Buffy walked out of the bathroom with aspirin in one hand and a glass of water in the other. "Take these. You'll thank me later. You ever drink alcohol before?"
"No." Lenara took the aspirin quickly. "So that was Spike?"
"Yep, in the flesh."
Lenara smiled slightly. "He was, ummm..."
"Nothing for you to think about."
"Sure."
"Hey," Buffy made Lenara look at her. "You cannot be jealous of Spike."
"Ok."
"You have to trust me. Spike is the past."
Lenara grinned a little. "Ok."
"Besides, apparently I am into girls now."
Lenara arched her eyebrow. "Girls?"
Buffy tugged playfully at Lenara's hand. "Well, maybe not girls plural. But perhaps one in particular."
Lenara's voice lowered an octave, "Oh, and this girl, is she into you?"
"She better be. Otherwise I may have to resort to desperate measures."
"Which would be what?"
Buffy closed her eyes feigning deep thought. "Well, I would probably have to give her unlimited kisses."
"That's enough, huh?"
Buffy looked into Lenara's eyes. "No. But while I was kissing her, I would take her hands..."
Lenara leaned into Buffy's face, "Yeah..."
"And I would slowly help her slide them underneath my shirt..."
"Mmm..."
"While I let her hands roam, I would probably start to undo her pants..."
Lenara was having difficulty breathing. Buffy's nose was barely an inch away. She continued to speak directly in front of Lenara's lips.
"I imagine I would slide them down slowly over her hips..."
"Buffy..."
Then Buffy smiled, and began laughing. "Yeah, that's probably what I'd do." She turned on her heels and started to walk away. Lenara was dumbstruck for a few moments, and then began laughing.
"That was cruel you know."
Buffy turned, "I know."
"Maybe that's why..."
"Why what?"
Lenara stretched out her hand. Buffy felt her body move across the room. She started giggling when she ended up in Lenara's arms. Lenara smiled. "You know you are not the only one who can tease."
"Oh really?"
"Mmmhmmm..."
"Well?"
Lenara ran her fingertips over Buffy's arms. Everywhere she touched set Buffy's skin on fire.
"Feel that?" Lenara whispered.
Buffy closed her eyes. "I do."
"Imagine how that would feel...everywhere."
"Dear Lord."
Lenara smiled, and with a flick of her hand, Buffy was sent backwards into the waiting arms of a chair. Lenara laughed while Buffy sat flummexed in her seat.
"Touche'."
Both women laughed. Buffy crossed her legs. "I'd hate to take this somewhere serious right now..."
"But?"
"But Giles has a plan to catch Savon."
"Really?"
Buffy nodded. "It's a good one, but dangerous."
"I'm listening."
"Well we know Savon is attracted to strong power bursts from foreign magic. So we think we should give him one."
"Not sure I am following."
"Well, basically we would change our appearances. Let Willow rip off of a doozy of a spell. When Savon comes, he'll attack Willow or try and kidnap her. Except it would be me posing as Willow. We either beat him there or we let him take me."
"Why are you posing as Willow? Why not me?"
"I can do it."
"Buffy, you are not ready to. I, on the other hand, can hold my own and then some."
"No."
"No? I'm not sure you fully understand what you'd be up against. And you heard Nessa, I am the strongest of us."
"No."
"Buffy, you are not being reasonable."
"I will take the risk."
"Now it is my turn to say no. It's a good plan. Mahzi and Zaz can track me. I would just have to perform simple magic for a shortwhile. But I do not think it will come to that."
"If we can get him to come to us I think maybe we can trap him there. If he can't flee, then he has to stand and fight. We should be able to overwhelm him. I'd like Giles and Willow to talk to Nessa. She stripped his powers, maybe she'll have ideas on how to hold him in one place. Plus it won't just be up to her powers. She'll have Willow's too. Maybe between the two we can make this work."
"Sounds good. But you still have not acquiesced."
Buffy sighed, "It isn't up for debate Lenara."
"You are being obstinate. I get that you are used to being the hero, but you do not have to do it everytime. And these are my people, my family."
"Willow is my family. And she's got the damn boogeyman chasing her."
"Then we need to give ourselves the best chance of success. And that is not you. Not this time."
Buffy shot out of the chair. "Who are you to decide what risks I take? You are acting just like them all. Always trying to protect me!"
"What are you talking about? Who are they? And I'm trying to make you understand what gives us the best chance of winning."
"Let's go. Right now. Downstairs. You beat me in a fight and I will give in."
Lenara was shocked, and the disappointment registered on her face immediately. She shook her head and disappeared.
Buffy rubbed her head. "Shit," she muttered. Buffy walked down to the training room, but Lenara wasn't there. "Lenara, I'm sorry. Shit, shit, shit." Buffy walked over to the punching bag and began to pummel it. She punched, kicked, and furied on the bag until she couldn't stand anymore. She layed down on the floor and stared at the ceiling. "Shit," she mumbled.
"Buffy?" Willow's impish voice was lightly heard.
"Yeah Will?"
"You okay?"
"Yeah."
"Sounded like you were beating the crap out of something."
"I was. I kicked the punching bag's ass. I think it learned it's lesson."
Willow walked over to where her friend was laying. "Where's Lenara?"
"Not sure Willow. We had a disagreement and she left after I told her we should duke it out down here."
Willow was surprised. "You were going to fight her? Why?"
"It was stupid. I just got angry and crapped out of my mouth."
"What's this all about?"
"She won't let me be you when we go after Savon. She thinks it should be her."
"Okay..."
"She thinks by not agreeing I am being stubborn and trying to be a hero."
"I see..."
Buffy sat up. "But she has it wrong. If I do it, and something goes wrong, she will still be alive to protect you. That's what I need to know. If she is alive she can keep you safer than I could on my own. And, I need to know that she is okay. This is nuts Willow, but she's special to me. In this short amount of time she has gotten under my skin. How is this possible so quickly? That isn't like me. I don't do relationships or whatever it is we are doing at this speed. This is frustrating!"
"She's special."
"She is Will. As crazy as this whole thing is, I...I really care for her."
"Okay. It's okay. She'll come back around. I'm sure we'll see her soon."
"Yeah, and I better be ready to grovel."
Willow laughed. "You grovel? I'll believe it when I see it."
Later that night, Zaz and Mahzi showed up at Giles' house. Kennedy greeted them.
"Blue Man group! Here to train? Where's Lenara?"
Zaz nodded. "Kennedy, we came to see if you wanted a change of venue tonight. You, Buffy, and Willow are being invited to Pellin. Nessa wants to meet Willow and you and Buffy would train with Mahzi and I. As for Lenara, she is indisposed."
"Indisposed, huh? Well that's fine. Buffy! Willow! We got company."
Buffy and Willow entered the kitchen. Buffy's heart sank when she realized Lenara wasn't there. Zaz addressed Willow. "My grandmother wants to meet you. She wants to talk to you about Buffy's plan."
"Sounds good," Willow replied, "where's Lenara?"
"Back home." Mahzi answered. Zaz rolled his eyes.
"Are you ladies ready?"
All 3 nodded in ascent and found themselves transported to Pellin. When they arrived, Buffy immediately crossed over to Zaz. "How come you didn't need to touch us to transport us here?"
Mahzi snickered.
"Shut it Mahz," Zaz chided. He addressed Buffy's question. "Because it is not necessary. As long as you are in a relative proximity it can be done without physically touching you."
Buffy smiled. "Thanks Zaz."
Nessa walked up on the group. She immediately keyed in on Willow. "I am Nessa. I am pleased to meet you Willow."
The redhead stammered. "H-How did you know who I was?"
Nessa smiled. "Look hard at me Willow. What do you see?"
Willow stared for a few seconds. Then she began to notice Nessa was surrounded by a gold hue.
"Oh," Willow said, "I see it."
Kennedy walked up and looked at Nessa. "I don't see anything."
Nessa nodded at Willow. "I see the same thing around you."
Kennedy looked at Willow. "What?"
Nessa extended her hand out to Willow. "I'd like to spend some time with you while they train. I'd like to teach you some things if you want to learn."
"Absolutely," Willow replied. She took the older woman's hand and they walked off.
"Ready ladies?" Mahzi asked. Buffy and Kennedy nodded and followed their compatriots in the opposite direction. Kennedy leaned over to Buffy.
"Did you see anything?"
"No."
"Huh, well, whatever. What do you think our chances are tonight?"
Buffy sighed. "About the same as last time I imagine."
"Great. Taking an ass whipping. Sounds like fun."
Buffy stopped midstride. Kennedy pulled up short with her.
"This is bullshit Kennedy!"
"Huh?"
"I'm not here to take an ass whipping and neither are you."
"Ummm, ok..."
"Seriously, are we Slayers or not?"
Kennedy grinned. "Hell yeah!"
"Exactly. I'm frankly not in the mood to lose twice."
"What's the plan?"
"Well, if the speed is there, maybe so is the other stuff. And we aren't exactly normal, so maybe we can do what they can."
"Like disappear?"
"Yeah. And if we can't, then so what. You remember the sleeper?"'
Kennedy's eyes lit up. "Yeah! Who gets it?"
"Start with Mahzi. Stay on the defense and wait for the opening. They'll be expecting us to be on the offensive I think. Find the spot and hold on for dear life. One down, and then it's two on one. Zaz can't fight one up front and one on his back. We'll only surprise them once, so make it count."
Kennedy smiled and nodded. Buffy mumbled, "No one kicking my ass tonight..."
A/N: This piece will earn it's "M" rating next chapter...please review. I have no idea if anyone likes this story or not...
