Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. From here on out, the plot is almost entirely mine.

A/N: And now we're in the home stretch. Just a few more chapters to tie everything up, and to set up Episode 4. HOWEVER: there will be a lag between the end of Episode 3 and the begining of Episode 4, as I want to take some time to work on 'Harry Potter and the Light Brigade' and my new story, 'Finding Avalon', which I intend to debut in the final chapter of this story.

Episode 3 Chapter 14

Battle of the Heroes Part 2 - Scoobies in Space

Qui-Gon

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the clone. Come all the way from Kamino, have you?" Sidious sneered as he called his lightsaber to his hand. "What do you possible hope to accomplish here?"

What indeed? Qui-Gon thought to himself. The Jedi Knight held no illusions - he may have been called back from the netherworld of the Force into a brand new and younger body, but he was no where near as powerful as the Emperor. Of course, he didn't need to defeat the Sith Lord - just distract him. He pulled out the lightsaber Count Dooku had given him and activated its red blade.

"I've never particularly cared for this weapon," Qui-Gon said mildly. "But, seeing as I was never able to fashion a new one after my…resurrection…I guess it will have to do. Master Yoda," he addressed the small Jedi Master that still lay on the ground behind him. "Leave now. Your part in this affair is over."

"But what of you?" the smaller Jedi asked, rising to his feet.

"Don't worry about me, Master. We shall see each other again soon."

"That is highly unlikely, clone," Sidious hissed, igniting his own blade and rushing at the Jedi, who easily blocked the opening thrust.

"My name," he said, returning the attack with his casual flourish, "is Qui-Gon Jinn."

Mustafar

Darth Traya, Dark Lady of the Sith, looked up at the ridge in shock, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Rupert Giles. Alive and well, not looking a day over 45, standing before her.

"This…this isn't possible!" she breathed. "It's NOT POSSIBLE!"

"I assure you, it's quite possible," Giles responded calmly.

"This is a Jedi trick!" Darth Traya snarled as she started to rise to her feet.

"I am no trick," Giles replied, gesturing at Willow. "Stay down."

Traya fell back to the ground, growling in frustration. As she rose again, Giles once more tried to hold her down and she angrily waved away his power with her own. "Enough!"

"I agree, that's quite enough," Giles responded. "You need to stop this, Willow. These dark magicks are doing nothing more than destroying you!"

Traya stared at the Watcher for a few moments and then grinned evilly. "All right, Rupert," she said at length, "I'll play along. First and foremost - why would I even want to go home? I mean, really? What is there for me on Earth that I can't get here?"

"Your family and friends for one," Giles replied sharply, keeping a wary eye on Willow who scoffed in return.

"Please, I can make a whole new family here. Here, in my galaxy. A galaxy I will remake into my vision."

"You are not well, Willow! Let me help you!" Giles pleaded.

"Help me? What have you ever done for me except hold me back!" Traya retorted. "All the time in Sunnydale when I was helping Buffy, what did you teach me? NOTHING! All those books on magic and you kept them locked away from me! You, who knew so much, refused to teach me anything!" She adopted a voice that was low and nearly demonic and yet clipped with a cold British accent. "It's too dangerous, it's too risky, you're not old enough, not mature enough…" Her voice then returned to normal with a cackle that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. "Everything I learned, I learned on my own or from my Master. And he gave me something that you never, ever offered me."

Giles stared back warily at his former pupil. "And what is that?"

Traya's grin turned to a sneer as she raised her right hand. "Power!" she screamed as she let loose with a blast of Force lightening. Giles hastily tried to erect a shield to block it but the dark magic enhanced lightening ripped through the shield like tissue paper and sent Giles flying to the ground.

"Absolute power!" Traya continued, pushing more and more energy at her former mentor. Giles writhed and screamed in agony on the ground as, second after second, Traya held him under her power until finally she released him.

Slowly, Traya sauntered up to the fallen Watcher, who still groaned in pain. "You think you can help me, old man? You're about fifteen years too late." She called her lightsaber back to her hand and ignited the blade. "Now, I just don't want your help. Nor do I need it." Traya raised her lightsaber to deliver the killing blow. "Goodbye, Rupert. But look on the bright side! At least you won't have to travel too far to go to hell."

Giles.

Buffy was in shock. Giles was here. Not ten feet in front of her and he'd come to take them home.

Thirteen years. For thirteen years she'd held out hope that she'd find a way home, that she'd see her friends and family again. It had only been after she'd met Jacen that she'd finally been able to let go. But now, here was Giles - her Watcher, her mentor, the man who was like a father to her…

And he was about to be killed by Darth Traya.

Buffy couldn't let that happen. She wouldn't let that happen.

Buffy called upon every shred of power she could find in the Force and pushed it through her tired, worn muscles. She called her lightsaber to her hand and leapt. She landed next to Traya on her right foot and spun, arcing her silver blade up as Traya's blade went down. The silver blade sliced through Traya's right arm at the wrist and sending both the lightsaber and the hand that was still attached to it flying into the river of lava below.

Traya didn't even have time to scream as Buffy completed her spin and thrust out her left hand, still sparking from the Sith's earlier attack, and used the Force to push her hard into the outcropping of rock Giles had introduced her to moments before.

Buffy, breathing hard, her blade held at the ready, glared at her former friend. "It's over, Traya!"

Traya leaned against the rock, staring at the stump that had been her hand in shock. Her gaze traveled back up to Buffy's who stared in shock. For the first time in five years, Buffy looked into Willow's clear green eyes.

"Buffy?" she asked in a small, broken voice. "Please, kill me…"

"Willow?" she asked in shock. It couldn't be…

It only lasted a few seconds before the magicks overtook Willow once more and her eyes returned to the evil obsidian of Darth Traya. Screaming in outrage, the Sith raised her remaining hand and let loose with a blast of lightening. Buffy brought her blade up to block and as the energy struck the silver blade it was redirected back at Traya. It struck her with tremendous force. And finally Darth Traya, Dark Lady of the Sith was slammed into the rock and rendered unconscious.

Buffy staggered over to the fallen woman and knelt beside her, verifying that she was indeed out cold and using the Force to put her into a coma. Leaning back on her haunches, Buffy sighed and closed her eyes.

"It's over," she whispered to herself.

"Buffy!"

The strangled voice caught the Slayer's attention. Slowly she turned to look behind her where she saw Giles painfully trying to sit up. Cautiously she stood and walked towards the man, kneeling once more as she reached his side. Hesitantly she reached out to touch him, as if to prove to herself that he was real.

"Giles?" The word was a single sob on her lips, which then opened the floodgates as Buffy collapsed into her Watcher's arms, weeping.

"This is the end for you, my Master," Vader said coldly. Obi-Wan sighed.

"I don't want to but I will destroy you if I must."

"You will try," Vader snarled and then he leapt over Obi-Wan and onto the platform, where they dueled once more, their blades flashing fast and furiously. Both men were exhausted, spent in both body and soul but neither would give up. It was intensely difficult - the narrow platform made it hard to maneuver around. Obi-Wan realized that unless he got off soon, Vader would overpower him.

Using the Force, he guided the platform closer to the riverbank leaping and landing gracefully on the rocky terrain.

"It's over, Anakin!" Obi-Wan yelled out as his former friend brought the platform alongside the riverbank. "I have the high ground!"

"You underestimate my power!" Vader snarled in reply.

Obi-Wan braced himself for what he knew had become the inevitable. "Don't try it!"

Vader's black eyes seemed to bore into the Jedi Master's for a moment as he prepared to leap…

… And suddenly he cried out in pain, clasping a hand to his head as he collapsed onto the platform. His lightsaber fell from his limp hand and clattered uselessly to the platform beneath him. Obi-Wan remained still for a moment as he tried to determine what was happening to his friend. Soon, anguished sobs reached his ears.

"What have I done? Oh, god…."

Anakin looked up to Obi-Wan, anguish evident in his eyes.

Look at his eyes.

Anakin's eyes had returned to the crystal blue color they had been before. And Obi-Wan knew right then that Darth Traya's spell had been lifted.

"I killed them, Master," Anakin sobbed, struggling to pull himself together. But every last memory of Vader's grasp . "I tried to stop, but I couldn't…I killed them, killed them all. Oh my…"

Anakin staggered to his feet, inching closer to the edge of the platform. Obi-Wan suddenly feared the his friend would leap into the lava to assuage his grief.

"Anakin, listen to me," he said, deactivating his lightsaber and placing it back on his belt. "Anakin, I need you to jump over here, do you hear me? I need you to jump over here to me."

"I killed them all, Obi-Wan. I couldn't stop…I tried to stop…Oh, god….Nejaa, Cin Drallig…RUNtse de SHANG-DEE, ching DAIwuhtzo" he rambled on, edging closer to the edge.

"Anakin, listen!" Obi-Wan shouted. "Come to your senses! It wasn't you, it was Darth Traya! She made you do those things!"

"I should have been stronger!" Anakin shouted back. "I'm more powerful…I should have been able to resist…"

"Listen to me, if only for once!" Obi-Wan roared. "What's done is done, Anakin. You were not at fault! And throwing yourself into the lava won't help anyone!" He saw him edge closer to the edge, so he persisted. "Think of your sister, Anakin!" The broken Jedi froze on the platform. "She has lost everything - her family, her friends, her child! What do you think will happen to her if she loses you, too? Please Anakin, jump over to me! Let us go find her and leave this rock!"

"How can I face her?" he asked weakly.

"How could you leave her?" Obi-Wan replied rationally.

Anakin seemed torn for a moment, so Obi-Wan threw in his trump card. "And what about your wife… Padmé? Would you leave her like this?"

"I hurt her," he replied plaintively, his eyes showing no surprise that Obi-Wan had discovered at last the truth.

"She loves you, Anakin. She'll forgive you. She's already forgiven you. Please, Anakin."

Anakin paused for a moment before making his decision. Reaching into the Force, he leapt from the platform to the shore besides his former Master, who embraced him as soon as he landed. "Come on, old friend," Obi-Wan said, calling Anakin's lightsaber to his hand and placing it back on his former Padawan's belt, "let's go find your sister and get out of here.

Buffy sat besides her Watcher, her arms around him in a bone crushing hug as if she thought that if she let go, he'd disappear. Of course, with Slayer strength, the bone-crushing was in danger of becoming literal…

"Buffy, I do need to breathe…" Giles wheezed. Buffy immediately let go, a look of chagrin on her face.

"Oh God, Giles! I'm sorry!"

"It's all right, Buffy…" Giles replied with a warm smile that slowly faded off of his face as she took in his Slayer's appearance. She looked thinner than he remembered, even under the military-style clothes she wore. Her face also had more lines then he remembered, accentuated by a scar over her left eye. Her once-blonde hair had reverted to its more natural dirty-blonde color, similar to Dawn's. But the most significant change he saw was in her eyes. Her eyes which had carried a haunted look at time back in Sunnydale, looked positively tortured now. "Dear god, Buffy….how long-"

Before he could finish, Buffy's head whipped up as she sensed a familiar presence approaching. She jumped to her feet and spun around, switching on her lightsaber just as a voice from the past yelled "Hey!"

Standing not ten feet from her stood Faith, who held the Scythe up in a ready position. Her sister Slayer looked back at her with a look of disbelief on her face. Buffy, for her part, gave Faith a warm smile.

"Buffy?"

"Hello, Faith," Burry replied, deactivating her lightsaber. Faith lowered the Scythe, all the while eyeing Buffy's weapon. "Sweet. Where can I get one of those?"

"It's been a while, Faith. You look well."

"Thanks, B. You look like shit."

Buffy laughed at that, a short but relieved laugh, full of hope and happiness. "How?"

"Dawn, actually," Giles replied. "She never gave up hope. And as soon as Fred joined us…"

"Fred?"

"Part of Angel's crew," Faith supplied, jumping down the last set of rocks and meandering towards the pair. "We've joined up recently. Fred's kind of a mad scientist - plus she knows tons about portals and wormhole theory. Put Little D and Fred into a room - boom, a few months later, instant portal."

"Who else came?" Buffy asked, pulling Giles to his feet with her good arm; her left arm sparked, the damage rendering it immobile. Giles noticed, but didn't say anything - there were too many things happening at once and so much he was dying to ask.

"Xander and Dawn - though Dawn seemed to have an unexpected reaction to portal travel."

"Is she alright?" Buffy asked, suddenly frantic. She couldn't lose her sister before she even got a chance to see her again.

"She's fine, B," Faith assured her, sensing her uneasiness. "She's just unconscious, nothing more. We just need to worry about getting out of here…"

"Faith! Giles! Where the frilly heck are you two!" Xander's frantic voice called from over the ridge. A moment later he appeared, Dawn cradled in his arms. "I heard screaming and then there were fire…works…" his voice trailed off as he caught sight of one of his best friends. "Buffy?"

Buffy slowly walked up to her friend, gracing him with a smile before turning her attention to her sister. She looked almost exactly as he remembered her, though her features looked slightly more mature, her hair a bit longer. Closing her eyes, she reached out with the Force, trying to see if she could sense what was wrong with her sister-

And what she found surprised the hell out of her. Because Dawn was showing signs of being Force-sensitive. What's more, it appeared to be growing. A quick intake of breath broke Buffy's concentration and her eyes opened to see Xander looking past her to the outcropping where his childhood friend lay propped up against.

"What happened?" Xander whispered, gently handing Dawn to Buffy as he made his way over to his friend. "What happened to her?"

"She was deceived by a lie and it nearly destroyed her." Buffy said, the effort of speaking the words nearly breaking her heart. "What you see before you is not your friend, Xander. Merely the thing that took over her body and mind."

"She's a vampire?" Faith asked in disbelief. Buffy shook her head.

"Not in the way you are thinking, Faith. Willow can still be saved." She eyed Xander shrewdly. "As a matter of fact, I believe you may be the only one who can save her…." Buffy trailed off as a vision overtook her.

A Senate pod with a Clone commander hovered up next to a pod containing Chancellor Palpatine and Mas Amedda. Below them was the wrecked remains of the Senate.

"There is no sign of them, sir. It would appear that the Clone and Master Yoda both managed to escape.

"Double your search," Palpatine snarled. "I want both of them found immediately."

"Yes sir. Right away, sir."

Palpatine turned to Mas Amedda. "Tell Captain Kagi to prepare my shuttle for immediate takeoff."

"Yes, Master."

"I sense my young apprentices are in danger."

"Buffy? Are you alright? Buffy!"

The Slayer blinked away the vision and focused back on a worried-looking Giles.

"Buffy?"

"He's coming," Buffy whispered. Part of her wanted him to come, so she could face him and end it once and for all. But the rational part of her brain realized the state she was in - exhausted, injured and her mechanical hand was not working. The fight with Traya had taken almost everything she had and to top it all off - her family was here.

"Who's coming?" Faith asked. "Buffy?"

"Can you get back?" Buffy asked quickly. "Can you open the portal?"

"I'm afraid not, Buffy," Giles responded. "The fight with Willow took a lot of magic out of me. I need time to recover."

"Do you have to open it here? In this place?"

"I don't suppose so," Giles replied. "I can open the portal anywhere. As long as I have the tuning remote, it should get us home."

"Good," Buffy replied decisively. "Faith, I need you to grab Willow. If she wakes up, you need to knock her out again. Xander, take Dawn. I need both of my hands free. Giles, can you walk on your own?"

"Yes, but to where?" Giles asked.

"We need to find the others and get off of this rock," Buffy said, as though making up her mind about something. She handed Dawn back to Xander as Faith picked up Willow's prone form. "Follow me, but stay back a bit. I need some room to maneuver." Buffy called her Master's and Qui-Gon's old lightsabers to her and stuck them in her coat and then called hers and hooked it to her belt. Ignoring their astonished looks for a moment and pulled her com link out of her coat. "Threepio, do you copy?"

After a brief pause, the com link crackled to life. "Oh, Master Skywalker! Thank goodness you called! Poor Artoo has been in such a state…"

"Listen, Threepio!" Buffy cut him off, "I need you to take Padmé and bring her on board the Falcon. It's parked on the next pad over from Padmé's ship. Then tell Artoo to plug into the Falcon's com unit and take control of her ship - we'll need a diversion getting out of here."

"Very well, Master Skywalker. If you need anything else-"

"That's all for now, Threepio. Skywalker out." She turned the unit off and slipped it back into her coat, then turned back to her family. "Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going exactly, Buffy?" Xander asked as they followed Buffy across the rocky terrain.

"To the Falcon," Buffy replied mysteriously. "But first we got to find-"

"Buffy!"

"Ben?" Buffy called back, seeing the two figures appeared over the ridge. But he wasn't alone. Standing at his side wearing a grim smile but his cerulean eyes shining brightly against the gloomy volcanic rock was her brother. She felt as though something inside her collapsed with relief.

"Ani!" she shouted, the joy evident in her tone. Buffy took off running, coming up to her brother and grabbing him in a hug. His arms tightened around her, easily lifting her from the rock and crushing her to him. "Ohmygod Ani. I thought I lost you…" she breathed.

"I'm so sorry, Buffy," Anakin moaned, dissolving into tears as he clung to her, drawing that warm strength she had always carried, the strength he so desperately needed right now. "So very sorry."

"Um, Buffy?" Obi-Wan interrupted, looking past her to her friends who stood a short ways behind her. Buffy noticed the look and grinned.

"Family came in from out of town. Of course, their timing was as impeccable as ever…" She turned back to Anakin. "Ani, I need you to listen to me. He's coming. You know it, don't you?"

Anakin nodded. "I can feel him coming," he confirmed, shaking his head as he glanced at the others.

"So can I," Buffy replied. "So I need you to hold it together at least until we can all get out of here. Dong le ma?" Anakin nodded. "Good. Now we just have to cross the river and make it to the Falcon. Ideas?"

"There's a small platform a little ways back," Obi-Wan suggested. "It would be a tight fit, but I think we can all make it across on it."

"Good," Buffy said. "Then let's go." Turning, she started walking back towards the rolling waves of lava.

"Yeah. Let's go… to wherever," Faith mumbled, adjusting Willow in her arms and following the elder Slayer.

The group made their way back to the platform that Obi-Wan and Darth Vader had battled on. In short order, they had arranged themselves on the platform and Obi-Wan used the Force to slowly guide it to the other side. As they traveled, Buffy peeled the glove off of her damaged artificial hand and then pulled a small tool from her jacket and went to work on it. Faith started at the hand in shock.

"Jesus Buffy, what happened?"

"Lost it in a fight," Buffy replied simply, reconnecting a severed wire. Instantly the fingers started responding to her commands again.

"With what?" After all the Slayers had been through, it was hard to imagine something human taking Buffy's hand from her.

"Darth Traya," she replied, briefly glancing at the prone figure in Faith's arms. Faith caught the look and her eyes widened. "See why I wanted a Slayer to hold onto her?"

Soon the raft came to a stop and the group piled off onto the shore. They made their way up the steep sloped slowly due to the burdens in their arms, but soon they came to the landing pad. On it sat the Falcon-

Along with a Clone Troop carrier with a dozen Clone Troopers milling about.

"Ai-yah. Tyen-ah, he must have sent an advanced guard," Buffy whispered.

"What are they?" Faith asked, setting Willow down and reaching for the Scythe. Buffy's hand on hers stopped her.

"They're clones. They were on our side during the war, but now they've turned on us and are killing Jedi everywhere. And you won't be able to deal with them."

Faith was starting to get fed up with the obvious that she knew absolutely nothing about the world she was currently in. "Okay, that's it!" she hissed. "First - what war? Second - clones? And third - what the hell is a Jedi?"

"Faith, there is more going on here than you realize but it will take too long to explain it all. But I promise - when we get out of here and everybody is awake and ready - I will tell you everything. But for right now, I just need you to trust me. Can you do that?"

Faith was silent for a moment and in that moment Buffy thought that Faith really wouldn't trust her. Then her sister Slayer sighed and nodded and Buffy let go a sigh of her own. "Alright then. Obi-Wan and I can handle this. You all stay here until we tell you and then run like hell for that ship." She pointed to the Millennium Falcon. Then she turned to her brother. "Ani, listen to me. Ben and I will deal with the troops, but I need you to protect everyone else if they come over here. Can you do that?"

Anakin hesitantly removed his lightsaber from his belt and held it in his hand, inactivated. "I'll protect them, Buffy. I promise." He wouldn't let her down now, not with these strangers here that seemed to breathe life into his wounded sister.

Buffy grinned. "Good, 'cause when she wakes up, I'm going to introduce you to our sister." She pulled her lightsaber from her belt and then reached under her coat to remove another - and came up with Mace's. Obi-Wan noticed and his expression fell.

"Master Windu?"

"Traya had it," Buffy said simply. "Shall we?"

Obi-Wan steeled himself as he pulled his own lightsaber from his belt. "Yes, lets."

The two Jedi leapt up onto the platform and walked towards the Clones, igniting their blades. The Clones spotted them almost immediately.

"Hello, boys. Looking for us?" Buffy asked mockingly.

"Jedi scum!" one clone snarled in return, raising his blaster. "Blast 'em!"

Faith, Xander and Giles watched in astonishment as Buffy stalked towards the strange soldiers with only her two glowing swords as protection from their guns. They watched, astonished, as Buffy blocked laser bolt after laser bolt, sending some straight back to their senders. Their fascination turned to horror, however, as Buffy waded into the troops - severing arms, legs, heads and torsos without even blinking. After only a few seconds it was over and the two Jedi stood amidst a sea of bodies.

"Dear god…" Giles whispered to himself.

Buffy ran over to the Falcon and punched in the code, lowering the ramp - and revealing Threepio right inside.

"Oh, Master Skywalker! I'm so glad you're here…"

"Is Padmé on board?" Buffy asked, motioning for the others to come over.

"Oh yes. She's resting in the medbay at the moment. She's quite weak."

"She'll feel better when she sees Anakin," Buffy replied. "Power her up and tell Artoo to launch Padmé's ship and do everything he can to make it an obvious target."

"Right away, Master Skywalker," Threepio replied as he shuffled towards the cockpit. Buffy turned to Obi-Wan. "You better tend to our guests. Get them strapped in and put Dawn and Tray-Willow-" she corrected, "in the Medbay. Anakin," she turned to her brother, who had just arrived, "go see your wife. But be warned - Willow is in the Medbay and I don't want her touched, dong ma?"

"Crystal," Anakin replied, hurrying into the ship. As the Scoobies approached, Obi-Wan herded them into the ship as well.

"I need to get you all strapped in. Our exit sequence may be a little rough." Faith looked ready to ignore the Jedi to get some answers out of Buffy, but he took her arm with a surprisingly strong grip and led her inside. "There is a time and place for confrontations and I daresay there have been too many here today."

Buffy followed everyone else in and closed the hatch behind her and then hurried to the cockpit where she found Threepio in the second seat. "We are ready to depart, Master Skywalker."

"Lift off!" she said, dropping into her seat just as her ship lifted off of the pad and blasted into the sky.

"Okay, so is anybody else freaking out here?" Xander asked from his seat in the grav couch that the Jedi-guy had put him in before taking his friends to the med-bay. "I mean, anybody at all?"

"I'm way past freakin'," Faith said with her characteristic shrug. Giles was about to add his own remarks when the ship suddenly shuddered around them. "What the devil?"

Xander quickly unbuckled himself and leapt to his feet. "I'm finding out what's going on right now," he declared, heading in the direction he had seen Buffy head earlier. Soon enough he found his way to the cockpit and what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

They were in space.

And there were spaceships out there.

Heck, he was in a spaceship.

"Spedoinkle!" he exclaimed, attracting Buffy's attention.

"Damn it, Xander! You need to be sitting down! Strap in!" she indicated the seat behind Threepio.

"What's going on?" he asked desperately, sinking into the indicated seat.

"We're going to a safe place, but we needed to slip past these clowns first. Artoo," she indicated the small astrodroid that was plugged into the coms unit outside the cockpit, "is flying Padmé's ship as a decoy while the navicomputer makes the calculations for the jump to light speed."

"This thing's got a warp drive?" Xander asked, both delighted and terrified at the same time.

"Hyperdrive, actually." There was a brilliant flash outside as Padmé's ship was destroyed. At the same time the computer beeped. "Great timing. Time to go!" she said as she reached up to the center console and pulled back on the Hyperdrive activator and outside the pinpricks of stars lengthened as the Millenium Falcon streaked into hyperspace.

Buffy sighed in relief and sat back heavily in her chair. Xander looked at wonder at the sight of hyperspace as it streaked past the cockpit windows.

"Uh, Buffy?" he asked his friend hesitantly.

"Yes, Xander?"

"Where are we going?"

"To a sanctuary, Xander," Buffy replied in a tired voice. "Next stop, Polis Massa."

TBC