CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
 
Buffy found Spike leaning against a tree and smoking a cigarette. He dropped it to the ground and blew out the smoke in his lungs before moving away from the tree and joining her.

“Are you all right?”  She put a hand on his arm, frowning up at him.

“I will be. How about you?” he asked, taking a good look at her face.

Buffy shook her head.  “You know, back in our time, all I was worried about was Maggie’s attempt to kill me and then Adam. I didn’t really pay any attention to what was going on with the…  in the cages. I mean, I knew she was sticking different body parts on different demons, but I never stopped to think about what happened to the parts they started with – or what happened to the ones she took things from. As for the vamps… I mean your chip meant a really dangerous vampire was harmless. How was that a bad thing? And if they dusted the others….”  She looked up at him.  “I’m so sorry, Spike. Why didn’t you tell us what kind of things they were doing down there?”

“Would you have cared? Back then? Would it have mattered if I told you about all the tests they did before they decided I was strong enough to be their experimental weapon? Or how many other vamps… a couple of them mates of a sort… they dusted in the process?  The important thing for you to know was that I couldn’t bite or kill, so you didn’t have to dust me. Didn’t go to the slayer for sympathy, Buffy. Went to you for shelter and food… and to protect me. Can’t tell you how good it was to learn I could fight back against other demons.”

“You didn’t exactly hide how happy you were, if I remember right,” she said with a small smile. “You were practically dancing with glee.”

“Was pretty happy about, I have to admit. ‘Course, if I’d known that before I came to you lot, I may not have done it. Could’ve kept the minions in line if I’d known I could hurt them.”

“So, I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t know that at first, huh?”

“I guess so. Wouldn’t have missed our engagement for the world,” he said with a grin. “You have no idea how many times I thought about having your warm little arse on my lap when I was—”

“This is going to be one of those TMI things, isn’t it?” she said, putting her hand over his mouth.

He kissed her palm as he pushed her hand away. “Probably is, now that I think on it. No sense giving you a swelled head knowing how early on you had me by the short hairs.”

“You hated me, and you know it. Although that is an interesting image….”

“Hated you for a while longer, I guess. Or thought I did. Just couldn’t convince my dick that we hated you.”

Glancing around to see if anyone was close enough to see what she was doing, Buffy gave him a little pat before saying, “Well, it always has had a mind of its own.”

“I think my mind and that particular body part just both went to exactly the same place,” he growled. “I hope your plans for the rest of the day include some time in bed.”

“I can’t decide. I think I should check on Willow and give her the letter, but I really want to go to Giles’ and learn more about Winston and what he’s doing here.”

“I expect he was telling the truth. He’s here to try to keep Red from going off the reservation. Something that must have happened and changed the world we came from a bit.” He sighed and adjusted himself. “I reckon the proper thing to do is for you to get to Willow and me to check in with Rupert and company.”

“What are you going to tell him/them about walking around in the daylight?”

He shrugged. “He’s going to have to know sooner or later, love. He already knows I found the Gem and that you kept it. He’s too smart not to know you’ve given it to me.”

“I guess you’re right—” She punched him when he gasped and pretended to be shocked. “Jackass,” she muttered. “Fine. You go meet with the other British guys and I’ll go try to convince Willow we aren’t out to get her.”

“Wonder what’s different this time? That she wasn’t sorry is not—” He rolled his eyes. “Bloody hell, I forgot.  She hasn’t done anything to any of us yet, so she’s got nothing to feel sorry about. Still, you’d think the girl who turned down D’Hoffren’s offer wouldn’t be so quick to be throwin’ threats around.”

“I know. I’m really having a hard time understanding her. She keeps bouncing back and forth between the shy, brainy Willow I remember from this time, and the bossier, magic-abusing one she turned into in a couple of years.”

“Just shows that tendency to want to control everybody was already there, just needed the right circumstances to bring it out. Reckon we gave that to her when we let her take out the big bad all on her own, and kill a human or two at the same time.”

“So this is our fault? Great. We’ve messed up already.”

“We just need to see what we can do to fix it. Maybe our mysterious mage will have some ideas.”

“I hope so. Okay, so I’m going to follow Willow and try to apologize or something. And you’ll go talk in British in Giles and Winston.”

“You do know it’s the same language, don’t you?”

Buffy waved her hand around. “Technically, I guess. But when you and Giles get going, it seems like every other word is one I don’t know.”

When Spike looked like he was going to say something, she stopped him with a glare.  “Don’t even think about telling me it’s because I’m not as educated as you two are!”

“Never crossed my mind, pet,” he said, giving her a quick peck. “I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Did too,” she muttered as he walked away. “Don’t think I couldn’t tell.” 
His laugh floated back to her as he strode off with his face turned up to the sun.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~
As Buffy strolled toward the dorms, it occurred to her that she had no idea where Willow was going when she left them. She cut into the snack bar for something to eat and drink while she thought about it, and found, to her delight that not only was Willow there, but she was sitting with Tara.  She walked up to them, smiling at Tara who smiled back but seemed puzzled by Buffy’s obvious happiness to see them.

Willow’s urgent, “Buffy, this is my new friend, Tara,” came just in time to remind Buffy that this Tara had never met her, let alone become a good friend whose death was still mourned. Her intended greeting morphed into an awkward, “Tara! I mean, Tara, how nice to meet you. What a pretty name.”

“H….hi,” she replied, ducking her head. “Willow’s told me a lot about you.”

Buffy glanced at Willow who frowned and gave a tiny head shake.

“Oh. Well. Good then. It’s like you already know me. Willow and I have been friends since high school. But she probably told you that already…”

“We’re just getting to know each other,” Willow said. “Tara is in my Wicca group – and I think she’s probably the only other one in there who actually knows anything about magic.”

“So you do magic too?  How nice that you and Willow have something in common.” Buffy sat there beaming at them until Willow said, “Did you have some reason for coming in here, Buffy?”

“Um… oh, yeah. I was going to grab something to eat while I…. but now I…. You know what? I’m just going to get it to go and go see what Spike and Giles are up to.”  She stood up. “It was nice meeting you, Tara. I hope we see a lot more of you.”

Willow narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but nodded. She really didn’t want to share her new friend with Buffy until she’d had a chance to get to know her better. She forced a smile and said, “Okay, well. I’m glad I got to introduce you. I’ll see you later, maybe. Tonight. In the dorm… unless you have other plans….”

“I might. Since Mom knows….” Buffy broke off and smiled at Tara. “But Tara doesn’t need to hear about what my mother does and doesn’t know, does she? If I do come back to the dorm, it might be late. Depends on… other stuff that Tara won’t care about.  I’m just going to go now…. Bye!” Buffy turned and bolted for the exit leaving the two girls staring after her.

“She forgot her food,” Tara ventured. “Is she always so impulsive?”

“Actually… yeah, kinda. She’s always running off to or after something. You get used to it.” She smiled at Tara. “Forget Buffy, tell me more about your mother and how she taught you to use…. What was it? Earth magic?”

~~~~~~~~
 
Buffy paused outside the door to Giles’s apartment, wondering if she should knock first, then decided not. She pushed it open to find Winston, Giles, and Spike sitting comfortably with glasses of amber liquid in their hands.

“Is this a ‘no girls allowed’ club or can anyone come in?”

All three men rose to their feet at her entrance, causing her to blink and shrink back against the door.

“What?”

Spike realized what they’d done first and with a grin at the other two men, and mental growl at himself, he dropped back into his chair.

“Force of habit, love. When a lady enters the room, a gentleman stands up.”

“You’ve never done that before. And neither has Giles that I can remember. Must be Winston’s influence.” She sent the abashed-looking man a warm smile. “He hasn’t known me long enough to know I’m not much of a lady.”

“Quite,” said Giles, looking just as embarrassed as Spike. “Forgive us. We didn’t mean to startle you.”

“You’re more deserving of that title than a lot of ‘real’ ladies I’ve known,” Spike growled. “Don’t put yourself down, Buffy, just because we don’t often treat you as one.”

“Um… thank you? I think. And do we need to talk about all these ‘real’ ladies you know?”

“Was a long time ago, love. Put the green-eyed monster back in the box.”  He moved over in the big chair so she could sit beside him. “What happened with the witch? You’re here bloody fast.”

“She met Tara. I mean, I guess she’d already met her at her Wicca group, but they were having coffee in the snack bar and I felt like kind of an extra person, and it’s not like I could talk to Willow with Tara there, so I just… babbled, I think. It was so hard to pretend I didn’t know Tara. I was afraid I’d mess up.”

“Tara is the young earth magic practitioner you mentioned?” Winston leaned forward. “I’ve heard of her.”

Buffy’s face fell. “So, if you don’t know her, then she didn’t make it to your time? She’s going to die anyway?”

Winston shook his head. “I don’t know. I just know she was not around in my timeline. Not at the time I left anyway… but it’s possible they just didn’t develop a relationship for one reason or another.”

“Or it’s possible… but if we do what we here to do, then none of those things that happened that year should happen… at least not the same way. And if Warren still thinks he wants to rule the world, or whatever the nerd version of that is, I should be able to stop him long before he gets mad enough to shoot me.”

Giles spit his drink back into the glass. “Shoot you? I thought you died jumping off a tower?”

“I did. But the next year, Warren shot me and the second bullet went through an upstairs window and killed Tara. Willow saved me at the hospital. She magicked the bullet out and healed me just before she went on her end-the-world rampage. But those things shouldn’t happen this time. I’m not going to jump – or, if I do, Spike’s going to stop Willow from bringing me back—” She stopped to put a soothing hand on his rigid arm. “But we’re going to stop Glory before she gets that tower built, so none of that’s going to happen. And if I’m not all depresso Buffy, and Spike is beside me, and we know who those guys are and how to find them….”

“Perhaps…” Winston said slowly. “Perhaps something else happens to Tara. Something before that time. Before Willow has really indulged in dark magic to resurrect you and she wasn’t as inclined to try to wreck the world in her grief?”

“As it is now, all she’d need to wreck the world is to say she’s doing it. As long as her My Will Be Done spell is in effect, she can do whatever she bloody well wants to or with the world.” Giles took a large gulp of his drink.

Winston sighed and nodded, taking a big swallow of his own.

“Or maybe they won’t hit it off this time,” Spike said. “Red’s already a bit off the deep end and unwilling to give up her power trip. That’s not going to appeal to Glinda. She didn’t fall in love with a power-happy witch who’s using the hellmouth for a power supply, she fell in love with a sweet, nerdy little girl who was just learning her own magical strength.”

They all nodded, recognizing the truth to Spike’s words.

“I guess that’s another of those things we just need to wait and see…” Buffy looked at Spike. “Do you remember when her family tried to take her away and she did that invisible demons spell?”

He shook his head. “I remember those wankers, and I’d be happy to meet them again, now that I know more about Tara…” He flashed a little fang. “But I don’t really remember when it was in relation to anything else.”

“Well it was after Giles got the Magic Box, ‘cause that’s where we were when—”

“How did you—Oh. Well it’s nice to hear that my negotiations for it have a successful outcome.” Giles sighed. “I don’t suppose you have any idea when I go to closing? I’ve been waiting to hear for over a week now.”

“Sorry, no. But it can’t be too long from now because I remember we were all there when Tara’s scuzzy family tried to make her go home.”

“Why was that? And why wouldn’t she go?”

“They said it was because she was a demon and needed to be where her family could make sure she didn’t hurt anybody. But by then we already knew her pretty well – especially Willow – and we knew that they just were using the demon story to keep her under their thumb. After her mother died, Tara had to step in and take care of all the cooking and cleaning for them. They wanted their slave back.”

“I take it that didn’t go well for them?”

“Nope. Spike proved Tara wasn’t a demon, and we all lined up in front of her and told them they had to go through us. I guess we looked pretty scary, cause they backed off and left.”

“They didn’t know what you are?” Giles asked in surprise.

 “Not unless they saw me fighting the demons after Tara broke her hiding spell. Which I don’t think they did….  It was just me, Dawn, Willow… I guess Xander was there… oh, and Spike. But he wasn’t in game face and he was trying to sneak away.”

She glared at him and he protested. “Hey! Knew I’d be useless in a fight against humans, didn’t I? It’ll be a different story this time.” He paused. “That’s assuming that the witches have a relationship this time around. We don’t know if that’s gonna happen yet – what with Tara being all about being good and using earth magic and Willow… not.”

Giles looked at Spike speculatively. “How did you prove Tara wasn’t a demon?”

Spike shrugged and looked embarrassed. “Got tired of all the back and forth yammering about it and just popped her in the nose. Chip went off and sent me to the floor. Was enough to convince Tara as well as all the Scoobies, so that’s when they faced off against her Pa and his less-desirable off-spring.”

“It still seems odd that they would back off from what should have seemed to them several young girls and perhaps one young man. You’d already made it obvious you couldn’t help in a struggle.” Winston frowned.

Spike laughed. “Reckon you’ve never seen the Slayer when she’s squaring off for a fight, then. She’s a right scary-looking bint even before you know what she can do. And the Bit can look just as intimidating.”

To everyone’s surprise, Winston laughed and nodded, flushing when they all stared at him. Spike narrowed his eyes. “Does that mean you’ve been on the receiving end of one of those looks?”

Winston coughed in embarrassment. “I may have…. once or twice…. But we worked it out.”

Buffy stared at him, then shrugged. “Well, if we worked it out, we must be okay now. Is that something that happened in your timeline?”

“It is,” he replied. “I’m assuming it won’t happen now that we know each other much earlier on.”

“Let’s hope so,” Giles interjected. “Now that Buffy and Spike are here, perhaps between the four of us we can work out some strategies for dealing with the other events we know are coming, as well as come to an agreement about what to do about Willow.”

Buffy and Spike stared at Winston. “Didn’t you tell him what you are?”

“I was just getting to that part of my—” Winston paused when Buffy glared at him. “Yes, there’s that look. Right then,” he turned to Giles, “you need to know what I am prepared to do if I must….”