Chapter 17: Preparations
I've been waiting for a long time
For this moment to come
I'm destined for anything at all
Green Day, “Waiting”
NEXT DAY – MONDAY - ZURICH – 11:15 AM GMT+1 [5:15AM EDT]
BUFFY’S POV
I usually take the train to Kristin’s but this morning I plopped my jet-lagged ass into a taxi. “Steinwiesstrasse 28-30, bitte,” I tell the driver when he looks at me though the rearview mirror.
“Ja Fräulein,” he sets the meter as he pulls away from the curb.
Deciding to exhaust my German, I reply, “Danke,” as I lean my head back and close my eyes. A half hour power nap will do me just fine. I hate over night flights; I never really sleep on the plane... does anyone really sleep on the plane?
After 10 minutes, I realize sleep won’t come so I think about Kristen and how these 11 years have past so quickly. She’s gone from one of the girls in my files to my only help in keeping these girls relatively sane. Hopefully, Willow’s reworking of the spell will ease the trauma some of them go through. Dawn said there are a couple of Slayers in school right now working on their Psych degrees, so we’ll soon have more hands on deck to spread the workload. It’s a few years off, but still something to look forward to. Although it will be hard on Kris if she has to wait it out alone... exhaling loudly, I shake my head and look out the window.
I promised Faith, I wasn’t going to think like that. Hell, I think I promised myself not to dwell on the ‘what ifs’. We did need to think of every scenario, to prepare for every possibility, including the one where only Nicky makes it back. No matter what Martin said, we needed to have something in place legally for her. For a number of reasons Dawn and Andrew were our choice when we named guardians in the event of our deaths. They accepted the responsibility readily and solemnly; both knowing its importance, neither wanting to see the request come to fruition.
“Your journey is over now, Fräulein,” the taxi driver is staring at me through the rearview mirror.
Looking up, I meet his eyes and take in his smooth Aryan features: piercing blue eyes, blonde hair, high cheek bones. Although probably in his mid-sixties, he is still quite a handsome man. There is something vaguely familiar about him. “Do I know you?”
“We have not met,” he shakes his head, “But I have watched for you with the PtB.”
My eyes fly open as I look around: we’re parked in front of Kristen’s home/office; the engine is turned off; and both of his hands are on the steering wheel. Obviously, he’s trying to be a non-threatening as possible. I regard him slowly as he smiles.
“I mean you no harm; I only want to thank you for all you’ve done.” He looks down to his lap, “My Irene was a potential and went to Sunnydale to find you. She was so inspired by you and your spirit.” He catches my gaze again through the mirror, “When she phoned me the morning before you defeated the First, she was so excited to fight by your side. We were so proud of her.”
Leaning closer to him, I remember her and that she never made it out of the school. I gently lay my hand on his shoulder, “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect her.”
“Ah but everyone dies; there is no stopping death. We can only hope to help as many as we can along the way.” He takes a hand from the steering wheel and rests it on top of mine, “I’m honored to have met you Dr. Summers. The PtB allowed me this privilege as thanks for my service to them through the years.” He pats my hand then turns away, letting me know our conversation is over.
As I get out of the taxi I turn to him and softly say, “Thank you.”
“May the Gods bless you and keep you safe, Herr Doktor,” he chokes down his rising emotions then drives away.
Slinging my duffle bag over my shoulder, I stand a little taller as I wonder how many lives we touch, have touched, will touch and never realize it. I’ve always known what we do is important, hello; we saved the world a lot. But speaking with him just now, he gave me just the lift I needed. I laugh, damn PtB, they get me every time. After I watch his taxi disappear down the street, I turn and walk up the steps to Kristen’s.
SOPHIA’S APARTMENT – 9:24 AM
EMMA’S POV
The first thing I realize as I slip into consciousness is Sophia’s hand fanned out on the small of my back, slowly gliding back and forth, her fingertips just barely touching my skin. The second thing I realize is I’m laying face down, half on top of her, one arm resting on her shoulder, the other wrapped under her pillow. Nuzzling into her neck I murmur, “Mmmm, I like waking up like this.”
“Yeah?” Her other hand joins the first slipping under the back of my shirt and wrapping around me, “me too.”
Raising my face to hers, we share a short ‘good morning’ kiss. It’s not short because we necessarily want it to be, but if we’re going to take this slow, short is all either of us can handle. Especially now, lying so close, feeling those tingles run through me... I pull away and snuggle back into her neck, “Can we just stay like this until I have to go?”
“Fine by me,” I feel her smile as she pulls me closer.
My hand traces her collarbone and I marvel again at how soft her skin is. She sighs contentedly then closes her eyes as I slide my fingers into her hair. Watching her, I realize, I want her; I want this... us... a lot... so much more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I really don’t know how I’m going to be able to deal without her when I’m back home, surround by all this prophecy shit. Her constant company and continuous touch completely soothes me, makes everything so much easier to handle. It’s like I finally understand them so much better now: Buffy & Faith, Will & Ken, Dawn & Andrew; the importance of having a partner to help you through when you think you can’t make it alone. I just hope to the gods she wants this too.
Leaning back a bit, I take a deep breath and look up at her, “Will you come to Cleveland when it’s time?”
“Of course I will, nothing could keep me away,” she hugs me tightly then returns her hands to the small of my back to work their magic, “It’s going to be soon, no?”
Nodding against her shoulder I whisper, “Yeah,” as I lean further into her, “Faith completely blocked me out last night so I know something went down. They don’t want to bother us; I could feel it when I spoke to them on Saturday.”
“They love you very much, Em,” she brushes her lips against my forehead, “They’ve felt you were their daughter from the second Faith taught you how to cloak other people’s thoughts and the three of you got all caught up in each other’s minds.” She laughs, “Hell, probably even before that.”
Propping my head up on my hand I narrow my eyes at her, “How do you even know about that?”
“Do you forget Dawn’s been my best friend since we were 16 years old?” Sophia looks at me and smiles, “I knew everything about you months before we met.” Her hand stops its movement on my back as she stares up at the ceiling, “Oh my God...”
“What?” I take in her ashen face.
“You were 5 when we were in Sunnydale...”
Leaning over her, I turn her face to mine, “Does it matter?” She blinks then takes a breath to answer but I lean down and kiss her softly. Once I feel her respond I pull back and watch as she opens her eyes. Resting my head on my hand again, I search her eyes, “I mean does it really matter?”
Her eyes hold mine for a moment; I realize I’m not breathing... then she smiles and that hand picks its motion back up again, “I guess it really doesn’t matter. But I’m warning you, there will be teasing.”
Relieved by her answer, I rub my hand over her stomach and smile back, “So what else did Dawn tell you?”
“Pretty much everything, at first she was concerned about the meds you were on and wanted to be sure taking you off ‘cold turkey’ was going to be ok. I told her I had already spoken to Buffy about how to do it in stages.” She looks at me then smiles, “Then as time went on, she’d tell me little things that you’d do, or say, I don’t know, like I said, I felt like I knew you before I met you.” She stares back up at the ceiling for a moment, remembering, “She was mostly just glad you and Faith made Buffy so happy. It had been a long time since Buffy had anyone in her life. Then you and Faith showed up on the same day... it was like it was meant to be, you know?”
Nodding, I lean my head back on her shoulder, “I think it just might have been.”
“You know, you’re probably right.” She takes me in her arms and kisses my forehead.
We each lose ourselves in our own thoughts for a moment until I laugh, “I was so intimidated by you that day. When you came into triage and asked if I tried to heal Willow, damn, I couldn’t even speak you had me so scared. Then when it was just us, Andrew and Dawn in their office giving them the rundown of what happened. Yeah, you looked like you had me under a microscope.”
“You had just fought with a handful of ancient Gods and you were intimidated by me?” She laughs heartily, “And you omitted most of what happened that day.” She shakes her head, “Dawn was so pissed off at you when she found out what you and Faith did and how you guys didn’t tell anyone for weeks.”
I smile as I nod, “Yeah, I know, everyone was, but Faith wasn’t ready to talk to Buffy about it.”
“Did you ever think that maybe you might have needed to talk about it?” She trails a hand down my face, taking in my confusion she shakes her head at me, “Babe, you were only 15, it was a lot to handle.”
Finally understanding, I bite my lip, “I was ok.” She raises an eyebrow. “Ok, so I knew it was going to be years off, and I didn’t want to think about it for a while.” Furrowing my brow, I can’t help but let a huge grin spread on my face, “You were worried about me?”
“Hell yeah, we all were. Why do you think I made you my triage assistant and asked you to help me with Willow while she was recovering? I saw how you healed her; I knew I had a budding doctor on my hands.” She smiles then traces my lips with her finger, “I also wanted to give you someone else to talk to since the others had their own things to work out. You needed a friend, Em.”
Burying my face in her neck, I groan, “God what did I do to deserve you?” I trail light kisses up her throat to her ear, stopping only when I feel her breath hitch, “You have no idea how much I’m going to miss you.”
“Oh, I think I have an idea,” she muses as she pulls me closer.
DAWN & ANDREW’S OFFICE – 3:52 PM
WILLOW’S POV
We watch as Dawn flicks on the speakerphone then dials. Picking up on the second ring, we hear, “Hey Dawn.”
“Hey cradle robber, how’s it going?” Ken makes out before she busts out laughing.
Sophia laughs with her, “And so it begins…”
“Come on, you didn’t think you were going to get off without some good natured ribbing, did you?” Andrew joins in, “Oh wait, ‘get off’ ha ha that was a good one.” He and Ken are having hysterics as they give each other high fives.
She laughs again, I swear I can see her rolling her eyes, “I guess not. So Dawn, Willow you two part of this prank call too?”
“NO,” Dawn shakes her head and laughs, “These fools just can’t help themselves.”
“I’m with Dawn, we actually called for a reason,” I add. “But first, how’s Em?”
We hear her exhale then pause a beat. Dawn and I exchange a pensive glace. “She’s ok, better than when she got here on Friday night, that’s for sure.” She pauses again, “She knows something went on over there over the weekend, she said Faith’s been blocking her. So whatever you guys have been scheming, she knows something’s up, so it’s not going to blind side her.” Sighing, she continues, “She should be home around 5:30; her flight gets in a little after 5:00.”
“Well, you just answered question number two,” I look around then take a breath, “Sophia, the reason we’re calling is because we’re going to need you here when they go to Nibiru, so can you - ”
“Will, stop,” she cuts me off, “Em and I talked about it this morning. She’s going to call me as soon as she knows when it’s time. Tomorrow when I go in I’ll start clearing my plate.”
Shaking my head I muse, “Well, since you have all that down, you have time to hear what we came up with on Richard this morning?”
“Hell yeah!” She says, it sounds like not only Faith wants a piece of him.
Andrew sits back behind his desks and punches up the account on his screen. Leaning back he begins, “Well, first of all, him and Eva, the Wicca from his town, hooked up with a branch of the Druid order in Glastonbury and - ”
“Get out,” Faith interrupts as she walks in with Nicky, “like Mists of Avalon Glastonbury?”
He narrows his eyes at her, hating to be interrupted, then winks, “Exactly like Mists of Avalon Glastonbury.” He smiles widely as he continues, “During Arthur’s time in the 11th Century, there was a struggle between the Pagans and the Christians, but they co-existed. By the time the 15th century rolled around, the Druids were mostly being persecuted and summarily killed along with other pagans as Christianity had quickly grown from a religion into a literal ‘witch hunt’ where the power and influence of the Church ruled more so than Kings and Queens of nations. Although it was called the ‘Renaissance’ some aspects were strictly barbaric.”
“Wow!” Nicky is enthralled, “That really happened?”
Faith sits down next to me, “Yeah, Nick, it really happened. With all the evil we fight, we’re sometimes our own worst enemies.”
Looking at Faith, I see how resigned she is right now. It amazes me sometimes that she’s the same force of nature that blew through Sunnydale like a tornado. I smile as I see her hug Nicky when the little one crawls up on her lap, completely fascinated by Andrew’s tales of English history.
As if feeling my gaze on her, Faith turns to me and furrows her brow as she cocks her head to the side as if to say “what’s up.” Shaking my head, I smile at her again and see all she’s become: friend, wife, parent, teacher, protector. Then I look up at Andrew and hope I haven’t missed too much.
“So from Ian’s last diary that Vi sent over yesterday, we learned of how Eva took Richard to Glastonbury to a secret sect of the Druids who still practiced on the shores of the Isle of Avalon, the fabled gateway to Underworld. The Druids were at first skeptical of Richard and how he claimed to be an immortal creature. He proved his true nature by snatching a youngster of the clan and draining him in front of the elders. Needless to say that got their attention. So when Cathbad, the chief druid in the court of Conchobar mac Nessa in the Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology - ”
Dawn slams her hand down on her desk making everyone jump, “ANDREW! Hello, a point soon, or anything resembling one would be nice.”
“Sorry babe,” he laughs at himself, “you know how I get.”
She rolls her eyes, “Yeah, that’s why I had to stop the madness.”
“Ok,” he continues, “to make a VERY long story short, the Druids watched as the Church destroyed their faith, their followers and their land. They had heard the Anunnaki created a race of nightwalkers to aid them on Earth. So they sent Richard and Eva to the Gods, the diary doesn’t say how, but we presume it was a dimensional jump.”
“Question?” it was Sophia.
“Yes?” Andrew is having far too much fun.
She sighs, collecting her thoughts, “Why would the Druids help the Anunnaki destroy the planet. They would die too, no?”
“You would have to understand the nature of the Druids, their instruction was secret, and was carried on in caves and forests. Certain groves within forests were sacred, and the Romans and Christians alike cut them down and burned the wood. They felt there would be no forest left soon, so the Earth would perish regardless. Helping the Anunnaki was purely a form of revenge against the Christians.”
“Got it, makes sense actually,” Sophia muses.
Nicky sits up straighter, “Hi Sophia!”
“Hi Nicky,” Sophia softens her voice as she answers, “How are you?”
Grinning now, “Good, is Emma there?”
“No,” she laughs, “she’s on her way back, she’ll be home soon.”
Nodding, Nicky gushes, “Ok, cool, I’m making her dinner.”
“She’ll like that a lot sweetie,” Sophia says it in such a way that Nicky knows not to continue, “Sorry Andrew, go ahead.”
Andrew looks around for more questions. Seeing none, he continues, “So when they returned, Richard visited his pastor friend and relayed this story as well as how he would lead an army to “bring darkness to the light.”
“Fuck, it’s about Emma,” Faith shakes her head.
Andrew nods, “That’s what we were thinking, it goes back to what Ereshkigal said years ago, ‘the girl who could someday bring a great light to a great darkness.’”
“I think this is getting a little over my head. Is it ok if I start chopping the veggies for dinner?” Nicky slides of Faith lap.
Andrew smiles at his protégé, “Of course baby, you get started; I’ll be in to help in a bit.”
Nicky whips around to Faith, “Why is it that everyone else gets yelled at when they curse, but when you do it, it’s ok?”
“It’s not ok,” I narrow my eyes at Faith who is now hanging her head.
Andrew pipes up, “But Faith can kick our butts so we don’t yell at her.”
“That doesn’t seem very fair,” Nicky looks around at everyone then turns to Faith again, “Everyone should follow the same rules.
Faith nods, “Yeah, everyone should, but one of life’s lessons is that everyone doesn’t.”
We all watch Nicky leave then I turn to Andrew, “You’re telling us this has been in the works for over 5 centuries?”
“Probably longer,” he shakes his head, “Ereshkigal said everything that has and will happen to Emma has been foretold. Even though this prophecy is about all of you, it seems like it’s all going back to Em. That’s why Richard’s interest in her goes beyond anyone else.”
Faith is staring out the window as Dawn and Andrew both have their heads bowed. I take a breath, “Well, if she was destined to do this, she will. It’s up to us to prepare her as best we can. Andrew, make sure that creation of yours works.” He nods at me.
“I’ll tell her about it tonight after dinner,” Faith’s voice is resigned.
Looking over to Andrew and Dawn, I get up, “I’m going to work out a couple of spells I was researching, touch base later, ok?” I lean over the phone, “Talk to you tomorrow Sophia.”
“Sure thing, later guys,” man Sophia sounds pretty deflated too.
Faith looks up, “Hey, Sophia?”
“Yeah Faith?” she answers.
The dark Slayer sighs then asks hopefully, “Did you guys have a good weekend?”
“Yeah,” she breathes out “we really did.”
Faith nods, as a sad smile comes to her lips, “Good.”
KITCHEN – 5:35 PM
NICKY’S POV
Ok, the skirt steaks and Portobello mushrooms are marinating, the biggest salad ever created is washed, chopped and in the huge salad bowl; what am I forgetting? Right, idiot, desert! Going to the fridge, I take out a watermelon, cantaloupe and honey dew. Grabbing a fresh cutting board I start to cut up the fruit salad. Andy and I worked out the menu yesterday then he took me shopping this morning. I want to make a special dinner for Emma AND I want to do it all by myself.
I’m almost finished when Dawn and Andy come in still talking about those Druids, “All we know about them is really from Roman texts and some older church writings, both suspect to interpretation by the way,” Andy scoffs, “They only kept oral records,” he shakes his head, “what a loss.”
“Wow!” Dawn looks around the kitchen, “Everything’s done.”
Smiling, I nod, “Yup, just finishing up,” so yeah, I’m proud of myself. I’m about to tell them they have to do the whole wine picking thing when I feel Em come in the front door. Dropping the knife on the cutting board, I call over my shoulder as I race from the room, “Andy, finish for me please?”
Tearing out of the kitchen and down the hallway, I jump into Emma’s arms before she even has a chance to put her backpack down. “I missed you so much,” I smile as she hugs me back just as hard.
“I missed you too kiddo,” she puts me down. “Come on, let me put this upstairs then you can tell me what’s been happening this weekend.”
Walking behind her as she climbs the stairs, I think about everything that’s been going on, “Well,” I start when we get into her room, “First of all Buffy is in Zurich with Kristen until Wednesday, we learned a lot more about Richard and some people called Druids and Andy made some really cool jimmy-jammy thing that they want you to take to Nibiru before we all go.” Knowing I’m forgetting something I scratch my head then it comes to me, “Oh, and Ken called Sophia a cradle robber.” I laugh, that was really funny. “They didn’t know Faith and I heard them while we were playing on Buffy’s computer.” Taking a huge breath, I watch as Emma hangs her head.
“So, a lot’s going on,” she sighs, “I had a feeling.”
Walking over to her, I take her hand, “Hey, don’t be sad. You looked so happy when you came home.” I tug on her hand until she looks at me. I know how to put a smile on her face, “Tell me what happened with Sophia. Is she your girlfriend now? I mean ‘cause you stayed there all weekend so you two must be pretty serious, right?” I look at her expectantly as I take her back pack and put it in the corner.
“Come here,” she says as she sits on her bed. Curious, I walk over. Once in front of her she scoops me up into a gigantic hug. “You’re too much, you know that?”
Leaning back, I look at her confused, “Why?”
“Why?” she ruffles my hair. “‘cause you just are.”
I narrow my eyes at her, “That’s not a real answer.”
“I know,” getting up she puts a hand on my shoulder, “Let’s go play some foosball.”
BACK DECK – 10:27 PM
FAITH’S POV
“Dinner was great,” Em laughs, “I can’t believe Nicky did it all herself.”
Nodding, “Yeah, she was psyched to make you a special coming home meal.” Dinner was great; Nicky was so excited Em was back. She totally crashed about a half hour ago, right on Em’s lap in the living room. Once Em came downstairs from putting her to bed, we came out here to talk about Nibiru and everything we learned over the weekend.
“It’s all going to happen real fast after tomorrow,” she sips some of Richard’s Brandy.
Taking my own sip, I nod, “Yeah, I know. Buffy and I want to talk to you and Nicky Wednesday night when she gets back.”
“About not coming back, right?” she looks up at me.
Silently I nod again, “We just want to go over a couple of things. You know, just in case.”
“Right, just in case,” she knocks back the rest of her glass.
Lifting the bottle, I raise my eyebrows to her. She nods and I refill our glasses. “So,” I start, “how’d your weekend go?”
“Really good,” she swirls her glass and takes another sip, “I actually felt like a normal person for a little while.” She puts her feet up on the railing then leans back in her chair, “I’m scared Faith.”
Turning to her, I sigh “Everything in general or something in particular?”
“Of how much I need her,” she leans her head back and stares up into the night, “I’ve never felt so completely at ease as I do when we’re together.”
I can’t help but smile, “She feels the same?”
“I don’t know, I think so,” she closes her eyes now and almost whispers, “I hope so.”
Yeah, right, I know so. Our talk is interrupted when my cell rings, it’s Buffy. I flip open the phone, “Hey babe, it’s wicked early by you, no?”
“It’s the 5:00am I miss you desperately call.” God, the sound of her voice goes right though me. It’s only been a day, shit, not even 24 hours. But damn, I miss her. She purrs into the phone, “Whatcha up to?”
Mirroring Emma’s move, I rest my feet on the railing as well. “Emma and I are hanging in the back, drinking Richard’s brandy, bullshitting.”
“Sounds like fun,” she laughs “How is she? How’d the weekend go?”
Looking over at Em, I see her eyes are still closed, “Good and good, I think our girl’s finally fallen in love,” I grin as Emma whips her head around to me.
“Faith...” she sounds a tad exasperated.
Laughing a bit, I hand Emma the phone, “Here, talk to B.”
“Hey Buffy, how’s Kristen?” she sips her glass as she listens. “Yeah, she’ll be here.” pause “I guess we’ll probably know when after I get back tomorrow.” pause “Yeah, I know, ok I will. I will, really, I promise.” Buffy must be giving her the business about something, I wonder what. “I’ll see you on Wednesday night; let me give you back to Faith.” She looks at me then away as she nods, “Ok, I love you too, bye.”
Taking back the phone I tell B to hang on for a second then watch Emma as she gets up, “You ok?” I ask.
“Yeah, just going up, work then dimensions to jump tomorrow,” she nods to the phone as she smiles, “go talk to your girl.”
I nod then put the phone back to my ear as I watch her go inside, “What were you giving her a hard time for babe?”
“I just told her to be careful. Planting secret devices that will blow the planet of the Gods out of its orbit is not exactly like going to Starbucks for mochas. This is so fucking dangerous, I wish there was another way.”
Taking a deep breath, I sigh, “You know if there was, we’d do it.”
“I know, I just wish I was there,” the sadness in her voice brings my own to the surface.
Nodding, I agree, “So do I Buffy, so do I.”
SOPHIA’S APARTMENT – 11:44 PM
SOPHIA’S POV
Emma called a few minutes ago and I still can’t believe they are sending her to Nibiru. This is so incredibly dangerous. “What did Buffy say?” I ask her.
“She told me to be careful and if I get caught to find Ereshkigal.”
Hmmm, that’s a really good idea, the Goddess would protect her, “That’s really good thinking,” I nod approvingly.
“You don’t cheat death on multiple occasions and call it luck you know,” she laughs.
Knowing this might be the last time I speak to her, my voice falters, “Please be careful, Em, this prophesy, destiny, stuff surrounding you is really beginning to freak me out.”
“No worries, I’m a pro at this, ok?” she sounds like she’s trying to convince both of us.
Licking my lips, I decide to spit out what has been raging in my mind all day, “Em, I know you said I should think about what you said and, well, I really have,” I take a huge breath, “I kinda knew when you were here and I know I should have said something then, especially after the weekend we had, but I - ”
“Shhhh,” she cuts me off, “we’ll talk when I get back.”
Not wanting to be deterred, I try to continue, “But I want to tell you - ”
“Tell me when I get back,” she counters firmly, then her tone softens, “or even better, when I see you again.”
Not really understanding, “But Em - ”
“Soph,” she sighs, “I can’t explain it, but either way, I really can’t hear it right now when I have to do this thing tomorrow.”
Taking in the weariness of her voice, “Ok,” I relent, “I’ll tell you when I see you.”
“That’s my girl,” she says a bit relieved.
Smiling, as I realize what she just said I think to myself: ‘yes, exactly’.
