FF//Revelations and Realizations (3/?)

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Hiya Folks, 
I back guys so you can put away the pitch forks and torches, I'm not too
lost. 
I hope you like this story, it is a little different from my usual. 

Thanks for taking the time to read it, remember please send feedback.
TTFN
Alex 
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Full disclaimers can be found at: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow/message/8661 
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Revelations and Realizations (3/?)
by Alex 
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Buffy's mind became aware before she even opened her eyes. The first
thing she noticed was a pleasantly familiar weight on her chest. Opening
one sleepy hazel eye she spied an unruly mass of shining red hair spread
over her chest. 

She had to smile knowing how her lover liked to sleep and even though
Willow was constantly telling her that she wished to join the Slayer on
her regular morning runs, the smiling blonde knew the peacefully
sleeping redhead wasn't serious. 

If for no other reason than by the pale shade of green she became
whenever Buffy mentioned the ten mile distance she ran daily. 

Gently the loving young woman moved her wife's beautiful body off of her
and over to her own side of the bed. Buffy could feel her body's
reaction to the feel of Willow's soft warm alabaster skin sliding across
her own sensitive skin. 

The fires of her passion flared up in the Slayer's belly forcing her to
exert all her will to make herself leave the gorgeous inviting body that
she found fascinating to explore even after they had spent nearly every
night together for over a year. Buffy still felt the same gut wrenching
longing for the red haired, green eyed witch that she had felt the
first time they'd made love in the very bed they were laying in right
now. 

<>It's gotta be love<>Buffy told herself as a shy loving smile found
it's way to her lips <>When every touch feels as wonderful and new as
the very first.<> 

With a titanic show of pure will Buffy slid out of the huge comfortable
bed and sitting on the edge she stretched, realigning her back with a
series of loud pops and snaps. 

"Just where are you sneaking off to at this Goddess forsaken hour of the
morning." a soft sleepy voice mumbled from the bed. "I want my Pillow
back." 

Buffy looked back over her shoulder and gave her lover a dazzling smile. 

"Sorry love, can't come back to bed." Buffy answered in a bright,
slightly teasing voice "It's time for my morning run. You know I gotta
get rid of some of this energy or I wont be any good to anyone for the
rest of the day. You know, you could come with Nightrunner and I. We
would both be glad to have you with us my beautiful little Sorceress." 

"Ewww running," Willow moaned and pulled her lover's pillow into a hug,
making the Slayer extremely jealous of the object, "Running for fun at
this hour is just perverted." 

Buffy leaned over and gave the sleepy redhead a slow sensuous kiss
then stood back up and gave the center of her universe a loving smile. 

"Well we knew you loved me for some reason," the blonde quipped, a
mischievous twinkle in her eyes, "I guess it must be for my
perversions." 

"Oh yeah that must be it." Willow yawned and stretched like a pampered
feline. "Well then Ms. Pervert, you just go off on your little run if
you must, 
and leave poor pitiful little me all neglected, and alone back here by
myself." 

Buffy gave her lover a long incredibly hot kiss then got up and
hurriedly put on her running clothes. Knowing her lover was watching her
every move, 
Buffy stopped and bent over,
to "retie" her shoe laces. 

Her tiny nylon running shorts left little to the imagination, and the
Slayer smiled impishly, 
when she heard
the deep throated moan come from 
her lover, knowing the redhead was enjoying the view. 

"Go back to sleep sweetheart." Buffy told her beloved witch "I'll wake
you up when I get back, and we'll find us some breakfast." 

"Sounds like a plan lover." the still sleepy witch answered as she
pulled Buffy's pillow into a tighter embrace "Have fun running." 

"K, babe" the Slayer called as she went out the door and in a flash she
disappeared into the trees just outside their room. 
================= 
Buffy ran through the trees heading for the trail that Morrigan had
shown her during her first visit to Teach Tu Dannan. It was a beautiful
shady trail that wove an easy scenic way through the thick primal forest
that was a large part of the small realm, it supported an amazing
diversity of wildlife, most of which was extinct in the Slayer's world. 

She had to smile as she approached the beginning of the trail and saw
the huge black female dire-wolf, Nightrunner, waiting for her. It had
become an every morning ritual for the Slayer and the wolf to run
together. 

They enjoyed the indescribable pleasure of the freedom and the bond the
two primal creatures felt as they ran through the wilderness together. 
The wolf and Buffy had begun sharing the baser emotions with each other
almost as soon as they met. 

Then at the request of the huge
intelligent wolf and the Slayer,
Buffy, Willow, and the wolf proformed a 
bonding ceremony that formed the three of them into a pack. 

Almost instantly the two of them were able to communicate with each
other, 
and through Willow's link with Buffy,
all three were capable of communicating
with each other. 

Nightrunner was very pleased to have the Slayer and her mate as pack
mates, and she spent many hours with them. Especially enjoying her time
with the Slayer, 
there was a wild primal streak
in both of them that
made them even closer. 

The unusual pair even worked out together with Morrigan. The rough and
tumble games they played, made even Morrigan stand back, and wonder at
their bond.  

The only difference between communicating with her wife and the wolf was
that, the wolf's thoughts were projected as pictures, instead of words,
but 
once the two humans had learned Nightrunner's mode of "speech" they were
in constant contact with Willow, 
who always urging them to test the limits of their combined gifts. 

As far as they could figure there was no real limit on the link except
they had to concentrate harder when the distances became greater. 

The two younger champions of humanity had spent close to six months
working with their instructors improving their old skills and acquiring
new ones. The last time Willow checked with her Druid friends only a few
weeks had past in their home realm and they reported that all their
loved ones were safe and well. 

As always the two young champions enjoyed their time in the Druid
sanctuary, and their mentors had brought other Druids to tutor the eager
students in other skills. 

All these developments went through the Slayer's mind as she and her
pack mate ran. She was especially pleased by the way their proficiency
with the mental link had improved, 
not only were they able to 
communicate over long distances in great detail, but they could block
all 
exchanges even in the same room. 

She had to smile when she recalled how embarrassed Willow had been when
a particularly passionate exchange between her and Buffy had also been
"heard" by Nightrunner, after that they had become proficient at
narrowing their communication links to only the one they wanted to
share it with. 

As Buffy approached the end of her run she noticed a distant figure
going through the trees towards her rooms. 

A momentary flash of panic 
went through the Slayer's mind, remembering that she'd left her beloved
mate still sleeping. 

Then she recalled where they were and any thoughts of danger evaporated.
When she drew closer Buffy was able to easily make out the mass of fiery
red hair and knew her visitor was her friend and mentor as well as
fellow warrior, Morrigan. 

The Slayer sped up wanting to stop her brash friend from accidentally
waking her peacefully slumbering wife. Knowing how grumpy Willow was
when she was woke up by any surprise such as loud knocking and the wild
green eyed Irish warrior did nothing quietly, especially knocking, the 
Slayer didn't want her mentor turned into something nasty like a toad or
a 
slime worm. 

"Hey Morrigan!" Buffy called out as she neared the tall woman "What's
goin' on?" 

The red haired warrior was wearing her usual black leather pants and
tunic with the knee high black boots. She turned away from the Slayer's
door and smiled broadly at the sight of her student running toward her.
The legendary Irish warrior walked to intercept the pretty young blonde. 

"Mornin' Slayer darlin'" Morrigan said brightly, her mood always was
better for seeing her eager student and friend "I see ya' got yerself a
runnin' pardner finally. 
What happened,
the Sorceress wise enough to stay 
abed, instead of out runnin' fer no reason?" 

Buffy's lyrical laughter filled the air as she came to a stop in front
of her mentor. Nightrunner having never understood why her two legged
friends felt it necessary to remain awake all day went past the two
women and lay down in a shady spot by the doors that led into the
Slayer's rooms, giving a huff of disapproval at her pack mates waste of
energy. 

The wolf set a good example
by closing her eyes and resting when
she wasn't needed. 
What only Buffy and Brigit understood, was that when Nightrunner had
joined 
with Buffy and her mate the Great Sorceress, to form the pack, she
stepped aside, 
and made Buffy the prime alpha,
making it Nightrunner's 
duty to guard, not only Buffy, but even more importantly, Willow as mate
of 
the prime.

So the huge Dire-wolf had taken
to sleeping just outside 
their doors. She gave out one more huff of disgust at her sister alpha
and settled in to wait for what ever came next. 

"She's thoroughly disgusted with me for not taking a nap like a good
wolf." Buffy explained to her friend with a chuckle "but she thinks my
idea about going in and 
"rolling around" with my mate
is a perfectly
wolfy thing to do." 

"Ah and a fine lady she is, with amazin' taste and refinement."
Morrigan 
quipped, as she turned and bowed to the obviously comfortable wolf who
yipped back at her in agreement "You two are gettin' truly close since
the bondin' then."  

"Yeah, she really is quite a character," Buffy said as she gave a
wistful 
smile to the huge beast, her fondness and growing respect showing in her
sparkling eyes "but she is a great friend and the best running pardner
I've ever had. 
Really Morrigan,
you should see her thoughts
when we are running,
it is the most amazing,
and spiritual feeling I've ever felt." 

Morrigan looked into the younger woman's hazel eyes and saw the
enraptured far away gaze as she thought back to the images that her pack
mate broadcast as they ran through the forest. 

"Aye I can see it must be really somethin' alright." Morrigan agreed "Be
that as it may, I take it that breakfast will be somewhat late this
mornin'." 

The young blonde just looked at her friend's flashing green eyes and
with a slight blush nodded her answer to the somewhat leading question. 

"Fine, then I'll tell my darlin' Brigit," Morrigan chuckled as a
mischievous sparkle came to her eyes and a smile came to her full
sensuous lips "while I'm at it I'm a thinkin' I'll be followin' yer fine
example, Slayer darlin', and see if my beloved is up for a little
"rollin' around" so to speak." 

The two warriors gave each other a knowing look and quickly went their
separate ways. Eager to find their lovers with far more than greetings
on their minds. 
===================== 
Giles brought his recently
acquired bright red convertible to a 
screeching stop at the emergency entrance of Sunnydale Memorial, and was
out of the vehicle, 
almost before it stopped rolling. 

It had been less than fifteen minutes since he received the frantic
phone call from the Slayer's mother. 

Leaving Jeffery to park the car he 
ran toward the well marked entrance to the emergency room, the worried
Englishman burst through the doors and before he could even begin to
look for her he was being held by the dark blonde bundle of panic and
fear. 

Sensing her need to be held he enfolded the distraught woman in his arms
and rested the side of his head on top of hers taking a moment to
breathe 
in the scent of the woman he'd come to know, respect, admire, and even
love during his years with the Slayer. 

He was often in awe of her quiet strength and compassion, in the face of
the unusual situations her daughter and her friends were constantly
forced to battle. 

If Giles was the father figure of this eclectic band of child-warriors,
Joyce Summers was the mother figure they so desperately needed. While
the ex-Watcher was responsible for the training, organizing and
leadership, Joyce was the nurse, advisor & confidant. 

Whenever one of the 
brave kids needed care, either physically or spiritually or even just a
loving hug, Buffy's mother was there for them. 

Once again the fates had called upon the groups "Mom" to care for one of
her unusual brood. Two of her "children" were in severe danger and had
instinctively come to her in one of their darkest times. 
In her favor

Joyce had handled
everything perfectly,
but once the immediate crisis was 
taken care of, she found she needed the support of this quietly strong,
and compassionate man whom she'd become dependent on over time. 

He was a pillar of strength that she could count on whenever she was in
need of him, and 
after a while Joyce found
she had come to love the 
stoic Englishman, that her daughter trusted with everything important in
her life. 

Giles slowly led the still
sobbing woman over to a well worn couch against the far wall of the
waiting room, confident that the doctors would be able to find them with
any news. He gently sat her down next to him and waited for her to lean
into him, 
resting her head on his shoulder
as she always did in these situations. 

"Everything will be alright love." Giles told her softly "You've done
all you could, the rest is in the hands of the doctors and fate now." 

"Oh Rupert, it was so horrible." Joyce sobbed quietly "They looked so
small and helpless, 
and there was so much blood." 

In a way Giles was relieved, with a large amount of blood present after
the attack, he was sure that vampires weren't involved in whatever
happened. 

"Hush now sweetheart, it's over now." the ex-Watcher assured the upset
woman, "Try to calm down and tell me what happened." 

"O-okay, I-I'll try." the distraught woman sobbed still on the edge of
hysterics "I-I was sl-sleeping and woke up t-to someone banging on the
f-front d-door. I g-got there as fast as I c-could, a-and I remember
y-yelling at th-them to q-quit p-pounding on my d-door. W-when I
op-pened the d-d-door th-there th-they w-were. Xand-der was so
b-bra-rave, and h-he had c-c-carried p-poor C-Cor-Cord-delia all th-the
w-way from the c-c-cem-etary, he was c-c-ov-ered w-with b-b-blo-od." 

She broke down again weeping too hard to speak, and Giles pulled her
into a comforting embrace, 
trying to help her to calm down
enough to finish
her story. 

Jeffery had joined them, unnoticed,
while Joyce was relating
her encounter.
Drawing on his expertise as doctor,
he offered to give the
obviously distraught woman a sedative,
but was turned down, as Joyce began
to win out over her emotions.

Knowing that both men needed
her account of
what had happened
to the two young people,
to determine if Jeffery's 
well honed skills with the medical needs in paranormal situations was
required 
to help Xander and Cordelia recover. 

"N-no th-thank you J-Jef-fery." Joyce gulped out as she regained
control. "I th-think I can handle it." 

Giles could hear the control returning to her voice and signaled Jeffery
to leave her be. 
Then he waited for Joyce
to resume her tale. Joyce took 
a deep calming breath and slowly exhaled it once again in control of
herself. 

"Xander was badly injured and exhausted, and by the time I opened the
door, he was on his knees, 
still cradling Cordelia in his arms."
Joyce started again, her voice steady, 
and her emotions fully controlled. "Both of them were covered with deep
slashes and dark deep bruises, and there was blood all over both of
them, 
even a small, but rapidly spreading
puddle beneath them, on the porch."  

"I couldn't get them inside,
so I ran to the phone and called 911.
Then I went back, and did what I could,
to help them.  
Cordelia had a big lump
on the side of her head, 
and her hair was matted  with blood, along with her other
injuries." 

"Xander worried me more though, 
I could see he'd taken several blows to the head, and he
admitted seeing double, 
once we got Cordelia laid down on the porch. He said something about a
huge demon, and some humans, attacking them in the cemetery." 

"He said they kept demanding to know  
where the Slayer, and her witch had gone. Xander told me that he'd
finally fought off enough of them to reach that gun he carries on
patrol, and after he shot two of the humans, the rest took off saying
they'd be back, and  something about the master would have what he
came for." 

"Then he passed out too, just as the ambulance pulled up. Neither of
them has come out of it yet, 
as far as I know, and that's all I was able to get. Is that enough, did
I do alright?" 

"You did marvelously love" Giles whispered in her ear immensely proud of
her level headed manner when caring for the two wounded Scoobies. "I
can't tell you how wonderful I think you are." 

Joyce blushed like a school girl,
and was about to say something when
they heard a female doctor calling.

Both grew silent as Jeffery called the
doctor over. 
Giles noticed the the woman's
scrubs had blood stains of
various sizes all over, 
and all of them fresh. All three tensed in anticipation of the doctor's
information of the condition of her patients and his prognosis for their
recovery. 

"First I think you should know that both Mr. Harris and Ms. Chase are
alive 
and they apparently will survive their wounds." the tall woman said, her
face took on a dismal grimace when the three adults reflected a joy she
wasn't sure was appropriate once she gave them the rest of the
prognosis." but before you get your hopes up too much, there is more
that you should know. " 

The air suddenly became thick with the tension caused by her statement
and she sat down sighing in exhaustion, this was the part of her job the
trauma surgeon hated. 
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END 3
TBC 
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