FIC: Stormchaser (14/?)

["Shadow" <Shadowlander1@xxxxxxx>]

Title: Stormchaser (14/?)
Author: Shadowlander
Email: Shadowlander1@xxxxxxx - or - Tankesly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters commonly associated with
Buffy the Vampire Slayer; they belong to others and are used without
permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Archive: The usual places all others please ask first.
Pairing: Buffy/Willow
Rating: NC-17
Summary: This is still set in my own little universe, as usual... so I
don't deal with the real world very well. :)

STORMCHASER (14/?)

"Are you sure you're up to this?" Willow asked her new life-mate as the
two approached the front door of the redhead's home. "I mean we could
always put off meeting my brother...."

"Wills, I'm fine and I really want to meet your brother," Buffy replied
with a laugh, wondering why the other girl had suddenly become so shy.
After the two had made their escape from the library once Giles had gone
over the night's patrol area, Buffy had felt the sudden need to meet
Willow's family. The need had only become stronger as the two neared
the redhead's house and Willow started to get cold feet on her. 'Teach
my little kitten to get all smug on me,' she thought to herself, 'my
little kitten? Where did that come from?'

With a defeated sigh Willow, opened front door determined to get the
dreaded "meet the parents", or in this case meet the big brother, thing
over with so she could get back to getting her life-mate alone and
naked. 'Then go kill a few leeches together and get naked again', her
cat practically hummed in the back of her mind, her wild-half already
deciding that her life-mate would always look her best naked no matter
what the occasion. Although her human-half just had to point out that
it would make it a bit hard on her life-mate to go to school naked all
the time, and people would start to get suspicious if she killed
everyone that looked at her life-mate while she was naked. 'Stupid
human-half always using logic', the cat grumbled in the back of her
mind, unwilling to let go of her mate naked.

"Before you meet my brother... where is something you should know about
Marco", Willow said stopping just in the threshold, "he's sort of...
furry." She finished before losing her nerve. Granted her brother
being covered in black fur really didn't bother her much, hell half her
family were all furry to begin with, but her mate was different. Buffy
was human, even if she was a funny smelling one that did naughty things
to her self control every time she got close to her, she was above all
else a human and not used to seeing large black panthers walking around
on two legs.

"Furry?" Buffy questioned with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes furry", a voice purred from behind the Slayer even as Willow
growled lowly. "Willow, you DIDN'T?" the voice said after a moment,
noting a certain smell on the young blonde standing before him.

Swinging around, Buffy found herself face to chest with a field of black
fur. Looking up she found a cat-shaped face studying her calmly, yellow
eyes winkling with mischief. "I'm Marco, Willow's older and better
looking brother", the creature greeted with a feral grin.

Buffy wasn't sure what to make of the large creature standing front of
her, while her spider sense wasn't setting off any alarms, her
rational-side was screaming that it damn well should be going off
because this thing was damn huge. Only to be brought out of her stupor
by a low growl from behind her coming from Willow.

"I don't want her", Marco growled right back at the outraged redhead.
"No offense, but I have a mate... she's the jealous type and I would
look terrible as a throw rug", he said turning to Buffy for a moment.

"Okay", Buffy said, not sure what Willow was growling about "is this
that possessive thing again?"

"Oh yeah", Marco agreed with a chuckle, "she's mad because I'm standing
too close to you when all she wants to do is get you naked and screw you
senseless," he finished in a conspiring whisper with the Slayer.

"Marco!" a new outraged voice said from hide the two, "don't be telling
the child THAT!"

"Well its true!" he chuckled turning to the small woman standing on the
top of the porch stairs giving the furry giant a dirty look. "My little
kit is all grown up, discovered her hormones at long last."

"Ignore the giant fur ball here, he lost his mind years ago", the woman
said swatting him in the stomach as she stepped closer to Buffy. "I'm
Megan, the fur ball's mate, and you are the Slayer", the woman noted
after a pause, "interesting."

"Nice to meet you", Buffy said after a moment noting that Willow had
stopped growling now that it Marco had backed off.

"Come lets go inside, we'll be more comfortable there... and we can talk
about our mates, tell embarrassing stories about both of them."

"Megan they just met, I don't think the Slayer has any embarrassing
stories about kit", Marco said with a chuckle giving in to the next few
hours of having every stupid thing he had ever done retold for the
benefit of his mate's amusement.

"So... she'll just have to make up a few!" Megan countered serenely,
taking the blonde's arm and leading her into the house leaving the two
siblings behind.

"Thanks a lot Marco", Willow growled at her brother before following the
two.

"Oh sure blame me for my mate's evil sense of humour", he countered
following the women into the house with a shake of his dark head.


Several hours later -

Buffy was certain she had never laughed so hard in her life, especially
after that one story about Marco and his two biker buddies getting
thrown out of a small Iowa town after causing two riots, kidnapping the
mayor only to turn him later that night on the front steps of the court
house in a pink evening gown and thirty -four cases of spiked jungle
juice.

Marco seat back in the comfortable chair, with his mate firmly in place
on his lap, silently thanking the gods for his dark fur, just when he
had thought he had lived that night down someone in the clan brought it
up again. He was certain that it was an order from the elders that
wouldn't allow him to forget about the one time he got into that spiked
jungle juice with his old Australian biker friend.

>From her position on the cough beside the Slayer, Willow was wondering
about the "Barbie" doll incident Buffy had told Megan about as part of
the "embarrassing Willow " tales the blonde had made up. She never
owned a Barbie in her life, aside from the one she used as a chew toy
when she was first teething. 'Frog fear?' she wondered arching one
eyebrow as the Slayer went into her tale of Willow's fear of frogs.
'She is enjoying herself way to much', Willow's cat purred quietly,
planning her own little payback for the outlandish stories her life-mate
was making up about her. 'Frog fear indeed.'

Once the laughter died down from Willow's latest imagined exploit, Megan
turned serious, "So when are you two going to complete the ceremony?"
Grinning evilly at Willow's groan, 'she's a keeper Willow you have to
explain things to her', she thought.

"Ceremony?"

"Bonding ceremony", Willow said after a pause, "basically it makes us
life-mates."

"Life-mates? As in married... you and me?"

"Well there is a bit more involved, but yes that is pretty much the
basic idea", Marco said studying the two young women on the couch with
his yellow eyes. "You don't have to make any decisions now, but if you
two are going to keep doing the things you were doing earlier.... you
need to. " He advised gently reminding himself that Buffy was a sun
walker, a human, with different social and cultural values. To his
people what the two of them were doing earlier had already mated them,
the bonding ceremony just a formality to let the rest of the clan know
one of their own was taking a mate... and well it was also a good excuse
to throw a party.

"I need to go", Buffy said suddenly remembering that she still had
patrol.

"Of course, we are keeping you from your duties", Megan replied,
climbing off of her mate's lap. "Willow will show you out," she added
pointedly to the redhead.

Walking to the door with the Slayer, Willow tried to keep her emotions
under control, apart of her fearing that Buffy was about to walk out of
her life forever. "I'm sorry about that back there, I wanted to talk to
you about it privately", she began only to have her words cut off by a
pair of lips.

Buffy slipped her tongue into Willow's mouth effectively shutting her up
for a moment. "I'll be happy to marry you... or mate with you whatever
its called, bit give me a little time to get used to the idea first...
ok?"

"O-oh sure, whatever you want", Willow said absently, her thoughts
effectively shattered to the four corners of the universe at the moment.
It was only after Buffy had disappeared out the front door did the words
sink in. "YES!!" she roared doing a back flip.

End Part 14.

Shadow --
Director of Public Safety of the Senior Executive Committee on List
Gutter Affairs and vampire teddy bear; Official Dungeon Keeper and Big
Bad. Official woods outback vampire fruit bat.