Giles picked up the phone, and he dialed the number of the coven where his friend Althenea resided. He had made the decision to call her after a desperate phone call from Tara about Willow.

"Hello, Rupert," Althenea greeted her old friend. "I was just about to call you. Serina, our Seer, had some troubling feelings about Sunnydale today."

"Yes, I believe that might be Willow's fault." Giles nodded. "She is doing some major magic. We are unsure of what she did, I'm afraid to say."

"She attempted to change reality," Althenea replied. "What she really got was another dimension."

"Did she damage the other dimension?" Giles asked softly.

"No. Believe it or not, her presence helped," Althenea said. "It's amazing how one small incident can change things. Sometimes it's for the better, sometimes for the worse."

"Hmmm," Giles hummed. "What do you think should be done in regards to Willow?"

"The coven and I will bind most of her powers," the witch assured the Watcher. "Miss Rosenberg will be quite outraged about this. Be prepared."

"Of course."

The Magic Box door jingled, and Giles looked up to see Anya Jenkins enter the store. He turned his attention back to the phone call. "I will await the news of your success."

"I will speak with you later, Rupert," Althenea assured Giles. She hung up the phone, and she immediately went in search of her sister witches.

"Hello, Rupert," Anya said brightly. "How are you this afternoon? Should we have our orgasms now or after we make some money?"

Giles dropped the phone while he blushed and stammered, "M-Miss Jenkins, please." He thought after years of dealing with Faith and her blatant innuendos that he could never be embarrassed again, but he had never had such talk directed at him.

"Oh, I do love a man who begs." Anya chewed on her lip as she gave Giles a sultry look. God, he was so cute when he blushed. "Beg for me, Rupert."

"Miss Jenkins, that's entirely inappropriate." Giles gasped when Anya entered his personal space to lay a hand on his arm. He backed away, but she kept advancing on him. After a few steps he bumped into the glass display case that served as his counter. "Someone might walk in! Please, desist."

"You know, all this stress is not good for business." Anya moved even closer to the flustered Watcher. She took off his glasses, and she placed them on the counter behind him. The vengeance demon reached up, took the man's face in hers, and pulled him down for a kiss.

"Miss Jenk..." Giles' voice was muffled by Anya's lips on his mouth. He almost fell over when she used the opportunity of his open mouth to caress his tongue with her own, and he had to grab her hips to steady himself.

Anya hummed in delight when she felt the strong arms encircle her body. She settled against Giles with a sigh, and her own hands entwined with his hair to gently scratch his scalp. Anya heard the bell above the door jingle, but she didn't care. She was getting what she wanted, right here and right now.

"Oh my." Tara cleared her throat. This hadn't been what she had expected to see when she entered the Magic Box. "Um, guys, can I talk to Giles for a few?"

Anya pulled away from the flustered man. She licked her lips, patted her hair back into position, and turned to Tara. "Hello, Miss Maclay. How are you this fine afternoon? Rupert is ready to talk with you now."

"I-I ... um .... " Giles stuttered as he frantically felt around for his glasses. He shoved them on as soon as he found them. "Can I help you, Tara?"

"Willow's asleep. Something happened right before I came here though." Tara looked at Giles shyly. "It felt pretty powerful."

Giles kept his eye on Anya who was now walking around the store with a notepad and pencil. She appeared to be taking an inventory. Giles cleared his throat before he turned back to Tara. "I-I ... um... well... my friend in the coven bound most of Willow's powers."

"She did?" Tara put a hand to her forehead. She hadn't thought it would go that far.

"Willow attempted to bend reality, Tara," Giles replied. He had to grab the young woman when she seemed a bit dazed.

"I think it's time to go see Buffy," Tara whispered as she clutched at the Watcher's arm. "This is just so much, Giles. How did our lives get so messed up?"

"I don't know, Tara. I really don't know." Giles shook his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wesley called while you were out getting those fax papers." Buffy stepped out of the hotel bathroom. "He met with the realtor. We're supposed to go look at a house this evening."

"What time?" Spike looked up from the pile of deeds he was perusing. Fred had done her job quite well. Spike and Buffy now had a few good leads on where to find Angel and the missing Faith.

"Around ten." Buffy toweled off her wet hair.

"Good. That'll give us a couple of hours to look for the poofter and the other Slayer." Spike got a gleam in his eye when Buffy sauntered over to him. She was dressed in a tank and tight shorts. He opened his arms to let her settle on his lap before he went back to the papers. He picked out one to show Buffy. "This one should be the first place we check out," Spike commented.

Buffy glanced at the deed. "Liam O'Conner, 1909 Crawford Street."

"It was one of the names Angelus used to use back in the day," Spike replied.

There was a knock at the door that interrupted anything else Spike and Buffy were going to say. Spike looked up, and he called out, "Come in, Lawson."

The dark-haired vampire slipped into the room. He sat in the chair across from Spike's. He was used to seeing the blond couple's affection for each other. So, he didn't think anything of their kissing in front of him.

Within a few minutes, there was another knock at the door.

"It's Glinda and the Watcher." Spike pulled away from Buffy to sniff the air.

Buffy rose to answer the door. On the other side she found an upset Giles and a distraught Tara. "What's the what?" the blond slayer asked as she gestured for the newcomers to come inside.

"Willow did some major magic today," Giles replied. "Tara noticed it when Willow staggered in earlier today and collapsed." He helped the young woman to sit down.

"Any ideas what she did?" Lawson asked.

"Not at first, but when I called the coven in England, my friend Althenea informed me that Willow tried to change reality." Giles sighed. "The coven also bound a majority of Willow's powers."

"Bet that's gonna brass her off," Spike muttered. In his experience magic makers weren't at all happy about having their powers fiddled with.

"Indeed, but I couldn't think of what else to do." Giles shook his head. "Both Tara and I have repeatedly cautioned Willow about the consequences of her actions."

"Doesn't listen, does she?" Buffy replied.

Lawson watched Tara with more than a little curiosity. She was exactly the type of woman he liked; sweet, earthy, and buxom. He was just saddened by the fact that she preferred the fairer sex.

Tara blushed under Lawson's scrutiny. She glanced at him from under her lashes. She had to admit he was a handsome young man. Since her conversation with Spike and Buffy earlier that day, her mind had been stuck on vampire bites when it wasn't being totally eclipsed by the severity of Willow's actions.

"Spike, Lawson, and I have a lead on Angelus' secret lair," Buffy said. She handed the Crawford Street deed to Giles. "We'll take care of this. Can the two of you research something for us? We have exhausted our resources."

"We can try," Giles answered.

Buffy went to the closet. She pulled out a briefcase which she took to the table and opened. She handed a sheath of papers to the Watcher. "This is not for Council consumption," she warned Giles.

Giles glanced through the papers. He gave Buffy a gobsmacked expression. "These items really exist? The Gem of Amara is just a myth, and I've never heard of a Slayer weapon as you have described here."

"Not myths, Rupes." Spike grinned at his fellow Brit.

"Where did you find this information?" Giles fell into another chair.

"When I finally knew what I was, Mom started the research." Buffy smiled at Spike. "Of course, it was Spike who identified me as the Slayer."

"I heard about your Slayer, Watcher," Spike commented to Giles. "So imagine my surprise on finding Buffy here."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Giles said with a nod. "I just don't understand why the Slayer of Slayers didn't kill her."

"Well, where the glory in killin' an unknown Slayer." Spike smirked. "Besides, who says I didn't try? Buffy's one hell of a Slayer."

Before anyone could respond there was a pounding at the door. Buffy went to open it, and she found Willow on the other side. The red-haired witch pointed a finger at Buffy before she hissed, "What have you done to me?"

Tara leaped to her feet, pulled out of her self-induced trance by Willow's accusation. "If you're going to accuse people of doing things to you, you should make sure you have the right ones."

"Quite right." Giles stood next to Tara. He wasn't going to let the young woman take all the blame for the binding of Willow's powers. Giles adjusted his glasses. "Tara told me you were using too much magic. This was confirmed by an outside source not associated with Sunnydale. So, it was I who had your powers bound."

"How could you?" Willow shrieked. "You're just jealous of my powers! Both of you!"

"How can you think that?" Tara gasped. "I love you! I just worry that you're going to go too far someday. I want to help you."

"If this is the kind of help you're going to give, I don't want any more," Willow snarled. "Reverse it, Tara, or we're finished."

Buffy went to stand by Tara and offer her support. The Slayer knew when the two vampires joined her next to the white witch. "I don't know you, and I think you're out of control," Buffy said to Willow. "It's obvious you don't listen to anyone else."

"This is all your fault." Willow pointed an accusing finger at Buffy again.

"You're delusional," Buffy countered.

Spike growled menacingly. He didn't like how the witch was looking at his mate. Beside him, he could hear Lawson's rumbling response to Spike's ire.

"You're making my vampires all growly," Buffy said with a smirk. "While it sounds all sexy, it's not very good for a search and rescue mission."

"We'll just go now," Tara said softly. "Come on, Will." She held out a hand to her girlfriend.

Willow shook her head. "We're over, Tara. This was the ultimate betrayal in my eyes." She turned, and she fled the hotel room.

Tara's posture deflated instantly. She made no protest when Giles took her shoulders. She couldn't believe that the woman she loved had fallen so far.

Giles grabbed the papers he had been looking at before. He stuffed them in a pocket before he led the upset Wicca from the hotel room.

Buffy turned sad eyes on Spike. She really hated to see Tara feeling so badly, and she wondered if there was anything that they could do about. Maybe later, she thought. Right now it was time to get down to business. "I guess we should go find Angelus and Faith."

The two male vampires readily agreed. Neither one expected this to be over. Willow would certainly try to unbind her powers somehow. They needed to be ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jesse unlocked the apartment door. He had spent part of the night and a good portion of the day on a fruitless search for Faith. He was unsurprised but still hurt to find a pile of luggage inside the front door.

"Hope?" Jesse called out.

"Did you find Faith?" Hope stepped out of her room.

"No, where ever Angel took her is well hidden," Jesse looked at the luggage. "I didn't think you were leaving so soon."

"R.J. and his brother will be here in a few minutes," Hope replied. "I'm going to stay with Janice until I leave for England. I don't want your reunion with Faith to be overshadowed by me."

"She'll be just as happy to see you," Jesse protested. "She died so you wouldn't have to."

"I'll come by in a few days when she's more adjusted to the change." Hope shrugged. She really wanted to see her sister, but the guilt she felt for kissing Jesse eclipsed the joy she felt over Faith's return. It didn't matter that when the kiss happened, they both thought Faith was gone forever.

"I don't like the idea of you staying with Lance Brooks," Jesse grumbled. "He's a lowlife."

"Lance is my friend. Nothing else." Hope rolled her eyes. She was pretty sure that Jesse was just jealous. "Besides, his mom and R.J. will be there too."

A knock on the door heralded the arrival of the Brooks brothers. Hope let them in, and the two men quickly took care of her bags. Hope hadn't explained the particulars of why she was leaving the apartment with her friend. She had just said things were too tense to continue living at Jesse's.

Hope followed Lance and R.J. to the door. She was stopped when Jesse grabbed her arm.

"Please don't go," Jesse pleaded.

"I have to, Jesse." Hope looked at the young man with saddened eyes. "Maybe if Willow hadn't made that stupid wish it would have been okay, but she did. You belong to my sister. I love you, Jesse." She swept out of the apartment before she could start crying.

Jesse closed the door. He wandered into the living room where he slumped into an armchair. He couldn't believe how totally fucked up their lives were at the moment.

It was a couple of hours before he finally shook off his funk long enough to make a phone call.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy strolled down Crawford Street. She kept a close eye on her surroundings, cataloguing everything around her. This was a skill she had picked up from Spike. She knew that Lawson was several hundred yards behind and to the right of her while Spike was somewhere behind Lawson. For the most part she didn't feel anything supernatural. It was just a typical suburban neighborhood. However, as they approached 1909 Crawford street all that changed.

Woah. So, that's what I feel like to you vamps? she projected back to Spike.

Don't let your guard now down, pet, Spike replied back. Let's hope he's feelin' guilty enough that he won't have vamped her.

Buffy stopped to wait for Lawson and Spike to catch up with her. She linked her arm through theirs to give the impression that they were friends out for a stroll to any nosy neighbors.

"I don't think I like Angelus' obsession with the other Slayer," Lawson said under his breath. There was no love lost on his part for his sire.

"Neither do I," Buffy replied in an equally low voice. "I'm just glad it was her rather than me though. She sounded much more worldly at sixteen than I was."

"My pretty little valley girl," Spike teased.

"And don't you forget it," Buffy retorted.

The two vamps and the Slayer approached the front door of the house that Angel and Faith were inside of. Spike made quick work of the locked door while Buffy and Lawson performed lookout duty.

The three warriors slipped inside the mansion. Buffy wrinkled her nose in disgust when she heard Angel pleading and lying to Faith. Pathetic!

"No one else cared about you, Faith," Angel said. "I was the only one there when you awakened." He knew just how to stretch the truth to suit his needs.

"You're not a knight in shining armor," Faith replied flatly. "I don't like you, Angel. Not even Heaven can change that."

"You're the means to my redemption." Angel's voice was arrogant even as he pleaded with the Slayer. "The Powers ordained it."

"I'm sick of this ordained crap." Faith's voice had even less life to it now. "You want redemption? Find it yourself. Help the helpless or something."

Spike pushed his way into the living room where he found Faith curled into the corner of a ratty old couch while Angel loomed over her. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? Good old Angelus attemptin' to coerce the Slayer."

"Get lost, Spike," Angel snarled. He turned to confront the younger vampire, and he realized that Spike wasn't alone. "I didn't hurt Faith in any way, Slayer," he tried to assure Buffy.

Faith's eyes jerked away from the posturing vampires when a petite blond woman sauntered into the room followed by another vampire.

"Hi, there," the blond said perkily to Faith. "I'm Buffy, the other Slayer. You must be Faith."

"Aren't you a little old to be a new Slayer?" Faith studied the other female, sizing her up.

Buffy wrinkled her nose. "Not really all that new. You died twice. I've been around for a few years."

"Oh." Faith didn't know what else to say.

"Giles sent us to find you. He got worried when Angelus disappeared with you," Buffy said. She gave Angel a dirty look.

"Giles sent you?" Faith looked surprised. "Giles, my Watcher, is your Watcher?" She wasn't sure what she thought about that idea.

"Nah, got my very own rogue Watcher. Come on. I'm sure your friends will be thrilled to see you." Buffy beckoned for Spike and Lawson to get Angel away from Faith. "Not to mention your sister and that hottie boyfriend of yours."

"Hope? Jesse?" Faith sounded lost for a moment. She hadn't even thought about them since her climb from the grave, and she felt a bit guilty about it. "They're both okay? Angel never said anything."

Buffy glanced at Spike as she sent him a silent warning. He stepped closer to Angel as Buffy held her hand out to Faith. "Come one, let's get you home," the blond Slayer said.

Faith nodded before she stood up. She gave Angel a cool glance. "I don't appreciate your bullshit, Angel. I think you've worn out your welcome around here."

"That goes double for us, Peaches," Spike snarled. He didn't want the brooding poofter any where near his little family either.

The two Slayers left the Crawford Street mansion, followed by Buffy's vampires, who stayed on the alert for Angel and any of his tricks. Spike wanted to circle back to threaten the older vamp again, but Buffy mentally reminded him of their appointment with the real estate agent. When Faith was safely in Giles' hands, Buffy and her vamps went to meet up with Wesley.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leticia glanced at her watch. The sexy Brit and his group should arrive at any moment. She was surprised when a blond woman and two men, one bleached blond and the other dark-haired strolled up the driveway of Skald Hill Manor.

"We beat Wes," the woman chortled. "This has to be a first."

"You're so easily pleased, luv," the blond man said with a smirk.

Leticia realized that the blond man was another Brit. She shivered at the thought of listening to two yummy accents. She hoped the dark-haired man was from across the ocean too.

A van pulled into the driveway and parked behind Leticia's small car. Wesley got out with another man and two more women.

"Ms. Dobbins, a pleasure to see you again." Wesley smiled at Leticia. "May I introduce Buffy Summers and her mate, William. Beside them is Sam Lawson, a relative of sorts of William's."

"I go by Spike, you wanker," the blond snarled without heat.

Leticia could tell this was an ongoing thing between the two Brits.

"Ma'am," Lawson said in a soft voice. He bowed slightly to Leticia.

"With me are Joyce, Buffy's mother, Dot Hill, and Oz," Wesley continued the introductions as if Spike hadn't snarled at him.

"Pleased to meet you all," Leticia replied. She took the keys to the Manor out of her pocket. "As I told Mr. Wyndam-Pryce, the Manor was built in 1853 by William Jamison for his bride, Elizabeth Winters."

Spike let out a grunt at the familiar name. There had to be a lot of men in the world over the centuries with that name. It had to be a coincidence, didn't it?

"The house is partially furnished," Leticia said as she led the group up the steps of the front porch. "The price includes everything, as is."

Wesley nodded his head. They'd have to check the quality of the furnishings first. He grinned as the ladies made happy exclamations over the size of the porch.

Leticia unlocked the front door. The foyer of the mansion was impressive. She hoped that the rest of the house was the same. "Skald Hill Manor comes with ten acres of land. The house itself has a full basement and attic, six bedrooms, and three and a half baths. Come in, everyone."

"Sounds lovely," Joyce murmured as she looked around. She stepped into the living room which was directly off the foyer. She flipped on the light, and she gasped, "Spike, Buffy, come here."

"What is it, Mom?" Buffy entered the room behind Joyce.

Joyce pointed at the portrait hanging above the mantle. The man and woman depicted in the portrait bore a striking resemblance to Spike and Buffy.

Spike followed Buffy into the room. He let out a grunt of surprise when he saw the painting. "Huh! So that's what happened to Uncle William. Father said he went to the States to make his fortune."

"Mr. Jamison did indeed make his fortune." Leticia came up behind Spike. "However, he and his bride didn't get to enjoy it though. Just a few years after the house was completed, they were both killed in San Francisco." She had already guessed that several members of the group she was escorting were not exactly human.

"Did they have any children?" Buffy asked.

"No, they did not," Leticia answered. "My file says that there was no information on William's family and Elizabeth was the only child of only children. The house passed to a distant relative that had no interest in living in the area. Seeing as how Spike is a direct relative to Mr. Jamison, I believe we can quite possibly get a price slash from the seller."

Buffy nodded in understanding. Sunnydale wasn't exactly her first choice for a hometown either. So, she could see why the house might be a hard sell. Now was it was time to get down to business though. She turned to her companions, and she said, "Dot, you and Oz check out the basement. You both know what to look for. Mom, you and Wes tour this floor. Spike and I will take the second floor and attic."

"Sounds good, sweetie," Joyce agreed. She turned to the real estate agent. "Why don't we talk specifics while the others do their look-sees?"

"Lawson, you're with us," Buffy said. She and the two vampires headed for the upstairs.

Thirty minutes later the group reconvened in the main living room. They agreed that the house was perfect for them. Leticia called the owners, and the transaction was finalized.

Buffy Summers was the proud owner of the Skald Hill Manor.