A/N : As always, I very much appreciate all the reviews, thank you :-)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 7

It had taken a while to explain all the necessary information to everyone. Willow and Tara were much better off for having caught up on their sleep and were now much less hungover and a lot more alert. The demon woman in Giles' apartment had been a surprise for them, but not half so much of a shock as the Watcher himself got as Buffy and Spike explained how Annaliese and Connor had returned from Quor'toth as teenagers, with a near-full knowledge of all those they had left behind here.

Now, a few hours later, Xander's aunt, who had been quite definitely identified as Aunt Doris by Willow, was lying back in Giles' bed, kept still and quiet by a binding spell the two witches had cast.

The Scoobies all sat downstairs, Willow and Tara at the table, Giles and Spike in two armchairs, and Buffy and Annaliese together on the couch, as they poured over books, and the computer hoping to find anything useful about the demon who had apparently infected an innocent woman, and must be exorcised and defeated as soon as possible.

"You okay, Annaliese?" Buffy asked when the girl sighed.

"Yes, thank you, I'm fine" she told the Slayer managing a smile as she glanced her way, "I'm... well, I'm worried about Connor if I'm honest" she admitted, "He was very nervous about seeing Angel and Cordelia again, he... he was afraid perhaps he would be unwanted now"

"Why would the daft bugger think that?" Spike checked, having been listening to the girls conversation from the start, "You didn't, did you, luv?"

"Of course not" Annaliese rolled her eyes, "but I got to see you all, my visions are such a gift. I knew we were wanted, and loved, and everything. Connor had to take my word on it, and whilst he always believed me, I don't suppose its the same as seeing it all first hand"

"I'm sure it'll all work out" Buffy assured her, "Angel and Cordy really missed him, just like we missed you, and if they're even half as happy to have Connor back as we are to have you back..." she trailed off, her meaning evident to all.

Annaliese smiled at that as she glanced away.

"I'm so sorry to have made such a fuss about my vision before" she apologised, "I would've given you the information about Giles so much more easily had I not gotten so upset, but then I seldom see those I would care about in trouble" she explained, actually bringing some comfort to her father who had been a little worried that her gift was now causing her harm when it had not before.

He opened his mouth to say as much, but Giles intervened as he found what he was looking for.

"Ah, yes, here we are" he said, leaning forward and putting the book he'd been studying on the table for all to see, "Here's the demon, a nasty one by all accounts too, I'm lucky to have escaped alive it would seem"

"Well, Ripper, let's hope this has taught you a little something about the dangers of drink and loose women" Spike smiled, at least until Buffy shot him a look and batted him across the arm.

"Very amusing, Spike" the Watcher rolled his eyes, as he called Willow and Tara over and explained to them both what had happened and what needed to be done.

"Okay" Willow nodded as she and Tara stood either side of Giles' bed with a candle each in their hands, "As soon as we finish, the candles will go out and then the demon should appear"

"Sword through the chest and we're done, right?" Buffy checked.

"That should be the way to kill it, yes" Giles agreed, "Although I doubt it's going to be so easy, Buffy, the demon will be very angry at being removed from his host"

"Not exactly un-angry myself, Giles" his Slayer told him, "It messed with my family, it's going down" she nodded, shifting her grip on the handle of the sword she held, "Besides, I have back-up" she tilted her head towards Spike and Annaliese who stood either side of her and a step behind, prepared to tackle this demon, should it get past Buffy.

"You sure you wanna do this, luv?" Spike asked his daughter.

"Really do" she smiled back at him, clearly enjoying the idea of a good fight as much as her father, which thrilled him.

"Okay, here goes" Willow said, taking a breath, and making eye contact with her girlfriend across the bed.

The two Wiccans began their chanting, which seemed to have little or no effect at first, then suddenly Doris started to twitch, just slightly at first and then more violently. Like someone having a kind of fit, she twisted and turned on the bed, in spite of the binding spell that had held the demon down. Now they wanted it to move, it needed to be freed so that it could be dealt with.

Buffy adjusted her grip on the sword she held. According to Willow, this demon was probably going to be quite strong as well as majorly pissed at being exorcised. The book went into great detail about the habits of the Enervo.

It was incorporeal for the most part, floating around, not causing too much trouble, but in order to maintain even this existence they had to feed. Each month on the three nights of the full moon, the Enervo possessed a human body, took over to a certain degree as it sapped the energy from it's host. It didn't usually kill one person, instead preferring to encourage the body it inhabited into mating with another. Somehow the passion of a sexual encounter was like gasoline to the fire of energy the demon needed. It was not, it seemed, mere alcohol that had led to Doris and Giles spending the night together, but the influence of the demon.

Now it was being released before it was ready, and after it had been held captive for a while, the Enervo was likely to be overly angry and vicious, and ready for a meal, which was the whole point of the energy sapping – to gain corporeal form, and consume it's monthly supply of human flesh, usually from the victims who were devout of energy already.

This particular Enervo was of course not destined to compete it's lunar task, and as a black mist began to emanate from the woman on the bed, those that would fight the demon readied themselves for battle.

The blackness floated away from Doris, taking shape in front of Buffy. Half man, half lizard type creature, it appeared, it's skin completely black, and eyes glowing a dark and fiery red.

A growl emanated from it's throat as pointed teeth designed for ripping flesh were revealed in rows. Buffy lifted her sword to strike, but no-one could've predicted the lightening moves of the Enervo. It knocked the Slayer clean off her feet without a care.

Spike moved to fight in her place but was stopped by his daughter who quite literally spun into action. She moved like liquid, her sword work so accurate and fast, it amazed both her father and the rest of the Scoobies as they watched her fight and quite easily dispatch the demon. In but a few moments she seemed to have judged where the demon would go, how it would move, and how best to defeat it.

"Argh!" with a final yell of effort, she forced the sword down into the now fallen demon's chest, purple blood spurting out, and narrowly missing her face as she dodged away.

"Bloody hell!" Spike exclaimed, but with a smile on his face, he was so very proud of his little girl right now.

"What... what on earth is going on?" Doris asked, a hand going to her head as she tried to sit up, only to immediately fall down again as her head spun madly.

"It's all right, my dear" Giles told her, going to her side, telling the rest of the group that perhaps it would be better if they left so he could explain to this poor woman exactly what had happened.

The two Wiccans, to whom the Watcher shot a grateful smile, agreed to leave the room, but stayed behind at the apartment to tidy up the mess that had been made, and to help with Doris later should Giles need them.

Spike nominated himself to remove the demon body, with a plan to take it away down the sewers and dispose of it. Of course that meant leaving Annaliese but she was quite happy to walk home with Buffy, it seemed, and Spike would trust his Slayer with his daughter, with his life, should he have one.

"It must be weird for you" Annaliese sighed as they walked along, "Having me back here, suddenly in your life, and not at all how you remember me"

"You were a surprise" Buffy admitted with a nod and a smile, "but then, you were from the beginning. Nobody could've predicted the child of two vampires, and then when there were two of you... big with the stunnage!"

Silence fell over the pair for a while then, both a little unsure of what to say next. It was a very odd situation, after all.

"So, you can handle demons pretty well, huh?" Buffy said eventually, "I mean, there's not a lot of people that could smack one down like you did back there" she told Annaliese, who looked almost embarrassed by the compliment.

"I had to learn, Connor too" she explained, "Quor'toth is a lot worse than this world. Of course, it helps to be born with the abilities we have"

"Preaching to the choir" the Slayer nodded, "It's a responsibility too, figuring out why you're here, trying to fulfil that destiny…"

"I suppose so" Annaliese agreed, "I confess that whilst I always knew we'd be back here one day, I was never shown why" she shrugged, "I've thought about it a lot. The forces of good gave two children to four vampires, denizens of evil essentially, though I would not say so in front of my father" she confessed.

"He knows what he was, Annaliese" Buffy assured her, "Spike and Angel both know they've done a lot of bad things, but they both fought back, Angel with his soul, and your Dad, well, I guess mostly he did it for love"

"Love for you" Annaliese smiled, "It's obvious you mean the world to him, Buffy"

"He means the world to me too" the blonde nodded, "And you, you mean so much to the both of us" they both looked equally embarrassed by now and Buffy looked away, "Listen to us, we sound like the Brady Bunch. Spike would go nuts if he could hear us being 'silly bints'" she said, faking an English accent so badly, it made Annaliese chuckle.

"I don't know what that means exactly" she confessed, "but I don't mind whatever he wants to call me. I'm just so glad to be back here with him, and all of you"

"It's obviously where you belong" Buffy agreed, "I guess the Powers That Be have it all planned out somehow, what you and Connor are destined for. Just like me, and Spike, and Angel, and…" she trailed of there as Annaliese gave her a quizzical look.

"And who?" she asked curiously, as Buffy looked awkward.

"I had a sister" the blonde confessed, though she wasn't sure why she was doing it, it was perhaps because it would be nice to share the story with someone, anyone who might understand, "She wasn't my real sister, she was made from a powerful energy, and this hell god came to take that energy and use it to get back to her own hell dimension"

"What happened?" Annaliese asked, and Buffy swallowed hard before she continued to explain.

"A portal was opened with Dawn's blood" she said quietly, since they were still out in the public street where people could hear if she wasn't careful, "Once it was opened the only way to close it was when the blood stopped, so she jumped. Dawnie, my little sister, sacrificed her life, to save the world"

"My God" Annaliese gasped, "Was this before I was born?"

"Yes" Buffy nodded, "a few months before you came along. It's crazy but … I can almost see something similar between you and her. It's nuts, I mean, mostly you look like Drusilla, and you have Spike's eyes but… I dunno, maybe it's just your age or something"

"Perhaps" Annaliese agreed as they neared Revello Drive, "I actually wanted to ask you…" she began, pausing awkwardly as they reached the front door.

"Y'know Annaliese there's nothing you can't ask me, honestly" Buffy assured her.

"I wanted to know… about my mother" she admitted, "I didn't know if Dad would want me to mention her, even though he said it was okay, I…."

"Drusilla was…" Buffy began, not really knowing what to say once she'd started. After all, Drusilla had mostly been crazy and evil in the time Buffy had known her, at least up until she returned nine months pregnant. Then she had still been crazy, but she'd loved the child she carried, that much was evident. She sacrificed herself to bring the baby into the world. That had to mean something.

"Dru was beautiful" she said at last as the two young women entered the house, going through to the living room and sitting down on the couch together, "She loved your Dad a lot, and she loved you too. She knew what she had to do so that you would be born, and she knew you'd do great things" she smiled, "She told your Dad you were the one good thing they did together, and she was right"

"Thank you, Buffy" Annaliese smiled, though tears were in her eyes.

She appreciated the kind but honest words of the Slayer. She would make a wonderful step-mother she was sure. Annaliese knew for sure she'd done the right thing coming back here from Quor'toth, and not just because fate had told her she should. She and Connor were going to be so happy here, she was certain, as she hugged the blonde that made her father so happy too.

"Hey" Connor called as he came down the stairs and found the two women all teary on the couch, "You okay?"

"I really am" Annaliese told him with a genuine smile, "You?"

"Yeah" he nodded, glancing behind himself at his father and Cordy, "It's all good here"

To Be Continued...