Chapter 37: Centennial Charmed Part 2
January 20, 2003 – Monday
Earth 94
Memorial Cemetery
Leo, Faith and Paige orbed into a cemetery.
"Thanks, that was cutting it a little close, don't you think?" Paige asked.
"You two are lucky I came at all," Leo said.
"We're lucky?" Faith scoffed.
"You're lucky," Paige added. "Without us, we're all screwed. We're the only ones who can fix this thing."
"Oh, yeah?" Leo said with a roll of his eyes.
"Oh, god, it's just so weird," Paige said glancing at Faith. "Cole living at the manor, all those demons we vanquished wandering around alive." She looked back at Leo. "Wait a second, if the demons are alive then that means all the innocents we saved are... dead."
Leo shook his head. "Not just the innocents."
"Yeah we know that Patty wasn't reincarnated," Faith said.
Paige glanced around wondering why they were in a cemetery. "What are we doing here?"
Leo motioned toward a headstone that read: Paige Matthews – Born 1977 – Died 2001. "After you left, I went and checked with the Elders. They confirmed your story that there was in fact another sister. Only they didn't know until it was too late, until after the Source had already had you killed."
"This really sucks," Paige said.
"What about Patty?" Faith wondered. "Or me?"
"As far as Patty is concerned they told me that they and the Angel of Destiny had approached her and offered her the chance to be reincarnated or to go to her eternal rest. She chose to go to her eternal rest. She was never reincarnated," Leo answered. "And as far as you, Faith. They told me that a spell by a chaos mage changed the course of destiny for everyone in Sunnydale. You are now part of a group fighting extraterrestrial threats and that they had groups devoted to protecting the Hellmouth from vampires and demons."
"Wow," Faith said in surprise. "I go from battling vampires, demon and warlocks to fighting aliens."
"Anyways, it explains why none of us knew either of you," Leo explained looking at the two women. "Whatever changed Patty's decision and then caused you to be killed, Paige, made it so we never got a chance to meet either of you. Which also changed your destiny, Faith."
"So, what, you believe us now?" Paige asked.
Leo shrugged. "I'm not sure what I believe. The fact is you both are here and you're not supposed to be."
"Okay, so we've established the fact that we are here, how come we don't have our powers?" Paige asked.
"Because you're not living your lives anymore. You Paige are living hers. Which means the Power of Three was never reconstituted and you never got your powers," Leo said as he pointed to the tombstone. "And you Faith are living your counterpart's life. Since she never received anything other than her Slayer powers you don't have the rest of yours."
"Lucky us," Faith replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Luckier than you think maybe. If you both hadn't orbed into the neutral plane at the right time, nobody would've ever known." Leo said.
"Cole would've. He's the one behind this. He altered reality to eliminate me, and maybe mom, and get Phoebe back. But it's not working. She hates him as much in this reality as she does in ours. The problem is she's trapped here." Paige said.
Leo nodded, he reasoned that Cole could have cast a spell on Patty just before her death to ensure she wasn't reincarnated. "Your reality sounds a lot better than this one. Not just for Phoebe. So, uh, how can I help you two get it back?"
"We need my nieces," Faith answered. "And it would help if I could get my powers back."
"Well, maybe we can start with two and go from there."
Leo, Paige and Faith turned and saw Piper walking towards them.
"What are you doing here?" Paige asked.
"Burying the Lazarus demon," Piper answered looking at her baby sister. "I figured if you two were right about that, you were probably right about everything else as well."
Paige smiled and they made their way to P3, talking all along the way.
Earth 16
Halliwell Manor
Dawn sighed as she dropped her scrying crystal. "I'm not finding Faith at all." She turned and looked at the ceiling. "Faith! Baby! Please!"
Leo shook his head as he looked at Dawn, Piper and Phoebe. "I can't sense either Faith or Paige."
"Could they be in the Underworld?" Piper wondered as she sat her own crystal down, she had been trying to scry for Paige.
"I don't know," Leo said. "It's possible since I can't sense down there without being down there."
Earth 94
P3
"So you say the club is still pretty successful in this alleged other reality of yours?" Piper asked.
Paige nodded, "Not alleged, it's real. The club is doing real well."
Piper smiled, "Oh, yeah? Am I a millionaire?"
"Not that good, sadly," Faith admitted.
"Listen, if we want to get this place back to how it used to be, we really ought to..." Paige added.
"How is it that we didn't know about you?" Piper wondered looking pointedly at her baby sister. "That we had another sister?"
"Half-sister, apparently." Leo corrected.
"B told me that Patty and Sam, her Whitelighter and Paige's father, gave Paige up at birth," Faith explained. "They did it because of the whole witch-Whitelighter rule."
"But when the Elders realized they needed me to remake the Charmed Ones, they tossed out that stupid rule," Paige added. "Which as far as I'm concerned, paved the way for you and Leo and Aunt Faith and Aunt to be able to keep your babies."
"Well, how pregnant am I exactly?" Piper asked.
"You and Dawn are in your third trimester," Faith answered.
"Mom, Aunt Faith, Phoebe and I are practicing to be yours and Aunt Dawn's midwives as we speak," Paige added. "We're preparing for the big home birth."
Piper grimaced. The one thing she refused to ever do was give birth at home. "Home birth? You're nuts. I'd never agree to that. I wouldn't give birth unless it was in..."
"A hospital," Faith finished for her niece. "Yeah you and Dawn keep saying it. And personally while I would prefer Dawn give birth in a hospital. The risk of exposure is sadly too great. Especially when both babies are using their powers from within the womb."
Piper looked at her baby sister and her aunt. "We all must be pretty close then?" she asked. "Like Phoebe and I were with Prue."
"B, Dawn, you, Phoebe and Paige avenged Prue's death," Faith said. "I didn't start dating Dawn for a little while later."
"So mom really was reincarnated into your friend Buffy?" Piper asked her aunt.
"Yeah," Paige answered instead of Faith as she smiled. "When Prue died she was living in Sunnydale. The spell that brought me into your lives also brought her and Aunt Dawn."
"And this Dawn, your wife, is…" Piper said as she looked at Faith.
"She's B's sister," Faith answered. "When you found out B was your mom reincarnated, well it took a little bit to come to love her. But when you did you accepted Dawn as your aunt at the same time. And when Dawn and I got married, you started calling me aunt as well. Despite the fact we're actually distant cousins."
"Distant cousins?" Piper asked confused.
"My great grandmother was Peyton Bowen," Faith answered. "She's your great, great aunt if I remember right."
Piper nodded as she looked at Faith and Paige. "This Cole of yours must have cast a pretty powerful spell to do all of this," she admitted. "But if we vanquish him, the spell should automatically reverse itself."
It was just at that moment that they heard a ringing and then before their eyes Buffy and Willow materialized in front of them.
"Mom!" Paige yelled excitedly.
"It's not your mom," Faith reminded her niece. "This B is not Patty reincarnated."
"Then who is she?" Paige asked, confused how her mother was there but not her mother.
"I am Colonel Buffy Summers, United States Air Force," Buffy said. "This Major Willow Rosenberg-Summers. Which of you is responsible for the quantum rift that opened here."
"Quantum rift?" Paige asked confused.
"You don't watch much science fiction do you?" Piper asked. "I think she means how you two got here from your reality."
"That would be us," Faith answered as Buffy looked at her.
"Lieutenant Lehane," Buffy said in clear surprise to see Faith there. "When did you beam…"
"I'm not your Faith, B," Faith answered motioning to herself and Paige. "We're from the other world."
"The real world," Paige added.
"No such thing," Willow said. "Each world is real. We live in a vast multiverse. You crossed over from your universe into ours. We just need to find out how and send you back."
"We have a theory about that," Leo said. "In Faith and Paige's world a demon we're familiar with cast a spell that allowed him."
"To cross the dimensional barrier," Buffy finished for the Whitelighter. "Likely his spell took him to a universe that closely mirrored what he wanted."
"So that answers how," Willow said. "How do we send him and them back."
"Maybe we can vanquish him?" Piper suggested.
'The problem is," Paige said, "in our world we already tried to vanquish him, he's become invincible in our world."
"Yes, but we're not in your world, you're in ours, so is he. So if you've assumed our Paige's life, he must've assumed Belthazor's." Leo said.
"That depends on whether our version of him was dead or not," Buffy said. "There are side effects for people that cross the barrier if they have a duplicate already in our world. Two of the same person cannot occupy the same reality at the same time. Not for long anyways."
"Which means we're going to have to fix this and quick," Faith said as Buffy nodded. "Since there are now two of me here."
"Exactly," Buffy agreed.
"If he's a demon," Willow said as she looked at Buffy. "Could we not do what we did with Glory?"
"Glory?" Piper asked.
"A hell god, who was from what I've been told nearly as powerful as the Source," Faith answered. She looked at Buffy and Willow. "My Buffy faced her, and sadly it cost her. She was dead for five months." She looked at Willow. "She was resurrected by our Willow."
"Which is the path that the Section 10 archives said I would have gone down if not for…" Willow said as she glanced at Buffy.
"If not for Halloween," Buffy concluded.
Earth 16
Summers Home, Sunnydale
In the living room, the wounded tended to each other and to themselves.
Willow brought The first aid kit and was just sitting down when Buffy and Xander came into the room together. There were dead guys lying around, too.
"They were so fast," Xander observed. "And organized."
"They were after Spike all along," Buffy replied.
"And we were just in the way," Xander added.
Then Buffy knelt to inspect one of the robed people lying face-up on the floor. "I know these guys," she said, as it all came together. "I fought them before. This isn't some demon." She had figured it out. "It's all the same thing. Spike's ghosts, the people you guys saw, from beneath us, it's all the same thing.
"I know what we're up against." Buffy paused, frightened. "The First."
Earth 94
Deep Space Nine
Faith stood on the upper level of the promenade looking out the windows of the space station that orbited the dark side of the moon. She didn't notice the presence of the woman next to her till she spoke.
"So it's true."
Faith turned looked at her counterpart and nodded. "Yeah it is. And a lot of things have changed apparently."
"Quite a bit I would say," answered the other Faith. "So your happy in your universe?"
"I am," Faith smiled. "I'm married to Dawn…"
"To Dawn," the other Faith said in surprise. "Wow. I didn't know I was a pedo."
Faith frowned. "Dawn's almost nineteen," she told her counterpart in confusion.
"Not here she's not," the other Faith answered. "She's about sixteen here. Besides she's dating someone else. So you and your Dawn, hunh?"
"Yep," Faith said as she smiled. "In fact Dawn's pregnant. We're expecting a baby girl."
"Congratulations," the other Faith said as she smiled at her counterpart. "I never pictured myself as being able to be a mother."
"I didn't either, at first," Faith admitted. "That's thanks in part to our birth father and the Lehanes."
"Ronan," the other Faith spat.
"I take it your powers are still bound?" Faith asked as her counterpart nodded. "In my universe I've faced him and vanquished him."
"I'm happy for you, Faith," the other Faith said. "You have a life I would have given anything to have."
"You can have that life too, you know," Faith told her counterpart.
Halliwell Manor
Piper walked through the Manor in search of Cole. She found him on the second floor. "What are you doing here?" he asked,
"Saving my sister." Piper used her power and sent Cole flying backward. He hit the wall and fell to the floor as she reached up and tapped the communicator attached to her shirt that Buffy had given her. "Halliwell to Summers, now!"
Willow, Buffy, Paige and Leo materialized in a transporter beam.
"You," Cole said as he recognized Paige. He wondered how Buffy could be here. Part of his spell was to make sure that not only had Paige been killed by the Source but that Patty had never been reincarnated. He wondered if the woman before him had been destined to be born and the Elders and the Angels of Destiny had simply co-opted her for their own purposes. Unless of course Paige had managed to bring her along.
"Surprise," Paige said as she rushed over to Cole and sliced a piece of flesh from his hand. The intention was to get a piece of flesh and run a scan on it to see if they indeed could do what had been done to Glory. As a backup plan they also planned on using the flesh to make a vanquishing potion.
It was then that Phoebe ran out of one of the bedrooms. She instantly recognized Piper. "Piper," she said in surprise to see her sister there. She noticed that Cole had an energy ball in his hand. "No!" She grabbed Cole's arms and the energy ball disappeared.
Piper looked to Buffy, "Get us out of here," she said.
Buffy reached up and tapped her communicator. "Summers to Deep Space Nine, five to beam up. Energize!" she said as she, Willow, Leo, Piper and Paige disappeared in a transporter beam.
Deep Space Nine
Faith stepped into the infirmary and looked around, she smiled as she saw Joyce Summers just ahead of her. "Hello, Mrs. S."
"Lieutenant," Joyce said.
"Wrong Faith," Faith said. "I'm the one from the other universe."
"Ah, I was told," Joyce said. "So what brings you in?"
"Social call," Faith admitted. "Somewhat to apologize for how I treated you in my universe. I would have done this with her. But she's gone. And I owe it to my wife to make amends."
"Your wife?" Joyce asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I'm married to Dawn," Faith answered. "Yeah I know in this universe she's not my Dawn's age."
"If you are anything like our Faith, you are a good woman, Faith," Joyce admitted. "If I know my counterpart she would have put whatever behind her as long as you and your Dawn are happy."
"Thanks," Faith said as she smiled at Joyce. "Would you mind?" she opened her arms and Joyce nodded as she stepped into the brunette Slayer's embrace.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Toadflax, toadflax. Did Leo get the toadflax?" Paige said as Piper handed her some toadflax. "Thank you. And we need a dash of cardamom, a pinch of carrot seeds... Hey, where's the mandrake root already?"
"I'm impressed, you really know this stuff," Piper said.
"Of course I do, I learn from the best. I learned from you and Mom," Paige said as she noticed Buffy and Willow walk through the door. She couldn't get used to the fact that so much had changed. Not only was Buffy not her mother but one simple incident had happened that had given Buffy this space station. And as a result so much else had changed, for example her aunt wasn't married in this universe and neither Dawn or Piper were pregnant.
"We can proceed with our, plan," Willow said. "Scans on his flesh says he isn't invulnerable here."
"That said keep working on the potion," Buffy said. "Just in case."
"Yellow Alert! Unscheduled Stargate Activation!" came an announcement over Buffy and Willow's communicators.
"I'll be right back," Buffy said as she left.
"How is Mom?" Piper asked as she watched Buffy leave. She wondered what had caused her mother to not be reincarnated.
"As I told Sam," Paige said as she smiled her sister. "At one time I didn't care if I knew either him or mom. But mom knew better it seems. She revealed herself and Aunt Dawn first to you and Phoebe and then to me. And I came to find that despite the fact she and Sam had not been in my lives that I did love them. You told Sam I helped bring this family back together. While I will admit I had something to do with it. I think Mom is the one who really brought the family back together."
"Aunt Dawn?" Willow asked, she was slightly confused after all Dawn was hers and Buffy's daughter not Buffy's sister.
"Mom's sister," Paige answered.
That was when Willow remembered what was in the Section 10 archives. "In our reality Dawn isn't Buffy's sister. She's mine and Buffy's daughter."
"You daughter?" Paige asked surprised, another change she hadn't expected.
"She was cloned from me and Buffy," Willow explained.
It was then that she remembered how Willow had been introduced them. "Your married to Buffy? And she's gay?"
"I am, "Willow answered. "And she is. She's not in your reality?"
"No mom isn't," Paige answered. "In fact she started dating my father. Aunt Dawn is though."
"Now that is the same here," Willow said.
"Aunt Faith said she had a conversation with her counterpart. And said your Dawn isn't dating your Faith," Paige said.
"That's right," Willow nodded. "I doubt Buffy would let her anyways due to the age gap. Our Dawn is still a minor after all. She's dating our co-chief medical officer's daughter, Cassandra Frasier."
"Mandrake root," Leo said when her orbed in.
"Alright, toss it in." Paige said as Leo dropped the mandrake root in to the pot. "Alright, now all we need..." she looked at Willow and held out her hand as Willow handed Cole's flesh to her, "…stand back."
Willow watched as Piper and Leo took a step backward and she did as well. They all watched as Paige threw in Cole's flesh and the potion exploded.
Piper smiled. "Good memory."
"Is that it? Is it ready?" Willow wondered.
Paige nodded, "Ready as it'll ever be. Can't guarantee it'll work though."
Willow nodded as she tapped her commbadge. "Rosenberg-Summers to Summers. Buffy, we're ready."
"Faith and I are on our way," came Buffy's reply.
"Now we're only going to get one chance at it. Cole has to know why we needed his flesh. He'll be waiting." Piper said.
"That's good," Willow said. "Once we're there all we will need is to be in the same room. Dawnara!"
Dawnara, Deep Space Nine's artificial intelligence, appeared holographically before them. "Yes, Major."
"Keep a transporter lock on us. When we give the signal we will need you to beam this Cole out, widest possible dispersion," Willow ordered.
"What about Phoebe?" Leo wondered.
"We get her out first so that he can't hurt her." Piper said as Paige bottled the potion. "Ready, sis?"
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Faith once again stood on the upper level of the promenade watching as people walked past beneath her. It was then she saw her and sighed.
"Are you okay, Faith?"
Faith glanced over and watched as Buffy leaned against the railing beside her. "A little sad." She waved at Dawn who was running down the promenade. "She doesn't know me, not as her wife anyways."
"My daughter isn't old enough to get married anyways," Buffy replied as Faith raised an eyebrow in question. "She was created in a cloning tube to not only hide the Key but also to be mine and Will's daughter. I know in other universes she is created by other means to be my sister, but in this one she is my daughter."
"You and Red?" Faith said in surprise.
"I take it I'm not gay in your universe?" Buffy asked.
"No," Faith replied. "Your dating Paige's father." She looked back and saw that Dawn was now standing with another young woman, whom she was kissing. "I take it that's her girlfriend."
"Yeah that's Cassie," Buffy said as she smiled at the pair. "They are very much in love."
Faith sighed as she turned around faced the windows that looked out into space as she leaned back against the railing.
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked looking at the other Slayer.
"Seeing them…it's like is my Dawn only with me because I was available or is she truly in love with me," Faith answered glancing at the blonde woman. "Seeing your Dawn with her girlfriend, is raising some doubts, wondering if Cassie there were in her life in my universe if she might have fallen for her instead."
"If your Dawn is like mine," Buffy said as she turned around and leaned back against the railing. "Then your Dawn is with you because she loves you with all of her heart."
Faith thought about what Buffy said and nodded. "Your right as always, B. In fact if I need any more proof I just have to remember that my Dawn is pregnant with our child."
"Congratulations," Buffy said as she smiled at Faith. "That is wonderful. If what I've learned of you in the last few hours is even a fraction of the person you are. You will make a wonderful mother. If you weren't going to be on the other side of the rift I would say send me a picture. I would have loved to see what my niece would have looked like if Dawn had been my sister instead of my daughter."
"Are you getting a little wistful there, B?" Faith asked.
"I do sometimes wonder what my life would be like if all of this," Buffy waved her hand to indicate the space station, "had never come to be. We're too far removed I think from your universe for me to be like your Buffy. But I still wonder some times."
"I need to get back to my Dawn, but if I were going to be stuck here for any length of time, I would be happy to tell you stories about our universe," Faith said.
"If we had time, I would loved to have heard them," Buffy said as she wrapped an arm around Faith in companionship. "But sadly you don't have a lot of time."
"Yeah I remember," Faith said. "How long do you think I have if we don't get this fixed soon?"
"A few hours tops before entropic cascade failure begins," Buffy answered.
"Rosenberg-Summers to Summers. Buffy, we're ready," came Willow's voice from Buffy's communicator.
Buffy reached up and tapped her communicator. "Faith and I are on our way," she replied. She looked at Faith. "You ready to go home?"
"More than you know," Faith replied.
Halliwell Manor
Faith, Buffy, Willow, Piper and Paige walked out of the kitchen in search of Cole.
"Anything?" Paige asked looking around.
Piper shook her head, "No."
"Okay, come on." Paige said as they walk into the hall.
"What are you guys doing here?" Phoebe asked as she rushed down the stairs. "You have to leave now."
"Where's Cole?" Piper asked.
"Right here." Cole said as he walked out of the living room. He then threw an energy ball across the room, hitting Piper, Paige and Leo, knocking them to the floor.
"No!" Phoebe shouted as she ran toward Piper and Paige.
Buffy tapped her communicator. "Summers to DS9, Dawnara, now."
"I am unable to get a lock on anyone but the away team," Dawnara replied through Buffy's communicator.
"You really didn't think I wouldn't find out did you, Buffy?" Cole said. "When I saw you were alive I did some checking and found out what had happened. I took precautions in case you tried to do to me what you did to Glorificus." He noticed the potion that Piper had dropped. He flicked his fingers and the potion flew across the room and into his hand.
"What did you do to them?" Phoebe asked.
"Exactly what they were going to do to me," Cole said as he threw another energy ball at Faith, Buffy and Willow who landed beside Piper and Paige.
Deep Space Nine
Leo orbed onto the promenade and smiled at the Faith of this universe. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.
"It's time I faced my past," Faith admitted. "Besides if this potion does for me what it did for her. I may not even have to worry about my father anyways."
"Alright," Leo said as he handed the potion to Faith.
Faith drank the potion and for a brief moment she was shrouded in black orbing lights that slowly began to morph into blue and white orbing lights before disappearing all together. She held out a hand a stream of ice shot forth. "Thank you."
"Your Darklighter side has been completely replaced with the future Whitelighter that all Slayers typically are in the future. Making you part witch, part Slayer and part Whitelighter."
Halliwell Manor
Paige reached over to touch Piper's hand. "She's still alive, grab her hand."
"What?" Phoebe asked in confusion.
Cole smiled, "I don't know how you two got here, Paige…Faith. But if it's any consolation, I know exactly where I'm going to bury you both."
"Grab her hand." Paige repeated with a look at her middle sister.
Phoebe touched Piper's hand and a light shone down on them. Cole threw an energy ball at them and it rebounded harmlessly off the light. The light vanished as Faith, Buffy, Willow, Phoebe and Paige stood up.
Phoebe smiled, "The Power of Three."
That was when they saw blue and white orbing lights surround Faith and enter her. Faith smiled. She was sure her counterpart had drank the potion. "Potion!" Faith called out as the potion orbed into her hand. "I do hate long goodbyes," she said. She went to throw the potion but Phoebe grabbed her hand and took it from her.
"Phoebe, are you crazy?" Paige said in surprise. "Throw it before he shimmers out."
"She's not going to throw it," Cole objected. "Are you?"
"Throw the potion." Paige repeated.
"We've been through so much together, haven't we?" Cole asked as he smiled. "Our loves so strong; nothing can destroy it, not even this. We're meant to be together."
"I don't think so." Phoebe said as she threw the potion at Cole vanquishing him.
Faith and Paige looked around and noticed they were still there. "He's gone," Paige said looking at her aunt. "Why are Aunt Faith and I still here."
"Timing," Willow answered.
"I think Red's right," Faith agreed. "We were in the midst of orbing at exact time his spell took effect. Because we weren't in the midst of orbing this time."
"We didn't transition back," Paige concluded.
Buffy looked at Willow and sighed. "Looks like we need to somehow open the rift ourselves. Return to DS9 and get the information you need to do that."
Willow nodded as she tapped her communicator. "Rosenberg-Summers to DS9, one to beam up. Energize!" she disappeared in a transporter beam.
Buffy looked at Piper and Phoebe. "I can't give you your mother back. But I may be able to give you your sister back."
"How?" Paige wondered.
"You want to clone her," Faith said in realization. "Like you did with your Dawn."
"Dawn was a little more complicated," Buffy admitted. "But essentially that's basically it." She looked at Paige and smiled. "I just need a sample of your DNA and to do a mind scan."
"And with a donation of her blood," Piper said as she looked at Phoebe who nodded in understanding. With the donation of Paige's blood they could have the Power of Three back.
Buffy tapped her communicator," Summers to DS9, four to beam up, energize."
Halliwell Manor
A couple hours later Willow, Faith and Paige stood in the foyer of the Manor. "This device will send you back," Willow said. "It's a one way trip so the device won't return you here. With Cole vanquished as you call it the rift should be closed and there should be no more crossovers into our world from yours."
"Thanks," Paige said. "Look out for Piper and Phoebe for me, won't you?"
"Sure," Willow said. "Though I am sure you will be looking out for them. General Hammond has gotten them to sign NDAs and is in the process of getting them hired on at the SGC so that they have backup if they need it."
"Thank you," Paige said as she hugged Willow, who returned the embrace.
"And look after Dawn for me," Faith added. "Make sure she gets what my Dawn and I have."
"I promise," Willow said as she embraced Faith, who returned the embrace.
"Well, Paige, time for us to go home, I think" Faith admitted looking at her niece.
"Your right, Aunt Faith," Paige agreed. She pointed the device and pushed a button. She followed by Faith stepped through the rift that opened.
Earth 16
Halliwell Manor
Paige and Faith stepped out of the rift and Faith immediately orbed out. Faith returned a second later and handed a picture through the rift. "My Dawn's sonogram picture," she told Willow. "Don't worry, we have copies. I thought your Buffy and Mrs. S. would like to see it."
"Thanks," Willow replied as Faith pulled her hand back seconds before the rift closed.
It was then they saw Piper coming from the kitchen carrying a tub of ice-cream.
"You both are back," Piper said in clear surprise.
"We're back," Faith said. "And do we have a story to tell you."
"First off, let's make sure we're in the right universe," Paige said. She looked at her eldest sister. "Piper. Are you and Aunt Dawn pregnant?"
"Yeah," Piper replied, confused by the question.
"And mom, she is alive, right?" Paige asked.
"Yeah," Piper repeated. "What is with the twenty questions, Paige?"
Paige glanced at Faith and smiled. "We're home," she said as she that the device had worked. She set it down on the table and pulled Piper into her arms.
"Where have you two been?" Piper asked.
"It's a long story, Piper," Faith said. "Short of it is, a parallel universe. Is Dawn in bed?"
"Last I saw of her she was in the kitchen," Piper answered.
Faith rushed out of the of the room and into the kitchen and smiled. "Babe!" she said upon spotting Dawn.
"Baby," Dawn said with a sigh of relief. "Where did you go. I tried calling and calling. Leo even orbed to the underworld. He couldn't sense you or Paige anywhere. I was worried sick."
"Sorry, babe," Faith said as she wrapped her arms around her wife. "It's a long story. So where is your sister? I have some stuff to tell you both."
"In Sunnydale," Dawn answered. "We know who the big bad there is now. Something Buffy herself came up against once before, the First Evil. Oh they were attacked and Spike was taken."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Phoebe walked through the front door and saw Paige hugging Piper. "Hey, what's going on?" she asked.
Piper shrugged, "She's very happy."
"Phoebe!" Paige as she embraced Phoebe.
Phoebe looked at Piper in confusion, "Hi. Oh, oh, okay. What's the celebration?" she said as Faith and Dawn came out of the kitchen.
Paige spotted Dawn and smiled. "Aunt Dawn!" She ran over to Dawn and hugged her.
Dawn glanced between Faith and Paige. "I think explanations need to be happening."
Paige sneezed and orbed out and back in. "I'm still here, right?"
"Yeah," Faith said.
Paige sighed in relief. "I didn't go anywhere?"
Phoebe shook her head. "Nope. Aunt Faith? Paige? What did you two do?"
"You tell them," Faith said. "I'll tell Dawn and Buffy and we'll meet you at Cole's."
Paige nodded as she watched Faith orb out with Dawn.
Summers Home, Sunnydale
"Faith!" Buffy said in surprise when she saw Faith and Dawn orb in. "Where have you been?"
"Parallel universe," Faith answered. "Cole cast a spell. Paige and I were orbing at the right exact moment to be caught in his spell. Paige and I vanquished him and then with help of your counterpart we were able to come home. That's the short version, now for the long version…"
She went on to tell Buffy and Dawn everything that happened from find out that the Buffy of that universe was not Patty reincarnated, to the fact that Paige had been killed before the Power of Three could be reconstituted after Prue's death. To meeting the Buffy, Willow, Faith and Joyce of that universe and what had happened on Halloween. To finding out that Dawn and that Faith were not in a relationship.
"Different universes, different paths," Dawn admitted. "That's the thing. Just the chaos spell that created DS9 in their universe would have thrown a wrench in everything in comparison to ours. So don't beat yourself up to much that you and I weren't together in that universe. It doesn't reflect on you and I in this one."
"Dawn's right," Buffy agreed. "Even I can see it, Faith. You two are very much in love."
Faith smiled as she continued the story ending with vanquishing the Cole from this universe in that one.
Cole's Apartment
Paige orbed into the apartment with her sisters seconds before Faith orbed in with Buffy and Dawn.
"Cole?" Phoebe called out looking around.
Paige smiled, "I'm telling you, he's gone for good."
Phoebe nodded, "Yeah, that's what we thought last time."
"And the time before that." Piper added.
"This time is different," Paige told them. "He straddled two worlds just like Aunt Faith and I did, but he wasn't invincible there. Cole's not coming back, ever."
"It just seems far too easy," Buffy admitted. "I don't know how I feel about that."
"Given what we have coming up in SunnyD," Faith said. "I think with one less thing to worry about that you would feel good about it."
"Aunt Faith's right," Paige agreed.
Phoebe picked up a photo of her and Cole. "I guess it just wasn't meant to be," she admitted.
"Let's go." Piper said as she took Paige's hand.
Phoebe placed the photo on a side table and looked around at the apartment. She smiled slightly, "Happy birthday, Cole."
Halliwell Manor
Buffy stood at the door of the basement bedroom watching her sister sleep.
"Thinking about what I told you?" Faith asked as she came up behind her sister-in-law.
"A little," Buffy said as she closed the door so their conversation wouldn't wake Dawn. "In that universe I wasn't Patty reincarnated, I was just Buffy. Then instead of being my sister, Dawn's my daughter. So much had changed, Faith. I wasn't there for my girls or Dawn or even you, Faith, like I am here."
"As you and Dawn told me, what happened in that universe shouldn't affect us here," Faith said.
"I know that, but I still," Buffy shrugged. "But in that universe look how different things had become. My daughters didn't even have each other. That could be attributed to multiple reasons of course. But it just drives home how much I have to be in theirs, yours and Dawn's lives. To make sure you all have good long lives. How much I want to see my niece and my grandchild grow up."
Faith smiled, "And you will, Buffy. I don't know what the future will hold. But I believe this. That nothing is going to take you away from your family again."
Earth 94
Deep Space Nine
Paige Matthews stepped out of the cloning tube and smiled at her sisters.
"What about her powers?" Phoebe wondered.
"Show them," Buffy instructed Paige.
Paige nodded as she orbed out and back in. "I have them and also her memories."
"General Hammond pulled some strings," Buffy said. "He made Paige's death from a legal stand point disappear. She's no longer legally dead. Also you all are now officially employees of the SGC." She handed the three women and Leo each a communicator. "Given that Faith's powers have been unbound. I am going to have her be your liaison to DS9 and the SGC. So if you need us, we are here for you."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Willow smiled as she handed Buffy the picture Faith had given her. "Here, Faith said they had copies. It's her Dawn's sonogram of their daughter."
Buffy took the picture from her wife and smiled. "She's going to be a beautiful, baby," she said wistfully as she looked at the picture. She looked at Willow and smiled. "I'm not saying she should get pregnant before she's ready. But I can't wait for our Dawn to give us a granddaughter."
"Neither can I," Willow agreed as she embraced her wife.