FicWad

Faith about passed out at the sight of Buffy sitting at the table. The rest of the gang had dispersed in the time it had taken her and Ethan to make it to The Magic Box. It seemed that Buffy still needed some time to adjust to this new time and place. And everyone else would need that time as well.
Ethan was still outside. He had decided to make his entrance after Faith had told everyone about the great escape. He watched from the window. Curiosity killed the cat as the old saying goes and he was no different. Would these people trust him? Should they? Only he knew for sure.
Buffy looked up to see the former rogue slayer. She immediately took a fighting stance. "Whoa, B!" Faith took a couple steps back. "I know that in your time we are like these mortal enemies or something. But here, I've done the repent thing. And I want to help stop evil, not continue to help it."
The blond kept her stance. She eyed the other slayer very carefully. "So I've been told. You'll forgive me if I don't let my guard down right away. You've done so much to so many people that I don't know if I could ever truly trust you."
Faith sighed heavily. "It's of the good. I understand. Just what I've done in this time was enough for you to not trust me. From what Willow told me, I was even worse in your time. I can see myself being worse. If things hadn't happened the way that they had, I would probably still be on that path. I won't lie. And there is still that dark force inside of myself. I can feel it. I fight it every day."
Finally, Buffy took a more relaxed stance. Still, she had her guard up, but she was no longer in a fighting stance. "Willow told you?" The blond nodded. "Right. Forgot bout the whole mind mail thing that she got so good at before..." She trailed off. There was a great deal of sadness in her voice. And pain reflected in her eyes.
"Right." Faith slowly made her way towards the table. "The rest of the gang here? I escaped, as you can see. But I had help. Ethan helped me. He's outside waiting to make his big entrance." She stopped at the look on her counterpart's face. "What?"
Buffy shook her head. "Well, let's just say that Ethan was never a part of my time, what happened. At least, not that I know of. He's a surprise, that's all. Not the first. And I'm sure that there are going to be quite a few more."
Faith nodded. "Hopefully good ones. You look like you've been through quite a bit. More then I ever have been." Finally, the rogue slayer sat down. "Not to change the subject, but is there anything to eat round here? Let's just say a crazy vampire doesn't take very good care of her slayer captives."
"I'll get some food. And Giles." Buffy turned to go. "The rest of the gang, well, they left. Not much more we could do till things reveal themselves at this point. Time is what we are waiting for now." Faith nodded.
It wasn't long before Buffy and Giles were back out into the shop part of The Magic Box. There was quite the spread for the slayer. And Ethan sat at the table watching the former rogue slayer go to town on all the food. All the while, he could feel the stares of his nemesis. This was not going to be easy, explaining why he had chosen to do what he had done. He didn't want to reveal his connection to the witch, not yet anyways. Not till he had done his redemption. Till he could be the father that she could be proud of.
"Ethan." The sorcerer looked up at the former librarian. "You claim to have helped because you knew that what Drusilla is up to is beyond chaos? The question, as always, how in the devil are we to trust you?"
Ethan sighed heavily. "You can't. And I don't expect you to. Just know that I will be here to help in any way I can. I'm not going to hurt the cause of good. Not this time anyways. Even if it is boring as hell."
Giles slammed his fist down on the table, startling everyone. "Dammit man! Be serious for once in your bloody life! We are facing the possible end of the world, again. And all because you chose to help out that blasted vampire! And now, you are caviler about this very serious situation. You need to stand up and take responsibility!"
The sorcerer eyed his former friend. "You know better then that Ripper. I can never be one of the good boys. I may try. But it'll never work. I'm as evil as they come. Just like you used to be if I remember correctly."
"Precisely." Giles came and stood in front of the man. "You can be a good man. You just have to want it. Isn't there something that you've always wanted? Wouldn't it be the reason to make sure that this is a better world then one that is filled with chaos?"
Ethan swallowed hard. If only he knew. If only they all knew that he did have something to make him want to be good. His daughter. His grandchild. Wouldn't any man do anything for them? Even evil types seemed to always want the best for their kids. And he was no exception. He sat in silence.
"I guess not." Giles returned to his seat. "Ladies, why don't you go and train some. I think I need to speak with Ethan alone for a moment." The two slayers eyed each other. Neither felt all that comfortable with each other. But both slowly made their way into the training room. "Now, tell me the truth. There is something there for you. Something here, more precisely. What exactly is it?"
The sorcerer looked into those eyes. Ones that were stronger then his ever would be. Probably why none of his evil schemes had really come to bear. Was it time to share? Well, he knew that Ripper would keep his secret, so why not? What other choice did he have? To keep silent. And that would make Ripper want to get after him even more. Might as well come clean now as to take what he would surely dish out.
"All right." Ethan stood up and began pacing. "You see, this all starts a few years ago. Closing in on twenty one in fact. You see, I paid a little visit to the states. Got very friendly with a lady. Lady that goes by the name of Sheila." Giles' eyes widened considerably. "A very pretty redhead in her day."
"You don't bloody well mean..." Giles trailed off at the look he was given. "But that would mean..."
"Yes, Ripper." Ethan stopped pacing. He turned to look his nemesis fully in the face. "That sweet young witch of yours is my daughter. And the child that she carries inside of her, the one that could ultimately end the world, is my grandchild. How fitting that a spawn of mine could destroy the world."
Giles just stood there. His mind was having trouble grasping what Ethan had just told him. It made sense. Why the man that had been so obsessed with chaos was now wanting to fight it. But could it be the truth? Or was it just a way to make it look good on his part.
Finally, Giles sat back down at the table. It was all too much. "You aren't just making this up? I wouldn't put it past you. Bloody hell, I wouldn't put anything past you."
Ethan returned to the table himself. "Here." The sorcerer pulled out a piece of paper that was quite worn. The words were barely legible. "It's a letter from Sheila Howard. Who now goes by the name of Rosenberg. It's after she found out she was pregnant. And that she'd found someone else. Someone that loved her and would be there for her. So, she asked me not to even bother with the child. She and he would raise it as her own."
Giles carefully read the pages. He shook his head. "And I take it Willow knows none of this?" Carefully, he folded the pages back up and handed them back to Ethan.
"I don't even know if she knows she's adopted." Ethan shrugged. "As Sheila said in the letter, Ira adopted her to make it all legal like. Why would she know it was me that is her real father? And I don't want her to know. Maybe never."
Giles eyed the man at that last statement. "Why?"
"She's better off without me." Ethan stood quickly and made his way to the door. "I won't go far. I'll be at my old shop. I'll have a protection spell. If I should need help, I'll call. Just call me there." And with that, he left. Giles staring after in wonderment.
""""""
Willow lay on her side in bed. It had been a long day indeed. Seeing Buffy back, even though she wasn't the Buffy from this time, was draining. And then there were the thoughts of her going evil. Something she had been fighting so hard against for so long. Power was a good thing, but one had to use it responsibly.
Her stomach had been bothering her all day. It was something like the acidy feeling she got when she was nervous or scared. And with all that was going on, why would she have anything to be nervous or scared of? Only her destroying the world.
But there was something more to it all. She was getting the feeling that something big was about to happen. Did that have anything to do with what was about to go down? And that they were still supposed to be doing nothing about? Was it something to do with Faith and this alternate Buffy? Or was it something to do with Ethan Rayne?
Ethan. She hadn't really dealt with him much. Not personally anyways. He'd been the one that had sold those Halloween costumes to her and the gang. And he had been the one that had nearly killed Buffy. And of course, he'd been involved in trying to kill Buffy and Giles. Then there was that time with Evil Riley. But he'd claimed to have gone good after that. Had he?
It was like there was this connection with him. Something she was not sure of. Something that she could not explain. Would it be best to explain it? Or would it ever be explained? That's when she felt a little pain in her side. She ignored it, thinking it was the little one kicking.
Tara came up behind her and lay on the bed beside her. "I brought you some tea, if you'd like some."
"No thanks." Tara wrapped her arm around her everything. "This is what I need. This is what I've needed for the longest time. Just you and me. I hate that things have gotten so strained between us. And I know it's all because you wanted to spare me the tough choice. I love you very much for that."
"I was only doing what you would do for me." Tara began rubbing her belly. "I wanted to save you from the guilt of trying to bring back Buffy. And instead, I made it so that you had to bring back me. That's what I call a great choice." She sighed heavily.
Willow put her hand on Tara's. "We both want what's best for the other. We both love each other very much. And we'll do what it takes to take care of each other. Just, we have to keep that in mind when we think that things are going, well, not the way that we think that they should. You are my always."
"And you are mine." Willow sat up suddenly. "Something isn't right. I'm not sure what's going on, but something isn't right." Again, she felt this pain in her side. "Tara?" There was this great fear in the young witch's voice.
"Baby?" Tara was sitting next to her in an instant. "What's the matter? You think something is wrong? What is it? Do you know?"
"The baby..." Willow doubled over in pain. "Goddess!"
"Willow?" Now there was a great deal of fear in the young blond's voice. "Baby, talk to me. What exactly is happening?"
"Hospital." Willow looked up. "And now."
It wasn't long till Tara had driven them both to the emergency room. Willow was in with the doctors. They wouldn't let her in because technically she wasn't family. And it appeared that things were pretty serious. And she couldn't be with her everything.
The blond paced back and forth. She'd called Xander. And he'd in turn called all the others. They were all now there, including Ethan Rayne for some strange reason. They watched as the blond kept pacing. None of them were allowed into the room to see Willow. No one was family. Well, not that any one but Ethan and Giles knew that wasn't true.
Finally, a doctor made her way out. "Which one of you is Tara MaClay?" Tara quickly stood forward. "Well, it appears that your friend was starting to cramp up. And if you hadn't gotten her here when you did, she would have lost the babies."
"Babies?" Tara looked up at the doctor. "Babies plural." It was a good thing that Xander wasn't too far away. He caught Tara as she almost hit the floor. He guided her to one of the chairs in the waiting room.
"You all right miss?" The doctor had a worried look on her face.
"We weren't expecting babies. Only one." Tara started to get a goofy grin on her face. "I can't believe we're having more then one. I mean, wow! Two little ones. That's just totally amazing. We're so blessed."
"We?" The doctor looked at her. "I didn't think you were family."
Xander quickly stood up. "They are family. Didn't she tell you she was her girlfriend?"
"Well, yes." The doctor suddenly looked flustered. "I just thought she meant her friend. I didn't know that, well, it meant more."
"And if you had?" Giles came and stood next to Tara. "Would this hospital permitted her to see her girlfriend?"
"Uh, possibly." The doctor now looked scared. "Look, why don't I let you see her now. She's doing much better now. We got the bleeding to stop. And the twins look fine on the monitor. It was probably just something that was caused by stress. With a little bit of relaxation she'll be as good as new."
"Thank you doctor." Tara smoothed over the waters as quickly as she could. She could still tell that both Giles and Xander were still quite upset. But she wouldn't let what others thought of her and the outside world think about her get her down. She was in love and together with a wonderful woman that was carrying their babies.
Tara opened the door to Willow's room. Her redhead had her eyes closed so Tara came in as quietly as she could, just incase she wasn't just resting. She sat down in the chair next to the bed. She took her girl's hand in her own. Willow's eyes opened immediately.
"So, you hear the news?" Willow smiled weakly. She was still so tired and a little weak from her ordeal. "Stress. Who knew?"
"We both knew." Tara kissed her hand. "We just always have to do what we do to save the world. And twins? Can you imagine?"
Willow smiled big now. "Yeppers. Two more of us running round. That'll be something else now won't it?"
"You." Tara again kissed her hand. "You are the something else. So strong and brave and powerful. And now, you are bringing in two little ones. You are one amazing woman." The two sat in silence. Just enjoying the feeling of being with one another. And the thought that they had reconnected just making everything better. And forgetting about the doom that still was ahead for everyone.