CoF - Laure Alexander - TEAOW&S - Trials: The Plan Comes Together

Summary: Just who was kidnaped? Everyone angsts over what to do, and as Cordelia implements the plan they finally come up with, Willow and Spike make love, fearing it might be the last time.

AUTHOR: Laure Alexander
EMAIL: lara@sunflower.com
RATING: NC-17
PAIRINGS: Willow/Spike
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of the characters on the show. Joss Whedon and the WB Network own them (for now). No copyright infringement intended, so please don't sue.
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Buffy was awakened by the sound of the doorbell. As the cheerful sound rang in her head, she realized her whole body throbbed with pain, the worst a pounding in her temples. Slowly she opened her eyes and groaned softly at the sunshine streaming in her window.

The doorbell rang again and she whimpered, trying to turn onto her back and pull a pillow over her head.

Eyes flashing open again, Buffy squirmed on her stomach. Her arms were caught behind her, numb to the bone.

Glancing at her watch, Willow frowned and rang the doorbell for the fourth time. This was really weird. She and Buffy had agreed to meet for breakfast before school to do some last minute cramming. As far as Willow knew, Buffy's mom was in town, but maybe she'd gone to work early and the painkillers had knocked out Buffy.

As she reached into her purse for her keys, she heard a muffled shout from inside, and a shot of fear went through her. Willow silently thanked god for the spare key Buffy had given her months before, and shoved it in the lock. Pushing the door open, she dashed inside and up the stairs.

Willow nearly tripped over the hall table that was turned over, a broken vase of silk flowers scattered on the rug. Fear gripping her, she opened Buffy's door and raised her book bag to use as a weapon.

The room was empty except for the sobbing Slayer laying in the middle of her bed, her arms tied behind her back.

Buffy twisted her head around, blowing futilely at the hair in her face and choking back her sobs. "Willow?"

Sitting on the bed, Willow reached for the knot, wincing at the sight of abraded flesh and purple fingers. "Who did this?"

"Watchers, I think. My mom," Buffy began, her voice full of panic, "I think they took my mom." Fresh tears spilled from her swollen eyes.

Gritting her teeth, Willow worked at the knot. "There's a mess in the hall. I...I didn't see anyone else."

Freeing the knot, Willow quickly unwound the rough rope. Both girls hissed, Willow at the sight of ugly rope burns, Buffy at the stinging pain as blood rushed to her fingertips. Willow helped the other girl sit up and then held her gently, rocking her as she cried.

But, crying wasn't going to find her mom, and Buffy forced herself to calm down. She pulled away from Willow and wiped her eyes with her throbbing, swollen hands. Her shoulders ached even more from being pulled tight for most of the night, and her head pounded angrily from the blow that had knocked her out. Reaching out one shaking hand, she grabbed the pills and bottle of water from her night stand.

As the red-head left the room for the phone in the kitchen, Buffy took her painkillers and blotted her eyes and nose with a Kleenex. Slowly pushing her pain-filled body up, she swayed slightly, then took a determined step towards her closet.

Sitting on one of the stools in the kitchen, Willow broke the connection with a furious and worried Giles at the Library, then dialed Spike's cell phone. It rang several times, and was finally answered just as she was about to give up.

It wasn't Spike. As Angel's growling voice filled her ear, Willow flinched, and her mind jumped to several conclusions as to why Angel was answering Spike's phone. About to ask for Spike, she shifted gears. "It's Willow. Buffy's mom's been kidnaped. She needs..." Before she could finish, the connection was broken, and Willow stared at the phone. "...you."

Shaking her head slightly, she rose to put on a pot of coffee and plug in the kettle for tea.

Staring at the phone in his hand, Angel wondered dimly why it was shaking, then realized his hand was the thing shaking.

Joyce was mostly annoying, but Buffy loved her and needed her. If anything happened to her...

"OW." Rubbing his ear, Spike turned blazing eyes on his sire, demanding, "What do you want?"

Angel was out of bed, reaching for his clothes. "Get dressed. Buffy's mom's been kidnaped."

Spike went totally still, shock filling him. Finally, he muttered, "I knew this was going too easy." Jumping out of bed, he yanked on his jeans, then went on a search for his shirt.

"*I* knew we should have just killed the bloody Watchers to begin with," Angel snarled, sitting down and pulling on his boots.

"...Right." Nodding, Spike headed for his room to find a shirt. "I'll meet you in the garage."

Buffy hadn't come downstairs when the doorbell rang, so Willow answered it. Giles was in the lead, followed by Xander and Cordelia.

"Jenny couldn't get out of teaching her classes, but she'll come by at lunch," Giles said by way of greeting as he entered the house.

They all looked up to see Buffy limping down the stairs, her hand braced tightly on the banister. Xander jumped to help her down the last few steps.

"Yeah, we'll find her, Buffy," he said, guiding her into the living room where Giles angrily paced.

At the sight of her so wounded and vulnerable, Giles stopped and opened his arms. Buffy sank into them with a brittle sob.

"Um..." For a moment she buried her face in the scratchy yet familiar tweed, drinking in the scent of books and tea and man, then she pulled back and took a deep breath before sinking into a chair. Everyone else sat down as Willow brought in a tray of tea and coffee.

Buffy composed herself and met Giles' gaze as he sat in the chair next to her. "I woke up to find a man on top of me. I thought...well...I was wrong. He said something like..." She thought for a minute, trying to remember. "Something like, 'we'll get our way', and then he tied me up. I started to scream and he told me to go ahead because no one would hear me, and that's when I heard my mom yell from the hallway." A shudder went through her and she wrapped her arms around herself, ignoring the twinges of pain in abused muscles. "He knocked me out and...I woke up when Willow came by to study."

"It has to be the Watcher's Council, Giles." Willow stirred sweetener into her coffee and frowned. "I didn't think they'd try anything so soon."

Giles reached for the tea-pot, trying to use the familiarity of ritual to keep his anger under control. "Not all Watchers are, and quite a few of the more...specialized are American. The upper crust English council members don't want to soil their hands with the more brutal aspects of the job."

Looking at her steadily, Giles felt an intense sorrow well up inside him. "I don't know, Buffy."

"They want me to be the perfect Slayer, Giles. To obey their every wish. I will, I swear I will, if they'll just give my mom back to me. I can't lose her," she cried, a hint of hysteria creeping into her voice. "I thought that once the Crucimentium was over, my dream wasn't going to happen, but it is happening. I'll do anything, be anything." She sobbed bitterly, tears sparkling in her eyes. "I'll let them kill me if they'll just let her go."

A storm of protest erupted in the room and the front door banged open. Two vampires, leather coats over their heads, dashed into the house, slamming the door shut behind them. As Willow rose to pull the curtains shut, Angel jumped through a beam of sunlight and pulled Buffy into his arms.

Ignoring the smoking hole in his shirt sleeve and the momentary discomfort of being burned, Angel murmured soothingly to her in Gaelic and stroked her hair, as she sobbed brokenly against his strong chest.

Slowly Giles rose to his feet, comprehension filling his eyes. "I wondered how they had gotten in. You took down the wards."

At the slight accusation in the Watcher's voice, Angel's head whipped up and the vampire growled wordlessly, a sound of one male to another telling the other to back off.

Buffy stumbled as Angel moved her aside and took a predatory step towards Giles.

Giles refused, glaring furiously at the vampire. "She took the wards down for you. You're revolting hold over her caused this."

"I'm not going to let you blame me for this," Angel snapped. "None of this would have happened if you'd let me kill them all."

Willow moved behind the Slayer, gently placing her hands on the blonde's trembling shoulders. As Buffy collapsed back against her, Willow snapped, "This isn't helping anything."

Ignoring the girls, Angel took another menacing step forward and Giles reached in his pocket, pulling out a stake.

"Sire," Spike tried softly, reaching out and catching Angel's hand as it aimed for Giles' throat.

Spinning on his childe, Angel growled until Spike dropped his eyes. As he raised his free hand to knock Spike aside, a sob from Buffy caught his attention and he turned towards her.

Silver tears streamed down her pale cheeks. She was nearly colorless except for the bruises which remained on her throat and wrists. New marks marred the skin there, evidence of the ropes that had tied her.

Angel pulled free of Spike and lifted Buffy into his arms, burying his face in her neck.

Spike slipped his arms around Willow's waist from behind her and leaned down to whisper, "I keep expecting him to slaughter us all..."

Disgusted, Giles stuck the stake back into his pocket and went over to the bar to add Scotch to his tea.

"So, I'm missing art class here. What are we going to do?" Cordelia asked bluntly, as Xander rolled his eyes and hugged her close.

An hour later, several ideas having been proposed and rejected, they were interrupted by the ringing of the phone. Buffy stiffly rose from the dining room table and went to answer it, only to return with the portable phone in her hand, a frightened, pinched look on her face. She held the phone out to Giles.

Giles' expression hardened as he took the phone. "Quentin." There was a long pause. "I...see." He nodded slowly. "Yes. May I speak to her?" Another pause, during which Giles reached out and took Buffy's hand, squeezing it gently. "Joyce?...Yes, she's fine...Everything will be fine. I..." Pulling the phone away from his ear, he looked down at it, then switched it off.

Buffy sank heavily into the seat next to her Watcher, not releasing his hand, but holding it tighter, as tears filled her eyes. "I thought...I thought they might have killed her to punish me."

Gently Giles embraced her, stroking her back to comfort her. "No, no, she's fine. And they won't hurt her..."

Giles sighed heavily. "As long as Buffy obeys them. A new Watcher has been assigned to replace me."

He tried to smile at her. "It will be all right, Buffy. I'm not going anywhere."

Willow looked helplessly at her lover, then turned back to Giles, insisting, "Well, we can't let them get away with this. I don't care if they have the sanction of god, they've gone too far."

Her eyes traveled quickly over each person sitting around the table before she began to sort through the ideas in her head. "So, the option they propose is that Buffy be the good Slayer, obeying her Watcher, probably dropping out of school, patrolling, researching and working out twenty-four/seven, and maybe they'll let her see her mom eventually?"

"Which means no way are you going to be able to keep your relationship with Angelus hidden for long," Willow pointed out to Buffy.

Ignoring Angel, Willow continued, "Okay, how about a radical solution. This is the Hellmouth. Buffy, and to some extension, we, keep it from opening. She keeps the peace in this town, keeps the supernatural under control." Her eyes met Angel's. "You admit that it's your love for her that keeps you from destroying everything, right?"

Willow forced down her smile of satisfaction. "So, together the two of you control this town's supernatural element. You balance each other. You keep everything running more or less smoothly. So...how about we just say to hell with the Council?"

"Why do we need them? You have hardly any contact with them. The books are your own collection, not theirs. Okay, they pay you a stipend, but you've already been replaced so I figure you've been in effect fired. And I'd think that getting Mrs. Summers back and letting Buffy keep the peace the way she has been is much more important than money." At his absent nod she continued, "They seem to think that Buffy belongs to them. That she needs them. That's a bunch of crap."

"I don't even know exactly who they are," Buffy added, the color beginning to return to her face. "I've never needed anything from them."

Angel snorted. "Nothing like mine. As long as you don't interfere with my plans, you can come visit my library. Makes the one you have look like one half-filled bookshelf with a dying plant on one end."

Giles' rather snide question seemed to stump the master vampire, and Buffy quickly jumped in. "He plans to keep loving me, right honey?"

Willow took back over the thread of conversation. "So, we don't need the Council. We just need to get Mrs. Summers back and tell them all to piss off."

"Look, you've hinted that they're willing to kill, right?" As everyone turned their attention to her, Cordelia continued, "We have to be careful here. These aren't harmless kittens we're dealing with."

"I don't want them dead. I just want them gone. I just want to make them give me back my mom and leave."

"They're not willingly going to accede to our demands." Giles rubbed a tired hand over his face.

"Then we go in and we take what we want, and we make it quite clear what the consequences to them will be if they keep fucking with the Slayer and our town," Spike said.

Angel turned to his childe. "If we charge in and rescue her mother, everything gets blown to kingdom come. All the secrets come out."

"Do we care?" Spike replied. "I'm getting tired of it." He looked around the group. "Everyone who matters, knows. I think they're already quite willing to kill Buffy. So, now they'll want to kill her even more. Doesn't mean you're going to let them, eh mate?"

A slow smile crossed the dark vampire's face. "So, we find out where they're holding Joyce, charge in, take her back, and make it very clear what will happen if they don't leave Sunnydale and the Slayer alone?"

"Sounds like a plan." Grinning at his own cleverness, Spike leaned back in his chair and tugged Willow's hand to his lips.

"We'll have to be on guard the rest of our lives," Giles said slowly, as his mind worked at accepting the idea of revealing their secrets.

"They're scared shitless of the idea of Angelus, Rupert. Wait till they come face to face with the monster they fear."

Buffy looked up at Angel, a pleading look on her face. "No killing if you can help it."

He frowned, but nodded. "They deserve to be hung, drawn and quartered alive, darling."

"I'm sure they feel the same way about you. Don't you want to be better than them?"

Turning away from the sight of his charge kissing a monster, Giles cleared his throat. "So, how do we find where they're holding Joyce?"

"Yes and yes. She...I can't really explain it, but there's a connection between us. We're sisters and that goes beyond the Council, beyond her revulsion over my relationship with Angel. She'll help us."

Giles nodded in agreement. "Your strength should be back by tonight and your new Watcher, a Mr. Haversham, will be here at seven. That gives us about nine hours to find Faith and start trying to locate your mother."

"Until we find her, I go along with whatever this new guy wants. I can't risk my mom."

"I can try to hack into local real estate sales and rentals, see if the Council has purchased or rented any space," Willow offered.

Cordelia sighed heavily. "I'll make the great sacrifice and find her, take her shopping or something. God knows the girl needs decent clothing and a serious make over."

Everyone stared at Xander, who grinned and shrugged. "Oh well, what's one more black mark, huh?"

Bleary eyed, Faith stared at the cheerleader on her doorstep. "Did you get lost, Veronica?"

Raising one eyebrow at the name-calling, Cordelia ran her eyes slowly down the Slayer's slender body. Black turtleneck with a growing hole in one elbow, black ratty looking cargo pants, black scuffed doc martens.

"Daddy's paying. I need emergency exfoliating, and I never like going to the spa alone, so I thought long and hard about who I knew that most needed a make over and...voila."

"I really think you could use a new outfit, Faith," Cordelia insisted. "I'd ask Buffy, but she's all bruised and puffy."

A flicker of understanding shown in Faith's eyes and she nodded slowly. "Sure, who am I to turn down free clothes." Pulling the door shut behind her, she followed Cordelia to her car.

Once safely inside and heading for the mall, Cordelia explained just what they were doing.

"Buffy trusts you," Cordelia replied. "And I trust Buffy. Don't always like her or her life choices, but she has saved my butt on occasion. And I like her mom who totally does not deserve any of this crap."

"I'm pretty sure I can get Wesley to tell me where Travers and his band of psycho Watchers are. He's meeting with them now and should be back in a couple hours. We don't have to go to the mall."

Cordelia flashed the Slayer a smirky grin. "When I say make over, I mean make over."

Faith clutched her seatbelt and the overhead strap as they rounded a corner on two wheels, but wasn't sure if the sudden fear she felt was for the poor driving or the thought of being turned into a beauty queen.

Sitting at her computer at the Summers' dining table, Willow clicked another icon and sighed. She'd been searching for nearly three hours without a break, with no luck, and growing hunger.

Buffy was sleeping, trying to let herself heal, but Willow knew that her sleep was restless. She'd cried out twice in the last hour from nightmares. Giles was sitting with her, trying to describe the current events in his journal.

Ms. Calendar was on her own laptop at the other end of the table, muttering to herself as she tried to crack the Watcher's database.

The two vampires had left an hour earlier to begin a systematic questioning of their underworld sources.

"Oh yay, my stomach's about to try to eat itself," Willow proclaimed, taking a proffered bag.

"I am food fetching man." Xander grinned as he headed for the kitchen for cans of pop.

Typing with one hand, Jenny reached for a taco with the other. "I don't think I've ever heard of a quintuple contraction matrix like this." She sighed in frustration. "And it's magically enhanced."

"It would be so useful for us if we could sneak in without them knowing, though. Then we keep their resources even as we boot them out of our lives," Willow replied, unwrapping a burrito.

"The less Giles has to rely on Angelus for information, the better," Willow said after swallowing a large bite of burrito.

"Working alongside vampires is just wrong." Realizing what she'd said, Jenny looked up, chagrin on her face.

Willow grinned at her. "Don't worry. I totally agree. Working with, bad. Fucking with, good."

"Willow, can you get away for an hour or so and meet me at the apartment?" Spike asked.

The vibrant need in his voice sent a shiver through her, and Willow flushed. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

The apartment was filled with the sounds of Willow's favorite romantic music compilation when she entered. Locking the door behind her, she dumped her coat and purse on the dining room table, then headed for the bedroom.

The bedroom was empty, but the bathroom was lit by candles. Pushing the door open, Willow smiled at the sight of her lover lounging in the tub, covered in strawberry scented bubbles. She kicked off her shoes and began to strip off her clothes, as he sipped a glass of wine.

"Were you dirty?" she asked, her voice husky with desire, as she stepped nude into the tub and sank to her knees between his spread legs.

"Um, always, luv." Reaching for her, Spike tugged her onto his lap, pulling her head onto his shoulder. As he brushed her hair away from her face, he held the glass to her lips. Willow took a sip, sighing softly as she began to relax.

"This is nice." Wrapping one hand around his shoulder, she closed her eyes and snuggled against his hot water warmed body.

She could feel his erection pressing into her hip and quipped, "Like I'd do that with you poking me." With a smile on her face, she leaned up and kissed him softly.

"Poking, huh? Sounds like fun." Spike growled and gyrated his hips, making the water slosh and Willow giggle, her eyes popping open.

Carefully she moved to straddle him, pressing his hard cock between their stomachs, as she kissed him again, this time with open mouth and eager tongue. Spike's hands cupped her bottom, moving her against him, until she was panting with desire. As he lifted her, Willow reached down and guided him inside her, sinking down with a soft sigh.

She began to move on him, rocking back and forth, moaning his name as he filled and stretched her, sending sparks of pleasure through her. Leaning back against the edge of the tub, Spike watched through hooded eyes as she rode him gently and slowly, building their need. His hands slid up her wet body to cup her breasts, his thumbs rubbing her tender nipples until she hissed and arched into this touch.

Breathing hard, Willow opened her eyes and stared down into his, the connection between them making her move faster. She gripped the side of the tub and leaned down to kiss him passionately. The new angle drove him deeper, and Spike groaned into her mouth, lifting his hips helplessly to thrust into her.

Water spilled over the side of the tub as they drove together faster. Spike's hands tightened on her breasts, pushing Willow up and yanking her down, making her cry out with each thrust. Catching her lower lip between her teeth, she fell forward, bucking her hips as the base of his cock rubbed her clit with each stroke.

Spike wrapped his arms around her and dragged her mouth to his as he thrust wildly, spilling himself into her.

Moaning in need, Willow squirmed on him, trying to keep him moving as he collapsed beneath her. Spike kissed her gently, murmuring his love into her mouth, as she shivered on top of him, on the edge of release.

Carefully, Spike turned them, pressing Willow's limp body against the end of the tub and sliding between her thighs. Catching her knees, he lifted her legs over his shoulders and dove beneath the water.

As his mouth brushed over her throbbing clit, Willow's eyes opened wide and she yelped in surprise. Staring at her submerged lover, she panted harshly as she watched his head move between her legs. His tongue slid inside her and she cried out again, her hand lashing out and wrapping around the side of the tub for support.

Beneath the water, Spike smiled and rubbed his nose against her clit. Her cries filtered down to him and he lashed his tongue up and down her swollen cleft, driving her crazy, before finally fastening his lips around her clit and sucking on the tender bit of flesh.

Willow nearly came out of the tub as her orgasm crashed through her. Shuddering, she slipped down beneath the water, then shoved herself up, gasping.

Spike raised his head and grinned wolfishly at her. "Lots of benefits of not having to breathe."

Rolling her eyes as she walked past him into his room, Faith blew a bubble with her gum and flopped on the bed. "I was bored."

She tried not to flush at the compliment. She knew it looked nice, but she'd never admit that to the cheerleader. Her hair was softer, falling just to her shoulders and curling into the point of her chin. She'd had a facial as well, and a manicure. Red nail polish replaced the green.

And she was wearing her new clothes. Still black, but leather pants, a black cotton sweater, and new docs as the old ones were nearly soleless.

"Ah, yes. Um..." Wesley took a seat across from her, on the lone chair. "There have been some changes. Mr. Giles has been removed as Buffy's Watcher."

"Her...wilfulness is being blamed on him. He has given her too much leeway in her actions."

"We will be staying in Sunnydale until Buffy and her new Watcher make some progress in bringing an end to Angelus' reign of terror."

"As she seems to still have feelings for the monster, it may fall to you to eliminate him."

"Hm? Oh, yes, for a few weeks, to make sure that Mr. Giles doesn't interfere, and that Buffy...well that she falls more in line with the traditional methods and means of slaying. I'll be taking an apartment for the two of us. The Council will remain in their offices here, perhaps even establishing a secondary permanent sanctuary."

"Well, I guess that kind of makes sense since this is the Hellmouth. Can I meet them?"

"They're currently renting a nice building at the corner of Elm and 10th. There's room there for training space. You and Buffy work well together, perhaps you can continue to train with her there."

He looked around a moment, then picked up his briefcase. "No, I have to finish filling out these progress reports. You have your phone?"

As Faith slumped into the seat across from him at McDonalds, Xander stopped drumming his fingers on the table. She flashed him a grin and he relaxed.

Faith shook her head and picked up the hamburger he'd bought for her. "Nah. Wesley doesn't have a devious bone in his body."

Nodding in understanding, Xander sipped his coke, then grinned. "You really let Cordy do you up, huh?"

"No, it's better that you stay out of it. If it goes bad, well, you'll still be around as Slayer. And if it goes good, you'll still be in the good graces of the Council."

"As long as they don't figure it out. I don't have anyone for them to use against me, so I guess they'd just kill me."

She said it lightly, but Xander gave her a concerned look and took her hand. "If we win, you're welcome to stay here with us. I know Buffy'd want it."

Faith looked at him, seeing the caring in his eyes. "I've never had anyone care anything for me outside of what they could get out of me, but Buffy...all of you, even your cheerleader..."

"We're a family, dysfunctional as hell, but still a family, and you're a part of it."

He smiled back, then let go of her hand to reach for his drink. "But, I guess we should see how it all plays out."

Faith shot him a grin. "Hey, maybe he'll rescue Joyce and then fall on a stake."

These authors spend lots of time to write these stories. If you took the time to read this PLEASE take the time to give them some feedback. Happy writers write more ;-)

Laure Alexander - lara@sunflower.com

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