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Yay - 1000 posts... only fitting that I save it for my own fic. One landmark that ZAhir can't take from me! (Just kidding Z.)

Here is part 2 kittens... nothing more until Wednesday at the earliest, just so my dear beta reader has a chance to have a life beside this!

Enjoy,

K
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Title: The Sidestep Chronicle Backstep II (Part 2)
Author: Katharyn Rosser
Feedback: Constructive criticism always welcome. katharynrosser@hotmail.com
Spoiler Warning: Pretty limited. The story occurs in an alternate universe though reference is made to events that occur in both realities. Limited material from The Body is used strictly as background for this fic though these cannot be considered spoilers since I changed the reality plus it aired ages ago.
Summary: The second Backstep, this time to take us to the defining moment in Taras life. The thing that drives her at least until she gets another purpose later on but we will get to that. This occurs a few months after Backstep Part One. For the sake of argument say around the time of Out of Sight Out of Mind though that is not significant other than that time has passed.
Disclaimer: I still dont own any of the copyrights or anything else associated with BTVS. All rights lie with the production company, writers etc, etc. I am making zilch from this series of stories.
Rating: 15
Couples: None still some time to go yet.
Notes: Just to stress here, Tara is 16 and a bit here which is why she sounds young At least I hope she does.
Finally when I wrote The Beginning Cycle I operated under the belief that Tara may have had some younger brothers. The canon source allowed for that a matter of interpretation. I changed my mind and went with the general consensus. There is just Donny in this fic.
Thanks To: The board moderators and their helpers who recently, even more than usual, have been proving why Pens and Kitten are absolutely the best place to be on the Net W/T, Buffy or not. They dont get thanked enough and they deserve to. Louise, Kerry be well hun and Jo Wizpup.

The Sidestep Chronicle

Backstep Part II

By

Katharyn Rosser


D-Daddy?

There was no response from inside the dark house. There was not a light, not a candle. No fire in the hearth. No television or radio on. No music. Nothing. The house was completely dead. She took one of the dinner plates she had fixed up before she went to the hospital from the fridge and started to pick at the food with a fork as she walked around, turning some lights on as she went so that the house was just a little less spooky. She hated being alone out here.

The other plates were still there though. The roast meat, the potatoes. Everything was untouched. On every plate. No one had eaten a thing. They always sat down and ate. And even when they didnt Donny couldnt resist the rumblings of his stomach for more than few hours at a time.

Had they all gone out, perhaps to the hospital? Grabbed something in town maybe? Unless it was an urgent visit and they wouldnt have stooped to wait. That would be one of the only things to interrupt dinner together. That and her own absence.

But he, Daddy, had said that they were not going there today, that her mother needed her rest and that she should not go to the hospital either. Mommy was doing better but not well enough. And for the first time she could remember in a lot of years she had disobeyed him. If she thought back she could still remember the sting from the last time she had done that. But he shouldnt mind this time. Not for that, surely. And she was a little too old for No. Youre never too old. That was one of favourite sayings. But usually to Donny. She didnt give him much cause these days.

Had they gone looking for her? Worried she might have had an accident or run into some bad people? She had left a note, telling them where their dinner was and she wasn't that late anyway. She walked back to the kitchen and checked. The note was gone from the message pad. They couldnt have missed it, everyone knew to check there. It was a big part of how they communicated in this house. She had gone straight from school, and Donny knew she was going anyway. She had made sure to tell him. He wouldnt have pleaded ignorance and hidden that note just to get her in trouble again? Not when she had been going to the hospital surely

But he might have. He was getting more and more out of control. Unless he shaped up soon then he was going to be the one to get in trouble and not just with Daddy. Already the police had been here twice asking where he had been certain nights when there had been trouble in town. And Daddy had told them. He was here officer, with Tara.

And she had nodded because what choice did he give her?

She had lied to the police. And she was sure that they knew it but they didnt seem to hold it against her. Officer Reynolds had even given her a lift this evening to the hospital. Not a word had been said about Donny, she was just a genuinely nice lady.

Tara absently picked a slice of meat from a plate with her fingers, shed put the fork down and who was there to tell her off for eating with her fingers? She chewed on it nervously. Was she going to be in trouble? She was home. It wasn't late, it was dark sure but she wasn't past curfew. But then she had disobeyed Daddy. She had gone to the hospital when he had told her not to do that. Her mother though, her mother had been pleased to see her. She had seemed stronger. Better. Maybe it had helped her. That was why she went.

Maybe just a little to feel better herself. It was hard here alone with Daddy and Donny. Sometimes you just needed to give some love and feel some in return. She didnt get that with them. Daddy was aloof with everyone but her Mom and Donny he was what her grandfather would have called a bad seed. And he was her older brother. They werent supposed to get on.

She made her way through the house again, looking in rooms, even in the special room which would one day, she was promised, be hers. But not yet. It was as empty as the rest of the house. The restraints hanging loose, moving in the slight draft. Had she left the back door open? He wouldnt be happy if she had, letting the cold in. Though the house was already freezing cold. She hadnt noticed with her coat on until she had touched the doorknob here.

The house was cold. The house was never cold. Her mother couldnt abide the cold and even when she wasn't here Daddy kept the house warm and toasty. Ready for her to come back he said. Just in case. What if the hospital send her home and there is a cold house waiting for her? She and Donny had learnt to keep the house warm.

The house was cold. That wouldnt do. He would be angry when he got back and if she didnt do anything about it then it would be even worse. Even if it wasn't her fault. Failure to act to correct the problem was the sin, not the error that had caused it in the first place. Anyone could make a mistake but if you failed to act to correct it that was just bone idleness. No excuses.

No sir.

She hurried through the house, wondering just how warm she could get it before they got back. She kinda hoped for a little time just so it could warm up a bit. Even if she had to be all alone during that time. What they called the front door, which was actually to the rear of the house, was - as she had suspected - wide open. The state had changed their plans and moved the road whilst the house was being built, decades ago. That was why they had an open front door at the rear. Which no one ever really used because it went virtually nowhere. It was probably Donny that had left it. He was always doing that. And she was always closing it after him. Correcting the error. Yes sir.

Not only was the door open but the fire had burnt right down in the front room. All the way down to ashes. There was nothing left at all. Wood, she needed wood. She just hoped that Donny had done his chores this morning. If there was no chopped wood then she was going to have to do it and she wasn't very good with an axe not beyond the first swing anyway. It kept getting stuck. But she would try her best and she could certainly get enough wood to get the fire going, probably just from scraps. She should be okay with those. That was the important thing. Get the house warmed up before they came back. Do your duty for the family Tara and correct the error.

She went out of the front door and over to the shed. There was some already chopped wood thank goodness. At least she wouldnt have to deal with that. But the barn door was open too. And that was a real no-no. That was where they stabled the horses and if one of the horses got out then Daddy would really get mad. They had to look after the horses. If they couldnt look after them then they wouldnt be allowed to have them anymore. Donny if he had left the door open then shed do what? Shed correct the error. Yes sir. What else was she going to do?

But if Marmalade, her horse, or Duke, which was Donnys had gotten out then there would be nothing she could do. Not until morning and tomorrow was a school day too. Donny would have to go himself to find the horse or horses. Hopefully before Daddy found out. She didnt want to be punished for Donnys mistake. He would be so mad if he found out. Shed shut the doors and even if a horse was gone Daddy might not notice. He had nothing much to do with the barn on a normal day. It was theirs, hers and Donnys since their mothers horse had died two summers ago but Mommy hadnt ridden Holst for a long time before that. Neither of them had really been up to it. She was already sick and just went out there to feed and groom the elderly horse. Shed cried for so long when he finally faded away. It hadnt helped her illness any either. They had never replaced Holst. Maybe if they had and if she had been able to go out would that have helped her? No she would probably have got a chill. Her chest was weaker even then.

Tara was getting mad, whispering to herself as she crossed the yard towards the barn. Helplessness about her mothers illness compounded with Donnys stupidity. There was a faint glow from inside, maybe a lamp somewhere hidden from view. Were they in there? Was that where they were? But doing what? Maybe one of the horses was sick. Please dont let it be Marmalade. Please.

Daddy? Donny? she called out to them, hoping that they were in there, that none of this was her fault and that she really wasnt all alone out here. She didnt like to be alone; she just couldnt help imagining that there were things out in the night waiting for her. Knowing that there were things wasn't any comfort to her at all. Her mother made sure that she knew what was out there and how you could deal with them. Daddy hadnt objected to that when she had told Tara. What would work against what, so many things to remember but she could never do any of that. She was too much of a coward. Donny and Daddy. They would deal with anything that came out of the night to threaten them. That was their role.

She rounded the big barn door and could see that the light was coming from above. The stable doors though, at least they were closed. She picked up a torch from where it hung beside the door and went to check on Marmalade who was moving around a lot. She could hear her in the stall.

The horse had dried saliva all around her mouth and her eyes were still wide, alert. If she had been human Tara would have thought she was shocked. Something something had upset the horse.

Horses.

Duke in the stall next to her was in the same condition, but with a quick glance they both seemed otherwise all right, thank the goddess.

She stuck her arm over the door towards her horse, expecting her hand to be nuzzled but Marmalade shied away from the hand as if it was holding a burning flame. Violently, back so far that her hindquarters banged into the back of the stable.

Which had not been mucked out.

Neither of them had.

One thing Donny never missed. Never failed to do, even if it was a chore. He never forgot to care for the horses. Never. She did his household chores and he would muck out the horses. He had never complained. He loved it. He taunted her with it whilst she was washing up in the morning which she did not love quite so much. He wouldnt forget that job he valued the horses too much.

Something must have happened, early, to stop that being done. But what? There was no reason for them both to go out She had just come from the hospital and the chores had not been done all day so they hadnt been called out to her mother, thank goodness. The house was stone cold. So it wasn't recently they had left either. What were they doing? Where were they?

Looking back on it later she was never sure what it was that drew her up into the hayloft. She couldnt remember going up there since she had been hiding from Donny when she was seven, spiked her hand on a rusty nail and needed a tetanus shot. Which had really hurt. And then Daddy had punished them both for playing in dangerous places. But something had pulled her to the ladder nonetheless. She just, she thought much later, knew

Something had drawn her up that ladder and to stick her head through the trapdoor to see just a bale of hay. What else would it be? It was where they kept the fodder for the horses. Another reason why she let Donny care for the horses. She could barely move a bale, let alone throw it around the hayloft. All she could see shining the torch around. Hay, hay and more hay. Oh look some more hay. But not neat and orderly as Daddy insisted that everything should be. Correct the errors. She couldnt lift a bale but she could make them a bit neater and tell Donny to sort them out later. When she caught up with him.

When she found them both.

She climbed up through the trapdoor and straightened up. Look around at the mess.

She wouldnt be telling Donny anything again.

Or Daddy either.

She had found them and sooner than she expected to.

She didnt have to shine the torch to see them in the dim light. The pale waxy flesh showed very clearly in the murk. So did the tears at their necks which had been ripped open by some sort of animal or

Tara screamed.

She kept screaming until she couldnt anymore because of the pain in her throat then she just groaned and cried.

But no one came because there was no one to hear her and she really was all alone out here.

---------------

They had taken her to the hospital when they came and found her. Not in the ambulance with her Daddy and her brother but in the police car. She had stayed slumped in the hayloft all through the night. Not daring to get up and make the telephone call. Not because of what might be out there but because she couldnt help thinking that Daddy would be annoyed if she had left him there in the dark. It wasn't until the dawn light had filtered through the dusty glass in the window above the bodies that she had been able to move at all. And after she had seen exactly what had been done to them. It wasn't any animal not any wild animal anyway.

She had stumbled to the house, found the phone and dialled 911, for some reason she even asked for an ambulance. It had seemed right. She knew that there was no point in asking for an ambulance. None at all. But she had anyway. Then she had told them to send the police too. The police station was much nearer, just on this side of town. The ambulance had to come from further away as the hospital had no emergency room. Then with the police on the fifteen-minute drive out to the farm she had started to get the house in order. When they had finally pulled up she had lit the fire as she intended to do last night, chopped some more wood and started to prepare breakfast for four. What else could she have done? There has to be a routine, Tara. Otherwise how will you know what to do and when. Flights of fancy dont get things done. Nor does just reacting.

Yes sir.

It hadnt taken much for one officer that she had never met before, Durkin, to accept a plateful whilst they had waited for the ambulance and the coroner that they called, though she had been aware of Clare Reynolds prodding him and trying to tell him that he shouldnt. But then even she had accepted a plate when the wait started to drag on and they had no idea what to say to her. Something like this they just had to secure the crime scene. Some other officers would do the investigating and there were no witnesses out here. That meant they just had to eat their breakfast whilst Tara flitted around doing her chores. Eventually they sat her down, fearing she was in shock.

Tara though didnt need any investigation by the coroner. She knew what had done it. Something, a vampire from what she had always been taught, had come out of the darkness and ripped her Daddys and brothers throats out.

She hadnt said that to the police of course. They might have known something of the family reputation. Everyone in town knew about the Maclay family. They would have said that she was crazy for saying it. They might have thought that she was anyway. She couldnt think. She couldnt answer their questions properly. She just asked them if they wanted more eggs, because wasting good food was a something you should not do. No sir. Somebody is going to eat it, she had found herself saying, and when they refused she did so herself.

Then the sick feeling hit her again and she went and threw up.

Sorry sir.

Vampires. She had never seen one but everyone knew the rules. Out here you had to know the rules. Different creatures, different rules. What was it for vampires? Sunlight, staking, beheading and fire. Silver? She didnt think so.

No, that was what killed them. Those werent the rules. Never invite them in. But they didnt have to be invited into a barn. It wasnt a home except to the horses and that wasnt the same. Had they been invited in the house? There was no mess. Maybe they couldnt get in. They had looted the barn but not the house. Why?

They couldnt get in. She was still alive. Her mother was still alive. It was their home too. So whilst the two of them were still alive they couldnt get in. So they had to go somewhere else they were still close by. The police hadnt found any tyre tracks other than Daddys truck which was still parked up. She could maybe

No she couldnt. Even though the police would never catch them and never be able to do anything about it she could do even less, she was just a Maclay woman and she knew her place. But that place was empty of direction now. There was just the Maclay women left.

And beyond the brain-numbing pain all that she could think as they put her to bed was that if they killed her then it was still alright as they couldnt get in whilst her mother was alive and she was getting better. They couldnt be allowed into the house. That was the familys place

But who would look after the horses?

And who would tell Mommy?

---------------

Tara saw her third dead body little more than three hours after reaching the hospital and for the next three hours after that she sat talking to it, holding the cooling and stiffening hand. Talking, begging, apologising, even cursing. For some reason the doctors and nurses couldnt get through the mortuary door, even though it was not locked. Tara didnt even notice that she was doing it. Eventually they gave up and let her stay in there with her Mother.

Now she really was alone. Who did she have left in the entire world now?

They said it was just a complication of the treatment. One doctor had confided however that it might have been the stress of the news of the death of her husband and son. Delivered not by Tara who had begged to leave her own bed to do the deed but instead by some police officer no doubt spouting the same false standardised and trained condolences that he had delivered to her back at the house. She just hoped that it had been Officer Reynolds if it had been anyone.

They just couldnt wait for her? They just couldnt have let her deal with it? It was a family matter. There was no bigger family matter. They were still family. They had been anyway Now she was her own family.

There is just me, she thought.

Your family loves you Tara.

Well who was there left to love her now?

They had killed her mother. Even though she had been safe here. Her presence in the hospital had saved her from Daddy and Donnys fate, it might even have saved Tara stopped her from getting home as she normally would have done, before sunset, and ending up there with Daddy and Donny. Dead.

Right now death did not seem too bad at all. It would be some relief from the tight pain that constricted her lungs and ripped into her heart.

They had killed her mother.

The so-very-strong woman enfeebled by an illness. Who had fought the enemy within herself so hard, so bravely even though it must have been easier to just give up, so that she could come back to them. She had never given up on loving them enough to come back, no matter how great the pain that Tara knew she was suffering. It had been getting better. A little better. But not enough.

She had been getting better and now they had killed her anyway. Just as if she had been in that barn too.

They, the police and her doctors, had just made a mistake in telling her.

It was the damned vampires they had killed her. Just as surely as if they had come in here and ripped her throat out themselves. And now there was no one she could go to. No one she could ask what to do about it. She had to think for herself.

She had to grow up and stop waiting for instructions. There would be no more orders, firm suggestions and requests because there wasn't a single person she respected, loved or really even knew left. She had things to do.

She carefully placed her mothers cold hand on the table and pulled the sheet tidily over it, bent and kissed her forehead and covered her again, smoothing out the creases in the white sheet, wondering just how they got the sheets so perfectly white, wash after wash.

There was a whole family who required justice and she had the chance to do that.

She hoped.

---------------

She finally tracked them down. They had stayed so close that it hurt her. They were so confident so superior that they didnt feel the need to flee the scene of their crime. They had not gone anywhere at all really. A couple of miles west, to the next farm. It had taken her nearly the whole night to find the spell in the volumes she had last seen months ago - those that had been passed down from mother to daughter in this family for nearly two centuries. Longer still to then anchor it in her mothers pendant, slipping it on to hang at her throat. She didnt even know that it had worked until she found them and the burning sensation started.

The spell books, the ingredients had never been passed to her. She had just taken them now as her own.

There was no one to pass them to her. Quite likely there never would be anyone for her to pass them to either. There was a plus point at least. And Daddy was not there to stop the passing. Donny was not there to tell tales on her about it. But everyone knew that her mother had been showing her things

By the Goddess she wished that they were here. That it could all be as it had been. But there was no way for that to happen. No way that she could ever contemplate at least. There were ways of course. But she had learnt her lessons well. There were certain things in magic that you should not do she was about to try one of them, but that was one thing. There were also things that you should never do. Raisings for one.

The thought had crossed her mind after.

It had not been too hard to dismiss it. Horrible as it was to have lost her family, it was the way things were and you could not mess around with the forces of life and death. In one way it was even the natural order. Predator and prey. But that cut both ways. And she had seen the illustrations if just what might come back if she had tried that. She had read of what could happen. She had been told what had happened. Before.

Quite likely she would not survive to see another sun set so she had made sure that she had enjoyed last nights. She had sat with her mothers books and a lamp on the porch reading as day faded though into dusk and into night. Shed even taken some time to look up at the stars, wondering at the constellations. Were any of them worse places than this world? That would be a bad place indeed. If she had only found the spell more quickly and Thespia had shown her the way to the demons whilst it was still dark then she might not even have made it this long. The delay had, at least, brought her daylight. Daylight was her friend now, along with sharp pieces of wood and fire. The sun not just a giver of life, but for some things certain death. It marked them out as unnatural. She had no reason to fear using her talents, her gifts or her curse as Daddy would call it against the unnatural. Against vampires.

If they were darkness and she was opposing them then that made her the shining light of justice. Maybe she wasn't totally convincing herself with that. But what choice did she have? Who else was there to do this round here? If she did not do this thing then no one would and others would die as certain as night follows day.

It would have been more of her family as it turned out.

The vampires were, Thespia had graciously revealed, on the farm of her Uncle Brett. Her fathers brother and she didnt even know if they knew what had happened. She had never thought to warn them because she had never seen them too much considering they lived so close and all. Cousin Beth was a regular visitor to their house, though she didnt get on too well with Donny which made things tricky, but her fathers family seemed to dislike the Maclays whose family name he had taken on marrying her mother.

She could guess why and she couldnt totally blame them. But the petty family differences were irrelevant now. The vampires were on their farm and if the sun set once more, or if they ventured into their own barn then... More death. She couldnt allow that, not again.

Tara had approached with as much care as she could, years of playing hide and seek with Donny serving her well to move through the long, tall, stalks in the fields with a minimum of disturbance. She could see, from the fence, that her Aunt and Uncle were both in the kitchen. Thank Thespia once more for that. The vampires, she was sure, were in the barn after all it had worked so far. Carefully she opened her senses up, as she had been taught, and the wave of blackness rolled over her. They were there but they were not alone.

Beth.

Beth was in there with them and she was very scared.

What could she do? She had planned so many things. She had intended to deliver face to face justice whilst having them tell her why. Why they were here. Why they had chosen that barn. Why they had to kill them But all of that had depended upon the time, being able to do this as she wanted to not being driven to try and save another life and taking the responsibility for that.

How she was going to achieve all of that? Shed never done anything like that. Shed never felt anything like this. Shed never truly hated before, but the hatred of the beasts that they were was feeding off the raw wounds of her bereavement. She had come out here with a couple of sharpened pieces of wood. And there were more than four of them. If she could have had time to think, to plan properly knowing that she might have got her Aunt and Uncle out of the farm and then thought about separating the vampires, trying something sensible having a plan.

A sensible plan. That would have got her killed.

But in the best possible cause. What else did she have left to live for? Her family? Not anyone. All of her friends perhaps. Drawing a blank there too.

Now though there was Beth to think about. No more wondering. No more impractical plans to make them tell her what she wanted to know. She had to act She could see them now through the barn door. They were about to bite. To feed. To kill. That was what they did.

Her cry distracted them, and probably alerted the people in the house. But there was no time. They just grinned a fang filled grin at her. Help me, mouthed Beth, though she was probably shouting it. The world seemed silent around her as she focussed on other things. The vampires were unconcerned. They could not come out and she could not go in there. They moved towards Beth, moved to bite her.

As Tara looked at Beth all she could see was the face of her mother they had always looked alike - calling to her, reminding her. Words. Incantations. That was what the image was saying. It sprang to her mind almost unbidden. Certainly, she realised later, she would never have attempted it if she had been anything less than desperate particularly lacking the spell ingredients that would shift the focus from her mind and body to something more disposable. She completed the phrase and the spell ripped through her mind and crippled her body. She staggered and fell by the fence, the vampires grinning even wider.

Until they realised that they had moved, without taking a step, victim and all, from the safe sun-proof barn and reappeared out in the yard.

Under direct sunlight where it took only a fraction of a second for them to burst into flames.

Tara struggled to lift her head, but it felt as if someone had hammered a spike though it, nailing it to the ground. She forced herself to raise it, her skull and her brain up along that spike. Taking the pain to see them burn as they deserved to burn, screaming in pain before they vanished in a poof of ash and even that burnt up in the daylight. Evil consumed by the light of justice. She collapsed again, exhausted and hurting in every part of her being.

To see that her cry had indeed alerted the remaining members of her family.

Beth ran back to her parents, Tara could see that from where her head had fallen now next to immobile. Tara could see her shouting, pointing at Tara frantically. They all hurried over to where she lay on the ground. But they seemed reluctant to touch her. They probably thought that she would burn them up too. She almost wanted to laugh, except there was nothing funny. Nothing at all. She heard a female voice hiss demon.
Shut up, a man said. That must have been Uncle Brett.

She thought she heard Beth say Look at her eyes. Her eyes. What was wrong with her eyes apart from the fact, that like every other sense in her body the burned? After I saved their daughter that? They call me a demon now? Just because I will be but not yet! She wanted to scream that. Not yet!

But she couldnt move. She couldnt speak in her own defence, if there even was one, to explain what she had done but never to tell them how... She knew that shed been to a dark place. And that she hadnt yet come back from there. The pain was good it was the penalty for her actions, her choices. This time, to save Beth and the rest of them to get her justice she would pay that price. But look what it had done to her, leaving her writhing, out of control of her body, in the dirt. She couldnt even trust herself to cry properly. It hurt, the pain in her head. All over but most of all in her head. But that was not the worst of it.

Eventually Uncle Brett stopped the debate with a We cant leave her there. Whatever she is, shes only sixteen, and picked her up and carrying her inside their house, placing her on Beths bed. Teen boy-band posters grinned down at her from the walls from the ceiling, bare and shiny chested. By the Goddess could this possibly get any worse? Oh yeah here came the pain and the grief again. She started to cry.

Uncle Brett handed her a handkerchief, and it seemed like a grand gesture. Tara tried to blow her nose, but the pain exploded in her head as she strained. He took it from her and wiped her eyes, her runny nose for her. You can stay here until your family, well until they are in the ground. Ill help you with the arrangements. Then you better scoot. Get out of town. This isnt the place for you. Well watch the farm until you can sell it, he told her. Between what he and Beth had seen he must know what she had done for them all especially his daughter. He just didnt want to admit it, even to himself and his superstitious wife Aunt Marie had never got on with Tara or her mother. Uncle Brett wasn't going to fight that just for her. And she was too weak to do anything but nod. She would leave. There was nothing here for her now. Nothing but three burials.

But where would she go? What could she do? If she couldnt stay then she couldnt finish school. She had liked the learning but hated the people besides there was still her demon heritage to contend with. Two, three years and she would be just like those vampires anyway. Perhaps it was time to try and redress the balance. To make things a little better, before they got so much worse.

Justice. The idea was a bright spot in the blackness that threatened to consume her. Unwanted, unloved, cast out and hurting inside and out it was all that she had to cling to.

And somewhere there was something responsible for all this. Something she could seek out.

Justice. She must have said it aloud as Uncle Brett turned back to her and asked what she had said. Nothing, she replied to him. Nothing you need to know.

All that she had in the world now was a need for ongoing justice. To know why it had happened and to stop it from happening to anyone else. And her answers were not here. He was right. This wasn't her place. Perhaps it never had been. She had always wanted things that she was not supposed to have.

Happiness.

A life.

Love.

And now all of that was lost to the need for justice. But knowing that couldnt help her stop crying.

---------------

The second part of our puzzle Lilah? Holland asked as Lilah entered the conference room carrying the rarely used project folder. Not that he could read it from that distance. He was just on top of everything that happened in Special Projects. I believe the appointed day was reached sometime last week, for whatever that is worth.

You know prophecy. Lilah confirmed, agreeing more than just because he was her boss. He had actually taught her about the nature of that predictive force. And showed her what happened when you ignored the proverbial small print. As The Master in Sunnydale appeared to have done. Prophecy was, generally speaking, the most unreliable thing that she had come across in this job. That and juries. Of course you could influence a jury one way or another. And here at Wolfram and Hart they also believed that you could influence prophecy or at least tinker with the variables.

Yes. We think so, Lilah told him as she reviewed the file on this, one of the first projects she had been assigned at the firm. And potentially one of the most important she had been involved with until quite recently. To be given something like this so early trusting that she would advance far enough to do the project justice, that was a sign of the faith that the practice had in her future. She had no intention of disappointing. The results of disappointment could be painful.

We Lilah? Holland was always keen to test her responses, tighten up her grammar and to gauge her sense of responsibility. It was critical in fact. She had a very responsible role that would only get more so. He knew she was going to go far.

Sorry, she smiled, I think so. We I have had reports of a family being killed, by vampires. The only survivor was the daughter who notified the police. The mother who was already in hospital died shortly after being given the news, she told him, summarising the twenty-page report that had been sent to her office half an hour earlier. She hoped that she had not missed anything critical in scanning it through, but Holland had no more windows available today and he had to know.

And the one shall be left alone by the hand of those who stalk the night, very good, very good. Holland recited from memory.

Exactly sir, Lilah replied, impressed at his precise knowledge of the wording of a prophecy they had not even discussed in a several months. Though the mother had not been killed by vampires which the prophecy seemed to indicate. Which was a slight worry. Unless the girl blamed the vampires anyway. Some sort of cancer the medical report had said, but the mother was supposed to be improving. Hopefully the girl would lay the responsibility for the shock at the feet of the undead.

No reports of any other incidents? he asked wanting to be certain that this was the one. There could be no doubts allowed.

None that even remotely fit the profile sir. Random killings and only a few of those. It had been Halloween after all.

And is it the one who we expected it to be? Holland asked.

Yes sir. That would appear to give us confirmation of the prophecy. It was the girl that you were told to expect it to be. Though I am not sure just how you knew. That was puzzling Lilah and there was no harm in a little fishing expedition. He would stop her cold if she were going places that she shouldnt.

Holland had left a note for in the project file, sealed, which she had been instructed to open only on the occurrence of this event. On it was name. The right name.

Holland smiled, clearly not about to give the answer to the question she had asked regarding his methods. It wasn't that he didnt trust her; it was just that Lilah, especially Lilah, had no need to know about some of the other sources available to Wolfram and Hart. Sources who only talked to those in more senior positions. Excellent. Prophecy can be a tricky thing. What about the reaction?

Untrained but effective and extreme, Lilah told him. The reports are unclear, our monitors couldnt get near enough to see much there was only a day between the event being reported and the reaction. It wasnt their fault. He nodded, noting the fact. But dark magics may well have been involved. That indicates a high degree of control, power. I think that she might be a suitable candidate for our own special projects op-

No Lilah. You cant recruit her. Not yet at least. Maybe. One day.

But she is all alone, recently bereaved - this is the ideal time. This was the optimum moment for recruitment, there might never be a better one. After all what did the girl have left to lose? Allowing her to recover from that as she eventually would would only make the recruitment a trickier proposition.

Yes it is. But so it is written etcetera, Holland commented with disdain for prophecy that you could only feel dealing with dozens everyday. Besides she wont use those magics again. If she does there will be nothing left - very, very quickly. I would assume it was the bereavement, an extreme situation. We know that she will be in a certain place at a certain time. The strains of that sort of spell casting on such a young mind and body. Shed be dead, or certifiable inside a year. He examined a fingernail then looked up. You know that Lilah.

Yes sir. Fair enough. He seemed to think that she would have another chance, and it was not essential to the project anyway. Simply a bonus, and he was definitely right about the magic. They had to hope for a long, slow burn rather than a brief star bright explosion.

You have the monitors still on her of course?

A permanent team is on their way now sir. They will be in place very shortly. Lilah had been impressed by her choices. Two teams to start with who would observe the girl twenty four hours a day until they were absolutely sure that she was the one. And that she could be of use to the firm.

However long that might take and in whatever form? Best case, she might not even know it until I recruit her, Lilah thought to herself, keeping a tight lid on the speculation

Excellent Lilah, well done. There is to be no interference by the monitors. Whatever happens. Understood? If the girl is in danger of being injured or even killed they are not try to be helpful and interfere The way he said helpful showed just what he felt about the sort of help they might provide.

I have already given them personal instructions. It hadnt taken much persuasion at all. All the monitors were experienced and more particularly Wolfram and Hart veterans. It would have been more extraordinary to ask them to ensure the girl came to no harm. Besides the order would be in the files and they knew it. It wouldnt be her fault and they knew that too. They knew where the blame would fall. They would obey.

Excellent. Holland turned back to his work and Lilah knew she was dismissed. As she turned to go however he spoke again. Oh Lilah?

Yes sir?

What was that name on the paper again?

Maclay sir, Tara Maclay.

Part 4 Kittens... thanks for all the feedback so far.

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Title: The Sidestep Chronicle Backstep Part III (Somehow Part 4 overall just to confuse things.)
Author: Katharyn Rosser
Feedback: Constructive criticism always welcome. katharynrosser@hotmail.com
Spoiler Warning: Pretty limited. The story occurs in an alternate universe though reference is made to events that occur in both realities.
Summary: What Tara was doing during the time of The Wish in this reality to move the story along a gap of nearly two years from the last part. Last of the Backsteps showing how the variant realities of this alternate universe came together to affect those involved. This is set at the time of the conclusion of the BTVS episode The Wish. This is of course (in that reality) also the time of the very end of Dopplegangland when Vamp Willow is sent back to that point in time and space. Just dont me to explain all the inconsistencies in the causality.
Disclaimer: I still dont own any of the copyrights or anything else associated with BTVS. All rights lie with the production company, writers etc, etc. I am making zilch from this series of stories.
Rating: 15
Couples: None at this point but time is moving on... Dreams are still occurring.
Notes: The transcripts of The Wish and Dopplegangland were used for a scene in this fic. This helped me get the sequence of events in that scene in order and integrated between the two episodes. All credit in this respect is due to the transcribers and the original writers of the episodes.
Thanks To: The spoiler free all of us trying to figure out how to wear a badge whilst naked, bouncing and covered in oil. With cheesecake. Kerry, Jo and Louise.


The Sidestep Chronicle

Backstep Part III

By

Katharyn Rosser


Chicago Illinois

Chicago. Still Chicago. She still hadnt managed to find her way out of this city nearly four months after realising it was time to go. Time to move on. It was as easy, of course, as getting on a bus yet every time she resolved to do just that something else happened that stopped her from making it to the station. Maybe she was forced to invest in some expensive spell ingredients. Maybe her shoes fell apart and she needed to spend her hard won money on new ones. Sometimes it was a chance to learn something, new spells, new skills. New methods of finding and killing the vampires. Maybe it was other things. But there was always something that stopped her. It was always the same. She knew the danger of staying still too long, but she got comfortable in a place. It started to seem like home even though she didnt have much of one anymore. Just an empty farmhouse that no one wanted to buy. At least last time she had checked.

This time it was vampires that had held her here and her conscience refused to let her go. It threatened her, telling her that if she left then every death after that would be on her hands. Her conscience didnt need to get a new threat that one was enough. It always worked. There was a nest of them. Well organised, well defended. Security conscious too. A real prize winning set-up. As good as she had ever seen used by vampires. They were organised. They were careful. They were damn near civilized. As civilized as the beasts could be anyway. At heart they were all monsters and as such she had to kill them all. The monsters always died at the end of the story. Civilized or not.

And if you defined the test of civilized as the use of human apparatus against itself then they were definitely so. Some humans could be monsters too. Some even as bad as the real ones. The vampires were laired on a whole floor of an apartment complex. Living in individual apartments, nicely decorated and maintained as far as she could tell. Shed never seen anything quite like it. Human security guards patrolled the out-of-town site, protecting all the residents. Guards of the sort who were not above some random physical brutality to young, rain bedraggled, women who they caught within the complex grounds by using some very hi-tech equipment that should have been far beyond a small companys means.

Nothing serious, she had suffered much worse by accident, but bad enough to bruise and still ache, enough for her to gauge their professionalism and their dedication. More than enough to for her to acquire a few personal items in the scuffle. Just in case she needed an edge. That wasnt a place she wanted to go again. The dark place. The dark magics called to her, whispered really and she knew its effects only too well. Effects that she didnt want to risk again. But if it was that or her life? She didnt know which she would choose.

Maybe a long hot bath would have eased her pains but she hadnt seen a bath in weeks. She slept inside her old Pink Ranger sleeping bag on a discarded mattress hidden in the basement of a building now inhabited at night by the citys homeless. She had cleaned out the vampires that preyed upon them and they ensured that she could sleep safely during the day. It was an arrangement that suited both sides and she found herself liking some of those men, women and even children. Found herself trying to help them more when she could. And in return they let her sleep.

When she could sleep a full night. The dreams were still coming to her. Sometimes the guilty dreams, sometimes the weird but oh so much more often featuring that woman she had come to regard as her red haired goddess. They had been building recently in both intensity and number and her carving it was taking on a definite shape. Since that night two years ago on her uncles porch she had not laid a finger or a blade on it other than to carry it around. Yet it was being honed, shaped and worked as if by a craftsman. She would awake and there would be a few more little changes if she had dreamed of the red haired woman. Sometimes, if she had forgotten her dreams she would know their contents just by the fact that there would be wood shavings at the base of the piece of wood, where it rested by her mattress. It worried her. But carved pieces of wood there were scarier things to worry about than that. The real world had to come first.

The human guards were easiest to bypass at night, of course, when their senses were less attuned to their surroundings. But then other, less natural senses, were at work in the complex. The vampires did not rely on human security alone. They too were out there. She had dusted two already just to get to here, to observe them and plan her movements. Young and foolish if she was any judge. And she liked to think she was by now. Probably residents here who were drained a little too far to survive so they had been turned and now were used as security. Strong and fast as all vampires were, but inexperienced and definitely foolish. They should recognise that no matter how young and innocent she might look, especially soaked to the skin in her long skirts; if she had a stake with her then she was a threat. They actually thought they could feed on her.

Shed checked the stats at the library and it was a good library in this city. This area had the lowest crime rate of any borough outside the city. That was always a pointer. Random street crime fell away when vamps were around. It was how they always operated. Street crime kept fresh blood out of the neighbourhood which wouldnt do from them. Actually here crime had fallen in all categories - including missing persons and violent crimes. Murder too. They were all low but something had told her when she saw those figures that she had not made a mistake. It wasn't just good policing. At least not by the actual police force anyway. It had confused her for a little while. Until she had got inside the complex. The residents, the human residents, knew exactly what they were living with. They even welcomed it. They willingly fed it and eventually either by accident or design they were turned.

It was, Tara had to admit, a wonderful set up for the blood suckers. Ready, willing, meals on tap. Reinforcements as required. Those humans she had observed seemed to take some perverse pleasure from the act of sating the vampires blood lust and in return they received absolute security for themselves and their possessions as well as the promise as they saw it of eternal life.

As she saw it though - eternal damnation. She had been tempted to burn the whole place to the ground. The temptation didnt last long though. It never really did. That sort of bad thing just flashed in her mind then was dismissed quickly but not as quickly as it would have been once.

It was not who she was. It was not something that she could seriously contemplate. Even though a human that could submit to something like that with vampires well that person was no longer human as far as she was concerned but she still had an absolute determination never to kill anyone that was human. Perhaps in this sort of case though, the dark whispered to her, that should not apply so strictly. She could ignore the whispers, but they were still there. Once she had been absolutely certain she would never violate the promise she had made to herself. Now she was getting more and more afraid that she would. That was not what magic was for. She might have done it if she had cared less, she might. It was definitely less important to her now than it had been. She knew that she could have done it. She would have regretted it later, asked herself what she had done, perhaps fallen into a guilty depression that could have got her killed. She could have But she hadnt done it. Wouldnt. After all there were children in there too. Total innocents.

And even if she could have found a way to save the children from her righteous flames of justice, then she would not have taken their parents from them. There had always to be some other way than that. They could end up growing up like her, as she had been forced to, being left alone that she did not wish on anyone. So instead, and as usual, she was being far more surgical and putting herself at far more risk. She always was. Every time it was like this. She thought about doing it the easy way, burning a vampire nest to the ground and knew that it would be easy. And yet every time there was some reason not to do it like that. There were people inside, nearby. The fire might spread. The buildings were old. There were artworks inside that people should be able to see. Pets. Once she even caught herself being concerned about a stick-insect collection. Dogs, cats yeah but that. That was just an excuse. That wasnt why.

As much as she wanted to avoid killing anyone who was human, what she really wanted was to deliver her justice in person. To see their faces before they collapsed in a pile of dust at her feet - to be scattered to the four winds. There was that instant between the stake piercing their hearts and their desiccation. It was an instant in which they saw her as she really was and she liked to think they knew why she was killing them. Not just that they were evil things, or that she was saving her own life. She liked to think they knew how she had been hurt and what part their destruction had in making that better. It was the only thing that made it all worthwhile. The only thing that made it feel as if she was really accomplishing something. Anything at all. It didnt reduce the pain, the loss and the injustice but it did numb it. Just for a little while. About as long as it took her to realise that it was helping. Then it all came back and she needed to do more. And more

But she wouldnt hurry she wouldnt risk herself through impatience.

Two nights of visual observation and a further one where she had tested her ability to get into the complex had shown her what she was up against. Last night she had allowed herself to be caught on her way out, pretending to be a student from the local college on a dare. Just to get the last touches but ready in case they tried to deliver her to the bloodsuckers. She had long since learnt not to go in half-cocked as Daddy would have put it. The human guards relied on their technology and not-at-all random patrols. Knowing that they were easy enough to avoid. Pressure pads held no fear for one who would need not touch the floor after sensing the electrical disturbance of their power source.

Cameras had been harder to fool until, some time ago, she had realised that you didnt have to fool the camera or even get around it just fool the person who was watching it. Anyone who spent long enough staring at static images got them ingrained in their minds. And once there, it was easy enough to ensure that was all that they saw. In fact it was just human nature knowing and understanding that nature was a valuable tool. One she hadnt possessed for a long time after leaving home for this life. Until it had come to her a lot of humans are as bad as the vampires. That was what human nature was.

And here she was outside the last of the vampires apartments on the ground floor of the block. Shed wondered at that location at first, these vampires seemed to value the veneer of civilization and appearing to live as rich, well to do humans, why not the top floor, the penthouses? Some of their art was probably worth more than her familys whole farm.

Art. She had been interested once. How long had it been since she had looked at artwork for its own sake? As a thing of beauty rather than just an indication of her targets lifestyle? Far too long. Maybe she should head to some of the galleries before she got out of Chicago. Try to find something to interest her aside from her whittling and sometimes cartoons if there was a TV she could watch.

The funny thing was that she knew that she was sinking and it did scare her, but it was just that she had no idea what it was that she was lacking. Apart from family, friends. An education. Interests. Anything besides the justice and survival it required in fact. What else was missing from her life?

They were thinking, these vampires, as she had been forced to do. By taking the ground floor they were maximising their options for escape, minimising their risks. Whilst she could get to them more easily they had, in theory, guards to protect them. The advantages far outweighed that risk. Less direct sunlight in the seemingly less desirable apartments just in case the curtains should be opened. Less distance to fall should a window escape be necessary. Near instant access to the pool in case of immolation. And control of the food supplys methods of exit. Well thought out. And of course that left the humans to occupy the more expensive apartments, so there was no envy or jealousy to interfere with the arrangement the humans might even believe that they were in charge. Who cared what they thought? Not her, likely not the vampires either.

All they cared about was the blood.

All she cared about was wiping them out. All of them. But not at any price.

You had to have a focus as precise and pure as theirs to fight them properly. She really believed that. But there were things she would not do unlike them.

All the vampires careful planning had not helped them though. The four she had already surprised in their apartments were destroyed, each without a struggle. Three had not even known she was there, the fourth had seen her but was quickly and effectively immobilised by a couple of inches of levitation, staked before it could even realise why it could not launch itself at her. Before it could think to raise any alarm. Simplicity was the way to go. Always simplicity and not just because it was more effective. Simplicity was crucial in magic. The magic was not intended for this life of hers and she couldnt afford to go near the more powerful spells or to use it casually only when she really had to do so. There had to be control. There had to be limits.

This last one would be trickier. There was a human in there with it, she had seen the man go in there earlier when she was preparing her own entry to the apartments. That was why she had left this one for last. Humans complicated things. Obviously the man knew what the female vampire was so she didnt need to protect him from that knowledge. Equally as obvious, from the sounds emerging from the room, was that he didnt care, and was, in fact was enamoured of the beast. She didnt want to have to hurt him though she was always tempted when she came across this sort of perversion... but it took all sorts. People had desires. She didnt have to like them and she wouldnt tolerate the vampire. But the human he didnt deserve to be hurt just for expressing those desires. She was more and more tempted every time she came across humans collaborating with her enemy. Or worse. But temptation was pushed aside in the clarity of justice.

She moved soundlessly through the vampires hallway, the door having surrendered to her recently acquired skills with a lock pick. She was impressed that she had managed that. Her first time trying alone on the hunt too. Guess that kid, Tanya, had been a good teacher. It was a terrible thing that had happened to her shortly afterwards but Tara had warned her about the deserted factory and what lurked in there. Only a few days now since she had cleared that ground in memory of her young teacher and left a few flowers.

The lack of sound was not because she light footed, but rather because her feet were not even touching the ground. Generating a slight thickened cushion beneath herself was less of a strain than the waste of outright levitation would have been and to any observer or recording device it would appear that she was still walking but it was absolutely silent. She even held her breath. If she could have stopped her heart then she would have done that too. They had terrifically attuned senses in the main. But it was not necessary here. Even the vampires senses must have been drowned out the pounding of another, closer, heartbeat. The breathing. The noises of their indecent passion. The distraction worked in her favour and it disgusted her. How? With a vampire?

The sounds grew louder as she approached the bedroom. Their occupation was clear enough. She remained still in the doorway, a stake in her hand. Unnoticed by the vampire bitch rutting with the human male. Aesthetically Tara had to admit that the vampire stunning most vampires struck humans that way. Unless they had been truly pitiful specimens even as a human. They gained something in their deaths even as they lost everything else. Or perhaps it was on their return. A charisma. An aura of eternity. They believed that they would live forever. That nothing could touch them. It gave them confidence, sexual magnetism maybe it was the same thing though. Either way she could only see truth behind the lies. And knew that she lacked those qualities herself.

It was also irrelevant. She was about to snatch back eternity from this vampire. This was what they did to her they made her think bad things. Intolerant things insults. Her hatred was overwhelming her desire to see justice done. When had she ever called anyone a bitch? Other than a vampire? They had changed her. The years hunting them had.

She was forced to wait a few moments there as she could not get at the vampire yet without risking injury to the man, unwilling to close with them and simply drive the stake into the vampire. She wasn't good at the whole physical fighting thing and the risks in confined quarters were too great. Nor could she stop watching she needed to be ready when the chance came.

That opportunity did not present itself for several more disgusting minutes. Minutes that she could have well done without. Knowing what it was how could he? It couldnt be love it must simply be the power of his lusts. She shuddered.

Though she remained ready to act if she was noticed, they did not sense her; they were too wrapped up in their transaction until the vampire was ready to be paid. As the female bloodsucker reared up, now revealing her vampire visage and baring her fangs Tara let fly the stake that she had carved in the bushes outside two nights ago as she had watched them. She had been waiting for them all to return to their lair so she could get an accurate count and the whittling action, as always, soothed her. Now the weapon flew from her outstretched palm unerringly towards its target but they shifted and the stake buried itself in the headboard, diverted from the mans skull only by a last desperate thrust of Taras mind.

The vampires head swung around, eyes yellow and shining in the dim light and uncaring of its nudity it flung itself off the bed and pounced in one bound from landing on all fours towards the intruder, flying towards Tara with unnatural strength in a long, low arc. There was nowhere to go, the hallway was narrow, and she couldnt dodge. Nor was there time to use mystical effects to divert the enraged bloodsucker. Tara stood ready, braced herself as the vampire, all teeth and talon like nails, impacted her stomach. She tried to absorb the blow, rolling backwards, but was winded and gasping for breath as she found the naked harpy atop her, laughing and preparing itself for a different meal one that it would not have to release before it was fully drained.

If it had bitten her then it might have been that way. She might have died. But the confidence that suffused all vampires was this ones undoing too. It didnt know what she was but it should have guessed just from her being here and trying to kill it.

The vampire twisted its head to look at the human who was coming up behind them, smiling obscenely and Tara was disgusted to see that he returned her leer and was still clearly aroused as the vampire fumbled with Taras skirt. This might be the first time that they had enjoyed company. But if they thought that they would have their fun with her then it would be the last mistake they ever made. If their positions had been reversed Tara would have made the kill immediately. No hesitation. No thoughts of fun. But the vampire was just typical. It thought it was immortal. She was going to show it that it was wrong. They did not know what she was capable of, they probably assumed that she had thrown the stake. There was an animal in both of them though. The instant, though, that the vampire had given her allowed her to prepare her mind, to focus and with the slightest mumble under her breath to thrust the vampire from her back against the man, both of them falling to the floor in a tangled heap.

The push drained her, working at such close quarters, that level of power and in desperation it always did. It was always much better to prepare for that sort of power. Her head would hurt a little later perhaps. But at least it would still be her head and she had avoided using any of the dark power once more. The intention the intention was pure and the spells were not wrong in and of themselves. The line was so very fine.

Thicken Tara commanded the element of air to prevent their escape or further attack and reached into her jacket pocket for her second stake. She knelt above the sprawling, naked pair and prepared to plunge the stake into the immobilised vampires heart. The stake descended and just as it pierced the flesh of the vampire stopped. Dead. Maybe a millimetre from the heart as something exploded in her inner vision. Like a world unravelling and revealing itself.

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Sunnydale California

The Master was not going to be pleased and that might mean no playtime for a while. But then the puppy was dust anyway and that made her mad. Such delicious playtimes with that puppy and someone else had staked him instead of her. Someone that would pay, when the time came. As a new puppy perhaps. Not so much fun without a soul to torture, but pure physical pain that could be fun too. Maybe not for as long. She wasn't sure if anyone could take it for as long as the puppy had.

Obviously it was a slayer. The Slayer. There was bound to be a capital letter on there. Scary oooh young girl perhaps as old as she would have been had she not been preserved with a pointy stick. There would soon be a new one though. A new Slayer. Between herself, Xander and the Master, who was still holding himself aloof from the battle, Willow knew that there was no chance that the Slayer would escape. Or even live. That might have been fun too; to have her chained for playtime. They said that the Slayers blood was a powerful aphrodisiac... Not that Willow needed any help expressing her desires but to keep her alive and to take a sip or two every night. No they would have to kill her. She sighed. But for the scar she looked yummy. Would the new one be as delightfully powerful? Would she come here?

Will I get a chance to play with her too? Maybe we should get some stronger chains just in case.

She batted aside the suddenly bold human who was interfering with her view of the unfolding conflict, contemptuous of them all. The Master had spent years whittling away at the humans spirit and all of a sudden the food had found a backbone? She would have to rip that spine from them. Mmmmn Xander was going after the Slayer or the other way round. This would be worth seeing Xander was a marvellous killer. Artistic and stronger than she was though perhaps a little less original. Not as quick and graceful as Willow herself either though.

But she realised that this didnt call for artistry. Xander seemed to have grasped that too. He went for brute force, gambling on knocking that slayer bitch down in one blow. The swing at the great mortal hope was a world away from connecting and Willow knew that he was outclassed even at that early moment. Hed never fought anything like her. In Sunnydale you didnt have to. He was wide-open and unguarded and Willow could see what was coming. The swing of the stake before it even started in its arc. She could sense where it was going to connect with him. She knew that he was going to be destroyed by that bitch. But strangely it was fascinating to see it coming. Exciting even and she didnt attempt to interfere then. Too far away anyway. Oh well.

And it did connect. Just as she had foreseen and Xander was gone in flurry of ashes. Nothing left. And the Slayer the oh-so-professional Slayer. She just moved on ready to kill again. But she had riled the Master now. Willow could see him looking. Felt his command to action. She could have the Slayer and if she failed to avenge Xanders death then he would deal with it personally and that was just fine with her. That was the lovely thing about humans, they were not just undead or history as was the case with vampires which she knew you could beat down but would soon recover. Humans, you could get them into all sorts of fun and long-lasting states in between. Crippled, begging desperate for your sweet mercies. And the Slayer well she would beg and not for mercy but to be allowed to die. And maybe Ill grant her that. Willow set off towards the Slayer who was not even paying attention to her. More fool

And some human grabbed her arm. A great lump of a White Hat. One of the White Hats. Maybe she could make time for that one first, before the Slayer. It wasn't going to be fun but it would be damn satisfying to scratch that terrible itch they had become over the years. And you just had to scratch itches. She was going to scratch until the White Hats head fell off. And there was another one not strong but determined to help his fellow. Perhaps they were involved she had heard such lovely rumours about the big one and his tendencies. She hoped that they were together they were going to die together too and watching the pain on the other ones face would be as good as killing the Slayer. The second one was also a White Hat slightly built but driving her back against the wall. He had momentum but no strength. Momentum that would do them no good at all, because when she regained her stability against that wall she was going to

The pain was sharp in her back, driving forward into her chest

Oh...

It was one of those moments that existed outside of time. The flare of brightness. Not light. Not colour. Just bright in her consciousness and so many things were apparent. So plain. So obvious that she had never noticed before. Suddenly the warehouse was empty, deserted. Then full of struggling figures once more.

She she had been somewhereelse. Other than here. She had memories that seemed out of phase with where she was at that moment. Of another place. Another else. One that wasnt. But was.

Another me

Soft.

Alive.

Kinda pink and deliciously edible. Pink all over?

The words Hands! Hands! rang, echoing around her consciousness. Magic. There was magic there. And that brought her to something else another image. Two women struggling. And mmmn, one of them was naked quite tasty too, but a vampire. Never mind. But the other. The human tinged, bathed in the aura of the living. That other the blonde haired woman of her dreams holding a stake inside the naked vampire. Inside her. I can feel it. Tickling my heart. Such a delicious itch to scratch. Such dangerous playtime. Lovely.

She had seen the blonde though before. In her dreams. Only in her dreams. Playful dreams. Mmmmmn. Lickable dreams. But she wasn't here in Sunnydale. She had looked. She knew she was not here. She had looked all over. Just in case. Want

But something told her that she would be. One day she would be here and then they would play together.

She wanted to smile, but in this moment outside time she had no control over her body.

And suddenly it was like dj vu. Perhaps it would be again. Perhaps her dreams would come true

Dj vu as she was suddenly back in the real world being propelled backwards once more by the White Hat. Been here done this. Boring. Want new things Want to play with the blonde Oh she remembered where that shove had ended last time and the smile that was on her face faded as she felt that tickle against her heart once more.

Such a delicious itch even from behind.

Aw, f-

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Chicago Illinois

Something ripped through her mind and she couldnt move, frozen in place. The pain. She was not hurt bodily but there was pain. It wasnt her head that hurt not as if a spell had strained her. But there was pain. It was a pain she had not felt for so long. Not since that day in the hospital. It was her soul. She hadnt even been sure she still had one, so little did she feel these days. For herself or anyone else, she had to doubt its survival.

And the strangest memories that were not hers.

Such a delicious tickle Her eyes briefly focussed on the vampire she was staking. Was it the thoughts of the vampire? No there was just terror in its face.

Good. It should be afraid

She felt, though, as if something had been snatched away from her, something that she valued above everything else. Above revenge, above justice, above her mission. Or should. And it wasn't these two. They were nothing to do with her continued suffering. And though she had not seen the face this time all she could think of were her dreams. The face that had stared out of them at her. Contorted not in pain, but in surprise and then disappointment before it was gone.

Hands! Hands!

She felt alone, even though that was her normal state. More alone than before as if some presence that had always been there before even when her family were snatched from her was gone.

She looked at the vampire, who was also frozen, no doubt in fear of its imminent demise and shocked herself by pulling the stake back from the blood filled wound. Stolen blood. She stood up above them and let the thick air subside and disperse. Leave, she told them and though the human ummed and arrghed about his clothes and possessions the vampire soon dragged him out of the room, closing the door behind them and she watched them from the window get in a car and leave. Quickly. She had never considered before that she inspired fear in them. Why should she have considered it? Who cared if they were afraid, happy or anything else?

This was the first time she had failed to kill a vampire who was hers for the taking.

Not just failed.

Allowed to escape. Why?

She secured the room and stripped the bed of its soiled sheets. She couldnt remember the last time she had slept in a proper bed, but she was tired and hurting and if they had gone then why not? And if they came back? It was hard to care. Shed just deal with them then.

She couldnt what? What couldnt she do? Move? Feel? Think? Live? All or none of the above? She slept, and when she woke to the tiny sounds that might have been the owner returning she realised that the dreams werent the same. The omnipresent carving that had been taking shape with her dreaming over such a long time She had laid it with her knife on the table beside the bed. It remained had untouched in the night.

Now the dreams they featured only the loss of something she had never known and never had. Her red haired goddess had departed from wherever it was that she had been. She knew that somehow she knew. She knew that the girl had been very real, not just a dream. But she also knew that she was now past tense and feeling that in her bones she couldnt care whether the security guards or something worse came for her that night. She just needed to huddle up and embrace the pain. Because at least it was a feeling.

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Lilah knocked on Hollands door only after getting the nod from his secretary, a deceptively nervous and slight man who Lilah knew to be an expert on four types of martial art and sometime bodyguard to his boss as well as having a devastating typing speed and photographic memory. That was the sort of exceptional individual that the company hired, and the Holland in particular was adept at locating. Hed recruited her hadnt he? But she did not have good news for her mentor about her oldest project.

She barely had chance any more to give the file more than a cursory glance from month to month. Reports got filed, mostly they were hum-drum, routine, this one did this. That one did that. Nothing ever seemed to happen. The project had its beginnings but still seemed as far from even starting to come together as it had that first day when she had been introduced to Drusilla by Holland. Further still after what she had just heard from one of her monitors.

Damn it This was not going to be a popular report. Lilah just hoped, as Holland asked her to step inside, that this could be dealt with at his level that the report would not have to go to the senior partners. But that was ultimately a forlorn hope. Eventually everything found its way to the senior partners. How they had time to pay attention to every success and every failure she had no idea but even if it had to wait until Review they would find out.

Just my luck that not only am I actually working here when there would be one of the Reviews, but it was so soon.

Next year in fact. Most of her other projects were going well though she ought to have nothing to worry about, if the averages were considered. But eventually everything went to them and eventually everything came right back down from them too. In spades.

However briefly she could expect to suffer the repercussions. Or long.

Lilah, Holland greeted her, expectation in his voice.

Sir.

You have something for me? A report?

Could he already know? Of course he could. Even if he wasn't just covering his own back with a little covert surveillance of her files then he could easily justify an investigation of them or a direct report from the source. They were company assets that she was using rather than freelancers that would answer only to her. It seemed better to do that than risk her expenses being examined in audit. The auditors were only one step below the Reviewer in ferociousness.

Yes sir.

Excellent. Project Two Roses I see, he said, looking at the file she carried.

Yes sir. She hadnt asked about the project name that had suddenly appeared on the file a couple of months ago. Sometimes it was better not to know. Besides it wasn't important in a firm that called its seventy-five yearly audit by a denizen of one hell or another a Review.

How is that coming along then Lilah? I havent had an update in oh, it must be six months now.

Implied criticism or small talk? If he had said he wanted a report then he would have received one. No question. But maybe she was supposed to have been keeping him more closely appraised.

No. This was her project, he had made that clear. For better or for worse though Holland had never said that. It was unfortunate what had happened to Lindsey but the one thing she had learnt from his example was the value of maintaining control and independence, to the greatest extent possible, in your own projects. Guarding them from the interference of others. Lindsey had got sucked into someone elses project area and he had paid the price. A fatal one.

Yes sir, about that. There has been little apparent progress over that period sir.

He smiled. Maybe at her ignoring the implications of his earlier criticism. She figured that he was grooming her for bigger things and this project was itself an early indication of that faith. As well as a test. More a test of her patience than her skills so far at least. And with Lindsey gone this project could carry her very high indeed.

Until now. It wasn't a question.

Yes, until now.

Have a seat Lilah. He directed her to the comfort of the easy chairs against the wall of his new office and she could certainly appreciate the luxury. There was after all an opening in his old role and that office had been pretty snazzy too. But there was a fat chance of being appointed to that role. Not after this little debacle. Average or not, what would be considered was the last thing that had happened. The appointment was due to be made next week and precisely one half of this project was now a small pile of ash blowing around an abandoned warehouse.

As for the other half the trackers had lost her two months ago in Chicago and never picked up the trail again. The second rose was, they said, getting very good at spotting watchers and either dodging them or eliminating them altogether. Two vampire teams dusted somehow whilst on watch on consecutive nights. She had banned further vampiric monitoring activity and that second part of the project had stopped killing her monitors. Now she just ditched them and failed to resurface.

Maybe though the vampire teams success at finding her had been less to do with their skills and more to do with their nature and Miss Maclays self proclaimed mission. Could she have been watching them? Could she know what was going on? It hadnt seemed important at the time. Lilah had known that the two roses would eventually come together. At the Sunnydale Mystical Convergence. Knowing that... Well knowing that nothing else really mattered. Until they came together where was the problem if the watchers lost the second component of her project? The continued watching was an afterthought in itself certainly not required by circumstances as long as it could be confirmed that they did actually connect in Sunnydale.

No problem, she had told herself at the time when reports had been filed. Shed just told them to track her down. Lilah hadnt even stressed the urgency because there was none. Point of fact she had even written in her monthly summary that she thought it was a good thing that it showed the development necessary in Miss Maclay for her future uses to Wolfram and Hart. Which it did. But now all of her communications were on the file and the files would form the major part of next years Review If everything worked out then there was no need to worry results would be all that counted. But

But now she had lost both of the component parts of this project. Both of her roses and ultimately she had no one to shift the blame onto. That was one of the first thing she had learned from her mentor, who had, even as he taught her, already shifted blame onto her. Shift the blame, and all the bad results; while hanging on to the good results. As far as possible. That was the whole point in forming project teams. But for this project there was no team. She was the team and the leader. It was kind of hard to find an up side here

One of the roses was gone forever.

Willow Rosenberg is dead.

Shes a vampire. Or rather was a vampire Lilah. She was already dead. I assume you mean that what you actually meant to say was that she has been destroyed? Holland asked her without a flicker of emotion to give Lilah a hint what the penalty for this lapse of her supervision and monitoring was going to be. Not that shed had a chance to intervene But the chips would fall. They might even bury her.

Yes sir, shes been destroyed. Sorry. For some reason Holland had a slight grin on his face.

Which expanded as he said Excellent.

That took her aback. Sorry sir? What was he saying? That the project was over anyway? That they no longer had a use for Rosenberg or that he had known

Excellent, everything is going just as the writings seemed to foretell, Holland replied with a cheery smile to brighten her dour mood. You do remember the prophecy dont you Lilah?

Yes sir, of course it just didnt seem to state that Rosenberg would die. Now Lilah was confused. She hated prophecies with a fiery passion. It seemed to her that the firm put an awful lot of effort into attempting to give prophecy a helping nudge.

But mine is not to reason why mine is just to do and

Best not to think the rest of that thought it could become close to the truth around here in a heartbeat.

Remember Lilah, prophecy never does. It never states anything. That is what makes it prophecy. Open to interpretation. Able to go either way. And that is why the senior partners invest so much of our time into nudging it along.

Nudging. Just what she had been thinking. Was Holland a mind reader? Noif he had been then most of the associates under his supervision would have been in a netherworld of trouble herself included.

Prophecy is a tricky thing Lilah, he continued. Always remember that. The slightest thing can disrupt it, make you realise that your interpretation was not quite right. That everything you have been working for was in error. Or that you are looking for results in the wrong place.

Then why do we rely on it? she asked, realising as soon as the words left her mouth that, in some contexts, she was questioning firm policy. I mean if it is so open to interpretation, she explained carefully.

We dont, Holland replied, the smile taking on another aspect on his face, like a adult speaking to a small child and explaining the fundamental principles of flight. Not usually. Not without something to corroborate. We weigh the balance of probabilities before we act and then we weigh the impact of either action or inaction. Its just like any other case in fact. You acquire the evidence and then

You stack the deck, Lilah completed the unofficial mantra. Another thing that was taught to every junior associate by his or her mentor.

Exactly.

But Willow Rosenberg has been destroyed. Shes dust sir and Miss Maclay isnt in Sunnydale either, Lilah pointed out.

Even for a vampire destruction is not necessarily the end. There are ways Expensive and ritualistic ways.

Methods I need to implement sir? Lilah asked trying to sound keen and proactive, still feeling that she might have something to answer for somewhere in this whole mess. Better to get her responsibilities confirmed at this point whilst he was making the choices than to wait. After all she had researched and prepared a list of possible contingencies to deal with this, and many other, situations.

Not as yet. This is not the time. You will know when and if you have to bother at all. If Tara Maclay arrives at the mystical convergence and Miss Rosenberg is still departed then we will have to make arrangements. But there is a very good possibility that everything may proceed even without our intervention.

But how? Lilah wondered. Rosenberg and Maclay were not even aware of each other. Theyd had no contact. Maclay was destroying every vampire that she encountered. She had no reason to seek out something, someone that she had never known. Then Lilah got it. He knew something. The firm did. There was somewhere something other than prophecy. Something that confirmed it. What is the corroboration here sir?

Why nothing less than fate Lilah. Nothing less than fate. They are fated to come together. It isnt just foretold, if it was we would not have even bothered too nebulous the prophecy could have referred to anyone. But the senior partners have it on very good authority that it is fate. Nothing gets in the way of fate Lilah. Not time, not space, not distance, no person or creature. Not even death. Eventually fate will bring them together. Holland smiled at Lilahs sceptical face. Willing to believe in prophecy but not in fate Lilah?

It was a friendly question there was no harm in answering honestly. She didnt even trust prophecy much. I cant honestly see the difference sir. Someone foretells to give a prophecy. Someone tells us our fate. She shrugged.

No. Those are both the same thing. The twentieth century has seen a sloppy attitude towards language. Those examples are both prophecies though youre right about that as far as it goes. Its all down to interpretation. But fate. He tailed off and then returned from his musing. Real fate True Fate if you will - is very different. Not everyone has a fate and even if they do then it often doesnt offer anything to us. But sometimes, sometimes fate can produce a nexus. Where two fates link, then there is no interpretation, there is no ambiguity. Perhaps alone in their generation these two are fated to be together. Somehow.

Holland stopped, looked at her. If necessary all of reality will twist itself inside out to bring them together. It will be. Thats the wonderful thing about true fate, its a sure thing. He grinned at her, pleased that her mood had lightened. Go on get out of here, you deserve a day off, I think you have been worrying far too much and Ive seen the hours that you have been logging recently. Holland was pleased with the progress and things were looking better and better.

Lilah smiled back at him, and actually meant it. It was as good as an order and she could live with that. She made for the door. Oh sir, she remembered something else. Peripheral but another prophecy.

He raised his eyebrows and looked at her.

The vampire with the soul he too has been destroyed according to our source. Same time and place.

Angelus?

Mmmn. Lilah wasnt stupid. Lindsey had been insisting that the Angelus, chained up by the Master was supposed to be some sort of big shot a player according to prophecy, and for a time Holland seemed to have agreed with him. And now both Lindsey and the vampire were gone.

There was only her project.

There was only her and if there was no failure then Hollands old office looked a definite possibility.

Thank you Lilah. There was no reading that dismissal, but she fancied that he was satisfied to hear that news too. The mess that Lindsey had made when he attempted to interfere in this project and deal with the Master at the same time A perfect example of what not to do. She couldnt regret the report that had doomed him. All she could think about as she planned her evening at the pit fights were Hollands words about fate.

If necessary all of reality will twist itself inside out to bring them together. It will be. That meant that she couldnt lose. If it were true and she had already seen far too much to doubt that fate might exist as a real force. A sure thing. She could live with those odds.

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To use the words... To be continued.


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Anyone want to bet against me bringing Willow back?*S* And yes this was supposed to be the part that laid the future out as fate... but you clever kitties already guessed!

Katharyn

Part 5 Kittens... We are up to season 4 now and the real story can start to be told.

Enjoy
K
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Title: The Sidestep Chronicle The Calling I (Part 5)
Author: Katharyn Rosser
Feedback: Constructive criticism always welcome. katharynrosser@hotmail.com
Spoiler Warning: Pretty limited. The story occurs in an alternate universe though reference is made to events that occur in both realities.
Summary: Now the story can really get moving the scene is set time to play. The Return of Willow. Dead, twice-ish, but never quite forgotten. Set during the time that would have been the beginning of Hush in the prime Buffy reality i.e. the night after Buffys dream about the girl with the box and the Wicca Group. Im sure you all remember that episode right? I think it marked the start of a lot of peoples devotion to a certain couple.
Disclaimer: I still dont own any of the copyrights or anything else associated with BTVS. All rights lie with the production company, writers etc, etc. I am making zilch from this series of stories.
Rating: 15
Couples: Not just yet but hey give me chance oh right you did that already
Notes: The Wicca Group in this fic is the one that was shown in Hush though obviously without W & T. I have taken the liberty of naming some members and altering some situations. In this reality, four years into the Masters reign in Sunnydale the Wicca Group is less about bake sales and more about survival.
Also remember that certain things have not occurred in this reality Switcheroo
Thanks To: All those readers who have managed to accept the darkness I present and are sticking with this. Ill do my best to ensure that you keep enjoying it. Jo, Kerry, Louise as always.


The Sidestep Chronicle

The Calling I

By

Katharyn Rosser



The circle was finally completed with the arrival of Carole and Anne. They all been kept waiting long enough. The collective impatient sigh was more than audible. It hung in the air.

Sorry were late. Carole apologised for them both, The softball team memorial bake sale ran over and then we had to help tidy up Broken down bus and the whole softball team had been killed. She hated this town. She fell silent as she noticed the look on the faces of the rest of the group and most particularly the dark expression on the face of the one who had become the defacto leader. Carole still wasn't sure quite how that happened. Maybe it was magic. It sure wasn't charisma. Maybe it was fear. It made her slightly better to feel that her rightful organisational position had been usurped due to everyone being terrified. Sometimes that leader was scary she just got this look and it was like looking right down into hell. But there was no way to argue with her power.

In fact nobody argued with her power because nobody wanted to spend the rest of the meeting doing something embarrassing at which the others could laugh rats had been known. And sometimes sometimes it might have been worse than that. Sometimes group members had disappeared. But no one wanted to think about that much they just all took a collective, unspoken, decision to shut up and bear it, Carole thought. Because they needed her to keep themselves alive in Sunnydale.

You know that curfew is just a couple of hours away, one of the others protested as they sat down in their assigned spaces and picked up the spell ingredients that had been left in front of their mats. What about the rest of us? We come here to try and make things better and all you can worry about is bake sales?

Yeah, another agreed, irritated too but mainly picking up on the mood of the group which was set by just one person and that person wasn't either Carole or Anne.

Sorry, Carole apologised again.

Sorry, her fellow latecomer added, thoroughly cowed, and wishing that she were matriculating anywhere but Sunnydale. Anywhere where power was being popular, rather than being able to protect yourself from vampires and other beasts that killed you in the night.

Enough now okay. Just enough, the groups unofficial leader instructed. No one had ever given her that role. She had just turned up one day and taken it from Carole and Anne. Turned them away from fundraising and towards the magic arts. No one who had any interest in actual Wicca had any protests even Carole and Anne had sort of come around to the power that they were demonstrating nowadays. Even if it was only in the group not individually. Doing the same thing alone didnt work. For any of them.

It was power that had definitely helped them though. They might be five miles away from town here, but the student mortality rate was still shocking even before the Softball team. But now, thanks to the newcomer, they all had wards in their rooms, protection against some creatures and they had been working at a more general ward to protect the entire campus proper. No one was even sure if it was possible, but if they could pull that off...

Actually there was one person there who knew exactly what was possible and what was not knew that those spells they all liked so much were insignificant if you could just make things happen. Now that was power. Unfortunately some spells kicked your ass mentally and physically And that was why she needed this shower of wannabes. Wiccan wannabes no less.

Just save me from goody, goody Wiccans and find me a real witch.

Actually this town wasnt big enough for more than one witch she thought. They would do what they were told and then they would die. It was a natural progression and nature was sooo important to them all. Now, do we have the remaining spell ingredients? she asked them, though she wouldnt be shocked if they had forgotten or picked up the wrong sort of bats legs. Fruit bats werent going to cut it here.

Yes, one of the more talented members, Diane, waved a bunch of herbs in the air. Before her were arrayed a number of bottles.

It might even be a shame to see Diane die. Not enough of a shame to stop it from happening though. Then lets get to it, she instructed as their leader, the cowl pulled up over her head as usual, her face shrouded in the shadows it created. They all thought they knew her name. They all knew her face. But for some reason she insisted on hiding that during the working of their arts.

Carole raised her hand. Er sorry get on with what?

The robed young woman looked at Carole, wondering why it was that she had been instructed to work with such amateurs. Her employers could so easily have secured professional services to achieve their aims she could have arranged it herself but her instructions had been very clear on the subject. On the appointed day, this day, she was perform a calling. Just not the calling that this bunch of Wiccans had in mind. Play nice, she told herself adjusting the large cross that hung around her neck beneath the robe. Just for a few more minutes.

The Spirit of the Tree she lied to them. After all wood kills the vampires, this will help us better manipulate the wood for our defence and the defence of others. The idea was actually sound. It was always better to bury a lie in the truth. If they had known anything though they would have realised that such a spell would be so far beyond the power of this group that they wouldnt have stood a chance. Not without her boosting them as she had been doing for weeks now. And if she was going to boost them again it was for her own ends. What a bunch of ignorant fools. When she had found them they had been nothing.

And they still were nothing. She was quite proud of that. Shed given them enough of a taste of power to keep them coming back but stopped any of them from getting too powerful. There might even be one or two who had a sniff of the talent. Just a sniff mind, but shed kept them on ritual based magic. They couldnt begin to touch her spontaneous use of magic. Just in case one of them proved to be more than a nothing. You never could tell

But soon they would just be what? Breakfast for the thing that she was truly calling into their circle. All she had to do was prevent herself becoming part of that meal and live to collect her payment. Nothing tricky then

Which tree Amy? Anne asked.

The willow tree, she replied finding the lie quickly and easily. Not that a Willow would provide the best quality stakes. The wood was not ideal. Didnt they see that?

Cool came the collected replies as she smiled encouragingly at them from beneath the cowl.

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The destruction and death had been quite educational to watch. Educational and kinda fun. Drained by the severe demands of the spell many of the group had collapsed as the portal to places beyond closed once more. It was like the sucking air dragged the energy from them and back to that place they were bringing their objective from. A place of nothingness. But they soon found a very good reason to get up and move. Their leader couldnt remember ever seeing anything quite like it. It, the creature they had summoned, had been confused at first, almost babbling as it was demanding answers from the corpses it had in its hands and scattered at its feet. Bodies soon lay strewn around the meeting room. Some were drained, others were just twisted and broken shells of the young women they had once been.

As the instigator knowing what was likely to happen - she had remained calm and silent taking in the sights, the terrible sounds. The snarls, the screams, the sucking of blood from slashed arteries. The thing was very hungry and not just for blood. The stench of death was all around her and she felt blood spatter her robe, some on her face. But she did not move. If she did, if she presented a target, then she would join them in death. But remaining here, calm, silent, motionless the vampire, as she had been promised, avoided her and went for the moving targets first.

And then at last with every one of the Wicca Group dead around her the vampire seemed to be sated. In its hunger at least. Just because it had filled itself up with the young women didnt mean that she was any safer though. The questions it had been asking of their shattered and dying bodies still remained unanswered.

She had avoided the vampires fury. Expecting what had occurred she had deliberately chosen dark coloured clothing and given her fellows little magical pushes into the waiting vampires arms keeping the red head occupied and, more importantly, away from her. She had been warned about this time this most deadly time. Something recalled from nothingness from that place in-between was not going to react well to sensory overload back in the world. Let alone hunger. And once there was no one but her left then the danger was still far from over.

There was just her and the vampire, which stood once more in the centre of what had been the circle, regarding her with curiosity. It was wondering why perhaps, like any sensible person, she hadnt unlocked the meeting room door and fled. And there were those eyes they burned into her like a yellow fire reading her soul until there was nothing left to hide. So she could not even be surprised when it calmly walked over to her and addressed her.

Youre not what you say you are the red-headed vampire took and caressed her hand. That was actually the most worrying thing to Amy. After the initial blood lust had faded she had watched as the vampire toyed with some of her later victims. And it didnt seem to be just killing play. But she was under instructions She was not to do anything that might endanger that which they, she, had summoned. Besides the effort, though channelled through the now dead wiccans, had drained her a lot too.

No Im not, she told it.

You dont belong where you are, the vampire observed, not sounding sure of what it was saying, as if relying on instinct but wondering why it couldnt believe its eyes.

Thats a matter of opinion mine is that I am right where I belong. The fingers were at her neck now fingers that she had seen tear open a throat before the still bloodstained lips drank from the gaping wound.

Youre not afraid of me? The vampire sounded surprised. Maybe disappointed. It dropped its hand from her and closed its eyes, head swaying gently as if listening to some tune.

There are worse things than you she finally replied and that was the truth. Besides she had backup, provided by a whole firm of things that were way worse than this vampire ever could be.

You brought me back, it said, figuring it out.

The vampire remembered dying then. That was crucial, they had been told, that it should know that it had died that she couldnt just lift it from one reality before that death occurred. That it should feel gratitude to her for her efforts. And if it asked she should tell it the truth. Always the truth. The truth, they had said, is your ally. She didnt know about that. Lies had always served her pretty well too.

But it didnt ask anything anyway. Amy simply nodded in response to the original question, not about to volunteer information that might be poorly received. That was all she had to keep her alive. She knew that her life hung in the balance, held there precariously by factors beyond her control. If the vampire decided to drain her, snap her neck or anything else there would be no time to defend herself or for her backup to come to her aid. Where was that backup anyway? But she was hoping that the vampire would realise perhaps even feel some gratitude for what they had done. Of course it had to appreciate the world it was in to do that.

Then you should be rewarded. It looked down, saw her fingers making almost instinctive gestures, completing a spell that would carry this thing far away from her. But she didnt have the juice left she was too far-gone and needed to rest, recover. Maybe pay a visit and pay the price of a supercharge.

Was this what she was reduced to she wondered? Unable to complete a job because she was afraid but the spell had not worked anyway She looked into the vampires soul. Beyond the dangerous surface emotions, looking for something a shred of lingering humanity. A morsel of mercy that might be dealt her way. The soul itself. But there was nothing in this one. Nothing but

Your fingers arent working? Awww Mine are, it told her.

The vampire interlaced its fingers with hers. The grip was incredibly strong between fingers that seemed so delicate. It held their hand up between them as if remembering something. It was an almost gentle gesture, which had some meaning to the vampire. Or seemed to. The vampire started to squeeze, watching her carefully as she squeezed until the witch was sure the bones in her fingers would be snapped. The pain was so bad that she couldnt even start to bring a spell to her mind. Even if she had could manage it she was under specific instructions... no magical damage. She had tried to violate that instruction out of fear but couldnt. She remembered that that now. What they would do to her for breaking the terms of the contract was much, much worse than having her hand hurt.

But what if it killed her? She looked towards the door where she knew her backup should have been. Gave the tiniest nod. They had made allowances for this happening.

She contained her pain and managed to limit its expression to a soft whimper. That seemed to impress the vampire though it did not slacken the grip. But it didnt get any stronger either. Constant pressure. Constant pain. It seemed to like it that way.

Then the vampires other hand shot out sideways, without looking and grabbed something that could not be seen. Her backup. Marcie. From the immediate sounds of choking it must have taken Marcie by the throat, squeezing her as tightly as it was squeezing her hand and tiny cuts opened up on that hand as Marcie must have struggled to free herself.

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Willow had the other by the throat, had sensed her enemys approach after the witch had nodded. A strange witch this one. Not that she had met any others before. But she was strange all the same. She wasnt who she should be. Displaced. Wrong.

But better for it. What was wrong was just sooo right.

She squeezed with both of her hands intending to pop the head from the invisible one some thing she couldnt see but human by the feel and smell of it. Not to mention the choking sounds. It really might have been fun to see if its blood or its innards were also invisible. She could hear it all though. The slight cracking of cartilage. The grind of bone against bone. Such sweet music. And the smell of fear shed missed that so much she hardly even noticed the half-moon cuts on her hand and fingers.

There had been no sound where she had been before but it wasn't silent. There had been no sight but it wasn't just black. No smell She didnt like where she had been even if it was for just a few days or a thousand years of dreams. And if these two had brought her back then they still should die. That was who she was. She was a killer.

But she was also confused so she did not squeeze either any harder. It wasright and it was wrong. This was her place. Now that she could sense once more she could feel that this was her place. Somewhere she should have been. She could smell it. The resigned terror amongst her waking meals was familiar. They knew what she was and they feared her for it. They knew their place.

Not like that other, soft, bad place full of fuzzy pink versions of herself. Living ones. Ugghh.

Holding this hand like that though? Why was she doing that? She was doing it now to cause pain but why hold the hand like that in the first place. Because, something told her, that was what you did with a witch. That was how you did hold her hand. But she had never known a witch never. So how did she know that and what sort of stupid truth was it anyway? That was how you held a witches hand?

It was going round and round in her head and she didnt like it it was just like the dreams getting in the way of what she was. Had she dreamt about the hands? The hands, like that. Holding. The rush of power through her as she knew that she could Could what? She didnt know. The only thing that she knew was that she was safe.

Safe?

Why safe? No something she was remembering things that she had never done. Never done. Not yet. Thinking? Remembering? Dreaming? What was going on?

A waking dream again. And that face in the dreams overlaid on the face of this witch.

The face of something that was hers just made it clearer that this one wasnt.

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Youre not mine, the vampire said to her.

Amy had to agree with that, whimpered again as the vampire squeezed once more, then released her hand and the relief that swept through her as fast as the blood into her hand was bliss. It released Marcie a second later and she must have collapsed to the floor. The witch hoped the young woman was not dead her employers would not be impressed at the loss of that asset. Even to acquire this new one they obviously so valued.

Reduced to a whimper! The shame of itbut what the lawyers had paid her with an oh-so-valuable detayat, the little trinket which would allow her to take and retain a body as required. Moving with ease to others, and back or keeping one indefinitely. When they had told her that they had one she would have done this for just money, but for one of those rare treasures That was definitely worth the effort and a little pain. Or even a lot. She would have taken much more for that reward. She could always vacate the premises and allow someone else to do the recuperating for her.

But she was glad she didnt have to. She had a hot date with a cute guy tomorrow and she knew this body so well now that she didnt want to have leave it before that.

The vampire looked at her again, rejecting her mentally and then made for locked door of the room. Marcie had the key, she knew that. But it didnt bother with the lock at all, just wrenching the door off its hinges and striding out into its world once more.

She just hoped that Wolfram and Hart regarded this as a success otherwise she wasn't sure that either this, or the body of her birth, would be a safe place for her now.

A Madison reduced to a whimper

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So the matter is concluded satisfactorily? Lilah checked as Holland listened over the speakerphone. The report was nothing like that which she would have ordinarily required of personnel working for her, but that was what you got for sub-contracting. It was absolutely necessary in this to have a cut-out. There could be no clear route back to Wolfram and Hart. Not for this. Not so soon anyway. One day they would make their involvement clear in fact she understood that it would be crucial. But not just yet.

If satisfactory includes having no feeling in my hand and that invisible woman you sent me being unconscious for two hours then I would say so, the witch was not impressed by that, having recovered from her previous relief at actually being alive at all.

You were both notified of the risks. Marcie is going to be alright? Lilah asked with a professional concern. They had invested a lot in that young woman after salvaging her from that government program. A lot of time, a lot of retraining. Though this case had been a little out of her area of expertise.

Shes conscious and talking. I did what I could. Tricky when she is invisible. But yes the spell worked. Another vampire is loose in Sunnydale.

Excellent. Holland smiled at her, nodding his own satisfaction. We appreciate your consideration for Marcie, Ms Madison and there will be a bonus to your payment. We will have that payment delivered to you in the next few hours as agreed. Will that be satisfactory?

There was just silence from the other end of the line though the call had not been terminated. Hello? Ms Madison?

For her part, on the other end of the line she was trying to speak, but when she opened her mouth nothing emerged but air. Not even a croak. Her voice had not just gone it had disappeared entirely.

Lilah ended the call. The operation had been a success, payment had been arranged. She didnt need to know anything else about the witch or her body swapping activities. Nor about her being cut off. Strange though. But hardly a problem. Perhaps the witch had been eaten. Shame but payment would still be sent. It was in the contract of course. She shrugged.

Lost her? Holland asked.

So it seems. Oh well. Drink? she offered. Things were starting to come together. One back in the game and on the board. The other never out of it but still not quite there yet.

Thank you, Holland accepted the offered beverage. Heres to you continuing to make such excellent progress.

She tipped her glass to him.

**********

Katharyn

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You hear that baby?

The whole plot for SS is completely worked out already, the ending written a long time ago so I had a definite point to get to.

All that I am doing now is amending the parts as my beta reader checks them and running a finalredraft.... adding a few bits in there too.

Glad your liking it!

Katharyn

-------

You hear that baby?

Supermus said
I still wanna see faith, she's my third fav character.

This post is simply to take us to 19 so that the next one will create a new page - as this one is starting to tick me off now... I have to refresh several times to get the full text up. But I shall make some attempt at a proper reply, so Supermus...

It is fair to say that anyone who is not specifically already dead in this reality and was involved in canon Seasons 1-4 has a fair chance of appearing in this fic - at least in cameo or by mention. There are exceptions of course and I am not just sticking people in there to go "there they are" but the cast does fill out some. Does that include Faith? Well I like her too... make of that what you will.

Apologies for the bump... but it was for the best of causes.

Katharyn

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You hear that?