FicWad

The gang all stared at Buffy and Riley as they listened to them recount what had passed as a battle between the two of them and this demon hybrid thingy they now knew as Adam. Willow and Tara kept clinging to one another. Xander kept his hand on Anya's shoulder. Even Olivia was there on a visit. Not so good timing for her to be there. One of the biggest evils the gang had known was now loose in Sunnydale and they had no way of defeating it.
"What are we gonna do?" Xander looked at Giles. "These two are like born fighters, or at least trained fighters, and they had no chance at it. What chance do the rest of us have against it? We gonna all die."
Giles rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous Xander. We shall surely find a way. We have always found a way. It will just take time. Time that we may not have." He sighed heavily. He wasn't so sure himself if they would be able to defeat this latest bad guy.
"I know we don't want to consider it, but we might have to use magic." Willow felt all eyes turned towards her. "I'm not saying it's a happy thought for me, either. We still have no real way of knowing if I'll go all wonky the next spell I do. But do we have any other choice here?"
"W-Willow, we will find another way." Tara squeezed the red head's hand tightly. "I trust you, I just don't know."
"It's all right sweetie. I myself just said how things could somehow go really bad if I'm not able to keep myself under control." She swallowed hard. "But look at Riley and Buffy. They're all bloody and black and blue and puffy. They barely got out with their lives. And Xander is right. If those two are no match for whatever this demon is, how are we?"
"I could help you fight it." Spike's deep voice came from the bathroom where he was still chained to the bathtub.
"Like we'd trust you as far as..." Buffy trailed off. She didn't want to offend any of her friends. "As far as a grizzled old man could throw you."
"Bloody hell!" The voice was getting angrier. "Listen, slayer. If that thing is after demons as well as people like you've said it is, I'm bloody well on the list. Do you think I'm happy with offering my services?" There was silence for a moment. "Stupid bint."
"Spike, that's more than enough." Giles sighed and took off his glasses and began cleaning them. "I fear that Spike is right. We may need all the man power that we can get." He turned to Riley. "You've said that your army buddies are in a bit of disarray at the moment?"
"Yeah." Riley began pacing. He was noticeably limping as he did. "With Professor Walsh dead, there wasn't really a clear second in command. We're waiting for a colonel to be sent from Washington. But that could still be a few days."
"I see." Giles began cleaning his glasses again. He had a really sad look on his face. "We may have no other choice than to turn to witchcraft." He turned to Willow and Tara who still held each other tight. "You girls may just stand be between the destruction of the world and salvation."
"Gee, but no pressure." Xander laughed nervously. "Giles, Willow already has control issues. Did you have to go and say that as well?"
"Yes, well." Giles cleared his throat. "I have a couple ideas that might help. But we would need to be on the inside for us to take full advantage of them." He turned to Riley. "Do you think that could be arranged?"
"It might be tricky." Riley shook his head. "If the Initiative wasn't such a big mess, I could guarantee it. But I'm not sure who is acting on their own and who is still acting for the Initiative."
"I understand." Giles turned his attention back to the two young and powerful witches. "The one spell that I think would be most useful would be a joining spell. Have you two ever heard of such a spell?"
Tara nodded shyly. Willow smiled. "Yeah. We, um, kinda, well let's just say we thought it meant something else." Both girls faces turned beet red as everyone else started to shift uncomfortably. "But the good is that we are familiar. But if what I think you are suggesting is what you are suggesting, it's gonna require a lot of power. And for the four of us to be close together and not disturbed. Plus Tara would need to be there to help keep me, heh, grounded."
"Precisely." Giles nodded. "That's why us having inside access would be the best possible solution. And if we can count on him, Spike could help protect us while we perform the spell."
"And what about me?" Anya looked around the room. "I don't want to be there. Can I stay home?"
"By all means." Giles rolled his eyes. "It will take a day or two to prepare the spell and for everyone to learn their role. I say that we adjourn for the day. I suggest that Riley and Buffy stay at the Summers' residence. I believe that Willow and Tara will be safe in her dorm. And Xander, you and Anya stick together. Olivia and I will stay here. Call if anything should happen." He watched as they all slowly went back to their homes.
"I don't like it." Anya paced back and forth. "You could be killed. We should get out of here like I did the last time we faced an apocalypse."
"An, honey. You know that I have to stay here." He took Anya in his arms. "Willow, Buffy, and I have seen each other through a lot. I'm not going to bail on them now. I was hoping you wouldn't either." He gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"As long as you are willing to die, I'm willing to stay here and watch you die." She kissed him back. "I just got a boyfriend. I don't want to lose him already."
"Is this all too much?" Giles was lying on his couch, Olivia stretched out in front of him.
"A bit." She laughed. "I'm still having trouble with Buffy as the slayer. She's just so tiny."
"Yes, well." Giles sighed. "There are so many things over the years that I wanted to tell you. Now, you know that everything is real."
"Scary." Olivia thought for a few minutes. "But so is synchronized swimming."
"Good night, mom." Buffy smiled at Riley. "She trusts us. She just doesn't want to believe that we aren't having sex. Even though we almost..."
Riley smiled at her. "We almost. He leaned up from the floor and kissed her. "After all of this is over, we have got to have a real talk. You know that, right?"
"Yeah." Buffy smiled. "We sorta found out about the other. But, I have a feeling there is a lot more to tell. But we may not survive."
Riley shot her a look. "I know I'm still new to this whole fighting evil. But isn't a positive attitude just as good as a killer right cross."
Buffy smiled. "I'm not saying we are going to die. All I'm saying is that, if you think about it, it's a possibility. After all, that pretty much is a slayer's legacy. And, well, you signed on to fight all these evil things. I'm sure you guys' life span isn't much more than mine."
"I guess." Riley looked up into Buffy's eyes. "I just want to be there for you. No matter what. I don't like the thought of either of us dying."
"Neither do I, Riley Finn."
Tara was sitting at one end of the bed, Willow the other. Both had volumes in their hand. Books that neither of them had gotten a chance to read. They were hoping that there was something about the control thing inside one of them.
But it was still looking useless at this point. Willow slammed the book shut and picked up the one that Giles had given them to study. It was the one that contained the joining spell.
"You all right?" Tara asked from her end of the bed. When Willow didn't answer her, she scooched her way so that they were nearly touching, they were so close. "It's really hard, isn't it?" Tara put her hand on the red head's.
"You have know idea." She stopped. "Maybe you do." She looked into the blonde's bright blue eyes. "I have this power that I have trouble controlling, and you have this demon inside of you that will come out in a few months." She swallowed hard. "I guess you are the only one in the world that understands. Or, at least here among the scoobies."
Tara smiled. "Yeah, I sorta know what you're going through. I'm wondering if I had this demon power right now. If I could control it, would it be enough to stop this demon."
"Adam." Willow rolled her eyes at the name. "You know, Professor Walsh was one brilliant teacher. But she went all wacko on us and is leaving us to clean up her mess." She squeezed Tara's hand. I think that might be one of my biggest fears. That I do something that the rest of you would have to clean up after me. It's not a pleasant thought."
"No, it's not." Tara leaned her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. "But didn't somebody tell me that we would face anything together. That as long as we were together, we could face down anything."
Willow smiled at the thought. "Yeah, but who knew we'd be facing down some Frankenstein monster creation. One that seems to be pretty much unkillable."
"Now who doesn't have faith in the two of us." Tara let out a small giggle. "It's not gonna be easy. Nothing worth doing ever is. Even our relationship has taken work. But it's well worth it. In about five months, we'll be able to celebrate being together for a year. And neither of us thought we'd be more than friends when we first got together."
"You're right." She leaned her head against the blonde's. "I love you so much. I don't know how I lived before. Maybe I wasn't living. Maybe I was just being. This is what I call real living. You and me. Together forever." Willow stood up suddenly. So suddenly that she knocked Tara to the floor. She quickly bent down and helped her girlfriend up. "I'm so sorry baby. I just thought of something."
Tara rubbed her elbow. She had hit her funny bone and it wasn't feeling so funny at the moment. "What? What's got you so excited. Is it something that can help with Adam?"
Willow smiled brightly. She smiled bigger than she ever had. "I know how to control my powers." She picked up the book that contained the joining spell. "And you wouldn't have to be any where near me when I do the spell. It would keep you out of harms way. And that would help me focus."
"What exactly are you getting at?" Tara looked at the book Willow was holding, not understanding.
"We are almost as one now, right?" Tara smiled and nodded her head. "Well, what if we sorta made it official."
"Willow, we can't legally get married..." Tara's eyes brightened as she realized what her girlfriend was getting at. "You mean that you want the two of us to join. And that way the control that I've learned over the years would automatically be yours. We would forever be one."
"Right." Willow raised an eyebrow. "And the other joining spell would be temporary. I mean, the one that would join me, Buffy, Giles, and Xander. You could stay with Anya. Protect her with magicks if need be."
Tara smiled. "So, we're going to get hitched are we?"
Willow laughed. It was rare that Tara joked. It made her heart feel so good. Especially since she might not survive the next day. But if she didn't, at least her everything would be safe. And that's what mattered.