BTVS, Angel and Charmed characters do not belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Spoilers: Up until the Season 5 episode The Body (just to be safe).

Giles heard a rhythmic knocking sound and lifted his head from the dining room table. He rubbed his eyes and repositioned his skewed glasses. From the looks of the book that thankfully hadn't been too damaged, he had fallen asleep while researching an obscure Watcher's Journal. The knocking resumed, this time a little louder, and he realized that someone was at the front door. He was about to stand and answer the door before the children woke when he wondered where Buffy had gotten too. She had been his shadow ever since she and her friends had been transformed into four year olds. He found her curled under the dining table, her tiny fist resting against his shoe. He bent down and scooped her up before heading to the door to join Joyce and Wesley.

A woman of average height, long, straight, brown hair and striking blue eyes stood on the doorstep along with her companion. Her companion was an unassuming middle aged woman with short wavy black hair streaked with grey. She smiled at Giles, "Rupert, it is good to see you. It has been too long. This is Agnes."

"Jane. You look well. Thank you both for coming." With a look to Joyce for permission, he silently invited them both in. One could never be too cautious in Sunnydale.

"May I introduce you to Joyce Summers, Buffy's mother, and Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, a fellow occult expert."

"Pleasure to meet you," Jane said. "I'm not sure how much Rupert has told you, but my name is Jane Harkness and I'm from the Coven in Devon. Agnes is one of our seers."

"Rupert mentioned he called you yesterday. I'm surprised you were able to arrange a flight so quickly."

"Ah, well. We didn't exactly take normal transportation as Rupert said the matter was most urgent."

"Can I get you some tea? I know it's a bit cliche, but Rupert and Wesley always seem to want one."

Agnes and Jane both laughed. "Tea would be lovely, thank you."

"I take it the precious little one in your arms is your Slayer?"

Giles nodded. "Yes, Buffy and her friends were all caught by whatever caused this." He and Wesley remained silent as Agnes studied the three of them.

After a few moments she refocused and said, "There is a strong magical signature that I detect on all three of you." At that moment, Dawn walked into the room and Agnes' eyes went wide. She took a step back.

Giles turned to see what had frightened her and noticed Dawn. With a reassuring smile he said, "This is Buffy's sister Dawn. Dawn, these are the friends from the Coven, Jane and Agnes."

Agnes was still frozen, but Jane politely shook hands. "Hello, Dawn. It is nice to meet you. I'm sure this must be a frightening experience for you, but we'll do everything in our power to help."

"Just the usual hellmouthy fun," she shrugged. "It was a bit weird being in the body of a two year old but still being me, ya know, with all my usual thoughts and memories. But, I changed back and there hasn't been any side effects. Well other than Giles getting into overprotective mode." She arched an amused eyebrow at the Watcher.

"Yes, yes. Off with you now. I'm sure you have homework to do."

"It was nice meeting you both." With an eyeroll directed at Giles the teen headed up the stairs muttering about overprotective Watchers.

Jane laughed. "I like her, and she's obviously fond of you. You'll have to tell me how you managed to convince the Council to let the Slayer stay with her family."

Stalling until he could find a polite way to deflect Jane's question, Giles noticed Agnes was still frozen to the spot and looking in the direction that Dawn had gone. "Agnes? Are you alright?"

Jane shook the seer slightly. "Agnes, what is it?"

"That girl. It is her magical signature that is on everyone. And it was like it was reaching out towards us. If I didn't have wards up I think it would have enveloped me like it has the rest of them. Who or what is she?"

"She is Buffy's younger sister and we know about the magic that surrounds her. Jane, you will just have to take my word for it that it is not harmful," Giles stated firmly.

"Agnes?"

Agnes finally snapped out of it. She didn't like having things kept from her, especially something this powerful, but she detected nothing malevolent about it. She trusted Jane and it seemed that Jane trusted Rupert, so as the youth of today were fond of saying, moving on. She smiled shakily at Jane. "I'm fine."

Joyce returned with the tea and Wesley graciously offered to carry it for her. "Ready for some tea? Is everything alright? It looks like you've had a shock?" Joyce began to worry.

Giles opened his mouth but before he could say anything Jane spoke up. "Everything is fine. It will just take us a few moments to sort out all the mystical energies," she smiled her most reassuring smile. There was no need to alarm the Slayer's mother until she had all the facts from Agnes.

Buffy woke when they were getting settled in the living room. "Giles!" she smiled happily. "Good morning, Buffy. These are the nice ladies I told you about. The ones that are going to help Willow. Their names are Jane and Agnes. Can you say hello?"

"Hi!" Buffy said brightly. "I'm Buffy." She narrowed her eyes at Jane, who was sitting next to Giles and then snuggled more firmly into his shoulder.

Giles squirmed and tried to set her down. "Buffy, aren't you hungry? Why don't you go with your Mum and get something to eat."

"No! Don't wanna!" She stomped her foot and tried to crawl back into Giles' lap.

"Buffy Anne Summers! Stop this at once!" Joyce commanded. When she looked like she was fixing to throw a tantrum Joyce tried a different tactic, "Buffy, honey, you know how much Giles likes his tea in the morning. But he can't drink it if you're on his lap."
"Why?" she asked, tears of temper still threatening.

Joyce was losing patience. She'd forgotten just how irritating a determined four year old could be. She was saved by Giles.

"Buffy?" He waited until she was looking at him. "I promise I'll be here when you are done, but would you please go with your Mother and have some breakfast?"

"Promise?" She asked.

"Yes, I promise." He smiled at her.

Buffy recognized the smile he had just for her and brightened immediately. "Okay," she said and ran for the kitchen.

Joyce just shook her head and laughed. After a moment the other adults joined in.

"Please tell me there is something that can be done to return Buffy to her proper age. I don't know how many days with a four year old Slayer we can survive."

"Rupert, have you ever had Buffy's aura read?" Agnes asked.

"No. Why, what's wrong with it?"

"Her aura is strong, bright. Even brighter than I expected and I knew that as a Slayer hers would be extraordinary. And I can see your aura intermixed with hers. I'm guessing that is part of the Slayer/Watcher bond?" She looked quizzically at Jane.

"Sadly, although the Watcher's Council is happy to make use of our seers and other magical services, they have never been forthcoming with any information regarding the magical nature of the Slayer."

"Well, there is something very dark surrounding her aura, almost like something is holding it in."

Agnes turned to study Giles' aura again. His aura was also strong and bright, although not as bright as his Slayer's. And she could see Buffy's aura intermixed with his. But he did not have the 'circle of darkness' surrounding his. "Your aura has Buffy's mixed in, but you don't have the black ring."

She looked back at Buffy, who was now quietly playing on the floor at Giles' feet. She looked hard at the scars on her neck. "Umm, was she bitten by a vampire recently?"

Giles sighed. "Dracula was in town a few months ago and managed to get Buffy enthralled. But I would have thought that any residuals from that would have disappeared when she staked him."

"Rupert, why has the scar not healed? Is there something wrong with her Slayer healing?"

"No. The scar was from when she let Angel feed on her. Wesley and I were never able to determine why it never healed."

Jane pursed her lips. "Angel was the creature she was in love with? The one that tortured you?"

With a concerned glance towards Buffy, Giles nodded. "Buffy?"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I sorry."

Giles picked her up and patted her back. "Sorry for what Buffy? What has you so upset?"

"Angel hurt." She sobbed a bit harder.

With a warning glare to the others, Giles walked with her into the kitchen, cooing nonsense at her to try and calm her down.

Wesley said, "It is not hard to forget that although they look four, their adult minds are present. Both Tara and Dawn confirmed this after they reverted back to their proper ages. We should be careful about what we say around them." The two women nodded in agreement.

"Now that Buffy is out of the room, what is it that you see Anges?"

"Well, it seems to originate from the bite scar on her neck. I was wondering if it was something that happened recently. That maybe she hadn't fully recovered from the vampire bite."

"Oh dear lord." Wesley exclaimed and quickly went to his duffle. He returned a few seconds later with a book on vampires. He found the chapter he was looking for and began to read aloud, "When a vampire claims another there will be a permanent scar at the place of the claiming. The usual vampiric healing will be averted. The scar will serve as notice to the vampire community that this vampire is the property of the master that claimed them. The claim is binding until the death." He looked up aghast.

"Wesley, until the death of whom?" Asked a now seething Giles, who had returned to the living room minus Buffy. At Jane's questioning look he explained, "After we got her settled down, Joyce took her upstairs for her bath." He turned his glare back to Wesley, "Now how do I break the bastard's claim?"

"Uh, Rupert I will have to do some research." Before Giles snapped completely he quickly added, "This volume doesn't cover claims as in depth as the others I have back in Los Angeles. I'll have Lorne bring back the relevant volumes when he returns tonight."

"Rupert, I know this is upsetting and I take it from your reaction that you didn't know about the claim until just now."

"Of course I didn't know about it!" He shouted. His shouts brought Dawn and Tara into the room, followed by Joyce with a dripping, towel wrapped, Buffy. He stormed out the front door and onto the porch. Buffy immediately began to whimper and cry.

"Shhh, Buffy. He's just outside on the front porch. He's not leaving. Here, see you can see him through the window."

"Giles!" She reached out pitifully for him.