I realized that I forgot the disclaimer in the last chapter, mea culpa.

Disclaimer: All BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and Co. Original ones are mine.

Thank you everyone for the support. I am most grateful.

I realize that I can't please all of the people all of the time, so I may as well please myself. But hopefully, in the process, I have entertained you.

Thanks again.

Willow didn't get to the Magic Box until almost noon. She'd wanted to get an earlier start but she'd had to answer a whole hoard of questions. And she had answered most of them. But she didn't tell them about the magic; not really. For months now magic had been her enemy, the addiction she didn't dare give in to even though it was now a part of her. But last night she'd seen that it could be her friend. That she could use it without loosing herself. She'd slept peacefully for the first time in ages.

It took her a while to find the books she needed. She cleared a space and began her search for the answer.

Jezeil was sitting in his favorite chair reading a book when the door burst open and Willow rushed in. He looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"I know what we have to do to defeat the First," she said

Putting down his book Jezeil nodded with satisfaction. "I knew you would figure it out.:

"But I don't know how to do it. There doesn't seem to be a spell that will do the job."

"Not by itself. But I believe we're about to have our answer."

A demon materialized in the room. Willow had seen her among the Hamatra. She placed a wooden box down on the coffee table."

"Any problems?" Jezeil asked her.

"Nothing major. He'll be walking in a week, two weeks tops."

"Excellent. Amaya this is Willow Rosenberg. Willow, Amaya."

Willow gave a little wave, "Hi."

Amaya just smiled. To Jezeil she said, "Just give me a ring when you're ready." Giving Willow a little wave she teleported out.

Jezeil opened the box and took out a large milky white crystal. "This is our solution."

"Great, let's go do it now."

"It's not that simple. This solution cannot be chosen; it must be compelled. We will have to force it."

Willow knelt down by the table. "Force it. That sounds dangerous."

"It is. But it's much better than the alternative. There's one other thing. Only you, Amaya and I can know about this. If the First were to get even an inkling of what we're up to..."

"I know. Big trouble. So what exactly do we have to do?"

Buffy sat down on a bench and licked her ice cream cone. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a carefree moment. Out here in the sun she could pretend anyway.

Riley Finn sat down on the bench next to her. "Glad to see you're back to your old self. How re you feeling? Are you okay?"

Buffy smiled at him. "Yeah, I am okay. In fact I feel better than I have in weeks. I guess I should have spent an hour as a turtle days ago."

Riley shook his head. "I still can't believe he did that. You've got to be careful Buffy. He is dangerous."

"You're right. He is dangerous. But not to me. He was right. I had forgotten what's made us strong, what's kept us all alive. We're a team Riley and we're going to start behaving like one again." She popped the end of her cone in her mouth and smiled at him.

"Okay Buff. I trust you to do the right thing. There is one thing that still worries me though. What about Spike? Since the chip is gone he might not stay with the good guys."

Buffy laughed. "That's the one thing that I'm not worrying about. I've got news for you Riley. He's human."

"What? That's not possible. Did Jezeil do some kind of spell?"

"Nope. It's the sword. The one he had last night. It has a spirit in it that can't stand evil. When he drew the sword the demon got the boot and his life came back."

Riley leaned back on the bench. "Wow. Are you sure, I mean it could be an illusion."

"No illusion soldier boy."

Riley looked up at William who was standing in the sunlight.

"Now, why don't you push off. Go take your wife out. Poor thing probably hasn't had any fun since she married you."

Riley stood and looked down at William. "You may be human but I'll still be keeping an eye on you."

"I'm all atremble."

Riley looked over at Buffy and said, "You call me if you need anything. I gave our number to Dawn." After one last look at William he walked away.

William watched him leave a small smile on his face. "Soldier boy's still the same."

"I can see he still rubs you the wrong way."

"Yeah. I still feel the same way about a lot of people."

Buffy frowned and said, "I'm sorry about what I said last night, I didn't mean..."

William waved it away. "Don't worry about it pet. It's forgotten. You all right? No urge to crawl into a shell or attack a lettuce?"

"No, no desire for lettuce. Jezeil is pretty amazing isn't he?"

William sat down next to her. "You don't know the half of it. I knew the first time I saw him that he was worth knowing."

"When was that? Were you already a vampire?"

"Oh yes. We'd just come back from China, Angelus, Darla, Dru, and I. Angelus decided he wanted some rich food so we went and lurked outside this posh restaurant in Mayfair. We'd been there about 20 minutes when this man comes out. You could see by his clothes that he wasn't hurting for money. He turned away from us and started down the street and we followed. He turned into an alley, which was perfect for us. Angelus moved ahead, ready to spring. Then the man stopped and turned. We could see his face clearly in the bright moonlight. He wasn't the least bit afraid. Angelus stopped short and then he took two steps back. I moved ahead, got a look at Angelus' face and I couldn't believe it. He was scared. The terror of Europe was terrified. The man looked at each of us then turned his back and left.

"Angelus was in a foul mood for the rest of the night so I waited until Dru and I were alone to ask her about the man. She didn't want to tell me but I insisted. Finally she told me that the man was a sorcerer named Jezeil. She also said I should stay away from him. You know me, that just made me want to meet this man again. But I didn't, not for many years."

"What did he do that scared Angelus?"

"Can't tell you. Dru didn't know. Apparently Angelus wasn't telling. Not that I blame old Peaches for that. Don't want to go around tellin' people how you got scared. They might stop showin' proper respect.

"Maybe you can ask Angel. He'd probably tell you."

"I don't think I need to know that badly. They've got other things to worry about in L.A..

"William, what are you going to do in London?"

William shrugged his shoulders. "We'll have to see. Everyone in the Hamatra has a life outside of the group. Lenore makes jewelry, Philippe and Marie have a vineyard in the south of France and Jezeil teaches and potters around the garden. I'll just have to find my place."

Looking down at her hands Buffy said, "I guess it'll be nice for you, being back home?"

"Not quite the way I left it luv. But yeah, it'll be nice." He turned to look at her. "Why are you looking at me that way?"

"Sorry. It's just that you look different, not so pale anymore." She lifted her hand, then paused. "Do you mind?"

He shook his head so she laid her hand on his chest over his heart. His heartbeat was steady and strong. Their eyes met for a moment and she pulled her hand away.

"I have to go back to work. Lots of troubled kids to help."

She got up and walked quickly away, leaving William sitting on the bench, a thoughtful look on his face.