Buffy's smile lost a great deal of its sparkle as she stepped out of the portal and into what looked to be the remains of a building. Her eyes flickered over the melted stone that made up the smoking walls of the structure. It looked as if whole sections of the walls had been blasted apart. What once had might have been priceless stained glass windows were now nothing but wrecks of fused class. The tapestries were smoldering from where holes were burned in them. Her eyes wrenched themselves to the only undamaged section of the church. She took in the sight of a naked girl nailed spread eagled to a cross for a fraction of a second before rushing over to help her out.

Adam stumbled for a second as he felt the buzz of an immortal as he stepped out the glowing green portal before it sealed itself shut. He glanced around and quickly dismissed the girl on the cross as the one causing the tingling. His practiced eyes placed the destruction as the result of a powerful quickening. The buzz faded as he noticed a body partially crushed by a fallen beam. He glanced at the girl on the cross wearily as memories drifted up from the dark recesses of his mind. He had done similar things to his enemies once upon a time. However, with his days as a horseman done he had hoped to never see such sights again.

Buffy's eyes widened almost comically as the wounds on the girl's hands and feet closed of their own accord as she pulled the stakes out. Buffy winced in sympathy as the girl ripped the tape from her mouth. She turned her head in embarrassment as the girl spit out the blood soaked panties that had been stuffed in her mouth.

The girl coughed out a good deal of nasty looking spit before gesturing at a broken beam that had fallen. "Please, help Tara."

Buffy glanced back to where the girl was looking to see Adam struggling with a support beam. He was trying unsuccessfully to free a girl trapped under the fallen beam. She grunted as she walked over and lifted the beam off the girl. It was only Adam's quick thinking and quick reflexes that allowed him to pull the unconscious immortal from under the beam before Buffy dropped the beam back on her in shock. The girl looked exactly like Willow's Tara…

Tara blinked groggily as she came to. She noticed that she was in an unfamiliar apartment sprawled out on a couch. She blinked as she noticed Buffy sitting in a chair across from her. "Buffy?"

Buffy's facial features warred between her indescribable desire to believe that the girl lying on the couch really was her Tara and her knowledge that it couldn't possibly be Tara. In the end, Buffy settled on asking, "How's it going?"

"I feel like I got hit by a truck." Tara tensed as she noticed the buzz of another immortal. "Where am I? And where is my sword."

Adam stuck his head around the corner from the kitchen carrying a piece of pizza. "My apartment actually, I would have left you but the sirens were getting closer and Buffy here thought you looked like a friend of hers, though I don't really know how that could be. As for your sword, it's on the kitchen table. It's quite a nice sword."

Tara pulled herself up as she glanced at Adam, "You're, you're supposed to be dead."

Adam chuckled, "Well same could be said for yourself."

Tara shook her head as the color drained from her face. "Where is Claire?"

Buffy gestured toward the hall, "Resting."

Tara's face took on a hopeful look, "What about the others?"

Buffy shrugged, "Others?"

"Willow, Xander, Anya, Giles?"

Buffy nodded, "Well that's sort of a long story."

Tara nodded to Buffy then focused on Adam. "Joe said you died, died."

Adam's eyebrows rose, "Why the hell would he say that?"

"You never came back after the last fight, and Joe's people found your trench coat and wallet."

Adam sighed, "I had tossed my trench coat off to have more flexibility, had meant to pick it up after the fight." He frowned as he drifted off in thought chasing memories that for him were more than two hundred years old, "Anyways a portal opened shortly after I had finished the fight so I didn't get the chance to collect my stuff. I bet that bastard swiped my card to pay my bar tab."

Tara blinked, "You, you get back into town after being sent to another world and presumed dead and you are worried that your bar tab might have been paid?"

"You would be too if you knew how much was on the tab. But anyways how do you know Joe?" He took a bite of his pizza.

Tara sighed, "It's sort of a long story."

Buffy shrugged, "There wasn't any food in the fridge that wasn't rotten so we ordered pizza so we should be good for a while."

"Last thing I remember before waking up in this world was being shot. Oh goddess is Willow alright?"

Buffy nodded, "She is fine though that is a story for later I think."

Tara wondered about the odd look on Buffy's face. "Well I woke up in a guy named Duncan MacCloud's dojo. It was an odd experience learning that I was an immortal. I'm assuming that you know what that is?"

Buffy glanced at Adam before she nodded, "Yeah, can't die unless someone cuts off your head."

Tara nodded, "It took me a while to come to terms with that. That I wasn't human any more. Anyways Duncan sort of took me in and showed me the ropes."

Adam shook his head ruefully, "I thought I recognized the sword. He was always taking in strays. I think we should pay him a visit in the morning."

Buffy sighed, "You sure just showing up at his place is a good idea? He thinks your dead."

Adam grinned, "It will be more fun this way."

Tara glanced between Buffy and this Adam person, "Not that I'm not happy to see you but where is the rest of the group?"

Buffy sighed, "They are back in our original dimension. Adam wanted to get home and I wanted a vacation."

"But you're the slayer…"

Buffy grinned, "There are hundreds of slayers, so I thought I deserved a vacation."

"How?"

"Willow did some pretty impressive magic a couple of years ago."

Tara's eyes opened wider as her mind worked out the details of how much power a spell such as that would take. "Wow."

"Yeah that's our Willow…" Buffy sighed, "Look there is something you should probably know…"

Tara blinked, "A few years ago?"

"Yeah you've been gone a while…"

"She moved on didn't she?"

Buffy nodded, "It wasn't easy and it took a long time."

"Just as long as she is happy. Do, do I know them?"

Buffy chuckled, "My sister."

Tara blinked, "Dawn?"

Buffy chuckled at the look on Tara's face. "Yeah that one."

"That would explain a few things."

Buffy frowned, "Like?"

"Why some of our toys were always in the wrong place…"

Buffy's face scrunched up in disgust as she went beat red, "So didn't want to hear that."

Tara chuckled, "As Willow would say, serves you right buster."

Adam grinned, "So who is the girl?"

Tara blushed, "Her name is Claire. She is sort of a friend. We went on our first," she sighed, "and maybe last official date tonight."

Buffy nodded, "She did seem concerned for you when we were hauling you ladies out of the burned out wreck of a church."

Adam frowned, "I would have thought Mac would have stressed the no fighting on holy ground rule a bit more."

Tara yawned, "Oh he did, it was either kill him or lose my head."

Buffy shrugged, "Killing him was much better. You should probably get some sleep."

Tara nodded, "Is there someplace I can crash?"

Adam shrugged, "Second door on your right is where Claire is."

Tara nodded her thanks even as she left.

Adam glanced wearily at Buffy after Tara had left, "You think she is telling the truth?"

Buffy shrugged, "I've heard stranger things. We should probably get in touch with Mac and see how things play out."

"Not going to call in the troops on this one?"

"I don't want people's hopes crashed in case this isn't what it looks like. I also don't really want to explain to Tara what happened to Willow after her death."

"You don't want to hurt Dawn and Hermione either do you?"

"Do you? This could be, probably is Tara her Tara…"

Buffy sighed, "She was her world, her everything. What am I going to do?"

Adam shrugged, "I guess just wait it out."

"Some help you are."