Enter Singing
The coven's problem was that they were all new to this. A group of people who had basically said, this sounds like a good idea. Not one of them had the slightest notion what they were doing. None with any experience in the mystic arts. Just a group of like minded individuals with an agenda. Nathan professed not to know any more than the rest of them, but he seemed more comfortable with the rituals, and it was he who had found the spell. The spell to heal the earth. They were immensely excited by this undertaking, and it never once occurred to them that given their total lack of expertise that they were reaching for something that was far beyond their grasp. Or that even white magic could go awry with disastrous results. And, if by chance, one of them did have a moment where reality asserted itself, Nathan was there to chase it away. Nathan was very good at that. He'd had a lot of practice. Besides, it was fun.
&&&&&&&
When Wesley entered Rose's office (with, it must be admitted, more administrative paperwork), he was rather perplexed to hear an irregular, almost desultory click, click at the computer keyboard instead of the rapid, steady tempo of a practiced typist. Then, it stopped altogether as Rose bent over a page, peering at it intently as though she could make neither head nor tail of it. Which shouldn't be the case. Rose was well practiced with the routine chores.
"Is something wrong, Rose?" It wasn't just that he was only getting her back three days a week and therefore wanted to get what work out of her he could. Wes considered Rose a friend, and was genuinely concerned.
"Oh, nothing serious," Rose replied with a wan smile. "Just a bit of this and that."
"What sort of this and that?" he asked, sitting on the edge of her desk and thereby letting her know that he wasn't going anywhere until he got some answers.
"Well," Rose said hesitantly. Would he accept part of the truth as the whole? "Spike had one of his bad nights last night. The ones where he remembers.., the burning." Rose stopped a moment with a sympathetic shudder. She loved Spike more than life itself, and hated to think of him suffering in any way. "He hasn't had one in a long time, but it's.., disconcerting to say the least, to be awakened by someone screaming in the bed next to you."
"What else?" Wesley was relentless and he could tell by the shifty expression that Rose wasn't liar enough to hide, that there was more.
Rose took a quick look at Wes' face and realized he wasn't going to let matters drop. "It's Oz," she burst out suddenly.
"Isn't he working out?" Wesley was surprised. Oz was incredibly adaptable and eminently unflappable. He'd have thought him the perfect person to watch after the twins.
"Oh, he's working out wonderfully well," Rose muttered. She looked away a moment and Wesley heard an ill-disguised sniff. "The children asked me to invite him to dinner last night, and he was almost the only person they talked to. When they got up this morning, they started talking about Oz before he even got there." There was another sniffle. "My babies were so happy to see him that they could hardly be bothered to kiss me good-bye."
"Rose," Wesley said gently. "Are you afraid that Oz is going to take your place in your children's affections?"
"I don't know," Rose replied miserably, swiping a wrist across her eyes. "It's just.., a few days ago they'd never even met Oz, and now he seems to be the center of their universe."
"Oz is new to them, different," Wesley pointed out. "They haven't met very many people outside of this little piece of the universe. The older they get, the more you're going to find this happening, Rose. But that doesn't change the fact that you'll always be their mother. Why don't you try talking to them? With all the mind reading they do, they've become remarkably perceptive, but it still may never have occurred to them that adults need reassured that they're loved too."
"I'm being very silly about this, aren't I?" she asked a little shamefacedly. "But aside from Spike, they're more precious to me than anyone in the world. And I hate feeling like they don't love me as much as they used to."
Wesley sighed. He'd given it his best shot. Then, he remembered something, a requirement of the job, to be sure, but it might also help alleviate Rose's heartache. "Since you've just gotten back from leave," he said. "You have to do a screening with Lorne as soon as he can fit you into his schedule."
&&&&&&&
Lorne pushed away a few other items to make time to do Rose's screening immediately. He would have even if Wes hadn't called him and dropped a hint that Rose was having a few difficulties making the transition from stay at home full time mom to working mother.
What he saw when Rose came in the door of his office, however, threw him for a loop. He couldn't remember when he'd last seen her without a sparkle in her eye. But it wasn't there now. She seemed so disconsolate that he forgot about the reading, for the time being. He stood up and opened his arms, and Rose flung herself into them.
&&&&&&&&
Lorne strode into Angel's office without knocking. "I just did a reading on Rose," he announced, then headed for the bar.
Angel massaged the bridge of his nose. Why was it that whenever Lorne did a reading on Rose, it meant trouble on the offing. He idly wondered if the trouble could be averted by excusing Rose from the periodic screenings. Probably not. "Well," he sighed. "Who's after her now? I guess I should be grateful that she hasn't been kidnapped since she was pregnant with the twins."
Lorne shook his head. "It doesn't work that way, Angelface," he replied, gulping down.., something blue. "What I mean to say, is that it doesn't look like anyone is after her, this time. But someone close to her, but not in her immediate family is in danger. On a guess, I'd say that means one of us."
"Then I guess everybody sings until you find out who's in danger," Angel remarked. He had to admit, that little though he liked to see any of his friends in peril, it was a refreshing change of pace that it wasn't Rose this time. "Should I include Oz on the list?"
Lorne pondered it for a moment. "We could ask, I suppose," he replied dubiously. "I don't think you can make it a command performance since he isn't technically on Wolfram and Hart's payroll."
"We'll see what he says." Angel picked up the phone and called the senior partner's suite.
&&&&&&&&
When Oz arrived in Angel's office, Angel immediately took the children by the hands to lead them off to the other side of the room and give Lorne a little space to work.
"Just don't give them any candy, okay?" Oz requested. "Rose will skin me alive."
"I won't," Angel promised. He didn't have to worry about breaking a promise. He'd already given the kids the candy before Oz had asked him not to. He turned back to the twins and held a finger to his lips.
"What should I sing?" It seemed to Lorne that everyone asked that question the first time.
"Anything at all, wizard," Lorne replied. "I heard that you used to be with a band. Why don't you sing me one of your tunes?"
Oz thought a few minutes. "This one was never performed. I wrote it after.., I went away." A leave taking that had nearly torn his soul apart.
Willow
You've taken me through changes, baby
And never left my side
I thought we'd be together, maybe
Till there was neither time nor tide
Your eyes see into my soul
You're the other half that makes me whole
The sands of time I now sift through
Eternity is done
All that's left is you
The night is dark, the moon is full
The secret that I hide
The time is late, I feel its pull
The wolf shall be my guide
Your eyes see into my soul
You're the other half that makes me whole
The sands of time I now sift through
Eternity is done
All that's left is you
The sun is rising, day is near
It's been a wild ride
Another day, another year
Yet only you abide
Your eyes see into my soul
You're the other half that makes me whole
The sands of time I now sift through
Eternity is done
All that's left is you
"He's singing about a witch," Ariel whispered to Angel.
"I know," Angel murmured. Oz was a reminder of the old proverb about still waters running deep. It also hit him with a jolt that a lot of that song could have been about how he felt about Buffy.
Lorne sniffed. "If you'd write them and Rosebud would sing them," he remarked. "We'd all be rich." He turned to Angel. "He's in it, but peripherally. He's not the one that's in danger." He turned back to Oz. "I hope I don't have to say to be careful when the blue moon hits, do I?"
&&&&&&&
"I just did my piece a couple of weeks ago," Spike complained. True, Lorne's reading had said that it wasn't going to be one of Rose's immediate family, but a reading on Spike could still help pinpoint things, and Angel had included him on the list.
"You know, Spike, if you ever once just did as you're told without bitching about it first, I think I'd drop dead from the shock," Angel said evenly, even though what he really wanted to do was to let him have it upside his head. "Just go sing for Lorne. Everyone in the group is doing it. Even Oz did a piece."
"Since when did Oz work for you?" Spike demanded suspiciously. "Last I looked, he was working for me and Rose. Not you, you big dumb git."
"Lorne saw danger for someone close to Rose," Angel replied. When Spike started looking alarmed, he hastily added, "But not to anyone in her immediate family. Oz is close to her now in that he's taking care of the kids. And before you get up on your high horse again, let me inform you that I didn't make Oz' reading a command performance. I asked. Nicely."
"Hmmph." Spike shot Angel a dirty look. "You'd stake yourself before you'd ask me nicely, wouldn't you," he grumbled. "All right, I'll go croon a tune to the green demon. But because there are some people around here I do care about. You not being one of them."
"Just as long as you do it," Angel said tiredly. "I really don't give a rat's ass why."
&&&&&&&
"It's only a week and a half till the blue moon," Jason muttered. "And we still don't have a plan to get the vampire to the spell location."
"I hear that he fancies himself something of a crusader," Nathan murmured reflectively. "Helping the helpless or some such rot. If he truly believed that, he wouldn't be at Wolfram and Hart. But it might work to decoy him to the place at the right time. Just a word at the right time telling him that someone will be in danger there ought to bring him running."
"Marcy, you're a writer," Jason remarked. "Why don't you put your head to work thinking of a plausible story. It's got to be serious enough that he'll come, but not so serious that he'll bring reinforcements."
That was the quality that Nathan liked about Jason. He had all the earmarks of a leader. Except good sense and intelligence. Which made him the perfect puppet. And Nathan was the puppetmaster.
"We know that it's going to be on the full moon," Alex Jeffries commented. "But exactly what time?"
"At midnight, of course," Nathan replied. "All the best spells are performed at midnight."
&&&&&&&
Lorne popped into Rose's office just as she was getting ready to leave. "I went the extra mile for you today, blossom," he started. "I got the moppets to sing to me. And I hope it takes a weight off your shoulders when I tell you that you're still number one on their hit parade. And the Spikester, of course."
"Are you sure?" Rose felt a wave of relief sweep over her. "I know I was getting carried away, Lorne, but..,"
"No buts, sugarplum," Lorne interrupted. "Now why don't you go on home and let them know how much you love them?"
&&&&&&&&&
"Isn't it time the kids were in bed, pet?" Spike suggested. The sooner they went to bed, the sooner they'd be asleep, he hoped. He did have a few plans for later on.
Rose was sitting with the children cuddled on her lap, reading to them. "We just wanted to finish this chapter first, darling," she said apologetically. Actually, the twins had expended enough energy during the day that they were about to nod off now, but she just wanted to hold them a little longer.
"Who wants to finish the chapter?" Spike asked. "They're all but out now, luv. Why don't you let me give you a hand tucking them up for the night?"
"All right," Rose agreed, albeit reluctantly. Her disappointment didn't last though. She'd put in her three days this week. The rest of the week was hers. And theirs.