Happy Development
by Whedonist
Ni Bu Gou Ge Ni Hun Qui
[reviews]
Chapter 17 - Ni Bu Gou Ge Ni Hun Qui
"Are you okay?" River asked as she leaned against the back of the house next to Faith. It was Faith and herself who had taken the three to the airport but since their departure, Faith had grown sullen.
"Hey Riv, yeah. Guess so. Just thinkin' is all." Faith took the last pull on her cigarette and flicked the butt far out in front of her. Her eyes looked out over the darkened grounds and she relished the warm breeze that washed over her skin.
"Then why have you been so quiet since they left?"
"I," Faith nervously shifted her weight to her right leg trying to decide on the best way to answer. "Okay right so, it takes one call from good ole' Rupert to get the three of them to go running back to Ohio, which is cool 'cuz I guess now we got more info, but bein' looped in would not have hurt at all."
River let a smile play at her lips and then, deciding on a plan, grabbed Faith's hand. She pulled the willing slayer to a tree halfway out into the yard. She settled herself against the tree trunk then tugged on the hand she still held. Faith looked down to see River staring up at her with a 'what are you waiting for?' look. Plopping down next to the other girl, Faith rested her head on an offered shoulder.
"They did." River said quietly after a few moments of silence.
"Did what, Riv?"
"Uhm, you called it loop in. I think what you meant was tell you what was going on. They did. As soon as they learned more, they did tell you. I don't think they knew much before they called us tonight."
"What makes you think that?" Faith asked looking up into the pensive face of her friend.
River closed her eyes and idly wished she could not answer that question. "Because they need us, like we need them. Your family has decisions to make as will mine."
Faith burrowed further into River's side and just nodded.
"Were there any big surprises with tonight's conversation?" River asked.
"Dunno, I mean demons trying to end the world, hey really old game. In fact it's so old I wish they'd get a new one." Faith let the smile overtake her as she giggled out, "I can see it now; demons of the world uniting to bring about world peace much to the dismay of beauty queens the world over."
"Beauty Queens?" River inquired.
Faith sobered and shrugged, "Just, ah, ya know what, remind me to make you watch Miss Congeniality, alright?"
"Alright." River let the conversation lapse knowing both were too busy with their own thoughts. The day hadn't been that eventful, but she found herself growing tired none the less. Stretching, she nudged Faith, "I'm going to go to bed. Will you be coming in soon?"
Faith rubbed her eyes and blinked at the girl, "Sleep wouldn't be bad." She stood offering River her hand. Once the two were standing, Faith grinned, "Race ya!" And took off in the direction of the house.
River raised her eyebrows and then quickly followed the slayer back to the house.
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Buffy stepped out of her walk-in closet and asked, "When did I get so many shoes? Or clothes even? How?"
Xander poked his head out of the bathroom door and smiled, "We call it shopping. You and a redhead about." Xander leveled off Willow's height with his hand, "Yay high for a while now. Although with the new, I'm sure you'll spend your time...otherwise occupied." He shot Buffy a lecherous grin and wiggled his eyebrows.
"Hey!" The blonde turned a glare towards Xander.
"No, Buff you don't get to give me the Buffy glare. Just think. All that money you're going to save while you're, dare I say, having orgasms with the bestest bud of all that's mine."
Cocking her hip to the side Buffy crossed her arms and thought about the sense. Nodding she grinned, "True. Ya know Xand." She stalked over to Xander and pulled him from the bathroom. Slinging an arm over his shoulder, she pulled him to her and said, "You missed out, Xand. Will. Great orgasms."
The man gaped at her and blushed a deep red. Knowing that she got him, Buffy released her hold and let him go back to putting up the new shelving in the bathroom while she went back to her closet to try and make room for more of Willow's stuff. While they had both agreed that moving in to one room was a bit too soon for either's liking, they both wanted to keep the basics in both places.
Xander poked his head in to the closet a few minutes later to take in the site of Buffy sitting on the floor surrounded by shoes of varying shapes and colors. "Buff, the patch didn't seem to work. You ever think of maybe checking into a rehab clinic? You and Lindsay Lohan can bunk together then you can slip her my number."
Buffy tossed a boot in his direction and continued to sort through the mess she had created. "I think not."
"Fine be a kill joy." He rubbed the back of his neck and continued to stare at the blonde, "Hey Buff, uhm, ya know I just wanted to say, if you haven't uh, picked up on it that I'm happy for uh, you and Will."
"Huh?" Buffy looked back up mildly confused by the sudden topic change.
"Well, it's just, you two haven't made with the coming out officially thing yet. It's cool with me. I mean kinda weird in a way, but it's good. Although, if you hurt her, I reserve the right to try and kill you."
Buffy stood apart from the sea of shoes and pulled Xander into a hug, "Not gonna happen."
"That's good. Oh and one other thing, when?"
"When what?"
"When did you change teams?"
"Ah." Buffy pulled back and shifted uncomfortably for a moment before settling on an answer, "To make it easy, I didn't know what I had until I lost it. Or more, I didn't know what I felt until I lost it."
"Vague that up some more, I'm not seeing the path."
Buffy sat down on the bed and swung her feet, "Really Xand, I don't know. I mean, in Sunnydale, during the First, I gave Angel this...okay there was analogies and it was bad, but I wasn't thinking clearly then and when Will went away, then she came back. I just...well that horrible little speech I gave Angel which at the time, no sense and did I mention bad, kinda made sense. She, well, she was kinda the baker. And if the baker can't enjoy warm, delicious cookie me then, no one should."
Xander cocked his head to the side and studied the woman before him. Deciding it was best to leave the subject alone he smiled, nodded and went back to work in the bathroom. A few minutes later, he poked his head around the corner and noticed Buffy still sitting there. "So Buff, that mean's only Wills get to eat you now?"
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Chaos greeted Buffy as she entered the research room. To her right, Xander and Kimmie had a wall map up of Cleveland and the surrounding suburbs that had multi-colored thumb tacks protruding from it and the two were currently arguing over another map that was spread out on the corner of the table. Willow and Dawn were both bent over a computer monitor having an argument that Buffy wasn't sure she wanted to know about. The only one present who looked semi-relaxed was Giles who was sitting back in a chair reading through a book.
Her first attempt at getting everyone's attention only garnered a nod from Giles. Setting down the tray of drinks and box of doughnuts, she stuck her middle and index fingers in her mouth and whistled. The noise caught everyone's attention. Responding to the glares being sent her way with a grin, she asked, "Alright peeps, what's up?"
"We've got a location on the demons." Kimmie offered looking over to the map on the wall.
"It's not concrete, Kim. We need more than a few guesses and one sighting." Xander warned. "We think we have their location."
"Look, Xander. I know you're good at this, but I'm telling you our demons are there." Kimmie pointed to a green push pin on the map. "We can get visual confirmation from one of the teams tonight, but I'd bet my right arm that's where they are."
"Fine, but if not then I get to not only tell you I told you so, but you get to be on "on-call" status for a month"
"What?!" Kimmie gaped at her boss and shook her head. The blonde stuffed her hands in her jeans thinking about the deal. "Fine, but if I'm right you take my Friday night shifts for the next month."
Scratching his chin, Xander weighed his options and looked over at the map, "Uh, fine. Send out Charlie Team tonight. Rig them with video and we'll see." Kimmie smiled and ran out the door to go prep the team.
"Do you think she's right?" Buffy asked as she stepped over to the map on the wall.
"Probably, but I wasn't gonna tell her that." Xander pointed at a couple of the red pins and started to fill Buffy in, "We haven't gotten any hard visuals, but Kimmie and Vi did some nifty triangulation and considering where we first saw them and the population of the area, they think they are here." Xander pointed to an area right outside of the metro region of the city.
"Huh, alright well that's a good." Buffy turned to Willow and Dawn. "What do you two have?"
"Just Willow being stubborn." Dawn said folding her arms across her chest to peer over at the witch.
"No, no stubborn, just right Dawnie." Willow smiled over to Buffy.
"Right? No. Stubborn? Yes. Willow you can't believe that it's the same people?"
The redhead glared at Dawn, "Yes, I can. I spent all this morning tracking down the information. It fits." The women stood off against each other. Dawn in her own right had grown into a woman of formidable stature while Willow stood her ground and slowly watched the resolve of her "might as well be sister" falter.
It was Buffy who stepped between the two causing each to look away. Glancing at Dawn, Buffy settled her gaze on Willow, "You wanna clue the rest of us in?" The blonde took Willow's hand and sat them down in two of the wooden chairs surrounding the table.
"Dawn and I have been working the past two days to try and link things together. I've been through about 8 different on-line archives with most not being readily available to the public and she's been searching for references to our demon friends..."
"I found some vague accounts of the demons or maybe it was demon cousins. I'm not sure, but I found some stuff and Willow like usual just took it and ran." Dawn blurted out. She took in the body language of her sister and Willow and raised an eyebrow in Buffy's direction.
"Took and ran I did. It was the most solid lead and we need to be sure how to deal. What it gave me was circumstantial, but the best explanation for what those researcher's found for the NGP."
"NGP?" Buffy queried.
"Oh, sorry, The National Genographic Project."
"Willow dear are you, what I mean to say is, what does a global science experiment have to do with our situation?" Giles perked up from his chair.
Willow slid the keyboard in front of her and hit a few keys. The projector motor came to life and the computer's screen was now on the wall behind them. Everyone except Willow turned to see the display.
"The National Genographic Project has lots, well nearly everything to do with what I've found." Willow's hands flew over the keys as she went through and accessed the network of the research facilities. Scanning the file list, her eyes found the folder she was looking for. Bringing up a map, she began talking, "Giles this goes back to what you were saying when we first got here. I think the times are a bit off, but that could be for a dozen reasons. The accounts that you found about that group of people migrating may be more truthful than you think. Dawn found some references that I think link it all together.
What I've got is pretty much a genetic link between the groups. Thanks to the research done by this experiment. These scientists have used mtDNA to pretty much find all of the ancestors of the Native and South Americans. They've shown the migration patterns of human civilization through the use of mtDNA."
Xander raised his hand and waited for Willow to finish, "Okay Wills for those of that still watch Blue and Steve?"
"What's not clear?"
"mtDNA? More detail would not go unappreciated. Leave the one eyed man a paw print to follow."
"Oh, right sorry. mtDNA is mitochondrial DNA. It's the most reliable source of DNA and the most effective when looking at ancestry."
Xander's face lit up, "Hey I know about that stuff. I used to play a game on PS1 called...Parasite Elise, no that's not it," he drummed his finger's across the desk top in concentration, "Eve, Parasite Eve. It was about this lady's mitonond-mitohon m-m"
"Mitochondria" Dawn offered.
"Yeah, mito-what's its taking over her body and mutating 'cuz her's had different DNA. It was way weird, but one more question, what's the mito stuffs?"
Willow's eyebrow's rose in surprise. "Actually that's not half bad and mitochondria are an organelle in the cell that's an ATP..." Willow's voice trailed off as she noticed the looks. Rolling her eyes, she decided on simple, "It's a thing inside of our cells that makes energy. It does have its own DNA which is why it's pretty neat. Also it only comes from our mother's so it makes it way easier to track 'cuz there's little variation from one generation to the next."
"Oh," Xander nodded and urged Willow to continue, "K so they tracked what where?"
"The researchers tracked the origins of the Indigenous Native and South Americans to a small cluster of tribes in Mongolia. They actually localized it and found that the ancestors came from a specific location of about 9 neighboring tribes. The funny thing is that they also found mtDNA that linked our indigenous Americans to a group of people with Anglo ancestry." Willow waited a beat for that bit to sink in. When all she continued to get were blank stares she continued, "That's huge people! More excitement wouldn't be bad."
"Wills, baby, I'm not seeing it." Buffy offered a supportive smile and a squeeze of Willow's thigh.
"The Anglo mtDNA they thought came from Europe naturally. So they went to Europe and did some testing. The mtDNA that they found to link to the Americans didn't show till around the mid 1700's. The DNA was new. The majority of this has been released for public consumption, but they've held back on data that didn't line up."
Giles sat up straighter and smiled over at the witch. "So the link skips approximately what then?"
Willow looked over at her computer and then hit a few keys bringing up a report and highlighting the findings. "What wasn't released was that the Anglo group, Haplogroup X is said to have skipped several thousand generations. While reporting is still inconclusive, one could infer that the links between the haplogroups that are said to have been the originators of the Native Americans span nearly 11000 years and skip close to 7000. It appears in tribes X then disappears to reemerge as the strongest link in mtDNA some 7000 years later in, of all places, Mediterranean Europe. It's linking the two together Giles. It's really saying that while they don't know the how or the why the fact is that the mtDNA matches are nearly identical which means the variations are pretty much moot."
"So then, the big is?" Buffy asked.
"The big is I think the mtDNA that they've found to be the originator of the mtDNA in tribe X is actually future mtDNA and that a group of people were shot back into the prehistoric ages by our visiting demon clan."
The light went on in Buffy's head as she put the pieces together. "Oh."
Willow turned and smiled at her, "That's all you can say is it, "Oh"?"
"Well, By George! Just seems kinda inappropriate."
"Willow..." Dawn butted in. "You can't just make that kind of assumption."
Willow turned to face Dawn once again, "I'm not assuming. I was looking at A that led me to B and there C was all unassuming. It fits." As Dawn was about to speak, Willow held up her hand, "Dawn I know it's not all nice and neat. There're inconsistencies in some of the research, but it's the best we've got to go on. Unless you find something that can blow a hole the size of Buffy's ego in this then I think it's the best we have to go on."
"Hey, what does that mean?" Buffy's voice interrupted.
Winking at her girlfriend, the witch turned back to face Dawn, "It gives us way more to go on. Besides Dawnie, this will open another area for us to research in."
Unfolding her arms and stuffing them in her pockets, Dawn dropped the argument. "Fine, but I would like the record to state I wasn't 100% sold on this whole mitochondrial link"
Xander scribbled on a note pad by his elbow making a show of taking notes, "Let the record show that one Dawn "Pumpkin Belly" Summers is not entirely on the mitochondrial train."
"We can then surmise that the accounts for all intents and purposes are correct then. Our group of demons did make an appearance and brought with them others?" Giles asked with a hint of relief on his features.
"I think so. I want Dawn to help corroborate some of this, but it wouldn't be a far leap in the wacky logical realm." Willow looked to Dawn and the girl just shrugged. Rolling her eyes, Willow leaned back in her chair and took Buffy's hand that was resting on her thigh.
"Willow I'm not even sure if I can. The records that we have only go back so far and you're talking about going back nearly 20,000 years." Annoyance won out in the brunette as she watched a look pass between her sister and Willow. "Okay that's it you two. What's going on?"
Buffy's head snapped up to meet the narrowed gaze of her sister and she blushed. "I, what are you talking about Dawn?" Feigning ignorance for the moment, Buffy hoped to buy a little more time.
"That." Dawn waved her hand at the connected digits between the two woman sitting next her. "You two are way too touchy and don't think I missed the 'baby' that slipped out Buffy. Are you two together?"
They both heard a sharp intake of breath from Giles's general direction. Buffy locked eyes with Willow in silent communication. Nodding, Willow began to speak as she turned to face Dawn, "Yeah Dawnie we are. We weren't gonna say anything just yet. New and all, but yes to your question."
Dawn's face caught fire as she threw three books into a messenger bag. Tossing the bag over her shoulder, she spun around to face the new couple. "Great Buff. What, you couldn't handle guys anymore so you go to the only gay woman you know?" She turned around and headed for the door. Taking one last parting shot, she growled over her shoulder, "Why is it you're not happy 'till you've killed everything I love?"
Tears sprang to Willow's eyes as she turned to the slayer. Buffy looked over at Willow and pulled her into a hug. The two stayed that way for a moment until a cough broke the tense air.
"Buffy, Willow" Giles's soft voice filled the room. "I think perhaps, at least on my end, a congratulations is in order or perhaps a well wishing and good luck to you both."
Willow gratefully smiled at Giles and Buffy just nodded wiping the tears from her lover's cheeks.
"Thanks Giles." Buffy's voice was thick. "I, it means a lot."
He smiled ruefully at his old charge and added, "Perhaps this relationship will stick for the both of you. Lord knows you both deserve it."
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The meeting broke up after Dawn's dramatic exit causing Buffy and Willow to retire to the witch's room. Willow's head rested on Buffy's arm as the blonde ran her fingers through red locks. Buffy's head was propped up on a few pillows and watched her feet knock together in agitation.
"Wills, what, Dawn..." Confusion, anger, and hurt laced Buffy's voice.
"I dunno Buff. That was...intense."
"I need to talk to her. Why does she do this anyhow? What the hell?"
"Again I don't know. It was bizarre. I thought..." Willow tried to keep her voice from wavering, "I thought that she would be happy for us. She was so supportive of Tara and well Kennedy not so much, but I get the why."
"I don't think any of us were real supportive while you and Ken were together."
Willow smiled and kissed Buffy's shoulder, "It's okay." Willow played with the hem of Buffy's shirt as she thought about Dawn's reaction to her and Buffy. Coming up with nothing, she spoke, "Do you think maybe I should go talk to Dawn?"
Buffy glanced down into worried green eyes, "I, maybe, I don't know. She seemed mad at me. Think maybe I should."
Not wanting her lover to face the wrath of Dawn alone she offered, "We could talk to her together?"
"Not sucky, but maybe it's..." leaving the sentence unfinished Buffy blew out exasperatedly.
"But?"
"I-well, sister stuff. Maybe it's that." Buffy finished and cringed.
Sensing where Buffy was going with this, Willow conceded and began shoving Buffy away. "Go. Talk to Dawnie. Find out the what."
The slayer swung her legs over the bed and glanced back, "You sure?"
"Yep. Go. I'll be here. I want to look at some more stuff anyhow. The DNA gave us a frame of reference and a good link, but if you didn't know, written records at that time, kinda poopy."
Buffy smiled and leaned back placing a soft kiss on her witch's lips, "Kay so be back in a bit then."
Willow returned the kiss and then shoved Buffy off the bed. She watched the blonde turn and wave before shutting the door. Willow grabbed her bag from the floor and pulled out her computer. Blowing the bangs from her eyes, she grumbled, "Damnit Dawnie." And then set to work.
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Buffy knocked on Dawn's door and was torn between wanting her sister to be there and not. She wasn't sure she was ready to face her sister's anger for a second time today. A quiet 'come in' was offered a moment later and Buffy prepared herself for the upcoming conversation. She stepped into the room and saw her sister sitting at the desk.
"Dawn, we need to talk."
"Thanks Buffy, but no. Close the door on your way out."
Buffy sunk down on the bed resting her elbows on her knees. She leaned forward a bit then kicked the back of the chair with her foot. "Not going anywhere until you explain to me that scene in the research room. Not cool and not appreciated. Screw how you made me feel. You hurt Wills Dawn."
Dawn spun around in her chair and squared off against an aloof looking slayer. "Buffy. Go. I don't want to talk about it. You'll just start with the holier than thou routine and then I'll start yelling."
The blonde leaned back on the bed using her arms as support and said, "Not leaving squirt. What's the problem? You were fine with Tara and well, no one was ok with Ken, but that's not the point."
Dawn rolled her eyes, "This has nothing to do with Willow or Willow's taste in women of course with you and Ken one has to start questioning."
"So it's me?"
"Only if you say you as in you you." Dawn ran her fingers through her hair and said, "You ruin everything Buffy. I can't believe you would...it's Willow for gods sakes and why her? Couldn't you have picked one of the other witches in residence to sleep with?"
"Just spit it out Dawn." Spat Buffy.
"Don't you get it? Everyone you love leaves you. Angel, Riley, Spike. You manage to fuck it up and they have to leave town. We just got Willow back and here you are trying to ruin it for everyone!" Dawn's voice rose in pitch as continued to speak, "You're so selfish. Did you even think how this was going to affect the rest of us round here? We love Willow too and were just as hurt by her going away. Now, when you break her heart she isn't ever going to comeback." Dawn sank back in the chair and let the tears she had been keeping in check spill over.
Buffy stayed on the bed stunned. She had come in here expecting badness, but this was different. Dawn's anger and hurt seeped into Buffy's soul and she knew that Dawn had a point. Buffy had been so jealous of Inara that she had run into this without thinking of the consequences. What would happen if Willow and she did break up? Would the witch really leave all of them for good? Self doubt and guilt clouded Buffy's thoughts. She choked back the sob that rose in her throat. She wondered why Dawn looked so blurry and the tears running down her face didn't register until she felt the drops fall from her chin.
"D-Dawn," Buffy coughed to clear her throat and tried to continue, "Dawnie, I don't think that's going to happen."
"You don't know Buffy. Anything could happen. You could go all wall on us if something major happens and shut down on everyone. You could die one night and then Willow will what, just accept it? Like she did the second time you died? Yeah that'll happen," The sarcasm laced snort cut in to the blonde and she looked down at her shoes. "Lemme guess, she's gonna be the one to break your heart when she realizes that she suddenly likes boys again? There's only one way for this to end Buffy, I lose one or both of you. I-I c-c-can't do that anymore."
Dawn shoved back from her chair causing the chair to bang in to the desk behind it. She began pacing as she spat the words out, "Ya know I could have dealt with you getting together with Xander, 'cuz he's well he's like something that doesn't go away even though you abuse it. He would take the beatings you give your lovers and still be around. Willow won't she'll...she'll leave or something worse and you'll have taken the closest thing to a parent I have away...again."
Buffy struggled for breath as Dawn's words did worse than any bad ever had. Blood rushed through her and her ears rang as her pulse pounded. Not being able to take any more of Dawn's tirade, she pushed herself up and struggled to the door. Not bothering to say another word, Buffy ran down the hall to her own room.
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Willow looked up from her computer and noticed that more time had passed than she had anticipated. She stretched her back and stood. Wondering where Buffy had gone off to, she set out in search of her wayward lover. She didn't expect Dawn and Buffy to take that long in the conversation department. Truthfully she had thought it would take a maximum of 15 minutes for Dawn and Buffy both to come running in and Dawn apologizing. Willow reached out for Buffy's presence and found it in disturbing disarray in the slayer's bedroom.
Willow ignored the idea of knocking and pushed the door open. No lights were on in the darkening room and she could only make out the vague, covered shape of what she could only assume to be her girlfriend. Thankful for the lack of footwear, she crawled on the bed and slipped in behind the small blonde. Willow wrapped her arms around the curled body and began placing small kisses on the exposed portion of Buffy's neck. The action garnered little response from the still form so she pulled Buffy closer to her and whispered, "Hey sleepy head. It's me. Wake up."
Buffy's head shook a little and finally after a few more moments of coaxing, her eyes fluttered open. "Wasn't sleeping. More like avoiding with a healthy dose brooding," the blonde whispered back. She turned in Willow's arms letting her lover's scent calm her.
Willow laid there a moment with Buffy clutching to her and then gently tried to persuade her lover in to talking more, "I take it the talk didn't end so well?"
A short hard laugh escaped Buffy's lips, "No, the word well would be used to define something that didn't suck. It sucked, but on the plus side it's not you."
"No? Then what?" Willow asked.
Buffy pulled herself up to rest her forehead against Willow's. Her mouth pinched in thought deciding on how much to tell Willow and then, "It's me. She, uh, thinks I'll hurt you."
"Oh, that's...sweet. I think. You won't though."
Buffy gave her lover a small, sad smile, "You can't know that Wills. Track records all sorts of bad."
"And mine's much better?" Willow sat farther up in the bed and pulled Buffy to a resting position on her shoulder, "Well, as sweet as Dawn's concern is, she needs to butt out and at least pretend to be happy. It's the polite thing to do."
"She...Wills, if we do, break up, you're not going to leave are you?" Buffy's quiet voice resonated in Willow and she couldn't help but shake her head.
"No Buff. Can't leave. Even, even when I got back from England and things were...well...shitty. I couldn't leave. You guys are home. When I was gone with Ken, I was miserable. As you know, I didn't last that long. Color me co-dependant." Willow ran her hands down Buffy's back. She could tell Buffy was holding back but decided to let it go. She would talk with Dawn later, privately.
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Mal was the last one in to the makeshift conference room. As he shut the door, he saw Giles on the projector on the wall to his right. Everyone was situated on the left side of the table looking at the screen. Sliding in between Inara and Zo', Mal smiled and gave a short wave to the man.
"Ah good. Mal I trust everything is going well?" Asked Giles.
"Happy as a lark." Mal sent a grin over to Inara and turned his attention back to the screen.
"Good, good. Well it's been going well on our end. It appears we've had a bit of a break through and I was hoping Kaylee that you could tell us about Serenity's flight worthiness?"
"I've got 'nother few hours to 'sus everything out and make sure she's runnin' like she should, but she'll be up and ready to hit the Black by the end of today."
"Splendid. Faith," Giles's eyes sought out the senior slayer. "Ah, I want to fill all of you in on the news; however, I think it best that we are all present. Are the girls ready to travel?"
"Sure thing Giles. Well a few of 'em might have to pack up the malls that they brought with them, but we can be ready in a few if we have to."
"Alright then, Mal, Kaylee I was wondering if... is there some type of cloaking mechanism on Serenity?"
"Come again?" Mal asked.
"You know, a way to mask Serenity on Radar?"
"G-man," Xander's voice was heard off camera, "it's not the U.S.S. Enterprise. Science-y invisibility is make-believe. Yes we were lied to."
"Xander, are you forgetting the invisibility ray?" Willow's voice rang out.
"Ah, true, but wasn't that 'cuz of some mystical diamond?"
"Ya know I don't know. I never did get the chance to look at that thing thoroughly."
"Shame too. You had tons of fun with the Buffybot imagine the fun with the ray-o-slow death." Xander stopped talking for a moment, "Hey Wills, just how much fun DID you have with the Buffybot?"
A loud cough could be heard by the team in New Mexico and Faith stifled a laugh from watching Giles' irritated glance to his right. "If I could be allowed to continue?"
"Sure thing, Giles."
"Sorry, Giles."
"Thank you. Now, since we can't cloak you on Radar, perhaps we should just take our chances and let you guys fly anyway."
"Ain't that a might risky?" Mal asked.
Zo' shot him a look and then said, "Of all the things we done, flying around here is risky?"
"I'm just sayin' for all intents we're in hostile territory. I, for once, ain't lookin' for any run-ins with the local law."
"You won't have to. I can hop a flight out there and cloak the ship like I did when they first arrived." Willow offered from the sidelines.
"Oh, very well then. Willow I will need you out there immediately."
"Sure." Willow said. The crew in New Mexico watched Willow appear in the periphery of the screen and then leave.
"Now that we got that snug and settled. What else is going on Giles?" Mal asked.
"Truthfully a great deal." The older man removed his glasses and began polishing as he spoke, "I'm not. I feel it would be best for all of us to be together as I go over the information."
"And I think you need to bottom line us here and now. I ain't flyin blind."
"Very well." Giles replaced his glasses.
"Giles," Buffy's voice could be heard from the sidelines. "Cliff notes."
"Of course, Buffy." Rolling his eyes he turned back to the camera. "It turns out that your arrival and the arrival of the demons who kidnapped you was not coincidental. The arrival of the group of Kololeka demons was the catalyst that brought you here. In finding this out, we feel the easiest solution to everyone's problems would be to send the demons back where they came from and in effect that would send all of you back to your own time."
Looking at the screen Giles noticed a few faces that were still a tad confused. "By sending the demons back we will reverse the, for lack of a better word, spell that brought you here. When we send them back you and your crew will be automatically returned to your own time." Seeing the confusion dissipate, he continued, "Now, we have located their lair and will apprehend them once we get you and the teams of slayers back here in Ohio."
"Well alright then. Let's get movin' folks so we can get back doin' what we do!" The enthusiasm in Mal's voice was evident and quickly became infectious. Ending the call, the group broke up to prepare to leave.