FIC: Hotel Kilo 2-2 part AU/part Buffyverse

[jixer]

Hotel Kilo 2-2

Update #6

Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6

WARNINGS: Kitten Angst Advisory. This is after Season 6.

EXTRA WARNING! This is the AU only post. It's long.



Santa Barbara California



Tara tried not to let the memories of Judith overwhelm her as she stood against the wall of the living room in the Summers home. She was having a hard time because Amy was here, the lone set of (E) OIS blue fatigues in a riot of camouflage. Amy Madison was the least powerful of Santa Barbara's trio of sensitives. And, of course, she'd known Judith and been a cheerleader with Beth.



Amy was sitting with her old friends and Tara could feel her actually relaxing. She wore the blue uniform fatigues of the (E) OIS because, unlike Judith and Tara, her ability had been too weak for fieldwork. She was classified as a C class sensitive and assigned to broad scanning for ULFs.



But even a 'Charlie' class sensitive could feel the mistrust her (E) OIS fatigues triggered on the streets of Santa Barbara. Added to that was the fear of the hinted at powers of the 'mentals', something that had been building in the last few weeks as the ULF crisis seemed to be fading. Between those two factors few places were a respite for Amy. The Summers house was one, a place she would always be a friend first.



But it wasn’t just Amy’s history with Judith and Beth that as making her almost unbearable for Tara to be near. It was the uncertain girl’s present that echoed painfully in Tara’s heart and mind.



Amy too had fallen for a more powerful sensitive. The last A class sensitive, Jimmy Chan, had Amy's heart and she had his. Jimmy's team, 1-4, was out hunting for the flying ULF that had been seen for over a year and was rumored to be, of all things, a dragon. Amy's worry for him brought out old echoes in Tara's memories of waiting for word of Judith's return with team 1-3.



And the black memory of the day Judith and 1-3 hadn't returned.



Tara felt the pain in her heart start to build and looked for a way to get alone for a little while. Riley and Graham wouldn't leave her voluntarily. Partly out of duty and partly out of concern for her the two would be near her. Rumor had it the next step would be making the unofficial policy about escorts part of the regulations. There had been seventeen sensitives in the world, and now there were ten.



Tara waited for Riley and Graham to focus on their respective female companions. Of the two, Graham’s more lustful feelings about the blonde Harmony were easier to bear. Riley and Beth were making sparks fly in her mind. She even felt something protective growing as she felt Riley wavering about signing up for another tour.



Finally Harmony stood up and wandered off towards the dining room and Graham followed her. Riley barely noticed and to be fair Beth was just as caught up in the soldier. Tara made an excuse about getting a drink that neither actually heard. Tara was smiling just a little at them until she got to the kitchen and found Beth’s mother Joyce pouring iced tea. An older pain surfaced as the woman looked at her and smiled.



Joyce Summers had been nothing but kind to Tara from the day Judith had introduced her to the woman Judith called her second mother. That wasn’t the reason Tara had been so hesitant with her. It was rather the tiny scar on Joyce’s temple from the Massoud-Dhingra procedure that had saved her life when cancer had threatened her over a year ago; the same experimental procedure that might have saved her own mother.



Her father wouldn’t hear of letting his sick wife travel to the licentious Pacific Confederation. He was convinced no country that had legalized perversion and allowed unlicensed foreign churches on their soil could heal decent people. No foreign medicine was better than that of the United States of the Americas. He’d warned her repeatedly about going to any college in the PacConfed.



Tara smiled weakly at Joyce and slipped out the back door. She sighed in the late morning sunlight. She tried to make herself calm and let the pain go, but an image of Judith holding her hand on this porch crept in. Tara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A soft huff made her open her eyes look down. By her side a black furred Pug looked up at her and wagged his tail harder.



"You know a sucker when you see one, don't you Chester?" she said sadly to the dog as she bent over and scratched him behind the ears. He wriggled with happiness.



"You're very good with animals," Joyce observed as she stepped out with a pair of tinkling glasses. "I've accidentally made an extra iced tea. Would you like it?"



"Th-thank you, ma'am," Tara answered hesitantly.



"Is that why the boys call you cat?" Joyce asked gently.



"N-no, it's short for Mama Cat," Tara explained. "A mother cat got run over when we were in-um, someplace. I kind of a-adopted the kittens and got them weaned. We got them a home at a Veterans lodgment after we got the, um, job done."



"I can't imagine how hard having so much responsibility must be for you," Joyce said with quiet sincerity. "The job you get done is so important."



"It’s w-what w-we’re trained to do," Tara replied nervously. She knew Joyce wasn’t putting on an act and didn’t fear her. And she knew Joyce knew what Judith had meant when she called Tara ‘girlfriend’. They all did, even though it had taken longer for Harmony.



"That sounds so much like Judith," Joyce said with a sad smile. "I worry that she never took any time for herself. She always seemed to be the last one studying."



"S-she liked studying," Tara said softly. "She loved a challenge. She’s the reason we came h-here. H-her studying, I mean. She’s the one who wrote the Report on the ULF Crisis. It’s called the, um, Rosenberg Report by just about everyone w-who, you know…"



"I can believe it," Joyce said nodding, "but did she ever just have any fun?"



Tara gave a small lop sided smile and nodded. She looked up at Joyce and started telling the woman who’d cared for her lover about the things they had seen and done on the stolen moments away from guns and helicopters. It wasn’t until she noticed Joyce’s ice cubes were almost gone and Chester was snoring happily on his back as both women absently rubbed his tummy that Tara looked at her watch.



"Do you have to go?" Joyce asked as she saw surprise on Tara’s face. "I’m experimenting with a vegetarian lasagna and I’m hoping for volunteers to help me get rid of it."



"It sounds like a g-good offer," Tara said wistfully.



NO! AMY! MOM! AMY! AMYYY-



Tara clutched herself as she felt falling and pain lace through her. Somewhere far away she could hear Amy scream, just like she had when Judith had faded away. Tara started to fall into the black well that had nearly taken her when Judith died much more faintly in her mind. Something warm and strong touched her shoulder and pulled her back to the sun-drenched porch.



Tara became aware and looked up to see and feel Joyce holding her hands and looking worried. The small dog whined and sniffed her. He tried to lick her face before Joyce pulled him away.



"Tara, what's wrong?" Joyce asked anxiously.



"Amy," Tara gasped and started to stand up. Joyce steadied her and shook her head.



"Honey, you need to sit down," Joyce said in her 'mom' voice.



Tara wavered until she heard a commotion inside the house. Joyce looked towards the door as Tara started for the house.



"Oh my God!" a female voice cried. "She's going into convulsions!"



Tara stumbled into the house and headed for the curled up and twitching girl on the floor. As she got closer Amy's pain became a palpable presence in her core. Tara hesitated until she felt the warm strength again gently wrap itself around her. She touched Amy and her face took on a rictus of pain as she heard the tremoring girl's anguish screaming in her mind.



Pushing past that pain left her trembling but from somewhere Tara found the strength to touch the spark of light that was Amy and hold on. She heard Amy take a ragged breath and break into racking sobs. Tara opened eyes she didn't recall closing as Amy reached for her. They shared a dark moment of grief beyond words. Tara broke their pain filled embrace and sat back. She shivered as Amy's friends clustered around the girl.



Riley helped her up as Graham hurried up with a glass of water. She drank it down greedily. She could feel the two of them taking on a harder edge, but now she felt Riley walling off his feelings and becoming harder to read.



"One four?" Riley asked tightly.



Tara could only nod. The tall young man pulled out a secure comm unit just as all three of their units shrilled to life. He was about to speak when she put her hand on his arm and shook her head. A cold feeling had gripped her heart. Tara flipped her unit open.



"Two two seven reporting," she said shakily. "Did s-something bad happen?"



"Maclay, is there anyone with you?" a frightened male voice asked.



"H-here," she said handing her unit to Riley.



"Two two five," Riley said curtly. "Yes, six is here and Madison. She's bad. Roger. Roger. Five minutes. Over."



"We need a car now," Riley ordered. "Medics are on their way for Madison."



Beth took out her keys and was pulling on her fatigue jacket when Riley took her keys. Tara could feel Beth's mix of anger and worry tinged with fear as she met his eyes. Tara understood. Riley was far away.



"No," was all he said.



"What do you mean no?" Beth said as her fear surrendered to her anger.



"You're not cleared for this," Riley said coldly.



He spun on his heel and strode out the door with Graham falling in behind him. Beth looked at him, her emotions warring in her and making her hesitate. Tara looked at her unhappily.



"Take care of him," Beth said tightly with tears threatening in her eyes.



"I'll get h-him back to you," Tara promised as she followed them out.



Riley started the car as Tara sat down and strapped on the seat belt. He and Graham had cleared their concealed pistols for fast access.



"One four is down and Chan is dead," Riley said calmly. "But you knew that, didn't you, Tara?"



"H-he fell and then-" Tara closed her eyes.



"The team's got wounded but no one can tell if ULFs are still there," Riley went on. "OIS has thrown a no-go up until it can be cleared. You're the only sensitive available."



"But two three was on standby," Graham interjected.



"Called out just before Chan bought it," Riley explained dispassionately. "We're it."



Riley pushed Beth's small sedan to its limits and arrived at the commandeered dormitory with a minute to spare. Four sets of blue (E) OIS fatigues closed in on the car and then stopped as Riley and Graham stepped out.



"Finn? Miller?" the senior man said surprised. "We were told you all were out in the zone. We're supposed to escort your sensie."



"We've got it," Riley said flatly and walked past him. The (E) OIS non-com almost tried to stop him until he caught the look both soldiers gave him. He knew what he'd been told to do but that was based on Maclay needing an escort. He decided to call for clarification. He'd use the proper chain of command and if the mental and her escort were gone by the time he got further orders, so much the better.



Tara fought to keep the emotions around her at bay as the three were picked up by Major Tullers, the military adviser to the Project, and his driver. The unmarked van was filled with the team’s equipment. Riley and Graham listened to the quick briefing as they fitted Tara into her gear. Once airborne she would be on watch for the ULFs and concentrating. The news was not good.



"Word from the site is garbled," Tullers said in a clipped tone. "We don’t know how many wounded we have down or what’s nearby."



Tara tried to bend her ability in the direction of the crash without much hope. She was a B class sensitive and the distance was out of her range. She felt the familiar strain set in just as she felt seven humans, four of them streaked with pain. Nothing near them felt out of place or hungry like the ULFs. Tara felt tears in her eyes. Twelve soldiers were the normal compliment of a ‘One’ team without the extra helicopter crews.



"Seven of them," Tara said gasping, "but four are hurt badly."



"Uglies?" Tullers asked quickly. Tara shook her head and tried to make the pain go away.



"Hotel Kilo 2-2 Sierra says clear and four wounded on site," Tullers barked into his comm unit just as a cold sensation swept over Tara.



The van screeched to a stop next to a pair of the sleek transport helicopters and four of the gunships that reminded Tara of evil dragonflies. The air was full of the roar of the machines and the urgent anger of the soldiers. Tara looked around suddenly as a feeling of fear and hatred mixed with lust swept over her.



"This is totally unauthorized!" Warren Meers screamed at Tullers as he stepped out of an (E) OIS car. "She’s not an Alpha class!"



"We go with Maclay," the officer snarled. "Glenn, Lewis, secure this observer. You’re coming with us Mr. Meers."



Two figures in full gear picked up the civilian and manhandled him into the other transport chopper. Tullers followed as the noise hit a fevered pitch and the machines cleared the parking lot.



Tara tried to concentrate on anything but the uneasy feeling she always had in helicopters. She pushed her scanning past anything she had tried before. She trembled with the effort. She didn't feel any ULFs near them. She relaxed and then sat up as a weak wave of rapacious hunger touched her.





"Major!" Meers screamed in the other transport. "Get us up to safe distance over the Support Center or I’ll have your ass! You don’t know who you’re messing with!"



Every man in the helicopter looked at him for a second and then Glenn and Lewis cinched him into his seat with a sudden pull on the straps.





Tara felt the dark rage and hunger of vampires and could sense six distinct sources. The feeling was weak and slow but unmistakable. She was about to turn to Riley when she felt a strong warm touch on her arm. For a second it seemed Judith was making her adorable "our secret" face. Tara hesitated and then felt a cold chill. She closed her eyes and concentrated.



She pushed herself further, trying to see if there was any other threat when she felt the faintest hint of the familiar presence of 2-2. Suddenly an insane rage washed over her, tinted with hunger and revenge. She saw an image of a motorcycle and rider through muted colors.



"No!" Tara whispered fearfully, her voice lost in the noise of the helicopter.





Four Miles Northeast of Santa Barbara



Howard Prader pushed his restored cruiser through the turns. Every once in a while a brief shower of sparks indicated he pushed the bike too hard. Still he trailed the rest of 2-2 and their guests. Ahead of him he could hear the others had run into what sounded like the checkpoint on full alert holding back his team.



Suddenly he felt a cold wave of fear flow lightly over him. He hit the brakes, then accelerated and swerved as large furred biped leapt for where he would have been.



"Bogey, tail end!" he called out as he saw the figure leaping after him in his mirror. He swept around a corner and lost sight of the creature. As he came out of the corner it leapt onto the road in front of him. It snarled and bared its teeth as it crouched. Then it lowered itself further and shook as a dozen palladium rounds tore into its body.



Prader cleared his sidearm and put two finishers into its head as Delacroix rode up. The two men looked at the creature and saw a ring of matted fur around the neck as the ULF began to steam. They looked at each other as Ramirez and Talbot rode up.



"Seven," the older man said surely. "That was our girl."



Michael just nodded.







University of California at Santa Barbara



Science Building



"Yes, Senator, the news was quite shocking," Assistant Director Walsh said with a concerned tone. "No sir, I'm not sure if we can close the anomaly now. …… Yes, that seems like an unfortunate necessity now. …… I'm sure Director Carruthers simply didn't have the time to call you, sir. …… Thank you, Senator. I'm just keeping my attention on the good of the country. …… Thank you, sir. Good bye."



PanAmerican Flight 254



"The ULF Crisis deepens as officials scramble..."



"The President's spokesman denied the nuclear option is being..."



"Sales of firearms are skyrocketing as panic sweeps..."



"OIS officials deny 25% of the mentals have deviant..."



"Senator Forsythe demands a vote on the Sensitive Registration Act..."



"PacConfed Premier Danforth calls for calm..."



"Sources say Director Carruthers is still two hours away. OIS Assistant Director Walsh..."



Director Patrick Carruthers slapped the vid monitor off and swore. The reporters traveling with him were clamoring for an interview on the lower deck of the aircraft. He turned to his War Department liaison and held up his hand.



"Don't tell me, I know," he snapped. "There's no secure communications on a commercial flight and my budget idea just bit me in the ass. Just tell me you've got something for me to give the jackals downstairs."



"I don't," Colonel Matrino answered calmly.



"All right, how about for me?" Carruthers asked tightly.



"Not until we land and you’re back in charge," the officer replied. "And then after that I've got to talk to a riding buddy."

[mollyig]

Poor Tara, you've really captured the grief she feels for the loss of Judith. Interesting that Tara's background hasn't changed much, even though its an AU, she still lost her mother, and her father seems to have been his typical over-bearing self. I was glad that Joyce took the time to talk to her. I don't think she would have talked to anyone else about Judith, despite, or maybe because of, Judith's friendship with Beth.



Great update.

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

[xita]

Poor Amy , and Tara, to have to feel what they felt at that moment being sensitives.. and the shit is hitting the fan



All these ominous signs that this world is not going to be a pleasant place for tara

Quote:

---

"The President's spokesman denied the nuclear option is being..."



"Sales of firearms are skyrocketing as panic sweeps..."



"OIS officials deny 25% of the mentals have deviant..."



"Senator Forsythe demands a vote on the Sensitive Registration Act..."

---

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Childie -"Not all girls are raving bloody lesbians, you know!"

George - "That's a misfortune of which I am perfectly well aware."

The Killing of Sister George

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Wow. Wasn't there supposed to be a weekend around here someplace?



Mollyig- Thanks. I was worried about using Joyce until I started writing the scene. It seemed so like the character to reach out to Tara.



Xita- Brings new meaning to the words 'witch hunt'?



As always, it's your time that makes the story. Thank you for letting my writing have some of yours



J

[jixer]

Hotel Kilo 2-2

Update #7

Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6

WARNINGS: Kitten Angst Advisory. This is after Season 6.





Sunnydale California



Willow leaned back in her chair and watched Dawn concentrate. The teenager looked at her calculator and the textbook. She frowned in concentration until she yawned hugely. Willow put down her coffee cup and cleared her throat.



"But I'm getting it now," Dawn said through another yawn. "Mr. Spencer makes it so dull. Not that math is ever gonna be a big happy."



"But it is," Willow insisted earnestly.



Dawn just looked at her and smiled. Then she yawned again. The dark haired girl blinked and shook her head.



"Am I going to get the 'go to bed it's good for you' lecture or are you waiting for me to go to sleep on my book?" Dawn asked after a second.



"How about a promise instead?" Willow asked with a small smile. "Like a 'I promise I'll be here in the morning and wait for Buffy to get home' type promise."



Dawn looked at her more seriously than Willow had expected she could. Dawn nodded and started to stand up but it turned into a stretch. The small cat on the chair next to her yawned widely and stretched out a paw. Then the small feline closed her eyes, sighed and went back to sleep. Dawn shuffled over to Willow. The woman stood up and gave the girl a hug.



"G'night Willow," Dawn half muttered. "Are you gonna be okay on th' couch?"



"I will now," she answered softly but surely. Dawn nodded and gave a less than half-awake wave and trudged upstairs.



Willow watched her until she heard Dawn's door close. Then she went into the kitchen and poured herself the last of the coffee. She savored the taste without the bitter medicine taste from the first one Dawn had made her to take with her medications. Willow went back to the dining room and looked over the girl’s homework. Dawn was getting the math and that brought a faint, long forgotten feeling of helping and accomplishment.



Willow sat down and picked up a black pen and notebook. She marked the first page 'Buffy'. She started to write, changing pens as she cross-referenced other pages she marked ‘Dawn’, then ‘Xander’ and ‘Anya’. Time faded away as she wrote.



"Notes and no school?" Buffy asked.



"Hey!" Willow said with a start. "No sneaking or Slayer stealthiness. It's not fair."



"I practically tripped over the luggage in the kitchen," Buffy said defensively.



"You did it quietly!" Willow insisted. "Besides, one bag is not luggage. And you need to be on constant alert. It could have been a, a luggage demon, or a bag demon really, and a small one at that."



Buffy just smiled until she saw Dawn’s homework. She looked worriedly at Willow and took a ragged breath.



"We’re okay, not great but, you know, better," Willow said with a touch of wonder. "We talked a lot and then homework kind of came up. It was sort of familiar, I guess."



"She’s been looking forward to having you come home," Buffy said reassuringly. "So have I."



"Buffy, there’s something you should know," Willow said with her eyes downcast. "I’m, ah, on medication for…depression."



"And?" Buffy asked softly.



"A-and?" Willow said hesitantly.



"Giles kind of said something," Buffy explained, "and I’ve gotten good at deciphering England-speak."



"It’s almost like you speak their arcane language," Willow taunted lightly.



"Yeah, but you’re the one that went to warm beer and wrong side of the road land," Buffy protested. "So you have the advantage."



"Unless I try to drive there," Willow smirked. "They don’t all drive like Giles."



"Sounds scary," Buffy agreed, "all the normal highway craziness and the wrong side on top of that."



"It was," Willow said shake of her head. The moment lengthened until Willow looked into her friend’s eyes. The redhead sighed quietly.



"Do you want to know the stupid reasons why I ran away from the whole British scene?" Willow asked meekly.



"Only if you’re ready," Buffy said carefully.



"No," Willow said in a surprised tone. "I guess I’m not. It’s not like monsters chasing me or evil prophecies or frogs following me but it was really stupid and childish and all not dealing with anything now that I sit here and think about it rationally, you know, if I can be rational about what made me so irrational in the first place."



"It’s all right," Buffy said with a stifled yawn. "We’ll talk later. You okay down here tonight?"



"Yeah, fine except for the impending cat on my chest," Willow said running a finger behind the cat’s ears. "Besides, you’re working the DoubleMeat tomorrow. Dawn says you’ve cut back some, thank goodness."



"Will, about that," Buffy hesitated at those words and looked at Willow with a sense of dread growing in her heart.



"Tara would have wanted you to have the life insurance money," Willow said calmly. "She worried about both of you, and Dawn says you already got weepy and angry about it. It wasn’t enough to pay off the mortgage, but she said there’s a whole lot more breathing room now."



"I didn’t want to save the house like that," Buffy explained softly.



"Kinda figured that, Buff," Willow replied easily. "Besides, you’ve put half of it into Dawn’s future college. She’s still going to need a scholarship or financial aid for part of it for a good school, so she needs better grades."



"She could use some more help with math," Buffy said hopefully.



"And English, and chemistry," Willow said with a small smile. "At least if Dawn’s like a certain Slayer I know."



"Hey!" Buffy protested "I would have passed, it just would have been harder, that’s all."



Willow just looked at her innocently. Buffy rolled her eyes.



"Fine, but only chemistry and a little bit in math," Buffy insisted petulantly.



"You need sleep," Willow said in a concerned tone. "Then your memory should recover."



Buffy snatched up the pillow and threw it at her. Willow took it and charged after the Slayer with the pillow. Buffy retreated quickly up the stairs.



"Sleep should help you stop throwing away your only weapon too," Willow called triumphantly up the stairs.





Five Miles South of Sunnydale California



"Nothing, sir," one of Trevor’s team reported as looked up from a tidy jumble of radio receivers. "Signal’s strong but he isn’t doing anything."



"Shut it down and feed," Trevor said firmly. "We’ll take it up sunrise tomorrow. Stay out of the exclusion zone. No alerting the Slayer."



The vampire turned off the equipment quickly and hurried out into the night. Trevor watched him go and felt a touch of pride. Few vampires had the discipline to sit monitoring a listening device, especially on someone who seemed to do nothing but sleep.



Trevor checked on the team’s equipment. The Morax thighbones were impressive and the lengths of steel pipe would kill just about anything when swung with a vampire’s strength and speed. It was hard for some of the team to give up wooden bats and such, but the dangers when facing a Slayer outweighed convenience.



The air in the room seemed to change so slightly, but change none the less.



"..Soon they move..Be ready.." the voice whispered as it always did. Trevor nodded and the voice slipped away.



"That thing gives me the creeps," a scarred vampire snarled softly. "How did it get so weak?"



"It was killed in this town," Trevor said flatly.



"It can do pissy magic but it can’t it do it’s own killing for revenge?" the undead killer asked contemptuously.



"It used all its remaining power in a bid for more in a fluke chance," Trevor explained with dry amusement, "but it killed a witch with power that didn’t fit. Drained him instead."



"It should have killed another witch then," the vampire said after thinking for a moment.



"It tried," Trevor answered as he pulled out the only projectile weapon man and demon could agree on. He checked the action on the sawed off shotgun.



"I intend to do a better job," Trevor said easily.







Eight Miles East of Santa Barbara





Tara took deep breaths through her mouth and wanted desperately to close her eyes with her headache. There were half a dozen gunships on orbit around the site and a huge lifting chopper roaring almost directly above that was lifting the largest carcass she had seen off the two wrecked helicopters below. There was a still smoking patch where 1-4’s escorting gunships had been lost on the facing hillside.



"What a clusterfuck," Graham breathed as he tried to sketch out what had happened. Usually Ramirez and Prader did the intel work on the team, but it fell to him here and he was trying not to miss a thing.



"Are you and Riley okay?" Tara ventured wearily. She could feel the young man’s turmoil but she hoped Graham had more insight to his buddy.



"No," Graham said honestly. "Forrest was the wise guy of our trio. Ambitious too. He shouldn’t have gone out that way."



"No," Tara agreed as she shifted her weight on her knee. They were in a hostile area and the two were back to back, weapons forward until Riley returned. Tara didn’t feel any ULFs but the tactics had kept them alive for a year. Even when she hadn’t been feeling her best. Like now.



She’d done her best and still they had lost the badly burned young man. Riley had closed his eyes. Tara still could smell the scorched flesh.



"You need to drink s-some more," Tara said tiredly.



"You too, Mama Cat," Grant replied as he took a pull off his water system.



Tara narrowed her eyes as she heard quick steps coming her way until she felt Riley fighting down his emotions. He stopped in front of them and went to one knee with his back to them. He pushed back his helmet and wiped his mouth.



"Everything’s recovered," Riley said coldly. "We’re last out of here."



Graham waited until he heard the call from their ride and tossed out a purple smoke grenade. All three pulled up their scarves and down the goggles as the helicopter changed pitch and came at them. Tara ran but still felt Riley and Graham lift her into her least favorite vehicle. Then they were away as sleek silver bolts eased their wings over and dropped incendiaries on the wrecks to make sure no ULF would be attracted to the site.



Tara tried to find the traces of the vampires she felt on the way out. She couldn’t understand why she’d hesitated. The more she thought about it the more she doubted herself. She hadn’t done her job and she was sure her uncertainty meant she doubted her team. All of those feelings faded as the tainted presence of the night hunters touched her mind faintly. Her whole body felt chilled.



For a second she looked up at a frosted pane of glass. She hungered weakly for the throat of the studious man in glasses with the clipboard who was looking through the icy window at her. Then Tara gave a start in the helicopter. Relief flowed over her as she felt the vibrations and heard the roar of its engines.



"I’ve got to see One," Tara said loudly in Riley’s ear with a hand over her mike



"Just One?" Riley shouted back as he covered his own mike.



Tara just nodded as she felt the helicopter begin its descent in the pit of her stomach. As they approached the parking lot she recognized Ramirez, Prader and Talbot. After the helicopter landed she felt safer in more ways than one as the waiting men helped their teammates with their gear.



Tara stepped out onto the tarmac and winced as she felt the unsettling presence of Meers again. He was waving a piece of paper in front of an unimpressed soldier on guard who motioned Ramirez over. The first sergeant went over and listened for a second and looked at the paper. He checked the form carefully before walking back to 2-2.



"OIS says they need to get a flyover threat assessment report from our sensitive," he said unhappily. "Are you up to it?"



"I'll try, sir," Tara answered and steeled herself as she walked over with Ramirez escorting her. Ramirez' suspicion and dislike of the pushy man helped make Tara feel less afraid of Meers until she felt that cold wave again as she approached him.



"M-mr. Meers?" Tara said unsurely as she tried to find a balance.



"Sorry to bother you Miss Maclay," Warren said with a forced smile. "We need to know if you felt any ULFs near any OIS installation. It's very important we know everything."



"I'm s-s-sorry I w-was looking towards the crash, you know, a-and I didn't s-s-see..." Tara slowed her words and looked down.



"Can't you give me anything?" Meers insisted.



"I could g-go b-back and, um look?" Tara suggested meekly. "B-but I'm kind of w-wo-worn out."



"That's enough," growled Ramirez. "Grab 2-3 if you want a sweep."



"OIS determines who goes out, sergeant," Warren sneered. "And we're officially her security so what the hell are you doing here? We'll call you when we want something blown up or shot to shit."



"Excuse me," Delacroix said as he pushed passed Warren. "I must ask you to leave my sensitive alone."



"Back off," Warren snapped. "We're in charge of her."



"Not now," Michael said firmly. "Director Carruthers has just issued a new emergency order. It directs all Bravo class sensitives are now under the Director's immediate control. They are to be secured only by

personnel with advanced close quarter combat training and R level clearances. These personnel are authorized discretionary use of lethal force."



Warren stared at the soldier slack jawed for a few seconds. His eyes dropped to the submachine gun in the man’s hands. Ramirez had moved into a flanking security position opposite Delacroix. The rest of 2-2 moved around Tara like they'd trained for it. Meers took a step back.



"I'm s-s-sorry, Mr. Meers," Tara said shyly. "I can't really tell y-you anything."



"It's all right," Meers said with a weak smile. "Just asking really. Bad day, lost a lot of good boys, you know how it its."



"Yes," Michael said calmly.



Meers retreated to his car and slammed the door. He drove off for a ways. He stopped and just shook for a moment. He jumped when his comm unit buzzed. He stabbed at the button and listened.



"Yeah?" Meers snapped. "No shit, they just shoved in and grabbed her."



He slapped the unit off and glared at the knot of camouflage that moved up the stairs of the dorm.



"How did you do it, Maclay?" he muttered. "How did you corrupt her, you stuttering moron? You did something to her to make her queer. Rosenberg was going to be mine."

[Loco2]

how'd i miss these updates?



willow and dawn was good, with willow feeling a little better, even though i can't bring myself to say a good word about dawn...



heh - the cat letting dawn see the pills - they're little fuckers like that



and willow-babble is back luggage demon indeed



thanks for the updates



steph

"I'm not gay - I'm just Trevor's bitch." - some drunken guy about his sexuality
"Oh, bugger off, you BROLLY!" - Anya to Giles on his use of the english language
"We'll all be a lot happier without the constant whining....Mom, Buffy, Tara, Waah" - DMW to Dawn

[xita]

Warren is such an ass, he wishes. grrr..

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Childie -"Not all girls are raving bloody lesbians, you know!"

George - "That's a misfortune of which I am perfectly well aware."

The Killing of Sister George

[mollyig]

Nice to see Buffy and Willow rebuilding their friendship.



A little bit more information about Trevor & Co. So his master is responsible for Tara's death? Really curious about this.



Great update.

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Sad news- the schedule monster has resurfaced. I will try to get the next update posted tomorrow and the follow on one done quickly.



Thanks for your support Kittens.



J

[MissQuirky]

Just got caught up on all the ones i've missed! We're learnin more n more bout the Trevor dude! Can't wait 4 ur next update!!

Willow: We can come by between classes. Usually I use that time to copy over my class notes with a system of different colored pens. But it's been pointed out to me that that's, you know... insane.
Tara: I said quirky.

[Tulipp]

Really intriguing story; I've just caught up and am piecing together the various threads. I love that you've got Tara working with Riley. I've always liked Riley, and it's nice to see him here in a new light. And thank you for having Dawn accept and reach out to Willow. I really wanted to see that just now. I'm looking forward to seeing what you have up your sleeve in terms of bringing the various plot threads together. I'm really curious to see how Tara/Judith match up with Willow/Tara. Both girls have suffered such loss; they need each other more than ever now. I worry that Tara will have a hard time seeing past Willow's similarity to Judith...it would be painful...but I look forward to seeing how you work with that. Thanks!

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-





Well, I'm just getting in under the wire. Thanks for the input and feedback. It helps to know there are people giving me their time. Your comments help so much.



My thanks, Kittens.



A note- I heard Solas doing Darkness Darkness on NPR's Thistle and Shamrock one night on my way to work. This story and the sequels to Shattered Hope were at a struggling phase. That night at break I sat down and did the rough outline for both.





J

[jixer]

Hotel Kilo 2-2

Update #8

Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6

WARNINGS: Kitten Angst Advisory. This is after Season 6.





Sunnydale California



Willow closed her eyes on the couch, but opened them in Sunnydale’s Wilkins Park, near the bridge. She’d always liked its simple clean, flat lines. It was afternoon and Tara stood in front of her on the bridge. Willow stood up, but Tara didn’t walk forward like she did in the nightmares. Willow stopped and met the sad blue eyes of her love. She walked towards Tara slowly.



"This isn’t a dream, is it?" Willow asked softly. "I mean, bridge, big symbol and, and your not leaving the symbol of, of…"



"I can’t leave," Tara explained gently.



"Can I come with you?" Willow asked in a whisper.



"No," Tara said firmly. "You don’t want to come here, love. Besides, you’re my only chance."



"What?" Willow asked in a frightened voice. "Your only chance for what?"



"To save our family," Tara said with gentle urgency. "I can’t do much more here than watch."



"Watch what?" Willow wondered in a resigned tone. "Watch what I’ve, you know, done because if you can please don’t and I’m so sorry I screwed up with Buffy and Dawn and Xander who’s all withdrawing-"



"Willow!" Tara cried out. "Stop it, love! You can’t fall inside again. Not now, not when it’s getting ready."



"When what’s getting ready?" the red haired woman asked desperately.



"My killer," Tara said flatly. Willow saw Warren point the gun and fire while running away. Somehow she could see the path of one bullet as it angled up and was headed for the window frame. Then it moved gently, then more steeply to smash the window. There it changed again to flatten the trajectory and hurtle towards a blue top-



Willow filled in the rest as she saw Tara fall away, felt the hot red spray. She started to fall into utter, frozen darkness. The nightmare had finally shown up for her nightly ride through Hell.



Soft light and warmth pushed away the frigid darkness as it wrapped itself around the core of her being. The light turned blue. She opened her eyes to meet Tara’s loving gaze. The light returned to the park and she heard birdsong.



"What else can you do?" Willow asked hoarsely as she hesitated just in front of Tara.



"This," Tara said with a smile as Willow felt warmth again, this time from arms wrapping around her and lips she’d missed so much meeting hers. After a while Willow just leaned against Tara and let those arms cradle her.







In her room Dawn started to sweat. The trees had turned dark and now pulled at her. She’d lost the sword and she couldn’t find her way out. Something had killed Tara and was killing Willow. When it was done with her friend it would be after the rest of them. She couldn’t save Willow. She was about to scream when the trees lightened and she saw a bridge.



It looked just like the ones she’d loved in the paintings with all the light, even if her art teacher dismissed them. It was stone and had a low arch with flowers climbing over the footings on both banks. The woods became even softer as she saw Tara holding Willow.



Dawn was sure she’d been afraid but couldn’t remember why. She didn’t call out or stare. She just sat down and looked at them every once in a while. She lay back on soft grass under an elm tree and looked up at the cloud bedecked evening sky. She rested her eyes for just a second.





Buffy looked at her clock suddenly and swept off the covers. Dawn hadn’t slept well in weeks and never made it to midnight without waking up in a panic at least once. Buffy listened at her door, then peeked in to see her sister soundly asleep. Buffy closed the door gently and crawled back into bed, hoping she might be as blessed tonight.





Buffy groped along in front of a maze of mirrors. Willow kept changing between a black-eyed killer and frightened teen and a woman with hard green eyes. Riley showed up but moved past her carrying a brutally efficient looking weapon. Dark figures danced around the edges, some were masked and some were vampires. Xander was a flash of a faint image, fading away. Suddenly Tara was there, staring at her in amazement. Then the mirrors shattered and Riley became Warren who brought up his pistol…



The alarm went off by the side of her bed. As Buffy slapped for it she could swear she heard the faintest of whispers.





Anya leaned back in the Magic Box and tried to make sense of the numbers. She looked at the spreadsheet again. She couldn’t get the numbers to stay balanced as she yawned.



"Oh come on, I’m not Worldcom," she muttered.



"No, you’re as pathetic a shopkeeper as you are a demon," D’Hoffryn observed coldly.



Anya whipped around and felt herself shift into her demonic visage. D’Hoffryn glared at her, shaking his head.



"Is it because that man, and I use the term loosely, fixed your quaint little magic boutique?" he asked drolly. "Is that why he’s still whole, let alone alive?"



"Something’s always come up," Anya said weakly.



"Like the fact that you’ve lost your heart and lost your way!" he barked.



"Go easy on the girl, boss," Halfrek said as she leaned around the corner. "After all she did turn him into a frightened loser. No, wait a minute, that was the real love of his life, the little red haired witch."



"Hallie!" Anya cried out as the words ripped into her.



"SILENCE!" D’Hoffryn roared, then more calmly he went on. "You will say goodbye to these puny things you think are your friends and come with us two nights hence. You will grant none of their wishes or I will tear out your power and leave you here to grow old and rot. Do you understand?"



Anya looked up and was about to protest when every nerve ending exploded in flame. She dropped to the floor screaming.



"I didn’t say I’d do it gently, now did I?" the demon warned lightly as Anya gasped on the floor. "Two nights, Anya. Come along, Halfrek, we are all finished here."







University of California at Santa Barbara





Tara sagged as the door closed behind her and her team. She sat on her small bed as they worked out the security arrangements she’d be living with for how long? The day was just growing dark but she was already yawning and her headache had returned with a vengeance. She felt herself nod and jerked back to wakefulness.



"Tara?" Talbot said concerned. "You don’t have to stay awake for this."



"Have to talk to Michael," she replied shakily.



"I’m sorry, Cat," Riley said tiredly. "One, she asked to speak to you alone on the way back."



"We’ll leave," Ramirez said gently as the rest of 2-2 stood up.



"No," Tara pleaded weakly. "I-I feel safer w-with you h-here. I’m sorry, Riley."



"What’s the matter Tara?" Riley asked gently.



"I think I’ve done s-something very wrong, but I can’t explain w-why," Tara answered on the verge of tears.



Tara tried to put into words what she had felt and sensed on the rescue flight and the return. The team questioned her carefully and thoroughly until she was shaking. Finally ‘Doc’ Talbot stood up and put his hand on her shoulder.



"No more," he said firmly. "I’m redlining you for eight hours. You’re going to bed now."



"I’m sorry," Tara said again.



"Why?" Graham asked.



"I-I didn’t tell you about the vampires," Tara said. "I h-held back information because I was s-scared and I don’t know w-why."



"We can’t know what you know, Tara," Michael said evenly. "You’ve been on this mission for as long as we have. Every operator eventually starts picking up things that he isn’t aware of on a conscious level. We have to respect your instincts. Howard, take Riley and Graham and find the chopper in and out bound. Look for a monitor, then go through our comm gear."



"Talbot and I take first watch," Ramirez stated. "Howard and Michael second, and Graham and Riley third."



"I’ll be back at most in an hour and a half from-mark," Delacroix said a bit tightly. "I have to see someone. I’ll go with you three to the Science Building first."



Tara felt the four men change slightly as Michael cleared and checked his sidearm then picked up Tara’s submachine gun. He turned on the holographic sight and set it for the ‘team zero’ position. He handed it to Ramirez.



"Us and no one else," Michael ordered.



Ramirez nodded as he snapped a new magazine in and pulled back the bolt.



"Vaya con Dios," he said as the door closed.



Tara looked at the two armed men in her room and fell asleep in seconds. After a few moments Ramirez slipped off her boots and gently spread a blanket over her.





She was in a helicopter that bucked and was taking farther away from her team. Someone was singing the song "Darkness Darkness". With a start she recognized her own voice. Lights started going out and she was starting to sing along, wishing for the darkness the song promised, when a green light danced through the cabin. Tara could hear far off laughter that sounded like…



She looked down to see herself wearing her favorite peasant dress and comfortable top. She wasn’t armed and there was no armor chafing her. The door of the chopper slid open and she saw a bridge in a garden. It was Monet’s garden and Judith stood on the graceful Japanese-influenced bridge, smiling at her.



Tara walked forward in a daze, her hands closing on Judith’s. Her lover took the shy girl in her arms. Tara started to shut her eyes but Judith kissed them open.



"I’m sorry, lover," Judith said regretfully. "We don’t have much time."



"For what?" Tara asked worriedly.



"You need to know a lot of things," Judith explained with a sad smile. "Michael is coming back in about an hour and by then you need to know as much as I can tell you."



"Or," Tara said with an attempt at a brave smile. "There’s an ‘or’ in there, isn’t there."



"I’m that transparent?" Judith asked with a pout.



"Always," Tara teased weakly.



"The ‘or’ is or the world is opened to the monsters," Judith said flatly.



"Oh," Tara whispered.





University of California at Santa Barbara

Science Building





Delacroix and Colonel Martino, Director Carruthers’ military adviser, stood across from each other in a basement hall of the Science Building. Each carried a small black Electronic Counter Measures box in a pocket. Martino pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to remember why he hadn’t become a lawyer.



"Are you sure of her?" Colonel Martino asked Delacroix.



"Yes," Michael answered carefully.



"The politician is going to want to meet her," the colonel sighed.



"She may be compromised," Delacroix warned.



Martino made an hourglass shape with his hands. Michael shrugged. The colonel looked at him but the younger man simply stared back.



"If she can get us to the last reference point," Martino said quietly after a moment, "I don’t care if she fucks goats. I’ll talk to the Director and you get the girl. Where?"



"Here, thirty minutes," Michael answered.



"Keep her alive, Michael," the colonel ordered. "She may be our last shot at closing that hell hole."





A Bridge





Tara stared into the roiling current below. She felt Judith come up beside her. Both looked down for what seemed like forever, even here. Below them the current of time flowed past. Each saw the myriad futures for their loves and families. For the most part the stream was dark.



"Is there anything else we can do?" Judith asked quietly.



"There is, but the risk is even greater," Tara answered carefully. "I'd need your power and your trust. It would be dangerous, even here."



"Magic?" Judith whispered.



"Fragile magic," Tara answered gently. "It’s all your world has."



Judith looked into stream below and looked for a golden streak in an eddy. Slowly she saw herself and Tara swaying gently in an alcove of the Student Union Building as "Some Enchanted Evening" drifted out of the speaker above.



The younger members of 1-3 and 2-2 had screened them from the dance as the young men talked to girls and forgot the crisis for a night. Her lips met her Tara’s as they ever so slightly touched mind to mind. Walking to Beth’s house in the moonlight, making love knowing what the other desired then falling asleep in each other’s arms drifted by and vanished.



"I wouldn’t say that," Judith smiled as she gave Tara her hand.

[xita]

Ok, things are changing, I think the hellmouth is opening and Tara will be somewhere else soon.. and they are all having these "dreams." Intriguing. Thanks for the update.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Childie -"Not all girls are raving bloody lesbians, you know!"

George - "That's a misfortune of which I am perfectly well aware."

The Killing of Sister George

[mollyig]

Dreams abound it seems. Definitely portentous.



Am really looking forward to see how it all plays out.

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Sorry about the wait. We have a new hard drive now. On with the story.



I'd like to throw a plug in for Scout's Miss Kitty panels. I like them and hey, isn't this the Kitten board?



Thanks for your time,



J

[jixer]

Hotel Kilo 2-2

Update #9

Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6

WARNINGS: Kitten Angst Advisory. This is after Season 6.





Sunnydale California





Buffy made a face at herself in the mirror as she yawned yet again. The morning had come far too soon. She made a mental note to stretch and work out later as she scrambled to make it to work on time. She hesitated at the top of the stairs and walked down carefully. Willow was asleep on the couch. Buffy frowned when she saw how thin and pale she looked. As Willow had predicted there was a black and white tangle asleep on her chest.



Buffy smiled at the pair as she slipped out the door. It was the last time she smiled that day.





Xander pulled up to 1630 Revello and waited for a second. The car decided to stop normally and not die after all. The young man ambled to the door and knocked. Dawn swung open the door with a smile on her face.



“Wow, a morning smile,” he quipped as he came in. “Sunnydale didn’t lose another school, did it?”



“Even better,” Dawn answered brightly. “Guess who came home yesterday.”



Xander heard a shower going upstairs and knew the Jeep was already gone. He saw a neat row of pens next to a notebook. Dawn was looking at him happily. He forced himself to smile.



“Great news,” he said. “How is she?”



“She’s better, really better,” Dawn almost gushed. “We’ve got Willow back. Do you want to stay and see her? I can skip first-“



“No skipping,” Xander said quickly. “Besides I’ve got to check on a possible job today.”



“Great!” Dawn squeaked. “Good news all around. We should have a party, or at least a welcome home dinner.”



“We’ll see,” Xander said as he herded her out of the house and the cat back inside.



Dawn chattered happily on the way to school. It was such a large change in her usually gloomy morning pattern he couldn’t help but smile. She didn’t even groan theatrically when he pulled up to the school in his decidedly unglamorous vehicle.



“Will you come to dinner tonight?” Dawn implored.



“Sure,” Xander answered before he thought about. Then realized what he’d said.



“Thanks, Xander” Dawn said cheerfully as she scooted out of the car. “You’re the greatest!”



“Yeah,” he whispered as she took the stairs two at a time. “The greatest.”





Willow stepped out of the bathroom in her old robe and called for Dawn. She turned to go to her room and froze at the door. She turned and hurried down the stairs. There she took several deep breaths and called for Dawn again. She looked for the girl’s backpack and when she saw it gone she relaxed.



Willow took out some clothes from her meager selection in the bag. She finished dressing and then looked over her notes from the evening before. She called Xander but got his answering machine.



“Hey, Xander, I’m back and, and I need to talk to you, okay?” Willow said hesitantly. She was almost relieved when he didn’t pick up.



She looked at the rest of list and stopped at the last page. She read her notes and swallowed hard. Miss Kitty flowed across the notes and looked up at her. Fur obscured everything but the heading of ‘Anya’. Willow smiled and picked up the cat.



“You make a really lousy window, fur baby,” Willow said to the purring feline. “I’d love to stay home and play toss the catnip mouse but momma’s got to do something she really, really doesn’t want to right now.” Miss Kitty made a half-hearted break for the door as Willow left.



Willow paused for a moment, but decided to drive the short distance to the Magic Box. Parking downtown was the usual hassle, and she was already feeling nervous when she walked up to the Magic Box. She tried the door but it was stuck. Willow lifted on the handle and pushed it just so. That’s when she realized it was locked. She peered inside and could make out Anya, sitting at the counter, hunched over.



Willow rummaged through her pockets for her key ring. She flipped to the Magic Box section and unlocked the door. She pushed in and heard the familiar bell.



“Willow?” Anya said as she looked up with a start. “You don’t want a wish, do you? Because I can’t do wishes for you or, or…”



“Why is the store closed?” She asked, her tone concerned. “Why are you sitting here all alone? And what do you mean you can’t do wishes for me?”



“Because I want to,” Anya insisted quickly. “Or don’t want to as the case may be.”



She walked slowly up to the demon. Anya looked up angrily then looked away. Willow could see her eyes were red and puffy. She took a deep breath.



“Did you have a fight with Xander?” she asked carefully.



“Xander?” Anya replied with an almost hysterical tone. “I’m so over him! And I’m a Vengeance demon now. He couldn’t hurt me if he tried.”



“Did somebody hurt you?” Willow demanded.



“No, just…yelled,” Anya replied haltingly. “A lot. About screwing up.”



“Is it because of me and the, the not vengeancing thing?” Willow asked meekly.



“Yes,” Anya snarled, then she shook her head. “No, I don’t know. Nothing makes sense anymore.”



“I’m sorry,” Willow said sadly. “You don’t deserve to be yelled at. Not after what you did.”



“What I did?” Anya asked tiredly. “What did I do?”



“You kept me from killing,” Willow said firmly, then she made a face. “Er, more killing. And you stayed with Giles after I, uh, kind of slammed him around and…pulled out all his…magic.”



“Did he tell you that in brolly land?” Anya asked.



“No,” Willow answered after a second. “I’m not sure how I know, but I do. You were compassionate and brave when you didn’t have to be, but why? You were a vengeance demon then. You could have just left.”



“It was for the store, and Giles was my business partner,” Anya said diffidently.



“Yeah, I can see the capitalist motive,” Willow said harshly.



“Oh, all right,” Anya said in a rough voice. “It was for Giles and Tara, mostly for Tara. She was my friend. She, she laughed with me and listened and at least she never complained about wearing that bridesmaid dress…and all I could do for her was help you. And now I can’t even grant wishes here.”



Willow fought for control as Anya looked away. The demon looked back at her and then looked down.



“I still miss her, sometimes,” Anya admitted in a whisper. “I-I think you should go.”



Willow watched Anya’s eyes let loose a of brace tears and reached for her as she felt her own well up. Anya shook her head but Willow ignored her and took her into an awkward embrace. After a moment Anya gave in and hugged her back just as awkwardly.



“Anya, I’m so sorry I got you in trouble,” Willow rasped out.



“I know,” she replied gently.





Five Miles South of Sunnydale California





“…Listen, listen…” the voice whispered urgently. “…Today, perhaps…”



Trevor nodded sagely as the voice faded away. Perhaps the red haired witch would prove to be the catalyst after all. He hoped so. The demon in him was becoming restive, but he knew he had to fulfill his contracts. He was a professional, and wished to stay one. For now at least.



This contract was becoming more interesting. A demon and witch were not that uncommon, even the male friend fit as a minion. But all these with the Slayer made it intriguing. Including the Slayer’s sister simply smacked of revenge, and he approved. None of that though was as interesting as the Hellmouth consuming their bodies. That screamed of sacrifice and power, maybe enough to serve for a century or two.



What ever the voice had been, it was powerful enough to thwart death at least partially. He already had a working relationship with it. Working for it would give him the chance to build his group into a company-strength mercenary unit. Then Trevor could seek power on his own terms. He had to take the long view.



How fortunate for him the local humans were rebuilding their school on the Hellmouth and had cleared away all the debris. He was sure his client would not want the bodies torn unnecessarily by broken glass and such.



“Listening post coverage to 100 percent,” he ordered Heinrich, and was confident his order would be carried out. Trevor sighed. Another problem he faced these days was that true Prussians like Heinrich were becoming harder and harder to find. Germans these days might as well be French in his opinion.





University of California at Santa Barbara

Science Building





Tara looked at the pipes above the narrow hallway she was standing in and tried to wake up. Talbot had wanted to let her sleep and it had nearly been a fight. She still wasn’t sure she’d said the right words or if she’d used her other abilities to calm the situation. She hoped it was the former, but she doubted it. It had probably been her changing powers that had influenced her team. Somehow that made her feel dirty.



Ramirez and Talbot were at either end of the hall making this meeting very private. Two men left from 1-4, Randall and Gordon, had joined them. The team had accepted their offer after asking her if she could trust them. Tara had quickly agreed. They knew sensitives and they understood what she’d done on the rescue. The intensity of their respect for her made her feel humble.



Tara tried to focus and stay alert. She didn’t want to lose control here. The Director of the (E) OIS stood across the hall from her, flanked by his military adviser and Delacroix. Both soldiers carried ECM boxes, and that added to her worry. This was a game for power players only, and she couldn’t even guess what the rules were.



Director Carruthers was less impressive in the flesh and tired. The hair wasn’t coifed anymore and she could tell he’d been smoking cigars. He peered at her over half-rimmed reading glasses with a print out of Judith’s own copy of her report in his hand. And it was all of the report, not just the approved parts that had become doctrine.



“I’ll get through this quickly, Ms. Maclay,” Carruthers said brusquely. “What I’m reading says that this nexus point will become a permanent fixture if we don’t act before it settles onto one point. But this is all speculation according to the experts.”



“W-what experts, sir?” Tara asked politely. “Judith was the best sensitive w-we had, and she had a genius level IQ. She w-was training in computer science with a minor in physics. She thought this was true. She was s-s-sure of it. S-sorry, I’m tired, s-sir.”



“Who did she consult with?” Carruthers demanded. “The OIS has had the best physicists and mathematicians study this theory. They can’t prove or disprove it.”



“Dr. Rosita Chung and Dr. Seymour Dempsey, s-sir,” Tara answered calmly. “She’s an astrophysicist and h-he’s statistician and numbers theorist.”



“Astrophysicist?” the politician asked curtly. “Why an astrophysicist? This thing is on the Earth.”



“Only partly,” Martino interjected. “That’s covered in the report’s appendix.”



Carruthers glared at him for a second before turning his attention back to Tara.



“Sir, may I make a s-suggestion?” Tara asked gently.



“Go ahead, Miss Maclay,” Carruthers replied tiredly. “I’m open to anything at this point.”



“If I can find the nexus point and the data can be fed into Dr. Dempsey’s model of Dr. Chung’s theory,” Tara explained, “Then it could find the nexus point. If it works, then we now we h-have a limited time to stop it.”



“It would take an Alpha class sensitive to find the nexus point,” Carruthers interrupted.



“Yes, sir,” Tara said mostly keeping the shakes out of her voice.



Carruthers looked at her through narrowed eyes for a long moment. He gave her a wintry smile.



“What’s in it for you if you can do this?” he asked smoothly.



“It’s w-what Judith would’ve wanted,” Tara said harshly. “This thing h-has cost us s-so much already. What about the vampires I s-sensed?”



“That’s a problem,” Carruthers said after a few seconds. “Officially, if it’s the building I’m thinking of, it’s under the direct control of Senate Sub Committee on Unknown Life Forms. Not even the Director of the (E) OIS can just barge in there. Not and win the shoving match later.”



“And unofficially, s-sir?” Tara asked, dreading the answer.



He stopped and looked at Martino and Delacroix.



“Unofficially?” the Director said tightly, “it’s a present to Walsh from her tame senators to make sure the Emergency Office of Internal Security gets turned into a permanent department. They just don’t want to know how she does it.”



“Off the record,” Carruthers went on coldly, “ if the last Alpha level sensitive were to report the presence of dangerous ULFs on her way to a mission, then we’d have cause to track down and destroy the night hunters. Using any means necessary, of course.”



Tara had a brief image of the wreckage of the helicopters being burned with incendiaries.



“Th-there w-w-were people in my, um, scan…” she felt her words fade off as felt the wintry resolve behind them. She stood up straight and met his eyes. “Sir, there might be innocents in there or nearby. I won’t let Judith’s and everyone else’s sacrifice be finished with expediency.”



“Your choice,” the Director said. “End it or let them loose on our world. It can be finished, but only if you cooperate. I’m not guaranteeing anything even if you do. Will you do as I ask?”



“Not if it kills innocents,” Tara said trying to sound stubborn and not scared.



The two (E) OIS people stared at each other for a long moment. Tara felt an odd, distant sense of pride coming from Michael. He stepped forward and looked at Carruthers.



“We can use our original plan, sir,” he said calmly.



“PacConFeds and a couple of leftover Omegas?” he growled. “That bunch of children? Your boy’s little girlfriend? Do you know what the political fallout could be?”



“Less than backtracking or having ULFs show up after the nexus point is closed,” Delacroix pointed out.



Carruthers turned a red face to Tara and then back to Michael. She wanted to calm him but she couldn’t bring herself to impress her will upon him. Finally he looked at her angrily.



“You had better be right about everything else,” he said petulantly. “Because you’re wrong about this. Let’s see if you’ve got what it takes, little girl.”



The man spun on his heel and stormed off, Tara swallowed, tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach and followed with the rest.

__________________________________



Theodore Roosevelt Smith opened the door of the Student Research Lounge on the ground floor of the Science Building. He manhandled the ancient buffer into the room and started his pattern for the room. Something caught his eye as he moved towards one corner of the room. It was a small butterfly with green and blue wings sitting on the edge of a study station.



The man pulled lever for the head of the buffer up, so the buffer was off the floor and pushed his old machine out of the way. He didn’t stop it because the device had a bad habit of not restarting. He very carefully put his hand next to the jewel-like insect and waited patiently for it to move. It slowly walked onto his work-roughened hand. It was so light he couldn’t feel it.



“This isn’t a place for you, little one,” he said gently.



Smith took the butterfly slowly through the halls, past the (E) OIS security guards that insisted on scanning his ID and out the side door of the building. He carefully placed the creature on a shrub. He regretted he probably wouldn’t see it’s greens and blues in the sunlight. He pulled out a pad and a pen and jotted down a few lines of verse. It wasn’t good enough he thought, but he kept it anyway.



He went back inside, had his identification scanned again and returned to the Study Lounge. It took a bit of a pull to get it out away from the side of the file cabinet where the old fashioned electric motor had run for a good ten minutes.

________________________________



Assistant Director Walsh looked up at a yawning Meers and glared tiredly. She had had a trying time keeping Senator Forsythe on track by phone. He was off to the White House for an emergency meeting with the President. The Sensitive Registration Act might be dead in committee but it would sound good as an Emergency Order and make both politicians look bipartisan.



She wondered if anyone would point out there were all of nine sensitives left in the entire world.



At least the Act would protect the nation’s youth from the danger of deviants with mental powers. An unexpected benefit after a frenzy of guided press questions and a fading television show turning a character into a murderous, using, ‘mental’ bitch into their story arc to boost the all important ratings.



“How good is it?” Walsh asked wearily. “I don’t want details, just will it prove Maclay’s a pervert?”



“Easily, but aren’t we going to wait?” Warren asked worriedly.



“She may be an Alpha,” she explained rubbing her forehead. “Before she passed out she pinpointed the nexus point six times and found two night hunters in the zone.”



“Damn,” he answered softly. Then he smiled grimly. “It’ll work. It would take an expert to pull it apart but by then she’ll be…out of the picture.”



“What about Rosenberg, or rather her reputation?” Walsh asked as she stifled a yawn.



“Maclay coerces her mentally and blackmails her,” Warren said with a frown. “I tried to keep it true to what really happened.”



“Did you ever date Rosenberg?” Walsh asked casually.



“It was going to happen,” he answered hotly. “I was perfect for her. She was bright enough and she would have done what I told her to if…I asked her out, yeah.”



“Go make a copy on a clean unit and get it anonymously to the Senator’s people,” Walsh ordered as she stood up and yawned.



Warren nodded and headed downstairs to the Student Research Lounge. He unlocked the room, unlocked the file cabinet and pushed a bundle of notebooks to the side in the bottom drawer. He reached in and pulled the hard drive. He closed up the file cabinet and left the room. It had seemed to be stuck for a second, but he didn’t think anything of it.

[mollyig]

The interaction between Willow and Anya was so sad. Weird to feel pity for Anya the Vengeance Demon.



Warren and Walsh are evil. Tainting Tara's reputation for their own means.



Great update.

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

[xita]

I'd like to punch warren's lights out, he wishes. And Walsh, so not my favorite person. And the big hellmouth event is coming! I liked the conversation between willow and anya, it fit.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Childie -"Not all girls are raving bloody lesbians, you know!"

George - "That's a misfortune of which I am perfectly well aware."

The Killing of Sister George

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Just a quick 'I'm sorry' note. Reality and the schedule monster both at the same time. I'm getting the next update pieced together from notes in three places.



Thank you for the time and patience.



J

[jixer]

Hotel Kilo 2-2

Update #10

Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6

WARNINGS: Kitten Angst Advisory. This is after Season 6.





Rupert Giles swore eloquently in three languages before he found the cell phone in his pocket and pushed the right button. It was bad enough to be in London in the last days of summer without the annoying alarm Willow had chosen going off.



"Hello?" he said more civilly than he felt.



"Giles?" Willow asked thousands of miles away. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"



"No," Giles said as he stepped back out of earshot of strangers. "Are you all right?"



"Mostly" Willow said hesitantly. "I'm sorry I ran out but I couldn't...I had to come home."



"Do you want to come back?" he asked, unsure of which answer he hoped for.



"No, I'm not calling about me," she explained. "Giles, Anya's acting funny."



"Hardly unusual," he observed dryly.



"I mean strange for her," Willow said slightly exasperated. "She's been crying, and not over Xander either, at least she says so but I think that, well…"



"She's been through a lot," Giles pointed out.



"I think she's in trouble with her demon boss too," Willow insisted. "She said he's yelled at her and won't let her grant wishes. She had the store closed. On a week day."



"I see," Giles said with concern.



"Giles," she said seriously, "I think she's in serious trouble with D'Hoffryn. Bad trouble, I mean running away trouble. I should know running away trouble."



"How can you know she's in serious trouble?" he asked thoughtfully.



"I'm a witch, we know stuff," Willow said with a sad smile. "Or I used to be one, but I still know stuff, lots actually. And Buffy's had these dreams she calls weird but I haven't heard them yet. Oh, and Xander, big time no show for slaying and stuff. Dawn's okay, mostly, except for the summer school."



She could almost hear him ponder his next statement. She hoped with all her heart he'd say...



"I'll be out on the next flight," he sighed.



"Thank you!" she said brightly. "You're the best. I-I'm sorry I ran away. Oh, and tell the coven I'm okay. Still can't light a candle though, but I'm...dealing. One day at a time."



"I won't be in until about eleven tonight at the earliest," Giles said as he tried to remember the airline schedules to LA.



"We'll take you anytime we can get you," Willow assured him. "I'll tell Buffy."



"Very well," he replied. "Goodbye."



He rang off, he hoped, and headed back to his hotel room to repack. It was fortuitous he'd been in London after all. It had seemed a waste of time when he found out the demon the Council was concerned about had fallen from the third floor of the British Museum.



Witnesses said it was chasing a butterfly, of all things.



-------------------------------------------------



Willow tried Xander's number without much hope. After the eighth ring she folded up the phone and drove over to his apartment. She pounded on the door, trying to sound as unlike her usual polite, almost timid knock. Xander pulled the door open a crack and blinked at her. They were silent for a second.



"It's-it's not a good time, Will," he finally said evasively.



"Well, that's a greeting I wasn't expecting," Willow said in a hurt voice. "Afraid I'm going to steal the girl?"



"Huh?" Xander said tiredly. "There's no...oh, all right."



He stood aside as she entered the darkened apartment. It was musty and felt closed in with the drapes pulled. She saw an untidy pile of mail unopened on the couch. There were bills and checks both mixed together. It was the only untidy thing in the apartment. The television flickered silently in the corner. He stood by the door impassively as she looked around.



"Kind of gloomy," she observed, trying to keep the worry out of her voice. "But it’s, uh, tidy."



Xander looked at her and sighed. He closed the door and turned to face her.



"There," he said flatly. "The door's closed. Go ahead."



"What?" Willow said unsurely. She knew something was wrong but she had never expected to see her friend so empty.



"Come on, Will!" he said finally showing some emotion. Anger, but not at her.



"I don't know what you think-" she started.



"What I think?" he asked incredulously. "What I think is I'm the one who got one nice girl killed and the other one hurt so bad she should have died. Lucky for Buffy you were so hurt by my freezing like a coward you went all dark and could save her. That's what I think!"



Willow stared at him for a moment. His pain and self-loathing seemed to echo darkly in her heart. She felt the chasm of despair she’d fought for weeks open wide to swallow her. The barest touch of something soft and warm jolted her back to open her eyes and meet Xander’s.



"You stopped me and saved the world," Willow pointed out. "Kind of balances out, you know?"



"I’m the one who…I didn’t stop it, Will," he replied raggedly. "That’s why you went back to black magic. I was just fixing my own screw up."



The pain in his words hurt her. She looked away trying to understand where his pain came from. Xander had never been the best housekeeper in the world but now the apartment was neat, except for the mail. She turned back to him.



"You cleaned up after yourself at Buffy’s, didn’t you?" she asked quietly.



"Yeah," he said resignedly. "The cops leave and you’re stuck…cleaning up. Buffy was calming Dawn down and she couldn’t afford to have it done. There wasn’t anybody else for them."



Willow walked over to the pile of mail and picked it up. Bills and a couple of checks just waiting to be dealt with, and the totals she did in her head showed he had enough to cover the bills easily with the checks.



"You dealt with the paperwork for Tara too," she said flatly.



He just nodded. Willow walked up to him. She could see him tense up. He just stared at her slack jawed when she put her arms around him and hugged him.



"Thank you," she said gently. She touched his cheek where the scar she’d given him on the rampage gleamed dully. "I’m sorry, Xan."



Willow turned away and walked over to the window. She pulled the shades away and opened the window. She opened the rest of the windows as Xander blinked in the sunlight. She turned back to him and smiled weakly.



"Let’s get those bills out," Willow said with a forced brightness. "Then you can help me get ready for my welcome back dinner. And then after that you’re going to go with us on patrol. You can keep an eye out for me."



"Patrol?" Xander whispered fearfully. Then he looked at her and sighed. "Fine, I never could stand up to resolve faced Willow."



"I’ve still got it," she said with a real smile.



"We’re having a dinner?" Xander asked unsurely. "Buffy’s got that kind of time?"



"No, I do," Willow explained firmly. "Besides, I can make my last apology then."





Five Miles South of Sunnydale





Heinrich played the tape again for Trevor. The vampire felt the voice’s presence slip into the room.



"Yessss," the voice hissed with glee. "…Tonight finally…"



"The prey isn’t sighted yet," Trevor said calmly. "Excuse me, I have to get the plan into motion."



The team was stirring already. He could feel his own animal senses becoming sharper. All of them were wearing the demonic mask the hunt brought out in the vampire. Trevor shook his off and made himself put on his impassive leader’s mantle.



"Team leaders, review and report," he commanded. "The rest of you, keep focused. The Slayer’s not dead yet."



"Yet," they growled back.



"We’ll change that," he snarled back.



They roared their agreement back at their leader. Trevor gave them a predator’s smile. He turned away to the maps of Sunnydale still smiling. He could imagine a company of vampires riding out into the night under his command. He closed his eyes and pushed away the future. First things first, and the Slayer dead with her companions was the first thing on tonight’s agenda. He bent over the maps and waited for the night to come.





University of California at Santa Barbara





Tara was only partly aware of someone in her room. Her headache was taking up most of her currently limited awareness. She risked opening her eyes a little and regretted it as sunlight filled her vision. She squinted at the clock. She read the time and sat up suddenly. Riley and Graham looked over at her.



"Why didn’t you wake me?" she asked worriedly. "We’ll be late for briefing."



"2-3 is covering our slot," Riley explained. "It’s quiet."



"And Doc threatened us with slow evisceration if we woke you up," Graham added wryly. "You kind of went out on us last night. Scared us there, lass."



"If you tough soldier types got scared, of course," Tara replied with a weak smile.



"Well, yeah," Graham chuckled.



The comm unit buzzed twice and the smiles vanished. Riley looked at the small monitor on the desk and picked up his sidearm. Graham picked up and readied his carbine. Tara’s eyes widened. She pushed out her senses gingerly. She touched the tight shell of Michael and Howard’s concern. She also caught the presence of Randall and Gordon next door.



"It’s One and Three," Tara said relieved.



"Confirmed," Riley said looking up from the monitor but he and Graham didn’t shift their weapons until the door opened and Michael stepped in slowly. Tara could feel their tension ease but not fade entirely. Howard closed the door and swept a box over the room. The older man walked to the window and put a ceramic looking circle against it until it adhered.



"Clear," he said tiredly.



"W-What’s going on?" Tara asked worriedly.



"We’re waiting for Two and Four," Michael said evenly. "We’ll do the briefing then. I’d suggest getting dressed, Seven."



Tara blushed and swung out of bed as her team got busy preparing for the briefing. She took her uniform with her as she stepped around them to the tiny bathroom. She stepped under the spray gratefully and tried to calm herself. It was difficult, even with the warm water cascading over her. Her team, the closest thing she had left to friends, was worried and she knew she was at the root of their concerns.



She thought of the confrontation with Carruthers. Had she gotten them all in trouble with her decision? Or was it her passing out after doing six separate finds on the shifting nexus point? Judith had done eight once, and she hadn’t passed out. Her nosebleed had worried Tara, but the headache had given her an excuse to rub Judith’s temples. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the worries at hand.



She felt a twinge of guilt at pushing away Judith’s memory. She turned off the shower and brushed what she told herself were just left over droplets of water out of her eyes. She heard the room’s door open again and felt the comforting presence of Ramirez and Talbot. She dried off quickly and dressed. She opened the door toweling her hair. Ramirez sighed.



"Sit," he said indicating the floor in front of him.



Tara gratefully sat in front of the soldier as he picked up her comb and brush. He started working on her light brown hair as carefully as a man with four daughters could. Howard brought up the holograms as Michael stood up.



"We are being sent out to place the last reference point generator for the nexus point closure," Delacroix firmly. "Seven has been reclassified as an Alpha but at this point team size will not change. Questions?"



Everyone raised a hand but Tara. She just shivered at the thought of being the Alpha on a mission into the nexus point. She remembered the two times 2-2 had gone along to provide extra ‘hard’ coverage for a real Alpha class sensitive.



The walk into the swirling confusion of the nexus point had taken her breath away. Each team member held on to another in an unbroken link to the Alpha. As she had crossed into the point she had had a brief feeling she knew which way to go. Then both times there had been a near blinding flare in her mind. For a long second there was the sensation of falling impossibly fast, then they had stepped out onto a world that was all wrong.



And now everyone from the remote team leader to the man carefully braiding her hair were counting on her to do the impossible and guide them to the world of the last reference point. Not even the thought of the trio of twenty-five kiloton devices using those reference points to close the opening for the ULFs into her world worried her as much as her team depending on her.



The rest of the team kicked around operational questions. She found it incongruous the man finishing her hair should be asking how many kilos of explosives they should bring after asking her which color ribbon she wanted to tie off her braid. Which was green, always. She raised her hand tentatively.



"Um, how long until we go?" Tara asked timidly.



"We’re waiting for the final word," Michael said with a hint of bitterness. "Just as soon as a decision is made. As for the other operation, Maclay, Finn, and Miller are going to make contact with local sources and introduce Randall and Gordon."



"That could be a bit of a problem after yesterday," Riley said quietly.



"Convince her," Michael said coldly. "Otherwise Carruthers is going to take the politically safest option and that may well miss the last of the monsters. We don’t know how long we have. Let’s move."





University of California at Santa Barbara

Science Building





Assistant Director Walsh glared at Meers across her desk. Outside her office a lone security man stood in the deserted hallway. Her old office was now Carruthers’. Outside her lone window there was a growing mob of press and protesters. Her political supporters had asked her to speak to dozens of ill-informed talking heads and she had been taken to task for not clearing all her press appearances with Carruthers’ people.



Even with her efforts the newshounds’ mood was changing again. Carruthers had the fools convinced there was going to be a successful mission that would close the "monster gate". And if Maclay was really an Alpha, and not under arrest by the end of the day, she feared it would be true and her best chance to save the OIS would be gone.



"She isn’t under arrest and sedated in the special facility," Walsh observed dryly.



"I don’t get it," Meers said nervously. "It was finished. Now it’s going to be at least twelve hours of work to get it rendered back into shape."



Walsh rubbed her temples. Now her only hope was the US military investigators could find enough evidence to arrest the sensitive before the mission. But if the mission were delayed…



"Get it set in motion and get rid of Delacroix," Walsh ordered. "He’s been her protector through this."



"How?" Warren squeaked. "He puts the killer in hunter-killer!"



"Use a better one," she suggested. "If you want the power you take the risks. Go, and hurry."





Director Carruthers looked at the two academics in his office and tried to comprehend their presentation. They had used graphs and holograms. Dr. Dempsey especially had been obtuse and enthusiastic both. The only time the man had stopped smiling was when he mentioned Rosenberg’s loss.



"How long do we have?" he asked finally.



"Given our calculations," Dempsey started quickly, "From the observation time, with a mean standard-"



"Eighteen hours from the observation," Dr. Chung interrupted gently. "Say 1800 to be clear."



"Excellent, doctors," Carruthers said standing up and heading for the door. "Your help has been invaluable. I must get on this right away. Ms. Davis will see you out."



He left the room and brusquely walked down the hall. He signaled his personal assistant and took the cell phone from his hand.



"Martino, I want the team out no later than 6 o'clock," Carruthers ordered. "The eggheads say it's going to spike about eight o'clock tonight. Have the team ready when I get back."



The Director rang off and turned to his aide with a satisfied smile.



"Call the president and then the premier," he ordered good-naturedly. "Oh, damn, get on the horn to Martino again and tell him I want a photo op with the team before they go out, even the chick. She might be useful for the liberal vote."





Delacroix was halfway to the Science Building when his private cell phone rang. The caller ID was blocked so he waited. The message light came on in a moment. He called up the message.



"I have proof Walsh is setting up some girl mental named Maclay," a female voice whispered. "You're the only one I can trust. No comms or tracers. And no guns, I'm not getting shot helping that mental. I'll call you in fifteen minutes."



Warren watched the soldier put away the cell through binoculars. Meers pulled the wire from his cell phone and rolled it around the small black box. He looked at his watch and hurried off. With luck everything would be in place in an hour.

[Willowfan]

Oh my geez! The pace is picking up and everything is coming together....and you stop?! Ok...ok...*takes calming breaths* Ok...I can wait...love it so far. The AU is very....interesting...I can't wait till tara is reunited with Willow...and I can't wait to see how in the frilly heck you do it! :-P

Willowfan

“Love’s bitch?” Spike asked softly...
“Woman enough to admit it,” Willow agreed with a nod and a sad half-smile.

“Cheers, luv,” Spike whispered... -Answering Darkness by Sassette

[xita]

Oh looks like things are coming to a head over in there. She's almost there, she needs to go or they'll get her, those bastards.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
Tara and Willow

Accept NO subsitutes

[mollyig]

It was lovely to see the genuine concern Willow has for Anya. The others don't seem to be bothered about her much.



Tara being set up by the conscienceless power-hungry Walsh & Warren. I thought it was nice how in the middle of the technical meeting about what they were going to do that Tara's hair was being braided. I'm not sure why that image appealed to me. Maybe because it showed how loved Tara is by her team, without any words needing to be spoken.

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

[oneinten]

This is a great story! Things are heating up now and I'm very interested to see how these two realities collide!



Can't wait for the next bit!



kath

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Thank you all for your patience and kind words. Love the feedback you've been giving me, even though you are really too generous. And a special thanks to Mollyig. I was worried about that briefing scene since it strays from the accepted norms in several ways. But after all, straying from the 'accepted' norms is what Kittens do.



I'll put away my soapbox now and just say-



Thank you all,



J

[jixer]

Hotel Kilo 2-2

Update #11

Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6

WARNINGS: Kitten Angst Advisory. This is after Season 6.





Willow looked out the kitchen door into the dining room. She smiled as Buffy and Xander laughed while Dawn rolled her eyes. Anya seemed to be hanging back quite a bit but at least she’d shown up. Willow looked over the detritus of the meal's preparation. Mostly she'd warmed and unwrapped with the help of everyone, even Anya. She picked up the tray of desserts and pushed into the dining room.



"Ta da!" she said and presented the tray full of éclairs with a flourish.



"Ooh, gooey," Dawn said enthusiastically as she reached for an éclair.



"Wonderful desserts aren't gooey," Willow insisted. "They're, ah…"



"Sticky?" Buffy said as she licked her fingers.



"Tacky?" Xander offered doing the same.



"Messy?" Anya asked dreamily contemplating hers.



"Thanks for the vocabulary help guys," Willow pouted.



"Anytime," Dawn smirked.



"I see the whipped cream on the finger for the poor starving cat," Buffy warned.



"Oh, gotta put this one back," Willow said suddenly as she gently picked up an éclair.



"Hey!" Dawn and Xander both exclaimed at the same time.



"Thumb wrestle you for it," Dawn challenged.



"You’re on, Summers!" Xander said in a mock snarl. They joined hands and he began to hum the fight theme from ‘Star Trek’.



"No wrestling, thumb or otherwise," Willow said as she came back in. "That one’s Giles’ when he gets here."



"Dawn?" Xander asked looking up from his easy victory. The girl seemed to be looking at something far away. Willow saw the same look on Anya’s face. The demon very hesitantly reached out and touched Dawn’s hand. The teen almost jerked and looked at her and then gave Anya a sad smile.



"What?" Buffy asked softly in a concerned voice.



"Thumb wrestling," Anya said tightly. "Tara taught me how to do it. I thought it was some arcane magical defense art at first. Instead it turns out to be a stupid game and I kind of liked it."



"Yeah, kids stuff," Dawn said quickly. "Excuse me."



Dawn got up and walked quickly to the kitchen. Willow and Anya stood up, but Buffy shook her head.



"Give her a second, guys," she said carefully.



"Are you sure?" Willow asked anxiously.



"Teenagers can be tricky," Anya observed worriedly. "I mean some of the worst vengeance cases I had were teenaged girls. No sense of proportion."



Xander just kept quiet and looked at the door. After a moment Dawn came back with a wan, embarrassed smile on her face.



"Don’t worry, the éclair is safe," she said a touch too lightly.



"As long as you didn’t feed it to the fuzzy moocher," Buffy said dryly.



"When is Giles getting in?" Anya said with a studied nonchalance.



"In about an hour," Willow said with a sigh.



"You okay?" Xander asked. "I mean, with him coming and all. Just seems a bit too casually dropping in on the recovering…"



Xander stopped and looked down at the half-finished pastry. Then he gave a wincing smile.



"Anybody want to watch me change the feet in my mouth?" Xander asked bitterly. "It’s kind of like changing the guard at Buckingham Palace, only without any resemblance at all."



"We’ll pass," Willow said with a shake of her head. "Guys, it’s okay. I’m not going to go that way again. I learned a few things at the coven in Devon but mostly it was Giles who got my mind through a lot of things. He got me past the darkness, or at least showed me the way. And I’m not in recovery. It wasn’t addiction. It was me trying to be anything but me."



"But why?" Dawn asked, bewildered. "You were the coolest."



"Thanks," Willow said with a small real smile. "I just never saw it. I hated being Willow the good dull girl. Magic was better than computers, it was more cool and dangerous and wow. I mean, hackers are still picked on, but magic users can push a bully back through a brick wall. It was power and it was perfect. It even gave me her and then I had everything. I loved the power. I could do anything with it. And I did."



Willow looked at her family for a second. She was shaking so hard her voice trembled, but all she saw when she looked at them was their concern for her. She looked down for a second and gathered herself.



"I wanted the world to be the way I liked, so I used the power and kind of stopped being me," Willow said flatly. "I forgot Tara loved that me. It cost the ‘new’ me the one thing I couldn’t lose. After that I had to make a choice and then she was back…"



Buffy wrapped her hand around Willow’s. Willow stood up and they embraced. Dawn and Xander joined them. Anya held back for a moment. Finally she awkwardly reached out and touched Willow’s hand.



"I’m sorry she’s gone," Anya said haltingly. "We all are."



"Yes, we are," Giles said as he put his bag down and gently put his arm around Anya’s shoulders. She looked up at him and gave him a brave smile.



"You’re early," Willow said with happy reproof.



"Tailwinds, they said," Giles shook his head. "And the freeways were only horrible."



"I’m glad you’re here," Willow said as he embraced her. After a moment of reunion she tapped on the glass in front of her for their attention.



"I’ve got one last apology to make," she said closing her eyes as tears started streaking her face. "Tara, I-I hurt our family when I was hurting, and killed claiming it was justice for you. You deserved better, and I’m sorry. I’ll do better, I promise."



"She’d be so proud of you," Dawn said hoarsely as she hugged her friend again.

___________________________



Across town a shabby figure lugged a sack full of low-fat junk food up to a cemetery wall. Clem carefully put the sack on the ground and squeezed himself through the gap. He reached back for the sack and turned around only to have the paper bag explode out of his hands. Inhumanly strong hands slammed him against the fence with a growling chortle.



"Hey, wrinkle boy, where’s the Slayer?" a scarred vampire laughed. "I’m tired of this one horse town."



"How should I-uuffff," the demon gasped as a second vampire dropped him with a blow to the gut. The kick that followed made the world ring and turn gray for a heartbeat or two. Clem tried to look up and saw four similarly dressed vampires smiling down at him. They all reached down at once and tossed him up over the fence. The demon landed hard and fought for breath as they roared with laughter.



"Get her," the scarred one ordered. "We’ll be diverting ourselves."



Clem saw them pull a terrified young woman to them and rip off the ragged gag she wore. He recognized the mousy, polite girl from the convenience store. The blood on her blouse seemed to be someone else’s. He figured the snarky counter guy was past trying to piss off customers anymore.



The girl ran clumsily as they chased her. Clem staggered up and headed toward Buffy’s. He heard a crunching sound and looked down to see the girl’s glasses under his shoe.



"Sorry," he muttered as he lurched down the street. He didn’t remember the way being so far uphill or so distorted. He found the house on Revello and climbed the undulating steps. There were happy sounds on the other side of the door.



"Sorry," he said again as he swayed and raised his hand.





University of California at Santa Barbara





Riley felt uneasy as Tara picked up her tea at the stand in the Student Union Building. He was looking at his watch when she turned to him.



"Thanks," Tara said softly. "But it’s not really why I wanted to come here."



"If this is going to be about Beth, let’s not," he said tightly.



"Sorry, it’s a girl thing," she replied gently. "And I’m a hopeless romantic on top of that."



She could feel the soldier’s emotions fade as he battered them into control. It wasn’t as smooth or as thorough as Delacroix’s seemingly effortless control, but she felt him fade more than she liked none the less.



"This isn’t the time or the place for romance," he said firmly as they walked towards the parking lot and Beth’s car.



"All right, when w-would be a good time?" she asked carefully. "After you wrap yourself up as tightly as Michael? After three failed marriages like Howard? It doesn’t have to be like that."



"Do you think Beth could be like Jane Ramirez or Erika Talbot?" Riley said quickly. "It takes a lot to make a-a military marriage work."



"I just said romance," Tara pointed out with a small smile. "And nice not s-saying Omega there."



"It’s not that she’s not special," Riley said as Tara felt just a bit of control slip around his emotions. "But I’m good at this. I can’t just walk away."



"PacConFed has the Rangers," Tara said quietly. "And their Guard units can be kind of, um, non-linear. At least Howard says so."



"It’s not the same," Riley said almost wistfully.



"Once you get on a team it’s hard to change?" Tara asked. "Even if there are sparks in your eyes when she walks into a room?"



Riley stopped and looked at her for a long second. He gave her a sad smile.



"Yes, and you really are a hopeless romantic, Mama Cat," he answered. "Sparks, huh?"



"Yes," she answered with a soft earnestness. "I know s-sparks. I almost didn’t take them, Riley, and that would have been…" Tara shook her head. "They’re worth the risk and the pain because you never know h-h-how long…"



"We’ll see," he said as she turned away and took a ragged breath.



They hurried along for the parking lot. Graham was waiting for them and opened the back door for Tara. Riley and Graham slipped into the front seat and drove off. Behind her she heard a voice swear gently. The back seat was just slightly ajar. Tara handed a bottle of water down as surreptitiously as she could.



"Thanks, Maclay," the voice whispered. "No quick turns, Finn. We’re already tightly packed pretzels. Why couldn’t your girl drive a van?"

____________________________________



Across the campus Michael Delacroix strode to his motorcycle as Howard Prader tried to stay calm.



"This is about ninety five percent sure trap," the older man snapped. "At least tell me where the meet is so I can back you up."



"Then I run the risk of blowing the meet," Michael answered flatly.



"And that’s a bad thing?" Howard asked with a roll of his eyes.



"Get the team’s gear ready. Did you find anything in the comm gear?"



"Nada, nyet, nothing," Howard replied as his team leader mounted his bike.



Michael shrugged and slipped on his helmet. In a second he was off and accelerating. Howard shook his head.



"The girl was wrong." Howard sighed.





Warren shook his head slightly as he listened on the bell microphone’s headset.



"No she wasn’t," he said quietly with a smile. "I’m just that good."



The young man pulled out his cell phone and the small black box. He dialed a number and waited for two rings before he spoke into a seemingly incomplete connection.



"Pigeon on the way, get the hawk out," he ordered. He snapped off the phone and watched the soldier disappear into town.

_______________________



Riley pulled the car into the garage at the Summers’ house. Beth and Alex Harris waited for them at the back. The door closed and latched down before Riley and Tara got out. Then two much more hunched figures crawled out and stretched quietly.



"Why the clown car routine?" Harris asked suspiciously.



"Because they’re not supposed to be here," Beth answered levelly. "You said emergency and secret."



Riley nodded and started to explain. Tara could feel the tension climbing in the garage. Both the PacConfed citizen soldiers looked at her as Riley finished.



"You’re serious," Beth said meeting Tara’s eyes. "She’d let the monsters out just to make us one happy continental government complete with an Office of Insidious Snoops."



"And dropping a drone full of bombs on this place is bad because?" Alex asked angrily.



"Because there may be innocents th-there," Tara answered.



"And a drone might miss all the monsters," Graham pointed out.



"We might also," Beth pointed out tersely.



"Not defending your h-home," Tara said quickly. "Judith always thought you were the best at making impossible things happen. She said you were a force of nature."



"Earth, wind, fire and Beth," Alex said softly smiling. "She’s right too."



"All right, let’s say we get crazy and agree to do this," Beth said crossing her arms. "How many monsters are there right now?"



Tara closed her eyes and pushed herself to the limit. She sensed the angry hunger of the vampires. She felt five faint presences. Her eyes flew open.



"F-five," she gasped.



"You said six," Riley said as he pulled out a comm. The other soldiers pulled weapons and turned back to back with Tara.



"Wait," she said hurriedly.



She cast herself widely, like she did on patrol. Further away than she had ever before sensed she felt the growing rapaciousness of a wakening vampire. Then she felt the familiar tightness of Michael near it. She gasped as she felt the vampire move.

_______________________________



Delacroix parked the motorcycle and looked over the site of the meet. An alley, shaded and cluttered, was between him and the back door of a closed coffee bar. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He saw two rail thin young women look at him coyly. He nodded back politely as he moved to the alley.



Unbidden a memory came to him. Again he carried a fit young female with a real woman’s curves. She was warm in his arms as he carried her, taxed beyond her limits, to her room. Her startling blue eyes had looked up at him briefly, trusting him, then closed gently. Voice like an angel, touched with power beyond his knowing but with a gentle soul and the body of-



Danger ahead of him flashed through his mind. Without thinking he reached for the small of his back for the short hideout, but the draw didn’t clear before a vampire swept away the weapon out of his grasp. The creature lunged, fast and powerful but stiffly off balance. The soldier felt both cold and the leather of his jacket part as the creature missed him by half a millimeter.



Michael faked one way as he dropped a short metal cylinder out of the off-side sleeve. The predator slipped for half a heartbeat after the feint. The soldier grabbed for the piece of metal as it arced around the creature’s neck. He held the cylinder’s mate in his other hand as he lifted his feet off the ground and pulled savagely on the wire garrote with everything he had or hoped to be. His full weight cut into the undead flesh, almost severing the head. The vampire roared and swung him into the side of the alley.



Michael held on by the barest of margins. His weight carried the wire the rest of the way through the vampire’s neck. The roar faded into nothing almost instantly. A door opened and the muzzle of a flame projector jutted out. Time seemed to slow down as he reached for the weapon and jerked it away from his body.



The man with the flame weapon looked frightened as Delacroix twisted it out of his grasp. His partner was working the action on a pump shotgun when Michael slammed the stock of the flame projector into the shotgunner’s throat. The first man sprang past the soldier and then used the kick that had won him several tournaments.



Delacroix leaned back away from the kick, then swung the weapon again. The martial artist was shocked at the pain in his knee and it’s sudden echo less than a second later in his neck. Suddenly he was sure there was no air in the alley.



A moment later a pair of wet cracks echoed softly in the narrow way.

____________________________________



Ninety meters away Howard pushed the selector of his rifle to ‘safe’ as Delacroix climbed on his motorcycle and sped off. He quickly placed the weapon back in its case.



"Too close, boss," he muttered. "Worst seven seconds of my life."



He had never had a clear shot from the moment the vampire had erupted into his field of view through the scope. He listened for more communications traffic as climbed down the fire escape but heard nothing. The band the tiny piggybacked bugs he’d found in the team’s radio gear was silent as well. He made a mental note to simulate a radio check before they went out.

_____________________________________



Tara sagged in the garage. She felt the cold angry joy of the vampire flare and die. Michael’s hotter anger briefly leaked through, then faded into a hard edge almost as frightening as the vampire. She felt the faint echoes of two more deaths in the alley and shuddered. She met Riley’s eyes.



"Five vampires, and a two less o-others, h-humans," Tara said with a quiver.



Riley looked at her and nodded. He understood what her words meant, but he could only guess what they cost her to know on a level she couldn’t look away from.



Beth watched them and guessed what it meant. Judith’s lover looked worn out and Riley’s face was grim. Neither of them looked they would ever smile again. Beth felt her heart go out to them, but she kept her face impassive with an effort. She looked at Alex, who shrugged and then nodded.



"Let’s do this," she said calmly. "Talk to me, commando twins, nope, quads now. What am I getting us into?"

___________________________________



Talbot skidded around the corner and nearly ran over Ramirez. He thrust a pair of headphones at the assistant team leader.



"They said eighteen hundred, he said eight Papa Mike," Talbot gasped.



The ugly man reached for the headphones and prayed the medic’s incomplete message was wrong. They both listened for half a minute. Ramirez looked at his watch.



"Recall them and get all the gear out," Ramirez said as he turned away. He raced out the door and ran for the Director’s appropriated office. He felt relief to see Colonel Martino looking up from a sheaf of maps and Carruthers nowhere around. For his part Martino knew in his heart first sergeants didn’t run for anything less then disasters. He listened briefly to Ramirez and then the headphones. He shook his head.



"Don’t tell me where it came from," Martino ordered. "Get your team pulled together and be on the pad in one. Go."



The Director’s aide poked his head into the room as the soldier jogged away. Martino picked up the phone and glared at the timorous man.



"Get the Air Force liaison on the line, now" he growled into the phone. "Her toys have to be ready to blow two hours earlier."



"That’s the Director’s decision!" the aide snapped.



"Then call him and pry him away from the premier," Martino replied tartly. "Tell him the photo op just got moved up."



_____________________________



In the house across the street from the Summers house a man and woman in civilian suits sipped tea as a sour faced man left the room. The woman smiled thinly as she put away the photo of two woman holding hands on the front steps of the house across the street.



"We’ve got her," the female CID inspector said with a victorious tone.



"We’ve got her on suspicion," her male colleague warned.



"No, we have her," she replied. "She’d have to deny she loved the dead girl. She won’t do that."



"Maybe," he said unconvinced. "It was just a fag thing. Either way we stick to the chain of command on this one."



"Oh yeah," the woman agreed emphatically. "This one is way too political."



__________________________________



At the Summers house the living room grew quiet as a shrill emergency alert blared out of three comms at once. Tara listened to the noise and felt her heart freeze. The three youngest members of Hotel-Kilo 2-2 listened to the message.



"Gotta go," Riley said quickly. He looked at Beth, then turned away quickly and herded Tara out the door. She heard a chopper in the distance.



Something made Tara look back at Beth. She saw the petite woman’s stricken look disappear behind a mask of resolve.



"I’ll get him back." Tara whispered.

[Grimlock72]

well...what to say... you manage three story-lines rather well



esp. the all-new/AU Tara storyline is nicely done. It's good to see her in a team. I especially liked when the stood around her against Warren. That OIS (which Walsh would rather have permanent) sounds rather scary... you're a fortune-teller by any chance ??



Warren and Walsh should be shot of course, rather sooner then later



I'm still wondering where the vampire-near-buffy story goes though...so I guess you got me hooked



Excellent work, well done... now please post the remaining parts, heh.



Grimmy

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Well, Grimlock, you asked for it. Hope this one doesn't disappoint.



Reflecting on the date makes me say: Be careful, kittens, but never fearful.



As always, thanks for your efforts and your time. It's the most precious thing you have to give.





J

[jixer]

Hotel Kilo 2-2

Update #12

Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6

WARNINGS: Kitten Angst Advisory. This is after Season 6.





Sunnydale California





Willow felt an old familiar fright sneaking up her spine as she walked along the sidewalk with her friends. Night, vampires, depending on others to be the big guns and an odd feeling of being alone, even as she walked along with the group.



"Full circle," she said softly to herself.



She stole a glance at Xander and felt a new worry. He looked frightened. He’d always hidden being afraid before, but this was a new kind of fright. She knew he was sure he was going to freeze. Anya didn’t seem to notice as she took furtive glances at him.



Anya had volunteered to come along with a surprising vehemence. Willow studied her covertly and saw Anya was doing the same to the rest of the group. Twice Willow caught her about to say something but the demon stopped each time. Giles seemed to notice but if he did he was giving her a chance to start the conversation. Willow didn’t think she could.



Buffy was missing most of the tension in the group. She and Dawn had enough tension of their own. The sisters had been on edge from the moment Clem had collapsed through the door. Buffy didn’t want Dawn near four vampires and Dawn refused to allow her older sister to go after the creatures on her own. Willow and Giles had negotiated the old solution of taking all the Scoobies out to deal with the vampires.



And Buffy had fought it. The Slayer still hadn’t told either Willow or Giles about her dream, but it seemed enough to push all of Buffy’s protective buttons. She was taking control while keeping distant to protect her friends. Willow shuddered inwardly as memories of past decisions like this whispered of old failures. She squared her shoulders and hurried to get beside Buffy.



"Nice night for slaying," Willow observed in a bad imitation of casualness. "It’d be nicer though if we knew a prophecy or, hey, even a dream to give us, you know, some sort of advantage."



"It wouldn’t help," Buffy said with a small shake of her head. "It didn’t make any sense."



"Well, I’m not claiming to be a big dream knowledge gal but I am an ex-witch," Willow offered with a wry smile. "I’d kind of like to offer something besides having a vamp trip over me in the fight."



"Okay," Buffy said with a sigh. "But only because you asked, all right?"



"Oh, I’m not gonna like it, huh?" Willow asked with a wince. "Serves me right for asking. Hit me, only don’t really, just tell me the dream ‘cause if you hit me…stopping and listening now."



"I saw you, Will, only it was sophomore year high school Willow and Black Willow and some other you I’ve never seen before," Buffy said in a rush. "And Riley was there, and vampires and a whole lot of mirrors. Then these other guys start flitting around the edges and I see Tara. I think she stepped out of a mirror. Then Riley turns into Warren and I wake up. Stupid alarm clock."



"Oh," Willow said as her mind tried frantically to piece something together out of Buffy’s rambling that didn’t center around Tara stepping out of a mirror.



"Extraordinary," Giles observed softly. "You said that there were a lot of mirrors?"



"Are mirrors big?" Buffy asked quickly.



"Sometimes," Anya interjected, then stopped and looked away.



"Yes," Giles answered carefully as he looked at Anya. "In dreams of the Slayers a mirror is usually a change or some duty the Slayer is missing. It can also mean dimensional portal but I think we can safely discount that, especially since no demons are involved."



"And you just happened to know all that because you were reading the Watcher’s Guide to Dreams for fun, right?" Buffy asked as she raised an eyebrow at Willow.



"Kind of hinted, you know, about bad Buffy dreams," Willow said hesitantly as Giles coughed and looked guilty. Buffy gave them both a real smile.



"Thanks," she said. "But you’ll need to work on the nonchalant look, Will."





Behind them Dawn paused and waited as Clem tried to hurry. She shook her head.



"You should have stayed at the house," she told him one more time.



"No, gonna…help," he replied out of breath.



"Dawn," Xander said flatly and pulled her aside. "Leave it alone. He needs to do this."



"He’ll get hurt more," Dawn insisted. She met Xander’s eyes and tried to understand why he had backed the demon’s request to come along.



"Why aren’t you home safe?" he asked quietly.



"That’s different," Dawn replied hotly.



"It’s not that different, is it?" Xander asked roughly.



"This is some guy thing, isn’t it?" Dawn asked waspishly.



"No, it’s a scared guy thing," Xander replied with a tremor in his voice as he turned away and hurried after the rest of the group. "Come on."



The Scoobies slowed down at the outskirts of the cemetery. Buffy heard the frightened, broken sobbing of the girl and felt the familiar anger build in her soul.



"Let’s go," she snarled.





Trevor smiled as he listened to the approaching group chatter. Their noise discipline was as bad as he had been told. The voice seemed to almost be visible in its vengeful joy.



"…Now?…Your plan…" it pleaded.



"The creature is with them and so is the Englishman," he observed as he nodded and turned to three of his youngest vampires. "Runners, to the team leaders, ‘Plan Orange’. Go."



He looked back and saw the Slayer inside the wall and her comrades clambering over the wall of the cemetery. The Slayer was listening for the girl. He smiled broadly and let his face show his true nature as the last of the group entered the graveyard. He felt the voice wrap its magic around him as he pushed the shotgun’s safety to ‘off’.



"Tally Ho," he said into the darkness.





University of California at Santa Barbara





Tara rummaged through the two large plastic cases that had followed her for over a year. Gear for every climate and condition except for hard vacuum rested in their depths. Her favorite civilian clothes, long carefully wrapped and set in the bottom, were missing. She looked up at Ramirez.



"Um, my clothes?" she asked him. "W-what happened to them?"



"Sorry, Cat," Graham said from behind Ramirez. "We sent them out to get cleaned and pressed. You keep telling us how you’re going back to dresses after this is all over."



"Oh no, you’re becoming all soft and domestic, Graham," Tara teased. "And with my stuff."



"Hey, you don’t expect me to risk one of my fine Hawaiian shirts with the dry cleaners until I see what kind of job they do," he replied sagely.



"No, they might make them clash less or something horrible like that," she answered just as seriously.



She grabbed her fire retardant flight suit and headed to the restroom to change. She was concentrating on the mission and missed Ramirez’s anger even as he stuffed his BDU’s into a bag with more force than the garments deserved.



"Sarge," Riley started gingerly. "She’s going to notice."



Ramirez simply nodded and started to take his usual care in packing.



"E and E kits seem a bit heavy," Talbot observed, hefting the sealed package meant for use if a team member had to make their own way back from a mission. He sighed. "'Feral Cat'… Are we really sure they're on to her?"



"Four sources, including one local," Ramirez answered flatly. "They’re here, and close."



"Riley was told it would be good for his reenlistment if he helped turn 'any suspected deviants' over to CID," Ramirez continued. "I and Howard got a call from an old friend in CID at the Pentagon saying their best fagfinders were sent out here. Randall was approached to wear a wire."



"Local?" Talbot inquired in a hard tone.



"Joyce, Beth’s mom, was approached at her gallery," Riley said with a grin. "They tried to use the ‘scary mental’ approach. It didn’t take."



"But emphatic rejection can be a confirmation in its own way," Graham said as he shrugged on his hard body armor.



"The pup’s are learning," Talbot said with a sad grin, then he sighed. "She has a right to know. I still think we should tell her."



"No," Ramirez answered quickly.



"Why not?" the medic asked.



"Because she wouldn't go if she knew," Riley explained. "She won't let us get in trouble because of her."



"So we buffalo her when we get back?" Talbot said reluctantly.



"Yes," Ramirez said in a resigned tone. "She'll be tired and out of focus. Glenn and Lewis have the car ready at the hospital. The dust off crew is ready for 'engine trouble' if necessary."



"Need to know on the destination, I assume," Talbot said almost wistfully.



"I don't even know which of us has the people putting her up," Ramirez answered. "I'm sorry, Doc, I know you'll worry but our girl has to disappear. They're too close."



"There's something she'll want," the medic said.



Riley picked up a small package he was putting in his pack. It was the sign from Tara's room. The "Maclay/Rosenberg" shone under the light for a second. Doc nodded and went back to getting ready. He smiled as he slipped a plastic bag with a small plush stuffed cat into his own pack.





Delacroix stood at ease in front of the Director and Assistant Director of the (E) OIS and waited for the man to come to the point. He felt time slipping away until Walsh interrupted her superior.



"The crux of the matter is none of Hotel Kilo 2-2’s personnel are officially qualified to set up a Reference Point Generator in the field," she explained clinically. "To sign off on the mission the Director must have someone trained and qualified in field operation of the Generator. It’s policy."



"Thank you, Ms. Walsh," Carruthers said politely. "So there we are."



"Field work can be dangerous," Michael observed blandly.



"Senior Technical Specialist Meers has a Field Qualification Level of One," Walsh answered in the same tone.



"Our sensitive, Miss Maclay, has a FQL rating of Four," Michael observed.



"He goes," the woman said with a hint of steel in her voice. "And I’m sure you don’t have a lot of time to get ready."



"He’s got some real nexus time," the Director added. "Went out on the last 1-3 mission as an adviser."



At that moment the outer door opened and Warren stepped through in a flight suit with two large men carrying his cases. He stepped up to Delacroix and extended his hand. Michael shook it firmly.



"Welcome to the team," the soldier said with the ghost of a smile. "I wasn’t aware there had been any observers out with 1-3 that day. You were lucky. Perhaps that will help our mission."



"Just had a short time on the ground," Warren said with a shrug. "Did my job and followed the signal back with an escort. Nearly lost my lunch on the fall back. Nothing like what you Kilos do."



"We should be going," Michael said. He turned to the burdened men. "Room 149, Erdman Hall."



The four men left the office. Michael held back slightly as the men with the cases hurried to be free of their burdens. When they were alone he reached out and pulled Warren aside with his hand over the technician’s lapel mounted comm unit.



"There are those of us who understand important things occur at midnight," Delacroix said softly as he tossed his head in the direction of the office. "But we have reservations about…"



Meers stopped pulling at the older man’s hard grip and looked up and down the hall quickly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an ECM module.



"Midnight?" Warren asked in a whisper.



"Transpositions can occur then that can be… beneficial if one takes the long view," Michael went on releasing the comm unit. "But the leadership would have to be more capable, wouldn’t you think?"



"Yeah, but she’s a dangerous skirt," Warren said worriedly even as he tried to smile.



"They all are," Delacroix observed.



"So you’re saying what?" Warren insisted. "You know all about Midnight Transposition? You want in?"



"I’m a soldier and I know my limitations," Michael replied as he started to walk forward. He turned and looked intently at Meers. "It’s going to take a man who can lead with his eye on the big picture. And he’d have to be willing to take risks. But not while operational, understood?"



"Yeah," Warren answered as he fought to keep his hungry excitement hidden behind a casual mask. "Mission first, I always say. Then worry about the big picture."



"I think you will go far, Mr. Meers," Delacroix said with a brief nod.



Warren shrugged, but his eyes were alight as he took the lead out of the building.





Tara came out of the restroom pulling at the collar as usual. The room was getting quiet and serious. She had the easiest rig to fit into so she helped Riley and Graham secure their heavier armor and bulging tactical vests. She looked at the two new cases and froze as she read the name. The door opened and Michael entered with Warren.



The team looked up as Michael arrived. As he stood there Tara caught odd flashes of something under his tight control. Warren she read too easily as she fought the urge to hide behind her teammates. Delacroix looked at her and motioned for her to join him outside. She felt an uneasy tightness in her chest as she faced him in the small ante-room.



"Meers has been assigned to the team for this mission," he said flatly.



"No," Tara said softly. "You said once I could refuse to go out w-with anyone. Don't make me go out w-with him. H-he h-hates me and he's...slimy."



"He's setting up the reference point generator," Michael explained.



"Howard could do it, or Doc," Tara interjected hopefully.



"He goes," Michael said firmly. "I'm sorry. You’re both critical to the mission. Get your gear and report to the quiet room. We need to know what terrain to expect. We’ll bring your weapon to the pad. Five and Six will get you there."



Tara looked at him for a moment, trying to understand what was behind his words. She turned away and hurried to the silent cool room set aside for Alphas. She didn’t see him close his eyes and frown.



She felt an interloper as she entered the windowless room. For a fleeting second Tara wished she could look up and see a real Alpha shooing her out. The powerful sensitives had used this place to gather themselves before and after missions. The Alphas had also used the room when they cast their senses to determine the lay of the ground on the far side of the nexus where they were leading their teams. She’d been with Judith on one of those pre-mission sensings.



Tara had been with Judith afterwards once too, but she pushed away that cherished memory. She tried to touch the feeling she had had on her missions into the nexus. Nothing came. She felt a familiar panic start to build. The world needed her to do her job and she was failing.



Worse, she was failing her team.





A Bridge





Below the stream of time had turned entirely dark. Around Tara and Judith a frigid wind started to blow. Judith looked at the woman next to her and trembled.



"It really was you getting us to those places," Judith said fearfully. "But we started before you, er, kind of died. What are you?"



"A guide, or at least I w-was s-supposed to be," Tara said bitterly. "I w-was afraid to guide and counsel my love and I let her do something h-horrible to a friend. I knew it was w-wrong and I didn’t s-stop h-her. I was still trying to heal what had h-happened when…" Tara swallowed her tears. "And now all she could have been is broken."



"But when did you die?" Judith asked worriedly.



"Time doesn’t mean that much h-here," Tara said sadly. "That’s why we can see most of the pasts and futures."



They both looked down and saw another Tara struggle with her fears in a quiet room. The current brought a glimpse of Beth and her friends heading out into the afternoon light. Judith looked up at the girl by her side on the bridge.



"Can’t you help them?" she begged Tara. "She can’t do this without you and Beth is going to get killed doing this in the daylight. You saw that as well as I did."



"I can’t guide an echo of myself," Tara explained with a desperate edge to her voice. "And I was never strong enough to change the light itself."



Judith looked down into the ebony flowing below and saw images of Beth bleeding on the tarmac by the hanger where Walsh’s special project lay hidden. They interposed themselves over scenes of Tara’s Willow as she lay bleeding under the maw of a vampire. Then she saw her love being led off in chains, weeping as she sensed a pair of vampires taking a child in an alley of Santa Barbara, but no one would listen to her.



"No, NO, NO!" the red haired woman screamed into the darkness. She reached for her power and felt it all sweep into her but could not move it past the bridge. The darkness below them crept on and the twilight over them grew colder. She struggled against the wind and the darkness themselves until she was empty. Then she pushed farther as the wind seemed to echo her love’s weeping. She shattered into a flurry of icy flinders and became whole again.



She fell, drained and sobbing, in front of Tara, her pride finally just as shattered against her limits. Tears flowed as she held up her hand.



"Please," Judith begged brokenly. "You keep telling me I’m strong, but I don’t know what to do. Help her, please."



Tara took her hand and trembled in the darkness.



"Follow me," Tara said with a quivering voice. "And do as I do."



The witch opened her very core to the broken woman. Judith hesitated as Tara disappeared and the bridge took on a blue glow. She thought of her Tara, and shaking did the same.





Santa Barbara California





"Let’s go," Beth said as she pushed the pug back inside and closed the door. In the house Chester barked and whined as he pawed at the door.



Beth stepped out of her house and looked up suddenly as she felt a soft wetness on her shoulder. She looked up to see clouds scudding by. She followed their track backwards and saw a storm front billowing in from the coast. A curtain of rain hung below it. As she watched a bolt of lightening crackled to earth. She smiled as her mixed group scrambled into their cars.



"Shotgun!" both Randall and Gordon cried out.



"You can ride with me," Joyce said brightly at the young men.



"You’re really going?" Beth asked anxiously as she looked at her mother’s new BDUs with Summers on the name tape. "You were a clerk back-when you were in."



"I know you think I served in the Guard when there were muskets, dear," Joyce replied with a smile. "But I remember going over a fence on Summer Duty to this little place that had this gorgeous bartender named Aaron. And I remember what MPs acted like. Besides, do you think Harmony is going to be able to pull this off by herself?"



"All right, but only if you’ll be careful," Beth said reluctantly.



"Besides, those two strapping gentlemen fill out those black outfits nicely," Joyce teased as she blatantly ogled her passengers.



"Mother!" Beth hissed.





University of California at Santa Barbara





Tara gasped as she felt a hint of warmth come over her and a view of a small town on a seacoast spring forth in her mind. It was dark, but she could make out few people in light jackets. There seemed to be many graveyards in the town. She saw a place that looked like Santa Barbara might have if it had stayed the sleepy little town it had been before the Pacific War.



Relief made her smile widely as she pulled out her comm and pushed the team button.



"Seven?" Michael answered using her designation.



"Seven, reporting," she replied struggling to keep her voice calm. She heard the rest of the team come on and continued. "Temperate coastal climate, modern human small town, night time, late it looks like, but it might just be, you know, a small town. I know where it is. I can get us there."



"You’re the best, Mama Cat," Riley said as the others agreed loudly.



"Very good, Seven," Michael said after a second. "Five and Six are on their way."



Tara stood up slowly and tried to steady the feeling she now had of direction. It was so comforting and pleasant she couldn’t understand how Judith and the other Alphas considered it draining. She thought of the last time she’d been in this room and blushed happily. It didn’t seem like any time had passed when there was a knock on the door followed by Riley poking his head in and suddenly smiling.



"What ever it was it agreed with you," he said looking at her smile.



"It did," she said softly as she closed the door.



Hotel Kilo 2-2 drove to the pad and looked up at an angry sky. The pilots were anxious to move before the weather caught them. As they flew along she could see lightening flashes in the clouds but none came near the helicopter or the flanking gunships. Meers was sitting in the far forward of the compartment with the team between him and Tara. She looked out the craft's window to avoid seeing him and tried not to feel his presence.



She pushed her senses instead toward the hanger with the vampires and felt five evil presences. Faintly she caught the happier feelings of Beth and her friends and…Mrs. Summers? Tara smiled at the feeling Joyce gave her. She looked out and stared briefly then tapped Riley and Graham.



Below there was a forest of antennas and dishes pointed at their helicopter. She could see the gunships weaving around them and another pair of the armed aircraft ‘escorting’ some press helicopters out of their way. The Restricted Area was delineated by still more cars and vans with the airspace scattered with drones and more helicopters than she had ever seen.



"Is my mascara on straight?" Howard said as he pulled down his flameproof balaclava.



The rest of the team did the same as they started to drop into the landing pad. Tara turned on her comm and moved both the throat mike and the back up mike into place. The power of the nexus grew geometrically in her mind as they approached the ground. Carruthers and a handful of dignitaries watched from behind a phalanx of armed guards and armored vehicles. Carruthers and Martino hurried forward.



"Good luck, we’re counting on you," Carruthers said loudly. Tara noticed he’d managed to find a manly looking cloth coat, not leather and not military, for his performance.



"And the award for best twit in a non-supporting role goes to," quipped Howard as the Director turned his profile just so and waved them off.



Michael was more interested in the brief gestures Martino gave. They were sign language for ‘sorry’.



"Right there, One," Tara said interrupting his thought as she stepped up to a bare piece of ground that had the tiniest ripple on it’s surface. The team gathered in a staggered double line behind her. Weapons were safed and carried at the ready on tactical slings as the team snapped carabiners with braided web lines to Tara’s climbing rig and counted off.



"Seven, lead," she heard One say.



Tara took a step forward and followed the warm feeling as she felt the pull on her climbing rig tug at her. For a second she fell then she stepped out of the grasping nothingness into a cool night under a sky full of stars. She pulled her balaclava more open and took a deep breath. Her team stepped out behind her as she pushed out her talent. Her eyes flew open. She looked at the small lens in front of her left eye for the direction without thinking about it.



"Vampires, dozens of them, three sixty," she gasped then pointed to her right. "Two ULFs, five humans on, mark, one six five."



The team brought up weapons and squatted in a defensive circle as they oriented themselves. Eliminating ULFs was their standard operating procedure. Dead monsters don’t show up later at inconvenient times. Michael and Riley went right, Ramirez and Graham slipped into the night on the left and the other four advanced in the direction Tara had indicated.



Then they heard the scream.