Repost FIC: To Cross the River Styx (3/?)

[PChazzman@xxxxxxx]

TITLE: To Cross the River Styx (3/?)
AUTHOR: Chazzman
E-MAIL: Pchazzman@xxxxxxx 
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They all belong 
to Joss and the WB network. Please don't sue. 
SPOILERS: Open season on Season 4. 
SUMMERY: I'm re-inventing season 4, 'Pangs' has just concluded.
RATED: PG
DISTRIBUTION: Just ask me, please...
FEEDBACK: Is very welcome.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you again to all the wonderful people who have sent me 
feedback saying they are interested in seeing more. 


To Cross the River Styx

Chap 3


"Whaaaahooooo!" Willow screamed with delight as she flew through the air at 
approximately 60-70 miles an hour. She was trailing about 30 yards behind 
Angel's car as Doyle drove Buffy back home to Sunnydale. She was also about 
a quarter mile above the ground. It was easier to fly up here than along the 
ground where she kept on passing though cars and people. She hated passing 
through people and took pains to avoid it when she could. It was more fun 
too, spinning, swooping and diving towards the ground only to abruptly rise 
again at the last moment.

Willow had not intended to go with Buffy to LA. In fact, she had wanted to 
spend some time with Giles. She had realized after Buffy had dispatched the 
Native American vengeance spirit that she had not spent any time with anyone 
other than Buffy since she had died. So when Buffy had headed off to LA with 
Angel late Friday night, Willow had proceeded to head over to Giles' place 
with every intention of spending some quality time being unseen by her 
favorite ex-Watcher. 

Minutes later she had suddenly felt herself being yanked to her right and was 
pulled relentlessly through several houses before stopping briefly. A few 
seconds later she was moving again with no means of stopping herself. After 
panicking for several minutes, Willow urged herself upwards until she was 
flying above Sunnydale, instead of through it. Abruptly she realized that 
she was being pulled towards LA. The only thing that she could figure out 
was that somehow she was bound to Buffy by some sort of 'spirit link-leash'. 
When Buffy had gotten to far away from Willow, Willow had been pulled along. 
After some experimentation and concentration, she found that she was able to 
catch up with Buffy and Angel in the car. Willow decided to ride the rest of 
the way with them in the car, rather than floating along behind with cars 
running through her. 

So she ended up going to LA with Buffy and Angel instead of relaxing with 
Giles. It wasn't that she dislike spending time with them, it was more that 
she felt like some type of voyeur when she watched them not be able to 
interact. The stymied passion. The heartbreaking yearning. 

She did not feel sorry for herself that she would never again experience the 
feelings she saw in others. In fact, when she thought about it, she realized 
that she no longer felt sad about Oz's departure, either. She was where she 
wanted to be. At Buffy's side, fighting the forces of evil. 

"Well, watching Buffy fight the forces of evil," Willow thought to herself. 
"But I'm doing my best to root her on. I can't help it if she isn't able to 
hear me, and, oh god, I just channeled Cordelia!" She giggled at the thought 
of wearing a Sunnydale High cheerleader outfit, complete with pom-poms, and 
doing cheers for Buffy in the cemetery. "Stake-A-Vamp-Stake-A-Vamp. GO. GO. 
GO. Yeeeaaah Buffy!" It was silly, and if anyone had been able to see her, 
Willow would have died of embarrassment. But she was all ready dead and she 
felt a need to be silly. 

The day in LA had been interesting. Arriving at Angel's at 2 AM, Buffy had 
gone right to sleep in Angel's bed, too exhausted to protest Angel's 
insistence on sleeping on the couch. Willow caught Angel mutter something 
about Buffy at least 'not leaving peanut butter on the sheets'.

The next morning started off with a bang when a Morah demon leapt through the 
window of Angel's office. Angel spun about and threw his clock at the 
crystal in the demon's head, where upon the demon vanished. Buffy had been 
somewhat stunned, but Angel simply shrugged it off as if it were nothing out 
of the ordinary. Angel then called over a Detective Lockley and Buffy spoke 
with her for about half and hour. She had seemed sympathetic enough if a bit 
blunt in her honesty. There was little she could do beyond getting word out 
on the streets, especially since the actual kidnapping had taken place 
outside the LAPD jurisdiction. Angel stayed strangely quiet the entire time. 


Buffy then spent the remainder of the day posting Willow's flyer about town. 
Doyle would drive to an area then he and Buffy would spend the next 30 
minutes posting flyers. A few of the areas were rather seedy, but Doyle had 
pointed out the people there were more likely to actually look for her in 
hopes of getting a reward.

Willow had spent the day wandering through nearby stores. She drifted through 
a few mystical supply stores before becoming bored and decided to check out 
some of the many clothing boutiques. That only served to depress her as she 
was stuck in the clothing she had died in. Out of the blue, it occurred to 
her, "Hey! Why am I wearing clothes? They didn't get killed, I did." 

Pondering this thought for a while, she decided that the only thing that made 
sense was that her clothes appeared because she thought of herself wearing 
them. Therefor she should be able to change what she appeared to be wearing 
by changing her mental image of herself. She decided to experiment. 
Starting simple she decided to try and change the color of her pants. Ito 
her surprise and delight it was remarkably easy. Next she began to visualize 
herself wearing an outfit that she was looking at. Soon she was able to 
switch the clothing she appeared to be wearing in a snap. Of course, with no 
one there who was able to look at her she was able to be less self-conscious 
and try out much more daring outfits, and after a while found herself in an 
erotic clothing store.

It was definitely an eye-opening experience gazing at clothing she could not 
imagine herself wearing. There were a number of other items there, some of 
which she could not identify despite her knowledge via a few of her late 
night 'accidental' perusals of the net's steamier 'adult' sites. Purely 
educational she had told herself at the time. "Guess I had some more 
learning to do," she thought as a sudden wave of depression hit her. Being 
able to really learn about things that interested her had been one of the 
great joys that going to college had exposed her to. Now, however, she would 
never be able to study what she wanted to again. She could never explore the 
Internet because she could not touch a keyboard. Never read a book that 
someone else wasn't reading. And only watch a program on TV that someone 
else was already watching.

Willow began to move back towards Buffy. After a few minutes, she was 
shocked to discover Buffy crying as she stapled flyer after flyer to 
telephone poles lining the street. Willow was startled when a hand passed 
through her chest as Doyle reached out to squeeze Buffy's shoulder. 

"Hey, hey. What's wrong?" he asked in concern.

"I...I don't know," Buffy sniffed and rubbed her nose. "I just...I was 
putting up these when I looked at the picture and I remember how happy she 
was about going to college, and she had all these great opportunities to go 
study at other places like Oxford and MIT. Places not so hellmouthy, where 
she would have been so much safer and able to study anything. Only she 
wanted to stay to help me fight evil. But I wasn't there when she needed me, 
and ... I just... I got this feeling like I'm never gonna see her again..."

Doyle pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her. Buffy blew her nose. 
"Thank you. I...I'm sorry. I'm normally not so... It was just so out of 
the blue that it caught me by surprise. I usually have better control."

"Maybe, that's your problem," Doyle told her gently. "Maybe you've been 
keepin' so many things 'under control' that you need to have a good cry. Get 
some release. In fact, I think you're a needin' a break from all of this," 
he said taking the fliers from her and guiding her back towards the car. 

Buffy looked at Doyle for a moment. "But-"

"No," Doyle cut her off. "Look, I can post these tomorrow. Right now, you 
are in serious need of a mental break. Let's find someplace we can talk, or 
would you rather talk with Angel? I know the Boss and you are trying to stay 
apart but..." 

Buffy allowed Doyle to lead her off while Willow stood there stunned. It was 
too much to chalk it up to coincidence. Buffy had in some way felt Willow's 
feeling. 

She had an empathic link with Buffy! 

Oh yes sure it was pretty tenuous right now, but with time and practice maybe 
she could make her presence known to Buffy. And if Buffy knew that Willow 
was haunting her, Willow had no doubt that she would get Giles to find some 
way to open a line of communication. It might take a while but at least she 
had a goal that looked achievable.

Things were looking up.

"Nope, I'm not as out of the game as I thought. Forces of Darkness beware. 
Wicca girl is comin' back at ya."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Several hours later, as Doyle drove back towards Sunnydale, Willow trailed 
along behind thinking happy thoughts, trying to boost Buffy's morale. She 
had an image of herself as Buffy's 'Spirit-kite'. While in the car, Buffy 
slept and dreamed she was riding an incredibly sleek dragon, which swooped 
and dove and frolicked in the sky as they made their way toward some unknown 
destination.

~~~~~~~


Meanwhile in the Initiative's headquarters, the three officials had reached a 
decision. 

"Professor Walsh," said the female official. "After consultations with 
Washington, we have decided to accept your proposal on how to minimize the 
damage from this 'accident'. Additionally, you will be allowed to continue 
work on the 314 project."

Professor Walsh contained her relief as she awaited the proverbial catch. 
There was always a catch.

"However," said the dark haired man, "because of the damage potential should 
another 'accident' occur, it has been decided that someone with a more 
detached outlook be given command over this facility, taking command over the 
soldiers and directly oversee your scientific work."

"Who? You can't just expect anyone to understand and accept what we are 
trying to do here." Walsh asked with obvious annoyance.

The white haired official spoke up. "This is not a negotiable point. Jude 
Law is all ready on his way, and he will be here soon. Rest assured you will 
still do the work, and, if you are successful, you will receive the full 
credit due to you, Professor. However, Mr. Law is to be advised of every 
aspect of the Initiative's work, and he will have final say over every 
action. If you feel you will be unable to work under these conditions, this 
project is terminated. Do you understand?"

Walsh slowly nodded her head and softly said, "Yes, I understand."

"One further thing. Make no mistake about our trust in Mr. Law. He is not 
an accountant or a bureaucrat. He is here to make certain this project 
succeeds and does not become a public scandal. To that end, he has full 
authorization to use whatever means he deems necessary."

Walsh nodded in acceptance. It didn't really matter. She was being allowed 
to continue work on 314 as well as start the second. Miss Rosenberg's death 
while tragic was turning out to have a silver lining after all.

~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, at Sunnydale airport, Jude Law stepped out of the private jet that 
had just arrived. Six feet tall, he had black hair and a thick mustache. He 
paused to look around before heading down the ramp. A green Cadillac was 
waiting at the base of the ramp the driver at attention holding the door 
open. His bags were already being transferred into the trunk by the ground 
crew.

"Welcome to Sunnydale, Mr. Law," said the driver. "You have a reservation at 
the Sunnydale Plaza. Would you like me to take you there first, or are you 
hungry?"

Jude did not smile. He took out a cigar and lit it up in spite of the many 
signs nearby warning 'No Smoking. Danger Jet Fuel'. He the looked at the 
driver, "Neither. Take me to HQ. I want to meet Dr. Frankenstein."

~~~~~~
End Chap 3