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“Are they INSANE?” she yelled. “You should have been PROMOTED, not fired!” she cried.

Buffy looked up in shock.

“What?” she asked.

Marlena calmed down with a visible effort.

“The Watcher is supposed to strip the Slayer of her power, this is true, to make sure the poor girl can stand on her own two feet, so to speak,” she explained, “but it’s not supposed to be a secret!” she exclaimed. “That would be a complete violation of the Slayer’s trust by her Watcher. Their bond of trust would be shattered!”

Buffy nodded, remembering when Giles had revealed the cause of her weakness, and that she’d threatened to kill him if he tried to come within five feet of her.

“It almost did,” she commented quietly.

Giles sent her an aching look, it had not been a pleasant experience for him either.

Marlena growled in frustration.

“I don’t believe this. I suppose they told you that you weren’t supposed to fight by the Slayer’s side, right?” she demanded turning to Giles.

He nodded and Marlena sighed in disgust.

“That is a complete perversion of the Watcher’s Council’s original code of rules. During the Cruciamentum, the Slayer’s Watcher is supposed to fight along his or her charge. It’s meant to be an exercise in trust, to bring the Watcher and Slayer closer together.” She shook her head in exasperation. “How could things have gotten so twisted since my time?”

“Dad? Have there been any mention in any of the Watcher Diaries about this ‘Awakening ritual?’ ” Alec asked, suddenly jerking his head up from his reveries and catching Anya peering at him from out of the corner of her eye . What did she see?.

Giles shook his head, oblivious to the exchanged glances.

“Not in the ones I was sent,” he replied.

Xander snorted. “Yeah, because that would put a serious crimp in their ‘Conspiracy O’ Silence’ regarding the Slayer,” he commented bitterly, then looked up at Giles. “Your office buddies are real bastards,” he stated simply.

Giles nodded very slowly.

“I’m beginning to see that,” he whispered, his voice soft and dangerous.

Alec turned back to Marlena.

“There’s no record of the Awakening being performed after the eleventh century, just after you died,” he told the older woman.

Marlena seethed. Alec’s eyes suddenly widened, a horrible thought occurring to him.

“Marlena? How long did the average Slayer live? I mean, back in your time?” he demanded.

Everyone looked up at him; there was something in his tone that suggested very dire things. Marlena frowned and shrugged, puzzled by the vehemence in his voice.

“Well, slaying is obviously a very dangerous profession, but with the right training and a little luck, a Slayer could live easily into her seventies or older," she explained. "I myself am the ripe old age of fifty-six, at least I was until I died and stopped aging."

Alec just sank back against Willow, pale as a ghost.

"You look good for your age," Xander put in with a grin.

"No MILF jokes please," Buffy commented.

"Thanks but I got enough of that with your mom during that whole 'love spell gone awry' thing."

"What thing with my mom? I don't remember-"

“The lifespan of a Slayer is now thirty at best,” Giles commented quietly interrupting the pair.

Marlena whipped her head around in shock. “What?!? How?” she demanded.

“Because the ritual of Awakening hasn’t been performed since your time, Marlena,” Buffy finally spoke, her voice broken.

Marlena sagged against the RV, stunned.

“That ritual is vital to the Slayer’s survival. It supplies information about times past, it imparts talents and abilities of the Slayers before her, and it fortifies her mind and heart against corruption,” Marlena whispered. “Without these powers, any vampire with basic level mind control can-“

“Can kill a Slayer,” Buffy finished, remembering Kendra’s death at Drusilla’s hands and her own at the Master’s. The Council had a lot to answer for.

“You said the Awakening fortifies the Slayer’s mind and heart against corruption?” Willow asked. Marlena nodded. “What did you mean by that?”

“Well, becoming essentially a living weapon with the burden of defending the entire world from the forces of darkness is a heavy one to bear, it can also be terribly isolating, since the Slayer is usually unwilling to put any innocent people at risk with her presence.”

Buffy snorted slightly. “Yeah, it’s a lonely gig,” she whispered softly.

Alec put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

“Not anymore, sis,” he replied fervently.

She smiled softly up at him and placed a hand over his.

Marlena gestured to the two.

“See? This is rare. I mean, it’s great, don’t get me wrong, but usually the Slayer operates alone. Cut off from the world, and without her mind and heart supernaturally fortified,” Marlena shook her head, “it would be incredibly damaging.”

Buffy looked up at her.

“Faith,” she responded quietly.

Eyes widened in comprehension as Marlena frowned.

“And Faith is?”

“Another Slayer, one that went psycho and began killing a lot of people,” Buffy replied.

Marlena’s pale face grew a little paler.

“Two Slayers?” she breathed before shaking her head. “That’s not possible.”

Alec spoke up. “Buffy died, just like you said, against a master vampire with mind control. But Xander here,” he gestured to the younger man, “was able to resuscitate her. But for a while, she had died.”

“Thus activating the next Slayer,” Marlena sighed, putting a hand to her head.

“Kendra,” Buffy told her. “She died, too, killed by another vampire with Jedi mindtricks.”

Marlena snorted and shook her head in disbelief.

“Anyone notice a trend?” Alec asked mirthlessly. People nodded, Buffy continued to speak.

“After Kendra died, Faith was called. At first, things were okay, but she became-”

“Bitter?” Marlena finished, not looking up, her hand still over her eyes. “Full of rage and isolated?”

Buffy nodded. “Yeah, it got pretty bad. I wound up stabbing her and putting her into a coma, she wound up taking over my body and nearly killing me.”

Marlena just hung her head.

"Slayer versus Slayer. Such a thing has not occurred since the Great Fire!" Marlena exclaimed looking pale.

"Julianna: the hand of the Devil," Giles breathed.

"Okay, the adults look wigged and that's just not cool," Buffy commented worriedly.

"In 1666, there was a great fire in London - most of the city was destroyed. The cause of the fire is commonly believed to be a bakery fire. What isn't common knowledge is that the bakery was a vampire haven and the fire… was set by a Slayer."

"Julianna?" Buffy asked.

Marlena nodded. "Yes, Julianna had fallen in with a powerful vampire who was waging war against his progeny, believing that the vampire made a better ally against fighting other vampires than the Watcher's Council.”

"Suddenly having a tough time arguing with that," Xander put in bitterly.

Marlena nodded and continued. "There was a lot of collateral damage at one point, Julianna died and was revived, which triggered the creation of a new Slayer - Miranda. Miranda was… young and inexperienced and she too fell in with vampires, in this instance though, it was with the vampiric progeny that Julianna's master was trying to destroy."

"The Third All-Slayer's War," Giles whispered.

Buffy whipped her head around. "What do you mean 'third'? How many times have Slayers gone through the nightmare Faith and I did?"

"More than once," Marlena answered. "Whenever there are two Slayers, it always ends in a catastrophe; in this case, the Great Fire of London that wiped out twenty thousand homes and countless lives. Because of her part in the fire, her servitude to a vampire, and the year, 1666, Julianna became known as-"

"-the hand of the Devil," Buffy finished grimly.

"What was the name of the vampire she served?" Anya asked.

"I don't know, most of the records of that period were destroyed, I only know the name of the vampire progeny's leader, the offspring Julianna's master was trying to destroy - Heinrich Joseph Nest."

"My god," Giles breathed.

"Stop doing that!" Buffy cried out. "I hate it when you get all freaked out like that! Stiff upper lip, Giles!"

He turned to her slowly. "Heinrich Joseph Nest was the birth name of the vampire that you knew as 'The Master'."

"Oh…" was all Buffy said before sagging backwards with her mouth hanging open.

"So, the Master's sire wanted him dead," Alec mused silently. "Well, I can't fault him for that." He turned to his sister. "We should ask Angel about it."

Buffy looked up, still reeling from all the revelations. "Huh? Why?"

"According to the Watcher records I found, regarding the Order of Aurelius, The Master, Joseph, sired Darla, who sired Angel. Now, all of the literature I'd read always assumed that the Master was the founder of the Order."

"What you read was incorrect, son," Giles put in. "The order was founded by the 12th century prophet, Aurelius. The Master wasn't sired until the 15th century, according to my research."

"Wait a minute, no, that can't be right," Buffy put in.

'What do you mean?"

"Well, Angel told me about the first time he'd met the Master," Buffy stuttered only a little at the name. Clearly she was still frightened of the monster that had murdered her. "He said that the explaination Darla had given him regarding why he looked all freaky-deaky was that he was really old, 'Grown past the curse of human features' or something."

"Okay, so, what?" Alec asked.

"So, Angel told me that Darla said his face was already all batty when he sired her back in sixteen-something."

"I'm lost," Xander put in.

Willow snapped her fingers in comprehension. "Holy cats, I get it! The Master must've been the one that told Darla that he looked the way he did because he was old, but he was only two hundred when he sired her and he already looked like that. Angel is over two hundred and he still looks human.”

"And cute," Anya put in.

Xander glared at her as Alec leaned in.

"So, either the Master was way, way older than six hundred, or he lied to Darla about the cause of his disfiguration."

"Right, so which one is it?"

"I can answer that," a voice called out.

Everyone turned to see Faith coming down out of the camper.

"Hey, I thought you were sleeping," Buffy asked.

"Couldn’t sleep. Too much talking. Heard most of what's been going on out here," the dark-haired Slayer answered. "Nice to know we're not the first Slayers to screw up."

"Misery loves company," Xander commented.

"Hello, Faith," Marlena smiled warmly at the young woman.

Faith smiled and nodded, she still wasn't totally comfortable meeting new people, especially people that had been clued in to the sins of her past, but she persevered.

"When Abby, my Watcher, and I were hunting Kakistos, the cloven-hooved bastard that killed her, Abby told me that he looked that way because he'd been cursed."

Giles frowned. "The official explanation has always been that deformities in vampires are often the result of extreme old age."

"Yeah, well, would you want to broadcast to the world that somebody laid a mystical smackdown on your undead ass and turned you all fugly?"

"Good point."

"Okay, so, if Kakistos was cursed to look like that, maybe the Master was, too?" Willow said.

"A distinct possibility," Giles commented.

"Pop Quiz: who do we know that's good with curses?" Alec asked sourly.

"Gypsies," Buffy answered without hesitating.

"And who do we know that's good with gypsy magic and has a bat fetish?"

The group fell deathly silent for a moment before Xander found his voice and summarized the entire group's feelings.

"You gotta be friggin kidding me!"

"Dracula. Dracula cursed the Master, Dracula was the Master's sire, and Dracula was Julianna's master in London," Alec said with finality.

"That's a hell of a leap, bro," Buffy commented.

"It is, and he's also right," another voice called out.

Everyone turned to see Angel sitting in the doorway of the RV, safe from the rays of the rising sun.

"That would make Dracula your great-grandsire wouldn't it, Angel?" Buffy asked quietly.

"Yes, that's correct."

"And you didn't mention this because?"

"You didn't need to know."

Buffy leapt to her feet and stalked over to him.

"I think the fact that you are the offspring of the vampire that feasted on me a few months ago, and now seems to be pulling our collective strings, qualifies as 'need to know'!"

Angel looked up at Buffy from his seat on the RV's floor.

"We all have our secrets," he said simply.

"Wait a minute, something's off," Alec interrupted. "Angel, when was Darla turned?"

"Year of our lord, sixteen hundred and nine," the vampire replied mirthlessly.

"All right, so, at that point, the Master was about two hundred years old, we've got that much. That would have put him as being turned by Dracula around fourteen-oh-nine or so."

"So, what's the problem?" Buffy asked.

"So, Vlad Dracul wasn't even born until fourteen-thirty-one. Every history book on the planet puts his birth around then - thirty years before he could have possibly sired any vampires, he wasn't even a vampire when the Master was turned."

"Dracula's older than that," Angel replied calmly.

"But history-"

"-is wrong. The person known as Vlad the Impaler was born in the early fifteenth century, but Dracula the vampire is a lot older."

"What are you saying, that Vlad the Impaler, that Dracula isn't really... Dracula?" Alec asked, completely lost.

"I'm saying that my great grandsire, the vampire that you all know as 'Dracula', is in fact a lot older than the Vlad the Impaler of history. Whether or not he actually was the same person or not, I have no idea."

"He was," Marlena said quietly. Everyone turned to face her, as she explained, "Vlad Dracul was the name of Vlad the Impaler's father: he came from the Order of the Dragon, a title granted to him in fourteen-thirty-one by a German emperor."

"So what?" Xander asked.

"So, it was a lie: 'Vlad Dracul', 'Vlad the Impaler', and 'Dracula' are all the same person - a vampire."

"I think I speak for everyone when I say 'Huh'?!" Buffy commented.

"Dracula founded his own mortal family bloodline and then masqueraded as the first born male of every generation: he has played the part of his own father and son since the bloodline was established."

"So you're saying..."

"…that there has only ever been one Vlad Tepes, one Dracul, son of the dragon, and it's him."

"That bloodline was founded by Thocomerius of Wallachia in Twelve-Ninety A.D," Giles commented softly. "If that was in fact Dracula himself, that would put him at over nearly eight hundred years old, perfectly old enough to sire Joseph Heinrich Nest in the fifteenth century."

"And you may be assured that Dracula existed long before he came up with the idea of founding his own mortal bloodline to hide amongst. A plan like that doesn't just happen overnight, it would take years to lay the foundations of such a far-reaching scheme, even with the Romany helping."

Angel jerked his head up. "What?"

"I did say that Vlad founded a mortal bloodline - who did you think supplied the mortals?"

"So, the Romany are Vlad's descendants? That explains their loyalty."

"And their power. Magic tends to be passed on through blood," Willow added.

Marlena smiled at the red-haired witch. "That's right, Willow, is that how you inherited your talent for magic?"

Surprisingly, far from looking pleased at the praise, Willow instead seemed to withdraw within herself, pulling away from Alec and looking away.

"No."

"Willow and her mother had sort of a falling out a few years back, after she tried to burn her alive because of an evil demon, it's a long story."

"My apologies for reopening old wounds, young one," Marlena said sympathetically.

Willow didn't answer, instead, she pressed herself back against Alec and he wrapped her arms around her tightly.

"You know, I have that ring Dracula gave Spike," Buffy commented. "Could we use that to determine how old he actually is?"

Willow nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely, there's a spell-"

"I'm sorry, Willow, but I can't permit any casting of magic on the premises; the temptation to tap into the node here would prove too great for any spellcaster, and if that amount of power were to be misused, the results would be catastrophic."

"Oh. Yeah, catastrophic would be bad," the young witch agreed reluctantly. I'd be careful, Willow thought to herself angrily, frustrated that she was being treated like a rank amateur.

“We’re getting off topic,” Giles interjected. “Whatever or whoever Dracula may be, we need to focus on my former colleagues duplicity. If the Council has engaged in activities that endanger the life of the Slayer, then those must be addressed first and foremost.”

Marlena nodded, acknowledging the necessity for a change in topic. “Yes, of course, you’re quite right, Rupert,” she admitted. “Through their ignorance, the Council has not only violated the laws of the Powers That Be with two Slayers, but they’ve managed to nearly get them both killed,” Marlena sighed disgustedly. “Is it any wonder that the Hellmouth has picked now to arise from its realm?” She sighed once more, got up, and looked at Buffy with a newfound respect. “You must be a very formidable young woman to have endured all that you have, especially considering the Watchers’ grievous errors,” she complimented her.

Buffy smiled a little at this.

“Yeah, well, I’ve never played by the rules very well,” she offered.

Marlena snorted gently.

“I imagine not, but be that as it may, without the Awakening, you, and every Slayer since myself, has been fighting the forces of darkness with both hands tied behind their backs, so to speak.”

Willow spoke up.

“I don’t get it, if the Awakening is supposed to make the Slayer into Supergirl, why wouldn’t the Watchers perform it since you died?” she asked, pointing the question at Marlena.

“Control,” Alec replied quietly. All eyes turned to him. He looked up at Marlena. “Did you ever get any orders from the Council?” he asked.

Marlena shook her head.

“No, never. The Council was always there to guide and advise, never enslave,” she replied.

Alec nodded. “That’s it then.”

Xander looked confused.

“Okay, somewhere between point A and point Z, you lost me,” he commented.

Alec leaned forward to address the group.

“It’s very simple,” he began. Turning to Marlena, he continued. “You said that the Slayer, after she undergoes the Awakening, has access to all the knowledge possessed by the Slayers that came before her.”

Marlena nodded.

“Yes, that way the collective experience wasn’t lost with the Slayer’s death,” she explained.

Alec nodded.

“So, after the transformation, does the Watcher stay with the Slayer?”

Marlena shrugged.

“Usually. By then, especially right after the Cruciamentum, Watcher and Slayer have bonded in such a way that they are as kin.” She smiled slightly. “My own Watcher, Marius, was the one that introduced me to the Order of Saint Michael.” Her smile became sad. “He went back to England and died later that year; I miss that old man.”

Buffy gave her a sympathetic look as Alec continued.

“So, there it is, your Watcher stayed with you because he chose to, not because he had to.”

Giles’ eyes lit up in understanding.

“Marlena no longer required a Watcher after Awakening,” he breathed. “Possessing the knowledge of all the past Slayers, such a position would be rendered obsolete.”

Alec nodded.

“I think someone along the line figured that out and decided to make sure that such circumstances didn’t arise again,” he looked up at Marlena. “I’m willing to bet, after your death the Watcher’s Council began to make some pretty drastic reformations. The Awakened Slayer was probably far too precious a commodity to be allowed to join ‘futile’ crusades with renegade holy warriors and get herself killed fighting things like Hellmouths,” he commented. “So, rather than allowing the Slayer that opportunity to receive the power of the Awakening-”

“-they kept them vulnerable and dependent,” Marlena finished, her face now an ashen gray. “With only her own lifetime of experience to rely on, the Slayer would become dependent on her Watcher throughout her career, therefore assuring the Watcher’s Council’s continued existence.” She sighed and shook her head in dismay. “They’ve been sealing these poor girls’ fates, keeping them dependent and shrouded in ignorance.”

“And once the Awakening ritual was eradicated, the death toll for Slayers skyrocketed,” Alec finished, “which isn’t that big of a deal for the Council, since, as one Slayer dies…”

“…so is the next one called,” Buffy finished in a dead voice.

She looked up at her brother, her face tight with horror.

“An inexhaustible source of warriors to throw against the forces of darkness,” Alec concluded. “Warriors, who would forever be dependent on the Watcher’s Council. An organization that had no compunctions about sending unprepared girls to die, all the while firmly convinced of their own self-righteousness while assuring their organization’s continued survival.” Alec finished with a grim look.

“But now that’s changed,” he gestured to Buffy. “She has defied the Council, as has her Watcher, and they’ve both completely disregarded the Council completely.”

Marlena's eyes widened.

“They just let her go?” she asked amazing.

Buffy shook her head.

“Not exactly. After Giles was disbarred, they sent another Watcher, Wesley,” Buffy smiled slightly, remembering the cowardly Watcher. “From what Angel’s told me, Wesley’s been disbarred as well, for helping Giles and I fight against the Mayor, rather than hunting down Faith and dragging her back to England for the Council to be tried.”

Marlena snorted. “In other words, for doing the right thing,” she bit out disgustedly.

“Marlena? Does the hospital have a web page?” Willow asked suddenly.

Marlena frowned.

“Of course it does, how else could we let people know that-” she froze, understanding dawning.

“There’s no reference of the Grigori Estate anywhere on the net,” Alec informed her. “The Council has somehow managed to erase every reference to it from public record, reducing it to urban lore.” The half-demon sent Willow a grim look.

“Why?” Xander asked, puzzled.

“Because they don’t want Slayers having a place they can turn to if things get too rough,” Buffy answered. “If the Council offered us alternative sources of information and support, their own power over us would slip from ‘triple latte’ to ‘decaffeinated,” she looked up at Giles. “We’ve been played.”

Giles nodded slowly.

“Travers has a lot to answer for,” the older man growled.

Marlena got to her feet.

“I always wondered why no other Slayers came here,” she puzzled aloud.

“The fact that this place is billed as a demonic lunatic asylum may have something to do with that,” Willow chimed in, gently taking Alec’s hand. “Some seriously bad PR.”

“Courtesy of the Watcher’s Council,” Alec added. He turned to Giles. “At least we know why we couldn’t get any pertinent information from the Diaries.”

Giles nodded thoughtfully.

“Travers would have made sure that any reference to Marlena Esperanza or her awakening would be erased,” he sighed and shook his head. “The Watchers were meant to aid the Chosen One against the forces of darkness, by arming her with knowledge. Now to discover after all this time we’ve been sabotaging their efforts…” Giles looked down, Buffy walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“They have been sabotaging, not you” she reassured him firmly.

Giles looked up and nodded, placing a hand over the Slayer’s, squeezing it tightly. Buffy nodded and turned, grinning.

“Well, at least we know why I’ve had such a thing for vampires,” she gestured to the older ex-Slayer. “Your contribution, I suppose?”

Marlena grinned.

“Perhaps,” she replied. “It should be interesting to see what the next Slayer will inherit from you,” she observed wryly.

Buffy frowned.

“Wouldn’t that have been Kendra?” she asked.

Marlena shook her head.

“No, until you have Awakened, your contribution, just as every contribution from all the Slayers since myself, is held in limbo,” she smiled at Buffy. “I guess, in a way, the most recent person to influence your personality would be me.”

Buffy grinned. “I guess in a way, that makes you a mom to me,” she smiled.

Marlena mirrored the reaction.

“Well, an aunt anyhow, and as an aunt, I can tell you right now,” she placed warm hands on Buffy’s shoulders, “that no one could be more proud of their niece, than I am of you.”

She gathered the blonde Slayer into a tight embrace; Buffy smiled and held the older woman tightly. Alec smiled wryly as they parted.

“Does this mean you’re my aunt as well? After all,” he gestured to Giles, “he’s my father, and he has a father’s love for Buffy, which makes her my sister, in a way.”

Marlena smiled at the dark youth and walked over to him.

“I’d be honored to call such a dedicated and devoted young man my nephew,” she smiled and wrapped her arms around him.

Alec, who had never known a mother’s love, smiled and held the older woman tightly.

“Awwww…” Willow cooed.

Alec smiled and released Marlena. He smiled at Willow and placed a kiss on her head. Buffy came over to stand beside him with Giles behind her. Marlena regarded them all.

“Brother and sister, with a loving father watching over them both, just as they watch over each other.” She smiled, gesturing to the three of them. “This was what the Watcher’s Council was supposed to supply to the Slayers. A sense of love, and of family,” she smiled warmly at them and gestured at Alec.

“There’s great power in you, young man,” she observed.

Alec shrugged.

“Power is what you make of it, I've found, besides Buffy is the Chosen One, not I,” he replied.

Marlena shook her head. "We are all chosen for something, young man, and we can either deny that destiny or embrace it, for good or ill. But from what I see, you will be as much of a force in the world as your sister.” She smiled slightly as Buffy regarded her brother with deep affection.

“It’s Alec the Vampire Slayer,” she quipped.

He smiled as she kissed his face affectionately. Marlena nodded.

“That’s not an altogether inaccurate analogy, Buffy,” she gestured to Alec. “His resonance echoes loud and strong, just as yours does. The only difference being, his is a thing of darkness, whereas yours is of light. I sense he is meant for great things just as you are, Buffy,” she smiled, looking up at Giles. “You must be a very proud father to have had a hand in making such a son.”

Giles nodded.

“I am,” he replied, his voice thick with paternal pride.

Marlena smiled at him.

“You also, have a strong resonance Rupert Giles, your eyes shine with a clear sense of destiny. Your path is far from concluded and you will accomplish many great things.”

Giles blushed slightly at the praise. Marlena smiled and regarded Willow, who had cozyed up to Alec.

“As for you, young spell-weaver…” Willow looked up at her. “…I tell you this now. There are people who walk the well lit path,” she looked at Buffy, who grinned, “and those who prefer the sheltering comfort of dark,” she shifted her gaze at Alec, who smiled slightly, inclining his head, before Marlena turned back to Willow, “but some chosen few bring with them their own light, enriching both the lives of walkers of day and nighttime wanderers.”

She pointed at Willow.

“You, my dear, are such a light bearer, and thus enrich the lives of all those around you.”

Willow smiled, deeply touched. Alec kissed her head softly as the young witch wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing him tightly.

“What about me?” Xander piped up, bounding over to the group of friends.

Marlena’s face broke into a wide grin.

“You, young man, are that which fuels the fires of nobility, you and yours are laughter, joy, simplicity, the very things that a Slayer fights to protect. You must never lose your love of life, Alexander Harris, for it will be both your salvation and the salvation of those around you.”

Xander grinned and threw an arm around Anya.

“You hear that, honey? I’m going to be the salvation of everybody!” He told her, his chest swelling with pride.

Anya rolled his eyes as Marlena laughed and pointed at Anya.

“And you, my dear, will have to make sure that his heart remains as big as his mouth,” she informed the ex-demon.

Anya smiled and patted Xander’s chest.

“Yes, he has all kind of big parts,” Anya assured her, “he’s got a big mouth, a big heart, and you should see his-”

“Anya!” Xander cried.

Marlena threw her head back and laughed, a sound of pure life and gaiety, as Xander blushed furiously and those in the group exchanged wry looks.

Buffy, chuckling, turned back to Marlena. “So, what about this weird design thingy? How do we figure it out?”

Marlena gave her a sympathetic look.

“Don’t ask me to try and unravel one of Sasha’s messages. Suffice it to say, I’ve learned that his predictions are rarely inaccurate.” She frowned, thinking. “I’ll try to talk to him, meanwhile, I imagine the lot of you are fairly fatigued.”

She turned her head and pointed. Buffy and Giles turned to look at Alec and Willow curled up together, resting against the side of the RV, sound asleep. Buffy smiled and yawned.

“Yeah, I’m wiped. Let’s go find a nice rest stop somewhere and call it a day. We can try to puzzle out Sasha’s crypt-o-gram later.”

Smiling, she turned back to Marlena and reached to give her a tight hug.

“Thank you so much,” she whispered.

Marlena smiled and released the girl, stroking her face affectionately.

“You are more than welcome, child.” Then she smiled teasingly. “Do you still believe I don’t have any right to the title of ‘Slayer’?”

Buffy blushed, embarrassed by her earlier harsh words.

“Trust me, Marlena, you’re all Slayer; no 'ex' about it," she replied.

Marlena grinned.

“If you have any other problems, please don't hesitate to give me a chant. Remember,” she leveled a finger at the Slayer, “you are not alone. You are Buffy Summers, yes, but you are also the Slayer and every Slayer that has come since. When the time is right, they will come to your aid.”

Buffy nodded, smiling as she turned and headed up the stairs leading into the RV. Giles came over to Marlena.

“Thank you for everything, Marlena. You’ve made things much clearer for us all.”

Marlena smiled and placed a warm kiss on Giles’ cheek, he blushed as Xander whooped, waking up Alec and Willow.

“Check out the G-man, smooth with the ladies!” he laughed.

Giles cleared his throat and, sending Marlena a smile, followed Buffy into the mobile home. Xander and Anya said their goodbyes, and Willow and Alec were following when Marlena put a restraining hand on Alec’s shoulder.

“A moment, please.”

Alec turned and frowned, then gestured to Willow to go on ahead. She did so and Alec regarded the older woman.

“What’s up?” he asked.

Marlena smiled a secret smile at him.

“You love her, do you not?” she asked.

Alec looked up at where Willow had been.

“Willow? Yeah. More than I thought was ever possible.”

Marlena shook her head, smiling.

“Not Willow, though this, too, is true. I was referring to the Key, the one called Dawn.”

Alec’s eyes bulged in surprise.

“What are you ta-”

Marlena held up a hand silencing him.

“Know this, Alec Giles, this love you hold for Dawn is not sinful nor does it betray the love you hold for Willow in any way. One you love with your heart, the other you love with your soul, and thus, these two loves shall save all hearts and all souls,” she told him.

Alec shook his head. “I don’t understand,” he told her.

Marlena smiled and stroked his hair affectionately.

“You will, nephew, now go. Your destiny calls, and it is a loud summons,” she grinned as she gave the dark young man a hug and a kiss on the cheek, before sending him on his way.

The door closed and the RV pulled away from the estate. Alec sat next to Willow on their bed.

“What was that all about?” she asked curiously.

Alec opened his mouth… and, to his own surprise, closed it again. There was no reason not to tell her, Willow had certainly proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was completely secure in the knowledge of his love for her. And yet, he felt a strangely compelling reluctance to do so. He turned to look at Dawn, who was awake and currently griping with Buffy about something inane before turning back to Willow.

“Aunty stuff,” he said at last.

Willow smiled and kissed him.

“Okay, well, good, you need a strong maternal presence in your life,” she grinned at him, “aside from me.”

Alec snorted. “Unless I have a serious Oedipus complex, I don’t think I regard you as a mother figure in my life, lover.”

Willow grinned and nuzzled against his chest. He held her and gently drifted off to sleep.

As the RV pulled away, Marlena lightly fingered the lock of hair she'd cut from Alec's head with her fingernails; a minor enchantment, but a useful one. She whispered a few words over the dark strands and they quickly dissolved into a tiny pool of blackness. Marlena leaned over it, peering intently. Suddenly, a tiny tendril lashed out from the inky substance and slashed her across the cheek. The white-haired Slayer cried out and cast the substance to the ground, it hissed and bubbled as it began to consume the earth beneath.

Lightly, she figured the wound on her check, and the large, still not quite healed wound on her shoulder, it had turned a pale violet color with black veins branching out into the rest of her shoulder and arm, like a virulent infection.

She winced slightly and lifted her head, addressing the direction the RV had gone.

"Oh, Cain, after so long a time, does your resurrection symbolize your redemption, or shall you only attempt to finish what you started with the conquest of Paradise?"

Turning, she walked away, leaving the questions to be answered by the dark and the silence.

In dreams and in silence, Anya spoke the words and waited.

"What have you to report, Anyanka?" said the spectral dream-figure of D'Hoffryn.

"You were right, we have to kill him," she said simply.

D'Hoffryn took a few minutes to put that statement into its proper context; Anya's rather direct method of conversation sometimes took a little getting used to.

"Then you know what must be done," the elder demon replied.

Anya sighed and in the waking world, she may have sighed in her sleep. "Yeah, I do. Post the bounty and contact the Order of Taraka - Alec Giles has to die."

"And his friends?"

"You know the deal, D'Hoffryn, Xander is off limits." She looked down for a minute, took a deep breath and looked up again. "The others… whatever."

"As you say then, Anyanka."

With that, D'Hoffryn departed from the dream leaving her alone with her treachery.

A treachery, however, that even in the land of dreams, had not gone unnoticed by a pair of cold, cruel eyes.

'Whatever', little demon?

We shall see!





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