Fic: Triskelion (2/?) B/W/T NC-17

["TheBear" <thebear@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Triskelion

Author: The Bear!

Spoilers: up through season 5: This begins to diverge from Checkpoint
episode canon

Pairing: B/W/T

Summary: Second in the Triad Trilogy- Sequel to the Please Trilogy. The
new Triad deals with an angry Hellgod, an Insane Vampire, and a
vengeance demon.

Warnings: NC17 Ahoy! I love Sex! I Love BDSM. I Love chains and
whips. If any of these gives you the wiggins, then so will this story.


Disclaimer: If I owned 'em, they'd have to show it on the Ecstasy
Network.

Part 2

========== BtVS ========== BtVS ========== BtVS ========== BtVS
========== BtVS ==========

Xander woke up with a stiff neck. Apparently, he'd fallen asleep in his
living room chair. After spending half the night tossing and turning in
bed, unable to fall asleep, he'd finally just given up and went out to
sit in the living room, in the dark, thinking.

He had to break up with her. He couldn't go on like he was. Anya
wasn't the person he thought she was- or more honestly, she wasn't the
person that he'd tried to convince himself that she was. "Really, she
should be breaking up with me, for being such a jerk!" he thought. 

Somehow, he didn't believe it would be that easy.

========== BtVS ========== BtVS ========== BtVS ========== BtVS
========== BtVS ==========

Two hours later saw Xander Harris sitting in that same chair; showered,
dressed, hair combed, and holding an ice pack against his face where
Anya'd punched him in the eye. 

She'd come over just as he was getting dressed after his shower. She
explained that she was ready for him to apologize to her for their fight
the previous night. She added that she expected the makeup sex to be
very good- "many orgasms."

Xander had explained how he felt like he was being a jerk for trying to
change her. She readily agreed- he was definitely being a jerk. 

Xander explained that it was unfair of him to always harp on the things
she said, or the way she said them. Again, she agreed that he had been
unfair to her, and owed her many apologies. Xander knew the Anya-code
well enough to substitute the word 'orgasms' for 'apologies'.

Xander went on to explain how this obvious failure on his part to accept
her for the person she was, coupled with his reprehensible attempts to
change and control her; indicated that they were not compatible, and
should end their relationship. 

Anya didn't agree.

Xander looked around his apartment as he held the ice pack against his
sore eye and hoped it wouldn't turn black. Xander was glad that he
wasn't a big collector of stuff. Especially breakable stuff. What
stuff he did have was broken. Mostly a few picture frames and some
collectable plates. He'd felt so bad, he didn't even try to stop her as
she raged and threw things. He finally got between her and the
entertainment center when it looked like she was heading that way next.

Hey, there's guilt, then there's a man's TV. "You've gotta have
priorities," he thought.

That's when she'd slugged him. She screamed that she'd make him sorry
for scorning her, and then tromped out.

He was already sorry. He felt horrible, knowing he'd hurt her. "It
would have hurt even more if I waited," he told himself. There had been
a couple of moments where Xander had actually considered the possibility
of the idea of. marriage. "God, what a mistake *that* would have been."

He pictured the ceremony, demons, devils and the denizens of a dozen
hells on one side, and Anya's guests on the other. so pretty much the
same thing on both sides. Maybe at least her guests wouldn't have
drained the cash bar in the first thirty minutes. He chuckled weakly at
the image in his head. "Probably would have turned into a brawl
anyway," he thought, dismissing the whole idea.

He knew he should get up and clean up the mess in his apartment. He
needed to be at work soon anyway. He ended up staying right where he
was until the last moment when he needed to leave or risk being late to
work.

========== BtVS ========== BtVS ========== BtVS ========== BtVS
========== BtVS ==========

It was around 9:30 in the morning when Buffy and Willow woke up for what
was now the second time this morning. Buffy had pulled Willow on top of
her at some point, and woke up looking up into hazel eyes shining with
unshed tears. The broad smile on Willow's face belied any thought that
the redhead might be sad about something; rather, Buffy recognized it
for a look of adoration. She imagined the look in her own eyes must be
about the same, 'cause her feelings of love and adoration for Willow
were in the forefront of her heart right at that moment.

Buffy brought her hands up and cradled her lover's face and said, "Thank
you, Willow." She gently kissed the witch for several moments- no
tongue, just soft lips caressing. "What you gave me this morning." she
had to pause to swallow the lump forming in her throat, "was the most
amazing, most special, most wonderful thing ever! God, I love you so
much I think I'm gonna explode!"

Willow giggled, "It was amazing! I felt like I disappeared, except I
was still there and the only thing I felt was you," she said. She
pulled her head out of Buffy's hands and slid down a little to nuzzle
against her neck as she tried to explain, "It was like I left my body
and was totally wrapped up in this cloud of warm, sweet Buffyness.
There was no me anymore- just Mistress' pet." 

Willow got up on her hands and knees, straddling Buffy's waist and
looking down once again into the Slayer's eyes. "In that moment you
totally and completely owned me. The only thing in my whole world was
you!" She swung her leg over so she was off of Buffy and assumed the
position; kneeling, eyes down, hands behind her back. "Thank you
Mistress, please tell me how I may show you my gratitude," she softly
spoke.

Buffy sat up and looked at her pet. She shook her head in wonder at how
amazing Willow was, how completely giving of herself to Buffy. She
realized to her chagrin that Willow had always given of herself to
Buffy, and she just hadn't properly appreciated it. Part of her mourned
all the wasted time and missed happiness, but another part was glad it
took this long. She couldn't now imagine not loving Tara as well as
Willow. So, she resolved to just be happy with where they were, and not
worry about what might have been. She'd just have to be happy with what
was. Now, if they could just figure out how to get rid of Glory.

She reached out and tilted Willow's chin up till the redhead met her
eyes. "What would please me is if we could be Buffy and Willow for a
while. Let's leave Mistress and pet here in the bedroom, and then Buffy
and Willow can go and find their wayward lover Tara, and convince her to
join us for a shower. Then we can show her how grateful we are for what
she did for us this morning, not to mention last night."

Willow smiled, "I think I could be up for that!" and bounced off of the
bed, grabbing her robe and saying, "Come on, slowpoke! Time to wash
that sexy body!"

Buffy laughed out loud, and scrambled to join her hyper girlfriend.
"And no coffee for you, Will. You obviously don't need any!"

========== BtVS ========== BtVS ========== BtVS ========== BtVS
========== BtVS ==========

After a long and invigorating shower, in which Buffy and Willow had each
taken two turns showing Tara just how grateful they were for her
selflessness, the now showered and dressed triad made their way down to
the kitchen.

Seeing the smirks on the faces of her mother and sister, she whispered
into Tara's ear, can you guys cast that spell on the bathroom too?

The two witches blushed, but braved it out.

"Good morning Mrs. Summers," they said in unison, causing Buffy and Dawn
to snicker, and Joyce to mock scowl.

"You know, you might as well be my daughter's in law, so why don't you
call me Joyce?" almost as an afterthought, she added, "Or just mom."
She realized that that might be a bit presumptuous of her; it wasn't
like Willow didn't have a mom, and Tara might be upset or think she
didn't respect her feelings for her own mother. "If you want to, I
mean." she finished awkwardly.

Willow and Tara exchanged glances, each stunned and delighted with
Joyce's offer. They walked over and wrapped the older woman in a
simultaneous hug. Stepping back after a moment, Tara could see that
Willow was too choked up to speak. 

"Thank you. Th- thank you so much. Mom," Tara said haltingly. She had
loved her mother with everything she had; her death was a horrible blow
to the then painfully-shy witch. Buffy's mom had taken her into her
family, even despite the weirdness of the triad relationship. Tara felt
honored to call this woman mom.

Willow was overcome with joy. Her own mother had always been so
emotionally distant; cold even. Willow had long considered Joyce
Summers as her surrogate mother- more of a parent than her own had ever
been. To be invited to publicly acknowledge such a relationship- that
she thought of Willow as a daughter, well, it was just so amazing.
Between Buffy's ownership of her, and Joyce's acceptance of her. "Wow,"
she squeaked out. 

Tara giggled and said, "I think Willow says thanks, too."

Willow nodded vigorously and hugged Joyce again briefly. Her face wet
with tears of joy. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a thought streamed through
Willow's mind. It was just two words, but their impact was staggering.


"Willow Summers."

"Oh, wow. Maybe I'd better not think about that," she said to herself,
knowing that it was futile. It was virtually guaranteed to be on the
top of her mind now. Maybe she'd talk to Tara about it. Later. Like
after they beat Glory later. "Yes, that'd be best, I think," she
counseled herself.

Buffy smiled at Willow's reaction. "Breathe, Will," she said, taking
her hand and leading her to a chair. Changing the subject, and giving
Willow a moment to calm herself, she turned to Dawn with a raised
eyebrow, "No school today?" she asked.

Dawn smirked at the look on her mom's face. She obviously didn't even
realize that the time had slipped by. "It's, uh, a. holiday?" she asked
with a hopeful twist to her voice.

"What holiday is that?" Buffy asked.

Dawn struck a pose, arms crossed under her breasts, hip thrust out- the
pose Buffy secretly thought of as her brat-stance- and said, "It's
Key-Friday. All the good little energy portals get to have a three day
weekend."

All the blood drained from Buffy's face at Dawn's words.

Dawn saw the effect of her statement and took pity on her sister- she
still hadn't broached the subject of learning magic, and wanted as many
brownie points as possible. "It's ok, Buffy. I'm not freaking out, I
was just kidding." Seeing that Buffy was still gulping like a fish, she
uncrossed her arms and put one hand on Buffy's arm, "Seriously, I'm ok.
I mean, its still weird and all, but I'm dealing."

Buffy's eyes narrowed and she said, "Why you little." she turned to the
other three women and said with an angry voice, "I think Dawn seriously
needs to be." turning back to Dawn she kept the stern look on her face
for a moment, and then said, "Tickled!"

Dawn had really been getting worried. When Buffy finally said
'tickled,' her eyes shot wide and she shrieked, "NO!" and ran out of the
kitchen, giggling and shrieking madly as Buffy, Tara, and Willow gave
chase.

========== BtVS ========== BtVS ========== BtVS ========== BtVS
========== BtVS ==========

The tickle fight had finally ended when Dawn had to run for the bathroom
before she embarrassed herself. Buffy and Willow were still lying on
the floor trying to catch their breath from laughing so hard. Tara
managed to make it over to a chair before collapsing. She was the first
to notice Joyce's face when she came in the front door with the
newspaper. "What's wrong, m- mom?" she asked, still trying to get used
to calling her that.

"I. there was a. on the train last night some people were murdered."
Turning from Tara to the other two girls, she said, "Buffy."

Buffy jumped up and went to her mother, taking the paper and reading
aloud as the others crowed around to look over the Slayer's shoulder.

"Metrotrain Murder. Six Found Murdered on Train at Sunnydale Station."

Tara furrowed her brow and asked, "Glory?"

Buffy shook her head and said, "I don't think so." Resuming reading
aloud, she continued, "Unconfirmed reports of severe trauma to the
throats of one or more of the victims." Lowering the paper, she looked
at Tara for a moment, "Survey says. vampire."

"We should go check it out?" Willow suggested questioningly.

"Check what out?" Dawn asked as she came down the stairs.

Buffy's natural inclination was, of course, to put Dawn off. She still
had a hard time not wanting to keep her isolated from the entire slaying
thing. Of course, despite that, she had to agree that including her on
things was much more effective at keeping the peace. Plus, the little
brat always seemed to know when people were hiding things from her, and
she inevitably stuck her nose in and found out what was going on anyway.
So, Buffy forced herself to override her knee-jerk reaction.

"No big, Dawn. Looks like a new vamp may have rode the train into town
last night is all. We're just gonna go check the scene and see if we
can. well. see anything," she finished lamely.

Fortunately, Buffy didn't have to be the one to answer Dawn's
predictable response. Joyce cut in the moment she saw Dawn's eyes light
up, "No. You may not go with them."

"But mom!" Dawn started.

"No buts. I don't want you seeing that kind of thing any more than you
can help it." The regret was clear in Joyce's tone as she added,
"You'll see enough of that in this town without having to go looking for
it."

Dawn deflated when she saw the complete lack of flexibility in her
mother's voice and posture. "Fine. I'm gonna go hit the shower. There
*might* be enough hot water by now," she said, teasing the triad on
their habitual long showers.

Buffy smirked, "Brat!"

Dawn smirked right back, "Nympho!"

Joyce, Tara, Willow and Buffy all looked shocked by that. "Dawn!" they
shouted in unison.

Dawn laughed and turned to run up the stairs. As she ran, the other
women could clearly hear her snickering, "Truth hurts." as she went.

Joyce couldn't quite keep her own smirk under control as she looked at
Buffy and her girlfriends- all three of them blushing hotly at the
allegation. She told herself she wasn't jealous, but couldn't resist
needling them just a bit. "Out of the mouths of babes."

Buffy's eyes goggled, she squeaked, "Mother!"

Joyce laughed out loud at Buffy's outraged tone. Changing the subject,
she asked, "Will you girls be back for lunch?"

Buffy looked at Tara and Willow to see if either had anything else in
mind.

Tara said, "Actually, I thought we might try to see Xander at his
break."

Willow thought that was a good idea and said as much, "Yeah, he probably
had a rough night, what with him and Anya fighting and all."

Buffy nodded her head, "That's a good idea." Turning back to Joyce she
said, "Maybe you can take the brat out for lunch- you know, celebrate
Key-Friday."

Willow suddenly had an idea, "Oh, we could get some stuff and come back
and make dinner for everyone! You know... have a nice family dinner."
she trailed off; afraid she might be being presumptuous. She was still
buzzing from her earlier thoughts about the new closeness with Buffy,
her mom, and Dawn. She was excited by the thought that she and Tara
were more than just Buffy's girlfriends, or Mistress and pet, they were
kinda becoming a part of the Summers family.

"That would be lovely, Willow," Joyce said. "It sounds like a plan."
She turned to walk up the stairs and make sure Dawn saved her some hot
water too.

========== BtVS ========== BtVS ========== BtVS ========== BtVS
========== BtVS ==========

"Well, that was thirty minutes of our lives we'll never get back," Buffy
groused as the three girls left Sunnydale station.

Willow and Tara exchanged a worried look. Buffy'd become agitated on
the train, frustrated that there was nothing to help them. They
couldn't even tell if it was the work of one vamp or several. Not
without the bodies.

Willow said, "I'll be able to look at the coroner reports and then we'll
know if it was more than one." Her voice was conciliatory, trying to
cheer her girlfriend up. She moved behind the petite blond and hugged
her, saying, "We'll figure it out, I promise!"

Buffy stopped walking when Willow hugged her. She knew she was being
unreasonable, but. "Dammit! I hate it when stuff like this happens."

Tara moved to wrap the slayer in her arms from the front. She whispered
in her ear, "Buffy, there's nothing you could have done."

Buffy felt so good, bracketed by her lovers like this. It was almost
enough to make her forget the feeling of helplessness that threatened to
overwhelm her when this kind of thing happened. "I know guys. I get
it, I do- I can't save everybody."

Tara said, "That's what bothers you, isn't it? You feel like you should
be able to save everybody?"

Buffy didn't say anything for a moment, but the two witches felt her
stiffen.

"Baby," Willow said, feeling a sharp pang of sadness at the thought.
She hugged the slayer even harder and said, "Baby, you can't blame
yourself for every vampire attack that happens! If there were a
thousand slayers, people would still get bitten."

Buffy wiggled out of the hug and turned to face her two lovers. She
took in the looks on their faces, seeing how much her pain had become
their own. She reached out and laid her hands along their necks,
stroking them both. "I know that. In my head, I know it. I even
believe it. there's just something in me that takes every one of them
personally." She donned a genuine smile as she went on. "It's better
now. now that I have you two. It hurts less, really."

Willow stepped in to Buffy's embrace and kissed her for several seconds.
A gentle, loving kiss. "I love you so much Buffy. I will always be
here for you."

Tara moved in as Willow stepped back. She emulated Willow almost
exactly; a sweet, loving kiss, and then; "Buffy, I love you with all my
heart. I will never leave you, and I will do everything in my power to
support and care for you."

Buffy felt a lump in her throat, and her voice broke as she said, "You
guys! Thank you. I love you both too!" her eyes were wet and she
rubbed at them almost in annoyance. "You know, I think I've cried more
in the last month than in my whole life!"

Tara's eyes were suspiciously moist as she said, "Sorry about that,"
though her voice didn't sound particularly sorrowful."

Willow's eyes were shiny too, but she had an enormous grin on her face.
"Yeah, we feel really bad about that."

Tara broke into a smile and added, "Yeah, we're all broken up about it."

Buffy laughed out loud; the joy she felt from her lovers overcoming the
sense of failure that clawed at her whenever confronted with vampire
victims she couldn't save. "Somehow," she said as she insinuated
herself between the two, spun around and put her arms around their backs
and began to walk once again, leading them forward, "I don't believe
you. You lack a certain. sincerity."

The witches laughed, and Buffy joined them. "Come on, Lets go find
Xander," she said.

"I had a thought, about Xander I mean," Tara said.

Willow moved forward and turned to give Tara a stern look and raised
eyebrow.

"Not that kind of thought, Ms. Dirty Mind," she said, mock-exasperated.

Willow half-grinned at her and said, "Good! You'd better not!"

Buffy teased, "What'samatter Will? You don't wanna share?"

It was Willow's turn to pretend to be annoyed. "I'm sure I don't know
what you mean, Ms. Summers," she answered haughtily.

Buffy smirked, "Yeah, right."

"Anyway," Tara began, before they could get even further off on a
tangent, "I thought that it might be nice if you two invited Xander to
go to the Bronze with you. It might be nice for Xander and for you
guys, you know, kinda the core Scooby gang."

Willow instantly said, "Hey, you're just as much a part of the gang as
Xander or."

Tara tried to reassure the redhead, "Shh, I know that, Willow. I just
thought it might be nice for Xander. You know, without the whole Triad
thing, just the three of you hanging out. I think maybe, our
relationship- and Xander's relationship with Anya- may have kinda kept
the three of you from being as close as you used to be."

"What about Anya?" Willow asked. "I don't know if we'll be able to pry
Xander away from her, especially after last night's fight."

"He could probably use a couple of hours away from her after that,"
Buffy opined.

"And, it won't hurt to ask," Tara said.

"What are you going to do, if we're at the bronze?" Willow asked Tara.

"I thought it might be a good idea for me to spend some time with. Mom,"
she said hesitantly, still getting used to calling her that. "She keeps
looking at me with this big question mark look to her," she explained.

Willow gave a little squeak; "You think she want to ask about." she
reddened at the idea of Buffy's mom grilling Tara about their sex life.

Tara gulped a little when she saw Willow blush.

Buffy said, "Please, Tara. How could we possibly go to the bronze and
have any fun at all if we know you and my *mom* are going to be."

"No! Oh gosh, I was thinking that she might be. that she would w- want
to know about m- me," Tara stuttered, suddenly nervous herself at the
thought of sitting down and explaining their sex-life to Mrs. Summers.

Both Willow and Buffy visibly relaxed, and then were somewhat
embarrassed at their automatic assumption.

Tara went on, "You know, because we don't k- know each other all that
well."

Buffy let go of Willow for a moment and stopped walking, placing herself
directly in front of the taller blond. "You know mom loves you."

Tara smiled, touched that Buffy would worry about her so much. "I know,
Buffy. It's just, she's known Willow for years, and I'm kinda new in
her life. I just thought she might want to get to know her oldest
daughter's love interest a little better."

Buffy smiled, "You know, I kinda love you," she said.

Tara pulled Buffy closer and kissed her for several moments- completely
oblivious to the fact that they were almost to the jobsite Xander was
working on.

The lunch wagon was pulling up to the curb not twenty meters from where
the girls were standing as Willow put her hands on her hips and mock
pouted, "Hey, starting to feel left-out, here!"

The construction crew was lining up at the truck when they started to
notice the scene happening just down the street; two blond girls were
kissing while a redhead stood there with her hand on her hips, watching
and saying something. It didn't take long before the entire crew had
their full attention focused on the straight-from-fantasy scene.

Hearing Willow's plaintive voice, Buffy broke off the sweet, gentle kiss
with Tara. She turned slightly toward the redhead and got a wicked grin
on her face. She remembered Willow's comment that morning about how she
wanted Buffy to play with her in public. 

Tara's eyes widened as she watched Buffy reach over, grab Willow by the
hair on the back of her head, and pull the witch sharply toward her and
into a rough, possessive kiss.

Willow melted against Buffy the moment she felt Mistress' hand gripping
her hair. Her whole body was humming with arousal as she submitted to
Mistress' rough kiss. 

Tara could see what the other girls couldn't; the crowd of construction
workers that were watching the action with rapt attention. She began to
blush hotly.

When Buffy broke the kiss, Willow smiled dreamily and whispered, "Thank
you, Mistress!"

Buffy was about to say something when cheers and applause broke out
behind her. Her eyes swept toward Tara and saw the taller blond was
stained crimson from her hairline all the way down to the collar of her
blouse. She closed her eyes and asked, "Lemme guess. We made it to
Xander's worksite, didn't we?"

Tara tried to regain her composure; her voice only broke a little bit as
she said, "Uh, yeah."

Buffy nodded, adding, "And. it's lunchtime, isn't it?"

Tara nodded, "Uhh huh."

Willow actually smiled. Willow might have been a little bit embarrassed
to have a bunch of strangers watch Buffy kiss her; the same act, between
Mistress and pet, was an entirely different story. Pet was proud to be
shown off by Mistress. Again, Willow would have found it amazing, if
she had stopped to analyze it- how quickly she could drop into subspace.


Buffy turned around to see the crowd hooting and clapping. Xander was
about halfway between them, walking their way.

He'd been in a bit of a funk all morning, after this morning's screaming
breakup with Anya. But, how could he not smile to go to lunch and see
his three favorite ladies caught making out by his entire crew? He was
trying very hard not to laugh out loud as he walked over toward them,
not wanting to get hit, but couldn't help the huge grin on his face. Of
course, even the prospect of being smacked wasn't enough to prevent him
from making a little quip.

"If it isn't my three favorite ladies! I don't remember booking
entertainment to go with lunch, but I have to say, you've definitely got
a winning act there!"

Buffy smiled as she said, "Xander, you are begging me to hurt you!"

He just laughed at that. "What's up? Some big-bad decide they couldn't
wait until dark to try and destroy the world?"

"Nope, we just thought we'd see if we could take our Xander shaped
friend out for lunch," Buffy explained. "You up for it?"

It took a lot of willpower, but he resisted the obvious response and
just said, "Are you kidding?" He held out his hands as though weighing
his options on an old-fashioned balance scale, "Let's see, I could have
cuisine a la roach coach." he lowered his left hand, "or, I could have
lunch with three smart, funny, gorgeous ladies." he lowered his right
hand and raised his left as though throwing something over his shoulder.
"Lunch with the ladies it is!"

Xander turned to the crowd at the lunch wagon and called out, "Jimmy!
I'm going out to lunch!" He knew he'd get a smack for the next part, but
couldn't help saying it anyway, "If I'm not back in an hour, at least
you'll know I died happy!"

Buffy smacked him in the shoulder, as expected. Willow just rolled her
eyes and said, "Yeah, in your dreams!"

Tara asked, "What would Anya say if she heard you?"

Xander's laughter died. "Anya." he started. "Yeah, well. that's kinda
a funny story."

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========== BtVS ==========

end part 2



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