zigpal- Yay! My one review! Thank you! And claps as well. hehe. Glad you liked the last chapter and the Trio de Dorks aren't in for a couple of chapters here but you will be seeing them soon again. And re Spike, well, it is Spike so he isn't gonna give in just like that, but I will say that later on things will change.

And as for the rest of you guys- helloo? Where are you? I like my reviewage. Like to know what y'all think. It inspires me to write more. hint hint.

A/N: Sorry this one took so long, but well, it had a lot of Ripper and I like to do him justice, even though I have actually found that it is near impossible. But well, I did my best. Also, Joyce not in much of this one, but well it's a three parter so...well, you'll see.
"Giles giggles?" Buffy frowned in distaste at Willow as she heard her Mom and Giles get out of the car in the driveway after just returning from the Doctors.

"No," Willow shook her head, "Your Mom's laugh could be described as a giggle, Giles in his manliness can be described as a 'light chuckle'."

Buffy spared a moment to frown at Willow's use of the word 'manliness' in reference to Giles, before saying:

"Either way, the giggle fest, it's-" She was cut off by the people in question walking in through the front door and it became clear why both were indulging in the giggle fest (or light chuckle as it were). Joyce was looking at a small photo she was holding in her hands and Giles, in an attempt to look at it, had reached his hands through under Joyce's arms to reach the photo and was looking over her shoulder.

Buffy was the first to admit that Giles had lost his stuffiness over the years, especially when she compared him to how he had been when she had first arrived in Sunnydale. But she had never seen him like this, never, not even in all the years he'd been living with her, her Mom and Dawn. This was a totally free, unrestricted, non-expectation Giles.

"Buffy, Willow, hi," Joyce smiled, still laughing at Giles, "Where's Dawn?"

"Janice's," Buffy told her, "So how'd the doctor's go?"

"Well, you'll be relieved to know that Lily is a girl," Joyce told her, holding up the latest ultrasound photo.

"Unbelievable," Buffy commented with light sarcasm.

"Can I see the picture?" Willow asked and Joyce nodded, handing her the photo and after having a look, Will passed the photo on to Buffy.

As Buffy peered at the black and white picture of what would one day grow up to be the Lily they met before Christmas, Willow looked over at Joyce and Giles, who were at the moment laughing and smiling with one another, kissing also obviously. Willow had noticed that the couple always got like that when anything Lily related happened. And as she looked at Giles, Willow found it hard to believe this was the same man who summoned demons with the likes of Ethan Rayne and had the same fierce addiction she herself had had to Rack's magic.

"You what?" Giles asked, flabbergasted.

"I don't think you actually know how hard this is for me," Willow repeated in the training room at the Magic Box. She had been calling the guardian elements to complete the protective circle for spell casting and in her eagerness to get it done she had called the energy from within herself rather than using the magickal energy the earth offered her. So, Giles had called her up on it, immediately spotting what she had done, telling her that if she continued calling on her own energy, she would be forever susceptible to falling prey to Rack's Majiks.

"You don't think- what have...Willow, I know more than you think about all this. That's why I'm trai- that's why I'm helping you," Giles told her.

"You say you got addicted to the Majiks and Rack...just like I did, but if it was just like I did I think you would understand a little more about what I'm going through right now"

As the argument between Giles and Willow threatened to escalate, Tara retreated to the far wall, staying physically and metaphorically out of the 'debate'.

"And, I know you did all the Eyghon badness," Willow continued, "But I think that was probably more Ethan's doing than yours. I mean you say how bad it was, but I just don't see how someone who can be all Zippy Rainbow with Joyce now, could be as badly addicted as I am- or worse, if what you're telling me is all true"

"Willow," Giles said patiently, "I was a completely different person then. Someone in all frankness that you or any of the others would not ever want to know"

"She's still in that bloody room," Ripper nodded in the direction of the closet where Deidre had locked herself away for the past half hour. "Fuck, Ethan you shoulda told me she'd hadn't done LSD before"

"Don't need it right now do ya?" Ethan challenged, though he knew it was a risky thing to do. Ripper just gave him an even glare that although it clearly said 'Ethan shut it if you know what's good for you' it also implied that later on Ripper would need the closet- if the bed in the flat wasn't exactly free. Whether the closet action would be with Deidre or some handy slut he'd meet down in one of the local dives, or maybe someone a little closer to home, Ethan didn't know. But he could hope.

"That's not just it," Ripper told him, "We don't exactly want a little I-Need-To-Be-Cared-For-Every-Fucking-Minute newbie hangin' around"

"She's not," Ethan told him, though he couldn't deny that he'd thought the same thing himself once or twice, "Besides she's the one who's got us that power link we've been after. These majiks have become a bit of a doss" He glanced over at Thomas, Phillip and Randall, who at that exact moment were getting high on the 'doss off' majiks. Pathetic. But then they weren't exactly as skilled as him and Ripper.

"And what is this 'power link'?" Ripper asked, attempting to sound disinterested, but Ethan knew him much better than that and he knew the thought of any kind of extra power would make Ripper tremble.

At that point Deidre came tumbling out of the closet, eventually regaining her balance as she clambered towards Phillip.

"So ready to take us to this guy you've been goin' on about, little girl?" Ripper asked tauntingly, walking over to the disorientated twenty year old. She may have been twenty, but the way she was most of the time, Ripper thought she might as well have been fourteen. So when she shook her head silently in answer to his question, he wasn't the least bit surprised. That didn't mean it didn't piss him off though.

He reached over and grabbed Deidre roughly by the wrist, rough enough he knew it was going to leave a mark- a fact he was glad about, and tugged her up to a standing position and she yelped in frightened surprise.

"I think you are ready," He told her in a warning tone, before using his grip on her wrist to shove her forward. He couldn't care less about the fact she was still all over the place from the LSD.

"Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Phillip, a guy who'd been pretty much taken by Deidre immediately, demanded of Ripper, but it was Ethan who replied.

"I wouldn't if I were you," He advised smoothly. Ripper wanted to see the power fix guy now and that's what they were gonna do. Ethan knew he had more power than Ripper, but well, he couldn't deny that Ripper would always be the alpha in the group. That was just the way he went. And it was something Ethan didn't always find cause to complain about.

It was just a dark empty alley. Nothing more, nothing less. And more to the point there was nothing there.

"You said it was here," Ripper talked directly to Deidre while the others peered around from where they were stood, "You'd better not be pissing around here"

"It's invisible," Deidre told him, still looking very much out of it as she did so, but she was managing to form (almost) coherent sentences through it all and he had to give her credit for that, if not out loud. "You have to be in with the majiks to, feeling. There. Feel where. Where it is"

"Yeah," Ethan murmured in agreement, stepping past Ripper and Deidre, "Can't you feel it Ripper? Right here it is"

Ripper looked unconvinced, so Deidre gave Ethan a shove. Ethan disappeared through the cloak. Deidre quickly followed on. Ripper, Thomas, Randall and Phillip were left in the alley alone, the other two no longer there. It only took Ripper a second to follow on where Ethan and Deidre had led.

On the other side of the now obvious cloak, was nothing more spectacular than any of the joints they'd been too to get their regular non-majik drugs- it was a dump, old newspapers everywhere,empty beer bottles and two people crashed out, completely out of it, on the two moth ridden sofas in the waiting room. So Ripper didn't really see what was so special about the goddamn place.

That is until, the person behind it all, the guy Deidre had been going on about non bloody stop, stepped out of a back room. This guy had power- it was not just Ethan who could sense that. This was just the kind of power boost they'd all been looking for.

"Strawberry," Rack smiled at Deidre, a smile that was cold and calculating, but filled with something that could be only deciphered as a need for Deidre, "Welcome back home. And I see you brought guests," He smiled that same calculating grin as he looked around at the group of five Deidre had brought along with her.

"Strawberry?" Willow asked, more to herself than anything, but Giles heard nonetheless.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing," Willow told him. She didn't want to admit how 'Strawberry' had been what Rack had called her. She had been given the same nickname as the the girl that had introduced Giles to Rack. And Deidre had apparently frequented there beforehand already, so what did that say about her, Willow? No, that was something she definitely didn't need to tell Giles, "So, Deidre was the one that got you into it all. Just goes to prove what I said before- that it was someone else behind it all again"

Rack gestured for the group to come to the back room he himself had just exited. One of the guys on the sofa, who moments ago had seemed completely out of it, got up in protest.

"No, I've waited long enough Rack, long enough," The guy complained, but before he had barely taken a step forward, Rack waved his hand sharply and abruptly and with a crackle of black magickal electricity, the man collapsed back down on the sofa, his eyes diluted to impossible widths and Ripper and the others were immediately intrigued by this friend of Deidre's.

"An interesting group you've got here Strawberry," Rack commented not-at-all-lightly as he took in every member of the group. He first looked at Phillip, "You...you're a lightweight. I can tell" Phillip looked momentarily offended, before trying to cover this by adding more machismo to his stance, "That won't do it," Rack told him with a slight, sinister laugh, tapping Phillip's chest, "It's in here"

Rack then moved onto Randall. He didn't say anything at all to this one for a moment, merely looking him over with dangerous interest.

"You're the one here for the rush aren't ya?" He asked, though they all knew it wasn't really a question, "Be careful of spells you can't handle though." From anyone else's mouth this comment would have been one of caring, kindness and concern, but from Rack it was anything but. He almost said it with gleeful delight.

Next was Thomas. He was obviously of no consequence to Rack, no interest as he merely glanced at him before moving onto the next, to find, the next was not stood in a well-disciplined stance, waiting for Rack to judge him. Ethan, like Ripper, was having a good nosy round.

These two interested Rack more than the rest, but in different ways. Oh they were both undoubtedly stronger and more powerful than the others, that was for sure, but that wasn't what interested him. At least, it wasn't the only thing.

The first, Ethan, was, like Randall, one who loved the rush the majiks gave him, but, unlike Randall, he didn't let it control him but instead used the rush to his own advantage. Be it in life, work, sex. He was the most powerful of the group, or at least, the most skilled.

The other, the one the group called Ripper, was a bit more complicated though he was definitely in the Ethan column. Just as powerful, but less skilled. He seemed to be one who just went for the blunt, straight to it angle rather than the subtle, deadly, insidious approach Ethan was undoubtedly fond of. He was also multi layered. Rack saw the Ripper persona, but he also saw a quieter, gentler character that would no way in heaven or hell be here in a million years, and then beneath that there was an even darker character. The one that was Ripper to the nth term and the one that frankly, even Ripper wasn't big on letting out to play. The one that was quite willing to go to extreme lengths to get what he wanted or to do what was needed to be done. Would even kill. That was the one Rack wanted to reach.

Right, it was time to take a little tour.

"He did the majik tour thingy?" Willow asked. She was now sat down with Tara, listening to Giles' retelling of events in London in the early 70s. She still wasn't convinced he could be as bad as he said he was, she hadn't heard anything particularly shocking yet- sure he had treated Deidre quite badly, but that was hardly something to write home about- but the story, at least, was an interesting one and she did want to see how it ended.

"Yes, he did. Though I wasn't bloody keen on the idea." Giles told her, "Less so than Ethan was actually. And Ethan was always very particular about that sort of thing"

"Was it a rush though?" Willow asked, conscious of how uncomfortable the question made Tara feel. She didn't like reminding Tara of the bad place she had gone to with Amy.

"It was a rush," Giles admitted, "But not a good one. Brought something out in me I didn't even realize was there and,well, when he started doing the spells and the majiks on top of that. Well, it went decidedly unwell. For the ah others that is"

Two weeks on and the group had become regulars at Rack's ever moving place. The majik was also such a rush, but they rarely seemed to realize that their rush seemed to be giving Rack his own high as their energy became entwined with his.

Of course, the others were still happy with what Rack could give them, but Ethan and Ripper. They were slowly getting bored. They weren't getting the same rush as they originally had and had been looking for something new for the past week. All of it had been pretty shit though and they were still looking.

Ethan was getting pretty pissed off with Ripper himself of late. Ethan was the one doing the boring research thing in an attempt to find something better than Rack while all Ripper did was get a majik high, get pissed at Deidre, shag Deidre, get pissed at the guys, get pissed at Ethan (Ethan was sure he'd get the same secondary treatment as Deidre if it wasn't too pissed off at Ripper's attitude to go along for the ride) and finally, shag any girl he thought fairly good looking when they went out.

And now the latest one in a long line, Charlotte, or Charlene or something like that was coming out of the bedroom, looking very pleased, the telltale belt imprints around her wrists,with Ripper walking out behind her, barely zipping up his his pants in time to exit the room decently. The girl turned around to Ripper, possibly to kiss him, to smile, to whatever, but he'd already walked off, lost interest and was now heading over to fridge for, well, a beer most likely.

"Ripper..." The girl said in a typically girly pleading tone and Ripper rolled his eyes though he didn't actually look at her as he continued to look through the fridge for some half decent beer.

"What. Cheryl?" He asked impatiently.

"Charlotte," The girl corrected, sounding hurt. Ripper couldn't care less

"Ripper, aren't you gonna kiss me goodbye?" She asked, "I won't see you till next week"

You won't be seeing me at all, he thought to himself, but aloud he said.

"Look, sod off would ya?" Before he headed over to the group demanding who the fuck had drank the last of the good beer. They all pointed at each other.

Cheryl, Charlotte, Chantalle, Charlene, whoever, followed him, still pleading for his attention.

"Look, go home," He told her straightforwardly, "Bugger off"

She just continued to look hurt and didn't budge and when she looked about ready to turn on the waterworks Ripper had just had too much. He grabbed her arm roughly causing her to cry out in a way that wasn't at all like the way she had been crying out in the bedroom, and dragged her over to the door, not caring as she stumbled and tripped over the objects strewn about the place. With the hand not holding onto her, he pulled open the door before shoving her out. She stumbled and fell, hitting her head on the wall of the flat corridor. It scraped the skin and she touched the injury in shock, not believing the red she saw on her fingers as she pulled them away.

"Get the fucking picture?" He asked her. He slammed the door in her face.

"That wasn't the worse," Giles told Willow though he saw the shock on her and Tara's face, "That was one of the nicer stories. 'Nice' used relatively loosely at this juncture I think you'll agree. I didn't care really, I still don't even know what her name was actually. I was the one who got the most...the most 'nasty' I suppose you could say. I didn't tell the others, afraid they'd reign in on my parade I suppose, but ah, I went to Rack a lot more often they did. Almost everyday actually. I just needed that fix so much. It was a stronger addiction than any previous majik, any previous drug. I just kept going back for more. But that was the night Ethan stumbled across the text about Eyghon. And everything Eyghon could bring us. 'Rack cubed' I believe Phillip described it after his first go. We of course went to Rack the first night we intended to summon Eyghon. It was a boost, enough to give us the energy to actually summon the demon. After that, we never needed go back to Rack. Eyghon was enough. More than enough"

"Time to go to sleep," Ethan grinned as Randall lay down in the circle, wards all around him, candles glowing theatrically and powerfully as the group sat surrounding him, summoning Eyghon. The biggest high was for the one Eyghon inhabited but there was also the rush of simply being the ones summoning him. The power was tangible, and Ethan and Ripper grinned, both tasting the power, the majiks already building around them. It was an incredible high. One that blew Rack outta the water.

"We killed him" Giles corrected and Willow sensed another guilt trip heading his way and she hurried to wave it off.

"No Giles. I mean, yeah, it was a risk that you all took but it was a choice Randall made too, and it was ultimately Eyghon killed him, not you"

"No, no it wasn't," Giles shook his head and as he carried on, Willow and Tara were sure he wasn't there with them anymore but was actually reliving that horrible night, "Eyghon took him over correct. But we, we killed him"

The wards had been smashed away, the candles blow out, every melodramatically but terrifying-in-real-life cliché had been used by Eyghon as it drenched Randall in it's essence. Randall's own features had melted away as Eyghon's had taken over. His pale pink skin had peeled away to reveal blue and green scales blotched with black. His ears had elongated into demonic features and his eyes were a soulless black with pin pricks of yellow glowing out at them all. Randall's hair had fall away or been covered by the demon's skin that had grown over it. Randall writhed in pain in the circle while the demon reveled in it's near freedom. It was too much for any of them there.

"Oh god, what do we do?" Thomas asked Ethan and Ripper desperately, the only other two who had remained near the circle. Deidre had ran away, backed up against the wall in terror and Phillip had ran over to see to her. She was practically catatonic in horror repeating to herself over and over again that they shouldn't have done this and they shouldn't have gone so far. Not one of them could tear their eyes away from the thing that had once been their friend. Randall.

"How the fuck should I know?" Ethan retorted, clearly bordering on panic.

Ripper remained silent just watching Randall as Ripper and Rupert had an internal battle. Neither agreed on the purpose, but they unfortunately agreed on the only answer. Randall was gone, they were never going to bring him back. Ripper didn't want Eyghon after him next and Rupert didn't want Eyghon being embodied and so free to go after others.

There were weapons in the back. Including an ax. Both Ripper and Rupert knew the only way Eyghon could be stopped from entering this world.

He got up and headed to the back room.

"Where the hell are you going? You're not pissing off as well are you?" Ethan called after him, but Ripper didn't answer. But a moment later in returned, ax in hand. "Ripper..." Ethan said, half questioning, half warning. He also knew the one way to stop Eyghon now.

Eyghon was getting stronger by the second, Randall almost faded away completely, the demon just a step from being completely reborn on earth. The only remnant of Randall was the tattoo that had been on his forearm, It was glowing an iridescent yellow on Eyghon himself now.

He saw Eyghon standing, but still neither Rupert nor Ripper could do it. He looked down at the ax in his hand then over at Eyghon/Randall. He couldn't do this, could he? No, but that deep dark place Rack had been so intent in bringing out (had succeeded too), the same dark place that had caused him to do so many things that only now he was beginning to regret. The part of him from that place could do. Could do what was necessary. Could even kill.

Eyghon was just stepping out of the circle when Rupert swung the ax around and for a brief moment the soulless look in the demon's eyes disappeared and was replaced by those that had belonged to Randall. They showed an expression of sorrow and betrayal. Rupert might have stopped for this, had the ax not already been gliding through it's path. It sliced through Eyghon's neck cleanly.

But the body and head that rolled on the floor was Randall's.

"Oh god," Willow murmured, holding onto Tara's hand as tightly as she was holding onto hers. She wanted to throw up. She couldn't believe Giles would do that. Had been capable of that. Was he still capable of that? No, he couldn't be. He wasn't the same guy anymore. The same man who had been so sorely addicted to the majiks he had dragged himself to Rack's every night. The same man who had used girl after girl after girl before tossing them out heartlessly, even causing them bodily harm. The same man who had...god. Randall. Poor Randall. No wonder Giles had immediately returned to the Council.

"So Willow," Giles concluded, "You wanted to know and so there you have it. A story I admit I have never retold to anyone"
"Oh but you told it to me didn't you?" Rack said and the three turned in shock to see Rack stood in the doorway to the training room. "Right before you had your final fix."

"You still went back, even after what happened?" Now Willow really was shocked and disgusted, but she did actually feel she now knew exactly why Giles was so intent on training her, on helping her overcome it all.

"Hello, Strawberry," Rack grinned at Willow and Giles frowned, remembering the nickname being used by Rack for someone else. For Deidre. "Want a little taster as well?" He asked, "How about your little-" He was about to say 'friend', but when he took in Tara he saw no potential there. She had power, yes, by god she had power, but it was a power that was of no use to him. The first he'd come across in a good long while that hadn't the ability to be corrupted.

"What are you doing here?" Giles asked, shortly before ordering, "Get out"

"Knew you'd need that fix again, once you knew I was here Ripper" Rack replied, "I felt it. That need. The greed for it."

Giles didn't answer, but suddenly something clicked and concerned Willow. Something that Rack had said.

"What did you mean did I want a fix 'as well?'" She asked and before she could even anticipate an answer, Rack had hit Giles with his best dose.

She looked at Giles, who had stumbled slightly with the impact and had no doubt been hit with a lot of the majiks Rack had to offer, before she looked at Tara.

"Well, that can't be good," She said simply, while thinking much curse worthier thoughts.