Buffy & the Four

NOTE : This story is set within an alternate Buffyverse. Faith has stayed with the Scooby gang and has become Buffy's secret girlfriend; Dawn is now nineteen and Willow and Tara are still together. Although a separate story, this series starts two weeks after the events of Buffy and The Exiled.

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Sitting propped up on pillows, Tara was enduring a very special form of torment. Anya was trying in her own way to cheer the injured girl up. The Vengeance demon had been sitting on the edge of the bed but was now pacing restlessly around the room, her face wrinkling in disgust at the sight of all the fluffy animals.

"What's this supposed to be?" she asked, gingerly picking up an amorphous white ball of fur.

"It's Mister Fluffyball," the witch explained, receiving sympathetic glances from Dawn, who was sat cross-legged on the bottom of the bed.

"Oh. But what is it?"

"He's just a round thing to cuddle. It feels nice, try it."

Looking like she would rather cuddle a slime demon, Anya dropped the soft toy back amongst all the others on the overcrowded chair. Seeking safer pastures, the thousand year old demon began opening drawers and rooting through them.

Dawn frowned at her, "Er... Anya that's rude. There could be private things in there that Willow and Tara don't want you to see."

"Oh, pish!" the demon said, waving the teenager's concerns aside with a sweeping hand. "What could possibly be too private for a friend to see?"

Noticing the scarlet cheeks of the heavily bandaged young witch, Dawn tried again. "You know... ah... magical stuff."

"What's this?" Anya asked, holding up a translucent pink shaft several inches long that had two little floppy protrusions on it.

Tara turned crimson. "I..I..I th..think you sh..should put it back. That's W..Willow's."

"Oh. What is it?"

"It's c..called a Rampant Rabbit."

Anya shrieked, dropped it and fled the room.

"Wow! She really is phobic about bunnies," Dawn sniggered.

Tara's tiny smile suddenly switched to a gasp of pain and she bucked wildly in the bed. The cry blasted so loudly in her mind that it blotted every other bit of consciousness from her. "TARA!!"

Willow was in great danger!

Snatching hold of Dawn's wrist, the frightened young witch hissed, "Quick, warn Buffy and Faith! Something has happened to Willow!"

Obeying, Dawn scrambled from the comfy bed and shot down the hallway.

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Xander heard Dawn pounding down the stairs, calling for her sister as she did so. He leapt from his chair and rushed to see what the matter was.

"Buffy!" Dawn called, shooting from the bottom step and dashing into the front room.

Faith sprang to her feet as the teenager, quickly followed by Xander, skidded to a halt. "What is it?"

"Tara says something bad has happened to Willow. Where's Buffy?"

Faith didn't wait to answer and dashed through into the kitchen. It was empty, but the back door was wide open. The brunette Slayer ran out onto the back decking, followed by Dawn and Xander. Buffy was sat at the picnic table chatting to Willow and they both looked surprised to see their friends appear.

"You okay?" Faith asked.

"Sure. Why wouldn't we be?" Buffy replied.

Dawn looked puzzled. "But Tara said that something bad had happened to Willow."

The Wiccan shook her head. "I'm fine, Dawnie. Tara must still be a little woozy from what the Shepherd did to her. A trauma like that will affect her mystic senses, kinda like hallucinations. She told me last night that Giles was a vampire and Xander was a troll." She shook her head sadly, "It's a shame but she will get back to normal soon, you'll see."

Anya walked out into the back garden. "What was all the shouting about? Can't a girl hide from rabbits in the bathroom... I mean, ah... er, can't a girl use the bathroom without all the noise?"

Seeing the Vengeance demon, Buffy gave a tiny nod to Willow. The witch acknowledged and called, "Anya! Can you do me a favour, please?"

"What?" asked the blonde, looking like she suddenly wished she had stayed inside.

"I need some dried foxglove that was picked at midnight to mix into an ointment for Tara's scars. You have some at the Magic Box, don't you? Could you teleport there and get it for me, please?"

The 'no' died on Anya's lips when she saw the look Xander was giving her. "Oh, very well," she sighed and disappeared in a swirl of air.

"You sure you're okay, Bee?" Faith asked, looking suspicious.

"Fine. Wanna patrol if the guys haven't come up with anything in the next half hour?"

"Why not? If lizard-breath thinks I'll fall for his tail swipe this time, he's gonna be surprised."

When the friends had all retreated back indoors, Buffy grinned at Willow, "I think it's Anya that's going to be surprised, don't you?"

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"This is working better than I expected," Ruth said, peering down at the image of Buffy and Willow in the muddy waters of the puddle. Jody and Mary were knelt on the ground beside the rippling water while Kim sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, almost silently chanting the scrying spell that was allowing the Daughters of Gaia to watch the events on Revello drive unfold.

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"Are you ready to negate her powers?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," Willow responded, not opening her eyes as she sat cross-legged on the picnic table's top. "I will bubble the area so that she cannot leave the garden. I won't be able to hold it long though, so you will have to take her down quickly."

"No problems there."

Willow smiled and turned her hands palm upward on her knees as she let her senses drift into the arcane realms. "She's here."

The air in front of Buffy swirled into a vortex and Anya appeared, holding a small jar of dried flowers. "Are these wha...?"

The Slayer's fist hit her jaw, knocking her flying across the lawn. Instantly, Willow mumbled and muttered until two orange sparks flared in her palms like candle flames. Anya hit the ground hard, the breath blasting from her body and the jar bouncing into the shrubbery. She was slipping toward unconsciousness until she let her true nature surface. In an instant, her beautiful features melted into the scarred horror of the Vengeance demon.

It was just in time for her. Buffy had followed her initial blow with a lunge forward to grapple with the stricken woman, but Anya was now far quicker and stronger than she normally was. Almost casually, she grabbed the Slayer by her blouse, planted a foot in her stomach and sent her hurtling onto the wooden deck by the kitchen door.

"What are you doing?" Anya demanded, getting to her feet. "Are you insane?"

"Relax Anyanka," Buffy whispered, rolling to a predatory crouch. "This is only going to take a moment and then you'll understand."

Like a cat, the Slayer sprang forward, her fists working in a deadly hailstorm of blows. Anya was driven backward, taking hit after hit after hit. Finally, she held her balance and backhanded Buffy so hard that the Chosen was knocked off her feet again.

"What's your problem?! I'm going to see what Xander has to say about all this!" When she summoned her magic to teleport this time, it was only sparks of light that exploded around her instead of the air swirling. "What the...!"

She looked angrily at Willow, instantly understanding, but the distraction was all Buffy needed. She barrelled into Anya hard, driving her shoulder into her stomach with enough force to lift the demon off her feet and slam her into the wall of the house.

"Ooff!"

A quick left hook, then a right cross staggered the Vengeance demon even further, and then a karate chop to the throat dropped her coughing to her knees. Buffy stepped over Anya's back and sat down as if she were attempting to ride her like a horse. Wrapping a hand under Anya's chin, the Slayer yanked backward, dragging the demon's head up as she reached around her chest with her free hand.

"Welcome to the club, Anya."

Once more, the Slayer's fingers morphed into claws dripping with the essence of Hate and she raked them across the struggling girl's chest before releasing her and dancing backward out of range.

"Look what you've done to my blouse!" shrieked the irate demon, getting to her feet. "It's ruined! Do you have any idea how much that cost?" She was far more concerned about the rips in her clothing than she was about the furrows in her flesh.

After a moment Anya swooned and clapped a hand to her scarred forehead, "Oh my. What have you done to me?" Her legs became too weak to support her and she collapsed onto her butt. Her eyes closed and her head sunk down until her chin rested upon her chest. Buffy frowned and cast a puzzled look over at Willow. The witch shrugged, slid off the table and walked over to get a closer look for herself. Both young women stared down at the unmoving form of the demoness.

"Should that happen?" Willow asked.

"Oh, that's better," Anya sighed, opening her eyes and smiling evilly up at the pair. Both girls grinned back.

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"But I heard it!" Tara insisted. "Willow called for help and then she was abruptly cut off!"

"Well, Red is fine," Faith told her, reaching over and taking some of the grapes that Dawn had bought for the injured witch and popping them into her mouth.

"I'm not making it up."

Dawn sat on the bed beside Tara and took hold of her hand. "Willow explained all about it. She told us about your hallucinations; about you thinking that Giles and Xander were monsters."

"What?"

"Last night. You had another hallucination then, just the same as you did when you thought Willow was in trouble. She's okay and is sat chatting to Buffy in the garden."

Tara looked speechless for a minute while she thought about what they were saying, and then she began to climb out of bed, still dressed only in her ankle length white nightgown. "There are two things that will prove what I am saying. One, I can tell by looking at her aura if she is okay."

"And two?" asked Xander.

"And two, do you really think if Willow was okay she would just sit outside and not come to see me if you told her I was upset and worried about her?"

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When the four of them got down stairs, Dawn with her shoulder under Tara's arm to help support her, they heard voices from the lounge. Walking in, they saw Buffy and Willow stood talking with Anya by the doorway to the back room. They stopped talking as soon as they heard the friends enter.

"Oh no!" gasped Tara as she saw the three women's auras. Each glowing outline was suffused by black tentacles that wiggled and churned in the living energy of its host. "They're possessed!"

Buffy stepped forward, "Okay, the secret's out. Come here, this won't take a second and then you'll all be like us."

"No way!" Dawn shouted. "Buffy, fight it!"

"Why should I? It feels good to serve my dark mistress."

"Anya?" Xander asked his girlfriend. She just twitched her lips into an evil little smile and narrowed her eyes. It was answer enough.

"You don't serve anyone, Bee. You're tougher than that. Kick that mojo out of yerself," Faith said, stepping a pace forward.

"Nope," her girlfriend said, matching the step forward. "Now you be good little Scoobies and do what I tell you like you always do. Come here and be turned."

"Never!" Dawn cried. "We'll fight you all the way!"

"You can't fight us, Dawnie. We're too strong."

The teenager had tears brimming in her eyes, but she still looked defiant. "Well you'll just have to catch us then because we're not giving in!"

Buffy grinned at her, "Don't be silly. There is no way you can escape the three of us. I can out run and out fight any of you."

"We'll see about that," Faith said, planting herself between the infected trio and the others. Not letting her eyes drop from the possessed threesome, she motioned toward the front door with her hand, "You guys scoot. I'll stay and play for awhile."

Dawn looked horrified. "You can't! They'll get you too. Together they are far too powerful for you to fight alone!"

"Relax, Dawnie. This is a fight, after all, and one thing is certain; I was born to fight."

Tara started for the front door, but Buffy lunged toward her. The blonde Slayer was intercepted by her girlfriend who used a deft combination of shoves, blocks and punches to drive her back across the room. As the two Chosen began to trade blows that would flatten a normal person, Anya leapt at Faith's exposed back.

Expecting the joint attack, the Slayer shot a foot up into her flying body, kicking her through the rear windows and out into the back garden. The move distracted her long enough for Buffy to wrap her arms around Faith's waist and plunge them both through the shattered opening to roll across the lawn.

"You're next," Willow told Tara before she turned to follow the fighting Slayers into the garden.

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Rolling in the shards of glass, Buffy and Faith came up fighting. Each Slayer landed punch after punch, kick after kick. Blocks flew thick and fast, but still strikes got through. Dodging an uppercut, Faith spun around, her foot hitting Anya as the demoness got to her feet and flinging her further across the lawn, "Stay down."

Buffy leapt forward with a one-two kick that had Faith reeling before she managed to slip sideways and chop the edge of her hand against her girlfriend's knee. Buffy yelped but was too off balance to avoid the stiff thrusting arms that struck her in the chest and flung her onto her back.

"Come on, Bee! I though you could fight but I've had more trouble with a single vamp than I am having with you three Linda Blairs." The brunette jumped aside as a glowing red ball of energy swept past her and left a black patch of smoking grass.

"Hi Willow. I was wondering when you were going to get in on the fight."

Arms closed around her chest in an iron grip but Faith sharply butted her head backward and felt Anya stagger loose under the blow. As the Slayer danced free, Buffy flipped to her feet and executed a deadly kick.

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"We can't leave! We've got to help Faith!" Dawn cried, starting toward the back garden.

Xander's hand closed like a vice on her arm and yanked her back. "Don't you think I want to, too? Those are our friends... my girlfriend! But if we don't make use of the chance that we have to get away, Faith's sacrifice will be in vain. We need to get to Giles and figure out how to help beat whatever is possessing them. Now, come on!"

Partly dragging the struggling teenager, Xander followed the limping Tara out of the front door.

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Buffy spun fast, her foot whipping around to try to take Faith's head off. The brunette anticipated the move, dropped low and swiped Buffy's support leg out from under her. As she crashed down, Faith drove an elbow into her stomach, doubling her girlfriend up in pain as she gasped for breath.

Before the brunette could deliver the follow up knock out punch, she was hit by a coiling bolt of mystic energy that flung her backward amid sparks and the smell of her own burning flesh. Hissing in agony, she rolled with the blow, spinning away from the arcing magical whip. Willow sneered and tracked her with an outstretched hand, the energy leaping from her palm and chasing the Slayer.

Ducking behind a thin tree, Faith winced as she used a hand to cover the smoking black hole in her denim jacket. Before she could even gather her thoughts the air in front of her swirled violently, and it was only instinct that enabled her to duck Anya's punch as the Vengeance demon teleported into the attack.

Bark and splinters rained down from the jagged gouge the punch struck in the tree trunk. Faith shoved both arms out straight, hitting Anya in the stomach and flinging her onto her back.

"What is this? A fucking tag team match?" She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep fighting without finally having to really hurt one of them.

Once more Slayer instincts made her launch herself into motion, diving over Buffy's sweeping legs, curling into a forward roll as she was forced out into the open and then hand springing toward the chanting witch.

"Time for ya to take a nap, Red!" she snarled, her fist crashing into Willow's jaw. "Hey, who'd a thought it? I get to smack you one and still be the good guy!"

Even as the Wicca slumped, Buffy landed on Faith's back and Anya teleported in front of them both, her fist plunging down.

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Tara was helped along as fast as she could go by Xander under one arm and Dawn under the other. All the time she was muttering beneath her breath over and over, "Light of foot, free of scent; Cadria make me this way. Without a sight, without a trace; grant me this I pray."

"What is she doing?" Xander asked.

"The witch-foo equivalent of sweeping away our footprints... I think," Dawn gasped.

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As the Vengeance demon's fist shot toward her face, Faith calmly dropped to one knee, twisting her upper body as she did so. Buffy was flung over her shoulder and slammed into Anya with enough force to send them both tumbling across the decking.

Knowing she could not stand up to the combined threesome much longer Faith glanced once toward the house, hoping she had given the others enough time to flee, and then spun around and dashed through the gate.

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In the glade, the four young witches stared at the muddy puddle.

"Bring it back!" shouted Ruth, glaring at Kim. The young girl stared helplessly back at their leader, "I can't! Something has disrupted the scrying spell."

Before, the four witches had watched the Hagna demons meet with Buffy in her back garden via the stagnant water of the puddle. They had seen the Slayer instruct the demons to attack her to lure Willow. However, they had been astonished to see how her body had changed as the Slayer infected her friend; that was something they had not expected from the essence of Hate. The Slayer had taken far longer than they had hoped to succumb to the effects of the magic liquid, but when she did the essence that came out of her body seemed far more potent, almost instantly taking control of the witch. Of course, that may have been because she was only human, but it had also consumed the Vengeance demon very quickly too.

Then, the remaining Slayer had managed to get the better of all three puppets at once, buying enough time for the last three Scoobies to flee. Again, that should not have been a problem but all of a sudden the scrying spell had shattered.

"It could only have been the witch," mused Kim, tapping her chin as she thought.

"Don't be silly! She is under our control."

"No, not the strong one; her girlfriend."

"The hippy chick? She doesn't have the power to do something like that. Does she?"

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Giles was startled when his apartment door flew open and Dawn rushed in, followed by Xander with Tara clinging to him.

"Giles quick! We have to go!"

"Pardon?" the Englishman said, stunned by the whirlwind nature of the three young people. Dawn grabbed his upper arm and started frantically trying to lift him from his chair, so he allowed himself to be led. "What is the matter? Where is Buffy?"

"We'll tell you later! Trust us now and let's go!" Darting back, the Watcher snagged up the small volume he had been reading and then was rushed from the room, the door slamming behind him.

Less than a minute later, the air in the room whirled into a vortex and Anya appeared, "Giles? Giles, Buffy needs you! She's hurt!"

When she got no answer, she climbed the stairs to his mezzanine bedroom, and then went to check the bathroom. "Damn!" she hissed and disappeared.

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"Dawn?" Janice looked bleary-eyed out of her bedroom window at her friend standing in the back garden.

"Come down," Dawn whispered, keeping her voice as low as possible so as not to wake Janice's parents.