A/N: New time but same story line! Okay, let's get rolling shall we? Some humor, some action, and some romance in this chapter.
To *B: I am very pleased you're enjoying this! Yes, Buffy does like the brooding, big, beefy type doesn't see… if you don't count Spike. Please continue to review!
To Brutal2003: ***claps*** You got it!
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Chapter Twenty Seven- Blood Moon Rising"Goodbye Professor. Tell Strom I said goodbye." Beast said into his earpiece. Through it he heard the rush of engines from the X-Jet and the click click of its computers turning on.
"Goodbye, Beast." Came Xavier's answered, "Take care of yourself and make sure Logan doesn't go to hard on the young ones. It will be a hard battle."
"Don't worry, Professor." Beast said softly as the connection broke. He sighed, suddenly very tired, and pulled the earpiece out of his ear.
"Hank." Came a soft voice behind him and Beast turned. He saw Willow standing before him; her face was pale and her skin clammy. Her eyes had bags under them and she looked about ready to collapse.
"Willow?" He said softly, taking her arm, "Is everything okay?"
Willow blinked at him and then shook her head, trying to snap herself awake, "What? Oh… um… yeah everything's fine. I'm just looking for Buffy."
"She's in the training with the other Slayers." Beast answered.
The redheaded Wicca frowned and shuffled the papers she clutched to her bosom, "She's in the training room still? That's all she's been doing for days."
"She's just worried about the Earth. It's her job, after all." Beast pointed out, a frown like Willow's appearing on his face. There was something deeply bothering his new found friend. And it might have something to do with the papers she held.
"Yes." Willow agreed looking away, "Buffy is always worried about the Earth… I guess I'll just wait until she's done training before I talk to her."
"I can call her on the com-system if you like. If it's important then she'll probably want to hear about it." Beast said, motioning to the computer that was connected to the walkie-talkie the Slayer held in case of an emergency.
Willow shook her head fiercely, "No. No. I'll just wait. I've got other things to do… so I want won't mind. I actually should work more on Rogue's spell." Smiling weakly, she turned from the mutant and crashed into another one.
The papers she had held in her arms shattered to the ground, but Willow didn't bother to pick them up. She was too concerned with the look in panic in Gambit eyes. He stood before her, panting and looking ready to be sick.
"What is it!?" Willow demanded, having a dreadful feeling that this involved Rogue. The Wicca had feared that Rogue would get worse before she could complete the spell and he fears were being confirmed with just the look in Gambit's eyes.
"Rogue…" Gambit gasped, drawing in deep breathes, "She's… she's drashing again… her heart… it's stopping… I can't keep her pulse… normal speed."
Willow placed a hand to her lips in horror, "No! No! I'm so close to healing her! Take me to her. Now!" Gambit grabbed Willow's hand; his strength renewed, and pulled her out of the room.
Beast was about to go after them when he stopped suddenly. Something on the papers Willow had dropped caught his attention. They seemed to be printed from an e-mail. What caught his attention the must were the words: blood moon rising.
Willow and Gambit pounded down the halls, flying past doors and moving to the sick bay in which Rogue was being kept. When she entered, the Wicca was almost sick. Sidney stood at Rogue's side, helplessly trying to keep her heart beating. Tears, silver as her hair, streamed down her cheeks as Rogue started to slip from her grasp.
Without thinking, she moved to the table besides Rogue. There was a vial with a green liquid in it. She knew instantly that the liquid was to light, it needed to be darker to be perfect, but they had no time. Rogue needed to potion and she needed it now.
She grabbed the small vase and jerked off the cap. Gambit moved forward and pried open Rogue's mouth. His face was grim as he held Rogue down.
The Wicca moved to the opposite side of Gambit and poured the vial down into Rogue's throat. Rogue howled in pain as the Tora-Kone mind she was connected to was ripped from her. Willow knew it would probably be the most painful experience she would ever live through and it might not even work. If the potion wasn't strong enough then Rogue would still be connected to the Tora-Kone mind.
Rogue's thrashing ceased and she settled back on the bed, her breathing shallow. Willow plopped herself into the chair and sighed deeply. Even though the potion was now in Rogue's veins, she could still die.
"Will she be okay?" Sidney whispered sadly.
"I don't know." Willow answered, biting her lip, "The potion still needed one day to settle so it might not work. We'll know if she wakes up in an hour or so."
Gambit brushed a strand from Rogue's face and got this dazed look on his face. Willow almost sighed. I really hope I didn't screw this up. That would be so like me, she thought.
Just then Scott walked into the room and said to Willow, "Buffy wants to see you." He told her, "Says it's something important. She's outside the Danger Room."
Willow nodded and told Gambit, "Keep an eye on her. See if she weakens or strengthens." With that said, she turned and followed Scott out.
They reached the Danger Room in a matter of minutes. Buffy was propped up against a wall, looking a little dazed and tired. She looked over at Willow and smiled wearily. Willow, however, saw the worry in her eyes. The worry and fear.
What does she know? Willow wondered.
"Will, how's Rogue?" Buffy asked as she pushed herself from the wall, "Scott? Will you have the girls do ten laps around the Danger Room for me? Thanks a ton." Scott nodded to Buffy and walked into the Danger Room.
"The jury is out." Willow said unhappily, "I was forced to use the potion earlier then I'm supposed to, but she was dying! What choice did I have? Anyway, we'll know if she's okay in about an hour."
Buffy looked away, "I don't want to lose any of them, Will, but this is war. We're going to. I'm especially worried about Dana and Sidney. They really have no fighting skills. The weak are always the first to die, you know that."
The Wicca wanted to break down and cry. She wanted to cling to Buffy's power, her strength, but the Slayer looked so fragile right now. No one could see it expect Willow who saw the fear in her blue eyes. The pain. She had to be strong. She couldn't collapse or Buffy would as well.
"They'll live through this, Buffy, because you're their leader. If I wanted someone to keep me alive I'd turn to Buffy Summers without hesitation." To assure her, Willow smiled.
Buffy looked away, as if that information pained her, "That's kinda the problem." she said so softly that Willow didn't hear, "Will, what I wanted to talk to you was that-"
The rumbling of the Earth cut Buffy's words off. Willow gave a small squeak and fell against Buffy. The Slayer reached out and steadied her Wiccan friend. She turned her head to the Danger Room and glared.
"LANCE!" She shouted, "I thought I told you THINK before you ATTACK!"
"IT WASN'T ME!" Was the answer from an annoyed mutant. Willow and Buffy looked at one another. It wasn't Lance? Well, that couldn't be good.
The Earth rumbled like a mother in labor. Mother in labor, Alexander Harris thought, that's funny. Where did that novel-worthy line come from? It certainly doesn't belong in the head of Xander Harris, the village idiot.
Am I talking to myself again?
Yep.
Better stop that. Tabitha might think I've gone crazy which I haven't… or at least, I don't think I have. Oh, I'm still talking to myself…
Xander shook his head and forced himself to act like any normal sane person, not that he was any normal sane person. Xander was the 'Zippo' of Buffy's crew. He was the sidekick, they guy she saved and he would be the first admit it. It wasn't a bad deal in his mind. As he once had told a boy in his senior year of high school: he liked the quiet.
But as he looked down at Tabitha, who was steadying herself against him, he wished he was cooler so he could impress her. He desperately wanted to impress Tabitha. She was funny, smart, pretty not to mention blonde.
Did he mention he had a weakness for blondes?
He was fully enjoying Tabitha's company. After all, she blew things up! How cool was that? Not the mention they liked one another. It was rather romantic: boy-who-helps-save-the-world-meets-girl-who-wants-to-help-save-the-world. He could totally get into a girl like Tabitha.
And that was part of the problem. He was liking her way to fast. Hell, he was even thinking love. He had only known her for about a week now. Wasn't that to fast? After all, how long did it take him and Anya to fall?
Maybe we were meant to be. That whole freaky destiny thing, Xander thought and felt himself smile. He was just shocked at how fast this whole Tabitha-and-Xander-get-together thing was moving. He wasn't really upset. In fact, he was actually quite happy. Even though Tabitha and he had yet to share a kiss, they were going to somewhere.
Tabitha looked up at him and smiled, "Whatdya thinkin' about?" she asked and Xander smiled, lopping his arms around her shoulders.
"Us." he answered.
"Oh." Tabitha said as an easy smile curled her lips, "This is happening pretty fast, eh?"
"Yeah, kinda fast."
"You upset?"
"Nah. I'm enjoying it. You?"
"No, I like it." Tabitha answered, "These feelings are like a wonderful high and I haven't even kissed you yet."
"Good, because Tabby we're going somewhere. Now I can't say I'm 'King of the Date Scene', but I know you're important to me. I want this to go somewhere. Somewhere far." Xander answered.
"Can you say 'love'?" Tabitha said a little dreamy eyed.
"Can you say 'forever'?" Xander questioned.
"Forever!" Tabitha cried.
"Love!" Xander shouted at the same time. They looked at one another and burst out laughing. They clung to one another as their ribs went sore from laughing.
At the same time, Buffy rushed into the room at heels were the Slayers, the half-demons and the mutants. Buffy rested her hands upon her hips and glared at them.
"What was that rumble?" Buffy questioned and Tabitha and Xander looked at one another.
"Ah, Lance?" They said at the same time. Now it was Lance's turn to glare at the pair.
"It like wasn't Lance." Kitty answered for Lance.
"It came from outside." Colossus said and pointed to the window. Tabitha and Xander looked at each other once more and they moved towards the window. They looked at it and their eyes widened.
"Ah, Buffy?" Xander said in awe, "Maybe you should… you know… come check this out?" Buffy was already moving towards them.
"My God." Tabitha whispered as she stared at the moon. It was full and rounded, but inside of being white it was crimson red, like blood. It gave the sky around it an eerie blood glow.
"Well that can't be good." Pyro said looking at the moon with a frown marring his handsome features.
Besides him, Ori nodded her head in agreement. She hadn't been training, for she only wore skirts, but her X-Men uniform was being designed and soon she could be able to join the fray. Until then, she spent her time watching them… or rather watching Pyro.
"We are so screwed." She said.
"Told you I didn't do it." Lance said.
"Shut-up, Alvers." Scott muttered. Beneath his optic blaster his eyes were wide. He had never seen a moon like this before and it gave him the creeps.
Jean elbowed him sharply in the ribs, "Don't do that."
"We should have Hank do an analyst on the moon. Find out what it is." Buffy muttered, her voice firm despite the obvious awe in her eyes.
"It means something bad is coming. What else could it mean?" Logan said, flexing his muscles to hide his shock and horror.
"This is great." Buffy said unhappily, "Just great."
"Buffy." Came a soft voice that had everyone turning. Willow stood before them, her eyes on the moon, "I have something to tell you. It's about the moon. It's called Blood Moon Rising and it symbols Lord Deltoramina's return."
"Show me everything you know." Buffy said.
"We need to see Hank." Willow answered and everyone followed the Wicca to the computer room in which Hank was located.
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There, action, romance, Lance-bashing comedy! Wouldn't you think any world-shaking would be related to Lance? Funny who he's always the first person to jump to mind when something goes wrong. Anyway, the next couple of chapters are totally about the romance. Getting couples together before they go off and fight and die bravely in battle is the plan! Next chapter, A Calm in the Unrest, focuses a lot on the growing relationship between Buffy and Colossus! R&R!
"If at first you don't succeed… cheat."
-Lizzy Rebel