A/N thanks for the reviews, this story has moved slightly from my initial intent of showing struggles of coming out but that's all right. There might be a bit more of that in later chapters if I get enough ideas in my head to keep the plots moving. Anyhow, I hope you all like the story thus far. A reviewer brought up a few questions about Xander's actions and why Buffy was using the dialect of a more mature person. Those things will be answered in the next few chapters.
Chapter 7
The three girls drove to the hospital in virtual silence, each in golfed in their own thoughts. Willow was the most confused as to what was going on, while Harmony was sure that Britney was not such a good person and had done something to Buffy. Britney was just wondering if they would make it to the hospital on time and how she was going to handle things with Willow from this point forward. "Here we are," Britney said and quickly stepped out of the truck.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Harmony stated and slowly followed Willow towards the entrance. "When are you going to explain this to us in full detail?" The cheerleader further added but got no answer from the army officer.
"She's gone," Graham replied quickly as he ran up to the group. "I couldn't fight off the…" he turned to Britney with questioning eyes.
"We don't have time to explain right now." Britney retorted and turned to head out the door.
"What do you mean she's gone?" Willow asked with fear in her voice.
"There are some bad guys and they took her while she was sedated," graham quickly replied and headed out of the hospital.
"Willow, why don't you and Harmony go home and we will go get Buffy." Britney offered in as soothing of voice as she could. She didn't want to sound like she was giving the redhead orders, when in fact she was.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Harmony said in a raised tone of voice. "You are most likely the reason that Buffy is in the mess she is in and you ask us to go home?"
"My aunt is the reason that Buffy is in the mess she is in." Britney finally gave in and decided to give a bit more information to the girls, as the demon-human mix came towards them. "That is the other slayer and that is what she plans to do to Buffy if we don't stop her! Now get in the truck." Britney shouted and fired a weapon at the creature, which had someone's blood all over it.
The creature with deep-brown captivating eyes stepped backwards for a moment and then raised an arm, which had a small assortment of weapons on it. "Britney move!" Willow shouted as the slayer-demon fired and grazed the officer's arm.
"It's to much for us right now Brit," Graham retorted in a shaky voice. "We've got to concentrate on Buffy's well being!" The slayer-demon flinched at those words and turned away from the group. It sprinted off up the street, as the others climbed into the vehicles.
"How do you know that that thing used to be a slayer?" Harmony started up the questioning as soon as Britney pulled away from the hospital.
"One of my jobs was to find the other slayer and bring her to my aunt. I did this because I thought my aunt wanted a slayer to teach things to in our upcoming operation. I was under the impression that the government was getting into the fight against demons and still believe that I'm right on that end. I now believe however, that my aunt has gone off on some crazy plot of her own." Britney sped the truck up once they hit Main Street and continued her explanation. "I did not tell you about the demons and the slayer Willow because I was working for the government, or so I thought."
Britney wheeled the truck into the large parking area of the college and jumped out before it shut completely off. She raced into the science room with the others trying to keep up. Buffy was sprawled out on a big table with machines hooked up to her, as her aunt struggled with her creation. "Get her loose!" Britney ordered graham, as she watched the creature kill her aunt. "Oh God, what has she created." The officer said in a whispered tone and then looked towards Willow and Harmony. "You two get out of here!" She ordered and went after the demon, which had dispatched graham across the room with ease.
The demon lunged at her but she ducked, as Willow ran over to finish freeing a lifeless Buffy from the machines. "I think I'll wait outside." Harmony said sheepishly and backed out of the room. As she turned towards the door, three armed officers were standing in her path. "On second thoughts, in here is better."
As Buffy was lifted off the table by Willow and a recovered Graham, The demon knocked Britney across the room. It stepped over towards Willow and Graham. Graham fired at it but there was no sign of injuring or slowing down the thing. "Her eyes make her look almost human but…" he trailed off his words realizing that there was no way it could be the case.
Britney lifted the tranquilizer gun and pointed it at the creature from behind. She fired and the thing dropped easily. "I think there is a way. I don't think they had time to finish the…" she turned and saw the officers coming towards her with handcuffs.
"I didn't do that," she pointed to Maggie who was lying lifeless on the floor. Her heart ached for the aunt that she loved but she knew that that aunt died a long time ago.
"You are being arrested for interfering with a government operation officer Walsh." The smallest of the three men said.
"What?" Harmony retorted in her snobbish fashion and looked at the three men. "I will go call my father, he can help you."
"There is no help," the second of the three men said in a maniacal tone of voice. "You have all learned to much here and are to be evacuated as ordered by the second in command."
Willow eyed the set of computer switches on the wall and knew that if Britney was right, things could be edged into their favor if she made the right move. She leaned back and bumped the one that matched the color of the demon's weapons that were attached to its right hand. A buzzer went off and the big brown eyes began to open. "She's breathing in there!" graham shouted and fired a shot at one of the three men. Britney made the quick decision to help and rushed another of the three, while Willow struggled to remove the creature's armor. Not so surprisingly, Willow got help when the slayer burst out of the armor, which had a computer device attached to it. Blood was trickling down her forehead because the wires were jerked out of it. "Dear God, she half finished the job and it's her fault for interrupting that night!" One of the men shouted and they tried to retreat but the ailing slayer grabbed one and snapped his neck with ease.
As Buffy's eyes opened, the slayer disposed of the last of the three men. "You weren't lying," she murmured to Britney, who walked tentatively over to the slayer.
"What did they do to me!" Faith shouted angrily and pushed Britney against a wall with one hand, as she rubbed her face, which was clearly demonic looking on one side.
"We've got to get you some help and then we can figure out if there is any lasting damage besides the facial problem." Harmony added not so tactfully.
Just then, the slayer who had saved them all from jail, grabbed her chest and then exploded into nothingness. "There is always a back up plan!" An all to familiar voice shouted over the loud speaker.
"We've got to get out of here fast!" Britney said and lifted the slayer off the table. "Move it!" She barked and ran out of the college.
- - - - -
That next evening, Britney headed over to Willow's house. The initiative was dismantled for the most part, though she was asked to stay behind by the government to help them understand how these demons work and rid the world of the bad ones. The plan initially was for the government to set up shop and study the creatures but Maggie and others had turned it into their own plan. Britney was to follow through with the plan for an undisclosed period of time until the government decided whether or not they would try to set up a full shop again there or in another location.
As she pulled into the drive, she wondered if things would be the same between she and Willow. She was only doing her job and hoped that Willow could understand that. She could understand if Willow didn't understand it right away but hoped that she would in time.
She was relieved when Willow at least opened the door and let her in the house. "I thought I should give you some time with your friends." Britney said and tentatively stood back from the redhead.
Willow had pondered things all day and knew that Britney was doing her job but her best friend was almost killed. She didn't know if she could get over that and part of her feared that Britney was involved and backed out at the last minute because of her closeness to Willow. "Thanks," Willow said in a tired voice. She hadn't slept much the night before and Britney saw that in her eyes.
"Willow," Britney began to speak as she moved closer to her girlfriend. "I am so sorry that I did not tell you all of this stuff from the beginning. If I had an inkling that it was not on the up and up, I would have told you. I went to Buffy as soon as I knew it was a shady deal."
"Buffy couldn't say that she fully believed you weren't involved and I'm not so sure of that either." Willow said honestly. "Whatever the case is, you did end up helping us in the end but a slayer is dead because of the plot and nobody fully trusts you. I mean, I want to Britney but I'm scared to." Willow said and allowed tears to trickle down her cheeks.
Britney moved quickly and pulled Willow into a firm hug. Willow instinctively put her head on the officer's shoulder and began to cry for many reasons. The loss of her friend Xander, the near loss of Buffy, seeing a slayer die in such a horrific fashion and just the stress of the entire ordeal was more then enough to cause the tears to flow. She mostly cried because she was deeply in love with Britney but doubted her at the same time. She then wondered if you had doubts about someone, could you really love them? "Willow I understand what you're feeling about me right now. The only thing that I can hope for is that you can give me a chance to prove to you that you can trust me." Britney said and wiped the tears from Willow's eyes, as she placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "Don't just throw this away Willow," Britney said in a low soothing voice but feared that that is exactly what Willow was going to do.