Triune by TheBear

Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: If I owned 'em, they'd have to show it on the Ecstasy Network.
Distribution: http://www.papa-bear.com/
http://mysticmuse.net
Feedback: Feed The Bear!
Pairing: Willow/Tara/Buffy

Summary: Book Three of the Triad Trilogy. Sequel to the Please Trilogy.

Xander handed the stuff to Willow as she asked for it. He watched her as she made the preparations, drawing a sacred circle on the floor with some kind of chalk, laying out and drawing a pentagram inside the circle. She had him set up candles and put together a little tripod with a metal bowl on top, while she assembled ingredients in little bowls on a tray.

Xander's smile went from humor to a warmer feeling of camaraderie, seasoned with a little desire. "You got that right!" he said.

Xander watched Willow work in silence for a little while, again captivated by the changes in his childhood friend of late. Her self confidence had skyrocketed; she was no longer prone to easy embarrassment and she certainly wasn't shy. Dancing with him at the bronze was proof of that- she had been so damn sexy that he'd been a walking hard-on, and instead of ignoring it, or being upset with him, she'd laughed and teased him about it.

Willow noticed him watching her. "What?" she asked with a smile as she finished up the prep-work for the spell.

Rather than revisit their conversation from the Bronze he just said, "Still marveling at the new and improved Willow."

Willow laughed at that, "Willow version five point oh, with all the optional upgrades, baby."

Xander changed the subject. "So, what's this spell supposed to do, exactly?" he asked.

"Well, it uses a silken cord, and it changes it into this invisible stretchy kind of thing," Willow answered. "And then it bind's the stretchy thing to our mental essences so that we're connected wherever we go, and no matter how far apart we are."

"Wait a minute," Xander said with some alarm, "Connected? As in, 'can read each other's minds'?" He was immediately worried that Buffy would kick his ass for the things he'd been thinking. And that was only if Tara or Willow didn't turn him into a frog first.

Willow saw the fear on his face and thought she knew what he was worried about. She walked over to him- he would have said 'stalked' rather than 'walked'- and moved into his personal space, their bodies almost touching. She put he hand lightly on his arm and looked up through her lashes into his eyes. "What's the matter, Xander?" she asked in her sexy little-girl voice. "Don't want me to see what you're thinking about me?"

Xander backed up until he hit the wall with a thud. His thoughts right now involved doing many wonderful things, all naked, with his best bud since they were kids. He covered his face with his hands and slumped back against the wall. "Dammit! First Buffy, now Willow!" he shouted in his head. Out loud he groaned mournfully, "Just kill me now."

Willow giggled delightedly. "Payback's a bitch, huh?" she asked, still laughing.

Willow laughed again. "You have no idea how many times back in high school I went home horny and frustrated, wishing I was with you. Why do you think seeing you with Cordelia was such a kick in my stomach?"

Xander groaned again, but this time it was at his own cluelessness. "Believe me Willow. If I could go back in time, that is just one of the many things I would kick my… well younger me's ass for."

Willow, deciding he'd suffered enough for now, said, "Don't worry, Xander. This spell doesn't let us read each other's minds. It just… we'll know where the other's are… not exactly, but like a homing beacon- we'll know which direction and how far; so if someone gets… taken… the rest of us could follow." She was quiet at that, thinking about what she'd do if any of them got taken away by Glory or her little demon assistants.

"But how will we know that someone got… you know?" Xander asked, not really wanting to say 'taken'.

Willow continued describing the spell's effects, "Oh, well we will be able to call out to the others that are tied to us, and we'll all know if everyone's ok, like if you got knocked on the head, I'd know it, that you were in pain. Sort of." She scrunched her nose, not sure she was explaining it very well. "Does that make any sense?"

Xander smiled at his friend. No matter how much she changed, she was still Willow. Still had a tendency to babble when explaining things. "Yeah Will. I think I get it," he said. "It's like an automatic distress beacon."

"You know, they're gonna be a while. We should go to your apartment and you can pack some stuff," Willow said out of the blue.

"Well, yeah!" Willow said like Xander was being deliberately obtuse. Seeing his continued confusion, she asked, "Didn't Buffy tell you? She thought we shouldn't stay where Glory knows we'll be at."

Xander thought that was probably a good idea, but… "But she knows here. She's *been* here!" he exclaimed.

Willow smiled at a typical Xander outburst. "We're not staying here either, Xander," she explained. "Probably tomorrow we'll go somewhere else." She grabbed his arm and guided him to the stairs.

Tara had gotten up to see if Willow was ready for the spell, but found a note taped to their door saying she and Xander had gone to his place to pack. She looked at her pet, still stretched out on the bed asleep. Naturally she was on her stomach, and Tara's eyes roamed the lines of her back, ass and legs.

Buffy's back was lean and graceful, tapering from her shoulders smoothly to her waist.

There the lines swelled out to encompass her sweet, rounded ass- now covered in angry red welts. Part of Tara felt a pang of shame for marking her delightful pet like that, but the welts were already fading under the onslaught of the Slayer's healing power. Mostly, Tara was tempted to go over there and trace each individual welt with her tongue.

From her pet's glorious ass, Tara's eyes moved on to her shapely thighs- the muscle tone evident even as fully relaxed as she was.

She smiled as her eyes traveled over the backs of the Slayer's knees. She knew that kissing that sensitive skin tickled and made her pet giggle and squirm; but licking there made her gasp and moan. Her calves were toned and silky, and Tara loved to nibble and scrape her teeth along them. She loved to press her breasts against them while taking her pet with the strap-on, bending her in half with her pet's ankles resting on Mistress' shoulders.

When they weren't playing, Tara loved to massage Buffy's feet after a long night's patrol. The Slayer would melt into a lump of pure relaxation as Tara worked the instep with the balls of her thumbs in long, slow strokes.

She could admire the Slayer's body for hours it seemed. And this was just the back side! The front side held even more delightful goodies. "Enough looking!" she thought. "We've got more time to snuggle."

Buffy woke up from her doze when she felt the bed move as Tara climbed back in. Not knowing if they were still playing, she remained quiet and didn't meet Tara's eyes.

Tara smiled, noticing her pet was awake, but remaining submissive until Tara let her know if they were playing or not. She laid down next to Buffy, reached out and combed her fingers through the Slayer's silky hair, and whispered, "I love to look at you, Buffy. You are so beautiful."

Hearing her name, Buffy knew the game was suspended for now and they were equals once again. Right now, she wasn't sure which she preferred, or if she even had a preference, but soft and sweet was nice anytime. "Look who's talking!" she whispered back. When I look into your eyes, Tara… I feel like I'm drowning in your beauty." She blushed at the overly poetic sentiment, but that was what her heart gave her to say.

Buffy smiled at the invitation and crawled up onto her girlfriend, draping herself over the taller girl's body like a flesh blanket. "For the record, let me just say, 'wow'," she said. "That was… just wow! I was totally gone… there was no thought, just feeling."

Tara blushed, but she was overwhelmingly happy that Buffy had capitulated like that. "I should be thanking you, Buffy," she said. "You gave me a gift, something rare and precious. You gave yourself to me completely."

Buffy looked up at he lover and was surprised to find her softly weeping. She moved up and kissed her gently and wiped away her tears, asking, "Tara? What's wrong?"

Buffy didn't know exactly what was wrong, so she didn't know how to help. Wanting to do something; needing to do something, she said, "Whatever it is; it's ok. I love you Tara. Never doubt that."

Tara's mouth did that thing where she was simultaneously smiling and frowning, and the tears flowed even harder. She wasn't sad, in fact she was buzzing with joy. It was just that there was too much emotion for her to handle and the excess leaked out in tears. She stroked Buffy's hair and said, "Do you know that I remember the exact moment I fell in love with you?"

"I had cast a spell to blind you all to my demon half… and in the process I almost got you all killed. To make matters worse, Dad and Donny and Beth all showed up right then and said they've come to take me back with them…" Tara swallowed the lump in her throat and opened her eyes to meet Buffy's. "And then you said if they wanted me they could take me…"

Buffy's own eyes filled with tears as she recalled that moment. She barely knew Tara then, and she'd been so mad at her for the spell, but there was no way she was letting some one take one of her people. Tara was Willow's love, and that made her one of Buffy's people, even if she didn't know the blond witch very well, and even if she was mad at her.

"Then, you said he had to go through you first, and I… I didn't believe it. And then everyone else stood up for me and then it happened…" Tara's lower lip was quivering as she stroked Buffy's face gently with her fingertips. She ran her thumb across the Slayer's lower lip, gasping slightly when Buffy's tongue darted out to taste it. "You said you were my family… and that's the moment I fell head over heels in love with Buffy Summers."

Buffy leaned in and pressed her lips on Tara's, giving her a soft, wet, slow kiss. After a moment she pulled away and got up off of the blond witch, deciding she wanted a shower. She held out her hand and said, "Come on. Let's get wet."

Buffy and Xander sat a few steps up from the bottom of the stairs, looking at the circle and pentagram Willow had drawn. They were watching the two witches as they went around the circle lighting the candles and discussing how they were going to go about binding the four of them together so that they would be able to know if one of them were in trouble.

While they were preparing for the battle to save the world, they still had work and school to consider, and couldn't remain in constant sight of each other, so Buffy had asked if there was a magical way to remain in contact. This spell is what Willow came up with.

"Well, it's a relatively simple incantation, but to work well it needs a lot of focus," Willow said. "I think you're much more focused than me."

Tara blushed at the compliment, but countered, "I think you're a lot more focused these days than you used to be, sweetie."

"Plus," Tara continued, "It requires a lot of power to set the bond and make it unbreakable, and you've got more power than anyone I've ever met, Willow."

Buffy interjected, "Wait a minute; is this spell dangerous for whoever casts it?"

Tara answered, "No, not for someone with power and experience. If someone who didn't have much power tried it, it could drain them pretty badly." She glanced adoringly at her witchy lover as she added, "Willow could do it without even breaking a sweat."

"I could probably do it; it might just make me a little tired." She paused as if considering something, "I think I would draw on outside power if I did it. It would take longer, but I wouldn't have to use any of my own power at all."

"I think we should definitely do that," Buffy said. "You guys should save your energy as much as possible for when it's fighting time."

"Why Tara?" Xander asked. "You can't do that?" he was curious despite his usual tendency not to ask too much about magical things. Witchcraft was a little too much like chemistry class- it tended to make him sleepy.

Buffy thought she caught a hint of more serious concern in Tara's eyes when she teased the redhead. "We'll discuss this later," she said, her tone brooking no dispute. Right now, let's worry about this spell."

Tara smiled, happy to have an ally in the battle to tame Willow the witch. "Of course. Willow, you can draw and feed me what you pull." Frowning, she added, "And no cheating- feeding me your own power!"

Willow sat down and in a properly chastised voice said, "Ok, no cheating." It wasn't that she couldn't draw from the earth; she just was slow at it. She didn't have anything against it, there were just better, faster ways to get the energy boost you needed. And since they were only for life or death situations anyway… it didn't really matter that it was dark energy. "Besides," she thought, "I only did it that one time…"

Xander kneeled nervously, trying to keep from fidgeting as Tara chanted in some language he didn't know. It sounded like Latin, maybe. "Heck, it could be Swedish for all I know!" he thought. He wasn't uncomfortable with magic per se, he just didn't understand it. And, of course, the last time he was directly involved with a spell was when he had Amy cast that love spell back in high school. "And that worked out so well…" he muttered to himself. Then of course there was Willow's infamous 'My Will' spell, which turned him into demon-bait. "And, let's not forget the incredible joy of the Indian curse that gave me every disease in the book including the 'Funny Syphilis'!" he remembered.

All in all, Xander's experiences with magic generally left him on the receiving end of the 'being screwed'. "Still…" he mused. "Tara and Willow sure seem to have it together with the magic thing lately." He remembered the ease with which they had schooled Bleach Brain when he was mackin' on Buffy.

Tara picked up the cord and held it to her forehead. She stretched it out to Willow and the redhead took it, copying Tara's gesture so that the cord was strung tightly between their foreheads. Willow continued the chain, stretching the free end of the cord to Buffy, who held it up and then passed the remainder on to Xander.

When Xander pressed the cord against his skin, he felt nothing. He handed the last bit of cord to Tara, completing the circle. "More like a square," he thought.

The moment the end of the cord touched Tara, the whole thing seemed to disappear and Xander felt the same sensation you get when you walk into a single line of spider web. Like you can feel *something* but you can't see it or get it off. Fortunately the sensation faded before he could get too creeped out. He noticed Buffy do a kind of full body shudder and felt better knowing he wasn't the only one.

"I'm the locus of the spell, plus I know how to concentrate and pick out the lines." Seeing Xander's skepticism, she said, "Just trust me, I can feel all of you."

Willow grinned and said, "Why don't we go upstairs, and you can feel me even better!"

Buffy laughed and Xander just rolled his eyes. "I take it we're spending one more night in casa del Summers?" he asked.

"Where are we going, exactly?" Xander asked, curious to know if she had even picked someplace yet.

"I've got a place in mind." At the questioning look from Xander, she said, "It'll be a surprise!"

Buffy started up the stairs, following her two lovers who were already holding hands. "You can sleep in Dawn's bed, Xander," she offered.

Tara suddenly choked and started to cough. She finally laughed and quipped, "Yeah, Xander. Dawn won't mind you sleeping in her bed, I'm sure."

Rupert Giles was at once in a state of turmoil, and a state of peace and happiness.

He had awoken over an hour ago, but was content to remain right where he was in bed. The contentment came from the fact that he had Joyce Summers lying against him, her arm and leg stretched over his body, and her head nestled on his shoulder. He marveled at the nearly forgotten sensation of waking up to a warm sleepy body draped upon his own. It was very nearly pure bliss. The smells of her skin and hair, the lingering scent of their passion the night previous… it all added up to bring him to a state of peaceful joy.

Unfortunately, there was also the turmoil. Somehow during his musing on the joy of connecting with his new lover, it occurred to him that he was very stupid. He had even commented to Buffy about her connection with her lovers helping to overcome Glorificus, and yet only now did it occur to him that the answer was that simple. Not that the solution would be easy. No it was going to be quite hard, and uncomfortable, and terrible. He felt thrice damned for not thinking of it earlier when he recalled all the time he'd spent researching the effects and aftermath from the first time they had used this solution against a seemingly unstoppable enemy.

Fortunately, he believed that he had solved the problem of the dangerous aftermath of this particular strategy. Unfortunately, the solution would be a bitter pill for Buffy and Willow especially to swallow. However, he felt that it would be well worth it if it worked. If it didn't work… well, no one would be left alive to worry about it for long.

Giles' thoughts were interrupted when the arm on his chest and the leg lying between his own began to move.

Joyce woke up with a smile on her face. She had absolutely no trouble remembering where she was and who she was with. She'd been reliving their activities in her dreams all night. She rubbed her hand over his furry chest and drew her leg up, brushing against his morning erection. She smiled when she felt that. It had been many years since she woke up in bed with a man, and she had always enjoyed the morning erection. She too was usually horny in the mornings, and while she knew it wasn't necessarily sexual stimulation that made men hard in the morning, she'd yet to meet one that was unwilling to put it to good use.

"Mmmm. Good morning." She kinda moaned out, not ceasing her movements against his chest or crotch.

Giles breath caught, and all thoughts of Glory slipped from his brain, along with most of the blood that would otherwise be there. He stuttered, "Go- good morning."

"Hmmm, it's about to be," she purred as she moved down under the covers and wasted no time taking his erect cock into her mouth.

"Oh my dear God!" Giles hoarsely shouted at the unexpected sensation of Joyce's warm mouth on his manhood. After last night's exhausting sexual escapades, he had absolutely zero expectation that there would be any sort of repetition this morning.

Joyce set a slow, steady pace, leisurely sucking him into her mouth and then pulling away. She didn't use her hands at all, nor did she bother with any fancy tongue work. She just maintained a relaxed, constant rhythm.

Giles flipped the covers off, wanting to watch as she moved on him, wanting to run his fingers through her silky brown hair as she performed this most delightful service for him.

Joyce moaned at the feel of his fingers on her scalp. She knew Giles was far too much the gentleman to ever force her head upon himself, so she didn't tense for even a moment. She absolutely adored the feel of her lover's hands in her hair. She loved to be petted and stroked, especially when giving head; so long as he didn't try to direct her movements.

Giles became undone by vibrations of Joyce moaning around his cock. He felt his orgasm become imminent and gasped out a warning. "Yes! Oh, now!" he groaned.

Joyce maintained her pace, but shortened up until she was barely moving back and forth over just the head of his cock. She felt him swelling up, then flooding her mouth with hot, salty goodness. She felt a surge of pride at the sound of his incoherent mumbling- taking pleasure in momentarily reducing this brilliant scholar down to a primal, grunting savage.

Giles groaned again when, after she has swallowed his cum, she grasped him in her hand, and ran her tongue from the base of the underside all the way to the tip, pressing hard to squeeze out every last drop.

Joyce smiled as she sucked the last little dribble off of the tip of his cock, eliciting a shudder throughout his entire body. She released him and moved back up his body to nestle against him once again- this time on the opposite side.

When he had recovered some semblance of lucidity, he said, "You are the single most amazing woman I've ever met!" he rolled over until she was on her back, and kissed her soundly. He was surprised when he went to move down her body, hoping to repay her kindness, and she stopped him. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

Joyce blushed, "Um, can I just have a raincheck? Maybe for tonight?" she asked, embarrassed.

Seeing that he was worried, she overcame her embarrassment and said, "I, um… it's been a long time since… I'm just a little… sore."

Giles smiled, reassured that there was nothing serious, but then frowned, "I apologize. I… I shall try to reign in my… enthusiasm, in the future."

"Mmm, don't you dare!" she replied, running her fingers through his hair. "It'll just take me a little while to get back in the saddle again," she said, not immediately realizing the innuendo.

Giles waggled his eyebrows at her, eliciting a laugh as she caught the joke. Then he kissed her soundly and said, "What would you say to a shower then, hmm?" he kissed her cheek and then nuzzled her neck, whispering in her ear, "I could… wash you back?"

Joyce shivered at the sensation of his hot breath on her ear. "Mmm, maybe… if you were gentle... you could wash my front as well?" she suggested, thinking she might not have to wait until tonight after all…

Tara woke up first, needing to use the restroom. As she rolled away from the combined heat of her girlfriends and stood up she couldn't help but think how cute they looked, curled up face to face together. Willow always looked adorable, but especially when she was sleeping. Buffy always looked so peaceful when sleeping. Her worried frown was less evident even when awake these days, but when sleeping she looked absolutely serene.

Tara closed her eyes for a moment and tried to feel her lovers through the connection provided by the spell. After a moment, she was able to pick out their calm and tranquil presence. Her smile faded, however, when she picked up some stronger emotions coming from the third connection the spell had afforded her.

Her concentration faltered as the need to use the facilities demanded her immediate attention. She hastily threw on a robe and headed for the bathroom.

Xander woke again in the middle of an extremely erotic dream. His sleep had been interrupted no less than three times already that night, and each time he was in the middle of a dream involving him and one or more of his best friends. "Has to be the spell!" he thought, frustrated.

The previous three times, he had managed to calm himself, and fall back asleep without giving in to his arousal. This time the images were so incredibly vibrant, even now that he was awake, that he just couldn't stop himself.

It wasn't that he was embarrassed about masturbating, not even to thoughts of his friends. Heck, he'd masturbated to Buffy fantasies since the first day he'd seen her. Since the fluke, Willow had been often given a starring role in his fantasies as well- and even more so since she'd hooked up with Tara. Now that the three girls were living a threesome relationship, he could hardly help himself. No, what had kept him from touching himself all night, was the fact that he was lying in Dawn's bed. Buffy's little sister, Dawn. That, combined with the fact that there was this 'connection spell' thing, he was worried that they might feel what he was doing.

However, the images in his mind right now were too compelling for him to ignore. He'd been dreaming about Willow again. Since their dancing at the bronze the other night, he had difficulty getting the image of Willow in that sexy sexy outfit out of his head.

As he lay on his back, stroking his cock, he closed his eyes and pictured Willow in that same getup, her skirt pushed up around her waist, and the top pulled down just enough that her pink nipples were exposed. She had the fingers of one hand pinching and pulling on her nipples, while the other one was running through her wild, tousled hair as she rose and fell on his engorged dick.

Xander felt inflamed and ashamed at once, thinking of her this way when she was just down the hall in the arms of her girlfriends. There was still some small part of him that kicked himself for being such a moron in High School. He wasn't pining after her anymore than he was still yearning after Buffy all these years later. It was just the 'what if' bug that occasionally bit him.

He managed to stifle his shout as he came, strangling it down to a loudly moaned, "Oh God!" he waited until his breathing had returned to normal before trying to move again. When he did, he grimaced at the rapidly cooling, sticky mess he'd left on his hand and belly. "Xander, you need a girlfriend!" he grumbled as he made his way to the bathroom to clean up.

Tara was walking back to the bedroom when she heard Xander's muffled "Oh God!" through the door to Dawn's room. "Well, that explains that!" she thought, focusing again on the strong feelings coming from him; feelings of lust and embarrassment. The lust was easy to understand, and she thought she knew what the embarrassment was coming from. She wondered which of her lovers he was fantasizing about. "Xander, we've got to find you a girlfriend!" she thought. She was suddenly struck by another thought. "I wonder how serious Dawn is about snaring you?" She knew that the younger Summers could be quite tenacious, and as fast as she was maturing, it wouldn't be a surprise to find her 'all growed up' by the time her sweet sixteen rolled around.

As she dropped her robe and crawled back in bed with her girlfriends, she was shocked when one final thought on the matter ran through her mind; "Better Xander than some high school jock…"

"Thank you Dawn," Giles said as he watched the youngest Summers work her magic on the computer.

Dawn smirked, "You know, it wouldn't kill you to learn this stuff. It's not that hard…"

"Yes, well, I'm quite pleased to leave such matters to you and Willow," Giles answered tolerantly. Truth be known, he had picked up a rudimentary skill with the 'infernal machines' simply by proximity to the endless stream of information and instruction poured out by said redhead. "My penance," he supposed, for the lectures to which he regularly subjected Buffy. However, he was well pleased to leave such matters in the girl's hands when he could.

Both he and Joyce watched with fascination as Dawn checked their netcam, seeing themselves on the couch moving around the screen as she zoomed and focused in on them.

A few more keystrokes and Dawn had the networking host loaded up and the screen went black.

Dawn got up and joined the couple on the couch, sitting on the other side of her mother from Giles. "Nope, we're just a few minutes early. As soon as they log into the host, we'll see a picture.

They sat together in relative silence for a moment until Dawn noticed that both of them had their hands in their laps, fidgeting. She giggled at the thought that they were trying to keep their new relationship a secret from her. She was tempted to keep quiet about it and see how often she could 'innocently' interrupt them during private moments, but decided she would rather spend the time teasing them about it.

"You know, if you guys want to hold hands… it's alright with me." She said, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible.

Both adults blushed and began to stammer "What are you talking about?" was Joyce's question, right over top of Giles, "I've no idea…"

Dawn didn't quite managed to suppress her smirk as she said, "Come on, you guys… It's not like it was just a one-night-stand…" suddenly struck by the awful thought that it could have been, her voice went from amused to fearful, "It wasn't, was it? Cause that's just…"

Now they were both falling over themselves to reassure her, "Of course not!" her mom said as Giles protested, "Certainly not!"

Dawn smiled again; both in relief and humor as the metaphorical cat came leaping out of the bag. She laughed as the two supposed grown-ups looked like kids with their hands caught in the cookie jar. She teased, "Oh, I wanna be there when you guys tell Buffy! Please? I wanna watch her mouth do that thing where she looks like one of those fish on those fishing shows? You know, where they hold it up for the camera and its mouth does that thing... which, by the way is totally dumb. I mean they don't even eat them; they just throw them back in the water after going to all the trouble of catching them in the first place! What's up with that?

Joyce's mouth began to emulate the fish that Dawn was describing as her mind whirled, trying to come up with any way Dawn could know about her and Rupert- other than the obvious one wherein she had caught them in the act.

Dawn didn't even try to suppress the huge grin that overtook her features as she answered. "Are you sure you want me to say? Cause, I don't think you really want to know…"

Dawn couldn't help pushing just a little more. She said, "You shouldn't be embarrassed, Mom. "It sounded like you were having a pretty awesome time…"

Giles had to bite his stiff upper lip to keep from laughing. His humor disappeared as his lover's body started to shake as though she was crying. He was reaching to comfort her when she sucked in a deep breath and released it, not in sobs, but in peals of laughter.

Dawn too had become worried as her mother began to shudder. She thought she'd gone too far and hurt her. She was extremely relieved as her mom's laughter rang out.

Though he'd never tell her this, Giles was glad Dawn had brought the subject up. He was relieved not to have to broach the issue with her, and was also pleased for the tension relief- so long as Joyce was laughing about it and not crying. Additionally, he could now touch his lover without either of them worrying that Dawn might see them. He was also pleased that Dawn was taking it so well, rather than being upset at the idea, as he had feared she might.

He didn't particularly relish the idea of the teasing she was likely to inflict, however. And, there was still the matter of Buffy to deal with.

Thoughts of Buffy cooled his humor as he revisited in his mind the conversation they were about to face. He had come up with a plan- rather he'd cursed himself for being to shortsighted to realize it beforehand. I did seem obvious in retrospect.

After pleasantries had been exchanged, and Buffy had been diverted from questioning her mother's flushed appearance, they got down to the meat of the matter.

"I dusted Harmony!" Willow said, still jazzed about that. "Oh, and Xander dusted Spike."

Dawn smiled and thought what a great guy, he didn't even brag about dusting the biggest pain in their butts since Cordelia left town. "Oh, except for Anya of course. She's like her own category," she thought.

"Well, don't pause for effect, Giles! Tell us already," Buffy said, both eager to hear it, and exasperated with her watcher's penchant for drama.

"Yes, as I was about to say… we can capitalize on the idea of your connection…" Giles began.

Xander interrupted by comically slapping himself on the forehead, "Doh! The Super-Buffy spell thingy!"

Willow instantly remembered, "The enjoining spell! Oh! We could do the enjoining spell, Buffy!"

"Then I'd be strong enough to kick a little God-ass!" she turned back to the computer screen and addressed her watcher with a grin, "See, no drama necessary. Just say enjoining spell thingy and we're all over it!"

Giles had his glasses off and was pinching the bridge of his nose in aggravation. He loved Buffy and the others dearly, but there were times when they frustrated him to no end.

Joyce squeezed Giles knee reassuringly. "Buffy, honey," she said, "It's not that simple. Give Rupert a chance to explain."

Buffy was excited by the possibility of stomping Glory like she did Adam. "Couldn't be simpler!" she crowed. "The four of us will link up, and stomp Glorificus like a…"

Seeing that he finally had her attention, Giles explained. "Buffy, It won't be enough. Even with the magical abilities at your disposal, you won't be strong enough to beat Glory."

Giles sighed and put his glasses back on. "Buffy, Glory is not Adam. You cannot reach into her and pull out her power source as you did with Adam." Giles looked old at that moment. He didn't know how to broach the next several subjects without causing an uproar, but he knew they needed to be said.

Tara could read the discomfort in the Watcher and knew there was something he didn't want to say. "What else, Mr. Giles? There's something… something you aren't happy about telling us."

Giles gave her a wan smile, not surprised at her sharp observation. "Yes. I've done a great deal of research since our encounter with the first Slayer in the wake of using this spell in the past."

"Oh, right," Willow said. "Didn't care for the almost being killed in our dreams part." She muttered.

"But, I beat her. I can beat her again, can't I?" Buffy protested- not happy about all the negative conditions suddenly being brought up. She liked the simple plan- where they cast the spell and kicked the demon's; or in this case, hell god's; ass.

"Well, it's not all bad news…" Giles began. "I believe that I've found the reason why she attacked at all, and I believe that it can be done without angering the Slayer spirit at all."

"I thought she didn't like it that I had you guys with me… the whole 'Slayer works alone' thing" Buffy said.

"Yes, well it wasn't that you had others joined with you… it was that you had Xander and I…" Giles trailed off, seeing comprehension dawning.

"No men allowed," Xander said, getting it at last. Yet again, he wasn't really needed for the fighting.

"But, we need three," Willow said. "For the spell we have to have three people, three female people, apparently."

"I'm afraid it's even more complicated than that, Willow," Giles said. "Even with Xander, if he could participate, you wouldn't be strong enough to defeat Glory."

"But you have a plan, right?" Xander asked. "You wouldn't have brought it up if you didn't have a plan."

Giles wanted to smile at Xander's back-handed compliment, but the situation was too serious, and his 'plan' was thin at best. "Yes, Xander; I do have an idea of how it could be made to work. However," he said with a sigh, waiting for the inevitable outburst, "I don't think you will care too much for it."

"Well, it has to be a girl," Buffy said, trying to think of who Giles had in mind.

"As strong as Buffy," Tara said, having guessed who it would be. "Giles was right, Buffy's not going to like this!" she thought.

Buffy started shaking her head. "No… Giles, no! There's got to be another way!"

"I'm afraid not, Buffy. At least, I haven't been able to come up with anything else," the Watcher said quietly.

"But… but… she's… How are we going to get her?" Buffy asked, then quickly added, "Assuming that I agree to this at all."

"I've already contacted the council." Giles said. "If she agrees to participate, we can have her by the end of the week."

"Woah, that's fast?" Willow said; her voice somewhat tremulous at the prospect of seeing her again after all this time.

"Wait a minute!" Buffy said angrily. "What do you mean 'If she agrees'? I haven't even agreed to this, and if I do, how's she going to refuse?"

Tara put her arm around the agitated Slayer, trying to calm her down. She put her other arm around Willow, knowing from the last time that the redhead had her own issues in this matter.

Xander gulped loudly as he realized who they were talking about. "How can… how can we trust her?"

Everyone agreed with that question, looking to the computer screen to see what Giles would say.

"The council has, has been closely watching her since she… since she turned herself in to the authorities. They believe, surprisingly enough, that she has truly changed. Her behavior has been exemplary- even avoiding fights rather than using her obviously superior strength to… wreak havoc as one might have expected." Giles sighed heavily once again as he went on, "From reading the reports, it does appear that Faith is once again on the side of angels." Seeing Buffy's scowl, he added, "Yes, well… no pun intended."

Giles went on, "I realize that you all have issues with Faith, but I must insist that this is the only way I can think of that will give you a chance to succeed against Glory."

Xander asked, "Ok, so what's the drill? You said we can't just rip out her power source like we did with Adam, so how do we kill this thing?"

This was another point he was hesitant to broach. He knew Buffy could not deliberately kill a human, certainly not an innocent. Nor would she willingly go along with any plan that included doing so… but, again, he could see no other way. If he was successful in communicating his idea, he would be placing a terrible burden on Xander… He would do it himself if he were there, but, once more, he didn't see another way.

"Unfortunately, Xander," he began. He addressed his remarks to the young man, hoping he would understand. "I believe the best we can hope for is to render her dormant." At their confused looks, he continued to explain, "We know that Glorificus is residing within a human host. If Buffy can damage her sufficiently, I believe she will retreat into her host, leaving both herself and the host so weakened that she would not be able to manifest again, certainly not in time to utilize the key, and perhaps not ever. The host will grow old and pass away long before the next opportunity to open the portal." Now he hoped Xander would ask the right question.

"I'm not getting a warm fuzzy here G-man. Basically you're saying we put Glory back in her little box, and hope she doesn't come out again!" Xander said, clearly agitated.

It was unfair, but Giles was counting on Xander's fanatical devotion to the Slayer to encourage him to do what was necessary. He said, "Listen to me very carefully Xander. The only way to ever be entirely certain would be to kill the host once Glory has retreated. Buffy is not a soldier! She is the Slayer. The Slayer cannot intentionally take a human life; that is not the Slayer's job." He cut himself off right there, not wanting to be so obvious as to alert the girls to his hidden meaning. He was hoping that they wouldn't believe Xander capable of it, and thus would not even consider that he might. He himself was counting on the soldier's memories that he knew Xander had inside of him.

Xander's jaw was agape in disbelief, "Did he just ask me to…" his mind was reluctant to even internally put it into actual words.

Buffy was a little shocked at her Watcher's vehemence toward Xander. "Of course I can't… I would never… you don't have to tell me twice Giles."

Xander looked at his friend the Slayer, heard the certainty in her voice. "Of course she wouldn't… she'd be just like Faith if she did… It would break her," he thought." He realized now for certain exactly what Giles was asking him to do… protect Buffy. "Isn't that what I always promised myself I'd do?"

Giles could see Xander realizing the enormity of the situation. "I'm sorry son," he thought. "I know it's a hard thing, Xander," he said.

"I get it, Giles," he said, accepting the responsibility- the burden- that the Watcher was placing on him. "Slayer can't kill an innocent. I understand."

Tara could feel strong emotion coming from Xander, almost like… sadness. She surreptitiously checked him out and noticed that his eyes were particularly shiny. She frowned, recognizing that there was something she was missing, but not understanding what it could be.

Giles knew, if nothing else, just by the fact that Xander called him by his full name for once, that he had accepted his role in this. He also knew there would be a need for some time spent with him after it was all over to help him accept the terrible price such a duty carried. "There is another thing to consider, I'm afraid."

Buffy shook her head, "Oh, this just keeps getting better and better," she mumbled.

"As before, the spell will need to be cast near the actual battle in order for the joining to work," Giles said.

Buffy said, "Actually, I thought of that. We could do it in the building Glory's staying in. Like, in one of the apartments below or next to hers."

"That's a very sound idea," Giles said. He was proud of Buffy's tactical thinking. "However, Glory may be able to detect the spell…"

"Right," Buffy said, realizing where he was going with it. "We'll need to protect the three girls against Glory's minions."

"As improved as your fighting has been, Xander," Giles said, not wanting to offend the young man, "I think it would be prudent if you had some assistance."

"Well…" Buffy began, knowing her friend wouldn't like this very much. "We have to go to LA to get Faith anyway…"

Xander gave a bitter laugh. "Great! Faith *and* Deadboy!" He re-used one of his recent lines, "And the fun just keeps on leaving!"

Xander held up his hand, interrupting the redhead, "It's ok Will." Turning back to Buffy, he said, "Just promise me one thing, Buffy. There's one thing that will make this *whole thing* worth it…"

Buffy scrunched her nose, trying to imagine what positive thing Xander would get out of any of this. "What's that, Xan?"

"Promise me that I get to be there when you tell Angel about Willow and Tara!" he said with a great big smile.

His smile turned into a laugh when he saw all the blood drain out of the Slayer's face.

Xander stopped pacing and turned to look at the three girls, all casually kicked back on one of the weird, round couches. "What?" he asked.

"It doesn't bother you guys that we've been sitting for hours in an empty hotel in not-the-best part of LA- at night- waiting who-knows-how-long for the Slayer's vampire ex-boyfriend to show up?" Xander asked, annoyed by their unruffled patience.

Tara and Willow leaned forward slightly to look at Buffy, who was sitting between them, and then at each other, before turning back to Xander and saying, "Nope."

"Aargh!" Xander dropped down next to Willow and said, "Are we even sure he's going to be here tonight?"

Willow smiled and patted her childhood friend on the knee. "Don't worry Xander, we'll protect you from the big scary vampire."

Xander kept his face in his hands as he moaned, "It's not Deadboy I'm worried about…" Changing the subject, he said, "How come Angel doesn't carry a cell phone?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Well… he's a little old fashioned." She thought about it for a minute, and then asked, "Doesn't Cordelia have one?"

Xander said, "I imagine she does, but I'm not exactly on her speed dial, if you know what I mean…" he muttered. Every once and a while he thought of his failed relationship with a pang of sorrow. Again, not so much pining for past loves, but a combination of 'what if?' and a residual shame for the way things had ended between them. By graduation day- over a year and a half ago- they had managed to put most of the anger behind them and at least be back on speaking terms, but then she'd left for LA and he hadn't seen or spoken to her since.

Tara and Buffy both looked at willow with raised eyebrows, while Xander said, "And you have this why?"

Willow looked at her girlfriends and said, "What?" Turning back to Xander she said, "Well, she called me last year to help her decrypt some files that they stole from this demony law firm and I just put it into my contacts and there was no reason to delete it, cause why would I? So, unless she changed cell phones…"

All three smiled at the willowbabble as the redhead got out her laptop and booted it up.

"…It's not like we talk on the phone all the time or anything. Not that there'd be anything wrong if we did, I mean we weren't exactly friends or anything, but we weren't exactly enemies either. At least not at the end, and…" she continued to babble.

Buffy finally interrupted her, putting her finger on the hacker/witch's lips and saying, "Have I ever told you how adorable you are when you babble?"

Xander rolled his eyes as the two girls made gooey eyes at each other. "Uh, Will?" he asked, hoping to get through to her before she lost focus completely. "You think you two could give it a rest long enough to give me that number?

Angel and Lorne were supporting The Host of Caritas' cousin Landok between them as they entered said club.

Lorne gestured to the stage and said, "Put the portal up here before. Right there. Talk about upstaging me," referring to where the Drokken that they had just slain had come through into their plane of existence.

Angel said, "I got him," as he helped Landok on stage. The red-horned, green-skinned warrior stood unsteadily, the Drokken's poison rapidly spreading through his system. Angel turned to Cordelia for the book that would hopefully open the portal and send Landok home. "Cordy?"

Angel handed the book to Landok, and said, "All you have to do is read aloud from it." He looked back at the brunette beauty and noticed that she was holding her fingers crossed. He looked back at Landok and added, "Well, that's the theory anyway."

Landok reached out and gripped Angel's wrist in the manner that manly men- and demons- tend to do, saying, "I am happy to know you."

Lorne said, "Tell my mother I... - Tell her I threw myself into the sacrificial canyons of Trelinsk."

At that moment, Cordelia's cell phone began to ring. She looked at the display and muttered, "Who'd be…" She looked up at the guys, who were all staring at her. "Uh, sorry. Must be Gunn." She walked back towards the bar and opened the phone. "Hello?"

Landok looked back at the his cousin and pronounced, "I feel that we will meet again some day."

Landok began to read from the book, "Crv dr pff lr ploos pls Vos strp umpt pls plsrts in uft frm pltz"

The ground began to shake slightly. Cordelia stuck one finger in her ear and said, "Xander? How'd you get this number?!" Angel, Wesley, and Lorne all flinched as the portal opened with a sudden bright light, and Landok was sucked backwards into it with a great gust of wind. Then the portal closed again.

As the men, or males at least, stood and stared at the empty stage, Lorne said, "Wha- what's say we all forget this ever happened."

Cordelia had shut her phone and was walking back towards the three males. "Whatever," she said, dismissing the incident. "You'll never guess who was on the phone," she started.

Cordelia paused half a beat and then muttered, "Vampire hearing…" Speaking up, she said, "Him and Buffy and Willow and someone named Tara are all waiting for us at the Hyperion."

"There must be something serious if all of them are here," Wesley said, concerned.

Lorne looked from her, to Angel, and finally to Wesley, his expression clearly indicating that he was hoping for an explanation.

Lorne looked at Angel, who seemed to be lost in thought. "Oh, Angelcakes. You sure know how to pick 'em."

Xander hung the phone up and wandered back over to the girls. "She said they'd be here pretty soon, ten, maybe fifteen minutes."

Tara turned her attention from the other two girls who were busy nipping at each others lips and whispering endearments back and forth. "Where were they?" she asked Xander.

When he managed to drag his attention away from the two most prominent stars of his fantasies, he said, "Oh, something about having to open a portal to another dimension and send back somebody's cousin, or something like that." He couldn't help but smile as he quoted his long ago ex-girlfriend's summation of the situation, "Apparently, 'it's this whole big thing'."

"Oh," Tara said, nonplussed. She'd never had the pleasure of meeting Cordelia Chase, though she'd heard many, many stories- most of them less than flattering.

At the sound of the lobby door's opening, Xander turned around, saying, "That was a fast ten…" he broke off when he saw, not Cordelia and Angel, but a fairly tall, bald, black man.

Hearing Xander trail off, Tara said, "Not Angel, I take it," and readied 'the Spike spell' as Willow had begun to call it. Of course, Willow only started to call it that when Tara had argued that 'the knock down the annoying vampire spell' might be too long for the name. Willow had pouted, but acquiesced.

Charles Gunn was not in the best mood. He had just come from Rondell's funeral pyre. Rondell was one of his old crew, who had been taken down by vampires on a raid Gunn was supposed to be on. Another of the crew, George, had accused him of doing a George Jefferson- movin' on up; away from his roots, away from his responsibilities to his crew.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He'd saved more lives, killed more and bigger demons, working for Angel than he ever did with his crew. They mostly took out the street level vamps that tried to hunt or take up residence in their territory. Angel's crew wasn't stuck to a few blocks of real estate, they weren't about going toe to toe with a few vamps at a time… with Angel there was research, sussing out moldy old prophecies and stopping the big time, world ending demon types; and their lawyers.

He made it two steps into the lobby when he was stopped cold by the sight in front of him. Three fine looking ladies sitting on the couch, and a scruffy looking guy pacing in front of them. What really drew his attention was that the two serious hotties were making out as they sat there. Blonde was in a halter top and leather pants, red was wearing this full length dress thing, but it looked like it was made out of some thin, stretchy, multicolored material and it hugged her slender curves from top to bottom. Plus she was wearing some kind of gold and silver choker that emphasized her long white neck, which blonde just started nibbling on.

"Damn…" he whispered softly as he stood rooted to the spot. He heard the guy say something about a fast ten as he turned around, then the other blond girl said something about Angel, but he couldn't really hear them, plus he was still really distracted by the other two girls. He felt himself start to harden in his jeans, just a little.

Tara felt herself become unreasonably possessive as this man stared at her girls. Mistress Tara rose up in her and demanded that she stake her claim. She reached over and grabbed Buffy by the hair and dragged her away from Willow, who whimpered at the loss. "Pet, don't be rude- we have an audience," Tara said quietly.

Buffy's breath hitched as her Mistress possessed her in public, in front of a stranger, in a way she'd never done before. She took a look at the handsome black guy who was staring at her with wide eyes and guessed that he'd been enjoying the show. She dropped her eyes to the floor and turned her body to her Mistress. "Sorry, Mistress." She said quietly. "He's human, Mistress," she added, sensing her Mistress' concern.

Tara relaxed slightly, but kept the spell ready- human didn't necessarily mean safe, especially in LA.

When Gunn saw the bigger blond grab blonde's hair and drag her away from the redhead he felt most of the blood in his head flow south. "Uh, hey," was the best his lust addled brain could come up with for the moment.

Xander smirked as the guy stood there, frozen in place. He too had felt the triad's power to control a man's blood flow, redirecting it from one head to the other. He whispered to Tara, "You guys are going to have to come up with an anti-arousal spell so you don't turn every man within fifty feet into a babbling idiot."

Tara chuckled, as did Willow. Buffy remained submissive and kept her eyes on the floor, but she had to fight the grin that threatened to make her break character.

Gunn heard the teasing banter and blushed heavily. Fortunately his dark skin hid most of it and he made him self move. He walked down the stairs, feeling the pain as his erection was constrained by his tight jeans. "So…" he started, trying to think of what exactly to say. "You guys here to talk to Wesley?"

Tara frowned and let go Buffy's hair. She only knew one Wesley, and it couldn't be him, could it? "Uh, Buffy?" she asked, mostly to let Buffy know that she could drop the submissiveness, for now.

Gunn frowned at the laughter coming from these people. "Hey, I work for the guy." He said in annoyance.

Tara was far too polite to laugh in his face, plus she didn't have direct experience with the man in question, however, the stories Buffy and the other Scoobies told were… less than flattering.

Willow, Buffy, and Xander were not so constrained. They all burst out laughing. Xander said, "Hey, man. My condolences."

Willow didn't say anything, but couldn't help laughing. Buffy finally calmed down enough to say, "NO, God no; we're here to see Angel, not Wesley."

Gunn stood up straight and looked at the four with a little touch of disdain as he said, "Then y'all *are* here to see Wesley, cause Angel works for him too."

Again, Tara was less phased than the others. Buffy, Willow and Xander all stopped, jaws dropped, for a moment, and stared at Gunn like he'd suddenly grown three heads.

Gunn was about to smile in satisfaction at putting these people in their place when suddenly three of them broke out in sidesplitting laughter.

"Dead-boy… works for… W- W-" Xander laughed so hard that he couldn't even get the name out.

Gunn looked at the one girl that wasn't laughing her ass off, and asked, "You wanna explain this?"

Tara stood up and walked towards the man. She held her hand out and introduced herself. "Hi, I'm Tara."

Gunn tentatively shook her hand, like he was waiting for her to freak out or something like the others. "Gunn," he replied.

Tara gestured to the other Scoobies and said, "It was before my time, but Wesley used to work with the Scooby gang. I don't think he made a very good impression." She said diplomatically.

"Yeah. I can see that." He said. Then he did a double take and raised his eyebrows, "Scooby gang? And they're laughing at English?"

"I thought Angel would be in charge of 'Angel Investigations'," Xander said when he'd caught his breath. Buffy and Willow were still hugging each other, tears running down their faces from their laughter.

Gunn didn't feel that he owed these people an explanation, but he said, "Long story- he used to be. Short story- he's not any more."

Tara smiled, trying to lighten the animosity she sensed from Gunn. "Well, if Wesley's in charge, I'm sure he must have changed a lot since Sunnydale."

With the word Sunnydale, things clicked in Gunn's mind. He remembered Tara calling the other blond girl Buffy. Buffy from Sunnydale… "You're Buffy Summers?" he asked, surprised. "The Vampire Slayer? Angel's Ex?"

Buffy stopped laughing and stood up, coming up almost a foot shorter than Gunn. "Yeah, why?"

Tara spoke up before Buffy could say anything… provocative. "That's Willow," she said, pointing at the redhead, "And Xander," she nodded her head toward the only boy in their little group.

Gunn nodded at each and then walked around them to the counter to look at the message machine. "Well, I don't know when they'll be back…"

"Oh," Gunn said. He walked over to the weapons cabinet and pulled an axe out of his jacket, along with several stakes and put them away. "So, you guys got a demon problem? Or, you just in town, thought you'd stop by."

Xander sat back down next to Tara. "Just some hell-god wants to open up a portal that'll suck the whole world into hell. No big," he said nonchalantly.

Angel parked the car in front of the Hyperion and shut off the engine. He sat there, unmoving while Wesley and Cordelia got out. He was reluctant to go in and face Buffy. Every time he had seen her since he left Sunnydale had been painful. It was agony just to see her, see how unhappy she was without him. Sure, she'd moved on to that idiot-boy soldier, but he just knew that that wouldn't last. He could see the unhappiness in her eyes when he had gone back to Sunnydale last year.

As much as it pained Angel to be apart from his beloved, it pained him even more to see her unhappy.

After moving about ten feet, Wesley noticed that Cordelia and Angel hadn't joined him as he walked toward the hotel. He turned around and saw Cordy watching Angel with pity in her eyes. The two-hundred and forty year-old vampire hadn't even opened the car door; he was just sitting there, staring through the windshield at nothing. He thought that this must be extremely painful for Angel. He couldn't imagine having to cope with the sense of loss that his separation from Buffy must present. And, now even worse; seeing her again, knowing that it would only be for a moment, and then she'd be gone once more.

Wesley was unenthusiastic about meeting the Scooby gang again himself. He had not acquitted himself very well in his time there. He was a different man now, but in their eyes he imagined that they still saw the stumbling British ponce that he'd been at that time.

Cordelia did feel sorry for Angel. It couldn't be easy, seeing her again. She wasn't looking forward to seeing Xander either. She was long past being angry with him… mostly, anyway. She sometimes wondered how her life would be different if he hadn't cheated on her. Would she have stayed in Sunnydale? Would she have come to LA to seek stardom anyway? When she first came to LA she had reached a point so low that she was looking up just to see where loser Xander was at. Things were better now in so many ways, she had her apartment, even if it did come with a phantom room mate; she had a job saving lives, and getting paid for it- if not much.

However, there was the complete failure as an actress; oh, and the brain-crushing pain of her vision-induced headaches. All in all, she figured she had it worse than Angel did- so enough with the sympathy already! "You know, sitting on your ass, staring at nothing may be a personal hobby of yours, but it won't make Buffy disappear."

Angel snapped his head towards the tactless brunette, stunned out of his contemplation.

"Hey, maybe this time it won't be so bad!" Cordelia said. "From what Xander said, she left the boyfriend at home… Oh, and you won't have to fight over an insane psychopath Slayer who just tried to kill us all!" Suddenly Cordelia had a terrible thought, "Unless…"

"Oh my God! Unless Xander and Buffy…" Cordelia said, thinking that surely there could be nothing so horrible or shocking as that.

Angel's eyes became huge and his jaw dropped at the mental image of his beloved Buffy and Xander Harris- together.

Buffy frowned. "I heard a car park outside. I heard doors open and close… Where are they?"

Buffy stood up and took two steps toward the door when it opened and Angel, flanked by Cordelia and Wesley came walking through. The three made it to the top of the stairs leading down into the lobby and then froze in place, staring at their visitors.

Xander jumped to his feet when the door opened, as did the two witches. Xander and Tara were nearly touching, and then there was a Buffy sized gap between Tara and Willow. They all stood in place, waiting to see what would happen.

Angel felt what he always felt when he saw Buffy- guilt, desire and sorrow. He didn't even see the halter top she was wearing, or the leather pants. All he saw was the face of the girl he loved, and could never have.

Tara and Willow had each feared what they would feel from their lover when this meeting took place. What feelings did Buffy still harbor for her first love, and could they measure up? Willow felt trepidation at the remote possibility that her Mistress might ever give her up. Tara felt the urge to claim her pet right there, establish her dominance in front of a potential challenger. Of course, she immediately blushed in embarrassment at her territorial feelings.

Xander ignored Wussly and Dead-boy in favor of Cordelia. "Damn, she looks fine!" he thought.

Xander finally broke the silence, "Hey, long time, no see…" he said nervously. His anxiety was in no way diminished when the brunette immediately grabbed her head and collapsed, falling down the stairs, and onto the hard stone floor.

Cordelia looked over her former friends as she entered the lobby just behind Angel. Buffy looked the same as always, leather pants and one of her trampy halter-tops.

Willow was actually looking nice, if a little '60's retro witch in her mottled, Celtic patterned dress.

The other girl, "Must be Tara" she thought, was a little unusual looking. Some kind of black, distressed denim calf-length skirt and lace-up granny boots, a strappy maroon camisole under a black silk dress shirt. Definitely a curvy girl, and her hair was up in a loose bun on the back of her head with a pair of red chopsticks holding it in place with just a few tendrils hanging down beside her face. Cordelia noticed how close she was standing to Xander and figured that she must be Xander's girlfriend. Cordy consoled herself that she was still much hotter than Xander's latest Buffy replacement, though Tara did have beautiful bedroom eyes.

Finally she looked at Xander. He was at least coordinated- black jeans, solid chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up. "Not going to be on the cover of GQ any time soon," she thought uncharitably. She didn't fail to notice, however, that his clothes were fitting him quite well, and that his chest seemed to have filled out quite a bit. Plus, he seemed pretty trim in the waist. "Patrolling must be keeping him in shape," she thought. "Looks like he got a haircut, finally," she thought. The unruly hair she'd once enjoyed running her fingers though- though she never admitted that- was a little shorter, and was actually styled for once. She noticed that he had a slightly tired look to him- mostly around the eyes. Gone was the nervous energy of the old Xander. It made him look more mature, but also a little sad.

She was about to break the silence when Xander beat her to it. 'Long time, no see?' how lame. She would have made a clever retort if it wasn't for the PTB choosing that moment to send her a vision.

Angel was so caught up in staring at Buffy that he totally missed Cordelia. He was so riveted on Buffy because of something he never thought he would see when he looked in her eyes. "Happy. She's happy…" he thought incredulously. He felt his undead heart constrict a little- "Soldier boy made her happy?" he thought, wanting to deny it, but the pure joy in her eyes was undeniable. Before he could have another thought, he was interrupted by the sight and sound of Cordelia smacking the floor, and the sound of everyone calling her name in concern.

Giles and Joyce were walking hand in hand, Dawn was capering about, amazed by the sight's they'd seen.

Joyce laughed at the sound of childlike happiness and joy in her daughter's voice. She hadn't heard her laugh like that since they'd moved to Sunnydale. Joyce ignored the fact that Dawn hadn't even existed when they moved to Sunnydale- she remembered a screaming, crying little girl, and she was thrilled that the Dawn of the present was nothing like that memory.

"What have you enjoyed the most, Dawn?" Giles asked as they approached the Mirage hotel and casino. There wasn't much foot traffic as they passed the construction area, and Giles welcomed the moment's respite from the crowd. He felt a sense of satisfaction and peace that he had never truly experienced before. Yes, there was the worry about his Slayer/surrogate daughter and the rest of her gang, but right now, this moment… he could almost believe that he was nothing more than a man with his beautiful wife an teenage daughter, enjoying the outlandish sights of Las Vegas at night.

Dawn thought about the question for moment, and then said, "I think I liked the water show best."

Giles raised an eyebrow, "Really? At the Bellagio?" he asked, surprised. "I would have thought the pirate battle at Treasure Island."

Joyce said, "I would have guessed the light show at Fremont street," remembering the way Dawn had ooh'd and ah'd. She thought she remembered her daughter looking bored during the water show, just standing at the railing quietly until it was over.

What Joyce had mistaken for boredom was rather intensity of focus. The combination of light and water and music had captivated the fifteen year old girl, rendering her still and silent as she absorbed the energy from the show. "I dunno, those were really cool too… It's just…"

Giles stopped walking and looked at the girl while she struggled to express herself.

"I don't know exactly how to explain it… It… the lights and the water… I guess it kinda felt like the water was… like the music was making the water dance like that," she finally got out, annoyed with her inability to explain how it made her feel.

Giles smiled. Though she didn't know how to explain it, he nevertheless felt her meaning. "As though you could feel music stirring you inside. The water's movements a representation of that stirring."

"Kinda like that, yeah," Dawn agreed. "Like I could feel what the water must be feeling to make it move like that. Like a watery happy-dance." She ducked her head, not used to sharing her feelings like this, especially with her mom and Giles.

The perfection and peace of the moment was broken when they heard, "Alright, the money and the jewelry, and no one gots to get shot!"

Cordy heard a chorus of 'Are you Ok?' which only made her head pound harder. "Shut Up!" she moaned, trying to get the information out so she could pass out in peace. As she rolled onto her back she felt a twinge that made her cry out, again bringing the chorus of concern from the room full of people.

"Building with that damned red bird… Big bunch of vamps… cage of humans… Same damn vision I had two days ago!" she lamented, thinking of the vision they hadn't been able to figure out, what with the vampires in robes. They had stopped the ones in the park, but hadn't been able to find the nest. Suddenly there was a new scene flashing. "Oh, the bird is on a building… there's an electronics store…" she gasped out, a fresh wave of pain accompanying the fresh images.

Angel said, "I know where it is…" he ran over to the weapons cabinet, along with Gunn and Wesley. Buffy followed them, saying, "We'll go with," as she grabbed the biggest axe in the cabinet.

Gunn looked at her incredulously as she hefted a weapon that he would have bet weighed almost as much as she did. Not even Angel used that axe- he once said it was just there to look impressive- or if they were taking on something elephant sized or larger. He shook his head at the picture she presented, petite little thing with a wicked huge axe. "Damn, Angel dumped her?" he wondered, having heard the story from Cordelia. "What a Dumbass!"

Angel grabbed a sword and ran back to the fallen seer, "Cordy?" he asked, concerned that she might be seriously hurt.

Wesley sputtered indecisively for a moment. "Well, ah, I'm not sure we should leave Cordelia unattended…"

Buffy broke in, "You talk too much." She turned to Xander, who was crouched by his ex, his eyes worried. "Xan? Take care of her?"

Buffy and the two witches started up the steps, Buffy looking over her shoulder and saying, "You boys coming?"

Gunn chuckled appreciatively and turned to Wesley as he followed, "I like her," he said as he followed the three girls out the door. "Hey, you two don't need weapons?" he asked.

Wesley and Angel looked at each other and the former watcher opined, "Well, she hasn't changed, has she?"

Angel heard Willow's answer to Gunn, "No, we're good," as the door swung shut behind them. He shrugged and answered Wesley while they turned and followed out, "Not about this kind of thing, it seems."

"Look at the bird," Angel said with a pained/chagrined voice. The stone carving of a bird was illuminated by the red neon light from the neighboring electronics store. "They must have forgotten to turn the lights on."

Buffy climbed out of the back seat while the three men in front were yapping. She looked at her lovers as they sat cross legged and facing one another in the back seat. They'd been chanting quietly the entire trip, preparing spells, she figured. She looked back to the guys, "Hey, we gonna do this or what?"

Wesley instantly counseled caution, "Cordelia's vision indicated that there are a large number of vampires, maybe even dozens. Perhaps we shouldn't divide our forces."

Gunn seconded that, "Yeah, it's that whole strength in numbers thing." He tilted his head slightly toward the Willow and Tara and said, "Don't want anyone taken out before that gig up in Sunny D." He might not have verbalized it, but it was apparent that he was concerned about the two he considered to be almost non-combatants.

Gunn turned and got a good look at them. His eyes widened and he stumbled back, his whispered, "Shi…" The exclamation was interrupted as his tailbone hit the pavement.

Angel and Wesley both took an involuntary step back as they saw what had frightened their compatriot.

Buffy looked at her lovers and even she felt a shiver as she took in the sight of the two witches, eyes completely opaque and illuminated by blue sparks of electricity crawling across them.

Angel was the first of the LA crew to recover and he said, "Right, we got the back."

Giles instinctively pushed Joyce and Dawn behind him as he turned toward the voice. He saw a young street tough with a pistol pointed at him from about five feet away. He quickly looked around and saw that the hooligan was alone.

"Ain't no one close enough to help you, leastwise not afor I put a hole in ya," the mugger said arrogantly.

Giles sized up his adversary and noted the tremors in his hands, possibly indicating some sort of stimulant abuse. He decided a course of action and considered the potential problems involved in it, all before the mugger had done more than blink his eyes.

"Come on!" the tough shouted. "Gimme your wallet! You too, bitch. Gimme your purse and your rings!"

"Very well, no need to resort to violence," Giles said ironically as he slowly and exaggeratedly reached into his hip pocked with his right hand. He drew out his wallet with a shaking hand, tentatively handing it forward.

Joyce felt a tendril of fear run up her spine. "I can't believe we could run all this way to escape danger, only to get shot by some street punk in a damn mugging!" she raged as the fear turned to anger.

Dawn's first thought was, "I wish Buffy was here!" Her second thought was, "I wish Willow and Tara had taught me some magic so I could kick this guy's ass!"

Giles waited until the hooligan took the bait, moving closer to grab the wallet. He exaggerated the trembling of his hand and when the tough's hand was almost touching it, he dropped it.

Giles watched the other's eyes follow the wallet to the sidewalk, his head moving down as he went to grab it. The watcher took advantage of his adversary's distraction and grabbed the barrel of the pistol, twisting it up, and pushing it back toward it's wielder, disarming him while minimizing the possibility of discharge. At the same time, he brought his right knee up sharply, crushing the youth's nose with a wet, crunching sound.

The moment Giles had the gun in his possession, the rage he had kept leashed poured out. His perfect moment ruined, his new lover and surrogate daughter threatened; Ripper took a moment to remember that, once upon a time, he'd been a very dangerous and feared man. As the hooligan's head snapped up and back, Giles struck out with the stiffened fingers of his right hand, driving them into the would be mugger's throat with a great deal of force.

The mortal remains of one useless piece of human waste named Norton Maxi hit the ground in a heap.

Giles quickly grabbed his wallet and said, "Come on then, we should rejoin the throng I think," gesturing at the crowds of people in the distance back the way they came.

"Maybe we should head back to the warehouse?" Joyce suggested. She was embarrassed to admit it even to herself, but she was seriously turned on right now.

Dawn heard the tone of her mother's voice and rolled her eyes. "God, now I know where Buffy gets it," she muttered. A little louder she said, "Ok, fine- but we gotta hit a drive through on the way! I'm starving."

"Deal!" Joyce said before Giles could interject. She grabbed the blushing Brit's hand and dragged him quickly in the direction of the parking lot six blocks away where the jeep was at. Not that Giles was very resistant to being led…

"You wanna explain that?" Gunn said, still a little shook. "Just surprised, that's all," he told himself- denying any fear.

Angel didn't respond, thinking that Willow had grown a hell of a lot more powerful in just under a couple of years. Despite the fact that she had returned his soul to him almost three years ago, her power level wasn't much above floating relatively light objects when he'd left Sunnydale. Even last year when he'd gone back to Sunnydale to protect Buffy from the Indian vengeance spirit, he hadn't sensed that kind of power from the girl.

Wesley answered in Angel's silence. "Willow is a witch, as it would appear is Tara. Though… I don't recall Willow having anywhere near that kind of power…" Turning his attention to his brooding 'employee' he asked, "Angel?"

"She did the Romanii curse on me. That was three years ago. I guess she's realizing her potential."

Gunn wanted to ask about the curse, not having heard this story before, but they had found the back door.

Angel said, "Knowing Buffy, they're already in there." With that he kicked the door open and rushed in, Gunn and Wesley hot on his tail.

Buffy was about to kick in the door when Tara put her hand on the Slayer's shoulder. "When Willow and I say it's time, make sure you either get behind us, or at least hit the floor."

Tara got a truly wicked smile on her face as she answered, "Oh, just a little something we thought of for Glory and her minions. Think of this as a preview."

Buffy's entire body shivered at the commanding tone in Tara's voice. She couldn't help but respond to it, even though she was fully in Slayer mode. "Oh, yes, Mistress!" she cried- eager to get in there and kick some serious demon ass, and then get her lovers back to the hotel and break in a bed or two… Break being the operative word."

Tara was feeling her Slayer's lust for blood and sex pulsing through their tenuous link, the connection heightened by her and Willow's magical buildup. She felt unbelievably powerful. She glanced at Buffy's pet and saw that she too was bouncing with energy just waiting to be unleashed.

Angel, Wesley and Gunn made it into the building virtually unimpeded, entering into a backstage area where they could hear an annoying, droning voice spouting some nonsense about blue robes and rewards. They cautiously looked out onto the stage from the wings and saw a ridiculously geeky vampire draping a blue robe over another vampire. The geek said "pick a juicy one," and a cage was revealed on the other side of the stage. Inside were about thirty people, all cowering in fear.

They looked out into the auditorium and saw at least a hundred vampires sitting and watching the robe thing going on. Wesley and Gunn looked at one another and the thought "Oh crap," or the equivalent, was clear in each man's expression.

Angel calculated the odds, and was about to rush the stage despite them, when everyone in the room's attention was drawn to the doors at the top of the auditorium. The swinging doors blew open with such force that the vamps standing on either side were dusted when the wooden panels splintered and shattered into their bodies.

The force that had blown apart the doors came from four burley vampires- obviously acting in some sort of guard/bouncer capacity- as they traveled a parabolic arc through the air and crashed to the floor in front of the stage, some twenty meters away.

There was a brief moment when silence filled the auditorium and then the geek on stage screamed, "Alright everyone, it's time to actualize your potential!" When the vamps all looked back at him, dumfounded, he screamed even louder, "Kill them!"

Three vamps jumped out of their seats and rushed the Slayer, filling the aisle three across. Buffy said, "Great, it's hell's answer to Tony Robbins," as she swept the axe in a glittering arc, slicing through all three in one blow- starting at the neck of the one on the right, and continuing down and left till the blade exited through the hip of the one on the left. The first two dusted immediately, the third was cut in half, but apparently too low down to be considered decapitation, because it flopped around helplessly and bled a lot.

Willow send a floating stake into the heart of the bisected vamp with a flick of her wrist, reducing it to dust alongside its brethren.

Angel remained silent, his attention drawn to the witches as they clasped hands and he heard them tell Buffy 'it's time'

Gunn went to join the fray, when he felt himself restrained by Angel. "Hey, we gotta get in on this!" he said to the vampire with a soul. "Your girl's amazing, but she ain't takin on a hundred vamps by herself!"

"Not her," Angel said pointing at Willow and Tara. "I think we might want to wait a second."

The three LA demon hunters saw something they would no doubt be recounting to their grand children, should they live that long.

Buffy rolled backward between the two witches, coming to her feet behind them and facing the surging crowd of vampires as they approached, ready to leap forward if whatever the girls had planned didn't work. She had faith in her lovers, however, and didn't think she'd be needed. This was the Wicca's first chance to really exercise the power they had been building up together in a mass combat situation, and Buffy was eager to see what they had.

The electric arcs that had been playing across their eyes spread over their whole bodies, and then projected out from them in a bright blue flash.

Everywhere one of the arcs struck a vamp, the energy shredded them at a cellular level, blowing them apart in a spray of blood and flesh before the flesh rendered into dust.

Though it was magical power, rather than true electricity, the effect looked like a lightning storm had filled the auditorium. The effects didn't quite reach the stage, but every vampire within fifteen meters from the sides to the front of the witches was exploded as though someone had shoved a stick of dynamite up their backsides and set it off.

Even Willow and Tara were stunned by the effectiveness of their spell. Unfortunately, it left them nearly drained, and they stumbled, sitting down heavily on the floor. On the plus side, however, there were only about a dozen vampires remaining in the auditorium, including the two on stage.

After taking a moment to collect their jaws from where they'd dropped them on the floor, Wes, Gunn and Angel charged from their hiding place. Angel headed for the geekmaster and his minion on the stage, while the other two jumped off the stage and into the fray, laying about with their sword and axe, respectively, driving the survivors up to meet their doom under the dripping blade of the Slayer as she protected her witches.

Angel dispatched the gaping minion while he was still trying to figure out how a room filled with vampires could be loosing a fight to a handful of mortals.

It was a battle of the master brooder vs. the fanged self-help guru, who had his own sword out and ready by the time Angel'd dusted his newly robed minion. After several probing maneuvers, Angel realized that the he wasn't a half bad swordsman. Not in Angel's class, but with the odd minion that kept trying to jump him from behind, the vamp detective found himself hard pressed to dust the guy.

Tara and Willow sat and watched their lover in awe as she lay into the vamps with her axe. Every swing took out at least one vampire, and often parts of another. Those that tried to flee the whirling dervish of blond hair and sharp steel found themselves facing the less impressive, but equally deadly swords of Gunn and Wesley.

Within a minute, the vampire population in the auditorium had been eliminated but for the minions and the mustachioed master surrounding Angel on the stage. Gunn and Wesley were about to rush the stage to assist, when Buffy called out, "Angel, duck!" With a swing reminiscent of Mark McGuire pounding one into the centerfield stands, she hurled her axe sideways at the stage.

Angel dropped to the floor, not hesitating for a moment to wonder why Buffy would call out. His instinctive obedience was rewarded when a head dropped on either side of him, followed rapidly by the sound of half of his opponents falling to ash.

Once again, collective jaws were dropped in amazement as Gunn and Wesley witnessed the power of a Slayer in her prime, defending her friends with all her strength and ability.

Angel took the opportunity provided and lopped off the last minion's head while it stood looking astonished at the place where two of it's compatriots had been standing less than a second ago. He turned back to the pitiful excuse for a master vampire and quipped, "I guess in the end, self help is all you've got."

The vampire known as 'Doug' looked on the dusty remains of his burgeoning empire with disbelief. Five humans and one vampire had managed to kill over a hundred of his followers. "Why are you helping these humans?" he demanded of his opponent. He considered running, but a glance over his shoulder showed the rear exit blocked by the two male humans, and the front still guarded by that blond nightmare that scared him bloodless even without her axe. Plus the two witches were rising to their feet, and thought they had to be drained from their earlier spell, he didn't for a moment imagine his best chance lay in that direction. "You should be maximizing your potential! You need to take ownership of your unlife; stop clinging to the corrupting remnants of your humanity!"

"You know what I don't get?" Angel asked as he feinted a lunge before spinning a hundred eighty degrees and kicking him in right in the mustache. "Why the hell did someone take the time to actually turn you instead of just eating you?" Angel did the same move again, with the same result.

Doug thought he had him when his opponent lunged a third time. Rather than falling for the feint, he brought his own sword across in front of him with all his might, timing it to cut off his assailant's leg at the knee.

Angel finished his full spin with his sword extended, neatly removing the head of one very surprised vampire that had just overextended his cross cut, no doubt aiming for the leg he had expected to find lashing out at him a third time. "Sucker." He said with the barest of grins.

Gunn shook his head at the vamps stupidity. "Vamping him definitely didn't make him any smarter," he said as he walked back stage to recover the axe Buffy had hurled. Though he wasn't going to let on, he was pretty freaking impressed. "So that's a Slayer," he thought. He had a little more sympathy for Wesley and Cordelia, and their stories about the time the other Slayer had come to LA and cleaned house. He'd always thought Wesley was kinda a pussy to let a girl get the drop on him like that.

Gunn picked up the axe with some effort, careful not to grunt out loud and let anyone know it was anything other than easy for him. He turned and walked back toward Wes and Angel, thinking "I'm glad psycho-Slayer is in prison where she belongs."

Wesley kept muttering, "Good Lord!" as he mentally reviewed the events that had just transpired. "Such power!" he thought, remembering the spell that had turned this adventure from probable suicide to a mop-up operation. He noted Gunn approaching and said, "Gunn, why don't you see if you can't hack the lock off and let the hostages…" he trailed off when he saw the man staring at the back of the auditorium with a broad smirk on his face. "Gunn, are you listening to me?" as he turned to see what was so amusing.

Angel was cleaning his sword and listening to Wesley trying to tell Gunn what to do when he heard the ex-watcher's startled, "Oh my!" He looked up at Wes and saw him staring slackjawed at something behind him. He turned his head to Gunn and saw him smirking while staring in the same direction.

After seeing Angel finish off the last vampire, Buffy turned to her two witchy Wiccans with amazement in her eyes. She didn't say a word, just stepped up to her Mistress and wrapped her in a tight embrace, kissing her passionately while pressing as much of her body as she could against the blond enchantress. She moaned loudly into the kiss when her Mistress reached down and grabbed her ass with both hands, thrusting her pelvis forward and pressing it against her own forcefully.

After several moments of desperate kissing, Tara released her and Buffy immediately grabbed her own pet by the hair, dragging her into the joint embrace and attacking the redhead's panting mouth with her own.

Tara stepped back with one foot, releasing the Slayer and wrapping her arm around her other lover while Buffy kissed her soundly. The dominating blonde kept one hand full of leather clad Slayer butt, though; thinking of how soon she could peel those skintight pants off and feel the skin directly. She looked over Buffy's shoulder down at the stage just in time to see Angel take one step toward them, the word 'What?' clearly written on his lips.

Unfortunately that one step ended with his foot slipping in a pile of vampire ash. That wouldn't have been such a big deal, except that it was at the edge of the stage and his foot shot out into the void, causing him to fall straight down, his groin landing right on the edge of the stage. He had enough time for a brief, high-pitched shriek before momentum carried him off of the stage and crashing onto his head six feet below. At least the unconsciousness masked the pain of his crushed testicles.

Buffy heard a squeal and a crash and immediately let go of Willow and Tara, spinning around to find the source of the commotion. She saw Wesley and Gunn on the stage, but didn't see Angel anywhere. The former watcher looked like he'd been punched in the stomach, his mouth kept flopping open and shut, but there was no sound. The other one looked like he was about to burst into laughter. She said, "Gunn? Where's Angel?"

Wesley's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the floor, out cold. Gunn laughed so hard that he dropped the axe.

Xander helped Cordelia into her apartment, her back obviously bothering her. She hadn't been very talkative as they drove, preferring to hold her head in her hands as though trying to keep it attached.

Cordelia chuckled weakly, thinking how funny it was to imagine that aspirin could help her. "Prescription, medicine cabinet, down the hall on the left." She said quietly, trying not to make the pain any worse than it already was.

Xander came back a moment later with two little yellow pills and a glass of water. He paused for just a second to look at his ex-high school sweetheart. Her face was as beautiful as ever, except that it was scrunched up, wincing in anguish. He felt his heart go out to her; he never could stand to see a woman in pain.

Cordelia leaned forward to take the Dilaudid from Xander and whimpered slightly when her back spasmed, adding to her lot of suffering for the evening. After she swallowed the pills, she leaned back and said, "You can go now. I'll be alright." She was afraid that if he stayed, she might break down in front of him, that she might look weak in front of one of the Scooby gang. She was afraid they'd find out what a failure she was.

For a moment, Xander stiffened in anger at being dismissed out of hand. However, he knew Cordelia Chase. She might have changed in the time since he'd seen her, but he knew that her bitchy front was only a mask. Right now, the pain behind the mask was coming out, and he wouldn't let it keep him from doing what little he could to help her.

"You know, I've picked up a thing or two since the last time I saw you," he said evenly. "I could help you with that backache…"

Cordelia vacillated for a moment, torn between her fear of discovery, and her weariness of being alone all the time.

Xander smiled, happy to be of help to somebody. His whole life had been defined by two things; wanting to get the hell away from his parents and everything they represented, and wanting to help his friends any way he could. He still resented it when the others tried to leave him out of things for his own safety. His safety meant way less to him than helping Buffy and Willow. For once, however, he was glad to be left behind. Cordelia obviously needed him more than Buffy did right now, and that was ok. Just so long as he got to help somebody.

He hoped that somehow Angel wouldn't find out about the girls tonight, though. He really wanted to be there to see that.

"Uh, there's some massage oil in the medicine cabinet," she said, almost sheepishly.

Xander raised an eyebrow, but kept his mouth shut about it. "Ok, I'll go get that, you take off your shirt and lie down," he said as he walked away, not even thinking that she might be uncomfortable doing that. Massages required bare skin- end of story.

Cordelia hesitated for a moment, but then felt foolish. "Were adults now. No problem." She thought. She did wince a few times getting the shirt off, but managed it without any debilitating pain. She blushed when she realized she had on one of her lacier Victoria's Secret bras. She blushed even harder when she realized that she was glad she did. She managed to stretch out on the couch, hissing in pain as she moved. Her back was stiffening up, and it was probably a good thing Xander had offered to do this, or she'd have been nearly crippled in the morning.

It had nothing at all to do with wanting the feel of a man's hands on her skin… absolutely nothing.

Xander again paused for a moment on his return, taking in the sight of Cordelia's nearly naked back. She still had really beautiful skin, evenly tanned and almost flawless. His eyes moved down past the waistline of her pants to take in her wonderfully rounded butt. He remembered many times stroking and grabbing that toned butt- always through clothes, but still. She definitely had a great backside.

Cordelia had heard him return, and wondered what he was doing. She turned her head enough to see him just standing there, looking at her. "Xander? You wanna stop staring at my ass and get to work here?" Though she'd never admit it to him, she wasn't mad at all. It was nice to have someone look at her like that, without being a complete jerk about it like that damn director.

Xander blushed at being busted, but he wasn't the awkward geek he'd been in High School. He managed not to stumble over his words as he said, "Sorry Cordy." After a moment, he added, "You're still as beautiful as you ever were in High School."

"Yeah, I guess I did. Sorry about that," Xander joked. He climbed onto the couch, straddling her thighs, and trying to ignore the pressure in his jeans. "Totally platonic, Xan," he told himself. He opened the bottle of massage oil and noticed that it was still sealed. "New bottle?" he thought, "Interesting." He thought if she had a boyfriend, she'd have wanted to have him over, not Xander. But why would someone buy a bottle of massage oil if they didn't have anyone to use it with?

Cordelia smiled when Xander opened the bottle and the smell filled the room. She loved sandalwood.

Xander poured a generous amount into his hand and held it for a moment, letting it warm up. He rubbed his hands together and then, beginning at her shoulders he began lightly kneading her flesh, looking to find the area of injury before digging in too strongly. At the same time he enjoyed the feel of her skin under his hands. Cordy always had such amazing skin, nearly flawless.

Cordelia sighed as Xander began to massage her back. She preferred a hard massage, but who was she to look a gift massage in the mouth? Just having someone paying such attention to her was nice. She hadn't had that in quite a while. When he got to her bra, she felt him hesitate, Biting her lip for a moment, she came to a decision and said, "It's ok, Xander… go ahead and open it." She felt a little shiver go through her when he snapped his fingers and the bra fell open.

Xander wiped his fingers on the towel he brought, and pinched the bra clasp before him, snapping his fingers and undoing the catch in one quick move. "Thank you, Anya," he thought. He resumed his massage, still thinking platonically… but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested in more. He was single, used to large quantities of sex, and Cordelia was a beautiful girl. He resolved not to press, but if she made any indication that she might be amenable, he wasn't going to say no.

Not having had the money for a masseuse, and having been single for far too long, Cordelia hadn't enjoyed this type of attention in a long, long time. After a minute, she felt herself begin to tense up as he approached the knotted muscle in her lower back.

Xander could tell that he was getting close to the source of pain as she started to tighten up. He could feel the hard knot of muscle along her spine and he began to gently rub over it, warming it up. He spent several minutes applying gentle pressure, working it in a circular motion, paying careful attention to Cordelia's little gasps and whimpers to make sure he was pressing hard enough to do some good, while not so hard as to inflict even more pain. After nearly ten minutes of working it, he felt the stiff muscle relax and let go.

Cordelia sighed heavily in relief as she felt the catch in her back unknot and the pain go away. She would have been grateful if he'd done no more than that, but instead of stopping, he began to move up from there, really working her muscles now in the kind of hard massage she absolutely loved. "Damn, you're good!" she unconsciously moaned, her mind not filtering her thoughts in time to stop the sentiment from popping out of her mouth. She mentally cringed at the thought of giving Xander Harris a clean shot at such innuendo, not to mention feeding his ego.

Xander ignored the obvious comeback and just said, "Thanks, I had a very demanding teacher." His head did swell a little at the compliment, though.

"That blond girl that came with you guys? What was her name?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Xander grinned madly, but didn't let up on the massage as he said, "Tara? What about her?" deliberately not addressing the unspoken question.

"Did she teach you how to do this?" she asked, still not coming to the real point.

"Screw nonchalant!" Cordelia thought. "So… is she like your girlfriend or what?"

Xander chuckled at that. "She still hasn't embraced the concept of tact," he thought humorously. "Tara's a great person, but I don't think her girlfriends would be too happy with the thought of me and her hooking up."

"Her girlfriend? She's gay?" Cordelia said, feeling strangely relieved. She was getting annoyed with herself- "No way I'm getting back together with Xander!" she told herself firmly. She missed entirely the 's' at the end of girlfriends.

Xander continued to knead Cordelia's flesh, a wry smile on his face as he reduced his long ex into a state of total relaxation. He internally chuckled as even her questions were taking on a lazy, almost sleepy quality. He imagined she would wake up a bit when he finished this conversation. "Yeah, she's a 'girls only' kind of girl…" he paused a moment before dropping the first bomb, "Not like her girlfriends."

"Mmm," Cordelia hummed. Then, she realized what he'd said. "Girlfriends? Zz as in plural, as in more than one?"

Cordelia, her headache and backache completely abated by Xander's magic touch, suddenly spun beneath him, so that she was laying face up.

Xander snatched his hands up as Cordy moved beneath him. Now he was frozen, his oil covered hands in the air as though he was being held at gun point. He tried and failed to keep his eyes on hers, they were inexorably drawn down to her generous breasts, only partially covered as she held her bra to her chest with one hand.

"Xander!" she exclaimed. "Ok, spill. How many, and do I know any of them? And, if she's not your girlfriend, why is she hanging with you guys? She doesn't look like much of a fighter… Put your hands down."

Xander had to laugh at her for that, but it came out a little strangled. Beautiful, half-naked girl between his legs- already half erect from giving the massage, Xander's cock was now straining against his zipper rather uncomfortably. He slowly lowered his hands and grabbed the towel to get some of the excess oil off as he answered her questions. He started with the last question, "Uh, she's a witch."

Cordelia's mind raced, "Like Willow, huh?" she asked. Her mouth kept going independently of her mind and she said, "So her and Willow…" her mind instantly caught up- "Oh my God, her and Willow?" Her eyes got big and she said, "Her and Willow? They're… Willow's gay?!"

Xander couldn't help but laugh at Cordelia's shocked look. "Actually, Willow's bi- not gay."

"Oh my God!" Cordy said, lost in thought for a moment. "So much for wolf-boy…" she muttered. "What happened to Oz?"

Xander's face darkened and his smile fell away as he remembered that time. "He left," he said simply.

Cordelia could tell he didn't want to talk about that event, and even though her curiosity was peaked, she was hesitant to bring it up. Suddenly she recalled the other part of the equation and thoughts of Oz flew from her mind. "Wait a minute, Willow is sleeping with Tara, *and* someone else? What, you guys got some kind of Scooby Orgy thing going on? Who else is in this little group? How many are there?"

"Buffy's not in this thing, right?" Cordelia asked, thinking that it was ridiculous even as she said it. She only asked to get it out of the way so she could find out who else was sleeping with Willow and this new girl. She waited for him to answer. She waited some more.

Xander just looked at her with a huge grin on his face, waiting for her to put it together.

Cordelia's eyes got huge and her face went slack with astonishment. "No… No! No way!" she reached up and slapped him in the chest as she continued, "Xander! No Freaking way! Buffy's sleeping with Willow?!" She shouted, shocked beyond belief.

Xander just nodded his head, "Yep, shocked the hell outta me too when I found out."

"Are there more?" she asked, thinking 'no way' but not sure after the last shocker.

Cordelia lay back and shook her head, "Buffy and Willow… gay… I would never have thought that in a million years…" She wasn't jealous of either of them for having each other, but she was jealous in general. She hadn't had a positive relationship since… Actually, since Xander- and that one hadn't ended on a positive note. Aside from the no-relationship issue, she hadn't even had a pleasant romantic encounter in way too long. "I need to get laid!" she thought. "What about you?" she asked.

"Me? No way, definitely not gay; despite what Larry might have thought, but he's dead, so who have you been talking to?" Xander babbled.

"God! Homophobic much?" Cordy said, exasperated. "I didn't ask if you were gay, I just wanted to know if you were seeing anybody. Jeez!"

Xander looked sheepish as he said, "Oh, I, uh… it's just that… for some reason… Larry thought… uh, that is… uh, no. No girlfriend."

Cordelia just said, "Oh." She was thinking of a way to make this happen without just coming out and saying it.

Xander was having a hard time ignoring the pressure in his jeans. He needed to get up off the couch and leave before he embarrassed himself. He moved to get up, but stopped when Cordy put her hand on his leg.

Cordy thought frantically of something to say before Xander got up and walked away. "Uh, so… it's not a full massage then?"

Xander settled back down, resting on his knees and her thighs. He was hyperaware of his position, all he would have to do is lean forward slightly and they'd be practically dry-humping. He put his hands down tentatively resting them on the sides of her abdomen. His mouth went dry and he had to restrain himself from stroking his hands across her belly. His voice was a little hoarse as he asked, "What are you asking me for, Cordy?"

As she looked into his eyes, she saw no trace of derision, nor any of the expected smugness. All she saw was his desire to give her anything she wanted at that moment. Still, she hesitated.

When Xander looked into her eyes, he saw need and desire, and a little fear. He let his hands slowly move up her torso, only a few inches before moving them back down again. His own breath caught, mirroring her slight gasp, and he spoke in a quiet voice, "Cordelia… tell me what you want from me, anything you want, I'll give it to you if I can…"

"I want…" Cordelia had to take a breath and hold back the emotion that threatened to choke her. "I want to have one night… I'm not looking for more than that. Just one night of… One night of sleeping in your arms, and waking up not alone." She put her hands on top of his and guided them up to the edge of her loosened bra, staring seriously into his eyes, she asked, "Can you give me that, Xander?"

Xander pulled one hand away from her so he could brace himself against the couch and leaned forward till their noses were almost touching. He moved his other hand beneath her bra and ever-so-gently cupping and stroking the side of her breast. "I can give you that," he whispered before softly kissing her.

Cordelia whimpered at the gentle kiss and moved her hands to his back, sliding down to his butt and pulling him firmly against her.

Xander grunted as his confined cock was pressed into Cordelia's pelvis. He couldn't help but grind against her as he deepened their kiss.

Cordelia's whimper degenerated into a loud moan as she felt his erection pressing against her through their jeans. She clutched his muscular ass tightly in her hands, eliciting an even deeper grunt from her soon-to-be lover.

Xander pulled away, ignoring Cordy's "No!" and moving off of the couch. Before she could protest further, he grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet, mindful of her still sore back. "Come on, lets move this to the bedroom," he said- his voice full of emotion and his eyes dilated with need.

Having seen to Dawn's need for food and leaving her in the living room watching something loud on the television, Giles went back to the bedroom he shared with his new lover, eagerly anticipating what was in store for him.

Joyce had barely been able to keep her hands off of him for the time it took to get them back to the converted warehouse they were staying in. She had virtually raced back to the bedroom and immediately started shedding her clothes. She felt wanton and wild… "and pretty darn horny!" She didn't just need him; she needed him with a passion that demanded to be met with commanding strength. She needed that dangerous, powerful man who had defended his women- who without even breaking a sweat, smashed that jackal that sought to hurt them. She needed Ripper.

Giles had barely closed the bedroom door behind him before he was struck dumb by the sight of his lover standing there, naked as the day she was born, waiting for him.

Giles quickly began to shed his clothes. He almost moaned out loud when he saw Joyce begin to play with her nipples as she stood before him. He nearly lost his balance as he struggled with his shoes while the wicked woman blatantly licked a single finger and brought it down between her legs.

Joyce almost laughed at the look on his face when she pressed one finger up into herself, deliberately groaning at the sensation. When she brought the finger back to her mouth and slowly licked it clean, humming in pleasure, he froze in place, one foot up in the air, the sock half way off.

He finally shed his last piece of clothing and stepped toward her purposefully. She raised one hand between them when he sought to embrace her. "Rupert, please…" she said, her voice husky.

"Please… don't be gentle." She said, her eyes wide and filled with lust and longing.

A little of the restraint that made the difference between Rupert Giles and Ripper slipped away at that. Giles stepped up against the object of his desire and crushed his lips against hers in a hard, possessive kiss; walking her backwards till her legs hit the edge of the bed.

Joyce moaned into the kiss, feeling herself melt up against her man. This is what she wanted- to be taken, not against her will, but taken nevertheless. Right now she wanted him to prove that she was his, that she belonged to him. Just as he had protected her and her daughter against the danger of the armed robber who had accosted them less than an hour ago, she wanted him to again stake his claim.

Giles broke the kiss, pulling at her lower lip with his teeth. He felt his cock go iron hard as she whimpered her acceptance of his claim on her. He spun her around, pushing her legs against the bed, but holding her upright and pressed against him so that her ass was pressed against his erection. He held her there with one arm against her lower torso and the other across her ribcage. He pinched and toyed with one nipple while nipping her neck below one ear. He growled, "Is this what you wanted, hmm? Do you want me to take you, show you that you belong to me?" as he rubbed himself against her beautiful bum.

Joyce got up onto the bed on her knees, spread wide apart, leaving her open and exposed wantonly. She felt a delicious thrill at being naughty and out of control. She kept mumbling, "Yes, take me! Oh God yes!"

Giles bent her forward until her face was down on the duvet, arms outstretched in front of her. He was still standing on the floor, bent over her body and rubbing his cock over her gaping wetness. His voice was thick and rumbly as he felt the rush of power run through him. There was nothing in the world like a woman offering herself to you, begging to be taken, pleading to be laid hard and fast.

Joyce shuddered and cried out as her lover entered her hard, burying himself deeply within her in one fast stroke. She felt exultant as he began to set a pace of withdrawing almost completely, and then driving forward again quickly, his lap slapping against her thighs and ass with a smack. "Yes!" she cried. "Just like that, Rupert!"

Giles stood back up and grabbed on to Joyce's hips pulling her against him with each stroke, pounding himself into her roughly. Any worry he had about being to aggressive was wiped out when she began to rock hard against him and she cried out, "Harder Rupert! Oh please, harder!"

Joyce hadn't had sex like this since she was a teenager! She knew she was going to be so sore tomorrow, but it would be worth it! This was the thing that had been missing from her life since far before her marriage. She could feel the beginnings of a mind-blowing orgasm coiling up inside her and her hands grabbed on to the bedcover as though she was hanging on for her life.

Giles had sweat running down his face and dripping onto his chest and stomach as he drove home again and again, his fingers digging into the soft flesh of her hips and their bodies smacking loudly. His strokes grew shorter and faster with each minute passing and he had to exert iron control to keep from finishing before her.

Joyce's voice had degraded into a near-constant moaning as her body tensed like a drawn bow. She thought her muscles might snap under the strain as she was driven inexorably forward toward the precipice of pleasure. When she finally tipped over the edge, her release shot through her and she came shrieking her lovers name- as though burning it into the very fabric of reality for all time to come.

When Giles could restrain himself no longer and thought he'd have to give up, his endurance was rewarded. Her cry was like an arrow to his heart, piercing it so that his emotions hemorrhaged forth just as his body's release surged out of him, filing his lover to overflowing. He could barely stand after the force of his orgasm and he shakily stepped back from her then collapsed onto the bed.

Joyce had just enough strength to crawl forward and drape herself over her spent lover.

Joyce managed a weak chuckle, "More than alright, Rupert. Or should I say, Ripper?"

Joyce shook her head a little, thinking, "Makes me cum screaming, and still the gentleman." She answered his question, "As long as we don't plan on doing much walking tomorrow, I think I'll survive."

Even as he mentally chastised himself for such Neanderthal thinking, Giles couldn't help but smile with pride at the thought that he'd rendered her unable to walk straight. His smile faltered a little, however, as the emotions running through him demanded his attention. "I hope you won't think that I am saying this lightly, Joyce…"

Joyce pulled away to look into his eyes. She felt a tear at the depth of emotion she saw there. "My beautiful man," she whispered. "I know for sure that I'm in love with you."

Giles stroked her face and felt his own break into an enormous smile. "Well… I'm quite relieved to hear that," he said as he pulled her down to him for a kiss.

He had just enough strength to pull the duvet over them, not even trying to crawl under the covers.

Buffy followed Wesley up the stairs of the Hyperion, listening to his nervous chatter which hadn't let up since they'd slapped him back to consciousness following the battle and it's aftermath.

"I'm quite concerned, really. I've never… I don't think I've ever seen Angel unconscious this long before…" Wesley babbled as he led a strange procession through the Hyperion.

Buffy had the aforementioned vampire slung over her shoulders in a kind of fireman's carry, seemingly unaffected by his weight or bulk. She was followed by Gunn, who was switching back and forth between concern for his former boss; now co-worker; and humor that manifested as a dry chuckle every time he remembered the look on Angel's face just before he did a header off of the stage. Behind him were the two witches, who walked silently, hand in hand.

"Wesley, shut up already," Buffy said, tired of the nervous Englishman's prattle. "His neck is broken, it'll take a couple hours to heal, even for him."

"No more 'well' Wesley!" Buffy said without rancor- she knew Wesley was concerned about Angel, and not a little wigged by her and the witches suddenly revealed relationship. She tried to be annoyed at Gunn every time she heard him chuckle, but she could barely keep herself from laughing when she remembered the look on Wesley's face just before he'd passed out. She too was worried about Angel, but he wasn't dust, so that meant he'd be ok eventually. "We just leave him in his room, with some blood sitting by the bed for when he wakes up, and he'll be fine," she reassured both Wesley and herself.

Gunn wasn't really *too* worried. He too knew that a vamp that wasn't dust was a vamp that was going to recover, eventually. "Just like Angel;" he said. "Dude survives the fight without a scratch, then slips and falls, bustin' himself all up."

"Yes w…" Wesley started to say before trailing off. He looked behind to see the Slayer's glare that he'd felt on his back. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Here we are, then," he said quietly as they reached the vampire's room at last. He held the door open so Buffy could walk through sideways.

Willow and Tara walked over to the kitchenette area as Willow said, "We'll grab some blood…"

Gunn had stepped to the side as he came through the door, remaining by the entrance. He was a little creeped out by those two. He was enticed by their looks, and the three-way lesbian thing was a huge turn-on... He wouldn't admit it even to himself, but they scared the hell out of him. "One spell and a hundred vamps get dusted!" he thought, not for the first time that night. It probably made the difference between them living and dying that night, but still… Gunn was all about killing demons and vampires- he just had never been around magic. Not the kind of power that these two had anyway. Buffy amazed him, "*Hell* of a fighter!" he thought. But as beyond incredible as she was, she still hacked up the vamps like 'normal' as he thought of it. Super strong and fast, but he was used to that from Angel. The witches though… "That crap ain't even in the same fricken ballpark as 'normal'…"

Willow and Tara were pretty much thinking that they needed to get Buffy alone, and soon. The sexual energy pouring off of the Slayer was so strong that they could almost smell it. It traveled through their link like a burning ring of fire and it was all they could do not to throw her down and ravish her right there in front of Gunn and Wesley on the floor of Angel's apartment.

Unbeknownst to Willow, Tara could feel additional sexual energy coming from the fourth in their link- "I guess Cordelia's needs weren't medical," she thought with some humor. "This is gonna be fun!" Tara knew that their energy would magnify with each person unconsciously reflecting the other's feelings and desires. The three of them last night had no doubt driven Xander to several sessions of self-pleasure, only the last of which she'd overheard as she took care of an early morning call of nature. Tonight it was going to be even more powerful as Xander was going to be adding to, rather than just being affected by the link.

They each grabbed a jar of blood from the refrigerator and set them on the bedside stand next to the unmoving vampire where Buffy had dumped him.

Wesley was still a little fluttery and said, "Perhaps someone should stay here with him…"

Buffy had locked eyes with her lovers across the bed and saw her own desire reflected back at her. She only half-heard the former watcher. "Ok, fine, whatever," she said.

"Wesley? Could you show us where we can stay the night?" Willow asked, feeling very, very needy right now.

As Wesley sputtered, Gunn piped up, "Don't worry, English. I got it," he said. To the girls he said, "Come on, There's one down the hall with a king size…" as he walked out of the room, knowing they'd follow.

Gunn led them down about seven doors and opened a room that he knew was clean, well, reasonably anyway. "There's sheets and towels and stuff in that closet," he said, gesturing toward a closed door. He smiled as the three pretty much ignored him and headed straight for the big bed. "Uh, you don't wanna get your bags and stuff?" he asked.

"Later… we'll get them later," Buffy said, barely able to restrain herself from throwing him physically out of the room and ravishing her girls right that second.

Tara was almost panting as she said, "Thanks, we're good. We'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, I get the message," Gunn thought with a smirk. "You sure you don't need anything?" he asked, teasing.

Willow tried to cover the Slayer's growl, saying, "No, we're ok, thanks. Don't let us keep you…" she herded him out as she said it, seeing his smirk and thinking that she'd have to find a way to pay him back. "Later. Sex now, payback later… much later," she thought, nearly hitting him in the ass as she closed and locked the door.

Xander led Cordelia to the edge of her bed. He stopped her and laid his finger gently against her lush mouth as she started to speak. He could see the nervousness in her eyes and stance. He could tell that she wasn't one for having a one night stand, either that, or he was making her nervous. "Shh, let me do this, Cordy. Let me make you feel," he whispered.

He waited until she nodded before he moved again. He moved his hand from her mouth and stroked along her jaw to her neck. He whispered, "I never said it… before…" not wanting any bad thoughts, he didn't mention the words 'high school.' "But, I've always thought you were amazingly beautiful." He kept his eyes locked on hers as his hand moved down her neck to her shoulder. His other hand mirrored the first and he gently lowered the straps of her bra over her shoulders and down her arms.

Cordelia's breathing deepened as she felt her breasts opened to the air. Rather than a shiver of cold, she felt a flush of warmth through her skin as Xander didn't even look down, he kept looking into her eyes, as though he was seeing her very soul, while saying wonderful things to her.

"You still are lovely, Cordy. Not just your amazing body and beautiful face- though those are enough that you should be gracing the cover of magazines." He said as his hands traveled up her sides to cup her large breasts.

Cordy's breath caught and she let out the barest of whimpers as his thumbs gently circled her areolas, only barely brushing her nipples.

"You are an amazing person, Cordy. I never gave you enough credit, but you are so strong," he said while he caressed her breasts, still focusing on her eyes, not letting them go. "I can't imagine how hard it must be, having those visions. I saw how much they hurt you, but you didn't let it on to Angel and the gang. You sent them out to fight without worrying about your pain," Xander's voice reflected the sense of wonder he was feeling. "So special," he whispered, moving forward to softly kiss her.

It was an even tossup which was causing her to melt more; his voice or his touch. Either way, melt she did, leaning into him as he played his lips over hers, open mouth, but no tongue. She remembered their makeout sessions from the past, always rushing to have their tongues wrestle. It was as though their kisses were just a physical extension of their verbal sparring. This, however, was something else entirely. Soft and sensual, driving her mad with desire in only moments- raising her to a fevered pitch greater than their most heated closet contest of old.

After a few moments of kissing- in which Xander put to use everything Anya had ever taught him about inciting passion- Xander pulled back, leaving her cross-eyed and wanting more. He kept the smirk off of his face, quickly stripping off his shirt while Cordy's lips continued to move for a moment, as though unconsciously seeking his.

When Cordy opened her eyes- after finally noticing that he had moved away- she gasped once again at the sight of Xander's naked torso. "Wow!" she thought, taking in his broad chest and muscular arms. "He's really filled out nicely!"

Xander took her hands and deliberately placed them on his chest, encouraging her to touch him. His own hands then moved down to undo the button on her jeans. He still kept his eyes focused on hers, though hers were staring at his chest as she touched and groped his work-hardened muscles. He was proud of his body and- again, thanks to Anya- very comfortable with the idea of being naked in front of a woman.

When Cordelia looked up to his face once again, she fully expected to see a smirk for having caused such a surprised reaction in her, but all she saw was a smile of genuine pleasure and a look of such desire in his eyes that she felt humbled. Xander had clearly become a man who was confident in his masculinity. She wondered what had happened in the last year and a half to bring about such a dramatic change. It was, however, a question she had not the slightest desire to explore at this moment as she felt her jeans being pushed down over her hips.

Xander dropped to one knee as he slid her jeans down those long, tanned legs. Still he kept his eyes locked on hers, conveying his passion and desire to her without seeming to ogle her body like a horny teenager. Inside him, excitement was rising fast- not only because he was sexually frustrated and about to get laid, but because this was his first opportunity to put to use the arsenal of sexual weaponry that he had developed in his last relationship. Then he had been the student to Anya's millennia of experience, and while he had been able to please her greatly, he had never surprised or impressed her with anything he ever did. Cordy was a mortal, relatively inexperienced in the arts of love and he was about to rock her world.

Cordy couldn't believe how powerful it was to have a guy look into your eyes while he undressed you. She was accustomed to having men look at her body, after all, she had a great body and she knew it. This was like having someone lay her soul as bare as her body, and when he complimented her, it spoke to the essence of who she was, not just a pretty body. God, she was soaking wet and all he'd done was kiss her a couple times- without tongue even- and stroke her breasts a little.

Though he didn't stare at her lacy panties, he could see them peripherally and he could smell her arousal strongly as his hands traveled up her bare legs after having removed her jeans at last. He said, "Cordy, God, you smell so delicious! I can't wait to taste you!"

She might have been embarrassed at having someone say that to her, but seeing the desire written on his face, seeing him lick his lips and watching his nostrils flare as he breathed her in… she gasped, "Oh my God Xander!"

Xander wasn't just saying it for her benefit- she did smell wonderful and he had to put forth serious effort to maintain his slow, seductive pace and not tear her panties off and dive in. He did shoot a glance down at her wet center as he slid her panties off. He groaned to see the moisture coating her closely trimmed curls and the outer lips of her pussy already open and inviting him in. His voice was hoarse when he told her, "Lie back on the bed, Cordy."

"Oh God!" she whispered as she sat down and then crawled back till she was all the way on the bed. She was so turned on that it felt like every hair on her body was vibrating with arousal. She had never imagined being seduced like this, Not even in the most torrid romance she'd ever read had she heard of feeling like this. She was completely in his power. He could have asked her to kill her best friend in that moment and she probably would have done it.

Xander dropped his jeans but left his boxers on, tented as they were. He wanted this to be about her, not him, and if he got totally naked, he didn't think he'd be able to stop himself from sinking into Cordelia's wet heat and thrusting for all he was worth. And, even if he had magical recuperative abilities, he wasn't yet finished with the seduction part.

Cordelia couldn't even speak as Xander crawled up over her, stalking her like a wild predator and having a look of pure hunger and desire on his face. She just whimpered and panted, her very being aching with need, craving his touch. When he kissed her, finally parting her teeth and exploring her mouth with his tongue, she thought she might cum just from that. She was so on the edge that a feather's touch would be enough to push her over.

Xander exercised iron control as he languidly kissed her, forcing himself to move slowly and gently. After what felt like forever, he moved away from her mouth and moved to her neck. He had the bedcover balled up in each hand as he touched her with only his mouth, resisting her efforts to speed him up as she tried to push his head down to where her need was weeping forth from her body.

She wanted to tell him to stop teasing her, but all she could get out was a strangled "Please!" over and over as her body undulated beneath him. His lips drew a trail of fire across her skin as he moved down to her breasts, laving their generous surface with lips and tongue.

Xander knew she was so close. He had once made Anya orgasm just from his mouth on her breasts, and the orgasm had continued as he went down on her. She had described it as like a single long, slow orgasm that lasted for minutes, but instead of releasing her tension and leaving her wiped out, it had made her need even greater and she'd practically pounded him through the bed in an effort to satisfy the resulting desire. His goal was to repeat that experience with Cordelia.

The poor girl was practically out of her mind by the time he finally sucked one nipple into his mouth. She felt herself begin to clench and release in slow waves that traveled through her whole body. It was like she was cumming but it felt different, slow. Too slow. Instead of scratching that itch inside her, it was making her even hornier! She was arching and straining and crying his name like her body was being slowly electrocuted. She thought she was loosing her mind!

"I think that's mission accomplished!" he thought exultantly as he finally moved down her twisting torso to her overflowing pussy. His first taste of her was unbelievable. It was almost like cheesecake, creamy and tart and just a little sweet but rich and savory at the same time. He couldn't help but speed up his slow pace a little as he struggled to lick her clean while she continued to overflow. God! The smell was making him light headed as he fought between tasting and smelling her. It wasn't long before his lips were covering hers, his tongue as deep inside her as he could reach, teasing out that rich elixir.

Cordy's cries turned to hoarse screams as she felt the line of fire first covering then entering her. The waves of her orgasm started to grow stronger and faster as Xander's tongue moved inside her, and his nose unconsciously ground against her slippery clit. She didn't even notice his evening stubble chafing against her thighs when she locked her legs around his head and reached down with her hands to push his head harder against her.

Finally Xander was nearly delirious from the lack of air in his lungs and he pulled away. He heard Cordelia's hoarse chant of 'Now Xander!' over and over and he clawed at his boxers to get them out of the way. It was his turn to cry out her name as he sank his thick cock into her with one stroke. Finally his control evaporated in the heat of his lust and he began to pump hard and fast with short, nearly brutal snapping of his hips. He didn't feel Cordelia's fingernails as they clawed into the flesh of his back, drawing blood. Nor did he feel the crushing pressure of her legs wrapped around his spine and squeezing for all she was worth. All he felt was the exquisite pressure of her quivering and grasping muscles as she squeezed his dick almost to the point of pain.

Their cries were smothered as their lips sought each other and kissed frantically, each seeking to devour the other.

Finally, Cordelia was worn out, her arms and legs fell to the bed as she lacked any energy to power the muscles therein. Xander had spilled himself inside her twice, so aroused that he hadn't lost even a bit of his steel-hardness in-between. Every last reserve of strength in his body was drained when he managed to roll them over so that she was draped over him like a flesh blanket. Xander's chest rose and fell like a blacksmith's bellows as he tried to get the oxygen back to his brain and Cordelia was still near-delirious and moaning, "Oh God!" with each exhalation.

Phantom Dennis was kind enough to lay a blanket over them after they slipped into sleep.

Buffy didn't wait for Willow to get her clothes off; she lifted her Mistress up off her feet and laid her back on the bed and immediately began to kiss her mouth while running her hands over her full, soft breasts. She pulled away for a moment and saw Willow, naked and standing by the bed, waiting to be told what to do. She shook her head in amazement and said, "God I love you, Willow. Now come here and lay next to Tara."

Buffy straddled the two legs in the center, Tara's left and Willow's right, and moved forward so her thighs were pressed into the already wet pussies of her two witchy lovers. She said, "You two were so amazing! I was so proud to be your lover tonight!"

Both Willow and Tara could see the depth of emotion in Buffy's eyes and expression. Tara felt so loved, so special right then. She might be Buffy's Mistress, but she was still in awe of the Slayer. For Buffy to tell her she was proud to be Tara's lover was one more nail in the coffin of her insecurities and low self esteem. She felt more powerful right now, laying beneath her blond lover than she did even when casting the spell that wiped out those vampires.

Willow was deep in subspace despite Buffy's use of her name. She remembered watching in awe as Buffy had cleaved through vampires three at a time with an axe that was almost bigger than her entire body. Even though she and Tara had taken out the vast majority of the vamps, what stuck in her head was the mental image she had of Buffy dealing final death to wave after wave of vampires seeking to kill her as she sat on the floor, defenseless and spent from the magicks she and Tara had wielded.

Speaking of the magic- she was astonished at the power and control she could wield when joined with Lady Tara. She knew she'd never have advanced to her current level without Tara's guidance and love. Both of them were larger than life to her, and she once again resolved to dedicate her life to serving and pleasing Mistress Buffy and Lady Tara.

Buffy laid forward, resting her body on theirs, and bracing her hands on either side of them. She began to rock, rubbing her thighs into her two lovers, sliding along their slick sexes and turning from one to the other, kissing and nibbling on their lips. She gasped when suddenly a pair of hands began to move and stroke her own slick flesh.

Tara moved to slide a finger inside the Slayer but found her way already blocked by a pair of Willow's fingers. She smirked as she thought, "Great minds think alike," and instead began to circle Buffy's clit with quick movements, grinding against the slick, wet flesh.

Angel woke up with a splitting headache and a ravenous thirst. He was surprised and pleased to find two jar's of blood sitting right next to him and he quickly downed them both. He laid back down and laughed at the dream he'd been having. He could hardly wait to tell Wesley and Cordelia about it. They were fighting a hundred or more vampires that were attending- of all things- a self-help seminar! And, Buffy and Willow were there along with another girl he didn't recognize, and after the big fight, Buffy and Willow started to kiss!

"Maybe I better not tell them," he mumbled as he sat up, still a little woozy, "They'll think I've gone insane!"

As he stood up, he noticed Wesley was sitting in his chair, apparently dozed off. He went to walk over and wake him when he suddenly heard a female voice he didn't recognize screaming the Slayer's name. His head whipped around and he was about to run to the door when he recognized Buffy's voice screaming out Willow's name and something that sounded like 'tar?'

Unfortunately, in the confusion, he didn't notice that his shoes had been placed next to the foot of the bed and he tripped and fell, striking his head against the floor just as he heard Willow's answering scream of 'Mistress!'

As usual, Buffy was the first to wake up. She was still feeling horny even after last night's multi-orgasmic experience. That battle with the room-full of vamps had her turned on like a light. Poor Willow had passed out asleep after her first, initially worrying the Slayer, but Tara had reassured her. She explained that Willow had provided the bulk of the power in their lightening spell, and that had worn her out. She still wasn't very good at drawing power from outside herself- mostly because she never really had to. Last night had been the first time that they had cast a single spell that had been big enough to actually drain the redhead's batteries. Nine or ten hours of sleep and she'd be all better, Tara had said.

As for the blond witch herself, Tara had pretty much fully recharged by the time the fight had ended. First off, her 'batteries' weren't as big as Willow's, and secondly, she was much, much better at drawing on the power in her immediate environment to 'refresh' herself.

Buffy made a mental note to encourage her pet to practice more. She didn't want Willow to use dark magics to renew her power unless it was in a life and death situation. Tara had explained to her that, yes it was much faster- Willow's main argument in favor of it- but it could be much more dangerous as well. A practitioner could end up inviting in a malevolent spirit along with the power if they weren't especially careful. Buffy didn't want to hold Willow back, the magic was too important to her, as well as being very useful, as last night proved conclusively; but she didn't want her lover endangering herself unnecessarily either.

Buffy moved away from where she was spooned up against her pet, and Willow rolled onto her back, filling the spot Buffy had been in. The Slayer considered her pet for a moment, enjoying the sight of her neck and chest where the covers had slipped down with her movement. Keeping her eyes on her pet's face, Buffy pulled the covers down just a little more to expose one coral pink nipple. She leaned in and covered the nipple in one long lick, and then pulled back to watch it pucker up and grow hard. Willow's only reaction was a soft sigh.

Buffy smiled at her pet, seeing that she was still deep in sleep. "God, you're so beautiful!" she whispered quietly. She was tempted to play some more, but she decided she wanted to play with Tara first instead. She pulled the covers up to Willow's chin and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

She moved out of the bed carefully, so as not to disturb her lovers. She moved to the foot of the bed and took in the sight of her lover and Mistress. She was laid on her back, as Willow had been draped over her. Buffy carefully crawled under the covers from the foot of the bed and stalked her way up between the blonde's thighs, heading for one of her favorite places in all the world. It was, she pondered momentarily, an even tossup whether her Mistress' savory, or her pet's sweet was her favorite. The mere thought of either made her mouth water.

Tara was dreaming, or maybe remembering. She had gone to sleep, rather her pet had allowed her to go to sleep, after several orgasms brought on by her nimble tongue. She had no doubt that Buffy would have continued for hours longer had she not stopped her, overwhelmed by fatigue at last.

And now, in her dreams she was once again experiencing that marvelous feeling; Buffy's warm tongue, delicately dancing over her intimate flesh. Still asleep, her thighs parted further as her body reflected her actions in the dream. "Oh goddess!" she moaned, her pet was teasing her, kissing one inner thigh, then slowly moving to kiss the other, her lips ever so lightly brushing against Tara's moist center in passing- almost as if by accident, except that her tongue darted out to catch a bit of that moisture on the way.

Gradually, Buffy's actions focused more and more on Tara's weeping pussy itself. By the time the blond witch achieved full consciousness, the Slayer's tongue was buried deep inside her love- seeking out the source of that syrupy goodness. Tara cracked open her sleep-crusted eyes and saw a vaguely Slayer-shaped lump under the covers between her legs. As she blinked the grit from her eyes, she lifted the blanket and peered down the valley of her breasts to see her pet's mop of bed-hair bobbing up and down at her center.

Buffy looked up to see her beloved Tara's smiling face. She gave her one long lick, flicking her clit at the end of it and eliciting a gasp from her lover as she returned the greeting, "Good morning Tara." The Slayer brought one hand up to her lover's soft center and slid a single digit inside her slick heat. She crawled up Tara's body, stopping along the way to kiss and lick the generous curves she encountered on her way up for a morning kiss- all the while, keeping that finger sliding in and out of her lover's beautiful pussy.

Tara watched with dilated eyes as her amazing and powerful lover blazed a trail up her body. The pleasure being served her by her lover's hand magnified as a second finger joined the first, plunging steadily in and out of her.

Buffy took great pleasure in pleasing both her lovers. It made her feel so sexy, so hot when they whimpered and moaned as Tara was doing right now. When she finally made it up to the blond witch's pouty lips she kissed her, long and hard- not possessively, but just communicating her adoration and desire for this wonderful girl. She broke off the kiss and leaned away enough to focus on Tara's lust filled eyes and said, "Do you have any idea how much I love you, Tara?"

The lust didn't dim, but was overshadowed by poignant tears as she replied, "Oh, yes. I feel it every time you look at me," Tara panted out.

"Good!" Buffy said firmly as she began to grind her thumb against her lover's clit. She swiftly descended upon her girlfriend's lips once again, drinking in her cries as the orgasm washed over her.

When the last waves of pleasure died away, Tara broke away, gasping much needed oxygen into her lungs. After a moment she calmed and whispered, "Goddess Buffy, I love you so much!"

Buffy's smile could have lit up the room. "I love you too, Tara. I love being your lover, I love being your girlfriend, and I love being your pet." Buffy nuzzled Tara's face, loving the feel of Tara's skin against her own. "You and Willow have made me so… there's no word for it. It's like happy and complete and at peace and warm and in-love and everything else that's good all rolled up into one." She drew back again to look into Tara's eyes as she smiled and asked, "Is there a word for that?"

Tara couldn't help but smile hugely at her love. Then she schooled her features as if giving the question deep consideration. After a moment, she said, "I think we'll have to make a word."

Buffy giggled and slid down off of Tara, still spooning up to her side. She noticed that Willow was still fast asleep and a wicked idea came to mind. She nuzzled the blonde's ear with her nose, and whispered, "Tara, would you help me with something?"

Tara smiled, assuming the Slayer needed a release of her own, and turned so she was facing her. She moved her hand down Buffy's naked tummy, loving the feel of it's muscled hardness under a smooth layer of soft flesh- that was her Slayer, iron hardness under padded velvet softness. "I'd be happy to, sweetie!"

Buffy's breath caught as Tara's fingers slid through her slippery flesh, "Oh, th- that's not exactly what I had in mind…" Her hand caught Tara's as it started to pull away, "But please don't stop!"

Tara's faltering smile perked up into a smirk as she began toying with her pet's pussy once again. "Oh, what were you thinking then?" she asked in a deceptively innocent voice.

"I… ah, oh yeah… I was… mmm! Right there!" Buffy squirmed as Tara touched her in all the right places, playing her pet with the intimate knowledge she'd gained of the Slayer. As she tried to tell the smirking blond her idea, Buffy again marveled at how these two girls could make her feel so damn good. Riley hadn't managed to make her feel even a tenth as good, not on his best day. Not even after they'd been together a year. "I thought of… ooohhh… a fun way to wake up W- W- ah! Willow!" she tried to keep marginally quiet, but Tara was making it so damn hard! She pulled the larger girl to her and latched on to her faded love bite, smothering her scream by sucking an biting her lover's flesh.

Tara moaned deeply as she felt the Slayer's muscles quivering around her fingers as she came. At the same time she felt the sting of her pet's love bite. She thought with pleasure of how she would repay that impertinence later.

Once Buffy had stopped quivering and quaking in pleasure, Tara asked, "So, what did you have in mind?"

Xander woke up feeling really good. "Makes all the difference," he thought. Going to sleep in the arms of a woman, especially after really great sex, made the difference between waking up feeling great, and waking up feeling depressed. He had managed to forget that in the few days since his breakup. "God, how pathetic am I?" he thought.

It wasn't entirely his fault; he'd gotten used to having sex daily. His body still thought that was the way things should be, and jerking off just didn't have the same effect. He'd become dependant on that physical connection.

Xander opened his eyes and immediately noticed Cordelia wasn't there. The smells of breakfast cooking explained why that was. Immediately his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything last night. "Well, not anything nutritious," he thought with a smirk, remembering the feel, taste and smell of Cordelia from last night. He jumped up out of bed and headed for a quick shower.

Cordelia remembered Xander's appetite and prepared a giant breakfast. Her body was still tingling from last night. She shook her head in wonder every few minutes as the memories of last night played through her mind. She couldn't believe that was Xander Harris, high school loser. He had played her body like a fine instrument last night, drawing out of her more pleasure than she knew was physically possible. She'd been hoping for a moment's solace- something to take her mind off of her visions for just a little while. Instead he'd given her something else entirely.

She felt renewed in body and spirit this morning. The darkness had been washed away from her. Now she remembered what it was like to really be alive. Instead of the five second orgasm she'd expected, it had felt like Xander had plugged her directly into the universe's source of joy and pleasure and happiness. Even the pain of the visions almost seemed like they were worth it if she could save people, knowing there was real and true good out there for people. "Sappy, but true," she thought.

Xander came wandering in fresh from his shower, smiling brightly. "Smells great Cordy!" he said. His sentiment was punctuated by a loud growl from his empty stomach.

Cordelia laughed and dished up a plate for him; eggs, breakfast sausage, hash browns, toast, and orange juice. "Here, dig in!" she said with an easy smile. She sat down and watched him as he began to wolf down the food with a moan of pleasure. She herself made due with non-fat yogurt and some fresh fruit.

"How come you're not having any?" Xander said through a full mouth, gesturing at his plate.

"Are you kidding?" Cordelia asked. "Do you think I'd still look this good if I ate like you?" she teased, but not maliciously.

The two ate in silence. Not so much uncomfortable, as unsure of what exactly to say. Clearly, neither regretted what happened, it was just a matter of morning-after etiquette. Neither had ever had a one night stand that hadn't ended with bad feelings before.

Xander, for some reason he couldn't quite identify, didn't want to hear Cordelia say that it was over. He knew it was over; he had no illusions that they were getting back together, but he just didn't want to hear her say it. Maybe it felt too much like rejection; whatever the reason, he was quick to interrupt her, "One night, right. I remember, Cordy. You're not looking for more than that."

There must have been something in his tone, because Cordelia's eyes immediately flashed with anger and she abruptly stood up. Xander scooted his chair back, ready to rise himself.

Cordelia reigned in her anger. "What is it about you, Xander, that sets me off so easily?" she wondered. Instead of lambasting him, she moved the two steps toward him and straddled his legs, sitting in his lap. She chuckled at the surprise on his face; clearly he had been expecting a blowup.

"Cordy, what…" he began to ask, not at all understanding what was going on here.

"Shut up, Xander," she said, her voice soft and sweet- contradicting her terse command. "Don't you dare trivialize what happened last night as just some tawdry one-night stand." She shook her head slowly, yet maintaining eye contact. "I was a complete wreck, Xander. I had totally lost sight of anything good in this world. I was hurting physically and emotionally and I was having a hard time caring about anything at all."

After the kiss, she continued, "And you took all that away and made me feel good and beautiful and special again." Her eyes were shiny with unshed tears as she asked, "Do you have any idea how much that means to me?"

She continued as though he hadn't spoken at all, "Not to mention the fact that that was the best sex I've ever had in my life!"

"Eleven hundred years of carnal knowledge Anya taught me a whole lot of stuff," he answered with a smirk.

A serious look fell over Cordelia's face and she took Xander's in her hands, saying, "Seriously Xander. Thank you. What you did for me last night was something… really special. I…" she trailed off, too choked up with emotion to add anything else.

Xander avoided the obvious joke for once and answered seriously himself, "You're welcome Cordy. It meant a lot to me too, that you'd let me be there for you like that."

The tension abated, Cordelia smiled and stood up, still straddling his legs and said, "You ready to go then?"

Xander had to smother a groan as this beautiful creature stood before him. He'd been unable to keep from getting hard when she sat on his lap. And now, her tight jeans and curve-hugging shirt weren't doing a thing to alleviate the pressure in his pants. "Actually, I kinda need a moment here," he said, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

Cordelia was confuse for just a second, then she looked down at Xander's lap and noticed the not-inconsiderable bulge there. She smiled and teased, "Really? For me?"

The coquettish tone to her voice only made him swell harder, and he was unable to stifle the groan this time. "God, Cordy! You're killing me here!" he said.

"You know, I just thought of a way I could really say thank you for last night…" Cordelia said in a sultry tone. Last night, Xander had made the whole night about her, what better way to thank him that to focus on him for a little while. Plus, he'd given her like a dozen back to back orgasms, so it was only fair, she thought.

While Xander had to agree that a blowjob was a pretty darned good way to say thanks, he didn't do what he did last night in order to obligate her, he did it because he wanted to be there for her. Besides, he hadn't gone to sleep unsatisfied. "Cordy," his voice was a little hoarse, "You don't have to do this…"

Well, if she really wanted to, who was he to deny her? "Yes, Xander," he said with a laugh that turned into a groan as she dropped to her knees and unzipped his pants.

Last night, she hadn't spent any time looking at, or touching Xander's cock. "Oh, you're a big boy," she thought. She didn't waste any time teasing him, she just gently took him into her mouth and began to bob her head up and down slowly.

Xander groaned as Cordelia sucked him strongly while bobbing up and down. She didn't use her hands at all, which added an element of sexiness as he looked down and watched her. She didn't even try to get more than half of him in her mouth, but the way she lashed the underside of him with her tongue, and seeing her cheeks hollowed out as she sucked hard, well he didn't feel he was missing a thing.

She might not have had eleven hundred years of experience, but Cordy did know how to please a man. She maintained her slow pace, never speeding up or slowing down. She could have made it go quicker; she could have used her hands, or sucked faster, but she wanted it to be a little bit special, something he would remember fondly. And, the truth was, she was enjoying herself to. She loved to hear the sounds he was making- the groans and moans. There was something sexy about pleasing someone else this way, to know that you were making them feel so good, that their attention was focused on you alone.

Xander was amazed as Cordelia kept a continuous rhythm for five minutes, never varying. He felt himself on the edge of orgasm and warned her, "Oh, God! I'm gonna cum, Cordy!"

She still maintained her pace, her only change making sure that her throat was closed so she wouldn't choke.

It might be sexist, and he knew some women hated it and would never do it, but for Xander there was nothing on the earth as sexy as a woman that swallowed. He moaned her name so loudly that surely every neighbor she had could hear him as he unloaded into her mouth. And still, she maintained her pace until he began to soften.

Cordelia looked into Xander's eyes and loudly swallowed his cum, his diminishing hard-on still in her mouth as she did it. The look in his eyes was worth it, she thought. She didn't know what it was about guys, but they got so turned on by girls who swallowed. She didn't know what the big deal was, it barely had any flavor at all, just a little bitter and salty.

Cordelia released him with an audible pop, and then tucked him back into his boxers. She zipped up his pants and stood up. "That… was thank you for the most amazing night of my life, Xander," she said with a big smile.

Cordy giggled and said, "Let me brush my teeth and fix my lipstick, and we'll go."

Xander answered, "Yeah, you do that, and I'll see if I can learn how to walk again."

Willow woke slowly, feeling a tickle on her face. She tried to reach up and rub at it, but her arm wouldn't move. She tried her other hand and found it immobilized as well. She opened her eyes to complete darkness and realized she was blindfolded. She was about to panic when she heard a low voice crooning in her ear.

Willow felt her Mistress' tongue caress her earlobe before drawing it into her mouth and sucking on it. Her voice was raspy with sleep as she said, "Oh, yes Mistress!"

Tara had magically moved their toybox from the car- which had taken a moment to find, as it was not parked outside the hotel any longer- and selected an ostrich plume, running it over Willow's skin and leaving a trail of goosebumps wherever it touched.

After a moment of suckling, Buffy bit down on her pet's earlobe, not hard enough to break the skin, but enough to send a brief jolt of pain. She immediately laved it gently with her tongue.

Willow was shivering at the sensation of something soft and tickly being dragged across her skin. Her low moan changed to a surprised gasp as her Mistress nipped her ear. She felt herself begin to get wet, and her breathing increased as her arousal did.

Tara continued to cover every square inch of exposed skin on her lover with the plume. She and Buffy had both been amazed that the redhead had slept through being tied, spread eagle, on the bed, and being blindfolded. Tara was definitely enjoying the subtle torture of the plume, having to stifle a snicker when she ran over a particularly ticklish point and the lovely girl twitched and pulled at her restraints. Her voice was a symphony of groans, moans, whimpers and gasps as Tara and Buffy played their contrasting sensations upon her.

Buffy hovered over one of her pet's lovely little breasts and breathed a stream of warm air upon the peak. Already erect, she smiled as she watched it pucker just a little more. She ran her lips over it, not getting it wet for a reason. She elicited another strong gasp and then a loud whimper when she pulled her mouth back and snapped one of their scissoring clamps onto the distended nipple. She attached it so that the weighted chain hung down off of the side of her rib cage- pulling the nipple sideways and squeezing and releasing with each jiggle the girl's body made.

Oh, the clamps! Pet *loved* the nipple clamps! The pain they brought to her nipples was indescribably exquisite and never failed to heighten her arousal. She felt wetness begin to dribble down from her pussy, and eagerly awaited the other clamp. She was so deliriously happy that Mistress had decided to play with her this morning. Lady Tara must be helping- dragging the whatever-it-was over her skin.

Pet couldn't restrain a small cry as she felt a finger drag slowly up the seam of her outer lips, capturing some of the syrupy juice gathered there.

Buffy looked at her wet finger and had to restrain herself from sticking it immediately in her mouth. Instead, she anointed her pet's lips with it, then bent down and tasted it from there, kissing and licking her pet's lips.

Pet had to concentrate to keep from licking her own essence off of her lips, knowing Mistress had put it there for her own pleasure, not pet's. Nevertheless, the deep kiss that followed more than made up for it as Mistress ravaged her mouth. Surely there was nothing in the world better than being the Slayer's pet!

"You are so beautiful, pet!" Buffy said, her emotions high as they always were when she played Mistress to Willow's pet. "I love you so much!"

Willow was crying under her blindfold. "Thank you, Mistress!" she choked out through her tears, "I love you too, more than I can say."

Buffy smiled with joy and clamped her pet's other nipple, eliciting yet another cry of pleasure. She looked up at her own Mistress with damp eyes and saw love and devotion reflected there. She leaned over her pet and kissed Tara deeply for several moments. When she pulled her lips from the blond witch's she whispered, "Would you like to taste my pet?"

"Oh yes!" Tara nodded happily. She tossed the plume aside and moved between the redhead's legs, lying on her stomach and beginning to kiss Willow's inner thigh.

Willow groaned loudly at the feel of Lady Tara's mouth against her most intimate flesh. Her body arched involuntarily as the power and passion built up in her, seeking but denied release. "Not till Mistress says!" she thought.

"N- n- not… till… you say… Mistress!" she panted out, Tara's skilled tongue driving her insane with need.

Buffy smiled, knowing that would be the answer, she nevertheless loved to hear it. The knowledge that this beautiful, powerful, amazing girl had given herself so completely to Buffy made her heart soar.

"When you feel me cum all over your beautiful face, then you can cum, understand?" Buffy asked.

"Yay!" her mind shouted. She was going to get to pleasure her Mistress- and then the immediate reward for pleasing her Mistress- she'd get to cum herself! "Oh yes! I understand, Mistress! Thank you Mistress!" she gushed happily.

Buffy couldn't help but kiss her pet. Such excitement and happiness at being allowed the 'privilege' of eating out her Mistress. Of course, she did understand it, she felt the same way when she was subbing to Tara. She pivoted on one knee and straddled Willow's face, facing the foot of the bed so that she could witness the erotic sight of Tara's blond head bobbing up and down between her pet's thighs.

Willow knew just what buttons to push to make her Mistress cum screaming, and she unleashed her wicked tongue on them all. It was better when she had her hands free, but nevertheless she had Mistress' spicy syrup pouring down on her face in under four minutes. The moment she felt it, her back arched and she screamed her orgasm against her Mistress sopping wetness, and the darkness of her blindfold was washed away with white light.

Tara had looked up upon hearing Buffy's shout and saw something strange. For just a moment, it had seemed like the Slayer was silhouetted- like there was a lamp lighting the wall behind her or something. She blinked and it was gone. She might have pondered it further, but Willow's sudden flood of sweet cream into her mouth immediately occupied her attention. "Oh goddess, you taste so *good* Willow!" she thought as she struggled to suck up every last drop.

Willow moaned as Tara gently lapped up her release. She began to do the same for her Mistress, laving her pussy and inner thighs, sighing with pleasure at the spicy taste that was the essence of Slayer.

Buffy finally 'dismounted' from Willow's face and began to undo the cuffs holding her wrists and ankles. Tara, meanwhile, took a moment to clean Willow's face with her tongue, loving Buffy's flavor almost as much as Willow's. She freed the redhead from the blindfold and then kissed her soundly. "Good morning sweetie!" she whispered.

Buffy got back up on the bed and laid beside Willow, across from Tara and again kissed the lovely redhead. "Morning Will!" she said quietly. "I love you."

Willow smiled with delight as she answered, "l love you too!" turning to Tara, she added, "I love you both so much!"

They spent the next few minutes kissing and cuddling together before heading for the bathroom to see if they could all fit in the shower together.

Xander and Cordelia walked into the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel giggling like children. Xander had been describing the encounter with Spike on Buffy's birthday, and how Tara and Willow had handled the bleached buffoon.

Cordelia was still a little in shock about the whole triad thing, especially when Xander had let slip the domination aspect of it. She had never imagined Buffy being anybody's submissive- not that she'd ever given Buffy's sex life much thought in the first place. Truthfully, Cordelia Chase didn't really like Buffy Summers. She respected her, heck she was in awe of the Slayer in a lot of ways. She just didn't like her much. She never examined the reasons why, probably because she knew that jealousy was a big part of it. However, it sounded like the new and improved- not to mention lesbian- Buffy, wasn't such a bad person.

Anyway, Cordelia knew she had grown up a lot since moving to LA. It seemed that the Scooby gang had done so as well.

Xander was carrying several bags, knowing the triad probably needed some fresh clothes. He noticed that one of the cases they had brought was missing from the car, and he smirked at the thought of what could have been so important that they would use magic to get that case, but leave their clothes behind. He guessed that he wasn't the only one getting lucky last night.

When they got through the door, the first thing they noticed was the remainder of the A.I. team sitting in the lobby. Well, Gunn and Wesley were sitting. Angel was pacing back and forth, a frown on his face. Wesley looked incredibly nervous and Gunn was grinning madly, and looked like he was about to burst into giggles- that alone was something Cordelia had never seen before. She and Xander looked at each other and began laughing.

Cordelia looked at the even deeper scowl that Angel had on his face from their laughter and agreed, "Yep, definitely."

Xander headed for the stairs and said, "Can someone show me what room they're in? I think they're gonna need some new clothes."

Just then a muffled shriek was heard as Willow screamed Buffy's name from upstairs. Xander laughed and said, "Nevermind, I think I can find them." He jogged up the stairs.

Cordy was watching Angel and noticed his scowl deepened even further, something she would have bet was impossible. Her attention was diverted when Wesley, trying to break the tension, spoke.

"Y-you look much better this morning, Cordelia. You've recovered from yesterday's fall then?" he asked, both truly concerned, and wanting to move the subject away from what was going on upstairs.

Cordy dropped gracefully onto the couch next to Gunn and said, "I am *so* fully recovered!" She couldn't keep the light-up-the-room smile off of her face as she added, "I haven't felt this good in… well, ever!" She felt completely unselfconscious about it. She'd needed to get laid, and she did. The fact that it was with someone who actually cared about her as a person made it that much better. The fact that he'd made her cum screaming for like ten minutes straight, well that didn't hurt either.

Wesley was a little slow on the uptake as usual. "Oh, had a good night's sleep did you?"

Struck suddenly by the clue, Wesley stammered, "Ah, I- I… yes, well… well, good then."

Angel's ire overwhelmed him momentarily and he vamped out with a loud growl. Before anyone could comment, he quickly walked around the counter and into the office, grabbing a blood pack out of the mini-fridge and sucking it dry in one long pull.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. Changing the subject, she asked, "So, what happened last night? Did'ja find the vampires this time?"

Xander returned in time to hear Gunn describing the lightening spell the girls had cast last night. He didn't interrupt; he just gave Cordy a wink and a smile, and then sat down on a different couch from her and Gunn. He wanted her to know that she had her space, and that he wasn't going to be clingy. He listened in amazement as Gunn recounted the vamp vaporization and subsequent battle. He was shaking his head in wonder as he pictured Buffy standing between her lovers and the remaining vamps, chopping through three at a time with her giant axe.

It was times like this that he was thankful just to be a friend to these amazing women. Buffy Summers was still his hero. She probably always would be. "Man!" he muttered, "I almost wish I coulda been there."

Gunn's eyebrows shot up, and he said, "Almost? Man you missed the greatest fight I've ever seen in my life!"

Xander smiled wryly at that. "Yeah, well… where I was at was pretty good too," he said with a glance at Cordelia, who beamed at him in return.

Wesley just fidgeted nervously while Angel grabbed another bag of blood and drank it down.

Gunn laughed at Cordelia and turned back to Xander, saying, "Yeah, wait 'til I tell you what went down after the fight!"

Buffy, Willow and Tara came down the stairs hand in hand, still just a little buzzed from their wakeup sex, followed by some hot shower sex. All three had great big smiles on their faces when they walked down into the lobby. Not even the prospect of facing the questions that Angel and company were sure to ask could bring them down; though Buffy was a little worried about the possibility of Angel responding quite negatively. She hadn't said anything, but Tara had decided that if he did throw a fit, she was going to nip it in the bud.

Xander was the first to greet them, "Good morning, Ladies!" he called out. "You're looking relaxed and refreshed," he teased.

Tara had let the other two in on the feelings she'd gotten from Xander last night. Buffy and Willow had been very surprised at the thought of those two hooking up, but seeing the big smiles on both his and Cordy's face, they knew she'd been right.

"We're not the only ones, I see," Buffy teased right back, while Tara and Willow looked back and forth between him and Cordy with a smirk on their lips.

Angel was enraged. He couldn't believe that Buffy had taken two female lovers! He'd been in a snit all night, once he' woken up from his second concussion of the night. Their antics this morning- which he could hear every minute of, had been like a biting fly at the back of his neck, each moan and groan ratcheting up his irritation. He didn't bother to think rationally about it, because there was no good reason for it. That fact had only irritated him further, and he had snapped at Wesley every time the man tried to speak to him. Gunn's smirking laughter only exacerbated the situation even more.

He knew his friends didn't deserve his ire, but he didn't seem to be able to help it. Maybe, in the back of his mind, he thought she'd always wait for him or something like that. He had no right to expect that, of course. In fact he had always said he only wanted the best for her, and for her to be happy. Obviously that wasn't really true.

The fact was, the demon inside him had made a claim on Buffy Summers. Even when it had been allowed to resurface as a result of the curse, it still felt possessive of her. Yes, it had wanted to kill her, but it wouldn't have allowed anyone else to do so- it wanted to own her entirely, even unto death.

Riley Finn hadn't been a threat to Angel or his demon. It had seen that Buffy was only using him as a replacement for Angel himself- a wholly inadequate replacement. Riley couldn't make Buffy happy, so Angel wasn't worried about him.

It was obvious that these two girls did make Buffy happy, and that was simply unacceptable. Buffy belonged to him. He was going to have to explain that to her, right now.

Every head in the room snapped toward Angel when he growled, "What the hell are you doing?!" gesturing at the three of them holding hands.

Buffy immediately became defensive and snapped back, "Shut up, Angel. Now is not the time…"

"Now is the perfect time!" Angel growled back. "Get in here! I want to talk to you!" he snapped, pointing to the office as though she were a school girl being summoned by the principle.

Buffy started marching toward the office, thinking of what she was going to say, how she could explain this so he would understand; when she was suddenly caught short by Tara's voice.

"Slayer!" Tara spoke loudly, not yelling but clearly communicating the fact that she wasn't a happy camper.

Buffy whipped around to look at her lover and saw that she had been replaced by her Mistress, and Mistress did not look happy.

"Come here." Tara said evenly in the ringing silence that had fallen over the room. Even Angel was so shocked that he didn't say a word.

When Buffy closed the gap, Tara grabbed a fistful of her hair at the nape of her neck and pulled the Slayer against her. She looked down and quietly said, "Is he your master now? You run to obey him?"

Buffy blushed over her entire body, mortified and yet not a little aroused at being dominated in this public setting. She stammered, "N- no, Mistress."

Tara's face was a mask, giving away none of her feelings. Inside she was trembling, and amazed that no one else could see it. There was just something in her that snapped when she saw Buffy walking towards Angel. She didn't for a moment believe that Buffy would choose Angel over herself and Willow, but the thought of that vampire commanding her pet in anything was anathema to her. She knew he had a soul, but the Mistress in her saw him as being no better than Spike. In fact, if he didn't drop the attitude very quickly, she was going to treat him just like Spike.

"I belong to you, Mistress," Buffy said after only the barest moment of hesitation.

Buffy's response was immediate this time. "Oh yes, Mistress! I belong to you and only you!" Everyone else in the room faded away from Buffy's attention as she entered subspace and focused exclusively on her Mistress, whom she had displeased. She felt her stomach knot up at the thought of having disappointed her Mistress.

Tara saw her pet's eyes dilate and loose focus, and realized that Buffy had entered that place where nothing existed but herself and her Mistress. Inside, she melted, but she managed to keep her voice firm as she commanded, "Assume the position, pet." Thinking quickly, she whispered in her ear, "But, keep your clothes on; I don't intend to share even the sight of your body with anyone else."

"Yes Mistress." Buffy said, dropping to her knees and putting her hands behind her back. Later she would be thankful for Mistress telling her to remain clothed, but at that moment, she would have stripped without giving it a thought.

Tara closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment, drawing on the magic surrounding her in order to maintain her power as she summoned an item from their room, and at the same time preparing for her encounter with Angel.

Jaws dropped around the room when Buffy dropped and kneeled submissively at Tara's feet. Even Xander had never seen this before.

Angel's shock was just starting to wear off when an object came flying down the stairs. It was a wooden box, and for some reason it looked familiar to him.

Willow was as wide eyed as everyone else in the room, but hers were wide with hot, dripping lust as she watched her beautiful Mistress being dominated in front of all these people. She automatically obeyed Lady Tara's request as though it had been a command from on high.

Tara opened the box and withdrew the leather paddle from inside. She said, "Hold out your hands, pet," to Buffy and then set the paddle in her grasp. "I want you to focus on this, think about what should be done for letting someone other than myself command you."

Tara stifled a smile at the desire in her pet's voice. "Don't move a muscle until I tell you to, pet," she said and then turned to Wesley, noticing everyone's slack jawed staring. It took every last bit of her self control to keep meek, self-conscious Tara from making an appearance. Her voice barely wavered as she asked, "Wesley, may I borrow your office for a minute? I think Angel and I need to talk in private."

"I- I- I- but… but of… Yes," he stammered and stuttered finally getting it out.

Turning to Angel, she looked at him with eyes black and arcs of electricity playing across them. "You. Office. Now." She said in a voice that brooked no challenge. Just to back it up, she cast a binding spell, leaving only the end undone so that she could activate it at will.

Angel would never admit it, let alone show it, but he was just a little bit frightened. He'd never known shy, meek Tara. His very short experience with her was watching her and her redheaded lover destroy a hundred vampires with a single spell. Not even the mighty Angelus could look upon such a person entirely unmoved.

The demon in him was screaming for him to attack- to use his blinding speed and power to destroy the obstacle keeping him from the Slayer. His soul, of course, wouldn't allow him to kill an innocent human being… But even Angel's soul was enraged at this girl for standing between him and his woman.

'His Woman.' Buffy had once been his, but was no longer. In his little remaining bit of rational thought, he knew that. He knew he should just let this go. Nevertheless he couldn't bring himself to loose face in front of everyone. He was just stubborn enough, just stupid enough, to make this go as hard as it possibly could.

Tara's voice actually got softer as she said, "Go in the office Angel. I won't ask again."

He couldn't help himself, he was so angry that he took an involuntary step toward her. He had no idea what he was going to do, but his body moved toward her in anger and that was enough to set into motion a chain of events that would later make him seriously regret that one step.

Tara spoke one word, completing the binding spell and leaving him frozen in place. He didn't stay there long, however. With another word from the blond witch he found himself flung back into the office with what felt like a horse-kick to the head.

Wesley, Gunn and Cordelia leapt to their feet in shock and then stood there, uncertain of what the correct course of action was. The witch wasn't following up her attack, she was just standing there looking at them. Her eyes had returned to their clear blue color and she looked in that moment like the most harmless person in the world.

"I'm not going to kill him," she said quietly to them, understanding their loyalty to the jerk of a vampire, even if she didn't share it. She knew Angel was a champion of the PTB- Buffy had filled her in on the whole situation. She didn't have any desire to take away a powerful warrior of the light, especially when they were going to need his help in the coming fight.

However, she'd be damned if she'd share her pet in any way, shape or form. And she meant to communicate that to him in no uncertain terms.

She had to pause for just a moment as a fit of giggles threatened to bubble up. She couldn't believe she was doing this. It was so entirely unlike who she'd been for her whole life! But, she found that she liked this new person she was becoming. She liked it quite a bit. After she'd regained control- "don't want to spoil the tough-girl image!" she thought with an internal smile- she walked slowly into the office and closed the door behind her.

"Ok… What just happened?" Cordelia said once she'd regained the ability to speak. She looked at Xander and saw the he appeared to be just as dumfounded as she was. She looked at Buffy who was on her knees, holding a big-ass paddle and staring at it. "Uh, Buffy? You wanna tell us what the heck's going on here? And why are you holding that?"

Willow set the box down and took a seat on the couch next to her kneeling Mistress. Her own emotions were running high as several feelings flowed through her; she was so proud of Lady Tara's amazing strength and control, taking on a master vampire like that. She was proud of Buffy too, it was a testament to the Slayer's devotion to Tara that she would submit herself to being taken to task so publicly. Willow hoped that she would have a chance to show Mistress Buffy her own devotion like that sometime. It was one of the reasons she liked to be publicly dominated- it showed the world that she belonged to the Slayer.

She was also incredibly turned on by her Mistress' public submission to the blond witch- she couldn't decide which she wanted more right now; to ravish Tara, or be ravished by Buffy. "Both!" she decided.

"You wanna elaborate on that, Red?" Gunn asked, equally curious. It was funny to see Angel and Wes freaking out about the three girls, but he was less than comfortable with this girl tossing the big guy on his butt like that. "Not real happy about Angel vamping out like that, either," he thought.

Wesley was still stammering both mentally and verbally. "Oh, My! Is she… Will he… they won't hurt… Oh, My!"

Xander had to chuckle at Wesley. It reminded him of his senior year in High School. "At least he dumped the suit and tie," he thought. Turning his attention back to his best friends, Xander couldn't help feeling confused and a little aroused. He knew that the girls had this Dominance and submission thing going, but he thought it was more of a game. Even after seeing Willow's collar and talking to her about it, he didn't really understand. He could picture Buffy playing at the slave roll- God knows he'd had dozens of fantasies about it- but he would never in a million years believed this if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. "Heck, I'm still not sure I believe it," he thought.

"I don't know what's going on with Angel," Willow said. "But, whatever it is, he's about to find out that Buffy belongs to Tara- and she doesn't share."

As Tara closed the door behind her, she suddenly felt bewildered. "Ok, now what do I do?" she thought. She couldn't bring herself to hurt a helpless being, even if he was a jerk. She walked over and stood next to the ensorcelled vampire, watching his silent struggle as he tried to free himself from his magical bonds.

Tara kneeled next to the struggling vampire and looked deep into his eyes, trying to see if there was anything there she could work with, or if he had given in to his resident demon. Sadly, after several minutes of examination, all she could see was the demon. Apparently, the jealousy that was infecting his soul made it to weak to restrain the darkness within. The demon in him was too territorial to deal with rationally of course, but she still felt uncomfortable with the idea of inflicting pain on him while he was helpless like this.

Finally, she decided on a course of action that would address the need to control the monster, while not making her behave like someone she didn't want to be.

"Angel, you need to understand something. Buffy belongs to me now. You abandoned her years ago. You gave up any right to claim her when you left… but somehow you just can't let go, can you?" Tara turned her back to him and sat down on the floor, her legs crossed in front of her. She began to cast a spell, chanting softly in an eldritch language with which even Angel was unfamiliar.

After a moment, Angelus felt his bonds begin to weaken. He redoubled his efforts to get free and attack the witch that had humiliated him. Angel's soul would have stopped short of actually hurting the girl, but was so filled with jealousy that it didn't have the strength to hold back the demon.

Tara began to speak again, having completed her spell. She said, "I hope you can listen to reason, but either way, understand this; Buffy is mine alone, and nothing you can do will change that." She would rather that Angel gracefully accept the way things were now, accept that Buffy was happy and leave well enough alone. Her problem was that she didn't believe that he would choose to do so, yet she couldn't bring herself to hurt him while he was bound. Tara's solution was simple. She cast a spell that would inflict on him pain beyond belief; but which only activated if he sought to do her harm. Then she released him.

Angel barely heard a word as he felt the bonds weaken more and more, until finally they snapped and he was free. Immediately he leapt at the blond, meaning to drain her life away in a frenzy of blood.

Giles shook his head as he heard the statement over the phone. "Yes, you've made that clear several times now, Quinton." He hated dealing with Quinton Travers, ever since the Cruciamentum bollocks several years ago, his distaste for the senior watcher had been rather acute. "However," as he told himself for the hundredth time since calling the previous day, "We need the humorless old bastard's connections if we're going to get Faith out of prison," he thought with no small displeasure.

"She cannot be trusted, Rupert," Travers said even though he knew it was a futile attempt. "She will turn on the others, and then where will we be?"

Allowing his frustration to get the better of him for a moment, Giles snapped, "Well, I expect *you'll* be in London, safe and sound as you always are, Quinton!" He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath to calm himself. Cutting off Quinton's reply, he asked, "Look, were you able to do it or not?"

He wasn't happy about it, but there was no helping it. He had no better idea to offer, so he would have to acquiesce to this mad scheme. Trying to maintain some semblance of superiority, Travers haughtily spoke, "Of course we were able to do it; the feasibility of your request was never in question, only its wisdom."

Giles grip on the phone was turning his fingers white. It took all his discipline to speak in a calm voice as he tersely asked, "When and how?"

"The documents will be delivered to the Hyperion within the hour." Travers said in his lemony voice. "Then it's a matter of just going and collecting the package."

"The 'Package'!" Giles thought acrimoniously, "Bloody insensitive prick!" Curtly he said, "Thank you for your help, Quinton," and then hung up the phone before he gave in to the desire to vent his aggravation at the man.

"Rupert?" Joyce asked in concern as she looked at her lover's clenched fist and teeth.

Giles took another deep breath and deliberately relaxed his clenched muscles. "Forgive me Joyce," he said softly. "He does manage to 'push my buttons', as you Americans would say, doesn't he?

Giles gave the teen a wan smile and said, "Yes, thank you for the lesson in teenage American idiom, Dawn."

"You're welcome!" she said, her voice loosing none of its brightness. "Ha!" she thought, mentally sticking her tongue out at him. "You didn't think I knew what idiom meant!"

Joyce diverted Giles attention from her daughter. "Rupert, is it… will they be…" She wanted to ask if they were going to be safe with Faith, but that was a stupid question- they were going to fight a god- safe was the furthest thing from what they were going to be.

Giles knew her nervousness was from the impending meeting with the Slayer-gone-bad, hopefully now reformed. "I've been keeping a distant eye on Faith, and Angel has visited her several times. We both feel that her repentance is genuine," he said, hoping that Joyce would feel reassured. "And, we must remember that she did turn herself in when she could easily have absconded."

Ever helpful, Dawn added, "Plus, if she tries anything? Willow and Tara'll totally kick her ass."

Again, Dawn took no notice of the Brit's sarcasm, saying happily, "You're welcome Giles!"

Joyce had to chuckle at that, causing Giles to offer the young girl a more sincere thank you in his thoughts.

"Well, perhaps you should set up for our conference call?" he suggested. "They should be trying to contact us in the next half hour or so…"

"I hope things with Angel went smoothly," Joyce worried aloud as her lover sat next to her and she leaned into him.

Mostly focused on the pleasant feel of his new love relaxing against his chest, Giles reassured her, "I'm sure they were able to reach an accommodation. After all, Angel is a reasonable chap, usually…"

Everyone's attention snapped towards the office as a loud shout was cut off almost as quickly as it started and there was a bright flash of light that they only caught peripherally. Wesley and Gunn took a couple of steps towards the office and then stopped, unsure of what they should do.

"Oh, God! What is she doing to him?" Cordelia asked in a voice laden with both fear and confusion.

Xander too was confused and a little bit freaked out by this turn of events. He had known Tara for a year, and for all but the last month or so his image of the girl was one of a sweet, shy, almost timid girl who couldn't hurt a fly. Even though he knew she'd changed, that she was Buffy's Mistress and a pretty bad-ass witch; this was the first time he'd seen her really do anything. He sat down with an explosive exhalation, followed by a little smirk as he thought, "Anything involving dead-boy getting his ass kicked can't be all bad!"

Gunn turned to Wesley with an extremely startled look on his face, his eyes almost bugging out comically. "You hope *she's* ok?"

The former watcher glanced over at his friend and co-worker and explained, "Yes, well… he did seem rather out-of-control…"

Gunn chuckled and said, "Man, I don't think she's the one we gotta worry about getting hurt." He turned back towards Willow and Buffy and asked, "You sure she won't kill him?"

Willow saw that there was real concern underlying Gunn's humor. "I am," she reassured him, her expression and tone conveying her comfortable certainty.

Gunn scrutinized her face, looking for any sign that she might be worried herself. All he saw was a confidence that she knew her girlfriend well enough to really be sure. He nodded once and took a seat saying, "Ok then."

Now it was his turn to received disbelieving looks from both Wesley and Cordelia. Predictably, it was Cordy who found her voice first. "'Ok then'?! Whaddya mean 'Ok then'?!"

Gunn leaned back, putting his hands behind his head and stretching out his feet. "Anyone who poaches on someone else's girl is just begging for an ass-whupin. So long as she don't kill him, I figure he's got it coming.

Tara watched as the arcs of power ran over his body, causing his paralyzed muscles to twitch as they passed, making him look almost like he was having a seizure. The only thing keeping him from screaming in agony, she knew, was the fact that his diaphragm wasn't working any more than any other muscle in his body right now. Knowing that he could see her still, she managed to keep her face utterly impassive, though inside she almost felt sorry for him. "He did bring it on himself, though," she reminded herself.

"Did you notice her eyes, Angel?" she asked. "She's happy. For the first time since I've met her, she's actually happy. Did you ever see that look in her eyes before? I doubt it." Tara stood up and began to pace next to the vampire as she spoke. "She told me about her time with you, Angel. How she loved you, even though she knew it was wrong." She shook her head sadly, saying, "You were wrong to ever encourage her, you know. It was doomed to end badly from the start- a vampire and a vampire Slayer?"

Tara stopped pacing and stared down at his face. "Willow told me how it really was. How Buffy was miserable from the start. You made her love you, then you turned evil and made her kill you." She crouched down till her hair was almost brushing his face while she continued to chastise him, "Then you came back from hell and made her love you all over again, even though you knew it was the worst thing you could have done! Your selfishness brought her nothing but pain and misery until you finally decided to leave her. Of course, you waited until just before the prom so it would be that much more painful, so she couldn't even have the illusion of happiness."

Angel was suffering agony like he hadn't known since his two centuries in hell. Worse even than that, because the physical torment was almost overwhelmed by the agony the witch's words were burning into his soul.

"Even then, you couldn't stay away," Tara said, continuing her speech. "You popped up just often enough to remind her of the pain, tearing open the wounds that had been healing and then leaving again, never letting her completely recover from you."

The demon Angelus was cowering in terror from this fearsome witch. Never in his quarter-millennia of existence- including the time Angel was in hell- had Angelus endured pain like this. Had he been able, he'd have driven a stake through his own heart in order to escape this suffering. The soul of Angel, on the other hand, almost welcomed it. He deserved to be punished for his actions and for his jealousy, and consequently he was grateful for this torture.

"Buffy belongs to me. I make her happy; I meet her needs and satisfy her desires- something you could never do." Tara waved her hand over the vampire and spoke the phrase that suspended the spell. "Now then, can you acknowledge my dominance and behave yourself, or do you need some more… convincing?"

As the pain left his body, his soul caused his body to weep in sorrow for the pain he had caused Buffy as a result of his selfishness and jealousy. He really did love her and want the best for her, he was just too weak to keep himself from giving in to his desire to be with her. He was, therefore, truly grateful for Tara's punishment, because it would give him the strength to do the right thing, which was to leave Buffy the hell alone.

The demon in him just latched on to the command- after all, fear and pain were the only things a demon respected.

She had been referring to him acknowledging her dominance of Buffy, which is why she was surprised by his response.

Angel ignored his muscles' scream of protest as he rolled over onto his knees and bowed before her till his forehead was resting on the carpet. "I will behave," he croaked. "Anything you command… Mistress."

There was a hush over the room as the door to the office opened up and Tara walked out. Everyone but Willow and Buffy felt the urge to jump up and run to the door- they all wanted to see what condition Angel was in, though they had different reasons why. The A.I. gang were concerned- even Gunn, who thought the guy probably got what he deserved, was a little worried. Xander, of course, was leaning more toward wanting to see a beaten and bruised vamp huddled on the floor. "Who says I've got dead-boy issues?" he thought ruefully as he restrained himself.

Tara did her best to ignore the others, and her whirling emotions from what had just happened. She focused on Buffy and how to handle her pet's transgression. As she approached, she noticed the look of love and pride in Willow's eyes and gave the redhead a warm smile. Deciding that wasn't enough, she bent over and gave her lovely girl a sweet kiss.

"I'm so proud of you, Tara!" Willow whispered with deep emotion as she looked into her lover's eyes following the kiss.

Tara had to struggle to maintain her composure as the love and joy in her threatened to spill over into tears. "Love you Willow!" she whispered back. Standing straight again, Tara said "Why don't you set up for the call with Giles?" Looking back down at her kneeling pet she added, "We'll be back in a little while."

Willow nodded, somewhat disappointed that she wasn't invited to come along, but she realized that it wouldn't really be appropriate to witness Mistress Buffy's punishment. This wasn't play time, it was more serious than that, and they needed the privacy to put this issue behind them. She didn't begrudge them that, knowing that if she were to screw up as bad as Buffy did; she wouldn't really want Tara watching her punishment either.

"Ok, I'll get it set up," Willow said as she jumped up and started to rummage in her bag for everything she needed.

Tara nodded absently and focused her attention on Buffy. "Get up, pet," she said- her voice neither angry, nor happy, but clearly commanding.

"Yes Mistress," Buffy said quietly as she rose to her feet with lithe grace, maintaining her submissive posture and her hold on the paddle.

Again Buffy gave her quiet reply, "Yes Mistress." Her body was trembling and silent tears ran down her face as she contemplated her punishment. It wasn't fear of the punishment that had her quietly weeping, but rather the sorrow that filled her heart because she had let down her Mistress. She was angry with herself for her behavior, and for not even thinking of anyone but herself and Angel when they started arguing. It didn't even occur to her that she was falling into old patterns with the souled vamp, and she didn't consider how it could hurt Mistress Tara.

Wesley was the first to break after Tara and Buffy disappeared up the stairs. He jumped up and headed toward the office saying, "Well, I for one…"

He only made it two steps before Angel walked out of the office, looking none the worse for wear.

"Angel! Uh, are you…" Wesley began, startled to see him, not certain what he expected to find in the first place.

Gunn relaxed back into the couch. Though he had more self control than Wesley, apparently, he had been hard pressed to restrain his curiosity, and was about to follow the former watcher to the office. "You don't look too beat up," he said with a smile.

Before anyone else could comment, Angel spoke up. "I'd like to apologize to everyone for my behavior. It was unacceptable, and I'm sorry you all had to see it." It was a good thing that he couldn't blush, because the climbing eyebrows on everyone's face but Willow's were embarrassing him fiercely. He continued, "I'd like to just forget it ever happened and move on."

Surprisingly, it was Willow who was the first to agree to that. "Ok," she said in her chirpy/happy voice. "I'm gonna set up the laptop so we can video conference with Giles in about twenty minutes. Where should I hook in?"

Incredulous expressions and stupefied looks were traded amongst the other four as Angel was quick to assist Willow. "There's a broad-something hookup in Wes's office," he offered helpfully.

"Broadband?" Willow asked happily. Turning to Wesley for confirmation she asked, "DSL, Cable, or Satellite?"

Wesley was still trying to coordinate his body's intention to stride quickly into the office, with his brain's instructions to sit back down. As a result, his voice drivers- never the best in the first place- were unable to get enough processing time to function adequately. "Um, ah… that is to say…"

Cordelia jumped in, annoyed with Wesley's stuttering. "It's Verizon DSL." Getting up and herding Willow into the office, she continued, "We just got it, and boy was it a bitch to set up. Wasn't easy squeezing the money out of a certain tight-fisted vampire, either, let me tell you."

Willow laughed as she and Cordelia went about hooking her laptop into the Ethernet gateway. "And you spend how much time surfing the net now that you have it?" she asked the brunette.

"Oh my God! You wouldn't believe how fast you can download a high-res scan of Brad Pitt with this thing," Cordelia's voice trailed off as she and Willow started chatting back and forth like the High School buddies they never really were.

Tara took the paddle from Buffy when they got to the room. She noticed, but refrained from commenting on Buffy's tears; keeping an even voice as she commanded her pet to strip and get up on the bed.

"Kneel facing the headboard, pet. Now lay your face down on the bed and put your hands behind your back."

Buffy complied, gripping her left wrist in her right hand in order to hold the awkward position.

"Keep your knees together, pet," Tara instructed. "I'm not interested in what's between your legs right now."

"This is about punishment, pet; not sex." Tara explained. "This isn't foreplay, and you won't be allowed to cum at all. Neither will you be allowed to service me; is that clear pet?"

"Yes Mistress," Buffy said, not quite able to restrain the sob this time. That she wouldn't be allowed to cum was no less than what she deserved, but not to be allowed to service Mistress Tara was a greater punishment, and it illustrated how badly she had messed up- that Mistress would forgo her own pleasure to make the point.

"And, I'm not going to restrain you, pet, but I expect you to maintain this position until I tell you otherwise, do you understand?" Tara asked.

"Yes Mistress, I won't break position until you allow it," Buffy said, vowing to herself that she would hold this pose even if it took a hundred lashes for her punishment to be complete.

"I'm so sorry Mistress!" Buffy almost wailed, having been given leave say it at last. "Please, I'll do anything to make it up to you Mistress!"

By the time she finished, Tara had broken a sweat. It was only twenty five swats, but she had put everything she had in to each one. Buffy's tearful 'thank you Mistress' after each one tugged at her heart. She knew Buffy hadn't meant to do what she did, but the girl had to learn that she was Tara's alone.

That might seem like a terribly possessive thing on her part, but it was for Buffy's good as much as anything. Her residual feelings of obligation to Angel had brought her nothing but pain for years. This 'clipping of the strings' was what her pet needed in order to finally realize that Angel didn't have even the slightest claim to any part of Buffy Summers.

In addition, Tara knew that Buffy wouldn't be able to forgive herself for her actions unless she was well and truly punished. Now Tara would be able to say, 'I forgive you' and Buffy would believe it. They could put this behind them and move on now- working with Angel and his crew without the angst and tension that would have otherwise infected the Slayer.

Tara climbed up onto the bed and sat up against the headboard after setting the paddle aside. She looked at her trembling pet with both happiness and sorrow in her heart. She was proud of her pet for keeping her position, despite the awkwardness of it. She felt her pet's pain; not just the physical pain which would be gone within the hour, but the emotional pain that she knew Buffy was feeling for her failure and for her Mistress' displeasure. Tara could feel tears welling up in her eyes as she watched her pet's body quiver as she attempted to contain her sobs. She held out her arms as if to a child and gently said, "Come here, pet."

Buffy slowly dropped her arms to her sides, ignoring the ache in her shoulders, and rose to her hands and knees. She kept her eyes down as she crawled up the bed and into her Mistress' arms. Once there, wrapped in the arms of her lover and Mistress, Buffy buried her face in Tara's neck and gave in to the sobs that she'd been holding back. "Mistre- e- esssss!" she cried out haltingly. "I'm so so- o- ryyyy!"

Tara was glad Buffy wasn't looking her in the face at that moment, because her own composure fractured upon hearing the profundity of her pet's anguish. Her lower lip quivered uncontrollably and tears began to roll down her face as she stroked her pet's hair and back, avoiding the hot red flesh of her bottom. "Shh, it's over now pet," she whispered over and over, calming the girl down.

After several minutes, Buffy's sobs had subsided and Tara said, "Look at me pet."

Buffy pushed away, embarrassed to see the huge wet spot on Tara's shirt from her tears. She forced herself to meet her Mistress' gaze, grateful to see no anger there.

Tara looked at her pet's tearstained face and eyes- red and puffy from crying- and was struck by the thought that she was beautiful even like this. She cupped her pet's cheek and wiped at the tears with her thumb. "Pet, I'm so proud of you!"

Buffy was expecting anything but that. She didn't give in to the impulse to question her Mistress, but her confusion was clearly written on her face.

Tara smiled at Buffy's perplexed look. "You made a mistake, pet. I know you realize that," she explained.

Tara continued, "But, you took your punishment wonderfully. And, I don't think you'll make that mistake again."

Buffy couldn't restrain herself and blurted out, "Never Mistress!" shaking her head at the thought.

"So, it's over then, pet; we can put that behind us now." Then she looked Buffy deep in her eyes, slowly and deliberately saying, "I forgive you."

Buffy's mouth twitched, gradually changing from her sad frown to a broad smile as she looked back into her Mistress' eyes and saw the sincerity and deep emotion there. "I love you Mistress!" she whispered. "I love you so much!"

Tara pulled her pet in for a gentle, loving kiss and then whispered, "I love you too, pet. With all my heart!" Pushing her away slightly she spoke up, "Now, go wash your face while I change into something less damp."

Though she knew Tara was only teasing her, Buffy was instantly solicitous, "I'm sorry about that Mistress." She scooted back and assumed her position; kneeling, eyes down, hands behind her back. "May your pet be allowed to make amends for staining you shirt, Mistress?" she said.

Tara froze for a moment, surprised by her pet's behavior only long enough to realize what her motivation was. She had thought for an instant that Buffy didn't understand that she was only teasing- that maybe her pet was overreacting and questioning all of her actions now. It didn't take long to realize, however, that the minx had understood her just fine… this was a thinly veiled attempt at seduction.

Buffy waited patiently, telling herself to accept whatever Mistress said and not read anything into it if she said no.

A slow smile stole across Tara's features and she knew she was lost. "How anyone could look at what I'm looking at and not give in…" she thought, in what was a rather pathetic attempt at rationalization. "What did you have in mind, pet" she asked in a sultry voice.

Buffy felt a shiver of desire run through her body at Mistress' tone. "Well," she began- her own voice as seductive as she could make it, "First, I should get you out of those damp clothes…"

"Mmhmm…" Tara hummed as she felt her own arousal stealing across her skin and through her flesh.

Emboldened by Tara's approval, Buffy broke position and reached out to begin unbuttoning Tara's shirt. "Well, then I should find any damp areas and… clean them up…" she whispered.

"Oh, yessss." Tara hissed as Buffy's hands moved across her skin, opening her shirt up and sliding it down off her shoulders. "Such a good pet…"

Having removed her shirt, Buffy could see the barest hint of wetness on Mistress' neck and down over her breastbone where the tears had soaked through her shirt. She carefully laved the skin in that area with her tongue, tasting the salt of her own tears mixed with the dried sweat on Tara's skin. The smell of her Mistress' skin was intoxicating- her workout from wielding the paddle had caused her scent to blossom.

Tara hummed her approval as she felt her pet's careful tongue against her skin. She shuddered when she felt a gentle stream of breath blowing against the area right after.

Buffy's warm cheek against the air-cooled skin caused Tara to virtually purr with pleasure.

While she was rubbing her face against her Mistress, Buffy reached around and opened her bra. When she pulled away she brought the bra with her, freeing her Mistress' full breasts from their fabric confinement. She looked at them while she set the bra aside and then looked up into her Mistress' eyes, saying, "They don't look wet, but I'd better check…"

Tara hummed even louder as her pet began to gently stroke and fondle her breasts, covering every inch of their soft skin with fingers and palms, squeezing only gently.

Buffy rubbed her face all over Tara's generous bosom, plucking lightly at the stiff nipples with just her lips as she passed by, eliciting the barest whimper from her Mistress. "Nope, all dry." Buffy said with an impish smile.

Tara felt the moisture inside her begin to bubble over and run out into her panties as her pet stroked the soft flesh of her belly with her cheeks, nose and lips, keeping up the pretense of looking for any areas that might have gotten wet.

Even through the denim, Buffy could smell her Mistress' arousal when she reached to unbutton her jeans. She pulled both the pants and panties off at once, and then pushed apart her Mistress' legs, moving her body between them. She took one look at the damp curls and saturated lips of her Mistress' beautiful pussy and said, "Oh! Mistress, you're all wet and sticky down here." She looked up to meet the blond witch's gaze and softly asked, "Did I do all this?"

Buffy played at chagrin, and said, "Well then, I'd better get to work cleaning this up!" With that, she began to suckle and lick her Mistress pussy, beginning with the outer lips, cleaning up any trace of the witch's savory juices before moving inward.

Tara began to writhe and moan as her pet drove her insane. She especially loved the way Buffy would delve her tongue between the inner and outer lips, pressing and tracing that crease, then sucking the labia into her mouth and pulling it away from her body. Buffy seemed to have developed a love for playing with her Mistress pussy, not bothering to rush her towards orgasm, but just exploring every nook and cranny with her dexterous lips and tongue.

Buffy was content to play until she heard her Mistress growl, "Now pet!" She then began to focus her attention on Mistress' clit, circling and pressing against it, then sucking it into her mouth and stroking it with her tongue. It didn't take much of this before her Mistress was arching up off the bed and crying out her release.

Tara shuddered through the aftershocks of a lovely orgasm, hearing her pet noisily sucking up every drop of her passion. Where once she would have been embarrassed by that, she took great delight in it now. She grabbed her pet by the hair and pulled her up for a deep, ardent kiss- loving the taste of herself in her pet's mouth.

By the time her Mistress had finished plundering her mouth, Buffy found herself on her back, with Mistress laid fully upon her. She looked up into those deep blue eyes and quietly said, "All dry now, Mistress!"

Tara broke into laughter and rolled off her pet and onto her back. "Goddess; what you do to me, Buffy!" She ran her hands through her hair and said, "Ok, lets get cleaned up and go back downstairs. It's probably about time for Giles call."

Buffy chuckled herself. Though she was buzzing with arousal, she didn't say anything about it, knowing that Tara wasn't going to allow her to scratch that itch anytime soon. It was part of her atonement, and she was ok with that, but she knew it meant she was going to be somewhat distracted for a while.

Tara laughed, saying, "Well… you're going to have a hard time believing this, but…"

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Triune

by The Bear

Copyright © 2003

TheBear@papa-bear.com