Buffy the Tenno

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Buffy the Tenno – Episode 1


Buffy gasps as she regains consciousness all of a sudden. Holding down her panic as she's been trained to do, she reaches out to examine her surroundings. Good news, she's not restrained; bad news, she's in a padded box. Worse news, someone's taken her amp.
Closing her eyes, she concentrates on her body, feeling how it moves and her senses. She's lying on her back, which means gravity. She's not wearing her Tenno armour; someone has put her in some flimsy fabric clothing. Knocking on the walls and surfaces of the box reveals a slight difference in sound from the top, as well as an organic rather than metal sound. Taking a deep breath, she realises that the warm feeling isn't the temperature, it's the air.
"Void damn it, I need to chance it."
Carefully pulling on the void, she pulls it around her and slips through the barrier between the world and the void. A flex of her will sends her hurtling skywards, and she releases the void reflexively when she sees the moon floating in the night sky.
"Oof" Buffy is pulled out of her shock by the ground as she lands on ground, hard. As she lays there, she stares at the moon, "When did they fix Lua?"

After a moment, she starts to make out the sounds of screaming, and some brrr'ing noise that seems like it should be familiar. Cautiously, she gets to her feet and looks around. As she looks behind her, she freezes as she spots a headstone with a written epitaph on it. What causes her pause is that the language looks familiar, as if it was something she dreamt about many years ago. Another scream breaks her attention, and she turns towards it before heading out in an economical jog.
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By the time Buffy gets to the nearby civilian outpost, the screams have stopped, and the brrr'ing sounds have moved off elsewhere. Cautiously, she moves along the road made from some sort of black stone. As she does, she looks at the strange dwellings, as they're illuminated by the scattered fires. Their walls so thin they wouldn't provide any protection against even light weapons, let alone the standard weapons used by the Grineer. Even so, something tugs on her memory, like déjà vu. As she comes across the first ground vehicle, that feeling intensifies, even as she reaches out to one of the unbroken viewing panels and snaps it between a couple of fingers, the clear material shattering into small cubes. Brushing her fingers off, she frowns as the wound doesn't seem to be healing at the rate she expected. Once she has time in a safe place, she'll need to mediate on the Vazarin school, as she has no warframe or amp.

Slowly, she makes her way down the street, her senses alert. As she's looking around, she bumps into one of the ground vehicles, and an alarm starts blaring. Crouching down, she looks around cautiously just in case the noise attracts any Grineer, or worse. From the nearest dwelling, a human man exits holding a gun, and shouts at her.
"By the Queens!", Buffy exclaims as she holds her hands to her forehead as the words trigger a searing headache. As the man shouts at her again, and fires his gun in the air, she stumbles away from the dwelling as a ringing pain shoots through her head.

A short while later, she's moved away from the residential part of the outpost, to some sort of storage area. The large buildings and wide spaces inviting aerial assault, and she still can't see any signs of a shield protecting the outpost, Orokin or otherwise. As her headache is starting to clear up, her sense of déjà vu is becoming stronger. Off to the right, in a large open space between buildings, she can hear a male talking. Shaking her head to try and clear it of the lingering pain, she makes her way into the space, her presence masked by the light of a large bonfire. By the fire, there is a group of people that could be some sort of new Grineer clone, or maybe infested humans. Either way, they seem to have caught a corpus with a high quality body prosthetic. Around the group are some two wheeled ground vehicles. As she sneaks closer, the leader says something, and four of the group go to the ground vehicles and start them. As they do, the source of the brr'ing sound she was hearing becomes apparent. The leader then takes a small gun and points it to the sky. As he does, Buffy notices the chains wrapped around the arms and legs of the corpus. Before she can do anything to help, he fires, and the ground vehicles accelerate in opposite directions. As the chains go taut, they pull the corpus' arms and legs off, as her body collapses to the floor, and her power fails.
As Buffy stands there in stunned silence, the people notice her in the flashing of the lights mounted on the ground vehicles. As the leader says something, and the members of his group turn to her with body language the easily speaks of violence, Buffy raises her hand and releases her control over her void energies, only for nothing to happen. Realising that she hasn't finished recovering from whatever was done to her before she ended up in the box, she turns and runs from the group. It seems like she's easily about to out pace the once on foot, however, two of the ones on ground vehicles have taken an alternative way through the outpost to reach her. As they make their way down the road, the reason for the black stone becomes clear. Ducking beneath their makeshift weapons, Buffy desperately looks for a way out. Spotting some stacked pallets against a wall, she gathers her void energies, and void jumps through one of the strange people, and then hops over the wall. There, she lands in a cluttered alleyway, that looks like it should be impassable to the ground vehicles she's seen. Hopefully they don't have any air vehicles.
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After a short walk, she runs out of impassable alleyway. There, she cautiously listens to her surroundings for the brr of the ground vehicles engines. Hearing them off to the right, she turns left and almost walks into a group of armed civilians. A tall man, with short dark hair and fair skin carries an axe. Then there's a woman with red hair carrying a crude crossbow, and the last two women are unarmed and look to have bleached their hair. Why would they bleach their hair, why not just… As she takes in their faces, her headache returns full force.
As she shies backwards, cringing inward, the one with the red hair says something and then she says her name, "Buffy. Buffy?" Each word is like a hammer blow to her head.

Desperately, she turns and runs in the opposite direction, taking the first left that looks like it's impassable to ground vehicles. Is this another one of Teshin's memory tests that he's dragged out of the pits of Mercury? No, Teshin's dead. He died buying time for her to get to the Lotus. Skidding to a stop, she looks around at the small courtyard she's run into. Looking up, she sees a roof she should be able to void jump to. Pulling in the void, she releases it to no effect, as a flash of a rickety tower stabs through her mind. Unable to focus enough to use her void training, Buffy instead finds some cover that should hide her from the entrance. There she crouches down and cradles her head.

It's only a few minutes later when the civilians catch up with her again, and they start talking to her again.
Buffy tries to say, "Are you all idiots, get to cover." Instead, it comes out as a pained mumble, as they keep saying her name. She doesn't notice as the conversation abruptly moves away from her to the group of people that she ran from in the first place. However, when they start to fight, it draws her attention, as it's something she knows how to do. As she brings her focus to bear, her headache fades to the background, until, finally, it's light enough for her to act. Smoothly she steps between the man and an enemy with a basic club, raising her arm to block the strike on the wielders wrists as she's been taught. As the attackers grip is loosened by the block, she reaches up and wrenches the club away, before kicking the attacker into a nearby wall. Ducking down, under a whirling chain, she brings the club round behind the chain wielders knee, causing him to crumple to the floor. Before she can take advantage, another attacker lunges at her with a knife, forcing her to dodge backwards, away from his comrade.
Instead of running, the civilians instead join in the attack. Which, in any other situation would be laudable, but right now, with the void damned headache, it's reducing her ability to manage the battle. Bringing her club up between the crossbow wielding woman and a chain wielding attacker puts her out of position, and so she takes a punishing blow to her ribs. Then the damn woman has to shout something followed by her name, which sends a spike of pain through her head once more, and the club falls from her suddenly limp hand.
While she's distracted, the others surround her and start to beat on her as the leader casually heads towards the civilians while talking. Desperately, she reaches through the pain to release a contamination wave that knocks the attackers around her off their feet. Quickly grabbing the club again, she brings it around and slams it into the side of one of the attackers to the loud crack of broken ribs. Smoothly following through with an overhand strike on the opponent behind her, the club crushes straight through his head as though his natural resistance didn't exist. As the surviving followers back up with the sudden turn around, Buffy lunges for the leader, catching him around the head with a quick swing. As the leader crumples to the ground, Buffy knows that she hasn't killed him, as she didn't feel the crunch that indicates something important broke. However, the civilians should be able to take care of him now he's down.
Turning back to the followers, she quickly runs off after them, only to stop as she rounds a corner and spots a rickety tower made from scaffolding poles. As it comes into view, a memory takes her to the floor with pain. She's standing on that tower, speaking to a girl on the verge of womanhood, in the same language the civilians were using. Below them, a void portal opens up between, between… Slamming her fist on the floor, she swears as the memory slips away. That's the second time that tower has appeared in her memories, maybe if she confronts them there, she'll be able to break through the block. The same way she did with Teshin's test in front of the Queens.
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Standing at the top of the tower, Buffy looks at the metal plank that over hangs the smooth stone floor below. Breathing slowly and deeply to stave off the memories, she looks around for places she can void jump to if the whole thing falls down. Once she's sure she can get to safety, she carefully makes her way to the end of the plank and looks down.
There's a flash of memory, and she's watching drops of blood falling to the ground below, before sparking a void portal, which grows halfway between the plank and the ground. Then she runs off the plank and dives into the portal.
Then the memory starts again, a bit earlier, and she standing in front of a girl that looks so familiar. Looking behind her she watches the sun rise, before turning back to the girl. As she turns away again, the girl says, "Buffy, no."
As she steps away, Buffy responds, "Dawnie, I have to."
Then the girl, Dawn?, says "Buffy?" Wait, that's wrong, she didn't say that.
Confused, Buffy turns around to look back at the ladder down, and the girl from the memory steps out from behind one of the supports wearing a red jumper with a sparkly fleur de les on the front. Blinking a couple of times as the incongruity between what Dawn was wearing in the memory, and what she's wearing now, sends her mind reeling.
As Buffy's looking at her, confused, Dawn says her name again followed by some words that feel like they should make sense. Then the girl steps towards her, causing the tower to shake. As it does, the memory comes back again stronger than before, so Buffy turns around to look at what's happening.
While she's lost in the memory, Dawn tries talking to her, but Buffy doesn't understand until she says, "Buffy *** Dawn, **** sister."
[AN: conversation paraphrased from Buffy season 6, episode 2]
Eventually, the memory plays its course, and Buffy is left looking at the skyline, her memories of this life starting to come back. Hesitantly, she says, "Is this Demios?"
Surprised, Dawn reflexively asks, "What?"
Turning around, Buffy looks in Dawn's eyes, "Is this Demios? Have I been swallowed by a Jugulus?"
Dawn reaches out, "No! Buffy, no! You're here, with me. Whatever happened to you, whatever you've been through. It's over now. You're…" Dawn shrieks as the tower lurches with an ominous squeal of metal.
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As the tower stabilises again, there's a touch of hysteria in Dawns voice as she calls out, "We have to get off this tower." However, Buffy is lost in memory again, and turns back to look at the scene below.
Pleading, Dawn calls out, "Buffy, I need you to live! You told me to be strong, and I tried, I really tried. I promise that I'll do better. Just, please come back to me."
As she steps forward, her weight causes the pressure to release on one of the supporting brackets, and it slips off the bolt it was bracing just before it moves into tension. As it falls to the floor below, the whole tower lurches, and Dawn desperately clutches at a support as she slips to her knees. As she screams, Buffy turns around with an unfamiliar look on her face. A couple of quick steps later and she scoops Dawn up in a bridal carry, before turning around and running for the plank again.
Dawn screams as Buffy suicidally jumps off the plank, and then everything goes grey for a moment, before jumping several times. When the world comes back into colour, Dawn is shivering, and her lips and fingertips have turned blue. However, they have landed on one of the nearby factory roofs. As Buffy turns around, Dawn can't help but look back as the tower collapses in on itself. Once the rubble has settled, Buffy steps off the building, and Dawn lets out another shriek as the world momentarily goes grey again.

Once they're back on tera firma, Buffy puts Dawn down. As soon as she's standing again, Dawn turns to Buffy, and blows on her fingers. Buffy says something she doesn't understand, but Dawn doesn't care. All that matters is that her sisters back again. That's when the adrenaline from the tower drains from her, and she starts to cry happy tears.
Reaching out, she tentatively touches Buffy's cheek with her hand, "You're here, you're really here."
Buffy smiles at her, before taking both her hands, and putting them under her armpits. Dawn doesn't care, she's got her sister back, so she just leans into Buffy's chest with a smile.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Buffy the Tenno – Episode 2 – part 1


Buffy looks at the dwelling silently while Dawn continues to talk beside her. The language she's using coming back slowly. As she's thinking, Dawn takes her hand and leads her into the house, where she's again hit by a sense of déjà vu. Was this her mothers house? But what about Veldé, wasn't she her mother? If this was her mothers house, then the kitchen diner should be through here.
Like a little duckling, Dawn follows behind Buffy, and turns on the light, "…well, except for the computer stuff, that's Willow's obviously."
Willow, that name seems familiar, and this seems to be the same. Buffy turns back to the hall, and sees the photo on the table. She has to pause as memories assault her, Veldé succumbing to void sickness, at the same time her mother, Joyce, that was her name, Joyce, is telling her about her cancer. Apart from the hairstyle, they could both be twins. Carelessly, Buffy lays the photo on the table before void jumping up the stairs. As she's looking at the room around the room, Dawn comes up behind her.
"Um, yeah, this room was mums, but it's the biggest room in the house so Willow…"
Buffy interrupts, "and Tara."
"Yeah, they sleep here now."
Buffy makes her way around the bed to the other door, that she knows should lead to a corridor. As she opens it, Dawn squeezes in front of her, so Buffy pauses to think. Once she's ordered her thoughts, she carefully enunciates, "So, what else has changed?"
"What? In the house?" Buffy shakes her head, "Oh, um, well Giles left today. It's funny, sort of, that you came back the same day."

Another name slots into place, like a key in a lock, and she remembers training in a library. An older man with glasses and greying hair.
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Buffy comes out of her memories as Dawn dabs a damp flannel on her face. In the mirror behind her, Buffy sees a face she hasn't seen for centuries, ever since they were rescued from the Zariman and she had access to proper hospital facilities. As she raises a hand to touch the mirror, Dawn brushes a wound on her knuckles and Buffy winces. Pulling her hand away, she tries to think back to where she could have got that injury.

While she's thinking, the sound of the front door slamming open brings her instincts to the fore and she spins into a wary crouch. Belatedly, she says, "What was that?"

When a voice floats up the stairs threatening to kill Dawn, Buffy takes her cue from Dawn and relaxes. Though, she follows a little slower, as she has to remember where the stairs are. As she gets to the top of the stairs and starts making her way down them, the person at the bottom trails off.
While she's trying to remember who the man in the leather jacket, and white, spiky hair, is. He notices her knuckles.
"What happened there?"
Buffy lifts her hand to look at her knuckle and try to find the words to explain it when Dawn cheerfully says, "Oh, we're going to fix that."
Spiky, yes, Spiky feels almost right, takes her hands gently, "Coffin, she clawed her way out of a coffin."
Buffy nods to herself, that would make sense, she probably did it before she came back to herself.
Mistaking her nod for agreement, Spiky softly says, "It's ok, I've done it too. Dawn, get some bandages, and iodine."
While Dawn is running off for the supplies, Spiky leads Buffy to a sofa, and sits her down as he kneels in front of her. As he's inspecting the wounds, Buffy asks, "How long has it been?"
Spiky looks up, "187 days yesterday, 188 today. Well, I guess today doesn't count, does it. How about you?"
Buffy blinks at how short a time she's been gone, before looking down at her hands, "Longer." Though the answer doesn't really do a thousand odd years and change justice. She's about to clarify when Dawn comes bouncing back in with a bottle and some bandages. The three of them settle into silence for a while as Spiky dabs at the wounds on her knuckles.
The silence is broken abruptly when the 4 civilians from the street come bundling through the front door. As they crowd around her, Spiky gets up and moves out of the way, before unobtrusively leaving the home. Buffy follows his move out of the room, before focusing on the people in front of her. The red head must be Willow, and that would make the woman standing by her Tara. The man is something ander, but the actual name escapes him. The other woman, there's something odd about her.
Buffy leans her head to one side, "Are you human?"
"…pizza." Willow trails off as the four of them register the question.
The woman throws her hands in the air, "Buffy, you know me. Anya, ex-vengeance demon. You know, the one that was sent after Xander here, and is now engaged to Xander."
As Buffy tries to remember what an engagement is, it becomes apparent that she's taken too long to answer as the four of them start bickering again. She's getting tired of not being able to follow what's been said. That's it, that's a way to resolve this.
"Tired."
Xander looks at her, "What?"
Anya nods understandingly, "She's probably still jetlagged. Well, jetlagged from hell anyway."
Buffy looks at them uncomprehendingly as they again start bickering good naturedly, eventually she repeats herself, "Tired." Before standing up.
As she does, they give her more space, and she can see Dawn standing by the kitchen door. Walking over, she carefully asks Dawn, "Is my room?"
Dawn nods enthusiastically, "Yes, your room is still yours."
Buffy nods, and walks up the stairs slowly, as she tries to remember which door was hers.
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It's nearly an hour later, and Dawn is getting ready for bed.
"Dawn," Dawn shrieks and turns around to see Buffy standing in her doorway, her eyes are glowing white with some sort of energy. The same energy is crackling off of her fingers.
"Um, Buffy, you're scaring me."
Buffy gives her a half smile, "I'm sorry Dawn, I didn't mean to. I wanted to warn you not to come into my room while I'm sleeping. I can only control this energy while I'm awake."
"Buffy, what do you mean?"
Buffy raises her hand and looks at the energy playing across her fingers, "I was gone a long time, and things happened over there. I just… I want you to be safe. Part of that means not being around me when I can't control this energy."
Dawn eyes the energy warily, "I can do that."
Buffy smiles, "Good girl."
As Buffy turns and leaves back to her own bedroom, Dawn sits on the bed and seriously thinks about talking to Willow about what just happened. Then she remembers that she needs to walk past Buffy's room to get to Willow and Tara's room.
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Buffy silently returns to her room, and walks over to the mirror that's framed by numerous photo's. As she's looking at herself again, and noting the evidence that void energies are running uncontrolled through her body, she spots herself sitting on the bed in her capsule suit. Turning her attention from the mirror to the photos, she allows herself to smile as each one sparks a memory. Memories that are coming easier now, with less pain.
While she's looking at them, the people in the photos are all replaced with skeletons wearing the same clothes.
Sharply, her gaze returns to the mirror, "Are you doing this?"
She looks up from the bed and waves, "Hey kiddo, miss me?"
"I asked a question."
She waves her hand in the air, "Not me, but they do owe me." Her smile turns wide, and filled with far too many teeth, "And I will get my payment."
"Don't hurt my sister, or I will find some way to hurt you."
Instead of answering, she just jumps off the bed and disappears, leaving Buffy alone in her room once more. With a sigh, Buffy looks at the wounds on her knuckles, and the play of void energy over her hands. Of course there was a catch with her void energies, if only she'd understood the catch before she tried to change the school she was focusing on. Ah, well, eternalism sucks, and she did what she did.

Turning back to her room, Buffy surveys the furniture, before nodding to herself. After that, it only takes a few short minutes to move the bed into the corner of the room, leaving herself plenty of space to meditate properly between the dresser and the bed. In the centre of the cleared space, she drops into Seiza and begins meditating on the teachings of the Vazarin school. The way of the protectors and healers. As she does, void energies swirl around her, sparking out at the furniture and walls, leaving ghostly impressions that slowly fade. All of Buffy's wounds and abrasions slowly start to heal, until even this body's oldest injuries have been purged. As she finishes her meditation, the void energies reach a crescendo, before finally cresting and settling down into stillness. A peaceful smile takes over Buffy's expression, as she finds herself centred for the first time since she was pulled back here.
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While Buffy is meditating, Willow and Tara are woken violently as the picture above their bed is shattered.
Looking up, Willow sees a figure standing at the end of the bed. Coming to full wakefulness, she exclaims, "Buffy!?"
The figure speaks in Buffy's voice, "Do you know what you did? You're like children. Your hands smell of death. Bitches! Filthy little bitches rattling the bones! Did you cut the throat? Did you pat its head?" It then picks up the crystal ball, and throws it at the picture above their heads, raining more glass down into the bed.
On the edge of panic, Tara says "Oh my God, oh my God."
Relentlessly the figure continues, "You were stained. You still are. I know what you did."
As the initial stages of her flight or fight response pass, Willow rolls out of bed and turns the light on. As soon as she does the figure vanishes, as though it had never been there.
Tara hurries out of the bed, and over to Willow. Together, they both make their way to Buffy's room, where she's still meditating. Sharing a glance with each other, they make their way back to their bedroom.
As Willow closes the door, Tara walks over to the crystal ball and caresses it to reassure herself, "Maybe we just dreamed it."
Absently Willow replies, "Maybe." Then she shakes her head before walking over to Tara's hands, "No, wrong… Wrong brains."
Tara's eyes light up in understanding, "We can't both have dreamed it?"
"Right."
"So, did you understand what it was saying?"
Willow shakes her head, "No, you?"
Tara's about to answer when the pictures on the wall begin to shift and shake, as though something's passing underneath them. Once it's passed out of the room, Willow looks back at Tara, "Right, I'm calling Xander."

As Willow leaves the room Tara turns around and freezes as she sees herself sitting at the vanity, brushing her hair.
"Willow!"
Her doppelganger turns around and puts its finger to its lips, "Uh, huh, let's keep this private, between us."
Tara turns around and heads for the door, "Willow!"
"She can't hear you."
Tara turns back, and in a shaky voice asks, "What do you want?"
The doppelganger tilts its head to one side, "To make a deal. You stole something of mine, so I need it to be replaced."
Tara shakes her head, "No. No! Buffy isn't yours."
"You're right, but she does owe me, and now she can't pay what she owes."
Tara's expression firms up, "I don't know what hell you come from, but I don't make deals with demons."
The doppelganger gives an exaggerated sigh, "Well, I tried. I guess I'll ask Dawn next, or take her back." Standing up, she starts to make her way to the other door.
Stepping forward, Tara raises a hand, "No wait."
Her doppelganger turns around and looks at her expectantly.
Hesitantly, Tara raises her hand, "I'll do it, I'll pay the price."
The doppelganger gives her an unnaturally wide smile, before holding out its hand, "Shake on it?"
Nervously, Tara holds out her hand, and the doppelganger slams its own hand into hers in a firm grip. As it does, white void energy sparkles down its arm and into Tara, searing through her nerves and bones. Tara can't help it, she screams loudly, and watches helplessly as a portal opens and a shade of herself is sent through into a war-torn world.
As the portal closes, Willow comes rushing in with the house phone glued to her ear. Tara's doppelganger winks at Tara before letting go of her hand.
Hysterically, Willow shouts down the phone, "Xander! it got Tara."
A moment later, both Dawn and Buffy hurry into the bedroom. As they do, Dawn hurries over to Tara, while Buffy stops and stares at the doppelganger.
The doppelganger looks back and waves at Buffy, "Hey kiddo, this one paid my price. That one is still paying her own price. See you around." With that, it fades away.
Both Tara and Buffy both look at Willow, and Tara asks, "Willow, what did it mean you're paying your own price?"
Softly, Buffy looks down at Tara, "She couldn't see or hear him."
Willow looks between the two of them, "What do you mean, what couldn't I see or hear?"
Buffy looks up and, speaking in her native language, answers Willow, "The man in the wall, the one between worlds, he who lives in the void. Or, Wally as we Tenno call him." Continuing in English, she frowns, "More importantly, what is the price that you're paying Willow?"
Willow stumbles and drops the phone, "I'm not… We, I, paid the price when we cast the spell."
Buffy nods, "Well, either way, there's nothing we can do about it now. I'm going to bed, you should too Dawn. You've got an early day later. Tara, don't forget you can talk to me when you're ready. Just remember that meditation will help."
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The next morning, Dawn is rudely woken up by her sister knocking on the door, "Morning Dawn, time to get up."
Dawn cracks her eyes open and looks at the window, "Buffy, it's not even daylight yet, go away."
"No, you've got your exercises to do, and then we're training."
"Huh? What exercises?"
"Dax and Tenno exercises. Now get up, unless you want to be a kubrow breeder when you grow up."
"What was that?"
"Dawn!"
"I'm getting up, I'm getting up."
"I'll meet you in the yard in 10 minutes, don't make me come and find you."

10 minutes later, Dawn cracks open the door to the yard, and watches as Buffy completes a kata of an unusual martial art in the faint light given off by the lantern by the door. Once she finishes, she turns to face Dawn, "Come, kneel, we start our practice by meditating on the school we're practicing with."
Looking around cautiously for any vampires, Dawn makes her way down to the lawn before sitting down in the position she uses to meditate with Tara and Willow.
As she does, Buffy pushes her over backwards, "No, kneel. I am teaching you to fight, and you leave yourself vulnerable like that. Watch me."
Dawn pushes herself back into a sitting position, "What? I don't understand."
Buffy consciously pulls herself out of her frame of mind, "Watch me, we meditate in the, warriors stance. Sorry, I don't know the English for this position. Not vulnerable like this, as stand backwards easy, as is roll forward. Watch."
As Buffy demonstrates, Dawn lets out a soft "Woah, cool." Once she's kneeling uncomfortably, Dawn asks, "Why am I doing this? You're the Slayer."
Buffy shakes her head, "Grineer and Corpus, don't care about Slayers. The infested care even less about non-infested. You're my sister, so also a target to my enemies. As such, you should know how to defend yourself, and kill if necessary."
Dawn looks worried for a moment, and then glosses over the 'and kill' bit, to focus on something much more mundane, "Buffy, why aren't you speaking properly?"
Buffy looks up at the stars that are still visible in the lightening sky, "I had a life Dawn. I'd moved on, and had a second childhood. I've lived a very long time, and this life is a very tiny fragment of that. When I'm training you, or meditating, I'm using what I learnt in this life. Mum was there too… Void damn it, and damn the souls of those that ordered it."
Dawn reaches over when tears start to fall down Buffy's face, "Buffy, it will be ok."
Buffy looks up at Dawn and her eyes flash with void energy, "I know it will Dawn, because I won't lose you the same way I lost mum. For today, as you're a neophyte, we'll just kneel here and talk about the Vazarin school, the philosophy behind it, and what it means. I think I remember something about you being a key, and you were made into my sister to protect you."
Dawn nods slightly as tears start to form in her eyes, "That's true."
"Hey, don't cry. That doesn't stop you being my sister. It just means you may be able to use some of the Tenno adaptions to this school." Buffy's eyes take on a distant cast, as her words come out slow and halting as she's translating on the fly, "I see a cresting wave, wide in the ocean, the Vazarin Way. We were trained to Counter The Enemy and move with an opponent's attacks in order to nullify them. We maintain constant awareness in order to defend against all aggression.
"This school, and especially the Tenno adaptions to it, are all about protecting people. Being the bulwark behind which the vulnerable can hide while they recover. The Tenno adapted aspects of this path begin with Mending Unity, which allows those that are fighting and working with us to learn from each other, and the situation we're in better than we would normally. Once you gain an understanding of the heart of this school, it will show in everything that you do. From there, you can branch out in different directions. Whether as a healer, channelling the void to erase injuries. As a bulwark, increasing the effectiveness of your armour using the void, and further using the void to heal your own wounds as fast as I used to heal. To provide protection to you and your allies. Or finally, to ensnare your enemies, and buy time for your allies to regroup. But first, you need to understand the lessons, and how the movements work together."

Buffy talks for nearly two hours, as Dawn's legs first start to hurt, and then go numb from kneeling in the same position. As the sounds of movement start to come from inside the house, Buffy smoothly rises to her feet, before demonstrating the healing ability of the Vazarin Way, and helping Dawn to her feet.
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It's late morning and Tara is sitting with the others in the yard when Willow brings up what happened last night, "Guys, I think whatever happened might be caused by Buffy?"
Tara looks a little more alert as Xander asks, "What do you mean?"
"Well, I was on the phone with you when Tara screamed, and Buffy was meditating."
Tara shakes her head, "No, they were separate things. Anya was being possessed at the same time I screamed, remember."
Xander suddenly looks pensive, "That was bad. Very bad. Very, very, very bad. Bad."
Anya start rubbing Xander's back, "He's all traumatized."
Willow looks between the three of them, "Well, whatever it is, it's not the-the traditional haunting, because it… It's not limited to one specific place, and there's not, you know, a dead person."
Tara shakes her head, "Not anymore."
Anya pipes up, "Oh, I bet it's a hitchhiker."
Xander shakes his head to clear his thoughts before looking up at his fiancé, "A hitchhiker?"
Anya give a small nod, "Um, standard way to travel through dimensions. Some demon thing sees someone moving between worlds and grabs on for the ride."
Willows brows furrow in confusion as she looks at Anya, "You mean, like, some hell beastie rode in with Buffy? Like, we're responsible for this?"
Remembering what her doppelganger said last night, Tara places her hands on the arms of the deckchair she's using, "Assume crash positions."
Anya shrugs, "I think we shouldn't have brought Buffy back. I knew it was gonna end badly. I should've said something."
Xander rolls his eyes as he looks at Willow, "Ok, fine, but what are we going to do. I mean, I'm feeling the need for some vigorous doing, you know?"
Willow looks up, a little hope in her voice, "It's ok. We-We just kill the beastie, and all is good. We're rolling in puppies. Right?"
Xander double takes between Willow and Anya, "Can we do that? Kill it?"

Along with everyone else, Tara's head swivels around to look at Buffy when she asks, "We killing something?"
Something in her expression gives her pause, but Willow sits up, and with a cheerful voice says, "Buffy! You're not supposed to be up."
A slight crease of Buffy's eyes shows the amusement she's feeling at that statement, but before she can answer, Tara asks, "H-How are you feeling? Are you ok?"
Buffy makes a wry smile before asking, "So what are we killing?"
Anya takes the bait, and moves the conversation past the uncomfortable question, "A demon, you brought back from hell with you."
Buffy runs through all the things that could have followed her from the origin system, and only has time to say "Oh."
Before we can say anything, Willow fills the silence with, "It's not like she's making it sound. A little haunting-type stuff. Boo-scary. Everything's normal."
Tara, thinking that Buffy has enough on her plate already, adds, "You shouldn't worry about it."
Buffy looks around the four of them, before saying in an upbeat voice, "Sure, let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Tara, nods, "We will. And Buffy, it's good to have you back."
Xander puts on a smile, "Yeah, all we need to do is kill this thing, and then we still have you back."
After everyone else joins in with their own platitudes, Buffy turns back to the house, before looking over her shoulder, "Well, let's get to work."
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Not for the first time that day, Buffy looks up from a book she's struggling through, and tries to guess what these virtual strangers want. She knows they were her friends, and that they've been together for a few years. But there's been so much between then and now. She's not sure that they want the blood soaked soldier that's been trapped in the body of a teenager for the last 900 years, with the brain development that implies. She's seen the glances that Dawn's been giving her since their session this morning. But she's lost her mother twice, and she'll be damned before she loses her sister too.

She's looked around, and everything is so primitive here. It's even worse than a New Loka compound, the extremists that believe everyone should live without technology. Does she even have the Implants that she earned before Ballas took over after Margulis was executed, and wiped all of their memories. Then again, it's peaceful here. She can see it in their faces, and how the buildings aren't fortified. Hurriedly, she closes the book as a spark of void energy jumps between her finger and thumb, leaving a brown spot on the page she was holding. Looking up, she looks around and wonders if any of them could actually help her find the materials she'd need to cobble together a basic amp to regulate her void abilities. As she does, she realises that the only people who could are either dead, or Giles, who isn't in this country anymore.
"I miss Giles."
Everyone looks up at her, and she winces. Fortunately, Willow smiles at her, "It's ok, he's coming back. I phoned him earlier."

Another spark arcs between her fingers, and she quickly hides them behind her back, "I'm er. I'm going out on patrol."
Immediately, most of her, friends? Stand up and walk towards her, Xander being the one to voice there concern, "We can join you, if you want. You don't need to go alone."
Buffy doesn't look back, she just says, "No, I need to go patrolling."
Dawn calls out something behind her, but Buffy concentrating too much on holding the void energies, that are overflowing her ability to manage, to hear.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Buffy the Tenno – Episode 2 – part 2


Once Buffy's outside, she lets her feet guide her on an old route she used to follow on her patrol. Most of her focus is on a moving meditation, trying to control the void energies, and prevent them from exploding uncontrollably while she's in a civilian area. Eventually, she makes her way into one of the many graveyards on the outskirts of Sunnydale, this one bordered by trees and the woods behind it.

It doesn't take long for some acceptable targets to find her. A group of vampires spread out to surround her, one of them clearly covered in grave dirt, so a newly risen.
"Well, lookie what we have here. A little girl coming to pay her respects."
Buffy looks each of them in the eyes, and smiles as they shuffle when they see them glowing with power, "If I was you, I'd look for an easier target tonight."
The one covered in grave dirt steps forward belligerently, "Why would we do that, when everything we need is right here."
Buffy shrugs, "Well, I warned you."

As the new vampire leaps at her, she raises her left hand, palm out, and just, lets go. A crackling beam of white void energy shoots out and punches straight through the vampires chest, and Buffy turns her arm so that the beam starts cutting through the other vampires that are surrounding her. As the last one explodes into dust, she points her hand to the heavens and waits until her void reserves have emptied, and the beam shuts off on its own.

Now that she's drained, Buffy curses, under her breath, at the lack of control Tenno have with the void beam. Along with her lack of amp. Especially, the one that she spent so long putting together. Idly, she wonders if the Lotus made it through the portal without her. As she does, she rubs her chest where Ballas stabbed her, just before she herself fell into the same portal. Funnily enough, that's the last thing she remembers before waking up in the coffin.
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As she's wandering the graveyard, lost in thought, she comes across a group of mausoleums that look familiar. Looking around, she spots one that triggers her déjà vu, and she's sure she's been inside it before. After weaving her way through the graves between her and the entrance, she experimentally pushes the door, only for it stay shut. Rapping on it with the back of her knuckles, she considers how solid it seems to be. As she knows that she can't, couldn't, void jump through the bulkheads that the Corpus and Grineer used. With a shrug, she lets the void envelop her in its embrace, becoming very much invisible to those outside the void. Leaping forward, she pushes herself through the void, and makes it most of the way through the door before she's pushed back out again.

Ah well, it was worth a try. Probably means that it will successfully dissipate a void blast or two if she needs to vent. Founders only know, the local vampires wouldn't protect any bystanders. Taking a step back, she starts to really look at the entrance, as people would have wanted to get inside at one point. It doesn't take her long to find a slightly lighter section of stone, where a concealed catch sits. Pulling the catch down, the door swings open with a good shove. Beyond the door is a set of stairs leading down into the darkness. At the bottom, there is the faintest glimmer of light spilling from under a door. With a small smile, she makes her way down the stairs, and the door closes on its own behind her. At the bottom of the stairs, she makes her way through the door and stops in front of a coffee table. As she's looking at the coffee table, trying to remember just why it's so familiar, something enters her space.
From behind her, Spikey's voice calls out, "You should be careful, you never know what kind of villains got a knife at your back."
Buffy turns around with a dark chuckle, "Hey Spikey. You couldn't kill me even if you had me tied up."
"Are you so sure of that?" Spike rushes forward faster than a human would be able to react, covering the intervening space in the blink of an eye. As he gets within arms reach of Buffy, he slams into an invisible shield.
Buffy nods as she lifts her left hand, "Yes, you're dead."
"Christ Buffy, what happened to you?"
Buffy looks down, "You've hurt your hand."
Spike looks down too, "Hmm, you're right."
Buffy smiles and activates Squad regeneration. After a few seconds, Spikey's hand starts to heal rapidly, "I don't know where to start."

Spike paces away from Buffy, unsure of what to say. When he reaches one of the stone risers around the crypt, he turns back, "You can sit down, I've got furniture."
Buffy looks down at the black sofa, before sitting down while shaking her head, "You know, I think I've sat down more in the last day than I have in the last three centuries."
She watches as Spike sighs and walks over, before perching on the corner of a wooden table, cabinet, stand, something. That's when she notices the large box with grey glass on the front. Similar to the one at home, and she looks at it curiously.
Spike looks down at where she's looking, "Oh, do you like my TV, it was a bargain, I even have satellite."
"Is that what it is? What does it do?"
"Buffy, are you ok?"
Buffy's eyes snap up to Spikes, "What do you think? I had a life Spikey, I was making a difference. Granted, I'd just been stabbed through the heart, and then floated into a void portal. But still, I probably wasn't dead, maybe I was. Who knows. But they pulled me out of the void back here. Here to another life."
Spike raises his hands, "Hey, it wasn't me. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're back, and I'm not going to let them try to undo that. But the first I knew about you coming back was when you came down the stairs."
Buffy forces herself to relax, "I know, but my memories are still coming back. Even if I did remember everything, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of my life. Void damn it, I'm over 1,000 years old, and I've been awake for nearly 600 of that. How's 20 year old Buffy summers supposed to compare to that? Depths of Demios, I don't even remember your names. I've been calling you Spikey because that's what your hair looked like last night. On top of that, I don't have any of my equipment, so void energies keep building up dangerously inside me."
As Buffy starts to cry, Spike perches on the sofa next to her, and awkwardly pats Buffy's back, "Hey, my name's Spike, so you were pretty close. It was picked because I used to use railway spikes to stake out my victims."
Buffy starts to laugh hysterically, "Oh, Spikey, you have no idea. You're like a saint next to me. I've slaughtered thousands upon thousands. Innocents? When I had to. Both during the war, and after I woke up. Where I lived, life was between a rock and a hard place, and the Tenno. We fought to keep it there, while the other two factions warred with each other, and wiped out any other factions that looked like they might be getting big enough to challenge them. Assassination, espionage, spying, slaughter, recovery, kidnapping, you name it, I've done it all in the name of keeping the peace. Then what happens? The remnants of the old war team up and try to take over the solar system."
Spike grabs his knife, "I could kill you, if you wanted. Send you back."
Buffy shakes her head, "It wouldn't work. I've died, so many times. Each time, we just get back up again. There's only one Tenno that was awake, and has ever died. And I killed him."
"So, what, you're a monster now?"
Buffy gives a low chuckle, "No, I'm not a monster. I've seen true monsters. We killed, because the alternative was worse. They didn't just kill, they experimented on their own people. They twisted people, and combined them in ways that broke them. Then they sent them to die against us. It's just, how do I fit in here? Where do I even start?"
"Hey, don't look at me. I don't exactly live in paradise here either."
"I know, but you also didn't expect me to behave in a certain way."

The two of them sit there in silence for a while. Eventually, Spike fills the silence with, "Hey, Willow's getting powerful, isn't she."
Buffy shrugs, "Honestly, I don't know. What does powerful mean? The Grineer Queens, well Queen now, control an entire race from their asteroid citadel, and are still alive because they take over the bodies of young humans."
"I guess. But you're mortal now."
Buffy laughs, "I'm not going to bet on that until I die and don't get up again."

After another long moment, Buffy sighs, "I should probably go, as I need to meditate and get a bit of sleep, before training Dawn in the morning."
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Tara's hugging Dawn, trying to reassure here that they have no plans to end the spell they used to bring Buffy back from the dead. Behind her, Willow is still reading the entry on Thermogenesis, and how certain spells can create a demon. Suddenly, Anya speaks up, "Hey, Willow, why are you smiling. It's inappropriate."
Tara turns around and lets go of Dawn so that she can concentrate on Willow's explanation, "No, no, it's good. The effect, it's temporary. It will dissipate on its own."
Xander looks at Willow, an interested gleam in his eyes, "So, what? We just have to wait it out?"
Willow nods excitedly, "Yes, exactly. When the energy of the spell dissipates, so will it. The only way it could possibly survive is if it killed the subject of the spell?"
"So, what? It kills Buffy, and bang, it's got its own body?"
"Yes."
Tara opens her mouth to say something, as what happened in their bedroom last night makes it feel like Willow's wrong. However, at that moment, Xander's eyes go white and, in a growly voice, he says, "Thanks for the tip." Before he collapses.
Suddenly, there's a who lot of activity, and what she was going to say goes out the window as Xander and Anya are hurriedly looking for their car keys.

A few minutes later, it's just her and Willow left in the shop, so Tara ventures, "Willow, I'm not sure that's…"
Willow takes her hand and leads her into the back room, "Come on Tara, we need to start a spell to enable Buffy to fight it. Otherwise it's going to kill her."
"Willow, I don't think…" Tara trails off, as she falls back into following Willow's lead.

Less than a minute later, the two of them are sat, cross legged, facing each other and holding hands. Closing her eyes, Tara easily sinks into the trance they use for casting spells together. As she reaches for the magic in the world around her, another energy wells up from inside. Frantically, she tries to fight that power, and draw on the pure magic of the world around her. Even as she does, the words of her family creep into her mind, and the trickle of magic she was managing slows to a halt as her fears of becoming a demon latch on, and she takes this new energy as proof they were right. Suddenly, Willow snatches her hands away, and Tara looks up instinctively as Willows eyes go black just before her head snaps back and she says one word, "Solid".

As Willow collapses, Tara shoves her worries back into her subconscious so that she can look after Willow.
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Buffy opens the door to her home and looks around. The whole place feels empty, as though everyone else is out. Subconsciously, she relaxes, as centuries of living alone on her Orbiter have taught her that solitude is safety. As she makes her way up to her room, her fingers absently trail along the banister, and take in the texture of the varnished wood. A simple luxury that only the upper echelons of the Corpus could have afforded, let alone had back home. The best that anyone else could have had, is a hologram overlaying a metal banister, assuming they could even afford somewhere with so much space. As she reaches the top of the stairs, she looks into the bathroom and plays with the taps for a few minutes. Another simple luxury that is almost non-existent in space-based habitats.

Walking into her bedroom, Buffy takes the time to really look at what's there. As, as much as it's her room, it is very much the room of a stranger. Slowly, she makes her way to the mirror that's almost covered in photos, wedged in both sides of the frame. There, she takes a better look at her face. A face that's a couple of years older than she remembers. Though her height hasn't changed. Reverently, she takes a photo from one side that has Veldé hugging both Dawn, and herself. Now, in the solitude of the house, she allows herself to cry for the mother she lost twice. The second time, when she had to kill her herself, after she went mad from void sickness.

As the first tear lands on the photo, Buffy tenses as something enters the area of her Mending Unity. Carefully putting the photo down, Buffy turns around to face the door, her hearing straining to hear the sound of one of the doors or windows open. She's caught off guard when a ghostly white shape charges at her, knocking her back slightly as is passes by her.
As she recovers from the blow, she manifests a Guardian Shell, the same invisible shield that she used in front of Spike earlier.
A voice whispers, "You don't belong here."
The incorrigibility of the statement catches her off guard, and the apparition reappears, and passes through her shield as though it didn't exist, knocking her back into the hall, and against the door post into the bathroom.
As she makes her way back into her bedroom, the thing calls out, "Did they tell you, you belong here?"
Buffy can't help it, she starts to laugh, "I don't belong here, and neither do you. However, only one of us is going to be leaving, and it's not me. Now, lets see if you're immune to the void, or just able to bypass my shield."
As it's currently invisible, Buffy scans the room for the threat, her right hand held ready with a glow of void energy surrounding it. As her head moves, so does the shield, always protecting her from dangers she's looking at.
As soon as the apparition reappears, she launches a Void snare, and dodges to one side in case it doesn't work. She watches dispassionately, as the white spectre is dragged into the vortex, before it disappears, and reappears behind her. As it envelops her, she muses, "So, you can be affected when you attack me, but you're not quite here. Depths of Demios, that's annoying."
As the spectre hits her around the face, Buffy blinks as she lands on the floor before starting to laugh, "You can't even hurt me can you. Oh, you can knock me around, but you're no stronger than a civilian. Well, lets find out how smart you are."

With that realisation, Buffy slowly makes her way out of her room, and down the stairs. Taking extra care not to allow herself to be thrown about, so that the house doesn't suffer. Her own void enhanced regeneration and toughness more than a match for the attacks levied against her.
As she's halfway down the stairs, Dawn, Xander, and Anya, all bundle through the front door together. Buffy looks up cheerfully, "Oh hey guys, I'm just heading out…"
Buffy frowns as the three of them look at her with a combination of confusion and alarm, a frown that deepens when Xander says, "Buffy! We here to help you. Watch out!"
"Why me? Get out of the way!" Putting action to words, Buffy dodges under a blow that would have sent her sprawling down the stairs, and void jumps out of the house. Turning back, she shouts, "Over here!"

There's a sense of grim satisfaction, as the spectre rises up out of the ground in front of her. Just as she's about to manoeuvre around it, so she has a clear shot down the street, the spectre coalesces into a physical, white, humanoid. Not willing to look a gift kubrow in the mouth, she swiftly dodges to one side before raising her left hand and letting go of the void. A beam of crackling white void energy shoots down the street for around 20 yards, before it loses cohesion, and scatters into nothing. The spectre providing only momentary resistance to the beams progress.

[AN: By default, the operator has 100 health, and they are pretty much a baseline human in the warframe universe. The void beam, on the other hand, does 2,000 points of void damage per second. That means that it takes 1/20th​ of a second (or 0.05 seconds) to kill an unarmoured human. Without being overloaded on void energy, an operator has 100 energy to start with. The beam can be sustained for around 10 seconds before the operator's void energy is exhausted.]

As the beam peters out after a few seconds, Xander clears his throat, "Um, Buffy? Remind me never to piss you off."
Buffy chuckles as she walks past him, patting him on the shoulder a couple of times, "No worry, you civilian, attacks for enemies only."
Xander looks at Anya and Dawn as Buffy closes the front door, "I don't know if that's supposed to be reassuring, or worrying?"
Dawn looks back at the street, "Reassuring, I think."
At the same time, Anya says, "Worrying, definitely worrying."
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The next morning sets the routine for the next few weeks, with Buffy waking Dawn at around 5 in the morning in order to learn the Vazarin way, with 30 minutes of meditation at the start and the end of the lessons. She is unrelenting in the schedule, even when Dawn has stayed up late the previous night.

Tara continues to do magic with Willow, even though it's getting harder and harder to not draw on this new energy inside her. Not that Willow seems to notice, as her ability at witchcraft continues to grow.

One day, just after winter has broken, and the trees are starting to show the new growth of spring, Buffy looks up from a book she's struggling to read.
"Dawn, should you be in school?"
Dawn looks up with a slightly guilty expression, "Uh, maybe?"
Buffy smiles wryly, "I think I'm supposed to say something like, 'Those who fail to learn History, are doomed to repeat it in Summer School.'"
Dawn looks down, "But I prefer learning from you."
Buffy puts her book down before walking over and kneeling beside Dawn. Taking her hands in her own, Buffy looks her in the eyes and says, "Dawn, I'm not going to stop teaching you. But I can't teach you the things you need to know here. I can teach you to write in Orokin or Corpus script, I can teach you the language of the Origin system. I can even teach you math, sciences, and philosophy. But I can't teach you about what you need to know in this world. Demios' heart, I can barely remember most of it, and reading is still like trying to translate ancient Greek." Dawn giggles at the comparison, "Dawn, I'm serious. I'm a warrior, Jupiter's moons I can't even go shopping without an escort, as I've punched out how many people now, because they bumped into me unexpectedly?"
Dawn giggles again, "Six, if you only include Xander once. But, Buffy, you're so much better at teaching these things than they are at school."
"Dawn, I'm not going to stop teaching you. I'm not going away again. But, Dawn, school isn't just about what you learn in class, it's also about what you learn from each other. Willow, Tara, Xander, and maybe even Anya, have all learnt those lessons already. Even I learnt those lessons. But they're not things you can learn from books, or even people like us. As we don't remember the lessons, we just live with the results. Out of that will come your own friendships and social circles. And that is probably the most important thing to learn in life."
Dawn nods glumly, "Ok Buffy."
Buffy smiles brightly, "Great, then you can start again tomorrow. Now, can you help me with this book? I've been trying to read it for the last two weeks."
Dawn laughs as she reaches over the table, and pulls the book towards her. As she opens it, she laughs even louder, "Buffy, this book is written in Spanish."
Buffy looks confused, "Really? But it's using the same letters."
Dawn looks up at her, "Really?"
Buffy nods and starts drawing out some alphabets, "Really. This is Orokin script, this is Corpus script, and this is Grineer scratch."
Dawn looks at the last one, "Wait, why did you call that one scratch?"
"The Grineer don't usually keep written records, instead everything is given orally. Their scientists use either Orokin or Corpus when they want to record stuff. So, Grineer scratch is used by the grunts to indicate important information on walls."
"What? And everyone uses one of those three languages?"
Buffy shrugs, "Two really, as the Orokin are more or less extinct. Pretty much everyone uses Corpus, even the Steel Meridian, they're Grineer that have broken their built in loyalty to the Queens."
"Why?"
"Universal communications. The Corpus control the market on computers and media, so the only language people are exposed to is the Corpus one."
Dawn shakes her head at the idea there's only one language.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Buffy the Tenno – Episode 3


Buffy stalks down the stairs, seeking the sound of that infernal dripping that's been interrupting her meditations for the last couple of days. Each incessant drip reminding her of traversing the Grineer tunnels on Neptune, or Earth. Finally, she finds the accursed thing, and stares at it while she tries to remember if she's ever worked with plumbing before.
While she's doing that, Dawn comes down the stairs, and calls out, "Do you want to call a plumber?"
Buffy spins around at the sudden noise and brings her left arm up, before slipping over in a puddle of water, "Dawn! Don't do that, I almost killed you."
Dawn looks confused, "What did I do?"
"You snuck up on me. Now, what did you want?"
"Um, I wanted to know if you wanted to call a plumber?"

Buffy looks down at her hands, as they start to shake, "Um, what's a plumber?"
"They're people who know all about plumbing, and come in to fix problems that people are having with their plumbing?"
"Come in, you mean, into the house?"
Dawn nods, "Uh huh."
Buffy shakes her head violently, "No, no way. How many times have I almost killed Xander because I wasn't expecting him?"
Dawn smiles at Buffy, "Oh, only three times." Before adding, "This week." Under her breath.
"Exactly, I can't, I just can't. I need an amp." As Buffy starts to hyperventilate, Dawn hurries upstairs.

A couple of minutes later, Tara comes down, and carefully walks towards Buffy from the front, before crouching down and slowly pulling her into a hug, "It's ok, Willow's phoning Xander, and he'll call the plumber. You can take Dawn to the park and get some ice cream while the plumbers here."
Buffy shakes her head, "No, no, I can do this."
"Are you sure?"
Buffy nods, "I'll-I'll wait in the kitchen while Xander shows him the basement."
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Buffy watches the door to the basement pensively, Xander's been down there a long time, and there's been a lot of banging, "Hey, um, Willow?"
Willow looks up, "Yes Buffy?"
"Do you think Xander's ok? I mean, they've been down there a long time, and he's just a civilian."
"Oh, Buffy, he's fine. They're probably just taking a long time so they know what the problem is."
"Oh, ok."

Ten minutes later, Buffy stands up from the counter, "Right that's it, I'm going to check on them. And if that plumber has hurt a hair on Xander's head, I'll…"
Willow quickly takes hold of her left arm, "No, Buffy, they're fine. Listen, they're coming up the stairs now."
As Willow says that, Buffy can hear Xander's voice on the stairs to the basement. A moment later, he comes through the door, followed by a middle-aged man with a serious expression.
Xander smiles, "It's ok, the leaks fixed."
The plumber grunts and shakes his head, "It's only a temporary fix Miss. I've turned your stop cock down, so you might have pressure issues upstairs. But the pipes are rotting. You're going to need a full copper refit, otherwise, next time it will be more than just a drip."
Buffy nods, "How much coprun will I need to get that done?"
The plumber looks surprised, so Dawn pipes up, "She means how much will it cost."
The plumber nods, "It'll be $60 today, and the young man there has an estimate for the rest of the work."
Buffy's eyes brighten, "Oh, I've got that. Um, wait right there."

Buffy carefully walks out of the kitchen, without losing sight of the plumber, and then flees upstairs to get her purse. It then takes her a couple of minutes to double check that she's got three 20's, as she's still confusing English numbers with those of the Origin system. Then she's back, and places the money on the table, before moving towards Dawn, while keeping the table between her and the plumber.
"There you go, $60, I counted it."
The plumber picks up the money with a nod, "It's a good thing you didn't try to fix it yourself, as that drip was caused by the pressure in the rest of the system. You'd have probably burst the other pipes."

Once Xander's shown the plumber out, Buffy looks at the estimate with Xander, "2,000 credits, that's not too bad. We should get that done before it will cost more. I remember that mum left us some wealth so that we could survive until I… I… I did something."
Hesitantly, Willow says, "Um, Buffy, you can't actually afford to do that."
Buffy looks up sharply, "What do you mean we can't afford that?"
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Buffy looks up from the note pad that she's been using to keep track of all the bills that have accrued since she died. The picture they paint is a bleak one.
"So, Willow, this is everything right?"
Willow doesn't seem to notice Buffy's tone of voice, "Uh, huh, yeah, you see, what with all the hospital bills, and everything. The, erm, money that your mother left you, is kinda running out."
"Willow, this was Dawn's house while I was dead, don't you care about that? What if the money ran out and the taxmen came? What would Dawn have done then? How would she live without an arm or a leg."
"What?"
"Reclamation Willow. If you can't pay your debts, they come and take it out of your body. Hell, I met a sweet kid, and they reclaimed his whole body for debts his parents owned when they died. I can't remember his original name, but once I cleared his debt Eudico managed to scrounge up some parts, but they couldn't get any arms, so after that he was called Legz. You live here, why couldn't you have, I don't know, done some spells for people, or used your computer skills for different jobs?"
Willow looks taken aback, "But, that's barbaric. They're not allowed to do that here."
Buffy wipes her face with her hands, "You're right, this is a different world. I'll-I'll see how much money we have left, then maybe I'll see if there are any assassination bounties."
Anya looks up from the desk, where she's doing her own sums, "Oh, good plan."
Xander raises his hands, "No, no, bad idea. They'd arrest you and then you'd be put in jail and you'd never see Dawn again."
Buffy adds, "Espionage? Sabotage?"
When Xander shakes his head at each option, Buffy sags, before her eyes brighten again. Quickly, she gets up and grabs a world atlas from the shelf. Stabbing her finger down on a place in the middle east she says, "I know, we could take a shuttle here, and find a couple of Auron seams. That would solve the problem."
Anya shakes her head, "Great idea, but you can't afford the plane ticket."
Buffy slams her hand on the table, which makes an ominous cracking sound, "Void damn it."
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After Buffy's picked Dawn up from school, the two of them make their way to the bank. While she's waiting in line, Buffy mutters, "They're all civilians, they're all civilians. They're not going to attack you. Stay calm."

All of her muttering comes to naught, as, while the cashier is checking the account balance, there's a scream from behind them, and a tinkle of glass. Spinning around, the two of them see a grey skinned demon that looks a bit like a humanoid shark, with gill like markings on his cheeks. As she watches, it throws off two security guards, before tossing a customer through the glass of a cubical office. Buffy puts on a smile and confidently walks over to the demon.
"Hey, I know it's frustrating in here, but you just need to be patient."
As it turns towards her, it growls, so she puts on her best smile, "Hey, if you're a civilian, then deposits are that queue, withdrawals are that queue. Otherwise, Slaying is this queue."
When it sends her flying through a window with an uppercut, she smiles as she rolls to her feet and activates Guardian Shield, covering both herself and Dawn, "Oh, good, you're not a civilian. That means I get to kick your arse."

Launching back into the fight, she exchanges blows with the demon, while trying to manoeuvre into a position that she can safely shoot it. While her shield protects her, from being hit, she can't say the same about having bodies thrown at her. As she dodges out of the way of another customer, she hears Dawn shriek. Quickly looking over at her, she's relieved to see that the debris hit the shield and not Dawn. That moments inattention is enough for the demon to get in, under her guard, and lift her up around her hips.

As Buffy's trying to get some leverage to break the Demons hold, one of the security guards fires a gun at the demon, which seems to have no effect.
"Put the lady down."
Buffy goes flying as the Demon throws her at the security guard, taking them both to the floor. Picking up the gun, Buffy quickly evaluates it before throwing it to one side, "These things never help, try a shotgun or a rifle next time."

Scrambling to her feet, she races after the demon, who's heading for the entrance. As she does, she gets a face full of customer. Once she gets past the civilian, the Demon has disappeared, and she sighs, before making her way over to Dawn to ensure she's unharmed.
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After the Magic Box has closed, Tara gently takes a book on demons from Dawn while Anya and Xander are discussing something about their engagement, "No Dawn, leave the books alone."
Dawn pouts, "But I want to help."
"Dawn, you're not old enough."
"I am so old enough to help with research. Don't you think I'm mature enough?"
Tara shakes her head as she takes the books back to the table, "Dawn, I think you're very mature for your age, but you're still only 15."
Dawn puts her hands on her hips, "Yes, teen, as in teenager. You know, if you don't let me look at the pictures, I'm gonna learn everything I know about demons on the street."
Knowing a losing argument when she hears one, Tara just nods and hands Dawn a book, "Knock yourself out."
Dawn takes the book, "Thank you."

Opening the book to a random page, Dawn looks at the picture for a moment, "Um, that's a weird place for a horn…" As her brain catches up with her eyes, she closes the book, "That's not a horn."
Tara's about to say something when Xander interrupts, "Look, I still don't get it. I mean, what kind of a demon would rob a bank?"
While he's speaking, Dawn opens the book randomly again, only to stop and stare at a picture of the demon that attacked the bank.
Anya shakes her head, "The kind that wants money."
"What do you even call that?"
Dawn blinks as she processes Xander's question, lifting the book, she turns it around, "What, you mean this? It's got an apostrophe. I think it's M'Fashnik."

As the four of them are discussing the pronunciation of the name, Buffy and Willow walk in from the back door. When she notices them, Dawn holds up the book and smiles as she says, "This your guy?"
Buffy smiles, "You do research now? Great job."
Tara frowns, "Don't-Don't you think she's a little young?"
Buffy looks surprised, "Why? She's 15. She's older than I was the first time I had to kill someone." Then mumbles, "Both times."
Willow comes to Tara's defence, "That doesn't mean that Dawn should be doing this."
Buffy looks at Willow with a 'did you really just say that' expression, "Willow, do you remember who used to help Giles with the research in the Library?"
Willow sags, "Oh, yeah."
Buffy smiles brightly, "Great job Dawn, you should keep it up. As until I get you trained up, knowing what you can fight, and what you should run away from is vitally… important…" She trails off as the front door of the shop opens, and Giles walks in.

The two of them stare at each other for a long moment, Buffy at one of the few people she'd trust with her back in this life. Giles at someone he never believed he'd ever see again. At some unseen signal, they both start walking towards each other, until they meet half way in a hug.
As his walking, Giles softly says, "Dear God. You're alive. You're here." As Buffy hugs him tight, he shakily adds, "And you're still remarkably strong!"
Buffy looks up at Giles and blinks for a second, before letting Giles go, "Uh, sorry."
Giles looks down at the girl he spent so long mentoring, and even protecting on occasion, "Willow told me, but I didn't really let myself believe it."
Buffy chuckles, "Try it from this side, one minute I'm being stabbed in the back, the next I'm here."
Giles chuckles in response, "It's a…"
Buffy smiles, "A miracle?"
"Yes."
Buffy shrugs, "Something like that, yes."
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After a brief, and uninformative, conversation with Buffy in the training room. Giles returns to the shop front, only to be greeted by an enthusiastic Anya, "Giles, I'm so glad you're back."
Smiling down at the Ex-vengeance demon, he replies, "Yes, well, it's certainly unexpected."
"You can't have the shop back."
"Yes, I know."
"You signed papers."
"I did."
Satisfied for now, Anya lets Giles go, and he looks over at the table, "And do we have information on this new demon, that I suddenly find so desperately interesting?"
Dawn smiles proudly, "I found him, look."
Giles takes the proffered book, and glances at the page, "M'Fashnik."
Dawn looks at the others with a triumphant expression, "Like, M'Cookies."
Missing the context, Giles absently responds, "No, quite different actually."
Tara looks surprised, "You know it?"
Giles continues scanning the entry, "Hmm, by reputation. They come from a long line of mercenary demons. Causing murder and mayhem for the highest bidder. Course, now the question is, who's powerful enough to control one of those things?"
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It's nearly 11pm when Giles manages to get Willow alone by chance as he's going into the kitchen for some water.
Willow smiles as she sees Giles, "Hey Giles, did you have a good talk with Buffy?"
Giles resolutely makes his way to the sink, and in a level voice replies, "Yes, now she's back."
Willow cheerfully replies, "Yeah, isn't it awesome?"
"Quite." Giles glances back at Willow, "Tell me about the spell you performed."
Willow sounds a little surprised as she replies, "Oh. Ok, first of all it was so scary. I had things crawling under my skin, and then a snake came out of my mouth. But I managed to keep it together, even when a group of demons interrupted the spell. So, what do you think?"
Giles turns back to face her, "What do I think? What do I think? I think you're an irresponsible little girl that's playing with things she can't understand."
Offended, Willow responds defensively, "What, so I'm the bad guy now? I brought her back when nobody else could."
"Really? Did you ever think if you should have brought her back? Do you even know where she was? I was the one that did it, and you'd have done it too if you were there."
Controlling his anger, Giles bites back, "No, I wouldn't. I'd have stopped you if I was here. You're lucky to be alive now. Hell, we all are. You have no idea what you could have done, you could have opened a portal to hell, you could have annihilated the planet, you could have got yourself and your friends killed. And for what?"
Willow pushes to her feet, "But I didn't, I controlled it, I guided the magic, and I made it work."
Giles shakes his head, "No, you got lucky. When I left, I thought you were the responsible one. Instead, I find that you're still just a child, playing with things she doesn't understand and believing it makes her better than anyone else. Well, here's some news for you, there are other people out there that could do what you did. But you wouldn't want to meet them."
"That's because they're bad guys, and we stop bad guys. I'm not a bad guy."
"Oh, you poor deluded fool, thinking that it's that easy."
"Well, maybe it is that easy."
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Outside, the back door, Buffy stands, watching the moon with a wistful expression on her face. Her thoughts are running over the conversation she's just had with Giles about how her mother handled all of the stuff she's now responsible for with no special powers. Absently, she squashes a cigarette butt that lands on the decking by her foot.
"Hey Spike."
"Slayer. Are you ok?"
"Yeah, just looking at the moon."
"Did you hear all that?"
Buffy looks down at Spike, "I did, and it's nothing I hadn't guessed already."
"They must seem like children to you."
Buffy sighs and sits down on a step, "Innocents. Innocents, not children. We-We could never grow old, never mature. It wasn't so bad, as we didn't know any different."
"How did you handle it?"
"Same way as everyone else, one day at a time. Take your fun where you can, and try to leave the universe a better place than you found it."
Spike sits down beside her, "What about your friends?"
Buffy chuckles, "They all think I'm broken."
"Aren't you?"
"Not at all, I come from a different culture, a different society. There were colonies, did you know that. Dotted all over the place. From a few hundred people to tens of thousands. And they all existed in the gap between the rock and the hard place. If the Grineer won, they'd have been exterminated. If the Corpus won, they'd have been exploited until they were little more than slaves. We-We were the protectors of that gap." Buffy waves behind her, "They've never seen anything like that. They couldn't comprehend just how important that space could be, and how careful you have to be with the power you wield. One false step, one push too far, and the whole thing starts to fall down around you. Then you're left rushing from one crisis to another until things stabilise again. Except, during that time, you've lost something precious and irreplaceable. Maybe, if you're lucky, in time, something equally precious will take its place."
"You must have seen so much of that."
Buffy nods, "And caused more than my fair share too. It's why I'm pushing Dawn so hard. I don't want her to be helpless if I make a mistake, and she becomes a target again."
"You know they'd all crawl over glass to help you, don't you."
Buffy laughs, "That's the problem, they wouldn't stop to think about if they should crawl over the glass. Apart from Giles, I don't think any of them understand the price of power."
"Too bloody right."
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It's nearly 5am when Dawn softly walks down the stairs. As her foot lands on the squeaky step, Giles looks up from the sofa.
"Couldn't sleep?" he says softly.
Dawn looks over in surprise, "No, I just woke up and noticed the time."
Giles snorts in amusement, "So, what has you downstairs so early?"
"I figured I'd get a head start today, rather than letting Buffy dribble cold water over me to get me out of bed."
"And what's she doing getting you up so early?"
"She's training me. Wherever she was, it was really bad, and she wants me to be prepared."

Just as Giles is about to respond, someone violently rattles the door handle. Concerned, Giles looks at Dawn, "Um, that door is locked, isn't it?"
Dawn steps backwards cautiously, "Uh huh."
"Good, because I'd…" Giles is cut off as the demon from the bank breaks the door by kicking the door open.
As it does, it knocks Dawn over backwards, and the Demon backhands Giles across the face. Knocking him sprawling into the living room, where he lands on the floor and doesn't rise again. Stepping around he door, the Demon looks down at Dawn, "You're not the slayer, but you'll do to start with."

As it leans down, Dawn screams, only to peter off as a ball of light explodes above it, pulling it into the air by a vortex of energy. Coming down the stairs in her exercise clothes, Buffy smiles at Dawn.
"Great idea, terrible execution. Hiding behind something is a great way to catch an opponent off guard, however you had no idea what you were going to face." Buffy ducks under the struggling demon, and helps Dawn to her feet, "Now, come on, lets head out to the street where there's plenty of space for a proper fight, and I'll show you how some of those motions in Vazarin work in reality."
Struggling above her, just out of reach, the Demon growls, "I'm going to kill you."

Buffy ignores him as she ducks down underneath his reach, and out into the street, tugging Dawn with her. Leading Dawn across the street, Buffy returns to the centre of the road just as the vortex ends, and the demon lands heavily on the floor. What follows is an increasingly frantic hand to hand fight, as the demons strength and toughness is more than a match for anything that Buffy can deal out barehanded. The fight is interspersed by periods of instruction while the demon is caught in a void snare. Something that seems to just make the demon even more irate.

Eventually, the demon comes to the conclusion that he should be attacking Dawn rather than Buffy. At that point, the fight finishes with a beam of crackling white light that takes nearly half a second to burn through the demon and appear out the other side. As the light of Buffy's void beam dies away, Dawn finds herself shivering from more than just the cold. Buffy walks over to Dawn and pauses, momentarily, as Dawn flinches. Shaking her head minutely, she carries on, and pulls Dawn into a hug.
"I'm sorry I put you through that Dawn. But you needed to see just why I'm training you, and how what you're learning is used in an actual fight."
Dawn looks up at her, tears in her eyes, "But, you were toying with it."
Buffy tucks a strand of hair behind Dawns ear before kissing her on the forehead, "I know honey, that's because I've had so much practice. If I'd had my training and experience before, it would have been just the same then. It was also cruel of me to draw out the fight that much, and I'd normally just end it immediately, and move on to the next threat, or the objective. But, I hope you also saw how this school wouldn't have allowed me to actually beat this demon without a weapon. Nothing I was doing was having any effect on it. It also wouldn't help you to defeat something like that. What it will do is help you to survive, either to run away, or until help arrives. Do you understand?" Dawn nods mutely, "Come on, let's get you inside and you can show me how to make hot chocolate again. Then we can do some meditation after you've finished your hot chocolate."
Dawn buries her head in Buffy's chest, "I'd like that."

As Buffy leads dawn back to the house, she pauses at the beginning of the footpath as the whole household seems to have crowded onto the porch, and Spike returned at some point in the fight.
Carefully dabbing his head with a hanky, Giles asks, "Buffy, what was that?"
Buffy looks back at the Demon that's slowly evaporating into hell stuff, "What? That? That was me Demonstrating how the Vazarin school is used in real combat."
Willow looks affronted, "How could you, that was cruel."
Buffy looks askance at Willow, "What, like pulling me back to this life was cruel?"
Willow opens her mouth to reply, but Spike speaks up first, "No, I think he meant that attack at the end."
Giles nods, "Quite right, that was no magic that I've ever seen."
Buffy laughs, "That wasn't magic, that was raw, unfocused, void energy. Now, I'm taking Dawn inside to make hot chocolate, we'll be in the kitchen if you need us."
Putting action to words, Buffy pulls Dawn into the void, and jumps through the wall of the house to the kitchen.

On the porch, Giles removes his glasses and starts cleaning them, "Well, that was mildly unexpected."
Spike laughs as he heads back into the house.
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The next day, after Dawn's gone to school, Buffy is sat looking at the money that's left in her bank account compared to their running expenses. Giles is sat on the sofa chatting to her, when the phone goes.

Buffy looks around the room curiously, "What's that noise?"
Giles sighs, "It's the telephone Buffy."
"Oh, right, I knew that. Silly me. I'll be right back."
A minute later Buffy comes back listening to the handset, "Hey, Giles."
Giles looks up, "Yes Buffy?"
"Do you know anyone called Angel? As he says he knows me."
Giles sighs, "He's a vampire, and he used to be your lover."
"Oh, right. Hi, Angel. Sorry, my memories a bit patchy… No, not at all. It's more like trying to remember that restaurant that your parents took you to when you were six… No, I appreciate that your parents didn't take you to restaurants when you were six, but I think mine did… Yes I know what LA is, it's a nearby city… No, I'm not going to just come and see you… You do remember that Sunnydale is on a hellmouth don't you?... Yes, and that's also why I'm not going to come and meet you half way… No, this isn't a negotiation, if I start disappearing, who knows what will start popping up and trying to take over the world, or this corner of it… Fine, Mindy's at 11 on Saturday."
An uncomfortable Giles looks at Buffy as she takes three tries to hang up, "Buffy."
"Sorry about that Giles, Angel wants to meet up to make sure I'm ok."
"Maybe we should talk about where you were, before you came back."
Buffy wave airily, "Oh, that's simple, I was there for a very long time, and the last thing I remember before being pulled back here, was being stabbed through the back, and floating through a void portal. It might have killed me. Might not have done too. Probably both if I'm honest. But I ended up in a coffin before I could find out."
"Yes, well, I'd like to know if it was a hell dimension so that we can look out for demons following you."
Buffy laughs, "You don't need to worry about that. It wasn't hell, wasn't heaven either. It was just, elsewhere."

After she's put the phone back, Buffy returns to continue trying to work out her sums.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Buffy the Tenno – Episode 4


Later that day, while they're all eating together, Giles smiles at Buffy, "Buffy, I'm very proud of you for not rushing off to be with Angel. Instead, you very maturely dealt with the bills."
Buffy shakes her head, "Nah, ah, it's just common sense. Angel wanted to meet me somewhere that I've never been before. I remember that he's tried to kill me on a few occasions, so there's no way I'm going anywhere that he could have set up as an ambush. Thanks for the nudge on who he was, by the way. I honestly hadn't remembered him. Anyway, we're going to meet up at Mindy's on Saturday. It's a public place, and I'll have time to scout it out first."
Willow looks surprised, "Oh, that's unexpected."
Buffy just smiles at her beatifically.
Giles coughs, "Yes. Anyway, do you have any thoughts about what you want to do going forward?"
Buffy nods, "Yes, I'm going to get a job. I went to the Library earlier, and there's a couple of places that do apprenticeships that might be useful in the future. So I'm going to be looking into those tomorrow. If we're careful, we have enough money to pay all the bills for the next couple of months. Willow, that means that you need to pay for your own internet. I don't mind paying the line rental, but I'm not paying $100 a month so that you can use the internet. If you're not happy paying me that, you're welcome to get your own phone line installed, but I refuse to go into debt for someone else."
Willow looks up at Buffy in alarm, "But what a-about all the research we do on demons here?"
Buffy smiles, "My mother had an old computer she used to use, I pulled it down from the loft and it still turns on. So Dawn can use that for her homework, and we can use that for research too, even if it is running something called Windows 98."
"But-But I can't afford that."
Buffy just looks at Giles with sparkling eyes. Giles sighs, "I think that Buffy is trying to point out that she can't afford it either."
Willow looks down at her food, "Oh, right."

After a couple of minutes, where everyone's eating in silence, Giles looks up again, "More generally, do you have any thoughts about what you want to do with your life?"
Buffy chews thoughtfully, "Honestly, I think that being the Slayer is going to be a full time job here. So, I'm going to try and get training and experience in a wide range of things that will support that, and allow me to earn a living too. Metal working, electronics, programming, general science and physics especially. Maybe even as Tara if she can teach me a bit of magic."
Tara smiles shyly, "I'd be happy to teach you."
Willow smiles broadly, "Oh, I can teach you too. I know lots about magic."
Buffy looks over at Willow and shakes her head, "No offence Willow. You're a great friend, but you're a little too advanced for me. And I'd need someone gentle to teach me."
Giles looks surprised, "Buffy I, had no idea you were interested in magic."
Buffy shrugs, "I don't remember being interested before. But I've died since then. And, you know, dying sort of changes your priorities in life. I mean, if I knew more about magic, would I have had better options than jumping to my death?"
With a muttered, "Yes, quite." From Giles, the table settles into an uncomfortable silence after that reference to her death.
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After dinner, Buffy looks over at Dawn, "Hey Kiddo, let's go and get your homework done."
Dawn smiles at her, and puts her plate by the sink, before heading to the desk in the living room.

While Buffy's explaining a particularly thorny problem, in Orokin, translating to English, Dawn suddenly asks, "Buffy, would it be ok to go out with some friends at Halloween?"
Buffy shrugs, "Sure, just make sure you have a weapon as part of your costume, and we'll add it to your morning practice."
Dawn looks up at Buffy in surprise, "What? Just like that?"
Buffy looks confused, "What, did you expect me to say no?"
Dawn looks a bit embarrassed, "Well, yes. That's what Willow and Tara normally say."
"Dawn, you're 15, not 5. It would be hypocritical of me to stop you going out with friends given what the three of us did at your age. When I was your age, the first time, Mum didn't know what I was doing every night. So, I used to sneak out, a lot. I have no doubt that you would be able to do the same if I said no. On top of that, if you've got any friends you trust with this side of your life, don't be afraid to invite them around. As the only reason I'm still alive, both goes round, is because I had friends I could trust." Buffy looks down at her hands, "Of course, the first time around, I didn't want to be the Slayer either. It took me a few years to realise that it wasn't going to let me go, so I had to just learn to live with it."
Dawn puts her hand on Buffy's, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Buffy shrugs, "Maybe during meditation one day. Now, I think we were looking at the components of a cell."

After a while, Dawn asks, "Buffy, how comes you know so much about this, but you know virtually nothing about evolution?"
"You have to get pretty good at cellular mechanics and gene manipulation when you're breeding Kubrow and Kavats. I missed out on most of my formal education last time around, so what I know, I know well. But that knowledge was driven by interest and necessity."
"So, why not join Willow and Tara at university?"
Buffy shudders, "People. You know how I had to wait outside the double meat palace last time we got burgers? Well, that's because I knocked a couple of people out, and broke an arm the last few times I went in there. So, they banned me."

Once Dawn moves onto her English homework, Buffy starts doodling in one of her notebooks. Eventually, Dawn notices and asks, "Buffy, what's that?"
Buffy looks down at the drawing, "It's a kind of bo staff, one that I think I could actually make here. Honestly, I'd prefer a sword, but none of the ones I've looked in the armoury are remotely good enough. And the ones I can remember the designs for need material that doesn't exist yet."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't exactly head to Jupiter to harvest Oxium, which is a lighter than air crystal. Same as I can't harvest interstellar asteroids to find Tellurium crystals."

Once Dawn finishes her homework, Buffy ruffles her hair, "Well done, you barely needed my help. Well, I'm off for my patrol."
Dawn smiles at her, "Have fun, can I phone my friend?"
"Sure, just, don't spend too long on the phone. That reminds me, once I've earnt some money, we're buying you a mobile phone."
"Buffy! They're expensive."
"I know they are Dawn, but it might save your life one day."
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Later that night, Willow and Tara are laying in bed, when Willow asks, "Do you think there's something wrong with Buffy?"
Tara turns over to face her, "What do you mean?"
"Well, there's that magic she used yesterday."
"Well, we did bring her back from a hell, so maybe she had to learn how to channel it to survive."
"What about that stuff with Taxmen?"
Tara shrugs, "I've never read about any demon like that, or Corpus."
"Do you think she's evil? Did I bring back an evil Buffy?"
"No, no. Maybe she would have become evil if we didn't bring her back. But you stole her from the Demon that was going to do that."
"I did, didn't I. It's just, she's so violent now. I know she had to be as the Slayer, but it's worse now. And look what she's doing to Dawn."
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Downstairs, at a similar time, Giles is on the phone to a contact in a British coven, "Yes, yes, I didn't expect to be here either… She's alive… I know, but she knows things… Would you… I just need to know she's not tainted… I don't want the council involved unless she is… I look forward to hearing from you… And you."
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The next morning finds Buffy on the streets, heading to the industrial area where she met Dawn a few weeks ago. As she reaches the outskirts of the area, she pauses to watch trucks and lorries passing in and out on their way to or from the few surviving businesses. Taking a deep breath, buffy makes her way down the road, past rows of derelict factories. She's almost all the way through the district, and into the commercial district, when she starts to hear the sound of a hammer on metal.

Pausing for a moment to orientate herself to the sound, a truck drives past before turning into a small factory complex making the task moot. Following the truck, she turns off the road into a complex of factory buildings. As she clears the edge of the first factory, she enters a large courtyard style parking area. Around the edges of the area are individual small factory units. Looking around, the truck that just passed her is parked outside a unit on the far left. There, she can see a couple of burly men lifting a wooden sideboard out of the workshop.

A shower of sparks, and the sound of a grinder on metal draws her attention to a double width car garage, where a black man is grinding away at the rust on the fender of a car. Slowly, she walks around the edges of the courtyard, looking through the open shutter doors. She's almost made an entire circuit of the area when she spots someone working on a metal lathe as the light sparkles off the spinning work. Curiously, she walks in, and as her eyes adjust to the darkness, she spots an anvil near the back of the unit, with some other equipment nearby that she can't identify. Looking around, the interior, her eyes pick out half a dozen people working on different projects, until she comes back to the lathe worker.

Cautiously, to make sure she doesn't disturb anything, she makes her way over to have a better look at what they're doing. As she watches, a rectangular block of metal is turned into a cylinder, before the worker stops and starts removing one of the jaws of the lathe. A sudden, bright flash of light sees the worker swear as he drops something behind the machine. Turning to look deeper into the factory, he shouts, "Kyle, you bastard, put up the damn screens!"
Kyle turns back with a welding mask over his face, "It was just a single tap weld! Stop your complaining."

As she's watching them, someone taps her on the shoulder. Spinning around, she brings her hand up in a strike, only for the large black man to block it with his forearm, "Easy there girly, I just wanted to know watcha doing here."
Buffy relaxes her stance sheepishly, "Sorry about that, I was looking for a job."
"Well, why don't ya come up to my office, and you can tell me what a white girl like you is doing looking for work 'round here."
Buffy nods, and starts to follow the man up a flight of stairs on the other side of the workshop, "I'm Buffy."
"Nice to meet ya Buffy, I'm Mike. Quite an arm you've got on you?"
"Sorry about that."
Mike opens the door to the office, to reveal a small reception with a white, middle aged, receptionist. "Ain't no skin off my nose, you ain't the first one to take a swing at me. Won't be the last either. You serve?"
Buffy glances at the woman, and then at the windows, and the two doors, "Ah."
Mike follows her gaze before nodding, "This is Millie, our receptionist and sales rep. On account of some people don't like dealing with black men."
"Oh."
"Come on, my office is through here."

Once Buffy's perched on the edge of a chair in Mikes office, Mike looks at her with an appraising gaze, "You saw combat." The way he says it, makes it more a statement of fact, than a question.
Buffy nods.
Mike nods thoughtfully, "I thought so, I've seen that look far too often. Mostly in the mirror. What did you do, join up straight out of high school?"
Buffy nods, "Something like that."
"So, why are you here? You can't be more than 20, and there's no way you've finished your first tour."
Buffy looks out the window overlooking the workshop floor, in a dead voice she says, "Mum died of cancer last year. My sister's been living at home with some friends, until I got back a few weeks ago."
Mike nods, "That would do it, bet they just discharged you without pension too." Buffy nods absently, "So why come here, you're still young you could go to college, get a job serving food."
Buffy looks back, "I don't want to kill anyone. There's too many people at the colleges."
Mike nods, "What did you do? If you're allowed to talk about it."
Buffy shrugs, "Assassination, extermination, espionage, retrieval, whatever was needed."
"Shit, at your age? They recruiting young these days."
Buffy shakes her head, "I was the best, so there was no one else. And I guess, I just kept surviving."
"That don't make it right. Look, why are you here, I mean in my workshop not just this area."
Buffy stands up and walks to the window so she can see the tools on the floor, "I heard the sound of a hammer on metal, and I know metal. Maybe I can learn to make things rather than just destroy them."
"You ever worked with metal before?"
Buffy shakes her head, "No, but I've read about it. It looks different to what I imagined."
Mike nods thoughtfully, "Ok, I can give you an apprenticeship, but I have a full rota for the morning shift. That means you'll be on the late shift. Will you be alright staying after dark?"
Buffy nods, "That's fine. There's nothing in the dark that scares me anymore."
"Well Buffy, this is Sunnydale. I don't know what you saw out there, but this place will max your weird-shit-o-meter like nowhere else. Now, do you have any problems with working with… minorities?"
Buffy shakes her head, "As long as they don't hunt, kill, or eat, civilians, I couldn't care less."
Mike nods, "Well, that gives me some idea of what you used to do. Come by on Friday at 4, and I'll introduce you to my partner. Your shift will be 4-10pm daily, and you'll start Monday, if everything goes well on Friday. We can only pay you minimum wage until you've got some training under your belt, but you're welcome to use the machinery when you're not working."
Buffy turns around, "Thank you Mike."
Mike smiles, "Don't mention it, and welcome to Mikes Machining. Let's go talk to Millie to get you signed up. While you're doing the paperwork, I'll give you a list of books you need to read."
Just as they're leaving, Buffy belatedly asks, "What exactly do you do here anyway?"
Mike laughs, "Pretty much a bit of everything. Precision turning, iron mongering, welding, engraving, you name it, if it has something to do with turning a block of metal into something, we've probably got the equipment to do it, and have done it in the past. There's not enough business here to survive otherwise. Cities like LA, they have enough people that they can afford to have shops that specialise. Not like Sunnydale and the other nearby towns. Of course, the main reason we're still in business, is that property is dirt cheap here."

As a more cheerful Buffy leaves the workshop, Mike looks at her full name with a frown, "Millie, make sure that Razial knows that the Slayer starting an apprenticeship with us. I don't want any accidents on Friday that are caused by us. I thought she was too young for the forces."
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With a smile on her face, Buffy turns her feet towards the town centre, and the public library there. Yes, the necessary clothing will put a dent in the finances until she gets her first paycheque, but after that, they should be able to get the plumbing fixed with the last of mum's money. Of course, that assumes that Willow comes up with the money for her internet usage. As she reaches the road for the Library, a black van goes past in the other direction. Unnoticed by Buffy, it pulls into a nearby parking lot, before turning around and following her at a distance.

Half an hour later, Buffy is holding an armful of books from the list, while looking at other books in the same section. As she's browsing, a young man bumps into her from behind, and the only thing that saves him from a reflexive attack is the armful of books clattering to the floor. Swearing at the inconsiderateness of some people, Buffy picks up the books, and makes her way to a table so that she can flick through the introductory chapter of a few of the other books that looked relevant.

Sitting down, she picks up a book on smelting, and opens it to the contents. She's read a couple of lines when she catches sight of a young woman sat on the other side of the table to her, typing notes on a laptop with a few books open beside her. Startled, she stands up abruptly, knocking her chair over. When everyone in the research area stares at her, she mumbles, "Sorry, I didn't see you arrive."
The woman smiles at her reassuringly, and returns to her own work.

Picking her chair up, Buffy sits back down and opens the book again. As she starts to read again, she gets through another couple of lines before looking up in alarm as the woman disappears, along with some of the people that were reading nearby. Grabbing the books on her list, as well as the one about smelting, she hurries to the counter, only to stop in horror as the clock above the counter starts to move forward rapidly. Reflexively, she pulls the void around her so that she can take stock of the situation, and the clock returns to its normal speed.

Carefully, she looks around for anything that could be causing this. Conscious of the fact that she has a limited time she can spend wrapped in the void, even if it's less limited than normal as she doesn't have an amp bleeding off excess energy. Not seeing anything around her, she starts to check her clothing and books, just in case someone got something on her. There, on the back of her wrap, is a tiny dot of something. Growling to herself, she picks it off her top and looks at. Her growl changes to an expression of pleased surprise, as she realises that it's a piece of complex electronics. Quickly, she opens a couple of the books she was holding, searching for the antitheft tags they put inside them. Heedless of the damage she's causing the covers, she rips two of them out and hurriedly sandwiches the device between the two stickers. Cautiously letting go of the void while she still has just enough energy to return to the void if it didn't work, she breathes a sigh of relief when time keeps passing like normal.

Checking out the books takes a bit longer than expected, as the librarian tuts and moans about people not respecting their books as she carefully replaces both the antitheft sticker, and the checkout sheet. Then she needs to show the inside of her purse, as the alarms go off as she's walking out, to the mumbled complaint about stores not removing their own tags properly.

On the way home, she frowns at a black van that's taking up a back alley that she often uses as a shortcut, before taking the long way home with the library books.
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As Buffy gets home, she's about to close the door when she sees the school bus pull up to the curb. She smiles when she sees Dawn get down from the bus, along with another girl the same age. Dawn looks surprised when she sees Buffy there, "Buffy, you're home?"
Buffy smiles, "I am, and I got a job too. But, enough about me, who's your friend?"
Dawn smiles, "This is Janice, my best friend from school."
Buffy smiles at Janice, and then steps aside as a Sunnydale welcome. Once they're inside, Buffy closes the door, mentally noting that she needs to thank Xander for repairing it. Turning back to the children she smiles again, "Hi Janice. As Dawn mentioned, I'm Buffy. While you're here, there's a couple of ground rules that you need to be aware of. First of all, never approach me from behind. If you need my attention call my name, or approach from the front. I've had a… rather traumatic past, and I react violently when touched unexpectedly. The second thing is that homework is always done after dinner."
Janice looks at Dawn questioningly, so Dawn replies, "See, I told you she was cool now. Come on, I'll show you the house."

As the two of them head into the kitchen, Buffy takes the books to the desk, before sitting down to open the mail. A few minutes later, Buffy says, "Dawn, I think Giles is going to need that pen later."

As she turns her head, Dawn looks around guiltily, while Janice looks surprised, "Dawn, come with me. Janice, I'm sorry about this, but I need to have a word with Dawn here. Would you mind watching TV while we chat?"
Janice shakes her head, before turning on the TV.

A minute later, Buffy leads a sullen Dawn into the yard, where she kneels down and waits for Dawn to kneel down opposite her.
"Dawn, what was that?"
Dawn tries to bluster, "What was what?"
"Taking Giles' pen from his bag. If you hadn't looked guilty I'd have probably assumed you needed to use it. But there's more to it than that, isn't there."
"It's a nice pen."
Buffy nods, "I have no doubt it is. But it's not your pen. Why did you take it?"
Dawn sulks, "Nobody's ever noticed before."
"Dawn, what do you think would have happened if someone had noticed before?"
Dawn shrugs, "They'd have told me off?"
Buffy shakes her head, "They'd have stopped trusting you. You'd have found things that you used to be able to just use, were suddenly put away. There'd have always been someone watching you. And, if the wrong person saw you, they might have hurt you badly."
"Would that have been so bad, at least then I'd know they wanted me around."
"Dawn, since I got back, have I ever given you any indication that I don't want you around?" Dawn shakes her head, "So, what's going on?"
Dawn tries to meet Buffy's eyes, but ends up looking at her bellybutton, "Mum died, and then you were so busy saving the world, and I tried to keep up, but…"
Buffy takes her hands softly, "And then I died, and everyone seemed to be too busy to take care of your needs?"
Dawn sniffs, "Yes, and I tried to get them to pay attention to me, but they were always told me to go away. So."
Buffy nods understandingly, "Dawn, you are my sister, and my student. I've already lost mum twice, so I'm not going to lose you because I can't take the time to look after you. Do you understand?"
Dawn nods, "But, you said you got a job."
Buffy nods, "I did, and I was going to talk to you about it later, before I spoke to the others. I'm supposed to meet the people I'll be working with on Friday, so I'll pick you up from school. I want you to come with me because I'll be working from 4pm to 10pm on weekdays."
"But what about your research time?"
"I can do that during the day if I have to. I'll also move our homework time to before breakfast, so that you don't lose out. But I want you promise me that you'll try to stop stealing. If it helps, imagine what it would be like if you stole from the demon that broke in last night, and he caught you. What do you think he'd have done? Now, if you've stolen anything from Janice or her family, I want you to get it and give it back to her with an apology."
Dawn looks uncomfortable, "But, what if she doesn't want to be friends after that? I'm not saying I've stolen anything from her or anything."
"Then you cry and accept that that is the price you paid for stealing from her. Now, go on. In you go I'm going to mediate for a minute."
Dawn slowly makes her way back into the house and pauses at the stairs for a moment as she watches Janice watching TV. She takes a step towards the sofa before looking back to the yard door, and walking up the stairs. A couple of minutes later, she comes back down and sits on the sofa next to Janice.
After a couple of minutes Janice asks, "Are you alright?"
Dawn lets out a shaky breath, "That was horrible. She didn't raise her voice once, but still made me feel miserable."
Janice nods, "Yeah, like, I hate it when The Mominator does that to me."
Dawn puts a hairclip, with an embroidered butterfly on it, into Janice's hand, "Here, this is yours. I'm sorry, I, um, took it from your dresser."
Janice looks down at the hairclip, "I wondered where that went, I thought I'd lost it at school."
"Well, I took it. I'm sorry."
Buffy smiles as she void jumps back into the yard, before turning around and walking back in.
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The next couple of days are a lesson in frustration for Buffy, as first of all, she's attacked by three demons, in broad daylight, while shopping for steel toecap boots. Then on Friday, she's trapped in a time loop at a clothing store that Anya recommended, until she bought something. The problem being that the store sold absolutely nothing suitable for working around metal or fire. On top of that, almost everything was outside her budget. In the end she bought a hairclip with a flower on it, before storming off to find a store that actually sold hard wearing clothing.
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Dawn walks up to a grumpy looking Buffy that's standing at the gates to the school, "Hey Buffy, are you ok?"
Buffy grumps before she says, "I'm fine, just frustrated because I've just spent the last 32 hours in a shop, only to be forced to buy a hairband."
Dawn looks at her sister levelly, "32 hours, really?"
Buffy sighs, "No, not really, it was more like 5. As I was appallingly slow on the uptake, and didn't realise I couldn't break the time loop until I bought something. Here, I think it's more your thing than mine anyway." She hands over a small plastic bag.
Opening the bag, Dawn squeals when she sees the hairclip, "It's great, thank you."
Buffy smiles, "You're welcome. Now how's Janice?"
Dawn looks down, "She didn't sit with me today."
Buffy crouches down and lifts Dawn's chin, "Hey, I'm sure you'll make up. It would have been worse if she found out on her own. Now, come on, we've got a fair walk ahead of us, as we're going past the mall."
"Ugh, can't we take the bus?"
Buffy indicates the traffic jam of parents picking up their children in their cars, "How long do you think we'd need to wait for the bus?"
"Fine…!"
Buffy ruffles her hair, "Cheer up, we can afford to buy an ice cream on the way."

40 minutes later, Buffy and Dawn walk into Mikes, 5 minutes late. As she pushes through the side door, Buffy winces as she sees Mike and a figure wearing hooded robes, presumably his partner, waiting for her.
"Sorry I'm late, I needed to pick Dawn up from school, because none of my friends were going to be at home when the bus got there. Dawn, this is Mike, hopefully my boss unless I've screwed up already."
Mike exchanges a glance with his partner before looking back, "This is Razial, my partner. Before we take you upstairs to meet with your co-workers, we need to know if the Slayer is safe to be around for the supernatural elements of Sunnydale."
Buffy's eyebrows rise, "Well, that all depends on the supernatural elements. If they're not hunting, killing, or eating civilians, I don't have a problem with them."
Dawn looks at Buffy in shock, "Buffy!"
Buffy looks down at Dawn, "What? It's true. Well, true now. I fight against the darkness to protect the innocents. I can't go picking and choosing who those innocents are, otherwise I'm the one bringing darkness."
"But demons are evil."
Buffy shrugs, "So are many humans, and I don't go around killing them. Or do you think I should go out and kill Anya, Spike, and Angel?"
"No, they're not evil."
"Have you ever listened to Anya talking? She's still very much evil, but it's now a more human evil. The only reason Spike isn't cutting a swathe through the world is because of a microchip in his head, and the only reason Angel isn't evil is he's got someone elses soul inside of him."
Mike coughs, "Quite. Anyway, I'll hand over to Razial now."
Buffy flushes in embarrassment, "I'm sorry. Um, before you go, on days that my friends can't watch Dawn for me after school. Erm, would it be alright to bring her to work?"
Mike waves to Razial, "That's up to my partner, he's the boss after 4pm, and I'm just the partner."
Razial pulls his hood back to reveal his reptilian appearance, blood red eyes, and prominent fangs, "I have not killed or eaten a civilian since I met Mike in 78."
Buffy shrugs, "Cool, anyway, I'm Buffy, and I hope we can work together."
Razial looks at the two of them, Dawn, who's now hiding behind her sister, and The Slayer, who's standing there without a care in the world, "You do not fear me?"
"I've seen worse, killed worse too. And you're not tense, or ready to attack me."
"Are you so sure of that Slayer?"
Buffy lifts her hand, and relaxes her control over the void for a moment to allow it to crackle between her fingers, "Look, if you were a threat, you'd be dead already. You're not, and I grew tired of fighting just because a few centuries ago. If you don't give me a reason to fight, I won't give you a reason to die."
Razial nods once, "I've got it from here Mike. Come on, let's meet the others and they can get to work."

Buffy and Dawn follow Razial up the stairs and into the reception. There, rather than Milli from earlier, a succubus sits behind the reception desk. Around the room are half a dozen people, a mix of Demon and Human, all chatting together. A plate of cockroaches is sat next to a plate of cookies.
When the door swings closed behind them, Razial addresses the room, "Good evening everyone. This is the new apprentice, Buffy Summers, and her sister Dawn. Buffy, this is Vhesthine, our receptionist, and sales rep. For similar reasons to having Millie on during the day. Once you're up to working on commissions, she'll be the one with your work list. I won't introduce the rest, as I'm sure you'll get to know them once you start working here."
Buffy nods, "So what will I be doing, if I'm not doing commissions?"
Razial give a tooth filled smile, "To start with, you'll be cleaning up the floor and the equipment. Once we're sure you know how to maintain the equipment, we'll start you on the basics, and you'll be prepping stock for the others. We may even get you making nails for the Joes across the way, as they're always needing those for their carpentry."
One of the demons looks at Buffy intently, and then backs away to the wall, "She's the bloody Slayer, please don't kill me."
Razial gives the Demon a stern look, "Not in here she isn't. Out there, she's the Slayer. In here, she's just Buffy the apprentice. If you can't handle that, then there's the door. And you treat her sister just like you would any of the other children that you've all had to look after occasionally."
The demon sags against the wall, "Yes boss."
Razial shakes his head and turns to Buffy, "Be aware that you'll probably get that a lot, as The Slayer is, what did Mike call it, oh yes, The Bogeyman for most Demons."
With that proclamation, the workers all grabbed a work order from Vhesthine before making their way downstairs. It's only a few minutes later that Buffy and Dawn leave too, as Buffy has to go over her details again, this time with Vhesthine. And Vhesthine makes sure that Dawn has the late shift contact details for the workshop.

As they step out of the workshop into the evening sunshine, Dawn leans against the wall with a relieved sigh, "Phew, that was scary."
Buffy pulls her sister into a hug, "I know it was, but you did well. We, that is the Scoobie gang, have given you a very skewed perspective on demon kind. I know I wasn't expecting that, and I remember going to Willy's bar a few times. But, do you know one thing I was forced to learn in the Origin system?"
Dawn shakes her head, "No, I don't think you've talked about that before."
"Come on, lets walk and talk. In the origin system, when I first woke up after the war, everything seemed so simple. The Grineer were the bad guys and we were the good guys. I knew they were the bad guys because they were the ones trying to capture me in order to dissect me. Then I fought my way through their bases, until I found the coordinates of the Venus solar rail. Once I got to Venus, I found out about the Corpus, and debt slaves. That's where I met Legz, and was introduced to Solaris United. I helped them to disrupt Corpus operations on Venus to the point where the overseer had to backtrack on his heavy handed tactics. However, before I him to that point, he called in all of Legz debt, and reclaimed his whole body. All he was left with was his brain, and that was only until his next life support payment was due. Anyway, once I freed them, Legz got a body back, and he now makes, made, MOA's. He died, 300 years ago when his brain ran out, and he couldn't afford the gene therapy to refresh it again. From there I moved on to Mercury, where I found out that the Grineer mine there, and that's where many of the solar systems resources come from.
"When I found the keys to the route to Mars, I returned to Venus and ventured into the 'Dark Sector'. That's where I first encountered the infested. A bioengineered plague that takes over organics and robotics alike. Suddenly, everything was turned on its head, as the Corpus and Grineer were both fighting against the infested, and each other. That's when I decided to visit the Ancient Tenno Relay near the Venus Solar rail, and met the representatives of the main six neutral factions. There I was confronted with Grineer that were free, and Corpus that weren't Corpus. This was before I regained my memories and awareness as a person. So, this was the first time I was ever confronted by the fact that every faction is filled with individuals, and just because most members of that faction behave in a certain way, doesn't mean they all do.
"That, in Mikes, was you coming across the same thing outside the few people you know."

As Buffy finishes speaking, Dawn quickly looks back and tries to look like she was paying attention, "That sucks."
Buffy laughs, "When did you stop listening?"
Dawn puffs out her chest, "Who says I stopped listening."
Buffy just ruffles her hair, "Come on, the magic box is here, and I want to talk to Giles about the demons that attacked me, as well as the time loop."
Dawn stops outside the door, "Now that you've got a job, are you going to stop paying attention to me?"
Buffy turns around and pulls Dawn into a hug, "Of course not. There will be times when I honestly can't pay attention to you. Such as when I'm at work, and I have to concentrate. But there will never be a time where I won't come for you if you're in trouble. I don't work on weekends, so we'll have those together. And I still want to do your homework with you, even if it means doing it after training."
Dawn just nods sadly.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Buffy the Tenno – Episode 4 - interlude


During their morning routine on Sunday, that Dawn is finally starting to get used to. Buffy seems to be unusually aggressive and brusque. After a particularly punishing kata, where she didn't seem to be able to get anything right, Dawn whirls on Buffy.
"Buffy, are you alright?"
Buffy bites out, "I'm fine Dawn. Unless you want to hear about my love life with Angel."
"Well, if you're fine, stop taking it out on me!" She turns and runs into the house, crying.

A few minutes later, while Buffy is still staring at the door, Giles comes out with a yawn, "Don't you think you were a little harsh with her?"
Buffy starts to pace the yard, "How could he do that to me?"
"Buffy, what's going on?"
"Angel, that's what."
"I can't imagine what he could have done."
Buffy whirls on Giles, "He tried to pull the age card Giles. Not only did he try and treat me like a child, but he claimed that he has centuries of life on me. Then, he tried to kiss me. He's lucky I didn't kill him."
Giles coughs, "Yes, well, while you're not a child, he is somewhat older than you."
Buffy stalks forward, "No, he, isn't. I had a life Giles. I had a life over there. I was born, I grew up, and I lived. It's been over a thousand years since the old war ended, and I've been awake for the last 400 of them. I fought in that war, and we went to sleep because we hoped we were no longer needed. I was woken up when someone found me in the cave I slept in. They wanted to vivisect me, to discover how I worked and use that knowledge to make new weapons of war. Since then, I did what I do here, I stood between the innocent and those who would trample on them. But this time I wasn't alone, I had my brothers and sisters in the Tenno, and our surrogate mother."
Giles sits heavily on the steps to the decking, "I had no idea, why didn't you say something sooner?"
"Willow," Buffy spits, "she's so certain that she saved me. How can I destroy that? It would break her. It would break the others too. Then what? Will they call me a demon, like Angel did, and try to kill me? Will they continue to think they saved me when I tell them that I'd just been stabbed through the back by the instigator of the new war? I did my time here Giles, and I moved on. Yet, I'm back, and I don't fit anymore."

Giles takes off his glasses to clean them, "We might be able to send you back."
Buffy laughs as she shakes her head, "No you can't, the price has been paid and I'm stuck here now. I bit a bullet Giles. The day after I was brought back, I took a gun and bit a void damn bullet. Then I woke up in my coffin again. It's clear that my Oro was brought with me. I'm stuck here now, so I've been starting to build a new life." Buffy slumps down next to Giles, "But it's hard. So hard, my hands are drenched in blood."

Giles reaches over and places a hand on Buffy's hand, "Buffy, you're not the only one that has killed. You may remember our first Halloween together, when Ethan enchanted the costumes."
Buffy shakes her head, "Sorry, not with any detail. I have so many memories, this life is a tiny fraction of that."
"Right, that would be a problem. When I was a young man, so many years ago, I believed that the council were wrong in being so passive. So I took the fight into the darkness with a few friends. That was a dark time of my life, and I earned the nickname Ripper. We didn't stop until we went after something we couldn't deal with, that no mortal could deal with. I wish I could spare you all that, as you all seem so young."
Buffy laughs, "None of the Tenno ever physically aged past their late teens. I look older now than I ever did there. I'm a monster Giles, by any definition of the word, I'm a monster."
"Buffy, you are not a monster."
"Giles, I've slaughtered thousands of innocent civilians without mercy. I've wiped out whole crews of ships on a contract. I've stolen sensitive information from corporations, and I've destroyed painstaking research that could have improved the lives of billions of people. How am I not a monster? Then I come back here, and I take a job working for a Kleynach demon."
Giles pauses, picking his words carefully, "Buffy, I. I think that; I think that you are a damaged young. No, not young. I think that you are a damaged woman who is trying to push me away from you. No, I don't think that you're a monster. I think you've lived a life that I could barely comprehend, let alone understand." He takes his glasses off again, "I have to confess that I contacted some friend in Britain to do a divination on you. They called me while you were out yesterday, and they told me you weren't a demon, and you weren't evil. They said that you are a void in the darkness, and through the void you bring light. Buffy, I don't believe that there is anyone here that could understand what you experienced. But that doesn't matter, as we are your friends and, if you'll let us be, your family."

After a few minutes of Buffy staring sightlessly at the stars, Giles stands up and walks back inside.
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Later that day, Buffy eventually catches up with Dawn as she's coming in through the front door.
"Hey Dawn. Listen, I just want to apologise for being so hard on you this morning. It's not fair on you for me to let my frustrations with other people affect the way I behave with you. I won't promise it won't happen again, as I'm not a saint. But I will promise to try and leave those issues outside of our time together."
Dawn was all set to run up the stairs and slam the door, instead all she seems to be able to do is stare at Buffy as though she's grown a second head. After a moment she opens her mouth, "Really? You apologise, and suddenly you expect everything to be better again?" Internally, she's screaming at herself, as that's not what she wanted to say.
Buffy sighs, "Not at all. Apologies don't fix things. What they do is open the way forward to repairing things."
"Why?" Dawn whispers.
"Why what?"
"Why are you being so understanding? Why did you apologise? Adults don't do that."
Buffy leans against the wall heavily, "Dawn, I am old, so very old. I've told you about that already. I've made more, and bigger, mistakes than you can possibly imagine. One of the things that time has taught me, is that denying that you've made a mistake doesn't make that mistake go away, or undo any of the damage you caused. The only thing you can do, is own up to your mistakes, and try to learn from them and do better. Dawn, you are an adult in all but name. This society insists on treating you like a child, but you're not, you're a young adult. Old enough to make your own mistakes, but not yet experienced enough to always see them coming, or get yourself out of them." Dawn nods along absently, so Buffy smiles, "Ok kiddo, I can see that you've already gone into 'an adults talking' mode, so let's move on. Do you know what weapon you want to use?"
Dawn shakes her head, "No, no, I was listening."
Buffy smiles, "No you weren't, your brain heard a certain amount of what I said and stopped paying attention. It's ok, you still see me as your 20 year old, older sister. So, instead, we'll talk about what weapon you want to learn how to use."
"Um, a stake?"
Buffy laughs, "Ok, not a stake. And no hand guns either."
"Bow?"
Buffy nods, "Bow's good. We can grab one from the Magic Box later, as well as some arrows. I'll also teach you how to use a dagger. Once you've got the basics down, I'll make one of each for you. And Dawn, this bit is important, no matter where you go, I want you to have the dagger with you at all times."
Dawn looks surprised, "But what if I want to go out?"
"You will have it on you. This isn't a negotiation. This is your life and safety. You probably won't be able to kill most opponents with it, that's what your bow's for."
Dawn starts to shake, "Kill?"
Buffy nods, and holds Dawns upper arms, "Yes, kill. If it's between you and them, then I want it to be you. It doesn't matter if it's a vampire, demon, or human, I want you to be the one coming home to me. Do you understand?"
Dawn swallows hard, "But you can't kill vampires."
Buffy looks at her gravely, "Dawn, I'm not going to sugar coat it with the euphemisms the others use. We kill vampires. Not dust, destroy, release, put down, or any of the other terms they've used. We kill them. Putting a pretty word on it doesn't change what we're doing. They are thinking and reasoning beings that have a non-human morality. We kill them because we know that, with a few exceptions, they treat humans like happy meals on legs. The same is true of most demons too. If a human serial killer came to town, and I encountered them. I'd kill them just as easily as I kill a vampire or demon that is preying on innocent humans. Do you understand?"
Dawn shakes her head, "No, no I don't understand."
Buffy sighs, "That's ok. You're young and innocent. I hope you can grow old and innocent too. But if you can't, I'll settle for just old. So, you're going to carry the dagger, and hope you never need to learn why I insist on you carrying it."
Dawn bows her head sullenly, "Yes Buffy."
"Good, now we're going to find you a dagger the right size, and a bow you can draw. Then you can head out with your friends."
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A couple of weeks later, Spike hops over the back fence while Buffy and Dawn are having their morning girl time and training.
Buffy stops mid move, before leaping back lightly, "Dawn, break. Spike, great timing."
Spike looks at Buffy warily, "Slayer?"
"Come here, I need you for an anatomy lesson."
Spike looks behind himself, "Actually, I have something important I need to do."
"Spike, you can either come here now. Or I can beat you up, and you can stand here with bruises, and maybe a broken bone."
"I'll take my chances thanks."
Buffy sighs, "I'll let you have some of my blood."
Spike looks hopeful, "From the neck?"
Buffy just looks at him with a dead expression until he obediently stands where she's pointing.

"Dawn, pay attention. Spike here is a vampire, obviously. That means that if he was attacking you, most of the normal defences won't work, as he's stronger and faster than you are. That also means that wounds that would cripple a human will only inconvenience him for a couple of hours at most."
"Hey!"
Buffy uses her practice blade to point at each location as she's talking, "That means that you need to strike to cripple if you want to survive. Inside the elbow, back of the knees or ankles, inside of the wrists, or back of the hand. Each of those places have major ligaments close to the surface.
"The back of the elbow is only good if you are sure he can't grab you, as it will stop him from punching you. Don't bother trying to stab him, as it will just piss him off. Though, a younger vampire may still react as they would have in life. Same with stamping, biting, or punching. If you can get his eyes, then great. But when they vamp out… Vamp out please Spike." With a sigh, Spike vamps out, "As you can see, when they vamp out, their brow ridges become very pronounced. This makes it almost impossible to take their eyes out with a downward slash or claw. Instead, you need to go for a much easier to avoid stab, or horizontal slash. If you look at his fingernails, you'll see that they've lengthened slightly. What you can't see is that they're now razor sharp.
"Vampires can also move faster than you can see. So if you're facing a vampire, you shouldn't reveal your dagger until you absolutely need to use it, otherwise they will just take it away."

Dawn swallows, "If that's so, why were we able to kill the ones in the grave yard."
Spike takes out a cigarette and lights it, "Because they're young and stupid. They know how to fight, but most of them forget that they are vampires and try to fight like humans."
"Why didn't you go all vampire on them then?"
"Oh, right, I go all vampire while I'm outnumbered six to one, and remind them all that they can all move superfast and they have claws. What do you think I am, suicidal?"
Buffy nods, "Exactly. Also, unless they've been exercising recently, or they've fed, vampires don't produce heat. So always check how people are dressed after dark. Is it hot, and they're wearing a jumper. Is it cold, and they've only got a thin jacket and a tee-shirt. If they're trying to seduce you, feel under their shirt."
Dawn goes red, "Hey!"
Buffy shares a glance with Spike, "Dawn, you're 15. I know you're interested in people, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Thank you Spike, I'll do you a glass of blood when we're finished out here at seven. Or next time you're around, if you don't want to wait that long."
Once Spikes gone, Buffy looks at Dawn, "Hey, Dawn. You ok?"
Dawn crumples, "Is it true, are we really that out matched?"
Buffy nods solemnly, "You are, at the moment. If you can understand the Vazarin way, and manifest Mending Unity, then we can work on Guardian Shell, and Void Snare. Together, they will buy you the time you need to get to safety. I'll also try to teach you how to infuse your arrows with energy. But that comes later. Now, is there anything else you want to talk about. Don't forget, this is our time, not just training time. While we're here, we're just sisters, and I'm passing on what I know. Come on, dish. Are there any boys that have caught your eye?"
As she moves back into the movements of the Vazarin way, Dawn screeches, "Buffy!"
Buffy laughs, "So there are, what are they like?"

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Sorry it's a bit rough.

Buffy the Tenno – Episode 5


Dawn sits, morosely, in the reception for Mikes Machining, after another afternoon where everyone's too busy to be at home. While she's sitting there, she hears a soft meow coming from under Vhesthine's desk.
"Uh, Vhesthine, do you have kittens under your desk?"
Vhesthine looks over at Dawn curiously, "Of course, it's payday."
Dawn startles, "What do kittens have to do with payday?"
"You don't know? Of course you don't know, you're human."
"Hey!"
"Listen kid, it's just a fact. Look, everyone needs to eat, and many demons can't be seen in public. As in they can't disguise themselves. Those demons tend to prefer to be paid in a more concrete fashion than with a cheque they can't cash."
"What do they use kittens for then?"
"Look, if you're going to talk to me, you might as well make yourself useful. Grab the file labelled October 2001 from the office for me. And don't touch anything else, as some of it's cursed and I don't want to die because you were too stupid to live."
Dawn pauses with her hand on the door, "Why would you die?"
"Hello, your sisters the slayer. What do you think she'd do if you got yourself cursed?"

While Dawn's getting the file, Vhesthine finishes up going over the sales invoices for the month. Once Dawn gets back, she looks up, "You took your time kid."
Dawn glances away, "I didn't know where to look."
"You could have asked, I don't bite. Well, not unless you're paying me, or… Well, you're probably too young for that particular conversation."
Dawn bristles, "Hey, I'm 15."
Vhesthine nods, "You are. You're also human."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Humans are soft these days, they coddle you when they should be letting you make your own mistakes. So, until you grow up, you're a kid, and too young."
"But I am, grown up. Buffy says I'm an adult in all but name."
"Then, don't you think it's time you behaved like it? Don't think I haven't noticed you staring at me when you've been here before, like I'm some sort of monster."
"But you are, aren't you?"
Vhesthine slaps Dawn, hard, "Never ever say that again. I'm a Demon, a Succubus to be precise, I'm not a monster. I know monsters, and I have to deal with them occasionally. When the boss brought your sister up, I honestly thought I was going to die. Do you know why? We're raised to believe that The Slayer is a monster. She kills us without remorse or pity, and she doesn't care why we're here, just that we're not human. But that's not Buffy, your sister. I've seen her sitting right there, chatting with her co-workers while drinking coffee, asking after their kids and loved ones. Monsters don't do that. But you look in her eyes when she's off guard, and you'll see someone that believes they're a monster. Anyway, you wanted to know about kittens."
Dawn stumbles back from where she was quailing in front of an angry succubus, her wings flared out and her clawed hands inches from her face. The switch in subject, and the way she seems to just put the anger to one side catching her off guard.

From the desk, Vhesthine asks, "Well?" Numbly, Dawn just nods. "Well, get up then, and grab the baskets from the shelves when I call out a name. Donas, he has 6 kittens. For demons that can't hide amongst humans, kittens are a combination of both food and currency. Not only are they tasty, but they're also plentiful as strays breed like crazy. Aglomal needs 8 kittens. So, they'll use them in betting, or trading for services."
Dawn looks a little ill as she takes the kittens out of the large basket, and puts them into the individual baskets, "Why don't they just use money?"
Vhesthine shrugs, "You can't eat money. And if you can't hide that you're a demon, you can't spend it either."
"Why couldn't they use the money with other Demons?"
"Look, despite what it may seem like to you. We aren't some monolithic bastion of evil. We have out own factions and societies, and for most of them, might makes right. Surkos had a couple of days off, so he only gets 5 kittens. In fact, most of us working here would be a target for the Scourge, if it wasn't for Razial. That means it's better for them to be paid in goods, that can be bartered for things they need, than bits of paper that will force them to trade with demons that may hate them, or just want to kill them. Roselyn gets two kittens, as she's married to a Demon."
Dawn looks surprised, "Married? Like, in a church?"
Vhesthine laughs, "Don't sound so surprised we can feel love. There are many reasons some of want to leave the Hells."
Softly Dawn asks, "What's yours?"
"Sorry kid, I don't know you well enough to share that story."
A pitiful mewl comes from the large basket under the desk, so Vhesthine lifts up the flap with a toe. Crawling around the lining is a single kitten. After quickly double checking the baskets, Vhesthine sighs, "Looks like we got an extra one. Go on, you can have it. Someone else will only eat it later, so it might as well be you."
Dawn picks up the little black kitten, with white paws, and a white circle around one eye. It's not long later till Tara drops by to pick Dawn up.

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A couple of days later, during their morning together time. Buffy doesn't get up at the end of their meditation.
"Dawn, I'd like you to close your eyes and wait for me to get back. And no cheating, I will know."
Dawns eyes widen, "Why? What's going on?"
Buffy smiles, "It's a surprise. Now close your eyes."

Obediently, Dawn closes her eyes, only to crack them open again after Buffy gets up. After almost a minute, she closes her eyes again, just in case.
With a laugh in her voice, Buffy says, "Ok, you can open them now." From right in front of her.
Dawn opens her eyes in surprise, and smoothly stands up and steps backward. Lying on the floor between them is a box with Nokia written on it, and 3310 written on the side.
Kneeling back down, Dawn looks at the box questioningly, "Buffy?"
Buffy smiles and softly says, "It's yours. I got paid on Wednesday, so I bought this for you yesterday. It's got a prepaid sim, so we own it free and clear. I also want to talk to you about pocket money."
Dawn picks up the box as though it's going to be taken away, "Buffy, are you sure?"
Buffy nods, "It's for your safety, so yes I'm sure. But if you run out of credit, you need to top it up out of your pocket money. Now, as your parental unit rather than your sister, I have two rules. Number 1, if you're going out after school, ring me at home before I leave, same if you're going to be out after 8pm, call the office or the home, and I'll pick you up on my way home. Number 2, like your dagger, you must keep this with you at all times, this is for your safety so that you can call us if you're in trouble."
Dawn chokes up, "Buffy, I… Why are you so nice to me?"
"Dawn, I'm only doing what Mum would have done. And some things that think I wished she'd let me do. Now, pocket money, would you like it weekly or when I get paid?"
Dawn looks up from the box, "Pocket money?"
Buffy nods, "I asked the guys at work, and the humans said that it's normal for children to get pocket money. I can't afford much, but I think we can do $10 a week." Dawn sits there in silence, watching her, so Buffy looks down at the floor, "I'm sorry, I'm not very good with the Parenting thing. It should be Mum doing this for you. Either one."
Dawn blurts, "No Buffy, you're doing great. It's just, I, wasn't expecting any of this. I love you."
Buffy smiles, "Of course, I'd be much happier if we could just give you communications implants, so that we can chat whenever. But we can't do that here. Now, do you want to do some practice, or do you want to play with your new phone?"
Dawn looks down at the phone, "Would you mind if we looked at the phone?"
Buffy smiles, and move around to kneel beside Dawn, "Sure, well open it up then."
Dawn picks up the box and looks around it, "I need to get a knife from the kitchen."
Buffy looks at her askance, "Why? Where's your dagger?"
"Um, on the chair in my bedroom?"
"Dawn, what were my rules about the dagger?"
Dawn looks at her sullenly, "Have it on me at all times."
"Go and get it. And Dawn, if I catch you not wearing your dagger, we will immediately be playing dodge the vampire, with me playing the part of the vampire. Do you understand?"
Dawn winces, and then scurries off, as that's one of Buffy's training games that really hurts. It's a game that she'll play 15 times over the next five days.

As Buffy goes inside after their time together, Giles meets her with a cup of coffee and a smile, "That was a good thing you did there."
"I'm just trying to keep her as safe as I can, without stopping her from learning from her own mistakes."
Giles nods, "It's more than that, you used money that you could have spent on yourself to buy that. It wasn't cheap, I know, you left the receipt on the counter."
"She's worth it, and even if it doesn't save her life, it will still be worth it knowing that she can contact me if she's in trouble."
"You know, some people would say you're too lax with her."
Buffy looks at Giles questioningly, "What do you mean?"
"You are very permissive."
Buffy nods, "I have to be, as I sort of remember sneaking out to do patrols when I was her age. I keep wondering how mum would have felt if I got badly injured one night, and the first she knew was the hospital calling. I'm not going to do that to Dawn, I want her to trust that I'm not going to have a go at her if she's in trouble. How many things would have been easier if I'd just trusted mum to let me go out."
Giles nods, "That's a very mature way of looking at it."
Buffy pokes him, "Thanks, that's over 400 years of experience speaking."
Giles coughs, "Yes, well. I didn't just want to congratulate you. I wanted to let you know I've found an apartment, and I'll be moving in tonight."
"Good for you. I bet you'll be glad to get away from all the hormonal teenagers."
"Buffy, you've been wonderful company. Also, I want you to have this."
Buffy laughs as she takes the slip of paper and opens it, "I note you didn't say anything about Willow or Tara… Giles, I can't accept this."
Giles closes her hand over the cheque, "Buffy, you deserve it. It should cover the phone bill, and Dawn's phone. As for Willow and Tara, I don't think I can live with Willow for much longer, as she is becoming far too cavalier about using magic."
Buffy frowns, "I'm not sure what that means, or why it's a problem."
Giles nods, "I'm not surprised, it's not really something you'd understand until you've got a little training under your belt."

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The next Wednesday is Halloween, and so Dawn is surprised to Buffy waiting for her outside school.
"Buffy, what are you doing here?"
Buffy smiles, "Waiting for you silly. The late shift at Mikes is closed today, it being Halloween and all."
"What, why?"
"I thought you might want to do something before you go out with your friends later."
"Um, sure? Do you want to see what Anya's done with the Magic Box?"
Buffy looks uncomfortable, "Sure, as long as we can leave if it's crowded."
Dawn smiles, "Why?"
"You know what I'm like if someone touches me unexpectedly, I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Is that still happening?"
Buffy sighs, "Dawn, it's not going to go away. Void, I wish I still had my implants. Then I could turn off my combat instincts, and just enjoy being around people."
"Buffy, you know my Orokin isn't that good yet. What was that about implants and instincts?"
Buffy sighs, "I had implants in my head that interrupted the signals going to my amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex, and turned of my flight or fight response. We all did. It made us safe to be around civilians." Buffy looks around, and once she's sure there's no one close enough to see, she reaches into her purse, and pulls out Dawns dagger and waist harness, "Dawn, you left this at home today. I'm not going to chase you today, as it's Halloween. Just put it on, and don't take it off until you get home."
Dawn blanches as she sees the belt, she thought she'd hidden it properly. Reluctantly, she takes the belt and puts it on so that the knife sits horizontally just above the back of her hips.
"Buffy! You know I hate wearing this, as it's so uncomfortable."
"Dawn, trust me, you'll hate not having it more than wearing it when you need it only to find you left it at home. But, if you keep wearing it, you'll start to miss it when it's not there."

When they get to the Magic Box, Dawn smiles privately at Buffy's expression when the two of them get drafted to help. It's payback for making her wear the dagger. A couple of hours later, she's wishing she hadn't suggested coming here, as it's almost like it was before Buffy came back. 'Oh Dawn, can you help Willow over by the magical books.' 'Oh Dawn, can you help Xander with the trick or treat bags.' 'Oh Dawn. Oh Dawn. Oh Dawn.'

As she's subject to another aborted attempt at talking to one of her friends, as Willow crouches down in front of a girl dressed as a witch, Dawn spots a tarnished bronze medallion lying on a doily nearby. Sidling over, she looks around, feeling the familiar tense sensation, and the worry that she's going to be caught. When nobody seems to have noticed her, she nonchalantly palms the medallion, and puts it into her pocket.

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Buffy grimaces as Xander steps between her and a mother that just tapped her on the shoulder. The instinctive jab she lashed out with her left hand impacting him on the shoulder early, and jolting her out of her reaction to fire a void blast.
"I'm, ah, going to check to see if Giles needs any help on the counter."
Xander nods with a, barely hidden, pained expression, "Good idea Buffy."

Buffy quickly, almost magically, moves behind the counter. After the 3rd​ person reaches across the counter to get her attention, and in the process almost getting their wrist broken, Buffy retreats to the basement on restocking duty.

Around an hour before the store closes at 7pm, Buffy's leaning over a shelf, trying to read the scrawl that identifies the contents of each jar. Spike walks out of the tunnels that run under Sunnydale, and says.
"Buffy, how do you feel about, urk."
Buffy void leaps backwards and punches the threat in the kidneys before using the flinch reaction to grab the bottom of their chin, bringing their head down to her shoulder, and moves to rip their throat out, all before she registers who was speaking.
As she freezes in the middle of the last move, Spike croaks out, "Can you let me go please?"
After a second, Buffy lets go and steps back as Spike collapses to the floor, "Spike, you know better than that. You're lucky I didn't kill you."
Spike gets up and brushes himself down, "I thought I was far enough back to get your attention without startling you."
Buffy sags against a shelf as the adrenaline rush dies down, "Sorry, Anya drafted Dawn and I to help in the shop. It's worse than clearing a vault on Demios, at least there you can kill everything that gets to handsy."
Spike looks at her as if she's insane, "Why didn't you refuse?"
"We got here just after school, and it was just about empty. Anya assured it that it wouldn't be too busy."
Spike goggles at her, "And you believed her? It's never been anything less than crowded on Halloween, even when it was Uncle Bob's. You should know that."
Buffy puts her hands on her hips, "Spike, do you want me to kick your arse so hard you'll be eating out your arse for a week?"
"Now, Slayer, I…"
"You're talking to Miss three lives over here, well two, but my memories were wiped for most of the second one. Grineer Queens, how do you expect me to remember five days out of the 800 odd years I've been awake? Mercury's mines, I didn't even think to write it down in my diaries."
Spike laughs, "You wrote in a diary?"
Buffy gives him a look, "Just be glad I did, they've helped me remember the broad strokes of my life here. But apparently Buffy Summers was obsessed with social standing, cheerleading, fashion, and enjoying life."
Spike throws his hands in the air, "Bloody great, The fucking Slayer's been pretending to be the Slayer since she got back."
"When did I ever pretend to be the Slayer? I told you up front who I was, it's not my fault you didn't believe me. I'd rather be hit with the jade light than pretend to be Buffy Summers before I died. The girl had absolutely no survival instincts. Also, why did she let her mother die from cancer? She knew two witches, Giles knows at least one coven, and she has contact with the demon world. Demios' depths, they also had the spell to give a vampire a soul, so they could have just asked you or Angel to turn her, and then give her her soul back."
Spike looks at Buffy strangely, "Buffy, what are you saying?"
"Spike, do you honestly think that Buffy wouldn't have found another way, that I wouldn't have found another way to deal with Gloria before it got to the point where I had to sacrifice myself, if only I wasn't grieving my mother?"
"Uh, well, um, no? She was a goddess."
"Spike, you do realise that we are sitting near a portal to the hells? We could have just shoved her through the hellmouth and sealed it up behind her. Even if that didn't solve the problem, it would give us time to solve the problem."
Spike laughs, "You'd have killed dozens of people, maybe even hundreds, if you uncapped the hellmouth. You'd have never done it."
Buffy laughs, "Spike, I've wiped out whole colonies of innocent civilians because we had one confirmed case of a person infected by the infestation. I didn't even lose sleep over it. Don't confuse me for one of the humans from here. I may share their genetics, but I was born an Orokin, and I became a Tenno. If the Scoobies knew what I'd done, they'd call me a monster. Giles, I'm not so sure about. You, you're a monster, and if you breathe a word of it, I will kill you. You won't even see it coming."
Spike vamps out as he stalks towards Buffy, "So why do you keep pretending?"
"Dawn. She is my sister, and my responsibility. I even love her, alien as that thought is. Also, my mother, I'd think she'd want me to be more human. You know what I like about you Spike?"
"My rugged good looks?"
Buffy laughs, "You're far too young for me Spiky. No, it's that I don't need to pretend around you. I can let go of my masks and just be. Work's the same really. Anyway, I've just spotted the mandrakes, so I need to get them upstairs."
As Buffy disappears upstairs, Spike grumbles, "So, I guess you don't want to go patrolling then."

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Eventually, the store closes and Buffy is able to get close enough to Dawn without running the risk of killing someone accidentally, "Hey Dawn, are you doing alright?"
Dawn nods, a little too quickly, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"So, that's a no then. Sorry I couldn't be around, I didn't want to accidentally kill anyone."
"Why?"
Buffy looks Dawn in the eyes, "Are you sure you want to know?"
Dawn looks at Buffy's eyes before shaking her head, "No, probably not. Forget I asked."
Buffy smiles, "Sure, though if you change your mind. You can ask during our morning sessions. When are you supposed to be meeting your friends?"
"About 8, we wanted to get out after all the kids were finished."
Buffy nods, "Do you want me to walk you to your meeting point?"
Dawn looks at Buffy suspiciously, "Why do you keep doing this? Don't get me wrong, I like it. But…"
"You don't trust it, and you think it will be taken away?" Buffy pointedly looks at Dawns pocket.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Dawn, you are my sister, and my ward. I think I even love you. All of those things come with a certain level of expectations. I can't get you fitted with implants, as befitting the sister of an Orokin. Same as I don't want you to be forced to be a Tenno. So, I'm doing what I can, and raising you to this worlds standards to the best of my ability."
"Buffy I…"

Xander interrupts their conversation by getting up to stand beside Anya, "Everyone, I have something important to say. I have asked Anya to marry me, and she said yes."
Buffy rolls her eyes as Xander and Anya have a quiet conversation, and then kiss, while she and Dawn are joining the group.
Willow looks around everyone else and says, "Hands up everyone who did not see that coming."
When Buffy doesn't put her hand up, they all look at her, "What? Anya literally told me the night you resurrected me. When I asked her if she was human."
Anya squeaks, "I did?"
Buffy nods, "Yeah. I do have one question though, what does engagement and marriage actually mean?"
Willow looks at Buffy strangely, "Buffy, how don't you know the answer to that question?"
Before anyone can answer, Anya has a dreamy expression, "It's the purest expression of love, two souls coming together as one before god. It's so beautiful, the dresses, the bridesmaids, and then the ceremony. Then you're husband and wife forever."
Buffy frowns in thought, "Two bodies one soul? That sounds like the oro exchange ceremony some Orokin did with their life partners. Anya, you said souls becoming as one didn't you."
Anya nods, "Oh, yes, it's so romantic."
Buffy nods, "And you're not human."
"Well, ah, sort of. I'm an Ex-vengeance demon."
"Will you go back to being a vengeance demon when you die? Of old age, not violently."
Everyone looks at Giles, "Um, well, not much is known about Ex-demons and the afterlife."
"Well, joining souls is a big step, as if you do go back to being a demon, Xander might join you. And eternity is a long time. So, maybe you should let Xander set the pace. After all, he did finally announce your engagement, didn't he."
Xander stammers, "Me, become a demon?"
Buffy waves him off, "Just because you're a demon doesn't mean you'll be inhumanly evil. So far as I can tell, the biggest downside is developing a taste for kittens."
Dawn looks defensive, "Xander, if you ever become a demon, Patch is off limits."
Xander and Anya share a glance, "Patch?"
Dawn has a look of realisation, "Oh, yeah, you haven't been round our house since Buffy got paid. They had a kitten left over, so Vhesthine gave him to me."
Willow looks like she wants to ask some questions, but Anya starts to shuffle everyone out of the shop so she can lock up.

On the way home, Buffy ignores all of the disapproving looks from her friends, as she checks that Dawn has her phone and dagger, before saying goodbye.

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Dawn meets up with Janice, just down the road from her house rather than at the location they were supposed to meet.
"Hi Janice, did you have any trouble getting out?"
Janice shakes her head, "No, mum thinks I'm staying at yours. You?"
Dawn giggles, "Buffy just let me go out on my own. She's much cooler since she came back."
"Wow, I wish she was my mum."
"I know right…" Dawn pauses mid-sentence, "It's not all good though, she's been teaching me self defence for two hours every morning since she got back. And she makes sure I know about all of the potential dangers out here."
Janice laughs, "Like she knows anything. I bet she's just paranoid."
Dawn looks uncomfortable, and unconsciously starts to fall into the motions of the Vazarin way, "Maybe. Hey, do you have any plans, or are we just wandering?"
Janice nods, "A bit of both really, I met this guy at the Bronze a few weeks ago. A senior called Zack. He's going to meet us with his friend Justin."
Dawn nods, "Sounds good."

It's almost 9pm when the four of them run out of eggs to throw at Halloween decorations and windows. Over the last hour, Dawn has been getting the feeling that something's wrong. Something that Buffy's been teaching her. However, she ignores that niggle, and instead allows herself to be carried along by the laughter and excitement of the other three. As Justin comes back to the group empty handed Dawn forces a smile, "So what now? Heading to the Bronze?"
Zach looks around, before pointing, "Na, one more."
Dawn follows Zach's finger to a dark house with a foot path that is shrouded in shadows. Sitting on one of the bolsters of the porch is a lone carved pumpkin, a candle illuminating the pattern from the inside.

As Dawn looks at the pumpkin, Janice shudders, "Eww, not me."
Justin crows before saying, "What, you chicken?"
Dawn looks between Zach and Justin, before setting her shoulders, "I'll do it."
Marching up the pathway, she grabs the pumpkin, determined to get this over with so that they can move on. As she lifts it above her shoulder, someone's hand clamps on her shoulder and she drops into a crouch and spins away, even as she screams. Instead of a vampire, there's a doddering old man with a cheerful smile, and an absent gaze.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I have a treat for you inside, all four of you. Come on in."
Dawn looks at the mans back and stifles her desire to shout, 'You never invite anyone into your house, ever.' As the other three catch up with her, she straightens up and tries to look nonchalant as she walks into the house.

The inside is like an Aladdin's cave of vintage toys, from robots to jack in the boxes. All lovingly, and messily, laid out on every surface. Dawn only partially pays attention to the old man, as he explains that he used to be a toymaker, until something happened. Janice, oblivious Janice, sits down on the sofa with the others. Looking at the others, Dawn moves around so that she's perched on the sofa next to Janice.

After a few moments of awkwardness, the old man smiles at them, "Would one of you be able to help me in the kitchen?"
Dawn catches Justin and Zach sharing a glance, and starts to stand up. Justin leaps to his feet, "I'll help you."
Settling back Dawn's eyes dart around the room nervously, as Janice takes hold of Zach's hand. After a couple of minutes, Dawn feels like something important has just gone missing. Looking over her shoulder at the kitchen, she gets up off the couch, and Janice and Zach follow her as she calls out "Justin, are you ok?"

Just as she gets to the door, Justin pulls it open just enough to slip around it, before pulling it shut behind him, "I got the old mans wallet, let's go."
Dawn glances behind her as the four of them run from the house. As soon as they hit the sidewalk, Zach runs off back the way they came, leaving Janice and her with Justin. As Janice trails behind Justin and herself, Justin opens the wallet and takes out some cash, "Here, this is your half of the spoils."
As she takes it, Dawn looks at the money and then down at the pocket of her jacket. The one that Buffy looked at before she left the Magic Box. Swallowing hard, Dawn hands the money back, "No, it's ok. I… don't want to disappoint my sister. Um, where are we going after this?"
Justin smiles at her amiably, "Just out for a little drive to get some privacy, so that we can get to know each other a little better."
"Oh, ok. Um, I'm just going to call my sister to let her know I'll be late home, as she only let me come out if I did."
Dawn takes her phone out of her pocket, and drops back to Janice. It takes her a couple of tries to actually dial the house, but Buffy answers on the 3rd​ ring, "Hey Buffy, just letting you know that Janice and I will be a little late. Zach and Justin are going to drive us... Something not right, know not what… Concealed place, Kubrows and Kavats."
When Dawn hangs up, Janice asks, "I didn't know you spoke a foreign language, what language was it?"
Dawn shrugs, "I don't know, Buffy's been teaching me since she got back. She insists on me speaking it a bit every time I call."
Out of the corner of her eye, Dawn notices Justin relax almost imperceptibly. It suddenly becomes very difficult to keep her shoulders and hands relaxed, as her heartrate speeds up.

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Buffy hangs up the phone with pride in Dawn. Walking back to the living room, she looks at Anya and Xander, who have already started making out on the couch.
"That was Dawn, she's in trouble."
Xander and Anya disengage, and Xander looks at Buffy in confusion, "Didn't we already know that? After all, isn't that why Giles, Willow, and Tara all left 20 minutes ago?"
Buffy rolls her eyes, "No, all we knew was that Janice hadn't asked her mother for permission. Everyone assumed they were in trouble. I said that Dawn would call if there was a problem, and she did. Now, as the only one with a car, and also in a romantic relationship. Where would you go for some private time to get to know each other."
Anya blurts out, "Xander's apartment."
Buffy sighs, "If you didn't have an apartment to go to."
Xander sighs, "Probably the woods on the other side of the cemetery."
Buffy nods, and runs off to get both bows, as well as Dawn's live ammunition, before running out of the house as fast as she can, using void jumping to bypass obstacles she can't just jump over.

As she's getting close to the woods, she hears a scream rent the night, and redoubles her pace. Absently, she notes Janice lying on the floor as she's passing through the woods. As she arrives, Giles is standing opposite Dawn, who is being held around the throat by a vampire. Surrounding them is a circle of nearly a dozen vampires. Buffy void jumps to appear next to Giles.
"Hey old man, need some backup?"
Giles looks around, "That would be appreciated."
Buffy looks around the group, "Right, before I start staking first and taking names later. Were any of you here just to get some nookie?"
When a single couple raise their hands, Buffy makes a shooing motion as she looks at Dawn.
"Well Giles, are you ready?"
Giles looks around again, "Not really."
"Well, too bad. Dawn, I thought I taught you better than that."
Justin looks up, "Well, what do you know, she's the Slayers sister. Put down the bow otherwise I'll Arrrgh!" As he's talking, Dawn fumbles for her dagger, and then slices the double blade down the inside of Justin's arm.
Buffy smiles, "I don't know what an Arrrgh! Is, but I think I'll pass. Dawn, catch!" with a smooth motion, she chucks Dawns bow and quiver of arrows to Dawn as the other vampires all charge at the three of them.

Buffy lifts her own bow and tries to draw it the same way her Ivara Warframe did, and use void energy to produce an arrow. By the time she's failed three times, the first of the vampires arrive, so she lifts her hand and fires out a Void Snare.
Meanwhile, Giles is struggling with one vampire, as he can't match it's speed or strength. As he goes sprawling when the vampire backhands him across the face, he turns with the blow, and rolls onto his back to use the vampires momentum to stake it. Instead, the vampire is pulled back into the effect that Buffy created, and all of them turn to dust as she fires her beam and casually sweeps it across the suspended vampires. When the beam cuts out, she turns towards Giles, "Hey, do you think you and spike can handle the last one while I check on Dawn?"
Giles coughs, "I'm sure we'll manage."
With a nod, Buffy heads off after Dawn, leaning down on the way to pick up her dagger.

Dawn runs from Jason, her instincts driving her. As she passes into a clearing, the flight response from freeing herself finally clears, and she mechanically hooks the quiver onto her dagger harness. Drawing an arrow, she scans the edge of the clearing, her heartbeat thundering in her ears. There, a shadow moves and she lets fly with an arrow, that clatters off into the trees.
"You know, I knew you were special from the moment I saw you." Dawn lets another arrow fly towards the voice, "You know, you're different from the other girls. You've got spunk." Another arrow, another miss, "Don't worry, it will only hurt for a moment, and then you'll be happy." Thunk, an arrow hits a tree, "Oh, poor little Dawnie, you've run out of arrows. Should have paid more attention while you were running."
Dawn toes the arrow that she dropped on the floor, and looks around, making sure she's not too far from it. When Justin appears in the forest line, the arm he held her with is still hanging limply at his side, "You were good Dawn, very good. Once you're a vampire, you'll be better. Now, don't worry, this won't hurt."
Even planning for it, Dawn isn't ready when Justin rushes forward and knocks her off her feet. Despite that, she lands on the arrow with a loud snap. Almost casually, Justin kneels down on top of her, and leans over to bite her neck. For Dawn, the end is almost anticlimactic, as she lifts he razor sharp broad head, and it slips effortlessly through his ribcage and heart, until the wooden shaft makes contact. As it does, Dawn is looking in Justin's eyes as he realises what's happening, and then she's covered with dust.

Buffy appears next to Dawn with Dawn's dagger held where Justin's neck would be, "Hey Dawn, how are you doing?"

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Once they all get home, Giles watches Dawn sit down on a dining chair as Tara and Willow both make their way upstairs. When Buffy comes back from putting the bows away, Giles turns to her, "Someone needs to have a word with Dawn. What she did tonight was reckless."
Buffy shakes her head, "Don't put that on Dawn, she did almost everything right. What she got wrong was inexperience, not recklessness. And don't worry, I'm about to tell her exactly that. Good night Giles, and thank you for going out to look for Janice. But in future, please remember to take a proper weapon with you. Or do I need to start a training regime for you too?"

Without looking back, Buffy walks over to Dawn and sits next to her silently until Dawn looks up. Dawn looks at her, "What? Is this the point where you tell me off and explain everything I did wrong?"
Buffy shakes her head, "No Dawn, this is where I tell you that you did everything right. Why did you go with them, even after you called me?"
Dawn looks down at her hands, "Because Janice didn't know any better, and she'd have gone anyway."
Buffy nods, "Understandable, and you probably saved her life, along with Giles. If you weren't there, she probably wouldn't have made it out of the car."
"Buffy, I killed him. I could see it happening, and I killed him."
Buffy nods, "You did. It was you or him, and you chose you. Now you know what I've been saying. It also looks like you're starting to understand the Vazarin Way."
Dawn's voice cracks, "Buffy, can I sleep with you tonight?"
There's a long pause before Buffy answers, "I've used a lot of void energy tonight, so I think I'm depleted. So, just for tonight, but if I wake you up, you need to get out of my room immediately."
Dawn looks up with tears in her eyes, and reaches for Buffy, who takes her hand and pulls her into a hug.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Buffy the Tenno – Episode 6 – part 1


As Buffy lies uncomfortably in bed with Dawn clinging to her like a limpet, she frowns as Willow and Tara's disagreement carries on into the bedroom. Her frown deepens when Tara does a volte-face and is suddenly giggling and the two of them start behaving like they normally do. It takes her a long time to fall asleep, as she is once more left wishing she still had her implants. Her thoughts focusing, unbidden, on the three times she'd regained lost memories. The first, when she stopped the Stalker from destroying the Reservoir, and discovering the grim truth about her existence. That she wasn't actually a warframe, instead, she was a person and the Reservoir is the place where she, and her brothers and sisters, were kept in pods. Safe from attackers. The second when she followed Teshin to rescue him from the Grineer Queens, only for him to do the same for her when the elder Queen was trying to destroy her mind, and take over her body. Then the last, and most recent, when Willow resurrected her, and she discovered that this was a past life. Once more she curses her lack of implants, as unlike her previous memories, those memories started fading immediately, and it's only by reviewing her diaries and notes that she's even retained a portion of those memories.

Gently, she tries to tug Dawns arm from around her so that she can meditate. When Dawn doesn't budge, she muses darkly that this must be how her mother, Veldé, must have felt during the early days on the Zariman, before the void destroyed her sanity.

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The next morning, Dawn's still struggling with what happened the previous night. As she gets ready for her training she reaches behind her back for the dagger. When she doesn't find it, her breathing quickens, and her heartrate soars as she looks around her room wildly. When she spots it hanging over the chair, she grabs it and wraps it around her hips. As she continues to get ready, her hand keeps straying to the grip of the dagger, just touching it to reassure herself that it's still there.

During her training, Dawn keeps getting distracted by the memory of Justin's arm around her neck, but she gamely moves through the motions with Buffy. The movements and practice seemingly more important than just bonding time with her sister. Eventually, she notices that Buffy seems to be distracted by something, so, for the first time since they started, Dawn calls, "Buffy, break." To talk rather than get out of training.
As Buffy steps back, Dawn sinks to her knees. Buffy looks at her appraisingly, before doing the same.
After a few moments, Dawn asks, "Buffy, are you ok? You seem distracted."
Buffy's eyes refocus and she shakes her head slightly, "Huh, what? Oh, yes, I'm ok. Just dealing with my lack of implants."
Dawn switches to Orokin, "As sister, what wrong?"
Something Dawn had noticed before, happens once more as a switch seems to flip in the way Buffy regards her, "I am struggling with emotional regulation. Tara stopped being upset with Willow last night, and I can't stop thinking about regaining my memories. A few hours meditation should sort it out."
Dawn nods as she struggles to understand and translate what Buffy just said. Once she has, she responds, "Tara, try talk to."
Absently, Buffy replies, "Try and talk to Tara. Remember, G sound to indicate joining, and stress on Tara to indicate subject."
"Try talk to Tara."
"Better, and I will. I'll give it a few cycles first."

Dawn touches her dagger, and blinks as she remembers trying to talk Justin down in the car, "I kill Buffy last cycle."
Buffy laughs, "Buffy, I killed last cycle. And, yes, it's the Tenno way. We kill so that others can live in peace." Her eyes go distant, "We were created as weapons of war, our memories robbed, and our birth right stolen because they were losing. When we started waking again, it's all we knew, so the Lotus guided us to protect the ones caught in the middle. We took money from the Corpus to attack the Grineer, and money from the Grineer to attack the Corpus. In the middle, the independent colonies thrived. Or they would if it wasn't for a final weapon of the Orokin, the infestation. A techno-organic disease that would take over both living and electronic systems."
Refocusing on Dawn, Buffy continues in English, "Yes you did kill, but rather than focus on what you did, look at why you did it, and how you got there."
Dawn huffs with annoyance, "I got into the situation because I was stupid, alright."
Buffy shakes her head, "No, not stupid, inexperienced. Did you know they were vampires? Did you sneak out without permission? Did you do it all alone?"
Dawn looks down, "I should have known, all the signs were there. I could have got Janice and I out of there earlier by saying I wanted to go to the Bronze."
Buffy reaches across the gap between them, "Dawn, you knew none of those things yesterday. One of the reasons we have, had, implants so that we can review our past actions without the emotional biases that hindsight brings. It's one of the things I remember mum teaching me, how to separate current knowledge from my past actions. I was 13 when I got those implants, and it was amazing. The day before, the world was a confusing mess, and after a couple of months, it was just a mess. I could look at what happened, and judge my actions clearly. School became a breeze, as we could turn off our emotions so that we could focus on the lessons and understanding them. We were just starting on the more advanced stuff like Eternalism and the scientific proofs that show it's not only a valid philosophical precept, but actually exists. Though we can't interact with our doubles. Well, I should say, we can't normally interact with our doubles. It was a wonderful life, but it was a caste system, and we were at the top. The Dax and Corpus were below us, and everyone else was below them. We even created the Grineer as a slave race to work in conditions that robotics and our civilians couldn't without dying in a matter of years… Sorry, I got side tracked, we were talking about your experiences last night."
Dawn shakes her head, "No, I was interested. You don't normally talk about these things like you were there."
Buffy shakes her head, "And I shouldn't, that was then and this is now. Tara's volte-face must be affecting me more than I thought."
Dawn laughs, "Buffy, volte-face, really? When did you start using language like that?"
Buffy sticks her tongue out, "Fine, her sudden flip-flop on her disagreement with Willow."
"What was their disagreement anyway?"
Buffy shakes her head, "If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you. I may have super senses, but if I share stuff like that, then people will stop trusting me. Now, come on, lets practice with our bows and see who can pull the most ridiculous pose while still hitting the target. Also, I'll walk you to school later, as you're wearing your dagger for once."
Dawn reaches behind her to touch the grip for reassurance.

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Buffy sits in a cheap padded chair in front of the principles desk at Sunnydale Junior High, next to her is Dawn, who is twitching nervously.
Principle Stevens looks up from Dawns notes, "Miss Summers, it is a pleasure to see you. And I am very happy with the improvements that Dawn has been making over the last couple of months."
Buffy nods, "While that is certainly pleasant news, I'm actually here on a more important matter."
"Oh?"
"As you may know, I've recently started an apprenticeship with Mikes Machining."
Principle Stevens looks back down at the notes, "Indeed, I see you updated the after-hours contact details."
Buffy reaches into her purse and pulls out her old Initiative ID card, "Well, what you shouldn't be aware of is the fact that I have been part of the armed forces. And this is classified information, so don't note it down." She hands over the ID for the Principle to look at briefly, before putting it back in her purse.
Stevens frowns, "While that's all very interesting, what does that have to do with your presence in my office today?"
Buffy gives him a sweet smile that doesn't reach her eyes, "I was just getting to that Principle Stevens. Suffice to say that I have been unable to put my full attention to raising Dawn the way she deserves to be since our mother died. I am, however, no longer associated with the American Government. I am, however, still highly skilled in all forms of CQC, including daggers. A skill that I have been passing on to Dawn here, since the circumstances that prevented me being a full part of my sisters life were lifted. It was this skill that saved her… virtue, and possibly her life last night."
"Miss Summers, please get to the point."
"Principle Stevens, I would like you to write Dawn a waiver so that she can carry the dagger, that she trains with, in school."
"Miss Summers, you know that we have a very strict no weapons policy."
"Principle Stevens, you are aware of the fact that you can provide a waiver to that policy, and I have just explained why you should do just that."
Stevens leans forward, "The school rules are very clear that there are no exceptions to that rule. We will not be having a repeat of Sunnydale High, with students high on PCP running amok."
Buffy nods, and pulls a letter from her purse, "Very well, as you won't make an exception for a reasonable reason. I have here a letter informing you that I am withdrawing Dawn Summers from the school on personal safety grounds. She will be home schooled until she graduates to high school. We will be taking a copy to City Hall as soon as we're finished here."
Dawn stares at her sister, wide-eyed, as Principle Stevens takes the letter and reads it through.
"Miss Summers, you do realise that this letter could be very damaging to the schools reputation?"
Buffy looks at him with wide, innocent eyes, "I have no idea what you mean. After all, I've only been on this earth for 20 years. I actually had the receptionist at Mikes help me prepare for this meeting, as I thought something like this might happen. After all, you tend to make enemies in my former line of work."

After a long few moments, Principle Stevens writes out a waiver and hands it to his Secretary to type up. Once he's sat down again, he looks at Dawn, "Miss Summers. Dawn, this is a waiver to carry the dagger with you in school. It is not permission to draw it. If I find out that you've drawn it without a teachers supervision, you will be subject to the normal rules on weapons in the school."
Buffy coughs meaningfully, "Principle Stevens, I would hope that if Dawn had cause to draw the dagger in school, you'd have the police involved, not just treating her as a delinquent."
Principle Stevens nods, "Yes, yes indeed."

Once the waiver comes in, Buffy pulls out a small dictionary and reads through the waiver twice, double checking any word that she's not sure of the meaning of.
As she's doing that Principle Stevens protests, "Miss Summers, you don't need to do that. The waiver is written in plain English."
Buffy looks up absently, "I am aware of that Principle. However, I'm not ashamed to admit that I didn't do as well as I should in English at school. I was also advised to ensure that I understood the waiver before signing and dating all three copies."
The principle sighs, and lets Buffy continue. After a couple of minor changes, Dawn, Buffy, and the principle all have a copy signed by both Stevens and Buffy. Once they're both in the corridor outside, Buffy gives Dawn a hug, and Dawn whispers, "How did you do that? Where you really planning this for weeks?"
Buffy smiles, "Presentation of the truth, and yes. It came up at work when I mentioned I was trying to get you to wear your dagger all the time."
Dawn squeezes her tight, "Best sister ever."

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From the school Buffy heads home to grab the library books she's been reading for her apprenticeship, before making her way to the Magic Box. Which seems to be the unofficial study location for the Scoobie Gang. When she arrives, she finds the shop mostly empty, with Tara sitting at the round table at the back doing some work for college. Giles is standing around looking busy, while Anya is serving a customer.

Giles looks up, "Buffy! I wasn't expecting you in yet."
Buffy shrugs, "I had to stay awake anyway to talk to Dawn's school. So I figured I'd forego sleep, and get some more studying in."
Giles raises an eyebrow, "Oh, anything interesting?"
Buffy nods and holds up a couple of books, "Uh huh, powder smelting alloys, and welding."
"Fascinating."
Buffy nods, "They are, did you know that incorrectly made welds can have a honeycomb structure, that leaves them weak to stresses even though they seem to pass all the normal tests."
Giles takes off his glasses and pinches his nose, "While I'm sure its interesting, I really don't think I need an in-depth description of it, thank you."
Buffy shrugs, "Suit yourself."

Taking off her jacket, she drapes it over a skull on the near by shelf and sits down next to Tara. As she starts to take notes in Orokin, and making comparisons with the techniques she learnt in the Orokin system, Tara leans over and says softly, "You should probably move your coat before Anya notices."
Buffy nods, "I would, but I don't like been watched by people I don't know."
Slightly more urgently Tara asks, "What do you mean?"
"I mean that someone has gone to the trouble of hiding a camera in the eye socket of that skull. You can just about see the reflection of light on the lens if you're coming up the stairs from the basement, with the door already open."
"How did you even spot that?"
"Hours of walking up and down the stairs into the basement looking for obscure items of stock. Last night."
"Oh. How did you know what you were looking at?"
Buffy smiles, "Tell you what, when you're willing to talk to me about what happened the night I came back. I'll talk to you about that too."

Tara and Buffy go back to their individual studies.

Around half an hour later, Buffy finishes her chapter and sits back to think. After a moment, she taps the table in front of Tara gently.
Tara looks up from her work, "Yes Buffy? You could have just used my name."
Buffy nods, "I didn't want to startle you. Would you mind if I spoke to you in the back quickly?"
Tara looks a little surprised, before nodding. Buffy leads the two of them out the back door, and into the alleyway, where the sun's shining.
Buffy paces for a couple of minutes while she considers revealing her enhanced senses, and if she can ask what she wants without doing so. Coming to a decision, she turns back to Tara.
"Sorry about that, I was trying to think of the best way to ask what I want to know. As you know, the Slayer is 'gifted' with extraordinary abilities so that they can combat demons on an equal footing. What everyone seems to forget is that this includes senses, such as hearing."
Tara goes bright red and covers her face with her hands.
Somewhat exasperated, Buffy huffs, "This is why I don't bring it up. For the most part I try to ignore personal conversations. But, last night the two of you were quite loud in your discussion of Willows magic use in the kitchen. I was just wondering, why does it matter how much magic Willow's using?"
Tara looks up, "What? Willow and I didn't argue last night."
"You did, and you even took it to bed. Which is why I took note of it, as you seemed to have made up very quickly."
Tara looks upset, and gets up to go back into the shop. But Buffy reaches out gently, and stops her, "Tara, if she's messed with your memory, let me know as I can't have someone living in the house with Dawn who's willing to do that. No matter how good a friend she was to Buffy Summers."
"Why though, she's your friend."
"Tara, it's not about friendship, it's about trust. I've had my memories stolen from me before, and they turned me into a weapon. I've regained memories three times, and each time was so bad I had to strip the emotions from the memory. That's why I wanted to know what's so bad about using magic."
Tara takes a deep breath and sits on the pile of pallets. In a small voice she says, "When you cast a spell, you draw magic in from the world around you and channel it into the working you're doing. If that was it, then using magic wouldn't be a problem. However, there are hellmouths all over the world, and the magic from those hells mingles with the magic of the earth. This makes it feel nice to use it, like a small bar of chocolate on your period. I'm just worried about what happens if you do it too much."
Buffy nods, "That makes sense. Also, I haven't forgotten that I want you to teach me magic. I've just got a few too many commitments at the moment."
Tara stand up and starts going back inside, "I-I have something I need to look up."
Buffy gets up to follow her, "I understand. If you do find something, talk to Giles about it first, as he's the expert on all things occult."
"I'll think about it."
"You should also start to keep a diary too, make a note of all your concerns and worries. You can use one of the drawers in my desk if you don't trust anywhere in your room."
Tara pauses and whispers, "Why are you being so nice to me?"
Buffy smiles and shakes her head, "Because you're a nice person. You know Dawn likes you too, as you're the only one that occasionally checked up on her, not just told her what to do. Or told her off for that matter."

Once Buffy gets back inside, she pulls out the notebook she's been using as a diary, and makes a note of her discussion with Tara, and the fact that magic could be addictive.

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After school, Dawn makes her way to Magic Box, and looks through the window inside to see Willow and Giles chatting about something at the table, with Xander talking to Anya by the counter. Not feeling like being ignored again, she turns around and makes her way to Buffy's work.

When she gets there, she looks around for Buffy, and watches as a demon talks to her over by some sort of spinning machine. As she watches, the demon takes a circle of metal and places it between two plates on the machine, with some sort of explanation going on. Seeing that Buffy's busy, Dawn makes her way up the stairs to the reception, where Vhesthine is talking on the phone. Slumping over to a chair, Dawn sits down, and then adjusts herself until her dagger is more comfortable. Pulling out her phone, she starts to look for the games the box said it came with.

After half an hour or so, Vhesthine turns to Dawn, "What's the problem?"
Dawn looks up and shakes her head, "Nothing."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "Succubus here, I can literally taste your emotions, and you reek of misery. So, what's wrong."
"I killed someone last night."
Vhesthine rolls her eyes, "Oh please, there has to be more to it than that."
"Isn't that enough? Do I really have to say I thought he was cute, until he turned out to be a vampire."
Vhesthine shrugs, "Sounds like you did the world a favour. One less vampire to cause trouble. So what else?"
"I think he killed someone while we were walking the streets, egging houses. There was this creepy old man who used to make toys. I'd started thinking there was something wrong with Jason and Zach. But I ignored it, because I was having fun. He caught me about to smash his pumpkin, and he invited us in. Then Jason went into the kitchen. Well, first of all, we were sat on his chairs, and he asked for some help in the kitchen. I saw Zach and Jason share a glance, and I was about to volunteer when Jason jumped up. He was taking too long, and it felt like something disappeared, so I got up to check on Jason, and he rushes out of the kitchen. While Zack was getting their car, Jason tried to give me $10, but I remembered Buffy talking to me about pocket money that morning. And it felt like I'd be betraying Buffy if I took it, so I gave it back. When Jason said they were driving us out to get some privacy, I called Buffy to let her know I'd be late, but I used the language she's been teaching me to say I was in trouble. Then, in the car, Jason was talking to me, and I was scared, but I couldn't reach my dagger because I was sitting against it. So I got out of the car. That's when Giles turned up, and he was so brave, he confronted Jason, even though he was holding his arm around my neck. That's when the other vampires walked out of the trees, and I was so scared I couldn't think. I thought we were going to die, and Buffy just appears, bang, one moment it's just Giles, the next Buffy's standing next to him holding two bows. When she called my name, I just knew what to do, and I grabbed my dagger and cut the inside of his elbow as deeply as I could. When he let go, I spun away and Buffy threw me my bow and arrows. We got separated, and I ran. When I got to a clearing, I stopped, and tried to shoot him with my arrows. But I dropped one first, as I remembered Buffy saying that they were too fast. When I ran out, he pushed me over, and knelt over me. That's when I took the end of the arrow and pushed the end through his ribs, into his heart. Blood poured out all over my hand, and then he turned to dust."

Vhesthine sits patiently through Dawns rambling confession. As she peters out, she taps her finger on the desk, "Dawn, grab a chair from the break room and come and sit next to me."

While Dawn's doing that, she pulls her makeup bag from her purse, along with her nail polish and care kit. Once Dawn's sat down, Vhesthine snaps, "Hands" at her, and starts to inspect her nails.
"Hmm, I can see I have my work cut out for me. You should stop biting your nails, as it will damage your nail beds, and your fingers will grow up over them. I'm going to use a touch of succubus magic to grow them slightly, so don't scream."
Intelligently, Dawn says, "Huh?"
As Dawns nails lengthen to around ¼ inch longer than the tips of her fingers, Vhesthine adds, "Don't worry, this much magic isn't corrupting. It's clear that nobodies ever taught you how to take care of your nails. And they're so good too. The first thing we're going to do is moisturise your hands, then I'll shape your nails and apply some polish. Then we can braid your hair to frame that lovely face, and add a touch of makeup."

As Dawns emotions change from misery to contentment and bliss, Vhesthine asks, "Was this your first kill?"
Absently, Dawn says, "No, well, yes. Sort of. I've dusted vampires before, but Buffy keeps talking about not sugar coating things, or using eupha… eupha…"
"Euphemisms?"
"Yeah, those."
"Uh huh, most mortals need to work up to that. So, if you've done it before, why is this time so hard?"
"I don't know, I've always done it with the others before."
Vhesthine nods, "The first time hunting alone is always hard. I remember my own, I thought the male was going to see through my disguise, or that I'd say the wrong thing and his lust would die back. All of that happened, but by the time it did, he didn't care what I looked like, he just wanted me, and tried to take it. It was absolutely delicious, decadent, and so very filling. These days I prefer lust mixed with desire, and to take a little every day rather than gorging myself every few weeks. Anyway, my matriarch was nearby the whole time, watching just in case she needed to step in."
Dawn nods absently, "Just like Buffy."
"Other hand. When it comes down to it, you did us a favour, as we'd have hunted them down ourselves. We do not hunt on Halloween while humans make a mockery of us. That way leads to the churches taking notice, and thinning the feeding pool while futilely looking for us."

Vhesthine pauses as a chime goes off softly. Glancing down at a security camera on the desk, she turns back to Dawns hand just before a Nitobe walks through the door. Smoothly she says to Dawn, "Don't move, I still need to finish this hand."
Turning to the demon she smiles, "Good evening, do you have an appointment?"
The Demon looks over at Dawn, "Why do you have a human here?"
Vhesthine smiles, "She's a prospective. Now, do you have an appointment?"
The Nitobe shakes his head, "I wish to speak with a smith about a commission."
Vhesthine nods, "Do you have a way to be contacted?"
"No."
"Very well, I can pencil you in in four days' time. You will need to bring proof of wealth."
The Nitobe nods, "I will return."

Once they're alone again, Dawn asks, "What's a prospective?"
Vhesthine starts to apply the polish coat to Dawns fingers, "A prospective is a human that's caught our eye, and we're grooming to become a succubus."
"Am I?"
Vhesthine looks at Dawn critically, before finally saying, "No, you're innocent in all the wrong ways."
After several minutes digesting that, Dawn asks, "What's it like being a succubus?"
Vhesthine shrugs, "I couldn't say, as I was born a succubus. Now turn around, so I can start to do your hair. No! Don't hold the chair, you'll ruin your nail polish. Just sit sideways."
As Dawn turns around, her dagger comes into view. Vhesthine looks at it, for a moment, "Do you mind if I look at your dagger?"
Dawn chews her lip for a moment before saying "Sure" and reaching around to draw it.
Vhesthine says, "Ah, no. Nails remember. I'll get it, and I'll put it straight back once I'm finished with it."

Drawing the dagger, Vhesthine bounces it gently in one hand, "Good balance, not perfect. A bit heavy towards the front." Grabbing a small metal stick with a ball on the end, she taps the blade in multiple places, "Hmm, even construction, probably machine made. Good edge," she taps it again, "Though a little soft. Needs a little sharpening. Has Buffy shown you how to do that?"
Dawn shakes her head as Vhesthine puts the dagger back in the sheath, and takes out her brush, "Once we're finished here, I'll show you how to care for your blades properly. Though you should really have a better blade than that."
Dawn sighs in contentment as the brush moves through her hair, "Buffy said she'd make me a new one once I was competent with a knife."
Vhesthine nods, "Then it's a perfectly acceptable blade for a beginner. I may even be able to give you some tips."
With some surprise, Dawn says, "You know how to use a dagger?"
"I do. Succubae aren't exactly known for their strength, so we use weapons instead. The more easily concealed the better. After all, humans aren't the only ones with a taste for human looking women."
Dawn shudders, "I did not want to know that."
"I do not understand the human fascination of withholding information for the sake of feelings."
"I… I don't know either. Maybe Buffy does."

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It's about half nine when Razial appears on the factory floor in a flash of light, "Everyone, we're closing early today! I hope you all have a good weekend, personally, I'm looking forward to a weekend away. We may be closed Monday, so call in before coming to work. Buffy, a word in my office."

Confused, Buffy turns away from the pile of ruined copper disks, and a couple of very basic copper bowls, and follows her boss upstairs. As she enters the reception she pauses in surprise when she sees Dawn pushing her dagger over a stone. As she notices her hair, Buffy looks Dawn up and down, "I like the nails, and the hair."
Dawn looks up at her with a beaming smile, "Thanks, Vhesthine did them for me."

That said, Buffy hurries after Razial, and closes the door behind her.

Razial sits down and pulls back his hood, "Buffy, I'm talking to you as an apprentice, as everyone knows that The Slayer would be driven to kill me on sight."
Buffy nods, "Apprentice Buffy, reporting as ordered."
"This is no joking matter. Someone has summoned the Lord of the Dance. Everyone downstairs already knows the drill, but you're new here. I cannot be seen looking after my human employees, even though it would be a wasted investment if they came to undue harm. So instead, I suggest a course of action, as I'd rather not lose resources that I've put so much time and effort into training. If there's still a Sunnydale left on Monday, then you'll be working as normal. Otherwise we'll let you know where the new workshop is. You'll still be paid. If you don't call in, we'll assume you died." Buffy opens her mouth to say something, but Razial shakes his head, "That's all I needed you for."

Numbly, Buffy walks back into the reception, where Dawn looks up, "Buffy, are you ok?"
"Dawn, I need to use your phone."
"Um, ok? It's in my school bag."

Buffy first calls Magic Box, on the off chance that someone's still there. When the phone goes to answer phone, she calls her house.
On the second ring, Giles picks up, "Summers residence."
"Giles…"
"Oh Buffy, thank God. Dawns missing, she didn't turn up at Magic Box, and she wasn't at home. Xander and Anya just closed up, and Willow and Tara have…"
"Giles, Dawn's here. And her phone number is written on the number list in front of you."
"Oh God, I feel so stupid."
"Giles, we don't have time for that. Work's closing early because someone's summoned the Lord of the Dance."
"Who?"
"I don't know, but it's bad enough my boss is leaving town for the weekend."
Giles pauses for a moment, then sounds more serious, "Right, I've got a key to Magic Box. I'll leave a note for Willow and Tara, and I'll call Xander and Anya. I'll meet you there."
Buffy looks back at Dawn, "Giles… I'll be there, but Dawn might be staying with friends."
"Oh, good."

Buffy looks at the phone for a few seconds before stabbing a button to hang up, and turning around.
Raising her hand to forestall Dawn, Buffy looks at Vhesthine, "Vhesthine, I know it's not normal. But, if Dawn agrees, do you think you could look after her for the weekend?"
Vhesthine looks at Dawn appraisingly, "I couldn't guarantee her safety, or humanity."
"Compared to what the boss is worried about, how safe would she be?"
"Walking around Sunnydale on a Friday night?"
Buffy nods and lowers her hand, "Dawn, it's your choice. I seriously doubt that anything here can kill me, but this is your life we're talking about."
Dawn shakes her head, "There's no choice, you're not leaving me again."
Buffy smiles at Dawn, "Well, come on then."

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 6 – part 2


It doesn't take long for the three of them to meet up at Magic Box, or for Giles to let them in.

Buffy puts her coat over the skull before sitting down at the table, "Giles, I have to confess that I'm not particularly sure of what happens now. As last time research needed to be done, I was working. The time before that was the day after I was brought back. So, what do we do?"
Giles takes his glasses off to clean them, "Ah, well. We have a library of ancient and esoteric tomes on the mezzanine floor. However, they haven't been catalogued beyond what category of book they are. We know he's a demon, and that he has been summoned. But that's about it."
Buffy shakes her head, "We also know that my boss is wary enough of him to be out of town while he's supposed to be around."
Giles sighs and puts his glasses back on, "Yes, there is that. So, we're probably looking for his identity first, and then trying to find the banishing ritual."

Buffy nods, and stands up her voice rising in song, as she leaps up to the library and passes a book down to Giles "Because I'm all about those books, all those books."
Giles places the book on the table and passes it over to Dawn as he sings, "Start reading."

After another round of the same, that ends up with Giles sitting at the table reading a book, Dawn takes over, "Yeah, it's pretty clear that I am really cool. Because I'm reading, reading. It's what I like to do…"

As the song continues, first Willow, then Tara, and finally Anya dance in through the various entrances to each take a book from Buffy.

Once the song comes to an end, Buffy leans over the railing of the library, "Um, guys, I know we kinda got carried away there. But can we take a more structured approach to this? I mean, randomly going through books will turn up an answer eventually, but um, would it be better if I handed the books to Giles and he puts them in one of 3 piles. Probably, maybe, and longshot. Only, I think he knows more about what's in these books than anyone here. Once you've finished with a book, you can put it in a definitely not or probably not pile. Willow, Tara, concentrate on summoning rituals that mention Lord of the Dance. Dawn, concentrate on Demons. Anya, I want you to grab some paper and write down everything you can remember that could be related to Lord of the Dance. I don't care if it's a play from across the ocean or something equally asinine, once you're done, join Dawn."
Giles looks up, "What about me?"
"Giles, you're the expert here. I trust your judgment, and I couldn't guess where your strengths are."
Anya looks up at Buffy, "What are you going to be doing?"
"Once I've got all the books down, I'm going to be setting up some tables using the pallets from outside, and I'll transfer the piles of books onto those. I think I saw a whiteboard in the basement, so I'm going to bring that up and put what we know on it so that we can all see it at a glance. Then I'm going to make everyone a cup of tea or coffee. If there's spare time, I'll be starting to flick through the probably not pile, to double check things, and also make a note of the book title and headings or broad contents, so that next time we can quickly check that list to see if anything rings any bells."
Anya makes an O shape with her mouth before grabbing a pad and a pen.

Giles frowns as he starts sorting the books, "Buffy, I don't think it's a good idea to make those notes."
"Oh?"
"There is a lot of dangerous knowledge in these books. We have the benefit of always having access to these books. However, some of the people who have caused trouble in the past only had an hour or so's access to the books. So, I feel that having a convenient set of notes around would be more detrimental long term, than it would be helpful."
Buffy shrugs, "Ok, how about if I wrote it in corpus script?"
Giles takes his glasses off to clean them, "I'm afraid there are spells to translate any known language."
"Ok, I want to discuss what known language actually means later. But for now, I'll just make a list of titles that we've ruled out."

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It's 3am and Dawn has already fallen asleep, Willow has got up to stretch her legs, and Anya has sung about bunnies twice.
Buffy puts down the book that she's currently double checking, and puts her pen in the crease so that she doesn't lose her page. Standing up, she walks over to Willow, "Hey Willow, you're supposed to be one of my oldest friends, so I'm just checking in with you. Are you ok?"
Willow looks up at her with a tired expression, "What, no, just a bit tired. How are you still so fresh?"
Buffy shrugs, "Regular meditation, I guess. Do you think we should call it a night."
"What? No! I'll just do a spell to freshen everyone up."
"Willow, will that actually freshen everyone up, or just make them feel like it."
Willow smiles, "Don't worry, it will be like drinking 4 expressos."
"Then don't, you all need real sleep, not just alertness. As we're doing stuff that requires attention to detail."
As she's about to turn to the rest of the room, Tara and Giles are affected by the magic and launch into a soft duet about leaving. [AN: Under your Spell/Standing (reprise) – Except Giles doesn't feel he's contributing anything, and that Buffy has outgrown him]

As the song comes to a close, Buffy's head lolls forward in despair and exasperation and she mutters, "I asked her to talk to me first." In a louder voice she addresses the room, "Right, that's it, we're all tired, so I'm calling it a night. Anya, will you be alright getting home, or do you want to couch surf somewhere?"
Anya looks between Tara and Willow warily, "Um, I can get home."
Buffy nods, "Good, Giles, we need to talk about your concerns when we're both awake. But you are still needed here. And Willow, you're sleeping on the couch, and as soon as this situation is dealt with you need to find alternative accommodation."
Softly, Tara says, "It's ok, I can go."
Buffy shakes her head, "No, this has nothing to do with you and your relationship. This is to do with Willow."
Willow looks surprised, "Me, but I didn't do anything to you."
"You broke my trust Willow. You erased Tara's memory, how can I trust you haven't done that to Dawn or I? Would you even tell me if you did? Void, would you even remember if you did?"
"I haven't, I promise."
"Prove it."
"What? But I…"
"Precisely, this is why trust is so important. You can't prove you didn't do it, because you could have erased your own memory."
"But you can't do that. Magic doesn't work that way."
"Really? How can I trust your word on that? No Willow, I can't trust you in that way again, so I can't have you living in my house."
"But…But… I wouldn't need to be living with you to do that, not that I would, so kicking me out doesn't make any sense."
Buffy sighs, "Willow, do you really want to die that much?"
Willow shakes her head, "No, no, living is good, I like living."
"Then don't make threats like that."
"I wasn't making a threat."
"Willow, for someone that so intelligent, you are so very stupid sometimes. What you just said is a threat, you may not have meant it as one, but that's what it was."

Buffy stalks away, to the rest of the group, "Giles, sorry to ask this, but do you have space on your couch for a couple of nights?"
"I, um, that is…"
"Giles, it's alright to say no."
"Um, I'm living with a lady friend at the moment."
Buffy smiles, "Good for you, one more reason to stay. Anya?"
Anya shakes her head emphatically, "No, no. I'm not having anyone get in the way of my Xander time."
Buffy nods, "Fair enough. Ok Willow, you're still sleeping on the couch, only because I don't want you to be lunch for a vampire. Giles, do you think you could talk to her and explain what she's done wrong? As I'm worried I'll shoot her if I did it."
Giles looks distracted again, before he quickly refocuses on Buffy, "Oh, yes right. Um, yes I can talk to Willow."
Buffy nods, and hesitantly puts a hand on Giles upper arm, "Thank you, and I appreciate you doing that sort of thing. I don't really deal with threats very well, as I have my automatic responses to contend with while I am. As, to quote me, once something's deaded you can't exactly say sorry."
"Um, Buffy, I think you actually said, 'I'll say sorry after it's deaded'."
Buffy nods thoughtfully, "Yeah, that sounds more like Buffy Summers. Anyway, times a wasting."

Buffy carefully covers Dawn with her coat, before lifting both Dawn and her bag in a bridal carry. Once they get home, Buffy puts Dawn to bed before returning to the top of the stairs and sinking down into meditation.

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As she lies in bed, conscious of the void next to her where Willow would sleep, Tara stares at the dark ceiling trying to work out how she got to this point. For so long she's been Willow's girlfriend, and she's been content. As that's still better than she deserves. If it wasn't for her, her mother would still be alive.
As she turns over to face Willow, she's surprised to see the shadow of her Doppleganger lying sideways on the bed facing her, its head propped up on its hand.
"Hey Lily."
Tara screams, and falls backwards out of the bed onto the floor. Seconds later, Buffy comes through the door and flicks the light on.
"Tara, are you ok?"
Tara picks herself up off the floor, and looks over the bed, "It was there, it was right there."
"What was?"
"Me, it was lying there, facing me, and it said, 'Hey Lily'. How did it know that?"
Buffy sighs and kneels down beside Tara, "Tara, it's probably just Wally. He likes to pop in on the Tenno, just to remind us he still exists and that we owe him."
Tara starts to cry softly, "He was right, we really are demons."
Awkwardly Buffy looks for somewhere appropriate to place a hand, before settling on Tara's shoulder, "Tara, you are not a demon. Did you make a deal with him?" Tara nods and sniffs loudly, "Then you're just void touched like I am. Do you mind telling me, what deal did you make?"
Hesitantly, Tara explains what she remembers of the deal, at the end of it, she cringes in on herself. Her old insecurities dancing around in her head.
Buffy wryly shakes her head, "Yeah, he got us with that one too. The Tenno I mean. We never asked what the price was, and he didn't volunteer it. I know that I was just desperate to survive. That was what 14 cycles after I killed mum while she was trying to stab me."
Tara looks up at Buffy, a look of horror on her face, "You killed your mother, how did you cope?"
Buffy shrugs, "Badly, as soon as I had the opportunity, I changed my face. After that, well, it didn't really matter, as I was 19 when they stole my memories. Didn't even remember who I was till, oh, three, four hundred years ago. I was just BunnyGirl in chat, or Tenno in person."
"Oh goddess, that's why, Willow. That must have been traumatic, how did you cope. Remembering that is."
Buffy shrugs, "It was traumatic, and not in a useful way, so I removed the trauma, and removed the emotion from the memory. Then it was just something that happened."
Tara emotions bounce back into horror, "How could you do that to yourself?"
Buffy blinks, "Huh?"
"Mutilating your memories like that."
"Oh. No, the memory is still there, completely intact. It just doesn't produce the chemicals that cause trauma. And I removed the trigger from the… I don't know the English term for it, but it's in the base of the brain, and deals with reflex actions. However, that's distracting from what just happened to you."
Tara shakes her head, "You can't just brush that sort of thing off, humans just don't work that way."
Buffy looks up to the ceiling briefly, before looking back to Tara, "Tara, I'm not human. Well, I wasn't. I'm Orokin, and while we're born human, our implants set us above everyone, even the Dax and Corpus…"

Buffy can't help it, she takes Tara's hand and launches into a ballad about the wonders of the Orokin empire.
At the end of it, she shakes her head, "Depths of Demios, that was bad. Yeah, that was the society I grew up in. Great for the people at the top, not so great for the civilians. When I woke up, it was worse if you weren't part of the Corpus, or one of the Grineer. Even in the Corpus things weren't great unless you were at the top. The people at the bottom were slaves in all but name, constantly under threat of physical reclamation if they didn't make the payments on their debt. Then each bit of reclaimed body added a bit to their burden. They reclaim your legs, you now have to have your replacement legs maintained, which costs credits." Buffy trails off as the sees the look of horror and compassion on Taras face, "I'm sorry for upsetting you."
Tara shakes her head, "It's not that, your society sounds like a mix of fantastical and barbaric. And you lived through all of that."
Buffy puts her finger under Tara's chin, "Tara, look at me. Whatever you're imagining, it wasn't that bad. We had our monsters, but for the most part it was just life. The English term for our society is a caste system. I looked it up shortly after I was pulled back here, and India has one that looks a bit like the one I lived in before the war. Only, instead of civilians on the bottom, we instead created short lived hardy clones that had only the intelligence and sense of self needed to get the job done. After the war, they became the Grineer. After I woke up, I and my brother and sister Tenno fought to prevent the free citizens from being subsumed or eliminated by the three major factions. Inside that space, life and society thrived." Then she shrugs, "Besides, it sounds like part of you is finding out first hand what my home is like. As it sounds like I should have survived my trip through the void."

From the dresser, Buffy's voice says, "Oh, very clever you worked it out." The two of the look over to see Buffy, wearing her operator suit, jump off the chair and disappear in a white wisp of mist.

Buffy glances up at the clock, "Come on, it's five in the morning, and you need some actual sleep."
Tara looks at Buffy, "Are we just going to ignore that? And what about you? You need to sleep too."
Buffy chuckles, "Yes, we're going to ignore Wally, as there's nothing we can do about him. And I will meditate, I do have lots of practice after all. I also have my own bed, if you've forgotten."

Tara falls asleep dreaming of fantastical machines, facemasks that offer a glimpse of paradise, and a floating robot that hovers protectively around an almost invisible figure.

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The next morning, Buffy wakes up lying on her side at the top of the stairs. The cause of her consciousness ringing away merrily in her bedroom. As she stares blearily at the stairs, Buffy tries to remember when she fell asleep. Staggering to her feet, she stumbles into her bedroom and stops the bells.

She's still staring at the clock and its incessant demand that it is after 8:30 when the sound of Willow throwing the front door open to sing "Oh what a beautiful Morning" to the world, joined by all their neighbours, reaches her ears. Putting the clock back down, Buffy walks over to Dawn's room to check on her. Seeing that she's still asleep, she listens at the door to Willow and Tara's room, and nods at the sound of deep, even, breaths.

While she's brushing her teeth, Willow makes her way upstairs, having finished her song. As she's waiting for the bathroom, Willow stands nervously in the doorway.
"Buffy, I'm sorry..."
Buffy turns to her and holds up her hand. A few seconds later she spits out the toothpaste and rinses off the brush, "Willow, don't. I'm not the one you need to apologise to. And it doesn't change my decision."
"But my parents hate the fact I'm Wiccan, that's why we roomed together last year, remember?"
Buffy shakes her head, "Actually, no. I remember we roomed together after something to do with a demon. But I don't remember why you were staying there. Or why I was staying there considering how close the house is."
"But, what am I going to do?"
Buffy sighs, "Maybe you should have thought of that before doing what you did to Tara. Someone, I note, who you claim to love."
"Buffy! I do love her."
Buffy walks out of the bathroom, and then turns around, "Willow, why do people say you shouldn't use too much magic? No, not what do you think, what do others think?"
"They say that it pulls you in, but they're wrong."
Buffy nods, "Fair enough. Just as a thought, there's a flyer in the library for something called a 12 step program. I think someone said it was addicts anonymous or something like that. Anyway, you should probably attend a few meetings, just so you know what to look for if it does start becoming a problem."
"Buffy, I'm not addicted."
"I didn't say you were."
Buffy goes and changes her clothes before heading downstairs to cook one of the few foods she's got a handle on making, chocolate pancakes with strawberries and cream. One of Dawn's favourite breakfasts. At the same time she puts on a pot of coffee for everyone.

She's still mixing the batter when Dawn makes her way downstairs, rubbing her eyes, followed by Tara.
Dawn yawns, "Buffy, what did you say to Willow? As she's crying in the bathroom."
"Hmm, she tried to apologise to me, and I told her to apologise to Tara. Also it wouldn't change my decision. Um, I also suggested that she sit in on an addicts meeting so that she learn the signs, just in case her magic use becomes a problem."

Tara looks back at the door to the stairs wistfully, "I still love her, even with that. But I can't be with someone that would do that."
Dawn looks between the two of them, "Um, what did Willow do?"
Buffy tips her head to one side, "Tara, you're the victim, it's your choice. Void damn it, that's the second time this week." Buffy carefully puts the bowl on the counter, and starts fishing out the bits of metal that make up the whisk she was using.
For a minute, the only sounds in the kitchen are the drips from Buffy cleaning off the batter into the bowl. Then Tara grabs a chair and sits down heavily, "Willow made me forget some stuff with magic."
Dawn scrunches her eyebrows together, "That doesn't sound too bad. There's some things I'd rather forget, like Justin, or walking in on Xander and Anya in the basement."
Buffy puts a skillet on to heat before grabbing the strawberries and sits at the kitchen table, "Dawn, what about the memories of meeting me on the tower? Or how about our morning sessions? Or going to get ice cream together?"
"I'd tell her to give them back."
"How would you know they were missing? How do you know she hasn't done it too you already? Would you still be you if you'd lived 30 years without them, and then they were returned?"
"I don't know, I'd ask her I guess."
Tara reaches out to hold Dawns hand, "Dawn, how would you know if she was telling the truth?"
Dawn says, "I ah," and then stops.
Buffy finishes slicing the strawberries, and starts to ladle batter onto the skillet, "It's the paradox of proof. Albrecht Entrati proved that even this paradox has a solution, though in an unrelated science to that of the brain. We used to have a punishment, whereby we would erase the memory of the guilty and give them new memories, thus making them a productive member of society. A several thousand years before I was born, a judge wondered how he could prove that it hadn't been done to him. It took 500 years and many failed experiments for a resolution to the paradox to be found, though not a solution. They developed a new implant that would record an engram of every memory, and prevent them from being erased by replaying them immediately after it detected their removal."

Buffy puts a plate of pancakes down in front of Dawn before turning back to the skillet. Dawn and Tara sit in silence while first Dawn, and then Tara, eat. When Buffy finally sits down with her own pancakes, Dawn asks, "How did Albre… that scientist solve the paradox?"
Buffy chews thoughtfully, "Albrecht was the scientist that first posited, and then proved that the void exists. A proof that was stolen from him, as his peers stole his work and refused to credit him until well after his death. Shortly before his death he wrote out a proof that the untime and unreality nature of the void could be used to follow your personal time back to the point that you were born. It took another, less scrupulous scientist to put the proof into practice. He was successful, even though his subject died before they reached their childhood."
Horrified, Dawn looks at Buffy, "How could they do that to a person?"
Buffy shrugs, "They were a criminal, so they were going to be put to death anyway."

Tara looks at Buffy in shock and surprise, as she starts to really understand that Buffy comes from a completely alien culture, "Buffy, are you even Buffy, or did we pull back an alien."
Buffy nods, as she eats, "I was waiting for someone to ask that. So far as I know, I am the same Buffy you knew before. I even got her memories back the night you pulled me here. Though, it felt like they were just been shoved in there, and they've mostly faded since then." She points her fork at Tara, "Your deal with Wally confirmed it for me. As I bet he'd have taken me back if I didn't belong here. Buffy Summers diary has helped lots, as it brings back flashes of her life when I read it." She sighs, "But just like I'm not really my mother's daughter, Veldé rather than Joyce, because of the centuries of memories, and the personality I developed, between having my memories stolen, and getting them back. It's why I treasure them so much, as they're a glimpse of what could have been."
Insightfully, Tara softly asks, "How are you coping without your implants to manage the memories you've made since your resurrection?"
Buffy looks away, "I think you should kick Willow out of the bathroom so that you can both get ready for a scintillating day of research."

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As they're walking to Magic Box the four of them pass a news stand, and Buffy stops for a moment to read a headline.

Man found dead in West Road cemetery, signs of ritualistic killing.​

"Hmm, I forgot to go patrolling last night, what with all the research we were doing."
Dawn and Tara share a glance as Willow nearly shouts, "What? Someone died in the graveyard, and your response is 'I forgot'?" at Buffy.
Buffy shrugs, "Pretty much, yeah."
"What about your Slayer duty?"
"Willow, despite everything, I am just one person. I can't be everywhere. So sometimes people die, and the world moves on."
As Buffy walks away, Willow moans, "When did you become so callous?"
Rather than respond, Buffy just continues the dozen yards to Magic Box. Once inside Buffy makes her way over to the table, where Giles has already started reading, and then looks around curiously, "Um, where are the pallet tables?"
Anya looks up from the till as she's taking out change for a customer, "Oh, I moved them into the back room as they were disrupting the look of the shop, and I didn't want them driving away customers."

Buffy nods before making her way into the back room, once there she takes one look at the books before turning around, "Anya, what happened to all the nice, neat, piles we had?"
Anya shrugs, "I was in a hurry, as I overslept."
Buffy sighs, "Tell me you at least saved my list."
Anya nods, "Yep, I slipped it in one of the books so it wouldn't get lost."
Buffy rubs her temples and Giles gives her a sympathetic look. Returning the look, Buffy asks, "Giles, would you be able to help me resort the piles so the girls can start researching while we finish sorting out everything again?"

Sorting out all the books, and finding Buffy's list takes until lunchtime.

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While they're sorting books, Giles glances at Buffy, "Buffy, I've seen how you've grown over the last few months."
Buffy shakes her head, "I haven't really, I've just learnt more about this world, and this life."
"Regardless, I've seen you fight. I've watched you teaching Dawn, and last night I watched you take the moral route rather than the emotional route."
Buffy looks up, "This is about you returning to England isn't it."
Giles nods gravely, "It is. Buffy, you have outgrown me, and so I need to give you space to truly spread your wings."
Buffy frowns, "I don't have wings, and I never used any of those cosmetic items, as they cause problems with peripheral vision. Though some of my fellow Tenno did use them."
Giles sighs, "It's an expression Buffy. It's supposed to bring to mind birds flying free. Anyway, I feel the only way to do that, is to return to England."
"Giles, it's not just about me. You're Dawn's godfather."
"It's just, Olivia was only here about a job in… I am? I did not know that."
Buffy nods in understanding, "Look, Giles, if this is really about your relationship with Olivia, then go to England and see where it takes you. And don't behave as though you're James Bond, who's lovers are doomed to die."
"Buffy, how is it you remember James Bond, but you don't remember things that actually happened?"
Buffy smirks, "Buffy Summers used to fantasise that you used to be James Bond, and your replacement would come and sweep her off her feet one day."
"I don't believe I wanted to know that. Anyway…"
"Look Giles, don't pretend we don't need you. We do still need you, as you are the most knowledgeable person I know in the occult. It doesn't matter that I've got an education from a civilisation literally millennia ahead of this one. It doesn't matter that Tara and Willow are magically better than you. It also doesn't matter that Anya used to be a demon. You have years of practical and-and learnt experiences that we cannot match. Could any of the rest of us have sorted these books like this? Make whatever decision you want to make. But don't lie to yourself while you're doing it. Could we do without you? Probably. Would it get people killed? Also probably. Yes, at some point, you should step back and allow us to move forward. Maybe that time is now, maybe it isn't. But we are your apprentices, do you really think we know enough to be journeymen."

Buffy goes back to checking the books Giles has already sorted, for her list, while occasionally one of the others comes in for a new book and deposits one in either the "definitely not" or "Probably not" piles.

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It's around 3pm when Xander shows up from work early.

Xander flops down onto one of the chairs, "Hey, everyone, did you find the demon that you called Anya in about last night?"
Dawn looks up from the page she's struggling through, "Does it look like we've found it?"
"Oh, hey Dawn, don't you have some homework or something you should be doing?"
"Buffy, my sister, asked me to help with research."
Buffy glances up from her own book, "I did. And that's a statement, not a question."
"Oh, what are we researching?"
Giles looks up, "The Lord of the Dance."
Xander shifts slightly uncomfortably, "Why?"

Willow looks up from her book, "Because it's making everyone sing and dance."
Xander's eyebrows arch, "Is that such a bad thing? I mean, yeah I sent everyone home early today, and told them not to come in tomorrow. But that's because the dancing was quite frankly disgusting and embarrassing." Dawn snorts with laughter, "What's so funny?"
Dawn snorts again, "Today's Saturday."
"Yeah, and?"
Dawn sniggers, "Tomorrow's Sunday. You told them not to come in on their day off."
Buffy chuckles a little more discreetly. Xander isn't quite so impressed, "So, we have a little smarty pants here. Have you found anything useful?"
Dawn looks at Xander, "Pied piper of Hamlyn. Most versions agree that the village hired him for a task. Though what happened when the villagers renegaded changes, in most versions he returns and leads the children away, never to be seen again. In some, he plays and makes the village dance and dance until they die."
Giles looks up in surprise, "Where did you find that, and why didn't you mention it?"
Dawn points at the shelves where they keep the books for sale, "A book on fairy tales over there while Buffy was dead. And I didn't mention it because I don't think it's related to a Lord of the Dance."

Buffy gets up and quietly adds Pied piper of Hamlyn to the whiteboard.

Giles takes off his glasses and pinches his nose while he things, "Dawn is quite right, it is a good cautionary tale, but unless we find the original German version referenced in one of these books, we won't know if it's related or not."
Buffy hums, "Giles, would it be an idea for someone to make a list of the fairy tales that include dancing. That way if someone comes across one, they can take a closer look."
"Well, it certainly couldn't hurt."
Buffy smiles sweetly at Xander, "Xander, that's your job. And don't break the spines, otherwise Anya will make you pay for them."
Xander looks at Anya, who's looked up from her book keeping at the mention of her name, "Buffy, that's not fair."
"Xander, it needs to be done, and everyone else already has their own tasks."
Xander pouts, "When did you become the research queen, I thought that was supposed to be Willow."
"When I died, now get over there unless you want me to punt you."

Xander sulks as he goes to collect a book on fairy tales, then sulks even harder when he realises that it's not illustrated.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 6 – part 3


By mid-afternoon, Dawn is starting to fidget and look around the shop more than the book she's been reading. Everyone around her seems to be so busy, and she knows this is important, she really does, but…

Buffy looks up from the book she's currently double checking when she hears someone fidgeting around. When she spots Dawn looking around, her gaze lingering on different points around the store, Buffy slips a piece of paper into the book as a marker. Standing up, she makes her way around to Dawn.
"Dawn, are you ok?"
Dawn looks back at her book, "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."
Buffy hums sceptically, "Come on Dawn, we're going to the park for our morning session."
Dawn looks up, "But, Buffy, this is important."
Buffy nods, "It is, and so is your health. You're not used to the long hours of physical inactivity combined with maintaining mental focus. That's ok, neither is Xander, which is why he keeps getting up to flirt with Anya."
At the table, Xander objects, "Hey, I'm doing super serious research here." Holding up a book of illustrated fairy tales.
Buffy nods, "Yes you are. That's why you've put down the book on fairy tales and their variations, face down, and cracking the spine in the process. And picked up an illustrated guide to fairy tales instead."
"Oi! I needed to give my brain a rest."
Anya walks around from the counter and looks at the face down book, "Xander, fiancé or not, you are paying for that. I can't believe you treated my stock so badly."
"But, Anya, honey, I needed to keep my place."

As Xander and Anya get into a good natured argument about the book, Buffy just leans down to Dawns ear and softly says, "See." Standing up, she speaks loudly enough to be heard, "I'm just taking Dawn to the park to burn off some energy. Does anyone want to come?"

There's no answer for a moment as everyone else looks around the room. Tara, however, looks at Willow. Who at some point during the day, sat next to her. Just as Buffy and Dawn are leaving the store, she makes a painful decision, and marks her place in the book. She then hurries after Buffy and Dawn.

Nearly an hour later, Willow cheers, "I've found something. There's a story about a Demon teaching Nero to dance, and giving him an instrument.
Giles looks up, "Oh, very good. Does it give the name of the demon, or how it was summoned?"
Willow shakes her head, "No, it references another 'fanciful tale' that claims half of Nero's court danced themselves to death."
"Well, let Buffy know, she's been managing everything… Where is Buffy?"
Anya calls over from the counter, "Oh, she took Dawn to the park, and Tara went with them."
Willow looks absolutely devastated by the news, "I can't believe it. She can't be the same Buffy we knew before."
Giles looks up at her, "Willow, you can't expect her to be the same Buffy you knew. She spent a long time on the other side, and she experienced many things. Many of them bad. People grow and change, and Buffy has too."
"But it's not fair, I just made things better, and she's making it like this big thing."
Giles sighs, "Willow, you need to be careful about thoughts like that. As they are often the start of something bad. Why don't you ask yourself, 'Better for who', and that may help you discover why Buffy is having such a strong reaction."

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Dawn, Buffy, and Tara, are all walking through the park, looking for somewhere that isn't too crowded, and doesn't have 'keep off the grass' signs. Off to one side is the glittering of a lake, with people enjoying the sunshine, or doing their yoga by the water. Nearby is a group of children playing with a mix of traditional and electronic toys.

Finding a space between a few trees, Buffy and Dawn put their bags down before kneeling down facing each other. Tara looks around for a moment before hesitantly asking, "Um. Do you mind if; Would it be ok if I; I-I can go away if you'd prefer."
Buffy looks up at her, "Tara, you can join us if you want. We always meditate before we start our practice."
"Is it ok if I sit, only I don't think I could kneel like that for very long."
Buffy nods, "Go ahead. I'm teaching Dawn the Tenno way, the way of a protector. You don't feel like someone that could live that sort of life without losing who you are."
As Tara settles down into the familiar cross-legged position, she asks, "What about Dawn?"
Buffy looks wistfully at Dawn, "Some people don't get a choice about whether they live a life of peace or not. That has been my destiny twice. Dawn has already been targeted both because of who she is, and also because of who I am. So I'm teaching her to kill in the hope she will never need it. Founders know, I hope that she will live to grow old and innocent, but I can live with just old. She's already had some of that innocence knocked off during Halloween."
Dawn nods without opening her eyes, "That was bad, I couldn't sleep that night, and I had nightmares the night before last."
Tara shakes her head, "I'm sorry I didn't notice."
Dawn shrugs, "It's ok, Buffy let me sleep with her on Halloween, and we talk about stuff as sisters during this time, and Buffy leaves mom mode in the house."

A few minutes after the three of them have started meditating, the children they passed earlier come running past carrying planes. The first child is making 'Ewwww, foosh, dakka dakka' noises, but the second child's plane has a speaker in it. When they press the button on the side of their plane, the tinny sound of a turbine spinning up, followed by machine gun like sounds, plays out of the tiny speaker.
Buffy's eyes snap open and she dives into a roll, pulling Dawn with her. Coming up into a crouch, she starts to scan the skies with her left hand pointed at the horizon.

As she's crouching there, she starts to sing about always needing to be vigilant, as an attack can come from anywhere, and how the life of a Tenno is a solitary one. Meanwhile Tara provides a heart rending counterpart about everyone needing a place to rest without fear, and how she feels violated. Dawn does an admirable job of providing main backing vocals, and leading the dancers.

At the conclusion of the song, Buffy is surprised when Tara hesitantly pulls her into a hug. Even more so when Dawn joins in.

Tara looks up at Buffy, "Buffy, when was the last time you let your guard down completely?" When Buffy looks around, she adds, "Please don't dodge the question this time."
"On the orbiter while waiting for word on the Lotus' location."
Dawn translates, "She hasn't, not since she got here."

Tara shakes her head, "Buffy, you need to relax, to find somewhere or something where you feel safe and don't need to be on guard. You said you don't have your implants. That means that you're human, not what you were before. As a witch we teach that care for others first comes from care of the self. I-I know I have value my-myself, even if I-I am a demon."
Dawn nods, though a little confused, "Exactly, I think you would like the Vazarin Way as it's all about defence, and Buffy can make people heal really well."
Seeing an out, Buffy reaches up to ruffle Dawn's hair, "That's a fighting style, it's for people who are willing to kill in defence of others. By the way Tara just flinched at the word kill, I don't think she'd be able to focus on it. On the other hand Tara, you have a lot of experience with magic. Maybe you could use that experience to use void energy for things other than killing."
Tara confidently continues, "Buffy, I also know a lot about healing from trauma. How much do you remember about my past?"
Buffy shakes her head sadly, "Not a lot, Buffy Summers saw you more as Willow's friend, by the time that changed, anything to do with your past was already resolved in her mind."
Dawn disengages, and starts to go through the motions of the Vazarin Way, while Tara steps back to give Buffy a bit of space, "You do that a lot, don't you. Refer to Buffy Summers rather than yourself."
Buffy shakes her head, "Only for things that happened before my current life. I know we share the same Oro, otherwise I wouldn't be here. But I'm no more her than you are your six year old self. I choose to take the name Buffy, as it's the one Veldé gave me, the one that was stolen from me when I became a Tenno. But Buffy Summers, she was a life I lived, and died in. She was supposed to be a closed chapter of my life. Yet, to continue the metaphor, here I am, back in the same book again. Yet, it is a different author telling the story this time."
"You should join Dawn. But before you do, will you let me try to help you heal inside, and find a place you can relax?"
Buffy nods reluctantly, "I can't make any promises, but I'll try. You should also try to learn how to use void energy before it becomes a problem you can't avoid anymore." Buffy looks at her hands sadly, "A lot of what the Orokin did to us was in the name of controlling our powers. We were even seeing some results before they stole our memories. After that, the only thing that worked was transference, even after I got my memories back, I don't have complete control, and the void sometimes lashes out from me while I sleep."
Tara nods, "I will, when I can."

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When the three of them arrive with a stack of Pizza, to refrain of "They got the mustard out". Buffy takes note that Willow and Giles are still researching, even though Xander is kanoodling with Anya behind the counter.

Buffy strides over to them, "Willow, Giles, time to take a break. By take a break, I mean go outside and get some fresh air, maybe buy yourself a coffee, and relax."
Willow looks up from the book she's researching, "Buffy, we found something."
Buffy nods, "Well done, did you add it to the white board, and put the book to one side?"
Willow looks at the book in the centre of the table, "Um, isn't that your job?"
Buffy sighs, "I'll deal with it while you're both out on your break, and don't come back for at least an hour. Before you go Giles, what section of the books is for Roman history?"

Giles looks up, "Mmm, the books aren't organised like that. You should probably look at anything with a Latin or Greek title and check inside them."
Buffy nods, "Apart from you, who would be best at evaluating them quickly. Unless you can think of any particular books that stand out, of course."
Giles shakes his head, "There is very little that survives from that era, so anything you do find will be transcribed works, likely by Monks in the 7th​ to 10th​ centuries. Any original documents would be kept by the Watchers Council in England."
Buffy sighs, "And there's a point for moving back to England. Willow, sometime in the next few days, I want you to teach our technophobic mentor how to download and use ICQ."
Willow squeaks, "You know what ICQ is?"
"Well, yes. I even have an ICQ number. Well, off you both go, I'll mark your pages while you're gone. Tara, can you start looking for relevant books up there? I'll put these Pizzas on the weapons chest, and then set up a new pallet table."

It takes a bit more chivvying, but Willow and Giles eventually leave the shop. Once they have, Xander looks at Buffy, "Scary lady, can I talk now?" Buffy just gives him a look, so he quickly continues, "Why didn't you tell me to have a break?"
Buffy's shoulders sag and her head tilts to one side, "Really? Xander, you're already having a break. You didn't need me to tell you to do so."

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While Buffy's dealing with the pizzas, Tara notices Dawn looking longingly at a pendant necklace that's on the counter.
"Dawn, what are you looking at?"
Dawn jumps, "Nothing."
Tara smiles, "Was it that necklace?"
Dawn turns and stares at Tara, "How did you know, apart from Buffy, nobody's ever noticed before."
Tara smile turns sad, "I guess that when there's something more interesting to look at, I don't pay as much attention as I should."
Dawn turns back to it, "Well, I wasn't going to take it or anything, as I don't want to disappoint Buffy."
Tara pats her on the shoulder, "That's very mature of you. Why don't you show it to Anya and ask her about it. Maybe you can work it off an hour a day after school."
Dawn stands stock still for a moment, before turning back, "What? I can…" She trails off when she notices that Tara is already climbing the stairs to the library.

Shortly after the store closes, Dawn hesitantly grabs the necklace and returns to the table.
"Anya, erm, I spotted this on the counter last night. And it was, erm, still there today. Do you think I could have it? I'm-willing-to-pay."
Xander shuffles uncomfortably in his seat, and looks back down at his book.
Anya takes the necklace, "Hmm, I think this is one of our mystical items. Giles, do you recognise this?"
Giles looks up from his book, "Huh? Oh, yes. It was part of the stock when I bought the shop. It had some information with it, but I never put it on sale as it was something to do with demon summoning. I never did get around to doing more research on it."
Buffy looks at it in interest, "Would it be dangerous to Dawn as it stands?"
"I shouldn't think so, not without the incantation or instructions. It should be immediately obvious if wearing it will cause problems."
Buffy nods, "Give it here."
"Buffy, you shouldn't. It could kill you."
Buffy gently takes it from Giles, "Giles, I'm the slayer, it's my job to take those sorts of risks."

Buffy puts the necklace on, and then sits there for a while. When nothing happens, she turns back to Anya, "How much do you think this would cost?"
Anya looks at it critically, "If it wasn't mystical, then it would be around $80 retail. However, as it's a mystical item, add another… uniqueness… I'd be putting a $500 price tag on it, but I'll let you have it for half the markup, $400."
Buffy nods, "If Dawn still wants it, will you accept a $20 deposit, and you can work out with Dawn how she can pay for it?"
Anya looks around the store, thoughtfully, "Three weeks, Friday after school, and Saturday all day."
Dawn looks surprised when everyone looks at her, so Buffy says, "Dawnie, this is where you accept, make another offer, or decline. You're being treated like an adult here."
"Um, could I just do it after school for a week?"
Anya pounces, "Two Saturdays and everyday of that week after school."
Dawn tries to think about it in her head, but gives up, "Um, sure."
Buffy shakes her head, and decides to take pity on Dawn, "Anya, be fair, she's never done this before. How about two half Saturdays, the first afternoon, and the last in the morning."
Anya pouts, "But I was going to get an extra half days work out of it."
"And now Dawn knows, and won't feel cheated when she works it out later."
"Ok, fine."
Xander pipes up, "Um, don't you think it's a little irresponsible letting Dawn have an unknown mystical item?"
Five pairs of female eyes look at him, and he buries his head back in the book.

Buffy takes the necklace off, and hands it back to Anya with $20, "Do you think you could find the original packaging?"
Anya shakes her head, "I don't know, maybe. I've got bins of necklaces down there, and they come in all sorts of packages. I can have a look while I'm getting a presentation box. But it could take me a few days to find."

Xander's eyes dart around, and he grimaces silently.

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Sunday goes much like Saturday as the gang meet up at Magic Box for another day of looking for information on the Lord of the Dance. That is until lunchtime.

Dawn marks and closes her book, as her leg starts bouncing up and down for the third time. Standing up, she grabs her coat, and what's left of the $10 that Buffy gave her as pocket money.

As Buffy looks up, Dawn catches her eye and lifts up her phone, "I'm feeling a little fidgety, and, well, yesterday you took me to the park. But, um, the news was saying that some people have burned to death overnight. So, I was just going to grab a muffing from Expresso Pump, and go to the arcade for a bit."
Buffy nods, "If you're not back in an hour I'll give you a call."
Xander looks up, "Don't you think someone should go with her?"
Buffy looks Xander in the eye, "Xander, you're an adult. If you want to go to the arcade you can go. You don't need to suggest that Dawn can't look after herself on the other side of the court."
Xander shakes his head, "No, no, researching is important. See, doing important research here."
Buffy looks at him suspiciously, before turning back to her research.

An hour later, Buffy looks up again, "Anya, could I use your phone?" Anya waves her hand, so Buffy calls Dawn's mobile, twice. Each time it rings 5 times before going to voicemail.
"Guys, Dawn's not answering, I'm just heading to the arcade."
When she gets virtually no answer, even from Xander, Buffy frowns, and claps, loudly.
Everyone jumps, "Good, I've got your attention. I know it's been a long two days, but you can't let yourselves get so focused you don't notice the stuff around you. Now, Dawn didn't answer her phone, so I'm heading to the arcade to look for her. If she calls, let her know that I'm going there, and to stay put."

Muttering imprecations, she stalks out of the store and looks around the court. Seeing that the coffee shop has closed already, she makes her way over to the arcade. It takes her half an hour, but someone finally mentions that they saw three people with weird heads taking someone down an alleyway. Seething with anger, she stalks her way back to Magic Box with sparks of void energy jumping from her hair, and her eyes glowing like stars.

Pushing the door open a little harder than she intended, it bounces off the wall with a loud clatter.
Giles looks up, "Buffy, is everything…"
Buffy grinds out, "We're out of time. Dawn's been kidnapped. I'm going to track down some demons to see if they know where the demon is lairing, I need you guys to turn up something, anything."

Before anyone can say anything else, Buffy's stalked into the weapons room, and doesn't come out again. Tara looks around before quickly grabbing her bag and hurrying into the room, "Buffy!"
Buffy turns around from the back wall, a bow with arrows slung over her back, and a large sword in a harness facing the other way.
"Take my phone."
Buffy's eyes dim slightly, "I didn't know you had a cell phone."
Tara looks at the floor, "Until last week, I was the only one. So, I didn't want to show it off. I bought it when I started at UC."
"Thank you."
Buffy tucks the phone into a pocket, and void jumps through the wall.

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Dawn suddenly wakes up on a snooker table, and is immediately caught by the demons magic as ballet music starts playing in the background. Helplessly, Dawn goes through a choreographed routine where she pretends to try to escape, before been thrown at the feet of pair of red pants, and black and white shoes. As she looks up, as if it's another part of the act, the red skinned demon starts to dance. [An: 'Dawn's Ballet' followed by 'What you feel' from Season 6: Episode 7]

As she utters the words, "My sister's the slayer." Dawn feels the magic holding her break for a moment. Desperately, she reaches for her dagger, only to panic when she finds it isn't there. Desperately, she lunges for the demon using one of the moves Buffy's been teaching her, freezing in mid step as he contemptuously flicks his finger in her direction.
"Oh, a feisty one. They are always so much fun. You will make an excellent bride."
Dawn shakes her head minutely, "B…But I didn't summon you."
The demon looks at the ones that kidnapped her, "Find the Slayer, tell her. Tell her everything, and get her here. I want to see her burn."

As the three underlings leave, the demon turns back to Dawn, "Now, don't be shy. You're wearing my talisman, of course you summoned me."
Dawn shakes her head again, "No, Buffy wore it before me. Besides, you were already here when I saw it."
"How interesting. Well, either way, I will have my bride, as that's what I was promised."

Dawn despairs as her body walks to a chair on the stage and sits down gracefully. The demon sitting in another chair next to her.

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It's full dark and the scooby gang are frantically looking through the books, trying to find something to help. This buzz of activity is violently interrupted when Spike kicks the front door open.

Spike struggles through the front door, dragging what appears to be a human man with a big, red, wooden looking head. Once the five of them have got up to see what's going on, Spike grabs it by the back of the neck, "Lookie what I found crawling around outside. Go on, tell them what you told me."

With dawning horror everyone in the shop listens as it lists everything that's happened since it's master, Sweet, was summoned, before finally telling them that he has Dawn at the Bronze. As soon as she hears that, Tara freezes for a second, before she runs to the phone and hurriedly dials her own cell phone number.

Her heart breaks at Buffy's tone when she answers the phone, "Buffy, she's at the Bronze." Is all she's able to get out as the others start to sing, and she gets caught up in the song. [AN: Walk through the fire, without Buffy].

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As she hears those fatal words, Buffy snaps Tara's phone closed and void jumps out of Willy's. Leaving a very confused demon and the few clients that hadn't run as soon as Buffy walked through the door.

Buffy runs as fast as she can towards the Bronze, void jumping whenever her reserves have refilled enough to allow her to do so. The world around her seems to pass in a blur, as her determination to see Dawn safe pushes her onward. Reaching the door to the Bronze, she doesn't even slow down as it explodes inwards in a shower of shards and splinters. As soon as the demon comes into view, standing on the stage and singing, she raises her left hand and fires a void beam through it's head.

Abruptly the beam stops, and Buffy struts forward to the dance floor. As she does, the demons head seems to pull itself together, from the air around it, "I love a good entrance. However it is traditional to allow the previous act to finish first."
Buffy strains against the magic, and grinds out, "How are you with death scenes, as you made a big mistake when you kidnapped my sister."
The demon just chuckles, so Buffy asks, "You got a name?"
Sitting down in the chair beside Dawn, he smiles, "I've got 100."
"Well, I can't just keep calling you demon."
Dawn leans forward as much as she's allowed, "Buffy, he thinks he's going to marry one of us."
Buffy shakes her head, "Don't worry Dawn, that's not going to happen."
The demon leans forward, "And what exactly are you going to do about it, hmm?"
"Kill you if necessary. I only have three rules for living in this town, don't kill, eat, or hurt civilians, and you've already broken two of those rules."
The demon leans backwards, "Well, lets see how well you dance, shall we?"

The barely audible background music that was suggesting the pause before a performance begins flares to life with the sound of alien instruments, and Buffy's voice soars into the air as she sings in her native Orokin about life, loss, despair, and grim acceptance, along with a duty so deep it could outlast the stars themselves. Then she sings about being pulled away and discovering her sister. During her dance, Buffy shucks off her coat, and her weapons, to reveal a shimmery red top.

Throughout her song and dance, the demon looks confused, but impressed. He grows even more impressed once she passes the 5 minute mark. However, Buffy eventually runs out of things to sing about, and the final parts of the demons magic take effect as she begins to dance uncontrollably.

Giles is the first one through the door to the bronze, and he skids to a halt as Buffy turns towards him, flames already licking up her arms and legs. As the others pile in, Buffy smiles one last time before her body crumbles to less than ash.

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In the graveyard she was buried in, Buffy appears in the air as she void jumps out of her coffin. Landing on the ground, she runs for the Bronze.

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Back in the Bronze, the demon chuckles, "Now that was a show-stopping number. The fireworks at the end were fantastic."

Willows face travels from the pile of ash to the demon, and hardens, "Get out of here."
The demon looks up at her in interest, "Hmm, I spell power. I guess the little missus and I should be on our way."
Giles takes a firm stance, "Sweet, that's never going to happen."
Sweet chuckles, "I don't make the rules. She summoned me."
Dawn leans forward, "I so did not, I keep telling you that."
Sweet leans over Dawn, "You have my talisman on, sweet thing."
Dawn shakes her head, "I told you, I bought it last night, and you were already here then."
Sweet feathers his chin with his fingers, "Well now, that's a twis…" Whatever he was going to say is cut off as Buffy appears in front of him just long enough to grab his lapels and disappear with him.

With a sense of horror, Giles starts to turn around, "If that's his talisman, then one of us probably…"
As Giles looks around the assembled people, Xander slowly puts his hand up.
Anya exclaims, "Xander!"
Xander shakes his head, "Well, I didn't know what was gonna happen, I just thought there gonna be dances and songs. I just wanted to make sure we'd-we'd work out. Get a happy ending, ya know."

On the stage, Buffy reappears staring daggers at Xander. Absently she looks back at Sweet, who looks like he's taken a beating, "Sorry about that, looks like you're off the hook."
Sweet tugs his lapel with his remaining arm, "Yes, well, I think everything worked out just fine."
Xander raises a finger, "Does this mean that I have to…"
Buffy firmly says, "No Xander, it doesn't." As Sweet tries to disappear, Buffy holds a finger up and points at him, "You, don't go anyway unless you want to experience unreality and untime again."

Buffy stalks down the stairs towards Xander, "Xander, you are the worst sort of monster there is."
Giles steps in front of Xander, "Now Buffy, it was an honest mistake."
Buffy gently, but firmly pushes Giles out the way, "Originally, yes. A mistake that could have easily been forgiven. Xander became a murderer when he didn't own up to what he'd done yesterday. We told you what we were researching and why."
Xander backs up, until his back hits the wall, "But, Buffy, it wasn't hurting anyone."
"Xander, you are not that stupid. We don't research harmless demons, as they're all civilians. They some of the people we're here to protect. But that isn't the end of it, last night, Dawn showed Anya that necklace, and asked her about it. She then asked Giles, and I wore it for an hour." She pokes him in the chest, "At any point you could have fessed up, and you'd only have one or two deaths on your conscience. But no. You have to stay silent, and kidnap Dawn."
Willow calls out, "But that wasn't Xander."
Buffy briefly looks back towards the stage as a fully healed Sweet is starting to move, "I haven't forgotten about you. Don't go anywhere, we are coming back to you in a moment." Turning to Willow, Buffy looks disappointed, "Willow, you never blame the weapon, you always blame the person who fired it. Sweet was summoned, and followed his nature according to the agreement made in the summoning. That's right isn't it?"
Sweet nods as he finishes healing, now sure he could escape, "Singing and dancing in return for a bride."
"Willow, Xander had every opportunity to help, but it was only here that he owned up to it. When it was far, far too late to do anything."
Buffy's hand lashes out too fast to see, and she gathers Xander's coat in her fist before pulling him off balance. Then she drags him up onto the stage with Sweet.
"Sweet wasn't it? Your agreement included a bride. I would imagine that jello for brains here was thinking about his fiancé Anya when he summoned you. In light of his long friendship with Buffy Summers, and the fact that Anya used to be a Vengeance Demon, I think you should take him and turn him into a demon."
Giles calls up from the floor, "Buffy, you can't. He's a human, you're supposed to protect humans. What you're proposing is evil, utterly evil."
Buffy turns back to Giles sadly, "Giles, if you really think that, then you are far too innocent and bigoted. This is not evil, this is justice. Or do you believe that Anya is evil?"
"No, of course not, she's mortal."
Buffy shakes her head, "Giles, Anya is still evil. Look at her motivations. But it's a small evil, and it doesn't really hurt other people as she's still a nice person. Alad V is Evil, he takes the people who work for him, or those who owe him debts, or even just those who happen to cross his path, and use uses them in his experiments. Fusing them with machines, animals, the infestation, or even sentients. The Grineer Queens are Evil, they control an entire race of clones as slaves. I'm sure there are plenty of examples of humans on this world that are worse than most demons you'll ever meet. I have seen, and been used as a weapon in, atrocities that you couldn't possibly imagine. If I was holding Xander to the same standards I hold demons, he'd already be dead. Instead, he is being given Justice, and Anya is getting a partner who will live as long as she will. Assuming she still thinks he's worth marrying that is."

Buffy shoves Xander at Sweet, who takes the hint and disappears with him.

As Xander disappears, Willow steps forward, "Buffy, how could you."
Buffy looks down, "Willow, you need to look up the word hypocrite."

As the bodies of Sweet's minions start to disappear, Buffy spots Spike leaving through the back door as music starts to swell. Void jumping to the exit, she slips outside as everyone else starts to sing.

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Spike turns around when he hears the crunch of a boot on wood splinters, "Buffy, shouldn't you be inside having a Kumbaya-yah with your friends?"
Buffy shakes her head, "You know me better than that. I came out to thank you for coming with the others. I appreciate the support. I haven't rescinded your invitation for a reason you know."
"Yeah well, next time you need a monster, come find me."
Buffy turns around and starts to walk back in. Over her shoulder she calls, "Even monsters can be redeemed Spike, remember that. I should know, after all."

Spike turns away as Buffy's voice joins the others inside, "I don't need them, I've never needed any of them."

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 6 – aftermath/interlude


Buffy makes her way up the stairs to the reception for her shift start. As she opens the door Vhesthine smiles broadly at her, "Buffy, you survived."
Buffy nods, "I did. Though I think I went overboard at the end."
Vhesthine curiously asks, "Why? What did you do?"
The rest of the room goes quiet as they hear the question. Even Razial opens the door to his office.
Buffy looks down, "I held a friend of mine responsible for all of the deaths, and kidnapping of Dawn. So I sent him with Sweet to be converted into a Demon."
Vhesthine looks shocked, "Is Dawn alright?"
Buffy nods, "She's shaken up, and we need to get her a new dagger, as Sweet destroyed her old one. Destroyed her phone too, and it's less than a week old."

Razial walks out into the reception, "As everyone's here, I have an announcement to make. Simon Jones on the day side didn't make it. Neither did Mike. It is a tragic waste of the time and resources used to train him up. However, I have just received news that the guilty party is currently being punished. John, Ir'in, you need to pick up Mikes work until Vhesthine has adjusted expectations. Buffy, Mike was our primary blacksmith, so you're going to be doing more work with John and Ir'in until you can take on the simpler tasks unsupervised."

As Buffy stands there in shocked surprise, John and Andrew both approach her.
John claps a hand on her shoulder, "Buffy, I know you're not the Slayer in here. But I just wanted to say thank you. Mike was my mentor when I started here 5 years ago, I'm glad that the summoner is being punished."
Buffy shakes her head weakly, "I didn't say anything about summoning."
Andrew pats her on the shoulder, "Listen kid, you don't work here for long without learning a bit about the comings and goings of Demons. You wouldn't be holding someone responsible if they hadn't summoned the Demon. I can't say that I'm happy he's still alive. But you said he was a friend, so I'll take what I can get."

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Dawn shivers in her chair outside the Principle's office. She's been jittery all week, and she just punched out Charlie, from English, because he patted her on the back to get her attention. Her hand twitches down to the dagger at her back, only to come up empty yet again. One of the things the Watchers council seems to only supply limited amounts of being harnesses.

The sound of "Hey Dawn" brings a massive smile of relief to Dawn's face, and she looks up into Buffy's face as she sits down next to her.
Buffy places a comforting hand on Dawn's leg, "Are you alright Dawn?"
Dawn shakes her head, "I don't know. I've been jittery all week, and I keep reaching for my dagger, but it's not there. I punched Charlie out, in English, when he tapped me."
Buffy pulls Dawn into a comforting hug, "It will be ok, we'll sort something out."

It doesn't take long for the two of them to be called into the principle's office.
Stevens sighs as he looks at the Summers, "Miss Summers, I'm sorry to call you in like this. Regretfully I need to inform you that Dawn will be suspended for a week, for an unprovoked attack on another student. Were it 6 months ago, I'd leave it at that. However, Dawn's behaviour and grades have been improving steadily since you've been able to take an active role in her life. Please tell me if there's anything I can do to help."
Buffy sighs, "I'm sure you've heard of the deaths over the weekend."
Stevens sighs, "Who hasn't, I've got two dozen students absent for grief leave. And two students that have been confirmed victims."
Buffy nods, "I'm sorry I couldn't stop it sooner. Dawn was kidnapped, and would have been one of their victims if we hadn't got lucky. They destroyed the dagger I gave her, along with the belt harness we had for the sheath."
Stevens, "I've read about cases like that. It sounds like what happened earlier was a trauma response. While there's nothing the school can do about it officially. Unofficially, I can say that if you can get an animal recognised as an emotional support animal, and then registered at city hall. The school is obligated to allow Dawn to bring it with her. Still, it would be better if Dawn got counselling to help her deal with the trauma, but I appreciate that you are living off of an entry level income."
Dawn looks at Stevens like he's grown a new head, but doesn't say anything when Buffy squeezes her hand.
Buffy nods, "And the suspension?"
Stevens sighs, and flicks over multiple pages in Dawn's file, "Still stands, as the teacher reported it, and despite her recent improvements, she still has a lot of detentions and truancy on record."
Buffy nods, "Thank you for the consideration anyway."
As Buffy and Dawn stand up, Stevens says, "Dawn, I just want to say that you impressed me last week. I was expecting to have to expel you before the weekend for drawing your dagger on school grounds. However, not once did I see you use it as more than a touch stone. Oh, and Miss Summers, I asked around about your extra-curricular activities, and if even half of what I've heard is true, I'm glad you're here."

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Tara bumps into a miserable looking Willow in the university cafeteria.

Setting her tray down at the table, Tara slips in opposite Willow, "Hey Willow, are you alright?"
Willow looks up from her food and then brightens when she sees who it is, "Tara, when did you get here?"
Tara smiles gently, "Just now. Are you alright?"
Willow moves the peas around with her fork, "I'm ok. I'm on the waiting list for the university dorms, there should be one coming available in the next couple of weeks." She laughs darkly, "I suppose that's one good thing to come out of all the deaths last week. Hey, do you think Buffy will be ok looking after my stuff until I get a dorm again?"
Before Willow can continue, and put her foot in it, Tara nods, "I don't see why not, she hasn't said anything about it yet. Where are you living at the moment?"
"Mom and Dad's house. They've already been involving me in Shacharit and Arvit. And I've been staying here all day to avoid Mincha. I've had dinner with the Rabbi twice, and they've been trying to persuade me that Kabbalah is much more suitable for a good Jewish girl."
Tara shakes her head, "That sounds terrible. Don't they have any respect for your faith?"
Willow shakes her head, "They've always been like this, even when I was at school. Though they were never this devout, and they've never mentioned the Kabbalah before. How's things going on at home?"
"Ok, the place seems quieter."

Tara chats with Willow until she's finished eating, all the while fighting to not say anything about love or loneliness.

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On the last day of her suspension, Dawn trudges from Magic Box to Mikes Machining, having finished helping out to pay for her necklace. A necklace that's now an acrylic paperweight on her dresser, as Giles and Anya found the original packaging, and warning. As she walks up the stairs and pushes the door open, she's assaulted by the sounds of mewling from the shelves.

Vhesthine looks up as Dawn trudges past, "Dawn, what's wrong sweetie?"
Dawn looks at her in surprise, "Huh?"
Vhesthine shakes her head, "What, do you think I'd do just anyone's nails and hair. So, what's got you all down in the dumps?"
"I got suspended from school, and I've just finished working at Magic Box for a necklace that I can never wear."
"Why were you suspended hun?"
Dawn sighs as she grabs a chair from the office and starts to help Vhesthine with the last of the kittens.
"I punched a boy in English after he tapped me on the shoulder. I didn't even know I'd done it until he was on the floor out cold. The principle said something about it being a response to trauma. I, just, what am I going to do on Monday? What if it happens again?"
Vhesthine glances at the spell on her desk before patting Dawn on the hand, "Dawn, live today for today, and leave tomorrow for tomorrow. You are still a child by human standards, so you should take advantage of that misconception for as long as you can. In a few years, you won't be able to stop tomorrow from intruding on today, so watch Buffy to see how she deals with it. Then, when you're old, and powerful, enough, you can kill her and take her place at the head of your family. Or you could take over another family, that works too."
"Vhesthine! There's no way I'm ever going to kill Buffy."
Vhesthine hums, "That's why I said take over another family. Just don't fail, otherwise you'll end up like me."
Dawn looks at her in surprise, "Why, what happened to you?"
Vhesthine shrugs, "I tried to take over, and I failed. So I was banished from that dimension of hell. I live here because it's safer than living in hell. Also, food's easier to find too, as long as you don't eat too much."
Dawn looks shocked, "I thought you said you prefer eating less."
Vhesthine nods, "I do. But I didn't when I first came here. That was, what, 100 years ago?"

The two of them sit side by side for a short while, before Dawn asks, "Vhesthine, would you be able to teach me how to do my nails and makeup?"
Vhesthine laughs, "Sure, though you'll need to buy your own nail polish and makeup."
Dawn smiles, "I can do that."

For the rest of the evening, Vhesthine goes through the tools in her makeup bag and explains what each one is for. At the same time, she explains how much or little makeup should be used for different occasions.

Soon enough, the end of the shift comes, and Buffy walks through the door with the rest of the workers. Dawn watches as Vhesthine either hands over an envelope or a basket, like she did last month. However, she's unable to help herself from blurting "Buffy!" when her sister is handed a basket instead of an envelope.

Buffy smirks at Dawn's outraged expression as she sits on one of the sofa chairs, and briefly opens the basket to take out the envelope inside, "Dawn, the rest of this is for you."
Buffy stands up and walk over to the reception desk as Dawn curiously goes over to the basket. Leaning on the desk she watches as Dawn's expression changes from outraged, to shocked, to surprise, and then wonder. Surprising nobody that's seen her over the last few weeks, the first thing Dawn does is take the waist harness and dagger from the basket, and put it around her waist. When she pulls a kitten almost the size of a small house cat from the basket, and hugs it, Buffy smiles widely with tears forming in her eyes.
"Thank you Vhesthine."
Vhesthine shrugs, "It came out of your paycheque." She picks up the piece of paper, "This is the spell you wanted too."
Buffy smiles, and takes the spell. Opening her paycheque to put the spell inside, her eyes widen in surprise, "Vhesthine, you've paid me too much."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "Razial and Mike spoke together, and that's a bonus for a job well done."

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A still gobsmacked Buffy opens the front door to their house, and lets Dawn pass, before closing and locking it.

Dawn smiles as she sees Tara sitting at Buffy's desk, writing in a notebook, patches playing with the tassels on her dress. Hurrying over, to her Dawn holds out the new kitten, "Tara, look what Buffy got me."
Tara turns round with a smile that turns sparkling when she sees the kitten, "That's a nice cat, what breed are they?"
Buffy smiles, and puts the new cell phone down on the coffee table, "That's a kitten, and it's a Nayarit Ruffed Cat."
Tara shakes her head, "I've never heard of that breed."
Buffy shrugs, "I just asked to take part of my wages in a kitten that would be able to protect Dawn. I also got a spell that would bond it to her, so that it won't attack her or run away. Would you be able to help us with that?"
Tara looks uncertain, "I'd have to see the spell first and make sure it's not dangerous."
Buffy nods, and hands the spell to Tara.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 7 – part 1


It's been 27 days, 13 hours, and 43 minutes since Willow was kicked out of Buffy's house, and Tara left her. Since then, the two of them have been slowly repairing their relationship. Since then, Willow has been living with her parents. Willow takes a deep breath and pushes the key into the university dorm and turns it. As she crosses the threshold, a tension, that has been building since her parents first had her pray with them, vanishes with a massive exhalation of breath, and a sagging of her shoulders.

Smiling for what feels like the first time in 27 days, 13 hours, and 44 minutes, Willow turns around to face Anya and Tara, "And here we are, sweet freedom once more. Come on in and just put the stuff on one of the beds. Thank you both so much for helping me move my stuff."
Tara kisses Willow on the cheek as she walks past.

Once the three of them are sat down, with Willow and Tara sharing a bed, while Anya sits opposite them.
Anya reaches out with her hand, and then drops it, "How do you think Xander's getting on?"
Willow shakes her head, "He's probably suffering horribly as we speak."
Tara raises her hand, "I'm not sure that's true. Anya, you were a vengeance demon, what was it like for you?"
Anya looks up, "Pretty boring actually. I mean, yeah, I went out to find scorned women and find out what their wish was, but granting it was fairly automatic you know. After that, you head back to hell and fill out the paperwork, chat with the other demons about their jobs, and move onto the next job. Pretty much what I do now, except I don't have a boss anymore."
Tara waves her hand towards Anya, "See, it's not necessarily a bad thing. I mean living there, not as a victim."
Anya nods, "You're right, but mine isn't the only hell there is. And we all still technically had our souls. I just wonder what Buffy went through to make her so deliciously vicious."
Tara nods with a sigh, "She carries a lot of pain with her. Yet her heart is bigger than it has any right to be."
"Yeah, obviously, but what did she experience? What did she see touch, do?"
Tara thinks about the snatches of dreams that have woken her in a cold sweat over the last month, of having a floating robot put stuff in her head to stop her going insane. Of the constant fighting, and the oh so insidious headsets. And more recently, of living alone on a star ship with nobody around her for millions of miles, "War, constant and endless war. And isolation."
Willow looks down at her hands, "We rescued her from that. We saved her. But it's still haunting her."
"Willow, I don't think we can judge if she was saved or kidnapped. All we can do is be there for her."
Anya smiles, "And maybe we can get her to bring my Xander back quicker. The bed is awfully empty without him, and a girl has needs." When she sees Tara's expression she hurries on, "Ok, so maybe we could do some of the things we used to do before life got crazy. You know, shopping, dancing, going to the cinema, viciously slaughtering vampires and bunnies. You know, normal stuff."
Willow looks up, "I know, we can fix her. Take away all of her pain."
Tara looks over at Willow in dismay, "No Willow. No more spells."
Willow looks at Tara with a hurt expression, "Tara, this isn't the sort of thing that can be fixed with just getting her to do normal stuff."
"Willow, spells aren't the answer. What if something goes wrong? You know how powerful magic is, and how dangerous it is."
"I know what I'm doing Tara. Nothing will go wrong."
Anya grimaces, "Uh, I should be getting home, as I need to open the shop in the morning."

Without noticing Anya slipping out, Tara shoots back, "Oh, like you knew nothing could go wrong with Buffy's resurrection, and we made the entity that possessed us, and tried to kill Buffy? Or how you violated me over an argument?"
Willow looks shocked, "Tara, I didn't violate you."
"Willow, you stole my memories. I still don't have them back, and I likely never will. You violated me."
"Tara, I'm sorry."
"That's not the point Willow. How could you, after what Glory did to me?"
Willow reaches out to touch Tara's hand, but Tara pulls it away, "But Tara, I didn't mean it like that. I just didn't want us to fight anymore. I love you."
Tara lets out an exasperated sigh, "Willow, if you don't want to fight, you just don't fight. You don't use magic to make a fight disappear."
"But I just wanted to make things better…"
"For who? You, or me?"
"For both of us."
"Willow, you can't do that by taking things away from me, from other people. I just… I can't be with you if you're still like this after a month."
Willow sags, "Ok"
"Willow, relationships take work, you can't just magic the problems away, otherwise it's not a partnership, it's slavery."
"No, I would never."
"Willow…"
"No, I realise now, I did it wrong."
Tara sighs, "You did it the same way you're doing everything. As soon as you encounter something a little hard, a whispered spell, and the difficulty's gone. I don't think you even consider other options anymore."
"I do, I don't use magic for everything. I'll prove it, no magic for a week, I promise."
Tara closes her eyes for a moment, "Ok, one week. But if you can't, that's it, we're over for good."

As Tara gets up and leaves the dorm room, Willow starts to sort out her stuff by hand. After she's come across her second tangle of tights, she huffs, looks around, and with a muttered spell, everything is neatly put away. Looking at the rat in the cage Willow holds her finger over her lips, "Shh, don't tell Tara."

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Buffy's on her way home via the 13 cemeteries in Sunnydale, eliminating 3 new vampires on the way. As she's passing through the last one before she gets home, Spike calls from behind a grave marker, "Buffy."
Buffy comes to a stop and turns around, "Spike?"
"We need to talk."
"Spike, what do you have to talk about that can't be said at home?"
"Look, I've got nothing against your home, but I'd rather not be shot at, or attacked by that thing masquerading as Dawn's therapy cat."
"Well, that's why we have a doorbell Spike."
"Look, I wanted to talk about us."
Buffy looks confused, "What about us?"
"We've kissed, and well you and me…"
Buffy laughs, "Spike, Buffy Summers may have kissed you, but I certainly haven't."
"But we hang out, and laugh together. You invite me round to watch stuff and talk."
"Spike, that just makes us friends. That's it."
"Don't you feel anything for me?"

Buffy lunges for Spike and pulls him into the void as a stake passes through his heart. As they come out of the void a moment later, Spike shivers, "I never wanted to see that, ever."
Buffy, on the other hand, steps around spike with her left hand raised, only to stop when she sees a humanoid shark flanked by two vampires.
What causes her to pause, is the shark spreading his hands, "Now easy boys, no need to get physical, eh?" Spike turns around to face the demon as it chuckles, "Is there Mr Spike?"
Buffy sighs with exasperation, "You know this guy?"
Spike nods slightly, "Yeah, what do you want?"
The shark starts to walk forward, "I would like a lot of things Mr Spike. A house in Bel Vue, a good wine, and the 40 siamese kittens you owe me."
Buffy stares at Spike, "Spike, that's six and a half weeks wages if they were normal kittens. What did you do to owe that many."
The shark man looks at Buffy, "Oh a woman of refinement. Well, go on Mr Spike, what did you do with my kittens."
"You'll get your kittens."
Putting his arm over Spike's shoulders, "The question is when Mr Spike."
"I just need a little more time."
"Oh, time, time, time is what turns kittens into cats, where I my Kittens Mr Spike."
Buffy rolls her eyes, "Look, I get that Spike is in debt to you. However you seem to be new in town, so I will give you my normal warning. No hurting, eating, or killing civilians. I should really add enslaving or kidnapping too. So five things. No Hurting, eating, enslaving, killing, kidnapping civilians. If you do any of those things, I will find you and you will die. That applies to you in the back too, and turning counts as both eating and killing, just so you know."
The thug on the left calls back, "But how are we supposed to survive?"
"The same way everyone else does that isn't on my to kill list. Eat something else. I hear that kittens are the delicacy de jour in these parts. Anyway, I'm heading home."
Spike looks after her with a betrayed expression, "Buffy!"
Buffy calls over her shoulder, "I'd start negotiating a repayment plan before he figures out that he can just black list you from gambling until you pay him back."
Spike mutters, "Shit!" under his breath.

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Giles looks up from the small couch in the training room as Buffy opens the door, "Buffy, thank you for coming. I've asked the others to be here too."
Buffy smiles, "It's ok Giles, though Dawn won't make it, as she's at school."
Giles looks down at his hands, "Oh, yes, I'd forgotten about that, and you have work after that. Buffy. Buffy, this is very hard for me, as I've known you, well I've known Buffy Summers, since you were 15 and I was assigned as your watcher."
Buffy sits next to Giles, "When does your plane leave?"
"Tomorrow, but how did you know?"
"Giles, this isn't the first time we've had a similar conversation. But the is the first time you started it with a trip down memory street."
"Memory lane. But yes, I suppose it is, isn't it. Buffy, your life before, it's left you callous. Underneath that you are still a lovely young woman. I only need to look at Dawn and Tara to see that. But you need to learn compassion and forgiveness, especially for humans. After all, the job of The Slayer is to defend humanity from the forces of evil."
Buffy shakes her head sadly, "You're right Giles, my life did make me callous. Note I said my life, not my life before. It left me callous, not heartless. It did that by forcing me into situations where the hard choice was to do something now instead of showing compassion and trying to save them later. Because in my world, all to often later meant that they were destroyed anyway. Too much compassion and consideration is just as bad, after all, have you spoken to Willow about her magic use yet?"
Giles looks up at Buffy, "Ah, no. I was going to wait for an opportune time when life wasn't so hectic. But I suppose that tomorrow will be too late now."
"Exactly. Giles, I asked you to have that conversation because I can't. She sees me as her peer, and she also knows that I know nothing about magic. Anything that I say will be humoured and then forgotten. The same is true of Tara. You are the only one that could talk to her from a position of authority, but you refused to do that. What do I do if she goes bad? Kill her out of hand? Send her to hell like I did Xander? Those are my only options Giles. You are a good man Giles, but you are a soft man. When it comes to the wire, I can trust you to be there. But you suggest when you need to tell, you step forward when you should hold back. You offer comfort when you should be admonishing. And sometimes, you do the opposite. All of us did that, I suppose we learnt it from you. And Dawn paid the price. And, yes I've spoken to Dawn about her time while I was away. Sending the Buffybot alone to parents day. Where were you then?"
Giles reels slightly, "I-I-I…"
"No Giles, your conversations with me have always gone the same way. You make comments that sound like suggestions. You talk around the problems you're talking about. I'm sure you've been hinting about the callous thing for months. But today is the first time you came out and said it. Also, I've read Vampyre, and the rules are awful. The slayer must forsake all human company? I did that, I did that for 600 years. It didn't help. All it's doing is ensuring that the Slayer dies early. But that's ok, another one will appear as soon as she carks it. No, that book is an instruction manual on enslaving young woman to do your bidding and be used as a weapon. I've been a weapon, I hope you never find out what it's like."
Giles looks surprised, "You've read it?"
"Don't look so surprised, it was in the concealed compartment at the side of the weapons chest. I needed Tara's help to translate it, as I still sometimes have trouble with English, let alone any of the other languages on this planet."
"But the council…"
"Is a group of old men who would run at the first sight of almost anything from my… old… home…" Buffy's voice trails off into wonder, "This is my home now."
"Buffy, despite all of that, what you did with Xander was despicable."
Buffy looks at Giles and crosses her arms, "Giles, tell me anything I could have done that doesn't amount to ignoring it and hoping it doesn't happen again, or killing him."
"Well, you could have had a strong word with him."
"Giles, Xander."
"Oh, yes quite. You could have handed him over to human authorities."
"And what, tell them that he's guilty of immolating hundreds of people across the city because he summoned a demon, and then didn't tell anyone?"
"You could have handed him over to the council."
"Giles, be honest here. What would they have done?"
"Um, well… They'd have either executed him, conscripted him, or let him go."
Buffy nods, "So, killed him or ignored the problem and hope it doesn't happen again."
"Conscripting isn't ignoring the problem Buffy."
Buffy rolls her eyes, "Oh right, sorry, I'll add, or make it easier for him to do again in the future."

Giles looks hurt, so Buffy adds, "Giles, you're a good man, and I keep telling you that. But that doesn't mean you're perfect. You are ideal in your role as an advisor, who's job it is to nudge his students towards the answer they need. You have a nearly encyclopaedic knowledge of Demons and magic. But you were put into a position where you needed to be the parent to a 14 year old because none of the people who were responsible for her, were ready for that. Void they'd barely cope with a baby, but at least they can't make their own decisions while someone's fumbling through learning how to be a parent. I'm pretty sure that Willow's problems with magic could have been resolved before it became a problem if you stepped in and actually explained why things are done the way they're done, and taught her the right ways. That doesn't make you a bad person Rupert. It just makes you a person. Anyway, I think the others are arriving, so I'll see you outside."

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On a large metal tray sitting on the chest of drawers in her room, Willow opens a large pack of the flowers needed for the memory spell. Carefully taking out two of them, careful not to damage the leaves or flowers, she places one on top of the other on the other side of the tray. Taking a clear quartz from the top drawer of her she looks at it for a short moment, wondering if Tara had a point. Shaking her head, she places the crystal on the tray next to the flowers. Taking a lighter from the same drawer, she starts to chant the words to the spell as she flicks the lighter until she gets a flame, and then lights the flowers. Keeping her mind on the idea that Buffy and tara will forget all of the slights and mistakes of the past, Willow places the lighter horizontally below the flowers. Picking up the quartz, she touches it to the flame while drawing on magic to enforce her will on the world. A spark of dark green magic jumps from the crystal to the flame, and Willow smiles in satisfaction. Placing the crystal into a pouch, she turns around and gathers her jacket before leaving for the shop.

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Tara smiles as she leaves the house. Life is starting to look up again, she has a home, Willow is getting better, and their relationship is getting back due to the hard work on both sides. Willow has even been using less magic since Buffy kicked her out. Hopefully, Willow can go a whole week without using magic, and earn back her trust. Briefly looking in the mirror at the hairdo that Dawn helped her with the other night. She nods and smiles, yes life is definitely looking up.
Grabbing her purse, and a warm jacket, she dances out of the house to unheard music.

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Buffy looks up from her perch on the library steps, that serves two purposes allowing her to see the whole shop, as well as stopping anyone from just waltzing up the steps to the more dangerous books. The object of her attention walks around the display shelf, and Buffy calls out, "Hey Willow."
Willow looks up, and puts on a smile, "Hi Buffy, no Dawn?"
Buffy looks to the ceiling, "No, as it's a school day, and she doesn't finish for another half hour."
"Oh, right, I knew that."

As Willow is setting down her top, Tara walks in and gives her a hug, "Hey Willow, how's the dorm?"
Willow turns around and returns the hug, and kissing Tara on the cheek, "It's great. Amy has a good view out of the window and I don't have to worry about a roommate. I like your hair."
Tara smiles, "Thanks, Dawn did it for me."
Willow's face falls slightly as Tara turns away from her and sets her purse by a chair, and sitting down, "Oh." Willow discreetly pulls out the quartz to see its progress, her smile widening as she sees it's almost black.
Buffy frowns, as Willow's movements twig her instincts, and starts to stand up. Before she can step down, Giles opens the door to the backroom.

Wringing his hands, Giles walks to the open area by the till, "Thank you for coming everyone. I, just wanted to talk to you all about the future. I have been wrestling with a decision over the last few months. It is with a heavy heart that I have decided to return to England."
Willow gasps, and Anya walks out from behind the till. Tara shares a sad glance with Buffy, before looking back at Giles.
Shaking her head, Willow asks, "But what about Buffy? She still needs you."
Giles shakes his head, "No Willow, Buffy is a large part of the reason I'm leaving. She has already learnt everything I can teach her, and more. She has outgrown me, and has been making decisions taking into account far more than someone of her apparent age. Much as I am loath to admit it, the decision she made with Xander was the only one available to her that will have any impact."
Willow shouts, "How could you say that! She condemned him to hell."
Giles sags, "Yes, she did. But that doesn't make it the wrong decision. I've spent the last twenty minutes trying to come up with a better decision considering what he did. Willow, I'd like to have a long overdue chat with you about magic after this. We can also go through why what happened is probably the best that Xander could have reasonably expected."

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In a university dorm room, a single spark unerringly jumps out of the dying embers of two flowers, into the bag of flowers carelessly left on the metal tray. The flowers in the bag quickly burst into fire as the magic of the spell consumes them.

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Willow nods, "We can do that."
Giles nods, "Thank you. And I know it feels like we're doing this all over again. However, this is a day that was always going to come eventually. I would like to congratulate all of you for everything that you've done. The lives you've saved, and the help that you've given each other. There's one more piece of advice that I want you all to think about. You are all adults now, and you have new responsibilities outside your friendships." Giles indicates Buffy and Anya, "Work," gesturing to Willow and Tara, "or Education. You are also maturing, and your view of the world is changing. You may find it hard to let go of what you had before, and you don't need to do it immediately. But it will happen, it's part of growing up. No longer can you just drop everything to go to the movies. Neither can you pop off to the Bronze without considering the impact on your day tomorrow. Buffy has made it clear that I should have had this sort of conversation with all of you over the last year. As, apart from Willow, none of the rest of you have parents that can give any advice."

Giles takes off his glasses and dabs at his eyes as he takes a seat at the table, "This is harder than I thought it would be. I feel like I failed all of you in one way or another."
Willow shakes her head, "No, no, you didn't fail us. You did everything you could."

Giles gives a wan smile, "It's kind of you to say that. But the fact is that I have failed you. It's part of the reason I'm leaving." He takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly, "It's not the only reason, it's where my lady friend lives. It's where the council library is. There are so many different reasons behind it. Once I'm gone, I want you all to listen to Buffy. She's got a lot a lot more experience, and it has shaped her in ways that, quite frankly, are better suited to holding the line against Evil, with a capital E."

Giles' self-deprecating monologue is abruptly interrupted when a man wreathed in smoke bursts through the front door to the shop.
"You need to grant me sanctuary." Spikes voice calls out of the smoke surrounding him. As he steps away from the door, the smoke clears to reveal a tweed suit with a hat with flaps to cover his ears.
Buffy sighs, "What did you do now Spike. And what's with the clothes?"
Spike looks over to Buffy, "Those guys are just insane. And it's a disguise, innit."
Buffy pinches her nose, "Spike, what did you do?"
Spike walks over to the counter and jumps up to sit on it, facing the rest of the room, "Why are you accusing me, they're the ones hounding me day and night." As he does, Anya sits down next to Giles waving at her face, when the counter doesn't break.
Buffy starts walking over to the front, "Because, you're the one that owes them…"

Buffy only gets halfway to the door when she collapses to the floor, shortly followed by everyone else in the store.

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In one of the hells, Xander collapses in the middle of another freak out about having tentacles.

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At one minute past four, Vhesthine answers the phone.
"Good evening, Mikes Machining. I'm afraid that we're closed for the day… I see, I'm afraid that Miss Summers hasn't arrived yet… Yes, I'm Vhesthine… She has?... I am?... I will be there as soon as I can… Yes, I have a car… Goodbye."

After putting down the phone, Vhesthine knocks on Razial's office door, and pushes it open when a "Yes?" is heard from inside.
"Razial, I have just received a call from Dawn Summers school."
Razial looks up at Vhesthine, "Why are you bothering me with this?"
"Because she collapsed nearly an hour ago, and they haven't been able to contact Buffy. It seems that Buffy also put my name down as an emergency contact when she added the company details."
"Why do I employ Buffy again?"
"Because, since she started, Extortion attempts are down 20%, non-payment of items is down a similar amount. Finally, you haven't had to defend any of the staff during that time."
"Oh, yes, a valuable investment. What do you need?"
Vhesthine relaxes, "The school needs me to pick her up, as her emotional support cat won't let the ambulance men close."
Razial nods, "Divert the phones to my office, and leave my door open. Also, find out what the ambulance drivers are. I want to know if someone is trying to gain leverage over us."
Vhesthine nods before backing away, and then leaving.

20 minutes later she's pulling into the school, having changed into a rather more conservative outfit to her normal one. While she's walking through the carpark, she mutters a short spell to allow her to see the truth of what she's looking at. Lifting up her hand to check, she smiles at the ghostly image of her succubus hand over the small Chinese hand and intricately painted nails, that her human form has. As she pushes open the door, the sound of her heels make a sharp staccato on the way to the reception desk.

Putting on a kind smile for the person on the other side of the counter, Vhesthine says, "Good afternoon, you phoned me earlier about Dawn Summers."
The person looks up, and curtly asks, "Can I see some ID?"
Vhesthine nods and takes her drivers licence out of her purse before handing it over. After barely giving it a glance, it's handed back, "Through the double doors there, third door on your right."

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As Vhesthine enters the schools infirmary, her eyes are drawn to Dawn, and the cat that's sitting on her, hissing at a couple of men on the other side of the room. A slight frown graces her face as there are no ghostly images around any of the people in the room.
"Good afternoon, I'm Vhesthine, here for Dawn."
An older human man, with sliver hair, turns around from his desk at the far end of the room, "Ah yes, would you be able to remove Miss Summers service animal so that she can be taken to the hospital?"
Vhesthine shakes her head, "I'm sorry, I can't as I don't know if Buffy Summers insurance covers an ambulance ride. As it stands, I was under the impression that you wanted me to take Dawn anyway."
The man shakes his head, "Oh, no. The school couldn't do that, and if you take her yourself, I'll need you to sign a waiver stating that the school is not liable for her health if she develops complications."

Vhesthine taps her foot as she thinks, "I'll take the risk."
After signing the forms, she easily picks up Dawn, and the cat, before making for the door.
"Would you gentlemen mind getting the doors for me?" A practiced purr in her voice causes the ambulance men to pay attention, and race each other for the doors.

As she walks down the corridor, the old man shakes his head, "Kids these days, a pretty face and a husky voice, and they're all over themselves."

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Once they get back to the workshop, Vhesthine has Roselyn help her up to the reception. There she lays Dawn down on the couch like chairs.

Vhesthine's about to go and change, when Razial comes out of his office and looks at Dawn curiously.
"Did you see anything out of the ordinary?"
Vhesthine steps respectfully to the side of Dawns couch, "No master, they all seemed to be human, to sight and scent."
"Interesting, so why wouldn't you let them close? I see. They wanted to separate the two of you." Razial casts a spell with a long incantation, spoken in a long forgotten tongue.

As the spell settles over Dawn in gossamer like threads, Razial nods thoughtfully, "Interesting, the spell has a contagion component to it. I have no doubt the caster was unaware of that component."
Vhesthine struggles not to step back, "Is it dangerous to us?"
"No, it's working off of emotional bonds. The way it's working is quite remarkable though, as it appears to be blocking off a few memories before referencing the rest of the brain and comparing it against some concept the spell was primed with. It is then blocking off a few more memories, before repeating the cycle. It's a shame they chose to do it to the Slayers sister. I have no doubt they will be dead by the end of the weekend."
Vhesthine nods, "Yes Master."
Razial walks back to his office before turning back to Dawn and casting a spell that sees her skin turn red, and small horns grow out of her forehead. Her legs turning digitigrade, and fingernails lengthening are the only other obvious changes. However, under her clothes, a tail slithers down her skirt.
With a mild question in her voice, Vhesthine asks, "Master?"

Razial waves her off, "I believe the child wondered what it was like to be a Succubus. This will both protect her until the spell is broken, and give you the opportunity to show her."
"I do not believe that Buffy would approve of Dawn losing that particular innocence just yet."
"It is merely a glamour, not a true change."

As the door to Razial's office closes, Vhesthine sits down beside Dawn and strokes her hair gently. Each stroke of her hand removing more of the bleaching, to reveal the now black locks that trail down to Dawn's waist. As the last of the bleach is removed, a fond smile takes over Vhesthine's face, and tears for a time thought lost trickle down her face.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 7 – part 2


BunnyGirl pushes herself off the ground, and then has to convert the momentum to a spin so she doesn't lose control. As she lands on the floor with a crouch, she looks around the rustic setting she finds herself in. Is this some weird test they've come up with. Right, first check mission objectives.

She raises her right forearm, palm up and… nothing. Mental simulation then, that means they're keeping an eye on her void levels. BunnyGirl stops devoting her precious resources to the mental exercises they demand she keeps up. Straightening up, she looks around the room. Hmm, three exits, one view port and some civilians that are starting to come around too. Probably the mission objective.

Turning around, she heads for the view port and rustic door as they are both the most vulnerable parts of the location. Behind her the others start talking in gibberish, lending credence to the idea that it's a basic protection mission. They probably haven't been loaded with any actual sentience, just enough to get her in trouble.

As she's investigating the view port, she sees movement outside. She also finds an organic rope attached to a handle, with a lever on it. She shakes her head, they've really pulled out all the stops in this scenario. Probably some Archemedian's pet archaeology project. Flicking the lever experimentally, she nods when the handle spins quickly and a metal grating drops over the view port.

Now that's secure, she turns her attention to the door. Looking it up and down, she spots a crude locking mechanism at the top and bottom. They seem to be slide based, so she drives them home.

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Tara groans as she wakes up. Pushing herself up, she stares at her hands and flexes them individually for a moment. Once she starts to remember what they are, she looks around curiously. Memories coming back slowly as she looks first at the flat object she was lying on, table her mind supplies. Then she spots a couple of people separating from what seems to have been a romantic nap. What with the line of drawl that snaps off the man's mouth as he gets far enough away.

Across the room comes a crash, and a man with white hair stands up from behind the counter, "I meant to do that."
Tara's eyes widen in surprise, "Hey, I can speak. Who are you?"
The other three people start looking around more actively as the man with white hair shakes his head, "I don't know, who are you?"
Tara shakes her head, "I have no idea."

The older man stands up and lurches to one side before leaning against a cabinet with one hand, "Don't worry, we probably just had too much to drink. Our memories should come back with time."
The blond he was leaning on shakes her head, "I don't see any bottles around."

The last woman looks around slowly before saying, "Driving licences."

Tara scrunches her eyebrows as she tries to remember what that is. When it comes to her, she starts to pat her clothes, and then pats the item of clothing hanging over the back of the chair she's sitting in. Finding a rectangular card in a pocket, she pulls it out and looks at it, "I don't have a driving licence, but apparently I'm Tara, and I go to UC."

The woman that just talked looks excited, "Same, and it looks like my name is Willow."
A moment later, the man calls out, "My name is Rupert Giles. Apparently I'm English."

The three of them stare at the other two as they finish searching their clothes.
The white-haired man finishes first, "Nope nothing." The blond woman shakes her head, "Same." However, she looks at a key that was around her neck thoughtfully.

Suddenly the blond looks at her hand and starts jumping up and down excitedly, before grabbing Rupert excitedly, "Look, look, I'm engaged. We must be engaged."
Rupert looks unsure of himself, "Well, erm."
White hair laughs, "Don't you think that's a young bit of totty for you?"
Willow enthusiastically adds, "And you were sleeping together, you even left a damp spot."
Rupert looks uncomfortable, "I'm sure we get along well with each other."

A large crash comes from the other end of the store, and they all look over to see another woman inspecting a door. The white haired man shouts over, "Hey you have a name?"

When he's ignored, he shrugs and turns back, only to be ambushed by Willow saying, "Hey, you and Rupert could be related."
White-hair explodes in indignation, "There's no bloody way I'm related to him… Wait, sod, bloody, bollocks, bugger. Sodding bloody buggering bollocks, I'm English."
Rupert muses, "My brother maybe."
"There's no way I'm that old. Son maybe."

While they're bickering, Anya lifts the counter access and walks around to look at the till. Curiously, she pushes the key in and turns it, only for the drawer to pop out. That's when she spots the stack of invoices, "Hey, I know my name! I'm Anya, it says so on these. Apparently, I own the shop with Giles."
Giles nods, "That makes much more sense, I wonder what sort of shop it is."

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Dawn pushes herself up on a soft chair before yelping as she sits on something. A woman with red skin, horns, and wings, calls out, "Dawn, you're awake. No, don't move, I'll come over and help you."
Dawn looks at the woman blearily, "Dawn?"
"It's your name sweetie, and I'm Vhesthine, and your sister, Buffy, works here. Here, let me help you up, and we can get you out of your school clothes into something more comfortable."

Dawn allows herself to be pulled gently off the chair, and be led into the a room with a few tables and chairs, a fridge, and a microwave, "How did I get here?"
As she helps Dawn disrobe, Vhesthine explains, "You collapsed in school, and they called me after they couldn't get hold of your sister. We think she might be subject to the same spell you have been."
Dawn looks alarmed, "A spell?"
Vhesthine nods, "It's affected your memory. That's why you don't remember who you are."
"Oh." Dawn reaches up to touch one of Vhesthine's horns, "What are you?"
"I'm a succubus. I need you to step out of your knickers, as they don't have space for your tail."
Dawn looks down at herself, and then over her shoulder, "I have a tail, and wings."
Vhesthine nods, "You do. And they are beautiful too. Now put these on." She holds out a Miami style pair of knickers that have ties at the side, and a heart shaped cut out just below the V, "Your tail goes through the hole first. Good, now, lift your tail as you're pulling the knickers up. There you go, they've slid right down to the base, if you reach through your legs, the front section should be easy to grab. What I usually do is tie a loose bow in one side. Then I can get the other side even, so that the little bow on the front is just below your belly button. Once you've tied that off, you can redo the other side."

Dawn fumbles with the unfamiliar actions of tying the sides together. Once they're done, the ends trail down the sides of her thighs prettily. Vhesthine then hands her a halter top that goes down to just above her belly button.
Dawn looks at the garment, and starts to tie it on, "Vhesthine, why is my top so much longer than yours?"
Vhesthine smiles at Dawn, "It's because you're not mature yet. Once a Succubus' horns grow in, their mother will start to teach them how to hunt for their own food. As you can see, my horns are very much grown in. There's a mirror in the rest room behind you, once you're dressed you can have a look at yourself."
Dawn looks at her curiously, "Do I have a mother?"
Vhesthine gently turns Dawn around, and ties the second set of ties on the top, that sit just above her wings, "I'm sorry, you don't. Your sister is responsible for you. Next time you put this on, you should do the top ties first, and then turn the top around. It's much easier to do that way. Now the skirt. Do it up tightly at the front just above your hips, then lift it off your hips and turn it around so the slit is over your tail. There you go."

Dawn wanders into the restroom to use the mirror, and just freezes when she sees herself. Hesitantly, she reaches up to touch her horns in wonder. Then she runs out and hugs Vhesthine, "Thank you for looking after me."
Vhesthine caresses Dawn's cheek with the back of her hand, "You're most welcome, now grab a chair and help me at the desk."

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BunnyGirl turns to look at the civilians appraisingly, while trying to decide where to investigate next. Knowing their trainers, it's most likely to be check out the door next to them. Especially since there's now two of them on that side of the barrier.

Shaking her head, she deftly weaves her way past them as the one with white hair is looking through his clothes for some reason. When one of them speaks to her, she just smiles and nods, before slipping through the door and almost falling down a set of stairs that start directly on the other side.

Feeling around, she opens the door just enough to let some light through and spots a white box on the wall with some sort of switch in it. Cautiously she touches the switch, and a light turns on at the bottom of the stairs. Softly making her way downstairs, she has a quick look around, but apart from a trapdoor there's nothing else in here. Fortunately it has a rudimentary lock on it, though there's currently no way to use the lock, as the loop that goes through the slot doesn't have anything. Having another quick look around turns up a metal box with tools inside it.

With a feral smile, she takes one of the levers and slots it through the loop. Then she carefully bends the thin metal of the lever round until it loops under the handle. Giving the slot an experimental tug, she nods and makes her way up the stairs again. As she leaves the underground room, she stifles a snort as the civilians are now huddled behind the small barrier between the viewing panel and the inside, the expected attackers have managed to smash the material that filled that panel.

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Anya turns to white-hair, "Hey, maybe your name is somewhere else, like mine was."
White hair starts to go through his clothes, checking his pockets for something that could provide a clue to where his name is. As he's doing that, Tara watches as the strange woman goes past her with out a word, and then opens the door that's behind the counter. Any thoughts on the matter are disrupted when white-hair exclaims.
"Made with care for Randy…" Everyone just looks at Randy, "Did you hate me that much? Why not just call me Horny, or Want-sex-badly, or Desperate-For-A-Shag Giles?"
Rupert looks down, "It's probably a family name."
"You could have picked literally any other name, but no."
"Look sonny, you're not too old to be put across my knee for a good spanking."

Randy huffs, "Well, if you're going to be like that, I'm leaving. Might even try to find a hospital while I'm at it."
Tara perks up, "Hospital, that's a great idea, I'll come too."
Willow nods, "And me."
Anya looks at the till with a strange expression, "Go on, you guys go ahead, I'll just look after the till. And-and let that strange woman know where you've gone."
Rupert looks at Anya, "Are you sure dear?"
Anya nods, "Yes, yes. Just come back once you've got a cure, and look after the till while I'm gone."

The four of them casually walk to the front door, and Randy through the slats and out of the window before reaching for the door. The sound of something heavy landing against the metal grating, and bowing it enough to break the window, has him scurrying back behind the window display. Willow and Tara both scream, and join him there.

"We know you're in there! Come out now, or we'll have to get rough."

Willow whispers harshly, "What do you think they want?"
Randy looks back at her, "How the hell am I supposed to know?"
"They saw your face and immediately started… That."
"Look, all I was doing, was making sure that I wasn't going to walk into anyone."

Anya, a little hysterical, scrambles over from the counter, "What happened?"
Rupert gives Anya a hug, "It will be alright dear, I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding."

Something heavy bashes against the metal shutter, "Look, all we want is Spike!" and they all scream again.
Willow's eyes widen, "Maybe the other woman saw them, and was looking for another way out. I'm going to go and look."
Tara looks behind them, "I'll check the other door."

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Dawn sits beside Vhesthine, and carefully tries to adjust her posture to match that of the older succubus. The cat she woke with, pawing at her leg until she picks it up, where it then climbs onto the desk. Dawn smiles as it curls up and faces the door.

"Good evening, Mikes Machining, how can I help you?"

Dawn, watches as Vhesthine writes down a message on a sheet of paper. When she puts the phone down, Vhesthine turns back to Dawn.
"Dawn, this is important. I want you to take this message to Razial in his office. As it's not company related, you must address him as Master."
Dawn blinks in incomprehension, "Why? Does he own us?"
Vhesthine shakes her head, "No, not at all. It's a term of respect and acknowledgement. One of the underlying rules amongst demons, is that power is authority. If you're in the presence of a demon of another species, that is more powerful than you, you call them master. It's a survival trait, as many of them will seek to prove their power over you if you don't. If they do, then you'll be lucky if you survive. "Razial's not as bad as some, but if he's around other demons he will punish you. Even if you are Buffy's sister."

Dawn looks at her wide eyed, "Is my sister powerful then?"
Vhesthine nods, "She is, though not as powerful as some. More important is her reputation. A reputation that she can back up against most of the physically powerful demons."
"What about Succubus, are we powerful?"
Vhesthine nods sadly, "In our own way. However, that power doesn't work on most demons. If we train in magic, we can also become magically stronger than average. But most Succubus don't practice magic, as it takes time and effort. However, we are physically weaker than most demons, and as I said, our power doesn't work on most demons."

Dawn nods seriously, before taking the note and walking across the office to Razial's door. Her attempts to copy Vhesthine's movements putting a sway in her hips, that once she's mastered it will see her enflaming lust in men and males everywhere she goes.

Vhesthine shakes her head, and reminds herself firmly that Dawn is a human, not a succubus.

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As BunnyGirl approaches the door at the back, she spots another door to the side discreetly concealed by a shelf containing artifacts. Diverting herself, she quickly checks that door and frowns when it opens to the outside. Looking up and down, the frown turns into a scowl when she can't find any obvious locking mechanism. This is obviously where the surprise attack is supposed to come from if she hadn't been paying attention.

Quickly, and quietly, she moves back around the shelf and opens the last door. Her frown turns into a smile as it opens with some real weight to it. Once she's inside, she can't help exclaiming, "Jackpot" as she immediately spots a display of weapons on one wall. Turning back, she looks at the door and smiles even wider when she sees that it has metal reinforcement on the inside. A perfect location to put the civilians if they need to fall back.

As she's searching the room for other weapons, one of the civilians comes in and looks around curiously before picking up one of the weapons absently. BunnyGirl's eyes widen, as one of her original assumptions is shattered.
Deciding to test it, she takes a crossbow of the wall, loads it, and then calls, "Hey!"
The civilian jumps in surprise, dropping the weird organic dagger with a clatter. They then say, "Hello?"

Damn it, there goes another assumption, they're not stupid, she just can't talk to them. Carefully making sure the crossbow is pointed at the hanging target, she lifts it with an exaggerated motion, takes aim, and then pulls the trigger. As the civilian lets out a squeak, BunnyGirl lowers the crossbow to the floor, and reloads it deliberately slowly. Once she has, she holds the crossbow out, butt first, to the civilian and gestures to the target.

Tara backs up when the strange woman holds a weapon out to her. When she holds it out more emphatically, Tara gingerly takes it, and allows herself to be guided through shooting the weapon at the target. "See, easy. Now show the others."
Tara points at herself, "Tara." Before pointing at BunnyGirl.
BunnyGirl huffs, "BunnyGirl." And takes the other crossbow off the wall, along with a bundle of wooden bolts.

Tara is a little confused when BunnyGirl turns her around and pushes her out of the room. Slightly bemused, she makes her way back to the others, "Guys, I think the other woman is foreign, as she actually spoke to me."
Rupert turns around, "Really? What's her name?"
Randy interrupts, "Really father, we have those people out there, and you're asking about things like that."

A voice from outside calls, "All we want is Spike! Give 'im to us, and we'll leave you alone."
Tara looks down at the crossbows she was given, and the bundle of bolts, "BunnyGirl gave me these. Look, they launch spikes."
Randy smiles, "Now that's what I'm talking about. No need for us to endanger ourselves to give them what they want. How do they work?"
"Um, you pull the string back, and put one of the spikes in like this one. Then you point and pull this trigger here. EEEK!" She screams as she accidentally pulls the trigger, and the bolt disappears from the crossbow, and appears in a wall with a thunk.

"Come on Father, let's start giving the spikes back to them."
Before Rupert can respond, Willow comes back with a panicky expression, "There's a way out downstairs, but it's got a screwdriver bent through the lock."

While Tara is doing that, BunnyGirl finds a harness and loads up a serviceable sword, as well as filling a pouch with as many throwing stars she can find. That done, she takes a sturdy wooden staff and a couple of sharp daggers, before making her way back to the exit with no locks. Kneeling down, she uses the back of a dagger to rap on the floor and the base of the wall. As it doesn't sound like metal or stone, she lays the staff across the doorway, and then stabs the daggers in on either side of the doorway.

Grabbing an axe, she uses the back of it to hammer the daggers deeper into the floor.

The loud sound of banging from the back of the shop makes the group at the front jump. Randy exclaims, "Bloody Hell, what was that?"
Rupert looks behind them, "Maybe they're trying to get in through the back."
"Bugger that! Father, why don't you start giving them the spikes, I'll deal with whatever's making that noise."
Tara calls out to his retreating back, "It could be BunnyGirl."
Anya shudders, "I don't know why, but something about that name scares me."

Randy, storms, well tries to storm, maybe scurries menacingly? [look, it's hard to be intimidating while you're crouching] to the back door, when he sees BunnyGirl bashing some daggers with the back of an axe.
Reaching down, he grabs her shoulder, "What the hell do you think you'reeeee… Bloody buggering fuck, what was that?"
BunnyGirl whirls around when Randy touches her shoulder, and her eyes widen in horror as a spark of void energy jumps from her to the civilian. Holding her hands up in a warding gesture, she cries, "No, stay away. I'm too dangerous." Crouching back down, she lifts up the staff a couple of times to demonstrate, and then tries to open the door with the staff there.
Randy shakes his head, "You've managed to lock the door, big whoop. Why were you doing that?"

BunnyGirl shakes her head, and leans the staff against the wall, before opening the door and walking out and drawing her sword. Maybe she can rescue this void damned scenario by killing the assailants before she explodes. If only they'd started teaching her how to use void energy already.

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Inside Randy looks at the door for a long moment, before dropping the staff across the daggers, and heading back to the front.
"Hey, I think BunnyGirl is going all Joan of Arc for us."
Willow looks at him, "What do you mean?"
"I grabbed her, and got hit with some lighting shit. When she saw it, she looked really scared, and left by the back door."
Tara gasps, "Do you think she did something to the trapdoor Willow found?"
Willows eyes widen in horror, "Why would she do that?"
Rupert looks out of the window as he sends another spike through the shutter, "Maybe she was stopping people getting in? She did find the spikes for us after all."

From outside comes shouts of, "Get her! Get her! Shoot her!"
All of them share a glance, and Tara voices, "Do you think we should help her?"
Randy opens his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by a bright flash of white light as everything outside goes silent.

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Buffy gasps as she wakes up in her coffin, grabbing at her chest where she'd just been shot with a crossbow. As her panic retreats, and she realises who she is and where, she gasps, "Dawn!"
Void jumping out of the coffin, she runs back to the house. As she does, her anger at Willow continues to build, and the void energy inside her rising with it.

As she gets to the house, Buffy growls with frustration when Dawn isn't there. Realising that she's not going to help anyone if she overloads with void energy. Buffy forces herself to spend a couple of minutes in the yard to restore the mental exercises and techniques that have become second nature. While she's meditating, her anger recedes enough for her to start thinking clearly.

Walking over to the phone, she phones the Mikes Machining, and sighs with relief when Vhesthine answers.
"Mikes Machining, we are closed to the public."
"Vhesthine, it's me Buffy."
"Buffy, we were worried when you didn't come into work today."
"Do you know where Dawn is?"
"Before I tell you, Razial left a message for you. He said that you need to keep the caster of the spell alive, as they maybe needed to break the spell."

Buffy's voice is strained as she answers, "I understand."
"Dawn is safe here, but she hasn't regained her memory."
"Look after her for me while I…"
"Buffy! Do you know what you'd be looking for?"
"I… No, not for sure."
"Come to the office and look after Dawn. Tell me what you know, and I will go and deal with the spell, maybe also the caster."
"I… I…"
"Please? For Dawn if for no other reason."
Buffy sags, "For Dawn. You're evil for playing the Dawn card. You know that don't you."
Vhesthine chuckles, "I am a succubus."

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It doesn't take buffy long to arrive at the workshop, and bleed off her excess void energy by jumping a large part of the journey through the void. Once inside, she takes the stairs four at the time, and bursts into the reception looking for Dawn.

Leaning on the counter, she snarls, "Where's Dawn?"
Vhesthine gestures to the young succubus sitting next to her, "Razial did this to protect her. You know what our clientele can be like." Dawn looks up at her with a smile, "Dawn, this is your sister Buffy."
Dawns smile widens, "Hello Buffy, are you a succubus too?"
Buffy sighs, "No Dawn, I'm a Tenno."
Dawn looks confused, "What's a Tenno?"

From Razial's office door, Razial says, "Someone that is comparable power to me. Buffy, once you've given the details of who and what Vhesthine is looking for, see me in my office. It's about your Duties."
"Why?"
"Because you are the victim in this, so will you be choosing justice or revenge if you kill them?"
"They hurt Dawn and Tara."
"And you. I expect you in my office in five minutes."

As he closes the door, Vhesthine softly says, "Can you tell me where I need to look, and who you think is responsible for this?"
"I'd rather deal with her myself."
Vhesthine sighs, "Dawn, would you be able to watch the phones while Buffy helps me change?"
Dawn smiles, and shimmies over to Vhesthine's chair.

Once the two of them are in the break room, Vhesthine turns to Buffy, "Buffy, I want you to really think about this. What will it do to Dawn, to your friends, if you kill the caster of this spell?"
Buffy's voice hardens, "She will be devastated, and so will Tara. Giles is leaving tomorrow, and the others are demons. I'll probably be doing this alone. But I've done alone before, and I survived."
"What about your responsibilities to Dawn?"
Buffy slumps against a wall, "What do I do? I can't let this go, and I've got nothing else I can do as a punishment instead that will actually make any difference."
"Let Master Razial deal with it. You don't have to trust his decision, but at least hear him out."
Buffy whines out "Fine."
Vhesthine swallows hard, and takes a chance. Walking over, she pulls Buffy into a hug, "Buffy, in the human legal system. Judges are legally obliged to recuse themselves from cases where they have a conflict of interest. Do you really think that you shouldn't hold yourself to the same standard. Especially when there's someone else around that can do the job too."
Buffy starts to cry as she breaks down, "She killed me. If it stuck, Buffy would be dead now."
Vhesthine grimaces as the sour scent of grief and misery wafts over her without even the hint of lust that can turn those feelings from a disgusting mess to something that can be quite palatable in the right mood. Still, she holds the crying human until her tears start to subside.

Softly, Vhesthine takes Buffy's face in her hands, and looks her in the eyes as she leans in to kiss her. As she does, she brings up some of the energy she lives on, and pushes it from her mouth to Buffy's. A couple of seconds pass before Buffy jerks back, "What was that?"
"I gave you some of my energy, the same way I would another succubus. I thought you needed it."

Buffy reels as a light heat suffuses her body, pooling in places she's never thought about before. A sensation like having the most decadent desert while being pampered runs through her body. Not so much that it would affect her judgement, but certainly enough that she knows it's there.

Buffy slumps against the wall again, though, this time there's no defeated resignation in her posture, "Why?"
"I need the information if I'm going to help Dawn, and you weren't in any state to give it to me."
"The Magic Box in Maple Court, I left Tara, Willow Rosenberg, Rupert Giles, Spike, and Anya there. I believe that Willow cast the spell, as I saw her checking something at her side before we all lost our memories."

"Thank you." Vhesthine changes into her human guise and mutters the words to a spell that dresses her instantly.
As she's leaving, Buffy calls after her, "We need to talk about what you did, and what effect it might have on me."
"I need to do this first."
"How about dinner on Saturday. Dawn will be there."
Vhesthine turns back from the door, "Buffy, Friday night, and Saturday evening are my prime hunting hours."
"I'll feed you, it's the least I can do."
"Are you sure, you do understand how a succubus feeds."
Buffy looks away uncomfortably, "I understand, and no, I'm not sure. But I'll do it anyway because I owe you."
"I'll see you then."
"Can you eat human food?"
Vhesthine nods, "We can, but it provides little enjoyment, and no sustenance."

As Vhesthine closes the door, Buffy slides down the wall and buries her head in her hands, "Why did I do that? It's not like I'm interested in her. Void, I've never been interested in anyone like that."

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Razial looks up as Buffy opens the door to his office, "Buffy, take a seat."
Buffy sits down, "What was that stuff about Tenno out there?"
"Buffy, you are an apprentice in my company, and you drove off one of the more powerful demons in the hells. I had some of my contacts look into the Lord of the Dance after you drove him off. He has not spoken of his defeat, but neither has he spoken of his defeat. The latter of which he is known to do once he's grown bored and allows mortals to believe they've bested him. You've certainly gained my interest more than just the deterrent effect that having the Slayer working here brings.
"Now, I have three proposals for punishing the caster of this spell if they happen to be close to you."

Buffy looks at Razial consideringly, "Will they provide a punishment that prevents them from attacking me like that again?"
Razial passes a sheet of velum over to Buffy, "See for yourself, I am just finishing the wording on the first option."

Buffy skims the neat calligraphy and looks up sharply, "How is this not the same as what was done to me?"
Razial puts his pen down neatly, and crosses his hands on the desk, "Buffy, that solution is exile. The caster will have all memory of the dark world removed from their minds. But only the dark world. That means magic, demonic encounters, and any other encounters with knowledge or creatures from outside the mortal experience."
"But she spent a long time patrolling with Buffy Summers, and has killed vampires."
Razial nods, "And she will forget those encounters. She will forget the patrols that were eventful. And she will forget the conversations where she discussed the dark world during those patrols. She won't forget anything else. I am also going to give her the choice of all three options, I am not going to force one on her."

"What are the other choices?"
"Death is the last choice. The first choice is signing a blood contract that will make her my apprentice. Part of that contract will be restricting the magic she can use to only that which is used for personal grooming and house-keeping, unless she is under my direct supervision. I am currently considering allowing her to also use magic in her own defence, or the defence of civilians."
Buffy frowns in thought, eventually she asks, "How is this a punishment?"
Razial sits back in his chair, "Magic isn't sentient, but it's better to treat it as though it is. This is because there is always balance in what you do." He waves his hand, "The balance isn't anything so trite as good and evil, even though Evil really does exist. Instead, it comes in the form of costs vs benefit. This is especially true with contracts, as a contract with no benefits will be far weaker than a contract with some benefits."
"So, how does an apprenticeship work in this context?"
"I would be obliged to teach her magic until I feel she's learnt enough to go her own way in the world. In return, she would be obliged to work for me using what I taught her. Additionally, she would have quite a lot of prestige in certain circles, just for being my apprentice."
Buffy nods, "Give her some renumeration, and limit the hours that she works for you. But also prevent her from letting others know that she is your apprentice, even after the end of her apprenticeship. How do you plan on teaching her?"
"She casts magic through the lens of witchcraft, so I will continue to use that. Even if it is rather unrefined and fuzzy, it makes up for that in its ability for spontaneity and cooperation. More importantly, I will be teaching her how to analyse the probable effects of her spells and how to limit them to their desired effects. Equally importantly, will be lessons on when not to use magic."
Buffy sighs, "I guess it need not be said that you will be getting far more out of that particular option than she or I could imagine."
Razial nods, "Of course. Though your requirement to prevent her from letting others know she's my apprentice will blunt many of those benefits. But I am a Business Demon first and foremost, I don't particularly care for direct or shadow power. I prefer soft power, the sort of power that comes from being head and shoulders above anyone else in quality, while still producing enough quantity that it doesn't counterbalance the quality. Do not ascribe mortal morality to me, as I still deserve my place beside my peers in Wolfram and Hart, I just do not see Good as being inimical to my plans and desires. As even the forces of Good need good equipment."

Buffy frowns, "Does that mean you're as powerful as the owners of the company?"
Razial barks a laugh, "Oh God no, they just employ many of my kin."
"Fine! I'll let you present her punishment. Just, is there any way to allow others to supervise her magic, if you're not available?"
"It will weaken the contract somewhat, practically, rather than magically. As it's impossible to prevent someone else adding their own name to the contract."
"How about if it required yours and Willows willing signatures to add a name?"
"That could work, but even there. There are those who could compel both of us to willingly add our signatures. Even if I added the same restrictions on communicating about the contract that I will have to devise to deal with the apprenticeship clause."
Buffy stands up, "I'm going to sit with Dawn, as I don't think she should be alone when the spell breaks. I also don't think I'll ever be happy with your contract in the time we have available. So, I'm choosing to trust you. If it's misplaced, then I've learnt something."
Razial nods.

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Vhesthine walks around Maple court so that she can approach the shop door from the side without the broken window. Her sharp eyes can easily make out the Vampires hiding in the doorways around the court.
As she's walking past an alleyway, a shark demon calls out, "Hey Lady, are you… never mind mistress."
A turn of her head, and revealing her horns, quickly gets rid of the pest. Arriving at the door, she knocks on it smartly, and waits. When she hears movement through the broken window, she calls out, "Hello in there, I'm from the CDC. We're dealing with the cases of amnesia that have struck this part of Sunnydale."
As she hears some whispering from inside, she calls out again, "We found someone on the streets. Once we fixed her memory, she told us her name was Buffy, and she'd left some friends here. When we found her, she couldn't speak English."
An English voice calls out from inside, "How do we know you're telling the truth?"
"She told us that she was there with a Willow Rosenburg, Tara McLay, Rupert Giles, Anya no last name, and Spike, also no last name."

The ring of steel on steel catches Vhesthine's attention, as another Englishman calls out, "Will you put that bloody book down woman!"
Still playing the role of the CDC woman, Vhesthine calls out, "Is everything alright in there?"
A young woman calls out, "Yes, we're just having trouble with a skeleton. What do you need from us?"
"I have my car with me, so I can only take two of you, as everyone else is busy elsewhere in the city. By the sounds of things, that should be the two young women, Willow and Tara."
"We can do that."
"Don't forget to bring everything that's yours, as we'll be sending you straight home after treatment."
A different woman calls out, "I can't reach my stuff because of the skeleton."
Politely, Vhesthine "Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm Tara."
"I have you down as living with Buffy Summers, so that should be alright."
Tara calls back, "I do?"
"That's what Buffy told us."
The English voice asks, "What about the people who were trying to get in?"
Vhesthine smiles, "I can't see any of them at the moment."

From the door, comes the sounds of bolts sliding back. Then the door opens and Willow and Tara walk out. Vhesthine looks Willow up and down, as she's never met her before, before turning on her heel and walking past the shop to her parked car, "Well, come on then. It's dangerous to be out too long."

As they're walking, Vhesthine picks Willows pouch, and palms the blackened quartz.

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As Vhesthine pulls into the factory carpark, Willow looks out the window nervously, "This doesn't look like a hospital."
Vhesthine nods encouragingly, "Your right, we commandeered one of the units here before we found out it wasn't contagious. If you'll just follow me."
Obediently, the two girls follow her, lacking the knowledge to see through the obvious lie. As she pushes the door open, Vhesthine grabs both girls hands, and drags them up the stairs as they start to panic.

As they pass through the door into the reception, Vhesthine calls over to Buffy, "Can you look after Tara please?"
Buffy looks up, before walking over and gently taking Tara's hand, "Hey Tara, I'm BunnyGirl."
Tara looks at her for a few seconds before bursting into tears and hugging Buffy, "You are BunnyGirl. I thought they were kidnapping us when I heard the workshop downstairs."
Buffy smiles at her, "They are going to fix your memory problems. This is my sister Dawn."
Tara looks Dawn up and down and whispers, "What is she?"
"She's in disguise, as it's not a disease, it was a magical spell."

As if on cue, both Dawn and Tara look poleaxed, and Tara's eyes widen. Dawn doesn't do so well herself, as she freaks out at her appearance until her memories of the last couple of hours catches up. After that, she looks herself over more curiously, extending one wing, and then the other.

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Vhesthine steels herself as she's dragging Willow across the room. Pushing open Razial's door, she steps in and pulls Willow in behind her, "Sorry for barging in Master. I have brought the caster, and the focus of the spell."
Razial doesn't look up from his writing for a couple of minutes. When he finishes writing, he mutters a couple of words, and the ink dries instantly. Turning the velum around he opens a drawer and extracts a hollow needle and places it on the velum. Then he places another sheet of velum beside it. Finally, he takes a silvered dagger from the same drawer, and places it in line with the two sheets of velum.

Willow's eyes go frantic as she watches this, "What are you going to do to me, you monsters. Let me go!"
Razial flicks his fingers with a muttered word, and Willow rises into the air with her mouth clamped shut.
"Vhesthine, the focus?"
Vhesthine bows her head as she places the crystal on the desk, "Yes Master."
As she turns to leave, Razial calls, "Stay, you will be the witness."
Swallowing hard, she turns back and stands by the door, "Yes Master."

Razial picks up the quartz and spins it around in his fingers as he examines it from every angle. After a moment he nods, "A masterful idea, with a flawed implementation. Bind the counter to a crystal, so that if you make a mistake you can smash the crystal to undo the spell. However, you neglected to tie off the spell, meaning that it would continue to weaken the crystal until it disappears, leaving no way to undo the spell. Such an amateurish and short-sighted mistake to make."

Holding the crystal between two fingers, Razial looks in Willow's eyes as he begins to squeeze until the crystal shatters, and a far smaller amount of quartz falls to the table than there should have been.

When Willow's eyes go from the fear of the ignorant, to the fear of the knowledgeable, Razial speaks up again, "Miss Rosenburg. At this point, you have two choices. You can flee, and die. Or you can take a seat, and be presented with three choices." He waves his hand across the three items he placed earlier, before releasing the spell.

Willow hugs herself as she starts to shiver, and her eyes glance between Razial, Vhesthine, and the dagger lying on the desk. On unsteady legs, she sits down at the desk.
Razial nods, "Good, you do have some sense of self preservation. I did wonder."
Willow's head jerks as she asks, "What's going to happen to me?"
"Why, you are going to be punished. If I left it to the Slayer, you would already be dead, despite the personal cost it would cause her."
"Buffy would never do that."
"Miss Rosenberg, you would be correct if Buffy Summers was sitting out there. However, that is not Buffy Summers, that is just Buffy. If I have my information right, Buffy Summers died over 6 months ago. Shortly before she started working here, she was resurrected. A resurrection that by rights should have failed, as her soul had moved on past the afterlife."
Willow shakes her head, "No, no, she's just suffered badly in her other life, and-and…"
"And there is your noble self-justification. Your burning desire to be seen as a 'good guy'. The very fact that you are sitting here, talking to me because of your own actions should be proof enough of that. However, now is not the time to discuss your personal failings. You are here to face punishment. In short, you have a choice of supervision, exile, or death. You may take as long as you need to read the terms of the first two items." He taps the dagger, "I'm afraid the only terms on the last one is that it will be quick and painless."
"This isn't fair, you can't do this."
"It is precisely as fair as the spell you cast on people you claim to call friends. And I believe you'll find that I am as capable of doing this as you were of casting the spell."

With a shaking hand, Willow reaches for the middle sheet of velum, and starts to read. As she does, her face looks more and more drawn, until finally she cries out, "But I love Tara."
Razial looks over at Vhesthine, "Do you really? Vhesthine, what do you think?"
Vhesthine sniffs critically, "There is love there, but it is overshadowed by obsession and lust. She would be a fine meal if Tara was a succubus."
"You see, Vhesthine here is a succubus, and they can smell your emotions like you can smell food."
Willow looks like she's just been slapped, so she reaches for the first sheet of velum, and tries to start reading. Even as she's barely able to concentrate through the fear, anger, and self-loathing that is coursing through her at the accusations.
When she reaches one clause, Willow blurts out, "But I need to do magic."
Razial looks at her as if he's reading her soul, "You need to do magic? Do you really?"

Willow's about to complain about her options again, when Razial's elbow seems to nudge the dagger accidently, causing the light to sparkle over the engraving on the hilt. She licks her lips at the reminder that death is on the cards. Then she glances at the second option again, and realises that in a real way, death is on the cards twice. She starts to cry as she pulls the apprenticeship option towards, her, "I choose this one. What do I do now?"
Razial nods, as though it was a foregone conclusion, "You prick your finger with the needle, and hold it there until it's filled up. Then you sign your name. I'd sign it as close to the bottom of the contact as you can, as you may want the space for additional supervisors to sign."

Willow pushes her chair away, "Blood magic!"
Razial nods, "Indeed, you didn't think I'd trust your word, did you?"

It takes Willow another five minutes, and she almost chooses exile. However, ultimately, her love of magic wins out, and she signs her name in blood on an apprenticeship contract. Once she has, both Vhesthine and Razial sign their true names in magical ink. As soon as it's done, Razial rolls up the contract and grabs Willow's wrist, before they disappear.

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When they reappear, Willow gags from the smell as she looks around.
With an evil smile, Razial points at a pile of manure, "For your first task apprentice. You must clear the dung, and spread it over the fields there. You have a week to do it, and no magic."
Willow shudders at the size of the pile, "What if I don't finish it in a week?"
"Then the next shipment arrives, and you'll be hear until the pile is clear. And it needs to be an even layer over the fields, as it needs to dry properly."
Willow looks around, "But what will I eat?"
"Nightmares are omnivorous, and their manure is filled with everything you need."
Willow gags as Razial disappears.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

An: Sorry this is only part 1, but there was so much to cover that I ended up over running my normal chapter limits, and there's still so much to cover that I've had to split this one into parts.
Also, for those that have asked. No, there will be no Warframes in this story. Not only would it be overkill, it also wouldn't fit the theme of the story.
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Episode 8 – part 1


Dawn fidgets in her seat beside Vhesthine impatiently, as she watches the other woman being taken in to see Master Razial. She blinks, Master? Oh right, demon etiquette. Then the spell was broken, and her memories came back, but she's still a succubus. Dawn shakes her head, not a succubus, disguised as a succubus. She has wings…

Once Vhesthine comes back, Dawn asks, "Vhesthine, can we fly with our wings?"
Vhesthine looks at Dawn fondly, "We can, though we use magic to make our bodies light enough for our wings to lift us. That's something you'd need to learn to do yourself. I feel that it wouldn't be good for my health if I didn't warn you about the corrupting effects of channelling magic though."
Dawn looks at Vhesthine confused, "What do you mean, as I've never heard the others talk about that."
Vhesthine sighs, and lifts her hand to look at it, "Have you learnt about the dangers of lead yet?"
Dawn nods, "We did, and why they're trying to stop leaded fuel from being sold."
Vhesthine nods, "It's a bit like that. The energies of the hells seep out of the hellmouths and into the surrounding magic. Clinging to people and releasing. If you're not using magic, then it's like handling a lead figurine, or fishing weight. But as soon as you start using magic, traces of the energy from the hells is left inside you. That energy makes you feel good while it's passing through, but the more that builds up, the more you need to use to feel the same sensation. For those demons who can use magic, we are already so saturated that we cannot hope to channel enough magic to ever feel what mortals do."

Dawn frowns, "But Willow's been using magic for everything, and she seems fine."
Vhesthine turns to face Dawn properly, "And yet she's now being punished for what she did to you and her friends. Or do you think just anyone would be taken to see Master Razial the way she was?"
"Is that really fair on her though?"
"It's as fair to her, as she was to you and her friends."

"Was it really that bad though, I got to experience what it was like to be a succubus for a few hours. And now I'm back."
Vhesthine suddenly looks very serious, and takes Dawn's hands, "Dawn, she killed you. For two hours you were dead. She did the same with Tara and Buffy, as well as the others. If Buffy didn't have whatever it is she has, she'd be dead in truth. How long do you think it would have taken before we had to turn you into a succubus in truth?"
Dawn shivers, "I died?"
Vhesthine nods gravely, "Yes. Your soul would still be there, but you are more than just your soul in a human body. Did you know that Buffy wanted to go and kill Willow for doing that to her?"
Dawn pulls her hands away, and lifts her feet onto the chair, so she can hug her knees, "Buffy wouldn't do that, she's one of the good guys."
Vhesthine brushes the back of her hand down Dawn's cheek, "Dawn. Good guys and bad guys only exist in fiction. Buffy is a good person, which is why she was going to do that. She was also angry, afraid, and upset, because it's happened to her before. I'm sure she's told you, given that I've already worked it out."
"She keeps talking about how she regained her memories a few centuries after… You mean she was like that for centuries?"
Vhesthine nods, "And Willow did that to her again. I don't know why she didn't talk to Buffy about her experiences, but that doesn't matter now."
"That's why Buffy and Tara are in the break room, isn't it."

Vhesthine just nods and turns back to her work. Dawn sits on the chair, hugging her knees, her wings caping around her to hide her from the world as she grapples with subjects that even learned philosophers struggle with.

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A few hours later, a gaunt Willow is led out of the office by Razial. Almost immediately she's assaulted by Dawn, who pulls her into a hug with a cry of "Willow!"

Somehow Willow musters the energy to recoil, "Who are you?"
Dawn reels back as if struck, and then notices Razial, and steps back politely, "I'm sorry Master Razial, I didn't intend to interrupt you."
Razial waves a hand as he turns back to the office, "It is no matter Dawn, you are a human, not a demon. But it is good that you have remembered your lessons."
Dawn smiles at the praise, "Thank you Master Razial."
Willow stares at the young succubus, "Dawn? What did they do to you?"
Dawn turns her attention back to Willow, and does a twirl, "It's a disguise. What do you think, it's cool isn't it. Did you know there's so much etiquette in demon society? I learnt so much when I forgot."
Dawn suddenly stops, and stares at Willow with a touch of fear, "You killed me. Willow how could you do that? I trusted you, and you killed me. I'm glad you're alive, but…"

Willow reaches out, "But you're still alive, you're still here. Dawn…"
She trails off as Dawn runs across the room and through an unmarked door with tears falling from her eyes.

Vhesthine stands up and opens the door to the reception, "Miss Rosenberg, I believe it is time for you to leave. And believe me, I would kill you myself for making Dawn face those truths today. However, Master Razial has already claimed you. I hope you come out of your apprenticeship a better person than you are now. Otherwise, you won't survive a month without his protection."

Willow shuffles out of the reception, and listlessly walks down the stairs, and out of the factory. As Vhesthine closes the door Razial appears behind her, "She cannot claim my protection, or admit to her apprenticeship with me. The Slayer saw to that. Mind your tongue about it in future."
Vhesthine snaps into an upright position and turns around smartly, "Yes Master."
Razial wave a hand, "Relax Vhesthine, you are too valuable to punish for ignorance." Before vanishing again.

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Willow slumps into her dorm room, strips off her clothes, and slumps on her bed. Only then does she notice the difference in colour between her torso and her arms. Grabbing her dressing gown and shower supplies, she slips out of the dorm room to the communal shows.

An hour later and she comes back with clean hair, and skin mostly the same colour all over. Slumping back on the bed, she looks at Amy, who's busy chewing on a toilet roll tube, "Hey Amy, how was your night? Same as normal huh? I wish I could say the same. Did you know that nightmare manure explodes if you use magic too close to it? Me neither. It also tastes really bad, like a peanut butter and grass sandwich, with a side order of cockroaches. Do you know what's worse? I couldn't use any magic, for like six weeks. Six weeks! That's how long it took me to catch up after I-I stopped throwing up or blowing myself up. You don't understand me do you. I wish I knew how to turn you back to human… Wait, I've got it. Revelate."

Willow clutches her chest, and falls over sideways as her magic seizes up inside her. Tears form in her eyes, and her legs twitch as she finds herself unable to make any sound until her magic eases. Once it does, she pushes herself unsteadily into a sitting position, "I guess it's not going to be tonight, huh."

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Buffy softly opens the door to Dawns room, to see Dawn crying softly under the covers of her bed. Padding across the carpet, she sits on the edge of the bed and puts her hand on Dawn's shoulder.
"Why did she do it? Why did she kill us?"
Buffy takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly, "I don't think she wanted to Dawnie. I think she made a mistake and it went too far and affected you."
Dawn turns over to look at Buffy, "Then why did she want to kill you or Tara?"
Buffy gently brushes the hair out of Dawn's face, before kissing her on the cheek and putting her hand back on her shoulder, "I don't think she did. I think she wanted to fix us, to take away our pain. To have her old Buffy back."
"But I like this Buffy, though you need to learn how to have fun properly."
Buffy smiles, "I know you do Dawn, but the old Buffy was Willow's friend for a very long time. She was also so very innocent in so many things. Many of those things were painful when they happened."
"So, wouldn't taking away that pain be a good thing?"
Buffy takes a deep breath, "As long as it's not the good sort of pain."
Dawn props herself up on their elbow, "There's a good sort of pain?"
Buffy nods, "If you talk to some people, there's more than one sort of good pain. But the pain I'm talking about is the pain that teaches you something. Like when you get something wrong in our spars and I tag you. Or when you do something that hurts someone else, and they leave, or they tell you off. That's good pain, as it teaches us life lessons."
"Is that like when Vhesthine told me that I died for two hours?"
Buffy nods, "Indeed, though I'd have probably waited until you were older and more able to handle the revelations that caused. As that's getting into the nature of existence, and other things that are easy to say, but hard to understand. If you still want to know, I can write out some scenarios for you to work through and think about."

Dawn goes silent for a little while, just as Buffy thinks she's falling asleep again, she asks, "Buffy, is it wrong that I think I liked being a succubus?"
Buffy strokes her, "Not at all Dawn. Just remember that you've only had a couple of hours in a controlled situation. You don't know any of the struggles they face, or how the fact they can't survive on human food affects them. Or would affect you. If it's something you'd like to learn more about first hand, then I'm happy for you. However, I would rather you didn't go hunting until you're at least 18, preferably older."

"Buffy," Dawn says sleepily, "do you ever wonder what it would be like to be something else?"
Buffy leans down and kisses Dawn on the temple, "Not anymore Dawn, not anymore."

Buffy sits there for a couple more minutes while Dawn falls back to sleep. Then she goes downstairs to make herself a hot milk.

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Tara looks up from where she's nursing a hot chocolate, the saucepan still warm on the stove.
"Can't sleep?"
Buffy shakes her head, "Dawn woke me. She was crying."
Tara shakes her head, "I don't blame her, I was too. What about you, how are you doing?"
Buffy looks at the pan for a long moment, before getting some milk and putting the pan back on a low heat. One she has, she sits down at the table and puts her head in her hands.
"I almost killed everyone earlier."
Tara holds a hand out, "No you didn't, you did everything you could to protect us."
Buffy shakes her head, "I did, and I didn't even know I was doing it until it was too late for me."
Tara shakes her head, "I don't understand."
Buffy shudders as she thinks back, "BunnyGirl she was a name I invented a few hours after they wiped my memories the first time. I still remembered the exercises that they'd taught us before, for controlling the void inside us. But back then, they weren't second nature to me. So I had to keep concentrating on them to keep them going. When I awoke, and I couldn't use my implants, I assumed that I was in a virtual simulation, and stopped the exercises. I didn't even know any of the techniques they'd taught us for using our void abilities, as they didn't want us using them on them.
"There are devices that would help, but I don't know how to make them. I mean, I do, just not with the technology available here, in this time. And there's a couple of bits I'd need to figure out to put all the components together."

Tara mutters a couple of words, and Buffy's slightly chocolatey milk serves itself, along with some marshmallows from the cupboard, "I thought using magic like this was bad."
Tara shakes her head, "No, using too much magic is bad. This is a special moment, and you didn't need to interrupt it to rescue your milk."
Buffy smiles, "Thank you."
"Why can't you make this device?"
"Because it's made from Void conductive components and crystals. The only source I knew of, being sentient corpses. Even if I had those components, I couldn't put them together, as I don't think it's possible to make components like that. Void the only thing I've seen even remotely compact enough is the device I found while I was under a temporal effect. Deimos depths, I forgot about that." Buffy hurries out of the room, and returns with two security tags stuck together. "I might be able to do it if I can find out how this was made. But I'll need a lot of equipment for it."
"Is it metal work?"
Buffy sighs, "Loosely, very loosely."
"Then show it to your boss, he might be able to help you, or point you in the right direction."

Buffy sighs, "I'll make an appointment to speak to him later today. I want to call the school in the morning and tell them that Dawn's still recovering from collapsing. But I don't know if I should."
Tara reaches across the table, and grabs Buffy's hand reassuringly, "If you think she needs it, then it's the right thing to do. Goddess knows, I could use the break myself."

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The next morning, Willow wakes up gradually and, for a moment, wonders if she's dreaming. Then Amy squeaks, and she wakes up with a gasp, the last 6 weeks coming back in a rush. Sitting in the middle of her floor is the evidence, in the form of her still soiled clothing. Getting up to get some clean clothes, she stops as she spots a letter written on papyrus, sitting on the metal tray she used last night, six weeks ago.

Apprentice,
This is shoddy and ill thought-out work. I expect better of my apprentices.
See me in my office at 4pm, and bring your college schedule.
Razial.​

Willows heart starts beating faster, as something she thought was a fever dream caused by lack of food, was in fact real. She really signed a contract in her own blood. She can't even claim to be unwilling, as she willingly signed it to avoid worse fates.

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Begrudgingly, Willow makes her way up the stairs of Mikes Machining, and through the reception door. There she walks past Buffy, who is booking an appointment to talk to Razial about something. Walking through the office door, she stops abruptly as Razial looks at her with an expression filled with menace.

"Apprentice. You are both tardy, and lacking manners. In future, you will exercise common courtesy before entering my office. I will also dock your pay if you are late again. Now take a seat."

Willow swallows hard, before quickly taking her seat. Razial holds out his hand, "Schedule."
Willow fumbles through her bag, before pulling out a sheet of paper, "I printed it out for you."
"Master."
"What?"
"You are my apprentice, I am your master. Use it when we are alone." Left hanging is the or else.
Willow mind flashes back to the manure, and she quickly nods, "Yes master."
Razial nods, "Better. I see you have late classes Tuesday and Thursday. You will not be required to work during those times. Instead, you will work all day Saturday instead. Every other day, I expect to see you here at 4pm. Do not be late."
Willow blurts out, "But I…" Then subsides when he raises his hand and a spark of magic goes between his thumb and finger, "Yes master. May I ask what I will be doing Master?"

Razial nods and pulls out three quartz crystals, "First of all, I will be teaching you a spell to see magic. In particular, it will allow you to see how tainted the magic is. Then, you will show me that you can infuse a crystal with magic. If there is time, you may ask me any questions about the magic you already know, or things I've taught you. At 5pm, you will start earning your pay by infusing crystals with magic until you are able to reliably produce the middle quality crystals. Until then, for every middle quality crystal you produce, you will get a $20 in your next paycheque. If you ever make a top quality crystal, I will pay you a $5,000 bonus. Any questions before we begin?"
Willow swallows hard and licks her lips, "Master, what will the crystals be used for?"
"A good question. The middle quality crystals I sell to magic users and demons around the world for use in rituals that require large amounts of magic. As they provide a their magic without the caster needing to channel tainted magic through them. The highest quality crystals are used almost exclusively in major cleansing rituals, where a large source of virtually untainted magic is needed to wash away deep levels of demonic taint from the subject."
Willow's eyes widen in fear and surprise, "Taint?" Razial stares at her until she adds, "Master?"
"Yes, taint. Who taught you magic? A demon?"
Willow shakes her head, "No Master. I taught myself with Giles help."
"Then he was an idiot. Stay here."

Razial gets up and leaves to inform Vhesthine that he is not to be disturbed for the rest of the shift.

When he returns, he touches Willows shoulder, and the two of them disappear.

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When they reappear, they are inside an extravagant workshop that has been set up in an unadorned cream room with strip lights running across the ceiling to provide light. Willow looks around her with a slack jawed expression as she sees shelves of magical tomes, reagents, and supplies for casting spells.
"Apprentice, pay attention."
Willow's gaze snaps to Razial, who has walked across the room to an empty workbench. Hurrying she catches up with him.
"All magic comes from the different dimensions of the hells, and other planes. How it gets to the earth is a different subject that you may research in your own time if you wish. Magic flows through all things, and exists in all things. Though without those planes, magic would not exist on Earth, as Earth does not have its own magic. As such, all magic is tainted by its origin. When a practitioner channels magic, that taint flows through them, and some of it sticks to them. Over time, this taint will fall away on its own, as does the casters built up resistance to magical overuse."
Taking a piece of chalk from a container hanging under the workbench, he quickly draws a complex equation on the surface. This is the formula that can be used to calculate how much magic a person can use before they burnout from magical overload. This is their natural aptitude, this is their accumulated taint, and this is the amount of magic they're channelling. With the exceptions of Necromancy and Summoning, every other method of casting magic has come up with some way to purify the magic they are using, and reduce the amount of taint they accumulate." Willow raises her hand, "Yes apprentice?"
"Why those two? Master."
"Because the caster also taints magic. This is why traditions that often practice unprotected casting, like witchcraft, usually say that magic should only be used for good things, and sparingly at that."

Willow tentatively ventures, "Master, why is taint bad in magic, if it allows you to use more magic before burning out?"
Razial throws the chalk on the workbench, "Because, you stupid child, taint makes mortals feel good. But the more taint you have, the more magic you need to use in order to feel good. Before long, you find yourself in a cycle that almost always ends in death, and occasionally will result in the person fully embracing the taint in the magic, and leaving their humanity behind."
Willow swallows, "I can control it Master."
Razial angrily steps into her space, "Really? Is that why it took you six weeks to do a job that should have taken at most a day? Is that why you had to choose between being my apprentice, exile, or death?" Razial conjures a dagger, which points itself at Willow's heart, "I am a business demon. I make investments in people and things, and then reap the reward when those investments bare fruit. I put the apprenticeship down as an option for you because I saw talent that could become great if nurtured. Yet, when I tell you the facts about magic, your first response is to assume you're different from every other human on the planet. Tell me, was I wrong about your talent and intelligence? Should I just drive this dagger home and wash my hands of you?"

Willow steps back, and the dagger follows her, pricking into her breast just above her heart. Once more she is faced with the stark reality of life, and once more she chooses to live, "I'm sorry Master. I-I will try to do better."
Razial backhands her across the room, "You will learn the basics even if I have to send you to muck out the nightmares every week. I do not need another demonic spellcaster, as they cannot purify magic. If you ever allow your taint to permanently grow to that level, I will kill you and use your soul and organs as spell components. Do you understand?"
Willow nods helplessly from the floor as she holds her bruised jaw and bleeding lip.
"Now, come back here, pay attention, learn, and demonstrate these lessons. Take notes if that would help."

By the end of the lesson, Willow is exhausted mentally, physically, and magically. So much so, that she forgets to ask about Amy.

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After work, Buffy is doing her rounds in the cemeteries on her way home when she hears a disturbance in an alleyway. With a sigh, she turns off the road and follows the sounds of bargaining.

As she walks up behind two burly men that have a couple of civilians cornered, she sighs, "Right, imagine that I said something witty to catch your attention. Now, give the lady back her purse, and go. I've just had a long shift at work, and we all just want to get home."

The man holding the bag just looks back at Buffy, before dismissing her. This causes Buffy to just sigh before walking forward and grabbing his arm to pull it into a lock. When he yelps in pain, she stops sharply as she doesn't feel the resistance she expected, "What the hell Lady!".

"Huh? This is just a boring mundane mugging? I didn't think those happened here. Look, are you guys new here?"
Whatever the couple say is drowned out by the mugger she's holding screaming, "My arm!"
Releasing the arm Buffy points at the alleyway she came from, "Now git!" Turning back to the couple, she again asks, "Are you new to Sunnydale?"

The woman nods nervously, while the man says, "Yes, we moved her for our retirement. Our kid works in LA."
Buffy nods, and hands the woman her purse, "Well, there are some survival rules that are pretty unique to this city. So, during the day tomorrow, you should speak to your neighbours and ask them to demonstrate the Sunnydale welcome. Also, stay away from empty areas like the street out there."

Whatever Buffy was about to say next is cut off when Spike launches himself at one of the muggers, and then screams in pain. At which point all of the civilians flee. Buffy turns to him with her hands on her hips, "Are you done now?"
Spike staggers to his feet, "Ugh, I thought they were vampires."
"Well, they weren't, for once they were human muggers. Now, why are you here?"
"What? A no sympathy for the guy with a migraine?"
Buffy shakes her head, "Come on, you didn't hit your head that hard."
"Not that. You know, the stupid bloody chip in my head."
Buffy looks at him blankly, "Nope, first I've heard of it."
"The one the government put there when the Initiative grabbed me while you were dating Riley?"
"Still no clue."
Spike ventures, "The one that stops me from attacking humans?"
Buffy shrugs, "Sucks to be you then. You could always crash a gambling den and steal all the kittens. Or you could ask me for a full contact spar."
Spike looks her up and down, "Is that an offer?"
Buffy throws her hands in the air, "Is that all you can think about? What next, sending me dick pics over the internet? If you're that pent up, go and find a succubus or something."
Spike looks confused, "What dick pics?"
Buffy waves her hand airily, "Just some random fuckers who think it's the best way to get a woman's attention."
Spike shakes his head, "That's not the point, you can't keep leading me on like this. I saw the way you looked at me yesterday."
"You mean yesterday when you were an idiotic civilian that I was trying to keep alive yesterday?"
"Hey, I wasn't idiotic."
"Look Spike. I! Am! Not! Interested! How many times to I have to say it?" Buffy turns and starts walking to the next cemetery.
Spike calls after her, "You're a bloody tease, you know that don't you. Get a guys motor running, then bam, ice queen."

Buffy just shakes her head as she walks away, and also makes a note to start carrying a knife.

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The next morning, Anya wakes up abruptly to the soft sound of the front door opening. Rolling out of bed, she pads into the kitchen and is about to grab a knife when Xander's voice calls out, "Hey Honey, I'm home!"
Instead, she flies through the apartment to the front door, and tackles Xander in a hug, "Xander, I've missed you. Now, come on, you have your manly duties to perform."

Xander just stands there as Anya tries to pull him to the bedroom, "Anya, I'm not human anymore."
Anya turns back with a huff, "Of course you're not. Now come on, Magic Box can handle a day without opening. A girl has needs you know."
"But I'm hideous."
"Alexander Harris, I only care about two things in this relationship, one that it's with you. And two, that you don't abandon me to go chasing after other hussies. Now, come on, I've got a month long itch that needs to be scratched." Anya turns away to try and drag him along again.
With a growl of frustration, Xander lets go of his human transformation and stands there in his 8 foot tall guise, three protruding eyes in a triangular position set in a pebbly chitinous shell just above his beak. Arms and tentacles poke out of a body covered with fish scales, "Anya, this is me, I'm a monster."
Anya turns back, "Ohh, tentacles, and you have suckers, I've heard good things about those. Come on, lets test them out."

Several hours later, a thoroughly exhausted, and confused, Xander is lying on the bed. His three eyes pointing in different directions, the bottom eye gazing lovingly at the blond hair of the woman sleeping on his softer chest, "Xander."
"Yes?"
"What kept you?"
"My new family wouldn't let me go until I stopped trying to kill myself. That didn't happen till yesterday, last month, or something like that. Do you know what's happened to my crew?"
"Oh, Frank, Freddy, or something has been looking after it, they think you were a victim of the burnings and are in a coma."
"Oh, I should call them."
Anya grabs a tentacle, "Not today you don't, you can wait until after the weekend."

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 8 – part 2


When Buffy and Dawn walk back into the house from their morning sister time, Tara looks up from the coffee she's nursing, a pensive look on her face.
"Buffy, would you mind. That is, can you teach me."
Buffy sits down at the table opposite Tara, "Tara, what's wrong?"

Dawn sits down beside Tara, and just hugs her from the side as Tara starts talking, "I'm worried about what you said the night before last. About almost killing all of us because you lost your memory."
Dawn lifts her head up and stares at Buffy, "Buffy, you didn't say anything about killing people."
Buffy holds out her hand to Dawn, "Dawn, I didn't try to kill of our friends last night. I went back to being BunnyGirl, a couple of days after they wiped my memory. So, I didn't know I needed to keep my void energies managed. If Spike hadn't touched my shoulder and got shocked, I'd have exploded in the shop, killing or injuring everyone else there."
Dawn looks horrified, "Buffy!"
Tara nods sadly, "Dawn, I have the same energy in me. I've been using less magic than I have since I got together with Willow, romantically I mean. It's been harder and harder to channel magic and not use whatever energy this is. It didn't hit me until the night before last, first with you exploding in front of the shop, and then while we were talking. That could have been me, but I wouldn't have known what was happening."

Dawn squeezes Tara harder, "I'm sure that Buffy will be able to fix it, she can fix anything."
Buffy chuckles, "There's plenty of things I can't fix Dawn, and as you grow into adulthood properly, you'll start to see that."
Dawns kitten jumps up onto a chair, and then onto the table before nudging Tara's arm.
Buffy chuckles, "Dawn, you really need to come up with a name for that one."
Dawn smiles, "I already have, silly. It's Emo."
Buffy drops her head to the table with a thud as Dawn giggles.

Feeling a bit better by the break in tension, Tara scritches Emo's head while Buffy picks up Patch from where he followed the bigger kitten, "Buffy, would you be able to teach me those techniques you use to keep control of your magic."
Buffy puts Patch on her shoulder, "Tara, it's not magic, it's void energy. The scientists at my old home have studied it and understand most of the ways it interacts with our dimension. I even remember the science and equations for the basic properties of that dimension. But beyond that, I only know the blueprints of the Tenno gear they designed, as we were weapons. Apart from those basics, one of which is that void beam, everything else was designed for it's effectiveness in a fight."
Tara slumps, "I don't think I have a choice, I need to learn them. I-I've been dreaming, and I don't think they're dreams. Last night I dreamt I was freaking out about being a 9 foot tall monster running down a corridor. There's also someone called Natah who keeps talking to me. I can't take it anymore."
Buffy stands up and makes her way around the table to give Tara a hug, "Tara, I'm so sorry you have to experience that, even second hand. Of course, I'll teach you those techniques, and if they help you great. While I remember, I've invited Vhesthine over for dinner on Saturday. That's tomorrow I think."
Tara nods, "Today's Friday."

Buffy looks over at Dawn, "Dawn, parental mode here, how are you feeling today?"
Dawn looks at Buffy, "I'm doing better I think."
"Do you think you can handle school if one of us walks you?"
Dawn smiles, "I'll have Emo, my emotional support cat, with me. Is it me or has he, or she, gotten bigger already?"
Buffy nods, "They were around the same age as Patch when I got them. That's going to get awkward very quickly."

Quickly grabbing Emo by the scruff of the neck, Buffy lifts him and inspects between his legs, "It's a him."
Tara blanches, "Are we going to get him neutered?"
Buffy looks at her blankly, "Neutered?"
"You know, chop his bits off, make sure he can't leave litters lying around."
Dawning comprehension crosses Buffy's face, "Oh, no, that would reduce his aggression, and he'll need that to defend Dawn properly."
Tara shakes her head, "Buffy, Dawn doesn't need that level of protection."
Buffy just looks at her, "Tara, are you living in the same Sunnydale as we are? You've seen what we come up against."
"Buffy, the only time Dawn is in danger is after dark. By which time she's either at work with you, at home with me, or at the Magic Box."
Dawn objects, "Hey, sometimes I go out with friends too."
Tara pats Dawn on the back, "Yes you do, not as often as you should though. You need more friends your age."
Dawn huffs, "Well, Janice and I aren't talking at the moment, and the others are all stupid and immature. So's school, I learn so much more from you than I do at school."
"That's because you have my mostly undivided attention while you're doing your homework. Now, off you go, you need to shower and then do your homework over breakfast."

Once Dawn is off to school, Buffy moves the coffee table in the lounge area.
"Tara, are you ready?"
Tara shakes her head, and takes a deep breath before sitting down in the now cleared space.
Buffy kneels down opposite her with a gentle smile, "The first thing you're going to learn is how to feel the void energy inside you. This might be easy or hard, but it's the first step to controlling it." She grimaces, "It's also the hardest step, as you have to keep that awareness all the time. You can't just check in occasionally, you need to know it like you know your bladder."
Tara winces, "So this is potty training all over again?"
Buffy shrugs, "I have no idea what potty training is, but probably."
"So how do I do this?"
Buffy sighs as she thinks, suddenly she remembers what happened just after she arrived, "Before we begin, I just remembered something. When I first arrived, the void energy inside me was quiet. I could use it, but it was hard. When I tried to change the school I was focused on…"

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Buffy looked around the strange room that also looks so familiar. Of the four possible doors she could have chosen to find this room, she managed to pick the wrong one twice. So much for the conquering hero of the origin system, or terrorist, or mercenary, depending on who you ask.

Lifting her hand, she looks at the scab with a shake of her head. Where ever this world it, and if it's an implant driven dream, or it's real. It's clear she doesn't have access to her implants. That means that she's now responsible for her own health and wellbeing, and a fighting style as outright offensive and aggressive as Madurai is probably going to be detrimental to her long term survival.

Looking around the room, Buffy finds a clear space, and kneels down in the centre of it. Closing her eyes, she looks inwards at the different faces of the structure she, and her brother and sister Tenno, had to construct around the wellspring of void energy inside them. A sense of nostalgia passes through her as she remembers Archimedean Naliee guiding her through creating the original, flimsy, shell.

Shaking herself out of her memories, she turns the structure to look at the different Tenno Ways. As she does, the void energy explode out of the placid sphere it was. Jumping and spiking like it was when they first recovered them from the Zariman. Pulled out of her meditation, she grimaces at the scorch marks on the walls and carpet before looking at the door in alarm.

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Buffy looks up as she finishes recalling that first attempt, "That's when I went out to warn Dawn about coming into my room unexpectedly."
Tara looks down in thought, "You're worried that this will happen to me too?"
Buffy nods, "I am, you have an advantage over us though. As you're already accustomed to handling energy. If this does happen to you, then we'll head out to the woods, and I'll teach you how to expel the energy in a directed beam. I don't believe that you'll be in danger of exploding, as that didn't happen to any of us until they wiped our minds. I think it's because we got so used to holding the energy in, that our bodies no longer expelled it without our control."
Tara looks on with dawning comprehension, "And you think they accidentally removed that automatic reflex when they removed your memories?"
Buffy considers that for a moment, "That's certainly a possibility. I'd need to consult an Archimedean about it, not that there are any here, as they were the scholars and researchers of the Orokin culture."
"What do you think would happen if we waited?"
Buffy sighs, "You said that it's getting harder to not use it. I would suggest that it's still coming through, just more sluggishly like mine did. At some point, you're not going to be able to avoid using it. Then you'll be stuck trying to do all of this without killing anyone."
Tara nods sadly, "I'll do it. What do I need to do?"
Buffy sighs, "Tara, my old home, they didn't have magic, so they were making these things up on the fly. For the moment, I just want you to find it, and I'll be here to give advice if you don't have anything that helps you. If that happens, I'll talk you through the visualisations we used."

Tara closes her eyes and easily finds the sense of calm that she and Willow used to use in the park when they were first communing with nature, and learning how to even touch magic, let alone use it. Buffy watches as tears start to fall down Tara's cheeks.

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Tara smiles as she builds up her favourite visualisation of herself and the magic around her. A small forest filled island to represent herself and her own experiences. Surrounding the forest is a soft sandy beach that separates the ocean of magic from herself. As she moves around the island, she finds old channels she's dug in the past to allow her to use magic. The hot milk from the other night is now just a faint runnel, and will be gone in another day or so. A deep channel that is still filling from her part in Buffy's resurrection. There are a few other channels that are almost filled from spells that she did with Willow over the last few months.

As she finishes the circuit of her island, she looks around in concern, as she can feel that new energy, so very close to the surface. Slowly, she sends vision into the forest that makes up her and her experiences. After an unknown amount of time climbing through the forest, she pauses as something niggles at the back of her mind. Looking around, she finds a rocky outcropping, this one represents her time in the cabin after her mother died. As she observes it, she notes that the sharp edges have worn away, and it's starting to look more like a natural part of her past than the jagged shard it used to be. Moving to the top of the outcropping, she looks out over the trees to the ocean of magic far below. As she does, that niggling feeling becomes stronger, and she feels like she's missing something frightfully obvious. Turning around, she tries to look up past the trees to see how far she has to go to reach the core of herself.

It's with dawning horror that Tara finds herself flying out over the ocean, her visualisation receding into the distance until she can take in the whole island. Where before it used to be mostly flat, with the occasional feature poking out above the treeline representing major traumatic events. Now, growing out of the island, is a volcano. All of her life events are now decorating the sides of the volcano.

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Tara's eyes open in a panic, "I'm a volcano, I'm a god damn volcano."
Buffy leans over and touches Tara, who jumps at the unexpected context, "Hello, I'm not Tara, so you're going to have to unpack that a bit."
Tara giggles nervously, "Hello Not Tara."
Buffy smiles at Tara, "What did you find?"

Tara puts her hand on her chest, takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, "A couple of years ago, when I met Willow, we used to practice magic, real magic, in the parks. We used a lot of those new age magick for beginner's type books, trying different things and even the occasional spell from the Giles' library when he let us. Most of the stuff was useless, even if we could get some of the spells to work for us. One that we did get working was visualising yourself and the magic surrounding you. It didn't really work for casting magic, so Willow gave it up after a few months. I kept it up because it allowed me to picture how my life was going."
She lowers her head shamefully, "I modelled my visualisation off of the sorts of desert islands that you read about in Treasure Island, or Robinson Crusoe, as they were usually quite pretty, but they were also isolated and alone. Like I was."

Having being doing some of her own meditation while Tara was meditating, Buffy struggles to remember what's expected in this situation. So she falls back on what works for Dawn, and shuffles round to pull Tara into a hug, and stroke her hair.
Tara sobs, "I'm so alone, still alone even when I thought Willow…"
Buffy holds her as she dissolves into incoherent sobbing, "Shh, shh, it's ok, we're all alone. We build connections with people, and invite them into our lives. Sometimes we're invited into their lives too. But all those connections are transitory, and will eventually pass, whether because you grow apart, or they die. It's like the old roads on Deimos, where they went all over the moon, connecting the different parts of it. But even thousands of years later, where there's only a few tracks from the families home worn in due to the frequent passage of the family and occasional visitor. Around the edges of their territory, you can still find remnants of those roads, showing that there was once a connection there."

The two of them sit/kneel there for a couple of hours before Tara recovers from crying herself out. Once she's recovered, she sits up firmly.
"Right. Crying isn't going to solve this. I need to. I need to accept that this is going to be part of my life one way or another. I need to make space for it, otherwise it will make its own space… Oh goddess, I can't do this."
Buffy rubs circles on her back, "Yes you can. Tara, you learnt to do magic, you can do this. You will do this, as I know that you will still be here once it's an undeniable part of your life. You will pick yourself up like our friends say you did after Glory, and you will go forward scarred, but stronger for knowing you survived it. The basis for each of the Tenno ways is a permanent use of void energy to do something for us, or around us. The Vazarin way makes it easier for my allies to learn and work together. The Zenurik way allows us to regain the energy we reserve for out abilities. The Madurai infuses our bodies, allowing us to hit harder, while Naramon allows to carry the flow of battle with us. Finally, Unariu infuses our bodies to make us impossibly surefooted.
"We also visualise a pool of energy that we hold so that we can do other things while the rest of our energy bleeds off. Though, that one didn't work so well, as we have nowhere to bleed it off to. But, you aren't us, you have the opportunity to make your own way, to find a way to deal with the energy without needing a tool to bleed off the excess."

Tara sits there being comforted by Buffy as her mind tries to process what was said. Then the strident tones of her cell phone alarm goes off, and both of them jump in surprise, leading Tara to giggle when Buffy punches a hole in the window with her void blast.

Sheepishly, Buffy hangs her head, "We can fix that."
Tara laughs out loud as she picks up the stuff she needs for university, before heading out. At the front door, she looks back at Buffy, with her binbag, newspaper, and Sellotape, "Thanks for staying with me earlier. It really helped."
Buffy calls back over her shoulder, "Your welcome. Oh void damn it!" Tara smiles as she closes the door while Buffy goes chasing after the roll of tape.

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As Buffy is packing a bag for work with the notebooks she's been using for her designs and threading her dagger onto her belt. The news catches her attention with the report of a security guard at the local museum being found frozen solid this morning. As it does, she turns to look at the screen, and her mouth drops open as the Frost Warframe immediately springs to mind. Rushing to the phone she dials the Magic Box and curses when it goes to the answer phone.
"Anya, it's Buffy, we might have a problem. Please tell me that there's something supernaturally that can freeze someone into a popsicle."

That done, she makes her way to the school to pick up Dawn, before heading to work before it finishes getting dark.

When the two of them arrive, in the reception area, Willow is waiting by Razial's door.

Dawn glances at Vhesthine, before skipping to the door to Razial's office and knocking politely. There, she stands, head looking at the floor slightly.
Willow hisses, "Dawn, what are you doing?"
Dawn doesn't say anything until Razial calls, "Enter!"

Razial looks up, and his eyes widen minutely in surprise, "What can I do for you Dawn?"
Dawn smiles at the desk, "Would I be able to have the disguise again please Master Razial? So that I can help Vhesthine."
Razial cocks his head curiously, then an incomprehensible stream of words pours out of his mouth, and Dawn feels her body shift.
As the feeling ends, Dawn smiles, "Thank you Master."
Razial waves her off, "If you see my apprentice out there. Tell her to just knock when she arrives rather than waiting until 4 on the dot. It will give her more time for personal instruction before she needs to work."
Dawn nods and closes the door, before turning to Willow, "Hi Willow, I guess you heard that."
"Dawn, what are you doing? He's a demon."
Dawn nods, "He is, but he's a nice demon. Not good, just nice. This means I get to help Vhesthine without needing to worry about customers trying to make off with me. I've got to get changed, enjoy your lesson."
Dawn skips off to the breakroom to get changed, only tripping once on the way. A muffled "Ow! That hurt." Comes from the other side of the breakroom door as it catches her tail.

Once Willow has picked her jaw up off the floor, she takes the implied order and knocks on the door.

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At a quarter to 8, Buffy puts down her tools and reduces the heat on the forge.
"Ir'in! I'm taking my break, I've got a meeting with the boss in 15"
Ir'in raises their appendage to acknowledge that they've heard her, before turning back to the iron fence they're making. As she walks to the stairs, she pauses for a few seconds as Roselyn works on the silver toppers for the iron spines. Each spike being a work of art on its own.

Pulling herself away from Roselyn's work, she makes her way upstairs to get cleaned up. Opening the door, she smiles at Dawn, "How are you getting on Dawn?"
Dawn smiles broadly at Buffy, "Ok, it's not as interesting as I thought it would be though. As Vhesthine's been dealing with paperwork most of the time. I did get to go downstairs to get some of the deliveries, and Roselyn showed me how she does some of her work. It's beautiful isn't it."
Buffy smiles, "Yes, Roselyn is a true artist. I don't remember seeing you down there though."
Dawn nods, "You were working on the big banging hammer."
Buffy nods in understanding, "Ah, that would be when I was learning how to make wrought iron by hand, as we only had cast stock. I'm glad you're doing well, and thank you for looking after her Vhesthine."
Vhesthine smiles, "She's a delight to have around, it's like having a fledgling at home, she's so full of questions."
Buffy nods, "Are you still on for tomorrow night?"
Vhesthine nods, "I am."
"Are there any human foods that you particularly like. I remember you said that it doesn't taste that good to you."
Vhesthine's eyes widen slightly, "Spiced food is nicer. It has lots of flavour and complexity so it doesn't feel so bleh."
Dawn looks at Vhesthine, "Is it really that bad?"
Buffy laughs, "Dawn, you've got a Hershey's bar in your bag, why don't you try it while I'm cleaning up before my meeting."
Dawn looks at Vhesthine, who waves her off, before bouncing after Buffy.

A few minutes later, they both come back. Dawn with a chocolate bar, and a can of Pepsi, and Buffy with her notebooks. Sitting back beside Vhesthine at the desk, Dawn opens the chocolate and takes a bite. A couple of chews later, she swallows hard and sticks her tongue out, "Bleurgh, that's disgusting. It's worse than eating cardboard."
Opening the Pepsi, she takes a mouthful, before running to the bathroom to spit it out. When she gets back she exclaims, "That was worse! Vhesthine, how do you cope?"
Vhesthine smiles, "If I have to eat, meat and a salad or rice. Water by preference, although I do like tea as it's fragrant. A meal has to be more than just sustenance for it to be bearable. I can't stand most Italian because it's so bland." She glances up at Buffy with a wicked smile, "Of course, the dessert is the most important part of the meal for succubus, and should be savoured slowly in bed."
Dawn scrunches her eyebrows, "What, like cherries and chocolate mousse? Or sex like Willow and Tara do sometimes?"
Buffy's face turns bright red, "I'm going to see if Razial's available a little early."

As Buffy disappears through the door, Dawn looks up at Vhesthine, "Vhesthine, um, how do young succubus feed if they can't eat food?"
Vhesthine looks at Dawn seriously, "Dawn, I'm not sure that I should tell you. I am becoming fond of you, and I fear that your disguise is less of a disguise than it should be."
Dawn looks at her with concern, "It can't be that bad, can it?"
Vhesthine nods gravely, "The way we feed our young also teaches them how to feed themselves. If, on Saturday, I see you not only eat, but enjoy your meal, I will consider telling you about it. I may even demonstrate for you if Buffy agrees."
Dawn smiles, "I know, we can get spike to punch me. If he gets a migraine, then it's a disguise. That's what he did to prove that Tara wasn't a demon last year."

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Buffy walks in and pauses as she sees Willow working at a table, drawing a circle of chalk around a quartz crystal while muttering an incantation. Giving her a quick glance of wariness and distrust, Buffy takes a seat in front of Razial. Once it becomes apparent that he's busy with something, Buffy lays out her notebooks and starts to order her thoughts. Starting with the feeling of mortification she seems to have inherited from Buffy Summers.

It doesn't take too long for Razial to finish his work, and clear it away before looking up at Buffy. "Apprentice Buffy, you asked for a meeting."
Buffy nods, "I need help. The other night I almost killed my friends and myself because my memory was stolen."
Razial nods, "I see, continue."
"The reason I almost killed them, is the build-up of void energy."
Razial looks over at Willow, "Apprentice, come and take notes. This is important. Please explain what you mean by build-up and what that energy source is."
Buffy nods, "I was born around 1,000 years ago into the Orokin culture. 16 years later, the colony ship we were on was trapped in the void. The void energy drove all of the adults insane, and we had to kill them to survive. Every single child or adolescent that survived made a deal with an entity that exists in the void. This allowed us to channel the void as a weapon against the adults. When we were rescued, we discovered that while we had left the void the void had not left us."

Razial nods, "And what is this place you are talking about?"
"It is another dimension."

Razial taps on his desk, "Yes, the problem becomes clear now. However, you say you were born 1,000 years ago. How then was this not a problem for you then?"
Buffy opens the notebook that has her designs for sleeping pods, and amps, in it, "The void was discovered thousands of years before I was born, and the Orokin were very adept at using and manipulating it. We were taught a variety of mental techniques to control the void inside us, they also designed pods like this one to syphon void energy away from us while we slept. When I awoke from the Second Dream properly, I learnt that they had also finished the design of a wrist mounted device that would do the same, and also act as a reservoir of void energy for a built in weapon. I have designs for all of those in that notebook. The problem is that I no longer have access to the materials we used to make them, or the tools we used to put them together. I was hoping you may know of where to get similar tools or alternative materials that may work."

Razial spends a few minutes flicking through the notebook. At one point he mutters a spell, and his eyes narrow slightly as a nictating membrane flicks across them rapidly.
"These designs are well drawn, though the language is unfamiliar to me. However, to know if I am able to help you, I must first understand the energy that you are using. Will you be willing to demonstrate this energy for us?"
Buffy nods, "I'm always using it, so sure."
Razial mutters a few spells, before shaking his head, "I suppose it was a faint hope that I could detect it. Apprentice. Let Vhesthine know that we will be gone for at least an hour." He pauses for a second and Willow hurries to the door, "Tell her that I request she escort Dawn home if we have not returned by close of business, and stay with her until Buffy returns."
Buffy starts to gather up her notebooks, when she pauses as Willow comes back inside, "What about Dawn's disguise?"
Razial waves his hand airily, "I am teaching my apprentice tomorrow, I will remove it when I return her."

Buffy scowls, but doesn't push the issue, as she's aware that he could have left it till work on Monday. When Willow returns, Razial takes hold of both of them and they disappear, only to reappear in a stone circle, which is itself sitting on a hill in a desolate landscape dominated by obsidian, granite, and lava flows. The sky above hangs heavy with dark clouds that glow an ominous red.
As she finishes looking around, Buffy asks, "Where are we? As this could be Jupiter, or pre-terraforming Venus. But I don't think we're on a mining platform, equally, we're not suffering from breathing in the atmosphere."
Razial looks at Buffy curiously, while Willow looks at her in horror, and blurts, "How do you even know what those look like?"
Razial gives Willow a stern look, and she cowers, "Sorry Master."
Razial growls, "That is not why I am upset with you. Buffy has already told you the answer to your question not 10 minutes ago. You must start using your intelligence for analysing what you know as well as gathering information. Only then will you start asking pertinent questions."
Hoping to divert attention away from Willow's behaviour, Buffy asks, "As we're not currently in the middle of any demonstrations. What was Willow doing when I came in?"

Razial glances at Willow to make sure she's paying attention, "She was imbuing crystals with magic using a magic circle to filter out the taint in the magic."
Buffy looks surprised, "Taint? Does that affect spells?"
"For the most part, it doesn't."
Buffy looks confused, "Then why would you need to remove it?"
"Because a magic circle can only filter magic to a level as tainted as the magic used to create it."
Buffy opens her mouth, then closes it again as she thinks, "Wait, doesn't that mean that there was no point to the circles Willow was using?"

Tears start to form in Willows eyes at the question, and she starts openly crying when Razial answers, "Indeed."
"So, how does someone create a circle with less taint than they themselves have?"
"One way would be to use the magic from a crystal to create the circle."
Buffy shakes her head, "No, that doesn't track, as you then have a Kubrow and pup scenario, except genetic engineering isn't an acceptable answer. There must be some way to quickly reduce the amount of 'taint' someone has."
Razial nods, "Go on."
Buffy sinks down to her knees so that she can mediate to clear her thoughts, "It is possible to use soiled water to make something cleaner than the water, but that requires higher pressures, and the impurities act as an abrasive. Alternatively, you could use something as a filter and cycle the tainted water through the system, and then through the filter. Then each time it passes through that filter, it would be slightly cleaner than it was. But then you need to make sure that the filter is either cheap enough to be disposable, or simple enough to clean that you don't make things worse again by doing so. I seem to remember that sedimentation used to be used as well, but that takes a lot of time, and not all impurities will settle out of water. There's another possibility that works for liquids… evaporation. You can evaporate the liquid and recondense it. That would get rid of nearly all impurities." Standing up she adds, "I'm not sure how that would apply to magic, but it's where I'd start."
Razial nods, "Indeed, and there are similar methods for magic, but they are either painful or long."

Buffy hums, "Would I be able to get the details of a couple of ones that should only be uncomfortable, but take a moderate amount of time, one with a filter, and one without. Same way I did the spell for Dawn's cat?"
Razial nods, "I can acquire those for you, do you wish them deducted from your pay, or pay upfront."
"That all depends on how expensive they are."

Willow tearfully says, "Master, why didn't you tell me yesterday?"
Razial turns to Willow, "Oh, but I did. I told you that the purest crystals were used in large scale cleansing rituals. You are not a youngling, so I will not spoon feed you. You are intelligent and resourceful that is why you are my apprentice. It is up to you to hone those traits and use them to pick out the information you need, and identify where you are lacking."
Willow ducks her eyes, "Yes master."
"Remember, you are my apprentice, that means you are encouraged to ask relevant questions."
Willow sags, "Yes master."

Razial turns his attention to trying to divine the nature of Buffy's Void energy, to little to no avail. Though, this seems to leave him happier than he started, to the point that he begins instructing Willow in how to help in more than just impatient or exasperated terms.

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When an exhausted Willow gets back to her dorm that night, she looks tiredly at Amy in her cage. Then she heads to the kitchen, to splash her face with cold water. Finally, she smiles slightly and starts writing out her idea for restoring Amy to human form. At some point she remembers to set her alarm, and wakes up with the imprint of her pen in her cheek.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 8 – part 3


Vhesthine worriedly lets Dawn out of her car once they've parked on Buffy's driveway. Razial didn't get back before she had to close up, and now she's here. As Dawn runs into the house, she follows at a more sedate pace, and closes the door behind her.

Following the calls of "Tara!" she finds herself in a kitchen, where Dawn has just sat down next to Tara.
Dawn sits down next to Tara, "Hey Tara, what are you working on?"
Tara turns to look at Dawn and freezes for a second, "Dawn?"
Dawn nods, "Uh huh. Master Razial didn't get back in time, so I'm stuck like this till tomorrow. I like this disguise, but I am so hungry."
"Didn't you have a couple of sandwiches in case Buffy couldn't get you dinner?"
Dawn nods, "I did, but they tasted horrible."
Vhesthine coughs, "Sorry to intrude."
Tara spins round in her chair, and looks the short Chinese woman up and down, "Who are you?"
Unfortunately, Dawn sniffs once, and then hugs Tara from behind, "Hey Tara, you smell yummy."

Tara freezes, and Vhesthine snaps, "Dawn, let Tara go. I know you're hungry, but we need to wait for Buffy to get back before we address that."
"Aww, but she smells so nice, like chocolate raspberry ripple sundae."
"Dawn!"
Reluctantly, Dawn lets go of Tara, who finally relaxes and steps away from the table to face Dawn, "Who are you?"
Vhesthine sighs, "I'm Vhesthine, we've met a few times at Mikes Machining."
Tara's eyes widen, "You're Vhesthine?"
Vhesthine nods, "I am, and Dawn is acting like a young succubus." She quietly adds, "Fortunately, she's still not old enough to go hunting, otherwise she'd be out there trying to feed."
Tara looks from Dawn to Vhesthine, "Sorry, I didn't catch that last bit."
"Don't worry about it, it wasn't important. Do you mind if I sit down?"

Tara sighs, and looks at the kitchen table, "Sure, help yourself."
Vhesthine takes a seat, "Well, this isn't how I envisaged spending a Friday evening."
Tara looks at Dawn, who's currently sulking at the end of the table, while muttering to Emo, "Quite frankly, neither did I. Although I have a feeling that I should have done."

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Dawn pulls out her phone and starts to play snake. Tara looks at Vhesthine, "Would you like anything to eat or drink?"
Vhesthine, asks, "Do you have any fragrant teas?"
"Sorry, no, we're coffee drinkers here."
Vhesthine sighs, "Shame."

Tara tries to go back to her university work, but the rumble of Dawn's stomach draws her attention. Especially when Dawn grabs her favourite snack from the fridge, takes one bite and makes a face before spitting it out into the bin, "Eugh, that was disgusting."
Tara's eyes widen comically, "Dawn, that was a Maple Bar Doughnut, you're as bad about those as Xander is about Twinkies."
Morosely, Dawn sits back down at the table, "Tell me about it. The only thing that smells appetising is you."
"Ah, Vhesthine, is there anything else she can eat?"
Vhesthine leans over, and deadpan whispers, "Men."
Tara blanches, "Buffy! Hurry up and get home! So, um, what do you normally do at the weekends?"
Vhesthine smiles, and licks her lips, "Hunt."

Another uncomfortable silence is broken when Spike opens the yard door just after 11, "Hello, has anyone seen Buffy?"
Vhesthine sniffs once, "Ohh, you get delivery here. Tara will you be ok looking after Dawn for half an hour?"
Spike looks first at Dawn, and then at the short Chinese woman who is sauntering towards him with a hypnotic sway to her hips. Then he gulps and backs out of the door, followed by Vhesthine. As the door closes, Dawn gets up to follow.

Tara stands up, "Dawn, why don't we go watch a movie until Buffy gets back?"
Dawn looks at the door longingly, "Aww, but I wanted to watch."
Tara shakes her head, "No Dawn, you really didn't. Do you want to catch up on Stargate, or something by Disney?"
Dawn looks at Tara, "How about 'But I'm a cheerleader', you always seemed to like it when it was on."

Nearly 40 minutes later, Vhesthine comes back in with a satisfied smile on her face. There she finds Dawn sitting next to Tara with her nose in the corner of Tara's neck and shoulder. Seeing space on the other side, Vhesthine sits down next to Tara.
"Mmm, that was delicious. So much pent up lust and obsession. I haven't eaten that deeply in decades."
Tara squeaks, "You haven't? Is Spike ok?"
"Mmm? Oh yes, I'm not a youngling. Catch and release, and you can catch them again."

It's just gone midnight when Buffy walks through the front door and hangs her bag over the banisters. When she walks into the living room, she finds Tara sitting stock still while the closing credits of a movie are playing. Sitting on either side of her are two Succubi asleep on her shoulders. Pausing for a moment, she turns around and grabs a digital camera from the drawers in the dining area.

Tara yelps as the flash of a camera goes off, and Vhesthine moans, "Comfy"

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The next morning, Buffy wakes up feeling more relaxed and rested than she can ever remember. That feeling quickly turns into panic when she tries to move, and realises that there's something holding her down.

Void jumping off the bed, she turns around… and stops as she sees a succubus starting to stir.
Vhesthine looks up from where she was sleeping, "Buffy, come back to bed, it's too early."
Buffy looks at her, "When, how?"
Vhesthine looks at her owlishly, "Last night, obviously. Because you have a good delivery service, and I needed somewhere to sleep obviously. Now, come back to bed, it was nice, like sleeping with my sisters again."

Buffy backs out of the room, and flees into the yard, where she starts to meditate until Dawn joins her. That's when she gets her second surprise of the morning, Dawn's human.

"Hey Buffy, I guess the disguise wore off during the night."
Buffy nods absently, "Um."
"Buffy, are you alright?"
Buffy shakes her head slightly, "I don't know. Have you had something to eat?"
Dawn shakes her head, "No, I'm not hungry at the moment."
Buffy nods as her feeling of things being off continue to mount.

At the end of their session, they walk in to find Vhesthine nursing a mug of coffee at the kitchen table.
Now more awake, Buffy asks, "What happened last night, as I thought we left you on the sofa?"
Vhesthine takes a long sniff of her coffee, "Mmm, you did. But Dawn's hunger woke me up. As I had a good meal, I fed her, and she settled down. Then I found you, and there was plenty of space in your bed, so I joined you."

Buffy looks between Dawn and Vhesthine, "Dawn, sit down, as I think we need to know a bit more about succubus society, starting with the obvious question, 'Can you love?'"
Vhesthine scoffs, "Of course we can, we're a social demon after all. We don't really love males, as that would be like loving the cow or pig that was slaughtered for your dinner."
Buffy sags with relief, "Thank the founders for that. What about gender, is Dawn still a girl?"
Vhesthine shakes her head, "We're just succubae. If you had to equate us to human genders, I suppose that courtesan succubae could be analogous to females. But that's because they're more likely to carry our young."
"What about incubus?"
Vhesthine scowls, "What about those raping bastards?"
Buffy looks concerned, "What, do they force themselves on you?"
Vhesthine, shakes her head, "No, they feed on us." She sighs, "You need to understand that what humans call sex is just a method of feeding for us. But between Succubus and Incubus species, feeding someone else is an expression of love and affection. However, feeding from someone else…" Vhesthine shudders.
Buffy looks down and swallows hard, "So, when I offered to f-feed you tonight, I was…"
Vhesthine nods, "You were, and I'm looking forward to it greatly."
Buffy looks around the room, suddenly lightheaded, "Um, wow, erm. No offence, but this is something of a surprise, as I've never considered anyone like that."
Dawn asks, "What about Angel?"
Buffy shudders, "Nope, too stalkerish, same with Spike. Dawn, when I say I've never considered anyone like that, I mean I've had my libido turned off since the Zariman. And I've never met anyone that even made me consider turning it back on to see. So, this is, um."
"Coming out of left field?" Vhesthine suggests. Buffy just nods, so Vhesthine continues, "I probably shouldn't have fed you like that. You just seemed so accepting of me, that… Don't worry about dinner tonight, I'll find my own food."
Buffy shakes her head, "No! Stay, I said I'd feed you. I'm still going to do it, but, um, this is all new to me."
Dawn starts to laugh, "Oh god. Buffy, you've never dated have you."
Buffy shakes her head in confusion, "No, what's that?"
"You're my older sister, but I know more than you about dating, boys and girls. Has anyone ever spoken to you about the birds and the bees?"
Buffy starts to blush, "Dawn!... I wish I had my implants."
Dawn pats her hand, "Don't worry Buffy, I'll give you The Talk later."
Buffy stands up, "Right, I'm going to look up recipies for tonight on the computer."

Dawn and Vhesthine laugh as she leaves, before Vhesthine looks at Dawn seriously, "Dawn, I know this seems fun at the moment. But I think you should avoid asking for this 'disguise' or to be a 'succubus' for a while. Razial's species hatch from eggs, and they don't have a concept of family. So, one day he may just decide that you actually want to be a succubus, and not change you back. If you express an interest in learning how to use the magic needed to make that transformation, he may consent to teach you. But you'd need to show that you are powerful enough to cast the spell in the first place. Do you understand?"

Dawn nods, but Vhesthine grabs her hand, "Dawn, I don't think you really do. We are not human, and we never have been. Are there any boys, or girls, you've fancied at school? You'll lose interest in them. Do you have any favourite foods? You'll never be able to enjoy it again. Instead, you'll be able to smell the emotions of humans, and lust will make you salivate. Especially if it's directed at you. When you're first learning to hunt, you will kill humans, and you won't care because you'll be full and they tasted delicious."
Dawn snatches her hand away, "Vhesthine, you're scaring me."
Vhesthine nods, "Good, you should be scared. Being a demon, any demon, is far more than just a change in skin. They come with their own desires and instincts. I remember the mayor, and what he changed into. Razial knew what he was becoming, indeed he sold him some of the books needed. But for us, the Mayor would have eaten a few dozen people, and then gone to sleep for a few hundred years. Yes he was a powerful demon, but he had no understanding of the instincts and mentality of that type of demon. Same as you don't about being a succubus." Softly she adds, "Same as Buffy doesn't about being a human."
Dawn looks alarmed, "What do you mean? Buffy's human, isn't she?"
Vhesthine tips her hand back and forth, "She is now. But the way she talks and reacts, she wasn't before. Human's can't just turn off their reactions, or parts of their emotions. You can smell her surprise when either of those things happen, as if she wasn't expecting it. Like just now, when you were needling her about the birds and the bees. The emotion caught her off guard."
"But Buffy's been really cool, she's…"
Vhesthine nods, "I know, and that's who she is."
Their conversation cuts off as a sleepy Tara wanders into the kitchen.

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Willow fingers the sheet of paper she worked on last night as she waits for someone to open the door. In her bag, Amy is scrabbling around in a cardboard box with a couple of holes cut into it.

Eventually, the door clicks unlocked, and opens with no one there. Thinking back to a few events in her past, Willow cautiously goes through the door and up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, Razial is waiting for her.
"Apprentice, we will be working in my workshop, as there are things I need to do."
Willow swallows hard, "Master, I um, I-I know how to turn my friend Amy back into a human. Would you be able to supervise me while I do? I've written out my plan."
Razial holds out his hand, and then reads Willow's notes before tearing off most of the sheet and handing back the shortest part, "This is the only part of your plan that is workable. You may do that part now."
Willow takes the paper back and blanches as only two lines are left. "Revelate!" As a sheet of papyrus appears on the reception counter, Razial picks it up and transports them both to his workshop.

Once they appear, he leads her over to a desk beside a bookcase, "Apprentice, study the spell. You may use the books on this shelf," He points at one of the shelves, "to aid your study. Once you believe you understand the spell and what it does. Write down your new plan and bring it to me."
As he turns away, Willow turns to face him, "M-Master, why are you being so nice today?"
Razial turns back, "Because you are not wasting my time with complaints about fairness or superiority of your own knowledge. Now I have work todo, as Buffy has presented the most interesting conundrum."

Willow stares after him for a few seconds, before turning to the desk to investigate what's available. In a drawer, there is a selection of dip pens, from quills, to fountain pens, and exquisitely designed glass devices. In a long drawer in the front of the desk is a tray of fine sand, behind which are sheets of parchment in different colours. Opening the drawers at the back of the desk, she finds an ink well, and a few jars of different coloured inks.
Looking through her bag, she realises that she's left all of her pens back at the Dorm. As she emptied it on the bed to ensure there was space for Amy. Picking the most recognisably pen like of the implements in the drawer, Willow first copies out the spell at the top. Then she writes out a translation of the spell, and looks at it for a while. Not seeing anything wrong with the spell, she writes down, 'cast spell on subject', before walking over to Razial.
"M-Master, I'm done."
Razial doesn't show any indication that he's heard, as he keeps on writing out some equations in a language Willow doesn't recognise. Just as she's about to try again, Razial puts his pen down and turns to her, "You need to learn more patience apprentice. When you are doing your own research you will learn the value of a train of thought. Now, let me see." Razial glances over the page, "Hmm, an adequate translation, though lacking nuance. However, you have failed to consider anything beyond casting the spell. Do not bring this to me again before you have some considerations listed out."

Half an hour later, Willow's still staring at the parchment trying to work out what the demon could be talking about. Surely it's just a matter of turning Amy back into a human. Rubbing her cheek where Razial hit her, Willow decides against taking the parchment back, instead, she falls back on what's worked for her before, and starts looking through the books on the shelf.

The growl of her stomach pulls Willow out of her perusal of the shelf, and back to her task, and she quickly looks down at her notes. None of which have to do with helping Amy. Though, she has a slightly different translation, that has a lot of uncertainty in the English version, as terms she thought were clear cut have multiple meanings that could apply with that wording. Throwing her pen on the table in frustration, she walks over to Razial.

As she gets there, she blurts out, "I don't get it, what have I missed?"
As the words leave her mouth she shrinks back, expecting to be hit. Instead Razial looks up calmly, "What circumstances did the subject change under? What state is the subject likely to be in when you undo the change?"
Willow staggers back, poleaxed, all thoughts of her hunger gone as the spectre of who she was before she started doing so much magic rears it's head and berates her for forgetting about the person. Tears spotting her eyes, she makes her way back to the desk to start writing out everything she remembers of that event. By the time she's finished, she has three pieces of parchment describing the events of the evening, and another paragraph of possible things that could be wrong afterwards.

Taking her new notes back to Razial, she respectfully waits for him to notice her, as her thoughts continue to spin around such an obvious revelation, and the fact that a soulless demon was the one to make the observation.
Eventually Razial puts his pen down to look at her, "Yes apprentice?"
Willow holds out her work, "I believe I have covered everything master."

Razial glances over the pages, "A better translation, though still missing an important subtlety. You have also focused too much on irrelevant details. The only important information there is that the subject was panicking, and potentially on fire. Because of that, you missed the most relevant consideration for the spell. The subject may still be panicking or injured when the transformation ends. To that end, the solution is to ensure they are unconscious. I presume you already know a spell to render a subject unconscious."
Numbly, Willow nods, as her revelation takes a heavy blow at the dispassionate way Razial ignored all of the human elements of Willow's considerations.
Impatiently, Razial says, "Well, what are you waiting for, get the rat and implement your plan."
"Yes Master." Willow scurries off to get Amy, and stares in dismay at the inside of her bag, before picking up the rat and placing it in the centre of the room.

A muttered 'Somnus' indicates the start of Willow's spell, and Amy slumps on the floor asleep. Then she reads the spell from her notes as magic swirls around her and Amy. As she watches, the rat turns back into a naked human, with no visible injuries.
Razial nods and muses, "Well executed, you certainly have a good level of skill with using magic. At least I don't have to teach you any of the basics on that front. We will deposit the subject in your dorm before having you perform the spell twice more."

As Razial reaches out for her arm, Willow hurriedly asks, "May I take my notes Master?"
Razial looks at her impatiently, "You have magic, use it."
Willow's eyes widen, and she holds out her hand to her notes and bag, which pack themselves before flying into her grasp. Razial nods, "Good, remember, you are preparing crystals on Monday."
Willow nods, "I found some cleansing rituals in your books Master."

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While Tara, Dawn, and Vhesthine are sitting at the table, Buffy sheepishly places a large salad bowl full of rice in the centre of the table, "Sorry, the internet said that 1 cup of rice is a portion, and well, there's 4 of us. So…" Turning back to the stove, she quickly pours the last three dishes she's cooked this afternoon into dessert bowls, before putting them onto the table. Followed by another 6 bowls, that are covered by foil, from the oven. "Um, I wasn't sure what would appeal to you and Dawn, so I put together a selection."
Tara looks at the crowded table, "Buffy, there's enough here to feed an army."
Buffy sits down, still wearing her apron, "Well, Vhesthine said that food needs to be strong and aromatic, so I thought, well."
Tara laughs, "I was kidding. Goddess Buffy, you are so flustered. I haven't seen you like this since you were resurrected."
Buffy is saved from further embarrassment by the doorbell ringing. Hurriedly standing up, she says, "I've got it." Before heading to the door.

Answering the door, she's surprised to see Razial and Willow standing there. Slack jawed, she just stares at them for a second, until Razial says, "May we come in, my apprentice needs to cast a spell."
Numbly Buffy steps to one side, before babbling, "We've just sat down to dinner if you'd like to join us. There's plenty to eat, so it's no problem."
Razial walks in before stating, "We have no business that would be aided by such an endeavour, therefore I will decline. Where are Dawn and Vhesthine?"
Buffy closes the door, "In the kitchen, um this way."

As she returns to the kitchen, Buffy is mildly confused to see a Chinese woman sitting where Vhesthine was. Though she covers it by walking around the table.
When Tara sees Willow, her expression darkens, and she folds her napkin. Razial ignores this and points to both Dawn and Vhesthine, "Apprentice, cast your spell on those two."
Willow looks down at the floor, "I don't know that I can master, I am quite tired."
With a sigh, Razial summons it out of her bag before thrusting it in front of Tara, "Very well. Miss McLay, you cast it."
Tara squeaks, "Me? I don't even know what it does."
With an impatient growl, Razial stalks around the table to Buffy, "Slayer, you do it then. Just read it aloud while concentrating on the person you're casting it on."
Buffy puts her hands on her hips and looks at Razial, "First, this is my house, you will show me respect here. Second, what is this spell supposed to do. And Third, I have never cast a spell before, so how am I supposed to do it?"

Razial steps back, and eyes Buffy's left hand warily, "My apologies for being so brusque, I forgot myself. There is a better than average translation beneath the spell. To explain, a spell is a formalised magical construct that is tied to the words and meaning, as written by the original author. No matter who reads a spell, the spell will always do what it was written to do. Because of this, the user need not have any talent in spell casting, just the ability to use magic."
Tara takes courage from Buffy, and speaks up, "That's not true, you need to know how to channel magic to cast a spell."
Razial turns towards her, "That, young witch, is the difference between an incantation and a spell. A spell without magic is an incantation."
Buffy looks at the spell, "And you promise it won't do something like turn them into an infested."
Razial looks at Buffy, "I promise that if anything does go wrong, it will be as new to me as it is to you."
Buffy swallows hard, and hands the page to Vhesthine, "Vhesthine, honest question, what do you think?"

While Buffy is agonising over the decision, Dawn pulls a chocolate covered donut from the fridge. Taking a deep breath, Buffy reads out the words while looking at Dawn. Lots of pretty lights swirl around the two of them, before sinking into Dawn to no apparent effect. Smiling, Dawn picks up the donut and takes a big bite, before gagging and staggering over to the bin to spit it out.
Razial looks at Dawn in concern, "That should have worked, as you are both human."
Buffy collapses in a chair with hysterical laughter, "Oh that's funny, person must mean of the same species as me. I'm not human, and I haven't been since I was 13 years old."
Dawn just pouts and looks at Razial, "Master, please may you lift the disguise from me?"
Razial mutters, "It appears I've made some basic errors in my assumptions." Before he disappears in a flash of fire.

A moment later, the doorbell goes again, and Tara gets up, "I'll get it!"
As she hurries out, Dawn sags into her chair once more, "It's not fair. Buffy, you're not helping."

Dawn's despair trails off as both she, and Vhesthine, look at the door to the hall. Just after they do, Anya walks in, followed by Xander. Dawn stands up and drifts over to Xander, before hugging him, "Mmm, Xander, you smell so yummy."
Anya blinks for a sec before slapping Dawn's hand, "Bad Dawn, Xander's mine. Get your own hottie." She then pulls Xander behind her, "That goes for you too."
Buffy pulls herself together, "Sorry guys, um, Willow, Anya, Xander. This is Vhesthine, she's a succubus, and I invited her round for dinner."
Anya looks at Vhesthine with disgust, "Keep your grubby mitts off my Xander, you hear me?"
Buffy starts to stand up, "I just need to see how Tara's doing."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "Don't worry, I'll do it, and I'll take trouble with me."
Dawn whines as Xander gets further away from her, then she spots Willows piece of paper, "Anya, you're human. Cast this on me please?" She even clasps her hands in a pleading gesture.
Anya shakes her head, "Ex Vengeance demon remember."
As Vhesthine drags Dawn out of the room, Anya looks at Buffy, "What's going on? I didn't think she was interested in boys yet."
Buffy shakes her head, "She still isn't really. But when she collapsed at school, Vhesthine took her to work, and Razial disguised her as a succubus. Long story short, Dawn asked for it again Friday, and Razial was unavailable when the business closed."
Xander puts his hand up, "So, what, she's a succubus now?"
Willow quietly says, "In the same way Amy was a rat."
Anya whirls around and pulls Willow into a hug, "Willow! Thank you for removing our memories like that. Because of you, I've got my Xander back. I'd have said something earlier, but well, a girl has needs, ya know."

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Vhesthine pulls Dawn up to Buffy's bedroom before turning around and taking her hands, "Dawn, look at me."
Dawn tears her gaze from the door and looks at Vhesthine, "Yes Vhesthine?"
"Dawn, while you're like this, I'm going to take on the role of your matriarch. Do you understand?"
Dawn shakes her head, "Not really, what's a matriarch?"
"A matriarch is the head of a succubus family. She's the one that teaches fledgelings our ways, and feeds them if their mother dies. She's also supposed to teach self-control, and that's something you need to get a handle on before you learn to feed yourself."
Dawn shakes her head, "I don't understand."
"Dawn, what would you have done to Xander if you knew how to feed?"
Dawn looks down, "Probably licked him like a popsicle."
Vhesthine sighs, "Oh god, I'm glad you're still a fledgling. Dawn, I'm about to feed you in the way of my people. I need you to promise me that even if you work out how to do it, you won't do so unless I'm there."
Dawn looks back at the door, "Uh huh, I promise."
"No Dawn, I need you to look at me and say the words, and mean them."
Dawn looks back, "I promise I won't feed unless you're there. Can I go?"
Vhesthine counts to 10, "No, I need you to open your mouth slightly for me."
"Ok?"

Vhesthine holds Dawn's head and leans down to push her mouth over Dawn's before pushing some of the essence she fed on last night out and into Dawn's mouth. Dawn sags, and moans when Vhesthine lets go.
"Mmm, that was better than Maple Chocolate Donuts, and nothing's better than those."
Vhesthine nods, "It is, and it gets better as you get older. But it is a person's essence that we consume, not their soul, their life force. If you eat too much of it, they will die, even if they seem to still be alive. It might take a few minutes, or maybe a few hours, but they will fall asleep and just never wake up."
Dawn nods along absently, "Uh huh."

Vhesthine sighs, "Fledglings, they're all the same. Come on Dawn, let's check on Tara."
Dawn smiles, and bounces out of the room and into Tara's room, before jumping on the bed beside her, "Hey Tara. Are you ok?"
Tara looks away, "Yeah, I'm ok."
Dawn leans in and sniffs her, "Are you sure, as you smell like that dark chocolate that Giles used to buy occasionally."
Vhesthine walks around the bed and sits beside Tara, before releasing her disguise and taking Tara's hand, "That's a touch of lust, a lot of love, disappointment, and heartbreak."
Tara looks up, her face puffy, "You know Giles only bought that because he knew no one else would eat it."
Dawn takes Vhesthine's lead, and changes into her succubus form, then hugs Tara from behind, with her wings too, "Hey, come back down with us. You can sit between us, and I can stare at you enviously while you eat."
Tara looks up at Dawn, "But Willow's here, and she's their friend, not me."
Dawn looks at her as if she's an idiot, "You're both our friends, besides, you live here, Willow doesn't."

It takes the two of them another 5 minutes to persuade Tara to join them for dinner. When they get downstairs, Willow has already left, and the others are sitting around the table chatting.

As the six of them eat, Dawn chews and swallows a bite. "Buffy, this smells wonderful, and I've never thought about textures before, but they're interesting too. But I think I'm glad I can't taste it."
Xander looks up from his fourth portion of one of the meat dishes, "What do you mean, this is great?"
Beside him, Anya fans her face and reaches for a glass of water, "Speak for yourself, what did you put in this Buffy?"
Buffy drains her own glass, "That recipe called for three red peppers, so I saw these lovely red ghost peppers, and figured they would add a faint background taste. You know, the ghost in the name?"
Tara coughs and drinks a glass of her own water, "Did you do the same for all the dishes?"
Buffy nods silently as she eats another bite of food, "It tastes good though."
Anya looks at Buffy in disbelief, "You can taste it over the heat?"
"Uh huh."

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After dinner, Vhesthine pulls Buffy upstairs so they can have dessert, while Tara and Dawn catch up with Xander and Anya, well mainly Xander.

As Vhesthine gently pushes Buffy back onto Buffy's bed, Buffy says, "I know I said I'd feed you, but, um, you'll need to teach me how. As I think you understood it in a different way than I meant it."
Vhesthine purrs as she climbs on top of Buffy, "Oh I did, and I will. Just try to do what I do."
Vhesthine leans down and kisses Buffy on the mouth, pushing a tiny bit of essence into the kiss. Buffy's body flushes as she does, and she kisses back.
Vhesthine lifts back up, "Physical doesn't do anything, essence. I need essence." She leans in for another kiss, and Buffy grasps for the sensation, but moans as it overtakes her. By the time she get's it, she's so full of lust that Vhesthine is almost ready to throw teaching to the wind, and just take.

As Buffy pushes a tiny bit of essence back into Vhesthine, Vhesthine's eyes roll up into her head, and she moans loud into Buffy's mouth. Lifting her head up, she looks at Buffy, "More."

As Buffy becomes more proficient with feeding Vhesthine her essence, and the two of them start mutually exchanging it, Buffy's doppelganger appears crouching on the dresser, a wide, sinister, grin on its face.
Vhesthine, starts to move on, and rips Buffy's clothes off before kissing her once more, and this time Buffy screams her name, before she tries to return the favour.

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Willow wakes up Sunday morning with someone saying "Willow?"
Turning over towards the wall and she blearily says, "It's Sunday, let me sleep."
The person shakes her, "Willow? Is it really you?"
Looking up with sleep caked eyes, she blinks owlishly, "Amy, go back to bed."
"Willow! It's you. You survived."
As Amy hugs her and starts crying, Willow rubs her eyes with her free hand, "Amy, it's ok. Everything will be ok."

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 9


Willow rings the doorbell to Buffy's house, she thinks it's Buffy's house. Her chest hurts, her head hurts, and she sort of feels good and dirty at the same time. While she's waiting, she rests her head against the doorframe as she shakes.

A couple of minutes later, the Chinese woman from the other night answers the door before recoiling.
"You stink!"
Just as she's closing the door, Willow manages to say, "I need help. I…"
The Chinese woman looks at her, "Not through the house, I won't subject Dawn to that stink. Go round to the Yard, and I'll wake Tara."

As she gets into the yard, she stumbles and collapses on the floor. The world around her blurring slightly. Before she's got back to her feet, someone's crouched beside her.
"It's ok, she's just exhausted. She's still barely got enough essence left to live."
Willow recognises Tara's voice as she says, "What happened to her?"
"An incubus. An older one by the smell of things, his scent is all over her."
Willow manages to say, "He said I taste of strawberries."
The voice calmly says, "He was lying, he doesn't know what strawberries taste like."

Tara's voice firms up, "What do you need me to do?"
"A cleansing ritual, we need to get his taint out of her before she's allowed anywhere near Dawn."
"I-I'll do it, what do you need?"
"Crushed quartz, finer the better. If not, coarse salt will do, but we may have to do the ritual multiple times. It will be physically hard enough on her doing it once."
"There's a large quartz in our bedroom, can we use that?"
"If you don't use magic on it directly."
Willow pushes herself to her hands and knees, "White bag in chest, silica sand. Is quartz sand."

A succubus turns Willow over, and she vaguely recognises her, Vhesta… Vhesti… something, "Willow, where did you find an incubus?"
Willow mumbles, "Amy, said she knew someone who could make magic last for days. I didn't know, I didn't know."
Vhesthine strokes her hair softly, "I know you didn't, mortals never do. What was his name?"
"Rack, had this apartment, it was hidden."
Vhesthine nods, "Of course it was, I'd have killed him if it wasn't."
Tara comes back, "I've got it."

Buffy comes out wearing another robe and rubbing her eyes, "You've got what? Willow?"
Vhesthine looks up, "Don't come too close Buffy, she's a victim of an Incubus. Do you know if you have any coarse salt in the house?" Buffy shakes her head, "Tara, save a cup of that for me."
Willow watches as Buffy processes that, and then the concern appearing on her face as she asks, "What's going on, and why is it a problem we're dealing with out here?"
Willow mumbles, "Amy said he was warlock. Chest hurts."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "I said she was a victim of an Incubus. They come from the same hell we do, and they're parasitic rapists. They can feed, and be fed, the same way we did last night, and Saturday, but they only ever feed by taking. This one is preying on magic users, preying on their dependency on magic, while others will prey on the lusts of mostly women. Either way, the basic method is the same, take some of the victims essence, and feed it back to them with some of their own essence and either lust or magic. The victim is then caught in a cycle where they are drained to just before the point of death. But the incubus' taint inside them won't fade for a few days, and will leave them wanting more.
"Not only does it smell foul to succubus, but they can track their own taint. If he finds Dawn… I said they were parasitic didn't I?"

Buffy kneels down next to Vhesthine, and reaches out to touch her, only to stop at the shake of her head, "What about you?"
"I'm her matriarch, and far more experienced. I'm no easy target, and if he does subdue me, it will take him long enough to recover that I should either be found or escape." Left unsaid is the real possibility that neither would happen, "Tara, I need you to pour a circle of sand around Willow. Buffy, we need to be outside the circle."

Once the circle has been lain, Vhesthine starts to talk Tara through the ritual, "Tara, this is a quick and dirty purification ritual. There's no incantation to it, just injecting magic, and then managing the flow of magic inside the circle. Before you begin, I'm going to teach you a demonic spell that will allow you to see taint, not just magic. When the ritual starts, it will be removing the easiest taint to start with, which should be a green colour. The taint from the hell my species comes from is red in colour, so you should be able to tell when it's done. You need to keep the ritual going until you can't see any red in magic. Willow will scream, as this is a physically demanding ritual."
Tara swallows hard, "How do I do the ritual?"
"You push magic into the circle until it starts trying to leave. Then you take that leaving magic and push it into the quartz. Don't worry if it takes a while to get the cycle going. But once it's started you need to see the ritual through, as the quartz can't be reused again."

Buffy nods from the side-lines, "What about you?"
Vhesthine has a grim look on her face, "I'll do my own ritual once this one is finished."

As Tara starts the ritual, she can see that the magic coming from here is a light green in colour that's slowly darkening. Even so, it's a struggle not to tap into that new energy inside her, even more so now she knows just how large a part of her life it is becoming. Because of this, she feels like it takes her far longer than it should to get the cycle started, and then the screaming starts, as the magic fountaining up from inside the circle comes out a deep, almost black green as it passes through Willow before returning to the light green that she started with. When the green start to turn orange and then brown, Tara is vaguely aware that Dawn has come out, and been caught by Buffy.

By the time the magic is flowing the same light green colour it started, Willow has stopped screaming because she's succumbed to unconsciousness. Tara cuts off the magic and collapses to the floor, crying with great renting sobs. Only vaguely aware of someone hugging her, and enfolding her in something. As that person picks her up and carries her inside, she's vaguely aware of Vhesthine grunting in pain as she starts her own ritual.

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It's mid-afternoon by the time Willow wakes up long enough to be coherent. When she does, she looks around, slightly confused to find herself asleep on Buffy's couch.

From the room where the phone is, Vhesthine's voice carries clearly into the lounge, "Is Razial there?... Yes, I'll wait... Master Razial, I have news about your apprentice... She was brought into contact with an incubus... I have, I talked Tara through the process... I did it myself too... Quartz sand... Clear light green... I understand... Thank you Master Razial."

As the phone clicks, Tara hands her a mug of hot chocolate, "How are you doing?"
Willow looks up, "Weak and confused. How did I get here?"
Vhesthine walks out of the study, "That's what I'd like to know too. But first, no magic for the next two days. It will take you that long to recover from the cleansing ritual Tara did last night. We're lucky her magic is so pure, otherwise you may have still been carrying incubus taint."

Willow looks upset for a moment, before leaning back in resignation, "I can do that. I think I can anyway."

Vhesthine nods, "Razial told me to say, 'nightmare stables' to you."
Willow shrinks back, "I'll be good, no magic for two days. Where's Buffy?"
"She's getting ready to pick Dawn up from school, I'll let her know Razial has given her the evening off when she comes downstairs. Now this is important, where did you come in contact with an incubus?"

Willow takes a sip of her hot chocolate, "I don't know, is it important?"
Vhesthine leans forward, "Yes it's important. If he gets hold of Dawn, he'll feed from her for weeks, then, when she's almost used up, he'll implant his young inside her and let her go. While it's growing, she will become attached to it, and then feed it while it grows until finally it's strong enough to drain her dry."
Leaning against the banister, Buffy says in no uncertain terms, "Yeah, that's not going to happen."

Vhesthine looks up at Buffy, "Razial has given you time off until this incubus has been found, and either eliminated, or driven off."
Buffy nods, "I'll get Dawn, and meet you back here, or at the Magic Box."

As the door closed, Tara and Vhesthine look back at Willow. Tara asks, "What happened Willow?"

Willow stares into her mug, "I guess I should start with yesterday morning, Amy woke me up because she didn't believe she was human again. She seemed to be OK for a bit. Then started talking about asking Larry to the prom, so I had to tell her it has been 3 years since she turned herself into a rat."
Willow drains the last of her hot chocolate, "Throughout the rest of the day, she kept asking me about the intervening time. You know, things like her crush, who was gay, and is dead. Or the school that was destroyed by the mayor. Once it started to get dark, she suggested going out to the Bronze. So we did."

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Willow winced as she took another shot with her levitated pool cue. Rubbing her chest, she frowns when the spot ball hits the edge of the pocket rather than going in.
"Are you ok?" Amy asked, as she crouched down beside the table, before firing off a blast of magic that felt, hot.

["You know why you were feeling that pain, don't you Willow?" "Yes, now do you want to hear what happened?"]
Willow leaned on her pool cue, "Yeah, I'm just not feeling it, you know?"
Amy straightened up, "Yeah, look, let's go dancing for a bit."

Willow nodded, and put the pool cue on the table for the next player, then they both moved into the crowd on the dance floor. After a while, Willow started feeling lost, and so she bought herself a drink from the bar, and started sipping it while watching the crowd. She'd barely touched the drink when Amy came out of the crowd with two burly men.
"Hey Willow, look at what I found."
Willow forced a smile, "So I see."

After a brief conversation where Willow turned down Amy's offer of enchanting a lesbian to be her 'dance partner', the two men ended up dancing in cages while Willow and Amy made their way to the balcony.
["Hey, you can't just skip that bit, were they hot, did you kiss?" "Vhesthine, Willow's telling this story, and if she wants to skip that bit, then let her."]

Once on the balcony, the two of them started to enjoy themselves by throwing magic around in creative ways. Well, Amy did, Willow just rubbed her chest and enjoyed it vicariously. That lasted for half an hour or so, until Amy looked at Willow, "Not feeling it?"
Willow shook her head, "Not really, no. I think I'd like to call it a night."
Amy looked at Willow critically, "What's the matter, is magic not hitting like it used to?" Willow shook her head, which Amy took to mean agreement, "Hey, I know a place where there's a guy who can make the feeling last for hours. Let's ditch this joint and I'll show you."
"No, I'm fine."
Amy grabbed her hand, "Look, I can see the desire in your eyes. Rack is great, he'll give you everything you want."

As Amy dragged her off, Willow cast a counter spell over the Bronze, undoing all of the magic that Amy had used.

As Amy dragged her deeper into Downtown Sunnydale, Willow asked her, "Amy, where are we going?"
Amy shrugged, "Not sure, the entrance moves around. We'll know it when we find it."
"How?"
Amy looked at Willow strangely, "Can't you feel it?"

Willow raised her hand and closed her eyes. Once she had, she felt a heat in front of her, "Hot."
Amy smiled at her while walking backwards, "I know right, come on, he's great."

Right before Willows eyes, Amy disappeared though an invisible portal. Curiously, Willow followed into a drab seating room, with a single coffee table and an ashtray half full of cigarette butts. Sitting on one of the couches were a man and a woman arguing about who would go next.

The two of them were only standing there for a couple of minutes before a tall man with wild eyes and unkempt hair, came out of the only other door in the room. Behind him came a young woman, who swayed a little as she walked out through the portal. As soon as they noticed the man, the people on the couch stood up and started claiming that they were next.

Rack, looked at me, I mean, Rack looked Willow in the eyes and said, "No, I think they're next."
Then his gaze turned to Amy, "Amy, I haven't seen you for a long while."
Amy twitched her nose and said "Rat."
Rack nodded before leading the way through the door. Once inside, he turned toward Willow and reached out a hand to touch her chest. Willow stepped back warily, but Amy put a hand on her shoulder, "You need to give a little to get, you know what I mean?"
Willow nodded, so Rack reached out and put his hand on my, on Willow's chest and then there was a warm feeling. That's when Rack said, "You taste like Strawberries."

Willow smiled at him, and then she started to feel wonderful. At one point she was lying on the ceiling, the pain in her chest a distant thing. Below her, the floor was a forest that changed and shifted. Then she saw a figure moving through a forest and the pain in her chest turned into a stab, and she fell to the floor with a scream.
When she looked up, Amy was still in the grips of whatever happened, and Rack was lying back on a leather couch.

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"He then smiled at me, and said, 'Pleasure doing business with you.' After that I have vague memories of walking the streets, and ending up at Buffy's house."

Vhesthine looks at Willow sternly, "you are lucky to be alive young lady. If you had been more out of it, your heart would have exploded."
Willow nods sadly, "I didn't know, what he was going to do, not what could happen if I pushed using magic."
Vhesthine nods, "That may be all that saved you. That being said, I need you to show me the area Amy took you too."
Willow looks confused, "Why?"
"Because I know incubus, and you didn't pay him nearly enough for it to be a pleasure. If Buffy returns with Dawn, then we can look at leisure. If not, the closer we are to his lair, the less likely he will escape before we've found Dawn." Vhesthine scribbles a phone number on a piece of paper, "Tara, this is my cell phone number. Give me a call when Buffy gets home regardless."

Tara looks at the number, "I'm just going to call Dawn and see if she's ok."
Vhesthine lurches to her feet, "No! No, Tara don't. If he has her, and he thinks someone's checking in on her, then he might just leave everything and run. We need to be as close to his lair as possible before he decides to leave."

Tara sits down morosely as Vhesthine drags the still convalescing Willow off to her car.

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Buffy slams open the door to her home in a panic, accidentally breaking the lock, "Dawn! Dawn!"
Tara jumps at the sudden entrance, then falls off the couch while trying to stand, "Buffy, Vhesthine's taken Willow to where the entrance was before. She wants to call her cell phone before we do anything else."
Buffy nods, "You do that, I'm getting my weapons. Anything you need from upstairs?"
Tara squeaks, "Me?"
Halfway up the stairs, Buffy leans back, "Yes you. You're the only other magic expert we have. I'm getting Spike too, as there's anything he knows, it's the crappy side of the city. As he fits right in."

With slightly shaky hands, Tara punches in the number for Vhesthine's cell. After a couple of misdials, Vhesthine answers on the first ring, "Vhesthine."
"It's Tara Buffy's home, no Dawn."
"I'm parked near 10th​ and Fairview, I'm not sure that Willow will be able to sense anything. But the stink of incubus is everywhere around here."
"I'll let Buffy know, apparently we're getting spike on the way."

From behind her, Buffy says, "On the way where?"
"One mo, Buffy's talking. Vhesthine says that they're near 10th​ and Fairview, and the place stinks of incubus."
Buffy nods, "I grabbed your coat. Can you call Magic Box on the way, just in case."
"Uh, sure. Sorry, gotta go."

Tara hurries out of the house after Buffy, "Buffy, slow down!"
Buffy slows down just enough for Tara to get her coat on, and dial Magic Box long enough to confirm that they're looking into frost demons, and there's no Dawn there either. Once she's hung up and put her phone away, Buffy leans down midstride and picks her up bridal style, "Buffy! No I'm not ready for this."

As her objection rings out across the street, Buffy disappears into a series of 7 void jumps, before she jogs for a few seconds before repeating it again. To start with, Tara's fingers start turning blue, along with her lips, and she's shivering like mad. But after the third or fourth set, something inside seems to snap, and it no longer feels like she's freezing, or something is being leeched from her.

[AN: in game, operators start with 100 energy. Void dash/sling costs 25/jump and travels around 12m. With maxed out Focus schools, that energy increases to 190, and subsequent slings cost 12.5 energy allowing for 13 jumps on one full charge of energy. For a total of 158m in a couple of seconds. Buffy is doing less jumps, but keeping half her pool available for other stuff.]

Far sooner than she thought possible, Tara finds herself being put down outside a crypt.
As Tara is getting her bearings back, Buffy opens the door to the crypt, and disappears inside. As the door starts to swing closed, Tara hurries over, and heaves it open enough for her to go inside. Once inside, she almost slips down the stairs, as her eyes haven't adjusted and she misses the first step. More cautiously, she makes her way down the stairs to hear a heated conversation. Pushing her way through the door at the bottom of the stairs, the conversation becomes clear as Buffy is tapping her foot impatiently.

"No Spike, this has nothing to do with my non-existent attraction towards you. If you need me to prove how little I'm attracted to you arrange for a spar with me after we've found Rack, and rescued Dawn."
"What do you want with Rack, he's seriously bad news."
Tara speaks up, "W-Willow visited him last night, and he might have kidnapped Dawn."
"So the little witch can speak. Given up on other witches and looking for some vampire fun?"
Tara shakes her head, while Buffy punches Spike around the jaw, "Spike, stop thinking with your bits, and start thinking with your brain. Dawn, is, missing. You know how to find Rack. So, are you helping, or do I have to drag a demon from Willy's to help, and explain that it's because the big bad Spike didn't want to get close to Rack?"

Spike growls as he grabs his coat, "One day Buffy. One day I'm going to hit you back."
Buffy laughs as she heads for the door, "Spike, I have been inviting you to spar for months. It's not like you can blame your chip, as I'm not even human. You've just never been willing to put your money where your mouth is."
Spike stomps after her, "I'll show you where your mouth should be Slayer. I bet you're nothing without your fancy abilities."
Tara rolls her eyes as she follows behind, Buffy's words floating down the stairs, "What? Like you're nothing without your vampiric abilities?"

As they leave the crypt, the sun has just dipped below the horizon, leaving the three of them keeping to the more shaded areas, as Spike has a distressing tendency to smoke lightly in the brightest of the twilight. Though, by the time they've reached 10th​ and Fairview, it is now dark enough for him to walk around unfettered.

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Spike spins around when Willow's tired voice calls, "Buffy, Spike, Tara, you're here." As he does, the Chinese woman from the other night catches his eye and smiles broadly at Buffy.

Vhesthine saunters over to Buffy and kisses her full on the lips, feeding a small amount of energy to her, which is quickly reciprocated, "Buffy, you've brought a happy meal on legs. Can we take him home with us?"
Buffy looks Spike up and down slowly, "Only if you remember you need to clean up after yourself, before bed."
Spike shuffles uncomfortably as the two woman look at him like that. He's Spike, the god damn Slayer slayer, so instead he scoffs, "As if you could handle me."
Buffy gives him a syrupy smile that she has to have copied from Dawn, "Well, if you find Rack for us, you might just find out."

As he stalks off into downtown, Buffy whispers to Vhesthine, "What are you doing to me? I'm never that… I don't know what that was, I just know I'm never like that."
Vhesthine trails her hand down Buffy's cheek and gives her a quick kiss that's just a kiss, "I'll explain it later."

After what seems like hours walking backwards and forwards through the back alleyways, Spike suddenly spins around. "There, I can feel it."
Buffy looks at Willow and Tara, who both shake their heads, "Ok, lead on McDuff."
Spike groans, "It's lay on McDuff, if you're going to quote at me, at least get it right."

Spike walks through down the alleyway before disappearing into nothing. A moment later he reappears, flying backwards as red lightning plays over his chest.

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Activating Guardian Shell, Buffy charges forward into the portal swiftly followed by Vhesthine as Tara hurries over to pick Spike up off the floor.
Willow starts to shake as she looks towards the portal as Buffy and Vhesthine disappear through it. The memory of the rush of magic warring with the feeling of violation she's felt since Vhesthine explained what happened.

When the two of the don't reappear for a nearly a minute, Tara pulls a small bag of salt from a pocket, "Willow, what's that binding spell we tried last year?"
Willow frowns, "The one that's supposed to imprison someone in a circle?"
"That's the one."
Willow frowns, "Tara, that didn't work because we weren't strong enough, and I can't help you."
Tara smiles softly at Willow, "Don't worry, I think I have the power aspect sorted, I just need the incantation."
"Don't kill yourself, you hear. I love you, even if I do stupid shit. Δέστε αυτό το ον, δυναμώστε τον κύκλο, αλυσίδες θα σας κρατήσουν μέχρι να σπάσει ο κύκλος." [an: Déste aftó to on, dynamóste ton kýklo, alysídes tha sas kratísoun méchri na spásei o kýklos. – or in English Bind this being, strengthen the circle, chains shall hold you till the circle breaks]
Tara smiles as she reaches for that power that's inside her and tugs it out while she lays out a very thin, unbroken, line of salt just in front of the portal while chanting the spell repeatedly.

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Buffy runs straight into a hail of lightning, that scatters off of her still forming shield and strengthening it. Stopping a couple of paces inside, she looks past Rack to an insensate Dawn, who is floating behind him, moaning incoherently.
With only a trace of the anger she's feeling, Buffy somewhat conversationally says, "If you hand over my sister now, I will give you a 30 minute head start on getting out of Sunnydale."
Rack smiles, "You smell of power, and succubus, I have another deal. You sleep and I take you both."
While Buffy's got the incubus' attention, Vhesthine tries to slip around the room unnoticed, only for Buffy to slump to the floor as Racks spell hits her.
Rack's smile widens as he spots Vhesthine try to cast a spell, "So the Matriarch reveals herself. While you would be a magnificent prize, I think I shall keep the prize I already have. As humans say, 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.' Oh, and don't bother with any magic, I warded this place against your kind when I moved in." As he finishes speaking, he clicks his fingers and the inner door spills open to allow a large mass of writhing tentacles to spill out into the room, searching out Vhesthine and Buffy.

Vhesthine finds herself in a fight for her life as a tentacle latches onto first her leg, and then her arm.

Pushing Dawn through the portal, Rack looks back once, "Don't worry, those tentacles should only be around for a couple of…" He turns around to look at Dawn, who has stopped moving.

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Tara watches as Dawn is pushed out of the portal first, instead of Rack stepping out first. As the spell activates around Dawn, Tara swallows hard and looks around. Spike is only just coming round, and Willow is shaking like a leaf.

When Rack cautiously steps out and around the barrier formed by the circle, Tara steps forward, "I-I'm n-not going to let you take Dawn."
Rack smirks at her, "And what is the widdle white witch going to do to stop me? Cover me with roses?"
Tara brings up her hand to deflect a dark red spell sent her way, "You've made a poor assumption." She sends a basic conjuring hex at him that creates a fall of roses, "You're assuming that I'm only a witch."
Rack contemptuously dispels the roses as they fall around him, ignoring the ones that fall to the floor, as Tara steps forward, her eyes starting to glow, "You see I am also Tenno. And you kidnapped someone I consider to be my child."

Tara's hand slashes out as Rack sends a blast of lightning at her. As it does, one of the roses at his feet turns into a towering bush with spikes as thick as her thumb. Rack steps back, only for Tara to slash her hand upward, and another rose sprouts underneath him, "The second thing you forgot, roses have thorns."
Rack dodges to the side again and again as every spell he tries is intercepted by a rose bush, and every move he makes interrupted by another bush. Once he's got nowhere else to go, Tara reaches out and touches one of the thorns, and looks at him sadly, "I'm sorry to have to do this, but now you die."
Rack desperately reaches into a pocket and grasps a talisman a supplicant gave him decades ago, and snaps it as the roses spiral inward, their thorns moving against each other like a buzz saw. Screaming in pain, Rack disappears in a flash of green fire leaving rivulets of blood flowing down the trunks of the roses.

Tara turns around to look at Willow and pushes the excess void energy into the magic around her, causing it to become a visible corona. As the last of it dissipates she smiles, "See, power, not a problem." Then collapses to the street.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 10 – part 1


Buffy hangs up the phone to the school after informing them that Dawn is going to need to have a few days off, due to the stress of being taken from the school by a stranger, along with a fuller explanation to Principle Stevens. As she's about to go upstairs to check on Dawn after the cleansing ritual they needed to perform on her after they got back, the doorbell goes off.

Frowning, Buffy makes her way to the front door and opens it. Standing there is a middle aged lady that has obviously enjoyed the finer things in life, combined with a chronic lack of exercise. She's wearing a beige cardigan over a plaid red blouse, and carrying a clipboard. As Buffy is taking all of this in, the woman looks her up and down in turn, before sniffing.
Being unfamiliar with strangers just turning up, Buffy ventures, "Yes?"
The woman draws herself up, "Good morning, I'm Doris Kroeger from Social Services. Are you Miss Buffy Summers?"
"Ah, yes. I'm sorry, but what are Social Services?"
Doris looks down at Buffy, "Young lady, do not take me for an idiot. I have records here of you having spoken to Social Services representatives on more than one occasion over the last year."
Buffy frowns slightly, "I'm just going to get someone who can help me, as I'm not very good at dealing with civilians."

As Doris starts to make a note, Buffy swings the door closed and makes her way upstairs to Tara's room. Knocking on the door, she calls, "Tara, there's a civilian at the door, and she says she's from something called social services. How do I deal with her?"
A moment later, a frazzled Tara opens the door in her PJ's, "What was that Buffy?"
"There's a civilian at the door, and she says she's from social services. I don't remember what that's supposed to be. How do I help?" Buffy looks over her shoulder at the state of the room behind Tara, "Void energies playing up?"
Tara nods, "They are. Um. Invite her in, and answer her questions honestly. Also make notes of what you talk about." Tara closes the door, then opens it again, "Oh, and most people don't know about the supernatural, so try not to talk about things like vampires and succubae."

Buffy nods before making her way back downstairs. Opening the door, Buffy looks at the woman, "Sorry about that. Do you want to come through to the study? Well, it's now the study, it was my mother's sitting room."
Doris shakes her head, "No, no, this shouldn't take too long. I just need to ask a few questions."
Buffy nods, "Then if you'll come this way the desk I do my paper work at, and help Dawn with her homework every morning after our exercises and sister time."
Doris nods as she follows behind and sits at the desk, noting the paperwork that's scattered around it, "Do you live here alone?"
Buffy shakes her head, "No, Tara is using my mother's old bedroom."
"I see, and who is the woman on the couch?"
Buffy pulls a sheet of paper out and starts to make notes on the conversation, "Oh, that's Willow, a friend."
"I see, does she live here too?"
Buffy shakes her head, "Not since she made everyone forget themselves."
Doris nods, "Did everyone include Dawn?"
Buffy nods sadly, "Unfortunately yes, I almost killed her for that. Fortunately, my boss at work has taken her under his wing. She's been doing much better since then."
"Uh huh. What sort of friends is she? Your girlfriend perhaps?"
Buffy shakes her head, "No, she was Tara's girlfriend. Mine's asleep upstairs, she was up most of the night looking after Dawn."
"Are you a lesbian?"
Buffy shakes her head, "I have no idea what that is, all I know is she makes me happy."
"I see. And the bag on the table over there?"
"I think that's mushrooms, Willow and Tara were talking about a gentler cleansing ritual last night when I went to bed."
"I see, and do you use a lot of that sort of mushroom in this house?"
Buffy shakes her head, "Not so much, I sometimes use them for cooking when I can't get any at the store."

Doris nods, and flicks over a couple of pages on her clipboard, "Now, Miss Summers, we were called in today because your neighbours reported screaming coming from your yard during the night the day before yesterday. And again, last night, and an anonymous caller identified last nights screams as coming from a young girl, probably Dawn. Do you have any explanation for that?"
Buffy nods, "Willow's old friend Amy came back from her… extended stay in a cage Sunday, and they went out for the night on Sunday. Amy took her to a person that dealt with… heavy stuff, the sort of stuff my boss is helping Willow get away from. She turned up early Monday morning asking for help, so we did a cleansing ritual to help clean her out. When she came round in the afternoon, we found out the person she'd been taken to see had a thing for… girls like Dawn. By the time I got to her school to pick her up, that person had already removed her from the school. So we tracked him down, and dealt with him while getting Dawn back. Unfortunately, Dawn needed to go through the same cleansing ritual."

Doris writes for some time before looking up again, "I see, and what about her schooling?"
"I'm keeping her home today and tomorrow so that she can recover from last night, but since I've been able to give Dawn my full attention, her grades and attention have all been improving."

After making a few more notes, Doris looks up, "Thank you for being so candid with me Miss Summers. I'm sorry to say that I'm going to have to put you on probation."
Buffy tilts her head, "What does that mean?"
"It means I will be keeping a closer eye on you, and if I judge that this is an unfit environment for Dawn. She will be removed, and placed into foster care until you meet our standards."
Buffy frowns, "You can do that? And what does keeping a closer eye mean exactly?"
Doris nods, "We can, and I only have Dawns best interests in mind. Being on probation means that we will stop by randomly to check up on Dawn and her living situation."
Buffy nods, "You are aware that I work from 4pm till 10pm, and Dawn comes to work with me when there's nobody else to supervise her, or she hasn't arranged plans with friends?"
Doris makes another note, "Thank you for the information. I need to return to the office to type up the report."
As Buffy shows Doris out, she looks up at the clock before deciding it's too late to go to the supermarket now.

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It's nearing lunchtime when Vhesthine comes downstairs to check on Buffy. Willow and Tara have both left for their respective college courses. Following the smell of cooking, she makes her way into the kitchen and exchanges a quick sharing through a kiss.

"How's Dawn doing?"
Buffy hums, "She was still asleep when I checked in on her 30 minutes ago, so I kissed her and fed a little into her the way you do."
Vhesthine nods, "It could take her a few days to wake up, and we can't afford to give her a large feed until she's awake. As if we give her too much, she'll need to sleep it off for a couple of days."
Buffy nods, "I know. I remember you telling me before you went to bed this morning. Oh, apparently some of our neighbours heard the cleansing rituals, and sent a civilian from something called social services."
Vhesthine nods, "How did that go?"
Buffy shrugs, "I don't know, apparently she's put us on something called probation."
Vhesthine buries her head in Buffy's shoulder and makes an exaggerated sobbing sound before looking up, "Buffy, that's a bad thing."
Defensively Buffy stirs her sauce, "How am I supposed to know that?"
Vhesthine steps back and looks at Buffy seriously, "Buffy, how much have you spoken to normal people since you were brought here?"
Buffy smiles, "Oh plenty, there's the guys at work, Principle Stevens, and I also say hi to the cashiers when I go shopping in the mornings."
Vhesthine sighs, "Ok Buffy, when was the last time you were around more than 3 humans, that you don't live or work with, for more than an hour?"
"Halloween. That's far more regularly than I did before I got here."

Vhesthine sighs, "Buffy, you need to spend time with the Human population, as you live in their world. You can't base all of your expectations on how the people and your friends react."
Buffy shakes her head, "But I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Buffy, you can't hide away from the world, and expect to be able to live in it. Even I have human friends outside work, and I spend time amongst them not hunting. It's the only way that you'll get used to the way they behave, and learn to temper your own reactions. I saw the quote for the plumber on your desk the other day, is that something that needs dealing with?"
Buffy nods, "It does, and I've got the money for it. But Xander was going to be there, and then I sent him to hell. And now, he's getting back together with Anya, and they're talking wedding plans."

Vhesthine sits at the kitchen table for a couple of minutes, her head in her hands. Eventually she looks up, "Buffy. I'm going to book you an appointment at the salon I go to. I'm also going to book you a place at the spa across the road starting an hour after your salon appointment. From there, you are going to work in a blouse and skirt, and you'll be filling in for me for the evening while I look after Dawn."

Buffy freezes as Vhesthine lists out what she's going to be doing, "Vhesthine, you can't make me do any of that."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "You're right, I can't. However, you're still going to do it because you're becoming as fond of me as I'm becoming of you."
Buffy slumps and gives the sauce a quick stir, "I hate you. Void damn it, I'll do it."
Vhesthine nods, "While you're out, I'll also give social services a call to ensure that they send someone out for a follow-up interview before confirming Dawn's probation status."
Buffy lets out a deep nervous sigh, "Thank you Vhesti, I appreciate your help."
Vhesthine stands up and gives Buffy another quick exchange, "Hey, I still remember what it was like when I was first exiled and came to live in the human world. It's barely even the middle of November, so I can't expect you to understand their customs. Hell, I still don't understand a lot of them, and I've been here for over a century."
Buffy smiles and pulls her in for another brief exchange, "Thank you again."

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Buffy walks down Mane Street towards Continental Hair Design. Every parked car she passes causes her to tense, and equally staying away from the doors on the other side of the sidewalk. Eventually she arrives at the salon, and stops outside as she peers through the posters and adverts to the inside. After she's been looking for a few minutes, her breathing calms down slightly as she can only see four people inside, one of which is sitting in a chair being tended to by one of the others.

Taking a deep, deliberate breath, she walks through the door, and only jumps a little when the bells jingle above the door. One of the two women that weren't busy walks over to her with sure steps.
"Hello Miss, can I help you?"
Buffy's eyes dart around the store, "Um, yes. My girlfriend booked an appointment for me?"
The woman gives her a look that says, 'you're one of those are you?', "What name would that be under?"
Buffy flashes a brief, nervous smile, "Buffy Summers maybe? I'm not sure, I haven't been to a salon for a long time."
The woman walks over to a desk, "Oh, yes. You used to be one of our regulars. Jeanine will be looking after you." She indicates the woman in the back, who walks forward.

Jeanine has a wide, friendly smile, and she gently guides Buffy to one of the chairs in front of a large mirror. Not really noticing the way Buffy flinches when she touches her arm. As she's standing behind Buffy, Buffy's attention is riveted on the mirror, and the hairdresser behind her.

Jeanine fluffs Buffy's hair a couple of times so that it settles neatly around her head, dividing over her shoulders naturally, "So, what will we be doing for you today?"
Buffy stares at the unexpected question, before eventually answering, "I don't know. My girlfriend booked this for me. Uh, though it is getting a little long, and keeps getting caught on things, so above my shoulders?"
Jeanine smiles brightly, and puts her hands about an inch above Buffy's shoulders, "So, about this long?"
Buffy nods minutely, "Sure."

"Ok honey, I just need you to follow me to the wash basins so we can give your hair a good wash, and then a touch of conditioner."

Buffy tries to relax, but every touch, every tug, and even the unexpected feel of the warm water causes her to flinch. The entire time, Jeanine babbles about everything from boyfriends, to property values, to the theft of the diamond from the museum. When Buffy accidentally mentions Doris and social services, Jeanine suddenly has dozens of stories of other women who had been bothered by her, and it was only when they had someone else look at the case that a more reasonable solution was found. She also talks about all the children that Doris has genuinely helped too.

Eventually, back like a steel rod, and shoulder so taut you could bend steel over them, Buffy escapes the Salon. Looking around to check her surroundings, she quickly spots the spa and cautiously checks through the windows of the parked cars outside the salon. Reasonably happy that they're empty, she cautiously walks between the cars to the road she needs to cross. Looking around for hidden attackers or on coming vehicles, Buffy quickly starts to cross the road. As she's doing so, a scuffle in the alleyway beside the spa catches her eye. Stepping back to move out of sight, she double checks her surroundings before proceeding across the road, keeping an eye on the squabble.

Even so, when whatever they're squabbling about discharges, she's not able to react to the beam of charged particles that hits her and a few other things. As she belatedly pulls herself into the void, Buffy complains once more about the lack of implants, even as a black van pulls out of the alleyway and peels off down the street.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 10 – part 2


It takes Buffy a couple of moments to work out that there's still something wrong after she came out of the void. She finishes making her way across the street, and stops outside the spa. As she's trying to find the courage to open the door and walk in, someone she'd dismissed as a threat walks into her. Immediately her reflexes kick in and she throws the woman over her shoulder and snaps her arm in two places. She's about to drive her fist through the woman's head when her thoughts catch up with her actions, and she steps back shakily.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

Whatever she's about to say is interrupted when a nearby cop runs into her, almost bowling her over, and her training kicks in again. Along with the loud snap of the man's knee, followed by the pop of his shoulder dislocating. This time, rather than trying to say anything, Buffy flees, desperate to get away from civilians. Once she starts to recognise her surroundings again, she slows down, and heads towards Maple Court.

As Buffy approaches the door to Magic Box, she slows down to a slow walk rather than the agile jog she was using. The last thing she wants, is to have someone walk into her.

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Anya and Xander are both talking about the wedding, and who they should invite. Willow is sitting at the round table doing some work on her laptop.

Suddenly, a scream rends the air, and the door to Magic Box opens and closes with apparently no one walking in. Xander grabs one of the ever present stakes, and turns around to face the room, scanning it to try and see whatever it is that caused the scream. Suddenly, something takes the stakes away from him, and Buffy's voice says.

"Xander, I know you're stronger now, but that's no excuse for not using a proper weapon. Now I'm going to put this away before you poke someone's eye out with it."

From the table, Willow calls, "Buffy, what happened to you?"
Buffy replies near the back door, "I got hit with an invisibility ray that some idiots were fighting over."

The door to the training room opens, and then closes again, and Willow asks, "Are you ok?"
Buffy comes back and pulls a chair out, "I don't know yet, I know three possible methods to turn something invisible with only technology. Given that I'm not dead yet, that leaves two viable methods. Only one of which is safe long term."
Willow goggles at Buffy, "You do?"
While Anya calls over, "How do you know it's not magical?"
"You can't see me nodding or shrugging, can you. Anyway, it's an assumption on my part, given that they had a device around the size of a grenade launcher. And it shot something out of a barrel. Then that black van tore out of there while I was still processing what was going on."
Willow looks at where Buffy's voice was coming from, "Where were you when you got hit?"

From the by Anya's table plan, Buffy says, "I'd just got my hair styled, and I was going to the Spa for Vhesthine. What is this for? Oh, and can I use your phone to call home please?"
Anya smiles, "This is the seating plan for the wedding reception, we're trying to work out where to seat all the guests. And sure, as long as it's the land line."
"Ok, where's the quantum phase projector and the Æther transducer you'll need to make your oro's solid enough for the Archimedean to transfer?"

Willow watches in fascination as the handset to the phone lifts up without any apparent cause, "What do those two things do?"
"The quantum pha… Oh, hi Vhesthine. Um, I just need to run a problem past you… I'm invisible, and I've already broken one woman's arm in two places. The knee of a cop, and dislocated his shoulder. Broken three ribs on a delivery driver that knocked into me, and just dislocated the hip and elbow of someone outside Magic Box... Yes, I'm serious… I got my hair done, but I didn't get into the spa… I hope you like it… Do you think being invisible will be a problem for Razial tonight?... Apparently, things I pick up remain visible… Yes… Yes… Willow's here… So are Xander and Anya… If Tara's there, I'll wait while you ask her…" The handset turns around to face Willow, "Sorry about that, the quantum phase transducer is one of the methods of turning something invisible. It's also the dangerous one of the two that aren't immediately fatal for non-ship sized beings. She's back… That was quick… Oh great, I'll ask. Willow, Vhesthine wants to know if you'd be willing to walk me home so that I can get changed for work. Tara's there and she doesn't seem to mind."
Willow looks confused, "Tara should be at college, she has a class Tuesday afternoons. Just before my one."
"I don't know, but you could ask her if you walk me."
Willow thinks for a moment, "Ok, I'll do it."
"Great, she'll do it… How's Dawn?... I hope she wakes up soon… See you soon."

Buffy puts the phone down, "Thanks Willow. Where was I?"
Anya interrupts, "What's wrong with Dawn?"
Buffy sounds serious as she says, "An incubus got her."
Anya's hands fly to her mouth, "Oh my god, is she ok? Tell Tara and what's her face, that we'll be round as soon as Magic Box closes."
Choking up slightly, Buffy says, "I keep forgetting how good friends you were with Buffy. I'll let Vhesthine know before I head out to work. As for Dawn, so far as we can tell, she's ok. However, she's currently a succubus, which is why she was taken. Vhesthine and I have been taking turns to feed Dawn, but Vhesthine's going to need to hunt soon. And, well, Slayer or not, it takes me time to restore my essence. Also, I don't think I'm up for hunting like she does. Maybe I'd take one for the team if Vhesthine was dying. But, I don't know what I have with Vhesthine, apart from the fact she makes me happy. However, I've never felt that way for a non-mono-gendered species."

Xander holds up his hands, "Wait, back up. What do you mean by that?"
Buffy huffs and asks, "What, mono-gendered, or never felt this way?"
"Um, both? What about Angel."
"Oh, I thought I'd had that conversation with you already. So, when you resurrected me, you took me from another life, where I've been alive for over 1,000 years. So I don't remember much about my life in this world. To the point I call past me Buffy Summers. Honestly, I'm more BunnyGirl than Buffy, but Buffy's what my mother called me, so when I got my memories back, I took the name Buffy again. As for mono-gendered, it's exactly what it means. They only have one gender. Humans have a gender binary, and as a result, it gets blurry in the middle as nature's messy."

Anya looks up, "Did you say something about taking turns feeding Dawn? Don't you, you know, have the wrong anatomy for that?"
Buffy's expression comes through as she says, "Ewww, no. Vhesthine fed me once when I'd just regained my memory, and she talked me out of going and killing Willow."
Willow murmurs, "Remind me to thank her for that."
Buffy carries on, "So, then I offered to feed her on Saturday. Then she taught me how to do so, and it was… mmm… Anyway, Willow, we should go."

As the two of them leave, Buffy starts to explain how the Quantum Phase generator works and how the Orokin used it for everything from prototype manufacturing to surgical procedures and birth.

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Once they reach Buffy's house, Willow stops and stares for a moment as she spots Tara crying on the steps to the house.
When she sees Willow, Tara blurts out, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll find somewhere else to live. And I'll pay for it, honest."
As Buffy opens the door behind Tara, Willow can see a scene of utter devastation.
Surprising both of them, Buffy's voice comes from just inside, "Meh, I've seen worse. Just move anything you value out of your room. Oh, and if you can, tidy up in here too."
As the door closes, Willow sits down next to Tara, "Hey."
Tara just sits there morosely, so Willow places her hand on Tara's knee, "Hey, what's wrong?"

Wordlessly, Tara looks up and flicks her fingers to conjure a fancy swing seat large enough for two, with a cushioned chair, and a beautiful canopy to provide shade. Then she gets up and sits on it, glancing up at Willow, expecting to be judged. Instead, Willow gets up to sit next to her, "Oh, Tara, what's wrong?"
Tara sobs, "I can't stop it. It's there all the time, and I thought I understood what that would mean. But I can't stop it."
Willow comfortingly puts a hand on Tara's leg, "Shh, it's ok, I've been through the same thing. It's hard, but we'll help you get through it. Even if I have to ask my m…m… Buffy's boss to send you to muck out the nightmare stables."
Tara shakes her head in a fresh wave of tears, "It's not the same. I cannot stop it. I've tried. In art history, we were being shown paintings by lesser known artists, and a pair of 1,000 year old paintings came up. They showed a young woman feeding rabbits in front of an old cottage. The other one showed her giving a rabbit to a neighbour, and I remember thinking the rabbits were so cute. That was it, everyone in the class was turned into a rabbit. After I turned everyone back, I came home."
Willow nods reassuringly, "I never told you, but I did the same thing a few times if I hadn't used magic for a while. It's part of why it took me so long to clear the manure. I still remember what it was like, and I'm worried about what will happen when Razial lets me go."

Angrily, Tara turns to Willow, "You don't understand. You really don't." The grass and hedges all spontaneously turn into angry parodies of themselves, with razor sharp edges. As though they were drawn by an animation studio, "I'm not using magic! This is coming from inside me! And I can't stop it. I thought I'd be able to handle it. Even when I realised how big a part of my life it would be, I still thought it was something I could make space for. But it's not, it's always there, and it dominates everything."
Willow tries to comfort Tara, "Tara, it was the same way with me until Monday. I'd go through the day with twinges in my chest from every time I tried to use magic without thinking about it. To get that feeling back. When I came back from Rack I was so scared, because it felt so good. I can remember it now, and part of me wants to feel that again. But, since the cleansing ritual, that need, that all consuming need. That's gone now. It's not just under control, it's gone."

Tara jumps off the seat and storms back to the steps, leaving the path behind her a bubbling and glowing lava orange, "Do you think I want to be doing this? This isn't magic. Magic comes from the world around us. Not from inside. This is inside me, and it keeps growing and growing, and I'm afraid. I'm afraid I'm going to hurt someone before I can learn to live with it."

Barely heard behind her, the front door opens, and then closes, and Buffy's arms fold around her from behind, "Shh, shh, you can do this. Pull the void around you. It's part of you, and you are part of it. Pull it around you and step away from the world. Like we did while I was carrying you last night."
Buffy's soothing voice helps temper her anger, and she sinks down to sit on the steps, "I can't. I don't know how."
"Let me help you, and feel what I'm doing."

Willow tries to step down to help. But, when the grass scythes through her shoe like a sharp knife through paper, she pulls her foot back and huddles on the swing seat, afraid to try to counter the magic in case she only gets the swing seat. Then the two of them fade from sight, and are gone for a minute before Buffy reappears without Tara. A couple of minutes later, Tara reappears and collapses on the steps in relief.
"Thank you, thank you. It's gone, it's all gone."
Buffy's voice comes out grimly, "For the moment. I bet you can feel it coming back already."

From the seat, Willow calls, "Wait, what do you mean coming back already?"
Buffy puts her hand on Tara's shoulder, "You need to be the one to tell her. Oh, and clean up the front yard while you're at it. Some of us need to go to work later."

When the door closes, Willow asks, "Tara, what did she mean?"
Tara looks down, and mutters a word that changes the front yard back to normal. Cautiously, Willow makes her way over to sit beside Tara.
"Tara, what happened?"
"It was the night we brought Buffy back. It appeared to me when you went to call Xander…" Haltingly Tara explains her deal with Wally, and the dreams she's been having.

When she finishes, Willow pulls her into a hug, "Tara, why didn't you tell me?"
"To start with, we had other things to worry about. Then you were using so much magic I was scared of what you'd do if you found out. And then, I just kept putting it off as I've never used magic as much as you have."
Willow looks down herself, "I wish I could say I'd have been there for you. But even now I still want to cast spells just to feel the magic flowing through me, even though I know I haven't recovered from the cleansing ritual. My thoughts are clearer than they've been since Buffy died, but I still want to use it."
Tara laughs, a low hollow laugh, "We're a right pair, one witch who desperately wants to use magic. And another who is currently wishing she didn't have to use magic."
Willow gives a wan smile, "How does Buffy deal with it?"
Tara gazes out at the road, "She's always using it. Even in her sleep. Even then, it only slows down how fast she gets overloaded. Willow, our spells, they use tiny amounts of magic compared to what's inside me." She whispers a couple of words, and a shimmering forcefield springs up around them. The same one that Willow used when they were trying to run from Glory, "I've already recovered the energy that I used to create this, and I know I could cast it over and over again all day if I needed to. Willow, I'm scared, what if I go bad? Who would be able to stop me?"
Willow hugs Tara again, "Tara, you are the kindest, most noble person I've ever met. I don't believe you'll ever go bad. Now, I'm going to see if I can find whoever did this to Buffy. Do you want to come?"
Tara shakes her head, "No, I'm going to try and fix what I can inside. I think, after that, I'll try to do that thing I did with Buffy, on my own."
Willow kisses Tara on the forehead, "Ok, stay safe."
Tara smiles weakly at Willow before getting up and going into the house.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 10 – part 3


Willow makes her way to Mane Street, all thought of her afternoon class driven from her mind by the revelations made by Tara, and Buffy's invisibility. Spotting a car supplies shop, she pops in and quickly buys a can of hot rod red spray paint for a couple of dollars. Continuing down the street to the spa, it becomes obvious where the invisibility ray hit, when she hears someone trip over something.

Hurrying over, she spots some black paint floating in the air. Taking a sample pot from her purse, along with the knife she uses for harvesting fresh herbs and flowers, Willow scrapes some of the paint off the, she feels around the object, fire hydrant.

Standing up, she walks into the alleyway beside the spa, and lets out an "Oof" as she walks into an invisible dumpster.

Xander finds her after she's bumped into the same dumpster for the umpteenth time, and has finally got fed up with it, and started to spray paint it.
"Hey Willow."
Willow looks up, "Oh, hey Xander. I wasn't expecting you here."
Xander looks down at her, "Look, Willow. While I'm grateful for the memory spell you cast, it really wasn't on for everyone else. You could have got someone killed."
Willow looks at the ground as she remembers that she got Buffy killed, "I know Xander, but I haven't been using that sort of magic without supervision since then."
"You say that Willow, but how can we be sure?"
Willow opens her mouth to reply, and then looks down and to the side, "Nothing I can say will prove it. But Buffy and Vhesthine know. I've even got a job now."
Xander steps back, "Ok… Now we've established that… have you found anything?"
Willow nods, "Yep, tyre marks there, they'd have had to been accelerating pretty hard to leave that." She holds up her sample pot, "And black paint on the fire hydrant. Probably from that van Buffy mentioned."
Xander looks around, "Fire hydrant?"
Willow nods, "Uh huh, right over there. There's also an invisible tree over there, though people are walking around it because there's a big hole in the ground."
Xander starts to walk over, "Why isn't there a big hole where the… Ow! Shit! Oh, there is, you just have to be on top of it to see it."
Willow shakes her spray can and walks over to spray the fire hydrant, "Xander, what's it like being a, you know. Also, weren't you supposed to be working?"
Xander crouches down beside Willow, "I was working, but a delivery of concrete is late, and once we start the pour we can't just stop otherwise it looks wrong. So I left Frank there to wait for the shipment, and sent everyone else home. No point asking the boys to work after dark in this city. As for being a demon, to start with, it was horrible. I know it was a punishment, but everything was wrong. I'm not a mostly humanoid demon, so I kept getting sick, I couldn't move properly, and I tried to kill myself repeatedly. I was there for over a year Willow, and my new family was there for me every step of the way. They actually found me wandering their hell after Sweet changed me and just dumped me in the middle of nowhere. Is it weird that a family of demons treated me better than my own family ever did?"
Willow places a hand on Xanders, "Do you want to grab a coffee and talk about it?"
Xander laughs, "I can't, it doesn't agree with me. Grains, beans, potatoes, all of them make me ill. Too much starch and sugar. Or something like that. Besides, Anya wanted me for something. I'll see you later?"
Willow looks down, "Oh, I was going to try and find the van in the local internet café."
"Great, good luck with that."

Somewhat dejected, Willow makes her way to the café on her own.

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It's getting dark by the time Willow's finished hacking into the DMV and the City council to get the details of the van, and the address of the owner. Quickly noting it down on a scrap of paper, she shuts down the computer and heads out of the café. As she sees the sky, she curses the fact she couldn't use magic to make the hack go faster.

Looking around for a nearby junction, she quickly gets her bearings and starts to walk the couple of miles to the address that's listed. As she walks, a smile graces her lips as she realises that she hacked into both the DMV and the City council in less than 3 hours. And she did it without magic. With a renewed spring in her step, she makes good time getting to the residential area ear the college.

Once she's found the apartment block, Willow makes her way around the building twice before locating the stairs down to a basement apartment. Cautiously, she makes her way down the stairs before checking the door. As it clicks open, Willow freezes and cautiously looks inside. Not seeing anyone there, she cautiously walks in, scanning the room for any signs that someone is there. As she looks around, she spots a whiteboard with the blueprints of some form of gun. As she gets closer, the details catch her attention as some of the specifics tickle her brain about cutting edge science, along with the half hour talk that she had with Buffy about Quantum phase modulation. She's about to lean in for a closer look when a noise behind her makes her spin around. The last thing she sees is a strip of duct tape heading towards her, before someone loops a blindfold over her head.

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Vhesthine's sitting on Dawns bed stroking her hair gently after giving her another feed. Tara comes in levitating a pot of boiling water, and a couple of packs of different teas that Buffy managed to pick up from the store on Saturday.
"Hey," Tara starts softly, "how's she doing?"
Vhesthine looks down, "She could wake up at any point, and I don't want her to be alone when she does."
Tara nods, "How are you doing?"
Vhesthine looks up at her, "I'd rather not answer that."

Tara conjures a couple of chairs, a small table, and a couple of mugs, "I brought you some tea. I remember you saying you can't really taste human stuff, but you can still smell it."
As Tara sits down, and the pot settles onto the table, Vhesthine gives Tara a small smile, "Thank you. It's very considerate of you considering."
Tara looks down at her hands, "You know, for a long time I thought I was going to turn into a demon when I turned 20. Since mother died, I must have heard each of my family telling me that at least once a day. She was a wonderful mother, and she was also a witch. She used to call me her little Lily, because my favourite flower was a Ginger Lily, that happened to also have the name Tara. A few years ago, I ran away from home. After all, if I was going to become a demon, I might as well enjoy life on the way.
"I found my way to Sunnydale, and enrolled in the local college using the money mum left me and grants. It was in the wiccan group that I met Willow, and I could sense that she was really interested in magic. Not just going through the motions. Through Willow I met the rest of the Scoobie gang, and felt like I fit in for the first time. Though I believed that they only saw me as Willow's friend. A belief I held until Buffy kicked Willow out. But I felt safe with them because I could tell they were good people. I don't mean socially, I can sense auras.
"I guess that this is a roundabout way of saying that I now feel safe with you. I didn't before Saturday, but your aura has lightened. Maybe you should see if you feel safe around others too." Tara pushes herself to her feet and walks out the door, pausing at the doorway, "Oh, the teapot's from downstairs, so please be careful with it. Enjoy your tea." A moment later she pops her head back around the door, "Oh, and when my family tried to take me away, they all stood up for me, even though they thought I might be a demon. And I'd also cast spells on them to hide my demonic nature, almost getting them killed in the process. I was able to counter the spell in time though. So, don't let being a succubus stop you from reaching out. We might surprise you."

Opening a couple of the teas, Vhesthine absently smells them before deciding on a Lavender and Chamomile tea. As the tea starts to steep and the aroma begins to fill the room, Vhesthine goes back to stroking Dawn's hair.
"I don't think she understands how much I've already opened up to her, and her friends. They are the only mortals that know my true nature outside Mikes Machining. But how do you really make friends with someone who's going to die in 60 to 80 years? Xander and Anya, they'll still be around when you're 500 and looking to become a matriarch in your own right. Look at me, treating you like a fledgling. I know it's only a matter of time before you become human again. I don't even know if I like your sister because she offered to feed me, or if there's more there. Though I can't say that it's not nice having someone to mingle with." She shakes her head, "The only reason I'm even considering it, is that she's already 1,000 years old."
Dawn's hand reaches up and touches Vhesthine's wing, "Don't worry, I'll still be your fledgling, even if I have to become human again. And Tara's great, it was almost like having a mum around while Buffy was dead."

Vhesthine looks down at Dawn, but she's already gone back to sleep. But a smile still graces her lips as she continues to stroke her hair comfortingly.

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Tara walks down the stairs to the lounge and looks around the devastation that she caused when she lost control over the power inside her, and it lashed out at everything around it. Movement catches her eye, as a mouse that might have been a coaster runs along a wall.

Taking a deep breath, she runs through the spell in her head for the umpteenth time, before breathing out the words, "Restituere ad originale." As she does, a silvery white mist is exhaled with the breath before slowly swirling around the room and becoming more and more defuse. As it slowly settles on the various marks and transformations throughout the room, they return to their original condition.

Even with the worst of the damage dealt with, there's still so much that wasn't fixed. As she sinks down into the sofa and puts her head in her hands, the house phone starts to ring. Looking up, Tara makes her way to the phone, and answers it.
"Summers residence."
The caller says, "Slayer!"
"Uh, no, this is Tara. Buffy's at work."

Tara frowns in confusion when there's a muffled conversation on the other end of the line. She's almost ready to hang up when the caller comes back.
"We have a message for the Slayer. We have her friend, if she ever wants to see her again she'll come to the arcade alone."
Tara gasps, "Which friend?"
"That is none of your concern."
In the background someone says, "Shouldn't we tell her that it's Willow, otherwise how will she know it's actually a friend?"
All Tara hears is 'Willow', and her heart sinks, which is reflected in her voice, "When?"
"8:30. Remember, if she brings anyone else, she will never see Willow again."
The click and hum of a disconnected line sound loud in Tara's ear as she processes the conversation. Morosely, she puts the phone down and heads back upstairs to Dawn's room.

Vhesthine looks up from where she's sitting beside Dawn, a mug of tea pressed to her nose, "Tara, what's wrong?"
In a dead voice, Tara asks, "Can I have the number to your work?"
In a stronger voice, Vhesthine says, "Tara, what's wrong?"
"They've kidnapped Willow, and they want Buffy to meet them alone."
Vhesthine puts as much kindness in her tone as she can, but still her exasperation is clear, "Tara, you are a powerful and capable witch who can turn invisible. Why do you need Buffy?"
"They could be invisible, and what if they spot me?"
Vhesthine sighs, "Tara, you're a witch, conjure some glitter or something. Or failing that, take a bag of flour from the kitchen. This isn't some magic resistant demon that needs the Slayer to combat it. It's some mortal kidnappers."
Tara looks up, "How do you know they're mortal?"
Vhesthine rolls her eyes, "They used the phone. Any demons or vampires that could do that already know that kidnapping someone the Slayer cares about is a death sentence. So, go, be the knight in shining armour for once, and rescue your girlfriend."
Tara looks down, "She's not my girlfriend."
Vhesthine huffs, "Keep telling yourself that. Just go and rescue her, and get the weapon too. If you can turn the kidnappers into something small and fuzzy too, great. Then you can take them to Buffy so that she can inform them about the reality of life in Sunnydale."

"But I'm not like the others, I can't do this."
"Tara, it was you that saved Dawn and drove off Rack last night. Not me. Not Buffy. Not Willow. And not Mr Happy Meal."
Tara giggles, "His name is Spike."
Vhesthine waves her hand, "Not when Buffy's around. Then he's so full of lust, obsession, and desire that he's just a walking meal. If she was a succubus, I'd be telling her to cultivate it, and keep him around as a reliable food source. Now, don't you have a girlfriend to save?"
"I-I think I do. Thank you Vhesthine."
Vhesthine smiles, "Don't forget, you don't have to get Willow out, just make sure they can't hurt her. Once that's done, securing the weapon is the most important thing you have to do. After all, if you have the weapon, then they are at your mercy rather than the other way around. Oh, and you should practice your invisibility thing on the way, as you don't want to struggle with it when they might see you."
A soft smile comes over Tara face, "Thank you, and I think I can do this. After all, I turned a classroom of people into bunnies accidentally."

As Tara leaves, Vhesthine smiles after her, "We'll make a confident companion out of you soon."

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As she's walking down the road from the house, Tara waves at Anya and Xander as they drive past and pull up outside the house. Once she starts getting closer to Maple Court, Tara remembers that there's an alleyway near the Magic Box that has a good view of arcade.

After making her way around the back of the store to the mouth of the alleyway. Once there, she hesitantly pulls the void around her. A task that takes Buffy barely a thought, instead taking Tara over a minute, as the world resists the intrusion of the void and keeps pushing it out. As it snaps into place she breathes a sigh of relief as the mental strain drops.

Walking towards the arcade, she almost lets go of the void when she catapults herself halfway across the court in one step. A second normal step has her pass through a patron walking out of the place, so she deliberately slows down. Once she's walking at almost a crawl, she's able to pass through the arcade without disappearing everywhere. With her rapidly dwindling supply of void energy, she's able to locate Willow and find the device floating behind her. But she doesn't have the energy spare to maintain the void and do something else.

Thinking quickly, she holds our her hand across the back of Willow, and stops concentrating on the void. As she drops out, she calls, "Cohibeo"

Two voices call out, "Hey!" "Where'd she come from."
With a shake of her head, Tara looks over towards the voices and whispers "bracteamentum" before breathing out a stream of silver and gold glittering particles that coat everything in their path.

A rather short man, and a taller man are both revealed as the glitter sticks to them both, and they start flailing trying to brush it off them. Turning to look at Willow, Tara smiles, "Hey Willow, miss me? Libero."
As the duct tape over her mouth flies offs, Willow spins to look at Tara, "Tara, what are you doing here?"
"Rescuing you, and retrieving this, and those three too." Tara prises the weapon out of the hand of the invisible person.
"But Buffy?"
"Is at work. One moment." Tara turns around as the two men covered in glitter are approaching, "Really? I'm clearly a witch, and equally clearly can see you."
The shorter one blusters, "Oh, yeah, I'm a warlock."
Tara shakes her head and gestures, "Facti lepus. Thanks for letting me know. What about you?"
As the shorter man shrinks down into a glittering rabbit, the other man holds his hands up, "No, no, I'm good."
Tara nods and conjures a pet carrier, "Good choice. Willow, would you be able to put that one in the carrier while I deal with the person that was holding this?"
Willow finally snaps out of it and looks at Tara while grabbing the sparkly rabbit, "Tara, what's happened to you? You're not normally like this?"
"Well, they shouldn't have kidnapped my girlfriend, even if we're currently having problems. Also, Vhesthine pointed out that I could actually do this. You remember our conversation earlier don't you."
Willow nods thoughtfully.
Gesturing at the remaining man, Tara adds, "You, grab the carrier, we're leaving. And do you have a name?"
"Uh, Jonathan? Where are we going?"
Tara smiles sweetly, "We're going to see the Slayer, at work. Come along."

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As the three of them climb the stairs to the reception of Mikes Machining, Buffy's voice comes through the door, "No, I don't care that you're a Boretz Demon. No pay, no goods."
"And what are you going to do to stop me, human?"
"Break your legs if you don't get out of my face."

They all winced at the sound of two loud snaps, and a scream of pain, "I did warn you. And now you're getting your stink all over the carpet. Do you have any idea how much it costs us to get cleaners in?"

Behind them, Jonathan says, "Um, maybe we should come back another day."
Tara laughs, "Nope, in you go. I'm sure that Buffy has everything under control."

As the three of them go into the reception, Buffy is talking to Razial at the door to his office. Her red blouse, black skirt, and heels seemingly supported by nothing, along with the lipstick and eyeshadow they can see from the wrong side.

Razial looks over Buffy's shoulder at Willow, "Ah, apprentice. It's good that you are here, I need your note taking abilities."
Buffy huffs, "Razial. I have a demon here that just tried to welch on his bill. What do you want to do with him?"
Razial gives Buffy a look before looking down at the demon and a long string of an unknown language comes out of his mouth, before the demon disappears in a flash of green flame. "Buffy, I will be out of the office for the rest of the evening."
Buffy just stares impotently at him while he walks over to Willow and they both disappear in a pillar of fire.

Buffy throws her hands in the air, "Great, just great. Now we're down 80 kittens, and the boss has disappeared for who knows what reason. Hi Tara, just need to vent for a second."
Jonathan stares at the space that Willow was just standing, the pet carrier falling out of his hands, "Willow is an apprentice to a… And we kidnapped her…"
Tara nods and puts the gun on the reception desk, while Buffy is pacing around the room muttering, "Yep, that's my Willow. Buffy, we've got the invisibility gun."
Buffy freezes mid-rant and turns to the desk, "Why didn't you say so before I started venting?"

Quickly picking up the device, Buffy swiftly looks it over, "Oh this is brilliant. Crude and poorly made, but brilliant. I never imagined that this was possible with this level of technology. Whoever made this was both an absolute idiot and a genius."

As a small toolkit floats out of a drawer on the desk, Tara coughs, "Buffy, before you get to absorbed by that. You should turn yourself visible again, along with these three."
"No, no, no time for that. This is the answer to my manufacturing problems."
Tara snatches the weapon away from the desk while Buffy is taking a screwdriver out of the toolkit, "Buffy! No! Slayer duties now, then work. You can play during the day tomorrow."
Buffy whines, "But, do you have any idea what I can do with that?"
"Buffy." Tara says warningly, "You are usually more composed than this. Now sit down and work out the settings needed to turn you back to normal."
Buffy slumps back in the reception chair with a sigh, "You're right. You're right Tara. It's just… with this I could probably create some of the alloys and materials that the Corpus use. It might take me 10 years, but I have a place to start. It might have been charitably called a warzone, but it was my home for centuries."
Tara walks around the desk and gives Buffy a one handed hug, "I know Buffy, but 10 years is still 10 years whether you start today or tomorrow."
"I know. Come on, give me the device and I'll check the settings." Tara hands over the device, and Buffy looks at the fact there's two dials, "Dials? What idiot puts dials on something like this. Do they want to kill people?"
Jonathan says "Um."
Buffy glances up, "Oh. Never mind then. Same as making it handheld too I suppose."
She lifts up the gun and shoots it at a chair, turning it invisible. Adjusts the dials a little and shoots it again, making it visible again.
"Got it. Tara, do not touch the dials. Pull the trigger long enough for the beam to hit me and then let go. I'll do the tag along after that."

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A few minutes later, Buffy is facing three young men, "Well gentlemen, you've screwed up royally. Welcome to the dark side. According to Willow, we have cookies. However what it really means is that you are now officially part of the supernatural side of Sunnydale."
One of the men stares at Buffy mulishly, so Jonathan speaks up, "Warren. I-I think we should listen to her."
Warren looks at Jonathan, "Jonathan, shut up."
Buffy sighs, "I should really get some business cards printed out. Right, I really couldn't care who any of you are. Or what you want to do in Sunnydale. However, there are five simple rules you need to live by, otherwise you get a personal visit from me. Do not Eat, enslave, hurt, hunt, or kill civilians. If you summon a demon, you will be responsible for what they do in Sunnydale until they have been dismissed. Or you've told me that they have escaped your control. Do you understand?"
Warren looks down at Buffy, "And what will you do if we don't follow your rules?"
Buffy smiles, "Kill you. You've had your warning."
The third man puts his hand up, "Um."
Warren growls at him, "Andrew, shut up."
Andrew whines, "I only wanted to know what a civilian is."
"Andrew!"
Buffy smiles, "It's a fair question. In general, anyone that is unaware of the supernatural, and any demons that are not attacking you."
Andrew moans, "But how are we going to take over Sunnydale and get girls with those rules?"
Buffy glances at Tara for a moment, then back at the trio of men, "I can probably put you in contact with some succubae. They're not exactly girls, but I'm not sure you are actually looking for girls with that attitude."
Andrew tries to make himself look big, "I am, they just don't want to date me."
Warren grabs Andrew by the ear, "Stop talking you idiot. Jonathan, we're going."

Jonathan looks at the door for a moment as Warren drags Andrew through it, then back at Buffy and Tara, "Look, I'm sorry about Willow. We didn't know."
"Jonathan!"
Buffy smiles at Jonathan, "It doesn't matter. You did it, and you'd be getting the same talk regardless of who you kidnapped. If you're in trouble, and want out, you know where I work."

Once Jonathan's left, Tara summons a chair from the break room and sits down next to Buffy, "Buffy, do you think I'm crazy for considering dating Willow again?"
Buffy stares off into space, "No Tara, I don't. But it's still too soon for me to let her live with us again. I know that Razial has her under control, and she's had a lot of her arrogance knocked out of her. But, it's still been little over a week for us."
Tara nods, "I can understand that. I guess I'd be the same about Vhesthine if she hurt you. I did my best to repair everything at home. But there were things I couldn't do. I'll replace them, I promise. I, just need to get a job first."
Buffy shakes her head, "Don't worry about it. As I said, I've seen worse."
"But that's not fair on you. You're already working to pay the bills, and adding repairs for my accidents isn't fair on you."
Buffy laughs, "Look, if you really want to help with the house. Arrange for the plumber to come and refit all the pipes, and I'll write the cheque. Then we'll call it even."
Tara shakes her head, "I'll do that for you. But that's not making us even. I need to get a job for my own peace of mind. I refuse to be any of the things my family called me, and helping with the repairs and bills is one of those things."
Buffy nods in acceptance and reaches for the invisibility gun. As she does, Tara grabs it with magic, "Ah ah, I'm taking this downstairs and asking someone to put it somewhere safe for you. You said it would help with work, so you can look at it when you're not the receptionist."

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The next morning, Buffy looks around the lounge with a smile before leaning over to have a small exchange with Vhesthine. Upstairs she can hear Dawn moving around in her room, and she smiles once again and wipes tears from her eyes as she remembers coming home to find Dawn sitting in the kitchen with Anya and Xander, in his new natural form. She'd immediately pulled Dawn into a hug and fed her a decent amount of essence, before doing the same with Vhesthine. It was nice having them around for support.

"Vhesthine, what have you done to me? I haven't cried… for as long as I can easily remember, yet since Saturday it keeps happening."
Vhesthine smiles, "Essence. Why do you think Succubae are such passionate creatures. Even Incubus are passionate in their own twisted way. When you take in another's essence, it stirs your own. Now dab your eyes, don't rub them. We only have a minute or so before social services arrive."

At that moment, the doorbell rings, and Tara calls "I've got it" from the top of the stairs.

As Buffy sees Tara open the door, the only thing that stops her from standing up is Vhesthine's soft grip on her hand.
Tara smiles at the people on the doorstep, "Good morning."
Doris looks Tara up and down, "Well, yes I hope it is. This is my colleague Prince Sellers. We're here for a follow-up interview with Miss Summers."
Tara smiles, "They're in the lounge, I'm about to put the kettle on, do either of you want coffee?"
Prince smiles, "Black two sugars please."
Doris smiles brittlely as she shakes her head, and the two of them make their way into the lounge.

When they come in, Vhesthine lets go of Buffy's hand, and she stands up, "Hello, I'm Buffy Summers. Thank you for returning today, yesterday was a bad day."
With her hands demurely in her lap, Vhesthine politely adds, "What my girlfriend is failing to mention is that she has anxiety based mental health problems, that were exacerbated by Dawn's unexpected removal from the school." She glances down at a carefully placed ID, where the MoD hologram is visible, but the rest of the ID is obscured.
Prince looks down, and then up at her curiously, "Have you known Miss Summers long?"
Vhesthine smiles, "Indeed, I'm the evening receptionist at Mikes Machining. We deal with our international customers during that time. We've been dancing around each other for a month or so, and I've looked after Dawn when she hasn't been able to stay with one of Buffy's friends. She's a delightful young woman."
Prince nods, and looks at a couple of notes, "I see from our notes that there were some mushrooms found in a bag."
Vhesthine nods and lifts up Buffy's notes, "Buffy said as much herself in her notes. They belong to Tara, so if you wouldn't mind waiting until she's finished her coffee."
Prince nods, "Of course. Moving on, there was a Willow sleeping on the couch, and she used to be a tenant here. Miss Summers, what did you mean when you said 'she made us forget ourselves'?"
Buffy looks up, "Um, that was the weekend we had gathering to say good bye to one of the owners of Magic Box. And we had some drinks, non-alcoholic, and Willow brought something more. And well, Dawn got caught up in it, and I got angry and kicked her out. Nothing illegal for us, but well, Dawn."
Vhesthine holds Buffy's hand comfortingly as she shivers, "It's ok, it's in the past and she's promised not to do that again."
Prince makes a few notes on his pad, then looks at the next section, "We now come to the original reason for the call, the screams."
Vhesthine sighs, "I was actually here for that one. Willow's moved back into college dorms, and she went clubbing with a dorm mate. Said dorm mate then took Willow to a 'place' she'd heard of. Once she found her way here, she was absolutely filthy and stank to high heaven. So we broke out the hose and the brushes in the yard, as we don't want that sort of stuff in the house. When the dealer took Dawn, Buffy was able to get her back. But Dawn was just as filthy. We're just glad she doesn't have any track marks unlike poor Willow. That's why Willow was staying on the couch, as students can't exactly afford that sort of medical bill."

Prince nods, "Ok, apart from the mushrooms, that covers everything that was discussed yesterday. As there doesn't appear to be anything that can't be explained by misunderstandings, I'd like to move onto household finances."
Vhesthine smiles at Buffy, "Do you think you can deal with this Hun?"
Buffy nods and shuffles forward on the couch, and opens a folder on the coffee table.

While they're doing that, a sound from the stairs catches Doris' attention, and she looks over before letting out an 'Eeep' as she spots Dawn as a succubus coming down the stairs.
Vhesthine looks over, before calling out, "Where do you think you're going looking like that?"

Dawn looks down at herself before scrambling back up the stairs, before Prince finds a good place to pause and look up. Doris cross herself and mutters, "She's a demon, Holy Mary, the child is a demon."

A moment later, Tara comes in carrying a tray with two coffees and a teapot with Lavender and Chamomile tea in it, along with three mugs.

Setting the tray on the table, Tara apologises, "Sorry I took so long, I over filled the kettle and it took ages to heat up."
Vhesthine nods appreciatively, "Don't worry about it. Do you mind sticking around, as Prince is going through finances with Buffy at the moment."
Tara nods, and waves her hand, absently noticing a spark of void energy, "I'll… just grab a chair from the other room and be right back."

Once she's burned off a little void energy, Tara returns with a chair, and almost bumps into Dawn, "Have a good day at school Dawn."
Dawn smiles at Tara, "Thanks, I'll try."
Buffy calls out with a smile, "Have a good day."

As Buffy goes back to discussing finances with Prince, Tara moves one of the coffees to Prince while taking the other for herself. Then she hands Vhesthine and Buffy a mug.
"Doris wasn't it?" Doris nods, "I know you didn't want coffee, but I forgot to ask about the tea. It's Lavender and Chamomile. Be careful while you're pouring though, as it doesn't come in teabags."
Doris nods thoughtfully.

A few minutes later, a spark of light catches Doris' and Tara attention. As Doris looks down and sees a mouse on her coaster, she screams "It's a mouse!" and leaps to her feet. Tara discretely turns the mouse back into a mug that has a tiny china mouse on the handle, that's looking into the mug.

As Doris screams and moves quickly, Buffy scoots back in her chair and raises her left arm. Vhesthine quickly grabs it and pushes it down before talking calmly and reassuringly to her. Prince looks at the mug curiously until he spots the mouse.

With a sigh he drains his coffee, "Miss Summers, I apologise for my colleagues behaviour, I think the stress of the job is getting to her." He turns to Tara, "Tara wasn't it? We were told that you could identify the mushrooms that Doris found yesterday."
Tara nods, "I can, they were Wood Ear Mushrooms. I practice Wicca and we some times burn them to purify an area. We also have locally found mushrooms, but they're always kept in a labelled sealed container as if we've made a mistake, we don't want to poison anyone. I've got a book on identifying mushrooms around here somewhere if you're interested."
Prince nods, "I'm sorry for wasting your time today, and thank you for seeing us. Miss Summers, I just want to say that I'm impressed at how well you're managing the household finances. However, I notice that you're not receiving any of the benefits that California residents can claim for children under the age of 17. I'll have a pack posted to you that includes all the details of that."

Buffy nods from where Vhesthine is still talking to her softly, so Tara sees the two social workers out.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 11 – part 1


[an: I got Jonathan and Andrew mixed up, so mixed up they shall stay.]

Tara stares at her alarm clock accusingly as it goes off at obscene o'clock in the morning. As it continues to stab at her head with its incessant beeping, clarity returns to her and she clambers out of bed to turn the stupid thing off.

Pulling on a pair of sweat pants and a top, she makes her way downstairs to the back yard, where she can see Dawn and Buffy kneeling opposite each other already. Opening the door, she steps out and winces as the cold air hits her face.

Both of the sisters open their eyes and look at Tara, so Tara stammers, "Um, I was wondering if I could join you. As Buffy said she'd teach me, but that was…"
Buffy's attention is drawn to Dawns face, and she catches a fleeting expression of disappointment before it vanishes. Looking back at Tara, and then down at the ground, Buffy sighs, "Sorry Tara, I know I did. But this is my time with Dawn… Look, Dawn leaves for school at 8:30, so let's try and start a routine where I teach you at that time, ok?"
Tara smiles and nods, "Yeah, I think that works better for me too. Did I tell you I had a response to one of my applications? I-I'll talk to you both about it over breakfast."

Once Tara's gone back inside to get a couple more hours sleep, Buffy looks back at Dawn, "Dawn, Razial's started spending more time at the office again."
Dawn lets out a moan, "Do we have to?"
"Dawn…"
"Buffy, I like being a succubus. I like feeding, I like the extra strength, speed, and senses. I like being able to tell what people at school are feeling. Besides, it's almost Christmas, I've been like this for over a month now. If something was going to happen, I'm sure it would have happened already."
Buffy nods, "And how many of your school mates smell yummy? What about having a boyfriend, or eating? How many times have you told Janice that you've already eaten?"
Dawn looks alarmed, "You know about that?"
Buffy nods, "Her mother called the other day asking if you could go round straight after school one day. As she wants to teach you to cook Mexican food." Dawn looks down at the floor, "Dawn, it's not just that." Buffy takes a shuddering breath as she looks at the floor, her hands shaking on her thighs, "Dawn, I… I'm scared Dawn. I'm scared that if another incubus comes to town, he could take you away before we even know he's a danger. Dawn, I'm confident I could rescue you from any situation. But I can't do that if I don't know where you've been taken."
Half-heartedly, Dawn says, "But Vhesthine likes having a fledgling around too, and she's teaching me so much."
Buffy nods, "I know she does, and has. We do talk in the evenings. And she agreed with my worries. Though she persuaded me to add a caveat."
Dawn looks hopeful, "Really?"
Buffy smiles at Dawn, "Really. If you learn enough magic to transform yourself into a succubus and back into a human, then you can spend as much time as you want as a succubus. Same as if you learn the Void Snare and Guardian Shield techniques from the Vazarin Way. Either way, we think that you'd then know enough to at least escape from an incubus."
Dawn looks down at her hands, "That's something I suppose. Will you both still be able to feed me occasionally?"
Buffy smiles, "Until it starts feeling better than it does now, sure."
Dawn beams at Buffy, "You're the best."
Buffy smiles, "You've still got at least one more night as a succubus anyway, as Mrs Penshaw will be picking you up from school today to teach you how to cook Mexican food, including Tortillas from scratch."
"Buffy___ Do I have to? You know food tastes meh for me."
Buffy nods "Yes Dawn, you have to. Now, on your feet we're going to do the forms once, then we're going to spar with our daggers." Dawn groans, "I hate sparing daggers with you, I always get stabbed."
Buffy nods, "And you're doing well for only having done this since October. Tell you what, one of the papers Tara's been getting had an adverts for a couple of places to learn Martial Arts called Dojo's. Why don't we head to one of those on Saturday and see if you can test yourself against the students there."
Dawn looks down, "But they're just going to beat me, the same way you do."
Buffy lifts Dawns chin, and then twists her hand out of the way of a grab, "Dawn, I said you're doing well. I've got 700 years of practice in all the different ways, don't compare yourself to me. I think you'll be surprised at what you're able to do."
Dawn pouts, but still gets up to move through the Vazarin way.

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While Buffy and Tara are eating breakfast, and Dawn is doing her homework, Vhesthine comes downstairs in a sheer robe that only just provides modesty to those who might be looking through the windows.

As Vhesthine comes through the door, Buffy stands up and takes the couple of steps needed to embrace her and have a passionate exchange of essence.

As the couple are doing that, Dawn leans over and says to Tara, "That. One day I want that."
Tara puts her fingers to her lips, "Uh huh, me too. Oh, um, I wish Willow was here… No Tara, that's not helping."
Dawns giggles break Buffy and Vhesthine apart, and they both take their now customary seats. To try and divert Dawn's attention, Buffy looks over at Tara, "You mentioned getting a reply to one of your applications."
Tara looks down at the table, "I did. It was from your mum's old art gallery. They thanked me for the application, and suggested I reapply once I finish my degree."
Buffy smiles at Tara, "Hey, I get that you want to help with the bills, and the run away crockery. I think one of them turned into a cat earlier and ran off while Dawn and I were coming in. But you don't need to, I'd rather you get a handle on your void energy without needing to worry about more than just doing your college degree and…"
Vhesthine puts her hand on Buffy's, "Honey, I know you mean well. However, what would your reaction be if I suggested I have enough money to support both of us and this house?"
Buffy huffs, "That's different, I don't want to go into debt for anyone. And it wouldn't be fair on you either, after all, you have your own bills to pay."
Vhesthine laughs, "Buffy, you'd be amazed at how little you spend when you don't have to buy food. I've got a small apartment on the outskirts of Sunnydale where I keep some clothes and a few keepsakes. I've even got a perpetual lease on it, as I helped finance the build. The only appliances that ever see use are the washing machine and tumble dryer. Why do you think I've been so willing to pay for things?"

While Buffy is processing that news, Tara opens her mouth to speak only to have Dawn touch her and shake her head. When Tara looks at her questioningly, Dawn writes, 'Don't, this is interesting, and how often do you hear Buff talking about any of this stuff?'

Buffy opens and closes her mouth a couple of times, before saying, "You know you don't have to, I can handle it."
Vhesthine takes Buffy's chin and points it at her, "Buffy, I'm doing it because I want to. I know I started staying here to ensure that Dawn was fed. But I like it here, it's like being part of a commune again. The only thing that could possibly make it better is if you were willing to hunt for essence too, not just relying on your own." Vhesthine lifts up her tail and grabs the end with one hand, "I could never live with other succubae, as the matriarch I challenged too my spade. So they'd never treat me as more than an adolescent. Even Dawn has a tiny spade developing already."
Buffy pulls Vhesthine onto her lap, "How could someone do that to you?"
Vhesthine gives a self-deprecating laugh, "It's the price of being almost good enough. By tradition, she should have just banished me from the family, and maybe also the commune if she could get enough Matriarchs to agree. But she was the weakest of the Matriarchs, and knew I could challenge her again. So she disgraced me instead. I got her though, I challenged her in front of the Matriarchs, and won. Then I took her tail. I might have been expelled as a disgrace, but she was shamed."
Buffy pulls her tight against her chest, "Unless something really bad happens between us, you'll always have a home here. Do you want to move in?"
Vhesthine turns around with a soft giggle and gives Buffy a quick exchange, "I already have silly."
Buffy blinks, "You have?"
"I sleep in your bed. We exchange at every chance we have, and I am helping you rear your fledgling. Hopefully one day, we will have fledglings of our own."
Buffy looks poleaxed at Vhesthine's declaration, "But what about dating, marriage, and all the things that Anya is worried about?"
Vhesthine gives Buffy a quick exchange, "Does any of that matter to you?"
"Um, no?"
"Why would you think it matters to me?"
Buffy shakes her head, "I don't know, it seemed like you were part of this society."
"Honey, I belong to this society about as much as you do."
Looking abashed, Buffy looks over at the other two, "So, um, jobs?"

Tara looks at Dawn, "You were right. None of the books even mentioned any of that."
Vhesthine scoffs, and wiggles herself into a more comfortable position on Buffy's lap, "Don't trust any of the books when it comes to demonic society. They are written by humans after all. You would not believe the stories that demons tell of humans. Most of which are false about individuals, while true of humanity as a whole."
Buffy strokes Vhesthine's side softly, causing her to giggle, "Vhesti, you're not helping. Dawn needs to finish her homework before school."
Vhesthine slips off of Buffy's lap, and whispers in her ear, "I was serious about the hunting thing."
Buffy looks alarmed, and whispers back, "But I've never felt like that about anyone. I know what's involved in hunting remember."
Vhesthine whispers back, "Ewww, icky thoughts. Hunting is only superficially like that, and I don't think you could hunt properly as you're nose blind. But you have a perfect prey that keeps stalking you. Even better, if you go too far. As long as he can still talk, you can feed him a little blood, and he'll be ready to go again the next night."
"I don't feel comfortable with it, but I'll keep it in mind. But remember, I want to share some of my culture with you too, starting with the Quantum Phase Projector."
It's Vhesthine's turn to look uncomfortable, "I can barely use the computer at work, and you want me to understand human technology that's thousands of years advanced of that?"
Buffy smiles and pulls Vhesthine round into a kiss, "Don't worry, I'll start with the basics. QPP's are ancient technology that predate void based technologies by thousands of years."
"You don't expect me to understand those too, do you?"
Buffy shakes her head, "I barely understand the concepts behind them, as they make what they call quantum dynamics here, look like Dawn's homework."
Vhesthine grimaces, "Don't, her homework makes my head hurt."

Dawn's giggling makes the two of them aware of the fact they probably weren't as quiet as they thought, so they separate completely and take their seats. With a smirk, Dawns asks, "So, is hunting basically the same as having sex?"
Vhesthine shakes her head, "No, not at all. It's just the simplest method of doing it. I'm sure you've noticed that lust isn't the only emotion that smells nice. You just need to bring the prey to a climax, it doesn't matter what sort. That's when their hold on their own essence is at its weakest. The incubus used the ecstasy caused by channelling a large amount of tainted magic. You could probably feed quite well at an arcade, if you find someone that's obsessed with a game, and they're about to beat it. Athletes, sports players, and the like are equally good if you catch them at just the right time. However, lust is easy to direct and control."

Tara furrows her brow, "So, why don't more succubus prey on those sorts of people?"
Vhesthine laughs, "Who says they don't? Don't forget, cheerleaders are a thing in this country. How many of them will crowd around a player that's just scored a touchdown in football?"
"Oh…"
Vhesthine leans over and pats Tara's hand, "Don't worry, you're part of the commune. Now, what other jobs are you looking at?"
Tara groans, "Are you sure I can't get a job at Mikes?"
Vhesthine shakes her head, "Not on the night shift until Buffy graduates from being an apprentice."
Tara's head sags, "I've been trying to avoid it, but I think I need to apply to Doublemeat Burgers. However, I've heard really bad things about factory farming, and I've always tried to eat organic since I had the choice."
Vhesthine shakes her head comfortingly, "Don't worry, the burgers aren't meat. You can check with Aglomal or Surkos if you want. They've both tried their burgers when Andrew or John were buying, but they can't process. Oh, what's that stuff that they keep advertising to humans, and comes with some cereals?"
Tara frowns, "Sugar, starch, vitamins, fibre?"
"Fibre, that's it. The others just pass straight through them."
Buffy frowns, "Why would they even try them?"
Vhesthine laughs, "Cost, they're cheaper than kittens. I think most demons try human burgers at one point or another. Those that can stomach human food, will usually end up eating about the same amount as Buffy."
Tara looks somewhat relieved, "Ok, I'll do it."

It doesn't take long after that for Dawn to finish her homework and get ready for school, with only one reminder about not going as a succubus. Once she's safely on the bus, Buffy starts to lead Tara through the meditation and meaning behind the Vazarin Way.

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Jonathan watches as Warren is bent over his workbench, sparks coming from the thing he's currently working on. Every time he has a moment to think, his thoughts turn to that moment when one of Them claimed Willow as their apprentice. The fact that Buffy was arguing with it without any fear whatsoever also keeps swirling around his mind.

Hesitantly, Jonathan calls, "Warren, what are we making again?"
"Cerebral dampener. Now, I'm just about done. Do you have the musk gland?"
"Uh, yes?"
"Well give it to Andrew so that he can charge it."
Jonathan fumbles the plastic bag, almost dropping it, but manages to give it to Andrew. The three of them put on sunglasses as Andrew uses his magic bone to pull the essence out of the gland and into the sphere on the workbench.

Once they've all finished blinking, Warren picks up the sphere, "With this baby, we can make any woman we desire our willing sex slave. And I know just where to start."
Jonathan looks at the sphere in trepidation, "Um, guys. I'm not sure about the whole slave bit."
Warren spins around, "Are you telling me that you're afraid of that two bit Slayer with delusions of mediocracy? Do you really think she could have made something like this? No, she will be like every other woman before us."
Jonathan can see Andrew nodding along, and he also starts to nod along too, "No! I'm going to the arcade. You two can do what you want, but yes, I'm scared. I'll see you in the morning."
Andrew calls after him, "Jonathan!"
But Warren snaps, "Let him go. It just means less of us to share this with."

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Buffy frowns as her new cell phone pings while she's carefully positioning the synthetic Corundum in between two small clamps. Cursing slightly, she checks the phone to see that it's a text message from Tara to say that she's not going to be home till late, as Doublemeat Burgers want her to start now.

Buffy's halfway to the door when she remembers that Dawn's visiting the Penshaw's tonight. Much more calmly, she makes her way up to the reception.
"Hey Millie."
The receptionist looks up from her paperwork, "Buffy! I didn't expect you to be here."
Buffy smiles and shrugs, "I'm working on a project downstairs. I hope it's useful for work, but I don't want to waste anyone's time by working it on the job. Especially if it doesn't work. Anyway, do you think I could use the phone to call home quickly?"
"Uh, sure, but Vhesthine's probably on her way here already. We usually have a handover before I head home."
Buffy looks at her dumbly for a moment, before saying, "Oh, right, I should have guessed that. Given that she leaves at the same time I do when I'm picking up Dawn."
Millie smiles, "Don't worry, I'll let her know you want to talk to her when she gets here."
Buffy smiles, "Thank you."

Buffy returns downstairs and starts her measurements again. She's just finished setting up the gem, and has tested that the emitter that she's made lines up perfectly when Vhesthine walks towards her, drawing the eye of all the day workers.
Once Buffy appears to not be touching anything, Vhesthine says, "Hey Buffy, what are you doing?"
Buffy looks up sharply, and blinks a couple of times before she registers who spoke. Then a broad smile spreads across her face as she walks around her bench to embrace Vhesthine and have a quick exchange, "I missed you."
Ignoring the whoops and hollers from the rest of the workshop, Vhesthine smiles, "I missed you too. Now what are you doing?"
Buffy's smile becomes radiant, "I've just finished positioning the new emitter I made based on Warrens design, and improved based on my history lessons. If I'm right, Warren's emitter and crystal setup would never have worked without this particular diamond, because he's using magic to compensate for his lack of understanding. On the other hand, I'm going to use this koridumi crystal as a refraction medium, however it needs to be completely bonded with the emitter. Once everyone's finished cleaning up, I should have my guides and the original gun setup on clamps so that I can mate the two items."

Vhesthine shakes her head, "Honestly, I don't think I understood a word you said. I know enough about metal and blacksmithing to get along, but this isn't that."
From a safe distance behind them, Mike, the human owner of the company, says, "I followed most of it. Girl, let me understand this. You are about to weld a delicate electronic component with a gem using purely science?"

Vhesthine holds Buffy in place while she overcomes her instincts. Once she's recovered, Buffy nods, "I am. Once I've done that, the second one should be easier to make. With two, the hardest part is going to be making the emitters."

Mike nods, "So, what would you use this for?"
The corner of Buffy's mouth twitches down, "Historically, these were used everywhere from hospitals to labs and manufacturing. Bare in mind that this is only the second time I've ever made one of these, and last time the teachers provided both the emitters and the gem."
Mike urgently waves the small crowd, that's forming, into silence, "Go on."
Buffy carefully moves a free standing clamp that's got Warren's gun attached to it, "In hospitals they used carefully calibrated versions to make the skin both invisible and porous enough to reach through. If they needed to remove something, they could use a version that had a micro-meter aperture, and change the targets phase so that it will dissipate without disturbing any of the surrounding stuff. In manufacturing, which is what I want to experiment with, they were apparently used in pairs to make two things permeable to each other, but still solid enough to manipulate."

In an impressed voice, Mike asks, "And they run on electricity?"
Buffy nods as she sets up a laser liner to brush across the rear surface of the gem, "These ones will. That will limit their aperture to around one inch, but that should be plenty given that they will have very tight tolerances. If I was willing to cut corners on safety, I could make the aperture as large as you want, like the original does. But then most of the utility disappears, unless you want a very dangerous invisibility gun. Ok if you can see the front of the gun, move towards the door until you can't anymore. Firing in 5…4…3…2…1…"

Buffy pulls and releases the trigger on the gun as quickly as she can. When only the gem and the clamps holding it disappear, she lets out a sigh of relief. Moving to the clamp that she's hot glued the emitter to, she carefully closes the clamp until the front of the emitter is illuminated by the laser light. Moving back to the gun, she changes the dials and, just as quickly, pulls and releases the trigger.

After unclamping the gem, she then pulls the emitter off the glue and connects it to a transformer using crocodile clips. A defuse beam of yellowish light coming from the gem causes Buffy to cheer and place a piece of paper in front of it, and bring it closer to the gem until it's almost touching. At that point the paper turns invisible where the light is touching. After disconnecting the emitter, she hands both the emitter and paper to Vhesthine. "There you go. Would you mind putting the emitter in the office safe so that nobody can play with it until I have the magnetic lenses and housing finished. As it's more dangerous than the original gun at the moment."

Before Vhesthine can respond, Buffy leans down and captures her lips into a soul searing exchange. As she comes up for air, she breathes, "Sure, I'll leave a note for Millie."

It will be half an hour after her shift starts, before Buffy remembers the text message, and is able to arrange for Vhesthine to pick Dawn up from the Penshaw's after work.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 11 – part 2


Tara blinks, once, as the orientation video continues to play on an antiquated TV and Video player. Checking her wrist, she curses at the lack of watch on her uniformed arm. Whoever they hired to do the voice over for the safety video could make good money selling sleep aids.

She jerks as an the extended Doublemeat Burger Palace advert comes on once more. It's cheery and lively pacing a stark contrast to the videos about not putting your hand in the grinder, or always using the guard when slicing chicken, along with graphic pictures of the results. Which somehow manage to seem utterly mundane when coupled with the voice.

She jumps as the door to the training room opens, and the light switches on. She's not sure if she should be wondering if it's been two hours already, or was it really only two hours?

"Hello, I'm Manny, the manager. It's not a pun, just coincidence."
Tara spins around in her chair to see a middle-aged man with a completely unremarkable face. His voice is barely more than a monotone.
Tara puts on a smile, "Hi, I'm Tara, though you probably already knew that."
"Indeed, follow me and I'll show you around. It's a shame you can't work full time."
Tara smiles, "Well, you know. College."

Manny shows her to the break room first, where there's a guy lounging at the sole table in the room, "This is the break room, and that's Dave. He's a lifer, keep an eye on him and you'll end up like me."
Tara glances over as Manny taps his "10 year" achievement badge.
"Gary used to do nights, but he didn't show. Lucky you."
Tara grimaces, "Yeah, lucky me."

Manny leads her to the bank of lockers and opens one, "This is your locker."
Tara's eyes widen when she sees the scarves and personal effects in the locker, "Um, there's someone's stuff in there."
Manny looks at the locker with barely a hint of curiosity, "They left. Keep the stuff or bin it."

Making their way back to the entrance of the break room, Manny shows Tara the punch clock and takes a card with her name on, before putting it in the device, "Now you're clocked in. Remember to clock out."

As she watches Manny put her card in the slot for it, her eye is drawn to a single bracket with multiple cards sticking out, "Um, what's that one for?"
Manny looks up, "Absent without cause. Your card will stay there for a week before you are removed from payroll."
Tara shivers, "Why so many cards though?"
"New hires, do a shift, never come back."

What follows in an achingly slow tour of the kitchen and counter area with a description given in a tone that has Tara struggling to keep her attention on Manny and not letting her thoughts wander. Something that's made worse when she sees a spark of void energy jump from her nose to the lip of her hat. Having a quick look around, she sees nothing amiss.

"…you will be working with Robbie for the next couple of days."
Tara's attention snaps back to Manny as she realises she's just missed the explanation of the till, "Oh, uh, sure."
Manny nods slowly, "Have a good shift. I hope to see you back here tomorrow."
"I'll be here." Tara turns to Robbie, it says so on his shirt, "Hi, uh, I'm working with you this evening?"
Robbie looks at her with a dead eyed look, "You are. This is the till, it has pictures of each of the menu items on it." He looks up towards an old lady with a silver-haired wig, "This is Agnes, she's a regular. Watch me."

As Agnes approaches the counter, Robbie says, in a voice void of any enthusiasm, "Welcome to Doublemeat Burger Palace. May I take your order."
Agnes smiles at Robbie, "Can I have a doublemeat medley, a small sprite, and a cherry pie?"
With practiced motions, Robbie presses the buttons for the order, and then presses another button that causes the till to open, "See, it's simple. Just punch in the order and then press this button once it's finished. Now, fill this cup."

A couple of customers later, Robbie says, "This is the Roberts family, they're another regular. Why don't you take this one?"
Tara plants a smile on her face as they arrive, and tries to listen to the father. However one of the kids loudly shouts, "Dad, Dad, her hat's looking about. Can I have a hat like that. Please?"
Finally the father looks down, "Timmy, be quiet otherwise you won't get your nuggets." Looking back at Tara he continues, "Sorry about that. Do you know if they'll be selling hats like yours on the website?"
Tara looks alarmed as her eyes try to see past the cap, "I'm sorry, this is just a prototype, I don't think I was supposed to be given this one."
The father shrugs, "Ah well."
Tara smiles, "I'm sorry, would you be able to repeat your order. Only I've just started here, and I'm still getting used to stuff."

Once the order has been served, Tara stretches up to Robbie, "Robbie, I'm just going to powder my nose."
Robbie nods mechanically, "Don't take too long, as they take the time out of your break."
Tara nods and flees to the rest room, where she shuts the door and tries to pull the void around her quickly. Five minutes later, she's actually used the rest room for its intended purpose, dispelled the hat, and mostly drained her void reserves, for the moment.

Returning to the front, she somehow manages to make it through the rest of her first shift, as well as eat an entire Medley.

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Willow's sitting at the small desk in her dorm room trying to work on her college assignments instead of the advanced magical principles that Razial has been having her make notes on while he's been trying to analyse Buffy's void magic. Most of it is going over her head, but it is an approach to magic that is closer to her geeky origins than the form of magic she practices.

Looking back down at her work, she sees that she's started writing the formula for a magical prism in the margins of her coursework. While useful for separating out the sources of magic in an area, it has nothing to do with Object Orientated design principles, and use case diagrams.

She's about to copy the formula out into her magical notebook when the door opens behind her. Slamming her hand over the formula, she turns around in the chair to see Amy. "Amy, what are you doing here?"
Amy smiles at her, "Can't I drop in to see a friend?"
Willow narrows her eyes, "Friends don't take friends to places like Rack's."
Amy scoffs, "Oh, please. I could tell you enjoyed it. Don't tell me you've been cutting down."
"So what if I have?"
"What did they do? Spin you some sob story about how you're addicted to magic? How you shouldn't use as much as you have been?"
Willow wanted to say it's because of her apprenticeship, or the money she makes charging crystals, or any number of things. Instead, she says, "It's none of your business."

Amy smiles widely, "Sure it isn't." a muttered spell sends a green light into Willow's chest, "There, a gift from me. Now you can do magic and truthfully tell people it wasn't yours. Oh, and catch, first one's free, it will keep you going when you hit your downer."
Willow looks surprised when a quartz crystal lands in her lap, then she starts to laugh hysterically as she recognises it as one of her failures.

With a smile, Amy leaves, closing the door behind her.

Willows laugh quickly turns into pained gasps as the magic inside her starts to try to find its own way out, and coming into conflict with her contract. As she collapses to the floor, she sweeps her notebooks off the desk and on top of herself. Clutching her chest, Willow croaks out, "Stipo" before lying, gasping on the floor as the magic inside her has a small outlet while it takes her notebooks and papers and packs them neatly into her backpack. Grabbing the bag by a strap, Willow crawls over to the door and uses the handle to pull herself to her feet. A strangled spell sees her dressed for leaving her room, and gives her enough reprieve from the pain to open the door and stagger down the hallway.

When she reaches the stairs, the almost drunken high from the magic combined with the pain in her chest sees her almost stumble into the stairwell before she manages to lurch past it, and grab the rail. Leaning heavily against the wall, she inches past the stairwell to the elevator and punches the button down.

Collapsing into the lift, she mutters, "Detergeo" followed by "Purifico", leaving the elevator clean than it's been since it was first installed. With the brief cessation in pain, Willow lifts herself up enough to press the 1st​ floor button, before collapsing against the door. An interminable time later, the doors open again, and Willow collapses to the floor, looking at the back of the lift, Willow spots her backpack. Weakly, she stretches out her hand, and it levitates over to her and the pain in her chest subsides to only being overloaded with magic, rather than both overloaded and not being able to use it.

With the reduced pain, Willow drunkenly climbs the door to the elevator, and staggers drunkenly out of the dorm building to the nearby payphone. Once she gets to the phone, she leans heavily against it as she fumbles her purse out of her bag along with a couple of quarters. Blinking owlishly, she shakes her head to clear her vision enough to get the card for Mikes Machining. As she tries to read the number, she collapses against the pillar, with great pain filled sobs.

As she's laying there, a young man walks over and crouches down next to her, "Hey, are you ok?"
Willow feebly lifts up the card, "Call, help. Please."
The man smiles at her, "Sure, I'll do that."

Picking up her wallet, the man dials Mikes machining while looking at her student ID, "Oh, hey. I found a Willow Rosenburg leaning against a payphone outside Sunset Dorm. She looks like she's in lots of pain."
Willow groans out, "Amy, slipped, overload."

The man interrupts whoever's on the other end, "One mo, she just said something. Amy, slipped, overload. Oh shit, I think someone slipped her some drugs and she's OD'ing. Sure, there's a bench right next to the phone, I'll help her onto it… Um, a backpack and her wallet with like a couple of dollars worth of quarters in it."
As the man hangs up, and helps Willow onto the bench, she can't shake the feeling that there was over $100 in her wallet as it's rent day tomorrow.

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Buffy looks up as the forge turns off, and the whole workshop goes silent except for the sound of Ir'in on the gas welder. Taking off her hearing protection she looks around, and sees Vhesthine by the emergency cut off button.

As the others are taking off their own hearing protection, Vhesthine calls out, "Roselyn, Buffy, one of our own is in trouble. I need you two to pick them up."
As Roselyn turns around, Vhesthine throws her her purse, "I'll walk you both to your car."

Concerned, Buffy hurries over as Vhesthine quickly walks out the door, with Roselyn jogging to keep up, "Vhesthine, what's happened?"
"Willow's in trouble. Bad enough that a man phoned on her behalf. She said three words, Amy, slipped, and overload."
Buffy frowns as they reach Roselyn's car, "What does that mean?"
Vhesthine gives Buffy an actual kiss, "Buffy, it means that you may need to feed from her. When you do, if you feel resistance, then that's her essence. If she's suffering from magical overload, then what you're looking for will probably taste oily and disgusting."
"Vhesthine, why don't you go?"
Vhesthine looks at Buffy sadly, "Because then there'd be two people suffering overload. I don't have a way of using large amounts of magical power. Also, once I'm dead, that's it, I'm gone for good."
Roselyn calls from the drivers door, "I'll get her there, you just make sure we've got somewhere to put Willow when we get back."

For Buffy, the short five minute journey to the university dorms seems to go by in the blink of an eye, as the enormity of what she'd been asked to do weighs on her mind and thoughts. All of those thoughts go out of her mind the instant she sees Willow clutching her head and gasping for breath on the bench, sweat pouring from her face.

Pushing open the car door before Roselyn's even stopped, Buffy pays no heed to pretending to have human limits as she bounds over to Willow, and picks her up gently. She then makes her way back to the car, and opens the rear door, before shuffling in on to the bench seat back first so that Willow can lie on top of her, face to face.
When her head touches the far door, Buffy brings her feet up onto the seat and manoeuvres Willow so that she can kiss her.
"Just so you know, this doesn't mean we're dating or anything."
Willow lets out a pained laugh and Buffy closes her mouth over Willows.

She's not sure when in the journey it happens, but at some point something about the exchanges that Buffy's been doing with Vhesthine clicks, and she gets a flood of strawberry flavoured milkshake tingling through her body. It feels so much better than feeding or being fed by Vhesthine, but also less intimate, as though there's something fundamental that's missing.
It's only when Willow gives a pleasure filled moan that Buffy realises she's taking too much, and immediately feeds the strawberry milkshake essence back into Willow, along with some of her own reserves. The creak of the handbrake pulls Buffy out of her latest attempt to find something that isn't strawberry flavoured, and Roselyn opens the door by her head.

"Come on, we need to get her inside. Pass her up and I'll carry her if you can get the doors."

A couple of minutes later, Willow is laid out on the couch-chairs that have been placed side by side. Vhesthine's standing beside her with Buffy and Roselyn, "How did you get on Buffy?"
Buffy shakes her head, "She tastes like strawberry milkshake, but I couldn't find anything that tasted bad."
Vhesthine leans over and feeds very lightly on Willow before grimacing, "The pain has made her hold on her own essence too loose. Roselyn, you don't have to be here."
Roselyn shakes her head, "Look, I know she works with the boss, but I ain't going to let her go just because I'm squeamish around magic."
Vhesthine nods and takes a deep breath, "There is a spell we can use. I'll demonstrate it, but, Roselyn, you'll need to do the spell and let Buffy feed on you."
Roselyn looks at Buffy, "I didn't know you were a succubus too."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "She isn't, we'll talk about it after Willow's safe."
Roselyn nods, so Vhesthine rips open Willow's top, and places her bare hand on the skin between Willow's breath, "You must repeat exactly what I say, and how I say it. Píngzhe dàdì de lìliàng, wǒ jiāng nǐ de mófǎ jù wéi jǐ yǒu." As she speaks, green sparks pull up from Willow's chest and dance around Vhesthine's hand, before racing up her arm and settling into her skin. With great effort, Vhesthine wrenches her hand away from Willows chest, and tips back, breathing heavily.

Willow's breathing and whimpers of pain become less laboured, but not so much that she regains coherency. As Vhesthine gets her breath back, Buffy pulls her up into a hug, before leaning back to look at her pitch-black eyes.
"Vhesti, are you ok?"
Vhesthine jumps at Buffy and tries to feed off her. As Buffy pushes her back, Vhesthine lands on the floor, "So good, so good. I need. Need, need, need."
Buffy looks at Vhesthine critically, "Roselyn, I need you to get some of the quartz sand we use for moldings, and meet me outside. We need to fix whatever's happening to Vhesthine, and then she can talk you through whatever she did to Willow."
Roselyn looks at Vhesthine with a shudder, "You want me to do that to myself?"
Buffy shakes her head, "I think that the idea is that you take enough to turn your eyes black, and then I take it from you."

As she's looking at Roselyn, Razial's office door finally twigs something inside her, and she slaps her hand against her head, "We are so stupid. Give me a moment."

Walking smartly across the reception, she raps her knuckles on Razial's door. A couple of minutes later, an annoyed Razial answers the door, "I thought I said I wasn't to be disturbed."
Buffy smiles sweetly and points at Willow, "Your apprentice needs help."
Razial growls at Buffy, who continues to look unimpressed. Eventually he says, "Fine, but you need to fill a few crystals for me."
Buffy shrugs, "Sure, you'll need to teach me how though."
Razial just growls at her, before he picks up Willow and slings her over his shoulder. As Razial does so, Roselyn takes her life in her hands by asking, "Hey Boss man. Could I learn magic?"
Razial turns around slowly and looks at her critically, "No. But if you signed a contract to work for me for the next 50 years doing what you're already doing, I could turn you into a succubus."
Roselyn looks down at Vhesthine, "Um, I'd have to talk to Tazar first."
"He could be changed too, for another 25 years."
Roselyn swallows hard, "I'll talk to Tazar."
Razial just disappears in a flash of fire and Roselyn turns to Buffy, "Um, what did I just do?"
Buffy just picks Vhesthine up off the floor, and immediately has to wrestle her to keep her away from her lips, or tearing her clothes off. Ignoring the damp spot where Vhesthine was kneeling, Buffy struggles towards the door, "Roselyn, the door please."

It takes the two of them 10 minutes to get Vhesthine across the road into one of the many abandoned warehouses in the area. It then takes them 3 tries to get a quartz circle laid out around Vhesthine, as she keeps trying to grab them when they get too close.

Once the circle is complete, Buffy kneels down just close enough to touch the circle, "Roselyn, Tara's been teaching me a little magic, so while I'm sure I can do this. You should probably head back to the workshop in case I do something wrong."
Roselyn moves back to the door of the warehouse, before turning around to watch.

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Buffy leans forward and pushes void energy into the circle and starts to cycle it the way she remembers Tara doing for Willow and then Dawn. Then the green energy starts to come out of Vhesthine's mouth and Buffy's suddenly back on Praghasa watching Ballas drawing the last of the power out of the Lotus.
Helplessly she watches as the Lotus starts to scream, while behind her a void portal starts to form. Ballas' cruel laughter rings in her ears as the void starts to pull the Lotus towards it, her outer chassis falling away first when her fingers gain purchase on the ground.

Suddenly, free of her fear, she lunges forward and grabs the Lotus's hand and reaching for her warframes hand behind her. Feeling like she's missed the grab by millimeters, she braces herself against the pull of the void, and tries to pull the Lotus to her, "I'm not letting you go, not again."

One of the sentients flies into her back, obviously thrown by Ballas. Whatever the reason, it does it's job, as Buffy loses her footing and all three of them tumble through the portal into the void.

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Mrs Penshaw smiles up at Dawn, "Dawn, it's good to see you. You don't come around nearly enough anymore. Come, come, we are making burritos today. Maria has her boyfriend round, so we're going to be making much for everyone."
Dawn swallows hard at that news, and puts on a smile while she follows Mrs Penshaw into the kitchen where Janice is already chopping salad vegetables and grating cheese to go into the burritos.

Mrs Penshaw leads her over to her spice cupboard, "You can make the spice mix for the mince with me. It's the secret of the best burritos. First of all, find the spices that you want to use. Then we'll mix them together to make the mix."
Dawn nods, and carefully opens each of the jars, and takes a sniff. Trying to block out the smell of boredom from Janice, and the smell of happy patience from Mrs Penshaw, Dawn picks out only the spices that she can actually smell.

Mrs Penshaw has a massive smile when she exclaims, "Well done, tonight we will be having a fragrant meal, with some sweetness. Though I would suggest putting these two back, as they won't go together as well as you'd think from their scents."
Reaching up into the cupboard, she pulls down an empty jar, and a marker, before writing 'Dawn's burrito mix' on the side, "Now you take these spices, and you grind them in the pestle and mortar until they are a fine powder. Start with a little of each, and then add a touch more if you think it's needed."

With a worried smile, Dawn copies the method that she's shown for grinding the spices into powder, having to be careful not to put too much force into it.

It's a couple of hours later when Maria and her boyfriend come down for dinner that Dawn's self-control is really tested. Not only does she need to eat human food for the first time in almost a month, but the overpowering smell of lust and infatuation keeps distracting her.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 11 – part 3


Vhesthine groans as she wakes up on the floor of her apartment with the setting sun shining straight through her windows and onto her face. With a groan, she pushes herself onto her front, and then onto her hands and knees. Her wings spreading out automatically to stabilise her. Staggering to her feet, she lurches over to the sink and downs a glass of water to distract from the gnawing hunger she's feeling. Whatever's going on, she's been gone at least a week.

Swaying over to the land line, she picks up the phone and dials Mikes Machining, hoping that it isn't a Saturday. The phone rings a couple of times before she answers the phone with "Mikes Machining, I'm sorry, we're closed to the public now."

Desperately, Vhesthine slams the phone down, accidentally crushing the handset at the same time. What's going on? How could she have just answered the phone?

She desperately needs something to eat, and it's too early for her normal hangouts. She smiles as she takes on her human form. A simple glamour, and she should be able to get Spike going.

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Roselyn groans as she wakes up in bed, her last memory before this being dragged towards Buffy and Vhesthine when something went really wrong, and some sort of portal opened up. Those thoughts go out of the window as her partner comes into the bedroom and sniffs twice, before launching himself at her jugular. With practiced instincts, Roselyn grabs his horns to redirect him to her mouth, and also redirect his hunger to a different taste of the flesh.

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"Hello sleeping beauty." Are the first words Buffy hears as she wakes up. Opening her eyes, she finds herself in a virtually bare bed in a crypt.
"You know, if you wanted me so bad, you just had to ask. Falling asleep outside my crypt was a bloody stupid thing to do." Buffy props herself up on her elbows to look at Spike. Idly noting her own lack of clothes.
"What makes you think I did that because I wanted you?"
"Why else would you turn up without a stitch of clothing, and no signs of a fight?" Buffy stares at him, "Alright, alright, without a stitch of clothing covering your modesty. Your rags are on the dresser over there."
"So, your idea of seducing me is to, what, put me on your bed and?"
Spike shakes his head, "Well what did you expect me to do, grab you a strawberry bloody milkshake and a bag of fries?"
Buffy licks her lips at the idea of strawberry milkshake, an image of Willow's face clear in her mind, "Mmm, now that you mention it, strawberry milkshake is delicious, but maybe you'll be a good substitute."
Spike backs up in his chair as Buffy's eyes start to glow a mix of deep red and green, somehow not mixing, "Slayer, what's going on?"

Lurching out of his chair, Spike is still too slow to stop Buffy from latching onto his mouth. As she kisses him, it's like she's got a direct connection to his bits, and she leans back with a sultry smile that has no business being on that face, "Mmm, cigar smoke and whiskey. More!"

Sometime later, Spike hears someone coming down the stairs through his haze of lust and exhaustion, "Help! She's insatiable!"
To his dismay, Vhesthine walks through the door and stops, looking at Spike and Buffy, "Buffy, how could you!? Did you leave any for me?"
When Buffy turns around, Vhesthine looks at her glowing eyes with concern, however, that concern is quickly erased when she saunters over, and says, "No." Before feeding her whiskey and cigar smoke, along with a healthy dose of magic and succubus essence.

As the edge is taken off her hunger, Vhesthine looks into Buffy's eyes, "Willow?"
Buffy smiles, "Razial has her. Let's go hunting."
Vhesthine blinks, "Buffy, what happened?"
Buffy feeds Vhesthine a bit more of Spike's essence, then pouts, her words coming through a little less needy, "Can't we talk about this after hunting?"
Vhesthine shakes her head, "No Buffy, I need to know now. And you need to give Spike some of your blood, otherwise he'll die."
Spike lifts his head a little more, "While it's turning me on watching you two like that, though little Spike seems to disagree, what's this about dying?"
Buffy looks hopeful, "Can we go hunting once I've fed Spike?"
"Almost, first we go home and get you some clothes that won't get you arrested."
Buffy smiles, "Sounds good to me."

Buffy looks around for her clothes, and pulls out her dagger, before emptying out an ashtray and filling it with blood and placing it by Spikes head. With a giant smile, Buffy turns back to Vhesthine, "I've fed Spike, let's go."
Vhesthine looks at Buffy's bleeding forearm, "Buffy, your arm."
Buffy looks down at it, "It doesn't hurt, so I'll be fine. Let's go hunting, he was nice, but I want something sweeter."

Vhesthine huffs in frustration, and starts to help Buffy get dressed, and tie her clothes up to provide at least some modesty. One strip of clothing, she uses to bandage the cut on Buffy's arm, "Come on, let's get home."
"Sure. Hey, didn't you say that Vampires are great for hunting because they don't have a soul?"
Vhesthine sighs, "Yes, I did." Before tugging Buffy along with her.
"Maybe we should use Spike to teach Dawn how to hunt…"

As the voices of the two women move out of earshot, Spike turns his head and desperately tries to lap at the blood in his ashtray.

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As Buffy and Vhesthine are walking home, hand in hand, Vhesthine says, "Buffy, I need to know. What happened after you got back with Willow."
Buffy smiles, "You tried to show Roselyn how to take the magic from Willow. Took too much, so I did a cleansing ritual on you, and we got sucked into a void portal."
Vhesthine smiles encouragingly, "That's great, have you ever done a cleansing ritual before?"
Buffy shakes her head, "No, but I saw Tara do it twice. It was easy."
Vhesthine pauses to give Buffy a quick exchange, before continuing to walk, "Oh, which process did you use?"
Buffy smiles, "The one where you push energy into the circle through the quartz and then cycle it around and around."
Vhesthine's eyes widen, "When you say cycle it around and around?"
Buffy nods, "Yep, bring it back to me, and then push it back through the quartz. Of course, I don't remember much after that first cycle, as you turned into the Lotus, and I watched Ballas steal the last of your energy again."

Vhesthine stops and takes both of Buffy's hands, "Buffy, I think you are suffering from magical overload."
Buffy shakes her head, "But I feel great."
Vhesthine nods, "It does that. It's why Willow kept using magic, do you remember?"
"But I don't want to use magic, I just want to go hunting with you."
"I know you do, but that the taint from my original dimension inside you. The taint of magic from here is why you don't care about it. It leaves you feeling on top of the world."
Buffy shakes her head and pulls one hand away, before heading for the house, "I'm fine. Come on, let's get changed so that we can go hunting."

Once they're closer to the house, Vhesthine says, "Buffy, I phoned work when I woke up. But I answered."
Buffy shrugs, "Probably just a paradox. Don't worry about it, void travel does that sometimes."
"But what if we come in contact with each other?"
"Did you? I think you'd remember that, unless that was the start of the loop of course."
"What!?"
"So, Eternalism is the philosophical theory that allows time travel, and it says that once a paradox starts it's always been true. So, if we went to the office and met ourselves, that would now have always been true that we met ourselves."
"I think I follow."
Buffy smiles, "Don't worry about it, if you don't remember it happening, then you're the first person in the loop. Otherwise you're part of the paradox, congratulations the universe hasn't ended. Now, we're home now so let's get ready to go."

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Tara's eyes open in surprise when Vhesthine drags Buffy through the doors to the store at just before 9pm. Her jaw drops when she realises that Buffy has taken most of her clothes from Vhesthine's wardrobe, with a wrap around skirt showing off her leg, and the halter top becoming visible when her coat rises at the back. When Buffy starts looking around at the various men in the place, her eyebrows rise. Even more so when it's Buffy that's sat down at a table while Vhesthine walks up to the till with a note in hand.
"Doublemeat Burger Palace, how may I help you?"
Vhesthine smiles, "Hey Tara, can I have a nuggets, fries, and two large sprites please. Oh, and a cleansing ritual whenever you're free."
Tara hisses, "What?"
"You remember what Willow was like before you did her ritual? Buffy's like that, except most of her taint is from me, after she tried a cleansing ritual earlier. Also, do you know what the time is?"
"You do know this is my first shift don't you? And it's almost 9, there's a clock above the door to the toilets."
Vhesthine sighs, "Believe me, I know, and I am glad it is as apparently time travel is a thing you can do accidentally now. Spike persuaded her to let him… When I found her, she'd already drained him and wanted to go hunting with me. She has no control at the moment, so unless you want her to leave a trail of corpses, we need that cleansing ritual."
"Buffy's just spotted Robbie cleaning the floor."
Vhesthine puts the $20 on the counter, "Keep the change, could you bring our food and drinks over please?"
Tara nods, "Sure, I'll also talk to Manny about getting an extra break."
Vhesthine just gives her a thumbs up as she moves to intercept Buffy, and guide her back to the table.

Once she's taken the food and drinks to Buffy and Vhesthine, Tara dodges Buffy's questing hand, and walks over to Robbie, "Hey Robbie, um, could you look after the till for a moment, I need to ask Manny something."
Robbie nods, "Sure, I need to put this away first."
Tara smiles, "Thanks."

Once Robbie has taken over the till again, Tara makes her way around the store until she finds Manny in the interview room doing paperwork. Knocking on the door, she pokes her head in, "Um Manny? I know this is my first shift, but a couple of friends have arrived and need help. Would I be able to take a second 30 minute break if I stay late to help clean up or something?"
Tara's almost ready to leave dejectedly when Manny looks up, "At least you asked. Most just disappear. Remember to clock out when you leave."
Tara nods, "Thank you." Then grabs her coat and clocks out, before heading to Vhesthine and Buffy.

Walking up to Vhesthine, Tara smiles, "I've got half an hour. Hopefully you have the sand already."
Vhesthine nods, "I picked up a small bag on the way out."
Buffy looks up from her soda, "What do we need sand for?"
"To put you through a cleansing ritual."
Buffy shakes her head, "I told you, I'm fine. I just want to go hunting with you." She sways slightly as she walks, as though she's already had a few drinks.
Tara looks at her, "Has she been like this long?"
Vhesthine nods, "Since I found her at Spike's crypt."

Tara leads the two of them to an alleyway nearby, and uses a spell to clear the floor of dirt and debris, "Buffy, I need you to kneel here the way you've been teaching me."
Buffy whines, "I don't want to, I want to go hunting."
Vhesthine smiles at her, "It's ok, Tara wants to show you how to do a cleansing properly. That way you can help me if I eat too much."
Buffy huffs as she sinks to her knees, "Ok. Fine. But I did it earlier and it worked out fine, if you ignore the void portal and hallucinations."
Tara kneels down in front of Buffy, and nods the way you might nod to a young child that's proud of the mess they've made while Vhesthine draws the sand circle.

"Now Buffy, I'm about to push void energy into the circle. But the hard part is preventing the energy from leaving the circle once it's in there. Once there's enough energy that I can bring it down to the sand, like a big ring donut, I'll stop pushing energy in and only control the energy that's inside the circle."
Buffy looks at her, "Oh, I didn't do that, I AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHH!"

Buffy's sentence cuts off as Tara completes the loop and the energy starts to flow through the quartz sand. Once the magic starts flowing clear, Tara lets go of the power but the circle continues to spin, and begins to pick up sand from the edge of the circle.
"Vhesthine, that's not supposed to happen!"
Vhesthine shouts over the sound the sand is starting to make, "It does for some demons, you need to break the circle."
"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"
"Less dangerous than leaving it, it's feeding off of Buffy's energy now, and when it runs out it will release it in an instant. The sooner you do it the less dangerous it will be!"

As Tara looks around for a stick or something, a tear starts to open in the air. Panicking, Tara lunges for the circle and pushes her hand clear through the sand. Tara and Vhesthine are both thrown clear down the alleyway in different directions, while Buffy lands on the floor. A moment later Buffy says, "Ow, void that hurt." Spotting the bandage on her arm, Buffy pulls it back slightly, "When did I do this, and why hasn't it heal… Vhesthine!"

Looking around wildly, Buffy hurries over to Vhesthine body and sighs in relief when she can see her breathing. Gently picking her up, she carries her back to the clear area of the Alleyway where she sees Tara lying against another wall, out cold. After bringing Tara to lie next to Vhesthine, Buffy kneels down in meditation and quickly seeks the structure and forms of the Vazarin way, she hurries through the process of bringing her mind into the way. As she opens her eyes, she activates Squad Regen and watches her two friends critically, not even paying attention to the wound on her arm disappearing as if it never was.

As Vhesthine's eyes flicker open, Buffy's eyes dampen and she leans over to hug her, "You're alright, I thought I'd lost you."
Vhesthine smiles up at Buffy, "Do you still want to go hunting?"
Buffy shudders, before her shoulders firm up, and she takes a deep breath, "Not really, but if you want me to join you on a day we're not picking Dawn up from her friends." Buffy takes another couple of breaths, "I will join you on one condition."
Vhesthine smiles, and Tara's voice croaks, "You don't let her get like that again."
Buffy laughs, "You put the words right in my mouth."
Tara thumps Buffy on the arm, "That's not the saying, and you know it." She then looks down at her clothes, "They're going to kill me, this was a brand new uniform."
Buffy shakes her head, "Are you or are you not a witch who struggles with finding ways to use enough void energy not to explode?"
Tara gives Buffy a dirty look before casting repair and cleaning spells on herself, "There! Happy now? I'm trying to avoid relying on this for mundane things, as I'm just as likely to become dependent on it as Willow did, even if I don't suffer from magical overload the same way."
Buffy nods, "Thank you for your help. And I'm so sorry you saw me like that."
Tara looks Buffy up and down, "I don't know, now you're yourself again, I think you look good in that."
Buffy buries her head in Vhesthine's shoulder to hide as Tara laughs and heads back to work.

Once Tara's gone, Buffy looks seriously into Vhesthine's eyes, "How hungry are you?"
Vhesthine looks at a wall, "I'll be fine."
"Vhesti, talk to me. How are you doing, considering that we need to feed Dawn later."
"How do you do that?"
Buffy sighs, "Just because I can't smell how hungry you are, doesn't mean I don't have eyes, or hands. You're cold Vhesthine, and you're never cold."
Softly Vhesthine says, "I was starving when I woke up. Like I hadn't eaten in over a week, considering that we've been feeding Dawn."
Buffy nods and grasps her face to pull her into a kiss. Then she pushes as much essence as she can into Vhesthine, until she starts feeling lightheaded.
"Buffy! You can't do that, you need that essence yourself."
Buffy shakes her head, and leans against Vhesthine, "I'll grab a couple of burgers on my way home. I'll be fine. Sides, I've got a couple of bars of chocolate in my purse at work."
"Let me at least give you some essence back."
Buffy shakes her head, "Nope, you don't generate your own, I do. So I win, just get us back to Mikes."

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Jonathan looks up from the pinball game that he's currently trying to beat Warrens high score on, "Go away Andrew."
"Jonathan, we really need your help."
"Andrew, I told you I'm not getting involved with that cerebral thingy."
"But something went wrong."
"Damn it Andrew, I almost beat Warren's score. Now I have to start again."
"Jonathan, we just need you to summon some demons to confuse Buffy."
Jonathan throws his hands in the air, "Ok, fine. But if I get any hint this is to do with that orb, I'm gone."
Andrew holds up his hand, "I swear that we just need you to summon some demons."
"Well, lead on then."

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 11 – part 4


As Buffy and Vhesthine get closer to Mikes, a pillar of light streaks up into the sky from across the road, and Buffy chuckles. "I guess we know we didn't meet each other then."
Vhesthine huffs, "I didn't realise it was so late when this happened, Willow called me sometime around seven or eight."
"Come on, I need something to eat, and all my stuff's inside."

As they enter the workshop, Andrew looks up from where they've almost got all the equipment checked and re-calibrated after the earlier emergency stop, "They're back!"

Soon enough, John and Andrew are crowding around Buffy and Vhesthine, while Aglomal and Surkos are lingering nearby to find out if anything interesting happened. True to his species, Ir'in is still plodding away on his own work.
John demands, "Well, how's Willow? Will we need to walk on eggshells around the boss for a few weeks?"
Buffy smiles, "We managed to help her a little before I got the boss to take care of her, so she'll be back when she gets back."
Everyone heaves a sigh of relief, especially the demons, Aglomal grunts, "That's good, I don't have to prepare my wives for my potential death."
Buffy looks surprised, "Wives? How do you survive on the kittens you earn?"
Vhesthine hisses, "Buffy, that's a very personal question."
Aglomal tilts his head in a way that mean's 'it's ok' for his species, "We do not eat Kittens, we use them for trade. Though sometimes they are a nice delicacy. My wives make art, and so I work to get away from the demands of housework."
Buffy nods even though she's not sure of what that means in human terms.

The two of them are about to head upstairs when John looks around, "Where's Roselyn?"
Vhesthine shifts uncomfortably, while Buffy just rips the bandage off, "She got caught up in the cleansing ritual I did on Vhesthine when it went wrong, so we don't know when she came back, or even if she's come back yet. I was apparently sleeping outside when I was found sometime after sunset, so it's probable she woke up at the same time."
Andrew asks, "What, did you time travel?"
Surkos groans, "Don't start, otherwise it will end up like talking to a Rwasundi demon until they think you're trying to insult them and try to kill you."
Buffy frowns, "Eternalism isn't that hard to understand. I mean, sure there are Archimedeans who have spent centuries discussing the finer points of it. However, we all learnt and understood the basics before I was 19."
Vhesthine gives Buffy a very quick exchange, "Buffy dear, humans don't have the ability to learn the way you did."
Andrew and John both gasp, "You're not human?"
Aglomal groans, "What? Like it wasn't obvious? Come on you two, have you ever seen any human pick up metal working as fast as Buffy has? Or, how about the way she sometimes has to think for a second before she reacts to what you say."
Buffy coughs uncomfortably, "Right, I'm going upstairs to raid my snack supply. You can ask me about my humanity another day."

Once upstairs, Vhesthine phones Roselyn while Buffy is raiding her snack supply.

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Roselyn groans as she rolls over in the bed when the phone goes, "Hello?"
There's clear relief in Vhesthine's voice as she says, "You're alive, that's great."
Roselyn groans again, "I am, though it was a close run thing. Tanzar hadn't fed, and you know what they're like."
Roselyn can hear the smile in Vhesthine's voice as she says, "Not personally, no."
"Yeah, well. Hunger, sex, and violence are so closely linked in their species that their mates need to know how to turn it away from hunger."
"I don't understand why you're still with him."
Roselyn smiles, "He's got a wonderful personality when he's fed, and, well, I'm a masochist. So, sex and violence get's very confused in my mind." Vhesthine hums in understanding, "While you're on the phone. I won't be in for a few days as I can't feel my legs yet. Though I can still wiggle my toes, so it's not too bad."
"You do remember that we don't do sick pay."
Roselyn looks up at the ceiling as she falls onto her back, "I remember, but I couldn't lift a teacup, let alone my work. Tanzar's gone hunting, so I'm not going to starve. Even if I might wish I could when he shares his kill with me."
"Look, if you can get into the workshop tomorrow, Buffy can heal you right up."
"Wow, you're being awfully kind considering I'm human."
"To use a human phrase, Buffy has been good for me. In more than one way."
"Hmm, don't go forgetting the bitch queen sex goddess thing you had going on though. As we need that for some of our customers."
"Don't worry, I haven't."

Roselyn's silent for a few seconds, and when the phone isn't hung up, she ventures, "Vhesthine, Razial said I couldn't learn magic. But he could turn me into a succubus."
Neutrally, Vhesthine says, "I see. Dawn's coming in tomorrow. Talk to her about her experiences during your break."
That's when the click brr comes, and Roselyn says, "I guess she didn't want to talk about that."

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After Buffy and Vhesthine leave work, Vhesthine drives round to the Penshaw's to pick Dawn up.

Vhesthine smiles up at Mrs Penshaw as she opens the door, "Good evening, I hope Dawn wasn't any trouble."
Mrs Penshaw smiles, "It was no trouble, though I can see why you've been feeding her before she gets here. The poor girl must be going through a growth spurt."
From inside the house comes a cry of "Vhesthine!" and Mrs Penshaw laughs.
Vhesthine smiles, "Yes, she's reached that age. Thank you for feeding her."
Mrs Penshaw waves her hand, "It was no problem, I let her choose the spices for the burrito's. She picked an odd, but fragrant combination. I think everyone agreed that it was the nicest smelling meal we've had, even if she used too much chilli, and the flavour balance was off."
Vhesthine steps back to brace herself as Dawn launches into her and hugs her, "Vhesthine, you came."
Vhesthine smiles as she deftly turns the attempted feeding into air kisses on the cheeks, "The car's unlocked, I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Aww, but I…" Dawn trails off as Vhesthine smiles up at Janice in the doorway.
"Dawn, say goodbye to your friend."
Reluctantly, Dawn lets go and gives Janice a similar hug, "Thanks for inviting me over."

Mrs Penshaw chuckles good naturedly, "Dawn seems to be so much happier since you turned up. Don't you listen to the likes of that Miss Kroeger from social services. If your relationship with Miss Summers can take a girl as lost as Dawn was, and help her blossom into this, then you must be doing something right."
Vhesthine smiles, "Thank you. I need to get trouble here home as she has an early day tomorrow."
Mrs Penshaw smiles, "Don't let me keep you, as I'd still be talking at midnight. Have a good evening yourself, what's left of it anyway."

Once she gets in the car, Dawn almost launches herself across the divider to grab her, and Vhesthine snaps, "Seat belt Dawn. You can wait a couple more minutes."
Dawn whines, "But I'm so hungry."
Vhesthine puts her own seat belt on, "I know you are Dawn. But your friend is still watching, now wave to them and take your seat."
Dawn pouts as she waves out the window and reluctantly takes her seat. Vhesthine waves too before she starts the car and the internal light switches off.

Less than a minute later, she pulls over around the corner and looks at Dawn in the darkness, "Dawn, I'm going to give you a little bit to tide you over. For more, you'll need to wait until we get home."
Dawn nods eagerly, "I understand."
As they both lean over, and Vhesthine feeds Dawn a little. Dawn squirms on the seat and moans loudly. Pulling back, Vhesthine looks at Dawn critically, "Dawn, how long has that been happening?"
Dawn looks down at the armrest and mumbles, "About a week."
"Dawn, why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I didn't want you to stop feeding me, and send me hunting."
Vhesthine starts the car and begins the drive home, "Dawn, we wouldn't do that to you. All it means is that you're becoming a juvenile succubus. It changes the way I'm going to treat you slightly, as you need to start learning restraint. Especially as your instinct to feed rather than be fed is going to start getting stronger. If we were living in a commune, I'd also be starting to bring home the occasional prey, so that you could practice feeding in a safe place. Don't forget that we are a communal species. It's why so many of us choose to serve powerful humans."
"Buffy said that I have to become human again."
"I know she did, she spoke to me first. I understand why she's doing it, as we can't protect you the way we could if this was a commune. But I believe she told you that you could work to become a succubus again."
Dawn nods morosely, "Yeah, I know. But even if tonight sucked, I think I still prefer being a succubus over being human. I can smell how much Buffy loves me, same with you and Tara. School has been a lot less confusing since I started going as a succubus. I feel more confident and attractive too. What's not to like?"
Vhesthine sighs, "Having to rely on having compatible humans around. Needing to kill humans to survive until you learn sufficient self-control. Being alone in both the demon and human worlds. Being seen purely as a creature of lust and seduction. There are many reasons why someone would choose not to be a succubus."
Dawn frowns as they pull into the driveway, "What do you mean by being alone?"
Vhesthine turns in her seat to face Dawn, "Dawn, I am superhumanly strong, but amongst other demon species, I am so weak I have to use weapons. Humans are prey to me, and so much weaker than me too. My only strength amongst demons is my above average talent for magic. Something that I only had the opportunity to learn properly after I came to the human world. I can't have a meaningful relationship with non-succubae because if I lose control once, I will either kill them, or they will kill me in retaliation."
"But what about Buffy?"
"Do you know why I fed Buffy the first time?"
Dawn shakes her head, "I think you've told me before, but I don't remember."
Dawn shrinks back from the intensity in Vhesthine's gaze and voice as she says, "She had never smelt of lust around me. Not once. At the time, she stunk of anger and fear, and I was afraid that if I didn't do something she would kill me. So I used the only ability I have to affect someone's emotions. I fed her some of my essence."
Dawn looks down at her hands to avoid Vhesthine's eyes, "But being a succubus feels so good and right."
Vhesthine deliberately relaxes back into her seat, "It is. And there's nothing wrong with feeling like that. But you need to understand that Buffy is unique, and very much not human. Oh her body is very much human if you ignore the Slayer thing. But her mind and soul? They're not human. Did you know I've accidentally drained her twice, and the only thing she said about it was to complain about how hard it is to sneak home naked?"
"Why would she need to sneak home nak…ed… Ew, I did not need to know that. No, nope, nine."
Vhesthine chuckles and strokes the back of her hand down Dawn's cheek, "Dawn, if you remain a succubus, you will learn far more about the in's and out's of sex with humans than your human upbringing would ever be comfortable with. You will be watching me seduce a victim, have sex with them, and feed lightly. Then I'll be watching you do the same thing, and giving you tips. Granted, this wouldn't be for a few years yet, and you'd be learning to start and stop feeding the same way we feed you to start with. Also remember that only a month ago you were asking to come and watch me hunt."
Dawn loses control of her human form as she brings her wings over her head in embarrassment. Vhesthine gently strokes one of the fingers of a wing, "This is another reason why we would be doing just that. You cannot lose control of your human form, ever. As an adult succubus you need to be able to sleep as a human, and feed as a human. You must learn how to appear weaker than you are, so that Demons will treat you like a human. At the same time you must learn to be as vicious as the worst of them, to use every opportunity to kill your opponent before they can bring their greater strength to bear. You also need to learn what demons to steer clear of even with all of that, because they will either enslave you, and feed you only enough to live while they slake their carnal urges on your body."
Dawn peers over her wing, "Vhesthine, you're scaring me."

Vhesthine nods, "Good, because you haven't grown up knowing these things. At the hairdressers and spa, I hear human women occasionally talking in hushed voices about the conversations they've had to have with their daughters. About places they shouldn't visit, on how to spot a predator, where to hit a man to give them time to run, the dangers of drinking too much, or leaving their drink unattended. Every single one of them sounds as hurt as I feel having to tell you this. I wish you didn't need to know this stuff, that I could let you grow up as a woman or succubus without fear that your ignorance wouldn't get you hurt or killed later in life. I think all mothers and matriarchs do. Anyway, we should get inside, and then I can feed you a bit more."
Dawn nods, "But I'm still so hungry."
"I know, but I need to hunt as something happened and it's like I've only had one moderate meal in at least a week."

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Buffy gets to the Doublemeat Burger Palace just before it closes for the night, it been a weekday.

As she walks up to the counter, she can see Tara standing there disconsolately, "Hey Tara."
Tara looks up from her thousand yard stare, "Oh, hey Buffy. What can I get you?"
"Can I have two medley meals and four medley burgers to go please?"
Tara looks behind her, "Uh, we've shut down the grills and fryer already, I can do four medley burgers, and we have one portion of fries. We still have a portion of nuggets, one classic burger, and one cheese burger."
Buffy smiles, "I'll take all of those then. Are you alright?"
Tara nods, "I'm fine, I've just been on the till for the last hour while everyone else cleans down their stations before leaving. Manny's going to close the store in a few minutes, and then I'm cleaning down the service counter and the public areas of the restaurant."
Buffy smiles, "Don't forget you can cheat, and use up some of your void energy."
Tara smiles, "Not out here I can't, security cameras."
Buffy shrugs, "Do the toilets first."

Tara hands over the paper bag with Buffy's order, "I'll think about it. Enjoy your meal, and don't forget the seating area is closed now."
Buffy nods, "Thank you, I'm going to swing round to the south cemetery first, so that I can bin my rubbish when I cross back to the north side."
Tara smiles, "I'll see you when I get home then."

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Buffy hums happily when she gets past the northeast cemetery, and into the woods. The large amount of food having restored most of the reserves she fed Vhesthine earlier.

As she's walking along the ridge of the woods, three cloaked figures appear out of nowhere and start screaming at her. Their skin showing clear ridges, while their eyes were pearlescent black.
Unimpressed, Buffy puts her hands on her hips, "Look, I'm sorry I don't speak your language. I do speak plenty of others, though the only language on this world that I know is English."
The one in front of her raises it's arms threateningly, so Buffy shakes her head, "Look, I'm here for the same reason you are. If you want a fight, I want a fight. If you want to kill me, I want to kill you."
While she's talking a young woman runs screaming in between them, before collapsing to one side. As if that's a trigger, the three demons start to attack Buffy. Only for Spike to jump on the back of the one on the left.

With her right hand, Buffy draws her dagger at the same time as she lowers her left hand, "Spike, would you just get out of here. You almost got yourself killed."
As she dodges to one side of a badly telegraphed punch, she has to throw herself backwards as Spike throws a quick jab at the place one of the demons was a second before hand.
Stabbing out, Buffy catches one of the demons in the shoulder, "Spike, I mean it!"
Confused, Spike replies, "Mean what?"
Stabbing out with her dagger, the demon she's facing moves to one side, and she hears a scream from the civilian as her dagger neatly goes through the demons cloak.

Cursing, Buffy raises her left hand, and Spike lets go of the demon he's fighting only to get hit in the back, "Right fine, I'm going."
Buffy rolls her eyes as she activates void snare, and the three demons are pulled together. Quickly dispatching each one with her dagger, she ignores Spike as he curses her for almost stabbing her.

As whatever effect they're causing ends, Spike whirls around at Buffy, "What the hell was that?"
Buffy turns back to him, "That, using words you might understand, was time fuckery as bad as any I've experienced or caused when fighting Protea, or as Protea depending. At least they weren't reversing time as well. That was annoying when I had to face that, as I had to make her suffer acausal damage."
"You lost me after time fuckery love, I want to know why you almost stabbed me."
"Spike, I didn't almost stab you, I had to abort a dodge when you tried to attack a demon that had already moved. Same as the civilian ran through the fight, probably because she didn't know it had moved there. Now, which way did she go?"
"Why are you asking me?"
"Because I was too busy fighting the demons and also keeping you alive. Why did you even jump in? I almost had them handled."
Spike runs after her as Buffy heads down the hill, "You're having a go at me for trying to help you?"
"Yes I'm having a go at you. Because of you, that fight lasted far longer than it had to, and a civilian may be dead."
"Why are you blaming me for that?"
Buffy crouches down beside a young woman that's lying motionless on the floor while activating Mending Soul, she then touches the young woman before briefly glowing golden, "Because, rather than help me find her, you've been confronting me. You prevented me from using my beam attack, and your involvement actively made the fight last longer. Also, this person is dead. But there's no blood, so she wasn't stabbed and bled out."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Buffy ignores him as she pulls out her cell phone and dials 911.

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Before the fight takes place, in a nearby black van, Jonathan puts down his didgeridoo tiredly, "It's done, I've sent them after Buffy."
Warren smiles, "Great, Andrew, you're up."
Jonathan frowns as Andrew transforms into a slightly familiar young woman, "Andrew, what are you doing?"
"Making Buffy think she killed her."
Jonathan jumps out of the back door of the van and looks back at the two of them aghast, "You're using me to help you cover up a murder? Nope, nadda, not happening, I'm out. You are not pitting me against her, or her fucking boss."
Andrew looks back at Warren, "What are we going to do?"
Warren looks at Andrew, "First of all, you have to catch up with them and make Buffy think she hit you. Then we can think about Jonathan once that's done and she's found the body."

A few minutes later, Andrew clambers back into the van holding her side, "She stabbed me, she fucking stabbed me!"
As Andrew releases the transformation spell, the stab wound slowly disappears, and Warren sneers, "Oh shut up you big baby."

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Closing her phone and putting it away, Buffy stands up and cleans her dagger off with a Doublemeat napkin, "What were you doing here anyway?"
Spike scoffs, "What, a guy can't hang around near his home now?"
Buffy puts her hands on her hips and stares at him, "Spike, this is you we're talking about. You've been stalking me since October."
Spike invades Buffy's space, "And it's obviously worked. I knew you wanted me, and look at what you did earlier. Didn't you say I tasted of whiskey?"
"Spike, I was high on magic, and you really believe that I wanted it?"
"Well, with the way you kept going, even after little Spike gave up on me."
Buffy laughs, "Oh, Spike, as if you could ever be more than a happy meal on legs. Especially without a soul so we don't have to be careful. A little bit of bouncy bouncy and you're ready to pop, and slurp down like a cheap drink from a liquor store."
Spike grabs her roughly and presses his mouth to her lips, before leaning back and saying, "Like you're not asking for it, dressed like that. What happened to your jeans? Too confining for you?"
Buffy pushes him away roughly, "The police will be here soon."
Spike laughs, "At night, in the woods? It will be at least 30 minutes, if they don't wait until daybreak. So, no need to be shy."
Buffy narrows her eyes angrily, "Is that so?"
Spike nods, "Plenty of time for a quicky."
Buffy give a smile that has no hint of love, lust, or desire in it, "If you're sure."
Spike leans back and undoes his fly, "What do you think love?"
Buffy's smile turns cruel, "I think you asked for this." Then she kisses him and feeds him a wisp of essence, with the accompanying moan from Spike. Taking Little Spike in her hand, she carefully alternates between trying to feed, and feeding Spike small amounts of essence until he twitches and she's able to drink long and deeply of his essence.

Once she's unable to draw anymore out of him, she gives him a satisfied smile and stands up, "You're right, there was plenty of time for a quicky."
As she walks over to her purse, Spike calls after her, "Buffy, I can't move, you have to help me out here!"
Reaching into her purse, Buffy pulls out the crumpled carboard cup that held her second sprite, that she was going to throw away at home. After putting her hand inside to open it up again, she uses her dagger to slice open her forearm, and allow half a cup of blood to pool in the bottom of the paper cup. The straw and plastic lid complete the container, and she chucks it on the floor near Spike.

Turning to walk away, she looks over her shoulder, "There you go Spike, and don't say I never give you anything. Oh, and you were delicious."
Spike shouts after her, "See, I knew you liked me!"

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Once Manny locks the doors, he turns back to Tara, and in his monotone says, "Thank you for staying. I'm going to clean up the Grinder and then do some work in the office. I'll call you once I'm finished."
Tara nods, before making her way to get the cleaning supplies, and head into the toilets. Deciding to start with the mens, Tara gags as she opens the door. A muttered spell clears the air so that she can breath without trying to choke. Walking in, she turns around to look at the back of the door, to see that the sheet that's supposed to be replaced every week is not only full, but has been for at least a month. Bracing herself, she casts cleaning spells at the floor, walls, and ceiling, to reveal white tiles under the yellow of cigarette smoke that coated every surface. As she makes her way past the single sink, that has limescale caking the plug hole, the asthmatic electric hand dryer, and the metal urinal that takes up half of the wall opposite the cubicles; she discovers the first of the two cubicles, with swollen cigarette butts floating in the water. Investigating the second cubicle reveals it to be full of paper and a brown substance she really doesn't want to concentrate on.

Deciding that, despite her misgivings, Buffy was probably right to suggest using magic. Tara moves to the centre of the room and starts to sketch out a sigil with magic while chanting a spell for purity, cleanliness, and a general purging of bad energies. As she finishes the spell, she leaves the mens and walks into the women's while the spell does its job.
In the women's the situation seems better on the surface, the place doesn't stink and the walls and floor look clean, until she realises that the yellow colour running around the top of the walls, and the ceiling, isn't a design choice, it's just as high as whoever did this job before her could reach. Checking the back of the door, she can see this toilet was last cleaned two weeks ago.
Frowning, she stares at the second sheet of paper below the cleaning sign off. Then it dawns on her that it's the name that appears on many of the sanitary bins, and they haven't been for around a month, where prior to that, they came every week. Swallowing hard, Tara decides to forgo looking in the cubicles and straight to using magic to clean and purify the toilets. With both spells doing their work, Tara begins practicing pulling the void around her.

Half an hour later, both spells have finished, and Tara is starting to get concerned that Manny hasn't come to find her. Making her way out of the toilets, she heads towards the back and is about to call out when she hears something clattering. Looking behind her, she realises that her only way out of the store is either through the locked doors, or it's through the back doors.

Having been around the scoobie gang for far too long, Tara casts around for something she could use as a weapon, until her eyes settle on the knife they use for slicing the tomatoes, lettuce, and onions. Cautiously making her way through the door between the kitchen and the back areas of the restaurant, she's surprised when something sprays her in the face.

Spinning around, she woosily leans against the doorframe. As she does, the old lady from earlier smiles at her as a snake head slithers out of the top of her skull, "Oh my, I have a double treat tonight. And you're so young and tender."
Tara slowly lifts the knife as the lady casually reaches down and takes it from her, "Don't worry, it's just the poison slowly paralysing you. Normally, I like my meals to marinade in Doublemeat Burgers for a couple of weeks, but I can't pass it up when one drops into my lap now can I."

Tara raises her hand and begins the chant for a spell to immobilise the demon, when its snakelike head darts out and rips out her throat. As Tara slowly collapses to floor, the demon wags its finger, "Uh huh, no magic. Now look what you've made me do, so much more cleaning up. I usually prefer to drink your blood first before I start to eat you."

As Tara falls to her side, her vision greying due to blood loss, she spots the knife on the floor behind the demon. Using her oldest magical skill, she pulls the blade towards her with telekinesis and slams it into the things neck, nearly completely severing it from the body. As it thrashes around in its death throes, Tara's last thought is, 'at least I took you with me!'

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Tara gasps as she wakes up in her bed at Buffy's house, her hands flying to her throat. Eyes wide with panic, she falls out of the bed and staggers through the door into the hall, where Vhesthine finds her as she walks out of Buffy's bedroom, naked.
"Tara, you're home?"
With wild eyes, Tara gasps, "Snake lady, throat, I died."
From inside the bedroom, Buffy calls, "It's ok Tara, you just died. I'm just coming."

A couple of minutes later, Tara is being held by both Buffy and Vhesthine on their bed as she chokes out the story of her last 5 minutes. As she finishes, Buffy looks up at Vhesthine, "Would giving her essence help her the way it did me?"
Vhesthine nods, "It should do, I'll do it."
Tara is barely able to understand what's happening through her distress and panic, so when the taste of something indescribable, followed by a feeling of warmth usually associated with Willow floods through her body, she's entirely unprepared for it.
Touching her lips, she looks at Vhesthine in wonder, "What was that?"
Buffy draws her attention by saying, "Worry about that later. Vhesthine, grab your cell phone and call 911, you were driving to pick Tara up from work when she ran in front of you. It's taken this long to calm her down enough to understand her, then hand over the phone to Tara. Tara, you're sure it's dead?"
Tara nods trying to come to terms with her sudden change in emotions, "I-I am."

While Vhesthine's talking on the phone, Tara can feel the brief emotional high already starting to recede, and she starts to shake from the effects of adrenaline and cortisol in her body. By the time the phone is passed to her, she doesn't need to fake the quaver in her voice, "Hello?... Yes, Tara McLay. I started at Doublemeat Burger Palace today… I-I'd just finished cleaning the toilets… I don't know what I saw, but I threw one of the knives at it and ran… I-I live with her… 1630 Revello Drive… Oh goddess, I'm going to be sick." Vhesthine calmly hands Tara a towel to vomit onto, while Buffy strokes her hair.
Vhesthine speaks into the phone, "This is Vhesthine, I've just pulled over, and Tara is leaning out of the door… Buffy and I visited earlier when she told us she was working late… Yes, her manager was supposed to be there too… I'll bring her by in the next couple of days… Thank you I'll let her know… Goodbye."

Once she hangs up, Vhesthine sags onto the bed next to Tara and Buffy, "Tara, you did well tonight. Nothing that you knew then could have allowed you to do any better than you did. And you made sure that that thing couldn't kill anymore innocents."
Buffy hugs Tara from behind, "Let's go downstairs and make you a hot chocolate while I put the towel on to wash. We won't leave you alone tonight, or tomorrow if you need us."
Tara bursts into tears and Vhesthine grabs the corners of the towel as Tara turns to hug Buffy and cry into her shoulder.

Over the next hour, either Buffy or Vhesthine are holding her while she cries and sips her hot chocolate. Then, somehow, she ends up in her bed sandwiched between both of them, and using one of Vhesthine's wings as a blanket.
[An: for reference, this is the temporal ability of Protea in game https://warframe.fandom.com/wiki/Temporal_Anchor and some of the in-game theories of time https://warframe.fandom.com/wiki/Theories_of_Time]

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 12


Mike looks at the emitter that Buffy has put in the company safe as it sits on the desk. Behind the desk Razial sits back and raps his fingers on the arm of the chair.
Mike looks up, "Any magic?"
Razial shakes his head, "No, I do not understand how this works."
Mike sighs, "Buffy does though. But she needed the original weapon to make this."
"And you just plug it into electricity, and it works?"
Mike nods, "I was there when she tested it with one of the transformers we use in the shop."
"Why did you need my advice?"
Mike smiles, "Because, Buffy could make us a lot of money."
Razial leans forward, "How?"
"We patent every single component that she makes herself, and then patent the finished product. All in her name. It will cost us around $3,000 to do it in the major countries around the world, and we can then cover the rest once we start selling them. If we ask nicely, and offer a modest 1% of each device we sell, I'm sure she'll let us have the exclusive licence to manufacture these devices. As it's completely mundane, we can even set up a factory somewhere like Mexico or the Philippines. Then for the next 25 years, we control the production of the device that will revolutionise manufacturing at least as much as the industrial revolution did."

Razial grunts, "Won't they just take this for themselves? Or make their own devices?"
Mike gives a predatory smile, "That's just it, they can't make this emitter without one of these emitters. I sent a letter to a professor at MIT asking if it was possible to put something inside a sapphire without drilling it. They sent back a rather rude letter back saying that it wasn't possible for this that or another reason. Scientists haven't even started to think about how this can be done. But here, we'll have actual proof that it can be done. Proof that anyone can make if they have one of Buffy's finished devices."
Razial nods, "Do it."

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Xander winces as Anya calls from the bedroom, "Xander Harris, you will undo this right now! I can't run the Magic Box like this!"
With a light snigger, he starts to get his bag together to leave for work. As he sits up, a demon appears out of midair wearing a black cloak, and a purple flower print top. His eyes are drawn up to her face, framed as it is by her curly hair, as she intones, "I have been called and vengeance shall I wreak! Cower, masculine one. Tremble as you face my wrath."
Xander leans back and calls back to the bedroom, "Anya, I'll undo it. But don't you think calling a vengeance demon is a bit much for a bit of fun?"
Anya storms into the living room, "A bit much! A bit mu…"
The demon turns to her, "I am here to rip this male into tiny pieces, how many do you wish him to be in."
Anya blinks a few times as the face looks so familiar, suddenly she exclaims, "Halfrek?"
Letting her voice drop back to more human tones, Halfrek sounds surprised, "Anyanka?"
"Halfrek! I expected you weeks ago!" Anya throws her arms in the air, and waddle dances towards her.
Halfrek embraces Anya in a hug, "Sorry, I had an urgent job at an orphanage in Russia. Now, about the male."
Anya laughs, "I didn't call you to smite him, I called you because I'm going to marry him."
"Oh, wonderful, you must tell me all about it."
Xander pushes himself off the couch, "Well, I guess that's my cue to head to work then."
Anya grabs his arm, "Oh no you don't mister. Not until you've undone what you did to my panties."

Xander mutters a couple of words before he leaves.
As the door closes, Halfrek settles down on a chair, "Really Anyanka, what do you see in him? He has those massive things on the side of his body."
Anya sits down with Halfrek with a lusty sigh, "Tentacles, definitely the tentacles. He's also funny, most of the time anyway. He runs his own company, what's not to like?"
Halfrek looks surprised, "Tentacles, really? Where does he hide them?"
Anya sighs dreamily, "That's just his human form. He's so much more now, even if his brother is a bad influence on him."
Halfrek shakes her head, "I'd never have guessed, he moves so naturally. He even reacted like a human when I arrived."
Anya smiles in remembrance, "It was amazing. There we were, in the Bronze. We've arrived just in time to see the big bad declare that Dawn didn't summon it, and then it vanishes. That's when Giles turned around and said, 'If it wasn't dawn, then it must have been one of us'. Then Xander puts his hand up and says in the corniest accent that you can imagine, "What? I didn't know it was going to be like this. I thought it was just going to be some singing and dancing, and give us a happy ending.'"
Halfrek nods, "I like his style, death and mayhem just to prove his love for you."
Anya nods enthusiastically, "Exactly, then Buffy, the Slayer, just appears on the stage with the demon, and stalks down the stairs staring daggers at Xander. Once she's finished making him feel so small, she hands him to the big bad, and tells him to take him to hell and turn him into a demon."
Halfrek nods, "Sounds like a woman after my own heart."
Anya's face falls, "Yeah, well, it's not all great, she's in love with a slut."
Halfrek's face falls, "You don't mean one of them?"
Anya nods, "Precisely, one of those 'can't keep a guy for more than 5 minutes' succubus."
"Oh, my, god. What are you going to do?"
Anya shakes her head, "Well, Spikes out. Not just for being a vampire. But there's a cute single guy on Xander's crew, and it's Buffy's birthday soon. So I was thinking I'd invite him along, and introduce them."
Halfrek shudders, "Eww, but I guess a human's better than one of those. Are you ever going to tell her about what they do?"
Anya shakes her head, "What do you think? She hurt the big bad badly, and at the moment I'm a friend. I'd really rather stay in the friendzone thank you very much. Thinking about it, as you're here now, I'll ask Willow if it would be ok to invite you round."
"Yes, yes, now what's this about a wedding?"
Anya squees, "Well, we haven't set a date yet, as Buffy pointed out that we don't exactly need to worry about human timescales here. At least not now anyway…"

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Willow looks stunned as Tara kisses her, "Tara, are you sure?"
Tara nods, "I am, and I've been talking to Buffy too. We're both worried that Amy will try something, so she's agreed that you can live at home with us. Even if we don't work out, we'll sort out the basement so that you have a comfortable bedroom."
Willow slumps back as her brain tries to process what she's just been told, her eyes darting around the park and the across the lake they're sitting beside.
"But we've barely seen each other." She eventually gets out, before covering her mouth, "I didn't mean it like that."
Tara smiles, "I know you didn't dork. I think it's because we've been busy growing up. We've all got jobs, I help to look after Dawn when I'm not working. And we've both got our own College work too."
Willow looks down, "I know, and I've been getting so caught up in magical research too. You know, the sort that works regardless of the caster. Not the sort that we practiced together. Did you know that most of those old spells are actually magical catalysts, and the real spell is imbued in the pages of the spell. That's why they seem to have such a large effect for so few words, and only a little magic from the caster."
Tara nods, "I guess that explains why Giles had a sign saying, 'Xander, don't speak Latin around the books!'"
Willow giggles, "You saw that? I thought it'd got taken down before you did."
Tara smiles, "Nope, it didn't. I miss this."
Willow frowns, "What, talking about magic?"
Tara laughs, "No silly, just being together and talking about anything that interests us. Vhesthine and Buffy have started doing it too, now Dawn's human again."
"What about Spike, I heard that Buffy was interested in him."
Tara smiles as she shakes her head, "No, it's more like one of those guys who try to chat us up at the Bronze, and won't believe that we're actually in a relationship. Especially if we made the mistake at looking at him ever."
Willow winces, "Oh, would this be a bad time to mention I told him about the birthday party?"
Tara shrugs, "They'll probably just treat him they way they normally do."
Willow looks confused, "What do you mean?"
"Happy meal on legs, doorstep deliver, takeaway, you know the sort of things that we've heard him saying about humans, ever since he got that chip in his head."

Willow smiles, "Speaking of, how's your job going?"
Tara's eyes go distant as she looks over the lake, "It's better now, despite my first night there. The new boss was very understanding when it took me a week to build up the courage to go back to work, after the police allowed them to reopen that is. The first couple of days, they sent Dawn to keep me company with $50 so that she always had a drink or something. I think Janice turned up too for a couple of hours."
Willow looks at Tara with a worried look, "What was so bad about your first shift? We've faced vampires and demons together, and they never affected you like that."
Tara looks at Willow with raw fear in her eyes, "I died Willow, I had my throat torn out, and I died. I managed to kill it, according to the police anyway. But I remember my vision going grey, and feeling so cold. I couldn't sleep alone for a week, and I'm still having nightmares about it." Slightly more abashed, she adds, "Um, and I might have developed a thing for wings…"
Willow leans in to hug Tara as she stares out over the water, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
Tara swallows, "I did, I told Buffy and Vhesthine. Dawn knows too, as she's slept with me to keep the nightmares away."
Softly, Willow says, "Why didn't you tell me?"
Tara looks at her, "And say what? 'Oh, hey Willow, you remember the resurrection that we did, and when you thought I'd been hurt by the magical ghost thing. Well, I actually made a deal with an eldritch entity from beyond any of the known planes. Since then I've been dreaming of Buffy's home, and hey, I also can't die.'"
Willow looks hurt, "Well, no, not like that. But you could have said something."
Tara kisses Willow on the cheek and takes her hands, "Willow, you were struggling with overuse of magic. Then you were starting your apprenticeship, and struggling with not being able to use magic. Then we weren't together, and it's not something you really want to talk about. Does that make sense?"
"So, why did you talk with Buffy about it?"
Tara looks down at her hands, "Because she shared first. Do you have any idea how bad she had it there? Objectively, her life here is infinitely better than it was there. But, she's the still the same Buffy she was when she died here the first time. She was defending people no matter the cost to herself. But she didn't have friends, she was so lonely that she didn't know what lonely was." She laughs, and waves her hand to conjure a parasol to protect them from the sun, "It's funny how it's worked out isn't it. I've always cautioned restraint, and only using magic for learning or deliberate things. While you wanted to explore it and use it for everything. But, now I have to use it for everything, and you can't use it for much."
"Aren't you worried about becoming dependent on it, the way I did?"
Tara shakes her head, "Would you ask the spring on a mounting if it was worried about becoming dependent on water? I can't use magic anymore. This energy inside me, it's not magic. If you get too much in one place, it forms a tear into the void to dissipate away quicker. I can't summon anything anymore, I've tried. But I've seen Buffy resurrect a rabbit that had just had it's throat slit. But that only works if you get to them in seconds."

Willow closes her mouth with a snap, "Changing the subject. Does Buffy know about her birthday party?"
Tara forces a chuckle, "Honestly, I don't think she even understands why a birthday is even important."
"Oh, right."

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Janice looks up from her homework, "Can I go to the Bronze with Dawn later?"
Her mother looks up, "No, or have you forgotten Halloween already?"
"But Mum, that…"
"Don't talk back to me like that young lady. You almost got seriously hurt because you lied to me. If it wasn't for that nice Mr Giles I don't know what we'd have done. Maybe we'd have needed to bury one of our daughters, just because she couldn't listen to her mother. Now don't you have homework to finish if you want to spend the night there on Saturday for Buffy's birthday party?"
Janice looks back at her homework, "Yes mum."

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 12 – part 2


Vhesthine puts her hands on her hips, "Buffy, you will put that soldering iron down right now."
Buffy looks up from where she's about to start soldering a timing chip onto the board she's working on, "But, it's so close."
"Buffy, I know this is a part of home that you are bringing here. But you are neglecting your other responsibilities. Or had you forgotten that you need to pick Dawn up from school today?"
Buffy frowns, "I thought she was with Anya today."
"That was yesterday. They've both taken the day off to go to a wedding show in LA today."
"But it will only take…"
Vhesthine unplugs the soldering iron at the wall, "No, Buffy, it won't only take a few minutes. You almost missed work yesterday."
Buffy puts the soldering iron down with a sigh, "I'm sorry, it's just…"
Vhesthine gives Buffy a kiss with a brief exchange, "I know. I was the same with Dawn while she was a succubus remember."
Buffy smiles and pulls Vhesthine into her lap, "Says the sexy succubus who has started to have her own Dawn time. You're teaching her magic, aren't you."
Vhesthine nods, "I am, do you mind?"
Buffy smiles and kisses her, "Of course not. As long as you are also teaching her restraint."
Vhesthine smiles, "Of course, though, I think your own lessons are having a better effect for that."
Buffy nods, "She's doing something, with the Vazarin Way, that's for sure. But it's not void energy."
Vhesthine nods, "See. Now we both need to get going if we're not going to be late."

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As they're both walking up to Mikes, Dawn asks Buffy in Orokin, "Buffy, why can't I get the Vazarin Way to work?"
Buffy smiles, "Let me ask you a question instead. When are you trying to use it?"
"When we're having out sister time."
"When am I using it?"
"All the time, except… Oh… Right, now I feel stupid."
Buffy hugs Dawn, "Don't feel like that, as it's often the simplest lessons that evade us for the longest. That doesn't make us stupid, it just means we were overthinking something. How are your magic lessons going?"
Dawn looks down, "It's hard. Vhesthine has me learning about all the different dimensions, and not just the hell dimensions. Did you know they have prisms to split out all of the different colours that the dimensions use?"
Buffy shrugs, "I didn't, but it makes sense. It seems to me that many demonic species treat magic more like a science than humans do. Given what was happening to Willow, I'm not that surprised. It would be like playing with N dimensional phasic shifts without the proper equipment."
Dawn looks confused, "Huh? I don't understand."
"Oh, it's the scientific principles that the emitter works on. If you just wire up the emitter and pump power into it, you could disrupt maybe two meters of space, including the emitter. Shifting it 90 degrees along the 4th​ dimensional axis. At that point, everything would be irretrievable without knowing exactly which 90 degrees it shifted across."
"Um, isn't time the 4th​ dimension?"
Buffy ruffles Dawn's hair with a laugh, "No, it's an emergent property of the universe working. It just makes a lot of 3 dimensional science easier if you treat it as a dimension. But, up at around 11 dimensions, treating it that way becomes actively detrimental to investigating it properly."
"How did they even start working with those sorts of…"
Buffy laughs again, "No idea. The acid wars wiped out all of the history and records that was on the home world. That's when we started colonising the solar system. A few more wars over archaeological treasures put paid to those too. Legends say, that's when the Archimedeans came into being. Anyway, we're here, so no more ancient history lessons for you."

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As the two of them walk through the door to Mikes, with Dawn going first, a chorus of "Surprise!" has Buffy yanking Dawn back out the door at the same time Dawn spins to grab Buffy's left hand.

"Buffy, Buffy! They're celebrating your birthday."
After a few minutes of talking Buffy down, they both enter the workshop again.
A shivering Buffy looks at her co-workers, "I'm sorry about that, I don't react well to surprises without my implants."
Roselyn scoffs, "Buffy, you must be the most dense intelligent person I know. That excuse wore thin a month ago, and whatever that shit was with the portal laid it to rest. You're never going to get your implants back, that means doing what every other human, or demon that can pass as human, has to do. Get therapy!"
Buffy steps back as though slapped, "But…"
"There's nothing wrong with me? If Dawn wasn't here, how many of us would be dead now?"
Buffy looks at the floor as though it's the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. As there's a moment of silence while Buffy digests that, Buffy can hear Vhesthine controlling her language into her ultra professional tone. There seems to be a human male arguing with her.
Looking up, Buffy frowns, "What's going on upstairs?"
Ir'in shrugs, "Don't know, don't care. The boss is in, so Vhesthine has all the backup she needs."
Buffy turns away to go up the stairs, only for Dawn to tug her back, "Buffy, your girlfriend has handled herself for years before you came along. But your co-workers have something to give you."
Buffy spins back, a hysterical, and vulnerable tone in her voice, "What?"
Aglomal and Surkos both hold out a brown cardboard box each, and Andrew carefully claps her on the shoulder, "It's not exactly cake or fun stuff. But we all chipped in, and these are for you."
With a practiced motion, Buffy pulls out her dagger, opens both boxes, and sheathes it again, almost faster than the eye can see. When she takes a pamphlet out of the larger of the two boxes, she sinks to the floor with a thump as she stares at the front page.

Welcome to Dark Side of Sunnydale
Home of The Slayer and The Hellmouth

There are a few rules you need to be aware of before you go on your murderous rampage.
1) No Eating civilians
2) No Enslaving civilians
3) No Hurting civilians
4) No Kidnapping civilians
5) No Killing civilians

If you have specific dietary requirements that could be seen to contravene any of the above, check the contact details on the rear of the pamphlet.

With shaking fingers, she opens the front cover and reads the rest of the tri-folded pamphlet, where it emphasizes that being human does not exempt you from these rules. That summoning a demon, or enslaving a civilian, makes you responsible for any actions they make while they are under your command.

As her eyesight begins to blur, she wipes the water out of them, and turns to the back where there are details a magical addiction meeting, run by Willow and Tara, her own details as the Slayer, and Willy's bar.

Looking up, Buffy manages to get out "Thanks everyone." Before booted feet come down the stairs. Looking up and behind, she sees a man, dressed in black, with a large scar running over his left eye.
"Buffy." The man says in a voice that almost seems familiar.
Buffy nods, "I am. You seem familiar."
"I'm Riley, your ex?"
Buffy's eyes widen in recognition, "Oh, I thought you were shorter. Buffy Summers spent a lot of time writing about how she looked down into your eyes while she kissed you."
Riley shifts uncomfortably, "Yes, well. Look, I need your help."
"Oh? The big bad human supremacist needs help from little old me? What, not killed enough innocent succubae."
Riley hotly answers, "We didn't kill any innocent succubae, they're demons. And they were alive when we let them go."
"And doomed to starve, or kill demons to survive. Which would have got them killed. Congratulations, you are the first recipient of my pamphlets, and whatever is in the other box. Don't think being human will give you a pass. You are part of the dark side, and will abide by my rules while you're here."

Riley tucks the pamphlet into his jacket, "Look, I really need your help, otherwise people will die."
"You're not giving me any information here. I do not go on any missions without intel. That stopped when I got my memories back the first time."
Riley growls, "I don't have time for this, that thing could be killing people now."
"Then, why are you here? Or even better, why haven't you said what you're after?"
Riley hits a wall, "Fine, you want to be difficult, it's a Suvolte demon. They're killing machines, and they lay eggs."
Buffy smiles, "That wasn't so hard was it. Anyone know anything about those?"
Roselyn nods, "My partner thinks their eggs are a delicacy. He got two from the Doctor for a kitten. Ate both of them too."
Algomel shudders and seems to become bigger out of nervousness, "They're bad news. That's what they are. Bipedal, and pure instinct. Some idiots are always smuggling an egg out of their home hell. This needs to go upstairs, as it's likely to be a vacation until it's dead."

Riley reaches out to grab Buffy's shoulder, only to recoil at an angry spitting and hissing from a cat that's close to the size of a Maine coon, "What the fuck is that?"
Buffy smiles down at Emo, "He's Dawn's Emotional Support Cat, he's so cute, don't you think? And suitably protective too. I want to get a queen so that we can start breeding them once he's full grown."

Riley growls, "Look, are you going to help me with this demon?"
Buffy shakes her head, "Nope, I'm more interested in this Doctor person, so I'll be tracking him down to make sure the current eggs are destroyed or accounted for. Now, if you don't mind, I need to go and talk to my girlfriend about your conduct and what you're hunting."
Riley looks taken aback, "You're dating that thing?"
Buffy smoothly stands up and stalks towards Riley, "Riley, unless you want me to start asking pointed questions about your past exploits in this city, you will refrain from calling her a thing. While female isn't an accurate description of their species, it is what they generally prefer to be considered as by humans. If you don't leave your humanocentric views outside of town, I will kill you."

Buffy turns around and starts walking up the stairs. Halfway up, she turns back, "Oh, and it's my birthday party tomorrow night. So you're invited, presuming you survive that long."

As Buffy disappears through the door, Riley mutters, "What happened to her?"
Dawn smiles, "She got Awesome. Here, have a few more pamphlets and cards."

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Willow sits in front of Razial's desk somewhat nervously, because this isn't their usual pattern. Normally, they'd have started their discussions on magical theory and practice, before she retreated to her table to start filling crystals. She usually manages two or three mid-grade a night, and she's come close to a top grade once. She's been trying to get better at making the mid-grade crystals, but it doesn't matter what she does, by the second or third circle, her magic is too polluted to do more.

She's pulled out of her thoughts when Razial puts a necklace with a resin pendant on the desk, "Apprentice. It was most distressing when you were discommoded by excess of magic the other month. It cost me valuable days of research and trade because you were too far gone to recognise my presence and use up the magic yourself. Fortunately, my research into The Slayer's unique power has finally yielded a result I can use. My apologies that it took so long to find a solution, however my receptionist has rather too much self-control during her climax for me to gather the requisite data any faster."
Willow's eyebrows scrunch together, "Um, what do you mean by that?"


Razial cocks his head, "I believed it would be self-evident. She doesn't kill Buffy nearly often enough for my recording rituals to gather enough information over a short period of time. However, I have discovered the mechanism that The Slayers 'Oro' transports her body upon death and duplicated it in this necklace."
Willow looks at it sceptically, "Um."
Razial waves her off, "Don't worry, it's been tested thousands of times, just don't take a deadly injury to your head and you'll fine. You can also break it, and it will act as though you died. Don't do it frivolously otherwise I will ensure you learn how much work goes into making one. Oh, and never tell anyone what it does, as it won't do you any good if it's removed before you are mortally injured."
While Willow is fumbling to put the necklace on, Vhesthine knocks on the door and pokes her head in.
"I'm sorry to bother you Razial. That government idiot that refused to say why they wanted Buffy. Turns out they're hunting a Suvolte demon that has already laid eggs."
Razial looks up, "You're sure?"
Vhesthine nods, "Roselyn's partner bought a couple for a kitten."
Razial nods, "We're closing early, do the ring around. Oh, and let The Slayer know that if she can freeze a couple of eggs before they're too close to hatching, I'll pay her for them. As they are quite the delicacy."
Wisely, Vhesthine's expression doesn't change as she just nods and withdraws from the office.

As Willow finishes putting the necklace on, Razial mutters a spell, and the necklace feels like it shrinks under her fingers, "There, now I don't need to worry about you taking it off accidentally. Come, we will finish this evening in my workshop. I understand you have a celebration to attend tomorrow evening, so we will be working overnight to give you time to attend."

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 12 – part 3


Buffy sits uncomfortably in Roselyn's car as Roselyn drives them to her home, "Buffy, this is important. Tazin should have eaten already. But if he hasn't, he's likely to attack us immediately. If that happens, let me handle him, and go around to the back of the house. We have a brick curing building there, and there should be a haunch of deer hanging in there. Grab it and bring it back to me."
Buffy nods uncertainly, "Um, sure? But why would I need to do that?"
"Tazin's species has three overriding instincts, the three F's. Fight, Fuck, and Feed. If you know how, you can turn one of them to another."
"So, what will you be doing while I… Oh… So, why don't I just fight him?"
"That's my next point, if he doesn't immediately attack. Don't get too close to me, as I'm his mate, and he might see you as trying to take me away from him. If he still attacks, he probably just needs a fight and hopefully he'll be able to give you some warning. I can turn that too, but the fighting would be quicker."

Buffy groans, "Why are you with him again? Wait, you already told me. You love each other, and you're a masochist. Why is he with you?"
Roselyn smiles, "I don't try to kill and eat him when I climax."
"Wait! Like that mantis lady that Buffy Summers met a year or so ago?"
"Sort of, but not quite. His species lays eggs in the male corpse, after the female eats his guts and head. Their secondary brain in the base of the tail will keep the body breathing and moving long enough for the eggs to hatch and consume the corpse."
"Void, no wonder he's with you. What happens if the male wins?"
Roselyn looks at the road for a couple of seconds, before softly saying, "They don't. If the female is able to initiate sex, that's it. The male is dead. Remember I said that their three hungers were linked? If you satiate one of them, the other two are suppressed for a while, and they can't even summon the energy to defend themselves. He told me that it's not uncommon for a group of males to fight and leave the one who has their fill of fighting first to the female while the others run." Roselyn takes a deep breath, and the knuckles on her hands whiten as she grips the steering wheel, "You know, I've had my job at Mikes for around 5 years. It's the longest I've even been able to hold down a job with Tazin. Before that, we were on the east coast, and a female caught his scent. He was terrified, and that scares me. I bought the first plane tickets to the west coast I could, and we moved here in the hope the Hellmouth would hide his scent."
"Does he pass for human then?"
Roselyn laughs, "Not at all, but this was before 9/11 and we'd already got him an American identity. He does web design from home. A long leather coat, with a floppy hood, and gloves, and he looks like Aragorn from the animated adaption of the Hobbit. Or any number of other dark and mysterious men from Disney classics."
"Are you going to tell him about the offer at work?"
Roselyn pulls into her street, parks on the street outside her house, where she looks down, "I don't know. 75 years is a long time. And there's lots of rumors about succubae. Not that I have anything against you and Vhesthine, you understand."
Buffy sighs, "Do most of the rumors paint them as seductresses and sycophants who will attach themselves to the most powerful male in a group, sleeping their way up, and leaving a trail of dead bodies in their wake?"
Roselyn grips the steering wheel again, "Yes, damn it. Yes, those sorts of rumors."
Buffy looks out into the darkness, "They're true, you know. Every single one of them. What you don't have is the full story. Most of those are courtesan succubae, the weaker sex you could say. Though Vhesthine calls them a sub-species. Succubae are already individually weaker than other demons, much like humans really. But they live in communes made of multiple families. Apart from those that were summoned, every single Succubus outside their own hell has been banished from their commune with no chance of joining another commune. There's so much about their society that most people don't know, or care to know."
"How did your relationship start?"
"Fear, misunderstanding, and acceptance. When she fed me the first time, she was afraid that I was going to go on a rampage and kill her and everyone else. I'm sure you know the rest, or you can imagine it."
Looking confused, Roselyn asks, "Why are you telling me this?"
"For the same reason I haven't told Vhesthine about your question. I want you to be able to make a fair choice. Also consider, that while Succubae aren't immortal, they do live for around 900 years. Also, while they don't have to kill to feed, it's a skill they have to practice so that they can stop eating. Anyway, we should stop sitting here, and go in."

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Riley jogs through the darkened streets of Sunnydale, the journey bringing back memories. Most of them unpleasant. Pulling out an earphone, he attaches it to his ear, "Coco, do you read me?"
"Loud and clear Patch. Status on the asset?"
"Negative on the asset. Quarry is confirmed to have spawned."
"We thought that was the case. Track and trace is still live."
"Asset has a lead on the eggs."
"Patch, lead with that next time. Did you even brief the asset properly?"
"Negative, she was in mixed company."
"God damn it Patch, they're not our enemy. The killers are our enemies, same as always."
"They're all killers Coco, do you have any idea how little it takes for them to turn?"
"Riley, that's not our job. We track the killers and make sure they can't keep killing. We have enough going on to worry about the ones that aren't killing. Now, what's the lead?"
"One of her coworkers partner bought a couple to eat."
"Well, why aren't you following that up then?"
"They kicked me out."
"God damn it Riley, if those things hatch because you burned bridges between us and the only people who know where the eggs are. Husband or not, I'm reporting your arse. I don't suppose they gave you some way to get in contact."
"Negative."
"Fine. If Walsh was still alive I'd put a bullet in her myself. Track and trace is still a go until we get confirmation the eggs have been found and destroyed. Over and out."
With a huff, Riley carries on his search. She's been on his case since Honduras, when they narrowly missed the last nest before it hatched, and this one escaped.

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"Vhesthine, are these demons really that bad?"
Vhesthine glances over at Dawn from the drivers seat of her car, "Like most things, that depends on where they are. In their home hell, no, not really. In the bosses hell, no not at all. In my home hell, very much so, same as here on Earth. They're growth cycle is driven by the availability of food, not time. So, they could grow to maturity in as little as a month, or as much as a year. However, their eggs will generally hatch in at most a week. That's it, and then you have 30 little demons eager to eat everything in sight that is weaker than them. If it's organic, they'll eat it. If left unchecked, within 3 months Sunnydale would be a wasteland and they'd be a plague of them spreading out looking for safe and secure places to nest. I don't know anymore than that, as the why's and wherefores of that sort of threat aren't important to a matriarch, just that they are a threat, and how much of one they are. Oh, there is one thing, they can't be seduced, so if you meet one run or kill it. There is no middle ground."
Dawn nods confidently, "Buffy will stop it."
Vhesthine smiles, "I have no doubt of that. I'm more worried about how many people will die between now and then. Especially as you and I are both people."
Dawn swallows, "I wish you hadn't added that last bit."
"Dawn, you are my juvenile, I will not spare you details that may save your conscience now only to kill you later."
"So, what are we doing then?"
"First, we are going home and packing bags for a few days away for us and Tara. Then we are going to Doublemeat to look out for Tara. While I'm driving, you're going to call Anya and Xander and tell them to find a motel for the night."
Dawn looks at Vhesthine, "Shouldn't we be out there looking for it?"
Vhesthine pulls over for a second, to look Dawn in the eye, "Dawn, do you think you could kill it if it found you? Could you beat a Vampire without a stake?"
Shivering, Dawn shakes her head, "But we should still be doing something."
Vhesthine nods, "And we are. We are preparing for the worst. Going to protect our friend, and after that, we'll see what happens."
"But what about Spike?"
Vhesthine frowns, "Who? Takeout?"
"Why do you both keep calling him that?"
Vhesthine starts driving again, "Because he wouldn't take no for an answer. And his response to finding Buffy unconscious outside, was to strip her naked and place her on his bed. Then imply, to the point of almost being explicit, that she owed him sex because she likes to look pretty, and must be leading him on. She now uses him to supplement my hunting so we have more time together, apparently she hasn't needed to feed him blood afterwards for nearly a month."

While Dawn struggles through that, the two of them get home and pack their bags. On the way to Doublemeat, Dawn says, "But, shouldn't Buffy be flattered by his attention? I mean, she dated Angel and Riley, and she had a boyfriend before we moved here." As Vhesthine starts to pull over again, Dawn quickly adds, "At least that's the way the older girls talk about it."
As Vhesthine speeds up again, Dawn lets out a sigh of relief, "Dawn. Do you think Tara should be flattered by the attention of a male?"
Dawn scoffs, "No, she's a lesbian. That's different… Isn't it?"
"Dawn… Nobody should ever be able to tell you how to feel about another persons attention. Ever. They can give advice, personal experience, and warnings. But it is your feelings about the person that matter, not theirs. The males I admire the most are the ones that respect other peoples opinions, especially females. The ones who may ask once, but won't push it or try to chat you up. I have taken a few males like that under my wing in my century on this Earth. With the right persuasion, they blossomed from being the awkward young men they were, into someone that genuinely enjoys the company of women for just that, company. Treating their opinions and knowledge as valuable in and of itself. Not all of them found their own female by the time we parted ways. And one of them was attracted to males."
Dawn frowns, "But isn't that the same thing you were warning me about?"
Vhesthine smiles, "Some would say it is. The difference is consent. I wasn't imposing my opinions on those young males."
Dawn stutters for a moment and covers herself by asking, "Did you. You know…"
Vhesthine laughs, "Feed? Dawn, I know you're human again for the moment. But you shouldn't be bashful about things like that. And yes, I did feed on them. Even killed a couple when they became too possessive, and wouldn't believe that they couldn't satisfy my needs. Do I regret those deaths? Not at all."
"Didn't you say that you didn't care about males, as they were just prey?"
Vhesthine laughs, "Dawn, there's a difference between caring about an individual and improving the quality of the herd. I would rather feed from those who don't look at me like a prize to be possessed. But, those who do look at the female form like that are far quicker and easier to find. Which is strange considering the number of vampires in this city. When you're older, I hope you'll never have to understand what I mean."

The rest of the drive to Doublemeat passes quietly as Dawn thinks about the conversation.

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"Slayer! You may be here to kill me, but I'll take you with me!"
That's all the warning Buffy gets as she finds herself leaping over a charging demon. Her left hand coming up to shoot it when a civilian gets in the way, "No Buffy, he just needs to fight it out. Please."

Buffy tackles the civilian out of the way as the infested charges at her again, resigning herself to a close combat fight without her warframe. A punishing rake across the ribs is met with an equally punishing kick to the thigh, though a bare moments thought activates void regen, and a second activates a guardian shell around both her and the civilian. Enough protection to keep them safe, but not enough to be firing void beams around when they could cross the line of fire.

As she slides along the floor underneath a lunging claw, she punches up with her own attack while trying to remember what her mission was. Another brief flurry of blows, and she's finally got it's measure, and fires a void snare slap bang into it's chest. As she steps back, and crouches down for a clear line of fire, the civilian runs into her line of fire shouting something about 'alive'. Stupid capture missions without the proper equipment.

A few minutes later, Buffy comes back to herself standing over a mewling demon that is bloody and bruised. Her own clothes tell of how hard the fight was for her, even if the blood stains don't translate to visible wounds.
"Um, are you ok?"
Whatever she was expecting from Roselyn's mate, it certainly wasn't an urbane New York accent, "Now that I am no longer in fear of death, I am more than ok. I haven't had a fight like that since we left New York. You must be Buffy, Roselyn's co-worker. Did you know you smell of the Doctor, or maybe the Doctor smells of you."
"Um?"
Roselyn steps into view and crouches down to stroke Tazin's horns, "Tazin Honey, I think she might be confused about your sudden switch in personality."
Tazin nods, "Understandable, would you help me up? As I can't feel my legs. Anyway, I was fortunate enough to stumble through a portal to New York at around 10 years of age. Just old enough for my personality to be coming through, but not so old that rumors of my existence was drawing… What's the polite term for them again…"
Roselyn interrupts, "Bitches. Just call them bitches like I do."
"Yes, well, I'm sure the slayer isn't interested in my story."
Buffy shakes her head, "Actually, this slayer very much is interested in your story. But she needs to know where the Suvolte demon eggs are before they hatch."
Tazin shakes his head before glancing at Buffy's crotch, "I don't know. All I can tell you is that he's a vampire, and he smells of you, and you smell of him."
Buffy mulls that over for a moment, "Wait, Takeout is the Doctor? Really?"
"Takeout?"
Buffy nods, "About so tall, British accent, short, white, waxed hair, ego the size of a planet."
Tazin nods, "You'll have to tell me about that nickname sometime."
Buffy laughs, "Come to my birthday party tomorrow, I'm sure they'll be time to just chat. I need to go and talk to a vampire about the perils of responsible pet ownership, and accountability."

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 12 – part 4


Briefly, Buffy regrets not asking Roselyn to give her a lift to Spikes cemetery. A thought that is quickly quashed as her feet eat up the distance at an economical run. She pays no mind that she's effortlessly running a 4 minute mile, and she's going to be keeping it up for nearly 15 minutes to get from the suburb that Roselyn lives in into Sunnydale proper, and the cemetery itself.

As she's running, she seriously considers whether she's badly overestimated Takeout… Spike's basic intelligence. Not even the most greedy Corpus ever kept product that might kill them. Even Alad V, and he was more Mad Scientist than Greedy. Of course, that didn't extend to necessarily paying their staff enough to ensure proper containment, or one of their competitors paying for some sabotage, or even just a random Grineer raid, rendering those precautions and safety measures inoperable. Belatedly, she remembers her phone and calls Vhesthine.
"Vhesthine. It's Takeout."
Vhesthine answers, "I'll let Dawn know. Do what you need to do, I have the car and bags at doublemeat."
In the background, Buffy can hear Dawn saying, "Takeout… Takeout… Buffy, don't. Don't kill Spike."
Buffy sighs, and slows down for a few paces, "Let Dawn know that I'm not going there to kill him. I'm going there to get him to destroy the eggs. If he dies…"
Vhesthine's soft voice says, "I'll explain it to her. Go and do what you have to do."

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"Take the shot!" Coco says just before she takes a blow to the ribs that sends her flying with a loud crack. The loud retort of an elephant rifle round being discharged at close range leaves her unable to tell whether her disorientation is from the blow or the gunshot. Drunkenly, she tries to push herself to her feet in case it's not dead.

As Riley walks over and helps her up with his good arm, she relaxes for a moment, "Are you good to go?"
Riley nods, "Yeah, just need help with the splint for my wrist. Damn last resort pistols."
Coco slaps him on the shoulder, "That's why it's a last resort. Come on, lets get that done and see why it stopped at the bottom of a dam of all places."

After a few minutes of carefully searching the monitoring station for the dam, Riley lets out a low whistle, "Well, track and trace worked. But someone got here ahead of us."
Coco joins him in a cool, dark, room inside the dam before shaking her head at the corpses of the monitoring staff. Moving forward, she winces as she starts to check them over. Meanwhile, Riley starts to canvas the room, looking for any eggs.

Coco is about to call Riley to turn one of the corpses over when a sharp whistle pierces the air. Standing up, she makes her way over to what he's looking at and gasps. Kneeling down, she carefully draws her dagger, before plunging it through the quivering egg sac. Now sure it's dead, she carefully cuts it open and looks at it critically. "It was, at the most, an hour away from hatching. Check to see if there's anymore here, and contact the asset. She needs to know what she could be walking into."

She's investigating the neck of one of the corpses when Riley calls over, "There's no answer at her house, or her registered place of work."
"Riley, I hope to god that you at least gave her your number!"
Riley spins around, "No I didn't! You know why? It's because I didn't recognise the person staring out of those eyes! She didn't recognise me either until I said my name! I dated her for nearly a year, and, we-we could have got married if… But no, instead of being happy to see me, she starts accusing me of killing innocent succubae and shoves a pamphlet at me."
Struggling to her feet, Coco makes her way over to Riley and pulls him into a gentle hug, "Riley, it's alright to feel like that. But as your SO you need to tell me before it becomes a problem, not when we're neck deep in shit and about to step off a ledge. Also Riley, as your so, as your wife, I need you to tell me about these things before I find out at the worst possible moment. Now give me the Damned pamphlet and call in backup soldier. Once we have the bagmen coming to look over the corpses, check every single room for any other eggs that were missed. I do not want to die because you couldn't do your job soldier. Do you understand!?"
Riley snaps to attention and throws a salute, "Yes Sir, Ma'am!"
He then takes the pamphlet from the pocket he placed it in and hands it over.
It doesn't take Coco long to flip the pamphlet over and spot the contact details on the back, including a place they could have sent a backup team.
Dialling the number for the Slayer, it rings for 3 rings before a woman picks it up, "Slayer, please hold I'm a tad busy."

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Buffy isn't gentle as she slams into the door to Spikes crypt, the force of her kick shattering the concealed lever with a crash. She doesn't even pause as she void slings down the stairs and kicks the inner door off the hinges, "Takeout! Spike!"

Hearing movement from the back she void slings towards the back.

Spike winces as he hears a crash from the front of the crypt. He looks back at the ladder up to the main crypt and considers if it's worth trying to run the tunnels. Deciding it's unlikely to be the loan shark, he turns back to the baskets of beautiful little kittens that are his ticket to freedom. After checking that they're all there, and the sound of Buffy calling that horrible nickname, he starts to head for the ladder.

As his head appears at the top of the ladder, Buffy's face appears in front of him.
"Hi Spike. Or should I say Doctor."
"Hey. I don't talk about your day job, so don't pry into mine."
"I won't if you can honestly tell me that you aren't trading in anything that could endanger the civilians of the city if it was improperly stored."
"I'll let you know, I always properly store all of my merchandise."
Spike backs away, as Buffy's smile turns vicious, "So you would know the correct storage method for Suvolte demon eggs then."
Spike swallows hard, "I might, if I had any. But I don't."

Buffy lifts her left hand, sparks of void energy dancing over her fingers, "And I might have to kill you if I found out you lied. But, of course, you wouldn't do that to me would you. And if I had a look around down there, I wouldn't find any Suvolte eggs or hatchlings at all."
"Now Buffy, let's not be hasty. There's a good market for them, and it's a harmless enterprise."
"Spike, tell me you at least have a solid door between them and freedom." When Spike says nothing, she shouts "Destroy them! Destroy them all now."
"Buffy, it's my way out of debt, you can't."
Buffy growls, "Spike, they are dangerous enough that work has declared a vacation day. So, either take responsibility for your actions and start destroying those eggs. Or I will just shoot you now and do it myself. Those are your only two options. I will handle any that get past you."
Spike seriously considers attacking Buffy to give him time to run, when the tell-tale flicker of her barrier appears. Most notably, only around her.

As he backs down the stairs, he desperately calls back, "Look, I really thought we had something here. I know I'm just your bit on the side. But there's some real affection there."

Buffy barks a laugh as she renews the barrier, this time around both of them, "Only in your dreams. That's why you're called Takeout. You mean as much to me as Remio's means to Dawn. That's her favourite pizza delivery, if you didn't know." Even as she leans over the hole to keep an eye on anything that might be trying to escape.

While she's cursing the fact the hole seems to descend into a small room with multiple exits, Spike's muffled expletive echoing from one of the exits has her chuckling for a brief moment before he screams. Leaping down into the room, it takes Buffy a moment to orientate to the screams. A task that's made moot when a mouse made of teeth leaps at her from the same direction as the scream.

While she's fending off the attack, her phone rings, distracting her for a second as she marvels that it has signal down here. A blast of void energy tracing a path after the creature accompanies her voice as she answers, "Slayer, please hold, I'm a tad busy."
The voice at the other end calls "We found an egg, the others will hatch in at most an hour."
"Thanks for the warning, but you're 5 minutes too late. Give me a call later and we'll catch up." Her hopes that it was just the one that Spike missed are dashed when another three swiftly follow before she's recovered enough energy to use a void snare.

Drawing her dagger, she steps into the mouth of the corridor to contain the oncoming demons. Choosing to reserve her void energy for healing and capture rather than killing to eliminate the risk they might get past her, she grabs one with her hand, and slices it in half with her dagger.

At the end of five minutes of frantic fighting, where Buffy has to repeatedly choose between corralling the increasingly deadly demonic spawn, killing them, or taking a potentially deadly hit. She passes the remains of several kitten baskets that have been torn open. As she passes into a small dug out cave, she kicks up a cloud of dust, and crouches down while she clears her eyes and nose carefully. When nothing attacks her, she surveys the room and spots some old, ragged blankets dotted haphazardly around the room, with the remains of egg sacs on them. A fallen axe lies beside one. Interspersed between them are large blocks of fishmongers ice, to keep the room cold, but not freezing.

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Buffy tiredly pulls out her phone and calls Dawn once she's finished accounting for every egg sac in the room, comparing them to the corpses outside. A task made more difficult by her used of the void blast.
"Buffy!"
Buffy sighs heavily in relief, "It's done Dawn, all of the eggs Spike had have been destroyed."
"What about Spike?"
"Dawn, can we talk about this at home?"
"I want to know about Spike!"
"I know you do Honey, I just don't want to tell you over the phone. It's something I should share in person."
"He's dead, isn't he."
"Dawn…"
"How could you… How could you?"
"Dawn… Dawn…"
"Buffy, it's Vhesthine. I'll get her home."

As the call disconnects, Buffy sinks to her knees and cries. An unknown amount of time later, a pair of comforting arms curl around her back while she recognises Dawn's feet walking around in shocked silence. Confused, she looks up to see Dawn's slack mouthed expression and, over her shoulder, Vhesthine's concerned expression.

Confused, Buffy looks around, "Why am I like this? I shouldn't be like this."
Vhesthine croons into her ear, "Shh, it's ok. It's your human side coming out."
"But, but, I'm Tenno. Tenno are…"
"Also human. Your people forgot that, but you can't afford to forget that. You no longer have the technology that set you apart from the rest of your species."

Dawn turns around with a lost and horrified expression, "Buffy… This is… What happened?"
Buffy slowly looks around the egg storage area with dead, tear filled, eyes, "Containment. This is what the result of containment looks like. I knowingly sent Spike to his death because he couldn't have handled containment. I think he was using that axe when he died. If I'd have been here instead, I'd have died too, then he would when he tried to contain them. Assuming he didn't run. It's like praxis 4 all over again. People died because of the decisions I made to act as containment because nobody else was equipped to handle that."

Dawn collapses to the floor, "But your shield. That could have saved him."
Buffy shakes her head, "It only protects from the direction you're looking at. Same as the void snare, it has a limited range, and if I missed even one, containment would have failed."
Dawn hits Buffy, "There must have been something… anything you could have done."

As Dawn devolves into grief and anger filled hitting and ranting, Buffy just kneels there and takes it until Vhesthine's had enough and forcefully feeds Dawn a little essence to help level out her emotions.

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"How's she doing?" Is that the voice from the phone?
"Physically, well she's always fine. Mentally, I've given her some essence. But this is the first time she's faced something like this since… and it's been compounded with all the other times she's had to do the same thing." That's Vhesthine, and no it's not, I just can't switch off my emotions and deal with it properly.
"It can't be worse than when she killed Angel." Anya?
"Anya, this isn't the same thing. We were all there with her when she had to do that. This time she was alone." Understanding from Xander? When did that happen?
"Yes, Lt Finn is going to face disciplinary action for failing to report potential intelligence. If he had, we'd have at least had some assets in the area to provide backup." It's that phone voice again.

Would that have changed things?

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Buffy points at a faceless operative, "You, go with Spike and help him with the eggs. Watch each other's backs and stay alive. The rest of you are on Secondary containment. I'm on primary containment."

Later, she makes her way into the room less beaten up, and with an operative for backup while the others scour the crypt for any stragglers. There she looks down at the pile of dust and the barely recognisable body of the operative she sent to assist.

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No, it wouldn't. It would just increase the number of people she got killed getting the job done.

"Can't she just get up? This is supposed to be her birthday party after all. And let's face it, we've all caused our own share of death and mayhem. Isn't that right Halfrek?" Anya again.
"Indeed, such is the plight due to all those who abuse children." That must be Halfrek, "In fact, there are many here who are calling out for help."

Buffy's eyes flick open, and she pushes herself out of bed. Staggering slightly, as her head swims a little from getting up so fast, she makes her way to her bedroom door oblivious to the fact she's naked, "Halfrek, you need to read my pamphlet. No Killing, eating, enslaving, hurting, or kidnapping of civilians. Or you face me, and I will kill you."
As everyone else gasps at her appearance, Halfrek just looks at her, "Why? I am just a Justice demon, fulfilling wishes."
Buffy stalks forward, "Who gets to decide which wishes to fulfil? Who gets to decide how they're fulfilled? I read up on Vengeance demons when I found out Anya used to be one, and the answer to both of those is you. Don't try to pretty it up in your mind, it is vengeance plain and simple."
"And how would you know?"
"Because I've been there. I've been used as a tool of vengeance, and as a tool of justice. And, you know what? Vengeance never leaves the system a better place. Sometimes justice is fast enough that it does."
Halfrek sneers, "You? A slip of a human who can't be more than 20, thinks they've seen what it means to impart justice for those who can't get justice for themselves."
"Try 700 years of lived experience bitch. I have seen things that you cannot comprehend. Cruelty on a scale that you just cannot comprehend. I have been used as a weapon, as a tool, and as a free agent. What about you? What have you experienced?"
"I was a whipping girl, my parents were servants and they allowed me to be used by the Lords daughter as her surrogate and 'playmate'. When she was bad, I was punished. When she was ill, I was examined. When she was angry, I was her target. And I got them, I got them all. And since then, I've helped countless children get their own."
"I heard you speak of three victims in that story, what of the other two. Did they get 'justice'?"
Halfrek sneers, "Who? My parents who let it happen? They died with the rest."
"You poor, deluded, ignorant little girl. I was used in an illegal experiment, had my mind wiped and was turned into a weapon with literally no choice about what was right and what was wrong. But the Lotus rescued us and tried to care for us, and taught us the best she could. And we tried to be better. We failed too many times, especially in the beginning, as she was never Human, and we didn't remember being human. But we learnt from our mistakes and tried to make the system a better place. You have the power to grant justice for those children, to pick which wish to grant, and how to grant it. Yet you leave the world a worse place than before."
Halfrek steps into Buffy's space, "You call me deluded and ignorant, and then show your own ignorance in turn. Do you really think we choose which wishes to grant? We are compelled to seek out their wish, and grant it."
"What if Dawn was the same lonely girl she was when I got here? And she wished people wouldn't leave her alone?"
Halfrek snorts, "Simple, trap you all in the house with her."
"That's not justice, that's vengeance. That just leaves dead bodies. You could have made it so that they feel her loneliness and abandonment. Then when she feels less lonely and abandoned, so do they."
"Ha, as if it's always that easy. What about a child that's starved and wishes their abusers were dead?"
Buffy shrugs, "Stop them from being able to get any nutrition from food, or drop their starved bodied outside a hospital. Not much you can do with that wish except try to make things better for the child. But you've made your point, and I will check the wording of your wishes before passing judgement. But you need to promise to think about how you can use the wish to make their lives better while you're in Sunnydale."
Halfrek steps back in surprise, "What? Just like that?"
Buffy shrugs, "Yes, just like that. I get that demons don't always get to control what they do. I'm not going to hold you any more responsible for a wish like that, than I would a demon that was summoned to kill someone. What I will do is hold you responsible for what you do that is inside your control."
Incredulously, Halfrek asks, "Really? And what about demons that need to kill on a regular basis in order to maintain their sanity?"
Buffy shrugs again, "As long as it's not too frequently, I can accommodate that. Probably roll it into the fight club I need to set up."

Halfrek looks around at the other people crowded in the hallway, "Is she for real?"
Vhesthine nods, "She is, it's why she's my girlfriend."
The phone girl doesn't even look up from the notes she's been rapidly scribbling down on a notebook she got from somewhere.
Anya and Xander look at each other and shrug, with Xander saying, "I don't know. But she punished me instead of killing Sweet. Best thing that's ever happened to me after meeting Anya."

Buffy looks over at Vhesthine, "How's Dawn?"
Vhesthine looks down, "She's in her bedroom, she hasn't come out since last night. Janice is in there with her at the moment."
Buffy pulls her into a hug, "Did anyone stay with her?"
Vhesthine nods, "Tara did."
Buffy lifts Vhesthine's chin and gives her a long exchange, "Vhesti, you did nothing wrong. I shouldn't be falling apart like this."
Phone girl shouts, "That's bullshit. I've seen the carnage down there. You held containment with only a knife, and what? Spells? I'm not surprised you fell apart. You're human, and the amount of magic you must have used would have knocked anyone senseless unless they were used to it. And you're showing none of the signs of regular magical overuse."
Buffy turns to the girl, "And you are?"
"Major Sam Finn of the UN PN task force, Riley's wife and SO… Senior Officer."
"Sam, I'm not human, and I didn't use magic. Anyway, why are you here?"
Vhesthine puts her hand on Buffy's shoulder, "Buffy, she's right. In the ways that matter right now, you are human. What you are is on top of that. Why don't you talk to Dawn and I'll explain things to Sam. Ok?"
Buffy nods sullenly, before opening the door to Dawn's room.

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Janice turns around when she sees Dawn's puffy eyes first light up, and then her expression closes down. She can't help the gasp she makes when she sees Dawn's older sister standing naked by the door as it clicks closed.
Dawn grabs a pillow and throws it at Buffy, "Go away, I don't want to talk to you."

Buffy deftly catches the pillow before walking forward and using it to cushion her knees as she kneels beside the bed, "No, I don't imagine you do. But you need to at least listen to what I have to say."
Janice blushes as she looks at Buffy, "Um, I can go if you want Mrs Summers."
Buffy turns to Janice, "Call me Buffy, and no, stay. You live in this city too." Turning back to Dawn she says gently, "Dawn. Despite what you may think, and what I probably said last night. I did not personally kill Spike. I was tempted, and I got him killed. But he died trying to do the right thing. What do you think would have happened if I went in there myself?"

"You'd have kicked ass, and destroyed them all before they could escape."
Buffy looks down, "That's what I thought. Dawn, even if I had an Igris… A Flame Thrower, I couldn't have guaranteed being able to destroy all of them before some got past me. Someone needed to handle containment, as that was the more important job compared to initial elimination."

Janice's voice quavers, "Um, Mrs Summers. What are you talking about?"
Buffy closes her eyes for a moment as she draws on her memories as Buffy Summers to find something Janice may understand, "Janice, do you know what Locust's are?"
Janice nods, "They're the insects that come in plagues and eat all the crops."
Buffy nods, "Imagine a demon like that, except it is as tall as your father, and thinks anything organic is food. Fortunately it can't fly, but it does have claws and large teeth. They also mature in as little as a couple of months, and will lay lots of eggs as soon as they can find a secure place to store them. That's what was in Sunnydale, and the eggs were in Spikes home."
"Demons?"
"Janice, you were almost killed by a vampire on Halloween, are other demons really that much of a stretch?"
Janice shakes her head, "No, the hospital said I was just lightheaded from the drugs they slipped me before…"
Janice trails off as Buffy pulls the void around her, and turns invisible, "Any other questions? I could ask Vhesthine to show you, her wings."
Slightly hysterically Janice asks, "Dawn, what happened to Mrs Summers?"
In a slightly exasperated tone, Dawn huffs, "Buffy, stop that, you're freaking my friend out."

Buffy reappears with a slight, sad, smile, "At least you're annoyed at me for a different reason. Yes Janice, demons exist. From the sociable to the animalistic. This was one of the latter. If even one had escaped, it would have kept killing until something killed it. If that took too long, it would lay eggs, and then they'd been dozens more killing until something killed them.
"Dawn, how many times have you managed to accidentally hit me during training?"
Dawn looks down at the mattress and mumbles something.
Gently Buffy says, "Dawn, I didn't hear that."
Dawn looks up again, "I thought you were clear of the target, I didn't mean to shoot you."
Buffy nods, "I know, and I should have taught you better. But I've never taught anyone like this before, so I didn't. But the point is, I can't be aware of everything around me. I'm well trained enough that it can seem like I am sometimes. But one lucky hit and, that's it, I'm dead. Do you understand?"
Dawn nods sadly, "I know, but Spike's dead."
Buffy nods sadly, "I know he is, and I'm sorry. But I was the only person there that could reasonably hold containment if something went wrong. And, to borrow an American phrase, you always hope to god that nothing is going to go wrong. Can you imagine what could have happened if Spike and I had gone in together, and one of us was killed?"
Dawn shakes her head vehemently, "I don't want to."
Buffy nods, "And I hope you never have to. I hope you're never in a position where you have to find out either. Dawn, it's ok to grieve Spike, he was your friend and he helped take care of you while I was gone. It's also ok to blame me for my decisions. Lotus knows, I do. But don't accuse me of not making the best decisions I could at the time with the information I had. I knew that if the eggs hatched, whoever was in there would almost certainly die. But Spike can't use void snare, or void beam. He can't heal himself and others, and he can't pull the void around him. So if I died, it would take me a few minutes to get back to the crypt. At which point, Spike will have either died or fled. Either way, we'd have an unknown number of demons making their way into Sunnydale. So I placed myself as containment, where I couldn't be caught by surprise as eggs hatched in my blind spot. If everything went well, he'd have killed all of them. They didn't, but I think he got five before they started hatching."
"But you could have been closer."
Buffy nods gravely, "I know. I know that now. But that was the first time I've been in that part of his home. I had no idea what it was like down there. Only the fact that there seemed to only be one way out. But again, if I had time to scout properly, Spike would have had time to kill them all. As it stands, we still got lucky that the cave his ladder went into was also the chokepoint for the whole cave system."

Dawn starts to cry, "I hate you, I hate you." While Janice looks embarrassed on her behalf.

As Buffy pulls Dawn down into a hug, Janice asks, "Was that true?"
Buffy nods, "It was, I think she needs someone her own age she can talk about shit like this with."
"Why me?"
Buffy smiles, "You're her best friend. Before Buffy Summers moved here, she didn't have anyone to talk to, and it almost drove her crazy. But Willow and Xander made friends with her, and then the others joined over time. It made it easier for her to handle everything."

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As Buffy comes downstairs a short while later, Vhesthine hands her a glass of fruit juice, "How are you doing?"
Buffy smiles, "I'm f…" before her shoulders sag slightly, "I don't know. It's not supposed to be like this."
Vhesthine kisses Buffy on the cheek, "We can talk about what you're feeling later. You should go and mingle before the uninitiated freak out."
Buffy looks confused, "Huh?"
Vhesthine smiles, and indicates the dining area, "Tara brought a couple of new friends. Anya and Xander invited a friend, presumably one that might sway you from me considering the photo's of Angel and Riley in the photo album. Willow brought a friend, though she at least seems to be a little familiar with this side of life. A demon called Clem turned up with a bottle of wine saying Spike invited him, but he can't find Spike. He seems nervous. Then there's Roselyn and her partner. Finally, you've got Riley, Sam, and Halfrek."
Buffy nods, "So, not too many people then." Under her breath she mutters, "You can do this Buffy, you've been around this many people before."

As she steps away from towards the lounge Vhesthine, Riley catches her elbow, and she decks him. The lounge goes quiet, until Tazin laughs from the couch, "That was a good punch. He should know better than to approach a demon like her unannounced."
Roselyn slaps Tazin's leg, "Buffy's not a demon."
Tazin shakes his head, "She sure fights like one though."
From the floor Riley rubs his jaw, "I guess I was asking for that. I just wanted to ask if we could debrief you."
Buffy nods as she activates squad regen, "Tomorrow. Where's Sam?"
"I think she's cornered Halfrek, Anya, and Xander somewhere. She said something about new intel on different species of demon when she took my notepad."
Buffy nods, before going to say hello to all the people she already knows. That done, she steels herself, and heads through to the kitchen where Willow and Tara are entertaining most of the other guests.

Backing out back into the study, she grabs a handful of pamphlets, and walks back in before spilling them across the table. It's her birthday party, and she'll be damned if she's going to hide herself or her friends just because there are people who are ignorant of that side of things.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 13 – part 1


Vhesthine groans as she comes down the stairs, woken by the incessant ringing of the doorbell. As she opens it bleary eyed, her succubus sense of smell informs her that there's a starving succubus on the other side. Wrenching the door open she stands stock still when she sees an emaciated black girl with a bright smile, holding a brown envelope out towards her.
"Hi, I'm Elaena Howard. Are you Vhesthine?" Dumbly Vhesthine nods, "I was told by a nice human that you could help me."
Absently, Vhesthine takes the envelope and opens it. As she skims the first page, the whole thing slips out of her fingers to scatter on the porch, "When did you last feed?"
Elaena shakes her head, "I don't remember. I don't remember much now as the pain drove it all away."
Cursing the fact she's been living with humans for so long, Vhesthine finds herself lifting her hands to cradle Elaena's cheeks as she leans down to cover the girls mouth, and feed her. As she does, she can feel the skin under her hands gain a little softness.

All too soon, Vhesthine is running out of essence she can spare without endangering herself, and Elaena still smells like she's starving. As she pulls away, Elaena looks at her with tears in her eyes, before pulling her into a very human hug. "Thank you, thank you. Is that how we eat? I haven't felt anything fill me since they found me."
"Elaena, you better come inside. Is anyone else with you?"
Elaena shakes her head, "No. The nice old couple who found me in Shageluk couldn't go to the hospital with me, and the grumpy man in the suit drove off as soon as I was out of the car."
Vhesthine sinks to the floor, "Elaena, do you know what you are?"
Elaena shakes her head, "Not human."

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"Major Finn, are you aware of why you are sat here today?"
Sam looks at the General that's heading the hastily convened tribunal, "No Sir."
The General picks up a thick report, "This is the report you submitted after the recent debacle in Sunnydale, California, USA."
Sam nods, "If you say so Sir. I cannot personally tell from here."
The General nods, "It is, and our analysists are still going over it." He takes two sheets of paper from the back, "It is your personal notes and recommendations section that we have convened for."
Sam sits up straighter, as her heart sinks, "I see Sir."
"Relax Major, this is not a disciplinary." Those words don't actually help, "This is about a mothballed program called Initiative, and a natural superhuman codenamed Slayer. It is our understanding that she has recently started taking a different tack to the supernatural elements in the city."
Sam nods, "That is correct sir."
"Our previous notes state that she has a very proactive approach to the undesirable parts of the supernatural community, however she has a misplaced sense of compassion for many of those denizens. What are your feelings on this?"
Sam swallows, "Sir, with all due respect, I feel like she is treating them like people Sir. People that you need a big stick in order to enforce your rules with, but people none the less."
The General nods, "Your notes also state that you had a civil conversation with a category A demon. As a reminder for the rest of the panel, category A is inimical to Humans, Kill On Sight."
"I did Sir."
"You subsequently recommend a future practice of throwing a side of beef at them, before isolating the area?"
"I did Sir, after his civilian companion told me about the three F's."
The General glances back at the two sheets of paper, "Ah yes, Fight, Fuck, Feed. This civilian, are they another demon?"
Sam shakes her head, "No Sir, so far as I could tell, they were completely human."
"And the demon has a job as well."
"Yes Sir. As a web designer. I believe I included his contact details in the supplementary details."
The General nods, "You did, I had to be briefed on what a web designer is." The General takes a sheet of paper from another folder, "Lt Finn claims that the Slayer works in a company run by demons. Is this correct?"
Sam shakes her head, "I don't know Sir. However, the civilian previously mentioned works at the same company."
"Yes, this brings us onto the next item of note. The Slayers girlfriend. Your notes state that she is a Succubus. Is this correct?"
Sam nods, "Yes Sir."
"And she has been living in Sunnydale for a significant amount of time?"
Sam nods, "Yes Sir."
"You then claim that Succubae are not inimical to human life?"
Sam nods, "Indeed Sir."
"Why?"
"The Slayers sister spent a great deal of time talking to me about her experiences as a Succubus, and what she'd learnt of their society."
The General nods, "Good. Provisionally, we are going to agree with your conclusions and subject them to analysis. To that end, we have already facilitated the transfer of a victim of the Initiative program in Alaska."
After a pause, Sam adds the expected, "I understand Sir."
"Good, because your team is going to be assigned to North America from here on out. You will be working with the FBI on their unsolved cases. As part of that, you will be assigned a researcher. They will be compiling the findings of your team into dossiers about each species. These will hopefully be published as academic studies on societies and cultures. Your job will be find out about their societies, power structures, and drives. In the process hopefully discovering ways that we can reduce the death tolls in our ranks caused by demons."
Sam nods, "I understand Sir."
The General nods, "Good, as I'd rather throw a slab of meat at a demon, and then have a peaceful conversation with them later; Than lose two or three men putting it down. The US government has agreed to allow us to use Sunnydale as a testbed for this approach, and we have requested that the Slayers personnel files be transferred to us. You will be our primary liaison with her once she's been reactivated."
Sam swallows, "Why me Sir?"
"Because Lt Finn has a pre-existing relationship with her, that you have already leveraged."
"I understand Sir."

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Buffy's sat, uncomfortably cross-legged, in a small clearing an hour's jog into the wood. In front of her is the current subject of her concentration, the green leaves of a sprouting spring flower. Under the tree cover nearby, Tara is going through the motions of the Vazarin Way. Her void energy already seeking out the patterns that are the basis of that half of the way.

"Demeter ex hoc flore novam vitam et pulchritudinem."
In front of her, the flower twists and grows. It's leaves turning a silvery colour, and flower stalk growing, from which silver bells sprout, each one leaking a silvery smoke that cascades down the stalk to the floor. Once the spell has finished, the flower towers over Buffy's seated form, and one of the leaves dips down to land in her lap.

Shuffling back slightly, Buffy looks over to Tara and calls, "Tara, your left toe needs to be a bit further in, otherwise you'll be out of position in two steps. But first, I think I did something wrong with my spell."

Tara stops and looks down before walking over, "Oh thank goodness, I've done that sequence so many times, and I thought it was just my balance. Oh my, yes. Well, you must have been close as you have a flower. What was your spell?"
Buffy unfolds the sheet of paper she used to translate what she wanted into Latin, "'Demeter ex hoc flore novam vitam et pulchritudinem'. Demeter, bring new life and beauty to this flower."

Tara nods, "I see how you got to that, but that's not what you've written means. Let's see… 'Demeter draws new life and beauty from this flower'. See, you're telling the magic to make something new based on this flower. You probably wanted something like. 'Demeter novam vitam et pulchritudinem in hunc florem adducer', instead. Which would be 'Demeter will bring new life and beauty into this flower'."
Buffy grumbles, "Why can't we just use English instead?"
Tara smiles, "We could, but once you become an accomplished witch, you'll be able to do less complex magic with just a thought." She waves her hand, and a different flower blooms into a foxglove, "Only using words when you want precision. It's why the few spells we can verify came from pre-Christian Rome, were written in Greek. And the Greeks used Egyptian Hieroglyphs, and the Egyptians invented Hieroglyphs and High Egyptian."
Buffy's expression goes slack, "Oh, I thought it was because we were just using old spells."
Tara nods, "We do use old spells, just not that old. Books weren't invented until after the establishment of Christianity as it's main religion in around 100CE. Sorry, we covered it in art history, as a lot of medieval books had magnificent artwork."
Buffy shakes her head, "No, no, it was interesting…" she trails off as her phone starts to ring.

Picking it up, she answers it, and before she can say anything Vhesthine is sobbing down the phone, "Buffy, I need you at home."
Immediately concerned, Buffy asks, "Vhesthine, what's wrong?"
Vhesthine sniffs, "We have a new daughter, and even after feeding her, she's still starving."
Buffy blinks a couple of times, "I'm sorry, I thought you said we have a new daughter."
"She's a Succubus, but she doesn't remember anything before a couple found her in Alaska. Buffy, she's Dawn's age."
Buffy drops the phone, and then fumbles to pick it up, "She's a child!"
"She is, and she's currently trying to eat a bowl of honey nut chex. I need you Buffy, I can't do this alone."
"We'll be back as soon as we can be."
"Hurry, I need to hunt, and someone needs to watch her."

As the phone hangs up, Buffy looks at it, and the fact it has 5 bars, "I have to work out how this phone is doing that."
Tara answers, "Oh, that was mine and Willow's birthday present for you. We just forgot to tell you at the party, because Spike, and everything. Is Vhesthine alright?"
Buffy shakes her head, "She needs us at home, something's come up and it's really upset her. Remember, jump three, then run for 10 seconds. I'll be right behind you."
Tara's about to whine when she sees Buffy's face, "Right, home…"

Forgotten behind them, the mist continues to fall from the bells of the flower.

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"Guys! Guys! I didn't abandon you, I just don't want to die when you cross a line. Come on Guys!"
Exhausted, frustrated, and tired, Jonathan slumps back to the arcade to work off some of his anxiety. They've been gone for months. They haven't visited any of their normal hangouts, not even Andrew's mother knows where he is.
He's tried to find them, he really has, and not just because they took his limited edition Ultraman figurine, with the hand signed base. Or his 1st​ edition comics, including the rare Wolverine vs Hulk. Or even his boxed Atari with pong. They're his friends damn it.

As he's passing Dragons Cove, the other magical shop in Sunnydale, he pops in to see if Andrew has been by for any magical supplies.
The owner's cheery voice calls across the shop, "Ah Jonathan, you haven't been by in forever."
Jonathan shakes his head, "I've just not been feeling it. Listen, have you seen Andrew, or maybe even Warren?"
"I can't say I have, but as I know you're a serious customer, I've been asked to hand these out to everyone that walks that path."

Jonathan looks blankly at the black pamphlet the man is holding out, "Um, thanks, I guess."
"Come back sometime when you have some money to spend."

Jonathan doesn't even get three steps out of the door before he stops, and stares at the pamphlet incredulously.
"Is she trying to get herself killed?"

Turning around, Jonathan starts walking towards the Slayers address.

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As they arrive at the house, Tara stumbles as she comes out of her last void jump and misses her first step. As Buffy void jumps past her and straight into the house, instead of catching her, the stumble turns into a painful fall along the sidewalk. Picking herself up, she limps into the house, wincing as her skinned knee complains. As she walks through the front door, she stops in surprise when she sees Buffy lying on the floor, her knees folded underneath her, as a young black girl is attached to her face.

As she starts to walk over, Buffy's eyes roll back in her head, and her body turns into white motes of light. As girl starts to cry, Vhesthine moves, catching Tara's eye, and pulls her into a hug.
"Vhesthine, what's going on?"
Vhesthine just points at the coffee table, where there's a spill of paperwork across the entire surface. Turning back, Tara is about to ask something else when her mouth drops open in horror. The healthy young girl's features seem to deflate and sink in on themselves. As they do, she can see every single muscle and bone outlined in her face.
"What was that?"
Vhesthine looks up with puffy red eyes, "That is wasting sickness. Eleane is a Succubus, and she's starving."
"But she looked so healthy."
Vhesthine nods, "Don't forget, our human bodies are still a magical transformation. They reflect our actual bodies, especially in one so young. I should kill her, put her out of her misery. But I can't bring myself to do so. It should be easy, but I keep seeing Dawn in the same position when I think about doing it."
Tara smiles gently, "I told you your aura was getting brighter. What can I do to help?"
"I don't know. She's asleep now, but she will need to be fed the same size meals every time she wakes up, until she sleeps for longer than a day, or she dies."
"I could feed her."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "You can't, she has a chip. It would prevent her from feeding from you, if she knows how to feed."
"Then teach me to feed her."
Vhesthine gasps, "Tara, do you understand what you're asking? Especially now that I'm mated?"
Tara winces as she kneels down beside Vhesthine, "No, I don't. I don't know what difference being mated makes either."
"Tara, feeding another Succubus is a very intimate act. Much like sex is for humans, possibly more so, as we are giving up our own essence for another. We learn how to feed ourselves and others by being fed by our family growing up. To teach you how to feed another quickly, I would need to feed you small amounts of my own essence repeatedly until you reciprocate.
Tara swallows hard, "Um, can't you just feed from me, and then feed it to her?"
Vhesthine reaches one long finger up and touches it to the bottom of Tara's chin, before bring it, and her chin, towards her mouth. When Tara tenses up, Vhesthine lowers the finger, "What do you think? I cannot feed from you unless you are euphoric, or insensate from drugs or pain. Would you sleep with me as you would your Willow?"
Tara's eyes drop to the floor, before firming up as she looks back up, "No, I wouldn't sleep with you as I would Willow. But I would sleep with you as a woman saving a life. I'm sure Xander would too, but I don't think Anya could separate the two things. I'd like to believe that Willow would do the same as I."
Vhesthine smiles, "Thank you, but alien as it feels, I value our friendship too much to test it like that. I feel that you would probably be better served looking after Dawn while Buffy and I hunt."
Slightly breathlessly, Buffy asks as she appears out of the void, "Hunt what?"
Vhesthine looks up at Buffy, "Men."

Buffy stares at her with a deer in a headlights look.

 

[DarkPhoenixLady]

Episode 13 – part 2


While Buffy's anxiety is ratcheting up, the bell on the front door ring, "I've got it." She calls as she void jumps backwards out of the house.
"Hello, Jonathan wasn't it?"
Jonathan jumps and spins around, "Buffy, how did you… I just heard you…"
Buffy smiles broadly at Jonathan, "Don't worry about it. Hey, do you want to save a poor little girl, and have sex with a beautiful succubus at the same time?"
Buffy catches Jonathan under the shoulder as his knees buckle, "What? Really?"
Buffy void jumps the both of them through the door, "Yes, really. Hey Vhesthine, I've solved our man problem."
Vhesthine sniffs, "He smells like a virgin. And, yes Buffy, that will help solve our man problem. It will mean I don't have to go hunting before we go to LA overnight, and probably tomorrow too."
Jonathan swallows hard, "You're a Succubus?"
Vhesthine nods, "I am, and if you're lucky I'm going to give you a very pleasant half an hour. If I'm lucky, it will be five minutes, as you're a virgin."

All three of the women watch as he faints in Buffy's grasp, and Tara says, "Uh, I knew they were sheltered, but really?"
Vhesthine nods, "He seems like someone who has never learnt the ways of humans despite living with them. I've met many like them, and some of them grow bitter and believe that they are owed much that they haven't earned. Buffy, I will not be able to save Eleane on my own. We just cannot keep feeding like that without our bodies shutting us down, like humans after eating a few large meals, even if they purge themselves afterwards. It would be easier if she returned to her birth form, but she is currently too weak to have that forced on her." Vhesthine strokes Eleane's hair, "It is remarkable that one so young is still holding onto this form while so ill."
Buffy swallows hard, "And you want me to approach men, for sex?"
Vhesthine nods, "If we had more time, I would use some contacts to arrange rooms in a brothel so that they could pick us. I know a few spells to make us more appealing. However, this little one won't wait that long. Yet she seemed so happy when I opened the door, despite her condition. I will join you to start with, as she will only need one of us feeding her at a time. But, if you want her to survive, it has to be you and me. Unless you wish for me to be intimate with Tara until she learns how to feed from, and to others."
Buffy drops Jonathan with a thud as her left hand comes up, pointing at Tara while she growls. Tara raises her hands, "I asked how I could help. I'm dating Willow remember." As Buffy lowers her hand, Tara continues, "Um, if you react like that to me, how are you going to handle Vhesthine and men?"
Buffy can't help it, she sags to the floor laugh crying while Vhesthine answers, "It's simple. I have absolutely no attraction to humans. Neither does Buffy. My relationship with her was entirely unexpected, and mirrors my own culture. I believe that you would also be safe initiating such a relationship, if you so desired. However, such a thing would be deadly for most mortals, even ignoring the threat of accidentally giving or taking too much. Which is something only an incubus can do to a Succubus, and only when they're our child."
"Why would it be dangerous for the human?"
"Magic. Feeding, from or to, is a magical act. Buffy and I can go for hours. What would that do to a mortal magic user?"
Tara's face drains of colour.
"Buffy, you need to go to the school and sign her out for the rest of the week."
Woodenly, Buffy nods, "Get Dawn, I can do that."

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Principle Stevens stands up as Buffy walks through his door, "Miss Summers, it's a pleasure to see you. Though, I didn't think you'd get here so fast."
Buffy freezes, unsure of what's going on, "Um, I know why I'm here, why do you think I'm here?"
"Dawn knocked out one of the boys in her year. We're still waiting for the ambulance to take him to hospital."
Nodding, Buffy takes a seat, "What happened?"
Stevens raises his hands, "We don't know. Only that it happened in a girls rest room. What were you here for?"
"I need to remove Dawn from school for the rest of the week, and maybe a little of next week."
Stevens eyes widen, "Why would you need to do that?"
Buffy shifts uncomfortably, "We have just been given custody of a girl Dawns age. However, she is critically ill, so we need to take her to LA."
Stevens frowns, "Can't just one of you go?"
"Believe me, if that was the case, I'd let Vhesthine go on her own in a heartbeat. But it's not the sort of problem we can take to the hospital." When Stevens still looks blank, Buffy adds, "Do you remember Dawn's dietary issues?"
"Oh, right. Yes, I understand. I'll sign her out as attending a family emergency then. It will also keep the boys parents happy, as they'll assume he wasn't the only one suspended."
Buffy looks confused, "Why should that matter?"
Stevens sighs, "It shouldn't. But it does because he's been suspended for where he was, not what he may have been doing."
"I don't understand."
Stevens looks down, "I don't suppose you do, do you. I doubt you have any idea how complicated my life has become since Emo started accompanying Dawn everywhere. Of the uncomfortable conversations I've had with the female teachers here, as they defend Emo's right to be here. I used to think I was a good man Buffy, but I've found out that instead, I've been a blind man. Enough about that, let me make a record of your withdrawal, and we can take you to Dawn."

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As both Buffy and Dawn walk away from the school, Buffy glances at Dawn, "Those aren't the clothes you were wearing when you left this morning."
Dawn looks down at the sidewalk, "Are you going to tell me off for wearing them?"
Buffy shakes her head, "No, I'm going to tell you off from hiding the fact from us. Monday and Tuesday as well?" Dawn just nods, "Where was Emo?"
"I left him with Janice, as she's been having trouble with some of the boys recently."
"So, why were you wearing the outfit Vhesthine gave you?"
Dawn plays with the strap on her backpack while Emo playfully swipes down at it from her shoulder, "I felt happier wearing it."
Buffy nods, "Understandable. And I'm still sorry that Spike died."
Dawn starts to cry, "I know, and I still hate you. Except I don't, and I don't understand."
Buffy sighs, "I… I've been waking up crying every night this week. I don't understand why, why now and not any of the other times I've dealt with rampant demons. Vhesthine tells me it's grief and survivors guilt. But, in bed, I keep thinking about the situation wondering if I could have done anything differently. Something else that doesn't make sense to me. I'm used to being able to review the memory once, objectively, and then put it to one side."
Dawn takes Buffy's hand, "I didn't think adults didn't understand themselves."
Buffy chuckles darkly, "I think I understand what you mean. And I don't think even the seemingly most together actually understand themselves. I've told you about Cephalons, yes?"
Dawn nods, "You have."
"Well, many of them literally didn't have emotions after they were adjusted. Even so, they couldn't always tell you why they reached a conclusion. But they could justify it."

They both walk together for a few minutes before Buffy says, "Dawn, something happened earlier. That's why I've pulled you out of school for a few days."
Dawn looks up, "Wait, I thought I was suspended."
Buffy shakes her head, "I don't know why you hit the boy, but until you give me reason to believe otherwise, I'm going to assume self-defence. No, Vhesthine and I have become adoptive parents to a Succubus your age."

Dawn suddenly stops for a second, before screaming, "No! No! You've already taken Spike from me! You're not taking our sister time as well!"
As Dawn starts to run, Buffy catches her around the waist, and ignores Emo's attempts to attack her as she starts to carry Dawn home, "Dawn… Dawn…" she starts, before giving up as it's clear Dawn can't hear her.

By the time she gets home, her pants are ruined, and she's been reduced to just hugging Dawn and repeating, "Dawn, it's ok, our time together isn't going away."

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As Buffy walks in the front door, a cried out Dawn tries to squirm out of her grasp, and run upstairs. Buffy catches her hand, and drags her into the lounge, where Jonathan is lying on the couch with a blissful expression on his face.
"Dawn, this… Dawn! Dawn!" Buffy grabs Dawn's face and feeds her a little essence, snapping Dawn out of her mood, "Dawn, this is your new sister."

With the temporary high given by Buffy's essence, Dawn looks down at the emaciated black girl and spots how prominent her ribs are, how thin the wrists, and finally, how sunken the face is. As she walks over and kneels down beside her to take a bony hand in her own the only question she can ask is, "How?"
Vhesthine looks up, her eyes still puffy, but now covered with a bit of makeup. Her dead voice is clear, for all it's quiet, "Did she get like this? She has a chip in her head, like Spikes, and she was found nearly two months ago in Alaska. The documents say she survived in an Institute facility for an unknown amount of time before escaping. Is she still alive? We don't know. Are we going to save her? Buffy and I are going to need to hunt in shifts so that she always has a feed available whenever she wakes up. By all rights, I should just put her out of her misery and save us all the trouble. But I can't. Every time I think about it, I remember how happy you were as a Succubus."
Dawn looks down at her, "Why would you kill her?"
Vhesthine looks up at Dawn, "Dawn, when I say I'm going hunting, what comes to mind?"
Dawn smiles, "You head out to the Bronze or one of the bars, chat up a couple of guys, and have a quicky out back."
Vhesthine nods sadly, "On my home plane, it more like a tribe in Africa hunting. Only, we're hunting the scattered tribes of humans we took with us when Demon-kind first left Earth thousands of years ago."
Dawn make an O shape for a moment, then asks, "Why not just get your boss to make her human?"
Tara speaks up from the chair she's sitting in, "She's too frail. We can't even use magic to force her back into her Succubus form, as that might kill her."
Slightly panicky, Dawn cries, "Buffy, you've got to do something. You need to fix this."

Buffy swallows hard, "Dawn. We are." She licks her lips, "We're driving to LA, where they have a larger population. Then, we're going to get a hotel room, where you are going to guard her." She swallows again, her mouth suddenly dry, "And Vhesthine is going to teach me to hunt."
Dawn's mouth drops open, "But, Buffy, you don't like men like that."
Vhesthine nods gravely, "I wouldn't be asking this of Buffy if it was at all possible. But hunting and then feeding essence to another Succubus is exhausting. I could probably do it three times before I had to sleep. And that's if I ignore my own needs. We need to keep it up until she sleeps for a full day after a feed. That's when we'll know she's stopped burning through it just to survive."

Dawn looks up defiantly, "I want to help."
Vhesthine nods, "You will be helping, you'll be guarding her while we're out. You'll also be guarding us while we sleep. You're too young to help with the feeding," Vhesthine raises her hand, "because you haven't developed to the point where you can learn how to feed. This little one has been forced to learn, and it will cause problems later."
Dawn sulks, her earlier tantrum forgotten, "But I want to help."
From behind her, Buffy says, "Get your bow, and your live arrows. I hope to whoever is listening that you don't have to kill someone. But vampires live in LA as well."

As Dawn hurry's out to the yard, Buffy looks at Vhesthine, "How are we going to afford this?"
Vhesthine looks up, "I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but I have enough saved up that we could live here for a few years without worrying about the bills. We will need to be in the seedier part of the city. Even so, I think we're going to miss three or four feedings during the day, because humans work. Unless we get lucky and find one of the bars that people go to because they've got nothing else to do."

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A couple of hours later, after Elaena has woken and had another full feed, the four of them arrive in a slightly better than cheapest motel ever. This one at least has underground parking. Once parked, it doesn't take long to pay for the first two nights, and book the room for a week.
As soon as that is done, Buffy and Vhesthine both leave. Reluctantly Buffy has dressed in the clothes Vhesthine laid out for her.

Vhesthine looks a little sick as she leads them to some notorious streets, "As the clubs won't be open yet, I'm going to teach you the most reliable, yet unpleasant method of hunting first. Streetwalking. The girls that do this call it turning tricks."
This relies on being more attractive to the men driving passed than the other girls on the street. On the down side, you also need to watch for police, as they like to arrest anyone that's making money in a way the main religion disapproves of."

Over the next half an hour it gets dark, and Buffy gets a very humiliating lesson in putting herself on display. A lesson that's cut short when a tall, all American, girl, walks up to Vhesthine, anger clear on her face.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing? This is my hunting ground."
Vhesthine sneers, "You would hoard such a bountiful supply? How generous of you."
"You must be new up here if you think that. Ain't no bounty here if ya don't want to end up dead."
Buffy frowns, "Why would we end up dead?"
The girl looks at Buffy dismissively, "What? You letting the cattle talk for you now?"
Vhesthine's smile turns predatory, as she deliberately catches Buffy's lips with her own before initiating a good exchange that leaves Buffy moaning, "No, I let my mate, The Slayer, do her own talking."
The girl steps back, "Woah, I didn't know humans could do that. But, there's no way she's the Slayer, as she's holed up in Sunnydale keeping a lid on the hell hole."

Buffy smiles, "Would you like me to bench press you, and prove I'm the Slayer? Even better, have a pamphlet."
The girl takes the pamphlet and stares at it, "Really?"
Buffy nods, "Really. I wouldn't be here if we hadn't been given custody of a juvenile who's starving."
The girl waves her hand, "Kill it, it will be kinder in the long run."
Buffy shakes her head, "I don't kill civilians. Hence, you're still alive after all."
"Do you have any idea how much essence it will take to save the juvenile? You'd need most of a commune out hunting just to have a chance of getting enough essence."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "Not here we don't. There's enough here that with two of us, we should be able to feed enough to keep her fed. And as her Matriarch it's my duty to do my best for her."
The girl shakes her head, "You ain't no Matriarch, there's no way you'd be here if you were."
Vhesthine shakes her head, "I would have been a Matriarch, if the Matriarch I challenged hadn't dishonoured me. I was banished because I shamed her in front of the council."

The girl steps back again, "That was you!? Look, I don't want no trouble. I'm just trying to get along here as best I can."
Buffy sighs, "Why are you working the streets then?"
The girl looks at her as if she's an idiot, "Are you stupid or something? What else am I supposed to do? I'm a girl with no education, no ID, and living a city where the big 3 have an office."
Buffy puts her head in her hands, "Why me?" Looking up again, she looks at the girl, "I don't know who the big 3 are. But you're here now, and so am I, so don't make me regret this offer. If you make your way to Sunnydale, I can tutor you to pass your GED."
"What? For reals? Look, I appreciate the offer, but I ain't getting any closer to a hell hole than I have to. I'll give you a piece of free advice too. Watch out for Rocky, he's the vamp that's the pimp round here. Word says he works for the big three."

As the girl walks off with the pamphlet, a car pulls up with five men in it, "Hey, you girls up for a party tonight? $200."
Vhesthine smiles broadly, "Each."

As they both get into the car, to sit uncomfortably on the guys in the back, they pretend not to notice the driver vamp out momentarily.