AUTHOR'S NOTE You all should go back and re-read the last chapter – I've made an addition to Max's family back at Manticore. I remembered in the pilot that Lydecker's henchman talks about how many of the children they've captured. It's all explained there, but it turns out that I was actually two siblings short. Therefore, Max has another older brother and older sister: Han and Etta. They are both gone now and have no effect on this story, other than their former existence.

DISCLAIMER Don't own anyone except Max's siblings that I made up. See previous chapter for complete list.

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Chapter Eighteen: In Which Buffy Returns to Her Old Home

"Oh Max, I'm so happy to see you again!" Jondy said for the fifth time. "I should never have left you that night!"

"Don't worry about it!" Max grinned and turned to Jace. "Can I hold Max again?" Jace handed her son over to his namesake. "He's beautiful Jace!" She bent down to the nine-month-old. "Hello there little guy! I'm your Auntie Max!" The baby babbled and smiled.

"Oh my God."

Max, Zane, and Jace turned to Jondy. Their sister looked like she'd seen a ghost. Max followed her gaze and immediately her heart sunk. She couldn't bear it when Jondy whispered hopefully, "Ben?"

Alec stood in the doorway and looked at Max. "More of your kind?" he asked. Max nodded.

"Ben, what are you talking about?" Jondy asked. She looked between Alec and Max. "Max, isn't this Ben?"

Max took Jondy by the arm and sighed. "Jondy, there's something that you have to know." She turned to Jace and Zane. "You too. I, uh, came across Ben last year. He lost it out here. He couldn't deal. He was killing people. He was recreating that training session we went on. You know, the one with the convict in the woods?" Jace and Jondy shuddered, but nodded. Tears gathered in Max's eyes as she continued. "I followed him into the woods. We fought. He was injured. Lydecker tracked us there and Ben couldn't get away. I…" Her voice trailed off and she couldn't continue.

Her siblings began to understand. "He's dead, isn't he, Maxie?" Zane asked. Max just nodded. Jondy and Jace tried hard not to cry for their fallen brother, but the grief was too much. When the tears had slowed, Max motioned to Alec. "This is X5-494. He's Ben's twin. I named him Alec."

"I'm sorry," Alec said uncomfortably. "I, uh, it's nice to meet you."

Logan and the immigrants from Sunnydale stood off to one side as Max and Alec filled Jace, Jondy, and Zane in on everything that had happened. "It's like they were never apart," Willow commented.

Logan smiled. "I'm glad they're finding each other again. We had to send Zane, Tinga, Jondy, Krit, and Syl deep underground after Manticore found out where they were hiding. Tinga came back for her family, but Manticore got to her first. I'm happy that Max finally has some family again."

Willow glanced at Angel, who was trying not to look at Buffy too often, and Logan, who was gazing sadly at Max. "What about you?" she asked. "You're Max's family, aren't you?"

Sighing, Logan turned to the witch. "Not anymore."

Buffy raised an eyebrow at her best friend, who caught the hint and took Logan by the arm to lead him a few paces away. "What do you mean?"

Logan saw that there was only compassion and caring in the redhead's eyes. He took a deep breath and said, "Manticore. They found out that I…well, I was a danger to them. In order to get rid of me, they injected Max with a virus targeted to my DNA. So much as a brush of her skin on mine will transmit the virus and I'll die."

"That's horrible!"

Logan just shrugged. "Whatever there was between Max and I before is impossible now. There's no point in dwelling on it."

Willow cocked her head. "There's nothing anyone can do about it?"

"We found a temporary cure but Manticore's technology is far too advanced. We had Max injected with a protein that created a wall around the strains of the virus, but it broke down within hours."

The wheels in her head turning, Willow asked, "But it worked for a while?"

"For about twelve hours."

Before Willow could continue, Max had led the other X5's over to her. "Willow, we have an idea."

"Shoot."

"We all have memories of Manticore," Zane said. "Things we can't remember from when we were in very early training. You're a witch, right?" Willow nodded. "Well, is there any way you can tap into those memories? It might help figure out what is inside us."

Willow glanced at Buffy, who had joined them along with Angel and Spike. She remembered going into Buffy's mind to bring the catatonic Slayer back to reality once, but never had she gone into a stranger's mind. "I – I don't really feel comfortable doing that. I don't know if I could stop."

Jondy looked at Max in confusion. "What do you mean? You can create barriers and pin us to the walls and get here from 2004, but you can't read our minds?" Max asked hotly.

"It's too dangerous!" Willow snapped. Her face fell and she whirled around to leave.
"Lorne!"

All heads turned to Angel, who had been quiet. "Huh?" Max said.

"Lorne," Angel repeated. "Krevlorneswath of the Deathwok Clan of Pylea," he clarified, as though it made any difference. "He could help us."

"Pylea?" Jondy asked.

"Deathwok?" Jace asked warily. "What is he?"

"He can help," Angel insisted. "He can read your soul when you sing. I'm sure he'd be able to see your memories if you gave him a chance."

"Well where is he?" Alec asked.

"I don't know," Angel admitted. "But I have an idea of where to look. Lorne wouldn't stray far from Los Angeles – it's his home."

Max looked at Logan. "You still have your car. Up for a little road trip?"

Logan shrugged. "Why not? Who's going?"

"I'm going," Max said immediately.

Logan turned to Angel. "Anyone else?"

"I'm coming," Buffy said. "Willow, Spike, you stay here and keep an eye on Illyria." She cast a glance at the Old One, who still glowered at everyone who passed her by. "Make sure she plays nice."

Alec grinned at the Old One. "I'll help with that, if you don't mind."

"Pathetic human!" Illyria spat.

"Hey now, no need for name calling!" Alec grinned at Buffy before heading toward the demon woman.

Willow rolled her eyes. "Be careful in LA, you two. You never know if the Senior Partners are still looking for you, Angel."

Max looked at Angel. "Senior Partners?"

Angel ignored her. "They think I'm dead. I'm sure they've stopped looking for me by now."

Logan had rounded up a set of keys by that time and was waiting. "Ready?" Everyone nodded.

"Good luck Max!" Jondy called.

Buffy ran to Logan's side ahead of the others. "Logan?" she asked softly. "I, uh, I know it's a long drive to LA, but if you don't mind, there's one place that I'd like to stop."

Sunnydale

Buffy stood at the edge of the place she used to call home. Max stood impatiently behind her. Logan and Angel waited in the car. "It's the Sunnydale Crater," Max said. "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal?" Buffy asked, eyes flashing. "Do you know what happened here?"

"No," Max said slowly. "It's just a crater."

Buffy's blood boiled. "This was my home!" she shouted. "It used to be a town with people! I lived here for seven years! This crater was my whole world!"

"What happened?" Max asked quietly.

Buffy lost her anger and stared back into the hole in the ground. "The First Evil," she finally answered. She caught Max's blank look and took a deep breath. "It was the root of all evil things in the world. Vampires, demons, Hell itself, probably people like Principal Snyder." Buffy cracked a half smile.

"Who?"

"Never mind. The First could take the shape of any dead person it wanted. It stayed quiet for a long time. Then in the end of 2002, its servants began tracking down all the girls in the world who could become the next Slayer. All these Potentials came to me for protection. Just before the last battle, Willow cast a spell that made them and all the other Potentials in the world Slayers. But when we closed the Hellmouth for good – "

"The what?"

"The Hellmouth. La Boca del Infierno. The Mouth of Hell. It was under the town." Buffy gazed out over the empty hole in the ground. "We closed it and destroyed the First but Sunnydale was utterly destroyed in the process."

Max walked up to stand next to the Slayer at the crater's edge. "Wow."

Meeting Max's eyes, Buffy motioned to the remains of Sunnydale. "That crater, that's all that remains of who I used to be. It's my mother's grave and," Buffy's voice caught. "And others."

She hadn't heard Angel come up behind her. "Jenny Calendar," he said with a heart heavy with guilt.

"Anya," Buffy added. "Tara. Kendra. Jonathan."

"Who were they all?" Max asked.

"Friends," was Buffy's reply.

"And there were others." Angel continued in almost a whisper, "who were because of Angelus."

"Who?"

"The killer I became when I turned evil again."

Max looked at him in momentary horror. "But you seem non-homicidal now."

"Willow. She restored my soul."

"That's over, Angel," Buffy said quietly. They were quiet for a minute, as Max waited uncomfortably. Finally, Buffy explained. "Kendra was another Slayer. She was the one I was accused of murdering. Anya was a reformed demon and Tara was a witch." Buffy sighed. "They all died in Sunnydale. Anya was killed in the battle that ultimately destroyed the town."

Max suddenly understood. "This is what you were talking about, isn't it? About not knowing what horror was?"

Buffy nodded. She turned and hastily rejoined Logan in the car.

Angel stayed with Max. "I didn't get it before," Max said sadly.

"Not many people do when they don't understand that things that go bump in the night," Angel said kindly. "But Buffy's had to go through a lot."

"Do you think she'd ever tell me?" Max asked, turning to look at him.

"Maybe." Angel glanced back at Buffy sitting silently in Logan's car. "It's been three years since Buffy…" Angel broke off. "Well, there's some stuff that she hasn't worked through completely. Maybe talking to someone who's on the outside will help."

Max nodded. "Come on," she said. Minds heavy, Angel and Max returned to the car and they continued toward Los Angeles.

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The Answer to the Last Trivia Question

The name Creb comes from the Earth's Children series by Jean M. Auel. He is the Mog-ur of the Clan in the first book The Clan of the Cave Bear. Restive nature, Starr Light1, gimeGohan, and Caudex all got it right.

Today's Trivia Question Is:

When Willow went into Buffy's mind to bring her back, why was the Slayer catatonic in the first place?

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Sneak Peek

Angel indicated the four gravestones and two memorials in the area. "They were all friends."

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Review Responses

Restive nature I love those books too. I haven't yet read The Shelters of Stone, although I have it. I want to re-read the whole set first. I really enjoy making up the other siblings, although as you can see, they don't come into this story much. Of course, that's not to say that they'll never make an appearance, although Kora, Vee, and Del are definitely dead. Illyria is an "Old One" – the spirit of a supremely powerful demon that has possessed a human host. In this case, Illyria possessed Fred, the girl that Angel rescued from Pylea.

General Mac I'm really glad to see you back! Thanks for the review.

Starr Light1 Yes! Exactly. ..pointed glare.. And I'm too sure about the 13…we'll have to discuss this, lol.

LittleDrusilla Creb is from The Clan of the Cave Bear, which is a great book and I highly recommend if you haven't read it.

GimeGohan Thanks for the review! I do love those books and Creb just sounded like it would be a good X5 name.

Big Mak You got the second question correct for chapter sixteen. It was Darla. The answer to the first question was Kate Lockely, except I forget in what episode he told her. "The Prodigal" maybe? I'll have to check on that. Okay, I checked and it was "The Prodigal" which is in Angel season one. I'm glad that you're enjoying the story!

Caudex Good job! Glad to see you've decided to drop by, hehe.