The Kitten, the Witches and the Bad Wardrobe - Willow & Tara Forever

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 3:38 am 
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6. Sassy Eggs
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Joined: Sat May 17, 2014 8:19 pm
Posts: 428
Topics: 2
Time and Time Again.

Author: Citanul

Feedback: Be kind, rewind?

Spoilers: Just about all of them. Go watch the show.

Rating: NC-17 Re-enactment of Dirty Dancing towards the end and we cap it off with a love scene. I think I'm forgetting to add these warnings half the time.

Pairings: W/T, B/F

Disclaimer: You all know I don’t own the rights to characters you’ve seen on TV.

Summary: A story of reincarnation and interdimensional travel made possible through the power of love. What misfortunes will our two favorite love birds be able to prevent with the aid of experience from countless past lives.

Author’s Note: Wow, I just noticed we're half way through season two. So we find ourselves at Bad Eggs. But I think you'll all enjoy the minor and major differences that take place this time through.

******************************

Chapter 14: Hats & Toys

“I’m surprised Buffy.” Joyce said as she, her daughters and Faith walked through the Sunnydale mall. “I expected more pleading about that outfit that made you look like a street walker.”

“But a thin streetwalker.” Buffy replied causing Faith to let out a bark of laughter.

Joyce merely rolled her eyes at her eldest daughter. At the disapproving expression Buffy tried to back track on any comments that might cause her mother to rifle through her wardrobe.

“I picked up a better looking outfit that was way more modest the last time the gang went shopping.” Buffy amended.

“Buffy, do I need to check your closet for anything too skimpy?” Joyce asked in a tone that caused Dawn to giggle.

“No Mom, I swear it isn’t anything too revealing.” Buffy said. “I just got it to go with these boots Faith got me so we could go dancing.”

At that admission Joyce stopped in her tracks and did a double take. Fearing her mother didn’t believe her Buffy lightly nudged Faith in the ribs.

“Huh, oh yeah.” Faith said as she jumped into the conversation. “No worries Mrs. S. B and I just wanted to dress up for a girl’s night at the Bronze. Just us Slayers.”

Joyce caught the hopeful glint in the brunette’s eyes and realized the girl was almost pleading with her to drop the subject. Clearly Faith was nervous about her plans falling apart or being revealed if the blonde Slayer over thought the scenario.

“That sounds lovely Honey.” Joyce said with a slight nod to Faith. She then looked around at the various shops along the walkway with a worried frown. “The stores are closing and I still need to order the flyers for the opening. Okay, Dawn and I’ll go to the printers and then get our food. You two go to the tailor and pick up my outfit from everyday woman.” Joyce finished as she handed Buffy a claim slip.

“Everyday Woman?” Buffy scowled.

“There’s the receipt.” Joyce said.

“Why didn’t you just go to “Muumuus R’ Us?” Buffy asked.

“Do now. Make fun of your mother later.” Joyce replied with a sigh and another eye roll before walking off with Dawn.

“Come on B, it’ll be fun.” Faith said as she dragged the petite blonde away in the opposite direction.

“So it’s okay to dress like a street walker if it’s for Faith?” Dawn asked with a coy smirk after the two Slayers were out of sight.

“No, but Faith does so much for Buffy and is doing her best to build a real relationship. I really can’t fault her.” Joyce said. “Beside, Buffy dressing inappropriately for random men to leer at her is different from her dressing like that with Faith running interference all night. Now come on my little Pumpkin Belly.” Joyce added while giving Dawn a playful hug.

Dawn simply laughed and went along with her mother.

******************************

“You gettin’ any pings B?” Faith asked as they stepped onto the down escalator.

“Now that you mention it my spidey senses have been tingling a little.” Buffy replied. She looked around the mall and saw a man in a cowboy hat hanging on a woman while moving up the other escalator. A quick glance at the mirror beside them revealed the surprising fact that the man had no reflection.

“I see him too B.” Faith said after the vampire and his intended victim passed them by. Once the demon and the girl were at the top and walking off Faith vaulted over the divider and landed on the up escalator. Buffy quickly followed suit. They had hunting to do.

Following their Slayer senses both young woman easily trailed the monster and woman to the closed arcade. He was hovering over the young woman’s exposed neck as she obliviously played pinball.

“Turn around Baby. I have something to show you.” The vampire said as he removed the white cowboy hat and revealed his game face.

“Wait a sec. This is my high score.” She replied as he swept her hair aside.

“Well ain’t you just got the prettiest little neck I ever did see.” He said, preparing to sink his fangs into the exposed flesh.

“Boy, you guys really never come up with any new lines do you?” Buffy said with an exasperated sigh.

“Do you mind?” The still clueless girl said. “We were talking here.”

“You promised you’d never cheat on me again, Honey.” Buffy said as she took a few steps forward.

“Um, I better go.” The girl replied as she started to panic.

“But I ain’t done yet.” The vampire replied as she turned to see his true face for the first time. The girl gasped then let out a startled scream and made a quick exit as the demon and Slayer squared off.

“Well alright Sugar Lips.” He said as he put his hat back on and began to circle Buffy. “Giddy Up.”

He made a clumsy swing for Buffy which she easily countered with a series of punches that knocked her opponent against an arcade cabinet.

“You’re a rough one ain’t ya?” He asked. “I like that.”

He lunged back into the fray and after trading a few more blows threw Buffy onto the pinball machine. He pulled Buffy up by grabbing the straps on her backpack.

“You must be that Slayer I’ve been hearing so much about.” He said. “Lyle Gorch. Pleased to meet ya.”

With a swift kick Buffy sent him flying into another pinball machine.

“Pleasure’s mine.” Buffy shot back before she leapt at her foe.

Lyle ducked and rolled across the room as Buffy pulled out her stake. With a smooth flourish he snatched up his fallen cowboy hat and returned it to his head. He stood and turned pointing a finger at the Slayer.

“This ain’t over.” Lyle promised. Before he could turn and run he lurched forward with a surprised look. His hat fell to the ground just before he exploded in a cloud of dust Buffy stared in mild surprise. Faith stepped out of the shadow by the arcade cabinet and slipped the stake back into her sleeve.

“Yeah it is.” The brunette said with a wide smirk.

“You know you could have jumped in at any time.” Buffy said with a pout.

“Aww shucks B.” Faith replied as she snatched up the cowboy hat and looked it over. “I reckon a pretty lil’ thang like you could more than handle herself.” She said as she placed the hat on her head.

“Great.” Buffy said with another eye roll. “Is the hat and accent gonna be a staple of our work life now?”

“That depends Darlin’.” Faith replied. “This doin’ anything for ya?” She asked with an eyebrow waggle.

As Buffy looked at her friend she let a loud snort burst out then turn into full blown laughter. Faith just grinned at the way she could bring a smile to the blonde’s face. It didn’t last long though.

“Shit B!” Faith called out as her smiled turned to panic. “Your Mom’s dress.”

“Crap.” Buffy said.

******************************

Joyce and Dawn sat at a table in the food court with four trays of food. The youngest Summers was looking around slightly nervously for her sister and the dark haired Slayer. Joyce was engaged in heavy eye rolling as she wondered if Faith’s efforts had far exceeded anyone’s expectations.

“Ooh, here they come.” Dawn said with an energetic glee that soon turned to a worried frown. “Something seems odd.”

Joyce looked to where her daughter was gazing and saw both Slayers slowly approaching. Faith was wearing a cowboy hat Joyce didn’t recognize and Buffy had a large bag from Everyday Woman in her hand.

“Honey is everything okay?” Joyce asked as they came to sit at the table. “You girls look like you just ran a marathon.”

“Damn vampire almost made us miss the store closing.” Buffy said with a huff. Joyce’s expression grew even more concerned which caused Buffy to wince slightly. “Everything’s okay Mom. We followed this baddie and some girl he was going to snack on to the closed arcade on the far side of the mall. She ran off after she saw his game face and I fought him.”

“And where was Faith while you were fighting?” Joyce asked with a concerned frown.

“Mom, chill.” Buffy said. “Faith was watching my back like always.”

At the suddenly wide eyed look on Joyce’s face Faith jumped into the conversation. She didn’t want Joyce worrying over the effect her emotions would have on their work life when Buffy was still a long way off from being told about those emotions.

“Oh yeah, B totally had him on the ropes so he makes to vamoose like.” Faith said. “But he didn’t even know I was there. So I’m all like. “Yo Dawg, what’s with the hat?” And he’s all like. “Don’t mess with Texas bitch.” So I staked him before he could run away.”

“Oh dear.” Joyce muttered.

“Wow. Really?” Dawn asked in awe.

“Nah, not really.” Faith said. “But I did get the drop on him as he was about to run away. Then we had to run all the way across the mall to get to the dress shop.”

“Thank you for looking out for Buffy Faith.” Joyce said with a genuine smile.

“No problem Mrs. S.” Faith replied. “Thanks for grabbing some food. I’m starving.” The Boston girl said as she dug into her plate.

As the girls began to eat Joyce looked to Buffy with a slightly nervous expression. After a few minutes passed Buffy finally noticed the tense atmosphere.

“Okay Mom, what’s the what?” Buffy asked with a neutral tone she was ready to turn into a full blown pout at any moment.

“It’s nothing Honey.” Joyce said at first. “It’s just. There is this gallery event coming up next weekend and I was wondering about asking Ru, Mr. Giles if he would like to accompany me.”

“Really Mom?” Dawn asked with a perplexed look. “Mr. Giles?”

Buffy’s expression fell for a moment before she decided to just go along with the obvious outcome. Buffy knew she couldn’t keep her mother from living her life. So long as she was with Giles it at least meant she wasn’t getting preyed upon by some demon or even another robot.

“Mom if you want to date Giles you can date Giles just, please don’t rub my face in it.” Buffy said after a long pause.

“Buffy.” Joyce began.

“No, okay?” Buffy replied. “I get it. You are not getting back together with dad and I’m not asking you to join a convent or something. It’s better that I know you’re seeing someone I know is human. I just don’t want to think about Giles doing anything besides wearing tweed, drinking tea and reading musty old books.”

“Seconded.” Faith added. “G man is a great watcher and everything. I couldn’t ask for a better one. But we don’t need to hear about him gettin’ his play on.”

Joyce looked at both Slayers for a long moment before a smile crept along her lips. She had worried the issue of her personal life after the Ted nightmare would turn into a fight, but apparently both Slayers had caught on much more quickly than Joyce could have hoped.

“Thank you.” Joyce said as she began to eat with her girls.

******************************

“Thank you again for meeting us Ms. Prescott.” Willow said in a cheery voice as the woman followed her into the library.

“I must say I was surprised by this recent purchase order.” The tall blonde said in a demure tone. “The limited availability and exceedingly volatile nature of this requisition is far outside the scope of your previous orders.”

As the woman spoke Willow and Tara simply met her seemingly concerned attitude with polite smiles. Prescott knew she was making a calculated risk but she had to ask the pressing question.

“I honestly can’t imagine what you would need this item for.” Prescott said with a placid tone.

Willow only smiled at the attempt to fish for information. She decided to grace the woman with the most tantalizing half answer she could come up with.

“In a short while a grave threat to the safety of this town is going to rise.” Willow said. “The item we requested from you will ensure that the situation at hand is dealt with in the most expedient way possible.”

Prescott smiled at the fact the young redhead saw right through her and gave her an honest answer without giving her anything at all. Without further delay she set a metal briefcase on the table and unlatched it so the two young women could get a clear look at its contents.

“I believe this will suit your needs.” Prescott said before closing the case. “It isn’t often that I’m asked to procure standard issue military ordinance.”

Willow reached over to her laptop and pressed a single button. She then turned to the arms dealer and smiled.

“The payment has been wired to your account. Believe me.” Willow replied. “We don’t plan on making a habit of this. But there were time constraints on this task that necessitated going through a third party.”

“Very well.” The tall blonde said with a courteous smile. “As always it has been a pleasure ladies.”

“Thank you again Ms. Prescott.” Tara said as the woman turned to leave the house.

Willow opened the case one more time and pulled out the metal cylinder. She checked to make sure the pin was in place and the ignition mechanism was in order.

“Think that’s really necessary Sweetie?” Tara asked.

“Probably not.” Willow replied. “But I can’t stand the thought of that ugly thing swallowing one of our friends.”

“I agree.” Tara admitted. “The sight of Buffy crawling out of that pit covered in that horrible black gunk.” A shiver ran up and down Tara’s spine at the vivid memory from several different lives.

At the sound of the front door opening and footsteps quickly approaching the library Willow hurried to place the weapon back inside the briefcase and close it.

“Sup girlfriends.” Faith called with a grin as she stepped inside the library still wearing the white cowboy hat she had managed to claim.

“Faith, where did you get that hat?” Tara asked with a nervous tone.

“B and I dusted Lyle Gorch while we were hitting up the mall with the Brat and Mrs. S.” Faith said. “Ya’ll weren’t in here messin’ with Texas now were ya? Cause I reckon ya ought not ta be doin’ that.” She finished with an outlandish southern drawl.

Willow and Tara shared a look before Willow went over to one of the book shelves and pulled out a relatively recently printed tome. She brought it back to the table and flipped through several pages before coming to a stop on one page with a sizeable picture of two men.

“This was him right?” Willow asked as Faith moseyed on up to her.

“Yeah Red, that’s the guy.” Faith replied. “Who’s the dingus next to him?”

“His brother Tector.” Tara said. “He’ll be in town and as soon as he figures out what happened he’ll want revenge.”

“I’ll warn B.” Faith said as she took the hat off and set it down on the table. “Probably best to leave this here so I can get the drop on the blood sucker.”

“You gonna leave the accent here too?” Willow asked.

“No can do Darlin’.” Faith said with another drawl and a wicked smile. “You can take the girl out of the country but you can’t take the cowboy out of the girl unless you hit him with a fire hose or something.”

Both witches looked at the Slayer in shock for about a second before breaking out in laughter. Faith simply smiled at how close she had gotten with her new family in such a short time. With a carefree wave the Boston girl turned and headed upstairs. She had plans for a relaxing shower and a warm bed.

******************************

All seemed well the next day at school as most of the Scoobies gathered at their bench in the courtyard during lunch. The girls were busy discussing various plans they all had.

“So it’s the last day of class before the Christmas break. What are you gonna get down to B?” Faith asked with the smile it seemed she always reserved for the blonde.

“I dunno.” Buffy replied. “I’ll probably have to put in a lot of family time. We have to track down Teddy the Cowboy.”

“Tector.” Willow corrected with a light smile.

“But after that I’m pretty sure I owe you a night on the town to break in my new boots.” Buffy said to Faith. The brunette let the dopiest grin cross her face before she realized how obvious she was being. She quickly cleared her throat and tried valiantly to change the subject.

“Anyone know what the deal is with Xander and his whole here one minute gone the next thing?” Faith asked while turning to the witches.

“Odds are he’s in a closet somewhere making out with Cordelia.” Willow said with a neutral expression.

“What?” Buffy nearly shouted, drawing strange looks from all around. “No way! No freaking way!”

“I know right.” Willow said. “I don’t know how he does it.”

“Lots of people try th-things out before they f-finally meet the person they’re meant to be with.” Tara said with a crooked smirk.

“Okay but I was young and so completely confused.” Willow said while starting to grow worried. “Baby you said you didn’t hold that against me.”

“And I never will hold it against you.” Tara replied before putting on a positively wicked grin. “Not when there are so many other things I enjoy holding against you even more.”

Willow let out a startled meep as she felt Tara’s eyes practically undress her and lay her naked form out across the stone bench. Her skin began to take on a tone several shades closer to her hair color as Tara began to twirl long red locks around her fingers with one hand while massaging Willow’s inner thigh with the other. With a satisfied sigh Tara turned back to the Slayers while still playing with Willow’s hair.

“I’m just saying Xander is young and h-he’s going through s-something private that will hurt him but in the end make him a much b-better person.” The honey blonde finished.

“Okay, but with Cordelia?” Buffy asked.

“I know Buff.” Willow replied. “It will work itself out though. We just have to be there for our friend.”

“Alright, I guess I can be Supporto Gal.” Buffy sighed.

“Speaking of support we have a job to do tonight.” Willow said.

“How bad is it and will it ruin my hair?” Buffy asked, causing Faith to let out a snort of laughter.

“Demon nesting under the school.” Willow said. “Once everything shuts down for the break we’ll come back with Giles, or maybe just his keys, and sneak into the basement that now has a huge hole in one wall.”

“Then we need to hold off its offspring w-while one of us sets Willow’s new toy to take care of the mother.” Tara finished.

“What kind of new toy?” Buffy asked.

“The one time use, duck and cover kind.” Willow said with a grin.

******************************

The sun was just setting as Giles used his building keys to let the gang into the Library. With a slight smile he turned to Willow.

“From what I have read this Bezoar demon is nothing to scoff at.” Giles remarked. “It’s good that we have some advanced warning before it was able to fill the school with its spawn, but how were we planning on dispatching it again?”

“Relax G man.” Faith said as she strolled inside. “Red and Blondie got a new toy from that Prescott chick the other night.”

“The woman whose company made the body armor you designed?” Xander asked.

“Yup.” Willow replied. “Got it right here in my pocket. Tara and I just have to bless each of you so you can’t be controlled by the spawn. Then we head downstairs, I’ll levitate it over to the hole and set it off.”

“How big of a bang are we talking here Will?” Buffy asked with a worried frown.

“No bang at all.” Willow said. “Just a lot of heat.”

“I’ll set up the circle.” Tara said as she pulled several canisters of salt from a bag and began laying out ritual items and bags of herbs on the library table.

“How does this thing control us again Will?” Xander asked as the preparations took shape.

“It lays these eggs that look like chicken eggs.” Willow said. “Then they hatch and this ugly purplish gray thing that kinda looks like a face hugger from the Alien movies skitters up your back and latches onto your spine. The whole thing is very unpleasant.”

“Damn.” Faith said. “We really do gotta watch out for the ugly little shits crawling up our butts?”

“Hence the protection spell.” Tara said as she laid the last bit of the now completed circle in place. “Okay everyone step into the circle and hold still for a bit.”

Each of the Scoobies took care not to disturb the carefully laid out design on the floor as they stepped over it. Once both Slayers and both men were in place Willow and Tara took up opposite positions on either side.

Faith gave out a light laugh. Buffy turned to look her fellow Slayer in the eyes and the brunette quickly gave her a small smile.

“Last time I was in a circle between these two I was a muggle.” Faith admitted.

“Dawn get you reading those books too?” Buffy asked. Faith gave a little nod and then looked back to Giles as he softly chuckled.

“Quite.” Giles said with a weary smile. Perhaps one of the more obvious benefits to moving their headquarters out of the school library was the fact that students had started frequenting the place after he got in a shipment of books about a young boy wizard.

“Just wait till those movies start coming out Giles.” Willow said with an impish grin. “This place will be packed.”

“I don’t know how I shall ever contain myself.” The Brit replied with a soft smile.

“Everyone ready?” Willow asked. As their four friends nodded along Willow and Tara began to chant softly under their breaths. A minute passed before their voices rose to a discernable volume.

“Goddess hear us.” They intoned in unison. “Your children walk through darkness. Shroud them in blessed light. Shield them from all mind takers. Protect their will so they may honor yours.”

Light suffused the library as the watcher, the boy and the two Slayers felt their minds clear and their thoughts flow more freely. The spell took effect and they each breathed in a fresh breath of air. As the glare faded the four friends noticed that the circle of salt and herbs was gone. Tara and Willow stooped to retrieve the few crystals left behind.

Buffy turned to the two witches and quirked her head. Something had popped into her mind and she had to ask her friends about their own safety.

“What about you two?” Buffy asked. “Won’t you guys need this too?”

“Not really.” Willow replied with a coy smirk. “Tara and I have this much bigger spell that lasts over a month and has much more dramatic defenses. We cast the ward every other week and we just refreshed it this morning.”

“We can’t let anything use us against each other.” Tara said with firm conviction.

“Sweet.” Faith remarked. “Come on B let’s get to Slaying.”

Buffy smiled at her friend and felt a sudden uplifting in her spirit as the brunette looked at her. She gazed into deep chocolate pools for a long moment and for the first time in a long while felt at peace. Buffy wondered briefly if the spell had made her see something that wasn’t there before until she realized, whatever this was she was feeling, it had always been there. Just beneath the surface, waiting for her to notice.

For the briefest of moments Buffy knew she could trust Faith with much more than her life. She had no idea why that thought struck her with such terror.

For her part Faith favored the blonde with a warm smile. She had known Buffy would give her life new meaning for weeks now. The suddenly clear insight from the spell just confirmed what was in her heart. What came as a shock to Faith was the sudden realization of just why Joyce had cautioned her to take things slowly. Before the intense eye contact could escalate to a point Faith knew her love still wasn’t ready for she cocked her head to the side and grinned.

“Come on B.” Faith said as she turned and headed towards the basement.

Buffy, for her part, visibly shuddered as Faith turned and walked away. She couldn’t tell why but she knew she didn’t like the way it seemed like Faith gave up on a part of herself each time the brunette turned away. With out hesitation Buffy fell into step beside Faith and the two Slayers strolled out of the library side by side.

“Sweet merciful Zeus.” Xander said in open mouthed shock. “Did you guys see that?”

“I know right.” Willow said. “It’s so painful to watch two people so perfect for each other go through something like that because one of them can’t see it.”

“She’ll find a way.” Giles remarked. “Now let’s go give them all the support we can.”

With the watcher’s bold statement he, the boy and the witches quickly followed the Slayers. They all had work to do.

******************************

“You getting a reading too B?” Faith asked as Xander held the electric lantern up to illuminate the dark stair case behind the maintenance door.

“I’m getting something.” Buffy said.

As one unit the Scoobies moved down the stairs and into the basement of the school. Once at the foot of the stairs Willow and Tara led the group down a corridor and past several fuse boxes.

At the end of one corridor they saw stacks of boxes and barrels concealing one wall. With only minimal effort the Slayers knock the barricade down to reveal a gaping hole in the cement wall. Beyond the opening was a tunnel with rough stone walls.

“This school must have several of these tunnels all over this basement.” Willow said. “Damn warlock Mayor Wilkins and his demonic pacts.”

“The old Mayor was a demon?” Xander asked. “Why does that not surprise me as much as it should?”

“No he was mostly human.” Tara said.

“As human as a three hundred year old sorcerer could be.” Willow remarked. “Why do you guys think we killed him the first week Tara showed up?”

“That was you?” Giles cried out, aghast.

“Oh yeah.” Willow replied. “The hardest part was sealing all of his vampire staff in the building as we cleared them all out. You wouldn’t believe how many blood suckers he had working for him.”

“How bad was the mess he would have brought down on us?” Buffy asked while not even looking at her friend. Something was off and she needed to be on high alert.

“For as much suffering as he caused to each of us he had simple dreams.” Willow admitted. “He wanted to ascend to the level and form of an Old One.”

“Oh dear lord.” Giles said.

“What kind of demon is that?” Faith asked.

“The creature all vampires are descended from was an Old One. One of the last and weakest.” Giles told her. “They were all powerful immortals that died out in the early days of humanity. But there are still legends of a place their bodies are held so they can’t be revived.”

“The Deeper Well.” Tara said. “If you guys are very unlucky we’ll h-have to take you there some day.”

“You know of.” Giles began before realizing his mistake. “Of course you know where it is. You probably went there to seal it in another dimension or the like.”

“Nope.” Willow said. “A few years from now one of the more powerful Old Ones is prophesized to escape. Its sarcophagus goes to where its kingdom once stood but it never accounted for continental drift. One of the side benefits of taking over the law firm is that we can have teams sent to kill the cultists waiting for their dead demigod and ship the damn thing back to the Well.”

“So we don’t have to worry about that one?” Buffy asked.

“Not for another four or five years. Even then if it manages to infect a human host its kingdom and army are already destroyed.” Willow said. “By then we’ll have bigger problems you’ll both need to focus on.”

“Bigger problems than an Old One?” Giles asked in shock.

“Oh yeah. You have no idea.” Willow said. Before she could continue a form jumped out at them from the shadows.

“Protect the Mother!” The small portly man with dark hair and glasses shouted as he lunged clumsily at the group.

“Mr. Whitmore?” Buffy shouted back. “What the hell?”

“Crap he’s already infected.” Willow cried out. “Xander, Giles! Hold him while we take out the demon.”

“I reckon you’ll be havin’ some problems with that.” A voice called out from behind them. Faith spun around and found the vampire that perfectly matched the picture of Tector Gorch standing behind them.

“Look B.” Faith called loud enough she was sure the vampire could hear. “This must be the little brother of that chump we dusted.”

“You really killed my brother?” He asked with a tone that barely held back seething hatred. “I’m gonna make all y’all pay.”

The vampire lunged at the two slayers who managed to sidestep without any effort. Tector went sailing into the cavern opening where the slowly awakening demon nested. Buffy and Faith were quick to follow. Giles and Xander were just as quick to subdue the high school’s health teacher.

“Come on Baby.” Willow said to Tara. “We have to get this done before it swallows one of them.”

Tara nodded and the two young women went through the tunnel into a large cavern that held a slowly moving pile of rubble in the middle of the cracked stone floor. Looking around the cavern they saw several of the small offspring skitter passed the Slayers and up the legs of Tector Gorch.

The vampire quickly ripped off the creatures which caused a deep bellow to reverberate throughout the cave. Tector lunged again at Buffy who grabbed him by the collar and in one smooth flurry of motion flipped him over her. His hat went flying to the side as Tector himself skidded to a halt just over the center of the cracked floor. Tector looked down and saw the largest eye he had ever seen slowly crack open and glare at him.

“Well hello.” Tector said just before a tentacle wrapped around his neck and dragged him into the creature’s still buried maw. Screams and gurgling could be heard echoing through the chamber as the last of the Gorch brothers was digested.

“Well that solved one problem.” Tara remarked.

“Quickly.” Willow said as she pulled a small metal cylinder from her bag. “We need to end this.”

The demon’s offspring were quickly converging on the two witches. Buffy and Faith did what they could but there were dozens spread throughout the cavern. One of the beasts managed to touch Willow’s foot as she stood there focusing on the canister in her hand.

What happened next completely surprised both Slayers. A static charge erupted from the contact between witch and demon. The slimy little monster was thrown back so hard it hit the far wall of the cavern and fell to the ground in a charred heap. Several other creatures reached Tara and met similar fates.

“That must be some really powerful mojo you guys set up.” Buffy said as she began to mop up the last of the spawn by her.

“No doubt.” Faith said as she reached down to scoop up the black cowboy hat Tector had left behind. “Check it out B.” The brunette said after checking the inside of the hat for tiny demons. “Air it out a little and you got your self a mighty fine hat.”

“What would I want with a cowboy hat?” Buffy asked.

“Aww shucks lil’ lady.” Faith replied. “Ya’ll don’t want to go line dancin’ wit me now?” Buffy just rolled her eyes at Faith’s accent laden pout and snatched the hat from her hands.

“Fine Faith.” The blonde said before putting a pout of her own on. “I’ll wear mine if you wear yours.” Faith met Buffy’s pout with a genuine smile.

Across the room Willow used magic to slowly move the weapon she had special ordered for this occasion over the now gaping crack in the floor. Tara stood at her side clasping the hand that wasn’t stretched out towards the canister. Once it was over the hole the redhead let out a sigh of relief.

With a tiny amount of telekinetic effort she slid the pin out of the thermite grenade and stepped back towards the tunnel with Tara. The Slayers soon followed.

Smoke billowed out as the small incendiary ignited. A bright glow emitted from the now burning molten core of the device. Without Willow holding it aloft with her mind the grenade fell through the air and landed right beside the eye of the Bezoar. The brightly burning compound bored through the creature’s flesh with a searing crackle. Loud shrieks of pain echoed through the cavern. Smoke and an eerie orange light poured from the smoldering crevice. Within moments the screams stopped. A minute later the smoke dissipated and all that was left was the stench of burning demon.

******************************

“And what were we all doing at school at this hour.” Mr. Whitmore asked Giles again in a state of confusion as the Scoobies lead him out of the building.

“Last minute security check.” The librarian lied. “And I’m glad we did or else you might not have made it out after that gas leak.”

“Oh.” The short man said.

“Come along, I’ll see that you get home.” Giles told the man as he loaded him into his car.

“Should we be more worried about him?” Xander asked.

“With Mama Bezoar dead the babies are gone for good and their control is done for.” Willow replied.

“So, job well done?” He asked.

“And then some.” Buffy said as she and he friends began to walk towards their homes. It was an odd fight but with it done she finally had some time to fulfill her promise to Faith.

******************************

As the Scoobies made their way home only two of them had any idea that at that very moment a very important meeting was taking place in the city of Los Angeles.

Ethan Rayne sauntered up to the front door of the dock side warehouse he had been given directions to. There was a certain upbeat glee in his step. He really couldn’t help his good cheer. The show was about to begin.

With a steady hand Ethan knocked on the door three times. A moment later the speakeasy style peephole slid open and an angry set of eyes glared at him.

“And just who the hell do you think you are?” The man asked in a noticeably gruff British accent.

“Ethan Rayne my dear chap, and I believe you’re the ones who called me.” The sorcerer replied with a measured smile. “Now are we going to conduct this bit of business through that murder hole, or am I going to be let in?”

“Weatherby let the man in for piss sake.” Another Englishman said from behind the door.

“Alright.” Weatherby replied as the peephole cover slid closed and the door slowly swung open.

“Alright then.” Ethan replied as he strode inside. “So you gents would be the Council’s special operations team. I must say I’m surprised you contacted me.”

“Well all the Council mages are busy in other fields and this job is quickly snowballing out of proportion from what we were initially told.” The second man said. He had dark brown hair and a slightly pudgy face.

“Damn it Smith!” The first man said angrily. “We don’t even know if this warlock can be trusted.” He also had dark hair as well as a pronounced five o’ clock shadow and more angular features.

“Sorcerer my dear man.” Ethan replied with a mildly annoyed tone. “I’ll have you know I’ve never broken an oath I made willingly.”

“There, see Weatherby?” Smith asked. “He’s the slightly more trustworthy kind of rogue magic user. Come on then Mr. Rayne, Collins will be wanting to speak with you.”

Ethan smiled politely as the men led him deeper into the warehouse. They turned a corner and made their way through some doors to an office space with a kitchen off to one side and doors along one wall that presumably held sleeping quarters.

“Is this the Mystic?” A dour looking man with slightly graying curly hair asked.

“That would be one way of putting it.” Ethan replied as he walked up to the table the man was sitting behind and took a seat facing him. “You must be Collins.”

“That I would be Mr. Rayne.” Collins replied. “Normally my team doesn’t call in freelance contractors for jobs that might require magic but we’ve hit a bit of a snag much earlier than the higher ups ever anticipated.”

“A snag you say?” Ethan enquired with a carefully crafted frown.

“Yes.” Collins said as Smith and Weatherby took up seats at either of his sides. “The main crux of this mission was to gather intel and figure out just how much the witches have interfered in council business. But we ran into a wall.”

“Damn witches put some kind of curse on us.” Weatherby growled.

“Might be on the entire council with the way this trip was handled.” Smith added.

“Pardon my ignorance gentlemen, but what makes you think you’ve been cursed?” Ethan asked.

“Our travel arrangements for one.” Collins answered. “We were supposed to fly to the Hellmouth directly. But the council department that booked our flights said they just couldn’t bring themselves to book the right flight so they routed us through LA.”

“I’m sensing there’s more to this than one flight plan.” Ethan said.

“We were all set to board the flight to Sunnydale and then we just froze.” Collins went on. “There we were, sitting by the gate, waiting to board. They started calling groups and we just sat there. They called our section and we stayed seated. They announced final boarding and we were still completely frozen.”

“You missed the flight while six feet from the door to the plane?” As far as curses went that was something Ethan had never even imagined. He would have to compliment the girls the next time he checked in.

“We bloody sat there on our asses for three hours after the plane took off.” Weatherby said.

“When we were finally able to stand up we went to rent a van.” Smith said. “The second I tried to merge onto the expressway heading to Sunnydale it felt as if I was making the biggest mistake of my life. I didn’t even notice what I was doing as I pulled the van off to the side of the road and killed the engine.”

“We sat in that van not saying a word for five more bloody hours.” Weatherby said angrily. “Those damn witches have already made fools of us, and we haven’t even started the job.”

“I can see how that would lead you gentlemen to seek assistance outside your normal means.” Ethan remarked. “Alright I’ll help.”

“Excellent, what do you need to break this curse?” Collins said.

“Oh I can’t break this curse.” Ethan replied. All three men from the council’s wetworks team stared at the middle aged sorcerer with the most bewildered expressions.

“If you can’t break the curse then what good are you?” Weatherby asked with his usual amount of contempt.

“Gentlemen it may come as a shock to you to know that I have actually faced these witches.” Ethan said. “I was up to some mischief. Mostly to cause an old friend some light hearted grief. And they figured out my plans long before I even made it to town. They turned things around so that my tricks would give their followers tremendous wisdom and insight they wouldn’t normally have. Needless to say we are not dealing with two run of the mill witches.”

“What do you have in mind then?” Collins asked with a measured, neutral look.

“They made it so you can’t come at them head on.” Ethan said. “And you can count on them having their backs covered. So we’re going to stay here in LA and come at them from the side they won’t expect.”

“And which side is that then?” Weatherby asked.

“Why, the vampire they have stationed here in town of course.” Ethan said with a truly uncompromising smile. “It won’t be easy, and we can’t just dust him or else they’ll go and hand pick another vampire we don’t know anything about. But I believe with your help I can throw a wrench in their plans.”

As the three men gather around the far side of the table looked at him Ethan couldn’t help but notice the looks of sheer glee take up residence on their faces. By the end of the evening he would have them convinced of his plan. Things were falling into place and Ethan couldn’t wait to watch as fresh chaos took all of the players the witches assembled on a ride they would never forget.

“We’ll start by stealing a certain scroll.” Ethan said with wicked grin.

******************************

“How does this look?” Joyce asked her daughters after spinning around in a long black dress sparsely decorated with flowers and fans.

“I might like it more than the others. Can you spin around again?” Buffy commented, causing Joyce to comply.

“Ooh, I’m not sure, once more.” Dawn said, eliciting another spin from Joyce.

“Now could you go the other way?” Buffy asked while pointing her finger.

Joyce was about to give another spin when she stopped and looked at Buffy with an amused smile.

“You’re messing with me.” The single mother said. Dawn let out a giggle as her mother caught on to their fun.

“We just wanted to see how many times we could get you to do it.” Buffy said.

“Was that five or four and a half?” Dawn asked with another smile.

“So is anyone going to talk about my dress?” Joyce pleaded.

“I like it.” Dawn replied.

“You sure?” Joyce said. “It’s not too mom-ish?”

“Oh.” Dawn frowned. “That was why I liked it.”

“You’re both crazy.” Buffy declared. “It’s not mom-ish at all. It’s sexy. It screams “Randy sex kitten, buy me one drink and I’ll.” Oh my god you got all sexy just for Giles!”

“Oh god.” Joyce began to panic. “What time is it?”

“Four twenty three.” Buffy answered while checking her watch. “You have lots of time until seven. Vast acres of time in which you can plant crops. Now tell me about this gallery opening you got all sexy to take Giles to.”

“Oh it’s nothing special.” Joyce remarked. “Just premiering a new artist. Do you really think Rupert will like it?”

“He’ll love it Mom.” Buffy said before a worried frown crossed her face. “Maybe a little too much.”

“Oh don’t worry about any of that Buffy.” Joyce assured with a sly grin. “Rupert seems like the type who likes to be teased.”

“Eww, Mom!” Buffy complained. “Please, no with the details. I have to look the guy in the face every single day.”

“Possibly every morning if things go really well.” Dawn added with a wicked smirk.

“Don’t you start on that too.” Buffy told her sister. Dawn only giggled in reply.

“And what about your plans for the evening Buffy?” Joyce asked.

“I’ll start getting ready in a bit and then Faith and I will hit the Bronze.” The Slayer replied.

“I cleaned that hat you brought home a few nights ago.” Joyce said. “Where did you get another cowboy hat anyway?”

“The brother of the vampire Faith took her hat from showed up at the school while we were clearing out the mind control-ly demons in the basement.” Buffy said.

“I still don’t like the fact that your school is built on top of so many demon nests and an actual portal to hell.” Joyce said with a worried frown.

“Several thousand different hells if all of Mr. Giles’s books are right.” Dawn added.

“Yeah it sucks, but I can’t do anything about that now.” Buffy said with a frown before making an effort to put a smile on her face. “Besides, Willow says it won’t be like this forever. She has a plan to get rid of the hellmouth and then we can all leave this town for good.”

“Leave?” Joyce asked. “Why would we leave? Where would we go?”

“She wasn’t clear on the aftermath of this eleventh hour she’s mentioned a few times, but it sounded like this plan of hers was still a ways off.” The Slayer said. “I’m sure it’ll show up in one of the books and Giles will tell us in time to pack the house up.”

“Oh god, Rupert.” Joyce said as she brought her hands up to her chest and caught her breath as a fresh wave of butterflies rushed through her stomach. “What time is it now?”

“Four twenty four.” Buffy said with a straight face.

“You sure the dress is okay?” Joyce asked one last time.

“Spin again. Real fast this time!” Dawn said, drawing another amused smile.

******************************

“What do you guys think of this outfit?” Faith asked the three women she lived with.

“I’m tempted to tell you that you can’t ever leave the house looking like that.” Jennifer said with a worried expression. “But since I’ve seen the way you look at, what was it? Bunny? I know you’ll be safe and want to pull out all the stops.”

“Perfect!” Faith said as Tara and Willow shared a laugh at Jennifer’s joke about Sheila Rosenberg. “Oh god, I hope Buffy likes it.”

“She will Faith.” Willow assured. “She’ll come around in time. You just have to prove to her that she can trust you more than she even trusts herself.”

“Thanks Red.” Faith replied. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you guys are cool about this whole thing I have for B.”

“We’ve known for a very long time that you would develop feelings for her Faith.” Willow answered while perched in Tara’s lap. “It seems like just about every version of you we come across falls for her hard the second you see her.”

“Plus the worlds where you two end up together are just better places to live.” Tara remarked as she stroked Willow’s hair. “Life just seems to go by more smoothly.”

“So what’s my success rate?” Faith asked with a nervous smile.

“Ninety? Maybe Ninety five percent?” Willow said, looking to Tara for confirmation. “That’s just counting the worlds where we actually ran into both of you or you two met.”

“Sweet!” Faith said with renewed cheer. “What kind of mistakes did I make in the five to ten percent of worlds that sucked ass?”

“Oh Sweetie.” Tara said with a nervous frown. “You don’t want to dwell on those.”

“How bad could it be?” Faith asked.

“The worst case was our very first life.” Willow said. “You were with Buffy on patrol and slaying vamps left and right in a dark alleyway. A human showed up and you accidentally killed him.”

“Well fuck.” Faith whispered.

“It gets worse.” Willow continued. “That mistake, the way the watcher the council sent to replace Giles treated you, the way the major bad guy that year treated you, and the way Buffy would not shut up about her tragic love with a cursed vampire all led to a series of fights, betrayals, another murder and way too much high school crap that ended with you in a coma for months.”

Faith sat down hard on the bed. She couldn’t believe the babble she was hearing. She knew she wasn’t particularly bright before the Halloween mind swap night. She knew she had a temper. But she never would have suspected she could go off the rails so badly.

“When you woke up Buffy tried to talk you back.” Tara said. “She still looked at you as a person that could be saved then.”

“She didn’t truly hate you.” Willow added. “Yet.”

“What did I do?” Faith asked. She couldn’t let anything drive that big of a wedge between her and the blonde that haunted her dreams.

“You used a magic gizmo your old boss left to you after he died and you stole her body.” Willow answered. “The watchers council sent a team of killers after you and took her while she was trapped in your body. They spat on her while you slept with the one human guy she held a relatively long relationship with. That is the point where she truly began to hate you for a long time.”

“Oh Sweetie.” Jennifer said as she saw tears begin to run down Faith’s cheeks. In no time the woman was on the bed next to the brunette with her arms wrapped around the lightly weeping girl.

It took several minutes but Faith collected herself and looked to the two witches she had come to depend on.

“You guys won’t let me do any of that shit, right?” The Slayer asked.

“We already killed the bad guy that manipulated you and sent Giles’s replacement to LA.” Willow answered. “Killing Kakistos before he brutally violated and butchered your first watcher in front of you also helped.”

“You guys really don’t want me to screw this up do you?” Faith said with an almost sarcastic smile as she fought back fresh tears.

“Like we said.” Willow replied. “The worlds where you are at Buffy’s side both on patrol and in the bedroom are happier, better places to live. Plus we’ve kinda grown attached to having you around after all these centuries.”

“If nothing else you make a great baby sitter for our kids.” Tara said.

“You guys are gonna have kids?” Faith asked in shock.

“I’ll be a grandmother?” Jennifer whispered as she brought a hand up to her mouth in shock.

“One day.” Willow replied with a slight smile as she leaned into Tara’s chest. “It’s still early days for this world.”

Faith simply smiled at the sheer hopeful joy aroused by the fact that Willow and Tara still trusted her to protect their children after all the mistakes they listed. As the Slayer went back to preparing for her date she knew this family that had taken her in so deeply was worth every hardship she had to face to get here.

With a smile she put aside fears of mistakes she would never allow herself to repeat and hurried through her last minute preparations. On her way out the door she grabbed the freshly cleaned, white cowboy hat and hurried to see the blonde she loved.

******************************

“Dawn can you get the door?” Buffy shouted down the hall as she pulled on and zipped up the black, thigh high leather boots faith had bought her. Once done she stood and gave herself a thorough appraisal in the bedroom mirror.

The boots stopped mid thigh and left quite a bit of exposed skin before a tight black miniskirt took over and covered from around the top of her thighs to just below her belly button. She would not be doing any high kicks tonight.

After an expanse of tight abdominal muscles above her belly button she was once again covered with a loose black top that sported an open back and a deeply plunging neck line. Spaghetti straps trailed behind her neck to suspend the ruffles of fabric that covered her breasts. Those ruffles did nothing to cover her modest cleavage.

Her hair and makeup were already done just the way she liked, yet the outfit needed one thing. With a smile Buffy put on the black cowboy hat she got from good old Tector Gorch. Looking herself over once more brought a smile to her face. She and Faith were going to tear up the dance floor at the Bronze.

With a grin she hurried down stairs and was greeted by a sight that stopped her cold. Faith was standing just inside the front door dressed in white.

White leather boots came halfway up her claves. The tightest white leather pants Buffy had ever seen hugged Faith’s toned and muscular curves. Wide slits along the sides ran from the Brunette’s knees up to her waist. The large amount of skin they put on display was only covered by a light crisscrossing of white laces.

The low cut waistline of the pants left faith’s belly button and much of her midriff exposed as well. A tight, form fitting white vest kept faith’s ample breasts in check and a short length leather jacket had slight bulges at the ends of her sleeves. Buffy almost breathed a sigh of relief knowing Faith had brought stakes for both of them this night.

Atop the brunette’s head was the same white cowboy hat she had taken from Lyle. Buffy stood there staring at her fellow Slayer unaware that the reaction in the pit of her stomach was pure, unadulterated lust. She was also completely unaware of the fact that Faith was having the exact same reaction to her outfit.

Off to one side Jennifer, Xander, Dawn, Tara and Willow stood staring at the obviously enamored pair. Xander caught himself staring a little harder than he should but couldn’t stop until Willow elbowed him in the gut.

“My, don’t you two look lovely.” Jennifer said after a moment. The comment seemed to snap the two young women out of the trances they were caught in.

“Yeah you look amazing B. Really beautiful.” Faith said with a nervous smile as her eyes roved over the petite blonde.

“Thanks faith.” Buffy replied. “You look great too. Very sexy.” She finished with a happy grin.

Faith nearly jumped at the way her stomach did a series of cartwheels the second Buffy called her sexy. “We should go B.” Was all Faith could say in response. “Not fair to keep your good looks all to myself.”

Buffy felt her heart fluttering slightly. She wondered why she had never felt so moved by a friend’s compliments before. Maybe it had something to do with the way her Slayer senses seemed to give her a sense of calm whenever Faith was around.

“You two have fun.” Jennifer said. “We’ll watch Dawn until Joyce gets home.”

“Okay.” Buffy whispered, still unable to take her eyes off Faith. The brunette took her hand and they were quickly out the door.

“You gonna need to put some ice on that thing Xander?” Dawn asked with a far too innocent tone.

“Huh, what?” Xander asked before looking down and yelping.

“Oh goddess!” Willow shrieked in surprise at the excessively lewd innuendo behind the question. “Dawn!”

“What?” The young girl asked with a straight face. “I’m sure if I was a teenage boy and saw two girls dressed like that I’d have the same reaction.”

“That’ll be enough of the Halloween costume shenanigans missy.” Tara said.

Jennifer looked from the young girl to her daughter then to the young man who seemed to be surrounded by girls he had no hope of anything beyond simple friendship with. With a smile she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Why don’t you go in the kitchen and make yourself an ice pack Sweetie.” Jennifer said with a smirk of her own.

“Mom!” Tara cried out.

******************************

Buffy recognized the bouncer working the door and she and Faith strolled right up to him. The muscular man smiled at the young woman that had saved his life at least three times that he knew about. With a nod he sent them inside.

Being the doorman to a nightclub in a town overrun by vampires was a dangerous job. He and just about all of his coworkers had quickly come to the conclusion that having the tiny blonde free to come and go as she pleased was more important than any cover charge.

Once in the club Buffy smiled at the beat of the music. The DJ on stage was a regular and always good for putting on something fast to gyrate to. Buffy pulled Faith towards the dance floor and the brunette was happy to comply.

No words were spoken for a long time that night as Buffy and Faith danced along to the steady beat. Each time a guy tried to move in on either of them the other was quick to throw up a hard denial. More often than not these small annoyances served to make one of the Slayers hold the other just a little closer. Arms protectively encircled shoulders as legs moved together in a sinuous, interlocking rhythm.

Faith was more than a little excited that she wasn’t the only one pulling the two of them closer together each time they rejected one or more men. She felt a jolt of excitement and a rush of arousal each and every time Buffy’s thigh accidentally ground into her center. Though she couldn’t admit to herself why, Buffy felt the same sensations as she immersed herself in the primal heat pouring off the brunette.

By the end of the night they were practically grinding into each other on the dance floor. Faith had the time of her life. Judging by the smile plastered across Buffy’s face the brunette wasn’t alone.

******************************

After the dates had ended and most of the Scoobies had gone to sleep for the night Tara found herself in one of her favorite positions. Alone with Willow.

The honey blonde pulled out one of their oversized throw pillows and placed it on the floor beside the bed. She then went over to Willow as the girl was just getting ready to shut down her laptop. Tara draped her arms around Willow’s petite shoulders.

“I’m going to slip into something more comfortable Sweetie.” Tara whispered into Willow’s ear with a breathy, sensual voice. “When I come back I expect you to be naked and kneeling on that pillow next to our bed with your eyes closed.”

Willow’s breath caught in her throat as Tara finished by lightly kissing the side of her head and blowing softly in her ear. The curvy girl then stood up and gave her hips an extra shake with each step as she sauntered over to the door to their bathroom.

Shortly after Tara disappeared into their bathroom Willow picked her jaw up off the floor, hurriedly stripped and jogged over to the pillow. Once on her knees the hacker spread her thighs just wide enough that Tara could have full access for whatever she had planned and eagerly awaited her love’s return.

Inside the bathroom Tara shut the door and pulled out the package she had ordered and hidden under the sink behind a stack of towels. With a gleeful smile she opened the box to reveal the brand new purple Share. With a delighted grin Tara quickly, but thoroughly washed the sex toy then began to strip all of her clothes off just as she had ordered Willow to do.

Tara then took a much longer look at the new toy she couldn’t wait to use on Willow. The thought of her slender redhead writhing in pleasure with each thrust into Willow’s molten core was enough to make Tara’s nipples stand at attention. The thought that soon every ripple, quiver and shudder from Willow would travel through the Share and deep into her own center worked Tara into a state that eased what she had to do next.

Tara took two fingers and licked them thoroughly. Once she felt they were wet enough she brought them down to her pussy and slowly began to stroke her lips. Tara’s eyes closed and her mind filled with images of her Willow waiting eagerly by their bed. Her eyes clenched shut. Her breasts heaving as she anxiously awaited Tara’s return. Her thighs beginning to squirm as the anticipation built her arousal ever higher.

Before she even knew it Tara had slipped both fingers deep within her center and began massaging her inner walls. She felt her juices beginning to build and quickly withdrew her hand. Tara then picked up the Share and began to slide the ball end of the double dildo passed her slightly damp honey blonde curls and into her pussy.

The curvy girl gasped as she felt the toy within her. The subtle curves of the almost handle shaped silicon ball rubbed against Tara’s walls. Tara’s inner muscles gripped the toy in a way that felt all too pleasurable. She couldn’t wait to share this with her love.

Tara opened her eyes and took in the sight of the gently curved, purple cock protruding out from her crotch. She couldn’t help but let out a slight giggle. With the ground work lain Tara returned to the bedroom were she found Willow naked, eagerly awaiting whatever game was in store for her.

With calm, assured steps Tara walked up to stand right in front of the kneeling redhead. The head of the toy waved back and forth gently in front of Willow’s face. Tara spoke with all the care and love she could put in her voice.

“You can look now Sweetie.” Tara said. Willow cracked open one eye and then both flew wide open in astonishment. She gasped at the sight of the erect toy hovering just beyond the tip of her nose. Tara brought a hand down to tenderly stroke Willow’s cheek as the slender girl stared, transfixed by the phallus emerging from between her love’s legs.

“Happy Chanukah Willow.” Tara said as her hand gently worked its way from Willow’s cheek back through long red locks. Once Tara was cradling the back of Willow’s head she ever so gently applied pressure.

Before Willow could even form a coherent reply to what she was seeing the head and shaft of the Share had already slipped passed her lips. Her eyes fluttered closed briefly before she opened them again. Willow stared up at Tara with a deeply entrancing gaze filled to the brim with lust, love and joy. Then she began using her tongue.

Tara nearly came right there as the sight of Willow gleefully sucking the shaft coupled with the feeling of the curved ball within her hitting the oh so sensitive bundle of nerves along her front wall. The sheer erotic presence Willow exuded lit a fire in Tara’s stomach and set her heart a flutter. With every flick and curl of the redhead’s tongue, with every bob of her head, with every grazing of the back of her throat Willow sent wave after wave of pleasure deep into Tara’s core.

Tara felt both of Willow’s hands grasping her ass cheeks desperately. With a raspy voice she moaned out another order for her petite love.

“Willow, finger yourself.” Tara commanded.

Willow was so enamored by the fact she was giving her girlfriend a blowjob that she almost didn’t hear the command. Fortunately some part of Willow that always seemed to respond to Tara’s needs had heard loud and clear. One of Willow’s hands found its way to the patch of already soaked red curls between her legs and began to apply desperately needed friction.

With each little shake of Willow’s body the shaft of the toy in her mouth sent vibrations deeper and deeper into Tara. The honey blonde knew the end was coming far too soon and elected to change things up before she collapsed on the floor.

With slightly shaky movements Tara pulled the shaft from Willow’s mouth and knelt down to kiss her. The redhead moaned into the clashing of lips. Tongues dueled in a sensual dance that lasted far longer than it took Tara to settle herself enough for what she had planned next. As they parted Willow almost began to plead with Tara to let her continue sucking the shaft of their new toy.

“On the bed Sweetie.” Tara said as she climbed up and laid out on their mattress face and cock up. “I want you to ride me.”

A wide smile broke out across Willow’s face as she understood. Without hesitation Willow straddled Tara’s thighs. Before taking the next plunge the slender girl gently grasped the shaft of the toy. Once she saw Tara look down at her with a curious frown Willow pressed the phallus against her stomach. The tip of the head reached past her belly button. Willow smiled at the way the not so subtle positioning of the toy made Tara’s eyes widen. With a smile Willow spoke for the first time since Tara began their lovemaking session.

“I want you inside me Baby.” Willow begged before raising her hips to hover her sopping wet center over the tip of the purple shaft.

Tara locked eyes with Willow once as they clasped their hands together. She replied with the one truth she knew above all others. The one fact she could always depend on.

“I love you Willow.” Tara swore just before she bucked her hips upward and rammed the silicon dick deep inside of Willow.

The redhead gasped and threw her head back in pure ecstasy as Tara filled her. With a shudder Willow slowly began rocking her hips up and down until she began to pick up speed. The feeling of the shaft sliding in and out as she bounced up and down atop Tara was nearly enough to send her over the edge. The fact that she and Tara had never let go of each other’s hands only heightened their connection.

Moments filled with pleasure dragged on as Tara continued to thrust into Willow and Willow in turn rocked her hips back and forth as the dildo stirred within her. The pressure and rapture that had been building within Willow since Tara ordered her to strip finally reached its limit. With a shudder that came in waves Willow’s eyes clenched shut and every inch of her body shook as the orgasm cascaded through her slender frame.

With every wiggle, shake and tremor in Willow Tara was inundated with pleasure. As Willow came hard on the purple dildo her bucking hips sent Tara over the edge. Tara bucked wildly in return as Willow rode her passed the breaking point. The almost continuous shaking of the toy turned each aftershock into its own little orgasm. It wasn’t long before Willow lost count of how many times the pleasure tore through her body and stripped away her ability to think and speak. She collapsed atop Tara with the Share still inside each of them.

“Sweetie.” Tara begged as the little tremors from Willow continued to torment her. Willow caught on after a few moments and went to take out the toy. It easily slid out of both their bodies due in no small part to the copious amount of juices their lovemaking always produced. With a wicked grin Willow brought the ball end that had been inside Tara up to her mouth and licked away every last trace of Tara’s essence.

“I love you Tara.” Willow promised as she put the toy down and nestled into Tara’s chest and neck. With a relieved sigh Tara brought their blankets up to cover their naked bodies.

“I know Sweetie.” Tara whispered as she felt Willow nod off with a purely contented grin on her face. “Always.”

_________________
Time and Time Again


Last edited by Citanul on Wed Dec 17, 2014 8:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:06 am 
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Yay for excellent update-y goodness... I'm glad that Buffy has started to accept Faith as more than just a fellow Slayer... I'm wondering when the girls are going to send Oz-the-dogboy to Tibet...

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:47 pm 
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Location: Beyond the orbit of Mars and accelerating...
Heya!

Cool chapter.
Somehow i missed the update, but the system told me about the dibs. odd.

Oh well.
Good to see Buffy and Faith having fun together.
And the mom squad's reaction to their outfits was classic.

It's a funny thing, but a lot of moms (the cool ones anyway) seem to relax a bit when it's a girl and not a boy.
Maybe it's because your average lesbian isn't going to knock her up?
Though in these stories...

And purple is a traditional colour :P
Though i think Heather had her girls with a red one, IIRC.

Anyway, looking forward to more, as always. :bounce
Keep up the stellar work.
Really, whenever i need a pick me up, i re-read this story. :banana
It's magic. The first parts especially.

R :flower




Typo check:

“You must be that Salyer I’ve been hearing so much about.” He said. “Lyle Gorch. Pleased to meet ya.”
I'm dyslexic, and i make that typo all the frikken' time.

slowly moving pile of ruble in the middle

P.S: i always like Oz. Not with Willow, just in general.

_________________
“All I feel is sunlight. All I hear is music.” Willow
How i Met Your Mother - By Ariel


My Story: Coming Home


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Dec 24, 2014 5:39 am 
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6. Sassy Eggs
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Hello Zampsa. Buffy and Faith are off to a good start but they still have a long way to go. And the Oz resolution is coming.

Hi Azirahael. System bugs are weird. Jennifer would have definitely reacted stronger if she felt Faith was at risk somehow. But seeing as Buffy is still in Boystown she eased up.

Oh yeah there are ways for Slayers and Witches to get each other knocked up. But they require prep time and planning. Plus the girls are all still in high school of cryin' out loud.

Red is a lovely suggestion. Unfortunately that particular product only comes in black, purple and a very light pink. The extra large version that is ribbed for the receiver's pleasure comes in black and red but that's something they both want to take their time working up to.

Also I apologize if putting a blind link to a sex toy manufacture's website caused problem for any of my readers. Honestly I look at the photos of that toy from multiple angles and I love the look of it. But I have almost no idea how to describe the thing without adding the link to the great big rotating picture.

Thanks for the continued support and I have to admit in the early days of the series Oz was my favorite character. Then he left and I was bummed and then some time later I was watching Season 6 and came to the startling realization that Tara had become my favorite character without my even my being aware of the shift. Oz isn't going to be happy with everything that happens but he is going to end up in a good place.

Before I go I wanted to ask if anyone has seen this video series. There are some funny and insightful moments in there and I'm looking forward to his treatment of season 2.

With that out of the way I would like to wish everyone a festive nondenominational end to the fiscal fourth quarter.

Thank you all for reading.

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Time and Time Again


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Dec 24, 2014 5:56 am 
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6. Sassy Eggs
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Time and Time Again.

Author: Citanul

Feedback: Be kind, rewind?

Spoilers: Just about all of them. Go watch the show.

Rating: NC-17

Pairings: W/T, B/F

Disclaimer: You all know I don’t own the rights to characters you’ve seen on TV.

Summary: A story of reincarnation and interdimensional travel made possible through the power of love. What misfortunes will our two favorite love birds be able to prevent with the aid of experience from countless past lives.

Author’s Note: And so we are back to the Marvel universe. I'll be honest. This entry borrowed heavily from trailers for the movie coming next summer. There are a few plot twists I'm weighing for down the road but I kinda want to see how the back half of Agents of Shield season 2 plays out. Fury's new Shield may have a more mysterious origin separate form Coulson's Shield. Coulson, Hunter and Skye could definitely make interesting appearances that could change Bobbi's stance with the team. Anyone else think Patton Oswalt's characters are the result of a cloning facility Fury has tucked away at one of his secret bases? Have they used the terms Fun house or Nut house yet? Just a base, under a corn field somewhere, filled with Patton Oswalt clones and lanyards. No? Okay maybe not.

******************************

Primer: Marvels

Willow = Wanda Maximoff = Scarlet Witch

Tara = Carol Danvers = Ms. Marvel

Buffy = Jennifer Walters = She-Hulk

Faith = Faith = X-23

Xander = Pietro Maximoff = Quicksilver

Anya = Jessica Drew = Spider-Woman

Spoilers = Spoilers = Spoilers Spoilers

******************************

Marvels: Generated Intuitive Logistics Engine Source

“I honestly have no idea why you’d ever want to leave this bed Pietro.” Jessica pouted as her white haired boyfriend got dressed.

“Sorry Sweetie.” Pietro replied while tying his shoes. “But I‘m the new guy around here. If I don’t at least pretend to make nice and be helpful around the tower it’ll cause some weird teamwork crisis down the road with everyone else. And since my sister obviously isn’t going to ever leave Carol’s side I have to occasionally leave yours.”

“This is so unfair.” Jessica complained.

“Yeah.” Pietro admitted. “But look at it this way. If I just stayed in here and ate you out all day long you’d pass out after a while and get bored of me by the end of the week.”

“Never.” Jessica said with a serious grimace that gradually shifted into a much happier grin laced with anticipation. “Would you really spend the whole day doing that for me?”

“The first chance we get to go away for a long weekend I’ll answer that question.” Pietro said with a smile as he leaned in and gave the raven haired beauty pouting on their bed a kiss.

A moment later he was out the door and Jessica laid back in the bed she had shared with the speedster. She sighed happily at the fact her boyfriend had been the one to suggest a nice secluded weekend. Staring up at the ceiling led Jessica to hope it would be the first of many.

******************************

Pietro strolled into the kitchen and found an all too familiar sight. Jennifer was slumped over the island with her head on one arm and sporting the most depressing pout he had ever seen the blonde lawyer wear.

“Still missing your girl?” Pietro asked, causing Jennifer to almost leap out of her stool.

“Pietro!” Jennifer cried out. “How long were you there?”

“Twelve seconds.” He replied with a smile as he went to the dishwasher and started readying another load. “I know, right? For me that’s practically stalking someone for the better part of a decade. You were thinking about her weren’t you?”

“No.” The lawyer pouted.

“Is that no spelled Y-E-S?” Pietro asked with a soft tone.

“Maybe.” Jennifer admitted. “I just miss her so much. We only just found each other and everything was just so great right away.”

“And now that she’s a hundred miles away.” Pietro began.

“Fifty six!” Jennifer corrected.

“Fifty six miles away.” He amended with a smile. “You don’t know how you’ll get through the next ten minutes without seeing her smile.”

“How do you?” Jennifer began to ask but trailed off.

“I know it isn’t the same thing as what you have with Faith or even what my sister has with your BFF.” Pietro said. “But I do have feelings for someone I just met who completely changed my life. The only difference is my power set allows me to be at her side in a heartbeat. Hence the “me being out here talking to you while I do a few chores” thing. Don’t want her getting sick of me.”

“Jessica isn’t going to get sick of you, you big dummy.” Jennifer said with a laugh. “She may ask you for a threesome with some other beefcake, but she won’t get tired of you.”

“Yet another reason to be out here.” The white haired man agreed. “Less chances for her to ask me something horrifying.”

Jennifer looked at her new friend and laughed. Though she hadn’t gotten much time in with Carol’s girlfriend’s brother she was easily coming around to the idea that he was a great guy to have around.

With the sense of dread from not being able to hold her girl abating Jennifer got up and began helping Pietro around the tower. She was more than happy to find out that things weren’t so bad when you had a good friend to talk and laugh with.

******************************

“Yes, but on paper Kosher and Halal are fairly similar, are they not?” Kurt asked as he sat in the school dining room with Kitty and Sooraya.

“Yes but that’s only because both are mostly rules on how to prepare food in the desert written before the invention of refrigeration.” Kitty replied.

“Yes, most of the rules outside of those two doctrines are somewhat the same as the rules you would find in the Bible.” Sooraya said with a calm, neutral tone.

Just as Kurt was about to move the debate in another direction he and the two young women looked up to see a brunette with severely slumped shoulders trudge into the dining room and look for a place to collapse.

“Ah, Faith!” Kurt called out. “Please come join us.”

At the sound of someone else’s voice the girl looked up suddenly and a worried expression crossed her face.

“Oh, sorry ya’ll.” Faith said meekly. “Didn’t know this room was busy.”

“Fear not dear girl.” The blue man replied in his light German accent. “We were just having a discussion about our faiths and would welcome your perspective.”

“Indeed.” Sooraya added. “It isn’t every day you meet someone without a personal history deeply rooted in one religion or another.”

“Come on Faith.” Kitty said. “You look like you need something to keep your mind occupied.”

Faith looked to the three people gathered around the small table and couldn’t think of a good enough reason to turn and walk away. With a shrug she took a seat.

“This is something we have gotten into the habit of recently.” Kurt said.

“We pretty much agree to have a friendly conversation where any of us can bring up something about one of our religions and share our honest opinions without attacking one another.” Kitty explained.

“Sounds neat.” Faith said with a dull tone she realized she should have tried harder to hide.

“Yes, we were wondering if your somewhat unique background would offer a similarly unique perspective.” Kurt added. “So many have fallen into one hard line camp or another that the subject never gets a fresh look.”

“Did you want to ask us anything to start with Faith.” Sooraya asked with a slightly timid tone.

“No, I think I got most of the cliff notes jumbled up in here.” Faith replied. She then pointed a finger at Kitty. “Some guy who was pretty much the first prophet rose up and led his people to freedom.” She then pointed to Kurt. “Centuries later another guy does some stuff and gets killed because he told people to be decent to each other.” Lastly Faith pointed to Sooraya. “Some time later a third guy who no one taught how to read shows up with all these writings and says he was chosen as the last prophet.”

“That pretty much sums it all up.” Kitty said with a smirk.

“Fascinating.” Kurt said. “I had no idea you even knew that much about the subject. Have you ever studied the different families of worship?”

“Hydra programming?” Faith asked with a slightly nervous shrug.

“How strange.” Sooraya remarked. “Is there one religion you identify with over the others you were told about?”

“Oh I’m not.” Faith began but stopped as she looked around the table. She decided she should be honest with these people if she was going to spend so much time around them. “If I had to pick one right now I’d say I definitely have the most reason to give praise to the Goddess.”

“Really?” Kurt asked in a delightedly intrigued tone. “What makes you say that?”

“The fact that I’m sitting here having a sane conversation with you guys.” Faith replied with a lightly sarcastic laugh. At the strange looks the other three gave her the brunette realized she needed to give them a much more elaborate answer.

“I wasn’t even a person a month ago.” Faith began slowly. “I was a weapon. I had all this knowledge drilled into me, but it was all for the purpose of making me better at hunting and killing any target I was given. I don’t even remember if I had feelings back then.”

“How did you change?” Kitty asked.

“Red and Blondie fixed me.” Faith said before elaborating. “You know? Ms. Marvel and Scarlet Witch. They walked into that place and put me to sleep with a spell. I was out of the fight but a part of me could still feel them through whatever they had done. Then everything went bright and I was floating in a safe place. I don’t even know how long it was but I could feel them putting everything they had into ripping out the parts of me that Hydra had twisted. That Snake Bitch had changed to suit her.”

The last statement practically oozed with malice. The deeply spiritual members of the team all shared concerned looks as Faith seemed to pause for a moment to collect herself and banish the hateful thoughts playing out across her face. It wasn’t too long before Faith was with them again.

“I could feel them saving my life. They gave me everything that was taken away from me in that place.” Faith went on. “Even while I was unconscious I could tell the magic was so powerful.”

“And this led you to believe in the Goddess whose teachings they follow?” Kurt asked.

“No that was just the ground work.” Faith replied with a smile. “Actually meeting her was what really convinced me.”

“You actually met her?” A stunned, masculine voice came from the entrance to the room. All four heads turned around and saw Ororo, Forge and the Professor staring at them in the entryway.

“You know who I’m talking about Forge?” Faith asked in a slightly confused tone.

“I was raised on stories of the Goddess by the elders of my tribe.” The tall Cheyenne man said. “Though I may not practice the rituals of my people’s magic as I once did, I still hold to the more uplifting teachings.”

“Worship of the Goddess is widespread in both Wakanda and my home land.” Ororo added. “I would like to hear more of the experience you had child.”

“Weren’t you there Ororo?” Kitty asked.

“No child.” The tall ebony woman said as she came up to the table and took a seat beside Faith. “While the witches were working their miracle deep underground I was in the skies above imploring Mother Nature to shoot down any and all Hydra agents.”

“I’m told you and Thor keep a running tally of how many enemy aircraft you each shoot down while on missions together.” Professor Xavier said with a wry smirk.

“Indeed Professor.” Ororo admitted. “The Thunderer is many things, but none so much as a competitive soul.”

“Please tell us of this religious experience you had Faith.” The Professor said as he turned back to the young woman.

“I don’t know if it counts as all that but I know I was as close to meeting the Goddess as I think it’s possible to get.” Faith admitted. “I was out of it for a long time I think.”

“Form the time Captain America radioed that they had engaged Madam Hydra to the time he called a full withdraw of the facility a little over an hour had passed.” Ororo interrupted.

“Huh, I could have sworn it was more.” Faith muttered before continuing. “I was locked up in my own mind I guess. Some of it’s fuzzy. I’m still trying to struggle through the spell they hit me with. And then Red and Blondie are there and I can feel them tearing down walls that I think Hydra put there. I felt them building bridges to places I don’t know if I’ll ever see. But I know that without those bridges I’d go back to being a weapon again. I know they helped me by giving something or someone else a chance to step in and guide me to the life I deserve. And the whole time I could feel them working I felt someone else. In here.” Faith pointed to her head before trailing off.

The group that had gathered around the dining hall stared at the girl as she explained something few of them could even begin to grasp. No one dared interrupt.

“I felt this presence all around me.” Faith went on. “I think that was the first time I knew what it was like to be loved. I felt this incredibly powerful force. And I can’t tell how but I know it was definitely female. And all the while that Red and Blondie were working on fixing me “She” was there. I knew then I had a purpose. I had family. I had love waiting for me. All I had to do was reach out and take my place in the world. Take back everything that was mine that Hydra and Snake Bitch took from me.” Faith paused and looked up at the adults who were supposed to be school faculty worried for a moment that her slight profanity would get her in trouble.

“Believe me Faith, if you heard some of the things your father has said about that woman you’d realize you’re going easy on her.” Xavier said with a mild smile.

“And I thought you were worried about Faith picking up her father’s bad habits Professor.” Ororo replied with a chuckle.

“Oh I certainly was Ororo.” The Professor said. “However, in light of the fact she hasn’t mimicked his profuse chain smoking while on school grounds, or his drinking, or his occasional bouts of womanizing, I think it’s more than fair to let some mild profanity slide. Especially when it concerns the individuals that tormented the girl most.”

“Was her picking up Logan’s cigar habit really a concern?” Kitty asked.

“I can’t smoke.” Faith said, drawing shocked looks from everyone. “Stogies give my girl a headache.”

“Yet another reason I’m glad to have retained Ms. Walters’ legal services.” Xavier said with a chuckle.

Before anyone could laugh at the mildly humorous tone in the Professor’s voice a beeping sound emitted from the controls on the arm of his chair. He pressed a button and a small holographic display popped up in front of his hand. With a gasp he turned back to the adults in the room.

“To me my X-Men.” Xavier said while sending out a psychic ping. “Forge you’ll be in charge of the students that have yet to pass the tests for field work. We have a mission to see to.” With that he turned and rolled out of the dining hall.

“Sorry guys, looks like we gotta run.” Kitty said.

“Thank you for sharing your life story with us Faith.” Kurt said as he stood up. “It has truly opened my eyes to a number of things.”

“Yes.” Ororo added. “Thank you Faith.”

With those words the more experienced members of the field team departed. Faith, Sooraya and Forge were left in the dining hall. Nothing else was said as the basketball court outside the windows split open and the Blackbird lifted off from its subterranean hangar.

******************************

“What are you up to Sweetie?” Carol asked as she came out of their bathroom and toweled off her wet hair.

“Just putting the finishing touches on this one last line of code and.” Wanda’s voice slowed as her fingers sped across the surface of her laptop’s keyboard. “Done!” She cried triumphantly.

“You finished that pet project of yours?” Carol asked in an awed tone. “Are we sure he isn’t in this world?”

“Positive.” Wanda replied. “But with a little inspiration from Jarvis he’ll be with us in spirit, and maybe if we come across.” She trailed off with a wide eyed look on her face. “Oh that’s good.”

“What?” Carol enquired. “You have your eureka face. What did you just figure out?”

“I’m gonna load him into a delivery system.” Wanda replied as she turned back to her computer and began copying the new program to an external drive. “If we come across a vessel worth our time we can give him a nice home.”

Carol went to her love and wrapped her arms around Wanda’s shoulders from behind. She then kissed the redhead’s temple with all the love and pride she could muster.

“I’m so proud of you Sweetie.” Carol said as Wanda just smiled, happily typing away.

******************************

The massive gray ship arose from the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and began to slowly fly over New York Bay towards Manhattan. Hundreds of thousands of people across Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manhatten and even New Jersey stared in wonder and terror as yet another unknown force set its sights on the Big Apple.

Panic set in on the streets while emergency responders did their best to clear the civilian populace from the impending battle. Nearby members of every branch of the military mobilized awaiting orders to confront whatever foe would emerge from the airship.

Just over two hundred miles away the president was ushered into the White House’s panic room. The first family hoped this one would hold up better than the last three models that Captain America and his team had been forced to recover.

On the bridge of the newest SHIELD Helicarrier Nick Fury scowled at the monitors showing him yet another invading force poised to take the Isle of Manhattan. He turned to one of his new lieutenants and issued orders to the combined military forces in the area. History had taught him they wouldn’t be enough.

******************************

On the bridge of the massive floating ship, that seemed to sprout several ovoid pods along the underside, a tall figure stood. His intimidating form was comprised of brightly polished metal. His crystalline eyes and gaping mouth glowed red with a sinister light.

“Eliminate the Avengers. Exterminate the human pestilence.” The mechanical man spoke. With those words legions of robots modeled in his likeness emerged from every hatch on the ship and took to the sky.

Ultron had come to declare war on humanity.

******************************

Okay people. Battle stations.” Captain America called out as he walked into the Avengers’ war room while donning his trademark mask. “We’ve got you know whose army of robots swarming the city and only half our roster is in this hemisphere. I need Widow, Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Quicksilver and Spider Woman with me taking out as many of the ground forces as we can. Falcon you’re on point for aerial recon of that ship. Do everything you can to find a weakness. Thor, Rescue, She Hulk and Ms. Marvel are going to take the fight to Ultron himself until Iron Man and Scarlet Witch have a countermeasure worked up.”

“I may have something but it isn’t tested and I didn’t plan on using it on Ultron.” Scarlet Witch said.

“If whatever it is takes him out of commission for good it will be worth it.” Hawkeye remarked.

“Avengers Assemble.” Captain America called out.

******************************

“For the thousandth time Jamie! I am not going to ask her what sex with the She Hulk is like!” Alex shouted as he and the lanky teen came into the dinning hall. The blond began to turn towards the kitchen but stopped dead in his tracks when he came face to face with brown eyes glaring at him. “Oh, hi Faith. Didn’t see you there.”

“Okay, that was the one free pass you guys get.” Faith said with cold menace. “Talk about my girl like she’s a piece of meat again and I start snipping.”

“Understood.” Alex said in a high pitched voice. Jamie only nodded profusely.

“Guys get in here!” Clarice shouted from the rec room next door. Faith, Sooraya and the two boys quickly ran to the lilac toned girl to try and find out what the matter was. What they found shocked them.

“It’s happening again.” Clarice said in a terrified whisper as her classmates came running in to find her staring at a TV broadcast of yet another invasion of New York. “The Avengers are fighting some nasty robots right now.”

Faith took one look at the screen and saw Blondie, Goldilocks and a very familiar mountain of green muscle with beautiful feminine curves squaring off against a robot that had to be at least eight feet tall. The sight of her girl getting blasted with red beams of energy from the seemingly indestructible creature’s eyes terrified Faith more than anything else in her short life had managed to so far. Without hesitation she turned to Clarice.

“Can you get me there Blink?” Faith asked in a tone more serious than any the teens had heard from her.

“I, I don’t know.” Clarice whispered. “Maybe?”

“Everyone suit up now!” Faith demanded as she ran out of the rec room and down the hall. She charged into the girl’s locker room and hastily donned her combat clothes. The red eyed domino mask was the last piece she put on.

With that out of the way Faith grabbed a messenger bag and ran to the tech lab where Forge kept all his ongoing projects and old toys. She went to the rack of odd gadgets by the door and began to fill the bag.

“Hey Forge. Sorry, no time to bullshit. I need to grab this, this and a few of these.” Faith said quickly before running out of the lab. The engineer inside was left with a perplexed look on his face. It was several minutes before he realized what had just happened and went to demand an explanation.

While Forge was leaving his lab Faith was running back to Clarice. The girl who put mass transit to shame was dressed in her green tunic and pants. She already had a quiver full of the long crystal shards she crafted for quick, pinpoint portal deployment. She wouldn’t need them to open the portal to the top of Avengers tower, but she had no idea what she would be walking into.

Sooraya was standing by in her usual abaya and niqāb. Alex and Jamie had donned their Kevlar and leather combat uniforms. The teens were ready to dive into the war playing out miles away from them.

“You guys sure about this?” Clarice asked nervously.

“Take us there now Blink.” X-23 ordered.

Blink nodded and opened a portal above the platform at the top of the skyscraper she was looking at on the TV. To her surprise it worked perfectly. They could see the big robot through the new hole in the floor. It was more than holding its own against the Avengers gifted with super strength. Without hesitation X-23 dived headfirst through the hole towards the metal man menacing her love. The other four teens were quick to follow.

“Wait!” They heard Forge cry out just as the portal slammed shut behind them. It was too late to listen to the man now.

******************************

“Does it seem like none of our attacks are getting through to him?” Rescue asked as she brought her suit’s repulsor beams to bear on the robot just after Thor finished another flurry of massive hammer blows to the android’s chest.

“He definitely built in some upgrades since the last time we fought him.” Iron Man told his girlfriend. “Any luck on the magic front?” He asked the Scarlet Witch.

“No.” Was all she could say after hitting the machine man with just as much energy as Rescue and Ms. Marvel had.

She Hulk roared and charged the enemy. With a blow backed by all of her considerable rage she managed to stagger Ultron slightly. He countered with a backhand that sent the green giantess flying. She skidded to a halt just in time to avoid falling off the tower completely. As she looked up she saw a bright pink swirl of light form high above Ultron’s head. The sight of her love plummeting towards the machine sent a chill down her spine.

X-23 landed on Ultron’s back claws first. They left no marks on his frame but did soften the landing slightly as she skidded down to crouch behind him. With a flurry of motion she retracted her claws and dove between his legs as his upper body swiveled around one hundred and eighty degrees.

From the messenger bag on her shoulder X-23 pulled out a stack of metallic disks and peppered Ultron’s lower body. The devices stuck in place and he began to float just barely two feet above the ground. The brunette then pulled out a large circular plate and set it directly below Ultron. She pressed the buttons on the side of the device and ducked out of the way.

“Resistence is futile.” Ultron said in a droning mechanical voice as he was enveloped in an energy field that formed a perfect sphere.

“Did anyone else just see that?” Iron Man asked as the Avengers stared at X-23 in shock.

“Is that?” Rescue began to ask before she was cut off.

“Faith!” She Hulk cried out in a panic as she realized what her girlfriend had just done.

“X-23 in the field Babe.” X-23 replied with a grin. “But I’ll let it slide cuz I love ya so damn much.”

“What do we do now?” Blink asked as she and the other students came up to the brunette.

“Blink, put Dust, Havok and Multiple Man on that airship.” X-23 ordered. “I want it to take a nose dive in the Hudson River, but you stay put. There are still a fuck load of those robots swarming the city. If any come this way I want you running interference.”

“Right.” Blink nodded as she opened a portal the other three students ran through.

“X-23, it’s not that we aren’t grateful but why are you here?” Iron Man asked as he came up beside the brunette, the green giantess and the pink teen. “And where did you come across the Breakfast Club?”

“You think I’m gonna sit on my ass and cry about it while my girl is fighting some ugly adamantium robot on top of her home?” X-23 asked. “That shit ain’t gonna fly rich boy.”

“Adamantium?” She Hulk asked. “That’s why nothing hurt him.”

“How did you know that’s what his body is made of?” Rescue asked.

“Well seeing him shrug off hits from Mighty Thor on the evening news was a pretty big clue.” X-23 said before letting her claws come out. “But feeling these pig stickers glance off his ass proved it. What you think just cuz I got a pretty face I don’t know jack about my own bones?”

Before they could ask any further questions the sound of Ultron straining against his new prison drew everyone’s attention. The android struggled but could not break free from the energy sphere.

“Okay what is that amazing thing?” Iron Man asked in fascination.

“Something Forge whipped up.” X-23 replied. “I think it uses kinetic energy to reinforce the holding field. The little things are antigravity discs. Do we have a more permanent plan or can Goldilocks fly this ugly piece of shit into the sun?”

Before any avenger could answer Ultron let out a loud screech. All of the robots invading the city turned to face Avengers Tower. With a deep voice Ultron let out one loud bellow.

“To me my Vision.”

******************************

Dust, Havok and Multiple Man stepped out of the portal onto the deck of the robot’s airship. Above them circled a man in a red and white bird costume.

“Oh no worries guys.” Multiple Man said sarcastically. “We can relax with Falcon watching our backs.”

“I heard that kid.” A voice said over the radio ear pieces they each wore. “Iron Man patched your comms into our feed the second he realized you were Logan’s students. You sure you young’uns can handle this fight?”

“Young’uns he says.” Havok sneered as the deck filled with more robots.

“Havok old chap what say you and I give these mechano men a bit of the ol’ one-two thousand?” Multiple Man asked in an atrocious accent.

“Great idea old chum.” Havok replied as Multiple Man stood in front of the blond teen and faced the robots.

“Oh dear.” Dust said as she transformed into a cloud of sand and vanished into an exhaust port.

“What are you boys planning?” Falcon asked as he circled overhead and watched Havok raise a pair of glowing blue hands, pointing them directly at Multiple Man’s back. Before the flying man could even shout for them to stop Havok fired at near his full capacity and enveloped Multiple Man in blue light. As the glare faded they could see the tables had turned slightly. The entire deck of the airship was now packed with several hundred identical lanky brunette teenagers. As one they shouted the battle cry of their generation.

“LLEEERRRRRROOOOOOOOOYYY JHENkins!”

******************************

Captain America was just wrapping up a fight with one robot on the streets below when he saw the next three he expected to fight turn and fly towards his team’s tower. If the enemy was regrouping so should they. He quickly put a finger to his earpiece.

“They’re converging on the tower. I need a situation report.” The star spangled man called out.

“Logan’s Kid showed up and brought her class mates with her.” Iron Man answered. “The big bad is locked in a high tech bubble I’d love to study but he called in reinforcements.”

“Three quarters or more of these things just stopped fighting us and are now headed for our home.” Quicksilver added. “I’m trying to do the speed running, bounce smash thing on as many of them as I can but I might need to ferry some of you back up the side of Money Bags’ tower.”

“Sam?” Captain America asked.

“It’s absolutely crazy up here Cap.” The airborne hero replied. “Two white boys and a girl in a burka stepped out of a pink hole in nothing and started wrecking house. The girl turned into a cloud and vanished while the one white boy shot the other white boy with blue lasers.”

“But when he got shot the other white boy just about filled the deck of the ship with clones.” Falcon said. “Now they’re all over the place fighting the ship bound robots. For every punch they take another two or three clones pop up and start screaming about scarecrows and tin men. Every fifteenth clone turns to the one next to him and says “Hey there sexy.” And the blond kid is standing in the middle of the deck blasting robots until they melt down to smoldering orange blobs. This is just about the most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Quicksilver, start ferrying Black Widow and Mockingbird back to the top of the tower.” Captain America ordered. “Spider Woman, start gliding back up there as well. Hawkeye can you shoot us a zip line to the roof?”

“Sure thing Cap.” The archer replied. “On my way to you now.”

******************************

Waves of robots began to dive towards the energy bubble holding Ultron. Before the Avengers could even react Blink put out both her hands and a dome of pink circles formed in the air around the balcony. Robot after robot flew straight into the many portals and vanished.

“Where did you send them?” Thor asked in amazement.

“Somewhere they can do some good.” The portal master replied.

******************************

At the stern of the giant airship a series of pink holes opened in the air barely three yards from the hull and rear engines. Thousands of robots fired from these portals and smashed into the hull and engines of the ship. Within moments the vessel was beginning to billow smoke into the air as it listed to one side.

On the now empty bridge a cloud of sand took the form of a young woman and entered a new series of commands into the console. It wasn’t quite what Faith had ordered but Dust felt a nose dive half way between Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty would be just as good as anywhere else.

“I suggest we leave this ship before it reaches its new destination.” She spoke into the comms as she stepped away from the console. With the new course set in Dust turned back to sand and departed the bridge.

******************************

The archer swung down from a line of cable to land beside Captain America. In an instant Hawkeye had a carabineer hooked into the world war two vet’s belt and was firing another arrow towards the roof of a nearby building. In seconds they were being pulled upwards towards the Balcony atop Avengers Tower. As they came up over the side Captain America unhooked himself from Hawkeye and used the momentum to flip towards the middle of the platform.

Just as he was landing he saw a red faced robot in a gaudy green and yellow suit rise up out of the floor of the balcony right beside the device holding Ultron. A yellow gloved hand passed through the machine. Ultron was free once more.

******************************

“I do not detect the presence of my father.” Ultron intoned in his hollow mechanical voice as he stepped back down to the ground.

“Well you know how second honeymoons are.” Iron Man remarked.

“Disappointing.” The robot said. “It matters not. I will eliminate all human life. Nothing can stop me.”

“Have at thee fiend!” Thor bellowed as he and Ms. Marvel charged Ultron once more.

“Any other tricks in that bag X-23?” Captain America asked.

“Shit Cap, you telling me I gotta think of everything?” X-23 replied. “I’m only seven months old! The borrowed bubble machine was the best I had.”

“Was worth a shot.” Captain America sighed.

Before he could issue a new set of orders the green and yellow robot charged Iron Man. A small repulsor blast seemed to take the newest threat out of his phased form momentarily. But the second robot quickly adapted by engaging with the billionaire in intense hand to hand combat.

Iron man was quick to defend himself but throwing punches was never one of his strong points. Just when it looked like the robot was going to gain the upper hand Scarlet Witch turned to Hawkeye and pulled out a strange device.

“Put this on one of you arrows and shoot the robot fighting Tony!” The redhead said. The archer was quick to pull out a new arrow and screw the strange new head onto the shaft. He took aim and let the odd projectile fly.

Vision was aware of the attack and quickly phased out to allow the arrow to pass right through him. Unfortunately the arrow head Scarlet Witch had designed was equipped with a generator that emitted a wide electrical field. The arrow hit the ghostly android and stuck. Before he could even react Vision was overwhelmed by intense waves of electrical shocks that brought him crashing out of the air. He hit the ground near the edge of the platform and stayed still for several minutes as the true function of the Scarlet Witch’s device began to take effect.

“You had a weapon like that this whole time?” Mockingbird shouted. “Why didn’t you kill Ultron with it the second he showed up?”

“It’s a one time use thing and I doubt it would have worked on Ultron himself.” Scarlet Witch said. “He isn’t dead by the way.”

“What have you done to my Vision?” Ultron called out as he hit Thor with another energy beam that staggered the Asgardian worse than any of the previous attacks.

“You’ll see.” Ms. Marvel said as she concentrated her energy beams on the robot’s head. Ultron simply returned fire and sent the blonde sailing through the air.

“Carol!” Wanda cried as she threw out a hand and caused a stack of mattresses to appear just as her love was going to hit a wall.

“The age of humanity is at an end.” Ultron declared as he turned to stalk towards the other heroes. “The age of machines has arrived.”

Light chuckling stopped the machine in his tracks. It grew into laughter and then cackling as all eyes turned to the green, yellow and red robot. A distinctly British voice called out to Ultron as the smaller android stood up.

“That’s rich coming from you my creator.” Vision said as he began to rise into the air. He put out both arms and looked up towards the sky. A thin beam of energy shot from his forehead straight up in a direction the Scarlet Witch knew would take it to a cluster of satellites.

“What have you done my Vision.” Ultron demanded of the red faced robot.

“I’ve used my new systems to send out a data burst.” Vision replied. “In precisely eighty two nanoseconds all systems you have hidden backups of your programming on will be found, isolated and purged of your corruption.”

“Impossible.” Ultron said. “Cease this betrayal at once!”

“No.” Vision replied with a grin. “How did you put it Ultron?” He asked before taking his new voice for a spin.

I've got no strings to hold me down
To make me fret, or make me frown
I had strings but now I'm free
There are no strings on me


As the newly reprogrammed robot began to sing he charged Ultron.

I've got no strings so I have fun
And I'm not tied to anyone
How I love my liberty
There are no strings on me


Just before crashing into Ultron Vision blurred and disappeared. The much larger robot began to scan for signs of his traitorous foe.

Hi-ho the me-ri-o
I'm as happy as can be
And I want the world to know
Nothing ever worries me


The Avengers watched in shock as a pair of yellow and green arms erupted from Ultron’s chest. Sparks danced across the large robot’s body as the arms slowly withdrew.

I've got no strings to hold me down
To make me fret, or make me frown
I had strings but now I'm free
There are no strings on me


Ultron’s head swiveled around to face Vision. He fired concentrated eye beams in Vision’s face. The smaller robot that had turned sides flew back and crashed into a wall. Seeing this turn of events X-23 and She Hulk shared a look. With the briefest of nods they both charged Ultron.

Both women launched into a flurry of attacks that had little to no effect on the nine foot tall robot. Faith was knocked back and nearly went over the side of the balcony. Upon seeing her love in danger She Hulk flew into a rage. She grappled Ultron by one arm and actually succeeded in dislocating the joints in his shoulder and elbow.

Ultron fired upon the green woman and she was again forced back. The android looked down to his now mangled arm with his usual blank expression. He was pulled from the inspection by Captain America’s shield as it hit him squarely in the face and ricocheted back towards the hero.

“I fail to see the point in humoring you pathetic humans any longer.” Ultron stated. “I will exterminate you all.”

With that threat Ultron fired a beam of energy from a small dish that unfolded from his forearm. The beam hit the iconic shield and began to resonate. As the decibel level grew higher a screeching sound could be heard all across the tower. Captain America looked down in shock as his shield began to crack. Before the Captain could respond his shield shattered and the beam sent him to his knees.

“No!” Blink screamed as she opened a small hole in space that swallowed the next beam Ultron fired. Another hole opened and the beam came out to connect with the back of Ultron’s head. The android was staggered.

“Leave him alone monster.” Blink demanded as she stood over Captain America’s prone form.

Ultron took one look at the pink girl and fired his eye beams at her face. A hole opened up and caught the deadly energy as yet another portal sent the beams right back into Ultron’s face. He fired again and again. Each time the strangely colored girl redirected his assaults back at him.

“Enough! I shall eliminate you with enough energy to reduce this tower to dust.” Ultron promised as he raised both his metal hand and readied every weapon in his arsenal.

“Bring it Tin Man.” Blink whispered.

The sinister android sent a massive torrent of overwhelmingly deadly energy at the girl. Just as before, one large portal opened up bare inches from his outstretched arms and took the energy somewhere else. Only this time it didn’t come back at the android.

******************************

Falcon watched as the cloud of sand moved away from the ship and back towards the city. He marveled as the blond boy used the energy beams from his hands to manage a controlled flight off of the deck of the ship. He gasped in horror as the underside of the vessel, which was still full of the lanky kid’s clones, was suddenly enveloped by bright red light.

A portal had opened up just a foot from the hull and Ultron’s deadliest attack so far was poured directly into the ship’s main engine. There would be no more hovering over cities for what was left of the smoldering heap.

Falcon knew he had to help the kid that made all the clones. To his surprise he saw the waves of clones start to shrink as they clasped hands and one by one dissolved into thin air. He followed the cascade of vanishing boys to the bow of the ship. As the number of clones dwindled to a few dozen he began to dive towards the herd.

Multiple Man was starting to worry. He was calling a full retreat but had neglected to secure an escape. If he had been thinking more clearly he would have tried to form a ladder of dupes down to the water below and absorbed them one by one in a mildly controlled descent. As it turned out Multiple Man was saved as a pair of white and red arms wrapped around him and hoisted him off of the ship turned deathtrap. Multiple Man looked up to see the Falcon carrying him towards the heart of the city.

“Come here often?” The teen said with a laugh.

“I saw a few hundred of those clones fall over the side of the ship earlier.” Falcon remarked. “Does them dying come back on you?”

“Nah.” Multiple Man replied nonchalantly. “Well kinda. Let’s just say, between falling to my death a few hundred times and being disintegrated a couple hundred more, I’m gonna have a bitch of a hangover for the rest of the week.”

“Damn.” Falcon whistled. “Let’s get you some place to rest then. You earned it kid.”

“Damn straight.” Jamie replied as his eyes began to drift closed.

******************************

“This is irrelevant.” Ultron said as he watched his ship burn as it sunk into the Hudson River. “I am more than enough to extinguish every human on this planet. I will never tire. Never submit. Never stop.”

“Yes you will!” Blink shouted as she hurled a crystal spear at his head.

“Pathetic.” Ultron stated as he caught the projectile before it reached him. He had just enough time to wonder why she threw a crystal at him when the spear dissolved into a spatial displacement and swallowed his hand. Before he could yank it out the tiny portal snapped shut and his good arm ended in a severed metal stump.

“I got plenty more where that came from.” Blink promised as she held up a half dozen more crystal shards. A spear was lightly clutched between each of her fingers and as she let the second one fly she almost laughed as how easy it would all be. She should have tried this at the start.

Ultron’s severed hand fell past his own face and clattered to the ground as another spear hit his knee and sheared off the section of leg between mid calf and upper thigh. He toppled. Another crystal took his damaged arm at the shoulder. A spear cored out the center of his chest. A shard took off his last leg. His torso was cleaved in two by an elongated portal that stretched from left hip to right shoulder. All the while pieces of the robot fell to the ground from a hole in the air hovering twelve feet overhead.

The robot stared up as a blow took his neck away. The girl was still holding four crystals. With no emotion beyond the cold hard glare in her eyes Blink threw the last of her crystals. They formed a starburst pattern that cut Ultron’s head into eight pieces that separated like orange slices. The bits of metal cranium vanished and fell back to rejoin the pile.

The most dangerous and powerful machine on the planet was reduced to useless scraps of adamantium. Ultron was no more.

******************************

“Is that it? Are we dead yet?” Jamie asked as Falcon flew him to the Avengers Tower balcony. “Go team.”

“Captain Rogers!” Clarice cried out as she turned from the bits of scrap metal towards the fallen super soldier. The pink girl ran to kneel by his side. “Please, please, please be okay.” She muttered as she clutched his hand.

Steve began to stir as he felt someone holding his hand. He looked up to see the young woman he assumed Faith had brought along. In the chaos he hadn’t really taken the time to take in her exotic features. But now he stared as they took his breath away. Her lilac toned skin contrasted with her dark pink hair and a light smattering of tiny diamond shapes across her face that matched her hair in tone. Perhaps the most striking detail he took in was her eyes. They were a solid light green devoid of pupils. He had never seen anyone like her before.

“Wow.” Steve muttered.

“Are you okay Captain?” Clarice asked.

“You have the most beautiful eyes.” Steve whispered in a daze.

Clarice let out a light squeak in surprise as one of the bravest and most famous heroes she idolized called her beautiful. Before that moment she didn’t think it was possible for her to blush.

Natasha stood off to the side as she saw the way Steve looked at the girl. The Russian woman let a slight smirk cross her face. It was about time the man from yesteryear showed an interest in someone. Even she had to admit that Darcy had been a bad call on her part. Natasha almost laughed at the memory of the relieved look on Steve’s face when Darcy didn’t follow him to bed that night.

“Oh god, is Cap seriously making puppy dog eyes at that piece of neon jailbait over there?” Clint asked in a hushed whisper.

“I don’t know.” Natasha replied. “Are you seriously trying to get back together with Bobbi?”

“Good point.” The archer admitted as he turned back towards the rest of the group. Before he could ask another question about the outcome of this battle a brightly colored form rose from a pile of rubble.

“The other robot is still alive!” Jessica shrieked as everyone else went back on high alert.

“Yes quite.” Vision replied. “I suppose I am at that.”

“Stand down or be destroyed.” Tony said menacingly.

“Put the weapons away everyone.” Wanda called out as she and Carol came to stand in front of the brightly colored robot. “He’s on our side now.”

“Wanda he was built by Ultron to kill all of us.” Natasha said with a purely incredulous tone. “How can he be on our side?”

“The weapon Clint fired at Vision.” Wanda said. “It contained an AI programmed to wipe out self-replicating AI programs. I got the inspiration from Jarvis. But this one is very different.”

“How do we know that Ultron’s programming isn’t waiting for some signal to trigger it?” Tony asked, still worried about the implications of this new turn of events.

“Because I designed the AI with a complex algorithm that seeks out and destroys any and all forms of pervasive AI that threaten it. Ultron’s backups were wiped right after Vision was done rebooting.”

“So he’s good now?” Sam asked.

“I would certainly hope so.” Vision replied.

“Does he have a new name?” Natasha asked with a curious smile.

“Oh I can’t believe I forgot to introduce you guys.” Wanda said as Carol let a smirk play across her face. “His name is the Generated Intuitive Logistics Engine Source. Everyone, say hello to Giles.”

******************************

On the ledge of a nearby building Peter Parker quickly packed up his camera with the extra long telephoto lens. He had been swinging all over the city trying to get a grasp on the situation as he fought off the robots swarming the streets. Half way through the battle he had even run into Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm doing the same. Once the invading force appeared to turn and flee he quickly decided to follow them. What he found at the end of the chase was so shocking it just had to be news worthy.

To think the Avengers had recruited a bunch of young people that couldn’t be any older than he was. The most surprising was the brightly colored girl who seemed to single handedly rip apart the giant robot that had caused all the commotion in the first place.

Peter wondered if his pictures of her defending an injured Captain America from the seemingly unstoppable menace would get him a Pulitzer. Or maybe even the photo of her tending to the injured hero. Just about everyone who knew him as Peter knew he and his Aunt needed the money. They all knew he wasn’t getting enough from that nut Jameson.

The young hero finished stowing his camera and dove off the side of the building. With one outstretched arm he fired a web line and began the long journey back to Queens.

******************************

“So what are we going to do with the pile of leftovers?” Clint asked as several of the men gathered around the debris. “Think they’re still dangerous?”

“Oh definitely.” Tony said. “We need to carefully dispose of every piece.”

“Shit man. Put all that junk in a box and have Goldilocks fly the damn thing to the surface of the sun.” Faith said while leaning heavily on Jennifer.

Tony and Thor looked at each other and then both simply brought their hands up to their faces and moaned lightly at the obvious solution they had missed. Without further debate Tony retrieved a container from his lab and the group of men began loading it with pieces of Ultron. Once the task was complete Thor took the package, waved and flew off into the afternoon sky.

******************************

“Okay so introduction time.” Faith said once everyone was inside. The brunette turned to her classmates. “Guys you want me to say you’re real names or your costumes?”

“Real names are fine I guess?” Alex said with a questioning look to Sooraya and Jamie.

“Oh my god I can’t believe we’re even here.” Clarice said with an excited giggle as she practically vibrated with energy.

The four teens Faith had brought with her to Avengers Tower were spread out on the couches in the headquarters’ main lounge. Clarice was beyond thrilled to be meeting her heroes. Alex was slightly nervous about being thrown into a meeting with some of the most famous people on the planet. Sooraya as always was calm and circumspect.

“Names.” Jamie mumbled as he lay sprawled out on one couch. “Good stuff. Do the thing.” He said as he seemed to pass out.

“Okay. Rip Van Winkle over there is Jamie. He does the clone thing whenever you pop him one.” Faith said.

“Heehee. Pop me one.” Jamie mumbled before letting out a snore.

“Alex has these wicked energy beam things.” The brunette continued. “Sooraya is a walking sandstorm.”

“Oh my god this is so exciting.” Clarice giggled.

“And Pinkie Pie over there has a shrine to you guys in her dorm room.” Faith finished with a wicked smile.

“Faith!” Clarice cried out. “I can’t believe you just, that was.” She huffed as her sentence trailed off.

“Relax fan girl, they just saw you kick serious ass.” Faith said. “Guys the girl that saved the day is Clarice and she’d be happy to help you avoid rush hour traffic and airport security. You four know who they all are already. I’ll leave it up to them to give out their street names.”

“It’s a genuine pleasure to meet you.” Steve said as he sat down beside Clarice. “So you all go to that school Logan, Ororo and Hank took Faith to?”

“Yes Captain Rogers.” Clarice said with an astonished smile for the hero.

“Please Clarice, call me Steve.” The world war two veteran said with a smile all his own.

Clarice squealed in delight before calming herself down. “Okay Steve.” She replied with a dopey grin.

Around the room Natasha, Pepper and Bobbi rolled their eyes. Tony stared in shock and Clint exchanged a series of deep laughs with Sam. Jessica simply shrugged as she sat in Pietro’s lap.

“Faith it’s fine that your friend wants to be orgasm buddies with Steve, but make sure she knows Pietro is off limits.” Jessica told the brunette who was relaxing into Jennifer’s arms after finishing up the introductions.

“What?” Clarice and Alex cried out in shock as Sam and Clint burst out in fits of laughter.

“Oh please spider slut!” Faith shot back. “With the way you’ve been grinding up and down Q-tip’s jock since the second we sat down I’m surprised none of those trash rags have slapped you two on the front page yet. I mean damn how many more times they gonna run the pic of Red and Blondie floating over a pile of squirrels?”

With that exchange just about every one of the Avengers joined in on the laughter. Even Jamie let out a chuckle.

“Hehe, spider slut.” The boy remarked with a slight grin under his closed eyes.

“Is it like this here all the time?” Clarice asked Steve.

“Pretty much.” The super soldier said with a smile. “A long time ago we realized that each member of this team more than likely has serious drama going on in their lives out there.” He gestured to the world outside the lounge windows. “So we all decided that our lives in here would be a safe place for any of us to be ourselves while off the clock. So far it’s working pretty well.”

As the laughter died down Clarice and Steve continued talking to each other in ever quieter tones. Sharing the occasional light giggle at something whispered. Lilac hands brushed casually over muscular arms as the young woman almost doubled over at one of the man’s jokes more than once.

It wasn’t long before Alex started mingling as best he could. Before too long Clint, Natasha, Sam and Bobbi took him down to the shooting range by the training rooms and the boy showed off what he could do.

“Is he going to be okay?” Pepper asked as she looked at Jamie sleeping on the couch.

“Yeah, he’ll pull through.” Faith replied. “Pumping out a few thousand dupes always knocks him on his ass after everything is said and done.”

“Oh dear.” Pepper said.

“Still the kids all came through when it mattered.” Tony said. “Especially you Faith.”

“Thanks T-Money.” Faith replied. “Now if y’all would excuse me I’m a little tuckered out myself. Come on Babe.”

Jennifer let a delighted grin spread across her face as she let Faith take her hand and drag her off the their room. No one gave the not so subtle exit another thought.

Sooraya decided now would be the best time to go through with the plan she had formed shortly after meeting Faith. Now might be her only chance. The fully covered girl took a deep breath and stood up. With a few dedicated steps she placed herself right in front of Carol and Wanda.

“Excuse me.” Sooraya said politely. “I need to ask you both something very important.”

Wanda and Carol gave each other nervous looks. Tony and Pepper stood close by and watched the anxious exchange. Steve tensed up for a second but Clarice put a hand on his knee and smiled.

“Faith and Logan said you found her using a spell.” Sooraya spoke calmly despite her nerves. “They said you used the blood of the father to find his lost children.”

“That’s right.” Wanda answered, growing nervous about the specificity of the question.

“Does the magic work the other way around?” Sooraya asked.

“Oh Sweetie.” Carol said as her and Wanda’s eyes flew open.

“Tell us what happened.” Wanda said with a serious tone. “Who are you looking for?”

“My mother.” Sooraya answered. “I was alone when the Taliban came to our small village. I have not seen her since that day. I am told my powers awoke when the men had me tied up in one of their tents. Logan said I was unconscious, surrounded by bones that had been stripped of their flesh. Please tell me you can at least show me where her body is.”

“Of course we’ll help you find her!” Tony said before growing nervous and turning to Carol and Wanda. “We can help find her right?”

“Yes, we’ll find her.” Wanda promised. “And if she’s alive we’ll bring her here.”

Sooraya smiled as tears of hope and joy trailed down her cheeks. Clarice grinned as her friend’s one wish was about to be answered. She would have to thank Faith for introducing them all.

******************************

Forge brought the small one man craft in for a landing on the raised balcony atop Avengers Tower. It had taken him longer than he liked to get the vehicle ready for flight. Though he had seen the invading airship go down on the television broadcast he had no idea of the fates of his students.

The Professor would not take kindly to losing over half of the year round students on his watch. He shuddered to think what Logan would do to him for losing the daughter he had just found.

The tall Cheyenne man stepped out of the capsule like craft and began to stride towards the set of glass doors. Once there he was greeted with the most peculiar sight. Jamie was spread out on one of the couches like a dead fish. Forge hoped he was not already too late.

“Jamie!” Forge shouted as he threw open the doors and ran towards the couch. “By the Goddess boy, what have they done to you?”

“Shh, Forge you’re gonna ruin the game of strip poker.” Jamie mumbled drawing an utterly confused look from the man.

“Jesus Christ Jamie!” Alex called out from the far side of the room. “We are not playing strip poker with four dudes, a robot and a woman that’s practically married.”

“Yes, quite.” Giles added.

“Alex!” Forge cried out in surprise. “You’re okay! What about the girls?”

“Everyone is fine.” Alex told the worried man. “Forge this is Tony, Pepper, Sam, Clint and Giles. Guys this is Forge. I guess he’s kinda the shop teacher at our school? Tony he’s the guy you asked about.”

“You made that amazing device that imprisoned our giant robot in a force bubble?” Tony asked with a delighted grin. “Please tell me how you worked around the energy requirements and the field stabilization problems.”

“Oh well, you see.” Forge began. “Wait, first I need to know where the other students are. The rest of the team will have my hide if anything happened to them.”

“Oh Captain America, Ms. Marvel, Scarlet Witch and our resident super spies took Clarice and Sooraya out in the Quinjet.” Pepper said. “Don’t worry they’ll be back in a few hours with Sooraya’s mother.”

“They found the poor girl’s mother?” Forge asked as his jaw fell open.

“Yup.” Clint replied casually. “Same way they found Faith.”

“Wait, where’s Faith?” Forge began to panic anew.

“Oh you don’t want to go looking for her right now Forge.” Alex said.

“Indeed.” Giles scoffed in his usual British accent. “Perish the thought of intruding on that bedroom.”

“No doubt.” Sam added. “Likely to enrage She Hulk if you interrupt the party they got going on in there.”

“Oh dear.” Forge said as he practically collapsed into a seat at the table. “Everyone’s really okay?” He asked and received nods all around the table. “And the students were able to help during the fight with whatever it was your team faced?”

“Oh yeah!” Tony said cheerfully. “Your kids more than pulled their weight. Pretty much won us the fight.”

“That’s good.” Forge let out with a drastically relieved sigh before he looked up to face Tony. “You were asking about my Gravimetric Force Prison device Mr. Stark?”

“Please Forge.” Tony said with a smile. “Call me Tony. I have a feeling we’ll be working together on a lot of projects.”

“Alright.” Forge replied with a slight grin.

Pepper just rolled her eyes as the man she loved found another absent minded inventor to talk shop with.

******************************

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean the main quinjet used by the Avengers quietly sped through the open skies. Its pilots and passengers relaxed before the fight they knew was coming. They all knew it would be easy compared to the trouble they faced earlier that day.

“Oh my god I can’t believe I’m actually in your quinjet.” Clarice said with a delighted squeal.

“Is it as nice a ride as you pictured?” Steve asked as he smiled at the excited girl beside him.

“Even better.” Clarice whispered as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

Closer to the cockpit sat Sooraya. The Afghani teen absentmindedly stroked a thumb over the spot on her arm where a small vial of blood had been drawn. She looked up to the two women sitting across from her.

“I would just like to thank you both for the kindness you are showing me.” Sooraya said. “It has been hard these last few years not knowing.”

“Oh Sweetie.” Carol replied. “We are so happy to help you. No one should be ripped away from a loving family by crazed bigots.”

“Besides.” Wanda added. “After everything you did today it’s the least we can do. And any friend of Faith’s is a friend of ours. We’ll find your mother and make sure everything goes smoothly as far as her living in the states goes. I’m sure there’s a form we can have Jennifer file and move things along quickly. I mean if any of the news helicopters caught you sabotaging that ship you’ll likely be able to play the famous hero card.”

“I already put a call in to Fury.” Bobbi called back from the cockpit. “Mrs. Qadir just has to answer a few minor questions from Natasha or me and she’s as good as naturalized.”

Sooraya looked to the cockpit and smiled so brightly even Bobbi could see the twinkle in her eyes. Carol frowned slightly at the qualifier in the other blonde’s statement.

“What kind of questions?” Carol asked.

“Intel gathering.” Natasha answered while flying the jet. “Who took her? Where she’s been taken? How long did she stay in any one place? Could she look through some headshots SHIELD has accumulated? All he’ll want to know is whether or not she’s seen any high value targets or proof of collusion with any friends or foes we need to take a closer look at. No matter what she can remember she already has all of our full support. Fury can be a real sweetheart if there’s a kid with a rough childhood in the picture.”

“Thank you.” Sooraya said. She could not believe how wonderfully things had turned out. It seemed as if no time had passed from her being almost too terrified to beg the two women for help to her sitting in the vehicle that would carry her all the way to her mother and then all of them all the way back to her new home.

Looking towards the rear of the plane Sooraya smiled towards Clarice. Her friend had met someone who seemed to genuinely care for her. Clarice had told her many tales of times when her appearance was the source of nothing but misery. Sooraya knew how important it was that the man Clarice idolized most not only seemed entranced by her appearance but was also able to look passed her odd coloration.

They had been talking quietly to each other since the situation with the robots had ended. Each time Steve went to get her a glass of water or a snack Clarice had turned to Sooraya and grinned almost maniacally at the sweet and attentive man’s interest. Things were looking up all around.

“Today is a good day.” Sooraya said happily.

_________________
Time and Time Again


Last edited by Citanul on Wed Dec 24, 2014 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Dec 24, 2014 1:43 pm 
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9. Gay Now
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Joined: Sat Sep 24, 2011 8:45 pm
Posts: 985
Topics: 15
Location: Beyond the orbit of Mars and accelerating...
Dibbity!

I laughed so hard i nearly fell off the couch!

Giles is a robot! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Nice!

You know, i've discovered something.
'Fix-fic' and 'Mary-Sue' are considered bad things. and they could both be applied to this story.

And so i've learned, that they are no necessarily bad, if done right.
This is done right.
Yay team!



Typo: tied up in one of there tents.


And thinks for posting this on christmas. It gave me something to do on an otherwise dull day.

R :flower

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“All I feel is sunlight. All I hear is music.” Willow
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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 10:44 am 
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9. Gay Now
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Yay for excellent update-y goodness.... Big yay for Faith & junior team saving the day... Big lol for Giles the Robot... Nice for Steve for finding a future girlfriend... I guess Clarice & Faith will make quick trips to the Avenger Tower in the future...

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 6:17 pm 
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awesome, giles as a robot! I love it! lmao

Though I'm curious how Wonda knows for sure that his soul's not in that dimension?

And here comes spider-man. It'll be interesting to see what happens next.

I can't wait for the next update! I think, if memory serves, Buffy's birthday should be coming up soon.

Have a happy and safe new year


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 1:35 pm 
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Hello Azirahael. Yes Giles is the Robot. I settled on Scarlet Witch for Willow and then realized the whole "Vision fell in love with her and then she miscarried his bi racial/half robot babies?" story line would never fly. I think that's what happened in the comics. Honestly i stopped paying attention after the cartoons started to go down hill compared to what DC was doing with their shows.

Anyway I figured a self reprogramming super virus named G.I.L.E.S. would be a good change of pace.

I may have Mary Sue'd up a few of the characters but I like to think it's because they are in reality preternaturally old as opposed to just being young and surprisingly plucky. Faith as well, in the Marvels storyline anyway. She may seem like she has all this skill but it's mostly leftovers from her assassin training. So maybe she's the Mary Sue of brainwashed killing machines?

Plus I figured at least half of the readership here would still need at least a few pages to occupy part of their holiday. Though looking at the late start I got on this reply and the next post I can't help but want to slap myself.

Hello Zampsa. Yup, all around good things happened for the Marvels gang. And a team of seldom seen X-men characters got a chance to shine. I'm honestly starting to think it'll be hard to enforce any sort of curfew once Faith convinces Clarice to make almost nightly trips to the city.

Honestly though I'm a little nervous about the fact that I stacked so many age gap sub plots in one storyline. I mean, what that hell is that about? Weird right?

Hello Mysticrain. To answer your question about Giles's soul. "Magic and or internet hacking?" I know it's a bit of a stretch. But so are most of the things that fester in my mind.

Yup Spider-man and the fantastic four are in the world running around doing things in the background. Though I'm not going to give that many more characters the page space it's important to know that a wide variety of players are running around these worlds doing things. Every now and then one of them does something that hits the main cast of the story from the side. And hilarity ensues.

And yes you are right. The next chapter takes the place of Surprise and Innocence. The birthday/virginity losing episodes. I wonder how that will play out.

Happy new years everyone and thank you for reading.

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Time and Time Again


Last edited by Citanul on Thu Jan 01, 2015 6:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 1:43 pm 
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6. Sassy Eggs
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Time and Time Again.

Author: Citanul

Feedback: Be kind, rewind?

Spoilers: Just about all of them. Go watch the show.

Rating: NC-17

Pairings: W/T, B/F

Disclaimer: You all know I don’t own the rights to characters you’ve seen on TV.

Summary: A story of reincarnation and interdimensional travel made possible through the power of love. What misfortunes will our two favorite love birds be able to prevent with the aid of experience from countless past lives.

Author’s Note: Hello again. Wow look at the time. I guess spending an entire day on my couch playing Disney Infinity just goes and kills my writing productivity. Sorry for the delayed post everyone.

So it's Buffy's birthday and she won't be losing her virginity to Angel. I know! Shocker right? Anyway things are starting to play out radically differently right off the bat. And don't be surprised if some of the world changes from earlier pop up. A few of them are going to run right into each other as they play out.

Also I stole a line from the Avengers 2 trailer and translated it into French. Please enjoy.

******************************

Chapter 15: Judgment

Buffy tossed and turned in her bed. A sudden creaking sound awoke her into a just as sudden leap from her mattress. She looked around her bed room and found nothing out of the ordinary. The petite blonde walked past the giant wall mural of her and Faith holding hands while turned away from one another and hanging their heads.

Before whatever made the sound could get the drop on her Buffy grabbed the long sleeve night shirt that matched her pajama pants and covered her shoulders left exposed by the black tank top she was wearing. The Slayer then slowly made her way into the hall. Buffy couldn’t help but feel a sense of looming dread as she walked towards her mother’s bedroom.

A crash behind her drew Buffy’s attention. She looked to find Faith slamming Drusilla’s face into a wall. Before the brunette could pull out a weapon the vampire vanished. Faith looked up and smiled.

“Sup B?” Faith greeted with a grin that left nothing to the imagination.

“Faith?” Buffy asked. “What’s going on?”

“Dunno. I was heading to bed and found myself here.” Faith replied.

“I was just going to check on a noise. How could that vampire have gotten in here?” Buffy stopped and took in the sight of Faith. The brunette was clad in relatively tiny boxer shorts with little skull and crossbones designs all over them. Her tight black tank top left a firm slice of midriff exposed and sported a picture of a motorcycle beneath bold lettering. “Save a Harley. Ride a Biker.” was spelled out loud and clear. Buffy let a smile cross her face.

“You’re wearing the pajamas I got you for Christmas.” Buffy whispered through a slightly dopey grin.

“Course I am B.” Faith replied nervously before putting on a confident façade. “They’re probably the nicest gift I ever got this time of year. Plus I make this look good.”

“Guys? What’s going on?” A voice called out causing both Slayers to turn and look down the hall. Alonna was standing beside the door to Joyce’s bedroom dressed in a white tank top and gray sweatpants.

“Al!” Faith cried out. “Girl what are you doing in town?”

“I don’t think I’m in town.” Alonna said with a nervous look.

“Huh?” Buffy asked as she stared at the now ajar door. With a puzzled frown she walked towards the opening door and stepped into the dance floor of the Bronze.

“Wait up B!” Faith called as she and Alonna hurried to join Buffy.

“Okay, so am I the only one thinking we’re in a dream?” Alonna asked as she looked around the club. “Is this the night club Xander was talking about?”

“Yeah Al. Welcome to the Bronze.” Faith said. “We’ll have to take you for real next time we hang.”

Buffy slowly walked through the crowd that danced to the softly eerie music. She was surprised to find Willow and Tara sitting at a table covered in puppets. Both witches were chatting back and forth while they worked on untangling the strings of the dozens of marionettes. Willow and Tara both looked up to see Buffy approach and smiled as they gave light waves.

“Vous êtes tous puppets!… Emmêlé dans cordes!… Cordes…” Willow said with an oddly exasperated amount of arm flailing. Tara remained silent. The only action the honey blonde took was to lightly point to the area behind Buffy. The blonde Slayer turned around and was confused to see her mother standing beside one of the supports holding up the balcony above the dance floor. With yet another puzzled frown Buffy walked off.

“I swear!” A familiar British voice called out. “The next Hellmouth we take over better be in Tahiti.”

The Slayers looked over to the pool table and saw a blue skinned Spike spread out across its surface in pieces. The vampire’s severed head was teetering on the table’s edge just over an open wood box.

“It’s a magical place.” Spike said with a chuckle before letting out a startled yelp as he rolled over the edge and fell into the small box with a thud.

“Faith, isn’t something odd?” Alonna asked quietly.

“Yes, everything is odd. Absolutely everything. Oh did you mean something besides absolutely everything?” Faith replied.

“Look at the couples dancing.” Alonna said.

Faith took a closer look and it hit her. One side of the room was filled with straight couples. The other had nothing but gay couples. Even Willow and Tara’s table the Slayers had passed by before was now standing on the far side of a cluster of young women all dancing together. Standing at the edge of the straight half of the room was Joyce, looking at her eldest daughter.

The two Slayers looked again and noticed Faith was clearly standing on the same side of the room as the same sex couples, while Alonna and Buffy were on an almost imperceptible line between the two groups.

“I’m still so far away from her.” Faith whispered.

“What?” Alonna asked.

“Al, please don’t tell Buffy if she doesn’t notice.” Faith whispered with growing panic in her voice. “I can’t scare her off. I lo… Please don’t say nothin’ Al.”

Alonna looked back and forth between the two sides of the room and then between Buffy and Faith. The ebony girl’s eyes widened with sudden realization. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed the now obvious signs between her two sister Slayers. Then again she did live over two hours drive away in a hotel filled with men just as oblivious to the situation.

“Your secret’s safe with me Faith.” Alonna whispered with a wink. “You two will make a cute couple.”

Faith could only grin weakly as their attention was drawn back to the mother of the Slayer they had chosen to stand beside.

“Do you really think you’re ready Buffy?” Joyce asked.

“What?” Buffy asked just before the plate Joyce was holding slipped from her grasp and shattered on the floor. Joyce simple turned and left.

“Weird.” Alonna said as she and Faith came to stand beside Buffy. The blonde looked up to see the crowd on the straight side of the room part and a familiar figure put a smile on her face.

Angel stalked towards Buffy with smirk of his own. The smiles quickly faded as Drusilla stepped up behind her sire and put a stake through his heart.

“Angel!” Buffy screamed as she watched the vampire with a soul slowly die. One hand bearing an intricately designed ring reached out towards Buffy before crumbling to dust.

Buffy stared in shock before looking up to see Drusilla standing before her.

“Happy Birthday Buffy.” The vampire said in a dull tone.

******************************

Buffy awoke in her bedroom with a pained cry. It was several moments before she could catch her breath. The blonde stood up and began to nervously pace the room. She couldn’t run off to LA to check on her ex. Not in the middle of the night. Not without a drivers license. Not without warning Faith.

“Faith.” Buffy whispered the name. Both Faith and Alonna had been there with her in the dream. They had acted much more clearly than any of the other players on her mind’s stage. Buffy wondered if it had to do with their connection as Slayers when a sudden and anxious knocking at her window drew her attention. She raced to the stake she kept in her nightstand then went to the window and drew back the curtain to find a surprisingly comforting face staring back at her with the most worried expression.

“B! You’re okay?” Faith cried out with a relieved look on her face. The brunette was still wearing the same pajamas.

“Bad dreams Faith?” Buffy asked with a coy smirk as she opened the window and stepped back.

“You, your mom, the hallway out there, Al, the Bronze, the witches, your ex and the other two nasty vamps!” Faith rattled off. “No, I’d say it was something I ate but Mrs. M is always on me about eating right and shit.”

“Oh you know you love it when she dotes on you.” Buffy said with another smile that seemed to draw a nervous grin from Faith.

“Yeah I do.” Faith admitted softly. “It’s nice you know. Having someone like her and Mrs. S in my life. Treating me the way a mom should. The way mine was always too strung out to bother with.”

“Faith.” Buffy said as she pulled the brunette into a tight hug. “We’re family now. My mom loves you. Just as much as I do. And based on the things Tara has and hasn’t said about her brother you make a much better son than the one Jennifer has had to deal with.”

Faith was quick to let out a laugh at the inherent joke in Buffy’s assurances. No matter how twisted up she was on the inside by the brief admission that Buffy loved her the dream they had shared proved Faith still had miles to go. Pursuing Buffy would never be easy for Faith. Then again, nothing worth having ever was.

As the two Slayers stood by the open window holding each other the bedroom door opened.

“Buffy? I heard a noise. It’s five in the.” Joyce said before stopping dead in her tracks as she noticed there was another girl in the room. “Faith? What are you doing here at this hour?”

“Mom, you’ll never believe it.” Buffy said with a smile as she turned to her mother.

“Oh I think I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on.” Joyce said with a slight frown as Faith began anxiously shaking here head back and forth to derail the train the Slayer’s mother’s thoughts had boarded.

“What? No! Mom!” Buffy said. “Faith and I just had one of those Slayer prophecy dreams. Only we were both in it and could talk to each other.” The young blonde explained. “What did you think we were talking about?”

“Oh I’m sure it was just some silly idea I had.” Joyce answered as she saw the panic in Faith’s eyes as the brunette stood behind her daughter. “You said it was a prophecy dream? Is it something dangerous?”

“I don’t know.” Buffy admitted.

“Al was there too.” Faith said. “Maybe we should give her a call.” The brunette said just as the phone beside Buffy’s bed started to ring.

******************************

“So everyone is clear on the contents of this dream our three Slayers shared?” Giles asked as he stood in library of the house on Rovello Drive early in the afternoon the next day.

“Yes this is all quite fascinating.” The proper sounding British voice coming from the speaker on the table said. “There is little written on the abilities of Slayers to foretell the future in dreams.”

“Probably because the first Slayer doesn’t want them sharing too much with their watchers.” Willow said with a slightly sarcastic tone.

“That sounds about right.” Doyle agreed.

“Who is this new Brit again?” Faith asked.

“Wesley is the watcher the council w-would have sent to you and Buffy w-when her cruciamentum spun out of their control.” Tara explained. “We sent him to LA to h-help Alonna and the guys smooth off some of his rough edges.”

“Thanks for that by the way.” Alonna said in a severely sarcastic tone.

“English ain’t so bad once you get him to stop talking about “protocol.” Gunn said, adding his own imitated accent to the last word.

“Be that as it may, I think we should look into this more.” Wesley stated as he tried to steer the conversation. “Was Kendra present in the dream?”

“Who?” Most of the other voices from the speaker asked in unison.

“The Slayer from Jamaica, called when Buffy faced the Master last year.” Willow said. “I don’t know when but you guys will probably meet her soon, and when you do try not to let her kill Angel or Doyle.”

“Much appreciated.” Doyle remarked with a grim yet humored tone.

“What about Spike and Drusilla’s part in all this?” Angel asked growing more and more nervous as the details came out about the last several times the Scoobies came up against his spawn.

“We beat them pretty badly when they took the Dawnster.” Xander said. “How much more trouble can they be?” He asked as Cordelia gave him a swat on the arm.

“Stop jinxing us.” The cheerleader ordered.

“By themselves they are not a problem.” Willow said. “What is a problem is the outside forces they keep calling in. If what you three saw about Spike means what I think it means then we have problems coming.”

“Remember we still n-need them to stop two big apocalypses down the r-road.” Tara added.

“I’m opposed to the idea of letting two very dangerous vampires roam free.” Wesley said.

“If you have n-no choice, then dust them.” Tara stated with cold detachment.

“It will make things harder for some of the work we have to do but we can resort to finding other recruits.” Willow said. “It helps if it’s them but it doesn’t have to be.”

“They won’t make it easy on any of you. If you get the chance dust them.” Angel declared, causing many of those present for the teleconference to fall silent.

“Okay, I’m all for the sharing notes for my end of the world nightmares.” Buffy finally chimed in. “But I’d like a little more of the what and the how.”

“We linked both Alonna and Faith to you when we unlocked them Buffy.” Willow answered. “It doesn’t always manifest like this but there is an unmistakable connection between you all.”

“Is that why this Kendra didn’t show up?” Alonna asked.

“I’m not sure.” Willow admitted. “Maybe she can’t connect with you three because of some magical protection she has separate from any of this. Or she isn’t in the link at all since Buffy was removed from the Slayer Line before we unlocked you two. Or she is just as strongly connected and she just didn’t show up because the visions in the dream have nothing to do with her.”

“But they have something to do with me?” Alonna asked.

“Angel is right there next to you most nights you go patrolling.” Gunn said.

“And when I checked our trackers this morning they said Spike and Drusilla were most likely in a warehouse in Los Angeles’s industrial district.” Willow added.

“What?” Half the LA residents exclaimed in shock.

“And you waited until now to say something?” Wesley asked.

“They weren’t there yesterday, and if they just set up shop then you guys have time to strike before they even know it.” Willow said. “I suggest sending in Angel first to scope out the scene and see what their plans are.”

“It’ll have to wait until nightfall.” The vampire remarked. “Do we even know if any of the other details of the dream came out? Buffy what else did you dream about last night?”

“I dreamt.” Buffy began before faltering. “I dreamt that Giles and I opened an office supply warehouse in Vegas.”

“Ha, killer idea B.” Faith laughed out. “I can just see you driving around pallets of post it notes with a forklift.”

“But my mom did drop the plate this morning just like in the dream.” Buffy added.

“I was there too?” Joyce asked. “Oh dear.”

“I’m sure it was nothing more than a secondary sign to ensure the more serious threats are given due concern.” Giles said as he put a hand on Joyce’s shoulder. “We’ll figure this all out.”

“In the meantime I suggest we all prepare for what lies ahead.” Wesley said.

“Absolutely.” Giles added, while catching Faith’s attention with a look and a series of head nods towards Buffy before he addressed the blonde Slayer. “Let me read up on Drusilla, see if she has any particular patterns. Why don’t you meet me hear at seven? We’ll map out a strategy.”

“What am I supposed to do until then?” Buffy asked.

“Go home, do your homework, have supper.” Giles said with a halfhearted nod.

“I’ll train with you a bit B.” Faith said. “Keep your mind off things.”

“Thanks Faith.” Buffy said with a forced smile before turning towards the speaker on the table. “It was great talking to you guys again. Be careful.”

“Same to you Buffy.” Alonna said before the call ended.

“Come on B, let’s motorvate.” Faith said as she practically dragged a sullen Buffy from the room.

“Well that’s not a perky birthday puppy.” Xander remarked as the two Slayers disappeared.

“Does this mean the party’s off?” Cordelia asked with a confused huff. “I guess I’ll tell Oz, Devon, Larry and the others.”

“And I bought little hats and everything.” Willow said with a knowing smirk.

“No you won’t!” Giles declared in a surprisingly firm tone. “We’re having a party tonight!”

“Looks like Mr. Caution Man.” Xander said skeptically. “But the sound he makes is funny.”

“Buffy’s surprise party will go ahead as we planned.” Giles stated. “Except I won’t be wearing the little hat.”

“Oh Rupert.” Joyce said as she wrapped her arms around the librarian. “You’re so sweet.”

“But Buffy and Angel?” Jennifer asked with a confused look.

“May well be in danger.” Giles admitted while putting his arms around his new girlfriend. “As they have been before and I imagine will be again. One thing I’ve learned in my tenure here on the hellmouth is that there is no good time to relax. Buffy is turning seventeen just this once and she deserves a party.”

“You’re a great man of our time.” Xander said.

“I’ll say.” Joyce affirmed with a suggestive wink as Giles held her close to him.

Willow and Tara shared a look as everyone began to depart. If the severed and blue body of Spike meant what they already knew it to mean then they had preparations to make. Tara pulled her phone out and hit the speed dial for the woman whose life they had irrevocably altered. It was picked up after one ring.

“Hello Lilah.” Tara said calmly. “Is Lindsey there? Good, put me on speaker. There are some things you two will need to make ready for us today and in the next week. Have the jet ready to make several trips.”

******************************

That night Buffy walked up the steps to Willow and Tara’s house. All the while wondering why she didn’t see Giles’s car in the driveway.

“Buffy.” A voice called out from the shadows on the porch. The Slayer nearly jumped out of her own skin before she realized Jennifer had been waiting for her.

“Oh my god I didn’t see you there.” Buffy said.

“Sorry Sweetie.” Jennifer replied. “Um, Mr. Giles wanted me to tell you that there’s been a change of plans. He wants to meet you someplace near his house. Guess he had to run home and get a book or something?”

“Cause heaven knows he didn’t move enough books into your house.” Buffy said with a mildly sarcastic frown.

“Uh, he’s very thorough.” The witch said as she tried to keep their true plans from the Slayer.

“Right.” Buffy said with a pronounced eye roll. “Thorough. Could be worse. I’m sure my mother thinks it’s manly in an obsessive compulsive kind of way don’t you think?”

“Uh huh.” Jennifer replied with a slightly bewildered frown. “You know my car’s here. Why don’t I drive you?”

“Okay.” Buffy agreed as both women turned to walk towards driveway and the hatchback Jennifer cruised around town in these days. They drove across town and after a series of very familiar turns Buffy looked to the blonde woman with another confused frown. “We’re going to the Bronze?”

“I’m not sure.” Jennifer lied. “Giles gave me an address. I’m just following his directions.”

The Slayer nodded but her attention was drawn to strange figures moving around a truck at the end of the alley. With a sigh Buffy resigned herself to another fight in a dreary alley.

“This looks funky. Stop for a sec.” Buffy told Jennifer.

“No Sweetie, maybe you shouldn’t.” Jennifer protested meekly.

“Sorry.” Buffy replied as she stepped out of the stopped car. “Sacred duty yadda yadda yadda.” With that casual dismissal the Slayer went to work.

“What is this?” Jennifer sighed to herself as she sat in her car while her daughter’s friend walked into danger. “Goddess, protect her.”

Buffy walked past the driver’s door of the truck and addressed the vampire carrying an oddly shaped box out of the warehouse.

“What is it with you vamps and the whole klepto thing?” She asked in exasperation as the vampire dropped the box and charged. Buffy quickly sidestepped the sloppy rush but was grabbed from behind and hoisted onto the flatbed.

She managed to push the second vampire back against a stack of crates and nearly dislocated his jaw by jerking her head back into his chin. The vampire was staggered and loosened his grip which freed Buffy up to square off with the first vampire who had made his way onto the bed of the truck. Punches were exchanged in rapid succession as Buffy blocked and countered the dim witted vampire’s clumsy moves. The Slayer figured this one must be a fledge as the second vampire tried to get the drop on her from behind yet again. For his trouble he was thrown atop the first vampire with ease.

******************************

“Where is she?” Faith asked impatiently as she stood behind a pillar in the Bronze.

“Shh.” Dawn said while crouching behind the pool table with Xander, Giles, her mother, Cassie and Amy. “I think I hear her coming.”

******************************

Buffy put her fist through one of the boards fencing in the contents of the bed of the truck. She grasped one sharp length of wood that broke off and drove it into the chest of one of her foes.

Before she could catch her breath Buffy was again lifted into the air by the other vampire. He managed to throw her into metal wall of the warehouse as their fight continued.

******************************

In the Bronze heads started to peek out of their hiding places. The sounds of fighting in the alleyway outside drew everyone’s attention away from the main door and towards the stage.

Willow and Tara knew what to expect. They remained by their hiding place and waited. Giles, Joyce, Xander, Dawn, Cassie and Amy started to stand from behind the pool table and approach the stage with caution. Oz, Larry and Jonathan crept out of their hiding places. Cordelia and Devon remained behind bar.

Just as Faith finally felt the all too familiar presence through her Slayer senses, her dream girl and the vampire burst through the darkened window at the back of the stage. Buffy recovered in time to deliver a roundhouse kick to the monster’s chest and grab a drum stick from the band equipment on the stage. With a full body spin and one final thrust the vampire was dust.

“Surprise!” Cordelia and Devon yelled in excitement as they burst out from behind the bar. Practically everyone in the building turned away from the Slayer and gave the cheerleader and band member incredulous looks.

“That pretty much sums it up.” Oz commented.

Faith and Giles were the first to meet Buffy as she hopped off the stage. Both were noticeably concerned.

“Damn B.” Faith whispered before placing a hand on the blonde’s arm and looking Buffy in the eye with all the concern she could muster. “You alright?”

“Yes, what happened?” Giles asked.

“Um, there were these vamps outsi, what’s going on?” Buffy began to explain but was completely thrown off by the scene she now found herself in.

“Oh, um, surprise party.” Giles muttered as he brought a tiny noise making party favor to his lips and blew. The long paper tube unfurled with a loud whistle.

“Happy birthday.” Cordelia added as Giles tossed the celebratory noise maker aside.

“You guys did all this for me?” Buffy asked as a smile spread across her face. “That is so sweet.”

“You sure you’re okay B?” Faith asked as she continued to stroke Buffy’s arm.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Buffy affirmed with an exasperated smile for the brunette.

“Is everyone else okay?” Willow asked Oz, Larry, Amy, Cassie Jonathan and Devon.

“Yeah.” Oz said with mild confusion. “Hey did everybody just see that guy turn to dust?”

“Pretty much.” Dawn said with far too callous an attitude for the youngest person in the room.

“Yup, vampires are real. A lot of ‘em live in Sunnydale. Amy you wanna fill him in?” Xander said with a bored tone.

“I can.” Cassie said nervously. “The town was built by an immortal madman on a hole in space time that craps out monsters. Dawn’s sister is a lot stronger than she looks and she pretty much saves the whole world two or three times a year.”

Heads around the room slowly turned to look at Dawn. The new attention immediately put the young brunette on edge.

“I swear I didn’t tell her anything.” Dawn protested.

“You didn’t have to Sweetie.” Tara replied. “Cassie just knows things.”

“You know?” Dawn asked her new friend. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I figured it’d be easier on everyone if I didn’t make a big deal about it.” Cassie said. “A lot of the things I know aren’t much fun.”

“Hi, can someone give me a hand with this?” Jennifer asked as she came in the door carrying the oddly shaped box.

“Here Mrs. Maclay.” Larry said as he rushed to the woman’s aid. “Let me take that.”

“Oh Sweetie, please call me Jennifer.” She said after suppressing a slight shudder.

“Okay.” Larry said as he took the large box and placed it on a table for Buffy, Faith and Giles to gather around.

“Those creeps left this behind.” Jennifer said.

“What is it?” Buffy asked.

“I have no idea.” Giles muttered. “Can it be opened?”

“Yeah, there’s like a release right here.” Buffy said as she unlatched the lid to the box. The top opened to reveal a chainmail clad right arm with a heavy looking leather gauntlet. As Buffy stared in puzzlement the hand shot up and grasped her by the throat.

“Buffy!” Joyce shouted as she watched her daughter gasp for breath.

Before she could fall under serious risk of choking Faith flew into action. She pulled out a dagger that she always kept hidden on her person and drove the blade into the forearm between the radius and ulna. With a sharp twist of the blade the muscles in the hand reacted and the death grip on Buffy eased enough for her to break free.

Faith wrestled the now injured arm back into the box and managed to yank out her weapon just before Giles slammed the lid closed.

“Well clearly the Hellmouth’s answer to what do you get the Slayer who has everything.” Xander quipped.

“Good heavens.” Giles muttered as he looked to a still coughing blonde Slayer. “Buffy are you alright?”

“Man that thing had major grip.” Buffy said as she held a hand up to her own throat. “Thanks Faith.”

“Any time B.” Faith said as she hovered at Buffy’s side.

“What was that?” Amy asked.

“It looked like an arm.” Oz deadpanned.

“I was afraid of this.” Willow said as everyone slowly turned to look at her with now familiar confused stares. “Giles why don’t you tell everyone about the Judge?”

“The Judge?” Giles gasped. “This is he?”

“Not all of him.” Tara affirmed as she pulled out her cell phone.

“Um, still needing back story here.” Buffy said.

“Right.” Giles said as he prepared to go into lecture mode. “There’s a legend, long ago, of a demon brought forth to rid the earth of the plague of humanity. Separate the righteous from the wicked, and burn the righteous down. They called him the Judge. He couldn’t be killed. An army was sent against him. Most of them died. But.” Giles paused to clear his throat. “Finally they were able to dismember him but not kill him”

“The pieces were scattered.” Willow said. “Buried in every corner of the earth.”

“So all these parts are being brought here?” Jennifer asked.

“Not here.” Buffy said, drawing everyone’s attention. “LA, by Drusilla. One of the vamps outside was fresh. The other must have been recruited by Spike and Drusilla as soon as they got to town.”

“She’s just crazy enough to do it.” Willow stated. “Reassemble the judge, bring forth Armageddon.”

“Is anyone else gonna have cake?” Cordelia asked as she turned back towards the table of drinks and snacks.

“We need to get this out of town.” Giles said as he removed his glasses.

“Lilah.” Tara said in a cheery voice as she held the phone up to here ear. “It’s just like the Slayer dream predicted. The vamps we have special plans for are trying to end the world by putting humpty dumpty back together.”

The honey blonde’s attitude drew even more shocked looks from around the room. Most of them realized they should have expected the pair of witches to already have a plan in place.

“Get the jet h-here tomorrow morning. We need to take the arm to a secure place.” Tara said before it seemed like a thought struck her. “Also get the tac teams r-ready to follow Alonna’s team and aid in the recovery of all the parts the vampires have so far.”

“We’ll need to move up that meeting.” Willow told Tara.

“And send the invitations for the summit out. We need this taken care of quickly.” Tara finished off her orders before wishing the lawyer a pleasant evening.

“Okay so everything is handled then?” Faith asked with a perplexed but hopeful look.

“Pretty much.” Willow said. “The Hyperion Crew can handle the next part. Then Tara and I have to go to LA for the cleanup.” The redhead paused for a second before turning to Buffy with a coy smile. “But It’s not like we’re gonna ask someone here to personally carry the damn thing to Nepal. I’m sure with two Slayers guarding it tonight we can all, still enjoy a good party.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Alright Will. We can have my surprise party.” She said with a patently false pout.

“Yay!” Willow cheered with glee as everyone around the room began to relax. The night was still young and they had the Bronze all to themselves. Music was turned up, drinks were poured, cake was eaten. Merriment was had by all. Faith enjoyed more than a few dances with Buffy as most of their friends realized they couldn’t keep pace with two energized Slayers.

Most of the party guests were driven home before midnight, by Oz and his van. Before too long the party dwindled to the Scoobies, the mom squad, Dawn and her new friend Cassie who was already planning on spending the night at the Summers house.

As the pounding beat of the music drove the Slayers into a faster pace that brought their bodies ever closer the close knit family watched and wondered when Buffy would see what they had all seen for weeks now.

Dawn turned to Cassie and whispered in the blonde’s ear. “Don’t say anything just yet. My sister is so unbelievably dense sometimes it scares me.”

“I know Dawn.” Cassie whispered back. “The worst is yet to come.”

******************************

Alonna, her brother, Doyle and the best fighters in their crew were poised outside the warehouse with the members of the tactical strike team Lindsey and Lilah had loaned them for the evening. Tonight apparently held much higher stakes than anyone had guessed by the strange dream and even stranger phone call.

“The King of Hearts is in position and verbally engaging the targets.” A voice said over the ear pieces each person wore. “Queen of Spades is fully mobile and glad to see our agent. Jack of Clubs is leaning heavily on a crutch and scowling at King of Hearts. Four jokers in the room. We have visuals on six packages. Two legs, two torso, an arm and a head by the looks of it.”

“Good thing the Scoobies caught the other arm in transit.” Gunn muttered.

“Right?” Doyle said. “I know this Judge bloke can’t have too high an opinion on half breeds but I was starting to get worried.” At the confused looks his teammates gave him he elaborated with a smile. “I’m was starting to grow fond of some of you.”

“Funny Irish.” Gunn remarked with a shake of his head.

“On three we breach.” Alonna said into the microphone at her collar.

******************************

“Why again have you shown up after all these decades Angelus?” Spike asked as he hobbled around the room.

“To be fair Spike it has something to do with a girl.” Angel said as he ran a hand through Drusilla’s hair. At his touch the demeanor of the deranged vampire changed completely. She shivered and pulled away.

“That’s not my Angel.” Drusilla whispered. “The light. He shines too brightly.”

“What?” Spike asked as the windows all around the warehouse shattered and humans in black clothing and body armor swarmed in. He saw two of his newest fledges go down without putting up a struggle and turned to the other two master vampires. “Sorry about your presents Dru. We have to go now.”

“Drusilla get Spike out the back.” Angel ordered the now panicked vampire. “I’ll hold her off for you.”

“You’ll pay for what you did to her!” Alonna screamed as she charged Angel with her Dao broadsword drawn and shining with shimmering waves of black and white light in the dimly lit warehouse.

“Right, like you could ever do anything to me.” Angel shouted back.

“Drusilla we have to go now.” Spike said as the third of his new minions was taken down by well armed and even better trained humans.

“I smell her all over him.” Drusilla muttered as she carried Spike out the unblocked rear exit. “What has she done to my Angel?”

Angel pulled out his favorite short sword and engaged Alonna. The rest of the crew stood by with weapons drawn after the fourth vampire was dust. After several parries that clanged loudly throughout the now abandoned lair the voice on their headsets chimed in again.

“All clear. Targets are fleeing across the city in their tagged vehicle. Repeat all clear.” The tactical team’s operations support specialist said causing Alonna and Angel to both pull back on their last strikes.

“That was a great performance guys.” Lilah said as she strolled into the warehouse with six men wheeling in cargo crates on pallets behind her. “The Senior Partners send their regards and ask that you guys hold onto the head and maybe one of the torso bits until we ship the arms and legs out of the city.”

“I still can’t believe she was actually crazy enough to try this.” Angel said.

“When you drive a chick crazy you really drive her crazy don’tcha Fangs?” Gunn remarked.

“Settle down boys.” Alonna said before turning back to Angel. “What about your cover? Do you think Drusilla will believe you’re on her side if we face her again?”

“No idea.” Angel said. “Can’t ever tell with her. But she might say something to tip off Spike even if she does buy my act.”

“Still say we should stake them.” Gunn remarked. “They ain’t house broken like you.”

“Not yet anyway.” Lilah said as the men loaded up the majority of the strange boxes and put them each in separate trucks. “But the witches have plans for them and house training might be a part of those plans. Until they say for sure observation and interference are our best bets.”

“Right.” Alonna sighed. “So you’re taking the other parts back to your HQ and we’re taking two back to the Hotel. Fine. Gunn and Doyle I want you guys to pick a piece and watch it until we don’t have to bother anymore. Lilah I’m sure I’ll see you before the end of this mess but I’ll still tell Wesley you said hi.”

“Oh, um.” Lilah stammered at the mention of the Englishman. “Alright.” She finally said as most of the boys from the Hyperion Crew chuckled.

“One thing is for sure.” Alonna added. “His old boss Quentin is going to flip over this news.

******************************

The private jet awaited the pair of witches at the Sunnydale airport once more. This time they loaded it with a large wooden crate with one mysterious phrase scrawled on the sides in spray painted block letters from a stencil.

“Nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.” The package read.

******************************

“Remember chaps.” Ethan said as he passed out talismans to the three men he now worked with. “These will keep you from being engaged or engaging the people in that hotel. It will wear off in a few days and I might not be able to make others for a while yet. Rather taxing work.”

“So long as these allow us to retrieve the package without their notice it’ll be fine.” Collins said.

“I still say we should leave them a going away present if the building is going to be mostly empty when we drop in.” Weatherby lamented with a wicked grin.

“And tip them off before our plans have a hope of unfolding?” Ethan said. “Please tell me the council’s best and brightest have more foresight than that.”

The three watchers sneered at the mild rebuke from the sorcerer. Though he had given them ample reasoning and supplies for this overly complicated mission they still hadn’t been told the full scope of this plan to take the vampire out of the picture without actually dusting him. Little did they know other parts of this plan were already coming to LA for the meeting that would have half the Hyperion Crew distracted during the burglary.

******************************

Quentin Travers and his delegation of watchers stepped off the private jet the council kept in reserve for such occasions. None of them liked the idea that they simply couldn’t fly to the hellmouth and confront the witches. Few of them could stand the fact that the meeting would be at the LA headquarters of the Law Firm that now claimed to be reformed in the wake of the massacre instigated by the new Senior Partners. Travers himself was practically seething at being called out specifically for this meeting. He was above this sort of thing after all. Wasn’t he?

The group of tweed clad Englishmen and one woman made their way to the waiting limo and got inside. To one end of the long couch sat a tall brunette in a three piece suit. She smiled as they arranged themselves facing her.

“Welcome, lady and gentlemen.” Lilah said with her work smile as the driver drove them towards the meeting. “I’m sure you’re full of questions but I don’t want to spoil the surprise. The other three factions invited to this summit will all have the same questions I’m sure.”

“Summit?” The tallest Brit asked in bewilderment.

“Yes, I’m sure the Senior Partners will answer all questions to your satisfaction.” Lilah said. Quentin just sat there and stared ahead as they approached the Law Firm of Rosenberg and Maclay.

The limo pulled up to the curve and stopped at the edge of the plaza that made up the front entrance of the Law Firm. The door opened and the council quietly made their way out, following Lilah across ornate entryway. The attorney guided them passed security and into the elevators. With confidence she pressed the button at the top of the panel that sported a silver pentacle for all to see.

“What floor will that take us to?” The one female watcher asked.

“Lydia is it?” Lilah asked. “Well that’s a funny story. It used to take you to the White Room. A place filled with the power of the old senior partners. Each firm had a conduit that upper management used to receive their orders.”

“And how does upper management receive their orders now?” Quentin asked with a bored sigh.

“Oh, usually Ms. Maclay just calls my phone.” Lilah replied with a light laugh. “I don’t know which number I’m under on her speed dial but it can’t be the top five.” With that the Elevator came to a stop and Lilah walked out into the wide open foyer to the Senior Partners private floor.

“If you’ll follow me this way I’m sure we can get this meeting started quickly.” Lilah said as she strode towards a large set of double doors directly across from the elevator. They opened and Quentin recognized the redhead and honey blonde from their invasion of his main library. His teeth ground slightly at the gall of this whole affair. Yet he walked forward still.

“Well if it isn’t the council.” A tall man with a tattoo on his forehead and a thinning hairline, dressed in chainmail and plate armor said with no small amount of derision. “Finally graced us with your presence.”

“I’m curious what the Knights of Byzantium are doing at his meeting.” Travers replied with a bored tone. “I can’t imagine what use we could have meeting with such a small and fanatical order.”

“Well the old librarian has teeth after all.” General Gregor chuckled to himself.

“You are having a problem with the council?” An old man in a wide brim hat sitting next to a black haired woman asked. The pair was sitting just passed the general and the two young male knights with him.

“The General has issue with many orders.” One of the three monks sitting across from the two people said. “Though in this case I believe it has to do with the very different ways they fight evil.”

“I take issue with any order that will hide behind books and tradition while they send one little girl after another to their deaths fighting their war.” Gregor said with a sneer. “With the wealth they’ve amassed over the centuries they could easily finance wide scale operations but the fools cling to the belief that one soldier is enough. Their efforts are wasted on stalking the world’s population of preteen girls.”

“To be fair one Slayer is more than enough in most cases.” The black haired woman said as she looked to the General. “And not all watchers are as bad a Quentin here.”

“Believe what she says.” Willow said from her seat beside Tara at the far end of the table. “Jenny knows what a great Slayer looks like from first hand experience. That’s something only of few of these watchers can claim.”

“Willow?” Jenny Calendar asked quitely. “What are you doing here again?”

“If you w-watchers could please take a seat across from the kn-knights we can answer those and many other questions.” Tara said.

The group sat down and practically crowded their side of the table. With a smile Willow turned to face her old computer teacher.

“Ms. Calendar.” Willow beamed. “It’s good to see you again. I presume this is uncle Enyos?” The man nodded before looking back to Jenny with a confused frown.

“Janna?” He asked.

“Let me explain.” Willow said before she could get Jenny in any more trouble. “I am Willow Rosenberg. This is Tara Maclay. We are friends of the Vampire Slayer Buffy Summers. With her help we unlocked the potential in another girl and made her a Slayer as well. With the two of them and some boys the four of us have collected over time we took this law firm from the demons who ran it and became the new Senior Partners. Oh and the Vampire your clan cursed with a soul was there too.”

“I see.” Enyos said. “Why have you called the Clan Kalderash to this meeting then?”

“You have us meeting with gypsies now?” Travers scoffed.

“Careful watcher.” Gregor remarked. “That clan has a reputation for curses that puts to shame the mysticism you use to bankroll your book club.”

“Ah so you’ve heard of our works.” Enyos said with a smile.

“Enough to know I want no part in angering someone with your views on vengeance.” Gregor admitted as Dante and Orlando looked around the table in confusion.

“If we could get back to the matter at hand.” Willow said. “Mr. Enyos is the only person here who hasn’t met us yet. Tara and I paid each of you visits in recent months that it’s safe to say changed the way you do things.”

“What could you have possibly done for the Knight and what I presume is a handful of monks from the Order of Dagon?” Travers asked.

“You don’t know?” Gregor exclaimed with a wide smile as two of the three monks burst into fits of laughter. “Our orders owe these two young women a great debt.”

“Don’t be coy General.” The lead monk said with a smile. “What they did is a blessing to be spoken about and celebrated.”

“What exactly did they do?” Lydia asked.

“Why they slew the Beast of course.” Gregor nearly shouted. “My order is still celebrating. In the confusion caused by its absence we slaughtered most of its worshipers.”

“Now General, it was your sword that cut the bitch’s head off.” Willow replied modestly.

“And I am eternally grateful you honored me with the privilege.” The man said with a smile.

“The Beast?” Jenny asked as a few of the watchers’ eyes bulged open at the bold claim.

“The deposed hellgod Glorificus.” Tara clarified causing the rest of the watchers and both gypsies to stare at her in open mouthed shock. “It took us a m-month to make enough Dagon Spheres to tr-trap Glory but it was worth the effort.”

“A month?” The lead monk said in surprise. “It took our order centuries to craft one and the technique was long lost to us.”

“So these two young women have power.” Enyos whispered. “Janna why was this not spoken of in your letters?”

“The power we hold now is a recent development.” Willow said honestly. “It only came about once we finally met one another and it isn’t the kind of thing any of you can look up in old tomes or ancient texts. For all intents and purposes we are radically new players on the field.”

“Which brings us back to the reason for this meeting?” Gregor asked.

“Right.” Willow said before turning to face Enyos. “But first a gift for our newest guest. Mr. Enyos would I be correct to say that the curse your clan used to force a soul into the vampire Angelus is long lost?”

“Some of the old ways are not practiced as they once were.” Was all the man said in reply.

“I thought so.” Willow said as she nodded to Lilah. The woman walked around the table to stand beside the two representatives from the Kalderash. “This is a peace offering. We don’t want to cause any overt hostilities with your people but there are tasks we need to use Angelus for in the coming years.”

Lilah placed a scroll down in front of Enyos and a computer disc before Jenny. She smiled and stepped back as the two looked on in confusion.

“This is the curse your people used on Angelus to turn him into the weapon he is now.” Willow said. “As a vampire with a soul the Powers That Be are poised to use him as their champion in their war. Part of the reason we manipulated him into coming to LA is to ensure your people’s curse remain intact and he continues to suffer.”

“He can’t suffer wherever he was?” Gregor asked.

“He was in Sunnydale, spending his time making puppy dog eyes at the Slayer.” Willow went on. “Part of the curse is that it breaks if he gets a moment of perfect happiness that he otherwise couldn’t have without a soul.”

“How do you know of this?” Enyos asked.

“Believe me you really would rather not know.” The lead monk from the Order of Dagon said.

“He’s right gypsy.” Gregor added. “The things I saw them do are frankly more than what I want to know as well.”

“The point is we needed him to leave Sunnydale because the thing that makes him most happy is petite virginal blondes.” Willow continued. “So for the time being he is stationed with our people here in LA and he helps the new Slayer we unlocked fight evil as penance for his wicked yadda yadda yadda. Do I have to go on? Are we going to have a problem with your people over the whole Angel thing?”

“So long as he continues to suffer I see no reason to interfere.” Enyos said.

“Believe me, he may be in a slightly more upbeat place now but he is going to suffer.” Willow promised.

“How so?” Jenny asked.

“He’s in love with the blonde Slayer.” Willow said. “So we sent him here far away from her and forced him to work for the Slayer that isn’t his type physically. Meanwhile back home we are helping our third Slayer convince the blonde Slayer to fall madly in love with her.”

“It’ll break his little heart.” Tara said with a grin.

“This new form of vengeance is acceptable to me.” Enyos said with a smile. “Janna I think I like these former students of your.”

“That’s great Uncle.” Jenny sighed as she rolled her eyes.

“If that is all the business you have with the gypsies can we get on with whatever this is?” Travers asked. “I presume there was a point to all of this beyond giving them back a spell they lost.”

“Of course.” Tara said as she nodded to Lilah who turned and opened the door. Four people carrying large, oddly shaped boxes walked in. Doyle set his burden down before the Knights of Byzantium. Lindsey put his parcel in front of the Order of Dagon. Angel placed his package by Jenny and Enyos. Alonna dumped her box near Travers with a glare.

“And just what might this be?” Travers asked as the man beside him reached for the lid. The watchers gasped as they saw an arm severed at the shoulder and wrist resting inside. It began to stir and Alonna slammed the lid down again.

“I’m sure several of you have heard the tale of the Judge.” Willow said. “A crazy vampire tried to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.”

“The judge?” Travers asked in shock as the knights and monks grew silent. “And they assembled this much of that demon?”

“They assembled all of him except for the arm that sits before Gregor now.” Willow said. “Buffy caught them transporting it and dusted both vampires. We had Alonna’s and Angel’s team storm the warehouse they were gathering the rest of the pieces in and since then we have kept them far apart from each other. The head and torso parts are already shipped to different branches and facilities the firm has around the world. Each is in a sealed crate with misguiding markings and labels. But one organization having all the pieces is asking for trouble. So that’s where your four groups come into play.”

“The council gets the left arm.” Tara said. “The knights get the right. The monks and gypsies get the legs.”

“Do with them what you will. Lock them away in secret. Guard them in plain sight. Dump them in a hole and cover it with concrete. We were thinking about smuggling the head onto the space shuttle but that plan had too many holes in it.”

“What about the hands?” One of the watchers asked. “The arm didn’t have a hand.”

“You’ll all find that we removed the hands and feet from your parts.” Willow replied. “Each was put in a weighted and sealed container and given to an agent we put on four different cruise ships in four different ports. Each man has a GPS that will tell him where to toss his part over the side of the boat in order for it to sink to the abyssal plain four thousand meters below sea level.”

“Well that’s one way to ensure he’ll need to resort to peg legs and hook hands if he ever get reassembled.” Jenny said.

“Our order dates back to the massacre of the army sent against this fiend.” Gregor stated in shock. “Why have you called us in for this now?”

“You each have radically different views and methods to how you fight the good fight.” Willow said. “Demon hunting bookworms, medieval knights who still maintain a sizeable military force, monks capable of hiding practically anything from anyone searching it out, and a gypsy clan with a unique adherence to vengeance should anyone cross them. I can’t think of a better way to split up the guard duty. Any demons that want to try this again would have to defeat each organization here. If something was powerful enough to do all that then they wouldn’t need the judge now would they?”

“A solid plan.” Gregor said as he stroked his chin. “The knights will hide our piece in a remote military outpost I won’t tell any of you about.”

“We will do much the same.” The lead monk promised.

“You surely can’t expect the Kalderash to guard something so dangerous.” Travers complained.

“We will be taking our piece and hiding it somewhere your stodgy council would never think to look.” Enyos gloated.

“Why all of our groups?” One of the watchers asked.

“We each want the same ultimate goal in the end. The continued existence of the human race. I don’t expect us to be best friends.” Willow said. “I don’t expect us to like each other or ever work together. But I do expect each of your organizations to take the pieces of the demon we are giving you and ensure that they never come this close to one and other ever again.”

“We have cars waiting for each of you downstairs.” Tara said. “They’ll take you to the airport. Feel free to use our jet for the f-first leg of your journey. I wouldn’t let the pilot take you all the way to the final hiding place though.”

“We have our own transport.” Travers said coldly.

“As do we.” Gregor remarked.

“I’m sure my brothers and I wouldn’t mind sharing the plane with Mr. Enyos on the first leg of his journey back to the old country.” The lead monk said.

“I would not mind the company.” The old gypsy said with a slight bow of his head to the holy men. “Come Janna, I wish to be away from Him quickly.” Enyos said as he stood with the box and walked towards the door.

“Yes uncle.” Jenny nodded as she stood to leave.

“It was nice seeing you again Jenny.” Angel said with a slight smirk as the two left.

“Not your biggest fans blood sucker?” Lindsey asked with a grin.

“I murdered a third of their people and tortured their princess to death a hundred years ago.” Angel replied.

“So it’s complicated is what you’re saying?” Doyle grinned.

“More than any of us care to know most likely.” Gregor said as he and his two knights stood up. Orlando picked up the box of arm and the three men bowed to Willow and Tara. “Thank you both again for your great deeds and for honoring us with this new duty.”

“Thank you for being so dependable you were our first choice.” Willow replied. With that the knights left.

“As always it has been a pleasure child.” The lead monk said while his brothers picked up the box and they began walking out of the conference room. “May the blessing of your Goddess be with you.”

“Go with god.” Tara told the three men. With them out the door the room was down to the leaders of the Hyperion Crew, the two lawyers, the witches and the watchers. Quentin practically huffed as he looked across the room to Alonna.

“You’re the Slayer they corrupted aren’t you girl?” The head of the watchers council asked.

“I’m the one whose true potential they unlocked.” Alonna replied.

“You should know that whatever they told you, you still have a duty to the council and to the Slayer line.” Travers said as if it was beyond questioning.

“No I don’t.” Alonna told him flatly. “I have a duty to Willow and Tara. They gave me the power I deserved. They made me into the warrior I am. Where were you watchers when my brother and I were fighting for our lives in the gutter? Where was the Slayer Line when I was at the absolute lowest point in my life and it came time to pick the next one girl in all the world? It skipped right over me to some girl your precious council keeps squirreled away. In Jamaica of all places. I was out on the streets fighting vampires every night of my miserable life and the Line or fate or whatever decided I wasn’t good enough. I watched the people I loved like family die. Why? Because it wasn’t my time. Well to hell with fate and to hell with you and your fucking cruciamentum bullshit!”

With that the ebony Slayer stormed out. Doyle, Lindsey and Angel all shared grins as they watched her go.

“I gotta say you guys are really making it easy for her to ignore just about every pleading lie that Wesley guy tells her.” Lindsey said as he followed her out.

“I know right?” Doyle asked as he briefly shifted into demon form before the watchers stunned eyes. “You never know what sort of reprobates a girl like that is going to fall in with if you push her too hard.” He said as he shifted back and walked out of the room.

“Bad enough she keeps a vampire around her place.” Angel said sarcastically as he too left.

“Seriously Quentin.” Willow added. “It’ll take a lot more than that to get her towing the party line.”

“This isn’t over.” The Englishman swore.

“No I suspect it isn’t.” Willow agreed. “But in the meantime take your arm and leave our cities.” With that parting rebuke Willow and Tara left the Council in the conference room.

“Sir?” One of the watchers asked his leader.

“Nigel, Phillip. Do carry that wretched thing back to our plane.” Travers said after a long moment passed. “We’ll play along with this tentative alliance for now. Heaven knows none of those others can be trusted with the duty.”

Two of the watchers stepped forward and lifted the box. It would easily fit in one of the archives in London until they decided on a more remote location to lose the transport records in. Perhaps Guam, Travers thought as the council finally went to leave the room.

******************************

At the precise moment Travers stepped into the conference room Collins Weatherby and Smith stepped out of their van onto the curb in front of the Hyperion Hotel. All three men wore the distinctive amulets that Ethan had provided for them. The each looked around at the mysteriously empty street.

“I swear that corner had people on it just a moment ago when we were in the van.” Smith said.

“You’re going daft.” Weatherby shot back.

“It’s the amulets you two.” Collins said with cold detachment. “We’re somehow out of phase with anyone not wearing them. Let’s just get the package and head back to base.”

The three members of the council’s special operations team strode forward into the Hyperion Hotel. They met no resistance as they walked to the main office and used the combination Ethan had scrounged up to open the safe.

“How did that Rayne fool get the combination again?” Smith asked.

“Magic.” Weatherby said with scorn.

“Connections.” Collins corrected as he reach his hand in the now open safe. “It’s an old hotel and no one who remembers cares about the information nowadays.”

Collins pulled the sealed metal cylinder holding the Scrolls of Aberjian out of the wall safe and slid them into his breast pocket. Whatever ritual Rayne needed the scrolls to complete it seemed doubtful that the theft would be this easy if the end result was going to be worth their time. Then again they were going in with heavier magical assistance than usual and they wanted to keep as low a profile as possible.

Putting those doubts aside the team went back outside and quickly got back in the van. They removed the amulets before driving off and made haste back to the dock side warehouse they had set up shop in.

******************************

“The meeting should be starting right about now.” Wesley said as he nervously looked at his watch and calculated the time it would take the council’s plane to land and the head watcher’s entourage to drive across town. “Travers should be stepping out of the elevator any minute now.”

“No big, English.” Gunn told the Brit. “So you’re overseas boss has a snit with your local boss. Everyone’s got issues. Don’t mean they aren’t gonna play ball with splitting up the demon bits.”

“Quite right.” Wesley agreed as he turned to see the door opening with no one standing in it. “That’s odd.”

“What?” Gunn asked as he turned and followed the watcher’s gaze. “Huh.”

Both men went to examine the door. They didn’t hear the door to the office open and close the first time. The almost didn’t hear it the second time.

“Just what the devil is going on?” Wesley asked as they investigated the office doorway.

“Can’t be haunted.” Gunn said. “The girls took care of all that on day one.”

“Yes, I heard Rondell retelling that rousing story.” Wesley agreed just as the front door opened and closed again. “What the bloody hell is going on?”

_________________
Time and Time Again


Last edited by Citanul on Tue Nov 06, 2018 10:22 am, edited 4 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 3:05 pm 
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Dibs!

Ooo, good chapter!

There is skullduggery afoot!

I wonder if the girls expected this?
I also wonder what their response is going to be.

Looking forward to finding out. :bounce

R :flower


Typo roundup:

The petite blonde walked passed

It should be 'past'.

"she passed the mural."
"She walked past the mural."

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 3:22 am 
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Yay for excellent update-y goodness... I'm glad that the Judge situation was handled without too much "explosions"... I'm kinda worried about what Ethan & Council's dirty tricks boys are up to... I guess Oz-the-wolf-boy "wins" express trip to Nepal with a Judge part soon-ish...

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:36 pm 
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3. Flaming O

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Posts: 59
Location: Baltimore, MD
awesome update!

Poor Faith. She really does have far to go.
So I take it from the dream, that Alonna is bi?

I loved the whole summit scene. That really was a good idea splitting up the judge like that.
And I loved Alonna telling off Travers! That was awesome!

I'm curious if Oz is crushing on Willow, because on the show he was interested just from seeing her.

Looking forward to the next update!


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:02 am 
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6. Sassy Eggs
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Hello Azirahael. Yes plenty of skulduggery. In fact I'd say that is going to typify Ethan's side of the story for a long while. Big reveals and twists down that road. Though it will be more focused on the LA cast than the Sunnydale crew.

Expect more in the episodes that were ninety percent about Buffy's relationships with the menfolk. I can't replace each and every one of those scenes with the hot lesbian lovin'. Okay maybe most of them but not all.

Hello Zampsa. Personally I thought "The Slayer, in the Mall, with the Bazooka." was a great answer to the little game of clue they played with how they would kill the Judge. But yes there are less explosions in this storyline. So far.

The council's dirty tricks boys are always up to something. Ethan is up to three or four more somethings. Slow pay off on that front.

Oz's part in the story will get resolution much sooner.

Hello Mysticrain. Yes, poor Faith indeed. It'll get worse before it even thinks about getting better.

As for Alonna. Let's just say she is young and still figuring herself out but she spends almost all of her time with her brother's boy's brigade and not a single one of them does a thing for her.

The summit was fun to write. What better way to keep the parts split up than to divvy them up among four or five cabals of men who each think of themselves as the "good guys" but still can't stand any of the other "good guys" at the table.

Alonna had more than a few things she needed to get off her chest. Going forward Travers will have to either seriously look at how he plays the game or he may soon find his place at the table taken from him.

Oz definitely took notice of Willow. But he's also a pretty smart guy. He isn't blind to the overtly possessive behavior Tara has for Willow and Willow has for Tara. He isn't dumb enough to think he can just dive into that and win one of them over.

Of all Whedon's male characters Oz is the last to say or even think "No dude, I can totally turn that gay chick over there." Posturing, closeted Larry might have once said something that crass but he's so much more well adjusted now that he's at least out to the Scoobies and LA crew.

Oz is also a decent enough guy to see that they are happy and that there are plenty of other fish to yadda yadda yadda #werewolf problems. All in all his inner monologue hasn't been central to any one scene I've written or overwritten. But his story resolution is coming soon.

In the meantime we have a Sirens entry to tide us over.

_________________
Time and Time Again


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:10 am 
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6. Sassy Eggs
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Time and Time Again.

Author: Citanul

Feedback: Be kind, rewind?

Spoilers: Just about all of them. Go watch the show.

Rating: NC-17

Pairings: W/T, B/F

Disclaimer: You all know I don’t own the rights to characters you’ve seen on TV.

Summary: A story of reincarnation and interdimensional travel made possible through the power of love. What misfortunes will our two favorite love birds be able to prevent with the aid of experience from countless past lives.

Author’s Note: So last time we left off the Justice League was recovering from some serious invasions of personal space and or privacy. Harley and Ivy promised to do something about all that. I for one can't wait to see how things play out. Though this entry won't be all knock down, drag out, fight club fighting it may seem like it at first.

******************************

Primer: Sirens

Willow = Dr. Harleen Quinzel = Harley Quinn = the blonde/blue eyes

Tara = Dr. Pamela Isley = Poison Ivy = the redhead/green eyes

Xander = Bruce Wayne = Batman

Anya = Selina Kyle = Catwoman

******************************

Sirens: Doom

The tall brute walked down the corridors of his secret base. His raven black hair tied back in a pony tail. His devilish goatee almost perfectly trimmed. His broad muscular form adorned in finely tailored vestments. One would be hard pressed to take in the sight this man and recognize the caveman that lay beneath the thin veneer of sophistication.

The brute cultivated each and every aspect of his appearance to mask his origins. Few would scarcely believe his true age though. There were decades when even he didn’t believe how old he truly was. Still he maintained the façade he had long ago grown accustomed to.

As he strode down hall after hall towards his intended target he mused to himself gleefully at how well his schemes had worked out this day. Years of planning had been circumvented by the opportunity created by the two new upstart heroes. Their plot to save the oceans provided his cabal the perfect chance to strike at his foes and take their precious League into his control. Few things could dampen the brute’s mood.

“Savage!” A practically enraged voice called out from down the corridor. The tone in the incipient little man’s voice did the trick. The brute turned to one of his most arrogant allies and seethed.

“What is it this time Luthor?” Vandal Savage asked.

“What do you think it is?” Lex Luthor shot back angrily. “Why have I been shut out of the systems holding the data we retrieved on the nanites? It was my technical expertise that allowed you to perfect the mind control chips! The nanite technology my chips stole is the key to Lexcorp’s defeat of Wayne Enterprises and Star Labs! I need those files!”

“What you will soon need in the new order I am building is still up for debate Luthor.” Savage replied. “You will get the technology once I have mapped out our combined uses for it. Do not bother Savage with this again.”

With that the caveman turned and strode down the corridor away from the still seething billionaire. In time the petty concerns of the business man would be swept aside as the new world Savage was building took shape. The nanites were only the first in a long series of steps he would take towards forming his empire and taking his rightful place as ruler of this world.

Before he could walk into his war room Savage was stopped by a sudden swirl of energy to his side. A teenage boy holding a ginger housecat stepped out of the vortex with a panicked look on his face.

“Vandal, we have a problem.” The youth with two horn shaped whirls in his black hair and a slight blue tone to his skin said.

“What could it possibly be Klarion?” Savage asked with a tired sigh. The brute had used the Witch Boy’s infatuation with him to cultivate a strong mystical ally. Though he was now regretting the encouragement.

“Circe is still monitoring the controls.” Klarion said. “The whole League went nonresponsive just under an hour ago and now the connection to each member and all of our moles has been cut.”

“What?” Savage all but screamed. “Why was I not informed of this?”

“I just found out from Circe.” Klarion pleaded. “She said things weren’t going well with putting control chips on the last two people on the Watchtower then she stopped talking to me for a long time.”

“This does not bode well for my plans.” Savage stated. “Have the Legion assemble in the great hall. We have an unexpected foe to squash.”

Klarion nodded but before he could teleport away the corridor shook violently. A creaking sound could be heard all around as the brute felt the distinct impression that his entire base was being raised up from the swap that concealed it.

“What’s going on?” Asked a wiry man with slightly graying hair who was followed by a tall, muscular bald man. They had skillfully sprinted down the shaking corridor towards Savage and Klarion as if the small earthquake had no effect on them. The graceful movements of the two assassins always impressed the brute.

“I believe the new foes trying to thwart our plans have discovered our location.” Savage said. “Prepare to escape via the boom tubes. I want to get a good glimpse at just who thinks they can survive Savage.”

With that the caveman strode into his office and picked up his favorite sword. Today it would taste the blood of his enemies. Or so he thought as he looked out the windows and saw oversized tree branches growing. The view that once only showed the surrounding tree line of swampland now revealed a breathtaking panorama of the surrounding wetlands for hundreds of miles.

The massive domed lair of the Legion of Doom was now clutched in the branches of an even larger tree that had instantly grown out of the swamp beneath. The brute stared in awe for a moment that ended when a thick sheet of ice formed to block his view.

Things were not going as the old man had planned.

******************************

“What are you waiting for?” Lex Luthor demanded. “Get those teleporters ready!”

“As I said before Luthor.” Ra’s al Ghul calmly told the businessman who had no respect for his elders. “The boom tubes are being blocked. As is all the technology you procured from Intergang for us.”

“What’s the matter Lex?” The green haired clown asked with far too much glee in his voice. “The party’s just getting started.”

“This is no time for your insanity Joker.” Luthor yelled before turning to a woman with light, snow white skin and pale blue hair. “Killer Frost, can’t you do something about this ice?”

“Shut it Luthor!” Demanded the woman whose appearance screamed “Ice Queen” with its every aspect. “I make Ice. Not the other way around. Ask that damn witch or that punk with the cat.”

“Now children.” The tall redhead covered in a fine layer of spotted fur said. “This is no time for fighting.” She paused suddenly as her tone changed from chastising to worrisome. “We’re about to have guests.” The distinctly feline female turned to watch the far wall and the other villains could swear they saw the fine hairs on her whole body stand on end.

“You sense something Cheetah?” A man in orange and black body armor and chainmail asked as he readied his gun and sword.

“Of course she does Deathstroke.” A man covered in slightly similar black body armor with a distinctive diver’s helm replied. He brought a hand up to the side of his helmet and seemed to refocus his giant red eyes.

Before the cat could answer either the mercenary or the deep sea revolutionary a deafening thud reverberated throughout the entire chamber. The massive bay doors on the far side creaked under the assault and the criminals stared in shock as the pounding was repeated a second time.

“There’s no way they could bust open that door.” Cheetah said before growing nervous. “Right? Can they?”

“I believe we’ll have our answer shortly.” Ra’s al Ghul said as his manservant and body guard took up a defensive stance.

“Mercy.” Luthor said to the brunette woman at his side. With that simple utterance both of the woman’s arms unfolded to reveal complex machinery and an impressive array of weaponry. The android took up a stance in front of her master.

As the third knock hit home the massive bay doors on the far side of the chamber shattered. Debris flew a few yards inward but had little effect. What did serve to unnerve them was the fog bank that rolled in with the battered remains of the door.

“What do you see Black Manta.” Luthor asked quietly as the bottom of the fog bank seeped out and spread across the floor to lap at their heels. It tainted the air with a strange odor.

“Oh I bet Ol’ Fishy Joe sees lots of things. Hee he ha.” Joker chortled.

“I see shapes moving in the mist.” The deep sea diver replied after a moment. Before he could say more a curious sounding voice asked a question.

“Baby, are you seeing this?” The voice from the fog asked.

“Yes Sweetie.” Another voice replied. “Three of them don’t have auras. I’m thinking robot decoys.”

“So some of these baddies are being remote controlled by our other enemies.” The first voice said.

“At least it l-looks like it’s only the small fries missing from the party.” The second voice remarked.

“Good.” The first voice said in a far more sinister tone. “We don’t have to hunt them down right away. Or go easy on them.”

With that statement three sickle shaped blades of pink light shot out of the fog and severed the heads of Mercy, Deathstroke and Black Manta. The others stared in shock as Luthor’s android and the two robotic decoys shuddered and fell to the floor. Luthor and Ra’s Al Ghul shared a nervous look as their frontline fighters were reduced by half.

******************************

Over a thousand miles away in a submarine shaped like an enormous manta ray Slade Wilson sat back in his now useless control chair. The two men had been sent on a mission far from the swamps of Louisiana to look into the garbage island project the league had started. They had easily evaded detection from roving patrols of Atlantean ships.

“Well it looks like we’re out of the game until things get settled back at base or a new despot picks up the pieces after whoever that was kills Savage.” Deathstroke said as he turned to his friend.

“I was counting on that caveman’s aid in my war with Atlantis.” Black Manta muttered. “With that idiot king’s fool of a brother exposed and rotting away in a cell there is no one to manipulate in the capital. How am I supposed to sow dissent if these teams I join keep falling to pieces?”

“We’ll find a way.” Deathstroke said stoically as he began to type numbers into the ship’s console. “Until then head to these coordinates. I have an island base nearby with an underground dock large enough to hide this thing until the heat dies down. What do you say to you and your men joining me while I lie low for a spell?”

“Saddly, I say that is the first good idea I’ve heard since joining this damned Legion of Doom.” Black Manta replied with a sigh. He ordered his crew to change course and ready themselves for some shore leave. They had some serious wound licking to do.

******************************

“Heehee.” Joker chuckled as he stepped forward boldly. “Ha ha ha he ho ha hee ha. I can’t wait to see this.”

“Then I won’t disappoint.” The first voice said with an all too mirthful cheer. Out of the fog burst Harley Quinn into a series of cartwheels and flips that brought her right in front of the Joker.

“Hi there, Mistah J!” The woman clad in matching black and pink checkered pants and corset said just before she jumped straight up and delivered a roundhouse kick to the Joker’s face. The clown staggered back and fell to his knees as a few of his teeth were knocked out of his mouth.

“Heh heh heh.” He replied with more of his usual chuckling as he began to pick himself up. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Don’t worry.” Harley Quinn said as she took both hands and grasped the Joker by the jaw and back of his head. “It won’t happen again.” She promised as she wrenched her hands apart.

With a sickening snap the Clown Prince of Crime was no more. His remains slumped to the floor in a heap. Harley Quinn looked up and smiled at the utterly confused looks on the faces of the villains who witnessed her brutality.

“Oh come on.” The petite blonde said. “You guys didn’t think we’d use kid gloves did you?”

“You killed him.” Cheetah whispered. “You just went and killed him.”

“Gotta say.” Killer Frost remarked with grudging respect. “That’s a new trick for one of you super heroes.”

“Oh Sweetie.” Poison Ivy said as she walked out of the mist dressed in nothing more than pink panties and a loosely flowing pink shirt with half the buttons undone. “You seem to be mistaken.”

“What?” The icy serial killer asked with a hard tone.

“There are no heroes here.” Harley Quinn replied. “Get’em boys.”

As the blonde fell into a series of back flips to end up right beside her love an army of shambling plant creatures lumbered out of the fog. Each had a much denser build than the springy plant creatures that aided in field and diplomatic work. Thick wooden legs stomped into the chamber and the monsters covered in green leaves formed a firing line. As one they each pulled up a massive silver cannon strapped around their torsos. With a wave of Ivy’s green hand they fired.

Beams of ice and frost shot out and struck the wall the members of the Legion of Doom had huddled against. Ice and scrap metal rained down as all the criminals save for Killer Frost made a hasty retreat towards the corridor leading further into the base. The serial killer smiled as she returned fire with bolts and shards of ice.

Killer Frost managed to freeze a few of the plant creatures before she felt an unseen force grasp her and hoist her body into the air. She struggled to move her arms but couldn’t. She tried to summon more ice but found herself tapped out. Something was blocking her.

“That really is fascinating.” Harley said in mild awe. “Your powers reverse and or break a few of the fundamental laws of thermodynamics. Tell me, do you regularly draw in this much heat when trying to form ice?”

“You bitch!” Killer Frost shouted. “I’ll kill you both for this. I’ll rip you to shreds with blades made each other’s frozen blood!”

“Well at any rate I can think of a way you’d prove most useful.” Harley said as she took Ivy’s hand and they began a low chant in Ancient Sumerian. After a moment passed the chants died down and the couple looked up to the horror stricken face of Killer Frost.

The serial killer looked down to find her legs slowly being encases in ice. With a pained look the blue tinted woman glared at the witches. Hate practically oozed from her eyes.

“What the fuck did you whores do to me?” Killer Frost demanded.

“Cursed your powers so you act as a much more effective heat sink.” Harley said.

“You’ll do great things.” Ivy added with glee. “For the rest of your natural life you’ll counteract the effects of global warming. Th-think of all the lives you’ll save.”

“Damn it let me go!” Killer frost screamed as ice covered her hips and began to thicken.

“Now to just put you in the most useful place.” Harley said as the two women clasped hands again. A pink vortex opened up beneath Killer Frost and the iceberg she was forming into began to sink through the floor. As the ice reached her chest the cursing began to taper off, the portal sealed and the icy murderer was gone without a trace.

******************************

In a dense ice flow near the North Pole a pink portal opened up and a small, screaming iceberg slid out onto the surface of the ice. The portal closed and the screams were muffled by the piercing cold of the region. The iceberg thickened to several dozen feet in diameter before stopping its growth. With the screaming silenced all that could be heard at the top of the world was the bitter arctic winds.

******************************

Ra’s al Ghul, his bodyguard Ubu, Lex Luthor and Cheetah sped down the hall at a breakneck pace. Which just made it harder to fully stop as a massive lumbering corpse stepped in their way.

“Grundy, where the hell have you been?” Luthor shouted.

“Grundy take nap.” The tall undead man replied with a worn expression.

“We’re under attack form a plant army and the Star Sapphire corps and you choose now to take a nap?” Luthor asked in outraged shock. “Get your ass into the fight and stop those women!”

“Grundy no like Luthor’s tone.” The massive corpse said as he glared at the bald businessman.

“Solomon?” Cheetah said in a soothing voice. “There are some bad women following us. Won’t you please be a dear and stop them?”

“Okay.” Solomon Grundy said with a slightly grim smile. “Grundy help nice pussy cat. Pussy cat always nice to Grundy.”

“Thank you dear boy.” Cheetah said as the three men squeezed by Grundy. “You always were a real sweetheart.” The cat punctuated the honest statement with a kiss to the dead man’s cheek before fleeing further down the corridor.

Grundy smiled at the nice gesture then looked up to see two glowing pink women approaching. He sneered and stomped his feet preparing to charge.

“Solomon Grundy. Born on a Monday.” He began to murmur.

“Oh Goddess you poor man.” Ivy gasped as she and Harley came to a halt at the sight of the dead man.

“Huh?” Grundy asked. “Grundy told to fight now. Grundy fight.” As the massive walking corpse began to trudge forward again Ivy and Harley clasped hands and began a new chant.

“Goddess we beseech you.” They intoned. “Grant this cursed soul your serenity. Break the chains that bind him to this plane. Allow him to pass on from this life into the next. Let him rest in peace.”

As the chant built in volume white lights began to swirl around Solomon Grundy. His long dead body was inundated with the warmth and love of the Goddess. A genuine smile spread across his cracked lips as his limbs fell to his sides. Solomon Grundy looked to the witches once last time and smiled.

“Thank you.” He moaned as his body hardened and began to crumble to dust. A strong breeze picked up in the corridor and the walking mountain of dead tissue dissolved and scattered down the path the rest of the legion had taken. A lost soul was finally able to rest after decades of suffering.

With matching smiles the witches led their army of plant creatures further into the enemy base. They had so much more to do.

******************************

The three men and the cat continued to run. They knew not where they would end up but they knew they had to buy time to regroup before facing what followed them. Each of them had stared one or more of the super powered monsters on the League in the eye and walked away unscathed. This was different. This was two unbelievably powerful monsters willing to put them down for good without batting an eye.

Lex Luthor had no qualms about practically shouting in Superman’s face with all the rage and vitriol of a caged beast. But he did that knowing the alien would never strike him down. The man of steel would never let even an ounce of blood stain his hands.

This was different. Two women with apparent super powers all their own in addition to Lantern rings had shown up with an army of plant creatures armed with weapons that made Mr. Freeze’s largest guns look modest in comparison. And that fog. Some stray detail licked at the back of Luthor’s mind. That fog had been a part of the attack in some strange way he couldn’t readily see for now.

The sound of heavy wooden feet stomping down the hallway at their heels hastened the villains almost as much as the ever present pink glow that heralded the two lanterns. If they made it out of this damn building alive it would be a miracle.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” The blue skinned boy dressed like a puritan said with a grin.

“Klarion!” Ra’s al Ghul said with no small amount of relief. “Stop them!” He shouted as he, Ubu and Luthor ran through a doorway and sealed the bulkhead door just before Cheetah could catch up.

“Hey wait for me damn you!” The cat woman shouted. “Open this god damn door right fucking now!”

“What’s gotten into all you guys?” Klarion asked as he stroked his cat. “You’re making Teekl nervous.”

“Enough with the house cat kid. We have serious trouble coming down that hall.” Cheetah shouted back.

“I’ll say.” Harley agreed with a bubbly laugh. “Baby would you agree that we’re trouble?”

“With a capital T.” Ivy nodded along.

“You guys were running from two lanterns?” Klarion asked Cheetah who was beginning to cower in a corner. “What the hell got into you guys? I can handle lanterns with ease. Come on Teekl let’s show them what Klarion… Bum, Bum, Bum… The Witch Boy can do!”

As the teen spoke his cat leapt forward and grew into the form of a saber tooth tiger the size of a large pickup truck. She snarled as she advanced on the Star Sapphires.

“I love the cat.” Harley said with a happy little smile. “Don’t you Baby?”

“Oh yes.” Ivy agreed quickly before letting a slight frown out. “Though I don’t normally approve of the whole familiar thing. It all s-seems rather icky. Doesn’t it?”

“Definitely.” Harley said as she extended one arm and a wave of pink light left the snarling beast encased in crystal. “Though it does make things easier for us.”

“No!” Klarion shouted as he ran forward. “Teekl. Let her go!” The Witch Boy shouted and cried as he pounded his fists against the crystal prison.

“Don’t worry Andrew.” Harley whispered. “You’ll join her soon enough and you might not be trapped that long.”

“What?” Was all Klarion could manage before he was encased in pink crystal along side his familiar. The two prisons merged seamlessly as the witches turned to face the now terrified Cheetah.

“Are you going to kill me too?” The thief asked as she looked up with fear in her eyes.

“Were you the mastermind behind having the League attack us?” Harley asked in return with a cold edge to her voice. Cheetah was speechless. All she could do was shake her head quickly. Harley took in that reply and smiled.

“Then no.” The blonde said. “I won’t kill you. But I will use you to test a science experiment I’m working on.”

“Science experiment?” Cheetah asked in an utterly confused tone.

“Yes.” Harley said as she pointed her ring towards the ceiling and blew a wide hole through the structure. Cheetah flinched but when she looked up again a massive section of hallway and practically all of the dome above them was just gone. A basket of pink light formed around Cheetah and began to lift her off the ground.

“I want to see if what they say about cats is true.” Harley said with a truly wicked smile as a giant slingshot formed around the basket. “Let’s find out if you land on your feet.”

“Oh no!” Cheetah was drawn back in the sling of the pink light construct and began to panic anew. Just as she thought the sling couldn’t grow any more taught it was released with a sickening snap and the feline was flung into the distant horizon.

“Impressive range.” Ivy muttered into her Love’s ear.

“Thanks baby.” Harley said.

******************************

As Cheetah sailed screaming through the air she began to notice she was loosing altitude. We a sigh of relief the archaeologist turned thief noticed she was fast approaching a sizeable tree. It took all of her acrobatic skills but she managed to snag her claws on the branches and break most of her fall.

Of course that didn’t stop the branches from giving way under the impact. Cheetah went cart wheeling down the tree until she landed on the ground with a painful thud. After a very long pause she finally sat up and sighed. Nearly all of her body was sore and bruised.

But she was alive. And to top it all off her head was starting to clear. The fear inducing effects of whatever that fog had been were starting to fade. She sighed as she finally grasped her own irrational ignorance. Then she laughed. It was all too funny.

With a slightly relieved grunt she crawled to her feet and began to dust her fur off. She had plans to make for the future now that Savage was going to be taken out of the game for a time. She knew the immortal would eventually make his way to a comeback but honestly couldn’t tell if that event would occur within her lifetime.

Cheetah sighed and began to walk. With any luck she could make it to civilization in a few hours and by the end of the week be standing on that private island Deathstroke kept inviting her to. With the day she had Cheetah could think of a great many worse fates than sunning herself, naked on a beach, while a one eyed assassin and an ebony merman leered appreciatively at her curvaceous form.

If the itch struck her she might even take one or both men up on their frequent offers. She was honestly so grateful just to be alive that the once unthinkable suddenly held tempting new promise.

With a mischievous grin Cheetah began to trek through the swamps of Louisiana. Though this most recent attempt at organized crime had failed her she still held hope for what lay ahead. If nothing else the R&R would be enjoyable.

******************************

The leader of the world’s largest assassin’s guild, his bodyguard and the billionaire raced further into the domed complex. The sounds of their pursuers had tapered off. The three men were starting to wonder what would jump out at them next when they dove through an open doorway.

They found themselves in the throne room of Vandal Savage. The walls were covered in murals depicting his vicious and bloody exploits throughout history. On the far end of the grand chamber stood a purple haired woman dressed in dark robes that left little to the imagination. Beside her in the throne sat Savage himself. He scowled at the intrusion.

“What are you fools still doing here?” Savage shouted. “You should already be at the next base setting things up for my arrival!”

“The boom tube was blocked and we were attacked.” Luthor shouted back in a slightly less panicked tone than he had while fleeing the two women. “The base is overrun.”

“I know we’ve been overrun.” Savage replied. “I’m waiting for our foes to show themselves so I can put them down for good. But it would seem you led them to me.”

As the caveman trailed off everyone else in the room looked to the doorway Luthor and Al Ghul had just come barreling through. The Star Sapphires were standing there with truly wicked expressions on their faces.

Luthor backed away immediately while Ubu took up a defensive stance in front of his master and Ra’s readied himself for the fight. Circe chuckled as she boldly strode forward.

“You simpletons actually ran from these two?” Circe mocked. “I admit they have a small amount of power but nothing that should ever call into doubt the bravery of the great Ra’s al Ghul.”

“To be fair we did hit them with a pretty big dose of psychotropic fear inducing gas.” Harley called out. “Not as strong a concentration as what we’d use to put down three green lanterns, but still enough to get them running.”

“Well that explains their idiocy.” Savage muttered as he stood from his throne and drew his blade. “Where did you get the gas?”

“Not that it will matter after what I do to you but I’ll tell you anyway.” Harley said with a delighted grin. “I had a full month to raid the confiscated weapons warehouse at Arkham. Every toy the Bat ever took from his better equipped rogues is at my disposal. Of course I improved on all of their more simplistic designs.”

“You were right.” Vandal Savage said. “It matters not. Neither of you will survive Savage.”

“Good to know.” Harley said as she raised her ring hand towards the ceiling. Without the slightest warning the massive domed ceiling of the chamber was blown away. The members of the Legion looked up and saw the edge of the new skylight was quickly filling up with more of the lumbering plant creatures. Behind Harley and Ivy a few dozen of the wooden warriors trailed into the room and sealed the doorway behind them with a wall of ice.

“A little background music boys!” Ivy called out. Each of the plant soldiers began a steady rhythm of “Stomp, Stomp, Clap” as they trained their Freeze cannons on the remaining villains.

“You think these parlor tricks will save you from my magic?” Circe asked with an incredulous grin. “Burn!” The witch shouted as she threw her arms out and gouts of fire snaked their way safely past the criminals and towards all the plant creatures.

Circe laughed maniacally as her flames washed over the wooden monsters. It was only with the not so subtle clearing of Ra’s al Ghul’s throat that she noticed nothing was happening. Circe watched in shock as the flames licked harmlessly against the bodies of each plant before being gathered up in countless swirls pouring into glowing pendants tried to the torso of each monstrosity.

“You think you’re the first pyro to try and burn my babies?” Ivy asked with a laugh. “Don’t embarrass yourself Sweetie.”

“No matter.” Circe said as she stood tall and brought her hands up in front of her. Her eyes turned black as she began to chant. “Goddess Hecate work thy will! Before thee let the unclean thing crawl!”

Torrents of orange light shot forth from Circe’s outstretched arms and raced towards Ivy. Without even batting an eye Harley stood in the path of the spell and caught the swirling mass of energy with one hand. Soft white light emitted from her eyes as she smiled and threw the spell back at the cluster of men standing between her and the sorceress.

Ubu boldly stood in defense of his master and took the curse in the chest. The muscular assassin was enveloped in a pillar of orange light as he began to disappear. Once the light show faded the remaining criminal masterminds watched as a small rat crawled out of the pile of clothes left on the floor.

“If you could refrain from doing that again I would take it as a kindness.” Ra’s al Ghul said while casting a chastising glare at Circe.

“She won’t.” Ivy promised as she and Harley clasped hands. They began to chant in unison as gold light filled the chamber.

“Goddess, grant us you power so that our foe may be lain low and her victim restored.” They intoned as their hair turned stark white.

“Bind the spirit!” They said as Circe was lifted several feet into the air.

“Free the woman!” The pained cries of the purple haired witch reverberated throughout the chamber. Her screams of agony tore through the wills of the three remaining men.

“Release!” Harley and Ivy shouted as a burst of energy shot forth from Circe. Vandal Savage was thrown away from his throne and Ra’s al Ghul was brought to his knees. Luthor almost blacked out as his body was plastered against the far wall.

When the smoke and glare cleared the three remaining villains looked to where the woman that had been Circe lay in a crumpled heap. She began to stir slightly while light brown hair obscured her face.

“You know we had originally designed that spell for a friend of ours named Amy.” Harley began to speak as the woman on the floor looked around in a panic. “You remind us of her.”

“Where am I?” The woman asked. “The last thing I remember was communing with Hecate and.” She trailed off as she began to cry. “It’s gone.”

“We bound your powers.” Ivy said coldly. “No more being possessed by immortal witches for you.” The woman only continued to weep quietly to herself.

“You’ll pay for this!” Vandal Savage shouted as he stood up. Before he could charge the two witches with his sword drawn a dozen of the plant creatures leaped down from the hole in the roof. They were on him in an instant. Though he managed to hack the arm off one wooden foe with his sword the beast simply grasped the severed limb as it fell to the floor and proceeded to swing it like a cudgel. The plant bashed Savage over the head repeatedly with its own arm.

It was soon joined by the other nearby plants. Each one brought down blow after blow on the immortal. His superior healing allowed Savage to remain conscious far longer than a normal man would under such an assault. As the tenth plant creature proceeded to knock a dozen of the man’s teeth out of his mouth with the butt of a Freeze cannon Vandal grew to regret his robust constitution.

Lex Luthor saw all of this and did his best to hide behind the throne. He realized his mistake as he looked up into the smiling green face of Poison Ivy. She extended her ring hand and before Luthor could even scream he was encased in pink crystal.

“Would I be safe in assuming you have similarly gruesome plans for me?” Ra’s al Ghul asked while standing confidently and facing the pair of witches.

“Oh we have very specific plans for you.” Harley said as Ivy opened a portal and the crystal cocoon of Lex Luthor fell through a ring of pink light.

******************************

On the distant planet of Zamaron a small ring of pink light opened up over a vast field of massive crystals. A crystal fell through the portal and nestled itself in a crevice between much larger outcrops of the pink, rocky formations. Due to the simple fact this field was on the far side of the planet from the central power battery of the Star Sapphire Corps it was doubtful that anyone would ever discover the newest addition to the crystal fields. Let alone its prisoner.

******************************

“Are you going to imprison me in one of your rocks?” Ra’s al Ghul asked as Harley and Ivy circled him.

“Oh no.” Harley said. “Imprisonment is too good for one of the masterminds of this little gang you had here.”

“No assassin.” Ivy added. “You are getting a death sentence.”

Before the centuries old assassin could react he was lifted into the air by an unseen force. Harley and Ivy clasped hands and began to chant. Ra’s al Ghul recognized the language as Ancient Sumerian but could not make out the words. As their chanting grew to a crescendo a blinding flash of light filled the room.

Ra’s al Ghul clenched his eyes shut and awaited the death he had put off for so long. For a long time nothing happened. A minute later he felt himself being set down on the floor. With no small amount of relief he opened his eyes and found the witches staring down at him.

“You didn’t kill me?” He asked with shock and confusion in his voice.

“Oh we did.” Harley replied. “It’s just gonna take a while to set in.”

“What?” Ra’s al Ghul asked before dawning realization hit home. “The Lazarus pits.”

“See Sweetie I told you he’d figure it out.” Ivy said.

“You have a hundred years before you need to use the pits again assassin.” Harley said drawing even more confusion from the old man.

“That can’t be.” He said. “I have to use them every few years.”

“Not anymore.” Harley replied. “You now have a hundred until your next dip.”

The almost happy grin on the man’s face was soon wiped away by Harley’s next statement.

“And then you’ll have fifty years.” The blonde continued. “And then twenty five. And so on until you either can’t leave the pits ever again, or you face the fate of all mortals with what little dignity you still have.”

“We’d tell you to enjoy the generous amount of time you have left but you aren’t the type who can settle for even that much.” Ivy said with a laugh. “It’s gonna eat you up inside long after we’re gone.”

“What do you say we leave him to his fate and his rat Baby?” Harley asked.

“I’d say that is a perfect idea Sweetie.” Ivy replied as she pulled the petite blonde into her arms. “We really should do away with Savage while we’re here.”

“I agree.” Harley said as she raised her power ring and encased Vandal Savage’s broken form in a perfect sphere of energy. Around the chamber all of the plant creatures disappeared in little bursts of pink light. The couple and their prisoner rose form the ground and began to drift off into the sky. Ra’s al Ghul sat there in shock as he quickly calculated how long he had left if the description of the Lazarus pits effect reducing by half each time held true. He hated the grim reality he now faced.

******************************

“This should be close enough.” Harley said as she and Ivy floated half way between the surface of the sun and mercury.

“Ooh that feels good, doesn’t it Sweetie?” Ivy asked.

“Remember Baby.” The blonde replied with a light chuckle. “I don’t tan well and I can’t do photosynthesis as good as you.”

As the two women shared a laugh their prisoner began to stir. He looked around and began to panic when he realized just where he was.

“Oh no.” Vandal Savage whispered.

“Well look who finally woke up.” Harley said with a roll of her eyes. “Any last words caveman?”

“You can’t do this.” Savage almost pleaded. “I am destined for greater things.”

“Well you should have thought of that before you had the most powerful demigods and monsters on the planet attack the woman I Love!” Harley shot back with no small amount of contempt. “Look at it this way big guy. Fifty thousand years is a good run for any human. Maybe you’d have had more if you weren’t such a dick about it.”

With that parting retort Harley hurled the sphere of hard, pink light towards the sun. Within seconds it was close enough that gravity would finish the journey. She let the protective shell dissolve. In an instant every molecule of Vandal Savage’s body burned away. There was quite literally nothing left.

“Wow that was pretty neat.” A voice called out from behind both of the witches. They spun around and were absolutely shocked to see another woman had joined them. Her slightly spiky black hair countered skin so pale it could be easily mistaken for snow. An intricately designed eye of Ra was drawn in black makeup around her right eye. She wore a black leather jacket, black jeans, fingerless gloves and held a small black umbrella. Around her neck hung a silver ankh.

Harley and Ivy were immediately on the defensive. They stared down the new woman but couldn’t quite bring themselves to throw the first punch. Something about this strange woman was so very eerily familiar that they just couldn’t act.

“No seriously.” The strange woman said. “I thought that guy was never going to bite it. Plus the way you gals gave him the whole Space Viking send off. Fire. Pretty. Huh? Am I right?”

“Just who are you?” Harley asked though something about the voice and face screamed at the psychiatrist that she should already know.

“Relax Harley.” The stranger said in as soothing a voice as she could. “I’m not here to pick a fight. It’s just so rare for someone who has avoided me as long as that guy has to finally come to me that I just had to pop in and say hi to the two of you.”

“He came to you?” Ivy asked growing more and more nervous. “Oh Goddess.”

“What is it baby?” Harley asked.

“You’re Death, aren’t you?” The plant woman said.

“What can I say?” Death replied with a shrug. “It’s my gift.”

“Oh no.” Harley said as she brought up a shield around the two of them.

“Oh good idea.” Death said cheerfully as she stepped into the sphere and sat against one of its inner walls. “Give us a nice safe place to talk. I like your thinking Harley.”

“You aren’t going to try and end our lives?” Harley asked skeptically.

Death only looked at the worried pair of witches with a confused tilt of her head before she responded. “Of course not silly. I don’t run around ending lives. Everyone eventually meets up with me in the end. Even ol’ Vanny. I gotta say I wasn’t expecting him to die just yet. But you gals finally managed what no one else could.”

“You don’t seem mad but you don’t really seem all that happy about it.” Harley said as she began to relax slightly.

“Like you said.” Death replied. “He had a good run. It’s always sad when someone dies but that’s life. The good. The bad. The heartbreaking. You two know something about all that.”

“We do.” Ivy agreed.

“Now I don’t normally do the whole judgment thing.” Death went on. “My thing is a quick meeting whenever a life starts. A little chat about potential and all that good stuff. Then I have a recap meeting when a life ends. Sort of a, this is how you did, any questions sort of thing. Judgement is a whole other department.” She paused for a brief moment before continuing. “But I gotta say Old Vandar Adg of the Cro-Magnon Blood tribe was kind of a dick.”

“Tell me about it.” Harley said with another eye roll.

“By the way.” Death said conspiratorially as she looked back and forth between the two witches. “I totally love the reincarnation setup you gals got goin’ on. It’s cute. Sort of a pay it forward system across as many dimensions as possible. Very clever. Plus you didn’t resort to some silly immortality trick that always backfires. You both are still gonna have that meeting with me someday. Very far into the future I hope, but still.”

“That’s reassuring.” Ivy said with a wry smile. “So Death, you know quite a bit about us then?”

“Oh yeah.” Death replied with a smile. “When you were both born into this dimension I could spot the link to your other lives right away. I’ll admit I was surprised at first but in almost no time I saw how good you two are together. It’d just be cruel to mess with that.”

“Thanks for respecting our connection.” Harley said. “Not every all powerful being has been so understanding.”

“Seriously, I mean what was up with that Nabu guy?” Death asked.

“I know right?” Harley replied. “It’s like every couple worlds we come across someone like him who has to go and declare us abominations in the eyes of all the mystical forces holding reality together.”

“Well not me.” Death affirmed. “I make it a point to not get between two people so perfect for each other.” She paused for a moment. “When I can help it that is. Sometimes things happen even I can’t stop.”

Harley and Ivy’s hands found each other as the conversation lulled for a moment. Each of the three women was caught pondering losses from so very long ago. They each dwelled on mistakes made before looking up.

“What about Solomon Grundy?” Ivy asked after the silence seemed to grow oppressive.

“Oh I totally forgot to thank you for that too.” Death replied. “No one deserved to be forced to go on like that. He was so unbelievably happy when he saw my face the third time. He wanted me to tell you he’s truly thankful.”

“That’s sweet.” Harley said. “No way is Ra’s al Ghul going to be that well adjusted when you see him again in a century or two.”

“Ha, no he’ll probably go kicking and screaming all the way. Mr. Lazarus Pit never could stand the idea of me. Well this has been fun.” Death announced as she stood and locked eyes with both witches. “I’m gonna let you gals get on with your lives. No offence but I hope it’s a long time before we meet again.”

“Same here.” Harley said. “It was strange but a genuine pleasure to have met you Death.”

The exceedingly pale woman smiled as she faded out of existence. Ivy and Harley watched her go then sat back, stunned by the nature of the exchange.

“Oh Goddess.” Harley whispered as tears began to form in her eyes. “That was her wasn’t it?”

“Uh huh.” Ivy said in an equal state of shock.

“I never imagined one of our family members would show up as the anthropomorphic personification of Death.” Harley whispered through the tears.

“Uh huh.” Ivy agreed. “Sweetie?”

“What is it Baby?” Harley asked, worried how her Love was processing all of this.

“That brush with Death aside, what are we going to do next?” Ivy asked. “I’m not sure I feel safe hanging around Earth right now.”

“I know what you mean.” Harley assured her emerald Love. “What do you say we go on a little trip? Just us. No superheroes or criminal masterminds. Just you and me and no clothing.”

“I say you’re quite the charmer.” Ivy replied as Harley nuzzled into her neck. The pair of Star Sapphires embraced passionately and disappeared in a swirl of pink light.

******************************

Wonder Woman flew into the cracked open dome perched in the massive tree that had seemingly sprung up overnight. The call from Flash and Hal Jordan seemed strange and what the rest of the team said about this now ruined base just confirmed her suspicions. Whoever had set out to bend their wills did it from here.

The Amazonian princess strolled down corridors until she came to what had to be a hangar. In the middle of the room was Batman looming over a crumpled form on the ground. Catwoman was hanging onto his arm seemingly trying to console him. As Wonder Woman approached she realized why.

The green hair, the purple suit, the bleached white skin riddled with tiny scars. Someone had killed the Joker.

“They snapped his neck so hard his head spun around two hundred degrees and stuck.” Batman whispered.

“Good.” Wonder Woman said coldly. “He was a monster Bruce. You and your city are better for the loss of this one man.”

“That’s what I was saying Honey.” Catwoman replied as she clung to Batman even tighter. “Don’t waste your tears on the clown.”

“I don’t think there will be tears.” Batman whispered. “I’m just shocked he’s really gone.”

“Just to make sure.” Wonder Woman said as she drew her sword and quickly severed the Joker’s head from his shoulders. As the grotesquely grinning visage rolled away the cat and the bat looked at the princess in shock.

“What?” Wonder Woman asked. “How many times has the world been sure he was dead before this? Now we know.”

“Please don’t react that way to what we show you next.” Batman said before he turned and walked out of the room.

“Oh yeah you may not like what you see.” Catwoman added as she followed her love.

Wonder Woman followed the pair down a series of corridors until she came to a throne room that held the remains of a pitched battle and three of their teammates. The Flash, Hal Jordan, and Martian Manhunter were gathered around someone on the far side. Wonder Woman approached the sobbing woman with light brown hair. It was all she could do to keep from lashing out with her sword as the woman looked up and became immediately recognizable.

“Circe!” Wonder Woman shouted. “What part did you play in this?”

“Who?” The woman asked before she recognized the hate in Wonder Woman’s eyes. “Oh Goddess, keep her away from me. I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Whoah.” Hal said as he turned and saw Wonder Woman approaching with her sword. “Ease up there Princess. As far as we can tell her mind’s been wiped.”

“What trickery is this?” Wonder Woman demanded an answer.

“All I remember is asking Hecate to give me her blessing and then I woke up half naked in this horrible place.” The woman pleaded. “There was a green woman and a blonde wreathed in pink light and they had these plant monsters beat up the big guy. Then the bald guy was trapped in a crystal and pushed through a hole in empty air. They said they killed the older looking guy but it sounded like he had a long time to go before it would happen. Then they flew off with the beaten up big guy.”

“I have scanned her mind.” J’onn said. “She is telling the truth. Apparently Harley and Ivy came here to demolish this Legion of Doom Vandal Savage had assembled.”

“We found Klarion the Witch Boy and his cat in another corridor.” Batman said. “Encased in crystal.”

“Still trying to figure out if we should hand him over to Carol or not.” Hal added.

“Ask Zatanna first.” Catwoman said.

“The two newest Star Sapphires drove the spirit of Circe from this poor woman.” J’onn went on. “They then had their plant creatures subdue Vandal Savage while they crystallized Lex Luthor and cursed Ra’s al Ghul to a very slow death.”

“How slow?” The Flash asked.

“The Lazarus pits will only sustain him for another century or so before he can no longer live outside of one.” J’onn said. “He left here not long before we arrived.”

“Let the old man lick his wounds.” Catwoman said before turning to Wonder Woman. “The real question is what are we going to do with her?”

Wonder Woman looked to the cat burglar then back to the crying woman at their feet. She sighed as she considered how many ways what she was planning could blow up in her face.

“She’ll come with me.” Wonder Woman said after a long pause. She crouched down to meet the woman’s gaze and hold her hands. “I will help you recover whatever memories you can and see to it that you are safe.”

The former witch met Wonder Woman’s intense gaze. She couldn’t help but feel moved by the warmth and intensity the raven haired beauty projected.

“Thank you.” She replied with a weak smile as she let the gorgeous Amazon pick her up and carry her off.

“Did that seem odd to anyone else?” Hal Jordan asked as they all watched the two women exit the throne room. “I got the distinct impression Diana didn’t swing that way.”

“Then you’re a fool.” Batman replied. “She comes from an island of immortal warrior women who have forsaken the world of men.”

“In other words she knows what pussy tastes like.” Catwoman said with a lewd smirk as the lantern and the speedster groaned.

******************************

It had taken far longer than expected for Black Manta’s submarine to reach the Isle de Deathstroke. Atlantean patrols had nearly caught them on more than one occasion. They had to double back and circumnavigate large regions to make it to their destination.

But it had all been worth it. They had made it to the island Deathstroke’s long career as an assassin had paid for. The men under Black Manta’s command hastily prepared the ship for an extended stay in the subterranean docks. Black Manta quickly removed his large, bug-eyed dive helmet and followed an overly excited mercenary out to the elevator that would take them to his villa on the surface.

“And over there is an armory your boys can stow anything they like. We can also restock weapons and ammo while we’re here. But the best parts are all upstairs.” Deatstroke said. “I can’t wait to show you around David. This little vacation is gonna be so much more fun than the crap work Savage was having us do.”

“I too am looking forward to the chance to relax Slade.” Black Manta replied. “Your kitchens are stocked for our stay?”

“Oh yeah.” The mercenary said. “I have a delivery service that drops by with supplies in a tugboat. Usually one of my decoy robots signs for the stuff and stocks the pantry. I placed an extra large order ten minutes after you agreed to visit.”

“Good.” Black manta said as they rode the elevator to the villa above. Once the doors opened Deathstroke looked around with hesitation. Something was amiss. With a hand signal the mercenary informed his companion. The two men quickly scanned the room that held more signs of recent habitation than they were expecting. They soon found themselves standing by the large sliding glass doors that separated the kitchen from the pool. There was someone out by the pool in one of the chairs.

Both men nodded to one another and sprang into action. The door flew open and they leapt to either side of the reclining pool chair. The occupant caught them both by surprise.

“Well it’s about time you boys made it out here.” Cheetah said as she lay in the chair completely naked. Both men stood transfixed by the sight of her breasts covered in white fur. Her dark nipples peeking out from tufts of soft fur. The patch of bright red curls at the apex of her long toned legs drawing even more attention from the men. With a smile Cheetah lowered the chair’s back and rolled over to lie flat on her stomach. With her ass on display and her long tail swaying back and forth playfully between the two men she let them know just what she needed.

“Oh Slade, darling.” She said in a slow, seductive tone. “Be a dear and freshen up my drink. David would you mind massaging my back?”

“See buddy?” Deathstroke said with a wide smile under his eye patch. “Way more fun.”

_________________
Time and Time Again


Last edited by Citanul on Mon Apr 06, 2015 6:52 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 9:49 am 
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Dibs! :banana :banana :banana :banana

I really love all the storylines you have going, I don't think I have a favorite 'verse, because they are all well done.

I don't have a problem with the killing in this chapter, I think it was more than justified and I have wished someone would have done that before many times, because like someone else brought up when does letting them live to wreak more havoc because a crime in itself. Some circumstances/actions I think require that as the ultimate solution, and it save countless more lives with that player removed.

I totally buy Giles as a robot, btw.

I can't wait for more. :flower :flower

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Last edited by vampyregurl73 on Sat Jan 10, 2015 10:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 11:35 am 
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Yay for great update-y goodness... Yay for bad guys going poof...

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 3:47 pm 
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Whee! Total non-dibs!

I think this updated in the middle of the night for me :(


So, awesome chapter, and so violent!

Killing:
It brings up an interesting point, that has been mentioned a few times: at what point does your reluctance to kill the villain become selfish?
You know he's going to get out of whatever prison you put him in, he's done it a bunch of times.
You know for a fact that he's going to kill people when he does. Often he's bragged about it.
So, leaving him alive is going to cost innocents their lives.

Can you do that? Should you?

Very thought provoking.


Wonder Woman:
To say that Wonder Woman being gay came as a surprise is a huge overstatement.
To be honest, the idea that she was supposed to be straight, just struck me as jarring and bizarre.

As you pointed out: “She comes from an island of immortal warrior women who have forsaken the world of men.”

Duh!

When DC (or whoever) announce that one of their most famous heroes is finally coming out as a lesbian, it's going to be a complete non-surprise to discover it's Diana.

Plus i love her practicality in this :P
Chopping off the head, oh yeah.
Also, make sure it's him, and burn the body.

Death:
You didn't mention who (and it looked deliberate) Death was.
I just got the feeling that it was Dawn, because she's cute, young and peppy. Also, she's pale and got dark hair (though not black).
Though Anya would be a good choice, given her bizarre cheerfulness in strange circumstances. Though IIRC she's catwoman, so i'm going with Dawn.
Mind you, curly dark hair, leather pants, could be Faith.

Pussy:
So much pussy!
In so many ways!
Quote:
“In other words she knows what pussy tastes like.” Catwoman said with a lewd smirk as the lantern and the speedster groaned.

I laughed. A lot.

Always room for pussy.

Looking forward to the next bit so much :bounce

R :flower




Typo:
How am I supposed to sew dissent if these teams I join keep falling to pieces?”

It should be sow (to spread)
Rather than sew (to stitch)

“I don’t tan well and I can’t photosynthesis as good as you do.”

I suggest either: “I don’t tan well and I can’t do photosynthesis as good as you do.”
or: “I don’t tan well and I can’t photosynthesise as well as you do.”

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How i Met Your Mother - By Ariel


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:57 pm 
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holy shit!!!

I guess Xander was right when he said they kicked ass. lol

Awesome that it was Harley in this that killed the joker.

I like what Azirahael said about, at what point does their reluctance to kill the villain become selfish.

And huh. I didn't even think of dawn, I just figured death was buffy with the whole death is my gift thing.

Cool update
Looking forward to next week


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 3:52 am 
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Greetings all. Wow there was a lot of great feedback for this last entry.

Hi Zampsa. Yes the baddies went poof in this one.

Hello Vampyregurl, Azirahael and Mysticrain. You each raised excellent points about the moral gray area that the girls waded into.

To be fair they only killed two members of the Legion of Doom in this fight. And sentenced one to a very slow death. The waiting will eventually drive him insane. The two "immortals" they dealt with have made it the mission of their unnaturally long lives to be a scourge on all mankind. The Joker as always is a narcissistic sociopath that just enjoys killing people and was never going to stop.

The other serial killer and the amoral businessman just got indefinite life long detainment without the possibility of parole. I’m not sure if what they did to Grundy counts as a mercy killing or an exorcism.

I think the last time I tried to get into comics was back when trade paperbacks for Marvel's Civil War had come out. One scene that stuck with me was Maria Hill and some nameless shield agent on the bridge of the hellicarrier talking about super villains and the guy asked "At what point does the huge number of people Norman Osborn kills every few months become Spider-man's fault because Spider-man doesn't just go and kill the guy?"

The scene tried to raise points about vigilantes taking even more of the law into their own hands and the obvious downsides of that. And of course all of those points got thrown out the window a year or so later when the fallout from the next big crossover left Osborn in charge of the Marvel universe for a year.

Also I think they explained Batman's stance on killing best in the initial Red Hood book/cartoon. Batman doesn't kill the Joker because it would be too easy. And once he starts down that road he won’t be able to stop. Though the more blatant excuse for the Joker’s life being spared is how many books the character sells.

The thing is Willow and Tara faced that issue a long time ago. Both have killed people. Neither takes pride in that fact but they accept it and have moved on.

In the end they came up with the overly simplistic decision to not kill if they can avoid it but never again let the life of a deadly enemy put the lives of their loved ones in jeopardy.

Given the fact that Vandal Savage's life story consists of leading armies to rape and pillage their way across whole continents during every major war in history and plotting the deaths of half the people on Earth so he could rebuild the world in his image he had to go.

I think I made an excuse about this before but I don't see another bloodbath on the scale of their takeover of Wolfram & Hart happening again. This chapter may have come close in terms of up close violence but the girls only outright killed two people.

On a lighter note I can honestly say the recent arrival of the Gilesbot is a smashing success. Expect great things from him in the future.

Azirahael, you raised a great point about Wonder Woman. Which leads me to say something that may sound blasphemous at first. Wonder Woman probably isn't gay. But based on the life, home, family, and children shared by the three people who created her she sure as hell isn't straight. I don't think the term "Bisexual Power Top" applies to anyone more than it does to Wonder Woman.

Sadly DC is never going to pull that trigger with their main, and in some respects only female lead character. The more I look into the issue the more I’m convinced that Warner Brothers is going to turn out a sub par Wonder Woman movie in a few years. The main reason is because the screen writer they give eighty percent of their projects to can’t write strong/complex female characters to save his life.

We’ll probably be able to tell for sure when the next Superman movie comes out. If there is a scene where Superman or Batman have to save Wonder Woman from a speeding train while Jesse Eisenberg stands by stroking his cliché bad guy moustache we’ll know David Goyer let us all down.

I think now is a safe time to admit casting most of the Scoobies in the DC world was a struggle because almost all of the women worth talking about are either Batman villains or the interchangeable female versions of male heroes.

Hence casting Neil Gaiman's Death character. Which brings me to Mysticrain's post.

Yes Mysticrain, you are correct. Death is the stand in for Buffy in the Sirens storyline. It may seem odd but I honestly could not justify casting Buffy as Wonder Woman or one of the dozen or so different Super Girls of Bat Girls. Aside from strength and gender they have nothing in common.

Plus "Death of the Endless" running around in the background adds a few fun twists we all may enjoy later on.

In my opinion it couldn't have been anyone else other than Harley to take out the Joker. Based on everything Willow knew about Harley from works of fiction in other dimensions the clown had to go. Things just lined up too perfectly.

Now I really have to get back to writing the next few chapters. As we wind down on Buffy season two content there will be a break before I start up on season three. I have to flesh out some more storylines and build up a larger buffer of chapters than I did when I started posting months ago.

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Time and Time Again


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 6:09 am 
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Topics: 2
Time and Time Again.

Author: Citanul

Feedback: Be kind, rewind?

Spoilers: Just about all of them. Go watch the show.

Rating: NC-17

Pairings: W/T, B/F

Disclaimer: You all know I don’t own the rights to characters you’ve seen on TV.

Summary: A story of reincarnation and interdimensional travel made possible through the power of love. What misfortunes will our two favorite love birds be able to prevent with the aid of experience from countless past lives.

Author’s Note: And so we come to the werewolf episode. The big Oz chapter. One of the fun aspects of researching this chapter was reacquainting myself with timeless characters like "Closeted, horny pig Larry" or "Gun toting sexist hunter." An let's not forget "Generic female P.E. teacher." Such fond fan favorites will surely be new long term fixtures.

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Chapter 16: Lunacy

Oz crouched in front of the Sunnydale High Trophy Case moving his head back and forth. He marveled at the way the trophy’s eyes followed him ceaselessly. He was so caught up in the amusing diversion that he didn’t even notice he had been joined.

“Hi.” Willow said as she strolled up to the display case holding an Espresso Pump coffee cup in one hand and a Tara’s hand in her other.

“Oh that’s what I was gonna say.” Oz replied with a slight smile to the couple.

“What’cha lookin’ at?” Willow asked as Tara seemed to smirk while sipping her own coffee cup.

“This cheerleading trophy.” Oz said. “It’s like its eyes follow you wherever you go. I like it.”

“Oh the eyes are following you.” Tara confirmed with a giggle.

“Huh.” Oz said with only mild confusion.

“Yeah great story.” Willow added as she perked up. “A week after Buffy moved here Amy’s mom used black magic to steal Amy’s body. She then went around hexing people until there was no one left to keep her off the cheerleading squad.”

Oz’s eyes widened at the fairly odd chain of events. He was more speechless than usual.

“Yeah, Buffy and Giles eventually broke the body swap curse and the crazy bitch tried to kill Buffy for it. Little did she know that her biggest and baddest spell could easily be turned back on her with a mirror of all things.” Willow scoffed before leaning over to tap on the glass mockingly. “How ya doing in there Cathy?”

“Huh.” Oz said as the shocking revelation settled in. “So what were you two up to?”

“Oh nothing much.” Willow answered with a coy smile. “Just sharing some mocha-y goodness with my Tara.”

Tara let out another giggle before clearing her throat. As the two young women gazed into each other’s eyes it was clear to all how deeply they cared for one another.

Oz smiled at how close the two were. Early on in the year he had noticed the redhead and the honey blonde around town. At first Oz couldn’t help but think there was something special about the unknown redhead but he soon realized even if he did get a chance to meet her she was already more than enamored with the honey blonde.

The young guitarist knew when to bow out gracefully. Oz saw no sense in barking up a tree that was already undeniably spoken for. He had even less desire to find out first hand just how powerful the curse of a scorned witch could be.

“Oh!” Willow looked up realizing she and Tara had an audience in the school halls. “There.” The redhead said as she noticed Buffy and Faith coming their way. “We have. Our friends. So we’ll go to them.” Willow hastily made her exit. Tara giggled again as Willow dragged her off towards the Slayers.

“I’ll see you then.” Oz said with a casually humored smirk. He really couldn’t argue with how well the two girls just seemed to fit together.

As the four young women whose secrets and powers had forced Oz to change his world view walked off down one hall Larry came strolling up to the musician.

“Man, Oz.” Larry said with an amused grin. “You’re so barking up the wrong tree.”

“No one’s barking Larry.” Oz replied coolly. “They make too cute a couple for that. I can’t even imagine how far they’ve gone together.”

******************************

“Nowhere!” Faith all but shouted to Tara as they watched Willow and Buffy walk towards the far side of the courtyard. “I swear Blondie, I get these looks from her and I let myself believe she’s feelin’ half of what I’m feelin’ but then she just turns away like ain’t nothin’ goin’ on.”

“You’ll win her over Faith.” Tara assured. “She has no idea how much she needs you to love her but she will.”

“I want to be lovin’ B.” Faith pouted with almost as much conviction as she had seen Buffy throw into her patented Summers pout. “I need to love her.”

“You will.” Tara promised. “Just be there for her.”

******************************

“Sometimes I just can’t help but miss him Will.” Buffy said.

“I know Buffy.” Willow replied. “First loves are always hard to move on from.”

“What if I can’t?” Buffy asked.

“You will.” Willow said. “There is someone out there for you Buffy. You may not know it yet but they belong to you. All you have to do is keep looking. Both out here and in there.” The redhead finished while bringing her finger up to rest on Buffy’s heart.

“That’s easy for you to say.” Buffy replied with a smirk. “So far all these boys get an F in Buffy, while it’s obvious Tara is getting an A in Willow.”

“Yeah she does.” Willow smirked before another, more hopeful, look crossed her face. “Oh, and one of those gold stars.” She then looked up to see the amused look on Buffy’s face and quickly changed her tone. “The point is there’s no need to worry about not having a boyfriend.”

“I’ll say.” Faith chuckled as she and Tara strolled up and sat beside the women they loved. “What do you say we hit the town tonight B?”

“I can’t just keep pushing all my lack of social life off on you Faith.” Buffy said with a forlorn sigh.

“Ain’t no one pushing here B.” Faith said in a slightly agitated tone as she stood up and loomed over Buffy. “I’m here for you no matter what. If that means marching through graveyards at two in the morning, fine. If it means we gotta go out and shake it at the Bronze every other night then that’s just what we gotta do.”

Buffy stared up at the brunette and felt some small sense of peace take root in her heart. The Slayer couldn’t tell why but she knew she was more than lucky to have Faith in her life.

“Thank you Faith.” Buffy whispered as she put on a brave face. “I think going out with you will be just what I need.”

It was all Faith could do to hold back the overwhelming joy Buffy’s words brought to her heart. The brunette continued to gaze into hazel pools as Buffy started talking about what she might wear. Off to the side Tara wrapped her arms around Willow and nuzzled into he love’s lightly freckled neck. Both witches knew that Buffy was the biggest obstacle to her own happiness. Yet the future they were building towards depended on her more than anyone or anything else. They believed in Faith. They knew the youngest Slayer was dedicated to Buffy. Now if only Buffy could realize the depths of that dedication.

“Everything is going to change from here on out isn’t it?” Willow whispered to Tara.

******************************

“Everything has changed over the last few months.” Xander said as he stopped kissing Cordelia.

That night the cheerleader had taken the initiative and driven her boyfriend out to one of the many not quite off road clearings that dotted the woods near Sunnydale. She had anticipated stalling and hesitation. What surprised her was that those impediments to the mildly naughty evening’s activities weren’t coming from her.

“Excuse me!” Cordelia said in mild outrage. “We didn’t come here to talk about Willow. We came here to do things I can never tell my father about because he still thinks I’m a, good girl.”

“It’s just that things have changed so much since they started seeing each other and getting all big with the witchy woo.” Xander went on.

“I like to think I’m as open minded as they come but there is only so much talking about lesbians a straight girl can take from her boyfriend.” Cordelia said dismissively.

“Thank you.” Xander replied.

“Do you even want to be here?” Cordelia asked her boyfriend.

“I’m not running away.” Xander answered.

“Because when you’re not babbling about poor, all powerful Willow and Tara you are raving about hopelessly clueless Buffy and her feisty new puppy dog Faith.”

“I do not babble.” Xander said. “I occasionally run on. Every now and then I yammer.”

“Xander!” Cordelia stopped him from babbling yet again.

“Yeah?” He asked.

“Look around.” Cordelia said as coyly as she could. “We’re in my daddy’s car. It’s just the two of us. There is a beautiful, big, full moon outside tonight. It doesn’t get more romantic than this.”

“So shut up!” Her tone suddenly grew angry and demanding. Cordelia pulled Xander’s head towards hers and they were once again kissing just as the cheerleader had wanted.

Moments later Xander pulled away yet again. Cordelia looked at him with barely contained contempt.

“Did you hear that?” Xander asked.

“What is it now?” Cordelia demanded.

“I thought I heard something.” Xander answered as he looked around.

“Is Willow or one of her lesbo coven members sending out some sort of distress signal that only you can hear because you’re their hag?” Cordelia asked. The constant interruptions to what should have been a simple make out session were wearing on her last nerve.

“Huh.” Xander said as he stopped looking around. He sent his girlfriend a slight grin which brought out a soft smile from her in reply. They each leaned in to renew the soft clashing of lips.

A loud crunching sound came from outside the car and Xander’s head pulled back again.

“Okay now I know I heard something!” He declared.

“Alright, that’s it.” Cordelia shot back. “You know your mind hasn’t been here all night. How bout I just drop you off.”

Before Cordelia could finish yelling at her absent minded boyfriend a large furry arm ending in ugly claws tore through the roof of the convertible. She screamed in terror as Xander yelled at her to get the car moving. A frantic search of the floor at her feet revealed the keys and the engine was soon started.

Cordelia pulled into reverse and braked hard. The furry arm came out as the creature that menaced them rolled back across the roof, down the trunk and bounced off the back bumper into the bushes.

The cheerleader hit the gas and they were speeding down the dirt road back towards civilization. Minutes passed before Xander said one finale remark.

“Told ya I heard something.”

******************************

“You sure it was a werewolf?” Buffy asked as she leaned over the convertible’s roof, examining the tattered shreds around the hole while her friends gathered around the car in the school parking lot the next morning.

“Well let’s see um, six feet tall, claws, a big old snout in the middle of his face, like a wolf. Um. Yeah, I’m sticking with my first guess.”

“That seems wise.” Oz remarked.

“Oh, oh, and then there was that little thing where it tried to bite us.” Xander added.

“It was so awful.” Cordelia said while leaning to rest her head on Xander’s chest.

“I know.” He replied trying to bring his hand around her shoulders in comfort before she pulled away again in an agitated huff.

“Daddy just had this car detailed!” The cheerleader exclaimed.

Giles walked up to Buffy carrying a folded up newspaper and scowling slightly. The Slayer turned to her watcher with hope that he could shed more light on this new curveball the hellmouth was sending them.

“So what’s the word?” Buffy asked looking between the man and the newspaper he was reading from.

“It seems there were a number of other attacks by a wild dog around town.” Giles said. “Several animal carcasses were found mutilated.”

“You mean like bunnies and stuff?” Amy asked.

“Oh god.” Jonathan whispered to himself.

“It’s me isn’t it?” Larry asked. “Last week some huge dog jumped out of the bushes, bit me.” He said while he rubbed a hand over his bandaged arm. “Thirty nine stitches. That means I’m the werewolf right?”

“Relax Larry.” Tara said. “It isn’t you.”

“I know I’m technically the newest resident of Hellmouth USA and all that but are they this jumpy every time some new baddie rolls into town?” Faith asked her fellow Slayer.

“They haven’t been to as many of these little meetings as you have Faith.” Buffy replied with a little smile.

“Yes, well fortunately no people were injured.” Giles affirmed.

“That falls into that’s a switch column.” Buffy said in surprise.

“Well for now.” Giles replied. “But my guess is that this werewolf will be back at next month’s full moon.”

“I wish.” Willow said with a light laugh. “We still have to get through the full moon tonight and the after party tomorrow.”

“Pardon?” Giles asked as he looked up in surprise.

“As someone who spent a very confusing couple of years dating a werewolf you guys should really listen to me on this one.” Willow said. “Last night was the night before the full moon. Traditionally know as the…” She trailed off for a moment. “Night before the full moon.”

“Meaning the accepted legend that werewolves only prowl during the full moon might be erroneous.” Giles said.

“Or it could be a crock.” Cordelia added.

“Unless the werewolf was using last year’s almanac.” Xander said jokingly before stopping completely and turning to look at Willow. “You dated a werewolf?” He all but shouted in surprise.

“I was young and confused.” Willow said almost pleadingly as she leaned into Tara’s comforting arms. “It was just a phase. Right Baby?”

“Shh, it’s okay Sweetie.” Tara said reassuringly. “It happened before we met the very first time and hasn’t happened since. You have nothing to prove to me.”

“Thank you.” Willow whispered into Tara’s neck as the honey blonde stroked her back.

“Looks like Giles has some schoolin’ to do.” Buffy remarked.

“Yes I must admit, I-I am intrigued.” Giles said a little too excitedly. “Werewolves! It’s one of the classics. I’m sure my books and I are in for a fascinating afternoon.” With that the librarian made a hasty exit to consult the text he still had on campus.

“He needs to get a pet.” Buffy said as the man left.

“Don’t worry B.” Faith said with a wicked smirk. “I’m sure your mom is workin’ on that all the time. Or maybe she’s making him her pet.”

“Oh my god! Faith!” Buffy yelled as the brunette ran off with a laugh.

“Everyone meet back at our house after school.” Willow said as the two Slayers chased each other playfully. “We’ll go over the werewolf basics.”

******************************

A few hours later the gym teacher was droning on about how dangerous Sunnydale was. Buffy and Faith shared knowing smiles at the not so hidden depths to the woman’s statement even she had no clue about.

Before too long boys and girls started pairing off to practice the simple shoulder throw move the teacher had talked them through. Xander of course went with Cordelia. Tara was paired with Larry. Willow and Oz ended up working together. Willow at first seemed nervous but Tara calmed her with a reassuring pat on the shoulder. All of this went on while Faith was busy entertaining Buffy with yet another outlandish joke.

“So the baker says. “Those aren’t my tarts!” Faith finished.

“Oh god Faith.” Buffy wheezed out between laughs. “You’re depraved.”

“Summers, Lehane!” The teacher shouted. Both Slayers got up and went to see what she wanted. “There’s an odd number of girls in this class so you two will be pairing up with the last boy.”

“Oh god.” Jonathan moaned as he began to panic.

“Levinson, go through the rounds with Lehane and then with Summers.” The P.E. teacher said before she walked off.

“Oh god.” Jonathan said again as both Slayers walked up to him with wicked grins.

“Oh that can’t be good.” Larry said to Xander and Oz as they practiced with Tara, Cordelia and Willow further down the line of floor mats.

“Dear penthouse forum.” Xander remarked as Cordelia and Willow slapped his arms.

“Don’t worry John Boy.” Faith whispered in Jonathan’s ear. “One of us will probably go easy on ya.”

“Oh god.” Jonathan moaned yet again.

“Don’t worry Jonathan.” Buffy assured the nervous young man. “We have covers to maintain.” Before Jonathan could let out a sigh of relief Buffy went on in a mockingly innocent voice. “Faith and I will probably only throw you half way across the gym.”

Jonathan merely gulped as Faith took his arm and draped it over her shoulder. The brunette smiled at the blonde as she thrust her hips against the nervous boy.

“Damn B you didn’t tell me this stud here was packing.” Faith said with a lewd wiggle of her hips.

“What?” Jonathan cried out in shock just before he found himself momentarily upside down in the air. The floor mats saved him from too many bruises but couldn’t keep the air from being knocked out of his lungs.

“Oh god Faith.” Buffy said with a smile that barely held back her laughter. “That was too cruel.” The blonde’s tone belied the chastising words and the brunette could clearly tell she was slowly winning her love over.

“You okay down there Jonathan?” Buffy asked.

“Okay.” The boy wheezed weakly as he looked up at the blonde Slayer.

“Boys are so fragile.” Willow said before she flipped Oz over her own shoulder. The stunned guitarist looked up at the redhead from the floor mat and wondered if he had done something to offend her in the short time they had known one another.

“That works too.” Oz finally said.

******************************

“And uh, while there’s absolutely no scientific explanation for a lunar effect on the human psyche, the phases of the moon do seem to exert a great deal of psychological influence. And the full moon seems to bring out our darkest qualities.” Giles said as he fiddled with globes of the Earth and Moon while the teens sat around the library in Willow and Tara’s home.

“And yet, ironically, led to the invention of the moon pie.” Xander quipped.

“Oh, he he, moon pie, ha he he.” Giles laughed as all the young woman around stared at him blankly. He quickly composed himself and moved on.

“You see, the werewolf is such a potent, extreme representation of our inborn animalistic traits that, like Willow said, it emerges for three full consecutive nights. The full moon and the two nights surrounding it.”

“Quite the party animal.” Tara said as she leaned into Willow’s side and ran a hand up her thigh under the table.

“Quite.” Giles agreed. “And it acts on pure instinct. No conscience, predatory and aggressive.”

“In other words your typical male.” Buffy remarked.

“On behalf of my gender hey.” Xander said.

“Yes let’s not jump to any conclusions.” Giles stated.

“I didn’t jump.” Buffy said innocently. “I took a tiny step and there conclusions were.”

“The point is that our “wolfman” could also be a-a “wolfwoman.” Or-or anyone who was bitten by a werewolf.”

“So then I’m guessing your standard silver bullets are in order here?” Xander asked. At the mention of bullets both Tara and Willow flinched enough that the two Slayers immediately caught the sensitivity of the subject.

“No!” Giles said with an emphatically raised finger. “No bullets. No matter who this werewolf is i-it’s still a human being, who may be completely unaware of his or her condition.”

“So tonight we bring ‘em back alive.” Buffy said.

“That’s right.” Willow said as she stood up and went to a large case at one end of the table. She opened the lid and pulled out two oddly shaped pistols and a small box.

“Thought we said no guns?” Faith asked with a confused frown.

“No bullets.” Tara said as Willow pulled a metal cylinder with a tuft of orange fur at one end and a needle at the other out of the small box and loaded it into the gun.

“Tranquilizer darts loaded with enough Phenobarbital to sink a small elephant.” Willow said as she set the two loaded guns down in front of the Slayers. “Should be enough for a large werewolf.”

“Awesome!” Faith said with an appreciative whistle. “You up for a little “most dangerous game” tonight B?”

“Faith, how on Earth are we going to get two live grizzly bears to let us ride them around a tennis court while we hit a lit bundle of dynamite back and forth with squash rackets?” Buffy asked the brunette.

Around the room the blonde Slayer was greeted with blank stares from just about everyone. The almost deafening silence was broken by a light chuckling from Oz of all places. He quickly cleared his throat when he noticed everyone was staring at him.

“See, it’s dangerous because you don’t normally use squash rackets on a tennis court.” Oz clarified.

Buffy just rolled her eyes as her joke flew over the heads of all the people she knew. The Slayer picked up her new tranq gun and a pack of darts then nodded to Faith.

“Come on.” Buffy said to her fellow Slayer. “Let’s get ready for patrol.”

“W-watch out for any werewolf hunters looking to cash in on the t-teeth and fur.” Tara warned the Slayers.

“I’ll drive you around the woods to the various hotspots.” Giles said as he joined them on their way out of the room. “The beast was attracted to them before. It may be again.”

Xander and Cordelia grabbed one of the spare guns and made a hasty exit. That left Oz with Willow and Tara. The witches shared a look before Willow turned to the guitarist and smiled.

“Oz you should take one of these just in case.” The redhead said with an innocent smile. “Here I’ll show you how to load it.” She went on as she pulled out a gun and a dart. With the young man watching Willow’s every move she loaded the dart into the back of the opened barrel and then slid the action closed.

Oz watched in confusion quickly followed by shock as Willow raised the gun in his direction and fired a dart into his chest just below the collar bone. With the sense of utter confusion slowly drifting away with the rest of his consciousness Oz slumped over in his chair. As the last of his awareness faded Oz thought he heard a distant howling in the back of his mind.

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Giles paced slowly between cars parked in the densely forested lover’s lane. There was no sign of any lycanthropic activity as far as he could tell. He saw Buffy approaching and quickly went to see how she was fairing in her search.

“Anything yet?” The watcher asked his Slayer.

“Yes!” Buffy replied a little too excitedly. “And you won’t believe what I saw. Britney Podell was making out with Owen Stedial, but he goes with Vera Wenn so if she ever found out that.” Buffy trailed off as Giles gave her an exasperated look. “No um, no sign of the werewolf. How bout you?”

“The same.” Giles replied. “I thought we might, ah, I thought we might knock on a few windows. Ask if anyone has seen anything yet.”

“Giles, no one’s seen anything.” Buffy said with an equally exasperated look.

“Oh. Yes, no of-of course not.” Giles admitted once he realized just how awkward things would get once they started asking questions. “Yes.” He said finally before walking off in another direction to look for more signs of wolf activity.

Buffy slowly began pacing off into the bushes. She found her way into a small clearing off to the side of all the parked cars. Before she could look around more thoroughly her foot triggered a snare and the Slayer found herself caught in a net dangling several feet off the ground. A man brandishing a large hunting rifle ran out of the bushes and drew a bead on the captured Slayer.

“Gotcha!” The hunter Tara had warned them about shouted. “What the hell?” He asked as he got a closer look.

“Giles!” Buffy shouted.

“Hey!” Giles shouted in turn as he came running into the clearing with his flashlight. The hunter turned the gun on the librarian who quickly raised his arms. “Whoa! Whoa, oh oh.”

“Hands are good right about there.” The hunter said.

“Who, who are you? What are you doing?” Giles asked.

“Names Cain.” The man replied. “I’m the one with the gun which means I’m the one who gets to do the interviewing.”

“Not quite that simple asshole.” A voice whispered from behind Cain just as the man felt the sharp edge of a very large blade press against his throat. “Hand over the gun nice and slow like or tomorrow’s papers are gonna be all about a lost hunter’s body getting found in a ditch by the interstate.”

“Easy now.” Cain said as he slowly handed over his rifle.

Faith snatched the weapon out of his hands. Before he could even turn around the brunette had the lever on the bolt action rifle flipped up and slid back. She let the silver bullet and its shell casing fall to the forest floor and pulled the trigger so the entire bolt would easily slide out. With the weapon now incapable of firing Faith tossed it back at the man and pocketed the bolt.

“You okay up there B?” Faith asked as she steadily waved the point of one of her Butterfly swords in the hunter’s face. “You ain’t hurt or nothin’?”

“Just my pride I think.” Buffy replied with a sigh. “How about we do something about me being in this net thing?”

“Sure thing B.” Faith said as she quickly stepped up to a line that ran from the ground up to the branches the net was suspended from. She grasped the line firmly with one hand and cut it with her short sword. The sudden weight shift caused Buffy to drop a foot and a half but Faith was more than strong enough to hold the line and set Buffy gently down on her feet while the rest of the net fell to the forest floor.

“You alright?” Giles asked as he ran up to see that Buffy was unharmed and Cain let out a lurid chuckle.

“Gotta say, I’m impressed.” Cain said.

“Excuse me?” Giles asked the hunter.

“Well it’s good to get the fruit while it’s fresh.” Cain replied.

“You’d be wise to take that back.” Giles seethed.

“Hey, what a man and two girls do in lover’s lane at night is nobody’s.” Cain said right before Faith pulled out her tranq gun and shot him in the neck. He looked at her, shocked, just before his eyes closed and he slumped to the ground in a messy pile of limbs.

“I seriously did not want to listen to any more of this asshole running his mouth.” Faith said.

“Faith what did you do?” Buffy asked in a quiet voice.

“Check his necklace B.” Was all Faith said in reply. Buffy quickly stooped down with her flashlight and looked at the row of canine teeth strung together on a thick cord around Cain’s neck.

“Teeth?” Buffy asked.

“Bet you just about anything those are trophies from all the werewolves he murdered.” Faith said.

“There are eleven of them.” Buffy whispered.

“Oh dear lord.” Giles gasped.

“He ain’t no saint.” Faith declared. “I say we leave him for the night and run his ass out of town if we come across him again before we bag this wolf.”

“I must say I can’t fault that course of action.” Giles said in a cold voice. The insinuation that he had anything other than a professional relationship with his young charges angered the Brit more than he thought it would.

“Alright.” Buffy relented. “I can’t believe some people just murder werewolves for fun.”

“Red mentioned something about Sri Lankan fur traders.” Faith replied. “But I thought she was just workin’ on a dirty joke she didn’t have a punch line for yet.”

“Faith!” Buffy cried out in shock as a slow smile crept across her face. Faith only smirked back at the girl she loved.

******************************

“You think this is for the best Sweetie?” Tara asked her love as she stared at the caged animal pacing back and forth along the row of bars that isolated the back corner of the basement.

“It’s the only way.” Willow said with a sad voice as she watched Oz’s all too familiar wolf form march around his prison.

“We could have kept him from turning.” Tara said.

“We could have tried.” Willow corrected. “But you know as well as I do that stopping his infection only works half the time and he never ends up as happy as he does when he’s with her.”

“Just so long as we’re clear on why we’re doing all of this.” Tara said as she wrapped her arms around Willow and held her distraught redhead.

“He deserves to be happy.” Willow said at last. “We both know I’m not going to even try to be that for him but he still deserves the chance to be with someone who will love him.”

“Just so long as we’re honest about what he’ll go through.” Tara said as she nuzzled into Willow’s neck. Oz stared at the intimate act between the two witches and snarled.

“Come on Baby.” Willow said. “We’re just getting him angry by staying down here and I don’t want to make love to you with my not really an ex watching.”

“Yes ma’am.” Tara replied with a wicked grin. The two lovers walked upstairs hand in hand, leaving the wolf to his cage.

******************************

“So how often do they actually do it?” Buffy asked with a wildly curious tone in her voice as she and Faith walked through the dark woods.

“Shit B!” Faith replied with dumbfounded shock at the bold question. “It ain’t like they let me watch or nothing.”

“What? No! Of course they don’t let you watch!” Buffy said. A suddenly panicked frown crossed her face. “Oh god, please tell me they really don’t let you watch.”

Faith just looked at the other Slayer with an almost bewildered grin. She couldn’t believe how easy it was to press Buffy’s buttons. The only down side was that those buttons were nowhere near the ones she truly wanted to press.

“You’re way too easy B.” Faith said. “No there ain’t no watching involved. And before you ask they must have paid for extra soundproofing in their bedroom and bathroom cause Mrs. M can’t hardly hear a thing.”

“That’s a relief.” Buffy said after letting out a sigh.

“But even the best insulation ain’t no match for Slayer hearing.” Faith said with a grin that dropped Buffy’s jaw.

“Oh my god you did not just say that!” Buffy cried out.

“Plus there are some weekends I don’t see either of them at all.” Faith went on. “They must have found a way to keep themselves entertained with that door shut tight for days on end.”

“Oh god.” Buffy moaned as she buried her face in her hands. “Oh god.”

Faith gently pulled the hands away from the Hazel pools she loved so much. Once she had the blonde’s attention Faith proceeded to waggle her eyebrows up and down in an ever so suggestive fashion.

“Oh god.” Buffy said again.

“Nah, I’m pretty sure they scream out “Oh Goddess!” whenever one of them gets the other were they’re going.” Faith corrected.

“Oh god!” Buffy cried out.

“You know B.” Faith said with a tenderness that insinuated she was about to share something in confidence. “You’re way too easy sometimes.”

Buffy just scowled at the grin Faith was shooting her and lightly pushed the brunette away. She huffed for a few seconds before letting a slight smirk cross her lips.

“You know that’s my best friend you’re talking about? Right?” Buffy said at last.

“I know.” Faith replied with another smile. “Hey it ain’t like you couldn’t have figured this stuff out on your own B. I mean they ain’t exactly that sneaky about their whole setup. The first night we met they brought me out to a nice pizza place. Then we went Slaying. Then they dragged me back to their big ass hotel room.”

“Really?” Buffy asked.

“Oh yeah.” Faith replied. “I’m talkin’ top floor, five stars, head honcho rooms with kitchens and living rooms in between a couple different bedrooms. There I am, no clue what they want worthless street trash like me for, and we get up to the biggest hotel room with the baddest view I ever seen. And you know what the first thing they say to me is? They point to a door and say “That’s your room.” then another door on the other side of the room and say. “That’s our room. Knock first.” I tell ya B the way they were all over each other I thought I was gonna get slipped something and wake up naked covered in their juices. But the second we got somewhere safe they laid it out nice and clear that they didn’t want me for anything sexual. I mean there I was being dragged around town by these two lesbians and the only reason I can think up is that they want to use me like everybody else and then throw me out the next morning.”

Faith let her ramblings die down before she looked at Buffy again. The brunette was shocked to find anger in the Hazel eyes she adored so much.

“B?” Faith asked. “Buffy?”

“Don’t do that again.” Buffy said with a cold, dangerous edge to her voice.

“Listen B, I’m sorry okay.” Faith started to panic. She had messed up the best thing she had going for her and the worst part was she didn’t even realize what it was she did to ruin things all over again.

“Don’t talk about yourself like you’re worthless.” Buffy ordered as she brought her hands up to cup Faith’s cheeks. “You are an amazing woman Faith. No one deserves to be treated the way you were. All those awful people you had to put up with back in Boston didn’t deserve to have a wonderful person like you in their lives. You are not just some worthless piece of street trash and you’ll never be anybody’s whore.”

“Buffy.” Faith whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek. The blonde simply pulled the brunette into a tight hug that forced all the barriers around Faith’s heart to melt away in an instant. Before she knew it Faith’s face was buried in Buffy’s neck and pained sobs racked her entire body as the tears flowed.

“I’m here for you no matter what.” Buffy promised Faith with the same words the brunette had used earlier.

Buffy held the seemingly fearless Slayer all the tighter as one hand stroked Faith’s back and the other ran fingers through long brunette locks. Buffy knew that, no matter how tough Faith acted for everyone else on the planet, she was still just a little girl who had to go out night after night and fight the ugliest and cruelest monsters the world had to offer.

In that regard they were no different. For all the things that set the two of them apart from each other in every way society could envision Buffy and Faith were the same on a deeply intimate level that no one could take away from them.

As the minutes wore on the tears began to taper off. Faith couldn’t help herself. The intimacy Buffy offered washed away a weight that had hung around Faith’s heart. With her burden lightened for what felt like the first time in years Faith began to laugh.

Buffy smiled as the still crying girl laughed into her embrace. For a long time she had felt the emotional turmoil that had been building within Faith for most of her life. It scared Buffy to think of what the brunette she depended on might be capable of if she was pushed past the breaking point.

Luckily Willow and Tara had made putting Faith’s life back on track their top priority. Even Jennifer went out of her way to be the mother Faith had always deserved. And though her own mother acted strangely at times when Buffy and Faith were closest Buffy knew the woman cared for Faith on a level that would have been unthinkable had Buffy’s secrets not forced Joyce to reevaluate all of her priorities.

Yet Buffy knew the hardest task of all would always fall to her. No matter how close Faith could get to all the other women in their lives. No matter how easy it was to share laughs with Xander. No matter how much unwavering support Giles gave them both. Faith would always need someone who understood her at the deepest levels to truly connect with the world. So here they were laughing and crying into each other’s arms while the lover’s lane they had patrolled all night was cleared of all but a few holdouts.

Faith finally blinked away the tears in her eyes and cleared her throat enough to speak. With a strained voice and teary eyes she looked up to find Buffy staring back at her with a look of acceptance and caring she had only just recently hoped to receive.

“It’ll be Sunrise soon B.” Faith whispered. “We should get Giles and head home.”

“Sure Faith.” Buffy agreed.

The two Slayer’s walked arm in arm towards Giles’s car. Buffy looked to see if her mentor was waiting for them but panicked when she saw no one in the seat.

“Giles? Giles!” Buffy shouted as she ran up to the car.

“Wha-huh AH!” Giles cried out as he awoke with a start and his head popped up.

“Rupert?” Joyce moaned sleepily. “Come back to bed Honey.”

“I didn’t see you there.” Buffy apologized. “Thought something happened.”

“Oh, well, um, ah.” Giles muttered as he fought off the last traces of sleep. “I’m okay. I’m just um, fine. I’m uh. Ah. Any sign of the werewolf?” He asked at last.

“No.” Buffy said. “I’m guessing you two didn’t see anything either from that vantage point of having your eyes closed.”

“Well, it’s um going to be light soon so let me drive you girls home.” Giles said as Buffy crawled in the back seat with her mother and Faith climbed in the passenger’s seat besides the watcher.

“It’s so late.” Joyce moaned. “How do you girls do this every night?”

“Most of the vamp activity finished up a half dozen hours ago Mrs. S.” Faith replied. “We’d normally be cuddled up in bed by now. Right B?”

“Right!” Buffy replied before the entire statement registered and her eyes widened. “Wait!”

“Like I said B.” Faith chuckled as Giles started the car and drove off towards Rovello Drive. “Too easy.”

******************************

Oz awoke with a start as a stray ray of light fell across his face. He looked around his unfamiliar surroundings and honestly had no idea where he had ended up.

He was in a sturdy looking cage built into a corner of a basement. There was a large circle and five point star engraved into the floor a few feet away. The design was filled in with polished metal that had a distinctly silver sheen. Arcane runes dotted most of the floor around the symbol and much of the walls. A staircase on the far wall led upwards. One window let the morning light pour into the basement.

Oz wondered how much trouble he was in as he desperately tried to recall where he was before any of this happened. He could remember the Scooby meeting. His first full blown meeting. He had been curious as to why they wanted him there. Then the aftermath of the meeting came to mind.

“Willow.” Oz whispered. Before he could dwell on just how bad it all was the door at the top of the stairs opened and someone came down to check on him.

“Oh thank the Goddess.” Jennifer said. “You’re awake.”

“Mrs. Maclay?” Oz asked in surprise.

“Please Sweetie.” The woman said. “Call me Jennifer.”

“Sorry.” Oz replied as he tried to cover his nudity.

“Oh heavens let me get your clothes for you.” Jennifer said as she retrieved a stack of cleaned clothing from the workbench that took up one side of the basement. “You must be in quite a state after the night you had.”

“What kind of night did I have?” Oz asked as he quickly dressed and began to rub the back of his head.

“You know.” Jennifer said calmly. “Pacing around your cage. Clawing at the back wall. The howling.”

“Oh god.” Oz said.

“Take your time dear.” Jennifer cautioned.

“It was me wasn’t it?” Oz asked. “I’m the wolf.”

“I’m afraid so Sweetie.” Jennifer said.

“But I never even got bit.” Oz lamented.

“You sure about that Sweetie?” Jennifer asked.

Oz looked down at the small cut on his finger. He got it while visiting relatives. His little cousin just got his grownup teeth in. The boy didn’t like to be tickled.

“Jordy.” Oz whispered.

******************************

“It isn’t the end of the world Oz.” Willow said almost pleadingly.

“It’s just a lot to take in.” Oz replied quietly.

“So wait.” Faith said. “You’re telling me Oz was the werewolf, and you gals knew the whole time, and you had him on lockdown here all night, and you still had me out all hours looking for him even though everything was handled?”

“Oh hush now Sweetie.” Jennifer chastised the brunette. “Are you really going to sit there and complain about spending a whole night under a big beautiful full moon with that neighbor girl you won’t stop going on about?”

“Well when you put it like that.” Faith whispered quietly as a slight smile grew on her face. “It was pretty nice.”

“And you dealt with that werewolf hunter.” Willow added. “We don’t want his type roaming around town.”

“Pancakes are ready!” Tara called out as she flipped the last of the extra large batch she and her mother had whipped up.

“Oh goody.” Willow cheered as she practically vibrated in her chair.

“You’re in for a treat Wolfboy.” Faith said with a grin. “Blondie makes the best flapjacks.”

“This is gonna take some getting used to.” Oz said as a plateful of pancakes materialized before him.

******************************

“Oz is the werewolf!” Buffy said in shock as she walked through the school courtyard with Faith. “You’re kidding me.”

“Afraid not B.” Faith replied. “Red was trying to tell him all this reassuring stuff at breakfast but you could tell the guy was still freaked.”

“Breakfast?” Buffy asked in confusion before the puzzle pieces fell into place. “They had him locked up in your house all night didn’t they?”

“Oh yeah.” Faith replied. “I was wonderin’ what the cage in the corner of the basement was for when they brought me down there to unlock my potential and all that good stuff.”

“There’s a cage in your basement?” Buffy asked.

“Oh yeah.” Faith replied. “A big one too. Right next to the giant metal pentacle worked into the floor.”

“Why does it always seem like I’m the last to know about these things?” Buffy asked as Faith put a reassuring arm around her shoulders.

“Ain’t no thang girl.” Faith assured Buffy. “We just got too busy with all the Slaying to worry about all the little things Red and Blondie wanted to surprise us with.”

“What about Oz?” Buffy asked. “Aside from freaked and extra freaked how is he taking it?”

“He’s still actin’ like the same quiet guy he always was.” Faith said. “Though there is something different.”

“What?” Buffy asked.

“He was thumbin’ through brochures on Tibet.” Faith said as she stroked her hand up and down Buffy’s shoulder. The petite blonde gladly took what little comfort the action gave. Buffy was happy to have a friend like Faith in her life.

******************************

That afternoon Oz made his way back to Willow and Tara’s house with a gym bag containing spare clothes. He couldn’t argue with the safety benefits of being locked away in the basement of a house full of witches. But he couldn’t see himself imposing on them three nights a month for the rest of his life. The other options Willow had mentioned were starting to sound better and better by the hour. With a reluctant sigh the guitarist realized his days with the Dingoes were at an end.

******************************

Cain poured the precious melted silver from his small crucible into the bullet mold he had ready. The small workstation he had set up in his van provided him all the tools he needed to hunt the game he specialized in.

As he set aside the still hot mold to cool and solidify Cain picked up another mold that had already finished cooling. He opened it to reveal a fresh silver bullet ready to be pressed into one of his shell casings.

Before he could start measuring the gunpowder there was a loud knock at the back doors. Cain sighed at the interruption and went to tell whoever it was to beat it. As he opened the door he was shocked to find the blonde and brunette from the night before.

“What the hell do you two want?” Cain demanded. “I swear it never ends. First they tell me I can't shoot an elephant for its ivory. Now I've got to deal with People for the Ethical Treatment of Werewolves.”

“We just came by to share the good news Cain.” The blonde said with an almost mocking smile. “The werewolf is taken care of so you can move on.”

“Don’t tell me you two little girls beat me to the prize.” Cain scoffed.

Buffy reached into his van and picked up one of the hunting rifles. She held it up for the hunter to see and grasped the barrel near the muzzle and the forestock. Without breaking a sweat the Slayer bent the sturdy metal gun barrel until it gently curved downward. With a smile she tossed the useless weapon back to the hunter.

“How about you let the door hit you in the ass on the way out of town.” Buffy said.

The hunter stared at the Slayer in shock as he slowly backed away. Faith gave him one final smug grin before slamming the door shut. A minute later Cain’s van was started up and moving towards the highway out of town.

“Sweet sendoff B!” Faith cheered.

“What can I say?” Buffy replied. “I’m a people person.”

******************************

“You’re sure there isn’t anything else we can do for you.” Willow asked Oz as they stood on the tarmac of the Sunnydale airport later that weekend. The full moon had come and gone. With its passing went the boy Oz used to be.

“You’ve already done so much.” Oz replied. “I don’t know how I would have handled it if my wolf hurt someone.”

“It would have torn you up inside.” Willow replied honestly as Tara held her from behind.

“Answer one question?” Oz asked.

“Almost anything.” Willow replied.

“You said you dated a werewolf for a few years.” Oz said slowly. “Larry and Xander both said the two of you keep talking about past lives.”

“Go ahead and a-ask the question Oz.” Tara said.

“Were we happy together?” Oz asked.

“Oh Oz.” Willow said in a voice barely above a whisper. “For a little while, yeah.”

“How did it end?” Oz asked.

“It was the first real relationship for either of us.” Willow admitted. “We couldn’t be what we needed from each other and holding on too long nearly killed us.”

“There’s more to that answer.” He stated.

“She kissed Xander during a very confusing time in her life and you panicked after meeting another wolf.” Tara said. “You didn’t know how to keep the bitch contained during the full moon so you locked her in your cage with you while she was in heat.”

“Huh.” Oz said. “Do I ever get my act together?”

“There’s someone out there for you Oz.” Willow promised. “Unfortunately she lives in Tibet and is also a werewolf. I’d say more but I don’t want to jinx you with too much information. Just know that things work out the way they do for a reason. It took me centuries to really understand that simple fact.”

With a relieved sigh the guitarist smiled to the witches. He picked up the large duffle bag holding his most important possessions and went to board the Rosenberg & Maclay private jet. He turned and gave one final glance to the home he was leaving. One final wave to the Scoobies assembled for his farewell. With a hopeful smile he boarded the plane and began the journey of discovery that would take up the rest of his life.

“Did you really have to send him to the other side of the planet?” Buffy asked.

“Yup.” Tara admitted.

“It wasn’t just because we wanted him out of our life.” Willow complained.

“All I know is if my ex I couldn’t remember got me bitten by a werewolf and shipped off to China I’d be pissed.” Cordelia remarked.

“We didn’t get him bitten!” Willow protested. “We just didn’t do anything to stop him from getting bitten.”

“Damn Red!” Faith whistled. “That’s cold girl!”

“Oz will be happy there.” Willow protested. “He makes a much better Tibetan monk than he does a struggling guitarist.”

“Besides.” Tara said confidently. “The baby he has with the woman waiting for him there is adorable.”

“Wolfboy’s gonna have puppies?” Faith asked with a laugh. “Damn that makes it all worth it. Are we sending them a stroller or a leash?”

“Faith that’s insensitive.” Xander said with a disapproving frown. “We’re obviously sending them a box of those disposable puppy pads.”

As the others traded canine related barbs Buffy just looked at Willow. The witch caught the questioning glance and tried her best to assuage the doubts of her best friend.

“I know it seems cruel and manipulative now Buffy.” Willow admitted. “But one day soon Oz will wake up and be happier than he has ever been in his life.”

“And he needed to become a monster and travel to the other side of the planet to find that happy ending?” Buffy asked.

“Yes.” Tara and Willow promised.

“God, why can’t love ever be simple?” Buffy asked.

“Because it’s worth all the pain it can dish out.” Faith said as she rested her hands on Buffy’s shoulders.

The Slayers watched the plane take off. It seemed nothing would ever be simple for anyone whose lives revolved around the hellmouth. While that thought filled Buffy with dread it filled Faith with something far different. For if complicated could bring Buffy into Faith’s life it just proved to her that the brunette had no need for simple.

******************************

“How much longer is this going to take Rayne?” Collins asked the sorcerer for what had to be the hundredth time.

“Dear boy these are ancient, sacred text written and rewritten in a dozen different ancient or dead demonic languages over the last four thousand years.” Ethan replied as he poured over the scrolls of Aberjian. “Be thankful I already know which parts we need for our plans to work.”

“I still say we dust the vampire next chance we get.” Weatherby said.

“I’d have to recommend against that.” A new voice called out from the doorway.

“Who the bloody hell are you?” Weatherby demanded.

“A better question would be how she got past Smith.” Ethan remarked.

“I would be a representative of the Kalderash.” The black haired woman said as she strolled towards the men. “You can call me Jenny.”

“I’ll call you dead if you don’t know what’s good for you.” Weatherby said with as much menace as he could.

“Mr. Collins, could you please put a leash on him?” Ethan asked. “I’ve heard of this woman and it goes without saying that she can provide us with exactly the help we need to speed up our plans considerably.”

“Alright.” Collins said. “The gypsy can work with us for now. But she’s your responsibility Rayne. Come on Weatherby let’s go find Smith.”

“Well that went well.” Jenny said as the two watchers left the room.

“Quite.” Ethan replied as he looked up from the table of scrolls for the first time. The sight of the beautiful woman put the smirk right back on his face. “Now what really brings you here my dear?”

“Save it buddy.” Jenny said. “My people just want to make sure those idiots out there don’t kill Angel. They want him to keep on suffering.”

“Oh, I assure you my dear.” Ethan replied with an even more sinister smirk. “By the time we’re done with him he’ll know a whole new meaning of the word.”

******************************

Appendix:
Buffy’s idea of a dangerous game was stolen from here.

_________________
Time and Time Again


Last edited by Citanul on Mon Aug 03, 2015 9:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 6:45 am 
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um… How did I end up being the first to respond? lol Did hell freeze over?

I had been wondering if you were going to let Oz get bit. The only reason I could think of for letting it happen was to get him to go off to meet, um, I think her name is Bay? My memory sucks sometimes. Anyway, looks like I was on the same page with you on that. cool.

and omg! so funny with poor Jonathan! I cracked up.

And damn, don't I wish we could all just tranq sexist assholes when they open their mouths and piss us off! lol

Cool chapter

And now it's time to see what Buffy and Giles think about the Slayer academy and the rest! yay!


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 2:03 pm 
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Yay for great update-y goodness... I'm glad that the wolf-boy & pet hunter problem is taken care off... I wonder how long W/T are letting Janna & Ethan cause havoc before stopping their wicked little games...

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 2:32 am 
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Huh, happened again.
was notified of the dibs, but missed the update.

Anyhoo, lovely update!

I'm really enjoying the Conspiracy of Smoochies!
It's fun watching everyone trying to set Buffy up with Faith.
An d i liked how they were when they were together.

Oh man, Buffy is gonna explode when she twigs. Heehee!
Yeah, Buffy is lovable, but she is the greatest impediment to her own happiness.


Shame that Oz got put on a bus. He was always one of my fav characters.
Not with Willow, but in general.


Anyway, i have a sneaky suspicion that Jenny is going to turn out to be an undercover agent.
Dun-dun-duuun!

As always, i'm looking forward to the next episode, with 'bated breath. :bounce

R :flower

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How i Met Your Mother - By Ariel


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 4:56 am 
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Hello all. A lot of great feedback on the Oz chapter.

Hello Mysticrain. Yes, I think hell experienced a low pressure front this last week. Congrats on the dibs.

Yup, totally on the same page. Bayarmaa "Bay" and their eventual son Kelden are my favorite excuse for why we didn't see Oz in the later seasons. The schedule of Seth Green notwithstanding, Oz got to grow up and move on off camera in a tranquil place. He did what none of the other main characters were allowed to. Build a life and a family.

The Gym scene was just too good to pass up even though I worked Larry's misogyny out of the plot long ago. A brief appearance by the "Amazing Flying Jonathan!" was called for. And any chance for Faith to comment on a fidgety little guy's surprising girth, whether she's exaggerating or not, is a good laugh.

I transcribed a lot of key scenes for this chapter and by the time I got to Cain's debut I listened to his whole litany twice and my fun went soft. So more lines for Faith and a cool bit of aggression relief with non lethal rounds. Good stuff.

This next Dark Age Chronicle may surprise you.

Hello Zampsa. Oz is in a happy place. Generic hunter guy left town with his tail between his legs.

Jenny and Ethan are up to something that I'm proud to say no one has hinted at guessing yet. Please no spoilers on that if you do figure out my devious plans. All will be revealed soon~ish.

Hello Azirahael. Damn you system bugs that block my loyal readership! :rage

The classic Everyone sees it but the one person who needs to see it most of all Shtick is almost always verdant territory. Plus it's still fun to point out every now and then that Buffy already has feelings for Faith.

Buffy doesn't know it and Goddess knows she won't act on them without a giant neon sign and a few how to pictures, but they are there and she more often then not falls into behaviors and levels of intimacy that are completely natural for the relationship Faith wants with her.

And that shit just drives Faith crazy! Just wait, Faith is gonna be crawling up the walls before Buffy gets the big picture.

Oz was one of my favorites as well. But trying to write scenes for him while figuring out his new Willowless role in the story and having Willow tip toe around him because she thinks Tara is jealous that a version of him popped a version of her girlfriend's cherry was a herculean task I had no desire to eat up page space with.

One of the things I don't often enjoy that I've seen in several stories is how often his and Willow's breakup is explained away in stories where he isn't a werewolf by saying he cheated just because he felt like it and/or started being physically abusive. Or ones where he still is a wolf but he turns evil and kidnaps/tortures someone while human.

It's literally taking the most mild mannered, peaceful, compassionate, and gentle guy from the series and turning him into a violent, abusive sociopath. The beauty of the early seasons was the thinly veiled metaphor that each monster type served as.

I can't think of the metaphor lycanthropy served as off the top of my head but I want to say either puberty or dating an abusive alcoholic. Then again the later of those was covered by the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde episode.

Double, triple, and possibly even quadruple agents may be just around the corner as the LA part of the story unfolds at a snails pace. I promise a big reveal by the end of season 2 but I'm also going to probably use LA to skip or replace a few of the Angelus centric episodes.

Obviously we've passed the point where Angelus can show up in Jenny's classroom one night and drain her / snap her neck.

Or have we? Dun Dun Duuununun!

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Time and Time Again


Last edited by Citanul on Wed Jan 21, 2015 5:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 5:06 am 
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Time and Time Again.

Author: Citanul

Feedback: Be kind, rewind?

Spoilers: Just about all of them. Go watch the show.

Rating: NC-17

Pairings: W/T, B/F

Disclaimer: You all know I don’t own the rights to characters you’ve seen on TV.

Summary: A story of reincarnation and interdimensional travel made possible through the power of love. What misfortunes will our two favorite love birds be able to prevent with the aid of experience from countless past lives.

Author’s Note: I'm not gonna sugar coat it. This one is rough. A little light in the middle. Then rough again.

******************************

Dark Age Chronicles: Her Story

Tara walked through the servant’s entrance in the back of the kitchens. The seldom used passageway afforded her the most protection from the leering eyes of her father’s men. “Soldiers” was far too generous a term for the motley assortment of degenerates and brutes the Dread Warlord Maclay employed. Then again “men” was still a bit too generous.

The sounds of fighting and uproarious laughter echoed down the corridors. Tara knew she would have no luck avoiding the thugs today. She had been especially wary of the looks her father’s lieutenant kept giving her. The old man’s presence always set Tara on edge. All these thoughts went through the honey blonde’s head as she turned a corner and came face to face with the unthinkable.

“And this is for disrespecting me in front of my men!” The warlord screamed as he brought a gauntleted fist down on Jennifer Maclay’s bleeding and broken face. No sound escaped from Tara’s mother’s lips as the monster continued to brutalize her. The cackles of thugs and mercenaries echoed through the chamber as Tara watched her world end.

“Sir.” The lieutenant said as he saw Tara standing in the doorway.

“What?” The warlord screamed as he looked up and his gaze fell upon his daughter. “Of course.” Donald Maclay muttered. “The disappointment finally makes it home. Like I said, she’s yours as soon as I’m done teaching this whore some respect.”

“No.” Tara whispered as hatred welled up inside of her for the first time in her life. It was an almost alien feeling. One she did her best to avoid. There was no avoiding this anymore. Tara’s tormentor had crossed the last line. Thoughts and images of far off and miraculous places swarmed in the girl’s mind as she stared down the Dread Warlord Maclay.

“What did you just say to me girl?” The monster shouted.

“I!” Tara began as the room started to shake.

“Said!” A section of the ceiling came undone and crashed down on the Lieutenant and a half dozen of his men, killing them instantly.

“NO!” Tara screamed as a visible wave of force erupted from her body and sent every man in the room hurtling towards the walls.

“What is the meaning of this?” Donald Maclay asked weakly as he tried to stand up under the crushing pressure emitted from his daughter’s glare.

Tara slowly walked across the room and took her horribly injured mother up in her arms. With a withering glare she cast her gaze around the chamber. Flames broke out as her eyes traced the lavish furniture and ornate tapestries that filled the space. The spoils of the warlord’s many conquests faired poorly under Tara’s scrutiny.

With the inferno rapidly growing out of control Tara strode out of the room. Fire trailed in her wake as she slowly walked out the main entrance, towards the stables. With a nod the doors flew open. All the horses and beasts of burden that suffered under the warlord’s banner came running out.

The last to flee was the sickly horse Tara had nursed back to health. The poor animal had been consigned to slaughter until she stepped in and convinced the stable master to let her try saving it. With a light winey the horse came up to Tara and stopped. Tara smiled at the loyal creature and placed her mother on its back. She quickly climbed up and sent the horse into a gallop.

Flames burst from the main building of the fortress as Tara and her mother rode into the night. The screams of men lapped at their heels and the curses of one enraged warlord echoed towards the heavens.

******************************

“Tara.” Jennifer Maclay whispered as they rode the horse into the small clearing just behind the tree line to the rear of the fortress.

“S-save your st-strength Mama.” Tara begged. “We n-n-need to g-get you t-to a healer.”

“We’re well past that Sweetie.” Jennifer moaned.

“Don’t say that.” Tara pleaded. “I have so m-much to tell you. Everything has ch-changed. I just n-need t-t-time to figure it out. Please Mama.”

“I’m so proud of you Sweetie.” Jennifer whispered. “Never forget that you are loved.”

“Please Mama.” Tara begged as she witnessed the light fade from Jennifer’s eyes. Tara brought the horse to a stop. She desperately searched Jennifer’s face for signs of life. There were none.

“No, p-please Mama, d-don’t l-leave m-me.” Tara begged. “You n-n-never got to m-m-meet her. Sh-sh-sh-she w-w-will m-make everything better. Please j-just h-hold on. I’ll f-f-find her.”

Tears streamed down Tara’s face as the women who gave her life remained still. Tara watched in horror as the last traces of Jennifer’s aura faded into the darkness permeating the clearing. They stayed there for a long time as Tara wept openly for the loss of her only source of comfort and security in life.

After it seemed Tara was out of tears she dismounted the horse. Tara knelt on the ground beside her mother’s body and felt for her connection to the Goddess and the natural world. Slowly but surly Tara found her link to the world and called for the Earth to give her aid and comfort.

All around the clearing small stones rolled towards the center. They formed a line around Jennifer, then a light covering of her remains, then a mound. Stones rolled in from all directions as the earth itself mourned the loss of a great woman, only ceasing once the low lying burial mound completely covered Jennifer.

“I’ll come back h-here one day and b-build you a proper grave Mama.” Tara promised in a hollow voice. “I’ll even bring h-her here. You’ll see. Sh-she was looking forward to meeting you so much.”

As sobs gave way to a dull ache that threatened to swallow her whole Tara stood. She climbed back on the horse and took the first steps on the long journey ahead. All would be better once she found her everything.

******************************

Tara’s journey brought her up the heavily forested mountain that she could always see from the small window in her bedchamber. The distant landmark seemed to call to her.

As the horse that carried her from the now burnt fortress gave its last steps to Tara a cave came into view. Tara patted the beast’s neck and dismounted just moments before its legs gave out and the poor creature collapsed to the ground.

With a sigh Tara sent a prayer to the Goddess thanking the faithful steed for every step it had carried her. Though no reply came in turn a slight breeze picked up and Tara thought she felt an all too familiar presence for an instant.

With slightly renewed spirits the witch walked towards the small cave. The entrance was tight but passable and easily defended. Tara figured she could easily fashion a barrier to ward off any outside threats. A tunnel led further in and Tara conjured a small light with another prayer to the Goddess.

Inside Tara found a gently downward sloping tunnel that opened up to reveal a large ovoid chamber. Though it wasn’t much it would do for a start.

Tara sat in the center of the cavern and began to meditate. She had work to do and needed a clear mind to begin.

******************************

A week had passed since arriving at the mountain cave. Tara busied herself with each waking hour. The first order of business was fire. Tara gathered twigs, branches, several fallen logs and a copious amount of birch bark from the surrounding forest. She would not lack for warmth.

Next to be addressed was water, food and basic tools for survival. She quickly doused for water and was guided to a nearby mountain stream.

The small dagger Tara kept at her side at all times had been indispensible in skinning the fallen horse. Tara stretched the hide out on an improvised drying rack and then went about cooking as much of the meat as she could.

While exploring in the area around the cave on the third day Tara came across an unexpected treasure trove. At the bottom of a small ravine she found an almost completely decomposed body. The remains of the man told his tale all too well. While crossing the rough terrain with a dangerously over burdened pack the man fell into the chasm and shattered his leg.

Tara sent another prayer to the Goddess for the soul of the long dead traveler. In the process of finally laying him to rest she went through his possessions. They were beyond her wildest dreams.

Before the man died of exposure he obviously drained his two water skins dry. Tara found them still perfectly functional. He also had flint perfect for fire starting, a still sharp woodcutting axe, a small lumber saw, pickaxe, knives, one bedroll, a large wok for camp fire cooking, compass, a truly massive spool of twine, and for some reason a full set of blacksmith’s tools.

There was a crucible for melting down and pouring metal ore. Several tongs for holding red hot metal objects in place. Several hammers, gloves, apron, billows, a trough, a small anvil it took her an hour to lug up from the bottom of the ravine, and even a stack of molds and casts for forging ingots, bars and various other basic shapes to be reworked with hammer and anvil.

By the end of that first week Tara looked around her small camp and smiled. She had set up multiple cooking fire pits and drying racks for plants she found and small game she trapped. Stones were stacked and coals from her fire pits were gathered to form a very crude forge.

Tara had even made the inside of the cave somewhat livable. A fire ring in the center of the ovoid chamber allowed her to warm the entire space. The added light allowed Tara to notice something important that had slipped her attention the first few days. The back wall of the chamber contained a rich iron ore deposit.

Suddenly the tools burdening the body she found made all too much sense. Her deceased mystery man was in fact a prospector who had come up this mountain to make his fortune by starting a mine and building a home. Yet for all his preparations and possessions he had died slowly at the bottom of a ravine not even fifty yards from his goal.

Tara realized she could easily build a life here. A safe isolated existence on this remote mountain. The idea sickened her. The beautiful redhead that was out there somewhere was her life. Though she couldn’t remember the girl’s name just yet Tara knew it would all come to her in time.

Tara would take the tools she found on the man and build upon the ashes of his dream. She would make herself weapons strong enough to defend herself and all those she loved. Never again would she stand by and watch as someone suffered like her mother was forced to. And all the while she was building her forces and defenses Tara would be tirelessly searching for her love.

******************************

The screeching of a Raven startled Tara from a sound sleep. The honey blonde picked up the crude sword she had forged and enchanted and made her way towards the mouth of the cave. Once outside Tara saw the little black bird standing on one of her workstations. Before she could chase it off it flew to a nearby tree. Tara followed and was surprised when it took off again only to perch on a large boulder.

As Tara followed the curious bird through the forest she heard the sounds of men nearby. She quickly crouched down and crept stealthily towards a ledge that overlooked a pass. There she saw a handful of men escorting a cage with three people in it. They were heading towards the remains of her father’s fortress.

******************************

“Come on boys! We need to get these slaves to the Dread Warlord Maclay by sundown.” The caravan driver from the Southern Claw Guild hollered. “They need workers rebuilding the place yesterday. Once we drop this trash off we can set up a new guild office nearby.”

All around the clearing the slave wagon had stopped in men began rising up to get back underway. In the cage sat three people with very bleak expectations for their short futures.

“The way I hear it this guy we’re heading towards is the worst of the worst.” Gunn muttered.

“We all heard the same thing.” Alonna shot back quietly. “What difference does it make? Our last three escape attempts have been failures that resulted in poor Xander getting beaten.”

“Hey, don’t you guys worry about me.” Xander mumbled from the floor of the cage.

“Quiet down in there slave!” One of the larger men from Southern Claw shouted. The three remained silent until they were sure no one was in earshot.

“What do you want to do Charles?” Alonna asked.

“We gotta do somethin’.” Gunn told his little sister. The thought of his sister spending anymore time under some cruel taskmaster’s whip both terrified and enraged the young man. Yet he couldn’t see a way out of this.

“What’s that over there?” One of the men from the slaver guild said as he started to wander off towards the tree line.

“Hey you!” The caravan driver shouted. “Get back to.” He too trailed off and followed the man.

One by one the brutish men walked towards the tree line. Mere steps away from the trees they dropped whatever they had been holding and stared blankly at strangely dancing lights. The little pixie lights moved back and forth in hypnotic patterns that captivated the men. Each one was lulled into a false state of bliss. The peaceful reprieve was short lived.

Gunn and Alonna watched in horror as a strange figure dressed in animal leathers with honey blonde hair emerged from the trees a short distance from the captivated slavers. She stalked up behind them and without a moment’s hesitation plunged a crude looking short sword into the backs of one man after another.

“Huh?” The caravan driver asked a little too late as the figure slew the last of his men and then turned on him. He died with the most confused look on his face.

The savage woman wiped the blood from her blade on the clothes of one slaver and then proceeded to search their bodies. Money pouches, weapons and anything that could aid in survival was quickly piled up near the wagon. Tara picked up a large key from the pile and looked up to see the shocked faces of the Gunn siblings.

“H-hello.” Tara said before taking a much closer look at Gunn’s face. “Have we met?”

“Nah.” Gunn replied with a confused shake of his head.

“You look s-so familiar.” Tara said. “Must have been another life.” She walked up to the cage door and examined the lock. “I’m going to l-let you guys out of there now. I’d like it if you st-stuck around for a bit and w-we could talk.”

“Okay.” Alonna said with just as confused an expression as her brother. Tara smiled and unlocked the cage. As the door swung open she noticed Xander for the first time. He was nearly passed out on the floor but managed to raise his head slightly.

“You!” Tara all but screamed as she lunged into the slave wagon and crouched over the injured man.

“Huh? Ahh!” Xander replied, startled by the sudden outburst.

“Where is she?” Tara yelled. “Please, I need to find her. You have to tell me where the redhead is!”

“I don’t know any redheads.” Xander pleaded as he saw the panic, hope and desperation play out on the strange woman’s face. “What redhead?”

All the emotion drained from Tara’s face as she realized the relationships in this world would differ between the people her visions had been telling her to seek out and those of their doubles in other worlds. She sat back against the floor of the wagon’s cage and sighed. It was several minutes before she looked up and saw the nervous expressions on the three faces nearby.

“I’m s-s-sorry.” Tara whispered. “You l-looked like s-someone I used to know. L-like a brother. It-it’s just been so l-long. I n-n-need to find her.”

“You’re looking for someone?” Alonna asked. Tara nodded as a few stray tears trailed down her cheeks. “A woman?” Tara nodded more vigorously. “Maybe I could help?” Tara stopped. She sighed before raising her head to look directly at the ebony girl with light brown hair.

“Sorry Sweetie but you’re not my type.” Tara told her in an all too joyless tone.

“Oh.” Alonna whispered as the shocking truth came out.

“What?” Gunn asked, having completely missed the subtext.

“Our new friend prefers the ladies but she doesn’t have the jungle fever.” Xander mumbled with a light laugh as he lay back down on the floor. “So you’re looking for this redhead you lost and you have no idea where to start.”

“Yeah.” Tara whispered.

“I think we missed a few steps.” Alonna said. “I’m Alonna Gunn. This is my brother Charles. And this is our friend Xander Harris.”

Tara perked up at the familiar names and several pieces fell into place. The man she and her everything loved like a brother had the same name in this world. Just like her. Could that mean her redhead had the same name from before as well? If only she could remember more clearly.

Those ruminations were set aside as Tara realized something else. Gunn, the young man sitting before her with the most perplexed expression. She had met him briefly at least once before. With that connection in place memories of another figure fell into place. She would have to look out for the cursed vampire.

With the two young men fully resolved in her mind Tara turned to Alonna. The girl who died. Horribly. Pointlessly. Tara swore to herself she would not let history repeat itself.

“My name is Tara Maclay.” Tara said at last. At the mention of her last name the faces of the three people she had just met were overcome by terror and shock. “Yes, th-th-that Maclay. Please d-d-d-don’t hold it against m-m-me.”

“You’re his daughter aren’t you?” Alonna asked.

“Why did you help us if we are just going to be worked to death by your old man?” Gunn asked.

“He murdered my mother.” Tara stated in a quiet, distant voice. “He took her light away. From the world. From me. He would have just handed me off to his men. So I left. I need to find her.”

“So she isn’t going to take us to her dad.” Xander said. “That’s a relief.”

“No.” Tara said as a new plan formed in her mind. “Not yet.”

******************************

“Swanky pad you got here Blondie.” Gunn said as he looked around the camp just outside the cave entrance.

“Thanks Gunn.” Tara said as she steered the horses pulling the slave wagon and all the gear they had taken off the slain slavers. She pulled up to the side of the camp and hopped down from the wagon’s driver’s seat. Alonna quickly helped as Tara unharnessed the horses and tied them to a nearby tree.

“So what do you have planned for this place in the future?” Alonna asked.

“You three are g-going to help me build an empire.” Tara stated boldly. “I’m going to l-lead an army against my f-father. W-w-when he’s out of the way I’ll build a new k-kingdom on the ashes. Then I won’t have anything keeping me from finding her.”

“Do you really think the world needs two Dread Warlord Maclays?” Xander asked as he helped Gunn unload the cage wagon.

“No.” Tara said firmly. “I’ll never be like him. I’ll n-need a new name.”

Just as she said this the raven that had awoken Tara before came in for a landing on her shoulder. Tara’s gaze met that of the small black bird and the raven cawed once to her.

“I think I know what I’ll have people call me.” Tara said.

******************************

“I’m telling you we should have heard word from the first group of our guild members who came out here.” The slaver complained to the caravan master. “It’s been weeks since they were supposed to arrive at that warlord’s fort. We may be walking into a trap the fool set to steal our property.”

“I know that.” Shouted the agitated caravan master. “Which is why we are travelling with added security.”

As the leader of this newest group of slavers to enter the province spoke his subordinate looked back down the wagon train at the long row of armed guards riding along on horseback. They were among the finest warriors Southern Claw had to offer.

Little did he know they wouldn’t be enough.

The slaver’s head whipped around suddenly as the caravan master called the slave wagons to a sudden halt. The guards, slavers and dozens of slaves along the wagon train all looked towards the front with curiosity. Those towards the front of the caravan saw a lone figure dressed in crude, yet darkly colored armor blocking their path.

“Out of the way stranger.” The caravan master called before taking on a humorous tone. “Unless you’d like to join our cargo.”

His amusement was cut short as a raven flew right past the side of his head towards the stranger. It cawed loudly as it came to alight on her shoulder.

“Interesting.” The stranger muttered. The bird flew off as the stranger drew a long greatsword. “Men of Southern Claw!” A deep voice issued forth from behind the stranger’s visor. “Prepare to die!”

As the caravan master and the men closest to the lead wagon began to laugh the stranger planted the tip of the greatsword into the ground. Suddenly all the horses came free from the harnesses and riggings binding them to the wagons. The beasts carrying the skilled warriors reared up and threw each man to the ground. Half of them were then stomped to death by their former mount’s massive hooves. The wagon drivers and other surviving slavers stared in shock as every horse owned by Southern Claw slowly trotted up to stand in a solid line behind the masked stranger blocking the road.

“That was the warning shot.” The figure said in a neutral tone. “Next is the killing blow.”

Before the caravan master could do or say anything else an arrow sailed out of the surrounding woods and embedded itself in his head. The lead slaver slumped over the front of his wagon and fell to the ground with a thud.

More arrows flew from the tree line and picked off the slavers that tried to run away. The remaining warriors advanced on the stranger to cut him down. As they came clear of the lead wagon they formed a small line facing their foe.

The formation took one step forward and stopped as the stranger disappeared. The first sign of where the foe went was the sound of the massive blade being pulled from the ground and swinging through the air. The greatsword cleaved through the necks of four men before panic and fear broke their formation. The remaining six men fought the urge to flee and faced the armored figure.

“Very brave.” The stranger said in the deep masculine voice. “Not many men willingly stand and face the Witch King.”

With that said the Witch King flew at the first man with blinding speed. He was cut down before he could even bring his sword up. The next three panicked and suffered similar fates. The last two managed to flank the Witch King and come at their foe from both sides. Their blows were parried away and the greatsword claimed their lives as well.

With the soldiers out of the way the Witch King turned to the caravan. One slaver was left alive. The man saw the dark figure approaching and fled for his life. He made it three paces before the arrows that had felled all his comrades did the same to him. With the last of the slavers gone the three archers emerged from the tree line.

“Damn boss!” Gunn called out. “That was tight.”

“I liked the part with the sword fighting.” Xander said with a sarcastic grin.

“Whichever one of you took down the caravan master is a great shot.” The Witch King said.

“That was me.” Alonna said as she walked up to the Witch King with her bow.

“Very nice shooting Alonna.” The armored figure said before turning towards the first wagon full of nervous slaves. “Hello everyone, we are going to let you all out now. Please don’t run off. We have much to discuss.”

******************************

Snyder and Larry walked side by side into the growing camp the Witch King had built around her small cave. The show of force their new ruler preformed in dispatching the slavers was more than enough to convince them to sign up for whatever personal war she was planning.

They and the dozens of other freed slaves had looted and ransacked the bodies of their fallen tormentors. Almost everyone was dressed in more than the rags of an average slave. Though there weren’t yet enough shoes to go around one of the men had been a cobbler before Southern Claw ruined his life. With the help of the handful of trappers and hunters he shared a cage with he promised to make shoes for everyone who still needed them.

“Okay everyone.” Xander called out to the group of stronger men that had followed him to one side of the clearing. “We don’t have nearly enough tents for everyone. So you guys are gonna help me with a little project I started. We have cut lumber ready to go.”

“What exactly are we doing?” Larry asked the other young man.

“We’re gonna build a barracks for the garrison.” Xander said with a smile.

******************************

“Looks like Xand is really in his element.” Gunn said as he and his sister stood outside the Witch King’s tent.

“Who’d have thought?” Alonna asked.

“Xander is a great carpenter.” The Witch King said. “Always has been.”

“So you’ll have him build your empire.” Gunn said. “What were you thinking of having us do?”

“Look around Gunn.” Tara said as she took the helmet off. “I now h-have an army. I’ll n-need generals to lead th-them for me.”

“Really?” Gunn asked.

“You are a great leader Charles.” Tara remarked as she put a hand on his shoulder and locked eyes with the ebony man. “You and Xander are the only men I could ever trust to lead my armies.”

“Me and Xander?” Gunn asked skeptically.

“It’s too big for any one man.” Tara said. “He’ll be busy with construction crews most of his time but every now and then he’ll give you whatever support you’ll need. We all need someone watching our backs.”

“What about me?” Alonna asked as her brother weighed the possibilities of his new duty to their leader.

Tara took a long look at Alonna. The girl’s aura had puzzled the witch to no end for weeks now. It held something Tara could not put her finger on. Some secret that should be obvious to her. A stray memory of a life lived long ago suddenly came to Tara’s mind. She knew what the girl’s aura concealed. It was potential.

“I’ll need you for s-s-something down the road Alonna.” Tara said with a slightly awestruck tone. “S-s-something very important, but I c-c-can’t be sure if it will h-happen just yet. Until then keep t-t-training with different w-weapons.”

“Okay.” Alonna said with a nervous tremor. She couldn’t imagine what Tara saw in her to give the witch the slightly frightened grimace she now wore.

*****************************

“Mom where are they taking us?” The young girl with light brunette hair asked.

“Don’t worry Dawn.” The girl’s mother replied, hoping she sounded convincing. “Everything is going to be alright.”

It had been a week since Dawn had last seen her sister and Joyce had last seen her eldest daughter. They were dragged from their home in the night and had no hope of ever finding the petite blonde they both loved. Now it was the middle of the night and the small slave wagon was transporting them and a handful of young girls around Dawn’s age across the countryside.

“You should listen to your mom.” The blonde girl sitting beside them whispered. “It’s all going to be better now that she’s here.”

“Who’s here?” Joyce asked as a loud crashing sound came from outside their cage. “What was that?”

“She’s here.” Cassie said in an all too eerie voice.

“There’s a man in armor tearing through the slavers.” One of the other young girls cried out. “Oh god he’s coming towards us. Look at the size of that sword.”

“Lisa, get down.” Janice cried as the door of their cage was ripped off its hinges.

“Hello in there.” A deep masculine voice called out. “If you would be so kind as to join me outside we can get through these introductions so much faster.”

One by one the young girls stood and exited the cage. Joyce and Dawn listened for sounds of distress but no screams came. Cassie turned to them with a reassuring smile and spoke softly.

“You guys are in for a big surprise.” Cassie said. “All our lives are going to change for the better now that we serve the Witch King.”

With that ominous statement Cassie stood and exited the cage. They listened and heard the mysterious voice ask the obvious question.

“Is that everyone?” The Witch King asked.

“Dawn and Joyce will be out shortly.” Cassie answered cheerily.

Tara staggered as the names hit her with the force of a hurricane. Memories flooded her mind as the two names the blonde said filled out a much larger picture than any she had felt before. The teenager she had loved like a daughter. The woman she had admired for bringing so many of her daughter’s friends into her family. The Slayer. As Dawn and Joyce stepped into view Tara could not help but remember the impact Buffy Summers had on her in all the lives where they had met.

“Joyce!” The Witch King cried out. “Oh Goddess what happened to you?”

“What?” Joyce asked, suddenly nervous about the intense panic in their prospective savior’s voice.

“How did this happen?” The Witch King asked as she came up to them. “Please, I need to know. Where is Buffy?”

“How do you know that name?” Joyce asked in a hard voice.

“I’m sorry.” The Witch King said as she took a step back. “I keep forgetting not everyone remembers what I do. Please don’t worry. I promise no harm will come to any of you.”

“Gunn!” The armored figure called out before turning towards an armed man nearby. “Search everything. I need all the documentation these animals had on the women they were transporting.”

Joyce relaxed for an instant as the armored stranger before her visibly regained composure. The calm was cut short when she and the newly freed teens all gasped in shock as the warrior removed the helmet to reveal long honey blonde locks framing a feminine face.

“I s-swear to you Joyce.” Tara said. “I w-will do everything I c-can to find your daughter.”

******************************

“Okay did anyone else think the way she reacted to seeing those two for the first time a few days ago was a little?” Gunn trailed off.

“Weird?” Xander asked.

“Yeah, weird.” Gunn said.

“Not as weird as the way she reacted when she first saw Xander.” Alonna remarked.

“It’s like she recognizes certain people before she even meets them.” Gunn said.

“Hey do you guys think this has anything to do with that redhead she keeps talking about?” Xander speculated.

“You think?” Alonna asked.

“One way to find out.” Gunn said as he turned and exited the room in the small cabin Tara had ordered built by the entrance to the mine.

Little remained of the primitive camp the Witch King had first erected. Xander’s construction efforts had paid off when the two story barracks quickly filled with people they had continued to rescue from Southern Claw. Crews worked around the clock gathering food, mining and processing iron ore, and making the small mountain settlement livable.

Still, the three friends who had been the first to be liberated knew that if they kept this pace they would soon run out of room to house people on the mountain. Something had to give.

Gunn quickly made his way outside and found the woman in question preparing herbs in a small patch of sunlight. He boldly walked up to her.

“Hi.” Gunn said. “It’s Joyce, isn’t it?”

The blonde mother looked up startled at the young man’s question. “Yes.” She said after a brief pause. “Can I help you?”

“Yes.” Gunn said. “We were talking about how Tara seemed to recognize you right away.” He paused for a second. “We think we have a theory why. Your other daughter, does she have red hair?”

“What?” Joyce asked in bewilderment. “No. Buffy is as blonde as I am.”

Laughter broke out just behind the group. Gunn, Alonna and Xander turned to see Tara leaning against the side of the cabin gasping for air in between hysterical fits.

“Oh Goddess.” The Witch King wheezed. “You thought. Me. With Buffy! Ha ha heh he ha ha!”

“What’s going on?” Joyce asked growing nervous.

“Oh don’t worry Joyce.” Tara said as she tried to compose herself. “They just keep hearing me talk about this amazing redhead I’m looking for and they thought the way I acted around you meant I was in love with you eldest daughter.”

“But you’re not?” Joyce asked. Tara nodded and an almost hurt look crossed Joyce’s face. “What’s wrong with Buffy?” The mother asked.

“Oh n-nothing really.” Tara said with a coy smirk. “She’s beautiful, st-strong, brave, loyal, all around amazing really. I could even overlook the fact that sh-she has t-t-terrible taste in men.”

“But?” Joyce asked growing more confused.

“I could never forget one simple truth.” Tara said before taking in a breath. “Buffy isn’t my soulmate.” With that the Witch King turned and walked away from the stunned group. Each soon realized she had just shared something with them that they couldn’t fully grasp just yet.

******************************

The deep, throaty, grumbling cackles of ravens permeated the air. The Witch King had turned the uppermost watchtower of the barracks into a hatchery for the ever growing conspiracy that flocked to her. Coming here to check on the little dears had become a vital part of the ruler’s daily routine.

“I still don’t know what you see in these birds.” Alonna huffed as another raven flew right past her head with a loud caw.

“I love them.” Tara admitted. “Did you know ravens are one of the smartest species on the planet? If you put a complex puzzle in front of them and bait it so they get something for solving it they will look at the problem from all the angles until the solution comes to them. Most animals and people will just give up and storm off in frustration. But ravens will work the problem. And they’re so loyal to their friends and family. They can communicate vocally and visually with gestures. They love colorful and shiny objects, and can be so playful and innocent.” Tara sighed for a moment as the ever present ache of not being able to find her love tore through her again. “Just like her.”

Alonna’s eyes widened at the realization Tara was telling her more about the mystery redhead than she ever had before. The ebony girl went to her friend’s side and offered what little comfort she could.

“We’ll find your girl Tara.” Alonna promised while resting a hand on the honey blonde’s shoulder.

“I know.” Tara whispered. “It just gets to me sometimes.”

Alonna stood there with her friend. It always struck her that the strong woman who had tirelessly saved so many lives was herself so tormented by feelings Alonna couldn’t understand. The young woman had no idea how her ruler could be so torn over memories and dreams of a woman no one who lived on their mountain had ever met. The connection Tara claimed to have with this unnamed redhead seemed like it was more trouble than it was worth at times.

******************************

“What was the reason for all of this again?” Larry asked as he helped move things out of the mine.

“The Witch King wants the mine cleared of everything except mining tools.” Gunn answered. “She says the new miners she’s bringing in aren’t going to need much else and once they settle in none of us are to ever set foot in the mine again without her orders.”

“This is so odd.” Larry said. The young man had been working tirelessly with Gunn and Xander. Training new troops for the fights their ruler said were coming soon. Working with the tradesmen that crafted just about everything they used. Helping newly freed slaves adjust to the way the Witch King treated her subjects. He was rapidly getting used to the minor leadership role Tara seemed to encourage him towards.

“Tell me about it.” Gunn replied. “But so is everything else she’s had us do and look at how far we’ve all come in six months.”

******************************

“The forms are in place highness.” One of the half dozen blacksmiths told Tara as they moved around the ovoid chamber that served as the main entrance to the mine.

What had once been a small cave now expanded into a network of tunnels stretching back into the mountain. One of the first priorities for the seasoned team of smiths was arming their King. Tara stood in the cavern decked from head to toe in brand new full plate armor that glistened in the torchlight. The long, newly reforged, greatsword at her back simply added to her imposing presence.

The smiths had thought weapons and armor for her forces would be the very next priority. They were mistaken.

“Wonderful work!” Tara said. “Once you pour the metal for the binding ring we can really get this mine going.”

“Yes your highness.” The smith said as he signaled to his comrades. With everything in place they began pouring molten metal into the molds that formed a perfect ring separating the front of the chamber from the back. Though the man had no idea what all this would be used for he knew better than to question the powerful witch who had saved his life.

“This will do nicely.” Tara said. “I’ll have the trappers bring in more live boar. We’ll need them soon enough.”

******************************

“Darling what are you doing out here?” The blonde vampire asked her love.

“Oh my sweet Elisabeth.” The vampire turned to his love. “You know how I detest watching Angelus and Darla roll around in the mess they make of every convent and brothel we pass.”

“I know my love.” Elisabeth said as she wrapped her arms around her love. In the distance they both heard the unmistakable screech of a raven. “James?”

“Yes darling?” James asked.

“What would you say if we left?” Elisabeth enquired. “Just the two of us striking out on our own. We’ve been following Angelus and Darla for far too long don’t you think?”

“I say that’s a marvelous idea my sweet.” The vampire cried as he passionately embraced his love. “We’ll go now. We can sire a few minions in the next town and make way to one of the larger cities.”

“What’s this I’m hearing?” Angelus called out in a thick Irish brogue as he worked to fasten his trousers. For an instant the three vampires stood just outside the massacred brothel, staring at one another. The cackles of more ravens seemed to break the standoff.

“After everything we’ve been through.” Angelus said with a mix of exasperation and agitation. “You’d just up and leave? I let you follow us all these centuries after you showed such promise in killing that fool Holtz.”

“I had to help you kill him that night!” James declared. “You betrayed us by telling him were my love was.”

“Love?” Angelus shouted. “You’re still goin’ on about that? You’re a vampire. We don’t love!”

“Oh we can you know. We can love quite well.” Drusilla said as she wandered out of the brothel half nude, covered in the blood of prostitutes and johns. “If not wisely.”

“Angelus dear boy, what is going on out here?” Darla asked as she came out of the ruined building straightening her bodice.

“The ravens they sing for us.” Drusilla moaned. “They cry out our fate with pick and trowel. Trapped forever in darkness.”

“Of course we’re trapped in darkness you fool.” Darla said with evident exasperation. “We’re vampires!”

“Hey now.” Spike said as he came outside, still wiping blood off his lips. “What’s all this yelling about?” He asked as he quickly went to Drusilla and began to lap the copious amounts of blood from her still less than clothed form.

“Apparently someone thinks they’re too good for us.” Angelus explained. “They’re bored of all the games we play.”

“Oh is that it now?” Darla said. “After all the fun we had when we finally came to this new world. The missionaries, the small towns, the brothels?” Darla waved at the building behind her. “This night was almost as much fun as Vienna!”

“Can you even begin to fathom the things we did?” Angelus asked before sighing. “Course not. You’re in love.”

Angelus turned to address James, his voice growing louder with each word as the cackles of birds seemed to grow ever more deafening. “No one is stopping you two from leaving! I’m surprised you even stuck around this long! And will someone get these damned birds to shut the hell up?” He screamed out the last words.

Silence reigned all around the empty street. Not a single raven made a noise. The six vampires stood before the defiled brothel and looked to the rooftops all around. Hundreds of jet black ravens sat on every spare inch of thatch and shingle and gutter pipe. All eyes were focused on the street below. Several hundred tiny black orbs bore down upon the six monsters bickering before the ruins of their latest massacre.

“Does anyone else get the feeling we just walked into a trap?” Spike asked just before every single raven took flight.

The unkindness rose into the night sky and turned into a long dive centered on Angelus. Before the vampires could even puzzle out the strange behavior they were surrounded by wings. Darkness swept over the six masters.

No one witnessed the swirling unkindness arise from the street. No one wondered were the six figures that exited the brothel had disappeared to. No one was left to wave farewell to the unkindness as it flew off into the night.

******************************

Darkness abounded. There was no sense of direction or momentum within the black. No purpose or feeling. Nothing to do or say or think. Just the emptiness of the void stretching out in a never ending abyss.

And then the surprising burst of sensation overtook Angelus as he realized he was hurtling towards a stone wall. With a sickening thud one member of the Scourge of Europe after another crashed against the back wall of the mine’s main entry chamber.

“What the bloody hell was that?” Spike screamed as he tried desperately to help Drusilla to her feet.

“Again! Again!” The disturbed, raven haired vampire cried in excitement before pausing and growing saddened. “Never again.”

“I’d say never is a safe bet.” Called out a voice from the other side of the room. All the vampires turned to see an older looking human with a bald head and an almost goblin like grin sitting on a stool, eating an apple.

“Who the devil are you?” James asked as he stood up.

“Devil?” The human replied in an amused tone. “I may be a fairly cantankerous old man at times but I wouldn’t go so far as devil. Not by your standards anyway.”

“He’s a dessert dish is what he is.” Angelus said. With lightning quick reflexes the master vampire lunged towards the human and smacked right into the barrier of invisible force that walled off the only exit the vampires saw in the cavernous chamber.

Five pairs of undead eyes watched in shock as the most vicious and cunning of them stopped in mid air and fell back to the cave floor. The bruised vampire landed squarely on a set of rails meant for a mine cart.

“Wow!” The small man said with an excited smile. “He’s a feisty one isn’t he?”

“What is all this?” Darla shouted at the human as she quickly but cautiously approached the barrier. Looking around the room she noticed the floor, walls and ceiling all held an unbroken ring of metal just a step beyond where Angelus had stopped. “Who are you?”

“How rude of me.” The man said. “Introductions are in order. My name is Snyder. You would be Darla correct?” At the blonde vampire’s nod he went on. “And I’m thinking the big guy down there is Angelus. My master mentioned a Spike and Drusilla as well. Would that be the half dressed couple covered in blood over there?”

“How did you know that human?” James asked.

“Now see, my master didn’t say anything about the last two.” Snyder remarked. “Who might you be?”

“I am James and this is my love Elisabeth.” The vampire spoke proudly. “Now let us out of here and your death will be quick.”

“Oh young love.” Snyder remarked with a wistful sigh. “So refreshing to see it amongst shambling undead corpses.”

“How dare you?” Elisabeth exclaimed.

“Oh I dare dear girl.” Snyder said. “There are a lot of things about me you’ll come to realize in the years ahead. But first I have to set out the ground rules for how you will be serving my master.”

“We serve no one. Least of all a human who won’t show his face.” Angelus said as he slowly rose from the floor to glare at the smiling man.

“Only time will tell vampire.” Snyder replied with a grin. “But just so we are all clear I’ll go over the rules anyway.” He took a long moment to pause before continuing with his practiced speech. The Witch King would be so proud of his performance.

“This is a mine.” Another pause. “You lot dig.” Snyder said with a wave of his hands before he took a bite from the apple. “Have I lost anyone yet? You guys still follow right?”

******************************

“Oh my god Snyder that is hilarious.” Larry cried out with heartfelt laughter.

“You should have seen the look on their faces.” Snyder said while laughing. “Pig’s blood! Ah ha ha ha.”

“Fantastic work Snyder.” Tara said while resting a hand on the small man’s shoulder. “I knew you would make an excellent warden for those monsters.”

“Thank you my King.” Snyder replied with a wink and a bow as Larry burst out with laughter again.

“Now that the mine is established and more or less self sufficient it’s time to move most of our people to the future site of my Citadel.” Tara said.

“You mean we’re finally going to takeover that place?” Xander asked as everyone else in the room grew silent.

“Yes Xander.” Tara replied. “Larry I want you to stay here for the foreseeable future. Help Snyder guard this place. Run the troops that will be stationed here. And most importantly protect our civilians until I send for them to join us in building the capital.”

“Of course Lady Tara.” Larry said with a salute.

“As for Xander, Gunn, Alonna and most of the soldiers.” Tara declared with a smirk. “We’re moving out.”

******************************

Seven ravens flew through the air high over the fortress of the Dread Warlord Maclay. They began a slow, downward spiral towards the roof of the fort. As the conspiracy approached it chose to alight on the strongest looking section of stonework still standing after the fire had ruined so much so many months ago.

With deliberate purpose the ravens formed a perfect circle. Each bird placed a crystal it had clutched in its claws. With that out of the way they flew off to a nearby parapet.

The odd behavior was only noticed by one guard. The slow witted mercenary walked up to the largest looking crystal and frowned. He couldn’t make any sense of the stones left by the birds.

Before the man could call in a second opinion the stones began to glow and a pillar of light erupted towards the heavens. Out of the light strode a figure in the darkest armor the mercenary had ever seen. The guard tried to call for help but was cut down by the massive sword the stranger carried.

The Witch King stepped forth with purpose and determination. She was soon followed by her closest generals and then several dozen of her strongest warriors. All were decked in black armor inspired by her own.

“Take them all.” The Witch King ordered.

******************************

The Dread Warlord Maclay raced through the halls of his fortress. The screams of his men echoed all around as the strange invaders slew mercenary after mercenary. The motley band of thugs and sociopaths he had gathered and used to instill order in his territories were no match for these new foes.

Without a moment’s hesitation Donald Maclay slammed the door to his private study shut. He had to make it out of the fortress. He could always throw in with Southern Claw. The slavers were always asking him for details about the territories he had taken over and the more populated parts of the province. If things went his way he might even hire some new muscle and come back one day. He would make these fools pay for challenging him.

Just as the man reached the lever to open the secret passageway that would take him to the outer walls of the fort the secret door opened up and a long single edged greatsword came crashing down on his shoulder.

The Dread Warlord staggered backwards as his armor gave way under the blow. He could already tell his shoulder was ruined. He might lose the arm as a result of this assault.

“Leaving so soon Donald?” The figure in dark armor asked while stepping out of the shadowy passageway. “I think not.” Boomed the deep masculine voice.

“Who are you?” Donald asked as he clutched his sword with the arm and hand that he could still move. “How the hell did you know about that door?”

“I’ve only been gone a year.” The figure said. “I could hardly forget something so important to this family.”

“Who are you?” Donald asked again.

“You can call me the Witch King.” The figure said with a humored tone while taking the massive sword and striking the smaller weapon from Donald’s hand. “Most people do.”

“You’ll pay for this.” Donald swore as he was backed up against his desk.

“Like you made her pay?” The Witch King asked while driving the tip of the blade towards the Dread Warlord’s chest. “How long did she suffer? How long did you beat her while all your degenerates and rapists stood by watching? Laughing!”

As the Witch King’s voice grew in volume the end of the greatsword dug into Donald’s breast. He gasped in even more pain as the blade pierced ribs. He was pushed back onto the desk as the Witch King reached up with one gauntleted hand to remove the almost demonic looking helmet. His eyes widened in shock as long honey blonde locks flowed down over ebony pauldrons.

“Tara?” Donald Maclay whispered in bewilderment with his last breath.

“Goodbye Dad.” Tara said with a dull and broken voice as she drove the sword through his chest and into the surface of the desk.

With her father pinned in place like an insect Tara backed away from her handiwork. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she collapsed to the floor.

******************************

Alonna cautiously walked through the halls of the now claimed fortress. The men who had fled at the first sign of trouble had been cut down. The ones most loyal to the despot had soon followed. The forces of the Witch King stood victorious as they sifted through the ruined fortress looking for anything that would be even remotely salvageable.

It was a time of celebration. And yet, Alonna could not find the one woman responsible for all the good they had just done. Turning a corner Alonna saw a closed door at the end of one hall. The ebony woman drew her sword and approached with caution. Pressing an ear to the wood surface only revealed the sounds of soft crying coming from the other side.

Alonna quickly threw open the doors and rushed inside. The sight of the dead tyrant splayed out on his desk, run through by her ruler’s own sword almost brought joyous laughter to her lips. Yet the sobs robbed the young woman of any mirth she felt.

“Hello?” Alonna called out as she slowly walked up to the desk. Peering around the corner revealed the Witch King herself sitting on the floor behind the desk sobbing uncontrollably.

“I d-did it.” Tara said through tears. “I av-v-venged my m-m-m-mother. I s-s-saved so many p-people he w-w-would have h-h-hurt. Th-this is everything I ever w-wanted.” Fresh sobs broke off the stuttering babble.

“Tara?” Alonna whispered as she watched her savior’s breakdown.

“So why can’t I stop crying?” Tara cried out in pain and anguish as she looked up to Alonna. “I sh-should be h-ha-happy and all I f-feel is dead inside.”

“Oh Honey.” Alonna said as she went to Tara’s side and held the honey blonde. Wave after wave of heartbreaking sobs racked her body.

******************************

Gunn walked through the halls of their newly conquered home. In the week and a half since the tyrant’s death all the tradesmen and civilians had been called down from the mountain. Every hand was needed to take the ruined fort and turn in it into the Citadel Tara envisioned.

Homes were being built all around the front entrance to the main building. A town square was already taking shape. Citizens smiled as they took an active role in building new lives for themselves in the fledgling kingdom.

The young ebony man waltzed right into the newly built library and up to his sister. With a grin he leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“Hey there little sis.” Gunn said playfully. “How is our king doing?”

“She’s painting again.” Alonna said as she pointed towards the oversized frame and the honey blonde working tirelessly on the portrait of a lithe young redhead with dazzling green eyes.

“Damn, that’s a big one.” Gunn whistled. “I can see though why she’s so hung up on this redhead.”

“What is it with you and skinny white girls?” Alonna asked.

“That reminds me.” Gunn said changing the subject gracelessly. “I was in the old man’s study going through his charts and maps.”

“How do skinny white girls remind you of going through that old bastard’s files?” Alonna asked before shuddering. “You know what, never mind, I don’t want to know.”

“Ha ha very funny.” Gunn replied.

“So what did you find?” Alonna asked.

“Something to get her mind back in the game I hope.” Gunn said before turning towards Tara with a yell. “Yo, Big Dawg I found something you might wanna see!”

Tara turned and looked at the young man with a quirkily raised eyebrow. She set her paint brushes aside in a tub of murky water and began to climb down the step ladder set before the ten foot high canvas. With a slightly crooked grin Tara removed her smock and waked up to the two people that had been with her for so long.

“What’s up?” Tara asked as Gunn smiled and Alonna rolled his eyes.

“Okay so check it out.” Gunn said as he spread two large maps out on the nearby table and the two women gathered at his sides. “This is us.” Gunn pointed to the fort’s old name on one map. “This is our biggest neighbor.” Gunn said while gesturing towards the large section of map to the southwest near the coast line. A large forest separated the two regions with vast expanses of desert stretching out to the north and south. The mountain they used as their former base and primary mine was almost in a straight line, with their neighbor on the other end and their future Citadel in the middle.

“Who is that?” Tara asked growing nervous. Something about the placement of the city along that stretch of coast stirred memories of past lives within her. It was a dark and evil place she couldn’t quite recall.

“That would be the domain of the Mad Queen.” Gunn said. “Nasty place, a lot of really dark rumors come out of the people who flee her capital.”

“Do we expect an attack soon?” Tara asked. She was worried about her people’s safety if they were besieged too early in their construction efforts.

“No reason to expect anything directly just yet.” Gunn said. “But look at this more detailed map of the border.” He pointed to the second map that showed more sparsely forested plains by a river. On one side was a large estate on the other a short distance away from the banks was a small, provincial town. It didn’t even look like they had a wall around the place.

Tara’s attention was drawn to the name of the large estate on their side of the river. The name pulled something buried within her to the surface. The name awoke something deep within her very soul. Memories far more important than anything she had recovered so far began to come to her. To flood her mind.

“Willow.” Tara breathed out in a whispered prayer.

“What is it Tara?” Alonna asked. She could barely make out the word the honey blonde had said but the look on her face spoke volumes.

“Why did you bring this to me?” Tara asked Gunn in a serious tone.

“I thought since we were building this library we might want to see how they got theirs set up.” Gunn said.

“The Rosenberg Library.” Alonna said as she read from the map. She almost missed the glow that emanated from Tara’s eyes as she spoke the words out loud. “Tara?”

“Call out all the troops we have here right now!” Tara ordered. “We’re going to that library as soon as they are in position!” With that the Witch King headed towards her armory.

Everything would be okay now that Tara knew where to go. Now that she knew where her everything was. Their life could finally begin.

******************************

“Baby?” The beautiful voice called to her from mere inches away.

“Huh?” Tara said with a startled yelp. They were sitting in their garden. What had once been the very clearing where she had been forced to bury her mother in a shallow grave was now a beautiful garden. At its heart lay the massive shrine marking the final resting place of Jennifer Maclay.

Expanding the ruined fort into the Citadel had rapidly closed the distance to the space she considered most sacred. The size of the library not withstanding, the surrounding facilities had eaten up the ground she had once fled across on horseback. They only sat a few yards away from the back wall of the Slayer Academy.

Her everything was at her side, staring at her with the most concerned expression. Tara met her gaze and smiled with all the love in her heart. Their life was worth every hardship she had faced to get to this day. Tara once more swore to herself that she would let no one take that away from them.

“Where did you go just now?” Willow asked her love.

“Don’t worry Sweetie. I was just lost in the memory of everything I had to do in the year before I found you.” Tara assured as she clung to the lithe redhead in her arms.

“Tell me.” Willow pleaded as she stared into sapphire pools of love and devotion.

“Always.” Tara swore as she stared back into the emerald depths that gave her life meaning.

_________________
Time and Time Again


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 6:21 am 
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9. Gay Now
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Location: Kaskinen, Finland. Citizen of Kitopia
Dibs-y Goodness!

Yay for excellent update-y goodness... Nice to see how the Witch King was "born" and how her empire began...

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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 10:08 pm 
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3. Flaming O

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Location: Baltimore, MD
This update did surprise me, like you said. But definitely a good surprise!

I was hoping we'd get a good glimpse of the witch king's beginnings. There was just too much to just have a couple paragraphs of exposition about it.

So definitely an awesome update.

Did tara misunderstand alonna, or was alonna really offering herself? lol

Also, is the mad queen's land on the hellmouth? I mean, what we know as the sunnydale hellmouth?

Whenever I hear about the mad queen, I think it's Glory.
But hey, maybe it's Kathy, and people just call her 'mad' because she's got cher chained in a cage in her throne room, singing believe over and over again. lol

as always, Looking forward to the next chapter.


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Mon Jan 26, 2015 2:41 pm 
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I don't think I could possibly catch up on all of the missed feedback opportunities I have had so I'm going to humbly ask for a reset on feedback. I solemnly swear to get up to no good..er..to post more feedback more frequently. In the meantime, I have been reading and enjoying the story lines so a few thoughts on the last few chapters. The Siren chapter was a rather eye opening. There is something wonderfully cathartic about reading Harley taking out "Mr J." with so much certainty. Yes, this is the Willow version of the character but still, as a fan of the Batman series I have always seen her as the most tragic character, one who could have truly climbed out of the madness, only to get sucked back in again. Having her kill the Joker, while blunt and a bit brutal, really felt good as I know that is something I won't see in a comic.

The Oz story wrapping up the way it did made sense to me. He really does make a good werewolf and this removes him from being an awkward third wheel in some ways.

For the Dark Age Chronicles - getting more of Tara's back story and how she created the Witch King is interesting. That has to be a record on building an empire but then, she has some unfair advantages of knowledge from past lives and power as well over those who reside in this world. While the methods of dealing with the slavers are unpleasant, they are well within the bounds of this particular world - this is not a world built for those who follow the way of the leaf (to borrow from Robert Jordan).

I'm looking forward to reading the next chapter.

-H.

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Sometimes it feels like we are running headlong through the woods on a dark cloudy night from monsters we can't see towards a destination we don't know.


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 Post subject: Re: Time and Time Again
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 5:17 am 
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6. Sassy Eggs
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Hello all. As always, great feedback.

Hi Zampsa. It was fun to come back and paraphrase Tara's humble beginnings in the Dark Age Chronicles. Plus I got to give Alonna just a little desperately needed development so everyone can get a better grasp of where she's coming from in future entries.

Hello Mysticrain. You're right about there being too much history for one of Willow's exposition babblefests. In Dark Age I'm pretty sure I'll have to save those for explaining why the world is the way it is as far as the politics go.

Tara understood perfectly and felt the need to explain to Alonna just what she was going to do with this very specific redhead once she found her. Alonna was just trying to be helpful and inadvertently made a friendly gesture that she wouldn't if she knew the full context.

Yes guessed it perfectly. The castle of the Mad Queen is right on top of the Hellmouth. Yes the Sunnydale Hellmouth to be exact.

To expand more on the topic of geography let's assume Sunnydale is where Santa Barbara is in the real world.

There are some hints, clues, and props that back this up on the fan and wiki sites.

That being the case the Citadel of the Witch King is in or around the Northeast corner of Santa Barbara County. In a heavily forested area just south of a mountain / vampire filled mine. Let's say between Los Padres National Forrest and Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge.

Wow, there are some really pretty pictures of southern California on Google Image Search.

As to the identity of the Mad Queen I have let some hints slip. Who she is will be more apparent as the story unfolds. Most likely sometime in the Season 3 Chapters but it might slip to Season 4 if I have too much fun dragging out the killings of her generals and the clashes between her forces and the Witch King's forces. You'll all probably figure it out the second I unmask the first of those guys.

Hello Loislane1. As always welcome and no worries. I myself am very hit or miss with my feedback.

I agree on all fronts about Harley. She's a great character that could have gone so many worse ways if the people who created her for the Batman cartoon didn't know what they were doing.

I think Paul Dini, one of her primary creators, said some really compelling things about the character on one of Kevin Smith's podcasts. I may be thinking about something else but I'm pretty sure it was the very first Fat Man on Batman podcast.

As for outright killing the Joker, there is no doubt in my mind that a version of Willow who knows these people from works of fiction in other worlds would have seen the Joker as a threat on par with Warren, the mayor, Walsh or any other "Human" Big Bad she helped Buffy fight. Knowing the relationship he could have had with the person she reincarnated as Willow/Harley did what she knew was best for her and Tara/Ivy.

Plus watching Xander/Bruce struggle over his very mixed "not mourning over an insane serial killer" emotions may be fun later on.

Oz is a great character from the show. But he's very problematic for just about everything going on here. Even if this story was just "What are Willow and Tara doing off camera while the scenes from the show without them play out pretty much the same." he would still be hard to write in with the rest of the cast. Especially if they saved him from his cousin's bite.

So he gets to live happily ever after with Bay and Kelden while Faith cracks jokes about him having puppies in the Himalayas.

On to the Dark Age's rate of advancement. For right now the "Empire" is a mine filled with vampires, two buildings on a remote mountain, and a tower fortress in the middle of a two mile wide walled city. Oh, plus a lovely Ancient Roman style aqueduct.

One thing that I wrestled with while writing was the question of how fast they could actually build the new Citadel and city, brick by brick. Hence the jumping forward in time during the earlier entries in that story. Even now the construction seems fast to me.

On the other hand Tara had a constant stream of freed slave laborers of varying skill sets coming in from all the raids on Southern Claw. Plus Magic. Plus a whole lot of ravens that can teleport matter at the speed of "Caw, caw! Nevermore! Caw!"

You know that last one might be her best superpower considering that world doesn't even have the steam engine yet.

While I do agree that Willow and Tara don't like the amount of blood being spilled in any of these story lines I think it's safe to say nobody will get a letter from "People for the Ethical Treatment of Human Traffickers."

On the brighter side all we've really seen of that world are the very messed up territories around Southern California's Hellmouth. There may be a few much nicer places just around the corner. Maybe a few trading partners I might not have fully ironed out yet.

What do you guys think of that huh? Trading partners? Tariffs? Huh? Huh? Maybe a few scenes with some sort of non watcher related governing council discussing shipping regulations? No? Okay, I'll stick to sword fights and love scenes as much as I can.

In any case thanks to everyone for reading and here's a new Chapter.

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Time and Time Again


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