[A/N: I’m not posting anything during the holidays, not unless I get a whole heap more writing done. Which doesn’t look all that likely (at least at the moment). But with any luck, I might actually get somewhere on a couple of these stories. I still have to finish something. . . I’ve got far too many things open and I really don’t wanna keep these stringing along forever. Especially this series, since I think it’s starting to lose its appeal. As you can see, that was written a while ago; however some of the emotions still remain. I think this series is losing its appeal for people and I think it’s more than past time to wrap just about everything up. Title and quotes are as attributed. Disclaimers in full force and effect. I own nothing.]

Previously: The friendly demons lead by Lawson are tracking Finn and the Initiative soldiers; Willow and Xander have both independently made contact with Wesley, who has in turn, informed Giles and Spike what’s going on; Spike and Buffy have shared a Slayer dream.

Book Three

Chapter Thirteen Information is not knowledge

Information can tell us everything.
It has all the answers.
But they are answers to questions we have not asked,
and which doubtless don’t even arise.
Jean Baudrillard, Cool Memories, ch. 5

The art of reading between the lines is as old as manipulated information.
Serge Schmemann, NY Times 10 Nov 85

True genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information.
Winston Churchill

Information's pretty thin stuff unless mixed with experience.
Clarence Day

As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information.
Benjamin Disraeli

Information is not knowledge.
Albert Einstein



Only once before in her life could she remember being this tired, this exhausted. Then it hadn’t been for good reasons, except that it had been kind of nice being so needed and important. Now, though, not only was she needed, she was wanted and her exhaustion was something she’d never expected. Tara closed her eyes, resting her head against the cool glass. The van hummed underneath her, the steady thumping of the tires on pavement easing her into an almost trance-like state.

Seven weeks pregnant and all she wanted to do was sleep. She had barely any energy for anything; forcing herself to get out of bed every morning while fighting the nausea and the constant queasiness was not making her mornings any easier. Lately, she’d had resorted to little tricks to keep herself awake during study sessions and tests, only to find they weren’t fool proof. Twice this morning she’d nodded off during her Abnormal Psych final, and here she was again, falling asleep between the campus and Revello Drive. At least she was done for the day. Done for the semester actually.

They were on their way home to Revello Drive to break the news to Spike and Buffy about the changes about to happen. Together they had told his parents, who were overjoyed about the upcoming arrival. It hadn’t been easy, explaining the situation to his parents, James and Celine, but to their credit, both of them had taken it in stride and accepted her with open arms.

His family was nothing like hers, accepting her presence without question; Oz loved her, and because of that, so did they. Long before she was ready to spill everything, the whole story – what was fit for parental ears, anyway – came tumbling from her lips. Celine Osbourne had listened with more than her ears and understood. The relationship between the two of them was their own business, so while she accepted, she made no move to interfere or suggest they formalize their union. Something Tara found refreshing and open-minded. Knowing her father and his narrow world view, she found herself grateful that he’d been banished from her life for over a year. He was never going to find out he had a grandchild, nor would he be allowed to exert any control over her baby. Stealing a glance over at her companion, she realized he wouldn’t be much of a pushover – he’d stand his ground.

Oz caught the look and a smile bloomed slowly across his features. He’d known his parents would react the way they had. Both of them had grown up in Sunnydale, and unlike some of the other denizens, they’d had more than a passing acquaintance with the supernatural. His cousin Jordy wasn’t the family’s first brush with demons; another cousin had married a cop who turned out to be half-Brachen.

“So?”

Tara turned to face him fully, her own smile bright. “Your parents are very cool.”

“Yeah. Not much fazes either of them.” Oz kept his eyes on the road, watching the traffic carefully. “They aren’t the ones who’ll be surprised.”

“No, I guess not.” Her smile faltered a little bit. “What do you think the reaction is gonna be?”

“Giddy disbelief.” He schooled his features. “Controlled surprise.” He shrugged, the gesture barely noticeable. “You said Spike could tell.”

“He thinks something’s up. He never asked me about it, though, so he doesn’t know for sure.”

“Vamp senses. He knows.”

She didn’t question him, knowing that he understood far better than she the extent of Spike’s sensory perceptions. “Do you think he told Buffy?”

“Hhhmmmm.” He thought about that for a minute, taking the time to mull over his thoughts. “Nah.”

Tara looked at him for a moment, then broke out into helpless snickers. “So this will come as a real surprise.”

“Big time.”

“Oh well. Nothing we can do about it.” Tara turned around, looking out the windshield. “Not like I’ll be able to hide it forever.”

At that, Oz’ grin bloomed again. “Nope. Be pretty obvious soon.”

They lapsed into silence as they neared the place Tara had called home for almost a year. The house looked deceptively serene, the closed front door and drawn curtains projecting a false image of serenity to the rest of the neighborhood. Not for the first time she wondered how many people on the block realized who – and what – was living on their street.

Oz opened his door, glancing over at her. Catching her pensive look, he closed the door and stared straight ahead. “You okay?”

His question broke her reverie and she shook her head, letting her hair cover her eyes. “Yeah. I think so.” She inhaled deeply, shook her head a second time and repeated herself. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” He opened the door again, hopping out easily. “Let’s do this.”

Tara paused, staring at the front door. Her voice was barely more than a whisper and filled with trepidation. “Yeah. Let’s.”


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


Fourteen hundred hours was the scheduled change of live surveillance on the Magic Box, though Sloth wouldn’t be moving from his sniper’s position until he was told to stand down. He had everything he needed – from extra firepower and weaponry to food and water – stashed under his blind. Like most snipers, he was equipped with steady nerves and a patient disposition, though Sloth more than lived up to his name. There were times when Riley wasn’t entirely sure if Sloth was completely human, because his ability to disappear was uncanny. Almost demonic.

It was now thirteen twenty, forty minutes before the meeting and Riley was busy in his room, putting together his notes and preparing for the debriefing. Before he’d left South America, Riley had gotten copies of the files the Initiative had on Buffy and all her friends. By far the most extensive file was Spike’s, stemming from his captivity forward, followed closely by the files on both Buffy and Giles.

At the moment, he was going over the notes on Giles, refreshing his memory. Some of the information he knew first-hand, though enough was new to him that he felt it prudent to go over the file again. The information was enlightening. Very little wasn’t known about his early life; except for a brief period sometime in the late sixties through the early seventies, Rupert Giles’ entire life was well documented. That is, until he was employed by an organization whose formal title Riley had never seen before. After that, it was only bare bones, mostly just a listing of dates covering his arrival in the States, his employment at Sunnydale High School and the recent purchase of the Magic Box and some other real estate.

What was missing – and not just for Giles – were the months following Riley’s departure. There was a gap without any information at all. It appeared that the moment he left, the Initiative stopped all surveillance on the Hellmouth. And the Slayer’s support circle.

Leafing through the pages of Spike’s report told him nothing that he didn’t already know. He couldn’t imagine what had happened to change his status from unwanted pest to trusted muscle. After leaving Xander, Riley had gone to Spike’s crypt, hoping to find him alone and vulnerable. Instead, he’d gotten the shock of his life.

The crypt was dusty, obviously uninhabited for quite a while – the refrigerator was unplugged and empty, there was no television, and no signs that Spike was still even using it. Riley had stood in the middle of the crypt, refusing to face what his intuition had been telling him for the last twenty-four hours.

There was something going on between his ex-girlfriend and the vampire.

He had to force himself to go right back to the house, keeping a tight rein on his temper the whole way. Before he confronted Buffy, Riley wanted to be damn sure of his facts, wanted to throw Spike’s unsouled state in her face, wanted to . . . What he wanted to do was run a stake through Spike’s chest, just wide of his heart and then beat him senseless.
What he was going to do was deny Buffy’s request.

There was no way he’d ever help Spike. Even if it also helped Buffy.

With his mind made up, Riley closed the reports, piling them in the center of the table. He’d go through them with his men and brief them on what to expect at the meeting later on, but he was already determined. All he needed was the truth about the babies and then he’d tell her his decision.

Spike would get that chip out of his head over his dead body.


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


“We can be there in the back, B, if that’s what you want.” Faith held the phone to her ear, idly watching Jenner sleep. She didn’t bother keeping her voice low, knowing he’d want to hear her conversation – and somehow was – anyway. “Right. We’ll head over there in a little bit.”

She listened while Buffy filled her in on all the details of the meeting and who else they could expect to show up. A deep sigh exploded from Faith. “Geez, B. You really know how to throw a fucking party. So the Council’s heading this way too. That’s just fucking great.”

Despite knowing their decision could bring the Council’s attention to Sunnydale, Faith had known she had little choice. It was either stage her own death or stay on the run, constantly worrying about the California authorities hunting her. Admittedly not much of a choice, and she’d taken the easy way out, but she hadn’t seen many other options.

Buffy’s voice kept going, the words picking up speed as she filled her in on the rest of the situations. The television in the background droned on and Faith caught a glimpse of the news reports. Her own picture flashed across the screen, capturing her full attention. “Hey, B. Check it out. I’m on the news.”

There was a squawk, then she could hear Buffy urging Spike to turn on the television. Faith listened to the newscaster describe her as ‘dangerous and desperate, running from a tragic past’. Rolling her eyes at the melodrama, Faith snickered when Buffy snarked at Spike for his running commentary.

The scene changed to the outside of Sunnydale General, and the voice-over continued. Wesley and Spike had come up with a wildly outrageous tale of Faith’s final hours, culminating in a wild knife fight outside the Alibi Room, and they’d managed to coerce Willy into backing them up. Dutifully relaying the story, the newscaster somehow managed to make it all sound plausible, though Faith could hear Spike’s low rumbling laughter in the background. Buffy started to giggle and Faith finally gave in, chucking at the insanity.

When she finally caught her breath, she quipped, “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”

Which just made Buffy laugh all over again.

“All right, I’m gonna get Jenner out of bed and we’ll head over to the shop in a few.”


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


No sooner had Buffy hung up on Faith when the phone was ringing again. Rolling her eyes, she answered, “Grand Central.”

“Buffy?” Lawson’s surprise came through and she laughed again, knowing how her attitude sometimes confused the vampire.

“Yup, it’s me.”

“I’m going over the police reports from yesterday and I found something you and Spike might be interested in.” The rustle of papers muffled the other background noises and Lawson continued, “I’ve got the report in front of me.”

Buffy motioned Spike closer. “He’s right here.”

“A woman over on Coraline Avenue filed a complaint about her neighbor beaming information into her brain.” When neither of them laughed or commented, he kept speaking. “Which would be strange and not really noteworthy anywhere else but here. Or maybe Cleveland. But that’s not the point.”

Spike snorted his amusement, urging him to keep talking. “Go on, then, give us the rest of it.”

“Right. The point is she also complained he was stealing her electric and cable.” He paused and Buffy got the feeling he was trying to increase the dramatics. “She might not have been wrong about anything. I’ve sent George and a couple of the others over to investigate.”

Buffy and Spike asked at the same time, “Why?”

“Looks like that guy you told us to watch out for. Meers?”

“Shit.” Spike took the phone from Buffy, rapidly firing off questions. “How do you know it’s him? Where’s he located? Who else did you send?”

“Got a photograph. The woman pointed him out to the cops who responded to the complaint and he’s in a house on Coraline. Imelda’s trying to get into the city records to see who the owner is. None of the guys I sent are human and a couple of them are off-duty cops.” Lawson answered the questions as quickly as they were asked, the two vampires practically speaking over each other.

“When you get him, make sure you hold onto him. Don’t let him go. In fact, cage him up in Oz’ place. He shouldn’t be able to break those bars or get out of there at all.”

“Who are you caging?” Buffy and Spike both turned, surprised by Oz’ question.

“Bloke who’s behind the videos.” Spike motioned him into the kitchen, smiling at Tara as she closed the back door behind her. “Figured that’s the best place to keep him ‘til sundown.”

Oz shrugged. “Good idea.”

“Right.” Spike thought for a moment. “Finn and his lackeys ‘ll be at the shop at six. Have everyone in place soon as the git’s locked up. We’ll head over there after we send the soldier boys home.”

Everyone could hear Lawson’s agreement and before he had a chance to continue, Spike hung up the phone. He shared a look with Oz, then pointedly turned his gaze to Tara. “Glinda. Feelin’ better?”

The blush that covered her face extended down to her chest and Tara ducked her head, trying her best to avoid anyone else’s eyes. Her stutter was back, causing her to hesitate more than she wanted to and keeping her from answering his question. When it was obvious she couldn’t respond, Oz took pity on her and answered. “She is.”

Buffy swung her gaze from one person to the next, wondering what was going on. Her eyes focused on Spike and he stared back, his expression devoid of any real expression. “Tara, are you okay?”

“Yes.” She swallowed hard, then tucked her hair back behind her ear nervously. “Right now, yeah.”

“Is there something wrong?” Buffy was really concerned now, because both Tara and Oz were avoiding her. “Guys?”

Oz moved a stool away from the island, motioning for Tara to sit. “Do you want me to?”

For a minute it looked like Tara would let him spill whatever she was trying to say. She hesitated again, looking down at her hands. Oz reached over and covered her fists with his own, the gesture giving her the unconditional support she needed. With a shake of her head, she smiled crookedly at him and spoke, never once taking her eyes off him. “We’re gonna have a baby.”

“We are?” The confusion was clear in Buffy’s voice, until she caught on. “We are? We are! Oh my. . . we are?” She spluttered a bit more, words tripping over her tongue, until Spike leaned over and with a single finger under her chin, closed her mouth.

Eyes big and bewildered, she looked from Tara to Oz and back again, more questions building in her head. Spike stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her, trying very hard not to laugh at her expression. “But I thought you don’t like guys. How did this. . . Okay, well I know how it happens. Just how did it happen to you two?”

“You know that myth they say about not getting pregnant on your first time?” A sly look entered Tara’s eyes and she smiled knowingly. “Totally not true.”

Buffy spluttered some more, disbelief and confusion warring in her head. She peeked up at Spike, demanding an answer. “Did you know about this?”

“Knew about the nipper.” He shrugged, leaning over to shake Oz’ hand. “Wasn’t sure ‘bout the how.”

Once more Tara surprised Buffy by quipping, “Well, you know, the usual way.”

This time, Spike did laugh.

Unable to help it any longer, Buffy bluntly asked, “You and Oz had sex?”

“That is the usual way, kitten.”

She thwapped him on the chest, glaring up at him. “Shut up, Spike.”

Oz came to his rescue. “It is you know.” When Buffy turned to face him, he held up his hands in a gesture of surrender, then shrugged. “Only way I know how to do it.”

“Augh!” Buffy threw up her hands, looking to the heavens for assistance. “You know what I mean! This is . . . it’s totally insane. Not in a bad way, insane in the good way.” She banged her head against Spike’s chest after she caught the look in Tara’s eyes. “I’m totally happy for you. I’m just really confused.”

When it looked like Spike was going to say something, Buffy clapped her hand over his mouth. “Please don’t make this worse by saying anything else. I’m really happy for them. Let me be confused, coz I’m not sure I want the description. I don’t need the visual on how it happened.” She threw an apologetic glance toward Tara. “No offense.”

Though she was a little stung by Buffy’s reaction, Tara also understood. She had wigged enough on her own before she broke down and told Oz. There were times when she still had to convince herself that it had all happened and she’d been there. It must be very strange for someone else to see it, especially someone like Buffy, who knew she was a lesbian. Tara glanced over at Oz. Am I even strictly a lesbian anymore? Tara didn’t really have an answer to that question. She loved Oz, but she wasn’t in love with him. Affection, caring, it was all there; without any of the passion she’d felt for Willow. The sex had been different – and what truly had her wigged – was that it had been good different. Very good different.

Maybe I’m not really . . . With a sigh, Tara shook aside the thoughts swirling in her head and focused instead on what Buffy was babbling about. It was far easier to deal with Buffy’s confusion.

Buffy caught the look on Spike’s face and her babbling abruptly shifted focus. “You knew. And you didn’t tell me? How come you didn’t tell me? That’s so not fair.”

Before she had a chance to get really going, Spike interrupted. “Wasn’t my secret to tell, kitten.” He glanced over at the other couple. “”Sides, was a might curious about the how also.”

Tara’s blush deepened, her eyes dropping to the suddenly very interesting counter top. There was an awkward silence and finally Oz cleared his throat. “I’m glad you didn’t say anything, because I didn’t know.”

“What are you going to do about school?” Buffy’s mind was racing from one thought to the next, unable to censor her mouth. “We don’t have a whole lot of room. What are we gonna do about . . . all the babies can sleep in one room! We can have our own little nursery thing going on.”

“Actually, Buffy, that’s why we decided to tell you now.” Her voice was firm, but soft and everyone’s eyes focused on Tara again. She stiffened under the attention, though relaxed once she realized the other couple was merely curious and not upset. “I’m gonna stay in school and Oz is gonna do the parenting thing while I’m in classes. And I’m moving out.”

“What?” The blond duo shared worried glances. “You can’t. We need you here. We don’t want you to move.” Buffy’s lower lip wobbled a bit and tears sprung up in her eyes. “Please don’t go.”

“Rooms are at a premium around here.” Oz placed his hand over Tara’s, calming the agitated movements of hers. “You could start to charge by the hour. My parents are moving to Arizona and they’ve offered me the house.”

It was perhaps one of the longest speeches Buffy had ever heard from Oz and she stared at him, not quite sure what she was hearing. “So . . . what does that mean?”

“It means Tara’s gonna live with me.”

Buffy’s eyes swung to look at the other girl. “Are you?”

Taking more than a minute to answer, wondering how she was going to avoid hurting Buffy’s feelings, Tara once again sought the answer on the counter top. “There isn’t a lot of room here.”

“But this is your home.” For the first time since they entered the kitchen, Tara looked squarely at Buffy. With that one sentence, all the hurt generated by her previous comments was washed away. Home. She hadn’t had a real home since her mother had died. . . and now, Buffy was affirming what Tara had been feeling for the last few months. “We’re family.”

That was the last straw. Tara couldn’t hold back the emotions any longer. She sniffled once, twice and the next moment tears were dripping down her cheeks, falling on her clenched hands. It took Buffy all of two heartbeats to realize what was happening and barely another two before she’d crossed the kitchen to envelope Tara within a strong embrace.

Spike and Oz simultaneously stepped back, wary of the crying females. Neither one had expected the reactions to Buffy’s declaration and Oz, following Spike’s lead and catching sight of the horrified look on his face, slipped out of the kitchen and out onto the back porch.


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


It took them only about twenty minutes to reach the Magic Box from the hotel – the same one Jenner had commandeered on his first trip to Sunnydale. Though it hadn’t been at the time, the hotel was now owned by a demon, and since taking over, tunnel access had been installed.

Faith came up through the cellar first, checking the position of the sun through the front windows, and satisfied that there was more than enough coverage, yelled down into the cellar. Her voice startled Giles whose attention was, as usual, deep in the pages of a book. Wesley had gone out to get lunch and a few other supplies, and Anya was behind the counter, knee-deep in sorting out inventory.

“Must you?” Giles had stood up, moving toward the front of the shop, intent on looking out for any spies. “We’re trying to keep your presence – both of you – somewhat of a secret.”

“Sorry, Giles. I keep forgetting that I can whisper and he’d hear me.” Faith shrugged, moving away from the cellar door as Jenner slipped through. At Jenner’s grunt, she grimaced. “Fine. That you’d even listen if I whispered.”

A leering grin was directed her way, then Jenner straightened, all business. “What’s the situation with the soldiers?”

“Lawson’s got his group watching each of them. As far as we know, they still only have the sniper in position.” Giles retreated from the window, refusing to look over his shoulder as he did. “He’s on top of the building across the street, under camouflage. He hasn’t moved since he took up position earlier this morning.”

“Is there a final head count?” Jenner nodded a greeting to Anya, who smiled in return.

“Including Finn, there’s a total of eight.” Giles began gathering up the books, replacing them on the shelves. “We’ve only been able to identify three of them as original Initiative officers. Our sources indicate the medic was Walsh’s third in command.”

Faith shared a very long look with Jenner. “That’s not the best news. Doesn’t make me wanna lay out the welcome mat.”

“No, none of us is please with that information.”

Anya poised, her gloved hands full of stinging nettles. “We could always kidnap him.”

“No, dear. I think we can hold off on that for a bit.” Giles smiled slightly, shaking his head. “I do believe we should negotiate first.”

“And then kidnap him if that doesn’t work.” She blithely went back to bagging the nettles. “I’m sure he doesn’t like former demons any more than he likes current ones.”

Giles knew that was cue. “Well, my dear, we’ll just have to keep you safe from his clutches.”

“See that you keep all of us safe, Rupert.”








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