Giles. "If it's true, if it was all a lie, I'm bothered
by something. Why didn't the Council find out it was a
lie sooner? I just don't feel right about this. I don't
know. Maybe it's because I like the idea that there is a
way out, that I was almost out when I was-" she paused.
"When I was pregnant. Maybe it's just wishful thinking."

Giles held out a hand, helping Buffy to her feet. "I
would guess that that's exactly what it is. You're
bringing up old feelings over the child you lost. I would
imagine that it is indeed 'wishful thinking.' Amberly saw
the journal, the one with the confession. She was quite
pleased to find that the Council could stop worrying about
the secret, the pregnancy clause as it were, would be
found out."

Buffy shrugged. "I guess. Come on, let's go check
on John."

The Watcher watched her walk away. She had grown so
much since he first met her. He had done the right thing,
leaving her and Dawn. She had grown so much. He'd
learned a lot about her in the last few days. He couldn't
imagine living with the loss of a child, an unborn child
at that. That wasn't quite true. He had lived with
losing a child. Twice. He'd be sure to tell her that he
loved her before he returned home. Everything would be
fine. Life was almost good for a change. It was good to
know that there was such a thing as a happy ending.
-------------------------------------

On some deserted island, in the middle of some ocean, Ethan
Raine was calling out for help. He'd awakened, surrounded
by nonperishable food items, a small hut, and everything else
he'd need to survive on the island. The only thing he didn't
have was the knowledge of how he'd ended up on the
island to start with. Come to think of it, he didn't remember
much of anything that had happened in the last fifteen years
or so.
------------------------------------------

Thousands of miles away, across the Atlantic Ocean, on
a hill overlooking miles and miles of empty fields, stood
a castle. In the highest window of the highest turret of
the castle, a light shined through. In the room from
which the light came, a woman sat behind a large mahogany
desk. She looked up as the man walked into the room.

"I have them, Miss."

She held out her hand. "Let me see them." She took
the two leather bound books from her assistant. Opening
them, she compared the handwriting. She could see no
difference in the two, and she was trained to see any such
differences. Keeping one of the books, she handed the
original back to her assistant.

"Here. Put this in the fire."

"I beg your pardon, Miss?"

"You heard me. Put it in the fire. Make sure it
burns. I don't want anyone else getting their hands on
it. That damned pregnancy has cost us enough. I don't
plan on losing anymore because of it."

The assistant did as he was told. He placed the book
in the middle of the fire, using the poker to ensure that
every page burned. When there was no evidence of the
journal, the woman dismissed the assistant.

Turning back to her desk, she opened the magnificent
copy of Merrick's journal. She put the other book back
in her desk drawer, locking the drawer with the only key
there was. As she stood up, ready to go home, she
smiled. Yes, Amberly Hampton was extremely pleased
with herself.



END (?)