Wesley put the phone down, and then he turned back to his colleagues. “Yes, William Jamison has descendants. One of them lives right here in the Los Angeles area, a chap by the name of Eddie Pratt.”

“Excellent,” Giles said. “Do you have an address?”

“Well, I have one for his employer.” Wesley turned back to the desk where he had written down the information he’d found out from his cousin. “Let’s see. Elizabeth Wilde. It appears she lives close to downtown. Perfect.”

Methos’ suspicious mind instantly went on the alert. Lizzie was a nickname for Elizabeth, and ‘wild’ was actually a synonym for summer which was the opposite of winter. Very clever, he thought. Aloud, Methos said, “I suggest you approach this Elizabeth Wilde with extreme caution, Wesley. The names Lizzie Winters and Elizabeth Wilde are just too much of a coincidence not to.”

“I didn’t make the connection.” Wesley swung around to look at his fellow Watcher. He mulled the two names over in his mind. “You could be right, Adam. I will be very careful when I meet with my cousin. If Miss Wilde is Lizzie Winters, we don’t want to tip our hand.”

“You know this Lizzie, or Elizabeth, or whatever her real name is, isn’t familiar. I don’t recognize her from the Watchers files” Giles commented, glancing at the picture of Lizzie Winters and William Jamison again. “I wonder how she eluded our attention before this.”

Methos pretended to have no idea, but in reality he knew that for the most part Elizabeth had laid low for a very, very long time. It had been just over 900 years since his first sighting of Elisheva which he was sure wasn’t her real name. Something told him she was far older than even that. There was the possibility that she was as old as him. That very well could mean she was the elusive Slayer that Giles had spent his Watcher career seeking out.

It would also explain the beheading that Methos had come across earlier in the evening.

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

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

“Sure. No problem, Boss Lady,” Eddie replied. “But you haven’t explained how you ended up here.”

“Like I said, around the time I turned sixteen a man showed up to tell me about my destiny.” Buffy went to the kitchen where she poured herself a drink. She gestured for Spike, Eddie, and Illyria to join her. “A Slayer is stronger and faster than a normal human. Their healing powers are not as good as an Immortal’s, but it’s close for non-life threatening wounds.”

Spike nodded. “We learned last year in Sunnydale that the first Watchers infused a girl with the spirit of a demon.” He shrugged. “I’d say one similar to a vampire.”

Buffy’s face scrunched up in thought. “That would explain a lot,” she finally replied.

“How did you meet Spike here?” Eddie asked. He was still a bit shocked by the fact that he was in the same room with the counterpart of his great grandfather who was a vampire.

“Well, my mom and dad got a divorce soon after I was called. Burning down the school gym was the straw that broke the camel’s back I suppose.” Buffy took a sip of her drink. “Mom and I moved to Sunnydale, California.”

“He mentioned Sunnydale before. You mean that little town you keep tabs on?” Eddie asked in a perplexed voice.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” Buffy chuckled.

“You kept an eye on good old Sunnyhell? Why?”

Buffy shrugged. “Despite this dimension not being magical, I had to be sure, Spike. I mean if there is anywhere that could be a Hellmouth it would be Sunnydale.” She let out a sigh. “At least this Wilkins didn’t try to turn into a big snake at anyone’s graduation.”

“What happened after you moved to Sunnydale?” Eddie asked.

“I made friends, went to school, and slayed the vamps,” Buffy answered. “Then, one day this brash, bleached blond vampire showed up and turned my world upside down.”

Spike smirked. “I was tryin’ to heal my Sire. She’d been pretty badly hurt by a mob in Prague. Garlic poisoning, you see. Bad for a vamp.”

“I never knew that.” Buffy tilted her head. “Anyway, we fought. Neither of got the upper hand, and we lived to fight another day.”

“The Slayer makes it sound so simple,” Spike muttered. “She failed to mention the great prancing poofter and the apocalypses.”

“Apocalypi,” Illyria said. “More than one is apocalypi.”

Buffy burst out laughing. “No, I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure it’s apocalypses, but Spike’s right. We had more than our share in Sunnydale. The last one I personally was at was the one that got me here. I jumped to close the portal, and somehow I ended up here.”

“Wouldn’t have happened if I had done my job right,” Spike said in a bitter tone.

“Stop that shit right now, William Andrew Henry Jamison, or I’ll smack you upside the head,” Buffy growled. “I did what needed to be done. My sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”

“Yeah, but it brought that bloody imposter to our world, didn’t it?” Spike growled back. He wasn’t at all happy having the Slayer know his full name. “Who the hell is she anyway?”

“I have no idea,” Buffy whispered. “I don’t exist in this dimension. Joyce Brennan never married Hank Summers.” She realized she was quite tired.

“I think I’ve heard enough for now,” Eddie said. “I’ll find out everything I can about this Wesley fellow for you. I’ll be back this evening. Bye, Elizabeth.” He gave Buffy a wave goodbye, and he departed to do his research.

“Bye, Eddie.” Buffy let out a sudden yawn. “Man, it’s been a long night. I’m ready to crash.”

“As am I,” Illyria replied. “This body is not ideal for fighting the hordes of hell.”

“There’s a guest room at the top of the stairs.” Buffy pointed upwards. “It has its own bathroom suite. If you get hungry there’s plenty of food in the fridge.”

Illyria gave Buffy a single nod of acknowledgement before she went up the stairs.

“What about me?” Spike smirked at Buffy. “Where am I sleepin’, Slayer?”

“I was hoping with me,” Buffy said quietly. She knew the bitch pretending to be her had ripped the vampire’s heart to smithereens. So, she wasn’t sure if Spike would take her up on the offer.

Buffy was more nervous about this encounter than any she’d had in the thousands of years she had spent in this dimension. She’d even fell in love a few times during her lifetime, but she had always held Spike deep in her heart. He had represented the familiar warmth of family and love in her mind.

“Sounds good to me, pet.”

Buffy let a small smile break through. She shyly held a hand out to Spike. “Wanna see the Spike wall now?”

Spike nodded while he grabbed Buffy’s hand. “I’m more than ready to see this infamous wall of me.”

Buffy led Spike towards her bedroom suite.

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

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“Who the hell are you?” Connor demanded. He stepped in front of the injured Gunn. Before him was a woman almost as tall as him with short white blond hair. She wore a tight black two piece suit, gloves, and high heeled boots. Hanging from her belt was a thin rapier.

“I am The Amazing Amanda.”

“She’s Amanda, all right, but she’s hardly amazing.”

Amanda whirled around to confront the dark-haired man standing in the shadows behind her. “Duncan, how can you say that?”

“Easy, my dear.” Duncan stepped forward. He wore a black trench coat over an equally dark shirt and pants. “But you really should let this young man deal with his injured friend.”

Connor narrowed his eyes, and he inhaled deeply, filtering out the scent of Gunn’s blood. He got a puzzled look on his face. “You’re not from this dimension, are you? You smell different.”

Duncan and Amanda stared at the young boy. “How on earth can you tell that?” Amanda asked.

“My parents are vampires. I grew up in a different dimension myself.” Connor decided that he could smell no true deceit on the newcomers. He dropped to Gunn’s side, and he opened the first aid kit.

“Connor,” Gunn whispered.

Connor placed his hand on Gunn’s shoulder. “Hang on, man. I’ll get you fixed up.” He easily ripped the injured man’s shirt away from his body. He glanced at the guests. “So, you’re Amanda and Duncan. What the hell are you doing in my father’s hotel? What do you want?”

“We overheard the dark haired man and the red headed woman talking about their friend who is not really their friend.” Amanda looked at Duncan. “I think we might have some information about who she is.”