Champions All
by W/T4Eva
Pressure Building
[reviews]
Leo put the phone down. After trying all the mystic methods he knew he'd tried a mundane search, without any success from either approach. Nobody had seen the sisters since the previous day. Either something had happened to them or something powerful was blocking him off from sensing where they were.
Something may have lured them away he thought. Phoebe at least had expected to be doing something because she'd taken a couple of days off work. It was just possible they were up to something themselves but if so why hadn't Piper said anything to him?
The familiar lights appeared in the middle of the Halliwell front room. Tara had orbed in. Leo wondered whether she was always the type to have a smile on her face the whole time or whether she still hadn't come down to earth from her reunion with Willow. He smiled to himself at the thought because Tara had of course quite literally 'Come down to Earth' to be with the one she loved.
"Something up?" he asked, "or just checking in?"
Tara explained why she had come. She explained all about Cordelia's experiences with Skip, both the part-demon scam and the whole 'Higher Being' experience.
"Who do you think's behind it?" she asked, "and what are they up to?"
"Any number of evil forces could be behind it," replied Leo. "The whole part demon business sounds like a set up for the 'Higher Being' later," said Leo. "Whoever's behind it probably knew Cordelia would start showing witch powers sooner or later so they took credit for it. As for the 'Higher Being' thing itself, I should think they wanted Cordelia out of the way for a while."
"Yes, I worked that out," said Tara. "The whole business of the arrival of The Beast and the darkness was organized while she was away. If Cordy'd been there all the time she might have been able to give Angel and his people enough help to stop it in time. What I don't understand is why they didn't kill her. That would have stopped any warnings."
"Oh no it wouldn't," said Leo shaking his head. "Warnings come from somewhere, some higher power. If Cordelia was dead they'd have found another way to send their visions. All the time Cordelia was alive they probably didn't know the message wasn't getting through."
"So why did they let her go?" asked Tara. "I'd have thought they'd have kept her where she was at least until their plan was complete."
"Perhaps they didn't let her go," suggested Leo. "Maybe she had help. You're right, she must be a witch. She might have a Whitelighter assigned to her. You could return to base to check it out."
"Thanks Leo," said Tara. "But before I go, why are you sitting here alone worrying? Is something up with the sisters?"
Leo explained that the sisters had disappeared and try as he might he had been unable to find them. "I'm out of ideas," he said.
"I have an idea," said Tara, "but I don't know if it's got anything to do with where they are."
"What?" asked Leo hopefully.
"Well, one thing that impressed Willow was how much they all missed their other sister Prue," said Tara. "She was the only person they'd been unable to call with their spell to meet the dead. Willow thinks Phoebe intended to do something different to try to get through to Prue."
"If that's true then I might know where they are," said Leo. "But I don't know how to get them back again."
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Buffy and Principal Wood sat across from each other at a small table in a very elegant restaurant. Buffy had accepted the invitation in order to find out more about the Principal. She wondered whether Principal Wood had romantic intentions. He was a very good looking guy and not that much older than her but she wasn't sure whether she wanted to start a regular relationship at the moment.
"It's nice to get a chance to talk away from the day to day bustle of the job," said Wood, "a chance to get to know the counsellor and the slayer better."
"How do you know about Slayers?" asked Buffy, surprised.
"My mother was a Slayer," Wood explained. "She was killed when I was four."
"A vampire I presume," asked Buffy.
"That's right," said Wood. "You're a lot like her."
"Did you give me the job because I'm the Slayer?" asked Buffy. "I wasn't exactly qualified."
"Partly I suppose," said Wood. "But then again, who's better qualified than the Slayer to talk to kids going to school on the Hellmouth."
"So you know about the Hellmouth as well?" asked Buffy not yet convinced that Wood really was one of the good guys. He took a lot of getting used to after Snyder.
"When I applied for this job I did a lot of reading up on this town," he explained. "Like most people I assumed that Hellmouth wasn't meant literally but I know different now."
"How?" asked Buffy.
"Because there seems to be some sort of entrance in the basement," Wood explained. He continued on to advise of the large pentagram with mystic symbols that he had discovered a few days before. He had tried to erase it but all his efforts had been in vain. After a while he had begun to feel odd and had decided to leave it alone.
"Have you seen any dead people," Buffy asked. "I mean has anybody you used to know before they died appeared to you?"
"My mother," said Wood. "I knew it wasn't her but it sure seemed like her, right down to the perfume she used. I take it I'm not the only one to be visited."
Buffy explained what she knew about The First Evil and how to recognize it. "I need to have a look at that entrance or whatever it is," she said, "see if there's any way to close it down. A couple of old type vampires have appeared recently, I think they might have come out of there."
As they walked back to Wood's car after the meal Wood explained about some Slayer stuff of his mother's that he had and which he would bring around to Buffy's home the next day.
Later Wood and Buffy stood looking at the seal over the Hellmouth. They had picked up plans of the building from Wood's office before entering the basement. "Yep, this is below where the library used to be in the old school," she said. "That means the Hellmouth is right here, or rather underneath where we're standing now."
A noise came from elsewhere in the basement. It sounded like a group of people approaching from the right. Buffy and Wood moved away to the left. Wood was about to turn off the light to hide their presence when Buffy stopped him. "If they're who I think they are they don't need light, but we do," she explained.
Buffy and Wood retreated to the top of the short flight of stairs leading into the basement. The approaching group were exactly who Buffy suspected they might be: Bringers. Oddly she thought she recognized a couple of the eight person group.
"That's Lancer, Darren Lancer, and that's Marie Vengas," whispered Wood. "What's happened to them? Their eyes!"
"They work for The First now," said Buffy. "Let's get out of here."
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"So you're Cordelia's Whitelighter," said Tara. "You've been looking out for her. Was it you that brought her back from wherever this Skip demon put her?"
"That was me yes," said the other woman. "But I shouldn't have let it happen in the first place."
"She doesn't know about you does she?" asked Tara. "She never mentioned you."
"Most Whitelighters work in secret," said the other Whitelighter smiling. "You're picking up bad habits working with Leo."
"Was there a Whitelighter working with me before I died?" asked Tara, "because there were a few times when it would have been a big help."
"Because of my past history I looked in on Sunnydale from time to time but I was never assigned there and I was busy elsewhere most of the time," said the other. "I can tell you this though. If there had been a Whitelighter about, Willow would never have been allowed to bring Buffy back."
Tara nodded, not surprised. In the end it had worked out well, at least she thought it had, but it was a very risky thing for Willow to have done. In Tara's view what Willow had done then had a lot to do with what happened to her in the following months.
"Don't you think you should talk to Cordelia now, tell her about yourself," asked Tara.
"No need," said the other. "You've got a new assignment."
"But I can't leave Willow," said Tara stunned. "I mean, she needs me, as a Whitelighter not just as, as..."
"Of course she needs you," said the other, "but a Whitelighter never deals with only one witch. The elders want you to continue working with Willow but to work with Cordelia as well. There's also another witch in Sunnydale who is seriously in need of guidance. I believe you've already met her. Amy Madison."
"Yes, I've met Amy, briefly," said Tara. "Is she still into the dark magic?"
"Not so much," said the other. "We have hopes for her. She's been working with Buffy and the gang lately. She seems to be getting her balance back after her experience as a rat. You need to help her with that."
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Buffy walked into the office area and saw Principal Wood standing next to the front desk holding an ice pack to his head. "Something bad is going on," she said.
"Oh, is that right?" Wood replied sarcastically.
"Ooh, you're hurt," said Buffy, "what happened?
"Someone threw a rock at me as I got out of my car. I didn't really get a good chance to see who," he answered.
Buffy took a bandage from the first-aid kit on the desk and unwrapped it. "Yeah, well, it could have been any of them. Students, teachers—something is going on today," she said.
"Yes, well, um, that occurred to me as I ducked the other two rocks," he said. "Buffy, what the hell is this?"
"Everything," replied Buffy as she put the bandage on Wood's head wound.
"Slowly," he said. "I may be concussed here."
Buffy shook her head. "There's this thing that happens here, in this school, over the Hellmouth. Where the way a thing feels—it kind of starts being that way...for real. I've seen all these things before...just not all at once," she explained.
"So, what," he said, "it's like hell's a bustin' out all over?"
"Exactly," said Buffy.
"So, what's the worst that can happen?" he asked.
"War," she said, "pretty much."
"Oh, I see you're being amusing now with comical exaggeration," said Wood hopefully.
"Being in high school can feel like being at war," she said. "Now it's true. The students feel like the teachers are out to get them. The Chess Club resents the French Club for taking the activities room, and, well, everybody hates the cheerleaders. If we don't do something about this, we're gonna have a riot on our hands. And a lot of other nasty stuff too."
"Like what?" he asked.
A boy in the hallway screamed, increasingly louder, until he exploded, leaving bloody residue splattered all over the outside of the office window.
"Really should have had that foot rub," she said looking out of the window.
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"Not bad," said Faith on seeing Kennedy's Porsche for the first time. Kennedy opened the trunk and Faith piled her new luggage inside. "Present from daddy?"
"From mommy," corrected Kennedy. "I might not be the tallest slayer but I can be the fastest."
"Yeah," murmured Faith, "you're certainly fast."
Kennedy gave Faith a glance. She was still a little in awe of the older slayer but that hadn't stopped her trying. She wasn't surprised that Faith wasn't interested, most girls weren't. Faith however wasn't most girls. Kennedy stopped her musing as Willow and Tara came out of the hotel.
"Change of plan," said Willow, "Cordy's coming with us." Kennedy was surprised but Faith was astonished. She had found time to say sorry to Cordy but Cordy had hardly spoken to her the whole time.
"Why?" asked Faith.
Willow explained about Cordelia's visions. The one she had had the previous afternoon indicated that she was needed in Sunnydale, so she was going with them. Fred had decided to come too.
"I suppose Cordy's visions might come in useful," said Kennedy, "but what use is Fred?" Kennedy generally rated people according to their fighting ability. She had a high opinion of Faith and Willow but Fred, who she didn't think could fight, was at the bottom of her list.
"Think of Fred as another watcher," said Tara. "Apart from Willow she's the most intelligent woman I've ever met. We'll need brains as well as brawn to deal with the First Evil." Besides, she thought Fred needs a little space away from Gunn and Wesley right now.
"Yeah, you can't just punch it out," said Willow still basking in Tara's 'most intelligent woman' comment. "Nothing to punch."
A red Ferrari pulled up behind them and Gwen got out. "Everybody ready to go?" she asked.
"You coming too?" asked Faith. "This is getting to be like a small army."
Gwen shrugged. "Why not, I've got nothing on at the moment, no reason to stick around here. Anyway I've got a friend in Sunnydale who I want to look up."
Wesley, Gunn and Connor came out of the hotel, all of them lending a hand with carrying packages and cases. "Make that a big army," muttered Faith.
Faith and Willow had said their goodbyes to Angel inside. Cordelia and Fred came out after having done the same. They decided to take three cars altogether. Faith would travel with Kennedy, Willow and Tara with Gwen and Fred would drive Cordelia. In view of the visions Cordelia was reluctant to drive herself except in an emergency.
Gunn watched the cars pull away. He kept thinking he should have gone with them but things had been awkward enough with Fred and Gwen the past couple of days. Besides he was needed in LA. The phone had been ringing non-stop that morning once they took off the temporarily closed for business message. He turned and followed Wesley and Connor back into the hotel.
"Did you call Buffy," Tara asked Willow as Gwen pulled away.
"Nope," replied Willow. "I want it to be a surprise. I want you to be a surprise, a big surprise. I didn't want it to be like 'I'm coming home, oh and Tara's coming with me."
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The Seal was exposed in the dirt floor of the basement. Buffy and Wood walked around the edge of it. "I swear we just covered this thing up," she said.
"It doesn't want to stay hidden anymore," said Wood. "It wants to turn these kids into monsters and victims and who knows what."
"It's more than that," said Buffy. "Look, Robin, I, um, I had a vision the other day."
"You have visions?" he asked.
"Sometimes," said Buffy nodding.
"Oh. Well, how do you know that they're not just dreams?" asked Wood.
"You're running to catch the bus naked? That's a dream, army of vicious vampire creatures? That's a vision. Also, I was awake," she explained.
"A bus to where? I mean an army of how many?" asked Wood.
"Hundreds, maybe hundreds of hundreds," said Buffy, "and I think they're all coming out of that very hole. It makes me awfully nervous."
Wood walked over to the seal. "What are you doing?" asked Buffy, alarmed.
"Don't you think we should study it?" he asked kneeling on the seal, "really study it close up?"
"Well, it looks like a goat with its tongue out. I don't know what that means." said Buffy.
Wood stood up. "I know what you're doing," he said. His eyes were now white. It won't do you any good. You're all going to die." With that he charged at Buffy screaming. Buffy dodged aside and Wood ran into the wall. He staggered back and sat down.
"Robin, are you OK?" asked Buffy.
"Whoa, what happened?" he asked.
"I—I think it was controlling you," explained Buffy.
"Buffy, we've got to get rid of this seal. We've got to shut it down before it starts affecting everyone," said Wood.
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The hugging and the crying were over. Piper and Phoebe had finally been able to contact Prue and Paige had at last met her eldest sister. Then came the questions:
"So where is this place Prue," asked Phoebe. "It looks like the proverbial desert island."
"And why are you here?" asked Piper. "It looks nice but it must be boring after a while."
"You're not really dead are you?" asked Paige.
"How did you get here?" asked Prue. "I didn't think anybody would be able to find me."
"We did a spell," explained Phoebe, "we did a Power of Three spell to take us to wherever you were."
Prue smiled at Paige. "So you managed to redo the Power of Three. When I saw the three of you together I hoped you had."
"Did you fake your own death Prue," asked Piper. "Why would you do that?"
"I'd better explain what happened right from the start," said Prue. "We've probably got plenty of time to talk."
Prue's sisters exchanged glances with each other wondering what Prue meant but they all decided to let her get on with her explanation rather than ask more questions.
Prue explained about their fight with the demon Shax. Phoebe and Piper remembered their part in it of course but Paige only knew general details and had not wanted to ask her sisters questions about such a painful time. What Phoebe and Piper did not know was that the whole Shax fight was a set up.
Some two weeks previously the sisters had been contacted by the Source who had found out about Paige. He had kidnapped Paige and suggested a deal otherwise he would kill her. The sisters had checked with Leo and their mother's ghost and confirmed that Paige was indeed their sister. What the Source wanted was for Prue to surrender to him, in effect commit suicide, in exchange for which he would release Paige unharmed.
The sisters had realised that they could not accept such a deal because it would break the Power of Three and allow the Source to kill the remaining sisters afterwards. They therefore proposed a different deal. Subject to certain safeguards they would break the Power of Three, and in exchange the Source would release Paige.
The sisters had argued about whether it should be Prue to make the sacrifice. Both Piper and Phoebe had volunteered but the Source insisted it be the eldest sister as that, he thought, would give him the greatest advantage.
To safeguard the deal the Source had to agree to a spell which made him and his minions forget about Paige, in fact forget about the whole deal and Prue had to leave and break the Power of Three. The sisters had thought this would mean Prue's death but the Source realised that even after her death she could be contacted by her sisters and they could therefore from time to time still work magic with the Power of Three. He therefore proposed an alternative.
The deal finally agreed involved Prue appearing to die, Paige being released and everybody, on both sides, forgetting about what had happened. The exception to the forgetting was Leo and the Elders who would soon know that Prue was not dead because she had not moved on. That would have unravelled the whole deal. Leo and the Elders plus anybody they allowed the sisters to summon, were therefore required not to speak about what had happened even though they knew all the details.
"But Leo could have said something after we got rid of the Source," said Phoebe. "By then everybody knew about Paige anyway."
"He couldn't you know," said Piper. "Once a Whitelighter or the elders agree to something like that they have to stick to it."
"If they didn't then nobody would trust any other agreements they tried to make in the future," said Prue. "Leo explained all this to me at the time. It's like a witch doing just a little dark magic. It's not the act itself but what it could lead to once the first step has been taken."
None of this impressed Phoebe who mentally likened it to the elders' stance on good and bad witches. From what she could see, by being inflexible the elders caused a great deal of evil anyway. She said no more however as this was not the time and place to debate the ethical standpoint of Angels.
"So instead of dying you were sent here," said Paige. "Which raises the question, where exactly is here?
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"Look, I know she's got a Ferrari, but you're not starting a race," said Faith. "The police already want me and we're not going to do anything to attract their attention. Stick to the limit. If she goes past you again let her go."
Kennedy sighed and eased off the gas. To her surprise Gwen remained behind her. I wonder if she's getting an earful from Willow and Tara she thought. Willow is one scary...
Suddenly the passenger door of the car ahead opened and a body fell out. Kennedy swerved and braked to a halt down the road. Gwen and Fred braked their cars and stopped behind. All three cars had braked past the body which, it turned out wasn't a dead body but was very much alive, but injured.
Tara was the first to the injured girl and immediately used her healing power to repair the injuries. She helped the girl sit up. The others crowded around as Tara asked questions.
It was soon established that the girl, named Shannon was a potential on her way to Buffy's. She had been chased by Bringers when she was picked up by a passing car driven by a man in a dog collar who called himself Caleb. He said the Bringers were working for him. He had burnt Shannon, knifed her and then kicked her out of the car with a message for the original Slayer that he had something of hers.
"The original slayer eh," said Faith now doubly angry with this preacher. She turned to Kennedy. "OK, you want to drive fast. Think you can catch that guy?"
"I know I can catch that guy," said Kennedy smiling. The two slayers ran back to Kennedy's car. Kennedy sped away.
"We'd better get after them," said Willow. "It might be a trap." Cordelia and Fred helped the now healed but still stunned Shannon into Fred's car and Willow and Tara joined Gwen once more. Both cars then set off after the Slayers who had already disappeared down the road.
Caleb continued happily on his way singing to himself. Next to him sat Buffy, or rather The First in the form of Buffy. "All go according to plan?" she asked. "You didn't kill the girl?"
"Not quite," Caleb answered cheerfully. "Her time will be soon, just like all the others."
The First smiled and vanished. Caleb started to sing again when suddenly a car moved past him and swung in abruptly to force him off the road and to a halt. "Well perhaps not entirely according to plan," he said to himself. "But a little fun before supper won't go amiss."