FF Nka 9 and ten, cause I goofed

["Christeen Demons" <Shyfox30@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

When I sent out nine, I only sent it to the wants
list...twice...ooops...here's nine and ten for your reading pleasure..
enjoy.

Disclaimer: yeah, Buff characters in one corner, they belong to Joss.
Voyager characters in the other corner, they belong to Paramount. No
fighting amongst yourselves please, and now...on with the show.


Chapter nine

‘She loves me. She really loves me.’ It was all Buffy could think about as
she sat in her Psychology class, unable to bring her attention to the
subject at hand. She had hoped...dreamed, that Willow might feel the same
way, but she hadn’t dared let herself expect it. “You love me?” she had
asked, in a quiet whisper, staring at her new lover in a dumbfounded daze.

The red-head had nodded at her, her tears overflowing as her face drew a
tremulous smile. All Buffy could think to do, was pull her best friend into
her arms and hold her until the shaking stopped and Willow was able to look
up at her again. “Bad timing, huh?” Buffy had asked, a
half smile on her lips, as she chastized herself silently. She’d never
really had good timing in relationships, sure she could fight with precision
timing when she had to, she was the Slayer after
all, but when she it came to putting her heart on the line her timing
sucked.

Willow shrugged. “Not bad, just...” She paused, trying to find the right
words.

“Bad.” Buffy repeated, firmly. “In the history of bad timing, mine is the
worst.”

“Not bad.” Willow said, even more firmly, her green eyes flashing, daring
Buffy to argue with her. “It’s just...now I have to find a way to tell Tara
that even though I love her...I love you
more.”

“Will.” Buffy’s voice was husky as she tried to control the rush of
emotions that swarmed around her at the simple statement.

“I always have.” Willow elaborated gently, meeting Buffy’s eyes with a look
that conveyed all the love she’d ever felt.

They’d spent precious moments just holding each other after that. Buffy
savoring the feel and texture of the red head’s soft skin. Now that she was
granted permission to do this, she wanted to make up for all the times when
she had wanted to reach out and touch her but had denied herself the
pleasure. Willow’s hands weren’t idle either, she could feel them floating
across the skin of her abdomen, and down over the hard muscle of her inner
thigh. She’d felt shivers running through her from the tactile sensations,
and had cursed the responsible part of her brain that she thought she’d
drugged into submission the night before, that was nibbling at her
subconscious, reminding her beer soaked brain that even though this felt
nice they both had classes they had to
attend.

She’d let out an aggravated groan, after failing to beat the nagging voice
into submission, startling the red-head on top of her who looked at her
questioningly.

“Are you okay? Does your head hurt?” Willow had asked, suddenly
remembering that Buffy had come home pretty drunk the night before. “You’re
not going to throw up are you?” She’d given her lover a wary glance as she
tried to decide whether or not the Slayer looked green.

“I’m fine.” Buffy chuckled, amused by the worried cluster of questions. “I
just remembered that we both have to be in class in half an hour. And I was
thinking that I really didn’t want to get out
of bed to go sit in a class that I’d probably be bored at anyway, when I
really could be holding you all morning.” She smiled impishly, hoping that
Willow would agree to skip class to be with her.

But, here she was, sitting in her hard seat staring at a Psychology book,
waiting for the next in a long line of substitutes that had graced the halls
of UC Sunnydale to come breezing through the open class room door, wishing
that she’d just stayed in her warm, soft bed instead. She had to chuckle at
the way Willow had shot her attention up to look at the clock, neatly
blanching when she had noticed what time it was, then apologized profusely
as she had leapt out of bed, saying that she really had to get to class, she
had a presentation due that day that she’d been preparing for weeks, and she
really didn’t want to miss it. It was fifty percent of her grade after all.

Besides, Tara was in the same class and it would give her a chance to tell
her what was going on. Not that she was looking forward to that
conversation. Not in the slightest. In fact, it had made
her pale toned skin turn even whiter when she had mentioned it, but Buffy
could also see the determination in her eyes, and she knew that Willow had
decided that it was better to get it out in the open as soon as possible.

Buffy had smiled weakly at her in understanding. “I’ll be here if you need
me.” She’d said to the red head, hoping to offer some small form of
comfort.

“Oh, believe me...I’ll need it.” Willow had said, before she’d slipped out
of the dorm room, leaving a fretting Slayer sitting on the bed staring after
her.

“Good Morning, Class.” A strong vibrant voice echoed throughout the
classroom, gaining Buffy’s as well as everyone else’s attention instantly.
An older woman stood poised in the doorway, surveying the room with eyes the
color of cobalt, resting briefly on each and every one
of the students, until they came to Buffy and stopped for a split second
longer than she had with the others. Buffy felt her senses shoot through
the roof as she stared into eyes that were deeper than any ocean, and more
wise than a million stars. “My name is Katheryn Janeway...” She said,
stalking across the room like she owned it while making her way to the
podium. “And I’ll be your teacher for the foreseeable future.”

*****

“Hey.” Willow said nervously as she came upon Tara in their computer class.

“Hey.” She said back, eyebrows raised. “I was beginning to think you
weren’t going to make it.”

“Well...I...um...I kinda got hung up.” Willow mumbled hastily before taking
her seat in front of her computer.

“What happened with Buffy last night?” Tara asked, blue eyes skittering
over Willow’s face. The drone registered a flare of heat from her prey
noticing a sudden tightness in the skin. She filed it away for further
contemplation before asking her next question. Of course, this all
happened in the matter of a nanosecond. “Did you and Buffy get into a fight
last night?” This time the eyes lit with a predatory gleam, which Willow
failed to notice.

“Uh...well, sort of.” Willow glanced around the room, unable to meet the
ashen blonde’s eyes. “Can we talk about it after class?”

“Okay.” She agreed, her voice hesitant. The drone noticed the tone of her
prey’s voice was off, and the blood pressure appeared to be elevated.
Something had happened to make her upset. The signals that she was picking
up from her prey gave her encouragement that things were going according to
plan.

She would have pressed the conversation, but the class grew suddenly silent.
Their attention drawn towards the entrance and the woman that was taking
up most of the door frame. Willow gasped as she encountered the stunning
ice blue eyes. She felt their cold regard as she was
examined in minute detail, feeling curiously like a lab rat that had just
been disected and left feeling unworthy. Willow felt her face heating as
she allowed herself to examine the rest of the
woman’s statuesque form. Shining gold hair was tucked up into a severe bun
at the nape of her neck, accentuationg the beauty of the woman’s pale
complexion. Curves were clearly outlined by the blouse and slacks the woman
wore, giving substance to the large amounts of energy she felt
radiating from the woman’s presence.

Willow had to forcefully snap her mouth shut as the blonde moved past her,
unconsciously following the way her hips swivelled as she walked, feeling
her face flush even brighter with embarrassment when she caught herself
doing it. ‘What happened to Mr. Gregor?’ Willow asked
herself, noticing the absence of the sixty year old computer lab teacher
that would never have elicited such a response from her. Her reaction to
the svelte blond had left her feeling overly self-concious, and not a little
bit ashamed of herself. First Tara, then Buffy...now she was having this
very strange reaction to what appeared to be a substitute teacher.

‘What is it, a blonde thing?’ She asked herself snidely, shaking her head
to clear it, just as the woman started talking.

“Good morning.” The voice was clear, crisp and to the point. Each syllable
accounted for. “I am sorry to announce that your teacher, Mr. Gregor, has
taken a sudden sabbatical. He should return soon, but until then, I have
been asked to take over his duties. Are there any questions?”

Willow hesitantly raised her hand, drawing the attention of the ice blue
eyes once more. A blonde eyebrow arched, before a quick nod gave her
permission to speak. “Our presentations were due today, are they still
going to be done...Miss...” She wasn’t sure what to call her, so she
stopped,
uncertain.

“I apologize. My name is Anna Durr...but you may all call me Anna. And
yes, we will be doing whatever you already had scheduled today.” That
should at least make the class go along easier, Seven thought, still nervous
about being in front of all of these college students. Although she had
agreed to Tom’s plan to set up Janeway as her ancestor’s teacher, she hadn’t
counted on being pulled into the plan. She still wasn’t used to the
‘acting’ necessary with some away missions, and
became uncomfortable when she had to act in such a capacity. But Katherine
hoped that by assuming these roles they would have a better chance to get
acquainted with Buffy and her friends, and be close enough to stop the Queen
before she made her move.

*****

“Well, that was an interesting class...don’t you think?” Willow asked,
nervously, unable to meet the blonde’s eyes as they sat in the now vacated
class room. “I...I think we did well on the class project...well...coming
from a hacker, it was easy.” She continued, feeling not just a small dash
of pride at her own intelligence. “But you...you were amazing, I didn’t
know you knew so much about computers.”

‘They’re so primitive.’ The drone thought with disgust, paying attention to
the red head’s babble at the same time. She recognized the nervous babble,
having put up with it for so long. It really
grated on her nerves the way the red head never could come to a concise
point. “You said you wanted to..to talk to me about something?” The drone
asked, trying to hurry the red head along.

Willow’s eyes shot over to Tara, taking in the nervous slouch of her
shoulders. She really didn’t want to have to do this...she didn’t want to
hurt her in this way. But she knew she didn’t have a choice. “Oh...right.
Yeah...I did.” She paused, to gulp nervously, feeling a tight ball of
tension starting to form in her gut. “This isn’t easy for me. And I want
you to know that you will always
be special to me.”

Tara’s analytical borg mind was rapidly trying to analyze the logical
conclusions to the statements Willow was making. The data was still too
unclear to process, but clear enough so that she could tell she didn’t like
the direction the conversation was heading in.

“But...Buffy admitted something to me last night that took me by surprise.
Something that I never thought that I would hear in my wildest dreams.” She
took another uncomfortable pause,
searching for a way to say it that wouldn’t hurt her friend as much. “Buffy
told me that she loved me last night, and that she has been in love with me
for a long time. She just never had the
courage before to say it. And...I’m really sorry...but I’m in love with her
too.”

Tara knew she wouldn’t be able to hide her expression, so she bowed her
head, focusing on the hands clasped tightly in her lap, while her analytical
mind sorted over the information faster than a
human could blink. The truth had been revealed, and with it the Borg
Queen’s plans had shifted. She conveyed the information to the Queen
waiting for her next instructions.

Willow took in Tara’s posture, the bowed head, the defeated air and felt a
huge wave of guilt and shame wash over her almost drowning her in it’s
bitterness. She felt tears stinging her eyes as she tried to find some way
to console her friend. “Tara...” she choked on the name, tears clogging
her throat. “Tara....I’m so sorry.”

But Willow’s sorrow turned to fear as the blond head lifted to stare at her
unflinchingly. Peices of metal started to bore through the skin of her face
as it blended, molded and shaped it’s way onto the once clear face. One
blue eye had gone completely dull, and a metallic object was in the process
of pushing it’s way through it until it ended up covering the eye
completely. Her skin was breaking out all over with bits and pieces of
machinery, as if they had just been lying just beneath the surface, waiting
dormant for just such an occasion. “Tara?” Willow questioned, looking for
her friend she had known, even as she struggled to back away from her. But
Tara’s face wasn’t the only part of her body that had sprouted metal, one
hand was completely covered in machinery and it had reached out, grabbing
her arm painfully to hold her in place.

“We are the Borg.” A voice that was one, yet a millon voices at the same
time spoke chillingly. Willow’s heart hammered so hard in her chest she
thought it would explode as she struggled futilely agains the iron grip.
“You will be assimilated.” It warned her, even as the Tara/drone brought up
her other arm and Willow looked in horror at two wormy looking wires that
hovered increasingly near her neck. “Resistance is futile.” It assured
her, even as the tubules sank deep within her neck, and Willow howled like
she had never howled before, feeling the pain of the invasion down to her
very soul.

She fought against the pain, against the voices that invaded her head, but
as Tara had assured her, resistance really was futile and as the soothing
tones of the Borg Queen washed over her soul she found her resistance
crumbling along with her humanity.

Chapter Ten

Buffy was making her way across the quad lost in thought. She was thinking
about the night before, how wonderful it had been to be with Willow, to
finally be with the one she loved. She was also wondering what her lover
must be going through right now, and thinking that Will might need some
emotional support after telling Tara the truth. She was halfway across the
quad when a devestating feeling of loss hit her directly in the gut. It was
so strong that it made her stop in her
tracks, bile rising in her throat as she fought down a total and complete
urge to panic. “Will.” She groaned, softly, before breaking out into a full
run, ignoring the strange looks she got along
the way, and brushing past anyone that got in her way.

Captain Katheryn Janeway, who had been following the Summers girl from a
discreet distance, saw when Buffy went into a full out run and knew she
wasn’t going to be able to keep up with her. She could keep an eye on her
in the distance though, and knew which direction she was
headed. She’d just have to hope that either Seven or herself got there
before all Hell broke loose.

*****

Seven had heard the scream from the corridor she had been standing in, and
it had sent a nasty shiver down the ex-drone’s spine. She had heard that
sound from the countless beings across the galaxy in which she was
personally responsable for having assimilated, as well as the memories of
all of the lifeforms the Borg had assimilated altogether. It was a
horrifying, chilling sound, a sound full of anguish for the loss of their
past life. And Seven berated herself for not being able to
stop it from happening once again.

Hurrying to the computer lab, she made it just in time to see the drone
injecting Willow Rosenberg with the nanoprobes necessary to turn her into a
Borg drone. The cry had faded into a thin moan, even as the redhead had
slumped over, sinking mercifully into unconsciousness, as the
nanoprobes had begun their work of transforming her.

Tara was in the process of contacting the Queen when she was jumped from
behind by somebody strong enough to send her flying to the floor. Willow,
whom she had been forced to drop due to the attack, had rolled, due to the
momentum, several feet away from where she had landed. Tara
picked herself up effortlessly, and swung to look at the person who had
attacked her. It was that blonde substitute, and now her eidectic memory
was telling her she had seen her somewhere else before. She was the one who
had been at the Bronze the night before, and now as she got an even better
look at her she could tell...

“Seven of Nine of the unimatrix 01. Why do you always defy us? Return to
the Borg, where you belong.” The voice of the Queen came through steadily
from the Tara/Drone’s vocal cords, creating an eerie illusion.

“I prefer to remain an individual. I don’t believe that she would choose to
give up her humanity either.” Seven replied, sparing a glance for the
redhead who was even at that very moment starting to sprout metallic
implants.

“It is too late to save her. She has already joined my collective.” The
Queen announced, sounding almost triumphant to the ex-Borg.

“You will not take her.” Seven declared, preparing to fight the other
drone, to the death if necessary.

“Resistance is futile.”

“I’ll give you resistance.” Buffy growled low in her throat, before
launching herself at the Tara/drone, a fine mist of rage engulfing all of
her emotions. She was able to get in several good hits to the metal
covering the left half of Tara’s face, feeling her knuckles cut and start to
bleed at the abuse, before Tara picked her up by the throat and threw her
into the nearest wall.

Seven hadn’t even seen Buffy enter the room, that’s how focused she had been
on the borg drone, but when the Slayer had attacked, and was consequently
thrown, Seven saw her opening and attacked the distracted drone. The two
grappled viciously with each other, neither getting the
upper hand, Seven finding that the other drone’s strength matched her own.

Buffy eyed the two, watching and waiting for another shot at Tara, when a
bright laser beam of light accompanied by a high keeling sound struck her
directly in the chest causing her to fall weightily to the ground. The
taller blond stared bemusedly down at the one on the floor, then up
to where Buffy had guessed the sound had originated from.

“Why didn’t you just stun her?” Janeway asked, an eyebrow arched on her
forehead while she tried to hide a half amused smile.

“I was caught up in the heat of the moment and didn’t consider all of the
options.” The ex-Borg answered ruefully.

“I can see that.” Janeway replied.

“Stun her? Why not just kill her?” Buffy asked, staring at her ‘substitute
teacher’, rage still pumping through her system. “After what she did to
Will, I...” At the mention of her love’s name, she went deathly white.
“Will.” She whispered, running over to where the redhead lay so still,
covered in newly sprouted metallic parts.

Janeway followed, examining the girl with a sober expression, while Seven
stood guard over the fallen drone. Buffy kneeled beside Willow, not daring
to touch her, for fear that she might be revulsed by the touch. “What the
hell did she do to her?” Buffy asked, feeling like her anger was about to
explode again. Her hands clenched in fists as she fought against the urge
to rip every limb off of Tara’s body and throw them into the nearest garbage
heap. She was about to
make good on her inclination when a blue light lit the room and Tara’s body
disappeared.

“Where did she go?” Buffy asked, demanding an explanation. “Who the hell
are you guys?”

“Looks like the Queen’s reclaimed her.” Janeway answered, understanding the
confusion and anger in Buffy’s face. She could appreciate the girl’s
distress, but right now was really not the time to deal with it. “We’ve got
to get her to sickbay.” She said, not bothering to direct the statement to
Buffy, who wouldn’t know what she was talking about any way. Tapping the
insignia on her chest, hidden by the white cotten jacket she was wearing,
she initiated a con signal.
“Janeway to Voyager.”

Buffy looked at her ‘teacher’ like she was crazy, questions spinning dizzily
in her head. She didn’t know what was going on, but she really wished that
Giles was here to throw her a clue. She thought she was going crazy when
she heard a male voice respond from inside the woman’s
jacket. ‘Oh, I get it. Some kind of mic.’

“Voyager here, Captain. Go ahead.”

“Lock onto my signal and beam four directly to sickbay. Energize.”


...to be continued.

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