Fiction- AtHwA03- Due Consideration

Title: All That Heaven Will Allow

Chapter Title: Chapter Two- Due Consideration

Author: Restive Nature

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to BtVS. They belong to Whedon & Mutant Enemy. I also do not own the rights to Charmed. They belong to the WB. No infringement is intended and this fiction is for private enjoyment only.

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Crossover

Type: Angst, Action, Humor

Pairing: canon pairings in both shows

Summary: Slayer dreams and Whitelighter-Witch hybrid powers collide when the veil between worlds come close to collapsing. Can baby Wyatt survive life on the Hellmouth?

Spoilers/ Time line: Season 4 (after “Harsh Light Of Day”) of Buffy and Season 6 (after “Forget Me... Not”) Of Charmed.

Feedback: Always welcome!

Distribution: Ask first please.

A/N: This was one of my contributions started for NaNoWriMo 2012. The story was by no means completed in that month and I am looking forward to continuing it.

A/N2: There is a definite time difference between these two worlds and the seasons that I am using. This will hopefully, be explained within the fiction itself.

All That Heaven Will Allow

Chapter Two

Due Consideration

“So what do you think?” Buffy asked, nervously wringing her hands as her mentor and former Watcher, Rupert Giles, straightened his glasses upon his face. He regarded her with all the solemnity of his professions, multiple since, while one as a librarian, was a cover that he used to explain the other as Watcher to the active Slayer, it was one that had attracted his interest.

“I think that, based upon your familiarity with the Slayer dreams that you've had before,” he offered carefully, “then we should give due consideration to this as well. You said it centered around a baby?”

“Yeah,” Buffy nodded, her fingers ceasing their twisting, now that she had gotten everything out. “It was weird though,” she frowned. “I mean, a baby? In a cave? Who would have put it there?”

“I can't say,” Giles sighed. “I would think that it's perhaps a... a representational image. Or perhaps a mislead of some sort. Perhaps there is something there that wants infants. Don't forget the Mayor and the ritual of Larconis,” he reminded her. Buffy shuddered slightly. As if stopping a demon wanting to ascend hadn't been bad enough. The thing, she couldn't call it a man, because it hadn't been for so long, was perfectly willing to sacrifice innocent babies to that other demon for tribute. If that wasn't ick on the gross factor to a billionth, then she didn't know what was.

“I don't think it was Giles,” Buffy argued as she watched the man reaching for the tea pot that he had settled on the tray of goodies that he had started preparing the moment she had showed up on his doorstep. She had assured him that she would have been there sooner, but she had had to finish her test. College might be a little like high school, but no teacher ever accepted 'sorry I had a bad dream last night and need to tell my old librarian about it,' as an acceptable excuse to leave a test without finishing it.

“You think it was an actual child?” Giles smiled. It wasn't that he was fond of the thought, but more bemusement over the girl that was having said thoughts.

Buffy nodded. “And something was hunting it. Something wanted it. And it was getting away somehow. Going from one spot to another.”

“Teleporting?” Giles clarified, glancing up with surprise, but then his face grew bemused again. “I'm afraid I haven't heard tell of a baby that had a magical power such as that. It takes magical adepts an incredibly long time to even reach a level such as that.”

“Well,” Buffy sighed doubtfully, “you said it might be a representational image. What if it's someone in trouble and um...”

“Perhaps it means an innocent?” Giles finished for her. He was nodding, but then paused to pour out the hot tea. He passed it to her without incident and Buffy stared down at the beverage that she settled partially on her lap, wary of the heat it produced. “That certainly could hold merit.” He poured for himself and after settling the tea pot back into its cozy, relaxed back into his seat. “I suppose I could make some calls.”

“Thanks Giles,” she sighed in relief. “I mean, there wasn't any object. Like you know, some thing that someone's after, that I can find and protect or destroy... Well, other than the baby. But that would be a protect thing. You know?”

“And how much time do you think we have?” Giles wondered. He had retrieved a notebook from a pile of books that was nearby. In actuality, though he seemed very laid back, it was obvious that he was interested, not only in what his Slayer was doing and expecting. But in solving this puzzle.

“I couldn't say for sure,” Buffy explained, leaning forward again, cradling the mug in her hands. “I mean, the pencil in the sweater thing? That was first, so I know the dream was real. The other stuff, it came after, but I don't know if it was giving me a time line. The baby in the cave, it was night time, I think.” She noticed some loose material in her pants, along the side seam and picked absently at it while she contemplated things. “It's weird, that things were jumping back and forth.”

“Perhaps its an extension of your powers growing,” Giles remarked mildly. “you did say that you're getting better at recognizing these dreams, as opposed to your other more, mundane shall we say-!”

Whatever Giles was about to say fell by the wayside as the door to his apartment burst open.

“Hey Giles!” Xander's hearty voice boomed out. He was surprisingly cheerful for it being the morning still and having to come to Giles' apartment for the ongoing organization of books that Giles had hired him to help with.

But the effect on Buffy, who had been centered on her thoughts, focus narrowed, startled visibly at his entrance. Before either man could say anything, she had twisted in her seat, taken off guard and reacted instinctively. Her hand, tightening on the handle of the mug she held, was a little too tight with her strength in one hand alone and the piece cracked. Unable to support the weight of the mug and the tea inside, it fell straight down.

Right into her lap.

With a pained cry, Buffy jumped to her feet, bumping into the coffee table, causing a cascade of books and cookies to slide around.

“Dear lord,” Giles yelped as he swiftly settled his mug on a side table and began to reach for the young woman that was the closest thing he had to a daughter. “Are you all right?”

“Oh, sorry Buff, my bad” Xander winced as he pushed the front door shut behind himself. “Didn't mean to...” he trailed off as he bypassed Giles' dining room table and came around the end of the sofa. Buffy was hastily trying to wipe the excess of moisture from her legs as Giles supplied her with napkins.

“It's okay,” she tried to reassure them. “Just a little burn. The tea was... hot.” Her eyes grew wide again, her hand pausing in mid swipe. And then she turned to her Watcher. “Giles! This was another clue. It's going to happen tonight.”

“Are you sure Buffy?” Giles demanded, pulling his glasses from his face to peer up at her from his seated position. “That seems a little...”

“What's the what?” Xander wondered, his eyes darting between his best friend and their mentor. “Are we having problems on the level of bad? Are things gonna get bad again?”

Buffy shook her head before turning to address her friend. “Slayer dream this morning. Little time. Something is after a baby.”

“Now Buffy,” Giles protested, reaching for a handkerchief to clean his glasses with. “We've just agreed it may not be an actual infant.”

“I don't know Giles,” she groaned, reaching to rub at her sore knee, realizing that her mug of hot liquid had been completely disregarded by the others. She shuffled her feet a little to avoid stepping in the puddle it had created. It was rapidly being absorbed into the rug there. “Everything else that's happened from the dream had been a literal interpretation. I poked my classmate with my broken pencil and ripped her sweater. The mug handle broke and I spilled tea on my knees. What else has to happen before we believe that there's a baby,” she held up her hand and raised her voice slightly to be heard over Giles' murmured objection, “or an innocent, that needs my help?”

“That's all I was asking for,” Giles offered placatingly. “But yes, I do believe that we're working on a short time line. I should just like for you to be aware that it may not be an actual infant.”

“Okay,” Buffy conceded easily. “So what are we going to do?”

“Avengers assemble,” Xander grunted with a shrug. “Easy peasy.”

“Quite,” Giles grinned and then wiped the look from his face before the young man saw it and thought he might have a little more leeway for his natural buffoonery. He replaced his glasses on his face and stood to pocket his handkerchief. “We should gather and research this. I'll begin with calling some contacts of mine. They're much more versed in natural magics and would have their ear to the ground about whom this innocent that needs protection might be. If nothing else, perhaps their Seer can scry for an answer.”

“Okay, good,” Buffy nodded.

“Should we call Wills?” Xander wondered. “She'd be good on the researchy side of things.”

Buffy glanced at her wrist, turning it so she could see the face of her watch that had been tucked into her book bag. She grunted softly. “No, she's just finishing up a class. And there's no guarantee she'd go back to our room. It's almost lunch time.”

“So we go, we find?” Xander decided. Buffy nodded.

“That seems easiest,” she figured. “Maybe we can grab a bite on the go. I have until seven tonight to work this out.”

“Yikes,” Xander frowned and then stepped back so that the Slayer could make her way to the front door. “I'll make a donut stop for sure then.”

“Don't forget the jellies,” Giles reminded him absently, already looking through his address book to find the names of the people he intended to call.

Chapter Three- Impending Something