by jixer » Fri May 18, 2007 4:29 pm
Chapter 24
“I want these out of here yesterday,” the shipping clerk said with a hint of anger.
“What?” the young dispatcher grinned. “The coffins from the Transylvanian branch? I count one, two! Two creepy packages, ha ha haa haaa!”
“You looking for a transfer to Oxnard, Count?” the clerk snapped.
“Jeez, don’t get your panties in a bunch,” the dispatcher grumbled.
“Kid, listen to me really, really good,” the clerk said seriously. “When ever you get a weird one in for Sunnydale, get it out fast and preferably in broad daylight. Trust me.”
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“We need to talk about what?” Dawn asked Betty cautiously. “I mean reading is resting if you’re doing it in bed.”
“While that may or may not be true that’s not why I’m here, Dawn,” Betty said gently.
“Oh, okay,” Dawn relaxed. “It’s about the magic, right?”
“Quite so,” Betty agreed.
“I’m feeling better,” Dawn insisted. “Besides, outside of Buffy or Willow I’m the most magical resource.”
“Actually, you might even surpass them,” Betty pointed out in a lecturing tone. “Given that you are such a powerful resource I’d like to make sure you’re recovering and at what rate so as to make future plans and balances to protect that resource.”
“Sometimes you sound like an expert on those news shows,” Dawn said repressing a grin.
“I do not!” Betty huffed. “I would never prattle on and on like those poppinjays with their over-inflated egos!”
“Of course not,” Dawn nodded.
“Don’t think I missed that grin, missy.”
“How do you check this resource? Dawn asked.
“You’ll need to hold me for a second,” Betty explained. “I’m going to expand my sphere so you’ll be completely inside.”
“Cool!” Dawn almost crowed.
“I certainly hope not!”
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“Who’s Dawn talking to?” Faith asked. “I didn’t let anyone in.”
“My guess is a salamander,” Buffy said heading for the stairs. “I’ll make sure.”
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Betty was lost. There was no other way to describe the feeling. Merging magic to magic was very delicate and every other time she had done this the salamander had held back nearly everything. Now her essence tumbled in currents and eddies with a strength she had never encountered before. There was so little of Dawn that wasn’t magical from her being to her past. Finally Betty felt her body get picked up. She focused on the feeling and fled Dawn’s being.
“Ow!” Buffy yelped. “Hot lizard!”
Betty had the feeling of being juggled. She collapsed her sphere around Dawn and spun it around herself.
“Are you okay?” Buffy asked a blinking Dawn.
“Yeah,” Dawn shook her head. “That was weird, in a cool way.”
“Oh my,” Betty said finally levitating evenly. “I’m afraid you’re going to be a two salamander job.”
“Wait just a minute!” Buffy growled. “Just what the heck were you two doing?”
“Checking a resource,” Dawn answered.
“You are not a resource!” Buffy snapped. Then she whirled on Betty. “And you were way out of line!”
“It should have been a simple check,” Betty began.
“Is that why you were limp and your bubble let me in?” the Slayer asked coldly. “You listen to me, Betty! Dawn is a minor, I am her guardian and her sister! You come to me and ask and IF I say yes there’s going to be at least one witch and Giles on hand, understood?”
Betty looked at the Slayer for a moment with burning eyes but then nodded. “You are quite correct, Miss Summers. I was in error. Please accept my apology.”
“Okay,” Buffy replied warily.
“Ah, what did you find out?” Dawn asked before the tense silence could grew too long.
“You are quite extraordinary,” Betty answered more civilly. “Not even dragons have as much power as you have, and they are almost the essence of magic. Were you by chance conceived during a eclipse in a grove or other sacred ground?”
“Not that I remember,” Dawn replied dryly.
“Oh, yes,” Betty said quickly. “I’m happy to add that rest is leading to a very quick and complete recovery. I’m afraid that’s all I was able to discover. I’d like to try again.”
“It’ll have to be later,” Buffy said without hesitation. “We’re going to be busy for a while.”
“Of course,” Betty said agreeably.
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Willow got out of class on time and was heading toward the dorm when she felt a very slight pull and heard a teasing whisper of her name. She followed the gentle hints the other way and soon found herself near the Quad near a cluster of trees with a reputation for shielding the more passionate of the student body. Willow could feel Tara nearby but without the usual precision she prided herself on.
“Warmer,” teased the leaves of the tree.
“How warm?” Willow asked. “Please give examples.”
“This warm,” Tara’s voice purred from behind the redhead. It took all of Willow’s control not to yelp when Tara’s hands caressed her rump and swept up her body.
“Hello to you too,” Willow said looking about quickly. “Isn’t this a bit public...” Willow’s eyes looked around the small green bower she was in as birdsong became the only sound. Willow looked quickly at Tara’s eyes and saw them brown and green. Tara gave her a kittenish grin. “You’re linking to the earth!”
“Just the campus,” Tara grinned. “Nothing beyond.”
“And the, ah, landscaping?”
“It’s amazing how many people enjoyed this spot but wished for just a bit more privacy,” Tara answered as she leaned in to nuzzle Willow’s neck. “That and the fact that it’s spring with the birds and the bees out and the sap rising.”
“I-I understand about the sap rising,” Willow managed to get out before her moan.
“I can tell,” Tara whispered before there was no more need for words.
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“I think Betty suspects something about Dawn,” Buffy said as Giles looked up from his accounting program.
“She is three centuries old and considered bright, headstrong, and dangerous,” Giles said as he leaned back then looked back at the monitor. “I’m rather impressed.”
“The whole bringing back the dead thing or the magic?” Buffy asked dryly. “Both are pretty good.”
“Hmm?” Giles murmured with a furrowed brow. “Oh, terribly sorry. I was referring to Anya’s managing the Magic Box. She’s increased profits and found a whole new set of tax breaks we qualify for under both state and federal regulations.”
“Giles, please be less commercial for a few minutes,” Buffy pleaded. “I’ve got a flying fire lizard who can vaporize titanium checking out my little sister to see if she’s a threat.”
“Very troubling,” Giles sighed. “Unfortunately Betty’s an elemental of considerable cunning. However she has been supportive far beyond what she had to be under the circumstances.”
“So there’s nothing I can do again?” Buffy said tiredly as she sank into a chair. “Except call Willow and Tara and hope.”
“I’m sorry Buffy,” Giles said softly as he realized his Slayer was right.
“Any idea why the vamps are changing?” the small blonde asked after a moment.
“Their vulnerability should have passed by now if it was a spike-sorry!
“Spike,” Buffy said looking up. “The spell he asked Tara to do!”
“He asked...for another’s hope,” Giles said thoughtfully. “Drusilla died in Italy, in a monastery. We haven’t got all the details.”
“Did they mention her body becoming good earth?”
“They said something about bulbs, rootstock and seeds,” Giles replied.
“Seeds and good earth,” Buffy said hopefully.
“And Tara is an earth witch,” Giles added.
“That’s a lot of coincidence,” Buffy said.
“True, but it is hopeful,” Giles said more brightly. “I think an iced mocha would help improve the day a bit more.”
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“Love, is there something I need to know?” Bruce asked gently as he leaned against Betty.
“No,” Betty said softly.
“Is it Keeper of the Sacred Flame and Thrice Oathbound business?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Is there anything I can do?” he inquired with a stroke of his tail.
“Is the poison metal still in the earth?” Betty asked relaxing just a bit.
“The radio chatter says no, and they’re not sure how that happened,” he added.
“Tell me how Tara Maclay took out a dangerous ritual and apparently vaporized the mercury at the former Hellmouth,” Betty sighed. “Maybe there’s an answer there.”
“Well, um,” Bruce hemmed.
“What?” Betty asked suddenly alert.
“She called down the fire,” Bruce said hurriedly.
“How?”
“Part bad book leftovers, part the group support and partly...from us.”
“Us?” Betty gasped. “You mean our style?”
“Almost exactly but without our power or expertise,” Bruce answered.
“How did she get that?” Betty asked with a shower of sparks betraying her agitation.
“I did the casting using the primary magma chamber at St. Helens,” Bruce said. “It’s from her bond with Willow,”
“Oh my,” Betty said suddenly. “That means Willow Rosenberg is a fire witch!”
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“Hey,” Willow said lazily.
“Yeah?” Tara sighed as she nestled closer.
“The soft clover is nice and the dappled sunlight makes you look even more sexy than usual and I never want this to end...”
“But we don’t have the time just for ourselves,” Tara said propping her head up on Willow’s tummy. Then Tara turned her face away from her lover. Willow could feel Tara’s breath on very sensitive parts. She dug her fingers into Tara’s hair.
“Honey...”
“It’ll only take a minute,” Tara said arching her back. “And you don’t have to let go...”
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“Sign here, please,” the nervous UPS driver asked the cadaverous looking man in the black suit.
“But of course,” the well dressed man replied. “Just leave them there, would you?”
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“Now how do you open these things?” Giles muttered as he glared at the screen.
“It’s just e-mail,” Buffy said as she leaned past him and nearly knocked over his iced mocha. “Ooo, it’s from Watcher Central.”
“Oh I do hope it’s not another football pool,” Giles complained. “I never have a chance.”
“That doesn’t look like a soccer player,” Buffy said flatly as images of Gothic script and a stylized wolf’s head came into view.
“Oh dear,” Giles said unhappily. “The Order of the Wolf has gone missing.”
“Should we call Animal Control?” Buffy asked as she leaned over his shoulder. “What’s that?”
“An artist’s rendering of the head of the order,” Giles explained. “The Order of the Wolf is the oldest and most successful of the vampire attempts to create a power base. Thing is, until the beginning of the cold war in the forties, they were just also-rans. Then they became a Cold War mercenary operation working both sides of the Iron Curtain.”
“New blood?” Buffy wondered.
“Quite possible,” Giles replied thoughtfully. “But not that chap. He’s as old as Aristion or Kakistos I would guess by his wolfish demeanor.”
“We may have a problem with Faith,” Buffy said softly.
“Why-oh, yes,” Giles agreed with a wince. “I’ll tell her.”
“No,” Buffy said firmly. Then she shook her head. “Sorry. Do you think it would be better coming from me or you?”
“I think together might be the best way,” Giles said after a moment. “I need a little more time here.”
“I’ll wait,” Buffy smiled sadly. “I’m not in a hurry for this one. Hey, wait a sec.”
“What is it?” Giles asked.
“Call the LA hipsters and let them know,” Buffy replied. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be Sunnydale but we may be jumping to conclusions. See if someone down there is on the wolf menu and see if they’re demons have heard anything.”
“I don’t know,” Giles said reaching for the phone. “Sounds dangerously responsible to me.”
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“Tree,” Tara said smugly.
Willow looked to her side and saw a young man glancing off a tree as she and Tara walked by. “What’s gotten into you?” Willow asked as a young woman glanced enviously at the pair. “You’re practically glowing. I feel like I’m going to have to fight off half the student body of UC Sunnydale before we get to the dorm.”
“I guess you missed the professor and her two PAs checking out your bod,” Tara observed innocently.
“They were?” Willow asked with a slight blush.
“Oh yeah,” Tara confirmed. “That’s why I put my hand on your ass back there.”
“My girlfriend’s turned into a sex maniac!” Willow said in a hoarse whisper.
“Sorry?” Tara grinned.
“Not one bit,” Willow smiled. “But we will have to tune it down around the others. Um, Tara, this is just you, right?”
“I finally feel clean,” Tara said seriously. Then she looked down and innocently raised her eyes to Willow’s. “Can you help me with these strange feelings, Miss Rosenberg?”
Willow’s answer was a strangled gasp and a quickening of her pace.
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In a small foundry near Los Angeles the pour was beginning. The workers looked hopefully as the yellow ribbon filled the sand molds. The texture looked good and the fill was smooth. The crew relaxed as the last of the molten steel became sparks on the floor. No one noticed one large spark vanish into thin air.
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“Anya, have you ever run across a bunch of vamps calling themselves the Order of the Wolf?” Buffy asked pausing before she went into the back room to practice.
“Slick black leather trench coats,” Anya said without hesitating. “Very Euro but in a creepy way. I brushed up against them but they were really stand-offish, like they were better than anybody.”
“When was that?” Buffy asked.
“Back in the fifties,” Anya said with a frown of concentration. “Vienna or Budapest, somewhere around there. There was one thing though.”
“What?” Buffy asked closely.
“They had no trouble using basic technology,” Anya answered.
“Things like computers?”
“Things like guns.”
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Faith looked up with what she hoped was a casual glance as Buffy and Giles entered the house. The dark haired Slayer had felt an increase in Buffy’s wariness earlier and was unsure what to make of it or her newly
more accurate empathy with Buffy.
I need to talk to Red and her girlfriend, she thought. Possibly by long distance.
“How’s Dawn?” Buffy asked softly.
“Back to sleep, or at least quiet,” Faith answered in a like tone.
“How about you?” Buffy asked gently.
“Five by five,” Faith grinned. “But I could use some training time. I’m rusty.”
“Giles?” Buffy asked.
“We should be able to work in a session to see where your strengths and weaknesses are before this evening,” Giles nodded slightly.
“Okay, cool,” Faith said coming to her feet. “Now, what’s bugging you two?”
“There may be a vampire gang on its way to Sunnydale,” Buffy answered carefully.
“Must be Tuesday,” Faith shrugged.
“One of them is very old, Faith,” Giles added. “Ancient in fact.”
“I’ll get a big stake,” Faith said easily.
Frightened and hiding it, Buffy knew beyond doubt.
“Cool,” Buffy said with her own shrug. “Giles, can you check on Dawn? She gets tired of me asking.”
“Certainly,” Giles said after a brief hesitation.
When the Watcher was safely out of sight Buffy slumped into a chair. Faith looked at her with some concern. Finally Buffy looked straight at Faith.
“Look, I’m wigged out about them too,” Buffy said wanly. “These vamps know how to use guns and I’ve already been shot once this month.”
“Yeah, but you had Slayer healing,” Faith said quickly.
“And a witch that was nearly out of her mind with grief,” Buffy finished. “Faith, we don’t have to do this alone.”
“You don’t have to do this alone,” Faith said bitterly. “The salamanders might give a shit but Red never will.”
“Yeah, you did the one unpardonable thing in Willow’s world,” Buffy smiled thinly.
“What?” Faith asked as she started to pace. “The knife? Xander? Fighting you?”
“Minor infractions,” Buffy explained. “You really blew it when you upset Tara.”
“Her girlfriend?” Faith said stopping and staring. “The one that can wipe a whole state’s worth of vamps?”
“A couple of states,” Buffy corrected with some pride. “And don’t forget the Hellmouth.”
“Damn,” Faith shook her head. “I can really pick the right people to piss off, can’t I?”
“It’s a gift,” Buffy agreed.
“What’s she like?” Faith asked dropping her confident tone.
“Decent, kind, a bit too trusting of little sisters and about the only thing that kept me sane for a while,” Buffy said after a breath. “I like her and I’m glad she and Will are together.”
“You worry about her,” Faith said after a moment. “About both of them.”
“They’re a happy ending so far,” Buffy said rubbing her arms. “Those are rare and fragile around here.”
“Maybe things have changed,” Faith said with a child-like hope in her voice.
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Near the docks the cadaverous man who had signed for the crates pulled them out of a van and into the ruined warehouse that was scheduled for demolition. By his rather precise calculations the rising moon’s rays would come through the ruined roof and touch the odd containers just after twilight. The dying sun’s rays would be shielded by the remaining intact wall. He had fulfilled his contract. He made sure of his calculations one last time then climbed into the van. In a moment he was speeding north to get to his home before dark.
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To the south in the sprawl of LAX another set of odd packages arrived. These were picked up almost immediately by a large unmarked van windows tinted to the point of violating California state law. One of the cargo handlers waited until the van was long gone before he looked up with an almost human face. On his next break he placed a call on his cell.
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“When can I go back to school?” Dawn asked pointedly.
“I am impressed by the desire to take up your studies again,” Giles said proudly. “But I also think you are eager to return so that you may find a way to arrange things with Kevin to avoid a certain part of the night of the dance.”
“You’ve already met him,” Dawn said quickly.
“I saw him for an instant at the Espresso Pump,” Giles said in a hurt tone. “I believe you were hurrying him on his way before I could introduce myself.”
“You had on your scary smile,” Dawn protested.
“I have no idea what you mean.”
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In the steaming crater where she had danced in shame just recently Betty came to rest in front of the glowing fissure that was the hottest place for thousands of miles around. After a moment the oldest female salamander heaved into view.
“What is it?” the old one sighed. “Do I have a monitor in my tail? I was just getting comfy.”
“I am sorry to intrude, Mother,” Betty said with a bow of great honor. “But you were right. I am too young for the Path I chose.”
“The Keeper of the Flame and Thrice Oathbound is a great honor,” the ancient salamander said stiffly. “You are bright enough and your fire is true, Daughter of the Flame. Wisdom will come in time; indeed this is proof. The Melting Moot will give you formal release, young lady, but from the Third and most weighty Oath you are released until you are strong enough to take it up again.”
“Thank you,” Betty said with another deep bow.
“And Betty,” the old one said with a smile.
“Yes?”
“I will not ask what brought you to this decision.”
“Thank you, Aunt Tildy,” Betty said politely.
“But I expect you will tell me when you can, won’t you dear?”
“Of course, Aunt Tildy.”
“Don’t let an old lady keep you,” Tildy said with a very bright smile. “Hurry on back to your young man, child.”
Betty didn’t let out a great breath and shake until she saw the coast of California.
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In Los Angeles Charles Gunn looked at the flashing light on the phone and called for the message. A minute later he had tracked down Fred where she was doing the bookkeeping.
“We got a call from a demon that owed Angel,” Gunn said quickly. “Somebody shipped in a bunch of boxes with some major mojo drawn on. Some kind of shield spell.”
“If it’s powerful there’s no way I can find them,” the thin girl replied. “And I don’t want to bother Willow and Tara if it’s nothing. But we know someone locally who can at least tell us where they’re going.”
“Damn,” Gunn grumbled. “We’ve got to see if those witches up north want to visit Disneyland for about a year. Okay, call Wes and ask him for help.”
“Me?” Fred asked with a tilt of her head.
“Yeah,” Gunn replied softly. “It will mean more coming from you.”
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The day’s heat was reaching its apogee when the witches shuffled off the bus. Willow’s yawn indicated there were reasons other than the warmth of a SoCal spring afternoon in the pair’s languid pace. The cool interior of the Magic Box was welcoming as they sauntered in. A plain looking young man was heading for the door. He stopped and smiled at them.
“Hi guys, er girls,” he said with the ease of familiarity.
“Hi,” they said together trying to figure out who he was.
“Gotta run,” he said happily. “Sophie’s doing trout almondine for the first time.”
“Oh,” Willow said politely.
“I hope it turns out well,” Tara added as he waved jauntily and left. The witches came up to the counter and had no trouble seeing the question on Anya’s face. “W-Who was that?” Tara said looking back towards the door. “I thought Sophie was seeing Clem.”
“I’m not crazy!” Anya said happily giving the counter a slap. “That was Clem!”
“What?” Willow almost shouted. “But-but the ears! The wrinkles!”
“A-And a fairly broad education in the classics,” Tara added. “But a really bad poker player.”
“Nobody but us seems to notice the difference,” Anya fumed. “I think that’s the only thing that changed when I renounced my vengeance!”
“Wait a second!” Willow said quickly. “You were a demon for years. You influenced hundreds of events and individuals so the cascade effect should have been enormous having a ripple affect starting over a thousand years ago with increasing change in the current world as it went. There should be tons of stuff different.”
“Maybe I wasn’t that good at it,” Anya sighed.
“You were the most vengeancy of all the vengeance demons,” Willow protested. “You were vengeance squared, cubed even!”
“Th-Thank you, Willow,” Anya said with suddenly shining eyes. “I didn’t know how much it meant to you.”
“Wait a second,” Tara interjected before Willow could respond. “When you rejected vengeance there wasn’t much power left, right?”
“Not in the vengeance aspect,” Willow replied quickly. “Petbe was pretty much used up.”
But you could pass him in awesome majesty, righting the wrongs of the world, something dark in Tara’s memory hinted.
“Tasted awful if that smoke was any indication,” Anya winced at the olfactory memory.
“The scotch wasn’t much better,” Tara said shakily.
“So all that was left was the power to effect the most local of changes,” Willow went on. “So Clem gets a new face.”
After a moment as they looked at each other Anya sighed. “I can live with that,” she said shaking her head.
“Can you, um, remember what caused Clem to be like Clem, ah, was?” Tara asked. “Was it him or his parents or a grandparent or further back?”
“For the life of me I can’t remember,” Anya said drawing a complete blank from her expression.
Willow caught the sound of leather hitting a tough surface in the back room. She turned that way glad to hear Buffy back at training. It was a comforting sound for the redhead. With Tara behind her they left Anya contemplating her past. Willow as about to open the door when Anya returned from her memories.
“Hey!” she called out a split second too late as Willow opened the door.
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Willow saw Faith’s inhuman speed as she threw a vicious kick at Giles.
I knew it! she thought in a rage as she brought up a shield around the murdering bitch. She would NOT hurt Giles!
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Giles heard the door opening and when Faith was stopped violently in mid-kick he knew what was happening. He began to whirl towards the door, his face an angry mask over a wellspring of fear for he knew Willow’s power when angry...
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Faith felt her body stop. She had no more control. Her Slayer strength had failed her and she was helpless again. Suddenly she was twelve again as her mother’s boyfriend loomed in her memory.
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Tara felt the sudden upswing of fear in the room but the undercurrent of fear was stronger, and it was the driving force. She could feel Willow’s power surging toward release.
“HOLD!” Tara shouted. It was more than a word or spell, it was an act of her will. Everyone’s eyes turned toward her. A second’s touch to Giles explained the scene they had walked in on. The under current of Willow’s fear she touched gently with her love. The spell her lover had been ready to throw faded as the power given by fear receded. Next she guided Willow’s magic with all the gentleness Tara could muster from around the frightened Slayer. As the spell faded Faith took a ragged breath and looked over Tara’s shoulder.
Tara looked up to see Betty with her tail glowing, a warning of the power the salamander had at her command.
“Let’s all take deep breath and think before we say anything, okay?” Tara said evenly as she looked back and spun away her own feeling of concern for all those in the room into the ragged edges of the auras around her. “No accusations, no screaming, no dramatics, just take a breath and exchange pleasantries like ladies and a gentleman, okay?”
Betty and the others nodded. Tara followed her own advice and took hold of Willow’s hand. She squeezed it gently. “Giles, Faith, I’m sorry we interrupted your training,” she said levelly looking at first the Watcher then the Slayer. “It was rude and we apologize,” she finished with a soft tug on Willow’s hand.
“Ah, yeah,” Willow said reluctantly. “Sorry.”
“Of course,” Giles said removing one of the focus pads he was wearing. “I accept your apology Willow, Tara.”
“Thank you,” Tara said politely. It didn’t take a prompt for Willow to add her thanks.
“No prob,” Faith said meeting Tara’s eyes. “But wow, am I glad you’re on my side! You two are kick ass witches!”
“Thank you, Faith,” Tara said with a grin at Faith’s words and the recovering feeling behind them.
“Uh, yeah,” Willow said with a stunned expression. “Thanks.”
“My apologies as well,” Betty said with her tail’s glow diminishing. A murmur of acceptance returned.
Tara could feel Faith’s sudden change as she struggled with something that was troubling her. Without really thinking Tara gave a very slight increase in the calming she had given Faith but was withdrawing from Giles and Willow. The dark haired Slayer looked first at Betty then Tara. Tara could feel the decision and the cost it was taking for Faith to speak.
“Look, this might not be the best time, but I need to t-t-talk to everyone here,” Faith managed to get out. “There’s something...oh crap, it’s weird, okay?”
“You’ve come to the right people,” Tara said with a lopsided smile. “Weirdness are us.”
“I was hoping for something more elegant and possibly in Latin,” Giles added. “But it does convey our experience in these manners, and quite possibly the educational level at which our universities operate these days.”
“Hey!” Willow said quickly. “We’re just, um, advancing our brand. But we don’t have a really corny animated giraffe.”
“Thankfully,” Giles sighed. “Please, Faith go on.”
“It’s just that, um, since Buffy came back from, you know, the big come back, and even more since I, um , came here I can...I can feel Buffy sometimes,” Faith finished in a rush. “It’s like I know what she’s feeling in my head but it’s not always there and I don’t know what it means. I n-need h-help.”
“Two Slayers,” Giles mused. “Two whom, for Slayers, have lived quite a long time.”
“How long has it been since you were called, Faith?” Betty asked.
“Three, four years,” Faith replied hopefully.
“When Buffy died you became the only Slayer,” Tara added.
“When we brought her back, which was so my fault and I’m really sorry, you were sharing the whole Slayer thing again,” Willow spoke carefully.
“Slayers are largely beyond my experience,” Betty admitted. “But I do know my magic. Given that such a powerful force is shared it would be surprising if there were no connection.”
“So while the exact model does not have any historically observable data the premise the hypothesis is based on does have precedents in other fields of related phenomena,” Willow was warming to the subject. “We’ll need the other subject to ascertain if there is a reciprocal set of observations since our sample group is so small. Maybe we can arrange a double blind study.”
“Difficult because of the sample size and the influence fifty percent of the sample has already had,” Betty said as mathematic symbols began to appear on her sphere. Willow wandered closer as Betty went on. “Perhaps a model can be constructed to account for the limitations the observation faces.”
“Oh!” Willow said suddenly as she and Betty began to retreat into their own world of research. “I know we could-”
“Ask Buffy if she’s been picking up anything,” Tara said firmly.
“But that would invalidate the experiment!” Willow and Betty said in an offended tone.
“This is not a lab,” Tara insisted.
“And there’s a time constraint,” Giles added. “A rather singular group of undead have vanished from their usual haunts.”
“The Watchers can’t find the Order of the Wolf,” Faith translated. “Bad vamps with guns.”
“I’ve heard of them,” Betty said. “Not much though because they had a lot of dealings with various human intelligence agencies and those don’t mix well with my kind. Showed up after the war, I believe.”
“Are they coming h-here?” Tara asked, her memory suddenly full of gunshots and Willow falling.
“We don’t know,” Giles said unhappily.
“Just a second,” Betty said. There was a soft pop and Bruce appeared.
“What’s the question, then?” he asked.
“Any sign of unusual vampires?” Betty asked.
“Nope,” Bruce said easily. “For such a demon filled town this place is as sleepy as a full koala in the sunshine.”
“You made that saying up,” Faith said with a grin.
“Of course,” Bruce laughed. “Some day one of my gems is going to catch on.”
“Of course, dear,” Betty said soothingly. “So it’s quiet?”
“Just a domestic disturbance between two Dalance demons,” Bruce reported. “He said the quiche she makes is nowhere as good as his mother’s, she told him she’d do better when he brought home the money her father made. He went for her.”
“Oh dear,” Betty sighed.
“Was she hurt?” Faith asked.
“Doubtful,” Giles said. “Dalance demon females are three times the size of the males.”
Just then the door to the training room swung open and Anya leaned in with some urgency.
“Giles!” she nearly shouted. “Your cell phone is off again! Wesley is on the store phone! Sounds like something may be coming our way!”
To Be Continued
can't wait for more!
