See part one for disclaimer/pairing
info
---
"It's beautiful," Tara gasped as the sun came up over the tiny
henge. "Oh, Giles,
look!"
He stood behind her quietly, watching as the first rays of the
dawn struck the golden basin at the foot of the altar. He stepped forward then, into the
circle, and felt the hairs on his arms raise as he came into the range of the
spells. "Oh,
my."
She followed him, gasping as well at the sensation. "It sounds like bees," she
commented.
"Indeed," he agreed.
It did. It was a sort of
subaudible hum, felt more than heard, but it was indeed reminiscent of
bees. He walked over to the altar,
examining the grooves. "Now, what
do you imagine -"
"Blood," she interrupted him, her eyes fixed on the altar. "They sacrificed the victims... the
blood went into the little depression, then through the grooves and into the
basin."
"How do you know?" he asked,
intrigued.
"I can feel it.
Giles... this is an evil place."
He urged her to step out of the circle, then focused his own
energies on the wards. He began to
slowly pick apart the spells that had been placed on the circle and came out of
it gasping half an hour later. "My
God!" he exclaimed. "They were
worshiping vampires!"
"What?" Faith exclaimed from behind them. "Are you
serious?"
Giles turned to face the two daywalkers, who had come from the
camp just as he spoke. "Quite
serious," he told her. "The spells
make it very clear that whoever set them was worshipping vampires. The spells are meant to attract
them." He eyeballed her. "I'm surprised you hadn't felt the
pull."
"She probably didn't realize it, since she was made here," Dakota
mused. "I noticed it as soon as I
arrived, but there were other things to do and I eventually put it out of my
mind."
"Can the spells be removed?" Faith inquired. "I'm not sure having a navigational
vampire beacon on Academy grounds is such a hot
idea."
"No, it's not," Dakota
agreed.
Giles and Tara exchanged a glance. "Are you capable?" he
asked.
She squared her shoulders and nodded. "I can do
it."
He turned back to the vampires. "I'm going to need some
supplies."
---
Siobhan hadn't moved in over three hours except for her fingers
working at her beads and her lips, which continued to form the words of the Ave
Maria and the Pater Noster long after her voice had given out. Ebony and Janna, unable to take the
stress, had gone out on patrol together the moment the sun went down. Dawn was acting as liaison between the
birthing room and the waiting room, where a growing crowd of students and acquaintances waited in tense
silence. Xander's cell phone rang
every half hour as Maria and Virginia, on assignment in Vancouver, called for
updates.
---
Giles and Tara sat cross-legged, facing one another across the
golden basin. Inside the basin, a
mixture of herbs burned sweetly.
Tara called the quarters down and Giles invoked the
deities.
"Come now a cleansing wind," Tara intoned. "Come now the wind and cleanse this
place, drive the evil from it that it may once again be pure." At her words, a powerful wind blew
through the circle, blowing leaves about and ruffling her and Giles's
clothing.
"Come now a cleansing fire," Giles commanded. "Come now the fire and purify this
place, drive the evil from it that it may once again be new." As he finished speaking, a bolt of
lightning fell from the clear sky, striking the altar dead center and leaving a
strong scent of ozone in the air.
"Come now a cleansing water," Tara cried, taking up the
spell. "Come now the water and wash
this place, drive the evil from it that it may once again be sacred." A gentle rainfall began and then
abruptly ended, leaving the altar, the menhirs and the casters slightly
damp.
"Come now a cleansing earth," Giles entreated. "Come now the earth and sanctify this
place, drive the evil from it that it may once again be whole." As soon as the words left his mouth, a
veritable herd of butterflies poured out of the surrounding woods. The butterflies flittered throughout the
circle, filling the air, and then just as suddenly returned to the forest from
whence they had come.
Tara and Giles stood now and joined hands over the basin. "Come now a cleansing spirit," they both
cried out in unison. "Come now the
spirit and heal this place, drive the evil from it that it may once again be a
place of Light. So mote it
be!"
For a brief moment, all was silence. Then suddenly their joined hands were
surrounded in a nimbus of silver light which grew to encompass the entire
circle. There was the sound of a
bell tolling and then, with a blinding flash, the light was gone. A moment later, the normal sounds of the
surrounding forest resumed.
Faith and Dakota looked at each other. Dakota spoke first, but fervently enough
for both of them. "Holy
crap."
---
"It's time," the nurse said.
"Wait!" Willow
panted. She turned frantic eyes on
Buffy. "I love you. Buffy, I love you so
much."
Buffy leaned down and kissed Willow hard. "I love you, too, Wills." She stroked the witch's damp hair back
from her sweaty brow. "I'll see you
when you wake up."
The nurse injected something into the IV and, moments later,
Willow was unconscious. The medical
personnel burst into action. Buffy
refused to leave her place at Willow's side, but she did move further up toward
the head of the bed as the Caesarian was performed. She didn't know what was going on, but
she did know that everything she heard terrified
her.
Her eyes darted from person to person as comments were tossed back
and forth, orders given and stats announced. The doctor spared a moment to tell her
that the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck, and then he was working
again. but mere moments later, she
heard a healthy shriek and the doctor lifted a squalling, furious, beautiful
baby girl up in his hands. He
invited Buffy to cut the cord, but she declined, wide-eyed and nervous. The nurse took the baby, cleaned her and
checked her Apgar signs, then wrapped her in a blanket and brought her to
Buffy.
The Slayer's hands were shaking as she took her daughter into her
arms. The unfocused eyes that
stared solemnly and unblinkingly up at her were a vibrant green. She ran her hand over the downy cap of
golden auburn hair. "Hey, Bobbie,"
she whispered to the new life in her arms.
"I love you."
One of the monitors suddenly went crazy, shrieking an alarm, and
the medical people jumped back into action. Buffy was bodily removed from the room
with orders from the doctor to take the baby to the waiting room, show her off,
get a Coke, whatever, but get out of the way.
Numb with fear, Buffy carried the baby down the hall to the
waiting room. Siobhan's voice
stopped when Buffy entered the room. The blonde Slayer stood in the doorway for
a moment, staring around at the crowd of faces, and then suddenly focused on
Xander and Dawn. "It's a girl," she
whispered.
There was dead silence for a long moment. Then Xander choked out the
question.
"Willow?"
Buffy's face was dead white.
"I don't know. They made me
leave. They wouldn't tell
me."
Siobhan's beads began to click again. "Pater noster, qui es in
coelis..."
After a moment, the somber group crowded together to see the new
baby and to lend their strength to Buffy.
---
It was a merry group that launched its canoes, heading back
downriver toward the Academy. The
girls shouted back and forth at each other joyfully, enjoying themselves in the
aftermath of a successful mission.
They stopped twice to swim and once to eat, and arrived back at the manor
shortly after moonrise.
There was a night game of baseball in progress on the south lawn
as the travelers began to straggle up to the manor. The shortstop, spying them, called a
time out and raced across the lawn.
"Mr. Giles! Mr.
Giles!"
Giles glanced up at the dark-haired figure barrelling up to
him.
"Yes?"
"Mr. Giles," she told him breathlessly. "Call came in for you this morning
early. Miss Willow, sir. The
baby."
"Oh, no... oh, God, no... not early labor." Giles's face paled. He turned to Dakota, who was standing
next to him. "I've got to get back
there now."
Dakota sprinted for her
office.
The earliest flight they could get didn't leave Heathrow for four
hours, and there was only one seat available on it. Tara told Giles to go. "I'll be fine here," she told him, and
he didn't press her, promising to call as soon as he knew
something.
Dakota drove Giles to the airport and waited with him until his
flight was called. They took turns
as they waited calling every number they had, but no one was at home or
answering cell phones. Just before
Giles finally boarded his flight, Dakota grabbed his hand.
"Giles."
"Yes, Dakota?"
"I... we... we've never talked about this kind of thing, but...
will you let me pray for you?"
His eyes grew damp.
"Yes, Dakota," he whispered.
"I would like that."
She took both his hands in hers, closed her eyes, and went
searching for a God she hadn't even thought of since becoming a vampire. It only took a few seconds for her to
find Him, and she took a deep breath.
Then, in a shaking voice, she began to pray fervently for Giles's safety,
Willow's life, and the baby's health.
It only took a few minutes, and then she reached up and kissed him gently
on the cheek. "Go with God, my
friend," she said quietly.
He laid a gentle hand on her cheek. "Thank you," he said sincerely, before
turning and boarding his flight.
Faith met Dakota in the entry hall when she got back from
London. Her eyes were haunted. Dakota heard the ringing silence in
halls that usually echoed with life and laughter and felt the cold hand of fear
grip her heart.
"Faith...?"
"Kotie, baby..." Faith led Dakota to a bench and made her sit
down. Then she knelt, facing her
lover. "We just had a call from
Anya about ten minutes ago."
"Anya?"
"Xander's fiancee."
Dakota swallowed hard and braced herself. "What did she
say?"
"It's a girl," Faith said.
"Roberta Dawn. Nine pounds,
four ounces; twenty-one inches long.
She... she's perfectly healthy and will probably be at home by the time
Giles gets there."
Dakota felt the blood drain from her face. She could barely hear her own voice as
she forced the words out. "And...
Willow?"
The _expression_ on Faith's face was all the answer Dakota
needed. She crumpled into her
lover's arms and began to weep.
---
~~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--
******
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