[A/N: I’m not sure how much longer this is going to be, when I wrote one of my earlier notes I was feeling very out of it. I was down, nothing was going right, and I was depressed by the lack of feedback on any of my current WIPS. However, now, I’ve changed my mind and will not shortchange the ending for this, or any of the others, and I will continue to tell the stories the way they’ve been playing out in my head. Titles and quotes are as attributed and the disclaimers are in full force and effect.]

Previously: Once again, all forces are converging on Revello Drive. Xander’s made it to Sunnydale; the Council’s surgeon is also finally in town; both babies have been born; the Initiative, under orders from Riley Finn, is about to make a move. This picks up immediately following the last installment.

Book Three

Chapter Twenty-Seven Rampart of defense

In battle it is the cowards who run the most risk;
bravery is a rampart of defense.
Gaius Sallustius Crispus, Catilina, LVIII.

From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night,
The hum of either army stilly sounds,
That the fixed sentinels almost receive
The secret whispers of each other’s watch.
Fire answers fire, and through their play flames
Each battle sees the other’s umbered face.
Steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neighs
Piercing the night’s dull ear; and from the tents
The armorers accomplishing the knights,
With busy hammers closing rivets up,
Give dreadful note of preparation.
King Henry V (IV, Prologue)

Our real problem, then, is not our strength today;
it is rather the vital necessity of action today to ensure our strength tomorrow.
Dwight D. Eisenhower





Nicholson ushered the surgeon into the suite’s main room. “Please have a seat, Doctor. I’ll be with you in a moment.” With a quick glance at the two guards, he slipped from the room.

Quentin Travers was listening intently to the radio communications from the field operatives already in place. He stared into the darkened window. “Revello Drive is there.” Travers lifted his left hand, pointing at a spot just left of the high school. “Our men are in position.”

“So I understand, sir.” Moving to stand next to his superior, Nicholson followed his gesture. “The New York team will be arriving in two hours.”

“I’m afraid they’ll be too late.” The older man slumped a little. “Though I have every faith in Giles and his allies, I’m afraid it may not be enough to keep Miss Summers and her infants safe.”

He paused for a moment, waving off Nicholson’s comment. “The Defence Minister called. Military Police and Special Agents are on their way. However, they are at best thirty-five minutes away.”

“Giles is an experienced mage.” Nicholson couldn’t help his response.

“Rupert is human. Bullets have a way of distracting even the most experienced.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Anya knocked once on the bedroom door and cracked it open without waiting for an answer. Her normally chipper mien was suppressed, concern etching her features. “Hey, you two.”

Spike lifted his exhausted eyes. “C’mon in, pet.”

She slipped inside the room, snagging a sheet and tossing it gently over them. “While you’re normally quite lovely, Buffy, your current state isn’t very appealing.”

When Spike grunted his thanks, Anya waved him off. “I came up to warn you, not ogle. Riley’s goon squad is on the move and Xander’s come back to help.”

“Why’s the whelp here?” Spike knew exactly how very heartbroken Anya had been over their split. She’d spilled it all out to him one night after they’d done a long patrol.

“Cordelia had a vision and sent him to help.”

Her nonchalant shrug didn’t fool him. Spike snorted his disdain, his brain finally registering her first comment. “Soldier boys are moving? Isn’t that swell. Bastards.”

Spike struggled to get up, an uncooperative Buffy hindering his progress. “C’mon, sunshine, focus.” Once on his feet, Spike lifted Buffy easily. “Gotta get washed.”

He eyed Anya again. “You still got that deal with D’Hoffryn?” At her quick nod, Spike paused, swallowing hard. Eyes focused on the sleeping infants, his voice deepened with emotion. “‘M trusting you, Anyanka, with them. First real sign things are goin’ south, you protect them.”

“With my life.”

Anya acknowledged Spike’s brief nod of acceptance with one of her own before he headed toward the bathroom.

Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Oz didn’t spare the new Slayer a glance as he raced past her. He couldn’t. There was too much wolf adrenaline rushing through him for that. He knew Faith had out run him, but he deliberately held himself back as much as he dared for Wesley’s sake.

They couldn’t afford to lose anyone. Even though it appeared their allies were thick on the ground – Oz knew their current truce with the Watcher’s Council hung by a veritable thread.

He’d wanted to run, to leave Faith behind and protect his family. Tara was at the house, and if, by some bizarre twist, she got caught in the Initiative’s nets, Oz would never forgive himself. Sooner or later, her pregnancy would be discovered. There was no doubt in his mind the soldiers would use her – and their child.

All the children were at risk. Not just the newest arrivals, but Dawn and Connor as well.

Oz paused by the back deck, crouching low in the bushes as he waited for the last of their group to arrive.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Wesley watched Faith dart between houses, running full out. Instead of following her, he waited, calmly punching numbers into his cell phone. On the second ring, Lawson answered. Wesley didn’t bother with polite greetings.

“They’re mobilising. Alert everyone.”

“Will do.”

“Stay just out of visual contact. Do not engage unless the Council moves first.”

“Right.” Lawson paused, relaying Wesley’s orders while he listened. “Anything else?”

His reply was terse. “No. No more contact until there’s movement.”

“Aye, aye, chief.”

But Wesley was no longer paying attention. Slipping the phone into his pocket, he addressed the vampire at his side. “You shouldn’t be seen.”

Jenner shrugged. His retort of “Council doesn’t scare me,” made Wesley laugh.

When Jenner merely raised an eyebrow, Wesley explained himself. “The sheer audacity of an enterprise the likes of yours operating in Watcher home territory alone proves you don’t scare easily – if at all.”

It was Jenner’s turn to chuckle. “Fair enough.” He sobered quickly, though. “These Americans are another story.”

“Agreed.” Wesley started walking. “We’ve already wasted too much time. I’m needed at the house.”

The Welsh vampire nodded. “I’ll watch your back, then head over to meet Lawson.”

Contemplating the merits of Jenner’s suggestion, Wesley quickly agreed. He didn’t believe for one instant that Jenner would do other than what he thought best, and there was no way Wesley could force him into doing otherwise. Jenner took orders from no one, and even Spike was hard pressed to get him to agree if he felt his idea was better. “I believe that’s for the best. Thank you.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



“Giles?”

Kait’s voice interrupted their conversation, drawing everyone’s attention to the two witches. “Anya said the Initiative’s back.”

“Unfortunately, she is correct.” His glasses were off, a sure sign of agitation.

“We’d like to help with whatever it is you’re planning.” Piercing blue eyes filled with righteous anger focused on Rupert’s face. “And before you ask, no, neither one of us is drained. We weren’t the ones who did all the work upstairs.”

He nodded, acknowledging her statement. “Very well. I’d like to set up a few shields, if you can manage them.”

Hesitating at the bottom of the stairs, Grace finally spoke, her voice low and steady. “Show us where. We’ll do the rest.”

Faith slammed in through the kitchen, nearly plowing into Grace. Thanks to her lightning quick reflexes, she managed at the last moment to sidestep the older woman. “They’re on their way. I cut through to get here before they could.”

“Where’s Oz?” Tara looked over the Slayer’s shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of the werewolf.

“Behind me, making sure Wesley gets here okay. Should be here any second.”

“And Cordy said you needed me? What the hell for?” Xander’s griping drew everyone’s attention. Though Giles opened his mouth to respond, Grace beat him to it.

“Perhaps because you’ll be needed.” A look of clear disdain crossed her features as she looked him up and down. “Why is it so important that you know exactly what you’re needed for?”

Unable to respond, Xander wisely kept his mouth shut for once.

“How many of us will you need to power the shields?” Giles asked Kait. He pulled her aside, studiously avoiding Willow, who hovered in the hallway, afraid of her welcome.

“Ideally both you and Wesley should help, but I don’t think you can be spared for magic.”

“I can help.” Dawn stepped forward, already holding out a hand to forestall Giles’ next comment. “I’m still the Key. My blood is strongest.”

“Dawn.”

“No, don’t say it. It’s my family we’re trying to protect. So anything I can do to keep them safe, I’ll do.”

“We don’t have much choice.” Wesley spoke up from behind Willow. He placed his hands on her shoulders, gently moving her out of the way. The movement caught Grace’s attention and she recognized the redhead immediately.

“Willow can help.” Stunned silence greeted her comment and though every eye was on her, Grace didn’t retract her statement, nor did she flinch. Both Giles and Wesley started to speak, but it was Willow herself who denied the witch.

“I can’t. My – I’ve been stripped of everything.” Willow bit her lip and looked away in an attempt to hide the tears from them.

“That’s fine.” Grace stepped closer, a somewhat sympathetic look on her face. “She can act as a conduit, channeling all the energy as a focal point.”

Giles pursed his lips, thinking hard. While none of them knew exactly what had transpired during Willow’s judgment, Giles wasn’t sure if this might somehow back fire on the girl and cause her more pain. “I’m not certain this is a wise course of action.”

“No, it’s perfect.” The taller witch shook her head. “Believe me, if it wasn’t permitted, the thought would’ve never entered my head. We’ll be fine.”

“All right. Do it.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



There was something going on. Something was off; this much Buffy was aware of – but she couldn’t get herself together enough to make sense of it. Exhaustion flooded through her and all her muscles felt spent. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this tired. She couldn’t get her limbs to answer her brain’s commands. If not for Spike nagging and pushing at her, she’d have stayed put and done nothing.

Except for that niggling little tingle at the back of her neck.

It was the same kind of awareness she called her ‘spider sense’, the one presaging utter disaster. The one that told her something was off and she couldn’t just let it all pass her by.

Buffy barely protested when Spike put her down on the bathroom floor, didn’t complain that the floor was too cold. Though she was freezing and shaking in reaction to the stress her body had been under for the last few hours. She was too out of it to complain. The shower rained down behind her, the soft chlorine smell waking up her senses even more. She cracked open her eyes to watch as Spike slid the grimy sweat pants down his slim legs and tossed them into the open hamper by the door.

A grimace crossed her features when he turned around and she could see blood smears across his chest and upper arms.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Anya stood at the window, peaking out into the darkness from behind the curtains. The twins were sleeping in the crib, an amulet of protection hanging over them.

Two dark SUVs pulled onto the street, headlights off and taillights covered. One parked three doors away while the other continued past, parking a little further down the block. The former demon held her breath, silently counting off the seconds as she waited for the soldiers to emerge.

Movement in the back yard of the house next door caught her attention. Anya smiled when she recognized Clem’s distinctive shape. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, more and more shadows took on familiar shapes.

Two dark figures appeared at the top of the fence, silhouetted briefly against the sky, then disappearing as the figures dropped into the backyard. Grim satisfaction filled her. Looks like someone got through to Lawson. Good.

Turning away from the window, Anya breathed a quick prayer and crossed her fingers for luck. Hopefully, Buffy would be recovered enough to help herself if they had to escape to Arashmaharr.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“Unknown target in sight. Orders?”

“Identify.”

“Female, late teens. Caucasian, possibly Middle-Eastern.”

“Location?”

“Rear of target premises.”

“Status?”

“Alone, sir. Target is alone and appears unarmed.”

“Neutralize. Do not eliminate. I repeat, do not eliminate. Neutralize only.”

“Affirmative. Zeroing in on unknown.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Oz circled around the house keeping low and tight to the ground so he presented a small target. They still didn’t know exactly how many soldiers were with Riley, and Oz had no idea which of the humans was Council or Initiative. He was guessing those closest were Initiative, with the Council setting up position just outside the Initiative’s range, but he wasn’t sure.

He stopped at the window to Tara’s bedroom, his acute hearing picking up the faint sounds of someone rustling about inside. Though separated by the glass and curtains, Oz knew it was her. He tapped twice on the glass, waited a beat and tapped again.

The curtain barely moved, just enough for her slim hand to reach through and unlock the latch. Dropping down, Oz wriggled through the small window to find Tara shaking her head at him.

“Couldn’t find an open door?”

“You know me, I like to take the scenic route.” A fleeting grin crossed his face, though the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “How is it upstairs?”

“Everyone’s here.” She paused for a second, obviously hesitating. “Buffy’s fine. The babies are fine. They had one of each. Xander’s here . . . And so is Willow.”

That last bit had her wringing her hands and biting her lip. Knowing how much any encounter with her former girlfriend left Tara sad and off-kilter almost had him trying to reassure her, but Oz downplayed it and focused instead on the other information.

“Xander?”

Grateful for the redirection of her thoughts, Tara composed herself. “He said Cordelia had a vision and sent him.”

“Huh.” Oz smiled and leaned closer to her. “Guess he’s really happy about that.”

Her lips twisted into an equally ironic smile. “He’s thrilled.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



“Clear your mind, Willow. You need to be completely blank.” Kait guided the other redhead to the dining room, away from the suddenly crowded living room.

“I’m not sure I can do blank. Especially under pressure. Are you sure this is okay? I don’t want this to backfire or become more of a problem.” Willow wrung her hands, glancing from one witch to the other. “The Gods were really, really specific about me doing magic.” And it took me a while, but I did get the message. . .

“We know, dearie.” Grace followed Kait, then detoured to grab some candles off the sideboard. “If it wasn’t already okay with them, we wouldn’t have even thought of it.”

Dawn stood in the doorway, a belligerent look in her eyes. “That doesn’t mean it’s supposed to be.”

Kait faced the teen. “We do know what we’re doing.”

“Every time she’s around magic and spells it all gets screwed up.”

Grace moved away from the other two, pulling Dawn with her. “Listen to me, Dawn, coz I’m only going to say this once.” The teen started to object, but Grace held up her index finger. “Just wait. Kait’s gonna run this show, using Willow – no, hear me out before you start.”

When Dawn finally calmed down, Grace pulled her further away, into the kitchen. “It’ll be nothing like whatever Willow’s done in the past, trust me on that. Kait’s calling up earth magic, sweetie, only the good stuff. You’ll be the source and Willow’s going to act like a prism, sending everything out to cover all of us. She’s not the one in control. That’s you – through Kait.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Your energy, your emotions. Kait’s gonna direct them and Willow’s just gonna broadcast it.” Grace waited until Dawn understood her meaning.

“So what’re you gonna do?”

“Tara and I will support Kait. We’re her grounding, because no doubt all your energy is gonna pack a helluva punch.”

“Oh. Really?”

“Yes, really.” Once more Grace looked into Dawn’s eyes. “You ready for this?”

“Yup. Let’s do it.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“Pop?” Connor approached the two Englishmen, leaving Xander sitting on the couch.

“Hmm?” When Giles lifted his eyes, Connor was standing beside them.

“Where should I be?”

The two men shared a look. “We’re trying to determine that now.”

Wesley tossed him a wickedly sharp short-sword, which Connor easily caught by the hilt. “Might as well get yourself some throwing stars.”

“How armed are these guys gonna be?”

Faith’s arm reached around him to grab another blade. “Very armed and they’ve probably got tasers, so don’t let them get too close.”

“Not planning on letting them get anywhere near any of us.” Giles faced the two of them. “We have to keep them busy and away from the house. Under no circumstances are we to let any of them close enough to the house to get inside. These aren’t vampires or demons; they’re humans who don’t need an invitation to enter.”

“Still no idea on how many?”

“Call Lawson. Tell him to get the information from the hostage.” Faith didn’t waste any emotions on playing nice. They didn’t have time for it, and they had two helpless babies to protect. “How’s B?”

“She’s okay.” Tara’s voice sounded from the kitchen doorway, where she stood quietly watching as they all armed themselves.

“Kidlets?”

The witch moved aside so Oz could enter the living room. “Born and safe. One of each.”

“Cool.” Faith was quiet for a moment, attention focused on strapping a knife sheath to her forearm. “Where’s Jenner?”

“He went to join Sam and the others. They’re going to stay behind, hopefully out of the Council’s sight.”

“Good idea. But get that info from Lawson.” Fairly bristling with weapons, Faith moved swiftly to the nearest window and peered out. "This has the potential to get really ugly, really fast."












Sorry it took so long, but I had a death in the family, and well, I wasn't really up for posting any of this particular story. The good news is, I have 2 chapters ready to go, so there won't be any wait -- at least on this story. Thanks for all of your lovely reviews. They really make my day!