DISCLAIMER: they all belong to Joss, I just take them out to play!

NOTES: Well as I said, I´m busy wrestling with my muse for input, so please be kind . I´m aware that this is not me at my best, but I needed to keep up with the updates. Next will be better ...I promise!!!

RIDDLES

"Didn't see that one coming." Jayne whispered under his breath as the silence became pressing. Malcolm Reynolds could see the mercenary's hand coming to rest on the butt of his gun. He caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and shook his head just enough to signal Jayne to settle down. He couldn't blame him for getting all twitchy; the tension in the cavern was thick enough to cut with a knife. Whatever the witch was aiming for, her words had struck a cord.

He could see the looks passing between Angel and Spike, while Alice just stared at Shae, as though the witch- queen had her hypnotized.

"Alright….I think you pulled our leg here long enough…." Spike finally spat out.

"Spike ..don't…." Alice cut in, her voice soft and confused. She took another tentative step towards the taller woman. "I asked her. I wanted to know."

The slayer took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to keep her composure, but the answer had obviously shaken her. Not that Mal could blame her. He wouldn't like hearing that he was not supposed to exist either.

Alice's voice was shaky when she started talking again.

"I would not be …alive if things had gone right, is that what you are saying?"

Shae crossed her arms in front of her chest gracefully. A move perfected by time, Mal thought. The witch-queen had managed to perform it without disturbing the perfect flow of the cloth that trailed down from the arms of her dress and unto the floor. He´d seen it before with Inara; like the companion the witch-queen knew all about the effects of grace und poise.

The silence grew heavier still.

" I don't know." Shae finally answered.

" Oh come on!" Spike yelled at her.

Her eyes swept over to him, narrowing slightly.

"I will not lie to you, not for her sake , not for yours. All I know is that she would not exist in her current form. If there had been no ripple, she would not exist as the slayer this day. That does not mean she will not exist in another form and it does not mean that she might have never been born."

Her gaze returned to Alice and Mal was surprised to hear that her voice softened. It was as though she was talking to the slayer alone.

"The spirit that clings to you will not disappear. It will cling to you and them until the day you die or until all wrongs are made right."

One of the big cats growled at Mal as it slowly paced in their direction.

"Why can´t things ever go smooth?" he mumbled under his breath.

"Ya ´ didn't really think this was gonna go smoothly…. with all the weird hocus-pocus stuff goin´ on, did ´ya?"

Mal rolled his eyes at the mercenary, suddenly feeling very good about the fact that they were standing wit their backs against the wall. No surprises coming from that end at least.

"Truth be told, I didn´t believe any of it, not even sure I do now!"

There were the first stirrings of anger mixing with the confusion in Alice's face now. From the look Jayne shot him, Mal could tell that the merc had seen them too. The slayer´s face, for one, was much easier to read than Angel's stony expression.

" How?" Alice shook her head, laughing bitterly.

"How am I supposed to make things right? It's done, it has happened hundreds of years ago, you said so yourself! And you said you cannot bring her back …."

"You have come for answers. I cannot change the truth into lies, because you do not like the answers you sought."

The leopard at her feet sat up, rubbing his head against her legs. The witch – queen knelt down to tickle the beast´s chin, her dark, glittering eyes never leaving Alice.

"I can tell you that this spirit, this slayer will not let go. She will hold on to you. She will not be denied….."

"You said you've been waiting for us." Angel finally said, his voice low and controlled. Shae looked up at him.

"Yes."

"Think we covered that already, mate…..can we get back to the part where…."

Spike shot the dark vampire an impatient glare, but expression on his comrade's face quieted him.

"We've been asking the wrong questions." Angel said after a while, sounding exasperated.

A lazy smile crept to Shae´s features, it made her seem younger, almost girlish. The sight brought goose bumps to Mal´s arms. It made her seem more human, but it was not a pretty sight. The more human she seemed to look, the more apparent it became that he and Jayne were the only humans in the cavern.

"I don't understand." Alice admitted, her puzzled expression mirroring Spike.

"She said she's been waiting for us for a long time….." The vampire seemed to ponder this for a moment, then he stepped forward to look directly into the witch- queen´s eyes.

"You will not lie to us."

"Truth." Shae whispered, leaning in as though to kiss him. Angel did not flinch, their faces only inches apart.

"You were supposed to be here. You are part of this, you have your own part to play."

"Truth" her voice was a mere whisper.

"How can I make things right?" Alice asked her breathlessly.

Slowly, Shae turned her face to look at the slayer.

" You can't."

"Why? What does she want with me then?"

"She needed your voice."

"What can I do?"

"Nothing…."

"Then why ….."

"It's us." Spike interrupted her quietly. "It's not you she wants. It's us ….peaches and me."

Shae stepped back from Angel, backing up slowly and clapped her hands.

"Why didn´t you tell us from the moment we walked in here?"

"It was not my place. You asked the wrong questions."

"What is you bloody place then? You bloody use?"

Her smile vanished as though somebody had just wiped it off her face. Her hand lashed out and brought Spike to his knees without even touching him.

" Don't forget yourself vampire!" she warned him. " You may not need to breathe, but …."

"What is your use? If you don't mind me askin´, cause I and my friend here, sure would like to know." Mal asked her loudly. All heads turned to him in surprise. They had almost forgotten about him and Jayne.

Shae walked towards them in long, graceful strides, the cats trailing closely behind her.

She looked Mal up and down. From up close the witch- queen was an uncanny, yet striking sight. Her hair shimmered in the dancing light of the torches like polished wood. The same light bounced off her flawless skin, giving it a warm, golden glow. She was beautiful, but at the same time her beauty had some dark, threatening undercurrent. There was power in that seemingly delicate, willowy body, the likes of which he had never seen. Mal was entirely sure that it was also something he would not want unleashed on him or his crew.

"You won't need your gun." She told Jayne without glancing his way. "Bullets cannot kill me."

"Well ain´t that a comfort." Mal quipped. Shae smiled at him.

"What about knives?" Jayne asked uncomfortably. The witch turned to look at him, truly surprised. Then she threw her head back and laughed. It was a warm, chortling sound that filled the cave and echoed of the walls. Her reaction took everyone by surprise.

"Do not worry mercenary, I am no danger to you or the good captain. You asked me a question and because you amused me immensely, I shall answer. My use is my power, they need it to put things back on the right path. But they have been asking the wrong questions."

"You said you could not bring her back to confront them …"

Shae turned around to face Alice and the two vampires again.

"Not exactly…"

"But you said …"

"She said she could not bring Buffy back from the dead." Spike interrupted Alice, scowling at Angel.

"You said one does not beat death."

"Truth."

"Cheating….." Angel whispered, nodding to her. "You are here to help us cheat?"

"I am here to cheat time, as I said. You cannot beat death at his own game, that is true. However… you can cheat time and that is what I am here for. Things need to be set right….."

"In the past?" Alice asked her, eyebrows knitting together. "Is that what you mean?"

"Yes." The witch- queen nodded slightly, looking at the slayer.

"Things like what ? Angel asked her suspiciously.

"Where were you, when the walls of this world fell?" Shae threw the words back at him like a challenge. She strode away from all of them, giving them her back.

"Where were you, vampires? It was you who tipped the scales, but you took the wrong steps, the wrong positions…..made the wrong choices."

"Oh, right …so this is all our fault now?"

Shae´s laughter was bitter, her voice filled with heat. "As matter of fact …yes."

"Saving the world a couple of times was not enough then, ha?"

A wave of heat filled the cave, fire roaring to life in a pit right next to where the witch- queen was standing. She stood next to the rising flames unfazed.

"This could be a ploy, a trick …..how can we trust you?" Angel asked her harshly.

"I am not a pawn in this game of thrones." She laughed at him.

Angel shook his head. "No, you are a player…..I just don´t know which side you are on!"

"Haven't you sacrificed enough in your war, your conflict with ….them? The wolf, the ram, the hart? You could have won, but you lost the game before it started. You lost your eyes…the one who spoke the truth. With her by your side …."

" Cordelia. I will not discuss her with you!"

"One of the things, that has to be rectify." Shae whispered impatiently .

"That you can set right. For the other ….some things cannot be unmade. I cannot return to you, what you signed away so freely. That part of your destiny cannot be altered. It is somebody else´s part to play now."

Angel stared at her in shock, but Shae´s eyes wanderer over to Spike.

"And you …..the power of the slayer cannot be splintered all over the world. Ultimately it has weakened the gift, the calling. You know all the secrets now. Find another way to fight the darkness…. I will bring her here and you will have three hours to tell her how things will have to happen, to persuade her, so she can ensure that it will go right."

"How ?"

"I can open a portal, if I pull one slayer through the gate….another has to take her place for that amount of time."

"We will not endanger Alice for this…."

"I´ll do it." The slayer interrupted Angel angrily. "This is my choice, my part ……I will do it."

"You do not know what might happen Alice!"

"I want to do it Angel!"

"Ahh ….fellows, hate to interrupt y´all there, but since we´re talking about changing the future here, I think we should have a say in this!" Mal interrupted seriously.

Shae´s eyes seemed to soften for a second, as she looked over to Mal, almost as though she felt sorry for him.

"This will not influence your future or the life of your crew, captain. It is of no consequence to you and them." Her voice was warm, filled with something close to regret.

Mal returned her look and it occurred to him that her kind of knowledge or wisdom, even if it came with all that power, might be a very heavy burden for one person alone to carry.

Next to him, Jayne still flexed his hand above his holster.

"Ya believe her? She´s a witch after all….Don´t wanna end up bein´ a dung-beetle after all this is over!"

Mal shrugged, leaning back against the wall. " Right now, I think we needn't be the ones worryin´ about that."