Alrighty...this might be the last update for a short bit, 'cause I'm going out of town for a few days and also because after careful consideration I tossed some of what follows this update, and it's in the rewrite stage. It's coming, though, I promise!
First, to the feedback mobile!
AntigoneUnbound -
I can't believe the author of something as incredible as As Time Goes By
(which I'm still catching up on) would visit my corner of the sky! Thank you so much for the feedback! That was one of my biggest priorities writing the story, to avoid the 'back from the dead' idea, and to reclaim some of what should have been great about s7. I had actually dreamed up several ways of mentioning the certain potential you mentioned, but I decided I'd rather not.
I'm glad you liked the prophecy - much more to come on that front, btw - I have a weakness for writing poetry. I'm glad you liked Giles' contacts, too. Riley - he's just evil, I tells ya! As far as Terri goes...well, I won't spoil it. Read on! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story, and I hope it continues to hold your interest!
Sally McFine - I really thought that was one of the keys to the story - not leaving another dimension w/o their Tara. Unlike some folks who shall remain nameless, I would never do that to anyone. Very good question, too, as to why Tara was at W & H. All I can say is...the answers are coming. (evil laugh) I'm glad you loved the bad Rome joke too - it was, i think, the second line of the story I actually wrote - it had to be in there somewhere. And remember - just b/c you're the only one who thinks a joke is funny, that doesn't mean you should stop making it! Otherwise I'd have nothing to say half the time.
Glad you're enjoying the story, and I hope you enjoy the update!
JustSkipIt - That's kind of what I like about the parallel between the dimensions - financial circumstances and everything else are so different, but they're still just Willow and Tara, two people in love. I'm glad you're liking my Faith - other than W/T, she's one of my favorite characters. I like her a lot more than a certain blonde slayer, actually... And I'm so glad the smut was readable - I've got zero experience with writing it, and I'm just glad it's not laugh-out-loud funny.
caz - Your wish is my command!
Read on...
tarebear - No tomatoes thus far! Yay!
I'm glad you're enjoying!
AlysonGoddess - More on the way! Glad you're liking it!
justin - That's the question, isn't it? If there was a hellmouth under Rome, you'd think someone would have noticed it by now...I'm glad you enjoyed the update, hopefully the new one's good too!
[hr]
Chapter 7 - This could get ugly...
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Rating: R for language and violence.
Author's Note: A warm chocolate chip cookie to anyone who knows where Faith's last line of the chapter comes from!
Buffy was waiting at the entrance to the kitchen when they came down the stairs.
“God, you guys, how long could it take to put some clothes away?”
“Sorry, just trying to find room in my closet for all Tara’s stuff,” said Willow as Tara fought to keep from blushing. “We’re here now, though! Spaghetti?”
“Yeah,” said Buffy. “Not the most original meal we’ve had, but things have been kind of crazy lately – got a little behind figuring out meals.”
“Spaghetti sounds good to me,” said Tara. “Did you guys find out anything else today?”
“No,” sighed Buffy as they moved into the kitchen. “I took some of the potentials to the warehouse Terri told us about, but whoever was there had cleared out. I took Faith and some of the potentials on a quick sweep while Giles did some more reading, but he didn’t find anything, and neither did we. This prophecy is really getting on my-“ noting Tara’s stunned look, she stopped. “What is it, Tara?”
“Look at the size of this kitchen!” Her gaze took in the three ovens, the seemingly endless counters and the incredible collection of pots and pans hung from the ceiling. “This kitchen is bigger than the house we had in Cleveland!”
Buffy and Willow smiled. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure we could actually feed an army with this if we had to,” Buffy said with a grin. “Fortunately, we’re just making spaghetti. Could you grab the sauce out of the fridge? Nope, the other fridge. Thanks, Tara.”
For the next half-hour, the only sounds from the kitchen were cooking noises, mixed with amiable conversation.
[hr]
“That ought to do it,” said Buffy. She reached for a button next to the stove and gave it a quick press, sounding a deep chime throughout the house. It was mere moments before the potentials were lined up at the kitchen entrance, followed by Faith and Giles. “Where’s Dawn?” Buffy asked.
“She’s still at school, B. Term paper due next week, remember?”
“Right. Okay, everybody come on in and load up your plates.”
Buffy, Tara, and Willow stood by and waited for the lineup to finish before they grabbed their own plates and headed for the dining room.
Once they were seated, everyone dug into their food with gusto – the sauce was spectacular, and everyone was hungry.
One of the potentials at the far end of the table from Buffy raised her hand. “What is it, Sasha?” Buffy asked.
“I have a thought on how to find this fireball thing,” she said.
“Okay, but you remember the rules, right? No shop talk at the dinner table?” Noticing the girl slump in her seat, Buffy continued quickly. “I’d really like to hear your thought, Sasha, just wait until we’re in the library, okay?” The girl nodded.
“So, Faith, what’re your plans for tonight?” Buffy inquired.
“Well, normally this’d be our scheduled party night, B, but that’s probably not the best idea right now – so I’m thinking I’ll drink while you guys research.”
Buffy laughed. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
That was the extent of the dinner table conversation, as everyone polished off their helpings of spaghetti, some of the potentials returning for seconds. When everyone was done, Buffy leaned back in her chair with a contented smile. “Who’s turn for dishes tonight?”
Tara raised her hand. “I’ll do them.”
“No, no. You’re not even in the rotation yet – you’ll have to be here for at least a week before that happens. So,” she said, turning back to the potentials, “who’s up?”
Consulting the list, Faith spoke up. “Looks like Cho-Ahn and Sonya tonight – I’ll give ‘em a hand, so we can get to the shop talk faster.” When Buffy looked confused, Faith continued. “The faster we get to shop talk, the faster I get to beer.” She grinned.
[hr]
After everyone had gathered in the library, Tara thought of something she hadn’t noticed. “Where’s Terri?”
“She didn’t stay for supper,” Buffy explained. “She left this morning, said she was going to go hunt for the guys she saw yesterday. Now, before I open the floor, I’d like to hear Sasha’s idea.”
The girl looked a little bit uncomfortable, but she spoke up nonetheless. “Well, I was just thinking, we’ve got the two most powerful witches in the world here,” Willow noticed Tara about to deny it and gave her knee a light squeeze, along with a quick “not now” look. Sasha continued “so, I thought, why not try some kind of spell to tell us where it is?”
Buffy looked at Willow, who took her cue. “That’s not a bad idea, Sasha, but we’d need to know what it was, so that’s a problem. If we knew we were hunting for a polgara or something, we could easily cast a spell like that. But since we don’t know what we’re dealing with, we’d have to cast a really wide net – and we’d come back with a lot of false positives.”
“What about the government guys? If the one guy is the one Buffy knows, couldn’t we try and look for him?”
Willow and Tara looked at each other in shock, and Buffy slapped her forehead audibly. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Way to go, Sasha!” The girl grinned. Buffy turned to the two witches. “Can you guys do it?”
“Can’t see why not - it’s just a simple locator spell” said Tara. “If you guys can clear a spot on the floor, Willow and I’ll grab some ingredients and we can do it right now.”
Fifteen minutes later, Willow and Tara were ready to begin. They mixed the ingredients, and began their incantation. As they chanted, a bright dot of light appeared on the map of Rome they’d laid out on the library floor. It floated lazily over several locations until they spoke the name Riley Finn. At that point, the dot quadrupled in size and exploded with tremendous force, throwing the two witches into opposite walls of the library.
In seconds, Buffy got to Willow while Faith ran for Tara. “Will, are you okay?” Buffy asked.
“Oh…my head…” Willow grabbed the back of her head, and Buffy could see the blood running between her fingers. “Giles!” she called. “A little help, here!” As Giles rushed to her, Spike made his entrance.
He looked over to see Faith tending to Tara. “Sod a dog. What happened?”
Faith looked up. “Some kind of magic backfire. Beats the hell out of me. You okay, T?”
Tara looked up at her blankly. “Huh?”
“Are you okay? Can you stand up?”
Tara shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs. “Uhh…yeah, I think so. Is Willow okay?”
“Just a cut on her head,” called Buffy. “Bled a lot, but it’s not deep.”
Buffy and Giles helped Willow to one of the library’s couches, while Spike and Faith helped Tara to the same place. Once they were seated, Buffy looked at the damage. The map was fried, and a whole section of the library floor was burned, but the biggest effects of the blowback seemed to be to Willow and Tara. “What happened, you guys?”
Willow, holding Giles’ handkerchief to the back of her head, spoke up first. “Some kind of booby-trap, I think. Wherever he’s at, it’s protected from magic. When we started to touch it, it sent some kind of nasty spell back at us.”
“I didn’t know someone could do that.”
“Neither did we,” Tara said. “I’ve never even heard of something that could blow up a locator spell. That’s some serious dark magic – making contact with it was like touching pure d-darkness. That really hurt, by the way.” She cradled her wrist. “I think my wrist is broken, or sprained, or something.”
Buffy turned to the potentials. “Sonya, can you look at it?” she asked the med school student who’d examined Tara earlier. Nodding, the girl took Tara’s arm and probed it gently as she winced. She turned back to Buffy. “It’s broken.”
“So we’re going to the hospital?”
“No, no – we’ve got everything we need in the infirmary. Willow should come too, so we can clean up that head wound.”
“Lead the way,” said Buffy, as she helped Willow up from the couch, indicating to Faith to bring Tara.
They helped the injured girls from the library, through the kitchen and into the dorms, headed for the infirmary. Something was tickling Willow’s mind as they walked through the dorms, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it. Suddenly it clicked. “No,” she muttered. “You guys!” she called to Faith and Tara. “Wait! Don’t-“ she saw them stop ahead, and knew she was too late.
Buffy halted behind them. “What’s the holdup?” There was no reply, and she was about to ask again, when she noticed what they were looking at – Tara’s memorial wall. Willow disengaged herself from Buffy and stood next to Tara, putting an arm around her. The blonde’s whole body was shuddering.
“It’s okay, Tara. It doesn’t mean anything now. I’ll get it taken down tomorrow, I’m so sorry you had to see that.”
“It’s okay, sweetie,” said Tara through chattering teeth. “It’s just – okay, we have to go now.”
Buffy put an arm around Willow, and they walked four abreast to the infirmary.
[hr]
“Ouch!” exclaimed Willow as Sonya cleaned the blood from her head.
“Sorry, Willow. We’ll be done right away – doesn’t even look like you need stitches. We’ll just put a small bandage on it, and it should be mostly healed by tomorrow.”
“’Kay. What about Tara?”
“Small cast. Looks like a fairly clean break, so it should heal well. I’ll give you some painkillers for her; she’s probably going to be fairly uncomfortable for a few days. Right now she’s on a pretty good shot of Demerol, so she’s okay.”
Willow looked around the infirmary. “You know, I think this is the first time I’ve actually been down here. This place is as big as a clinic.”
“Actually, it’s bigger. We’ve got equipment no ordinary clinic has. We’ve got our own x-ray machine, and our own MRI to boot. Everything we could need to treat slayage-related injuries.”
Willow was about to respond when Sonya announced “okay, we’re done. I’ll go and get Tara, and you guys can go and get some rest. Just remember, if you have any headaches or nausea, let me know right away. It doesn’t seem like you’ve got a concussion, but we should be careful.” She left Willow seated on the exam table and went into the other room to bring Tara.
Willow nearly burst into tears as Sonya led Tara into the room, looking groggy and dazed, with a cast on her wrist and hand. The resemblance to the aftermath of Glory’s mind-sucking attack was almost too much for Willow to bear, but she struggled to maintain her composure for Tara’s sake. Faith went to take Tara under the arm, but Willow spoke up. “No. I’ll take her; all I’ve got is a headache.” She took the pills Sonya gave her, and took Tara under the arm, following Buffy and Faith back to their bedroom.
[hr]
Once the two were settled, Buffy and Faith rejoined the others in the library. Sonya had stayed in the infirmary, to finish up some paperwork.
“Alright,” growled Buffy. “Whatever we’re dealing with, it’s hurt my friends twice now, and I want to know what we’re going to do about it. Giles, tell me you and the council have found something useful.”
Giles studied his shoes intently.
“So you’ve got nothing, then. Faith, anything from the club front?”
“I got shit, B.”
“So what does that leave us? I’m not going to just sit around here anymore. Something needs its ass kicked, and I really want to oblige.”
“Buffy?” Spike asked as he sat up from the couch he’d been laying on. “What the hell is that?” He pointed behind her, where a bloody trail was appearing on the floor, starting at the front door, headed in the direction of the library.
“Terri?” called Buffy. “Is that you?”
“It’s me,” came a hoarse whisper in reply. “I found Riley – they’re in a factory, on the waterfront…number 302 Del Rey.”
“What happened?”
“His partner – Lindsey, his name was –“ Buffy saw Spike react to the name, looking like he’d been slapped. “knew I was there, somehow. He whipped out a shotgun and started blasting away. He missed me a couple times and I thought I was going to get lucky, but third time’s the charm, I guess.”
“Terri…how bad is it? We can get you to the infirmary-“
“No. I’m done, Buffy.” With a shimmer, Terri gradually became visible, revealing a girl younger than Dawn with a gruesome-looking wound in her stomach. She rolled her eyes, laughing in spite of the pain. “Sure, now I turn visible. Figures.” She collapsed to the floor. Buffy grabbed her, propping her head up.
“Giles, go get Sonya! We’ve got to…I don’t know, get Sonya!”
“No. I’m not stupid, Buffy – this isn’t one you come back from. I just want to thank you. It feels good to have done the right thing after so long in the dark. Thank…you…” the girl’s head rolled into Buffy’s lap, and she was gone. Several of the potentials, still young girls themselves, burst into tears, and Faith cursed as she threw a beer bottle at the nearest wall. Giles sat silently, his British stoicism overriding his feelings. Buffy slowly set Terri down and stood up, looking at the blood on her hands and the blood on her clothes. Fire smoldering in her eyes, she surveyed the room. “Get weapons. We’re going now.”
“What about Willow and Tara?” asked Giles.
“Let them sleep. There’s nothing magical about this fight – this is going to be a massacre.”
“Actually, I meant – shouldn’t they have a guard, in case our other adversary drops by?”
“Oh, right. Uh, three volunteers to stay behind with Giles?” She nodded to the first three to put their hands up. “Okay, you’re the guard. Stay alert, and stay deadly.”
She turned back. “Faith, are you in?”
“You know goddamn well I am, B.”
“Spike?”
“Let’s see, stay here or go and beat the piss out of that little ponce Riley…I think I’ll go with you.”
“Good. Everybody load up, and let’s go!”
[hr]
They could tell they were in the right place when the vampires started attacking – security must have been increased after Terri’s incursion. The battle was fast and furious, but the scales were tipped by Buffy’s judicious use of the scythe, the first time she had touched the weapon since Sunnydale. Dust flew in constant clouds around her as she swept through the charging vamps. Beside her, Faith and Spike were back-to-back, dusting the others who tried to flank them. The potentials cleaned up the remnants, and in less than five minutes more than fifty vampires were dust. The few stragglers took one look at the group and fled in the other direction.
Buffy led the group down the waterfront, finding number 302 - a nondescript building, which according to the sign out front had once been a pharmaceutical supply company. Buffy and Faith kicked the loading door in as one to reveal a high-tech setup behind it. Upon closer observation, Buffy noticed many of the assorted monitors in the room seemed to be showing feeds of different parts of the city. She motioned for some of the more tech-oriented potentials to check out the station. After a few minutes, they reported back to her, speaking in hushed tones.
“It’s incredible, Buffy. They’ve got almost the entire city under surveillance, even our house. The feeds they’re getting aren’t just cameras, though – some of them are military satellites. Some of the military feeds are labeled “The Initiative,” but neither of us has ever heard of it.”
Buffy’s jaw clenched. “I have.” She motioned to Faith, Spike and the potentials to take up positions around the next door, and kicked that one in as well. It opened to reveal Riley sitting at a round table, with another man Buffy didn’t recognize. “Lindsey,” muttered Spike.
Riley regarded her coolly as she led the group into the room. “Hi, Buffy.”
“You’re a dead man, Riley. I don’t know what you’ve been doing here, but it ends now.”
“You can’t stop us, Buffy. We’re going to make sure that prophecy is never fulfilled.”
“Riley, why? Why attack us, hurt my friends, work with vampires of all things? You used to be a good guy, part of the solution. Now, what, you’re the new big bad? What the hell is wrong with you?”
Riley’s face tensed. “We’re not the bad guys here, Buffy.”
“Really? Well, what do you call murdering a young woman? Justice? Heroism? The little magic spell you’ve got around this place nearly killed Willow and Tara tonight, you know that? You sending that fireball thing after us? Is that heroism?” Buffy waited for a moment. “Answer me, you bastard!”
Riley finally looked her in the eyes. “That ‘fireball thing’ isn’t with us. It’s the reason we’re here.”
Buffy hefted the scythe. “You’ve got thirty seconds to explain yourself before I cut you in half. Think I’m joking?”
Riley shook his head. “I’m not going to tell you anything, Buffy. I’m sorry.”
She raised the scythe and brought it down suddenly, cleaving the table in two in front of him. Riley jumped, while Lindsey just smiled.
“If you want to live through the night, Riley, you’re going to tell us all you know.”
Riley stared at her for a moment before his composure slipped a little. “Fine. I’m still in love with you, Buffy.”
Buffy stopped dead. Of all the answers she’d been waiting for, that wasn’t one of them. “What?”
“I left my wife six months ago. She told me she was sick of me mooning over you, so I left. From a prophet in Venezuela, I heard about the prophecy – you know the one I mean – and that it would be fulfilled soon. I couldn’t let that happen. I went AWOL, hijacked some old Initiative equipment, and set up here in Rome. Lindsey joined me not long after. We’ve been after all the information we could find on the Tok-Mageth, and looking for a way to kill it.”
“Is that the fireball thing?” Riley nodded. “Why didn’t you come to me, Riley? We could have figured this out together!”
“No. That was the one thing I couldn’t do.”
“Why?”
“Because it would have helped fulfill the prophecy. Almost everyone mentioned is in Rome now, and it’s on the verge of being fulfilled. That can’t happen.”
“Again I ask, why?”
“Because you’ll die, Buffy. And I couldn’t allow that.”
“How do you know I’ll die?”
“
The strongest of all shall have to bend. What do you think that means, Buffy?”
“I don’t know what it means, but I don’t think you do either! How do you know that’s even me?”
“I know. There’s no-one else it could be.”
“Wait…so you set those vamps loose…”
“To keep you from finding the Tok-Mageth, yeah. I didn’t know what would happen if you found it before all the pieces were here, and I needed to make sure you’d be too busy to look for it.”
Tears streamed down Buffy’s face. “So you let those innocents die – basically killed them yourself – because you wanted to distract me? Why did you kill Terri?”
“The phantom? She knew where we were, and given that she was mentioned in the prophecy, if I could kill her in advance it could help avert it.”
“So you murdered her? That poor little girl?”
“Actually that was Lindsey, but basically yes.”
“You did this because you love me?”
“I do. Absolutely. I needed to keep you safe.”
“I’m only going to say this once, Riley. You’re a sick bastard.” Riley’s face fell. “This isn’t love – you’re killing people! And for what? A prophecy that might not even refer to me! What happened to you?”
“You happened to me.”
Buffy spun the scythe, ending up with the blade pressed against Riley’s throat. “You’re going to leave. Rome, Italy, the eastern hemisphere. I don’t care where you go, but if I ever so much as feel your presence again, I’ll kill you. The same goes for you,” she directed at Lindsey. “On our way out, I’m going to smash your little toys, and you’re going to be gone by morning. If you’ve got any other little surprises, you’d better make sure they never happen. I don’t even know why I’m letting you live, but don’t make me regret it.”
[hr]
“I don’t know why you didn’t let me kill the ponce while I had the chance, Buffy,” Spike whispered as they opened the door to the house. “Both of them, actually.”
“Because they’re human. And you have a soul.”
“Do they?”
Buffy wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so she changed the subject. “Who’s Lindsey?”
“Lawyer – used to work at Wolfram & Hart. Angel ran the bugger off years ago, though – I can’t figure what he’s doing here.”
“Well, think about it. If you come up with anything, let me know. For now, I’m going to bed.” She threw the scythe down and headed up the stairs to her bedroom. Closing the door behind her, she threw herself on her bed, sobbing. She didn’t hear the door open behind her moments later.
“B?”
Buffy sat up with a start, trying to wipe the tears from her face. “What is it, Faith?”
“Are you…are you okay?”
“No…I’m really not.”
“It’s not your fault, B. The guy’s nuts, it doesn’t make it your fault.”
“But it is. He did it all because of me.”
“That’s bullshit, B. He did it because he chose to. He can try and pin it on you, but that’s not true. This has nothing to do with love. You can’t control how people feel, and you can’t be responsible when they act out their sick fantasies.” She sat down on the bed and held the blonde slayer tight. “It’s okay, B. Let it out.” Buffy’s sobs went on for a long time, but Faith just sat there and let them come, holding her close. Finally they subsided, and Buffy sat up to look Faith in the eyes.
“Thanks, Faith. Really, thank you. It means a lot that-“ she stopped, wide-eyed, as Faith leaned in and kissed her. Buffy could taste the whiskey on her lips. “Mmm…Faith?”
The dark slayer turned bright red and got up to leave. Buffy pulled her back down. “Wait. I…”
Faith kissed her again.
Buffy pulled back, but not far. Looking at Faith, she whispered “what’s going on here?”
Faith smiled. “True love. Shut the fuck up.”
[hr]
Thus endeth the update! I'll try and have the next chapter up in less than a week. Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to read!