[A/N: This was supposed to be short! Not 28 chapters. . . And certainly not as complicated as this has become. I guess I should know better, right? This is me after all, and I am pretty wordy. *sighs* Oh well, there’s not much I can do about it but continue until the story is over, right? Right. All thanks to Spikeslovebite (Tam) who graciously edited this for me and pointed out all the errors I’d made. Without her, I’d be just mediocre. As you can see, I was feeling a bit of the Bard tonight, so most of the quotes are his, and, as always, are as attributed, and disclaimers are in full force and effect. ]

Previously: Everyone’s in place, the babies are born, washed, dried and sleeping peacefully while the adults try to figure out how to fend off the Initiative and the madness of one Riley Finn, who is now aided and abetted by the nice doctor Gebhardt. This picks up immediately following the last chapter, however, the timeline slides backwards and then moves forward a bit.

Book Three

Chapter 28 The noise of battle


The noise of battle hurtled in the air,
Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets.
Julius Caesar, act ii, scene ii

The trumpets sound, the banners fly,
The glittering spears are ranked ready;
The shouts o’ war are heard afar,
The battle closes thick and bloody;
Robert Burns, The Silver Tassie

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

Doomsday is near, die all, die merrily.
Henry IV, Part 1, act iv, scene i




“Are you sure we should be doing that?”

All eyes focused on the speaker, then shifted attention to the opposite side of the room. Jenner leaned against the wall, imposing even in his seemingly relaxed state. He uncrossed his arms, sliding his hands into his pockets. “We could let the humans handle this. Stay completely out of it.”

He shrugged, stepping away from the wall, addressing his next comments to the Bracken who’d posed the question. “But I’m not so sure we can trust the Council.”

“So what do you suggest?”

“Pick them off, one by one, when they’re alone and the Council’s otherwise occupied.” Jenner moved closer to Lawson, watching the younger vampire carefully. “We have to get ready now, though.”

“It’s going to be hard, getting more than one or two.” The former Navy man shook his head. “Do we really want to get between the Council and the Initiative?”

Imelda looked at the list in her hand. “We know how many soldiers are here. Do we have an accurate count of Council members?”

One of the Bracken answered. “Our guy at the airport counted four wetworks operatives, two women – one of them is a new slayer – and two other men.”

“Are you sure there’s only a team of four?” Jenner took the list from Imelda, reading it quickly. “Council usually has more than that ready to go.”

“Those are the ones that came in on the private jet. There could be others.”

There were mutterings among the others present. Most of them unaware another Slayer had been called. If it weren’t for the fact that the two known Slayers were involved with vampires, there would be more consternation in the noise.

“All I’m suggesting is we even the odds a bit. Grab the ones we can and no – “ Jenner looked around at all of them. “No killing; disabling, disarming and anything short of killing is fine.”

“Why no killing? This is the Initiative. These bastards need to die.”

The low rumble of discontent rolled through the room, gaining strength, though Jenner ignored it. “We can’t bring the Council down on us. Let the humans deal with this.”

“But they’ve been targeting us and the Council did nothing.”

“Why should we care if the Council’s around?”

The comments were almost shouted, but Jenner didn’t flinch. “No killing. The Council will turn a blind eye to our involvement if we leave the soldiers alive. If we don’t – “

He let the comment hang long enough for everyone present to get his point. When they had all agreed, even if a few did so reluctantly, Jenner laid out the rest of his plan.

It took them only moments to agree and less than five minutes to clear the room.

Jenner shared a look with Lawson as he followed the Brackens out the door.


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She was still tired; still sore, but the shower woke her up, so now Buffy was more aware of her surroundings. And just how exhausted she really was.

“What’s going on?”

Spike slid his jeans on, then reached for a tee shirt. “Soldiers are on the move.”

“Crap.” Buffy got up gingerly from the bed where Spike had just deposited her moments before. “I gotta get dressed.”

“No, pet, you need to stay put.” He turned to face her. “I know you’re the Slayer, but sweetheart – “

She interrupted him before he could finish. “Don’t. Those are my babies they wanna take.” At his narrow-eyed look, she amended herself. “Our babies. I need to be dressed to protect them.”

“Buffy . . . “ Spike knew it was a losing battle. He sighed, grabbing a pair of sweats and a loose tee-shirt for her.

“I have to do this.” She bit her lip, shuffling her way over to the crib. “I have to be ready.”

He joined her there, his arms wrapping around her. “We’ve got enough people who can fight. Stay here with them.” Before she could protest further, he spun her around to face him. “Yeah, you’re the Slayer, but you aren’t the only one. There’re two others who can fight. Hell, even the carpenter came back.”

“Xander’s here?”

When he nodded, Buffy smiled a little. “Bet he’s so happy about that.”

“Don’t know. Don’t care. He’s here, right?”

Anya stuck her head in the doorway. “Spike, Giles is on the phone with Mr. Travers.”

Barely acknowledging the interruption, Spike kept his eyes on Buffy. “Demon girl’s got a plan, so if it all goes south, you take the nippers and go. ‘ll find you.”

He squeezed her arms, dropped a kiss on her nose, murmured “I love you” once, and left the room.

Buffy stared at his retreating back. “So, Anya, what’s this plan?”


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



Kait wasted no time pulling Willow behind her and motioning the other women, except Faith, to follow her.

“Sit there.” Pointing to a spot just in front of the hearth, she let go of Willow’s hand.

“Dawn, come here.” When the teen stepped forward, Kait took both her hands, laying them atop her own, palms upward. “No matter what happens, sweetie, you have to keep breathing and concentrate.”

“Okay.” Dawn preened a little under the attention, though it was tempered by the gravity of the situation.

“Grace?” The taller witch nodded. The doors to the living room were closed, shutting the women inside. Kait rocked forward on her toes, drawing on the amassing energy. “Just follow my lead. Willow? Please stay back and keep your mind clear.”

Kait breathed deeply and the lights extinguished, though no one flipped a switch. Grace extended her hands, like Dawn. Beginning a soft chant, her eyes still on Dawn, Kait exhaled and flames sparked in the empty fireplace behind her.

“Gaia, Isis, Ceridwen, Hera, hear our plea. Guard the hearth of this home. Keep all those within safe and free from harm.”

Tara added her voice to Kait’s repeating the invocation three times. Flames appeared on Grace’s palms and Dawn’s eyes drooped.

Willow sat silently watching the others work, acutely feeling the loss of her power. Her ability to assist in any way was gone due to her own arrogance. Instead of sitting on the sidelines, she could have been – it should be me! Instead of sitting on the sidelines, I should be the one . . .

Willow’s thoughts stopped abruptly as tingles shot through her body. Her heart raced, clammy sweat broke out on her skin and nausea roiled in her belly.

Oh Gods. . .

Oh, dear.

She swallowed heavily, tried breathing shallow breaths to ease the pounding of her heart, but nothing helped. The room swam, the flames on Grace’s hands flickered and Willow felt like she was engulfed in jello.

Blood rushed through her body as the flames rose up toward the ceiling and Willow’s eyes rolled back in her head.

None of them noticed when she slumped forward, nor did they pause in their chanting.

Willow’s unconscious body rolled off the hearth and onto the rug, her mouth open wide in a soundless scream and a pale green mist emerging from it.


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



Oz appeared at Connor’s side, both of them crouching against the roofline. Silently the werewolf signaled his intention to slip over the top to the other side, but stopped when Connor motioned him forward. Whispering rapidly, Connor kept his eyes scanning the other yards. “Giles said there are four Council operatives. They’re supposed to have – “

The older man cut him off. “They’ll have a different scent.”

“Yeah. But they won’t be as heavily armed.” Connor pointed, careful not to let his arm appear over the roof. “That looks like one.”

“No.” Oz narrowed his eyes. “That’s Lawson.”

“What? Spike’s gonna be pissed.”

“He’s doin’ what I expected him to do.” Spike’s voice was barely a hum in the dark. “Trust the Council only a bit more ‘an I trust the soldiers.”

Spike surveyed the street and properties adjacent. “Our boys’ll be picking ‘em off, one at a time.”

When the other two looked at him strangely, he shrugged. “‘S what I would do. Disable an’ disarm.”

He headed back toward the attic window. “Watch out for infrared. Wankers’ll have that and heat sensors. Be careful.”

And with that, he was gone.


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


“Have you got that crossbow loaded?” Giles pushed his glasses back, while he calmly laid out more bolts on the dining room table.

“Armed and ready.” Wesley shifted aside the lace curtain, staying out of sight.

Faith pushed Kennedy into the kitchen. “Stick with me, chica.”

“Why? This isn’t part of being a Slayer.” Bitching over her shoulder, Kennedy resisted as much as she could, but Faith was far stronger and they ended up at the island.

“What the hell do you know about being a Slayer? You’ve been one for what? Two days?” Faith snorted her disapproval. “You’ve got lots to learn, girlie.”

Kennedy whirled on her, fists lifted in a classic fighting stance. Faith chuckled and popped her hard, bloodying her lip and bruising her jaw. “That’s your first lesson.”

When Kennedy glared at her while wiping her lip, Faith laughed again. “If you’re gonna attack, do it. Don’t wait until your opponent knows it. Demons won’t wait, you shouldn’t either.”

Faith stepped in front of the other girl, blocking her way to the back door. “If anything comes through that door, kill it.”

There was a mutinous gleam in the younger Slayer’s eyes, telling Faith that she was only going along with her because she couldn’t think of anything better. Grinning to herself, Faith shrugged internally. Oh yeah, you think you’re such a badass. . . She’s so not gonna last long. . .

Oh, well, not my problem.



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



“Got movement nearby, sir.”

“Range?”

“Five hundred feet and closing.”

“Direction?”

“All directions, sir. I repeat, all directions.”

“Specifics, soldier.”

“Non-humans by the readings.”

Riley Finn covered his mouthpiece, cursing violently. Once he calmed, he spoke slowly and clearly into the mike. “Report in, and tighten up. Line of sight formation.”

They all reported in, except Watkins, who was still missing.

“Move on my mark.” Riley crept forward, bridging the distance from 1636 Revello Drive to the side yard of the Summers residence.

“Cut power on my mark. Three, two. . . mark.”

The lights went off on the west side of the block, dimming the visibility, reducing it to almost nothing. Using arrowhead formation, Riley motioned his soldiers forward. His voice barely above a whisper, he gave his next order. “Switch to infrared and initiate extraction.”

Taking point, Finn moved closer to the house.


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



Travers had been looking out of the huge picture window, focused on the street he’d been told where the Summers girls lived. Since his last conversation with Nicholson, Travers had turned over different scenarios in his head. Giles hadn’t sounded panicked or even overly concerned at the presence of the Initiative soldiers. Though, the Council chairman had to admit, Giles wasn’t the type to panic and his training wouldn’t permit it. Something else had to – “Nicholson!”

“Sir?” Nicholson came in from the sitting room, responding to the urgency in his superior’s voice. “Do you need something?”

“He’s allied with the non-hostiles.”

Nicholson blinked, not entirely following Travers’ train of thought. “Sir?”

“Giles, through William the Bloody, has formed alliances with the non-hostile demons residing in Sunnydale.”

Before blurting out how absurd he thought that idea was, Nicholson mulled it over. In a way, the theory did explain much, especially his unusual calm. Though knowing his former instructor, that was most an act. “You believe that, sir?”

“I’m very nearly certain of it.” Travers stroked a hand over his goatee. Almost to himself, he added, “It’s what I would do in his position.”

Nicholson was too stunned by the admission to comment.

“Give the team orders not to engage any but obvious Initiative officers.”

“Are you certain?” The look of disbelief was hard for Nicholson to disguise.

“Yes, I am. Go on, give the order.”

Shaking his head in complete incredulity, Nicholson did just that.


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



Spike purposely kept his distance from their bedroom. The temptation to stay with Buffy and protect the three of them was great and he knew he didn’t have the strength to resist. He wanted to be with her, watching over their babies.

But he couldn’t.

He had to keep clear of the humans, directing Lawson and the others. They lacked the sophisticated communications equipment the soldiers had, but had the advantage of stealth and ruthlessness. None of his people would hesitate.

He paused just outside of Dawn’s room, torn between his responsibilities. Frustration grew as he faced the truth of his situation. He was useless in this fight.

He was physically incapable of fighting – hindered effectively by the very group threatening his family at this moment.

A low growl rolled through his chest, growing with his helpless anger.

There was nothing he could do.

Nothing.

The growl rose to a roar.


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



Kait watched as Dawn’s eyes slid closed, the only outward sign of the drain on her lifeforce. Drawing steadily in time with the teen’s pulse, Kait directed the energy through Willow, visualizing a pulsing shower of sparkling rainbows arcing up and over the house. Green firelight, like a mid-winter aurora began to flow from Dawn, emanating from her open palms.

The color of the flames on Grace’s hands altered, glowing with the light of Dawn’s energy. Exchanging a look with each other, Kait and Grace began to chant again.

Once more, Tara’s voice joined theirs, all three imploring the Goddesses of hearth and home to protect the family within.

Power flared, the lights from Dawn darkening and lengthening, reaching up to cover the ceiling and walls.


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


Riley moved forward, methodically checking the perimeter with each step. His men were ranged behind him, weapons poised and ready.

“Steady.”

Static crackled on the earphones. Riley stepped forward, only about two feet away from the exterior wall of the Summers’ house, next to the chimney.

The static bloomed into a high-pitched whine.

“Take them out.” The hushed order followed a collective groan of complaint. Removing the earpieces helped only nominally, the whine continuing to sound.

“Turn them off.” Riley’s next command was harsher, his voice sounding funny in his own ears. His ears felt clogged with water and he swallowed convulsively to rid himself of the effect. Popping twice cleared them and Riley hand signaled everyone forward.

A muffled noise – a cut-off yelp – sounded to his left and Riley focused his attention there.

“Sound off.”

“Lansome.”

“Miller.”

“Sloth.”

“Gebhardt.”

“Finn.”

“Lowenstein.”

“Rivera.”

Riley waited a beat, hoping Richards would sound off. When he didn’t, Riley repeated the order. Before he finished speaking, there was a low, pained grunt from behind him. Riley whirled around grabbing Lansome’s arm when the two collided. “Steady.”

Simultaneously they breathed a sigh of relief. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Lansome pointed over his shoulder. “Lieutenant Miller’s gone.”



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



Graham hung back, watching the others blindly following Finn’s misguided attempt to kidnap the Summers’ babies. He’d already made up his mind that he wasn’t going to sabotage the mission, but he was going to slip away at the first opportunity.

Which didn’t present itself until they were at the girl’s house. Twice he’d detected movement on his far right, and guessing whoever was there wasn’t an idle passerby, Graham figured if he surrendered, he had an outside chance of surviving.

He used the confusion to his advantage, dropping back enough to confront the mysterious stalker. Graham raised his hands in surrender, after dropping his automatic weapon to the ground. Without speaking, he motioned the other to punch him.

The stunned vampire shrugged, confused by the human’s actions, but hesitated only a moment. Two successive punches to the stomach and a third aimed at his jaw had Graham grunting, then falling gracefully to his knees.

Securing his hands behind his head, Graham spoke the only name he knew might spare his life. Startled by the complete surrender, the vampire stepped back.

“Lawson!”

“Psst, Lawson!” The noise was barely audible, but loud enough for the other vampire to hear him. The former Navy officer appeared, only to be brought up short at the sight of an Initiative Officer on his knees.

“What’s going on?” Dark eyes settled on the Graham’s features, though the question wasn’t aimed at him.

“He just surrendered. Asked for the Watcher.”

Lawson raised his head, listening to the sounds all around him. “Okay. Bring him around to the front. Keep him tied up.”

Just as the vampire had picked up Graham’s weapon, a window-rattling roar, muffled through layers of wood and drywall, sounded in the night. Taking that as a signal, Lawson hissed out another order.

They faded back into the landscaping, taking their captives with them. Once off the property, Lawson lifted Graham up, holding him against the neighbor’s house. “Tell me what you know.”

“Don’t know much. And what I do know I’m not telling until I see Rupert Giles. I’ll talk to him.”

Lawson kept his eyes trained on the Army officer. Something about his surrender was too easy. “You regular Army?”

“West Point, class of ‘98.” Graham tried his best to stay calm, but the hold the vampire had on him was constricting, nearly cutting off his airway.

“Giles is a little busy. If you have any intel that might be useful, I suggest you give it up now.”

“I think Finn called in reinforcements. This wasn’t our objective, to take the Slayer’s children. He’s off the res.”

There was a snort of amusement from one of the Brackens, and Lawson whispered a harsh rebuke. “Anything else?”

Graham closed his eyes, thinking quickly. “Command doesn’t know about this.”

“Which command?” Lawson narrowed his eyes, their lights flashing with gold.

In for a penny. . . “Pentagon.”

“And how the hell would you know that?”

The vampire’s fingers flexed, squeezing this throat. Graham was barely able to choke out his answer. “I called it in myself.”

“You did?” Lawson eased up, allowing Graham a few breaths. “Why?”

Graham gambled it all on his answer. If the vampire didn’t understand, then he was fucked, because there was no other way he could explain it. “Because I am West Point, sir.”

Evidently, that was sufficient enough, because the vampire stepped back, nodding his head. “Okay, soldier boy.” Stepping away, Lawson motioned one of the Brackens over. “Tie him up and hold him away from the others. Two of you stay back and watch them. The rest of us,” Lawson pointed at the others, “Are going back. Keep your eyes open in case extras show up.”

Graham watched them drift away, relieved that the other had believed him. Now all he had to do was hope his reinforcements arrived before Riley’s.

He wasn’t very optimistic.





Thank you all so much for the condolences. They really, truly touched me. And for the reviews! I'd almost been afraid people had forgotten me and this little story. . . . er, epic. Thanks so much for sticking with me.