章節 33: Ch.32
We flew into LA and arrived later than expected that night. There we met up with Angel's group. The vampire himself had left to a monastery to deal with his issues about Buffy's death. We stayed with them, helping them slaughter demons every now and then while doing a music tour with the Dingoes there in LA.
They'd become a big hit and even went platinum in the past few months. Even now they were only in LA as a stop over before doing a burning man gig. They'd just gotten here after doing a gig in New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
When they heard I wanted to chill and sing a bit they immediately agreed. Their main singer was an old friend of Giles's from way back when he'd had his own band. Over the next three and a half months I joined them on their world tour.
Alice and Faith had occasionally met up with us as they did their own thing. They'd been mostly hunting demons with Angel's group or shopping all over the states. During our last gig in Germany I'd been hit with a vision of seeing Buffy again so I'd told the group this was our last gig together for a while.
They were a bit sad but understood I was needed elsewhere and that music was only a hobby for me. I left them with another ten albums worth of songs they could use as their own as a gift before flying back to LA after the gig.
There, Alice and Faith picked me up at the airport and we stopped by the Hyperion hotel for a couple days to get rid of the jet lag and leave a gift for Angel whenever he returns. We spelled all the glass in the hotel to be necro tempered so that he could see the sun without having to catch fire.
After saying our goodbyes we drove back to Sunnydale. We arrived just as a horde of the Hellion demons arrived on motorbikes. I got out of the car and told Alice and Faith. "Go, find the scoobies and make sure to dig her up. I'll deal with the demons."
Alice nodded and drove off towards the cemetery Buffy was buried at while I shifted and went on a rampage, killing and eating demons everywhere. It didn't take me long to find the leader as he'd been waiting for his people to come back with the Buffy bot.
I killed him as he squealed like a pig. The rest of his demons in the immediate area saw me and tried to flee but I was far more prepared as I chased them down in moments and tore them apart. The demons arrived with the bot not a few moments later.
They too joined their leader in death when the demons I'd found were all dead I made my way to the graveyard to find the scoobies. There all I found was Alice and Faith digging up Buffy's coffin. A few discarded candles and a broken urn lay not far away where they were moved off of the grave.
I shifted back and told them. "Step aside, I'll do it."
When they moved I waved a hand, moving all of the soil out of the hole and onto the grave next to hers. With a thought the casket floated out of the grave and opened up. Buffy burst out gasping for air and looking very confused.
I sighed as the girls tried to comfort her. When she saw me she asked. "Is this real?"
I nodded. "The scoobies brought you back. We didn't know much until a few days ago. We saw you back with us so we came back to find the reason how and why."
I gestured to the materials the scoobies used. She looked them over before nodding and told me. "Gaia was there. She said she would keep me there forever if I asked but before I could answer her another god grabbed me and dragged me away. I-I woke up in a coffin moments later."
She told us. "I-I think I was in heaven. Everything there was warm and comforting. I was at peace before they came and took me away!"
I grimaced. "You were in a heaven dimension of the higher planes then. There are just as many Heaven dimensions as hell ones and mortal ones. You died saving the world and were rewarded for your efforts."
She looked glum and I sighed. "I'm sorry they took the option to stay there from you. I know how difficult you must find all this, but you're back now and unless you die stopping another apocalypse you won't be able to get back to that specific heaven dimension. Gods and their rules and all that stuff."
She looked shaken before asking. "So, what's next?"
I shrugged. "There's a group of demons raiding the town and I'm fairly sure there's some left I haven't killed yet."
Faith smiled and handed her one of the stakes they'd made of the world tree branch over Joyce's grave. Buffy took it with a confused expression so Faith told her. "Strap on your big girl panties B, it's just like riding a cowboy or something like that."
I growled and Faith shrugged. "Not that I know what a cowboy is, right hoss."
Alice laughed at her antics while I grimaced. "It was a long time ago and I'm never taking you riding again."
Faith smiled. "You weren't complaining at the time."
I snorted. "I also wasn't expecting sex while riding a horse either. Poor creature was as startled as I was. I'm fairly certain Althea knows what we did on the back of her horse by the way it acts out now. You've traumatized the poor animal for life."
She didn't look one bit regretful about it either as she grinned. "So worth it."
Buffy was looking at us with confusion before Alice told her. "I'll tell you later. For now let's go kill some demons."
We swept the town clean before finding the scoobies with Spike and Dawn at the magic shop. Giles had apparently left for England this morning. When we arrived at the shop the fist thing Alice did was back hand Willow to the floor saying while still pissed off. "You stupid girl, you know how reckless your actions were. You of all people should know the consequences of such actions!"
Tara tried to speak up in her defense while helping her stand. "We h-had to try. You all left and we had no s-slayer here to protect the town."
I sighed as she was right. I moved out of the way before saying. "Maybe we shouldn't have left so suddenly, but you really should have contacted someone who understood necromancy better. You brought her back alright, but you left her buried six feet under in her own coffin. For that and so much more I should strip you of your magic's but she talked me out of it."
Dawn yelled. "Buffy!" Before launching herself at her sister. They all took turns hugging her before Xander finally caught on. "We're so stupid and sorry Buff, if I had known I would have dug you out of there before we'd done that spell."
The rest caught on as well and even Spike looked irked but for another reason all together. He growled at the scoobies before saying. "You stupid idiots. No wonder you didn't tell me what you were up to. You knew if it wrong, if she came back wrong, I'd never have let you put her down. Not if even the smallest bit was her."
He left in a huff while Buffy winced before looking to me solemnly. I sighed and admitted. "If what they'd brought back wasn't you I'd have put it down, but if I had a chance, I'd have brought you back if it was hell you were in. I know a few ways to check such things."
I turned to the scoobies continuing. "That's one of the many reasons you should've contacted someone with more knowledge than you, you rank amateurs. If you'd have actually thought it out you would've asked one simple fucking question, was she really in a hell dimension? Well if you'd have asked Giles, or me or any fucking magic user with wisdom or remote knowledge of how to find out you'd have been able to check. You-"
Buffy stopped me as she told them. "You saved me from hell, for that I'm thankful. But he's right. Doing a spell like that, that much dark magic will have infected you all. If I've learned anything from Ryan over the years, it's that magic always has a price. The price to bring someone back from the dead is going to be rather large I'm sure. For now, let's go home, I'm tired."
The scoobies looked worried but none of them disbelieved her hell statement. Buffy kept her hand on my arm and so we walked back to her house. I held her for a while as she fell asleep in my arms. Alice and Faith were next to both of us on either side.
Sighing when she was asleep, I slid out of bed and got to work cleaning up the town. I put out the fires and fixed the damage before storing all the motorcycles the bikers had brought in the back yard of the house next door.
I filled in Buffy's grave before taking Buffy's death records from the hospital and every other government building that had a copy on file. I erased all computer evidence of her death before heading back to her house.
There I found Willow and Tara wide awake and taking about Buffy being possessed. Sighing I showed them Buffy was still sleeping with Faith and Alice. I'd put up a magic barrier around the room before I'd left and while it had been activated a few times to protect them from the looks of it, whatever did so gave up eventually.
They'd called Xander and he'd had the same experience as them only it had actually possessed Anya before leaving. I shrugged it all off and went back to bed as my work was done. Willow and Tara put up a barrier around their bed now as well.
They'd taken Joyce's room in the house to be close and take care of Dawn. The next morning I reprogrammed the Buffy bot while everyone was eating breakfast. Buffy ended up asking. "What are you going to do with it? Because I'm not sleeping with you if you're sleeping with it."
I snorted. "As if I'd sleep with a robot, no, I'm sending it to reinforce the other one I sent to Pylea. I got word that the other one was doing quite well there as most of the humans were liberated and the demons are on the run. With this they should be finished before it returns to LA through an easy access portal and deals with the demons there."
I sighed. "Hopefully the bots will both back up Angel and his crew as they looked like they needed it. Alice and Faith were helping them for a few months while I was on tour with the Dingoes."
Buffy nodded slowly. I'd filled her in on why I'd left and why I'd avoided coming back during our demon fighting last night. She knew most of it and understood why I couldn't stay after her death. Hell, she was grateful for what I'd done for Dawn and the scoobies before I'd left town.
The house was fine, Dawn was no longer acting out in school and there were no bills to take care of at the moment. Her mother's life insurance was tucked away for a rainy day and while the demons were active like before, the world hadn't ended.
When I finished with the Buffy bot I added the same upgrades I'd done to the other one only far more advanced and powerful. I'd even infused magic into it's synthetic skin to harden it beyond steel. With that and a quick chant in the back yard later it was off to Pylea armed with duel axes.
What took the longest was actually deprogramming all the sex bot stuff Willow had wrote over with her own codes. Well that and the puns. Now it need not talk as action was all it did and it would connect and control the other one once they met up to work in sync.
After the bot was gone we all had a scoobie meeting in the back yard about the thing that was haunting them. I told them. "It's probably a Thaumogenic demon. It's a demon created when a powerful dark magic spell is used at times. It's a price for bringing her back. You broke the laws of nature bringing her back and as a price this demon was created. If you try to banish it then the spell will cease and Buffy dies. Killing the demon is the only way to get rid of it and not reverse the spells effects."
Willow asked. "What do we have to do to kill it then?"
I shrugged. "Making it sold would help. Unlike Buffy it doesn't have a body of its own to hop into so it's borrowing ours. It's stuck between existing and not. Pushing one way will reverse the spell while pulling it all the way here will make it solid and therefore killable."
Buffy asked. "If it dies will I?"
I shook my head. "No, once it's solid it's no longer linked to the spell. The price is paid and all that jazz. It can die without killing you again."
She nodded while mixed feelings played out on her face. I pulled her into my arms and leaned back on the lawn chair. I hummed a tune and ignored the world at large while Tara and Willow went to the magic shop with the scoobies to find a solidification spell.
Faith and Alice went with them in case it was with them when it became solid. An hour later we were interrupted from our peaceful morning in the sun by the demon itself coming to try and kill Buffy.
Once it was solid I muttered an eviscerating spell and it died a couple yards away. Buffy only looked over before mumbling. "That's gonna ruin my day cleaning up the mess."
I chuckled lightly. "Not likely. We're outside love, it's the life cycle of nature to feed on dead things and grow, watch."
The grass seemed to grow and cover the demons corpse before sinking back into the ground leaving nothing behind. A small peach tree grew in it's place at a rapid rate. I reached out and caught a ripe peach as it fell and handed it to Buffy.
She tried it and found she liked the fresh taste after her caramel coffee. I held her while she relaxed in my arms and ate the fruit. The beast side of me was content for the first time since we'd left Sunnydale months before.
The agony I'd been in for so long let off in that moment when she sighed and everything inside me quieted. We, that is, me and my girls, were content in that moment. Faith and Alice were there with us, connected to my thoughts and mind through the link that had grown over time.
It wasn't mind reading or sharing, but more like a connection of mind and soul we'd formed from being close to each other for so long. We could feel each other and sure if we reached out we could relay messages to each other like telepathy but our connection was based on a more emotional link.
Buffy wasn't there yet but given time I had no doubt she make the connection and be able to do the same. Faith herself had been surprised when she'd felt it solidify when we were in Devon a few months back. She'd played around with it a bit sending thoughts of the more adult theme to Alice and I at random times.
It lead to very interesting things while we were apart as our dreams seemed to connect at random as well. But now, at this moment we all felt at peace and I could feel the same from Buffy as well though that was more magical in nature as I had us wrapped in my magical energy.
It was less for protection and more of a detection. I could feel everything around us for miles but focused on the peace I felt in the here and now. Buffy herself seemed to reflect that as well as she finished her fruit and snuggled into my chest, watching the birds land on the tree to make nests.
Our peace lasted all of twenty minutes when the scoobies arrived with weapons ready for battle. They were a bit startled to see us simply laying there under the shade of a tree that hadn't been there when they left.
Xander broke the silence and stirred Buffy from my chest asking. "Where's the demon?"
Buffy moved a little showing them she was awake and pointed at the tree. Xander's only reply was. "Huh? It's a tree demon?"
Buffy snorted and Willow asked. "Did he turn a demon into a tree? That's some advanced transmogrification spell."
It was my turn to snort. "You're all idiots. I killed the demon and gave it's energy and body to the earth. Nature responded by growing a peach tree in its place."
Buffy smiled. "Try some, they're really good."
I chuckled and the scoobies were still a bit stunned, proven by Xander asking. "Huh?"
Sighing Buffy sat up and told them what I'd done. They looked at me with both fear and respect now, though fear was the majority of it. Willow asked about the spell I used and I just asked her whether she'd been doing any cleansing rituals lately.
That shut her up and had Tara looking worried still. Sighing I finally told her. "No need to tell me. I can see the dark magic's gathered around you. It's seething like an infected wound. I wouldn't be surprised if you start exhibiting symptoms of being magic high soon."
I sat up as well now and turned to the group. "The taint of dark magic is addictive and alluring but in the end it's not real. The spell you did to bring her back, it's the darkest there is. You're damn lucky it didn't kill you as the price for bringing her back. Don't tell me it's not luck either, I know you weren't really in control at that moment."
Shaking my head I saw her trying to think of something to say back so I continued. "It makes you feel alive, invincible, like you can do anything. It'll fill you with a dark confidence and once you fail to do something you'll try to cover it up. Like I said, it's an addiction. Be careful that it doesn't consume you. You got a taste when you broke into my study and stole the dark magic's you used on Glory. Yes, I haven't forgotten about that. I may not have been myself at the time, but I remember all it did in my place, or heard in this case."
The scoobies has gone silent and Buffy looked worried so I changed the subject. "Tell, me would you. What innocent creature did you sacrifice to bring her back? A child no doubt, but human? No, you're not that dark yet, a baby animal then. So, demon or a child of nature? Ah, I see, your guilt gives it away, a child of nature."
Willow bulked. "At least I did something-"
I raised an eyebrow and removed her mouth. She tried yelling but found it impossible. "You have no right to judge me girl, you've been steeping in the black arts for years. Your first contact with magic was a dark curse used on Angel. Yes, it's true I would have brought her back and sacrificed far more than you did if I was my beastly self, but then, that part of me is little more than an old ones spawn."
She tried to bring her mouth back with magic and I chuckled. "You've grown powerful after your recent dark spell but you're still not at my level yet girl, you will hear me out this time if for no other reason than the fact that I could take all of your magic's away right this moment. You've broken nature and made a demon in your dumb moves."
I waved a hand and chairs grew out of the ground. "Sit, all of you. You all need to hear what I have to say now."
They did with more fear than protests. Sighing I told Buffy. "Now that you're back you need to hear this as well. They've gone behind Giles's back to bring you back to life. The others may have went along with it but Willow here is the source and knows why. He would've stopped them. God knows he loves you like a daughter but there are things even he would shy away from."
When Willow sat down I turned back to them. "The reason being is that amongst all the gods and primordial beings, nature and the goddess of it, holds a special place. If you try going against the power of nature you tend to wind up dead, but you fools did more than that, you broke nature to bring her back. That sort of thing has more than just a demon or two as a cost."
I looked Willow dead in the eyes and saw what she'd done saying. "You sacrificed a baby deer so that you could subvert nature's hold over the dead. Even if it was a justified cause that sort of action opens the doors to this reality to all sorts of threats. Even if it's just a moment or even a crack, many things can slip through in that moment. You risked more than just your lives in that moment, you risked the lives of everything in this world. And not just their lives either, but their souls."
Xander tried to speak. "How were we supposed to-"
I waved my hand and he shut up. "You could've asked Giles. You could've picked up the phone and called me. Hell, you could've called the watchers council if you thought it even remotely possible. But no, you acted like children playing with forces you couldn't possibly understand."
I looked at each of them now saying. "Answer me this, there are seven and a half billion people on this planet, at any given moment thousands are dying. Now multiply that by the thousands of dimensions this world is connected to. And in that one moment, when you opened the door, all those dead and dying souls were pulled into the void, where creatures so old and chaotic lay that even the old ones, as disgusting and vile as they were, were used to barely repel, how much did you really sacrifice to pull her back? Was it just one innocent animal? Could you possibly count that many? Do you even care?"
Each of them had the decency to pale and look sick, even Willow now. I gave her back her mouth and asked them. "And here's a question that should really chill your soul and stay your hand next time you decide to act like children. How long was the spell active for? More than one moment? Two? A minute? How long were you channeling those powers you so clearly enjoy girl?"
Xander threw up and looked horrified now. I turned to Anya. "You of all people should have known to stop her. Even vengeance demons stop at punishing the dead. Souls are innocent, pure, only the mortal coil has faults. What you've done is condemned untold amounts of them to eternity as food an sustenance for those creatures in the between. There is no sin or slight out there that would justify something like that, and yet you've done just that, as a human. Even D'Hoffryn wouldn't have the balls to look proud at such a thing and ask for a thanks. Not especially in front of me."
Anya was pale and sickly now so I turned to the rest of the scoobies and looked back at Buffy who was pale as well. I shook my head. "You are innocent in this Buffy. What they've done is not on you."
I took her hand and stood up, facing the scoobies. "Now that you know the cost, would you do it again? Was it worth it?"
They didn't answer so I sighed. "Then you'll be happy to know that it wasn't the case this time. When you oh so brightly decided to do this ritual, I and Alice saw it and contacted the Devon coven. They in turn contact the hundreds of witches around the world and with our power we sealed of the fractures and doors that opened all over this reality. The only ones that actually paid the price were the witches that sacrificed themselves to keep those eldritch horrors out. Yes, witches died to see it through but they too knew what they were doing."
They were all upset and still sick. I shook my head at them. "What you feel now, remember it, because we may not be there next time or strong enough to stop the worst from happening. The witches around the world want you to remember what could have happened and know that the next time you try something like this, they won't defend you, they'll kill you."
I looked at them coldly and shook my head. "Witches paid the price because it was one of our own fucking up, but here's the deal Willow. They won't clean up your messes again. If you reach for those magic's again and try to open those doors again, they've left it to me to stop you. Because if you succeed, they'll cast a death spell to kill you and everyone you love. Hundreds of witches across the globe lost family members because of your spell. That should be enough to make you sick. But thousands and millions elsewhere could have been lost."
My eyes grew cold as I told them. "If you try a spell like that again Willow, it's better be me you're sacrificing, because if not, I'll end you to prevent that outcome. I will not loose Buffy again, or Alice and Faith. I will kill you myself if I feel you reaching for those magic's."
There it was, my threat, clear as day. I turned to Buffy and the rest of the group. "I understand if you feel the need for space from me, I'll be at the other house if you decide otherwise. Alice and Faith are there now airing out the furniture and dust collected from the time we've been gone. Giles is on his way back by the way."
Buffy nodded and I left, heading next door where my car sat. I drove to the other house and met the girls there. After we aired it all out and cleaned it up I headed to the store to pick up food for the fridge and cabinets. Even if the others didn't hang out here Faith and Alice still ate snacks. I stopped by the butcher shop and bought a couple gallons of blood as well.
After heading home and putting the food away Alice and Faith decided to watch some charmed while I cooked them an English breakfast for lunch. By night fall I found my way outside. I sat on the front porch waiting to see if she'd show up tonight.
The girls were out on patrol and dusting a few vampires for their efforts. I actually fell asleep on the bench waiting and was woken up by the newly risen blonde. She asked. "Do you always sleep outside where any old run of the mill vampire can kill you?"
I chuckled. "Not usually. But then no run of the mill vampire could get close to me without waking me up. My senses are fine tuned that way. Only those I or my inner beast trust implicitly could get so close to me without me waking."
She smiled weakly. "So which is it? You or your inner beastie that trusts me?"
I sighed. "Both. The beast and the man are one after all. It may have gotten to you first but when we or should I say I put us back together again, I remember it all. I would apologize for acting so, well, beastly, with you but I find I can't even if you would forgive me. I seem to be unable to regret what we had and felt when we were together. It may have been animalistic and rather abrupt but then isn't all relationships?"
She shook her head and grew a genuine smile now. "You're such a-"
I grinned an nodded. "I know. It's apart of my charms. Faith calls it my horn dog parts and Alice, well, she prefers to save her thoughts on the subject for very enthusiastic nights when she proclaims me god or some such."
Buffy snorted and sat down beside me. "It's nice you know, not having to pretend. With Angel I had to pretend I couldn't see the vampire below. With Riley it was the human sides he didn't like to show. But with you-"
I chuckled. "What you see is what you get."
She nodded. "I guess it helps that you're older than dirt."
I shrugged. "Maybe you just needed someone more mature. Angel was a man whore before he changed and it shows in his interactions with Drusilla and I'm sure Darla, which heads up, she's back as well."
Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Darla's back?"
I nodded and she laid next to me. "I found out from Alice who ran into her a while back in LA. Some big shots brought her back or some such. Anyway, with Angel it was the immaturity of his man-whore nature that bled through. Even Spike calls him a ponce and they spent centuries together."
I sighed. "With Riley it was his need to be the best. He couldn't settle for not being the strongest around. It was his nature to exceed all those before him. Even you were no exception. When he couldn't measure up he grew irritable. And when he became human instead of super human, he lost his way."
She looked up at me and asked. "Then there's you."
I nodded. "Then there's me. I'd give all my strength up in a heartbeat. I'd give up the magic's and even the immortality if I thought it would bring you happiness. You, Alice and Faith are quickly becoming all I really need to live. Even oxygen and blood would be things I would happily give up just to see you smile."
She did at that and a rumbling growl of contentment came out of my chest. She asked. "What's the catch wraith you then? Are you feeling inadequate or man whorish?"
I sighed. "My problem is that I cannot protect you or the rest of those we care about as I am. Alice and I went to Devon after your death. We sought out a way to separate the god I'll become from the man. We saw the results in visions we shared with Althea, the covens seer. It was a nightmare beyond anything you could comprehend. Suffice it to say that I'll become the god I'm meant to be or I'll end myself. Any other options are very bad."
She nodded slowly and I sighed wearily now. "The thing is, with my connection to the slayer line, to the goddess buried in each of you, you'll be compelled to kill Alice when I do become the god."
Buffy frowned. "Why would I want to kill Alice? I like Alice. She's so nice and chipper, like a Willow with Tara mixed in."
I chuckled at her description. "Perhaps she is, I hadn't thought of it like that. But no, you'll be compelled because once I become the god my connection with the slayer line will strengthen. The slayer essence in you will compelled you to kill all perceivable threats to me as I'll be a weakened god, much like Glory was. I'll be stronger than I am now on average but in these moments, when I'm with you and you're with me, I'm vulnerable."
She frowned and I raised her head to meet my gaze. "You, Alice and Faith make me vulnerable, and I accept that. I'd sacrifice my body and soul to protect you if I thought for a second any of you were in danger."
She looked me in the eyes and knew I wasn't lying. With a small nod from her I sighed. "But with her being a vampire, and you being a slayer, you'll feel the threat to me in these moments and the slayer essence can reach through you, commanding your instincts to act. She will die when I am powerless to stop it, because to do so would mean killing you."
Buffy looked saddened now and merely lay there in silence as the night brought a comfort of its own. We watched the stars and heart the crickets chirping as the wind lightly blowed. The sounds of nature had their own music to play and we listened as they composed.
As the sky lightened a little Faith and Alice returned and found us asleep on the porch. They'd been careful but woke me as they passed. I carefully lifted Buffy and took her inside where the cool AC had her curling into me.
The girls joined us in bed where we simply held each other as the night turned into day. I woke early and slid out of bed much to the protest of the girls before heading to the bathroom to freshen up and get ready for the day. I made breakfast while they woke up and served them at the table.
Buffy was a bit out of it but went with the flow as I poured her orange juice. I told her. "Relax, Willow and Tara will see Dawn off to school like they usually do. I've left them a message on the answering machine. As for other things, once you've finished with your food we'll talk."
Alice and Faith sat on each side of her and enjoyed their own meals. I poured Faith her coffee and Alice her blood with a smile. I ate some bacon and a glass of blood for myself before cleaning up.
When I finished we headed to the living room and sat down. I began. "I won't apologize to Willow or take back my words. Everything has a price and she needs to learn that some prices are to high to pay. My words were true none the less. Several dozen old witches died stopping our world from being invaded during their little spell."
Buffy looked saddened and I nodded solemnly. "Nonetheless, I've strained my relationship with the scoobies because of it. I had to warn her all the same because the witch community at large has made its stance clear. They will kill her and everyone we hold dear if she reaches for this magic's again. They only gave me the option to stop her first before they act. I'm strong magically. Stronger than most, but Willow, the way she's going about things will see her far stronger than even I am currently."
Buffy frowned. "And that's bad?"
I nodded. "The way she's doing it is by taking in and channeling dark magic. She caught a glimpse of it with Angel's curse. And again when she tried to go after Glory. Now that she's touched on the darkest of it the community at large is fearful she'll go dark. With her potential as a witch, she could literally end the world Buffy. The dark magic's are like drugs to normal humans. Once you've got a taste, you're hooked. Addicted if you will. There's nothing you won't do for another just a bit more. With her potential though, a bit more is like an ocean of heroin for most witches."
Buffy asked. "Should we be worried?"
I shrugged. "It's hard to say right now. Tara is her anchor, grounding her to the light magic's but with her most recent actions, they, the other witches that is, fear she'll do much worse than just bring one person back or curse some vampire. Nature has a balance Buffy and with her living on a hellmouth where every bit of magic you take from nature around you is tainted, the odds aren't in her favor."
Buffy looked really worried now and I sympathized. She asked. "What do you think I should do them?"
I shrugged. "She's your best friend and you're her leader in a way. She looks up to you and hopefully she'll listen. Try and get her to ease of the magic's. Maybe see about getting her to continue cleansing rituals again. If nothing else maybe just not asking her to do spells for Scooby missions. Alice, Tara and evening Giles, when he arrives, would be better options for those spells. We at least know how to effectively remove the taint from ourselves and magic and are willing to do so."
Buffy nodded slowly before saying. "I gotta go, there's this leaky pipe in the basement that's been driving me insane since I got back."
I chuckled and handed her a credit card I'd ordered in her name. "There. Charge for a plumber with that. I got it months ago before, well anyway, I pay on it each week so there's a great amount you can charge to it. Save the insurance money for Dawn's college fund or something. As for the money I left for Dawn, Giles has used what's needed to pay the house bills and set it up separate so you needn't worry there."
She thanked me with a kiss before leaving with Alice. Faith sighed and asked. "Feel like getting naked and seeing how long it takes before one of us gives in and touches the other?"
I had my shirt off before she could finish asking making her laugh. We spent the afternoon naked in each other's arms on the living room couch. Alice has joined us after a visit to the bank to get Buffy's signature on file for the credit card and bank accounts.
There Buffy fought a demon and the bank was robbed. They took a bit hence her joining us post coitus. Faith was still flushed with spent energy when Alice got back. She of course, insisted that we do a re-enactment so that she understood how we got that way.
To her amusement and excitement Faith was a very good actress. That night Buffy stayed home as Giles had returned and was sleeping on her couch. She did call though and tell us so. The next day while I was playing with the stock market Buffy called about the demon that had apparently attacked her house after the bank the day before.
We came over and did a locator spell on the corpse to find out who summoned and sent it. That lead was a dead end, literally. It was dead to point us to it's summoner and it'd been too long since it was summoned.
When I told Buffy that she was a bit disappointed but Willow suggested doing a stronger spell that I turned down immediately. "To do that kind of spell over a hell mouth we would need to take in the taint of the hellmouth intentionally. Neither I or Alice will do that unless it's life or death Willow. It would cause us agony to get rid of it. The fact that you don't even think about that worries me."
She frowned but Giles agreed shut her down as he added. "You've certainly done enough magic's on a hellmouth. I think it best we not push that onto others as well."
Sighing I stood over the dead demon and asked Buffy. "Want me to take it out of here? I'm sure it'll feed the plants out back for a good long while."
She nodded with a small smile. "That'd be great thanks."
I chuckled. "No problem. I would hate to see what you'll kill with a pipe next time."
I picked up the body and tossed it over my shoulder. My body partially shifted to adjust to it as I carried the body out back and tossed it near the flower bed. With a thought the plants consumed the body leaving green fertilizer behind that the plants around the area loved. The flowers would grow easier and bloom longer for it.
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