ff:Shadowwalker

[Carol.Clarke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Title: Shadowwalker
Chapter Eight: Photos, Spying and Shopping with Cordelia.
Rating: R now, later? 
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own it all 
Summary: Buffy died but it's not the end. 
Thanks: Cheryl Hill and Sammy my Koala
Note: Spoilers for Gift. 
Spoiler Notes: I couldn't deal with Buffy being dead. And this idea was
bouncing in my head for a while. Hope it's not too disjointed. 


Photos, Spying and Shopping with Cordelia

Willow took a sip of earl grey tea, and then picked up the stack of photos
on Giles desk. Most of them were pictures of Hank Summers. Many of them also
had the woman calling herself Lilah standing beside Hank. A few had pictures
of Hank in sexual situations. Some times with Lilhah, some times with
another woman that Willow had never seen before. From the numbers of photos
and the way Giles had them pinned to the wall with large notes identifying
the people in the pictures, Giles was spying on Hank Summers. 

Not that it was easy to miss. The whole of Giles small apartment was
dedicated to the life of Hank Summers. Everywhere there where newspaper
articles, typed up interviews, copies of birth certificates, driver license,
marriage license. "Ah Giles have you been using the Internet?" Willow asked
a little worried by the printed pages lying all over his room. 

"No not myself as such, the counsel hired someone to assist me in these
matters. I really am here on counsel business." Giles said stirring his tea
and looking at his feet. It was clear Giles was nervous, he also kept
looking at the front door of his apartment.

"Mr. Giles are you expecting someone?" Tara asked studying Giles strange
reactions to everything around him. Before he could answer a key was put in
his front door and then it was slowly opened. 

Willow's eyes began turning black and her shield instinctively surrounded
the three of them. The door pushed open and a blond woman between 28 and 35
stepped in the room giving Giles a funny look. Then she picked up her
grocery bag and shut the door. 

"I picked you up a sandwich. You should have told me we had company." Kate
said as she moved around the room and started to walk into the kitchen when
she saw Willow's eyes. Her gun was pulled and aimed at Willow's head in a
heartbeat. 

"Ok I don't know what you are but this is loaded with blessed silver. Let
Giles go and I might let you live." Kate said still taking aim square at
Willow's head. 

"No no Kate they are friends please put the gun down." Giles said moving in
front of Willow to protect her. 

"Hey, your eyes are doing it again honey, I am sure she is a friend, I feel
it." Tara said turning Willow to look at her. Then she kissed the redhead.
Willow's powers were growing more and more each day. Tara somehow understood
that the part of Buffy inside her was no longer holding the witch back. And
it was extremely important for Willow to find the cause of their saved
dreams. Oddly Tara never feared Willow. 

"Sorry" Willow said leaning in and kissing Tara and then turning to Kate she
said, "Sorry, I get all grrrr sometimes. Are you the one helping Giles with
the Internet?" 

"Kate, you have heard me talk about Willow Rosenberg, and her ah ah, Tara
McClay." Giles said stumbling over part of his words and blushing. 

"The witches from Sunnydale?" Kate Lockley asked, putting her gun away.
Actually she had heard Cordelia and Angel refer to them even before she went
to work for Giles. 

"The Witches from Sunnydale, you make it sound like we're the only ones."
Willow said but held out her hand to Kate and smiled. Tara also leaned over
to shake Kate's hand after Willow.

"Ms Lockley, had several business dealing with Angel when she was a police
officer. This dealing involved Wolfram and Hart the law firm."

"What Giles is politely trying to say is Wolfram and Hart saw to it that I
lost my job. When the Counsel needed help Angel suggested me." Kate said
smiling.

"I should have just taken you straight to Angel. He is the only one who
knows I am still in California. And he promised to keep it secret. He
doesn't even know where I am, just to contact me through the Counsel." Giles
replied.

"Well now that we are here let us help. I can go over the computer
information, maybe do a little hacking of my own. Tara can read over your
interviews and other information and see if anything clicks." Willow said
smiling. 

"Honey you're forgetting. We promised Wesley we would show up and look at
Cordelia's spell." Tara added with a frown. 

"Darn I forgot." Willow said still thinking everything over. 

"Cordelia's spell?" Giles asked worriedly

"Wesley believes someone put a love spell on Cordelia. As much as I think
her new girlfriend is weird, there are no such things as love spells. Not
ones that work. Sure go badly wrong but not work. " Willow started to
babble.

"Still we did promise, besides, if we remove what ever it is and they are
still in love, maybe Wesley and Angel will be able to deal with it. You
remember what it was like when we first came out to your friends." Tara said
then blushed a little. 

"Cordelia is in love?" Giles said finally grasping that part of the
conversation.

"Yes, with a half demon girl named Nada something or the other." Willow said
smiling at her former mentor. 

"Romanoff. Actually she is really nice, I like her." Tara said quietly.

"Half demon?" Giles asked again.

"Xen Kil Tra Demon or Peacekeeper demon, Actaully she isn't really all that
demon like." Willow said smiling again. 

"Did you say Xen Kil Tra Demon, they're supposed to be extinct." Giles said
wondering if his head was going to explode. 

"Heaven releases, and hell turns her back. The three-eyed demon will be the
only one to cradle the child in her arms and carry her back on the wings of
shadows. The key will bleed, but be not made dead, and evil will lock the
door to heaven with the tears of an innocent child. A seer, has eyes but her
love is denied the power of 3 times 3. A tree will grow too large for its
roots to secure. A heart and a brain will walk in the rain and play lots of
games, all for the dreams they have dreamed. Nothing can be right until the
perilous night when the shadowwalker returns." Giles quoted tonelessly
looking off in the distance. 

"A prophecy?" Willow asked. 

"Not according to the council. It's something written in a slayer's Journal
700 years ago. No one has ever made any sense out of it. Peacekeeper Demon
are 3 eyed demons." Giles said then picked up a stack of papers. 

"Willow why don't you and Tara go spend the night with Angel. Take care of
this spell thing. Tomorrow you can return here and help Kate and I."

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)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Ten minutes after Willow and Tara had left, Giles was still going through
papers. 

"Ok, want to tell me what we are looking for?" Kate asked.

"Change of plans. If Willow is right then there is a Xen Kil Tra demon in
town. We need to find it." 

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Tara looking around at the direction Giles car was headed. "This isn't the
way to Angel's." The blond witch stated.

"You remember when Cordelia introduced us to Cindy, you know her friend that
married Nada's brother." Willow said vaguely.

"Sure, why?"

"Well I got Cindy's address from Cordelia but I never got Nada's. Anyway I
hacked into the post office box address changes and got Kalib's old address
from it last week. At the time I didn't know why I wanted it other than I
didn't know Nada's home address."

"You could have just asked Cordelia?" Tara said wondering what the hell was
suddenly wrong with Willow.

"Before I didn't know Nada came from a family of 3 eyed demons." Willow
replied.

"We met her little sister Martha." Tara reminded her.

"That is right, I don't know why I didn't get it before." Willow said
driving even faster. Tara was getting really nervous at the speed Willow was
driving. 

"Get what?"

"That weird thing Giles said. Well it was weird but I remembered something
from the dreams, a three eyed Demon guarding Buffy until she was strong
enough to to to to to to to to... to " Willow was just stuck repeating the
word to, her whole body locked off from thinking beyond that point. Tara
grabbed the wheel and put her foot on the break of the car to stop it.
Somehow Tara got to the side of the road. 

"To to to to to to" Willow kept repeating white knuckles on the steering
wheel. 

Tara who was crying now, leaned over and kissed Willow pulling her hands off
the wheel. "It's ok Willow I am here, I love you." She cried pulling Willow
in to her and wrapping her up in her arms.

Willow blinked and looked around. She knew what happened but it was like she
had watched it from someone else's body. 

"Tara would you drive. I am still going to follow this up." Willow said with
resolve face.

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)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Cindy was smiling as her mother-in law patted her belly. Martha her youngest
sister-in-law was patting her belly too, all three of her eyes wide open in
awe of the coming baby. 

"You know dear if taking the whole family is to much you don't have to go
with the whole gang." Madelyn told her daughter in law. 

"Cordelia is a big help, and Buffy has her moments. And Martha here is my
right hand shopper." Cindy said patting Martha on the head. 

"Yeah and Nada gets to be the guy." Martha said with a laugh.

"Your sister is not a guy. Strange yes but not a guy." Madelyn playfully
admonished her youngest daughter. 

"Nada is a big help too." Cindy replied, "When she isn't..." Cindy cut
herself off when she realized Martha was in the kitchen and Cordelia and
Nada were still not out of the bedroom. 

Buffy wheeled into the kitchen and said "Josh and I just put the boys down
for a nap, are Nada and Cordelia ready to go yet?" 

"It takes those two a long time to change sheets it seems." Madelyn said
with a smile. "They are getting ready now." Madelyn added overly amused by
her child and her lover. 

"Sorry, there are some tough corners on that bed." Nada said blushing from
ear to ear as she entered the kitchen.

"You did actually change the sheets?" Buffy whispered back in Nada's ear.

"We'll finish when we get back." Cordelia said grabbing Buffy's chair and
wheeling it out of the room toward the car before the ex slayer could
protest. 

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))))))))))))))))))))))))

Willow got a funny feeling as she felt the car pull past her. Then she
remembered the address and checked it on the side of the house. Tara parked
the car and the two of them got out and headed to the front door. Willow
didn't have a clue what she was going to ask.

A few seconds after the doorbell rang a very beautiful three eyed demon
answered the door. 

"Ahh the two witches from Sunnydale have come for a reading?" The demon said
cryptically.

"Reading, that's right we want a reading." Willow said. She decided to just
go along for the ride. 

"I normally charge for my readings." Madelyn replied. That was a true
statement. Madelyn did earn some of her money by fortune telling. 

"How much?" Willow asked, she would pay for this reading.

"One hundred dollars. But before you pay you must understand, you may not
like what you hear and I will not return your money." Madelyn said taking
them into the living room. 

"Mom is everything ok?" Josh asked. His mother never did readings in the
house if she could help it. They could turn bad so quickly, it wasn't safe
for the family.

"Everything is fine Josh. Will you please watch your younger brothers for
me. Get them to safety if something goes wrong." Madelyn said not even
hiding the meaning from Willow or Tara.

"I can call Uncle Martin." Josh offered. He could feel Willow's power and he
knew enough to be afraid. 

"The witch is strong my son, but she is not evil. At least not yet. Just
watch your brothers for now." Madelyn replied then turned back around to
Willow and Tara. 

"My son can sense your power just as I can. He knows you could easily kill
everyone in the house. That was my teenage son Josh and my two sons Jona and
Thomas are napping in the other room. I have seven children in all, Kalib,
my oldest is at work but he is also married and no longer lives at home, I
have a another pre teen son playing at a friends house and my two daughters
are shopping with my daughter in law for maternity clothes." Madelyn said
evenly opening the refrigerator and pouring three glasses of pink lemonade.


Willow opened her wallet and pulled out 5 twenty's. Years of hanging out
with Buffy had taught her to always carry cash. Only now as part owner of
the Magic Box she actually had it to carry. The business was doing very
well. 

Madelyn sat down at the table and took a drink of the lemonade. Then she
picked up the money and moved it off the table. "What do you want to know?"

"Tell me about my dreams." Willow said taking a chair and sitting down
across from Madelyn. Oddly Tara simply walked out of the kitchen and into
the living room. She pointed at the couch asking Josh if it was ok for her
to sit down and watch TV with him. When he said yes she sat down. 

"You have to tell me about your dreams first for me to answer." Madelyn
said.

"Everynight it's the same. Buffy dies or rather part of her dies. Not this
part." Willow stopped and pointed at her stomach. "I have that part hidden
away in the dream."

"You are shared with each other but you already knew this." Madelyn
confirmed. "Then what happens."

"Then she dies. And there are shadows everywhere when she dies, blocking her
souls path to heaven. But she dies anyway and she is in the tunnel and she
starts to go to heaven. And I don't know what happens." Willow said looking
at Madelyn

"What do you think happens?" The three-eyed demon asked

"Heaven can't let her in, something is going to happen, and they need her on
Earth. She wasn't meant to die yet. So many voices. But Heaven pushes her
away. They reject her because it isn't the right time or something but they
reject her. And then she falls, she falls forever and she starts to go to
Hell and Hell rejects her really fast. Her light is too bright. Her force
too pure and strong. So Hell rejects her." Willow said carefully then looked
at Madelyn

"You believe me?" Willow asked

"I believe this is your dream." Madelyn says carefully.

"Then the shadow's are called. And the shadows come for Me and Xander and
Giles because we are already part of her, only the shadows ... The shadows,
only the shadows..." Willow just threw up her arms in complete defeat. She
knew her mind would not let her explain anymore. 
"I cannot complete the dream for you." Madelyn said slowly. "Even if I knew
the answer it isn't mine to complete."

"So I wasted 100 dollars." Willow said slowly.

"Depends on how you view it. What have you learned by coming here today?"
Madelyn answered the witch. 

"There is a point where my mind won't let me go any further."

"Oh you have learned much more than that, what of my sons reaction to you?
It was not the first time today you have seen that reaction." Madelyn
prompted.

"Your son, Giles assistant, maybe some other people are afraid of me."
Willow said staring at the demons center eye.

"Are they afraid of your lover?" Madelyn asked

"No just me." Willow said wondering where this was coming from.

"If people are afraid of you before you learn the secret to this point in
your mind from your dreams, how much more afraid of you will they become
after you learn this secret?" Madelyn asked.

"Should people be afraid of me?" Willow suddenly asked.

"This friend of yours, this Buffy, she was a powerful being was she not?"
Madelyn asked

"Yes very powerful." Willow replied.

"Were you afraid of her?" Madelyn asked

"No. Never." Willow said evenly. 

"Where others afraid of her?" Madelyn asked again

"Some people." Willow answered

"Should they have been afraid of her?" Madelyn asked

"Some of them yes, but only the evil ones." Willow said with a smile.

"Do only the evil ones have to fear you?" Madelyn replied and then she got
up and left the kitchen leaving Willow alone. Willow sat there staring at
her lemonade. 










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