Summary: The Charmed Ones have jumped into the fray, but will it help? Decisions are made, history gets revised, and insanity sets in before Faith's wedding!
Crossover: Highlander, Stargate SG-1, Charmed
Notes: This takes place after 'Not fade away', of course, but also fits into the Stargate timeline a month or so after Jack has been promoted to General, and into the Charmed timeline after Leo killed Gideon, but is still an Elder, and before that whole Avatar mess. All Hail the Goddess Willow!
Disclaimer: Oh, would that it did belong to me! For then I wouldst be rich, and verily could I pay off all my debts! But, noooooo...
DID SOMEBODY SAY SOMETHING ABOUT NOT FADING AWAY? PART VIII
By screaminheathen69
"You think you know what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun..." Dream Tara in 'Restless'.
"The universe is vast, and we are so small. There is only one thing we can ever truly control; Whether we are good, or evil." Oma Desala in 'Meridian'.
Chapter the First
... The Charmed Ones stepped out into the clear, joined hands, and began chanting. They had spent the last few days researching Cerephus, and had come up with a spell that would bind his powers. They hoped. Cerephus was something of a wild card, having managed to stay under the radar for almost ten thousand years. Even the Elders had been unable to provide much information.
Cerephus, on the other hand, knew exactly who and what the Charmed Ones were, and was well aware of their irritating knack for taking out supposedly invincible demons. He could sense their power when they orbed into the alley, and realised who it was a moment later.
And it worried him. He was holding his own against Dawn, and Willow was still busy fighting the warlocks, but having the Charmed Ones added to the mix was not something he'd expected. They had a tendency to stick to their own little portion of the mystical world, so the fact that they were here exposing themselves to so many came as a shock.
And as they began to chant their spell, he quickly understood what it was they were trying to do.
He growled out "Nooo!", and drew deeper on his power, finally managing to throw Dawn away from him. Cerephus then cut loose with everything he had, firing a massive burst of energy directly at the sisters. Leo, seeing it coming, stepped into its path and let loose a burst of lightning, managing to deflect most of it, the force of the blast still throwing him and the sisters from their feet.
Cerephus began throwing blast after blast at them, keeping them off balance, making it impossible for the Charmed Ones to complete the spell. Dawn joined Leo in intercepting the blasts, but it was all they could do to keep up with the sheer volume that the Immortal was throwing at them.
Driven to her knees by a particularly large burst, Dawn yelled over her shoulder at the sisters. "Whatever it is that you're gonna do, get on with it already!" She had no idea who these newcomers were, and the fact that the Immortal Snakehead over there wanted them dead so badly was all the reason she needed to cover them, but she was tiring fast. And there was still the fight that was going on all around them to be dealt with.
Kneeling, trying to brace themselves and each other against the onslaught, the Charmed Ones joined hands and began chanting the spell again.
Cerephus could feel the magic working, weaving itself around him, and knew he couldn't stop them in time. So, with a final blast, he teleported out, cursing in five different languages. Dawn, who understood three of them, was impressed.
That just left the demon horde. Which, with Cerephus gone, was no problem for Key-Girl. As she prepared to cut loose with her patented Demon-Duster Blast, she could hear her sister through the Wiccan Mind-Meld.
Buffy: Dawn?
Dawn: Yeah?
Buffy: Leave me two alive, if you can. We need somebody to be messengers...
Dawn: Okey dokey.
Dawn took a deep breath and concentrated, finding all the non-evil demons in the area, as well as picking out two messenger boys. Got 'em. Ten seconds later, every evil demon in a twelve block radius was dust, except for the two Buffy wanted. Leo caught Dawn as she collapsed, completely exhausted. "Sleepy time now..."
Joyce gently took Dawn from Leo, studying her younger daughter carefully. Seeing that Dawn was simply asleep, she caught Buffy's eye and nodded, smiling. Buffy let out the nervous breath she hadn't even realised she'd been holding, then stalked over to where the two demons, a Mohra and Hu'lak, were surrounded by about thirty assorted Slayers and witches.
She looked them up and down, giving them a look that Spike would later dub 'The Hazel Gaze of Death', making them shuffle their feet nervously. "Okay. You two are still here for a reason. You're gonna do me a favor. You two are going to go back to whereever the Hell it is you came from and tell all your little demon pals that you, all of you", she waved a hand in a general way, "have royally screwed up. You idiots have officially pissed off the Slayers."
The two demon's eyes bugged a bit at that thought. Buffy smiled an evil little smile, then went on. "You declared war on us. Well, guess what? Now we're gonna declare war on you. You, the Senior Partners, Cerephus, and any other idiot out there that thinks he's the new Big Bad and wants to pick a fight. All of you. Soon, very soon, the Order of Sarrkahn won't be anything more than a sad, pitiful footnote in a sad, pitiful history."
She took a step closer to the cowering demons, causing them to flinch. "We'll be coming for you. Soon. Might be tomorrow, maybe next week. But we will be coming for you. So if you don't wanna end up like the rest of your buddies," she waved a hand vaguely at the piles of dust all around them, "you'll disappear. Permanently. Understand?"
The demons nodded, scared out of their minds. "Good. Now, scat!" They ran. Screaming.
Angel walked over and wrapped an arm around the exhausted Slayer. "Do you think they'll actually deliver the message?"
Buffy shrugged, leaning tiredly against him. "Dunno. Hope so. Even if they don't, I plan on delivering the message myself real soon."
Angel grinned. "Count me in. I've had enough of the running and hiding. Time to take the fight to them."
Buffy smiled, then she and Angel walked over to where Joyce was making with the introductions. Willow was beside herself. "The Charmed Ones? As in, THE Charmed Ones? The sisters who took out The Source? The real life, honest to God, accept no substitutes Charmed Ones?"
Piper's eyebrows were trying to hide in her bangs. "Um, yeah. That's us..."
Willow was frantically searching her pockets for a pen. "OhmyGoddess, I have got to get your autograph..."
She chose to ignore Kennedy's snort of laughter...
Chapter the Second
They had won the battle, but it was far from a happy victory, for they had lost many of their own in the fight. Every body they found hit Buffy like a physical blow, deepening her resolve to take the war to the enemy.
There was one bit of good news. Shortly after the fight ended, Lethbridge-Stewart showed up with the majority of his charges in tow. It turned out that he had taken them out for a large group patrol that night, leaving only a few behind at the hotel. Unfortunately, the eleven souls who had remained behind had been killed in the blast, and the kind hearted Watcher was nearly overcome by grief.
In the end, twenty three Champions had died that night.
Hundreds of demons had been slain in the process, but the losses weighed heavily on all of them. But, like Buffy, their resolve was hardened, and all concerned made up their minds then and there that nothing like this would ever happen again.
They had contacted Jack, and soon had been beamed up to the Prometheus so that the wounded could be tended to. Jack, after shooting Buffy a dirty look (primarily because of the fact that since they had brought Leo and the sisters along for the ride Jack would have even more paperwork to deal with), had taken Joyce and their new friends on the Grand Tour while the doctors saw to the injured.
A couple of hours later, Jack went searching for Buffy, finally finding her on the observation deck staring out at the crescent of the Earth visible through the floor to ceiling viewports. "Penny for your thoughts, Tiger," he said quietly, settling into the chair next to hers.
"No thoughts, actually. It's all quiet in here for once." She tapped her temple, smiling.
"Yeah, and the not having the smoke pouring out of your ears? That's pleasant, too." He ducked as she swung at the back of his head. "Sorry..."
"Not yet, you aren't." She shot him a glare, but couldn't hold it for long. They both laughed quietly as Jack curled an arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. "I'm sorry you lost so many tonight. I know how much that hurts."
"I don't think I'll ever get used to it." She leaned into him a little closer.
"You don't want to. Any leader that 'gets used to it' usually ends up getting people killed in their never ending hunt for glory. You might have to accept the fact that in every war, people die, but you don't have to like it. You learn to deal with it, sure, but get used to it? Not so much. And as far as I'm concerned, there ain't no such thing as 'acceptable losses'."
Buffy gave him a sideways look. "Boy, you really do get wound up sometimes, don'tcha?"
Jack grinned, then leaned in and whispered conspiritorially. "Just don't tell anybody, huh?"
They sat in companionable silence for a bit. Buffy finally stirred. "So, was there a reason you came looking for me, or could you just not stand to be away from me any longer?"
"Oh, right. Giles called, wanted to get everyone dirtside for a meeting asap."
"Wrong answer. The correct answer would have been 'Yes, my dear, I couldn't stand being away from you for one minute longer'. See if you get any hot monkey lovin' now, Flyboy." She got up and headed for the door, Jack following on her heels.
"Wait! That all goes without saying..."
"Nope. Saying is definitely the way to go. Should always go with the saying option. Yup."
Jack rolled his eyes, then continued trying to get himself out the hole he'd dug for himself. All the way to the infirmary three decks up. Much to the amusement of the crew. Not to mention SG-1, who had joined them on the elevator. Good thing I'm a general now. I can just order 'em to quit laughing...
Chapter the Third
It was a large group indeed that gathered in the hotel's largest conference room three hours later. Giles had called in, well, everybody. Giles, Buffy, Dawn (who was yawning something fierce as her nap had been cut short), Joyce, Willow, Xander, Andrew, Kennedy, Vi, and Chao-Ahn. Faith and Robin. Riley and Sam Finn.
Angel, Nina, Spike, Gunn, Lorne, Harmony, Illyria, Connor, and Anne.
Jack, Jon, Carter, Teal'c, Jacob/Selmac, Hammond, Daniel, Cassie, Lt. Jennifer Hailey (who had recently come back from a long term assignment offworld to discover that the reason she'd been feeling so much stronger the last year was because she was a Slayer). Anise/Freya, Na'reen, Aht'ell, and Thor, who'd finally shown up. (Thor was studiously ignoring all the stares he was getting. Jack had taken some time to explain magic and demons to him. Thor had just looked at Jack, vaguely surprised, having long since found all this out on his own. "You didn't know?") Bra'tac, Ishta and Ry'ac had just arrived, having been invited to Faith and Robin's wedding.
Lethbridge-Stewart and several other Watchers, including Joe Dawson and Kaithlynn Lockley. Duncan, Kate, Methos and Amanda. Bethany, Althenea and several other members of the coven. Thirty-odd Slayers. Clem (who had turned up a few days before, looking for Spike. And a job.) And the newest additions, Leo, Piper, Phoebe and Paige.
Buffy stood at the head of the table, next to Giles, trying to get everyones attention. And failing. Teal'c finally took pity on her, stood up and said "Silence!" in that Teal'c-y voice of his, instantly getting the peace and quiet Buffy had been trying for for ten minutes. He bowed to Buffy and sat down, the very essence of dignity.
Buffy shook her head, smiling at the big Jaffa. "Thanks, T. Hello, everybody. I'd like to welcome you to this months meeting of Apocalypse Averters Anonymous. I'm Buffy Summers, and I've been a member for ten years." As a chuckle made its way around the table, Buffy turned to Giles. "And now, I give you our Master of Ceremonies, the Man of Mirth and Merriment himself, Rupert Giles!" She started clapping, and as she'd intended, soon the whole room was applauding Giles.
He stood there, blushing, until the applause died down. "Thank you so very much, Buffy. Your kind words won't be forgotten." He shot her a look. She put on an innocent face. He rolled his eyes. "To the business at hand, then. I believe you've all had a chance to meet our newest arrivals?" There was a general assent from the group.
Giles turned to Leo and the sisters. "We're very grateful for your aid in this matter. I only regret that Cerephus managed to escape before the spell had a chance to affect him."
Paige pulled a face. "Actually, I think it did affect him. At least a little."
Buffy sat up straighter in her seat. "A little? How little is a little?"
Paige shrugged, looking at Leo. "Not sure. But I could sense a drop in his power. It definitely wasn't as strong as it was when we first got there. Couldn't you feel it, Leo?"
"Yeah. His powers were partially bound. He might be at half strength, maybe a little more." There was a stir around the table at that remark, but Leo held a hand up. "But, I don't know how long it'll last. Given time, the spell will fade. And with the knowledge this guy has, he can probably figure out a way to break the spell quicker. We may not have a lot of time."
Buffy slumped back into her chair, pouting. "Swell. Just swell."
Leo gave her a sympathetic smile. "Sorry. Just calls 'em as I sees 'em."
Jack turned to Thor. "Thor, buddy, think you can find this guy with your scanners?"
"I have been searching since my arrival, O'Neill, but have been unable to locate the Goa'uld thus far. I will continue to scan, though."
Willow raised her hand. "Umm, so basically, the spell was working, right?"
Phoebe nodded. "Near as we can tell, yeah."
Willow rested her elbows on the table, obviously lost in thought. "So, it just needed longer, right? More time to take effect?"
The Charmed Ones looked at each other, then nodded. Phoebe turned back to Willow. "We think so anyway. More time, and maybe more power behind it. I'm not sure that even with the Power of Three that we can push it all the way past his defenses."
Willow looked questioningly at Dawn and Bethany, who both nodded. "We're in, Will."
Willow smiled her gratitude at them, then turned back to the sisters. "Power you've got. And I have an idea or two on how to keep him in one place long enough to zap his snaky butt. Err, once we find him again, that is..."
"The coven thinks they may have found a way to trace him when he teleports, but we have know way of testing it until he does it again," put in Giles. "We can get together later to work out the details of your power boost theory, Willow."
Giles stood up and cleared his throat. "I'm sure that by now you've all heard about Buffy's declaration of all out war against the Order of Sarrkahn and the Senior Partners. For the record, I am in complete agreement with her. It's high time we took the fight to the enemy. Waiting for them to come to us has cost us far too many of our friends and family. I can't necessarily speak for the rest of you, but I'm rather sick of it."
Faith spoke up. "Damn straight. We'll kick all their asses!"
Giles smiled as a cheer went around the room. "Well, it seems we're all in agreement then. On that note, I believe Joyce had something she wished to tell us."
Joyce sighed and sat up straighter in her chair, obviously steeling herself for what she was about to say. "Several things, actually. Some of it concerns all of us, some of it doesn't. First off; Angel. Cordelia and Wesley are fine. They both made it up there. She was always meant to ascend, just not when that whole Jasmine fiasco took place. She told me to tell you she hopes you'll have better luck dealing with the visions than she did."
Both the Fang Gang and the Scoobies looked relieved at this information. "And Wes?"
Joyce grinned, if somewhat uncertainly. "Well, he's up there, but he's very busy. It seems Fred's soul wasn't destroyed after all..."
Illyria came away from where she'd been leaning against the wall. "That is not possible!"
"It shouldn't have been, no. But somebody, umm, intervened." Joyce cast a glance in Daniels direction.
"Oma? You're talking about Oma Desala, aren't you?" Daniel looked surprised.
"Yes. She thought she could save her. Fred's soul should have been destroyed, but Oma figured out a way to stop it. Something went wrong though, and though Fred's soul wasn't destroyed, it did get sort of lost." Joyce looked decidedly uncomfortable at the thought.
Angel was somewhere between overjoyed and enraged. "Lost? What do you mean, lost?"
"Her soul disappeared, vanished in transit. It's out there, somewhere, lost in the ether. Wes has been working non-stop trying to find her. One of the good things about being dead, I suppose. You never get tired." She looked Angel in the eye. "He'll find her."
Lorne slugged Angel in the shoulder, all grins. "You bet your sweet bippy he will!" Lorne broke out laughing. This was the best news he'd had since he'd gotten discount tickets to Barbara Streisand's last tour. Everyone that had known Fred was smiling, overjoyed at the news. Illyria just looked thoughtful.
Joyce turned to Giles. "Jenny says hello. And that she's glad you stopped being such a fuddy duddy." Giles sat there, a smile slowly creeping over his face.
Next, she turned to Willow. "Tara wanted you to know she's happy. She misses you, misses all her family, but she's very, very proud of all of you. Especially Willow and Spike. And Dawnie, she wanted you to know that she always knew there was something special about you, and that you would figure it out eventually." Kennedy wrapped an arm around Willow as she cried. Dawn and Buffy were sniffling as well. Even Spike was trying to hide the tear that was trying to sneak out.
Joyce turned to Xander next. "Anya made it too, Xander. She wanted you to know that she had already forgiven you for leaving her, and that she really did understand why you did what you did. She just hopes you'll find the happiness you deserve." Xander had a tear in his eye, but mostly he was overwhelmed by relief. He'd worried a lot about where Anya had ended up, so this came as good news.
Joyce took another breath, then continued. "I have a few other messages, but I'll save them for later. As you all are perfectly aware, the last few years have been pretty bad. There's been a huge increase in demon activity, not to mention the war with the Goa'uld and the Replicators. It's been one barely averted apocalypse after another. Not to mention Wolfram & Hart's ongoing apocalypse. Angel and his crew have certainly slowed that one down a bit, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to stop it."
Angel looked pained. "Could we actually have stopped it?"
Joyce gave an uncertain shrug. "I don't know. They don't really know, I think," she said, casting a look skywards. "The Senior Partners have been working on this for millenia. It's almost become self-perpetuating. And the human race is unwittingly helping it along. And having the First taking a much more active role the last couple of years hasn't helped. Collapsing the Sunnydale Hellmouth slowed it down for a while, but the First has been showing signs of stirring recently."
"Oh, joy," mumbled Buffy. Joyce smiled and patted her arm.
Phoebe gestured uncertainly. "Umm, sorry, newcomer to the group and all, but who's this First you keep talking about?"
"The First Evil. The original source of all evil. Been around since the dawn of time. It's incorporeal, so it has to act through it's minions. Has a really nasty group of followers called the Harbingers, or Bringers. It can appear as any dead person, and it has the nasty habit of influencing people to get its way. About a year and a half ago, it decided to end the Slayer line and started killing off Watchers and potential Slayers. We only just barely stopped it from opening the Hellmouth and unleashing Hell on Earth," said Willow.
Phoebe and Piper traded glances. "But, we vanquished the Source. Twice."
Joyce grimaced. "Sorry, but that one was another of the First's flunkies. It had imbued an already powerful upper-level demon with some of it's own power."
"Like what it did with Caleb?" asked Buffy. Joyce nodded. Buffy cast a sympathetic look at the sisters. "That must have been a royal pain, then."
Phoebe nodded. "You have no idea." That battle, and what it had cost them, was a pain that would never go away. Paige and Piper each held one of her hands, sending her their love and support.
Joyce gave them a moment, then continued. "The sad truth is, it's going to get worse before it gets better. This is only the beginning. There are forces at work that haven't even begun to show their true extent yet. But here's the ray of sunshine; what you did, releasing all the Slayers? That was exactly what needed to be done. It set in motion a series of events that has led us here."
Joyce gestured around the room. "We have here several different groups that have been fighting the same war, but without ever knowing the full extent of what they were facing, or that there was help to be had close at hand. But now you all realise that you have allies, friends who will help to fight back the darkness that is coming."
She grinned, spreading her arms in an all encompassing gesture. "That just might make you guys the most powerful force for good that this world has ever seen."
There was some cheering at that. Buffy and Faith high fived each other, while Jack just sat there with a satisfied grin. Joyce took up her narrative again. "Now here's the thing. Somebody saw all this coming a long, lonnnnggg time ago. But I'll get to that in a bit. I need to give you all a little history first."
She settled into her chair, getting comfortable. "Several million years ago, the last of the Old Ones was finally driven out of this dimension. The rest had either been cast out, or were sleeping in the Deeper Well. That final war was horrific. Most of you are aware of the history of it. J.R.R. Tolkien chronicled it in his books."
Andrew came up out of his chair. "Wait a sec. Are you saying that Sauron was an Old One?" Nobody new 'The Lord of the Rings' better than Andrew. Except maybe Xander. Even Illyria was wearing a vaguely interested look. She remembered Sauron well. It wasn't a pleasant memory.
"Yup."
"One of the worst of us," put in Illyria.
"I'd often wondered about that," mumbled Methos. "Mithrandir never really said one way or the other..."
Piper was staring at Leo. "Did you know about any of this?" Leo gave her a sheepish look and nodded. She smacked him on the arm. "No wonder you sat through the movies critiquing every little thing!"
"Sorry..."
Joyce continued. "Anyway, the people that fought Sauron, the inhabitants of Middle-Earth, they were the ancestors of those that would eventually become the Ancients. Although they didn't actually call it Middle-Earth back then. This was a time when magic still held sway over the Earth, and even though the Old Ones were gone, there were still untold numbers of lesser demons roaming the world. This would be about the time that the Slayer Line was created. Why they chose to only have one Slayer at a time is beyond me, but anyway..."
"As time went by, magic became less common, and the sciences came to the fore. But unlike us, the Ancients never forgot the past. In their time, the Slayer was revered, and was supported every step of the way. Even through a two-hundred year long war to rid the Earth of the Goa'uld."
Carter sat forward like a hawk. "Whoa! The Goa'uld were here that long ago?"
"Came from here, actually. They really are demons. They just got transplanted." Joyce laughed at the disbelief on Carter's and Daniel's faces. "The planet the Ancients put them on was completely uninhabited at the time. It was a couple of million years before a survey party landed there. They were soon taken by the Goa'uld, and you know what happened from there."
Jack nudged Carter. "And you said our lives couldn't get any weirder..."
"Shut up. Sir."
"Anyway," Joyce interrupted, "even though magic grew less common, it was always there to some extent. That's at least part of how the Ancients were able to use crystals as such a huge part of their science. Crystals have always been a means of harnessing power, and they found a way to anchor their science to that. The discovery of naquadah later on was the next step. Farther down the road, the fact that magic had always been in their lives aided many of the Ancients in ascending."
"After the Ancients left Earth, the second evolution of humanity began. There were still demons, and there was still a Slayer, but much of the ancient knowledge had been lost in a series of cataclysms. Most of what knowledge remained became myth, or legend, little more than stories told around campfires. The truth had to be rediscovered. Some learned the truth and accepted it for what it was. Most people though, will never accept it as more than myth. And that is why the world is in the state it's in. Humanity's non-belief has given the Darkness a foothold. The sad fact is that most people don't have any real faith anymore. So it falls to us to hold the line."
"Which brings me to this." She held her hand out, palm up, and a scroll appeared in a sparkle of white light. "This is a prophecy- stop rolling your eyes, Buffy- that has been around for a very long time. It was written shortly after the War of the Ring, by Galadriel herself, shortly before she went across the sea. Which, coincidentally, is about the same time that the First began working with the cult of the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart on their Apocalypse. The fact is, no one was sure exactly when this prophecy was supposed to happen, or who it referred to, but some of the events of recent years seem to fit, and we're pretty sure it's about all of you."
Joyce gently unrolled the ancient scroll and read it aloud in a soft voice.
There shall come an age, long hence, when many Evils, both Ancient and New, shall arise to spread the Darkness once again. It shall be a time of many trials, for the world will have greatly changed, and Knowledge of the Light and of the Darkness shall reside with but a few. But lo! In this time there shall arise a new order of Champions, for the Chosen shall be Legion, and many powerful allies will they have. The Key and the Red Goddess; Immortal Warriors and Travelers of the Stars; the Three and the Progeny; The Two Old Ones; the Ensouled and more. They shall be Guardians of the Light, and their War against the Darkness shall become legend.
Joyce carefully rolled the scroll back up and handed it to Daniel, who looked like he was about ready to have kittens. "Questions? Comments?"
No one spoke for a bit. It was a lot to take in. Buffy finally spoke up. "'Guardians of the Light', huh? I like that."
Faith nodded, grinning. "Kinda catchy."
Willow was looking at the notes she had written. "Okay, I think I've got most of this figured out. Know who the Key is, that's an easy one, and the Immortal warriors. Pretty sure about the travelers over there," she cast a glance at the crew from the SGC and Thor. "The Three I'm guessing is the Charmed Ones. And the Ensouled isn't too hard to figure out. But what about the Red Goddess and The Two Old Ones? So far we've only got the one Old One, who's the other one? And what about The Progeny?"
"Yes, Illyria is one of the Two. The second has yet to be revealed, or the Progeny for that matter. As for the Red Goddess..." Joyce trailed off, looking at Willow expectantly.
Slowly, realisation dawned on the face of the young witch. "Me? How can they mean me? I'm not a goddess!"
"Been callin' you a goddess since Sunnydale, Red," Kennedy chirped.
"That's different! That's, er, uhhh..." Willow's blush threatened to become redder than her hair.
Joyce chuckled. "Honestly, I can't offer any more explanation than that. And the only one that could is keeping His mouth shut. All I can tell you is that you're on the right path."
Willow hunched down in her chair, arms crossed. "mumble mumble prophecies mumble mumble goddess mumble..."
Joyce smiled, then sobered. "I wish I could give you more details, but unfortunately, we'll just have to deal with things as they unfold. Fortunately though, we do have a seer with a direct link to the Powers That Be amongst us, so that should help."
Angel snorted. "For a while, at least." At the surprised looks that remark earned him, he tried to explain. "If the visions don't kill me, they'll eventually drive me insane. At least that's what happened in the alternate reality. Which may or may not have been the truth. But the pain isn't getting any better. Worse, if anything. Apparently, I'm still too human." He ignored Spike's muffled laughter.
Leo was searching his pockets. "... knew I was forgetting something..." He dug two rings out of his pocket, then handed one to Angel and the other to Spike. Both vampires stared at the rings in startled recognition.
Spike found his voice first. "Is this..."
"Yes. Those are the last two Gems of Amarra in existence. Whatever you do, don't lose them. Angel, with that, the visions won't be any worse than a bad headache."
The two vampires slid the rings on. Angel looked at Spike, grinning like an idiot. "All of a sudden, I have this urge to go to the beach."
Spike grinned. "Reckon a vampire can get a sunburn?"
Nina wrapped her arms around Angel. "I think we should find out," she said, smirking.
Dawn bounced in her seat. "Oooo, I sooo foresee a trip to the beach in our future! Been wanting to try out that bikini I bought in Rome..."
Buffy shot Dawn a look. "That isn't a bikini. That's dental floss."
"You're just jealous 'cause it looked better on me than it did on you," Dawn said in a sing-song voice.
"I am not! And it so didn't!"
"Oh yes you are, and it so did."
"Not!"
They were interrupted by a loud thump. The thump being the noise Giles' head made when it came into contact with the table. With his head still resting on the table, he looked sideways at Joyce. "Only your daughters could turn a discussion of this gravity into an argument over who looks better wearing dental floss."
Joyce snorted. "Tell me about it."
Both the Summers girls had the good sense to look sheepish. Giles took a breath and sat up. "I'm sure that everyone has more questions, but I feel we've covered enough for today. Besides which, it's past lunch time and I'm famished. Anything else before we adjourn?"
Buffy, still staring daggers at Dawn, raised her hand. "Just one thing. It's something we've talked about before, but I just had a thought. We've been trying to get away from how the old Council did things and find our own way. And I think we're doing a damn good job of it, too. But we don't really know what to call ourselves. I mean, yeah, we've still got Watchers and Slayers, Immortals and Witches, even aliens now. Lots of different groups, each doing their own thing. But now that we've joined forces, I think we need to form a new council, with a new name." She paused, taking a breath.
"And I think we should call ourselves The Council of Guardians." She looked around the room. She could tell that they were thinking about it.
"Got my vote, B," said Faith. "Sounds a helluva lot better 'n 'Watchers Council'. Always made me think of a bunch of dirty old men doing the peeping Tom thing. 'Sides, I think I like the idea of bein' a Guardian." She leaned against Robin, rubbing her slightly bulging tummy absentmindedly.
Giles studied the group. It was obvious that they shared Faith's opinion. "Council of Guardians it is, then." Buffy beamed. "On that note, I do believe it's time for lunch." Giles gave Buffy a hug as the room began to empty. "Excellent choice, my dear. I think it says exactly what we want it to."
Dawn gave her sister a nudge as she walked past. "Better stop, Giles. Her head swells up any larger, it'll explode. Then we'll be picking up Buffy brains the rest of the afternoon."
"Oh, shut up, you. And you sooo don't look better in that bikini than me..."
Chapter the Fourth
The next week and a half seemed to fly by. The preparations for Robin and Faith's wedding reached a fever pitch, and soon almost everyone was involved one way or another. Lorne called in some favors and soon had a band booked, but also a dj with a complete karaoke setup.
The attacks by the Sarrkahn had ended abruptly, much to the pleasure of all concerned, but everyone kept their guard up. They had too many enemies to make the mistake of thinking they were safe.
Cerephus, unfortunately, managed to stay under the radar. Dawn and Spike started a pool, taking bets as to when he would show up. Faith put twenty on him showing up in the middle of the wedding. ("Oh, come on Little D, when the Hell else is that no good, slimy, snake-head sonofabitch gonna show up?")
Giles and Gunn, aided by Willow when she could get away from the wedding insanity, set about taking care of many of the legal tangles that the old Council had left behind.
Buffy managed to sneak away with Jack to Minnesota for a 'fishing trip' for a couple of days.There was very little actual fishing done. Daniel got a good laugh later when he overheard Jack on the phone griping to Buffy about the new bed that he'd had to order.
A large group outing was planned for the beach. Willow teleported the bunch of them to Tahiti. Buffy and Dawn drove everybody nuts asking which of them looked better in their new bikinis. Spike and Angel discovered that vampires could in fact get sunburned. Which, considering how truly pale they both were, meant two incredibly red vampires. And then came the peeling...
Paige gave Giles, Willow and Bethany the grand tour of Magic School. Willow was positively giddy. She had been invited to come back and teach, but she also hoped to further her knowledge of the craft, and improve her control of the subtler magycks. And she absolutely adored Wyatt and Chris.
Ira and Sheila Rosenburg finally started to come to terms with what was going on, and with Willow's part in all of it. Not to mention the fact that little Bunny was apparently a super-powered demon killer. They also came to realise just how little they had paid attention to their daughter's life. It hurt. After much discussion, they both offered their services in the academic department of the Council. Willow was thrilled at the active role they wanted to take. She just hoped it would last through all the weirdness they were sure to witness.
Jack managed to take Xander for a ride in an X-302. Andrew pouted for three days, until he got to go up and see the Daniel Jackson, Thor's newest ship. Xander's only complaint was that since he had lost his eye, he'd never be able to become a pilot. Joyce had thought about it long and hard, then went to talk to Xander in his room. The next morning, Xander came down to breakfast without his eyepatch. At everyones stunned expression, he'd simply smiled. "What? Never seen a guy enjoying the wonderfulness of stereoscopic vision before?" There hadn't been much to work with, but Joyce had managed to regenerate his eye. You couldn't knock the grin off Xander's face with dynamite.
Dawn had asked Spike to be her date to the wedding. Flattered as he was, he had turned her down, figuring that Robin wouldn't want him anywhere near him on his wedding day. Robin had gone to Spike after that and personally invited him. Once Spike had gotten over his speechlessness, he'd asked why. Robin stood there for a minute, pondering how to respond to that. "Because you've earned a chance. You're not the monster you were back then. You changed, not because some Gypsies forced you to, but because you chose to. You're a Champion, Spike. So for now, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But, if you ever slip, the last thing you'll see before you're blowing in the wind is my face."
Spike nodded, once. "Fair enough."
Oz turned up three days before the wedding and was invited to stay for the festivities. Willow had sent a message to him asking if the monks he was working with would be interested in training Nina to control the wolf. He had come to discuss the situation with Nina, but was thrilled to have the chance to catch up with all his old friends. He and Kennedy took an instant liking to each other, much to Willow's relief, and the three spent a great deal of time together.
On Thursday night, they held the rehearsal and had a huge dinner party afterward. A grand time was had by all. As the evening wore on, Buffy decided to go for a walk in the garden. As she came to the door, she bumped into Daniel, who was leaning against the doorframe looking out into the courtyard. "Sorry, Daniel. Didn't see you."
"'Salright. One of the many hazards of being invisible." Buffy snorted. "Where're you off to?"
"Just wanted to get some air. Care to escort a lady?"
Daniel stuck out his elbow, which Buffy promptly hooked her arm through. They meandered through the gardens, chatting about this and that, just enjoying the night air and each others company. They had become close friends in the short time they'd known each other, which was something of a concern to Jack. Not that he minded them being friends, he just worried about the stories they could tell each other.
As they came to Buffy's favorite bench, she was surprised to find Faith sitting there, feet propped up on the bench with her arms wrapped around her knees. They stopped next to the bench, and could both see the lost expression on Faith's face. Buffy touched her shoulder gently. "Hey, Faith. Something wrong?"
"Huh? Oh, hey B. Daniel." She'd been a million miles away and hadn't even noticed their approach.
Buffy, starting to worry, sat down next to Faith. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. No. Maybe. Hell, I don't know." Buffy hadn't seen Faith this confused in a long time.
Daniel rested a hand on her other shoulder. "What is it, Faith?"
"I dunno... It's just... It all hit me a while ago, ya know? All of it. And it got me thinkin'. I'm happy. For the first time in my life, I'm really happy. I've got friends, real friends that care about me. I've got a man that loves me for who I am, not who he thinks he can make me be. And the babies..." She rested a hand on her belly, looking down at the bulge in wonder. "I have all this, and I'm happy."
She sighed heavily. "And I hafta wonder who the Hell am I to be so lucky? I don't deserve any of this. I'm just a worthless killer..."
"No! You are not!" Buffy turned Faith to face her. "The past is just that; the past. It's over. You made mistakes, sure, but we all screwed up pretty bad back then. Yes, you went over to the darkside for a while. But, Faith, we let you. The signs were all there, but we were all so caught up in our own crap that we couldn't see you were drowning. Hell, I'm so thick that I let it happen again with Willow, and she made what you did look like a day at the fair! You got your second chance, Faith. You've earned the right to your happiness, so reach out and grab it!"
Faith was touched by what Buffy said, but still couldn't bring herself to think she'd ever earn her redemption. "I know it's my second chance, B. I just don't think I've earned it yet."
Daniel cleared his throat. "Faith, there's something a, um, friend of mine told me once that I think fits here. I was trying to make a decision, one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make in my life, but this helped me to work past my self doubt and see the truth."
Faith wiped a sleeve across her eyes and nodded for him to continue. "There was more to her speech than this, but this is the part that really stuck with me. 'The success or failure of your deeds does not add up to the sum of your life. Your spirit cannot be weighed; judge yourself by the intention of your actions, and by the strength with which you faced the challenges that have stood in your way.'"
Daniel smiled and looked up at the starry sky, drawing both Faith's and Buffy's gaze upwards as well. "'The universe is vast, and we are so small. There is only one thing we can ever truly control; whether we are good, or evil.'" He looked Faith in the eye. "You made mistakes. Just means you're human. The fact that you made the mistakes isn't what matters, Faith. It's the fact that you faced up to those mistakes and set about making things right that matters. You have an infinite capacity for good in you Faith, and a boundless supply of love. You are a good person, Faith."
Buffy smiled and drew Faith into a hug. "Just remember; you have a real family now, and you are loved. You have a long, happy life ahead of you Faith. You aren't the lost little girl you were any more."
Faith smiled as something long forgotten popped into her head. "'You think you know what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.'" She noticed Buffy staring at her, shocked. "What?"
"Where did you hear that?"
Faith had to think about that. "In prison. I was meditating one night. Had the weirdest dream. You were in it, and I think that Tara chick was too. Maybe Red? Anyway, I think it was about-"
"The first Slayer."
"Is that who Mud Girl was? Damn. Talk about hair care issues. Anyway, I remember hearing Tara say that in the dream. Kinda stuck with me. Thought it had something to do with the whole redemption thing. Still do, actually."
Buffy smiled. "For you, it probably did. For me, I think it was about Dawn. The part that was majorly wiggins inducing was when Drac said the exact same thing to me a month or so later. Very freaksome."
"No doubt."
Daniel was looking back and forth between the Slayers. "Drac?"
They both grinned. "Dracula. Yes, he's real. Most of the legends about him are true, too. Even that irritating little habit he has of not staying dusted when you stake him."
"Wow."
"Tell me about it."
Daniel shook his head. "My life just keeps getting stranger every day..."
Faith grinned and slugged him in the shoulder. "And we've only just begun, Artifact-Boy."
They all laughed. Daniel stood up, rubbing his shoulder. "So... crisis of faith over?"
Faith laughed and hopped up from the bench. "Yeah. I think so. In fact..." She took Buffy and Daniel by the elbow and headed back in to the party and her family.
"...My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!"
Chapter the Fifth
The day of the wedding brought a picture perfect day. Clear blue skies with only a hint of cloud, not too hot or cool, and just enough breeze to be pleasant. Which, as it had been decided to have the ceremony in the courtyard, was certainly of the good.
The previous day, Willow and the Charmed Ones had cast several powerful wards over the hotel and the area around, and General Hammond had arranged for the Prometheus to take up synchronous orbit directly overhead. Thor had parked the Daniel Jackson in a slightly higher orbit where its sensors could continue scanning for any traces of Cerephus. They were as safe as they could make it. Everything was in order.
Inside the hotel, on the otherhand...
Jack had been up since dawn. Hadn't had much choice in the matter, as that's when Buffy's alarm went off and she proceeded to run around trying to get everything ready all at once, in spite of the fact that they still had over seven hours before the wedding. He had decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and pretended to sleep until she had finally taken her craziness down the hall to help Willow with whatever bridesmaid related crisis she was having. He had then calmly gotten up, showered, put on the much despised dress uniform, and gone down to meet Daniel for breakfast. When Teal'c arrived thirty minutes later with Ishta, the four of them had taken up comfortable seats in the lobby to observe the chaos going on around them.
Everybody's rooms were upstairs, but it seemed that they were all running back and forth through the lobby, looking for missing shoes or errant cumerbunds or God knows what else. Nina had by now earned the nickname 'Wedding Nazi', and was acting the part, charging around and barking out orders, reaming out the caterers over her cell phone at the same time that she was directing the florists where to go.
Angel came charging through, fresh back from the tailors and getting his tuxedo pants lengthened, grumbling non stop the whole time about needing to finish writing his toast.
Buffy came barreling through at one point looking for Dawn with her hair up in the largest curlers that Jack had ever seen while wearing sweatpants, an old UC Sunnydale t-shirt, and her pumps (she was still trying to break them in). Daniel, never without his faithful camera, had managed to snag some video footage. Jack foresaw some wonderful blackmail opportunities.
Lethbridge-Stewart had joined them after a bit, and he and Jack had struck up a conversation while continuing with the people watching. Turns out Alistair's father was a retired Brigadier-General, and had been in charge of a U.N.I.T. group for many years. When Jack had asked him if U.N.I.T. had really dealt with some of the weird things he'd heard rumors about, Lethbridge-Stewart rolled his eyes and grinned. "You have no idea..."
Just about then, Dawn had gone by arguing with Xander. "No, Xander, Spike will not bite me just because I'm his date. He's a reformed vampire these days..."
Connor and Xander walked past on their way back upstairs. Connor was shaking his head. "I just don't see why you have to wear that ridiculous getup, dude..."
Xander stopped walking and started talking in his best teacher's voice. "It's simple. We're men. They're women. So we do many stupid and uncomfortable things for to make the women happy. Which often leads to the having of the sex. At which point we become happy men, and all is right in the world."
"Oooohhh... That actually makes sense..."
From somewhere upstairs, Faith could be heard yelling. "Morning sickness sucks!"
Leo joined Jack's little group. Jack looked Leo up and down, taking in his flustered expression. "The womenfolk chase ya outta the room, did they?" Leo just nodded. Jack grinned and handed him a beer (he'd come up with a cooler somewhere and was using it as a footrest). "Here. This seems to help..."
Nina was suddenly standing right in front of them, glaring. "Have any of you seen the preacher?"
"No ma'am!"
With a muttered "Dammit!" she was off and running again.
Jack gave it a few seconds. "Okay, I think you're clear, padre." The preacher stuck his head out from behind the drape that was hiding him.
"Thanks."
"No problem..."
Ishta was still staring after Nina. "That woman would make a formidable warrior..."
Jack grinned and said, in his best imitation of Teal'c, "Indeed." Teal'c just raised an eyebrow.
A bit later General Hammond came in, carefully negotiating the minefield of wedding guests and members of the bridal party. And Clem. He nodded a greeting. "Jack."
Jack nodded back. "George. Care for a beer?"
Hammond glanced around at the chaos. "Don't mind if I do..."
Spike could be seen going out into the courtyard, lighting a cigarette. Two seconds later, he came dashing back inside, smoking. Him, not the cigarette. "Can't bloody believe I bloody well forgot to put the bloody ring on..."
Sam Carter came walking over with Pete, who couldn't take his eyes off Clem. Jack waved them to some empty seats. "Afternoon, campers. Taking notes, Sam?"
"Yeahsureyoubetcha. 'How not to have a wedding'. I may get another thesis out of this."
Jack handed them each a beer. "Here. We've decided this helps."
Pete, still staring at Clem, who was now chatting away happily with Thor, took a huge swig. "Hope you've got plenty..."
Joyce orbed in next to Leo, looking vexed. "Leo, we're basically angels, right?"
"Yeah."
"Good, kind-hearted souls, right?"
"Yup."
"So we're supposed to have that whole 'infinite supply of patience' thing going on right?"
"Uh huh."
Joyce grabbed Jack's beer and downed half of it, then handed it back to him as she cast an irritated look up the stairs. "Nuts." She disappeared in a cascade of white sparkles. Pete finished off his beer in one gulp. Daniel had another one waiting for him.
Spike (having retrieved his Gem of Amarra and successfully gone out and had a smoke without going up in flames) joined them. As Angel came down the stairs in his tux, Spike let out a wolf whistle. "Oi, looky here, if it ain't James Bond himself..."
"Shut up, Spike."
"Oh, c'mon Peaches, you're quite the fashion plate there. Whadda you think, General?"
"Stylish, very stylish," Jack said, deadpan.
"Oh, be quiet. Is that beer?"
"Yup."
"Oh, thank God..."
Methos and Amanda went by, arguing. "Oh, come on. A gift is a gift, right?"
"I rather suspect that they might not appreciate it if the police were to show up searching for stolen property..."
"Pick pick pick..."
Dawn went stalking by, mumbling. "...gotta go get the damn bouquets, why couldn't somebody else go get the damn bouquets, don't need the damn bouquets for another two damn hours, but nooooo..."
She stopped, fists on hips, and glared at Jack's little group. "And what, pray tell, are you staring at?"
They couldn't help themselves, really. Her hair was in curlers on one side, but not the other, her make-up was half done, she had on mismatched fuzzy slippers (one Snoopy, one Scooby to be precise), was wearing Tweety Bird shorts and a black tee shirt that said 'It's not my fault! Remember, I live in a world of bad examples' across the front in huge pink letters.
Daniel spoke up. "Staring? What staring? We're not staring, right guys?" They all seemed to find their voices at once.
"Nope..."
"Certainly not..."
"Noooo..."
"What's to stare at?"
"Indeed I was not staring DawnSummers..."
"Wouldn't do that, Nibblet..."
"No staring here, nosirree..."
She shot them one last glare and went on her way. "... zap all their damn butts, that'll show 'em, get the stupid damn bouquets, oughta zap the damn bouquets too dammit..."
Jack waited until she was out of earshot. "Danny, tell me you got that on tape..."
"Yup."
"Sweet."
Vi came running up to Angel. "Angel, you really, really need to come to the kitchen right now!"
"What's up?"
"I think Nina and the caterer are gonna kill each other!" She proceeded to drag Angel off.
"Think I'll go take in th' show." Spike grabbed another beer and followed after. He came back a minute later and sat back down, eyes huge. "On the other hand, maybe I'll just stay clear..."
"Probably safer," said Jack.
"Too bloody right," said Spike.
Giles came over and plopped into a chair. Jack held up a beer. Giles shook his head and pulled a flask out of his pocket and took a healthy swig. Putting the flask away, he looked at Jack and said "There are some things that beer simply isn't strong enough for."
Jack grinned. "Truer words..."
Jon meandered over and grabbed a beer, taking a long pull on the bottle. Noticing some of the stares he was getting, he quirked an eyebrow. "What? I'm over fifty, boys and girls. I can enjoy a beer if I want to." He wandered off to catch up with Thor.
Carter stared after him. "I will never, ever get used to that..."
"Tell me about it," said Jack, rolling his eyes.
"Tell you about what?" said Buffy, who was suddenly standing beside him. Jack turned around, and was for once in his life speechless. Buffy stood there, silently daring him to make a sarcastic remark.
"Umm, nothing," Jack stammered. He was completely taken by how beautiful Buffy was. Her dress was a deep burgundy, off the shoulders and dipped low in the back. Her hair was swept up with a few curls framing her face. She was the most beautiful thing Jack had ever seen.
Spike stood up and gave her a peck on the cheek. "You look amazin' pet." She smiled at him gratefully. He squeezed her hand, then went off in search of Dawn.
Finally finding his voice again, Jack stood up and gave her a quick kiss. "Miss Summers, you are without a doubt the very essence of beauty. I do believe I might very well be the most fortunate man here." Buffy relaxed, smiling a terawatt smile that lit up the room.
"Why, thank you kind sir. Care to go for a walk?"
Jack presented his arm. "Delighted, Miss Summers." They walked out into the garden arm in arm, laughing and talking quietly.
Carter nudged Daniel. "Tell me you got that on tape..."
"Oh, yeah..."
Carter smiled evilly. "Good." Oh, the mileage she could get out of that...
With that, they all made their way out into the courtyard to be seated for the wedding. By now not even Pete was surprised at the sight of Lorne standing to one side of the podium, crooning out love songs.
But he was sure glad he'd grabbed that last beer...
To be continued...
Notes: Finally got on a roll here, decided to break this into smaller parts. This story will be concluded in part IX. Or will be, if I can ever make up my mind what I'm gonna do about Cerephus. Arrgh! I'm itching to get to work on 'The Guardian Chronicles', but I'm still trying to come up with a satisfactory ending to this fic. Had this huge brawl with my muse. Not real sure who won, though...
I hope Master Tolkien will forgive me for messing with his works, but I've had the idea to tie together the three mythologies for a while now. I hope it goes over well.
I've brought so many characters, and so many elements from different fandoms into this fic, that I'm sure I'm making mistakes with the canon of some of them, and for that I apologise. But in the end, this is primarily BTVS-centric, so the others will just have to bend a little to fit.
Please review! Feedback is a wonderful thing...
'To thee no star be dark...'