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

[mollyig]

Poor Tara, so many reasons why she has become a target. I agree with Ramirez, she's better off out of there, she has to disappear. Concerned that that little twerp Warren is with them.



Trevor's plan seems to be coming to fruition now that he's forced Clem to bring Buffy et al. Most curious to learn more about what is controlling him.

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

[Tulipp]

You have so much interesting stuff going on here that I can't begin to respond to it all, so let me just point to a couple of things that might seem to be relatively small but really spoke to me:



Xander feeling guilt for not saving Tara.

Dawn and Giles saying things to Willow about Tara, that Tara would be proud, that they miss her.

Ramirez brushing Tara's hair.



These small things just feel so big to me; they get at the emotions of the characters so well.

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Just a quick note to say the next post IS slowly forming, but today it seemed like a good day to get another idea down and out. The piece is "Never Catch A Break". It isn't in this AU, but rather a stand alone short (for me) piece.



Thanks everyone.



J

[Grimlock72]

Trevor has the worst timing ever, attacking when a fully trained assault team has just landed .



Warren was on HK1-3 (Judith's team) on it's last mission... that alone should disqualify him. Besides that, no sufficient reason was given why Warren should go. He has less experience and the job he is supposed to do (but most likely will mess up on purpose) can be done by at least two others on the team.



and Delacroix is behaving weird (and being waaaay to cooperative on the above).



Edited to add:



It will be so much fun when HK22 make contact with the Buffy-group . Buffy seeing Riley, Willow & Tara, Tara & Judith... and of course...Buffy and Willow seeing Warren. (now how did a future Warren ever exist if Willow killed his grandfather??)



I wonder how many rifles will be pointed to Warren's head when the team hears what his dad/grandfather did to Tara, heh. That should be good. "takuuuuh aim! and...fire!" hehe... hey I can dream .



I'll be right here, waiting...thats for sure



Grimmy

"Willow’s magic got out of control, and your response was to fight her with even more magic.Do you make a habit of putting out fires with gasoline?" Tara to Giles -- Mission Statement (ch9.5) by Bagheera

Edited by: Grimlock72 at: 9/12/02 2:30:42 am

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-





Must make this quick (the danger of a one computer household).



This one is all Buffyverse. Forgive me if the action is a bit stilted. I'm still learning. I look forward to your comments.



And yes, I'm working on #14 even now.



Thank you all for the time.





J

[jixer]

Hotel Kilo 2-2

Update #13

Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6

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





Buffy heard the scream and hurried forward. She saw the girl huddled in front of a headstone crying and holding her arm. The limb bent in a new way. The Slayer ran up to the girl who cringed at her approach.



"I’m here to help," Buffy said looking for the vampires.



"Get out of here!" she cried as she looked in Buffy’s direction owlishly. "Get the police!"



"That won’t help," a voice growled in the darkness.



"No, won’t," Buffy said lightly. "But this will."



Her hand was a blur and the vampire fell back. Buffy looked down at her stake as he got up and smiled.



"Our turn, Slayer," he laughed as he pulled out a long metal pipe and twirled it.



She had lived longer than any other Slayer. That’s why she ignored his display of dexterity and kicked his two companions as they come up behind her. They fell back but the next two swung their poles and just missed her. In the back of her mind she registered her kicks hadn’t felt right on impact but she was too busy trying not to die to analyze it.



Willow moved up and saw her friend stagger as one of the vamps got a blow in with its undead strength and speed. Willow threw up her hand and felt her magic stir but not flow. One of the vampires looked in her direction.



"Come on you three," it snarled. "She’s powerless."



Buffy had taken the opportunity of Willow’s distraction to break from the midst of her attackers. They turned and followed her. Willow heard steps behind her and ducked. She rolled and came up with a stake just as a cold body slammed into her. Out of instinct she thrust hard and then coughed as her foe broke into dust. She never knew what made her roll but she did just as a length of pipe buried itself in the ground where her head had been.



"Come on," she muttered at her hand as her magic still refused to flow.



__________________________________________



Anya hurried forward towards the sounds of fighting. She gathered her power and tried to make out the Slayer in the midst of the spinning melee in front of her. She dismissed the sounds behind her. She knew no vampire could hurt a vengeance demon. The agony in her wrist and then in her back indicated she was wrong. The dull sound of creaking and the flash of light she saw as she fell was the final proof of her error.

___________________________________________



Xander felt the glancing blow on his shoulder and grabbed for the weapon anyway. The vampire tossed him off the pole and through the air with a heave. The young man landed on one of Buffy’s attackers and bought her a half-second of precious time. He looked up and saw a thick vest under the vampire’s leather jacket.



"Buffy, they’re wearing armor!" he yelled just as a headstone shattered under a blow that was aimed at his head. He scrambled and rolled away. He came up beside a trio of vampires raising long bones over Anya’s still form. He threw himself at her would be killers with a bellow of rage and unbalanced two of them. They went over in a pile as the third turned on Xander and pulled back his weapon with a furious snarl.



_________________________________________



Giles looked up at Xander’s yelled warning. He snapped out his arms and two vampires turned to dust.



"Buffy, it’s just your vampires," he called out as he rotated his shoulder stiffly. Then his world exploded in bright colors and he staggered to a tree as another vampire tossed away its pole. It reached for him, then looked away and started to laugh until it jerked and flashed dully into dust. Giles could have sworn he heard a crack and a metallic clank nearby.



"Charlie, Hotel Mike," an oddly familiar female voice said as a quartet of armed figures moved up. "Are you all right, s-sir?"



Giles looked at the young woman with a start. He could almost make out a familiar face behind the goggles and pulled open balaclava in the weak light.



"Get out of here," a rough male voice ordered.



Then they were moving forward. Giles stood up and followed them. The back figure yelled and whirled when the Englishman touched him on the shoulder. The figure lost his footing and then Giles was staring down a pair of barrels. He didn’t recognize the model of weapon.



"Back off!" the rough voice said as the other figure reached out and offered the downed one a hand without moving his weapon.



The young woman stood with her back to them, weapon pointed forward. She sighted quickly at something but before he could tell her the bullet wouldn’t work Giles saw the empty case fly out of her weapon. He heard just the ballistic crack and mechanical noise and realized her weapon was suppressed. That was neatly filed away as he gaped at the vampire turning to dust after being shot.



"Bloody Hell!" he whispered.

___________________________________________



Dawn looked up at the scream and waved Xander ahead. She knew Clem couldn’t match the vampires. She fumed at missing the slaying. Clem staggered forward. Dawn was about to help him stay upright when she saw the two vampires step out of the shadows.



"Oh, no," she said caustically. "Not the ‘take the little sister hostage’ ploy again. That’s so last week."



"We figured we’d actually skip it and go straight to ‘drain the little bitch’ instead," the shorter vampire said with a grin.



Dawn felt something deep inside her scream for attention. She was turning before Clem whirled unsteadily and raised his hand in a clumsy block. It deflected one of the strikes and she stopped a second. The other two knocked her to the ground. She tried to stand but one leg wouldn’t get with the program. She cringed as one of the vampires bent down. It let her coil herself for a stronger thrust that just reached his heart.



That left three.



Clem tried to look fierce and face three ways at once as he stood over Dawn. She was trying to move and felt her leg start to respond when, as one, the vampires pulled back their weapons in a move she’d seen Buffy use before. Dawn scrambled to get up with her sword in hand when two of her opponents dissolved and the third looked over her shoulder. She brought the long blade across its neck with all her strength.



Dawn looked up from her fading kill as two armed men in odd uniforms with helmets and goggles over face masks knocked Clem to the ground.



"Hey!" she shouted as she leapt in front of him. "Leave him alone!"



"Seven, vector for second ULF," she heard the shorter one say.



"One," the tall one said softly in a voice she almost knew and pointed down.



Dawn followed the gesture. On the marker was:



Tara Maclay



November 7, 1980

May 7, 2001

Your Family Misses you



And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest





"Leave her alone too!" Dawn snapped with a breaking voice.

____________________________________________



Willow stumbled away from her attackers without grace. She barely gained her feet when she literally ran into the vampire standing over Xander. He stumbled and brought the Morax demon femur down across her back. She fell, stunned and slumped onto her back. Now a pack of undead predators formed around the downed Scoobies. Distantly she was aware of Anya moaning and Xander trying to shield the demon.



She looked up but did not see the ring of smiling evil. Instead, above them, beyond the realm of this world, she saw the stars as they did their slow dance through the night sky just as they had for years beyond counting. Willow smiled.



"Cassiopeia an’ Little Pile O’ Crackers," she laughed softly.



___________________________________________



Trevor watched with increasing impatience as none of his vampires finished the Slayer. The old man, the beast and the girl were no where to be seen, but the witch and the demon lay unconscious or nearly so and the man was beaten. Trevor noted the Morax femurs had been as effective as the voice had promised. He pushed the safety off the shotgun and started to move to the Slayer.



"…Other dangers…deal with the other witch…her minions…," the voice said almost frantically.



"Other witch?" Trevor snarled. "Minions? How many?"



"…Six and an enemy…," it replied.



He pulled out a radio and hoped the team leader of his small reserve had kept control over his restive charges.



"Plan Red, Plan Red," he called calmly into the device. After a long second it clicked twice. He smiled. These radio things would have made hunting in the Balkans a hundred years ago so much easier.

___________________________________________



Tara gave One the vector off her Heads Up Display as she and the other three came up on ULF from a second angle. She could feel a cluster of vampires around the ULF and a pair of humans. One of the humans was a strong presence in her mind. She crested the small rise between her and her objective to see the creatures standing over two still figures and one wavering one. The vampires had an odd shaped club that began its downward arc toward a small red-haired woman.



The world slowed to a near standstill as she saw a weak smile on a face that was etched in her heart. Judith lay there, stunned, with death making it’s slow, almost stately way to her. All of her attention focused on the club in the vampire’s hand.



"NO!" she screamed.



The club flew out of the vampire’s hand as the hand and the vampire disintegrated. The club, no, now she knew it was a bone, flew into another vampire. It screamed as the rest of them turned her way. Her talent suddenly felt the presences of half a dozen vampires rushing to them with demonic swiftness. She sensed them sweep past Two and Six on her left flank before she could call out a warning.



"Vamps left!" she cried out and pressed the trigger of her weapon. The submachine gun barked and a vampire dusted in front of her.



Then they were on them. Tara was dimly aware of the flanking duos coming in. She kept her attention on her sector and pressed the trigger again. She kept her finger away from the selector and the tempting full automatic position. She was a fair shot but if she cut loose with a burst she might hit Judith. In the space of a second and a half she dusted four vamps. She used her talent as a sighting guide without knowing it.



On either side of her 2-2 started to fight with a grim determination as they faced more vampires then ever before, ones with numbers on their side and cohesiveness. The vamps closed in and she could feel both Two and Six nearly overwhelmed. She felt the brush in her hair and saw an obnoxious shirt.



"Get off them!" she commanded angrily for a reason she couldn’t name. All of the vampires stepped back and shook their heads, except the one, wrapped in magic, behind her. He just aimed.

__________________________________________



Dawn stumbled after the masked men. She was almost sure one of them was Riley. She was angry that he hadn’t even acknowledged her. Her leg was recovering swiftly. Too swiftly if she had known it. The girl’s anger vanished as she saw one of six vampires land a blow with one of the poles on her sister’s back.



"No," she yelled.



Then she heard another voice. This one she knew and when she saw the vampires attacking Buffy hesitate she knew it was magic. She fought against impossible hope and lost in a second.

___________________________________________



Buffy felt the blow knock her almost over. She had been slowing down bit by bit as tiny injuries mounted faster than her enhanced healing could deal with. Now she stumbled and threw herself into a roll that avoided all but the last strike. She lurched up as the vampire that hit her swept his weapon back. Then the weapon kept going without him as she heard a pair of whip crack noises followed by another two very loud snaps.



She looked up to see two figures fend off the blows of her remaining attackers. Part of her brain wondered where the vampires had gone. A Slayer’s instincts though made her step forward and snap kick both vampires behind the knees to help her unknown assistants. As the vampires twisted in pain both masked men fired weapons she’d seen before in her dreams. The question of what had happened to the vamps was answered. And she learned armored vests were not proof against rifle fire.



In the silence that followed the tall one looked at her, his body language said he was puzzled.



"Beth?" she heard Riley ask unsurely. Then he looked away quickly as a noise that made Buffy’s heart skip a beat split the night.



"Seven!" he and the other man said as they turned.

______________________________________________



Willow looked when she heard a voice she desperately wanted to hear just once more and noticed the ring of killers fall apart. She sneezed in the dust. She looked in the direction she’d heard Tara, knowing she was hallucinating. As she focused on the smaller figure in the most un-Tara like uniform she knew she saw eyes of blue behind sensible goggles. Then she heard the voice that had healed her heart once before.



"Tara," she called out weakly.



They looked at each other for a single heartbeat. Then Willow saw a figure with the familiar demonic visage of a vampire step out of a malevolent void and point a sawed off shotgun at Tara. The girl fired her weapon and Willow felt rather than saw the vampire behind her shatter. On either side of Tara men were moving too slowly to face the threat while behind her one fell over.



Willow tried to touch her power and felt it surge but she knew it would be too slow. An animal cry came just as a loud roar swallowed up the screamed warning.

__________________________________________



Anya nestled against Xander. Everyone was here. Tara had been away but she was back. She’d just heard her friend’s voice and Willow’s. They were here…and frightened. She didn’t understand why but she had to help. All she had to do was find her way out of the dark. Then she blinked. There was no change in the darkness. She whimpered and gripped Xander.



She reached out with her power and in her mind saw Willow looking at Tara in some weird costume and Tara looking at Willow through something that made a red dot appear on the vampire behind the red-haired woman.



She saw the vampire vanish with a bounce of the light, which she knew some how was recoil from a 9.5mm TAG which was a cartridge and therefore impossible. Then she saw Tara fall with smoke trailing from her bulky vest’s collar.



"No," she whispered and reached out to her friends. She thought she must have done something wrong because there was a bolt of pain and she was blind again.

_____________________________________________



Giles stopped just long enough to stake another vampire as he followed at a distance from the four people he was following. Something made him feel uneasy just a second before the vampire stepped out of nothing and placed an all too familiar weapon to the woman’s back. He called on his limited power just too late to stop the angry flame from scorching the small figure’s vest and helmet. Then there was a flash that seemed to make a feeling of remorse echo in his mind.

_________________________________________________



Trevor was amazed at the pretty woman’s accuracy. It might have been admirable if it wasn’t interfering with his operation. He had time to regret not being able to bring this one over. This was the part of war that was mildly regrettable, the missed opportunities. He felt the voice spend it’s power to buy him time for a follow up shot if needed.



This one was dangerous. The voice had also called her a witch.

He decided to shatter the base of her skull to be sure. He thought that at this range even his buckshot load out of a short barrel should rip through the armor and helmet.

______________________________________________





Tara felt the essence of the vampire overwhelm her just as she pressed the trigger to stop the one behind Judith. There was a smug satisfaction in the sudden presence behind her. She couldn’t understand how she’d missed it. She was worrying that she might have missed more and that her team and Judith would pay for her mistakes when she heard the loudest noise in the world.



Her backup comm system included a pair of electronic earmuffs that cut out external sound past a painful level, but this noise seemed to come from within. She felt herself falling forward slowly. She tried to roll and bring up her weapon but it was far too heavy. She saw the spent shell spin out of the shotgun. Something made a light dance in her head for an instant as she saw Howard and Doc flinch.



When she looked back she saw the muzzle of the weapon jerk slightly as the vampire slammed the action shut. Then it was a perfectly steady dark hole.



"Judith," she whispered.

[mollyig]

Really pacy chapter, jixer So much going on. Wonderful that you kept changing viewpoints, we got to see everything that was happening.

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

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Last post for a couple of days I fear. Back as soon as I can. Please bear with me as real life seeps in around the edges.



Thank you Mollyig, I'm learning that action writing is way more complicated than I thought.



Thanks everyone.



J

[jixer]

Hotel Kilo 2-2

Update #14

Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6

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



Willow saw Tara stir as the vampire worked the shotgun and pointed it at the fallen girl’s face. Willow felt her power burgeoning but she couldn’t find a way to make it flow. Then she felt an oddly familiar touch and had a memory of relishing Giles’ dwindling power. A whisper of another magic touched her and she saw herself holding Anya by her neck. Something begged her to take their power for herself, to be truly powerful again, touched again by real magic and revel in it one more time. She knew she could change all of this.



And she knew Tara would never forgive her.



She pushed her power away, down to Anya and straight to Giles. And that meant through the vampire standing over Tara. For a second he was a glowing, almost fiery pile of dust as her power drained entirely away. The ground came up to greet her with a hard thud.

__________________________________________



Tara watched the brief light show with a small smile. Judith was such a show off sometimes. She sensed the vampires starting to break. There were the two other ULFs nearby.



"They’re breaking," she reported as she sat up. She realized her HUD wasn’t working when she tried to get a bearing. She pulled up her sleeve and looked at her wrist compass. "Four bearing one five two, two bearing zero six niner. Two ULFs at…"



"ULFs cleared," One said quickly. "Five, clear the civilians."



Her helmet felt hot and Tara took it off. Through her gloves she felt heat and blessed the fact that her team had insisted she wear the annoying flameproof balaclava on operations. Except now she couldn’t breathe with it on. She pulled it off and gasped for air. She looked for Judith and saw her crumpled on the ground.



She stood up and registered that somehow Beth was here as well. Riley was coming over as One and the rest of 2-2 fired at the fleeing vampires, who vanished one by one from her mind. She staggered over to the moaning form of her love when the last one was gone. She heard her name called out joyously and looked to see a slim teenaged girl rushing to her through the unsecured area. The girl was - was human, of course. Tara shook her head. She couldn’t understand why the girl with Alex showed as a ULF and this girl didn’t show much at all.



"Go to him and wait," Tara said forcefully pointing at Riley. She didn’t understand how the girl knew her or why she looked so hurt.

__________________________________________



"Beth, it’s me," Riley said urgently, pulling open his balaclava. "We’ve got to get you all back. You and Alex, get the civilians and let’s get moving."



"Beth?" Buffy asked confused and angry. " Alex? Back? Where? What’s going on Riley? Is this some sort of sick military monster hunter joke? Or is it a secret operation? And what did you do to Tara?"



"Buffy," Giles said simply as he shook his head sadly.



"Buffy?" Riley asked, his confusion a match for hers.



"Elizabeth to Buffy," Giles explained. "And Riley I would guess is the same in either dimension."



Then Buffy and a Riley she had never met looked at each other and tried to understand all the emotions they were feeling.



"And their Tara isn’t ours…" Giles looked over to the young woman walking unsteadily to Willow. "Oh dear."



"Oh no!" Buffy and Riley said together as they started to move towards where Tara knelt next to Willow.

__________________________________________



"Oh shit, Rosenberg," Tara heard Meers say softly over her comm. "But that’s impossible. She’s dead. Oh shit." Tara was thankful when One snapped at him and he switched channels.

__________________________________________



Tara knelt by the red haired girl and brushed an errant lock away from exhausted green eyes. They smiled at each other through happy tears. As Tara took the beautiful redhead’s hand in hers both of them felt the familiar answering warmth in the touch.



"Tara," Willow whispered. "How?"



"W-we came through the nexus point," Tara explained trying to control her joy. "I never thought I’d-I’d-I…Oh God, I love you, Judith."



"Tara, who’s Judith?" Willow asked with joy quickly fading from her voice. "It’s Willow, don’t you remember? I love you. I-I need you, and you found me and everything’s going to be okay. Don’t cry, baby, it’ll be okay. Why are you crying? Please, it’ll be okay."



"Willow," Buffy said hurriedly.



"Buffy, she’s hurt, we need to get her to a hospital," Willow said frantically as she stood and swayed. "She doesn’t remember me. It’s the big bang she took on her head. That’s it. Riley? Did you bring her back? What’s wrong? Don’t turn away love, please!"



Willow reached for her and started to fall.

__________________________________________



Tara felt her heart go cold as she heard the red haired woman’s words. Her talent told her the love and need behind each word was true. The echoed longing in this Willow ripped open the fragile scars on her soul like a hurricane through a sail. She couldn’t bring herself to stand and let go of the warm hand, so small and wonderful and so much like Judith’s. Tears flooded her vision so she couldn’t see the hurting green eyes. Then she could find the courage to stand and let go of her hand.



If she didn’t touch her, maybe the girl would stop hurting. If she didn’t care the girl with Judith’s voice and her own tearing loss wouldn’t hurt as much. She hurt the people she cared about. Her team was facing a world full of ULFs and danger because of her. Beth and Judith’s friends who’d accepted her were putting themselves in danger because of her talent. She didn’t trust herself to look into those eyes and turned away.



This Willow had loved her Tara. Maybe without either of them she could become normal and find a man she could love.



Somehow she knew the woman was falling and without thinking she turned back and reached for her.

__________________________________________



Buffy and Riley grabbed Willow just as her hands met Tara’s. Green eyes met blue for a brief eternity. She saw Tara take a deep breath as Buffy steadied her. Tara reached down and pulled the balaclava out of her cargo pocket where she’d stuffed it a moment ago.



"I’m sorry, Miss…Rosenberg?" Tara said with a forced calmness. "You’ve confused me with someone…else."



Tara pulled the balaclava down and pulled her back-up comm system into place.



"Seven, radio check," she said efficiently, she thought.

__________________________________________



Howard and Doc looked at each other and shook their heads. Then they came up behind her and took their places to cover her. Each of them touched her on the shoulder for a second. It seemed to be more than the usual spatial reference for positioning. Tara picked up the helmet. The sandwich of titanium and polymers was scorched and cracked. She buckled it on anyway after she put on her goggles. She unslung her weapon, cleared it and reloaded.



"Seven, clear," she said brusquely.



"Bullshit," Howard muttered sadly off mike.

__________________________________________



"What’s happening?" Willow asked through tears that wouldn’t stop. "Why is she…?"



"It’s not Riley, Will," Buffy said gently. "Not our Riley at least. He’s from another dimension I guess."



"And Tara isn’t…?" Willow asked desperately hoping the hypothesis her mind was formulating was wrong.



"A parallel dimensional personality development," Meers interjected enthusiastically.



"Judith thought there was a chance this could happen," Tara said without thinking.



"Other people had ideas too, Maclay," Warren snapped. Tara turned and walked away before Willow could answer and he turned his attention to her. "Sorry about that, Miss Rosenberg," he said with a shrug. "Oh, just a minute."



He reached up and pulled off his helmet and balaclava. He turned and gave Willow and Buffy a smile. Women with names like that liked guys with forthright smiles. He put out his hand.



"I’m Warren Meers, your double and I worked together a lot," he said smoothly. "We lost a great scientist and researcher in her. I’d, ah, be careful around Maclay. She never was very steady, especially about my Judith."



He realized they weren’t taking his hand just about the same time a man he recognized from surveillance tapes as Alexander Harris stepped up to him. He saw the little blonde thing stop the wimp. He smiled as the guy glared at him. Then Rosenberg hit him as hard as she could.

__________________________________________



Anya blinked and could almost see things in the gloom. Weak puddles of light formed under high light standards. For a moment she remembered Paris in the 1920s. She stepped forward and wobbled.



"Xander?" she whispered. "Anybody?"



"I’m here," Dawn said raggedly as she steadied Anya. "Are you okay?"



"Well, I’m not blind anymore but I can’t see or walk very well, and my head hurts so I’d say no," Anya answered slowly. "Did I really hear Tara?"



"Yeah, and Warren, but they’re not our guys," Dawn said flatly. "Tara’s some ice queen but Warren’s still a butthead."



"Mirrors," Anya said softly. Dawn looked at her worriedly. Anya was muttering about something and had been blind. Dawn made sure she held the demon steady.



"We’ll get you a mirror later," she said gently.

__________________________________________



Tara walked a short distance away and tried to keep calm. She had to stay away from the mourning woman. 2-2 was starting to assemble. Graham was moving his shoulder a bit awkwardly. Doc looked over the injury. Then she felt an anger and fear coming from Willow. Tara turned and took a step just in time to see Willow punch Meers as hard as she could and then shake her hand vigorously.



The girl she called Buffy and Alex’s double stood by her side as Meers came up clawing for his submachine gun. Alex and Buffy both moved to protect Willow. She cleared her own weapon and had him in her sights when One stepped up and blocked the technician’s draw forcefully.



"Fastest presentation I’ve seen you do," Ramirez said lowering his own weapon.

__________________________________________



Clem reached down to the mousy young woman from the store. She peered up after a second.



"They may come back," he said unsurely. "Let’s get you to some friends of mine."



"There was a girl here," she said. "I think they attacked her."



"She handled it," the demon answered with a touch of pride.



"Aren’t you the guy with the hat and the skin condition?" she asked as she stood up unsteadily.



"Yeah, I’m Clem," he said holding out his hand.



"I’m Debbie," she answered taking it. Clem knew she was polite when she didn’t wipe her hand off.



"Let’s get you some help, Debbie," he said gingerly guiding her towards the Slayer.

__________________________________________



"Get to the group, Eight," Michael ordered Warren. "And get your equipment on. Five, get back to the team."



Meers glared at Willow but turned away and put on his balaclava and helmet. Delacroix met Buffy’s eyes as he took off his own helmet and rolled up his protective mask. He touched the small box on his vest and spoke.



"Two two, three sixty," he said evenly. "Seven, scan for the target. Eight get the Romeo Papa Golf to the first stage. Out"



"Seven is Tara, isn’t it?" Buffy asked coldly.



"What the hell is that for, Seven of Nine?" Xander muttered.



"Seven is her number on my team," he answered calmly. "She is vital to our efforts."



"What are you doing here?" Buffy demanded. "I mean I’m glad you showed up but what’s with the techno-ninja look? And how do you kill vampires with guns?"



"Yes, that’s quite fascinating," Giles said looking at the assault rifle in Michael’s hands.



"We kill vampires and other unknown life forms using a palladium alloy bullet at a trans-sonic velocity," he explained. "We were sent by our government to close the rift that has been allowing ULFs into our world for the last fifteen months. Sensitives like Seven…like Tara showed their talent at the same time."



"Fifteen months ago," Buffy said softly. She saw a sunrise as all around her the walls separating the dimensions bled together. She shuddered.



"Glory," Willow said softly with her own matching shudder. "Wait, you said showed their talent? She wasn’t a witch like her mother before then?"



"Miss Maclay’s mother was an amateur folklorist," Michael said carefully. "I am not aware of any witches in our world. There are only a handful of sensitives left. I’m sorry but I must be rude. Do you know of any unusual locations that might attract odd creatures?"



"Depends, how are you gonna close this rift?" Buffy asked levelly.



"By any means available," Delacroix answered.



"Which means?" Buffy insisted.



"Three twenty-five kiloton warheads in a synchronized detonation in the null space between dimensions," he answered.

__________________________________________



Tara kept catching figures here and there in her mind of odd ULFs. There was so much unusual activity she couldn’t trace down one spot to focus the Generator on. She was getting a headache. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She didn’t see anything until she pulled back. An enormous band of undulating power beyond anything she had ever even heard of burned in her consciousness.



Only the more immediate presence of an ULF made her pull away from the hypnotic effect of the power.



"One, single ULF and human approaching," she reported. "And I, um, think I found it."

__________________________________________



Clem stepped out of the darkness escorting Debbie to find Buffy yelling at one of the military killers about nukes going off in the Hellmouth.



"Can this night get any worse?" he wondered aloud.



"Well, I lost my glasses and I’m blind as a bat without them," Debbie said in shaky voice. "Which might be a good thing, now that I think about it."



"Sorry," Clem said with a wince.

__________________________________________



Doc was the only one of them close to happy, Tara knew. He loved helping and he was immobilizing the girl’s arm while the rest of them looked for unknown danger.



Tara felt a brooding anger growing around her as she studied the nexus point on this strange world. Her talent started to pick up odd flares of brief half images. She looked carefully and realized that this was occurring where a vampire had been destroyed.



"One, unknown ULF approaching fast," she said urgently. "It’s using the vamps’ dust."



She felt a pair of eyes on her that made her skin crawl. She looked with her mind to the other side of her team and saw a ghostly image of a frightening almost human woman with snake-like hair and a writhing cloud of cold flame around her naked frame. Tara called One and tried to explain what she was seeing.

__________________________________________



Michael turned on the small speaker and looked to the locals.



"Say again Seven," he replied.



"ULF making something with vampire dust and a second ULF with black writhing hair, human like, female, and she’s in a cloud of cold looking fire," they heard Tara say. "Please don’t ask."



Willow felt the night get a little colder. Anya staggered up on Dawn’s arm. Xander reached for her and stopped. Then he gently offered her his hand. She took it.



"Is that the ice queen Tara describing Prosperexa?" she asked.



"What is Prosperexa?" Michael demanded.



"Very powerful demon, but only when she has followers," Anya pointed out helpfully. "Kind of a bitch though, big with slaughter and blood filled oceans. Holds a grudge like you wouldn’t believe."



"Does she have any followers?" Delacroix asked.



"Not anymore," Anya said. "Earthquake squashed them all years ago. Oh, there was Willow when she was all black magic girl. Then she kind of was a follower."



"Buffy, I think I know what the commando guys’ me had planned," Willow said looking around her worriedly. "I think it can work."



"You won’t be able to see her," Anya pointed out. "No followers."



"Buffy," Willow said in a frightened voice. "I think we need to get them where they need to go, now."



"Why?" Buffy said as she turned. She heard Tara call out something. She saw an unholy dark purple light lift Willow up and toss her over a headstone.



"But you will be able to feel her," Anya called out in a helpful tone. "Sorry."



Something made of dust loomed up and formed teeth that snapped at Willow with the sound of a slammed coffin lid. Michael fired a round and Buffy threw a stake. Both merely flared small parts of the thing. The dust flowed back in to cover the wounds.



"Leave her alone!" Tara yelled.



The pile fell apart. Tara grabbed at her temples. More dusty attackers seemed to be slowly forming around them.



Buffy ran to Willow who looked at her and shook her head.



"How many vamps have we staked here over the years?" Willow asked as Buffy helped her up.



"Point taken," Buffy answered. "Hellmouth?"



"Hellmouth," Willow answered.

[mollyig]

When the realisation set in that it wasn't Judith, Tara forcing herself to appear professional and not affected by what has happened. It must have been so hard on her. And on poor Willow. So glad she belted that twerp Warren.

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

[darkmagicwillow]

Intriguing story. I like your AU and its Tara. I also like how there were long term effects from the dimensional rift opening in The Gift and that you didn't forget MKF either.

--
"Omnia mutantur, nihil interit. "   "Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost."

[xita]

I am all caught up here. And so much has gone on, now it is all making good sense, with the Glory incident reverberating through dimensions. The reunion was sad because they both have lost so much and don't think they can get it back plus Tara comes from such a repressed society. I can't wait till she finds out that Willow loved her Tara profoundly and quite publically. Thank you

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

Accept NO subsitutes

[Grimlock72]

75 kiloton...wow... I recommend everybody leave Sunnydale right now . Thats is a primairy destruction range of at least 10 km, i.e. no more houses or anything standing. I don't know how deep they want to throw those into the hellmouth but it can't be very deep since the damned things would melt before detonation then.



Soo...my evil guess would be they (future ppl) don't care to much about what they leave behind. Set timer, jump back to Santa Barbara and *boom* back in Sunnydale all whats left is a crater.



I still wonder why Warren had to come on that mission, and what happened to the other team he went with. He can't very well sabotage the RefPointGen...since he needs it himself to get back.



Kinda complex story here :-). I like those, except when I keep thinking about possible plot-turnes non-stop...



Tara was so brave to try and tell Willow she was another Tara, must have been so hard for the poor girl .



Those were the thoughts of today, happy writing

"Willow’s magic got out of control, and your response was to fight her with even more magic.Do you make a habit of putting out fires with gasoline?" Tara to Giles -- Mission Statement (ch9.5) by Bagheera

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Well, just a quick word of warning. I'm finishing the "Hope" series and will try to have it up by this weekend on EF and or Fanfiction.net. Okay, maybe up. Wiccan Ways will definately get the third part to go with the two there now. There may be a delay in Hotel Kilo until I finish that project. The delay should be short.



My thanks to all who responded to my last post-



Mollyig- Your input has been invaluable and your encouragement magnificent.



darkmagicwillow- Thank you. There was just too big a possibility with the Gift, and of course, with Miss Kitty. MKF rules.



Xita-Many thanks for all the help. As for the future- The course of true love never did run smooth.



Grimlock 72-Ahh, but not future, rather alternate or parallel. The PacConFed's technological edge that has increased the "technology level" of the alternate world is based historically in the post-Spanish Netherlands (16 and 17th centuries) and the 1930-1940 US. Places that allow freedom tend to gather heady mixes. In the more repressed alternate world PacConFed has the best medicine and the best weapons. And Hollywood, of course. Yin, Yang and Glitter.



Thanks to everyone for the time you've given my story.



J

[jixer]

Hotel Kilo 2-2

Update #15

Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6

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





"What's going on Miss Summers?" Michael asked levelly.



"How did you, oh right, Beth," Buffy said nodding. "Long story, but old big bad wants to collect an old debt, and something is helping her, maybe another big bad on the hit parade. We get a lot of them here. It's the climate."



"We have very little time or your climate is going to spread to our home," Delacroix said pulling his balaclava back on.



"Yeah, but nukes?" Buffy said. "I don't like your choice of tools for the job."



"But it will work, if the null space has a vacuum in the spaces between the worlds and the Hellmouth uses magic, just think of magic as energy, as a covalent source that- neither of you even start to understand and I can’t explain in less than a year so just please trust me, it'll work, but only if it's in the right spot," Willow said in a rush.



"Our RPG will put the warheads in the proper position, according to your analog," the soldier replied.



"Wow, I have an analog, and so do you Buffy," Willow said brightly. "Isn't that cool?"



"Down, science girl," Buffy said warningly. "The nasties aren't gonna want this to happen I'll bet. We get closer to the Hellmouth and they're gonna be big time upset. Can you do magic now or was that all the Willow whammy?"



"I'm kind of, well, way frazzled, but...his Tara, she came through with the big dustbuster," Willow said with more than a hint of approval. "But she's only been practicing for about fifteen months, so she may need some help focusing. I've got an idea. I just have to get her to trust me completely and not be nervous."



"Are you sure you’re okay with magic?" Buffy asked worriedly.



Willow looked up and was about to snap when she realized her friend wasn’t worried about her, but for her. She smiled at her and nodded.



"I’m fine, okay, mostly fine with a bit of terrified, but I’m good to be plan A," She said with a touch of confidence.



"And plan B is?" Buffy asked dryly.



"Everyone gets torn to shreds," Willow answered with a grimace. "It really kind of sucks as a plan."



________________________________________________



Tara tried to make sense of what had happened with the dusty thing that had attacked... Willow, not Judith. She'd almost seen herself hitting it like her team had taught her to fight, the thing had fallen apart and there had been a spike of pain through her skull. The presence seemed to be slow in returning, but she felt it's anger and knew it wasn't going to stop. The hellish woman was also gone. Tara tried to find her but the overwhelming power of the nexus point here was almost blinding.



"You okay?" Doc asked as she trembled slightly.



"Um, yes?" Tara said with a weak smile.



"How can you win at poker and still be such a bad liar?" he asked with a grin.



Her answer never came as it was then that Michael came over with Willow and Buffy. Tara pushed away her headache and straightened up, keeping her attention on the safe, shielded calm of her team leader.



"Seven, the local anti-ULF force thinks there will be opposition," he explained quickly. "They think your skill will help keep them off us until we can finish our op and exfiltrate."



"It'll be fun," Willow said with a forced brightness. "I'm going to show you how to do magic."



"M-m-magic?" Tara said with panic in her voice. "But th-that's w-witchcraft and evil. W-we're s-s-sens-sitives not..."



"Magic isn't evil," Willow said surely. "That comes from other things. I know, and I know you're not evil. And I know you can do this. Just give me your hand. Trust me, please."



Tara met trusting green eyes and felt the woman's confidence in her. She knew her team needed her to do this, but she couldn't stop thinking of the last time she'd seen her father. She had been in uniform on her first leave. The local paper had written about her on the front page. She remembered him turning his back on her, telling Donnie to tell the thing that had been his daughter to leave his home and not return unless she turned away from her evil in all it's guises. Her family had joined him.



She also remembered Donnie’s smile as he told her.



He'd returned her letters unopened since. Donnie had made it a point to tell her he had burned her mother's books because they spoke of pagan things and impious beliefs.



Tara shook her head and looked down, but she held out her hand.



"It’ll be okay," Willow said as soothingly as she could.



As they touched hands Willow almost gasped. This Tara’s power felt just like her lost love’s. It took all the strength of her heart to not let go and weep. She looked around the cemetery and saw things clearly. She saw the patterns and the flows of the cloud that was forming. She knew there were demons in the crypts and tunnels and understood that they were not in control as they started to lurch towards the group.



Something else came to mind as she watched the dust cloud, but it wasn’t magic. It was chemistry.

________________________________________________



Tara felt a change in her opponents. The odd girl whimpered and Willow flinched as dust started to swirl around misshapen figures. Tara called out the ULFs she felt being called from all over the graveyard. She could feel worry from everyone, and panic from Meers. Willow seemed distracted though.



"Time for your first lesson," she said quickly. "Hey, commando guy, do you have an incendiary doohickey? If you do pop it into the middle of the dusty cloud there when I say so."



Tara felt her power answer Willow's almost as easily as it answered Judith's. There was more than just power calling to power she thought, then dismissed it. She would go home and Judith, and Willowwould get on with her life and be happy.



"Don't shy away, please," Willow said urgently. "I need all the help I can get."



Tara took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She concentrated on how good Willow's hand felt and on the underpinning hurt in the redhead's heart. There was regret and self doubt there, worry and longing that echoed in Tara's core as well. Then she felt Willow pull on her power. Tara looked with her mind and saw something weave around the edge of the dust. She helped push it into place. Then the wall shimmered as the witch took out all the water in the air. Tara helped that too and a demon fell over in the cloud.



"Now!" Willow yelled. Riley and Graham fired grenades into the mass of the gritty cloud. There was a flash from the burning light metal that spread unevenly but quickly through the suspended tinder dry organic dust and the ULFs, consuming both in a sullen wall of flame. In the silence afterwards both women staggered. Willow looked up at her and Tara saw she had a bloody nose.



"Are you all right?" Tara asked worriedly as she pulled out a small compress and handed it to Willow.



"Yeah, just a bit tired," she replied blinking slowly. "Thanks for the help with the wall. It made the dust implosion work."



"You're welcome," Tara said shyly.



"Do you see Prosperexa?" Willow asked worriedly.



"She's hard to see," Tara explained. "The nexus point is too bright with power."



"Bright?" the witch asked.



"I wish I could show you," Tara said. She didn’t understand why the girl looked panicked for a second. Then Willow shrugged and took her hand again.



"You can," she said with a reassuring smile.



Tara saw Willow in a place that wasn’t quite in the real world. Tara pointed at the nexus point. Willow gasped in both the real and unreal places she was in. Tara’s ability to use the basic, older magics very well echoed in her analog. Willow had never had ‘the sight’ until Tara had shown her the way. Now this girl too showed her things she’d missed. But this one she really didn’t want to see.



The bright undulating mass of the nexus point’s power filled Tara's vision. She pulled away from it to look around for the angry presence of Prosperexa. She caught a hint of movement far off and concentrated on it. She felt as if she was flying after it. Willow fell behind suddenly. Tara looked back at her just as Willow ‘pulled’ on her. Tara stopped just as a flash of cold blue fire went through where she should have been.



"There are rules here," Willow warned.



"And tactics too?" Tara asked quickly. "Like delaying tactics?"



"I’m an idiot!" Willow said tossing her head. "Let’s get the flock out of here!"



________________________________________________



Xander looked around at the group that was waiting for some direction. He felt his chest grow tight as he looked for Buffy but saw her talking with the commando guys from another place. Willow and Tara were staring at something he couldn’t see. Couldn’t see and Anya slipped together in his mind. She was holding onto Dawn, not him. He’d hurried off and left her. Some things didn’t change, like screwing up.



He looked at the other Riley. He had called him Alex. He wondered if he was less of a screw up where they came from. Had Alex kept their Warren off their Tara and Willow until now? He took a deep breath and tried to think about what needed to get done.



"Clem, can you stick close to Debbie?" he asked more firmly than he felt.



"Sure, if she wants," Clem said hesitantly.



"You're doing okay," Debbie said patting his hand.



"What about me?" Anya asked quietly.



"You're with Dawn," Xander replied. "And she's going to get all of you to the hospital just as soon as we get a chance."



"I'm what?" Dawn asked curtly.



"Doing what needs to get done," Xander said.



"I can help," Anya said with a quaver in her voice.



"And I can help her help," Dawn added enthusiastically.



"I don't want to be a bother," Debbie said quietly.



"It's okay," Clem said. "Getting us out of the way will help."



"Thanks guy," Xander said sincerely. "And don't get hit anymore on the way there. Purple and swelling isn't your color."



________________________________________________



Buffy and Michael had split their magic team to give them more warning. Since she knew the area Willow was with Buffy at the front.

Tara and the team brought up the rear. The civilians were in the middle. Tara marveled at the fact that this ragtag team was all that stood between all the ULFs she felt and the rest of their world. She’d been here less than an hour and already she hurt in ways she couldn’t describe. They did this night after night.



They got hurt and they lost people, and they came back because they had to, every time. That part she understood. She didn’t understand how Willow or anyone else could keep going feeling as drained as she did. Maybe she didn’t, though. Perhaps this was what happened when someone who had no right to magic used it, someone who reached above their place and was tainted in the first place.



Tara moved down the normal looking street feeling like a sleepwalker. ULFs abounded, unseen and mostly afraid. Their fear echoed in an overwhelming feeling of dread from the two powerful presences stalking them. The burned dust seemed to hold back any further attacks for now, but Tara could feel a mounting, fearful anger in both. Just walking seemed to be harder than it would at home. Home. The word became a memory.



"I'll get you home," Judith had said. It was when their teams had been deployed together in a place where nightmares walked in a land of cinders. Tara had been frightened and Judith had known it. Her words kept Tara focused. Later, in the quiet room, after the mission and an unexpected, urgent tryst Judith had framed her love's face in her hands.



"I'll get you home, always," she'd said and Tara had held onto her and cried because it was true.



She found herself wondering if Willow had ever said something to her Tara that had driven off the darkness for a while. She looked ahead at the two women walking at the head of the unusual patrol. There was an easiness between them that reminded her of Beth and Judith. She found herself wondering what the vivacious girl was doing now, or even if she was alive. Guilt washed over her thinking of the dangers Beth was facing.



Beth didn't really know anything about vampires. She would be facing monsters out of forgotten legends along with the rest of Judith's friends and the last remaining members of Jimmy's team. Tara winced at the thought of facing Beth again. Would she blame Riley as well? Tara resolved to go back no matter what and plead her teammate's case.



She knew she had to go, even if there was danger at home. She knew her team was worried about something and that it centered on her. She’d heard about the deviant clause in the Sensitive Registration Act, and knew her team knew what she was and that they wanted her safe. That meant she was a danger to their careers at best. At worst she was distracting them, and that meant she was a danger to their survival.



For a second she considered not going back. These people needed help. She looked ahead again at the graceful form she would have known anywhere and cursed her stupid hopes. She knew she couldn’t stay in this place. Willow had to heal, not cling to someone who could never be what she needed. The girl who’d looked at her with such hope and Buffy’s instant acceptance told her others needed to heal as well.



And Willow would never be Judith. That light was gone from her, never to return. Staying meant hurting Willow and that would tarnish Judith’s memory. Tara couldn’t do that to either of them. She had to go.



Tara began to hum without knowing it until she heard Three softly call her team number. She stopped and redoubled her efforts on watch, but the lyrics rode just under her thoughts.



Darkness, darkness

Hide the yearnings

For the things that cannot be

Keep my mind from constant turning

Towards the things I cannot see *



________________________________________________



"Will?" Buffy asked again.



"Huh?" Willow replied, then smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, back now, let's go team."



"Are you sure you're up for this whatever we're doing?" Buffy asked looking back at Michael.



"Sure, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna do fine, mostly, as long as a girl that's afraid of magic and never done any before tonight does the perfect things at the right time with a power I've never seen before and says more than three words to me," Willow said in a whispered rush. "I guess she's kind of shy, you know, around new people and new places and why does she have to even sound like her?"



"I don't think she's totally new to magic," Buffy said with a small shake of her head.



"She is," the redhead said surely. "She's rough and clumsy with it. Powerful, but not practiced. And she's trying so hard and giving everything even though she's hurting. But she's hiding it and keeps pushing just like Tara did when..."



Buffy reached for her hand and held it for a moment. Willow gave her a weak smile.



"I'm okay," She said. "I just wish she'd talk to me."



________________________________________________



"Why does she have to look like her?" Dawn asked bitterly. "It's not fair."



"No, it's not," Anya said with a sigh. "Fair is very rare anywhere."



"Willow's not going to, you know," Dawn asked with a grimace. "I mean with her."



"That would mean she was staying," Xander said. "She's probably going back to soldier land when this is done."



"But she has Willow here," Dawn protested. She winced at her words. "I'll shut up now."



"Hold my hand and tell me if there’s any bumps," Anya whispered.



"Is it getting worse?" Dawn whispered worriedly.



"No, but I need to concentrate if I’m going to help Willow and the icy Tara," Anya explained. "Their powers are meshing just a bit roughly. I can’t do big mojo yet, but I can help them. Tell me if Commando Tara freaks."



She looked at the Tara imposter just as the helmeted figure snapped her head around to face Dawn. The teenager realized with a start that all the sound around her had disappeared. Anya flinched hard and grabbed for her hand.



"We’ve got to…" Anya said falteringly as she trembled, then shoved the teen weakly. "Dawn, get away from me! Cold…"



________________________________________________



Tara felt the presences change, from anger to rage for one and a deep hunger that was all consuming in the other. The girl that kept giving her a feeling of strangeness and the teenager had the faintest cold glow around them. She could see it start to rise. Her memory showed her a flash of other innocents gone cold and still, people her team had found too late because she hadn't done better. She refused to see any more, even if it damned her.



"Willow!" Tara yelled and held out her hand.



________________________________________________



Willow looked up at that voice and saw the outstretched hand. She reached out with her power and saw again what Tara saw. She’d seen it before and now her nightmare rushed at her friends with a nightmare’s speed. The demon had become part human, part winged serpent and was hurtling toward Anya and Dawn with a lance of glittering dust tipped with a bone from a long vanquished demon.



There was no time for subtlety. She simply threw out a wall of energy in front of the attack and hoped.

________________________________________________



Xander heard Tara call out and saw Anya wavering. Dawn was trying to pull her to some imagined safety then recoiling from something unseen. He turned and leapt towards them. His skin felt raw and frozen, then he was at her side and pulling both girls down. He heard a loud crack just over his head.

________________________________________________



Tara felt her world go black, then it came back with all the color washed out. She stumbled as she looked around her for the next assault. She saw a weak and faded thing scuttle forward in her talent’s vision. It was headed for the three downed civilians.



"Wrong, bitch," Tara muttered as she struck out with everything she had left.

________________________________________________



Willow felt lightly frosted all over, which should have helped her headache she would have thought. It didn’t, nor did it stop the drops of blood from falling as her nosebleed started again. She looked up to see Tara throw a decent punch at nothing. There was a faint pop and a falling, thrashing Prosperexa became visible on the dust shrouded street.



Buffy hurled her axe toward the demon with a fluid grace just before half a dozen muted snaps echoed off the buildings. The creature jerked its head up at the impact of the bullets and may have been about to roar when the axe bit into her neck. She fell forward and shattered into steaming shards.



"Wow, did you mean to do that?" Willow said as Buffy moved forward warily.



"Uh, yeah, sure, just like I planned," Buffy replied.



"Oh," the redhead smiled. Then she glanced at Tara with a broader smile. It faded as she saw two of the soldiers kneeling by her, pulling her helmet and balaclava off with desperate care.

________________________________________________



Dawn looked up with rapt fascination as the ivory colored point had shattered just above her and the pieces twirl over her head. The thing that appeared seconds later had looked at Anya with hatred. She had reached for a dagger, only to find the sheath empty. Then it had twitched as the bullets hit. The axe made a sound she would hear in her dreams when it hit. The soft breaking of ice was pure joy.



She looked and saw Buffy headed towards her, but Willow was looking toward the fake Tara. Dawn turned to glare in her direction. The pale face she glimpsed looked still before it was blocked by helmeted form.



"No, not again," she begged as Buffy touched her shoulder.

________________________________________________



"Oh shit, we need her alive," Warren muttered into his radio after he shifted the frequency to one only he and the team leader shared. "And the Rosenberg bitch, too. Midnight Transposition is off without them."



"Specify, please, Mr. Meers," Michael said tightly.



"We do, all right?" Warren snapped back. "It’s too complicated for you, anyway. We need to get moving."



"No," the soldier answered.



"One word, trooper," Meers said in a frustrated tone. "Ova."



________________________________________________



*Darkness, Darkness

Written by Jessie Colin Young

(Pigfoot Music)

[Grimlock72]

Well... that should prove interesting.. Meers is being an idiot (of course ); he wants both Tara and Rosenburg to stay alive yet wants to continue moving while Tara might be injured, right.



I doubt if the team would actually move at all if Tara is really injured and needs medic attention. Kinda doubt that. Whats with Meers and his babling about Midnight Transportation anyway ? Likely has something to do with keep the (E)OIS department running, hopefully making it permanent.



Can Meers just *fall* into the hellmouth please ? You know, accidents happen and such. Or transport him together with the nukes into nullspace and *BOOM* dematerialized Meers, heh.



Try ressurrecting that.



I still doubt if Willow is gonna let Tara just go away. But Santa Barbara is way to oppresive, no nice place to live.



Ah well, I'll stop rambling now and just wait for an update



Grimmy

"Why w-w-would anyone leave Willow?" It was a concept Tara just could not grasp. -- I Dream of Thee by Jomarch

Edited by: Grimlock72 at: 9/18/02 3:16:06 pm

[mollyig]

Down, science girl Ah, Willow - she's such a brainy type!



Love the image of them using their shared abilities together. Tara's reticience to use the magic understandable as we learned about how it is a taboo where she is from. But the fact she overcame this fear, and willingly agreed to help Willow is lovely.



Poor Tara is conflicted, so many reasons to go back, despite how horrible a place it is. She just needs one reason to stay though!



Also found it interesting that Dawn, despite how much she has matured, can't accept Tara, constantly referring to her as the "fake Tara". Poor love.

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

[oneinten]

Wow I love this story! This storyline is so different and complex. It has completely enthralled me. I'm hoping you can finish your other stories soon so we can get an update on HK2-2.



I love how the two taras and Willow/Judith are differnet yet the same. How the chemistry still exists between them!



Update when you can!



kath

[jixer]

Hotel Kilo 2-2

Update #16

Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6

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





Something was after her in the dark. It was angry yet alluringly female, then male and desperate and finally just desperate. It wanted the civilians and it was going to enjoy getting them.



"And it’s going to get them since you’re just lazing about," Her father snarled as he glared at her, then he turned his back to her and walked off. She called to warn him but he wouldn’t look at her, wouldn’t hear her. She heard Donnie laughing, then heard both of them screaming. Then something choked her.



Tara opened her eyes a crack to see Doc’s worried face behind the mask and feel his hand on her neck as he felt for her pulse. She coughed and it hurt. Then she opened her eyes wide and tried to look around.



"The civilians!" she gasped. "Are the girls all right? And Alex?"



"They’re fine," Talbot said soothingly. "Now simmer down and let me do my job, Mama Cat. The bad thing is busted up and gone."



"Just one," she said trying to sit up. Doc pushed her back gently. "There’s something else out there, and I think it knows we’re coming."



"Shit," Riley said from her other side. "One, Seven says other hostiles confirmed, and they may be at the exfil point."



"We need to move," she heard One answer in her earpiece. "Can she travel?"



"Seven, I can travel, sir," she answered as she was about to try to sit up again. This time a strong hand held her down.



"Seven is notcleared," Doc interjected. "Wait one."



Tara winced as Doc shone a light in her eyes. He made her move her feet and fingers before he let her sit up. He reached into the side of her small pack as she sighed. She knew it wouldn't do any good to protest so she took the foil drink package he handed her and drained it, grimacing all the time. It might balance electrolytes a sensitive lost, but it tasted awful.



"It's good for you," Doc assured her.



"It's vile," Tara answered with a shudder.



"That's how you know it's good for you," Doc reasoned. "Seven is cleared."



Tara looked for her helmet. She picked it up and saw a crack running across the top. She followed it to the now missing section that had been broken before.



"Oh my," she whispered. "I signed for this."



"Let’s move," One ordered.



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



"Why was she so worried about us?" Dawn asked as she watched the girl with Tara’s face shrug and fasten her broken helmet to her pack.



"We're civilians to her," Buffy explained distantly. "You protect civilians, and if they get hurt it's your fault ‘cause you could have done better."



"Not when you're doing your best already," Willow said steadily. "No one, commando witch or Slayer, can be everywhere. Now let's saddle up and load and lock, or what ever it is."



"Sure, Sergeant Stryker," Xander teased. "We'll take that hill."



"Why is it always a hill?" Anya asked as she got up. "Wouldn't valleys be easier?"



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



"Any signal yet Three?" Michael asked as they moved out.



"Faint, and lots of interference but recognizable," the older man answered. "We're on the right bearing, but there's no lock yet. Time stamp gives us just over an hour clear."



"We need to pick up the pace," the team leader replied. "Push Seven and Eight. If the indigs can't keep up leave them. Exception is the Sensitive, Rosenberg. Her skills will be needed."



"And why is that if I may ask," Giles said politely.



Michael turned and met the older man’s eyes. He hadn't heard the Englishman's approach. Neither looked away for a moment. Then the soldier gave a small shrug.



"Sensitives are always useful," he said flatly.



"We all have skills that might be useful," Giles said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "So we’ll all keep up. Safer that way, don’t you think?"



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



Harry Belson sipped his coffee and checked his watch. He had been lucky to get the job as a night watchman at the Sunnydale High construction site given the economy. Or at least he thought so until tonight. He’d been going to the meetings for six weeks now, and he’d been clean that long.



So he knew shouldn’t be hearing voices near the foundation of the new school. Especially not bickering ones complaining about how each was the reason ‘it’ was as powerful as it was now. Harry looked at his watch and figured if he walked slowly to the other side of the heavy equipment area when he got back his relief would be here.



"You?" one of the voices hissed just barely audibly. "She invoked me, called meout of limbo and we were three heartbeats from freeing it upon the world. It’s mine to use as I see fit. And I see fit to use it on the witch, the idiot and that treacherous bitch Anya."



Harry picked up his pace. Heavy equipment was valuable, and it was his duty to guard it.



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



Tara felt slightly better as she started to move forward. At least as long as she didn’t look forward with her mind. As they closed on the nexus point she could almost feel its energy crackle along her skin. She concentrated on sensing to the sides and back of the group as it hurried down the strangely empty street towards a flat space that smelled of turned earth and old diesel fumes.



As her physical eyes saw the work site the power became a ghostly image imposed over her real vision. She couldn’t look away anymore and her headache returned redoubled in its pain. She looked up at towering eldritch flare and knew she could never match its power. She had a sudden image of herself and Willow lying unmoving on a slab of concrete all alone in the night.



She jerked back to herself as the group came to a stop and Buffy turned to Michael.



"We’re here," the small woman declared unhappily.



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



Willow looked at the slab of cold concrete over the Hellmouth. She knelt by it and ran her hand over the rough surface. She gasped at the nearness of the power. The slab felt weak in a way she couldn't describe. She thought of concrete for a moment. Her mind turned to elements, both classical east and west, and the neat order of a periodic table. She looked at the Scoobies and then at Tara. She turned to Buffy and saw her friend's look of worry.



"We need to get through that," Willow said in a matter of fact tone.



""Yeah, they do," Buffy said not taking her eyes off the slab.



"I need to talk to Giles, but I think there's a way through," the witch said looking at Tara. "But I'm gonna need a hand."



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





"Three, signal strength?" 2-2 heard One call out.



"A bit better, but the lock keeps slipping," Three replied. "And it’s coming from that slab."



Michael walked forward cautiously and looked over the load bearing concrete flooring poured for the new school. Evidently both Californias suffered from earthquakes. He made some rough calculations on how much explosive would be needed to breech a small hole to access the nexus point. He was wondering if the team could breech the slab and finish their mission before the local police arrived when Willow and Buffy came up beside him.



"My magical back up and my Watcher tell me there may be a fast way through," Buffy said nervously. "But we’re going to need your Tara."



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



"Eight, are you ready for RPG deployment?" Michael asked as Meers rummaged through his backpack.



"Yes, sir," Meers said on the team channel, then he switched frequencies. "They’re not going to do anything that will damage the goods, are they?"



"They say it will be quicker and quieter," the soldier answered.



"Who needs quiet?" Warren asked in confused tone.



"There are local police," Delacroix replied flatly.



"Big deal, you have better weapons," the technician pointed out. "Easier to just kill them and then finish the real mission without risking our assets."



"I didn’t know the Senators would be so tolerant of messes," Michael said dryly.



"As long as it’s not their backyard or their mess," Warren said after a second. "Or so I’m told."



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



Tara felt her nervousness increasing as she looked around her. The power pouring out from beneath the slab she could accept with trepidation, but adding to that she was to be a part of some ritual Willow couldn’t explain very well. The nice older Englishman had said something about four being complete and needing the base elements covered for the grounding of the spell to take place. They’d acted like a spell happened every day. That frightened her.



That and the fact that Buffy, who was the focus of this spell, was frightened almost beyond words. They called the nexus point a ‘Hellmouth’. She could almost hear her father’s words about where she would end up if she didn’t turn away from evil echoing in the freshening wind.



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



Willow tried to block Tara’s feelings from her mind. She had enough worries of her own. The Hellmouth seemed to be almost talking to her.

She felt powerful and more alive than she had since Tara had died. That memory led to others and for a second she knew she could have the power back. She opened her eyes with a start and met blue eyes across the slab looking at her, frightened but trying to trust her.



She pushed the external power away and touched her own, nearly empty, core. She nodded to Buffy. She could do this. And she could do that which was even harder. She could let this Tara go home where she belonged.



She pushed away those thoughts too and let herself reach to her right and feel Tara. Water meeting air, and weather begins. She felt Tara reach out tentatively and touch Anya's core. It worried Willow to feel how weak the demon was, but she tamped down that thought. Instead she imagined a wind from the sea blowing over a fire. Anya and she reached for Xander, the grounding of the spell. The fire burned hot, protected by earthen walls that caught the breeze and channeled it. She saw Giles in her mind and the fire grew hotter as wood dropped into the flames and burned into coals that soon glowed white. By the sea a fire roared in the dark, bringing enough light to change what was to what might be. Into the fire dropped green stones. In the heat they changed, glowed and fell apart as something new flowed into the heat. Stone became metal as copper flowed out of ore.



Buffy stepped onto the slab. The concrete steamed where she walked. She wasn't seeing the slab anymore, but a fire so hot it freed her to be…



She struck the slab with her fist faster than the men watching her could see. The slab gave a great bass groan and shattered. The Slayer leapt away as huge pieces of masonry streamed into the night, then fell back into a maw ringed by broken concrete. She wasn't going to clear the waiting dark portal below her. The Hellmouth was finally going to claim her.



Tara felt Buffy's wave of fear and reached for her. The Scoobies felt a sudden weight and the wind seemed to roar across the broken slab for a heartbeat.



Buffy felt the wind catch her and pull her roughly toward Tara. For a split second she saw blue eyes blazing faintly. Then she was on the edge of the Hellmouth. Willow grabbed her and pulled, but she was off balance. Then Tara pulled both of them off the edge and onto the ground. Buffy was never so glad to sneeze in the dust.



"My God," Xander whispered.



Everyone slowly peered into the ragged cavern. There was a low phosphorescence that flickered with irregular ribbons of vermilion and orange on a surface of purest onyx.



"It's…changed," Buffy said softly.



_____________________________________________________



"Three, is the signal improved?" One asked quickly.



"Only a little, but I've got a lock for now," Howard replied tersely.



"Send our return message," the team leader ordered.



"Sending," the older man replied as he pressed a button on the handset. He listened for a moment. "Reply is, 'Charlie Mike and hurry' received at twenty percent strength. That's over nominal threshold but it's close."



"Eight, deploy RPG now," Michael said firmly.



"Can I borrow Maclay-sorry, Seven for the fix?" Warren answered.



Michael hesitated for a couple of seconds. He looked at Howard who shook his head. Michael looked at Tara who was leaning on the ruined concrete at the edge of the nexus point. Then he looked out in the haze as he caught the sounds of a siren closing in on their position.



"Seven, assist Eight," he said carefully. "2-2, watch the perimeter and soft options first."



_____________________________________________________



Tara tried to breathe slowly and evenly. She was sure that would make the spots in front of her eyes go away. She smelled blood and looked for someone hurt near her. Then her lip felt like something warm tickled it. She reached for a compress as covertly as she could and looked away from Willow. She knew the redhead would worry.



She listened to the message from One and sighed.



"Seven, yes sir," she answered flatly. She pushed off the broken wall and found herself moving slowly toward the technician. He had the Generator assembled and the LED on the side was green. He looked up and smiled. She felt an almost gleeful smugness coming off of him but she was so tired she couldn't make out anything more specific.



"I need to know if there's a better spot for the RPG," Warren explained as he lugged the small metal box on spindly looking tripod to the edge of the nexus point. He pulled out two antennas and waited for her.



Tara looked into the swirling onyx and felt a touch of nausea twist inside her. While she was distracted she didn't notice Meers' touch on her comm unit until it was too late.



"Quiet or they die," he said nodding. "The whole team. Just nod if you understand."



She nodded. He felt confident, triumphant and angry as she felt her fear boost her talent.



"I've blocked your comm and I have a dead man switch in my left hand," he explained clinically. "You know the field comm signal boosters you all wear on your armor? We put a little bit extra in all of the gun bunny ones. Do exactly as I say or they fry. Get your new playmate over here, moron."



"You can't take her!" Tara hissed. "Besides, nexus fall pulls you to your home."



"Mass, big boned bitch," he sneered. "She'll go with us when I tell you or they burn to death. So be a good dyke and do as you're told. Get her over here. And tell me how you did it."



"Did what?" she asked as his anger flared.



"Don't play games with me," he warned in a low tone. "I can drag you and her back with a bullet through your kneecaps. You know what I mean. How did you pervert her again? She's supposed to be mine."



"Never!" Tara hissed and turned on him. He pulled out a box with a switch that he held in position.



"Twenty six hundred degrees," He said with a smile.



"Is that what you did to Judith's team?" she spat quietly.



"She wouldn't see the big picture," Warren replied. "Let's hope this one's more sensible. Get her."



Tara turned to see Willow standing by them with a puzzled look on her face.



"Perfect," Meers grunted happily.



____________________________________________________



Willow hated the man next to Tara. Even if it wasn't the same one who shattered her world months ago he was still a liar and the shy girl was afraid of him. So when she saw Warren touch her headset she'd walked over. She'd missed the words but the fear and anger that flashed over Tara's face was unmistakable.



"What do you need to tell me?" she asked as she reached for an errant lock that had escaped Tara's braid. Her fingers trailed across warm skin and Willow opened herself completely to the touch.



Memories and images flooded her of hair being brushed, of a wall of backs giving privacy to a dance, of hearing the worst news in the world and a shoulder and arms that gave a place to hide for few moments. An image of the box everyone on the team had and a threat came from another box showed next and she knew what both did. The last words of the conversation finished the connection.



"Get her," he'd said.



"Wow, what's it like on the other side of that?" Willow asked Meers while trying to touch one of the Scoobies to give a warning.



He was about to answer her when something made him look at her and scowled. It was too easy. Somehow the mental had warned target he was sure. He started to bring up his SMG's buttstock one handed when Tara pushed between Willow and her would be attacker. The blow didn't hurt her but it did unbalance her into Willow. He held up his left hand.



"Back off, everybody," Warren yelled. "Or all of you get dead the second my finger leaves the switch."



_____________________________________________________





Giles stopped by Xander and looked at the two figures by the Hellmouth. Something seemed to be wrong, and Willow was walking up to the pair.



"Xander, get over there," Giles said quietly. "But be careful. Dawn, you and Anya stay close to me."



"I'm sneaking guy," Xander replied with a failed lightness.



"Sneak carefully," Anya whispered.



Giles looked at Buffy standing near Riley. She looked over at him and Giles nodded at Warren, Tara and now Willow.



She was moving when the two women went down and Warren started to shout. She moved for him and saw the muzzle of his weapon come up to meet her. She was still two yards away. She saw the dark empty hole for an eternity as her dream flashed before her eyes and Buffy knew she was going to die.



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



Xander heard Warren's words and saw the gun come up fast. He gave up stealth while the technician's attention was fully on the Slayer. He didn't think, just buried his shoulder into the back of Meers' armored chest and knocked him forward into the rubbled concrete. As the blow pushed the weapon out of line with Buffy the SMG fired one round into the dirt just before the haft of a knife sprouted out of Warren's arm with an answering crimson trace on the other side of the arm. The weapon started to fall from suddenly weak fingers.



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



Tara sprang as she felt their Alex's rage flare. She had her hands over Warren's and held on as he was pulled away from her. The sudden snap hurt in her shoulders and his flailing knee to her jaw made loud grating sounds in her ears but she held on for lives dearer than her own. She wished the (E) OIS man would stop yelling and thrashing, and then he did.



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



Buffy saw the muzzle flare just as it moved and felt a wild joy as her Slayer senses told her it would miss. She recognized the knife as one of Giles' blades from training. Then she saw a red ugly blossom spring out of Warren's goggles. The balaclava and the helmet also kept almost all of the spray contained. She looked over her shoulder to see Riley rushing up, weapon shouldered. He looked over her worriedly but quickly and moved up to the tangle on the ground.



Buffy saw Willow half under Tara, who was in turn half covered by Xander. He was trying not to kick the girl, not get bled on and not use his right shoulder. Buffy picked him up and hugged him hard. He smiled and made a gasping sound both at the same time.



"Looks like I blew sneaking," he said with a very shaky smile. "C'mon Will, you're getting dirty."



"Getting?" sneezed Willow.



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



"Seven," Riley called out as the weight was pulled off her. "What happened?"



"The signal boosters are booby trapped!" she exclaimed. "Incendiaries! This switch will make them go off."



"Deadman switch," Howard growled as he came up. "Hold on, babe. 2-2, pull the signal boosters off line and treat 'em like a thermite charge. Sound off when cleared."



After a dozen seconds all the deadly units were off the team. Tara's was the last as Riley and Howard pulled hers and Meers' just to be safe. Howard carefully eased Tara's cramping fingers off the device. Everyone froze as a siren wailed past the building site. Then the older man took the device and looked at it carefully with a finger on the switch. He pulled out dull electrician's tape and with Tara's help wrapped the switch down.



"Safe," he said relaxing.



Then an onyx tendril smashed Riley across the chest and sent him spinning as a wave of inhuman rage made Tara press her temples hard. He smashed into the ground and didn't move. Behind the questing ribbon of darkness a ragged shape of purest jet leapt into the night from the tiny splotches of blood on the Hellmouth. The tendril seemed to scent the air and then pointed at Giles, Anya and Dawn.



Tara looked for Willow through her pain. She recoiled when she saw that the girl with Judith's green eyes now had irises as black as the Hellmouth itself.

[mollyig]

Big deal, you have better weapons Warren showing what a good politician he would be, ruthless bloody tosser. He knows too how to get his own way - threatening Tara with the destruction of her team and of Willow.



Just when I was thinking everything would be okay, or some semblance of okay, you leave us like that. Yikes!

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

[Tulipp]

Very ominous last line....



Willow must be going through hell at this point, having to deal with the image of Warren standing right there, not to mention a Tara who can only see Judith and not Willow.



So much going on here! I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

***************

"Maybe I'm the bad guy. Maybe I'm the thing you should kill."
--Riley in "Goodbye, Iowa"

[Grimlock72]

Interesting... though I kinda expected that Warren had something to do with Judiths death. Since it looks like he's alive... can we throw him in the Hellmouth now ??



Pleeeeeeaaaaaase ??



on the other hand...Willow just went into full-protective-mode... might be fun too. Though bad for Willow-consience. So lets have a little accident near the hellmouth, heh.



I really don't like Meers, can you tell ??



Then there's the question of what his motive/mission is. It's obvious he wants Willow with him, but that can hardly be a mission objective now can it ? So why waste an entire HK team (minus sensitive) ? Besides, who's to say Tara won't tell all once she's back home ??



Never said Warren's actions had to made sense of course, but this is kinda puzzling.



Grimmy

"Why w-w-would anyone leave Willow?" It was a concept Tara just could not grasp. -- I Dream of Thee by Jomarch

Edited by: Grimlock72 at: 9/23/02 2:11:49 pm

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Well, after going through all that to get my "Hope" stories up, there are no reviews on fanfiction.net as of tonight. I've gotten more response off of Kieliran's website and Wiccan Ways. Adrienne was nice enough to clear the slate at EF, so that's next. Thank goodness for Kittens.



Mollyig and Oneinten-you make me want to purr.



Tulipp-Um, about this one...



Grimlock-Don't hold back, tell us how you really feel about Warren.



Thanks for all the time, folks. It means a lot.



J

[jixer]

Hotel Kilo 2-2

Update #17

Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6

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





"I-we simply want to be free and to know justice," a pleasant voice spoke in Willow's mind. "If we had freedom and justice we could be generous."



Willow was in a beautiful place. Fruit trees bloomed and children played in the blossoms. There was a hint of roses in the air as well and the red blossoms twined around an arbor. On a seat in the arbor Tara turned her blue eyes up at her with real love. Her smile was shy and inviting at the same time. Tara had looked at her like that the first few times they kissed. Willow felt her heart beat faster.



"All of this for a killer and something that was never meant to be," the gentle voice said. "You know she's not happy. You know she's in danger. She could forget her pain and love you the way it was supposed to be."



"Forget?" Willow asked with a slight frown. Something about that was wrong, but it couldn't be. Tara would be safe and happy with her.



"But for freedom and justice you must take power and release us," the voice cajoled. "You're smarter now. You'll be wise and do the right thing. You'll make things right."



"All for a killer and a thing that's not supposed to be?" Willow asked unsurely.



"All of this and more," the voice almost purred.



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



"Giles!" Dawn said trying not to squeak in her fright, "I can't move."



"Neither can I," Giles replied tightly as he tried to move.



"Buffy!" Dawn called out.



Buffy hurried to Willow past the foreign Tara who was just staring at the red head's face. Buffy felt a moment of worried sadness as she saw Willow's eyes. She reached for her friend. A tendril leapt out at the Slayer. Tara held out a hand and tried to see herself pushing it away from Buffy. She was knocked to her knees but it didn't touch the woman.



But on it's way back it batted the Reference Point Generator into the Hellmouth.



Tara pushed her talent out and saw a great wind blow the RPG back out of the nexus point. This time the tendril came at her with whip like speed. Buffy pulled her away just in time as dirt exploded where she had been. As Tara looked up from the ground she saw a few stars go out in a straight line for Willow. Tara leapt for the redhead and wrapped her in a frantic embrace and tried to force her out of the way. Willow came awake with a start and fought her mostly out of Sunnydale-born instinct.



They were still upright when the black form smashed into Tara's back. Both of them went down. Tara tried to protect Willow in the fall but neither landed gracefully. Tara saw Willow look at her, confused but with green eyes again. Then her eyes started to darken.



"Willow, are you hurt?" Tara asked frantically. "What's wrong?"



Tara pulled off her glove with a jerk and felt for Willow's pulse. Her shoulder burned where the demon hit her. When she touched the redhead things came back to her, memories of things she could have done to save Judith if she'd only been there. Now Willow was going to be consumed by something dark because she'd dared to touch magic.





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



"You can have her back," the voice came again to Willow's mind.



But this time she saw her idealized Tara's gentle face over the dirt streaked face of the Tara trying to help even through her doubts and fears. Then the real face of her Tara came to mind. Loving, laughing, worried and pain-filled as she left her. Then the image of Tara smiling at her in the darkness of their last night filled her memory. She heard the voice hiss in wordless anger.



"Dorm fees", she said out loud. "I didn't get her back, she came back to me on her own and I'll never lose her. Never."



"LET ME OUT!" exploded in her mind. "NOW!"



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



Anya looked up and used some of what was left of her power so she could see beyond the visible. She saw the streaking form of Prosperexa trying to form in the power wrenched from the Hellmouth. She looked over at Willow who, ashen faced and grimacing, was struggling to her feet with the outworld Tara's help. Buffy and Xander were frantically trying to help Dawn and Giles. One of the soldiers was working on the box while the rest were guarding him and the medic working on their Riley.



Prosperexa rolled over in her flight and surveyed the groups below. Anya changed her form and pushed a little light into her skin.



"What have you been doing, Prospie?" Anya said loudly. "I mean besides letting yourself get all chubby and skanky. Has your hair always been that limp?"



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



"One, it's up but I've lost the lock," Howard reported. "Circuit's okay, but both RPG and commo can't get through."



"Five's very limited mobile and out of action," Doc added. "Broken arm and at least three ribs and maybe internal bleeding."



"Seven, rally," Michael said into his comm. "We need to get through the interference."



He looked at her stumbling toward him with the Rosenberg woman when the interference tried to smash them. The rounds that had proven so effective on every ULF up until now didn't even make the serpentine ribbon ripple. Tara and Willow held out their hands and ribbon tore into shreds. Both girls almost fell.



"Lock!" Three called out. "Damn, it's gone. Did our girl do that?"



"I hope so," Michael said warily.



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



"What's happening?" Tara asked urgently. "What is that thing? Why did it hit Riley?"



"Blood on the Hellmouth when he shot Warren, it's a sacrifice, but he's not magic," Willow gasped shaking her head again. "No! Why me anyway?"



Tara felt her fear and pain. She took Willow's hand and tried to make her stronger. She saw spots in front of her eyes but Willow took a deep breath. The witch looked up suddenly.



"Look out!" she cried and lifted her hand.



Tara did the same just as the tendril came at them. More than she had flowed through her and tore the snaking thing into bits. She felt the redhead sag into her. She was sure it was all she could do to stand up. Then she heard One's message. She put an arm around Willow and moved slowly. She tried not to think how good the body she held felt.



She looked around and saw the strange girl now glowing and diverting the ULF she thought had been destroyed. The young woman was definitely a ULF herself. Tara pushed the thing in the sky off course on it's dive and nearly fell.



"Don't help them," a concerned voice said quickly. "Reach for me and I'll help you rescue the one you lost."



A confused blur of images tore into her consciousness. Judith trapped in a charred landscape by monsters that reveled in her pain and shame. Then she was broken and calling for her. Tara stopped dead in her tracks and shook her head.



"No," she whimpered.



"No," Willow said pulling her. "Trust me, Tara. It's all a lie, whatever it is. Come on."



Tara followed Willow's voice.



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



Xander pulled on Giles' arm as the bolt of power from the women hit the entity at the Hellmouth. Both ended up in a tumble. Xander got up holding his shoulder.



"What was that?" Dawn asked with real fright in her voice.



"I don't know, but it wants both of you," Buffy replied quickly. "So you two are leaving now."



"What about you?" Dawn asked reaching for Giles' hand.



"I'll be okay," Buffy lied.



Something told the Slayer to duck. She knocked Dawn down as she yelled a warning. Giles pushed Xander down and twisted out of the way of something with talons that was a darker shape in the night. Buffy levered herself up with a flip but it was gone. Dawn coughed on the ground.



"Nothing says love like a face full of dirt," Dawn rasped, but she was smiling. Then she and the rest looked up as Anya started to glow brighter with a greenish light.



"HEY, FAT BITCH!" Anya screamed. "I'M STILL HERE! THINK YOU CAN SEE ME?"



"Anya!" Xander yelled and rolled clumsily up as his shoulder threatened to fail. "Get down!"



Giles held him back with an effort. Buffy looked at the two women at the Hellmouth and the circling thing in the sky. She had a feral smile when she looked at Giles.



"Get Dawn to cover," Buffy ordered. "Just go. Come on, Xan."



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



Tara went to one knee as she came up to the team. She looked worriedly at Riley. Willow gagged and it took a second for Tara to realize it was the copper and feces smell of traumatic death from Meers. It was badly upsetting the redhead. Tara reached back and took her hand.



"Seven," Michael said tightly. "We can't get a signal through the interference. We locked on once when you and Rosenberg hit that thing. Can you do it again, but longer?"



"We'll try," Willow said roughly, then she looked at Tara. "I'll get you home."



She pulled Tara to the edge of the Hellmouth and reached out with her other hand. Tara did the same, then looked at Willow who gave her a sad smile.



"Hold my hand and don't hold back," Willow said gently.



"I trust you," Tara said as she took her hand.



" Protelo," Willow invoked and drew on her own and Tara's power. There was so little left. She thought of Buffy and Dawn, of Xander looking at her worriedly, and of Giles reaching out to her. The onyx pool stirred. She thought of Tara and let herself feel this Tara and remember the gentle girl who'd loved her.



Now she saw strange versions of people she knew and strangers. She saw Buffy and Joyce, Cordelia, Amy, and Jonathon all slightly different. Then she saw Xander and someone who had to be Jessie with...Oz?



The black pool pulled back a bit farther and left an uncovered space.



"Signal and lock on both!" Tara heard Howard say on her earpiece, then a whispered "Oh. Shit."



In front of them a figure arose, female, lovely and evil. Then another face appeared for an instant. Male and frantic it reached out to the women only to change back into the female form. Tara felt Willow tremble. The pool slipped back towards them and touched them. Both saw horrors beyond their imaginings.



"We're losing the signal!" she heard the older man say.



"No!" Tara whispered. She pushed past what she had and felt Willow doing the same. A small space under their joined hands stayed clear. Michael grabbed Warren's body and eased it into the opening. It vanished as should have. Howard pointed the RPG at the small opening.



"Strong lock," he called out.



"Hurry," Willow gasped.



"We can't...hold it...long," Tara groaned.



"We," Michael said softly.



Tara felt a sudden rush of pain from him. It was tinged with respect and regret, yet under all that was an affection that she knew he never expected to be returned. The pool retreated just a bit.



"Go," she groaned again. "Please Michael, get them home."



"Feral Cat," he said roughly. "Dump the kits here and now. Then stack and get ready for nexus fall."



You can go with them Willow thought to Tara.



Just then a ribbon flashed out at the RPG. Both girls wavered but held it off. The pool touched Willow's body and slowly swept up her body.



"You can't protect it and me," Tara gasped. "Hurry!"



Riley was sent in next carefully tied off to Doc. Then the pool exploded into a mass of tendrils that battered their protections. The space shrank and both had bloody noses starting. Tara was almost blind with the power flashing around her.



They were losing control of the Hellmouth.



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



Anya had Prosperexa's attention and was discovering that while Vengeance Demons might be capable of withstanding great punishment, they could be hurt. She thought it was even possible to be killed as she lurched upright and touched the streaks left by Prosperexa's talons. When she looked up and saw Buffy and Xander heading for her she knew the mortal fools were trying to rescue her.



"Get away!" she yelled as they reached down and picked her up. "Xander, get out of here. You stopped Willow. She'll hate you too."



"Hope so," he grunted.



They ran for the other person the demon hated at the opening of the Hellmouth. Anya looked up as she was being jounced around.



"Guys, she's coming!" she yelled. Buffy stopped. Everyone heard a triumphant shriek.



"Now!" the Slayer shouted as she moved with all her speed. She grabbed the two women and pulled them down with a Slayer's speed as Xander covered Anya. Prosperexa flashed down at her most prized victim only to have her disappear. She erupted into the figure forming into a woman with sultry curves and red gold hair.



The figures shattered into a writhing mass of waves that smashed into each other as they almost became recognizable. Willow and Tara scrambled up, sweat streaked and dirty, shaking with the efforts they were spending. They took each other's hands and pushed out again. A space formed, larger than before.



Michael handed Buffy a heavy rucksack. He met her eyes and pointed at Tara.



"This is for her," he said tightly. "Take care of her."



The rest of Hotel Kilo 2-2 formed into a line and dove into the opening. Ramirez grabbed Michael and pulled him at the last moment. The team leader saw the forms stop fighting and rush toward the women. It broke on their barrier but reformed. Then he was gone and falling onto the rain swept ground just meters away from the other members of the team. He rolled up and grabbed his comm.



"Seven!" he called out.

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



The last of the team was gone. Willow and Tara's knees threatened to buckle under the onslaught. Tara had given the power her team had given her with their concern and even different levels of love. She had been student, sister, adopted daughter and trusted comrade mixed and matched for them. She'd felt it all as they had gone past her. And now they were gone.



But they were still her team and Hotel Kilo 2-2 had a mission. She heard One's call on her earpiece as the Hellmouth roared around her.



"Hurry," she rasped. "Hurry, losing..."



Willow's hand clutched hers harder and both arced in pain.



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



"Buffy!" Willow shrieked. "Get them out of here!"



Buffy looked at her friend and bit back her tears. She grabbed a trembling Anya and picked her up. Xander ran beside her faster than he thought he could. They slid to the ground behind one of the large pieces of construction equipment. Xander knew he was exhausted because he couldn't remember the name of the vehicle.



"Where's Willow and Tara?" Dawn asked, her voice finally squeaking.



"Holding it back," Anya coughed.



Buffy reached out and caught her before she was all the way up. She covered the squirming teen with her own body.



"Behind here and don't look up," Dawn heard Tara say. The stunned looks on the rest of the Scoobies proved she wasn't the only one who'd heard the voice. She leapt for the body of the vehicle and closed her eyes. Buffy's arm across her shoulders and hand over her eyes were more comfort than she could have believed. Then it was brighter than noon behind that comforting arm.



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



Michael ran for the Air Force command truck. Major Franconi looked at him askance as he wrenched open the door to her domain.



"Launch them," he gasped. "Bravo Alpha Override, authentication Hotel Kilo Two Two Alpha seven niner three Quebec Alpha niner."



"Broken Arrow?" the Air Force officer said in shock as she punched in the code. He pulled out his comm, turned on the speaker and turned it up. She listened as looked down at the green flashing light and then turned to the technician at her side and barked, "Get me Martino on the horn now, Sergeant Evans. Orange status for the packages, my authorization."



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



At the release point Amy and the rest of the sensitives except for the one with the covering team focused on the narrowing nexus point. Some were crying. The boom from the specially made truck slipped into the nothingness of the portal and vanished. Three octagonal cases slipped into view at the head of the boom. Below three figures came out of the rain and circled the boom facing away from it, guarding it. One of them swayed but stayed at his post.



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



At a circle of armored vehicle Carruthers posed with a red button and a pair of binoculars his aide had scrounged up. He began speaking about the brave men and women who had made great sacrifices for this day. Colonel Martino gestured at him but the Director knew they had another thirty minutes on the clock before the real show. He scowled as the alert siren screamed from the Air Force truck.



Then all the speakers crackled with a desperate message from another world. Martino reached past him and pushed an ordinary looking black button.



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



Near the point Howard handed Ramirez an antenna and plugged his comm into the teams tactical communication link and threw the override switch. Both men winced at the sound of Tara's sobbing for breath.



"Hurry," she cried. "Oh God hurry."



The rest of her words were swallowed up in an insane roar of anger and static.



"She's losing the signal," he yelled angrily into his mike. "Launch the fuckers."



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



In the command truck a monitor flashed red. The Air Force Major looked up to see her (E) OIS Liaison Officer pointing a pistol at her face as she moved to throw the switch. Then the pistol moved to the control panel in front of her. She leapt for the weapon, expecting some hideous wave of pain. She slammed into the pistol and grabbed it as the Liaison Officer fell forward with a third red rimmed eye in his forehead.



She looked behind her to see Delacroix holding his sidearm and thumbing off the safety shield on the console. He pushed the toggle switch and she saw the three warheads streak into the nexus point. She would remember the look on his face in her nightmares.



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



At the Hellmouth the girls' arms were just above the RPG when the box's LED started to blink rapidly and the device hummed. Willow was nearly covered in the clinging mass and knew that the lens theory her analog had developed still would not allow them to survive. At least she could hope she'd be with Tara. As she thought of her Tara smiled at her and leaned forward to wrap her arms around her as their lips met. The kiss was as light as it was real.



Tara was blind now in the glare of the power. She knew she was hallucinating when Judith leaned forward and caressed her face and then kissed her. Judith wrapped her arms around her as well. Tara closed her unseeing eyes and breathed her love's name.



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



All across the world the live feed from outside Santa Barbara showed viewers the rain swept perimeter of the Secure Zone. Suddenly talking heads everywhere breathlessly reported they had live radio feeds from the site. For a moment every radio and television carried the same sounds.



From farther away than anyone truly knew a young woman's ragged breath forced out words that were translated instantly. From somewhere at the same picture showed up, a grainy shot of Tara. Every news reader blindly read the words 'suspected deviant' that came with the photo. The roaring intensified.



Then there was silence for a heartbeat.



"Judith," a gentle voice whispered soft and clear.



There was a bright light that blanked every camera until it narrowed swiftly into nothing. Across the world there was silence for a moment as static filled the radio feed. Then a firm voice called out the number seven three times. It was an old sounding voice that croaked the next words.



"One, objective secured, one casualty."



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



In the construction zone Buffy blinked away spots in front of her eyes. She stumbled forward and looked at the Hellmouth, now in its normally sinister form. In the darkness she could make out two still forms on the ground looking broken and small. A siren blared in the distance.



Dawn came up beside her and Buffy put out an arm to stop her.



"Are they...?" Dawn couldn't finish the question.



"I don't know," Buffy replied wearily.

[mollyig]

Anya's way of getting Prosperexa's attention was typical of her.



The action just flying along, added to the whole frantic feel of it. Well done.



Willow and Tara using all their combined strength to complete the objective.



Can't wait to find out what happens next.

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

[Grimlock72]

Ah, so Warren is dead already ? If so, then the one casualty number is wrong ? (Tara left behind + Warren dead = 2)



So HK22 got mostly back, that still leaves the Scoobies with Prosperexa's unless the warheads deal with her ? (that launch scene had me kinda confused, happens a lot for me with this fic )



Hmm... did that explosion actually destroy the nexus or can they re-open it again and try to get Tara back ? (or can EOIS try again to get her killed, which would not be a good thing).



Hope Tara and Willow are alright, esp. Tara since she's not used to using magic. Then again, Willow won't mind nursing her back to full health I suppose .



P.S. Whats that about a 'Hope' series ? Don't recall seeing that one fanfiction.net when searching for Willow stories. (searching for Willow & Tara hardly works since actors don't mention Tara on submitting all that much it seems)



Grimmy

"Why w-w-would anyone leave Willow?" It was a concept Tara just could not grasp. -- I Dream of Thee by Jomarch

Edited by: Grimlock72 at: 9/26/02 4:44:49 am

[xita]

oh wow, they closed it, I too wonder if it is closed for good. I know w/t are oK Cause I have faith, but I am real curious about what you are going to do now with them. So many issues.

Look forward to more

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

Accept NO subsitutes

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-





Just a quick note. Thank you for the responses. I'd throw confetti but I'd be getting it out of the keyboard for days.



Grimlock- The series consists of "Shattered Hope", "A Forlorn Hope" and "Hope's Limits". The last is waiting for the closing chapters from my beta. The first two are up at fanfiction.net Wiccan Ways and Toni's site below.



loverswalk.taoist-life.ne...ction.html



Must go and take my lady to work,



J

[Grimlock72]

Had to add to my other reply: I thought it was very brave of Willow she wanted to help Tara get back to her own dimension.



Heh, talks in Tara's dimension between HK22-members and the others should be fun. "Hey Elizabeth, we met another you.. she uses *stakes* to kill ULF's"



P.S. Found the other stories you mentioned, review added on fanfiction.net. I like this story better, might be 'cos this AU is more sci-fi... gotta think about that a bit.



Grimmy

"Why w-w-would anyone leave Willow?" It was a concept Tara just could not grasp. -- I Dream of Thee by Jomarch

Edited by: Grimlock72 at: 9/26/02 3:24:17 pm

[Urn of Osiris]

OK WOW!



I must say I put off reading this fic, Holy crap. What an intense ride. I'm so glad I waited this long. It got me to a point that allows one to catch their breath.



Brilliant piece of fic. The two dimensions worked so well and came together wonderfully. I figured this would be a quick catch up read, but then 5 hours later here I am.



Holy Intensity jixer!!!

Urn of Osiris
_________________**

"Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses."
— George Washington Carver
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