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Cheyenne Mountain complex Colorado,
President Hayes was looking over operation reports in his office when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
General Jack O'Neill opened the door and walked in.
"Sir, I've come with a progress report on planet Farmville."
The president smiled. "You're not going to give up calling it that, are you?"
"With all due respect sir, I may not be able to call it that for much longer."
"The smile on the president face disappeared."
"What's that suppose to mean?" he asked.
"As you know, Colonel Mitchell has been put in charge of the project since its initial concept. He had been giving me weekly reports on it from day one. Well, recently… That is within the past two weeks he, his scientist and the rest of the military farm boys have noticed a drop in growth rate and a rise in decay. He's basically told us that upon starting new crops on newly broken ground the first year's crop has a seventy percent chance of showing crop failure." O'Neill explained.
"And this is what's happening to the off world crops," the president stated instead of questioned as it was obvious where this was going. "Damn it, we need those crops."
"Yes sir, I'm afraid there isn't much that can be done."
"Has Cameron made any recommendations?" The president wondered.
"Collect what food we can. Plow it over and start crops that will grow in the time the planet has left of its growing season before it moves into winter." O'Neill responded.
"This means we're going to come up short of our goal. We'll have to get the farmers of this country to open all their fields this summer."
"Sir?" O'Neill questioned.
"The government pays farmers not to plant all of their fields. I'll have to get on the horn to President Wilson to get them to double crop production this year to compensate for the loss. Is there anything else?"
"Yes sir. Colonel Carter informs me that the food storage containers are in full production." O'Neill informed.
"Forgive me. I have a lot on my plate. What are we talking about again?" The president inquired.
"When we start collecting the food it will go into the specially made containers that are designed to keep the radiation of space from contaminating the food, yet allow the coldness of space to reach it and keep it fresh. We'll fill them and then beam them up to one of our orbiting ships. The food will then be place on the surface of the moon a few kilometers away from the moon base." O'Neill explained.
"Great we have these huge refrigerators but no food to put in it." The president stated in disgust.
"Sir, with all due respect, we are the American military. We have food at our finger tips. Some of these containers are bigger than my house at the least most military bases have enough M.R.E. to fill them. Then we have corn, wheat and other grains in storage all over the country. We can easily fill all the containers we've made so far with some type of food now." O'Neill explained his idea.
"Glad you're thinking ahead. Very well, see to it. Make sure it's the grade A stuff. The quality of our food may dictate the survival of the human race."
"Yes sir." O'Neill replied.
"Dismissed."
/Scene break/
It was early May and no progress had been made on finding the right prophecy that would tell of the save zone. The Guardian Council's newest allies were a great help not only in the area of research which Melinda and her husband took to but when Jim and Blair were given proof of the things that went bump in the night they took to helping the slayers on their patrols. Hunting demons had never been easier then when you had someone who could hear them whispering their plan of attack. Even when they didn't speak English Jim could point the slayers in the right direction and give a somewhat accurate count of their numbers. They had both gotten good with the crossbow but were told to use them only when they found themselves under attack. Basically they were only to point the way but not get involved in the fighting and they both agreed to it once they saw how brutal the attacks could be. The Scoobie hoped the mini slayers didn't get to comfortable with them because they were leaving with Oz to go out west in a week or so due to Tru's mother giving them an assignment close to where Oz's band would be playing.
On a different note, Buffy had taken it upon herself to use her counseling skills to help bring Melinda's son Aiden Lucas out of his shell. Back in Sunnydale the late Robin Wood had given Buffy a chance to counsel kids. Once she found she liked it Buffy went back to collage to get her degree in counseling. These skills had come in handy when new slayers came in with major problems. Buffy counseled each one and they thanked her profusely. With this type of satisfaction she could finally feel good about her day job. She had succeeded with Aiden where other counselors had failed. She was successful mainly because she could relate to the fear and knew the right things to say to help him deal better. Melinda and her husband could not express their gratitude to the degree they felt. Buffy had been only too happy to help the couple do so, but was angry that 'the powers that be' would subject a small boy to the horrors he had faced so early in his life. She felt that they could have had his gift activate latter in his development. Like slayers, he could have been activated in his teens but Melinda had told her that she believed that their gift was one that had to develop from a young age. Having it activate so late would make him and the people around him think he was schizophrenic. After thinking about it that way Buffy had to agree but she still didn't like it.
On another note Tru Davies had finally came back to the G.C. alone. She left her brother in Boston oblivious to anything that dealt with demons, ghosts or the end of the world. During the three weeks there, she put Davis's affairs in order even finding a letter addressed to her that he had written in the event of his death. What she found was some words that touched her so deeply it had hurt her heart. He had been so proud of her and felt that she put meaning into his life. As touched as she was the weeks that followed, threw her into despair. With Davis gone she hadn't the support she needed for the rewinds. Of the three deceased people that were rolled into her autopsy room all of them had asked for help before she could find out what she could about them. Of the three, there were two she couldn't save even with her brother's help. In the end, she took a leave of absents and told her brother she was going to a spa for a week and then going to a few medical seminars. This would put him off so he wouldn't want to accompany her. She hated leaving him knowing the end was coming but Willow assured her that the tracking spell Hermione had put on him would enable them to find him no matter where he was on the planet. So when the time came Willow or Hermione could go to him and whisk him away to wherever the safe spot was.
On yet another note at G.C. England, Willow was learning how to use her wand. Something's she progressed at a normal rate. Willow was very happy to find that her potions weren't turning to soup. She never realized how important the way of slicing the ingredients was, or why it was important to stir something four times clockwise and come back an hour later to stir it eleven more times counterclockwise. Now it had all been explained to her and they came out fantastic. She would need to learn more before she could get into the more advanced potions. In others subjects she accelerated faster than Hermione could teach because Willow was able to see where she was going with what she was teaching. To Hermione's astonishment was able to improve on what was considered the unchanging classics. Then there were the things she was struggling in such as transfiguration. This was frustrating them both to no end. Willow had found the wizarding text lacking. She was sure they taught the subjects well enough but didn't show how or why they were made or why they did what the do or how the wand movements made these things happen. The bottom line was that Willow wanted to understand how the spells and movements were put together so she could make up her own. As hard as Hermione tried to answer every question Willow had she would sometimes come up with a really tuff one that was beyond her knowledge. Willow was only doing first year school work and while Hermione had seven years of schooling she found the questions to be something she should have been asking when she was in school. She couldn't figure out why it didn't occur to her then. They would both write those questions down to research later. Hermione decided that maybe taking Willow to meet Professor McGonagall would be a good idea at some point; perhaps she would have the answers. If she took Willow to Hogwarts the research they could do in its library could only be 'of the good' as the Scoobies would say.
In the magic practice room Willow had been getting the hang of turning a wooden match stick into a needle. Both Willow and Hermione were positive the next attempt would meet with success only to have the match unexpectedly turn into something along the lines of a wooded pickle. The unexpectedness of this had started giggle fits between the both of them that lasted twenty minutes.
The laughing had brought Dawn in to find out what was so funny. When it was explained, Dawn laughed as well. She decided to observe Willow and Hermione as student and teacher. Hermione was now teaching charms and had Willow trying to float a feather. After a few tries Dawn saw Willows problem however, it wasn't Willows pronunciation. The problem Willow had been having is that she was putting too much flair on her wand movements. As Hermione was writing something on the white board Dawn whispered to Willow.
"You're doing it wrong. You're swishing to fast," she said.
Willow tried to adjust but now she was much to slow and if she flicked any faster Dawn was worried she would snap the oak wand from the G-force alone.
"I watched Hermione show you how to do it and I can see where you're going wrong. Let me show you what your doing compared to her." Dawn urged.
She took Willows wand and first showed her what she was doing wrong.
"What you want to do is make it all even out. Let it flow along with the pronunciation of the funny words like this. Wingardiunm Leviosa, she said waving the wand correctly. To Willows and Dawn's astonishment the Feather floated."
"Umm… Hermione?" Willow hesitantly called out stunned.
Hermione turned from what she was writing on the white board to look at her. Stunned seemed to be something contagious at this juncture. She was expecting to see that Willow had finally done a charm on her own. Dawn's ability had come out of the left field. What were the odds of two family witches being in this group of demon hunters? No one had said Dawn had done powerful magic before. As a matter of fact they had said her magical abilities weren't anything spectacular. Hermione had got the impression from the rest of the Scoobies that Dawns Wicca abilities were the equivalent of being a near squib in the wizarding world. Here, Dawn was doing magic and easily from the look of it. Come to think of it why hadn't Luna said anything?
"Umm… Willow could you please call Luna and ask her to come here please?"
Willow stood to go to the wall phone when there was a knock on the door Hermione went to the door and pulled it open. There on the other side of the door was Luna.
"You wanted to see me Hermione?" she asked.
"Wha… How?" Hermione said in bewilderment. "Never mind. Luna, did you know Dawn was a family witch?"
Luna looked to Dawn in confusion and said. "No she's not."
Hermione's reaction to this statement made her look like she was hit in the face with a sand bag.
"But Dawn is doing magic." Hermione stated.
"So can all muggle born witches Hermione. You of all people should know that." Luna explained.
"Muggle born? If she's a muggle born then why hadn't she gotten a school letter when she was eleven." Hermione asked in a huff.
Willow and Dawn figured that out almost as instantly as the last word came out of Hermione's mouth. Dawn had never been eleven. She was already a teen when the monks created her from Buffy's blood however, that wasn't their biggest suspicion. They both expected that the ability wasn't anything to do with being a muggle born but mostly because she was the key, and it was key magic that she was now wielding.
"I'm sure I don't know." Luna replied. "But I suspect that you'll need to see Mr. Ollivander for another wand."
Hermione sighed before turning back to Willow and Dawn. "She's has a point. If I'm going to teach one of you magic I may as well teach you both of you. Dawn can't practice without a wand of-her-own, because sharing a wand is never advisable. So I guess another trip to Diagon alley is in order."
Dawn winced before asking something that was really important to her.
"Umm. Hermione, since Willow and I are both witches, do we still need to get dressed in those hideously outdated robe things you both wore last time."
Hermione and Willow both quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Those were some of my best robes and yes you need to wear them." Hermione said hotly.
"We better tell the rest of the Scoobies about this first." Willow said. Giles will probably have a cow about another one of his daughters making with the magic and Buff will probably have puppies finding out her sister can cast. She wasn't too happy about her trying Wicca magic."
"Well, the shops are closed at this hour but I suppose we better tell who we need to and get this over with so we can go shopping tomorrow morning." Hermione said as they walked out the door.
"Arg, this is so frustrating, I'm excited about being able to do magic but nervous about what we're going to tell everyone. I hate when things get mixed like this." Dawn said.
"This is coming from the girl I watched eat a fluffernutter and spicy hummus on rye." Willow said.
"Mixed food doesn't count. That was good by the why. You should have tried some." Dawn announced.
Hearing this shocked and sickened Hermione before she asked.
"Dawn, are you pregnant?"
Dawn rolled her eyes at her.
This made Willow chuckle. Getting hold of herself Willow spoke still chuckling.
"Nope that's just our Dawn. Goddesses forbid she should get pregnant. She'd probably start eating rocks and twigs."
"Na, I'm not a fan of granola." Dawn replied seriously.
Willow called everyone to the Scoobie meeting on her cell phone in rout to Giles office. Luckily they were all in England to help Willow move the last of her things and had brought house warning gifts. Which were some toiletries and some of her favorite snacks she wouldn't be able to get in the U.K. She really didn't need the help but appreciated it anyway. And it gave the Scoobies a reason to come together without it feeling like an apocalyptic emergency. At the end of the day there had been bonding over pizza and a movie. As Willow closed her cell phone Dawn made a suggestion.
"Willow, I think it would be better if you did the talking."
"If you want, I'll do it." Willow replied.
"Just don't torture me by drawing it out." Dawn pleaded.
"No problem." Willow replied.
"Thanks Will, I owe you one." Dawn said relived not noticing the evil smirk on Willows face.
"As they entered the office Willow had found that everyone was there." So she explained.
"We just found out Dawn is a wand witch; she floated a feather with my wand in the magic practice room. She'll need her own wand which we plan on getting tomorrow. Any questions?" Willow said in one breath.
Dawn cringed. That had been blunter than she intended Willow to be. It wasn't exactly how she wanted the news to come out but there it was. The room was quiet for a moment as everyone had been too stunned to speak. Willow took advantage of that.
"Okay, that's all we needed to say, thanks for coming, goodnight." She turned to Dawn and Hermione with a big smile and tried to usher them out the door before the others recovered.
"Wait! Hold on. Run that by us again. What exactly do you mean she can do magic? How is she a wand witch? She didn't do any powerful spells like you did. I think we would have known." Buffy said stopping them in their tracks.
Damn, they hadn't been fast enough. Willow sighed and turned to the group but it was Hermione that started the explanation.
"Well, she isn't a new or Family witch. It would seem Dawn is what the wizarding world calls a Muggleborn witch. Like me she was born to a muggle or non-magical mother and father but had magic regardless. Surely she should have shown some signs of it growing up. Every witch and wizard has a story about becoming angry or nervous as a child only to have an episode of accidental magic play a part in helping them out somehow."
Unnoticed by Hermione each of the Scoobies with the exception of Willow and Dawn had stiffened. They all knew Dawn didn't have a real childhood except in each of their false memories. The monks hadn't known about the wizarding world so they may not have known Dawn would have magic on par with wizards.
"We lived in Sunnydale. We protected her from even knowing about the night life there for as long as we could." Buffy started.
"She led a very sheltered life, so there was no need for magic to show itself." Willow told Hermione; and, the Scoobies became less tense only to stiffen again with Hermione's next observation.
"But she should have gotten a school letter. The United States magical school board would have sent her a letter inviting her to become a student at one of the local schools nearest your location when she was eleven, unless of course, she wanted to go to a different magic school."
"Umm… maybe we can ask Ollivander about that in the morning." Willow suggested. Looking back at the room Willow noted that Giles had his elbow on the desk and was pinching the bridge of his nose. Just as Willow expected he wasn't handling this too well. She had thought he would keep quiet at least until Dawn was out of the room but to her dismay he spoke.
"I suppose I'll be going as well." He said.
Willow had been too stunned to speak so she was relived when Hermione asked the all important question.
"What?" She asked.
"I wish to accompany you into this wizarding world. If my adopter daughters are going to become part of your world I would like the opportunity to judge that they won't be in danger." He explained.
Little did Giles know that whenever he clamed Dawn or Buffy as his daughters he had them wrapped around his little finger. Or maybe he did know and only sprinkled that kind of praise occasionally like Christmas and birthdays so it could also be used in cases of extreme emergencies. Giles could be cunning that way so it was imposable to tell. In any case Dawn now liked the idea.
"Don't you mean become a danger?" Xander asked.
"I won't lie to any of you but yes that as well." He responded. "One of us needs to look at all sides, even the possibility of the unpleasant."
Hermione didn't say anything to this. If it would appease Mr. Giles then so be it. "I'll have to get you some robes. You're about the same size as Mr. Weasley maybe I can persuade him to loan me some. But then that means we'll have to postpone out trip until noon."
"That's okay then I won't have to break my date to help Jenny teach Lana Sumerian. I'll just tell them I have to leave by noon." Dawn said.
"And if it's alright by you I'd like to borrow that book of yours Hermione, the one with the ghost spells in it. I don't know too many spell of that kind and believe that it might come in handy in the future. I can begin studying it while I wait for you to return."
"Oh, I had hoped to go over that one together. What you did with that last spell had been incredible. And I didn't want to miss out on any more of your insights." Hermione replied.
Willow reddened at that, embarrassed that Hermione looked to her for her brains when she knew well that Hermione herself was very smart.
"Alright then, I guess I'll just study the transfigurations text book. Maybe I'll figure out some of those questions we were going to research."
"Alright, then I'll call it a night and see you all tomorrow." Hermione said.
Murmurs of Goodnight Hermione were heard from everyone before she left and not long after that the meeting itself broke up. Willow couldn't help feeling that Giles somehow blamed her for this.
The next morning Willow and Dawn were busy doing the things they wanted to get done. Giles was still looking through the library. Then scoobie worried about him not taking a break from his ongoing search, but he insisted that breaks were only necessary when one ran out of leads. Taking a break could later allow you to come at it from a different view point. Right now he didn't feel he needed a break.
Just before noon Hermione showed up with garment bags. Dawn and Giles took a bag each and went to get changed. Hermione told them to wait for her and Willow in the teleportation room when they were done. She then went in search of Willow and found her right where she thought she would be. She'd been in the magic practice room studying the transfiguration text book, along with a book about particle physics. Hermione smirked at that. She was amused at the offbeat approach and maybe she would find her answers within its pages. She wondered why she never thought about doing it herself.
"Are you ready Willow?"
Willow looked up from her books and said.
"Sure, I just have to change. Did you bring me a set of robes?"
"Hermione looked at what she was wearing and said. Actually what your wearing should be fine."
Willow looked at her own attire. It was a very nice multicolored full length dress with lots of big orange red and yellow tropical flowers. She looked back at Hermione with a questioning look in her eye. After all while it may be full length it was far from what they wore in the wizarding world.
"You are a witch after all." Hermione offered.
"But what about all that stuff about the wizarding world being steeped in tradition?"
"They need to get over themselves." Hermione said flatly.
"Well Dawn will be happy she doesn't have to wear them."
"Oh she's changing into them right now." Hermione explained.
Willow smiled. "This is about her insulting your best robes, isn't it?"
"Maybe." Hermione said with a smirk that grew into a full smile.
"Oh, you're devious." Willow replied returning the smile.
"I learned from the best, Fred and George Weasley."
"Oh, the joke shop guys. Hey maybe well get to see him today."
"Yes that's possible. His pranks were very useful during the war. They got us out of some pretty tight spots." Hermione explained.
"Hmm. Maybe there's something there we can use in our line of work." Willow wondered.
"Perhaps." She replied. "Well the others are probably ready and waiting for us in the teleport room."
"This is going to be fun." Willow stated.
They headed down stairs to fine Giles and Dawn standing there in the robes they were given. They were a few feet from them when Dawn noticed them.
"Hey why aren't you guys in robes?"
"We're known witches we don't need robes." Hermione stated.
"That not fair. I'm getting changed." Dawn said and made to go and get changed, But Giles grabbed her arm.
"Oh no you don't, I'm bloody well not going to be the only one wearing these things." He said. "Come on lets get this over with."
Hermione had them grab a piece of rope.
"This is a portkey I made years ago. It only takes me to either my home or Diagon alley. I only use it when I'm shopping with more than one person. It's as illegal as the others but I think the ministry has been giving the golden trio some leeway on certain matters such as this as long as we don't go over board. Now everyone take hold."
Everyone did and Hermione said the password that took them to an alley across the street from the leaky caldron.
"I see everyone is getting the hang of landing on there feet. Good work." Hermione complemented them.
They all looked somewhat embarrassed from the praise but thanked her for it.
"Mr. Giles, what do you see across the street?" Hermione asked.
"Umm I see a record store." He said.
"And what do you see to the left of the record store?"
"An abandoned lot." He replied.
"No way, there's a pub called the leaky caldron next door or am I just seeing thing?" Dawn asked.
"No Dawn, unfortunately its Mr. Giles who is seeing things. People without a magical core shouldn't be able to see the pub. Come on lets do some shopping. Willow and Dawn will guide you through the front door, after that you should have no problems Mr. Giles."
"Of course, if your people can do something like this on this scale it's no wonder no one knows of your existents." Giles stated.
"The wizarding world has many ways of hiding or disguising ourselves. I'm still not sure why. But I've been trying to find out." Hermione announced.
"What do you mean?" Willow asked.
"I've wondered for a long time why the Magical world separated itself from the muggel world. The theories I've heard were that we didn't want the Muggles to become dependant on us, and another was that they had hunted us. But both theories are flawed we would never allow ourselves to act as another persons genie and there are defenses that we are able to use to keep ourselves safe. Instead we went into hiding. We could have been your neighbors. I suppose this might have been the best solution at the time but I just want to know the truth for myself." Hermione explained.
"An admirable quest." Giles replied and the others agreed.
They were across the street now and all three women guided Giles through the door Hermione in front of him so he could follow her and also so she could block the view from the patrons of Giles confused expression as he crossed the threshold and Dawn and Willow were at his sides. In the end they had to forcibly push him through the doorway because his confusion became so great.
"What was that?" He whispered to Hermione.
"Muggle repellent charms." She explained. "Maybe we should sit down and have a drink before getting started."
"I could use one actually. Let's make it something strong." Giles replied.
They got a table and everyone ordered Butter beers but when it came to Giles, Hermione ordered him a Fire whisky. He thought nothing of it. Whisky sounded about right for the way he felt. He needed to calm his nerves.
Their order came to them and Giles was surprised and pleased that it wasn't a shoot glass but a regular one. He took a mouthful and swallowed quickly without really tasting it. That is until it was too late. He hiccupped a puff of smoke. Dawn had been looking strait at him when it happened. Her eyes couldn't get any bigger without becoming a cartoon. She had been so shocked. Then to add to the ridiculousness of it, steam began shooting out of his ears. Dawn couldn't hold in the laughter anymore. The other two women had been oblivious to what was happening at their own table. However, when Dawn gave out a bubble of laughter they turned to her and then Giles.
"Oh my gosh. Is he all right?" Willow asked.
"Oh, how stupid of me." Hermione huffed. "Yes, that's normal for a person's first sip of Healer Hopkins fire whisky, It nothing to be worried about. It's actually the fun part of drinking the stuff. It's infused with a small amount of pepper up potion to help prevent hangovers."
Sort of like Buzz Beer back in Ohio. Willow stated.
It may happen a few more times before he empties the glass but it shouldn't happen again if he ordered another one. It would take twenty four hours before it would happen again. I guess Tom gave you a glass of the good stuff because you're with me." Hermione finished.
"But I'm not in any danger of becoming a tea kettle or anything, correct?" Giles asked.
"No, that's pretty much the end of the experience." Hermione replied.
"Then I'd like to take a bottle home. It's an excellent bracer and should warm a person nicely on cold winter nights." Giles said approvingly of it.
Everyone at the table smiled.
"It truly is." Hermione replied. "If everyone is finished we can get started.
"Yes, let's get going."
They went out the back door and Willow made sure to take note of which brick needed to be tapped so she could do it by herself in the future.
The bricks formed an arch reviling the alley. Needless to say Dawn and Giles were…well…spell bound. Hermione had to admonish them for gawking like tourist. Their first objective was at the end of the ally, Gringotts bank. Dawn had brought enough money for the exchange so that she could get a wand and still had some left over for other trinket she might be interested in. As they made there way down the alley the women were oblivious to the fact that Giles was starting to act strangely, his eyes flying to and fro whenever someone flicked a wand or when some other form of magic was being used.
They went into the bank and while he didn't look it, Giles was on the defensive.
"Goblins as bank attendants?" He thought. "These wizards were insane. Yes, that had to be it, this whole wizarding community was outright bonkers."
By this time Willow had seen that something was up. She decided that it would be a good idea to keep an eye on him.
They left the bank and Hermione suggested that they visit Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes before going to Ollivander's. No one objected but Willow was getting concerned at the way Giles was acting. Not only did he look like he was suspicious of everything because of his shifty eyes but Willow noticed he had started to flinch slightly when someone casually performed magic.
"Are you alright Giles?" She asked.
"What? Oh yes, yes I'm fine." He confirmed as he walked into the Joke shop.
As the door closed behind them Giles took in his surroundings. He saw people put things in their mouth and swallow only to become green with red warts and making sounds of bull frogs. Another had red and yellow diagonal stripes and made the sound of a howler monkey. There were things that whistled and some that just blew up. There were people walking up the wall as casually as someone walking down the street. There were bodies walking around without heads. One unfortunate young mans nose was being bitten by a teacup.
Giles found something bubbling up inside of him. Something he had been trying to stamp out for so long now. He couldn't take it. The door had just shut behind him not two seconds ago and here he was rushing out of it again. Thankfully Willow had been keeping an eye on him and followed.
He was running back up the alley like a mad man, headed for the arch. Willow knew if he wanted to leave the alley he'll need someone to open it for him. Luckily for him someone was entering the alley at the time. With the arch open Giles didn't even stop as he exited the alley. When Willow got into the leaky caldron she found that Giles didn't stop there, he went strait on through. Willow left the magical world heading into the muggle world. She found Giles sitting on a bench with his head in his hands across the street.
It was then something in Willows mind clicked. All the pieces fell into place after all these years.
She pulled out her cell and called Buffy. She picked up in two rings.
"Hi Will, what's up? Dawn in trouble already?"
"No, nothing like that. We need a scoobie meeting. Our father figure needs our help."
"What! What happened? Is he okay!" Buffy said excitedly.
"He's fine. We just need to have a family discussion."
"Alright, I'll get Xander. We'll be waiting."
"We'll be there soon. Bye." Willow said before ending the call and proceeded to call Dawns cell. She also picked up in two rings.
"Willow what happened to you and Giles, I turned around and you were both gone?"
"There was an emergency Dawn. We're taking care of it. Have Hermione give you the rest of the tour and get your wand. We'll fill you in later."
"Wow Willow, you should see the looks I'm getting from the people here. Hermione says it's because of the phone. They're not supposed to work here for some reason." Dawn said.
"No they're not. We'll talk about it later. I've got to go." Willow said.
"Okay, I'll want all the sorted details when I get home. Talk to you later. Bye."
"Bu-bye." Willow replied and closed her phone heading for Giles. She approached him and gently put a hand on his shoulder.
"Why didn't you tell anybody?" She asked.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." He said looking up at her and knew she knew.
"You never had to go through it alone. I could have helped." Willow said.
Giles stayed silent.
"Come on I'll take you home." She said
With that Willow grabbed his arm and they teleported back to the Guardian Council. Once there Giles couldn't get away from Willow fast enough. All he had on his mind was to lock himself in his office and hide behind his books.
Once he got to his office however, Giles found it occupied by the rest of the Scoobies minus Dawn.
"Dawn…good lord we just left her there in a place that had been so steeped in magic." He thought. He looked around the room wondering if he could persuade his children to leave his office. Probably not. He turned to leave only to see Willow had followed him. He turned back to his office and walked in.
"What are all of you doing in my office?" He asked.
"It's a Scoobie meeting Giles." Willow answered. And he realized she must have called one the moment he ran.
"Or more precisely it's an intervention." She continued.
"A what? Who needs and intervention certainly not I." he stated.
"Oh, but you do. And you know you do too." She replied.
"Umm Wills, What's going on?" Xander asked.
"I'll tell you what's going on sweetie. It has to do with the time I became dark…"
"Has he been running his mouth again? He didn't say anything to the wizards, did he?" Buffy asked hotly.
"No Buffy nothing like that. But like I was saying it has to do with Darth Willow… No wait; it goes further back then that, much farther. Back to a time before Giles and Ethan brought forth the demon Eygon in their youth."
Giles shot Willow a glair but she continued none the less.
"You see Giles and Ethan would have to have been messing around with the magic's pretty heavily back then. Much the same way I did when I was out-of-control-girl and could do no wrong. That was until Giles brought forth the demon and found that he couldn't control it. He was forced to live with the fact that the demon might have survived out there, somewhere possibly killing. He was to blame for its existence and therefore Randall's death and any others it possessed throughout the years. From that day forward he swore he wouldn't play with the magics' unless called for to rid the world of demons or shut down hell mouths. So he became a watcher. But it must have been pretty hard to just go cold turkey like that. Believe me I know."
"You know nothing. You haven't any idea what you're talking about." Giles claimed. But it didn't deter Willow.
"You spent years trying to keep the addiction under control, didn't you? I always wondered in high school why I wouldn't see you the next day after a powerful ritual like closing a hell mouth. I always felt energized but you… you were in the magical equivalent of detox." Willow said as she envisioned it all.
Giles just glared and grit his teeth at her.
"Then came the day of Darth Willow. You were summoned to the coven in England. You were told you were the only one skilled enough to stop me. And the coven did the one thing you wish they didn't. They gave you so much magic. So much more than you've ever known. You were told to use it to stop me and then I went and suck it all out of you like an industrial sized pool filter. It was so fast and I left you so empty and you were suffering withdrawal so much it almost killed you. I bet you were actually ready for death. You were hoping for it just to end the pain. You were never the same after that were you? Sure the battle with 'the first' helped keep your mind off of it somewhat. Fear became your friend in that regarded but even today doing even a small spell must be horrible for you…or does it make you happy? Your fear of me becoming dark again isn't because your afraid of me so much as it is how much you're afraid of having to get juiced up on magic again to stop me. You wanted to make sure I never turned dark again. But when you saw all that magic today in the alley, it must have really scared the hell out of you to feel that inner pull to so much magic. That's why you acted the way you did wasn't it? That's why you ran."
Giles glare died and his shoulders slumped and his chin fell to his chest. She had figured it out. And now they all knew.
"Is that true Giles?" Buffy asked softly. "Is this why you've been hounding Willow?"
After all this time he had almost believed his own lies. But he could not blame his little red head daughter any longer. Still unable to bring himself to look at anyone he simply nodded and whispered thickly. "Yes…I suppose it is."
Now, her eye glistening with tears Buffy looked to Willow and asked. "Is there anything you can do? That any of us can do?"
"With Wicca? I'm not sure. But maybe the wizards have something, perhaps a magical plant or a potion. I'll have to ask Hermione."
"Where is she by the way? And where's Dawn?" Buffy asked with concern.
"Oh, umm, well, they're still shopping." Willow said nervously as she realized she may have made a mistake.
"You left her alone?" Buffy said accusingly.
"No, she's with Hermione. She'll be okay, Hermione is a very competent witch." Willow replied hurriedly.
"In a world where everyone is ether a witch or wizard and has magical powers." Buffy pointed out.
"Well, yeah, but they aren't bad people." Willow responded.
"Dawn doesn't leave the house in the non magical world without at lest two slayers with her or tailing her. I thought two witches would be just as good but she hasn't got into any trouble yet and already she's down a witch." Buffy stated.
"Well in my defense Dawn is now a witch." Willow pointed out.
"An untrained witch." Buffy corrected.
"Oh yeah… I'm sorry Buffy. I'll go back right now."
"We'll go back right now." Buffy said and as she quickly reasoned something out she add softly. "And Willow, you don't have to apologize Giles condition was just as important."
"Thanks." Willow said happy that she was forgiven. "Then something occurred to her. Buffy, I'm not sure you'll be able to see the pub. We had to push Giles in because of the repelling charms and you're a powerful slayer. I don't know if that's going to be a problem or not."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Buffy said then turned back to her watcher and said. "We're going to find a way to help you. You'll pull through this. We'll all help. And I swear you'll never have to do the magic thing again. We got the coven and friends in the wizarding community now. You may advise, but you're not allowed to do anymore magic." She then turned to Xander and asked him take care of Giles.
"You didn't have to ask. You can always count on me Buff." Xander replied.
"I know" She said with a smile. She then turned to Willow and said. "Let's go."
Not knowing what to say or do for him until they got back. Xander turned to Giles and broke the uncomfortable silence by asking a question.
"So Giles, read any good books lately."
Giles was so caught off guard that even though he was in a deeply depressed state he began to laugh. He had often wondered what would have happened had he settled down and had a son. He knew that he would never turn out like Xander and that would be a shame. Coming from a broken home, made Xander who he was. Irritating as he was, Giles was just happy to have Xander in his life. It was odd; they had all come from broken homes of one sort or another. It was actually Buffy that assembled the group, her friends, her chosen family her scoobies. Even Faith was a Scooby now. She did fit the criteria after all. As always, they were coming together to conquer a problem; namely his addiction. They weren't going to leave him practice any more spells and he knew from experience how hard that was going to be. It was frightening to know that he'd be going through withdrawal soon but it had been going on much too long. Sometimes he couldn't wait for the next apocalypse to do magic and so would continually practice minor spells to tack the edge off. The coming weeks were going to be hell. He would need the support of everyone. He turned to Xander and said.
"Listen to me Xander, I want you to understand that the next few weeks if not months will be hell for me. There is the possibility that I'll say things that are going to be meant to hurt you and the others. I want you to know right now how much I respect and love each of you. The things I'll say should be dismissed immediately and should I say something too hurtful or too foul to be forgiven have one of the slayers break my jaw because I wouldn't want to live with myself if it came to that. It would be best if I couldn't speak at all."
"Well I got to say G-man that's a bit extreme. But I'll tell you what I will do. I have a new six million volt stun gun that I've been wanting to tryout." He said with an enthusiastic smile.
Giles was surprised at how casual he had been about using such a devise on his person, but he supposed it would be a much more rational solution then the one he had suggested. He should have known he could count on him. He gave him his thanks; which, he immediately felt awkward about as he was thanking him for future punishments. His thoughts then strayed back to the alley and to Dawn. He hoped she'd be okay.
Buff and Willow made their way to the teleport room when Willow realized something.
"Oh no, Buffy I didn't memorize enough landmarks to get back to the alley I'm not even sure what part of London it in. I know I had been in that area years ago in a search for an apothecary but that had been years ago when we first got here. For the life of me I can't remember where that was."
"Okay, well; we can give Dawn a call and have her get directions from Hermione. Then we can just jump in the car and I'll drive us there."
"You… Drive…" She said worriedly as she hated Buffy's driving. Then it hit her. "Wait a minute. There is another magical way to get there. But we need to get to the curb."
Running outside, they had made it to the street before Buffy asked what was going on.
"Just trust me and if anyone finds out your not a witch claim yourself to be a magical creature." Willow said.
"Creature?..You mean because I have the essence of a demon inside me?"
"Yeah, but it's probably best you don't tell them about that." Willow suggested.
"It's never good to tell people that." Buffy replied.
"Just tell them you're some kind of mystical warrior."
"Got it, now how are we getting there?" Buffy asked.
"Believe it or not were taking the bus. She said as she pulled out her wand and pointed it at the street. Just then the triple-decker bus appeared with a bang."
"Buffy Summers on a bus. That's never gone well in the past." Buffy announced.
"Huh?" Willow asked.
"I've only been on one three times in the past. Once was when I left Sunnydale after sending angel to hell the next was coming back to confront my mother and the last was when we ran from Sunnydale before it turned into a sink hole."
"This time will be different come on." Willow said.
Buffy followed Willow onto the knight's bus and said. "Okay you got me, this is different. What's with the beds? And is that a… chandelier?""
"It's a magic thing." Willow replied." If you're not going to sit down you better hold on to something."
Buffy reached up and grabbed a rail just before the bus took off with a sudden burst of speed. To Willows dismay Buffy didn't even seem to notice. Buffy had however noticed the bus attendant. He was a broadly built man with chiseled fetchers. Because of this Buffy was oblivious to the fact that they were going through mid day traffic at one hundred an twenty miles per hour. Willow however was in horrified fascination as she watched the bus make a sharp left turn and was riding on its two right side tires for about a block before it righted itself Buffy however was making goo-goo eyes at the attendant. Willow was lying on her stomach on the bed holding onto the bed frame for her dear life as she saw the bus was headed for a factory loading ramp. Her eyes wide and her mouth open. She screamed an almost silent scream that came out sounding like a wheeze as the bus was now airborne. It landed neatly between two vehicles, one being a police car, the occupants of which didn't seem to notice the purple triple-decker bus breaking the speed limit as well as the law of physics as another tree jumped out of their way.
"Hi, I'm Buffy Summers what's your name?" She asked the attendant calmly to Willows total disbelief.
"Edger Reginald Duffy, It's a pleasure to meet you."
Just then the driver came to an abrupt stop and yelled.
"This stop, the leaky caldron!"
The women got off the bus and Buffy noticed Willows knees nearly gave out on her as Buffy had to support her.
"What the matter with your legs Will, Buffy asked worriedly.
"What's the matter? Buff we were going over a hundred miles per hour. We were airborne and you didn't notice a thing because of Edger hot body back there."
"Sorry but I really didn't. I did notice the ride wasn't very long though. I'll make sure to watch next time."
"Oh no! You won't get me back on that thing again."
" Oh yeah, you can just zap us home from here." Buffy replied.
"So why didn't you get that guys number or… owl or whatever?" Willow asked.
"Because any relationship I started with the guy couldn't go anywhere." Buffy stated.
"What? Why not?" Willow asked.
"Because I wasn't going to become Mrs. Buffy Duffy." Buffy stated firmly.
They both giggled at that for a bit before Willow asked. "So, can you see the pub across the street?"
"Yep' I sure can." She replied.
"You can? That's great. That means Hermione was wrong. You don't need a magical core you just have to have some sort of magic in you. Come on your going to love this."
They entered the pub and went straight through it, to the back door and into the courtyard.
This is the cool part. Willow said as she tapped the right bricks and the arch formed.
"This is Diagon alley."
"Whoa, it's a bit like the renaissance fair." Buffy proclaimed.
"Yeah I know." Willow said with an excited smile. "Let's see if we can find Dawn. She could be in the wand shop by now."
Just as they got to Ollivanders front door Hermione and Dawn came out.
They seemed to be laughing at something. It wasn't till Buffy got a good look at Dawn's face that she got excited.
"What the hell happed to you!" She asked with equal parts panic and anger at seeing her sister sporting a black eye.
"Hi Buffy." she said happily only to have embarrassment take its place as she said. "Umm .. I guess you could say I looked into the wrong telescope."
"What?" Willow and Buffy said at the same time.
"I was in the joke shop and this boy next to me told me to look through the telescope and I'd be able to see where the nearest unicorns were. It should have occurred to me that I was in a joke shop so it must be a trick. The next thing I know I've got a black eye."
"Oh god, that's a relief. I thought you got punched in the face." Buffy said.
Dawn looked uncomfortable, and Buffy noticed.
"Dawn, what aren't you telling me?"
"Well, in the magical world they don't use black makeup on the lens ring like they do in the muggle world." Hermione stated.
"The telescopes in the joke shop have boxing gloves that shoot out as you pull it away from you eye." Dawn added.
"So it hit you?" Buffy ask appalled.
"Well yes, but it wasn't that hard it was more like a tap." Dawn stated.
"But there it a magical plant essence on it that makes your eye swell shut and turns it black and blue." Hermione explained.
"The boy that gave it to me was Hermione's friends' competitors' son. They've been trying to sabotage George's business. After it happened the boy was band from the store, and they really mean it here. George put up a ward that only works on that boy. He can never get back in." Dawn added
"In any case George couldn't seem to apologize enough. That item was supposed to be locked up in the display case. George thinks that the boy must have purchased the item a few days ago and brought it back with him for this purpose. George helped to counter the plant essence as well. It looked a horrible sight before he did. The rest should go away in a couple of days."
Buffy's anger died down. Dawn wasn't really hurt. It was just a prank and the owner had not only apologized but helped her.
"And I have enough makeup to cover so I can deal. But it's a really cool shop. I got a few things to show the rest of the scoobies. We might be able to use them in our work. He even gave them to me for free because of what happened so I'm thinking this whole mess might have happened for a reason."
"Practical jokes and slaying sound like unmixy things to me Dawn." Buffy replied.
Hermione smiled. For some reason she loved how Buffy and her friend butchered the English language. Something that she knew should have appalled her but it was just so… 'them' for some reason.
"Actually, those practical jokes helped Harry and me a lot during the war. The blackout powders alone are loads better than any muggel smoke bombs. They're denser and cover a wider area. You just need to memorize your surroundings before you use it." She said
"Well, we'll have to check them out when we get back." Buffy replied.
"I can't wait to show Xander and Giles there going to be wild about them." Dawn excitedly said.
"Umm, about that, Giles needs to be kept away from magic for the time being." Willow replied.
"What, why?" Dawn asked confused.
"It turns out he's been addicted to magic since Willow went nuclear in two thousand three." Buffy announced.
"What? That long? How didn't we notice?" Dawn shrieked.
"He must have been doing small amounts of magic in private all the time to keep his composure. Then when the time came for another big spell he could let lose." Willow surmised.
"So Giles was trying to keep you away from magic because he was addicted to it?" Hermione asked bewildered.
"That about sums it up." Buffy said.
"We were hoping you knew of something that could help Giles with magical withdrawal." Willow asked Hermione.
"Not off hand but I can ask around discreetly. Magical addiction isn't something wizards suffer from. I'll try the apothecary." She explained.
"By the way what kind of wand did you get Dawn?" Willow asked.
"Nine and a half inches of Iron wood with the wings of a sprite at the core." Dawn looked sad after she said this.
"Dawn, what's wrong?" Buffy asked.
"It's just that, some sprite gave up its wings so I could have a wand."
"Dawn, I'm sure it was dead before they became part of your wand." Buffy said.
"No, Mr. Ollivanders said the parts in the cores are freely given. The sprite was alive." Dawn replied.
"Dawn, it is quit common for an air sprite to shed its wings when it realizes it has no love of flying. Most of the time they shed them and become water sprites. It's quit natural." Hermione replied.
"Oh…okay then." Dawn said relived.
"While this relaxed Dawn it upset Willow because of what was at the core of her wand." She decided she would deal with that later.
"Well, I'll head to the apothecary while you get Dawns books. I'll try to be back before you're done but if not you'll know where to find me." Hermione said
They then went their separate ways. Wile in the book shop Buffy browsed the shelves. After getting the required books so did Dawn and Willow. A short time later Hermione walked into the store to tell them what she found out.
"The apothecary didn't know too much. He kept giving me information on potions that weren't even relevant to what I asked him about. But he did give me sources of good information that I could look into and luckily I know everyone of them personally. I just need to watch how and who I ask so I don't let the secret slip that I'm trying to help a muggle or I could be facing charges. My good standing with the ministry will only get me so far." Hermione explained.
"Well then I guess it's time to head home." Buffy announced.
Hermione began looking through the list of top sellers while waiting for the others to pay for their books.
"Hey Will, I found a book I like, can you pay for it and I'll pay you when we get home?" Buffy asked.
"Sure Buffy, what is it about? Can I see it?" Willow asked looking at the furry book Buffy was clutching.
"I don't think that's such a good Idea Will. It'll probably bite your hand off." She said easing up on the pressure she had on the book in her clutches letting it growl as its four eyes narrowed on Willow. Willow gave her a questioning look before Buffy announced that the book was called the monster book of monsters.
"Hmm." Willow murmured in thought before saying. "It would seem to be a very practical book for a slayer. Your watcher can read it then you can slay it." She said breaking into a smile.
The book gave a loud 'yep' in fright.
/Scene Break/
Back at Cheyenne Mountain complex Colorado commissary, Colonel Sam Carter, Colonel Cameron Mitchell, and Dr. Daniel Jackson were having a late lunch when Cameron made a comment.
"So Daniel, did you look at the e-mail I sent you about the runes we found on the farming planet. What did you think of them? Do you think they are important or can we bulldoze them?"
"Bulldoze an ancient rune, are you crazy?" Daniel responded.
"I really don't think this one is too important. It looks like it had a minor Goa'uld marking, possibly a scribe."
"When did you say you told me about this?" Daniel asked.
"Just before lunch I yelled down the hall to your office for you to look at the E-mail." Cameron said.
"I wasn't in my office prior to lunch. I was on the lower levels boxing up the artifacts being sent off world for safe keeping. I'd have to be a sentinel to have heard you." Daniel replied.
What's a sentinel? Sam asked.
"A sentinel is someone whose sensory perception is heightened because of some kind of genetic advan…" that was all Daniel got out before he was lost in thought. About twenty seconds later Cam and Sam asking if he was alright, his lunch forgotten Daniel excused himself not really paying attention to what his friends had said to him prior to his pause.
Cam turned to Sam and asked if they should go after him. Sam in return told him that they weren't doing anything dangerous off world these days so Daniel must have remembered something about some artifacts he wanted packed the right way. If it were something more important he'd call a meeting later.
With that they went back to eating they were almost finished when General Jack O'Neill walked in and asked them if they had seen Danny.
"Yes sir, he was here until he said something about sentinels and something about sensory perception. I think he went back to his office." Cameron explained.
Jack paused as it looked like he was trying to remember something. "Crap!" He exclaimed and left in the direction of Daniels office.
Cam Looked at Sam and Sam said. "This time I think we should defiantly follow." They quickly cleaned up their mess and made to follow the general. Catching up they asked what was wrong.
"If I know Danny he has a whole presentation set up to show us what's wrong."
They made it to Daniels office and Jack knocked on the door.
"Jack, I was just going to call you. I think we may have a problem."
"Ya'think. I remember the whole fake dissertation thing on CNN a few years ago. The last name was Sandburg right? Out of Cascade Washington right?"
"I was able to download the footage from the internet."
"Sandburg? Wasn't that the name of that guy that came for Major Ellison?" Sam asked.
"That's not the worst of it take a look at these."
Daniel passed out the outline of Blair's Dissertation and played the video footage of Blair claiming the paper was a fake. Jim Ellison could be seen in the background.
"Crap!" Jack repeated his earlier statement. "How much do you think he was able to hear while he was here?"
"That depends on how good his hearing is and how much he was conscious for."
"Sir, do you think Mr. Sandburg faked that he faked his paper and that Mr. Ellison is one of these sentinel?"
"I don't know? But I think we should find them and call them back in here to get some answers and find out what they know about the SGC and the whole end of the world deal before they talk to someone and or get themselves killed."
"Yes sir, we're on it, they'll be here ASAP."
AN: Yes, I'm back. So I guess your wondering what happed to me for the past two years. We'll I was sitting at my favorite restraint. I had just finished my meal and opened my laptop to work on this story. I worked on it for about an hour and felt I was on a roll. The waitress came by and refilled my coffee. I grabbed the sugar and turned back only to bump the cup tipping it over. Every drop went into the keyboard. I yelled "S*#T!" which got everyone's attention. I sat there stunned at what happened. The waitress came over as said. Don't you think it would be better if you tipped it over to drain it? That broke me out of my shock and did as she said and then I pulled the battery. For the next three days I let it dry in rice but it was no good. All my research all my notes and outlines and several chapters I had written in advance and were waiting to be proofed by my editor were gone. I was depressed and didn't know if I even wanted to continue the thing. But it always bothered me that I let my followers hanging. So it's been slow going. I bought a cheap laptop and a couple of flash drives. I've been re-researching and recreating the note, outlines, and finally started to recreate the chapters I lost. I think maybe they might be the same if not better that before. I don't have anyone to edit it but I'm not letting that stop me. Bad spelling and bad grammar aside you guys want to see more of this story so you'll have to let me slide until I find someone to help me out. The updates might be slow in showing up but they will come. Thanks for waiting.
Story-Blender
After two years I still like reviews.