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Life is Change	By : trudyw000 Category: BtVS Crossovers > Misc - Slash - Male/Male Views: 9166 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Sentinel, I make no money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 23
- 24
- 25
Authors Note: Sorry for the delay, I found it very difficult to get started with this chapter, possibly because it revolves around different characters. Still it needed to be written and here it is.
Thanks to Noirekitsune, jujukitty, rdroomvj, and Kathy for your reviews, they are much appreciated and push me back to writing more every time it gets hard.
Once I finally got started on this chapter I got a bit carried away, so now you 10,000+ words for your delight and delectation. Enjoy!
Chapter 24
"Willow Rosenberg, you tell me what you've done and you tell me right now!" Tara planted her hands on her hips and glared at the petite red-head who stood there with a look commonly compared to a deer in the headlights.
"Willow!" she repeated in a tone that clearly said that she would broke no nonsense.
It wasn't often that anyone saw the timid, blonde witch stand up to her more exuberant partner, this time however it was quite clear that Tara would not be denied. The tension that crackled between the two witches was enough to draw Buffy some way out of the deep funk she had fallen into when she thought Angel had lost his soul once more. She and Dawn watched the stand-off with some fascination.
Just as it seemed that Willow must break the cheerful sound of a bell shattered the silence as a young couple walked into the store. They immediately picked up on the atmosphere and swiftly backed out the door again but it was too late, the moment was gone. Willow had recovered some of her composure and whisked herself over to the shelves of herbs where she bustled about collecting the things she would need for the spell to restore Blair's soul. As she worked she called over her shoulder, clearly avoiding looking at Tara, "No time now, we need to get to the airport."
"Willow!" Tara tried to regain control but the attempt was half-hearted at best and Willow quickly steam-rollered over her.
"Sweetie, could you get the Orb of Thesulah" for me please, Giles keeps it up in the restricted section and you know he doesn't like me going up there." Willow artfully distracted her girlfriend, knowing full well that Tara was just as keen to keep her away from the strong magics that Giles stored up on the little balcony floor at the rear of the store as he himself was, maybe more-so! At Tara's hesitation she threw in, "I'll tell you everything once we're on the plane, I promise."
Whilst the girls hurriedly gathered the equipment and ingredients that they needed, some thousand miles north of Sunnydale Xander threw himself back down onto the couch, his legs whacking Spike sharply as he sat. "Ow" Spike yelped, more from reflex than any actual pain.
Xander was instantly contrite and leaned forward to lay a tender hand on the abused shoulder as he apologised.
Spike, of course, shook off the proffered apology and climbing lithely to his feet he settled in to snuggle up to Xander. Across from them Jim had pulled out his own phone and was already speaking to someone at the airport. In no time at all he had the flights arranged, it was costly at such short notice but Jim earned a reasonable wage and his tastes weren't expensive so he had plenty in his savings to cover it.
Xander called back to Sunnydale, this time it was Dawn who answered the phone. Willow was busy packing a small sample case with all the herbs and other ingredients they would need for the spell and Tara was still up in the restricted section so Dawn was the closest.
"Dawn, how's Buffy?" Xander asked the question awkwardly, he'd been so wrapped up in his concern for Blair that he'd never even considered the way his words might be taken by the girls.
"Xander, she'll be fine, don't worry." Dawn reassured him gently.
"I'm so sorry, I never even thought..." Xander clenched his free hand in his hair distractedly as he spoke.
"Don't worry," Dawn repeated, "I know you didn't mean to upset anyone it's just..." she paused for a moment, uncertain how much to say, "Buffy's been on edge since you guys left, we all have, it's so strange not having you here."
"I'm sorry, we'll be home soon. Do you have a pen and paper, I've got the flight details for Willow and Tara." Xander recited the details as Dawn dutifully copied them down and then repeated them back to him.
"Willow and Tara are busy getting the stuff together, they'll be heading home to pack as soon as they're done here. They'll be with you in a few hours, and Xander..." Dawn went silent, uncharacteristically nervous, unsure how her next words would be received, "say hi to Spike for me."
"Of course Dawnie, and thanks," then the connection clicked closed and Dawn was left holding the silent handset, more confused than ever.   Dawn was missing Spike, he'd been a good friend to her and she didn't really have the same memories of him in the early years that the others had. The monks had planted those memories of course, but it was strange, over time, as she built up real memories of her own the ones planted by the monks were fading so that now they seemed more like images from a barely remembered film, watched in childhood and mostly forgotten. She'd needed to ask after Spike but hadn't really expected a civil answer. Still, Spike had been the one to support Xander when his senses went haywire and from Xander's casual reply it almost seemed like... But no, it couldn't be, she wondered if anyone had checked the temperature in hell lately. Could Spike and Xander actually be... getting along! Hanging up the phone she was left wondering just when she would see Xander or Spike again, and what was the secret that Willow seemed determined to keep from Tara for as long as possible.
Seeing Tara coming down the short flight of stairs carrying a small travelling case which she assumed contained the Orb of Thesulah Dawn hurried over. "Tara, that was Xander, your flight leaves in just under three hours, you two need to get a move on." and with that she was hustling the two witches out of the door, assuring them repeatedly that Buffy would be fine, that she could handle the shop for a few hours until closing time, that they would be fine until Giles returned on the following day. Through it all Buffy just sat at the table and watched them, no longer sunk in the depression that had taken hold of her at Xander's words but still silent, withdrawn.
It was now two hours since Spike had turned Blair.
Willow and Tara covered the distance to Buffy's house at a ground-eating pace developed over years of night-time patrols and having too many places to be and not enough time to travel between them. It got them there fast but didn't leave either of them with spare breath for talking.
Once they arrived at the house they split up, Tara went upstairs to their room to pack clothes for them both for several days. Willow meanwhile packed up her pestle and mortar and her favourite earthenware bowls for the spell, all that they needed went into a second case, they would keep everything in their hand luggage, luckily for them none of the spell ingredients came in a liquid form. They would just have to buy shampoo, toothpaste and all that kind of thing once they got to Cascade.
With everything packed the two girls met up again at the front door. It was then that the awful truth dawned upon them. They had no way to get to the airport, neither of them drove and even if they did they had no access to a car. They were searching through their purses, hoping they might have enough for cab fare when a knock fell on the door. They exchanged frightened glances, strangers at the door rarely boded well in Sunnydale. Finally after a second knock sounded Willow moved cautiously to peer through the peep hole in the door.   Stepping back she shot a confused glance at Tara before opening the door to reveal a Sunnydale PD officer on the front step.
"Hi officer, what can we do for you?" she asked politely, trying not to sound too flustered.
"Are you ladies Ms Rosenberg and Ms McClay?" the officer asked, his eyes flicking between the two girls and the notepad in his hand.
"That's us, what's this about?" Willow asked the question calmly but Tara could see how her knuckles blanched white as her hand clenched into an involuntary fist.
"I'm Sergeant Dennison, we had a call from a colleague in Cascade, apparently you two ladies are urgently required in Washington, we're your ride to the airport." The officer stepped aside and with an almost mocking half bow he gestured towards his patrol car, "your chariot awaits."
The two girls stared at the police officer on their doorstep, this was far too convenient, nothing was ever that easy, especially not here on the hellmouth. Just as they were poised on the brink of making a run for it Tara's mobile phone rang. Without taking her eyes off the man in the doorway she stabbed the answer button and put the handset to her ear. Her eyes widened briefly as she listened, then she nodded sharply once and with a muttered "thank you." she closed the connection.
"That was Xander, Jim arranged this for us, it's alright Willow."
At her words the static electric charge that had started to build up in the air around them dissipated and a bright smile broke over Willow's face, "right, let's go then."
Peter Dennison smiled to himself with a rueful shake of his head at the fickleness of young women these days. His daughter was just the same, ready for the start of World War 3 one moment, all sweetness and light the next.
As soon as they were settled in the back sear of the police cruiser Tara turned to Willow intending to continue the interrupted conversation from the Magic Box, but Willow was expecting just that, "not here!" she hissed sharply, jerking her head to indicate the two police officers in the front of the car. After that she started up a stream on inconsequential chatter that lasted all the way to airport leaving Tara frustrated but in awe of her girlfriend's powers of waffle. Willow had scarcely drawn breath during the entire drive and yet had managed to say absolutely nothing of any significance what-so-ever.
At Sunnydale airport the police cruiser drew up right outside the main terminal doors and the younger officer hurried inside to check the details of their flights whilst Peter helped the girls out of the car. He offered to grab them a trolley but they only had one case each and weren't checking either of them so they politely declined. As he escorted them into the terminal building they caught the curious stares of some of the other passengers who wondered idly what these two girls had done that they were escorted to the airport in the back of a police car.
It was just another quiet day in Sunnydale and so Dennison and his partner saw no problem taking the time to escort the two young ladies through check-in and on to Security. It was strange Dennison thought, just how high the turnover in the Police Department was in a town where nothing ever seemed to happen, Oh well, he guessed some guys just got bored of the peace and moved on to somewhere with a little more action. Then, as always happened when any of the police officers, or any of the emergency services started to think about such things, a fog seemed to roll over his mind, just for a moment. He shook his head to clear it and dragged his thoughts back to the business at hand, all consideration of the oddness of Sunnydale completely forgotten, as always.
The police escort had saved them loads of time so that as they waved goodbye to the police officers and walked through the security checkpoint into the departure lounge they still had over an hour before their flight.
It was now four hours since Blair had been turned.
They briefly considered doing a little shopping for toiletries and such but decided against it, after all they were changing planes in San Francisco and weren't sure if they'd need to go through the whole security process again. On top of that they hoped that, if they were able to save Blair, he might be able to point them to some brands that wouldn't mess with Xander's new, enhanced senses.
Tara tried to manoeuvre Willow into a quiet corner to discuss the red-head's odd reaction at the end of Xander's call but Willow was firmly back in control and kept them in the busier areas of the bustling airport until their flight was called.
There was no opportunity to speak privately as they waited at the gate and Tara resigned herself to having to wait until they boarded, however once on board Willow would be a captive audience and Tara was determined to get the story out of her.
The plane was a small one, and wasn't completely full so that Willow and Tara had a row of three seats to themselves. Willow ushered Tara into the window seat chattering excitedly about the flight and regretting that they wouldn't be in San Francisco long enough to see anything of the city. As they took off she leaned over excitedly pointing out all the sights of Sunnydale as they wheeled over the town before heading north to San Francisco.
Finally there was nothing more to see, the ground below too far away to make out any details and Tara turned away from the window to start the delayed conversation with Willow but it seemed the red-head had outfoxed her once again. Willow had reclined her seat whilst Tara was occupied with the view and was now fast asleep beside her.
Hemmed into her seat by her sleeping girlfriend Tara quickly became bored. She had nothing to do except look out of the window or read the in-flight magazine and neither really appealed to her. Knowing that this was going to be a long day she decided to follow Willow's example and settling back she quickly dropped off into a light doze herself.
Tara didn't sleep for long, about half an hour after her eyes had slipped closed they slowly opened again to be greeted by the sight of Willow, wide awake and poring over a sheaf of computer printouts. Adjusting her seat back to the vertical Tara leaned in to see what her girlfriend was working on. As soon as she scanned the page in Willow's hand all thoughts of the conversation that they needed to have were pushed from her mind. This was the spell that Willow had performed years ago to restore Angel's soul. Reading further down the page Tara saw Willow's research on changing the curse that was included as an integral part of the spell itself.
Obviously Tara had heard about the curse, the spell and the events surrounding it's use. It was a fundamental part of the Scoobies history and Tara had often wanted to ask more details of the spell but Willow had always brushed off her queries and Tara had learned to respect the other's need for privacy on that issue.
It was now six hours since Blair was turned.
At Tara's movement Willow turned briefly, leaning in to place a chaste kiss on the blonde's cheek before turning back to her work casting back at her over her shoulder, "Hi Sweetie, look at this, I've been going over the incantation and I think if we..."
Willow's enthusiasm was as infectious as ever and Tara was swiftly pulled into a complex discussion of the incantation and the herbal magics used to restore a soul.
Engrossed in the technical complexities of trying to tighten up the curse, effectively making sure that the soul was permanently bound in place, neither girl noticed the passenger seated in the row behind them.
Walter Johnson worked for one of the largest insurance companies in the United States. His job had him flying a lot, criss-crossing the country on a regular basis. On the morning of September 11th 2001 he had been passing through Boston's Logan airport. It frightened him to think that it could so easily have been his flight that had been hijacked on that fateful day. He had thought through that morning many times whilst trying to sleep in bland hotel rooms in one city or another. So much so that he'd convinced himself that if he'd only paid a little more attention, been a little more observant he could have spotted what was going on and foiled the entire plot. Always a god-fearing and highly conventional man, the events of that day had driven him on to almost fanatical lengths to ensure that if he found himself in the right place at the right time once again he would not be found wanting.
When he had seen the two girls being decanted from the back of the police cruiser outside the airport his attention had been caught. Seeing those same two girls being escorted through the terminal building and right up to the security gates by two police officers had only heightened his interest. Now he found himself seated behind them on the plane and he knew his time for glory had come at last. He'd heard the mention of the onward flight from San Francisco so he knew he had some time. In fact he was almost disappointed, if they had no intention of causing mayhem on this flight then he had no reason to enact one of his many plans to foil their evil plot.
When he saw the red-head lean in and kiss the other girl on the cheek all his worst fears were confirmed. Not just terrorists, but heathens too. He shook his head, his brain feeling dirty just at thinking of it. Determined to gather as much intelligence as he could Walter sat forward in his seat, appearing to be looking out of the window whilst really straining to hear everything he could from the two in front of him. He couldn't make out much of what they were saying over the noise of the engines and the general chatter within the aircraft cabin, still he made notes of what he could ready to pass on to the first TSA agent he saw on landing.
Oblivious to the attention they were receiving Willow and Tara spent the rest of the flight discussing the details of the spell. Tara trying to rein in Willow's more outlandish ideas as well as trying to keep her own enthusiasm in check. She knew how her girlfriend sometimes got a little carried away, she didn't want the spell that was supposed to secure Blair's soul to result in it's destruction instead! At one point the discussion grew quite heated, although low voiced, until at last Willow stood up and retrieved the small sample case from the overhead locker and they examined the dried herbs that they had brought with them. At last, just as they started to descend into San Francisco airport they were both satisfied. "So if we substitute powdered for chopped and amend the incantation like this," she tapped the page to indicate their notes, trying to be at least a little discreet, "then we can prevent the removal of their souls!" Willow summed up their work in triumph.
"Permanently!" Tara agreed with a gleeful grin offering up a hand for a high five.
Walter Johnson looked on in horror. He hadn't been able to hear everything that the girls said, and what he had heard appeared to be in some kind of code but that last had been crystal clear, 'removal of their souls' and 'permanently'. That was how they referred to the number of people aboard an aircraft wasn't it, '253 souls on board'? And these girls wanted to remove those souls, permanently!
As he saw the runway unfurling beneath the wheels of the plane he hurriedly gathered all of his belongings together and the instance they touched down he was out of his seat and making his way to the exit at the front of the plane where the air stewardesses where gathering. As he approached an older woman detached herself from the crowd by the door and addressed him, "please sir, you'll have to return to your seat until the seatbelt sign is extinguished by the captain."
Holding a hand to his mouth Walter just muttered "feeling sick, need air" and pushed past the woman on his way towards the door. The extreme pallor of his skin, induced by the horror of what he had heard the girls plotting may have added to the believability of his claim and the stewardess took pity on the poor man and let him wait by the door.
It took a good ten minutes to get the passenger unloading tunnel attached to the side of the plane and Walter waited on tenterhooks every moment. As he waited he cast furtive glances back down the cabin to see if his abrupt departure had alerted the terrorists that he was on to them. But no, they seemed perfectly happy to sit quietly chatting whilst waiting for the seat belt light to go out. The thought that such evil could exist, that two girls, so innocent looking, even attractive he acknowledged bitterly could harbour such vicious plans and take such delight in death and destruction whirled through his brain and he truly began to feel sick. As the thoughts repeated over and over in his head he grew ever paler until one of the stewardesses gently urged him down into the fold-out seat beside the door and pressed a glass of water into his hand. This had been a relatively good flight and she certainly didn't want to have to end it by cleaning vomit from the carpet when she could be off to the hotel for a drink or two by the pool and to enjoy the glorious weather.
As soon as the door was finally hooked up and opened Walter was up out of his seat and hurrying off in search of someone to report his discoveries to. As soon as he passed out of the tunnel into the terminal he saw them, two security men, guns and walkie-talkies holstered on their belts and he made a bee-line straight for them. The two men watched him approach and stood a little taller, this was normally a boring duty as the passengers disembarked and hurried past them, eyes down, as if afraid to draw their attention. It this guy wanted to talk to them that might at least liven things up around here.
"Officers, you need to stop them, there are two girls on that flight, they're catching a connecting flight and they're planning to blow it up!" He stopped, slightly breathless from his rush to reach someone in authority and from the spate of words as he passed on his information.
"Hold up there sir, how do you know this?" Chris Tomlinson had been working airport security for longer than he cared to remember. In the first few years after 9/11 he'd received lots of reports of this type from over anxious passengers, but more recently they'd dropped off a lot. Every report had to be investigated of course, but he was loath to hold up travellers from their onward flight without any more information.
"They were in the seats in front of me, two girls a blonde and a red-head. They had a load of notes that they were going over and they were talking in some kind of code about curses and incantations and destruction. They had a case too, it was full of powders in glass jars, they were talking about removing all their souls, that's what they call them isn't it, the pilots, when reporting the number of passengers on board, they call them souls." As he spoke Walter kept looking over his shoulder to the mouth of the tunnel, other passengers were beginning to trickle through and he didn't want those girls getting away before he was able to convince these security men of what he had heard.
"Now are you sure about this sir, after all, if they managed to smuggle bomb making equipment onto one plane why not blow that one up, why risk that just to get off and switch to another plane and go through all the security checkpoints again?" In Chris' experience, those passengers who did make a report these days often retracted when asked if they were sure, after all what seemed perfectly reasonable when sitting anxiously in the cabin of an aircraft several miles up in the air suddenly became rather silly when considered in the cold light of day on terra firma.
"Of course I'm sure" Walter insisted, this was his day of glory and there was no way these job's worths were going to take it from him just because they were too lazy to perform their duties.
If a passenger insisted on making a report then the security officers had no choice but to investigate it, and it was clear this man was dead-set on it. "Very well sir, can you point out the two suspects when you see them disembark," and with that Chris nodded to his partner who turned aside to make a quiet call on his walkie-talkie requesting another a team join them to interrogate the suspects whilst he and Chris had a conversation with the gentleman making the allegations.
Willow and Tara were in no hurry to leave the plane, they had sufficient time for their transfer to the connecting flight and had no desire to be bumped and pushed around, waiting in the aisles to get off the aircraft just a few minutes quicker. They waited until the cabin was practically empty before gathering their belongings and making their leisurely way to the door. Remembering to thank the stewardesses for a pleasant flight they stepped out into the draughty tunnel and strolled along to the terminal. As they stepped into the open they paused a moment to get their bearings, that was when they saw the strange little man from the seats behind them, the one who had rushed to get off the plane as soon as it landed. Odd that he was still hanging around in the gate area when he had been so desperate to be the first person off.
It was now almost eight hours since Blair had been turned.
As soon as Walter saw them he turned to the security man at his side, "that's them" he said quickly. Tom had only been working with Chris for six months, twenty years old and still wet behind the ears according to his more world-weary partner, his eyes lit up at the two young women their informer had pointed out. Nudging Chris who was talking to the reinforcements who had just arrived he nodded his head towards the two suspects. Seeing the girls and taking in the broad grin on Tom's face he realised just how young his partner was and knew exactly where his thoughts were taking him. Time to show him just how unromantic the life of a TSA agent really is he thought as he changed his original plans and turned to Walter. "Sir, if you could go with these gentlemen please they will be happy to take down all the particulars of your report."
With a hand at the small of Tom's back he propelled the younger man towards the suspects, "come on then Romeo," he laughed lightly.
"Excuse me," he addressed the two young ladies politely, they were going to be pissed off enough when this was done with if they were innocent, as the odds dictated they probably were, no point antagonising them any more than absolutely necessary. "I'm going to have to ask you both to accompany me please."
Two pairs of startled eyes met his, one pair green, the other blue, both suddenly anxious. "What's the matter officer?" the red-head asked with an attempt at coolness that only served to emphasise her sudden nervousness.
"Another passenger has expressed some concerns that we are required to investigate. If you'll just come with us I'm sure we can get everything cleared up and have you on your way in no time at all." As he spoke Chris adroitly manoeuvred the two girls away from the other disembarking passengers and towards the behind the scenes area used for private discussions with those suspected of a wide variety of wrong-doing.
Whilst he thought it highly unlikely that these two young women would be involved in a plot to take down an aircraft their informer had mentioned a case full of powders. Drug smuggling was far more common than bomb plots and the alarm he had seen in both girls eyes seemed more than was usual if reports were completely unfounded. Maybe they'd decided to try the 'hide in plain sight' approach to smuggling, every so often some clever type thought they'd come up with something 'new' only to slip up when they discovered it had all been tried a million times before.
Politely ushering the two into an interview room Chris grabbed Tom's elbow to pull him back as the young man made to follow them. "We'll be with you in just a moment, please take a seat," and he gently closed the door between them. "Look Tom, I think it's highly unlikely these two are carrying a bomb, drugs on the other hand..." and he quirked an eyebrow in a significant gesture that had the smile falling from Tom's lips.
Certain that Tom understood his message Chris opened the door once more and preceded his partner into the room where he took up a position opposite the suspects. "Put your cases on the table please and open them up." he requested, still polite but clearly refusal was not an option.
"I'm sorry officer but I don't understand what's going on here, we have a connecting flight to catch." Whilst Willow tried to convince the Security men that they'd made a mistake, Tara, pragmatic as ever simply picked up the first case and laid it on the table before opening it up. The case was the one containing all their clothes for the trip, once she had it open she started removing the contents one item at a time, unfolding each garment and then neatly refolding them and piling them up on the table. Eventually the case was empty and Tara stood back to allow the officers access to the clothes and the empty case.
Chris stepped in to examine the case carefully, at this point he didn't know what to think. The red-head was obviously still on edge but the blonde seemed to have recovered from her initial alarm and was much calmer now. Carefully he felt his way around the lining of the case, opening any zippers and pockets that he found to verify that there was nothing hidden away. Finally he stepped back, convinced that this case at least held no secrets.
At a gesture from him the young blonde briskly repacked the case and zipped it up. Moving that case back to the floor she stepped around her friend to grab the other case and lift that too up onto the tabletop. As she unzipped this one Chris saw that the contents looked far more interesting. Gently Tara started lifting things out of the case, the hard, leather case containing the Orb of Thesulah was lifted clear and opened to display the perfect crystal sphere nestled on a bed of rich black velvet. Next came the sample case which was placed beside it and the lid opened, Tara left the jars capped but did take them all out and array them carefully in front of the case. Finally she lifted out the heavy stone pestle and mortar and the set of well used earthenware bowls that Willow had lovingly wrapped in quantities of newspaper to ensure nothing was damaged in transit.
Chris recognised the sinking feeling in his gut, he didn't know what kind of dog and pony show these girls were running, but he was beginning to fear that as strange as their luggage may be he wouldn't find anything illegal in there. Still, they'd come this far and he had no choice but to carry it through to the bitter end. Just as carefully as before he checked over the case looking for anything hidden from view.
Once he was sure that the case was not hiding anything he moved on to the contents, first flicking through the sheaf of computer print outs, they seemed to be notes on chemical formulas or cooking recipes, he really wasn't sure, one thing he was sure of, this wasn't related to any kind of explosive or drugs that he was familiar with. He moved on to the two smaller carrying cases that had been held within the larger case. Lifting the crystal ball clear of its packaging he handed it to Tom to hold. He then gently examined the velvet lining of the box before turning to Tom to restore the bauble to its place. It was only when it was replaced and the two girls each took a deep breath that he realised neither had dared to breathe whilst the ball was out of its place.
It was clear that the glass orb held great importance to these two, but he could see no way that it could be involved in either drug running or bomb making so it was of no significance to him. Finally he started examining the jars that had come out of the second travelling case. Some of these he recognised as ordinary cooking herbs, others though he had never seen before and so he packed all the jars away and poking his head out of the door he handed off the case to be taken to their small, on-site lab for further analysis.
Once that was done he indicated that they could repack the second case which the blonde did quickly and efficiently, leaving a space sufficient to hold the missing travelling case and moving the open case carefully to the floor.
Now Chris sat down and the girls sat opposite him, watching him warily as if uncertain of what his next move would be. "Once we get the analysis of the contents of those jars back, if there is nothing untoward in them then you will be able to get on your way." He tried to reassure the two girls before him. "Can you tell me your names?" he asked firmly.
They exchanged a quick glance before the red-head spoke up, "I'm Willow Rosenberg, this is Tara McClay." He got the feeling that whilst the blonde, Tara was the more practical of the two, Willow was usually the spokesperson of the team.
"You've been brought in here because one of the passengers on your flight expressed some concerns about things he heard you saying and things he saw. This is your chance to explain to me the contents of your cases and those jars that I've just sent away for analysis." He laid it out for them as straight-forwardly as possible. He was becoming more and more certain that they wouldn't find anything amiss but once the investigation had been begun he had no choice but to follow it through to its conclusion.
The two were looking a little nervous again now, but it was nothing more than he saw on a regular basis when interviewing passengers about their luggage and travel plans. Once again it was the red-head, Willow who spoke up although it did not go unnoticed when Tara took hold of the other girls fingers and gave them a brief squeeze of encouragement.
"We're wiccans, we work in a small magic shop in Sunnydale and we are travelling to Cascade as we've been called in by one of the Detectives in the Major Crimes division to consult on a case. This is our equipment, and the jars you've taken away contain dried herbs that we use in our ceremonies and rituals." Chris listened and took notes as Willow laid out all the details that he could want, the details of the magic shop they worked for, the owners name and mobile number, the name of the Detective they were travelling to Cascade to meet. The sinking feeling in his gut turned into a heavy ball of lead, wiccans, that explained a lot. He hated all that hippy shit, and the last thing he needed now was for these two to start yelling religious discrimination, could this day get any worse!
At the thought there was a gentle tap at the door. Odd, surely they couldn't have finished the analysis already. When he opened the door it was too find another long serving security officer, Jerry had started with the TSA two or three years after Chris. They'd worked together for a long time and one look at Jerry's face told Chris that his day certainly wasn't getting any better. Jerry was one of the officers who had taken their informant, Walter away to interview him and from the look on his face it hadn't gone well. Stepping out of the room Chris closed the door behind him and leaned against it scrubbing one hand through his thinning hair, bracing himself before asking "Well?"
"It's not good, did Walter tell you what initially aroused his suspicions about those two?" Jerry asked, getting straight to the point.
"No, he just said that he'd heard some alarming talk and that he'd seen them going through some strange powders in glass jars. I've sent the jars off for analysis although the girls are claiming that they are wiccans and they're simply herbs." Chris explained.
"Yeah, well apparently he was in Boston on the morning of 9/11, he's been on the watch for anything out of the ordinary ever since then. As soon as he saw the red-head kiss the blonde he knew there was something not right about them." Jerry stopped, waiting for Chris to put the pieces together which he did very quickly.
"Well shit! I imagine after that point they could have been discussing Sesame Street and the homophobic bastard would have heard bomb plots and terrorist activity!!" Chris closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he considered the mess they found themselves in. This had the potential to turn into a complete shit storm, it looked like these young women had been targeted due to their religious beliefs and sexual orientation. If they chose to make a case of it this could go really badly for the security services in general and Chris and Tom in particular.
"I don't suppose there's any chance of getting them onto their connecting flight before it leaves is there?" Jerry asked hopefully.
Chris just laughed, "not likely," he looked at his watch, "it took off over half an hour ago and the next flight to Cascade isn't for another four hours!"
"Great, any chance those jars really do contain drugs or anything actionable?" Jerry was grasping at straws now, he and his partner hadn't been involved in the decision to pick up the two girls but if this blew up in their faces they were still close enough to get caught in the blast.
"OK look, you get down to the lab, see if they've got any results yet, I'll send Tom over to the airline desk to see about getting them onto the next flight. Assuming those herbs really are just herbs, we get them into the VIP departure lounge, comp them a meal and a bottle of champagne, they've been reasonable so far, perhaps we can get them on their way before they decide to kick up a stink." Chris just hoped they could get out of this without any more fuss. In the years immediately after 9/11 security had been the watchword, you could get away with anything on the flimsiest of pretexts. But it had been so long since there had been a verifiable threat that things were tipping back in the other direction, accountability was beginning to take precedence and the activists who had always hated the heightened security measures were simply looking for the perfect case to bring the whole house of cards tumbling down. This could just be it!
"OK, but what do you want me to do about Walter?" Jerry's voice dripped with scorn as he sounded the man's name.
"Where is he now?" Chris asked.
"In Interview Room 4."
Chris thought for a moment, IR4 was a room they used as little as possible, some freak effect of the architecture of the building meant that the air-conditioning never really reached that room causing the temperature in there to rise to uncomfortable levels on even the coolest of days, and today was not one of the cool ones. "Leave him there for now, we'll get to him once we've got these two sorted out."
Jerry just nodded with a malicious grin and headed off at a brisk walk to the lab to chase up the tests Chris had ordered.
Meanwhile Chris opened the door and as Tom looked up he gestured for the younger man to join him in the corridor. With a mumbled "excuse me ladies" Tom stood up and did just that, closing the door firmly behind him. "What's up Chris?"
As briefly as possible Chris explained what was going on and sent him off to the airline desks to try to arrange an onward flight for the two girls in their interview room.
Bracing himself Chris turned towards the door, letting himself back into the room he re-took his seat. "Thank you for your patience ladies, that was my colleague who had been talking to the gentleman who raised the initial concerns which led to this search.    That conversation has uncovered some holes in his story and this search has revealed nothing actionable. Therefore, as long as the lab tests confirm that the herbs in those jars are just what you say they are you will be able to depart on the next available flight to Cascade."
As he finished speaking there was another tap at the door and Jerry immediately opened it and walked in. In his hands he held the sample case full of herbs which he placed on the table, "all clear, thank you for your co-operation."
Chris plastered a big grin on his face, "Excellent, in that case if you'll finish re-packing your cases we will escort you to the VIP lounge where you can await your flight which will be in..." he broke off to check his watch, "four hours time."
For a moment Willow and Tara simply sat in stunned relief that this was all over, but then Willow's brain resumed function, reminding her why they were making this trip in the first place and she surged to her feet, "four hours!   That's not good enough, we have to get to Cascade..." she broke off as Tara placed a gentle hand on her arm, pulling her around slightly to face the blonde.
"It's fine Willow, the hotel will hold our reservations until we arrive." The deliberate intonation in Tara's voice stopped Willow in her tracks. Visions of explaining to suddenly suspicious again Security Officers exactly why it was so important that they get to Cascade quickly swam into her head.
"Right," she turned back to the Security men, all sweetness and light once again, "you mentioned the VIP lounge, I assume that anything we want in there will be comped?"
Chris just smiled, a more natural smile this time, he didn't know what was going on here but they'd done their duty, everything about these girls checked out. At this point he just wanted them out of his airport. "A meal and drinks certainly" he offered leading them from the room, "maybe we can throw in a bottle of Champagne for your trouble."
"Ooh!" the red-head exclaimed, clapping her hands together delightedly, like a child at Christmas. "You hear that Tara?" she asked with a broad grin.
"No Champagne!" Tara responded firmly "thank you officer but Detective Ellison will want to see us as soon as we get to Cascade, sober and ready to work." she explained to the two security men, steadfastly ignoring the crest fallen look on her girlfriend's face.
Once in the VIP lounge it was the work of a moment to explain to the hostess on duty what had been going on. She was only too happy to take care of the two young women until they could board their next flight. That left Chris free to go find Jerry and have a quiet word with Mr Johnson and explain to him just how upset the security services can be by frivolous accusations made by bigoted jerks.
Settled in a quiet corner Willow and Tara tucked into the meals that the hostess had just bought over to them.   Tara finally had Willow cornered "So, you were going to explain to me what had you so freaked out at the end of the conversation with Xander?" she asked straight out.
Willow's face fell and she hurriedly finished chewing and swallowing the mouthful she had just taken before putting her knife and fork neatly down beside her plate. Closing her eyes she steepled her hands in front of her face, elbows resting on the edge of the table. "I was hoping you'd forget about that." she muttered wearily.
"Willow, what did you do?" Tara asked gently, she knew her girlfriend well, they truly were soul-mates, and she knew from Willow's tone that there was no further need to push. Willow would tell her all, she just needed to do it at her own pace.
"We hadn't heard from Xander for so long, I was really worried," Willow stated softly, Tara listened, prepared to let Willow take her time if that was what was required. "I just wanted to know what was going on, to be sure that he was safe."
"What did you do?" Tara asked again, her tone still gentle, the question just enough to keep Willow on track.
"Xander said that their spirit animals didn't arrive until after they'd fought off the ambush, after Blair had been injured. He said that they seemed angry when they finally did arrive." Willow's eyes remained closed as she talked, as if she was unwilling to face what she would see in Tara's face in response to her words.
Tara pushed aside her own half eaten plate now, the food she had eaten appeared to have turned into a leaden ball in the pit of her stomach as she began to realise were this was going.
"I had summoned the spirit animals, I'd only expected two to appear, Xander's hyena and Spike's tiger but all four turned up. I tried to talk to them, to find out what was going on in Cascade but, they were anxious, they kept trying to leave," she paused, bowing her head, eyes still closed, words so quiet Tara had to strain to hear them.
The leaden ball grew heavier as Tara realised what was coming next, "no" she murmured unthinkingly and Willow winced at the word.
"They were anxious to leave, but I held them there. I concentrated all my power on keeping them there until eventually I couldn't maintain it any longer and they disappeared." Slowly her eyes opened but she kept her gaze firmly down on the cooling plate of food in front of her. Realising what she was looking at she pushed it aside with a look of disgust and with one fore-finger began tracing the grain of the wooden table top whilst waiting for Tara's reaction to her admission.
Tara sat horror stricken, watching Willow tracing patterns on the tabletop. She thought that she probably ought to be trying to comfort her obviously distressed friend but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Once again Willow had used her magic without thought of the consequences, without consideration of anyone... anything else, only her own need for the instant gratification of her desire for information. And, as usual, someone else was paying the price for that gratification, Blair was dead, even if the turning was successful, even if they were able to restore his soul he was still dead, his life, and that of his partner, Detective Ellison, would never be the same again.
As Willow's words sank in Tara felt the bile rising in the back of her throat. Looking around hastily she spotted the sign for the ladies room and was instantly up and running. Crashing through the door she wheeled around the corner and spotting an open cubicle dived in pulling her hair back from her face as she fell to her knees just in time. Her stomach muscles clamped down tight, forcing the contents back up her oesophagus and she vomited all she had just eaten straight into the toilet bowl mercifully before her. Again and again her stomach heaved and all she could do was cling on and hope the storm would soon be over. Eventually the last of the bitter bile was expelled from her body. Slowly the dry heaves tailed off and she was left slumped against the cold, white porcelain, one hand clamped in her hair the other holding tightly to the rim of the bowl, the only thing keeping her from slipping to the floor.
It was only when a hand holding a large ball of toilet tissue nudged her shoulder that she realised she wasn't alone. Numbly she pulled herself up to kneel on the hard, stone tile of the floor and releasing her grip on the porcelain bowl she mutely took the offering and used it to wipe her lips. More was offered and she was able to dry her streaming eyes and blow her nose, flinching at the harsh sting as she did so.
Shakily she climbed to her feet and turned expecting to see Willow behind her. But it wasn't Willow, it was the petite hostess who had brought them their food just a short while earlier. "Are you alright?" the woman asked, Tania, Tara noted blearily from the discreet name-badge pinned to her blouse.
"I'm fine," Tara muttered embarrassed, "sorry," she waved her hand vaguely encompassing the cubicle behind her.
"Don't worry about that, at least you made it to the bathroom, you'd be shocked at how many people don't." Tania chattered gently wanting to distract the pretty blonde from her embarrassment. "Was it a problem with the food?" she enquired politely.
"Huh," Tara was having some trouble keeping track of what was going on around her, still somewhat disoriented by the sudden bout of sickness. "No, sorry, the food was fine, it's just..." she stopped, wondering how to explain it, finally she settled for, "I just got some bad news. I think..." she paused again, "could I get a glass of water?"
"Of course" Tania replied easily, watching as Tara stepped over to the sinks and washed her hands before rubbing wet hands briskly over her face. Drying herself off on a handful of paper towels Tara looked into the mirror on the wall. Pale, hollow cheeked and sunken eyed, her reflection stared back at her and sorrowfully she turned away and followed Tania back out into the VIP lounge.
Stepping through the door she realised that the hostess was heading back for the table where Willow still sat, her head hanging, dejection in every line of her body. As Tara stopped and looked across the room the red-head seemed to feel her gaze and slowly she looked up to meet Tara's eyes. The corners of Willow's lips lifted in a tentative smile but it was only fleeting, as Tara turned aside and made her way over to perch on a stool at the bar Willow's face fell and she slumped even further down in her seat.
The next few hours passed in a daze for Tara. She sat on her bar-stool sipping at the bottle of water that Tania had supplied as Willow's words echoed again and again through her head. She railed internally at the stupidity of it all. How could Willow have done something so ill-considered, messing with forces she didn't understand, holding the spirit animals with her in spite of their obvious agitation. Although Tara hadn't seen any of it she could picture the scene in her mind's eye and it was enough to set her stomach roiling again so that she almost expected to have to make another bolt for the bathroom. However she managed to control her physical response and eventually it was time to move to the boarding gate. Tania handed Tara her boarding pass as she brought over her carry-on luggage, "your friend handled checking in, you have some good seats together near the front of the cabin."
"Thank you but..." Tara swallowed heavily, "I'd rather sit towards the back if that's possible."
Tania looked doubtful, "I don't know if there would still be two seats together available on the flight at this late stage, you could ask the stewardesses when you board," she offered.
"That's OK, thank you, but I only need one seat." Tara replied coldly as she took the pass and the handle of the case and headed out of the VIP lounge towards to the boarding gate without a single glance at Willow who trailed along quietly in her wake.
The stewardess that Tara spoke to on boarding the aircraft was very understanding and was happy to move her to a lone empty seat to the rear of the cabin. She spent to flight staring unseeing through the window, horrific images of the ambush and attack on Xander and the others rolling in front of her eyes, images supplied by her imagination as Xander and Willow's words chased each other through her head.
Finally she was pulled from her thoughts by the announcement from the cockpit that they had started their descent into Cascade. That was when she realised that they had never called Xander to let him know about the delay in San Francisco, she hoped he hadn't been waiting at the airport for the last 4 hours. Pulling out her mobile phone she pressed the button to activate the darkened screen but nothing happened, anxiously she pressed the button again but still there was no response. The battery on her phone was dead, realising that she would have to swallow her anger at Willow's actions and ask the other girl to call Xander she was about to stand when she saw that the seat-belt light was now lit and the stewardesses were shepherding any stray passengers back to their seats.
There was nothing else to do but wait until they had landed. This time Tara was barely able to restrain herself until the seat-belt light flicked off before she headed down the aisle to Willow's seat, squeezing past the other passengers filling the narrow passage-way as she did so.
As soon as she reached Willow she got straight to the point, "where's your phone, we need to call Xander and let him know we've arrived."
However Willow didn't even reach for her phone, "it's dead, I checked it whilst you were asleep on the first flight, you'll have to call him."
Frustration boiling over Tara stamped her foot, hard. "Damn it! Mines dead too."
Forcing her way back into the aisle Tara joined the slow flow of people disembarking, leaving Willow to make her own way off of the aircraft behind her.
By-passing the baggage carousel Tara made her way directly to the arrivals lounge. As she threaded her way through the busy terminal building she was aware of Willow dogging her footsteps but she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge the other girl's presence. Stepping through the double doors Tara paused and scanned the crowd but saw neither Xander's familiar head of brown hair nor Spike's over-gelled, bleached head. Wondering if Xander had sent someone else to collect them her eyes roamed over the handful of name cards in sight but none of them contained either Willow's or her own name. Finally she had to admit defeat and turning to Willow who stood at her shoulder she asked, "do you see them?"
But Willow only shook her head, "no, he's not here."
"Come on" Tara instructed and she began to make her way to the tourist information booth. They had to wait in line for several minutes but eventually it was their turn to speak to the harried woman on duty in the booth. "Hi, we were delayed in San Francisco and it looks like our friends couldn't wait, can you tell us how to get here?" and Tara handed over a note with the address of Ellison's loft apartment.
The matronly woman barely glanced at the note before pointing out the main doors of the terminal, "taxi's are that way, they'll be able to take you right there."
"Thank you but, we don't have enough cash for a taxi, are there any buses we could catch?" Tara pressed the woman.
With a disgruntled huff the woman behind the counter pulled the note closer and actually read it this time, she then reached up and pulled a couple of leaflets from a display on the wall behind her. Opening a map of the airport terminal buildings she marked off the necessary bus stop that the girls would need. Then she handed over a time-table with the next bus circled.
Thanking her profusely Tara took the offered documents and headed for the bus-stop, if they hurried they could catch the next bus.
Ten minutes later they were safely settled on the bus heading into Cascade. As they rode Tara couldn't help but wonder what they would find when they reached their destination. She glanced at her watch, 11:22pm almost 15 hours since Blair had been turned and they were still at least half an hour away from the apartment. Tara was beginning to become severely concerned about what they would find when they arrived in Prospect Avenue. Between all the scoobies, over the years they had been present at the rising of many hundreds of fledgling vampires. Yet even with all that experience they still could not say for certain how long it would take from the original turning to the first rising. They understood that with Spike it had taken almost two full nights before he rose, but with most vampires they seemed to rise any time after dark on the first evening after they had been turned.
If Blair followed that pattern then he could have already risen, she just hoped that the new vampire guide proved as stubborn as his sire and could hold out against the demon within him until they could get there.
Finally, a few minutes before midnight they reached 852 Prospect, the street door was open and they pushed through and immediately saw the 'out of order' sign on the elevator doors. With a weary sigh Tara led the way to the sign-posted doorway to the stairs and started upwards. As she climbed she started speaking to Willow who followed close on her footsteps, the first words she had spoken to the red-head since the airport. "We get this done then you tell them what you did!"
"But sweetie..." Willow started only to be rudely cut off as Tara stopped sharply and spun around to face her.
"No! We do this and then you tell them, no buts, no excuses, you tell them everything or we're through!" Tara hissed the words and then without waiting for a reply she resumed the climb. It may have only been three flights but after the day that they'd had it seemed to take forever but eventually they stood before the door to the loft apartment.
With a trembling hand Tara reached out and rapped sharply on the door.
A/N: Well there it is, if you've enjoyed it, or evenly more importantly if you haven't, then please review. We're almost to the end of this epic journey, my thanks to anyone who has stuck it out for the entire ride.
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Life is Change