FIC: Untitled(Chapter One)

["Pat Kelly" <bandits@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hey.

Here's Chapter One of my un-named fic. Hope this holds you over for a little while.

Why do we live life?

Why do we continue on when there is nothing to live for? Is it purely our instinct?

Our body's instinct to preserve itself?

While it waits for love to sustain it? To give it extra fuel to keep going?

I've been away two years, and this is the only explanation that makes any sense to me. Or else I'd be dead.

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

"Where'd that come from?" Willow asked herself, sitting in her loft in Paris. "You're getting pessimistic, self. And you're only twenty-four."

But she really couldn't blame herself. To anyone looking at her life, they would think she had it pretty damn good. Large, furnished loft in the northern section of Paris, right by the picturesque Buttes Chaumont Park. A nice chunk of francs in the bank from many successful digs, and a grateful Louvre that was paying handsomely for what she offered them. And all this from a girl, no woman now, she had to keep reminding herself that, who dropped out of Oxford.

Yes, Willow Rosenberg dropped out of one of the most prestigious universities in the world. After six months. She couldn't concentrate, couldn't see the point in doing the work. Her professors saw how bright she was, the knowledge she possessed, and the natural aptitude she seemed to have for archeology. She knew how to look everywhere, find the slightest clues, and manage her time and resources. They couldn't understand her decision.

One man did. During her time there, she befriended a professor by the name of Henry Wallace. He was an older man, and he reminded her of Giles. He was very open, gentle. He was the only one at the school who didn't seem to be full of himself. When she had told him that she was going to drop out, he didn't try to hold her back.

"I direct students on the best path I think is right for them," he had said, "and I can see that learning inside these walls is not the path for you. Any help I can provide, anything at all, just ask."

And help he did. He had many contacts and acquaintances, people that collected artifacts just so they could brag, perhaps sell them, and were willing to pay. If the pieces were good enough, of course.

To show these people Willow's talent and skill, Henry funded her first dig, and she retrieved the Staff of Raynyd. It was an ornately crafted metal staff used in primitive burial practices by an extinct demon species called Gterchs. They used the staff to guide the souls of its brethren into their version of the afterlife. Which consisted of rotting skulls and the chirping of dead birds.

Her contact with Henry had been off and on since. She made a mental note to call him when she had some free time today.

Anyhow, this discovery made Willow very popular in Henry's circle, and every person hoping to be the first to own a demon relic was soon funding her. As she grew in popularity and she learned and found more, it attracted the attention of the Louvre Museum, and they hoped to retain her services permanently. They sweetened the deal by giving her a weekly check, and paying for her current loft.

Just recently, they had opened a 'BEFORE TIME' wing, which housed most of her demon finds. So why shouldn't she be happy? She was well off, still bringing in pieces that seemed better than the ones before, which meant job security, and she was in the Romance Capital of the World.

She was absent the only person she had ever had romantic feelings for, for the past six years, that's why she felt like she wasn't living. She didn't even know why she had written those words. It was purely stream of consciousness, and she wasn't even writing in a diary. It was just a slip of paper.

Her phone began to ring. She picked it up.

"Willow?" A man with a French accent said.

"Danton? What is it?"

"We found something. Big. Very big."

"Where?"

"Lozere."

"That's where the conservations are right?"

"Yes. One of the wolves of Gevaudan was found trying to dig it up."

"I'm on my way."

Her busy schedule let her forget the pain of missing Buffy, fortunately.

***

Minneapolis in the summer was hell. And Buffy couldn't decide whether she was using the word 'hell' loosely or not. The heat was suffocating at all hours, people were miserable, especially in the city, and so was she. Plus the mosquitoes were huge. No, gigantic. She couldn't see why the vampires couldn't just capture a few of them and get their blood that way.

It would last them at least six months. But it wasn't her job to question; it was her job to kill. The vampire problem was pretty tame compared to other places she had been, actually. The worst, other than Sunnydale, had to be New Orleans. Mardi Gras had been quite a spectacle. They all came out that night. She would be moving on soon enough.

She had been traveling from city to city, town to town, for the past two years. When she got to a place, she hunted down as many vampires as she could find, and placed a discreet ad in the newspapers. When people responded, she took care of the problem, no matter what demon it was, and charged a reasonable fee. It wasn't the most glamorous life, or even that fulfilling, but it kept her busy.

"Do see them?" Buffy asked into her walkie-talkie.

"Lost 'em three streets down, luv." Spike responded.

"Did you get a look? Vamps?"

"Two of my cousins and.a Chaos demon."

"Wonderful. Let's just call it -" Three figures caught her eye just then, one looked like it had antlers protruding from its head. "Got 'em."

"I'm on the way."

"No. Go back. Check in with Giles."

"You're the boss. Watch your back, Slayer."

She switched it off, and started after the trio of demons. She, Spike, and Giles had been working together since her graduation from college two years ago. The blonde vampire had come to develop a seething hatred for his cousins and extended non-vampiric family. He finally admitted to Buffy that he respected her in a way he had never respected anyone before. So, they joined up, and made a pretty formidable team.

Spike was also glad to get out of Sunnydale.

Giles had insisted on accompanying her wherever her "on the move" slaying took her. She was grateful for it. She needed him there to keep her grounded. Too many times she had come close to losing it. Losing herself. And there were only two people who had ever been able to bring her back from the edge. Him, and.Willow. But her friend wasn't here. She was safe, and far away from the danger of her fast-paced life.

Her decision to leave had haunted her for the past two years. She didn't want to, but when you love someone, sometimes you have to do the right thing, rather than worry about your own feelings. Yeah, she loved her, but she didn't say it. Then Willow wouldn't have left, and would have lost her second chance at life. And you only got so many chances. That didn't mean that Buffy didn't hurt every single day, though.

"I did it to give you a life. Even if it means mine is less than complete." She told her invisible Willow quietly.

She crept down an alley, where she heard a voice speak, sounding like it had a lot of mucous build up in his throat.

"Vampires. Always thinking with your teeth." The Chaos demon said.

"The Slayer saw us."

"She is of no concern. We got what we came for. We have a schedule to keep."

Then she heard running. She thought for a fleeting second about running after them, but it would have been pointless. She walked up to the spot where they had just been talking, and saw a piece of paper on the ground, covered in slime. Always a nice reminder that a Chaos demon had been there.

She picked it up. It read:

'#12. 10:24 P.M.'

She loved clues. And so did Giles. She knew she had to get this back to him. It had been a long night. She had dreams of a redhead to go enjoy. The sooner she went to sleep, the longer they would last.

***


Willow reached the conservation an hour later. She parked her jeep, and as she got out, she was met by the angry barking sound of a wolf. As she approached Danton, she realized that the other animals were quivering, and it was just one lone wolf making all the noise.

Her helper, or really her partner, had set up his laptop and was already feeding information into it via a device hooked into one of its ports. The device read the ground structure of the spot it was placed for five miles in every direction. Surface and underground.

She didn't want to get her hopes up, but she had come very close to discovering what she thought would be the one that would top all of her other finds. They had narrowed its possible location to the large area of Lozere. If it was indeed somewhere on the conservation, that would be a problem.

She walked up to Danton. He looked tired.

"Have you slept?"

"I was on my way home when I drove by, and heard the commotion. I stopped to take a look. When I saw what was making the noise, I got a feeling. These beasts are known for their mystique. Angry, shadowy things. But this might be it."

"The air does feel different here," Her Wiccan instincts hadn't failed her yet, "but these wolves aren't that bad."

She stepped over to the barking wolf, and held out her hand. The wolf stopped, and smelled it. Then licked it. She petted its head.

"How did you do that?"

"I have some experience with wolves."

A woman walked up to her. "I've told your friend that you cannot be here. This is protected land. You shouldn't even be touching the animal. The last thing I need is a lawsuit."

"I realize this is an inconvenience, but there is something here. Something we can't ignore."

"There is nothing here."

"Something's scaring your animals. It won't be much of a tourist draw if they cower in a corner where no one can see them, will it?" The woman was silent. "Is this the one who was doing the digging?"

"I believe so, yes."

"Willow, you'll want to take a look at this." Danton called to her.

She walked over to where Danton was standing, looking at the monitor. "I don't see anything." The picture was showing a long, below ground cavern.

"That's because whatever it is, is embedded in the cavern wall. Covered by thin rock."

"This can't be right," Willow said reading the data, "this says it's miles long."

"I told you it was big, did I not?"

"You did. We have to get down there."

"I can't allow you to dig here. I'm sorry. It would be too much of a disruption." The woman reiterated.

"The Causses!" Willow exclaimed.

"What?" Danton asked.

"The caverns there. They connect for miles below the surface. They don't take visitors down there, though. They don't even tell visitors much about it. It should lead all along here."

"And how do we get there?"

"I know people."

"Of course you do."

***


Buffy entered their temporary base of operations, a larger than average motel room, weary and tired. She saw Spike watching the three-channel TV, and Giles was talking to a woman at the small table in the room. The woman was a redhead. For a second, she held her breath, until the woman turned around. Not her redhead.

The woman and Giles both saw her now.

"How'd it go? Spike filled me in mostly, said you followed three -"

"They got away." Buffy said flopping on the bed. She got the paper out of her pocket. "Does '#12, 10:24 P.M. mean anything to you? One of them was carrying it."

"I don't know."

"Who's your friend?"

"Forgive me. Buffy," He pointed to the woman, "this is Doctor Janice Carter. She's an archeologist."

"Nice to meet -" Dr. Carter started to say.

"Archeologist?"

"Yes. I saw your ad in the paper and I called the number. My office had been ransacked."

"Where were you?"

"Hiding in the janitor's closet."

"Smart. You see anything?"

"I caught a glimpse of one. It had antlers."

Spike looked over. "Those are our boys."

"Damn." Buffy cursed. "What was missing?"

"Well." Dr. Carter said slowly, "I'm not a typical archeologist. For the past couple months I've been coordinating with a woman, she's not officially a colleague, over in Europe."

"What exactly do you search for, Doctor?" Giles asked.

"Demonic relics. The project I'm working on with this woman, is big. We've narrowed down the location of the object, and I'm going to fly over to help with the search, tomorrow actually.

"When I went back into my office, I found my notes missing. They mainly contained possible locations."

"Locations where?" Buffy asked.

"In or around France."

"If the demons are thinking of going there, twelve could be the boat dock number." Spike said.

"Then that's where we're going." Buffy said.

"I think I can arrange that. We can't have these demons trying to sabotage the dig. We could use you."

"I'm up for a change of scenery." Spike said.

"Don't mean to come off greedy, but there would be cash involved." Buffy said.

"Not a problem."

"Excuse me, this colleague you mentioned, who is she?" Giles queried.

"She never actually got her degree but she's better than most of her competition. Her name is Willow Rosenberg. You probably haven't heard of her."

"Oh I wouldn't say that." Spike quietly said.

"We leave first thing in the morning." Buffy stated.

She didn't know what to feel, or how to react. All she knew was, she had wanted to see her for so long, and she wasn't going to blow her chance. She was going to see her Willow. After two years. Two, very long, years.


"I have misplaced my pants." (Homer J. Simpson)

"You know what the secret of life is?"
"Your finger?"
"One thing. Just one thing."
"That's great, but what's the one thing?"
"That's what you gotta figure out."
(Jack Palance, Billy Crystal, City Slickers)

"I heard your heartbeat." (Buffy Summers, to Angel, ANGEL)