Prologue

A scream filled the air as the scent of blood wafted across the breeze.

Shadows filtered across the sand as the trees continued to sway gently in the warm nighttime breeze.

There was no carnage, no sign of the life that had just been destroyed. A murky shape slipped across the sand, vanishing into the welcoming dark waters. The waves splashed against hard skin as the figure silently slipped under the swells.

No other sound was heard.

Chapter One

Giles looked up at the clock once again. He had been waiting for Buffy to arrive to train for over an hour. He was concerned, not that she was in danger, but that their relationship had deteriorated to the point where he was no longer effective as her watcher.

Over the last six months, there had been many changes within their tight knit group. Willow and Buffy were attending college and spending less time with the gang, each absorbed in their new romantic interests.

Giles had to admit that Tara was a lovely choice and a good partner for Willow. Her kind soul seemed to temper the young, redhead Wicca. Tara had confided to Giles that she had practiced witchcraft since before she could speak. Giles had evaluated her powers to the best of his ability and found that she was, by far, the most powerful human he had come across in some time. He admired the young woman for not exploiting the powers that lay pulsing within her body.

Buffy’s choice of partners, however, left a lot to be desired. Riley Finn… Giles couldn’t even contemplate the young man without including his last name. He sighed. Riley was simply too arrogant and cocksure for Giles’ comfort. Buffy spent less time patrolling and training every week due to the influence of the commando. Giles was worried that she would not last as the slayer much longer. Her lack of concentration and her frequent yelling matches with her friends and her watcher were undoubtedly doing damage.

Spike was another recent addition to their group. Giles, against his better judgment, was becoming quite fond of the peroxide vampire. He had accidentally discovered that not only was Spike a very intelligent man, but also a gifted linguist and a voracious reader.

He made this discovery several months back, when he caught the creature breaking into his shop after closing time to return a book that he hadn’t noticed that was missing. They had sat for hours after, sipping tea and talking about various books in his collection. They had discussed not only the linguistics, but also how each text was applicable to the situation in Sunnydale. Since that day so many months ago, Spike and Giles had met after closing biweekly to discuss any new texts that may have come in or to argue British sport.

Giles had noted the relationship between Xander and the vampire changing, as well. After moving into his new apartment, Xander had unexpectantly offered the spare bedroom to Spike, much to Anya’s chagrin. No one really understood the reason behind the invitation, but the three housemates seemed to get along well, in spite of the almost non-stop bickering between Spike and Xander. Spike, being a creature of the night, slept the day away, giving the young couple plenty of daylight hours in which to enjoy each other without the vampire’s presence presenting a problem.

Giles was pleased with how his family was flourishing. He smiled around the top of his teacup, thinking of how Spike would respond if he knew that Giles thought of him as one of his children. Strangely enough, they had discovered that they were related. Giles appeared to be a direct descendent of William’s younger sister. Knowing that his sister had lived long enough to have a family had pleased the vampire to no end.

Giles’ eye wandered back to the clock. Where was Buffy? The young woman was pressing on his last nerve. He was tempted to send her out to do an extended patrol and write a formal report on her findings. However, he was not interested in reading the ramblings of his hormone-driven charge, so he decided against that course of action. He sighed again. Ninety minutes late. Buffy would be in for quite a talking to when she arrived.

The bell rang loudly as Buffy entered the magic shop, Riley close on her heels. Giles rolled his eyes as Buffy draped herself over her stiff yet unresisting boyfriend. There went the talk and the training. When the soldier was around, Buffy made no effort to concentrate. Giles felt that he should have followed his instinct this morning to not get out of bed.

“Do you mind, Buffy? We do have work to do.”

Buffy looked at Giles in shock. “What?” She quickly returned her attention to her boyfriend, pressing her full length against him.

Giles started at the pealing of the telephone, turning his back to his slayer and her current playmate. Buffy took the opportunity to drag Riley into the training room for a quick session on the mats.

“Buffy!” Giles’ sigh of disgust carried over the wire to the council member on the other end of the phone line. Knowing the Council like he did, Giles gave up on training his slayer tonight and settled in for a long talk.

*****

Hours later, Giles rubbed his nose as he finally hung up the phone. Buffy had long since escaped out the door, mumbling something about patrolling around the tongue that was mapping out her mouth. Giles had waved her off, more interested in what the Council’s man was saying than his disinterested slayer.

The Council of Watchers was in an uproar and was requesting his assistance with the issue. He knew that Buffy was not up to the task in her current condition. Namely total self-absorption. He would have to go himself. Groaning, Giles realized that he would not be able to do it alone, he would have to take some help with him.

He sighed and reached once again for the phone, wincing as the receiver touched his oversensitive ear. This was going to be great fun.

“Shut! Up! Spike! Hello?” Xander’s voice stung his ear as it raced through the phone lines.

“Xander, this is…”

“Spike, shut the fuck up! I’m talking to Giles!” Xander neglected to move the phone away from his mouth before yelling at the vampire and Giles’ headache increased tenfold.

“Hey G-man! What’s up?” He could hear the smile in Xander’s voice over the line.

“Xander, I have asked you numerous times not to call me that.” Giles’ smile was not evident in his voice, although prominent on his face. “I wonder if you and Spike might be able to come to the shop for a while. I would like to speak with you both about something that has come up.”

There was a loud thump and Giles heard both Xander and Spike squeal in pain before the young man answered, “Damnit, Spike! Yeah, Giles, we’ll be there in a minute. Look, Fangless…” Xander’s rant stopped as the call was disconnected. Giles went off in search of his hidden whiskey, praying to every deity he could think of that the neutered vamp hadn’t found this one yet.

*****

“Hey Ahn! Giles needs me and Spike at the shop. You want to go?” Anya wandered out of the bathroom to find her boyfriend and their roommate sitting on the floor in the living room, their shoelaces tied together.

“Why are you tied to Spike?” Anya frowned at the two men on the floor.

She had noticed that more often than not, if she left the two alone for any period of time, she would return to find them in interesting situations. She had walked in on tickling fights, thumb wrestling, arm wrestling, ‘Tai Chi’ lessons…

That particular episode had made her laugh. She had walked in on Spike and Xander; both dressed in sweatpants, tangled on the floor as they attempted to situate themselves into calming positions.

She was amazed at how well the two men got along. Contrary to what they both insisted was true, she no longer believed that they hated each other. She knew that neither Spike nor Xander saw what she did, so she never commented on it.

Over the months that they had all lived in the apartment, she herself had developed strong feelings of friendship for the blond demon. They had a lot in common. Sometimes, when she and Spike were alone in the apartment, they would regale each other with tales from their pasts, trying to outdo each other with their stories of creativity and skill.

Looking at the two sitting on the floor, Anya laughed as Xander jerked on a lace, hitting his head on Spike’s chin, causing them both to fall back onto the floor.

“Blondie here tied our shoes together while I was on the phone.”

“The fuck I did, Harris! You’re the one who was bloody tying his shoes while blathering on about something or another. I was just standing here drinking my blood.” Spike looked innocently at Anya, hoping to win her over with his argument.

“Never mind,” Anya sighed. She reached over and deftly untied the knotted laces. She then quickly tied Xander’s tennis shoes before moving to Spike’s boots. Both men scrambled to their feet, each glaring daggers at the other.

“There, you are both ready to go. No, I do not want to go with you, I just got home from work two hours ago and I am ready to get into the bath and then rest. You go, enjoy your talk with Giles and I will see you when you get home.” She stood on her toes and placed a quick kiss to Xander’s mouth, then gave an affectionate shove to Spike’s leather clad arm.

“Bye, Ahn. Love you.” Xander threw his coat over his shoulder before motioning the vampire out the door before him. He turned and winked to his girlfriend as she closed the door behind them.

“Bath, negligee, bed.” With that, Anya walked resolutely to the bathroom to pamper herself.

*****

An elderly woman glanced at her doorway as what sounded to be a herd of buffalo thundered down the stairs just outside her door. She glanced down at Baggins. “That’s the two young men from upstairs, what a lovely couple.” She smiled as the feline hopped into her lap and began to purr.

*****

“My car, Whelp. I’m driving.” Spike pointed Xander towards the blacked out DeSoto parked across from Xander’s wreck of the week.

Xander glanced up and glared at the vamp. “What? You don’t want to be seen in my car?” He looked over at his Pepto-Bismol pink Toyota and flinched. “Right, you’re driving. Only, please let me move the crap out of the floorboard!” With that, he ran to the passenger’s side of the classic car, flung the door open and began throwing empty liquor bottles towards their owner.

“Hey! Quit that!” Thunk. “Ow!” Spike snarled at Xander before grabbing the bottle that had just hit him in the head. He threw it in an arc towards Xander, aiming for the gravel at his feet.

Spike screamed when Xander backed out of the car, the bottle impacting with his lower back. The pain in his head caused him to fall to the ground, whimpering. Xander rushed to his side, scared at the obvious intensity of the jolt and apologetic for his part in the actions that had led to the chip’s adverse reaction.

“Shit, Spike! I’m sorry, man. Hey, careful…” Xander helped lift Spike off of the ground to lean against the trunk of his car.

“You ok?” Xander’s look of concern helped Spike focus on something other than the pain that continued to fire through his brain. He glared at Xander in exasperation and reached for his pack of cigarettes, trying to shake off his game face.

“That thing is getting worse, isn’t it?” Xander’s quiet inquiry made Spike pause, his cigarette halfway to his mouth. He considered a snarky remark, but changed his mind at the expression on the whelp’s face. He had no reason to lie.

“Yeah, mate. It’s getting worse. I’m not sure what’s happening, but the jolts are getting stronger and lasting longer each time.” Spike lifted his Zippo and lit the cigarette with a trembling hand.

“It’s also taking less to set it off,” Xander muttered. Last week Spike had been helping Anya unload the groceries and had opened a cabinet door as she was passing by. She had walked into the door, bumping her head and Spike had fallen into convulsions.

Uncomfortable with the relaxed atmosphere, Spike finished his cigarette, threw the butt to the ground and shook his head. “Alright, Harris, all better, let’s go.” The two men climbed into the car and drove off towards the Magic Box.

*****

Giles glanced up from his whiskey search at the sound of a bell ringing. He peered over the counter to see Tara enter the shop. Standing up, he smiled at her.

“Hello, Tara.” Tara jumped at the sound of his voice.

“Oh. H..hello, Mr. Giles.” Tara smiled gently at the storeowner. Giles had become important to her in a very short period of time. She looked at him as the father that her own male parent never was.

“Did you need help with something, or are you here just to visit?” Giles tried to phrase his question in such a way to let the girl know that she was welcome at any time, with or without Willow.

“I w..wanted to talk with you, i..if you don’t mind.” Tara looked at the floor before remembering that this man wouldn’t hurt her. She raised her head to look him in the eye.

“Of course, my dear. Tea?” Giles waved towards a chair as Tara nodded. He went into his office to collect his carafe of tea and two clean teacups.

“Now then, what did you want to talk about?” Giles leaned forward, eagerly. The blonde Wicca had never approached him in this manner, and he was intrigued.

Tara blushed and stammered, but began to speak. “I’ve been f..feeling something s..strange over the last few days.” Her speech began to lose its stutter as she forced herself to relax. She took a sip of tea before continuing. “I’m not sure what it is, M..Mr. Giles, but I’m afraid something big is about to happen. I’ve asked Willow if she’s felt anything unusual recently, b..but she hasn’t. I really don’t think that anything is going to happen here, but there is something…” She trailed off, waving one hand in the air, unable to communicate her thoughts.

“Please, call me Giles, or Rupert, if you can stand it. We are friends and colleagues and I would like very much for you to address me in a less… formal manner.” Giles smiled once again at the shy, blushing witch, and then began to question Tara.

“Have you looked deeper within yourself to find what this feeling is about?”

Tara thought for a moment before answering. “Y..yes. I did try to meditate, but couldn’t balance myself. All I could feel was evil energy trying to get into me.” She shuddered at the memory and then frowned at her less than coherent explanation.

“This is not coming out right. Mr., I mean, G..Giles,” she grinned, then frowned, her speech becoming more confident. “There is something big going down within the next few months and it is not happening here. I’m not sure that it will even happen on American soil, but something is going to happen.” Tara looked intently at the watcher, allowing her concern and fear to show on her face for a moment before reigning them back in.

“I think I might have some idea about what you are talking about,” Giles spoke softly. “However, I would like to wait for Xander and Spike to arrive before going into it in greater detail. Is that alright with you?” At Tara’s nod, he continued. “So, how are your classes going?”

Tara flashed a shy smile. “Actually, I did have something else to talk to you about. I have been accepted into a short-term program to do some field research in my Sociology class. I think the subject of my research will be the Sociological effect of Mythology on human interaction with nature. I have been excused from my classes for the last half of this semester so that I can focus exclusively on my research.” Tara paused and looked down. Giles, sensing that there was more that she needed to say, sat quietly and waited.

Taking a deep breath, Tara spoke. “My classes are finished this Friday. Um, I am also supposed to find an experienced off-campus teacher to help guide me in the right direction. I wanted to ask if you would be interested in being my mentor for the project.” Tara glanced down at her shoes, pleased that she had managed to ask for Giles’ help.

The smile that had been comfortably resting on Giles’ face broadened.

“You want me to help you?” His pleased expression made Tara glad that she had asked.

“Yes, please. I don’t know anyone who has more knowledge of mythological creatures and incidents than you.”

Giles quickly responded in the affirmative. “Then I would be honored. Tell me more about your project.”

Giles and Tara spoke animatedly about their chosen subject, blissfully unaware of the time that was passing. Both glanced up when the bell sounded, matching smirks crossing their faces when both Spike and Xander attempted to enter at the same time, resulting in shoulders digging into one another and yet another shouting match.

“Shift over, Whelp! I’m trying to get inside!” Spike’s snark was audible.

“I’ll ‘shift over’ after I get in the door, Fangless. Move your skinny butt!”

“M’ butt’s not skinny,” Spike pouted. Xander paused at the very real pain he heard in the other’s voice. He realized that the snark and pout were a cover for the chip’s firing, yet again. He closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose harshly.

“Sorry, Spike. Here, you go in first.” Xander stepped out of the way, allowing Spike to enter the magic shop.

The scene that he was witnessing overwhelmed Giles. He shook his head; unable to believe that these two men had no idea how aware they were of each other. He had noticed it on many occasions.

When the group patrolled, Spike could always be found within fifteen feet of Xander. Yes, he had measured it. When researching, they either sat directly across the table from each other, or side by side. The bond that was developing between the two men was almost visible to Giles, however, it was quite apparent that they had no idea that it was happening. Their verbal sparring had in no way changed. To someone who didn’t know them, is was obvious that these two men hated each other.

“Ok, G-Man, we’re here, ready to slay and/or maim whatever you point us at.” He glanced around the shop. “Where’s Will and Buff?”

“They’re not here, Xander. I wanted to speak with you and Spike about a phone call that I received from the Council. Tara is here because she seems to have picked up on some occurrence that will be happening in the next few months and I believe that her feelings are directly tied to the Council’s ‘problem’, therefore, I asked her to stay.”

“What should we care what the Council of Wankers has to say?” Spike paused at the look on Giles’ face. “Never mind. Better question: why us, Rupert?” Spike looked directly at the watcher, seeking the truth in his eyes.

“You two are the only ones that I could ask for help, that’s why. I need help that Buffy would not be willing or able to provide and this will involve some travel. She is not currently in a position where she can leave Sunnydale for any length of time.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me that the Whelp and I are stuck helping because the Slayer is too busy playing college girl to do her fucking job!”

Giles’ winced at the tone in Spike’s voice. “Please, let me explain before you decide whether or not you are willing to help.”

Unconsciously, Xander and Spike glanced at one another, and then nodded.

“Tell us.” Spike tossed one leg over a chair, settling in to listen to his nephew, Xander sitting to his left, instinctively leaning towards the blond vamp.

Giles looked into three sets of eyes. Blue, Chocolate Brown and Hazel peered back.

“What do you know about the Bermuda Triangle?”