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Our story begins with a simple decision, Giles does not return to England. Who would have thought that such a simple thing could bring about so much tragedy? Giles still feeling the loss of his Slayer, his buffy. The memories of her laying there broken after she 'fell' burned into his mind. But in his heart something else burned, the darkness that is the past. Ripper, the cold place he touched when he killed Ben to save the world. He would never admit it out loud, but he liked it. He always did.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆Sunnydale has been hellish since the fall of the slayer. Demons had gotten wind of the news that there was no slayernprotecting the hell mouth and moved in with frightening speed."With the slayer gone we will have to do what we can to hold off the hordes of demons and vampires" Giles announces. "If we all work together and have some luck on our side, we should be able to hold out until the council works out how to proceed."Looking round the room Giles watches as everyone grimly nods and looks away."I know its not ideal but its the best we have got." Giles snaps "now I'll patrol the town tonight if you four can patrol the Graveyard."Giles slips his glasses off his face and proceeds to polish them. Missing the shared looks that the four friends share with eachother."Right, well then, you know what you need to do." He slides his glasses back onto his nose."And if you see Spike, stake him will you. If he can't be useful he can at least be gone."Xander, Anya, Tara and Willow all snap their heads up and stare at Giles with looks of shock."Oh all right leave him be." Giles sighs. "I just dont like not knowing what he is up to"Without any further comment Giles slips through into the office and proceeds to find a comfortable position in the chair to have a quick nap before patrolling.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆The rest happens as it did the first time. The true timeline. The friends found themselves at the grave of the late Buffy Summers preforming a resurrection ritual. That was interrupted by a gang of demons who had rolled into town after learning of the absent slayer.Unfortunately as the friends ran for their lives 'The Event' happens that turns this univers away from the main. Willow and Tara are separated to try and confuse the demons and make it harder to be tracked. They plan to meet back up at the magic box. That is the plan but not what happens.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆"Here witchy witchy witchy!" The rough sound of the demon taunts. "We just wanna talk to you."Tara pumped her legs harder, lungs burning and then glances back to see where the demon was. That was the fatal mistake. She knew, had been told so many times, never look back. Just run. But she looked and she tripped. Full sprint to sliding to a stop face down on the road. The pain as her face was torn open on the floor."Oh god, please no" she begged as the demons circled round her. She starts shaking in uncontrollable fear.The demons kick down the stands of their bikes and dismount. There are seven of them. They are all laughing and jeering at her as she curls into a little ball."Now now missy, dont you worry none. I ain't gunna hurt ya. We just gots a few questions you might be able to help us with." Comes the rough voice of a demons as he crouches down beside her. "Tell me darlin', is it true you have gone and lost your slayer?"Tara wimpers and nods meekly. The demon laughs and slaps his leg happily."Well now thats the best news I have heard all day." He stands up and pulls a cigar out his pocket and lights it. "See me and my boys we been bored lately, the road being as open and long as it is. So we think it's time to settle and what better place than right here?"Tara looks up at the demon lifting her head fro. It curled position."T-t-there I-I-I answered your q-q-question" she stammers "C-c-can I g-g-g-go now? Please?"The demon chuckles low in his throat.
"See now. We have a problem. I promised I aint gunna hurt ya. And I'm not. Demon of my word me." He takes a deep drag on his cigar. "But my boys here. They have needs and what kinda leader I would be if I didn't let them see to their needs? No my sweet little thing. No you can't go. But you will scream."☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆I will spare you the details. But they made good on their promise. The leader never touched Tara, but she screamed until her throat blead, she screamed right up until her heart gave out from blood loss. I wish I had better news for you reader. I really wish I did.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆Dark. Dark and small and cold. Trapped. Must get out.Buffy slammed her fists into the lid again and again. Finally breaking through just to be met with dirt. Fortunately it had been very rainy of late and the dirt was closer to mud, this stopped it all rushing in on her as she ripped the lid of the coffin apart.Digging. so much digging. Punch up, grab dirt, pull it behind. Do it again. Both hands ripping at the prison she woke up in. Too long. Head fuzzy. Punch harder. No dirt left to grab. Push up with legs.Air. Cold damp air. Lungs heaving pulling herself out of the ground. Wet face. Tears. She screams into the night. Another scream from somewhere.Buffy's reflexes kick in and she starts to stumble towards where the scream comes from. One foot after the other. Stumble. Tree for ballance. Coughing, spitting out foul liquid. Collapse and vomit it all out.Feeling better she pulls herself up and heads towards the screaming.Buffy arrives too late. The demons are standing around the corpse of a person. How does she know its dead? She just does. But then something stabs in her heart as she locks eyes on the face. She knows that face.The demons laughing turn to have fun with this other human. They don't have fun. One by one buffy rips them apart. Numb to the sounds of screaming from the demons as she uses their own knives and her strength to take them to pieces. It's all over in minutes.She bends down and scoops up the body of the girl. She can't think of her name. Just snatches of memory showing them laughing together. She stumbles upright and starts walking. She doesn't know where she is going but she follows her feet.An unknown length of time, lots of walking. She is at a shop. There is a lightning inside.Buffy reaches forward and opens the door pushing it open."Tara about time we have been....." Xander starts then stops. He goes whiter than paper. "Buffy" he whispers.The others jump to their feet and rush forward. Their looks of shock morphing to pained horror as they take in her dirt covered blood soaked image."TARA" willow screams.
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Tara was gone. Buffy was back. The group was broken. They looked about with accusing eyes.They realised the ritual had worked but brought buffy back exactly where she was. Buried in a pine box 6 foot deep covered in earth. She had clawed her way free and then did what she was trained to do, she tried to save someone from demons but was too late.They buried Tara. It was a warm sunny afternoon. They all gathered beneath a cherry tree to say their farewells. Nobody seemed to want to leave as the sun sank lower. The sound of willows sobbing had faded to background noise.Giles had found himself walking away from the group. He was angry. How dare they mess with life and death. Of course he missed Buffy but to do what they did, it was so stupid.Giles found himself leaning against the wall of the Graveyard as darkness fell."Well the demons have all gone. Most of the vamps too" Clear English with just a hint of class that had been marred by years of talking filth. "Guess they didn't want to stick around and be next up for the slayers butchering."Spike hopped up gracefully onto the wall next to Giles. Long coat flowing down behind him as he landed in a perfect crossed legged position.Taking out a cigarette and holding it in his mouth he cocks his head sideways to look at Giles as he lights it."The slayer being back is a good thing." Spike comments. "Im sorry that the witch is dead though. She never did no harm by me.""Shut up Spike" Giles snapped. "She was a child, and now she is gone. She ..... she died, a horrible death."Giles took his glasses off and began to polish them."The lot of them are just bloody children." Giles says harshly. "I should have kept a better eye on them. No. I should never have let them take on the tasks of the slayer. And I should never have let them have access to the magic shop."Giles wipes at his eyes with a hanky."They didnt know what they were doing or what they were messing with." Giles growls in frustrated anger. "Buffy is back yes but she had barely said two words. They brought her back in her coffin spike. She... she had to dig her way out. And what did she find? A world of pain and hurt. She crawled from the ground only to be met with a gang of demons..... demons defiling..."Giles broke then. The crying that was stopping his words ends. He stands up straight and slides his glasses onto his face."I know what I have to do." Giles says calmly. "I have to set things right.""Well now gramps, wait just a minute." Spike says flicking away his cigarette. "What are we talking about here? More magical woo woo stuff or what? What we looking at? I'm sorry the witch died but we have the slayer back."Giles in a fluid motion slaps spike in the chest. Spike for a second goes to laugh at the childish gesture before he looks down at the foot long spike of wood that is protruding from his chest."Oh bugger" Spike exclaims just seconds before he blasts into dust.Giles nods."I will set things right."
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It's been a week since Tara was laid to rest. Willow hasn't left her bedroom and who can blame her.Buffy is likewise just moping around home. Again nobody is blaming her.Xander and Anya both talk loudly about how they pulled her back from one of the untold hell dimensions so it's a miracle that she can function at all.Giles is pottering around the magic box, it's late evening and he seems to be gathering some supplies."Umm Giles?" Anya calls from the register. "Not that I mind too much but these are some very expensive ingredients. Are you using them or just moving them?"Giles doesn't answer. He just continues to gather bits of plant and dried bits or powdered that's."You see i know its your shop, well our shop really, but if you use this stuff how will we make money from it?" Anya continues to question as she starts to really pay attention to what he is gathering. " I mean if you need it of course take it, but can I know what you have planned?"Giles stops dead in his tracks and turns to Anya. His eyes wild and his breathing heavy."Oh Anya. Thats enough now." He growls stepping forwards. "You have been alive for hundreds of years. And yet you still know nothing. You greedy self centered little annoyance."Giles takes another step towards Anya, and she takes a step back and towards the office."All you care for is money and things." Giles begins. "Tell me, Anya, did you complain this much when the others gathered the materials for the ritual? Did you bug them endlessly about profit loss..... wait of course you did. But you still helped them anyway. You are perhaps the most guilty of all of them."Giles throws up and hand and flicks it towards Anya. A glowing ball of white hot fire flies out of his palm towards Anya as she dives into the office and slams the door shut, locking it.Anya snatches up the phone and dials Xander. Sitting with her back to the wall on the other side of the filing cabinet where Giles can't see her, phone pressed against her ear desperately willing Xander to answer the phone faster.Giles ignores the fact that the wall of the magic shop is on fire. He gathers up a few ingredients in his hands and faces the wall where he knows Anya is hiding. With rapid fire Latin falling from his tongue the ingredients begin to glow a purple black colour and grown into a solid large ball of purple energy with a black core. As the words finish Giles hefts the orb of energy at the wall and smiles as it passes through the drywall and vanishes from sight.Anya finally hears the click of the receiver being picked up."Harris residence?" Comes the smooth voice that she loves."Xander. It's Giles. He....." that's all anya manages to get out before she is surrounded by purple and black energy and is ripped through the fabric of reality.The next thing she feels is her skin burning and her eyes boiling as she looks around a hellish landscape of fire and smoke. She screams until her lungs burn.☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆So Giles so far has killed Spike and banished Anya to a fire and brimstone dimension knowing she would succumb shortly after arrival.Picking up the ingredients thst he had gathered he leaves the magic box for the last time and heads for home. Letting the fire spread and a confused Xander calling out for his love on a discarded telephone.
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She wasn't sure what caused her to bolt up in bed. She wasn't dreaming of anything. Eyes scanning round the darkness of the room she misses the shadow at the foot of her bed.Willow hadn't been dreaming She often dreamed of the things she wished she could tell Tara or things that they had done before. But something wike her up.As she sits there she rubs the top of her arm and hears a small sound. Clicking on the light she sees the form of Giles at the foot of her bed. Hunched over and crying freely."Giles?" Willows voice cracks. "Are you OK? What's happened?"Giles looks up at willow with tears in his eyes. He watches as she pulls herself into a crossed legged position, scratching at the top of her arm as she looks on worried at her friend and mentor."Why did you do it Willow?" Giles slides his glasses off and wipes his eyes. "Why couldn't you just leave things alone?""But, Buffy was gone." Willow sniffs. "The portal to a hell dimension. We couldn't just leave her there to suffer."Giles nods solely then shakes his head."You messed with primal forces Willow." His voice still clear but gentle. "I could understand any of the others doing it. But you Willow, you know better. And look at the price you paid for it. Was it worth it?"Willows breath catches in her throat and her heart races. Tears prick at her eyes as she starts to shiver."Why? Why would you say this?" She cries. "Why are you here Giles? Are you here just to tell me off? Because *cough* if you are *cough cough* you can just leave."Giles stands and catches willow as she slumps over. And lays her gently down and puts the covers over her gently. An almost fatherly movement."Giles?" Willow coughs out. Sweating and shivering, her eyes wild with fear. "Giles whats happening? *coughing fit* Giles please? Something's wrong.""Yes Willow, I know things are wrong. That's why I'm cleaning up your mess before nature does it, and nature will not be so kind." Giles explains softly stroking her hair from her sweaty face. "Hush now child. It will be over soon. Just rest."Willow coughs violently again."You broke the sacred laws of nature, Willow." Giles explains softly. "You stopped being a witch at that point, you are possibly the most powerful sorceress in the world. And I needed to make sure you never interfere with the natural order of things ever again."Willow starts shaking violently, tears flowing from her eyes and gasping for breath.Giles stands and turns his back to the bed."Tara was the price you paid." Giles polishes and repositions his glasses. "Spike, well I have always wanted to remove that particularly annoying thorn, then Anya started trying to warn you all and I couldn't have that so she had to be removed from the situation."Giles turns back to the gasping Willow in the bed and looks down with cold hard eyes."I knew I would never be able to match your power. You surpassed me years ago. And I was so proud." Giles explains. "But you needed to be delt with. So I did."Giles pulls the empty syringe from his jacket pocket."Im sorry Willow. But I had to." Giles starts sobbing again. "You dont deserve this slow painful exit but I couldn't risk you being able to use your magics. You would have taken me out in seconds."Giles goes and sits down next to the shaking form of Willow. He uses the corner of the duvet to wipe the foam from her mouth."Its alright Willow." Giles says with affection. "Its almost over. Just a few more moments and you can rest. It's almost all over."Giles stands and makes for the door. A single tear runs down willows face as she spasms one last time, then goes still.Giles clicks off the light and steps through the doorway."Goodnight Willow." He says quietly. "Say hello to Tara for me."The door closes with a gentle click.