If Destiny Wills (17/?)

[keeper444@xxxxxxxxx]

Okay folks like an irritating itch I've shown up again and once
inflicting more of my demented ramblings on all you poor list sibs. I
hope if nothing it fills your tie more pleasantly than root canal.
Alex
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Title: If Destiny Wills (17/?) 
Author: Alex P.
Feedback: Please any comments or suggestions to: keeper444@xxxxxxxxx
Archive: Whatever or whoever Just tell me
 Summary: Sequel to A Higher Power
Spoilers: Starts where Next Illogical Step leaves off. Still in college 
Still near future. 
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy Willow Giles and any others from 
BTVS are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy etc. No
infringement of any kind intended and no money made. 
Warning: Contains scenes of a loving relationship between two consenting
women. If you have a problem with that (why are you here?) or it is
illegal where you live (I suggest you move to my end of the
gutter...quickly) then PLEASE DELETE THIS NOW !!!!!
Rating: PG
Pairing: B/W
Notes: This wouldn't be here if not for my beta, Ralf, the miracle
worker, thanks bunches. Also a big thanks to all of you that continue to
send feedback, it keeps the motor running. ~A~
   <>thoughts<>
   *****flashbacks****
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Title: If Destiny Wills (17/?)
Author: Alex P. 
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It wasn't the toughest slayage Buffy had ever faced, but it was tough
enough that she was getting to vent some of her pent up hostility and
anger. 

Every kick, every punch carried with it a little piece of the insults
and harassment she'd been forced to put up with over the last few
months. Every time someone had said some hurtful remark toward her and
her Willow that she couldn't retaliate against was stored in her and
every chance she got she released the beast within her. 

The Slayer used all stored up negative energy to add strength to her
fighting abilities. This was something Merrick had taught her and she
was grateful to him for it, among all the other lessons he given her. 

When the first vampire attacked, she could feel his bones breaking under
each punch and kick. Buffy even ignored early opportunities to stake him
in order to prolong the fight itself. 

Though she knew the Scoobies (especially Willow) wouldn't approve of her
enjoying slaying, but deep down Buffy felt her little "inner slayer"
jumping up and down for joy, cheering her on. Buffy was concentrating on
beating the vamp she was currently facing to a bloody pulp, and was
probably too focused on it too much. 

It felt good, with every punch every kick Buffy could feel the
adrenaline coursing through her veins. It was like some drug sending her
to new heights of pleasure. It was times like these that Buffy
understood Faith, it was almost better than sex, almost. 

She'd beaten the vampire back to where he was almost trapped against a
large garish tombstone when she heard Willow's warning and caught
movement out of the corner of her eye. 

The Slayer ducked just in time as the vampire sneaking up behind her
swung a punch at the back of her head. The fist cut through empty air
where Buffy's head had been, missing her completely. 

>From her crouch the Slayer launched a vicious side kick that connected
with the second vampire's chest and knocked him backwards about four
yards into the air, only stopping when his body collided with a waist
high tombstone. 

Pulling a second stake from behind her belt Buffy threw it at the second
vamp. 
Thanks to her slayer abilities the stake hit him in the center of his
chest, sinking all the way through his cold undead heart. 

Before that one turned into a cloud of dust Buffy turned to face her
first adversary, only to find that he'd used the opportunity to duck
around the tombstone and was running toward a low rise. 

>From experience the Slayer knew that on the other side of the rise was a
small bowl shaped valley just perfect for an ambush. 
With that in mind she took off after him knowing full well that she was
more than likely running head-long into an ambush. 
In her excitement the third vampire and Willow slipped her mind
momentarily, recalling that she wasn't alone but with full confidence
that her friend could handle a single vampire. 

"I'm going on after this one, Wills." the Slayer shouted over her
shoulder as she took off in pursuit of the escaping vampire. "I think
this is it." As an after thought she added "Come on when you're done.
I'll hold them off till you get there." 

Buffy continued running, grinning at her own arrogant over-confidence
and knowing she'd hear about it later from her lover. 

Buffy went on ahead over the rise and down into the bowl shaped valley
of tombstones and an old granite and marble mausoleum that was crumbling
slightly with age. 

She came to a sliding stop toward the center of the valley as she found
herself suddenly surrounded by ten or fifteen very large vampires. All
of which looked to be highly capable veterans, not at all like the
inexperienced newbies she and Willow normally faced. 

With a hard loud gulp Buffy began to realize that she could be in
serious trouble. 

<>Oh shit.<> she thought, cursing herself for not waiting for Willow.
<>This is definitely not the smartest thing I've ever done. I hope
Giles' plan works, cause if doesn't my sweet little Slayer butt is dead,
or worse.<> 

Buffy began to really worry when she realized that she was no longer
linked to Willow. In fact now that she thought about it she hadn't been
since the fighting started. 

Looking around Buffy realized she was totally alone and Willow was
nowhere in sight, and without the link Buffy felt more alone than she'd
ever felt before. 

Something else was beginning to bother the Slayer, although the vamps
had her out numbered and surrounded none of them had made a move of any
kind. 

They just stood there in a circle, eerily quiet as if they were just
holding her there for someone else. They hadn't even slipped into
game-face. It was obvious that this was a well organized and disciplined
force, not the usual collection of self-serving individuals she was used
to. 

Deep in her heart Buffy felt fear and doubt for the first time in a long
time. She wasn't sure that she and her friends would be enough to stop
this new and different threat. 

Summoning up what courage she could the Slayer took a deep breath and
addressed the group. 

"Uh...hey guys." Buffy said, trying to hide her nervousness behind
bravado. "What's up? Who's hosting this little shindig?" 

As if in answer to her question the vampires in front of Buffy stepped
aside to form an isle that was soon filled by a bizarrely beautiful
woman, being closely followed by a big muscular man of obviously latin
extraction and flanked by two huge hulking red skinned demons. 

As the group drew closer she could see that the woman, while beautiful,
had some noticeable differences that marked her as not quite human, most
notable were her glowing red eyes that captured and held the Slayer's
vision. 

"Greetings Slayer." the woman said, her deep rasping voice sending
tingles along Buffy's nerves straight to her core. "I'm so glad you
could join us. We were waiting for you but it seems you have misplaced
your little witch-kit. 
I do hope she hasn't gotten herself into more trouble than she can
handle, and that she too will join us soon." 

The woman laughed lightly filling the air between them with the musical
sound. Buffy found she was unable to speak and found the woman's deep
throaty rasping voice strangely compelling. 

It was as if a curtain had fallen over her mind that kept Buffy from
thinking of anything except her attraction for this woman. She found
herself drawn to the exotic beauty to the exclusion of everything else. 

All thoughts of Giles, Xander, Cordelia, the Abbot, even her soulmate
Willow were wiped from her conscious mind, and her entire being was
centered on the vision of darkly inhuman beauty that was facing her. 

"I am the Countess Hela." the woman announced. "And you, my sweet
Slayer, belong to me, as does your beloved little witch-kit. I have
decided it is time to collect my property." 

Buffy tried to fight against the pull of the voice, but it seemed to
penetrate deep into her psyche crowding all other thoughts and impulses
back into the dark recesses of her mind. 

This was the voice of her dreams, the voice that held the promise of
salvation, the voice that gave forgiveness. It could not be ignored it
would not be denied. Buffy's deepest, most primal self answered it's
siren's call. 

"Come to me my Slayer." Hela commanded, softly and gently. "Come to your
mistress and surrender your will to me, submit to my dominance obey my
commands. Come to me." 

Buffy tried to fight the compulsion to follow the Countess' orders, A
chill ran up her spine. Fear, revulsion and anger joined submission and
lust in the Slayer's mind in a confusing vortex of emotions. 

She was unable to resist Hela's commands. She took a tentative step
toward the Countess and her small entourage. Buffy tried with all her
strength to fight the compulsion, but it was too strong, too deep. It
was as if her legs were following Hela's orders of their own accord. 

"Come along my child." Hela coaxed, like she was encouraging a toddler
to walk for the first time. "Come to your mistress come on, that's a
good girl." 

A shiver of both revulsion and joy swept through Buffy's body at Hela's
words of praise. Buffy closed her eyes and clenched her fists in a
futile attempt to escape the fiendishly subtle female's spell, but her
body was no longer hers to command and it continued to follow Hela's
instructions. 

<>Oh Gods Wills!<> Buffy's mind cried out in desperation. <>Please come
save me my love or I'm lost forever.<> 

Buffy walked stiffly like some giant puppet, answering the woman's
beckoning call. As she reached the woman, the two demons stepped up and
seized the slayer's arms. 

At a signal from the Countess they turned their captive around to face
the direction from which she'd come. The vampires formed battle lines
between the Slayer and the far side of the bowl shaped valley. 
Buffy felt the woman come up behind her. Hate anger and fear joined
disgust and nausea as Hela's inhumanly large hands began roaming Buffy's
body, over her clothes. 

She closed her eyes tightly as she felt an unnaturally long tongue sweep
over her ear and neck as the woman's abnormally hot breath washed over
her sensitive flesh. 

The Slayer was close to the end of her strength. She could feel her
knees threatening to give out and a blackness began closing in on her
mind to save her sanity that was hanging by a slender thread. 

But the blackness quickly dissipated when the voice of hope and strength
and most of all love reached her from across the valley. 
================= 
Willow left Angel standing flat footed in stunned silence as she took
off running at top speed following the path over the rise that Buffy had
taken. 

She went over the rise and down into the valley coming to a sudden halt
facing the battle line of snarling vampires. While the line of game
faced vamps was enough to stop her, what really captured Willow's
attention was the sight of her chosen mate, best friend, and lover being
held by two gigantic red skinned demons while being groped by what
appeared to be a female of one of the higher demon races. 

She could feel Buffy's disgust and rage at being so intimately assaulted
by the female. The situation was made worse by the big muscular latino
man that was watching the Slayer's humiliation and giggling insanely. 

"Buffy!" Willow called out to her lover. "Buffy, look at me." 

Buffy's eyes flew wide open and almost instantly locked on her mate's
glowing green eyes. 

"Look at me my Slayer, my love." Willow's voice carried soft calm and
clear across the distance separating the soulmates. "Open your mind to
me my darling. Link with my thoughts. Feel my love for you. Let my power
fill you. Let it enter your soul. 
These others are of no consequence to us. They have no hold on us. Our
love is beyond anything they have. Feel the power of our love free you
from their grasp." 

Buffy's eyes grew wide as she listened to Willow's reassuring voice, and
her very core was filling with the power her beloved witch was sending
her. 

The powers forced the hold the Countess had on the Slayer's mind to
slip. Hela fell back a few steps in surprise and sudden fear when she
felt the overwhelming power of the Slayer's witch-kit. 

In a blast of intense neon green fire the two demons holding the Slayer
disappeared, the powerful fire consuming them, completely freeing the
Slayer. 

As if that was the prearranged signal several of the vampires exploded
into clouds of dust as Giles and the rest of their back up came over the
rise, firing their crossbows with deadly accuracy while Angel attacked
from the flank throwing the vampire troops into confusion. 

Seeing her opportunity to capture the two young women she'd wanted so
badly slip away, Hela decided to cut her losses and put an end to them
once and for all. 

"Destroy them!" Hela shouted to her troops with an angry hiss, then she
turned to her pet and spoke in a lower voice. "Kill the witch Max, we
can't have her so no one will, kill her." 

"Yes mistress." the psychotic man answered. "I will gladly do as you
wish." 

Max stealthily slipped into the shadows and began circling around the
fighting, to find a good position from which to kill the offending red
head that had ruined his mistress plans. 

At the Countess' orders the Vampires split into groups. Two of them
attacked the Slayer and the witch. 

The few remaining vamps tried to get at the reinforcements, to stop the
deadly rain of wooden crossbow bolts that took a devastating toll on
their ranks with each volley. Soon the sounds of close hand to hand
combat could be heard all over the depression. 

The two young women were too busy fighting for their lives to pay
attention to where everybody was, but they were overjoyed that their
friends were fighting at their side. 

The fight lasted for over half an hour. Being veteran fighters, the
vampires were harder to dust, but finally nearly all the Countess'
troops were dust bunnies. The last two fell back to guard Hela. 

As Buffy and Willow were about to attack, a commanding voice rang out
across the battle field. 

"Hela!" the voice announced. "By order of the high council of Tarsus, I
have come to return you to them to stand trail for treason and other
high crimes." 

"HA! Kresis!" Hela scoffed back at him. "You don't have the power or
authority to do anything to me." 

"Once he learned of your plans the Master of Tarsus himself broke the
curse barring me from this place." gloated Kresis. "Thus giving me all
the power I need." 

With a wave of her hand Hela sent a bolt of reddish-yellow energy at the
Count and his two vampire body guards. At almost the same instant Kresis
launched his own arc of blue and black energy at her. 

The two bolts struck simultaneously, knocking both high demons back
several feet and utterly destroying the vamp body guards of both. They
both rose shakily and faced each other. 

Both were wounded, but neither would give in and admit defeat. 

Suddenly the tense silence was broken as shots rang out. Everyone turned
and looked at Xander standing there holding a smoking 9mm automatic in
his hand. 

Taking advantage of everyone watching the confrontation between Kresis
and Hela, Max had silently approached his intended victim. Finally
getting within striking distance Max slipped out of the shadows and held
his favorite knife ready to strike out at the witch his mistress wanted
dead. 

Xander saw the man come out of the shadows and move toward Willow with a
big hunting knife. Deducing his purpose and knowing there was no way he
could reach the man before he could hurt Willow, Xander acted the only
way he knew how, he drew the 9mm and aiming carefully Xander emptied the
magazine into the man. 

The group looked over at the man's lifeless body laying in the short
cemetery grass. Willow looked over to Xander, worried about her lifelong
friend. She looked into his eyes and saw them filled with a mix of
happiness at saving his friend's life and sorrow for having taken
another human's life. 

"I told you I was watching your back." Xander explained. "He was going
to kill Will and I couldn't let that happen." 

Willow went to her friend and placed a hand on his arm to comfort him. 

"I know Xander." the witch said sympathetically. "You didn't have a
choice." 

Buffy ran across the depression and grabbed the young man in a crushing
bear hug that lifted him off the ground. There was no mistaking her
feelings. 

"Thank you Xander." the Slayer said softly, releasing him then planting
a big kiss on his cheek, her joy and gratitude clear in her eyes and
voice. "I'll never be able to tell you how much that means to me." 

She would have said more but was interrupted by a hissing scream from
across the clearing. 

"You bitch, you killed Max!" Hela screamed in rage as she turned and ran
into the shadows before anyone could do anything to stop her escape.
"You have not heard the last of this Slayer. I will be back for you too
witch-kit." 

The Slayer and her witch companion looked at each other and sighed, each
one knowing that the Countess meant every word. 

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End 17
TBC 
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