Jesse began checking the man's injuries while Kyle tied the other one up and Xander called Jack to report the kidnapping attempt on the kids. Heidi called an ambulance and reported a 'gang member on PCP' attack. Jack promised to have military guards from Vandenburg meet them at the hospital to secure both men.

Once at the hospital, it was discovered that the man who's foot Abigail had stomped on would need surgery to rebuild it. They might be able to save it. He also had two broken vertebra and a few cracked ones, plus a concussion. The other one was babbling about a kid/dog trying to eat him. He was placed in the psych ward. The guards from Vandenburg took their jobs very seriously and maintained a constant watch until they could be transported to Washington to be charged. Kidnapping being a federal offense and the Protectors being under government protection themselves, meant those charges might include treason.

Then Jack called them back to tell them that McKay had gotten the Mirror working. Apparently, someone on the other end had been working on the temporal variance, which helped enormously. At least as far as McKay was concerned.

It was a somber group that accompanied Jesse Harris-Chase back to Cheyenne Mountain. It was time for him to go home. Didn't mean they had to like it.

"Jack, I want to go with hm. I need to make sure he gets back safely, back to his family." Xander said.

"I'm going as well." Cordelia said.

"I want to come, too." Abigail added.

"I'm going along myself. The Mirror on the other side needs to be secured, which means I need to contact someone in authority. Hopefully, there's a Stargate Command there. But only the three of you. McKay will hold the connection open on this side. We leave in the morning, it's a just few hours away. Try to get some rest." Jack told them.

The various group members were assigned quarters and went to do as he advised. Xander and Cordelia couldn't sleep. They sat beside the bed Jesse and Abigail were cuddle up in. Neither of them were ready to be separated and tomorrow was going to be hard for all of them.

Finally morning arrived. Cordelia carefully got Jesse ready for his trip home. She would not send him back and let people think she hadn't taken care of him. It was really just an excuse to burn every moment into her brain. Her body may not have birthed this child, but it might as well have. Her heart was screaming at her. But she had to listen to her mind.

Xander was struggling just as much. His own heart was saying, this is my son. But it wasn't his son, not really.

And then it was time. They went to the room the Quantum Mirror was kept in. It was turned on. On the other side, they could see themselves, as well as, Giles, Willow, Tara and that must be Dawn. The Scoobies. Jesse's family. Using markers and construction paper, Giles and McKay had managed to communicate.

Xander and Cordelia each placed a hand on one of the children's shoulders. Jack put his hand on Xander's shoulder and they reached out and touched the Mirror. A tingle was felt by each of them and then there were two Xanders and Cordelias in the same room. Something Cordelia-P and Xander-P had experienced before. But not something Cordelia-B and Xander-B had ever experienced before.

Jesse scented the air, so did Xander-B and Cordelia-B. "Mommy!" Jesse yelled and leaped for his mother's arms. She caught him and held him tight collapsing to her knees and taking Xander-B down with her. The three held each other and cried. The rest of their family circling around them. Their own version of a Pack, protecting their own.

Cordelia-P and Xander-P turned into each other's arms, holding Abigail tight as joy at the happy reunion warred with the pain of losing Jesse from their lives.

After assuring themselves that Jesse was alright Xander-B and Cordelia-B stood. Cordelia-B keeping Jesse in her arms, Xander-B kept one hand on Jesse's shoulder as they turned to the newcomers.

"Thank you. Thank you for bringing him back to us."

"You don't know how hard it was. If it wasn't for the fact that's in his best interests to be here, with you, I wouldn't have. We loved him from the moment we knew he existed, just like with Abigail." Xander-P told him.

"Abigail?"

"I'm Abigail. Abigail Harris-Chase." Abigail raised her hand.

"She's named after Grandma."

"The one who died when we were five?"

"I was 20 when she died in our reality. You know, this is the second other reality that I've visited. The first one she died when that me was five as well. Did you know, she knew all about the vampires and demons? She was a seer. We get our potential from her."

"No, I didn't know that."

"Yeah, and Cordy gets hers from her grandfather."

As Jack called his own office and confirmed that yes, there was a Stargate Command and made arrangements for the Quantum Mirror to be picked up, Xander-P explained to them about thier lives. About the Ancients. About being Protectors. And then he dropped an even bigger bombshell.

"We discovered that those with the potential to be a Protector are descended from the Ancients. Humans that evolved on another planet, in another galaxy. They're the ones that threw the Old Ones out. The vampires were created as revenge. The Ancients thought that they'd eliminated them. They left Earth and went back to the stars. The human that exist here now, evolved after they left. 10,000 years ago, they came back. They were on the verge of an evolutionary leap forward. They Ascended. Becoming mind and will and energy combined. But some of them stayed behind. Because Protectors can't be made from the humans of Earth. There are differences in the way the brains work and a gene that the Ancients have, that Earth humans don't. They mixed their DNA and children were born that could carry the gene and the differences forward. So we'd always have a way to protect Earth.

"Potential Slayers are also descended from them. A tiny subgroup that didn't that have the gene, but did have the differences in the brain. Protectors are created by soul Bonding with a willing animal soul. The reason there can be only one True Slayer at a time is because there was only one soul to bind to the Slayer. The last of it's kind. It willing chose to become apart of the first Slayer and apart of each Slayer after that. Like I told the Faith of our reality when I found out. Faith, you're soul Bonded to a phoenix."