Rainbow Over Sunnydale Chapter 10
By Joseph Black
Disclaimer: Red Storm and Tom Clancy own Rainbow and Characters. Joss Whedon owns Buffy and Characters. Anyone else belongs to me. I make no profit of the following except to have a little fun.
Spoilers: Buffy to present. Rainbow to Bear and the Dragon.
Authors note: I am adjusting the Buffy time line slightly, moving things back about a month.
Authors note 2: I have made some corrections/revisions, to Chapter 1. I didn't change much, just tightened things up a little. If you are reading this note after 11 April 2003, never mind.
Thanks to all that reviewed. Constructive criticisms always welcomed. Flames cheerfully
ignored.
Notes to Reviewers:
Jiltanith: I will be working The Clancy back-story into latter chapters.
Fast Pilot: Sorry it took so long for the last chapter to be posted. Buffy in season 7 seems to me to be less likely to just let someone go off and work out their own problems. I just foreshadowed it a bit.
There was a silence when Willow finished her explanation. During this silence John Clark looked Anya over. He knew he knew her from somewhere. He had a good memory for faces; it was required for intelligence work. He could not pin down where he knew her from though. "Excuse me Ms. Emerson, how do you know my past history?" He asked her.
"I was there for most of it," Anya replied, "Those pimps where so bad that I just couldn't ignore what those girls where going through."
"Anya was kind of the patron demon of scorned women," Willow explained.
"Those pimps had those poor women so beat down that they did not even think nasty thoughts about them, let alone make a wish for harm to come to them. When Pat started to rebel I thought she might make a wish, but she just ran. Then they caught her and did those things to her," Anya closed her eyes then continued, "When you found out what happened to her I felt your rage all the way in England. Normally I only dealt with women but for you I would have made an exception."
A face suddenly appeared in Clark's mind, "You were that chatty nurse in the hospital!"
"Yes, I wanted to get you to make a wish, but you wouldn't oblige," Anya replied, pleased that he remembered her.
"How is that possible?" Ding asked, "You can't be older than 25."
"I've been around for a little longer than that," Anya replied.
"Anya is over a thousand years old," Willow supplied.
"A thousand?" Ding asked in a strangled tone, thinking of the history that she must have witnessed.
"A lady doesn't tell her age," Anya said.
"It turned out that you didn't need my help. By the time you where done though, I think that any vengeance demon that didn't have a case was watching what happened with interest."
John Clark definitely didn't like the thought that he was being followed around by a group of demons when he was fighting that gang.
Riley who had been quiet through most of the explanations asked his own question, "Willow how did Spike get his soul back? Did you have anything to do with it?"
"I did not!" Willow, glaring at Riley, said somewhat indignantly, "I have to say that I am getting a little sick and tired of how when ever anything magical happens around here I'm the first one that people point a finger at. Buffy's invisible. What did you do Willow? We can't get out of the house. How did this happen Willow? There's a singing demon Willow. What did you do?"
"We didn't blame you for Sweet," Dawn pointed out.
Willow ignored Dawn. She just went on without stopping, "I know I killed Warren, drained Rack, and tried to end the world, but there are other magic users out there you know!" She then stood up and started out of the room, "If you will excuse me, I'm not feeling well, I think I'm going to bed." She then exited the dinning room and went up stairs.
A couple of moments after Willow went up stairs the front door opened. Buffy and Xander came into the dining room, "Where's Willow?" Buffy asked.
"Riley asked if Willow had anything to do with Spike getting his soul back. Then she kind of blew up, and then said she didn't feel well," Anya supplied helpfully.
"I'm sorry," Riley said, "I didn't realize that it was a tender subject."
"Point of interest?" Clark asked, looking very interested, "Was she being figurative or literal when she said about trying to end the world?"
"Figurative…Literal," Buffy and Anya said simultaneously. Buffy glared at Anya.
"What?" Anya asked, "I don't understand, you humans always want people to tell the truth. Your national hero is George Washington, the man who could not tell a lie. Why does everyone get upset when I tell the truth?"
"An," Xander said patiently, "We tell kids not to lie because they do it to cover their butt. It's not the same when you are covering someone else's."
Anya threw up her hands, and for a moment looked like she was going to storm out too. Then it seemed to register that she was crashing on Buffy's couch, plus the living room lacked a door to slam, so that if she wanted to slam a door, she would have to head out the front door. Right into the arms of whatever D'Hoffyrn had waiting for her. She settled back into her seat. A few moments later though she suddenly stood up and headed for the stairs. Everyone looked at her expectantly. "What?" she asked, "I drank to much soda, and I have to go pee."
After Anya walked upstairs Riley turned to Buffy and asked, "What happened?"
Buffy sighed and sat down, Xander also returned to his seat.
"I told you. When Tara was killed Wills lost it. She went down to The Magic Box and drained the magic out of a bunch of spell books. I had been shot and was undergoing surgery when Willow broke into the hospital, and healed me." Buffy said.
Riley frowned, "Healing by magic is dangerous Buff."
"I don't think she cared," Buffy said, "She had so much power that she could do pretty much what she wanted. She had a lock on him, or so she thought, but it turned out to be a decoy. We didn't know at the time that Tara was dead, so we just thought she was pissed about what Warren had done to me. We weren't too worried till we found Tara's body."
"I found Tara's body," Dawn said quietly, "You found me, with her."
Buffy leaned over and took Dawn's hand, "Okay when we found you both."
Dawn choked back a sob, remembering the lonely vigil she had kept with Tara that afternoon. Buffy went on, "We managed with Anya's help to find Willow, but we were too late to stop her from killing Warren. She wasn't satisfied with just that though, or rather the magic driving her wasn't. She told us that she was going to go after Jonathan, and Andrew. I knew that if she killed those two she would never be able to turn back from the dark. I sent Anya ahead to try to get Andrew and Jonathan out of the jail before Willow got there, but she wasn't able too. Willow attacked the jail, and in the confusion we were able to get them out before she could get to them. Between Warren and the jail she used up most of the power she had drained from the books, so she went after Rack."
"And he was?" Clark asked.
"He, was a magical pusher. He would take a witch, supercharge her magic, and then feed on her energy. The effect on the witch is similar to certain drugs. It's very addictive, and, Willow got hooked. Great friend that I was I never noticed what was going on till it was too late. She almost killed Dawn in an accident. That finally made her see what was happening, she promised to quit cold turkey. She was doing it too, till Tara got killed."
Clark had little sympathy for pushers, magical or other wise. He had no sympathy for Rack.
Being killed by one of his victims was justice Clark thought.
"We hold up in the Magic Box, and we were trying to figure some way to control Willow. She tracked us down before we had come up with anything though and so we were fighting. Giles showed up then, a coven of witches in England had detected what was happening in Sunnydale, and they lent Giles their power and sent him to Sunnydale."
"Sent?" Clark questioned.
"Teleported," Buffy replied.
'Well damn,' Clark thought, 'That would have made my life so much easier to be able to do that.'
"He was able to contain her for a little while, but she was just too powerful, so she got loose. But she was out of energy again, so, she drained Giles," Riley looked up in concern, "No Riley, she didn't kill him, but it was close for a while. She managed to trap Dawn and me in a grave in one of the cemeteries. Then she headed out of town to try to summon an apocalypse demon. Xander got to her and managed to talk her out of it. Giles took her to England over the summer to get help. The coven that lent him their power worked with her, taught her to control her magic, and she has been good since she got back," Looking at Mr. Clark she said emphatically, "She isn't a threat anymore,"
"I'll have to take your word for it Ms. Summers," Clark said. Yes, that will be a long list he was going to talk over with Riley.
After she finished everyone took a couple seconds to get their thoughts in order. Finally Mr. Clark asked, "What are your plans for tomorrow Ms. Summers?" Buffy thought for a moment then said, "Dawn and I are going to do some running when we get up."
"Aaaww," Dawn whined.
"Live with it Dawn, I told you when I agreed to let you come on patrol that you needed to work on your wind. So we run every other day when you aren't in school, and every third day when you are."
"I don't remember you doing a lot of road work when you first started," Dawn complained.
"You weren't there for what Merrick originally put me through, plus you also don't have a Slayer's stamina. If you want to patrol, then you run," Buffy finished firmly.
"Okay, but if I'm running tomorrow then I'm going to bed too," Dawn said, then to everyone, "Good night."
Everyone wished her goodnight as the teenager headed up stairs.
"After the run, if your maps have shown up then I am going to scout those tunnels. Other wise tomorrow afternoon I will go in."
Mr. Clark nodded, indicating he understood, "The rest of Ding's team will be showing up tomorrow afternoon, I was wondering if you could point us at a local realtor so we can find some place to set up in. I don't think your house would be big enough for a dozen of us," Clark continued.
"How big a place are you looking for?" Xander asked.
"That would really be up to Riley I think," Clark said, "I would bet that even after we deal with General Billingsly and his troops, President Ryan will want to have forces guarding the Hellmouth."
Seeing Buffy frowning he went on, "It's not that you aren't doing a good job Ms. Summers, it's that Jack Ryan takes his obligations seriously. He will view of setting up permanent defenses for The Hellmouth as something that must be done to protect the country, and the world. I'm sure he will attempt to cooperate with you as much as possible."
"We'll see," was all Buffy would say, clearly not convinced.
"I know a couple of realtors," Xander said, "I can get a list of what's available."
"Thank you Mr. Harris. Could you take Riley around to some of these sites and see if any can be used?" Clark requested.
"Sure, be glad to," Xander replied, "I even know some people who can fix it up if what ever Riley wants has some damage."
"Excellent," Clark told him.
"Okay," Buffy announced standing up, "If we have tomorrows itinerary worked out then I am going to finish the patrol I started, hopefully I can pick up some info on Spike."
"You're going out alone?" Ding asked.
"I usually do," was Buffy's reply, as she headed for the front door.
"Want some company?" He asked.
"Thanks, but you had a tough night already. Why don't you get some sleep," Buffy told him.
"What kind of watch rotation are you running?" Clark asked.
"Watch rotation?" Buffy asked perplexed, "I think we have some extra alarm clocks around if you need them."
"Err, no," Mr. Clark replied, "Guard watches, who's standing what watches?"
"We aren't," Buffy said shrugging, "Vampires can't get into the house, and most of the other things have figured out that it's not a good idea to break into The Slayers house."
"The First seems to be a slow learner," Clark pointed out, indicating the boarded up front window, and the other damage still visible.
.
"The First has got what it wants tonight, it won't be back," was Buffy's answer, as she reached for her jacket.
"Would you mind if we stood some?" Clark queried, not as sure as she was.
"Knock yourselves out," Buffy said as she threw her jacket over her shoulder and headed out the front door.
After Buffy left, Anya came back down and looking around and asked, "Who ticked Buffy off that she left?"
Xander exasperated said, "No one An, she just went back on patrol. I have to get going too. What time do you want to meet up tomorrow Riley?"
"0900?" Riley supplied.
"9 am it is then, good night all," Xander said as he headed out.
"Okay," Clark said to the other two commando's, "Riley you take the first 2 hour watch, I'll take the mid three, then Ding you'll have the watch till people are up."
"Why don't we just split it into 2 hour shifts?" Ding asked, "You don't have to take the mid either; why not let one of us take it?"
"If we have fighting tomorrow then it will be you two that will be doing it. If I get tired I can always catch up on the couch."
Clearly not happy about it Ding agreed, "Riley how bout covering me so I can go out and get our stuff out of the car?"
"It's not quite that bad in Sunnydale Ding, "Riley said, "You can probably get the stuff out of the car without getting attacked."
"Humor me. I already got attacked once tonight," Ding replied.
Riley shook his head and motioned Ding out the front door, as he followed the Latino major he unbuttoned his jacket so he could get easy access to his pistol.
"Do you need blankets or anything?" Anya asked.
"We have sleeping bags in the truck, but some pillows would be nice," Clark replied.
"Sure, I have to go and change, I'll bring them down when I come back down."
Anya headed back upstairs, and Ding and Riley came back in a couple of minutes later carrying their sleeping gear, plus their gun cases. "See Ding, all the way down the driveway and not attacked once," Riley teased.
"Sorry, just a little jumpy, I'm not sure of the rules of this game yet," Ding said, not embarrassed in the least for taking the extra precautions.
"I'll go over some of the stuff I learned with The Initiative tomorrow," Riley promised, "Buffy can be helpful too. You have watch with her though, sometimes she forgets that not everyone can do what she does and if you try to do what she suggests you can end up in traction."
"Thanks." Ding told the other commando.
Anya came back down then dressed in a nightgown carrying several pillows, "Here you go," She said, handing each of the men a pillow, "I'll be on the couch, you can stretch out anywhere on the floor that you want to."
"What about him?" Clark asked, nodding toward Andrew.
"He looks comfortable where he is," Anya replied.
Clark looked at the slumped figure in the director's chair. Andrews's head was hanging forward and a string of drool was running down the front of his shirt. Clark went over and checked his pulse. It seemed to be okay, maybe a little thready, but steady.
"John, are you sure you want the midwatch? I don't mind taking it," Ding tried one more time.
"Thanks Ding. But these old creaky bones still have a little life in them. I want to call Dan around 5 anyway. Which will be about the time you take over for me."
"Okay. G'night, see you around 5 then,"
As Clark closed his eyes Anya spoke up, "Mr. Clark?"
"Umm," He answered noncommittally.
"I just want to tell you, I thought that what you did with James Cutter was just beautiful, it was a work of art."
"Are you people STILL following me around?" John asked, shocked at the concept.
"Only when you get mad," Anya replied.
Clark let his head slump back onto the pillow, "One thing I don't understand, If this D'Hoffyrn is so interested in me that he is still following me around, how come he's never tried to recruit me himself?"
"He can't, it's against the rules," Anya explained.
"Huh?" John asked, looking back in the direction of the ex-vengeance demon.
"If you had used magic it would not have been a problem, he could have just walked up to you, that's how he recruited me. I had a boyfriend that was always cheating on me, so I turned him into a troll. Anyway, if you had asked either the higher or lower powers for help he would have had an in. But because you did it the hard way all he could do is follow you around and hope that put in a prayer. Why?" Pushing herself up, getting very interested, "Would you be interested in becoming a vengeance demon? If you where we could say that I talked you into it, that would get me off D'Hoffryn's someone to kill list," Anya finished, getting excited.
"I'm sorry Anya, but I don't think my wife would appreciate a change of career's at this late date," Clark told her, then thinking about it, "Do you mean that this demon lord still wants me to work for him?"
"Oh yes," Anya said, "I think the only person he want's more is Willow." A sound started coming from the direction of Ding's sleeping bag.
Clark glared in the direction the sound was coming from, "You better be coughing over there Ding," He growled.
"Oh yeah, allergies John, you know how I have them," Ding said, laughter in his voice.
"So you are still married John?" Anya queried.
"Yes. Quite happily too," Clark replied,
"Darn," Anya said with real feeling, "How bout Ding?"
The sound from the direction of Ding's sleeping bag abruptly choked off.
"He's my son-in-law," Clark told her.
"I'm going to die an old maid," moaned Anya as she slumped back onto the couch.
Riley finished his first tour of the house and settled down on a chair next to the front door where he could look out the windows on the side of the door. Making himself comfortable he settled in for his watch. Peace descended on the Summer's home; it was the last time that would happen for a long period of time.