If Destiny Wills (18/?)

[keeper444@xxxxxxxxx]

Actually the isn't exactly true, I know for sure it's either 22 or 23
maybe 24. Ah what the heck, just go with ? huh.
Now once more into the breech my friends.
Later
Alex
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Title: If Destiny Wills (18/?) 
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, 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 (18/?)
Author: Alex P. 
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Hela's threats still echoed through the air after she vanished into the
shadows. The group looked after the fleeing demoness trying to catch a
glimpse of the direction that she was headed, when a groan and a thud
reminded them of the other humanoid demon, the one she'd called Kresis. 

Seeing that the seemingly civilized creature was in some distress, Giles
and one of the brothers started to go to the wounded being's aid when he
was suddenly facing several well armed "men". 
The "men" were all dressed in a collection of various military combat
uniforms and were well armed with modern assault weapons. By their
dress, demeanor, and the way they handled their equipment, it was
obvious that each was highly proficient in the use of their weapons.
They formed a battle square and held the group back from the fallen
demon. 

A tall lean battle scared soldier wearing a black patch over one eye
stepped forward and knelt next to the fallen demon and began caring for
his wounds expertly. He looked up at the ex-Watcher and gave him a weary
smile that didn't quite reach his golden eye with its snakelike pupil. 

"We aren't here for you or yours Watcher." the kneeling mercenary told
Giles. "We are here to aid my lord the Count. Let my men and I do that
and none of you will be harmed." 

It was not a threat. It was a statement of fact. Giles backed away and
the man went back to his task. 

"Caladin, is that you old friend?" the wounded Count groaned in pain.
"It is good to see you." 

"I am here, my lord." Caladin said, reassuring the wounded demon. "Let
me care for your injuries. Just lay back and rest my Lord." 

Following the advice of his friend and loyal retainer, Kresis lay down
and closed his eyes. Although the Count was badly wounded he would
survive thanks to Caladin's knowledge of combat medicine. 

The mercenary was relieved that his old friend would recover, cursing
the delay that had slowed his arrival. He had waited for the prearranged
signal, but when it didn't come and he heard gunshots, Caladin had
ordered his men to go to the Count and protect him at all cost. 

Once they'd made sure of the Count's security, scouts were sent to find
Hela's trail or her body. That done, their leader was able to
concentrate on caring for his liege lord. Finally finishing what he
could in the field, Caladin sat back and took a deep breath in an effort
to relax. 

"Is it bad Caladin?" Kresis asked weakly. "How bad did the bitch get to
me?" 

"Well you're going to carry some pretty nasty scars my lord, but you
know how the females like that." Caladin said, trying to lighten the
mood before he delivered the worst of the news. "You'll be weak as a new
born kit from blood loss for quite some time, that will delay your
recovery." 

Kresis noticed that his friend was stalling for some reason and there
was grave concern in his eyes. 

"All right spill it old friend." Kresis croaked his throat dry with pain
and worry . "What is it you are not telling me?" 

"Well my lord." Caladin said, licking his thin lips nervously. "The
worst of your wounds is that you have lost your right arm just above the
elbow." 

The remaining color drained from the Count's face as the shock of the
news registered. He saw the concern on his friend's face and the worried
looks on the faces of the other men gathered around. Knowing that his
duty was to bolster the men's morale, he took a deep breath and called
up his reserves. 

"So the bitch got me hard huh?" Kresis growled. "As long as I have you
and your men I still have a strong right arm. Any idea where she went?" 

Seeing the look of pride and admiration on the faces of his mercenaries,
Kresis knew he'd acted and said the right thing. 
One of the scouts stepped forward and knelt down next to his commander
and the badly wounded Count. 

"We found a blood trail, from the color we knew it had to be hers." the
scout reported. "We followed it to a sewer entrance where it
disappeared." 

"Good job." the Count commended the scout, who rose smiling and rejoined
the ranks. "Do you have a plan of action Caladin?" 

"Once we have gotten you to a safe haven to heal, I will send out S&D
teams to find the Countess Hela." Caladin said her name like a curse.
"We will get the bitch this time my lord. I swear it!" 

Four men stepped up carrying a stretchier and, with extreme caution,
laid the Count on it. Surrounded by the loyal band of mercenaries the
count was taken away. Caladin and two of his men stayed behind and
approached Giles. 

 "We mean you no harm Watcher." Caladin said matter of factly.
"However I would advise you and yours to stay out of our way when we go
after Countess Hela. Count Kresis is not only our liege. He is also our
most trusted friend, and wounding him is the last insult or injury I and
my men will tolerate from her. 
In short it is a personal vendetta. I wouldn't want to see any of your
people damaged. After all, I understand there is to be a special
occasion soon. We wouldn't want to put a damper on that would we?" 

Giles understood the thinly veiled message the cold blooded mercenary
was sending him. The Countless was theirs and they would tolerate no
interference. 

"Yes I suppose you are right." Giles answered, secretly glad for the
truce. 

Having heard of Caladin and his company of vicious mercenaries, he knew
they were capable of carrying out any threat. 

"We have no problem with you or your people, and as long as the Countess
leaves us alone there is no reason for any of us to go after her." 

"That's good enough." Caladin said humorlessly. "Please convey the
Count's and my congratulations to the Slayer and the Sorceress." 

"Ah...yes right thank you." the ex-Watcher stammered, taken back by the
legendary mercenary's words. "And please convey our best wishes for a
complete and speedy recovery to the Count." 

Caladin bowed slightly in a show of respect, then giving a signal to his
men, the three disappeared into the shadows. 

Thinking of the mercenary's thinly veiled threat Giles shrugged his
shoulders and turned to head down the rise to where the Slayer and
company were sitting on tombstones in groups of two. 

Further on, leaning on the ancient mausoleum was Angel, watching his one
time lover and her new mate and their friends. As he drew near Giles
could clearly see the pain in the souled vampire's eyes. He went to the
dark "man" to express his gratitude. 

"Thank you for coming." Giles said quietly, not wishing to cause him any
further suffering. "Your help, as always, was invaluable. I know this
can't be easy for you considering your feelings." 

"Yeah well feelings change." the vampire said wistfully and shrugging
his shoulders. "As long as she's happy. It's just too bad I was too damn
pigheaded and stupid to see how happy Willow makes her feel. I don't
know why I was so surprised. I've known how she's felt about Willow ever
since I've known her. I can't believe I was jealous, but I sure was." 

Both men looked at the two young women that were sitting on a tombstone
a short distance away, huddled closely together talking. Their love was
as evident as a bright light on a cloudy night. 

Feeling the eyes on them, both looked over at Giles and Angel, smiled at
them, then turned back to their intense conversation. Then as the men
watched Buffy and Willow got up and, with Buffy in the lead, walked over
to the two older men. 

They stopped talking and watched the two girls approach, Angel couldn't
help noticing they were holding hands. 

All four estranged friends stood awkwardly silent. Buffy and Angel
couldn't look each other in the eyes, both embarrassed by their past
behavior. 

"Uh...hi Angel." Buffy stammered unsure of how to begin. "How are things
in L.A.?" 

"Yeah...ah..hi." Angel said, scuffing the toe of his boot in the dirt
like a kid in trouble. "Everything's okay I guess, never boring anyway." 

"Look Angel..." 

"Buffy, I..." 
They started simultaneously, then were quiet each waiting on the other
one to start first. 

"Oh geeze, you two!" Willow huffed, aggravated by her two friends. "Okay
age before beauty, Angel you first... come on speak up, you ancient
idiot!" 

The over 200 year old vampire looked at the slender, normally shy red
head, slack jawed at her temerity. He had to chuckle at her now innocent
and shy smile as she batted her eyes at him. 

"Alright, I'll start." he said giving in. "Turn off the girlish charms
witch." 

He looked over at Buffy and a crooked smile crossed over his lips. 

"Getting bossy, isn't she." he said to the Slayer. 

"You don't know the half of it." Buffy answered rolling her eyes joining
in to tease her lover. 

"Well I suppose I'd better speak up before she attacks again." Angel
said. 

"That might be wise." his ex girlfriend agreed. 

"Enough for Goddess sake!" Willow exclaimed, and stomping her foot
glaring at the two miscreants, crossed her arms over her chest. "Will
you please get on with it before I do something really...really... oh
really mean!" 

They both laughed at her, throwing their hands up in surrender. 

"You win Willow." Angel said with a wry laugh. "Wouldn't want you to be
forced to give us a good talking to." 

Angel gave the red head a look of amused disbelief knowing that even her
threat of doing something "mean" wouldn't be followed up on. He'd known
all along that the little witch, that had captured Buffy's heart, was
incapable of harming him or anyone else that wasn't a threat to Buffy's
or her survival. 

He looked over to Buffy and his smile turned sad as he saw the strain
his being there caused the young Slayer and he knew an explanation was
in order, that plus an apology. 

"Seriously Buffy and you too Willow," Angel said softly, his dark
brooding eyes focusing on both girls. "I said some really stupid things
and what's worse, it was at a time when you needed all your friends to
support you. 
I'm truely sorry and, if it's possible, I would feel honored if you
could get past my bout of rampant idiocy and feel free to consider me a
friend you can call on at any time." 

Buffy and Willow looked at each other and smiled knowingly. 

"I think we've all had our minor bout of stupidly childish behavior and
I for one am glad it's finally over, almost." Willow spouted off, then
with a warning look at her soulmate said. "Now I think it's time for a
certain Slayer to eat a little humble pie and swallow hard." 

Buffy tried to get by giving them her best "who me?" face, but gave it
up at the first sight of her lover's resolve face knowing she could
never refuse Willow anything once she gave her the resolve face. She
cleared her throat loudly and began sheepishly. 

"I'm really sorry I overreacted so badly. I should have just let it go
and trusted that you would come around sooner or later, instead of being
so quick to be angry with you. 
Then I made it worse by refusing to accept your sincere apologies. I
acted like a big spoiled baby, instead of being the friend I was
supposed to be." Buffy began slowly, but quickly warmed to the subject.
"What you did for Wills tonight just proves what a true friend you are. 
Even when I acted like a petty vindictive bitch. I'm just glad I got a
chance to thank you for saving her. If something happened to her
I...well...I..." 

That was all Buffy could say without bursting into tears. When she
remembered how close she'd come to losing her soulmate because she'd
been so focused on Slaying instead of keeping an eye on her lover, like
she was supposed to. 

Buffy fell into the old habit of blaming herself for every mistake and
was beating herself up mentally for it. 

Willow could feel her mate's dilemma and knew she had to act fast before
the guilt got out of hand again. She reached out and pulled her Slayer
to her and held her tightly letting her lover release those doubts and
fears in the form of tears that soon soaked through Willow's shirt. 

Willow kept her beloved Buffy in her tight comforting embrace until the
sobbing subsided. 

Seeing that the split between Angel and his two charges was finally
mended, for now at least, as well as it could be in one night. Only time
could do the rest. 

Looking at his watch Giles announced that it was time for everyone to go
home. While there was some talk of going to Giles house, to "let off
some steam" as Xander put it, but the ex Watcher put a stop to that by
insisting that everyone go home to rest up for the wedding the next
afternoon. 

Finally agreeing, the group split up. The Abbot and his men had already
gone to stay at the home of Dr. (brother) Fallon, 

Xander and Cordelia went to their newly rented apartment and Angel went
to his old haunts, hoping that no one or no thing had taken over the
mansion. 

Buffy, Willow, and Giles headed home to their complex, but before the
girls could go to their own townhouse Giles asked them to join him at
his place for a few minutes. 

Willow had noticed that the Slayer had seemed to be on a slow burn since
they left the cemetery and she wasn't sure why. She knew it wasn't aimed
at her. 

>From the dark glances she'd been giving Giles she figured that he was
definitely the object of Buffy's ire. Willow wasn't able to tell why,
because Buffy was so angry that the witch couldn't reach her thoughts. 

The only thing Willow knew for sure was that there was a major Slayer
type explosion coming and their mentor was dead center in the cross
hairs. Even Willow was a little scared. She'd never seen her lover this
mad at anyone on their side. 

Buffy entered the ex Watcher's living room and threw herself down on the
couch in a huff. Trembling slightly from the anger radiating from her
lover, Willow sat down next to Buffy and waited for the fireworks. She
didn't have long to wait. 

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End 18
TBC 
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There's another one for ya', and if everything works out and the stars
line up just right I should have one more tonight.
Until then...Back to the gutter.
~A~