FIC: Right In Front of You Part 15

["Callistosdarkside" <callistosdarkside@xxxxxxxx>]

Things really pick up in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Tell me what you think, especially the W/T shippers, cuz I haven't heard
from you in awhile. I think I might have aliented you guys with the whole
B/W relationship, sorry about that, but it is a story about a love triangle,
so that can't be helped. Now I think I might have just angered the B/W
shippers, doh. {I shut my mouth and crawl back into a hole, to write the
next chapter, hopefully pleasing both sides. :)}

-CDS

. Title: Right In Front of You Part 15
. Author: Callisto's Dark Side
. Email: callistosdarkside@xxxxxxxx
. Feedback: The more I get, the faster I write.
. Distribution: Can be found at
http://www.geocities.com/callistosdarkside/RightInFrontOfYou.html (My Site),
http://www.geocities.com/last_days_of_pern, and
http://www.peccath.com/extraflamey/mainframe.htm
. Spoilers: All of Season 5, but events take place before some events in
Tough Love.
. Rating: R
. Pairing: W/T & B/W
. Disclaimer: All characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to the
almighty Joss Whedon and Company, and are only being borrowed for the fun
and enjoyment of us, the super fans.
. Summary: Willow/Tara fic in which the two love birds must manage to deal
with the consequences of a spell that threatens to tear them apart forever.

Chapter 15

"Buffy!" Ben shouted across the lawn, catching the blonde just as she was
about to enter her house after an eventful night of slaying.

"Ben?" Buffy squinted her eyes.

"Yeah, it's me," The former-man-nurse replied, running up to Buffy.

"What is it?"

"I have to talk to you," Ben panted.

"At night?"

"It's urgent, can I come in?"

Buffy stiffened at the questioned, but relaxed as she saw the breaths from
Ben's mouth in the cool night air.

"Sure," Buffy answered, as she led the way, ringing the doorbell.

Anya answered in her pyjamas, followed by Willow running down the stairs
with a book in hand.

"Oh, it's you," Anya grumbled as she went back to watch television.

"Ben?" Willow asked, descending the stairs.

"Hi, Willow, right?" Ben replied.

"Yes, what're doing here?" The redhead asked.

"He needs to talk," Buffy answered for him.

"Oh," Willow shrugged.

"Preferably alone," Ben said, clasping his hands behind his back.

"We can talk in the kitchen," Buffy suggested as she led the way.

******

"Coffee?" Buffy shook her head in disbelief.

"I know it's stupid, but I really think it would be nice for you, for me,
for us," Ben babbled.

"I don't know what to say."

"Say yes."

Buffy still couldn't believe that Ben had come over at night to ask her out
for coffee.

"I know you said no before," Ben lowered his eyes, "But I just thought that
maybe, after, your mother and all, you'd need someone to talk to."

"Oh," Buffy replied, the painful feelings flooding her body once again.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about, we could always talk about
something else."

"No, that was thoughtful of you," Buffy smiled, clasping her hand with Ben's
on the table.

"If you want, we could bring Dawn, so it wouldn't be like a date or
anything," Ben suggested sheepishly.

"Dawn?" Buffy questioned, pulling her hand away from Ben's.

"Yeah," Ben smiled.

"Umm, I don't think that would be such a good idea. In fact, I don't feel
so well right now; long day." Buffy put her hand on her forehead.

"Of course, maybe some other time?"

"Sure, some other time," Buffy faked a smile, before leading Ben out the
back door.

******

"He's knows about Dawn?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, he suggested we take her along for the little coffee trip he wanted
to go on," Buffy replied.

"But how? I thought only people that knew she was the Key could remember?"

"Apparently not," Buffy shook her head.

"That, or he knows Dawn's the Key."

"How?"

"I dunno, but we should probably treat him as a threat until we know for
certain."

"Don't have to tell me twice. I kinda got this weird vibe from him when he
was here," Buffy admitted.

"What kind of weird vibe?"

"I dunno, but it was different, especially when he mentioned Dawn."

"Do you think he's in league with Glory?" Willow asked, taking a hold of
Buffy's hand.

"I hope not, but even if he is, it won't help any, considering she, Tara and
Dawn are all trapped in another dimension."

"But what if he finds out and wants to bring her back?"

"If he does, then we'll just have to stop him," Buffy stated, squeezing
Willow's hand.


******

"I can't believe we just did that," Leanna enthused, holding Tara's and
Dawn's hands as they formed a sitting circle.

"Well believe it, cuz you're now officially a witch," Tara smiled.

"I prefer to be called Sorceress," Leanna grinned.

"Do you?"

"Mmm hmmm."

"What about you, Dawn?" Tara questioned.

"I dunno, maybe an Arch Mage or something," Dawn answered.

"Ambitious," Tara drawled, "But I'm afraid only I can be considered for
either of those two titles. You two shall be forever labelled as the
students."

"I think I can live with that," Dawn replied, "Especially if you teach us as
good as Willow."

"I don't think that's possible," Tara shook her head, "She's special."

"And we're not?" Dawn asked, crossing her arms.

"You two are special, just not Willow special."

"What does she have that we don't?" Leanna chimed in.

"She's my girlfriend."

"Oh," Leanna and Dawn said in unison.

Dawn shook her head, "Wait a minute, how does that help?"

Tara blushed and lowered her eyes.

"You mean?" Dawn trailed off.

"Uh huh," Tara replied sheepishly.

"Wow," Dawn exchanged knowing looks with Leanna, "That's some magic."

******

"Now remember, you hide and I seek," Glory told Anna as she covered her eyes
with her hands.

"Okay," The young girl beamed before taking off deeper into the forest.

"One. two. three." The blonde goddess counted out loud and then stopped when
she was satisfied the brat had gone far enough. "Good," Glory smiled as she
began walking away, "Finally some alone time."

******

"Master!" The minion cried, trotting through the door and then closing it
shut as he entered Ben's private room.

"What'd you find out?" Ben asked, turning in his leather chair.

"You were correct. The Slayer does indeed know about Glorificus, I mean
Glory."

"What about her?"

"It seems that your other half has been trapped in another dimension along
with the Witch's girlfriend."

Ben chuckled. "Ah, sis trapped in another dimension, hope they hate Hell
Gods where she is now."

"Of course," The minion bowed, "Do you want us to continue keeping tabs on
the Slayer?"

"Yeah, but tell me about her sister first."

"Her what?"

"Her sister. You know, Dawn?"

"The Slayer has a sister?"

"Yes. remember I asked you to watch her along with Buffy and company?"

"I do not recall you ever asking about a sister."

"Incompetence," Ben shook his head. "The sister is the Key! I have to know
where she is!"

"The Key? You mean, the one that Glory had been looking for?"

"Yes, now I want to know where it is."

"Of course, why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Cuz, knowledge is power green goop, and I have it. Now so do you, so don't
go babbling it to everyone you know."

"I won't, Master."

"Good, because I want you to keep a personal watch on the Key for me."

******


"I found the spell," BuffyBot smiled, walking into Buffy's room.

"The location spell?" Willow questioned, dropping the book she was reading
and jumping out of bed.

"Mmmm hmmm," The robot nodded.

"The inter-dimensional location spell?" Buffy specified, dropping the book
she was reading as well.

"Yes. Right here," BuffyBot pointed to the paragraph.

Willow instantly ripped the book from the robot's hands and studied the
words.

Buffy tried to follow, but the words were in another language, or really
archaic English, which was just the same.

"This is it!" Willow confirmed after several breathless seconds. "It's the
spell I've been looking for," Willow shouted, jumping up and down and then
throwing her arms around Buffy.

"So does this mean we can find them?" The Slayer questioned, wrapping her
arms around the redhead's waist and lowering her head to meet the Hacker's
eyes.

"Yup, all we need is to find the ingredients and we're set."

"What're the ingredients?"

"Something about an eagle feather, a vampire fang, and some other stuff I'm
not familiar with, but I should be able to look it up on the net."

"That's great Will," Buffy smiled, her heart warming at the thought of
seeing Dawn again, but for some nagging reason, she wasn't the happiest
she'd ever been.

******

"Master!" The minion shouted across the lawn catching Ben by surprise as he
headed back to his suite.

"What?" Ben exhaled, turning around to clasp the panting demon by the
shoulders.

"The Key, it's with Glory."

"What?"

"It's true, Glory has the Key with her in the other dimension."

"How?"

"I am not certain, but I believe something went wrong during the incantation
the Witch, Tara, was performing, and she took the Key along with the both
of them."

"This isn't good," Ben shook his head. "Do you have anything else to tell
me?"

"Yes. The Slayer and her redheaded friend, Willow, intend to bring the Key
along with Tara back to this world."

"When?"

"I don't know, but they have recently discovered an inter-dimensional
location spell."

"Clever, once they know where they're located, all they need is a
teleportation spell to bring them back."

"That seems to be the plan, Master."

"Well, that can't happen."

"Why not?"

"Have you ever had your body possessed by a Hell Goddess before?"

"No."

"Then you can't possibly know, and besides, if Glory's back here, it means,
I lose my newly gained powers."

"But I don't believe they intend to bring Glory back along with the other
two."

"She'll find a way. She'll hitch along for the ride and end up taking back
my body, and I won't let that happen."

"What do you propose then?"

"Stop them. We stop the Slayer and her friend from finding the ones they
love."

******

Glory strolled back into the house, an hour after taking a dip in the river,
her hair still wet and her skin shining.

All eyes turned to the blonde goddess as she plopped down onto the couch.

"Where's Anna?" Tara questioned.

"Oh, probably eaten by a wolf or something," Glory sighed.

"What?" Tara, Dawn and Leanna shouted in unison.

"Yeah, she wanted to play hide-and-seek, so I ditched her in the forest,"
Glory waved it off as if it was nothing.

"How could you." Tara trailed off, but stopped as soon as she saw the blonde
six-year-old come running through the front door.

"Found you!" Anna screamed as she jumped onto Glory's lap, causing the Hell
God to squirm.

"What're you doing?" Glory screamed.

"I found you, just like you told me to," Anna beamed.

"Nooooooo! I said for you to hide and me to find you."

"But you were going in the wrong direction," Anna pouted.

"No I wasn't, I was going in the exactly right direction--away from you."

"But I saw you swimming in the river and then you went to the house, so I
wanted to follow."

"Well, I didn't. So leave me alone," Glory grumbled as she pushed Anna onto
the couch and walked away.

"Why doesn't Auntie Glory like me?" Anna pouted, sniffling back a tear.

"I don't know Sweetheart," Leanna replied, lifting her daughter up in her
arms, "But you have two people that like you right here, and one that most
definitely loves you," Leanna assured, kissing the top of Anna's head.

"Yeah," Tara and Dawn waved confirmation.

Anna looked at the two awkwardly, "But I want Auntie Glory!" The girl
demanded.

To be continued.