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This page was last updated: September 25, 1998
(c)September 1998
URL: willow16.htmlThe following is a bit of alternative fiction based on certain characters from the Xenaverse It is not meant to infringe on anyone else's rights. If you don't agree or disapprove, please go read something else.
This story is part of an Altaverse based on Bite Me and the Fonder Heart. It can be found, along with other such stories, at The Realms of the Xenaverse, under Blood and Roses. Xena is Ares' Daughter and Gabrielle is Bacchus' Daughter
Characters from Buffy: Vampire Slayer have also been borrowed for the purposes of this story. All of this is written with the utmost affection and the no desire for renumeration (except for possible emails). The same above disclaimer is in effect. There are certain changes that have been made to accomadate this particular Xenaverse. Buffy's Vampires are really part of the Kin, renamed for purposes of this story
Xex Alert: Yes, there definitely will be, between two consenting immortal women even. Maybe even more
Violence Alert: Yes, probably, given that this is a story involving slayage and Xena.
"Angel's been a very naughty naughty boy..." Druscilla sang as she danced in haphazard circles around Spike's wheelchair. "Naughty naughty naughty naughty.... So very very bad... Bad bad bad. Angel's a bad boy..."
The platinmum coifed vampire listened to the increasingly bizarre rants of his mate with a skeptical ear. While he was grateful to have Druscilla by his side-- it really pissed him off that his soul-bound was a stark, raving lunatic, even by vampire standards. Spike sighed heavily. Another reason to hate the brooding Byronic figure lurking now in the shadows. Biting back his growing irritation with his circumstances, he focused once more on his mate, hoping that his gaze would steady her. "What do you mean, love?" he inquired pleasantly. "Didn't you have fun tonight?"
"Went sneaking... sneaking... sneaking... peeking in the bushes..." Druscilla was in a dizzy rapture now, the searing heat of the Destroyer's presence and the immaculate display of the Sunwalker's controlled power combined to scatter her few wits that had survived the centuries. The Sunwalker had dispatched Angel without even working up a sweat, and only her unfathomable kindness had saved his life. Somewhere-- lurking in the primal coil of the human that she had once been-- Druscilla had wanted to see Angel die at the Sunwalker's hands. It would have freed her from this last remaining tether to her sanity. With Angel's death, she could have finally returned to the light, immolated herself in its brilliance-- and maybe, just maybe, her God would have found room in His heart to forgive her. Not to be... never be me... not to be free... never ever not ever...
Spike shook his head, growling softly. He flicked disdainful eyes to the shadows where Angel remained hidden. Sulking no doubt. When Druscilla was like this, even Spike found his patience tested; and he knew that he wouldn't get anything further out of her this evening. "What have mess have you managed to create this time?" he asked icily, knowing somehow that it no doubt had something to do with that damned slayer. Where Angel was concerned, Buffy was usually the cause.
"Let me get this straight--" Xena's eyes shifted from Gabrielle to Willow and then back again. "This Angel guy-- Buffy's boyfriend-- showed up here, recognized who you were, and tried to kill you." Although Xena's tone was even, Gabrielle could feel the barely leashed Fire undulating beneath the calm words.
The hunt must have gone well... Gabrielle mused, sensing the shimmering bond that had been cemented between the warrior and the slayer. At least I don't have to worry about them taking each other's heads off now. That's a bonus. Her own Blood had been tweaked by the tussle with Buffy's Angel, and the smell of the kin liberally coating her mate threatened to send her into overload. Her instincts urged her to skip this pointless conversation and surrender to the flame of her lover's eyes. Now. Had they been alone, she knew that at this moment she would have been underneath Xena, strong legs wrapped around the warrior's shoulders, hips arching into the feeling of Xena deep inside her. The immortal shuddered at the faint outlines of the vision that danced behind her eyes. Forcibly, she shook the sensation away. There would be time enough for them both to indulge their deeper senses and drown in the power that was their lovemaking. "That pretty much covers it," Gabrielle agreed, centuries of controlling the Blood rendering her own voice as nonchalant as Xena's had been. She knew Xena was craving their consummation as much as she was at this moment, but right now other considerations... most especially the impressionable mortal child beside them... took precedence.
"Except for one thing." The warrior's tone was harder now, inflected with the knowledge that her Gabrielle had been in danger; and she hadn't been anywhere around to protect her. It didn't matter that Gabrielle was more than capable of protecting herself... indeed was probably more suited to protecting them both at this stage in Xena's rebirth. The fact of the matter was-- in the warrior's eyes-- her role, her only mission in life, was to keep her love safe.
"What's that?"
"You let him go!" Xena roared.
Willow flinched at the immortal noise, her already huge eyes rounding further and her mouth dropping open in shock. In the short time that she had known her Aunt's lover, Xena had been nothing but exceedingly soft-spoken-- as if that would counterbalance the extraordinary sense of strength and power that she carried with her. Now, looking at the dark figure covered in the unmistakable evidence of her profession and listening to the burning heat in her voice, Willow finally had no trouble at all believing that this was the daughter of a god. Oh boy...
Gabrielle, catching sight of her astonished niece, suppressed a quiet grin. Willow was getting quite an eyeful, that was for sure. Ares' Daughter in all her bloody glory... but the bard wasn't disturbed by the display in the least. Well... at least not the way Willow is... "Yes, Xena. I let him go," she replied calmly, knowing that Xena was more worried about her safety than anything.
Xena paced tightly away and then turned back to glare at the Sunwalker. "What in Zeus' name were you thinking?" Xena could be a menacing figure even at the most gentle of times-- but now, cloaked in darkness, backlit by the dim porch light she was Fury itself as she stared at the smaller figure of her immortal lover.
Heat arced between them now as the Blood and Fire spoke a language all their own. Promising consummation... reminding them of eternity... Involuntarily, Gabrielle's fangs began to lengthen as the Fire beckoned to her Blood. They had to wrap this up, get Willow out of there.
"It was my call, Xena. I made it." The authority of two thousand years weighted her quiet voice.
"I'm not disputing that, Gabrielle. What I can't understand is why the hell you did it!"
Willow couldn't take it anymore. Gabrielle and Xena were fighting over something she was responsible for. She couldn't let her someone else take the blame for that. The teenager's voice was quavering, but unmistakable to the keen ears of the immortals. "I asked her to." Two heads whipped around in her direction, pinning her with jeweled gazes. In that instant, Willow knew there was something else going on here... and that knowledge-- uncomprehending though it was-- curled tightly in her belly waiting to be examined at another time, in a safer place. "I did it," she repeated, more to confirm to herself that she had actually said something. "I asked Gabrielle not to hurt him."
Not Aunt Gabrielle, Xena noted silently. Willow was acknowledging her own role as an adult in this whole unfolding mess, and the warrior's respect for the young woman rose yet again. "Why?" she asked softly, forcing herself to contain the taunting calls of the Fire.
Willow looked helplessly at the dark warrior, sensing more than she understood. "Buffy loves him," she answered. "I mean I know that he's a bloodsucking demonspawn, and he did some really horrible things. He killed Miss Calendar, and he really, really hurt Buffy." Mustering her courage and quite unaware of the brilliant green fire in her own eyes, she locked glances with the immortal warrior. "But he didn't ask to become a vampire. And he fought it for a really long time. He didn't know he was cursed."
"Nobody asks to become a vampire, Willow."
"But, Buffy..." Willow objected.
"But Buffy loves him," Xena finished for her. "And you couldn't bear to take away the person she loves more than anything in the world." She smiled, in spite of the searing pain that ran through her own heart at the girl's disconsolate expression. She remembered her own anguish at watching Gabrielle walk away from her that first time.
Seeing her kiss him... even now she couldn't say his name for the pain it still brought her... walk away arm in arm with him... knowing he was going to touch the bard in a way that had been denied her all those years...
Absently, she wondered if Willow had known beforehand that Buffy and Angel were going to make love... if Buffy had confided in her best friend... and the warrior felt a kindred sorrow for the girl who obviously had no concept of what she was feeling. Willow only knew that she couldn't bear watching her best friend in pain. So much so that she was willing to suffer that pain in her stead.
She put a tender hand on the girl's arm. Willow startled softly at the unexpected touch, and Xena felt the muscles tense and then release at the contact. "I..."
"I know, Willow." Something unspoken passed between them, a quiet understanding of pain and undiscovered love. "You want to do everything you can to make sure she's happy."
"She's my best friend."
As if that explained everything.
And in a way, Xena knew, it did. It certainly explained her own life, in a much more fundamental way than most people could fathom. It had always been Gabrielle... first last and always... temporary passions aside... the bard was her soul.
She wondered how long it would take the slayer to find hers. If this Angel was it, or maybe something else rested hidden behind the cloak of the everyday.
"Have you thought about what letting Angel go might mean to you?"
The question was completely unexpected by both the teen and the bard, and Xena registered their surprise without changing her expression.
"What-- what do you mean?"
"Xena..." The warning tone in Gabrielle's voice let the warrior know that her mate had been following the same trail of thought.
But that wasn't what Xena had in mind.
"Angel knows you're linked to the Sunwalker now." Xena put both hands on the girl's shoulders to emphasize her point. "Did you stop and think that he might try to get to Gabrielle through you?" The breath left Willow's body with a quiet whoosh, and she swayed dangerously close to the warrior's blood-encrusted leather vest. Xena steadied her until the bright green eyes focused on her once more. Speaking with a quiet intensity, she continued. "I'm not trying to scare you, Willow... and I promise you they will have to cut my heart out before I let them hurt a hair on your head... But you have to understand. Everything you do has consequences. I know that you don't want to hurt Buffy any more than she's already been hurt, but by protecting Angel you're making yourself a target."
Target... there was a familiar word to the teenager. How many times had some vamp grabbed her or Xander trying to lure the slayer into a trap? And, Willow realized with a soft gasp, it worked every time. Heedless of the dangers to herself, Buffy never failed to retrieve her kidnapped friends. "I'm already a target," she blurted out. Then she squared her shoulders and regarded the dark woman seriously. "So I guess adding one more name to the list doesn't really matter. Does it?"
So much like Gabrielle... the warrior thought, studying the resolute features of the young woman in front of her. Does she have any idea of how strong she is? How strong she's going to have to be? Knowing that Willow would surrender this point no more than Gabrielle would concede the same one about her, Xena acceded with a quiet nod. "Okay, then. But you and Gabrielle are going to have a long talk later about how to survive Kidnapping 101. Deal?"
Willow smiled-- relief, happiness, and something still unidentifiable coursing through her body. "Deal!" Suddenly conscious of the heat of the warrior's lean body next to hers, she backed away awkwardly. "Okay, great... well, uh... I guess..." She glanced at her wrist, forgetting that she wasn't wearing a watch. "Boy, it's late! I think I'm gonna hit the pillows and let you guys..." Her voice trailed away. "Well, you know.. be.. you guys..." Very aware now of the glimmering heat between the warrior and the golden bard.
Xena and Gabrielle watched the still-rambling teen continue to inch across the porch until she finally slipped through a crack in the sliding glass doors. They turned to each other with knowing smiles. "Now..." Gabrielle murmured, slipping effortlessly into her lover's arms. "Where were we?"
Blood and Roses Realm | Fan Fiction Site | Home Page
This page was last updated: September 25, 1998
(c)September 1998
URL: willow16.html