Fic History Visiting (4/?)

[C A Moore <cab_moore@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

TITLE: History Visiting [working title] (3/?)
AUTHOR: C A Moore (cab_moore@xxxxxxxxx)
PAIRINGS: Eventually B/W, mild B/R, W/T, B/f in
transit
RATING: PG, I suppose, nothing very explicit
DISCLAIMER: Buffy Universe is the property of
Joss/Mutant Enemy/WB. Helen, Jo, Chris & Jane are mine
SUMMARY: A visitor comes to Sunnydale and ruffles a
few feathers. Fits "in the cracks" between "Doomed"
and "A New Man".
SPOILERS: In this part I don't remember spoiling past
Doomed
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Revelations (for the reader anyway)
All parts posted so far are now available on the web: 

www.geocities.com/themoralminority/BtVS/history.html


Morning?

Jo knocked on the dorm room door; Willow answered.
"Jo, hello um Buffy isn?t here, she heard that Riley
was back and left. She seemed to be in a hurry" she
frowned wondering why Jo had smiled at the last part.

"Don?t worry, I wasn?t sure that I was going to be
able to make it anyway"

"Looking forward to getting back?"

Jo smiled
"Yes"

"Chris?"

"It?s strange, but even after a short trip, I still
can?t wait to get back to her"

Willow started a little, (HER?!), but Jo appeared not
to notice

"I expect she will have gone through her wardrobe
trying to decide what to wear. She always chooses the
black dress she was wearing when we first met."

She broke off and looked at her watch.
"I have to go. I hope you find someone, just remember
not to overlook something because it?s not what you
expect" She left before Willow could form a coherent
response.

Willow just stood in the room thinking. <Jo was a
lesbian? She seemed so normal, just like me, not at
all like my shanky double; well, apart from that
leather last night which looked kinda good. And what
did she mean about overlooking something?>

As she walked down the passage Jo smiled to herself.
That really ought to set the cat among the pigeons.
But the Slayer, that was a really interesting
situation. Her time with Faith had been thought
provoking; meeting the Amy rat completed most of the
story. Thinking thoughts of mice and men, or more
specifically rats and witches... and Slayers, she
reached the door and disappeared.

****

The Master?s lair, Prophecy Girl. What really happened
behind the dialog.

"And by the way..." The Master watched as Buffy fell
face down into the pool of water, "I like your dress."

Buffy hardly noticed him now; she felt light,
disconnected; she realised that she could see herself
laying face down in the pool. She felt something start
to leave ? her strength, the Slayer?s strength was
going, seeking another. Suddenly she felt it, energy
everywhere ? The Master had broken through the barrier
and now its energy swirled free, merging with the
mounting energies of the opening Hellmouth. Her
strength had almost all gone now; her time was up. She
noticed something happening, some people entered the
chamber, her friends, she remembered. That?s why she
was here, to protect them; that?s why she couldn?t
give up now. She had to fight; she had to be what they
needed. Strength flooded into her as she gained focus,
she reached out and forced herself to be strong, to be
the Slayer. Power built within her; she was changing,
growing; something was about to happen. Suddenly she
found herself in her body, her memories of everything
else fading rapidly.

Xander?s voice intruded on her thoughts
"C'mon! Breathe! Breathe!"
"C'mon!" he repeated.

Buffy opened her eyes wide and drew a breath. She
looked around quickly, a little confused.

"Buffy!"

"Xander?"

"Welcome back."

Buffy started rising,
"Easy. Easy." Xander cautioned

Buffy stood up
"The Master?"

"He's gone up" Angel replied

Buffy started to go. Xander was worried
"No. You're still weak"

" No. No, I feel strong. I feel different," she looked
back at them "Let's go!"

****

Back to the [storyline] present?

The sun shone down on a tranquil scene; a small
cottage nestled in a large beautiful garden. A figure
dressed in worn jeans, a faded blouse and a large
straw hat was kneeling by a bed of brightly coloured
flowers, weeding. After a while the figure paused
looked up and seemed to be listening. The figure?s
face now revealed was that of an attractive young
woman. She sighed resignedly and rose, brushing back a
few strands of dark hair trailed down the side of her
face.

She looked down at her dishevelled state, mentally
noting everything from the tattered hat down to her
bare feet. Brushing a little of the soil off her knees
she smiled slightly; well they summoned me, she
reasoned. With a slight gesture she performed the
spell, and disappeared.

****

She reappeared in darkened place; as her eyes adjusted
it was possible to make out pale pillars, and a set of
steps up to an altar. The temple was partly ruined,
and extremely old. As she stood there a slight light
flickered at the altar. 

She decided on a pre-emptive explanation.
"Look, if it?s about the visits to the mortal realm. I
was just looking for some new bedding plants, and
doing some chatting on the Internet, I mean the deal
was only about intervening in human destiny, anyway
the agreement wasn?t even binding beyond 10,000 years"

A voice filled the temple.
"We are not concerned about your visits. We have no
interest in how," the voice reflected mild distaste,
"or with whom, you spend your time so long as you do
not directly interfere with our champions. We
appreciate your prompt response to our request for
your presence."

They still had a lot to learn about conversation, she
decided.
"Right. So what do you want then?"

"Your advice, or at least your opinion"

"The Powers want my advice? That?s a first. What
about?"

"There is a new power abroad, and it shows a
particular interest in the Slayer"

"It still sounds like your deal. You know that I
haven?t had any contact with the Slayer for millennia.
Watching thousands of brave selfless women die
horribly to protect their people, one after another,
often long before they reach their full potential, can
get a little depressing"

"The Slayer was your creation"

"It was Senea?s dream, I helped. It was necessary,
that doesn?t mean that I am comfortable about the
reality"

"The Slayer has proved to be a great asset in the
protection of the mortal realm; we are grateful, as
she has done much to keep vampires in check"

"That?s your guilt trip not mine. So why does this new
power scare the mighty PTB enough that they want my
advice?"

"We know no fear. But this is mysterious, the source
of its abilities, even its nature are unclear to us.
We fear that it may prove to be a greater threat than
314"

"Even I?ve heard of 314. Show me what you know"

There was silence as visions flooded her mind, visions
describing the activities of a red haired visitor to
Sunnydale.

After pausing to digest the visions the woman spoke.
"What is the blonde girl, Buffy?"

"She is the second Slayer"

"That is not possible, I mean, one girl in all the
world?"

"A few years ago Buffy was the Chosen One. She
attempted to stop a demon, known as the Master, from
opening the Hellmouth. The energies of the Hellmouth
confused our scrying. When a new slayer was called, we
assumed she had died as prophesied. However, she
reappeared and stopped the Master; it appears that she
did indeed die, and was revived by a friend using CPR"


"Retaining her abilities, it seems" the woman
remarked, keeping her thoughts to herself.

A further set of visions flooded her mind, showing her
scenes from Buffy?s history from her calling to the
present, including her fight with Faith.

"That explains the coma" was her only comment.

"About the visitor, Jo?" the Powers prompted.

"I know why she puzzles you"

"Explain"

"She isn?t supernatural, or at least, not most of the
time"

"But her strength, and other abilities are not human.
She has no soul"

"I didn?t say she was human. You have noted her lack
of a human soul, but she also lacks any sort of
demonic soul, she is entirely physical. Just as you
entirely lack physical form she lacks the spiritual
elements we associate with all living things. This
leads me to conclude that she has come from a reality
greatly differing from our own"

"Will she return?"

"Her activities to date appear to be consistent with
curiosity and compassion. She has not permanently
harmed any creature, human or demon, since her
arrival. I expect that she will return, and will
continue to study our world"

"Does she present a threat?"

"As I said, her actions appear devoid of hostile
intent, and I believe that she would continue in this
way. That being said, I should emphasise that what we
have seen her do is probably only a small part her
total capabilities"

"You believe that her capabilities are that great?"

"She has been careful not to change that which she
observes. It is reasonable to expect that in doing
this she did not have cause to exert herself"

"She has started Faith?s awakening, and has interfered
with the relationships of both the Slayer and her
witch friend"

"Both involved minimal intervention. I expect she
chose to heal the Slayer at least partly to better
observe her nature. Besides, Faith?s allegiances are
uncertain, it is perhaps better that those issues are
resolved before the 314 threat reaches its peak. You
know that"

"She still has driven the Slayer into a relationship
with the soldier, Riley Finn. This relationship is
unlikely to last and may cause the Slayer much grief.
Her actions have also delayed, even prevented, the
possibility of the Slayer forming a more intimate
relationship with the witch, which might prove much
more stable"

"I expect she believed that Buffy would gain valuable
information about the Initiative from the
relationship. Besides, as you know, although a
Buffy/Willow relationship would be very beneficial, if
it did not work out the consequences of a break-up
could be disastrous leaving the Slayer without
friends"

"Your insight into the psychology of this visitor has
been interesting; we hope your interpretation of her
intentions are correct"

"Glad to be of service" the woman disappeared.

****

When she reappeared in the garden, she immediately
noticed the presence of the visitor. With an unerring
sense, akin to that exhibited by cats, she had found
the most comfortable spot in the garden. She lay
stretched out on the swinging seat under the largest
tree in the garden, looking impossibly relaxed, her
red hair flowing artistically over her shoulder. Green
eyes met blue as the two women silently sized each
other up.

"I?ve been expecting you", the gardener stated. 

"I thought you might be; how are the PTB these days?"

"Touché"

"I guess that puts a premature end to the verbal
fencing. You fold too easily, that was all I had" the
redhead admitted with a smile.

"So much for mysterious repartee. Do you explain your
tricks?"

"Sure; to my friends. What should I call you?"

"I haven?t needed a name for millennia. It doesn?t
matter"

"Alright. I think perhaps Helen is appropriate, in a
classical sense, although I hear she was nothing on
you"

"Flattery; I thought we weren?t playing games. I
suppose I should call you Jo?"

"It?s the only name I?ve used here. I guess we can get
to explaining the tricks now"

"Sounds good. Would you like a drink?" Helen indicated
the cottage.

"I wouldn?t say no. I spent two days lying there
waiting for you to arrive; I could use a change of
scene. I hope the effect was worth it" Jo rose easily
form her position.

"Most artistic. You really go all out for effect don?t
you?" Helen led the way to the cottage.

"The psychological effect of good staging can?t be
underestimated. I aim to please"

"I?m not going to get bored while you?re around am I?"

"Not a chance"

Helen paused, examining one of the bedding plants that
appeared to be infested with some sort of insect, and
commented.
"Looks like I won?t be short of work for a while. I
guess that I lost about a week in that jump"

"Around six days as far as I could tell from the
energy signature when you arrived; have you tried
white oil?"

"I guess that explains how you knew about the PTB.
White oil works well enough, but so does kerosene"
Helen rummaged through a basket of tools sitting in
front of the house.

"Putting together my arrival, and that you had just
come home from a temporally delocalised dimension ?
good for talking to the PTB but not for much else.
Kerosene?"

"It?s cheaper and easier to light" Helen turned
holding what was unmistakably a small flamethrower.
She lit it, and in a few seconds reduced the infested
plant was reduced to a smoking stump.

"It looks very effective", then as the burned plant
regrew in a few seconds,
"That gives a whole new meaning to hardy perennial"

Helen led the way into the cottage. The room they
entered was a basically a kitchen, with a small table
by one window. Helen indicated that Jo should sit at
the table.
"What would you like to drink?"

"Water would be fine, thanks"

"Looks like you?re in luck, I have water" Helen
returned to the table with a couple of glasses, and a
bottle of water. "I don?t have many visitors", she
explained.

"I can?t see why, it?s a nice place. Bottled water? I
sort of expected an enchanted well or something"

"You?ve seen the aphids, would you want to hazard the
water?"

"Point taken"

"So you drink then? I wasn?t sure if you were entirely
artificial or not"

"As far as your universe is concerned I might as well
be, although I am pretty human really" 

"Apart from the shape changing, strength and speed
bits?"

"I meant intellectually; my intelligence is not a lot
beyond human. My body is entirely artificial; the
reality that I come from is very different from your
own, while at the same time being very similar. It is
simpler, there is only one dimension, similar to your
primary one, except without the slight supernatural
effects. There I was one of a group of people that
used technology to enhance our bodies. The process was
gradual; it was a few decades before it was possible
to transfer our minds completely to an artificial
matrix. I?m not boring you am I?"

"Not at all, its nice to finally find out something
new; 50,000 years is a long time, and my fellow demons
are not exactly very original"

"Obviously at this point we were no longer even
remotely human. To maintain some semblance of humanity
we use what might loosely be termed personality
overlays to emulate behaviours of biological life
forms. The shape I?m currently using, and my
personality is essentially that I had as a human."

"Biological life forms? You?re talking about
extraterrestrials aren?t you?"

"Yes. We made the first extraterrestrial contact a few
years after we became non-biological"

"Is that why you?re here? To boldly go, as it were?"

"Only partly. Once we had predicted the existence of
realities such as your own, where supernatural
possibilities exist, it was tempting to investigate
the possibilities. But there is one major side effect:
all forms of super-luminal travel rely to some extent
on the complete invariance of physical laws throughout
the universe ? and are therefore impossible here"

"You came here to study what would happen without
contact?"

"Not really. What we chose to become; what we in many
ways had to become, was not even remotely human. At
first we tried only to prevent only wars that
endangered earth, but soon we became involved in
preventing the outbreak of galactic war. There were
others like us but they were unpredictable, unstable,
many of them causing more conflict that they resolved,
sometimes even destroying themselves. At this time we
basically play god, in a sensitive way, in over 200
galaxies, over a million species. We have changed
although there are still three of us we occupy
thousands of bodies, keeping track of politics on tens
of millions of populated planets. We are locked in a
constant technological race with others of our kind,
and always have to cover our backs ? to the extent
that extending our existence to a reality without
interstellar travel, and with limited technology is as
much about taking a holiday as any research."

"There are three of you? Where are the others?"

"We were looking for a suitable universe, I was
checking out this one, they had others. Your universe
turns out to be quite unique, we did not expect that
the inhabitants of this type of reality would have
harnessed the possibilities quite so extensively. For
instance the interdimensional portal that I used as a
position reference when I travelled here has been
greatly modified, as I guess you would know. The
others will be joining me soon."

"So the thing with the Slayers was just a side issue?"

"The whole concept of the Slayer is just so poetic, I
just had to look into it more closely. Slayers? You
know as well as I do that there is only one."

"Yes"

"But the PTB don?t?"

"I created the Slayer, I guess although they have some
idea of how it works they don?t understand it
completely"

"You didn?t tell them then, what she is; what she can
become?"

"They probably would have wanted to stop it, they
dislike one individual becoming too powerful, and they
are very reluctant to interfere with the ?balance? in
that way ? she deserves at least the chance to
complete what she began, unknowing"

"You don?t see me objecting. Her friends will be very
important when it happens, if it happens. That?s
partly why I did what I did; any romantic relationship
is likely to fail under the strain of the changes. It
will be very hard for her."

"With Faith how much did you do?"

"Not as much as you might think. I skimmed her mind,
and revived her slightly to make sure what I was
seeing about the Slayer spell was real, and not just
the coma. She would have woken soon anyway"

"Definitely trouble coming there. But better sooner
that later I suppose" Helen admitted.

"She really does love Buffy, you know"

"I suspected. I think even the PTB did"

"At least there is no risk of that romance
straightening out; it could be disastrous"

"Buffy needs stability. But being close to the
stability of her friends should be sufficient. So you
can read minds? Is that what you did to Giles?"

"Sort of. I copied his memories about the
supernatural. It was quicker than trying to assimilate
the whole library. It didn?t help a lot."

"Very few would have any idea about the origin of the
slayer. How did you find me anyway?"

"The workmanship of the spell was unique, and gave me
some idea of what I was looking for. I managed to find
your energy signature fairly quickly, and traced you
here"

"Neat"

****

next, we move closer to the present- from this point
plot follows the series until "The Body" next part
coming soon.

CBMoore

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