Title: Love Squared (6/9)
Author: Cyclone
Feedback: Please be gentle.
Distribution: Gimme credit and a link. Plus, archived at http://fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=62966
Rating: I'm gonna go say R.
Spoilers: Up to Seeing Red.
Disclaimer: The characters depicted herein belong to the almighty Joss. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Summary: Sequel to Dancing Around Love. The Scooby Gang comes to grips with the recent events and deals with the Trio.
Author's Note: B/W/T/X, along with hints of X/Amy and Jonathan/Amy.
* * *
Amy was on the verge of panicking. She stared at the object in her hands, willing its wrongness away, but the item refused to change. She closed her eyes and shook her head, certain that she was seeing things.
Nope. Still there.
"Oh, boy."
* * *
"All right," Buffy said. "Why do you think they'll try to hit the armored truck again tonight? That's stupid."
"Well, um," Jonathan hesitated, "this is going to sound strange but... because they don't think you'd think they'd dare try it again."
"Huh?" Xander blinked. "You wanna run that by us again?"
Jonathan sighed, "It would be stupid to try again. They've made it a point to make themselves look smart. If they wanted to throw you off, that'd mean doing a stupid heist."
"That..." Buffy sputtered, "...that doesn't make any sense!"
"That's _comic_ _book_ logic!" Willow blurted out.
Xander raised a finger, "And who are we dealing with again?"
They looked at each other in silence for a long moment before the room erupted with activity.
"Right," Buffy said. "Xander, get the weapons."
"On it."
"Willow, find out the armored truck's schedule."
"Bringing it up now."
"Tara, find some spells; we may need the extra punch."
"A-all right."
"Dawn, you stay here."
"Aw, but Buffy!"
* * *
"Wow," Warren said cockily. "That almost hurt, kitten."
"We're just getting started."
Warren snapped his head around and saw Xander holding a tranquilizer rifle, "Nighty night."
Thwip!
Warren smirked, brushing the dart off his shirt, "You think that's gonna work? Please."
Xander shrugged, "It did its job."
"What?"
ZZAK!
Warren found himself flying through the air, writhing in pain from the spell Tara had unleashed on him from behind. Staggering to his feet, he glared at them and snarled, a touch of insanity in his voice, "C'mon! Is that all you've got? I can take whatever you can dish out!"
"Really?" Willow called out. "Are you bulletproof?" She held up one of the guards' guns and fired.
"As a matter of fact," Warren replied as he advanced on her, "I am."
ZZAK!
Warren picked himself up and glared at Tara. "Cut that out, you f***ing bitch!" he yelled, tearing a piece of the road away and hurling it at the blonde witch.
"No, Tara!" Xander leaped toward Tara, intending to tackle her to safety, but he found himself thrown back by some kind of force field instead.
The debris shattered against the magical barrier, and Tara smirked. "Welcome to the big leagues, little boy."
ZZAK!
Warren shook his head dizzily. The voltage on the last blast was enough to penetrate even the protective magic of his orbs.
Buffy stood over him and said sunnily, "Good night." With one swift motion, she crushed the Orbs of Nezzla'khan beneath her foot.
Warren scrambled back, "Get away from me!" He struggled out of his jacket, revealing what looked like a Flash Gordon reject prop, and backed away, "I swear to God, I'm gonna take you down, you piece of..."
Buffy stared as Warren flew off, "Oh, come _on_..."
"What the heck was that?" Xander stared in disbelief.
"Well played, Slayer," Andrew said dramatically, revealing his own jetpack.
Fwoosh!
CLANG!
Andrew slumped to the ground unconscious as sirens began to wail.
Willow looked up, "We'd better get moving."
"Yeah," Xander nodded. He took the gun Willow had used and gave it a quick wipe with his shirt before dropping it back to the ground.
* * *
Willow stretched and stifled a yawn as she stepped out of the bathroom. Last night's confrontation with the Evil Trio -- or was that Evil Duo, now that Jonathan was on a redemption kick? -- had drained her. It had been hard to keep herself from using magic.
"Uh, Willow? C-can I talk to you?"
"Sure, Amy. What is it?"
"Uhh..." the recovering witch said hesitantly. "When Mom was possessing me, did she...? Did she, um, sleep with anyone?"
Willow paled, "Why?"
Amy held up the pregnancy test wordlessly.
"Oh, God." Willow sagged against the wall, babbling, "You're pregnant. You're pregnant with Xander's baby."
Amy's eyes went round, "X-Xander?"
Willow nodded wordlessly, then asked, "Does Jonathan know?"
Amy shook her head, "No. No, he doesn't. He's been working at the Magic Box all day."
"Oh."
* * *
"Hey, Buff, how's it going?" Xander asked.
"Pretty good," she said. "Still worried about Warren, though. After that jetpack deal, who knows what else they kept Jonathan out of the loop on."
"Hey, you'll get him," he said confidently. "I believe in you."
"Thanks, Xander," she said, pulling him into a hug.
"You think you can just do that to me?" a crazed voice rang out. They whirled around and saw Warren storming toward them. "You think I'd let you get away with that?" He let out a not-entirely-sane laugh, then looked at them with level eyes, "Think again."
"Buffy, get down!" Xander cried out as he shoved the Slayer aside. He felt a piercing pain in his back and saw the ground rushing up to meet him before he blacked out.
* * *
From her second story bedroom window, Tara watched, her eyes blazing red. She held up her hand, and the bullet that hovered in front of her face dropped harmlessly into her palm. She clenched her fist and angrily hissed out one word.
"Warren."
* * *
Willow jerked her head up, "That sounded like..."
"Gunshots," Amy finished.
The redhead rushed outside, Amy right behind her, and saw Buffy crouching over Xander's prone form, pleading, "C'mon, Xander, wake up, please!"
"Oh, God," Willow's voice caught. "Xander!"
Buffy looked up, "Call an ambulance! Hurry!"
The redhead nodded and stumbled back into the house, racing toward the phone.
* * *
"Hide or fight?" Rack asked simply.
"Both," Warren said impatiently. "All of it. I-I still have a few tricks up my sleeve, but it's not enough. I need... I need a cover, and I need lots of firepower."
"I can't guarantee anything," Rack said. "Not this time." His voice dropped, "The girl is running on pure fury. I've never felt anything like it." He smiled.
"Thank you for the tip, Nostradamus," Warren said snidely. "Just load me up, okay?"
* * *
The bell rang, indicating that someone had entered the Magic Box.
Jonathan looked up, "Tara! There you are. Everyone's been looking all over for you! It's Xander; he's been..."
"Shot," she said, looking up at him. "I know."
He froze when he saw her eyes. "Oh, no."
She smiled, "Oh, yes."
With a flick of her wrist, she hurled Jonathan against the wall, knocking him unconscious. Another gesture, and the dark magic books lining the top shelf flew toward her.
She touched the books, and the texts flowed into her, staining her blonde hair an oily black. She threw back her head and cried out, reveling in the ecstasy of the sheer power now at her command.
She giggled hysterically. Ohh, that felt _gooood_.
It was payback time.
* * *
Author's Postscript:
Mwahahahaha!
Author: Cyclone
Feedback: Please be gentle.
Distribution: Gimme credit and a link. Plus, archived at http://fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=62966
Rating: I'm gonna go say R.
Spoilers: Up to Seeing Red.
Disclaimer: The characters depicted herein belong to the almighty Joss. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
Summary: Sequel to Dancing Around Love. The Scooby Gang comes to grips with the recent events and deals with the Trio.
Author's Note: B/W/T/X, along with hints of X/Amy and Jonathan/Amy.
* * *
Amy was on the verge of panicking. She stared at the object in her hands, willing its wrongness away, but the item refused to change. She closed her eyes and shook her head, certain that she was seeing things.
Nope. Still there.
"Oh, boy."
* * *
"All right," Buffy said. "Why do you think they'll try to hit the armored truck again tonight? That's stupid."
"Well, um," Jonathan hesitated, "this is going to sound strange but... because they don't think you'd think they'd dare try it again."
"Huh?" Xander blinked. "You wanna run that by us again?"
Jonathan sighed, "It would be stupid to try again. They've made it a point to make themselves look smart. If they wanted to throw you off, that'd mean doing a stupid heist."
"That..." Buffy sputtered, "...that doesn't make any sense!"
"That's _comic_ _book_ logic!" Willow blurted out.
Xander raised a finger, "And who are we dealing with again?"
They looked at each other in silence for a long moment before the room erupted with activity.
"Right," Buffy said. "Xander, get the weapons."
"On it."
"Willow, find out the armored truck's schedule."
"Bringing it up now."
"Tara, find some spells; we may need the extra punch."
"A-all right."
"Dawn, you stay here."
"Aw, but Buffy!"
* * *
"Wow," Warren said cockily. "That almost hurt, kitten."
"We're just getting started."
Warren snapped his head around and saw Xander holding a tranquilizer rifle, "Nighty night."
Thwip!
Warren smirked, brushing the dart off his shirt, "You think that's gonna work? Please."
Xander shrugged, "It did its job."
"What?"
ZZAK!
Warren found himself flying through the air, writhing in pain from the spell Tara had unleashed on him from behind. Staggering to his feet, he glared at them and snarled, a touch of insanity in his voice, "C'mon! Is that all you've got? I can take whatever you can dish out!"
"Really?" Willow called out. "Are you bulletproof?" She held up one of the guards' guns and fired.
"As a matter of fact," Warren replied as he advanced on her, "I am."
ZZAK!
Warren picked himself up and glared at Tara. "Cut that out, you f***ing bitch!" he yelled, tearing a piece of the road away and hurling it at the blonde witch.
"No, Tara!" Xander leaped toward Tara, intending to tackle her to safety, but he found himself thrown back by some kind of force field instead.
The debris shattered against the magical barrier, and Tara smirked. "Welcome to the big leagues, little boy."
ZZAK!
Warren shook his head dizzily. The voltage on the last blast was enough to penetrate even the protective magic of his orbs.
Buffy stood over him and said sunnily, "Good night." With one swift motion, she crushed the Orbs of Nezzla'khan beneath her foot.
Warren scrambled back, "Get away from me!" He struggled out of his jacket, revealing what looked like a Flash Gordon reject prop, and backed away, "I swear to God, I'm gonna take you down, you piece of..."
Buffy stared as Warren flew off, "Oh, come _on_..."
"What the heck was that?" Xander stared in disbelief.
"Well played, Slayer," Andrew said dramatically, revealing his own jetpack.
Fwoosh!
CLANG!
Andrew slumped to the ground unconscious as sirens began to wail.
Willow looked up, "We'd better get moving."
"Yeah," Xander nodded. He took the gun Willow had used and gave it a quick wipe with his shirt before dropping it back to the ground.
* * *
Willow stretched and stifled a yawn as she stepped out of the bathroom. Last night's confrontation with the Evil Trio -- or was that Evil Duo, now that Jonathan was on a redemption kick? -- had drained her. It had been hard to keep herself from using magic.
"Uh, Willow? C-can I talk to you?"
"Sure, Amy. What is it?"
"Uhh..." the recovering witch said hesitantly. "When Mom was possessing me, did she...? Did she, um, sleep with anyone?"
Willow paled, "Why?"
Amy held up the pregnancy test wordlessly.
"Oh, God." Willow sagged against the wall, babbling, "You're pregnant. You're pregnant with Xander's baby."
Amy's eyes went round, "X-Xander?"
Willow nodded wordlessly, then asked, "Does Jonathan know?"
Amy shook her head, "No. No, he doesn't. He's been working at the Magic Box all day."
"Oh."
* * *
"Hey, Buff, how's it going?" Xander asked.
"Pretty good," she said. "Still worried about Warren, though. After that jetpack deal, who knows what else they kept Jonathan out of the loop on."
"Hey, you'll get him," he said confidently. "I believe in you."
"Thanks, Xander," she said, pulling him into a hug.
"You think you can just do that to me?" a crazed voice rang out. They whirled around and saw Warren storming toward them. "You think I'd let you get away with that?" He let out a not-entirely-sane laugh, then looked at them with level eyes, "Think again."
"Buffy, get down!" Xander cried out as he shoved the Slayer aside. He felt a piercing pain in his back and saw the ground rushing up to meet him before he blacked out.
* * *
From her second story bedroom window, Tara watched, her eyes blazing red. She held up her hand, and the bullet that hovered in front of her face dropped harmlessly into her palm. She clenched her fist and angrily hissed out one word.
"Warren."
* * *
Willow jerked her head up, "That sounded like..."
"Gunshots," Amy finished.
The redhead rushed outside, Amy right behind her, and saw Buffy crouching over Xander's prone form, pleading, "C'mon, Xander, wake up, please!"
"Oh, God," Willow's voice caught. "Xander!"
Buffy looked up, "Call an ambulance! Hurry!"
The redhead nodded and stumbled back into the house, racing toward the phone.
* * *
"Hide or fight?" Rack asked simply.
"Both," Warren said impatiently. "All of it. I-I still have a few tricks up my sleeve, but it's not enough. I need... I need a cover, and I need lots of firepower."
"I can't guarantee anything," Rack said. "Not this time." His voice dropped, "The girl is running on pure fury. I've never felt anything like it." He smiled.
"Thank you for the tip, Nostradamus," Warren said snidely. "Just load me up, okay?"
* * *
The bell rang, indicating that someone had entered the Magic Box.
Jonathan looked up, "Tara! There you are. Everyone's been looking all over for you! It's Xander; he's been..."
"Shot," she said, looking up at him. "I know."
He froze when he saw her eyes. "Oh, no."
She smiled, "Oh, yes."
With a flick of her wrist, she hurled Jonathan against the wall, knocking him unconscious. Another gesture, and the dark magic books lining the top shelf flew toward her.
She touched the books, and the texts flowed into her, staining her blonde hair an oily black. She threw back her head and cried out, reveling in the ecstasy of the sheer power now at her command.
She giggled hysterically. Ohh, that felt _gooood_.
It was payback time.
* * *
Author's Postscript:
Mwahahahaha!