Chapter Twenty-Six: The Many Lives of the Video Gamer.

"So let me get this straight," Buffy stated, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "You summoned Fargre'an by accident?"

"Yes," the Riddler admitted rather reluctantly and with a nice amount of shame. "I develop video games and I was looking for something exciting. I came across the legend of Fargre'an and I thought it was just that – a legend, so I went through the ritual, just so I could get it accurate for the game, and I summoned him or awakened him, or whatever."

Buffy was so dumbstruck she couldn't speak. Richard just giggled.

"I know, and then he told me about how I could rule Gotham, but then he sought out the Joker and I thought 'Well, I summoned you here, buddy, I can unsummon you', but I found out that the dagger was needed to do that so - "

"Wait! The dagger! That is why you need it? To send him back?"

"Well, I was going to lord it over him and make him see things my way, but yeah, I guess killing him with it is the best option right now."

"The dagger is useless," Buffy stated, sitting back into the seat of the car. The Riddler had driven them to the edge of town, parked near the Botanical Gardens. It took all her might not to stare at the name "Wayne" on the structure. "It was in the mansion."

"What?" The Riddler slammed his head against the steering wheel. "Now, he is going to destroy Gotham. How am I going to rule Gotham if it is wiped off the face of the planet?"

"Can we deal with your problems later?" Buffy snapped, wanting to hit something – preferably him – real bad. "Right now, we have to figure out what to do to stop this guy."

"Ruh Anna," Richard piped up from the back seat. "Bruce moved the dagger. I had a bad feeling so I asked him to put it somewhere else. He took it to the Police Station."

Buffy turned in her seat, smiling at him. "That is great. All we have to do is go get it?"

"Problem," the Riddler piped up. "Didn't you watch the news? I stood on top of the Police Station telling everyone that the city was about to be destroyed unless the Batman came to find me. Fargre'an is in there as we speak, working his hoodoo to keep the Police frozen in time, or something like that." His eyes lit up. "Oh! This would be such a great video game."

"How could I have seen it when the TV was blown up with the rest of the house, you nit," Buffy cried, snatching his cane from where it sat on the dash, and doing the best she could to hit him with it. "And how do we get the dagger out of there without the demon finding us out?"

"We don't have to," Richard stated, sliding down farther in the seat just to be on the safe side. "Batman knows where the dagger is. Willow can help him retrieve it, in spite of the spell placed on the building."

"And besides," The Riddler commented, wincing as the end of the cane poked him rather harshly in the ribs. "Fargre'an thinks you are dead. If you show up, all he has to do is kill you to open the hell mouth. It is best if you get far away from here."

Richard nodded, standing up in the back seat to lean over to Buffy. She had tossed the cane out the window so it was safe. "He is right. The child you carry is absorbing your Slayer powers, and your body is allowing this to protect her. You cannot fight this demon."

"Her?" Buffy asked, tears in her eyes. Richard nodded. "But…Bruce… and Willow?"

"Your friends will find you," Richard stated, wiping the tears away with the sleeve of his pajama top. Poor baby, Buffy thought, he doesn't even have a coat on. "And so will Rah Baba when the time comes."

"Kennedy?" She was not about to give up so easily.

"Deceiver întotdeauna se termina prin a fi înselati."

"The deceiver always ends up being deceived," the Riddler interpreted with a cackle.

Buffy sighed, knowing the boy was right. "Okay. But where do we go?"

"I know where to drop you off at. After that…" The Riddler shrugged, and started the engine. "Just don't forget," he stated, turning the car around and heading into the city. "You owe me a cane."

Still standing in the warehouse, Willow was trying to do her best to explain everything to Faith while trying not to upset Bruce anymore than he already was.

She shouldn't have bothered. He wasn't listening anyway.

Buffy had been pregnant with his child. His child. He could understand why she had not told him, but it bothered him that it had come to that. That she could not tell him because of what he had to do, what he had to become.

He stood near the door, in the shadows, no longer aware of anyone or anything. He had chosen saving the city instead of choosing to go find her. He had given up his life with her, and the life of their child, to protect what he had thought had been more important to him.

He had been wrong.

He had failed.

He had found Willow and the others merely by accident. He had listened to the Riddler's proclamation again, and had heard the clues. The Riddler had said that "It is truly an enigma," and that had struck a chord with him. Enigma. Edward Nigma, the man who created video games and real life simulation games owned a business in the city, but he had a warehouse on the outskirts of town where he stored products for shipping. Enigma. A riddle. The Riddler. He had been surprised when he arrived that what he found was the Joker and Buffy's friends, along with the young woman chained to the metal slab. After hearing what Kennedy (he had never really trusted that girl) and the Joker had said, he knew that this girl was the other Slayer Buffy had told him about.

The Joker was now dead, but the demon was in the police station with the very object it needed to open a hell mouth underneath Gotham, and he had had his sacrifice: the death of a slayer. No, Bruce corrected himself, he had three sacrifices.

"Bruce," Willow called to him. Her voice sounded far away. Steeling himself, he turned to face her and the others. "What should we do now?"

"Get out of Dodge," Xander theorized out loud. "Or Gotham since that is where we are, so that is where – " The slap on the back of his head was painful, and he could have sworn his eyes popped out of their sockets and then back in like they did in the old cartoons. "Ouch! Faith!"

"Then keep your mouth shut, Cyclops," she snapped back, folding her arms over her chest, focusing her attention back on the man in the black armor. She could not believe that Buffy had nailed herself a billionaire. The pride in that was stripped away, however, when she remembered what else Willow had said. Buffy had been pregnant and now Buffy was dead.

But Faith did not believe that last part. She wasn't a 100 percent sure either, so she kept her mouth shut.

"When you children get done squabbling, I can answer that question for you."

Everyone turned to the sound of the voice. Willow readied her fire blast spell again. But the Bat got to him first.

Buffy held Richards's hand as they rode the elevator up. She was nervous. Even though she knew Bruce was not here.

The doors opened and she peered out into the Penthouse.

"Master Wayne!" Alfred called, coming in from the kitchen. He froze when he saw her standing there. His eyes grew wide and for a moment she thought he had stopped breathing, but then a huge smile broke across his face. Buffy stepped from the elevator, Richard with her as Alfred approached them.

"Thank Heavens," Alfred stated in a hoarse voice, tears in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her like her father used to when she was a child. He kissed the top of her head and she couldn't help it: she began to cry. No, not cry. Sob. It wracked her body so much that all that was keeping her standing was Alfred's arms around her. She wailed, a flood being released like from a broken levee. Alfred consoled her, patting and rubbing her back and hair. "Just let it all out, child. It's all right."

She didn't know how long she stood there, but finally the tears began to dry up. She looked up at Alfred, he was still smiling, and he had been crying himself. He placed his hands on the side of her face. "I am so glad that you are alive. Both of you," he stated, reaching down to pat Richard's head. The boy had her hand in one hand, and the other arm wrapped around Alfred. "I thought we had lost you. Master Bruce thought…" He couldn't say anymore.

"I know. We hid in the Batcave," she explained, telling him everything about the Riddler, the Joker, and the dagger. "Alfred, there is something else. I'm…um…I am…"

"She's carrying Bruce's child," Richard said for her.

The butler stumbled back. Buffy reached out to catch him. He caught her free hand, holding it tightly. The shock turned to joy. "Child? You are – " He was overcome with emotion once again.

"Alfred, I have to leave," she said. She hated to have to do this. She hated having to put this burden on Alfred. "It is not safe for me here. If Fargre'an finds me, he can use my blood to open a hell mouth. He thinks that I am dead and that is the only advantage that Bruce has right now. I have to leave Gotham. Go somewhere that is safe. Some place protected, hallowed, until she is born. I have to leave tonight."

Alfred absorbed all this, and bless hiss, gathered himself quickly. "Master Bruce has a jet at the airport. Where do you need to go?" She told him. "Very well. I will call ahead and tell them to get ready. I will drive you there myself."

"You need to stay here, in case Bruce comes back." She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. He nodded.

"Then take the Rolls. It is in the underground parking garage. Leave it at the airport." He turned from her, went upstairs for a few moments, and then returned. In his hand, he held money. "Emergency cash. Take it."

Buffy knew she would need it so she stuffed it in her pocket. "Thank you."

He kissed her on top of the head again, and then bent down and hugged Richard. "Take care of her, Young Master Richard," he told the boy. Then he stood up again. "Go. Before I lock the elevator against my better judgment."

Buffy smiled at him, and then she and Richard went back to the elevator. The doors opened and they stepped inside. Just before the doors closed, Richard said: "He will know when the time is right. When it is safe." And the doors closed.

"Let me just say, first of all," The Riddler began as the Batman lifted him up off of the ground by his jacket lapel, "that the Slayer is not dead."

"Wait! Buffy isn't dead?" Willow asked, coming over and standing next to the Bat.

The Riddler nodded emphatically. "Yes. She and the boy hid in the cave. I went and got them and took them to your Penthouse. She is alive and well. She and the boy both. I swear. I promise. She wanted me to tell you that 'holly bushes are itchy'!"

Batman hesitated for just a moment and then sat the wretch back down on his feet and backed away from him. No matter what Kennedy had told him, there was no way she could have known about that. It had to have come from Buffy.

"What does that mean?" Giles asked. He could hardly see anything without his glasses. Xander shrugged, having no clue.

"He's not lying," the Batman said. "She had to have told him that."

Willow didn't have time to wonder. Faith did, though. Of course, her mind always ran that way. "You took them to the Penthouse?"

"Long story short. The dagger is needed to kill Fargre'an. He believes that is all he needs to finish opening the hell mouth. He thinks Buffy is dead. That his sacrifice has already been…sacrificed. He doesn't know that she isn't dead. If you can get into the station and get the dagger, and kill him before he realizes that she is alive, everything will be fine."

"Why can't I do it?" Faith asked.

"Used in concurrence with a heart of a warrior to banish into obscurity that which manifested with vengeance," Willow said and everyone looked at her. "The text I found on the dagger. 'Heart of a warrior'. 'Vengeance'. No offense, Faith, but this is his city. He is the warrior who must do this. And the whole manifest with vengeance doesn't mean the demon…"

"It means letting go of the reason why the warrior is seeking vengeance," Giles finished. "Bloody hell. Why didn't we see this coming?"

Willow looked up at Batman. "You have to let go of the Batman, Bruce. The mantle of a warrior is just that. A symbol. It is the heart of the warrior that is important. Batman can't do this. It has to be Bruce Wayne."