FF Revelations 9/?

["Jolie" <slyfox_kitkat@xxxxxxxxx>]

Disclaimer in Chapter 1

Chapter 9
The Games Begin

Buffy and Willow headed into the house, and again everyone stared at 
her.

"Who shouted," Faith asked.
"Moira. Faith, get on the phone to Angel and Wesley. Tell them 
that the council is raising an army to get the girls. We need all 
the help we can get. Giles, I need you to get any weapons and such 
that you have together in a safe house, the old vault where we used 
to lock Oz up in. Then find any of your loyal friends and get the 
inside scoop. Erin and Kat, go home now, get what ever you can and 
bring it here. Tomorrow night we'll be making the mansion home 
base. Willow, you call the gang and let them know what's up. Mom, 
could you go on a food run in case we find our selves holed up in 
the mansion for awhile?"

Everyone stared at Buffy. Giles smiled at the leadership she was 
showing. She knew how to get these people moving. Joyce realized 
just how strong her daughter really was, and nodded at the request. 
Buffy then looked to Tara.

"You are with me spell girl."
"Why not me," Willow asked.
"Wills, I need you to hack into the mainframe and put our names on 
the lease of mansion. We'll pay for it later, but for right now to 
be safe, I need you to do that. Also hack those bastards mainframe 
and see what you can pick apart what in gods name they are doing."
"Ok."
"All right, lets get this show on the road. Come on, Tara."

Buffy and Tara took off in Buffy's jeep, heading to the local magic 
shop. The owner knew them and allowed them to get what ever they 
needed, knowing she would be paid back later. They entered the shop 
and saw the shopkeeper still up.

"Evening ladies," she called out.
"Merry meet, Priestess Elaine," Tara said sweetly.
"Merry meet my child. What are you after tonight?"
"Any mystical weapons you could lend us? I'll clean them up 
afterwards and return them. Also warning spells, to let us know 
whether demons or human are approaching."
"Going to war little one?"
"Simply put, yes."

She stared in the slayer's eyes and knew that she wasn't lying.

"Tara, a book for warning spells is upstairs. Buffy, come with me."

They both nodded and Buffy followed her. They went into a back 
room. On the shelf, Buffy saw a beautiful detailed sword. Elaine 
went to get it and brought it back to Buffy.

"This will protect you. I have been meaning to give it to you for 
some time. You are a strong warrior Buffy Summers. The goddess 
made a good choice in making you her champion. Good luck in your 
quest."
"Thank you."

Buffy held the sword, while Elaine went to get the sheath. It felt 
like the sword was made for her. After getting the sheath, they 
headed to the main room. Tara was waiting with a few books.

"Blessed be my children, and may Gaia watch over you."
"Blessed be," Buffy and Tara said in unison.

Then they left. They made another stop, but Tara stayed in the 
car. Buffy headed into Willy's bar and walked to the bar.

"Slayer, what can I do you for?"
"Cut the chat Willy, I need info and I need it now."
"Word is the council is after the two girls you are protecting. An 
army of demons is coming together to help the council; in return the 
council lets them live in peace. While another small band of half 
demons form an army to help you."
"Sounds about right. Any weapons lying around Willy?"
"Let me check the back."

After a few minutes Willy came back with a giant crate of weapons. 
It included stakes, crossbows, axes, small daggers and swords. The 
slayer handed him some money and was off. She carried the box and 
placed it in the back. She hopped into the driver's seat and looked 
to Tara.

"You looked terrified."
"No. We all knew this was going to happen one day. But why now?"
"I promise Faith will come home to you, so will Willow, Kat, and 
Erin. Tara, I asked you to come with me, cause well, I know you 
wouldn't fight me on this. But if anything happens to me, take care 
of Willow and mom for me. I know they love you like family."
"Buffy I can't promise that."
"Please. I need to know that they'll be taken care of if something 
happens to me."

Tara looked down, then back at Buffy. She knew Buffy was the leader 
and the glue of the group. Why she was asking her this, she didn't 
know. Then with a heavy sigh, she nodded.

"Ok Buffy, I'll take care of them for you. Now promise me 
something."
"What's that?"
"Don't do anything stupid."
"I promise."

Tara smiled as they pulled away from the bar and headed home. They 
whole group was there, as Giles was filling them in on the 
information he had gotten. Angel and Wes were on their way. Willow 
was still taking care of the hacking part. Erin and Kat had just 
returned a few minutes after Tara and Buffy. They had their stuff 
with them. Buffy told them they could store it in the basement for 
now.

Buffy looked around the room. It was the past, present and future 
Scooby gang, all gathered to help save the world once again. And as 
soon as Angel and Wes arrived, the gang would almost be complete, 
almost. Many people she knew had fallen when allied with her. And 
with this battle starting to head at them full force, she swore 
silently that their deaths would not be in vain.

"We have had many battles together, and we have lost people we have 
cared about along the way. Kendra, Jenny Calendar, so on and so 
on. Some were members of our gang and some were just bystanders. I 
know that this isn't our last battle, but it is one of the most 
important ones of our lives. This council has run Faith and I 
ragged. I nearly lost you all, many times because of being the 
slayer, and because of the council. And as the battle draws near, 
if any of you want to back out, feel free. I will never hold it 
against you."
"No way Buff. It's time to get down and dirty with these buggers. 
Its pay back time," Xander said, with one of his goof grins, "They 
nearly killed you, messed up your life. So lets kick a little 
British butt."
"Besides, we all deserve a chance to prove ourselves to them, 
again," Oz added.
"No one will run Buffy. You are the heart and soul of this group, 
of this family. You are the glue that keeps us together. You are 
our leader, and if we had to, we'd follow you into hell, and you 
would most likely rescue us. What is past is past, and the future 
is tomorrow. Carpe Diem, Buffy, let us seize the day," Tara said.
"We'll show them that we will never give up Buffy," Kat said.
"No matter at what the price," Faith added.

Buffy watched her friends and smiled. She knew that they finally 
had made it. They finally had a chance to prove themselves once 
more, and prove to themselves that together, they could over come 
anything.

"Carpe Diem," Buffy said with a sly grin.
"Carpe Diem," the group shouted.

Buffy smiled at them, knowing that these people were her family, 
souls united. They all headed into their own little things, while 
waiting for Angel and company to get there. Willow and Tara started 
digging into the spell books, while Willow still hacked into the 
council's mainframe.

Erin and Kat were resting upstairs, and the rest were outside, 
sparring. Buffy was really enjoying watching this. Faith came up 
next to her.

"You love this, don't you," Faith asked.
"Love what? Getting ready for war? No. But I love to see when our 
family comes together."
"Your family, Buffy. This is your family."
"No, this is our family. All of us created this family, so it's our 
family. You included Faith. You have really showed your true 
colors. You've really proved to us."
"Yeah, but you brought us together. You made us come together, in 
the common fight. Hell you introduced me to Tara. You even gave me 
a second chance, that means so much to me."
"You deserved it."
"Thanks Buffy. Angel should be here with some troops too, huh?"
"Yeah. Cordelia went with my mom to get food. Xander and Oz are 
with Giles, sparring. The kids are resting and our witches are 
taking care of some important stuff."
"And you have your half demon rallying the troops for us too."
"Yeah. Moira knows many who want to take a crack at those jerks."
"Good."

Buffy smiled over at Faith, then looked over at Tara and Willow, 
cracking down hard on both the computer and spell books. Buffy then 
watches the guys spar. Xander and Oz were using sticks, fencing 
with Giles. Emma was also watching, laughing as Xander tackled 
Giles.

"Easy boy, don't kill me," Giles chuckled.
"Well, I want to be ready," Xander replied.
"Yeah, well, I don't think they are football players, Xander, unless 
some football players have been vamped recently," Oz said.
"Better check the papers, if there were, we could bring footballs 
and fake them out."
"True, we could, but if there aren't, then it would just be 
pointless. Better stick to stakes and crossbows."
"Good idea."
"Are we done," Giles said, "because we should be preparing."
"Ok, old man, lets go," Xander said, playfully.

Giles grinned and lunged towards Xander, slashing at his chest. 
Buffy and Faith smile at the sight. Then Buffy turned, walking to 
Willow.

"Hey babe how goes it?"
"Well, the mansion is ours, and I can't find anything yet in the 
council's mainframe. But we have got some interesting spells 
ready. They won't know what hit them. How is everything else?"
"Well the boys are fighting, and the kids are asleep."
"The kids," Tara asked.
"Erin and Kat. I let them rest in our room."
"That's ok. They've had a rough time so far, and now with this war 
approaching, they'll need it," Willow responded.
"It's funny, we prepare for a war that no one else knows about. We 
save the world, and no one realizes that it was under attack."
"That is just how it is, and how it should be. I think people would 
panic majorly if they knew that what goes bump in the night is 
real," Tara said.
"Yeah, I agree with you on that. Keep up the good work. I need to 
go take a long break."

Willow nodded and turned back to the computer. Faith sat next to 
Tara, helping her any way she could, while Buffy went upstairs. She 
went into Tara and Faiths room, crashing down on the bed. She 
needed a nap badly, because she was on slayer autopilot ever since 
hearing about this damned attack. She constantly became worried 
about the innocent people getting caught up in this mess. She knew 
that humans were going to fight as well, but mainly demons.

She didn't want to drag her family through another senseless war. 
She finally thought all of this was over, but no. The council had 
to stick its nose into their business. They had to hire this girl 
to kill them, making this attack more personal. Buffy sighed when 
she realized that she wasn't going to be able to get sleep, and she 
knew that Angel would be there soon.

She walked put of the room and headed to the shower, to at least get 
some tension released with the warm water to relax her muscles. As 
she let the warm water run over her body, she thought about Angel, 
and how much he really meant to her. She felt bad when he came back 
and she kept it a secret, even from Willow. Even though she loved 
Willow with all her heart, the fact was Angelus' henchmen attacked 
the library and hurt Willow, Xander, took Giles and killed Kendra, 
and she was afraid of how they would react to Angel being back.

She felt guilty for that. She should have protected her friends, 
instead of trying to find Angelus and taking him down. But after 
the attack on her friends, she was ready. Even when she was accused 
of murder, having her mom being angry with her, she finally knew 
what she had to do. That was to take down Angelus, not matter how 
she had to do it. 

She was so lost in thought, that she didn't hear Willow come in and 
join her. She jumped when she felt arms wrap around her waist.

"I figured I'd come join you," Willow whispered.
"I didn't want to be alone."
"I know. You're worried, big time, aren't you?"
"Yeah. I'm afraid of the innocent people that are going to get 
dragged into this."
"You mean us?"
"Yes and no. We've fought so many wars, and we've lost so much. I 
just wish for once we could be left alone."
"I know the feeling Buffy, I honestly do."

Buffy leaned into Willow's body, feeling the warmth and love from 
her beloved. It had been awhile since they had a moment just to 
themselves in a long time, especially with everything that has been 
occurring lately. They broke the embrace and finished with the 
shower. They got dressed and then headed downstairs. Angel and 
Wesley greeted them both.

"Angel, it's good to see you," Buffy said, "you too, Wesley."
"I wish it was under different circumstances," Angel replied.
"Yeah, me too. How goes the detective business?"
"Really well. We have a good staff. Gunn and Fred will be arriving 
soon, with Lorn. They had to wait till he closed the club to come. 
And Fred is a girl, just to let you know. Cordy knows her."
"Yeah, Cordelia has been doing good work with us, even if she is 
together with Xander," Wesley joked.
"Yeah. They are doing really well together," Willow said, "The 
distance gets tough sometimes, especially when Cordy disappeared and 
you went after her. Xander was beside himself, but we took care of 
him."
"Well we're glad that we got everything back to normal, thought it 
was nice to be able to walk in the day time," Angel said.
"Well that was a long time ago, and I'm glad everything is working 
out for us now. I'm pretty sure they'll get married. I am pretty 
happy that Anya left, even if she helped out. Man her and Cordy 
when at it, fighting over Xander. The poor boy never thought that 
would ever happen," Buffy said.
"Neither did we," Willow added.

Willow grinned as Cordelia and Joyce entered the house with bags of 
groceries. Joyce looked at Angel and Wesley.

"Boys, there is more stuff in the back of my car, be a dear and 
bring it in," Joyce asked.
"Yes ma'am," Angel and Wesley answered in unison.

Angel and Wesley went to Joyce's car and opened the back. They 
nearly fainted at the amount of food she had bought. They called 
over Giles, Xander and Oz to help. Within a few trips, all of the 
food was inside. Buffy, Willow, Cordelia and Joyce were putting the 
food away. Tara and Faith still worked on spells, and Emma went to 
help them. Erin and Kat were still asleep, and that really didn't 
seem to bother anyone.

Everyone, except Kat and Erin, gathered around the living room to 
start planning the pending war that lay ahead of them.

TBC