7. "Grown Children"
The strangled shriek from the ground floor dragged Giles attention away from the shelf he was checking. He reached the balcony just in time to see a woman rushing out of the shop door and Willow standing in the middle of the shop with a couple of puzzled customers staring at her, "Sorry Giles."
The watcher didn't need any further explanation to understand what had happened, "Well I'm prepared to trade a customer for some assistance here," he commented as Willow bounced up the stairs.
Willow smiled, "I'll assist, so long as I don't have to work the till."
"It hardly survived the last encounter." Giles reminded her. That got him a sour look, "Perhaps we should check the shelves."
Willow dropped the look; she was just teasing Giles but it was far too easy, he simply couldn't tell when she pulling his leg.
"How are things at the hotel?" Giles asked.
Now Willow's mood really did turn dark, "Simmering at the moment, you know not quite boiling yet."
That actually didn't sound as bad as Giles had feared, "Were your parents being a problem?"
"Actually they weren't as bad as usual," Willow admitted, "I think Hank Summers is the ticking bomb; him or his girlfriend."
Giles raised an eyebrow, "Girlfriend? We definitely need to find an answer quickly." Before Buffy does something irreparable to her father, or maybe vice versa.
The volumes that Giles had picked out were focused on spells, particularly glamour’s and illusions. None of them was a match for what they had come up against at the hotel and they were equally light on any sort of counterspell. Willow was browsing the shelves again when she got Tara's urgent message, "Great, Giles I think the hotel is about to reach boiling point."
"Well we're no closer to finding anything here. I suspect this is some concoction of Ethan's own making." Giles knew that his former friend had no moral scruples; he did have a considerable talent for magic.
"So what we need to do is talk to Ethan Rayne."
"If we had any idea where he was, he hasn’t precisely left us a forwarding address." Giles didn’t want to be a wet blanket but they had even fewer clues about Ethan’s location than they did about the spell.
Willow wasn't upset by it, mostly because the comment gave her an inspiration, "We can't work the magic so lets work the technology." Giles didn't have a clue what she was talking about, "I'll explain later, grab the car and get over to the campus as quickly as you can. I'm heading to the dorm room." Willow disappeared as promptly as she had appeared.
Giles sighed, one of these days he would have a conversation with Willow where he didn't end up bewildered but probably not any day soon.
Tara was sorely tempted to get between Hank Summers and the rest of the group. Everything about the man said he was spoiling for a fight. The problem with that was that Buffy had spotted the same thing and was clearly squaring up for the confrontation. Tara didn't feel she had the right to get in the middle of that. The best she could do was to pick up the pieces afterwards, or prevent anyone from being torn to pieces in the first place.
"Buffy I want a stop put to this right now." Hank blustered.
Buffy cocked her head to one side with a quizzical expression, "Gee dad why would you want to stop when we're having so much fun?"
Hank wasn't made any happier by the sarcasm, "Perhaps you are enjoying this; trying to show your old man that those stories you told were true. Well I'm not buying any of it."
Dawn had been listening with her fists clenching tighter and tighter, trying to restrain herself. Enough though was enough, "And what's your solution dad, put her on happy pills?"
Hank looked thoroughly surprised at the comment. Buffy had no idea what Dawn was going on about. Dawn reluctantly began to explain, "When they sent you to the hospital one of the doctors said it was just stress, that you were basically fine. Another one though wanted to medicate you; just to be on the safe side."
"How could you know about that?" Hanks appalled tone confirmed the truth of what Dawn was saying.
"I heard you and mom arguing. She just wanted Buffy home. You wanted to drug Buffy up to make her behave." Dawn hammered home the accusation, "Mom threatened to leave if you insisted."
Tara could read all the energies flowing in this situation; right at this moment if Hank Summers simply admitted his mistake and made some apology he might retrieve the situation. Hank however was utterly oblivious to that, "And I gave in, now look where that's gotten us. You've dragged everyone into your delusion, including that poor girl who thinks she can work magic."
"Poor girl?" Ira responded to the derogatory comment a heartbeat before Tara, "My daughter is not delusional but I'm starting to have my doubts about you. I realize its hard having all this rammed down your throat but surely to god you can tell this is something more than smoke and mirrors?"
Hank stared at Ira, then shook his head and retreated back to Jefferson with Wendy in tow. Tara suppressed a sigh of relief. She wouldn't have been surprised if the discussion had turned into a brawl; she was surprised that Ira Rosenberg had headed it off, "Thank you."
Ira shrugged it off, "No one gets away with criticizing my daughter, except maybe me. Of course I wish the man was right."
"Why?" Tara wasn't sure where Ira was going.
"Because if this was all just a delusion it would be a lot less dangerous."
After the conversation with Ira Tara considered contacting Willow again. Since her other half was doubtless already doing her best Tara decided against it. She turned her attention to Buffy. The Slayer hadn't taken the news about her father well. On some level despite all the disappointments over the years Buffy still loved her father, discovering how willing he had been to dope her to the eyeballs hit her hard. Tara's instinct was to comfort her but she had an equally strong instinct that someone else had the same idea.
Elias slid an arm around Buffy, "I could go and hit him if you want."
"I could hit him myself, and I punch harder than you do." Buffy pointed out.
Elias nodded, he knew it was true and he was long since used to the idea, "Yeah but it just seems more traditional if I do it, the whole chivalry thing."
Buffy considered the image of Elias as a knight in shining armour and decided she quite liked it, "Well I'll let you know."
Elias hesitated for a moment; there was more he wanted to say but he wasn't sure this was the right time. Buffy was already upset. It occurred to him though that this might be the only time he could raise the subject with being brushed with a couple of bad quips, "You know I can't quite see your dad and you're mom being very compatible," he braced himself to have his head torn off.
Luck was with Elias because Buffy had been thinking much the same thing, "I don't know, they must have loved one another I guess."
"But maybe love isn't enough." Buffy stared at Elias as he said it, thinking he was about to throw in the towel, "Maybe you need to take a while, a couple of years say, and get to know one another. Learn one another’s mood, dreams, and secrets. After that if you still feel the same then maybe its time to take things further. What do you think?"
Now Buffy could see where Elias was really heading, I’m not your father, you're not your mother, and their lives aren't ours. "Maybe you have a point," she admitted.
Elias smiled and took her hand; it was a step in the right direction and he felt a momentary flicker of gratitude towards Ethan Rayne. Then he caught sight of Jefferson and Hank lurking in the corner and the moment passed.
Tara had been listening discretely to the conversation. She could have punctured Elias' theory in a moment by pointing out that she and Willow had known they were going to be together from the moment they met. Then again not everyone had their luck, our insane, incredible, impossible luck. That thought startled Tara; it just seemed to leap out of her subconscious and demand attention. Unluckily for the thought at that moment a low howl shook the structure of the hotel. It sounded somewhat like a wolf or a coyote but with a lot of subsonics thrown in.
The sound provoked concerned expressions all round, "Plumbing, or air con maybe?" Buffy suggested optimistically.
Their resident expert on matters of construction and maintenance couldn't help answering, "Uh uh." Xander replied emphatically if not eloquently; he might not know demons but he knew buildings.
Buffy looked at Tara, "So that leaves big, ugly, and demonic."
Tara agreed, "I think we're about to find out what Ethan's punchline is."
8. "All My Children"
Giles didn't attract any attention as he walked across the quad. He blended into the academic background and he couldn't help feeling a little wistful; perhaps he should have considered exploring other options after the library, or perhaps he was just getting restless at the Magic Box. The truth was that the thrill of being a shopkeeper had worn off. After the Watchers handed over his back pay and reinstated his salary he could handily live without the Magic Box; especially if he picked up on Anya's frequent hints about a partnership. You could say what you liked about the ex-vengeance demon but she had a talent for making a profit. As he turned into the dorm building Giles pushed those thoughts aside, there were more immediate matters to worry about.
Willow had her laptop perched on the edge of the bed when Giles knocked on the dorm room door. She opened the door and hastened back to the machine, "What exactly are you expecting to find with that?" Giles still retained a distrust of high technology.
"I looked up a website for the hotel," Willow explained, "which must have been a fake. Now the website must be hosted somewhere and if we're lucky Ethan has his own server."
Giles looked pained, "You know that meant nothing to me don't you?"
Willow hid her smile behind the screen of the laptop, "It just means I might be able to find the computer Ethan is using, and if it's his own it could lead us right to him. She had the website on the screen and drew her finger over the surface to trace out the pattern of magical symbols on its surface. Willow followed it up by entering a few commands on the keyboard. The image on the screen began to twist and blur. It recrystallised into the picture of a warehouse, "Hah!" Willow shouted triumphantly.
Giles looked over shoulder, "Isn't that the place Ethan used for producing those candy bars?" Again he couldn't help wincing at the memory.
"Guess he's not very imaginative with hideouts, and besides there are only so many places you can hide in Sunnydale." Willow was actually relieved, Ethan could have been anywhere in the world in theory, then again he couldn't check his handiwork if he wasn't somewhere nearby.
Willow packed up the computer and was about to teleport when Giles laid a hand on her arm, "Perhaps we should take a more cautious approach, use some more prosaic transportation." he dangled his car keys as he spoke.
Doing some scouting did strike Willow as a good idea, and who knew what sort of booby traps Ethan might have, "Alright, but you'll have to put your foot down."
The howling sound was repeated, only louder and meaner, "What on earth is that?" Ira asked in a horrified voice.
"It's not from earth." Tara explained without really paying attention. Usually she needed someone to be standing in front of her to see their aura. Right now she was experiencing something like x-ray vision. She could see something big and nasty stirring in the basement. The effect faded after a moment. She wasn't sure if it was part of Ethan's spell or someone else putting in their two cents worth. Tara rubbed her stomach reassuringly, I’m on top of things, don't worry.
The third howl got Tara's attention again, "I need to go to the basement and check that out."
"Are you crazy?" Dawn demanded, "Every horror movie I've ever seen people who go to the basement never come back."
"But did they have magical powers?" Tara asked, trying to sound flippant.
Dawn wasn't letting her off that easy, "No but they did go alone, and how much use are magic powers if something sneaks up behind you?"
Buffy could see where Dawn was going, "Then I'll go with her."
Dawn gave her a skeptical look, "And if it appears up here whose supposed to stop it? I'll go with Tara, it’s probably less dangerous than sticking with the parents."
Buffy knew it was a rationalization, she also suspected that Dawn had a point as she looked over the grumbling parents, "Alright but be careful."
Dawn made a face and hurried after Tara.
The lower levels of the hotel were unchanged after the spell collapsed. Which meant they were gloomy, dusty, and dank. Tara raised a hand and a brilliant witch light floated above her, "Hey you should have told me to bring my shades." Dawn complained.
It was a little brighter than Tara had intended, "Sorry, at least nothing will be sneaking up on us."
"It might if we're blinded." Dawn teased, and wished she hadn't as a howl shook the walls of the service corridor they were walking along.
The sound also wiped the smile off Tara's face. Whatever it was it sounded bigger and meaner than even Tara's imaginings. She had another x-ray flash, an intense aura moving swiftly towards them. Tara halted Dawn and threw a barrier across the corridor. Something came round a bend in the tunnel like a steam train and smashed headlong into the barrier.
Dawn leapt back but Tara felt remarkably tranquil; she was certain the barrier wouldn't give so easily. The entity beyond the barrier reared up and the pair got a good look at it. It seemed to be made up of several snakes twined together. Each snake had a body fifteen long and a head with jaws borrowed from a crocodile. The eyes were big and cruel looking. Tara also thought they looked pretty feral; this thing was mean but not necessarily very smart. Her theory seemed to be proved as it banged its heads repeatedly against the barrier. After a hammering that would have left a mortal creature with a skull fracture it seemed to sink in to the demon that it wasn't getting through here and it vanished as quickly as it came.
"Well at least you stopped it." Dawn finally managed to say without sounding as though she actually believed it.
Tara was no more convinced, "Yeah, until it finds another tunnel or a duct or something."
"Or it’s dumb enough to smash its way through a wall." Dawn suggested.
"Either way we better get back." And Willow better find a way to break this spell soon.
Giles had parked the car on the edge of the industrial park, and looked deeply concerned about leaving the BMW in the middle of the rather desolate area. Willow settled his nerves by casting a warding spell on it that should repel anyone who took an interest whether they were human or otherwise.
Willow watched the warehouse carefully as they lurked in the shadow of an adjacent building. There was no sign of any activity but if Ethan was hiding out on his own that wasn't surprising. "A little difficult to sneak up unseen." Giles pointed out.
"Not really, as long as he isn't expecting us." Willow responded absently. She was trying to spot any traces of magic hanging around the place.
"But he could be." Giles warned her.
Willow was considering that when the thought insinuated itself from the hotel, we have big problems here honey. The thought was accompanied by an image of the demon that Tara and Dawn had run into the basement.
I hear you baby. Willow responded, "Giles we don't have time to wait."
The tone of her voice didn't leave Giles any room to question the decision, "Alright what did you have in mind?"
Willow smiled, "I hope you don't get sick easily," she commented as she grasped Giles' arm.
The Watcher had thought that Willow was engaging in some sort of hazing ritual with her warnings as she covered them with the phasing spell. As soon as they passed through the wall of the warehouse he realised she was being deadly serious. The sensation was unsettling and he could swear he tasted the metal of the wall in his mouth. Since Willow was watching him intently Giles pushed back the nausea, "Which way should we go?"
"Lets just circle round to the left and see what we see." Willow suggested.
Ethan Rayne had set up home in a corner of the warehouse. If it lacked amenities at least he couldn't complain about the elbowroom. He looked at the prepaid cell phone lying next to the computer and wondered if it was time to let Rupert in on the joke? He decided not; the Slayer and the rest probably hadn't quite reached a fever pitch of hysteria just yet.
Having turned his attention back to working out the details of a spell that do amusing and grotesque things to anyone who owned a dog Ethan ignored the prickling sensation at the base of his neck for longer than he should have. When it finally sank in he leapt out of his seat but it was far too late.
Willow dropped the spell and Giles connected a right hook to Ethan's jaw that sent him staggering back into his chair, "Hello Ethan."
Ethan rubbed his jaw and looked from Giles to Willow, "Guess you're little friend has ruined my surprise."
"Well if it makes you feel better everyone else is still trapped." Willow responded sarcastically.
Ethan had only been looking at Willow casually but as she spoke he felt the hairs on his neck practically get up and leave. The last time they had crossed paths he had regarded her as dilettante. Now he could feel the magical energy roiling around her, "Not my fault if you don't have a sense of humour."
Willow could tell she was being goaded but decided to go along anyway; maybe Ethan needed to see just what she could really do. She fixed Ethan with a steely glare and he rose out of his chair until he was hanging ten feet in the air, "Let me down!" he squawked.
"Sure." Willow agreed and he dropped five feet.
Ethan's shriek was rather girlish and as petty as it was Giles took a certain satisfaction in it, "I think you might be better off co-operating. Or you could keep annoying Willow and entertaining me."
Staring at the floor Ethan tried to break Willow's grip on him. Once it was clear that wasn't going to happen he decided he had better take Giles suggestion, "What exactly do you want?"
"A way to break the spell, and to know what that thing in the basement is." Willow informed him brusquely as she put him back into the seat.
Ethan tried not to look smug, "So they woke up snaky. They aren't playing happy families then."
Willow made him levitate a few inches and then drop, "Let's not go with anymore cryptic comments shall we?"
Ethan decided he had pushed as far as he could, "The place was really the Torson Family Inn. The old man who built it had three children and decreed that the one who showed the most ability would inherit the hotel. Now the three also had adult children who were dragged into helping out. You can imagine the warm family atmosphere that created." Ethan saw that Willow and Giles weren't appreciating his story, "Well anyway some minor demon took up residence in the bowels of the hotel. It started to feed on all the bad vibes. Eventually of course it wasn't enough, went on a rampage through the hotel and cured the families problems in one go. After that the hotel was abandoned, until now."
The thought of a hungry demon pursuing her better half did nothing to improve Willow's mood, "How do I take down the barriers?" Willow added a little telekinetic push that almost squeezed the breath out of Ethan.
"It's in the red book, the whole spell, the one under the computer." Ethan managed to gasp.
Willow released the pressure and retrieved the book. Ethan had marked the page for quick reference, "Ok this is the spell. Giles I'm going back to the hotel, you keep Ethan company," she disappeared before Giles could argue.
Instead Giles turned to Ethan, "Perhaps we should discuss your taste in humour?" he hefted another of Ethan's books as he made the suggestion and slammed it on the desk.
9. "Adult Situations"
When Tara and Dawn described the demon Hank Summers grabbed a rusty fire extinguisher and began to pound at the barrier with it. Buffy watched him with exasperation while she kept the conversation with Tara going, "How long is the barrier going to hold against this thing?"
"I think the problem is how long before it finds a way round?" Tara corrected the question gloomily.
The sound of extinguisher clanging on barrier finally made Buffy snap, "Dad will you knock it off? I can't hear myself think."
"Perhaps you need to think less and actually take some action to bring this barrier down." Jefferson Maclay decided to speak up in defence of his new ally.
Buffy wanted to slap him down but knew that she didn't really have an answer; they did need to get out of here and preferably now.
The sudden reappearance of Willow in their midst spared Buffy having to admit she had no ideas.
Willow almost staggered to the ground under the weight of the bag she was carrying Tara steadied her and asked, "Where's your horse?"
"What?" Was the only reply Willow could come up with.
"Well I thought the cavalry always rode horses."
Willow laughed as she dropped the bag on the floor. Unzipping it she revealed a selection of weapons, "I made a pit stop at your house Buffy, hope you don't mind."
Buffy saw that Willow had packed her favourite sword, "Hey my house is your house."
"The crossbows mine." Dawn announced and scooped it up before anyone could argue.
The sight of his daughters hefting weapons pulled Hanks attention away from the doors, "Where on earth did you get those?"
"Bedroom closet.” Buffy replied unhelpfully.
Willow was sharing her information with Tara, "Do you think Giles will be safe with Ethan?"
Willow shook her head, "I don't think Giles is the one you have to worry about."
"Is there a weapon I could use?" Her father's diffident tone took Willow by surprise.
She pulled a double headed ax from the bag, it wasn't exactly a weapon that needed a lot of skill or finesse, "I guess you could try this; if anything gets close to you just swing as best you can."
Ira weighed the weapon in his hands, "I'll do my best."
With the rest of the gang having picked their favoured weapons Willow decided that it was time to get out of here; before anyone was tempted to turn their firepower on a parent. "I can take the barrier down but I don't think the thing in the cellar will take it too well."
"It is very big and very mean." Tara confirmed.
"And hungry." Willow added.
Buffy had visions of a three-headed snake gobbling up her father. After a moment she decided that would be a bad thing, "So we need to keep it busy until we get out of here and get ready for it."
"I think I can keep it distracted." Tara suggested.
Willow didn't like that idea, "Honey that's too dangerous; for both of you."
"I'll just keep it preoccupied while you get outside, probably going to be safer than fighting the thing, like some people are going to do." Tara gave Willow a look as she spoke that said she wasn't the only parent putting themselves in danger.
"I'll go with to make sure she's safe." Dawn offered as she loaded the crossbow.
Buffy bit her lip not to protest but having conceded the point once she couldn’t protest now.
Willow did the only thing she could; she hugged Tara and turned her attention to the entrance to keep from worrying.
The barrier that Tara had thrown across the corridor was distorted and wavering; because it had stretched out in an irregular fashion as the demon had torn away at the walls either side of it. Tara passed a hand over the barrier and it faded away. Dawn hefted her bow, "Here demon, demon."
"Dawn it will find us soon enough." Tara reproached her mildly.
"Sorry." Dawn's apology lacked conviction.
Tara sighed and beckoned for the teen to follow her. There was no noise in the corridor as they walked and she reluctantly had to conclude that Dawn's notion of making a lot of noise had some merit. She made a pass with her hands and gentle music filled the corridor. Dawn winced, "Couldn't you have picked something less, sappy?"
The spell was playing some medieval madrigal, just as it had originally been designed to, "Sorry, maybe Willow will modify to play some Shania Twain or something."
Dawn made fake gagging noises, which were suddenly drowned out by a loud roar, "Guess I'm not the only who hates that music."
Willow approached the sealed up doorway with an entourage trailing behind her. The rest of the gang and her parents were formed up behind her, "Guys could you give me some room?"
Looking a little sheepish the others shuffled back a few feet and Willow spread her arms out while she focused on the counterspell. The barrier around the door began to flex and stretch. It seemed to fold in on itself and then shrunk to a point and vanished.
"Finally." Hank Summers muttered and tried to press past Willow.
"Ladies first," she informed him and he stepped back, not out of manners but because Willows eyes had turned jet black. She stepped through the doorway cautiously, ready for anything just in case Ethan had tried to deceive her. Standing on the steps with the breeze ruffling her hair Willow looked back at the hotel. The exterior was as dilapidated as the interior and it looked as if it wouldn't take much for it all to fall down.
"Ok people time to go," she called through the door, Honey we're loose; you can get out of there.
We'll be there as soon as we can. Tara sounded distracted and Willow's instinct was to go back in. The outbreak of chaos as the parents emerged from the building held her back, someone had to organize them and get them out of here. With an act of will she focused her attention on getting them to the cars.
The sound of crunching and slithering behind them told Tara and Dawn that the demon was closing in fast. Dawn checked her crossbow; there was only one bolt left, "Do you think I should try for another shot?"
Tara considered it, "Yeah it'll give Will a few more seconds to get everyone out," she halted and placed a hand on Dawn's shoulder. After a moment the pair stepped forward; behind them they left shadowy images of themselves. The pair pressed themselves against a wall ten feet away and waited on the monster.
The lighting was bad and the demon's eyesight was poor so when it spotted the shadows it attacked. Its strike went straight through and slammed two of its heads into the dirt. The third head reared up as the illusion dissolved and Dawn loosed her last crossbow bolt. It struck the throat of the creature but bounced off the thick scales that protected it.
Dawn cursed and then looked sheepish, "Don't worry I won't tell Buffy.” Tara assured her, “besides you hit it three times out of four, it's not your fault its armour plated. Now it’s time to get out of here."
Dawn nodded and Tara threw another barrier across the corridor; hoping it would keep the beast busy long enough to get to the front door.
Willow was watching the doorway anxiously and breathed a huge sigh of relief as Tara and Dawn emerged at a run. Tara ran straight to Willow who threw her arms around her. At the same time Buffy was checking a reluctant Dawn for any damage. "Did you kill the thing?” Willow asked hopefully.
Tara shook her head, "It's going to take a lot of power to stop it, and I didn't think it would smart to unleash it in a confined space."
Willow had an image of the whole building falling on her other half, "Maybe you should go sit in Elias' SUV."
"And are you coming with me?" It was a purely rhetorical question. "Because if you aren't I'm staying. Besides you saw 60 Minutes, those SUV's are dangerous."
Willow sighed, she knew there was no point arguing, "Ok but would you at least stand behind me?"
Tara smiled and agreed, "Sure, I always enjoy the chance to check out your butt."
Willow was going to offer a saucy reply when there was a crashing sound from the hotel. She spun round to see the hotel doorway being shredded by a trio of large reptilian heads. There was a high pitched shriek that Willow guessed was Wendy, "Will you please shut up." Willow called over her shoulder.
Tara stood behind Willow as promised and slipped her hands on to the red heads hips. Willow wriggled a little before she steadied and stretched out her hands. As the demon raced towards the group Willow felt energy flow into her from Tara. It felt different from before, more intense, with a different texture. She didn't have time to think about the why, Willow simply let it loose against the demon. The stream of magic struck one of the demons heads and turned that particular serpentine body into a pumice statue. The remaining two bodies crushed it to powder and came on. Willow hit the demon again and another body turned to dust. The last of the demon kept advancing, and came to a sudden halt as Buffy jumped on its tail. She leapt off as the beast reared up and Willow struck it with another bolt, leaving a rather bizarre and crumbly statue in the car park. Willow nudged it and the remains of the creature crumbled into ash.
"Does that mean we can go now?" Ira Rosenberg asked hopefully and Willow sighed and nodded.
10. "Childhood's End"
The sound of car doors slamming resounded around the car park. Jefferson Maclay hadn't climbed into his pickup and roared off without so much as a word. Tara wished that disappointed her but all she felt was relief to see him gone.
The departure of Hank Summers was nothing like as clean and quick. Wendy had been thrust into the passenger seat and the doors closed. Hank himself was stood by the car practically surrounded by his daughters, "Perhaps I should come back to the house with you," he was suggesting.
"And why would you want to do that?" Buffy enquired coolly.
Hank shuffled with embarrassment, "I haven't seen you both in so long..."
Buffy cut him short, "And now you're feeling guilty about it? Or do you just want to search for drugs or maybe black magic?"
The stricken look on Hank's face said Buffy had hit a nerve, "I just to make sure nothing bad is happening to you two."
"It's too little too late." Dawn chimed in resolutely.
Buffy nodded in support of her sister’s statement. Hank looked from one to the other. There was no give in either of them. Defeated he climbed into the drivers seat and sped away.
As he disappeared from view Dawn leant against Buffy let her older sister stroke her hair. To all practical purposes they were orphans now.
Tara wondered how things were going with the Rosenbergs and turned to see that Willow and her parents were deep in conversation. Tara was just out of earshot and resisted the urge to move closer. It looked as though the three were talking rather than arguing and Tara was afraid that if she reminded them of her presence she might wreck that.
The conversation ended with Ira Rosenberg patting Willow on the shoulder and then climbing into their car with Sheila and leaving. Willow walked over to Tara looking uneasy.
"What's the matter baby?" Tara was uneasy.
"They asked us to come over tonight."
"Us?" Tara wondered if Willow had just used the word out of habit.
"You and me," Willow affirmed, "They want both of us to come."
"What did you say?"
"I told them I'd ask you." Willow explained.
"What do you want to do?" Tara asked cautiously.
"I think we should go, they were being weird, kind of nice." That clearly disturbed Willow.
Tara took her hand, "Then we'll go and see what they have to say."
Buffy called out to them, "Guys we're going to get out of here, you want a ride?"
Willow nodded "Yeah, but you better drop us off on the way, we need to go and get Giles out of that warehouse." And figure out what we're going to do with Ethan Rayne.
"You know I don't remember those bruises the last time I saw him." Willow commented as she looked at the sorcerer.
"Well the lighting in here isn't very good." Giles suggested innocently.
"Uh huh." Willow made it clear she was far from convinced.
"Anyone going to ask for my version?" Ethan complained.
"Mr. Rayne you really should stay quiet." Tara advised him, "You are in a lot of trouble."
Ethan was going to give her a sarcastic response but could tell that Giles was just itching for an excuse to hit him again.
"What are we going to do with him?" Giles asked Willow.
"Well I've had enough of his bad jokes so I think we should put a stop to them permanently."
"Now steady on." Ethan complained.
Willow formed her answer slowly so she could watch Ethan sweat a little longer, “As tempting as it is I'm not talking about killing you, just tying up your powers so you can't use them."
"A binding spell." Giles seemed pleased by the idea.
Ethan was decidedly less enthusiastic, "Those things are bleedin' dangerous."
Tara gave him a stern look, "Not compared to the things you've done. If you like we could let Mr. Giles think something up."
That sounded even less appealing to Ethan so he shut up. Willow was satisfied by that and turned to Tara, "Are you up to this honey?"
"Piece of cake." Tara wasn't just being reassuring; she could still feel the extra energy surging through her. She had researched the spell back when Willow was infused with the Fire. Taking away someone's power was a huge step but if anyone deserved it then it was Ethan Rayne.
As Tara incanted the spell a thread of energy wrapped itself around Ethan's torso. As she completed the last phrase the band of energy contracted and squeezed him tight. It flared brightly and then faded into Ethan.
The sorcerer was dazed by the experience but Giles wasn't going to give him time to adjust. He hauled Ethan out of the chair, "I suggest you get out of Sunnydale," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "and if you ever return you won't get away with a binding spell."
Ethan didn't respond, he simply made for the door without stopping to collect a thing.
For the second time in three days the dining table in the Rosenberg's was set. This time the knock on the door was answered by Sheila Rosenberg, "Hello Willow, Tara. I'm glad you decided to come."
"I didn't know you were planning on dinner." Willow had been hoping to make this a quick trip.
"We were hoping you would stay for a while." Ira explained as he appeared at the top of the stairs, "We wanted to talk about LJ."
Willow was instantly suspicious, "If this is going to be another round of bitching…"
Tara squeezed her shoulder, "Let him finish honey."
Ira walked over to the dining table, "I don't want to argue. You said you've met her, I, we, just wanted you to tell us about that, about her." Willow looked at him uncertainly, "Please Willow, we want to know about our grandchild." Ira said softly.
Willow didn't know what to say. Tara made up her mind by taking her by the hand and sitting her at the table, "How about we start at the beginning?"
Ethan was tempted to drive over the cheery sign inviting people to return to Sunnydale but that would just slow him down and might get him arrested. The last thing Ethan needed was to be dragged back to that misbegotten place.
"You've seriously disappointed me."
Ethan almost swerved off the road as he heard the voice behind him. He looked in the mirror and saw the figure of a brunette thirty something sat in his back seat, having never met Jenny Calendar Ethan couldn't put a name to the face but he was well aware who it really was. "I did my best."
The image of Jenny shook her head, "No you did your usual; played out an elaborate game that blew up in your face."
That was uncomfortably close to the truth, "Nobody told me the bloody witches could teleport," he pointed out defensively.
"You mean they were better than you."
Ethan could tell that nothing he could say would get him off the hook, "Well then lets just call it quits; I didn't kill them off, you don't reward me. Fair enough?"
"No I'm afraid that would just encourage others to disappoint me."
Now Ethan was getting irritated with the smug attitude, "And what are you planning to do? Or has someone forgotten their intangible?"
"Intangible but not invisible." With fingers laced the figure slipped its hands over Ethan's eyes. Unable to see the road Ethan tried to bring the car to halt but he had misjudged the shoulder. The car careened off the road and slammed side on into a tree.
Standing on the roadside the First stared at the burning car, "Humans, what can you do with them?" It's form shifted from that of Jenny Calendar into Buffy Summers, "Kill them all, that's what." Then it faded into the night, there was a lot more to do in Sunnydale.
Willow: ...I have to tell you....
Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love
Willow: I am
