“I wonder,” Wesley said slowly, tapping his chin at the same time.  “Grandfather Meade’s expedition was financed by a young woman by the name of Lizzie Winters.  She offered Meade a fortune for this book, but he refused to sell for some reason.”

 

“Is there anything else you can tell me about this Lizzie Winters?” Giles asked.

 

“Not really, but I do have a picture of her around here somewhere with Grandfather Meade’s cousin, William Pratt Jamison.”  Wesley went to the bookshelf where he kept his family photo album.  He flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for.  He showed the old picture to Giles and Adam.  “There she is.  Lizzie Winters.”

 

Adam suppressed a gasp.  He had met this Lizzie Winters before, only she didn’t go by that name.

 

1100, Constantinople

 

Methos leaned back against the cushion, and he picked up the goblet of wine in front of him.  His eyes followed the honey-dark blond woman as she moved among the men with grace.

 

Methos knew there was an Immortal nearby, but it appeared whoever he or she was they were not interested in tracking him down.  He thought this was strange behavior since most Immortals were very much into playing The Game.  Methos’ thoughts were interrupted by his host.

 

“I see you’re looking at Elisheva,” Sultan Zaman whispered into this companion’s ear.  “She is not for the likes of you.  Our Elisheva is an angel from heaven, sent here to protect us from the infidel dogs.”

 

Methos turned to study his host.  “I wasn’t interested.  I was just surprised to see such a pale skinned woman among your guests.”

 

“Elisheva is not our guest.”  Zaman nodded in a knowing manner.  “She is our lady protector. She appeared when the children were sick to show our healers many interesting ideas.”

 

Methos lost interest in the pale skinned woman when one of Zaman’s countless concubines joined the pair of men where they were seated.  By the time the Immortal remembered Elisheva, he found out that she had left the sultan’s palace.

 

“Is there any way to research her?” Giles asked.  “Any old diaries or records we can look at?”

 

Wesley shrugged.  “Not really, I’m afraid.  She was much friendlier with the Jamison side of the family than the Wyndam-Pryce side.”

 

“Did the man in this picture have any descendants?”  Adam took the picture from Wesley to study further.

 

Wesley tilted his head.  “I’m pretty sure there must be.  I’ll have to check.”   He crossed the room to the telephone.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

 

“Name’s Spike,” the bleached blond muttered.  He let his face change to his demonic visage.  He enjoyed the boy’s gasp of surprise more than he should have.  It had been a long time since he had the pleasure of enjoying a good fright.

 

Buffy let out a chuckle.   Her time in this dimension had changed her sense of humor and had burned away her prejudices.  She was able to enjoy Spike’s wicked antics.  “Be good, Spike.”

 

Spike gave Buffy a sloe-eyed look.  “Always, pet.”

 

Once Eddie recovered from his shock, he nodded towards Illyria who stood at the window studying the Los Angeles skyline.  “Is she a vamp too?”

 

“No, Illyria is one of the legendary old ones,” Spike replied, never taking his eyes off Buffy’s face.  “An original pure demon, actually.  From the Primordium Age if you must be specific.”

 

“I sense none of my kind in this dimension.”  Illyria turned to face the others in the room.  “I wish to seek out Wesley.”

 

“Oh,” Buffy said with a grimace.  “He’s still a Watcher here.  Only they watch Immortals.  I’ve been pretty lucky so far.  They’ve never caught onto me.  They’re not like the Watchers back home.  They’re strictly hands off here.”

 

“How do we go about getting the Watchers’ attention?” Eddie asked.

 

Buffy gave a sly grin.  “Same way we did back at home.  Send in a rogue Slayer.” 

 

“I don’t see Faith lurkin’ in the corner anywhere.”  Spike peered around the room.  He slipped out of game face while he gave Buffy a horrified look.  He thought Faith was a fine Slayer, but he didn’t like the thought of spending forever with her.  “She’s not an Immortal is she?”

 

Buffy shook her head while she bit her lip.  “No.  The Faith here is a very nice young lady.  I should know because I helped her become that way.  I made sure her childhood was a good one.”

 

“She came through in the end,” Spike said.  “Came to Sunnydale to fight against the First.  Found out she was wearin’ your body at the Bronze that one time.”

 

“My memories are better now that you two have jogged them with the Quickening,” Buffy replied.  “I remember that time of my life much more clearly now.”

 

“You guys have lived a very weird, un-normal life,” Eddie said under his breath.

 

Buffy turned to Illyria.  “Can you handle taking this slow, Blue?”

 

“That is the half-breed’s name for me.”  Illyria tilted her head in curiosity.

 

“I saw.”

 

After a few moments of thought, Illyria stated, “I bow to your superior knowledge of this dimension.  We will proceed slowly.”

 

“Good.”  Buffy turned to Eddie.  “Find Wesley’s location on that computer of yours.  We have a scavenger hunt to host.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

 

“It’s no good.”  Willow wilted in a tired heap.  “I can’t locate Spike or Fred.”

 

Angel laid a hand on Willow’s shoulder.  “You tried your best.  I think it’s time for you to get some rest.”

 

“I need a shower first.”  Willow wrinkled her nose.  “I stink.”

 

“There’re plenty of rooms upstairs.  Just pick one,” Angel replied with a wave towards the stairs.

 

Willow gave a tired nod before she trudged the stairs.  She peeked into the rooms before she picked out one with dark, masculine furniture.  After a quick shower, she collapsed into the bed naked.

 

Downstairs Angel and Conner poured themselves each a shot of whiskey from one of Wesley’s hidden stashes.  It made the vampire realize that the ex-Watcher was really gone, and Angel wondered if he would be able to retrieve Wesley’s body from Vail’s stronghold.

 

“To old friends.”  Angel lifted his glass.  “A.I. is down to one.”  He took a drink.

 

“What happened to everyone?” Connor asked.  “Wesley?”

 

In a tired, defeated voice Angel listed the fallen members of his team.  “Wesley died at Vail’s before the fighting started.  Illyria told us that.  She finished her mission, and she went to check on him.  I assume Lorne finished his last mission and left just like he said he would.  Gunn was hurt at the Senator’s.  I lost sight of him fairly early.”  He put his head down into this free hand, and he rubbed his forehead.

 

“And Spike and Illyria went to another dimension.”

 

“Yeah, and now I’ve learned that the Buffy here is an imposter.”  Angel let out a sigh.  “I have absolutely no clue what to do next.”

 

“A full day’s rest will do you good,” Connor said.  “I’ll keep an eye on things while you and Willow rest.”

 

“Thanks, son.”  Angel finished his drink.

 

Connor watched Angel follow Willow’s earlier path upstairs.  It seemed like they’d kinda won, but Connor had to ask himself where would they go from here?

 

Angel slipped into his old suite.  Without turning on the lights or taking in his surroundings, he shed his clothes.  He’d worry about picking them up tomorrow.

 

Angel climbed into bed, and he stiffened when he encountered a warm, female body.  Inhaling deeply, he realized it was Willow.  He was about to ease his way back out of the bed when she rolled over to snuggle up to him.

 

“Angel, is that you?” Willow murmured sleepily when she encountered a cool body.

 

“Sorry about this, but you’re in my bed.  I’ll just go find someplace else to sleep.”

 

Willow snuggled closer.  It was nice having a body in bed with her was felt nice, and she liked it.  “That’s okay.  So tired.  Go to sleep.”

 

Angel forced himself to relax at Willow’s words.  She was gay now anyway.  He didn’t think he needed to worry that anything would happen.

 

Together, the vampire and the witch drifted off into an exhausted sleep.

 

Connor made a point to check all the windows and doors on the ground floor before he moved to the lobby.  He had just settled in with one of Wesley’s forgotten books when a scratching noise at the lobby door caught his attention.

 

Cautiously, the Destroyer approached the door with a weapon in his hand.  When Conner looked, he saw an injured Gunn huddled against the glass.  A bloody handprint streaked down the glass.  He dropped his weapon, and he hurried to get Gunn inside.  Connor laid the injured man on one of the couches.  Then, he went in search of a first aid kit.

 

“Sure wish there was someone here to help me,” Connor muttered, knowing Angel and Willow were too tired to be any help.

 

“I thought you’d never ask.”