Note: Thanks to my beta t_geyer for her unending patience, perseverance and support.

SECTION 6 - Healer in your Heart

For the universe and the stars are around you now.
But the healer in your heart is only a breath away.
For there's silence and there's blindness in a raging world.
But the healer in your heart is only a moment away.


(Runrig Album - The Big Wheel Composer Calum MacDonald)




Chapter 6.02
Monday, June 17th, 2002


Giles, Lydia and Penelope returned to the basement. For some reason, Quentin had been reluctant to accompany them. However, Oz and Tara had come to help record events and make sure they had enough people if anything went awry. Tara additionally carried a tray laden with soft food, drink and a holistic salve for any sores the creature's bonds might have caused. This time, Giles had a list of questions ready prepared, questions that should allow them to fill in the blanks in what they had found out yesterday.

They let Tara tend to its wounds before Giles cast the truth spell again, leaving the air redolent with the acrid odour of burnt herbs. The others watched as Penelope spoke the words of the communication spell, Lydia's Dictaphone once more at the ready, waiting to see who would be chosen to provide a voice for the harbinger. Tara, alone, could see the fragment of the bringer's sickly aura that detached from the whole and swept around the room. Almost inevitably, it passed over her own aura and shied away from Oz, intimidated by the wolf spirit inside him. It paused briefly as if to consider Lydia and then chose its mark.

"You cannot keep me forever. I will act as a beacon for my kind and bring their wrath upon you." Giles' rich tones sounded incredibly sinister.

Oz tugged the notebook from Giles' unresisting hand. "Kinda slow, aren't they?" He squinted at Giles' miniscule writing for a second and then continued. "How many harbingers are there in Sunnydale?"

The bringer seemed to hesitate, almost as if he were communing with the others of his kind. "Thirty seven, but soon there will be more."

"There are more coming?" Lydia asked.

"More will give themselves. My master's power grows with every day that passes and more will be drawn to him."

"Not if we can help it," Penelope interjected.

"You cannot prevent it. We know how you prepare and we fear you not. My master cares not what I might tell you for he will smite you down and you will be powerless to stop him."

"How many Turok Han are in Sunnydale?" Oz asked before the bringer could even get to the end of his rhetoric.

Again the bringer paused. "Two," Giles eventually answered. "Ask now how many wait under Sunnydale," he countered, with a malicious snigger.

Oz's eyes met those of the others before he framed the question. "How many Turok Han are there underneath Sunnydale?"

"Thousands... Thousands beyond number... waiting only the call of blood to set them free, blood that we will spill freely."

Oz's only reaction was to raise one eyebrow slightly. He looked down at the list in his hand and asked the next question.

 

---

 

Spike gave James a wry grin as the two women approached. "See you in the morning," he told the watcher as he walked the last dozen or so feet needed to meet up with Buffy and steer her towards the school's main doors, leaving the way open for Faith to speak privately with James.

"You never mentioned you were into bikes," she said as she watched him stow away the tools and the blanket that he had been using in the trunk of Wes's car. He fixed a lid on the tub with the dirty oil and sat it down on top of the folded blanket where it wouldn't mark the carpet.

"You never asked." James gave a grin. "Guess you've decided we're talking again, huh?"

"Talking wasn't really what I had in mind," replied the slayer as she slid her arms around his neck and pulled his lips down to meet hers.

James followed Faith's lead, his hands using the curves of her behind to lift her enough to make the kiss more comfortable for both of them. He utilised all his experience to tempt and tease her to a higher level of wanting, until she wrapped her lithe legs around his waist. He lifted his head back as he freed one hand for long enough to close the trunk of Wes's car and waited for her eyes to clear slightly before he spoke. "One condition, Faith..."

"Huh?" She stiffened in his arms, but he drew her into another kiss before she could push herself free.

"Lunch. Tomorrow. Spike says there's a place a wee bit up the coast an' ah need to check how Wes's bike's running."

It was the bike ride that did it. If he'd tried to get her in some restaurant in Sunnydale then she'd probably have backed away, too wary of being pinned down, but as long as they were on the bike he couldn't pry, couldn't talk, couldn't ask questions she didn't want to answer. For Faith a bike was freedom. With a toss of her head, she stared him in the eye. "Whatever," she said in the most bored tone she could manage.

'Damn that grin! Thinks he's won something, does he? Well, I'm just gonna have to kiss that thing right off his face.'

 

---

Tuesday, June 18th, 2002



Giles was sitting reading the latest London Times when Spike and Buffy made it down to breakfast the next morning, and Spike found himself trying to read the back page across the width of the table.

"You do realise that this was printed before the matches you're trying to read about actually took place, don't you?" the watcher asked as he folded the newspaper and put it down. "Fortunately for you, I caught the scores on the radio before I came downstairs. Japan nil, Turkey one; Korea two, Italy one after extra time.

Good morning, Buffy. I trust you're feeling better."

"'Course I knew," Spike answered with a bluster that fooled no one. "An' I notice you're not asking after my health, Rupert."

"You're dead, Spike," the watcher responded dryly. "Health hardly comes into it."

"We're both doing better," Buffy cut in. "Not great, but better."

"Ehm, I was... wondering if I might be able to borrow Dawn today and perhaps Amanda? I have an errand to which they're ideally suited."

"It's not dangerous, is it?" Buffy quizzed him.

"No, no, nothing dangerous, and they should be back before it gets dark."

"I guess... I've got to skip out with Brandon after lunch, anyway, and it's probably of the good if she's a where that's else."

"We tried interrogating the bringer again last night, by the way. I think it may be a good idea for everyone to meet up for half an hour or so before Dawn leaves, so that we can apprise everyone of the latest information."

Spike grinned as he saw Rosa running across the room in their direction, leaving her mother to juggle two trays until Wes took one from her. The little girl climbed onto the vampire's lap, and for all Giles' pretence at unconcern he caught Spike's involuntary wince as he hugged the child and lifted her onto the chair next to his.

The watcher gave a sigh and decided he'd made the right choice, however much his wallet might regret it. Dawn and Amanda could wait at the house on Revello Drive for the company to take away the irredeemably bloodstained sofa and its matching chairs, and deliver the replacements. At least, when she was able to return home, Buffy would have one less immediate problem to deal with. Nonetheless, it looked as if his other gift was equally necessary. Whether they would admit it or not, the couple weren't recuperating particularly well on the cots they shared. Hopefully, a proper bed would help with that. Heaven knew that, if it weren't for certain compensations, he might not be overly enamoured with sleeping on a sofa himself.

 

---

 

"Heyyy!" Buffy protested as Spike passed the keys to his precious DeSoto to Brandon rather than her.

"As I remember it, the kid's the one with the licence, slayer. 'Sides, you should be takin' it easy."

"You just love that car more than me," she argued, letting her lower lip form into a pout that was belied by the laughter in her eyes.

"Nope," Spike answered after seeming to give it some consideration. "Close run thing, though. See you once I get rid of the wannabes." He leaned forward slightly to brush a kiss against Buffy's cheek and draw her into a loose hug that wouldn't jar any of her injuries.

"Have fun," Buffy told him with a ghost of a laugh.

"Yeah, right, land me with double the teenage trouble to deal with an' tell me to have fun?"

"You know you love it, really. All the baby slayers getting all hot and bothered about the sexy vamp."

"As if!" Spike replied with an indignant snort. "Not that there aren't one or two who might recognise a bloke's charms, but it just makes them more of a pain in the arse as far as I'm concerned. Now, bugger off, or you'll make the lad late!" Spike gave Buffy's rear a playful swat and headed off in the direction of the gym, leaving her to stick her tongue out at his retreating back.

"You'll pay for that later, you cheeky minx!" he called out, without even bothering to turn around.

 

---

 

Brandon scanned the airport's arrivals board, searching for his father's flight from Washington. "Gate 6," he told Buffy and they headed off at a brisk walk, following the signs for the appropriate arrival lounge. It had taken them forever to find a parking spot wide enough for Spike's ancient battle cruiser of a car and the first arrivals were already spilling into the lounge by the time they got there.

"Dad!" Brandon ran forward and was soon sharing a manly hug. He grabbed one of his father's bags and guided him back toward Buffy.

"Nice trip?" Buffy asked, trying to sound casual.

"Your sister won't have to worry about Doctor Finn for a very long time, if that's what you mean."

"And the rest of The Initiative?"

Andrew Michaels shrugged. "Some have been moved to other branches of the service. Others... Well, some weren't so lucky."

"And the other thing we talked about?"

"It's been authorised. I have a copy of the tape with me."

"Sounds like someone's been busy."

"I just made sure that enough brass knew about what was going on so that it couldn't all be swept under the carpet. And believe me there are half a dozen accountants working on just finding out where the heck their budget came from in the first place."

"Well, we'll get you home; let you get a shower and a catnap before we ambush you for all the details.

Dinner at the school? It's... well, it's just like cafeteria food except prepared by teenagers who have delusions about being able to cook... but we can order Chinese or pizza."

"Lead on and put me down for chicken in satay sauce with crispy noodles," the teacher answered with a grin.

 

---

 

Buffy looked at the file in her lap in disbelief. "They gave Riley a dishonourable discharge?" she asked incredulously.

Andrew Michaels gave a sigh. "He was too close to it all, Buffy. For his own wife and members of his squad to be carrying out that sort of op? They couldn't prove complicity but for an intelligence officer to miss all that going on about him... At the very least he was guilty of negligence. Turns out he told his wife everything she needed to know to set Spike up, and he let his personal emotions blind him to the truth of what was going on when her plant met up with him at Willy's."

"But, he... He just doesn't know how to be anything else."

"I think Mikey Senior was tellin' you that he wasn't all that good at bein' a soldier either," Spike interrupted impatiently.

Buffy closed Riley's file and passed it to Spike who pushed it around to Dawn without so much as a glance at its contents.

Buffy gave a sign of relief as she saw the stamp saying reassigned across the front of Graham's records. Somehow, Graham had always seemed to be the voice of reason in Lowell House. The guy who was there to help Riley when his heart was going to give out. The one who came to her defence when Forrest had tried to make Riley dump her. "It doesn't say which unit he's been reassigned to. Just some code."

Andrew Michaels leaned over from her left and skimmed down Graham's record. "I'd guess they've put him into Special Forces training. That sort of record. Cleared of any involvement in the shooting or Dawn's abduction. He'd be a natural."

"How do you know that?" Dawn asked. "I mean how do we know that they aren't firing up the labs underneath our feet right now?"

"Ask Brandon."

"If Uncle Jim says it's been fixed, you can count on it. The Initiative won't be making another appearance in Sunnydale."

"Anyone who's been transferred to other units, Jim's pulled strings to make sure he knows their commanding officers. There won't be a problem."

Buffy quickly passed over the files of several men she didn't recognise, each of them apparently serving terms in military prison, after which they would be dishonourably discharged. When the files reached Dawn she began to shake, recognising those who had aided Sam in her capture.

Brandon pulled the girl close, taking her in his arms before Spike could reach her from the other side. "It's okay, Dawn. They can't get you. They're going to be in jail for a long time before they get out and if they come up for parole or release we'll be notified and Spike'll eat them if they so much as cross the California state line."

"Damn right, I will!" Spike growled, hating to see Dawn reminded of the trauma she had seemed to have almost forgotten since their move from Revello Drive. So many other things had been going on, it was a miracle that they weren't all falling to pieces under the strain.

"Sam?" Dawn asked.

Buffy flicked over the files of a couple of the soldiers who had been exonerated, like Graham, and posted to front line units in Afghanistan. She then passed Dawn the bottom file from the stack.

Dawn looked at the notation on the file and then asked. "What does this mean? If they decide she's not loony any more they let her out?"

"It means she's being held in a secure psychiatric facility. If she were ever found to be sane she would serve the remainder of her sentence in a military prison and her sentence is life without parole. It'll be at least twenty years before she sees the sky again. She can't hurt you any more."

"And the people who authorised this?"

"A number of prominent officials have recently decided to spend more time with their families. They won't be a part of the military decision making process again."

"It's really over?" Dawn asked, still trembling in Brandon's arms.

"It's really over." The teen rubbed gently at her back as silent tears began to fall, feeling no less relieved than the girl he held.