Warnings and disclaimer in Chapter 1. Enjoy.
"How long is this supposed to take?" Joyce asked. It had been nearly an hour since they entered Buffy's mind. Xander, Willow, and Giles appeared to be in a trance, while Buffy just looked groggy.
"There's no way of knowing how long it will take," Tara told her calmly.
"Okay," she tried a different tactic. "When do we start worrying that it didn't work and they're losing their minds?"
"They'll need to come out of the trance first," Gregory tried to reassure her. "As long as they're in the trance they're still under the influence of the spell. Of course if it didn't work and they've already lost their minds they probably wouldn't know how to break the spell."
"Not helping," Joyce gritted out through clenched teeth. Dawn quickly stepped in and pulled Alex from her increasingly strong grip. Joyce looked sheepish when she realized she was using the baby as a stress ball. She smiled thankfully at her youngest before starting to pace.
"Joyce?" Veronica asked. "Are you okay?"
"Don't worry," Dawn said as she joined Anya on the far side of the room. "This is just her hover mode."
"I do not hover," Joyce automatically replied. Anya raised a challenging eyebrow at that and she backed down. "Okay I do. But it's only from worrying too much." Veronica shot her a sympathetic smile just as a bright light filled the circle. They turned their heads automatically and a second later the light vanished. Turning back, they could see everybody slumped on the ground.
"Oh God," Xander said, pushing to his feet and rushing into the bathroom. They could hear him being violently sick. Willow followed, but she didn't make it to the bathroom. She grabbed the first garbage can she could see before vomiting. They were both crying uncontrollably. Anya handed off Billy to an overly excited Andrew as she and Tara rushed to their side. Joyce watched them for a moment, torn over who to go to first, when she remembered the third person who entered Buffy's mind. She glanced over, expecting to see Giles crying silently. Instead she saw barely controlled anger and rage that made her take a step back.
"What happened?" she asked, heading over to Willow and Tara and putting her arms around the red head.
"We saw what they did to her," Giles answered darkly. "Everything." He glanced over to Faith. "Are you ready to go?"
"Are you okay G?" she countered. She had never seen Giles look so out of control.
"I will be once they are all dead." Joyce gasped when she realized Ripper was definitely in control here. He turned to Daniel. "We need to go to Russia. Can you teleport us?"
"I've never teleported anyone but Faith," he warned them, "and never that far, but the principle is the same. It should be no problem."
"Then gear up. We're leaving now." He grabbed his own weapons before turning to his father. "If there are any Watchers near St. Petersburg you might want to warn them."
"About what Rupert?" he asked, slightly scared of his son.
"The Hellmouth there is about to become active again," he said darkly, "and there's going to be lots of dead demons they will need to clean up after." Faith and Daniel shared a look but joined him. They joined hands and soon were gone.
"Be careful," Joyce called just before they teleported away. She glanced up as Xander emerged from the bathroom, leaning heavily on Anya. "What happened?" she asked, rushing over to his side and helping Anya guide him onto the couch before he collapsed.
"It was bad," was all he could say before bursting into tears once more. Joyce quickly pulled him into her arms, comforting him in the way only a mother could. Tara got Willow onto the couch opposite Xander, and she soon had her arms full. The two friends were sobbing uncontrollably into her shirt while she whispered soothing words to them. Joyce couldn't help but glance in Buffy's direction, afraid what her daughter's reaction would be based on their reactions. She was preparing for the worst, but let out of sigh of relief when Buffy continued to stare lazily around her.
"Anya? Could you?" she asked, jerking her head in Buffy's direction.
"Of course," Anya told her, crossing the room and quickly lifting Buffy's prone form off the floor. She quickly had her situated in the chair and securely strapped in. She crossed back to Xander. "What can I do?" she asked uncomfortably. She was still leery of human emotions, especially such strong ones from her husband. Joyce shook her head before she noticed something.
"Can you please go take Billy away from Andrew?" she asked. Anya jumped as if just realizing what she did. She quickly headed to Andrew, who gave up the baby without any fuss. He was smiling contently, as if he just fulfilled his entire purpose in life and was about to be rewarded.
"I can't believe I let Andrew hold him," she said, sitting down carefully on the other side of Xander, the baby firmly on her lap. "Willingly."
"No harm done," she reassured her. Anya just nodded unconvincingly. Joyce just closed her eyes, surprised when she realized Xander had cried himself to sleep and Willow wasn't that far behind. What could they have seen that made their reactions that strong? Joyce thought about it for a minute before deciding she didn't want to know.
Hours later Daniel teleported back in with Faith and Rupert. All three of them were covered in blood and gore. "Oh God!" Faith exclaimed. She barely had time to reach for a can before she was sick too. Joyce wanted to head for the dark Slayer, but was reluctant to disturb the two kids who were using her as a pillow. Thankfully Veronica had similar thoughts.
"Oh Faith," she whispered, pulling the girl into her arms. Faith wasn't openly sobbing, but her entire body was shaking like a leaf. Knowing the young girl was being taken care of Joyce turned her attention to the men. Giles had calmed down, his stoic English mask once more firmly in place, but there was a fire in Daniel's eyes that scared her. She realized he was barely keeping his demon in check.
"What happened?" she asked quietly.
"The Ring's re-education center is closed for business," Daniel said, taking several steadying breathes. Faith looked up.
"We saw what they were doing to their slaves," she told them. "What they did to B." She shuddered. "And the worst part was they weren't all demons." Joyce nodded, wishing she could be more surprised by that but finding herself suddenly cynical. Humans were part of The Ring's operation. It made sense they were part of the training and conditioning too.
"The re-education center was their main office," Giles told the group, "but there are several more arms that will need to be dealt with." He grabbed a piece of paper and began writing down locations. "Now that you know what to look for they shouldn't be able to hide from you."
"We're on it," Faith said, pushing away from Veronica, but to her surprise the Watcher held steady.
"Not tonight you're not. You're exhausted, emotional, and in shock. Tonight you will process what you saw and sleep. In the morning we will deal with these arms." Faith looked at her in disbelief. "And that goes for you too young man," Veronica added, giving Daniel her best glare.
"What about patrol?" Faith asked.
"Spike and Angel can handle it," Giles said, finishing his list. He made two copies, handing one to his father. "She's right. Tonight we need sleep before we go in halfcocked and get someone hurt." Faith nodded, letting Veronica pull her back into her embrace. "Besides that will give the Council some time to get Watchers to all these places."
"Won't that give them time to go underground?" Tara asked. Giles shook his head.
"They rarely communicate except for harvest time. They should stay put until we get there." Albert took the paper Rupert held out to him.
"I'll arrange the Watchers to start gathering in various staging points," he said. "Are any targets more important than the others?"
"No," Giles shook his head. "We already took out the head. These are just the arms." Albert nodded, heading up the stairs, already planning the logistics of the move. Giles watched him go before turning back to the group. He smiled softly at the sight of Xander and Willow asleep in Joyce's arms, and the sight of the typically strong dark Slayer allowing her Watcher to comfort her, before his eyes fell on his own Slayer. She gazed back at him curiously with that same little smile she always wore when she saw the members of the Scooby gang. It was the smile that was his undoing. His mask finally slipped as the first tears fell. Once they started he found he couldn't stop them.
"It's okay." He blinked through the tears, surprised to see Dawn put her arms around him.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, sinking to the floor and taking Dawn with him. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," she continued to reassure him. She shared a quick look with her mom as she comforted the strongest man she ever knew.
Giles woke up in an unfamiliar location. Frowning, he looked around before placing his location. He was in his new room. The sky was dark outside his bedroom window and he realized he must have been asleep for hours. He pulled the covers off him, cheeks blushing when he realized he not only cried himself to sleep, but someone had put him to bed, complete with taking off his blood soaked clothes. He climbed into the shower, emerging five minutes later feeling more like himself, threw on whatever clothes he saw first, and left his room. He heard soft laughter coming from the nursery and stopped there first.
"Rupert," Veronica said when she saw him standing in the doorway. She and Dawn were sitting in the rocking chairs, the twins nursing contentedly in their laps. "I was just telling Dawn some amusing anecdotes from your childhood." Giles groaned.
"You really wanted to be a grocer?" Dawn asked. She could barely contain her laughter.
"I was five," he countered, "and at the time our grocer gave me free candy whenever I saw him." Dawn laughed. "Besides I eventually aspired to a much cooler profession."
"That he did," Veronica said. "For a while there he would hold his arms out a roar whenever he walked anywhere."
"I did not roar. It was the sound of the engine," he complained. Veronica continued.
"I had just learned of demons and was extremely concerned he had been possessed. Much to our parents' amusement." Dawn had her hands on her mouth, trying unsuccessfully to muffle her laughter. Veronica was chuckling quietly, and even the twins seemed caught up in the moment and were smiling and cooing.
"The innocence of youth," Giles said, finally allowing the smile to show on his face. He reached out a finger. Billy grabbed hold, smiling up at the older man. "Where is everyone?" he asked Veronica. She stopped laughing, but still held on to her smile.
"Sleeping, for the most part," she told him. He nodded, expecting that answer.
"Joyce?" he asked, looking across the room and through the open door at an empty bed.
"With Buffy," Dawn said. "Giles?" she asked, all the laughter fading from her voice. "What did you see?" He shook his head. Dawn sighed, looking back at the baby in her lap. Alex had finished her bottle and was starting to nod off. She was unprepared when he spoke.
"Something that will haunt me until my dying breath." He reached down and pulled Alex off her lap, cradling her against his chest. "Think of worst, most terrifying and horrible situation you can, then multiply it by a thousand. Then convince yourself that the hell you find yourself in is normal. That is what The Ring does. That is what they did to your sister. That is what we saw." Dawn paled as she tried to do as he told her. He turned to his sister. "Xander and Willow?"
"Still sleeping," she indicated the hallway. "Tara and Anya are with them. Faith woke up about an hour before you did asked if she could go on patrol."
"She needs her sleep if she's going to take out the next arms," Giles reminded her. Veronica nodded.
"She also needed an outlet for all that raw emotion. The Order of Taraka is still attacking the perimeter constantly. While Spike and Angel are doing an admirable job defending the line, letting Faith join them seemed like the best option. She promised to only stay out for a few hours, giving her plenty of time for sleep before they take out the next arm."
"And Daniel?" he asked.
"He is with his mother," she said carefully, glaring at him. He looked sheepishly. "Why did you never tell me about him?"
"I wasn't sure where your loyalties would lie," he admitted.
"The Council needs to know," she insisted.
"So they can order Buffy to terminate him?" he countered. "Or Faith? The two of them have gotten extremely close over the last few years. Do you think she could kill her boyfriend? Do you think she would simply because the Council ordered it?" They were both silent for a few minutes. "The Council knows everything they need to know about Daniel." Veronica was quiet as she contemplated what he said.
"How do you know what information to pass on and what to keep to yourself?" she asked as he turned to leave the room. He paused in the doorway, Alex clutched tightly to his chest.
"It's simple. If the information can hurt my family, it doesn't leave this house." He left her pondering this statement and made his way downstairs. He entered the hospital room, watching as Joyce worked with Buffy's lower body, doing the exercises he was supposed to do. "Hello," he said softly, seeing Daniel asleep in one of the chairs next to the bed.
"Rupert," she greeted, not pausing in her routine. "Are you feeling better?"
"Much," he told her, leaning casually against the wall. She glanced over, frowning at the sight of Alex sleeping in his arms, but didn't comment. "How did Buffy do the rest of the day?"
"Better than all of you," she said, repositioning her daughter so she could finish the rest of the stretches. "I've watched her carefully all day long. She hasn't so much as twitched differently."
"Thank God," Giles said. Joyce finished and placed Buffy on her back before carefully hooking up an IV into the port on her arm. That was the last step on her nightly list. She smiled slightly when she saw Giles, but her eyelids were drooping and they both knew she would be asleep within minutes. Joyce tucked her in securely, bending over to give her a quick kiss to her forehead, before stepping over to the other man.
"On a scale of one to ten," she started, her eyes never leaving her daughter, "how bad was it?"
"Can you go any higher," he asked wearily. They quietly watched as Buffy lost her battle with sleep.
"I need to know," Joyce said softly. Giles sighed, knowing she of all people had the right to know exactly what her daughter went through.
"Azeroth teleported to Russia," he told her. She nodded. After the fight with the Horsemen, the Scoobies spent many nights and many discussions trying to figure out where Buffy was and what exactly happened. Giles was simply just confirming some of their suspicions. Giles continued, his voice almost breaking with the news, "bringing Buffy with him. After she killed him, she tried to get back home. She saw smoke in the distance and started toward it. The demons came out of nowhere, surrounding her before she could even fight back. She was weak, barely able to defend herself. When the demons realized exactly who she was and what they had stumbled upon, they decided to capture rather than kill."
"Oh God," Joyce exclaimed, closing her eyes in horror. She could picture the scene in her head. Giles paused, debating whether to continue or not. She opened her eyes, giving him a little nod.
"Azeroth nearly broke her," he continued. "It didn't take them long to finish what he started. She still fought them, but she was weak, traumatized, and going through withdrawal." He paused, his throat getting tight, but Joyce knew what he was unable to say. "After they broke her they began her re-education. The abuses they inflicted on her were inhuman. Worse they eventually convinced her that the hell she lived was normal and what she deserved. After that it was relatively easy to train her to obey."
"How do we fix it?" she whispered. He bowed his head, cradling the child he held tightly.
"I don't know," he admitted softly. He looked up, catching her eyes for the first time since entering the room. "There is hope. When we were in her mind we spoke to Buffy."
"She's still in there?" Joyce asked, reaching her hands out for her granddaughter. Giles reluctantly handed her over, knowing she needed the comfort more than he. He nodded. "Then we'll do everything we can to bring her back."