Smoke spiraled up from the lit cigarette he held in his hand, attesting to the fact that there was no breeze on this night. The muted feel of the bark beneath his shoulder gave a small measure of comfort to the man, as the branches overhead gave him cover. If someone looked close enough, they would be able to detect his dark form in the shadows, but experience had taught him that people rarely looked deep into the dark. They were afraid of what they might find there.
He watched as a group of teenagers passed by in front of him, ignorant of the dangerous creature lurking in the shadows a short distance away from them. It had always amazed him, what people failed to notice - especially in a semi-crowded area, such as this college quad.
Group after group of college students wandered through the grassy area, on their way to parties or the like. But he didn't pay any attention to them until he caught sight of red hair walking with a very familiar blonde. (So this is where you got off to....) he thought to himself, knowing that tonight was the night. If he waited until tomorrow, the red-head would be gone. Out of his reach.
Flicking his butt away, he pushed away from the tree and followed, staying in the shadows. They wandered off the campus, and through the town, until they finally reached their destination. A street in the middle of town, uncharacteristically deserted.
He watched as a signal was given by the blonde girl, to the men barely hidden in the alleys and doorways along the dark street. He had to hold himself in check - to stop his body from betraying him by running out into the street to help the two girls being attacked. Well�one girl. Her assailants were quickly subduing the red-head, while the treacherous blonde was quietly moving away from the action.
Seething in anger and resentment and betrayal, Alex Krycek watched as Consortium soldiers drugged and bundled up the form of the red-headed witch known as Willow Rosenberg.
He saw the blonde witch, Tara, give some instructions to the one obviously in charge, receiving some in return, before turning to head in another direction.
He decided to follow the kidnappers, as he could easily deal with the traitorous blonde later on. His concern at the moment was for Willow. He had waited so long for this moment that he almost turned around half a dozen times, only to remember what the Consortium had in store for the young red-head. He'd seen their techniques - hell, he'd lived through them, giving them pointers a few years later, on what they should improve upon. The group of senile old men would NOT get their hands on her.
Alex cursed his bad luck, that they would risk capturing her in the middle of a commercial area. Even though it was past closing time, the chosen site was too visible. But he'd come to expect such incompetence from the Consortium over the last years. With their 'invasion' drawing closer every day, they were so sure of their victory, of their survival, that they were getting sloppy. No longer was there the neat and clean pick-up, with no one the wiser. Now they resorted to grabbing one young woman in the middle of the street in the evening, using 12 agents. Generally, it only took one agent to grab a victim, and Alex could have handled that. Even 3 or 4. But he had to fall back when there were so many.
Trailing behind the group, almost like they were in a parade, he thought about what had brought him to this point. The point where he'd betray everything he'd worked for the last years, for this one girl. Well, that's how it would seem to everyone else, except a few top level Consortium members, who knew the truth.
In actual fact, Alex had never been loyal to the Consortium, even in the early days. It was a testament to his abilities that no one had ever known the difference - abilities he'd spent a considerable amount of time and energy hiding. Alex remembered when his personal conspiracy had begun, 15 years ago with the death of his parents. The Consortium were fools to think that a 15 year-old boy was too young to understand what was going on. Too inexperienced and weak to save what was left of his family by hiding his baby sister. They believed his parents had sent her off somewhere unknown before they were killed, but Alex knew better. He'd carefully scouted couple after couple until he found the right ones. They were American, not Russian, were away from their homes quite often, so no one would comment on the sudden arrival of a 4 year old with them, and their minds were easy to manipulate.
But the Consortium had found her, much to his horror. And at this moment, she was being held by 12 of their agents.
Alex noted with a sigh of disgust that their 'hideout' was not all that far from the pick-up point. (They snag the victim this close to their base of operation! Are they trying to get caught?) he raged in his mind. At this rate, he'd have his sister out of there before she ever regained consciousness.
Waiting for the right moment was always his least favourite part of the job, and tonight wasn't any different. Finding a spot close to the cheap motel room they'd rented, but still in the shadows, Alex sat down and waited impatiently for the goons to settle in for the night.
In a way, he could understand why there were so many guards assigned to this case. Spender and his friends might not know for certain if he knew of their plans, and so had sent a large group on this mission. They'd trained him to be the best, and were now scared that he'd turn on them. Not that he could blame them. They were still unsure as to the extent of his powers. It was something he encouraged them to think, as his sister was much safer if the Consortium had little interest in her.
Not that he'd ever thought she was completely safe. In fact, when Alex had first started searching for his sister, he hadn't been too surprised to find out that he wasn't the only one looking for her. The Consortium had big plans for her, as they had had for the rest of his family. Alex remembered the night his parents had been taken. They'd told him to protect his sister - that no matter what, he had to keep them both safe. So at 15, Alex had hidden in a secret compartment in their small house, a terrified and uncomprehending 4 year old in his arms, waiting for the men with the guns to leave. They finally did, taking their parents with them.
At the time, he'd been old enough to understand the danger, but had not known why these men wanted his family. But it had only taken a few days alone in the city for him to realize that even among hundreds of people, he was still too easy a target. So he'd hidden his sister, using the talents that had been passed down from his parents. Alex had managed a year on the streets, before those same men caught up with him.
The men, it turned out, were from a large syndicate called the Consortium, and were interested in his family for their 'gifts'. Both he and his sister were surprisingly strong, though they didn't know that. His parents were only marginally talented, and the syndicate had been far too interested in them. If those old men ever found out about his or his sister's talents, their lives would be over. So Alex hid his talents, and did such a good job of it, that even now the Consortium didn't realize how strong he was when it came to magic. So he'd become their top assassin, using the skills they'd taught him to protect his only living relative. However, he'd done such a good job of hiding her that it had taken him a few years to find her. He hadn't realized that the Consortium had found her until a few months ago. Alex had been searching through some of his bosses' classified files, looking for information on his parents, when he'd come across one on his sister. It didn't say much, but it did tell of an agent they'd managed to plant close to her. The agent was there to test her, to see how talented she was.
Once he'd found out where she was, Alex began to research this person his sister had grown into. Pleased to see that she had an exceptional ability with computers, he met up with her in one of the chat rooms she frequented. He'd developed a friendship with her, learning about the person she'd grown into. Discovering that her parents weren't the greatest pained him, as he'd given her to them in the first place, but he consoled himself with the knowledge that she had turned out so wonderfully.
Recent events, however, had shown the Consortium only a fraction of her true power, but it was enough for them. Some of her power had begun to leak through the block he'd set up years ago. Not a lot, but enough to grab the Consortium's attention. They wanted her. Now. He'd planted bugs all over his ex-bosses offices, and had listened in on a conversation in which his sister's abduction was immediately ordered. To be carried out by the agent close to her.
Once again using the magicks passed down from his gypsy parents, Alex set about protecting his younger sister.
Concentrating on the room just out of sight, he let himself picture it in his mind, feeling the life energy of each person there. Concentrating, Alex cast the spell he used most frequently in his line of work - that of sleep. Slowly, each of them fell asleep. He was careful to avoid Willow's distinct energies, as he didn't want to disturb her. In her current state, she could very well lash out at him mentally.
Finally finished, Alex moved into sight of the door, noticing the remaining two guards he hadn't been able to neutralize. Settling on a tried and true method, he reached into his black leather jacket for his silenced Glock. He smiled in satisfaction as two bodies hit the ground at almost the same time, both dead from a clean shot through the head.
"I've still got it," he murmured to himself, advancing towards the bodies.Dragging them inside, Alex closed the door before sitting on the bed next to the sleeping red-head. They had some time to spare before anyone would come looking for them, so he decided to take his time.
Placing three fingers on his sister's forehead, he murmured a few words in an almost forgotten language and closed his eyes as he felt the energy leave through his fingertips and zing it's way through Willow's body, destroying any sign of whatever drug they'd used on her. The fluttering of her eyelashes greeted him when he opened his eyes, and a moment later found himself looking into a set of eyes as green as his own. Green eyes that were slowly pulling him under her spell, as they had so often in the past.
Willow's startled gasp dragged his attention back to the present.
"W-who are you?" she managed to get out past her fright, her entire body wriggling away from Alex to the head of the cheap motel bed. "What do you - do you want?"
"Calm down, I'm not trying to hurt you." he said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. It seemed to work, as the red-head began to calm down, but her eyes were still wary as she looked at him. "What's the last thing you remember?" Alex asked, trying to keep her mind off the bodies that littered the room.
Scrunching her face as she tried to remember, Willow's eyes never left Alex's face. "I was going to the Bronze when a bunch of guys attacked me and Tara - Ohmigod! Tara! Where is she?!" she demanded fiercely, the urge to protect those she loved instinctual. Her gaze swept the room, looking for her lover, but only finding the sleeping bodies of the men who had kidnapped her. "Why did you kidnap me?"
"I didn't kidnap you, Anastasia," he told her, startling her with a name that wasn't hers, yet sounded incredibly familiar. "And we'll discuss the blonde witch later."
"What did you call me?" she demanded, her question stalling him for a moment. "Who are you?" Willow asked him again, suspicion and frustration clear in her voice.
"Why don't you tell me?" Alex challenged her, trying to figure out exactly how much had leaked through the memory block he'd put in her mind years ago.
"Alexei?" inquired Willow hesitantly, as if unsure of the answer and the response it might garner. Though she needn't have worried, as a huge smile broke out across his face at finally hearing his name come from her lips. "What's going on? How do I know you?" cried out the red-head, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her knees. The torment and confusion Alex saw on her face made his heart ache. It was all because of him that this was happening, and he would give his life if it meant that he never had to see those things on her face again.
Leaning towards her slowly, Alex gently cupped the side of her face, capturing her gaze with his own. Looking deep into her mind, in a way only he could do, Alex slowly began to crumble the walls he'd put up years ago as he whispered a single word.
"Remember."
"Hey, Tara," Buffy called out as the blonde witch carefully made her way into the magic shop. "Where's Willow?" she asked, finding it odd that Tara was here on her own. The witch rarely went anywhere without Willow, and Buffy and the others had become accustomed to seeing the pair together.
"I d-don't know," stammered Tara, trying to look concerned. "She's not here?"
"I haven't seen her all day," replied the Slayer, looking to Xander for help.
"Don't look at me, Buffster. I have a little thing called 'work' that I do during the day," said Xander, eyes still fixed on Anya's form as she shelved various ingredients on a ladder in the back of the store.
"We were going to see if anyone wanted to go to the Bronze, but she never came back from the library," Tara told them in a surprisingly clear statement.
"She's not at the library?" asked Buffy, starting to get concerned. True, Willow was really into studying, but she'd never miss a date because of it.
"I checked, and someone saw her leaving a few hours ago. Where could she be? What if something happened to her?" Tara kept getting more distraught as she spoke, the hysteria rising within her - or at least, she hoped that's how it looked.
"I better go look for her," said Buffy, grabbing her coat.
"Look for who, Buffy?" called a voice from the door.
"Willow. I was just about to go look for you." A concerned look crossed the Slayer's face for a moment. "Are you ok? Tara said she couldn't find you."
"She obviously didn't look very hard."
"W-Willow!" stammered Tara, her fear beginning to rise as she saw a very familiar shadow following the red-head. Tara knew this man better than almost anyone else, which only made her even more scared. "Wh-who's this?" asked Tara, trying to cover up her fear and surprise by acting ignorant. Slowly stepping away from the door, she slipped her hand into one of the deep pocket of her long skirt, through the hole in the bottom, and grabbed the gun that she had strapped to her thigh earlier on in the evening. Tara didn't want to resort to using it, mainly because she knew that Alex Krycek was faster than she was. If she so much as sneezed wrong, she knew Krycek wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in her brain.
"Don't even think of it, Miranda!" Alex snapped as he saw her hand burrowing for a weapon. Then, before anyone could act, with a move reminiscent of Darth Vader, Alex threw the blonde witch up against the wall without moving from his spot near the door. His hand gripping nothing, they all watched as Tara, held pinned to the wall, feet not touching the ground, struggled against an invisible grip that was slowly choking her to death.
Moving to the struggling witch, Alex reached under her skirt and pulled out the gun he'd taught her to keep hidden there - much to the protest of the occupants of the room.
"You and me are going to have a little talk after this, Miranda," Alex quietly promised her, allowing the gasping girl to drop to the floor.
"Willow? What's going on?" demanded Buffy, not liking the idea that this stranger had some sort of hold on her friend. Not liking the fact that Tara had had a gun - the Slayer didn't even know the girl knew how to use one. But the stranger in front of her was her first concern. A stranger who projected such an aura of menace, that her entire body was ready to defend against any threat.
"Yeah, who's the menacing, black clad stranger?" asked Xander in his sarcastic way, only to be elbowed in the ribs by his girlfriend.
"Don't listen to him, Willow. Don't believe anything he says. He only wants to hurt you," gasped out Tara as she slowly regained her breath. She was fully aware of the fact that her life now lay on the line. If not from Alex, then from the men she worked for. If the blonde witch failed to bring Willow back to them, the Consortium wouldn't hesitate to kill her.
"We're going to have to have a talk when we leave here, Alexei." Willow told him sternly, not liking all the lies and half-truths she was becoming aware of.
"Anything you want, 'Stazie." He promised her. Alex had always let his sister get her way, whether he liked it or not - and this time was definitely one of the latter. But still, the look on her face - like the one there right now - more than made up for it. It made him happy to see her smile that way - it always had.
"You're signing your own death warrant, Krycek!" warned Tara, plastering her body up against the wall as Alex turned his fiery green eyes on her.
"Don't make me silence you," warned Alex, barely giving the witch a glance.
"Tara?" came a few shocked voices from the teens.
"They want her, Krycek, and you can't stop them," she proclaimed, showing Willow and the rest an entirely different side.
"I've protected her for the last fifteen years," he rasped at her, stepping closer to his former prot�g�. "Do you think I'm suddenly going to stop, just so those geriatrics can expand their science experiments? So that you can become more powerful?" he demanded, barely controlling his anger and rage.
"Tara?" came Willow's soft voice, the pain of her girlfriend's betrayal like a hot knife through her heart. "Is it true? Were you just using me to get to my powers?" she asked, her eyes pleading for a denial of some sort. She wanted to believe that Tara hadn't betrayed her - that Alex was somehow wrong - but her silence condemned her. "Why?" Willow demanded, tears in her eyes at facing the betrayal of her lover. "Why would you agree to something like that?"
"Because it's wh-what I was raised to do." The blonde witch had to close her eyes for a moment, regretting her loss of control, even if it was for a second. She was praying that her former mentor wouldn't catch the slip, but she knew that it was a slim hope. "How do you know a-all this?"
"I make it a point to regularly go through their files," he said absently, looking closer at Tara. Alex noticed the slight tremor she couldn't quite control, and smiled. "It's nearing the time for your injection, isn't it?" he asked. "You need to take it soon, or you're going to lose your power."
"And I won't be worth anything to them, not even the cost of a bullet in my brain!" she snapped, pleased that she hadn't stumbled over her words.
"Injection?" asked Riley, having a bad feeling about it all. He was more than familiar with the signs of drug withdrawal, having been through it himself, and he took note of the unconscious shivers and small beads of sweat which were popping out across her forehead as he watched.
"If I-I don't get my medicine, I lose all m-my powers," she explained slowly, turning pleading eyes to her former teacher. "Please, Alex. D-don't do this to me," she begged.
"When they explained the procedure to you, what part of 'live tissue sample' didn't you understand? My parents died, so that you could float a knife across the room!" His voice began rising as he spoke, the anger he'd kept locked away for years finally emerging. "Who do you think gave you those precious powers?!" Alex was startled by a small hand on his shoulder. Turning, he looked down into the green eyes of his sister, feeling himself calm in spite of his inner anger. Keeping his eyes locked with Willow's, he continued speaking in Tara's direction.
"I survived on the streets of Moscow for almost a year, before the Consortium found me. They took me in, and I managed to convince them that my parents' Talent had not been passed on. The Elders still found a use for me, and began training me to be their 'errand boy'." He laughed harshly at his next comment. "They trusted me enough to send someone my way to train. I taught her everything I knew, and in the end she betrays me!" he cried, shooting an accusing look at her.
"What did you expect? You left me by myself, to go do your *thing* at the FBI! I went through HELL!" yelled Tara, letting loose a bit of the insanity she'd hidden so well. "You abandoned me there! A 16 year old girl, alone in a compound full of assassins and other monsters! What did you think would happen to me?!" A single tear trailed down her cheek as she glared her hatred at the dark haired man in front of her. Her eyes narrowed, using the last of her concentration to strike out at the man who had hurt her so badly.
Only sharp Slayer reflexes stopped the knife from embedding itself in Krycek.
"Nice reflexes," commented Alex absently, moving to stand in front of the limp witch, who had collapsed in a heap on the ground. Lifting her heavy head, Alex looked into unfocussed eyes, realizing that with that last burst of power, Tara had lost what little remained of her tightly held sanity.
"If I'd known, I never would have left you," he said softly, his face falling in sadness as an insane giggle erupted from her lips.
"You couldn't have known," reassured Willow, coming up behind him.
"But I should have."
"Willow? What's going on?" Buffy asked again in a loud, demanding voice, ignoring the man for the moment. She had a feeling that she'd get more answers out of the red-head than she would out of him.
"Buffy� I'm not really sure what's going on. Too many memories are swirling around in my head for me to make sense of them. As for Tara, I don't know what's up with that. But no one's going to kill her!" That was said with a glare, and the infamous 'resolve' face in Alex's direction. For most people, the combination of those two looks would have the person stumbling to apologize for whatever it was they had done, Alex merely smiled in remembrance.
"Mother would use that same look on Father all the time. I saw it a lot while I was growing up," his face softened as he remembered the two people who had given him and his sister life. Two people who had had their lives taken away much too soon, destroying their family. He had a chance to repair some of that damage, and he wasn't going to let this chance pass.
If anything, his words only made Willow intensify that look. Everyone in the room cringed. They'd been on the receiving end of Willow's glares before, not to mention the 'resolve' look, but never in combination before. The Scooby Gang had to give this guy some credit. He was standing up pretty well under the circumstances.
"You can stop that now. I became immune to that look when I was 12," he said, watching her brow furrow in concentration, as she tried to find a way to stop him from blasting the blonde witch. Tara - or Miranda - may have been about to turn her over to the same people who had killed her parents, but that didn't mean the Willow wanted her dead.
Alex looked on in apprehension as a devious smile spread across her lips. Something in her eyes told him he was in trouble, and he was right. Alex tried to steel himself against the Look she'd developed for him. It was the only thing that had ever worked on him. And there it was. The green eyes opening wide, bottom lip thrusting out a little, and the innocent, teary look coming to her eyes. It was the 'Pout' she'd discovered when she'd been two, and hadn't been able to get her way.
He crumbled. Alex Krycek - assassin, Consortium spy, one of the most powerful warlocks this century - caved like a drunken virgin on prom night.
"Awww..." he groaned, knowing she'd won. "Alright!" The smile she sent him more than made up for his weakness. Not that he really minded. She was his baby sister, and he was happy to be wrapped around her little finger again. He'd adored her since the day she was born, and it had never stopped.
"I'll take her someplace safe," Alex was saying, lifting Tara/Miranda into his arms. All the strength had gone out of the blonde, and she lay in his arms giggling uncontrollably. "By the end of the week, her powers should be gone."
"Will you be all right?" he asked Willow, searching her face for any sign of fear or reluctance.
"Go. I'll explain what I can," she told him, understanding passing between the two of them.
"Alexei," her voice stopped him on his path to the door. "Come stay with me tonight. We have a lot to talk about."
His nod was her only reply.
"Willow Rosenberg isn't the name I was born with. In fact, I wasn't even born in the US," Willow began, startling them all, and continuing before anyone could comment. "Anastasia Paulina Koyskin," she said with the perfect intonation, making it sound as Russian as it was, while remembering how fondly Alex had said the name only an hour before. Willow smiled, recalling the times he'd said it the same way when introducing her to his friends. He'd been a young boy at the time - barely a teenager - but the pride in his voice as he said her full name always stopped any comments from the others his age.
"How do you know all this? Who was that guy? And how do we know this isn't some trick or spell?" asked Buffy, always the suspicious one. Everything was just too convenient, and seemed too sudden. Anything that happened this fast was sure to get her attention. She didn't trust any of this.
"He's Alexei. My brother," Willow informed her friends, the love shining out of her eyes as she thought of her dark haired brother, plain to see even to the densest person.
"Brother? He's your brother?" cried Buffy, totally unprepared for this revelation. A nod was Willow's only acknowledgment. While the Slayer and the others digested this, Giles began the inquisition.
"Why hasn't he appeared before now? And why haven't you said anything?" he inquired. He as well was finding everything just a tad too convenient and sudden for his liking.
"An very powerful, and very ruthless group of men destroyed our family when I was four. They were interested in us for our blood - the magic we carry within us. The group that destroyed our family is most certainly not gone. Tara worked for them," she said, tossing her head in the direction of the door.
"I should start from the beginning. We come from a long line of gypsy blood - a line that is known for its powers. Mother was from one clan, and Father was from another," Willow explained. "Both Gypsy clans had been hunted for years, and were almost destroyed. Our parents were the last descendants of powerful clans. They each had a minimal Talent for magic, which was the main reason they were hunted. Alexei learned at an early age to hide his Talent, because there were people who wanted that magic for themselves. One such group is called the Consortium, and when I was four they found us in a small town outside of Kiev. These people wanted our parents for the small amount of magic they had in their blood. Our parents knew that both Alexei and I would be in danger if they ever discovered how strong we really were," explained Willow, filling the gaps in her own memory with what Alex had told her earlier.
"That still doesn't explain why he wasn't around!" snapped Xander, protective of his best friend. He'd known her most of his life, and never heard Willow speak of any of this. "And why didn't you tell us, Wills?" he asked the red-head.
"I couldn't..." she trailed off, scrunching her face while she attempted to recall memories that were just coming to the surface after fifteen years. Taking a deep breath, Willow tried to explain.
"Alex was fifteen when our parents died. He was incredibly powerful by that time, but had problems controlling such magicks." Willow explained, trying to make them understand her brother and his actions. "When our family was attacked, Alexei hid me using his considerable powers. He found an American couple who were in Moscow for a conference, and several spells later, the Rosenberg's had a daughter."
"He blocked your memories," stated Giles, understanding at last. In order to hide Willow from the people who were after them, this man had given her away to perfect strangers, trusting that they'd instinctively keep her safe.
"My powers, too. He didn't want a four year old to attract the wrong sort of attention," she told them.
"You couldn't possibly have been so strong at such a young age," queried Giles. Most people with magick in their blood don't come into their powers until later on, usually around puberty. "Your powers couldn't have manifested themselves so soon."
Blushing slightly, Willow recalled a particular memory from her past. "I remember when I was three and Alexei was fourteen, some bullies from the neighborhood were giving Alexei a hard time because of his gypsy blood. They were also saying things about my parents and about me. I don't really remember why, but I suddenly got fed up with them and came running out of the bushes, yelling at them to 'leave my big brother alone'. It was quite a sight, seeing three large boys being chastised by a three year old. They just laughed, until the first snowball hit one of them." Willow was both smiling fondly and blushing at the remembrance. "I pummeled them with snowballs, chasing them down the street, and all without touching a single flake of snow."
"They were being mean!" defended a bright red Willow when they all looked at her, her face colouring brightly underneath the scrutinizing gazes of her friends.
"But isn't - weren't -" corrected Buffy "weren't you still all magick-y when this 'block' was still there? How come you could still do stuff, if your powers were blocked?" The Slayer was still suspicious of the entire situation, not ready to accept what she was hearing - that her best friend's entire life was not really her life. That it never really was her life.
"Right. Well�" stammered the British watcher, flushing slightly.
"Do you guys mind if I go home?" Willow shyly asked, trying not to sound too excited. She wanted to spend more time with her brother, and as much as she hated to admit it, her friends were cutting into that time. "I want to spend some time with Alexei."
"I don't like him, Wills," Buffy announced, not wanting to let her friend leave to be alone with the guy who still sent chills up her spine, even though he'd been gone for some time.
"I've got to agree with Buffy, here," Riley put in. "I don't like the looks of that guy."
"You don't have to like him, just accept him as part of my life," Willow pleaded gently.
"Will we see you tomorrow, so we can talk some more?" Buffy asked, as the rest of the group remained silent. Something had changed in their friend, and none of them knew how to deal with it - how to deal with Willow. "I still don't understand everything that's going on," the Slayer admitted.
"Of course, silly."
And with a big grin on her face, Willow walked out to meet her brother.
Well, I guess this is good-bye. I can't really say I'm surprised. I knew this was coming the moment Alexei came back into my life. I'm leaving you this letter, because I know you would convince me to stay if I told you in person. And that's something I can't do. To many lives would be at stake if we didn't leave.
You see, the people who are after me, won't stop at anything until they have me. Buffy, no matter how much confidence you have in yourself - how much I have in you - you wouldn't be able to protect me for long. These people - this Consortium - aren't demons bent on the Apocalypse. They're human beings. I remember how you conscience bothered you in the past, when you were faced with the harming of an innocent person, and I know there's no way I could force you to face that when I could easily avoid it all by leaving.
Please don't worry about me. Alexei will protect me with his life, and though he doesn't like the idea, he knows I'll do the same for him. It will help a lot that he's beginning to train me, in magick as well as self-defense, so I won't be totally dependent on him.
As for Tara, she really *is* being taken care of. I don't want to tell you where she is, because the wrong people may find out, and she deserves some peace in her life.
Xander, I will miss you. You are a large chunk of my life and my heart. And keep Anya around. She's good for you.
Anya, you better treat Xander nice, or I'll....well, I'll do something very not-nice! You keep him grounded, and are just what he needs in life. For that you have a place in my heart.
Riley, well, you make Buffy happy. There's not really anything else I can say, except 'keep up the good work'.
Buffy, well, keep fighting. And breaking the rules. You've shown me that nothing is beyond my reach, as time and again you have challenged the boundaries set for you, and won.
Giles, don't worry about me. I can see you right now, polishing those glasses and worrying about me and 'that man'. Alexei is wonderful. He's my brother, my family and my protector. He tells me he's been searching for years, and suspects that the two of us are truly the last of both gypsy clans. The gift in our blood is our legacy to future generations. That alone must be preserved, and living on the Hellmouth really isn't the best way to live a long and productive life.
I left this letter for you, because I probably won't see you again. Returning to Sunnydale would be a very bad idea, as Alexei has told me that these people will most likely keep you under surveillance, on the slim chance I might return.
So, I'm leaving tonight - or is that last night? Well, whenever you read this, I'll already be gone.
I'll love you always, and miss you even longer.
WillowAgents Mulder and Scully walked into Assistant Director Skinner's office, trying to keep the annoyed looks off their faces. The 2 agents had been in the middle of an investigation in New York State, when they'd been called back by the AD.
"Agents, glad you made it," said the balding man, signing the report he'd been reading. Looking up, Skinner kept the smile off his face as he looked at his agents. They both sported looks of annoyance and frustration at being called back in from the field, but there was no way around it.
"Sorry to call you away in the middle of an investigation, but this had to be done today," he explained, pulling a file from a large stack of them. "As you know, we have an Internship program running, where new graduates from Quantico spend a few months in different departments before being assigned full Agent Status."
"So why are we here? The X-files aren't on the list of departments participating in the Internship program," asked Mulder, trying to remain keep in his seat. He was anxious to get back to the investigation, they'd just had a new lead pop up as they were about to head for the airport.
"No, but the candidate requested the assignment, and since you two seem to be having a hard time staying out of trouble, I'm inclined to grant the request," he explained, staring straight at Mulder. It was almost as if he were daring the agent to fight him on it. Seeing the terse nod from the brunette, he turned his look to the red-headed doctor. Amusement lit his eyes up, though his face kept the hard stare, as Skinner could almost read Scully's thoughts. She was dreading the arrival of a younger, more eager 'Spooky' Mulder.
"Don't worry, Agent Scully. She fast-tracked her way through Quantico, and is more inclined to side with you, than go off on a tangent with Agent Mulder," he informed her, not missing the arching of an eyebrow.
"She?" asked Mulder, visions of a miniature Scully dancing around in his head. One skeptic was enough for him.
Smiling at last, Skinner pushed a button on the phone next to him. "Kim, send her in." A moment later, a young red head in a black suit opened the door. Her eyes arrested both Mulder and Scully. They were so familiar, but neither knew why.
"Agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, meet Anna Kolchak. She'll be interning with you for the next 6 months.
"Nice to meet you," said Willow, letting out the smile that she'd kept in check.
Alexei was right. She was going to have fun.
END!!