Fic: Simple Choices...NC-17 Buffy/Willow (1/?)

["Chris " <elizabethrex1@xxxxxxx>]

Special Note: This fic was written in response to Howard's 
Anniversary Challenge.
Summary of the challenge: Buffy is dating Riley however she is not 
feeling fulfilled in their relationship. Will one night out at the 
Bronze with Willow change her life
forever?
Disclaimer: All things Buffy belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and 
lots of people in expensive suits. I'm not making any money here, 
just trying to create a happier Buffyverse for my favorite characters.
Spoilers: I borrow heavily from "The I in Team" for this chapter. Big 
alterations ahead for the remainder of S5.
A/N: Thanks to the best beta crew: Zigpal and Zenithar. There would 
be no writing without you guys.
A/N2: Thoughts enclosed by **. Flashbacks enclosed by //.


Willow looked at her watched for the hundredth time and glanced at 
the door. *Where is she? She's never this late. I hope nothing's 
wrong.*  The young witch glanced across the small table at Anya. She 
looked bored, and Willow hoped Xander would hurry back. A bored Anya 
was a dangerous one. 

Suddenly, though, the ex-demon perked up, and the red head looked 
over her shoulder to see Xander strolling up. "Xander, you haven't 
been paying any attention to me tonight," the blonde whined. "You've 
just been peddling those processed food bricks."

Xander, in the act of eating said brick, mumbled, "Well, they serve a 
purpose, An. See, sell the bar, make money. Money means I can take 
you somewhere nice, or buy you pretty things."

Sipping from her soda, Willow swallowed a smirk. The pout Anya tried 
just didn't work. "It does make sense," the ex-demon grudged. "OK," 
she announced with a smile. "I support you." 

The witch rolled her eyes. "Hey, guys. Don't you think it's strange 
Buffy's not here yet? I mean, she said she wanted to spend some 
quality time with us, you know, kinda reconnect."

"I don't know, Will. She's over an hour late. She's probably 
off `living the life of Riley.' I don't think she's coming." Xander's 
eyes widened at his girlfriend's smirk. He glanced at Willow and 
sighed. She seemed to be oblivious to his accidental innuendo.

"But, she said&" the witch trailed off, a smile lighting her 
face. "See, here she is." She looked harder at the newly-arrived 
Slayer. Buffy had turned back toward the door as soon as she entered. 
She was obviously waiting for the group of young men that came 
through the door a few seconds behind her. "Oh, look. She brought 
Riley and some of his friends."

Willow watched numbly as the group came toward their table. "Hey, 
Will. Sorry for the late-itude."

Stuffing more of the Boost bar into his mouth, Xander said 
indistinctly, "Late? Huh. Hadn't noticed."

Buffy frowned at the comment. Riley, of course, just smiled and 
said, "Hope you don't mind us tagging along."

"No, of course not," Willow replied. She searched for something 
appropriate to say. "The more," she paused. No way could she complete 
the usual ending to this phrase. "The more, the more." *Someone shoot 
me now, please. Why can't I just be quiet when there's nothing good 
to say*?

Jumping into the awkward silence, Riley introduced his Initiative 
buddies and then led a group mission to the bar for drinks. Anya and 
Xander disappeared  to dance, the ex-demon said, but mostly to get a 
nervous Anya away from the military men.

"Hey, I didn't think you would mind," Buffy said, waving after Riley 
and his friends. "Riley and the guys were throwing me an impromptu 
celebration that made it, like, impossible not to invite them."

Willow just stared.  *I wonder if this was what Buffy was like back 
in L.A.?* The young witch was angry and disappointed. She'd turned 
down a night with Tara to come to the Bronze. Now, it looked like she 
could have brought Tara along. It wasn't a core Scooby party 
night. "I thought this was supposed to be us, you know. Just the 
original Scoobies. If I would've known it was `invite anyone you 
want' night, I had," she hesitated, "a friend I could've brought 
along." Glaring a bit, she continued. "It might have made the wait 
more enjoyable."

"I'm sorry." The Slayer seemed stunned at the rebuke. "My total bad." 
She cocked her head and examined her best friend. Leaning across the 
table, she asked, "So, who did you want to invite?"

There was no chance the young witch was going to answer that 
question. She wasn't ready to explain her relationship with Tara. "No 
one." Seeing Buffy smirk and raise an eyebrow, she rambled on. "I 
mean, it was just a hypothetical someone, which is no one, really. I 
didn't want to bring anyone. I was just saying-"

"Will, breathe. It's OK if you have a special someone to bring to our 
meetings. I mean, Xander always bring Anya." The two friends stared 
at each other. "OK. That wasn't really a good example, but you get 
the point."

"Sure, Buffy." Trying to steer the conversation in another direction, 
she asked, "So, what was the celebrating about?"

"Oh!" The blonde seemed to come to life. "I got in." At the look of 
confusion on Willow's face, Buffy elaborated. "In to the Initiative. 
Professor Walsh gave me the grand tour, and I mean grand as in the 
Grand Canyon. You'd never believe the size of it."

The news didn't surprise the red head, but it did make her uneasy. 
Gently feeling her way, she tried to clue the excited blonde into her 
concerns. "That's neat. So, what does that mean, exactly? You've 
joined them?"

"No, not exactly. It just means when I patrol I have a heavily armed 
team backing me up."

Well, the Scoobies had certainly never been armed with more than 
stakes or crosses, but Buffy had always had them at her back. Pushing 
back the faint sense of insult, Willow probed further. "Buffy, do you 
really think this is a good idea? I mean, don't you think you're 
rushing things a little?"

Buffy sat back in her chair and frowned. "I thought you liked Riley?"

*No. I mean, really, Buffy.* "I'm not talking about Riley. I mean 
with the Initiative. There's a bunch of stuff about them we still 
don't know."

"I know that," the Slayer protested. Then, contradicting her own 
words, she questioned, "Like what?"

"Well, what's their ultimate agenda?" Willow needed to make sure she 
got her point across. Her best friend didn't always understand 
subtlety. "OK. They neuter vampires and demons, but then what? Are 
they going to reintegrate them into society? Get them jobs as bagboys 
at Wal-Mart?"

Completely missing the real issue, the blonde mumbled, "Does Wal-Mart 
have bagboys?"

The witch closed her eyes. Suddenly, her head throbbed. "Buffy, focus 
here. That's not the point. What about that 314 thing Ethan told 
Giles about? I mean, he may not be an upstanding member of society, 
but it's something to think about. How do we know they aren't just 
using you? Or studying you to find a way to make a government-
controlled version of a Slayer?"

Whatever reply the blonde might have made got cut off by a shrill 
beeping emanating from her purse. Grabbing the bag and pawing through 
the contents, she finally pulled out a pager.

"Since when did you have a pager?" Willow enquired.

Buffy ignored the question. Eyebrows bunched together, she read the 
display screen. Riley appeared behind her. "We have to go," he 
announced. "Mother needs us."

"Yeah. Sorry, Will. Gotta go." The Slayer jumped out of her chair and 
rushed out of the club, Riley and the gang at her side. 

***

The Slayer tried to still the adrenaline rushing through her. She'd 
hunted demons for over four years. There was no reason to treat this 
mission any differently. But it was the first time she'd done battle 
with trained soldiers at her side. Forcing herself to pay attention, 
she listened intently as Doctor Walsh explained the mission objective 
and gave a brief description of the Polgara demon.

When Walsh finished, another white-coated scientist got up to explain 
the demon's defensive capabilities. *My God. How do these guys get 
anything done? I thought Giles was all big with the research and 
talking.* 

As the talking finally died down, the Slayer decided the Initiative 
had a very different take on demon hunting. She raised her hand. "I 
have a question."

Looking faintly concerned, Doctor Walsh said, "Yes, Buffy?"

"Why exactly can't we damage this pokey thing's arms? I mean, not 
that I want to, it's just, in my experience, when fighting for your 
life, body parts get damaged. Better its bits than mine." Glancing at 
the Marines around her, she amended, "Ours."

The male scientist in front of the display answered, "We wish to 
study the physiology of every Sub Terrestrial and its natural 
defenses. It's part of the research we do here." He moved off, 
clearly finished with the briefing. 

Not waiting to be acknowledged this time, the Slayer asked, "Why are 
they here?" When heads turned to look at her, she explained, "Are 
they looking for treasure, sacrifices, or are they just getting 
rampagey? I find it easier to predict their responses if I know."

The expert in Sub Terrestrials smirked. "They're not sentient, just 
destructive, I believe," he said condescendingly.

Professor Walsh walked in front of the seated group. "They do have 
keen eyesight, however. You might want to be suited up for this."

It took a moment for Buffy to realize the woman was referring to her 
clothes. "Oh, you mean the camo? I thought about it, but, I mean, it 
would just look all Private Benjamin." Chuckles came from several of 
the Marines. "Don't worry. I've patrolled in a halter many times."

The Professor clearly didn't know how to respond to that. She turned 
to Riley. "Agent Finn, deploy the troops."

The Slayer watched in confusion as her boyfriend fired off a lot of 
military jargon. Everyone else seemed to understand what he was 
saying. Finally, when all the orders had been given, Walsh added on 
final warning. "Remember, people, this is a `zap and trap' operation. 
Capture, not a kill."

The men around Buffy stood and headed off to get geared up. The 
Slayer sat alone in the briefing area, staring at the still-displayed 
sketch of the Polgara demon. *Maybe Will had a point. I really don't 
know much about the Initiative.*

***

The door opened and Tara's eyes widened in surprise. A smile 
brightened her features. "Willow. What are you doing here?"

Shyly, the red head responded, "A funny thing happened with my prior 
social engagement." She glanced up and down the hallway. "It pretty 
much ended when a friend of mine went off to do something else with 
another group of people she hangs out with."

The older witch looked confused by the vague explanation.

"Tara?" The blonde looked up. "Can I come inside? I need your help 
with something, but I'm going to have to tell you a lot of really 
unbelievable things first." She smiled quirkily. "I'd rather not do 
this out here."






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

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