“Mom!” Buffy shouted as she and Giles walked through the door. “Mom, come down! We have a visitor.”

Joyce appeared at the top of the stairs, her hair pulled back and her face freshly scrubbed. She’d been about to go to bed.

“Mr. Giles!” she exclaimed. “Thank God you’re back.” She flew down the stairs and grabbed him by the hands.

“Well, I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting such a warm reception,” he said. She had the decency to look slightly ashamed by his comment. He noticed the dark circles under her eyes and guessed she’d probably had a rude awakening to their true situation. Chances are she’d slept as little as Buffy had.

“Giles has some good news, Mom.”

“Oh?”

“Yes…possibly.”

“Please, come in and sit down. Would you like a drink?” asked Joyce, eager to make him feel welcome.

“I’d love one, but I have a feeling Buffy will throttle me if I hold back any longer.”

The three of them went into the living room. Buffy sat as close as she possibly could to Giles, barely able to restrain herself from climbing onto his lap. She would have done just that, except she didn’t want to upset the new-found truce between Giles and her mother.

Joyce sat across from them, amazed at the change that had come over Buffy. She was alive again; the dullness that had clouded her eyes and weighed her down since Giles left had lifted. Her eyes shone brightly for the first time in weeks.

“So what’s the news, Giles?” Buffy asked impatiently.

“I…ran into an old friend who owes me a very large favour. He’s a very powerful sorcerer.”

“Please tell me you’re not talking about that Ethan Rayne guy,” said Buffy, her hand reflexively going to the back of her neck where Ethan had tattooed the mark of Eyghon.

“If there were any other alternative, Buffy, believe me I wouldn’t have brought him into this. But we were good friends once.”

“So, what? He offered to help out of the goodness of his heart?” she asked sarcastically.

“Well, not exactly, no. I’ve got him gagged and chained in a rather seedy motel room just outside of town. I…uh, threatened to kill him if he didn’t co-operate.”

“And you think he believed you?” Buffy asked, clearly sceptical.

“He had no reason not to. He knows what I’m capable of.”

Joyce raised an eyebrow at Buffy, but her daughter made no move to explain Giles’ last comment.

“So, what’s the plan then?” asked Buffy.

“There’s a spell—it’s a relocation spell of sorts. It was never really intended for our purposes, but I believe a sorcerer of Ethan’s abilities should be able to tweak it to make it work. The basic idea is to open a portal into a different dimension and relocate the demon there. Once the portal closes, the bond between the demon and Buffy will cease to exist, and we’ll be free of it without risking Buffy’s health.”

“It sounds a bit risky,” said Joyce.

“I won’t lie to you—a spell like this has never been done, so far as I know.”

“Why not wait until it’s born before doing the spell? I can’t say I like the idea of this man using magic on Buffy.”

“Ideally, we would wait until the baby is born, but there are other factors we have to take into account. A pregnant slayer makes an easy target, and even with me and her friends helping her she would be at great risk.”

“Nothing new there, Giles. I’m always at risk—it comes with the territory.”

“Well, I’d prefer to give you a fighting chance, if it’s all the same with you. Besides, the longer we wait, the stronger the bonds grow—both between you and the baby and between the two of us. I believe that’s why that Watcher—Monk—tried to kill his slayer; he knew the alternative meant surrendering their free will to this demon until it was old enough to fend for itself, at which time it would kill them both.

“Buffy, we both know how strong the bond between us has already become. If we don’t break it soon…” he let the sentence trail off.

“I still don’t like the idea of handing the problem over to Ethan Rayne,” said Buffy. “But I like the idea of becoming this demon’s play thing even less. When do we start?”

“Tomorrow night. I’ll bring Ethan here.”

“Is there anything we need to do to prepare?” asked Joyce.

“I don’t think so, although it might be a good idea for Buffy to skip dinner.”

Buffy moaned; “Great. I’ve got an appetite like…like something with a really big appetite…and you want me to skip dinner?”

“I don’t think it’s crucial to the success of the spell, but it might make things less messy,” he answered.

“Oh…eww.”

“I should probably get back to my prisoner before he manages to chew his way through his gag. I’ll see you both tomorrow night around eight o’clock, if that’s alright?”

“That’ll be fine,” said Joyce.

“Wait! It’s not fine at all!” Buffy complained. “You can’t leave yet—you only just got here. Can’t you stay the night?”

“No,” said Joyce and Giles in unison.

“We all know what would happen if I stayed here tonight,” said Giles. “We’ve managed this long—one more night’s not going to kill us. And after Ethan works his spell, things should return to the way they were between us.”

Buffy’s eyes welled with tears. “What if I don’t want them to go back to the way they were?”

“Buffy…” he said, but she ran up the stairs before he could say any more.

Buffy snuck out of the house and spent the rest of the night patrolling. Nothing like fresh air and a bit of brutal carnage to work off some tension. Just before dawn she got lucky—a large group of vampires had gathered outside City Hall and she managed to snag one of the slower ones before they all disappeared.

He was small and greasy-looking, and he wriggled like a worm on a hook in her grasp. Buffy turned so they were facing East and the imminent sunrise.

“Man, you guys have gotten really good at hide and seek,” said Buffy. “Now are you gonna tell me where your friends are hiding? Or would you rather find out what smoking is like from the cigarette’s point of view?”

“Filthy Preot,” he spat. “You think you can just muscle in on our plans? Forget it.”

“Well then, get ready to say ‘hello’ to Mr. Sunrise.”

“I’d rather burn than face… him as a turncoat.”

“Whatever,” said Buffy, feigning boredom. Another minute passed and the scuzzy vampire started smouldering in her arms. He struggled madly, but still refused to talk.

“Last chance,” said Buffy.

“Screw you!” he wheezed, then burst into flames.

“Ow! Thanks for the warning.” Buffy blew on her burned fingers. Even with the pain, it felt good to finally nab one of them. Wesley would be overjoyed.

She decided to pay him a visit before breakfast. She’d been rough on him since he showed up in Sunnydale, and it really wasn’t his fault. He deserved at least one victory over the vampires before she handed the reigns back to Giles.

The thought of Giles put a bounce in her step as she walked across town to Wesley’s house. When she got there it was still pretty early, but she guessed that Wesley was an early riser. She was right—he answered the door after the first knock, shocked to see his slayer on his doorstep.

“Buffy? Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s great,” she smiled at him.

Wesley ushered her into his little bungalow, frowning at her sudden change in attitude. He couldn’t recall ever seeing her truly happy before—it was like night and day.

“So…what’s the good news?” he asked.

“I got one,” she said proudly.

“A vampire?”

“Yep. There was a whole pile of them at City Hall this morning, and I caught one.”

“What about the others?” he asked. Buffy’s smile faltered. Now that she’d told the story, killing one vampire didn’t sound all that impressive.

“Well…they kinda ran away,” she admitted. “But hey! At least I broke my dry spell.”

“Did you find out where they’ve been hiding out?”

“Not so much, no. The greasy little runt wouldn’t talk. The sun roasted him.”

Wesley looked exacerbated. He began pacing furiously around his little living room.

“I don’t think you quite grasp the seriousness of our situation, Buffy,” he said sternly. “It’s been months since you’ve slain a vampire—their population is out of control. Killing one vampire is hardly going to make a difference—especially since we still have no clue what they’re up to.”

“I have been keeping them off the streets, though. It’s not like they’re on a feeding frenzy or anything,” she said defensively.

“No, but we both know that won’t last—vampires are arriving in town daily because something big is in the works and they know you’re powerless to stop it. If you really want a victory over the vampires, you need to put in some extra training. We need to find out what your weaknesses are and why they’ve been able to evade you. Meet me in the library after school and we’ll start on a new training regimen.”

“Tonight?” asked Buffy. “That’s really not gonna be good for me.”

“Buffy…I think I’ve been infinitely patient with you, but I must insist. Slaying must take precedence over your personal life.”

“And usually I’d agree with you. One hundred percent. But this is important. After tonight it’ll be different, I promise.” For some reason she couldn’t bring herself to tell him he’d be out of the picture by then.

“Let me guess…you’ve got a hot date?” he said, a bit peevishly.

“No. It’s more like an important family thing. I really have to be there,” she said, making it plain that she wasn’t budging on the subject.

“Very well,” he gave in. “But tomorrow we start your new training regimen.”

“Fine. We’ll start fresh tomorrow,” she said briskly and left before he could change his mind.

Giles glared at his old friend. “If anything goes wrong…”

“Please, Ripper. If I have to listen to your ‘hunt you down and kill you’ speech one more time I’ll save you the bother and kill myself.”

“And you’re confident you’re up to this?”

“I’d better be, hadn’t I?” he answered bitterly.

“Well then, let’s get a move on.” Giles manhandled Ethan out the door and to his car—the only one in the grungy little parking lot.

Ethan’s stomach growled as they drove to Buffy’s house. He hadn’t eaten all day in preparation for the spell. He eyed every restaurant and fast food joint they passed with longing. Looking over at Giles, a dozen methods of escape sprang to mind. But despite their falling out, he still felt a deep sense of obligation to this man. They were the last of their lot, after all. And they’d seen some good days.

“You can leave as soon as you’ve done the spell,” said Giles, as if reading his thoughts.

“How kind of you,” said Ethan.

Buffy was waiting at the door for them when they pulled up to her house. She scowled at Ethan, her arms crossed severely in front of her. He smiled back at her, but the smile never reached his dark eyes. When it came right down to it, it was Buffy who’d taken Ripper away from him. Well…not Buffy, per se, but the promise of Buffy. Despite his efforts, Ethan could never compete with his friend’s calling as a Watcher. Ethan watched them embrace with a twinge of jealousy.

The two men followed Buffy into the house where Joyce and Willow stood waiting. As soon as she saw Giles, Willow rushed him and threw her arms around him.

“Willow, it’s so good to see you again,” he said softly into her hair.

“Likewise,” she said, giving him one last squeeze before releasing him. “I hope you don’t mind, but I invited myself along. Heard there was some serious mojo happening here tonight.”

“As long as it’s okay with Buffy…” he said.

“I think she should be here,” said Buffy. “She’s been involved since the beginning—it only seems right she should be here at the end.”

Giles nodded. “Then let’s get started, shall we? Joyce, if you wouldn’t mind drawing the curtains and turning off the lights?”

Giles lit several candles and prepared a large space on the floor, using chalk to trace a circle. Ethan supervised, instructing Buffy on her role in the spell. He handed her a prism and had her hold it in front of her abdomen as she stood in the circle’s centre. Willow took notes and asked questions the whole time.

When they were ready, Willow, Giles and Joyce sat down on the couch to watch. Buffy stood motionless, holding her prism and trying to focus on the spell. She was finding it difficult. She had an overwhelming urge to grab Giles and run…to forget about the spell, and the slaying and Sunnydale, and just run away. Somewhere where it was safe and quiet…somewhere they could raise a family.

She snapped out of it when Ethan began the incantation. Her body started to buzz with energy—she felt her hair stand on end, and her temperature drop.

The prism had just begun to glow a bright white when Ethan stopped in mid-incantation. The glow died away and Buffy felt normal again.

“Is it over?” she asked. “Is it gone?”

“Why’d you stop?” Giles asked sharply, standing to confront the sorcerer.

Ethan took a reflexive step backwards. “Control yourself, Ripper. I’ll finish the spell once I’m sure of what you’d like me to do.”

“I thought I’d make it pretty clear—we want you to relocate the foetus to a different dimension. You assured me it could be done,” Giles barked at him.

“Oh, I can do it…I just need to know which one you’d like me to relocate.”

Giles blinked back at him in confusion.

“You didn’t know?” asked Ethan, clearly enjoying being one up on his old friend. “She’s carrying twins. One of them’s a demon, but I can’t tell which one. I could just dump them both in a different dimension if you’d like?”

“Dear Lord,” Giles muttered, his head reeling from the news. He looked over at Buffy whose eyes were glassy with shock. Joyce and Willow were just as stunned, and the confused silence stretched on.

“Well?” asked Ethan, breaking the silence. “What’s it going to be? All, or nothing?”

“Twins,” said Buffy, as if trying it on for size. “Twins,” she said again. It wasn’t sinking in.

“Oh, for God’s sake—yes. Twins. Are you planning on making your minds up sometime tonight? I’m starving,” said Ethan.

He was promptly ignored by everyone. Buffy stepped out of the circle and joined her Mom and her friend on the couch. Giles crouched down in front of her and took her hands in his. She looked into his smoky green eyes and thought of those same eyes looking back at her from a child’s face. Their child’s face. In that instant her decision was made.

“Uh…guys?” said Willow. The others looked at her. “Ethan’s escaped.”