Selene and Zeus watched in fascination. They listened as Buffy talked aloud to herself through each aspect of the coming night, using hand gestures to emphasis her words.
"The wolves won't realize it protects them from every vampire, including Jean-Claude, even though they're his animal to call, for now at least. They'll feel more confident and comfortable in their own skin, err fur, whatever." She gave an elegant shrug followed by a head nod. "Yep, that'll work the best. Plant little seeds grasshopper to get the great big forest, as Xan Man or that other confused guy would say. Once the Council is dust, the Weres will have grown into their freedom. And while this all takes place, I'll just bond with the Zombie Queen and teach her how to spank her inner-Muppet and her men, and who knows maybe a love life of my own. I can just see it. Hours filled with shopping and mocha chinos. No big deal, I can do this because I'm super Buffy. Yeah right. I don't know how you guys do this stuff, 'cause I'm exhausted already just thinking about it!" She finally ran out of steam and looked up to find her 'parents' smiling at her.
Selene glanced over at Zeus with a broad grin. She bowed her head in an elegant arc, giving him the floor.
He stepped forward to pull the woman-child against his chest into a comforting hug. It still amazed him how this tiny human had wiggled her way into his heart and taken hold so easily and quickly.
"Daughter, you will do fine; just follow your heart, it and you are more than trustworthy. We have watched you over the years when you were a mere Slayer. Your strategy skills are strong, as is your sense of right and wrong. They among many other reasons are why you were found worthy to be Guardian over these Innocents."
With more than a little relief and gratitude, Buffy stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek and he leaned down to meet her. "Thanks Poppa Bear."
Selene let out a snort of laughter and almost fell out of the chair. She had never seen this side of the Ruler of the Gods. He sent her a hard glare, even as his cheeks flushed.
Turning back to their daughter, he said, "My child, I brought a gift for you."
Zeus handed her a necklace. It was a dime-sized opal whose colors reflected Buffy's aura. Two tiny charms dangled from silver chains down each side, a moon and lighting bolt, respectively. Buffy had never seen anything more beautiful.
"It's beautiful, thank you." She touched the tiny charms, causing them to swing softly. "These are you and mom, aren't they?" Her joy noticeably dimmed as she stared at the beautiful center stone. She caressed it tenderly. "Is this Zierra?" she asked quietly. She couldn't bring herself to look at them. Afraid of what she would see on their faces. Even though she knew Zierra was a part of her, Buffy didn't want them to see her as only the holder of their daughter's spirit.
"No, little star, it is you. The silver sparkle at the center is Zierra but the rest is your beautiful soul. We believe our daughter chose our youngest child wisely. You are exactly what this Earth needs as a Guardian; she was the first and you are the last," Zeus whispered.
Selene looked at the two golden heads with tears flowing down her beautiful face. Buffy extracted herself from Zeus' hold. She crossed the short distance to Selene, kneeling down to lay her head in her lap.
"Mother?" Selene's heart quickened. "Will you bless the amulets for Richard's pack?"
Gently, lovingly stroking the golden head in her lap, she replied, "Yes, my sweet, it will be as you will, and your plan sounds excellent. It will help ease my children of the moon's adjustment into their new life." Pausing briefly, she asked, "Would it be all right if I come and visit you again, when you are alone of course?"
Buffy smiled eagerly nodding in agreement. "I'm glad you were here tonight. I don't feel so lonely anymore or angry at my destiny. Thank you." She looked at Zeus. "You could drop by too if you wanted. We could just hang out, eat pizza, watch some movies and stuff, but without the whole lightning thing, you know. I mean if you're not too busy bossing everyone around up in the clouds," she mumbled.
Zeus laughed, "Pizza and movies sounds good and I promise no lightning."
Buffy noticed that it was getting lighter outside and with a resigned sigh, she said, "I guess you two better go before Anita wakes up. I don't want to try to explain you to her."
Selene kissed Buffy's forehead. "The amulets are on the table and will do as you wish."
Zeus hugged her and they disappeared as the sun shone through the skylight.
Later that morning, Buffy sat down over coffee thinking about everything that had happened. With a brief start, she realized she wasn't tired and then shrugged it off guessing that with the upgrade of power as Guardian she didn't need to sleep anymore or only very little. She was mildly grateful for that little perk, which meant she was able to get more done as needed. She heard Anita moving around and set out another cup.
Anita walked in looking more than slightly ruffled rubbing her eyes. Buffy pointed to the coffee, Anita just grumbled and poured herself a cup. She breathed in deeply opening her eyes in surprise and gratitude, "This coffee is awesome, what is it?"
"Jamaican Blue Mountain, the best coffee in the world. When you're fully awake and ready, I thought we could go over a few things today, maybe spar a little then stop by your house and pick up your stuff." (Believe me it is the best coffee)
Anita knew after looking at Buffy's aura last night the blonde was on their side. There was just something about the blonde that bugged-the-hell-out-of her. She planned to call Edward and have him find out more about "Barbie" had time.
"Are you sure you want to spar with me?" Anita asked arrogantly "When you knocked me down yesterday, it was more from surprise than anything else. I've taken martial arts for years. It's true we're roughly the same height but I've got more muscle mass than you. I don't want to hurt you" Much. Ok, so she's powerful magically, but there's no way in hell she can take me one-on-one in a fair fight.
Buffy smiled. Here we go again; maybe I shouldn't have let her sleep until it was time to leave. "I'm sure I can hold my own. It's only sparring, right? We don't plan to go full force, or want to kill the other. If it gets out of hand, we can just yell Uncle!"
Like she could ever make me say 'Uncle'. I can't wait to get her on the mat. "Bring it on Barbie."
Damn, she had her inner-Muppet super-sized. "Let's go, the gym is this way."
Buffy walked off not waiting to see if Anita would follow. She led the way to the back of the house. The room she entered was enormous and had every type exercise accoutrement known to man. Machines lined the walls, with the center area left free for sparring. Large padded mats provided safety from injury and the farthest back wall displayed an array of martial arts weaponry from staffs to fans to katana.
"There's extra work out clothes in the closet in the bathroom through those doors," Buffy said, pointing toward the back. "I'll come back after you've finished your warm up. I've already worked out this morning so I'm good to go."
A feral grin spread across Anita's face as she watched Buffy leave the room. Oh yeah, Barbie's going down.
Roughly, thirty minutes later, Buffy returned and found Anita ready to start the match. She stepped onto the mats, bowed respectfully, and ignored the blatant insult when Anita responded with the slightest nod. Buffy watched as the emotion drained from Anita's face. They moved into their ready stances each waiting for the other to attack. Buffy's stance appeared relaxed, her body loose, almost too loose. She kept her senses alert, realizing Anita's warm up had woken up more than just her muscles. Buffy wondered if the other woman hated most new people or just her. Perhaps, it was change she had trouble dealing with; one thing was certain "dealing" wasn't Anita's strong suit.
Watching Buffy maintain a relaxed and loose attitude, what little patience Anita previously had finally snapped as she advanced toward Buffy determined to wipe that stupid smile off the other woman's face. She lunged forward with a front, right lunge, roundhouse combination. Buffy easily blocked her moves. She tried spinning into a back kick to sweep Buffy's feet. Her feet moved through the air as Buffy dodged once more then flipped backward delivering a solid kick to Anita's chin, which sent her to the mat. She quickly got back to her feet, while Buffy completed her flip. Anita then landed a solid blow to Buffy's stomach. She let out an excited growl and tried to deliver another to the blonde's face. It wasn't as successful. Her arm met Buffy's forearm as she blocked the strike. Buffy continued the arm sweep, pinning Anita's arm to her side. The Executioner saw red as she then tried to thrust her fingers at Buffy's windpipe in an immobilizing strike. The Slayer had had enough. She swatted the hand away and pulled on the arm she still held captive, which left Anita open for the lesson she was about to receive. Buffy simultaneously released her hold and landed the flat-handed blow to Anita's chest that sent her flying across the room. She stood back to watch the dark haired woman hit the far wall, mentally giving her an eight point three for the landing.
Mildly dazed and completely furious, Anita jumped up cursing. She realized she had landed next to the swords and without stopping to think, she grabbed one and rushed Buffy with the deadly blade. Buffy turned and jumped backward narrowly missing get sliced as Anita swung around to take another swipe. Realizing the other woman was so emerged in her rage that she was not rational; Buffy slowed her heart rate and breathing as she braced herself for the inevitable outcome. She planted her feet and waited. This was a lesson Anita had to learn and it best if she learned it here on her, than some unknown innocent. Time slowed as the silver blade arced across her abdomen. Anita's blind rage as she raked the sword across Buffy's stomach, quickly dissipated upon realizing what she'd just done. Buffy grabbed her bleeding stomach and fell to her knees. Anita's eyes grew large as she dropped the sword, staring at it as if she couldn't remember where or how it came to be in her hand. She rushed over to crouch down beside Buffy. A barrage of confused emotions rushed her, causing her to feel like her head had just exploded.
What had she done? "Buffy are you all right? Oh my God! What have I done!?! I don't know what I was thinking! I was so angry and I felt I just had to beat you no matter what."
Buffy realized that Anita was only just starting to understand how out of control her anger had become. "Anita, it's okay, I'm going to be okay. They're sparring swords, so the cut isn't deep. But, I'm worried about you though. Anita, your anger is out of control. Could you live with yourself if you had seriously injured me or an innocent?" Buffy asked, concern written on her face.
She didn't even go for the other sword; she didn't have anything to defend herself with. She was unarmed! I could have seriously hurt her, or someone else! I am becoming a monster! Have I damaged my soul beyond repair?
"Anita, you're not a monster," Buffy said, causing Anita's head to jerk up and her eyes to go wide, before they quickly narrowed. "And no, I'm not reading your mind, just the expression on your face. Listen, anger isn't a bad thing per se. It's there for a reason, it can help you when you have to fight, help keep yourself alive. But, you have to learn to channel it, if you leave it unchecked the way you' have, it'll consume your soul then you will become a monster. I've seen it happen, and believe me it's not pretty. I wasn't able to help my friend when she needed me because the Buffyverse was my only concern. But, I'd like to help you if you'd let me, as much for me as for you," she pleaded softly.
Anita looked at her with a mixture of residual anger and self-contempt, and yelled, "What can you do? Can you change my life? Can you bring my mother back? Or will I suddenly become the perfect princess my father and stepmother wanted? Can you change the bullshit I live with of every vamp, jonesing for a name, wanting to use me for a chew toy or deciding they want to add me to their collection? Because that's where all this anger and rage comes from...my fucking life!!!"
"No, I can't change that Anita, and neither can you. Maybe, just maybe, I can help you learn to be comfortable in your own skin," Buffy snapped right back at her, irritated. "If you're interested, let's go somewhere more comfortable and talk about it."
With her own irritation suddenly diffused, Buffy slowly pushed up off the mat and left the room. She kept her hand over the wound to keep Anita from seeing how deeply she had cut her. She'd lied earlier about the sharpness of the blade. Every weapon in the house was battle ready, meant for use at any time. Buffy went upstairs to change clothes. Stepping into the bathroom, she retrieved took a towel and wiped away the blood to reveal the flawless skin beneath. She touched her tattoo, and Spike's smirking face came crystal clear to her mind, as she whispered under her breath, "Wish me luck, Big Bad, I'm gonna need it."
Anita sat in the living room while Buffy was upstairs tending to her wound. The dark green and cream decor gave it a cool, welcoming feel. There were lush leather couches that felt buttery smooth against her skin as she sank down on one to wait. Antique candles and picture frames done in tasteful silver and gold caught her eye as they picked up the afternoon light streaming in through the large picture windows. She had grown used to Jean Claude's lavishly extravagant taste. Buffy's taste however, though no less expensive, had an understated elegance she found welcoming and she hated to admit, also calming. Buffy came downstairs and sat on the couch opposite her. She quietly observed Anita who seemed lost in thought.
"Do you want my help?" Buffy asked softly then waited for the other woman to answer.
"What I want is control, until it's time to lose control. For the last year, I've felt pulled in every direction with other people deciding how I should live my life. I want to be the one to decide."
"Believe it or not, I can relate. I spent several years angry at the way my life turned out and blamed other people. Until finally I caught a clue and decided to take control of my life, and accept the things that were beyond my control. I learned the only thing I had control over was me; so, I decided how I wanted to live my life and set about living it. I can teach you the tools you need to learn to control your anger and your powers, but it's up to you to use them. If you're interested come with me." Buffy stated, and stood up with her hand held out to Anita, waiting.
After a brief contemplation, Anita allowed Buffy to pull her up and lead her outside. The backyard resembled a Japanese garden, with fishponds and bubbling brooks. Buffy sat down in the lotus position and motioned for Anita to do the same.
"Last night you learned about auras and got a look at mine. Today, you need to look at your own. You need to know what's going on inside you. What you're working to control. Once inside, and only if you want to, there are healing chants you can perform that will give you more control and heal any tears in your aura. It's basic healing, which you control. It's up to you. Remember, you're in control. You choose what does or doesn't happen." Buffy spoke in soft, soothing tones. Her voice became hypnotic as the session continued. "Breathe deeply and focus on yourself look inward. Once you feel focused, you should see your shields walk through them slowly. Once you're inside, you'll see your aura. The rest is up to you. Should you decide to heal what you see, remember these words and softly chant: 'Where the light dawns, the darkness must sleep.' When you're ready to leave, do everything in reverse. I'm going to leave you here, remember you're in control here. This is your journey."
Anita sat quietly after Buffy left. She remembered everything Buffy had told her to do to see her aura. Breathing deeply, she focused on herself, until she could see her shields with her inner-eye. She "mentally frowned" realizing they were solid steel walls with no door. Mentally walking up to the steel walls, she slowly walked through her shields. Once inside she took her the first look at her aura and gasped in dismay. She remembered Buffy's aura filled with bright beautiful colors and felt nauseous looking at her own. She saw deep dark colors. They seemed to ooze with the rage and hate and bitterness she had felt nearly every day of her life since her mother's death. Anita felt sure there were other ways to fix the damage to her aura. She decided against using the chant, feeling uncomfortable using magic on her aura no matter the color. Inhaling deeply once again, she slowly backed away from her dark-hued aura and stepped through her shields. When she slowly opened her eyes, she realized it must have taken her longer than it seemed. It was already late afternoon. After sitting a short while with what she'd learned, Anita got up and went inside the house.
She thought over everything that had happened the last two days while she looked for Buffy. She finally found her in the study, with her eyes closed floating several inches off the ground. Anita backed into the door mild in shock and a little fear, causing Buffy's eyes to open, flashing a brilliant blue, before she floated slowly down to the ground.
Standing with the boneless grace Anita had seen in vampires and weres, Buffy strode across the room with her boundless energy. "How do you feel? Sorry about that, the first time I ever did it, it was way wiggy for me too. It's just deep meditation, where you draw your magic and shields into your body. I would have warned you. But, you were gone so long that I finally had to go ahead to be ready for tonight." She walked and talked, nearly a mile a minute, as she headed for the kitchen to retrieve some water. Buffy downed half a bottle as she pitched one to Anita. "Feeling better? Not trying to pry or anything, just wanted to know if your head's in the right place for tonight."
Anita felt like she was chasing the Energizer Bunny and Oprah's love child. "Yeah, well, feel better? No, not really. I'm ok for tonight, though. I'd like to talk to you about some of it another time, but not right now. We better get going," she hedged.
"A meet and greet with the Council requires proper attire, so I called and got your measurements from Richard. It'll be easier to preserve the glamour if the material stuff is close to the same. There's clothes laid out for you upstairs." Rubbing her hands together in mild excitement, she said, "Now, for the good stuff."
Anita wasn't sure how she felt about Buffy dressing her or the sudden gleam that entered the blonde's eyes. She watched with no small amount of trepidation, although she would deny it to her dying day, which may be tonight, as Buffy walked to the bookcase on the far wall. Light glowed from Buffy's hand as she touched the wall and the bookcase slid open to reveal a hidden room. With a grand gesture of invitation, Buffy bowed slightly and waved Anita into the room. Suspiciously wondering what she was walking into, she put her hand on one of her weapons and went inside.
Stopping up short with her mouth dropping open in awe, she thought. Damn this is Edward's wet dream. I think I'm getting my own little happy here.
Each wall held different types of weapons. The far left wall held every type gun conceivable, some never seen outside the manufacturer's vaults. Swords and axes adorned the right wall, and the second half of the same wall had knives of every shape and size, including throwing stars. The front wall displayed explosives from the tiniest microdot of nitroglycerin to cakes of C4 to a rocket launcher.
In the middle of the room, an axe, unlike anything Anita had ever seen, lay encased in glass. The head gleamed silver while the black and red wooden shaft came to a sharpened point. The Executioner stared at the unusual weapon. Buffy simple smiled at the Scythe, eyes twinkling with something akin to eagerness and fondness all wrapped together. It whispered comforting words to her like the greeting of an old friend.
"Anita, could you pick out the weapons you normally carry. There's matching holsters or harnesses for everything here. I'm also going to need to know about any other scars you have, other than the ones I've seen on your arms. The clothes will cover your weapons, but not your scars."
Anita picked out the knives, guns and matching holsters. She didn't take one to match the gun in her pant holster. She was starting to trust the blonde some, but not that much. She had learned the hard way to keep something back, just in case. It had saved her life on more than one occasion. Buffy watched Anita's face while she handled the weapons and could almost hear the other woman's inner dialogue.
Once they finished arming up, Buffy herded Anita out, sealing the room behind her. She grabbed the amulets Selene had blessed on their way upstairs to dress. Practically shoving the stubborn older woman into her room with the instruction to get ready, Buffy headed for her own bedroom to do the same. Finally dressed and looking in the mirror, Anita hated the dress. It hugged her body, stopping mere inches below her curvaceous rear. The length and material were bad enough. Although the black leather felt buttery soft against her skin, it appeared painted on and gave her pale complexion an almost translucent appearance. Okay, she could have dealt with that, but no, the damned thing had peek-a-boo cutouts down the overly long sleeves, with wide bars of skin showing through across her arms and shoulder. The patterns of cutouts created a deep vie across her chest, holding her rather voluptuous breasts up for display. It even had slits up the sides that barely stopped her from flashing the entire world when she walked. She probably would have too, if the damned thing didn't fit like a glove. If she didn't know better, she would think Buffy had hired magic elves to sew the cursed dress. It fit her measurements that perfectly. Damn Barbie!
"Looking at this dress, I'd swear she called Jean-Claude not Richard. Well at least I can move and reach my weapons." Strapping them in place, she realized there was no way she could take her second gun without it showing, damnit. She'd seriously rather have her arm gnawed off by some vamp than go through with this crap. Stomping downstairs, she found Buffy dressed identically to her, except her dress was royal blue. "Since you had everything here, we might as well go. There's no need to go by my house anymore," Anita growled.
"Damn, I thought you'd at least be happy to be on your way to shooting something."
"Don't push me, Barbie. I've had just about all I can take from you. Your arrival has turned my life upside down. What exactly are you anyways? I've never seen a witch like you before," Anita yelled.
Buffy straightened looking Anita directly in the eyes her body shifting predatorily as she advanced on the dark haired woman. Anita took a step back then caught herself, letting everything drain from her eyes as she prepared for an attack. She watched for the first time as real anger entered Buffy's eyes. She recognized that something had come to life inside that tiny body - a predator, and a dangerous one. Anita pulled her gun and in a blur of gold, they went flying across the room.
"Listen up, Miss Zombie Queen! I'm trying to help save those hostages, remember them? While your schedule's obviously overflowing with your hourly ego attacks. Oh yeah, and that yummy vampire you keep saying you don't like, hmm and who else is on the Council's list? Oh yeah, YOU! If you'd ever pull your head out long enough to think with your brain rather than that gun of yours. Get over yourself. We don't have to bow down to the great Anita Blake. You want to let Travel Dude take a ride on the Zombie Express, go right ahead, fine by me; or maybe you want to be the Lion King's new bitch. You want to keep acting like this when we are trying to help those people? FINE! It must not matter that your way is going to get most of them killed. What was I thinking; it doesn't matter to the almighty Executioner! Because everything is all about HER!!" Buffy stomped off, muttering under her breath about stupid hardheaded people, gods and fates.
"Buffy, wait...Okay, look, I still don't trust you, but I do know that you're the best chance we have of winning against the Council getting our people back safely. If you're still willing to help, we might as well get this over with and get going."
Knowing this was as close to an apology as the other woman could give, Buffy nodded and moved toward the car. Outside the Circus of the Damned, Buffy grabbed Anita's hand as her eyes glowed. She looked down her own body then lifted her hand to touch Anita's temple.
It caused warmth to spread throughout her body. Her eyes narrowed at Buffy. "What did you do?"
Buffy giggled before she whispered conspiratorially, "I thought we'd see if your boys could pick you out of a line up. Let's go, Queenie."
"Sure thing wicked witch," Anita snorted.
She stomped into the club then headed toward Jean-Claude's office. Buffy caught up with her, matching Anita stomp for stomp. She stopped and stared at herself, cocking a brow in inquiry. "Gotta act as bitchy as you or they'll know right away it's me." Buffy continued on to the office, mimicking Anita's every gesture. Shang-Da and Jamil guarded the door as the two Anita's approached. The girls started to argue when they wouldn't allow them to pass. The others came out to see what was going on in the hall. They had their hands on their hips and threatened the men with bodily harm if they didn't allow them into the office.
"Ah, ma petites, you look delicious. Come, let us see you better," Jean-Claude purred, motioning them forward with his hand.
The Anitas pushed past Shang-Da and Jamil, scowling and cursing under their breath. They then turned in sync to send Jean-Claude twin glares.
"You think you know me so well, that you could find me no matter where I am. Well, I'm right in front of you, so come and get me, the real me, if you can."
The women talked interchangeably, smoothly finishing each other's sentences. Everyone watched the byplay between the Anita's and the Master of the City, glancing last at the Ulfric.
Richard stiffened with annoyance as the Anitas glared at Jean-Claude, not even sparing him a glance. As if reading his mind, they turned toward him.
"Don't worry, honey, you'll get your chance. So, Jean-Claude where am I? Which is the real me?"
With hands on their hips, they threw out their challenged. He reached out with his mind, searching for their connection and traces of her power, confident that he would get through to Anita this time. The one in blue held faint traces of Anita's power but a tight clamp held it closed. The little witch thinks she has hidden ma petite's power enough that I won't be able to feel it.
Considering the Anita in black, he felt nothing from her just like before. He smiled looking at Richard. "Jamil will hold my answer, until my wolf also takes his turn."
"I'm not your wolf, damnit." Richard snarled as his eyes turned amber. He approached the women, sniffing them, and surprisingly, they smelled the same. In a move born of intimacy and instinct, he grabbed the Anita in black, kissing her passionately. She melted into his arms, he pulled away to declare, "This is Anita." He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her again.
"You are wrong, my wolf. That one has no power, none of ma petite's fire. You are kissing petite sorciere. Clearly, ma petite, I am the winner," Jean-Claude replied smugly.
Anita pulled away from Richard to send Jean-Claude her patented death glare. "Everyone was right; you only want me for my power. Oh yeah, I'm the only woman to ever tell you no. You son of a bitch..." Anita stalked toward Jean-Claude, cursing at him in Spanish as her temper and power filled the room.
"Wow, this is better than an episode of Passions," Buffy giggled. "Okay, enough of As the Zombie Turns. Anita, you got some answers, yay you. They may not be what you wanted, but there you go. 'Course, everything might not be what it seems either. I hope you survive this, JC. I'll have fun watching you dig your cute butt out of that hole you've dug. Do you own a shovel? Back to business, Richard here are the amulets I promised. They'll protect you from the Beasty Boy. Please, don't lose them. Wouldn't want them falling into the wrong hands, or uh, paws? Anita, leave Fang Face alone and come here."
Anita glared at Buffy before she surprised everyone, including herself, by quietly going over to stand in front of her look-a-like. Mere moments later, when she turned back around, she looked like Buffy. Buffy in her Anita-suit paced the room thinking through her plan. She stopped to look at each of the others. "Anita, you, Jason, Damian and Sylvie are responsible for the Weres. Take out whoever gets in your way, then come and find us. JC, me, Richard, Shang-Da and Jamil will take care of Travel Agent and Beasty Boy. Shang-Da and Jamil, you two focus on finding and taking out the traitor then getting the vampires out as quickly as possible. Richard, you're responsible for keeping Simba busy while Jean-Claude visits with his old friend," she rattled off orders, expecting everyone to agree as she played through every possible outcome in her mind.
"What are you going to do?" Damian asked in his quiet voice.
Buffy smiled at him, liking his quiet ways and stoic loyalty. "I'm delivering the Traveler's walking papers. He thinks he's going to take Anita's body on a little spin; instead, I'm sending him on a one-way with no return passage and no refunds. Let's get this show on the road. I got a new dress. Hell, I even got a new body and I want to go show it off."
Her lips tilted upward into a naughty smile that somehow looked out of place on Anita's face. Adding some extra sway to her more curvaceous hips, she left the office. The giggle that escaped her lips echoed in the halls when she heard Anita's low growl. Buffy headed for the waiting limo and climbed inside to wait for the others. Looking out the window at the moon shining overhead, she closed her eyes.
"Mother, please watch over us. They don't realize that the Council has declared war on them or that tonight will be my first strike against the Council. Too bad Spike isn't here; he always did like a good brawl. Hope psycho babe doesn't decide to shoot at me again; I hate getting shot. Faith would dig the clothes here. So much leather, she'd think she had gone to Biker Heaven. Wonder how much damage this body can handle. Guess I'm fixing to give it its first test run. Hope I don't have to end up showing the boys all my goodies on the first date. Go, Go, Guardian Powers!!!"
The End.