REPOST: The Summoned - R - Part 1 [1/?]

[Andy Stoffel <see2go4me@xxxxxxxxx>]

TITLE:  The Summoned - Part 1 (1/?)
RATING: R
DISCLAIMER: All BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant
Enemy, Fox Television, and others. All "Keeper" characters
belong to Tanya Huff, and others. None of these people or
organizations have read this nor endorsed it. The story idea
might be mine but this is a derivative work.
SUMMARY: A BtVS/Tanya Huff "Keeper" series crossover/AU. With a
heavy B/W vibe.
SPOILERS: Seasons 1-6 of BtVS. All of the "Keeper Chronicles"
DISTRIBUTION:  buffywantswillow, ikoly, TtH, ff.net, and my blog
fanfic pages. Anyone else, e-mail me please. 
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a revised version of the first part of
this fic. This used to be the first half of the prologue. It has
been split in half and changed slightly (And not just to remove
"Prologue" from the title).  See the end for any additional
notes.

----

Chapter Title: "The Pick-Up"

----

Gently squeezing her shoulder one last time before getting to
his feet, Giles paused to brush bits of dried grass from his
clothes. He gave her one last long look, wishing he had some way
of removing the sad expression from her face, before he headed
back towards her cottage to get his car. It was the same
expression she directed at him from behind a curtain of long red
hair every time he saw her. He knew that on his next visit, rain
or shine, he would be able to find her meditating under the same
tree in the isolated meadow.

It was a beautiful early autumn day and he would rather have
stayed with Willow but duty called. He wasn't looking forward to
the surprise meeting in London that the Council Secretary had
insisted he attend. He'd learned long ago that there were times
when he could safely ignore the Council and this wasn't one of
them. He'd managed to avoid any Council meetings or contact
since returning to England at the beginning of the summer with
Willow in tow. But something was going on in London and they'd
insisted that, barring an apocalypse, he make an appearance.

Coming around the stand of trees that hid the meadow from casual
discovery, Giles was surprised to see an unfamiliar looking car
parked next to his in front of the small cottage. It had the
distinctive look of a hired vehicle. He wondered who it could
be. The rest of the buildings on the coven's country estate were
out of sight but close enough together that most residents
walked. But, as he approached the cottage, it was not as much of
a surprise as the sight of the young woman sitting quietly on
the front stoop, seemingly lost in thought, her short blonde
hair gleaming in the sun. She was the last person he would have
expected to find anywhere in England, at any time.

"Buffy?" He asked as he came closer, hoping he was successfully
keeping his surprise out of his voice. He couldn't think of any
reason short of an immanent apocalypse in the neighborhood that
would pry her loose from Sunnydale, but from her relaxed
appearance she didn't appear to be in a hurry to explain her
presence. She just sat there patiently as he approached.

"Hey Giles." She answered in the same calm tone he'd used,
looking up at him. She moved to one side and patted the step
below the one she was sitting on. "Why don't you take a seat."
It was more of a command than a request and he found himself
unconsciously doing so. She raised an eyebrow at him as soon as
he was sitting, a sign he took to mean he was free to talk.

"What brings you here?" He asked, watching her face closely. He
used to think he was able to read her extremely well, but since
her return he'd begun to suspect that he'd only ever seen what
she wanted him to see. And her current expression was more
impenetrable than ever, even though her position allowed him to
look directly into her eyes.

"Here England? The Council wanted to see me. Here here? Willow."
She gazed at him expectantly. He noticed her lips twitching as
she watched him trying to decide which question to ask about
first.

Sighing, he took out a handkerchief and rubbed an invisible spot
from his glasses, gathering his thoughts before asking the
question most likely to cause he or his Slayer problems. "What
possessed the Council to bring you to England?"

"You never told me how the Head of the Council was chosen." she
replied, looking pensively down the drive and not answering him
directly.

"I didn't think it was relevant." He mumbled, shifting nervously
and wondering why she'd brought it up, adding, "Quentin Travers
will probably outlive both of us."

"He didn't." She told him calmly, turning back and looking him
in the eye again.

"What happened to him?" He asked, this time unable to control
his surprise, wondering how Quentin's niece had reacted when she
found out she was now the Head Watcher.

"Plane crash a week ago." Buffy shrugged as if the details
didn't concern her. "He and his posse on the Council were coming
back from some trip. Probably out terrifying some future slayer
into blind obedience."

"And the new Head?" He asked curiously, putting his glasses back
on. "I'm assuming she wanted something from you?"

"Almost. She wanted to see the current slayer and her watcher."
She shook her head and glared at him before continuing.
"Unfortunately, all she ended up with was me! Someone decided to
retire and didn't tell anyone except Quentin Travers!"

"Buffy..." he wilted under her annoyed gaze, just barely
resisting the urge to take off his glasses again. "I had planned
on telling you eventually."

"Eventually?" She continued glaring at him from her superior
position on the stoop. "When is 'eventually'?"

"Retiring was the only way to keep Travers from interfering in
Sunnydale. The Council found out about Willow's problems with
magic." He reluctantly told her. "He demanded that I do
something about her or the Council would take action."

"Well, he can't interfere any longer." She told him grimly. "And
you should have told me he was threatening Willow. I would have
dealt with him. She's my responsibility, not the Council's. Or
yours." She paused for a moment before continuing. "When Willow
and I eventually get back to Sunnydale we need to have a long
chat about your paternalistic tendencies. Assuming you still
want to work with us."

"Back to Sunnydale?" Giles stared at her in confusion. "What are
you up to?" he asked suspiciously.

Ignoring his question, Buffy stood up and stretched, looking
nervously in the direction he'd come from earlier, before
turning back to him. "I'm taking her away from here Giles.
Today."

He frowned at her, not sure where she had gotten the idea that
she could handle Willow in her current condition. Trying to
exert his former authority over her, he briefly attempted to put
a stop to it. "I can't allow you to do that. She isn't ready."
He told her firmly. "She has a lot more work to do with the
Coven before she is."

"She's as ready as she's going to get here." she told him,
dismissing his concern with a wave of her hand. "I spoke with
Miss Harkness last night. Her magic is as under control as it is
going to get here. I think she scares them. They aren't too
upset at the idea of her leaving." She held up a hand to stop
him from protesting. "She needs to come home to... us. And we
need her. Her things are already packed and in my car. It's no
longer her choice. Or yours." She looked down at her dust
covered boots for a moment before giving him a sad smile. "As
painful as it might be at first, she needs to come back to us,
her family."

Surprised at the maturity she was displaying, Giles thought for
a moment before nodding his head reluctantly in agreement. He'd
seen signs that the coven wasn't completely behind Willow's
presence in their midst but there hadn't been anywhere else he
could take her. "What are your plans?"

"I made a deal with the new Head of the Council." Buffy grinned
slightly at his worried expression and sat back down on the
stoop. "I think you'll like it."

"As you just reminded me, I'm retired. I don't think my opinion
of whatever scheme you've cooked up with 'that' woman will
matter." Giles told her grumpily.

"Listen before you condemn." She said, admonishing him like he
was a small child. "If you're nice you can play too."

Bristling at her tone and not sure how to take her comments, he
simply raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead." He encouraged, leaning
back against the railing and crossing his arms.

"I'm taking Willow on a road trip. The Council is paying for
it." She grinned at him again.

"What?" He looked at her like she'd grown horns. "Why would they
agree to something like that? It must be a trick."

She nodded in agreement at his surprise. "That's what I thought
at first. I couldn't believe it until she explained her
reasons."

"Which are?" Giles prodded grimly. "What were 'that' woman's
reasons?"

"You don't like her. Do you." Buffy commented, giving him a
cheeky grin.

"It's none of your business." Giles muttered. "She'll certainly
make a much better Council Head than Travers." He stood up and
started pacing in front of her. "What were her reasons?"

"She thinks it's a mistake to tie any slayer to a specific
spot." Buffy began.

"Like an active Hellmouth?" Giles asked acerbically. "Who else
is going to keep an eye on it?"

"That's what I asked her." Buffy told him approvingly. "She
didn't have a good answer. But she does have a few ideas she
wants to try out. To see if the Council can make better use of
my abilities. More than just killing demons attracted to a
hellmouth." Leaning down, she picked up a smooth rock and
started rolling it between her fingers as if she had all the
time in the world.

"And this road trip is one of them?" He stared incredulously at
her.

"It isn't so much a road trip." Buffy admitted, "as much as it's
a chance to check out some of the mystical hot spots the Council
has been ignoring for the last few decades. Places and things
that might have needed attention from a slayer but didn't get it
because Quentin Travers was too busy playing Council politics to
do something about them."

Giles groaned, rubbing the back of his neck, guessing where this
was leading. "Cleveland Hellmouth?"

She nodded, squinting in the bright sun and throwing the stone
down the driveway before answering. "Yup. Cleveland Hellmouth."
She held up a hand to stop him from commenting. "I told her I
would take a look at it and some of the other places on her hit
list and tell her what I think."

"And this road trip idea?" He could tell she was intentionally
avoiding providing him with the entire story behind how she'd
been convinced into going to Cleveland and what she was supposed
to do once she got there. He grimaced. It didn't take a genius
to know it wasn't going to be a simple research trip. When he
got to London he was going to have something to say to the new
Head.

"We negotiated. I think it'll do Willow some good to be involved
in like that. It's sort of a working vacation. A slayer and
witch thing. I do the slaying gig, Willow helps me while she
works on practicing the non-evil magic thing." She looked
anxiously in the direction of the meadow where he'd left Willow
and continued speaking rapidly, as if to prevent him from
objecting more than he had already. "I have copies of all those
books we scanned in years ago, and some other things from the
Council library. And I've got the Council archivist on speed
dial. So we won't be totally helpless if we run into something
that needs to be researched."

Watching her expression as she faced the meadow, he wondered for
a moment if she actually knew that that was where Willow was
meditating or if she was just guessing. "What about Dawn? What
has she been doing while you are gone? And until you get back?"

"She's been helping Xander and Anya repair the Magic Box. That
and school have been keeping her out of trouble. Mostly anyway,
with the new high school being built over the Hellmouth." She
pulled a much folded envelope out of a back pocket and handed it
to him. "They want to finish it before Willow gets back to
Sunnydale. It's all in that letter." She gave him an earnest
look. "They could really use your advice."

"Do they know you are bringing her back with you?" He stuffed
the letter into his shirt pocket, planning on looking at it
later. "And do they know about this road trip idea?"

"Sort of. They don't know it's really a working vacation. They
think it's just the new Council Head trying to bribe the slayer
into working with them again." She gave him a firm look. "And
you aren't going to tell them. Xander thinks Willow is still so
fragile that she'll break and wouldn't understand any of my
reasons for this trip. It'll just be between the three of us."

"I'm not sure I understand it myself." Giles muttered under his
breath as he sat back down, momentarily forgetting just how good
Buffy's hearing really was.

"Don't worry about it." She told him flippantly. "It's all under
control." Standing up again, she walked over to her car.
Reaching in through the passenger window, she pulled out a large
envelope. Returning to the stoop, she handed it to him. "Here.
This is from the Council. You should really read what's in it
before your meeting tonight."

He gingerly held the envelope in his hands as if it were going
to bite. It was the same color used by the Council for some of
its most important documents. And usually dreaded by the
recipients. "What is it?" He asked her.

"I think you'll like it." she told him, smiling perkily. "I have
to go find Willow and you should probably leave now so you can
go get ready for that meeting." She leaned down to give him a
quick, hesitant hug before dragging him to his feet and pushing
him towards his car. "Maybe we'll see you in Sunnydale in a
month or two." she told him before heading up the path towards
Willow.

He watched her for a minute before shaking his head. Although
she still seemed a little worn around the edges, she was
obviously very much in control of things. He already knew he
wouldn't have any chance of convincing her to change her plans.
He stared at the object in his hands and threw it in the open
window before getting into the car himself. He would read
whatever was in the envelope at home before he headed to the
Council office for his meeting. And hopefully he would see what
the Council had planned for his slayer and, if need be, stop it
before she and Willow ended up in any danger. From experience he
knew better than to completely trust the Council, even if there
was a new Council Head.

----

After four months in the quiet English countryside, the noise in
the crowded airport was deafening, and a little scary.
Shivering, Willow huddled as close to Buffy as she could get
without getting in her way, not really paying attention while
she efficiently dealt with their airline check-in. She was
startled out of her self imposed isolation when the ticket agent
asked to see their IDs. She frowned as Buffy handed over two
British passports.

"Uh... Buffy?" she murmured quietly, not sure what was going on
and trying not to attract too much attention. "Passport?"

Buffy gently squeezed her arm before whispering in her ear, her
warm breath feeling like a soft caress. "I'll explain everything
later."

Willow sighed, forcing herself to stay calm. This wasn't the
first time Buffy had used that excuse since she'd almost
forcibly removed her from the Coven grounds earlier in the day.
Something was definitely going on but she wasn't sure she had
the energy to care. Exhausting what little enthusiasm she had
for external events, Willow stopped paying attention again, her
mind going back to the thoughts she couldn't escape no matter
how hard she tried; the look of surprise on Tara's face when
she'd died inher arms, and Warren's terror seconds before she'd
killed him.

Several minutes later, she was once more forced into the
present, this time by Buffy's voice.

"Will?"

"Yes?" She look towards Buffy, noticing that she now had her
carry-on slung over one shoulder. She was holding Willow's out
for her to take while motioning her away from the counter. "Oh."
She grabbed her bag and followed Buffy, grumbling under her
breath as she struggled to keep up with the briskly walking
Slayer. "Short blondes with short legs shouldn't be moving so
fast that taller people can't keep up." She blushed when Buffy,
apparently hearing her complaint, slowed down and silently
grabbed her hand before once more moving quickly through the
crowded airport.

----

Willow relaxed in her seat, her heart no longer beating so hard
that it felt like it would burst. They'd barely made it to the
gate before their flight started boarding. She'd been so focused
on keeping up with Buffy that she hadn't had any time to really
wonder about their passports or why they were in First Class on
a flight to Ottawa, Canada. And, sitting in the aisle seat with
her eyes closed, Buffy didn't seem to be in any hurry to explain
anything.

"Buffy?" She opened the eye closest to Willow and gave her a
look that Willow recognized. It was her "you might be doing
something cute or funny but I'm not going to laugh" look. It had
been a long time since Buffy had graced her with one of those
looks and she was so surprised that it stopped her questions
before she could get started.

"Can you save your questions for a little bit?" Buffy asked.
"It's been a really long week. I'll answer all of your questions
before we get there." She sat up, and leaning over, kissed a
surprised Willow gently on her right cheek. Before sitting back
in her seat and closing her eyes again she softly uttered a
single word. "Promise."

Shocked once again at how gently Buffy was treating her after
her 'gonna end the world' rampage; Willow stared at her for a
few minutes before following her example and closing her eyes.
She didn't think she would be able to rest but meditating seemed
like a good alternative. The last few hours had been very
stressful and she could feel her control over her magic
wavering. Buffy had been very considerate so far but losing
control thirty thousand feet in the air probably wouldn't make
her too happy.

----

Continued in "The Long Way Home"

----

Additional notes:
AN[1]: This is a crossover set post Season 6. The differences
from canon should be obvious. And not just the B/W-ness of the
fic. There is no First or crazy Spike in this fic. Did I mention
No Spike?
AN[2]: Yes, this is a kinder, gentler version of the Council of
Watchers. Even if it does strain the fabric of space and time.
AN[3]: This crossover is with Tanya Huff's "Keeper Chronicles":

(1) Summon the Keeper ISBN: 0-88677-784-4
(2) The Second Summoning ISBN: 0-88677-975-8
(3) Long Hot Summoning ISBN: 0-75640-136-4

All of which can be found on Amazon.



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Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy:  "I kinda love you."
                     'Choices'

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