I hastily made arrangements with Mike, one of my employees, to run the bar while I was gone. Elmwood hadn’t given me much time to get ready. At around nine thirty in the morning, I was hurrying as much as I could to pack an overnight bag with my laptop. While I packed, I thought about what Elmwood told me. It all seemed so fantastical to me now, but another glance through the articles and pictures, as well as looking at the stake before placing it with my luggage, brought back the chill I had felt the night before.

At ten fifteen, I left my apartment and loaded my bags into my van. Hands appeared to help me lift my suitcase into the back. I glanced to my left to see none other than MacLeod. "Hi, Joe," he said conversationally. "Going somewhere?"

"Hey, Mac. Yeah, I’m going to be in California for a few days," I told him.

He regarded me solemnly. "Watcher business?"

I sighed and nodded. There was no use hiding it from him. "Yeah, well, see you in a few."

We said our good byes and I drove off to the airport, wondering if telling him that much really was a good idea. I was thinking about MacLeod’s connection to Alex LaVelle. MacLeod might let it slip to Methos that I was going to California, and if Methos learned from Mike that I was going to Sunnydale, he might warn LaVelle about it. Time traveling or no, there was no possible way that LaVelle didn’t have a connection with whatever was going on in Sunnydale.

I couldn’t worry about that now. I had a plane to catch and a renegade Watcher to arrest.

*****

How did the kid find me? I had been in Sunnydale for only three hours, waiting for the Watcher team to show up before we started the search, when Xander Harris came to visit me at my hotel room. He was packing a sword, and he had three companions – a red headed girl and a blonde, and a black-haired boy. They were as surprised as I was by the sword, so that meant they knew who he was. Better run a background check on them, make sure they won't go blurting out secrets to the press.

Harris looked exactly like LaVelle. Every detail was the same, right down to eye color. I almost blurted out ‘Alex’ before I saw the kid’s eyes. Alex’s eyes were those of a man who had lived through two millennia of hardship. Xander’s eyes, while haunted, were still young. Not only that, but there was no recognition in Harris’ eyes. That’s when I knew, well and truly for the first time since all this began, that Xander and Alex were two different people.

Harris wasted no time in his interrogation. "Joseph Dawson?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. "That’s me."

"Do you know who I am?"

I thought back to the day I told Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod that I was his Watcher. "Alexander LaVelle Harris," I replied, "son of Anthony and Jessica Harris."

I noticed his knuckles go white around the hilt of his sword. "How do you know all that?" Harris demanded. The kid looked pissed.

I sighed. Maybe this was why the Tribunal sent me here – not only was that message sent to me, but if I ran into Harris and his friends, I’d be able to explain what the Watchers were without any qualms.

"Let's go inside. Then we'll talk," I told them. I glanced outside warily. Even though the sun still shined, Elmwood’s warning had spooked me good. There was no telling what might be hiding just outside, listening in.

The blonde spoke for the first time. "Agreed."

Once inside, I faced them. Harris asked me, "What do you know about the Watchers?"

"I can't tell you, kid."

"Why not?" the auburn-haired girl asked, looking curious.

"Because I shouldn't. How do you even know about us, anyway?"

Harris ignored the question. "Where did Jerry take Peter Lionhardt?"

Mina had told me a week ago that Lionhardt was making a trip out here. She hadn’t told me about this. "Jerry's captured Lionhardt?" I blurted out. I went through a few choice words in French and Vietnamese. That was just great. Well, if the Tribunal needed any confirmation that Damon was a Hunter, here was their proof.

"Maybe you should start at the beginning," the blonde suggested with an eyebrow raised. She motioned to Harris. "'Cause I know for a fact that Xander is really pissed off, and we can't guarantee that we'll be able to hold him off if he decides to take it out on you."

Harris started before throwing the blonde a sheepish look. I relaxed a little when I saw him relax. The auburn squeezed his shoulder. I watched the exchange, assessing them. These kids were worried about their friend. They were a little wary about the Watchers, and if all their experience with the Watchers revolved around Hunters like Damon, it was up to me to set the record straight. I'd read over the information I had on Harris during the flight, and I was sure he could be trusted, if I played my cards right and didn't get him too pissed off first. Also, if Damon had Lionhardt, then we couldn’t afford to play cat and mouse – skipping directly to the truth was the best option for all those concerned.

"The Watchers are an organization of historians. We observe and record the lives of Immortals, but always in secret."

The four teenagers stared open-mouthed at me. "You spy on them?" the auburn asked, outraged.

"I don't like the sound of that," Harris agreed. The anger was returning to his voice. "Especially since some of your Watchers decided to kidnap my friend."

I shook my head furiously. "The Watchers are historians. We never interfere in the lives of the Immortals that we watch-"

"-Then how do you explain Damon?" interrupted the blonde.

"Jerry Damon stopped sending in his reports about a month ago. When we found out he was falsifying his reports, we were sent to investigate." I flashed a smile at the group of teenagers. "I'm guessing you had something to do with that?"

Harris and the auburn both nodded. The black-haired kid, who had been silent up until now, entered the conversation. He asked, "Where are your friends, then?"

I assumed they meant the two Watchers that had met me at the Seacouver airport and accompanied me on the plane trip. "They were heading for Sunnydale High, actually, to keep an eye on you and the general vicinity in case Jerry showed up." I risked flashing a grin. "I guess they just missed you."

Harris and co. exchanged looks. "How do we know you aren't lying?" the young Immortal demanded. "How do we know you really aren't working with Jerry?"

I shrugged. We were running out of time. "I guess you don't, but if you're telling the truth that Jerry has captured Lionhardt, then I want to help get him back."

"Why?"

"Like I said, we don't interfere, and we don't tolerate anyone who doesn't follow the rules." I winced as I remembered my own trial three years ago, and wasn’t surprised to find my hand rubbing against my side where a bullet from Galati’s semi-automatic had ripped through my stomach. That bullet to my stomach had, believe it or not, saved me from getting one directly to the head.

The auburn asked, "What are you going to do?"

"Take Damon into custody as soon as we find him," I told her. "We just need to find him first."

The girl glanced at her watch and her eyes went wide. "Guys, it's almost six," she told her companions. The four kids exchanged those looks again. I wondered what was supposed to happen at six.

"What do you guys think? Should we trust him?" Harris asked his friends.

I watched as they glanced at each other resolutely. They seemed to reach a verdict and the blonde turned to address me. "All right, Dawson," she said, giving me that same serious look Elmwood had used. "You go in and get Damon and his men after we've cleared out. Understood?"

They weren’t given me a choice. I nodded. "Where is he?"

"You can come with us and see for yourself. Then after we've left with Peter, you can go in with guns a-blazing."

I didn’t like the idea of going anywhere in the same car as them, but again they left me no choice. We went in Harris’ convertible to the warehouse district where Damon was being held. I called my two assistants who, to my relief, reported that the recon team was in town.

Harris and his friends went in first. While they were inside, the recon boys pulled up to a block away from the warehouse. We waited ten minutes for Harris to show. When he didn’t, we went in with ‘guns a-blazing.’

I ended up shooting Damon personally with my handgun. An hour later, I sat in the Sunnydale Airport, waiting for my flight to be announced. I was glad that was all over. At that moment, the recon boys would be escorting Damon and his followers to a private airstrip where they would be flown to Watcher HQ. Unsurprisingly, among the Watchers that Damon had suckered in was the same Watcher I assigned to watch Harris after Damon disappeared. I am sure going to have trouble finding someone reliable to watch the Sunnydale High student in the future. Rumor is that the Tribunal’s talking about reforms in an attempt to identify any renegade Watchers hidden within our organization. Maybe that’ll do some good.

As I waited for my flight, I dialed the number Elmwood had given me. She answered it. "It’s Dawson," I told her. "Damon and ten of his pals are on their way to France. Did you want me to join them?"

Elmwood sounded relieved. "That’s not necessary, Mr. Dawson. For all it’s worth, thank you for your help. Did you run into any…unexpected problems?"

"None," I answered. She sounded relieved by that.

After saying our farewells, we hung up.

*****

Date: Sat, 3 April 1999 17:52
From: M_Harker@field.us.watcher.org
To: J_Dawson@field.us.watcher.org
Subject: Re: looking for someone?

First, I'd like to apologize for losing Lionhardt. It's the first time it's happened in twelve years, I assure you. Lionhardt, I thought, just wasn't the type to disappear all of a sudden. I went home for the night, and when I returned the next morning to resume Watching him, Lionhardt was gone. He wasn't at home, his car was still in the driveway, he didn't show up for work at his occult shop or at his dojo, and on top of all of that, he wasn't at any of his usual haunts. I tried tracking his credit cards, but he didn't use them the entire week he was gone.

So he was in Sunnydale? I should have guessed. I promise you, Joe, it won't happen again.

Mina

*****

I'd been back in Seacouver for a day or two when Alex LaVelle showed up at the bar. I wasn't too surprised to see him; Ron had warned me that Alex was heading this way. Even so, I found myself staring. I hadn't seen Alex for months, not since the last time I was in Paris. I compared him to my memory of Harris, and there was no doubt: they were identical.

I gave him a welcoming smile. "Alex! What brings you to my humble establishment?"

Alex grinned back. "I think you know, Joe. It's about what you were doing in Sunnydale."

I nodded and grabbed a bottle and two glasses. The two of us took a seat at the bar. "That Watcher you assigned to me is pretty good," Alex commented as I filled his glass. "Does he know about everything? You know, vampires, spells, all of that?"

I nodded. "And then some." That was another thing Elmwood had told me about when I got back to Seacouver. Actually, the first thing she'd done, seven hours after I'd arrived back at my apartment, was take me out to the closest graveyard. She'd made sure I had my stake with me, then she gave me custom-made wooden bullets for my handgun. "Shoot him through his heart, or hers," she'd told me. "If you can't get the heart, shoot him anyway. It won't kill him, but it will slow him down."

Then, she'd walked over to the nearest fresh grave. It was only then that I noticed that something was breaking through the grave's surface. The next thing I knew, the grave's occupant had burst free. The first thing I thought was that it was an Immortal reawaking from death. Then I saw his disfigured face and knew that he was a vampire.

I shot the bastard without another second's pause. I didn't hit his heart, but I managed to weaken him enough that Elmwood rushed in and staked him. Then, to my shock, the vampire burst apart into dust.

I'd needed a strong drink after that, and I was still recovering from the shock of it all. We'd returned to my bar, and while I downed a scotch she handed me a list of every Watcher under my supervision that knew about the demonic community. It turned out that they'd sent revised reports to me and sent the full reports of the actions of their supernaturally involved assignments directly to Elmwood.

Alex took a long swig of his beer. "You've probably got a lot of questions about the relationship between Alexander LaVelle Harris and myself. Well, I've decided to tell you the truth. We're the same person."

I nodded, remembering the theory Elmwood had shared with me. "Time travel." I sounded calm when I said that, as if this was a normal conversation for me. With everything I'd read and seen about in the past few days, it might as well be.

He looked surprised. "What?"

I shrugged. "It's one of the theories we've got. Is it true?"

He nodded. "How many people in the Watchers now about this?"

"What, about you and Harris? About a handful. About vampires and the works? A few more."

He shook his head in disbelief. "So much for trying to keep a low profile with the Watchers," he muttered. "That's only half of the story, however," he said, a little louder. "I want you to know that I am going to Sunnydale in a few days."

I frowned. "Why? You haven't been down there for years. You're not going to talk to your younger self, are you?"

"Not exactly," he said. "Maybe I should start from the beginning. Let me tell you how I got sent back in time in the first place. I'd been Immortal for only a few months. I helped fight the good fight with my friends at Sunnydale High. Only one day, as he often does, Giles predicted the upcoming apocalypse. It wouldn't be the first one we had to stop, so it wasn't a big deal. Ones of my friends, Willow, was-er, is-a witch, and she had to perform this counter spell that would prevent the end of the world. Only, the spell backfired, and I, along with Giles and Anya, the woman who would eventually become my first wife, were accidentally sent back in time to two years before the birth of Christ."

"All of this happened two thousand years ago for me, on the thirteenth of April of the year 1999. For my younger self, all of it will take place in nine days' time…"

*****

Jeez, and I thought I was warming up to all of this stuff about magic and creatures that go bump in the night, but I was just getting started. What Alex told me - about the spell, about the proposition that Doyle guy gave him about Alex merging with his younger self, everything - it was quite a chuck of info to process. I operated on autopilot that night, and it wasn't until the next day when I began to examine everything he'd told me from every angle. Alex planned to stop the time-travel spell. What the hell would happen after that, he had no idea. He just knew that, somehow, he and Harris would become one being. That sounded scary as hell. I wondered if Alex was completely sure that he knew what he was doing.

Alex took a plane to Sunnydale a few days after his explanation. Every free moment I had during that week was spent checking my e-mail and making sure my cell phone was on and had fresh batteries. Ron sent me daily reports. On the afternoon of April 13^th, I found these in my inbox:

*****

Date: Tues, 13 April 1999 6:53
From: R_Calais@field.weu.watcher.org
To: J_Dawson@field.us.watcher.org
Subject: lost him

LaVelle entered Harris' high school at 3:51 AM this morning. At a little before sunrise, blue sparks resembling a Quickening shot up from the area of the school library toward the sky. I rushed over to the side of the library and glanced in at the window. All I saw was the librarian, Rupert Giles, standing up from a kneeled position on the tiled floor. The implements of a spell remained around him. I think I recognized all the ingredients. I will try to determine what spell he performed. LaVelle wasn't anywhere in the library. I searched the grounds, but he'd disappeared. I drove out to LaVelle's hotel in case he returned there.

Calais

*****

Date: Tues, 13 April 1999 7:35
From: R_Calais@field.weu.watcher.org
To: J_Dawson@field.us.watcher.org
Subject: at the hotel

Rupert Giles just pulled up to the hotel in his French Citroen. He entered LaVelle's hotel room by kicking the door down. A moment later, he reappeared with Harris following him out. I'm pretty sure it was Harris because he was rubbing his wrists where LaVelle had bound them with rope.

Still no sign of LaVelle. Request assistance in search.

Calais

*****

Alex had done it. I'm not sure how I knew; I just did. He'd stopped the spell, and judging from the fact that I still remembered him, Alex LaVelle wasn't erased from history. That could mean only one thing: the merging thing was still going to take place, assuming it hadn't already.

For weeks afterwards, I was in constant correspondence with a number of people, namely Harris' latest Watcher, Grant, as well as Calais, Methos, Alex's student Marc, and Elmwood, all calling about the same thing. To all appearances, Alex LaVelle had disappeared off the face of the earth. Only Xander Harris remained. All we could do was wait for the merging thing to take place.

If someone told me two months ago that a normal, average day for me would include a serious discussion about averted apocalypses, vampires, or similar topics, or that Alex LaVelle was really Xander Harris sent back in time two millennia, I would have kicked that person out of Le Blues Bar without a moment's pause. Now, not a day goes by without Methos or Amanda regaling me with another tale about helping Alex take down a demon or thwart the apocalypse…or rescue Amanda from some demonic trouble. Only when MacLeod stopped by did we discuss anything else.

That's an average day in the life of a Watcher, namely me. It can get pretty strange at times.