Fic: Homeward Bound (4/?)

[buffythebushkangaroo@xxxxxxxxxxx]

This one's turning into a bit of a rollercoaster.
I hope you're enjoying the ride.

Anne-Lise.

--

Buffy relaxed into the soft kiss. After their experiences together 
on a number of strange yet hauntingly familiar worlds, she'd finally 
come to know and respect her fellow sliders. She knew now what was 
driving her home. She missed her best friend and she needed to find 
her way back to her sister. however, that didn't mean she couldn't 
take time out to enjoy the few pleasures that dropped into her path.
"You're so..." Maggie broke off as Buffy's tongue explored her mouth.

*

Willow sat opposite Tara in the Espresso Pump.
"How?" Willow asked after an eternity. "After all we've..." She 
trailed off.
"It j... just happened." Tara said. "But we've been drifting apart 
since Buffy... died."
Willow closed her eyes, yet her tears still left moist trails down 
her cheeks. Tara came round the table to give Willow a hug, but 
Willow pushed her away.
"No!" she shouted, making everyone turn to look at her. Willow 
glared at Tara. "Leave me alone!"
Tara fell over backwards as unseen hands pulled her away. Willow 
got up and left.

*

Things are finally coming together. Pain and torment, oh how I 
revel in such feelings... Yet the fear... Oh yes, there must be fear, 
there must...
"Who's there?"
Silence. Then a figure steps forth from the shadows.
"I've been watching you."

*

"So what have you learned from all these experiences?" Quinn asked.
Buffy hiccuped. "Beer. S'foamy."
"Damn right." Quinn stared morosely into his glass.
Rembrandt giggled causing Buffy to break out of her stupor. 
"What's funny?" she demanded.
"I was just thinking about that world we visited, where all the 
buildings were made of rubber and people didn't wear clothes. Your 
face was a picture!" Remmie broke off into a peal of laughter.
Buffy grinned. "That didn't spook me as much as when I thought I 
was back home and everything seemed the same, except Cordelia was a 
librarian and Xander was a vampire."
"With a soul," Quinn pointed out.
"Yeah..." Buffy took a drink from her glass. "Lots of those going 
round."
"I don't think we're from the same Earth." Quinn said.
Buffy blinked. "No?"
"No. No vampires on my Earth. Or... At least I don't think there 
are."
Buffy nodded. "You're lucky." She sighed. "I wish I could get back 
home somehow."
"You can."

*

"So you're The Reaper?" Spike smiled. He leafed through the journal 
avoiding Jonathan's eyes. "Pain, suffering, hatred and fear. This 
looks like bloody good fun!" He thought for a moment. "Yeah... Yeah! 
I can so enjoy doing this! Since that damn chip ran out of juice," he 
tapped the side of his head, "I've been looking for something to fill 
up my idle days. The Reaper! Yeah... That'll cause people to fear me 
again..."
Jonathan said nothing. His sightless dead gaze remained still; his 
head tilted at an impossible angle.

*

Quinn nursed his black eye while a near-sober Buffy glared at him.
"There was no need to hit me!" he exclaimed.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier there was a way I could get back 
home?"
Quinn winced as his fingers probed around his eye. "Because its not 
easy. When your portal opened, my timer scanned it and stored the n-
spatial co-ordinates. But without a director those co-ordinates are 
useless."
"So," Buffy stated, "we just need one of these director things."
Quinn nodded. Rembrandt snored. "Yeah." He waited for Buffy to ask 
the next obvious question.
"Where do we get one from?" Buffy asked.

*

"You broke up with Willow?" Dawn's eyes seemed impossibly 
round. "Over me?"
Tara stared at the hospital bed. Dawn was recovering well, but she 
seemed gaunt. "I l...love you." Tara said.
Dawn tilted her head. "I love you too," she whispered. Tara hugged 
her, gingerly and awkwardly because of Dawn's wound, and they kissed.
"but what about Willow? Is she okay?" Dawn asked. She looked up and 
screamed.
Willow stood in the doorway. She wore gothic clothes and black 
mascara. her eyes were completely black.
Tara turned and felt a wall of force ram into her. She staggered, 
and Dawn cried out. Tara's head snapped up. "Deixe a luz do amor 
impedir que as coisas más aconteçam neste lugar!" she cried, no trace 
of her usual stammer or hesitancy in her voice.
The lights went out and the room fell into darkness.

*

"Tell me more about the Kromagg," Buffy asked.
"They're evil," Colin said. The sliders sat around a makeshift table.
Maggie agreed. "They're power-mad and extremely technologically 
advanced."
Quinn sighed. "I know what you're thinking. You think you can just 
take them on and win through somehow. But you're wrong. I met a 
slayer once. She was beautiful and deadly. She fought like no-one 
I've ever seen and she had wonderful red hair." Buffy smiled. "But I 
also saw her throat explode and her head severed."
Buffy swallowed.
"The only way to win against the Kromagg," Quinn said, "is by 
attrition. Have a goal and aim solely for that goal. If you want us 
to risk our lives to get a director just so that you can get home, 
then I'll help you do that. But I can't speak on behalf of the 
others."
"Thanks Quinn," Buffy said in a small voice. "And... I'm really 
sorry about your eye."
"Forget about it."

*

End Part 4.