Author: Restive Nature (aka Bavite)
Disclaimer: The characters and fictional placings of either of these shows do not belong to me. They belong to Cameron/ Eglee (Dark Angel), Joss Whedon (BtVS) and Whedon/ Greenwalt (AtS). Only the story belongs to me.
Rating: 13 (for now)
Genre: Crossover of DA/ BtVS
Type: WiP
Time line/ Spoilers: Post Season 5 for Buffy. Up to LAtR for DA. Story set in DA time.
Summary: BtVS/ DA crossover. Life brings about so many changes. Especially when one has just risen from the dead.
Distribution: Is under the discretion of the author, so please ask instead of taking please.
Reviews: While I may not always respond to reviews, they are always welcome!
Darkening Of The Light
Chapter Twenty-three
May 31st, 2021
10:32 p.m.
Seattle, WA
Fogle Towers, penthouse suite
“Okay, screw this,” Alec muttered as he pushed off the wall. He completely ignored Max and Logan's protests as he marched down the hallway. Yes, they'd been waiting all evening to have their turn, their chance to talk to Tara Maclay. But somehow, understandably, that wasn't as important as Buffy being given time to learn things that she needed to know from the woman. But there was a niggling in the back of Alec's mind, that the longer it went on, the worse it was getting. Something wasn't sitting right with him and he was determined to discover what it was. And after thinking it through logically and paying attention to where his instincts lay, he knew that it was centered around Buffy, of course.
Standing outside her door, he reached one hand up to knock, still unable to hear anything clearly from the other side of the barrier, then, rapped sharply. “Guys?” he asked and then moved to turn the door handle. He didn't want to startle them, even though it was an interruption. But there was no move to push the door back shut as he eased it open. And he could see immediately why that was the case.
Tara was holding Buffy as the girl wept silently in her arms. There were tears upon Tara's face as well. The older woman glanced up at Alec, no censure in her face. But her eyes? Alec's feet started moving forward of their own volition. The woman seemed pleased? Relieved, maybe? Whatever it was, she gladly relinquished the hold she had on the younger blond as Alec crouched down so that he was in Buffy's eye line.
“Hey there,” he spoke softly. “We were getting a little worried. Thought you could maybe use another break?”
Buffy didn't reply, but Tara did.
“I th-think that's a good idea,” she stammered only slightly, but Alec didn't move to look at her, just continued to watch Buffy. The girl had straightened up a bit and was watching Alec even as he studied her.
“I'm sorry you worried,” she finally spoke and Alec winced at the roughness in her voice. “It's been... Tara just told me...”
Alec nodded, not needing her to explain further. “It's been rough, huh?” he commented, this time including Tara. “Even with all the time that's passed?” He certainly wasn't referring to the evening and Tara nodded.
“Oh but,” Buffy suddenly exclaimed and her eyes darted back and forth between the two, until they settled on Tara. “Giles,” she murmured softly and Tara's hand automatically reached for Buffy's.
“He passed on honey,” she soothed, “a little over three years ago. In his sleep.”
Even just hovering, not touching her, Alec could feel the tension drain from Buffy. This guy had been a big part of her life and he could only imagine what hearing that was doing to her. But if he had to judge by her initial reaction, he would say that she was.. relieved?
“It was...?” she asked something silently of her friend, which Tara seemed to understand. The witch smiled gently.
“Natural causes,” she offered placatingly, squeezing her friends hand. “Giles wasn't a young man, by any means.”
Alec was surprised and pleased when Buffy chuckled.
“He was English,” she remarked. “I think he was born old.” Her eyes closed briefly and then flashed back to Tara. “Did he ever tell you that when he was young, instead of going to his family's alma mater,” she paused for a moment, her mouth twisting into a slight frown before smoothing out. Tara nodded encouragingly and Buffy continued, “that he wanted to be a fighter pilot... or a green grocer.”
Having announced that, both women burst into laughter and Alec could sort of see why it was funny, for not really knowing the man. Such dispairty between jobs.
“So what did he end up doing?” he asked, pleased to see these signs of life in the girl that he couldn't help but care about, at least just a little bit.
“Curator for a British museum,” both women replied at the same time and then smiled at one another, making Alec's smile grow. And then Buffy continued. “And then when he came to America, he was my high school librarian. And after, well, after the mess at graduation, he took some time off and then he bought a store. Just... just before my death,” she finished, her eyes straying to the floor.
Alec was startled and while not pleased with the subject matter, felt a great relief he hadn't known he carried, lift from his mind. This was the first time he had heard Buffy actually verbalize what had happened to her. To say the words, applied directly to herself. She had talked a little, very little about her life before. That was a given, for the fact that she was trying to find the people in her life and there was no after... or at least very little of one in the time frame since she'd... come back. But it seemed to Alec, to be a huge step forward for her. Whatever else this visit had wrought, there was that.
“Oh,” she exclaimed suddenly and both Alec and Tara's attention returned explicitly to her. Alec hadn't even noticed that Tara had been studying him thoughtfully. Buffy looked startled as well and then bit at her lower lip. “What about... well, Riley? I mean, I know he left, with the military... did you ever hear from him again?”
“We did,” Tara smiled and then chuckled. “He umm, well, he came back and well, Faith pretty much, uh, kicked his behind all over town.”
“She did?” her eyes grew wide. “Why would Faith do that?”
Alec was interested as well, since Buffy hadn't really been enthusiastic about this Faith girl when she had been mentioned before.
“Well,” Tara sighed as she seemed to be ordering her thoughts and her nose wrinkled up a little as she began. “Faith was upset because Riley didn't come back for your funeral.” Buffy nodded and seemed to wave that away, which amazed Alec, that she could casually dismiss this. To his recall, this Riley guy was her ex. He wasn't sure about the protocol of exes coming to an exes funeral, especially not knowing what had gone down between them. “She was furious with him for not being there for Dawn.”
That got a vigorous nod from Buffy.
“And mostly she was offended because, well,” Tara bit at her lip and then rushed through her next explanation. “She was mad because he got married. Really quickly, after you guys broke up. Like, I think it was a-about six months?”
Alec watched as Buffy's eyes grew wide and then she blinked slowly. Ouch, he hissed to himself. That was a kind of a blow. But her next words surprised him. “Wow, prison really did change Faith.”
Tara nodded. “Well, once she got that sorted out, she helped him and his wife, Samantha, track down one of the criminals they were after.”
“Samantha,” Buffy mused questioningly.
“Sam,” Tara corrected gently. “She was in the same unit as Riley, in Belize.”
“Was she?” Buffy screwed her face up, unable to complete the thought.
“She was nice,” Tara remarked blandly and Alec tried to hide his smile, sure that it wasn't really what Buffy wanted to hear. He knew that much about women. “They had a lot in common,” she offered quickly on the heels with that. “She gave Anya and Xander a lot of advice on their wedding.”
Both women frowned at that and Alec wondered what he was missing there. He shrugged to himself, figuring that if it were important, they could find out later.
“How long were they down in Belize?” Buffy then asked. “Or do you know?”
“I only heard about it later,” Tara explained. “Apparently Riley wrote a letter for Dawn and asked for Xander to pass it along to her, should anything happen to him.”
Alec felt the tension rise in Buffy again and was quickly rubbing a soothing circle on her lower back that didn't lessen the tension, but she seemed to draw some strength from it.
“Of course, it was sent on to Angel and he kept it until we were sure...” Tara trailed off and Buffy slowly nodded.
“Who sent the letter? Sam?” she asked and Tara shook her head.
“Graham Miller?” she offered and then waited as Buffy's face screwed up thoughtfully. “He was in the service with Riley, in Sunnydale,” she prompted gently and Buffy sighed.
“I remember him,” she smiled sadly. “He was... nice.”
“Apparently,” Tara continued, “the unit was in an area of some concentrated... guerrilla warfare,” Tara offered and Alec stiffened. It was almost like he could hear the lie in her voice and a quick check of Buffy showed him that the tension had grown. Were they speaking in code because of him? He had the feeling that they were. But he let it go. It wasn't like Buffy was privy to all his secrets.
When no one countermanded her words, Tara continued. “The unit was having some difficulty and with the pulse occurring, it cut off their communications and of course, no one was able to send back up. Some of them made it out, Graham, Sam and a few others. Riley died from internal injuries, trying to protect Sam.”
Buffy nodded, tight lipped and then declared, “yeah, that's the way Riley would have wanted it to be.” and then the tension seemed to disappear, as something else seemed to occur to her. “But why did the letter go to Angel?”
“Oh, Angel was paying Xander's hospital bills,” Tara explained quickly. “What his insurance didn't cover. The long term stuff.”
Buffy nodded slowly and then threw a quick, sad smile in Alec's direction. “I guess the Pulse messed everything up for everybody, huh?”
“It did,” he confirmed softly, without explanation of what it had meant for him. It was actually before the Pulse that his orderly life had been decimated, but he could not explain that to her. Not now, not here, maybe... not ever? They all sat together quietly as Alec slowed the absentminded rubbing of her lower back and then carefully withdrew his hand.
“You ready for that break now?” he offered again and was relieved when Buffy nodded. He rose up easily and held his hand out to her. She took it and rose as well but relinquished it immediately and Alec felt suddenly like he had lost something. It didn't make him happy, the loss or the realization that it bothered him. 'Can't get close' he reminded himself harshly. Not after all that he had rallied and railed against Max and Logan's relationship.
“So,” Buffy spoke quietly as they walked out of her room, with her behind Alec and Tara bringing up the rear. “Have any luck floating that pencil?”
Alec was only slightly startled as he turned to regard the two women. Both had identical, amused smiles on their faces. He fought the embarrassed blush that was trying to rise in his face and knew from their deepening amusement that it wasn't working and then rubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck. “You figured that out, huh?”
“It wasn't hard,” Buffy offered. And then she was the one grabbing at his free hand and squeezing slightly. “I mean, the first time I saw Willow do it, it was pretty cool. Of course, Faith kinda pissed her off...” she trailed off and glanced at Tara. When the woman nodded, she went on. “Well, Willow was going on about emotional control and we were talking about Faith and then all of a sudden, instead of the pencil just floating in the air, it's was spinning, like I don't know and then zoom!” She made a swift motion, slashing her free hand in the air. “Right into a tree!”
There were chuckles and then Buffy shrugged one shoulder. “I always thought it was kind of cool. To be able to do that. Until I learned more about it.”
Encouraged, Alec started moving again, relishing in the simple pleasure of the warmth of Buffy's hand in his. It didn't mean anything, not really. Just the easy friendship between them growing. Friends were good, Alec had decided and they both needed... something. Just as long as he kept his eyes wide open, it would be okay, he rationalized without too much deep thought. “Yeah,” he mused, “we were, I guess just filling time, mostly. The website is interesting, though,” he offered over Buffy's head to Tara.
“Thank you,” she replied and he was surprised to see that her stutter seemed to have disappeared for the most part. “It was mostly others that worked on putting it all together. And since one of our goals is to help promote understanding, I'm always happy to hear about people's interest. Whether it's in passing or otherwise.”
“Yeah,” Alec mused as they made their way into the living room where Max and Logan were sitting on the edges of their respective seats, watching and waiting eagerly. “I don't think any of us have got the makings of a witch in us, but hey, never know, right?”
“Warlock,” Buffy interrupted and attention shot to her. “Males are warlocks, right?”
“In general terminology, yes,” Tara agreed, and then looked around at the room. “Females are witches, but Wiccan is the term most everyone feels comfortable settling on both genders.” She ducked her head just a little. “At least, that's been my experience.”
“Well, you'd be the expert,” Max piped up, seeming to strive for politeness, but it was tainted by a sort of eagerness on her face. “And... well,” she mimicked unconsciously, Alec's earlier physical gesture, rubbing at the back of her neck for a moment.
“You probably have plenty of questions,” Tara finished for her and Max, looking relieved, slightly, nodded. “In general and more specific?” She asked and Max nodded again.
“Do you think it could wait?” Buffy piped up and Alec had that strange sensation of leadership qualities in the girl forcing themselves forward. But as Max turned to her, a protest seeming to form on her lips, Buffy seemed to shrink back on herself. “It was, it was just, really rough...” she murmured. Alec threw a warning glance, laden with silent threats for Max's wellbeing if she pushed the subject and she recognized it immediately, stiffening in her seat, but then suddenly grinning and relaxing.
“I was actually thinking,” Tara spoke into the silence, “that while I'd be more than happy go over everything that obviously happened in Sunnydale with you, it might be better if you could, well, perhaps you could write it out, step by step, what happened?”
“That seems logical,” Logan mused, looking as if he were on the fence about it.
“I'm sure you can understand,” Tara went on, “that we don't have a precise idea of what,” she glanced quickly at Buffy, but the girl was quiet, “happened, why or the timing of it. I think you might have some clues. This is the sort of thing that my... group and I would need to research. So whatever details you could add...?”
“I think that would be for the best,” Max agreed quietly, eying the older blond and something seemed to pass between them, whether it was understanding or a recognition of something deeper, none of the others seemed to know. “I know I'm not exactly clear on all the details. I think some time... would be good.”
Tara was nodding and since Max had made the decision, Logan of course fell in line, even if he wasn't completely happy about it. Alec, having already figured that they would need to table this discussion until later, was quite all right about it.
“Would it be possible for you to come back then?” Logan asked politely. “Another time? Or, well, we don't know what you have planned.”
Tara smiled and gently touched Buffy's arm, garnering her attention and then directed to Buffy herself, but also the room at large. “You have the number of the motel I'm staying at. I can certainly stay for a while longer. My assistant at the Commune is certainly capable of handling things in my absence. Would that be all right?”
Buffy was already nodding. “Yes,” she murmured through a lump in her throat. “I'd like that.” And then, in a surprising move to most, she repeated her actions of earlier in the night and, still holding Alec's hand, reached out to hug the older woman. But unlike earlier, there were no tears, less fears and the realization of a bond of sorts renewed. When she let the woman loose, she inhaled hugely and exhaled slowly. “Can I call you tomorrow?”
“Of course,” Tara nodded. She turned to the others. “It was a pleasure to meet you all. Of course I wish it could have been...” she seemed to realize then that the usual platitudes weren't quite applicable and sheepishly glanced down at the floor.
“Let me get your coat,” Logan smiled, happily and easily slipping into his role of host. That said, the coat was quickly retrieved and the group moved to the door to say farewell for the evening.
“I'll talk to you tomorrow,” Tara reassured both herself and Buffy as the stood before the door. The women shared another smile and then Tara opened the door. But her gasp and sudden step back worried them instantly. The look of horror on her face induced a panic among them all.
For the Seattle natives, it was fear that perhaps someone, most likely Joshua, had for some reason shown up on Logan's door step as he once had before. They'd had no chance to warn him to stay away, for which Max was roundly telling herself off for. But before they could even move to intervene in the potential situation, Tara had recovered herself and was about to move forward, but the door swung all the way open, to reveal who it was at the other side.
And even as the others seemed to breath a sigh of relief that it was just a man, albeit one unknown to them, they also could not miss Buffy's reaction.
“Angel!” she rasped out, and they all turned to look at her. Her eyes were wide, brimming with sudden tears and she was shaking. Alec had barely the briefest nanosecond to prepare himself as the sudden crushing pain was in his hand that held Buffy's again. Now, this ex of hers created a much more visceral reaction than the other had.
And when the tall, dark, and brooding figure stepped through the doorway, eager to make his way to the recently resurrected girl, Alec had no warning at all, when her hand went slack and Buffy Summers fainted into his panicked arms.
Chapter Twenty-four
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