Learning Curve
by rebelrsr
Chapter Five
[reviews]
Spoilers, etc.: I altered the timeline of "The Yoko Factor," "Primeval," and AtS "Sanctuary" with reckless abandon. It's mostly AU from here.
A/N: Character thoughts are enclosed by **. Thanks to Desirata41 for the beta and encouragement! Thanks to Zigpal and Zenithar for suggestions and comments.
The Scooby gang had invaded Giles' living room. Tara and Willow still shared the couch. Giles sat in his armchair and Xander sat on the floor at Willow's feet. Giles looked at his watch. "Willow, you did tell her the meeting was at 1:00?"
Suppressing a sigh since he'd already asked her that twice, Willow replied, "Yes, Giles. I did. She said she needed to stop in at Riley's. I think she wanted to talk to him about, um, well, she was going to talk to him. Maybe she's just running late." She smiled at the group. "Buffy may not be Miss Punctuality, but she eventually shows up."
"Regardless, we need to get started." Willow thought he sounded particularly stuffy today. "Now, have you been able to discover how Adam gets his power?"
Willow leaned back on the couch, feeling Xander shift to a more comfortable spot against her legs. "I've been going through the information Riley gave Buffy. It looks like he's got a uranium core. It's not on any of the schematics, but from what information Riley did have, I'd say its going to be close to his drive only farther toward the back."
"Way to go, Will. Now we just have to convince Adam to take a nap while we do a little bit of exploratory surgery."
Three pairs of eyes looked at Xander. "OK. Maybe not."
Hesitantly, Willow looked at Tara and Giles. "What about magic? Some sort of uranium-extracting spell?" She looked embarrassed as she noticed she was receiving the same look Xander had. "I know, I'm reaching."
Giles stood up. "Perhaps a paralyzing spell." He moved to the bookcase behind his chair and picked up a small, leather-bound book, opening it and rifling through its pages. He stopped at a specific page. After a short examination, he continued, "Only I can't perform the incantation of this."
"Oh, yeah. Don't you have to speak it in, like Sumerian?" Willow interrupted.
Looking faintly annoyed, Giles replied, "I do speak Sumerian. Only an experienced witch can incant it." He moved back to his seat.
"May I take a look at the spell, Mr. Giles?" Tara asked. Giles handed her the book and she skimmed quickly through the description. "Either Willow or I could do the incantation." She frowned as she continued reading. "But I don't think it would work. The book says some demons are immune to its effect."
Xander looked confused. "Why would that be a problem?"
"Well, Adam is part demon. Or-Or parts of several demons." Willow jumped in. "Did it say which demons, Tara?"
"No. That, plus the fact we aren't entirely sure which demons Professor Walsh used to construct Adam, make it risky."
Everyone was silent as they absorbed the news. "So no problem." Xander said with forced enthusiasm. "All we need is combo Buffy. Her with Slayer strength, Giles' multilingual know how, and Willow or Tara's witchy power." He continued, noticing he was once again the center of attention. "Yeah, I know, just tell me I'm full of helpful suggestions."
He nearly fainted when Giles replied, "As a matter of fact, you are."
"Yay, Xander!" Willow ruffled his hair. "Um, Giles, we can do a spell like that?"
"It's theoretically possible. We would need to research the right ritual and incantation, though." He smiled at Tara. "You seem to have some experience with this. I believe the Council records mention a way to invoke the spirit of the First Slayer. Perhaps that would be a good place for the two of us to start?"
"What about me and Will?" Xander sounded as if he couldn't make up his mind. Research was really not his thing, but he was ready to help Buffy. To his surprise, Tara answered instead of Giles.
"You and Will should go look for Buffy. She's not usually this late." She caught Willow's eye. "I'm a little worried."
"Sure, Tara. We'll go to Riley's first."
***
"So, Will, what's with you and Tara?" Xander asked as they drove toward the ruins of the high school.
Willow glanced at her oldest friend. "What do you mean?"
Xander frowned, dividing his attention between the road and Willow. "I mean the little smiles and the eye thing." When Willow still looked confused, he elaborated, "The thing where you stare a little too long and maybe wink a little. Something you want to tell me about you and Tara?"
Willow actually felt herself pale. She opened her mouth to deny any relationship, and paused. *C'mon, Willow. This is what Tara wants. Why is it so hard to say?* "Absolutely no eye thing going on, Xander." *I am such a coward.* "OK, maybe a little eye thing." She noticed his small grin and sighed. "What made you the expert on secret relationships all of a sudden?"
Xander laughed out loud. "Remember me and Cordy?" Willow nodded. "We shared a lot of those lengthy looks back before you guys ever found out. How long have you been an item?" He stopped the van a few blocks from their old school.
"I don't think we are an item." Willow said, climbing out and shutting the door. She grabbed Xander's hand as they began walking. "I mean, that's definitely what Tara wants. And, I want that, too. I think." She shrugged. "I don't know, Xan. I'm just so confused."
"Are you confused, or just scared of what everyone will say," Xander asked.
Stopping, Willow turned to her friend. "Xander? Is that you?"
"Will, I've know you since we were five. I probably know you better than anyone else on the planet." He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Starting to walk again, he continued, "Besides, I'm dating a 1200 year-old ex-demon. Anya may have a problem with tact, but she knows an amazing amount of stuff about people. Maybe I've picked up a few things from her."
"What kinds of things, Harris?" Willow asked with an impish smile.
"Evil witch!"
Willow shrieked when Xander dropped his arm from her shoulder and began tickling her ribs. "Stop. Hey, come on. It was funny. You know it was. Stop!" She was gasping for air and twisting. "OK. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it!"
"I knew you'd see it my way." They had reached the back of the school and its chain link barrier. Xander pulled back a loose section of the fencing and they clambered through. Riley, a deserter from the Initiative, had been hiding in the remains of the school library. The two Scoobies picked their way through the detritus of their fight with the Mayor. Nestled amid broken shelving and book rubble, they found Riley's sleeping bag and supplies — but no Riley or Buffy.
"Let's head back to the dorm. Maybe she's there. If not, we can call Giles and check in."
"Uh, Wil, does this place look like it's been lived in by a Marine?" Xander indicated the mess that littered the floor. "I mean, the one time we were all at Lowell House, Riley's towels looked ironed. I'm thinking he left in a hurry and didn't plan on coming back."
Willow looked around and had to agree. She hadn't noticed before, but the place was a disaster. Clothes were strewn everywhere. The sleeping bag lay open on the floor littered with pieces of what looked like electronic equipment. "Hey, Xander? Is that one of the Initiative's radios?" She pointed to the equipment.
"Good call." Xander picked up a walkie talkie. "But I don't think this is government issue" He waved the device at her. "If Marines go into battle with duct taped radios, I might be willing to cough up more in taxes. Let's see what Riley was listening to." He turned the unit on and they fell silent trying to hear the voices that crackled from the speaker.
"Status report, Team Two."
"Sir, we've tracked Adam and Hostile 17 to some caves in Sector 4. What are our orders?"
"Hostile 17 — isn't that Spike?" Willow spoke over the answer to the question. She shrugged an apology when Xander put his finger over his lips and glared.
The tinny conversation continued. "...believe that Adam is also present, sir. We discovered the body of a female a short distance from the entrance. She appeared to be alive, but badly wounded."
"ID," the other voiced barked impatiently.
"Yes, sir. One of the men identified her as Elizabeth Summers."