FIC: Whither Thou Goest... Part 11/?

[PB <pbnj@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Whither Thou Goest...
Author: Pink Rabbit Productions
Archive: Pink Rabbit, A Slayer/A Hacker
Author's Notes: This is the latest sequel to Spin, Spinning, Spun Out, It
All Depends On Your Timing, and Interludis Neanderthalensis. It's not
finished, but I'm going to start posting in segments since it's getting
close to the end (probably).
Disclaimer: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant
Enemy, Kuzui, and God only knows who else. This particular arrangement of
words in cyberspace belongs to me, however. Btw, it contains love between
two women, so if such things offend you, are illegal where you live or
somesuch, kindly don't read it and upset yourself, 'kay. It'll just make
life easier on all of us.
Spoilers: None that I can think of.
Rating: soft R -- for cursing, some violence, and such
Part: 11/? (yeah, I know the parts and the chapter numbers aren't
necessarily matching up, but that's because there was a prologue and now a
chapter that had to be split into two parts)

Whither Thou Goest...
Chapter Eight

"I need to know anything and everything you can find out about Delaine
DuCourvallier," Buffy told Willow as she watched the hacker power up her
laptop. They had barely spoken during the long walk back to the dorm, but
they were back to being friends, even if they weren't entirely certain what
they were past that. "Use Giles books, the Internet, whatever you can
think. She's got to have a weakness somewhere."

Willow nodded, already signing onto the Internet as she grabbed the top
book in the stack she'd borrowed from Giles, and flipped it open. With the
wait times online, there was no use in not getting something done while she
was waiting for information to download. "I've found some stuff on this one
site, but I'm not sure how much it will help you...I mean, when I was there
before, I didn't really have anything specific I was looking for, so I just
don't know...."

Buffy nodded, watching over her friend's shoulder. "Do whatever you can. I
need to know what I'm up against," she bit out and rested an encouraging
hand on Willow's shoulder, incredibly aware of the heat of her skin through
her thin sweater.

Willow turned to look back up at her friend, her expression pensive.
"Buffy, you're not thinking of facing her alone, are you?" she questioned
worriedly. "I mean, what Spike said...you can't meet her alone...."

The Slayer shrugged, trying to look like it was just one more banal slaying
in her life, but there was no denying the fear that lived in her eyes. "I
haven't really made any...decision...Will...we'll see," she lied. She
already knew in her heart what she had to do to keep the people she loved
safe from the monster stalking them. The vampire had already proven she was
more than capable of getting far too close for comfort. Buffy wasn't going
to risk having that happen again.

"Because from what Giles said that is not something you want to do," Willow
babbled onward, sensing that no matter what Buffy told her, she was arguing
with an already chosen course of action. "She was a Slayer, Buffy...and now
she's a vampire...which means she's not like any vampire you've ever faced--"

"I know that, Will," Buffy interrupted, hoping to forestall one of Willow's
self-inflicted panic attacks.

"If Giles is right, then she's stronger and faster than you are...maybe a
lot...and she's had four hundred years to perfect her slaying skills. You
can't face her alone."

Buffy hitched her hip on the desk as she turned to face Willow. "Let's just
not worry about it for the moment, okay. Right now, what I need is the best
information possible." She smoothed a few stray hairs back from Willow's
cheek. "And I don't know anyone else who can find secrets like you can."

Willow swallowed hard, but finally nodded. "I'll do everything I can."

"That's my Willow," Buffy praised, then fell momentarily silent as the
possible double meaning of the comment struck her. "I mean..." she stumbled
over her own words, then looked away, sighing softly, "I don't know what I
mean."

It was Willow who caught the Slayer's hand in her own this time. "Maybe it
would be best if we worry about that...tomorrow...." Neither of them needed
any added stresses or distracting thoughts, at least no more than were
absolutely necessary.

Assuming there is one, the Slayer mentally amended, though her little voice
was not so gently hinting that with possibly only one day left to live, she
really ought to spend it doing something she enjoyed, like holding Willow
close and tasting those sweet lips. "Yeah," she whispered after a beat.
"Tomorrow." They sat like that for a long moment, until Willow's computer
finished loading the page she was looking for, and then she hesitantly
looked away.

"I...uh...let me just see what I can come up with here," the hacker
murmured as her cursor danced across the screen.

Buffy was still waiting when she noticed the rhythmically blinking red
light on their answering machine. "Looks like we've got a message," she
told Willow as she reached out to press the Play button.

There was a brief pause as the tape cued up and then the message began,
"Hello, Miss Summers, Miss Rosenberg, this is Officer Riordan over at the
Police Department. My supervisor just wanted me to call and let you know
that you won't be needed as witnesses against the three men arrested in the
Twenty-Four/Seven robbery. The District Attorney has already plea bargained
them into long jail terms. They won't be able to hurt anyone again for a
long time. If you have any questions, you can call Detective Masters at
555-6166." And then the line clicked off.

"Well, I guess that's one less problem to deal with," Buffy sighed.

Willow frowned, staring at the answering machine with a quizzical look.
"Seems a little...quick...doncha think?"
The Slayer shrugged. "I don't know. I've always been the suspect when I've
dealt with the police before. Besides, it's not like those guys had any
defense. I mean, I've read in the newspaper that they're always plea
bargaining cases." She shrugged helplessly.

"I guess," Willow exhaled uncertainly. "I hope they give 'em life," she
added after a beat.

"You and me both," Buffy admitted, then straightened away from the desk. As
awful as what had happened at the convenience store was, she had other,
more immediate worries to attend to. "Well, I guess I should be going." At
Willow's questioning look, she quickly explained, "I really do want to talk
to Willy, and also get a couple of other things done while I have the
time." She moved to the closet, and pulled out a large duffel bag that
clanked gently as she moved it. Willow knew that the impressive collection
of weapons inside was enough to stock the average shop of horrors. Just the
tools of the slaying trade. Buffy slung the strap over her shoulder as she
turned to face her friend.

The bag served as a reminder of the things out there in the world that
intended the Slayer harm and Willow experienced a hard bolt of sick terror.
"You...you are coming back...aren't you?" the hacker choked out as she
pushed to her feet, staring at her friend with a look of dread.

"Yeah, Will," Buffy assured her. Whatever happened, she had no intention of
facing DuCourvallier without at least saying goodbye. "I'll be back. I
promise. You gonna be okay?"

Willow felt her heart start beating again as she sank back down into her
chair. "Fine...fine...I'm just gonna be doing the research thing. Yeah,
that's me, research girl. Nothing to worry about here." She knew she was
babbling, but somehow her brain had decided that if she just kept talking,
maybe she could delay long enough to keep Buffy from leaving. Not a
sensible strategy, but it was her instinctive response.

"Okay," Buffy cut her friend off gently. "I'll just--" Whatever else she
was about to say was cut off by a sharp rap on their door. "Get the door,"
she finished, sounding annoyed at the interruption.

Willow tensed, then turned back toward her computer as she saw the broad
shouldered figure standing at the door and heard Buffy say, "Oh...Riley. I
wasn't expecting you."

"I just heard about what happened to you the other night at the
Twenty-Four/Seven...I mean to you and Willow," he explained breathlessly.
"Are you okay?" he asked before Buffy had a chance to say anything. "You
and Willow both, I mean." He glanced over, noting the red-haired hacker
hunched over her computer. "Hi Willow." He was a firm believer in the old
rule about being nice to any prospective girlfriend's girlfriends. It just
made everything easier in his experience.

Willow grunted something that passed for a greeting while Buffy set down
her bag just long enough to pull on her coat. "We're okay, Riley," she
assured him, wondering what the fastest method for getting rid of him might
be. "But I was just going out. Personal stuff," she added without explanation.

"Oh." He appeared startled at her lack of willingness to make time for him.
"But...well...I just...you must have been terrified." He glanced past her,
trying to include Willow in the conversation. "Both of you."

Buffy shrugged, in no mood to go back over those few minutes of raw terror.
"It was bad," she admitted after a beat, but didn't elaborate. "Look, I
really don't want to talk about that...I...um..." she swallowed hard,
fighting the images in her head.

"Probably seeing their faces in your dreams," Riley interjected
sympathetically.

Buffy shook her head. "Actually, we never saw their faces...in dreams or
otherwise. They were wearing ski masks, and they were still unconscious
when the police took them away. The cops didn't bother to take them off."
She shrugged again. "Actually, the police left a message earlier. They've
already made some kind of deal, so we won't even have to testify."

"Well, at least your friend--that girl who was killed--she'll get some
justice."

Buffy shook her head. "She wasn't a friend, just somebody trying to buy a
beer. I don't know who she was."

"That's awful." He reached out to massage her shoulder, not noticing the
way she tried to subtly tried to avoid the caress. With Willow sitting
there thinking God only knew what--was she jealous, relieved, miserable,
steaming--the last thing she wanted was to deal with Riley's romantic
pursuit. Insipid, but safely heterosexual romantic pursuit, don't you mean?
Her inner voice demanded sarcastically. "Well, at least you won't have to
go through the trauma of living through it all again."

"Right," Buffy exhaled, wondering why he suddenly seemed hopelessly
clueless rather than adorably naive. Did he really think not testifying
made any real difference? Was it just the change in her relationship with
Willow or had he always been this dense and she just hadn't noticed? Or had
she even been purposely looking the other way? "Like I said, I really do
have to go," she reminded him as she gestured toward the door.

His eyes floated over to Willow, who was still hunched over her computer,
apparently trying to ignore them. He looked like he planned on staying and
there was no question in Buffy's mind that would be a bad thing. "And as
you can see, Will's really under the study gun."

Riley seemed reticent to leave to the point that Buffy almost had to push
him out the door ahead of her. When he was out in the hall, she turned
back, relieved that Willow turned to look at her. Relieved too--though she
wasn't quite ready to admit it--to see a tiny flicker of jealousy in the
redhead's eyes. "I'll see you later," she said softly, her tone making the
words a promise.
"You do that," Willow responded, her voice only a little more stressed than
normal, though after the door closed she had to pinch the bridge of her
nose tightly to stop the tears that threatened to fall. The last thing she
had time for was hysterics.

In the corridor, Riley had to jog to keep up with Buffy's hurried strides
and nearly tripped over a maintenance man who was just backing out of the
supply closet near the girls' dorm room. "Sorry about that," he instantly
apologized to the man as he reached out to steady him. Buffy meanwhile
pulled even farther ahead.

"No problem, mate," the janitor said agreeably, then stepped back inside
the closet so he was out of Riley's way as the young man hurried on down
the hallway. When the pair had rounded a nearby corner, he leaned out,
staring after them with a half smile on his face. "Ah, the trials and
tribulations of young love." And with that, Ethan Rayne slipped back into
the janitor's closet and began merrily puttering about. He had things to do
and Slayers to spy on.

* * * * * *
TBC

--"If I was all that fond of real life, I would never have majored in theater"

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