Repercussions, Reactions and Retaliation (6a/?) W/B/T NC17

Title: Repercussions, Reactions and Retaliation

Author: The Bear!

Spoilers: None really, this is in the Triadverse AU and follows The Please Trilogy and The Triad Trilogy

Pairing: Willow/Buffy/Tara primarily, but other Scoobies are hooked up as well.

Summary: With Glory defeated, things should quiet down for a while... shouldn’t they?

Warnings: NC17 over all (Part 6 is also PG13ish)

Author’s Note: 6b will be out tomorrow. Probably. If you’re impatient, you can join my list and see it right now!

Visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BearCave_BtVS/

Or send an email to BearCave_BtVS-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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

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

Chapter 6

“Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign as we begin our final descent into Las Vegas. The ground temperature at McCarran International Airport right now is a balmy 92 degrees. You will be happy to know that that is down from today’s high of 103 Fahrenheit,” the flight attendant spoke over the intercom.

“Damn!” Faith muttered under her breath as the plane hit a little patch of turbulence and dropped slightly.

“What’s the matter Faith?” Xander asked. “It’s not that much hotter than good old sunnyD. Least it won’t be humid.”

“I dunno Xman, triple digits is triple digits. Dry don’t make it that much better,” Faith answered, thankful Xander didn’t notice the death grip she had on the armrests at her sides.

‘I think I’m gonna leave fingerdents...’ she thought, feeling extremely nervous and having a hard time breathing normally. ‘Hell of a time to figure out I don’t like flying.’

“So, are you nervous?” Xander asked.

“Huh?” Faith asked, startled.

‘Damn, I thought I was hiding it pretty well,’ Faith thought, feeling a little irritated with herself.

Immediately she tried to downplay it. “Yeah, well, you know. It just don’t seem natural for a big chunk of metal to stay up in the air all by itself... plus, I’m not much for not bein’ the one in control, you know...”

‘God knows that’s what my prison shrink kept telling me’ over and over and fricken over...”

When there was no immediate response, Faith turned to see Xander smiling at her. “What?” she demanded.

“I was talking about seeing Giles and Joyce and Dawn again...” Xander said.

Faith felt her face grow warm and she glanced away, embarrassed. “Crap!” she muttered in exasperation.

“So you don’t like flying... big deal. You hid it real well, I wouldn’t have figured it out...” Xander said consolingly.

“Look, forget about it, alright? It’s nothing; change the subject,” Faith grumbled.

‘I don’t need your fricken pity,’ she thought, though not as angrily as she once would have.

“Ok, what do you want to talk about?” Xander agreed mildly.

“I dunno. What’s up with someone trying to take out G-man and the little sis? That’s new huh?” Faith said, trying to focus on something other than the descending plane.

Xander cocked his head for a moment, as if pondering the question. “Well, we’ve had assassins before... Spike put out a contract on Buffy with the Order of Teraka the year before you came to Sunnydale.”

“Yeah, I remember you guys tellin’ stories about that bug-guy... Wicked gross!” Faith chuckled.

“Yeah,” Xander said with visible distaste. “The other two assassins were human, though. One of them even used a gun.”

“Right,” Faith said, remembering. “Big butch chick, dressed up like a cop, right?”

“Yep. Your predecessor took her out. Buffy did the biker dude, and me and Cordy stomped out bugs,” Xander said with a wry grin.

Just then the plane’s rear landing gear touched down, followed a second later by the front.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Las Vegas Nevada, where the local time is 9:45 p.m. Thank you for choosing United Airlines, we hope you have a successful stay, and we hope to see you again on your next flight,” the flight attendant spoke over the intercom.

‘Ok, now we’re just on a big bus. I can handle that,’ Faith thought, feeling a knot in her stomach release, and the muscles in her abdomen and lower back relax from their former tension. She looked over at her travel companion and glared in the face of his knowing smirk.

“Look at it this way Faith, you get to take a car back...” Xander quipped.

“Yeah, great. Six hour in a car- that’s my idea of a good time,” Faith said sourly.

“I’m sure you’ll find something to pass the time,” Xander said with a sly grin.

Faith smiled right back, unabashed. “Nah, road-head’s fine and all, but it’s hard to get payback and still drive.”

Xander laughed.

“Hey, you think G-man and Mrs. S will join the mile high club on the trip back?” Faith suddenly asked.

Xander’s eyes bugged out. “Jesus Faith!” he choked out. “That’s not a mental image I need right now, or ever, really.”

“Hell, I’d pay to see it,” Faith said, laughing at Xander’s reaction.

“I’d have to put my own eyes out if I ever saw it,” Xander groaned. “I mean, I’m happy for both of them; *if* they’re even together like that. After all, it make sense- who else is gonna be able to handle the reality of Scooby life? But, I so don’t need the visuals!”

“Come on, X-man, they’re both pretty hot, for their age... what’s not to like?” Faith asked.

‘Hell, I’d probably have done Giles when I first came to sunnyD, just to see his eyes roll back in his head.’ Faith thought. ‘I’ve done worse...’

Xander shook his head, saying, “Faith, Giles is like a father to me. Way more than my own piece-of-crap old-man ever was. So, I can be happy for him, but I would much rather not ever see or picture him doing the nasty.”

“You sound just like B,” Faith laughed.

‘Cept, I notice you didn’t say you wouldn’t want to see Mrs. S doin’ the nasty...’ Faith thought with a smirk. ‘Yeah, you’re pretty good for a guy, but you’re still a guy!’

“She took it a lot better than I thought she would,” Xander said, changing the subject slightly.

“Yeah, I figured she’d freak too... I guess it’s better this way than finding out the way she did before,” Faith agreed.

Xander chuckled a little, nodding in agreement. “Ah the downside of telepathy...” he pronounced.

“Yeah, you get to overhear your mom remembering when she got jumped on the hood of a cop-car... twice!” Faith crowed.

“Ok, enough with the disturbing parental-sex imagery,” Xander said with a grimace. We’re here, let’s find Gunn, get the car, and get moving. I’d like to make it home sometime before sunrise.

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

‘It’s the right thing to do, but I’m still surprised Buffy agreed,’ Tara thought as she looked at her lover and pet.

Buffy was staring at the empty drive, where Xander and Faith had just left in a taxi for the airport. Willow was by her side, arm wrapped around the Slayer’s waist.

“They’ll get them back Buff,” Willow said, trying to reassure her girlfriend. “It’ll be ok, you’ll see.”

Buffy answered resignedly, “I know, Will. I trust Xander, I even trust Faith... it’s just...”

“Your family’s in danger and you want to be there yourself,” Tara said, knowing how Buffy was feeling.

Buffy nodded her head.

“Come on, let’s go inside for a little while and then later we can go on patrol,” Tara said, taking Buffy’s free hand. She smiled when Buffy’s face lit up at the thought of patrol.

“That’s right!” Willow said happily. “You can beat up some vamps, and me and Tara can be your cheerleaders!”

A smile slowly developed on the Slayer’s face, almost as if in spite of her somber mood. “Yeah?” she asked slyly.

Tara smiled at the look of lust that was developing on Buffy’s face.

“Maybe, if you play really well, after the staking is over you’ll get to score with a couple of the cheerleaders...” Willow whispered seductively.

Buffy’s eyes lit up and she licked her lips.

‘Uh huh, I see some uniform shopping in Willow’s and my future... some naughty girl has a cheerleader fantasy!’ Tara thought happily.

“Before we get too distracted, we should probably try and figure out what to do with the people that are coming for Faith...” Tara said, reluctantly putting business ahead of pleasure.

“Aww,” Buffy pouted.

“Hey,” Willow spoke up suddenly, as though struck by a thought. “You don’t suppose they’d be dumb enough just to fly into Sunnydale and get a hotel room, do you? I mean, if the council thinks we don’t care about Faith...”

‘So cute when you get excited!’ Tara thought in amusement as she took in Willow’s eager _expression_.

“Maybe... how would we check?” Buffy asked.

Willow was bouncing with excitement as she replied, “Oh, easy! I’ll just check all the hotel registries, and filter any new check-ins occurring within a couple hours of any flights arriving from England! Oh, and I’ll check car-rentals too, and maybe I’ll do the same for LA arrivals... Oh, and I could hack the watcher’s bank accounts and check for any expenditures in the same time-frame... that could give us their credit card information and we’d be able to track them anywhere!”

‘Mmm, every time she babbles, it reminds me of all the other wonderfully frantic things she can do with that mouth,’ Tara thought as a warm shiver ran down her spine. Looking to her pet, she saw Buffy similarly fixated on the redhead’s lips. ‘I see I’m not the only one!’

“I’ll get started!” Willow said as she sped off into the mansion, no doubt headed straight for her laptop.

Tara snickered as she moved over to wrap her arms around Buffy from behind. “Makes you want to have her drop to her knees and put that mouth to other uses, doesn’t it?” she whispered into Buffy’s ear.

“Oh God yes!” Buffy sighed, leaning against her Mistress and covering Tara’s arms with her own.

Tara kissed Buffy’s neck, enjoying the scent of her lover’s skin for a moment before guiding her into the house after the redhead. “Come on, let’s go figure out what we’ll do once Willow finds them.”

Buffy seemed subdued once again as Tara led her to the couch and they sat down. She took Buffy’s hand between her own and pulled one leg under herself so she could sit facing her lover. “What’s wrong sweetie?” she asked quietly, rubbing the Slayer’s hand gently between her own.

“Just remembering...” Buffy said softly.

“You’ve dealt with them before,” Tara said, remembering when she’d first met Buffy- Faith had managed to do a body switch on the blond Slayer, and Tara had met both Buffy’s body, and later the real Buffy, stuck in Faith’s body.

“Yeah,” Buffy nodded. “Twice.”

“But you beat them!” Tara reminded her lover, giving her clasped hand a little shake to emphasize the point. “We’ll beat them again this time!”

Buffy didn’t look convinced.

“You don’t think we can stop them?” Tara asked, surprised. “They’re just men, Buffy. We’ve faced a lot worse than that...”

“Oh, we can stop them; that’s easy. Even with guns, they aren’t that tough...” Buffy said.

“Why are you worried then?” Tara asked, brushing one palm over Buffy’s cheek.

Buffy closed her eyes and hummed lightly. She turned her head and kissed Tara’s palm softly before answering, “The first time, they left cause Faith disappeared. When she showed up in LA, so did they. They left that time cause Faith was in prison.”

Tara nodded as she realized what Buffy was concerned about. “So, we can stop them easily enough, but how do we keep them from trying again and again...”

Buffy nodded. “They’re human, I can’t slay them, and they aren’t afraid of death anyway. The time I was in Faith’s body, I grabbed one and threatened to kill him, and the other two were all like, ‘Before we go on a job, we always put our affairs in order, just in case.’ They would have let me kill him, and it barely even fazed them.”

“Hmm, well we’ll figure out something. Maybe Giles will have a good idea,” Tara suggested.

Buffy smiled at that. “Yeah, as long as he’s not to busy thinking dirty thoughts about Mom!”

Tara laughed as she remembered Buffy’s surprising response to the idea of her Watcher and her Mother possibly being involved in an intimate relationship. ‘Goddess, ‘It’s about time!’ is probably the last thing I ever thought she’d say to that!’

“Buffy, don’t take this the wrong way, but... I was a little surprised that you were ok with Giles and Mom, you know, being together,” Tara said gently, her curiosity getting the better of her. “Mom told me about when you had the ‘aspect of the demon’...”

“She did?” Buffy asked, surprised. Then she chuckled, “Getting to intimately experience Mom’s memory of having sex on the hood of a police car was pretty traumatizing for both of us...”

Tara laughed, “I can imagine. She said that was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to her. When you found out, I mean, not when it happened.”

“Well, I’ve had a couple years to get used to the idea... I kinda figured they’d get together sooner than this, and when they didn’t, I was actually a little disappointed.”

Tara raised her brows in surprise.

“Giles has been like a dad to me for a long time... I mean, he stayed. Through times way tougher than my supposed ‘real father’ ever had to go through,” Buffy said, her eyes welling with tears.

“He’s a very good man,” Tara said in agreement.

Buffy nodded, continuing, “He got tortured by Angelus and still stayed, he got fired by the council and still stayed... Lots of times I was afraid he’d leave... he never even thought about it. Even when I ran away, he stayed... he looked for me the whole time...”

“I always got the feeling- from the first time I saw the two of you together- that he thought of you as a daughter,” Tara said tenderly.

“I think he kinda sees all of us as his kids,” Buffy said with a happy smile. “That works out really well, since Mom feels the same way about all of us too.”

“I’m glad you’re happy for them. >From Dawn’s _expression_, I think she’s happy for them too,” Tara said.

“Yeah...” Buffy’s smile faltered, and she began to frown as if she was having confusing thoughts. “Dawn... does Dawn seem different to you lately?”

‘Oh my yes. Dawnie has definitely changed lately,’ Tara thought.

“How do you mean?” she asked Buffy, not wanting to immediately bring up all the ways in which Dawn seemed to have changed.

“I dunno. It’s just... I dunno,” Buffy repeated, clearly confused by the changes in her little sister. “I guess I expected her to freak out about all this stuff lately, and she... she really didn’t.”

“No, she’s been very... mature about all the changes in her life.” Tara offered, hoping Buffy would take the hint.

Buffy did. “Mature!” she verily jumped on the description. “That’s exactly it! I always thought of her as this bratty little girl, but lately she acts... older.”

‘Oh I hope you can remember that when the time comes...’ Tara thought.

“What’s up with that?” Buffy asked, almost as if offended that Dawn should be acting mature.

“I’m not an expert in the subject, Buffy. I have no idea what kind of magic was used to create a human being, almost from scratch... well, except for the traditional way, and I’m certainly no expert in *that*” she qualified with a grin.

Buffy tilted her head in confusion for a moment until she caught the reference. “Oh! No, I don’t suppose you would be... and, can I just say, I’m really glad for that?”

Tara beamed joyfully at the tacit compliment. “Me too! Anyway, I was thinking that since most of our memories about Dawn were, well, not really real... we can’t be sure... I’m not sure how to explain it...” Tara trailed off, having difficulty organizing her thoughts so that they made sense to her, let alone Buffy.

“She’s real now. But, she’s not exactly a normal human...” Willow offered, walking into the room and obviously having heard the conversation.

“Whaddya mean she’s not normal?” Buffy asked, a hint of defensiveness in her voice.

Willow knelt down in front of her two lovers and placed a hand on each blonde’s thigh. “Well, they made her from you, right? And, you’ve got that Slayer essence in you... that makes you different than most people...”

Tara felt Buffy stiffen slightly, and moved her arm around to embrace the Slayer. ‘Be easy pet,’ she thought. ‘Willow’d never say anything to hurt you...’

“Just like having all this magic flow through us makes us different than normal people. It’s not a bad thing, and it doesn’t make us necessarily better, or worth more than regular humans, but it does make us different. Dawn’s different too- she’s not even a year old in reality, but obviously she’s way more mature than a baby human would be...” Willow explained.

Tara nodded her head, “Yes, that’s it exactly. All of our memories that were implanted are of a normal human, being born and growing up just like a regular kid- but none of that really happened- so it’s natural that Dawn’s behavior might be different than what we expect from the person we remember.”

“It’s ok though, right? Dawn’s not dangerous or anything do you think?” Buffy asked, suddenly nervous.

Both witches shook their heads. “No, she’s still Dawn, she’s still your little sister...” Tara began.

“Just that she’s unique, there’s no one else exactly like her in the world, and we should just accept that there’s gonna be some things that are not exactly what we expect...” Willow continued.

Tara laughed at that point. “Unexpected behavior, that’s actually pretty normal in a teenager, isn’t it?”

Buffy seemed reassured by her lovers, and she smiled as she responded to Tara’s comment, “Yeah, I guess it’s just even more unexpected that she’s acting like a mature adult.”

Tara teased her lover, saying, “You’re just annoyed because Mom’s going to wonder why you couldn’t have been like your little sister is...”

Willow laughed while Buffy shot her a grimace.

Willow changed the subject, saying, “So, the only thing I found was I’m pretty sure they flew in last night- I found a charge on a credit card paid for out of council funds; it was for three tickets on a flight from Heathrow to Sunnydale landing at midnight last night. I couldn’t find anything on hotel’s though, so they must not be using one, or they paid cash...”

“They wouldn’t be that stupid...” Buffy muttered.

“Actually, using cash is smart, it keeps them off our radar, anyway,” Willow corrected.

Buffy shook her head, “No, not the cash thing. I was thinking, last time they had a safe-house thingy set up in this warehouse down by the docks...”

“Could they be that arrogant?” Tara asked, torn between hopefulness and disdain.

“Oh, they’re pretty arrogant...” Buffy growled angrily.

“Well, we still don’t know what to do with them when we do find them, why don’t we wait till we pick up Giles and Mom... and then we can go visit the docks?” Tara suggested.

Buffy smiled widely and her eyes were filled with less with anger than with eager anticipation as she said, “Until then, I seem to remember that there was some cheerleading that was going to happen...”

‘Mmm, post slayage hungries and hornies!’ Tara thought delightedly, feeling a burst of heat flowing up from below her belly.

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

“Yo, Xander, Faith!”

Xander looked to his left and saw Gunn standing a little apart from the crowd of people waiting at the gate.

“What’s up G, long time, no see!” Faith called back.

‘Back to the wall, eyes scanning the crowd...’ Xander noted silently as he and Faith walked over to the LA demon hunter- part of the Angel Investigations team. ‘...He may not have ever been in the army, but he’s definitely got the mindset.’

“Yeah, it’s been, what... at least twenty hours or so,” Gunn responded to Faith’s comment with a sardonic smile.

“Hey, thanks for coming,” Xander said.

“No big, it’s what we do,” Gunn downplayed the situation.

‘As much as the whole ‘fighting evil’ thing sucks sometimes, there are some damn good people fighting the good fight.’ Xander thought, feeling a sense of pride that he was counted among such individuals.

“Still, we all appreciate it,” Xander added.

“So, what’s the deal?” Gunn asked, his tone growing serious. “You said it was a protection gig?”

Xander shrugged, “Well, sorta. I’ll explain on the way.”

“Ok,” Gunn accepted with a shrug. He started to walk down the concourse, saying, “Come on, we’re parked on the top level...”

“You got the car already, G?” Faith asked. “Whatcha get?”

“We lucked out!” Gunn said excitedly. They were out of the midsize your girl Red reserved for us, so they upgraded us for free! Wait till you see it, it’s pretty sweet!”

‘I hope it’s comfortable, we’ve got a long drive ahead...’ Xander thought as he hitched up the bag full of weapons and followed the other two.

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

Xander couldn’t help laughing as Gunn stopped and said, “Here it is!”

“Dude, it’s a fricken boat!” Faith said with dismay.

Xander’s eyes ran back and forth over the gleaming black car. ‘Actually, this might not be too bad; it looks a lot like an unmarked cop car...’

“Hey, this is a 2001 Chevy Caprice Classic,” Gunn protested. “It’s got less than 300 miles on it, it’s big, it’s black, and it’s bad!”

“It’s a whale,” Faith said, eyebrows raised.

“No, it’s good, it’ll be perfect,” Xander said contemplatively.

“Yeah, don’t dis the ride,” Gunn said to Faith with a smirk.

“Whatever,” Faith said. She shook her head and got into the front passenger seat of the car.

Xander smiled at Faith’s behavior and climbed into the backseat while Gunn got behind the wheel and started up the car.

“Ok, so what’s the what, and where am I going?” Gunn said as he pulled out of the parking space.

Xander leaned back and closed his eyes, reviewing the situation in his mind. “Get on the 15 north until exit 46. We need to go to North Vegas. Giles, Buffy’s watcher, took Mrs. Summers and Dawn, Buffy’s sister up here to keep them out of the whole thing with Glory, to keep them safe.”

“So, I’m guessing that didn’t work,” Gunn said sarcastically.

“No it didn’t. Someone set them up, told the Knights where they were, and when that didn’t work, they sent an assassin,” Xander said. After a sudden realization, he added, “At least we think they’re related...”

‘Although it’s interesting that the main target was Giles the second time... If the knights could have killed Dawn without killing Giles or Mrs. Summers, they probably would have... but the second time they were targeting Giles specifically, so why the change?’ Xander wondered.

“Ok, so what are we doing here? Bodyguard duty?” Gunn asked.

“Not exactly. We’re going to put Giles and Mrs. Summers on a plane, and then me and Faith’ll play bait- drive Mrs. Summers jeep back to California- while you follow behind with Dawn.” Xander said.

“Why don’t they all just get on a plane and fly home? I mean, not for nothing, but y’all can replace their jeep, or come back and get it in a few days when things cool off, you know?” Gunn said, his tone of voice essentially saying ‘Duh!’

Xander smiled at the remonstration in Gunn’s voice. “Aw, where’d be the fun in that?” he joked.

Xander couldn’t see Gunn’s _expression_, but it must have been priceless because Faith took one look and started pointing at his face and cracking up.

After Faith had gotten hold of herself, Xander said, “Seriously, we did think of that. The problem is; there is a protection spell around the building that they’re holed up in- it’s all that kept Giles from becoming Swiss cheese when a sniper opened up full-auto on him. Giles managed to take him out, but...”

“If there’s another one waiting, they can’t leave,” Gunn finished the thought, nodding his head.

“Right,” Xander nodded.

“So, how do we get them out? And how are you gonna play bait?” Gunn asked.

“Magic, of course,” Xander said with a grin.

“Magic...” Gunn said, obviously waiting for an explanation.

Xander left him hanging till Faith took pity on him, explaining, “B’s little pet witch made a couple charms that’ll let us switch places.”

‘Jesus, Faith. I wouldn’t let Willow, or Buffy for that matter, hear you describe her as Buffy’s little pet witch...’ Xander thought. ‘I thought they worked things out, but that sounded kinda, I dunno... snippy?’

“Um, yeah,” Xander muttered, getting back on the subject. “It’s a glamour, uh, like a temporary illusion so that me and Giles will look like each other, and Faith and Mrs. Summers will look like each other.”

Gunn nodded, saying, “So then it looks like you and Faith get on a plane, when it’s really those two.”

“Yep.” Xander said, still distracted by Faith’s unexpected attitude.

“Ok, so why not put Dawn on the plane with Giles, if she’s one of the targets? Why Buffy’s Mom?” Gunn asked, demonstrating a sound grasp of the situation.

Faith laughed, probably because she’d asked the same question. “Xander thinks they should be split up, cause they’re both targets, so we should make it harder for one person to go after both.”

Gunn gave Xander a questioning glance in the rear-view mirror. “They’re gonna look like completely different people, right? Don’t’cha think you’re being a little paranoid?”

Faith laughed out loud at that.

Xander glowered a bit. ‘Yeah, maybe I am,’ he thought. ‘I just can’t stand the thought of something happening to them when I’m responsible for the plan...’

Out loud, he quipped, “Just because I’m paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes and Xander stared out the window at the lights of the casinos along the strip.

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

TheBear!

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