Chapter 13
Willow was quite sure that somewhere along the line, a plan had formulated. Actually, scratch that. She was one hundred percent sure that some sort of plan had been formulated.
It was to what that plan actually was that stumped her.
'Willow, you're a horrible, horrible person. There are special circles in Hell reserved for people like you!'
What had started off as bouncing due to a bumpy road had taken a much darken turn as she purposefully ground her hips backwards into the older girl's lap.
'And with other people in the car!'
She honestly had no idea what had come over her, other than the fact that it was Tara and she was pressing down on the her front seam just right and every bounce the car made caused the young Watcher expel small puffs of hot air right in her ear-
'-and Jesus H. Christ, Self! She's a human being! Not some…some masturbatory aid!'
She tried not to focus on the soft, almost encouraging squeeze around her waist that happened with each roll.
Faith side-eyed the two witches, half-amused, half wanting to smack them upside the head.
The two were definitely gonna end up doin' it within the next few weeks, of that she was sure. Hell, good for them!
But now? Really?
Okay, so the dark haired Slayer was definitely calling the kettle black or however that saying went. Sure, she'd been known to eye up some sweet, non-gender specific ass while on the job, but at least she didn't go off pursuing them in the middle of it.
Well, not often at least.
Yet here they were, not 3 inches away from her. Red, giving some sort of sneaky, ninja, pseudo-lapdance while the Other Watcher stared glassy eyed at the car's ceiling, torn between a hallelujah chorus and praying for damnation.
She was kinda proud of Red, really. Just…not while practically on top of her, please? Despite whatever rumors may have been going around, Faith really didn't dig threesomes as much as one would think.
You always ended up picking a favorite.
Those thoughts aside, the two witches could screw each other blind of they wanted.
Just not right now.
Tara's brain was that sort of puddle any young woman's would be when presented with a slim, young redhead like Willow on their lap.
She was also currently trying to convince whatever higher powers that may have been watching that pulling Willow towards her every time she bounced was merely ensuring the seatbelt-less girl wasn't flung into the windshield, and that she was not, in fact, dry humping her young paramour in a crowded vehicle belonging to a fellow Watcher.
Tara herself would have found such an excuse stupid, but mentally referring to Willow as 'her young paramour' sent her to another place entirely.
Oblivious to the fairly obvious love-fest going on next to him, Xander stared out of the window.
This whole day was one giant blow to his pride. Sure, he could handle letting the girls doing all the fighting, with their magic and their superpowers. It had been embarrassing at first, acting like the big, strong, macho guy, only to end up rescued by the aforementioned girls.
It had been okay, because he found his own purpose.
The Slayers were the muscle, and the witches were the magic. Giles was a guiding figure, offering wisdom. But Xander? Xander was the comforter.
'Comfortador, actually.'
He offered the emotional support and stability that most of them could never find at home. He was, to an extent, the big brother of the group.
And now it seemed he couldn't even be that.
Almost everyone was aware of his home situation to a certain point, but to have it openly acknowledged? Yikes.
And so he watched. That was all he felt he was good for now, anyways.
They were getting close, she just knew it. The further out they got, the more obvious it became, as it seemed more and more of Sunnydale's youth had been forced to relive awful memories and deal with them.
Buffy watched with no surprise at all as Amy Madison held a book burning in front of her house, waving at them as they drove past, even with the remains of Catherine's library adding to the town's already high concentration of ash.
She observed with a bit more surprise when that obnoxious boy, Warren Mears, crashed through the front door and duked it out with his old man in the front yard. Not very successfully, but it sure explained a bit.
Buffy turned away from the window, shaking her head. Revenge, reconciliation, it seemed to drive the town's less fortunate youth to attempted patricide, as evident from the ambulances whizzing about. Those who couldn't retaliate, like Amy, seemed to have found healthier outlets.
Or at least it seemed that way.
As far as she knew, Xander wasn't about to leap out of the car to hunt down his dad anytime soon. It seemed that he and Faith had decided that getting rid of this demon was outlet enough for them. She didn't know Tara all that well, but a glance into the rearview mirror tol-
'What the frilly heck? Really? In the car?'
"We're here," Giles said.
The kids in the car all jumped in surprise, yanked out of their reveries. Willow was unfortunate enough to bump her head on the ceiling.
"Owww…" Tara rubbed her shoulder comfortingly, and was rewarded with a smile. The others were dragging themselves out of the vehicle, and Tara planted a small peck on the back of Willow's neck before joining the others outside.
The redhead sat there dumbly for a few more seconds. 'Huh. Guess she liked it.'
"Willow!"
"Oh! Ah, coming Buffy!" As she got out of the car, she thought she saw Faith nudge Tara and mouth the word 'coming' with a wink. Giles, who'd been standing near them, cleared his throat and reached up to grab his glasses, ready to avoid an uncomfortable topic or offer exposition.
"Yes well, Faith's fourth grade level of immaturity aside-"
"-sixth grade, actually. And 'immature' is just a word boring people call fun people to feel better about themselves."
"Thank you, Faith. As I was saying, uphill we go?" He pointed up Kingman's Bluff.
At the top of which green mist swirled. Giles' finger drooped just a tad.
Xander tilted his head and squinted his eyes. "Everyone else can see this too, right? It isn't just me?" Everyone nodded. "How'd we not notice that?"
Buffy snorted. "Yeah, tell me about it. It looks like a radioactive version of Van Gogh's 'Starry Night'."
Everyone stared at the petite Slayer.
"What? My mom runs an art museum you guys! I know paint-y things!"
Feeling now desire to argue Buffy's credibility, they began to trudge uphill. The Slayers made it up first, followed by Xander and the witches, Giles last. Nothing to be ashamed of. They were teenagers who ran for their lives on a nightly basis, and he had made it up in half the time it would have taken another man his age.
"Tch, took you long enough." The two vengeance demons sat at the top, Halfrek pacing nervously while Anyanka just looked miffed. Halfrek placed a hand on her arm.
"Ignore her. Thank you for coming to help, really."
Faith looked around at the green mist surrounding them. "Yeah, okay. So, what is this? It..it ain't gonna turn me into a Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtle, is it?" Anyanka opened her mouth to express her confusion but Halfrek, who worked with children and understood the reference, chuckled.
"Not at all. Like we said, green is the color of between worlds. Anything that comes through is going to be stained with it."
Buffy's voice cracked. "This is the demon?"
Faith lowered the hand she was waving through it, Xander and Giles jumped and scrambled away, and Tara and Willow pulled each other closer.
"This," Willow swallowed. Her face was pressed against the top of Tara's chest. "This is a big demon."
"Like a building big," Tara agreed. She blushed as she realized how hard she was holding Willow to her. "S-sorry," as she dropped one arm. The redhead smiled at her and snuggled closer under one arm.
"S'okay."
Anyanka crossed her arms. "I'll be the one to open the portal for Hallie. All you need to do is bully Godzilla here into it."
"Oh, so she gets that pop-culture reference?"
The demon stared at Faith and Xander, confused. "What pop-culture reference?" The two stood flabbergasted, and she turned on her heel to stand at the edge of the bluff. "Whatever. Get to work while I rip open this trans-dimensional hymen."
There were several mixed looks of disgust amongst the Scoobies. Faith mouthed a 'How?' to her sister Slayer and Buffy made a face, waving her hands in the mist as if it would herd it towards Anyanka's general direction.
After several more minutes of similar Benny Hill-esque shenanigans, Tara turned to Willow with a lopsided smile. "Ready for another magic lesson?"
She blinked up at her owlishly, half wondering why the owner of that gorgeous smile wasn't kissing her again. "Wut?"
There it was again, that ever patient smile. "Before I teach you about invisibility, how about one to make the unseen seen?"
Willow finally snapped out of it, her mind registering what was being said to her. "Wow, really? You're gonna teach me now?"
"No time like the present and I believe in teaching on the job," she grinned.
Willow licked her lips, 'I wonder what else she could teach me.'
"Grab my hand, Willow."
She giggled. "You'll get no argument from me!"
Tara blushed and kissed the top of her head. "Kay. Concentrate. Feel the ground beneath you, how if moves?"
"The shifting of tectonic plates?"
"Yeah," she nudged. "Draw your energy from that. Now, focus on the mist. Don't look at it, don't look through it. See. See what's in it."
No.
Way.
"Tara! I can see them! I can see them!" Exhilaration, joy at a job well done.
"I can see them too, Sweetie." Breathless.
"They…they look so sad."
"Let's help the others see, shall we?"
"Oh! Right." She squeezed Tara's hand, and in one voice intoned,
REVEAL
It wasn't one giant demon as previously thought. It was dozens of demons, as the four other Scoobies soon realized, moving towards Willow and Tara while still keeping their eyes on the newly revealed creatures. Not to say they weren't small, just that they weren't Godzilla sized. Each one stood at least 12 feet tall, and were about half as wide.
Each stood, staring mournfully at them.
"Q'bon demons," Halfrek sighed. "This isn't their reality, why are they here?"
Giles looked curious. "You recognize these demons? Why aren't they attacking?"
Halfrek shook her head. "I know of them. They're a relatively peaceful species." Faith scoffed. "No really, they are. Their home dimension is one step away from a hell dimension. Limited food, resources, and space. Their presence prevents overpopulation by having the newest generation turn on the previous."
Giles took the lull in conversation to step away from the teenagers.
"All in all, they're an extremely beneficial part of the ecosystem. In their dimension, at least. Definitely not yours." She scowled, "So why the Hell are they in this dimension, interfering with my job?"
She punctuated her question with a crack, as she produced a whip of fire in hand. The Q'bon all stumbled back whimpering from impact and the burn, their flesh hissing.
"Well? Answer me!"
CRACK! HISS.
More whimpering.
"Get out of here!"
CRACK! HISS.
Willow sobbed. "Oh, god…Make her stop! They're scared!" The others shared her sentiments. Demons or no, this level of brutality wasn't something they could stand by and watch. The larger Q'bon were pushing the smaller ones back, taking the brunt of the pain. Slayers, Witches, and well, anyone with a conscious stepped forward as Halfrek drew her hand back one more time-
-and stopped.
"Who screamed?"
The Scooby gang looked at each other. It wasn't them. It wasn't one of the Q'bon, half of whom were whimpering while the other half took their pain with quiet dignity.
It was Anyanka, scrambling away from the newly opened portal. "It's gone! There's nothing! All of it, gone!"
She was wrong. There was something.
That something was a vacuum pull, sucking them all towards the portal.