New Beginnings

By PSUBrat

What's In a Name

Inside the Magic Box, Xander lay in a heap in front of the counter. He was staring at the spot that Anya and Halfrek seemed to disappear from. At least he was pretty sure they had disappeared. There was too much smoke to tell for certain. He couldn't even see the others over by the table since the white cloud was so thick. He could hear Dawn crying and Buffy threatening D'Hoffryn. The demon had just punished his agents of vengeance for helping the group with Warren. It was complete chaos. Xander's head hurt. He felt like he was going to pass out. Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. She was gone. There was nothing more he could do. And instead of telling her how much he loved her, he had been a total jackass all day. "Good one Xan," he said to himself as he rested his head on the floor and closed his eyes, hoping that the darkness would take him.

Giles was still trying to hold Buffy back from going after D'Hoffryn. He could feel his grip loosening. His Slayer was strong. Much stronger than he. "Buffy, please," he whispered in her ear, "Calm down. There's nothing we can do." He could feel her relax somewhat in his arms. She was still tense and ready to spring into action, but instead she let the tears flow.

Tara and Willow huddled with Dawn in the corner. They couldn't believe that they had just witnessed this awful event. Willow wanted to use her magic on the demon, make him pay for what he had done to her friends. It was the anger taking over in her again. She recognized it as such and tried to calm herself down. Tara was right, she did need to learn to control the blackness within herself.

The smoke started to dissipate and the room returned to normal. Standing in the same spot that they had just disappeared from was Anya and Halfrek looking dazed and confused.

"Anya," Dawn cried, "you're okay!"

"Of course she's okay little girl," D'Hoffryn stated, "why wouldn't she be?"

Buffy shook herself from Giles grip and walked over to the demon, "What do you mean, why wouldn't she be? You made them go poof! What did you expect us to think?"

"Oh! You thought I had killed them? Oh my, no. Their punishment for lending their assistance to mortals is for them to become mortals themselves. They no longer have their powers."

Halfrek looked stunned. She put her hands to her face and felt the smooth contours of human skin. "Please," she begged, "don't do this. I don't want to be human."

"It is too late Halfrek. It is done. You are lucky that this is the only punishment that I have given you."

Anya stood in stunned silence. She looked over at Xander who had pulled himself up into a sitting position. He was staring at her. She slowly turned her attentions to D'Hoffryn. The demon had given her the one thing that no one else could, the chance to be human again without this reality reverting back to the old one. Tears formed in her eyes. She walked over to her former boss and stood in front of him.

D'Hoffryn took Anya into his arms and hugged her tightly. "Thank you," she whispered to him.

"You're welcome Anyanka," he whispered back. Then he broke off the hug and said in a voice that could be heard by everyone in the room, "Never call on me again or next time I might not be so generous." With that he disappeared.

***

Anya went through the motions of closing the Magic Box for the day. Xander had left to take Dawn home to get ready for her party. After locking the door and turning the sign to "Closed," Anya slowly made her way to the cash register to tally the sales. The day had been overwhelming and not in a the-shop-brought-in-more-money-than-usual way. All she wanted to do was to go back to her place and take a long, hot bubble bath. She walked over to her friend who was slumped in a chair. Halfrek was taking her newly forced humanity very hard. Anya remembered how she felt when she had first become human again. It was devastating to her. However, she'd had almost four years to get used to the idea of being human, Halfrek only had a few hours so far.

"Anyanka what am I going to do?" Halfrek asked. "I don't want to be human. I have no place to live and no money. What am I going to do?" The tears had started again. She wanted to blame Anyanka for this punishment but she had helped the mortals of her own free will. There was no one to blame but herself.

"It's not as bad as it seems Halfrek," Anya stated, "You can live with me and work here. Then when you get used to being human, you can do whatever you want."

"You can help us out too…" Tara added, "There's always research and with your demon background you would be very helpful to us."

Halfrek looked at the blonde Wicca incredulously. "Helping mortals is how I got into this mess in the first place! Do you really think I'm going to help you again?"

"Uhm, Halfrek? Newsflash. You're mortal now," Buffy stated, "So helping us? Not a bad thing." She didn't like the idea of having another ex-demon around, especially this one. There was something about Halfrek that just didn't sit right with her. Yeah, she had trapped everyone in the house at Buffy's birthday party, but it went deeper than that. Buffy remembered the demon calling Spike by his human name. How did she know him?

"Halfrek," Anya said trying to reassure her friend, "it's going to take some time getting used to being human. I completely understand. I'll help you through it. You're going to learn to love money!"

***

Willow left the small gathering in the shop and headed towards the office. She needed to talk to Giles. She was sure he was going to be angry with her but she wanted to discuss something important with him anyway. She was afraid, of herself, and what she could become when provoked. She needed to come to terms with her dark side. After she had brought Buffy back from the dead, Giles had called her a rank, arrogant amateur, and he had been extremely angry with her then. She had responded by telling him not to piss her off. Plus, there was the way she went after him in the other reality, trying to destroy him. She couldn't go on like this.

Giles looked up from the desk when he heard a soft knocking on the door. "Willow, hello."

"Giles, I need to talk to you."

"Come in then. Close the door."

She shut the door behind her and took a seat next to the desk. She looked down at her hands while they tugged at her sweater. "Giles, I'm really scared," she finally said, "of myself."

Giles sat back in his chair and took off his glasses. He studied the renegade Wicca closely. She looked like a small child trying to make amends for her actions, before an authority figure could dole out the punishment. He didn't say anything to her. She needed to do this and he wasn't going to interrupt.

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She had been expecting him to say something but he hadn't. She knew he wasn't going to make this easy. "Giles. I need help. I need to learn how to control the dark part of me. I don't want to be bad. I want to be good and help people."

There. She had said what he needed to hear, "I need help." He leaned over in his chair and took her hand. "Willow, it takes a tremendous amount of courage to admit that you have a problem and that you need help. If you're really serious about this…"

"I am Giles! I am!"

"Good then. I've already made arrangements for you to come back to England with me. There you will meet with the coven in Devon and be tutored, properly, in the Wiccan practices."

She threw her arms around the watcher and thanked him over and over.

"Willow," he said easing her gently back into her seat, "this is going to be extremely difficult work. You will be required to stay in England for several months."

The reality of the situation finally hit her. "W-Would I have to go alone? Can Tara come along?"

"No. You will not have to go it alone. Tara has been cleared by the coven to accompany you to Devon. They are very much interested in her abilities as well, but that's only if she wants to go."

"Oh I'm sure she'll want to come along! When do we leave?"

"First thing tomorrow morning."

Her face fell. "What? So soon? But, but that's barely enough time to pack and say goodbye."

"You can both say your proper goodbyes tonight at Dawn's party."

She nodded her head and left the office. She had to go tell Tara the news.

***

Dawn's birthday party was in full swing at the Bronze by the time Anya and Halfrek arrived. Everyone was having a good time dancing and eating. Dawn was busy opening her gifts while Buffy stood against the wall watching. She wasn't in the mood to have a good time but it was her sister's party so she needed to be there. Seeing Halfrek again had brought back memories of Spike. She hated herself for even thinking about him but she couldn't stop. He still hadn't come back from wherever it was that he had gone. Even Clem was starting to worry about him. Maybe he was never coming back. Maybe she had driven him off for good. She wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. How many men had she driven off before? She had thought a lot about what Clem had said, that she was as much to blame in the relationship as Spike was. She had been just as abusive. She still wasn't sure why she had beaten Spike up so badly when he tried to stop her from turning herself into the police, but she finally realized that what she had done to him was wrong.

"Penny for your thoughts," Giles said as he came over to where she was standing.

"What? Oh. I was just thinking about how grown up Dawn is getting."

He looked at her questioningly. He knew his Slayer well enough to know that she was covering up her true thoughts but he played along, "Yes. She certainly is. She's not as strong or as powerful as you are Buffy, but with your help, she can develop into an adequate slayer; and in time, the two of you will be able to share the patrolling duties."

"Oh I don't know about that, Giles. She's my baby sister. I don't want her to get hurt."

"Quite right. But think about it Buffy. You'd be able to take some time off. Maybe have a life outside of slaying."

"I gave up on that a long time ago," she said looking wistfully into the distance.

***

A few minutes later, Tara and Willow came back to the table after they were done dancing. Willow had told Tara about the trip to England when they got back to the dorm. At first, she wasn't sure that her lover would go with her to England because of the way Tara had initially reacted to the news. But then Tara had gotten out their suitcases and started packing. She had chattered on about what they would learn while they were there and what sightseeing they would do. Willow had hugged the girl in appreciation for everything she had done to help her, but the hug had turned into something much better. The thought of their lovemaking brought a smile to Willow's face. The day had seemed so grim but it was turning out to be one of the best days of her life.

Now it was time to let everyone in on their plans. Willow motioned for Buffy and Giles to come over and join them. When the pair arrived, Willow started, "Uhm, we just wanted to let you all know that Tara and I are…we're going away for a while."

"What," Dawn demanded, "Where are you going?"

"We're going to England, to Devon. Tara and I are going to study under the coven that Giles knows. He's already arranged it."

"That's great news, Will," Buffy exclaimed knowing that her friend could use the time away.

"When do you leave?" Xander asked with a mouth full of food.

"Uhm. We leave tomorrow morning," Tara said softly.

"Tomorrow morning! That's crazy," Dawn cried.

"Dawnie," Willow said trying to comfort the girl, "it'll only be for a few months, and you and Buffy can come visit if you like."

"Promise?" The teen asked.

"Promise," Willow said giving Dawn a squeeze.

"You can come and visit me as well," Giles added, "London has excellent museums and I'd be more than happy to show you around."

Dawn smiled and tried to look enthusiastic about that. She wouldn't mind seeing London but she could do without the stuffy museums. "That would be really cool, Giles. Thanks."

"Xander, do you mind if Tara and I store some of our things at your place? She has to give up her dorm room so we won't have a place to keep the rest of our stuff."

"I guess that would be okay. Buffy's house is almost done so we can store your stuff in the guest room once she leaves." Then he added with a mischievous grin, "Until then we'll just use the boxes for end tables and footrests."

"Excuse me," a voice said from behind them. They all turned to look at the person who had interrupted their family conversation. Standing there was a dark haired boy, about the same age or slightly older than Dawn.

"Hello young man," Giles said with a smile.

"Oh my god," Dawn whispered to Tara, "that's the boy I was telling you about. I really didn't think he would show up."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but your friend Janice said I could find you here."

"Uhm. It's okay," Dawn said walking towards him and blushing, "we weren't really talking about much." She took his hand and led him towards the table. "Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone."

She went around the table introducing each person. As she said their name, the boy nodded and shook their hand. "And everyone this is…uhm, uhh..."

"Steven. My name is Steven," he said with smile.

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