Hundreds of miles away, back in California, a family sat around their dinner table. Four little boys, their father, and their mother, picked at the chicken on their dinner plates. The boys were laughing, playing with their food, shoving at each other occasionally, and generally raising the ire of their father. Howard shouted at them in between bites of his dinner, stood several times to quiet them in their seats, and did his best to eat his own meal. His wife kept his and the children’s plates full, all with a smile, and rarely speaking a peep.

“I didn’t think you’d ever eat chicken again?” Howard asked his wife, as he watched her perfectly place her perfect fork into the perfect chicken breast, and place the bite into her smiling perfect face.

Once she finished chewing and swallowing the chicken, the smile never leaving her face, she responded to Howard. “But you are my husband, and you like chicken. Of course I will eat it. I love chicken.”

Howard quirked his eyebrows at her, but he didn’t say anything. Suddenly, his plate was soaked with milk. Danny had accidentally tipped over his cup while wrestling with David. “Hey!” Howard jumped up before the milk could land in his lap. In a blur, his wife jumped up, grabbed a towel, and dabbed at the milk on the table. Then she quickly refilled a new plate for Howard, all while he stood there amazed at her quickness. He had even forgotten to yell at the boys for misbehaving. And the boys were silent too, watching their mom act so unlike their mom. If they knew the word to describe her, it would be “inhuman,” but instead they looked to their mom, smiling in her chair shoveling chicken into her mouth, and to their dad, standing at the table, his chair pushed back, a frown on his face.

“Something isn’t right.” Howard slowly sank back down into his chair. “You’ve been acting strangely for days now. Are you feeling alright?”

His wife nodded. “I feel great. I have a wonderful family. And I love chicken.” She shoveled the last bite into her mouth. As she chewed, a faint trail of smoke began to funnel out of her right ear. Her smile broadened even more. Then, in a blink of an eye, her head spun around and around, launched itself off of her robot neck, and crashed into the ceiling, leaving behind smoking robotic parts, the arm still trying to shove chicken into a mouth that was no longer there.

The four boys and husband all screamed in unison…a Tabula Rasa scream that would have made the Scoobies proud.

* * *

In a dark basement room in London, a man sat before a wide wall of computer monitors. He screamed as he saw the Allisonbot’s head explode. Hastily he grabbed for the phone. “This is Nigel, get me Andrew immediately. The Allisonbot’s a goner.”

* * *

Carolee rested her cheek against the hard wooden door, absorbing the vibrations from the pounding on the other side. She pressed her ear to the frame, but beyond the pounding, she heard nothing. No voices calling out. The wood was too thick. She pressed her palm against the cool wood, splaying out her fingertips as if she were searching to feel the presence on the other side.

Giles, on the other side of the door, quietly called out to her as he pounded on the door.

“Bloody hell, I’m probably frightening the poor girl,” he muttered to himself. He let the knocker drop one last time, and then stood back a foot from the door, standing there in silence, willing her to feel him, and open the door.

Carolee stood there, pressed to the door. The pounding had stopped, only to be replaced by the pounding of her heart. Who or what was out there?

She turned and looked back into her room, and out the one lone window. Now she looked upon a deep and dark forest. There was one dirt path leading into wind between the trees. She had to make a decision. Should she stay here in the comfort of her room? Or should she take the path?

Staying in the room might be safe, but it led to nowhere. It was an eternity of loneliness, and no passion, no spark, no highs, and no lows. The path was unknown, and held so many possibilities. It might bring pain and suffering, or even death. But at least then she’d be living.

She shook the room from her shoulders, stood up straight, and tentatively opened the door.

“Giles!” She cried, running into his open arms. He held her close for a moment, soothing her with quiet words, and stroking her back with his hands.

“You’re okay now. It’s going to be okay.” He glanced over her head to peer into the room. He saw a long leather couch underneath a window. Tree tops shown out from the view. “Shall we go and sit down?” He whispered into her ear. At her nod, he backed them into the room, never letting go of her, and brought them slowly down to sit on the couch.

The wooden door shut tight behind them, startling him. He relaxed his grip from around Carolee’s shoulder, easing her away from him so he could sit back and face her as they talked. He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and smiled.

“I knew you would come.” Carolee’s confidence in him shown out as she looked at him. The magnitude of that trusting look went straight to his soul. Buffy never looked at him like that. No one had before. He quite liked it, and hoped her trust wouldn’t be misplaced.

“Yes, well, it is a joint effort. Allison and Spike found the spell.”

Carolee smiled. “Allison came to me. It was hard to let her leave, but I knew she needed to in order to find a way for me to get out of here. You have found a way, right?”

Giles sighed, and took her hands in both of his. “Yes, I think so. But it’s not going to be pleasant. I’ll stay with you all the way. You won’t be alone.”

Carolee put on a Willow resolve face, gripping his fingers around her own. “Tell me. Tell me where I am, and how I get back.”

Giles explained to her how she was stuck in between dimensions. Somehow she had been sucked out of their own dimension, but never completed the journey to the unknown other dimension. Giles pleaded with her to leave the room she had created in her mind, return to her body, and claw her way back to their dimension. It would be difficult. It would be frightening, and loud, and cold, and violent, but she could do it. He knew she could. And he’d be there for her the entire time, just as Allison and everyone else waited for her on the other side. She just had to be brave.

“How will I know which way to go?” Carolee worried her bottom lip as she spoke, paling at the prospects of going through that door.

“The others are forming a mind bond with us right now, similar to the spell Allison and Spike used before to find you. Their will should help you find your way back. They’ll pull you towards home, but I fear the other dimension, and whatever is out there, will fight and try and pull you back towards it. I’ll stay with you, but I’m only here in essence, and not in body, so I can’t physically fight. Only you can do that. But I won’t leave you, and I’ll talk you all the way through it, giving you instructions and support.”

Carolee looked down at their tangled hands. She would do it, of course, but she was scared. Giles saw her stricken look. He released one of his hands and placed his fingers gently under her chin, turning her face up so he could look into her brown eyes. “I’ve found you, Carolee, and I won’t lose you now. Not ever.” He softly brushed his lips against hers. It was the most perfect kiss that Carolee could ever imagine, full of comfort and support and love. So gentle. She straightened her shoulders as he broke the kiss, smiled, and with a brave face said, “Okay, let’s do it.” She squeezed his hand, stood up, and with his hand in her own, she ran and threw open the door to face her fate.

more to come