Taking the Initiative
by Rainne
Taking the Initiative
[reviews]
Pairing: Buffy/Willow, Faith/Dakota
Disclaimers: the usual.
Spoilers: None. It's all my little AU world.
Feedback: Yeah!
Distribution: Mysticmuse, IKOLY. All others ask first.
Summary: The next sequel in the Daywalker cycle. Someone comes back from Buffy's past to try and cause a lot of heartache. Oh, and there's also an apocalypse.
Author's Note: You know how Faith and Dakota both have something of a psycho side? That comes out in this story. If you can't deal with... well... rather a lot of dead guys... don't read this.
Dedication: Thanks to Paul for the title and Ellie for the constant encouragement and for loving everything I write, no matter what ship or how bad. :)
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PART ONE
Frustration was evident on the features of the young woman pacing back and forth in the courtyard of a small group of townhouses. "What do we know, Giles?"
"Unfortunately, not much," the older man replied. He sat on a bench near where the young woman paced, consulting the myriad books which were stacked on the bench next to him. "The Knights of Nho are not very well documented in many texts."
"But ironically, quite well in older British movies. You don't think they'd go away if we gave them a shrubbery, do you?" Xander quipped, grinning in the face of quelling glances from all around him. "Sorry," he added, not sorry at all. "I just can't pass up the Monty. I keep wondering if they're going to want us to chop down a tree with a herring."
"If you know what's good for you, you'll pass it up," Willow responded firmly, reaching for another book.
Xander sighed deeply and turned another page in his elderly volume. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Knights of Nho! Here we are. Ugly, too." He held up the book to show everyone.
"That's them," Buffy confirmed, her left hand going automatically to her right shoulder, which was still in a sling after having been badly wrenched in a fight against one of these big uglies two nights before. "They're much bigger than the book says," she added.
"Ah," Giles said, taking the book. "I always knew this book would come in handy someday; otherwise I would have let your mothers burn it during that Hansel and Gretel debacle."
Willow rolled her eyes and lowed softly in the manner of a cow. "My mother still has temporary memory lapse when that little incident comes up."
Buffy sighed softly. "Mine always did, too."
Willow reached for her lover, pulling Buffy close to her and holding her tightly. "I miss your mom, too," she whispered. "She was more of a mother to me than mine ever could be." The two women held each other tightly for a long moment as Giles looked through the passage in his book.
"Here we are. The Knights of Nho are the servants of a demon who, appropriately enough, is named Nho. This demon is apparently in the habit of attempting to open various Hellmouths."
"Of course," Buffy stated drolly, rolling her eyes. "And how tired is that? For once, I wish we could get a demon that would try something different."
"Less with the wishes, Buffy," Xander urged. "For all we know, there's a vengeance demon around that likes nothing better than to fulfill idle Slayer wishes."
"Good point," Buffy answered with a grin. Then she raised her voice. "I wish all demons were the happy, friendly kind, that didn't open Hellmouths and that didn't kill people."
Willow snickered and poked her lover in the ribs. "Best of luck with that one."
With a shrug, the Slayer responded, "A girl can try," and leaned in for a kiss from her beloved.
"Yes, well, if we're done being incredibly silly," Giles interrupted in his best stuffy-Watcher voice, "we can get back to the when and how of this little escapade."
Buffy straightened immediately and put on her studious face. "Of course, Mr. Giles, sir. Right away, sir."
Giles groaned, covering his eyes with one hand. "Why do I even try?"
Willow reached over and deftly snagged the book out of Giles's hand. "According to this, the demon Nho is completely invulnerable to attack by any means except when he's opening the Hellmouth. When he's in the process of doing that, he has to focus all of his magickal energy on that task and so leaves himself open. All you have to do is get him while he's opening it."
"Yes, and then close it back again!" Giles added.
"Well, yeah, and then close it back again. But... we can do that." She paused uncertainly. "Can't we?"
"Congratulations, Willow!" Xander chirped. "You're the ninety-sixth caller! As your prize today, you get to do the spell that closes the Hellmouth back again after the Knights Who Say Ni open it and Buffy beats them all to death with a herring."
Giles opened his mouth to say something, most probably to snap at Xander's humor by the expression on his face, and then suddenly he subsided. "In spite of Xander's obvious flippancy," he stated quietly, "that about sums it up."
There was a long moment of silence. Then Buffy spoke, carefully, in the manner of one attempting to avoid starting an avalanche with the sound of her voice. "Did... you just say that... Xander was right?"
Giles blinked. "Yes, I suppose I did."
"Wow," Willow said, blinking. "Go, Xander."
"Hey, score one for me!" Xander exclaimed, his grin widening. "I always knew I'd come in handy someday."
Buffy shook her head. "Okay. So once this thing is opening the Hellmouth, how do I kill it?"
"That's the problem." Giles retrieved the book from Willow and held it out to Buffy, who took it and began to read. Her eyes grew larger with each line of text and when she had finished, she looked up at him with an indescribable expression on her face. "Oh, man, Giles..." she choked out. "Gross."
---
"So at least we have some time to get ready for this thing," Willow said brightly as she and Buffy entered their home that night.
Buffy sighed. "I'm glad you can be so optimistic, and does it seem like the house is too quiet with everyone gone except for us?"
Willow nodded, glancing into the dark living room. She could just make out the sofa and the coffee table in the dim glow of the outside streetlight which filtered in through the curtains. "Yeah," she said softly. "There's no chatter, no noise, no music, no complaining, nothing... just us."
"Which, admittedly, is nice when I want to do things like ravish you on the sofa," Buffy commented in a low, teasing voice as she wrapped her arms around Willow's waist from behind and nipped at the nape of the witch's neck.
Willow shivered at Buffy's tone, leaning back into her lover's embrace. "Mmm," she groaned, feeling as she always did the wave of deep love that washed over her at Buffy;s touch. "Sounds yummy."
Buffy grinned, licking the spot at the juncture of Willow's neck and shoulder that was so sensitive. "Doesn't it, though?" She nuzzled into Willow's neck and sighed in contentment. "Shower first?"
Willow nodded. "Definitely."
They raced one another up the stairs, through the upstairs hall and into their bedroom. There, giggling, they continued their accustomed competition to see who could get stripped and into the shower first. Tonight, Willow won as she so rarely did, thanks to Buffy's zipper getting stuck and the Slayer uncharacteristically losing her balance and falling over onto the bedroom floor. The naked witch leapt over her partner with a taunting "nah-nah-nah-nah-nah" and dashed through the door to claim the shower. She briefly considered locking the door behind her but discarded the idea, knowing that Buffy would join her momentarily and not wanting the Slayer to break the door down. Buffy would be cranky afterward, and that was never fun. Plus there would be the whole awkward explainy-thing when they asked Xander to fix it.
She ran the water, letting steam fill the bathroom from the hot water before adding cold to prevent boiling their skin off their bodies. She set out two large, fluffy bath towels on the counter and was checking the temperature on the water when Buffy joined her. "Mmm, nice and steamy," Buffy commented, nuzzling into the hollow behind Willow's left ear.
Willow giggled. "That tickles." Buffy grinned and licked the sensitive spot, which made the witch jump and let out an "eep!"
They moved into the shower then, letting the warm water run over them. Buffy soaped Willow's hair, gently massaging her scalp in the way the Slayer knew she liked. When she was done, Willow returned the favor. Then they moved on to the loofahs and the body wash, and from there to more intimate touches. Buffy gasped when her back made contact with the chilly tiles on the wall, but became used to the sensation soon enough as she needed the wall to hold her up while Willow's mouth worked magic between her legs. She wound her hand in the wet, dark red strands and encouraged her with moans and whimpers. As Willow's tongue slid up from cleft to clit, Willow's hands gripped the Slayer's waist tightly, holding her steady. Buffy's breath came short, and she found herself unable to say anything besides "Oh, God, Willow... oh, God, Willow..."
Willow, feeling much like a god as she grew lightheaded in her joy of Buffy, licked and nibbled at the Slayer's clit while moving one hand away from Buffy's hip, and felt Buffy's hand tighten in her hair as she stroked gently at the blonde's channel. "You want this, Buffy?" she whispered. "Is this what you want?"
"Oh, God... Willow... yes... please..."
Willow grinned, teasing Buffy's sensitive nub with her tongue. "Tell me."
"Will..." There was a warning tone to Buffy's moan.
"Tell me," Willow repeated firmly.
Buffy groaned, but she knew when Willow took that tone, there was no way around her. It wasn't often that her lover became dominant, and it was always in the subtle ways, like this, but when she did, she was implacable. "I need you inside me," she whispered finally. "Please, Will, I need to feel you inside me."
Willow smiled and slid one finger inside Buffy. "Like this, baby?"
"More..."
Willow added another finger to the first and briefly added her tongue back into the mix. "Better?"
Buffy couldn't respond. Her breath caught in her throat and her body was seizing up beneath her. She held tight to Willow's head as her orgasm flashed through her, and moaned her lover's name. Willow waited a moment, making sure the tremors had passed, then stood slowly and pulled the Slayer into her arms. "I love you, Buffy," she whispered.
"Oh, Willow... I love you, too."
They moved from the shower then and Willow wrapped Buffy in one of the towels and herself in the other. She led the Slayer back into their bedroom and together they sank into the welcoming embrace of their bed, where Buffy returned the favor. Finally, both sated, they snuggled together in anticipation of sleep.
"Buffy?" Willow's sleepy whisper floated up to the Slayer's ear.
"Yeah, baby?"
"We're gonna win this one, aren't we?"
"I'm sure we are. There's almost nothing to killing this thing, once you get... in position." Buffy shuddered.
Willow squeezed her more tightly. "I'm worried about this Hellmouth-closing business."
Buffy stroked the side of Willow's face gently, smoothing her hair back and laying a gentle kiss on her temple. "You'll do fine."
"But, what if —"
"Don't if," Buffy said firmly. "Just don't."
"But —"
"If a bullfrog had wings, he wouldn't bump his ass when he jumped," Buffy replied, drawing the words out in an imitation of Mercedes' Southern accent.
Willow giggled. "You sound just like her," the witch commented.
"Tried hard enough," Buffy replied sleepily. "Ought to."
"But I'm worried."
"Baby, you'll have Giles with you. He'll back you up every step of the way."
"But what about... what about him?"
Buffy blinked, trying to follow the conversation with only half a brain. "Who? Rothschear?"
Willow nodded, burying her head in Buffy's neck, trying to block out the mental image of Faith as a vampire. Faith having to be turned because of her own egotism and her certainty that she could handle anything, that the magicks of an ancient evil sorcerer were mere child's play for the greatest witch who'd ever lived. What cruel, cruel irony.
Buffy blinked the muzziness of sleep away for a few moments more. Willow was more important, and they could always sleep in the next day. "Honey. Rothschear is dead. Nicki killed him. Remember? She pulled him out of you, and she killed him."
"Maybe. Or maybe she just chased him off."
"Well, you'll have Giles. If that's your biggest concern, we'll talk to Giles about it, and we'll have him make a shield or something, to make sure you're not vulnerable to outside attack."
Willow turned this over in her mind for so long that Buffy thought she'd fallen asleep. The Slayer was about to do the same thing when Willow's voice came back out of the dark. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Okay." Buffy smiled and gently kissed Willow's forehead. "Go to sleep, baby."
"Okay."
And before too long, the moon shone through the curtains on the faces of two sleeping lovers.
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