Title - For All YOur Good Intentions.
Notes – I really don’t know much about computers and hacking so if anyone who is reading this is in IT, sorry for glaring computer errors.
I am really swamped at work and have to break this up in to 2 parts. This is the chapter where we find out how Willow got in the wheelchair. Buffy is recounting the story but almost everyone is in it, including our favorite duo. Part a is not so angsty. Enjoy.Oh, I have a Beta reader (Does dance of Joy, which in my head looks more or less looks like a bad impression of John Travolta’s Staying Alive dance). Anyhoo, Owl has graciously volunteered (such a sweet, sweet unsuspecting soul, who does not know that I’m probably severely dyslexic, spell atrociously and use bad grammar like there’s no tomorrow) so I am thanking her officially and bestowing on her the title of Mistress of Punctuation.
Spoiler Warning - It has some spoilers up to Normal Again.
Disclaimer - All characters, names etc belong to ME. I am just borrowing them for this short while in order to make them do what I want for a change instead of waiting to see what happens every Tuesday
Chapter 3a
"Attention," the speaker above Buffy came to life "Attention ladies and Gentlemen, we are sorry for the delay of United Airlines Flight 20 from Los Angeles. It will be landing shortly and we do hope we have not severely inconvenienced you or you loved ones".
Attention - now that is a word that can have so many meanings, Buffy thought to herself. Remembering Riley and how he always seemed to stand at attention in the early stages of their relationship, always the soldier, always on alert. Seeing him last year with Sam and how despite the ingrained soldieryness, his attention was focused on Sam, only Sam. Well, for her, attention meant the line between keeping you friends safe, alive and whole. It meant not letting big bads creep up and hurt them. It meant she had a lot to make up for.
She looked over at Willow and Tara, sitting together holding hands but lost in their separate reveries. Tara looked pensive (what else was new) and Willow was just gently caressing Tara's palm with her thumb to try and guide her love back from whatever dark thought she was thinking. Buffy was amazed at the changes in her two best friends, both different yet both essential.
Before the accident, Tara was the one to support the redhead during her difficult time with dark magic withdrawals. She would help Willow through the shakes and aches. More importantly, she insisted that Willow help her with white magic and learn to control her impulse of wanting to change nature but instead learn to work with nature. By doing that, Willow was slowly realizing that magic wasn’t a tool or a crutch or just learning spells, it was a part of life, a way of life. Willow had actually confided in her that she no longer thought that spells were the only magic; the only real magic in her life was Tara. She was truly magical.
But now, despite her handicap, Willow was the one trying to get Tara to regain her sparkle, zest and magic for life. It had all but disappeared when she found out about Willow’s prognosis at the hospital. For the past year, Willow was trying so hard, just to keep all of her own dark thoughts and fears at bay so that she could bring color and light into Tara's eyes once again. Adding to that, the other sad outcome from that terrible night was the fact that both Willow and Tara had vowed off all magic for their own secret reasons. Buffy wished things had turned out differently, if only she had paid attention. If only her good intentions worked out.
She thought back to that night. It had started out pretty normal for a Tuesday evening, with movie night at Xander's. Willow had already seen Caddyshack a bazillion times so she had brought her laptop and was surfing the net for clues on the geek stooges.
"Eureka!, light bulb's all lighty and bright over my head, you guys" Willow called out from the dining table.
"What you got there, Will? Finally found that purple furry handcuffs that I was…not telling you about. Err, what you got there, Will? " Xander looked around furtively hoping no one caught his slip and expecting one of Anya's barbed comments. But then he remembered that she did not talk to him anymore. She had come back, opened the Magic Box, moved back into her old apartment but still allowed Scooby meetings to be held in the shop. To his surprise and delight, she had joined in all the meetings and subsequent get togethers, even those held at his apartment. However, she had barely spoken to him and the one time she did, all she had said was "You should have told me earlier, you owed me that at least". He managed to look contrite and apologized but knew that he had to make up for so much more. He did not have to have a Willowbrain to figure out he had truly hurt the one person in the world who had loved and accepted him for who he was and for who he could become. Since then, he had brought her flowers every week and managed to always listen, without interruption, to any of her comments that she directed to the group. Looking again, expectantly at Willow, he motioned for her to continue.
"Ok, remember when I thought I may be able to predict where Warren and his goons were going be turn up next? Well, I think finally got lucky. See, every time I hacked into any of the computer systems in Sunnydale, Tara gave me the idea that I could leave a tracer to alert me if any one else goes in after me. Well, I have been getting alerts from one of my tracers for the past 3 days I have been trying to check where its coming from and I just got it tonight "
"Cool" Dawn replied smiling , hacker Willow and supportive Tara was always so much better that dark magic eyes Willow and sad Tara.
Willow smiled grew even bigger as she looked back and forth between Tara and Dawn. Dawn was really beginning to accept and respect her again . More importantly, Tara was teaching her white magic and they once again shared a psychic bond. And now, she had just found a way to help Buffy, life was good - no - life was great.
"Willow, you wanna stop making googly eyes at your girlfriend and start telling me how I get to de-bane Warren and the hobbits from my life?" Buffy cut in. She knew that if she didn't, Willow and Tara would probably come up with some lame excuse to go make witchy love. She was beginning to think that hacking, researching - well, just about anything, made Willow horny nowadays. Sometimes slayer hearing just wasn't worth it
"Oh, yeah, Warren" Willow paused, trying to pry her eyes from Tara. Knowing exactly what Willow was thinking and that Buffy was probably thinking the same thing (damn slayer hearing), Tara made her way over to stand behind the red-head , to offer support and physical contact. "I think he's going to steal some weapons from the Sunnydale armory later tonight" Willow continued as she leaned back into a Tara-hug.
"Weapons?, you mean these guys want to play GI Joe now? geez, won't they ever grow up? Ok, I guess I can trap them there and call the police once they're secure. Just for once I wish we could have a quiet Tuesday evening" Buffy was already moving towards the door when Willow called out.
“Buffy, I don’t think you should go alone, I mean I know you’re all large with the slayeryness but we know that Andrew can summon demons and Jonathan can do some magic. Not to mention that Warren probably has some ray gun blaster thingy. I really think you need Scooby back-up on this”
“So what’s the plan Will?” Buffy asked as she started back towards the couch.
“Well, I think the security system on the base is running on an isolated grid. That means I can’t hack into it from here, I need to be..”
“Stop right there hacker girl , you are going nowhere near…”
“Buffy, I totally agree that I am not the jumping into the fray but more standing adjacent to the fray kinda person so..” Willow held up her finger as she continued so as to stop another outburst from the slayer “So, that’s why I think Xander and I should break into the computer room on the other side of the base while you scope out the armory where Warren will be -which is situated way, way away from where we will be.”
“I ,I think Willow is right” Tara added “ You do need back-up. Willow and Xander can try and hack into the security system to see if she can re-route what Warren has done to it while you and I can go and see if we can spot them at the armory. If they’re there, I can contact Willow and she can trip the security alarm and call the police”
“What did you say?, what did you say? ” both Buffy and Willow simultaneously turned to question Tara.
“It’s the best plan, honey” Tara placed a kiss on top of the hacker’s head to try and calm her down. Then, looking directly at Buffy, she continued “Willow said so herself, you need backup and Willow needs to know when to trip the alarm. I promise that I am so with the whole adjacent to the fray idea. I promise to stay behind you at all times and I’m just there to give Willow a psychic heads-up when we spot the bad guys, okay?”
Willow could see that Buffy was beginning to relent and as much as she so did not want Tara within 10 miles of the trio of terror, she could see that it was a great plan. Taking Tara’s hand, she got up and headed for the door, motioning for the rest to follow “ I guess, we’re all in the plan”.
Buffy nodded and gave a quick kiss to Dawn and pre-empted the youngster’s oncoming argument to follow them with a quick “Anya, would you mind watching Dawn? We should be back in a couple of hours. And Dawn -- when Willow said we’re all in the plan, she wasn’t including little sister’s of the slayer. Now be good and mind Anya”
“Buffy, first of all, I’m not five! and little sister’s of the slayer??? who are you, Mother Teresa?? And, and, and, well be careful, all of you. I don’t trust Warren” Dawn finished softly.
“Yeah, be careful” Anya echoed as she watched her friends and Xander go out the door.
TBC
(Next part is the big showdown)