Epilogue:

While it wasn't the first time he saw them in action, it still surprised him how well the group fought together. The, once disorganized, group seemed to have come a long way in the time since Sunnydale had been destroyed. He was standing in the cover of the fresh-smelling trees, that surrounded what had minutes ago turned into a battlefield, when he turned to the woman standing next to him.

"And?" He knew the short question would suffice to inform his partner of what he wanted to know, and indeed she didn't disappoint him.

"They're pretty good but I doubt they're good enough yet if what we suspect is true."

Their suspicion, it had been coming for a long time, and now it seemed as if their worst fears might actually be confirmed. "Maybe she wants to talk about something else."

To make him retract those words, all she needed to do was turn her head towards him with a slightly incredulous expression.

"Okay, you're right there isn't anything else she could possibly want, but there's no law against hope."

They continued watching the fight as it played out before them. The group of Slayers, Watchers, and assorted friends had created a trap in order to try and kill this group of demons; who had been terrorizing this neighborhood for the past month. When the demons had gotten word that they might have a chance at taking out three of the Slayers patrolling the Hellmouth, they had jumped at the opportunity. Hours later they had shown up here, where their contact had informed them was the best chance to deal with the Slayers.

Never before had those contacts been influenced by Slayers, so the demons hadn't suspected a thing until it was too late. When they had moved in to kill the bait, the other humans had suddenly appeared from their hiding places, and the battle had started. As he watched, one of the Slayers was hit by a particular big demon and with a hard crack landed against one of the trees across from their position. He didn't see which of those replaceable girls it was, but an angry cry of "Kennedy!" followed by the explosion of what had once been a living demon told him it was the witch's lover.

Looking over the battlefield he searched for several of the people that he personally believed to have some significance in the greater scheme of things. He had just discovered the rogue Slayer, when a noise behind him made him duck. The demon that had tried to surprise the two of them was big, not as big perhaps as the one that had struck the Slayer named Kennedy earlier but still close to eight feet tall. He didn't know whether this particular specimen was a member of the group fighting on the battlefield, but frankly he couldn't care less.

Wondering why his friend hadn't already dealt with this one he looked over at her and found his answer. The demon had not come alone and right now the woman was dealing with the other one. His moment of inattention almost cost him, as he was almost too late in discovering that the fool facing him had enough brains to use a weapon.

Jumping aside, he managed to evade the huge battle-axe that crashed into the ground, only moments after he had departed that particular location. Even this unexpected twist didn't particularly worry him, after all he wasn't going to die at the hands of some pitiful freak of nature, that should have known better than attempt to attack him.

With a smoothness that showed his familiarity with the action he allowed one of his silver-inlaid knives to drop into his hands. His opponent clearly didn't like how calm he remained, under what was supposed to be a dangerous onslaught, and started making more noise than he was comfortable with.

Realizing he needed to finish this, before those on the battlefield would want to know what the noise was about; he dove under the next swing of the huge weapon and ended up behind the demon. Driving the knife through the kneecaps of his opponents was something he had often trained on, and while the demon's skin was of a tough variety, he had no real trouble in succeeding here.

As the foolish monster's legs could no longer carry the weight of its body, it crashed to the ground, keening in surprise and pain. The blood that coated his knife was one of the worst smells he had ever encountered, and he was forced to waste a moment to pushing back the reflex to gag. There was no time to wait however and he walked to the demon that had been nice enough to fall on its chest leaving the back totally unprotected.

Standing next to its head he was soon informed that the demon wasn't completely helpless yet, as one of its massive arms tried to grab his legs. Jumping over the clumsy attempt he landed on the back of the creature and immediately bent through his knees in an attempt to keep his balance. Killing it however was still only the secondary objective, and he had no idea how to achieve that effect on this one anyway. On the other hand, he did know how to shut it up, and he did so by driving his foul-smelling knife through the back of its neck, severing the vocal cords located there.

Judging by the way the demon suddenly went completely still he must have done more than that. Which meant he had probably destroyed part of the peripheral nervous system as well. That ensured the creature was no longer a threat to him, and he might as well wait for his friend to finish off her opponent. She had always been better then him in recognizing the different demonic species, and would undoubtedly know how to kill this one.

A glance in her direction showed him that she didn't need his help, so sacrificing one of his handkerchiefs he cleaned his knife while watching the rest of the battle. When he caught sight of his favorite Slayer he decided to watch her as she fought the demons that were unlucky enough to face her. Noticing the confident way she moved through the carnage, he dwelled for a moment on how different she was now from when she had first arrived in Sunnydale; fleeing from Kakistos only to find herself in an even worse situation. Some of her actions during that time were understandable while others… He shook his head for a moment until he heard his companion calling his name.

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you kill this one?"

"I don't know how to kill it fast, and I'm not some butcher that tries different methods when you would most likely know how to deal with it."

"Well, given enough time it will probably die of asphyxiation but unless you think that's necessary I'll speed it up a little."

"I don't care, as long as something as stupid as that doesn't breed, any solution will do."

"I'm sure it would thank you for that kindness had it still been able to speak."

The sarcasm that colored those words made him look away from the riveting sight of Faith decapitating one of her opponents and look at the woman now standing next to the demon. Raising an eyebrow in a way he had copied of Spock when he had first seen the TV character perform it he spoke. "Is something wrong?"

"Is something wrong? Is something wrong?"

"There is no need to repeat my words, twice, you seem upset about something and I doubt it's that fool in front of you."

"My dress, you moron! Look at it, it's ruined."

Looking closely at his usually impeccably dressed companion he did indeed notice a slight smirch on her dress. "I can hardly see it, what's wrong with it?"

"You may not mind walking around dressed like a vagabond, but I have always maintained a standard, and I don't intent to show up at the meeting dressed like this."

Uttering a sigh in defeat he realized he had never stood a chance in this discussion, and decided he might as well surrender. "Very well, we'll leave as soon as the battle is over. That way you should have enough time to change."

"Don't do me any favors."

But he wasn't paying attention anymore, as he was once again scouting the field for the reason he had come here. And now finally he had found them, he had expected to find them where the most demons were, but hadn't counted on the fact by now the demons had recognized them as well.

The two brunettes, one male and one female, seemed to be at the center of a group that was trying to get away from them. It was strange how the demons were more afraid of two relatively normal humans then the overpowered Slayers. Of course, he had always considered the Slayers as mere pawns in a huge and complicated chess game, but for some strange reason the demons had still considered them to be the main threat.

"Have you found them yet?" The blonde next to him asked.

"Yes." Pointing out the two he had only just discovered he continued speaking. "It's most gratifying to realize how the demons have finally discovered that it's not the Slayers they should fear."

A rather un-ladylike snort was his answer to that. "You only say that because you're too young to remember a time before those British fools got their grubby little hands on them. When they still had decent guidance they were a force to be reckoned with."

"I too have seen the paintings, but I have trouble imagining they were ever like that."

"Don't let your preconceptions cloud your judgment Valen, even with only a slightly diminished influence of the Council, the Summers girl achieved more than most of her recent predecessors combined."

"Perhaps but that doesn't mean what I said isn't correct. In the past centuries the Slayers haven't achieved that much, most of the losses on the side of the demons came from infighting or mistakes on their part."

"True," She acknowledged, and he went back to looking at the ongoing battle. So far none of the Slayers, or their allies, had died and the only heavily wounded person on their side was the one he had seen flying earlier. However, from what he could see he doubted that had caused any permanent damage, and with the battle practically over he didn't expect any other casualties.

"Who do you think scares the demons more? The Key or the Seer?"

His friend had to think that over before answering. "I don't think they see any difference between the two. While the girl has a weapon that is more then capable of killing anything she might face, the boy is just plain scary in his determination to protect his friends and kill their enemies."

"Yes, you might very well be right about that. And to think I had a hand in this rebirth of them." Valen pretended to wipe away a tear of happiness. "That just makes me so happy."

The slap he received actually hurt a little, and rubbing the spot she hit him he turned to the woman. "Alice! What was that for?"

"You were being ridiculous, their present situation isn't something you should be happy about. Especially when you consider what the girl's future holds, now that she has bonded with the dagger. Their fates aren't something you should joke about."

"Oh come on, you can't deny she seemed to enjoy the immediate effects. If she doesn't realize there must be some downsides to all that, she shouldn't have survived this long."

"Of course she knows about the effects, that's the whole point of the artifact. Don't you ever listen when things are explained to you?"

"I do listen and I know she knows that you know that I know that…" Another slap cut off that attempt at levity, and he decided to give up and watch the fight. When Alice was worried about her clothes there was nothing that could be done to cheer her up until she wanted to.

"Do you know where they got those suits?" Were the words his friend used to break through the silence, that had endured for several minutes after their disagreement.

"No idea, but they seem to be based on the ones the two of them wore during their sojourn into that temple."

"Well, at least they're trying to prepare themselves for what's to come, even if they're wrong about the source of their trouble."

"Are you certain they're wrong?" He wasn't really paying attention to the conversation anymore but he knew that statement would start her ranting. Meanwhile he thought about what the two children had done since he had sent them on that mission. They had actually managed to instill some discipline in the group, and introduced new techniques and weapons that were based on things they had seen while in Torala's home.

He was also rather fond of the way they had 'appropriated' the money for all of that. It was about time they realized that it wasn't only demons that could be evil. Of course, his personal favorite thing that had happened to them was the little joke he had played on them, and despite what Alice said it was a good one. After all, nobody got hurt, everybody enjoyed themselves and he got a good laugh out of it. What more could anyone desire?

"Why are you grinning like that?" That comment caused him to quickly lose the grin he hadn't even known had appeared on his face. "You were thinking about your stupid joke again, weren't you?"

"Actually, yes." Why should he be afraid to admit to something that he'd liked? Especially the look on the boy's face, when he realized what was about to happen, was one memory that he savored.

A noise that from experience he could translate as one of disgust at his actions was all the reaction he got, and if he was honest to himself he was rather happy with that. She could be rather heavy-handed when it came to putting him in his place, and he didn't want to deal with that before going to the meeting.

He turned his focus back to the fight when he noticed it had ended, and the Slayers were starting to search the surrounding area, which would eventually include their position.

"We have to go."

"Finally." Was the relieved answer he received but then when she noticed him throwing the handkerchief on the ground, Alice had more to say. "Pick that up."

"What?"

"That hankie, pick it up."

"I used it to clean my knife, I'm not going to pick it up again. Do you have any idea how much it stinks?"

The gaze she then directed at him made him remember that despite everything, she was a lot older than him, and more than capable of hurting him. "Pick. It. Up."

"But why?"

"Our business is improving the world, and as we both know that starts with yourself."

"Oh come on, you know I always skip the first steps of everything I do."

If he had believed the gaze she had directed at him before was bad, the way she glared at him now proved him wrong, and he had to swallow in an attempt to wet his suddenly parched throat a little.

"You know, I just thought about it. The way people are capable of getting fingerprints and stuff from the strangest things, makes me wonder if it might not be best if I took the handkerchief along."

The way she sniffed at that lame excuse made him cringe a little on the inside but he made certain not to show it. As if he would admit he might possibly have been wrong about not wanting to bring the stinking thing along. Bending over, he decided to simply throw it in the first possible trashcan, even if that was inside someone's house.

. . . .

The meeting. Now that they were so close to actually being there, the nerves he had on first hearing about it came back. This wasn't the normal meeting that was held every decade, that one was still 3 years away, which made this a 'special' meeting. The last, and only other special meeting he had gone to, had concerned the plans of the United States to use nuclear weaponry in their spat with Japan. That had been the first special meeting in over 300 years and he didn't like it that now, a scant six decades later, there was another one.

Valen looked at the woman next to him, now once again impeccably dressed in the dress she had collected from her shop, and wondered how she felt about this. Surely she must be calmer then he was, considering she must have gone to quite a lot of these meetings. But while it wasn't exactly warm the slight way her hands were shaking was out of proportion to the weather. Especially considering the way she was normally able to simply ignore the cold.

"No, I'm not alright." His eyes widened slightly at her words, had she read his mind?

"Nor did I read your mind."

"Then how?"

"While you are adept at hiding your nervousness from others, I can always tell, and the way you looked at me could only mean you wanted to know how I was feeling about this."

"But why are you nervous? You must have gone to dozens of these meetings."

Alice stopped walking and turned to him. "There has never been a pleasant reason for them, and while I personally hope this is about some kind of new and destructive weapon humanity has created, I fear it is what we talked about several weeks ago."

That made his nervousness even worse, that talk was still fresh in his memory, and if all of their suspicions were right it was linked closely to the two people they had just observed, and the things that had taken place during that month in the summer. As he was closely involved in that, he was starting to consider the reasons why it might be his fault.

His friend however seemed to sense this, and tried to lay his fears to rest. "Don't worry, you were working under orders at the time and nobody could possibly blame you for the current situation. Now come on, let's think about more positive things. I couldn't help but notice that you're no longer wearing your bad-taste suit, is that because of the meeting or are you considering an identity change again?"

Grateful for her words, even though they hadn't completely laid his fears to rest, he answered Alice. "Both actually, I ordered a complete set of these suits for my new identity, and decided to wear the first one that was finished to the meeting."

"So why did you decide that you needed a change of identity?"

"You said yourself how determined the two of them are, and while that isn't the whole reason it did play a part." He paused for a moment, licking his lips while thinking how to best formulate his next words. "There are two other reasons for the change, and I'm pretty sure that you'll find one of them ridiculous, but the other is that I have a feeling that it'll be necessary for me to have access to places a vagrant can't access."

"I thought you said that bums could go anywhere without being noticed?"

"Almost anywhere, the top-secret stuff is harder to access."

"Well, I must personally say that I like this new identity. You smell better, you look better and you don't have that annoying way of talking anymore."

"Why, didn't you like that?" was the only thing he said, before ducking under her swing and laughing once he had reached a safe distance.

"Once you've stopped laughing at your own antics, why don't we walk on?" Alice asked him, but he could see she had some trouble herself keeping from laughing as well.

"Alright, but you have to admit it was rather funny."

"Your sense of humor still hasn't evolved to a level where I can appreciate it." She claimed with her nose held high in a manner meant to indicate how much above all this she felt herself. A move that was perfectly executed and told of a lot of experience in doing so, the only thing that ruined it was the way her eyes twinkled in barely contained mirth.

"If you say so milady, will I be allowed to escort you to your destination anyway?"

A light sniff of superiority punctuated her next statement. "While in ordinary circumstances a lady of mine stature would never allow herself to be seen with the likes of thee, I seemeth to have misplaced mine noble escort. Therefore it will be permitted for thee to accompany mine noble person to mine destination, so that thou mayest keep any ruffians that we might encounter from mine person."

Duly impressed with her performance Valen complimented her. "You're pretty good at that. In what region did they speak like that?"

"I'm not sure anymore, and to be honest I think that I've made a couple of mistakes, but that happens when you haven't spoken a dialect for some centuries. By the way, with all this fooling around you still haven't told me what your new name will be."

"Ah, ah, I'm not going to tell you that. You'll find out with the rest at the meeting, that's after all the way it should be."

"Spoilsport."

But the good mood their antics had created lasted the rest of their trip, and Valen thanked whatever deity might exist that he had such a good friend as Alice, to ease the burden of his long years.

. . . .

"Alice! Valen! Come in, you're still early especially considering the two of you."

"Ha, ha Rufus, you're as funny as ever. Why don't you give us some of that poison you're drinking and shut up?"

They entered the lounge where they were greeted by the others that had arrived before them, while a smiling Rufus did indeed hand them two glasses with whatever concoction he had thought up this time. Carefully sniffing at the glass Valen thought he could detect a floral scent, roses perhaps? And some other things as well, but nothing that seemed especially dangerous and he decided to risk it.

When the liquid entered his mouth he noticed the peculiar taste but couldn't really place it. So far he had not encountered anything that would explain why everyone was looking at him broad smiles on their faces, until suddenly his eyes began to water and he began to sweat incredibly. Spitting the stuff out he grabbed a glass of water, that had been thoughtfully handed by someone he couldn't recognize through the liquid obscuring his eyes.

"What kind of idiot puts red peppers in a drink?"

"I admit, it is something of an acquired taste but really, I didn't expect your reaction to be that extreme. Haven't you had any spicy food lately?"

He glared at his supposed friend before joining the laughter that the rest of the room had indulged in. "How did you come up with a drink as ridiculous as this?"

"Well that is kind of a convoluted story, but if you are really interested I'll tell you." And he spun a tale that indeed proved to be rather strange and twisted concerning a pepper export business he had acquired, several tribes of people in South-America, a particular nasty drug lord and the Columbian authorities. Like all the stories Rufus told about his various drinks, it was entertaining, but didn't explain how he came by it or what went into it.

"That," Valen said while clinking his crystal glass against that of his friend, "was one load of rubbish and we both know it. But it was well told my friend."

"Thank you, now I've heard rumors about something you did to a couple of children during the summer. Can you tell us what that is about?"

A grin split open his face while he reached in his pocket. "I can do better then that, I've brought a recording."

"No! You really shouldn't show them that Valen."

Before he could protest Vyvyan cut her off. "Don't be like that woman, we want to see this."

"It's not British humor so I doubt you'll find it funny. But really Valen, you can't do that. While I might admit there was some humor in it, I don't think it is fair to the kids if you show that to everybody."

"Wait a minute, you've seen it?" That came from Rufus, always vocal in matters like these.

"Yes, but…"

"Oh no, you will not lecture us when you have seen it while we haven't. We will watch it as well. Valen put it on." Vyvyan, always interested in jokes, had the last word.

. . . .

Xander and Dawn entered the hotel they had stayed in before they had left for Torala's house, while still thinking about everything that had happened to them. He wasn't happy about the fact that they had not been allowed to take any of the weaponry, let alone the suits, with them, but he could understand the sorceress's reasoning. Especially if she knew what they thought of her, something he had no doubt she was aware of. Moving to the desk he asked for the key to their room, when he was summarily informed they were no longer staying in that room.

"What do you mean? You've kicked us out?"

"Not at all," The prim attendant informed him, "but apparently Sir has forgotten he sent his friend to ask if Sir and Madam could be transferred to another room."

"Friend?"

"Yes sir, and while it is not in my nature to say so, might I add that Sir's friend was not the kind of person we like to see in this hotel." The look he gave them made it clear that, had they not been capable of paying for a room in one of the most expensive hotels in the city without using it for several weeks, they would have been kicked out for that transgression.

"Let me guess, he showed up looking like a vagrant, probably in a green shirt and some kind of hideous baseball cap?"

"Indeed, Sir remembers his friend."

Valen, what had that annoying creature done this time? Looking at Dawn he noticed her eyes held the same wariness he was feeling, but there was no choice, it was late and if they wanted to sleep it would obviously be in whatever room they had now.

"Okay, please give me the key to the new room then."

After the attendant had handed over the key, he looked at it and asked for directions to the room, which he received followed by a comment that made him suspicious again. "I do wish Sir and Madam to have the most pleasant of nights."

Walking to the waiting elevator he punched in the button for the top floor before asking his friend's opinion.

"I have no idea, but we might be lucky and it's something nice?" Yeah right, Xander didn't need to actually answer that, as he was sure she was having the same thoughts.

Eventually they arrived at their floor, and with great reluctance he followed the young woman out of the elevator. Looking around for their room they walked to it before Xander used the cardkey to disengage the electronic lock. After opening the door, the first thing he noticed was the smell of roses, followed closely by the realization that dozens of candles that had been lighted around the room.

"Move it, I want to see as well."

Walking into the room, he didn't even think about the fact that Dawn would have been more than capable of seeing everything inside the room from where she had been standing. All his attention however, had been drawn to the four-poster bed that was the centerpiece of the room, and the note stuck to one of the posts with a knife.

Still in shock at this sudden strange turn of events he walked to the note in a daze and read it. When he encountered the post scriptum at the end, his eye widened in disbelief but when he turned to Dawn he found her wearing a feral smile, and not much else, before she pounced at him.

. . . .

"Oh that was wonderful, you'd almost feel sorry for the guy." Vyvyan crowed when Valen had paused the image.

Others in the room agreed with him, Rufus being the loudest. "I agree with that sentiment completely, she didn't look like the type to allow him even a moments rest."

"The poor girl didn't have a choice in the matter." That loud comment by Alice silenced everyone.

"What do you mean?" Arya asked, concerned about the young girl.

"She wasn't in control when it came to that. In order to protect the Harris boy from the dagger Torala had placed him under its protection, and when the girl bonded with the weapon..."

She barely had time to finish that sentence when Chani turned to Valen and asked him. "You didn't?"

He felt a smile creeping over his face when he told her. "I did."

With a shout of glee she ran to him and gave him a hug, one that was soon joined by most of the others in the room. "That's wonderful, I remember when Eventine and I did something similar to a guy in…" The woman looked confused for a moment and looked at her co-conspirator of that time for help which he provided.

"1269 I believe, to that stuffy guy and his wife from Paris."

"Yeah, that's it. Did you remember that?" Chani asked of Valen.

"I must confess that was indeed the inspiration for this particular joke, but there's more to it, which is next on the recording."

"There's more? What are we waiting for? Let's watch it." Rufus told the rest while quickly moving back to his prime viewing spot.

The others all quickly agreed with him, except for Alice, who remained where she was. Somewhere, Valen only now realized, that offered a good view of the screen depicting the recording. When he looked at her in shock he could once again see the mirth dancing in her eyes, and her slow wink confirmed that she'd had no intention to stop their viewing pleasure.

He turned back to the screen intending to let the show go on when Arya spoke up. "Wait!"

Numerous exclamations of disagreement with that request roared their heads, but she simply waited until they had quieted before she spoke again. "We still don't know what was on the note."

This time the sound was one of agreement telling Valen he should really divulge that information. "Okay, I'll tell you. It wasn't all that spectacular but this is what it said." Closing his eyes he recited the short message he had written on the note. "Dear Xander and Dawn, thank you for what you have done. Regards, Valen. P.S. Have fun."

"Have fun? You told them to have fun?" At his confirming nod, Vyvyan roared in laughter. "No wonder he had that expression on his face. He must have realized what was about to happen, even though it was already far too late. You, my friend, are evil and I must admit that I like it. Now show us the rest of what happened."

. . . .

Entering the posh-looking hotel Faith wondered how the two wayward scoobies could afford to stay here, and apparently her fellow Slayer had the same thought as she queried Willow. "Will, are you sure this is the right place? It doesn't look like somewhere either of them would stay."

"This is where the police report said he was staying." It might have only been her imagination but she had a feeling even Red herself was starting to doubt how right that information was. She wasn't the only one to notice this though, and an argument was started in the middle of the lobby causing all eyes to turn to them.

"Guys? Why don't we ask the nice guy at the desk if X-man and the brat are here? Y'know, the one that looks like he wants to throw us out?"

"She's not a brat." B hissed at her, but having heard that several times already Fath didn't pay any attention to it, and just followed the blonde to the desk.

"And who, pray tell, is your sister?" The way the stuffy suit corrected B's unintentional assumption that everyone knew her was rather funny if you thought about it, which of course Faith did.

"Summers, Dawn Summers. She's here with Xander Harris." The blonde gritted through her teeth, obviously not nearly as amused as Faith was.

"Ah yes, I know Sir and Madam. They just arrived back yesterday and are at present still in their room."

Sir and Madam? How had they gotten this guy to talk about them like that?

"I should have realized you were here for them. After all it is not the first time one of their unsavory friends shows up."

"Unsavory?" That had come from Red and once again she had to contain her laughter. Coming on this trip sure seemed to prove a good idea, just what she needed. This guy sure knew how to push all their buttons, well except for hers but that was just because she had been called worse. At least, she thought so. Not knowing the exact meaning of unsavory didn't help, but she was pretty certain the stuffy suit wouldn't throw words around that might shock the costumers.

"Sir and Madam have not informed me they wanted to remain undisturbed, nonetheless I do believe that would be preferable. I would therefore ask if you would like to return at a later time when I have informed them of your wish to visit." The guy told them before turning to help someone else, someone who, in his opinion, was obviously far more important. If it hadn't been for the fact that she was used to being treated like that she might have feel slighted, but she just followed the others to the chairs located on the other side of the lobby.

"It's times like this that I wish Giles was here, he could have spoken stuffy with the guy and find out where we need to go," B complained before starting to sulk.

"Ehm guys?" Red's lover spoke up.

"Yes Kennedy?" Red, of course, answered when nobody else did.

"I was able to sneak a look at the guys screen and know which room they're in."

That caused all three of them to look at her in amazement before B said what they had all been thinking. "Why didn't you tell us before? What room is it?"

Even when the young Slayer was still protesting that she couldn't have told them sooner, they pushed her towards the elevator which they entered when the stuffy suit wasn't looking.

While the girl pushed the correct button, the top floor Faith noticed, she was thinking about how they had finally found the two missing people. While there had been some kind of message, from some guy that she had never heard of, about borrowing them for a while and not to worry, this hadn't stopped them from doing just that. X hadn't really done any fighting since Sunnyhell had sunk in that hole and she couldn't really see the brat as anything but a brat.

No magical means of finding them had worked however, and in the end it had been both a stroke of luck and some hacking that had located the police report about how her former boytoy had been stabbed by some freak on PCP.

That had confirmed that it was the right guy although there had been no word of B's little sis in the report, which had been worrying. And as at least Xander had been hurt bad enough for a hospital visit, there was always the possibility Dawnie was hurt as well. Which had B riled up far more than could possibly be healthy.

Now a day later they were tired after the flight but had been lucky that the two of them were still in the same hotel. The only thing that nagged her while exiting the elevator and following the others to the room, was why the suit thought they wouldn't want to be disturbed. A peek through an open door gave her an idea however, but that seemed almost so ridiculous she was about to discard it when she heard the moaning coming from the room they were supposed to be staying in. B had heard it too but had drawn a totally different conclusion.

"They're hurt! We have to help them."

"B! No…" But she was already too late as the blonde kicked in the door and she could smell a mixture of roses, sweat and one other smell that was rather unmistakable. Peering past the shocked older Slayer Faith could see something that she hadn't expected to ever see, but before she could comment on it, B too had finally realized exactly what was going on inside the room.

"Xander Harris! What the hell do you think you're doing with my little sister!?"

. . . .

"Wonderful, absolutely masterful. How did you arrange for them to be found at that time?"

"That, Rufus my friend, is a convoluted story involving three old nuns, a pilgrim on his way to Mecca, a Japanese mechanic, two bus drivers and the big bad wolf but if you really want to know I can tell you."

Laughter greeted this statement and Rufus was more then willing to join in it. "Alright my friend, you can keep your secret but I still think it was a great joke and I congratulate you on it." Raising his glass he then called for a toast. "To friends and the jokes they use to ease the burden of time."

Everyone joined in the toast, laughing once more when it became clear that Rufus had exchanged Vyvyan's drink for one of his concoctions. But suddenly the people inside the room went silent one by one and rose to their feet looking at the entrance. Turning his gaze there, Valen too rose to his feet at the sight of the beautiful vision in the white shimmering dress, their boss had arrived.

"I hope you have all enjoyed this pleasant diversion but the time has come to speak of less pleasant subjects." Torala said. "Please follow me to the conference room."

. . . .

In the conference room they were all seated around the round table that had seen countless of these meetings. While everybody knew there was only one reason for this meeting this didn't mean that the normal way of doing things would be suspended. Starting with Illusio, the oldest of those who serve Torala, everybody had a chance to speak about anything within their domain that they deemed important enough for the others to be aware of. Valen, as the youngest, would wait until last, but was by no means uninterested in the tales of the others. Only once had he ignored one of the things that had been told during a meeting, and that had almost cost him his life.

When finally it was his turn he rose to his feet, as always a little nervous of speaking so formally to these most illustrious of people. There wasn't much that had happened since the last meeting that warranted the attention of this group, but there was always something. After speaking about the current situation, and how he had decided to handle these things, he then came to his closing statement.

"My friends, I have told you what is going on among those I watch over, but it must be clear to you that I will not be able to do everything I've spoken of in my current identity. For this and two other reasons have I chosen to have a change of identity, one in which I will be what is known as an upstanding member of the community."

"No wonder you look so clean. I thought for a moment that your cardboard box had been leaking during the last rainstorm."

"Very funny, Rufus."

Daneel then spoke up. "What are your other reasons Valen?"

"The second of my reasons concerns the Harris boy and Summers girl."

"You refer to the One who Sees and the Living Key?" This interruption came from Illusio, a rather unexpected event since the enigmatic woman hardly ever spoke up. "You will not harm either of them in any way."

It was clear not only to Valen, but from what he could see to the others as well, that this was not a recommendation but a command. "It has never been my intention to do so, but may I ask why you do not wish harm to come to them?"

"That will be answered at a later time."

Wonderful, that meant the meeting did indeed involve those two children. Not liking this one bit Valen nonetheless continued his speech. "Both of them are rather familiar with me, a familiarity that has been caused by our previous meetings, and they are also rather anxiously looking for me."

"Caused in no small part due to your joke." Alice interrupted.

"Caused in no small part due to the joke I played on them." Valen agreed, deciding not to let her get to him. "I firmly believe that eventually they will find me, unless I take immediate action and change my identity."

When he was silent for a moment Halloran spoke up. "And your third reason, and for that matter your new name is?"

"My final reason and new name are connected. It has to do with a great achievement of humanity, one that wasn't necessary to tell all of you since it will not have any wide-ranging consequences. You are all aware of my habit to watch the science fiction shows that are broadcasted on television. As it is where I got the name I am today using for the last time. One of the best of these shows was summarily cancelled about two years ago.

"At that time the fan community of this show undertook action in order to get this show back in production. Several weeks ago the results of these actions were aired in the form of a miniseries. To honor that achievement I have decided my new name should be Rygel." And with those words he sat back down on his chair.

"Rygel? As in Farscape's Rygel? The muppet?" Came the incredulous question from Passepartout.

"He is not a muppet, just because he is built by the same company doesn't mean anything." Valen defended his choice.

"Bah, semantics."

"Oh come on, Passepartout, just because you haven't changed your name in almost a century doesn't mean he can't. And at least he has chosen someone whose mannerisms closely resemble his own."

"Hey!" He shouted in mock anger. "I'm not the only one who does that Vyvyan."

Before the meeting could degenerate into a shouting match Torala interfered and called it to order. And when she did that, all of those present looked about as anxious as Valen felt. Except for Illusio, who had a thoughtful expression on her face as she kept looking at him.

"My dear friends, while it is always fun to listen to the newest antics of Rygel." It kept surprising him, how she never made a mistake in anyone's new name. "The time has come to speak of the reason you have been called here."

For the first time in his life he saw a flicker of uncertainty on Torala's face, and he knew that his worst fears were about to be confirmed. Fears he saw reflected on his colleagues' expressions, as one after another they looked at the empty chair.

"It has happened."

Three words that confirmed his worst suspicions, three words that would change the face of the world for times to come. It had happened. The only thing that had taken the life of one of their own was back. Nobody needed the confirmation, but Alice asked for it anyway. "They're back?"

"Indeed. The Army has been awoken."

End

Post-fic comments: Yes, there will eventually be a sequel. Actually, at the moment this story looks like it has been turned into the prologue of about six other stories, which will be written when I've got the time. Remember, until the arrival of the sequels this is your last chance to review. Don't let that opportunity go to waste…

Every original character in this epilogue, with the exception of Torala, uses the name of a fictional character taken from a book, movie or series. If you can identify them all you'll at least know some of the things I like to read and watch.