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Willow came down to the kitchen Sunday morning moping and dragging her feet. She came to the breakfast table and was greeted good morning by Vi, Faith, Dawn and then there was Buffy who came to England on Friday to help clean up a nasty demon nest near Manchester.
"Look what the cat dragged in." Faith announced.
"Good Morning." Willow grumbled.
"Oh, I know that face. What's wrong Will?" Buffy asked.
"It's nothing just another Saturday night shot to hell." She replied.
"What happened? You were supposed to have the night off. Did Giles have you looking through more tombs?" Dawn asked.
"No sweetie, that's not it. It's just that I went out to a gay singles club last night and no one even noticed me. The ones that did, treated me like the Cordette's did back in high school use to and I'm so much cooler than them now."
"Did you let them know that?" Asked Vi.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Willow asked.
"Well, you act all shy when you're looking for someone to date. You come across as weak to someone like the Cordette's so you get trampled upon." Dawn said.
"Willow groaned at that. Let face it you're all more attractive than I am. Each of you has accompanied me to a gay bar at one time or another and got hit on more times than me."
"Can I slap her across the face?" Faith asked rhetorically looking to Buffy for an answer.
"She's right, you should never put yourself down like that Willow." Dawn said
"Beauty isn't just about looks." Added Vi.
"Yeah, it's also about attitude. That shy bit will only reel in other wall flowers. If you want somebody you're going to have to go get her. Or at the least act more positive and comfortable instead of acting like a shy doe that would bolt if anyone approaches you." Faith added.
"You make it sound so easy. Do you guys even realize that all the people that I've been intimate with made the first move?"
"Okay, well that worked two out of three times but then your luck ran out and you got the Kennedy booby prize and we all know how that worked out." Buffy said.
"I just don't know how to ask without sounding cheesy. Receiving a pickup line I can handle, using them scares me."
"Well you better learn to do something or you're going to be an old maid." Faith Replied.
"Be positive." Buffy said
"Radiate it." Vi added.
"Be cool and never back down. You're a witch make them spit slugs like Hermione told us about." Dawn said.
"And don't be afraid of the one night stand. They can get you through plenty of dry spells." Faith added.
Willow sighed and agreed to try it out the next chance she got.
"Witches honor?" Dawn asked putting the first to fingers of her right hand just under her eyes, which got a giggle out of Willow because of the reference to their favorite TV sitcom witch.
"Witches honor." She replied with the same gesture.
At that moment Giles walked into the kitchen.
"Good morning ladies."
"Good morning Giles." They replied in a practiced unified sing song voice.
Just then one of the other slayers walked in and said "Miss Dawn there's a man on the phone asking about an appointment."
"I'll take it in the reception office." She said and walked out of the kitchen.
"Willow, I trust you aren't too hung over from last night that you can't make our meeting in Surry." Giles asked.
"I only had two drinks last night and when I finish nursing them I switched to soda, so I'm good."
"Good we need to be there by eleven so that gives us plenty of time to get ready. By the end of the day we could have the answers we've been looking for all this time."
"Oh yeah, your going to meet that archeologist who found that living crib today." Faith said.
Giles wince was so tight his eyes were shut. Faith just winked at the other girls at the table who were doing their best to keep a straight face and not giggle. Vi being the only one with a news paper hid behind it.
"That's the Cradle of Life and yes that is who were supposed to meet." Giles said in a huff.
Just then Dawn came into the room and announce to Giles and Willow that she just got off the phone with the archeologist's secretary and that the meeting would be pushed back to six tonight. "Apparently the archeologist's plane doesn't touch down till four. After she has a bath and a breather you'll be having dinner with the world traveler."
"I see, very well then. I can't say that I'm disappointed after all we will still be getting the information today but now I'll be useless all day with anticipation."
"The nerve of some airlines." Buffy said in a mock huffed.
"Indeed." Willow said in mock indignation.
"Quite right". Giles said in disappointed agreement.
/Scene break/
At six o'clock Willow and Giles magically manifested in front of the Abingdon estate in Surrey. Giles pushed the button on the intercom and looked into the video camera.
"State your names and business," Said a metallic voice from the box.
"Rupert Giles and Willow Rosenberg from the Guardian Council Academe, we're here for our scheduled six o'clock appointment."
"One moment please." The voice said.
A minuet and a half later a man Willow and Giles thought to be a grounds keeper whose name turned out to be Bryce drove down from the main house to the gate in a golf cart. The gates opened and the man told them he would take them to the main house.
They were driven to the front door and upon reaching it, it was pulled open by a butler.
"Good evening, my name is Hillary. If you'll follow me I'll take you to the lounge to meet the Countess."
As they walked Giles spoke. "I'm sorry, the information I received said the man servant of this estate was named Winston Smith."
"Hmm… he retired some years ago, I'm afraid." Hillary corrected.
"I see."
As they entered the lounge Hillary announced them.
"Presenting Mr. Rupert Giles and Miss Willow Rosenberg. Mr. Giles, Miss Rosenberg may I present Lady Lara Croft."
Willow couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow with intrigue as this woman was stunningly gorgeous. Her beautiful hair, her piercing eyes, her full lips, her nicely shaped boo…baw…bod…body…Yeah, that was what she was thinking, her body has a nice shape. "Keep your head in the game Rosenberg." She thought.
"It's nice to meet you both however; I had thought the Watchers Council to be destroyed a few years back."
"It was. I and a few business partners rebuilt and renamed it as well as shifting its purpose. It's now the Guardian Council Academe for girls but we have our fair share of males as well."
Just then Hillary made an announcement. "Dinner will be served momentarily if you will please follow me to the dining room."
They all got to the dining room and took their seats. Hillary went into the kitchen.
"I must say that I wasn't impressed the last time I worked for the Watchers. That stuffy old men's club seemed to be just a bit more above board than the Illuminati. I can't say I trusted them. So, what kind of shifts did you make?"
"Well, as the name implies we cater more toward the young women and less time sitting on our collective asses, sipping brandy and being pompous." Willow announced.
Lara smiled brightly at that. "And just what is it your teaching these girls?" She asked.
"I was under the impression that you were familiar with the Watchers charter." Giles said.
"I am. In the past the Watchers publicly passed themselves off as a research group. However, their real purpose was to train and prepare girls to become supernatural warriors that they may never become because only one girl can be called at a time. It's always seemed to me to be a waste of resources to train them all but self defense training builds an inner confidence within the young ladies of which I do approve."
Hillary brought out dinner which turned out to be lamb chops and served everyone before heading back into the kitchen.
"Yes, well, In the late eighties a man by the of Quentin Travers was put in charge. He began turning the Council away from its sacred duty of training the young women to push it more towards the research, thus ,making them more of an information power broker for supernatural head hunters."
"Yes, I remember Mr. Travers. He was an infuriating little man." Lara announced. "So what other changes besides the name did you make?"
"Instead of going for informal training we convinced their families to allow us to bring them to one of the schools we set up. Not only to learn to fight but some of the girls come from third world countries and haven't had any form of education. So we give them one, going as far as giving them scholarships to go to the collages of their choice if they choose to go." Willow explained.
"But they aren't potential any more are they?" Lara asked.
Lara noted a significant pause in the conversation.
"Well you see back in 2004 there was a being that sent his minions out to kill all the potential." Willow began but was interrupted.
"Would those minions have there eyes branded shut?" Lara asked.
"Umm… yeah, they call themselves Bringers. But how did you know?"
"I was in Chilly when I came upon a watcher with a potential named Angela. Because of the circumstances I stayed in the same run down apartment building they did for a few days until my contact could come by with the information that would lead me on the next leg of that particular journey. One night I was coming back to the apartment from a late night rendezvous when Angela ran past me. She was in a panic and didn't even see me when she ran past. Then six of those bringers rounded the same corner she came from at full speed, each of them having a blood dripping dagger in their hand. I didn't even think twice as I took out my machete and took them out with extreme prejudice. The commotion must have shaken the girl out of her panic because she stopped and looked back. When I calmed her down enough she told me that they broke into her apartment and killed her watcher and family. I got her to an uncle who said he would take care of her. Did your people find her?"
"Probably, I'll have to check the computer later. Would you like to be informed if I find her?"
"Yes, that would be fine. But you were telling me about 2004, please continue."
"Right, the being we know as the first evil was very close to cracking the hell mouth wide open and he had plans to send through legions of demons as soon as it was open. So the slayer got the idea for the Hail Mary of all Hail Mary plays. She got a powerful witch to activate all the potential. Any girl that could be a slayer would be a slayer." Willow explained keeping her own involvement low key.
"Yes, I've noticed. I was in Bangladesh last year when I witnessed three girls fighting demons at a run down manor house where I was to retrieve a relic that would lead me… well, somewhere else." She said mysteriously with a smile. "Their physical strength was amazing."
"Yeah, so is their healing. A cut heals in a day. A gash or stab wound in two days, and broken bones are completely healed in three."
"So far I like what I've heard but I'm still having my people check you out so forgive me if I still seem guarded."
"Quite alright, I trust you'll find only good things from 2004 to now. I'm very pleased with our work and stand by it with an expectable amount of pride." Giles replied.
"An expectable amount?" Lara wondered what he meant by that.
"Pride 'is' one of the seven deadly sins." He replied with a smile.
Lara smiles back. "So, what is it that you and your organization want?"
"Well to be frank, we wish to know the country in which the cradle of life was found?" Giles announced.
Lara's smile dropped. "And why would you seek the cradle?" She asked in a measured voice.
"We aren't, it's the country were interested in." Willow replied
"Again, why?" She said hotly.
"Willow paused a moment to look through her bag. She pulled out a meter with a large antenna and swept the room."
"There aren't any listening devices in my house. I make sure of it. You may speak freely." Lara said.
"Okay then. Seeing as you're a Countess with enough of a fortune I suppose you were contacted by your government about the end of the world. Am I right?" Giles asked
"Oh no, not this again. Are you telling me you believe them?"
"They haven't come to us. We don't have the money they're looking for; but, yes we do. However we found out by other means and only found out what they knew after the fact." Giles said.
"What means?"
"We stumbled upon a few prophecies. Once you find and cross reference them with other religious works you find they all say the same thing."
"An apocalypse?" Lara asked.
"No, more like a cleansing, washing away the unclean demons. Unfortunately it will take plenty of humans as well."
"How does all this relate to the cradle?" Lara asked.
"After months of research we have recently came upon a document that hinted at a location of the safe land, one that will be untouched by the devastation. It said that the safe land will be where the cradle of life lies. Whatever land mass that is, we plan on being at its center when the lands fall into the sea. I remembered that you went looking for the cradle some years ago. If you found it, could you tell us on what land mass?" Giles said hoping to finally get the long awaited answer.
"Lara looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking. The cradle isn't something to be played with. It's something to be protected."
"Yes, of course. We only wish for land to live on, the specific location of the cradle isn't necessary. But if you feel that strongly about it we can help guard it if that is what you wish."
"It's protected as well as it can be without revealing its exact location. As for the land mass it's on, I'm going to hold that information until my people have finished finding out everything there is to know about you and your organization. Once I'm satisfied I'll see what I can do about letting you know."
Visibly disappointed Giles nodded. "Is there any indication of when that would be?"
"Could be in the next few minutes or it could be at the end of the month. I really don't know but come to think of it I wouldn't hold my breath on the few minutes because my main researcher had a date tonight."
Willow giggled at that because Lara was obviously yanking his chain. Lara smiled in her direction.
"I see. Well, as I stated before I stand by our work." He said calmly.
"How are you going to save so many girls?" Lara asked only to see the smile on Willows face disappear.
"We won't be able to save them all." Giles announced. "We might not have enough resources to maintain anything too large. We've started gathering basic supplies but haven't any place to ship it. Again it would also depend on how large the land mass is. We can't fit twenty slayers on a postage stamp."
Just then Giles phone notified him of an incoming text. He read it and said he had to make an emergency call. Lara indicated that she had no problem with that. She knew that sometimes running a business could be a full time job. As he went into the lounge for some privacy Lara turned to Willow and said. "If this problem calls him away but doesn't need your supervision I'd like you to remain. I have some questions that only you can answer for me."
"Sure, but if it does I can return later." Willow replied.
"That would be appreciated." Lara said.
Giles came back to the dinning room and said. "I'm terribly sorry Countess but we need to get to Guardian Council Cleveland. There seems to be a financial problem that needs to be rectified. If we hurry we should be able to be back in England in a few hours."
"Will you really need Miss Rosenberg?" Lara asked
"No, I suppose not. Not really." Giles looked questioningly at her before Willow spoke.
"Do you have your portkey with you?"
"Yes, always." He replied.
"Well then, I'm staying here for a while to answer any questions Miss Croft might have."
"Okay, very well then. I'd like to thank you for the dinner my complements to the chef. The lamb was excellent. Willow, do keep me informed. Good day Countess, Willow." He said. Lara had Hillary show him to the front door. Giles would use the portkey once he was off the property.
Willow turned to Lara and confirmed what Giles had said. "The lamb was really good."
It got uncomfortably quiet for a moment, and Willow asked "So, what did you want to talk about?"
"You down played your involvement in what happened that activated all the potentials." Lara accused
"Umm… What?" Willow asked a bit shocked.
"From what I've heard the one to activate them all was the red witch. I've got reports that you've done some magic in the past. Since you're the only ginger haired magic user in that area at that time there was only one person it could be."
"Now I know why Buffy got frustrated about not being able to keep her secret identity." Willow sighed in defeat. "Is that why you wanted me to stay behind, to ask me about being a witch"?
"No, magic can be useful in my line of work but that kind of power is something I'm not really interested in."
"Then what are you interested in."
"Well there's something else they say about the red witch that I would need verification on."
"What's that?" Willow asked suspiciously.
"They say the red witch is a lesbian."
"Willow was stunned but kept the facial features neutral as she ran through the many ways to respond to that accusation; truth, lies, redirection, misdirection, or with a question. She settled for a bit of all of them by asking. "And?" It didn't quite answer the question but then again it really did. Lara smiled."
"Well, I was wondering if you were single at present and would you be willing to partake in something along the lines of a one night stand."
Willow came very close to chocking on her own tongue but got control of the slippery thing just in time. She calmly ran through the conversation she had this morning with her family. Don't look weak, be confident, and radiate it.
"Well, yes, I am single at the moment, and it sounds like fun but I got to ask, did you plan on asking me before I got here or now that you've met me?"
"Actually I did see your picture once but it was one of those unflattering high school pictures, so, I didn't think anything of it. Then when you walked into the lounge I realized you were checking me out and I thought you were quite pretty as well. But when you showed me how passionate you were about helping the young women of third world countries and giving them an education well, I just found that sexy as hell."
"Oh, okay. Umm… I got to say I've never did the one night thing before but I'm willing to give it a whirl. This witch has been too busy to get any lately."
"This archeologist has never been with another woman before but I'm willing to give it a try."
"You're not a lesbian or bi or anything?" Willow asked confused.
"I don't know what you mean by 'or anything'… Lara smiled. But no, I'm not gay or bi. I'm…experimenting." she said with a coy smile. "Which is why I only want a one night stand. I want time to myself afterwards to reflect and meditate on what it will be that I truly want."
"Without the woman you just had sex with to influence your decision." Willow thought out loud.
"Please don't take it the wrong way…"
"No, its okay, I get it. I think it's a great idea to do some soul searching and find yourself. It makes good sense. Um… so how do you what to start this. I don't think the dining room table is appropriate, at least not for the fist time."
Lara smiled and chuckled a bit. "Come on I'll show you to the master bedroom." She said taking Willow by the hand and leading her upstairs.
As they ascended the stairs Willow thought to herself. "This has got to be a dream."
/Scene break/
The next morning Willow awoke. She hadn't even opened her eyes yet when she thought to herself. "What a lovely dream she had." She tried to turn over only to realize how sore she was and thought. "What demon did the slayers and I wrestle last night? Wait a minute I don't remember going patrolling for about a week. Then why am I so sore?" She then cracked opened an eye. "Holy frilly heck it wasn't a dream." She thought. She looked to the other side of the bed but Lara was gone. "I think I can learn to like Mondays." She thought. She looked at the clock and saw that it was after ten. "Good goddess what time did we finally get to sleep? We started after seven last night and it was sometime in the early morning when we stopped taking time for brakes and talking throughout." Willow got out of bed to find she was still naked. "Well seeing as I need a shower this simplifies things a bit." She gathered her clothes at the end of the bed and went to the huge master bathroom. Within the room she saw something she didn't expect to see. It was a first aid chest to rival some of the smaller chests they had at the G.C. she then remembered all the scars Lara had. She clamed they were from everything from sliding down temple roofs to bar fights. Archeology got her into some pretty hairy situations at times. Willow made her way to the shower on the far side of the room. As she passed the tub her eyes went wide. Laid across the tub was a drying rack and on top were the many freshly cleaned sex toys they used last night. "Did we really use all of them?" Willow wondered. It all started by her admitting that she never had the opportunity to use any. When Lara busted them out from their hiding place it became a real two person party. Willow went red just thinking about it. She quickly jumped into the shower and let the hot streams of water just pelt her sore muscles for a while before starting to get clean.
Once cleaned and dressed she made her way downstairs. Hillary was there to greet her.
"Lady Croft regrets that she was called away to Buckingham palace to have words with her majesty the queen. Would the young lady like breakfast?" He asked.
"If it's not too much trouble." she replied. Lara not being here was disappointing, but Willow knew that you just don't keep the queen waiting. She had to admit she worked up an appetite and she would need some food before trying to use her magic to try and get home. Not that it was required to help her make magic. It was just that teleporting on an empty stomach made her dizzy for some reason.
She had steak & eggs with two pancakes on the side. Towards the end of her meal Hillary handed her an envelope. "Lady Croft wished for me to give you this before you left." Willow opened he letter.
Dear Willow,
I'm terribly sorry for not being there when you woke up. I was looking forward to sharing breakfast with you. Hopefully I can make it up to you in the near future. Unfortunately, as you probably know by now the Queen has sent a car requesting my presence. As I'm writing this I have an agent of her majesties secret service waiting for me. The man has the patients of a squirrel on speed. I nearly had to knock him down just so I could get dressed properly. Anyway, when I came down stairs the second time I found that my head researcher came back from his date and had the result of the Guardian Council. I am pleased to say I like what I've seen within the pages of the report. You and your people are admirable and noble people. I realize that your jobs are very demanding but I hope you and the others have taken time to stand back and take pride in what you've accomplished. Don't let there be any doubt, it is amazing. Because of this you and your people will be very busy for the next year and a half moving to Africa where I found the C.O.L. Tell your people not to go looking for it or they will feel my wrath rain down upon them. If you or your people need me before, during, or after the cleansing; don't hesitate to call. Thanks to you and Mr. Giles, you've both convinced me that it will happen and so I will be taking appropriate measures to move there as well. Thank you for that; and, thank you for last night. I had fun and I hope you did as well. You've given me much to think about for the next few months.
Wishing you peace and tranquility,
Lady Lara Croft
Countess of Abingdon
"Ohmygosh! She did it, we got it, and we can all go there!" Willow said to nobody but then looked up to Hillary as she stood up from her chair. "We got the information after all this time!" She said and grabbed Hillary in a hug completely stunning the man, but being as British as he was he didn't show it. Willow let go to look at the paper once more as if not believing what she had in her hand. "Ohmygosh! There's so much to do. I've got to go and tell Giles. I got to go! Thank you, thank you so much and that goes double for Lara. Tell her that from me wont you?"
"Umm… yes. Yes, surely I will." Hillary replied.
"Thank you! Thank you so much! Goodbye." She said and teleported away; which confused Hillary as he stood there stunned for a few seconds. He quickly scanned the dining room and then waved his hand in the place Willow had last been scene. He idly wondered if she got so excited that she burst out of existence. Had the coffee been that strong? Just then Bryce walked into the dining room.
"What are you up to now?" He asked Hillary.
Hillary straightened up, straightened his uniform, and not wanting to sound strange said. "I just caught a dandelion seed that had been floating through the house. Please remember to shut the doors when you come in."
"Right, whatever. Are there any eggs left I'm starved. Late night playing internet D&D with a new player named Andrew Wells. He was a monster. He ran circles around all of our strategies."
"I'll bring them out in just a moment but Lara left us with some instructions. It seems that she now believes in the government's dooms day scenario. It seems that it was also foretold in prophecies as well. So she wants us to start packing everything up and getting it ready for transport."
"I thought they told her only one suitcase per person onboard the ark."
"We won't be going by ark. It seems that she has found a way to bypass them. One of the prophecies said that Africa will go untouched."
"So, we're moving to Africa?" Bryce asked.
"So it would seem." Hillary replied.
"Alright, food first, pack heavy stuff later."
/Scene break/
Willow appeared in the teleport room of Guardian Council Cleveland, because that was where most of the Sunnydale slayer, not to mention the group sent by the 'powers that be' and Xander were. As soon as she appeared she pulled out her phone and began texting everyone to come to the meeting in Giles Cleveland office. Giles had already told everyone that separate meetings would be arranged for the group sent by the powers; otherwise, his office would be standing room only not to mention that the questions would never stop. Giles might have to use his portkey to bring some people in from England. He was supposed to bring Buffy back here later tonight anyway. On her way up the stairs Willow was stopped by Rose Tyler.
"Hey Willow." She said.
"Hey Rose, what can I do for you this fine morning?" Willow said happily.
"Boy aren't we in a happy mood today."
"Yes, Yes I am." Willow said brightly.
"Okaaaaay. I was wondering if I could borrow the Tibetan meditation CD?"
"Wow, your watcher must be doing something right if she has her girls asking for meditation music. Sure it's in the meditation room. Feel free to use the room anytime you like, that's why it's there; but, nobody seems to use it except me and a few of the other witches."
"Sarah Jane doesn't know anything about it. You see I have a bet with Beth that she couldn't mix it with house music to make it sound any better, but thanks I'll make sure to put it back when I'm done." Rose said with a cheeky smile as she headed in the direction of the meditation room.
Willow chuckled as she shook hear head and made her way to Giles office once again. Upon reaching it she found that she was the first one there. She had a lot of pent up energy from her good mood. She needed to calm down before everyone arrived otherwise she would start to hyper-babble and not even Xander would be able to figure out what she was saying. She looked over at Giles desk in contemplation. "Why not?" She thought. So, she slipped off her shoes and sat on the expensive leather chair. "Oh wow, this is comfortable." She said to herself before putting her feet up on the desk. She tried to calm her mind for all of a minuet and a half before people started showing up. She knew they were there but kept her eyes closed with a serene look upon her face. She then heard Buffy, Faith and Vi walk into the room.
"Whoa! Look at Willow being all rebel-like. What do you suppose got into her?" Faith said.
"Willow?" Buffy said looking at her best friend with concern.
Willow opened her eyes and said. "I'm really starting to love Mondays. And for your information, it's not what Faith, it's who. I got some last night."
"You go girl." Faith said.
"That's fantastic news Willow." Vi said.
"I'm very happy for you Willow but does she make you happy?" Buffy asked.
"Actually it was a one night stand deal. But it was great. Of course I hadn't had any in a while so that might have added to it. And the fact that she's so much sexier than me that I wouldn't have believed I had any kind of a shot with her."
"Okay can I hit her upside the head now?" Faith asked Buffy.
"Oh, I'm not putting myself down. She's even sexier than any of you." Willow told Faith.
"Oh, now she's just tripp'en." Faith announced.
"Whose tripp'en Faith?" Xander asked as he walked into the room with Giles and Dawn.
"Willow, what are you doing in my chair and get your feet off the desk." Giles reprimanded.
"Willow is X." Faith replied. "She said the woman she had sex with last night was sexier than us."
Giles knowing he left Willow with Lara could only think the worst. "Willow you didn't."
"I did." She said happily.
"Not with the countess." He said not wanting to believe it.
"Hey, she asked me." Willow retorted.
The other people in the room looked at each other and then back to Willow as the said "countess!" in unison.
"Oh dear lord, please tell me we're here for something other than listening to your love life." Giles begged.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, Lara gave me the location of the safe spot. Willow said in mock boredom.
"What!" many people said shocked and excited.
"That's wonderful, Where is it, Willow?" Dawn asked
"Please don't tell me we'll be living in the Middle East." Buffy pleaded.
"Nope, Africa." Willow said proudly.
Everyone seemed happy with the news except Xander but no one noticed.
"Willow," Buffy called in concern. "You said she gave you this information after you had sex with her."
"It wasn't payment if that's what your thinking, Buffy. She was waiting for the results of our background check before she would tell us anything. Giles can tell you that much. It just so happened that it came in this morning."
"Oh good, that's a relief." Buffy said.
"Yeah, if she did anything like that I would have gone over there and punched her in the head. No one treats my friends like a whore." Faith stated.
"Okay calm down everybody, we all now have jobs to do starting with Xander." Giles began.
"I knew this was coming." Xander replied.
"Quite right. You were sent there to retrieve slayers. You know the land and it's surrounding. I'm assigning you to be the Councils representative. We'll need you to go there and buy some property for us, something big of course, with lots of space."
"Right, we'll need to talk about that after the meeting and hammer out some details on price range and stuff." Xander suggested.
"Alright. Next, Vi, I'm putting you in charge of the Sunnydale slayers to delegate a series of gathering and shipping tasks among them. Buffy, Dawn Willow, We need to go over our lists we've made so far about what slayers we've chosen to go. Even with a land so large we won't be able to support everyone."
"But how many is that?" Asked Dawn.
"That's the other thing we need to discuses, numbers. I want you to find out how many people already live in Africa, what type of resources it has, any and all useful information you can think of that will help us make the regretful determination of how many slayers we can take."
"I can help her with that before I leave, Dawn." Xander said.
"Yes, that's a good Idea. Give her any knowledge you think relevant." Giles said.
"I'm just worried about the backlash in the aftermath." Buffy began. "If the mini slayers find out we knew, this is going to be like the last days of Sunnydale all over again. Only this time the girls are going to be pissed at all of us not just me for tricking them to coming with us without saving their families."
"We can't save everyone. Even with all the preparations we are making we still may find ourselves struggling to survive. It's a terrible truth but their families would only suffer worse for it if we tried to save them as well." Giles explained.
"I know. It doesn't mean I have to like it." Buffy replied.
"Well, I and the rest of the Sunnydale slayers know karma when we see it and we're ready to reap what we've sown. It's cosmic payback for what we did to Buffy back then. We've decided to get the mini slayers to focus on us as the bad guys." Vi told Buffy.
"No, they will need leaders and they may turn to you guys. You can steer them in the right directions."
"Are you sure?" Vi asked.
"It's the best we can do for them. We'll owe them that much after this." Buffy confirmed.
/Scene Break/ Ten minutes ago:
Rose Tyler was heading to the meditation room to look for the meditation CD she asked Willow about. She began looking through the stacks of CD's on the top of a small book shelf when some of them fell behind it. Groaning she moved the shelf away from the wall to pick them up. As she got to her knees to do so she began to hear voices coming from an air vent that had been behind the book shelf. It didn't take Rose long to realize she was listening in on the private Scooby meeting going on at that very moment. She first thought that she shouldn't be listening in on them but then she started to hear things that greatly concerned her. By the end as she sat there on the floor with her knees to her chest she was openly crying about what she'd heard.
/Back in Giles office/ present:
"Well, I think it best that this meeting is adjourned at this point. Rona, please inform the group sent by the 'powers that be' to my office for a meeting in one hour. Willow, again I ask that I may have my desk and chair back please." Giles asked.
With a guilty look Willow replied "Oh, sure Giles, sorry" grabbing her shoes off the floor besides her; and, getting up out of the chair wincing and in obvious pain.
"Willow, are you alright?" Buffy asked in concern.
"Yeah, I just used muscles I hadn't used in a while. I may have over done it. She was really enthusiastic for it being her first time with another woman."
"Wait a minute, you mean she wasn't a lesbian to start with?"
"Nope, she said she was experimenting and wanted an experienced woman to show her the ropes."
"Well, alright Willow!" Faith cheered.
"Just what does this woman look like?" Buffy asked.
"Not woman Buffy, Countess." Vi supplied emphasizing Willow having been with what was essentially royalty.
"Fine, just what does this Countess look like?" Buffy tried again.
Willow looked to an iPad lying on a table and picked it up.
"What are you doing?" Vi asked.
"You gave me an idea. Lara is a countess. I should be able to find a picture of her on the internet."
It didn't take long for her to find some. On an old society page there were pictures of Lara in a beautiful dress on her way into a theater, (Not something she did often but she did need to keep up appearances.) and another in a riding outfit riding a horse.
"Whoa. Willow, you know how to pick them. She's gorgeous." Vi said.
Buffy had a surprised look on her face then turned to her best friend with a smirk of approval.
Faith was also shocked but it seemed to turn into a look of being upset at something before she spoke.
"Damn red, I don't know how you did it but now I'm officially jealous."
This comment surprised everyone.
"Um, you're not saying what I think your saying, are you Faith?"
"What?... No, I'm not gay. I already had my fling with another girl once. Not that the girl didn't know what she was doing but then why wouldn't she. She already knew where all the hot spots would be. But I realized that I like cuddling up with nice male hard bodies more than the female ones."
"Okay quite possibly too much information, but then, why are you jealous?" Buffy asked.
"This chick just might be hotter than me." Faith replied seriously still looking at the picture.
The rest of the women laughed but Faith still frowned at the picture.
At that moment Willows phone rang. She looked at the caller I.D. and answered it saying. "Hello Hermione I was just going to call you. Are you busy? Can you come over?"
"Actually, I was calling to find out if you and Dawn would like to take a trip to my old Alma mater for some research and study."
"Really? That sounds great. We'd love to go to a real magic school. That is, I'd like to go. But Dawn is in another part of the building at the moment but I'm sure she'd love to as well." Willow stammered with excitement.
"Okay I'll be there in a half hour. Tell Dawn we won't be wearing robes."
"She'll be glad to hear that." Willow chuckled. "By the way, we're at the Cleveland house can you pick us up here or do you want us to come back to London house."
"London house would be better I don't want to keep taxing my core so much. Hogwarts is kind of far from Cleveland."
"Okay we'll meet you in London." Willow replied and hung up.
"Why didn't you tell her?" Vi asked.
"I wouldn't say anything like that over the phone." Willow replied surprised that she would ask.
"You could have at lest hinted at the idea that you found it."
"But it's so much more fun to tell people in person. Then you get to see their reaction."
/Scene Break/
As Willow and Dawn arrived they found they had beat Hermione there. They quickly went to their rooms to collect their things. Dawn grabbed her book bag filled with legal pads and other writing materials to take notes with. Willow brought her laptop. When they came back to the teleport room Hermione was there. When she saw what Willow was carrying she was interested to see if the laptop would work within the most magical place in the U.K.
"Is there a secure place to have private conversations where you're taking us? You know, in case we have anything private to discuss." Willow asked
"Yes, I suppose the room of requirement should do. There are a couple of issues I'd like to discuss with you anyway. I'll explain when we get there."
"Alright." Willow replied with some slight suspicion.
"Here, take hold of my arms." She said holding them out to them both. As they did so the three of them disappeared. When they reappeared they fell on their backsides. When they got up they were facing a huge lake. Both Willow and dawn were trying to catch their breath, but Willow noticed she wasn't having as much trouble as Dawn. She realized that she really was getting used to apparition.
"Sorry about the landing, the ground we landed on was uneven." Hermione said as she dug through her bag.
"That's alright." they said in unison as they picked themselves up and brushed themselves off. They both looked at the beautiful lake behind Hermione.
"Well you couldn't have landed in a nicer setting; this place is almost picture postcard prefect." Dawn commented.
"Funny you should say that. Right now I'm trying to find my… camera." Hermione said finding and pulling it out of her bag.
"So how far is this school of yours?" Dawn asked.
"It's actually right behind you." She said stepping between the two ladies to get behind them. When they turned around they saw the biggest most beautiful and most imposable castle they had ever seen. It was something straight out of a fairytale. Their faces were both masks of awe as they looked on in jaw dropping astonishment. There was a flash as Hermione took their picture which broke them out of their trance.
"Welcome to Hogwarts Ladies." Hermione announced with a smile.
"Hermione, are you telling us that your school is in a freaking castle." Dawn asked.
"Yep, and if you think the outsides is impressive wait till you see the inside."
Willow looked to Dawn and said. "I love Mondays."
Although I used the plot to the movie 'Tomb Raider the cradle of life' I never pictured Alyson Hannigan with Angelina Jolie but rather the way Lara Croft was depicted in the 2012 Tomb Raider video game.
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