Butterfly Ops
By Alexandra Huxley
Rating: R
Disclaimers, etc. in chapter 47.

Chapter Forty-Eight

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


“Hey,” Joe replied. “How’s it going?”

That was...weird.

‘Man, that was a tough fight,’ would have been an
appropriate response. Or maybe, ‘Did you happen to
see the rest of the team? I lost track while we were
giving the mystical warriors a good run for their
money.’

‘How’s it going,’ however?

Buffy took a step back, practically attaching herself
to Riley’s body, her instinct being to keep herself
between him and, well, just about anything.
Especially since a quick look around showed that
Graham and Co. were nowhere to be seen and Buffy
wasn’t quite as confident in Kasey as Riley seemed to
be.

Definitely weird. And a little too reminiscent of
that day on the bluff. “It would be going better if
you didn’t keep sneaking up on me like that.”

“Believe it or not,” Joe replied, the ever-present
grin on his face, “that one wasn’t me. That was all
Joe. Some shape-shifting thing. That’s not really my
department.”

Huh?

‘That was all Joe’? Then who exactly was this guy?
And if it wasn’t Joe, then how would he have even
known what she was talking about?

Buffy tightened her grip on the knife and could feel
Riley tense behind her as all the men in the circle
dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. She
glanced back to see that Kasey had done the same.

“You feel kinda like we didn’t get the memo?” Buffy
whispered to Riley.

Riley answered, “Told you things didn’t make sense
here.”

Yes. She was beginning to get that. To Joe – or to
whomever it was occupying his body – Buffy asked,
“What happened to my friends?” None of this felt
good; it would feel a lot better, however, if she knew
where everyone else was.

Joe just looked at her for a minute or two; then he
shrugged. “They’re gone.”

“Gone?” All of them? No. No way everyone she came
with was gone. They couldn’t possibly be. They were
doing fine last time she saw them. She stepped
forward, almost jumping when all forty of the guards
leapt to their feet and raised their weapons again.
Protecting quasi-Joe? “Where did they go?”

He seemed completely unconcerned with the urgency in
her tone. “Not ‘dead’ gone,” Joe responded. “Just
‘gone’ gone. As in gone home.” His gaze went to
something behind her and he distractedly said,
“They’re fine. Would you excuse me?”

Um, o.k.?

Curiouser and curiouser, she thought as he gestured
for Kasey to stand and come forward. Then one of the
guards detached himself from the circle and joined
them. The three stepped away, moving out of hearing
range, though it was obvious that a heated discussion
was taking place. Joe did not seem at all happy.

Buffy glanced at Riley several times to see if this
made any more sense to him than it did to her – he’d
been the one hanging out here.

No. He didn’t seem to understand this, either.

After a few minutes, the conversation became much more
one-sided, with Kasey and the other man keeping their
eyes lowered as Joe spoke to them. His manner was
calm but his eyes were flashing. Occasionally all
three would turn to look at Riley and Buffy before
turning away again. Finally, the guard knelt and
looked at the ground. Kasey’s eyes went wide as Joe
spoke harshly. The guard next to her disappeared;
within seconds, the other guards were gone as well.
Bye-bye circle.

Joe turned his attention to Kasey. Buffy watched as
the other woman nodded her head and began to speak,
her eyes coming alive as she got further into whatever
she was saying. At a certain point, she seemed to
turn inward, her arms going around her body as she
hugged herself tightly. Even from this distance Buffy
could tell she was blushing uncomfortably.

It wasn’t exactly surprising when Buffy turned and saw
that Riley’s face was on the flushed side, as well.
Unsurprising and yet not at all what Buffy had been
hoping to see.

After giving her another one of those soul-searching
looks – trying to see if she’d noticed? – Riley turned
away.

Great. Buffy bit her lip, willing herself to ignore
the sudden tightening in her chest. Deal with it
later. Right now just focus on Joe and Kasey.

Something important seemed to be happening because
Kasey’s hand had just flown to her mouth and tears
were streaming down her face. She seemed shocked as
she looked back at Riley.

Riley just seemed puzzled, glancing down at Buffy with
an expression giving no doubt that – this time – he
had no idea what was going on. When he looked up
again, he took a step back, clearly surprised.

As was Buffy. Somehow – in all of two seconds – Kasey
and Joe had crossed the twenty or so feet and were now
standing right in front of her and Riley.

Kasey grabbed Riley’s hand. Though she was still
crying, a huge smile came over her face. “I get
to...” She shook her head and let go of Riley’s hand,
choosing instead to throw her arms around his neck.

Oh, honey, you are so pushing it right now...

Buffy was happy to at least see that Riley didn’t seem
comfortable – not in the way you would if you’d been
spending a lot of time hugging someone, or, well,
doing other things with them.

After a few seconds, Riley responded with a hug that
was more brotherly than anything else. Though he
looked questioningly at Joe, he asked Kasey, “You get
to do what?”

Kasey pulled away from him, putting her hand to his
cheek in what was not at all a sisterly way.

Not Faith, not some vampire, Buffy reminded herself,
clenching her fists and making sure to keep her mouth
shut. Weird, alternate dimension with mind-bending
spells. Later, Buffy. Do not focus on it right now.
Do not focus on the obvious intimacy that existed
between Riley and this stunningly gorgeous, not to
mention young and way too perky – in a physical kind
of way – woman.

Apart from the hand to cheek thing, though, Kasey
wasn’t making any further attempt at encroachment,
which was a damn good thing because – despite her
cautionary thoughts, Buffy was not above a catfight.
In fact, she was surprised that all Kasey ended up
saying to Riley was, “Thank you,” albeit in a
gut-wrenching, incredibly emotional kind of way.

Getting a little tired of being the only one in the
dark, Buffy turned to Joe, ready to take it out on
him. Which, o.k., maybe not so mature, but better
than letting it fly with Riley at the moment. There
was way too much history to even attempt to bring up
right now.

She had actually started to say Joe’s name when she
heard a new voice say, “See, Finn? You really do have
a way with the ladies.”

Buffy whipped her head around.

Hadn’t this been what she expected all along? Could
she actually say she was surprised?

And yet it was a total shock to see Sam standing no
more than a few feet away, right in front of Riley,
her hand going to his face much in the same way
Kasey’s had only moments earlier. Except that this
time the hand actually had every right to be there and
it was Buffy who had absolutely no ground to stand on
– which might be why she felt like she was suddenly
falling and crashing into a million little pieces;
pieces that spelled out the words: ‘You should have
known this wouldn’t work, Buffy. You should have
known.’

Yes, o.k. – that was an incredibly selfish reaction to
a truly monumental occurrence. Still... As she had
already reminded herself in the not too recent past:
with head versus heart, heart wins every time.

Oddly enough, Riley didn’t look ecstatic or grateful,
or even, for that matter, shocked. Instead he yanked
Sam’s hand from his face and spat at Joe, “I don’t
care who you are. Make this-”

“Stop,” Sam said, finishing his sentence for him,
though her meaning was obviously entirely different.
“I don’t think I have much time.” She glanced up at
Joe, closing her eyes when he nodded. “I just needed
to...”

Taking a few steps back, Buffy was wishing there were
some shadows to slink back into. There were so many
things running through her head that she couldn’t keep
them straight, and the predominant feeling at the
moment was that she shouldn’t be here.

Sam noticed the movement and, for the first time,
seemed to register that Buffy was there, too. It was
clear she was only barely staving off complete
breakdown; Buffy could see it in the way Sam clutched
Riley’s hand, could hear it in Sam’s trembling voice.


Yet Sam obviously had something to say to Buffy; and
she managed to flash a smile that was sincere. “This
isn’t exactly how I envisioned meeting you again.”

“I...” No. Buffy couldn’t finish the thought.
Didn’t actually have a thought to finish. It was hard
to be thinking anything right now; anything other than
the way Riley was looking at Sam, unable to see
anything but her.

His wife, Buffy. She’s his wife. His dead wife who’s
now standing right in front of him, holding his hand.
Get over it.

Sam wasn’t stupid. Dead people rarely were.
“Awkward, though. I guess these things always are.”

“I guess.” Buffy looked up to see Riley watching her
now. He appeared to be as uncomfortable as Buffy
felt; torn, in a way. Completely ripped apart.

Join the club.

Glancing at Riley and then back to Buffy, Sam clearly
caught the look passing between the two. She made an
unsuccessful attempt at another smile, looking down as
she said, “Thank you for...believing... For following
Kate’s dreams.”

Riley’s head jerked up. “What does Kate-?”

Sam silenced him with a finger over his lips, her hand
cupping his chin and turning his head so that he
couldn’t see Buffy.

Actually, that was fine with Buffy. She didn’t really
want to see him, either. Not right now at least.
Even this was too much.

She ducked her head down as she saw Riley’s hand go to
Sam’s shoulder, pulling his wife to him and burying
his head in her hair. He murmured something Buffy
couldn’t hear – didn’t want to hear. Sam’s response,
though – “I know, Finn. I know. I do, too. I always
will.” – was loud and clear.

Not that there was even a question of what he’d just
said to her. And not that there was a question that a
kiss would follow – a tender, aching, agonizing kiss;
the kind that stayed with you forever.

“Why are you even watching this?” Joe asked, startling
her. “What makes it worse – watching Riley with
another woman – with his wife? Or remembering how
hard it was to send Angel-”

Buffy’s knife was at Joe’s throat before he had a
chance to finish the question. “You have about ten
seconds to tell me who you are and how you’re going to
get us out of here.”

Other than turning her back on them, she didn’t have a
lot of control over anything Riley-and-Sam related;
Joe’s not-so-cute heckling shtick however? That was
going to end.

Or not, apparently.

Joe laughed as he put his hand around the blade – just
wrapped it around the razor-sharp edges – and pulled
it out of her hand. “You know – I really don’t
usually get involved in things at this level, but I
like you.” He looked over her shoulder. “I’m growing
kind of fond of him, too. Go figure.”

Before Buffy could turn around, Riley brushed past
her, his entire being radiating anger. He, too, went
for Joe’s throat – or, rather, the material of Joe’s
shirt, grabbing it tightly and using it to pull Joe to
him. “What happened to Sam?”

“Do you really need to ask?” Joe replied lightly. His
eyes went a little dark, though; menacing, almost.
“I’ll give you some leeway; this has all been fairly
difficult. I’ve got a bit of a rep to keep, however.
I suggest you keep your hands to yourself.” The smile
came back into his voice. “Besides, how can I tell
you about Sam if you’re cutting off my air?”

Buffy had a feeling that Joe didn’t really need the
air. She was actually starting to get a feeling that
this wasn’t someone she or Riley should be testing.
She reached out and put her hand on Riley’s arm.

Though he tensed at her touch, he let go and stepped
back, seething. “Where is she?”

“The Great Reward.” Joe rolled his eyes. “Oh, come
on. Give me a harder one.”

Buffy stepped in before Riley clocked Joe. “Kasey?”

Joe actually seemed remorseful. “That was a mistake.
She shouldn’t have been here that long. I lost...”
This time his smile was a sad one. “See what happens
when I get too involved? I’m so much better with the
big picture.” He shook his head, ridding himself of
the melancholy, and looked at Riley. “I can assure
you, she is quite content.”

Riley took a few more steps back, stunned. Clearly
that little speech had brought his understanding to
where Buffy’s was – that Joe was acting quite
paternal, in an Our Father kind of way. The Creator
himself. He, who had locked Kaseniiosta in her
prison.

Joe held out Buffy’s knife. It clearly wasn’t going
to do a damn bit of good in this situation. She took
it and put it away, asking, “Why free her now?”

“Plays nice. Works well with others.” Joe – she
couldn’t possibly call him by his real name – gave
Riley a pointed look. “Thinks creatively. Takes
risks. What?” he asked, seeing the disbelief on
Buffy’s face. “You’re not buying it?”

Buffy shook her head. Not that she needed to; she was
sure he – or, He, rather – could read her mind.

“I told you. I made a mistake.” Joe’s eyes went
cold. “Trust me. You don’t want to make me admit
that again.”

“How’d you know?” Riley asked, folding his arms across
his chest.

Joe turned to Riley, incredulous. “What?”

Riley didn’t seem to see the ‘Danger – Thin Ice’ sign.
Either didn’t see it, or didn’t care. Could anyone
really blame him?

Despite the angry look that came over Joe’s face,
Riley stood his ground. “Something made you remember
she was there. What was it?”

Dumb. Really, really dumb. And yet utterly cool.
Go, Riley. Take it to him. Um, Him.

Buffy waited for the lid to blow – for lightning to
strike, the ground to open up and swallow them whole,
or some such biblically proportioned reaction. She
was not quite ready for the smile to come back to
Joe’s face.

“Uncle,” Joe said, holding up his hands. “You want to
hear me say it out loud?” He was smiling again,
almost laughing as he looked at Riley. “For someone
who hasn’t been around that long, your wife has
learned how to work the system. She can
be...tenacious.”

O.k. It was bad enough to watch Riley kiss his wife,
not to mention knowing that something had obviously
happened between him and Kasey. But to stand around
and be part of the Sam Finn Admiration Society? With
Riley and, well, hell – might as well say it
regardless of it sounding more ridiculous than the
whole attack of the butterflies thing – God? No way.
No freakin’ way. Buffy snapped, “How do we get home?”

Joe raised his eyebrows. “You still want to take him
home? After seeing him with Sam? And I’m sure you
know what happened with-”

“Home,” Buffy repeated coldly. She didn’t want the
details.

“You sure I can’t keep him?” Joe asked, grinning
despite the obvious displeasure radiating from both
Buffy and Riley. He didn’t push it much further,
though, holding his hands up and saying, “Fine, fine.
Let’s discuss.”

“Discuss?” There was only one option as far as Buffy
was concerned. “What’s there to discuss?”

“Well, here’s the thing...” Joe looked around.
“Don’t you wish there were some pre-positioned chairs?
Don’t you just get tired of standing sometimes?”

Was he serious? Buffy asked, “Could we-?”

“Right. Sorry.” Joe gave Riley a sympathetic look.
“When you move on? There will be a special place in
Heaven for you.” He shook his head. “First Sam, then
Buffy... And I have to warn you – your daughters are
going to take after their mother. You’re going to
earn your rest the hard-”

Buffy resisted the impulse to remind everyone that it
had been Buffy first, not Sam. “‘The thing.’ Could
we get back to ‘the thing’?”

A total look of innocence came over Joe’s face, as
though he couldn’t imagine what she was making such a
big deal about. “Sure. Why not?” He shrugged. “It
turns out there’s a bit of a technicality.”

A technicality? “You aren’t seriously going to tell
me that we can’t get back.”

“Not you,” Joe answered, indicating Buffy. “You’re no
problem. Your friend left the door open. You can go
back at any time. Just click your heels and all
that.”

Buffy shook her head. He couldn’t possibly be saying
that she couldn’t take Riley with her. “I’m sure
Willow left the door open wide enough for Riley to
come, too.”

Joe smiled – could she just mention how sick she was
of that smile? He said, “That’s not how it works.
You’re just visiting.” He nodded towards Riley. “He
was sent here to stay. This is just a pit stop on the
way to... Well, the train doesn’t really have that
many destinations. Let’s just put it that way. And
once you get here, there’s not usually a way back.”

Absolutely not. That was a ridiculous answer. “Of
all people, you should be able to break the rules.”

“Sorry.” Joe looked genuinely apologetic. “That
one’s not up to me. Some of the wheels just turn all
by themselves. Once they start going, even I can’t
stop them.”

Buffy took a deep breath. There had to be a loophole.
After all, there was that whole thing about – “True
love,” she said triumphantly. “That was how we got
here; it’s how we’re going to get back.”

“True love,” Joe mused. “You people are really hung
up on that, aren’t you?”

Assuming that the ‘you people’ thing meant peoplekind,
rather than just her and Riley, Buffy decided to treat
that as a rhetorical question.

“Nah,” Joe continued. “True love’s pretty much a dime
a dozen. I mean, don’t get me wrong – it’s a good
thing. But, well, it’s been done.” He shrugged.
“Nice try, though.”

“Wait!” Buffy cried as Joe held his hand out,
beckoning to Riley. She yanked the chain from her
neck, thinking – hoping – that maybe the ring meant
more than just a way for Sam to communicate. Maybe
Kate’s insistence about bringing Riley back his ring
had a greater meaning.

“See?” she said, grabbing Riley’s hand and ignoring
the question in his eyes as she slipped the ring on
his finger. “I have the ring. From Sam.” Kind of.
She turned back to Joe. “Is that enough?”

Joe started laughing as he shook his head. “No.”

“No?” She couldn’t quite keep the desperation from
her voice. “Then, what?”

Joe got very serious very quickly, and Buffy actually
took a step back. The games were over. This was the
big time. Joe no longer seemed amused.

Was it too late to take back that thing about being
sick of his smile?

“Well, I do kind of have a discretionary fund. It
comes with a price, though.” Though his words were
light, they were delivered with a chill that Buffy
could feel in her bones.

That was o.k. She didn’t really mind the cold. “Tell
me.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Joe replied, “Here’s the
deal. It’s all about trust; a leap of faith, if you
will.”

Buffy got a sinking feeling in her gut. Please don’t
make it be about that. Please don’t make this all
depend on what she was feeling at the moment, because
she couldn’t honestly say that she was trusting
anything right now, least of all how she and Riley fit
together.

“You guessed it,” Joe said, even though she knew full
well she hadn’t said anything out loud.

No. This shouldn’t be up to her. Buffy glanced
uneasily at Riley; he looked up briefly before
glancing away, obviously seeing her doubt. This
shouldn’t be up to her, especially after that all too
visible reminder of exactly how badly Riley could hurt
her, of exactly why she had spent years building up
the walls around her heart.

“Mmmm,” Joe responded with complete boredom.
“Whatever.” He snapped his fingers. “So what will it
be? Door number one means you get to go home – no
harm, no foul...” Joe nodded at Riley. “...Except he
stays with me. Door number two means your fate is
tied to his. Or, rather, his to yours.”

Buffy bristled as Joe came to stand directly in front
of her. She could hear the whispers clinging to the
wind: You saw the way he looked at Sam. You know how
much he loves her. Did you really think he could love
you, too?

She pushed the voices aside. The deal may suck, but
it was obviously the only shot she had of getting
Riley home. “What exactly is it that I need to do?”

“That’s kind of obvious, don’t you think?” Joe asked
“You need to prove that this is worth my time. That
you’re not just going to give up every time the going
gets rough.”

He was giving couples counseling? Truly? And using
bad clichés to do it?

She saw Joe’s eyebrows go up. She’d forgotten that
reading her mind thing. Damn, she hated that.

If it wasn’t the ring, and it wasn’t true love, then,
“How?” She didn’t bother to keep the exasperation
from her voice.

“I told you already,” Joe snapped. “Trust. Faith.”

Yes, well, she’d trusted Riley once and he’d had a
little Faith.

Stop it. Did you happen to forget that you were
practically children then? Did you happen to forget
the last few weeks?

She found herself falling to her knees, pushed to the
ground by an unseen hand. Oh, so not good. Buffy,
why can’t you ever just shut up? “This is going to
hurt, isn’t it?”

“Probably.” Joe smiled again as he stood over her,
lowering his hand. “For some reason, these things
always do.”

Her hands flew to her chest, and she grabbed on to
Joe’s wrist, attempting to hold him off. He was too
strong, though; much too powerful. He reached inside
– breaking bone, tearing muscle – and took hold of her
heart; crushing it, probing it, picking it apart.

This was the ‘how’? Would it have been a little less
excruciating if she’d kept herself from thinking
those, um, blasphemous thoughts?

Joe’s voice rang in her head: “Make me see it, Buffy.
Make me believe.”

Why couldn’t he see it like normal people? Better
than normal people. Wouldn’t his vision be at least
twenty/twenty?

A great comeback – a quip about Tinkerbell – was just
sitting there, right on the edge of her tongue; but
when she opened her mouth, all that came out was a
gasp of pain. She tried to focus on the warmth as
Riley’s arms were suddenly around her, trying to
protect her, on his voice calling out her name.

The hand disappeared, replaced by an ice-cold dagger
plunging into the raw, open wound; twisting and
turning and exploding into thousands of tiny jagged
pinpoints, coursing through her veins. Tearing at her
from the inside; trailing down her arms and legs, like
a swarm of tiny ants speeding about, under her skin.
Turning from ice to fire, rushing up to her head,
pressure building and building, burning from within.

And here she thought she’d been wearing her heart on
her sleeve, sharing more of herself with Riley than
she ever had before. Apparently not. Apparently it
was still buried deep – deep enough that it was
necessary to do major excavation to find it. It was
there, though – she was sure it was. Somewhere...

She had never felt pain like this, had never before
felt physical pain so intense that it obliterated
thoughts of everything else. Pain so intense that it
alone could kill her. So intense that she actually
wanted it to.

When the explosion came – as she knew it would – she
could feel her mind leave her body. A violent
separation accompanied by a thundering sound and an
overbearing light, both disappearing as quickly as
they came, leaving nothing but emptiness in their
place. A dark, empty, silent void into which she saw
her life slipping away.

And then slowly, gradually, the color crept back,
seeping into a series of images playing in her mind.
Visions. Not of warriors and weapons this time, but
of kids – Riley’s kids – clamoring around her,
laughing and crying, a tangle of arms and legs… Of a
ring, its glittery facets shining as Riley held it in
his hand… Of a dress, long and flowing and surrounded
by thousands of white daisies… Of a house, tiny and
neat, nestled into the shadow of an ice-capped
mountain…

Of another child. Two… Of children growing up and
having children of their own… Of graying hair and
aging friends…

Her eyes flew open and she looked up to see Joe
watching her.

What was that? What the hell had she just seen?

Was it prophecy or was it dreams?

Joe smiled and shook his head, as though in response
to her questions. Or, rather, as though he was
choosing not to respond.

She heard more words; watched his eyes as he spoke to
her without uttering a sound.

‘You are a pleasure to me,’ he said. ‘Like
Kaseniiosta. I will enjoy watching you. I await the
day you sit with me again.’

Before Buffy could say anything in response, he was
gone. She turned to Riley.

“Buffy...”

He looked like he was about to break, like he couldn’t
possibly handle one more thing.

Wordlessly drawing his face to hers, she kissed him.
She lost herself in his mouth and his hands, closing
her eyes to the world spinning around her. Dizzy and
weak, she crawled inside of him, oblivious to the
flames rising up around them, the heat building
beneath them and above. Overwhelming them completely
as they faded into the dust.




TBC...







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

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