Re: [buffywantswillow] FF: Rebirth

["The Fool" <honouredfool@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 14 Jul 2000 02:18:51 -0500 uj18 <uj18@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Hi,

>This is part 2 of a series? Part I was my earlier fic, Requiem. If you haven't read that then let me know and I will forward it to you monday-ish because I'm out of town for the weeekend.

Thanks for your interest.



Somehow I must have missed part 1.

>Could some kind soul please send it my way.

>

>Thanks,

>James

>

>----- Original Message -----

>From: "The Fool" <honouredfool@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

>To: <buffywantswillow@xxxxxxxxxxx>

>Sent: Friday, July 14, 2000 12:40 AM

>Subject: [buffywantswillow] FF: Rebirth

>

>

>> Title: Rebirth. Part II of the "Into the Light" Series.

>> Disclaimer: Characters from BtVS are all property of Joss Whedon, Mutant

>Enemy and others. I own my pride and my self-respect?at least until I sell

>them to buy Skittles.

>> Authour's Notes: Everyone thanks Shyfox for beta-ing this for me. ;) I

>have to think of a better title for this series. The second portion of this

>is mostly C/F. Sorry. WARNING: Parts of this story could be construed as

>offensive to the Judeo-Christian God. If you find them so, sorry, but he's

>really sort of funny.

>>

>> Chapter One.

>> After the funeral Willow and Mr. Roberts had disappeared into Angel's

>Mansion, followed only by Spike.

>> "We need to be alone for a while," Mr. Roberts had explained to the

>remaining Scoobs. We'll be out soon."

>> They had insisted, only to have the door shut in their faces. So they

>left.

>> Inside Mr. Roberts gave Spike directions. "Don't come in this room. If

>anyone comes to the door, don't let them in unless Willow tells you to.

>There's blood in the fridge and a couple of cartons of cigarettes in the

>kitchen cupboard. Don't smoke in the house." Then he and Willow walked

>into the little bedroom and shut the door.

>> "Come on, we have to be quick. If I take too long he'll make her go."

>The old man hurriedly drew a symbol on the floor and they stepped into it.

>A column of light burst out of the ground transporting the two beyond the

>boundaries of the physical world.

>> "Tara?" Willow called softly. Her lover, or rather her spirit wandered

>out of the darkness and smiled gently at Willow.

>> "Hey." She answered with equal softness.

>> "I got your note. I'm sorry about-"

>> "I thought I said that there was nothing to be sorry about."

>> "I know its just-" Willow started to cry.

>> "Hello Tara."

>> "Maclas." The old man gasped at the use of his real name. Only one other

>person had known his real name. "I spoke to her." Tara confirmed his

>thoughts. "It took some doing but I convinced the Guardian?" She trailed

>off as her virtual twin came out of the dark.

>> "Father." She stood looking at the old man. "You've aged?not very well."

>> The old man collapsed at her feet, crying like a baby. "Oh father, you

>were always so emotional." The girl sighed, looking down at the man. "Come

>now, get up. You're being silly."

>> "Oh Bridgit," The old man stood up, "you never liked that did you?"

>> "Of course I did Father. But you needn't do it now. You have a job to

>do, and I have to get back. If I leave Merlin alone for too long he starts

>to aggravate the others."

>> "Merlin is here?"

>> "They're all here father. One day you'll be here too, then we can cry

>until the end of time if that's what you want. Now you have a job. So get

>to it. She needs you more than I do now."

>> "Yes dear." The old man stopped and looked at his long dead daughter.

>"Bridgit I-"

>> "It wasn't your fault. I forgive you. I love you father." Her eyes

>shone with tears. "Now look what've you've?" her admonition trailed off as

>the old man swept her into a fierce embrace.

>> "Good-bye my life, I'll see you soon. It's almost finished. I can feel

>it. I'll be here soon."

>> Tara and the two mortals watched Roberts' daughter fade into the dark. He

>turned to them. "Well, she's right. I have a job to do and I must get back

>to it."

>> Willow asked shyly, "Can I stay? Just a little longer?"

>> "Of course Willow, you may stay until I return. When you feel my presence

>in Sunnydale again you must come back though."

>> "Good-bye sweet girl. I'll be back soon." Mr. Roberts embrace the slight

>blonde witch. "Thank you for finding her."

>> "Good-bye Maclas."

>> With that the old man disappeared into the dark.

>> "So," Willow began, "what's it like?"

>> "I don't know. I've been waiting here for you the whole time."

>> "Oh."

>> "You have to tell her."

>> "I will."

>> "Promise?"

>> Chapter Two

>> Mr. Roberts walked into Angel Investigations and snuck up behind Cordelia.

>"Hi." She screamed and jumped three feet in the air. Angel's door burst

>open and Faith burst through, hand reaching for the stake she kept in the

>waist of her pants.

>> Cordelia began to beat him with her little fist. "You old bastard! What

>the hell did think you were doing?" The old man tried to fend off her

>attack through a fit of laughter.

>> "Sorry, it was just too easy though. You'd think all this time around

>demons would improve your senses." She continued to beat him. Faith ran to

>her side, grabbing her arms.

>> "C, C stop it. You might hurt him." She couldn't help but laugh at the

>brunette's fury either. The Slayer pulled Cordelia into a tight embrace

>from behind, effectively ending her attack on the old man, who far from

>being hurt was wheezing with laughter. Finally Angel and ad Wesley appeared

>in the doorway with puzzled looks on their faces.

>> "It appears we missed a joke somewhere." Wesley said to his companion.

>Angel flashed that little half-grin of his.

>> "I guess so. Uh, guys?"

>> "Oh. Right." Mr. Roberts tried to stop wheezing. "I came up to check on

>my daughter's progress and to bring her something that I'm sure she thought

>she'd lost."

>> Faith stopped laughing. "Your what?" she asked the old man, hope

>gleaming in her eye.

>> "Daughter dear, not biologically of course, but in a deeper sense. You've

>all been my daughter's over time but I feel closer to you than to the ones

>in the past. Will you be my daughter? I don't really have a family

>anymore." Tears sprung to Faith's eyes as she looked first at the old man,

>then at Cordelia who nodded encouragingly and then back at the old man. She

>leapt the desk she was behind, bounded across the room and leapt into the

>old man's arms. "I take it that's a yes then?"

>> "Oh yes. Yes, Yes, Yes."

>> "Good, I brought you something." He said to her as he put her feet back on

>the ground. He reached into his coat and pulled out the knife Mayor Wilkins

>had given her. Its black hilt reflected her face as she held it close to

>her face. The two prong blade gleamed with a polish that was better than

>new. The old man had even taken the time to sharpen the inside edges,

>something Faith had never thought to do.

>> As she held it memories came flooding back to her, of the Mayor, of her

>descent into darkness, the look on Alan Finch's face as she plunged the

>stake into him, the feel of it being thrust into her own stomach by but

>Buffy.

>> "I, I don't want it." She managed to stumble out. "It's full of who I

>used to be." The old man looked satisfied.

>> "Good. I didn't like it anyway, it's entirely ineffective for our duties

>anyway. I just thought, well you seemed to love it so much before?"

>> "Not anymore, I hate it now. I never want to see it again." She passed

>it back to him and he tucked it away in his coat. Cordelia moved from her

>place behind the desk and slowly slipped her hand into Faith's giving it a

>little squeeze. Turning to Angel, Mr. Roberts asked him

>> "Do you still have the case I gave you?"

>> "Of course it's downstairs in my weapons closet. Do you want it?" The

>old man nodded. "I'll run down and get it." Angel turned and left the

>room.

>> Wesley spoke up for the first time since he came in. "I just want to say

>that I think this is all very, very wonderful." He stopped and took his

>glasses off to wipe them.

>> "Ummm," Faith looked at her new "dad," "Hey Pops, there's someone you

>should meet before we get too into this." She turned to Cordelia, looking

>into her eyes with adulation. "This is my girlfriend Cordelia. C, this is

>my dad." The old man looked bemusedly at his new daughter.

>> "Hello young lady. I just want you to know that if you cause my daughter

>any pain I'll turn you into a frog before you can say 'croak" Cordelia

>looked nervously at the old man, unable to tell if he was joking. Luckily

>just then Angel returned, carrying a 1x3 foot thin wooden box.

>> "Oh goody." The old man said, taking the box from Angel and putting it on

>my desk. "I have a gift for you Faith, a reminder of this special day." He

>opened the box and lifted a large, curve bladed knife out of the case and

>held it out to Faith. She grasped the handle breathlessly admiring it in

>the sun.

>> "Oh Dad," she murmured, "it's beautiful." She spun to show Cordelia. "C

>look at the handle, it's sharpened wood, like a stake." Cordelia looked

>nervously at the knife.

>> "That's great hon, that's real," she paused looking for a word, "scary."

>Faith looked up into her lover's face, which was tinged with fear.

>> "Hey," she exclaimed, "hey, there's no need for-" she stopped and looked

>down at the knife. "I guess I can see why though." It was truly a fearsome

>looking weapon. "Sorry C."

>> "It's all right. I know how you feel about knifes." She smiled winsomely

>at her lover. "Just don't think that it's going to sleep with us."

>> Angel and the old man's eyebrows shot up simultaneously. "Oops."

>Cordelia muttered. Mr. Roberts cleared his throat. "Right, anyway" there

>was an awkward pause. "Here's the scarab for it. You might want to

>consider a big scary coat like Angel and I wear, it would be quite useful

>for hiding your knife in. He pulled his own coat back to reveal the hilts

>of two knifes identical to the one he had just given Faith. They all

>laughed. "See," said the old man, "no one will ever know its there."

>> The quintet spent the rest of the day in a relaxed state, cherishing the

>precious hours they had when for once nothing seemed to need their

>attention. Finally in the early evening the old man stood and stretched.

>"Well, I think its time I was going back to my motel."

>> Cordelia's ears perked up, "Motel? You're not staying at a motel. Family

>stays with family when they visit. I would expect to stay in your home if I

>ever visited you in, well, wherever you're from and so you're going to stay

>with me." She looked at him, daring the man to argue. Instead he smiled.

>> "Good." Faith looked at him quizzically.

>> "You never had a motel did you?" His smile grew larger.

>> "No, I was going to stay with Angel, but since she insisted?" Cordelia

>realized she'd been had but let it slide, muttering to herself,

>> "Like father like daughter."

>> ***

>> For two weeks Mr. Roberts stayed with Cordelia and Faith, trying his

>hardest to eat them out of house and home. One morning the old man was

>sitting in the kitchen talking to Dennis when Faith walked into the kitchen.

>"Good morning daddy," she put on her best little girl act for him, only it

>wasn't really an act and they both new it. The old man stood up and kissed

>her on the forehead.

>> "Good morning sweetheart. Good morning Cordelia." He greeted the young

>woman as she walked into the kitchen.

>> "Good morning Owen." If he didn't put a stop to that soon everyone would

>be calling him Owen. Of course that was his name, as far as anyone knew.

><Oh well. What's the harm in it?>

>> Owen walked into the hallway and took his coat from a hangar. "I have to

>go out with Angel for a bit. Then I'm back to Sunnydale."

>> "Where are you going?" Faith asked, not looking forward to his departure.

>> "Wolfram and Hart. I have to ensure that certain things are done there."

>> Faith jumped up. "I'm going with you. Its dangerous there." The old man

>put a restraining hand on her arm.

>> "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I need you to stay here and make sure no one

>comes for Cordelia. Of all of us she is the least able to defend herself

>against the agents of the Dark. Cordelia was going to protest, but then she

>realized the truth. <Goddamn it! Why am I so weak?>

>> "Angel and I have worked out a plan and everything. He sort of insisted

>on coming, I was just going to take care of it myself on the way out of

>town. Its not a big job really." Faith looked at him pleadingly, then at

>the sweet face of her lover.

>> "Alright, but this is the last time you go anywhere without me."

>> "I'll be fine," he emphasized. "I'll see you in a few weeks. I love

>you."

>> "I love you too daddy."

>> "So do I Owen." The old man beamed at Cordelia's announcement.

>> "Wonderful."

>>

>> ***

>>

>> An hour later two men burst into the top floor offices of Wolfram and

>Hart. A receptionist attempted to stall them. "Gentlemen, can I help you?"

>Angel glared at the woman, slipping into his game face.

>> "No." he growled at her. The old man approached the doors that led to the

>inner sanctum of this demonic law firm. Without pause the old man thrust

>his hand forward and the doors burst apart. <Oh great. We're being

>attacked by a vampire and a Jedi.> The receptionist wished she had never

>taken this job.

>> "Hello there boys," Owen started with mock jocularity. "I was just in

>the neighborhood and I thought I'd stop by and kill you both."

>> One of the men looked up, sneering. "And who might you be? That one must

>be this 'Angel' who has been causing us so many problems but you, I don't

>know you?"

>> "Come Hart didn't your master ever warn you about me?" He pulled his

>knives from his coat. "Perhaps these?" The man he addressed as Hart paled

>visibly. "I thought he might have." There was a tense pause. "Well, as my

>daughter might say, less talk, more chop." With two quick strides the old

>man was across the room, standing face to face with Hart. The carefully

>maintained human visage crumbled and a hulking demon stood where the lawyer

>had been a second ago. "You can't hurt me. There are rules."

>> "Oh yes, there are rules but they don't come into effect until the words

>are said. The old man paused and looked the demon in the eye. There was a

>blur of movement and then the demon was looking Mr. Roberts' foot in the eye

>as it kicked his head across the floor. A horrified Wolfram looked down at

>the head of his former partner and ran towards the door. He was just a man

>after all, and if killing the "Hart" demon had been so easy who the hell was

>he to stick around? As he reached the door he realized a mistake he would

>regret for the rest of his life. All two seconds of it. <Where did the

>other one, Angel, go?> His own question was answered as he barreled

>headlong into the point of a sword that hadn't been there a moment ago. "Oh

>dear." He looked down at the sword then up at Angel's face.

>> "Ooops." The vampire sneered as he pulled the sword from Wolfram's chest.

>As the body fell to the floor Angel snapped the blade out in a quick

>movement, separating head from body. Angel looked up at Owen. "Well," he

>said, "that should put a crimp in their plans."

>> "I should hope so. Let's get out of here." The old man turned to leave,

>pulling a fire alarm panel on the wall.

>> They waited at street level until the building was empty and then Owen

>muttered a few words under his breath. The building collapsed into rubble.

>Then the rubble collapsed into a pile of rocks. Then stones. Finally it

>was no more than a very, very large pile of concrete dust. "Just so they

>can't salvage anything." He grinned and they turned away. "I love to win.

>Well, I'm back to Sunnydale. I'll be back to get you all in a few weeks.

>Be careful."

>> "You got it."

>>

>>

>> The Fool

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