Forward :
Due to ff.net's downtime I elected to begin using a yahoogroup to post my
stories to. For those of you who wish to catch the latest parts ahead of
the ff.net readers by at least 24 hours then I suggest/ask/beg that you
join up at :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Journeyverse/
I tend to try to post 1-2 parts per day on this group... There also a surprising amount of discussion going on about the verse as well... shrug so if you like that kinda thing then drop by. :)
Now, On to the story
******
Jan 17th
"Thanks Leo," Phoebe said as the Whitelighter nodded and orbed out. The Charmed One looked around Xander's 'safe room' and smiled. Wonder if he's around?
As she stepped out of the room her ears were assaulted by a sudden barrage of gunfire. What the?
"Hello?" She winced.
No one heard her, but she soon caught sight of who was doing the shooting.
Miss Parker was coaching Willow, Faith, Buffy, and Tara in the 'art' of gunplay. Phoebe shook her head at the odd sight of two witches firing slow methodical shots into the targets at the far side.
She winced again and grabbed a spare pair of ear guards as the four shooters opened up again.
Damn. She thought to herself, Faith and Buffy are damned good...
Both Slayers were firing in a rapid fire motion, emptying their clips in seconds, and chopping the paper targets into confetti.
The Blond Slayer glanced over at the Brunette, "Like using a really cool crossbow!"
Faith grinned back, "Yeah! But easier to aim!"
Buffy nodded, "Yep!"
Miss Parker, for her part, had given up on giving pointers to the Slayers and was devoting her attention to the two witches. "No! Aim from your body, like this!" She shifted around, and pointed her weapon down range, emptying the gun into the target.
Willow nodded and tried again, picking up the motions fairly quickly.
Tara was having more trouble, but was also improving noticably by the time Miss parker noticed Phoebe. The dark haired woman looked at the charmed one and grinned, "You want to try!?"
Phoebe shouted back, "I don't know... Never really liked guns!"
Miss Parker sneered slightly, "As long as they aren't pointed at you there's nothing to dislike!"
That brought a smile to the witches face and she nodded, stepping forward. "Ok!"
Miss Parker handed her a cold black weapon, "Use this! It's a Berreta 92F, good starting weapon. Semi-automatic, fifteen rounds, not too heavy. The action is pretty light and the recoil isn't too bad!"
Phoebe nodded and lifted the weapon tentatively. As she sighted down range she didn't notice the gunfire die out around her as the others turned to watch. She fired the first shot tentatively, jumping as the weapon bucked in her hand.
"Oh!"
Miss Parker laid a hand on her shoulder, "It's all right, try again."
The next shot was smoother, her arm held firmer against the recoil. Then another, and another, and another. Slowly Phoebe began to relax into the weapons action, her mind slipping back into the calm focus she usually reserved for meditations.
When the weapon locked back on an empty chamber she snapped out of it and looked around, almost surprised.
Miss parker nodded, "Good! You're a natural... Eject the clip... that button right there... good! Now slide that clip in and have another go!"
Phoebe followed her instructions. This time the calm frame of mind came easier, and after the first shot she was firing smoothly. But her aim was off. She frowned and corrected. The second shot went wide too, and she corrected for the third, but somehow missed again. Growling low in her throat she worked her way through the entire clip, disappointed to see that every single shot had gone wide despite her attempts at aiming.
When the slide locked back she ejected the clip without thinking and slammed the empty gun down.
It wasn't until she turned to look at the others that she realized that something was wrong. "What?" She asked, taking the ear guards off.
Miss Parker didn't say a word, she just motioned to the others to put up their guns. They did.
Miss Parker then walked downrange. Everyone followed her.
"What?" Phoebe asked, confused.
As she approached the target she was even more frustrated to see only one bullet hole in the target, sure it was dead center but still... one out of fifteen was bad. "I told you... I'm not a gun person."
Miss Parker lifted the target and reached her hand into the trap behind it. She brought out a closed fist and held it up. When she opened her fist there were fifteen flattened bullets inside.
"Huh?" Phoebe said in confusion.
"I'll second that." Faith added.
"Freaky..." Buffy said, stunned.
Phoebe looked at the target again. Yeah... only one hole...
Miss Parker finally found her voice. "H... How did you do that?"
"What?"
"You put all your shots through the same hole..."
Phoebe shook her head, "No... I couldn't have. I remember seeing them all go wide."
Miss Parker shook her own head violently, "No way. I watched. You didn't miss a single shot."
"But..." Phoebe looked around in confusion, "I remember..."
"What do you remember?"
"When I started shooting I started to calm down... I remember firing... and the shot went wide, so I corrected... The same thing happened for every shot..."
"Phoebe..." Willow said slowly, "Do you remember how it felt?"
"Of course," Phoebe said, "It felt great... I was calm, just like I have to be when I want to control my vision... oh..."
"What!?" Miss Parker asked.
Willow was the first to vocalize what she and Phoebe were both thinking, "She used her powers without knowing it... She saw the future... then changed it."
"Way to go Miss Yoda!" Faith grinned and slapped Phoebe on the back.
Phoebe stared at the target in shock, "I've never been able to use my powers like that before..."
"Y... you must be getting stronger as you grow into your p... powers." tara said slowly.
Phoebe nodded slowly, "Yeah..." Slowly a grin appeared on her face, "Cool."
The Two Slayers just looked at the witch in awe, uncertain what to make of someone who managed to out shoot them the first time she touched a weapon.
"Wow." Buffy said.
Faith grinned and nodded.
*****
As the impromptu shooting exercise wrapped up the girls started toward the Stairs.
"Tara," Miss Parker said, "Could you stick around please?"
Tara looked around for a second, but nodded.
"Tara?" Willow turned back, questioningly.
"Go ahead, You have a class... I'll c... catch up."
Willow nodded, "See you after class."
"You bet."
*****
"So is Xander around?" Phoebe asked as she and Faith walked upstairs.
"Nah," Faith said easily, "He just got the Mustang back from the bodyshop... He'll be out in it for hours."
"Oh."
Faith shot her a sidelong glance, "Why? You looking to hook up again?" Phoebe shook her head, "I don't know..."
"Damn girl. Make up yer mind. You're the one who cut it off in the first place."
"I know... but... I couldn't stand watching him kill himself like that."
"Kill himself?" Faith looked at her, "He survived."
"Barely."
"B's Ken Doll has a saying for things like that," Faith quoted, "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades."
"Really funny, Faith."
"Geez girl, dust that sense of humor off once in a while." Faith snapped, "You keep up like that and this job'll kill ya before it kill's ya."
Phoebe didn't answer. She looked at Faith for a moment, "I just don't know..."
Faith took her turn at the silence game. Finally she looked over at the witch, "You do know that me and Xander are..."
Phoebe looked up in surprise, "You're seeing Xander?"
"Not exactly."
"Then what...?"
Phoebe looked at Faith for a long moment, "Oh... my... god."
The young witch turned away, forcing faith to turn to catch up to her. "Hey, you left him remember?"
"So?" Phoebe said, her voice a little bitter, "How long till he shacked up with *you*?"
Faith shrugged, taking the question seriously, even though she suspected it wasn't a serious question. "Couple weeks. He got toasted a few times after you left him, girl. He had it bad for you."
Phoebe turned away. "I... I didn't know..."
"Bullshit!" Faith pulled her back around, "You know Xander. Hell you know him better then anyone, even me. And I'm the only other person who comes close, and you know it."
Phoebe nodded. Faith calmed down a bit, "Look, Girl. I don't know what your problem is, and I'd normally add that I don't care... but that's not true. You and Xander are my friends... The first friends I've had in a damned long time, so you're gonna listen to me real careful right now."
Phoebe didn't look back, but she didn't turn away again either.
Faith shook her head. Damn. I'm no good at this crap. "Look... Talk to him, girl. Figure out what you want, and try to work it out with him."
"What about you two?"
Faith shrugged, "Xan and I are friends, Phoebe. That's about it. You've never had a friend like that?"
Phoebe shrugged, "I guess..."
"Then you know that I'm not going to fight you for him."
Phoebe was silent.
"Talk to him." Faith urged.
Phoebe nodded, "I will."
"Good." Faith suddenly grinned and slapped her on the back, "Now come on, girl, let's burn some daylight."
"How?"
Faith grinned, "Shopping."
A slow smile spread across Phoebe's face, "Cool."
*****
Buffy walked along with Willow toward the university campus.
"So..."
Willow looked over at her, a little nervous. "So... we going to keep dancing around this?"
Buffy took a deep breath. "No... I think four days is enough... you?"
"Way enough."
"So..." Willow looked at the blond again and chuckled.
Buffy grinned herself, and took a breath. "I'm sorry."
Willow's laughter stopped, her eyes widened. "What?"
"I'm sorry... I was way hard on you... I shouldn't..."
"No!" Willow said, "No... I screwed up, Buff... and... I'm sorry."
Buffy looked over at the red head, "you already apologized..."
"No I didn't." Willow said, "Not really... Not like I should have. I'm sorry for the spell, I'm sorry for what happened... and I'm sorry for being mad at you for the past few weeks."
Buffy nodded, "I... I accept."
Willow smiled over at the blond, "Thank you."
"Now..." Buffy started, "Can we be friends again?"
"We never stopped."
"I know." Buffy said, "But It felt like the thing to say."
The two girls laughed slightly and Buffy wrapped an arm around the redhead as they continued toward the university.
*****
"M... Miss Parker?" Tara looked at the older woman with trepidation.
"It's all right, Tara." Parker smiled, warmly for a change. "I just wanted to say that I'm impressed with your shooting."
"B... but I'm not as good as the others..."
"Not yet." Parker said, "But except for Willow the others all have some major advantages. I think you could be quite the marksman."
"I... You think?"
Parker nodded, "I do. You have the right approach. Willow takes the gun too lightly, the same way she takes magic... I think we can train that out of her, but it's something we'll need to watch. The Slayers, well they take to weapons like a five year old takes to toys... same problem, same solution. Phoebe I'm not sure about, but I think that she'll be ok... But you, you respect the weapon. You treat it like a dangerous, lethal, tool... and that is something I respect."
Tara looked surprised, "I... I didn't do anything different from the others..."
"It wasn't what you did... if was the way you moved, the way you thought." Parker said, "I want you to come back for extra lessons... stuff I'm not going to show the others yet."
"W... why?"
"Because you're ready to handle it. They aren't."
*****
Later
Xander pulled into the driveway, and hopped out of the convertible. Damn glad to get this back.
He headed up the lane and went inside, looking around. "Hello?"
No one answered. He shrugged, and headed downstairs. As he hit the halfway mark he stopped and sniffed the air. What the?
He stepped down a little slower, smelling the gunpowder in the air. "Someone's been playing around..." he whispered.
He checked out the range, walking down to look at the traps behind the targets. Inside he saw dozens and dozens of rounds in each trap.
"Damn." He looked around in confusion, "Jarod is gone... Miss Parker wouldn't have done all this... what the hell is going on here?"
*****
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Journeyverse/
I tend to try to post 1-2 parts per day on this group... There also a surprising amount of discussion going on about the verse as well... shrug so if you like that kinda thing then drop by. :)
Now, On to the story
******
Jan 17th
"Thanks Leo," Phoebe said as the Whitelighter nodded and orbed out. The Charmed One looked around Xander's 'safe room' and smiled. Wonder if he's around?
As she stepped out of the room her ears were assaulted by a sudden barrage of gunfire. What the?
"Hello?" She winced.
No one heard her, but she soon caught sight of who was doing the shooting.
Miss Parker was coaching Willow, Faith, Buffy, and Tara in the 'art' of gunplay. Phoebe shook her head at the odd sight of two witches firing slow methodical shots into the targets at the far side.
She winced again and grabbed a spare pair of ear guards as the four shooters opened up again.
Damn. She thought to herself, Faith and Buffy are damned good...
Both Slayers were firing in a rapid fire motion, emptying their clips in seconds, and chopping the paper targets into confetti.
The Blond Slayer glanced over at the Brunette, "Like using a really cool crossbow!"
Faith grinned back, "Yeah! But easier to aim!"
Buffy nodded, "Yep!"
Miss Parker, for her part, had given up on giving pointers to the Slayers and was devoting her attention to the two witches. "No! Aim from your body, like this!" She shifted around, and pointed her weapon down range, emptying the gun into the target.
Willow nodded and tried again, picking up the motions fairly quickly.
Tara was having more trouble, but was also improving noticably by the time Miss parker noticed Phoebe. The dark haired woman looked at the charmed one and grinned, "You want to try!?"
Phoebe shouted back, "I don't know... Never really liked guns!"
Miss Parker sneered slightly, "As long as they aren't pointed at you there's nothing to dislike!"
That brought a smile to the witches face and she nodded, stepping forward. "Ok!"
Miss Parker handed her a cold black weapon, "Use this! It's a Berreta 92F, good starting weapon. Semi-automatic, fifteen rounds, not too heavy. The action is pretty light and the recoil isn't too bad!"
Phoebe nodded and lifted the weapon tentatively. As she sighted down range she didn't notice the gunfire die out around her as the others turned to watch. She fired the first shot tentatively, jumping as the weapon bucked in her hand.
"Oh!"
Miss Parker laid a hand on her shoulder, "It's all right, try again."
The next shot was smoother, her arm held firmer against the recoil. Then another, and another, and another. Slowly Phoebe began to relax into the weapons action, her mind slipping back into the calm focus she usually reserved for meditations.
When the weapon locked back on an empty chamber she snapped out of it and looked around, almost surprised.
Miss parker nodded, "Good! You're a natural... Eject the clip... that button right there... good! Now slide that clip in and have another go!"
Phoebe followed her instructions. This time the calm frame of mind came easier, and after the first shot she was firing smoothly. But her aim was off. She frowned and corrected. The second shot went wide too, and she corrected for the third, but somehow missed again. Growling low in her throat she worked her way through the entire clip, disappointed to see that every single shot had gone wide despite her attempts at aiming.
When the slide locked back she ejected the clip without thinking and slammed the empty gun down.
It wasn't until she turned to look at the others that she realized that something was wrong. "What?" She asked, taking the ear guards off.
Miss Parker didn't say a word, she just motioned to the others to put up their guns. They did.
Miss Parker then walked downrange. Everyone followed her.
"What?" Phoebe asked, confused.
As she approached the target she was even more frustrated to see only one bullet hole in the target, sure it was dead center but still... one out of fifteen was bad. "I told you... I'm not a gun person."
Miss Parker lifted the target and reached her hand into the trap behind it. She brought out a closed fist and held it up. When she opened her fist there were fifteen flattened bullets inside.
"Huh?" Phoebe said in confusion.
"I'll second that." Faith added.
"Freaky..." Buffy said, stunned.
Phoebe looked at the target again. Yeah... only one hole...
Miss Parker finally found her voice. "H... How did you do that?"
"What?"
"You put all your shots through the same hole..."
Phoebe shook her head, "No... I couldn't have. I remember seeing them all go wide."
Miss Parker shook her own head violently, "No way. I watched. You didn't miss a single shot."
"But..." Phoebe looked around in confusion, "I remember..."
"What do you remember?"
"When I started shooting I started to calm down... I remember firing... and the shot went wide, so I corrected... The same thing happened for every shot..."
"Phoebe..." Willow said slowly, "Do you remember how it felt?"
"Of course," Phoebe said, "It felt great... I was calm, just like I have to be when I want to control my vision... oh..."
"What!?" Miss Parker asked.
Willow was the first to vocalize what she and Phoebe were both thinking, "She used her powers without knowing it... She saw the future... then changed it."
"Way to go Miss Yoda!" Faith grinned and slapped Phoebe on the back.
Phoebe stared at the target in shock, "I've never been able to use my powers like that before..."
"Y... you must be getting stronger as you grow into your p... powers." tara said slowly.
Phoebe nodded slowly, "Yeah..." Slowly a grin appeared on her face, "Cool."
The Two Slayers just looked at the witch in awe, uncertain what to make of someone who managed to out shoot them the first time she touched a weapon.
"Wow." Buffy said.
Faith grinned and nodded.
*****
As the impromptu shooting exercise wrapped up the girls started toward the Stairs.
"Tara," Miss Parker said, "Could you stick around please?"
Tara looked around for a second, but nodded.
"Tara?" Willow turned back, questioningly.
"Go ahead, You have a class... I'll c... catch up."
Willow nodded, "See you after class."
"You bet."
*****
"So is Xander around?" Phoebe asked as she and Faith walked upstairs.
"Nah," Faith said easily, "He just got the Mustang back from the bodyshop... He'll be out in it for hours."
"Oh."
Faith shot her a sidelong glance, "Why? You looking to hook up again?" Phoebe shook her head, "I don't know..."
"Damn girl. Make up yer mind. You're the one who cut it off in the first place."
"I know... but... I couldn't stand watching him kill himself like that."
"Kill himself?" Faith looked at her, "He survived."
"Barely."
"B's Ken Doll has a saying for things like that," Faith quoted, "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades."
"Really funny, Faith."
"Geez girl, dust that sense of humor off once in a while." Faith snapped, "You keep up like that and this job'll kill ya before it kill's ya."
Phoebe didn't answer. She looked at Faith for a moment, "I just don't know..."
Faith took her turn at the silence game. Finally she looked over at the witch, "You do know that me and Xander are..."
Phoebe looked up in surprise, "You're seeing Xander?"
"Not exactly."
"Then what...?"
Phoebe looked at Faith for a long moment, "Oh... my... god."
The young witch turned away, forcing faith to turn to catch up to her. "Hey, you left him remember?"
"So?" Phoebe said, her voice a little bitter, "How long till he shacked up with *you*?"
Faith shrugged, taking the question seriously, even though she suspected it wasn't a serious question. "Couple weeks. He got toasted a few times after you left him, girl. He had it bad for you."
Phoebe turned away. "I... I didn't know..."
"Bullshit!" Faith pulled her back around, "You know Xander. Hell you know him better then anyone, even me. And I'm the only other person who comes close, and you know it."
Phoebe nodded. Faith calmed down a bit, "Look, Girl. I don't know what your problem is, and I'd normally add that I don't care... but that's not true. You and Xander are my friends... The first friends I've had in a damned long time, so you're gonna listen to me real careful right now."
Phoebe didn't look back, but she didn't turn away again either.
Faith shook her head. Damn. I'm no good at this crap. "Look... Talk to him, girl. Figure out what you want, and try to work it out with him."
"What about you two?"
Faith shrugged, "Xan and I are friends, Phoebe. That's about it. You've never had a friend like that?"
Phoebe shrugged, "I guess..."
"Then you know that I'm not going to fight you for him."
Phoebe was silent.
"Talk to him." Faith urged.
Phoebe nodded, "I will."
"Good." Faith suddenly grinned and slapped her on the back, "Now come on, girl, let's burn some daylight."
"How?"
Faith grinned, "Shopping."
A slow smile spread across Phoebe's face, "Cool."
*****
Buffy walked along with Willow toward the university campus.
"So..."
Willow looked over at her, a little nervous. "So... we going to keep dancing around this?"
Buffy took a deep breath. "No... I think four days is enough... you?"
"Way enough."
"So..." Willow looked at the blond again and chuckled.
Buffy grinned herself, and took a breath. "I'm sorry."
Willow's laughter stopped, her eyes widened. "What?"
"I'm sorry... I was way hard on you... I shouldn't..."
"No!" Willow said, "No... I screwed up, Buff... and... I'm sorry."
Buffy looked over at the red head, "you already apologized..."
"No I didn't." Willow said, "Not really... Not like I should have. I'm sorry for the spell, I'm sorry for what happened... and I'm sorry for being mad at you for the past few weeks."
Buffy nodded, "I... I accept."
Willow smiled over at the blond, "Thank you."
"Now..." Buffy started, "Can we be friends again?"
"We never stopped."
"I know." Buffy said, "But It felt like the thing to say."
The two girls laughed slightly and Buffy wrapped an arm around the redhead as they continued toward the university.
*****
"M... Miss Parker?" Tara looked at the older woman with trepidation.
"It's all right, Tara." Parker smiled, warmly for a change. "I just wanted to say that I'm impressed with your shooting."
"B... but I'm not as good as the others..."
"Not yet." Parker said, "But except for Willow the others all have some major advantages. I think you could be quite the marksman."
"I... You think?"
Parker nodded, "I do. You have the right approach. Willow takes the gun too lightly, the same way she takes magic... I think we can train that out of her, but it's something we'll need to watch. The Slayers, well they take to weapons like a five year old takes to toys... same problem, same solution. Phoebe I'm not sure about, but I think that she'll be ok... But you, you respect the weapon. You treat it like a dangerous, lethal, tool... and that is something I respect."
Tara looked surprised, "I... I didn't do anything different from the others..."
"It wasn't what you did... if was the way you moved, the way you thought." Parker said, "I want you to come back for extra lessons... stuff I'm not going to show the others yet."
"W... why?"
"Because you're ready to handle it. They aren't."
*****
Later
Xander pulled into the driveway, and hopped out of the convertible. Damn glad to get this back.
He headed up the lane and went inside, looking around. "Hello?"
No one answered. He shrugged, and headed downstairs. As he hit the halfway mark he stopped and sniffed the air. What the?
He stepped down a little slower, smelling the gunpowder in the air. "Someone's been playing around..." he whispered.
He checked out the range, walking down to look at the traps behind the targets. Inside he saw dozens and dozens of rounds in each trap.
"Damn." He looked around in confusion, "Jarod is gone... Miss Parker wouldn't have done all this... what the hell is going on here?"
*****
