Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow
Notes: Thanks ever so much for the reviews. Keep 'em coming.
Previously:
"I imagine he'd appreciate that," Giles said, smiling at the gesture. Tara nodded and quietly entered Robson's room so as not to wake him. She sat the flowers on the windowsill and turned, looking over at the sleeping man. Tara gasped a little when she saw him, her eyes turning dark.
"Something's not right here," she muttered to herself. "Not at all."
Chapter Fifty-Six:
"Hey," Robson said, limping out of Buffy's kitchen door.
"Here, let me help you," Kara said, jumping up from her seat on the stairs.
"Thanks," Robson said gratefully, as Kara helped him take a seat next to her. He propped his cane up against the house and smiled.
"How're you feeling?" Kara asked, looking over at him and squinting slightly in the sun.
"Well, I've been better," Robson said honestly. "But I'm just glad to be alive."
Kara smiled and shifted her attention back to the slayers training in the backyard. Buffy and Faith were leading the girls in a series of stretching exercises before they began sparring. "Girls are looking good," Robson commented. "They've been training them well."
"Yeah. The way we see it, the First has more demons than we do slayers. We need our girls as fit as they can be," Kara said. She sighed internally, wishing she was watching Kennedy standing with the rest of the girls, stretching in the morning sun. Instead, her girlfriend was lying in a hospital bed trying to fight her way out of her subconscious.
"Good plan," Robson said approvingly. "Got anything else?"
"What do you mean?" Kara asked, looking over at him.
"Well, I hate to break it to ya, but we're gonna need a lot more than muscle to beat the First," Robson said.
Kara looked at him for a few moments before nodding. "Yeah, I know."
"Well, if you know, you must have some other plan," Robson prodded.
Kara looked away. She hadn't told anyone yet of the plan the Powers that Be set into motion. Though she was reluctant to tell Robson, she felt as if she owed the man something, after all that the First had done to him.
"Well," –
"Kara?" Tara said, coming up to them and interrupting Kara before she could speak.
"Yeah?" Kara asked, shifting her attention to Tara. "What's up?"
"Can I talk to you inside for a minute?" Tara asked, nervously. Kara looked up at her with worry shining in her eyes for a moment before nodding.
"Sure," Kara said as Tara walked into the kitchen. "I'll be back," she said to Robson. Robson nodded and went back to watching the slayers.
"So what's going on?" Kara asked, closing the kitchen door behind them.
"Upstairs," Tara instructed, turning and walking out of the kitchen. Kara watched her for a moment before following after her. Walking up the stairs, she caught up to Tara outside of Buffy and Faith's room. Tara quickly opened the door and motioned for Kara to enter.
"What's going on?" Kara asked suspiciously as she entered the room. "Hey Will," she said, noticing Willow standing by the window. Lying on the bed was a computer and some other expensive looking electronics.
"We need to talk about Robson," Willow said, turning away from the window.
"He's not who he says he is," Tara said, closing the bedroom door behind them.
"What are you talking about?" Kara asked, feeling slightly cornered.
"When I went into his hospital room, I noticed something. Willow noticed it too when we brought him back here a week ago. His aura's wrong," Tara said slowly. Kara looked over at her, studying her face intently.
"What was wrong with it?" She finally said.
"It was black," Willow answered, sitting on Buffy's bed. "We think he's working with the First."
"Wait, after what the First did to him. No way," Kara said, shaking her head.
"Black means evil," Tara said. "His aura was totally black. He's evil through and through."
"Okay," Kara said, sitting down next to Buffy. "I imagine all this stuff," she said, motioning to the electronics, "is a part of some plan to prove what you're saying?"
"Yeah," Willow said. "Look, we know that there's more to your plan than sending the slayers down into the Hellmouth."
"That would be mass suicide," Tara said.
"And Robson knows that too," Willow pointed out.
"He wanted to know what my plan was," Kara said. "He asked me about it a couple of minutes ago."
"So we need to come up with a fake plan," Tara said.
"I've got video cameras we can set up to try to catch him in the act. We can watch the feed from my computer," Willow said, excitedly.
Kara smiled, instantly knowing what to do. "Anya's got some amulets at the Magic Shop, right? Purely decorative, but they look real."
"Yeah, why?" Willow asked.
"In my world, Angel brought an amulet to Sunnydale to be wielded by a champion. Spike wore it and when you all were fighting the final battle, it exploded in sunlight and destroyed the town and the Hellmouth," Kara explained.
"So why don't we have the amulet now?" Tara asked.
"Well, in my world, the First came a year later," Kara said. "So the amulet is still floating out in space somewhere."
"But Robson doesn't know any of this. If you tell him that we have this amulet, which we're gonna use to defeat the First, he'll want it," Willow said, finally understanding.
"Exactly. So, we tell him that Buffy and Faith are storing the amulet in this room. We set up the cameras and we wait," Kara said. "And if you're right, than we'll catch him in the act."
"Sounds like a plan," Willow said.
"Good, set up the cameras, I'll get the amulet. Then I'll tell Robson about it after dinner tonight," Kara said, rising to her feet.
"Come back to the dorm afterwards and we'll see what happens," Willow said. "If he is working for the First, what're we gonna do?"
Kara sighed and absently ran a hand through her long, dark hair. "We'll figure that out when we get to it."
...............................
"Nice night," Kara commented as she stepped out onto the front porch. Robson was leaning against the rails, looking up at the stars.
"Yeah, it is," he said, smiling back at her.
"Earlier today, you wanted to know about my plan to defeat the First," Kara began.
"Yeah, listen, I shouldn't have asked. I'm sure it's on a need to know basis," Robson said apologetically.
"It's okay. I want you to know. You deserve it after what the First did to you," Kara said, studying his eyes. She couldn't see any malice in them.
"I appreciate it," Robson said as Kara leaned on the porch railing beside him.
"We have this amulet. It's supposed to be worn by a champion. We think that's Spike. When Spike puts it on, it'll destroy the Hellmouth and everything inside of it," Kara explained. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket, her palms sweaty. She was incredibly nervous. Part of her didn't want to believe what Willow and Tara were suggesting, but the rest of her trusted the two witches more than she could ever trust Robson.
"Won't that destroy the person wearing it?" Robson asked, looking over at her in concern. She thought for a moment. If Robson was working for the First, he was one hell of an actor.
"Spike's aware. He hasn't told Dawn about it yet, so don't say anything. He knows what he has to do. In the end, she may not understand, but she'll be alive. We'll all be alive. Anyway, Buffy and Faith have it upstairs in their weapons chest for protection," Kara added nonchalantly. Robson looked over at her quickly, but looked away. "Hey, listen, would you tell the others I had to go? I want to get back to Kennedy," Kara said, smiling over at him.
Robson smiled back warmly and nodded. "Sure. I hope she's doing better," he called out after her as Kara walked away.
Ten minutes later, Kara was standing outside Willow and Tara's dorm room door. She swiftly knocked and Tara pulled the door open, motioning for her to enter.
"You set up the cameras?" Kara asked, shrugging off her jacket.
"Yeah, you drop the hint?" Willow asked, fiddling with her computer. "Okay, I've got the feed up."
Kara and Tara both moved over to the bed and sat on opposite sides of Willow. "He won't go after it now. Buffy and Faith are still in the house," Kara said. "They'll be leaving for patrol in like an hour or so."
Joyce agreed to let Robson stay in her home after his release from the hospital, until Jack could clear out some room for him across the street. However, Joyce was in Los Angeles on business for the gallery. With Dawn out for the night with Spike and Buffy and Faith leaving for patrol within the hour, Robson would have the house to himself.
Willow, Tara, and Kara had been sitting on the bed for a half hour waiting. Thus far, no one had entered the room. Finally, the door flew open. "Ooh, action," Willow said, perking up. Tara and Kara both leaned forward to get a better view.
"Oh, it's only Buffy and Faith," Tara said disappointedly.
"What are they doing?" Kara asked, peering into the screen.
"Uh, I think they're making out," Willow said, noticing hands roving.
"Wait, they're not...are they getting naked?" Kara asked, abruptly leaning back.
"I really think they are," Tara said, smirking slightly.
"Good God, my parents are having sex!" Kara said, jumping off the bed, her face a portrait of disgust. "I can't believe I just saw that."
"That's so much more than I ever wanted to see of my best friend," Willow muttered, shutting her laptop. "We'll give them fifteen minutes."
"Thirty, make it thirty," Kara said, pacing back and forth. "No need to catch the end of the show."
"It could have been worse," Willow offered.
"How could it have been worse?" Kara asked.
"We could have caught them in the middle," Tara said.
Kara rolled her eyes, plopped down in a desk chair, and covered her face with her hands. "I'm scarred for life."