=Chapter Five=
The next morning, I get up around eight and wash and change in the bathroom before I carefully wake Faith, glad that I stayed out of striking distance when her fist shoots out before she's awake. She stares blearily at me and I tell her to scoot up to my bed. She does so with staggering motions and eyes that are only half-open.
Josh and Olson are up and moving when I head downstairs. Spike is lying on the sofa, still asleep I think, and his chest is just a mess of bruising. I guess he took mostly body shots last night. I prepare a mug of blood and wake him as carefully as I did Faith, and he sits up and takes it from me, drinking with little comprehension of what's gong on.
"Go on up to Faith's room," I tell him as Josh and Olson come downstairs. He does so with his own staggering movements that have me shaking my head at how alike Faith and Spike can be sometimes.
"Breakfast?" Olson asks.
Olson make the best omelets French Toast I've ever had. Ever. "Absolutely!" I say enthusiastically.
Josh makes a pot of coffee and comes out with a cup of it and some juice for me. We sit on the sofa and wake up, with Josh flipping to the Cartoon Network so that we can watch some mindless entertainment.
"I don't like this show," I say when Pokemon comes back from commercial.
He slants a look in my direction. "Is it the unnatural self-imposed slavery of the Pokemon that ruffles your militant feathers?" he asks archly, but like he promised, his eyes are twinkling.
"Um, actually, it's the way the Pokemon can only say their names." I shiver a little. "All those intonations. It's creepy."
Leaning over, Josh kisses my cheek. "You're too cute, Ta."
He obligingly changes the channel and stops at a video station where we alternatively grin or frown at whatever music video is playing until Olson serves up breakfast.
"How are you doing, Tara?" Olson asks just as we begin to eat.
I'm tempted to dismiss the question as casual conversation, but Olson doesn't partake of casual conversation, which means he's maybe concerned. "I'm worried about Spike," I admit with a sigh. "And I had another nightmare. And last night wasn't really fun, either."
"Poor thing," Josh says sympathetically, reaching for a plate in the center of the table. "Here, have some more bacon."
I chuckle at his fretting, which tends to show up a bit more than usual when Faith's not around. Just like Faith's soft-side shows up more when he's not around. They're kind of enablers of each other's attitudes, I think.
"Once we get some breathing room," Olson says to me, "you might want to see Dr. White."
"Mm. I'd already decided to do that," I assure him. "But until then...it's hard."
"What about Spike?" Josh asks around a mouthful of toast. "I mean, a soul? Why? And I didn't even know a vamp could just go out and get one." He frowns at Olson. "Did you know that?"
"No, I didn't. But I'm also not on first name terms with the Egyptian ruler of the destiny of the dead," he says dryly. "And Spike and Tara are."
They look at me, and I wipe my lips with a napkin. "Dawn. She's the why," I add at their confused looks. Comprehension replaces confusion, and then it's obvious they want more information. "Spike is...Spike." I shrug helplessly. "I don't, uh, really know what else to say."
"He's screwy," Josh states plainly. "Not in a crazy way, but in a not-Spike way."
That's not true, not really. What everyone is seeing now--the silences and the pained gaze--is just as much Spike as the snarky arrogance is. I saw it enough after everyone else died. So did Dawn and Giles, too.
"To be expected," Olson reminds Josh. "There's a lot to cope with, I'm sure." He tilts his head at me and frowns irritably. "I'm trying to restrain myself, Tara, but when can I--"
"Interrogate him?" I finish with a smile. He nods while Josh snorts. "Give him a few more days. But--don't expect much. Some things are really private, you know?"
Josh rolls his eyes. "So, is he going to stick around, or disappear off into the night again?"
I shrug again. At this point, I have no idea what Spike is going to do. He doesn't either, I don't think. "Would you guys, uh, mind? If he stayed?"
The men trade a look, and then Olson sets his fork down. "We're hoping he will, actually," Olson tells me carefully. "Faith could use someone to share the burden."
I study his face, which is so very bland. "You're worried about her, aren't you?" I say softly. "Um, more than you've said, I mean."
He dips his head and then resettles his napkin on his lap. "There are a lot of things that we can assist her with, that we can understand. But there are some that we--can not."
Pushing my plate away, I sigh quietly. He's right about that. We're a great support system for her, but the majority of what she does--the solitary hours-upon-hours of Slaying--is something that we can't help her with regularly, nor is it something that we can really grasp the toll of.
"When Spike was here," Josh picks up, his tone serious, "there was someone around who understood the violence in her. Not bad kind of violence," he hurries to clarify. "But just the natural violence that comes with the Slayer deal."
I tuck my hair behind my ears and look from Josh to Olson. "It's all very...complicated," I say with a sigh.
"Such is the way of our lives," Olson drawls unsympathetically. I frown at him, then turn my attention back to my French Toast.
As Josh and I are cleaning up from the meal, Giles calls. The news isn't good, but it's not bad either. Olson takes the call at the table, making notes as he goes, and Josh and I load the plates into the dishwasher.
Olson gives us the details after he hangs up. "His name is Niall," he says grimly. "Believed to be around three-hundred years old, and moderately gifted mystically. Giles contacted some of his various sources, who indicated that until recently, Niall was content to have control of the demon population of Pittsburgh."
"Is there even a demon populace in Pittsburgh?" Josh asks with a snort.
Olson shrugs, a rueful smile on his lips. "You'd be surprised." The smile fades away. "Anyway, about a month ago, Niall quite suddenly became obsessed with the Hellmouth."
"What happened to bring that on?" I ask worriedly. "Is...is something big going to happen?"
"Not so far as I can tell. Or Giles for that matter. According to rumors, Niall received a visit from a very powerful seer, but no one seems to be able to confirm that this meeting happened, nor what might have transpired if it did."
"So the mojo changes the vibes he gives off?" Josh asks.
"So it would seem," Olson replies with a nod. "By all accounts, he's rather nasty, and strong. There hasn't been a territory he's wanted that he hasn't gained control of." His brow furrows for a moment before he turns to me. "Tara--"
I'm already on my feet. "I'll go to the Magic Box now and look into the spell Giles suggested."
Josh decides to come with me, so that the shop might actually be open for a bit today. Sunnydale customers seem unfazed by the random hours Olson keeps it open, but it's never a good idea to close a business without warning, however temporarily the closing may be.
Olson is left to wake the two nocturnals and update them, and Josh and I hurry out of the apartment so that we don't have to witness the scene that's about to erupt. We take Olson's SUV, and Josh drives. We're silent on the trip, each of us pondering what we know, and the alarming amount of things we don't know at this point. Such as, what happened between Niall and the seer? What piqued Niall's interest in the Hellmouth? And how are we supposed to fight off hordes of vampires that just appear out of thin air?
"Is there an official word for a big group of vamps?" I ask Josh curiously.
"None that I've come across," Josh answers as he pulls into a parking spot. He pauses for a moment, then says, "We're lucky Spike's here."
I bite my lip. "Hm."
I don't even want to think what might have happened to Faith last night if she'd been out on her own. Niall sounds less dangerous than some of the other threats that we've dealt with, him being just a vampire and all. But if he can catch Faith unawares with a hundred vamps...well, I don't think even a Slayer's that good.
We retreat back to silence and head into the store. Josh does his opening ritual while I sit at the back table with a tablet of paper and the Greigh. The Leviglio, according to the Greigh, should allow us to sense magical energy emanating from a twenty-foot radius of whoever it's cast on. The spell triggers a tingling sensation along the skin of the individual. I think it's kind of like a little shock--like when you shuffle your feet on the carpet and then touch someone?
I turn the page and my breath catches. There's a large post-it stuck to the second page of the spell, and it's covered with Willow's small, neat handwriting. Hesitantly, I reach out and touch the words, letting my hand drift over them and indulging in memories of study sessions where not much studying got done.
It'll always hurt to think of her. At one time, the idea of that eternal hurt made me want to crawl away from sanity. Nowadays, it seems...right. She was so monumentally important to me that it's comforting to still be able to feel for her, even if she's gone.
A few months ago, this post-it might have tackled me to the ground with the memories and the hurt. But like I said, I've come to terms with Willow, so I take a steadying breath and carefully peel the post-it from the page. I stick it to the next page, which is actually a different spell and force myself back to the task at hand.
Giles was right about my being able to perform the Leviglio. He was also right about the drawbacks, as the footnotes and Willow's post-it confirm what he told me. Sunnydale being the Hellmouth, there is constantly magical energy being expended. Some by the Hellmouth itself, but a lot from the non- human residents. There are some demons that just...exude magical energy. Just leave a trail of it in their wake. Sunnydale has a few of those, I would guess.
What that means is we're going to be getting shocked an awful lot, and will have no way to determine if it's just a random demon's signature, the Hellmouth, or Niall's vampires. Willow's post-it indicates that she looked into some ways of targeting who or what triggers the alarm, but had no luck. My research skills, and knowledge of the texts in the store, aren't limited, but they're nowhere near as extensive as Willow's was; she did, after all, spend five years rifling through their pages. If she couldn't find a way to target the Leviglio, then I'm fairly confident there isn't one. However, this seems to be our only option at the moment.
Reading further, I find a hitch. It's a small one, but it still counts. The Leviglio simply enhances an individual's own magical sensitivity, and Josh is practically a null when it comes to magic. I mean, all living creatures are connected to earth magic, so he has *some*. Some really is the key word, because Josh has the barest amount of sensitivity that something living can have.
I'm also not sure if it will work on Spike. Given that he didn't cause that painful sensation in me when I was housing Will's magic, I'm a little confused about whether his demon nature will count as "magical sensitivity". Then again, when he and I were in Cairo? We went to this demon bar in some kind of old temple, and in order to wind our way through the maze of corridors, we had to follow a...pull. A pull that only works on non-humans and mystical types, according to what Spike told me.
The rest of us are covered. Faith's sensitivity is inherent due to her being a Slayer, and Olson went through plenty of mystical training in the Watchers that he developed a sensitivity. And, of course, I'm a witch.
I spend an hour delving into a book referenced in the footnotes and discover that demons and demon-hybrids can utilize the Leviglio, so that just leaves Josh. Hm. I think I can pull it off by lending him a little bit of mine, but there's no guarantee. As much as Josh hates being left at home on HQ duty--coordinating the rest of us and acting as the wound patcher- upper--there may be no way around it.
Josh helps me gather the ingredients I need, and I still find it strange after all this time to be able to take what I need from the shop without Anya's thinly-concealed irritation about the lack of profit, and Xander's patient explanations about world-savage being more important than the all mighty dollar.
"We need to head back," I tell him, frowning down at the Greigh. He drops the last package of herbs on the table and raises a brow. "I need to meditate for this. And I really think it's in our best interests to have this in place before dark."
"Damn demons showing up during the shortest days of the year," he grumbles as we pack everything in some bags.
"I wonder if we can take it up with their union?" I muse.
"Yeah, yeah, you're a regular comedienne," he drawls sarcastically. "Let me stick the standard 'Closed Due to Family Emergency' sign on the door and we can bolt."
***
We hear the yelling from the courtyard, and come to a stop next to the fountain. I look at Josh. "Is that--"
"And they're back," Josh announces dramatically, managing to seem both amused and annoyed. "Welcome to life with Faith and Spike."
My eyes widen as I cut my eyes in the direction of the door to the apartment. "They argue a lot?" I ask worriedly.
"Oh, yeah," he says emphatically. "Think about it. You've got badass, stubborn, know-it-all Spike, and tough, stubborn, know-it-all Faith. It's a recipe for screaming matches."
I frown at him. "But...I thought you said they were friends?"
Josh nods. "They are. Well, as much as they'd let themselves be, what with the whole soulless vampire and Slayer thing being at issue." He slings an arm around my shoulders and urges me into motion again. "Nothing to worry about. It's probably good, actually. Calm Spike was just as creepy for me as Pokemon intonations are for you."
I scowl and plant a gentle elbow in his ribs. But, he has a point. Spike's attitude has been rather...absent. "Um, what should we do?" I ask hesitantly. "I mean, do we put them in separate corners? Get them to make up?"
We're at the door now, and Josh puts his hand on the knob and grins at me. "Just stay out of their line of fire. Oh, and later? Weigh in on whether you think there's any sexual tension. I say nay, but Olson says yea."
He opens the door and I'm left scowling at his back before I follow him inside. The screaming duo are in the living room. Faith is by the tree and looks to be holding it up by way of a hand on a branch and all of her weight thrown backwards. She's strong enough to lift a small car, so I guess the unwieldy bulkiness of the huge tree is what's making it difficult for her to keep it steady.
"Oh, really," Spike is snapping at her sarcastically. "What do you expect me to do? Scamper in front of the window and hold it up for you?"
Faith looks up, and I bite my lip. There's a large clump of tinsel on the top of her head, and that glown is on her face. Josh is snickering already, and I'm just too stunned to speak. Tinsel-headed Faith isn't something I ever thought I'd see, and it's really...cute. I think she'd appreciate the laughter far more than that sentiment.
"Isn't that what I fucking asked you to do in the first place?" she exclaims irritably.
Spike's lips twist. "Genius idea, what with the sun streaming in."
"*I* thought so," Faith snaps, then turns the glown on me and Josh. "Would *someone* get their ass into gear and give me a freaking hand, all ready? Neither of you are daylight challenged."
Josh sets the shopping bag of ingredients down and heads over to her. I close the door behind me so that Spike isn't confined to standing in the small spot of shade by the sofa, and he flashes me a smile. "What happened?" I ask with amusement.
"Twine snapped," he retorts. "Slayer couldn't handle the big bad tree all by her lonesome."
"*Shut* the *fuck* up, Spike," Faith calls out. The tinsel has gotten a little lopsided and is now leaning precariously to the left. It's about to fall in her face, and she's not going to be pleased about it. Oh dear, I really have to not laugh.
"Shove it, glitter girl," he drawls.
Josh hides his face *in* the tree, and the branches around him are shaking. I turn my back to the tree and laugh as silently as I can manage, which isn't all that silent, but luckily Faith is busy trying to get Josh to do what she's telling him to do, so she doesn't notice.
Spike takes a step back and smirks down at me, his eyes glittering in a way I haven't seen since he's been back. There's a cutting edge to his amusement, and that should really not sit well with me. But that edge? It's so very Spike, and it's so very nice to see it again. Even if I think it's going to make Faith even more pissed than she already is.
"Dude, what the hell are you doing over there?"
I glance over my shoulder. The tinsel has slipped some more, and it's hanging over one of Faith's ears, stuck to her hair in such a way that it's not actually touching her skin. She looks a little demented, to be honest, and more ridiculous than anything I've seen in a while. The tinsel and the glown, combined with the way she's got her head cocked to the side...just ridiculous.
Josh falls to his knees, face still buried in the tree. It's obvious that he's trying to mask his laughter, but the choked sounds he's making can't really be credited to anything else but laughing. Spike is snickering, and Faith is staring at us like we've sprouted wings or something.
"What the hell is so funny?" she demands indignantly, head cocking to the other side.
I cover my mouth with my hands and shake with the effort not to laugh out loud at her just as the door opens and Olson comes in. "Oh, you're back," he says, frowning at my hands. "I ran over to my place to get another set of clothes."
His eyes slide to Spike, then over to the tree, and then they widen. He blinks a couple of times. "Faith, you've got some tinsel in your hair," he says neutrally, his face a little too empty of any kind of expression. "Right about..." He lifts his hand and points with a single finger to the left side of his face. "...there."
"For God's sake," she hisses. "Get over here and take this thing."
Olson obligingly takes her place with the tree and props it against the wall. His green eyes are dancing with amusement, and I have to admire his restraint. Faith makes her way to the mirror on the wall by the stairs. She goes still as she stares are her reflection, and a very steady hand reaches up to pluck the silver threads from her hair. My laughter has all but died away, because a still and steady Faith isn't a Faith that is about to laugh at herself anytime soon.
I move behind her and slide my hands through her hair to get the remaining strands of tinsel. She's frowning at her reflection. "You were laughing at me," she says like she's just now realizing it.
My fingers spread, and I shake my hand to dislodge the tinsel onto the floor. I move a little bit closer, until I'm kind of brushing against her back, and my reflection smiles at hers in the mirror. "Yeah," I say softly. "It was pretty funny. The tinsel kind of, um, migrated a couple of times."
Her frown deepens, and I hear Spike snort behind me. "Untwist your knickers, Slayer," he advises caustically. "Nothing to climb a water tower and pick off civilians over."
"No one asked you, Spike," she snaps, turning to curl her lips at him.
"You say that like I care, ducks," he says dryly. "Never waited for permission to point out when someone's being an idiot."
"An idiot? Wanna tell everyone just how the twine snapped?" she asks with a hard grin. "The big bad vampire fell on the tree when I snuck up on him and scared the crap out of him." She folds her arms under her breasts and raises a brow at him. "You squealed like a girly bitch, man."
"Hey!" Spike protests indignantly. "I damn well didn't."
My head swings back and forth between them as they argue the details of what, if any, sound Spike made when Faith did, or did not, sneak up on him. I'm...bemused. This is just very, very odd. Faith isn't easily distracted from her mercurial moods, normally, but I think she's just forgotten that we were all laughing at her and that she should be annoyed by it. Hm.
Josh sidles over to me, a few pine needles stuck to his face and laughter still threatening to burst forth. "See what I meant?" he asks, and I smile at him.
Olson steps in a minute later to haul them back to the situation at hand, and then everyone turns to me. "Oh. Um, I got everything. But I need to mediate for a while to do it." I look at Olson. "I made some notes? Could you..."
He nods. "I'll read them over and pass the information on to everyone. We'll keep it quiet," he assures me, sending a firm look at Faith and Spike. They both roll their eyes and I smile again.
Josh nudges me. "Want me to set things up for you?"
"That would help. I want to do the spell right after I mediate, so that I'm centered."
I leave them to the preparation work, and make my way upstairs. After changing out of my skirt and into a pair of pants, I settle myself on Faith's sleeping bag. I usually do at least a little mediation each day if circumstances permit. What I'm about to do, though, is a bit more focus- driven. The Leviglio may require less power than most of the other spells in the Greigh, but I need my magic to be...well, dense, to pull it off.
The magic is in me, and around me, but packed lightly. What I'm going to do is draw it in tight and then let it swell so that it's denser and has a little more oomph to it. It'll take a couple of hours of visualization and coaxing to do it.
To be honest, there are easier ways of juicing my power up. A quick incantation while holding Faith's hand would do it. So would numerous other spells of the darker variety, and a few of the middle-ground variety. If we were desperate, I might consider the Faith option.
But the thing is...my mother had a strict code for managing and utilizing her power, and she passed it on to me. I don't know how much of her practices were born of the misguided belief that she was a demon whose power had to be carefully managed, but it doesn't matter. There's a lot to be said about what she taught me.
The mediation might take longer, but it doesn't require me to mess around with anything unnatural. It's just me and my magic, working together. There's no temptation to darker paths, nor any consequences of power boosting spells. It's simple and natural.
I close my eyes and measure my breathing, then focus my thoughts on the only thing that has ever completely centered me. I stare into Willow's eyes and then I think of nothing except my magic.
***
When I get back downstairs two hours later, I find that there has been more rearranging done. Our living room is pretty spacious, but with the tree, the decorations and the newly leafed table--not to mention five adults-- things have gotten cramped. In order to make room for me to set up a circle, the loveseat has been smashed into a corner, the coffee table sitting on top of it. I have to climb over the sofa, because it's been moved to the foot of the stairs.
Olson comes over to help me clamber over it and I go to the center of the room. Josh has set everything up perfectly. Nothing is missing and its all been lined up in the most efficient manner.
"Did you understand the, uh, side effect?" I ask everyone.
"False alarms," Spike grunts. "Yeah, we got it."
Olson looks pointedly at each of us. "You are to treat all alarms seriously, no matter how tempting it is to disregard them. Understood?"
"Yes, dad," Spike says acerbically.
"You good to go, Ta?" Faith asks me.
I glance again at the preparations Josh has made and I nod. "I'm very good to go."
Olson was apparently very thorough when he went over everything with the others, because they take their places in the center of the room, staying clear of the small bowls that Josh has set on the floor. I kneel down and pick up the sand/salt mixture I prefer for circles.
The circle that I set up is protective, and also serves as containment. Once it's done, I start with blessings to the Goddesses. The spell doesn't actually require this, but it's something else that I always do. The magic might be mine, but I use it at with their sufferance.
I pick up the first ingredient bowl and read the first part of the spell as I dip my fingers in the contents. There's a glow that illuminates it, then fades slowly away. I divide the contents between five empty bowls and then set it aside.
The process is repeated for all of the ingredients, until I'm left with five bowls and a knife. Blood being used in spells is something I generally void. However, I'm not using the blood to perform the spell; I'm just sharing a little with Josh. I'm hoping it'll work.
I slide the knife across the tip of my index finger and let several drops of blood fall into Josh's bowl. Setting the knife aside, I pluck a tissue from the box that he's thoughtfully provided, then I look up.
"Olson."
He slides around the others and hunches down in front of me, and I hold up the first bowl. Glancing at the Greigh, I recite the necessary incantation, then nod at him. He places the tips of all ten fingers in the mixture and repeats what I've just recited. The mixture churns and writhes for a moment, and then seems to gain a life of its own. It oozes away from the sides of the bowl and rises up over his fingers, crawling up his arm at a leisurely pace. It disappears under the sleeves of his sweater, and I know it'll work its way across every inch of him, settling like a fine net, each granule of ingredients strung to another no matter how dispersed it becomes.
He steps back, and I call first Faith, and then Spike, over with the same results.
For Josh, it goes slightly differently after he intones the words. The drops of my blood rise first, sinking into the back of his hand before the mixture does the crawly thing.
I take up my own bowl and finish up. Once the mixture crawls over me, I can almost physically see the walls of the circle I set up. Well, not really. It's kind of like this thing I saw on the Discovery Channel. Apparently, the eyes are only camcorders for vision. The actual things we see? They're really just electrical charges that the eyes register, which then get translated into images by our brain. Some doctor or other decided that maybe an actual camcorder could be used instead, so they set up this tiny little camera and hooked it up to this gizmo that feeds the images to the tongue, which then sends them to the brain.
And, voila. A sweet little blind girl named Beth can "see". The images aren't the sharpest, but they're more than she's ever seen before. I feel like my magic has been hooked up to one of those things, and I'm "seeing" other magic. It's kind of neat, and a little disturbing at the same time.
Shaking my head, I recite the last incantation of the spell, then offer thanks to the Goddesses before breaking the circle.
"Well, it works," Faith announces. "Got a tingle when you did the guys."
She smirks at the double--or is that triple?--entendre, and Josh gives her an appreciative high-five.
A few minutes later, we're discovering just how disconcerting the alarm can be. With all of the mystical energy the people in the room have, we're going off like crazy. After some experimentation, we determine that close proximity to one another prevents the alarms from triggering, so we sit at the table and scoot our chairs close together, and figure out our next move.
Or, rather, they tell me what our next move is since they discussed it while I was "ohm-ing", as Josh puts it. "Willie's?" I repeat.
Faith nods. "Yeah. Find out if this Niall has been seen around, if he's been talking to anyone. The usual."
"Gathering intel," I state knowingly, and Spike narrows his eyes at me. I smile blandly back at him. I once mocked him for using that phrase, and I chose it deliberately just now. Of course, he knows that I did, so he lifts to fingers in a backwards peace sign, which I learned not long after meeting him is the British equivalent of the middle finger.
"We're still trying to decide whether Spike or Faith will have the most luck getting information," Olson continues. "Either way, we'd like you to go as well, since your tricks come in handy.."
"Not all of us would like that," Faith denies irritably. "But apparently being the Slayer doesn't give me veto power, which is just fucking unfair."
"So you've stated," Olson says steadily. "Many times. Get over it."
"Yeah, this isn't a Slayocracy," Josh pipes in.
"Josh."
Josh takes the not-so-subtle hint and sinks back in his chair. Olson has a remarkable ability to convey a world of irritation and reprimand with one syllable. I think dealing with these three one-syllable named people has tried his nerves a lot today.
"Faith," I state.
"Yeah?" she replies.
"No, I meant Faith should be the one to go," I explain. "You know, to show we're not, uh, playing around."
Josh opens his mouth, but Olson gives him a look that conveys even more than his one syllables do, and Josh refrains from speaking. "We had actually been leaning more towards Spike," he tells me forthrightly. "His manner of getting information is slightly less violent, since he's on speaking terms with several informed demons. Considering what happened the one and only time you went to Willie's with Faith..."
Oh. That. I squirm a little uncomfortably.
"The 'show them we're not playing around' thing?" Faith says cynically. "Doesn't work when one of us is crying and pleading with the other to leave Willie alone."
"Bloody hell," Spike groans incredulously. "You *cried*?"
I squirm a little more. "Just a little," I say weakly.
Spike raises a brow at the group. "I'm changing my vote."
"Yeah, now you see sense," Faith comments. "Couldn't have done that maybe an hour ago when World War Whisper was raging?"
"It wasn't like I was, uh, sobbing or anything..." I continue awkwardly, and there's a chorus of groans. "And it was because he's, you know, human."
"Tara stays here," Olson sighs.
"I wouldn't do that if Spike had to...rough up a demon." I frown. "At least, I don't think I would."
"You're staying here," Josh tells me impatiently.
"Oh. Well, that's probably for the best," I concede.
Spike snorts. "Probably?" Okay, maybe definitely for the best. "Right about now I'm thanking whatever deities are listening that you didn't pull that kind of crap in Italy, pet."
I shrug a little helplessly. "In Italy I just had to concentrate and the vamps just...combusted."
"And you haven't pulled out that particular trick...why?" Josh asks archly.
I stay silent, and Spike glares at Josh. "You're a right little bitch, aren't you?" he sneers.
"Oh, shit," Josh whispers, his eyes going wide. He leans across the table, his face earnest. "I'm sorry, Ta. I didn't think."
"It's all right," I say softly. And it is, actually. That was a Willow- power thing, and while it had come in pretty handy, it went back to her with everything else. I didn't respond to him mainly because I thought it would click with him after he said it. "So, who *is* going, then?"
"Faith and Olson," Spike says immediately. "Tara's right about us needing Faith to make a bloody example." He smirks at the Watcher. "And I've seen you hand-to-hand. Impressive."
"How--how do you think they're finding Faith?" I ask thoughtfully and everyone looks at me. "I mean, do they have a lookout? Or are they tracking her somehow?"
"Good question," Olson said grimly, his eyes flickering to the rest of the group. "Keep alert for any stray vampires or demons." He looks at me. "Will the Leviglio alert her if someone's trying to do a locator spell?"
"Mm, yes..." I murmur, getting up and going to the wall by the door. "But she won't be able to tell that's what it is." There's a trunk of sundry items by the door, and I rummage through it and come up with a hemp necklace that has a crystal dangling from it. Faith groans when she sees it.
"And once again, I'm going to be sporting hippie chic style," she drawls, holding up her hand. My toss is pretty far off the mark, and the crystal pelts Olson on the side of the head. With a grunt of irritation he hands it to Faith.
"What's this one do?" Josh asks curiously as Faith slides the necklace of her head.
"It'll interrupt a locator spell," I tell him. "Scramble the reading unless I'm the one doing it." I tilt my head to the side and reconsider. "Or you, actually, since I kind of shared with you."
"Good enough," Olson says with a nod. He gets to his feet. "Arm up and let's go."
***
Josh, Spike and I stick together, and we start out the patrol at a cemetery close to Willie's, just in case the others need us, or we need them.
"So, are you planning on letting Dawn know about your bright and shiny new soul?" Josh asks suddenly.
You really have to admire his forthright nature. I tend to wait for an opening to present itself, while Josh just bursts through without invitation. I reevaluate that thought when I see Spike's face. Okay, maybe you *don't* have to admire it.
"Plan on minding your own business anytime soon?" Spike retorts sharply.
Josh sniffs cutely. "You wouldn't love me half as much if I did."
Spike makes a sound of irritation. "Don't love you at all," he drawls.
"Of course you do," Josh says slyly, bumping Spike with his hip. Spike glares coldly down at Josh, who moves as far away from Spike as he can get while still remaining on the sidewalk.
We take another few steps before I casually scoot closer to Spike and hitch my hip to the side, neatly bumping him. He tilts his head down. "Brat," he says dryly, reluctant amusement sliding in and out of his blue gaze. I grin up at him and lace my arm through his, and he rolls his eyes.
"Why doesn't *she* get the glare of death?" Josh complains from Spike's other side.
"'Cause her hips are softer," Spike snickers.
"When *are* you going to tell Dawn?" I ask, easily stepping through the opening Josh presented when he first asked.
"Don't start," Spike says tightly, and his arm tenses under my hand.
I ignore his obvious desire to avoid the subject. "She has a right to know. More than anyone else, really."
"Not going to turn her all around again," he snaps. "Been through enough as it is."
I raise a brow and tug at his arm. "True, but this is a good thing, you know."
He looks down at me, his face a little desolate. "Soul doesn't make me any less a vampire, pet. Chip neither."
I scowl at him. "You're being so--"
My phone chirps, and Olson's urgent voice sounds. "Get Tara home immediately."
Spike turns me around by way of our linked arms, then disentangles himself as we pick up our pace in the opposite direction. "Arm yourselves," he orders us flatly, his eyes scanning the street. He moves me between him and Josh, and I raise my crossbow in my right hand. "Tara, answer him."
With my left hand, I pull out the phone and fumble a bit before I manage to connect to Olson. My heart is pounding in my chest and I think my body wants to hyperventilate. "We're heading home," I tell him quickly.
There's a rustling sound, then Faith is on the line. "Where are you?" she demands to know.
I look up at Spike and he answers without pausing his relentless search of the area in front of us. "Two blocks north of Sunnydale Arms," he says shortly.
I pass that information on to Faith, who says they're going to meet up with us. "Niall was asking around about you," she adds angrily. "Keep your eyes open."
"Shit," Josh mutters, raising his own crossbow. "Let's hurry."
A moment later the three of us wince in unison as a small shock runs across all of our skins. "Move it," Spike grounds out, and then we're practically running down the street. Spike grabs the phone from my hand. "Four blocks from the Arms and about to get company," he hisses, and then shoves the phone in his pocket.
They appear in front of us, which is just rotten luck. If we hadn't turned around, they would have been behind us. We come to a stumbling halt, Josh and I huffing a bit from the exertion, and Spike's face shifting into its vampiric visage.
There are only six vampires in front of us, which has me frowning in confusion. Then I see the figure step out of the shadows and I realize that this isn't an attack party. The six vampires are bodyguards for Niall, who has come fully into the light and is facing us now. He's a little over six feet tall, and built along lean lines. His skin is exorbitantly pale, even for a vampire, and I think it's because he was pale during his life. His hair is a sandy brown color that is caught at the nape of his neck in some kind of tie to keep it off his face.
I shiver a little when I look into his gray eyes. There's something cold and hard about him, something so very determined. Then, his eyes flare, and suddenly my knees threaten to buckle. I grab Spike's arm for support. Oh, god. The power coming off of Niall is just...overwhelmingly dark and strong. It's hugely encompassing, like a forest fire, while I'm a flickering match in comparison. I can feel it trying to coat me, to sink into me, and I take a deep breath and tighten my magic around me so that there's no way his can get in. A lot steadier now, I take my hand from Spike's arm and raise the crossbow.
"Impressive," Niall murmurs, tilting his head in my direction. "I'd heard you were powerful, but it's quite another thing to see it firsthand."
I manage not to frown, but it isn't easy. Powerful? I'm not powerful, not in the way he means.
"All this trouble for a little show and tell?" Spike asks caustically, lighting a cigarette and arching a brow. Spike is really good at being utterly unimpressed by anything, unless it suits him otherwise. Come to think of it, so is Faith. Me, I'm not so good at that, so I decide to keep my mouth zipped and let Spike take the wheel on this.
Niall smiles, and it's a tight stretching of his lips. "Spike, I presume," he says slowly. "I wasn't sure I believed the numerous rumors. Your clan has really sunk low, hasn't it?" A feral grin replaced the smile. "Helping Slayer after Slayer. You were revered for your kills, Spike. Now you shelter them. It's pathetic."
"Always good to keep everyone on their toes, I say," Spike retorts blandly, but I know him well enough to sense the anger beneath his casual tone.
Niall shrugs, his gray eyes falling on me again. "And you, little witch," he whispers, his eyes drifting closed. "You're the purest white magic I've ever seen." His eyes open and they're yellow. "And you're standing in my way of getting the Hellmouth for myself."
So he's delusional. That's not really uncommon for demons that want to take over Sunnydale. I mean, yeah, I had a hand in preventing his...assassins from getting Faith out of the picture, but that's a far cry from standing in his way.
Spike growls at him, the cigarette getting tossed aside. "Might want to focus your attentions elsewhere," he advises coolly, taking a step forward. "Hellmouth's not up for grabs."
"I think my attention is focused right where it should be," Niall replies calmly, his eyes not leaving me. He shakes his head, something like furious awe coming into his eyes, and then he raises a hand and I feel my skin get shocked by the alarm.
I can see it. I can see the blackness that would normally be invisible. See it come at me, and I send a strand of magic out to shove Spike aside when he moves to step in front of me. The blackness hits me and I get tossed backwards, landing on my back a little painfully and having enough presence of mind not to let go of the crossbow. I'm vaguely aware of Josh and Spike fighting with the bodyguards, of them keeping Niall from making his way to me.
I'm more concerned with the way Niall's magic is trying to...seep into me. Into tiny little pores in my magic. Scrambling back desperately, I close my eyes and focus on pulling my magic in tight so that there are no pores for the blackness to make use of, and then imagining my magic as something slippery that forces the blackness to slide off harmlessly.
Shakily, I get to my feet and narrow my eyes at Niall. He's glaring at me, rage making his body shake. But...he's somewhat close to empty. I blink and use the sight the Leviglio gives me. It shouldn't be the case, but it is. As powerful as Niall is, he's a, uh, sprinter. Good for short, hard-hitting bursts of magic.
I lift my free hand in the air, sketching while I cast, and at the same time I take aim with the cross bow. Niall gets disoriented and I let the bolt fly, but there's a gust of wind that comes out of nowhere and sends the bolt off target. It strikes him just above his heart.
There are footsteps coming from the left, through the park, and both Niall and I whip our heads around to see Faith and Olson heading our way. Niall snarls at me, and the Leviglio flares just before he's gone. No poof of smoke, no sound effects, just gone.
Faith and Olson hurry to assist Josh and Spike, and I stand in the middle of the street and watch the vestiges of Niall's magic dissipate into nothingness. I don't know why, but something feels incredibly wrong about what just happened. I'm trying to figure out what doesn't sit well with me, when a hand suddenly grabs my elbow and jerks me forward, causing the crossbow to fall from my grasp with a clatter.
"What the bloody hell were you thinking?" Spike shouts at me, his face lowered until it's just inches from mine. He shakes me and my teeth rattle a little.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Faith striding towards Spike, but I hold up a hand and she pauses. The anger is leaking from Spike's face, and I see the concern hovering on the edges and waiting to come out. I reach up to cup his cheek in the palm of my hand. I tilt his face a little and meet his eyes.
"It's all right," I breathe, my thumb rubbing circles on his cheek. His hand tightens on my arm, and I force myself closer so that I can rest my forehead at the crook of his neck. There's a shiver, and then his arms are wrapped around me.
"Damn it, Tara," he sighs against my ear. "You'll give me a soddin' heart attack one of these days."
"It'll keep you young," I say seriously, and he chuckles harshly.
Spike and I step away from each other I'm subjected to concerned looks from the others. "Josh told us what happened," Olson says. "Are you all right?"
I think about that for a moment. "I'm absolutely fine," I assure them all, and they seem to relax. "What about the rest of you?"
"I took out two on my own," Josh announces, but the bravado seems forced. "I'm, like, the Male Slayer."
Faith snickers and shoves at his shoulder. "Yeah, you're hardcore," she says sarcastically.
"We're all fine," Olson tells me, and I feel myself relax as well. "But I think we should get home now. Things seem to have gotten...complicated."
Of course they have. That's the nature of "things" after all. With sighs all around, we start walking back to the apartment.
***
The next morning, I get up around eight and wash and change in the bathroom before I carefully wake Faith, glad that I stayed out of striking distance when her fist shoots out before she's awake. She stares blearily at me and I tell her to scoot up to my bed. She does so with staggering motions and eyes that are only half-open.
Josh and Olson are up and moving when I head downstairs. Spike is lying on the sofa, still asleep I think, and his chest is just a mess of bruising. I guess he took mostly body shots last night. I prepare a mug of blood and wake him as carefully as I did Faith, and he sits up and takes it from me, drinking with little comprehension of what's gong on.
"Go on up to Faith's room," I tell him as Josh and Olson come downstairs. He does so with his own staggering movements that have me shaking my head at how alike Faith and Spike can be sometimes.
"Breakfast?" Olson asks.
Olson make the best omelets French Toast I've ever had. Ever. "Absolutely!" I say enthusiastically.
Josh makes a pot of coffee and comes out with a cup of it and some juice for me. We sit on the sofa and wake up, with Josh flipping to the Cartoon Network so that we can watch some mindless entertainment.
"I don't like this show," I say when Pokemon comes back from commercial.
He slants a look in my direction. "Is it the unnatural self-imposed slavery of the Pokemon that ruffles your militant feathers?" he asks archly, but like he promised, his eyes are twinkling.
"Um, actually, it's the way the Pokemon can only say their names." I shiver a little. "All those intonations. It's creepy."
Leaning over, Josh kisses my cheek. "You're too cute, Ta."
He obligingly changes the channel and stops at a video station where we alternatively grin or frown at whatever music video is playing until Olson serves up breakfast.
"How are you doing, Tara?" Olson asks just as we begin to eat.
I'm tempted to dismiss the question as casual conversation, but Olson doesn't partake of casual conversation, which means he's maybe concerned. "I'm worried about Spike," I admit with a sigh. "And I had another nightmare. And last night wasn't really fun, either."
"Poor thing," Josh says sympathetically, reaching for a plate in the center of the table. "Here, have some more bacon."
I chuckle at his fretting, which tends to show up a bit more than usual when Faith's not around. Just like Faith's soft-side shows up more when he's not around. They're kind of enablers of each other's attitudes, I think.
"Once we get some breathing room," Olson says to me, "you might want to see Dr. White."
"Mm. I'd already decided to do that," I assure him. "But until then...it's hard."
"What about Spike?" Josh asks around a mouthful of toast. "I mean, a soul? Why? And I didn't even know a vamp could just go out and get one." He frowns at Olson. "Did you know that?"
"No, I didn't. But I'm also not on first name terms with the Egyptian ruler of the destiny of the dead," he says dryly. "And Spike and Tara are."
They look at me, and I wipe my lips with a napkin. "Dawn. She's the why," I add at their confused looks. Comprehension replaces confusion, and then it's obvious they want more information. "Spike is...Spike." I shrug helplessly. "I don't, uh, really know what else to say."
"He's screwy," Josh states plainly. "Not in a crazy way, but in a not-Spike way."
That's not true, not really. What everyone is seeing now--the silences and the pained gaze--is just as much Spike as the snarky arrogance is. I saw it enough after everyone else died. So did Dawn and Giles, too.
"To be expected," Olson reminds Josh. "There's a lot to cope with, I'm sure." He tilts his head at me and frowns irritably. "I'm trying to restrain myself, Tara, but when can I--"
"Interrogate him?" I finish with a smile. He nods while Josh snorts. "Give him a few more days. But--don't expect much. Some things are really private, you know?"
Josh rolls his eyes. "So, is he going to stick around, or disappear off into the night again?"
I shrug again. At this point, I have no idea what Spike is going to do. He doesn't either, I don't think. "Would you guys, uh, mind? If he stayed?"
The men trade a look, and then Olson sets his fork down. "We're hoping he will, actually," Olson tells me carefully. "Faith could use someone to share the burden."
I study his face, which is so very bland. "You're worried about her, aren't you?" I say softly. "Um, more than you've said, I mean."
He dips his head and then resettles his napkin on his lap. "There are a lot of things that we can assist her with, that we can understand. But there are some that we--can not."
Pushing my plate away, I sigh quietly. He's right about that. We're a great support system for her, but the majority of what she does--the solitary hours-upon-hours of Slaying--is something that we can't help her with regularly, nor is it something that we can really grasp the toll of.
"When Spike was here," Josh picks up, his tone serious, "there was someone around who understood the violence in her. Not bad kind of violence," he hurries to clarify. "But just the natural violence that comes with the Slayer deal."
I tuck my hair behind my ears and look from Josh to Olson. "It's all very...complicated," I say with a sigh.
"Such is the way of our lives," Olson drawls unsympathetically. I frown at him, then turn my attention back to my French Toast.
As Josh and I are cleaning up from the meal, Giles calls. The news isn't good, but it's not bad either. Olson takes the call at the table, making notes as he goes, and Josh and I load the plates into the dishwasher.
Olson gives us the details after he hangs up. "His name is Niall," he says grimly. "Believed to be around three-hundred years old, and moderately gifted mystically. Giles contacted some of his various sources, who indicated that until recently, Niall was content to have control of the demon population of Pittsburgh."
"Is there even a demon populace in Pittsburgh?" Josh asks with a snort.
Olson shrugs, a rueful smile on his lips. "You'd be surprised." The smile fades away. "Anyway, about a month ago, Niall quite suddenly became obsessed with the Hellmouth."
"What happened to bring that on?" I ask worriedly. "Is...is something big going to happen?"
"Not so far as I can tell. Or Giles for that matter. According to rumors, Niall received a visit from a very powerful seer, but no one seems to be able to confirm that this meeting happened, nor what might have transpired if it did."
"So the mojo changes the vibes he gives off?" Josh asks.
"So it would seem," Olson replies with a nod. "By all accounts, he's rather nasty, and strong. There hasn't been a territory he's wanted that he hasn't gained control of." His brow furrows for a moment before he turns to me. "Tara--"
I'm already on my feet. "I'll go to the Magic Box now and look into the spell Giles suggested."
Josh decides to come with me, so that the shop might actually be open for a bit today. Sunnydale customers seem unfazed by the random hours Olson keeps it open, but it's never a good idea to close a business without warning, however temporarily the closing may be.
Olson is left to wake the two nocturnals and update them, and Josh and I hurry out of the apartment so that we don't have to witness the scene that's about to erupt. We take Olson's SUV, and Josh drives. We're silent on the trip, each of us pondering what we know, and the alarming amount of things we don't know at this point. Such as, what happened between Niall and the seer? What piqued Niall's interest in the Hellmouth? And how are we supposed to fight off hordes of vampires that just appear out of thin air?
"Is there an official word for a big group of vamps?" I ask Josh curiously.
"None that I've come across," Josh answers as he pulls into a parking spot. He pauses for a moment, then says, "We're lucky Spike's here."
I bite my lip. "Hm."
I don't even want to think what might have happened to Faith last night if she'd been out on her own. Niall sounds less dangerous than some of the other threats that we've dealt with, him being just a vampire and all. But if he can catch Faith unawares with a hundred vamps...well, I don't think even a Slayer's that good.
We retreat back to silence and head into the store. Josh does his opening ritual while I sit at the back table with a tablet of paper and the Greigh. The Leviglio, according to the Greigh, should allow us to sense magical energy emanating from a twenty-foot radius of whoever it's cast on. The spell triggers a tingling sensation along the skin of the individual. I think it's kind of like a little shock--like when you shuffle your feet on the carpet and then touch someone?
I turn the page and my breath catches. There's a large post-it stuck to the second page of the spell, and it's covered with Willow's small, neat handwriting. Hesitantly, I reach out and touch the words, letting my hand drift over them and indulging in memories of study sessions where not much studying got done.
It'll always hurt to think of her. At one time, the idea of that eternal hurt made me want to crawl away from sanity. Nowadays, it seems...right. She was so monumentally important to me that it's comforting to still be able to feel for her, even if she's gone.
A few months ago, this post-it might have tackled me to the ground with the memories and the hurt. But like I said, I've come to terms with Willow, so I take a steadying breath and carefully peel the post-it from the page. I stick it to the next page, which is actually a different spell and force myself back to the task at hand.
Giles was right about my being able to perform the Leviglio. He was also right about the drawbacks, as the footnotes and Willow's post-it confirm what he told me. Sunnydale being the Hellmouth, there is constantly magical energy being expended. Some by the Hellmouth itself, but a lot from the non- human residents. There are some demons that just...exude magical energy. Just leave a trail of it in their wake. Sunnydale has a few of those, I would guess.
What that means is we're going to be getting shocked an awful lot, and will have no way to determine if it's just a random demon's signature, the Hellmouth, or Niall's vampires. Willow's post-it indicates that she looked into some ways of targeting who or what triggers the alarm, but had no luck. My research skills, and knowledge of the texts in the store, aren't limited, but they're nowhere near as extensive as Willow's was; she did, after all, spend five years rifling through their pages. If she couldn't find a way to target the Leviglio, then I'm fairly confident there isn't one. However, this seems to be our only option at the moment.
Reading further, I find a hitch. It's a small one, but it still counts. The Leviglio simply enhances an individual's own magical sensitivity, and Josh is practically a null when it comes to magic. I mean, all living creatures are connected to earth magic, so he has *some*. Some really is the key word, because Josh has the barest amount of sensitivity that something living can have.
I'm also not sure if it will work on Spike. Given that he didn't cause that painful sensation in me when I was housing Will's magic, I'm a little confused about whether his demon nature will count as "magical sensitivity". Then again, when he and I were in Cairo? We went to this demon bar in some kind of old temple, and in order to wind our way through the maze of corridors, we had to follow a...pull. A pull that only works on non-humans and mystical types, according to what Spike told me.
The rest of us are covered. Faith's sensitivity is inherent due to her being a Slayer, and Olson went through plenty of mystical training in the Watchers that he developed a sensitivity. And, of course, I'm a witch.
I spend an hour delving into a book referenced in the footnotes and discover that demons and demon-hybrids can utilize the Leviglio, so that just leaves Josh. Hm. I think I can pull it off by lending him a little bit of mine, but there's no guarantee. As much as Josh hates being left at home on HQ duty--coordinating the rest of us and acting as the wound patcher- upper--there may be no way around it.
Josh helps me gather the ingredients I need, and I still find it strange after all this time to be able to take what I need from the shop without Anya's thinly-concealed irritation about the lack of profit, and Xander's patient explanations about world-savage being more important than the all mighty dollar.
"We need to head back," I tell him, frowning down at the Greigh. He drops the last package of herbs on the table and raises a brow. "I need to meditate for this. And I really think it's in our best interests to have this in place before dark."
"Damn demons showing up during the shortest days of the year," he grumbles as we pack everything in some bags.
"I wonder if we can take it up with their union?" I muse.
"Yeah, yeah, you're a regular comedienne," he drawls sarcastically. "Let me stick the standard 'Closed Due to Family Emergency' sign on the door and we can bolt."
***
We hear the yelling from the courtyard, and come to a stop next to the fountain. I look at Josh. "Is that--"
"And they're back," Josh announces dramatically, managing to seem both amused and annoyed. "Welcome to life with Faith and Spike."
My eyes widen as I cut my eyes in the direction of the door to the apartment. "They argue a lot?" I ask worriedly.
"Oh, yeah," he says emphatically. "Think about it. You've got badass, stubborn, know-it-all Spike, and tough, stubborn, know-it-all Faith. It's a recipe for screaming matches."
I frown at him. "But...I thought you said they were friends?"
Josh nods. "They are. Well, as much as they'd let themselves be, what with the whole soulless vampire and Slayer thing being at issue." He slings an arm around my shoulders and urges me into motion again. "Nothing to worry about. It's probably good, actually. Calm Spike was just as creepy for me as Pokemon intonations are for you."
I scowl and plant a gentle elbow in his ribs. But, he has a point. Spike's attitude has been rather...absent. "Um, what should we do?" I ask hesitantly. "I mean, do we put them in separate corners? Get them to make up?"
We're at the door now, and Josh puts his hand on the knob and grins at me. "Just stay out of their line of fire. Oh, and later? Weigh in on whether you think there's any sexual tension. I say nay, but Olson says yea."
He opens the door and I'm left scowling at his back before I follow him inside. The screaming duo are in the living room. Faith is by the tree and looks to be holding it up by way of a hand on a branch and all of her weight thrown backwards. She's strong enough to lift a small car, so I guess the unwieldy bulkiness of the huge tree is what's making it difficult for her to keep it steady.
"Oh, really," Spike is snapping at her sarcastically. "What do you expect me to do? Scamper in front of the window and hold it up for you?"
Faith looks up, and I bite my lip. There's a large clump of tinsel on the top of her head, and that glown is on her face. Josh is snickering already, and I'm just too stunned to speak. Tinsel-headed Faith isn't something I ever thought I'd see, and it's really...cute. I think she'd appreciate the laughter far more than that sentiment.
"Isn't that what I fucking asked you to do in the first place?" she exclaims irritably.
Spike's lips twist. "Genius idea, what with the sun streaming in."
"*I* thought so," Faith snaps, then turns the glown on me and Josh. "Would *someone* get their ass into gear and give me a freaking hand, all ready? Neither of you are daylight challenged."
Josh sets the shopping bag of ingredients down and heads over to her. I close the door behind me so that Spike isn't confined to standing in the small spot of shade by the sofa, and he flashes me a smile. "What happened?" I ask with amusement.
"Twine snapped," he retorts. "Slayer couldn't handle the big bad tree all by her lonesome."
"*Shut* the *fuck* up, Spike," Faith calls out. The tinsel has gotten a little lopsided and is now leaning precariously to the left. It's about to fall in her face, and she's not going to be pleased about it. Oh dear, I really have to not laugh.
"Shove it, glitter girl," he drawls.
Josh hides his face *in* the tree, and the branches around him are shaking. I turn my back to the tree and laugh as silently as I can manage, which isn't all that silent, but luckily Faith is busy trying to get Josh to do what she's telling him to do, so she doesn't notice.
Spike takes a step back and smirks down at me, his eyes glittering in a way I haven't seen since he's been back. There's a cutting edge to his amusement, and that should really not sit well with me. But that edge? It's so very Spike, and it's so very nice to see it again. Even if I think it's going to make Faith even more pissed than she already is.
"Dude, what the hell are you doing over there?"
I glance over my shoulder. The tinsel has slipped some more, and it's hanging over one of Faith's ears, stuck to her hair in such a way that it's not actually touching her skin. She looks a little demented, to be honest, and more ridiculous than anything I've seen in a while. The tinsel and the glown, combined with the way she's got her head cocked to the side...just ridiculous.
Josh falls to his knees, face still buried in the tree. It's obvious that he's trying to mask his laughter, but the choked sounds he's making can't really be credited to anything else but laughing. Spike is snickering, and Faith is staring at us like we've sprouted wings or something.
"What the hell is so funny?" she demands indignantly, head cocking to the other side.
I cover my mouth with my hands and shake with the effort not to laugh out loud at her just as the door opens and Olson comes in. "Oh, you're back," he says, frowning at my hands. "I ran over to my place to get another set of clothes."
His eyes slide to Spike, then over to the tree, and then they widen. He blinks a couple of times. "Faith, you've got some tinsel in your hair," he says neutrally, his face a little too empty of any kind of expression. "Right about..." He lifts his hand and points with a single finger to the left side of his face. "...there."
"For God's sake," she hisses. "Get over here and take this thing."
Olson obligingly takes her place with the tree and props it against the wall. His green eyes are dancing with amusement, and I have to admire his restraint. Faith makes her way to the mirror on the wall by the stairs. She goes still as she stares are her reflection, and a very steady hand reaches up to pluck the silver threads from her hair. My laughter has all but died away, because a still and steady Faith isn't a Faith that is about to laugh at herself anytime soon.
I move behind her and slide my hands through her hair to get the remaining strands of tinsel. She's frowning at her reflection. "You were laughing at me," she says like she's just now realizing it.
My fingers spread, and I shake my hand to dislodge the tinsel onto the floor. I move a little bit closer, until I'm kind of brushing against her back, and my reflection smiles at hers in the mirror. "Yeah," I say softly. "It was pretty funny. The tinsel kind of, um, migrated a couple of times."
Her frown deepens, and I hear Spike snort behind me. "Untwist your knickers, Slayer," he advises caustically. "Nothing to climb a water tower and pick off civilians over."
"No one asked you, Spike," she snaps, turning to curl her lips at him.
"You say that like I care, ducks," he says dryly. "Never waited for permission to point out when someone's being an idiot."
"An idiot? Wanna tell everyone just how the twine snapped?" she asks with a hard grin. "The big bad vampire fell on the tree when I snuck up on him and scared the crap out of him." She folds her arms under her breasts and raises a brow at him. "You squealed like a girly bitch, man."
"Hey!" Spike protests indignantly. "I damn well didn't."
My head swings back and forth between them as they argue the details of what, if any, sound Spike made when Faith did, or did not, sneak up on him. I'm...bemused. This is just very, very odd. Faith isn't easily distracted from her mercurial moods, normally, but I think she's just forgotten that we were all laughing at her and that she should be annoyed by it. Hm.
Josh sidles over to me, a few pine needles stuck to his face and laughter still threatening to burst forth. "See what I meant?" he asks, and I smile at him.
Olson steps in a minute later to haul them back to the situation at hand, and then everyone turns to me. "Oh. Um, I got everything. But I need to mediate for a while to do it." I look at Olson. "I made some notes? Could you..."
He nods. "I'll read them over and pass the information on to everyone. We'll keep it quiet," he assures me, sending a firm look at Faith and Spike. They both roll their eyes and I smile again.
Josh nudges me. "Want me to set things up for you?"
"That would help. I want to do the spell right after I mediate, so that I'm centered."
I leave them to the preparation work, and make my way upstairs. After changing out of my skirt and into a pair of pants, I settle myself on Faith's sleeping bag. I usually do at least a little mediation each day if circumstances permit. What I'm about to do, though, is a bit more focus- driven. The Leviglio may require less power than most of the other spells in the Greigh, but I need my magic to be...well, dense, to pull it off.
The magic is in me, and around me, but packed lightly. What I'm going to do is draw it in tight and then let it swell so that it's denser and has a little more oomph to it. It'll take a couple of hours of visualization and coaxing to do it.
To be honest, there are easier ways of juicing my power up. A quick incantation while holding Faith's hand would do it. So would numerous other spells of the darker variety, and a few of the middle-ground variety. If we were desperate, I might consider the Faith option.
But the thing is...my mother had a strict code for managing and utilizing her power, and she passed it on to me. I don't know how much of her practices were born of the misguided belief that she was a demon whose power had to be carefully managed, but it doesn't matter. There's a lot to be said about what she taught me.
The mediation might take longer, but it doesn't require me to mess around with anything unnatural. It's just me and my magic, working together. There's no temptation to darker paths, nor any consequences of power boosting spells. It's simple and natural.
I close my eyes and measure my breathing, then focus my thoughts on the only thing that has ever completely centered me. I stare into Willow's eyes and then I think of nothing except my magic.
***
When I get back downstairs two hours later, I find that there has been more rearranging done. Our living room is pretty spacious, but with the tree, the decorations and the newly leafed table--not to mention five adults-- things have gotten cramped. In order to make room for me to set up a circle, the loveseat has been smashed into a corner, the coffee table sitting on top of it. I have to climb over the sofa, because it's been moved to the foot of the stairs.
Olson comes over to help me clamber over it and I go to the center of the room. Josh has set everything up perfectly. Nothing is missing and its all been lined up in the most efficient manner.
"Did you understand the, uh, side effect?" I ask everyone.
"False alarms," Spike grunts. "Yeah, we got it."
Olson looks pointedly at each of us. "You are to treat all alarms seriously, no matter how tempting it is to disregard them. Understood?"
"Yes, dad," Spike says acerbically.
"You good to go, Ta?" Faith asks me.
I glance again at the preparations Josh has made and I nod. "I'm very good to go."
Olson was apparently very thorough when he went over everything with the others, because they take their places in the center of the room, staying clear of the small bowls that Josh has set on the floor. I kneel down and pick up the sand/salt mixture I prefer for circles.
The circle that I set up is protective, and also serves as containment. Once it's done, I start with blessings to the Goddesses. The spell doesn't actually require this, but it's something else that I always do. The magic might be mine, but I use it at with their sufferance.
I pick up the first ingredient bowl and read the first part of the spell as I dip my fingers in the contents. There's a glow that illuminates it, then fades slowly away. I divide the contents between five empty bowls and then set it aside.
The process is repeated for all of the ingredients, until I'm left with five bowls and a knife. Blood being used in spells is something I generally void. However, I'm not using the blood to perform the spell; I'm just sharing a little with Josh. I'm hoping it'll work.
I slide the knife across the tip of my index finger and let several drops of blood fall into Josh's bowl. Setting the knife aside, I pluck a tissue from the box that he's thoughtfully provided, then I look up.
"Olson."
He slides around the others and hunches down in front of me, and I hold up the first bowl. Glancing at the Greigh, I recite the necessary incantation, then nod at him. He places the tips of all ten fingers in the mixture and repeats what I've just recited. The mixture churns and writhes for a moment, and then seems to gain a life of its own. It oozes away from the sides of the bowl and rises up over his fingers, crawling up his arm at a leisurely pace. It disappears under the sleeves of his sweater, and I know it'll work its way across every inch of him, settling like a fine net, each granule of ingredients strung to another no matter how dispersed it becomes.
He steps back, and I call first Faith, and then Spike, over with the same results.
For Josh, it goes slightly differently after he intones the words. The drops of my blood rise first, sinking into the back of his hand before the mixture does the crawly thing.
I take up my own bowl and finish up. Once the mixture crawls over me, I can almost physically see the walls of the circle I set up. Well, not really. It's kind of like this thing I saw on the Discovery Channel. Apparently, the eyes are only camcorders for vision. The actual things we see? They're really just electrical charges that the eyes register, which then get translated into images by our brain. Some doctor or other decided that maybe an actual camcorder could be used instead, so they set up this tiny little camera and hooked it up to this gizmo that feeds the images to the tongue, which then sends them to the brain.
And, voila. A sweet little blind girl named Beth can "see". The images aren't the sharpest, but they're more than she's ever seen before. I feel like my magic has been hooked up to one of those things, and I'm "seeing" other magic. It's kind of neat, and a little disturbing at the same time.
Shaking my head, I recite the last incantation of the spell, then offer thanks to the Goddesses before breaking the circle.
"Well, it works," Faith announces. "Got a tingle when you did the guys."
She smirks at the double--or is that triple?--entendre, and Josh gives her an appreciative high-five.
A few minutes later, we're discovering just how disconcerting the alarm can be. With all of the mystical energy the people in the room have, we're going off like crazy. After some experimentation, we determine that close proximity to one another prevents the alarms from triggering, so we sit at the table and scoot our chairs close together, and figure out our next move.
Or, rather, they tell me what our next move is since they discussed it while I was "ohm-ing", as Josh puts it. "Willie's?" I repeat.
Faith nods. "Yeah. Find out if this Niall has been seen around, if he's been talking to anyone. The usual."
"Gathering intel," I state knowingly, and Spike narrows his eyes at me. I smile blandly back at him. I once mocked him for using that phrase, and I chose it deliberately just now. Of course, he knows that I did, so he lifts to fingers in a backwards peace sign, which I learned not long after meeting him is the British equivalent of the middle finger.
"We're still trying to decide whether Spike or Faith will have the most luck getting information," Olson continues. "Either way, we'd like you to go as well, since your tricks come in handy.."
"Not all of us would like that," Faith denies irritably. "But apparently being the Slayer doesn't give me veto power, which is just fucking unfair."
"So you've stated," Olson says steadily. "Many times. Get over it."
"Yeah, this isn't a Slayocracy," Josh pipes in.
"Josh."
Josh takes the not-so-subtle hint and sinks back in his chair. Olson has a remarkable ability to convey a world of irritation and reprimand with one syllable. I think dealing with these three one-syllable named people has tried his nerves a lot today.
"Faith," I state.
"Yeah?" she replies.
"No, I meant Faith should be the one to go," I explain. "You know, to show we're not, uh, playing around."
Josh opens his mouth, but Olson gives him a look that conveys even more than his one syllables do, and Josh refrains from speaking. "We had actually been leaning more towards Spike," he tells me forthrightly. "His manner of getting information is slightly less violent, since he's on speaking terms with several informed demons. Considering what happened the one and only time you went to Willie's with Faith..."
Oh. That. I squirm a little uncomfortably.
"The 'show them we're not playing around' thing?" Faith says cynically. "Doesn't work when one of us is crying and pleading with the other to leave Willie alone."
"Bloody hell," Spike groans incredulously. "You *cried*?"
I squirm a little more. "Just a little," I say weakly.
Spike raises a brow at the group. "I'm changing my vote."
"Yeah, now you see sense," Faith comments. "Couldn't have done that maybe an hour ago when World War Whisper was raging?"
"It wasn't like I was, uh, sobbing or anything..." I continue awkwardly, and there's a chorus of groans. "And it was because he's, you know, human."
"Tara stays here," Olson sighs.
"I wouldn't do that if Spike had to...rough up a demon." I frown. "At least, I don't think I would."
"You're staying here," Josh tells me impatiently.
"Oh. Well, that's probably for the best," I concede.
Spike snorts. "Probably?" Okay, maybe definitely for the best. "Right about now I'm thanking whatever deities are listening that you didn't pull that kind of crap in Italy, pet."
I shrug a little helplessly. "In Italy I just had to concentrate and the vamps just...combusted."
"And you haven't pulled out that particular trick...why?" Josh asks archly.
I stay silent, and Spike glares at Josh. "You're a right little bitch, aren't you?" he sneers.
"Oh, shit," Josh whispers, his eyes going wide. He leans across the table, his face earnest. "I'm sorry, Ta. I didn't think."
"It's all right," I say softly. And it is, actually. That was a Willow- power thing, and while it had come in pretty handy, it went back to her with everything else. I didn't respond to him mainly because I thought it would click with him after he said it. "So, who *is* going, then?"
"Faith and Olson," Spike says immediately. "Tara's right about us needing Faith to make a bloody example." He smirks at the Watcher. "And I've seen you hand-to-hand. Impressive."
"How--how do you think they're finding Faith?" I ask thoughtfully and everyone looks at me. "I mean, do they have a lookout? Or are they tracking her somehow?"
"Good question," Olson said grimly, his eyes flickering to the rest of the group. "Keep alert for any stray vampires or demons." He looks at me. "Will the Leviglio alert her if someone's trying to do a locator spell?"
"Mm, yes..." I murmur, getting up and going to the wall by the door. "But she won't be able to tell that's what it is." There's a trunk of sundry items by the door, and I rummage through it and come up with a hemp necklace that has a crystal dangling from it. Faith groans when she sees it.
"And once again, I'm going to be sporting hippie chic style," she drawls, holding up her hand. My toss is pretty far off the mark, and the crystal pelts Olson on the side of the head. With a grunt of irritation he hands it to Faith.
"What's this one do?" Josh asks curiously as Faith slides the necklace of her head.
"It'll interrupt a locator spell," I tell him. "Scramble the reading unless I'm the one doing it." I tilt my head to the side and reconsider. "Or you, actually, since I kind of shared with you."
"Good enough," Olson says with a nod. He gets to his feet. "Arm up and let's go."
***
Josh, Spike and I stick together, and we start out the patrol at a cemetery close to Willie's, just in case the others need us, or we need them.
"So, are you planning on letting Dawn know about your bright and shiny new soul?" Josh asks suddenly.
You really have to admire his forthright nature. I tend to wait for an opening to present itself, while Josh just bursts through without invitation. I reevaluate that thought when I see Spike's face. Okay, maybe you *don't* have to admire it.
"Plan on minding your own business anytime soon?" Spike retorts sharply.
Josh sniffs cutely. "You wouldn't love me half as much if I did."
Spike makes a sound of irritation. "Don't love you at all," he drawls.
"Of course you do," Josh says slyly, bumping Spike with his hip. Spike glares coldly down at Josh, who moves as far away from Spike as he can get while still remaining on the sidewalk.
We take another few steps before I casually scoot closer to Spike and hitch my hip to the side, neatly bumping him. He tilts his head down. "Brat," he says dryly, reluctant amusement sliding in and out of his blue gaze. I grin up at him and lace my arm through his, and he rolls his eyes.
"Why doesn't *she* get the glare of death?" Josh complains from Spike's other side.
"'Cause her hips are softer," Spike snickers.
"When *are* you going to tell Dawn?" I ask, easily stepping through the opening Josh presented when he first asked.
"Don't start," Spike says tightly, and his arm tenses under my hand.
I ignore his obvious desire to avoid the subject. "She has a right to know. More than anyone else, really."
"Not going to turn her all around again," he snaps. "Been through enough as it is."
I raise a brow and tug at his arm. "True, but this is a good thing, you know."
He looks down at me, his face a little desolate. "Soul doesn't make me any less a vampire, pet. Chip neither."
I scowl at him. "You're being so--"
My phone chirps, and Olson's urgent voice sounds. "Get Tara home immediately."
Spike turns me around by way of our linked arms, then disentangles himself as we pick up our pace in the opposite direction. "Arm yourselves," he orders us flatly, his eyes scanning the street. He moves me between him and Josh, and I raise my crossbow in my right hand. "Tara, answer him."
With my left hand, I pull out the phone and fumble a bit before I manage to connect to Olson. My heart is pounding in my chest and I think my body wants to hyperventilate. "We're heading home," I tell him quickly.
There's a rustling sound, then Faith is on the line. "Where are you?" she demands to know.
I look up at Spike and he answers without pausing his relentless search of the area in front of us. "Two blocks north of Sunnydale Arms," he says shortly.
I pass that information on to Faith, who says they're going to meet up with us. "Niall was asking around about you," she adds angrily. "Keep your eyes open."
"Shit," Josh mutters, raising his own crossbow. "Let's hurry."
A moment later the three of us wince in unison as a small shock runs across all of our skins. "Move it," Spike grounds out, and then we're practically running down the street. Spike grabs the phone from my hand. "Four blocks from the Arms and about to get company," he hisses, and then shoves the phone in his pocket.
They appear in front of us, which is just rotten luck. If we hadn't turned around, they would have been behind us. We come to a stumbling halt, Josh and I huffing a bit from the exertion, and Spike's face shifting into its vampiric visage.
There are only six vampires in front of us, which has me frowning in confusion. Then I see the figure step out of the shadows and I realize that this isn't an attack party. The six vampires are bodyguards for Niall, who has come fully into the light and is facing us now. He's a little over six feet tall, and built along lean lines. His skin is exorbitantly pale, even for a vampire, and I think it's because he was pale during his life. His hair is a sandy brown color that is caught at the nape of his neck in some kind of tie to keep it off his face.
I shiver a little when I look into his gray eyes. There's something cold and hard about him, something so very determined. Then, his eyes flare, and suddenly my knees threaten to buckle. I grab Spike's arm for support. Oh, god. The power coming off of Niall is just...overwhelmingly dark and strong. It's hugely encompassing, like a forest fire, while I'm a flickering match in comparison. I can feel it trying to coat me, to sink into me, and I take a deep breath and tighten my magic around me so that there's no way his can get in. A lot steadier now, I take my hand from Spike's arm and raise the crossbow.
"Impressive," Niall murmurs, tilting his head in my direction. "I'd heard you were powerful, but it's quite another thing to see it firsthand."
I manage not to frown, but it isn't easy. Powerful? I'm not powerful, not in the way he means.
"All this trouble for a little show and tell?" Spike asks caustically, lighting a cigarette and arching a brow. Spike is really good at being utterly unimpressed by anything, unless it suits him otherwise. Come to think of it, so is Faith. Me, I'm not so good at that, so I decide to keep my mouth zipped and let Spike take the wheel on this.
Niall smiles, and it's a tight stretching of his lips. "Spike, I presume," he says slowly. "I wasn't sure I believed the numerous rumors. Your clan has really sunk low, hasn't it?" A feral grin replaced the smile. "Helping Slayer after Slayer. You were revered for your kills, Spike. Now you shelter them. It's pathetic."
"Always good to keep everyone on their toes, I say," Spike retorts blandly, but I know him well enough to sense the anger beneath his casual tone.
Niall shrugs, his gray eyes falling on me again. "And you, little witch," he whispers, his eyes drifting closed. "You're the purest white magic I've ever seen." His eyes open and they're yellow. "And you're standing in my way of getting the Hellmouth for myself."
So he's delusional. That's not really uncommon for demons that want to take over Sunnydale. I mean, yeah, I had a hand in preventing his...assassins from getting Faith out of the picture, but that's a far cry from standing in his way.
Spike growls at him, the cigarette getting tossed aside. "Might want to focus your attentions elsewhere," he advises coolly, taking a step forward. "Hellmouth's not up for grabs."
"I think my attention is focused right where it should be," Niall replies calmly, his eyes not leaving me. He shakes his head, something like furious awe coming into his eyes, and then he raises a hand and I feel my skin get shocked by the alarm.
I can see it. I can see the blackness that would normally be invisible. See it come at me, and I send a strand of magic out to shove Spike aside when he moves to step in front of me. The blackness hits me and I get tossed backwards, landing on my back a little painfully and having enough presence of mind not to let go of the crossbow. I'm vaguely aware of Josh and Spike fighting with the bodyguards, of them keeping Niall from making his way to me.
I'm more concerned with the way Niall's magic is trying to...seep into me. Into tiny little pores in my magic. Scrambling back desperately, I close my eyes and focus on pulling my magic in tight so that there are no pores for the blackness to make use of, and then imagining my magic as something slippery that forces the blackness to slide off harmlessly.
Shakily, I get to my feet and narrow my eyes at Niall. He's glaring at me, rage making his body shake. But...he's somewhat close to empty. I blink and use the sight the Leviglio gives me. It shouldn't be the case, but it is. As powerful as Niall is, he's a, uh, sprinter. Good for short, hard-hitting bursts of magic.
I lift my free hand in the air, sketching while I cast, and at the same time I take aim with the cross bow. Niall gets disoriented and I let the bolt fly, but there's a gust of wind that comes out of nowhere and sends the bolt off target. It strikes him just above his heart.
There are footsteps coming from the left, through the park, and both Niall and I whip our heads around to see Faith and Olson heading our way. Niall snarls at me, and the Leviglio flares just before he's gone. No poof of smoke, no sound effects, just gone.
Faith and Olson hurry to assist Josh and Spike, and I stand in the middle of the street and watch the vestiges of Niall's magic dissipate into nothingness. I don't know why, but something feels incredibly wrong about what just happened. I'm trying to figure out what doesn't sit well with me, when a hand suddenly grabs my elbow and jerks me forward, causing the crossbow to fall from my grasp with a clatter.
"What the bloody hell were you thinking?" Spike shouts at me, his face lowered until it's just inches from mine. He shakes me and my teeth rattle a little.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Faith striding towards Spike, but I hold up a hand and she pauses. The anger is leaking from Spike's face, and I see the concern hovering on the edges and waiting to come out. I reach up to cup his cheek in the palm of my hand. I tilt his face a little and meet his eyes.
"It's all right," I breathe, my thumb rubbing circles on his cheek. His hand tightens on my arm, and I force myself closer so that I can rest my forehead at the crook of his neck. There's a shiver, and then his arms are wrapped around me.
"Damn it, Tara," he sighs against my ear. "You'll give me a soddin' heart attack one of these days."
"It'll keep you young," I say seriously, and he chuckles harshly.
Spike and I step away from each other I'm subjected to concerned looks from the others. "Josh told us what happened," Olson says. "Are you all right?"
I think about that for a moment. "I'm absolutely fine," I assure them all, and they seem to relax. "What about the rest of you?"
"I took out two on my own," Josh announces, but the bravado seems forced. "I'm, like, the Male Slayer."
Faith snickers and shoves at his shoulder. "Yeah, you're hardcore," she says sarcastically.
"We're all fine," Olson tells me, and I feel myself relax as well. "But I think we should get home now. Things seem to have gotten...complicated."
Of course they have. That's the nature of "things" after all. With sighs all around, we start walking back to the apartment.
***