Into the Abyss
by Rainne
Into the Abyss
[reviews]
Usual Disclaimers: I'm not Joss, ergo, nothing is mine. Well, actually, I have rather a lot of original characters in this story (forty five and counting - you'll see ) but if Joss wants them, he's more than welcome to them.
Warnings: hot monkey love. between chicks. If you don't like that sort of thing, what are you doing reading these fics?
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Part One
The sun was warm on the back of my neck as I lay on the green grass, looking up at the passing clouds, playing a child's game of What-Is-It. I examined each shape carefully as it blew past, thinking to myself, that one's a dragon; or, that one's a little man with six arms; or, that one looks like the profile of my lover as she lays beside me in sleep.
When I saw that one, I had to smile, because it really did look like her. There was the elegant nose, here an arched brow, and there a tiny shadow that seemed to suggest the dimple in her cheek. I sighed in contentment — a feeling I hadn't truly felt in years — and glanced over at my lover, who was lying next to me on the grass. She was not asleep, however; she was turned on her side, her back to me, watching a small plover bird flutter about nearby.
Two years in England have softened my lover quite a bit. She is no longer the hardened, bitter young woman she was when the two of us came to this place, she because it was her duty and an uncertain path to redemption, and I on a fluke that what had begun as a spark of attraction and a bit of lustful innuendo might turn into something real. Then, she was nervous and mistrustful, with a certain anguish hiding behind her easy grin. There was a great weight of guilt upon her then, which I think has been lessened somewhat by her work here. Because what she does is so important. Now, there is still a shadow of guilt there — I think there always will be — but it no longer consumes her as it does. Now, though she may occasionally cry out in her sleep, she is happy in her waking hours. She is content here, I think, with our children and with me.
I was looking at the sky again, thoughts weighing on my mind, when her lips caressed the back of my neck, bringing me back to Earth in an instant. Her arm came around me, and her voice burred behind my ear. "Whatcha lookin' at, Kotie?"
I smiled at her nickname for me and pointed at the sky. "Dragon," I replied. "The Anne McCaffrey kind, not the Chinese kind."
She looked up, tilting her head to the left and then to the right. "It's a duck, sweetie."
"Dragon." I grinned and kissed her back. "I suppose you're going to tell me it's time to go back."
She nodded, laying her head on my shoulder. "We've had our fun," she said. "Time to be a grown-up again. After all, Mrs. Katherine can only handle a houseful of rambunctious teenage girls for so long before she goes crazy."
I smiled at the thought of our pleasantly long-suffering Scottish housekeeper. Mrs. Katherine MacLeod, clan MacKenzie an' ye please, had come to us most highly recommended by a vicar from Inverness who knew of the Council and knew what we were attempting to do with the Academy. Mrs. Katherine, as she liked to be called, was experienced in dealing with children of the teenage variety, as the vicar had four and Mrs. Katherine had raised seven children herself. She was truly a godsend, especially with the more headstrong of our children.
"She's probably ready to tear her hair out now," I grinned, and the two of us gathered up our sun-warmed clothes from the pile we'd made nearby and began to dress again. Sometimes the only privacy we could get was out here in the hills, away from the house and the stresses of parenting forty-two rambunctious children; and sometimes we just came out here to make love in the sunlight, surrounded by nature and with the sweet smell of the wild places mingling with the scents of each other in the air.
And sometimes, I thought as we mounted our horses and turned towards the manor house, it just happened. As it had this morning, when we'd spontaneously decided to go for a ride and ended up spending half the day out on the ridge, loving each other as was our way. Not that I was complaining, mind you, but there were things that needed to be done. Such as forty-two rambunctious kids who seriously needed to be caught up in world history. But the morning and half the afternoon were gone, so today was a wash and the kids could take it as a holiday. There was so little true structure in our lives, mainly because we had decided from the beginning that we had no desire to become tradition-bound the way the Council once had.
The manor came into view as we rounded a bend in the trail and we found that the girls had already decided to take a holiday — several of the older Potentials were holding an impromptu competition on the south lawn. Most of the girls were in attendance, and I could tell that wagers were being passed among them. Not that any of them had pocket money to spare, but certainly things that came in care packages from home made good stakes, and there were plenty of 'my share of tonight's dessert' being offered as well, Mrs. Katherine's desserts being legendary in our house.
"Oh, look," my lover commented as we came closer to the gathered crowd. "Our new local girl is having a go at our exchange student."
We came up to the edge of the crowd and I saw that this was true. Our newest Slayer potential, Diana Wood of Staffordshire, was squaring off against Dawn Summers, and neither of them looked too happy about it. I dismounted and poked Mindy Taylor, one of our Partner trainees, who had come to us from Cheyenne, Wyoming. "Mindy. What gives?"
"Oh, it's a grudge match, Miss Dakota. Diana says she's a better fighter than Dawn because Dawn's a Partner."
I nodded. This was something that occurred once in awhile when we got in a Slayer potential with delusions of grandeur or, as in Diana's case, who was a minor noble. The regular girls, training as Partners, got plenty of fighter training; but new Potentials with rank at home, despite our best efforts, liked to try to pull rank at the school, too. When such as this happened, the better fighters among the Partners would make a point of drawing fire from the offending Potential, until enough insult had been thrown that the Partner called a grudge match.
Judging by the looks of things, Dawn was putting Diana in her place pretty quickly. They had arrived at the Academy together six months ago, and Dawn had blended easily into the background with the other Partners, but Diana had chosen Dawn to toss insults at. And Dawn had been trained by Buffy. And Dawn had a bit of a short fuse. I rather thought, observing the condition of the two fighters, that Diana was learning her lesson. In fact, she had just dropped to one knee, conceding the fight.
Dawn stepped forward and helped Diana to stand. The Potential studied her face carefully. "Who taught you to fight?" she asked.
Dawn grinned. "My sister," she replied. "Her name is Buffy."
A ripple went through the crowd at that announcement. Diana's eyes widened. "Buffy Summers? The Slayer?"
Dawn nodded. "Yes. My sister is the Slayer. And she taught me almost everything I know."
Diana put her hand out to Dawn. "You have my apologies for the things I've said," she stated formally.
"Accepted," Dawn replied, taking the hand and giving it a firm shake.
I stepped into the center of the crowd then, and pointed at Diana. "You go to Miss Maisri and get bandaged up. Everyone else, take the rest of the day. But do it somewhere else. Get, now."
The crowd slowly dispersed, the girls going off in twos and threes to amuse themselves however they chose. Dawn, however, stayed with me. She grinned. "Kicked her ass," she said.
I winked. "So you did. Nice work."
She looked up then at my lover, who was still mounted nearby. "Hey, Faith."
Faith grinned. "Nice job on her, kid," she complimented. "Break her nose?"
"No," Dawn replied. "Just flattened it."
Faith nodded. "You oughta get on, too," she suggested. "I'm sure some of your dorm-mates will be wanting to pump you for info about B. After all, ya been holding out on 'em for six months."
Dawn nodded, grinned, and trotted off. I remounted and rode with Faith around to the stable, where we set about currying and rubbing down the horses. Done, we slipped inside and upstairs to our private quarters on the fifth floor, where Faith went in for a shower while I sat back to review the new brochure Faith and I were making up to send to prospective Partner students.
There was something in the way the brochure was set up that I really didn't like, but I couldn't identify exactly what it was. I was tempted to chuck the whole thing and start fresh. I put it aside and turned to the pile of mail on the side of my desk. Invitation, invitation, application, telegram. Telegram? It was addressed to both Faith and myself. I glanced toward the bathroom. "Hon? You through yet?"
Her voice, muffled, came through the door. "What's up?"
"Telegram."
Wrapped in a towel, she came out of the bathroom, accompanied by a huge cloud of steam. "Who from?"
I shook my head. "Haven't looked at it yet."
"Well?" She dropped the towel and went over to the wardrobe, digging around in it for clothing as I opened the envelope and began to read.
"Flying into Heathrow tomorrow p.m.," I read, working out the abbreviations slowly. "Sorry such short notice but minor emergency. Need to utilize library and possibly human resources. See you soon. Signed B and W."
"Well, well. A state visit from Queen B herself," Faith mused, smoothing the material of her new silk shirt down over the denim jeans that hugged her curves and made my mouth water. "Do we announce it at dinner?"
I thought it over and then smiled. "I think so. Yes. I think we do. And I think perhaps we have a little session after dinner tonight on the west lawn and arrange a little demonstration, something to showcase our talent, if you will. Some sparring sessions, a vampire if we can arrange one in a hurry, and maybe a little something of the magickal persuasion from Maisri's best and brightest, if they're up to it."
"Sounds like fun," Faith responded, grinning.
"You know what sounds like more fun?" I asked, glancing at the clock to gauge how much time we had before dinner. She cocked an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue. I let my smile spread slowly across my face as I got up and walked toward her. When I got to her, I slid my hands under her shirt to cup her breasts through her lace bra. "I'm thinking we could have a little talent showcase of our own right here."
I head her growl low in her throat right before she lifted me up and carried me to our bed. Her hands took my clothes away slowly, and then she took her own shirt off, hanging it neatly over the back of the desk chair before rising above me, dressed now only in her bra and jeans, tanned flesh contrasting beautifully with the yellow lace of the undergarment and the pale blue of the denim. I let my hands touch the soft skin of her back and my eyes flutter shut as her lips closed on my neck and her hands found their way to my more sensitive spots. Here, in the arms of my Faith, I was in heaven.