Author's Note:

I am REALLY sorry getting chapter nine of this has taken so long. It is August 5th, 2019 as I sit down to write this while waiting on laundry. How far I will get before needing sleep is anyone's guess, but giving it the ole college try.

Ok...I am FINALLY done with this chapter! YAY! Sorry it took so long...you might notice above that the date was 2019...so yeah. Sorry for the wait. Hopefully it won't be another four years before I update again.

Brad, Jonn, jlnorris, mommabush, lightspeedPink and Drizzy. Thank you for the kind words, it is encouraging that people like my story and want to see more.

Mike3207, I understand where you are coming from. I had a few problems to resolve to make this work. First I wanted Xander to do his Peggy Sue thing, so the big question would be why. What is the point of ending up in the past? Simple, to fix something that went wrong. I came up with his and Buffy's relationship is what needed fixed. So that means something had to have broken it, the big bad of the piece. So who should that big bad be? My big bad had to be someone with alot of power as they would have to have been affecting what would have been their past, or have enough precognition to know Xander and Buffy are IMPORTANT, in the cosmic sense. That being said I couldn't use any of the big bad's from the show as Buffy and company defeated all of them, and furthermore none had the foresight to be able to pull off the shenanigans I needed. So I came up with my version of Lucifer.

. So how do I reconcile the mixing of religions? Simple God created man in his image or rather man's soul in his image. God is first and foremost a creative being, it is literally the first thing he does in the Bible. That creative spark exists in each one of us, though on a vastly smaller scale and power level, basically to the point of being almost nonexistent. However, what one person cannot do, ten can and a million even more. How many people through the ages believed in Hades, Zeus and so on? Millions. My contention and what is reality in the confines of this story is that much belief mixed with that miniscule spark of creative potential created all the pantheons in the Buffyverse.

I hinted at this idea with the Fields of Apocalypse with the zombie thing. Hades states out right that new ends of the world are being created all the time as people think them up. That is how the Greek Gods can coexist with the God of Abraham.

As to Lucifer breaking his deal with Xander, a few points on that. First it was a promise made to a mortal, so it's not binding. It's like if I promised my son we would go to the park and something came up and I couldn't take him, he couldn't sue me for that. It isn't a legally binding agreement. Same thing here. Lucifer can lie and cheat mortals all day long. What he CAN'T do is alter the past or use divinely granted future knowledge, which he DID do in trying to kill Xander. In the first chapter, and this is background information, Lucifer got impatient and teleported that mugger a few feet further down the road than he otherwise would've been, otherwise Xander and Buffy would have been inside about to conceive Tara Joyce when he happened by. It was the act of physically placing him there that revealed to heaven what he had been doing.

The Unicorn- I know the whole trip to the underworld didn't have much in the way of omphf or something. A beta reader would have helped me shore it up a bit, but my writing schedule makes that difficult as it would be very unfair to any beta reader as it has been over a full year since I updated this, and I had time to write and knew my window of opportunity was short. So the chapter was rushed, and for that I can only beg forgiveness. Anyway...your next point, the Christianity in this chapter, it will be an underlying theme of the work, this is because Lucifer is the Big Bad of the story. You seem to be of the opinion that Christianity is a non thing in the Buffyverse. I disagree. If Christianity wasn't a major force in the world, the cross would have as much effect on Vampires in the Buffyverse as a pizza with extra garlic does. In other words, none.

Yet it does and has been shown on screen numerous times and just to address the 'faith of the wielder' argument, I would disabuse you of that notion. The Master in season one when talking to the Annoying One talks about the cross in the church he's trapped in. He says if fills him with dread, now he is an ancient and powerful vampire and the image of the Cross STILL fills him with dread. No one was wielding it or anything, the image itself did that. Second crosses burn vampires, again, no one needs to be actively using them for that to happen. Spike in one episode laid down on one and it burned him. Not a Star of David, not the Islamic Crescent, not a Buddha statue, it was a Cross. No place in the entirety of the show's run did we EVER see a non Christian religious symbol show the same power. Even the ritual to disinvite a Vampire requires a Cross to work, Willow wasn't able to substitute a Star of David when she had to do the ritual in the second season. Stay tuned, I do have a direction for this story in a big picture sense. It will be interesting to see if I can actually pull off the payoff I have in mind.

Guest- Since you left a review as a guest I don't even know if you got past the first chapter, but in case you did and are reading this I will respond. First, see my response to the Unicorn on my feelings about Christianity in the Buffyverse but I want to address the notion that I should be sticking to the canon villains. First, they will be making appearances, Xander is in the past after all with all the horror that entails. However, I didn't want to just rehash what Joss did. See my response to Mike on my reasonings for bringing Lucifer into this. In my opinion making the big bad be the First Evil or any of the other villains Buffy and Co defeated is just lazy writing. I want to ADD to this universe we all love. I also want it to be more than Xander solving everything instantly cause he knows the future, that makes him a Marty Stu and that would be appalling. Xander will grow in this story, as much if not more than in the original timeline.

And now, for your consideration, I present Loose Ends.


Xander rubbed his eyes as he made his way downstairs to the smells of breakfast cooking. He yawned, the images from two nights ago playing in his head. He didn't know what was going on for sure but he'd gotten himself involved with all the major players apparently. What really interested him was when Christ had told Lucifer that his mistake could still be fixed, he didn't know what to make of that and Azrael hadn't paid him a visit to be able to ask.

It was frustrating. He came into the kitchen to see his mother-in-law cooking. He smiled bemused, it was still weird having her as an in law.

"Good morning, Joyce," he said. Hank had taken Buffy and Dawn for a day trip to Los Angeles for father daughter time which left Xander with little to do until time to go to work.

"Good morning, Xander. Did you sleep well? Buffy's been worried," Joyce asked.

"Better, but I've got alot on my mind," Xander said dismissively.

"That won't work on me, young man. I love my daughter to death, but she is so smitten with you she isn't challenging you on the mundane aspects of being married," Joyce said.

"Could've fooled me, she sure put up a fight about getting you involved with all of this," Xander replied.

"Yes, but that was work, and she takes her work seriously. To be fair you've tried to be as open with her as you can, but I can see you're still holding things back," Joyce said.

"No I'm not, not when she asks directly. I understand your concerns, but Buffy and I have a great relationship. She has asked me about my not sleeping well since Celia's kidnapping..man, what a life we live when I have had to get my unborn daughter back from the Prince of Lies himself," Xander said.

"Don't change the subject," Joyce admonished as she transferred eggs to a plate.

"Yes, ma'am. As I said she's asked about it and I told her that I'm still processing what is bugging me and as soon as it is in English I'll tell her," Xander said.

"Meaning?" Joyce prompted.

"Meaning that something is bugging me, but I'm not sure what it is yet," Xander said as Joyce sat his breakfast in front of him. "Thanks."

"Your welcome," Joyce said and then there was a flash of light and a twenty something man with a winged helmet appeared in the kitchen.

"Hermes?" Xander guessed, raising an eyebrow.

"You were expecting me?" Hermes asked, sounding surprised.

"Not really, but with the hat it's not that hard of a guess," Xander said bemused at how normal it seemed to have the Messenger of the Gods in his mother-in-laws kitchen.

"Xander, there is a greek god in my kitchen," Joyce said, sounding in awe.

"Yes, and two days ago you had two Angels in the living room. Weird is our business, you'll get used to it eventually," Xander said.

"Or go completely crazy," Joyce said.

"Ahem...I DO have other deliveries to make," Hermes said.

"Of course, sorry," Xander said looking at the Greek god.

"It's ok. First I have this to show you," Hermes said and held his hands wide open and what appeared to Xander as a very detailed and clear hologram appeared above Herme's hands. It showed a very old, mostly rotten wagon, loaded down with gold bars.

"Is this Hades' offer of payment for the boon he owes me?" Xander asked.

"No, this is an offer of payment for services yet to be rendered, that boon will be one of your choosing and at a time of your choosing," Hermes replied.

"So who or what do I have to kill to get this payment and how much is there?" Xander asked.

:"No one, but there is an object that Hades would really like to see...unmade and since you just survived a fight with an actual archangel, Hades seems to think you are more than up to this task," Hermes said.

"I never got the impression that Lucifer was really trying that hard to kill me during that fight," Xander said.

"Tomatoes, kumquats," Hermes replied. "As to your question, it's 200 pounds of gold."

Joyce let out a low whistle and asked, "Just what is it that Hades wants unmade that he's willing to give Xander a million dollars in gold?"

"How much?" Xander gasped.

"A million dollars, give or take ten or twenty thousand, depending on what gold prices are on the day you sell," Joyce said.

"And you just know that off the top of your head?" Xander asked, floored.

"It IS my job, Xander," Joyce said.

Xander pondered this a moment and nodded, "Ok, must not be fully awake yet not to see the connection. Sorry Joyce now back to the great googly moogaly MILLION DOLLARS?"

"I know, it's low. I tried to talk him into 2 million, but he wouldn't change his first offer," Hermes said.

"First offer?" Xander choked out.

"What? This isn't a burning bush demand from on high, it's a business transaction," Hermes replied.

Xander ran his fingers through his hair, "Ok, lay it on me, what is Hades wanting to have unmade?"

"This," Hermes said and the floating image of the wagon vanished to be replaced with the image of a ring, a gold ring with what appeared to be an emerald inside it's unique setting.

"The Gem of Amara," Xander said in a tone he normally reserved for more...earthy language.

"You've had the displeasure I take it," the messenger god said.

"Yeah...I'll take Hades' first offer on this one, I would have done it for free, but money IS a bit tight," Xander said. "Now I am having to look for it or does Hades know where the damned thing is?"

"Yes he does, it's actually in the wagon with your payment. The church had found it and wanted to get it to the Vatican as soon as possible and took the opportunity of a Spanish treasure wagon going to Spain. When they crossed the Hellmouth an earthquake hit and it never made it," Hermes said and reached into his pouch. He pulled out a rolled up scroll. "Here are directions to the best place to access it.." He reached into his pouch again and pulled out a leather rod. "This will keep you from needing major earthmoving equipment and disturbing things above. It'll also help get your payment out of there."

"Ok, Joyce, how long do you think it would take to turn that gold into US dollars?" Xander asked.

"That's going to depend on whether you want to accept a capital gains tax of nearly 40%," Joyce said.

Xander grimiced, "So not a million bucks?"

"Not if you want to sell it all at once, also we'll want to come up with an explanation of where it came from," Joyce said.

"Right, cause the last thing we need is the cops thinking we stole it or something," Xander said.

"Pretty much, the obvious explanation won't work, cause treasure hunts tend to be expensive," Joyce said.

"We'll have to think of something,' Xander said and scrunched his face up in thought. He turned to Hermes. "I don't suppose Hades could help us launder the money, huh?"

"He's the God of the dead and wealth, not bureaucracy. Any other questions, because I really do have other deliveries to make,"Hermes replied.

"Yes, how do we let Hades know it's been destroyed?" Xander asked.

"He'll know, it's tied to the dead after all," Hermes said and vanished.

"Life has not been dull since you came into our lives, Xander," Joyce said with a chuckle.

"I know, I'm going to call in real fast, I think since the Gem of Amara is involved we'd better wait for Buffy," Xander said going for the phone. The call was short and Xander came back to his plate and started on his bacon.

"What is the Gem of Amara?" Joyce asked as they ate.

"It makes the vampire who wears it virtually immortal, they can walk in sunlight and stakes are useless as long as they wear the ring," Xander answered and sipped his orange juice.

"No wonder you said you would've done it at no charge," Joyce said.

"Yep, now I have to go talk to Giles and Mrs McClay, see if we can figure out how to destroy it," Xander said and put the last bite of egg in his mouth and took his plate and glass to the sink.

"Don't you know how to destroy it?" Joyce asked.

"No, cause that isn't what we did with it the first time around," Xander said.

"What did you do with it?" Joyce asked.

"Buffy sent it to Angel, we heard later that Spike tried to get it back and Angel decided to destroy it, but how he did it I don't know, so research," Xander said.

"Ah...so you know it CAN be destroyed but you don't know how?" Joyce asked.

"Pretty much, its magic so it can't be just a simple matter of melting it down or smashing it with a rock," Xander said.

"I suppose not, do you need a ride?" Joyce asked.

"Nah, Giles's apartment isn't that far and I still need to get into better shape so I'll jog," Xander replied and said his goodbyes and left.


Xander found his running was getting easier which was very good news in his book. The day was warm and he'd worked up a pretty good sweat by the time he got to Giles's apartment. He knocked on the door and Giles opened the door.

"Xander? What's wrong?" Giles asked, sounding concerned..

"We've got a job, a paying job," Xander said with a grin.

"We've got a job?" Giles asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yep, Hades wants the Gem of Amara destroyed," Xander said.

"Now, The Gem of Amara is a legend, Xander...there's no evidence…" Giles trailed off as Xander just looked at him with a look many an mini slayer uptime would recognize. "I see, so you know where it is then?" Giles said moving aside to let Xander in.

"Would you like a drink? It looks like you ran here," Giles said as Xander took a seat in the living room.

"I did, and some water would be good actually, thanks," Xander said. The Watcher went into the kitchen and brought Xander a glass of water which Xander sipped from gratefully. "Thanks, G-Man."

"Yes, Hades provided us with the location and is even throwing in the 200 pounds of gold that is with it," Xander said, his head still not wrapping around the fact that he was going to have the better part of a million dollars to his name.

"Two...two hundred pounds of gold?" Giles stammered sitting in a chair across from the time displaced man.

"Yeah, Joyce says it's roughly a million dollars worth," Xander said.

"Astonishing," Giles said. "Are you wanting to call everyone else? Or do you want to get the Gem first?"

"I think research is in order first, the Gem will stay put for a couple of years," Xander said sipping some more water.

"Of course, no real point in tempting fate until we are ready. I don't suppose you know how to destroy it, do you?"

"No, I don't. In the original history Buffy sent it to Angel who destroyed it after Spike tried to get it back from him, but I have no idea how he did it," Xander said.

"Hmmm...I'm not sure if I have the right books here," Giles said.

"So to the school then?" Xander asked.

"No, I'm not sure I have them in this country. The Gem is supposed to just be a legend, kind of like the fountain of youth for vampires," Giles said thoughtfully.

"Don't joke about the Fountain of Youth," Xander deadpanned.

"Don't tell me IT'S real too," Giles said, astonishment in his voice.

Xander let out a chuckle, "Got you!"

Giles had a look of annoyance cross his face then it softened, "So you did, joking aside as I said because it isn't supposed to exist I don't think I have any books on it here," Giles said.

"And you have a mental card catalogue of every business book you have," Xander said seriously and sighed.

"I'm surprised you aren't insisting we look anyway," Giles said.

"Giles, I've seen you put your hands on volumes so many times that I KNOW you know every book in your possession. Most of our research parties, especially in the early days involved you getting down the books most likely to hold information on the current problem. If you don't think one of the books you currently have has any information on it, I trust that," Xander said.

"It will take some time to get any information from the Watcher's Council too," Giles said. "Especially with the need for secrecy as to WHY I would be asking about a 'fairytale'."

"Hmmm...I seem to remember you having something on it uptime, but I'm not really sure, it was Buffy's first year of college and I wasn't IN college," Xander said sighing in frustration.

"It's ok, Xander, no one expects you to remember everything," Giles said. "If I DID have something then I doubt the Council would have sent it so I must have got it from someplace else," Giles said thoughtfully.

Xander was still for a few seconds then shouted, "Father Mulcahy!"

"The priest that performed your and Buffy's wedding?"

"Yes, he passed away the year we graduated and he left you some books, the information must be in one of those books!" Xander exclaimed.

"Let's go see him then," Giles said.


Xander and Giles entered the church to find Father Mulcahy kneeling at the altar in prayer. Xander went to a pew and knelt on one of the pull out knee pads and started praying. Giles waited while the priest and the young man that had changed so much in the Watcher's mission in just a few months took a moment. Xander finished before the aged Father and sat back in the pew.

"I didn't know you were religious, Xander," Giles said his voice low.

"I never really thought about it too much, honestly. However, finding out that Lucifer is not only real but has a personal beef with my family, it seems prudent to start developing a relationship with the other side. Besides from the looks of things so far God and the Angels are much more help then the so called Powers that Be," Xander said.

"A valid point," Giles said as the two men saw the frail priest rise from his prayers. Xander had to restrain himself from going to help the older man. Father Mulcahy turned from the altar and smiled in welcome at the duo.

"Xander my boy. It is good to see you, and so soon after the wedding. How is Buffy?" the father asked.

"Good, she and her sister are having a day with their father, Father," Xander said.

"Very good, and if memory serves from the wedding this is Mr. Giles, Buffy's Watcher from the Council?" Father Mulcahy asked.

"Yes, Father," Xander said.

"A pleasure to meet you again in less...busy circumstances, Father," Giles said, putting out his hand which the elderly priest took and the two shook hands.

"Now what brings you two gentlemen down to my humble parish?" Father Mulcahy asked.

"The Gem of Amara," Xander said.

To his credit the frail priest hid his shock well, and voiced his first concern softly, "It hasn't been found has it?"

"No, but I've been commissioned by Hades to retrieve and destroy the cursed thing," Xander said.

"How'd you…" Mulcahy started then continued, "My dear boy, you do have...interesting problems."

"Well, when one helps the God of Death reclaim his throne from Lucifer...it puts you on his radar," Xander said.

"I see, now I have to hear this tale, son. You've got this old man's curiosity piqued," the priest, much to Xander's relief, finally sat down to listen to Xander's story. Xander recounted how Lucifer took Celia's soul and the quest to retrieve it, his vision afterwards and finishing with Hermes' appearance that morning.

"I see, so you are hoping I will have information on how to destroy the Gem?" Mulcahy asked.

"We were hoping, I know it's not likely since the ring was being sent to the Vatican. I DO know from my memories that it CAN be destroyed, but I don't know how," Xander said.

"An object of such power normally cannot easily be destroyed...hmmm I do have some books at the rectory that might help," the Father said.

"How many?" Giles asked.

"Pertaining to the Gem itself, maybe thirty or so, the Church of course has had a vested interest in the Gem since its creation. As to your vision, Xander. Well, your experiences are more than a bit unusual, even for one versed in the more supernatural aspects of our universe," the Father said.

"I was hoping to let the rest of the Scoobies enjoy their weekend, but with that many it looks like a research party at the rectory," Xander said with a sigh.


Xander and Giles followed the Father to the rectory house. Xander borrowed the rectory phone to call the Scoobies, Joyce and, after checking his wallet, his favorite pizza place. Only Samantha and Tara wouldn't be able to join immediately as Samantha had a job interview and Tara had her driving test right after. After the phone calls Father Mulcahy led them to a meeting room in the rectory with a long table. There were notebooks stacked on a shelf on the wall. Xander put the notebooks and pens on the table while Giles and Father Mulcahy retrieved the books. Once they were all gathered he gave a brief explanation of the situation. Reactions were varied, and simultaneous.

"Hermes was in your kitchen?!" Willow exclaimed.

"A MILLION BUCKS!?" Jesse shouted.

"Who would create a ring to make Vampires immortal?" Owen wondered.

Xander chuckled at what each had picked up on from his story...though Owen's question was a very good one and Xander said as much.

"An answer that might be found in these," Giles said as he pushed a book cart into the room they had gathered followed

"That is a whole lotta books," Jesse said, giving a low whistle.

"All of those are about the Gem of Amara?" Owen asked and Xander filed that away for future, the boy might grow himself into a Watcher, which would be good cause they never had enough uptime for all the Slayers they had. It helped that many were already adults, but they still needed help with research and such and having someone on site was always better than playing phone tag.

"That's what the Padre promised," Xander said and started passing out books. "We are looking for how to destroy this thing. As it is almost lunch time, I ordered pizza so we'll take a break when it arrives at noon. That gives us about two and a half hours to find out all we can about this thing, now the bad news, not all of these books are in English." He paused briefly to look at the titles and continued. "In fact it looks like about half of them are actually in Spanish as they are rebound journals. Giles, did you notice the languages of the other books?"

"Yes, six are in readable English, the other nine are in Latin," Giles said and Xander made a face.

"I will be so glad when Dawn's grown...her language skills are so much better than mine," Xander mused.

They started on the large task before them and it was a slog. The texts were dry and boring and worse for Xander the Latin texts he had were all in a weird mix of actual Latin and old French. He was busy with one particularly tricky passage when Owen picked up the first page of notes of Xander's and started comparing it to his English book. After a few minutes his eyebrows rose and he said, "Xander, I think I have an English translation of the book you are working on!"

Xander straightened at the boy's sudden outburst, "Say what?"

Owen repeated himself and Xander and Giles looked at it and nodded.

"Very good work, Owen, what made you think to check on that?" Giles asked.

"Xander's mumbling while he was working. At first I was tuning it out, but I kept hearing things that sounded familiar so I took a look at his first page of notes and while not an exact match to mine it's close enough that it has to be the same book," Owen explained and Willow smiled and beamed at her boyfriend.

"Nice job, Owen, we'll go with that for right now and spare me going through the rest of that text. Padre, do you have a couple of ibuprofen? I've got a translation headache coming on," Xander said as he put his first book back with his notes on it and took a second. The Padre simply left and returned with pain pills and a glass of water for Xander who thanked Mulcahy for the medication.

"THE BOOKS ARE WINNING! " Jesse mock screamed, giving the group a much needed chuckle.

"What's funny?" Buffy asked as her, Dawn and Hank came in.

"Research humor, Babe," Xander said as he stood up and kissed his wife.

"So Mom said to meet you guys here but didn't go into very many details, just said, 'Ask your husband, he's the one Herme's came to see,'. So husband dear, why would a Greek God come to see you?" Buffy asked sweetly.

"To give me a paying job," Xander said and gave her the details of the situation.

"Oh," Buffy said and sat down in a chair, "My husband is getting a million dollars in gold from the God of the Dead, just to destroy a ring."

"Does that make you Frodo, Xander?" Dawn piped up.

Xander and the rest of the group chuckled at the comparison, "I suppose so, Dawn-Patrol, but I hope there's no volcano of doom we have to go to."

The next several minutes were spent arguing over who got to be the rest of the Fellowship, with Willow and Jesse each claiming Legolas only for THAT honor to be decided later at the local archery club, only because of the arrival of the pizza. Xander strongly suggested that they leave work behind and just enjoy lunch as they all needed a mental break. Xander was surprised when Hank offered to stay and help as well.

"What about Dawn?" Xander asked.

"I have some cartoons on video she can watch," Father Mulcahy said.

"Welcome to the research party then, you already have the cliff notes version of the case," Xander said. "Do you have any questions?"

"No, you summed up the situation fairly well, still...Herme's was in Joyce's kitchen?," Hank said, still sounding a bit shocked and Xander nodded.

"You know, you can break Manny's heart, now," Buffy said, causing Xander to laugh.

Lunch was soon finished and they made their way back to the books, Jessie gave Hank one of the books he hadn't gotten to read yet and the group settled back to work. Hours later Jesse spoke up.

"Hey, Owen, you remember the question you had?" Jesse asked.

"The one about who would create such a ring?" Owen asked.

"I think I found the answer here," Jesse said, turning his book around and pointing out as Tara and her mother walked into the rectory.

"Sorry for being late," Sam said as Father Mulcahy showed her and Tara to a chair.

"Did you get it?" Willow asked Tara as she bounced in her chair.

"Yes, I did," Tara said, blushing at the attention she was getting from her current roommate.

"You go girl!" Xander said smiling at the blonde witch.

"Congratulations!" Hank said.

"Can I see it?" Dawn squelled.

"Yay! Finally, someone to split driving duties with!" Owen said looking at Xander.

"Hey, I've been busy!" Xander defended himself.

"Yeah, buddy and we know with whom," Jesse said winking.

"Hey, I haven't had him ALL to myself!" Buffy said in mock indignation.

"Ahem...I think there's still some pizza left if you ladies are hungry," Xander said trying to get the conversation away from his...relations with his wife.

"No, we got a burger on the way over since we weren't sure if there would be enough left, especially with Buffy now eating for two," Sam said. Xander chuckled at his wife's shocked look. For himself he was glad for Sam's inclusion in the group.

"I don't eat THAT much...do I?" Buffy pouted.

"Banned from THREE all you can eat buffets in Cleveland," Xander said, earning a light punch in the arm from his wife.

"I thought you said Faith helped with that," Buffy said.

"True, but they never banned me and I was there on all occasions," Xander said with a grin.

"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be defending me, HUSBAND," Buffy said.

"Why should I defend you on a feat that I personally envy? Especially when you can do it and not put on a single ounce?" Xander asked.

"He's got a point, Buffy," Willow said. "It would be nice, at least once in a while, to be able to eat like you do and not have to worry about extra pounds."

"Ahem...as fascinating as slayer metabolism is, we are here for an important purpose and I believe Jesse had just found an answer to Owen's very good question," Giles said.

"Yes, actually, it was this passage. A watcher named Jehan apparently made the damned thing," Jesse said.

"Made what?" Sam asked.

"Oh...sorry I forgot you came in after Buffy and company," Xander said and gave the McClay's a brief run down on the day's events. Sam just nodded silently. He was surprised by the lack of reaction from the elder witch, Tara for her part was doing a perfect imitation of a wide mouth bass.

"Anyway, Jesse, please continue," Xander said.

"Yes, obviously he wasn't trying to create anything that would make vampires invincible as the ring apparently does. What he was doing was trying to do was create a ring to protect his slayer...whose name was Amara," Jesse said.

"What is that book, Jesse?" Giles asked.

"It seems to be a diary, I was kinda surprised it was in English as it's obvious he's French and his Slayer was from the Balkans. Also the dates given are like the mid 700's A.D," Jesse said.

"English wasn't even really a thing then," Xander mused.

"Which begs the question why a translation of a watcher's diary would be in a Catholic Rectory," Giles said looking at Father Mulcahy.

"I haven't taken in a new book at this parish since I was sent here, is there any indication as to when the translation was done, Jesse?" the elderly priest asked.

"Let me look," Jesse said as he bookmarked his place with his index finger and opened the front cover. "It looks like the translation was done in 1851 by Father Eliseo Orosco López Sánchez."

"It could have been part of the original Spanish mission's collection then," Xander mused.

"Well, it is a mystery we don't need to focus on right now, we should just be grateful that someone had the foresight to first make sure the journal was here and translated into the majority language," Giles said as Owen suddenly grabbed one of the non english books and opened it up.

"He also hedged his bets," Owen said as he held up the book he found. "It's a Spanish translation of the same diary."

"Then Father Eliseo has truly blessed us and done the Lord's work," Father Mulcahy said.

"Forgive me for being new on this, but do all watchers keep diaries?" Hank asked.

"Yes, we do. We start even before we are sent out in the field to build up the habit. The Watcher's diaries are our best sources on many of the threats we face as there is always a first time of facing a threat and the Watcher and their Slayer often have to make up solutions themselves. Obviously this is less of a problem today than it was in the past, if you have questions about them, we can talk later after we destroy the Gem," Giles replied.

"I think I would like that," Hank said.

"Count me in on that too, it might help me...reconcile my past to learn more about real demons," Sam said.

"Of course," Giles said. "Now, Jesse, before that side issue you were about to tell us why and how the Gem was created?"

"Yep, as I said he was a watcher, and hmmm...he was married to his slayer," Jesse said.

"How old was she, Jesse?" Willow asked.

"About 14…" Jesse said.

"How old was HE?" Buffy asked, a bit of heat in her voice.

"Late twenties early thirties," Jesse said.

"That...that...THAT'S illegal!" Willow exclaimed.

"In the here and now, you are right, Wills, but in 700 AD...it was different," Xander said.

"Xander is quite correct, in fact since it would have been obvious that she was not his daughter, a marriage would have been the easiest way to ensure no...uncomfortable questions arose," Giles said.

"Did he and her have...relations?" Buffy asked.

"Actually….yes. It actually seems that they were genuinely in love and he describes their relationship in embarrassing detail," Jesse said.

"Please continue with the why and how the ring was created," Giles said, cleaning his glasses.

"Yes...it seems that when he created the ring he wanted it to have certain properties, such as granting her invulnerability, improving her senses, the ability to breath underwater," Jesse said.

"Sounds like he was wanting to completely ensure she'd survive," Xander said.

"What was the destruction clause for the ring?" Sam asked.

"I haven't found anything like that yet," Jesse said.

Sam nodded and said, "It has to be there someplace,"

"Indeed," Giles agreed.

"So for those of us not versed in the hocus pocus, why does it have to be in there?" Hank asked.

"It's really quite simple, Mr. Summers," Sam began.

"Call me Hank, you and your daughter are helping keep Buffy and my granddaughter alive," Hank interrupted, causing Xander to again wonder what happened to cause this man who obviously loved his daughter to abandon her so completely in the future.

"Of course, Hank, anyway, to answer your question, he had to because when creating an item this powerful it has to be able to be destroyed to maintain balance, part of that is ensuring that the method of destruction is knowable, " Sam said.

"So in order for it to work, he not only has to include a way for it to be destroyed but has to write it down?" Willow asked.

"Correct," Sam agreed looking proudly at Willow and continued. "Most things we make in everyday life have this condition easily met as anything from a car to a peanut butter sandwich is able to be reduced to its component parts, indeed, in the case of the sandwich its whole purpose for existing is to be destroyed."

"However, not all objects are as easily unmade, such as the emerald used to create the gem. First it's very hard and not easy to just smash. Second even if you did you'd just have a bunch of smaller emeralds," Giles added.

"But the original Gem would still be destroyed, right?" Owen asked.

"For the purposes of most, that would be true," Sam said, "However, when the object has been imbued with magical power, even the pieces would serve as well as the whole."

"Which means instead of ONE gem, we'd have a bunch of them," Xander said, leaning back.

"Which is where the destruction clause comes in, right, Mrs. McClay?" Willow asked.

"Very good, Willow. The destruction clause is to end the spell, which is the real point. The gem itself is only worth what you would be able to sell it for without the magic attached to it," Sam said smiling at Willow.

"Which means that the destruction clause is to remove the magical properties, not necessarily to destroy the actual object, right?" Hank asked.

"Essentially yes," Giles replied, looking thoughtful.

"Giles, why couldn't we use something like the Eternal Flame?" Xander asked.

"How'd...never mind," Giles started while Xander grinned at the Watcher's mental shift. "The Eternal Flame was meant to destroy really powerful, demon created magical items. The Gem was created by a human and therefore cannot be used on the Gem."

"Forgive me if this is a stupid question," Jesse said, "But why not?"

"It isn't a stupid question at all, Jesse. In fact it is quite a good one. The answer is how the Eternal Flame works and why it's called the Eternal Flame," Giles began.

"I always wondered why it was called the Eternal Flame when we had to light it," Xander mused.

"Quite right, Xander. It is called that because when used to destroy an object, it also destroys the entire line of demon that created the object. Since in the Gem's case humans created it…" Giles trailed off.

"Would it kill every human on Earth or just those with family ties to Jehan?" Hank asked.

"Every human, I am afraid," Giles said quietly.

"So that is definitely not an option," Hank said, steepling his fingers. Xander was becoming more and more convinced that there was some chicanery going on in the previous timeline with Hank Summers. The man was just too interested in his daughters activities to have let anything, much less a loose skirt, come between him and them. It was a puzzle and one Xander just couldn't let go of. It smelled way too Hellmouthy for his taste. However it was a problem for another day.

They put the other books away as the Jehen's Journal had the answers they needed, there turned out to be three copies, the English that Jesse was reading, the Spanish one Giles found and one in Latin that looked much older than the other two. Hank, it turned out was fully literate in Spanish so he got that one while Giles tackled the Latin one. It was an hour later until they found the answer.

"Guys…" Jesse said, "I think I might have it. I have a passage here that says the bearer must consume the destined foe, then forswear the protection granted by the Gem,"

"So what does the clause mean?" Buffy asked.

"It seems rather straightforward, whoever bears the ring must consume their destined foe, which should be a vampire with you the Slayer bearing it, then you would have to forswear the protection the Gem grants and that would undue the magic the Gem is imbued with leaving us with a rather gaudy ring," Giles said sounding unsure.

"It can't be that easy, can it Giles? First we know that the ring protects VAMPIRES from their hazards. It's become KNOWN for it," Xander said.

"Quite true, my boy. Quite true. It is a puzzle," Giles said.

"Well, what's the harm in me putting the thing on, killing a vampire then trying to destroy it?" Buffy asked.

"We don't know, Buff. We know something went wrong with the making of this thing...Jesse. Did Jehan record what happened when they tried to USE the ring?" Xander asked.

"Hmmm…just a second, bro," Jesse said and went scanning the Journal, flipping pages fairly quickly, then he slowed down. "Oh...no...this isn't good. Not good at all."

"Don't keep us in suspense, Jesse!" Xander urged.

"It went REALLY badly. After the gem was made, Amara immediately started using it. At first everything seemed fine, but on the third night's patrol she got cocky and hit a nest of ten vampires...they sired her, even with the ring on. It didn't work at all...until she woke as a vampire. The journal ends with Jehan KNOWING she had been turned and that he was going to try to slay her himself, nothing after that from him...however someone named Hans picks up and says that Jehan was killed by Amara. Just a second," Jesse said as he continued to read. The group waited as he turned pages, tension building as the minutes passed, but no one wanted to interrupt Jesse as he read. Finally he sighed and closed the journal. "Hans led a group of watchers to slay Amara, they basically set fire to the lair the nest was staying at during the day. All of the vampires that Amara had gone after were killed...except her. The flames didn't harm her, nor the light of the Sun. It took months as Amara cut a swath of terror across Europe, but they finally were able to subdue her and get the ring off in daylight. Then she burned like any other vampire."

The group sat in silence a while in thought, then Xander spoke up, "And the Watchers of the time obviously weren't able to destroy the Gem, cause it's still here, but I know the damned thing CAN be destroyed."

Silence settled once again over the group as they thought through the problem. Each of the Scoobies thought, but Sam's face soon caught Xander's attention as her brow furrowed, then her countenance began to look disturbed...then she exclaimed, "The damn fool!"

"Mom!" Tara squeaked at her mother's use of even the mild swear word.

"What is it Sam?" Xander asked at the same time.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but Jehan...it's no wonder it all went wrong and I don't know why I didn't see it before!" Sam exclaimed.

"Seen what before?" Father Mulcahy asked.

"The problem was in the destruction clause, it was impossible to meet, in fact I would say that it IS still impossible to meet except Xander knows it was met in the previous timeline," Sam said then continued. "Remember what I've been saying about balance? The destruction clause didn't meet it. There was no way for the conditions for the clause to manifest. Had this worked the Gem would have been passed on to Slayers as each one died of old age."

"But wouldn't the Gem have kept them from dying?" Tara asked.

"No, not from things everyone dies from. Granting that kind of immortality for a mortal being is impossible and even Jehan would have known that, nor would he have wanted that for Amara anyway," Sam said.

"Why not?" Hank asked.

"Highlander, Hank," Xander said.

"Highlander?" Hank asked, then his face lit up, "Oh...of course. He wouldn't have wanted her cursed with watching her loved ones grow old and die while she stayed young and strong."

"Or worse, living forever in an increasingly decrepit body and never being able to die, that is a possibility as well, which would be worse because she'd still be the Slayer, unable to fight but also unable to die for a more able Slayer to be called," Giles said softly.

"And unable to forswear the ring to end it without risking its destruction," Sam added.

"That...would be terrible," Willow said.

"So where does that leave us on how to destroy it?" Xander asked.

"With the original destruction clause. It works for vampires, right? So the destruction clause has to be the same cause the spell can't completely rewrite itself, can it?" Owen asked.

"No, it can't. Honestly I'm surprised it went SO badly in the first place because of the requirement that she drink vampire blood...oh...oh dear," Sam said.

"What is it, Sam?" Hank asked.

"They turned her...she drank from her bane," Sam said.

"Then why is the Gem even here?" Jesse asked.

"The second part, the bearer has to willfully destroy the Gem," Giles said.

"Which is why the Council wasn't going to be able to destroy it...and was why Angel WAS able to," Xander said a smile coming on his face. "Padre' do you mind if I use your phone to make a call to LA?"

"Of course my boy, there is one in the Foyer," Mulcahy said.

"Who is Xander calling in LA that can help with this?" Hank asked.

"A vampire friend of his," Buffy said and chuckled at her dad's look of confusion then explained about Angel.

"So since Angel has a soul...he could forsake the protection of the Gem and destroy it, right? Hank asked.

"That seems to be Xander's thinking," Giles said as Xander came back in.

"Angel will be up at the end of the week, he's chasing down a Falanjoid demon," Xander said shuddering.

"Oh dear, I do hope he slays the foul creature soon, they can cause untold havok," Giles said.

"What do they do?" Willow asked.

"They eat brains, Wills," Xander said.

"I'm sorry I asked," Willow said, paleing. Owen squeezed her hand causing her to smile.

Buffy elbowed Xander and whispered to him, "And you thought that setting her up with Owen was a bad idea."

"No comment, my love," Xander said softly, looking at Tara.

"What is it?" She asked as the others helped Father Mulcahy clean up.

"Nothing super serious, Buff. I hope," Xander said.

"Ok...you don't get to sleep tonight until you tell me what has you worried," Buffy whispered to him.

"Yes, dear," Xander said as the group headed out.

"Who's up for movie night?" Jesse called out and hands shot up.

"We'll meet at home, I still have to retrieve the Gem," Xander said.

"It might be better to leave it where it is," Sam said.

"Huh?" Xander asked.

"Samantha has a point, Xander. You said it wasn't found for years from now, getting it might call undue attention," Giles said.

"Yeah, I suppose you are right...so movie night!"


That night Buffy and Xander were in bed after marital relations and Xander was in that comfortable spot just between being awake and asleep when Buffy elbowed him.

"No sleeping yet, why are you not on board with Owen and Willow?" Buffy asked.

Xander sighed, "I really don't want to talk about this Buffy, it's about Willow's future relationships and if I tell you it opens up the possibility of it leaking," Xander said.

"So what is the problem?" Buffy pressed.

"The problem I have right now, is that if it wasn't for my future knowledge I would be ok with her being with Owen. But without that knowledge she wouldn't be with Owen," Xander said.

"But you know who she ended up with, the first time, yet you aren't doing anything to ensure that happens," Buffy said.

"No, I'm not," Xander said thoughtfully. He hadn't really thought about why he wasn't, but now that Buffy had openly asked the question he put some thought into his subconscious reasoning.

Buffy for her part was patient, which actually surprised Xander, the Buffy uptime was able to read his moods well enough to know when he was thinking about something. It didn't take him very long to realize why he was being hands off on his friends personal lives, but it took a few minutes to organize those thoughts into something coherent.

"I don't like fate. I like free will and in my opinion, as wonderful as it is to be your husband, it's really enough that OUR fates are prewritten, so to speak. I don't want that for Willow, or Tara or Owen. The only one of our friends I DON'T have to worry about in that respect is Jesse," Xander said.

"You think our fate is prewritten?" Buffy asked.

"It's kinda hard NOT to think that considering I was brought back HERE, specifically to breed two heroes," Xander said.

"When you put it that way…"Buffy said.

"It's worse because I DID have a choice, I could have stayed in Heaven no harm no foul and let God and the Angelic Host deal with it," Xander said.

"You think because of YOUR choice you've taken my choices away?" Buffy asked.

"Most of the time I DON'T think about it, but yeah. Even if I didn't think your love life uptime was the greatest, when I'm feeling introspective I wonder if I had the right to take your agency from you," Xander said.

"So...not so lucky in love the first time around?" Buffy asked.

Xander took a moment, his promise to share everything with Buffy in his mind. That vow was mostly about his time in Africa, but this counted too, didn't it? He then said, "Not really Buffy, I personally blame the Slayer for that as she needs a bit of darkness to get you interested in the first place."

"And you think that led me to some bad decisions in boyfriend material?"

"Definitely, even the best of your boyfriends had...issues," Xander said.

"Tell me?" Buffy asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Xander asked.

"I don't know," Buffy said.

"Isn't that the way of things?" Xander asked rhetorically.

"Yeah," Buffy snuggled deeper into Xander's shoulder and soon they were both asleep.


On Monday Buffy and Xander went to school and met up with Giles in the Library.

"Good Morning,Buffy and Xander," Giles said.

"Good morning, Giles," Xander said.

"He spent all of yesterday either bouncing off the walls or being grumpy," Buffy complained.

"I was not grumpy, I was being introspective," Xander defended himself.

"Xander, even Dawn couldn't get you to smile yesterday, even when you were pacing," Buffy said.

"Buffy, to be fair, the events of this past weekend were rather extraordinary," Giles said.

"Listen to your Watcher, sweetheart. I'll be fine once this job is finally done," Xander said as Cordelia burst into the library.

"Mitch says he got beat up in the boys locker room by a ghost," she said.

"Your boyfriend of the week got beat up and you are telling us about it?" Xander said wearily.

"Yes, by a ghost...so get to busting that is what you and the missus do isn't it?" Cordelia said.

"Mitch isn't known for having a healthy relationship with the truth, Cordy, something I believe I told you when you started stalking him. He probably got ambushed by a kid he gave a swirly to and doesn't want to admit it," Xander said.

"Gee...what's with Mr. Grumpy pants?" Cordelia asked.

Buffy gave her husband a look.

"I'm NOT grumpy!" Xander said.

"Whatever you say, dear," Buffy said as her face showed her vindication as she kissed him on the cheek.

"So you aren't going to help? He IS in the hospital you know," Cordelia said crossing her arms.

"Hospital?" Xander asked a niggle of something suddenly hitting his brain.

"I know that look, what is it?" Buffy asked.

"Cordy, was there anything written in the locker room?" Xander asked.

Cordelia looked at Xander and nodded slowly, "There was a word...LOOK."

"Invisible girl?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah...still can't remember her name though," Xander said. "Cordy, you are coming down with something aren't you?"

"No I'm not dufus..I'm feeling perfectly healthy!" Cordelia said.

Xander rolled his eyes,"She's going to try to KILL you Cordy!"

"Oh…" Cordy said, obviously faking a cough. "Now that you mention it...I am not feeling so good."

"Stay at Willow's while Buffy and I deal with this...I wish I could remember her name," Xander said.

"Cordy, do you remember anyone being particularly annoying? Trying to get your attention?" Xander asked.

"Why would I? If they were worthy of my notice I would have noticed them," Cordeila scoffed.

"Right…" Xander sighed.

"What about missing person reports?" Buffy asked.

"Good idea, and worth checking, but I doubt it's going to help," Xander said.

"Why not?" Buffy asked.

"Because just being ignored at school isn't enough for her to turn invisible, she'd have had to be ignored at home as well," Xander said having just realized just how awful her situation REALLY was.

"The poor girl," Buffy said, crossing her arms.

"Which means there could be more lives at stake than Cordy's," Xander said.

"But until we know who it is…" Buffy started and trailed off.

"I know," Xander said.

"Just don't forget about me while saving everyone else," Cordelia said.


After school the gang met up in the library to see if they could figure out who the invisible girl was. Willow insisted on checking the missing persons reports in spite of Xander's thoughts that it would be a dead end.

"Just because she THOUGHT she was ignored doesn't mean she hasn't been missed," Willow said.

"Fair point Wills, hack away," Xander said with a small smile on his face.

"Not much hacking involved this time, they are public records for a reason," Willow said.

"How'd you find out who it was last time, Xander?" Owen asked.

"I honestly do not remember," Xander said, sighing in frustration.

"Xander, I just pulled up the missing persons lists, and I found several possibilities," Willow said, handing Xander the print out.

"Thanks Wills," Xander said, scanning the list when a name popped out. "Marcie Ross!"

"Marcie Ross?" Owen asked.

"Yeah...it's coming back to me all of the sudden," Xander said.

"That's good right? So how do I beat her...she's human after all," Buffy said.

"Yeah, and while she's a clear and present danger...killing her should be the last thing we do," Xander said.

"So how'd we deal with her before?" Jesse asked.

"We didn't...the CIA did," Xander said.

"The CIA killed her?" Willow asked, her voice squeaking.

"No, Will, they recruited her," Xander said and looked thoughtful. "Has anyone seen any guys in suits?"

"Now that you mention it, yes," Tara said.

"Good, then we just clue them in on where she's staying and let them deal with our Marcie problem," Buffy said, taking Xander's hand.

"Ok, Plan B is taken care of," Xander said, not sounding entirely comfortable.

"Plan B?" Jesse asked. "It seems like an ideal solution to the problem, Xander."

"For us, yes. It gets her out of our hair, but would you want to go through life never being seen by anyone?" Xander asked.

"Being invisible would be cool!" Jesse said.

"Only if you can turn it off, Jesse," Xander said.

"I still think it would be worth it," Jesse said.

"Worth having to announce yourself to your friends? To your family? Always having to be aware so someone doesn't bump into you? Or when crossing the street? No one can see you, how would you get a job or go to school? Get a driver's license? Even something as simple as getting a burger at the Palace? If you tried to announce yourself whoever was at the counter would think they were being pranked," Xander said.

"Wow...I guess I really didn't think this one through," Jesse said.

"It's fine, it's natural to think about the cool parts of something like this without thinking through the downsides," Xander said.

"So where do we start looking?" Willow asked.

"I suppose her home would be a good place to start," Buffy said.

"No, I remember that she was nesting at the school," Xander said.

"Why would she be at the school?" Jesse asked.

"She's been ignored her whole life, or at least perceived herself to be ignored. She probably doesn't even know her parents actually miss her," Xander said.

"Which means that we need to find her, any idea how?" Buffy asked.

"Harmony, she was the next victim after Mitch, Marcie pushed her down the stairs in the courtyard, but there's no guarantee Marice will," Xander said.

"Actually, Xander, I think it is likely she will,"Giles said.

"What makes you think that, G-man?" Xander asked.

"Willow, how long has Miss Ross been missing?" Giles asked.

"Six months," Willow answered.

"She's likely quite unhinged at this point, then. She's TRULY alone now with no semblance of a normal life. She can't eat like a normal person, she'd have to steal everything she needs to survive, food, personal hygiene supplies, clothes," Giles said.

"Wouldn't we be able to SEE her clothes?" Jesse asked.

Xander opened his mouth then closed it again, then spoke, "That is an interesting point, would she have been in the same clothes? Or how does that work?," Xander said.

"Her perceptions would affect that most likely. When you wear an outfit you own it is part of you, and therefore would be invisible," Giles said.

"Which brings us back where she's staying, obviously you seem to remember her staying at the school, but Jesse's question is still valid, why wouldn't she be at home? I mean it's the easiest way for her to get all of the stuff she needs, right?" Buffy asked.

"True, but I think it's fairly obvious she isn't at home," Giles said.

"Why?" Tara asked.

"Her family would notice," Xander said.

"But they DIDN'T, which is why we've got a problem in the first place, right?" Owen asked.

"True, but there's a large difference overlooking someone you expect to see and hearing the shower running and everyone you THINK is there is accounted for," Giles said.

"Ok, so I'm looking around the school then?" Buffy asked.

"Yup, but right now we've got class," Xander said, looking at the clock.

"We'll all keep an eye out," Owen said.


Xander was walking through the courtyard just before lunch when he felt something brush up against him. He sighed and said, "Marice Ross?"

"Oh, so you DO know me after all, big man on campus," she said mockingly.

"We can help you, Marcie, you don't have to go through life like this," Xander said.

"No, see people like you have it easy. You have friends, you have families, you have people who love you. Look at you married to a very pretty girl, you have more friends than you can count and even took Cordelia down a notch or two. You might not have been high on the social pecking order, but you were SEEN!" Marcie said, her words hot with rage born of pain Xander couldn't even imagine.

"I can't imagine what that must have been like for you," Xander said softly.

"No you can't even our DOG ignored me, he would either go to my Dad, or my mom or my sister, and he SLEEPS with my brother! Even the DOG doesn't see me. My parents never came to any of my band performances, but they always found time for my sister's gymnastics or my brother's football games. It's funny, only now that I'm invisible and beat up someone that anyone has even thought about me and you couldn't even remember my name!" Marcie said.

"You've been in the library?" Xander asked.

"Yes, I know your WHOLE story, you've been back since March and its only AFTER you hear about what I did to the dumb jock that you start DOING something about it?" Marcie yelled in rage.

"I don't know what to say Marcie, but you've heard me, I only have so much to work with, but you've got my attention now and I want to help you," Xander said.

"Sure, you don't even fully know why I became invisible, much less how to change it," Marcie shouted.

"No, I don't know, but at least we're willing to try," Xander said.

"Only because I'm now a problem," Marcie said. Xander suddenly felt a flash of pain in his groin and he doubled over covering his crotch groaning. "The missus won't be getting any use out of that tonight."

Xander slowly stood up groaning and made his way to the library. When he arrived he saw Buffy was already there with Tara and Sam. He half waddled half limped to a chair.

"What happened to you?" Buffy asked.

"Marcie happened to me," Xander said.

"Are you ok?" Buffy asked, concerned as Tara got him a doughnut.

"Thank you, Tara and I'll be fine, Buffy," Xander said.

"Did she say anything or did she just attack you?" Buffy asked, squeezing Xander's hand.

"No, we talked for a little bit before the cheap shot," Xander said and then outlined his conversation with Marcie and then had to repeat it when Willow, Owen and Jessie came in.

"Even the family dog ignored her?" Willow said, frowning.

"At least that is how she perceived it anyway," Giles said.

"We need to find out if it's possible to help her," Xander said.

"Well, whatever is causing her to be invisible is seriously violating the laws of physics," Willow said.

"Which would mean something is maintaining it, right?" Buffy asked.

"It would make sense," Owen said. "The question is what."

"As angry as she is, it is definitely beyond her control," Xander said.

"What about the Hellmouth?" Sam asked.

"It would make sense for it to be the source of the energy, but how is she tapping into it?" Giles asked.

"If I could be near her I might be able to find out," Sam suggested.

"Do you think you can help her?" Xander asked hopefully.

"I don't know yet, but being invisible isn't a natural state so reversing it should be possible," Sam said.

"Which means we need to find her without her hurting us, it's a shame thermal imaging equipment is so expensive, that might be a way to find her," Xander said.

"What makes you think she won't still be invisible in infrared?" Willow asked.

"When she touched me she was warm, that means she's giving off heat," Xander said.

"How much would a system like that cost?" Giles asked thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure but even uptime they weren't common, so I'd have to guess pretty pricey," Xander said.

Willow moved to the computer and started typing and soon let out a low whistle, and said, "Yeah, they are pricey...over ten thousand dollars." The red head sounded wistful.

"After we get paid I'll buy one so you can play with it Wills," Xander said a small smile coming to his face as Willow broke into a huge grin.

"It's about time you smiled, grumpy pants," Buffy said.

"I am NOT grumpy!" Xander said, pulling up his shirt to show his belly. "Do you see a rain cloud on this belly?" The rest of the group chuckled.

"No, dear. I don't," Buffy said with a grin.

"As fascinating as Xander's lack of belly art is, we do still have a problem," Giles said.

"I just had a thought," Tara said softly.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Sam asked.

"Xander said she was really angry, what if it is her emotions powering it? She might be like me and Mom and this is a reaction to her feeling alone," Tara said softly.

"It is definitely a possibility," Giles said as Sam hugged her daughter.

"That reminds me, Amy Madison," Xander said.

"What about her?" Jesse asked.

"Her mother might be possessing her," Xander said.

"Possessing her?" Sam asked.

"Body swap, Sam. All because she wanted to relive her golden days as a cheerleader," Xander said.

"That is some dark magic," Sam said.

"Yes, it is. We need to know if she's done it or not," Xander said.

"Why wouldn't she have done it?" Owen asked.

"Because Owen, she was doing it for cheerleading, not to live out high school again," Xander said.

"So...since cheerleading tryouts aren't until next year, she might not have yet?" Willow asked.

"That's what I'm hoping," Xander said.

"Does anyone have her in any classes?" Sam asked.

"I don't," Buffy said.

"No, I don't either," Owen said.

"She's in English with me," Tara said softly.

"Oh good, this makes it easy then," Sam took out a small crystal and spoke softly over it and the crystal glowed. "Ok, sweetheart, just hold this close to her and if her mother, a term I used very loosely in this case, is in her body the crystal will crack, and force her out, if she's not, it'll still crack but give her protection against it happening.."

"Ok, sounds like a plan," Xander said looking at the time. "Ok...back to being mild mannered high school students.


Buffy and Xander were walking to their first class past the band room when Buffy stopped.

"What is it?" Xander asked.

"Do you hear that?" Buffy asked, cocking her head a little.

"No, I don't hear anything, but you hear much better than I do, what is it?" Xander asked.

"A flute," Buffy said.

"Marcie," Xander said.

"Let's check it out, but first let's stop by the home ec room," Xander said.

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"Have you ever seen the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror?" Xander asked.

"No, remember, before I was called I was busy being an airhead," Buffy said.

"You mean pretending to be an airhead, sweetheart," Xander said and then continued. "It's the first episode with a cloaking device, and the Enterprise was able to find their foe when the Romulan ship flew through the tail of a comet."

"Flour?" Buffy guessed.

"Yup, if we're lucky some will get on her, if not it gives us a chance of seeing where she is," Xander said. They quickly got the flour and headed back to the band room.

"Are you still hearing it?" Xander whispered and Buffy nodded and pointed up to the ceiling where a tile had obviously been moved and replaced many times. Xander nodded and pursed his lips in thought then smiled. He motioned Buffy over and whispered in her ear. "I'll stand next to the wall with the flour and dump it on her when she jumps down, try to talk her down, I'd prefer she comes willingly, but…"

Buffy nodded and they got into position. Buffy then called out, "Marcie? Marcie Ross?"

"Oh, great, now the missus is on my case," Marcie said.

"Well, you did kick my husband in a rather sensitive spot, which I take offense to," Buffy said.

"Oh, so you came to beat me up?" Marcie asked.

"No, while I'm not happy about what you did to Xander, I do want to help you," Buffy said.

"No, you just want to stop me before I kill someone," Marcie said.

"Do you really want to kill someone Marcie?" Buffy asked.

"Yes! All of you that ignored me!" Marcie screamed.

"I don't think you really do. I think you just want to be seen," Buffy said.

"You don't know anything about me!" Marcie shouted.

"Yes, I know you play the flute, and from what I heard just now you are very good at it," Buffy said.

"You're just saying that. If I WAS any good, Ms. Walters would've noticed me, my parents would have come to band concerts. You realize the last band concert I was at I had to get to ON MY OWN? My parents couldn't even be bothered to take me, much less go to it," Marcie said.

"And that is awful of them and they should apologize for that, but how is killing someone going to fix it?" Buffy asked.

"It'll be something I did that no one can ignore!" Marcie said.

"Yet you are complaining that the only reason Xander and I are paying attention to you is because of the threat you pose," Buffy said, her voice calm.

"But that IS the only reason you are paying attention to me! You don't care about ME, you only care about me not hurting anyone!" Marcie said.

"That is a reason we are reaching out now, yes. However, you shouldn't have to live in the ceiling of the school, don't you miss a real bed?" Buffy asked.

"Beds are overrated," Marcie said.

"Wouldn't you rather be able to eat at a table? Not having to steal food?" Buffy said.

"A table, just to be ignored?" Marcie asked, her tone bitter.

"Maybe, but can you really choose what you eat now?" Buffy asked.

"I do alright, I'm not starving," Marcie said.

"What about seeing yourself in the mirror when you brush your hair?" Buffy asked.

"Welll...who needs that when no one else can see me either? Who cares how my hair looks if its invisible?" Marcie said but was sounding less certain.

"You know your parents filed a missing persons report for you?" Buffy asked, her voice was gentle.

"They...They did?" Marcie said.

"Yes they did. That means they DID see you. They missed you not being there," Buffy said, her voice gentle. "Come on down so we can try to fix it."

"Do you think things can change?" Marcie asked.

"I don't know, but you will never know if you don't try," Buffy said.

"Ok...I'll come down."

The loose ceiling tile moved and Xander heard Marcie come down.

"I see hubby was here too...with flour?" Marice said.

"To help us see you if you weren't willing to cooperate. I can still put it on you so everyone knows where you are," Xander said.

"Ahhh...no thanks," Marcie said and the three of them went to the library.

"Xander, Buffy. Aren't you supposed to be in class?" Giles asked when they came in. Jenny Calendar was also there talking to Sam.

"Yes, but we found Marcie and talked her into coming here to see if we can help her," Buffy said.

"Oh...Capital just capital," Giles said a smile springing to his face. "Is she here now?"

"Yes, Mr. Giles, I am," Marcie said.

"You poor, dear. I cannot imagine what you have been through," Giles said, his voice sympathic

"What's going on, Rupert?" Jenny asked, and Giles quickly told her what was going on.

"This place is very very weird," Jenny said after Giles explained.

"Have you told her about our paying job yet, G-man?" Xander asked.

"No, I haven't had the chance to yet," Giles said.

"Paying job?" Jenny asked.

"Let's deal with Marcie first then I'll fill you in," Xander said, sitting down.

"Marcie if you could pull out a chair so I know where you are, please?" Sam asked gently.

"Sure, who are you?" Marcie asked. Sam introduced herself and Marcie pulled out a chair just enough to sit down in.

"Could you pull it out to the middle of the room? I need to walk around you," Sam asked.

"Sure, do you want me to sit in the chair?" Marcie asked.

"Yes, please," Sam said. Once Marcie had the chair in place, Sam went over to her. "I'm first going to try a simple revealing spell and see if that works."

"You folks are the ones who know the mojo," Marcie said.

Sam started around the chair softly chanting in Latin and a shimmer formed over the chairs seat. The shimmer slowly became more and more opaque until it suddenly flashed, after the flash Marcie could be seen sitting in the chair.

"Nice to see you, Marcie Ross," Xander said, grinning.

"It worked?" Marcie asked.

Buffy reached in her purse and pulled out a compact and handed it to the former invisible girl. "Here, see for yourself," Buffy said.

The formerly invisible girl took the compact and looked in the mirror and began to cry. Buffy hugged her as she wept. "Thank you...thank you...thank you," Marcie said over and over.


"This has been a really good week, hasn't it?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, it has, Buff. Yes it has, now all we have to do is destroy the Gem and put your Mom to work fencing all the gold for us," Xander said with a grin.

"My mother doesn't fence anything, she facilitates transactions between buyers and sellers," Buffy said putting her nose in the air which Xander kissed.

"Hey! I was being snooty and aloof, mister! No doing cute husband things," Buffy said.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist, it looked so pointy and cute," Xander said with a grin.

"My nose isn't pointy," Buffy said, touching her nose.

"Yes it is...pointy and cute," Xander said, tapping her nose and kissing it again.

Buffy laughed and said, "Stop it, silly!"

"Sorry, your nose is just so kissable," Xander said.

"Glad you are in a good mood again," Buffy said as they walked.

"Helping someone feels good. Marcie's life is going to be much brighter now, I think," Xander said smiling.

"Yes, yes it does," Buffy said as they entered the house. "Mom! Dawn!"

The two of them listened and Buffy got a look that Xander recognized and he grinned. "Race you upstairs?"


Angel arrived that evening and the first thing Xander did was ask Angel to look in his trunk.

"Why?" the vampire gumshoe asked.

"To see how much of what we can carry," Xander said.

"Expecting trouble?" Angel asked.

"Occupational hazard," Xander said opening up the trunk. He looked it over and nodded. "Won't be able to fit a full war load in here, but we should be able to fit some basics."

He went in the house and Buffy looked at him with her head tilted and said, "Xan, you did say basics, didn't you?"

"Two spears, six stakes, a water pistol loaded with Hotel Whiskey, and a super soaker, also loaded with Hotel Whiskey. It should be enough to keep us out of trouble," Xander said, closing the trunk.

"I think you are being paranoid," Buffy said, kissing his cheek.

"I'm not paranoid...well, maybe just a little, but better to have it and NOT need it than to need it and not have it," Xander said, giving her a lopsided grin and got into the back seat of the car where Buffy joined him.

"Doesn't look like much does it?" Doyle said looking around after they arrived.

"No, but if it did someone would've found it already," Xander said and looked at the rod Herme's had given him. "Now just how does this thing work?" Xander held it up and it started to glow and a tunnel started opening up in the ground, Xander continued to hold it as a creaking sound came from the tunnel and the wagon from Hermes message rolled up out of the hole, it was glowing where it would have been too weak to hold together normally. It stopped about thirty feet from the entrance, the glow faded and the wagon collapsed with a crash.

"Now that was impressive," Doyle said.

"So that's what a million dollars in gold looks like, thought it would be bigger," Buffy said with a grin.

"Let's get the Gem so we can destroy...wait, I don't think we're alone," Angel said and started sniffing the air.

"Who would know we were out here?" Xander asked then he heard a slow clap. The foursome turned and saw Spike, Drusilla and about ten other vampires. "Damn...Spike and Drusilla, with mooks."

"I see my reputation precedes me, who are you?" Spike asked Xander.

"He is my kitten out of time," Drusilla said. "Can I keep my kitten?"

"Xander, why is the wanna be bride of Frankenstein calling you her kitten?" Buffy asked crossing her arms.

"Long story that we really don't have time for right, now hon," Xander said, sighing.

"He's not wrong about that, now hand over the Gem and I might consider letting you live," Spike said.

"We can't give you the Gem, Spike. It's too dangerous," Angel said stepping forward as Xander moved towards Buffy.

"When the fight starts go for Drusilla, Spike won't risk her life for anything," he whispered to Buffy who nodded.

"Sad to see it's really true that you've gone soft, Angelus. To think that you taught me everything about being a vampire. You were my Yoda, man!" Spike said, shaking his head.

"It's not Daddy's fault, Spike. The burning bright light in him makes him not Daddy," Dru said putting her hand on Spike's shoulder.

"Are you going to hand over the ring?" Spike asked.

"What do you think, Spike?" Angel said.

"Well...I was hoping to avoid unnecessary violence...ah who am I kidding I LOVE unnecessary violence! Get'em boys!" Spike said lunging at Angel while the other ten vampires charged. Buffy ran to meet them, a feral grin on her face pulling out her stake and staking the first vampire to get in arms length of her. Xander did a hip throw of one that Buffy missed while Angel and Spike fought.

Buffy staked another vampire and while still moving toward Drusilla another vampire got past her, Xander did a roundhouse kick to his face while Doyle jumped the vampire Xander had hip thrown, his Brachean lineage showing. Xander quickly staked the vampire he kicked in the back dusting him and tossed Doyle a spare stake who used it on the vampire he'd tackled.

Spike then did a leg sweep knocking Angel off his feet and charged the ensouled vampire only to be met by a double kick to the jaw from Angel, while Spike was staggered Angel kicked back up onto his feet both vampires then charged each other as Buffy closed in on Drusilla dusting another vampire.

"Slayer," Drusilla sang.

"Bride of Peroxidestien," Buffy said and kicked at Dru who only laughed.

The other five mooks not wanting anything to do with fighting a Slayer charged Xander and Doyle. Xander pulled out the squirt gun and hit the first in the charge right in the eyes with holy water and he screamed in pain as Xander tried to make his way to Angel's car, being careful not to turn his back to the enemy. "Doyle get to the trunk!" Xander called out.

"Right!" Doyle said making a dash for Angel's car, he got to the trunk, reached into his pocket and swore. He dashed over to where he had tackled the vampire only to be blindsided by one that moved for him instead of Xander. Xander for his part was still backing up toward Angel's car, his demonstration with the squirt gun making the other vampires wary of him, not wanting to be blinded like their friend, Xander spared a second to look how Buffy was doing with Drusilla.

"Kitten has been playing naughty games with the Slayer, made her a family way," Drusilla said, striking at Buffy who dodged the blows while sending a few Drusilla's way as both tested each other.

"Don't call him kitten, skank," Buffy said, kicking at Drusilla who caught Buffy's leg and twisted but Buffy just jumped and spun with the twist throwing the vampire off balance and both went down.

Spike threw a punch at Angel and said, "At least you can still fight, mate. It's been a while since I've had this much fun!"

"This isn't fun, Spike!" Angel growled hitting Spike in the face.

"I know you better than that. You're enjoying scraping with me," Spike said, sending a kick to Angel's face.

"I'm not like that anymore!" Angel roared laying into Spike with a series of blows.

Spike chuckled as he wiped blood off his lip, "Keep telling yourself that, mate."

One of the vampires Xander was holding at bay with his squirt gun decided to bet he was faster than Xander was with his squirt gun. Xander proved him wrong by hitting him right in the crotch causing him to double over in pain.

"HEY! Now I know we are trying to kill you, but that was just MEAN!" one of the remaining three said.

"Oh excuse me!" Xander said.

"Do you think he's out yet? That gun isn't that big," another of the mooks asked.

"Maybe, but after what happened to Larry...I ain't findin' out," the first one said.

"Good point…" the second mook said.

Doyle rolled with the vampire that had tackled him and grabbed some dirt and threw it in the vampire's eyes who screamed. Doyle then grabbed his keys and made for the trunk. When he reached it he quickly popped it open and grabbed a couple of spears and a super soaker.

Buffy jumped to her feet at the same time as Drusilla did, the two charged each other quickly and went into a series of blows and blocks followed by kicks.

"The kitten is mine, Slayer," Drusilla said as she traded blows with the Slayer.

"Not in this lifetime!" Buffy shouted placing a kick in her midsection and twisting the vampire down on the ground.

"Xander! Catch!" Doyle called out tossing Xander a spear who grinned.

"Odds are even now, mooks. RUN!" Xander said, with a grin right out of Africa and they did.

Doyle brought over the super soaker and Xander shouted to Buffy, "Buffy! Catch!"

Buffy caught the super soaker and pointed at Drusilla who jumped up and approached Buffy who shot her hand with the super soaker causing her hiss as the holy water burned her. Keeping the soaker pointed at her Buffy went behind the vampire and put the barrel in her ear.

"Spike!" Buffy called out.

"What! Me and Gramps are having-" Spike stopped short as he saw Drusilla's hand and the oversized water gun pointed right in his love's ear and quickly realized what was in the kid's toy. "Now, there...there's no need to do anything rash."

"You have thirty seconds to start moving Captain Peroxide or I melt her brain," Buffy said.

"I'm sorry, Spike," Drusilla said.

"No worries, luv, we'll get out of this," Spike said gently.

"You've got twenty-five seconds to get gone," Buffy said.

"I know when I'm beat, Slayer," Spike said as he started moving away.

"Good boy, now once you are 500 feet away your girlfriend goes free," Buffy said.

Spike kept moving and once he was far enough away not to be a threat, Buffy released Drusilla. Drusilla turned and started to put a mental whammy on Buffy and Spike stopped moving and started to smile. Buffy's arm came down and dropped the Super Soaker. Xander ran for the two of them and grabbed the weapon as it the ground. Holy water sprayed out of it and covered Drusilla's right side and she screamed in pain.

"DRU!" Spike called and ran to her and turned to Xander who still had the super soaker trained on Drusilla. "You WILL suffer everything she is suffering, boy. That's a promise."

"You don't scare me, Spike," Xander said.

"Brave words, brave words indeed," Spike said as he scooped Drusilla up and left.

"Do you think we should go after them?" Buffy asked.

"We could, but Spike is really angry now and he's more dangerous when protecting Drusilla, besides, we've still got a job to do," Xander said.

"You do know he means what he said, right?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, but after having to face down Lucifer to get our daughter's soul back...he just isn't that scary," Xander said, sounding tired.

"Well, I for one intend to keep him and his skank far away from you, sweetheart," Buffy said.

"Let's get loaded up and get back to the library," Xander said.


"That's it?" Jesse asked, looking at the Gem.

"Yes, that is it," Xander said.

"I thought it would be bigger," Jesse said.

"Not everything important is large," Giles said.

"I think a demonstration is in order," Xander said, giving Angel the ring. "Now just a small demonstration that this is actual holy water." Xander took a drop from his water pistol and put it on Angels hand which started smoking.

"That really stings, you know," Angel said, wincing.

"Put the ring on you big baby," Xander said. Angel did so and the smoking stopped.

"Amazing," Giles said.

"Yup, and as you saw tonight, incredibly dangerous. There's no telling how many vampires are trying to get here right now to get the ring," Xander said.

"So just how DID Spike know anyway?" Owen asked.

"Drusilla, she's a psychic," Angel answered as Xander picked up the water pistol and shot him in the face with Holy Water.

"Then why didn't she know before where it was?" Willow asked.

Jenny smiled at Willow, "Good question. And that is pretty simple. When the Gem was lost no mortal mind knew where it was so it wasn't on the network so to speak."

"So when Xander learned where it was at it sorta pinged its location on the psychic network?" Willow asked.

"Yes, essentially," Jenny said.

"So why did Drusilla pick up on it first?" Owen asked.

"Because the first time around we kinda had a connection brought about by something very stupid I did," Xander said.

"And that stupid thing is why she calls you her kitten?" Buffy asked.

"Yep, and the rest of that story will have to wait until we are in bed, sweetie," Xander said and squirted Angel in the face with the super soaker to distract everone from Drusillia's pet name for him.

"Hey!" the ensouled vampire complained.

"What? It's not hurting you with the ring on," Xander said grinning.

Angel looked at him and picked up the super soaker and sprayed Xander in the face.

"HEY!" Xander said.

"What, it's not hurting you," Angel said, with a hint of a grin on his face.

"You, mister, aren't supposed to have a sense of humor," Xander complained.

"Can we please not use water guns in the library?" Giles said, sighing and handing the two miscreants towels.

"Very well, G-man," Xander said as the others laughed.

"So...where's the gold?" Willow asked.

"At home, except for the bar I gave Angel for his fee," Xander said.

"Which I strongly objected to," Angel said.

"And I strongly objected to HIS objections," Doyle chimed in.

"It works out to be around $9000," Joyce said.

"Yep, and if it makes you feel better, consider it a retainer fee," Xander said.

"Ok, fair enough," Angel said as the library started to shake a little.

"Hmm...that felt like a 5.0," Owen said.

"I think somebody might be impatient for us to finish the job," Xander said.

"Let's get it done then," Giles said. "Angel, have you ever drank Slayer blood?"

"No, the demon is very into self preservation, and seeking out Slayers is a good way to get killed," Angel said.

"Ok, then we'll have to let you drink some of Buffy's blood," Giles said.

"What? I don't care if he's a good guy, he's not biting me," Buffy said.

"Hon, relax, no one is biting anyone. Giles will draw your blood with a syringe and let Angel drink it," Xander said.

"That's almost as bad...I hate needles," Buffy said.

"You'll get a sucker after he's done," Xander said.

"You've got suckers?" Buffy asked.

"Yup, I came prepared for a grumpy Buffy," Xander said with a grin.

Giles quickly got the sample of Buffy's blood and gave it to Angel who took the syringe and just squirted it into his mouth.

"Wow...I think I understand why Spike was always Slayer hunting now...its potent," Angel said and took the ring off. He picked up a heavy rock and smashed it down onto the ring. There was a flash and when he lifted the rock the ring was completely gone.

"Wow...that was actually impressive. The ring is just gone," Xander said.

"It makes sense," Sam said and all eyes turned to her. "The conditions of destruction were met. The spell being broken released enough energy to destroy the ring."

"Ah," Xander said. "At least it is done."