FIC: To Conquer Death - Interlude/Interlude/Interlude/Part Five - B/W/Dakota - NC-17

[<djgirl1978@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: To Conquer Death
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: B/W/Dakota
Disclaimers: The usual
Spoilers: Nah.
Feedback: Yeah!
Distribution: Ask first.
Summary: Sequel to The Prophet... actual plot and stuff.  
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INTERLUDE: THE WATCHERS' COUNCIL
 
Quentin Travers made his way through Customs and Security in JFK International Airport with a minimum of difficulty, then made his way outside, followed by several of his Watchers, for a cigar. As he stood contemplating the Manhattan skyline, two of his operatives were at the Delta desk, wrangling several tickets to Atlanta. He had decided on the trip that the wisest course of action would be to check up on his operatives who were watching the Markham home and make sure the girl wasn't there, then head west to California.
 
His operatives came to him to tell him that there was no way for them all to fly out before the next day, so he sent two of his most trusted men aheadand had another lackey reserve several suites at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel for the rest of them. Once at the hotel and settled in, he placed a long-distance phone call.
 
As he stood listening to the line ring, he thought about what he would say if the other end was answered. He waited for the line to pick up and eventually it did, but it was with the tinny sound of a message machine. A young woman's voice spoke cheerily at him. "Hi! This is Buffy. Giles has no idea how to work his answering machine, so I'm doing it for him."  
 
In the background, Travers heard a distinctly British voice which said, "Oh, do get on with it, Buffy." 
 
There was a snicker, and the young woman's voice went on. "So anyway, Giles isn't here, so please leave him a message at the sound of the..." - she was cut off by a younger voice which interjected "blood-curdling scream" andthen resumed, "...and if he can figure out how to operate the telephone, he'll call you back." The sentence was punctuated by a scream which would have befitted the heroine of a grade-B black-and-white fifties horror flick,and then the more normal message-machine beep.
 
Travers cleared his throat. "Rupert, this is Quentin Travers. I'm in the States on Council business and we need to talk. I'm at the Ritz-Carlton inNew York City tonight, please call me so that we can work out some arrangements." He left the hotel number and his suite number, then rang off and turned to one of his lackeys. "See about getting us a decent tea in here, hmm?"
 
He settled back in a comfortable chair which faced out the huge plate-glasswindow into the slowly darkening New York City afternoon and reflected. Giles was admittedly one of his less-capable Watchers. The man was just short of being a failure. Surely it would be easy to manipulate him into giving up the daywalker. It was just a matter of finding the right words.


INTERLUDE: SUNNYDALE
 
"He obviously thinks I'm... what's your term, Buffy? Mentally challenged,"Giles commented to the Scoobies, who were staring at the answering machinethat Quentin Travers's voice had just spoken from. It had startled them into silence when it kicked on, as Giles had forgotten to turn the ringer onand they hadn't known anyone was calling. In retrospect, Giles was glad of his oversight, since it meant he now had some warning that Travers was looking for him.
 
"So Janna was right," Buffy observed. "They are chasing her. And they probably want Dakota, too."
 
"Almost without a doubt," Giles replied. "They most likely want them both dead."
 
Buffy nodded. "Well, that's not going to happen." She stood. "I'm going to get the girls from school. The sooner they're safe, the better off we'll all be."
 
Once the school office's required papers were signed, Buffy walked outside into the sunshine to wait for the girls, who came outside shortly, Dawn carrying Mercedes' bag while Mercedes shrugged into her Sunnydale Junior High Band jacket. "Hey, girls." 
 
"Hey, Buff, what's the sitch?" Dawn asked.
 
"Hop in and I'll explain. We've got to get you packed." They climbed intothe Jeep and headed toward Revello Drive, and Buffy attempted to explain the situation. "The guys from the Watcher's Council are back," she told them. "They're gunning for Dakota and they pretty much want her dead. We don't know why. But things are gonna get ugly around here, probably tomorrow,and I don't want the two of you in danger. So you're going with Anya to stay with a friend of Dakota's."
 
"We can take care of ourselves," Dawn began to protest hotly, but she was cut off by Mercedes' calming hand on her arm.
 
"I ain't so sure about that, Dawn," Mercedes said quietly. "These are guysthat we already know don't play fair. I know either of us could hold our own in a fair fight, but can you honestly say you can protect yourself against a grown man who's tryin' to kill ya?" She shook her head. "I cain't.And besides, what if he don't try to kill ya? You wanna get snatched, held for ransom, in a trade? How would you feel to hear somebody demand an exchange - your life for Dakota's?"
 
Dawn stared at Mercedes for a long moment. "How do you know about stuff like this?"
 
Mercedes grinned. "I watch a lot of suspense movies."
 
Dawn sighed, then grinned. "Okay. San Francisco, Buffy? Can we go to theCastro while we're there?"


INTERLUDE: SLAYER IN TRAINING
 
Janna went to sleep in the back seat with her headphones on, and Dakota andWillow began swapping out every hour of driving. There was no way they could sleep the night anywhere with the Council hot on their heels. They needed to get back to Sunnydale as fast as possible so that they could be firmly entrenched before the Council arrived. Therefore they were driving hell-bent-for-leather west to California. The sun was coming up as they crossed the county line, and by the time they pulled up to Buffy's house, Janna was waking up, much against her will. Willow smiled at her. "We're here, Janna," she told her. "Don't worry about your bags, we'll come back for them later."
 
They shuffled Janna out of the car and up to the porch, where the younger girl felt much as though she were meeting the Queen. She found herself quite tongue-tied, and the women laughed gently at her as Buffy took her insideand tried to ease her nervousness. She finally got the girl to calm down by asking questions about her trip, which brought on a full-scale epic narrative that came to a grinding halt in a truck stop bathroom. Janna's eyes went wide and she dashed out of the house, went rummaging through her bags in the back of the Jeep, and dashed back in again, carrying a wooden box.
 
"These are the glamours Linda gave me," she explained. "I forgot to take my scar off." She did so, then, and then rubbed the spot briefly where it had been, grinning. "It itches."
 
"I imagine it does," Willow said kindly. "May I look at your box, there?"
 
Janna offered it to her. "Keep it. I won't need it any more, now that I'mhere, and you're a witch, right? So maybe you can use it."
 
Willow smiled gratefully and began rummaging through the box, examining each little bag carefully. Janna resumed her narrative. "That's when the Boudreaux found me," she explained. "Boy, were they weird! But my Watcher always said 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth,' and I guess they were mygift horse, because did you see all the stuff they bought for me? Plus putting me up in the hotel with them and taking me all the way to Fort Worth.I was a little creeped out at first - they could've been ax-murderers or something - but they turned out to be just... well, eccentric, I guess."
 
Buffy nodded and then sent the girl upstairs to get some sleep. Once they heard the snick of her door closing, Buffy and Willow looked at one another. "Does it just seem to you like this trip was way too easy for her?" Buffy commented.
 
Willow nodded. "In great literature they call it the deus ex machina - godin the machine. It means basically that divine intervention steps in to make sure that certain things happen. Like Janna getting here before the Council to warn us that they're coming after Dakota."
 
Buffy nodded. "Well I wonder which deus is trying to get involved in our machines?" she mused. "This makes a Slayer very nervous."


PART FIVE
 
The ringing of the telephone called the Scoobies away from breakfast the next morning. They had gathered at Buffy's house to plan for the upcoming trouble with the Council, and so that they could all become acquainted with Janna. They were all bonding over pancakes when the phone began to ring, and Janna, who was up and on her way to the kitchen for seconds, asked Buffy if she wanted Janna to grab it. Buffy nodded, and Janna picked up the telephone. "Hullo, Summers residence," she greeted, and then, as a voice roared at her from the other end, she paled and then began to cry.
 
"Janna Markham!" Quentin Travers' voice screamed at her, loudly enough for everyone at the table to hear him. "You've compromised the security of theCouncil! You ungrateful little brat, do you realize what you've done?"
 
The instant the tears began rolling down Janna's face, Buffy was at the telephone, taking it away from her and pulling the girl tightly to her in a hug. She cut Travers' diatribe off with a sharp "Shut up, Travers!" Then, when she had silence, she took over the conversation. "Let me explain something to you. You're not getting Janna. You're not getting Dakota. You'regoing to get on your plane and you're going to go back to England and you're going to leave us alone."
 
"You're not calling the shots on this one, Summers," he growled at her, andfell silent when she laughed at him.
 
"Actually," she responded, "I kind of think I am. Because, you see, I havetwo extremely powerful witches; a daywalking vampire who, according to youpeople, is a potential Slayer; a potential Slayer; a Watcher; a thousand-year-old ex-demon; a guy with a big heart and a hell of a right hook; and, well, I'm the Slayer. So, Travers, what have you got?"
 
He was silent for a long moment, and then he snarled, "This isn't over." The line was abruptly disconnected as he slammed the phone down on his end.
 
Buffy pulled the weeping child close to her. "It's okay. He's gone. And we're not gonna let him get you."
 
"Th-th-they kidnapped me," she whispered. "Before."
 
Buffy blinked. Huh? She pushed the child back from her, holding the girlsshoulders at arms'-length. "They what?"
 
"They kidnapped me. When I was eight. I was at boarding school, and my Watcher came into the dorm one night and drugged me. By the time I woke up, I was in a first-class seat on the Concorde, halfway across the Atlantic Ocean. I wasn't allowed near a telephone for years, and by the time I was, the one time I was able to actually use it without being seen, my parents' phone number didn't work any more. I was never allowed to send mail, and I was never allowed to go anywhere out of sight of a Council operative. Theywanted to make sure I couldn't escape. And then, once I was old enough tounderstand my calling, I knew how important it was; but I wanted to go home so bad!" She shook her head. "And they want to take me back. I knew they wouldn't just let me go. I knew it."
 
Giles looked stricken. "He kidnapped you?"
 
Janna nodded. "I just got lucky when I escaped," she told them. "I was planning on climbing out of the window in the ladies' loo, but he went to thegents' first, and I was just able to walk out for the first time since I was eight. I couldn't believe my luck. And then, when I heard him - and heknew me, Buffy, he knew who I was! He's going to take me back and I don'twant to go, I want to go home, I want to see my mother! I've got five brothers and sisters that I haven't seen since the oldest of them was six, and I want to go home!"
 
Buffy pulled her close again. "You will. I promise. When this is over, I'll see to it that you go home. I swear it."  
 
They moved back to the table. "You know he's going to head straight here,"Giles warned them.
 
Buffy nodded. "That's why we're going to be ready for them. I've got an idea." She began to outline it, and the heads around her began to nod.
 
--
 
When Quentin Travers stepped off the airplane in Sunnydale, preceding his entourage, he was amazed to see young Janna Markham standing out in the open, in the middle of the airport, staring defiantly at him. He immediately started toward her but was cut off halfway there by two people who walked infront of him, and when they were past, she was gone. He looked about wildly and saw her scampering across the concourse. He took off walking after her, but she turned a corner and, by the time he got there, he couldn't find her.  
 
She had been dressed in a red hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, and he looked around for those colors, spying them on a lithe figure which seemed to be hiding behind a post. Then suddenly they were on another figure at the end of the concourse, near the escalator. He made a split-second decision to head for the escalator, and was nearly there when distracted by the sightof a figure in red and blue ducking out of the ladies' restroom. He looked around and, for the first time, realized that he had become separated from his lackeys. He couldn't see any of them. Then he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned back around to find Janna standing directly in front of him. "How ya doin', Travers?" she asked in a voice that wasn't her voice. 
 
"What? Who are you?" He summoned his best British manner. "This is not amusing -" he began, but she spoke a sudden word and he couldn't make his voice work.
 
She smiled at him then, and it was not a pleasant smile. "Dakota Walsh, Mr. Travers. Why don't you come with me." She clamped a hand down on his elbow and began forcibly leading him toward the escalator, speaking enthusiastically, and rather loudly, to her "Uncle Dave" about how great it was to see him again and how much he was going to love Sunnydale.  
 
They were met by another Janna at the luggage claim. She had Quentin's bagin her hand, and took him by the other elbow. "Hey, Karen, you've got Uncle Dave's bag?" Dakota said loudly.
 
"Karen" grinned. "Yeah, I've got it. Let's go. The car's outside, waiting for us."
 
They steered Travers out the door and to the loading zone, where Xander andyet another Janna were waiting with Xander's car. "Karen" stepped back tostop him trying to run, and Dakota informed the Englishman in a low voice that if he didn't get in the car, she'd drain him dry and save them all thetrouble. He got in, followed by Dakota and "Karen," and they drove away quickly. By the time any of the Council members got out the front door of the airport, looking for their lost leader, he was nowhere in sight.
 
As they pulled out of the parking lot, the Janna in the front seat murmured, "Let the spell be ended," and dumped some colored sand out the car window, scattering it into the wind. As she did so, the three Jannas' features changed. Dakota became a young woman of indeterminate age with brown hair and eyes, "Karen" became Buffy Summers, and the Janna in the front seat became the red-haired witch Willow Rosenberg. Travers began to splutter, and Dakota turned and glared at him. "Shut up, Travers, or I'll gag you."
 
They drove then in silence to Dakota's house, where Giles waited for them. Their captive was deposited on the sofa and glared at by all five of them for a long moment. Then, finally, Dakota turned away from him, her lip curled in disgust. "I gotta say," she commented to the room in general, "If the alternative was working for this piece of scum, I'm glad I got turned into a vampire."
 
"You won't win this, you know," Travers commented. "My operatives will find me. And when they do, you'll all die. Including the little rogue you'reharboring."
 
Buffy smirked. "Seems to me you've got a lot of rogues on your hands, Travers, and none of them so far have proved easy to even find, much less kill.How many assassins have you sent into prison after Faith? I do keep up with her, you know. You tried to kill me when I was eighteen and I was too smart for you then. You can't even find Janna; the only reason you knew she was even in Sunnydale is because she answered the telephone. As for Dakota, we haven't found the thing yet that will kill her."
 
He glared at her. "You're a pathetic excuse for a Slayer, harboring vampires in your very midst, calling them members of your... your Scooby Gang. Don't think the Council doesn't know how Angelus got released -"
 
His words were cut off when Dakota lifted him by the throat, choking off both tirade and breath. Her vamp face was on as she hissed at him, "Don't you even speak his name. Angel is more human than you are, you sack of shit, and Angelus wasn't Buffy's fault. If anyone's to be blamed for what happened, it's Jenny Calendar, because she kept silent when she should and could have spoken out to prevent what occurred. And she died for her sins. So you shut the hell -" her voice cut off suddenly, and the others knew immediately what had happened - she'd accidentally made eye contact with him.
 
Buffy and Xander stepped forward and tried to break the eye contact, putting their hands in front of Travers' and Dakota's eyes, but noting happened. Then they tried to physically separate the two of them and couldn't. Willow tried to magickally separate them to no avail, and they were just about to hit Dakota over the head with something heavy when both voices spoke together.
 
"This is the prophecy."
 
They were both silent then for a long moment, during which no one moved, all five pairs of eyes riveted on daywalker and Council man. A small sound behind them startled them, but it was just Janna creeping down the stairs tosee what was going on. Buffy beckoned her into the room, and they waited to see what else would happen with Dakota and Quentin. Janna came in the room and stood behind Buffy, watching the odd scene unfold before her. The two voices spoke again, but this time they sounded like one voice.
 
"This is the prophecy."
 
"Giles, what's going on?" Buffy asked sharply.
 
"I've no idea," he responded frankly. "They're acting spellbound."
 
Willow nodded. "I can sense the magick," she said, "but I can't tell whereit's coming from or what it's supposed to do."
 
"Fear not," said a voice from Dakota that was entirely not Dakota's voice. "What grows in the dark dies in the light. The Prophecy has sucked the life from the Council of Watchers for centuries. Now is the time for fulfillment. Fear not."
 
And then a voice that was not his came from Quentin Travers' throat. "For it shall come to pass in the latter days, in the place of the sun."
 
"You know, if I had a nickel for every time I heard a prophecy about me that talks about the place of the sun, I wouldn't have to work a day in my life." Buffy snorted.
 
Giles nodded in agreement and they waited for something else to happen. When it didn't, Janna went into the kitchen and returned with Oreo cookies and milk for everyone on a tray. "Here. Biscuits. I don't know about any of you, but I'm fashed."
 
Giles nodded. "Thank you, Janna," he commented, taking a glass and a cookie.
 
"They're fighting," Willow said suddenly.  
 
"Huh?" Xander and Buffy replied in unison.
 
"They're fighting," Willow repeated. "That's why they're tied up like that. She wants to get it out, and he doesn't. So they're struggling over who's going to win. But... he's going to lose. Because she's not the only one who wants it out. There's someone else there, too. Someone I can sense but not really get a fix on." She shook her head in frustration. "This could take a while."
 
Buffy shrugged, taking a glass of milk from Janna. "We've got time." To the younger girl, she gave a smile. "Thanks, sweetie."
 
Janna, complimented by her idol, blushed furiously and had to look somewhere else. Willow and Buffy shared a grin of amusement at the girl's hero-worship. And then the voice that was not Dakota's spoke from her throat. "The Chosen One."
 
"Who?" Buffy asked. "Me?"
 
"The Chosen One," said the voice from Travers.
 
Dakota spoke again, but to everyone's surprise, it was her own voice that spoke in a struggled whisper. "Willow. Help me."
 
Willow was immediately at her side. "How?"
 
"Can't... break... loose... He's... winning... help..."
 
"What do you need me to do, Dakota? Tell me!"
 
There was an agonizingly long moment of silence. Beads of perspiration broke out on Dakota's forehead as she fought to say what she wanted to say. "Grows... dark... dies... light..." she grated.
 
"What grows in the dark dies in the light," Willow repeated. Then suddenlyher own personal light dawned. "Dies in the light!" She turned to the others. "Cover your eyes. Turn around and cover your eyes. Now."
 
With no questions, they all obeyed. Willow stepped back from Dakota and Quentin, raised her hands together and pointed them at the two interlocked figures. She whispered a quick prayer to the Goddess that this would work, and then shouted a single word at the top of her lungs. "Illuminate!"
 
The flash of light was so bright that the world glowed nuclear around Buffyfor a split second. Even with her back to it and her eyes tightly shut and covered with her hands, she still had spots before her eyes when she finally opened them again. Her eyesight returned then and she turned at the same time as Xander and Giles to find Willow, Dakota and Travers all lying onthe floor in different places. Willow was struggling into a sitting position and Buffy went to her immediately, helping her up and into a chair. Xander got Dakota onto the couch and smoothed back her hair, talking to her in gentle tones, trying to get her to regain consciousness. Giles and Jannaboth walked over to stand over Quentin Travers, who groaned as his eyes fluttered open. Janna waited until he had focused clearly on her and then fetched him a sharp kick in the ribs before Giles could stop her. "Jerk," she said to the fallen Watcher, then returned to her cookies.
 
Xander was concerned, not being able to wake Dakota up, when suddenly her eyes opened. He jumped back in startlement. They were completely white - no iris or pupil could be seen. The others, except for the still-floored Travers, approached her cautiously, Willow leaning heavily on Buffy. "This is the prophecy," she said suddenly in a soft voice. The voice was a man's,and had a distinctive English accent. "The prophecy is given to the Council of Watchers of London, on the twenty-eighth day of August in the Year ofour Lord one thousand two hundred forty-seven. For it shall come to pass in the latter days, in the place of the sun, that the Chosen One shall initiate the destruction of the Watchers. She herself shall turn and face the sun, and shall ally with the sorceress. She shall conquer Death and live forever, even to the end of the age, and from the get of the witch shall thenew order be sprung. This is the prophecy."
 
Then Dakota's eyes were her own again, just for a second, before they rolled up in the back of her head and she passed out.
---

~~Rainne
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Buffy: I guess everyone's alone. But being a Slayer? There's a burden we can't share.
Faith: And no one else can feel it. Thank God we're hot chicks with superpowers.
Buffy: Takes the edge off.
Faith: Comforting.
--End of Days -- Buffy 7.21 --
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