Spell it out for her!
Disclaimer: Don't own nothin'.
Timeline: after 'A New Man.'
The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger
"There," Giles muttered as he followed Xander's signal with his eyes, "He's heading for the college dorms."
"To see us," Buffy asked, hopeful.
"I don't think so, Buffy. He isn't anywhere near your dorms. Ugh, hand me that pen and paper."
Willow grabbed the items and tossed them both to the ex-Watcher, who quickly began to write down the dormitory address for his charges. As soon as he was done, he handed it back to Buffy, who looked down at it, considering.
"…No one I know lives there," she said and she handed it over to her Wicca friend, "Do you know anyone who lives there?"
"…Oh, God," Willow gasped as she looked down on the address, "Tara."
The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger
"Captain, the orders stand: evacuate immediately and report in to El Toro, do I make myself clear?"
"…Yes, Sir," Riley muttered in defeat.
He had spent the last hour trying to make his new CO understand that he had people to inform, more specifically, his girlfriend about what happened and who was involved. Instead, Washington was putting a clamp over his mouth and making sure that he told no one. A squad of MPs were around him and what remained of his squad, with only one casualty due to an escaped demon…he still couldn't believe that one man, Harris, no less, could do this.
All underneath the sanction of the United States government, the government which he represented!
It wasn't fair.
"Cheer up, Riley," he turned to see Forest who, in spite of all that had happened, was happy that he was leaving Buffy, "At least we still have our jobs."
"What about all these men," the Iowa native asked.
"They were killed for treason, man," Forest said, his gaze becoming horrid, "It sucks but, so's what they did. Innocent people, brother, more innocent than us, were killed here, on Walsh's orders. Don't tell me that you don't resent her for that."
Riley tried to find some way to say that he didn't, but…he just couldn't.
"I know you hate leaving Buffy behind, man, but…think about it. Would you really want her going after a government sanctioned bounty hunter?"
Riley shook his head. If it had been two hours before the attack, he would have said that Buffy could have killed Xander Harris easily. Now, he wasn't so sure. And now, he knew that, if she did manage it, she would be facing Marine Force Recon afterwards…he hoped, for his love's sake, that he escaped before anything bad could happen to her.
The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger
"I'm going over there," Buffy said as soon as Willow finished explaining how she knew Tara, "She's a witch so, she must be the one who's doing this to Xander."
"Oh, for God's sake!" Giles stood up, completely fed up with his Slayer's stubbornness, "Listen, Buffy, if Xander is a member of the Sect, then there is no way that anyone could put a spell on him. The protecting magics of the Sect are too powerful to be broken. Trust me, I know." At their looks, he continued, "During my Ripper years, I met a member…tried to slip a mind control potion into his nightcap so that I could get an in on the Sect…instead, he just came to me the next morning and told me to bugger off before he blasted my arse into the month after next year."
The two girls just stared at him, not sure how to take his words. Giles sighed and went for a different approach.
"Alright, let's deal with this rationally. There are two things that need to be done: we need to find out what is at Ambrosia waiting for us and we need to get over to this Tara's place and check and see if she's alright. Why don't we split up, divide our forces. Willow, you and I will go check on Tara, while Buffy, since you are the Slayer and know where it is, you shall go to Ambrosia and retrieve whatever is waiting for you."
Buffy immediately attempted to find a way to counter Giles's plan but, as usual, all she could come up with was something that would leave her friends vulnerable. She didn't want Willow to go to Ambrosia, and Giles would probably die upon entering, even with his checkered past. Sighing, the Slayer acquiesced to his request.
"Smashing," Giles said, still in the rapture of the speech from his youth, "Let's get to it, then."
The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger
Tara MaClay opened the door quickly, expecting it to be Willow, only to find a surprise on the other side: a handsome looking man was there, dressed like he was some kind of action hero. He was leaning against the doorframe, looking down on her expectantly. He looked somewhat familiar.
"Tara MaClay," he asked in a tone of complete professionalism.
"Y-yes," she said, shyly, "Can I h-help you, M-mr…"
"Xander," the man said with a grin, "Xander Harris. I was wondering if I could speak to you regarding a…common friend. May I come in?"
Tara, in an act that most Sunnydalians did instinctively, backed away from the door to allow him just enough room for entry. The young man smiled at her as he entered, thereby affirming her belief that he wasn't a vampire…but, was he something more?
Xander, in turn, stared around the small dorm with a calculating gaze. Magic items, Wicca symbols, New Age markings, lights all along the wall…she did good.
"…Who's paying you and how much?"
Instantly, the Wicca's gaze turned from confusion to cold fury.
"I could ask you the same," her voice had frozen by several degrees and spoke waves of distrust…not that he could blame her, "Who are you? Really."
"Just who I said I was," Xander stated as he turned around to face the bounty huntress, "Only, I forgot to mention that I'm a member of The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger."
Suddenly, Tara became very pale.
"…Oh," she said, her eyes alit with recognition, "You're that Xander Harris. I thought you were just a legend."
"Urban, maybe," Xander said with a grin, "The question still stands…who hired you and how much?"
The Witch sighed and decided to spill her guts. Even she knew when she was outmatched and, when it came to going against the poster boy for the dimension's greatest league of bounty hunters, there was no doubt in her mind that she wouldn't be walking away from this fight.
"A Wiccan coven in England," Tara said, vaguely, "And I'm being paid a million dollars, current currency."
"To make sure that Willow keeps on the beaten path," Xander supplied as he took a seat on Tara's bed, "…I must admit, your cover is simply remarkable. A shy, New Age type girl who practices magic, a subject that Willow is very fascinated by. You even go so far as to brainwash an entire family with the ridiculous notion that all their women are demons who need to be controlled, just in order to keep up appearances. And, to top it off, you're a lesbian, which Willow has been a candidate for since she was in middle school. Ingenious. I tip my hat to you, Ms. MaClay."
Tara felt herself blush, uncharacteristically. She was unused to receiving compliments from such an established bounty hunter. She took that opportunity to sit down in a chair before him.
"You are aware, however, that the seers say you will die if you remain in Sunnydale for the next two years or so?"
"Like a stray bullet could kill me," Tara said, her eyes alit with flame, "I've seen what's supposed to happen and, frankly, I welcome it. The morning of, I'd just plant a few well placed spells around, cast a stasis spell, and wait till I'm buried to do a teleportation spell and go back to work. It would be the perfect opportunity to get out of there and give the coven what they want."
"And that is," Xander asked, his curiosity aflutter.
"For Willow to realize her true potential on the side of good," Tara spat out, "They've been watching her since she met Janna of the Calderash, a former member of the coven. They've got her personality down to a tee…submissive only to Buffy Summers, domineering over everyone else. She believes that she has a right to the finer things in life, more so than others."
"She's shy," Xander filled in, "She's too dependent on her magic and her friends, not herself. She feels she needs something to make her special, to make herself shine in the eyes of others. In many ways, she was much more confident before she met Buffy. She still lived inside her shell but, she would have come out of it during college, become more mature. Instead, she was dragged out of it by Buffy and turned into a sheep. A Slayerette."
"The only way she would learn to control her powers would be to see what they can do first hand," Tara said, somewhat sadly, "Shame. She could have made a powerful black mage."
"What are you," the bounty hunter asked.
"Gray. Mostly black, but, I dabble in white. Good for healing."
"Willow tries to stay away from the black stuff," Xander said, "Noble, but stupid. If she had a real teacher, they'd make her understand the difference instead of just 'good' and 'bad.'"
"I don't like her that much," Tara admitted, then grinned sexily, "Although, she does have a bangin' body."
"No doubts," Xander said with a grin, "I remember all the illicit smoochies…good times."
"You know, I know all about Willow's friends except for one," Tara said to her fellow bounty hunter, "He's a guy that's stopped more Taraka hits than I can think of, at least on the Slayer's life. Who is he?"
Xander pointed at himself.
"…That makes sense," Tara stated, "I was wondering where I knew you from. I kept on asking Willow about the other guy in a photo she showed me but, every time I did, she just said 'oh, let's not talk about him.' She was far more interested in improving her magic prowess and in sneaking looks at me."
"That's Willow for you," Xander said with a shake of his head, "If it's not about Buffy, it's about her. She did the same thing with me by trying to put a delusting spell on me without telling me. When it's too hard, she turns to what's easy. It's pathetic and something that only those who are weak do."
"Didn't you cast a love spell on everyone once," Tara asked, Willow had mentioned it once when she had enquired about Xander in the photo in order to get off the subject and onto magic.
"Vengeance," Xander said with a grin, "The only reason why D'Hoffryn didn't send a demon to help me out. And, for the record, that wasn't easy. I hate working with magic, particularly when I'm directly involved. But, it was the only thing I could think of that would be somewhat in character."
"Wait a minute," Tara brought the conversation to a halt as her mind reminded her of something, "Illicit smoochies? What?"
"Oh, yeah. For a while, I dated this girl Cordelia while Willow dated Oz, a rocker. We cheated on them both."
"Why," Tara asked, genuinely intrigued.
"Willow started kissing me," Xander stated casually, as though he were talking about the weather, "So, I took advantage. I knew she wouldn't let me go during the summer but, I also knew that she would kick my ass just in order to prove to Oz that she was still loyal."
"What about Cordelia," Tara asked, she had seen photos of Cordelia and had to admit that, if it came to a choice between the redhead or the brunette, she would definitely go for the brunette.
"Me and her weren't meant to be," Xander said with a grimace, "I knew it, but she didn't. She was blindly in love…I miss her sometimes. I figured it would be the best way to let her go and make her feel morally superior, give her a chance to reclaim her former popularity. So, what sect do you work for?"
"I'm independent," Tara said proudly, and she had reason to, only the best could make it as independents, which was why many of them were hated, "Underneath the Sect, I'd be a member of the Serpent and the Dagger."
"Most people think bounty hunters are like Boba Fett," Xander said, "They publicly go after people. We're different. We go either from the outside quietly, or from the inside quietly. We're like mercenaries..."
"…and assassins," Tara finished his statement, "So, why did you come to see me, Mr. Harris?"
"To offer you a job," the Wicca stared at him in shock.
"I can't do that," she said to him, hoping that he would understand and not decide to blow her head off, "It would be bad for my reputation if I left a job in the beginning of it."
"Ah, but not if you went to work directly for the Sect of The Dove, the Serpent, and the Dagger," Xander told her with a smug grin, "That is better than working independent, you get first pick at the top jobs, better stringer salary and all the weapons and supplies you find necessary for your job."
Tara would have been lying if she had said that she didn't find the offer tempting. To work for the DSD was like a dream come true for most hunters. And to work with Xander Harris, the man behind it all…that would be a dream come true, and good for her rep.
"…What's the job?"
Xander smiled again, knowing that he already had her. He pulled out a file and handed it to her.
"…My Goddess" Tara stated in shock and looked up at him, "That's not possible. That's like trying to off the President when he's at DEFCON 1!"
"And that's just the beginning," Xander stated with a grin, "Imagine the number of body guard's he's got, along with a private army from D'efiro, the Fire demon dimension. But, that's just one part. First, we have to obtain something from him."
Tara stared at him for another moment, then looked back down at the paper.
"The Dagon Sphere," Xander supplied, "It's one of the only magical things that can harm Glorificus, a Hell god that's going to be coming soon to find her Key. I've even heard rumors that they're going to send it to Sunnydale."
"Why does he have this," Tara asked.
"Glorificus paid him to have it stolen and keep it away from the monks. We're going to return it and, in exchange, use some of the Key's energy to open a doorway to another world. Then, we've gotta take something from his stash, get back to Earth, then keep a hold of it till its new owner comes to collect."
"What is this item that we have to collect," Tara asked.
Xander smiled at her giddily.
"The Holy Grail of magic," he said to her.
She stared at him blankly, a dull look upon her face.
"…NO," Tara said, astounded, "NO WAY. NOT THAT."
"You're damn right, that," Xander told her.
Without any word of warning, the Wicca leapt up from her seat and slammed him onto the bed. She clutched his head with both her hands and smiled down at him.
"I'm in," she said and she kissed him full on the lips.
