Sorry but I was in France for ages. Anyway I've having serious writers block, so sorry that these next two chapters are short but I don't want to put the big part in until I'm happy with it.
Balance chp 14: Bedknobs and Broomsticks... kinda
Calista woke up in her bed snuggled up to Connor. Her back was against his chest and his arms were around her and his hands rested on her belly. Looking at the clock she saw it was six a.m. She sighed softly and relaxed into Connor's arms more. Connor stirred and sat up slightly to lean over and kiss her softly.
"Morning." he whispered, smiling. She smiled back, rolling over and then said,
"Sorry."
"For what?"
"For not being able to… you know." He chuckled and stroked her cheek,
"Its fine you have a good reason." She sighed and ran her hand up his chest under the covers. It was true she did have a good reason but that was also why she wanted to. She chuckled, slightly bitter and put her hand to the side of her head and leaned on her elbow on the bed.
"If it wasn't because the fate of the world rested on me staying pregnant then I would have, because I am past ready to get these kids out." Connor put a hand behind his head and looked up at the ceiling. After a moment he said
"No matter what, I'll be there for you, even if it's only to cheer you on." She laughed and leaned down and kissed him again. He touched her face softly and pulled her closer to deepen the kiss. A crash made them jump apart and sit up. A mass of computer chips, wires and coloured plastic lay on the ground.
"My gameboy!" whined Connor softly. Calista looked at him, one light eyebrow slightly raised. "What? I liked my gameboy."
The Scoobies and the Fang Gang were starting to gather in the lobby, most still bleary-eyed. Just then Lorne came down, singing cheerfully to the tune of 'Sound of music' but with new words
"The room is alive with the vibes of love!" Everyone looked at the cheery demon as he took Fred's hand and began to dance with her saying, "The air is clean and fresh and love is back in the air ladies and gentlemen!" he dipped Fred making her giggle then straighten them both and walked on, a spring in his step and a grin on his face. Angel stepped up to him to ask
"Connor and Calista?" Lorne put a hand on both his upper arms and declared
"Yes indeed chief, we got nothing but love vibes now, plus the pregnancy vibes which are loud and strong, always a good sign!" he then walked into the kitchen singing again. The people in the lobby shared amused looks.
"I can see why you keep him around." smiled Buffy. Angel half-shrugged and smiled slightly.
"Well alright then, the kids are back together, now all we need to do is unlock Calista's mojo, and save the world again." said Gunn, all business.
"First bit already conquered!" called Calista as she and Connor came down hand in hand. They turned to them, Fred asking,
"What?" Connor explained
"Calista finally unlocked the power. By the way I need a new gameboy!" Calista rolled her eyes and went to slap his arm when, as she flicked her wrist, Connor went flying over the banister and into the wall on the other side of the lobby. He slid down so he was sitting on the ground,
"Ow." he deadpanned, Calista cringed and said meekly
"Sorry." She then smiled at the others sheepishly, "I didn't mean to do that." Connor stood up, brushing himself off and then sat down on the step as if nothing had happened.
"See what we mean?" he asked as he propped his head in his hands.
"Kinda." said Willow, her green eyes wide and nervous.
"Well obviously your knew found powers are unpredictable and uncontrolled and you need to get them under control, but unfortunately-"
"Unfortunately I haven't got the time to really learn how to do that properly." cut in Calista sighing. Wesley nodded. "Of course, cause stress is really something that's useful in a time when I have to save the world." she sat down and folded her arms across her chest irritably. Wesley shrugged helplessly. Giles stepped forward.
"W-well I suggest we teach you some basic spells to start and see how they work." Calista nodded and stood up and said
"Well no time like the present." They set to work. Willow, Wesley and Giles began to teach her how to use the powers she now had and Buffy, Faith, Connor, Angel and Spike trained the potentials, while Xander, Anya, Fred, Lorne, Gunn, Dawn and Robin began to look up spells that could help defeat Cordelia and The First, while Andrew, on Buffy's orders, cooked food for everyone.
"You know what I can't figure out." said Xander suddenly after the research group had spent a couple of hours researching and coming up empty handed, "How come Calista's powers suddenly appeared, I mean why not before, or when something dramatic was happening as things usually happen with us?" everyone looked at each other as if they might have the answer but of course all they got was blank faces.
"It does seem kinda un-climactic." said Dawn as she turned the page of the book she was trying to read, she could read Sumerian, more or less, but she was going cross-eyed from it all. They all shrugged then went back to reading. Suddenly there was a mini explosion in the room Willow and the two ex-watchers were training Calista. Everyone rushed to the room, as soon as the doors were opened they were engulfed by purple smoke. Buffy coughed and waved a hand in front of her face as she squinted to see what was going on. Calista had her face in her hands and Willow, Giles and Wesley looked a little singed. Willow turned to them and said
"Don't worry everything's okey dokey!" Calista looked at her and snorted in disbelief.
"It's just the fact that any spell Calista casts is amplified by ten every time because of her power." explained Wes. After a few more assurances they were shooed out. Willow turned to Calista and said
"Ok lets try again."
"Oh no!" exclaimed Calista angrily, "No! I am not doing anything until I get a break! The doctor told me to get some rest and guess what! This does not count as rest!" she sat down angrily. The others looked at each other helplessly then she said softly, "I'm sorry."
"No it's ok." smiled Willow understandingly.
"No, it's not I shouldn't be angry at you, I'm just very tired and frustrated with this." She took a deep breath and stood up, "Ok lets try this again." She went to the middle of the room and shook her hands, flexing her fingers.
"Ok now, concentrate, I want you to send a small fire ball at Willow, keep it small, Calista." said Wesley slowly and Calista closed her eyes in concentration. She raised one hand, fingers lightly curled, to hover near her head. Suddenly she moved and made a short throwing motion, stretching her fingers out. A fireball the size of a bowling ball flew at Willow so fast she had to duck instead of raising a shield. The wall gave a small explosion, but only in one place instead of everywhere as had been the case before. Calista beamed proudly.
"Well done that's much better. Now lets try shields." Calista agreed eagerly and they set to work. The way Calista seemed to find the easiest to control was if she envisioned the effects of the spell then recreated the image from her mind to the real world. Willow threw simple fireballs at her and she had to bring up the shield. It seemed to work but then again Willow was only using small ones.
"Use a massive one this time Willow!" Calista cried eagerly, she was starting to really get into and enjoy this power she was now starting to control. Willow looked hesitant, she really did not want to use one in case Calista got hurt, it was safe to say both Connor and Angel would kill her if that happened. "Come on Willow, I know I can do it!" The two ex-watchers shrugged their shoulders, they honestly didn't know if it was a good idea. She sighed and then nodded in consent. Calista nodded back, raising her hand to be ready. Willow focused and then shot a massive fire ball at her, its diameter as tall as her. Calista sharply held her hand up, fingers out stretched and a shield, like a bubble formed around her. She held it until the flames faded away, then let it drop, swaying slightly in exhaustion. Wesley moved quickly, and it was well done that he did because the next moment her legs gave out and he was just able to catch her.
"That was neat." she panted. Giles grabbed the chair and pulled it over so Wesley could sit her down on it. Willow passed her the bottle of water, which she took gratefully.
"Maybe we should take a break, and Calista while the power is definitely there and you really couldn't make it stronger, you aren't used to it, so it burns up all your energy." She nodded wearily. Willow helped her stand at her request and they walked into the lobby where the research was going on. Xander looked up as they came in
"Hey how's the miracle girl doing?"
"Praying for one, because that's what we'll need to win this fight." she answered as she sat down.
"Don't worry by the time it happens you'll be ready to save Cordy." said Wesley soothingly
"Yes you'll beat The First without breaking a nail or your waters." agreed Anya, Fred nodded, but the slight smile on her face faded as she straightened, a realisation coming to her.
"Wait, who is Calista taking on? The First or Cordelia?"
"The First!"
"Cordelia!" Gunn, Wesley, Xander, Willow and Dawn, looked at Anya, Robin, and Giles. The former had said 'Cordelia' but the latter had said 'The First'.
"She's taking on Cordelia." said Gunn frowning slightly.
"No she's destroying The First Evil." stated Anya matter of factly.
"I thought rescuing Cordy was our first priority." said Dawn, nervously tapping her pencil on the open book.
"No The First is the one, we have a chance to defeat The First Evil, its too important to pass up."
"What about our Cordelia?" asked Lorne standing up, his face etched in worry.
"The First is bigger then your friend." said Robin softly, but with conviction.
"Hello, evil Power that Be possessing said friend!" said Xander raising his hand.
"The thing inside Cordelia needs to be destroyed, Calista is our only way of doing that without killing Cordy." said Wesley, "The First could be destroyed another way I'm sure, but we've no other way of helping Cordy."
"We have found no other way to destroy The First and unless you've been holding out on us neither do you!" exclaimed Anya irritably.
"Holding out on what?" asked Buffy as she and the others came in while the potentials took a quick break.
"Buffy who's Calista gonna take on?" asked Willow, turning to the blonde woman. Connor looked to his mate who was staring at her stomach a very tired and frustrated look on her pretty features. He walked over to her as Buffy said
"I thought she was tackling The First!"
"See!" said Anya smartly
"Buffy I thought Calista was tackling Cordelia." said Angel coming up behind her looking confused. Buffy shook her head
"No we need to stop The First, it is our top priority."
"And what about Cordelia?" demanded Gunn, "You just gonna abandon her to die when that thing that went whoosh goes pop?"
"No but there has to be another way, maybe a spell of some kind that could do it. The First is very important, it's the beginning of all evil and we finally have a chance to get rid of it forever, we have to take the chance."
"But Buffy, if that thing is born then The First will be the least of our worries."
"And what about The First? Its building an army and Calista is the only chance we have to beat it."
"And what about Calista in all of this?" snapped Connor, having had enough. "What about what she thinks? What about her safety? What about our babies?" He had his hand on her shoulder and was glaring at them furiously. Calista looked at them sadly. They all realised how rotten they'd just been and quieted down.
"Wow when you guys get together it really is a bush of apples." They whirled around to see a very familiar face. "I know the real term is a bowl of cherries, but I hate cherries and love apples so…" Connacht trailed off with a shrug of his shoulders. He was standing by the reception table looking at them, tossing an apple up and down with one hand.
"What are you doing here?" asked Angel in confusion, he honestly had not expected to see the guy again after their last meeting and Xander's passing remark.
"Well I'll admit your little friend really ticked me off with his little comment," he pointed at Xander who looked sheepish, "but then I remembered how bad humans are at thinking before they speak, I mean no offence but the human race isn't always the brightest, I mean two world wars, killing each other over stupid things, global warming, murdering each other left and right etc. in fact you lot are some of the brightest but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not… but I'm pretty sure that your stupidity has rubbed off on those two because I know they cannot be that slow on the obvious uptake." Connor and Calista frowned in confusion as he pointed to them. Just then Andrew came in, wearing an apron and carrying a quiche.
"Who's hungry?" he crowed before he noticed Connacht, "Oh, hey, want some quiche?" Connacht shook his head although his face said he wanted some. Calista re-focused the conversation.
"What do you mean?" Connacht rolled his eyes as he leaned his head back in exasperation.
"I mean, that you should be able to figure out what's going on and why you only have the chance to defeat one." Their faces were blank.
"Oh for the love of- its because-!" Connacht's words suddenly changed to nonsensical babble. He stopped and shook his head, frowning, then tried again, "It's-" once again nothing but gibberish. He stopped, sighed, and then chuckled ironically, muttering "Calida." He looked at them an ironic smile on his features. "She won't let me tell you because you're meant to figure it out on your own."
"Well according to you we're to dumb to do that so how about Calida just let you tell us." suggested Xander.
"She says that you need to figure it out yourselves, something about the impact of it giving the needed results… I dunno." He shrugged again, tossing the apple high into the air, and when it came down a second one fell with it. He began juggling them with one hand as he muttered under his breath. Those with exceptional hearing could make out, "Can't… them?" he caught the two apples in both hands and said
"Ok I can give you a nudge in the right direction, but that's all." He clearly was not happy about it.
"Ok then start nudging."
"Uh… actually I have no clue what to say… for once in my life." He smiled sheepishly at them as they all sighed, now he was getting on their nerves. They had respect for him but God help them he could get annoying. "Ok, ok, look!" he exclaimed, "Basically what's happening is happening on three scales, globally, in one person and again in one person… just in a different way."
"That's it? That's the nudge?"
"Don't blame me! Look I can't interfere anymore but I gotta ask this. Do you know why we didn't just poof all the demons away, I mean you saw we had the power to, but we didn't. Why did we just boost the lights powers when it was so weak?" They frowned in thought.
CRASH!
Don't worry I'm not that mean...
Night's Darkness
