Chapter 31

Hyatt Ramu recalled watching with fear as Maclay had walked towards Holland Manners. His stomach already in knots, he wondered why he had thought following his boss was a good idea. His grandmother had always said that those who eavesdrop never hear well of themselves.

His natural distrust and curiosity had taken over when he'd seen the senior partner come out of “Recent Acquisitions”. Years of training, years of knowing what not to see, what not to acknowledge as a junior had fallen away in response to the trepidation, self-preservation and doubt his boss had recently instilled into him. He'd been so confident of his success, so certain that his careful planning would bear fruit. But Holland’s calm, matter-of-fact statements, knowledge and questions had shaken his world. All thoughts of becoming a partner by carefully moving up the ladder via detailed planning and eventually taking Holland’s post seemed to drift from his mind, replaced by the opportunity to gaze into the world and mind of the senior partner.

Maclay was a small weasel of a man whose company he had found less than appealing. Carrying himself with an overwhelming sense of his own importance, the man had reacted to Hyatt's job offer with the air of one being inconvenienced. The junior associate was used to people falling all over themselves to be of use to the firm. But he had finally found the mage’s price and that had changed his manner quickly enough. Everyone has his price. It had just been a matter of finding it.

But he was worried. What had the senior partner been up to -- meeting a non-player like Maclay? Was Holland following up on his project? Had he made a mistake?

When he saw Manners reach into his jacket and pause, he had hoped the action would prove harmful to the loathsome little man. He suddenly had unrealistic hopes that he was about to see the senior partner kill someone by his own hand. Maclay had appeared perturbed and impatient. Finally Holland passed him a small envelope, holding onto it despite Maclay’s eager hands. He had leaned towards the weasel of a man and, smiling as he did so, said something … no … he had asked a question and only released his hold on the envelope once Maclay had nodded.

Now sitting at his desk eight hours later, Hyatt tried to piece together all that had happened with everything else he had recently learned about Holland Manners and Angel. But he couldn't believe what he thought it meant. 'The senior partner would never ... Why would he do something so opposed to the policy of the firm?'

Hyatt reached out for the telephone, not at all sure if what he was about to do was such a good idea. But he shook his doubts aside. He’d been the one to bring this project to near completion with no support, no guiding hand but his own. Hadn’t he earned a little autonomy?

***************************BtVS**************************

“Are you sure you wanna try this?” Xander asked, his concern obvious.

“I have to. I need to know she’s okay,” Willow explained, “And she needs to know we’re coming.” She could feel something close to desperation building within her. She needed to reach out and feel her beloved. It was as if her heart was hungry for any small part of Buffy it could have.

Taking a look at her face Xander sighed. “Okay, Will. I get where you’re coming from,” he replied before voicing in his own fears. “But what if it doesn’t work? What if she can’t answer to let you know she’s okay, that she heard you? You’re gonna get wigged. Your head will be full of doubt. The last thing we need is our Wiccan Slayer with a mind full of holes. Stuff falls through them. Not a good thing while you’re trying to control new magics, especially with the new temporary magic partner you have. General Swiss Cheese at the Little Big Horn - not an appealing image.”

“I will not. I know what I have to do,” Willow declared, annoyed by her oldest friend’s negativity. She knew she could do this. And so should he! “I can control how I feel. I’ve been doing that for years,” she reminded him. “When we get this rescue going, there will be no holes in my cheese,” she stated with such determination that her choice of words took a moment to sink in.

Xander bit the inside of his lip, determined not to give into the mental picture of Willow’s body with a big lump of Swiss cheese as her head and a confederate hat set at a rakish tilt.

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Wesley wallowed in mounting frustration. He was unable to do anything but watch as Angel was held securely inside the globe of blue light. It was so bright that he could only just make out the two figures within it.

Why hadn’t he stopped Angel from getting so close to a man versed in the dark magics? ‘I should have warned him. As if he would have listened,’ he thought to himself, well aware that Angel’s eyes normally glazed over whenever he tried to explain the results and hypotheses gleaned from his research or ex-watcher based instincts.

And so he stood feeling useless and ineffectual as his anger rose and his patience waned. ‘Surely it has to collapse soon. This can’t be how the man intends to escape.’ But just as he was about to scream in frustration at the world, the glow seemed to shift from blue to a pale green.

***************************BtVS*****************************

Buffy could hear the faint sounds of raised voices. But without her slayer hearing she had little hope of making out what her captors were arguing about.

This whole “you’re a normal girl” thing was really starting to tick her off. Okay maybe she had once … okay, more than once … wished she was just a normal girl. But that thought had long ago been replaced with the internal promise she had made to stop people from dying at the hands of vampires and demons. Then she’d had to tell her mother. Somehow that had made it more permanent and real than it had been before. She no longer fostered the illusion of growing old. She just didn’t think about it. Most of the time she didn’t think more than one month ahead; she had become the poster girl for – “one day at a time”.

But now there was Willow. Her dear sweet, sexy, loyal Willow. And she had, indeed, begun to think ahead, planning, worrying and doubting their future. She had now been considering a future, not alone, but with someone. The last time she’d done that Angel had left and shattered her fragile dreams.

Smiling, she realized that she didn’t need to worry that Willow would ever leave her. They might end up forever friends, with an awkward moment in their past that they didn’t talk about. But Willow would always be there for her - that she knew for sure. This knowledge filled her with strength and amusement. She’d always known who she would spend her life with. She just hadn’t realized the circumstances. Maybe Faith hadn’t been that far off the mark.

***************************BtVS*******************************

Reviewing the details of the prophecy, Hyatt’s mind went into meltdown. ‘What the hell is he up to?’ he asked himself, almost missing the next part of Kelly’s impromptu history of the Amulet that Holland Manners had removed from “Recent Acquisitions”.

“Fine. They’re linking this thing to Angel just as we predicted they would,” he stated impatiently, only to have Kelly hesitate and extrapolate rather than simply confirm his statement. He hated theories and the indecision they produced. He wanted cold hard facts, something he could rely on, not the interpretations of some tealeaf reader covering his or her own back. But Kelly wasn’t any more willing to put her head on the proverbial chopping block than the historians had obviously been.

“Okay, okay. He’s the odds-on favorite. No one else appears to fit the prophecy now that I’ve knocked the bleached blond vampire out of the game,” he stated. But something gnawed at him, the sudden feeling that all his plans were being undermined coursing through his veins. His whole plan B was focused on Angel getting this Amulet and then being forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to stop the apocalypse. But Holland Manners had just taken the Amulet and given it away. If this ruined his back-up plan, then keeping the sun from rising and causing the apocalypse would depend completely on the Witch and the Slayer not being able to break the spell in time.

Something Kelly said caught his attention. “What?”

“As I said, there has been a new development. When the group gathered to review Vijay’s findings, they … well they interpreted the final part of the prophecy somewhat differently,” she stated, pausing before delivering what she obviously viewed as bad news. “They now think that if the one described in the prophecy succeeds in using the Amulet to stop the apocalypse he wouldn’t die. Instead he could become mortal again and walk in the sunlight,” Kelly informed him, her voice trailing off.

“What???” Hyatt exclaimed, as he mentally let his jaw drop.

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Willow began to focus her mind on the woman that now fully occupied the center of her heart. She needed to know that Buffy was okay. But most of all, she needed to know that she was still alive. Even though she hoped and believed that she would instinctively know if anything ever happened to Buffy, self-doubt still forced her to accept the possibility that this might not be the case. She, therefore, had to remove all doubt before starting the rescue attempt.

She had locked herself in the bathroom in the hope of having some peace and quiet. But she could still hear the rest of the gang moving around the apartment and talking. Certain that she was the main topic of their conversation she fought the urge to retreat into her shell and block out all that meant. Over the last few days she had been the center of attention in a way that she wasn’t at all that comfortable with. She could feel her old demons – low esteem, uncertainty, self-doubt, panic and paranoia rearing their ugly heads. She had thought those were gone forever; Buffy had helped her get through them. She wasn’t designed to have everyone peeking into her life and second-guessing her every move. How on earth did Buffy cope?

Sorrow filled her as she realized that the one person she wanted to talk to and share all of this with was the one person not here. Gulping, she refused to let either the anger or the fear grab hold of her. ‘Concentrate,’ she ordered herself and closing her eyes she began to focus herself.

Drawing just enough mystical energy together into a core around her heart, she mentally lifted it towards the location of her third eye, allowing only one word to enter her mind - ‘Buffy.’

****************************BtVS*********************************

Holland Manners gazed at the entrance to Remal’s vault. He really hated this place. Even though he knew he was still in the firm’s building, he always felt as if he was about to use a portal and jump dimensions. Laughing at himself, he reached out and pushed open the door.

The room before him was dimly lit by candles and its hanging fabrics created large shadowy nooks and corners like something from a poorly lit black and white desert movie. But the man that came from the shadows was no Rudolph Valentino. He was a fully grown demon of the second order.

“Holland? So soon?” Remal queried, his pitch black eyebrow rising and his sharpened horns glinting in the candle light.

“Remal, you look well rested,” Holland stated, forcing a friendly smile.

“Thank you. Yes, I am,” the demon replied and gesturing towards a pile of scattered cushions, he beckoned the senior partner into his abode. “How may I be of assistance?”

Moving towards the cushions, Manners felt the door close behind him. Glancing at the cushions he located one he thought he’d be able to rise from after their discussion had ended. Lowering himself he began, “Events have unfolded much as you said they would. Please pass my thanks on to your sister. Her foresight has proved invaluable.”

“I am glad we could be of help. Our exchanges have benefited us well over the years, have they not?” Remal questioned.

Recognizing his question as nothing more than the need to ratify the contract he had signed so many decades ago, Holland smiled, “Indeed they have.”

Remal nodded and, taking a cushion himself, he smiled - his shark like teeth almost glowing in the candlelight. “His Sire’s remains have been relocated and soon the death killer will be tempted to break the bonds of her creators. Has the Amulet been dealt with?”

“Yes and it will soon be destroyed,” Holland affirmed, unable to help the small shiver of uncertainty from crossing his mind.

“You have reservations?” the demon asked, staring questioningly at the senior partner. Sometimes these humans amused him. “Do you wish my sister had not told you of what was to come, of your own demise at the hands of his Sire?” he asked unable to keep the frustration from his voice.

“No reservations! Just the caution of mortality. As an immortal, caution may mean nothing to you but, then again, had I been immortal you would have killed me at birth,” Holland stated in a matter of fact tone showing no resentment.

Remal simply nodded.

************************************BtVS*****************************

Her eyelids were so heavy. Maybe if she just closed them for a moment. ‘No!’ She had to be ready … ready for what? While trying to reposition herself, she had managed to loosen the rope around her wrists but in doing so she had simply tightened the ropes around her ankles to the point where she began to wonder if she would be able to walk.

A buzzing noise seemed to invade her aching temples and she shook her head, momentarily closing her eyes against the sound. ‘No! I gotta stay awake.’ But the noise came back and this time louder, pounding against her forehead. She allowed her head to drop, screwing her eyes up and wishing she was able to cover her ears.

Slowly she began to imagine the buzzing was familiar, that it made sense somehow. Were there words hidden in it? Straining her tired mind, she tried to filter out the buzzing sound.

[B---- --’re co---- -o ge- --o. Can --o -ear me]

‘There, that was … what?’

[Bu--- we’-- -oming –o ge- -ou. Ar- --o –ay……….]

‘Concentrate, it’s almost … Willow?’

[Buff- can –o –ear m-?]

‘Willow? Yes, yes I can hear you,’ she almost screamed with her mind as her heart nearly exploded and fresh tears, this time of joy, began to form in her eyes. ‘Oh Willow, are you okay? Where are they holding you?’

[Buffy can you hear me? We’re coming to get you. Are you okay?]

‘Willow?’

[Buffy can you hear me?]

“WILLOW!” Buffy screamed out loud, as she realized that although she could hear her true love, she could not reply. Her momentary joy fell to earth, crashing about her.

[Buffy, if you can hear me - the answer is -YES.]

***********************************BtVS*************************

“How’s she doing?” Cordelia asked sitting down next to Faith.

“She’ll cope. There are issues,” Faith laughed, “like that’s news! But she’s got it under control. Red’s tougher than she looks.”

“Good,” Cordelia affirmed quickly setting that aside before she added, “And you?”

“I’m five by five,” Faith assured her.

“Oh yeah. The infamous ‘five by five’ mega cool Faith statement. And who the hell is ever gonna ask you what it means? Oh duh – that would be me,” Cordelia declared sending Faith her best blinding smile, eyes wide open in expectation.

The Dark Slayer was speechless for a moment; entranced by the sheer power of the smile she was being offered. ‘Damn, has she got any idea how stunning that thing is?’ Leaning back as casually as she could manage, she laughed before recovering from her silence and offering Cordy what she hoped was a smile of mystery. “But honey, I thought you liked a little mystery?”

“I get enough of that day to day. Seriously, what does five by five mean? Aside from like how to make a square,” the Seer asked grinning.

“See, first I lose my mystery and now I’m a square. That’s why a girl should always keep her mystery,” Faith stated, throwing Cordelia a suggestive wink.

“Don’t you trust me?” Cordelia asked in all seriousness. “I thought that by now, you know, after all we’ve been through … all that’s about to happen …” she paused remembering that tonight Faith was going to put herself in harm’s way.

Thrown by Cordelia’s sudden change in mood, Faith found herself staring into the depths of those chestnut brown eyes. She could read the sudden sincere concern filling them directed at her and she could almost feel her heart stop.

“Afraid I’ll betray you somehow, huh? I guess you’ve had some major letdowns on the friend front … but I thought that we’d moved passed that?” Cordelia explained, as her throat began to go dry under the heat of Faith’s gaze. She needed to know that she meant something more to Faith than just another acquaintance, just another chapter in her life. She needed to know that the friendship they had built was more than just a passing thing.

“We have. It’s not that,” Faith assured her. “I do trust you … I mean I want to. I just didn’t think it mattered to you if I …”

“It matters. It more than matters, actually,” Cordelia interrupted. “Who knows why considering how ‘valley girl’ you can sometimes be. Hey, it’s not like I’m after your fashion secrets,” she blurted out brashly, unnerved to find herself stumbling over her words and breaking eye contact. Gathering her thoughts, she made the decision to say what she meant. “I like knowing things about you that no one else does. It’s kind of cool. It makes me feel like we … like we have something … you know … a special friendship. I’ve never had someone who … but it’s no big. If you don’t want to let me in … I mean, just tell me.”

“Hey, you are … special … I mean we do have … at least I thought we … I’d like to think we’ve … become … friends,” Faith finally managed, reaching forward to gently place a reassuring hand on Cordelia’s arm. “All this new stuff gets me a bit turned around … you know?” she asked, not really expecting a response. “Five by five - you wanna know what it means? Fine. But it’s gonna be a letdown,” she warned, knitting her eyebrows together in mock distress.

“You haven’t let me down yet,” Cordelia stated, throwing her a shy smile. “I like the idea of sharing a secret with you.”

Faith couldn’t help laughing, “You, me and half the armed forces.”

“What?”

“Five by Five is a military radio term. It means that the signal strength and clarity have both scored five out of a possible five; so ‘five by five’,” Faith paused to take in the disbelieving look on Cordelia’s face. “Okay, so the whole cruising navy bars is now out of my system,” she assured her before adding, “it’s like saying – loud & clear or A-Okay.”

Cordelia stared at her. “Seriously? That’s all it means?”

“Yep. Kinda square, huh?” she asked, pulling a childish grin across her features. “Guess it loses the cool in translation.”

“Yeah!” Cordelia laughed. “Kinda. What were you - a radio ham groupie? Okay, now I get the secret. SO not going tell anyone that I know someone who knows radio geeks. Yeeeck. So NOT cool,” she stated in mock horror.

“Happy now?” Faith asked, not sure why it was that this gorgeous person could get her to talk about … well … just about anything.

“Trust me sweetheart, I’m taking that one to the grave,” Cordelia assured her placing her hand upon Faith’s and squeezing gently before breaking into a similarly childish grin.

*****************************BtVS**************************

Wesley moved forward in anticipation. The glow was definitely changing color. It was almost all green and he thought he could see a faint whisp of yellow now beginning to form at the base of the gleaming globe.

Then he saw Angel’s head move as if he was about to fall backwards and concern filled him. He moved closer again, positioning himself behind Angel’s attacker. Careful to stay away from the apparent faded edge of the globe, he wondered if it would simply shrink or evaporate. He was pretty sure Angel was going to fall once released but the fall wouldn’t hurt the vampire. So he wanted to be ready to take this guy by surprise as soon as the globe allowed him to.

Unexpectedly, the globe began to move quickly towards him. Caught in it, his motions became lethargic and pained. He tried to move backwards to escape its influence to no avail. Before he had the opportunity to see that it had split in two, the short man had simply stepped from it, turning to smile at Wesley’s predicament before disappearing. One minute he was there, the next he was gone.

The sound of Angel’s body falling to the alley’s floor broke Wesley’s vacant gaze of surprise as the globe dissipated around them. Pulling himself together and realizing he too had been released, he rushed to Angel’s side.

*****************************BtVS****************************

Buffy gulped, her mind reeling from ‘now I’m having waking dreams’ to ‘Jeez, she said Yes!’ Her mind exploded with joy and confusion. It had sounded like Willow – but had she wanted it to be Willow? Maybe she was just having a sleep-deprived illusion? ‘How could Willow send me a message? … Of course … MAGIC?’

Her mind went blank as her heart felt like it was bursting. The sudden influx of hope and joy was too much for her mind to take. Willow had said Yes. She had actually said yes … and they were coming to save her. ‘Hold on! If they’re coming to save me and Willow knows … that means she’s safe. She wasn’t taken. OK, but why wasn’t she taken? Why was I taken … Oh Wow - she said yes … YES!’ A silly grin spread its childlike happiness across her face.

Had one of her guards looked in at that moment, they would have thought the girl had gone mad because she was smiling, laughing and crying all at the same time.

*****************************BtVS*********************************

Giles couldn’t help smiling as Anya and Xander attempted to make his toolbox fit into the now completely jammed trunk of his car. They had now tried it at least six different ways but none of these had allowed the trunk to close.

“Move that over there,” Xander instructed as he pulled out a sword.

“It won’t work. The axe sticks out too far,” Anya responded, placing her hands on her hips.

Giles was reminded of the time he watched his two great aunts packing for a long weekend in the Lake District. As had occurred every Easter, he had watched as they attempted to pack every thing including the kitchen sink - Aunty Mary adding more and more, Aunty Maud tut-tutting but making no attempt to stop her. The final task of sitting on the suitcase lid and bouncing, in the often vain hope that his weight would help to close the case, had become a childish sense of joy back then. But right now he was quickly replacing amusement with disbelief. ‘Didn’t they have a clue when to give up?’

“Well, just wiggle it up and down a bit. We only need a little more room,” Xander sighed in exasperation.

“Wiggling won’t do any good. The box is too wide,” Anya informed him, her tone becoming sharper with each response.

Standing upright Xander glared at the offending box. “Well it has to. We can’t leave it behind. I need it to jerry rig the equipment.”

Giles couldn’t stand it any longer. He stepped forward, reached into the trunk of the car and removed the toolbox. “One can’t help but wonder why, if all empirical evidence shows that this won’t fit into the trunk, why you haven’t considered just placing it on someone’s lap?”

******************************BtVS*************************

Willow stood slowly, shaken and drained by the emotions she had picked up from Buffy. She had used telepathy before. She’d been able to hear Xander and Anya. Why couldn’t she hear Buffy? She’d tried refocusing, shifting her center. Nothing seemed to help.

Maybe she’d been foolish to hope that her beloved would be able to respond. She could tell that Buffy’s emotional state was pretty stressed and shaky. What if she hadn’t allowed Buffy time to acquire the focus that would have been needed? She should have factored that in. She felt frustration building within her. Goddess, how she wanted her skills back and her talents, not these borrowed ones.

Glancing at the mirror at the face of the woman she loved, a feeling of sadness and loss came over her. ‘Oh Buffy, I tried.’ Buffy’s emotions had been so stretched, it was as if she had been refusing to let go, as if something was holding her. ‘She’s kept herself awake,’ Willow realized, ‘But why? There was nothing she could do. She had to know we’d come for her.’

Uncertainty flew into her mind, coupled with the terrifying thought that Buffy had doubted her; that she had somehow accepted that she was alone, that no help was coming. What if she’d been staying awake so that she didn’t miss an opening, a way out? ‘How could she think I wouldn’t … that we wouldn’t come for her … find her? No way’ she rebuked herself, ‘Buffy would never leave us and we would never leave her. She knows that.’ It was like a Scooby rule or something.

Leaving the bathroom, Willow set her chin allowing her determination to rescue Buffy to become her only focus. The apartment door opened and Giles, Xander and Anya walked in. Glancing first at them and then at Cordelia and Faith, she nodded. “So, are we ready?”

*************************BtVS***********************

Holland Manners wasn’t at all sure if Ramal had accepted the importance of his warning. That was the problem with non-human business associates – differing frames of reference. Absently he wondered if he should schedule a short workshop on interspecies relations.

Glancing at his watch, he smiled. By now Angel would be minus a very powerful tool intended for his use only. Despite what that silly love struck vampire had assumed, he would never be allowed to use it. Angel’s use of the Amulet would have eventually caused this branch of the firm to be transferred to the vampire. No matter who used it, there were two things Holland intended to avoid - Angel getting his hands on Wolfram and Hart was one; the other being his own early demise at the hands of Angel’s sire, Darla.

By removing the magic from the Amulet and giving it to that little worm Maclay, he had removed the focal point for a whole chain of events. It often amazed him that so many of his junior colleagues still persisted in seeing things in a two-dimensional cause and effect manner. This was multi-dimensional; it involved ripples. Angel’s effect on the firm was like a multi-layered cake. And he had just removed the raising agent that would have allowed this to happen.

****************************BtVS******************************

Xander reviewed the layout he had seen earlier when doing reconnaissance with Faith, trying to recall as many details of the hideout as he could. He was aware that timing would be essential. He just hoped that Willow could keep up with the pace Faith had set when she’d tried a partial dry run against his advice. The area didn’t have much cover, and distraction and diversion were going to be their greatest weapons.

He’d given Anya a big hug before guiding her into the back seat with Faith, Cordelia and Willow. Boy, had that been a tight fit. He’d almost made a wisecrack at the sight of Cordelia trying not to end up sitting in Faith’s lap while the Dark Slayer just grinned, but had wisely thought better of it.

Giles had been quieter than he’d expected. Not that the watcher was normally a chatterbox but he usually kicked off something like this with one of his ‘oh so very British’ speeches; like he was channeling that Winston Churchill guy.

Pulling away from the apartment, he couldn’t help giving their apartment a quick glance. Whenever they set off on a mission he always wondered if they would all be coming back. Their luck had been just too good so far. He always feared that one day they would run out of luck and it wouldn’t be the bad guy who didn’t come back – It would be one of them.

While Xander wallowed in the pessimistic world of what might happen, Giles was finding the silence in the car as uncomfortable as the weight of Xander’s toolbox that he was holding across his knees.

They made their way towards the docks in silence with only one interruption from Anya to check that everyone had been to the bathroom. She had then informed them that there had been some great battle that Alexander the Great had won only because the opposing troops had poor bladder control.

He had been tempted to go back over the plan but a warning look from Cordelia told him that to do so with bring down her wrath. One look at Willow’s determined features had assured him that her mind was on mission. He couldn’t be so sure of his own mind however, as his ever-present concern for Buffy flooded back.

Entering the main storage area of the docks, Xander had parked the car a good two blocks away from the warehouse. As everyone unloaded and assembled at the rear of the car, Giles was filled with the need to say something to Willow but nothing came to mind. So he reached over to place a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

Willow spun around at him and for a moment he thought he was about to be attacked. The look on her face was only thinly concealed and he recognized it easily – Slayer Rage! He had seen it before – in Buffy and, especially, in Faith. “Willow?”

“I’m okay,” she responded quickly, turning away from him.

“Willow, you need to center yourself. If you let that anger and rage rule you, I am certain that there will be a loss of control, a loss of focus,” Giles instructed her, shifting back into his Watcher role with comfortable ease.

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him, taking a deep breath and becoming more than a little annoyed with herself for letting Giles know just how tightly strung she really was.

“I’m glad you feel confident. One would be even more concerned if you did not but Willow, you really must take some time to focus,” he advised, turning to place the toolbox on the roof of the car.
Irritated, Willow snapped, “We don’t have time for chanting, crystals and Kumbaya. We need to get Buffy out of there.”

“And unless pasty white is going to become next season’s new formal black I vote we do just that before sunrise,” Cordelia interjected, stepping forward to stand beside Willow. “So let’s skip the ‘wise old man’ speech and get on with it. OK?”

Realizing that Cordelia was right, Xander stepped forward. “I think I speak for everyone when I say that I’ve had enough of the planning. We all know what we have to do. So let’s get on with the doing. Will knows what she needs to do and she’ll do it. Now grab that toolbox and follow me.”

****************************BtVS****************************

Buffy closed her eyes and smiled. Somehow the fear of falling asleep was now gone. She was more awake than she’d been in ages. Her mind felt like a night at the bronze; so many conversations, she almost couldn’t listen to just the one thought.

‘They were coming to get her. How exactly were they planning to do that? Did Faith have anything to do with it?’

Then she froze at the sound of footsteps. ‘So soon?’ But they passed by her. ‘Just a guard.’

‘Willow said yes!’ They were going to date. But they couldn’t date; they were running out of time. But the ‘yes’ was a good sign. That meant she really cared for her, didn’t it? That they had a chance. That she wanted her. That she wanted more that just friendship. ‘Didn’t it?’

The footsteps were back. ‘Seems like I’ve got my own personal guard. Oh, how sweet.’

************************BtVS*****************************

As Xander took possession of his toolbox, Giles glanced over at the machinery - a bulldozer, a dump truck, an earth digger. Then he saw it – a wrecking ball. A flood of childhood memories overwhelmed him. He’d watched builders demolish his school’s old gymnasium when he should have been paying attention to a series of lectures on post-modern art. And all he had thought was how satisfying it must be to vent all your anger in such an accepted and legal but destructive act.

Turning to Xander, he paused ‘I can’t ask. What will he think?’ Blinking slightly he turned away again.

“Okay, Anya I need you to take this and wait for me by that earth digger. Giles take this and head over to the…”

Giles mentally crossed his fingers.

“Dump truck and wait for me. I’m going to sort out that bulldozer.”

Ignoring the disappointment he felt, Giles couldn’t help asking, “What about that wrecking ball? Surely that could do a lot of damage?”

“Naah. No good. It takes too long to set up and move into position,” Xander advised him, smirking. “We’re after speed and surprise here, G-man. So it’s big wheels and tonnage.”

****************************BtVS************************************

Wesley cradled the limp figure of Angel in his arms and wondered if he’d be able to drag the vampire to the car by himself. Then again maybe if he just waited long enough, the big guy would come to. It had taken quite sometime for the last of the globe to dissipate and release him. By that time Wesley knew that he had no chance of catching the little worm of a man who had been responsible for all this.

Glancing up and down the alley he realized that he had spent one too many evenings in the back alleys of LA. ‘I really need to visit a park or the ocean.’ Shrugging aside his internal reflections at the path his life had taken, he looked back down at Angel. ‘Oh well.’

Raising his hand he landed a well-placed slap onto his colleague’s right cheek. Having braced himself for a reaction, he exhaled when nothing happened. Raising his hand again, he wondered how long this was going to take.

Seven or eight slaps later, he gave up and bent over to grab Angel under his arms. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Uhhhh!” Angel muttered.

“What?” Wesley blurted, as relief washed over him.

“You work with me and you eat garlic?” Angel asked, slowly opening his eyes to throw Wesley an accusing look.

Instinctively searching his memory, Wesley nodded apologetically, “Must have been that pizza last night.”

“Ahh … the dangers of fast food,” Angel commented looking around. “Okay, why am I still on the ground?”

Standing up Wesley smiled. “Long story,” he replied, not sure how to begin.

“I’m guessing it involved that short guy,” Angel stated as he tried to turn over.

Wesley nodded, “Mostly.”

“So, and I’m just continuing the guessing here, would that also be why I can’t seem to move?” Angel asked, his annoyance very evident.

“That would probably be the blue globe thing he threw around the two of you,” Wesley advised him.

“Great. Assuming mini-Merlin is long gone, am I staying here until I can walk or did you have a plan?”

********************************BtVS*******************************

Willow followed Faith, her heart thumping so loudly in anticipation that it resounded in her ears. ‘We’re coming, my darling,’ she telepathically shouted, desperate to make contact despite the fact that she would be seeing Buffy very soon. She could feel the power building as she gave her borrowed slayer powers free reign.

“Keep low,” Faith instructed her as they reached a low cement bank topped by a wire fence. “There’s not much cover from this point on but we can get closer if we’re careful. Then it’s up to the X-man and his ego-sized toys.”

Crouching down low, Willow tried to run but the position was so unfamiliar and uncomfortable that the best she could manage was a loping trot. She could see Faith pulling away from her and disappointment filled her but shaking her head, she refused to allow it to stay. ‘Why should I be able to keep up with her? She’s a real slayer. I’m just some ‘G I Jane Slayer’ wannabe without the years of experience she and Buffy have had. I’ve only been doing this for a week, for goodness sake. I mean, you need years of experience, don’t you? Slayers are like the Special Ops of the Hellmouth and all things dark and scary. That’s why they do all that one-on-one training, learning how to build a bridge from six egg cartons and a box of matches or how to slay a demon with a cotton ball and four Barbie pins if they had to. I’m just a witch with some borrowed powers and a couple of training sessions. Gotta keep it real. So I can’t keep up with Faith - Big Deal!! As Anya would say - I have other skills. Damn it, Giles was right. I need to focus.’

*****************************BtVS********************************

Buffy remained alert while waiting for Willow, the others and her rescue. She tried to relax as much as possible considering the discomfort of the restraints on her hands and feet. If only she had her slayer strength, she could have easily gotten out of them.

‘I don’t understand how Willow can have my slayer abilities and still be able to use her magical powers to speak to me but I can’t do anything. Why can’t I use her magic to make her hear me … to help with my rescue? I know I’m nowhere near as smart as she is but … I mean … I used to help her with her spells … at the beginning.’ She tried to calm down. She couldn’t afford to miss anything.

Then she remembered something. ‘Wait a sec. Didn’t I already use magic? After Willow and the gang rescued me from Dracula … I am so getting tired of having to be rescued. Faith was there too, even though we didn’t see her … she dusted him for us … she …’ Closing her eyes, she shook her head trying to clear it so that she could get back to the elusive memory. ‘When those three crazy girl vamps attacked us … Willow was down, hurt … they were trying to kill her. Something happened … but what exactly?’ She paused for a moment trying to remember.

‘They caught fire. Did I … could I have done that? And then … then … Willow was carrying me back to the dorms and taking care of me … like she always does.’ She smiled at the thought for a moment, but soon started to think back about that night again. She remembered the heat; it had been inside her. And somehow … somehow she’d let it out – How? The Sirens had burst into flame. She had done it. She knew she had. But how? If she could do that, surely she should be able to answer Willow’s call.

She was furious with herself, frustrated that she couldn’t remember … that she couldn’t make herself heard by Willow.

*****************************BtVS********************************

Xander worked his way across the now dark building site to the dump truck where Giles awaited him. Setting Anya up with the earth digger had taken longer than he’d expected despite his belief that it was the easiest of all the machines to operate. Damn it, why hadn’t he moved the machines closer when he’d had the chance? ‘Because I’m so not suicidal boy. The guys with guns gave me the scaredy shakes.’

The resigned look on Giles’ face confused him for a moment, but then he saw the wistful glance at the wrecking ball and he allowed himself a little smile, amused that the G-man had apparently hoped to get something a bit more … macho. Who would have guessed? Shrugging aside his amusement, he swung his tool kit onto the waist high cab step and removing the pliers and wire cutters, he closed the box and placed it below the cab step. Then he made his way towards the rear of the vehicle.

“Okay, Anya’s all set. If you could get yourself into the cab, I’ll be up in a minute to give you one-on-one instruction. Should be easy considering the stick shift you’re used to.”

******************************BtVS**********************************

Slim hated this waiting. It was always the worst part of any job or battle. Nothing prepared you for the strain on your nerves, the temptation of paranoia. And nighttime just intensified these feelings - the seemingly whispering gusts of wind and moving shadows filling your mind with dread, anticipation and false starts.

He’d seen a few guys lose it in Senegal, and one rookie had set off a firefight with a colleague who had repositioned. Waiting was almost as dangerous as fighting because you don’t have a focus, a target, something to release all your anticipation and adrenalin at.

Dorgan might be a dork but at least he knew that he gave the guys someone to vent their frustrations at. Slim had been with some commanders who didn’t have a clue what their men were going through, let alone care. It was clear that Dorgan fixated on the little things as if knowing that if he did his job well, his men would allow their pent-up frustrations to be directed toward his obsessions. But Slim wasn’t about to thank him for his efforts. He had the guys’ back and that was enough.

Suddenly he thought he spotted something moving over to the left and … a flash of … skin? His changed his focus and repositioned his night vision goggles in the hope that a small adjustment would somehow help. But he couldn’t see anything. The shadow by that loading bay was pitch black and so far from any street light that nothing seemed able to penetrate its depths.

******************************BtVS******************************

Faith stood on the loading bay, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling that she was out in the open. She’d realized during her earlier visit that this bay was in dark shadows and that you’d have to be less than twenty feet from it before you’d be able to make out anything on it.

Glancing behind her, she noticed Willow, who was crouched down at the back of the bay peering out into the night, with the unmistakable anticipation and tingling nerves that Faith knew so well.

“Well, that was the easy part. Now it’s up to the diversionary crew,” she stated.

“What time is it?” Willow asked.

“I dunno,” Faith said glancing at her wrist before remembering that she didn’t have a watch. “Why?”

“Because Xander said three o’clock,” Willow reminded her.

“I’m kinda guessing that once Xander kicks off we’re gonna know about it,” the Dark Slayer observed. “It’s like a library out here. Someone drops a pin and we’re gonna hear it.”

Willow smiled and nodded, somewhat strangely amused at having the site of her first real test as a temporary slayer described as a library. Recalling the early years and the many hours they had spent in the school library. Little had she imagined back then that what they had begun in those early days would be the backbone of their current lives.

Standing before her was the woman she had once thought of as a possible new part of the group, then as a mortal enemy and, if she was honest, as the one she viewed as the only real competition for her place in Buffy’s affections. And now they were together, trusting each other, needing to work together to save the woman they had once competed for and who was still so important to both of them.

“Faith?” Willow called, not at all certain of what she really wanted to say.

“Yeah,” Faith responded, turning back from the intense lookout she had taken up.

Pausing in her scramble for the right words that would sum up how she was feeling, Willow gave up and allowed her scrambled mind free reign. “I’m glad you’re here. It seems right somehow that we do this together,” she said simply.

Faith dropped her eyes despite the fact that Willow probably couldn’t see them and, rather emotionally, was barely able to speak. “Oh hell, Red … Newsflash - I’m not much good at this stuff. And let’s face it, most of the time whatever I do want to say only comes out half right or totally wrong. So can we leave it at – Ditto?”

Affected more than she wanted to admit, Willow simply nodded and offered a succinct “Sure.”

They both understood.

************************************BtVS***********************

“Oh you’ve got to be joking!” Xander exclaimed under his breath, throwing his pliers to the ground and then, bending down to rescue them.

“Excuse me?” Giles questioned, poking his head out from inside the cab.

“What kinda paranoid freak takes the ignition leads home at night?” Xander grumbled, pointing at the engine housing as if Giles could see just what he was talking about. Sighing in exaggerated frustration, he glanced back at Anya and then at Giles. “Okay, okay we improvise. That’s what we do. I’m good with the off-the-cuff stuff.”

“You are?” Giles muttered before he could help himself.

“Snide quips - Not helping,” Xander advised the watcher, who was now getting down from the cab, having realized his vehicle wasn’t going anywhere, least of all to war. “Okay. Anya has the earth digger. No way I’m re-educating this ‘Rita’ now. I’m on the bull – which has a tow bar!” Xander realized. “Brilliant! A little clumsy but brilliant,” he asserted before throwing Giles what appeared a slightly insane smile.

Giles stared at the young man in complete confusion. He knew that what he was listening to was pretty much a verbal expression of Xander’s thought pattern but, none the less, it reminded him of his first Latin lesson. Totally unintelligible.

************************************BtVS**************************

It had to have been almost half an hour since they’d left Xander, but they were still sitting here, waiting, stinking of these damn spice bags. Sugar and spice, everything nice - NOT. ‘What the hell did she put in here?’ Faith wondered as her patience began to wear thin. “How long has it been?” Faith asked irritably, “What’s he doing? Building a rocket?”

“Xander will get here. He won’t let us down,” Willow declared, despite feeling a little less confident than she knew she sounded.

“Yeah, yeah … I know,” Faith assured her, kicking at thin air. “I just hate the waiting … you know?”

“Believe me when I say – getting there,” Willow agreed with her. Then a soft rumbling came to their ears. “Listen,” she exclaimed, pointing out into the darkness and in the general direction of the building site. She could almost make out the movement of the sound … east to west.

Then Faith saw it. “You’ve gotta be kidding me!” she exclaimed.

*******************************BtVs********************************

Chapter 32

Buffy could hear movement and sighing. Someone was outside, no - behind her. She was disappointed to realize that it was only her guard and not the person she so longed to see. This forced solitude was really beginning to get on her nerves. It had her totally on edge, mainly because she knew she wasn’t truly alone. There was a group of heavily armed men out there determined to keep her company, if at a distance. But she couldn’t see or hear them, she didn’t know what they were doing, she couldn’t do anything help herself or her would-be rescuers. She hadn’t felt this powerless since her parents had decided to divorce.

She was somewhat surprised at how much she missed having others around her, especially since she’d spent so much of her life feeling as if she was alone even in a crowd. If it hadn’t been for Willow and Xander, she was pretty sure she would have ended up with Cordelia’s crowd which would surely have left her on her own once they realized she was different and not quite normal - by their standards. What did she ever do to deserve two such loyal friends? She’d have turned into a real loner, more of a weirdo than she probably seemed to most of the outside world. ‘Oh yeah, and my life’s so normal now.’

But who was she kidding? She would have been dead long ago if it hadn’t been for Willow and Xander. They kept her steady, sane, informed, okay Xander wasn’t big with the research she needed, but he’d fought by her side. They both had, they’d been on the front lines with her and helped her to remember that she was a human being, a person, as well as the Slayer. Giles may have simply been her watcher at one time but he now mattered more to her than she’d ever really thought her watcher could or would; although a simple look, would always tell her exactly what he was thinking or expecting from her, it was the absolute faith he had in her intentions that she treasured. And Willow, her dear sweet Willow always gave her a reason to survive, to come back, and to believe in herself.

She had long ago given up worrying about what other people thought of her. At least she thought she had. For years now the only opinions that had mattered to her were those of her small self-made family. And it was their feelings, opinions and safety that now occupied her thoughts as she sat awaiting her rescuers, that very same family with, apparently, a few unexpected additions.

Buffy was more than a little upset that everything that had recently happened between her and Willow had effectively taken place under their eagle eyes. Was she to have nothing that was purely her own? No privacy at all? Plus they seemed to have had their own ideas, for quite some time, about how things were or should be between them. She wasn’t sure if the easy acceptance of Xander and Giles pleased or annoyed her. Anya’s opinion was pretty much a given; as far as the ex-demon was concerned it was about sex, and nothing about sex was anything but good.

Just as she was starting to focus on her thoughts, she heard the noise of a radio as it burst into life.

“Zero one. Contact on my two,” the radio crackled.

“Zero four, affirmative. Contact on my four. Back up requested.”

Something was happening. ‘Was this it?’ Buffy wondered as she shifted her attention to the reports blaring from her guard’s radio.

************************************BtVS*******************************

Faith could feel the laughter building inside her at the sight of Xander towing the wrecking ball. That in itself wasn’t as funny as the sight of the stoic Englishman sitting … how could she describe it? Yeah, yeah … sitting regally in the cab with his arms crossed in lordly expectation as if he was a king anticipating a crowd of worshipping subjects.

Meanwhile, Anya followed with the kind of lack of patience that the Dark Slayer had come to expect from the ex-demon. It was obvious that she was trying to gun the earth digger, to get some speed going. ‘What was it with ex-immortals and the need for speed?’ Faith wondered, recalling a discharged Sretka Demon she’d once met at a drag race. She turned her head to share her amusement with Willow, only to be confronted by a look of complete shock.

Hoping that the humorous scene before them might offer some light relief that would help remove the distressed expression from Willow’s Buffy-face, she voiced her own amusement. “The Saturday morning Wacky Races ‘toons have nothing on this,” she blurted out. ‘Maybe Will just needs help to see the funny.’

But Willow seemed to simply stare at her as if she was missing something.

Faith turned back to examine the scene before her more closely. Okay, three major boy-toys under the control of a man-child, a grown man with far too much reserve and an ex-demon with far too little. “What?” she exclaimed because she just didn’t get what the hell it was that Willow was seeing.

Willow stared at Faith. ‘Couldn’t she see how ridiculously dangerous this was going to be?’

*******************************BtVS*************************

“Zero one, I have some building machinery heading towards the fence at two o’clock,” Slim stated, his trigger finger itching as he awaited instructions. Then he saw the Englishman raise his arm and throw something, which landed on the other side of the fence creating a ripple in the air as it landed.

“Zero six and eight move to back up Zero one,” he heard Dorgan instruct but his relief was short-lived as he saw the air ripple expand. It was coming towards him!

“Zero one, they’ve thrown … something. We’re under attack. Permission to respond?” he requested, raising his rifle into his preferred firing position.

“Denied. They have --n’t b –r-o-k-e-n o-u-r b-o-u-n-d-a-r-y . c-o-n-t-i---n---u----e t---o r-e-------p-o-r--------t .”

‘What the hell was that?’ Slim wondered as Dorgan suddenly sounded like someone playing a recording at half speed.

******************************BtVS***************************

Willow watched as the ripple moved towards them. It was too late to worry now. The clock was ticking.

“We’re on,” Faith stated, moving towards the edge of the loading bay. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” Willow responded shaking aside her reservations. Stepping forward she locked eyes with Faith and nodded.

“Okay, then. We’re heading for that storage trailer, hanging a right to that gas pump, up and over, across the gas pipe and in through the skylight,” Faith said, repeating the instructions she knew she had already given but feeling that she needed to push Willow back into the game. “Keep it tight, okay? We have to move fast.”

Willow nodded, not sure what lay ahead but certain that everything she had ever wanted in life was waiting for her inside that building.

The Slayers headed off at breakneck speed, launching themselves from the loading bay and shooting from the deep shadows that had hidden them from the eyes of their enemy.

*******************************BtVS***************************

Cordelia sat in the car tapping her hands on the steering wheel. She’d been volunteered by Xander, of all people, to be the get-away driver; much to the very vocal annoyance of Anya, who had been calmed down only after Xander told her how much he needed her to operate one of the construction vehicles.

Giles had helpfully agreed with Xander and pointed out that Cordelia didn’t have nearly as many hours battle experience, nor the knowledge of the area. After all, Anya had been the one to discover the site of Buffy’s imprisonment.

It had taken all her willpower to hold her tongue but the pleading looks from both Giles and Xander had told her all she’d needed to know. They trusted her. She couldn’t quite figure out why they didn’t trust Anya with the job but apparently they didn’t, and that was enough for her.

So here she sat, listening to the beginnings of the battle. She wondered how far along Faith and Willow had gotten, and if the Barder time ball thingy had worked.

*******************************BtVS******************************

Giles kept himself low as Xander cut through the fence like a sharp knife slicing through butter. Releasing Giles and the wrecking ball, the young man quickly headed to the right as Giles slowly rolled to a halt and Anya came up on his left.

Xander had been very insistent in reminding them that the cabs of these construction vehicles might look impregnable but they were definitely not bulletproof. Anya had, therefore, raised the forked shovel of the earthmover, lifting it level with her cab. However, what concerned Giles was the very real possibility that she’d been driving all the way here with it up.

Throwing aside his momentary musings, he peeked above the rim of the window to take a quick look at his position before ducking back down and reaching for the controls. ‘Oh Colin, I wish you were here,’ he thought, recalling the childhood chum with whom he’d shared so many construction site misadventures.

He heard a crunch to his right and realized that Xander was already putting his bulldozer to effective use against the walls of the warehouse. Then he heard it. Something whizzed past the door of his vehicle, like a fly on speed. ‘They’ve started shooting.’ Revving his controls into gear, he let the already pre-suspended wrecking ball fly. The moment of release was filled with all of his pent-up frustrations at events and his apparent inability to see further than the end of his nose where the love life of his charge, his slayer, his surrogate daughter was concerned.

The long pause followed by a resounding crash made him giddy and he smiled childishly. ‘Wanton destruction is greatly underrated,’ Giles mused, as he drew the ball back for another swing. ‘This is better than conkers.’

******************************BtVS***********************

“Z—er—o O—n—e R—p—o—r—t,” Slim’s radio crackled, as another part of the warehouse wall was pushed inwards.

“Oh great, we’re being smashed in and Dorgan’s gone all slow mo. Figures.” He yanked his earpiece from his ear before glaring at it and throwing it to the ground.

“H –e -y, T –e -x. Y-o-u g-o-t a-n e-y-e-b-a-l-l y-e-t?” he yelled across the warehouse. Suddenly aware of the fact that his voice sounded an octave lower, he clutched at this throat. “W-h-a-t t-h-e h-e-l-l….?”

The rippling waves of the Barder ball were causing time to slow and then quicken each time they passed through the walls of the Warehouse. Each slow wave becoming longer than the fast ones, as the Barder ball began to settle. Very soon time would slow completely.

“N-a-h,” his colleague replied, apparently ignoring their vocal difficulties “t-h-e-y-’r-e k-e-e-p-i-n-g t-h-o-s-e d-a-m-n b-u-c-k-e-t t-h-i-n-g-s s-o h-i-g-h, I c-a-n’-t g-e-t a c-l-e-a-r s-h-o-t. W-h-a-t’-s w-i-t-h D-o-r-g-a-n----?”

“D-u-n-n-o, h-e-’s o-u-t-t-a i-t,” Slim replied, deciding some communication was better than none. “W-h-a-t a-b-o-u-t t-h-e t-i-r-e-s?” he asked, just as his window and surrounding wall began to rapidly move towards him. “W-h-a-t t-h-e….?”

“Zero eight, we have a breach,” reported Tex, watching the wall crumble and fall on top of Slim, as a large wrecking ball blasted its way through the wall.

***************************BtVs******************************

Buffy could hear orders being shouted as if underwater, but the final order came through to her so fast and high-pitched that she couldn’t make it out.

She could the sound hear metal against metal, heavy machinery and arms fire coming from the far side of the building. ‘Oh, no! What’s the gang thinking? These guys have guns!’ Straining against her bonds, she only managed to cut off the circulation to her wrists. But she barely noticed. All she could think was -- ‘Have to help.’

Then she heard her guard move. He was coming closer. ‘Why is he …’ But her unfinished question was answered when she heard him cock his weapon. ‘He’s going to kill me.’

“Willow!!” she screamed, unable to help herself.

*******************************BtVS************************

The satisfying noise of metal falling to the ground and glass shattering fueled Xander’s adrenalin as with every impact they began to move the walls inwards. As Anya was hugging the side of the building, feelings of pride welled within him as he realized that his little sex kitten had used her brain. Anya had obviously figured out that she would be harder to hit if she reduced their angle of fire.

Meanwhile, Giles appeared to have turned into a whirling dervish. Somehow he was able to cause more destruction than Xander. He was managing to get the ball back and re-strung faster than many a professional. But what really caught his attention was the twinkle he could see in the watcher’s eyes every time he chose to peep over the edge of his cab. “Watch it, G-man – Snipers!”

And just as he said that, he saw a bullet puncture and shatter the glass of Giles’ cab. “G-i-l-e-s?!!”

*******************************BtVS***************************

“Flipping hell,” muttered Giles, as glass showered down on him. Hitting the release he fired the ball back, having aimed just to the left of his previous contact point. His brief glance at the warehouse had given him the impression that the wall was beginning to look like a depressurized canister.

He pondered the early medieval origins of the wrecking ball. The largest one he had ever seen had been some 30 tons, with an arch of 75 feet and the ability to impact with a momentum of 300 tons. Although the one he was operating now was probably half its size, he drew a childish pleasure from the sheer destruction he was able to inflict.

This time, in recognition of the bullet that had just shattered his cab window, he attempted a quick glance out of his door. He saw Anya and her earthmover, wheels spinning against the ground as she tried to wedge her shovel into and push against the frame of a locked door. The ex-demon was crouched low in her seat peering just over her cab rim and underneath her shovel. Her leg was fully extended and Giles realized she was probably at full throttle. However, the doorframe seemed to be successfully resisting.

He wondered where Willow and Faith were at this moment. He had no way of knowing if the Barder ball had done its job. If it had worked, there should be multiple time interruption ripples moving throughout the warehouse causing communication and reaction problems for Buffy’s kidnappers. Whether the ripples caused slowing down or speeding up, the time disruption should help Willow and Faith get to Buffy. Eventually time would slow everywhere for about half an hour, which would further aid their escape.

**********************************BtVS*****************************

Buffy could feel the beads of sweat slowly building up on her forehead as she continued to strain against her restraints. Ignoring the noise of the radio crackle and garbled messages, she could hear the footsteps of her guard approaching.

She found herself clenching and unclenching her fists in anticipation of a fight. But just how was she supposed to fight - bound and tied as she was. She was not accustomed to being so helpless. She didn’t know how to deal with it. ‘Oh Willow, where are you my darling? Please come now before it’s too late,’ she pleaded. She was not just worried about her own well-being – her real fear was of what would happen if her beloved was to come across her dead body. She knew that Willow would blame herself for not reaching her in time.

She was astounded as the footsteps passed behind her and then stopped again. ‘What is he doing?’ she wondered, cursing him for the torrent of fear that he had just caused. She hated being afraid; fear was another thing she was not accustomed to and really couldn’t tolerate in herself. She wanted to know what was happening; she needed to know … Maybe if she tried to turn around.

The bars at the base of her suspended steel cage had made any movement almost impossible and her legs had long ago grown numb at the insistent pressure from the unyielding and inflexible steel bars as they dug into her shins and sides whenever she had tried to move. So she had resigned herself to the view across the warehouse. Below her the skeleton of the suspended ceiling prevented her from seeing what was occurring directly underneath. Occasionally she had heard running feet and raised voices.

But swallowing deeply, she drew what little strength she had left as she tried to turn herself. Each movement seemed to drag one of the steel bars across her various already blackening bruises. “Oh great, wonderful … just look at what I’m doing to Will’s body. Ughhh … well, whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. Right?” she announced to no one in particular, as she jarred her shoulder in between two bars.

******************************BtVS*******************************

Faith pulled herself up and onto the skylight. Sitting backwards on its rim she reached down to give Willow a hand up. The journey across the gas pipe had been a bit hairy. She could put up with heights, but that didn’t mean she liked them.

As Willow’s head appeared by her knees, the Slayer took a look at the interior of the warehouse. There was nothing below the skylight but a good 10-foot drop to the suspended ceiling. ‘Damn it.’ She shouldn’t have listened to Xander. She should have taken a closer look herself. How the hell were they going to get down there without falling through that rickety looking ceiling?

Willow pulled her waist up to the rim of the skylight and allowed her body weight to pull her upper torso forward, rocking into the building to take a look for herself. It felt good to have Buffy’s strong and fit body to work with. But she would much rather be admiring it on Buffy and the sooner the better. After a moment, Willow raised an eyebrow then she turned to look at Faith before glancing back towards the drop. “Do you trust me?” she asked quietly.

“Every time someone asks me that question I end up wishing I’d been somewhere else,” Faith commented, following Willow’s gaze, before letting their eyes meet in mutual determination. Each recognizing the Slayer within and the need they both had to see this through to its natural end, whatever that might be. “But right now I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be … or anyone I’d rather be doing this with. So the answer’s a great big – Yeah,” she winked.

Willow nodded in recognition of the compliment. “I need you to link with me and we’re going to have to jump together. Once we have momentum, I’m going to alter our relative density in relation to the air surrounding us so that when we land on that ceiling we won’t weigh enough to break through it. The dimensional ratio is a bit tricky but as long as I make allowances for the temperature differential inside the building and natural drag … Whatever you do, don’t let go of my hand until I tell you. Okay?”

“Sounds wicked cool,” the brunette responded, dismissing the somewhat disconcerting babbling and stuff she didn’t understand before offering the Wiccan her hand. “Thelma & Louise it is,” Faith quipped.

*****************************BtVS****************************

Xander was growing increasingly concerned as he glanced at his watch. ‘Jeeze how long have they been … oh, wait … the time thingy. That means that they’re going at normal speed and we’re going at what … half speed. So if it’s been ten minutes for us, it’s been half as … five minutes … no twice as … twenty minutes. Damn it, Willow! You should have left me a cheat sheet.’

Glancing to his right, he watched as Anya reversed her earthmover with most of a door frame attached to her shovel. The remaining door simply fell forward as if in slow motion sending a plume of dust from its sides as it landed on the dry dusty ground.

The spotlights surrounding the warehouse were throwing weird shadows. He thought for a moment that he saw red hair through the now open door and he was suddenly filled with fear. Faith and he had assumed that Buffy would be held somewhere near the rear of the building where a large concrete wall jutted onto the dockside. They’d figured that would be the easiest area to defend against an attack. But what if they were wrong? What if she was on the other side of this wall?

**********************************BtVS**************************

Once again Willow allowed herself to forget the history of the woman whose hand she was now gripping tightly. Who would have ever imagined that she and the “Dark Slayer” would be willing partners in such an important mission? Who would have believed that she would ever trust her life … and Buffy’s … to Faith?

She needed to focus and find the calm. Aware that calm seemed to be an impossibility amid all the noise and tension; she nevertheless knew it was there … within her.

Faith stared towards the far end of the warehouse thinking that she’d caught a glimpse of something metallic in the dark shadows that covered the rear of the roof space.

There it was! Willow could almost touch it -- its calm blue essence beckoning her, calling to her. Willingly she mentally stepped forward into that calm.

Faith’s chest became tight and her head light as she felt it wash through her as well. If only she could live with this feeling of calm forever. It was so true, so real, so balanced. It almost filled her with the need to cry and laugh all at the same time. Boy, she was really going to miss this.

Willow drew and gathered the magics around herself like a warm cloak, her normal nervousness and fear of failure, for once, completely absent. She could do this. She knew it. She believed it. This wasn’t the borrowed slayer part … no … this was her. “Now,” she said, leaning forward and allowing her rear to leave the skylight’s rim.

Faith followed her, not with conscious will but just because. It was as if she herself had moved forward. Then she felt it … something dragging her back. No, something holding her! “What the hell?” she yelped as she came to a sudden halt, her neck shooting forward and air being forced out of her lungs by the jolt.

“Sorry,” Willow muttered. “Too soon,” she offered apologetically.

No sooner had Faith commented, “Ya think?” and they were off again … downwards.

At first, the ceiling seemed to shoot towards them but then, imperceptibly, they seemed to slow. ‘That’s more like it,’ Faith thought just as her eyesight and brain were beginning to question the sudden change in acceleration. It was like staring at one of those optical illusions, in which you couldn’t tell if you were falling or rising. Her stomach seemed to rise into her chest in complaint. But damn … it was working!

*********************************BtVS******************************

Dorgan made his way towards the back of the warehouse with three of his men in tow. He knew what was going on and he was damned if he was going to let it work. Sunrise would be in about two hour’s time. All he had to do was to hold them off.

He wasn’t sure what he feared more --- Hyatt Ramu’s anger or the Slayer and her wannabes. Both were unpredictable. But at least he understood Ramu’s motives. These damn do-gooders just plain baffled him.

He thought he heard something above him as they attempted to sprint down the corridor. Every two or three paces he could feel himself going into slow motion. He was fairly certain that any security tape would make him look like the two-million dollar man. They must have cast a spell, some weird kind of slow-mo thing that was messing with time, but he had no way of countering that. For some reason, better known to the senior partners, black ops didn’t contain a shaman or wizard.
He’d never questioned the wisdom of that decision before; he didn’t have much use for the pebble casters. But right now he’d be happy to see one of those mumbling freaks. This wasn’t what he did best -- running from someone, no matter how strategically sound.

********************************BtVS************************************

Willow had never felt so in control and yet at peace. This was her calling, her true talent and skill. She just knew it. It felt so right. She wondered if the magics had always been around her, inside her, just waiting for her to call on them.

The ceiling was approaching, and mentally she ordered their molecules just that fraction more, lowering their mass, just as their feet touched down.

She felt Faith begin to loosen her hand. “Not yet. Let’s make our way to the edge,” she suggested, nodding towards the far wall and the slightly wider supporting rim of the ceiling skeleton.

Faith nodded and reaffirmed her hold on Willow’s hand. “You’re the boss.”

As they moved across the ceiling, a sudden shaft of light broke across their path as a portion of the far wall peeled away. Glancing towards the dockside end of the warehouse, they both froze, waiting for a movement, a noise but none came and glancing at each other, they moved forward again.

********************************BtVS***************************

The wrecking ball ripped into the side of the wall, this time separating the two sheets of steel that had recently been joined by rivets. As it continued its arc, it caught part of the interior wall and ceiling.

However, Giles had no idea of the damage his new best friend was causing. He was still sitting hunched like a naughty school boy with a huge grin of satisfaction and enjoyment plastered across his face.

Glancing to his left, he could see the top of Xander’s machine as it once again accelerated towards the warehouse. He had little doubt that they were doing serious damage but he couldn’t help a small moment of doubt. Were they truly causing the distraction Willow and Faith would need?

As if to answer his question, a hail of bullets winged their way over his head.

*****************************BtVS******************************

As they made their way down the wall of the warehouse, the deafening thud of the wrecking ball and metal against metal echoed throughout the cavernous loft. Faith thought that she heard gun fire and, glancing behind her, she hoped that the guys outside were okay.

Yet again she thought she saw a glint of metal. ‘What is that?’

The Wiccan hadn’t released her hand yet and she was, therefore, leading her along the edge of the suspended ceiling like two children playing follow-the-leader, as they skipped over the intermittent joists of the suspended ceiling.

Willow suddenly slowed and crouched. Faith came to a halt behind her. “There,” she gestured.

Faith followed her out stretched hand and forefinger … it was a box, no a cage and there was something in it – Buffy! Glancing at Willow, she saw the look of concern and an eagerness that worried her.

“Buffy, I’m coming. Hold on,” Willow whispered under her breath, forgetting that Faith was behind her.

“There’s gotta to be a guard,” Faith commented, unusual caution coming over her as she realized that this was it. Then she saw him. He was partially hidden by the cage but she could just about make him out … and the large gun barrel was plain to see. “There … to her right. And he has a gun.”

Willow simply nodded and reached into the small bag around her waist. “I came prepared,” she stated, drawing out a dark blue crystal.

As Faith glanced at the odd collection of items, anxiety and concern suddenly reared their heads as she began to doubt that they were all going to make it out of this alive. She trusted Willow but the truth was that despite everything, the Slayer in her trusted a good sharp knife more than the mojo.

“Can you grab hold of that support? I’m gonna try and split my concentration and I need you to make sure that if our mass shifts we don’t sink through this ceiling,” Willow advised her, as she placed the crystal between her lips and settled herself. She removed the dispelling pouch from about her neck and placed it over Faith’s head. “Oder w-ys she h--e wo--nd ear m--i pro—pe—rl--y,” she explained, her lips still holding the crystal firmly, its tip pressing down on the tip of her tongue.

Faith nodded, grinning at the sudden change in Willow’s voice. She drew their still joined hands over the Wicca’s head, placing her forearm firmly around her waist, in anticipation of a sudden change in their weight. “Okay. Ready.”

*******************************BtVS******************************

Relief washed over Buffy as she began to hear the familiar and now very welcome buzzing … ‘Willow. Oh thank goodness.’ She’d actually feared they wouldn’t let her know what was about to happen.

‘—fy I c-n se- yo-. Oh go-d--s, wh-t ha-e -hey done t- yo-? I’m cl-se by. –f –ou can he-r me……. fo-get tha-, I kno- you can he-r me……….’ Buffy heard, as the words began to clear. The sound of her dearest darling babbling was the most wonderful and welcome sound she could have ever imagined. She could feel tears beginning to well in the corners of her eyes, as the thought that she would soon be with her beloved swelled within her heart. ‘I’m coming, my dar-ing. Bu- I nee- you to distract y-ur g-ard. Okay? I need yo- to dis-ra-t the g-ard.’

Buffy glanced over her left shoulder and, for the first time, she was finally able to actually catch a glimpse of her guard. ‘You so don’t know the world of pain that’s coming your way,’ she thought with satisfaction.

‘We’re going to shut off the lights in a bit,’ Willow advised her.

‘We?’ She wondered who was with Willow.

‘But the moonlight from the skylight means he might see us, so I need you to distract the guard. I will get you out of there,’ Willow promised, just as a warm feeling seemed to envelope her.

***************************BtVS**************************

One final wiggle had allowed Buffy to see that her guard was holding his semi-automatic rifle and pointing it at her! No, he was looking past her, over her, out into the warehouse.

‘He’s waiting for something. Oh great, just great. He knows they’re coming to get me. Anyone that tries to approach us is going to be filled full of lead.’ She wracked her brain for something to do, some way of distracting him. She needed his attention on her, she needed him to … ‘Aw hell, since when has distracting a man been that hard?’

“Hey handsome,” she yelled, in her best coy little girl voice. “Give me a break will ‘ya? These bars are doing some serious damage to my arms … legs … my whole body.”

But he simply looked at her, smiled and then looked away.

“Oh come on. I’m not asking you to release me. What harm would a little friendly massage do?” she tried, almost gagging on the words as they slipped from her lips.

Her guard huffed and smirked “Do I look that stupid? Shut it already.”

Buffy bit back her initial response and continued in the most pleading and sexy tone she could manage. “Oh come on, what do you expect me to do – tied up like this. I really could do with a rubdown.”

He regarded her with suspicion but she could see that glint of ‘what the hell’ forming in the corner of his eyes, as he slid them over her body. She had him and she knew it. Now she just needed to keep his focus on her. They’d be here soon.

Then she heard the clatter and stomping of feet. ‘Willow! Oh, god! The lights! What about the lights?’ Her mind raced, sure that the commotion she could hear was coming from her would-be rescuers. As if in agreement, her guard changed his posture, stepping back from her.

Suddenly they were thrown into darkness and the stomping feet halted. Buffy couldn’t make out anything. It was as if she’d gone deaf. She turned her head vainly as if doing so would help her regain her senses. Something clicked to her left and her guard fired. She was so close that she heard and saw the barrel explosions, just feet from her, and the screams and whistles of bullets, as they flew out into the darkness.

“Willow! Nooooooo!” she screamed, just as she heard a body drop to the ground. But the firing didn’t stop. An awful image of her beloved filled her mind; Willow lying on the ground, her hand still out stretched towards Buffy, an expanding red stain on her favorite green top and a clear glaze of surprise in her tearful eyes. She felt sick. “W-i-l-l-o-w?!!!?”

*************************BtVs***********************

Chapter 33

Wesley made no attempt to hide his eagerness to leave and get on with his research. But Angel didn’t take it personally. Instead he had encouraged him. The vampire had other things on his mind and at this moment solitude was what he needed. A plan … no … more of an instinctual desire had been forming ever since he had regained consciousness, maybe even before. Grabbing his keys he had headed for the rear of the hotel and the underground bay that held the means to his plan.

Angel knew he shouldn’t be heading where he was going. Willow had refused his offer of help; but his failure to capture Maclay had shaken him and something had happened while he was under the man’s control. Even after resting, during the drive back to their base of operations, he still felt as if something had been removed, something he needed to get back. And he knew that there was only one place he could recapture it.

His desire to regain whatever that was, to fill the hollow that now resided within him; the unexplainably unnerving need to contact Buffy had simply kept growing. It was almost like a hunger, a craving, greater than any he had previously known. It was all too overwhelming for him to ignore. He could feel it calling him, beckoning him back to where he felt his life had begun again.

Heading down the highway he tried to reason with the need, the calling. Why was he so driven to return? Something had happened to him ... Had changed things. Was he only doing this because he needed to or were his strings being pulled by Maclay? A part of him suspected that he was walking into a trap and yet he couldn’t do anything to avoid it.

************************************BtVS******************************

Giles saw the lights go out and swallowed hard, as he realized exactly what that meant. The girls were about to attempt their rescue of Buffy. His stomach tightened as he glanced through the shattered window of his cab towards Xander, hoping to see the same look of realization on the young man’s face. He knew that he was not alone in his concern. This was the moment when everything rested on Willow and Faith.

Out here he could do nothing but keep the remaining three men in front of them busy, hopefully so busy that there would be no chance for them to attempt to retreat and add to the difficulties he was sure his young charges were facing.

It was a little strange that all his years of training as a watcher never truly prepared him to just watch. His natural instincts still pulled at him, urging him to get in there and help. Maybe his father had been right; maybe he didn’t have what it took to be a proficient watcher; at least the Council’s definition of a watcher. He cared too much.

******************************BtVS********************************

The darkness really shouldn’t have been so much of a surprise but it was. All of her senses scrambled to adjust to the sudden pitch-blackness. She froze, taking in her surroundings and allowing her memory of where they were to settle within her mind. Willow’s hand was still within hers and she instinctively squeezed reassuringly. “This way,” Faith stated before leading Willow along the wall towards the sounds of gunfire.

The muzzle flashes stood out in the darkness, like a grisly fireworks display. But never the less, they continued towards them. She mentally paced out how far from Buffy’s cage they were and in her gut she prayed that she was right. If they went too far before turning right, they’d walk straight into the firefight.

She could feel the tension within Willow as they moved forward and it was obvious that the Wiccan was struggling to handle having one of her major senses removed. Faith threw aside the instant desire to comfort her. They didn’t have time for the touchy feely stuff right now. They had to get to Buffy before the guards realized that they were firing at each other.

*****************************BtVS************************************

Giles would have preferred to move his rig closer. He felt so very far away from the action. Maybe it was just the darkness that made sounds seem closer and the distances greater. The last he’d seen of Anya, her rig was almost halfway into the warehouse but now he could hardly make it out at all.

Glancing at his watch, he realized that it was almost time to make their final move. “X-a-n-d-e-r” he called out, hopeful that the two young people were still unhurt despite the plethora of shots that had been launched at them.

“I k-n-o-w. Can –y-o-u s-e-e A-nya?” Xander replied over the din of machinery and gunfire.

Casting a quick look, Giles found himself seeking out a flash of the lime green top that she had chosen to wear but he could not make it out. “N-o I c-a-n n-o-t,” he responded, more than a little unnerved at not being able to reassure himself and Xander that she was all right.

“O-k-a-y. W-e’-ll w-a-i-t f-o-r t-h-e s-i-g-n-a-l f-r-o-m C-o-r-d-y,” the young man yelled, “T-h-e-n m-o-v-e t-o-w-a-r-d-s A-n-y-a.”

“O-k-ay,” he replied, wondering if Xander could hear the hesitation in his voice. The thought of leaving the cab that had been his only protection for the last twenty minutes went totally against his better judgment but he just had to hope that the darkness that now engulfed the warehouse would be enough to secure their escape.

************************************BtVS******************************

As she was striding forward, blindly following Faith and allowing herself to trust that the dark Slayer knew where she was going, Willow acknowledged that this was like nothing she had ever experienced before, or had ever expected that she would experience. She momentarily wondered when it was that she had allowed her life to be changed so completely. What was it that had stopped her from being happy to just live in denial like most of her classmates, happy to doubt that there was anything different about Sunnydale? She smiled recalling the first occasion when she’d let her curiosity loose and asked her father why there was a light in their fridge, but not in their freezer. His answer ‘because that’s the way it is’ had convinced her that she hadn’t gotten her inquisitive nature from him. Although she’d laughed at Xander’s explanation that frozen food was ‘harder’ and therefore not afraid of the dark, she’d investigated the matter for several months before resigning herself to the fact that no one really knew why.

Maybe it was just in her nature, she’d always wanted to know why things were the way they were. It had seemed to annoy most of her early teachers, but eventually even they had finally just accepted her thirst and need to know. She’d imagined herself working in some research capacity, maybe in a large university or government facility. But this … No. She had never imagined this.

She’d never imagined that her curiosity about the limits of so-called Wiccan magics would lead her to this. Or that when a pretty newcomer to Sunnydale had been nice to her, for no other reason than it was how you should behave … that this time and this place was where that first meeting would eventually lead them both.

No one would have ever believed her if she’d told them that one day she would be so in love with a woman that she would risk her life and the lives of just about everyone she cared about to rescue that very woman. “Old Reliable, Wall-Flower, Nerdy, Nose-Always-In Her-Books, Geeky” Willow play the heroine, saving her love, helping to save the world? No one would have believed it. She wasn’t even sure that, right at this very minute, she believed it as she felt the cold beads of perspiration building on her brow.

As they rushed towards the exchange of gunfire, she tightened her grip on Faith’s hand and swallowed. No! She would soon need to form the shield, the only protection they would have from the countless bullets flying about the warehouse. “Faith, slow down a bit.”

********************************BtVS****************************

Cordelia glanced at her watch for probably the thirtieth time. ‘Almost there.’ Nodding to herself she checked up and down the road, not at all sure what she was looking for. Or what she could do if she did see something.

She’d been sitting here for what seemed like … forever. No one who knew Cordelia Chase, would have hesitated in telling you that she hated waiting for anything. Her need to move, to do something was like an itch she had been unable to scratch for the past three quarters of an hour, while Xander and his rejects from the Goonies had headed off to collect what was probably just a load of scrap metal by now. And all she’d done was watch time slowly move on and wait.

She’d heard the sounds of metal on metal and of gunfire. IT had begun and she’d felt her pulse increase in anticipation. She felt the perspiration. Her head felt like it was going to explode. Somewhere out there … Faith was risking her life, putting herself in harm’s way and that thought worried her more than she cared to admit. The sick feeling in her stomach and the dryness in her throat were physical signs she couldn’t dismiss – she was worried, she was afraid. And not for herself ... but for someone else. Someone who had, unexpectedly, become very important to her.

************************************BtVS****************************

Buffy had never felt so afraid. It was as if her throat was being constricted. She gulped for air as her eyes fought to see something, anything in the pitch darkness, through the hail of bullets and muzzle flashes. Willow, her Willow was out there and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn’t protect her. She had never felt so powerless, so helpless. It made her sick.

There was nothing that could describe the sheer black hole of terror and despair that filled Buffy, as she lay bound in the darkness unable to stop the nightmare visions running through her mind. She wanted to scream. She wanted her slayer senses back, her slayer hearing. Damn it, she wanted, needed her slayer strength; anything that would stop the sickening feeling in her stomach as it clenched and unclenched. Buffy yanked angrily at her restraints. She was the slayer, damn it. She should be doing the rescuing not being rescued.

This couldn’t be happening to them. It was so unfair … after all they’d been through, after all they had discovered. How could she be allowed to have just a glimpse of how wonderful her life could be and then have it taken away? To know how she felt, how she smelled. Well okay, there was the whole body switching freaky thing but she knew who was who, she had felt what was what. She had understood, hadn’t she?

To never hold Willow again, to never hear her breathing so close and, oh, those stifled sighs. She couldn’t believe it. Willow was the soul mate she had been longing for all of her life. But instead of that making her safe, it had put her true love in danger, the kind of danger that no one but Buffy should ever have to face. What had she done? What had Faith done? She felt the anger rising within her. She had a target for the rage and despair – Faith. And she was going to make her pay.

Just as she began to let her imagination run wild, she felt it, a touch. No, it was a hand, a warm reassuring hand, a familiar hand – “Willow?”

*******************************BtVS******************************

Xander couldn’t hear anything but gunfire as he drove his machine back towards the warehouse, towards the muzzle flashes he had seen just moments ago. The warehouse wall was beginning to resemble a tin can, squashed, buckled and creased by the continual bombardment and impacts of their battle.

Glancing at his watch he cursed. It was too dark and he couldn’t even see the face let alone the hands. ‘Mental note – get a watch with a luminous dial.’ Cordelia had to be on her way. They needed to get moving.

The last collision sent him tumbling into the back of his cab, wedging his shoulder into the side of the driver’s seat. The old plastic bucket seat had been replaced and Xander found himself thanking the Powers That Be for the original driver who obviously liked his comforts. Jumping down from the cab he headed towards the outline of the wrecking ball, hopeful that his collision and the darkness of the compound would provide him with the cover he needed to make it safely to Giles.

*****************************BtVS******************************

Angel gazed down into the warehouse although at first he could see nothing, as it was pitch black. Adjusting to the lack of light he tried to make out the shapes he knew would correspond to the muzzle flashes. There was a fight going on below and from up here it looked like the small explosions from sparklers but down there he knew it probably didn’t look at all pretty. Although guns were not weapons he feared, he knew slayers were never trained to face them.

Buffy was somewhere down there, somewhere within that hail of bullets. Throwing aside his promise to Willow and his intention to keep his presence unknown, he leapt onto the rafters of the warehouse, traveling quickly along the underside of the roof, using his speed and strength to take advantage of every hand and foothold that the ceiling allowed him. He rushed forward, swinging onto the crossbeams occasionally before leaping up again onto the unforgiving underside of the roof in his eagerness to reach Buffy.

Decades ago he had returned to Romania, the supposed homeland of all his kind, in the hope of finding his origins, of connecting with his roots. He had left disappointed, though not at all surprised at finding nothing extraordinary. But today he was heading towards the woman who had become the root of who he now was, the reason he had opened his doors to humanity despite all his misgivings.

********************************BtVS*****************************

Cordelia started the engine and pulled forward, relieved to be doing something. Now all that concerned her was that she had timed it right; otherwise the car would quickly become Swiss cheese and so would her intended passengers. Then something caught her eye, a movement on the warehouse roof. Were they out already?

Glancing into the darkness, which was only occasionally pierced by the moon as it poked out from behind a cloud, she couldn’t quite make out what was happening. The engines of Xander’s uber large Tonka toys were still running. They couldn’t be out already. It must have been one of the guards.

Glancing around for some reason, she looked down the alley to her right as she passed and there parked in the shadows of yet another warehouse was a car that she knew far to well. “Figures,” she muttered. “She’s gonna be mega pissed.”

**********************************BtVS****************************

Willow didn’t want to admit it out loud, but she never thought they’d get this far. She had doubted that she’d ever be able to touch her beloved again. But that wasn’t what sent her heart soaring; it was the realization that Buffy had recognized her touch. “Yes, baby. Hush. We’re here,” she assured her beloved as joy exploded from within her. She pulled Faith to her side. “If I spring that lock, can you lift her out?” she asked.

“Can do,” Faith responded.

Upon hearing the voice of the woman that she believed had caused all this, Buffy desperately wanted to ask Willow what the hell she was doing here. But she bit her tongue. Her Willow was safe and appeared unhurt. And that was all that really mattered but confusion took over as she tried to figure out what exactly was happening. There had been the sound of running footsteps, then the lights had gone out, the shooting continued, the loud thundering noises, the violent shuddering of the building, and … No, she didn’t have a clue as to what was going on.

For the first time Faith could feel Willow drawing energy from her. She’d never felt anything like it before. It was like a punch in her gut, she winced at the sensations but upon hearing the padlock release and open, the pain was gone. ‘Rocking wicked. Red’s really got a handle on this Hocus Pocus stuff.’

Reaching up she pulled the cage door open, cringing and freezing as the hinges creaked. The sound seemed to travel through the darkness like a cannon shot. A cold chill ran down her spine but realizing that it was now too late; she opened the door completely and began to reach inside.

**********************************BtVS****************************

Landing by the back wall, Angel observed all that he could before moving forward to pick off the closest of Buffy’s attackers. He could feel the heat of the hunt rising within him, as it always did before a fight. As he had a thousand times before, he instinctively balanced his inner demons, setting aside the ever-present hunger. This wasn’t about feeding. Why did he always have to feel that urge? Even after all these years, he couldn’t just dismiss it or ignore it. When would it ever end? Would he ever truly be free?

Reaching out he vented his frustrations by grabbing the attacker’s gun. He used the rifle butt to knock the guy out. The thud of contact followed by the sound of a crumpling body falling to the ground did nothing to subdue his internal rage and exasperation. Then hearing creaking metal, he froze.

***************************BtVS************************************

Buffy recognized the voice of her guard as he yelled. “S-o-m-e-o-n-e’s b-y t-h-e c-a-g-e.”

“Willow?” Faith questioned, as a bullet zipped past her ear and into the cage. “Buffy? Red, turn on the lights so I can get her or they’re going to hit her!”

Grasping Faith’s hand, Willow released her hold on the lights and the sudden blinding brightness momentarily halted the hail of bullets. “Don’t let go of me. You’ll have to get her out with one hand. Let me know when you’ve got hold of her,” Willow instructed, as she turned to face their attackers.

Transferring the energy from their bond, she raised her free hand and muttered “Compello Contego.” A faint light blue shield began to form in front of her, spreading with speed to surround her, Faith and the cage within which Buffy was still trapped. But as the shield increased in size, she allowed herself a momentary look at the two groups of armed men. And for that moment Willow thought she’d lost hold of that charm in her rush to protect them, as a bullet seemed to almost drill its way through the shield before dropping harmlessly to the floor.

****************************BtVS***************************

Giles made room for Xander as the young man climbed up beside him, making the cab feel even more like a sardine can than it had before. Drawing the wrecking ball back and securing it, Giles altered the trajectory, using his best guess for the location of the various muzzle shots he had seen but ignored until now. “Ready?” he asked.

“Whenever you are,” Xander responded, just before being blinded. “What the he …”

Giles instinctively shut his eyes against the sudden explosion of lights going on within the building and let go of the wrecking ball. “Now! We have to go now! With any luck they’re just as blind as we are.” Grabbing Xander by the scruff of the neck he essentially dragged the confused young man toward Anya, heads down as they tried to regain their sight.

********************************BtVS*******************************

As Faith tried to pull Buffy’s dead weight out, she suddenly met resistance. Something was holding Buffy securely. “What the …?” She pulled harder, only to elicit a grunt and mumbled curse from Buffy. Without thinking, she let go of Willow’s hand and reached into the cage with both hands.

“Faith!” Willow screamed as their shield dissolved and a bullet flew past her ear. However what she didn’t see were the two other bullets that struck the rope from which the cage was suspended, splitting its fibers.

Realizing what she had just done, Faith quickly fumbled to recapture Willow’s hand as they both instinctively ducked the hail of bullets. She felt so stupid and now she’d lost track of where Willow’s hand was. Suddenly she felt it graze hers and latched onto it.

Willow threw the shield flew back into life, her remaining frustrated anger pushed her to take the lights back too and somehow she knew that Faith knew she was sending her a murderous look.

“Sorry. But she’s stuck,” Faith offered by way of explanation.

“Stuck?”

“Yeah, she won’t budge. Something’s got hold of her,” Faith went on. Desperate to make up for her lapse, she followed her explanation with another attempt, oblivious to the fact that Willow had no way of seeing that she was again pulling at Buffy’s bound form.

“Hey!” Buffy complained.

“Sorry,” Faith pleaded, letting go of the tethered woman she was supposed to be helping to rescue. Her frustration building, she thought ‘Give me a break; even the Mayor wasn’t this much trouble. But – this – this I can’t afford to screw up.’

Bending down to look under the cage, a flash of moonlight briefly gave Willow the light she needed to discover the problem. “One of the ropes is caught around some kinda hook under the cage.”

Buffy internally cursed, knowing that her earlier wriggling had probably caused this. ‘Great if I’d just stayed put instead of trying to get a better look at that ugly butt-faced guard ...’

“Can you get to it?” Faith asked.

“I think so,” Willow replied, leaning out over the ceiling to reach under the cage. As she did so, there was a deafening creak and crack as the splintered ropes stretched and broke. For a moment Willow thought a bullet had made it through the shield, but then she realized that she still had hold of Faith’s hand.

“Willow!” Faith yelled as she felt the cage begin to drop, instinctively pulling back the Wiccan with all her might resulting in Willow only just avoiding being hit by the cage as it plunged downwards. Faith, unable to reach Buffy, grabbed for one of the cage bars, missing at first but then grasping another securely. “Brace yourself!” she shouted at Willow.

“What?” Willow questioned, only just realizing what was happening and reaching out as the first few bars slipped through her hand. Her heart sank until she too was able to get hold of one of the bars just as base of the cage crashed into the suspended ceiling. “Buffy?!??”

**********************************BtVS******************************

Angel couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Suddenly all his concern that Willow shouldn’t know he was here flew out the window as he sprang over their attackers and toward the struggling duo, only to collide with the shield. “Uhhhgggg!!” He fell to his knees, glaring at the shield. He could only stare as the cage plunged through the ceiling, while Willow and Faith tried desperately to halt its fall.

“Willow?” he called out as he watched. Despite having braced their legs, the two young women were pulled to their knees just before the cage was halted by their sheer strength and determination.

The two women strained to hold their ground and in doing so something had to give. Willow released the lights again, resulting in their plight being illuminated for all to see.

“WILLOW!” Angel yelled in frustration, as his body was pelted with bullets.

When Willow was finally able to steal a quick look behind her, Angel could see that her face was filled with shock, confusion, stress and momentary fear. “Let me through. Now!!!” he insisted

Now besides physically struggling with Faith to hold on to Buffy’s cage, Willow tried desperately to understand what else was happening. She threw confused and baffled glances from Angel to Faith to Buffy in the desperate hope that one of them, any of them would just take over. But they all seemed to be looking at her, all with looks of anticipation and she realized that they were expecting her to know what to do. When had she become the decision maker? But with one more glance at the pleading yet trusting eyes of her beloved, she recovered.

As yet another bullet struck Angel, throwing his shoulders forward, she made her choice. “Faith?” she asked, realizing that if she let Angel through the shield Faith would be the most likely to catch a stray bullet. Receiving an understanding nod from the other Slayer, she turned and concentrated on the shield, opening a doorway.

Angel fell through the door and Willow closed it as quickly as she could. Glancing back at Faith, she sighed as the dark slayer winked “Not a scratch.”

Within seconds Angel was beside them, reaching over to grab onto the cage. “We have to pull it up,” he stated unnecessarily, staring down at the bound form of Buffy … no Willow … no Buffy.

“On three,” yelled Faith.

*********************************BtVS*****************************

As Cordelia drove towards the corner of the yard, the sound of gunfire became clearer. She couldn’t quite get over just how loud gunfire really was. Most of the time the battles that she was part of were fought with close range weaponry. Thankfully twentieth century man-made weapons were something that most demons and nether-world types seemed to avoid.

She’d expected to see the terribly terrific trio waiting for her signal, but there was no sign of Anya’s vehicle. Concern filled her as she slowed the car, flashing on and off the headlights as she approached the corner of the yard. She held her breath.

‘Where the hell are they? What’s been happening? Why are the lights back on? What’s gone wrong?’ Her mind swung from one unexpected and unwelcome thought to another and the last picture to form in her mind was the image of Faith running from a hail of bullets. Cordelia felt sick and, for a moment, she thought she was going to be physically ill. But suddenly a movement caught her eye.

Three figures were moving towards her. ‘Why aren’t they running?’ she wondered as one of them gestured to her, beckoning her to join them. One of the others was carrying a gun! The larger figure appeared to be limping … no … they were dragging him. OH GOD! They were dragging Giles, trying to carry him.

**********************************BtVS********************************

Buffy stared up at her ever-increasing group of rescuers. Here were the two people who had caused her more pain and heartache than possibly anyone or anything else in her life, more than all the demons and monsters she had faced, more than her father. Actually, him she’d kinda understood. He couldn’t deal with her being different, but then he probably wouldn’t have been able to deal with her as a regular girl for much longer than he had either. For a long time she’d given herself the label of ‘Distructo girl’, pretty certain she’d been the cause of the implosion of her relationships with both Angel and Faith, as well as her parents’ break-up.

But here and now with these two, was the one person she never wanted to feel that way about and knew she never would. Yes, SHE was the one. Buffy knew that now, everything she was feeling, having her so close, was so sharp, so real, so raw and that it frightened her. How could she not have known it, not have realized it before?

Shaking her fears aside, she recognized the fact that getting out of here anytime soon was quickly becoming less of a given and more a matter of keeping everything crossed, hoping for some good luck and maybe even getting a little into that religion thingy. She’d never been big on the whole Powers That Be, supreme deity/god fest, but right now she’d consider just about anything if it would guarantee that Willow and she made it out of here alive.

The determination on her true love’s face was just so glorious to see, even if it was like looking in a mirror. It almost made her forget the fact that she’d brought Faith with her. But then she remembered and confusion reigned again. Did Willow really believe they might have a future together or was she only here to get their body switch thing sorted out? NO! She’d asked Willow for a date and Willow had said yes, hadn’t she?

**********************************BtVS******************************

Angel glanced down at the fragile and bound woman below him. He was more than a little thrown by the reality of it all as well as his reaction to it. It had been one thing to know that they had swapped bodies but it was quite another to actually see the evidence right in front of him. He couldn’t quite identify or reconcile what had been wrong about her stance, her posture, her actions. Plus she smelled all wrong. Even though he knew that he was dealing with Willow/Buffy and Buffy/Willow.

But below him were the eyes of the woman he knew and loved staring up at them in complete confusion and … could it be fear? This wasn’t what he had expected to find, then again he wasn’t sure exactly what he had expected. He wasn’t even sure why he was here.

********************************BtVS****************************

Giles stared at his watch for the third time in as many minutes as he tried to ignore the numbness in his lower leg. Damn, that tourniquet was tight. Xander was headed back towards the warehouse with Cordelia in tow. He hadn’t even tried to stop them.

Maybe because after what Xander had just done, he didn’t feel he had the right to interfere with the young man.

Killing the man would have been easy but not killing him, even though he had the young man’s girlfriend in his gun sights --- that took something beyond the normal human response and reaction. Giles had suddenly realized that he was watching them all grow up before his eyes. He truly hoped that he would have the opportunity to watch them all continue to grow and mature for many more years to come.

True that man with the gun wouldn’t be walking or breeding anytime soon, but he was still alive. The sudden illumination and then loss of light had been all that Xander had needed.

Anya was still a wreck, so much so that against all of his expectations she was actually sitting in silence, allowing his thoughts to continue to wander.

Giles had almost missed the clue that Xander was about to take drastic action but as he suddenly saw that unmistakable look of determination cross the young man’s face; that same look that he had seen so many times on Buffy’s face and occasionally on Willow’s … oh, what did they call it … oh, yes … on Willow’s ‘Resolve Face’. He’d quickly moved to drag Anya away. That’s when he’d finally been caught by one of those infernal projectiles. ‘Bullets and guns! Where’s the honor in a gun? Now, fencing --- that was a duel of skill … for gentlemen.’ Where the second man had come from, he had no idea.

His memory of what had followed was a blur. He was almost certain that there had been biting involved from the gunman’s screams of protest and Anya’s bruised jaw. He recalled swinging a pipe and Xander telling him to duck, but the rest was terribly foggy. But they had survived, to emerge with two semi-automatic weapons and a hand grenade. And it took quite a bit of persuading to convince Anya to give up the weapons to the others.

*******************************BtVS*****************************

Watching the tied and bound figure below her, Willow swallowed her fear. “Buffy, oh Buffy, I’m so sorry,” Willow exclaimed as she looked at the confused and frightened face of her beloved. Straining to keep hold of not only the cage but also of Faith’s hand, she solemnly swore “We’ll get you out of there, I promise” as she held back the tears of frustration she could feel building; not realizing that Buffy’s look of confusion was more because of Faith and Angel’s presence, as well as the possibility of her soul mate being injured during this rescue attempt than the partial dropping of her cage.

Seeing the sheer emotion in Willow’s eyes and hearing her voice almost crack, Buffy was momentarily lost. How could she ever be mad or doubt her wonderful sweet darling Willow? Drawing on all her years of waiting, she threw her true love a brilliant and encouraging smile, “Any time your ready.”

“On three,” Angel reminded them, ignoring the annoyed look that Faith was throwing him. “One – Two – Three,” he called and heaved with all his might, pulling the cage up. Elation filled him as he saw it rise, but the feeling was short-lived as the cage caught on part of the suspended ceiling it had crashed through.

******************************BtVs*************************

As Xander moved stealthily toward the front of the warehouse, Cordelia was close on his heels. Glancing over his shoulder he took note of the car’s location. “Keep it low, Chase. I’m sorta figurin’ whoever’s left in there … they’re either trapped in the part we tin canned or they’re part of the AK49 show going on in the back. So we’re taking the front door option,” he stated, cocking the semi he had recently acquired. “I can’t believe he’s here. She specifically told him to stay away. So I suppose dead equals deaf now - huh? It’s no secret - Angel may technically be our friend, but I don’t like the guy. If he’s in there messing with the Wiffy smooches – I may need to plead the 5th later.”

“Keep your dislike under wraps, Xander. I’m sure he’s just here to help,” Cordelia asserted, although she was more than a little unsure that this was actually true. What came as less of a surprise to her was that Angel wasn’t really her main worry right now; concern for the dark haired slayer was at the front of her thoughts. “We’re just going in there to do the same – Okay?”

“I’m big with the seventh cavalry theme. But let’s go more with the Johnny Wayne, not the General Custer! Okay?” Xander stated, as he blew off the lock. Pulling Cordelia behind him, he stepped to one side before throwing open the door.

*****************************BtVS**********************************

Faith could feel the muscles in her arms beginning to stretch, strain and tear under the weight of the cage. They weren’t going to be able to hold this much longer. “Willow, can you do that ‘light as a feather’ thing again?” she asked.

“What?” Angel asked, glancing at the inappropriate person beside him. He couldn’t help feeling that neither this dark-haired former failure of a slayer nor the false temporary slayer should be here rescuing the woman he loved, the only real slayer in his mind. This should be his job and his job only. He was trying to lift the cage, but these two didn’t seem interested in helping him.

“Maybe. But I’m not sure I could hold it for long without you,” she honestly replied, assuming that Faith wanted her to float down and release Buffy.

Seeing Willow glance down at Buffy, Faith realized she had been misunderstood. “Not us – the cage!”

“What – oh – uhh … Yes … yes. I could do that. But - the shield?”

“Oh? Not enough juice for both?” Faith stated answering her own question. Then she glanced at Angel. “What about dead boy?”

Angel glanced at Faith, for once allowing that infernal nickname to get under his skin. He gave her his best glare of annoyance.

“You wanna be useful or what?” Faith asked, with barefaced bravado.

Glancing at Angel, Willow let Faith’s idea sink in. Releasing her bar of the cage, she quickly moved her hand to overlap one of Angel’s. “Don’t move your hand,” she ordered, switching her attention to the cage below them.

*****************************BtVS*****************************

Buffy so wanted to be up there, not down here. She wanted to be holding Willow, whispering, telling her everything that she felt, risking all that she had, all that she was. She wanted to shower her lovely brave witch with kisses, smooth her deeply frowning brow and make life simple again. Had their lives ever been simple? But instead she was down here, tied up like some sacrificial offering, being stared at with looks of concern by her ex-lover and the woman who had caused all this to happen.

Somewhere deep inside she realized that this, here and now, was when it would have to happen. She was going to have to open her mouth, speak up and let out the scream of truth that had been building within her for so long.

‘My life stinks. And not just with that “milk gone past its best by date” smell. Oh no. This is the “stinky week-old rotting fish” smell especially reserved for slayers who try to have a life. Why couldn't we have like a balcony moment or a romantic dinner and moonlit walk? Would that be too run-of-the-mill? Okay, what about a beautiful ring in a glass of lemonade or would that be too corny? I guess even a “hey babe, what about it?” written on a dirty napkin’s probably more than I could hope for.’ Buffy laughed to herself at the sheer predictability that was the high drama of her life.

Willow, her dear shy Willow would never do it first. She would never be the one to put herself out there and risk everything, risk their current relationship, their bestest friendship status. It had to be Buffy and she knew that. In the twisted script that was her life, she was going to have to declare her feelings first. And she was going to have to do it now. Only that, would un-switch this weirdness and end this Freudian nightmare. But to get everything back as it should be; she was going to have to do it with an audience!

******************************BtVS*****************************

Cordelia followed Xander down the corridor, testing each door as they passed. But they were all locked, which seemed to be unnerving Xander, who kept throwing her confused glances like she had a clue what he was on about.

‘Not cool. Why would they lock doors? They'd want access, free and easy access,’ Xander fumed in his head. ‘Forget it!! We need to get to the back of the building. That’s where the action is,’ he thought, listening to the distant rattle of gunfire.

Reaching the end of the corridor, he tested the last door and the handle moved. He froze!
He could hear movement; no - voices from behind it and he threw Cordelia a warning look. She dutifully stepped back, bracing herself against the opposite wall, and hesitantly raised her weapon.

Looking at her, he mouthed ‘one – two – three’ before turning the handle and throwing the door open.

*******************************BtVs**********************************

Watching the scene below him unfold, Angel caught the look in Buffy’s very new and different eyes. She was staring with hope and … longing … at … at Willow. It was a look that he had never seen aimed at him. He didn’t fully grasp what a shock to his system it was until his sixth sense forced him to look at Willow, only to see the same shy hope in her eyes.

‘Damn it, you knew this!’ his demon reminded him. ‘Cordelia told you. Did you honestly believe it wasn’t true? What kind of fool are you?’ He could almost hear the laughter. ‘But it doesn’t have to matter. Feelings just get in the way. You could take her. She could be yours forever … until the end of time,’ the demon suggested, calling on the memories of loss that flew back into Angel’s mind as he recalled having to leave her.

Angel shook the thought away, guilt-ridden that it had somehow been possible for the darkness that haunted him to draw on even his most sincere feelings and memories, and turn them against him, against her.

*****************************BtVS***************************

Willow began to concentrate on the cage when suddenly the door of the room below them burst open. Her heart leapt into her mouth and she held her breath. She could feel Angel and Faith tense in anticipation of the worst. But then Angel strangely relaxed, causing Willow to throw him a questioning glance.

The muzzle of a gun peeped into the room, doing nothing to lower her blood pressure. But then a familiar figure came into view and looked at up at them with a stupidly grinning face.

“Gee, Will. Extreme dating or what?” Xander smirked.

As Cordelia followed him into the room, she elbowed him in the ribs and muttered under her breath, “This from Mr. ‘Anya Honey, I can beg if you need me to’.”

“Hey!” he protested half-heartedly, before moving towards Buffy’s cage. Looking up at her, he asked anxiously “You still with us?”

Buffy simply nodded, a lump forming in her throat as she realized that almost everyone was here. ‘Is this how it will always be? Is this what Willow would, hopefully, be saying yes to? Never having complete privacy, everyone assuming they know our business, because they feel like they know everything about us.’ She looked up at Willow, only to see a combination of amusement and annoyance on her face.

Angel coughed, finding it almost impossible to hide the discomfort at the emotions he could feel flowing between them. “Willow?” he questioned looking at their joined hands.

“Oh … yes … Yes. Xander, Cordelia, please stand back,” Willow instructed as she tapped into her physical connection with Faith and Angel, preparing for whatever energy she could draw. But she was caught unawares by the darkness and sheer force of the power from the vampire that charged at her, not into her as much as at her. It was so base, so nether-worldly, so ferocious. ‘What the…?’ It was too much for her to take. It seemed to batter down her controls, her center vanished and then she was flying.

“Willow?” Faith called as their hands were torn apart.

Away from Faith and Angel, she flew towards the cage, which also seemed to be dropping. Towards its open door and down inside it, towards … Buffy! ‘Oh no, I’m going to crush her!’ was all she had time to think of as she threw her hands out in front of her. Maybe if she could just support her fall, cushion the landing ...

“Uuuuugggghhhhhhhmmmmmmmffff!!!” was all that Willow managed as every last ounce of air was forced from her lungs by the impact, first into Buffy and, then mere seconds later, as the cage hit the ground. The matching grunts of protest that escaped her beloved did nothing to make matters any better.

“Buffy? Willow?” Xander yelled, as he hurled himself towards the plummeting cage and his two oldest friends. But something caught him and pulled him back.

“Whoa there, cowboy,” Cordelia exclaimed, as she pulled him back, pretty certain that Anya would skin her alive if she let Xander get crushed. But as soon as she had stopped him, she threw a concerned look up at one of the two figures standing over the hole in the ceiling.

******************************BtVS****************************

Through his confusion at what had just happened, Angel realized that the shield had fallen as a bullet whistled past his ear. Reaching out he grabbed Faith and pulled her in front of him, using himself as a bulletproof vest to absorb the hail of bullets that flew at them. “You’ve got to get out of here,” he stated, as his body shook in response to the bullets peppering his body.

“No kiddin’,” Faith stated, glancing down into the room below. Seeing Cordelia’s concerned face, she grinned and forced her way out of the vampire’s embrace, stepping over the edge and launching herself to land just clear of the cage. As she plunged through the plume of dust thrown up by the cage’s landing, she yelled. “Geronimo.”

Angel huffed at the infantile approach Faith had to fighting and just about all threats to her mortality. Then another bullet pieced his back and he felt it tickle its way into his body, causing him annoyance. Growling, he turned to face the men who just didn’t seem to understand that they couldn’t kill him. The best they could manage was to piss him off and, boy, were they doing a good job of that.

**************************BtVS*****************************

Buffy tried to regain her breath despite the weight pressing down on her. Gasping, she couldn’t help feel emotions building at the closeness of her precious witch. She was here, they were together, well kinda. All her wishing, all her hoping that Willow was still alive, that she could finally tell her how she felt was almost a realit