Warnings and disclaimer in Chapter 1. Enjoy!
"Now, I'm no expert on human childbirth," Lorne said from the living room couch, "but should it be taking this long?"
"How would I know?" Robin asked from his spot by the door. "She's not even human." They both winced when another scream could be heard coming from upstairs.
"She's more human than I am," Lorne said, grinning slightly. Alex burst out laughing, reaching for his horns from the spot on his knees. He made several more funny faces and for a moment the sounds of giggling drowned out the sounds of screaming. Robin frowned at the sight, then looked over to where Billy lay, fast asleep. Earlier, Sparky and Dash were watching over him and glaring at the demon. Now, though, it seemed they decided to tag team the demon watching. Dash had her eyes continuously on Lorne while Sparky pulled a coloring book out of his backpack and was working on it. Robin frowned again but for a different reason. He liked those kids, even considered them his children for a while, and he didn't like the pure hate that they had shown to Lorne. Especially since Lorne had done nothing but be nice to them since they arrived. It made him think of his own prejudice and he didn't like what he was seeing.
"I'm going to go see how they're doing," Robin said. Lorne nodded, which elicited a new round of giggling from the baby. He went to put his axe down then thought better of it. He did hang it back on his belt, where it wouldn't be out but he could get to it quickly. He knocked quietly on the guest bedroom before opening it slowly. Darla was resting on the bed, still pregnant, while the doctors were discussing something quietly in the corner. "How's it going?"
"Great," Darla scoffed, throwing him a glare. He actually took a step back before remembering she couldn't hurt him.
"So, I'm no expert," he started, stepping further into the room and closing the door behind him, "but aren't C-sections pretty fast as far as delivery goes?"
"They should be," Ben told him, giving him a moment of his time, "but every time we've cut her open either the incision closes before we complete it or the baby disappears."
"And not in the good way," Darla added. Angel growled warningly. Robin looked around the room feeling totally out of place. The doctors got back to their conversation. The Watchers were in the corner looking something up in a giant book they brought with them. Joyce took pity on him.
"How are things going out there?" she asked, leading him out of the room and into the small hallway.
"Good," he automatically replied. Joyce raised an eyebrow. "How are things going in here?"
"They can't get to the baby," Joyce sighed, leaning against the wall. "The leading theory is some mystically force is protecting the baby and seeing the incisions as an attack."
"That sucks," he said simply. Joyce nodded. "How about out there?" He gestured to the back corner where the surveillance equipment was set up.
"Faith just arrived," Joyce said. "Buffy made her way through the gauntlet and now the two of them are fighting. I don't know how many men and women died to wear her down. And Willow made a bee line toward the nursery just like Faith thought she would. There have been some flashes seen from the house, but who knows how the magical battle is going."
"So everything is going according to plan?" Robin asked, smiling gently.
"I hate this plan," Joyce said. "A plan were fifty percent casualty rate is considered successful is a horrible plan."
"At least they're soldiers," Wood countered. "They know the risks, they were trained for this, and most importantly they volunteered. That's more than most people fighting in this war get. And if any of us are alive at the end of this battle, it will be a win. Remember, entire regions were decimated by Slayer Vampires." Joyce sighed, closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.
"You're right," she told him when she opened her eyes again. He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I should get back in there," she told him.
"Before you go I have one more thing to talk to you about," Robin said. She gave him her full attention. "I'm worried about the kids."
"It's okay Buff," Xander tried to be as comforting as he could. He wasn't sure how much longer they had. They had both tried everything they could think off to escape. Buffy had tried rocking her upper body off the hooks, but that had just led to the wounds bleeding more. She then tried to force her hand up off the wood, but the railroad spike had a firm grasp. Even if she somehow managed to get the spike out of her hand, she would still be tied to the wood beam. She glared at her useless legs for a minute before exhaustion hit her completely. She collapsed, her wrists taking her full weight. The increased pressure caused the spikes to dig into her flesh even further.
She looked up when she heard Xander's mantra. He kept mumbling under his breath as he tried everything he could think of to get the key. He managed to get both his shirt and pants off and was tying them into a makeshift rope. He began throwing it toward the key, but he was well short. "If I only had shoelaces," he mumbled, glaring at the flip flops Kestrel had given him for this trip. He pulled his clothes back and began tearing his shirt into strips, which he tied together. He did the same thing with his pants until he had a long enough rope. He tried again, getting closer and closer until he finally hit the key. Unfortunately if flew towards Buffy's side of the room. She would only need to take one step now to get to it. But she had to get off the hooks first. "Shit," Xander cursed, trying to make the clothes go even further. But they had reached the end of their rope. No matter how Xander tried, he couldn't scrap the shirt and pants any more than he had. Finally he had to give up. He looked up at Buffy. "I'm sorry."
"Okay." She tried to reassure him. "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry," he told her. "You didn't do anything wrong. None of this is your fault. Do you understand me?" She nodded. She felt her body go even limper. Muscles she didn't even know she was using were buckling under the strain. "Easy," he ordered when even more blood slid down her wrists. She stilled, only raising her head to look at him. "You know, it's funny. All the times we went patrolling. All the times you had to save my skin. And now, when it really matters, I can't repay the favor." He started banging on the walls with all his might, trying to get the chains to break the O ring. The only thing he succeeded in doing was cutting his own wrists open. He tried to use the blood as a lubricant and squeeze his hand out, but was having no luck with that either. Finally his own strength left him and he sagged to the ground. He looked up to meet her gaze. "I'm sorry."
"Okay," she said, smiling at him. He smiled back.
"I wonder how much time we have left." He felt the explosions as soon as he said it. "I shouldn't have said that."
"No!" Willow screamed as she was covered in shadows. She tried to shield herself, but only succeeded in causing an explosion of energy to radiate outward. All the furnishings were forced against the walls, all the lights exploded, but Tara was able to shield her group from the worst of it.
"Dark magic really isn't known for its protective properties," Tara said solemnly. Anya smiled smugly, which rapidly turned to panic when Willow summoned a fireball.
"The best defense is a good offense," Willow cackled as she flung the fireball their way. Tara reflected it with a wave of her wrist, but she wasn't fast enough for the lightning Willow sent right after. The group scattered out of the way as the lightning bolt impacted the far wall and cracked it.
"Hey," Anya exclaimed indignantly, "I painted that wall perfectly." She raised her hands and the floor Willow was standing on started sinking. Willow countered, but at that moment the shadows reattached themselves to her.
"Arrggg," she screamed, shaking her hands irritably so that the tornado she meant to fling at Tara instead circled the room. All the furnishings bounced around the room, causing even more damage and caving in the section that was weakened by the fireball.
"You need to cool off," Ethan smirked as he shot a jet of freezing air at the witch. Some of the magic reached Willow, but the majority got caught in the wind and was buffeted around the room as well. The walls froze immediately making them extremely brittle so that anytime a piece of furniture would crash into it cracks would form. Cracks that got larger and larger.
"Enough!" Willow yelled, releasing another shot of energy. Tara shielded them as best she could, but it was still powerful enough to knock them into the walls hard along with everything that was bouncing around the room. The furnishings shattered into tiny pieces, the clothes ripped to shreds, and bits of drywall and insulation started falling off the walls. Bits of sunlight were starting to stream in through the worst of it. "Enough," Willow said again, more calmly. She took a few seconds to shake off the last of the shadows. Tara, Ethan, Anya, and Andrew took these precious seconds to regroup.
"We don't want to hurt you," Tara said, standing in front of the others protectively. "Just go back home."
"I can't," Willow snarled. "You don't think I've tried? You think I like it here better than my own time? I hate it here and I hate all of you and I can't go home until I fix what was broken, but you won't let me do that." Ethan summoned a fireball and threw it at her, but she caught it in midair before it could connect.
"Uh oh," Ethan gulped as Willow fortified it, making it larger and even more dangerous before flinging it back at him. Tara tried to deflect it, but it was so powerful she was only able to nudge it a bit. Ethan jumped out of the way at the last second, then turned and watched as the flying fireball decimated Joyce's master bedroom before flying through the outer wall and colliding with Giles's home. It crashed through his bedroom window setting the entire room on fire. "Ripper's not going to like that," Ethan surmised as the outside wall burst into flames.
"Chaos magic?" Willow asked, looking at Ethan appraisingly. "I'll give you another chance to join my side. Together we will be unstoppable."
"Tempting," Ethan smiled at her, "but I like my partners sane." Willow screamed and suddenly the floor was replaced by the unholy fires of hell. Tara immediately pulled everyone closer, muttering a counterspell under her breath, but it was doing little good. Willow smirked triumphantly when once again the shadows attacked. Her concentration wavered momentarily, but it was enough to lose control of the spell. As the fire spread, she tried one more time to gain control. The next thing she knew, there was a mighty explosion and everyone was flying through the air.
"Faith," Buffy smirked, her previous pain forgotten. "Here for round two?"
"Wanna dance?" Faith asked, her fist held loosely at her side. Buffy responded by a quick attack, one that Faith dodged. Faith countered by a roundhouse kick. The vampire caught her foot and used her momentum to flip her. Faith was expecting this and instead of flipping onto her back she tucked into a ball and rolled, springing up to face the vampire again.
"You're getting sloppy," the vampire told her.
"And you're getting weak," Faith countered. "There was a time you would come and fight me on your own. Now you have to get Willow to do your dirty work." The vampire snarled and charged.
"I've wanted to come kill you since you got into town," she said, lunging toward Faith with a series of kicks and punches.
"Oh," Faith said as she blocked them all. "So you just need to get approval from your old lady before you do anything. I take it back. You're not weak. You're pathetic." Buffy snarled and doubled her efforts. Several punches landed, sending Faith flying. Buffy went in for the kill when someone stepped in front of her.
"Buffy," Daniel deadpanned. Buffy smirked.
"Ah, my son. I was hoping to see you." She relaxed her fighting stance and instead embraced him. He stood stiffly allowing the contact but making no effort to reciprocate. After a minute Buffy pulled back in confusion. "Are you not happy to see me?"
"I'll be happy to find my real mother," he told her honestly. Buffy snarled and slapped him across the cheek.
"Hey now," Faith was on her feet in an instant and approaching the pair. The vampire spun and connected with a roundhouse kick, which sent Faith flying again. Daniel growled and punched Buffy in the chest, which sent the vampire flying. Daniel was torn, looking between the two women before he headed to Faith and helped her to her feet.
"Daniel?" Buffy asked, but he shook his head and simply stood next to Faith. "You're making a mistake. Embrace your demonic side and join me and Will and accomplish something not even your father could. We can rule this world. We do rule this world."
"The price is too high," he told her. "Any loss of life is too high. My mother taught me that." Buffy snarled and attacked again. Faith intervened again and found herself hitting the ground again. Daniel joined her a few minutes later.
"Why don't you fight back?" Buffy asked, standing over them triumphantly. She kicked them hard while they were down then straddled Faith. She pulled her head up, baring her neck, then looked at Daniel. "Will you resist me when you don't have anyone to fight for?" She went in for the kill when something crashed into her side.
"Not on my watch, luv," Spike said as they went down in a tangle of limbs. They wrestled for control but it only took a minute for Buffy to be victorious. A minute was all Faith needed though. She regained her feet and threw herself into the fight. Daniel joined her a minute later.
"You'll fight against your mother?" Buffy asked when Daniel blocked a punch that would have hit Spike.
"I'll fight against the thing that killed her," he said.
"So be it," she said, resigned. She let go of all pretenses of being weak and began fighting like her life depended on it. The others gave up pretending as well, and soon a fierce battle was raging. The remaining commandos and demons circled around them to watch, helping whenever they could see an opening. Faith, and Daniel fought as one, helping and protecting each other that spoke of years of battle in together. Spike easily fit into their group and it seemed like they had finally found a combination that was able to keep up with the vampire.
If Buffy was at full strength she would have loved fighting these three, curios to see who would make that fatal mistake and content to let the fight carry on until someone did. But she wasn't at full strength. She had just fought her way through Riley and his troops and dozens of demons. She was tired and hurting. She wanted to end this quickly and get back to her lover. So when she saw an opening she didn't hesitate to take it.
She reversed an attack on Spike at the last second and instead charged Daniel, who was coming to help. Instead of hitting him, she grabbed him. She spun him around and threw him into Spike so hard that everyone could hear their heads colliding. They both collapsed to the ground, but before Buffy could kill them a giant explosion came from the direction of the house. "Willow!" she called, panic clear to see on her face. She ran past the prone men and directly into Faith.
"How 'bout a blast from the past," Faith snarked. She held the blade up for a second so Buffy could see it then she plunged the knife into the vampire's gut. Dazed, Buffy pulled out the blade. The knife, finally tasting the blood it was created for, dissolved in her hand. Buffy looked between the knife handle in her hand and the wound in her gut before darting around Faith as fast as she could.
"Willow!" she screamed, but if it was to help the witch or to be helped by the witch Faith could only guess. She looked at Spike and Daniel laying prone on the ground.
"I've got them," Riley told her. She nodded before taking off after the vampire.
"Why aren't we dead?" Andrew asked a few minutes after they were flung from the house by the power of the explosion.
"You have powerful friends," Anya said, offering her hand and pulling him into a sitting position. Andrew looked at her hopefully. "Not me," Anya added. She pointed to Tara, who was hovering a few inches off the ground, chanting softly.
"Why didn't she just let her die?" Ethan grumbled besides them. Fiery debris was raining all around them. Occasionally, a piece would bounce of the shield Tara conjured to protect them and be deflected to the side.
"What?" Andrew asked, getting to his feet. It took him a few seconds to realize Tara had placed a shield over the unconscious witch as well. "Can't we…" he trailed of uncertainly.
"We've tried," Ethan said. Anya nodded her agreement. Neither of them had any misgivings about eliminating the threat in such an unhonorable manner. He picked up a rock from the ground and casually tossed it toward the Dark witch. It hit the inside of their protective bubble and bounced back.
"What happened?" Andrew asked, looking back at the flaming house.
"She lost control," Anya said gleefully, "when the shadows attacked."
"She should have been killed," Ethan told him, but it was without the usual snark he had, "but the witch protected her."
"We all should have been killed," Anya glared at him. "Tara protected all of us."
"All of us," Ethan repeated slightly in awe.
"Have you never had someone protect you?" Andrew asked, but before Ethan could answer Tara collapsed and Willow sprang to her feet. They rushed to Tara's side to protect her from the few remaining pieces of debris.
"She saved me?" Willow asked skeptically before her face transformed into pure evil. "She'll wish she hadn't." She started changing, collecting energy in the area in front of her before she flung it at the prone witch.
"No!" Anya screamed. She stepped in front of Tara, throwing up her own shield, but the dark magic passed right through it and flung the vengeance demon across the clearing all the way to Xander's front porch. Willow watched Anya soar through the sky and fall, then turned to face the other two, who had heroically stepped in front of Tara. The dark witch started casting again, but Ethan beat her to it.
"My turn love," he said as lightning flashed through the cloudless sky. Willow managed to deflect some of it, but still enough got through to send her flying back toward the boundary line. Willow managed to throw a fireball, but her aim was off when a demon appeared out of nowhere and attacked her.
"Damn you," she said, throwing another fireball at Andrew, who was sprinting across the yard to protect Anya. He dodged and the fireball flew into the side of the house, setting it ablaze. He summoned even more demons to distract the witch while Ethan started chanting. "No!" she screamed, incinerating the demons and flinging both men to each side of the yard. She flung a fireball at each one and grinned when they were too stunned to counter. Her grin faded when the fireballs stopped short of their targets. She turned to face a groggy Tara, who was protecting the men but left herself wide open. She started chanting, intending to kill the witch once and for all when a voice rang out.
"Willow!" The battle stopped as everyone turned to watch the vampire approach from the woods. Faith was right behind her and tripped her up before she could reach the boundary line. They started fighting, trading kicks and punches, neither of them getting the upper hand until one of Willow's fireballs flew in. Faith jumped back leaving an opportunity for Buffy to finish running to Willow.
"We can't let them join forces!" Andrew cried out. Willow flung a lightning bolt his way then headed towards Buffy. Ethan was closest to her, but she backhanded him so hard when he tried to stop her that he went flying. The other's tried to stop her, but they were too far away. Just when it seemed like the two lovers would reunite, Buffy stepped out of the shade of the trees. She hissed as her skin started to burn and was forced to retreat to the safety of the trees. Willow stopped and started chanting. Moments later the clear sky turned grey, clouds forming out of nowhere to block the sun. A second later a rain started. Willow looked up in surprise. She turned around, staring at Tara who was finishing her own spell.
The rain was putting out the fires. Andrew helped Anya get safely to her porch and went back for Ethan, helping the groggy man to Giles's porch. Meanwhile the sudden darkness let Buffy come out of the shade, but Faith managed to catch up to her and tackled the vampire, sending both of them crashing into the muddy ground. Willow tried to go toward them, but found an invisible barrier blocking her way.
"You think you can stop me?" Willow asked, turning to face Tara. Tara took a few steps towards her. Willow shot an energy bolt toward her, but she deflected it with a wave of her hand.
"I think the only one who can stop you is you," Tara said. Faith and Buffy were fighting in the background. The vampire suddenly got the upper hand. Tara instinctively helped, but her spell was blocked by the dark witch. They both watched as Faith was taken to the ground. Buffy went in for the kill, but Faith was able to twist out of her grip at the last second. She received some nasty claw marks to her stomach, but she was still alive. She spun, knocking Buffy's legs from under her. Faith jumped to her feet as the vampire hit the ground, but Buffy was up before Faith could take advantage of the situation. Willow smirked and turned her attention back to Tara.
"If you surrender now, I'll make it quick," Willow offered.
"Funny," Tara countered, "I was going to offer the same deal." Willow laughed out loud.
"You are nothing compared to me," she chuckled heartily. "You can't stop me, you've already admitted that. How do you plan to get me to stop?"
"Like that," Tara said, nodding to where the vampire and Slayer were fighting. They were so focused on each other and the rain was coming down so hard that they didn't notice a third figure approaching the pair from behind the vampire.
"Now!" Veronica yelled out, swinging her battle axe as hard as she could. Faith dropped to the ground, but Buffy turned to see who was behind her. If she was at full strength, she could have caught the axe before it hit her, or jerked away at the last second so it wasn't a fatal wound. But she was at the end of her rope. She was injured from the battles before, exhausted from the battle with Faith, and the wound in her gut bled so much she barely had any blood left. The axe sliced through her neck like a hot knife through butter.
"No!" Willow screamed as her lover turned to dust right before her eyes for the second time. She gathered all her power in an instant and shot it at the Watcher, but the energy hit the shield Tara had already placed around the two of them. Willow screamed in rage, her eyes going black in her despair, but she couldn't stop the spell. Tara was keeping the spell going.
"I can't stop you," Tara said calmly, her eyes glowing golden as she tapped into magic she rarely used, "but I can force you to stop yourself. And you will. Because it takes a lot more energy to hate that it does to love."
"Love is weak," Willow spat as she tried to break the hold Tara had on her magic.
"Love is strength," Tara countered. "Love is power. And, most importantly, love is never ending. It is hard to hate. Even after everything you've done, I still can't hate you. But hate can only fuel you for so long."
"I hate you!" Willow screamed. "This won't stop me!"
"I know," Tara answered, "but there is something I keep telling my Willow that I think you've forgotten." Willow glared at her. "You have to be able to live without the magic or the magic will consume you. And when the magic is gone," Tara didn't need to say anything more. The hatred on Willow's face turned to fear. She redoubled her efforts to break the spell.
"Let me go," she pleaded, but Tara shook her head.
"I'm sorry," she told her. "I can't, even if I wanted to. We'll just have to see which is stronger, love or hate." Then she watched Willow contently. The two witches were trapped inside the shield. The shield was draining both their energy and neither one could stop it. Tara closed her eyes, content to let events play out as they should, while Willow tried everything she could think of to escape. They were in there for what seemed like hours before something happened.
Willow gasped as her fingertips transformed into ash and floated away. Her hands and feet soon followed, then her arms and legs. Soon the only thing that was left of the dark witch was a pile of ashes as her magic was finally extinguished. With Willow gone the shield collapsed. Willow's ashes fluttered in the wind, mixing with the vampire's dust, before being blown away. The rain stopped as the clouds disappeared as quickly as they came.
"Is that it?" Faith asked, limping toward the shy witch. "Did we do it?" Tara could only smile before collapsing in exhaustion. Faith fell right next to her.
"What now?" Andrew asked as he rushed towards them. Veronica was about to answer when the phone rang.