See part one fir
disclaimers/pairing info
---
Giles was welcomed by the clamor of girls who all knew and loved
him. He was a favorite among the
seventh and eighth graders, who all thought he was better than Mel Gibson. He tolerated them all patiently, smiling
at them as they fluttered about him.
Tara was introduced to everyone at supper and rumors began to fly that
she was Mr. Giles's girlfriend.
It was a Friday night, and the manor house rang with the shouts of
children who were all but let to run amok on the weekends. There was dancing in the ballroom to
earsplitting popular music for the older girls; the fourth graders were playing
hide-and-go-seek on the second floor; several of the high schoolers were
sparring in the foyer. Tara
wandered through the chaos, marveling at everything she saw. The manor house itself was gorgeous, the
children happy and well cared-for.
She met Dakota in the small drawing room and grinned. "You guys have done a really impressive
job here," she complimented.
"Thanks," Dakota replied with a smile. "Hey, want to see the workrooms
upstairs?"
"The magick classrooms?"
"Yeah." Dakota
laughed as she led Tara to the main staircase. "The kids call it the Hogwarts
floor."
Tara laughed as well.
"This I'm dying to see."
Dakota led Tara upstairs and gave her a full tour of the magick
classes and then the book tower.
"This is the room that got Nicki into such trouble," she explained. She walked over to one of the
bookshelves and tugged on it; it swung open easily to reveal a dusty hidden
passageway. "Apparently, there's an
entire network of these tunnels all through the building. I haven't been all through it, but
Nicole - Nicki's little partner in crime - tells me that there are at least two
rooms that can only be accessed through these
hallways."
"Wow!" Tara exclaimed, peering into the darkened space. "So that's how she got in
here?"
Dakota nodded. "She
didn't even find it on purpose. If
she'd had the sense to get out of here when she realized where she was, I'd
never have caught her. But no, she
had to explore."
"She's really grown up," Tara
offered.
Dakota laughed softly.
"Faith told me. Turquoise
hair and a new bite scar." She
shook her head. "I don't know if
Nicki's cut out for this."
"She's doing wonderfully," Tara said softly. "You should come see her sometime. She talks about you
constantly."
"Yeah?" Dakota
smiled. "You have to forgive
me. I'm feeling my immortality
these days." She sighed. "I think it's the little ones. They grow up so fast, and it's starting
to sink in to me that all these girls are training to eventually go out and
die. I think I understand why the
Council guys were the way they were: they had to be, in order to keep doing this
day after day without going insane."
Tara didn't know what to say. She settled for hugging Dakota
tightly. "Everything will be okay,"
she promised. "The teams in
Sunnydale are excellent. They're
skilled and they're strong. They'll
last a long time."
"I hope so," Dakota whispered. "I hope
so."
The next morning, a flurry of activity met Tara when she came downstairs. It was still an hour before breakfast,
but girls were moving around at breakneck speeds, carrying bags and boxes and
shouting back and forth to one another.
A young girl in a blue polo shirt and khaki cargo shorts bounded
cheerfully up to Tara. "Hey, Miss
Tara. I'm Emma Masters. My Slayer and I have been assigned to
you for the trip."
"Trip?" Tara asked,
confused.
"Yeah, to the henge.
You know it's a two-day trip up the river,
right?"
Tara shook her head.
"No, I didn't know. I
thought it was on the Academy grounds."
Emma grinned. "It
is."
"Oh, wow," Tara marveled.
"I had no idea the grounds were that
vast."
"Oh, yeah, it's huge," Emma replied. "You'd be
amazed."
"Maybe I should pack a bag," Tara
mused.
Emma winked. "Maybe
so. Kennedy and I will catch up
with you after breakfast, okay?"
"Okay," Tara replied, and returned upstairs to prepare for the
trip.
Breakfast was a noisy affair. Only fourteen students had been able to
sign up to go - seven Partners and seven Potentials - and the ones who hadn't
made it to the sign-up sheet in time were jealous. Shouts and catcalls rang back and forth
through the huge dining hall until Faith stood up, instantly silencing the
room.
She cleared her throat.
"I know everyone's excited about the trip, and those of you who are
staying behind are excited about a weekend with only Miss Maisri and the student
monitors in charge. However, I know
you all know how to behave, and the noise level in this room is
unacceptable. This is your first
and only warning." She sat down
again. For a few minutes, the hall
was deadly silent except for the clink of cutlery on plates; then the quiet buzz
of conversation arose again, but this time at a tolerable
volume.
Once breakfast was over, everyone going on the trip assembled on
the south lawn. Each team of girls
carried a canoe. Kennedy told Tara
not to worry - she would ride in the canoe with
them.
Giles caught up with Tara on the trek down to the riverside. "How do you like it so far?" he asked
her.
The smile she turned on him was brilliant. "I love it. I want to
stay."
He smiled back at her.
"I'm sure you'd be welcome," he assured her. "We'd miss you in Sunnydale,
though."
She blushed and ducked her head shyly. a habit she'd never been
able to break. "I'd come visit,"
she said softly.
He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "We wouldn't have it any other
way."
At the river, canoes were packed and the girls all gathered
together to listen to directions.
Krista Leichtermann, the Potential who had discovered the circle,
spoke. "The circle is seven hours
from here, upriver," she announced.
"There are three sets of rapids between here and there which will be
somewhat difficult, but not too hard for any of you. I have an air horn." She demonstrated with a blast on the
horn. "When you hear two short
blasts, this means that we will be stopping. I also have whistles, one for each
team." She held up a bag. "Each team will carry a whistle. If you capsize or get into trouble, you
will blow the whistle. If you hear
a whistle, you will immediately stop where you are until you hear one long blast
on the horn, which will tell you that we will all gather wherever I am. If you are within visual range of a team
which blows its whistle, you will move immediately to render assistance. Are there any
questions?"
There were none, and Krista continued. "There is to be no horseplay!" she ordered. "This is a serious mission to
investigate supernatural phenomenon.
You will behave as you would in the field. Anyone who cannot do this is welcome to
return to the manor." There was a
long moment of silence, then Krista smiled. "Then let us
go!"
The sounds of splashing began as girls and canoes entered the
water.
---
"Willow?
Honey?"
Willow blinked, coming slowly out of a deep sleep.
"Mmm?"
Buffy sat on the edge of the bed, tenderly stroking Willow's
cheek. "Honey? I'm gonna run down to the supermarket,
okay?"
"Mmkay."
"I've put the phone here on the night table," Buffy said
gently. "If you need anything, call
my cell.
Okay?"
"Mmkay. Love
you."
"I love you, too, sweetie."
Buffy kissed Willow tenderly, then slipped out of the bedroom. She grabbed her cell phone and the keys
to the Xterra off the coffee table and headed
out.
Willow came out of a deep sleep to the accompaniment of unpleasant
cramps in her stomach. She massaged
her belly, trying to ease the spasms, and smiled when the baby kicked in
protest. She yawned and stretched
luxuriously, and then gasped as another cramp rippled across her stomach. This one, however, was accompanied by a
sudden surge of wetness flooding between her legs. "Oh, God!" she exclaimed. She snatched the phone off the bedside
table.
Buffy was standing in the baby aisle, examining the different
varieties of baby food available, when her cell phone went off at her
waist. She flipped it open without
glancing at the caller ID.
"Summers."
"Buffy?"
Buffy froze at the breathless sound of the voice coming through
the line.
"Wills?"
"Buffy, you need to come home right now. My water just
broke."
"I'm on my way," Buffy exclaimed and bolted from the store. She called the obstetrician from the car
and made sure that he would meet them at the hospital. Then she hung up and called another
number.
"Magic Box, Xander
speaking."
"Xand! I'm getting
Wills and we're going to the hospital.
Her water just broke."
"I'm on it," he replied, hanging up. He began making phone
calls.
Buffy pulled the Xterra across the grass and right up to the front
door. She burst in and ran upstairs
to find Willow sliding her feet into shoes. The Slayer retrieved Willow's hospital
bag, then helped her lover down the stairs and into the
car.
"I wish Giles was here," Willow said sadly as they pulled out onto
the street.
"I do, too, babe," Buffy agreed, squeezing Willow's hand as she
maneuvered them through traffic.
"Xander's calling over there, though. He'll be back as soon as he
can."
---
"What do you mean, he's not there?" Xander exclaimed. "He called and said he was
there!"
"No, Mr. Harris, that's not what I mean," Louisa Velasquez,
Potential on phone duty, explained into the transatlantic line. "I mean he's not here right now. They've all gone down to the henge. It's a two day trip. They won't be back until probably very
late tomorrow."
"You can't get them on the cell
phone?"
"No reception out there, Mr. Harris. I'm really sorry. I promise, as soon as he steps foot on
land, I'll give him your message. I
swear it."
Xander sighed. "If
it's all you got, it'll have to do.
I gotta go - I gotta get to the
hospital."
"Good luck, Mr. Harris," Louisa said as she hung up. She turned then to face her partner,
Brittany Cage.
"Baby."
"Ooh, how exciting," Brittany exclaimed.
"Whose?"
"Miss Willow and Miss
Buffy."
"Sweet!"
---
"Just relax, baby, okay?
Everything is gonna be okay."
Buffy smoothed back Willow's sweat-dampened hair and kissed her gently on
the forehead. "Dr. Nichols is here,
okay? And he says you're gonna be
just fine."
Willow's hand clamped down on Buffy's wrist. "Remember what you promised
me."
The doctor came bustling in before Buffy could respond, a wide
smile on his face. "Well, well,
Willow and Buffy! I thought we'd
set this up for next week."
"Sorry, Dr. Nick," Willow gasped. "I just couldn't
wait."
"Well, all right, then," he said, snapping on a pair of rubber
gloves. "Let's just see where we
are, shall we?"
---
Janna and Dawn burst into the waiting room, Siobhan and Ebony on
their heels. "What's going on? What have you
heard?"
Xander looked up.
"Nothing yet. They've only
been in for about two hours. Buffy
came out about forty-five minutes ago and said they were gonna try for the
C-section, but they weren't sure they were gonna be able to do
it."
Ebony gasped. "But Buffy said -"
He nodded, his face wan.
"The natural birth is incredibly dangerous for
her."
Siobhan moved to the corner and dropped to her knees facing a
chair. Pulling her rosary out of
her pocket, she began to pray quietly in Latin. "Ave Maria, gratia
plena..."
One by one, the others sat down around the room and added their
own silent prayers to Siobhan's audible ones.
---
~~Rainne
******
Buffy: Oh! When I had psychic power, I heard my mother think
that you were like a stevedore during sex... Do you want me to continue?
Giles: Actually, I beg you to stop.
Buffy: What's a stevedore?
--"Who Are You?"--Buffy ep 4x16--
******
Buffy: Oh! When I had psychic power, I heard my mother think
that you were like a stevedore during sex... Do you want me to continue?
Giles: Actually, I beg you to stop.
Buffy: What's a stevedore?
--"Who Are You?"--Buffy ep 4x16--
******
| Yahoo! Groups Sponsor | |
|
|
Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy: "I kinda love you."
--'Choices'
Community email addresses:
Post message: buffywantswillow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subscribe: buffywantswillow-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Unsubscribe: buffywantswillow-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
List owner: buffywantswillow-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Shortcut URL to this page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow
Official archive for the list:
http://www.ikoly.com/fanfic
Other links to Buffy/Willow fics:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow/links
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.