The Cathedral And The Bazaar

[xita]

Ahh nice little trip Willow set up for Tara, very lovely. The spontaneous singing was funny!

- - - - - - - - - - -
"Hard work often pays off after time but laziness always pays off now!"

[justin]

BlueWillowWitch Hi ,

Quote:

---

They are going to leave SD huh?

---

Well you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and women.



I'm glad that you liked this part.



Grimlock72: ,

Quote:

---

Sounds like they had a nice carefree day for once, the earned that one.

---

Yes, they certainly did.

Quote:

---

So Willow is thinking of moving to Austin... now WHY does that sound so familliar ???

---

It seems to be the fashion at the moment to refer to JustSkipIts stories

Quote:

---

Anyone who knows me can guess how much I agree with Willow's reasoning on leaving Sunnydale.

---

Actually as I was writing that part I did think, I bet Grimlock will like this

Quote:

---

and why bother finishing Sunnydale U. ? Willow at least can get into pretty much any university on science-points alone

---

Well Willow still agrees with what she told Buffy at the end of S3 about wanting to help fight the evil in the Sunnydale. Wanting to leave was more Willow recognising that they can't keep doing it for the rest of their lives, rather than a desire to give up right away.

Quote:

---

However shouldn't Willow have been more concerned to be dreaming about Tara yelling she would kill random people like that ??

---

It can get a bit easy to start seeing any dreams as being somehow prophetic but worry not, this was just one of those weird and disturbing dreams that people often have.



Anyway you can blame AntigoneUnbound for that bit since it was one of her comments that inspired it

Quote:

---

About the previous update, such a shame that a nice young boy like Warren got fried like that... *cough* the world will miss him *cough*.. there, didn't that sound nice and sincere ??

---

Oh yes, I was just heart broken when it happened



Though he was better off in this story than in the series.



tstcloud:

Quote:

---

Looks like Xander's summoned the Lord of the Dance.

---

possibly



or possibly not.



Xita:

Quote:

---

Ahh nice little trip Willow set up for Tara, very lovely.

---

As I said to Grimlock they definitely deserved a break.

Quote:

---

The spontaneous singing was funny!

---

Spontaneous singing is always good fun.



Though that depends on the song I guess. If they'd suddenly started rapping it might not have been so good



"I'm rapping Willow,

and I'm here to say,

that I'm in love,

with Tara Maclay."



I think that's quite enough of that



Thanks for all the feedy mc-feedback

Anya in a wimple...I'd pay full admission for that. Gods Served And Abandoned - by Antigone Unbound


You know the worst thing about people in a relationship? The fact that they're in a relationship. - Hilda Spellman

[bluewillowwitch]

justin ,

Hey dude. Where you been? I miss the fic. Haven't seen an update in like forever. You doing okay?





Grace

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

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos



"I'm here without you baby/But with me in my dreams/And tonight girl, there's only you and me."--3 Doors Down--Here Without You--Mine and My Baby's song

[justin]

sorry there's been such a long delay. As I mentioned I took a break to work on my NaNoWriMo novel and after doing that it took a while to get back into this story.



Abyway enough with the excuses. Part 14 is currently being betaed by Arwen so I'll be posting it shortly.



Thanks for the concern

I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had. - mad world

[justin]

Well Arwen went above and beyond in getting this part betaed as quickly as possible so here is part 14.



ETA: The inquisitor in this story is based on the one from the Babylon 5 episode "Comes the inquisitor". In fact the basis of this chapter was a combination of that episode and the BtVS ep "Once more with feeling"



The Cathedral And The Bazaar

- Author: Justin

- Email address: msparshatt@yahoo.co.uk

- Summary: This is an alternate version of S6 in which the scoobies don't resurrect Buffy and instead have Faith released from prison.

- Feedback: Any comments or constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

- Distribution: Anyone can take it, just let me know.

- Spoilers: Up to and including 'The Gift'

- Rating: R

- Pairing: W/T, X/A, F/?

- Disclaimer: Willow And Tara and most of the other characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Three cheers for creating two such wonderful characters. Three jeers for the way you treated them.

- note1: Many thanks to Arwen for betaing this part.

- note 2: Thanks also to BlueWillowWitch for going over the songs in this part



Chapter 14



As Whistler arrived at the alley he pulled out his charm and waited a moment. When the door appeared he entered the library. He was a little surprised at how empty it was, though he guessed that Emma didn't feel like having visitors yet so soon after her experiences with Samuel. He made his way to the main office and was again surprised as he entered. It had completely changed in appearance. The presence of a large window looking out onto fields, which had to be fake, meant the room was a lot lighter. As did the light wood furniture and flooring. "Well this place has certainly changed." He commented, giving the room an appreciative look.



"I've replaced all the furniture. I wanted to remove all traces of that man." Emma's lips twitched in a small smile.



Whistler nodded, being able to understand that. "It must be good to have the library back under your control."



"You think? I do know what part you played in it and I am very grateful."



Whistler nodded again, "I merely did as the powers that be instructed. So how did he found out your true name?"



"He got lucky, I suppose." Emma shrugged.



"So what are you going to do now?"



"Now I can concentrate on getting my affairs in order."



Whistler frowned, he had been hoping for a different answer, "So you're going to go through with it."



"I'm afraid my heart is set on it." Her expression and tone convinced Whistler there'd be no point arguing with her.



"But what about those two? They're nice enough girls and powerful witches to be sure bu..."



Emma cut him off, "I've sent for an inquisitor."



***



The Inquisitor walked into Sunnydale, a disdainful expression on his face. He was wearing formal wear, including a top hat, and carrying a cane. Up ahead a woman was running down the street shouting, "Help, help."



After a few seconds the vampire chasing her caught up to her. He pinned her against the wall growling, "I like it when they run."



The Inquisitor stopped and lifted his cane. He began waving it as though he were conducting an orchestra. Then he tapped it against a nearby sign. The vampire who had been attacking the woman stepped away from her and joined by a group of vampires that had appeared out of nowhere, they began singing.





Vampires:

In Sunnydale,

Vampires roam the streets at night,

Always looking for a bite,

But they're back home by daylight,

In Sunnydale, In Sunnydale.



Most of the vampires vanished and a group of demons of different races appeared.



Demons:

In Sunnydale,

Demons are always causing havoc,

Running up and down, running amock,

Destroying everything in their path,

In Sunnydale, In Sunnydale.



Faith came walking down the street. She grabbed the head of one of the demons and broke it's neck. She then drew two stakes and killed two of the vampires.



Faith:

In Sunnydale,

The slayer protects everyone,

Fights the forces of darkness,

In a battle that can never be won,

In Sunnydale, In Sunnydale.





***



Giles glanced at the note that he had made to double check the address, then he raised his fist to knock at the door. A few moments later Claudia opened it.



"Come in." she said, stepping back away the door. As Giles entered she said, "I know what you're here about."



Giles turned to Claudia and opened his mouth to remonstrate her for her carelessness. Instead what came out was;



Giles:

What were you thinking?

Why did you send Tara to that man?

You've caused so much trouble,

What exactly did you plan?



Claudia:

I was tricked I swear,

You have to understand,

My intentions were good,

None of this was planned.



Giles:

What he did to Tara,

Was horrible in the extreme,

It was a terrible mistake,

That will be hard to redeem.



Claudia:

I know that you must hate me,

I know I am to blame,

I should have done more checking,

That is my shame.



Giles stopped, looking uncertain. He coughed, then asked, "Why were we just singing?"



Claudia frowned, then asked, "More to the point, where did that backing group come from?"



They both looked at each other not having any answers.



***



Willow and Tara dropped their bags off at home then went to the Magic Box. They found everyone there looking worried about something.



"Hey, What's up?" Willow asked, "Is there some big evil brewing."



"Yes, well..." Giles started. "The thing is..." He hesitated again. "Well what happened is..."



His words were cut off by Faith arriving. As she strode through the doors she asked, "Hey, did anyone else just - burst into song last night?"



There was a collective sigh of relief from around the room. "I was worried that I had gone mad." Giles admitted.



"Exactly." Claudia added, "One minute we're... talking, the next we're singing at each other. With full instrumental backing."



Xander and Anya both nodded in agreement.



"Well I guess this explains what happened earlier." Willow said.



"You mean that you've been affected as well?" Giles asked.



"It was as soon as we got into Sunnydale." Tara explained, "We just started singing to each other."



"So the question is, is it just us, or is everyone being affected like this?" Claudia asked.



Hearing something outside Faith opened the door and looked. Two men wearing kilts were walking down the street.



Harold Gridley:

Hoots mon out of my way,

Who do you think y'are?

It's the toe of the my boot, mon

If you push to farrrrr.



Faith quickly closed the door.



"Well?" Xander asked.



"I'm not certain but I think that Bing Crosby and Bob Hope just walked past."



For a while no one spoke.



"Was Dorothy Lamour with them?" Willow asked.



Faith gave a slight, non committal, shrug, "I didn't see her."



"Damn," Willow muttered.



"Well then it seems that there is something affecting the whole town." Claudia said, "I suggest that we start looking for demons that might be responsible."



***



"I think I've found something." Xander said, "There's a passage here about a demon that can cause this sort of thing."



"What does it say?" Giles asked.



"Um, just says there's a demon that will make everyone start singing."



"Not much to go on."



"Wait a minute there's a footnote. It references another book. The Demononono - um - cum."



Faith laughed as she asked, "The whaty-cum?"



"I think that what Xander is trying to say is the Demononicum." Claudia pointed out.



"You mean it's a real book?" Willow asked.



"Actually I've got a book that references it." Claudia said, "It might have the information we need."



"Quite." Giles said, "We should check it."



"I'll go and get it." Claudia said.



***



As soon as Claudia reached her apartment, she began going through her boxes, many of which contained various books of all sorts. After a while she found the book she was looking for. As she pulled it out she noticed a picture that had been underneath it. It was one of her and her parents. Taking it out she gazed at it a moment before putting it down.



Claudia:

To exist is to suffer,

Or so I've been told,

But maybe I can fix it,

If only I'm bold.



It is all so simple,

I know what I have to do,

Everything is ready,

Everyone will get what they are due.



Why have second thoughts?

Why do I hesitate?

I know I can't stop now,

It's already too late.



But what of Tara and Faith?

I don't want to cause them pain,

But I can't think about that,

I must focus on the gain.



What I will bring,

Is worth any price,

Nothing can be more important,

Than creating a new paradise.



***



When Claudia got back to the Magic Box she told the others, "There is a reference to our demon. The Lord Of The Dance." She noticed the pained expression on Giles' face and asked, "Do you know this demon?"



"What? No I was just having a rather unpleasant flashback to when I had to sing that song at school."



"Maybe the song has some vital information about the demon." Xander suggested.



"The song's about Jesus." Claudia pointed out.



"So probably not going to help us then." Xander conceded.



Claudia went back to the book and read, "Apparently he can be summoned by using a specific charm. Supposedly only one of them was ever made." She showed the others the picture of the charm.



"Wait we've got that charm." Anya said before running off. She came back a little later, "It's still safely in the safe."



Willow giggled at this. As everyone turned to look at her she said, "Safely in the safe."



"Unless it was one of you." Anya went on. She gave the rest of the group an accusing look. Xander squirmed a little under her gaze. He had considered using the amulet to summon the demon but after lying down for a little while he had realised that it wasn't such a good idea.



"I think that it is safe to say that no one here would summon this demon. So it must be something else." Giles said.



"So we're back to square one." Xander said quickly.



Faith gave a sound of impatience, "I'm going to go patrol. See if I find anything out."



***



Faith wandered through one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries doing her best impression of a helpless co-ed. Suddenly a vampire jumped out from behind a tomb and grabbed Faith. Throwing it to the ground Faith drove her stake through it's heart. Standing up she looked at the stake she had used. It was the same stake she had accidentally killed the deputy mayor with. She wondered why she had kept it. Putting it away she began to sing:



Faith:

Am I a slayer or a killer?

That's what I want to know,

Should I stay and help out?

Or should I just go?



Could they ever like me?

Will this distrust last?

Will I ever make amends?

Or repeat the mistakes of the past.



I want to do what's right,

But I just don't know,

Am I a slayer or a killer?

Am I a friend or a foe?



As Faith finished she saw a demon standing in front of her. "Very nice." It said, before swinging it's fist at her. Faith Dodged the blow then punched the demon. She then tripped it, and jumped on it. "Wait." The demon said, "I have a message for you."



***



"I've got nothing." Willow said, closing the book that she had been reading, "I don't think whoever's behind this is in these books."



"Well we have been working on this for a while. It doesn't seem to be too urgent a problem. I suggest we get some sleep and resume our research tomorrow." Giles agreed.



Everyone agreed and they were about to leave when the door opened and Faith came in, pushing a demon in front of her. "Says he's got a message for us."



"We've got Dawn. If you want to see her again then come to the docks." The demon tried to run past Faith, but she grabbed it and broke it's neck.



"Dawn's in trouble?" Anya said, "Must be a Thursday."



"Well then let's get going." Willow said as she headed to the door. The rest grabbed some weapons and followed her.



Giles: Once more we head out into danger,

Faith: Once more we head out to the fight,

Willow & Tara: Once more we go to help a friend,

Xander & Anya: Once more we go to do what's right.



Group:

We're in this together,

Through the thick and the thin,

It doesn't really matter whether,

We lose or we win,

Because we're in this together.



Giles: Once more we face the unknown,

Faith: Once more we don't know what comes next,

Willow & Tara: Once more we could live or die,

Xander & Anya: Once more we haven't seen the text.



Group:

We're in this together,

Through the thick and the thin,

It doesn't really matter whether,

We lose or we win,

Because we're in this together.



***



When they reached the docks there was a strange light coming from one of the warehouses. "I guess that is the place." Giles said as they headed towards it. Inside the warehouse everything was dark save for a circle of light, which Dawn was standing in the middle of.



"Hi." Dawn said, raising her hand in greeting.



"Dawn are you okay?" Tara asked.



"Yeah, I'm okay. Except for the fact that if I leave this spot the room is going to explode" Dawn explained in an anxious tone.



They approached cautiously checking for any booby traps.



"Uh, Dawn. How do you know that the room will blow up?" Willow asked.



"A voice told me. I was in my room when I just blacked out. I woke up standing here. Then this voice explained that I couldn't leave. Maybe you guys should just go. I mean you shouldn't put yourself in danger."



"Dawn." Faith said, "There is no way that we're leaving."



"Quite." Giles added, "I'm sure we'll find a way to get you out of danger."



Examining the circle of light that Dawn was standing in they couldn't find how the explosion was going to be set off. After a while Willow said, "There doesn't seem to be any physical trigger so I guess it must be something magical."



"That is if it isn't a bluff." Anya pointed out.



"True but we can't really risk it. We need some way to know what the spell is. How it's triggered."



"Right, you do that." Anya said walking off.



"Do you think we said something to offend her?" Willow asked, surprised by the way that Anya had just left.



A few moments later Anya came back with a small fire extinquisher. "What are you doing with my..." Giles stopped as Anya sprayed the extinquisher around Dawn. As the carbon dioxide spread out a ring of laser beams, coming from the ceiling were revealed.



"Not everything has to be magical." She said.



"So you're saying that if we break the beams then..." Giles started.



"Then boom." Anya supplied.



"I think I know a way to get Dawn out." Tara said, "It's kind of risky though."



"I'm sure we can do it." Willow said guessing what Tara intended, "But maybe the rest of you should wait outside."



"But we might be able to help." Xander protested.



"We can hardly abandon you after that rousing song we sang about working together." Giles added.



"Yes, a hand is made out of five fingers but a fist is the same fingers united." Anya noticed the surprised look Giles was giving her, "What? I have as much team spirit as you do."



"It's not that. I was just surprised to hear you quoting Karl Marx."



"Was that who said it? Oh." Anya suddenly looked ill.



Willow walked round the ring of light then turning to Faith she asked, "How fast can you run?"



Faith glanced at Willow then the exit of the warehouse, "Fast enough."



Willow nodded then went back to join Tara. Xander whispered to Anya, "That was kind of creepy." As Anya gave him a questioning look he added, "Faith and Willow seem to have some sort of Borg like group mind thing going on."



Claudia snorted. As everyone turned to her she explained, "The Borg are nothing more than a bunch of second rate Cybermen wannabes."



"While this is all fascinating." Giles said, "It's hardly relevant." He turned to Willow and Tara and said, "What do you want the rest of us to do?"



"If you could use those corrogated sheets to make up a shelter." Tara suggested.



Willow was looking round the warehouse, "It's a pity we don't know where the explosives are."



Once the preperations had been made Faith moved to stand behind Dawn. She turned to Willow and Tara and asked, "What about you two? Are you going to be able to get out in time?"



"You just worry about Dawn, we'll worry about that." They started chanting. For a moment nothing happened, then the laser beams began to bend creating an opening. When it had stopped growing Dawn began to carefully inch out. She was half way out when a tie on her jacket fell loose. Just as she saw it pass through one of the laser beams she felt herself being picked up and carried across the warehouse. She was thrown through the doors and behind the shelter that the others had put up, with something heavy landing on her. Before Dawn could react to what was happening there was a loud explosion. Wriggling round Dawn found that it was Faith on top of her.



As they both got up Anya asked in a worried tone, "What about Willow and Tara?"



"They said they had it sorted." Faith said.



"Nothing could have survived..." Xander started. He stopped as a pair of dusty figures came out from the remains of the warehouse. "How?"



"When we saw Faith moving we knew that something had gone wrong so we quickly cast a shielding spell."



"That must have been some quick casting." Giles said, sounding impressed despite himself.



"Well we shortened the spell as much as possible."



"I wish you'd let us know what you were planning." There was a certain amount of accusation to his tone.



"Well we didn't have..." Willow stopped as they heard a tapping sound. Turning they saw a man approaching them, hitting a cane against the ground as he walked. As he drew near the inquisitor said, "How do you tell the chosen one? No greater love hath woman, than she who will sacrifice her life for another. Not for glory, not for fame but unseen, and unremarked. Alone in the night." He hit his cane against the ground and a spotlight came on round him.



Inquisitor:

It was all just a test,

But you should all take heart,

You all did your best,

It was a very good start,

You all pulled together,

When the world was pulling you apart,

You just need to think whether,

You'll end it with this part,

Or if you'll carry on with the rest.



He hit his cane against the ground again and disappeared in a puff of smoke. As everyone recovered from this Dawn took a step forwards and sang



Dawn: Where do we go from here?



"How about coming round my place for victory pizza?" Xander suggested rubbing his stomach, "I don't know about you but all this singing has really worked up an appetite."



"But this is my only song." Dawn protested.



"Then you should count yourself lucky." Anya snapped.



TBC

I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had. - mad world

Edited by: justin at: 12/19/03 11:54 am

[bluewillowwitch]

justin ,

I'm glad to hear that you are okay. I love the update! The songs were great. What is up with Emma? and had quick thinking on that protection sheild. Faith seems to be get on a little better with the group. Poor Dawn, her one song and it gets cut. Can't wait to more. Update soon, please?





Grace

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

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos



"I'm here without you baby/But your still with me in my dreams/And tonight girl, there's only you and me."--3 Doors Down-Here Without You----Mine and My Baby's song.

[Grimlock72]

Hmm... for some reason "Inquisitor" doesn't give me warm & fuzzy feelings. I know it could just be some person investigating things but for some odd reason I doubt that I dislike Emma already, nowhere near my dislike for Whistler though... he who keeps referring to just following orders from something unseen, rrrrright.



Any who sends probable evil Tara or Willow's way can't be a good person. Can't say I'm to surprised that Willow and Tara had a shield up fast, after all life in Sunnydale can be dangerous .



Claudia seems to be properly brainwashed, though that might be wearing of a bit as she seems to be having second thoughts. Conveniently she sang that when being all alone, such a shame.



As for the bomb, that indeed did some all rather pointless. If some villain can just magicly transport Dawn to that area then why the need to bother with common stuff like explosives and lasers? Shielding the explosive itself would have been my preferred approach, I'm sure they would have found since they already saw the lasers... ah well.



Is there a melody/song to go with those song-texts by the way ? I can guess some but not all :-)



Grimmy

--
"You hurt Tara," Willow said too calmly. "The last one who tried that was a god. I made her regret it." -- Unexpected Consequences by Lisa of Nine

[justin]

BlueWillowWitch: Hi,

I'm glad that you liked the update and the songs



Now that I've gotten backinto writing this story I should be updating regularly again.



Grimlock:

Quote:

---

Hmm... for some reason "Inquisitor" doesn't give me warm & fuzzy feelings. I know it could just be some person investigating things but for some odd reason I doubt that

---

No the name inquisitor doesn't inspire confidence. What I meant to mention (I've updated the post to include this) is that this inquisitor is based on the one from Babylon 5.

Quote:

---

Claudia seems to be properly brainwashed, though that might be wearing of a bit as she seems to be having second thoughts. Conveniently she sang that when being all alone, such a shame.

---

That's an interesting idea. Has Claudia been brainwashed and if so by whom and to what purpose?

Quote:

---

As for the bomb, that indeed did some all rather pointless. If some villain can just magicly transport Dawn to that area then why the need to bother with common stuff like explosives and lasers? Shielding the explosive itself would have been my preferred approach, I'm sure they would have found since they already saw the lasers... ah well

---

As to the lasers I have to admit that that bit was inspired by an episode of John Doe that I saw recently (In particular the part where Anya uses the carbon dioxide to reveal the lasers) The point of it was to see how they would react. As the Inquisitor sang, it was all just a test. Though admittedly a possibly lethal one had they failed.

Quote:

---

Is there a melody/song to go with those song-texts by the way ? I can guess some but not all :-)

---

Eek, you want tunes? Okay I know that a musical without music is a rather strange concept but I have no musical ability (we know, someone at the back shouts, we just read what you laughinly call songs) and haven't been able to come up with any tunes that go along with the lyrics. So all I can say just go with whatever melodies you think fit.

I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had. - mad world

[justin]

The Cathedral And The Bazaar

- Author: Justin

- Email address: msparshatt@yahoo.co.uk

- Summary: This is an alternate version of S6 in which the scoobies don't resurrect Buffy and instead have Faith released from prison.

- Feedback: Any comments or constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

- Distribution: Anyone can take it, just let me know.

- Spoilers: Up to and including 'The Gift'

- Rating: R

- Pairing: W/T, X/A, F/?

- Disclaimer: Willow And Tara and most of the other characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Three cheers for creating two such wonderful characters. Three jeers for the way you treated them. Caitlin is from the comic Wanna Blessed Be by Amber Benson and Chris Golden

- note1: Many thanks to Arwen for betaing this part.



Chapter 15



Faith was heading home after finishing up a patrol. She turned down an alley way and saw two men standing at the end. As she approached them her instincts warned her that they were vampires. She reached into her jacket and slipped a stake into her hand.



"Slayer." One of the vampires growled, it's face changing.



"Slayee." Faith replied as she drove her stake through it's heart. The other vampire lunged at her, but she dodged out of the way. Sensing another vampire approach from behind she ducked forward and spinning round, she staked the second vampire. Looking down the alley she saw five vampires approaching. Faith smiled to herself, glad to have a challenge. Suddenly she was kicked in the back, causing her to stumble forwards. She recovered her balance and jumped back away from a blow. Turning Faith was surprised to see no one there. This distraction proved to be costly as one of the vampires grabbed Faith and threw her against the wall. Faith quickly raised her stake to defend herself. The vampire that had attacked her threw itself on the stake, managing to pull it out of her grasp before dusting. Taking advantage of this distraction another vampire punched Faith in the stomach. He then pushed her back, causing her head to knock against the wall.



"This should be good." He smiled as he lowered his mouth towards Faith's throat. She couldn't believe this was happening. She had had all these hopes of making up for her mistakes, of making a difference but now she was going to be killed by a group of vampires before she had the chance.



Suddenly the vampire was pulled away from her. She heard it dusting, then an angry female voice saying, "You were told to just soften her up a bit. Only the master is allowed to taste her."



Faith blinked, trying to see what was happening. She could just about make out a female vampire standing in front of her. The vampire grabbed Faith by the throat and whispered, "I have a message for Mr Giles." Leaning forwards she licked Faith's face. A moment later she was gone. Looking round Faith saw the other vampires running away. Picking her stake up she threw it a one of the retreating vampires, killing it.



***



When Faith got back to the Magic Box she found that everyone was there. She quickly explained what had just happened with the vampires.



"And she said only the master could have a taste?" Giles inquired.



"Yes, that's exactly what she said."



"Well this is worrying, if the master has somehow returned..." Giles left the statement hanging.



"But we don't know that." Willow argued, "She might just have been referring to her master, not the master."



Giles nodded, then asked, "Did she say anything else?"



"Yeah she had a message for you."



"For me?" Giles frowned, not sure why vampires would be giving him messages, "What was it?"



"Uh well." Faith hesitated as she worked out how to put this, "She kind of licked my face."



"She what? You're kidding surely." Giles seemed to be a little revolted by the idea.



"One moment she's saying she's got a message or you, the next my face is covered in vampire drool."



"Sounds like you've got an admirer." Claudia said in a dry tone.



Xander quickly grabbed something off of the table and put it in his mouth. Faith turned to him, "Eww, didn't you have any breakfast or something?"



"What?" Xander said, looking shocked.



"He just ate a spider." Faith said to the others.



"I did not." Xander said.



"You did."



"This is just like you." Xander nearly shouted, "You're always trying to stir up trouble."



"I'm not." Faith protested, "You ate that bug."



"I've had enough of this." Xander stood up and stormed out of the shop.



Looking round at the others, who all had shocked looks on their faces. She guessed that they were all blaming her for what had just happened.



"That was rather strange." Tara said.



"Yeah, I know what you're all thinking. It's all my fault. Well you know I've had enough of all this suspicion. You know what, screw the lot of you." Faith turned and stormed out after Xander.



***



Willow glanced at her watch an scowled. She was waiting for Tara to finish her class so that they could go to get lunch together. The problem was, according to her calculations Tara should have arrived ten minutes ago. Willow hoped that there was nothing wrong. Glancing round she saw a notebook on the table. It was left open and the writing on the page seemed to be familiar to Willow. Ignoring it she looked again to see if Tara was coming. Not seeing her Willow looked again at the book, moving it slightly so that she could read it better. She found it was indeed a computer program as she had thought. She turned away again, then looked again at her watch. Before she realised what she was doing Willow had picked the book up and was reading it intently. She soon began spotting errors in the code and getting her pen out she began making corrections.



"I'm sorry I'm late." Tara said as she approached, "One of my professors grabbed me and wouldn't let me go."



"Nothing bad I hope" Willow said as Tara sat down.



"Oh no, he was just praising my last essay. So what are you doing?"



"Uh well..."



Tara took the book out of Willow's loose grip. "Yoink." She glanced at the book then said, "This doesn't look like very good grammar. Should there be this many brackets."



"That's because it's a program. It's in Lisp. You know lot's of irritating superfluous parenthesis."



"So what does it do?"



"Uh well I'm not quite sure, yet."



"But you wrote it, didn't you?"



"Actually someone left there notebook on the table and..."



"You started working on their program?" Tara sounded incredulous at the thought of this.



"Uh yeah." Willow said in a sheepish tone as she took the book off of Tara and put it back on the table. "Maybe we should get going."



A figure came out of the shadows, "Damn." He said, his plan had almost worked.



***



Faith glanced round the campus wondering how she was going to find Tara and Willow here. As she did so she saw someone familiar approaching from across the quad. As she got closer Faith realised that it was Caitlin, carrying a pile of books in her arms.



Suddenly Caitlin fell to the floor, her books going flying. Standing up she said, "It's okay, really I'm fine." She stopped as she realised that no one was paying any attention to her. "Oh." She bent to picked her books up.



Faith went over to help her, "Hi."



Caitlin frowned a little as she tried to work out who this was. Finally remembering she said, "Oh hi, Faith." As Faith handed the books over she added, "Thanks. So are you okay? I was a bit worried when Brandon threw you across the room."



"Oh well sure, fast healing you know."



Caitlin gave Faith a blank look, "Not really."



"You do know who I am right?"



Caitlin thought about this a while, "Tara's friend?"



"The slayer?" Faith suggested.



"Oh right, of course. I mean everyone knows that you're the slayer."



"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" Faith mentally kicked herself. She had just assumed that Caitlin would know all about her being the slayer.



Caitlin shook her head, "Not a clue."



"Uh, well you see..."



"Hey look, there's Willow and Tara." Caitlin interrupted. Turning Faith saw the two witches across the quad.



"I need to go talk to them."



"Right. Are you a student here?"



"No, I'm not."



"Oh, pity." Caitlin turned and started to walk away. When she had got partway across the quad she turned to watch Faith running over to join Willow and Tara. Sighing Caitlin turned to go, almost walking into a lamp post, "Sorry." She muttered as she stepped around it.



As Faith approached Willow and Tara she ventured a tentative, "Hi." After they'd both greeted her she went on, "So I wanted to apologise for what happened before."



"There's really no need." Tara said, "We don't blame you for the way that Xander was acting."



"Yeah, he was being a bit of a jerk," Willow added. She shuddered then asked, "Did he really eat a bug?"



"Yeah, or at least I think so, I mean it looked as though he did."



"Oh well we'll have to ask him about this when he's in a better mood."



"Right, so we're okay?" Faith asked.



"Yes, we are." Tara answered, Willow nodded in agreement.



"Great. Well I better get going." Faith turned on her heals and walked away.



***



Claudia was sitting reading when there was a knock at her door. Putting the book down she called, "One moment." Going to the door she unlocked then opened it. "Hello."



"Hi." Faith answered.



Claudia stepped aside to let Faith in saying, "So what brings you here?"



"Do I need to have a reason to visit my watcher?" Faith asked.



"Of course not. Any time you need to see me I'm available. I just thought that you might have found something out."



"No. I couldn't find out anything about those vampires."



Claudia nodded, "Would you like a drink?"



"I don't drink tea."



Claudia opened her fridge and held up a bottle of beer.



"Oh well in that case sure."



Claudia threw the bottle to Faith then said, "If there's anything that you want to talk to me about, don't hesitate to."



Faith took a sip then said, "It's just I've been thinking about those vampires. About how they could have killed me if they wanted to."



"That scares you."



"Yes. It never used to be. If anything, the danger used to just make it more fun. I don't know what's happened, what's changed." Faith shook her head. She took another drink in order to calm her nerves. She was finding admitting her feelings a lot harder than she had expected.



"You have Faith. Look at you, you're finally getting a chance at a decent life, you're making friends and building a place for yourself in the world. It's understandable that you don't want to lose those things."



"Understandable, but stupid. I got lucky today but that won't last, not if I keep pushing it. That's why slayers die young, they run out of luck." Faith frowned. Part of her still thought that it was wrong to be feeling this way, that as a slayer she couldn't show this sort of weakness.



"Faith, the candle that burns twice as brightly, burns twice as fast. And your candle burned oh so very bright."



"Yeah, I've seen blade runner too. It doesn't help me though."



"I'm sorry. I... I wish there was something I could say, something that I could do, in order to make this better."



Faith put the bottle down and went to the door, "I should get going."



Claudia tried to think of something to say. The problem was everything she came up with sounded false to her, and she knew it would to Faith as well. They both knew what was going to happen and nothing either of them could say would change it. "Faith, I am sorry that I haven't been able to help."



"Yeah, well..." Faith opened the door and left.



Sitting on the bed Claudia began stroking Leonard, who was lying next to her. "Poor, poor Faith. She never really had a chance did she. She will no doubt meet an end that is as tragic as her life." Claudia stopped her stroking as she said, "I can't let that happen." She closed her eyes and took a breath before adding in a determined voice, "I won't let that happen." She stood up and went to the phone. Dialing a number she said, "Hello, it's Claudia. How are the preparations going? Good. I want to get started as soon as possible."





***



"So are you ready?" Tara asked Willow as she put her coat on.



"Yup, all ready." Willow answered.



Going downstairs, Tara went through to the living room were Dawn was sprawled on the couch watching TV, "We're just going to pop out for a little bit."



"Okay mom." Dawn stopped, surprised at what she had just said. Then, as she thought about it she realised that it seemed natural to think of Tara that way. She grinned and said, "I like saying that."



"And I like hearing it." Tara smiled back. "We'll be back in an hour or so."



***



They drove to the local hospital. Going to the reception desk, Willow inquired, "We're here to see Brandon Thompson."



The nurse looked at a list then said, "Ward three b."



They thanked her then made their way to the right ward. When they got there they found Brandon sitting by his bed. He was wearing a hospital gown and a dressing gown and was holding a sketch pad and was drawing something, his brow furroughed in concentration.



"Hello Brandon." Tara said as they walked over to him.



He looked confused a moment then said, "Yes I think that that was my name once."



"So what are you drawing?" Willow asked.



Brandon showed them the picture. It was of the hospital ward. "I think that I liked to draw..." his eyes lost focus for a few moments, "before the accident."



"Do you remember anything at all from before the, uh, accident?" Willow asked.



Brandon shook his head, "The doctors think that my memory should come back eventually."



They talked to Brandon for about an hour more before leaving. As they were walking to their car Tara said, "I can't help but feel a little sorry for him. He might never get his memory back."



"Yeah. But he did bring it on himself."



"So he deserves this?" Tara couldn't keep the guilt she was feeling out of her voice.



"I'm not saying that." Willow said, "It's just there's no reason for us to feel guilty about what happened."



"We still do though, don't we?" Tara asked, a sad smile on her face.



"Yeah, we do. It kind of sucks doesn't it?"



***



After watching Willow and Tara leaving Amy went up to Brandon, "Hello Brandon."



"Uh, hi."



Sitting down Amy went on, "Do you know who those two were?"



"Willow and Tara, they seemed nice."



"Oh yes they like to pretend to be nice. They really enjoy that, having people go on about how wonderful they are, when they're not, they're evil."



"Take that back." Brandon protested.



"Do you know how you lost you're memory?" Amy asked in a concerned voice.



"Some kind of accident." Brandon mumbled.



"They did it to you. You see they're witches."



"Witches." Brandon's voice was thick with anger as he said this.



"Yes. They only visited so they could get a look at their handy work. So they can gloat. But I can help you. Help you to get revenge against them. Show them who's boss."



"I'd like that." Brandon said, "Tell me what to do."



***



Faith was patrolling through the graveyard, looking back and forth intently. She hadn't seen any vampires, and she didn't like that. She stopped as she saw a woman appear in front of her. She soon recognised her as the vampire from before.



"Nice trick."



"Our master taught it to us."



"Our." Faith said, then she sensed two more forms appear behind her, "So there's three of you. So do we fight now?"



"We're not here to fight you. We're just here to tell you he's coming. He's here!" With that they vanished, leaving a lone man in their place. He was wearing all black clothes and his pale skin was a stark contrast against his black hair.



"Who the hell are you?" Faith asked.



"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dracula."



TBC

If you have any trouble sounding condescending, find a Unix user to show you how it's done. - Scott Adams

[bluewillowwitch]

justin ,

I love your fic! Seems that Faith is getting a little hot under the collar here with old Dracula. Wonder what that will lead to? :Willow and still feel guilty even though it is there fault. How sweet. Amy ! I hate her! Can't wait to more. Update soon, please?





Grace

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

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos



"I'm here with out you baby/But your still with me in my dreams/And tonight girl, there's only you and me."--3 Doors Down-Here Without You----Mine and My Baby's song.

[justin]

BlueWillowWitch:

I'm glad that you're still enjoying the story. Thanks for the kind words



As to what will happen between Faith and Duckula, I mean Dracula you'll find out now



The Cathedral And The Bazaar

- Author: Justin

- Email address: msparshatt@yahoo.co.uk

- Summary: This is an alternate version of S6 in which the scoobies don't resurrect Buffy and instead have Faith released from prison.

- Feedback: Any comments or constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

- Distribution: Anyone can take it, just let me know.

- Spoilers: Up to and including 'The Gift'

- Rating: R

- Pairing: W/T, X/A, F/?

- Disclaimer: Willow And Tara and most of the other characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Three cheers for creating two such wonderful characters. Three jeers for the way you treated them. Caitlin is from the comic Wanna Blessed Be by Amber Benson and Chris Golden

- note1: This part hasn't been betaed, hopefully it doesn't suck too much as a result



Chapter 16



“Well good for you.” Faith answered, “Am I supposed to be impressed or frightened or something?”



“No, but you will be.”



Dracula snarled at Faith, then charged at her. Faith stepped out of the way and as he went past she swung her stake at his back. It sailed through thin air as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Faith crouched low as she scanned the area. She rolled forward just as Dracula appeared behind her. She rose to her feet, in a defensive stance. “You know aside from the cheaps tricks you're not that tough.”



“We've barely gotten started.” Dracula said, before disappearing again.



Faith scanned the area, looking for any sign of him. Dracula appeared above her but she caught hold of him and pinned him to the ground. “Again I say you're...” She stopped as he disappeared again. Watching the smoke move Faith waited till it stopped moving and threw her stake at it. Dracula reappeared just in time for the stake to hit him in the chest.



***



Faith headed straight to the Magic Box to tell the others about her confrontation. As she approached she was surprised to see Xander outside putting glass in one of the windows. “Hey Xan man, what's up?”



Xander secured the glass in place and turning to Faith he answered, “Not much. Someone just thought that it would be funny to put a brick through the window.”



Shaking her head Faith went through into the shop. Seeing that everyone was there she said, “You won't believe who I just dusted.”



“No, who?” Giles asked.



“Dracula.” Faith fell onto couch giving everyone a smug look, “That's right, the big D. Wasn't too hard either.”



“Didn't Buffy already dust him?” Willow asked.



“Yes, twice actually,” Giles added.



Faith took a few moments to process this, “Oh. So not only am I not the first person to beat him, but I probably haven't really beaten him.”



“That pretty much sums it up. Well this explains that message you were given for me. Presumably she was one of the three sisters and I have to say they did seem rather taken with me last time we met.” Everyone turned to give him disbelieving looks, “Um well what I mean is...”



Giles stopped as Willow shouted, “Spider eating man bitch!”



Xander poked his head into the shop, “Someone called?”



“Faith was just telling us that she had a confrontation with Dracula.” Giles explained.



Xander's face fell at this, “So I really was eating a bug? Why is it always me he picks on?” As Xander looked round the room everyone avoided meeting his eyes. “Well isn't there some way we can deal with him permanently?”



“I think I might have an answer to that.” Everyone turned to the door where Emma was standing.



“Hey you're the woman from the library. Who are you exactly?” Xander asked.



“Her name's Emma. She worked for Samuel.” Hearing this Faith jumped up and took on a defensive stance.



“While that is true, I assure you it was against my will.”



“You're saying that he was coercing you?” Giles asked.



“Yes.” She turned to Tara and added, “That was why Whistler arranged for you to be sent to Samuel. He hoped that your seeing Samuel would lead to a confrontation between you that would result in his death.”



“So he used me to free you.” Tara stated simply.



Emma nodded, “Well one good turn deserves another. Since you helped me with my Samuel problem, I'm going to help you with your Dracula problem.”



“You know of a way to kill him permanently?” Giles asked.



“Not permanently, but for a very long time.”



Giles took a Bible from the shelf and threw it to her saying, “First could you read this.”



Emma caught it with a shrug and opening up she read, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thous hast understanding. Who determines the measure thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched the line upon it? Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened? Or who stretched the line upon it?” Emma closed it and giving Giles a curious look she said, “I'm not sure what that proves. After all, even the Devil can quote the scriptures.”



“I was wondering how you would react.”



“Oh you thought that it would burn me. I'm not a vampire.”



“Actually I didn't think so but you can't be too careful.”



Growing impatient with all this Faith said, “So what's the plan.”



***



Once the plan had been discussed Willow went out to get rid of some rubbish. Opening the bin up Willow threw the bag in, keeping her head turned to one side and holding the bag as far away from her as possible. As she quickly closed the lid she gasped, “Ewww, I don't know what was in there but it was...” She stopped as heard a snorting sound from behind her. She turned slowly to see a horse a short distance off. “Now stay calm, it's just a horse.” Then she noticed that it's eyes were glowing red, “Just a demon horse.” The horse snorted again and charged at her. Willow turned and ran but tripped over a rubbish bag. She turned in time to see the horse rearing up. She screamed as it brought it's hooves down on her. It reared up again and again, lashing out at her.



“Willow, Willow! It's okay.” Everything became blurred a moment, then the horse was replaced by Tara. Behind her Willow could see the others looking on, concern evident on their faces.



“Willow what was happening?” Giles asked.



“A horse. I was being attacked by this massive hell horse.”



“Will, there was nothing here,” Xander said.



“Yeah we heard you screaming and came out to find you freaking out over nothing,” Anya added.



“I'm telling you there was something here.”



“Maybe it was some kind of illusion,” Giles suggested.



“Dracula,” Faith said.



“It is possible.”



“Well then the sooner I dust his ass, the better.”



***



Tara glanced over at Willow and saw her sitting down with an unhappy expression on her face. Sitting down and putting an arm round her, Tara asked, “Are you okay?”



“Not really, no.”



“I'm sorry, I should have been there.”



“You couldn't have known what was going to happen. I mean who would have expected Dracula to send a phantom horse after me?”



“If it was him.”



“Don't you think it was?”



“It could have been but it could just as easily have been someone else. We don't know at the moment.”



“I guess so. Who ever it was knows more about us than I'm comfortable with.” Willow glanced outside and said, “It's getting late.” Standing she said to the others, “We're going to get going. We'll bring the stuff tomorrow.” The others said goodnight and they left.



***



As Willow and Tara walked home Willow asked, “So what do you think Dracula's up to?”



“He probably wants revenge against Buffy for having humiliated him.”



“What, and since she's dead he's going after people who were close to her?”



“It seems likely.”



They looked at each other a moment then said in unison, “Dawn.”



They both rushed home, getting in Tara called “Dawn.”



A few moments later Dawn came down, “Yeah?”



“We wanted to tell you that Dracula's about again and we think...” Tara started.



“Why are you wearing that scarf?” Willow interrupted.



“I felt like it.”



“Take it off.”



“No.” Dawn's hand went to her throat in a protective gesture.



“Please Dawn.” Tara said. Dawn took the scarf off and they both sighed with relief when they didn’t see any bite marks.



“Happy now?”



“Yes Dawn.” Willow said, “Sorry but with Dracula about we were worried he might go after you.”



“Don't worry. I'll be careful.” Dawn went back upstairs wondering what had bitten her on the wrist.



***



Later that night Dawn snuck out and went round to Faith's apartment. As Faith let her in she looked round saying, “This is nice. Very minimalist."



"I always thought of it as being Spartan." Faith replyed with a shrug.



“Um, right." Dawn fidgeted about.



“Why don't you sit down?”



“Okay thanks.” Dawn picked a chair and sat down.



Walking over to the fridge Faith asked, "Do you want a drink?"



"No thanks."



Faith grabbed a drink for herself then said, "Somehow I don't think that this is a social visit."



"Um no."



"So why don't you tell me what you want?"



"Okay, well, um, do you know how Buffy died?"



"Just it had something to with some hell chick called Glory."



"Right. Glory. She wanted to open a portal to her home dimension, Buffy had to sacrifice herself to close it."



"And you're telling me this, why?"



"It wasn't Glory, it was one of her minions called Doc. Don't you see, it was his fault that Buffy's dead."



"But why are you telling me ... Oh I see. You want me to get back at this Doc, and you want me to do it for you."



"Well yeah."



"You just don't get it. I'm not that person any more. I'll kill demons if I have to because I'm the slayer, it's what I do. But I'm not a killer."



"But..."



Faith walked over to the door and , throwing it open said, "I think that you should leave." without saying a word Dawn got up and left.



After Dawn had gone Faith stood thinking about what she had said. “Fuck it.” Faith grabbed a sword and headed out.



***



“I'm coming, I'm coming." Doc muttered as he walked to open the door. Outside there was a tall, dark haired woman, "Well hello, I don't think that I've seen you round here before."



"You're Doc right?"



"Right." Doc said as he wandered off to a desk, "And you're the slayer."



"Then you probably know why I'm here."



"Did you want help with a potion?" Grabbing a sword Doc spun round and blocked a blow from Faith, "Or perhaps not."



"I'm here to slay your sorry demon ass." hey traded blows for a few seconds. Then pretending to stumble to one side, Faith moved inside Doc's reach and struck her sword through his chest. Doc groaned a moment, then stumbled to the floor.



***



Without saying a word Faith grabbed her sword. cleaning it walked to the door, stopping as she heard movement behind her.



"Didn't your friends tell you swords don't work." Doc asked as he picked himself up.



"They must have forgotten too mention that." Faith answered as she raised her sword to defend herself. Instead of attacking Faith concentrated on defending herself while trying to detect any sign of a weakness. Then Faith noticed there was something odd about his eyes. Distracted Faith had her sword knocked away. Ducking under a blow from Doc, Faith rolled to where her sword was. She was about to grab it when she spotted a pair of slim knives. Grabbing them as she stood ducking under s swing from Doc, Faith drove the two knives into his eyes. Doc screamed as she fell away from her. His body dissolved as it hit the floor. Soon there was nothing but a small puddle. "Yeah, take that." Faith crowed, "That'll teach you." Faith suddenly stopped, appalled at how much she was enjoying this. "I haven't changed." She moaned as she ran out.



***



Willow woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. Glancing at her clock she was annoyed to see that it was just gone midnight. She was thinking about ignoring it when Tara asked, “Is that the phone?”



“Yeah.” Seeing Tara about to get up she said, “I'll get it.”



Tara sat up and waited as Willow went to answer it. When Willow got back she asked, “Is something wrong?”



“It was one of the bar tenders at Willy's. Faith's at the bar getting drunk. He was a bit worried she might start attacking his customers.”



Tara stood up saying, “We better get her before she gets herself hurt.”



***



"Here she is." Willow said as spotted Faith leant over a small table. They walked over to her keeping a wary eye on the various demons around the bar.



"Faith we've been looking all over for you."



Faith turned to stare blearily at Tara, "You have? Who are you?"



"How much has she had?"Willow asked.



“A lot I guess.” Tara indicated he bottles in front of them.



“We should probably get her home.”



Faith turned to Willow, "Hey it's wossname, Willow."



"Yes it's Willow. Come on we're going to get you home."



"You mean I'm not there now?"



Willow and Tara both took hold of Faith and with some effort managed to manhandle her home. Realising that they wouldn't get her upstairs they laid her out on the couch.



"I'll stay up to keep an eye on her." Tara said, still sitting opposite Faith.



"Okay." Wilow said as she sat don next to Tara and put her arm round her.



"There's no need for you to stay up as well."



Willow pouted at this, "Yo know I can't sleep without you."



"Okay then." Tara conceded. They kissed, before settling down to a night of Faith watching.



***



Tara was woken up by Willow moving, “What, did I fall asleep?”



Willow nodded, “I think I heard something outside.”



Tara turned to the window, “Do you know what it was?”



“I'm not sure. It sounded sort of like a popping sound.” She tilted her head slightly, “There it is again.”



“Sorry I didn't hear anything.”



Getting up Willow went to the window and looked out, “I can't see anything out there.” Turning back she said, “Whatever it was didn't disturb sleeping beauty here.”



TBC

Postel's Prescription: Be generous in what you accept, rigorous in what you emit.

[bluewillowwitch]

justin ,

Love the fic! Finally, someone killed that SOB Doc! Poor Faith thinks that she has done something bad but she hasn't. Can't wait to see how everyone is going to deal with this whole library thing. And Drac is back. Can't wait to more. Update soon, please?





Grace

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

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos



"I'm here without you baby/But your still with me in my dreams/And tonight girl, there's only you and me."--3 Doors Down-Here Without You----Mine and My Baby's song.

Edited by: bluewillowwitch  at: 2/4/04 12:06 pm

[Grimlock72]

Arrgghh... such a complex story, requires nearly re-reading on updates . I can't find an account of what happened before Buffy jumped to her death so I'll assume it went the same as on TV.



Now being VERY generous and ignoring the blood-trouble and all, doc indeed did open the portal hence requiring at least one miss Summers to jump. All things considered equal it would have made far more sense for Dawn ( who can not slay vampires very well) to jump but alas :-).



Hehe, if you take that reasoning and run with it you could conclude that Dawn herself caused Buffy to commit suicide. Or the monks at least did... why stop with the Doc ?? : -->



It IS interesting to see how VERY EASY it is to talk Faith into killing something/someone of which she knows very little. Going on a single biased (teenage) source to kill someone, bad idea. Not that i'll miss Doc much but Dawn's reasoning leaves to many things open for my taste.



Should be interesting to see how Dawn wiggles herself out of this one, being responsible and all. Probably that wrist-bite will get her out-of-jail-free, heh. Just put her in the sunlight to be sure .



I recommend the scoobs to work in pairs until they've gotten rid of those pesky hallucinations (evil word). I fail to see what those are meant to accomplish except bother a tiny bit. It's not as if the horse Willow saw would kill her.



Not sure what got Xander sooooo upset back in the music box by the way. It was obvious that Faith saw something (from season3 memory) that the others clearly did NOT. So why did Xander run away as opposed to figure out why she saw it ?



Silly carpenter



Grimmy

--
"You hurt Tara," Willow said too calmly. "The last one who tried that was a god. I made her regret it." -- Unexpected Consequences by Lisa of Nine

Edited by: Grimlock72 at: 1/18/04 6:53 am

[justin]

BlueWillowWitch: ,



Thanks, I'm glad you liked this part. As to Faith she isn't upset over what she did so much as how she felt about it, there'll be more on that in the next part.



Grimlock72 firstly - PICACHOU!

Quote:

---

I can't find an account of what happened before Buffy jumped to her death so I'll assume it went the same as on TV.

---

Yes, everything up to The Gift happened as on TV

Quote:

---

Now being VERY generous and ignoring the blood-trouble and all, doc indeed did open the portal hence requiring at least one miss Summers to jump. All things considered equal it would have made far more sense for Dawn ( who can not slay vampires very well) to jump but alas :-).

---

You're right it would have if the monks hadn't programmed Buffy to see Dawn as being more important than her.

Quote:

---

Hehe, if you take that reasoning and run with it you could conclude that Dawn herself caused Buffy to commit suicide. Or the monks at least did... why stop with the Doc ?

---

True there were a lot of people who were responsible. However it was Doc who was most directly responsible so he got the benefit of Dawn's guilt transference.

Quote:

---

Should be interesting to see how Dawn wiggles herself out of this one, being responsible and all. Probably that wrist-bite will get her out-of-jail-free, heh.

---

Nope there'll be no getting out of jail free. There'll also won't be any of the passing of the go or the collecting of the two hundred dollars.

Quote:

---

I recommend the scoobs to work in pairs until they've gotten rid of those pesky hallucinations (evil word). I fail to see what those are meant to accomplish except bother a tiny bit. It's not as if the horse Willow saw would kill her.

---

Ah but we don't know what would have happened if the others hadn't turned up. It's possible to be frightened to death. I remember seeing a documentary a few months ago about people who saw this video and seven days later they were found dead with looks of terror on their faces. I don't remember what it was called.

Quote:

---

Not sure what got Xander sooooo upset back in the music box by the way. It was obvious that Faith saw something (from season3 memory) that the others clearly did NOT. So why did Xander run away as opposed to figure out why she saw it ?

---

Maybe I'm being unfair to Xander but he doesn't seem the sort to deal with things like this in a mature fashion.



Thanks for the feedback. You've given me some ideas for how to develop the story.

Postel's Prescription: Be generous in what you accept, rigorous in what you emit.

[justin]

The Cathedral And The Bazaar

- Author: Justin

- Email address: msparshatt@yahoo.co.uk

- Summary: This is an alternate version of S6 in which the scoobies don't resurrect Buffy and instead have Faith released from prison.

- Feedback: Any comments or constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

- Distribution: Anyone can take it, just let me know.

- Spoilers: Up to and including 'The Gift'

- Rating: R

- Pairing: W/T, X/A, F/?

- Disclaimer: Willow And Tara and most of the other characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Three cheers for creating two such wonderful characters. Three jeers for the way you treated them. Caitlin is from the comic Wanna Blessed Be by Amber Benson and Chris Golden

- note1: This part hasn't been betaed, hopefully it doesn't suck too much as a result



Previously



When Claudia got back to her apartment she called out, “Leonard, Leonard?” A large grey cat walked out from under the bed, “Now what were you doing under there? What were you doing under there, hey?” She put the cat down on the bed then went on, “I have some good news. It seems that Samuel was able to turn Amy back into a human, so he should be able to cure you too. Won’t that be good?” Claudia smiled happilly at the cat as she said this.



The cat sat down and began licking it’s shoulder.



“I won’t take you to see him just yet.”



The cat stopped licking himself and turned to stare at Claudia.



“Now, father, don’t look at me like that. There’s some things I need to do first. You see I need to get everything ready, so that when you get turned back into a human we can be a proper family at last.” She started stroking his head, “Without your silly temper getting in the way, won’t that be wonderful? You just stay here, while I make a quick call.”



***



When they reached the library they found Samuel waiting for them. He was wearing black robes and was holding something golden in his hand which he kept twirling about.



"I knew you were coming." He said this without emotion. Turning to Tara he said, "I sensed you throwing off the Shakdra's influence." He then addressed the group, "Now you'll all kick my arse, or should that be ass?” He face contorted with rage as he sneered, “Fools you have no idea what you're dealing with."



Faith took a step forwards, "Looks to me like another big mouthed loser with delusions of adequacy."



Samuel looked into Faiths eyes and said in a pleasant tone, "You are going to die screaming." He turned back to Tara, "Oh Tara you could have been a part of something glorious but now you're just another ant to be squashed."



"That's it." Faith moved forward.



"Idiot.” Samuel shouted, “You can't hurt me." He opened up the object he had been holding. They just had time to realise that it was a lighter before he lit it. "I'm already dead." he laughed as the flames rushed up his arm and consumed his body.



***



"Here she is." Willow said as spotted Faith leant over a small table. They walked over to her keeping a wary eye on the various demons around the bar.



"Faith we've been looking all over for you."



Faith turned to stare blearily at Tara, "You have? Who are you?"



"How much has she had?"Willow asked.



“A lot I guess.” Tara indicated he bottles in front of them.



“We should probably get her home.”



Faith turned to Willow, "Hey it's wossname, Willow."



"Yes it's Willow. Come on we're going to get you home."



"You mean I'm not there now?"



Willow and Tara both took hold of Faith and with some effort managed to manhandle her home.



***



Chapter 17



As Faith woke up she reached for her head groaning, "Oh god, what was I drinking last night?" Then as she became aware of where she was she said, "How did I get here?" She was about to get up when she spotted a glass of water with a couple of aspirin next to it. "Nice." Faith muttered before taking them.



Wandering out into the kitchen she noticed a note on the table.



Faith,



We've gone to the college. There's some coffee in the pot.



Willow & Tara



Faith went to pour herself some coffee, "I guess the witches thought of everything."



Faith was sitting drinking the coffee and thinking about having a shower when Dawn came down. "I heard you were out drinking last night."



Faith could hear the disapproval in Dawn's voice but decided to ignore it, she didn't feel up to having any sort of argument, "You heard right."



Dawn crossed her arms and asked, "Was there a reason?"



"It seemed like a good idea at the time."



Dawn stared a Faith a while then, realising she wasn't going to get any more from her she tutted and started for the door.



Just as Dawn was about to leave Faith said, "He's dead by the way."



"Who?"



"Doc. I killed him."



"I didn't think you were going to."



"I changed my mind. So are you happy now?"



"Yes."



***



Tara was leaving one of her classes when she was stopped by a voice calling her name. She stopped thinking, 'It can't be.' she turned to find Donny walking towards her. "Donny, what are you doing back here?"



"I never was happy about how things went last time I was here."



As he got closer Tara said, "Stay back."



"Why?" Donny sneered, "Your friends aren't here to protect you now."



Tara took a step back, "Donny I'm warning you."



"I still don't understand how you managed to get so many friends. What did you do, put a spell on them all?"



"N-no!" Tara's heart raced as Dommy approached her. A part of her just wanted to run away as quickly as possible while another part couldn't believe that it was affecting her like this.



"I wonder if they know about how you used to cry yourself to sleep most nights or about how even the nerds would pick on you because of the dowdy clothes you used to wear. How you were the freak that everyone hated."



Gathering her courage Tara said, "What do you want? I'm not going back with you."



"Oh I'm not here to take you home. I just felt like a little fun."



Tara took a few more steps back, bumping into the wall. For a moment she was almost overcome by panic. Then something occurred to her. "You're not real."



"What are you talking about."



"Donnie is one of the laziest people that I know. There's no way he'd drive several hundred miles just for a bit of fun."



Donnie took another step towards her then vanished.



***



Anya looked towards the door of the Magic Box when she heard the bell ringing. "Welcome to the..." She stopped as she saw who it was. "Oh it's you."



"Hi." Caitlin said.



"So are you in trouble again?"



"What? Oh no I just wanted to look round the shop. I didn't really get a chance what with Brandon trying to kill me."



"Look around? You mean to buy things?" Anya started to grow excited at the prospect of a sale.



"I guess," Caitlin shrugged.



"Well why didn't you say so? Things are quiet at the moment so I'll show you around."



"You don't have to."



"But I want to. Maybe you could recommend the shop to that little coven of yours."



"Uh it's called a Wicca Group."



"Whatever, I'm sure they'd love this shop."



Anya showed Caitlin round the shop, showing off the various products. While they were looking at a set of amulets Caitlin asked, "So, um, does Faith work here?"



"What? No, of course not. Why?"



"Just curious. I was wondering how she met Willow and Tara." When Anya didn't respond she went on, "I guess it's something to do with being the slayer."



"So you know about that."



"Faith mentioned it. So what does a slayer do?"



"Why are you so interested in Faith?"



"No reason." Caitlin glanced towards the door a moment, "Actually I've just remembered I've got a class. I better get going." Caitlin turned and hurried to the exit.



"Don't forget to tell your witchy friends about this place."



***



Amy and Brandon watched Caitlin as she left the Magic Box. "I know her." Brandon said.



"She's in charge of that stupid Wicca Group," Anmy sneered, "She's not important."



"No, she's responsible for my condition."



Amy sighed with frustration, "I already told you Willow and Tara are to blame."



"But she's involved as well. I want her to suffer as well."



"She's nothing. Don't waste your time on her."



Brandon back handed Amy, knocking her to the ground. "Don't tell me what to do. I'm so tired of everyone telling me what to do."



Amy stood up and Brandon took a step back as he saw that her eyes were black. "That was a mistake." She stared at Brandon and said, "Pain." Brandon fell to the floor moaning in pain. After a few minutes he began to recover. "Are you ready to do as you're told?"



"Yes."



"Though maybe I should let you have your fun. Very well you can go after Caitlin if you must, just remember that Willow and Tara are your main targets."



"Of course, thank you."



***



Just as Faith was leaving Willow and Tara's home she got a text message from Claudia asking to see her. When Faith reached Claudia's apartment the first thing that Claudia said was, "I've learnt that a local demon going by the name Doc was killed last night. Killed by someone matching your description."



"That's because it was me."



Claudia nodded, "I take it, it was Dawn who put you up to it."



"You knew?"



"I knew that Dawn wanted revenge against Doc. I hadn't thought that she would go to you though. Maybe I should have. So how did it make you feel? Killing Buffy's killer. Or at least the person who was responsible for her death."



"It made me happier than I can describe. But that's wrong. You shouldn't feel pleasure about killing, even if they are just a murderous little demon. I guess I haven't changed as much as I hoped I had."



"The fact you feel guilt over having enjoyed his death suggests that you have changed."



"Yeah, well maybe. I don't know."



"I do. I've read the council reports about you. You're not the person that they're describing."



Faith just nodded. She was about to respond when a small cat came out. He meowed then walked over to Faith and began rubbing against her leg. "Hello there." Faith said as she picked him up. "I didn't know you had a cat."



"Ah yes." Claudia said, "There's something I'm going to tell you and you have to promise not to tell anyone. Especially not the Scoobies."



"Sure, whatever you say."



"Well that isn't a normal cat."



"What is it your familiar?"



"No he's my Father."



"Your what?"



"My father was an important member of the Watcher's Council. A few years ago a group of demons that he had been helping to fight turned him into a cat."



"I see. But why not tell the others? They could help."



"I don't want to involve them. I have my reasons."



"But..."



"Remember you promised."



"Sure, If you don't want me to tell them then I won't." Faith left shortly after that not feeling happy about keeping secrets from the others but also not wanting to betray Claudia's confidence.



***



As Faith entered the Magic Box she was met by Willow. "We need to talk?"



"Sure, whatever." She followed Willow through into the training room, "Look if this is about last night..."



Willow turned to Faith and said, "I just have one thing to ask. Why there?"



"Huh?" Faith had been expecting to be told off for getting drunk, not this.



"You may not have noticed but that place is rather full of demons who'd love to have the chance to kill the slayer."



"Well they threw me out of the Bronze."



Willow nodded then said, "If there's anything you want to talk about then you can always come to me or Tara."



"Yeah, sure. Thanks." She stared at Willow a moment then asked, "Is that it? Aren't you going to tell me off or something?"



"Faith you're not the first person to go out and get drunk."



"I bet you never have."



Willow raised her eyebrows, "You'd be surprised."



Faith was going to respond when they heard something going on outside, "Come on we might miss the fun."



When they got out Claudia was showing something in a petri dish to Giles and Anya. As Willow got closer she recognised it immediately, "That's the stuff that came out of Tara." Claudia nodded, "Is it safe?"



"Don't worry. Freezing it seems to have killed it. However there is something I wanted to show you." Claudia got out a box of matches and said, "I suggest you stand back." She lit a match and threw it into the dish. The liquid burst into flames for a moment, then went out.



Seeing this Willow paled as she muttered, "And to think I suggested using a fire spell."



"Well that is interesting but..." Giles started.



"You don't get it do you?" Claudia asked.



"Samuel," Faith said. As everyone turned to her she went on, "I always wondered why he caught fire so quickly."



"So he was infected with this stuff," Willow said.



"Presumably it was using him to spread it," Giles added.



"It seems likely. Though there is only one person who can tell us for certain." Claudia indicated outside where Emma and Tara were talking.



***



Tara arrived at the Magic Box at the same time as Emma. Emma bowed slightly, "Hello again."



"Hello." Tara reached for the door then stopped, "Why are you helping us?"



"I told you. To pay you back for dealing with Samuel."



"How can we trust you?"



"You can't." Tara frowned at this, "There are only two people that you can trust." Emma pointed at Tara, "One." She then pointed into the Magic Box, "Two." Looking through the window Tara wasn't surprised to see that Emma was pointing at Willow.



Tara reached for the door again, "Shall we go in?"



***



As they entered Giles said, "We were just discussing Samuel."



"Must we?" Emma asked, "The man's dead. Can't we just forget about him."



"Well I'm sorry but there are things we need to work out." Giles said, "Now it seems that he was infected with the same stuff that he tried to pass on to Tara."



"I don't think so. I didn't see any signs of infection. Though," Emma turned to Tara, "I didn't see any signs of you having been infected."



"So you're sure you didn't see any signs that he was being controlled?" Claudia asked.



"Positive. Sorry I couldn't help more," Emma shrugged.



"Somethings happened." Tara said, "I saw Donnie at the college."



"Is he trying to make you go home with him?" Willow asked.



"No. It was another illusion."



"So Dracula's going after you as well." Faith said.



"I don't think it is him. I mean he knew things about me that I haven't told anyone, aside from Willow."



Claudia noticed the fact that Emma was staring at her, "Is something wrong?"



Emma hesitated a moment, "There's someone outside."



A moment later the door opened and Amy stumbled in. Her clothes were torn and muddied and there was blood on her face. "Help me." She gasped before falling to the floor.



TBC

Postel's Prescription: Be generous in what you accept, rigorous in what you emit.

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-





Oh dear. Trap, real victim, or even a red herring? I personally think I smell a rat, but justin's been just a bit clever of late, so I'm not sure.



I'll just wait. Patiently. Forgot about the patiently. Yep, that's me. Patient.





Jixer

[Grimlock72]

I don't care much for Amy if she's a trap or a honest victim. She definitly doesn't want goodness to come to the scoobies or Willow and Tara specificly. So for all I care she can drop death, preferably in a nice secluded spot though.



Why did Claudia tell only Faith about her dad? It hardly makes sense, esp. if she wants to return him to normal human state eventually. I'm not trusting Claudia a whole lot at the moment, which is a understatement by the way



I don't know why Amy thinks she needs to use Justin to pester Willow and Tara. Poisoining the Magic Box's water supply or the one from the Summer's home can't be THAT difficult can it ?? Why bother spending energy on controlling Jason, who is a looser anyway.



Mr Illusion seems like a efficient version of the First Evil, using appearance to the most effect. Should be interesting if one of it's victims ever attempts to touch the illusion itself... easy way of detecting then :-) Seeing Donny is bothersome yes, but it hardly will kill or really hurt Tara. She should realize she can defend herself fairly easily against Donny, no need to fear the bully anymore. (of course Willow will gladly do the defending for her, but it would be best for Tara to do it herself)



Grimmy

--
"You hurt Tara," Willow said too calmly. "The last one who tried that was a god. I made her regret it." -- Unexpected Consequences by Lisa of Nine

[justin]

Jixer: What do you mean of late? I'll have you know I'm always a bit clever



Thanks for the feedback



Grimlock: sorry but I've got to say it again. PIKACHOU!

Quote:

---

I don't care much for Amy if she's a trap or a honest victim. She definitly doesn't want goodness to come to the scoobies or Willow and Tara specificly. So for all I care she can drop death, preferably in a nice secluded spot though.

---

woah, I'm sensing some definite anti Amy feelings there.

Quote:

---

Why did Claudia tell only Faith about her dad? It hardly makes sense, esp.

---

You're right it doesn't

Quote:

---

I'm not trusting Claudia a whole lot at the moment, which is a understatement by the way

---

I don't want to say too much but the next part will clear up just how much you can trust Claudia.

Quote:

---

I don't know why Amy thinks she needs to use Justin to pester Willow and Tara. Poisoining the Magic Box's water supply or the one from the Summer's home can't be THAT difficult can it ?? Why bother spending energy on controlling Jason, who is a looser anyway.

---

I assume you mean Brandon becuase 1, I'm not helping Amy and 2, there aren't any characters in the story called Jason



As to why she's using him that'll become clear later (I hope)



Thanks for the feedback

Postel's Prescription: Be generous in what you accept, rigorous in what you emit.

[justin]

The Cathedral And The Bazaar

- Author: Justin

- Email address: msparshatt@yahoo.co.uk

- Summary: This is an alternate version of S6 in which the scoobies don't resurrect Buffy and instead have Faith released from prison.

- Feedback: Any comments or constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

- Distribution: Anyone can take it, just let me know.

- Spoilers: Up to and including 'The Gift'

- Rating: R

- Pairing: W/T, X/A, F/?

- Disclaimer: Willow And Tara and most of the other characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Three cheers for creating two such wonderful characters. Three jeers for the way you treated them. Caitlin is from the comic Wanna Blessed Be by Amber Benson and Chris Golden

- note1: This part hasn't been betaed, hopefully it doesn't suck too much as a result



previously



"Oh, Caitlin, this is Dawn. Dawn, Caitlin." Willow filled in.



"Oh, it was you who summoned Morrigan." Dawn said, recognising where she had heard the name from. About a year and a half ago, while trying to impress the other members of the Wicca group and, more importantly, Willow and Tara, Caitlin had summoned the Goddess Morrigan. Unfortunately Morrigan had started killing everyone that she saw as being Caitlin’s enemies, who just happened to be the other members of the Wicca group. With Willow and Tara’s help they had been able to banish Morrigan and shortly afterwards Caitlin had been made the head of the Wicca group.



***



“I’m Tara.” Tara could feel herself growing impatient with Amy. She tried to suppress, it telling herself that it wasn't Amy's fault.



Amy went to get some more ink, but caught the ink well with her hand, knocking it over.



Tara jumped up as the ink poured on her skirt, shouting hotly “You stupid bitch.”



“I’m sorry.” Amy shrunk back away from Tara.



“Goddess, you dumb cow. This skirt is ruined. I’m going to beat you...” Tara stopped as she saw the terror on Amy’s face. “Oh goddess, I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” Turning Tara fled to the exit.



***



Claudia gave the paper to Giles and said, "Read this."



Giles quickly read the report, about a man being kidnapped, "I don’t really see how this pertains to us. We don't generally deal with kidnappings."



"You saw the part about him having been recently released from a mental institute."



"I still don't see what it has to do with us."



Claudia sighed, "Some people believe that insanity is caused by someone having been touched by God. In this case that is literally true, though they were touched by a Goddess."



"Glory." Giles said, realising what Claudia was getting at.



"Who?" Faith asked.



"Glory was a hell goddess who needed to drain the mental energy from other people in order to remain sane. We were able to stop her but not before she set in motion the chain of events that led to Buffy's death." Giles frowned as he remembered the events of that fateful day.



"There have been two other cases of people who had been attacked by Glory disappearing."



"So someone is collecting Glory's victims. I wonder..." Giles stopped as he noticed that Claudia wasn't looking at him. Turning to see what she was looking at he said, "Oh dear."



A short distance away Tara looked up from the book she had been reading, a slight frown on her face, "Is something wrong?"



***



Chapter 18



Faith and Xander carried Amy through to the training room and set her down on the small cot that had been set up there. After they had made sure that she was comfortable Giles said, "I think it's best if we leave Amy to get her rest."



"I'll stay to keep an eye on her," Willow said. Giles nodded his agreement and the others left.



After a while Amy woke up. "Where am I?" She asked in a tried voice.



"It's okay, you're safe. You're in the magic box."



"Willow is that you?"



"Yes. We tried looking for you after Samuel died, but you'd disapeared."



"Is Tara here?"



"She's just outside. I could get her if you want." Willow started to head to the door as she said this.



"No!"



Willow turned back, looking confused, "What's wrong?"



"She frightens me."



"Is this because of what happened before?" Amy nodded, "She really is sorry about that." Seeing that Amy wasn't convinced Willow sat down again saying, "So where have you been?"



"After Samuel died I was thrown out of the library. I didn't know where to go so I stayed on the streets. After a couple of days I suddenly grew really sick. I kept throwing up this strange black liquid."



"Oh Amy I'm so sorry." Willow said softly, but Amy was asleep again. Willow went out to the main room where she was met by Tara.



"How is she?"



"She woke up for a little while." Willow explained what Amy had told her. "I just can't get rid of the feeling that we let her down."



***



Faith was getting ready for work when there was a knock at the door. Going to open it she found Dawn there. "Shouldn't you be at school?"



"It's nice to see you too Faith." Dawn smirked as she walked in.



"Well?"



"I've got a free period."



"Yeah I had a lot of those too. So who d'ya want wacked now."



Dawn blushed fiercely at this, "I... I'm not... I just wanted to to talk."



"So what did you want to talk about?"



"You getting drunk, it was because of killing Doc wasn't it?"



Faith shruged, "In a way."



"Why? It's not the first time you've killed a demon."



"If you have to ask the question then you won't understand the answer."



"But I want to understand." Dawn pressed, frustration showing on her face.



"Understand what? Why I was drinking, or why you feel so bad about it?"



"Both I guess. You asked if I was happy and I thought that I was but now I don't know. I mean all I had to do was tell you to kill someone and you did."



Faith nodded, "Yeah that thought had occurred to me as well."



"The worst thing is..."



"She's still dead."



"More than that. This emptyness is still there. I dunno I thought that killing Doc would make it easier."



"It never does."



"Or maybe the worst thing is I think that I just blamed Doc because it was easier than blaming myself."



Faith shook her head as she said, "No. The worst thing is I would have done the same even if he had been human."



For a while Dawn didn't know what to say to this, "I'm sorry."



"That makes two of us."



***



Caitlin was walking back to her dorm room from a lecture when she almost walked into smeone. "Sorry I wasn't..." Caitlin stopped as she realised who it was, "Kelly."



"What's wrong you look like you've seen a ghost? But then I am dead aren't I? And it's your fault."



"Oh goddess I'm sorry."



"Sorry isn't going to bring me back to life. You thought you were so clever playing with magic. Trying to be a proper witch like Willow and Tara and we're dead because of it."



Caitlin started to back away but her arms were grabbed. Looking around she saw Stacy and Megan. Stacy was standing awkwardly, as if all her bones had been broken. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."



Kelly slapped Caitlin round the face, "Stop saying that."



"What do you want?" Caitlin sobbed.



Kelly spat on the ground, "We want you to die."



***



A jogger ran across the field, stopping just in time to void tripping over the woman lying there. She was lying still and for a momet the jogger thought that she was dead. After checking for pulse he go out his cell phone and called for an ambulance.



***



When Willow and Tara got home they heard the phone ringing. They quickly unlocked it and Tara went to answer it as Willow went to find Dawn. Wilow came back downstairs just as Tara was hanging the phone up. "Dawn's not in her room. Who was that?"



"It was one of the girls from the Wicca group. Caitlin's in hospital, She's in a coma. Where do you think Dawn is?"



"I don't know. Maybe there's a note." They quickly checked the kitchen but didn't find anything. "Okay you check on Caitlin, I'll look for Dawn."



"I don't think it's a good idea for us to go on our own. Not with whover it is attacking us with these visions."



"You're right. I'll get Giles to take you to the hospital and Faith can help me look for Dawn."



***



When Giles and Tara got to the hospital the were told that Caitlin had woken up. They went straight to her room. "Caitlin you had us worried. What happened?"



"It was the girls from the Wicca group. The ones that I... that Morrigan killed. They've come back for revenge."



"Caitlin you should get some rest." As Tara and Giles left the room Tara asked, "What do you think?"



"Well maybe whatever happened has affected her somehow. I doubt that those girls have risen from the grave."



"Or maybe it's another of these halucinations."



"But why would they go after Caitlin?"



"Indeed what have Willow, me and Caitlin got in common?"



Giles thought about this a moment, "Well there's the Wicca group but..." Then as another thought occurred to him, "Brandon." Tara nodded, "Is he really capable of this?"



"I don't know. He didn't seem to be when we saw him last. Maybe it's someone else trying to get revenge for him." As Tara thought about this she realised there were still a lot of querstions. Like how he knew so much about her past. Tara gasped as it struck her, when she had told Willow about her family there had always been one other person there. Seeing Giles looking at her she said, "We need to get to the Magic Box."



While they were driving back Tara said, "I need to make a call."



Giles indicated the car phone, "You can use this one."



Tara picked it up and dialled, after a few moments she said, "Hello, I'd like to speak to Brandon. He has, okay then thankyou."



"I take it he's no longer there."



"He checked himself out a few days ago."



"Have you any idea how he knew so much about you?"



"Not..." Tara started to say, then it hit her. When she had told Willow about her childhood, about all her secrets there had always been one other person there.



***



"So have you got any ideas where Dawn is?" Faith asked as they set off. She couldn't help a feeling of de ja vue as she set off in search of a missing scooby with Willow once more.



"To tell the truth no," Willow shrugged.



"So we do a patrol see if we see anything, and question anything that we come across."



"That's the plan." After they'd been walking a little while Willow said, "What do you think about Emma?"



Faith turned to Willow, surprised by the question, "What do you mean?"



"Do you think we can trust her?"



"No."



Willow nodded, not entirely surprised by the answer, "Oh, so should we let her help?"



"Oh I think she'll help us with Drac as she said but well I'd watch my six round her if I were you."



Willow shook her head as she tried to decode this, "Five by five, watch my six, do you do anything but talk in numbers?"



"She means watch your back." A voice came from behind them causing them both to freeze.



"Emma." Willow said, "Fancy meeting you out here."



"Hey Red, you know what they say, speak of the devil and she'll appear."



Emma frowned a moment as if trying to work something out, "Why did you call Willow that?"



"What Red? Because of her hair."



"You do know it's red." Willow added, seeing that Emma didn't understand.



"No actually I didn't. I don't see the same way that you do."



"Whatever." Faith snorted in an impatient tone, "This isn't helping find Dawn."



"Dawn's missing?" Emma paused a moment then said, "I can see her."



"You can?" Faith said.



"She's asleep."



"Is she home?"



"No she's this way." Emma led them to a nearby cemetary, stopping at the entrance she pointed saying, "Dawn's over there."



"Aren't you coming with us?"



"Afraid not. I'm rather busy."



As they set off Willow said, "I think I know where Dawn is."



"Yeah?"



"This is where we buried Buffy."



"Okay so that's why she's here but not why she's asleep. Doesn't she know there are monsters in Sunnydale?"



"Well I'll be having some choice words with her when we get home. Ah I was right." They found Dawn lying on Buffy's grave, deep asleep.



Willow reached down to nudge Dawn, "Dawn wake up."



Dawn woke up with a jerk, looking round she said, "How did I get here?"



"Don't you know?" Faith asked.



"Well I know how I got here. I don't know why I fell asleep." As Dawn woke up fully she said, "I guess I'm in trouble."



"You could say that. You worried us all."



"I didn't think I would be that long but then the falling asleep thing happened."



"Well we'll discuss this more at home."



***



After leaving the hospital Tara went to the magic box. As she went in Anya said, "We haven't had any word from Willow or Dawn."



Tara hesitated, wondering if she should go out an help them. She rejected the idea knowing she needed to check on her suspicions right away. "Is Amy still in the back room?"



Anya nodded and Tara went through. As soon as Amy saw her she suddenly curled up saying, "Please don't hurt me."



Tara stopped, wondering how she could have suspected Amy of being involved. Instead of interrogating her as she had planned she said, "Amy I'm sorry that I shouted at you before, really."



"You're not going to hurt me?" Amy started to come out of the corner.



"No, I promise that I never will." Tara examined Amy's face, "Though it looks like someone already has." Tara raised her to the bruise on Amy's cheek.



Amy turned away, "It's not important."



Tara was going to leave but she realised she need to know for sure so she asked, keeping her tone casual, "Do you know Brandon?" Amy looked up, a shocked expression on her face, "I'll take that as a yes."



"He.. he forced me to help him." Amy moaned.



"Maybe you should tell me exactly what happened."



***



Tara went back into the main room just as Faith and Willow arrived with Dawn. "Dawn you're okay. Where were you?"



"Uh..." Dawn hesitated.



"We found her sleeping on Buffy's grave."



"We'll discuss this when we get home." Tara said to Dawn. Then she said to the others, "It was Brandon who was attacking us with the halucinations. He forced Amy to tell him our secrets."



"So he was just pretending to have lost his memory?"



"It looks that way. Well Amy told us where we can find him."



"Right then let's get going." They all immediately set off, aside from Anya who stayed to keep and eye on the store and Amy.



***



As she heard the front door closing Amy got up and sneaked to the door of the training room, her mind seething. She hadn't expected them to realise it was Brandon so quickly, and had hoped that he would have distracted them longer. She growled with annoyance as she considered the fact that he hadn't even managed to kill any of them. That would have been nice. Peering round the door Amy saw that only Anya was in the main room, standing behind the counter. A smile formed on her face as she imagined walking up and stabbing Anya with one of the weapons that was placed conveniently on the wall. Discarding that notion as being too risky Amy watched as Anya opened up the till and began counting the money. Once Anya was engrossed in this Amy snuck out of the training room and down into the basement. After a few minutes searching she soon found what she was looking for, a small notebook. Flicking throught it Amy smiled at the seemingly blank pages, "Those idiots are so blind, it's a wonder they don't keep walking into walls." Putting the notebook into a pocket Amy left through the sewer exit.



***



They arrived at the address that Amy had given them just as Brandon was leaving. Seeing them approaching he cursed, "Oh shit." Turning he sprinted off. Without hesitating Faith set off after him.



***



Brandon raced down an alleyway. Glancing over his shoulder he slowed slightly as he saw that there was no one behind him. Turning back he had to stop suddenly in order to avoid the woman standing in his way. "Hello Brandon."

       

"Who the hell are you?"



"My name is Claudia though that doesn't really matter." Suddenly she was gripping him round the head, "You were trying to hurt Tara and I can't allow that." She began to tighten her grip on his head.



"Please," Brandon moaned.



"You see I have plans that involve her." Claudia went on ignoring Brandon's pleas, "And I can't have someone like you ruining them." She kept increasing the pressure till there was a loud cracking sound and Brandon's body went limp. "Oh god." Claudia gasped as she suddenly realised what she had just done. Dropping Brandon's body she ran off.



***



Getting back to her apartment Claudia leant back against the door, her eyes closed, "What did I just do? What is happening to me?" She tried to calm herself, "Now come on you expected there to be side effects. You can control this."



"Oh yeah you keep telling yourself that." A voice came from the mirror.



Claudia opened her eyes to look at the mirror, seeing not her reflection but a familiar blonde, "Glory."



"What? Are you surprised to see me?"



"You're dead."



"In a sense yes. I have to say it was very clever of you to realise that I had left little pieces of myself in all those people that I had drained. Even cleverer to realise that you can tap into those pieces using the right ritual. So given that you were so clever why didn't you realise that you weren't just getting my power?"



"I knew there would be risks but I can control it."



"Right. You don't get it. You're becoming me. A cheap inferior version of me maybe but me all the same. When you go after the big prize, all that hippy crap about peace and love will go out the window. All you'll care about is hurting as many people as you can, just like with that kid."



"Shut up! I'm not like you."



"But you will be."



"I said shut up!" Claudia threw a paper weight through the mirror. "She's wrong." Claudia said to herself, "I can do this."



TBC

Postel's Prescription: Be generous in what you accept, rigorous in what you emit.

[jixer]

Hello Kittens-



Oh my! An insane evil god, a Watcher with secrets, a former rat, and an evil to be named later as soon as the trade deal is finalized. On the other side we have a wandering teenager, a fragile Slayer, and Emma (maybe). Of course this team also has W+T and their free agent MKF.



This should be quite the match up, sportsfans



Yes, I am missing the SuperBowl this year again. But since there's no W+T at the SuperBowl it's no real loss



ETA-But I DO miss the commercials



Jixer

Edited by: jixer at: 1/30/04 11:11 pm

[justin]

Jixer:

Quote:

---

Oh my! An insane evil god, a Watcher with secrets, a former rat, and an evil to be named later as soon as the trade deal is finalized.

---

At this very moment my casting people are in negtions with various people to play this evil.

Quote:

---

On the other side we have a wandering teenager, a fragile Slayer, and Emma (maybe). Of course this team also has W+T and their free agent MKF.

---

That reminds me, MKF hasn't been in the story nearly enough.

Quote:

---

ETA-But I DO miss the commercials

---

You want commercials? Hmm well I'll see what I can do.



Thanks for the feedback

Postel's Prescription: Be generous in what you accept, rigorous in what you emit.

[bluewillowwitch]

justin ,

Just caught up to the fic. I love it! So that black goo was Glory. That isn't going to be good. Dawn got Faith to kill Doc. Wonder what else she will get her to do? and and all the rest are really going to fall for Amy's trick? Clauda, what is up with that chick? She has a serious problem. Can't wait to more. Update soon, please?





Grace

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

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos



"I'm here without you baby/But you with me in my dreams/And tonight girl, there's only you and me."--Here Without You--3Doors Down--Mine and My Baby's song.

[Grimlock72]

Hmm.. I see Glory is still as stupid as ever. If she had just kept quiet eventually her plan would be completed and THEN she could have gloated. Never gloat about your fantastic plans before they're completely executed succesfully. All she has done now is scare Claudia into being far more carefull then she otherwise would have been.



Tara was smart realizing Amy had the info needed to harress her. Even if didn't get that link that quick, partly because I believed there was some stuff there which Tara didn't even tell Willow (yet).



It would have been fun if Amy had actually tried to stab Anya. I don't see how she could gain access to sell-able material that easily though, Anya tends to guard her merchandise.



Why did the scoobies think Brandon is sufficiently powerfull to do the things they blame him for ? If I recall correctly his first venture into magics was more luck and chance than being 'good' at it. How exactly would Brandon force Amy (who is at least better than him at magics) to help him ? And then they ALL run off basicly to go catch Brandon on that info...tsk tsk...



I'm not sure what Claudia is up to, but she seems to have the mistaken impression that she can control Glory. If her plans are GOOD is see no need for secrecy, so she must realise that most people would reject her plan whatever it might be.



I doubt any of the scoobs will be overjoyed at the idea of ressurrecting Glory (partly) even if it IS with the intention of doing good. You can't force people to be good in the long run anyway.



P.S. Remember Amy SAID she was puking up black goo... doesn't mean she truly did.



Grimmy

--
"You hurt Tara," Willow said too calmly. "The last one who tried that was a god. I made her regret it." -- Unexpected Consequences by Lisa of Nine

Edited by: Grimlock72 at: 2/8/04 4:10 am

[justin]

BlueWillowWitch: ,

Quote:

---

Just caught up to the fic. I love it!

---

I'm glad your'e enjoying it

Quote:

---

So that black goo was Glory.

---

I guess I've not been clear here. So to clear it up, Glory isn't the black goo. That's something different.

Quote:

---

Dawn got Faith to kill Doc. Wonder what else she will get her to do?

---

IIRC Dawn was having trouble with one of the girls at school. Maybe she could Faith do something about her



Thanks for the feedback

Postel's Prescription: Be generous in what you accept, rigorous in what you emit.

[justin]

Grimlock:

Quote:

---

Hmm.. I see Glory is still as stupid as ever. If she had just kept quiet eventually her plan would be completed and THEN she could have gloated. Never gloat about your fantastic plans before they're completely executed succesfully. All she has done now is scare Claudia into being far more carefull then she otherwise would have been.

---

It does seem to be a common failing amongst villains to gloat about something before they actually do it.

Quote:

---

I'm not sure what Claudia is up to, but she seems to have the mistaken impression that she can control Glory. If her plans are GOOD is see no need for secrecy, so she must realise that most people would reject her plan whatever it might be.

---

Unless she's worried that people might not see her plans as being good, then she'd have to keep it secret for their benefit.

Quote:

---

I doubt any of the scoobs will be overjoyed at the idea of ressurrecting Glory (partly) even if it IS with the intention of doing good. You can't force people to be good in the long run anyway.

---

Ah but what about if you could? would the resulting peace and happiness be worth everyone giving up their free will? I should probably stop before I say too much.



Thanks for the thought provoking feedback.



The Cathedral And The Bazaar

- Author: Justin

- Email address: msparshatt@yahoo.co.uk

- Summary: This is an alternate version of S6 in which the scoobies don't resurrect Buffy and instead have Faith released from prison.

- Feedback: Any comments or constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

- Distribution: Anyone can take it, just let me know.

- Spoilers: Up to and including 'The Gift'

- Rating: R

- Pairing: W/T, X/A, F/?

- Disclaimer: Willow And Tara and most of the other characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Three cheers for creating two such wonderful characters. Three jeers for the way you treated them. Caitlin is from the comic Wanna Blessed Be by Amber Benson and Chris Golden

- note1: Many thanks to Arwen for betaing this part



previously



Caitlin got up at about midnight to get some water. As she passed the landing window she glanced out, and was surprised to see a figure outside the house. She couldn’t see much about them but she got the impression that they were watching the house. After a moments panic she guessed that they were just waiting for a friend and went to get her water.



As Caitlin returned to her room she looked out the window again. The figure was still there and they were still staring at the house. Now starting to really panic Caitlin dropped the glass and ran to the door of Willow and Tara's room.



After knocking for a couple of minutes it was opened by a very sleepy and disgruntled Willow. "Caitlin, what's wrong?"



"There's some one lurking outside the house." She led Willow and Tara to the window and said, "See?"



Willow looked out then said, "Caitlin, there's no one there."



Caitlin quickly moved to look and sure enough the figure had gone. "But there was someone there, I swear."



"Are you sure you weren't dreaming?" Tara crossed her arms across her chest and frowned at Caitlin.



"No I was awake." Caitlin bent to pick the glass up and pointing at it went on, "See. If I had been dreaming then how did the glass get out here."



"I don’t know.” Tara went on, starting to sound annoyed. “Maybe it was a trick of the light, or just a bush or something. Did you even think about that?"



"Well whatever it was they're gone now." Willow added. Caitlin just nodded.



Tara made an exasperated sound then started for the door muttering, "Well this was a total waste of time."



***



Tara woke up in the middle of the night, her skin burning. Moving Willow slightly she quickly pulled herself out of bed. Her throat was raw and her skin felt as though it was on fire. She could feel sweat pouring down her body. Then she saw that it wasn't sweat, it was a black oily liquid. "Oh god." Tara groaned, before bending over and being sick.



"Tara are you okay?" Willow asked, moving towards her.



"Don't touch me." Tara warned, "I don't know what..." She stopped as she was again sick.



Ignoring Tara's warning Willow went to put her arms round her. She was relieved to see that Tara's skin was clear of the liquid. She held Tara and made soothing sounds until the sickness had passed.



***



"No." Everyone turned to see Tara leaning on the door frame. "It was Samuel."



"You should be resting." Willow admonished. Tara took a step, then her legs gave way. Willow quickly ran to catch her. She helped Tara to the chair. Then sat down on the arm, her arm loosely draped round Tara's shoulders.



"Now Tara." Giles said in a gentle voice, "You were saying?"



"It was Samuel who... put that thing inside me." Tara paused, clearly distraught.



Willow leaned closer whispering, "It's okay, you're safe."



"I-it was eating away at me from the inside. Soon..." Tara paused again, "Soon I would have been gone and only that thing would have been left."



Chapter 19



Emma loaded a pile of books into her arms and walked over to a counter. She put the pile down then went back. As she did she sang to herself, "I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad."



"You know I didn't take you for a Tears For Fears fan."



Without showing any surprise at Claudia's appearance Emma asked, "Claudia. How did you get in here?"



"You know what they say where there's a will and so forth," Claudia shrugged.



"So what did you want?"



"What was it you said to Rupert? Oh yes, even the devil can quote the scriptures. It occurs to me that was a clue as to who you are."



Finally reacting, Emma turned to Claudia, "I'm not the devil."



Claudia nodded, "Maybe but you are an angel aren't you?"



Emma turned back to the book case and began reading the titles. After a while she said, "I was but that was a long time ago. So you know something about me, what do you intend to do with this knowledge?"



"I don't know yet." Claudia shrugged in a non-committal fashion.



"Well I know something about you." Emma's voice, which as usual was without any feeling, didn't give any indication what it might be.



"What?"



"I know about Glory. I can see her inside you, or at least pieces of her."



Claudia paled, "You don't understand."



Emma lifted her shoulders in a small shrug, "No and I don't care either."



Growing annoyed at Emma's lack of emotion, Claudia demanded, "Do you care about anything?"



"Aside from this library, no."



"How about a deal. I keep your secret if you keep mine."



Emma nodded, "It doesn't matter. Whatever you're planning they'll stop you, just like they stopped Glory."



"Glory was just an insane hell god."



"And what does that make you?"



Speaking with the utmost conviction Claudia said, "I'm humanities last chance for salvation."



Emma laughed at this. After a while she said, "Sorry but I found that comment to be very amusing." Claudia frowned, crossing her arms across her chest, but didn't say anything. "I've heard that line before. There was one time that I even believed it."



Finally Claudia asked, "Tell me, what did it feel like when they ripped your wings off?"



Emma blinked and Claudia disappeared. Grabbing another pile of books Emma continued singing, "The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had."



***



Claudia glanced round the alleyway where she'd suddenly found herself then said to herself, "I guess that I struck a nerve."



***



Tara found Willow in the dining room. She was sorting through a list of newspaper clippings, after reading each one she made a mark on the piece of paper that she was holding. Her brow was furroughed and she seemed to get more and more upset as time went on. Walking over to her Tara asked, her voice filled with concern, "Willow what's wrong?" Tara had a feeling she knew what it was. Willow had taken Amy's disappearance from the magic box very hard. They had all been surprised when they had returned to find her missing, but Willow in particular had been upset by her inability to help her old school friend.



Willow shook her head, not seeming to have heard. She made one more mark on the paper then finally looked up, "Well that confirms it."



"Confirms what?"



Willow moved round the table and showed Tara the paper. It was a list of names, some had been crossed out, while the rest had crosses next to them. "These are all the people who were attacked by Glory. The crossed out names were either killed by the Quellor demon, or have died since then from natural causes."



Tara nodded then, guessing what the answer would be, she asked, "What about the names with crosses next to them?"



"Those are the people who have been sacrificed."



"But that means that who ever's behind this..."



"They've gotten to everyone, apart from you."



Tara shook her head, "How did all this happen without us realising it?"



"We let ourselves get distracted by other things." Willow looked into Tara's eyes, a feeling of defeat evident on her face. "First we lose Amy, and now this."



Speaking firmly Tara said, "We have to find out who's behind this."



***



Faith was just wiping down one of the tables at Suzy's diner when a familiar voice said "Hi."



Standing and turning round Faith said, "Hi, Caitlin, so you're feeling better now?"



"Pretty much."



"So fancy seeing you out here. It's quite a coincidence."



"Not really I wanted to talk." Caitlin spat out in a rush.



Faith glanced at her watch and said, "I'm due a break. One moment." After a while she came back and they sat down in one of the booths. "So how did you track me down?"



"I have my means. One of the girls in my Wicca group spotted you here."



"Do the others know?" Faith started to feel embarrassed that they might know where she was working.



Caitlin looked puzzled, "Others?"



"Willow, Tara, that lot."



"Oh, no they don't."



"Good. I got a job a bit out from the town center as I don't want them to know what I'm doing."



Caitlin shrugged, "Sure, I won't tell them."



Faith decided to quickly get to the point, "So what did you want to talk to me about?"



"Uh well it occurs to me that dealing with monsters and things is something you do regularly."



"You could say that. So?"



"Well I want to help."



Faith stared at Caitlin a moment in shock, "You what?"



"I want to help. What happened before, it made me realise that I have this massive debt to pay off."



"So you're doing it because you feel guilty?"



"That's not the only reason."



"You do know that it won't just be losers on a power trip. We have to deal with zombies and demons and vampires. Lots of vampires." Faith insisted, her tone pointed.



Caitlin nodded, "So it's a case of zombies and demons and vampires, oh my!"



Faith frowned, "Yeah I guess. So why are you asking me? Couldn't you have gone to Willow or Tara?"



"Um, well... the thing is..." Caitlin seemed uncomfortable a moment then, brightening, she said, "I wanted to ask you about the slayer thing."



"Slayer thing?"



"You said you were the slayer and I still don't know what that means."



"Oh well in every generation there is a..." Faith stopped suddenly then went on, "You don't want to hear that that's boring. Basically I've been chosen to fight the forces of darkness."



"Oh. And Tara and Willow help?"



"It's more a case of me helping them." Seeing that Caitlin was going to ask about this she cut her off saying, "It's a long story."



"Is that long story as in it'd take a long time to tell me or as in you don't want to talk about it."



"A bit of both. Listen I'll tell the others. I'm sure they'll be happy to help, but right now I need to get back to work."



"Okay then, thanks." Faith got up and went back behind the counter. She was a little bemused by the conversation, not sure why Caitlin would want to put herself in danger like this. Though she was also unsure about why the Scoobies did as well. Caitlin remained in her seat going over the conversation. She was a little disapointed that she hadn't said everything that she had wanted to, though it was a start. Knowing that this was the best that she could have hoped for Caitlin got up and left.



***



Dawn walked to her next class, not really paying attention to where she was going. She stopped suddenly when she realised that rather than being outside her class room she was in fact by the main gates. "How did I get here?" Dawn turned and started towards the main building. It was only when she almost walked into Xander that she realised that she had left the school grounds.



"I'm to take you to the master."



"Okay." Dawn's tone was flat and lifeless as she said this.



***



As soon as her shift ended Faith headed to the magic box. As she went in she greeted the Scoobies saying, "I've got some news."



"As have we." Giles responded. He motioned for Willow to continue.



"Oh well I've worked out that all the people who were attacked by Glory have been killed."



Faith turned to her, shocked, "You're kidding." Willow shook here head, "Do we have any idea why?" Faith asked.



"No. We haven't been able to find any references to this symbol." Giles answered. He was about to say more when the phone rang. Answering it he greeted, "Magic Box." He listened a moment then passed the phone to Tara, "It's for you. It's Dawn's school."



Tara took the phone cringing at what the school must be thinking about being greeted like that, "Hello. She did? No I wasn't aware of that. No there's no need, he's a family friend. Yes thanks for calling." Hanging up Tara turned to the others, "Dawn was seen leaving the school this afternoon with someone who looked like Xander."



"Why would Xander take Dawn out of school?" Anya asked, coming over to them.



"I don't know." Tara shook her head, looking puzzled.



"How certain are they it was Xander?" Willow asked.



"Fairly certain."



"So we need to find them now." Faith said. Remembering how Emma had conveniently appeared when they had been talking about her before, and helped them to find Dawn, she called out, "Emma, we could really use your Dawn finding skills about now." There was no responsem and no sign of Emma. Shrugging Faith said, "Well it was worth a shot."



"You really should look into having Dawn electronically tagged." Anya suggested.



"We can't do that," Willow protested, "Can we?" Willow's brow furroughed as she considered the idea.



Tara shook her head, "How about a location spell."



Willow nodded, "We'll need a map." Giles went to get one and laid it out on the table. Willow and Tara held a crystal above the map, hanging from a thin chain. They started it moving in a circle above the map. After a few seconds it stopped, pointing at a point on the map.



"That's the Lawrence castle." Giles said, after checking the map.



"How many castles are there in Sunnydale?" Faith asked.



"Three I believe."



***



They crept slowly into the castle, looking around for any possible ambush. Stopping at an intersection they tried to decide where to go. "Maybe we should split up. Cover more ground," Faith suggested.



"I really wouldn't recommend that." Giles replied.



"Slayer." The voice echoed down the corridor, seeming to come from all around them.



"Well so much for getting in unnoticed." Faith muttered.



"Slayer." The deep, heavily accented voice again reverberated around them.



"Which way is it coming from?" Faith paced the intersection, checking each of the corridors.



"This way." Giles pointed down a corridor, while Willow and Tara pointed down two different ones.



"Where does it matter where the voice is coming from?" Anya asked, "It's obviously a trick. I mean sure it might sound as if the voice is down one of those corridors he might be anywhere, even behind me." Everyone turned to check. "Just how gullible are you?" Anya threw her hands up in exasperation.



"Well this is hardly helping us to find Dawn."



"I say we go this way." Faith pointed down a corridor.



"Why exactly?" Anya asked.



"Slayer sense." Faith said as she started down the corridor. She took a few steps then disappeared.



Quickly running to where Faith had just been Willow asked, "Where'd she go?" Willow began checking the floor for any signs of a trap door. When that turned up nothing she examined the walls, wondering if they were fake. Soon the others came over and began to help.



***



Faith had gone halfway down the corridor when she realised the others weren't following her. "Come on you..." Turing Faith saw that they had disappeared. She ran back to the intersection but they weren't in sight, "Where have they..." Faith stopped as she realised that it was a different intersection from the one she had just left. "Great how did I get here."



Faith froze as the silence was broken by a loud cry. "Help!" Working out which corridor the shout had come from Faith quickly followed it. Entering a large circular room Faith found Dawn chained to the wall, her arms held above her. "Dawn, are you okay?" Faith asked in a concerned tone.



"Yes I'm fine." Dawn rolled her eyes, "Though I am kind of getting fed up of being kidnapped and chained up by vampires."



"Okay I'll get..." Faith stopped as Dracula appeared between her and Dawn.



"Tell me, what is she?"



"She's Dawn."



"When I started this I thought she was just a means of getting my revenge against the slayer. However after my first taste I realised she was much more than that. So, again, what is..."



Slipping a stake into her hand Faith charged at him. She was a couple of steps away when she was suddenly back out in the hallway. As she carefully walked into the main room Dracula said, "That is an interesting ability I seem to have gained. It was just from a taste. Of course it wears off after awhile, but I have to wonder what I could do if I were to drain her."



"Then why don't you?" Faith challenged.



"Before I do, I want to know what she is."



"Okay then I'll tell you. She's..." Faith noticed Xander creeping up behind Dracula with a staff in his hand. Being careful to not acknowledge him in any way she again charged at Dracula.



As Faith walked back into the room she saw Dracula and Xander fighting for the staff. She crept towards the two combatants, her stake ready. Suddenly Xander disappeared. "Now how about you answer my..." Dracula stopped as Faith drove a stake through his heart.



As Dracula slowly crumbled to dust Xander walked back in. "I did it. I managed to break his control. No more spider eating man bitch for me." He gave Faith a goofy smile.



"Yeah, good for you. Now how about helping Dawn." Xander nodded and went to check her chains. Faith looked at the remains saying, "So how do we stop him from coming back?"



"As I said, I can help with that." Emma held up a small jar that seemed to be full of water.



Not reacting to her sudden appearance Faith asked Emma, "Where were you when we needed help finding Dawn?"



Emma sniffed, "I can't do everything for you. Now we need to get the dust into this jar." They began scooping the dust into the jar. As it fell in the water began to bubble.



"That's holy water isn't it?"



"How observant of you. Now that should be enough." Emma sealed the jar and then put a pair of clamps on the top. "We need to bury it." Looking up she added, "I know just the place."



***



After finding the others Emma lead them to a small grove of trees. Seeing where it was Willow turned to Tara, "Hey this is near that place you showed me, where you went to meditate."



"I'm not surprised you found this a good place for meditation." Emma said, "This used to be a holy place. A temple in fact."



"You mean people used to worship here?" Giles asked, "I haven't read anything about that."



Emma shook her head. "I'm talking about a long time before humans learnt to stand upright."



"So then you mean demons."



"As I said before there is a much greater variety of beings in the universe than just humans and demons. Actually I'm talking about fairies."



"There are fairies here?" Xander asked, looking around.



"Not any more. Most of them have left. The world has changed and Gaiea no longer welcomes them as she once did." Emma seemed sad for a moment. Sighing she went on, "However their influence remains and should deter anyone from putting up an office block here. After all it would be unfortunate if someone were to dig up our vampiric friend." Grabbing their spades they set about digging.



***



Once Dracula had been buried Emma returned to her library and the others headed back to Willow and Tara's home. Every fell down on the couches apart from Giles, who remained standing, and Xander, who disappeared. "Well I dare say we won't be bothered by Dracula ever again." Giles said.



"So he won't escape from that jar?" Dawn asked, she didn't particularly want to go through this again.



"Well he might do eventually, but I doubt if we'll be alive to see it happen."



"Well I guess that that..." Willow stopped as she heard a popping sound from outside. "There's that sound again." She looked round at the others, "Surely you heard that?" Apprehension evident in her voice.



Xander returned with various snacks, "I think I heard something, I doubt if it's anything to worry about."



They were just starting to settle down a bit when Dawn asked, "Where's Faith?" Hurrying outside they found Faith grappling with a man who was dressed all in black. She was holding him from behind and struggling to get a machine gun out of his grip. Forcing him to let go she threw the gun across the ground then knocked the man out. Xander moved to pick the gun up then looking at the silencer he said, "This must have been what we heard."



"So what was this man doing outside our house armed with a machine gun?" Tara asked.



"He seemed to be watching the place."



"Yeah, well he's been here a while as I heard the noise a few days ago. Caitlin!"



"What about her?"



"She saw someone outside the house when she was staying here. Maybe it was this guy."



"If so then he's been watching the place for a while. But why would he be watching us?"



"I suggest that we get him inside, then we can ask him." Giles said.



***



The man woke up shortly after they got him inside. He refused to answer any of their questions though. After a few attempts they went to discuss what to do with him, leaving Faith to watch him. Faith and the man had been glaring at each other for half and hour when the door opened and Claudia came in. "Has he told you anything?"



"No. And you know I won't either," The man answered.



Claudia stared into his eyes a moment then said, "You're afraid."



The man's eyes widened, "Now listen I..."



Suddenly Claudia was holding him, with her arm round his throat. "Quiet."



Faith jumped up, "What the hell?"



"Faith I really am sorry. I wanted to protect you but events seem to have prevented that."



Faith was still trying to figure out what was happening, "What?"



"Faith what are you doing?" Claudia yelled as she twisted the man's head around. Throwing the body at Faith. "I suggest that you run." Claudia stated, without a trace of warmth in her voice.



"But..." Faith glanced down at the body at her feet. She knew that the others wouldn't take her word over Claudia's. Hearing people approaching she took one last look round then jumped through the window.



***



When Giles and the others arrived they found Claudia lying on the floor next to the body of the man. As he helped her up he saw there was a bruise on her face, "What happened?"



"I'm not sure. Faith seemed to just suddenly snap."



Willow, who had been checking the man said, "He's dead."



"She killed him. I tried to stop her but..." Claudia indicated the bruise.



***



As Faith ran she was trying to understand what had just happened. There was so much that didn't make any sense. Slowing she berated herself, "Come on Faith you've got to think. Why did Claudia kill that guy? Obviously she was worried about what he'd tell us but what?" Then as she thought about the way he had talked to Claudia something occurred to her, "He was working for her. Why did she have some one watching Willow and Tara and how did she get so fast?" Turning Faith started back to Willow and Tara's home. She knew that if her suspicions were right there was no way she could leave the others with Claudia. She stopped as she spotted a group of vampires ahead of her, "I so don't have time for this." Ignoring her the vampires attacked. Faith Dusted one as it jumped at her but another knocked her to the floor. As she fell Faith kneed it in the groin. Then she rolled over on top of the stunned vampire and dusted it. A third vamp ran at Faith, straight into her stake. The fourth, seeing that it was alone, turned and ran. It had gotten a few paces when it exploded into dust.



"My, some one has certainly gotten you all riled up," Amy said as she approached.



"Amy? What are you doing here?" Faith tried to rise but couldn't move, "What have you done?"



"Not Amy. Not any more."



"Then who?"



"When we took over Samuel we weren't quite able to get rid of him. A bit of his personality remained. With Amy though she'd been a rat for so long that there was very little left. What little there was gave up without much of a fight."



"What are you?"



"What are you?" Amy repeated. She walked up to Faith and vomited in her face. Faith gagged as her face was covered with a black liquid. She moaned as she felt it soaking into her skin.



***



After they'd spent some time searching for Faith Claudia returned to her apartment. Staring out the window she whispered to herself, "I really am sorry Faith, but soon you'll understand. Just stay safe and I promise I'll make everything right."



***



Amy sat in a small cave throwing rocks into a small pool and watching the ripples. Faith was lying a short distance away. "I know that you've been awake for some time now." Amy said.



"Like hell!" Faith tried to shout this, but her voice came out as almost a whisper. She struggled to rise but found moving hard. "You won't win, " she gasped.



"Oh wonderful." Amy dropped down on the floor so that she was level with Faith, staring into her eyes, "That thing that you're feeling, that hatred, it feeds us." Amy cocked her head a moment, "You're trying to resist us. You don't get it. The harder you fight, the stronger we get."



Faith sat up a little and put her fingers down her throat.



"Whatever are you doing now?"



"This is how Tara got rid of you. She threw you up."



Amy frowned a moment, "Yes Tara was able to break our control but there were extenuating factors."



"Well if hatred makes you stronger then what, does love weaken you?" Amy's frown grew, "That's it. So it was Tara's love for Willow that let her beat you." Faith worked out, stunned by the discovery.



"You're not as stupid as you look. So Faith tell me this, who do you love?" Amy reached out to pat Faith's cheek, "Who do you love?" Laughing Amy returned to the pool and continued throwing stones into it.



Lying down Faith whispered in a small voice, "Buffy."



TBC

Postel's Prescription: Be generous in what you accept, rigorous in what you emit.

[Washi]

Wow, I didn't know you updated Justin. Been reading and not leaving feedback, yeah, I know, bad bad me. Anyways, a packed update it was. God, Dracula is soo dense.

Claudia is seriously pissing me off, like royally. Faith is trying, and Claudia ruins everything by succombig to one of the dumbest human thoughts ever: The World's savior, riight.

I'm also wondering what happened to the Dawn being adopted thing. I remember that it wasn't over (or has my mind gone defective again?).

I'm totally waiting for the next update.

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



"See? I've mastered this tact crap." Anya in Tears Of The Goddess by Lisa



The course of love doesn’t always run smooth, especially for the neurotic and accident-prone. ~ LadyB



.:Dark-bliss.net :. .:Blink.Flash.Sparkle.:. .:My blog:. .:Blood and Ink:. .:Washi's 70s Site:.

[justin]

Washi: Don't worry about not leaving feedback. I'm glad that you're reading and enjoying the story



I cna understand you being at Claudia. That was a very not nice thing that she did.



As to Dawn, I admit I have neglected that storyline of late. To recap Tara is now legally Dawns mother and Willow is in the process of applying for a second parent adoption.



Thanks for the feedback

Postel's Prescription: Be generous in what you accept, rigorous in what you emit.

[bluewillowwitch]

justin ,

I love the update! Dracula is gone now, that is good. I can't belive that Claudia did that to Faith. And the rest are willing to believe that she did it of course. Buffy is dead but Faith's love for her is going to save her just as 's love for saved her. Will Buffy ever not save the day. Can't wait to more. Update soon, please?





Grace

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

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos

[justin]

BlueWillowWitch:

glad you liked the last part Seems that no ones happy with Claudia at the moment, I wonder why?



Thanks for reading.





The Cathedral And The Bazaar

- Author: Justin

- Email address: msparshatt@yahoo.co.uk

- Summary: This is an alternate version of S6 in which the scoobies don't resurrect Buffy and instead have Faith released from prison.

- Feedback: Any comments or constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.

- Distribution: Anyone can take it, just let me know.

- Spoilers: Up to and including 'The Gift'

- Rating: R

- Pairing: W/T, X/A, F/?

- Disclaimer: Willow And Tara and most of the other characters in this story belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Three cheers for creating two such wonderful characters. Three jeers for the way you treated them. Caitlin is from the comic Wanna Blessed Be by Amber Benson and Chris Golden

- note1: Many thanks to Arwen for betaing this part



Chapter 20



Dawn switched on her hand held computer and began making notes of the names of the books. "Hey." Jennifer said as she walked up to her.



"Hi." Dawn turned momentarily to greet her daughter, then went back to her writing.



"Um, I don't know how to say this but when I was coming in the walls seemed to be fading in and out."



Dawn nodded, "We were expecting this." Seeing that Jennifer was going to ask more she prompted, "So Whistler was telling you about choices."



"Yeah he said something about how even the smallest choice can have a large impact on you life." Jennifer recited.



"I guess that is true," Dawn's eyes took on a sad gleam as she went on, "but you know sometimes life really messes with you and all you can do is pick up the pieces."



***



"Out of the way." The paramedic yelled as he guided the gurney down the corridors of the hospital and into an operating room.



"Okay I want her hooked up to a blood transfusion. Lets see if we can stop the bleeding." The doctor instructed as he rushed into the room.



***



Donald Marcusson paced nervously in the waiting room. Half an ago his wife had gone into labour. They'd been surprised by this as she wasn't due for another week, but they hadn't been too worried. Then the bleeding had started. He stopped pacing as a doctor approached, "What's happening?"



"We were able to stabilise your wife's condition and she should make a full recovery."



His expression brightened as relief flooded through him. Then he realised that the doctor had left something out. Almost afraid to, he asked, "What about our daughter?"



The doctor shook his head, "I'm sorry."



***



"We should have come here sooner." Willow stated as she stared at Buffy's grave, her heart aching. Tara and Dawn, and her had come to visit the slayer's grave that day, "It seems as though we were avoiding it."



"I know," Tara said, comforting her lover with a look. Turning to Dawn she whispered in a gentle tone, "Would you like to be alone for a bit?"



Dawn nodded. As Willow and Tara walked away she knelt down beside Buffy's grave. "Well you probably know things aren't going so well." Dawn hesitated a moment, "And I'm to blame. Maybe if I hadn't gotten Faith to kill Doc then maybe she wouldn't have... I just don't know what to do to make it right." Dawn was distracted by a middle aged couple who were standing at a grave a short distance away. Dawn turned away not paying them any mind but then turned back again, she was sure she knew them but she didn't know where from. When they had gone she walked over to the grave. The gravestone told her that it was their daughter but it didn't tell her how she knew that couple or why she felt like it was her who was in that grave. Thinking about it she realised there was one person who might be able to explain it all to her. The only problem was Dawn wasn't sure how far she could trust her.



***



Dawn walked to the alley where Tara had said that the entrance to the library was. As she walked down she glanced about nervously, glad that there was no one else about. When she reached the spot where the door should be she said, "Hello, Emma? I don't know if you can hear me but I really need to talk to you." She waited a while then said again, "Hello!" Getting no response she turned to leave, stopping in shock as she saw a door standing in front of her. After hesitating a moment Dawn opened the door and went in.



She found herself in an office. Emma was sitting behind a desk gazing at her expectantly, "So you wanted to talk?"



"Yes, uh..." Dawn stopped, not sure where to start. Emma gestured to a chair and Dawn sat down. "I guess I want to know who am I? What am I?"



Emma tilted her head slightly, "You're Dawn Summers."



"But I'm not am I?", Dawn protested, "I'm just this ball of energy, or I was."



"You mean the key?" Emma shook head, "No that's not right."



Dawn's mouth opened in surprise at this, "I'm not the key?"



"It would be better to say that the key is a part of you. But there is more to you than that."



Dawn frowned, not believing this, "How do you know?"



"I can see your essence. I can see the key in there, but there is much more to it than that." Emma stood up, "Come with me." She led Dawn out of the office and through the corridors of the library. Following her Dawn was amazed by how large the library was and how many books there were. "So what do you think the monks did? Transform the key into a teenage girl using the slayer's DNA as a template, then modified everyone's memories so they'd think they'd known her all their life?" Emma challenged.



Dawn shrugged, "I guess."



"They could have but there'd be one problem. Well two really. One is that girl they would have created wouldn't have been alive. There'd be no way for them to give her any essence."



"And the second problem?" Dawn was growing anxious about these revelations, wondering if she'd made a mistake coming here, maybe she'd been better off not knowing.



"How are a bunch of monks going to come up with realistic memories for a teenage girl?"



"So what did they do?" Dawn prodded.



Emma stopped and walked down one of the shelves, trailing her finger along it. Stopping suddenly she pulled one of the books out and began flicking through it, not really looking at it. Finding the page she wanted she turned to Dawn and said, "Here it is. What they did was rather simple in a complicated sort of way. They sent the energy of the key fifteen years back in time merging it with the essence of a foetus, transferring both into Joyce Summers."



"Earlier I saw two people, I felt as though I knew them, but I'd never met them."



Emma flicked through the book again. "The Marusson's?" Dawn nodded, thinking that that was what the grave had said. "They would have been your parents, had events been allowed to follow their course. With the essence of her child gone, Margaret miscarried."



Dawn shook her head, "What gave them the right to hurt so many people? Just because they were serving the powers that be?"



Emma shook her head, "No child..."



"I'm not a child." Dawn protested in an angry voice.



Emma smirked, "To me you are."



"How old are you?"



"As I was going to say, they believed that they were serving God."



"When the portal opened..." Dawn stopped not sure how to put this.



"Your sister sacrificed herself to close it."



"But I'm not sure why."



"Why she sacrificed herself? To protect you."



"I'm not sure why it closed the portal. Was it because we share the same blood?" Dawn muttered, almost to herself, as she tried to figure this out.



"It was because she sacrificed herself."



"I... You mean it wasn't because we were related, but because Buffy was willing to throw herself into the portal in my place?"



"Exactly. That sort of thing carries a lot more weight than a bond of blood. Buffy believed that she could sacrifice herself in your place to close the rift, and due to the nature of her sacrifice the universe decided to oblige her." Emma explained.



"Oh. The books said that the portal would close when my blood stopped flowing. I keep thinking about that. Did it just mean that when I stopped bleeding? Couldn't Buffy have just put some plasters on me?"



Emma shook her head, "Your blood is flowing at the moment, isn't it?"



"So there was no way to close the portal without one of us dying. Sometimes I wish Buffy had let me jump."



"It's called survivor guilt. It's fairly common." Emma reached into her pocket and pulled out a necklace. Throwing it to Dawn she said, "If you ever want to talk more, or just peruse the books you can use that to get in here."



"Okay, um, thanks."



***



Claudia was about to leave to meet up with the others when her phone started ringing. Thinking it was probably telemarketers she was tempted to ignore it. However something told her she should answer. "Hello. Yes this is Claudia. There's no need, we can handle... Very well, I'll expect them tonight,"



***



"So?" Anya demanded as soon as Willow and Tara entered the shop, "Have you had any luck finding Faith?"



Tara shook her head, "Some how she's blocking the location spell we're using."



"Faith knows some unpleasant sorts from her time working for the mayor." Willow added, "She's probably gone to them for help."



"Faith going mad and killing someone, who'd have thunk it? Oh wait I did," Xander muttered, his tone sarcastic.



"Xander..." Willow started.



"No Willow. I'm struggling really hard to not do the dance of I told you so but I think..." He stopped as the door opened and Claudia came in.



Looking at Xander she said, "Xander, no one likes a gloater."



"How did you know?"



"Your expression is entirely too smug." Claudia sighed, her tone bored.



"Yeah well I thought you were supposed to be Faith's Watcher." Xander suddenly started to grow angry, "What exactly were you doing while Faith was going mad? Maybe if you'd..." All the while Xander had been ranting Claudia just stared at him. Suddenly calming Xander went on, "Well you know we need to find Faith." he shrugged, "So we can help her."



"Well that's out of our hands. The council have sent a team to pick up Faith."



"Oh because that always works so..." Willow stopped as she noticed that Tara was trembling. Turning to her she whispered, "What's wrong?"



"I'm not sure." Tara grimaced, "I need a drink of water." Willow asked, with a glance, whether Tara wanted her to come. Seeing Tara nod she took her hand and they went through to the back room.



"Now everyone's uncomfortable." Anya stated.



***



In the back room Tara grabbed one of the paper cups and filled it from the water cooler. As she sipped from it Willow put her arm round her and gave her a slight squeeze. "So what's up?"



"I... I'm not sure. It's just when Xander and Claudia were arguing, I suddenly felt so..." Tara hesitated, "I felt so small and dirty. It was like... like after I was attacked by Glory."



"That must have been horrible." Willow gently hugged her lover, trying to comfort her.



Tara nodded, "I'm feeling better now."



They went back out into the main room, "Well if the watcher's council are going to deal with Faith there's nothing urgent that we need to do."



Claudia shook her head, "No, nothing that needs to be done right now."



"Well Tara's feeling ill, so we're going to go home." Willow announced as they headed towards the door.



***



Instead of going straight home Willow took them to the park Tara had found. As they got out of the car Willow said, "I thought you might want to meditate a bit."



Tara smiled, "That's a good idea." Her smile fell a little, "Though it will be weird, with Dracula buried so close by."



Willow frowned, "Yeah, I hadn't thought of that. One of the downsides to burying him here. We can go somewhere else if you want."



"Oh, no. Here is fine."



Sitting facing each other they joined hands.



***



Harold Morris was quickly piling his papers into his briefcase. He had gotten caught up in his work and he'd have to hurry if he were to make it for the next train. Closing it he rushed out of the room, and to the elevator. Hitting the call button he was surprised when the doors opened straight away. He had just stepped through the doors when they closed behind him and the lift began to go down. !"What the?" Harold muttered. He began hitting the button for the floor he wanted and after a few seconds the lift stopped and the door opened. A moment later Harold started screaming.



***



Claudia was sitting in her apartment, a pile of books in front of her. They were the volumes of an encyclopaedia of demonology that had been written by the watcher's council a few hundred years ago, and she thought it likely she'd find some reference to whatever monster they were dealing with in there. She had just closed on book and was about to get another when there was a knock at her door. Answering it she found three men there, all dressed in black.



"So you're here." Moving aside she let the three men in, then closed the door behind them.



***



Dawn lay on her bed staring at one of her text books. She was supposed to be studying but she was too preoccupied trying to work out what she was going to do. Though the real problem was she already knew what she had to do, she was just having trouble making herself do it. It wasn't that she was worried that Willow and Tara would be angry with her, well really she was worried about that, but more she was worried that they'd be disappointed. Thinking about how they'd looked after her since Buffy's death a part of her worried that they wouldn't want to have anything to do with her once they knew what she had done. Sighing she told herself there was only one way to find out.



Going downstairs Dawn found them sitting together going over a large book. Willow pointed at one of the pages saying, "This sounds..." She stopped and looked up as they noticed Dawn lingering at the entrance of the room, looking nervous.



"Uh, hi." Dawn raised a hand then went on, "Tara, Willow, there's something that I need to tell you."



TBC

Postel's Prescription: Be generous in what you accept, rigorous in what you emit.

[bluewillowwitch]

justin ,

I love the update! I don't like the funny feeling that got. I'm glad that got her out of there. Xander is being such a jerk. Claudia sucks. I hope that Faith is okay and can proove to the group that she didn't do anything. So Dawn was made from a realy mom and dad and was a real baby. The plot thickens. Can't wait to more. Update soon, please?





Grace

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

"Fate keeps on happening."--Anita Loos