Title: Butterfly Ops
Author: Alexandra Huxley
Rating: R
Pairing: B/R
Spoilers: General spoilers through Bring On the Night
(BtVS, 7th season).
Disclaimer: Story and original characters are mine,
everything else belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy,
and a lot of other people who aren't me.
Distribution: The answer's probably yes, but please
ask.
Author's notes: This is a sequel to Celestial Light.
(CL is available at
http://home.mindspring.com/~jenkel/fanfic/index.html
If you didn't read that, then you'll probably wonder
how we got to this place.) Thanks to Cynthia, Moe and
Jess for beta-ing. And it is impossible to adequately
convey my thanks to Diana for her C&C. But (sorry D,
I couldn't help it) I will try.
Summary: Fifteen years after "As You Were," Buffy and
Riley are working together again.
Feedback: Is greatly appreciated! Send to
alexandrahuxley@...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Butterfly Ops
By Alexandra Huxley


Chapter Forty-Three

========================


Willow was quiet as she drove back to the motel. That
was o.k. – she always got that way when she was
concentrating on a spell. And Buffy was all for the
concentrating.

Anyway, she had her own thoughts to keep her occupied.
For the first half of the ride – all three minutes of
it, this was Atikokan after all – she fought the sense
of futility: there was no way this could end well.
Even if they did find Riley, she couldn’t imagine he’d
want to leave Sam behind – how could he? She was his
wife, the mother of his children. The love of his
life. Home.

She spent the next three minutes, however, telling
herself – so what? She was just going to give up?
That was it? Forget her promises to him, to his kids?
Come up against an actual roadblock and decide to
just turn around and head back?

Unh-uh. No way in hell. Riley deserved more than
that. His family deserved more. So did she.

By the time they reached the motel, Buffy had worked
herself up into enough of a state that she didn’t care
what was going on with the DNA tests, she was going
into those woods and wasn’t coming out until she had
found Riley and offered him the chance to come home.
If that wasn’t the path he wanted to take, well, she’d
deal with that then.

She jumped out of the car before Willow brought it to
a full stop. By the time the engine was off, Buffy
had thrown open the door to the motel room. “Graham,
I’m going-”

She snapped her mouth shut. Everyone was already in
motion – Ana and Brady were zipping up their vests;
Sprague was lacing his boots. Brooks was sitting down
at the makeshift command center and putting on a
headset; he slid his chair over, flicking switches as
he moved.

Graham, the phone cradled against his shoulder,
acknowledged Buffy with a nod of his head, but quickly
turned his attention back to whoever was on the other
end of the phone. He did not sound at all happy.

“No. That’s unacceptable.” There was a pause and
then he shook his head angrily, tightly saying, “We’ll
be at Headquarters in twenty minutes; I want permits
ready and special permission for a chopper to drop us
in. And Jessica?” Graham’s voice turned cold as he
leaned forward in his chair. “If this gets screwed
up, I will devote the rest of my life to making you
understand what ‘misery’ means.” He smiled as he
listened to Jessica’s response, answering, “Not a
threat. That’s what they call a promise.” He nodded.
“Twenty minutes.”

Buffy could feel Willow come in behind her as she
stepped further into the room. The test results must
have come back, indisputably identifying the body as
someone other than Riley. “Who was it?” Her almost
desperate urgency transformed into a bolt of energy as
she caught the taser Ana threw her.

“Dan Swanson, Leslie Willett’s fiancé,” Graham
answered distractedly. He was looking at a printout
Brooks had just handed him.

Buffy actually had to sit down on the bed, overwhelmed
by the rush of relief. There were even a few tears.
It surprised her, given how certain she’d been since
seeing the body. She felt a hand on her shoulder and
looked up to see Willow smiling at her.

Brady pulled a chair over and sat down across from
Buffy. “Not to break up the party or anything, but
are we actually any closer to knowing what we’re
dealing with?” He gestured at the monitors as he
said, “All we’ve got are some fancy sunrise bowls and
Harry saying Sam’s in on this with the Princess.”

“She’s not,” Brooks snapped, turning around to face
the room. He looked straight at Buffy. “I don’t care
how much she wants Riley back, she wouldn’t do that to
her kids. Not the Sam I...” His voice faltered
before he finished with, “Knew.”

Everyone turned to her and Buffy could feel the heat
rise to her cheeks. They seemed to be looking to her
for confirmation of some sort, for her to speak for
Riley with the same authority. In other
circumstances, that would have been just fine with
her. Now, though, all it did was force her to
acknowledge her own uncertainty.

It didn’t matter how much he loved her – how in love
he was with his kids – she wasn’t sure that would be
enough. She’d been under the spell; she’d felt its
effects. Rational thought had flown right out the
window. Every ounce of her strength went to keeping
herself from Angel – and that was after being apart
for less than two months. After a very non-romantic
stretch of years to begin with.

Factor in the eight-plus years of mourning a wife
Riley was obviously still in love with? Plus the fact
that Riley – being the object of the spell – was
getting the full-blown version...

Could Buffy honestly say he could get beyond all that?
Would he want to?

Her hand went to the ring on her chain – the chain
she’d put back on, despite being a little weirded out
by having Sam quite so close. The ring – Sam – had
unhelpfully chosen now to be quiet. Buffy turned to
Graham – who was also in the mute camp, very
noticeably so given his closeness to Riley; to Riley
and Sam. “What do you think? Where does Sam come
in?”

After a minute of very heavy silence, Graham finally
admitted, “I don’t know.” He threw an apologetic look
at Brooks. “I have no doubts as to how much she loved
her kids. I just...” This time the apology was
directed at Buffy as he said, “She and Riley had
something...” Clearly uncomfortable, Graham shrugged.
“I’m not sure how much they’d resist something like
this. I don’t know how much anyone could.”

Buffy found herself annoyed to a degree that was
completely uncalled for, especially since his words
were merely echoing her own thoughts. It was just the
way he put it.

So, fine. If they had such a perfect love... “Would
Sam share him? I mean...” Buffy looked around the
room. “The Princess is still part of this somehow,
isn’t she?”

Graham seemed to relax a bit, obviously feeling on
much surer ground. “We’ve definitely got something
odd going on,” he said. “At that last crime scene you
guys visited, Riley wanted some stones analyzed.
Mostly, I think, on a whim.” He held up the piece of
paper in his hand. “They’re undatable.”

“Undatable?” Was that a word? Why not just call it
like you see it? “You mean really, really old?”

“Actually, no,” Graham answered, with a shake of his
head. “I mean undatable. There’s no trace of
pollution, no trace of anything that a rock should
have picked up in its, oh, billions of years on
earth.” He put the paper down. “Other than that,
though, the components, the composition – they’re
exactly the same as the other samples from the area.”


That was enough confirmation for Buffy. She stood up.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go.” No one
else moved. “What?”

The soldiers’ heads all turned to Graham, and it
occurred to Buffy that he hadn’t actually given the go
ahead yet. That though he’d told Jessica to be ready
for the team – told the team itself to suit up – he
himself had no weapons. He hadn’t even gotten out of
his chair.

Was he overcompensating, thinking that he’d been too
eager to get them back up here? Or was it because he
still didn’t trust her?

Willow had said the spell was a combination: part
love, part locator. The love part was already
defined: an overwhelming physical need, like what she
had felt for Angel. The locator part, though – that
was where Graham’s hesitation came in.

The yellow brick road to Riley was emblazoned with the
words ‘True Love.’ ‘They do what their hearts tell
them,’ Harry had said. He’d sent them ‘home.’ Riley’s
‘home’ in this case had clearly been Sam.

Graham, having sixteen years of not-very-positive
feelings about Buffy, was obviously concerned about
Riley being the same for Buffy. If what she felt
wasn’t strong enough then there was no telling where
the team would end up – or if they’d be able to make
it back.

Seeing that Graham was just watching her without
saying a word, this was all of course just conjecture
on Buffy’s part. Was he planning on doing that whole
interrogation thing again? Great.

There was a moment in which she thought he was about
to speak – he leaned forward and tilted his head. The
words didn’t come from him, though. Apparently Brady
had been deputized – silently, imperceptibly, and yet
without question as he slowly leaned forward and
rested his elbows on his knees, glancing down at the
floor and then back up at Buffy. “Your mom did teach
you the difference between sex and love, right?”

“I...” Buffy could feel her skin flush. That had
been much more blunt than she’d expected. “What is
that supposed to mean?” she asked sharply.

He refused to back down, clasping his hands together
and echoing what she’d just been thinking. “The theme
around here seems to be true love. If I’m remembering
correctly, at Joe’s village you said that if Sam’s
voice could lead Riley away, yours could lead him
back. I’m guessing that’s on the condition that the
tie between you and Riley is as strong as what he had
with Sam.” Brady fixed his eyes on hers. “Is it?”

A quick scan of the room showed that no one was about
to leap to her defense. Except for Willow, whose
expression clearly indicated that she was willing to
take them all out if Buffy only said the word. Which
Buffy wouldn’t do, of course, because, well, this
seemed to be the condition. Graham’s decision would
be based on her answer. And it only seemed fair to
answer the question in everyone else’s eyes. They’d
follow their leader to the bitter end, but they’d
prefer to at least know what the odds might be going
in.

God. This was like the nightmare where you had to
stand up in front of everyone in your underwear. At
least she knew she looked damn good in black lace.

Brady, as had already been well proven, was of the
‘speak your mind’ upbringing and had no qualms about
pushing. “I mean, it’s only been – what? – three
weeks? You’re the first woman he’s even dated since
Sam died. How would you-?”

She took a step toward him – a very assured step that
positioned her close enough to look in his eye with
absolute confidence, that allowed Graham to see her
face without obstruction.

“Yes,” she said, cutting Brady off. There was no
question in her mind. Not now at least. Not after
that last night, when she’d thought she was seeing an
apocalyptic sky, when the inner beast unsurprisingly
reared its head.

What had been surprising, was the fusion of her two
halves – mind and matter. Well, mature mind and
Slayer matter. Had that ever happened? Had the
Slayer’s wants and needs ever coalesced with those of
the girl within?

She’d loved Angel with an incredible passion; Spike
with an unbridled fury. Never, though, had she
entrusted so much – heart, mind, and soul. Never had
she been so trusted in return.

She wasn’t sure what had happened to bring them to
that point – the ‘true love’ talk? Maybe, because as
much as she’d enjoyed Riley’s reaction to the
striptease, the lightning hadn’t struck yet, the
connection hadn’t been made. She’d seen it in his
eyes – or, rather, not seen it – at his most unguarded
moment. Maybe he’d been missing it, too – maybe the
Slayer hadn’t yet bought in to what Buffy’s heart
craved; maybe her voice had been lacking the
conviction of her words.

Not that there wasn’t anything there – she had no
doubt that Riley loved her and she was sure he knew
the same. This, however, was another level entirely;
a transformation so powerful she couldn’t believe she
hadn’t noticed its absence until it was suddenly
there: the way the air crackled as his hand approached
her skin, the way his fingers left a trail of flames.
The way his voice soothed her soul.

At that moment he became part of her. She gave
herself to him; took what he gave in return. And what
he gave her was everything – because he’d seen her
eyes when her heart was closed and he knew that he was
seeing something different, that he was seeing all of
her.

That wasn’t the kind of thing that happened in three
weeks; nor in a year, or even sixteen. It happened in
an instant. When that instant – that connection –
occurred was of little consequence.

Was their love true enough to pave the yellow brick
road? Yes. Without question.

Was it strong enough to help Riley transcend the
spell? To bring him home? Well... That wasn’t what
Brady had asked.

Her voice strong and steady so that there was no
question of how certain she was, Buffy looked at
Graham and said, “It is.”

“You’re sure.” His voice was cold and harsh, the
voice of the man who’d helped Riley rebuild his life,
not once but twice. The voice of the man wondering
what he’d be taking Riley away from, what he’d be
handing back in return.

She responded to the other Graham, the one who had
seen with his own eyes – who had told her – how happy
Riley had been during these last few weeks. “I’m
sure.”

Unable to move as he considered her words, she almost
collapsed in relief when he nodded his head and turned
to Willow, saying, “O.k. Tell me how this works.”

Willow leaned over to hand Graham Harry’s notebook.
“The spell depends on sending the man ‘home’; to where
his heart belongs.”

“You mean to where he chooses,” Sprague added.

“No,” Brooks corrected, his face the study of
concentration. “To where he’s guided.” He looked at
Graham and then Buffy. “Sam’s voice – in the storm.
It was like a beacon, drawing him in.”

“Alright alrea-” Buffy started to snap, except it was
kind of. Alright, that is. Because that was an
explanation she could live with quite happily. Or, at
least an explanation she could live with.

“So what’s our ‘beacon’?” Brady asked Willow.

Buffy began to pace. She could see from Willow’s
reaction – which was very deliberately nonexistent –
that this could get even more personal than it already
was. Buffy searched her memory, trying to figure out
what it was Willow wasn’t saying.

After a minute, it came to her and she stopped
walking. Sitting back against the room’s dresser, she
murmured, “ For that moment.” ‘For that moment, the
stars smiled,’ to use Willow’s words from the night
before. “The moment in which they fell in love.”

Willow shook her head, mumbling her correction. “The
moment in which it became more than that. When it
crossed into ‘True’ territory.”

“That whole ‘souls entwining’ thing?” Brady asked.
Incredulously, he continued, “You meant that
literally?”

“Yes,” Willow said. “I did.”

Buffy could feel everyone’s eyes on her. Hadn’t she
just answered this question?

Wait a minute... She straightened up, eyes wide as
she looked at Willow. “I actually have to say the
moment?” Was she serious?

Shrugging apologetically, Willow answered, “It would
help.”

It would help? “You can’t honestly be saying that
Harry knew the exact moment that every one of these
men...”

“No,” Willow said, cutting Buffy off. “But Harry only
needed to send one guy to one girl. I have to send
all of you...” – her arm swept the room – “...into a
very specific place. Otherwise it might not be enough
to pull Riley away.”

“Whoa...” Brady leapt to his feet. “You mean you’re
sending us into their...” – he scrunched up his face
unhappily – “...moment?”

Buffy glared at him. It’s not like she wanted him
there either. “I’m not really into threesomes,” she
muttered. Or any-more-somes, considering it was also
Ana and Sprague and Graham and Willow.

Willow rolled her eyes. “Not into the throes or
anything. Just...” She looked at Buffy. “There has
to be one.”

“A threesome?” Buffy asked, turning what she knew was
a very unattractive shade of red.

“No,” Willow answered, exasperated. “A moment.” And
then meekly – “Was there one? I mean, you can tell me
in priv-”

Oh, for heaven’s sake. “Yes. O.k.?” Buffy threw up
her hands, giving in. They were all adults here.
“That last night. The Northern Lights.” She whirled
around to face Brady. “And don’t even dare ask me if
Riley felt the same way.” She turned back to face
Willow. “Please tell me that’s all you need to know.”
Because she really had no interest in discussing
details; like, as in knives.

Thankfully, Willow nodded. “That’s enough.”

And – doubly thankfully – Ana diverted the attention
away from Buffy by asking Willow, “Why can’t you just
reverse Harry’s spell? Just unentwine Riley and Sam?”

“Souls,” Buffy stressed adamantly. “Riley and Sam’s
souls.” That was what was entwined. Let’s just get
that straight.

Willow shook her head. “They’re too connected.
Harry’s spell...” Willow paused for a minute,
searching for the right words. “It kind of locks the
two souls together – locks their fates together.
Where they stay unless...” She snuck a glance at
Buffy. “Unless they mutually decide to break apart.”

Buffy sank back against the dresser. This just kept
getting better and better. Harry was damned lucky to
be in the custody of many armed men. Actually, even
that might not save him given the way she was feeling
at the moment.

“So this all depends on Riley...” Sprague leaned
against the wall, at least having the grace to look
guiltily at Buffy before continuing, “...Coming
together with Sam? As in, um...?”

“Not in the biblical sense,” Willow said.
“Interlocking souls. That’s all.”

Why was no one getting that part?

Brady – who just didn’t know when to shut up – asked,
“You mean to tell us that all these dead guys are
actually living the ‘happy ever after’ forever? We’re
going in there to take Riley away from that?”

Buffy felt like crying out of sheer frustration.
Wasn’t the whole point to go find him and at least
give him the option? Riley was a big boy. He could
make his own decisions. What did she have to say to
convince these guys?

And how much more could she keep convincing herself?

Brooks chose that moment to speak up, the quietness of
his voice not betraying his assuredness. “No.”

Considering she was hanging on to the wispy threads at
the end of a not very long rope, Buffy needed to hear
this, needed someone else’s affirmation. Because this
was the part she was really shaky on; the part that
made her question her motives – and she hated that
feeling. She looked at Brooks, willing him to go on.
Please.

Brooks continued, “These other guys – they have – had,
I mean – no concept of any of this. They’re dead; in
Heaven as far as they’re concerned.” He shook his
head. “With Sam and Riley, though, it’s different.
They know too much – that they’re being played with.”

“Do they?” Sprague asked, looking at Brooks and then
Graham, completely avoiding Buffy. “If I were Riley,
I can’t honestly say I’d be questioning anything if
Sam suddenly appeared in my arms.”

“Of course they do,” Buffy said much more assuredly
than she actually felt as she tried to keep from
envisioning that very scenario. “Sam’s appearing in
Kate’s dreams for God’s sake. Would she do that if
she were taking this all lying down?”

Not to mention sending messages through the ring,
which Buffy hadn’t, in fact, mentioned. This would be
the perfect time to do so if only Sam would say
something. Unfortunately, she seemed to be choosing
now to be completely silent, no ‘damn right!’
vibrations or ‘pay attention to me’ burning. Was it
because they’d gotten it all wrong, or was Sam off
somewhere, ‘connecting’ with Riley?

Either way, Buffy didn’t think she wanted to know.
She just wanted this to be over. And anyway, who
cared if Sam wasn’t speaking to her at the moment. If
need be, Buffy would bare her – sports-bra clad, of
course – chest to show them the mark the ring had
made.

Need didn’t be, though, as the dream thing seemed to
mollify Brady and Sprague. That and Brooks saying, “I
think Sam’s already most of the way there. She
wouldn’t be talking to Kate otherwise.”

Luckily, no one seemed to have noticed that Riley
wasn’t sending any such signals, which, as Buffy
thought more about it was increasingly worrisome. If
Sam could figure out a way to communicate
interdimensionally, why couldn’t Riley? Did he not
want to?

Buffy began pacing again, unable to keep still.

No. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to, it was
because he wasn’t dead. Normal, alive people didn’t
have the same access to mystical lines of
communication. Right. That was-

Looking up, Buffy realized that everyone was staring
at her. “Um...”

Ana smiled and stepped in. Unfortunately her words
didn’t exactly have a calming effect. “I hope Sam’s
not spending all her time trying to communicate with
Kate because it seems as though she and Riley need to
do some communicating, too.” She looked at Willow.
“I mean, you are saying that there needs to be a
mutual decision of, um, non-permanent-entwining. Even
if Sam’s already decided, she still needs to make sure
Riley does the same. Right?”

Graham, who had been quiet this whole time, finally
spoke, his eyes moving from Buffy to Willow and then
Ana. “That’s not our concern right now. That doesn’t
matter until we get there. If I’m understanding
Willow right, we just need the trail of breadcrumbs
from Buffy to Riley.” He turned to Willow; she
nodded.

Buffy only barely managed not to throw her arms around
his neck and kiss him. Full speed ahead. Graham was
on board.

“O.k.” Graham said. He nodded at Sprague and waited
for the other man to pull a box out from under one of
the tables and hand it over. Opening it, Graham took
out a small canister – which Buffy assumed was full of
oxygen, considering it was attached to an oxygen mask.
“As you may recall, Buffy wasn’t exactly in the
greatest of shape when we pulled her off the beach.
Willow thinks that was due to the spell – side effects
of the entwining thing – and not the storm; she tells
me she can tweak it.”

“Tweak it?” Brady’s eyes widened. “She thinks?”

Graham ignored him. “What we have no idea about
though, is what happens after the butterflies – where
we’ll go, what we’ll find when we get there. And
anyway, Buffy’s account of being in the thick of it is
not something I have any interest in experiencing.”

Nor, Buffy thought, did she. Yay, commando supply
chests.

Holding up the canister, Graham said, “Wear these. It
gives you an hour’s worth of air.”

“And after that?” Ana asked, though the answer seemed
pretty clear.

“After that it could get interesting.” Graham grinned
and stood up. “We’re done discussing. As I’ve said
before, this mission is purely voluntary. Anyone want
to stay and keep Brooks company?”

Buffy looked at Brady, the representative of the
naysayer camp. He stared back for what seemed like an
interminable amount of time. “Hell,” he finally said.
“I always figured this job would get me killed
someday. May as well give it a chance to be in the
name of...” He paused before dramatically saying,
“‘True Love.’” He grinned and headed for the door.

It took all of two seconds for the others to follow
him out. Buffy watched them all go, slightly in shock
that they were actually moving.

“Buffy...” Brooks reached his arm out to her, his
eyes full of what seemed to be concern. “Brady will
be behind you a hundred percent. He’s just... ” He
shrugged. “Well, he just does that. Don’t let him
get to you.” Smiling, he added, “I won’t mention how
glad I am that Brady wasn’t around when Sam was busy
picking Riley over me.”

Buffy nodded, not quite trusting her voice now that
she felt as though she’d been thoroughly put through
the wringer. And that was after defending something
she was utterly sure of – that she loved Riley. If
Graham had asked what the odds were of Riley actually
coming back; if Brady had pushed the Sam thing...

As though reading her thoughts, Brooks said, “You’ve
always been a part of him. Sam knew it...” – another
grin – “...She used to say that she was damn lucky you
didn’t know what you had.”

Et tu, Brooks? Was this what he called helping?
“Could we get to the ‘pep’ part of the talk?”

Brooks laughed – not exactly the reaction she was
going for

Then his expression turned serious. “Even I can tell
that things between you are different now. He knows
it, too. I’d say that’s something worth coming back
for.” Brooks let his hand drop from her arm. “Don’t
ever doubt that you can be his light. You’re as much
‘home’ to him as Sam ever was.”

Goodness. That was almost enough to make a girl cry.
She bent down and gave him a quick hug. “O.k. That
was good pep.”

Swiveling his chair so that his back was turned to
her, Brooks readjusted his headset and smiled sadly.
“If you see Sam, tell her I said hi.”




TBC in Chapter 44






=====
Writing as Alexandra Huxley
http://home.mindspring.com/~jenkel/fanfic/index.html

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