<see Part 1 for disclaimers>
************************
Buffy angrily wiped at the tears streaming down her
face as she slowed down. Somehow her
Slayer skills had kept her from falling and breaking her neck in her mad dash
into the woods and she knew that was about all that had saved her. <She
certainly hadn’t been thinking,> she now reflected.
Buffy heard the soothing sound of a stream and
walked towards it instinctively. She
was hot, tired and felt covered in sweat and grime. She found a small creek running over boulders and cool looking
ground. The Slayer knelt down on a
boulder and dipped her hands into the stream and let the water splash over her
upturned face. She knew better than to
drink the water but just cooling her skin felt good. The water was ice cold and revived her energy.
Buffy sat down on another boulder and watched the
water flowing and let it take her panic with it. She knew it had been stupid to run off like that just because
Xander had made a stupid joke about her possible werewolf status. If she let every Xander comment get to her,
Buffy realized, she would have killed him a long time ago.
The Slayer let the sun warm her as her sweat covered
body began to cool down in the chilled autumn air of late October. Then her Slayer senses kicked into alert and
she looked around cautiously, pretending not to notice anything or to be
alarmed.
Buffy cursed herself for running off from the
others. She could usually take care of
herself and often spent time saving her friends when they tried to help her but
she knew things were different now.
Giles was right, if Buffy was infected with lycanthropy, she shouldn’t
be alone where Oz could reach her.
The Slayer somehow knew the movement surrounding her
was dangerous. After a moment several
figures appeared on all sides of her, four on the other side of the river and
three on her side. One in front, side
and back. There were five males and two
females and they had the same predatory look that Buffy had seen before when
spirits of hyenas had possessed several of the students, including Xander. These males and females had that same feral
look, even though they were dressed like any other high school or college
student.
Buffy stood up slowly and waited, her eyes darting
around constantly, trying to keep them all in sight as they moved closer.
The Slayer didn’t even bother to look surprised when
Oz stepped out of the trees and slowly approached her. He had dyed his hair and beard black,
probably in an effort to avoid the police but that was the only thing that had really
changed about him.
<In fact>,
Buffy thought, <he had gotten
scruffier.> His clothes hung
limply on him and hadn’t seen the inside of a washing machine in quite
awhile. His shirt still had the blood
from where she had stabbed him with the silver dagger a month earlier.
“Oz,” Buffy said easily.
“About time you showed up,” he growled. “Ready to join the pack?”
“Not really, I was really looking for some quiet
time,” Buffy said easily. “You know how
it is; slaying day and night, needed a break.”
“Don’t fight it, Buffy,” Oz ignored her quip. “I can smell my mark on you; you’re already
part of the pack.”
“You know, I discovered when I was cheerleader that
I’m not really a joining person anymore,” Buffy said casually as she jumped off
the boulder, still keeping an eye on the other werewolves. “I think I’ll pass on this one.”
“You don’t have a choice,” Oz growled, his green
eyes shifting to wolf yellow. “Same old
Buffy though, you’ll probably be joking when someone rips your throat out.”
“Well, when that happens someday, I’ll let you
know,” Buffy countered.
“Buffy, either you come with us today and join the
pack or I hurt you really badly and we take you anyway,” Oz grinned, his teeth
growing into fangs.
“Nobody tells me what to do, even Giles learned that
one a long time ago,” Buffy growled.
“You can’t fight me, Buffy,” Oz laughed a guttural
laugh. “I’m your alpha male.”
“Don’t you sense something else, Oz?” Buffy grinned
right back at him as she pulled a silver dagger out of her belt. “I’m not yours!”
Oz moved a little closer and sniffed the air and
Buffy’s muscles tensed.
She grinned a vicious smile when his eyes widened in
shock and he began to tremble.
“Willow?” he said softly. “You mated with Willow? After I bit you?”
“She insisted,” Buffy grinned and answered Oz’s
growl with one of her own. “Seems she
wants me instead of you, even as a wolf.”
Oz roared his rage and dived at the Slayer.
Even expecting the attack, the swiftness almost
caught Buffy off guard as Oz changed in mid-air and, as a full werewolf,
tackled her into the boulder behind her.
Knowing she didn’t have to worry really about being bitten or scratched,
Buffy fought back with no holds barred and rammed the dagger into his chest as
he raked hers with one of his clawed paws.
The werewolf fell back howling in pain as his pack
gathered around him. Buffy noticed they
were circling and appeared nervous but none of them moved in, they were leaving
the fighting to their leader until he gave the signal.
Buffy tried to regain her feet but was stunned to
discover how much the slashes across her chest hurt.
Oz managed to get to his feet at the same time the
Slayer did and they squared off once again:
Oz with his claws at the ready and Buffy with the dagger in her hand.
Suddenly shots filled the air followed by screams
and sounds of panic. Oz looked around
in confusion as his pack was scattering to the woods or across the river and
shots were following them. Two of his
pack were on the ground, one dead with a head shot and the other moaning with a
back wound that was probably fatal.
Oz turned as Buffy attempted to stab him again and
backhanded her into the water. He
bounded over her to the other side of the river and disappeared into the woods.
“Buffy!”
“Here!” she called out, getting to her hands and
knees in the water and then she began moving towards the embankment. Two sets
of legs were there in a moment, splashing around her as hands grabbed her by
the arms and helped her to the bank.
She was turned over and she saw Giles and Tara examining her as her
teeth began to chatter.
“Glad you guys showed up,” she stammered through her
teeth.
“We’ve got to get her to a hospital, even with her
Slayer healing she’s going into shock with that cold water and loss of blood,”
Giles grumbled as he stripped off his coat and covered the Slayer with it.
Together they got the Slayer on her feet and began
walking her back towards the car.
“It’s too far away, Giles,” Tara complained as Buffy
became harder to guide as she started to slip into unconsciousness.
“I know, I know,” he growled. “Listen, give me your jacket. I’m going to stay with Buffy; you get back
to the car and guide the paramedics in here.
I’m going to call them on the cell phone and tell them where the car is.
Can you run that far and back?”
“I have to,” Tara said firmly and handed the Watcher
her jacket. He quickly added it to his
as he laid his charge on the pine covered forest floor.
Giles leaned over Buffy and checked her pulse and
wasn’t happy with what he found. The
Watcher moved his body alongside Buffy’s and pulled her into his arms, trying
to lend his warmth to her quickly cooling body.
He pulled out his cellular phone and started making
his calls, first to the paramedics; Detective Santiago was next, followed by
the call to Joyce and Willow.
===============================================================
Giles met Willow and Joyce outside
the Emergency room.
"She's going to be fine!"
he said quickly, attempting to reassure a very anxious mother and lover of his
Slayer. "Just as we feared, Oz and
his pack found her and she fought with him.
We got there in time to break it up but he got in one good slash across
her chest and she landed in the creek."
"Then
why the hospital?" Willow demanded.
"She went into shock from the
loss of blood and the cold water, the doctor's are finishing stitching the
wounds now and say that she'll be fine," Giles said gently. "They've warmed her up, replaced her
blood and cleaned the wounds. They want to keep her overnight just to be
sure."
"When can we see her?"
Willow asked.
"They'll let Joyce in right
after they finish with the stitches.
They want the rest of us to wait until they move her upstairs,"
Giles answered and moved aside as Joyce rushed past him. He led the distraught witch inside the
Emergency Waiting Room where Tara quickly hugged the redhead.
Ignoring the other anxious people
waiting for loved ones or waiting to be seen, the taller witch leaned down and
kissed Willow lightly on the lips and continued to hug her.
"Goddess, I needed that,"
Willow muttered. She and Tara went to a
free set of chairs with Giles.
The Watcher looked frazzled and Tara
looked exactly like what she had been through, she looked like she had taken a
mad dash through the woods in the middle of fall. There was mud covering the bottom of her sweat pants and sweat
stains on the shirt and her hair was mussed up. Willow tried to ignore the blood on Tara's sweat jacket, knowing
it was Buffy's.
"Okay, what happened?"
Willow leaned over, whispering to both of them.
"Oz attacked her and they were
fighting when we got there," Giles began.
"Giles shot a couple of them
and they scattered just as Oz knocked Buffy into the creek and ran," Tara
finished.
"She got in a good chest wound
and so did he," Giles continued.
"Tara ran to lead the paramedics in while I called everyone. I told Detective Santiago that Oz attacked
her with some kind of clawed weapon, like a martial arts thing."
"Good thinking," Willow
muttered. "How bad are the
wounds?"
"Deep but not bad for a
Slayer," he whispered.
"They'll heal over and barely leave scars."
"She was able to fight
him?" Willow demanded, her green eyes shining brightly.
"Yes, they were fighting when
we got there," Tara nodded. "I
think your bonding worked."
"Thank the goddess," the
witch muttered and leaned back in her chair.
"I've called Xander to watch
over Buffy's room tonight and Anya to stay with us at Joyce's place,"
Giles informed the young witches.
"Good idea. Tomorrow we all need to talk about Halloween
night," Willow said
firmly. "I know we've been avoiding it but it's
time."
"I agree," Giles said
wearily.
All three stood up quickly when
Joyce entered the waiting area and then rushed over to the Slayer's mother.
"She's awake and asking for
both of you," she said with a small smile. "They're
moving
her to the third floor, room 17. Go on
up, Giles and I will follow."
Willow and Tara were off promptly,
trying to refrain from breaking into a run down the hospital corridor to the
elevator.
Joyce turned and accepted Giles'
offer of an embrace as she began to cry.
"How do you do it,
Rupert?" she sobbed. "She
looked so small on that bed. Those
bandages were so large!"
"I won't lie to you and say it
gets easier, it doesn't," he admitted as they began
walking
towards the elevators.
"What if she is infected?"
she whispered. "How are we
supposed to deal with that?"
"I don't know, I just don't
know."
===============================================================
Buffy managed to smile when Tara and
Willow entered the room and she reached out her hands to both of them.
"Oh my God, Buffy!" Willow
cried and held the Slayer's hand next to her cheek.
"I fought him, Wills,"
Buffy said softly as Tara stroked the blonde hair off Buffy's forehead. "He didn't control me."
"And you almost got yourself
killed!" Tara countered with a slight smile.
"I'll be mostly healed by
tomorrow," Buffy protested.
"Taking on a pack of werewolves
by yourself was not in the plan!" Willow responded.
"Terrific, now I've got two
girlfriends to gang up on me!" Buffy grinned.
"You bet!" Willow nodded
as Tara grinned and pulled up a chair.
"Giles and your mom will be
here in a minute," Tara said.
"Cool," Buffy said
softly.
"I'm going to stay here until
Xander takes over when he gets off work at the mall," Tara continued as
Buffy began to drift into a drugged sleep.
"My God, Tara, I can't lose
either of you," Willow whispered, reaching across the bed and touching the
other witch's arm.
"I know, neither could
we," she agreed. "Let's get
through the next few days and see what happens."
Willow nodded as Giles and Joyce
entered the room.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Giles had over-ridden Tara's
decision to stay with Buffy and insisted that she stay with Willow and Joyce
and the three women had finally gone home, leaving the Watcher to watch over
Buffy.
The Watcher settled in with his
notebook, writing down all the revelations of the last couple of days among the
Wiccans and his Slayer while Buffy slept a healing sleep of recovery. Giles was stunned for a moment when he
looked up at the sound of the door opening and realized Riley had stepped into
the room.
Giles frowned and put his notebook
behind him in his waistband as he stood up.
"What do you want, Riley?"
he questioned.
The young commando was in civilian
clothes but had a very serious look on his face and Giles was cautious.
"I've come for Buffy,"
Riley responded.
"What on earth do you
mean?"
"We heard the police scanner
and Detective Santiago's orders to look for Oz in the woods. She's been attacked by a werewolf and we're
taking her in for safety," he said in a flat voice.
"Buffy is our responsibility,
not yours!" Giles hissed as he ran a hand through his mussed up hair. Riley, watching the Watchers' eyes, failed
to notice Giles' other hand moving to his coat pocket.
"Slaying vampires and demons is
yours and now your Slayer is a hostile, that makes her our
responsibility," Riley countered, his eyes showing anger.
"Why, so you can lock her in a
cage, put some device in her head to drive her insane for the rest of her
life?" Giles demanded.
"What will you do with
her?" Riley countered. "Lock
her away in a cell somewhere like you did Oz?
So she can howl at the moon all night and maybe get out, like he
did."
"Buffy isn't going with
you," Giles growled.
"Get over it, old man,"
Riley snapped. "A team is on its
way, we'll take her even if we have to go over you to do it."
Riley looked surprised when he moved
forward towards Buffy's bed and found himself staring at a Glock automatic
pistol in Giles' hand. The commando
froze in place.
"You won't do it,
librarian," Riley muttered.
"You don't know Watchers, we
train girls to fight better than you'll ever achieve," Giles smiled a
deadly smile and Riley had the feeling he was suddenly watching a Bond
movie. "My nickname used to be
Ripper; do you really want to test whether I can pull the trigger to protect
Buffy?"
Riley looked down the barrel into
the unflinching eyes and calm face of the Slayer's Watcher and knew with a
chill that Giles really would pull the trigger and would have less remorse than
Buffy over killing.
"Get out of here, I want to watch
from Buffy's window and see you moving across the lawn towards the parking
lot," Giles ordered. "If I
don't, then I'll shoot anyone coming through that door I don't know, including
you and I am an expert shot and have plenty of clips in my pocket."
"We'll be back for her,"
Riley warned.
"If I see anything that looks
like you or your playmates, I will nail your sorry bloody asses to the wall and
pin your ears back, little boy," Giles growled and cocked the weapon as
Riley turned bright red with anger.
"Don't think that I'd get away with shooting my future
step-daughter's stalking ex-boyfriend as he hovered over her hospital bed
threatening her? This is Sunnydale, Riley,
they won't even ask questions, especially after you were seen fighting with her
physically because she rejected you for a female."
"I'll kill you, Giles,"
Riley threatened.
"It'll take more than
you," Giles snarled. "You're
male ego was so assaulted that you assailed her in the hospital after you heard
she had been attacked. I found you
threatening her and choking her and I had to defend my future
stepdaughter. Forget about Buffy, tell
your team that she wasn't bitten by Oz because she wasn't; she was slashed. Either you forget about her or I'll make
sure every single person on campus hears my version of your hospital
visit."
"My superiors won't believe
you!"
"Yes they will, they know how
hung up sexually you were with Buffy," Giles said easily. "They even doubted your judgment in
bringing Buffy into the Initiative, didn't they?"
Riley's refusal to answer was enough
of an answer for the Watcher.
"Leave Riley and convince your
team she wasn't bitten or you'll deal with a very pissed off Slayer
tomorrow," Giles suggested.
“You shouldn’t mess with the Initiative,” Riley
threatened.
“I don’t know what the conversation is about here
but that sounded like a threat,” a new voice entered the conversation and both
Giles and Riley glanced over and saw Detective Santiago standing in the doorway
with his gun drawn on Riley.
Giles quickly lowered his pistol.
“Young Mr. Finn was just leaving,” he said
calmly. “He and Buffy broke up last
week and he isn’t taking it well. I was encouraging him to leave.”
“Then maybe you should leave Mr. Finn,” Detective
Santiago said just as calmly, lowering his gun but keeping it in his hand.
Riley turned on his heels and left,
quickly.
“Okay, Mr. Giles,” Detective Santiago began as he
entered the room and put his gun away.
“It’s time for some answers and I want the truth.”
Giles sighed heavily and sat down and became very
attentive when Buffy began stirring.
Detective Brad Santiago waited with his questions as
they both watched the young blonde woman begin moaning and thrashing.
Giles leaned over and gently held Buffy’s hand and
began shaking the Slayer.
“Buffy, it’s okay,” he said softly. “Come on, wake up, you’re safe.”
After a moment the wounded woman slowly opened her
eyes and smiled slightly at the sight of Giles’ concerned face. Her eyebrows rose in question when she
spotted Detective Santiago on the other side of her bed.
“Hey,” she said.
“Nightmare again?” Giles asked.
“As usual,” Buffy attempted to shrug and winced at
the pain from moving her chest. “Ow!”
“Easy, you,” Giles chuckled slightly. “Detective Santiago walked in while I was
having a rather heated discussion with Riley Finn.”
“Riley?” Buffy tried to sit up and moaned in
pain. “What did he want? Last time I
saw him he was calling me a dyke.”
“Buffy,” Giles took off his glasses and began
cleaning them with a Kleenex from Buffy’s nightstand. “Detective Santiago is demanding answers and knowing him, he’s
going to keep digging.”
“You want him in?” Buffy asked with a frown.
“Hey, I’m right here!” Brad protested but Giles
waved at him in a dismissive manner, still focusing on his Slayer.
“Well, it might be advantageous,” Giles said
thoughtfully.
“If he believes us,” Buffy countered.
“Well, there is always the fresh grave approach,”
Giles smiled.
“Oh right, like Merrick pulled on me!” Buffy
smirked.
“Goddamn it!” Brad nearly shouted. “What the hell is going on?”
“Quiet for a moment, detective,” Giles ordered. “It’s Buffy’s life that is the one
ultimately at stake, it’s her decision.”
“Well, we don’t have to answer to the Council for
someone other than the Powers That Be knowing what I do,” she continued to
frown in thought. “Yeah, okay, go for
it.”
“It’ll be difficult, how to convince him quickly,”
Giles said thoughtfully.
“Fresh grave tonight?” Buffy suggested.
“Seems the quickest plan,” Giles agreed and turned
to the detective. “Tell me, Detective
Santiago, has anyone died within the last three days from massive blood loss
from a brutal neck wound?”
“Well, yeah, one of the detectives was talking about
it,” Brad answered with a frown.
“Do you know where the victim is buried?” Giles asked.
“No, afraid not,” Brad answered, his face still a
mass of confusion.
“That’s okay, Willow can hack into the Coroners
records,” Buffy said confidently.
“Hey, that’s not legal!” Brad protested.
“Don’t worry about it, Detective,” Giles
smirked. “It’ll get much worse,” the
Watcher turned to Buffy. “I’ll call
Anya to watch over you until Xander gets off work.”
“Is Xander mad at me?” Buffy asked, her voice
sounding younger and smaller.
“No, Anya said that he is fine and thinks that he
was an idiot,” Giles smiled. “Sit down,
Detective Santiago, it’ll take Anya a few minutes to get here and we may as
well start with the explanations.”
===============================================================
Two hours later, Anya joined them and occasionally
threw her own viewpoint into the discussion of informing the former New Yorker
of the place he had moved to and Buffy’s role in it.
Buffy was obviously uncomfortable with being talked
about but tolerated it and threw in her own version of things
occasionally.
Anya had gone out and brought back sodas for
everyone, as Giles was finishing up his explanation.
Brad sat back in his chair and took a long steady
look into the face of each of the other people in the room. His well honed detective skills and
instincts told him that they weren’t lying to him; either they were all insane
and shared the same delusion or they were quiet serious. That probably also included Riley Finn,
given the encounter Brad had walked in on earlier.
“Vampires, werewolves, secret government operations,
witches, slayers and watchers, oh boy,” he muttered. “Have I stumbled onto the set of the Twilight Zone?”
“I wish it were that simple, not many people died on
the Twilight Zone,” Buffy countered.
“Here they die every day and usually horribly.”
“I can prove it to you in a few hours,” Giles said
calmly. He was tired and had a
headache. He also needed a shower after
tracking Buffy through the woods and caring for his injured Slayer.
“Okay, I’ll give you that some things appear weird
around this town and no one seems to notice it,” Brad Santiago said
reluctantly. “I’ll even agree that
everything you’ve said fits the evidence I have.”
“But?” Giles asked with a slight smile.
“How do you intend to prove it to me? Have me sit on
a fresh grave and let a vampire pop up like that other Watcher did to Buffy?”
“Something like that, yes,” Giles answered.
“Okay, I’m all for field trips and I’ll take you up
on it,” Brad said.
“You’re taking this well,” Anya commented. “Most run screaming in the night when
confronted with vampires, or stand around in disbelief which makes them easy
meals.”
“Yeah, well, I grew up in New York, I’ve seen a lot
of stuff,” Brad grinned. “My grandma
was also a Brujah woman.”
“Brujah, that dumb vampire role playing game?” Buffy
asked.
“No,” Brad laughed.
“No, Spanish witch woman. Incense, prayers, a little home magic.”
Buffy began nodding off when the second round of
pain medication began to take affect.
“So, Buffy might be a werewolf like Oz, this secret
government organization wants her to experiment on, Willow and Tara are
witches, and Anya there is a former demon.
Does that cover it?”
“Yes, actually, you keep track well,” Giles
admitted.
“Thanks, I’m putting two guards on the door outside
Buffy’s room to keep Riley Finn and his comrades out until she can be released
tomorrow. I’m going to call my wife and
let her know I’m going to miss dinner tonight,” Brad said, getting to his feet.
“Don’t eat dinner before going out,” Anya
suggested. “Sometimes the vampires have
very poor hygiene and the smell can make you hurl.”
“Uh, thanks.”
===============================================================
A somewhat green looking Brad Santiago joined the
Scooby Gang at the home of Joyce and Buffy Summers.
Xander, Tara, Willow and Joyce were obviously
confused since Giles had called a meeting to discuss their plans for Halloween
and bringing a police detective didn’t seem like part of the plans or
discussion. Then the Watcher explained
that Brad Santiago of the Sunnydale police force had been given the basics
about vampires, werewolves, demons, Slayers and the Hellmouth.
Both Willow and Tara started blushing and Xander was
angry.
“Shouldn’t you have asked us?” he demanded from
Giles.
“Probably but there wasn’t time,” Giles said
firmly. “Detective Santiago caught me
with an automatic weapon pointed at Riley Finn and threatening his life. Buffy agreed.”
“Okay, Xander!” Willow snapped. “It’s done! Giles is right; we could use
someone in law enforcement.”
“Oh you mean someone who isn’t just a mall security
jerk!” Xander snapped back.
“I didn’t say that!” Willow protested. “Don’t go getting male territorial!”
“Me? Who said I was territorial?” Xander demanded.
“Children!” Giles snapped. “Let’s get down to the planning, shall we? As unpleasant as it is, we need to discuss
what we’re going to do Halloween night.”
“Well,” Willow said hesitantly. “I kinda had a plan if everyone agrees.”
“Let’s sit down at the table shall we?” Joyce
suggested. “I helped Willow and Tara
draw out plans of the crypt and graveyard where Oz built that cell.”
The Scooby Gang, minus Anya and adding Brad, sat
down around the table and turned their attention to Willow.
“Welcome to the Scooby Gang, Detective Santiago,”
she said shyly.
“Scooby Gang?” he questioned with a smile.
“Kinda of a traditional name we have for
ourselves. We’re like Slayerettes and
Buffy is the Slayer. We help her, doing
research and helping during battle sometimes,” Willow explained.
“Don’t let her fool you, Detective,” Xander
grinned. “Those two are becoming scary
with their magick type skills.”
Brad smiled at how both young witches began blushing
on cue.
“Why don’t you all call me Brad?” he suggested. “After seeing a vampire up close and
personal tonight, I’m honored to be included with a group that is brave enough
to face that night after night.”
There was an awkward silence as the Scooby Gang
blushed, no one protested that they were brave but they were thinking it. The Gang looked at it somewhat like Buffy,
they didn’t have a choice in fighting the evil things because it had to be done
and they were there. Brad would have
pointed out that it was exactly this attitude that made them heroes if anyone
had asked but he kept the thought to himself.
<He’d convince them later,>
he thought to himself.
“Hey, enough mutual admiration!” Xander declared. “Night before and Halloween night! What’s the deal, Wills?”
“Well, I have a new spell I want to try while Buffy
is locked in the…in the…” she hesitated as she glanced over at Joyce.
“It’s okay, Willow,” Joyce responded to the witch’s
discomfort. “I know that we’re going to
have to lock her up until we know for sure if she’s infected. “It’s a cell in a crypt, I can handle that.”
“I want to be left alone with Buffy,” Willow
continued and held her hand up against the protest from around the table. “We know from experience that if Buffy is a
werewolf, she’ll respond better with only one person in the room and that
logically is me.”
“Okay, what is this spell?” Giles demanded.
“Two spells actually,” Willow tried to smile. “I think Tara should be outside the crypt
and cast the second spell. It’s a
protection spell that makes a shield of silver; werewolves shouldn’t be able to
break it. That’ll keep Oz and any of
his pack out of the crypt.”
“What about the secret passages, we know they didn’t
just vanish when you were there,” Xander asked.
“The spell will wrap the crypt in a silver light,
it’ll cover the secret places too,” Willow explained.
“And your spell?” Giles demanded again.
“It’s a massive sleep spell and it might catch me in
it as well. I figure if Buffy starts
changing, I throw the spell and hope to prevent some of the pain and the
werewolf frenzy.”
Giles frowned but nodded. It made sense and it was a good plan. He knew the rest of the plan had the rest of the Scooby Gang
outside protecting the crypt and slaying anything getting too near it.
“I’m on shift Halloween night,” Brad said
thoughtfully. “There’s already extra
patrols being added because of what night it is. How else can I help?”
Tara giggled and everyone turned to look at her.
“It’s a safe bet that Riley will be looking for
Buffy that night, right?” she asked Giles.
“Yes, it would seem likely that he and one of his
team will be waiting outside for Buffy to go out slaying that night or for us
to take her someplace safe for the night,” Giles responded.
“Do you think that Riley could be picked up by the
police for the night? A case of
mistaken identity or something?” she suggested.
Giles looked surprised and then pleased, everyone
else looked confused for a while longer.
Then grins spread around the table.
“I think something might be arranged,” Brad said
slowly. “You know I’m crossing a line
here.”
“Yes, and if it’s beyond what your morals can
handle, we’ll understand,” Giles said quickly.
“We would never ask you to do something you couldn’t live with.”
“I notice that you don’t limit yourself to asking me
to do something illegal or that could get me fired,” Brad pointed out.
“No, I’ll admit that,” Giles nodded. “Already you’ve been aware that we illegally
carry pistols, that we have filed false police reports, have hacked into
government computer records, and have destroyed bodies that could be evidence.”
Brad frowned.
“Okay, I’m in, totally. We moved
to Sunnydale to give my daughter a safe place to grow up and now it looks like
we moved into Spook Central. I’ll fight
that with you.”
“Thank you, we try and stay on the legal side of
things most of the time, at least the morally legal side,” Giles smiled.
“Okay, I’ll get Riley Finn out of commission that
night. What about the other government
types, won’t they just go after Buffy?”
“Probably only half-heartedly,” Giles commented
slowly. “Most of them didn’t care to be
shown up by a small female all the time and resented her presence as well as
Riley’s focus on her. Given a choice
they’d rather forget she exists.”
“They’ll also have their hands full that night,”
Willow added. “Halloween brings out all
the crazies, the Initiative doesn’t know about the Rule and they’ll expect the
dead and undead ones to be out.”
“Rule?” Brad questioned.
“It’s kinda of an unwritten thing among them,” Giles
explained. “They take the night off on
Halloween and let the mundanes, the humans play.”
“That is totally weird,” Brad complained.
“Willow, are you telling us everything about those
spells?” Joyce asked pointedly.
“I’m hoping that the spell will pull the wolf spirit
into a dormant state,” Willow admitted.
“Where did you find this spell, that doesn’t sound
familiar,” Giles asked.
“Through my contact on the internet, Grayfox,”
Willow answered.
“He’s been very reliable in the past,” Tara
commented and Giles merely nodded.
“I suggest we move Buffy to the crypt early that day
to avoid any potential ambushes from the Initiative,” Xander suggested and
everyone nodded.
“Okay, Willow, you and Joyce go to the crypt
tomorrow and set things up since you know what you need for your spell,” Giles
instructed. “Xander and I will check
the weapons and pick up Buffy from the hospital first thing in the morning.”
Everyone nodded and Giles looked around. “Any questions?”
“Yeah, what kills a vampire other than a wooden
stake and do silver bullets really work on werewolves?” Brad asked.
Xander grinned and everyone smiled.
“Let’s have some coffee while we talk about Slaying
101, shall we?” Giles suggested, including Joyce in it as well.
“Giles, we’re going to the living room and watch
TV,” Willow told the older man and he nodded.
“Guess that makes me one of the adults of the group,
huh?” Brad asked with a laugh. “Reminds
me of holidays, kids in one area, adults in the other.”
“Yes, but these kids risk their lives and souls
every night,” Joyce commented bitterly.
===============================================================
October
28
It was after midnight when Tara nudged a sleepy
Willow and suggested they head to bed.
The witch looked over and found Xander half dozing on the sofa.
"You need a quilt?" Tara asked the young
man as she helped Willow stand up.
"Nah, I know where they are. I'm going to watch the Dracula
marathon," he said softly.
Tara hesitated in front of Willow's door and the
redhead smiled playfully.
"You've been in before," she whispered and
took Tara's hand and pulled the taller woman into her bedroom. Once inside, Willow shut the door firmly and
led Tara over to the bed without turning on the light.
Tara smiled in the faint light of the growing moon
and lit a candle on Willow's nightstand and turned to help the other witch out
of her shoes. With her left hand and
arm in a cast, the red-haired witch had switched her usual jeans and t-shirts
for sweatpants and larger t-shirts. If
she wanted to wear anything more than plain Birkenstock sandals, however,
Willow discovered she needed someone to help her put on socks and tie her
shoes.
Feeling like she was four years old again was a
hassle but neither Tara nor Buffy complained at tying her shoes or doing
anything else to take care of her.
As Tara knelt in front of Willow to untie her tennis
shoes, the red-haired witch reached out and began to gently stroke Tara's long
hair. Tara laid her head on Willow's
thigh with a smile, comfortable in the silence.
After a moment Willow raised Tara's head with a
gentle finger under the witch's chin and let Tara see the love and desire
Willow knew was showing plainly on her face and in her eyes. The blonde witch rose up and slowly met
Willow's lips with her own.
Once again Willow marveled at how everything
disappeared except for the feelings and emotions surrounding her and Tara at
that moment. She felt Tara hesitate and
Willow ran her hand through Tara's hair and pulled the other witch's head to
her, holding Tara into the kiss as it became more passionate.
Willow moaned and Tara moved Willow back onto the
bed while their tongues dueled. The
red-haired witch tried to maintain her balance and composure with a heavy cast
on her arm.
They ended up on the bed somehow, falling and
giggling in the process, as their limbs intertwined. Tara was just grateful they had ended up on the same end of the
bed and she hadn't gotten whacked by Willow's cast.
After the giggles had subsided, Tara leaned on an
elbow and looked down at Willow and saw the other witch's eyes were slightly
darker and her eyelids were heavy.
"Please," Willow said softly and drew Tara
to her and let down her mental shields, drawing Tara's mind and spirit in as
well.
Tara gasped and pulled back slightly in
surprise. Willow tried to take
advantage of the movement to remove her t-shirt but lying under Tara and
working with only one hand made it more than difficult, especially when she got
caught in it. Tara laughed lightly and
helped the t-shirt become a memory and then lost her laugh in a sense of awe
when she looked at Willow half naked under her.
"Goddess, you're so beautiful," she
whispered.
"So are you, my love," Willow smiled,
blushing lightly.
"I can feel what you're feeling," Tara
said softly and lowered her lips to Willow's neck.
Willow's body shuddered and Tara moaned as the
sensation rocked through her body as well.
As Tara's hands found her breasts the witch gasped. They had shared long sessions of kissing and
making out before, but this was different and both of them could sense it. The sharing of the emotions and sensations
was adding an intensity that was causing Willow's breath to quicken and her
heart to start racing.
The witch pulled irritably at Tara's shirt and the
rest of their clothing was quickly done away with. The intensity swept them higher with each piece of clothing being
removed as more and more skin began to touch naked skin.
Willow whimpered slightly as Tara cried out at
Willow's touch on her nipples, her back arching.
"I love you, Tara," Willow whispered and
moaned when Tara became the initiator with a passion that was surprising both
of them.
"Goddess, you feel so wonderful