Chapter Seven
Beef Jerky??


Alexander Harris entered the Magic Box, his mind was made up. He would save his friend.

He felt slime hit his face before his ears registered the shot, and then saw Riley's body hit the floor as Giles lowered the gun.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Xander sank to his knees in tears, holding the blood soaked head of the best man he had ever known.

Ignoring the boy, Rupert Giles moved about gathering the things he needed. This was something he had hoped to never have to do; a class in Watcher's training he had once thought preposterous, but now he understood. Sometimes justice could not stop evil and steps had to be taken.

"Step away from the body, Xander,” Ripper said quietly.

"What are you doing, G-man?" Xander asked. He hoped he was wrong and the Giles he saw as his father was immune to Spike's evil spell. Knowing in his heart of hearts that the wrongness wasn't over, he rested his hero's head on the floor atop of his own rolled-up coat. He wanted to remember Riley as he had been; fun loving and full of life. "How are we gonna fix this, Giles?"

"Simple, my dear boy." Giles began sprinkling the foul smelling Fyarl piss over Riley. Then he took out the balls of a yak and began rubbing slug slime on them before lighting them afire and dropping them on Riley. The dead soldier went up in a truly magnificent blaze. It was like setting gun powder on fire. When the blaze died down there was no smoke, no more embers, no burn marks on the floor and no sign of Riley.

“Where is he?” Xander asked confused. “Giles?"

"The situation has been dealt with." Giles answered before going into the back.

Xander drew a deep breath and then smiled. He got it. Giles had teleported the confused commando away so he could heal before coming back and staking Spike. In other words, Giles was asking him to play along for now. Xander didn't get it, but he could do that.

Xander saw a piece of dried beef jerky on the desk next to where Giles had left his spell components and picked it up. Chewing happily, he left the shop. He never bothered to read the wrapper that said freeze dried deer's penis.

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Back in the Magic Box

Anya stared after Xander as he left. Tears filled her eyes from her experience at the hands of the "great man" Riley Finn. She knew he hadn't been joking, that despite what he had said before, he saw her, Anya, as less than human. She had lived through Great Purgesbefore. History was rife with them; the Romans feeding the early Christians to lions, the Spanish Inquisition, Hitler's Third Reich, and countless witch hunts over the centuries. In spite knowing that they existed and that humans often fell victim to them, Anya had been like everyone else and always thought, ‘It won't happen to me.’

Now, she had looked into the face of an evil greater than any demon. She had looked into the eyes of a small minded bigot whose very insecurities were echoed by his need to feel better than anyone else. If it hadn't been demons it would have been some other group that he used his fears to justify his deep-seated need to destroy. She had looked into his eyes and seen the same insanity that she was sure had been present in the eyes of Nero.

"And Xander just..." Anya looked to Giles for guidance.

"Xander is a malicious child,” Giles said in a defeated voice. The spell had drained him nearly to the point of unconsciousness. His eyes were as heavy as his heart, and yet he had saved his slayer’s future. Perhaps even the future of the very council that had ostracized him for daring to love Buffy like she was his own child. He knew the former demon needed comforting, but he was too drained to help much. "He sees things as he wishes they were and not always as they are."

"He loved Riley more than he loved me,” Anya wailed, falling into Giles arms and crying.

"No... No,” Giles told her wearily, stroking her back to give comfort. "He is just too feeble minded to see through the psychological tricks that Riley's kind tend to use, and honestly- before this all started- so were the rest of us."

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Outside of Sunnydale Memorial Hospital

The young blonde haired girl stood on the curb, bouncing on her toes like Tigger on crack as she looked back at her father, who was laden down with her 'baggage' from the hospital. She spotted the black Desoto parked not far from the front entrance and was beside the car in seconds, looking for the key her 'Uncle Spike' had hidden. When she found it, she opened the doors and waited impatiently for her father.

"Hurry up, Papa. The game is on in twenty minutes,” she bugged the poor man as he entered the car. "LSU has Auburn at home and they’re thirteen point underdogs."

"Bloody hell, bit,” William said as he cranked the old car up and listened to it purr. "Why can't you kids love a more manly sport.... like real footie?"

"Skin tight spandex pants?" Joy said mischievously. "The way they’re always trying to 'drive it deep'?"

William stifled his growl, knowing that was what his eldest was looking for. Rolling his eyes, he informed her drolly, “Well, at least you don't like any of those poncy California teams."

"Naaa, I like guys that aren't afraid of getting down and dirty and mixing it up,” Joy snorted before continuing, “Not the pretty little boys that throw the ball ‘cause they’re afraid of getting hurt."

A sudden thought hit Joy and she frowned. "You think Uncle Spike has a telly?"

"One word love, Passions,” he answered his daughter.

"Bloody hell!" the young girl whined. "They have that here?"

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Revello Drive

Wesley Wyndham Pryce pulled into his former slayers drive expecting little in the way of welcome. After all, when he had been here before, he had been a major embarrassment to the council, and more of a hindrance than a help to young Buffy. A large part of the reason that he had been willing initially to join Angel had been based on his regrets of the way he had treated Buffy. So it was with great reluctance that he dragged himself from his car and walked to the door.

Before he could raise his hand to knock, a very happy looking Buffy opened the door and pulled him inside. "We've had a major change in plans,” she informed him.

"You don't need me then?" he asked her, obviously hurt.

"No, we’re major with the need,” Buffy told him exuberantly. "But we need you to take mom to see Faith in prison. The two of you need to convince her that the Council is on the level when they get there."

"Faith?" He couldn't restrain the squeak in his voice. "Why do we need Faith?"

"Doing a reconfirmation thingie, so I need you and Faith there,” Buffy informed him, sounding as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But that hasn't been done in..." Wesley paused trying to remember

"Two thousand, seven hundred, and forty-seven years,” she replied picking a number at random.

"No, that isn't right." Wesley told her as he took off his glasses and frowned. "The last one was right after the Spanish Inquisition."

"You caught me, Wes,” Buffy deadpanned as she led him into the dining room. "I have no idea when the last one was, but the next one is tomorrow."

"I would be honored to bear witness, though why we need a reconfirmation of the old oaths, I have no clue." In a move Buffy had seen Giles use thousands of times, Wes was cleaning his glasses.

"Let's see; Faith and I have both been labeled rogue slayers, you and Giles have both been fired from the Council, the Council itself is completely lost to the mission?" Buffy said sarcastically. "More worried about the old ways than doing things the right way? Wes, we need a Reconfirmation so bad, it ain't even funny."

"Be that as it may," he said returning his glasses to his face. "Why would you want me there?"

"The whole thing works on instinct, Wes,” Buffy told him gently. "When I realized what was needed, my instincts told me who was needed. My mom, Dawn, the Scoobies, Giles, you, Faith, and Spike."

"Spike? You mean William the Bloody?" There it was. The squeak was back in Wes's voice.

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At Spike's new apartment

William used the keys Spike had given him to lead his daughter into the posh digs his younger self had furnished. "Your room is the one at the end of the hall, kitten." He could hardly wait to see her reaction to the décor.

She disappeared, but it only took a few seconds before her loud, ‘Oh, bloody hell! No!’ reached his ears.

He walked up behind her as she stood at the door to the room. "What's wrong, bit?" he asked. His voice was deceptively concerned but she didn't catch it.

"It's pink, Papa!" The poor girl sounded spooked. "And...And there are Barbie dolls…everywhere. Pink Barbie dolls,” she choked out, her voice barely a whisper.

"It's only for a few days, luv,” William said trying to hide his grin. "And do you want to hurt his feelings? I'm sure he spent ages searching for everything."

"But Papa…pink Barbie dolls?" Joy looked as if she might cry. "I've never even owned a Barbie doll."

"You did so. I bought you Malibu Barbie when you were three,” her father reminded her evilly.

"Yeah, but I shaved her head and used your lighter to melt her face."

"Ah but luv, he got you a nice telly to watch your games on," he said pointing at the flat screen on the wall.

"But…it's pink, too,” she growled. The offensive color didn’t stop her from grabbing the remote and crawling on top of the huge Barbie Dream House bed and turning on the television.

"Joy, baby, you really should take off your doc's and spurs."

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Meanwhile back on Revello

"But Buffy,” Wesley began. "Your Childe, you say?"

"Yes Wes, my Childe, my lover and soon to be my mate,” Buffy said with a little grin.

"But Angel..." The watcher brought up.

"Will soon be dealt with." Buffy’s mood changed like lightning. "Are you alright with seeing Faith?"

"We do what needs to be done." Wes said with a long sigh.

"Good." I need you and mom to make sure she doesn't hurt the Council guys too much."

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