A/N: I use some Scottish and Iris words in this chapter. I included a (non-alphabetical) glossary at the end.

Adam

Buffy escorted Tara to her dorm where she stood and talked with the blonde witch for a few minutes. They agreed on a time to meet at the on campus café to go over their English and Math homework. "Awesome, it's a date!" Buffy stated in her perky manner as she did an about face and walked back to the dorm-room she shared with Willow.

Tara closed her door and leaned back against it is she set the lock. "She said date…and it involved me." Said the Wiccan with a dazed-dreamy expression as she slid down her down to sit limply on the floor, her white, Christmas lights casting a soft glow on her rom as the twinkled up near her ceiling.

Tara sat there happily until the pessimistic side of her made itself known, You know she didn't mean DATE in that way. Goddess Maclay! Things may be going well for you, but your luck will never be that good for you. Plus you still have that secret you're keeping from her,,,from all of them. Your little charade can only last so long.

"Shut up! You don't know that…there's no proof that what my father told me is true." She argued back, "Maybe the Goddess decided to smile on me finally…I was able to get away from my family. And maybe Buffy and the others will still accept me, even if that legend proves true."

If Ronald lied, then why did your mother never refute it to you? And yes, they might accept you, might even keep you around like that worthless piece-of-shit peroxide affined vampire. Maybe they'll get you and he matching leashes and feed you scraps from the table too…No the Goddess hasn't smiled on you, just fate setting you up for a big fall. You know I'm right Tara, don't let them in to close or you'll just get hurt worse when they all reject you.

With her good mood well and truly dampened Tara stood to her feet and went about preparing herself for bed. As she pulled her blanket over herself, Tara rolled onto her side to look at the picture of her mother that she kept on her nightstand. After staring at the image she could feel Diane's presence and hear her comforting words.

Knowing what her mother would think…and for that matter what Mrs. Summers would think about how she was getting herself down, Tara began to speak to the picture. "I miss you Mama." She whispered as she gently traced the image with her finger. "I have some good friends here though, you said you would be watching over me, so I'm sure you already know. Willow and Xander are so cute together, I was surprised at how powerful Willow is already when it comes to magic, and she's a fast learner too. Xander…heh…Xander's a goofball, but the type of brotherly figure I wish I'd grown up with. He might not have any powers, but he's a very brave young man and fiercely loyal and protective of those he loves. Dawn…she's like a cute little sister I sometimes wished for, Buffy always says she's a brat, but I can see how she just adores her little sis, and Faith, Buffy's sister-slayer…she's rough around the edges, I haven't been able to really talk to her much, but I think she may have had a worse time than I did…I can see some of that in Xander too…maybe you could watch over her now and then too, I'm sure she could use it, though she's too tough to admit it." Tara smiled, figuring her mother already was watching over all of them from wherever she was.

"Mr. Giles and Mrs. Summers…and Anya too, I guess they're kinda the parental types of the group, though Anya's more like us kids. Boy does she have a lot of…gory…stories to tell, but twelve hundred years as a demon will do that. Mr. Giles is turning out to be a great mentor mama, and he's good friends with a coven that's helped me out too, he's very British though…especially when Anya talks about her third favorite subject…first disembowelment, second money, and thirdly…sex. Her bluntness is refreshing sometimes. Mrs. Summers, I think you and she would have been great friends mama…she is so like you in the advice and love she gives all of us." Tara smiled brightly thinking about her group of newly acquired friends, then her expression changed to a more serious tone.

"Mama…how come you never told me daddy lied about what I was? Is it because it was true, or did you just not know?" Her question hung in the air and she felt tears readying themselves to fall, but she suddenly felt very tired and comforted as her eyes closed in peaceful sleep.

Unseen by Tara, a barely there form appeared in her room and sat next to her sleeping form brushing it's hand through her hair, but not disturbing it. "Ye've a good heart child, yer mum be proud o' ye. An don'a worry yer wee head about the Lehane girl, she's well looked after. Her blood be that which flows from hÉireann don't'cha know? So a tough one she be. Now don' ye fret none too much for the legend yer Faither told ye…ye'll know what ta do when the time be right. Sleep well ban-ogha, Tha gaol agam ort."

Tara woke slowly on a hard surface. At first she thought she had rolled out of her bed, but the room she was currently in was too cold and had an odd smell to it. Realizing that she was no longer within the safety of her dorm, her eyes snapped open and she was instantly alert. Her eyes scanned the room she was now in and saw nothing but the dull brown walls of a cave. She felt herself begin to panic until she heard a low moan coming from the opposite corner from her.

Recognizing the sound as someone in pain she rushed to their side, almost shocked to see Anya. "Goddess!" She exclaimed seeing the large, bleeding welt on the ex-demons head. "What did they do to you Anya?"

Finding nothing but rocks and dirt around them, Tara tore a strip of cloth from the hem of her shirt. She then bandaged Anya's wound after cleaning it with magic. After a few minutes Anya opens her eyes and blinked several times. "Tara?" She asked unsteadily, "Where the hell am I?"

"I don't know...I think it's safe to assume that we're in a cave and someone brought us here. Do you remember anything? Evidently you didn't go quietly." Tara said gesturing to Anya's bandaged head.

"Sorry, I can't remember a thing…I got home after dropping off you and Buffy and I was watching some Infomercial for some book that will help me make better profit…and then I woke up here with you wrapping my head in a cloth. Is it bad?" She asked, gingerly touching the wound.

"I don't think so. I cleaned it with magic, there was a cut, but it wasn't deep, and you're conversing with me pretty well, so I don't think you have a concussion. I'm probably gonna keep you awake for a while to make sure about the concussion though." Tara replied.

"Got a lot of experience with concussions?" Anya asked smirking.

"Yeah…" Tara whispered, averting her gaze.

Aw hell Aud, even with a head injury you still manage to say the wrong thing! Anya berated herself. "Um…sorry…I think I'm supposed to ask if you wanna talk about it."

Tara couldn't help but grin at the other woman's awkwardness, "It's okay Anya, my dad and brother…weren't very nice to me growing up. I woke up in the hospital many times."

"Well they were clearly idiotic bastards for laying their hands on you. I'm surprised you never got a visit from my friend Halfrek…she specializes in neglected and abused children."

"Actually, I think I did get visited by her once. There was this nurse that I only saw once, now I heal very quickly. Come to think of it, that was the last time I was ever a patient in the hospital. She's a friend of yours huh?"

"Oh yeah, Hali and I go way back…we had some good times, like the Bolshevik Revolution, we disemboweled so many people over the years…" Anya said feeling a hint of nostalgia.

"Do you miss it? I mean being a demon in general."

"I miss some of the powers I had, like teleportation and some of the perks, like not aging, but I wouldn't trade being human a second time…I doubt Joyce would be with me if I were still killing people like that. Plus I would no longer know the joy of rolling naked in a pile of money."

"Are all demons…well evil?" Tara asked the question she had truly been wanting to ask.

"Not all, but many are. Vengeance demons claim to be neutral, but to be honest we leaned heavily toward the evil side of things. There are several that are rather peaceful and integrate perfectly well with humans. You just have to learn what's what."

"I read somewhere that there's a type of demon that is passes as completely human until it's twentieth birthday. Is that true and are they evil?" Tara asked, lying about where she had heard about it.

"Well there are demons fitting that description. There are actually three species that have that trait, as far as good and evil is concerned I don't know, there isn't much about them written anywhere."

"Okay, I think it's safe to say at this point that you probably don't have a concussion." Tara said, abruptly changing the subject "Now that we have that out of the way, how about we try and find a way outta here?"

"Sounds good to me." Anya replied, curious about the sudden change in topic.

Tara stood up then reached down to help Anya up as well. The duo turned toward the cave tunnel where they were met by a massive being, which was part demon, part human, and part machine, Like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. Tara thought.

"Welcome Tara Mychal Maclay and Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins, my name is Adam and you both will help me with my plans." He said matter of factly.

Scottish Glossary:

ban-ogha – granddaughter

faither (fae thar) – father

Tha gaol agam ort (haa guul ackum orst) – I love you

Maclay (McClay) – Scottish/Irish Scottish = Mac an Leigh Irish = Mac an Leagha

Means "son of a physician"

Irish Glossary:

hÉireann (pronunciation similar to heron) – Ireland

Lehane – (Ó Liatháin) descendant of Liatháin