Title: Cry Havoc Once More
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: First four series of Buffy with some elements of five and six.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy. I would buy it but I am broke. I don't own any story or non original characters mentioned here.
Summary: The final battle is about to be joined and the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Friends will become enemies and enemies will become friends. A look at the final battle and the path that lead to it. (Multi Crossovers)
AN: Generally I really like Buffy and I usually write B/X fics, but for this fic I have decided to incorporate and focus on one aspect of Buffy's personality that I usually overlook or tone down. Also no Glory or Dawn.
~ The Present, 2015 ~
"You're glowing." Xander said as he stepped up besides Faith.
Faith blushed, an extremely rare event. Xander glanced to the side and saw Hermione Granger seem to float by on her way to the hill where she would be assisting Tara in organising the battle. Xander chuckled softly.
"Yeah, Yeah. Keep laughing, Boytoy." Faith Growled
"Tara and I knew you two could not stay apart for long. In fact we were surprised Hermione lasted this long." Xander replied.
"I was just trying…" Faith began.
"I know. You were trying to protect her. But you were wrong on two points." Xander replied. "Firstly, keeping her at a distance only hurts her more, because it is like she has already lost you."
"Yeah, kinda figured that one out when she was crying in my arms last night and calling me an idiot." Faith replied. "What's the other mistake I made?"
"Thinking that you are not every bit as important as Tara or myself." Xander stated, holing up a hand when she opened her mouth. "Don't give me any excuses. You've been like a sister to me for over a decade. I know you, Faith, and I know how you think. You think that your only major value is to give your life to protect either Tara or myself. You're wrong. We all have our role in this little family of ours. Tara is the Heart, the one who we need to protect but can not live without. Hermione is the Brain. Seriously, that Wife of yours is probably the smartest person who ever lived. I'm the Will, the force that gives us direction and drives us forward. You, Faith, are our Soul."
"Soul?" Faith asked confused.
"You're the one who binds us together as a family." Xander explains. "You pull me back when I go too far or drive too hard. You bring Hermione back to the real world when she is lost in her books. As for Tara, you are both a pillar of strength for her to cling to and an ideal to aspire to."
"Nah, anyone aspiring to be like me needs their head read, cause they are trippen." Faith responded. "I'm messed up, and I know it."
"Exactly. You know and accept who you are, without the delusions most of us cling to." Xander countered. "Can't you see how appealing that would be to someone who has spent most of her life trying to hide?"
"Umm. This is awkward." Faith said, glancing around. "Oh, look. People we need to kill."
Xander just grinned at the raven haired Slayer's discomfort. Oh well, time to bring the pain. Xander raised his hand and motioned the army forward.
~ The Past, Mid 2010 ~
Faith wandered through the hall of what used to be a large country estate in rural France. The estate used to have vast manicured lawns, stables and even a small farm, mostly vegetables and herbs. Xander and Tara had taken over the estate two years ago and had started to convert it to their own needs. Most of the lawns had gone, replaced by hut style barracks, designed to house the growing number of Wand wielding magic users, demon hunters, soldiers and a few others who where joining the group that had raided the Order of Tarakka, almost three years ago. Now there were over two hundred and fifty members housed on the estate. One old Muggleborn Wizard had commented that the estate reminded him of Bletchley Park, where he had served as a Code Breaker during World War Two.
The main building had become both the accommodation for Xander, Tara, Faith and Hermione and the main headquarters for the group. Faith paused as she passed the open door to the library, now probably the single largest collection of magical and occult books in the world as it combined the remains of Voldemort's Library, the Tarakken's Library and, more significantly, Hermione's personal Library.
"Are you still in here?" Faith said in shock when she saw both Tara and Hermione sitting at the main table with a pile of books around them.
The pair looked up at her voice and Tara shrugged, but Hermione blushed and lowered her head guiltily. To be fair, the comment was more directed at Hermione than at Tara, as Tara had been out doing her afternoon staff training only two hours before, while Hermione had not even shown up for breakfast, instead Faith had brought her a plate in the library and extracted the promise that Hermione would not spend all day in there. Faith knew that Hermione would have been there early in the morning as she had not been in bed with Faith when the dark haired Slayer had woken up.
Hermione now spent every night with Faith, and not always because she was having nightmares. They were not in a relationship, well not a physical one at least, and Faith had no intention of pushing it. Apart from Xander, who Faith admitted to herself that she had ruined any chance with long before Tara even came into the picture, Hermione was the only person who did not see Faith as either a means to an end or a quick fuck. Hermione saw in Faith all the things she wished she could be; Strong, brave, confident and independent. But she was not fooled into thinking Faith was perfect.
"That's it." Faith declared. "We're having a girl's night out."
"But…" Hermione began, only to be interrupted.
"You've been working on research for the plan for, what? Two years? The artefact for maybe seven months." Faith said. "You can take one night off. It might even help you focus tomorrow."
A few hours later the three women were in a club in New York, thanks to Hermione creating a Portkey. Faith was naturally a force of nature, dominating the dance floor and having numerous men and women approach her, but she turned them all down. After living with Faith for half a decade, Tara had become accustomed to the Slayer's exuberance and boundless energy, as well as her frequent trips to various Clubs around the world, often being dragged along in the past few years and as such had become quite at ease in such environments, even dancing to some up beat songs with Faith. Hermione on the other hand was overawed by the club, as it was so far out of her experience, and spent most of her time in the small, roped off VIP booth that Faith had secured for them.
By the time Faith managed to drag Hermione out onto the dance floor, the brown haired Witch had consumed a few drinks and was pleasantly buzzed, but not drunk. For the first time in her life, Hermione let go. She let go of books and facts. She let go of rules and authority. She let go of the expectations of a lifetime and simply let herself be in the moment. In the moment with Faith. The dance was to a fast track with a pulsing baseline beat, and it seemed to pass in a series moments without connection. One moment Faith's hips were bumping gently into Hermione's. The next moment Faith was pressed in behind Hermione with her arms wrapped around the Witch's waist. A moment where Hermione was running her fingers down Faith's tattooed arms. A moment where Faith was rubbing up against Hermione. A final moment where Hermione was pressing her lips to Faith's.
Then the song stopped and time seemed to flow normally again, expect Hermione was still kissing Faith. It was a few seconds before the kiss was broken, and neither could tell which had broken the kiss. Hermione turned beet red as they walked back to a slightly grinning Tara in the VIP area. Faith was quite as she sat down. A decade ago, she would have made some witty comment, waved the incident off as her natural sex appeal or just dragged Hermione off to a cheap motel room somewhere for a quick fuck. Time had changed Faith, she was no longer the 'get it and get gone' girl she had once been. Sure she was still wild and reckless at times, but she had grown a lot, partly from the Tournament but mostly from the influence of Xander and Tara. She had been celibate for the last seven odd years, for fucks sake. As they sat down, Faith gently touched Hermione's hand, a gesture she had done a thousand times, to show she was not pulling away from the slightly younger Witch, then sat back and let the confused girl sort through her emotions without pressure. A lesson she learnt from Xander so long ago.
~The Present – 2015 ~
Tara smiled as she watched Hermione practically bound down the hill and embrace Faith, totally mindless of the fact that the raven haired Slayer was covered in mud, blood and slime. She still remembered the first kiss between the two in the club in New York, and Xander's reaction to the news, which had been an emphatic 'about bloody time'. Faith picked Hermione up and twirled her around, before they both wrapped an arm around the other and sauntered off to Faith's tent like some newlyweds.
Tara herself carefully picked her way down the hillside, getting bows and adoring mutters of greetings from the army as she passed. For a second she imagined this was what one of the medieval Kings would have felt as they wandered through the encampments of their own armies. From the hill everything took on a different dimension than they did down in the fighting. In the fight it was just about survival, on the hill it was tactics and strategy. What ground to give up, where to send in reserves. To push forward with an attack or to let a unit of your army get killed to take advantage somewhere else.
Shaking tactics and strategy from her mind, she fell in beside Xander as they moved towards their own tent.
"Faith seemed much more relaxed today." Xander commented.
"Yes, Hermione as well." Tara replied.
'Shame it is starting to look like one of us is going to have to pay the price for victory.' Tara thought.
She could see the possibility emerging, and she knew that Hermione saw it as well. That was why Hermione could not stay away from Faith any longer. Someone would have to make a sacrifice, and it would be one of the four in the family. There seemed to be no other choice.
TBC…