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SCOTLAND
Giles got out of bed and stretched his weary body. It felt nice and comfortable in bed with the woman he loved, but he knew he couldn’t stay there all day. Joyce was about to follow him when he motioned for her to stay.
“Don’t get up,” he said, “I was just going to fix us some breakfast...in bed.”
“But I feel fine,” she said truthfully. She had felt much better from the other day. What ever the crystal did...it worked quite well.
“I know,” he smiled, “But I want to do this for you. Besides, when was the last time you had breakfast in bed?”
Joyce smiled warmly, “I see your point. Fine, you win. I’ll stay here. Just promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“No more beans.”
Giles grinned and quietly closed the door behind him. He could hear the soft breathing sounds coming from the other room. Amanda and her Watcher, Barnes, were still fast asleep. He had almost forgotten that the majority of the Slayers life was nocturnal. Buffy was exception, in that, as well as most everything else, and Giles had gotten used to the unconventional method of operations.
As he walked to the kitchen, he passed a mirror on the wall. Giles stopped and gazed at his reflection. He could see a few more lines forming around his eyes, and his hair was begining to turn gray. He supposed it could be worse. At least he was still alive to witness the gradual passing of time. Most Slayers, and many Watchers didn’t.
He stretched, and felt a sharp pain travel down his shoulder to his chest. Ever since he was shot, his shoulder had hurt. That was a given. But the poultice his older self had given him, had taken the edge off the pain. Now, the stabbing pain had returned with a vengeance, along with something else...a general feeling of unwellness. This concerned him more than the pain.
Giles gently removed the bandage, and examined his wounds. It had been three days since the incident, and his shoulder was getting worse. The area around the wound was red and hot to the touch. He noticed that the redness was spreading out from center point, like streaks. Great, he was getting an infection! That was the last thing he needed. Giles knew he had to be at his best when the time came to confront Ramsey, and he couldn’t do anything being sick.
He replaced the bandage and put some water on the wood stove for tea. While he was preparing breakfast, he felt a presence from behind, “You’re up early,” Barnes said, rubbing the stubble on his chin.
“Um...yes, well...I suppose I am,” Giles agreed, wearily. “You hungry?”
“Aye,” Barnes smiled, “thank ye.” He saw Giles wince in pain, as he reached for the bread, “Are ye all right?”
“Y-yes,” Giles lied, “I-I’m fine. Just a little sore is all.” Then changing the subject, he said, “Did you have a good night’s sleep?”
“Fine,” he said, realizing he wouldn’t get anymore information from the Englishman, “So, tell me more about why you’re here.”
Giles begins to recount the past several days with the Watcher, knowing that it was probably not the wisest thing to do...revealing the future...but also knowing that this man and his Slayer might be able to help him and Joyce return to his Slayer and her daughter.
SUNNYDALE
Buffy rubbed her tired eyes and looked over at Willow, who was asleep at the computer. It was now four in the morning, and the Gang was on the verge of exhaustion. All of this research, and what did they have to show for it...? Nothing!
Robert was sitting at the desk, reading over this timeline’s Diary, when a very annoyed Slayer closed it on him, “Okay,” she growled, “Give it up!”
“Give what up?” he blinked in confusion.
“I want to know the truth,” she insisted, “I want to know exactly why you’re here!”
“I told you already,” he yawned, “the Council sent me back to make sure that time doesn’t alter our future.”
“Not good enough.”
“Well,” he rose to his full height, towering over his sister, “it’ll have to be. Buffy, if I tell you anything more, it could damage the timeline....”
“Bull!”
“Buffy...”
“I want to know!”
Robert sighed, and took off his glasses, “Very well, I’ll tell you what I can. But when I say I can’t reveal anything more...don’t argue with me. Deal?”
Buffy considered this for a moment. Well, it was better than nothing, “Deal.”
Robert smiled and sat down once again, “Of all the Slayers through out time, no one has ever held a candle to you. You were the first, and only Slayer to ever retire...”
“Retire?” Buffy asked hopefully, “As in...not dying, retired?”
“Not dying,” he confirmed, “The Council never knew what would happen to a Slayer if she lived long enough. When you reached your fortieth birthday, a new Slayer was automatically called. It was amazing, really. I mean, one moment you’re THE Slayer, next....we got word that another has taken the mantle.”
“At forty? So, you mean, all I have to do is make it to then?”
“Yes,” Robert nodded, “Not that it stopped you from fighting evil...”
“Good God,” Buffy said exasperated, “I finally get a chance to walk away from all this, and I don’t?! What the hell was I on?!”
Robert just smiled at that and continued, “Anyway, when we discovered that the Mirror was still functional, you thought that it could aid us in the war...”
“Ah...war?”
The young Watcher now drew an audience with Buffy’s remark, “Well, that’s a long story...one in which I really can’t get into right now...suffice to say, that it was not going well for us, and you thought that the Mirror could show us a way to win. Unfortunately, so did our opponents...”
“So, now they are trying to get the Mirror too,” Oz deduced.
“Yes,” he nodded, “Only their goal is to change the past, to eradicate the future.”
“My god,” Wesley’s eye grew wide, “if they somehow manage to alter time, then Buffy might never become a Slayer...”
“And it’s back to the wild wonderful world of Evil Me,” Willow finished, “I don’t think I want to be her...I mean, the outfit alone...”
“But how are you going to change this?” Buffy asked. “I mean, what is your part in all this?”
Before Robert could answer her, the doors bust open with a tremendous thud. And as they group turned to see what the commotion was, ten vampires stormed the Library...
SCOTLAND
Giles had finished explaining all that he thought he could, leaving out the part of him being from the future. As far a he felt, all Barnes needed to know was the importance to stopping Ramsey from using the Mirror.
“Ramsey,” Barnes shook his head, “I canna believe he would do something like this. He’s a good man...”
“I have no doubt,” Giles agreed, “but his good intentions will alter time in a way we don’t want it to.”
“Yes,” he nodded, “If Ramsey saves his Slayer,” he said, unaware that Amanda had entered the room, “then Amanda would never be called. It would effect the timing all future Slayers. Amanda has done some good things as Slayer...to take that away...”
“We wilna give him that chance,” Amanda said, with a determined look.
“I hope it’s that easy,” Giles said, wondering if their meddling hadn’t already effected his Slayer...
SUNNYDALE
As the vampires rushed in, all those in the room, scattered, grabbing what they could to defend themselves. Each vampire took on each member of the Scooby Gang, trying to keep them separated, while the remaining three raced to the Mirror.
Out of the corner of her eye, Buffy saw this, and quickly disposed of her attacker. She bolted to the Mirror as fast as she could, with her stake in hand. One of the vampires saw this and panicked...knocking into the Mirror....and knocking it face up.
As the Mirror began to fall, it was as though time was slowing down, and Buffy was looking down on the events, like she was watching a movie. Robert heard his sister call out, and turned around, just in time to see the Mirror hit the floor.
Suddenly, a bolt of white light, the size of the Mirror, shot out, hitting the ceiling. There was a god awful roar from the injured Looking Glass, as the light radiated outward, like a shock wave, bathing all those in its path with a blinding, painful light.
Then it was over.
And Time stopped.
SCOTLAND
At that very moment, in two separate houses, Joyce and Morag cried out in pain.
Giles, raced into the room were he left Joyce, to find her huddled in the bed, shaking. “Joyce!” he cried out, taking her in his arms, “Joyce, love...what is it?”
“The...the Mirror...” she whispered, still shaking in his arms, “Something’s happened to the Mirror.”
“Do you know what?” Giles asked, “We still have four days until the eclipse...”
“No,” she shook her head violently, “No! No this Mirror. OUR MIRROR! We have to go now! We have to stop it!”
“Stop what?” Barnes asked, “If this event isn’t going to happen for another four days, why is she so insistent on urgency?”
Giles looked at Barnes and Amanda, “If it’s one thing I’ve learned with this entire affair, is that one doesn’t question those attached to the Mirror.” He then turned back to Joyce and asked, “Are you sure you’re up to this, so soon?”
Joyce kissed him on the lips, “I’m feeling fine now, really. Even look for yourself.” She showed him her back, and to Giles amazement, it was completely healed. “So, I can travel.” She suddenly paused and looked her lover deeply in his eyes, “Can you? You don’t look well.”
Giles let go of her and stood up, “Yes, I-I’m fine. Let’s eat first, then we’ll set off for the caves.”
****** Morag’s screams shook the house. Gussie ran over to his wife and embraced her, gently stroking her hair, “There, there, now,” he soothed, “Tis be all right. No need to fret ov’r Malcom...he knows more about these matters than you or I. He’ll be fine.”
“Tis nay that,” she shook, “Tis the Mirror! It’s crying out for me! It’s in pain!”
She tried to stand up, but the stress of her pregnancy and the events of the past several days, was more than her body could handle. She sat back down, crying softly.
While all this was going on, Wolf watched with burning intent. He hadn’t been knock unconscious for long, and the moment he came to, he began to plot her escape. Now, with this distraction, he would soon get his wish. Something was indeed happening to the Mirror, he could feel that, but, it neither concerned him, nor upset him at the moment. The only thing that had any importance was, getting to the Mirror and killing that traitorous Ramsey.
As he watched Gussie fawn over his ailing wife, Wolf began to loosen the ropes that restrained him. It didn’t take long for him to break free of the bonds that held him. Before anyone could react, he leaped to his feet and rushed toward Gussie and Morag. He picked the man up off his feet, and threw him into a wall.
“But how?” Gussie said, still in shock over the quickness of his cousin’s movements.
“Tha’s that wondrous thing about having a child do a man’s work,” He spat, as he raced to the door, “Ye never know, when it will blow up in ye face!”
To both Morag’s and Gussie’s horror, Wolf disappeared out into the hall, and soon out the door.
****** The elder Rupert Giles had reigned his horse to a stop. The ride had been easy going for the most part, but now he had to proceed the rest of the way on foot. Soon he would reach the cave. Soon he would stop Ramsey.
Soon, it would be over.
Without warning, a tremendous pain ripped through him. He clutched his chest and fell up against a tree. Something was happening! Something was altering time, again. And this time, it might be permanent!
“P-please,” he whispered through the pain, “please not yet. Just a little more time, is all I need. Just a little more time.”
SUNNYDALE
Buffy looked around, confused.
Time had stopped.
But, why hadn't she?
She gazed with morbid fascination at the scene that was frozen before her. He friends, her family...gripped in a fight to the death with assailants that somehow knew the secret they were hiding here. How did they know? And how was she going to do this alone?
“Buffy?”
Buffy whirled around to see Robert pulling himself up from the floor. He was bleeding from a cut on his forehead, but otherwise seemed okay...except for the fact that he was the only other person not turned to a living statue.
“What the hell happened?” she asked, walking over to the small window in Giles’ office. She looked out and noticed that it wasn’t just inside the library that time has stood still. It was everywhere!
Robert looked just as confused as her, and for the first time since his arrival, she saw the strong family resemblance. He had the same looked she tended to get when things were just too complicated for her to grasp. “I wish to god I knew,” he said truthfully, “this wasn’t exactly something I had planned on.”
“What did you plan on?” Buffy asked suspiciously, “Did you know about these guys?” she pointed to the frozen vampires.
“Well,” he said, painfully, “Um...yes.”
“YES!?” Buffy stomped her feet, “You knew that this could happen, and you didn’t think to share?!”
“Buffy,” he pleaded, “listen to me. I was not the first to come through the Glass. The Mirror was being held at the Council’s compound, when it was attacked. Several vampires managed to steal the Crystal, activate the Mirror and go through it, before we could stop them. It was your idea that I go to track them down. The only problem was that we didn’t know where in time, they had gone to....” He paused.
“Please,” Buffy said, sitting down, “go on. This is just getting interesting.”
“You knew that Mirror would be activated in the past, so we waited,” he continued, “When it was, I stepped through, hoping that it would lead me to them.”
“And here they are.”
“Y-yes,” he stuttered, “but, at first I thought I was off mark. That’s why I didn’t say anything. Besides, you told me not to. And you are not the person to argue with.”
“What position do I have?” she asked, “I mean, if I’m not the Slayer anymore, why would I work for the Council? They fired Giles, and screwed up my life.”
“Things change,” he explained, “You actually become a driving force within the Council, heading up the battle against evil. They really respect you...and so do I.”
Buffy smiled at the child-like shyness of his last remark, “Okay, so now that these guys are here...is there anything else I should know?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to make me guess?”
Robert sighed and shook his head, “No. These are not all of them. There are three missing.”
SCOTLAND
They had been walking for hours. Before leaving, Giles informed vampire/Wolf where they were heading. While Wolf was concerned with the rapid decline of events, he promised that he would join up with them as soon as the sun set. Giles wasn’t too comfortable with that, but he knew that this concerned Wolf as much as anyone else.
The party was silent for the most part, with only small talk to break the peace. Amanda had taken the lead, stalking through the woods like a cat looking for prey. Barnes had slipped in second position, being that he, and he Slayer knew the lay of the land better than Giles. Joyce had walked next to Giles for some time, concerned with the tired, pained expression on the Watcher’s face.
She wanted to find out how he was, but every time she asked, he changed the subject. So, Joyce figured that when he wanted to share, he would.
“We don’t have too much farther to go,” Barnes announced. Then seeing Giles miss a step, he added, “We’ll rest here for a bit, aye? Amanda, dear, fetch us some water, if you please?”
“Aye,” she said, bounding off into the woods with a deerskin.
Giles sat down on the spongy grass, propping his back against a large boulder. Joyce knelt by his side with a worried looked on her face, “Let me see,” she insisted, reaching for the bandage.
“Joyce really, I’m fine,” Giles tried to nudge her away, but found it impossible once she made up her mind.
She touched her hand to his forehead and frowned, “No you’re not. You’re feverish. Now, let me see!”
She peeled back the bandage and gasped. It was painfully red, and raw. Something was definitely going on in his body, something that had to be corrected fast. “Rupert, how long has this been like this?”
“Not long,” he said truthfully, “It’s only gotten worse since this morning. If we can get to the cave and stop Ramsey, we can go home, and see a doctor....both of us.”
“Yes,” she agreed, “but that’s providing you make it there. God, I wish we had aspirin...or antibiotics...”
“Perhaps I can find something that might help,” Barnes offered, “It might not be much, but it could ease his suffering.”
“That would be wonderful,” Joyce said, kissing Giles on his warm forehead, “Thank you.”
As Barnes rose, he felt the ground beneath him tremble...lightly at first, then the quake hit with such deadly force that it threw him to the ground. He could hear Amanda’s calls as he struggled to his feet. Giles and Joyce also tried to get up, but were knocked down by the power of the quake.
Amanda ran over to her Watcher, but was cut off when the ground opened up between them, “Mister Barnes! she shouted trying to reach him, as he slipped through the fissure, “Give me ye hand!”
“Amanda wait!” Giles shouted, struggling to get to his feet.
Barnes held onto the edge of the fissure for a few moments, before his grip gave out. the last thing he saw before plummeting into the abyss was the tragic look of loss on his Slayer’s face.
“NO!!!”
She wanted to go to him. She suddenly realized that she couldn’t live without him. but before she could jump down after him, she felt the strong arms of Giles pull her back.
“What do ye think ye doing?!” Amanda spat. The quake had ended, but the ground shook from her rage and sorrow.
“Going after him won’t do him, or you any good,” Giles tried to reason, “It’s too late.”
“Nay!” she struggled against him, “Ye dinna understand. I canna do this without him!”
Giles stopped cold.
“Giles, I can’t do this without you!”
That memory hit Giles like a ton of bricks. The same words. The same desperate plea. The same look of despair.
He gathered her up in his arms and hugged her, as the tears flowed down her young cheeks. This is what Buffy meant....what she would have gone through if Angel had killed him. He promised himself that he would never allow her to feel the pain that this young Slayer was now going through...not if he could help it.
SUNNYDALE
Buffy and Robert managed to move the vampires away from their friends as though they were mannequins in a department store. Once that task was done, they walked over to the Mirror and gently righted it. Buffy almost thought that in doing this it would fix the time problem. But once it was back to it’s proper place, and time still had not returned to normal, she realized that was only wishful thinking.
“So, what do we do now? And why are we the only ones not frozen?” she asked, sitting down at the center table.
“I honestly don’t know,” Robert said, “The only thing I can think of, for the reason we are not frozen is that we are a part of the Mirror...by birth. After that...your guess is as good as mine.”
“Surprise us, dear boy,” a voice filled the quiet room, “I would love ta hear what ye have to say.”
Buffy and Robert turned around to see a one of the missing vampires standing by the library door. He strode in calmly and looked at the two siblings with an evil grin, “So,” he said, turning to Robert, “Ye sister sent ye back to the slaughter. Nice Fey bitch, aye?”
Robert’s eyes narrowed, “Wolf. I’d might have known it was you, who was behind this.”
“Wolf?” Buffy said, looking at both men, “Wolf?! But how?”
“Ye dinna tell her, lad?” Wolf sneered, “Ye dinna tell her why she sent ye back...why me and my kin want what’s ours?”
Robert fell silent.
“Ye, dinna even tell her what I did to your parents...to HER parents?” he stepped aside and grinned, “Meg dear...Wolfie...come meet your cousin.”
And older Meg Fergusson and her younger brother Wolfie, strode into the room. There was no doubt that they were now vampires...but that didn’t explain to Buffy how....or why.
“Now,” Wolf said, staring at them with predator eyes, “time for ye to die....like ye parents did, so well.”
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