Ripper by Frau Hunter Ash

Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, and God only knows who else. The X-files characters and show all belong to Chris Carter, Fox and possibly others. No copyright infringement was intended and suing me will not make you any money! The storyline, however, is the sole property of the author. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright notices.
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http://frau-hunter-ash.tripod.com/
http://mysticmuse.net
Feedback: Feedback welcome!
Grouping: Buffy/Willow/Tara

Summary: One of the Scooby Gang is missing, sending everyone into a nightmare of anxiety and fear. The search leads the gang to a familiar face and a new sorcerer.

Jagdesh Singh sighed as he watched the group of teens enter the store. This was almost a regular event, happening every other day. They would enter, cause a ruckus, steal him blind and dash for the safety of the back streets of Sunnydale.

The Indian Sikh didn't mind so much with this group, they didn't steal cigarettes, beer or candy, they stole cans of tuna, green beans, chili; in other words, food.

The Sikh owner of the small mini mart remembered growing up on the dirt streets in India, stealing to survive himself. Jagdesh only made halfhearted attempts to stop the teens and shrugged when his wife demanded to know why he didn't phone the police or banish the kids from the store. He would just smile, remove a twenty-dollar bill from his pocket and put it in the register.

The Sihk made a show of chasing the teens out, yelling and screaming that he was going to call the police and then ignored his wife's glares as he went back to work.

The small group of teens, known among the runaways and street people as the Jesus Brigade laughed, as they ducked down a series of alleys leading back to their residence. This week it was an old mansion in the dying part of town. It wasn't bad, dark and cold at night but the cops didn't cruise by often and there weren't any neighbors to report their candlelight.

"Hey," Slash slowed down when they turned the corner, slowing the rest of the group down. He pointed and everyone crowded around the figure on the alley floor.

It was a man and all he had on was a pair of black sweat pants. He had his back to them and was curled up on a piece of cardboard.

"Holy crap!" Gator, who a lifetime before had been born and raised in Louisiana, exclaimed. "Look at that back! Someone went nuts all over that boy."

"Yeah," Slash said, being the one to kneel down next to the man. "Hey, man, can you hear me?"

"Leave him," Samson, so called because of his long hair, urged. "Just some kinky drunk."

"Nah," Slash said softly. "His hands are hurt and that back wasn't kinky, that was major hurt."

"Yeah, but he's one of us and it's getting dark," Slash smiled, lifting something up from around the man's neck. Molly nodded as the dusk sunlight shone on a cheap but very large pewter cross.

Samson wore a leather collar with silver crosses tacked to it; Slash wore three different silver crosses, each chain a different length, creating a row of crosses down his chest. All the other street kids of the group wore very visible crosses, hence the name, Jesus Brigade.

Molly adjusted her own large gothic cross with an uneasy glance at the setting sun.

Rack smiled when he spotted the red-haired witch making her way through the crowd waiting outside his door for their magic "fix." She had been coming to him for over a week and the sorcerer was beyond pleased. Witches with power of her caliber didn't cross his threshold often. He was surprised some powerful sorcerer hadn't grabbed her up for proper training.

Not that Rack was complaining. He wasn't one for training anyone. The sorcerer had learned his talents weren't much beyond simple casting but his true talent lay in what he did with it. Taking those with slight magic talent on hazy "trips," feeding them just enough magical energy to get them stoned, kept them coming back for more until they were desperate enough to pay the price, that was Rack's talent. He was a natural born "drug" dealer.

The price tag for each one was different. Most of the time it was sex, especially from the good looking females. Sometimes money, sometimes drugs. It always included their magical energy until they were used up and useless to be discarded like empty fast food bags.

So far the red-head hadn't reached the point of being desperate yet and Rack was enjoying their "sessions." She had an inner spark and spunk that he liked and related too. He could especially relate to her darkness and knew that she had tasted it before meeting him. Rack hoped to draw her back to that before he was done.

The sorcerer began thinking of making her a partner as the week went on. With her power and his guidance, they could rule Sunnydale within months.

Rack went to the head of the line and smiled down at the one he had nicknamed Strawberry. "Give me a minute, lover," he asked, closing the door before she could protest they weren't lovers. He knew that would come in time as well. It always did.

The pusher turned his one good eye towards the curtained area at the back of his residence and smiled. He needed a push himself and had the perfect solution. A ready made generator. Of course he didn't know how much longer this one could last, Rack had been draining him for two months already and the man was almost mindless.

Rack walked over and squatted in front of the chained man and smiled. "Got to remember to feed you today, don't I? You're looking a little thin and weak."

Rack grinned wide. He did like spunk, he also loved it when they resisted and with this one he had free rein.

The sorcerer reached out and placed his hand over his prisoner's chest and yanked the magical and life energy from the man, using the most painful of methods. His prisoner screamed as his body arched and he struggled against the chains holding him close to the wall. After a moment, Rack released him and the man slumped over on his side barely conscious, blood flowing from his nose.

Rack opened the door and motioned Strawberry inside. The young woman looked around and settled in her favorite spot, a large and comfortable sofa. Rack followed her over and sat next to her. "Ready for a ride?" he purred.

"Who's that?" Strawberry asked with a frown, pointing at the man in chains. The young woman could tell that the man had been there awhile from the wounds on his wrists and ankles from the chains and his emaciated appearance. His trousers were in tatters and he was missing his shirt, shoes and socks. His chest and arms were covered with burns and cuts, obviously having been through torture.

"He's our power source, Strawberry," Rack smiled, shrugging off his mistake of not closing the curtains. "You'll be feeding on his energy today."

"You use him to supply your magical trips and then steal the life force from those kids out there paying you for the trips," Strawberry ventured with a smile. "You're clever. How long have you been doing this?"

"A lot longer than you would think," Rack laughed, reaching out to stroke her hair. "I'm far older than I look. The energy keeps me young and the downfall of all those souls out there keep me alive and give me power."

"Something like that," Rack nodded. "You want in? You could live forever if you do it right. All those desperate kids out there, they supply the energy and we give them moments of escape. Think about it, it's either us and magic or ecstasy and clubbing all night long."

"You've tasted the power, I can feel it," Rack smiled, leaning back on the sofa.

"Yes, I was almost totally over when I was nabbed by self righteous white-light types," Strawberry growled. "They drained my energy and put bindings on me. Took me forever to slowly work those off."

"Yes," the red-head nodded firmly, glancing over at the chained prisoner. "What's his story? He looks almost done for."

"He won't last much longer," Rack agreed. "Gotta say, he's lasted longer than I thought. Once I got past his shields I discovered that he was a remarkable source of power. He had been neglecting it for so long though."

"How did you get him?" the young woman asked, sitting forward on the sofa and looking at the prisoner as he stirred slightly.

"I bought the markers of a big time magic caster," Rack smirked. "Seems he has this serious gambling problem and I bought his markers. One of those who owed him was a sorcerer who owed some major magical energy. To keep me from collecting out of his hide, he gave me his friend."

"Totally," Rack agreed. "We kidnapped his old mate, used the connections they still had to bind him and start draining him."

"Will you kill him or leave him drained? Could he recover his magic?" Strawberry asked thoughtfully.

"Possibly regain his magic someday," Rack frowned in thought. "He probably won't though. Weird case, girlfriend. The torture I use to build his energy and anger up has reacted badly with him."

"I torture them to raise their anger, makes the magic easier to drain," Rack explained. "Then they get hopeless and their shields are totally gone. This one, he had shields on top of shields, some of them from himself. He cut off part of himself behind walls and refused to deal with stuff, I guess. When I knocked those walls down, he can't handle it and is mentally out to lunch."

"I've seen it a lot in the kids who come through here," Rack shrugged. "Some of them were, or are, so abused that their minds couldn't take it and separates into fragments. Sometimes even forming personalities to deal with the pain and stuff."

"I remember that from psych class, alter personalities," Strawberry nodded. "He's a multiple?"

"Not quite totally," Rack smiled. "Something happened in his youth that snapped his mind and he totally rejected whoever he had been and stuffed that down. Now without those shields, all that is trying to come to the surface and he can't handle it."

"Yeah, his energy is almost done," Rack looked over at his toy without expression. "He'll probably be dead in days. Now, let's talk about you joining me."

The next night Strawberry was back on the sofa with Rack. This time he considered them as beginning partners and was moving to nuzzle her neck, making it apparent what part of that partnership would entail. Strawberry bared her neck to him, pulling him closer as he moved to kiss her.

Strawberry pushed him back slightly. He looked at her with a growl and then a puzzled expression at her smile. "What?" he demanded.

"Equals, Rack," Strawberry insisted. "Share it with me while we do this. I want to feel your mind and energy as you take me."

Rack moaned at the thought of finally achieving sex with the beautiful and powerful witch and nodded. He moved to kiss her as she pulled him on top of her on the sofa. He felt her energy touching his and lowered his shields enough to let her in to most of his self.

The sorcerer shouted in surprise when the door to his inner chamber flew open. He tried to get up and found that his limbs felt like lead and he had no energy. He looked down and found Strawberry's eyes Magic black from her casting, from her holding him and binding him from acting.

"Slayer," Rack muttered, recognizing the vague description running around the demon bars. "Slayer and witch. Where's the other witch?" he growled as Willow pulled herself out from under him and rushed to Buffy's side.

"Curtain, over there," the witch muttered, letting Buffy wrap an arm around her. Buffy took the crossbow from Xander, pointing it at Rack while her friend rushed to the curtain, flinging it back.

The two lovers looked over and blinked. The chains were empty and there was no sign of Rack's prisoner other than blood-coated shackles. Buffy turned to the sorcerer, her eyes blazing.

Buffy crossed the space quickly and brought the butt of the crossbow up under Rack's chin, sending the man almost flying over the back of the sofa. He slid down onto it, barely conscious.

"You like torture?" Buffy hissed, grabbing him by his genitals. "I'll show you what real pain is if you don't tell me where he is!"

"I don't care about ethics right now," Buffy snapped. "That's my Watcher, friend and Dad-figure. And Strawberry over there really loves him like a dad too and she's not a Slayer. Want her to let loose on you?"

"No sign, nothing left of his," Xander said softly. Buffy knew the sight of the gore coated shackles and Willow's description of Giles had disturbed Xander and all of them more than they were admitting to, even to themselves.

"Will?" Buffy called, her face firm. "You tell us where he is or we walk out of here and leave you to her."

Rack looked over with another smirk, thinking he knew Strawberry/Willow and her limitations. His eyes widened as her eyes changed from Magic-black to a strange yellow and black. She smiled, revealing fangs and stretched out a hand.

The sorcerer wasn't aware that he whimpered slightly as reddish fur sprouted on the girls' hand and the fingernails became claws.

"Okay, all right!" he shouted. "I finished with him and tossed him outside last night! I put a cross around his neck and threw him out!"

"A fighting chance," Rack muttered, dropping his head. "He was a sorcerer once."

"Rack, listen closely," Buffy snarled, squatting down in front of him. "Fair warning, pack up your traveling medicine show here and get out of my town. Next time I'll let Strawberry take you out… painfully. You ever see a werewolf play with its food?"

Willow smiled, releasing the magic bindings from Rack and letting the wolf retreat inside.

Once outside the magically shielded place, Willow shivered. "Goddess, I need a shower!"

Throughout the two weeks of drawing Rack into trusting her and finding Giles, Willow had been dealing with negative energy. Just the thing she had once been addicted too.

Tara and the Magic Instructor from the Watcher's Council had worked nightly with Willow to slowly drain the energy without hurting her and cleansing her, letting the wolf defeat whatever negative was left behind.

"No, just him dropping his shields and me binding him," Willow sighed, leaning into Buffy's arms as they walked around to the back of the building. Tara quickly rushed over to join in the hug when she saw her wives.

After reassuring Tara that she was okay, they explained what they had found out from Rack.

"Okay, most likely he dumped Giles back here," Xander said thoughtfully. "Can you track him magically now that Rack and Ethan aren't blocking you from seeing Giles?"

"While we're following the trail like a bloodhound, would you fill me in?" Xander asked with a trademark confused look. "Anya and I get home tonight from a buying trip and you grab us for attack stuff saying you found Giles after he's been missing for two months."

"Well, Quentin suggested that we search for anyone with a connection to Giles' past," Willow smiled.

"That someone had to have a connection to Giles magically to block his energy from all of us," Tara added.

"Especially you guys, major witch-fu types!" Xander agreed. "So that led to Ethan? How did we get here and what was Willow doing with sleaze-ball in there?"

"Well," Buffy smiled and glanced over at her wives. "Willow did the computer hacking thing and tracked Ethan's movements from England to here. He's been here for three months, apparently watching Giles."

"Yeah," Willow nodded. "That's what we thought and tracked him down. Buffy did her thing and convinced him to tell us what happened with Giles."

"Meaning she hit him until he talked," Xander smirked and Tara giggled. "What happened and where is Ethan?"

Willow raised her hands and chanted softly and, a moment later, Tara joined her as they cast a spell to track their wayward Watcher.

"Ethan did some major magickal stuff and got into debt with some unethical magic types," Buffy explained. "Sleaze-ball in there bought the markers and Ethan was in debt to him."

"Rack feeds on magical and life energy," Willow said over her shoulder. "He gives just enough to take those kids on trips and then takes years off their lives and whatever magic they possess."

"Magic, Giles once did magic," Xander nodded, following the line of thought with a frown. "Ethan gave Giles to that bastard?"

"Yes," Buffy nodded, her eyes pained. "Once we knew who, we had to find where. Took Willow awhile to find this place and his junkies. She went undercover like to find where Giles was being held and if… if he was still alive."

"That's why she looks like a street kid. Nice Doc Martins, there, Will. And here we are," Xander finished, looking around at the grimy alley. "He just used up Giles and threw him out? In Sunnydale?"

"We don't know, Xan," Buffy whispered as the air around them began humming with energy from her wives.

"Let's get Giles back," Xander growled. "Then I want to come back and kick that guy's ass some more."

Gator frowned as Molly tried to get the stranger to eat without much success. They had managed to clean him up fairly well. The group had lucked out and found a house where the owners were out of town on vacation and there weren't any noisy neighbors. That meant something the group seldom had in their lives: electricity and clean water.

The older man didn't even flinch or cover himself when the males pulled his sweat pants off and got him into a tub of hot water. Molly, having a more gentle touch, had bathed him and talked to him.

They had dressed him in a clean pair of boxers, sweat pants and an extra-large t-shirt from the owner's dresser.

"No, he's deep in his mind or in the ozone," Molly nodded, finally using the spoon to open his mouth. To her surprise he accepted the food and began chewing.

"What do you think happened to him?" Molly asked as she fed the handsome older guy.

"We take him to the mission and leave him there in the morning," Samson said firmly, looking in on his two friends and stranger.

"They'll just toss him out, they won't even notice he needs help," Molly complained.

"Hey, buddy, you really need to snap out of this and let us help you," Gator urged.

Giles' focus shifted slightly, turning Magic black for a moment. The shattered sorcerer held out his hand, clenched in a fist. Molly, startled by the eyes changing colors, had squeaked and fell out of her chair.

Gator, not as easily startled, reached over and unclenched Giles' hand and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Holy Mary!"

"No pockets and he was just naked like ten minutes ago," Molly countered. "He hasn't been out of our sight and he hasn't gone rummaging through drawers."

Giles' eyes shifted again and he closed his hand and opened it, revealing a crumbled twenty. Still his eyes refused to focus on any of the teens in the room and he showed no emotion.

"Holy!" Samson grinned. "Merlin, keep that up and we can rent a hotel room and have decent food."

"Okay, let's put him on the sofa," Molly said firmly. "We're gonna help him. That cross means he's one of us and not a muoggle."

Across town Ethan would find his wallet $70 lighter and would blame the succubus prostitute he had been with that evening.

Willow leaned against a store wall, closed her eyes. Tara leaned against Xander as Buffy went to Willow, wrapping an arm under the witch's arm.

"We keep losing the trail," Willow complained. "His magic energy is so faint and we can't track Giles because Giles isn't Giles anymore."

"He's not leaving a signature that he normally would because he's not mentally Giles," Tara tried to explain. "He's fighting against being anybody and it's all erratic in his head."

"I am so going to hit you for thinking of me as a bloodhound," Willow grumbled. "When I can raise my arms again."

"What do we do, guys?" Buffy asked with a worried frown. "Do we give up and try again or will the trail go cold?"

"We need to find him," Xander said anxiously. "I mean, the longer he's gone the longer Quentin Travers and Watcher types stay in town."

"I know," Willow nodded. "Watching to see if I go off the deep end and if I do Darkside Jedi stuff."

"Definitely not," Willow agreed. "I'm just glad they didn't protest my little trips to visit a sorcerer pushing black magic."

"Let's call Brad," Xander suggested. "Now we know Giles is on the street, maybe he and the cops can actually find something for once."

"Good idea," Buffy smiled. It had been awhile since they had seen Detective Santiago and his wife. He was usually kept very busy since moving from New York to the "peaceful" town of Sunnydale. The Detective hadn't investigated Sunnydale's high mortality rate and unsolved crimes until he moved to the California town. He finally had answers when he met Willow, Buffy, Tara and the other Scooby members.

He and his wife had been accepted into the group and he had spent numerous hours searching for Giles along with the gang and Council members.

Brad looked up from his desk as a uniformed officer escorted a beautiful young red-haired woman towards his work area. He wasn't surprised to see Willow, he had seen a lot of the Scooby Gang since Giles went missing.

He shook his head slightly as Willow sat down in a chair next to his desk. "No definite word but we do have a possible lead," he said softly, opening the file folder that hadn't left his side in over a month. Reports, statements, maps and pictures of Rupert Giles greeted Willow's green eyes.

"What kind of lead?" Willow asked, pulling a familiar picture from the folder as her heart skipped a beat. One of the wedding pictures showing the couples Xander and Anya and Giles and Joyce. The witch couldn't believe how happy Giles looked that day, or any of them actually.

Now Joyce looked ten years older and had lost her luster, her skin becoming almost gray. Buffy, Tara and Xander were running on caffeine and stress. Anya was overworked running the Magic Box and everyone was going crazy with Quentin Travers and several Watcher Council members hovering around, trying to help but at the same time encouraging the Slayer and witches to start moving on and back to their studies. The last time Quentin had suggested that Buffy had nearly thrown him through the window.

"A grocery store owner over on the westside thinks he's seen Giles with some local kids. They're regulars in his place, street kids. He wasn't sure but he thought Giles was outside the store with one of them while the others ripped him off for food," Brad said, pointing to a place on a map. "The kids are called the Jesus Brigade by the other street kids and homeless."

"I've heard of them," Willow nodded. "I've spent a lot of time on the street trying to find him. We thought he might have gotten lost in among the homeless. They don't go out at night and all of them wear a lot of crosses. They stick very close together."

"Looks like," Willow sighed. "Which means we have to find them during the day. They disappear at night like anyone aware of what this place holds."

"Still can't track him magically?" Brad asked wearily. He and his wife Teresa had been spending a lot of evenings with the group, Teresa cooking and Brad giving some relief in the seemingly endless search.

"No, it's like trying to track three different people with the paths crisscrossing or something," Willow frowned, trying to explain. "Rack said that Giles had retreated deep in his mind because he was afraid of letting Ripper out. Being Giles hurt and being Ripper scared him."

"So, in effect, he's nowhere," Brad nodded. "What's so horrible about Ripper that he'd go to such extremes to avoid that?"

"We're not sure," Willow said, looking at another photo of a serious looking Giles. "Quentin won't tell us what he knows about Giles' past and my hacking hasn't helped. All we can find out is surface stuff, where he went to school, grew up and stuff. What we do know from Giles and what he told Joyce is that he was a wild character when he was young. He played with black magic and demons and said someone died."

"That's when he was involved with Ethan, right?" Brad ventured, having already gone over all of this with them.

"Yeah," Willow nodded. "We know Ethan plays with dark magic and he was close to Giles."

"Santiago, just got a hot call," the detective grinned. "That guy you've been looking for just showed up at Sunnydale General, some street kids brought him in."

"Are you sure?" Brad asked, not quite believing it was that simple after Giles being missing so long.

Brad grabbed his car keys and sport jacket. "We're going to check it out," he told Romano.

"Good luck," the other detective shook his head. "No one comes back in this town."

Willow wasn't very aware of anything when she entered the hospital with Brad except getting to the nurse's station and demanding to know where Giles was. Brad showed his badge and asked where the John Doe the street kids had brought in.

Brad winced when a nurse finally pulled a curtain back from an ICU bed and the detective and witch got their first look at the unidentified male. The detective wasn't sure he could identify him even if it was Giles.

Willow whimpered and drew closer, trying to look past the breathing tube, wires, and IVs surrounding the patient. A familiar tattoo caught her attention.

"I'll call the others and talk with the kids," Brad said softly as she pulled a stool up to sit next to Giles. "I'll find a doctor and we'll figure out what's going on."

"Mom, the doctor wants to talk to all of us," Buffy said gently, touching her mom's shoulder as Joyce held Giles' hand.

"He'll be okay, Mom," Buffy said softly, trying not to break into tears again as she looked at her stepfather. "The nurses are right there and there's all kinds of alarms hooked up to him."

Buffy pulled her Mom to her feet gently, leading her mom towards the waiting room. Joyce whined but allowed it. She glanced at a clock and couldn't believe that only an hour had passed since Brad had called them, it felt like a lifetime.

The group had rushed to the hospital in several cars to find Willow sitting with the Watcher and Brad questioning a group of teenagers.

Quentin and the magical trainer stood back slightly, watching Tara and Buffy closely. After seeing for themselves that it was Giles, the witches and Slayer had retreated to the waiting room, leaving Joyce to sit with her husband.

Now the street kids, Watchers, witches, detective and wife waited impatiently for the doctor.

Dr. Franklin Washington, a middle-aged man who hated to be teased about his name, entered the waiting room with raised eyebrows. He had never seen so many people gathered for one patient. He didn't even try to count.

He sat down across from Joyce and Brad, having asked the nurse who the wife was.

"I'm Frank Washington," he said softly. "I treated your husband when he was brought up from the Emergency Room."

"Extremely malnourished and dehydrated," Washington said slowly. "We're replacing his fluids as fast as we can. I'm afraid he's suffered one cardiac arrest already and we aren't sure if he's going through kidney failure."

"Oh God," Joyce whimpered, holding Buffy's hand tightly as Tara wrapped an arm around Willow's shoulder.

"He wouldn't eat," one of the street kids said softly. "Then he wouldn't drink."

"He was kidnapped and tortured before the kids found him," Brad explained, flashing his badge.

"That explains the numerous healed cuts and badly mended broken fingers," Washington nodded. "If he survives the starvation, we'll have to break his fingers to reset them."

"The kids that were taking care of him said that he hasn't said a word, wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink anything," Brad told the doctor.

"Depression is a common side effect of starvation," Washington said thoughtfully. "I've called a few doctors I know in New York and Los Angeles who have treated political prisoner immigrants for suggestions."

"Forty-eight hours," he informed them. "If he does survive, his recovery will take at least a month to rebuild enough strength to leave the hospital. Right now he's in a coma and I don't think he's fighting back."

"I think I might have an answer," he said slowly. "To reach Rupert and get him to fight back but I'm not sure it would work and it would be dangerous for one of the witches."

Buffy entered the hospital room slowly. She hated coming here now. It had been two weeks since they had gotten Giles back. His body, anyway, Buffy mentally corrected. When he had awakened it seemed like his mind didn't. He stared straight ahead and showed no sign of hearing or seeing anything.

Everyone had tried for hours to get through to him, including Quentin Travers with no success.

Joyce Summers-Giles almost lived at the hospital now with Tara and Willow running the gallery and Anya and Xander running the Magic Box. She had a small cot in the room and barely ever went home. She spent hours talking, reading, singing, and just sitting with her husband.

"Mom, should we try that thing Quentin was talking about?" Buffy asked with a frown as she took in how pale and gaunt her stepfather, watcher and friend had become.

"Taking a sight seeing trip through Rupert's mind?" Joyce asked bitterly. "How can that help? Oh, I know, Quentin Travers says that we can reconnect Rupert to his surroundings by guiding his mind back. It just feels… so invasive."

"If it could get Giles back I'd tap dance through Dracula's mind," Buffy countered.

"I don't want one of Quentin's magic users doing it," Joyce said after a few minutes. "I know Quentin is aware of Rupert's past but I don't want anyone outside seeing it."

"I know that Giles was wild in his youth, did magic and people died," Buffy said thoughtfully. "What could be worse?"

Joyce frowned. "He isn't… he hates to disappoint any of you. He and Ethan were… close."

"That's part of it," Joyce nodded. "I think it's what they did together that he can't face."

Buffy sighed as the magic instructor from the Council, Quentin, Joyce, Willow and Tara argued about who would do what and what to expect from the venture to try and recover Giles.

"All right!" Buffy snapped, her voice loud. "Okay, let's do this logically and quietly."

"That you not sound condescending when you talk to me," Buffy snapped back. "Let's go over what to expect with this spell, ritual, psychic thing or whatever. Then we'll decide who gets to risk this."

"I suggest that a magic user go into a trance, find Rupert's life line and follow it back to his mind," Quentin began, going over it again as Willow took notes and Xander looked on uncomfortably with Anya. Buffy knew they were feeling left out of the conversation and that Quentin didn't want them there.

Buffy had insisted, pointing out that they were considered family and had dealt with the Hellmouth for years and survived.

"Once inside Rupert's mind," Quentin continued. "The worker will see whatever is blocking him from being aware of his surroundings. What he refuses to look at and accept. It's bound to be unpleasant. After seeing it, hopefully, the worker will be able to talk to him in there and encourage his return as Rupert."

"Dangers?" Buffy asked firmly before anyone else could jump in and steer them off topic again and cause another argument.

"The worker could get so caught up in Rupert's memories that they loose touch with their own life-line and become lost in that dream-state. They'd die," Quentin said bluntly.

"They could also become tainted from his evil past," the Magic Instructor added.

"You and Willow have been tainted and given into the darkness before," Quentin said, almost smirking.

Buffy wasn't surprised to glance over and see her wife blushing almost as bright a red as her hair. "Easy, Will," she said softly. "Willow has conquered her darkness and I fought back."

"This is an old argument," Willow complained. "We've been doing well with Instructor Kerr."

* Baby? * Willow called mentally. * You've always been afraid of dark stuff because of thinking you were a demon and stuff. *

* I'm not now * Tara said firmly mentally and looked up at Quentin. "I can do this."

Quentin frowned. "I'm not so sure. Instructor Kerr says you're very talented and well grounded but you have no idea what you'd be facing inside Rupert's mind."

"Buffy," Joyce hissed. "Tara, I don't want to risk you, please. It's bad enough that we might not get Rupert back. I couldn't take losing you and I know Willow and Buffy couldn't."

"I'm well grounded, I haven't given into dark stuff and I love him," Tara explained.

"No way," Willow said quickly. "Giles retreated because he couldn't face stuff. He definitely would wig with a stranger in there."

"I must agree," Joyce said slowly with a nod. "I trust Tara and if anyone is going to be there it should be Buffy or Willow."

"No, I don't believe so," Quentin said thoughtfully. "Either he'll come back to conscious awareness or he won't. I still insist on Instructor Kerr being involved."

"Let's set this up then," Buffy said, her voice confident. "I wish Ethan hadn't disappeared before we got him back. I have a few questions for that jerk."

Xander and Anya pulled chairs out into the hallway of the hospital outside Giles' room, right in front of the door, ignoring the strange looks from the nurses.

Inside the room Willow, Tara, Buffy and Joyce gathered around Giles' bed. They had set up a cot next to the hospital bed for Tara and chairs for the remaining family members.

Joyce looked nervous and uncomfortable as Willow and Tara sat down on the floor and chanted softly, holding hands.

"Yeah, this is their talent though," Buffy said with a smile, watching her lovers merging their energy. The trust and love evident to anyone watching.

Tara and Willow smiled, feeling Buffy's love reaching out to them, encouraging them. The blonde witch took the goblet Willow offered her and tried not to gag as she drank the herbal mixture.

Willow whimpered softly as she took the goblet from Tara and the blonde witch sighed, her body beginning to go limp. Buffy and Willow gently lifted Tara onto the cot next to Giles' bed and the Slayer stepped back.

Willow closed her eyes, standing next to her lover and surrogate father, extending her energy and line to find theirs. The redhead found their lines and gently guided her way to Tara's consciousness and smiled as warmth and love surrounded her and Tara's spirit welcomed hers.

The hacker witch spent several moments with Tara's spirit and then slowly led it down Giles' lifeline, backing off just before entering the Watcher's mind and dreams as Tara continued.

Tara's spirit opened its eyes and looked around with a frown. It looked eerie, almost as if the witch had stepped onto a movie set or... Surrounded by fog, cobblestone streets, dampness, "I'm in England?"

"Actually you're in Ripper's mind, luv," a voice said cheerfully just beyond her sight.

A figured stepped through the fog into the light of the street lamp. Tara's eyes widened.

"Been waiting long enough," the sorcerer complained. "I knew one of you would show up sooner or later."

"Are... are you here to stop me?" Tara asked with a frown. In Dreamscape, she knew anything could happen and that the dark magician in front of her was probably more experienced, especially after his dealings with Eyghon.

"No, or you'd be dead already," Ethan smirked. "Lose the stutter, I'm not that bad. Actually, I'm here to help you."

"Why? You try and kill Giles every time you come around," Tara demanded, wondering what London of the 1880s symbolized to Giles or perhaps Ethan and how the heck she was going to find Giles' spirit.

"No, if you look at each case carefully, I never hurt Ripper," Ethan smiled, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his trench coat. "Only aimed at your little group."

"Did he get hurt? Actually got a good shag out of it, I hear," the sorcerer shrugged.

"It was loose and after all of us in the circle," Ethan frowned. "I got here when it was just the two of us left. I was going to get that thing off my arse and grab Giles, let the demon take the gypsy and was to get him safe."

Tara watched Ethan's eyes and blinked in surprise. "Why? Why are you connected to him?"

"That's none of your business unless you see it in his mind," Ethan said flatly. "If he doesn't come back, he dies. We all lose then."

"Why this?" Tara asked, motioning to their surroundings. "Like Sherlock Holmes or something."

"You're smarter than that quiet exterior lets on, aren't you?" Ethan smirked glancing around. "The exact timeframe for this little background. A bit of fascination for our boy, one reason he got his name. Being named Jack you know and his study on his namesake."

Ethan laughed bitterly. "That's what the Council wants. His goddamn name is John Rupert Giles. Growing up he was called Jack, it's a British thing."

"Jack the Ripper," Tara said softly, remembering Giles' nickname when he was with Ethan.

"Why call him Ripper?" Tara asked as Ethan began walking and she trotted to catch up with him. She didn't know if it was a good idea but there was no sign of Giles and, to be honest, the place was spooky.

"How do we get him back?" Tara asked anxiously, listening to the sound of their shoes echoing on the cobblestone street.

"Take a tour through his mind and coax him back," Ethan sighed. "Won't be easy. You're not here to see a tour through the British Museum, you know. There's reasons Ripper snapped."

"If we get him back you'll lose him," Tara pointed out with a frown beginning to shiver in the damp fog.

"Maybe," the response was calm and nonchalant but Ethan's eyes flashed with anger at the suggestion. "I just might get him back too if we break through that damned wall the Council put up between Ripper and your bloody Watcher. Want to risk it?"

Buffy tapped her foot impatiently, wondering how long it could take. Sometimes dreams felt like they went by like a speeding car, other times it seemed as if they went on forever.

Willow's head dropped forward as she sat against the wall on a blanket. The Council seer watched both girls and Giles closely, his eyes a bright blue.

"Yes," he nodded, his eyes unblinking. "Tara has gone into Mr. Giles' mind and Willow is hovering just outside of the dreamscape. If Tara loses her way, it might be possible for Willow to guide her back."

"Willow could also be drawn into the dreamland and be lost as well," the seer shrugged. "You would lose all three of them."

"No one can tell, it could take an hour or days," Seer Mombasalia responded. "If it takes days then their bodies will die and they will be lost."

Tara instinctively moved closer to Ethan as the fog became thicker, almost like spider-webs crowding in.

Ethan surprised Tara by taking her hand as the scene cleared. The witch tried to pull back, seeing they were in someone's living room.

"Don't worry, unless we approach them and join the nightmare, they won't see us," Ethan said softly. "Don't do anything sudden, it's almost like going back in time as a ghost."

Tara heard heavy footsteps pounding across a room upstairs and getting closer. The house looked like something out of a movie set or expensive old house. Very British, even a suit of armor by the door of the library.

"Looks like we're at the Giles' homestead," Ethan frowned. "He snuck me in a couple of times to... uh, grab some of his things."

The boots trotted down the stairs and it took Tara a moment to recognize a younger Giles. She thought he might be around eighteen and was very different than the scholar she was accustomed to. Even getting Giles to wear jeans and t-shirts more hadn't prepared her for this Giles.

Giles was dressed in well-worn ripped jeans that were tight enough to show he didn't favor underwear at this stage of his life. Combat boots were scuffed and open at the top with the jeans tucked into the tops. Tara blinked, still trying to piece the two individuals together in her mind.

Black t-shirt and a Levi jacket topped the clothing, spiked leather wrist bands and a pair of sunglasses complimented the outfit. What was most surprising was the long hair that came down to his shoulders.

"Call me William!" another voice shouted and followed Giles down the stairs. Tara quickly spotted the relationship between them. He looked like a Giles.

"I've been calling you Billy since I three years old," Giles shouted back at his older brother. Unlike the young Giles, William was dressed in slacks, button down shirt and dress shoes, much the way an older Giles would one day dress. "Just because you're the oldest and heir apparent! Apparent to what? This place, his rules, him choosing your job? Not for me!"

"You can't keep fighting this!" William yelled, grabbing Giles by the shoulder. "I don't have the gift! You do! It's your destiny, just as mine is to inherit the business and the title."

"I don't care what you all think my destiny is!" Giles shouted back, shaking off his brother's hand. "I just want my music. I'm damned good and you know it! Things are happening in the scene, we're getting noticed!"

"You're to be a Watcher, not a goddamn rock star," William said flatly, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Wrong, I'm going to be what I choose," Giles growled as he pulled off his glasses to let his brother see his determination.

"If you persist in this ridiculous endeavor of yours, you'll find yourself cut off," another voice joined the argument. Tara and Ethan turned to find an older, distinguished Englishman standing in the doorway of the house. "The Council will reject you and when you come to your damn senses, you'll find yourself cast out."

"Bloody hell, like I bleedin' care, Da'!" Giles shouted, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Stop with the gutter talk," Stewart Giles snapped. "Your low-life friends may talk like that but you know better."

"Right, you paid enough for it, eh?" Giles snarled. "I'm almost eighteen, I should be allowed to choose my own damn destiny!"

"Then send the Bobbies round for me, I'm leaving," Giles threatened, bending over to pick up a battered army knapsack and small case.

"Is this the part where I say ‘if you leave, don't come back'?" Stewart smirked but looked surprised when Giles pushed past him.

Buffy sat up, alert as Willow twitched in her "sleep." She glanced over quickly and found Tara and Giles both unmoving. The observer shook his head. "It's just starting."

Tara was beyond being surprised and only blinked when the scene shifted and she found herself in a smoky room somewhere. It was almost dark and the music was loud, fast, barely anywhere close to chords and rhythm and the place was crowded with punk rockers and metal-heads, some slam dancing in front of a small stage.

The witch looked up and saw Giles on lead guitar. Barely able to distinguish the noise, she realized he was the best of the group. It was hard for Tara's mind to wrap around Giles as a rocker but he seemed so natural at it.

"Janus, he was beautiful!" he said softly, surprising Tara that she could hear him. "So strong and talented."

The sorcerer blinked and pointed out a figure standing off to the side of the stage, one also watching Giles. Tara recognized a younger Ethan.

"This is when we met," Ethan explained. "Something drew me to him. The band was interesting but it was Ripper that grabbed me. I found out he was the one who wrote the lyrics and the knowledge of the occult hidden in them intrigued me. I could tell that it wasn't just a Black Sabbath-image thing."

"It all comes back to this time in his life, doesn't it?" Tara asked, trying not to sound judgmental. "What happened that was so horrible his mind would split into an alter?"

Ethan frowned. "You'll have to see for yourself," he grumbled as the fog surrounded them again.

Tara next saw Giles bent over some books at a second-hand kitchen table. The witch looked around and shook her head. The small apartment looked like a typical musician's place. Milk crates functioned as bookshelves, tables and lampstands. Records, tape players and guitars were the main decoration aside from the concert handbills taped and tacked to the walls. None of the furniture matched and some of it looked like Giles had been dumpster diving for it.

Giles had changed slightly, his hair was almost down to nothing and it looked like he hadn't shaved in several days.

Despite the hair and youthful appearance, this was more like the Giles Tara knew. Huddled over books, taking notes and unaware of his surroundings.

The younger Ethan came in the door of the flat and walked up behind the musician/scholar and wrapped his arms around Giles and nuzzled his neck.

Giles shrugged, trying to shake Ethan off but not firmly. "Told you, I don't swing."

Ethan shook his head and moved to a seat at the table, glancing at the books. "Good grief, Ripper, ancient Sumerian archaeological texts?"

"Researching something," Giles mumbled. After a moment he looked up and grinned impishly. "Hey, sorry. Where have you been the last few days?"

"Picking out a spot for the group's next working," Ethan smiled and reached for Giles' hand. The future Watcher frowned but didn't pull away. "Obviously you haven't been anywhere but here."

"I guess," Giles nodded. "If I'm right, this could lead to stuff beyond summoning Pan."

"Tell me something, my rock god," Ethan said softly, rubbing his thumb lightly over Giles' knuckles. "Why look for sex spells, rituals and demons if you're going to fight so hard against it? I know you want me and I want you, what's the problem."

"I, uh, never been attracted to a man," Giles said with a blush. "Never been there."

"I'm somewhat bisexual but not usually. With you I am," Ethan admitted. "Rip, stop fighting, luv. Why does it matter so much if I'm a bird or bloke?"

"I don't know, guess proper upbringing and such," Giles muttered, continuing to hold Ethan's hand.

"Right and your old man probably visits a tart wearing a school-boy outfit and gets off being paddled," Ethan smirked.

Ethan's eyes hardened. "Not good enough for a posh type like yourself?" he growled.

Both Tara and Giles were surprised by the backhand that sent Giles flying backwards in the chair. He shook his head but before he could raise up, Ethan was on him, hitting him across the jaw.

"Bloody idiot!" Ethan muttered just before Giles struck back, sending Ethan off of him.

Giles scrambled after his friend, tackling Ethan to the hardwood floor, punching him in the ribs.

Ethan again surprised Tara and Giles by grabbing the musician below the belt, obviously firmly. Giles cried out and braced himself with a hand on either side of Ethan's head, his body covering the sorcerer.

"Let go, mate!" he warned. "I don't know what this is about but let go or I'll really bash you."

Tara's face matched Giles when she realized Ethan was slowly moving his hand, stroking the man she thought of like a father, arousing him.

Younger Ethan flipped Giles over onto his back and kissed him firmly. Giles started to try and sit up but fell back with a moan. Ethan pulled Giles' t-shirt up and attacked the other man's nipples. Instead of hitting him, Giles' hand went to Ethan's hair, encouraging him.

Tara turned her back as Younger Ethan moved lower, his hands working at Giles' large studded belt and jeans buttons.

"Usual stuff at first," Ethan shrugged. "Talking with the dead, minor revenge stuff for some of the members, some good luck for business or school. Then we decided to take it further and started playing with sexual rituals. Dedicating ourselves to Pan and Janus and such."

Tara frowned. "You were right to ask, why would he seek that out if he wasn't interested?"

"Part of it was the times, sexual revolution, Pre-AIDS, rock n roll lifestyle," Ethan said slowly, obviously remembering. "It was so ingrained in him to hate sex actually, he was trying to rebel against that and his feelings. Ripper found himself falling in love with me and it caused a lot of inner conflict. He was hoping, I think, that sex in the group would distract him from that."

"I read about Eyghon, there was only one woman in your group," Tara pointed out with a frown. "If he couldn't handle being attracted to you, how do the other men fit in?"

"We would work with a group that was predominantly female," Ethan smirked. "Worked out well. They drew the line at Eyghon though. They agreed to participate but not be the vessels."

"You catch on eventually, don't you?" Ethan smirked. "Yeah, he found the ritual and researched it and everything. Talked the group into trying it, even to getting tattooed with the symbol, giving the demon permission to enter us within the confines of the ritual circle."

Ethan frowned. "It went fantastic for awhile. One of us would take drugs to fall asleep and then the party would start. Male, female, didn't matter. The demon hated that he could only come through when we wanted and that we could effectively banish him when we were done."

Ethan sighed. "Rip was getting noticed for his guitar playing and the others were progressing in their fields as well. I seemed to be a natural at the darker arts and Rip and I worked nearly non-stop except when he was playing. They were beginning to compare him to some great players."

Tara felt herself blushing when they were suddenly watching an orgy in progress. The young witch couldn't help turning away as Ethan chuckled. Then he lost his smile and Tara glanced back. She could see the young Ethan moaning as a young man thrust into him.

Tara wasn't sure how long she could watch and intentionally avoided looking for Giles among the group of moving bodies.

"His name was Randall," Ethan said softly. "He was part of our group, a good mate."

Tara's head was ducked, as she desperately tried to ignore the sounds in the room, the scent of sex, marijuana smoke, alcohol and incense. She looked up at the sound of the door crashing in. She blinked in surprise when she recognized Giles' older brother standing there, his face livid.

Tara glanced over and saw young Giles trying to extract himself from two women who didn't want to let him go.

"Goddamn stupid punk!" William shouted and started towards the group, his fists clenched.

"William, no! Don't break…" Giles shouted, tripping over a couple as William crossed the boundary of the ritual circle.

Tara screamed along with the others as blinding light filled the room and the sound of a thunderclap knocked those who had been struggling to their feet to the ground. The witch glanced beside her and saw Ethan looking down at his shoes, avoiding the scene.

The witch saw Giles on the floor holding his ears and then a new sound filled the room. Laughter. Laughter that chilled Tara to the bone and then a scream. A high pitched scream of absolute fear.

"Ethan! No!" Giles shouted, pulling his trousers up as he got to his knees. "Not him! Demon! Over here!"

Tara felt her stomach lurch as she realized what had caused Younger Ethan to scream. Randall was beginning to change as he continued to thrust into the sorcerer. Blood flowed from his nose and mouth as the skin began to decompose on his bones. The demon, Eyghon laughed as his hands wrapped around Ethan's throat.

"Ripper's brother broke the ritual circle, breaking the contract," older Ethan whispered. Tara looked at the sorcerer as his eyes widened in fear and memory and the turned away quickly. "The demon was in Randall at the time. Once the control was broken, he claimed Randall's body as he tried to shag me to death."

Tara vaguely was aware of the others screaming and trying to get out of the room but the door had slammed shut and seemed to be locked. One of the males picked up a chair and attempted to shatter a window only to have the chair bounce back.

"Eyghon wanted a blood bath. Blood and sex, preferably both at the same time," older Ethan continued and Tara was sure he was going to retch.

Tara watched Giles pick up the chair and break it over Randall/Eyghon's back. The demon glanced back at the sorcerer and laughed. He thrust his hips hard and Ethan screamed.

"No! Take me, damn you! I brought you here!" Giles shouted, trying to pull the demon from Ethan. Eyghon backhanded Giles, sending him flying across the room into William. Both brothers fell heavily against the wall.

Ethan was turning bright red and purple when the demon suddenly howled and released him. One of the females had grabbed and oil lamp and throw it against the demon's back. Eyghon roared in anger and rolled off of Ethan. The sorcerer rolled the opposite way as the woman grabbed him, pulling him away.

"Grace," Ethan muttered. "One of ours, she was a favorite of Ripper's and mine."

The demon turned his attention to another female and pinned her to the floor as she screamed.

The rest of the group were nearly tearing each other apart in their frenzy to find a way out. Tara watched Grace grab a robe and hand it to Ethan and take one for herself. "We've got to stop him!" she shouted.

Tara saw Giles shake his head and crawl to the altar as well, his hand reaching for the ceremonial sword. Both Grace and Giles turned and headed towards the demon. The witch glanced over at older Ethan and found him curled up in the corner, shaking and moaning. She was torn between comforting him and the sickening desire to see how the scene played out.

The young witch saw the demon grin and turn over at the last minute, rolling his female victim on top of him. Grace and Giles, unable to stop their strikes, stabbed the girl and decapitated her.

Giles screamed in rage and terror as Eyghon shoved the girl's body at Grace and threw the head at Giles. The demon grabbed a young male and snapped his neck.

Grace rushed the demon again but was backhanded away. Giles saw his chance and rammed the sword through Randall's body. The demon coughed and shoved Giles back but the sorcerer held onto the sword, pulling it out. Eyghon stumbled to the wall, wounded.

"Randall," older Ethan whispered, tears streaking his face. "He was just a kid looking for kicks, a giggle."

Giles stepped over the bodies and those witches in shock. His face was grim but determined as he approached the demon.

"Here!" Giles called out and started to get to his feet when a familiar laughter filled the room again. "No," young Giles said softly.

"His mind threw us out," Ethan grumbled as he looked around at the cobblestone streets of Victorian London. "Even in here he can't take it long."

"He's a sleeping demon, it can jump from one body as it's dying into a dead or unconscious one nearby. William was unconscious," Ethan explained as he got up from the cobblestones. He brushed at his pants, steeling his expression. Tara knew he was trying to recover from showing emotion and weakness in front of her and didn't offer to help or mention how he had reacted.

"If it isn't restrained by ritual and contract, it takes over the body and the body begins to die," Ethan shrugged, leaning against a wall. "You saw with Randall. It can stay in the body only as long as it can keep it moving. When the body deteriorates too far and it must find another host or be sent back to sleep."

"How do you drive it out of a person?" Tara asked, hoping they knew the answer 20 years before and William had been saved but the witch knew the odds weren't good that he had been.

"Threaten the body with immediate death and force it into someone else," Ethan shook his head. "He could enter any of the group at that moment because of the tattoos or if someone was unconscious. To stop him, you have to kill the body while he's in it."

"Oh Goddess," Tara whispered and the scene shifted to the room again. Giles had the sword drawn back as Eyghon/William grabbed a male and laughed.

"Do it, Rip!" young Ethan shouted as he and Grace tried to get through the crowd attempting to get far away from the demon.

Giles hesitated and the demon castrated the boy with his claws. The sorcerer flinched and closed his eyes for a moment and then moved forward with blinding speed, feinting with the sword, forcing the demon into a corner.

"You would kill this body? Kill your brother?" Eyghon taunted. "You're too weak, Ripper! You always have been. Too much on the side of the light for the rest of this group."

"You would have your brother pay your price?" Eyghon continued taunting. "I'll let him go if you become my willing vessel. The body lasts much longer when it's willing."

The sword lowered slightly and the demon grinned. Giles snarled and swung with both hands, taking his brother's head off.

A moment later, the young sorcerer screamed, looking down at his brother's blood on his chest and hands and ran, crashing through a window.

"Ripper!" Ethan yelled, dashing to the window. Younger Ethan, Tara and Ethan watched as Ripper got to his feet and began running into the darkness, screaming.

Tara leaned against the wall with Ethan when the scene shifted again back to the London streets.

"Yes, very much," Ethan nodded, opening his eyes. "He always fought against the dark magic and against his own bisexuality. Rip was tearing himself apart inside before that happened. Close to the end there it had become something twisted, even for us. Most of the time he wouldn't touch me unless we had been fighting, sometimes physically. It was like he could shag me if it was violent."

Ethan waved his hand. Tara thought she was going to get motion sick from all the abrupt shifting from scene to scene.

Giles was strapped down to a hospital bed, legs, arms and stomach restrained. The young man hadn't shaved in several days or showered, Tara thought. His eyes were manic as he struggled against the straps.

"This about two weeks later, I found out," Ethan said softly, his face pained as he watched Ripper struggle.

"Hospital outside Cambridge," Ethan frowned. "He never came back to the flat and we began hunting for him desperately. When we went back to take care of the bodies, everything was cleaned up and the bodies were gone."

"Yeah, we were confused as hell," Ethan nodded. "No sign of Giles and no police either. We didn't know it but the Watcher's Council had stepped in. They had followed William when he found out where Ripper was. They wanted John back on track to his destiny."

"Yeah, and as a favor to Sir Giles, retired Watcher and member of the High Council," Ethan explained. "They managed to find him two weeks later, strung out on alcohol and any pills he could get his hands on. Totally insane."

"No, all of us in the group received visitors late one night," Ethan growled, watching as a nurse injected something into Giles' IV and a few moments later the sorcerer quieted down, his eyes drooping. "We were threatened, most of us beaten badly. We were told that we never knew Ripper, had never heard of the Giles family and Randall had died in an auto accident."

"You gave up?" somehow Tara didn't think Ethan would let go of Giles that easily, especially given his track record even after Giles had moved to Sunnydale and taken over his destiny as Buffy's Watcher.

Again the scene shifted and they were on London streets. "I found out years later that they shifted him to Germany for reconditioning."

Buffy sat against the wall near the sleeping Tara and Giles and semi-tranced Willow. Joyce hovered on the other side of the bed, holding Giles' hand. It felt like it had been hours since Tara had gone inside Giles' mind to try and guide him back to reality.

The Slayer glanced at her watch and frowned, it had only been and hour and a half. Xander had stuck his head in after a half hour and looked worried and pained when Buffy merely shook her head to his unanswered question

Buffy jumped to her feet instantly when Willow coughed and stirred. Joyce moved around the bed Willow raised her head and opened her eyes, blinking.

"I'm okay, they're okay," she said softly. "It's like they're taking a break or something. I'm still connected to Tara though."

Willow looked up into Buffy's eyes and then away quickly. "Uh, I can tell Tara is seeing some stuff that… that horrified and disturbed her. I don't think she's made direct contact with him."

Buffy looked over at her Watcher and wished this was something she could hit, slay or banish. This was something spiritual, an area where the Slayer wasn't the strongest. Buffy wrapped her arms around Willow and held her tightly until Willow pulled back slightly.

"I need to go back in," the red-haired witch said reluctantly. "Guys, I don't know if this is going to work. I'm getting a sense that Tara hasn't seen everything, like… like it's not in the present yet. Short sentences get through but… it's like a fuzzy walkie talkie or something. She hasn't found the key yet."

"I think so, she hasn't tried to guide him out yet," Willow nodded, closing her eyes. "And… there may be another energy in there. It doesn't feel threatening and she seems okay with it but it's confusing me."

"Another energy? Someone guiding or distracting her?" Buffy asked, suddenly very worried.

"I don't know what it's doing but Tara doesn't seem concerned, more like curious," Willow said slowly. "I don't dare try and get closer, I want to maintain a little distance so I can, uh, pull her out if…"

"If things go wrong and she can't bring him around," Joyce finished, moving back to hold Giles' hand.

"It's okay, Will," Buffy said softly, kissing the witch tenderly. "Take care of her and you."

Tara felt Willow joining her again, reconnecting their life-lines together. The blonde witch was slightly worried, if she became lost in the dreamscape world of Ripper, Willow might be caught up as well.

Older Ethan walked up out of the fog and smirked at the witch. "Ready for the next round?"

"I've been in his mind and nightmares since," Ethan shrugged. "I've already been in those places that he can't look. I needed to know what they did to him, I needed answers."

"Because he didn't come back," Ethan snapped. "He chose to stay with Her, even after he was fired."

"You're upset because he stayed Buffy's Watcher?" Tara asked, confusion in her voice. "That's what he was destined to do, like she didn't have a choice in being the Slayer."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Ethan muttered. "I know all about that. He was released from that obligation and stayed!"

"But the only time you've been around has been to cause trouble," Tara countered. "How could he know how deep your feelings went when you were trying to kill Buffy or cause havoc?"

"I'm dedicated to chaos, that's what I do," Ethan shrugged. "And you don't know how many times I've been in Sunnydale and been with him or when we would get together on some of his trips away from this damned place."

"Not always friendly," Ethan chuckled. "Sometimes there was the requisite clobbering before the shagging. Shouting at me about his Slayer, whacking me and then trying to walk away. All it would take would be one kiss and a grope of the hand and he was mine again."

Tara wondered if she really wanted to know how recent Giles had been with Ethan. She knew Giles loved Joyce very much, it was to Buffy's mother he had turned to when under the influence of bespelled candy and Joyce he always came back to.

But there, apparently, was always Ethan in the background and Tara was afraid to learn that might be one of the things Giles was having a problem in dealing with.

Tara blinked and felt Ethan moving closer to her as she looked around the semi-dark room. She made out Giles lying on the floor of a dingy cell. The witch started towards him and Ethan held her back.

The future Watcher had been beaten so badly he just lay on the cold cement floor, curled up in a ball. He was dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt that might have once been white but was now rust colored from dried blood and dirt.

"More re-education training," Ethan's voice was bitter and pained in her ear. "This is about a month after they found him. Just watch. I… I can't."

The witch tried to fight against the panic and looked back at Giles as the door to the cell opened. The young man whimpered and tried to curl up into a tighter ball and covered his head. Two large men dressed in hospital whites, reached down and dragged him out of the cell, his feet dragging behind him.

Buffy jumped out of her chair when Willow's head snapped back and the witch whimpered. "Willow?"

Buffy grabbed Willow, ensuring the witch didn't fall out of her chair as Joyce rushed around to Tara. The blonde witch's eyes were wide with fear and her hands were clenched into fists.

Tara's head dropped forward for a moment and then she looked up again, her eyes calmer and more aware.

"Just caught in his memories," Tara shook her head. "No real change, he can't get past the memories of them. He's now seeing things he hasn't looked at in years, most of it he blocked and didn't remember."

Tara let Joyce wrap an arm around her shoulder as she trembled. "The Council tortured him until he blocked Ripper out of his mind and hated his own bisexuality."

"I… I couldn't… they did horrible stuff," Tara whimpered, tears streaking her face. It was several minutes of crying in Joyce's arms before Tara could tell them only that.

"They programmed the perfect Watcher," Willow said bitterly. "How do we get him past it?"

"He needs to accept Ripper and his past," Willow said slowly. "And accept and remember what the Council did to him."

"I'll try and draw him past it and talk to him, pull him into remembering and past it. I might have some help," Tara sighed. "I need to go back in."

Tara looked around the cobblestone streets and found Ethan leaning against a familiar wall. "Will you help me?" she demanded.

"Hello to you too," Ethan smirked. "I've tried in the past to get him past this. I'll help, that's why I'm here."

"If we get him back, he's married to Joyce and happy, what do you get out of it?" Tara asked, puzzled.

"I want him awake and aware," Ethan shrugged, moving closer to her. "I'll chance how we deal with each other in the future. I'm hoping for a truce and occasional contact."

"Not like before," Tara clarified. She knew Joyce wasn't the type to share her husband with a former lover, especially Ethan.

"If you can't get him back, then why?" Tara asked as the scene began to shift again.

"I have reasons for wanting him awake," Ethan frowned. "Can you reach him? He thinks I'm just part of his nightmares."

"We can try," Tara nodded, turning to look at the young man playing the guitar in a grimy low-rent apartment kitchen. Back in time in his memories, once again avoiding moving past the torture.

It seemed like an hour later before Tara huffed in frustration and turned to Ethan. So far nothing had gotten through to Younger Giles.

Ethan shrugged. "Told you, I've tried before. I was hoping he'd remember you and jump start him forward."

"We didn't see what broke him, did we?" she asked softly and saw the pain in Ethan's eyes. "What happened?"

Ethan looked down at his shoes as the scene shifted again to the fog-bound streets. "I've seen it once, I can't see it again."

"You want him back? We need to get him past it!" Tara said forcibly. "I've an idea. What was the thing that broke him?"

Ethan sighed as tears filled his eyes. "They broke him. Finally resorted to keeping him from sleeping and beating him. Lack of sleep will drive someone insane pretty quick, you know."

"They didn't trust that he'd follow his destiny. They thought he would come back to me," Ethan said softly. "They hate emotions and attachments. They are the only things they can't control in humans."

"Buffy explained that's why most potential Slayers are taken from their families and Watchers aren't allowed spouses if they have Slayers," Tara nodded thoughtfully.

"He loved you deeply," Tara muttered, looking down as she pondered. "They had to break that so he'd never go back to you or the magic. He shut Ripper away and Rack opened it up again."

"And his mind couldn't handle it without coming into conflict with the conditioning," Ethan finished the line of thought. "Yeah, Rack smashed the walls Jack had kept pretty well up."

"Alright then we're approaching this wrong," Tara decided, looking up at the sorcerer.

"Yes, but we're going in the wrong direction," she insisted. "Come on, think! Get us to the Watcher, the perfect Council Watcher!"

"Then bring in one of the other brats," Ethan snapped. "Much longer in here and we'll be pulled into one of these damned memories and get lost."

Tara opened her eyes to find Willow and Buffy standing next to her, the red-haired witch holding her hand and Buffy brushing her hair back.

"Hey, baby," Willow said softly as Tara looked over and found Joyce anxiously watching Giles for any change. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Tara said slowly as Buffy helped her sit up, wrapping an arm around the groggy witch. "How long have I… Nevermind, important stuff. Which one of you can reach the Watcher you first met."

"To get him back, we need to get the perfect Watcher to face something from his past," Tara tried to explain. "I don't know that Giles, you both do. Which one of you could get him to be aware of you in there?"

The Slayer found it easier than she thought to join Tara in the dreamscape and Buffy realized how tired she was.

Buffy looked around and was stunned to see what Tara now considered almost a second home, the fog bound street of 19^th century London. "What?"

"Where his mind goes subconsciously," Tara smiled, taking Buffy's hand. "Now, listen closely, baby. There's someone here that's been helping me and I need you to promise not to yell or hit him before we talk, okay?"

"Hit?" Buffy repeated, puzzled. "Whoa, Willow said someone was in here with you but it felt okay."

Ethan smirked as he stepped around the corner of a building. "Don't hit me this time. I actually get along rather wonderfully with your wife. Why can't you be like her?"

"And why couldn't you be more human?" Buffy snapped, her hands clenching into fists.

"Buffy, he's been helping," Tara repeated, stepping between them. "He wants Giles back like he was."

"There's a trick," Buffy muttered, watching the sorcerer and glaring at his smirk.

"No, I don't think so," Tara said softly, stroking Buffy's cheek, trying to calm her protective Slayer. "Please, trust me."

"You two find the Giles he was after the Council trained him, after he met Buffy and become very cemented in that role," Tara said slowly, as if just working it out in her head. "Reach him and get him to see what he can't face. He has to accept Ripper, Ethan and what the Council did to him. Mostly, he has to accept his own betrayal."

"Giles was tortured until he snapped and he can't live with that memory," Tara said gently. "He has to face that."

"I'll do anything to get him back, even hang with Ethan," Buffy smiled, kissing Tara tenderly.

"Self centered coward," Buffy muttered back as Tara smiled and backed away from them.

"Concentrate on where you want to go," Ethan sighed. "We're trying to dive into his memories rather than flowing along with them. It's a little harder to control. Think of when you met him, what was he like? Was he like the first Watcher you had? Dressed in tweed and stammering? Lots and lots of books but with a hint of strength in that body?"

Buffy closed her eyes, remembering Giles and their awkwardness when they first met.

It seemed like over an hour before Ethan finally threw up his hands and snorted in obvious disgust.

"I didn't have to see this the first time! Think I want to see it now?" he demanded.

They had been watching various memories of Giles during his years at Sunnydale High as Buffy's Watcher and mentor to the others and had spent most of the time trying to reach him.

"You think I want to see my sense of fashion in those days?" Buffy quipped, knowing it would irritate the sorcerer and she was right. She laughed as he rolled his eyes. "Look, how do we get through to him? It's like we're ghosts that no one can see or hear."

"What would startle him from you?" Ethan said slowly after a few moments of watching Buffy fighting another two vampires and Giles fighting one himself.

"If I was on time?" Buffy said absently and then grinned and approached a very studious Giles in the familiar surroundings of the school library that they would blow up on Graduation Day with a Snake Demon Mayor inside. "Hey, Ripper!"

Giles' head snapped up, his eyes wide as Ethan chuckled behind ghost-like Buffy. The Slayer knew she had reached him when his eyes focused on her and widened.

"No," the Watcher protested, standing up and almost tripping over his chair. "It's a trick."

"It's not, I swear it," Buffy smiled. "You're John Rupert Giles, you were known as Ripper in your youth and did some stupid things, including getting a tattoo of a demon on your left forearm."

Watcher Giles blinked and glanced down at his tweed covered arm. He looked back up at the girl in front of him. She was older than his Buffy, more experience in her eyes and manner but something told him this was his Slayer.

The Watcher blinked, glancing around in confusion at the fog encased streets the three of them found themselves at again. "Ethan? What?"

"Come on, Giles," Buffy urged. "Move your mind forward, damnit. I want my step-dad back and Mom wants her husband."

"Was that before or after I bashed you," Giles growled, his hand becoming a fist. "What's happening?"

"You've been zapped mentally and are lost in your memories," Buffy explained. "We're trying to get you back."

"Can't you make contact with my, er, well, current self?" Giles asked. "And please don't tell me you married Xander or Angel."

Buffy looked down at her hand, realizing he had spotted the special wedding band and grinned. "Uh, no to both."

Ethan smirked and leaned over her shoulder. "Can I tell him and watch him faint?"

"Alright, what is holding me in here?" Giles asked, ignoring the sorcerer as well.

"You were shocked into Ripper again and couldn't handle it," Buffy continued with the explanations. "Your mind can't accept all the parts of you, Ripper, Giles, Rupert, Jack, whatever."

"Of course not!" Watcher Giles frowned. "People died when I was Ripper, you know that Ethan."

"Giles, I need you to see something, okay? Keep trusting me?" Buffy said urgently.

"Alright," Watcher Giles nodded. "I don't see why you need to focus on Ripper. That's dead and buried in the past."

"And the past comes back and bites you in the ass," Buffy grumbled. "Scream 3, Jamie Kennedy. Xander would be so proud of that."

Watcher Giles blinked. "Xander didn't change over the years?" he asked, his voice slightly whining and Buffy grinned.

"Well, he married an ex-vengeance demon and they have sex frequently," Buffy laughed as Watcher Giles blinked and began cleaning his glasses.

"To when the Council tortured you and drove you insane," Buffy said firmly and grabbed Giles' arm when he tried to back away.

"T-that never happened! They rescued me, let me go back and trained me," he protested.

"Listen to me, if you don't face this I lose you! You'll roam through here until your body just gives up and dies," the Slayer growled. "My Mom loves you very much and we'd be lost without you! Willow, Xander, me, and other people you don't remember yet! My Watcher left the Council because they wanted to separate you and me! Come on, Giles! You don't run from things!"

"If this is one of your tricks, Ethan, I'll hurt you so badly they'll have to use fingerprints to identify you!" Watcher Giles warned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, already got the warnings from Super Bitch Barbie here," Ethan shrugged.

"Ethan, I haven't seen where we need to go," Buffy said softly and saw Ethan wince.

"I have once," he admitted. Buffy thought for a moment that he was going to refuse and was amazed, she had never seen strong emotions from the sorcerer other than self-preservation. Buffy was beginning to think he had a lot to do with what they had to see.

Buffy felt the tears staining her cheeks as she held a sobbing Giles, sitting on the cold hard floor of the Watcher Council medical area where they had tortured him to the point of madness. Just to build him into the perfect Watcher.

She glanced up and found Ethan hugging himself, biting his lip as the brown eyes darted between the shattered young man on the gurney in front of them or the weeping ex-lover Buffy was holding.

"Giles, come on, you survived this," Buffy said softly. "You broke their conditioning and became a loving, emotional, and talented guy. Kinda sexy and cute too."

"Accept it and move on, Jack," Ethan said softly. "I forgive you. Anyone would have broken. They took the one love, the one true emotion you had left and shattered it. The bird is right, you found it again."

Buffy sighed. Tara had warned her that it would be unpleasant but watching them torture the young man until he screamed for them to torture Ethan instead, that it was all Ethan's fault, had been hard to deal with. Having to watch Giles relive it with her had been worse.

The Slayer had almost resorted to strangling him or breaking his arm to keep him there with her and Ethan.

"Look forward, Giles," Buffy urged. "Move past what Rack did. You love my Mom, you love all of us, even Xander."

"We were done after that night with Eyghon, luv," Ethan said softly, squatting next to his former mate. "We were on borrowed time. We're not friends, we're not enemies. Sometimes we're at odds."

"I love you, Rip, and I wouldn't mind a shag, which we've done occasionally. Maybe I'll mess with you and Mrs. Clever someday. Not right now though," Ethan shrugged.

Buffy resisted smacking Ethan for even suggesting sex with Giles. The images suddenly popping into her head were going to last far longer than she could ever want and she wanted to pound the sorcerer for it.

"Then make peace with yourself, Ripper," Buffy said firmly. "You are John Rupert Giles, aka Ripper. You were in love with Ethan, you loved Jenny Calendar and you love my Mom."

The Slayer stood up and looked at Ethan. "This doesn't make us friends but… I won't hit you on sight anymore."

"Thank you for bringing him back to life," Ethan said softly and Buffy knew how hard it must have been for such a prideful man to say thank you, to anyone but especially to her.

Buffy opened her eyes and found Willow moaning and holding her head and Tara holding Willow. Joyce was in her usual spot next to the comatose Giles. The Slayer sat up slowly.

"Send them out!" Buffy snapped as Willow shook her head and stood up. The two witches joined their Slayer, both faces firm.

"I saw the reconditioning the Council put Giles through," Buffy said softly, glancing over at her mom, hoping she wouldn't have to describe too much of what they had seen in Giles' mind.

"And?" Quentin asked softly and Buffy thought he suddenly looked ten years older than normal.

"I saw where he broke, the point where he couldn't live with the past and himself," Buffy said slowly. "I also saw a young man named Quentin demanding that things change later in front of the Council."

"You changed the Council, didn't you? That's why Giles stayed and was given a Slayer, me," Buffy ventured and Quentin nodded.

"They wouldn't listen to me at that point but when they did, I made sure that never happened to another Watcher, destiny or not," Quentin said softly. "No one deserved that."

"Why didn't you try to get him some help?" Tara asked, still shaken by what she had seen.

"It was determined that it would do more damage and he was functioning fairly well," Quentin sighed. "I fired him from the Council but I was glad it happened like that. It pleased me that he had attached to you and was rediscovering his emotions and capacity for love. He was far too emotional to be a Watcher."

"Of course! You're a spoiled brat who goes against every common sense course of action from the Council," Quentin grumbled. "I thought it was good he left the Council, that didn't mean I wanted YOU to leave, young lady."

"Why didn't you ever tell him or us?" Buffy asked, trying to fight off a headache.

"For what purpose? He had left the Council, was building a life, still acting like a Watcher and helping you all save the world," Quentin shrugged. "Even battling against the Council was seen as a good sign that he could work past the conditioning eventually."

"And then Rack blasted the walls down instead of opening a door," Willow grumbled.

"Now we wait and see if our Giles can make peace with Ripper and Ethan," Buffy mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

It seemed like an hour but the clock in the room let Buffy know that only twenty minutes had passed when Giles' body jerked and her mother cried out in surprise.

"Rupert?" Joyce asked anxiously, stroking his forehead and hair. "Honey? Can you open your eyes?"

"Giles, come on back to us," Willow urged, squeezing Buffy's hand tightly as Tara wrapped an arm around the red-head's shoulders.

"Come on and fight, Ripper!" Buffy said firmly, hoping to shock him with the name and Giles' body jerked again, his hands clenching suddenly.

Giles opened his eyes slightly, his left hand rising off the bed and then falling back again.

"Stay here, damnit!" Joyce shouted, shaking him. His eyes opened wider, surprised.

"Love… you…" he said slowly as Willow held a cup with a straw to his lips. Giles closed his eyes and his breath evened out.

Joyce sighed with relief. She could tell that something had changed. It was as if she could sense or see that her husband was once again in his body and his spirit was no longer lost. She looked up at her daughter and Buffy's wives.

Slayer and witches stopped when the hospital room door opened and Ethan stuck his head in. "Still not going to hit me?" he grinned in Buffy's direction.

"You're safe," Buffy said slowly. "No tricks, Ethan. None of us have a sense of humor right now."

Buffy noticed Willow moving back around Giles' bed to stand next to Joyce and Tara moved protectively in front of Giles.

"Pax," Ethan smirked, stepping into the room. "I told you I wanted him back as he was. Now that we worked things out maybe I could pop around every six months for a night out at the pub."

"Maybe," Buffy said slowly. Glancing back she saw her mother's confusion and shrugged. "I'll explain later, Mom."

"Actually, the deal with Rack was for one night," Ethan shrugged. "He broke the deal and zapped the hell out of me. I couldn't get back in to get Rip out so I made sure you could track me without making it too easy."

"You would have suspected a trap and bashed me and wasted all kinds of time," Ethan smiled. "I don't like being hit by a Slayer."

"You just like hitting me," Ethan muttered and then brightened. "Well, I told you I had reasons for wanting Jack back to himself."

Ethan grinned and opened the door wide. "Come on in, luv. Meet the people I've been telling you about."

A teenage girl of about sixteen walked cautiously inside the hospital room and stood near Ethan. She had long brown hair, blue eyes, and sharp features. A somewhat thin frame that hinted at a touch of height in a year and an intelligence in her eyes that Willow could appreciate.

She was dressed in a nice flower print blouse, hip hugger jeans and shoes that Buffy recognized immediately as being very fashionable.

"This is Dawn. The guy on the bed is John Rupert Giles, that's his wife Joyce. The soulful eyes over there is Tara. The red-haired one with the stubborn streak is Willow. Barbie over there is Buffy and the stuffed shirt is Quentin Travers," Ethan said as way of introduction.

"Well, Quentin will remember that Giles cut loose for a long weekend about seventeen years ago," Ethan said slowly, wrapping an arm around Dawn. "Went and got drunk, listened to rock music, and did a bit of magic. Something of a relapse. Monday morning the Council found him, smacked him around a bit and took him back to the bloody fortress. Leaving behind one broken-hearted waitress."

Ethan's grin widened and Buffy felt her mind trying to go numb. It was too much to absorb in one day.

"This is like a bad romance novel," Joyce complained. "Let me see if I can fill the rest in. The waitress found she was pregnant but couldn't find Rupert and he didn't know she was pregnant and never went back."

Ethan nodded. "Maggie found me. She was a smart one, actually. Went researching the tattoo at a bookstore that a friend of mine owned. He put her in touch with me and I pieced things together and took care of her."

"Yes, and Maggie and I never hooked up," Ethan smiled. "I knew he couldn't handle it. That would have been the same as what Rack did. Me showing up with his daughter."

Buffy didn't believe Ethan for a moment that he hadn't been closer to Dawn's mother but kept quiet. It wasn't the time or place to debate his past sexual history or motives with him.

"It came up after Rack was done with him and I ran with it," Ethan corrected. "I sent for Dawn and helped you get him back."

"Well, Dawn," Joyce said slowly, watching the young girls' fearful eyes. "Welcome to California and the Summers family. Rupert will be surprised but pleased, I think."

"I've explained the weirdness of the family but not Sunnydale," Ethan smiled and kissed Dawn's cheek. "I'll be around off and on."

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Ripper

by Frau Hunter Ash

Copyright © 2001

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