Fic: Heroes and Lovers (9/?)

["another_soul_lost" <anotherlostsoul@xxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Heroes and Lovers 
Author's Name:  anotherlostsoul
Author's Email and URL: 
anotherlostsoul@xxxxxxxxx,http://www.hopelessdreams.com
Pairing: W/Buffy 
Disclaimer:  Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and a lot of other people own
the show and all the characters.  The plot and the story are mine. 
This cannot be sold or used for profit in any way, shape or form. 
Please don't sue me, because I really don't have anything to take.
Rating: R, but may vary by chapter.
Spoilers:  Set in season 4 of Buffy, so anything before that is fair game.
Summary:  Spike escapes the Initiative without being chipped.  How
will this effect the Scooby gang?

Author's Notes:  I put an R rating on this chapter when I noticed that
it's getting a little steamier then previous chapters have.  If I
continue to write this style, I may end up moving the story to the
Buffy*wants*Willow list.  If that happens, I'll post something here to
let everyone know.


Chapter 9  Revelations

"What are you?" Riley gasped.

She looked at the commando with an expression of utter disbelief. 
Riley Finn, corn-fed Iowa boy and cute TA that she'd actually thought
about dating was one of the mysterious soldiers she'd been seeing
around the campus.  Whatever his deal was, she wasn't going to do
this.  Not here, not now.

"Riley, this is not the time or place for this discussion," she said
sharply as she stood up.  "I have to go."  The stab wound in her back
hurt, but she'd felt worse.  She moved quickly to the stairs and
walked down them without a backward glance.  By the time she heard
Riley's voice again, she was nearly out the door.

`Just keep going, nothing good can come of this,' her inner-voice
assured her.  `I need to find Will and make sure she's okay.'  As she
stepped through the door, she turned toward the campus and took off at
a run.  

But the question of whether she was running away from Riley or running
to Willow was one that she was sure she didn't want to ask.

* * * * *

Willow sat down on her bed and tried to calm herself.  `She's got to
be okay,' she thought for easily the tenth time in as many minutes. 
`I'd know if she weren't.   Wouldn't I?'  Nearly an hour had passed
since the Gentlemen pursuing her and Tara had suddenly died and the
sickening sounds of their heads exploding still echoed in her ears. 
Yet Buffy had still not returned from patrol.
Pushing herself back up to her feet, she resumed pacing.  She couldn't
get herself to relax until she knew that Buffy was safe.  She paused
and closed her eyes, reaching out with her senses, searching for a
sign that Buffy was okay and close.  Relief rushed through her as she
finally felt the Slayer's presence enter the building.  

Willow opened her eyes just as the blonde burst through the door
calling out for her, "Will?"  The redhead threw her arms around the
girl, hugging her fiercely.

"Thank the Goddess, you're alright Buffy!  I was terrified that
something had happened to you."  She murmured softly, feeling the
anxious body of her best friend and lover melt into their embrace.

She felt Buffy pull back slightly and looked her in the eye.  Willow
could see her hunger, her need for release, reflected in those deep
blue pools.  In her memories she heard an echo of something Faith had
once said "Isn't it crazy how slayin' just always makes you hungry and
horny?"  And, despite its source, the truth of that statement was
burning in her love's eyes now.  She didn't hesitate; with the barest
touch of her power she closed the door to their room, and attacked the
Slayer's mouth roughly with her own.  This kiss was nothing like the
others they had shared.

The kiss was fierce and passionate and Willow could feel Buffy's body
respond to its ardor.  She grabbed the girl's hips and pulled their
bodies tightly together.  The feeling was incredible as she felt the
blonde's hands sliding firmly over her body.  Even through her
clothes, every touch made the redhead's body tingle.   

Willow put her hands on Buffy's shoulders. She pushed the girl's
jacket off and down her arms.  She whimpered ever so slightly at the
loss of contact as the blonde dropped her arms to allow the jacket to
fall to the floor.  Almost instantly, those hands were back on her
body, one of them grasping her ass firmly as the other slid under the
hem of her shirt to caress bare flesh.

She gasped, breaking off the kiss as the hand under her shirt slid up
and cupped her breast, the thumb roughly sliding over her hardened
nipple.  Buffy immediately brushed her lips over Willow's chin and
jaw-line, kissing, licking and nibbling her way to the redhead's neck.  

Moving her hands back down to the Slayer's hips, Willow hesitated as
the reality of what they were about to do sank in.  "Buffy?" she
whispered uncertainly.   "I want this so much, I've dreamt about this
for so long, but..." she broke off suddenly, inhaling sharply as the
other girl moved her hand, pressing her palm firmly against her nipple.

"Shh," Buffy whispered softly, her lips brushing lightly against
Willow's throat as she spoke.  "It's okay Will, I understand."  She
softly slid her hand away from the redhead's breast, gently caressing
the soft, smooth skin of the girl's back instead.  She pulled back
slightly and looked into the deep emerald green of her love's eyes. 
"We don't have to do this&it's too soon and there's still too much
that we need to figure out."

Willow smiled gently as she saw clearly just how much Buffy loved her.
"I love you Buffy," she said softly before leaning in and kissing her
gently.

* * * * *

Buffy woke with a start; her pleasantly naughty dreams of Willowy
goodness flew from her mind as her eyes snapped open.  Despite the
comfort of lying beside her wonderful redhead, a sense of unease
permeated the air around her.  Her skin tingled and she could almost
feel someone's eyes boring into her.

She rolled over gently, trying not to wake Willow and sat up.  The
sight that greeted her was the last thing she ever expected to see.

"SPIKE!" she gasped loudly.  There he stood, the bleached blonde,
self-proclaimed `Big Bad' in all his leather-clad glory.  "How?  This
can't be, I staked you, I watched you turn to dust.  You can't be real."

"Oh I'm real enough Slayer," Spike mocked.  "Did you really think
you'd be rid of me that easy?"  He sneered roughly.  

 "I guess this is my lucky night then," she retorted angrily.  "I get
to stake you all over again."  She felt Willow move slightly beside
her and knew that the redhead was awake.  She stood quickly, scooping
up Mr. Pointy from her nightstand and dropping into a fighting stance.

Spike blithely ignored her, looking instead at the blanket-obscured
form still lying in the bed.  "Well now, what's this?  Poor Red's
barely been dead a week and your shagging some bloke in her bed?  I
guess you weren't as attached to the little witch as I thought."

Buffy angrily struck out with a hard roundhouse punch at the vampire
as he continued to completely ignore her.  She gasped in shock as her
hand passed through his head without effect.  

He shot her an evil smirk, "Tut, tut, tut. What's the matter Slayer? 
Can't hit a ghost?"  Buffy's jaw dropped open.
Willow sat bolt upright surprising Spike.  "Maybe not, but I bet I
can," she said, throwing her hand out as if she were pushing him away.
With a brilliant flash of light, he vanished.  

Buffy looked at Willow with a smile, "Way to make with the witch-fu,
Will."  She quickly walked to the door and opened it.  Spike was
nowhere to be seen.  "What'd you do to him?"  

"I'm not entirely sure," the redhead said thoughtfully.  "I think I
sort of banished him, but I don't think I broke his ties to our world.
So he'll probably reform somewhere else in Sunnydale... we'll need to
find a protection spell or something to keep him out until we figure
out what to do about him."

Buffy nodded, putting Mr. Pointy back on the nightstand.  "Since when
do vampires get to come back as ghosts anyway?" she asked as she
slipped back into Willow's bed.

Smiling, Willow laid her head on Buffy's shoulder and snuggled close
to the blonde.  "I don't know, but we'd better talk to Giles about it
tomorrow," she murmured, before yawning.

"Yeah," Buffy smiled and kissed Willow gently on the forehead.  "It
can wait until morning at least."  

* * * * *

"What in the bloody hell?!" Spike suddenly found himself standing in
the living room of Angel's mansion.  He tried desperately to remember
how he'd gotten here.  He could remember being in the Slayer's room,
then the bloke she'd been in bed with sat up and said something.  

Spike looked around and looked out into the garden.  The sun was up. 
It was literally hours ago that he'd confronted the Slayer, what had
happened to him?

He closed his eyes, and concentrated.  He remembered clearly taunting
the Slayer about shagging some bloke in Red's bed& `Hold on,' he
thought suddenly.

"No," he shook his head in disbelief.  "I bloody well killed that
bitch, drained her dry.  She should be dead or a vampire not alive and
well&and in bed with the Slayer?"  He was puzzled for a moment.

"I hate this sodding town!" he yelled as loudly as he could.

"My poor Spike," came a silky whisper from behind him.  "All full of
rage and hate and pain, with no way to release it." Drusilla drifted
into the room, floating gracefully through the shadows to where he
stood.  But don't worry my lovely William; mummy will make it all better."

Spike turned to face her, grinning wickedly.  "You've found the ritual
then pet?  You know what we need to make me a real boy again?"

"The stars whispered it to me when all the voices went away," she
closed her eyes and let her head loll back on her neck.  "Like pieces
in a magic puzzle, they're all scattered about, but we can bring them
here and have a wonderful party.  A welcome back for my deadly boy and
a good-bye for the nasty Slayer that hurt you all at once," she looked
back at him.

"Perfect love, I want to watch that bitch suffer for what she did,"
Spike growled.

"And you will my Spike, you will," Drusilla grinned wickedly.

* * * * *

Willow woke to the pleasurable sensations of her being nibbled on
lightly.  Every grazing touch of Buffy's teeth on her skin sent a jolt
of pleasure straight to her center.  She was lying on her right side,
with Buffy snuggled tightly up against her back and one of her love's
hands was lying gently on her thigh.  Willow could feel the heat
growing between her legs as that hand slid gently up to her hip before
slipping down along the waistband of her pajamas.

She gasped, as Buffy worked her way down from her earlobe to her neck,
giving away the fact that she was awake.  "Morning sleepy-head," she
heard Buffy whisper huskily.
She sighed in delight as Buffy's hand slipped under her shirt and
brushed lightly over the soft skin of her stomach.

"Morning baby," She whispered in reply, snuggling even closer to
Buffy.  She grinned in delight as she felt the hard peaks of the
blonde's nipples press against her back.  It was nice to know that she
wasn't the only one getting worked up by this early morning make-out
session.

Willow closed her eyes, relishing the feeling as Buffy's hand began
tracing small circles on the skin of her stomach.  She moaned aloud as
the hand in question suddenly cupped her left breast and squeezed it
gently before pinching the hard nipple.  "Buffy!" she gasped as the
sharp sensation shot through her.  She squirmed slightly as the Slayer
went back to nibbling un-repentantly on her neck.

Moving quickly, the redhead surprised her love by turning and rolling
over on top of the other girl.  Suddenly, pinned beneath Willow, Buffy
grinned wickedly putting both hands on the small of the girl's back
before capturing her lips in a passionate kiss.  

As she brushed her tongue over Buffy's lips, softly demanding
entrance, she felt the blonde work her hands up under her shirt onto
the bare skin of her back.  As her lips parted to deepen the kiss,
Willow felt those hands slide under the waistband of her pants and
beneath her satin panties to grab her ass.  She moaned into Buffy's
mouth at the sensation of those soft, silky hands on her bare cheeks.

Suddenly the phone rang, startling them both into breaking off their
kiss.  

Willow couldn't help but grin at the disgusted look Buffy had on her
face as she stared at the offending device.  "Let the machine get it,"
she whispered as she gently turned the blonde's face back toward her
so she could kiss her again.

The machine picked up, "This is Buffy and Willow. We're not in right
now, so please leave a message."  It beeped.

"Buffy, this is Riley.  Riley Finn, and we, uh, need to talk.  About
what happened last night&so if you're there, pick up please?"

"You should get that," Willow said, abruptly pulling away from Buffy
and trying to hide the hurt look she knew was on her face.

Buffy frowned at the redhead briefly before reaching over and picking
up the phone. "What do you want Riley?" she asked abruptly as the
machine kicked off. "I don't want to talk about this on the phone." 
She paused again.  "Alright, but give me an hour or so before you come
over.  I'll talk to you then."  She hung up the phone without another
word.

"Will, what is it?" Buffy asked softly.

Willow closed her eyes, knowing that she needed to just tackle this
head on, but somehow still dreading it.  "What happened with Riley
last night?" she asked, trying not to let her fears and doubts color
her voice.  She turned to look at the other girl.

Buffy looked puzzled at the question, "Turns out that Riley is one of
the commandos we've been trying to find out about.  I ran into him
while I was fighting the Gentlemen last night."  She could see the
obvious relief on Willow's face at her words and realized what was
going on.  "You were worried that I wanted to be with Riley?" she
asked suddenly.

The redhead looked away sheepishly, "Well, I mean with after psych
class the other day, and then downtown when we were patrolling, plus
the phone call this morning&and everything between us being sort of
stop and go and confusing&I just didn't know if you were still
interested in Riley or if you were unsure about us or&"

"Willow," she interrupted softly, walking over and putting her arms
around the girl.  "I told you.  I love you, not Riley.  I want to be
with you."

"I love you too Buffy.  This is all just so new, and I've wanted it
for so long.  I can't help but worry&" Willow was interrupted again as
Buffy leaned in and kissed her gently.  

There was a knock at the door, breaking off their kiss again.  Buffy
sighed exasperatedly before whispering, "Why does it seem that every
time I start kissing you, there's an interruption?"  

Willow smiled gently before replying, "I'm not going anywhere, and
you'll have plenty of time to make up for it later."

"Is that a promise?"  There was another knock.

"Yes."

"Good."  Buffy pulled away and went to the door and opened it.  Willow
looked over to see Tara standing in the doorway.

"Oh! Tara!"  She looked at the clock and realized what time it was. 
"I'm so sorry, after all the excitement last night I forgot to set my
alarm clock!  Just give me a couple minutes to get cleaned up and
dressed."  She hurriedly grabbed her toiletry bag and practically ran
to the bathroom leaving the two blondes standing awkwardly in the doorway.

* * * * * 

Tara couldn't help but smile as she watched the redhead hurry to the
common bathroom.  She also couldn't help but notice that Willow had a
cute butt.  She turned back to the petite blonde who'd answered the
door.  "S-s-so, you're W-Willow's roommate?" she asked awkwardly.  

"Oh, uh, yeah, I'm Buffy, Buffy Summers," she said with a smile.

"T-Tara Maclay."  Tara felt distinctly uneasy under Buffy's scrutiny,
almost like the girl was judging her.  "H-How long have you known
Willow?" she asked, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence.

"She's been one of my best friends since our sophomore year of high
school," she replied, still smiling.  "And somehow this feels way more
awkward then it probably should."  Buffy chuckled gently, setting Tara
a little more at ease.  "So how do you know Willow?"  She stepped back
out the doorway to let Tara into the room.  

Tara glanced around casually as she entered, noticing that like many
Sunnydale natives, she didn't actually invite her in.  Almost
immediately she realized that both Buffy and Willow had still been in
their pajamas&but only one bed looked as though it had been slept in.
Her heart sank slightly and she wondered if the girls were involved
with each other.

Buffy's eyes went wide suddenly, as though she'd just realized that
only one bed was unmade, though it was obvious that they'd not been up
for very long.  "I guess Willow hadn't had the chance to make her bed
yet," she offered by way of explanation.  

Tara nodded before she spoke, "I s-should really let you get dressed
and s-stuff too, can you tell W-Willow I'll wait for her downstairs?"

"Sure thing," Buffy said as Tara walked past her back into the
hallway.  "It was nice meeting you," she offered.

"N-nice meeting you, t-too," Tara replied before walking back to the
stairs.  

`If they are together, then Buffy is one very lucky girl,' she thought
with just the slightest touch of melancholy as she walked away.  

* * * * *

Buffy smiled as Willow burst through the door scant moments after Tara
left.  The redhead looked concerned for a moment at Tara's absence,
prompting Buffy to volunteer, "She's waiting for you downstairs."

"Oh," Willow replied with a sheepish grin.  Then her eyes went wide in
horror, "OH!  I didn't even introduce you two&she's gonna think I'm a
horrible person."

"Somehow I doubt that," Buffy remarked dryly, deciding suddenly not to
mention the fact that she thought she'd seen Tara checking out
Willow's butt as she'd hurried into the restroom.  "So, Tara's kinda
cute, should I feel threatened?" she teased gently.  "I mean, this
cute blonde girl you've never even mentioned to me, shows up at our
door&"  She didn't actually feel threatened, but she certainly wasn't
going to pass up an opportunity to tease her girl.

"Oh Goddess!  I didn't even think about that must seem to you," Willow
began apologetically, completely oblivious to the fact that she was
being teased.  "It's nothing like that, honest, I&"

"Will, it's okay, I was just teasing&so who is she?"  Buffy
interrupted gently, still smiling broadly at her.

"She was in the Wicca group.  I ran into her last night on campus
while I was patrolling and helped her get away from a couple of the
Gentlemen.  They chased us across campus, and we ended up barricading
ourselves in the laundry room to keep them out."  Willow looked at
Buffy, "Tara saw me do some things last night that might be kinda hard
to explain.  After I got her safely back to her dorm last night, she
asked me if we could get together this morning and talk&"

Buffy nodded.  "What are you going to tell her?"  

"I don't know yet," she replied hesitantly.  "I don't really want to
lie to her, she seems really nice, and I get the feeling that she's a
witch and it'd be really nice to have someone to help me get better
with magick&but I don't know if I can tell her the whole truth either."

Buffy thought about it for a moment.  Willow's instincts about
trusting people were usually pretty good.  `Well, except for that
whole Moloch thing, but that really wasn't her fault,' she amended. 
`And besides&nothing about Tara set off my Slayer sense, so she's
probably not a demon or anything.'  

"I say go with your instincts on this Will.  You've almost always been
a better judge of character then me," Buffy offered.  "Besides, I'm
not entirely sure how my conversation with Riley is gonna go either."

Willow looked thoughtful as she finished dressing.  "I don't think you
should tell him anymore then you have to baby.  I mean we have no idea
what the military's agenda is and everything you tell him is probably
going to be reported directly to his superiors."

"God, I hadn't even thought of that Will," she admitted, walking over
and putting her arms around Willow, pulling her close.  "You're always
looking out for me aren't you?"

"Always," the redhead replied, kissing Buffy softly.  She pulled back
a few moments later, "Now, you should get cleaned up and dressed
before Riley gets here and I shouldn't keep Tara waiting any longer."

Buffy smiled as Willow pulled away and walked toward the door.  "Watch
yourself with her, Will, I think you might just be her type and I'm
more then willing to fight for what's mine if I have to."

"I am you know," Willow replied cryptically as she opened the door and
looked back at Buffy.

Buffy looked at her, clearly confused.  "You are what?" she asked as
Willow smiled at her.

"Yours."

* * * * *

Tara couldn't help but smile as she saw Willow walking toward her. 
The girl was absolutely radiating happiness.  "H-hi Willow," she said.
"Hi Tara, look I'm really sorry about being so late this morning&but
you know, last night was kinda big with the excitement."  Willow's
smile took on an apologetic quality and Tara felt her heart melt.  The
redhead sat down in the chair next to her.

`Be careful,' she heard her mother's loving voice warn in the back of
her mind, `This girl could steal your heart without even meaning to.'
Tara smiled openly.

"That's okay, I can totally understand," she replied.  

"So, what were you doing out last night anyway," the redhead asked,
trying to sound casual about it.  "It's not really safe to be out by
yourself after dark in Sunnydale."

"Actually, I was looking for you," she replied.  She was startled by
the look of surprise her comment evoked on the girl's face.

"You were looking for me?"

Tara gave a shy, half-smile, "I thought maybe we could do a spell -
make people talk again.  I-I'd seen you in the group, the W-Wicca
group you were... you were different than them.  I mean& they didn't
seem to know..."

"What they were talking about?"  Willow offered.

"I, uh, I think if they saw a witch they would&run the other way," she
grinned again.

The redhead smiled brightly, "How long have you been practicing?"

"Always.  I mean, since I was little.  My&my mom used to, she, um, she
had a lot of power.  Like you."

"Oh, I'm not&" she broke off mid-sentence as though remembering
something, "I mean, friends in danger, spells going awry, I'm nothing
special, really."  

`She doesn't even realize how beautiful she is&' the thought sprang
suddenly into Tara's mind.  `She doesn't think there's anything
special about her at all.'

"No, you are." Tara replied.  When she saw Willow smile and blush at
the compliment, she couldn't help but smile back.

* * * * *

There was a brief knock at the door.  Before Buffy could even answer
it, Riley walked in.  "Hi," he said, sounding as nervous about this
discussion as Buffy felt.

"Hi," she replied.

He had a strange look on his face, as though he wasn't sure what to
expect from her after last night.  "Well, I guess we have to talk." 
He sat down on the end of Willow's bed.  

"I guess we do," she answered, sitting on the end of her own bed with
a frown.  She wasn't entirely sure what to do or say, so she opted for
the easy route, she'd let Riley take the initiative in this conversation.

Unfortunately, he seemed as lost as to how to handle things as she
felt.  They sat silently for several minutes, staring at the floor and
each other, each apparently waiting for the other to say something.

Finally, she got tired of waiting, "Somebody should speak before one
of us graduates."

Riley sighed, and then stood up.  "What are you?" he blurted out.  

`That's the second time he's asked that,' she thought bitterly.  `And
I don't like the question anymore this time around then I did the last.'

"Capricorn on the cusp of Aquarius.  You?" she shot, letting her
irritation get the better of her.

"Sorry, that came out&blunter then I intended, it's just  you. 
You're amazing&your strength, your speed.  I've never seen anyone
fight like that," his voice was much less accusing this time.

"I'm also passionate, artistic and inquisitive," she retorted
sarcastically.  "Who are you?"

"You know who I am," he replied, either missing or ignoring her
sarcasm.  "The rest, what I do, I can't tell you," he shook his head.

`So, he expects information from me without telling me anything, we'll
see about that.' Buffy practically jumped to her feet.  

"Allow me then," she offered, piecing together what she knew and what
she suspected.  "You're part of some military monster squad that
captures  demons, vampires  you probably have some official sounding
euphemism for them like unfriendlies or non-sapiens."

"Hostile Sub-Terrestrials," he offered with a distinct note of
discomfort in his voice.

`Good,' she thought, `means that I'm hitting close to the mark.'

"And you deliver these HST's to a bunch of lab coats who perform
experiments on them.  Trying to do what?  Turn them into helpless
little bunnies?"  She paused and looked at him for a moment, trying to
judge her guesses against the reality of the situation based on his
expression.  His face was blank, guarded.  "How am I doing so far?"

"A little too well," he replied cautiously.

"And meanwhile, by day you pretend to be Riley Finn, corn-fed Iowa
boy."  She watched as his eyes dropped to the floor.  "Ever been to
Iowa, Riley?"  Her voice was sharp, accusatory, "If that's even your
real name."

He looked at her, "It is, born and raised.  And hey, bulletin, I'm not
the only one here who's been a little less then honest."

Buffy stared at him for a moment before sitting back down.  "I'd have
thought a professional demon-chaser like you would've figured it out
by now.  I'm the Slayer."  She watched for his reaction.  When there
wasn't one, she went on, "Slay-er, Chosen One?"  When there still
wasn't any reaction, she tried again, "She who hangs out a lot in
cemeteries?  You're kidding&"  She stood up, exasperated at his
obvious ignorance.  "Ask around.  Look it up: Slayer comma the."

"And you fight demons?" he asked.  "I mean you wailed on those guys."

`Boy's got a definite knack for stating the obvious,' she thought with
a grimace.  `I'm so glad I never really tried dating him, it so
wouldn't have gone well.'

"You did pretty well yourself," she replied.

"Yeah, but today I'm walking bruise&I don't see a scratch on you."

She decided to change the subject, "So now what?"  

He looked at her, clearly not understanding the question.  "What do
you mean, now what?"

She sighed, annoyed at how dense he seemed to be sometimes.  "You know
what I am, I know what you are, so what now.  We both go on pretending
we don't anything about each other or you go back and make a full
report to your people and me and my&I mean I start looking over my
shoulder while I'm doing my job."

Riley shook his head, "I don't know Buffy.  I doubt you've got
anything to worry about from the In- I mean from my people.  We hunt
HST's not college girls&but I'm sure there's gonna be some interest
from the brass in you and your&abilities."

`And that tells me all I need to know about Riley,' she thought.  `As
soon as he leaves here, he's going to go find out what a Slayer is and
make a full report.'

"I think you should go now," Buffy said simply.

He looked at her for a moment, before nodding and heading toward the
door.  He paused with his hand on the knob; "I don't think I need to
tell you&" he started.

"I won't say a word," she cut him off abruptly.

He nodded again, "It's safer for everyone that way."

She watched as he opened the door and left.  `Hurry home, Will,' she
thought suddenly.  `I have a bad feeling about this.'

* * * * *

Willow felt herself blushing at Tara's insistence that she was,
indeed, special.  

"S-so, what were those things that chased us last night?" Tara asked
after a couple minutes.

'Okay, so back to that then,' Willow thought wryly.

"Uh, well, they were called the Gentlemen... and they were, sort of,
well fairy-tale monsters..."  Willow replied.

'Wait, did I just tell her that?  Oh Goddess!' she thought. 'What was
I thinking?  Tara's gonna think I'm completely crazy, talking about
fairy-tale monsters... Why don't I just come right out and tell her
about vampires and demons and Slayers too?  Good job Rosenberg, scare
her away before you can even become friends with the cute witch.'

Tara looked puzzled for a moment, "S-so fairy-tales are r-real?"

"Well, at least some of them but at least this time nobody tried to
burn us at the stake," she blurted out.

'Well, okay, so much for trying to sound sane,' she chided herself. 
'I'd better explain that before she really freaks out...'
"Uh, last year this demon thing responsible for the Hansel and Gretel
story came to town, and it was all big with spreading fear and hate. 
It got the town all worked up about evil witches and, well, some of
the parents kidnapped me and some of my friends and tried to burn us
at the stake.  But we got rescued and beat the demon and everything
was okay... well except for poor Amy, she called up Hecate and turned
herself into a rat and I still haven't been able to figure out how to
de-rat her..."  

'And Goddess please, make me stop with the babbling!' she pleaded.

"Wow."  Tara looked thoughtful for a moment.  "S-so, this kind of
thing, h-happens a lot here?"

"Well, the Hellmouth does keep things interesting." she said with a
half-smile.  Then she mentally smacked herself for bringing that up.

'Keep it up Willow, you'll have her packing her things and leaving
town before lunch,' she thought suddenly.  'Though, that'd probably be
safer in the long run...'

"H-hellmouth?" The blonde witch asked, her eyes wide with concern.

"Uh, yeah, Sunnydale is built on a Hellmouth.  It attracts all sorts
of demons and vampires and evil things to town, most of which want to
open the Hellmouth, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like,
a big ol' portal to Hell... or at least one of the nastier demon
dimensions."  she tried unsuccessfully to smile and make it sound like
it really wasn't a big deal.

"Oh.  Actually, t-that explains a lot of t-things," Tara said, trying
to smile but instead looking troubled. 

* * * * *

As he walked out of Stevenson Hall, Riley fished a radio out of his
pocket and punched a button.  He put it to his ear like a telephone
and continued to walk toward Lowell House.

"Base One, this is Lilac One.  Muster all teams for briefing at 1900
hours; we have a positive ID on the active Slayer," he said shortly. 
He put the radio back in his pocket and continued on his way.
Riley smiled as he walked.  Everything was proceeding according to
Mother's plan.







"It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
"I kinda love you."
Buffy & Willow, 'Choices'

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