Butterfly Ops
By Alexandra Huxley
Rating: R
Disclaimers, etc. in chapter 49A.

Chapter Forty-Nine (B)

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



The second she and Riley pulled apart, Graham dropped
to his knees. He threw his arms around Riley in one
of those hugs that guys only allowed each other when
they’d just won some big game. Or when their best
friend came back from the dead.

Graham grabbed on tight and shook his head, his voice
thick with emotion as he murmured, “You’re an asshole.
A fucking asshole. Next time I tell you to stand
down…”

Buffy let go of Riley’s hand only at the last possible
moment, just as Brady and Sprague flew past her,
tackling Riley and Graham. Riley disappeared from
sight, catching her eye and grinning as he went down.


“And they say women are emotional.” Ana’s voice came
from just over Buffy’s shoulder.

Turning, Buffy saw Ana and Willow approaching, Willow
making a beeline to Buffy, asking, “Are you o.k.?”

“Yes,” Buffy answered, thinking it was mostly the
truth. She had a feeling it wasn’t quite that simple,
that true ‘normal’ wasn’t quite so easy to restore.
The alternative – the without Riley option – was pure
suckiness, however.

Willow wasn’t fooled by the easy answer, though, and
Buffy lost a few minutes encircled by Willlow’s arms –
trembling as she realized how much she’d nearly just
lost. Flat out shaking as the emotions of the last
twenty-four hours reared their heads: anger, concern,
worry; the almost overbearing responsibility to
Riley’s kids. A virtual panoply of stress.

She didn’t snap out of it until she felt Willow tense
and murmur, “Oh… Buffy.”

Every Slayer instinct sprung to life as Buffy pulled
back to see what new threat had brought about that
reaction.

Except that no one else seemed to be on high alert:
Ana, Sprague, and Brady were already making their way
back up the slope of the beach, laughing and joking as
they walked. Joe was sitting at the campfire smoking.
And Graham and Riley were standing behind her, Graham
telling Riley that Ana thought she could have a
working com-cam in another ten minutes or so.

Buffy turned back to Willow, about to ask what was
wrong when she realized Willow was staring at Riley,
hand over her mouth and eyes wide, looking like she’d
seen a ghost.

It took Buffy a few seconds to realize that, in a way,
she had. It had been fifteen years since Willow had
seen Riley. Sure, there had been that videoconference
thing a couple weeks before, but seeing someone on a
TV screen wasn’t really the same as seeing them
standing a few feet away from you.

Willow reached her hand out, saying, “Riley,” in the
most reserved, tenured-professor kind of way.

Good restraint, Will. Especially when Buffy knew that
inside Willow was practically jumping up and down.

O.k., nope. Never mind the inside part.

A yelp escaped Willow’s mouth and she clapped her
hands and giggled. She poked Buffy in the shoulder.
“That’s Riley!” As Riley looked up and grinned,
Willow walked over and threw her arms around him.
“You’re actually Riley. Xander is going to freak.
And Giles...” Willow shook her head as she pulled
back. “My God.”

Yes. Speaking of which... Buffy looked up toward the
campfire to where Joe sat with the others. Turning on
her heel, she very deliberately strode up towards the
others, hearing Riley playfully call from behind her,
“Is not!” He was obviously still under the mistaken
impression that Joe had just been playing some random
celestial being.

“Is too,” she replied, smiling. It was so much better
to be disagreeing about something unimportant – like
whether or not they’d actually been in the presence of
God. Which they had been, by the way. As she was
about to prove. “Joe,” she snapped.

“Buffy.” Joe looked up warily, his eyes going from
Buffy to Riley, Graham, and Willow as they came up
behind her.

“We have a bit of a score to settle.” She crouched
down so that she was at his eye level. “What was the
deal back there – the real thing, or just an angel?”

He threw his cigarette into the fire. “What real
thing? Back where?”

The problem with someone who always seemed like he was
laughing was that when he was actually serious, it was
even harder to believe him. “You know what I’m
talking about. When we were back...” She waved her
hand in the air. “...There. You, Riley, Kasey, me.
What was-?”

“Kasey?” Graham asked. “Who’s Kasey?”

Not now, Graham. Offhandedly, she answered, “The
Princess.” Back to Joe, she said, “So what-?”

“The Princess?” Sprague sat forward. “You guys
really met the Princess?”

“Better yet,” Brady added. “You called her Kasey?
You called a trillions’ old legend ‘Kasey’? How’d
that come up? Was she just like, ‘Call me-’”

“Yes, actually,” Riley answered curtly.

He obviously had no more interest in discussing it
than Buffy did in hearing it in front of all these
people. “So, Joe-”

“You spoke to her?” Joe said with awe in his voice.
“You spoke to Kaseniiosta?”

Oh, for Heaven’s sake. Sam’s sainthood was one thing,
but now Buffy had to hear about the holier than thou
Kasey? “You spoke to her, too. Or did you forget?”

“What...?” Joe glanced at Graham. “I didn’t...”

Buffy looked back at Riley, noticing Graham’s face as
she did so.

Graham shook his head. “Joe was with us the whole
time. And I’m a hundred percent positive that we
didn’t run into any princesses.”

Well, o.k., not really a setback. In fact, it made
even more sense. Why bother stepping into someone’s
body when you could just create the body all over
again?

Standing up, Buffy hit Riley’s shoulder. “Ha!”

Riley answered with a grin. “It doesn’t prove a damn
thing.”

“Want to let us in on the secret?” Graham asked.

“No,” both Buffy and Riley answered simultaneously.

Graham looked at them both suspiciously, although he
clearly decided to let it go. Unfortunately, he moved
on to a more delicate subject. “Sam? Was she
involved?”

“Yes,” Buffy said at the same time Riley replied,
“No.”

Letting that go, too, Graham said, “The Maymaygwayshi?
All those guys we were fighting? It’s why they
didn’t really die?”

Relieved at the easy one, Buffy got to it before Riley
did. “Yes.”

The smile returned to Joe’s face. “So the
Princess...”

“Is in the clear,” Buffy said. “You were right. The
whole time.”

“And you doubted me.” Joe poked at the fire with a
stick as he started to laugh.

It was infectious. And Buffy was in a good mood, the
Riley-being-here thing hitting her in its totality.
She couldn’t help but grin. “Never.”

Brady said to Riley, “Did you get the tattoos, too?”

Tattoos? As in the markings?

As in the markings that the Princess painted all over
the men’s bodies, showing exactly how well she’d
gotten to know them?

No big.

Buffy was perfectly fine with the thought of Kasey
using Riley’s body as her canvas. Of Kasey drawing
intricate markings all over his skin.

Absolutely fine. A-o.k.

Trust, faith, and true love. Right?

Buffy made damn sure there was a bright smile on her
face when Riley looked up at her as he answered,
“Yes.”

Still, she was glad that Ana got the com-cam working
right at that moment, giving everyone a thumbs up as
she said, “Hearing you loud and clear, Brooks. Do we
have an ETA on our ride home?”

Riley sank down and sat next to Ana; he suddenly
seemed very tired – and a little overwhelmed.

Honestly? If the roles were reversed and Buffy had
just been through what he’d been through? The last
thing she’d want was her new girlfriend being all
clingy right about now. But there was no way in hell
she was going to let him just sit there as the reality
of what had happened started to hit him. She wasn’t
going to fail him again. She would be there for him,
really be there this time. Not in a
your-whole-world-fell-apart-but-you’d-better-be-over-it-by-the-end-of-the-summer\
-‘cause-I’ll-be-on-to-my-own-thing-by-then
kind of way; no – in a long-term way.

Buffy sat down and rested her hand on his knee, leaned
her head against his shoulder. She had to close her
eyes, though. The reality was hitting her, too, and
she had a feeling that this sudden need to touch him –
to hang on tight and not ever let go – was only going
to get worse. Luckily, if the way he pulled her close
against him was any indication, he didn’t seem to
mind.

“No,” Ana was saying. “He’s sitting right here. Not
even close to being dead.”

Buffy could feel Riley tense. His warmth was suddenly
gone as he lurched forward and grabbed Ana, unhappily
asking, “Dead? What do you mean ‘dead’?”

Graham gave Buffy a sideways glance before answering
Riley. “Your funeral’s the day after tomorrow. That
didn’t cross your mind?”

“My kids...” Riley urged Ana, agitated. “Tell Brooks
I need to talk to my kids.” His knuckles whitened as
his hand tightened on Ana’s arm.

With a glance at Graham, Ana nodded and relayed the
message to Brooks. Though she looked uncomfortable,
she didn’t pull away. Buffy reached for his hand and
pried his fingers off. “Riley...”

He glared at her. “You told my kids I was dead?”

His reaction surprised her – hadn’t he expected
something like this? What did he think they’d all
been doing for the last few days?

“I didn’t-” Buffy forced herself to take a deep
breath and not take his reaction personally. He was
probably barely maintaining sanity right now. A
little lashing out was hardly unexpected.

And, thinking back to the first thing he’d asked – the
‘How long have I been here’ question – she was
belatedly realizing that he’d asked with absolutely no
idea of what her answer would be, that he’d had no
awareness that four full days had passed.

Actually, that wasn’t the part she was just realizing.
It was more the implication that as far as he knew,
there was no reason for his kids to even have been
aware that he was gone.

“Maybe you could have started with ‘missing’?” He
yanked his hand away. “Give them at least a little
something to hold on to?”

Barely maintaining sanity. Just lashing out.

“Oh, and ‘missing’ is going to make it all better?”
she snapped. O.k. Hadn’t meant to jump on him like
that. She mumbled, “Trust me. It’s just as bad.”

That didn’t seem to lessen his concern. There was
practically fire coming out of his mouth as he hissed,
“They’ve already lost-”

“We found a body, Ri,” Graham said softly, crouching
down in front of Riley. “Your funeral’s the day after
tomorrow.”

“My...” Riley seemed completely dumbfounded. “My
what?”

Graham looked at his watch. “It was supposed to be
about eight hours ago. And, yes, I feel like shit for
making your mom and dad wait the extra two days.” He
sat down. “I was hoping the end result would be worth
it.”

Buffy wasn’t sure if Riley even heard what Graham had
just said. He was still reacting to the first part,
looking at her and asking, “They found a body?”

She nodded, her hand instinctively going to where her
chain would have been if she hadn’t yanked it off and
lost it back in the rainbow. “With your ring.”

Riley looked down at his clenched fist; his ring stood
out in stark relief. The anger seemed to fade as he
considered what Graham had just said. His eyes
narrowed a bit. “On making my parents wait?” There
was a definite emphasis on the word, ‘parents.’ He
had clearly noticed that Graham hadn’t expressed a
similar concern about his kids.

Graham’s entire being radiated, ‘Oh, shit.’

His eyes going from Graham to Buffy to Graham again,
Riley continued, “What happened?” He turned back to
Buffy. “What did Kate dream?”

Graham fixed his gaze on Buffy. He didn’t look at all
happy.

What – were the words ‘blame me’ printed on her
forehead?

Not that she hadn’t intended on mentioning it to Riley
at some point; it just hadn’t seemed the time to break
the news that his kids were quite familiar with the
family business. It was easier to answer Graham than
Riley. “Sam mentioned it.”

“Sam?” Sighing, Graham ran his hand through his hair.
“This is going to be one hell of a debriefing.”

“Kate’s dream?” Riley repeated. He seemed resigned to
that fact that he wasn’t going to like the answer.

As apologetically as she could, Buffy smiled. “Do you
want the good news or the bad news first?”

“Buffy...” Riley was obviously not at all in the mood
for stalling, not even when it came to prettily
batting eyelashes.

Buffy looked up at Willow, who was absolutely no help.
The others all just shrugged and conveniently found
other things to occupy their attention.

O.k. Fine. “The good news is that your kids seem to
have complete confidence that we’ll be bringing you
home.”

Hmmm. The way Riley was folding his arms across his
chest and looking at her in a somewhat annoyed fashion
wasn’t a good sign. Nor was the way he asked, “That’s
the good news?” He obviously would have been on
Dawn’s side of the ‘you-told-them-you’d-do-what?’
camp.

Yeah, well, if it were up to him and Dawn...

So – anyway, “The bad news is that Kate seems to have
a bit of a prophetic streak in her.”

Yes. He seemed to agree that that was the worse of
the two evils, closing his eyes and muttering
something that contained a lot of words that weren’t
really mentionable.

Luckily, he was spared further consideration of the
fact when Ana held out the com-cam. “Sir. Brooks has
your mother on the line.”

Riley just looked at the com-cam, hesitating before
taking it from Ana’s outstretched hand. That was
understandable. Though the object was obviously to
let Mary know that her son was alive, the goal would
hopefully be achieved without giving her a heart
attack when she heard Riley’s voice.

Closing his eyes, Riley ducked his head. He adjusted
the earpiece and listened to something Brooks was
saying. Nodding, he replied, “Yeah. O.k. Now’s as
good a time as any, I guess.”

Buffy started to get up, intending to follow the
others as they moved away to give Riley some privacy.
He blindly reached for her hand, though, and pulled
her back down as he softly spoke. Not even bothering
with a greeting of any kind, his voice calmly lapsed
into a soothing storytelling mode, somehow not
betraying the tension Buffy could feel throughout his
entire body.

“You remember when I was ten and you were driving me
to a game?” he said into the com-cam. “There was this
truck in front of us – it flattened a squirrel. I
mean, totally flattened it.” He gripped Buffy’s
hand, but didn’t stop speaking. “And then the
squirrel just got up and ran away. As if nothing had
ever happened.”

Turning so that she could see his face, Buffy wrapped
her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

He glanced down at her, his tension slowly dissipating
as he continued talking to his mom. “You turned to
look at me and I was so sure you were going to try and
explain it away, the way moms always do.” There was a
touch of laughter – a kind of emotional laughter – as
he added, “Except all you said was that sometimes
things just don’t make sense.”

Threading his fingers through Buffy’s hair, he pulled
her to him and rested his forehead against hers.
“Well, Mom, this might seem as if it doesn’t make
sense.” There were a few beats of silence before
Riley gruffly spoke again. “Yeah. I’m coming home.”



TBC





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

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