Brave and the Bold - Sunnydale - Chapter Four

STORY TITLE: Brave and the Bold - Sunnydale

PART: 04 of ??  

AUTHOR: Red Jacobson (redjacobsonfiction@gmail.com)

DISTRIBUTION:  My Yahoo Group, FF.Net, Twisting the Hellmouth, Hentai-Foundry, Questionable Questing 

DISCLAIMER: None of the Characters You Recognize belong to me, The BtVS Characters are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy (GRR! ARGH!), the DCU characters are the property of DC/Warner Brothers and whoever else holds their copyrights.   SUMMARY: After Halloween, Sunnydale has five new heroes!

FEEDBACK: Of course! It Makes Me Write Faster

RELATIONSHIPS: Xander/Willow, Xander/Willow/Buffy, Buffy/Harmony, Xander/Willow/Harmony, Xander/Willow/Buffy/Harmony

RATING: NC-17

WORD COUNT: <4,101> 

SPOILERS:  Canon up to Season Two Episode Halloween

WARNINGS: If You've ever read any of my stories, you know what to expect, Oral, anal, Femme-slash, dom/sub, multiple partners, and Femme-cest.  

NOTE:  There is no Dawn in this Universe

ADDITIONAL NOTE:   I'm stealing Joyce's dad and sisters from Vidicon's amazing series Lonely Souls, on Twisting the Hellmouth.   I've reached out to the author for permission but haven't heard back yet.

Saturday, November 1st, 1997

Desert outside of Sunnydale

Just after dawn

The girl lay shivering on the ground, her hooded cloak wrapped around her body.  The being who had inhabited her body had just departed, back to her home dimension, but the nightmares had remained behind.   She was struggling with all her might, her teammates, her friends fighting beside her, but it was no use, she was being dragged forward, her father towering above them, his hideous form bathed in the hellfire of his home.  She was screaming in hatred and fear, the barriers holding her emotions in check crumbling to dust in the face of her enemy, but nothing she did could stop her from approaching him. 

And now, she was before him, before Trigon the Monstrous, Destroyer of Azar and Azeroth, and she was forced to her knees.  Her friends were on their knees beside her, Richard, Victor, Garfield, Kori'andr, Tara and the others and a burst of flame were rushing toward them... 

“No! No!” the girl shouted, sitting up.  “Holy fuck, what a nightmare.  Wait, where am I?  Shit! Was that real?”  Amy Madison climbed shakily to her feet, still trembling from the nightmare, the memory of being Raven, member of the Titans, and daughter of Trigon.   

How Raven had become aware of her surroundings the night before, but the pulsating evil from the dimensional rift, she called it a Hellmouth, nearly overcame her shields and she had to flee.  Her guilt at hearing Nightwing calling out, but not being able to get close enough to reach him.   How she had spent the night in the secluded area, after putting up protection spells against the evil, and worked feverishly to reinforce her shields, until she fell asleep a few hours before dawn.

"Holy Mother of God! That was real!  Does Raven actually exist?  But, what about the others who were here, she remembered Nightwing, and Starfire and the others, did they leave the memories behind as well?"  Amy paused, trying to remember who was wearing the costumes and gave a sigh as she brought up Xander, Willow, and Buffy among those who were part of everything. 

“Damn, at least they are already helping people.  I really hope that Trigon doesn't decide to pay a visit to this world, the vampires and regular nasties are bad enough!”  Amy laughed shakily, “Hard to believe, but Catherine was practically Mrs. Brady compared to Raven's father.”

Looking around her, Amy spotted Wilkins Highway not that far away, so she started walking, trying to make sense of her memories as she made her way toward town.

Amy was exhausted and her feet were killing her by the time she finally reached her house, but at least she still had her house key.  Letting herself in, she locked the door behind her and stripped out of the costume she'd picked up, just because she remembered arguing with Jonathon, Jesse and Xander about comic books when they were little and the memory had made her smile.

Taking a shower to rinse off the remains of her night in the desert, she pulled on some sweatpants and a t-shirt before doing something she thought she would never do.  Pulling down the ladder to the attic, she went up to Catherine's domain, a silent prayer for her soul on her lips as she pulled out her mother's Book of Shadows.  Pricking her finger with a needle, Amy let a drop of blood fall on the lock, and when it released, opened the book.

1630 Revello Drive

Saturday, November 1st, 1997

That Afternoon 

Joyce sat back at the computer, rubbing her eyes tiredly.  She'd called Pat as soon as she got home, but unfortunately, her local lover was busy until later that evening, but had promised to stop by, with a couple of new toys she'd picked up! 

Joyce had laid down, but she was still too angry about the confrontation with that damned Watcher to be able to relax enough to sleep.  She had called her dad up in Imperial, and without going into detail, managed to get him to agree to visit and take her to the firing range.  She still had Emma's memories, but her muscle memory had faded almost completely away.  It had been years since she had fired any sort of weapon, not since she was in High School and she, Charlotte and Arlene had spent all those afternoons out in the desert with their dad shooting at cans and soda bottles.  Hank had hated all guns, of course, so she had stopped practicing when they started dating seriously.   She didn't know why she didn't start again when they divorced, she'd really enjoyed the practice.

Finally, she decided to take a closer look at Mayor Richard Wilkins.   It hadn't taken long to find the first of the red flags that something strange was going on.   Richard Wilkins the First, no date of birth, married, wife died 1917, no date of death.  Succeeded by Richard Wilkins the Second, looks enough alike to be the same man, no date of birth, no marriages, no date of death.   Richard Wilkins the Third, no date of birth, no marriages. Became Mayor in 1987, no record of an opponent, no listing of vote totals?  What the hell was going on here?

That was only the start of the strangeness she discovered in a cursory search.  And that just brought up more questions.  Why didn't anybody notice?  Was it part of what Buffy called 'Sunnydale Syndrome'? Or was there an intelligence behind the willful blindness.

Finally, she'd reached the limit of her concentration and sat back in the chair.   This was too big for her to handle on her own.  She really needed another set of eyes looking over it.  Typing up what she had discovered, and attaching the newspaper articles, she saved the file and reached for the phone.   Pulling the number from the depths of memory, she checked the time, mentally converting California time to England, and, seeing it was still a reasonable hour, dialed the number. 

The phone was picked up on the second ring, and the cultured voice, so familiar in memories came over the line.  “Steed,”

“John, my name is Joyce Summers, and before you say anything, Tick-Tock47-Q-36.”

There was a brief pause, and then his voice came back over the line, interest in his tone.  “Very Well, you are authenticated.  Do you need assistance?”

Joyce gave a shaky laugh, “You could say that.  First of all, are you sitting down, because I've got a hell of a story to tell you!”

November 1st, 1997

Rupert Giles Apartment

Later that Night 

The bottle of whiskey had been emptied ages ago, and he and Jenny were sitting on his couch, his vinyl of 'American Beauty' playing in the background.   The shouting was over, all secrets revealed, Giles found he didn't give a shit about the Council's secrets any longer.  Not when placed against the life of the girl in his charge.  Jenny had confessed her birth name and the mission that the clan had given her, although she didn't know the reason why.   That led to both of them cheerfully cursing people who had authority over them keeping secrets, and Jenny grabbing the whiskey and pouring herself a drink. 

He had even surprised himself by telling her about Ethan and the others, and she had been intrigued by the stories of drunkenness and debauchery, especially the times that he and Ethan had 'shared a bird' and didn't particularly care where they stuck their todger!    Of course, Jenny had to share a few stories of her own, with her college roommate, Lilah, and how they had enjoyed more than a few steamy threesomes themselves.

The stories had the expected result, but Giles, who would later curse himself for his gentlemanly upbringing, said “Jenny, if we keep talking the way we are, you know as well as I do that you will end up naked in my bed.  And while I would absolutely love to have you there, neither of us are sober enough to make that decision.   We have to work together, and, if you are still interested in the morning, then you will find yourself screaming my name to the heavens within the hour!”

Jenny raised an eyebrow at him, quirking a grin.  “Think that highly of yourself, English?  Yeah, at the moment I'm extremely tempted, but I'm also more than a couple over my limit, and I don't want regrets to go with my hangover.”  Pushing herself to her feet, she said, “I'm starving, I was about to grab some dinner when my phone rang to get my arse over here, and I still want to know how the hell a fictional character managed to get in touch with me!”

Climbing to his feet, Giles smiled slightly, this was a safer subject for conversation.  “Yes, I do have enough to make dinner for both of us, just give me a few minutes.  As for being contacted by a fictional character, again, we go back to my dear friend Ethan, who had opened a costume shop where my Slayer and her friends had rented their costumes.   From what I understand, all of them dressed as superheroes, most of whom were connected to Batman, apparently the characters exist in their own reality and had become aware of our own.   Why this John Constantine chose to ask you to intervene, I'm not certain, but I'm very glad he did!”

“Yeah, me too, English, me too!” 

Kendall Residence

Saturday, November 1st, 1997

Late that Night 

Xander was relaxing on the couch, his arm around Willow, who was snuggled into him, dozing. Harmony, Buffy, and Cordy were in a puppy pile on the carpet, sound asleep.  He still needed to pinch himself at times, he honestly couldn't believe what had happened since the spell broke this morning!  He'd had sex, multiple times with Willow, which really didn't surprise him, looking back her feelings for him were obvious, he was just too blind to notice.  But having Buffy, Harmony and Cordelia willingly having sex with him, and with each other?  If he was writing this, Penthouse would reject it as too unrealistic!  

But it actually happened, and none of the girls seemed inclined to call things off, so he needed to start thinking about to make this grouping work.   He would ask for the girl's input, but since Willow especially, and the others to an extent were deferring to him, it was going to be up to him to lay the groundwork.   He idly wished that he had a way to reach Nightwing, he didn't seem to have a problem with multiple lovers.  But then, he was in a comic book universe and there were probably different natural laws about things like that. 

Putting the sexual relationships aside, he really wasn't happy with Giles or the Watchers right now.  The thought of what could happen on Buffy's 18th birthday filled him with an icy fury that he struggled to calm, it wouldn't be a good idea to take off for Giles' place and beat the crap out of him. Especially since he wasn't Nightwing, and he needed a lot of training to be able to hold his own against the older man.  

He was still impressed that Cordy had thought ahead enough to locate a couple of trainers for all of them, and since one of them was a retired small teams instructor from the army, that would give them an advantage learning to fight together.   His prices weren't cheap, but with the money that Cordy and Harmony had access to, and the piles of cash that he, Buffy and Willow could add to the kitty, it wasn't going to be a hardship paying for it.

The difficulty would be finding a way to account for the cash, with all of them underage, there would be questions asked if they just tried to deposit it.  Although Mrs. Summers, now that she was aware of things, might be willing to help out.   She could probably also help him with getting emancipated, there was no way he was going to keep living in Casa Harris, not with the ladies in his life.  He didn't want to subject them to Tony's drunken advances.  Not that they couldn't put him in his place easily enough, but they shouldn't have to.

He was still thinking when he fell asleep, the long night and day finally catching up to him.

Amy Madison's House 

Sunday, November 2nd, 1997

Just After Midnight

It had been a very long and tiring day for Amy.  She'd gone through Catherine's book of shadows, managing to avoid three separate traps that her mother had set.  She was shaken to realize, reading some of the entries, that Catherine hadn't just been insane, she was actually evil!  Some of the rituals her mother had described were enough to make Amy feel physically ill.   She could feel Raven's horror in the back of her mind and draw on the girl's strength in getting through the book.   

She had been searching for rituals of protection from demons, because if Trigon became aware of her, there was no way he wouldn't try to take her, and she didn't have a team of Titans to cover her back.  Although with Xander and the others, maybe she did?  Of course, approaching Xander would have it's own difficulties, considering that she'd been nursing a crush on him ever since he helped stop Catherine, and she could feel Raven's interest in Nightwing as well, although Raven's desires were a bit more carnal than Amy was really comfortable with at the moment.

After hours of searching, she finally gave up in frustration, locking the books back up and climbing down the ladder.   Closing the attic door, she caught sight of herself in the hallway mirror and cringed at how dirty she had gotten.   

There was no way she was going to try and sleep covered in dust and cobwebs!  Walking into the Master bedroom, she pulled out her pajamas and carried them into the bathroom with her.  Stripping out of the dirty clothes, she dumped them in the hamper.  Shaking her head, she really needed to do laundry in the morning.  

Starting the shower, she waited until the water was comfortable, her mind wandering to what she had read, and wondered what had started Catherine on the path she took?  Was she always so twisted, or did she start out as a normal girl, curious about magic?  Whatever it was, Amy was glad the woman was gone!

Once she felt clean again, Amy changed into her pajamas and padded back into the bedroom, drawing on Raven's memories for wards of protection.  She wasn't certain they would work since she didn't have Raven's power to draw on, but hopefully, her own power would be enough. 

Shutting out the lights, she was soon asleep.

Amy looked around in confusion, she was surrounded by darkness, with nothing but vague shapes around her, she felt like she should know where she was but was drawing a blank.  All she knew was that she wasn't at home in bed, which is the last thing she remembered.  

Suddenly the darkness disappeared, as rows of overhead lights came on, and she recognized where she was, the girls' locker room at the High School, which was strange, but not that unusual.  She looked around and breathed a sigh of relief, the door was right where it was supposed to be.  She headed to the door, but it seemed to keep getting further and further away, and, she started feeling like something was behind her.  She couldn't hear anything, and when she looked behind her, she could never quite see anything, but the feeling was getting more and more intense and she hurried her pace to try and make it to the door and get out of there. 

It seemed like it took hours, but eventually, she made it to the door, and, taking a deep breath, she reached for the door handle, only to be pulled backward by a hand on her shoulder!   The breath burst out of her chest and she reached for the hand, only to flail around at nothing as she found herself down on the floor by the lockers.   

Looking around wildly, she saw a flash of color on the wooden bench in front of her locker, and screamed, for, sitting on top of a neatly folded cheerleader uniform was the figure that held Catherine, and it was starting to glow.   She scrambled backward, her eyes fixed on the figure, as it started to grow, and move, and soon the metal was flowing away, leaving her mother standing there, dressed in her own cheerleader uniform, but it was obscenely too small, and Catherine was gliding towards her!

Amy tried to get to her feet, to get away, but she was frozen, trapped like a rabbit under the headlights glare, just watching at Catherine got closer and closer, until suddenly there was a huge something standing in front of her.  She didn't get a good look at it, other than it was huge, furry, and it was growling at the approaching woman, who seemed to have stopped in her tracks and was watching the thing with fear? With fear on her face, Amy realized, and started to move again, climbing to her feet and backing away, only to hear Xander's voice, strong and comforting, right behind her, "It's okay Amy, I've got you, and Alpha will keep your mother from getting any closer to you tonight, but you really need to wake up now." 

“Wake up? I am awake Xander, what are you talking about?”

"No Amy, you're having a nasty nightmare, and I'm trying to calm you down, your thrashing and screaming to wake the dead, and that's not a good thing here in Sunnydale.  So please, focus on my voice, and follow me, it's time to wake up." 

She took Xander's hand and walked forward, keeping a wary eye on Catherine, who was being held at bay by what she could see was a huge hyena, and made it to the door again in only a few steps.  Giving Xander's hand a squeeze, she took a grip on the door handle and pulled... 

Only to find herself in a room she didn't recognize, with Xander's arms wrapped around as he spoke softly in her ear.  

She was surprised to find that she was still shivering, and she twisted around so she could get her arms around Xander and held him tightly, reveling in the feeling of safety he offered her just by being there.

It took a few minutes, but the trembling passed, and she said, "Damn it!  That was the worst one yet, usually, it's just seeing that damned figurine everywhere I turn, and hearing her screaming at me, but that was the first time she was actually able to move!  Xander, I'm scared, she's trying to get me, and I'm afraid she won't stop until she does." 

“Amy, there's no way your mother can get out of that statue, even if she's still alive.  But if it would make you feel better, we can go by the High School tomorrow and check on the statue.”

It was Buffy who answered, which surprised Amy because she hadn't even noticed anybody else in the room!   Looking around, she saw that Willow was there, and Harmony?  Cordelia?  What the hell was going on? Then she took a closer look and realized what she was seeing, "Uh, hi Buffy, why are you all naked?" 

Willow giggled, “We're naked because we've been having sex for most of the day, but I'm wondering, did you dress up like Raven last night?”

Amy decided to ignore the comment about having sex, she really wasn't ready to deal with that yet and focused on Willow's question.  "Yes, I picked up the costume at Ethan's the other day to wear last night escorting the kids around.  But why do you ask?" 

Xander said, "Because you suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, wrapped in Raven's soul form, scaring the hell out of us.  You were yelling and screaming about her being after you.  And, as bad as Catherine was, at least it wasn't Trigon!" 

Amy shivered, remembering the dreams from last night, and Xander paled, “No, please don't tell me I jinxed us?  Please don't tell me that Trigon is after you,” he pleaded.

Amy shook her head, “No, I don't think so anyway.  I doubt he's even aware of this dimension, but I don't want to take the chance.   I don't know what I can do about it though, I'm hoping you have some ideas?”

Cordelia was the first to respond, “I don't know if it will help with your specific problem, but you probably should join us with the training I'm arranging.  Even if it's not much use against the mystical stuff, improving the body and strengthening the mind would help you fight off attempts to influence you long enough for the cavalry to arrive.”

Amy actually smiled, they may not have the answer to her problems, but at least they had some ideas, and that was more than she had.   She still didn't understand how she had been transported from her house to wherever she was, but that could wait until morning, she was tired, and Xander's arms were comfortable...    She didn't even notice falling back to sleep. 

Titan's Tower

Same Time

Raven sat up in bed, her eyes wide, the scream dying on her lips.  She didn't know why or how she was experiencing this Amy's nightmares, but it was extremely disturbing.  She remembered the flight from the Hellmouth but hadn't realized she'd left any of herself behind.  The poor girl was experiencing nightmares of her Father, and she didn't have the lifetime of experience in dealing with it.    

She remembered Richard saying something about assisting the local heroes who had dressed like them, perhaps she should offer her help as well? 

Reaching out with her senses, wanting to see if he was awake, she briefly touched his mind, only to pull back immediately.  He was awake, but neither he or the others were in any mood to be disturbed.   Raven had been well aware that Richard enjoyed the company of several different girls, but didn't realize that they enjoyed each other's company as well.  

It was still very confusing to her.   Her body was reacting in a way that was contrary to all rational thought, but she couldn't control it.   Even meditation didn't help for long, the only thing that did was allowing a small trickle of emotion to escape, to give herself some relief.  She hated that it was necessary, that she couldn't conquer the weakness inside her, but she did it anyway.

She tried not to think about what she was doing, but her mind betrayed her, picturing Richard and Kori'andr touching her, Donna leaning in an kissing her, their hands soft and knowing as the touched parts of her that were never meant to be touched until she finally cried out her release. 

Getting out of bed, she walked into the bathroom, and carefully not looking in the mirror, washed her hands several times before drying them and crawling back into bed.    

She was finally able to fall asleep a few minutes later.

End Chapter Four

A little shorter than the other chapters, but it felt like a good place to end.   See you next time!