Did somebody say something about not fading away? Chapter 9, a buffy: the vampire slayer fanfic

Summary: The wedding! The reception! Travel to other worlds! Naked spell-casting! The final showdown! And somebody's gonna die...

Crossover: Highlander, Stargate SG-1, Charmed, LOTR

Notes: My fic 'Existence' ties in with what happens along about chapter nine. If you haven't read it, please do. It explains a few things. The second chapter should be up at the same time this fic is posted.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. You know I don't own it. And if you could see my bank statement, you'd know I'm not makin' any money on it, either. More's the pity...

DID SOMEBODY SAY SOMETHING ABOUT NOT FADING AWAY? PART IX

By screaminheathen69

Chapter the First

"Wow," said Dawn Summers as she peeked out the window at the crowd gathering in the courtyard. "That's a lot of people." She looked over her shoulder at Faith. "Don't trip. With all those video cameras out there, it'll be immortalised for all time..."

"Shut up. Brat." Faith was pacing, nervous energy pouring off of her.

"...Funniest Home Videos, the Deluxe Slayer Edition..." Dawn continued in her best info-mercial salesperson voice.

"Dawn..."

"... Ooh, and here comes the bride, here comes the- whoops! Gosh, maybe the bride shoulda rethought that whole going commando thing..."

Faith cast a pleading look at Buffy, who promptly smacked her sister upside the head, then looked threateningly at Willow. Willow plastered on an innocent face, but just couldn't pull it off, what with the snorts of laughter.

Faith rolled her eyes. "With friends like these, who needs enemas..." Dawn started to make a comment, but Buffy and Willow both clamped hands over her mouth.

Faith went back to her pacing. "Geez, B, I can't believe how nervous I am! I mean, this is me, here. I don't do nervous..."

"What about when Kakistos came to town?"

"Okay, fine, one time, I'll give ya that..."

"Or when you came to my house on Christmas Eve?"

"Well, yeah..."

"Or then that one time-" She was ticking off points on her fingers by now.

"I get the point, B!"

"Sorry. Got ya to quit pacing though, didn't I?" Buffy said, smug grin firmly in place. Faith looked down at her now non-pacing feet, up at Buffy, then back down at her feet.

"Damn B. So ya did." She promptly commenced pacing again. Buffy groaned and glanced at the clock. "Ten more minutes. Just ten more minutes. We can hold out for another lousy ten minutes, Faith." She looked at Willow and mouthed 'I hope!'.

Buffy's nose scrunched up as a thought struck her. "You're not, are you?"

Faith glanced over at her. "What?"

"Going commando? I mean, just in case, ya know?" Faith glared daggers at her and went right on with her pacing. Buffy glanced at Willow and Dawn. Dawn, Willow's hand still clamped over her mouth, nodded vigorously, the smile lines evident around her eyes. Buffy cradled her head in her hands and sighed. "Hoo, boy..."

Dawn licked Willow's palm, finally getting the witch to release her. "She said something about wanting to get a 'rise' outta Robin when he went for the garter." She giggled as Willow disgustedly wiped her palm on her dress saying 'eeewww'.

"I thought that kinda 'rise' came later," said Buffy as she smirked at Faith. Faith smirked right back and waggled her eyebrows, never missing a step in her pacing.

"You know how it is, B. Gal's gotta get her fun when she can, right?"

Out in the courtyard, the ushers were quickly getting everyone seated. And an interesting group it was, too. Slayers and Watchers. Immortals and soldiers. Aliens and demons. Even a politician or three. Jack was fairly certain that if he took a picture and sent it in to Guinness, it would qualify as the weirdest bunch of wedding guests ever. Not to mention the bright green demon standing to one side belting out an old standard.

He stared over at Clem, Thor and Heimdall, hoping that Daniel would get the three of them on film. Heimdall had come with Thor, wanting to check up on Jack's mini-me clone Jon to ensure that the repair work that Thor had done on him was holding up. Heimdall had eagerly accepted the invitation to the wedding, his curiosity piqued at the thought of witnessing a human mating ritual. (He had been somewhat disappointed to learn that there wouldn't be any actual mating going on...)

Carter was pointing at the floral arrangements and whispering to Pete, whose eyes were steadily growing larger. Jack nudged Daniel. "How come Pete looks all shell-shocked?"

Daniel glanced at the individual in question and shrugged. "Looked pretty shell-shocked before we came out here. I think seeing Clem and Lorne might've finally broken him."

Jacob, who was sitting behind Jack, leaned forward and rested an arm on the back of Jack's chair. "She's talking about the flowers. I think she wants to hire Nina as her wedding consultant." He chuckled. "I think Pete's scared of her..."

Jack snorted. "The Wedding Nazi? Hell, I'm scared of her."

"That whole were-wolf thing might have something to do with it too," Daniel said dryly. Even Teal'c had to agree with that.

Joyce plopped down in the chair next to Spike. Taking in her flustered expression, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Somethin' wrong, luv?"

"I'm dead. You'd think that trying to get five girls ready for a wedding wouldn't tire me out quite so much."

"I'm dead too. Had lots of girls tire me out..." Joyce thumped him in the chest, rolling her eyes.

Illyria and Anise were sitting together near the back. Anise was studying the crowd, curiosity plain on her face. "I don't understand why the Tau'ri feel the need for all this ceremony. It makes no sense."

Illyria grunted. "There are very few things about humanity that make sense. Yet, the very things that seem to be the most illogical about them also seem to be what give them their greatest strength. It is... confusing."

Anise nodded, thoughtfully. "True. It still seems a waste, though..."

Leo, with Wyatt sitting quietly in his lap, wrapped an arm around Piper gave a gentle squeeze. "Y'know, maybe we should do this sometime."

Piper shot him a puzzled look. "Do what?"

Leo smiled. "Have a big wedding. We couldn't do it the first time. We could renew our vows, have a big reception, the works."

"Oooo, sounds like a good idea to me," said Phoebe, who was holding baby Chris. Chris was gurgling away happily at the faces Phoebe was making to keep him entertained.

Piper grinned. "It does have possibilities. Think we could get Thor to come to ours? I'd love to introduce him to Gramms."

Paige snorted. "Yeah, I can just see Gramms telling him to loosen up..."

Giles, who took his responsibilities as Best Man very seriously, was adjusting Robin's bow tie. "So. It's almost time. Sure you wouldn't prefer to skip off to the pub and have a few pints?" Robin just gave him a dry stare.

Xander laughed. "Trying to talk him into leaving a Slayer at the altar, Giles? What, you want to see him beaten to a bloody pulp?"

Giles pulled a thoughtful face, then sighed theatrically. "Oh, I suppose not. Just making sure he's aware of the alternatives, that's all."

Duncan chuckled. "Don't really think that's a realistic alternative, Giles." He was watching the courtyard through the door. "Looks like they're ready. Angel just gave me the high sign." Duncan had been honored when Robin had asked him to be one of his groomsmen. The two had become close friends over the past year.

The reverend, an old friend of Giles', faced the four men and smiled. "Ready, gentlemen? Good. Let's have at it then." The five of them donned identical sunglasses and marched out to the altar.

Dawn, standing by the door, giggled. "Good. They wore the sunglasses. Which means we can too," she said happily as she put on the aforementioned item.

Buffy dug out both hers and Faith's shades, then smiled gently at Dana. "Dana, sweetie, do you have your sunglasses?"

Dana looked confused for a moment, then smiled and put hers on as well. Faith and Willow had spent a great deal of time with her since she'd been brought to England, and had helped her tremendously. As time went on, they had found her to be a vibrant young woman, intelligent and quick-witted with a quirky sense of humor. She still had bouts of anxiety, and the odd spell when memories of other Slayers would overlap her own, but they were growing increasingly rare. Faith and Willow had sort of adopted her, made her the little sister they never had, and they seemed to steady her, giving her an anchor to this reality.

Dana had wanted very much to be involved in the wedding, and had joyously accepted when Faith asked her to be her 'Flower Slayer'. So, when the string quartet began playing Vivaldi's 'Spring', she slowly made her way down the aisle, carefully spreading rose petals and wearing a beatific grin.

Angel watched her go, a little smile playing over his face. "She's come a long way. You guys have done wonders."

Willow, smiling happily, nodded. "Miracle workers, that's us." She nudged Dawn. "Your turn, Dawnie."

As Dawn, Willow and Buffy did the Bridesmaids walk down the aisle, Angel turned to Faith and smiled. "So. You ready to go do this?"

Faith took a deep, calming breath and nodded. "Never been more ready for anything in my whole life." She looked up at Angel, then drew him into a hug. "Thanks, Fang."

"For what?"

"Oh, you know, pretty much everything. I wouldn't be here if you hadn't believed in me. You gave me back my life."

Angel chuckled. "And now I'm gonna give you away."

Faith laughed as she let go of him. "Yeah. Kinda poetic, huh?"

He gave her a lopsided grin. "More of a relief than anything..." She punched his shoulder, but couldn't wipe off the huge grin she was wearing. He rubbed his shoulder, then held out his arm. "Shall we?"

Faith hooked her arm through his and squared her shoulders. "We shall!" And, as the string quartet began the Bridal March, they marched slowly down the aisle, Faith wearing a smile so bright it put the afternoon sun to shame.

This, she thought to herself happily, this is a good day...

Later, as the recessional music played and the happy couple made their way back up the aisle, Illyria handed the now blubbering Anise a hanky to blow her nose with.

Chapter the Second

"...Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Robin Wood!" The assembled group broke into thunderous applause as Faith and Robin made their grand entrance into the reception hall, to the tune of The Black Eyed Peas' 'Let's get it started'.

As the bridal party found their seats and the crowd grew quiet, Lorne handed Faith a microphone. "Hey, kiddies, I just wanted to say somethin' real quick before we dive into the buffet lines-"

"It's about time! Gettin' hungry in here!" Laughter bubbled up at the interruption from the back of the room.

Faith squinted at the not-so-well-hidden girl. "Just for that, Vi, you can go last." Ignoring Vi's groan, Faith went on. "I just wanted to say thanks to all of you. I never really figured I'd get a day like this. Hell, I'm pretty sure none of us ever figured I'd get a day like this-"

"No, really?" someone hollered from off to one side.

"-but here we are. I don't wanna jinx us, but so far, it's been great, and the rest of the night's gonna be great too. So, let's commence with the merry-makin'!"

Faith hadn't even finished speaking when there was a veritable stampede of Slayers to the buffet tables. Faith stared at them wide-eyed. "Guess it's a good thing we ordered in lotsa extra food, huh?" Robin just nodded, speechless.

An hour later, when even the Slayer contingent was full, Giles gave a heartfelt toast that drew tears from more than a few eyes. As glasses were refilled, Buffy took the mike and cleared her throat. "Ho-kay. My turn. Not sure I can do a non-leadery speech, but here goes. Once upon a time, there was this tough chick named Faith. She showed up in Sunnydale all big 'n bad, looking to kick some demon butt, and Synchronised Slaying was born. It was great having another Slayer around. Even if she did occasionally rub some people the wrong way. Or the right way, as the case may be..." Buffy gave Xander an exagerrated look, garnering several laughs.

"There was a bad spell in the middle there, but we won't go into that except to say she got better. And I got a sister back. Faith, you've turned into a Helluva woman, and I can't tell you how happy I am to have you back in my life. And I can't begin to describe how wonderful it is to see the two of you together, and happy, and I know that you'll be incredible together, and incredible parents to your kids."

Buffy raised her glass. "So here's to Faith and Robin; Faith, who's the second biggest pain in the ass I know, and Robin, the poor schmuck who has to deal with her for the rest of his life!"

As glasses were drained amidst much laughter, Faith drew Buffy into a hug. "I'm second? Who's first?" Buffy just cast a glance in Spike's direction and raised an eyebrow. Faith laughed. "Okay, can't argue with that."

The happy couple danced their first dance to 'I'll stand by you' by The Pretenders. The bouquet toss was done to 'Girls just wanna have fun', and the DJ played a brassy old stripper fanfare for the garter removal and toss. (When Robin came out from under Faith's gown, garter clenched in his teeth, he was wearing a pronounced smirk.) Once the cutting of the cake was out of the way, the party started in earnest, and ran into the wee hours.

Faith, with Buffy, Dawn and Willow backing her, sang a raucous cover of Timbuk 3's 'The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades'. While wearing shades, of course. Robin, not to be out done, got Xander, Lorne and Andrew to back him as he sang George Michael's 'Faith'. Faith was in stitches by the time he finished dancing around on stage.

Jack was treated to the sight of Thor in the conga line that formed when the DJ played 'The Locomotion'. He'd grabbed Daniel's camera to make sure that he had that on tape, before being dragged into the line by Buffy. Daniel had been in the process of trying to explain a conga line to Heimdall. Later on, both Asgard were utterly fascinated with the strange rituals of the 'chicken dance'and the 'hokey-pokey'.

Giles and Lorne took turns singing off and on thoughout the night, even doing a couple of duets, recieving standing ovations each time. Duncan's wife Kate sang an old Scottish ballad that went over quite well, and even had a few people wiping away an errant tear or two.

Connor found himself to be very popular amongst the Slayers, and found himself with a new partner for almost every song. Gunn spent most of the night dancing with Anne. She was going back to LA in a few days, and he found himself not wanting her to go.

Buffy spent most of the evening dancing with Jack, although they both had a few dances with others. At one point, Angel asked if he could cut in with Buffy. Jack grinned and bowed to Nina. "If the lovely lady would be willing to let me step on her toes for a while, then I suppose I wouldn't mind." Nina had returned the bow, and the two promptly swept off onto the floor. Jack, despite his statements to the contrary, was actually an excellent dancer.

Angel and Buffy stood there awkwardly for a moment, then laughed and started dancing. She rested her head against his chest as they swayed to the music. "Good day, huh?"

Angel grinned. "The best. God knows we all had a good day coming to us."

Buffy smiled as she watched Jack and Nina, who were laughing as they waltzed animatedly around the dance floor. "I like her. She's good for you."

"I know. Kinda had the feeling she could deal with the weirdness that is my life when she didn't freak out when I got all Muppet-y. Just shrugged it off and went to breakfast with me."

"Awww, it was just 'cause you were such a cute Muppet."

"I was not cute..." The whole puppet incident was still a sore subject, especially since Spike and Dawn had run off a batch of poster-sized copies of one of Spike's pictures and distributed them liberally to all and sundry. It was very popular amongst many of the younger Slayers. Buffy and Faith both had a copy hanging on their doors.

"Cute, cuddly, just ever so precious what with the little leather jacket..."

"Grrrrrrr..."

"Okay, fine, shutting up now."

"Thank you."

"... But you were just so cute!"

Spike was standing at the bar, happily sipping a pint. One good thing about bein' back in the mother country, a bloke can get a real drink... Dawn had headed off to the ladies room (With several other girls. Spike, like pretty much the entire male gender, would never understand why women always have to go to the restroom in groups. What the Hell is up with that, anyway?), so he was taking the opportunity to down a pint or three, and people-watching.

Halfway into his second, he sensed somebody standing behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, did a double-take, then forced the fear that came bubbling up back down. "Hullo, Dana. Nice to see you out 'n about."

Dana stood there, uncertain. "Spike." Her gaze was drawn to Spike's forearms, and her face pinched up as the memory of that night pushed its way to the front of her mind. "Sorry," she muttered so quietly the vampire could barely hear her.

"My arms, y' mean? No worries there, pet. The docs fixed 'em up good as new. See?" He flexed his arms like a bodybuilder, looking silly and earning a little smile for his effort. "'Sides, you've nothin' to be sorry for. Weren't yourself, were you? Had a few loose wires in the old bulb myself for a while there, know what it's like." He shrugged. "Had a lot worse comin' to me than that, anyway."

"Still." She was studying her shoes intently.

"It's all right, luv. Apology accepted." He smiled at the happy grin that lit up Dana's face. "So, where's your date?"

"Um, no date. Here with Willow and Kennedy. Still not, um, comfortable around guys yet."

Spike affected a shocked look. "No date? Gorgeous young lady such as yourself, and no date? Well, that's just not right! You should be dancing the night away with some dashing young Prince Charming." Dana shrugged. Spike gently took her hand. "Tell ya what, pet. If you think you'd like to have a dance, you just come find me. I'm sure Dawn'll forgive me a dance or two with you. Right?"

Dana nodded somewhat uncertainly, then smiled and went off to find Willow. Dawn, who had overheard most of the conversation, hugged Spike from behind. "You big softy."

"Girl has the chance to work past the monster. If I c'n help, even a little bit, then I'm gonna make damn sure I do. I'm responsible for at least a few of her nightmares." He shrugged. "Least I can do."

Dawn smirked and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Like I said; you big softy. C'mon, I feel the need to dance..."

Later, Dawn looked on happily as Spike and Dana waltzed their way around the dance floor, the young Slayer's smile lighting up the room.

Angel found Lorne sitting off in a dark corner, people watching and sipping a Sea-Breeze. Lorne nodded for him to sit down. "So. Get any good readings tonight?"

Lorne smiled. "Some good, some not so good, some that I don't have a clue what to make of."

At the worried look that crossed Angel's face, Lorne chuckled. "Don't worry about the happy couple. As long as they remember how much they love each other, I see nothin' but good things for them."

"Good."

Lorne waved his hand around vaguely. "The thing is, everyone here, all their destinies are intertwined. They were all meant to find each other. At some point, they'll all be needed to stop the Darkness that's coming. I only get the odd glimpse here and there, but there are things coming that'll make the last few years seem like a merry jaunt in the park."

"Swell."

"Yeah." Lorne waved at Sam and Pete as they went dancing by. "Don't see things ending well for those two."

Angel looked after the seemingly happy couple. "Really? They seem to be doing pretty well."

"Seems that way, doesn't it? Problem is, she's still in love with someone else. Who's in love with her. And since neither of them can admit their feelings publicly, they're both keeping it buried. Cryin' shame, too. They'd be perfect together."

Lorne was staring at somebody throughout the conversation. Angel followed his gaze and realised it was Willow. "Something up with Willow?"

Lorne sighed heavily. "She may have the brightest future of anybody in the place. But the road she's gonna have to travel to get there..." Lorne shook his head sadly and finished off his drink. He really didn't want to think about it...

The last song of the night was 'Into the Mystic' by Van Morrison. The floor was packed. Even Dana had a partner, having been asked by Xander. It was a perfect end to a perfect day, something Buffy would have never believed possible. No demon attacks, no crises of any kind, just a good time had by all.

Buffy rested her cheek against Jack's chest, watching Faith and Robin as they swayed slowly to the music, completely lost in each other. She was happy. Happy for Faith. Happy for Robin. For Dana. For everybody in the place, and just happy in general. "A girl could get used to this."

Jack planted a kiss on the top of her head. "Get used to what?"

"Having a nice day. Seeing everybody happy. Being in the arms of somebody you care about. Life being non-angsty for a while."

"Hmmm. You're right. A girl could get used to this," he said, batting his eyelashes at her. Buffy chuckled and thumped his chest, then went back to swaying contentedly.

The world would come crashing back in. It always does. But for one day, this perfect day, all was right with the world.

Chapter the Third

Two days later, all those not on their honeymoon in Tahiti went back to work. (A day had been allowed for hangover recovery. Much to rather a large number of people's gratitude.) Jack and his crew headed back to Colorado, and the Charmed Ones back to San Francisco, each to deal with their own crisis of the week.

Buffy and Giles set things in motion to start hunting down the Order of Sarrkahn, and figured they might as well go after the Order of Tarraka while they were at it. A dead demon assassin is a good demon assassin, right?

With the aid of Paige and the library at Magic School, Willow and Bethany went into full research mode, trying to find ways to not only find and defeat Cerephus, but to take down the Senior Partners as well.

Gunn sank himself gladly into the job of making the Council of Guardians official. There were an unbelievable number of niggly little details in transferring the assets from the old Watcher's Council over. Before he did though, he took Anne back to LA, along with a large contingent of Slayers and Lethbridge-Stewart. The Hyperion was gone, so a new base of operations had to be established, and Anne didn't want to be away from the shelters any longer than she had too.

Angel went with Nina and Oz to Tibet, staying there for two weeks to help Nina get settled in. The monks insisted that he leave after that, though, feeling that his continued presence would be too distracting for her. He went back to England and threw himself into researching the Senior Partners and helping train Slayers.

Rhona went back to Cleveland and the Hellmouth. It was getting rumbly, as Hellmouths will, and reinforcements were soon sent to Cleveland.

Joyce was kept busy, running all over the world to heal injured Slayers, Watchers and witches. She loved her new job, honestly she did, but she still grumbled with great regularity about being the only White-Lighter attached to the Guardians.

Dawn found herself a new training partner in Illyria. The ex-God-king could give just as good as she took, and they both found their sparring matches exhilarating. Spike was having the time of his un-life watching them. After the third time that they destroyed the training room, however, Giles insisted that they find somewhere else to beat up on each other. Preferably somewhere very, very isolated.

One month went by with no sign of Cerephus, then two. Buffy had grown into an irritable mess. She really, really wanted to take this guy down.

As August ended and September rolled in, the senior Slayer grew increasingly short fused, going off over the smallest things. Dawn, after being the recipient of one of Buffy's tantrums, decided it was time to do something about it.

Something decisive.

Something sure to cure a cranky Buffy.

She did the only thing she could do.

She called Jack.

Buffy was grumbling as she walked into her office. Seemed she was grumbling a lot, these days. At the sight of Jack O'Neill sitting in her chair, feet propped up on her desk, she stopped in her tracks. "What are you doing here?"

Jack raised a sarcastic eyebrow. (Yeah, I know; 'How can an eyebrow be sarcastic?' If you've ever seen the show, you know as well as I do that Jack can make anything sarcastic.) "Well, I had a coupla weeks leave, had this silly notion, thought maybe I'd pop on over here to merry ol' England and sweep you off on a holiday, but now I'm not so sure."

Buffy stood there, mouth opening and closing, for almost a full minute before finally finding her voice. "Holiday? You're kidding, right? With everything that's going on, you want me to take a vacation?"

"Yup."

"You're nuts!"

Jack gave an amiable shrug. "It's been said. Not the point, though. You, my dear Miss Summers, need a break. And from what I hear, everyone around you needs a break, too. You can take some time for yourself, Buffy. You're not the only Slayer, not anymore."

"Yeah, but-"

"There're other people here to train the Slayers, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"And the hunt for the bad guys is certainly able to go on without your continued, apparently overbearing presence, right?"

"Well, sure, but-"

"So, I'm gonna tell you what some colleagues of mine recently told me: Get outta here! Take a break! You're not doing anybody any good running yourself ragged like this."

Buffy stood there and fumed, then visibly deflated. "Have I really been that bad?"

"So my independent sources tell me."

"Dawn called, huh?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that, ma'am."

"I'll take that as a yes." She sighed. "You're right. I'm Cranky-Buffy again. Time for the easing of the tensions for this Slayer." She walked over and flopped into Jack's lap. "So, flyboy, where ya gonna take me to ease my tensions?" She waggled her eyebrows and gave a little shimmy as she asked.

"Well, there's this lake..."

"Oooh, your cabin. I did like it there."

"Um, not that lake." Jack was smirking.

"Oh? What lake, then?"

"Just pack up to go camping. You're gonna love it, I promise." Buffy gave him an uncertain look, but went off to pack.

Two hours later, they were standing in front of the shimmering event horizon of the Stagate. Buffy turned to Jack, bemused. "Just how far away is this lake, anyhow?"

Jack shrugged. "Six hundred n' forty lightyears. Plus about five clicks south of the Alpha-Site." The grin he was sporting could only be described as self-satisfied. Buffy smirked right back, gave a jaunty wave to the crew in the control room, and back-flipped through the Gate. Once Jack picked his jaw up off the floor, he followed, shaking his head and chuckling. "Gonna be an interesting vacation..."

Twelve days later, Jack and a very relaxed Buffy returned to the SGC. They both would gladly have spent the remaining two days of Jack's leave off-world, but they both wanted to be there to see the first Slayer SG team off. Christened SG-30 under the command of Lt. Jennifer Hailey, they and SG-1 were going to Chulak to meet with the Jaffa women who had been tentatively identified as Slayers, and to see if they could find any more. Your basic 'getting your feet wet' type of mission.

Buffy was surprised to see Dawn and Willow standing at the base of the ramp. She hugged them both. "Not that I'm not glad to see you two, but why are you here?"

"Moral support for Jenny and the girls," Willow said, just a little too brightly. Buffy stared at her disbelievingly. Willow gave her an indignant look. "No, really." Dawn nodded, grinning toothily.

Buffy looked at Jack, who was standing next to Teal'c and Lt. Hailey. "I think they just wanted to make sure I wasn't grumpy-Buffy anymore." Jack just smiled, refusing to be baited into the middle of anything.

"Now, why would we be worried about that? Jenny's been through the 'Gate lotsa times, but the other girls haven't. Moral support," Dawn said, waving a hand for emphasis.

Willow nodded. "Yup. What she said."

Buffy quirked an eyebrow. "Uh huh."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. We figured if Jack hadn't helped you to find your inner happy that we'd take you to Vegas, get ya all drunked up and get you laid. All right?"

Buffy chose to ignore the not so muffled snorts of laughter coming from behind her. Especially the ones coming from Carter. "Vegas? You'd take me to Vegas for that?" She paused for a second. "Besides, I'd much rather go to Paris. Better class of gigolo there."

She threw a smile at her sister and Willow, who were momentarily speechless, and turned to SG's 1 and 30. "Jenny, you reckon you can keep these gals reined in?"

Lt. Hailey smiled. "Absolutely. We get along just fine. They're gonna love Gate travel." Hailey had adjusted to her Slayer status quickly. She had opted to remain with the SGC, but had volunteered to help out with the Slayer related missions as well.

Vi, one of the other three members of SG-30, didn't look so sure. "I still have a problem with that whole 'molecularly disassembled' thing. That just has to hurt." She tugged nervously on the straps of her pack, trying to get used to all the extra equipment the SGC insisted they carry on off-world missions.

Buffy gave her a quick hug. "Piece of cake, sweetie. Kind of a rush, actually. Wish I was going with you, I'd love to see Teal'c's homeworld."

Teal'c smiled one of those small Teal'c smiles. "Indeed, you would be most welcome on Chulak, BuffySummers. I would be pleased to be your host, should the opportunity arise for you to visit."

"Thanks, big guy. I'll hafta take you up on that one of these days." Buffy turned to Carter. "Sam, take care of my girls."

Carter nodded, smiling. "You know I will, Buffy."

Brittany, who had fought alongside Buffy at the Temple of D'arrsinog'auphous against Glory, now the third member of SG-30, spoke up. "Oh, quit worrying Vi. This trip to Chulak'll be a milk run anyway. No prob."

Everybody in the room groaned. Brittany looked around in confusion. Andrea Zolman, Watcher, medic, and fourth member of the team, rubbed a hand tiredly over her eyes. "She just totally jinxed us, didn't she?"

"Ooooh, yeah," said Jack wearily. "Y'all did make sure you had your affairs in order, right? Insurance forms all filled out? Next-of-kin info up to date?" Buffy smacked him in the arm. "What? I'm just sayin'..."

Chapter the Fourth

After spending the final two days of Jack's leave at his cabin in Minnesota ( They'd invited along Willow and Dawn. Jack finally gave up trying to fish after getting a hook stuck in his finger for the third time. Having the three women lounging around in their fairly skimpy swim attire was just too damn distracting.), Buffy got back to work, happy and smiling. Much to the relief of all those around her. Even the fact that they were still unable to find Cerephus wasn't enough to detract from her good mood.

By now, the orders of Sarrkahn and Tarraka were mostly decimated, and the demon population as a whole was laying low. The Cleveland Hellmouth seemed to have quieted down, but the Guardians in residence were keeping a watchful eye on things. Even the Senior Partners hadn't been heard from in a while, and the attempts against Angel and his crew had tapered off. Angel was positively twitchy about that, though, and was steeling himself, waiting for the other shoe to drop. One of those big ol' -steel-toed-mud-covered-clod-hopper-ugly-assed-shoes.

Faith kept herself busy helping out with training, but the lack of action was starting to get to her. That and the fact that everybody in the place seemed to feel the need to rub the ever growing bulge of her tummy. She took to spending a lot of time in either Buffy or Willow's offices, catching up on all the latest gossip-err, the latest goings on in the war against evil. Yeah. That sounds better...

And so it was, one afternoon in late September, that she and Buffy were sitting in Buffy's office, feet propped up on the desk, having a chocolate fest. (The chocolate fests were coming pretty regularly these days. Faith would get a wicked craving, and Buffy, good friend that she was, made sure to keep a healthy stash in her desk.) They were chit-chatting about the drapes Robin had picked out for the nursery, when Paige and Willow orbed into the room.

Buffy, taken by surprise, eeped loudly and went over backwards in her chair. Faith burst out laughing.

Willow, eyes wide, ran around the desk to help Buffy up. "Sorry, sorry, sorry! We didn't mean to surprise you like that!"

Buffy, gathering the shreds of her dignity, stood up and smoothed the wrinkles from her blouse. "S'alright, Will. Just wasn't expecting you. Shut up, Faith."

"Sorry, B." snort "You shoulda snicker seen your face, though." snurt Faith waved her hands and pulled a face, imitating Buffy, causing Willow and Paige to start laughing.

Buffy shot them all a dirty look. "Fine. I'll just be putting the chocolate away now..."

Willow quickly clamped her hands over the other two's mouths. "Now, let's not be hasty!" Paige shook her head no, too.

Buffy set her chair upright and carefully sat down. "We'll see. So, what was so urgent that you two had to pop in and interrupt the Choco-Fest?"

Paige grinned and help up an old book. "We found it!"

"Found what?"

"A way to find Cerephus!"

Buffy sat there, speechless, for almost a minute. Then, smiling, she threw a chocolate bar to each of the witches and stood up. "Good job. Let's get Giles in here."

"I do believe this will work. Well done, both of you." Giles had his nose buried in the ancient text Paige and Willow had found at Magic School. The two witches high-fived each other.

"The only problem I can see, so far anyway, is that to do the spell we need an Orb of Xanthea." He closed the book gently and looked up at the people gathered in the room. "I don't have one. I don't suppose you have?" he asked Paige hopefully.

"Nope. Already checked. And nobody at Magic School knows where to find one, either. Apparently, they're even rarer than Orbs of Thessala. I've got some people looking, though."

Angel sat there with a thoughtful expression. He and Gunn had been with Giles when the Watcher had gotten Buffy's excited call, and had tagged along out of curiosity. "Rare, huh?"

Paige nodded. "Yup."

Angel cast a sly glance at Gunn. "So, probably valuable then, too." Gunn smiled as he got Angel's drift.

Paige, on the other hand, didn't. "Well, yeah, I suppose. So what? You figure we'll hafta pay a lot if we find one, is that it?"

"Maybe, maybe not. We know somebody that's, um, talented at finding rare and valuable things. Only problem is, I haven't seen her in a while. I'm not sure how to get ahold of her anymore."

Gunn chuckled. "I''ve got this, bro." He pulled out his cell-phone and hit speed-dial-5. "Yo, Electro-Girl, how ya been?"

Chapter the Fifth

Two weeks later, Gwen Raiden arrived with not one, but two Orbs of Xanthea. When asked where she'd managed to find them, she'd just smiled slyly and informed them that it was better if they didn't ask.

After giving the orbs to Giles, she hugged Gunn. "Hey, Charlie-Boy. Long time no see."

"Too long, Gwennie, too long. Lookin' good, girl. I take it your anti-zapper-chip still works?"

Gwen planted a lingering kiss on his lips. "You ain't dead, are ya?"

"Good point."

Giles carefully set the orbs in a box and closed the lid. "We can't thank you enough for finding these for us Miss Raiden."

"No problem. It was fun."

Giles smiled. "Yes. Quite. We will, of course, pay for them. I don't believe a fee had been discussed, but..."

"No fee." Gwen started laughing at the shocked faces of Gunn and Angel. "No, seriously, no charge. If this Cerephus guy is half as bad as Gunn made him out to be, then I'm glad to help."

Angel gave her an appraising stare. "Really?"

"What, a girl can't do a good deed once in a while?"

"Sure. I guess."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, so there is this one favor..."

Angel smirked. "Thought so."

"Oh, shut up." Gwen turned to Willow. "Charlie tells me your pretty much the big brain around here, uber-witch and science girl all rolled into one, right?"

"Well, yeah," Willow said nervously.

"I was wondering if you could take a look at my chip. It's still working fine, but since it's a government prototype, I kinda gotta figure it's not gonna last forever, ya know? Thought it'd be nice if I could figure out how long I've got before it quits on me. Don't wanna find out the hard way."

Gunn nodded sympathetically. "Damn straight. The hard way usually involves me winding up dead."

Gwen smacked him on the arm. "Geez, kill a guy one time, you never hear the end of it."

"Dying tends to leave an impression on a guy," said Gunn. Angel and Buffy both voiced their agreement with that sentiment.

Willow's eyes lit up at the thought of tinkering with the technology of Gwen's chip. "I'd be glad to! Oh! We could get Sam to take a look at it, too. She knows a lot more about that kind of government tech than I do. Maybe we can figure a way to make it permanent. Maybe a magical power source, or maybe some naquadah. Oooh! Magically enhanced naquadah! I wonder-"

Seeing Giles' eyes starting to glaze over, Buffy put a hand over Willow's mouth. "Techno-babble later, Will. Bad-guy-finding spell now, okay?" Willow nodded. Buffy turned to Giles and Paige. "You guys have everything ready?"

"Yes. Bethany is preparing a room for the spell as we speak. As soon as Willow, Paige and myself join her, we'll begin the spell at once. I would suggest getting a strike team together. Once we locate him, we may not have much time. In all likelihood, he'll be aware of the spell as soon as it locates him. We shall have to move very quickly."

"Okay. The Prometheus is away on a mission, so we'll have to either teleport or orb. You two gonna be up to that after doing the spell?"

Willow looked at Paige, who shrugged. "Should be. It's not a terribly draining spell, just complicated."

Buffy nodded, thinking. "All right. Angel, go get Jon and Xander and round up a team."

Angel stood up, already thinking about how to fill out the strike force. "Okay. You want Dawn?"

Buffy snorted. "Like I could keep her from going even if I wanted to. Connor already left to go back to school, right?" Angel nodded. "Okay, see if Illyria'd like to go, we could probably use the extra muscle. Round out the team with whoever you guys think we need." Angel nodded and took off to get things moving.

Buffy turned back to Giles. "So. Anything I can do to help with the spell?"

"Umm. No. Not really. Perhaps make sure that we're not interrupted..." Giles looked positively sheepish. Buffy noticed that Paige and Willow were blushing as well.

"Something you're not telling me, guys?"

"Well, err, no, it's just... ummm..." Giles stuttered.

Willow took a deep breath and looked Buffy in the eye. "The spell requires that those casting it be sky-clad."

"Sky-clad?" Buffy asked, confused, then comprehension slowly dawned. "Oh. Sky-clad." Buffy turned away from her friend, trying to supress the chuckle that was fighting it's way up, and seeing that Gunn and Gwen were having the same problem. "ooookay." snort "Umm, hey, why don't we go see how Angel's coming with that whole getting everybody ready thing!" snort The three managed to hold the laughter in until they were in the hall. Just.

Giles rolled his eyes at the sound of the guffaws coming from the hall. Willow dug a ten out of her pocket and handed it to Paige. "What was that for?" asked Giles.

"I bet Paige that when Buffy found out about that part of the spell that she'd make some lame sex joke. She bet me that Buffy'd just laugh her butt off. I lost."

Giles took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "We are so very, very doomed."

Chapter the Sixth

Cerephus wasn't a happy camper these days. Oh, he was back to full power. Solved that problem inside of two weeks. But it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay under the radar, and he wasn't completely confident in his ability to fend off his enemies any more. He'd vastly underestimated the power that both Dawn and Willow now wielded, and the addition of the Charmed Ones to the mix had taken him completely by surprise. Add to that the rumblings in the Underworld about some new Power, the Avatars or somesuch, plus the news that the Goa'uld seemed to be losing ground steadily to the Taur'i and the Jaffa rebellion, and that equals one grumpy Immortal Goa'uld.

He'd spent the last few months trying to come up with a way to take down Buffy and her crew. He no longer cared about world domination, he simply wanted revenge. He'd lost almost everything, nearly 10,000 years worth, to that accursed Slayer, and he was going to make her pay. Her, and everyone she cared for.

And now, after nearly three months of searching, he'd found what he was looking for. His secret weapon.

As he stood chanting in front of a bonfire, he couldn't help but be insufferably pleased with himself.

Let them come...

Somewhere, up there, in a place that is other, a group of Higher Beings looked on.

"It's really gonna go down, ain't it?" asked Whistler. The Being standing at the front of the group nodded solemnly. Whistler shook his head sadly.

"Those kids can't catch a break, can they?"

Angel, Jon and Xander had gotten things organised quickly. The thought that they might finally be able to take down Cerephus had galvanised everybody.

Dawn was helping Spike load weapons into the various pockets of the overcoat he'd 'borrowed' on his last visit to the SGC. Faith, irked that she had to stay behind, was bouncing around the room helping the Slayers get their own weapons ready. Dana was following her around, lending a hand whereever she could. She wasn't allowed to fight yet, so she chipped in as much as possible otherwise.

Having gotten everybody loaded up, all they could do now was wait. Faith plopped down in a chair beside Angel. "Damn. I could take on a dozen vamps and my back wouldn't hurt this much."

Xander grinned and gave her shoulder a pat. "Aww, is poor widdle Faithy gettin' the pwegnant Slayer blues?" Faith slugged him in the shoulder and rolled her eyes.

Looking around the room at the impatient strike force, Faith sighed. "You really think you guys can take him down this time, Fang?"

"We're sure as Hell gonna try. Cerephus has caused enough grief. We'll get him. One way or another."

Dana, sitting on the floor next to Faith, scrunched up her face. "Who did you say?"

"Cerephus. The Immortal."

Dana stood up and locked her eyes on Angel. "Cerephus? The Goa'uld Cerephus? The same Goa'uld that was Ra's chief architect? That Cerephus?" she asked, her voice tight, the hesitation usually present in her speech gone.

Angel cast an uncertain glance at Faith, who shrugged. "Um, yeah, that's the one. Why?"

"He killed us." Dana shook her head, then went on in a more normal tone. "I mean, he's killed at least twenty Slayers over the years, starting with Ammenorah and Elene." She closed her eyes, letting the ancient memories come to the fore. "He captured Ammenorah when she tried to kill Ra. Tortured her. For months. Learned all about Slayers and such from her before she died. Elene and their Watcher Kartha led the Uprising. She died fighting him. He was injured in the fight, and took Kartha as his host."

Dana opened her eyes, anger flashing in them. "I want to go with you. I want to help you stop him. For all the Slayers he's killed, and for Kartha." Her tone brooked no argument, and Faith, seeing the determination in Dana's eyes, couldn't help but agree.

Angel wasn't quite so sure. "Are you sure? She hasn't been in the field yet..."

Faith held up a hand. "Fang, girlfriend here's got more experience packed min her noggin than everybody in this room combined."

"I know that. Fought her once, remember? She's got the know-how, but she hasn't had much practice putting it to use."

Dana raised an eyebrow. "She's right here..."

"Sorry." Angel sighed. "Okay. Fine. But you stay close to Dawn and Spike, alright? And if we tell you to run, you run. Deal?"

"Deal." Dana smiled and headed off to pick out her gear.

Angel sighed again. "I hope we aren't making a huge mistake here, Faith."

Faith stared after Dana, worry plain on her face. "Me too."

Just then, Buffy came into the room, followed by Gunn and Gwen. All three seemed to be out of breath. Buffy had tears in her eyes. Faith gave Buffy a knowing look. "They finally told you about the spell, huh?" Gunn and Gwen started laughing again. Buffy fell down.

Xander stared down at the guffawing Slayer, confusion plain on his face. "Huh?" Buffy waved a hand helplessly. Gunn's explanation was cut short when Giles came running into the room with the three witches on his heels.

"We found him! He's-" Giles trailed off at the sight of Buffy on the floor laughing. "Oh, good grief, are you still on about that?" Buffy could only snort in response. Giles rolled his eyes and turned to face the room. "As I was saying, we've found him. He's in the desert near Las Vegas, at the site of an ancient temple. The temple was destroyed long ago, but there is still a great deal of mystical energy present there. We believe he is attempting some kind of spell, so if Buffy is quite finished with her hysterics, we really should be off."

Buffy stepped forward, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Okay. When we get there, our resident witches will do a spell to keep Snake-Head from teleporting out. Half of us will orb in with Paige, the rest with Mom. Once we're there, we smack him down with everything we've got. If we can somehow save the host, great, but the main goal has to be stopping Cerephus. So if you get a shot, take it. Got it? Good. Let's get it done."

As the two groups started to form up, Angel pulled Joyce off to one side. He was rubbing his forehead. "Another vision?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah, just now. It was... chaotic. I'm not sure what's gonna happen, but I saw fire. Lots of fire. And there was screaming. And something powerful. Dark, evil, and powerful."

"So we're probably walking into a trap?"

"Good chance."

"Gonna let them in on what you saw?"

Angel looked over his shoulder. "No. We have to do this. But a word of caution wouldn't hurt."

Joyce nodded, then walked over to stand next to Buffy and Willow. "Are we ready?" A chorus of yes's and yeah's. "Good. Let's form into circles, with everybody facing out. Remember, this guy is strong, and he probably knows we're coming. So be ready for anything."

The circles formed. Joyce rested her hand on Buffy's shoulder. "Ready, sweetie?"

"Ready, willing and able. Well, ready and able. Okay, able, not so sure about the ready part..."

Joyce smiled, then nodded at Paige. "Let's do this."

Chapter the Seventh

There was a cascade of light, and suddenly this little portion of the desert got very crowded. Cerephus was easy to spot. He was standing next to a huge bonfire with his arms upraised, chanting in some ancient tongue that even Giles was unfamiliar with. On Buffy's signal, a hail of weaponry and zat fire rained down on his position only to be repelled by his shield.

"Figures," said Buffy. She turned to Willow, Dawn, Paige and Bethany. "Your turn." The three witches started chanting the spell to bind Cerephus' powers while Dawn cut loose with bolt after bolt of energy trying to overload the shield. Any of the group that had a zat fanned out around Cerephus and began firing into the shield as well. Jon, who had 'borrowed' a rocket launcher from the SGC, loaded it up and started blasting away at the shield too. The area around the Goa'uld quickly became an inferno.

Buffy caught Giles' attention. "What's he trying to do?"

"I'm not sure. I believe he's trying to conjure something, but I have no idea what. I don't recognise the language he's using at all."

Illyria, who'd been throwing boulders at the shield, walked over. "He is speaking one of the ancient tongues, one that has not been spoken on this plane for millions of years. It is the Black Speech, the tongue of Sauron and the Nazgul."

"Well, that can't be good," said Buffy, wide-eyed.

"Can you tell what he's doing?" asked Giles.

Illyria cocked her head to one side, listening. "He is attempting to summon something. I cannot say what, I cannot here him clearly through all the noise."

Willow called to Buffy through the Wiccan Mind Meld. Buffy, I don't think his shield is weakening at all, and the binding spell isn't working either.

Buffy stood there for a few seconds, deep in thought, then sent out the signal to cease fire. As the noise and flames faded away, Cerephus could be seen standing there calmly, staring out at his attackers. There was a smug grin on his face, and malevolence shown in his eyes. "So, Slayer. Come to try again, have you? You and all your friends with all your little toys?" He turned to the witches. "Having a bit of trouble with your spell?"

Willow shot him a glare. "Oh, shut up. Why is it that all of you bad guys always have to do the gloating thing?"

Cerephus shrugged. "It's in the handbook."

Dawn nudged Spike. "There's a handbook?" Spike gave a half shrug, then waved off the question, concentrating on what was going on.

Buffy took a step forward. "What're you up to, Snake-Boy?"

Cerephus touched a hand to his chest and affected a shocked expression. "Up to? Me? Whyever would you think that?"

"You were working a summoning spell. So, we figure that means you're trying to summon something. Which can't be a good thing. So again I ask, what are you up to?" Buffy had moved within ten feet of him and stood there, clenching and unclenching her fists.

"Ah, ever the clever Slayer, aren't you? You're quite right, of course. But you'll forgive me if I would rather keep the surprise to myself. When it arrives, it should be so very entertaining." His grin widened, and he started to chuckle. Buffy thought it was the nastiest sound she'd ever heard.

Joyce, who had stayed clear of the action, had a brainstorm. She dismissed it at first, thinking it would never work, but finally decided to mgive it a try anyway. Why didn't I think of this before? Hope it works... She held out a hand and yelled, "Symbiote!"

Cerephus, feeling the tingling as the Goa'uld started to orb out of his body, looked horrified. With a strangled "No!" he collapsed as the symbiote appeared in Joyce's hand, squirming.

Joyce stared at it disgustedly. Oh, gross. Didn't think this through, did I? "Buffy! Over here!" She held the wriggling creature up, holding it tightly as it screeched and tried to break her grasp.

Buffy grabbed Dawn and ran over to their mother. "Mom, throw it up. Dawnie, you zap it." On Dawn's nod, Joyce tossed the Goa'uld straight up and dropped to the dirt. Dawn loosed one of her patented Demon-Duster blasts, completely vaporising it.

And, as quickly as that, Cerephus the Goa'uld was no more. It seemed a bit anti-climactic.

Buffy threw an arm around her mother's shoulders, laughing with relief. "Way to go Ma! Didn't know you had it in you, did ya?" Joyce shook her head no as she tried to wipe the slime on her hands off onto her pants.

Jon was looking around as some of the Slayers started laughing. "Is it over? Did we win?"

From behind him, a hoarse voice spoke up. "No. It isn't over. And it's about to get a whole lot worse." Everybody turned to look at the haggard man slowly making his way to his feet.

Dana walked over and helped him up. "Kartha. It is good to see you free at last." She was speaking ancient Egyptian. Dana shook her head, then continued in English. "Sorry. Ammenorah kinda took over for a second there. Are you okay?"

The oldest Immortal straightened up, testing muscles he hadn't controlled for ten thousand years. "No. But I will be, now that that accursed snake is gone." He bowed his head to Joyce. "I thank you for that, White-Lighter."

A group quickly gathered around him. "What'd you mean when you said things were about to get worse?" asked Buffy.

Kartha took a deep breath to steady himself. "The beast that he summoned will be here shortly. It is a power the likes of which you have never encountered before."

"So what is it?"

Before the Immortal could answer, the ground began to tremble, causing many of the group to fall, and a tremendous roar could be heard coming from the earth beneath their feet.

Buffy grabbed Giles as he almost fell into a chasm that opened up at his feet. "Oh, this should be fun," she hollered over the noise.

And then, it was there. Clawing its ponderous way up through the earth, it thrust itself out into the night air. The rumbling stopped. The shaking subsided. A deathly silence descended over the desert as the great beast stood there, taking in its surroundings.

And then, it spread its wings, roared, and burst into flames.

Dawn, wide eyed, summed up the feelings of all those present: "Oh, crap!"

Chapter the Eighth

Buffy, rather wide-eyed herself, was backing away along with everybody else. "Maybe I've been spending to much time around Andrew, but that thing looks an awful lot like one of those bullfrog thingies from The Lord of the Rings."

"Balrog," corrected Kartha. "And it is."

Buffy stopped in her tracks. " WHAT?"

Kartha gestured at the beast. "It's a Balrog. A true demon of the Ancient World. A warrior of the Old Ones. Cerephus found a way to summon it."

"You're kidding, right?"

Illyria had stopped next to them. "He speaks the truth." For the first time that Buffy could remember, she could see fear in the God-king's eyes. "We must stop the creature now. If we can."

"And if we can't?" Buffy asked. The pained look Illyria gave her in reply told her all she needed to know. "Swell. Here we go again. Dawn!"

"Yo?"

"Blast the big bad beastie, would ya?"

"Yeahsureyoubetcha." Dawn floated up, getting a clear shot at the Balrog, building up the power for a Demon-Duster. She fired off what was probably her most powerful blast yet, hitting the Balrog dead in the chest.

It blinked.

Then, scratching at the spot where the blast struck it, it bellowed and charged at the people closest to it.

Dawn summed it all up again. "Oh, crap..."

From somewhere, the Balrog produced a sword, flames flickering along its blade, and attacked. The Slayers it went after didn't stand a chance. The flaming sword crashed through their weapons like tissue paper, and five young Slayers lay dead on the sand.

Kartha grabbed Buffy. "You need to get the Slayers clear. If they have any long range weapons, tell them to have at it, but they'll be cut to ribbons if they try to take it head on." Buffy gestured to Joyce, who started orbing the Slayers and Immortals over to a nearby bluff.

Buffy turned back to Kartha and Illyria. "How can we take this thing out?"

"Dawn and the witches. If they all work together, they might have enough power to destroy it," said Illyria.

"I think I can help with that. I might not be as strong as I was with that damn snake in me, but I should still be able to work most of the magic that Cerephus was able to," said Kartha.

Buffy looked at him hopefully. "Enough to send it back?"

"No. I'm not sure it can be sent back. We'll have to destroy it. Somehow."

"Peachy." Buffy sank into the meld. Dawn, you keep hitting it with everything you've got. Willow, you three get with Kartha here and try to work some mojo. The rest of us'll try to keep it busy. Not that she had a clue how to do that.

Jon was blasting away at it with the rocket launcher, and there were so many zat blasts coming at it that it seemed as though the Balrog was standing in the middle of a lightning storm. Mostly, it just seemed to be making it angrier.

Dawn flew around behind it and started blasting away at it, staggering it, but still not enough to knock it down. Kartha, Bethany and Paige were trying to come up with a spell. Willow, listening in on their conversation through the meld, floated up to see if she could help Dawn, firing off a few energy balls of her own. They didn't have any more effect on the Balrog than anything else they'd tried.

This is bad, Willow thought. Real bad. She frowned. She could only think of one way to stop it, and it scared her right to the core. Come up with something guys. Please.

Illyria had managed to steal in close to the beast unseen. Moving up quickly out of its line of sight, she struck it with all the force she could muster. It screamed in pain and swung blindly, catching her with a glancing blow that sent her flying thirty yards, barely conscious. Angel rushed to her side. She was covered in burns and bleeding from a long gash down the left side of her face.

As he helped her sit up, he shook his head. "That wasn't too bright now, was it?"

Illyria gave him a smile that reminded him so much of Fred that it nearly broke his heart. "Not the best idea I've had lately, no. But I think I hurt it."

"Yeah. Not enough, though."

Dawn had hit the Balrog with a more powerful blast. She thought she might have caused dome damage this time, but she wasn't sure. She was starting to run out of gas. As strong as she was, and she was getting stronger every day, she still had her limits. Deciding that maybe Illyria had the right idea, Dawn dove in to hit the beast herself.

It was a mistake. The Balrog saw her coming. Swinging its whip, it caught Dawn around her legs with several of the thongs and yanked her in, backhanding her and driving her into the ground. It jerked back on the whip, pulling her up, then swung her around a few times before slamming her back into the ground again.

Dawn lay there in a daze. The Balrog stomped over to where she lay half buried in the sand and thrust its cloven foot down onto the helpless girl, trying to crush her. Dawn, unable to do anything else, screamed.

Joyce tried to orb Dawn away from the beast, but couldn't. The Balrog was somehow able to resist orbing. Dawn's screams grew weaker with each passing second.

Suddenly, with a blinding flash of white light, the Balrog was thrown clear of Dawn and sent tumbling.

Floating in the air where the Balrog had been standing was Willow. White light radiated from her, lighting the whole area around. Willow looked down at Dawn, then over at Joyce, who gasped at the sight of the burns on Willow's face and arms. She heard Willow's voice in her mind. Help her, Joyce. She's in a bad way.

And then, in a blur of pure white light, she turned and went after the Balrog.

Kennedy and Xander screamed after her not to do it.

Willow shut herself off from the meld, shutting out everything but the Balrog. She knew this had to end here and now. She could feel the Balrog's true power, and it terrified her. Being newly awakened, it was still weak. More powerful than anything they'd ever faced before, but weaker now than it ever would be again. If it got away, she wasn't sure if there was anything that would be able to stop it, and since she wasn't seeing Gandalf anywhere, it fell to her.

She'd been holding back for a while now. The Power she'd tapped into when she awakened the Slayers was vast, unbelievably so, and she had been slowly but surely learning how to master it, but carefully, oh so carefully. Too much too fast and she would have been overwhelmed.

But now, she surrendered herself to it. Whatever it took, she had to stop this thing. Letting herself go, the Power suffused her, until even the pain from the burns faded away. She attacked the Balrog furiously, raining blow after blow on it, blasting it with magycks that even it was unable to resist, steadily beating it back, weakening it.

But not without a cost. The Balrog fought back viciously. It hit, kicked, clawed, and bit. It blasted her with fire, and struck at her with its sword and whip. Within minutes she'd received at least a dozen mortal wounds. The burns alone should have already killed her.

But still she fought on.

The ground around them shook, and thunderous blasts rocked the nearby mountains. Seismometers thousands of miles away registered it as a series of small earthquakes. Only the protection spell that Bethany, Paige and Kartha had managed to erect kept Willow's friends from being killed.

They fought on.

Willow could feel herself dying. Her body was becoming a shell, a vessel for the Power that was both her salvation and her doom. She didn't have long left. I wonder if this is what it felt like for Fred? The Balrog was weakening, its counterattacks becoming desperate, but she could tell that it was going to out last her if she didn't do something spectacular pretty darned quick.

She heard, quietly, a voice in the back of her mind, whispering a solution. A very final solution. Is that really the only way? In her minds eye she could see all the possible ways to defeat a Balrog, but none of them were available to her, at least not before the beast killed everyone here and went on a rampage. Guess so... Opening herself to the meld , she sent her love to her friends, her family.

I love you. Take care of each other...

She flew in and grabbed the Balrog, wrapping her arms around it. Hello, ugly.

She closed her eyes and released the last tenuous hold she had on her body. Good-bye, ugly...

There came a soundless explosion of light, brighter than the noonday sun, blinding all those around. And then it was over.

The Balrog was gone.

As was Willow.

Kennedy was the first to break the silence when she fell to her knees, screaming, unable to believe what had just happened. Xander just kept shaking his head, totally lost in denial. Buffy stood there, shocked, feeling as though her body had gone completely numb.

No one present could bring themselves to think it, but they all knew it to be true.

As Buffy sat down hard, overcome with tears, it sank home.

Willow was dead, and the world suddenly seemed a great deal darker.

Chapter the Ninth

Somewhere, up there, Willow opened her eyes and looked around. "Umm... am I dead?"

"Yes," a booming voice answered from somewhere behind her. "But then again, no."

Her eyebrows went up. "Yes and no? Whadda ya mean, yes and no?" She tried to see who was talking to her, but all she could see was the hazy mist that seemed to be everywhere. And also that in spite of the fact that she felt as though she were lying on a bed, there wasn't actually anything under her.

"It's... well, it's complicated..."

"Oh, swell. My life wasn't screwed up enough, nooooo, now even my after-life gets to be all fun-and-gamey." She struggled to sit up, but seemed to be having trouble getting her muscles to function properly.

"Doesn't have to be. Here, let me help you..." A man faded into view next to her. He gave her a friendly smile and helped her to sit up. "Thirsty?"

Willow suddenly realised she was parched. "Yeah." Apparently dying dried one out. The man waved a hand and a glass of water appeared in front of Willow. "Umm, thanks."

"No problem."

Willow found she had to concentrate incredibly hard to lift the glass to her lips. The water tasted better than anything she'd ever drank in her whole life. "So. Am I only kinda dead, or what?"

The man shrugged. "It's a point of view thing, I suppose."

"Thanks Obi-Wan. Cryptic much?"

"Sorry. Habit. How's about we start over, hmm?" He held out his hand, which Willow took tentatively. "Name's God. Pleased to meet you."

"Huh?"

"God. Jehovah. Allah. Pick a name, any name, I can't keep track of 'em all. Just please not that stupid 'I Am' nonsense. Shoulda put a plague of boils on the butt of the idiot that came up with that one..."

Willow couldn't help herself and giggled. "Okay. So you're supposed to be God. The God. Since you're touching me, I'm going to assume you're not the First, but I'm having a little trouble believing that you are who you say you are."

God shrugged, laughing. "Yeah. Get that a lot."

As they were talking, Willow realised that his appearance had slowly been changing. He looked more feminine now, and seemed to be shifting farther toward that form all the time. "Umm, I don't mean to offend or anything, but what's with the sex change?"

He/She looked down at Him/Herself. "What? Oh, that. Part of that point of view thing, I guess. You've always imagined me as female, so that's how you see me."

"Oh."

"Feeling a little better?"

Willow shifted around a bit, finding it slightly easier to move. "Yeah. A little. What's the deal with that, anyway?"

"Your body was completely destroyed when you took out the Balrog. Had to build you a new one. Like anything else brand-new, there's a bit of a breaking-in period."

Willow gave Her an incredulous stare. "New body?"

God nodded.

Willow looked down at herself. "Same as the old body?"

"Looks the same. Works better, though. This one can contain your Power. Maybe keep you from going all blooey again." God made an exploding gesture with Her hands.

"That would be a plus..."

"I thought so."

Willow sat there for a minute, poking at her leg with one finger. It certainly felt real enough. "Are my friends okay?"

"Yes. They're grieving, but you saved them. That was an amazing thing you did, Willow Rosenberg."

"As long as they're all right. What about Kennedy and Xander?"

God sat down next to her and sighed. "They're taking it hard."

Willow squeezed her eyes shut, fighting the tears. God wrapped Her arms around her and held her as she sobbed. After a few minutes, Willow sniffed and sat back. "So, what's next? If I'm not quite dead, then I figure there's a catch, right?"

"Not a catch. A choice. You have two options, Willow. Which way you go from here is up to you."

Willow couldn't help but be a bit surprised at that. "So, umm, what are my options?"

"One: Go on to your Rest. You've fought the good fight, and fought it well. You may have stumbled a bit along the way, but the good you've done far outweighs any mistakes you might have made. You've earned your Rest, child, and Heaven is waiting for you if that's what you choose."

"Heaven?"

"Yes."

"Wow. Kinda scared to ask, but what's option B?"

"Ascend. Become the goddess you've always been destined to become. Then go back to your friends and keep on fighting the good fight."

"A goddess?"

"Yup."

"Me?"

"Uh huh."

"Seriously?"

"Does this look like the face of a kidder?"

"Whoa..."

"Kick in the pants, huh?"

"Little bit, yeah."

Willow sat there, wide-eyed for a while. "Can I have some time to think about this?"

God nodded. "Certainly. Take all the time you need. You'd be nuts not to. Big decision, after all."

Willow sat there, thinking and pondering, for an eternity. Well, more like ten minutes, but you know how long ten minutes can feel like when you're waiting. Finally, Willow looked up and grinned.

"So, what's a gal gotta do to get all god-ified up around here, anyway?"

Chapter the Tenth

Buffy, sitting behind her desk staring out the window, didn't turn when she heard a knock at her door. "Come in."

Kartha came in and stopped beside the desk. "Am I interrupting?"

"Nope," Buffy said, still staring out the window. It had been two weeks since the fight with the Balrog. The fight where they'd lost nine Slayers. And Willow.

Willow's loss was an open wound that wasn't growing any easier to bear. The very air around the hotel seemed to weigh heavily on all those present. Xander and Dawn had both fallen into a deep depression. Kennedy had disappeared. Even Faith was morose.

Kartha gestured to a chair. "Mind if I sit?"

"Nope."

He pulled a chair around and sat down near her. "I'm sorry I haven't been in to see you before now. I seem to be rather in demand. World's oldest living Immortal and all that." He shook his head tiredly at the thought of all the tests he'd been subjected to over the last two weeks, as well as the never ending questions.

Buffy smiled, just a little. "Everybody wants a piece, huh?"

"Yes." He sighed. "I'm so very sorry about Miss Rosenberg. She was something special. Even that damn snake respected her."

Her smile faded. "Special. Yeah, she was that. And so much more..."

Kartha gave her a moment, then continued on. "I, um, have come to offer my services as a Watcher. I know I've been out of the loop for a while, but I feel I can help out around here. That is, if my continued presence won't be to bothersome. I do fear that I might be an unwelcome reminder of... well, of a great many bad things."

Buffy sat there, not saying anything for several minutes before she finally turned to him. "None of what happened was your fault. In fact, if it wasn't for you, we'd probably still have Ra around giving us grief. As far as I'm concerned, if you want back in, you're in. But we'll have to talk to Giles first, I guess."

"Actually, he felt that I should ask you. I mean, I did kill you once. More or less."

"Oh. Yeah. Remind me to smack you for that sometime."

"I'll be sure to mark it on my calendar."

Buffy laughed, quietly. "Well, like I said, you're in. Welcome to the madhouse. Be sure to get measured for your straightjacket."

Kartha chuckled. "Always wanted one of those."

"They're very much the style these days."

Just then, the door slammed open. Kennedy stood there, wide-eyed and breathing heavily. "She's coming back!"

Buffy, who had jumped up when the door opened, was staring at Kennedy as though she were trying to decide if the younger Slayer was insane or not. "Who's coming back?"

"Willow! She's coming back!"

Buffy walked over and took Kennedy's hand. "Kennedy, sweetie, have you maybe had a few drinks?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Willow's gone, Kennedy. She's dead."

Kennedy rolled her eyes and gave Buffy a 'Duh!' look. "No kidding. I was there. Hence the 'coming back' statement. Were you not paying attention?" Kartha couldn't help himself and laughed.

Buffy shot him a dirty look and turned back to the excited Slayer. "Okay, maybe you oughta fill me in. What do you mean, she's coming back?"

"That Whistler guy- you remember him? Anyway, Whistler showed up and filled me in. Told me a whole buncha stuff about multi-verses and dimensions and stuff. Said it was important. Anyway, he told me that Willow was up there right now, getting all trained up on how to be a goddess. She's a goddess, Buffy! A real-life, honest to God goddess! And she's coming back, she actually chose to come back to help us fight the bad guys!"

Kennedy stopped, having run out of wind. Buffy stood there, stunned. Kennedy pulled Buffy into a bone-crushing hug.

"She's coming back!"

Chapter the Eleventh

The next few months seemed to fly by. There were no major crises, and only a few minor ones. The PTB's confirmed what Whistler had told Kennedy in a vision sent to Angel. And, while no one knew exactly when their resident goddess would be returning, the knowledge that she was in fact coming back seemed to reinvigorate the entire place.

Kennedy walked around for weeks with a huge grin plastered on her face. You couldn't have chiseled it off with a jackhammer.

Spike and Dawn went to Cleveland late in October. There had been a sudden increase in vampire activity, so they decided to go help out. Spike had a ball on Halloween passing out candy to the trick-or-treaters while wearing his game-face. The kids loved it.

It turned out that a group of vamps had made up their minds to take over Cleveland, and were creating minions as fast as they could, going for numbers. The problem was solved with one raid. Spike, spoiling for a good brawl, was disappointed. "Too damn easy..." Dawn had simply rolled her eyes and dragged him off to go clubbing.

Buffy took Gwen Raiden with her to Colorado Springs to meet Samantha Carter. Carter had been intrigued when Buffy told her about Gwen's chip, and eagerly agreed to see what she could do to improve it's life-expectancy. She did love tinkering with cool technology, after all. Not only did she manage to work out a number of bugs, she was also able to improve Gwen's control of the device, allowing her to access her powers without having to completely disable the chip. Buffy and Jack snuck off to the lake near the Alpha-site for a few days. When they returned to England, both women were in incredibly good moods, if for rather different reasons.

The Council of Guardians was now an officially recognised entity. They even had insurance. Buffy, upon receiving her ID badge, spent the day flashing it at every person she ran into. She just couldn't get over it:

BUFFY SUMMERS

VICE PRESIDENT, GUARDIAN INC.

It was just unreal. I'm a freakin' vice-president!

Lorne decided he liked it in England, and opened up Caritas III a few blocks away from the hotel. It rapidly grew to be a local hotspot, especially with the Guardian crew. He even managed to get Faith and Spike to come and sing fairly regularly. Any night that one of them was singing was usually standing room only. Faith enjoyed it immensely, since she was now well into the third trimester, and was unable to do much more than waddle from one place to the next.

Anise stayed until mid-December, when she was recalled by the Tok'ra, but Na'reen and Aht'ell elected to remain on Earth to continue their training with the Slayers. Cassie Fraiser commuted between the Springs and Devon frequently. She wanted to finish high school in the states, but also wanted to maintain close ties with her Slayer sisters as well.

SG-30 rapidly earned a reputation for kicking ass and taking names, and became quite popular around the SGC. In a three month period, they found forty-two Slayers offworld, eighteen of which decided to come to Earth to train. Jack, having received the okay, started recruiting for SG's 31 and 32. Much to the delight of most of the male contingent at the SGC. And a few of the females, too.

Kartha, who had worried he might not fit in, found himself right at home in the new Council, and never wanted for something to do. He was always busy, helping with training, or teaching, or talking technology with Sam Carter, or history with Daniel and Giles. After ten thousand years buried beneath the will of Cerephus, this was heaven to the ancient Immortal.

Methos, some six thousand years younger than Kartha, started insisting, loudly and regularly, that MacLeod stop calling him 'old man'. Duncan just laughed it off. He got far too much enjoyment out of provoking Methos. Besides, Methos was forever stealing all his beer.

Giles and Kartha spent a great deal of their spare time together, sometimes simply talking about the history the Immortal had witnessed, but more often than not trying to find clues to an old riddle that had fascinated Giles for years, and apparently had been something of an obsession for Cerephus as well. Something to do with an ancient cult known as 'The Conclave' and a possible apocalypse. Cerephus had been searching for answers for hundreds of years, with little luck. It was widely thought that The Conclave didn't actually exist, and there wasn't much in the way of proof that it did.

Most of the crew went home for Christmas, but most everybody was back in time for Lorne's New Year's Eve Blowout. It was huge. A grand time was had by all, although there were a fair number who had trouble remembering it the next day. Even Teal'c got plastered. And a plastered Teal'c is a funny Teal'c. Jack laughed so hard that the next day he swore he pulled a muscle. Dawn and Spike, who had helped Lorne arrange everything, were inseparable the whole night. Xander, his curiosity finally getting the better of him, cornered them.

"Okay. What's the deal with you two?"

Dawn gave him a confused (and slightly tipsy) look. "Deal? What deal?"

"Whadda ya mean, Seein' Boy?" asked Spike in an equally tipsy tone.

"You two. You're always together. Everytime I see you guys, it's always you guys," Xander said waving a hand at both of them. "I swear to God, sometimes I think you two are joined at the hip. Hence the question: What's the deal with you two?"

Dawn was looking blearily down at her hips. "Soooo not joined at the hip. See?" She swished her hand back and forth between her and Spike, who couldn't seem to stop giggling.

Xander rolled his eyes. "Are. You. A. Couple. Or. Not."

"A coupla what?" Dawn asked, giggling right along with the inebriated vampire.

Xander took a deep breath and counted to ten. Slowly. "Dating. Are you two dating? As in boyfriend and girlfriend. A couple."

Dawn and Spike stared at each other. "Dating?" said Dawn.

"Boyfriend 'n girlfriend?" said Spike.

"Think we should?" asked Dawn.

"Could be fun," answered Spike.

"Dawn and Spike. Spike and Dawn," Dawn sing-songed.

"Like the sound of that, pet."

Dawn pulled a face. "Buffy won't."

"Probably not." Spike shrugged. "I won't worry 'bout it if you won't."

"Okey-dokey. Oooooh, since you're all ring-having nowadays, you can take me on a picnic!"

Spike gave her a manic grin. "Long as we can ride me motorcycle, I'm all for it."

"Kewl." Dawn hooked her arm through Spike's. "C'mon, let's go plan this out, boyfriend. Thanks, Xan. We hadn't even thought about dating till you said something." The newly minted couple headed out onto the dance floor, chatting happily away about picnics.

Angel, who had overheard the whole thing, stepped up next to Xander. "That went well."

"Oh, yeah. Well. Wonderfully. Grandly did it go. I think I'll just bee off to slit my wrists with a dull rusty knife now..."

"Probably kinder than what Buffy'll do to you when she hears about this."

"Yeah..."

Buffy wasn't happy about her sister's relationship. Very not happy. Joyce stepped in though, and proved to be Spike's biggest advocate. Buffy decided that she'd give them a chance, and after making the obligatory 'beat you to death with a shovel' threat, gave her blessing.

On a sunny afternoon late in January, Faith went into labor. She calmly walked into Buffy's office, where Buffy, Robin, Dawn, Giles, Joyce, and several other people were having a meeting, and quietly announced: "It's time."

Now, have you ever seen those movies where as soon as the pregnant lady goes into labor, everyone around her starts running around and panicking, completely forgetting everything they're supposed to be doing? Well, picture that. Times ten. Everybody in the room jumped to their feet, talking all at once, and commenced running around madly, just like in the movies, bailing out the door, some going after Faith's hospital bag, some going to get the car, some just going. The room cleared out in record time.

And there stood Faith. Rolling her eyes, she calmly headed down the hall. Probably get there quicker if I just call a cab...

Six hours later, Hope Kendra and Joy Nikki were born less than ten minutes apart. As the nurses gently laid the newborn girls in Faith's arms, Faith could feel tears in her eyes. This was a moment. One of those monumental, mind-blowing, life-altering moments. In her arms were two little lives that she helped create. Two souls that depended on her for everything. The two most beautiful things she'd ever laid eyes on. From that day on, if she'd try to describe how she felt in that moment, that first time she held her daughters in her arms, she would find herself at a loss for words. How do you describe indescribable joy? It's one of those things that only a parent can ever truly understand.

But in that moment, Faith got it. All of her self doubt melted away, replaced with a fierce resolve to do right by her children. Her precious baby girls. And in that moment, all was right in the world.

Faith sat in her new rocking chair, humming quietly, Joy nursing noisily away at her breast. Buffy, Dawn, Spike and Joyce had come for a visit, and had been surprised to find Illyria there, staring in wonder at little Hope who was fast asleep in her arms.

Illyria gave them a nod in greeting. "Would you care to hold the child?"

Buffy, seeing the peaceful look on the Old One's face, shook her head. "Nah, that's alright Lyrie. We can wait." Illyria smiled and went back to gently rocking Joy.

Faith smiled at her visitors. "Don't worry B. Soon as Joy here finishes her supper, I'll let you have the priviledge of burping her."

"Gee, thanks F. She's the one that always spews all over me."

"I've trained her well," said Faith, smirking.

A bit later, Dawn noticed the sad expression on Buffy's face. "Why the long face, sis?"

"Just thinkin' about how this whole Immortal thing majorly sucks. I mean, sure, I can adopt all the kids I want to from now till Doomsday, but I can never have a baby of my own. It's soooo not fair."

Faith snorted. "Aww, c'mon B. You've got the good job. You get to be Aunty Buffy. Your sole purpose in life is to spoil 'em rotten. I mean, look at ya! You're Immortal. You're gonna have the perfectly perky boobs of a twenty year old for, like, ever, and you're bitchin' about it. Geez."

Ignoring the snorts of laughter coming from the others, Buffy sat there and pondered what Faith had said for a minute. Finally, she hooked a finger in the collar of her blouse and looked down the front of her shirt. She quirked an eyebrow. "They are perky, aren't they..."

Chapter the Last

God and Goddess stood side by side, staring down at the blue and green orb hanging in the ancient dark. It had been a little over four months since Whistler's conversation with Kennedy, months spent in what Willow had come to think of as 'Basic Godhood 101'.

God stirred, not taking His/Her eyes off the planet below. "So."

"Yeah."

"Ready to go, then?"

Willow sighed tiredly. "I guess."

"You don't sound terribly sure of yourself."

"Nervous. Scared. What if I screw up? There's just so much that I don't know yet. So many things I don't understand..."

God gave a little shrug. "One of the down sides to the whole godhood thing. There's only so much I can tell you, the rest you hafta learn as you go."

"Hey, I'm all for on-the-job training, but in this case I'd much rather take the book-learnin' route!"

"If the committee ever gets off their collective ass and prints a manual, I'll be sure to send you one."

Willow gave Her a sideways look. "There are committees in Heaven?"

God chuckled. "Willow, honey, there are committees everywhere. It's one of the Universal Constants."

They both laughed at that. Willow turned her attention back towards Earth, lost in thought. "You sure there isn't anything else you can tell me about this 'Darkness' that's coming? You haven't really given me a lot to work with, you know."

"I've told you all we know. Whatever it is, it's shrouded. Not even the most powerful of seers can see what's coming. Only that it is coming. Sometime."

"Peachy."

"Yup." God turned to Willow, taking her hands. "It's time for you to return to your family, Willow. You're stronger than you know. You have one of the kindest hearts that I've ever known, and that's saying something. You can do this. I have faith in you. You just need to have faith in yourself. And remember, if you ever need to talk, you know how to find me."

Willow grinned. "Even three universes over."

God grinned right back. "Just a hop, skip and a jump away."

Willow closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm ready."

God placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, then stepped back. "Tell Kennedy I said hi." She snapped Her fingers, and Willow found herself standing in the room that she and Kennedy had shared.

The very dark room that she and Kennedy had shared. It was the middle of the night. Willow quietly walked over and sat down on the bed next to Kennedy's sleeping form. She sat there for several minutes, drinking in the sight of her love, overjoyed simply being in her presence. Finally, she reached out and gently shook her beloved Slayer.

"Baby? I'm back..."

NEVER THE END...

Holy crap! I finally finished it! And it only took me a year and a half... Think I'm gonna hafta do shorter fics from now on.

To all those who have read and especially those of you that reviewed, my heartfelt thanks. I can't tell you how much it means to me. I've already begun working on a couple of 'Guardian Chronicles' fics, although I'm not sure when I'll get the first one posted. It'll be a Tru Calling crossover, by the way.

I had originally intended to have Willow's death and ascension come in a later fic, but this story twisted and turned so many times that her death wound up finding its way into this fic. The great (and surprising) reaction I got to 'Existence' had a little to do with that.

To all you fanfic authors out there: Keep it up! The talent out there never ceases to amaze me. You've kept me entertained, and inspired, and I can't thank you enough for that.

All Hail the Goddess Willow!

later ;)

'To thee no star be dark...'