Title: The Sins of the Children

Author: eena_angel2001

Email: igrewal@sfu.ca or eena_angel@hotmail.com

Category: WWF/BTVS/LOTR crossover

Pairing: leaning to Willow/Jeff Hardy and possibly Faith/HHH

Disclaimer: all wrestling characters belong to WWE. All Buffy characters

belong to Joss Whedon.

Rating: R for language and violence

Spoilers: Season Six for Buffy, before branch extension for WWF.

Summary: There’s a demon after the WWF and their only salvation lies with

the AI team.

Chapter One:

Lita stared at the building. It was an old hotel, with a very

classic theme. It had an iron-wrought fence leading into a small courtyard.

There was a small fountain in the middle of the courtyard. Concrete

benches surrounded it. Ivy wound its way around all the structures.

Flowers of almost every kind bloomed in its garden. The entrance stood at

the end of the yard.

It didn’t look like a building that would house a private

investigation team. But then again, things aren’t what they appear. Lita

had recently learned that the hard way.

"Are we just going to stand out here all day?" a shrill voice broke

into her thoughts. Lita glared at Stephanie McMahon

soon-to-be-former-Helmsly. The woman had to be the most irritating person

alive. Normally, Lita wouldn’t dream of spending this much time with her.

But they needed to be united now, especially in light of all that was

happening.

"As much as I hate to agree," Hunter Hearst Helmsly replied. "But

Steph is right. We can’t just stand around all day. We need their help."

"Are you sure these guys are for real?" Chris Jericho asked.

"West said they were the best to handle this kind of situation,"

Edge shrugged.

"And we take the word of rookies because?" asked Matt Hardy.

"Because West was the only person who had the slightest idea of what

was going on," Jeff Hardy answered. He glanced at the building in slight

disbelief. "How West knows about this stuff, I have no idea. But, he got

us this appointment. We might as well see if they can help."

"Well, let’s get a move on it!" ordered the Rock. "We can’t just

spend all day standing out here."

Lita sighed and led the way to the door. She glanced at the sign

above the doorway.

Angel Investigations. We help the helpless.

Lita pushed open the door.

*****

Willow Rosenburg frowned at her coffee. Was it just she, or was

this stuff more putrid then usual?

"What is wrong with this stuff?" she complained.

Charles Gunn plopped down next to her. He held a cup of the

offending coffee in his hands as well.

"I think Cordelia got to the pot with those weird blends of hers,"

he replied, staring at the cup in disgust.

"Didn’t we ban her from that?" Willow frowned.

"Yeah, I’m sorry," Fred answered, coming out from behind her desk.

"I got up too late. When I got down here, she was already at the pot."

"Have no fear, Lorne is here!" cried the Pylean demon. He came out

of the kitchen bearing a tray full of steaming mugs. "I took the liberty of

making you guys some tea."

"Tea?" Gunn repeated. "I don’t drink no stinking wussy man tea."

"Oh grow up," Willow admonished, reaching for a cup. "Just take a

cup and say thank you."

Gunn took a cup and looked at the brew suspiciously. He eyed the

green demon in front of him.

"This ain’t no demon brand of tea, is it?"

Lorne rolled his eyes. "Just drink it you big lug," he exclaimed.

"You might like it."

Willow took a sip. She moaned in delight.

"Lorne, you are a god!" she declared.

"How come I can never get that reaction out of you?" Gunn lifted an

eyebrow. Fred smacked him over the head.

"Don’t flirt, good boyfriends don’t flirt," she admonished him.

"Trust me, when it counts, I am a very good boyfriend," Gunn stated,

leering at his girlfriend suggestively.

Fred blushed. Gunn grinned and planted a kiss on her lips. Willow

and Lorne exchanged looks.

"Aww!" they cried in unison. Fred turned redder. She scuttled back

to her desk.

"Speaking of Queen C," Lorne started, glancing around. "Where are

she and the British Wonder? For that matter, where is everyone else?"

Willow shrugged. "Cordy and Wes are at the mall, picking up some

office supplies. Groo went with them. Angel and Connor are upstairs. I

think Angel is trying to introduce his son to cartoons. Faith is sleeping,

she got in from patrol late last night."

Lorne frowned. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, in perfect working order," Willow replied. "But just bushed.

Got into it with some Balthas last night. Should be fine in about another

hour."

Jingling from the doorway drew everyone’s attention. Lorne waved a

quick goodbye to his friends and sprinted up the stairs. Willow hastily

grabbed all the cups and trays lying on the table and raced for the kitchen.

Fred fumbled with the papers on Cordelia’s desk. She knew there was

an appointment today, but wasn’t it supposed to be after lunch?

Gunn stayed on the couches, feet resting on the tabletop. He looked

at the entrance in interest. Eight people wandered into the lobby. One was

a redhead, dressed in baggy pants and a ragged crop top. She had a huge

tattoo on her right shoulder. Next to her were two guys, dressed in the

same baggy pants and muscle shirts. One had dark coloured hair; the other

had a rainbow on his head. Another female, a brunette decked out in

leather, followed them. Next were two blond guys, both in leather pants and

highly decorative shirts. Another two men followed. They looked familiar.

"Hey, it’s the Rock and Triple H!" Gunn exclaimed, leaping off the

couch. Fred stared blankly at him from Cordelia’s desk.

"There’s a rock?" came Willow’s voice. Footsteps were heard

hurrying to the lobby.

"Someone threw a rock?" Willow asked worriedly, skittering into the

lobby.

"Not a rock, The Rock," Gunn corrected her, gesturing to the

arrivals.

"The Rock?" Fred frowned. "How is this rock different from your

average rock?"

The dark haired man in the back began to laugh.

"I think he’s referring to me," he replied, stepping forward. "I’m

the Rock."

"Oh, of course," Willow nodded sagely. She exchanged a confused

look with Fred. The brunette shrugged her shoulders.

"From the WWF!" Gunn yelled.

"WWF?" Willow bit her lip. "You mean that wrestling show you and

Lorne are always watching?"

Gunn nodded.

"Oh okay," the redhead smiled. "Welcome to Angel Investigations.

Do you have an appointment?"

"Red, you don’t have to ask them that!" admonished Gunn. "That’s

the Rock and Triple H!"

"I don’t have any appointment listed here for any rock or letter,"

Fred mused, looking at Cordelia’s appointment book. "But is one of you

Lita?"

The redheaded woman raised her hand.

"Did we come at a bad time?" she asked meekly.

"Oh no, but when was your appointment?"

"Eleven," Lita looked at her companions in confusion.

Fred sighed. "I’m sorry, our secretary has you written down for

one," she apologized. "We weren’t expecting you for another two hours."

"Oh, well if this is a bad time we can come back-"

"No, it’s okay," Willow smiled. "This isn’t the first time Queen C

messed up. I’m Willow Rosenburg, these are my colleagues is Winifred Burkle

and Charles Gunn. Why don’t you guys have a seat while we try to get

organized?" She gestured to the couches.

The wrestlers took their seats. Willow and Fred retreated to the

office. Gunn stood watching the wrestlers in awe until Willow came back and

dragged him away.

In their office, the three raced around madly.

"I swear, I’m taking Cordelia off phone duty," Willow threatened.

"That girl is more trouble than she’s worth. This is the third time this

month!"

"Well, she gets distracted," Fred defended her friend.

"Yeah, mooning over the Dead Man’s ass," Gunn muttered.

"Oh, the Dead Man!" Willow cried suddenly. "Fred, go tell Angel the

appointment’s here."

The brunette raced off obediently. Willow returned to the clutter

known as Cordelia’s desk.

"What are you looking for?" Gunn asked.

"Those information sheets we have," she muttered.

"They’re in the filing cabinet," he pointed at the huge cabinet.

Willow moaned. Cordy never filed anything normally. There was no telling

where she put those forms.

"Okay, you go offer them drinks or something," she ordered Gunn.

"I’ll try to recover the sheets."

Gunn sprinted off to the lobby. Willow glared at the cabinet in

front of her. She pulled it open to ‘I’. No luck, but she did find the

Peterson’s file.

"Okay, think," Willow told herself. "If you were Cordy, where would

you put information sheets?"

She stood contemplating for a moment. Then, she snapped her

fingers. She pulled the cabinet open to ‘W’. There they were, filed under

‘the what’. Cordelia was strange.

She hurried out to the lobby.

*****

"No, we’re fine," Lita told the man, Charles was his name?

"Are you sure?" he asked.

The assembled group nodded in agreement. The young man nodded and

trotted back off to the office.

"Okay, these people are supposed to help us?" Stephanie hissed.

"Relax, there was a mix-up," Jeff shrugged. "Could happen to

anyone."

Their conservation stopped when the pretty petite redhead came back

in.

"Hi, I’m sorry about this," she apologized. "Our boss isn’t even in

right now, so we’re a little lost. There might be a slight wait, he’s

heading back in as we speak."

Matt nodded. "It’s okay, we don’t mind."

Stephanie snorted.

"We don’t," he repeated, shooting a glare in the brunette’s

direction. The redhead had a slight frown on her face, which she quickly

replaced with a smile.

"Well, I do have some information sheets I need you guys to fill

out," she told them, handing out the paper and pens. "It’s just some

general background questions about the case."

"It’s supernatural," Stephanie blurted out. The redhead’s eyes

widened.

"Supernatural?" she repeated.

"Yeah, I thought you guys handled that sort of thing," Stephanie

glared at her.

"Um, yes we do," the redhead assured them. "But most people don’t

usually know about that. Or are that blunt about it."

"Stephanie’s not known for her tact," Triple H smiled at her. His

ex-wife simmered.

"Shut up Hunter!" she shrieked.

"We got a reference from another wrestler," Edge piped up. "He said

you could help us."

"Another wrestler?" Willow frowned.

"Yeah, his name is West," Chris told her. The redhead stood for a

moment, biting her lip, deep in thought.

"West," she muttered to herself. Then she straightened and looked

at them in disbelief.

"Tall, brown hair, high school jock guy?" she said in an asking

manner.

"Yeah, that’s West," Triple H nodded. "Came from some small town

just a few hours from here. Sunnyvale or something."

"Sunnydale," the redhead corrected. She shook her head in wonder.

"Percy West is a wrestler?"

"West’s first name is Percy?" The Rock laughed. "No wonder he only

goes by West."

"You’re one to talk, Dwayne," Lita jibbed him. The Rock looked

slightly taken back and then slunk into his seat.

"What exactly is the problem?" the redhead asked them.

The wrestlers exchanged a look. Jeff sighed and looked at her.

"There’s a demon trying to kill us."

*****

Willow sat beside Wesley while Lita related their story. The rest

of the AI team had assembled and were present.

"It started like three weeks ago," the redhead started. "The

Godfather was just walking to his locker room when he was attacked. No one

saw who attacked him, but they hurt him pretty bad. Two days later, in San

Jose, Jacky is attacked in the women’s locker room. Trish Stratus and I

came in when we heard the fight. When we got in there, we saw this thing.

It was like blue and black all over. It had yellow eyes and teeth. It was

so disgusting. It also vanished into the walls when we came in. Since

then, three other Superstars have been attacked."

Wesley nodded. "And is there anything significant about the

attacks?" he asked. "Anything that links the victims together, other than

being wrestlers?"

"Nothing," The Rock shook his head. "Just random people in the

back."

"Well, demons don’t just attack for no reason," Faith interjected.

"Well sometimes they do, but usually to eat. And since no one’s been eaten,

it must want something."

"Eat?" repeated Edge, looking decisively pale.

"Anything out of the ordinary happen in the last three weeks, or

something prior to that?" Wesley asked.

They all shook their heads. Willow frowned.

"Faith’s right," she muttered. "Demons don’t randomly attack

without a reason. It must want something from you."

"But what?" Chris demanded.

"We don’t know," Gunn replied.

"Yet," Angel added. He walked over to Lita. "You got a good look

at this thing right?"

She nodded.

"Okay, then I’m going to get you to help me make a sketch of it," he

gestured to his desk. "We’ll try to identify him from the books after."

"Good idea," Wesley agreed. "From the rest of you, we’re going to

need details of every incident with this thing. You say it has attacked

five times?"

The wrestlers nodded.

"Very well," he looked at his team. "Just grab one team member and

give them an accurate account of every attack. Anything at all related, to

where to when to how."

The group dispersed and set to work.

*****

"So Percy West is a wrestler," Cordelia whispered to Willow

musingly. The two were pouring over texts, trying to identify the demon

that was attacking the wrestlers. Angel’s sketch lie beside them. It was a

nasty thing with pointed ears and a bad dental job.

"Yeah, what of it?" Willow whispered back.

"Well, I knew he would do the sports thing, but this is very

different from basketball," Cordelia whispered.

"Sports is sports to Percy," Willow whispered back.

"Oh, right. I forgot how you became the sole authority on Percy at

the end of high school."

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"Nothing," Cordelia shrugged. "Just saying, you guys spent an awful

lot of time together towards the end."

"I was his tutor. I’m the reason he made it to the end."

"True."

"Besides," Willow continued. "You’re the one who dated him like

three times."

Cordelia frowned. "I wasn’t the brightest girl back then."

"So what’s changed?"

"Bitch."

"Cow."

"Freak."

"Look who’s talking."

"Meaning?"

"Oh nothing. Having psychic visions of the future is totally

normal. Not at all leaning to the freak category."

"Shut up."

"Anything you say, Queen C."

There were a few minutes of silence.

"Percy had the hots for you," Cordelia whispered.

"WHAT?" Willow demanded. Everyone stared at them. Willow blushed

and leaned closer to Cordelia.

"What?" she repeated whispering.

"Percy West had the hots for you," Cordelia repeated slowly.

Willow snorted.

"Are you high?"

"I’m serious."

"Don’t be ridiculous. I was captain of the Nerd Squad. And Percy

likes his women hot."

"Oh Wills, haven’t you ever bullshitted to someone just so they

wouldn’t get mad at you?"

"Yeah, your point?"

"My point is, Percy lied to his girlfriend because he didn’t want

her angry at him."

"Percy isn’t that intelligent."

"You’re so in denial."

"Whatever, shut up."

"What’s going on?" Faith asked, walking up to the two.

"We’re talking about how Percy likes Willow," Cordelia answered.

"Percy does not like me."

"Yeah, sure Red," Faith snorted.

"What is that suppose to mean, Faith?"

The brunette shrugged her shoulders.

"Nothing," she replied. "Just saying, Percy wanted in your pants."

"What?"

"See?" Cordelia smiled triumphantly.

"Y’all on crack," Willow muttered, shaking her head.

"Come on Red, he so had it in for you after the evil you practically

strangled him at the Bronze. Percy is a total sub."

"Sub?"

"Submissive," the Slayer clarified. "As in into S & M. Boy so

wanted you for a dom."

Willow turned red.

"Go back other there!" she hissed.

"Someone’s in denial," Faith chanted in a singsong voice, heading

back to Angel and Wesley.

"I can’t wait for him to see you."

"What? Why?"

"Because, you’ve finally ditched all the fuzzy pink sweaters and

floral skirts. Seeing you decked out in your new wardrobe, it’s going to

drive Percy up the walls."

"Hey, I still like my fuzzy sweaters and floral skirts," Willow shot

back. "And if I meet Percy, I’ll be sure to pull out my fuzziest number."

"Oh no you won’t."

"Why not?"

"Hello, wrestling. These people do not wear fuzzy pink sweaters and

floral skirts. When you go with them to the arena, you have to be able to

blend in for the demon to approach you. It’s going be the skin tights and

crop tops tonight."

"I will not."

"You have to. Otherwise, the demon ain’t coming near you. He’s

going after the Superstars. If you’re not dressed like the others, he’ll

know you’re an outsider."

"Oh shut up."

"Someone’s not liking the logic."

"Don’t be a pain Cordy."

"Fine. I’m just saying, seeing you dressed like that. Percy is so

going to get sprung."

"Didn’t I tell you to shut up?"

"Hey, simple statement of fact. You are going to look so hot, Percy

is going to wet himself."

"I can’t believe that you refuse to shut up."

"I’m just saying-"

"Say it once more and I will never speak to you again."

Cordelia shrugged and turned back to her demonology text. On the

other side of the wall, the Hardy boys exchanged amused looks over the

girls’ conversation.

*****

"I FOUND IT!" came the triumphant cry from Fred. Everyone snapped

their heads up.

"You got it?" Willow asked, making her way over to the little

brunette.

Fred nodded happily. She pushed a huge tome in front of Willow.

There it was, the big nasty, in all his blue, black, and green glory.

"That’s him," Willow agreed.

"What is it?" Stephanie demanded impatiently. Willow frowned. She

wasn’t so sure she like this woman. She was loud and impatient. Not to

mention, really stuck up and self-centred.

Stephanie for her part looked very anxious. She fiddled with

something on her necklace. It looked like a ring, or something of the

circular kind. The brunette noticed Willow’s attention and snapped the

chain back under her shirt.

"What is it?" she repeated in a testier tone.

"It’s an Orc," Wesley read from over Willow’s shoulder. He took off

his glasses and wiped them worriedly.

"An Orc," he repeated to himself.

Faith frowned. "What’s up Wes?"

"I recognize the name," Wesley answered. "But I don’t know from

where. Probably while I was in the Council."

"Stuffy Englishmen have the inside on the ugly?" Faith asked.

"Maybe Wills should contact the G-man, ask him to look it up."

"Sounds good," Willow agreed. "I’ll call the Scoobs too, get them

in on research as well."

"Scoobs? G-man? Council? Englishmen?" repeated Lita in confusion.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Just some personal nicknames for some of our associates," Angel

answered. "People who have access to bigger stores of information than we

do. Whatever we can’t find on this thing, they should be able to locate."

"But what about tonight?" Stephanie interrupted again. "The show is

happening tonight. That thing isn’t going to wait for you to find

information on it. It’s coming after us regardless."

"No need to worry Miss McMahon," Wesley soothed. "We will be

spending a task force with you tonight."

"What if you don’t get it tonight? What about Thursday’s show?"

Faith frowned. "Why don’t you just cancel?" she asked. "This is a

severely dangerous situation. All of you are in extreme danger."

"We can’t cancel," Stephanie shrilled. "We’re the WWF. We never

cancel."

"Besides, it would just give the demon the chance to visit them all

separately," Willow interjected. "And it would be bad to meet this thing on

your own."

"Oh," Faith looked properly chastised. "How do we kill it?"

"It is not extremely extraordinary," Fred piped up. "It is mortal.

No specific areas of invincibility. Can take them out like any regular

human."

"So, it’s a slice and dice?" Gunn asked.

"It would appear so," Wesley mused. "What I don’t understand is why

this thing is after you. They are not even native to this plane of

existence."

"Are they from the Wednesday world?" Willow asked.

"No," Wesley smiled at her. "Nor are they from the world without

shrimp. It says they are from the middle."

"There’s a world without shrimp?" the Rock repeated.

"Yes," Wesley replied distractedly. "But not to worry, this thing

is from the middle."

"The middle," Cordelia repeated knowingly. "That’s not at all

vague."

"Um, can you guys explain what is going on to us?" Jeff asked.

Willow smiled. "We’re coming with you tonight. We’ll try and lure

him out. It’s a simple kill, since their powers seem to be restricted to

heightened senses and strength with a strong threshold for pain."

"Only those powers, huh?" Chris replied disbelievingly.

"Yeah, no big deal. After all, Faith and Angel have all those

abilities as well."

"They do?" Edge looked shock.

"So, you are taking the job?" Stephanie asked.

"Yes," Wesley answered. "I suppose we are."

"Good," Stephanie nodded. "Here are the conditions. We are willing

to pay 50,000 dollars for your work tonight. If you deliver the dead demon,

we will add an additional 10, 000 to that total. If the demon does not

appear tonight, we will work out another agreement with you, involving your

presence at our other shows. Do you have any problems with that?"

Silence answered her.

"Hello?" she prompted.

"You’re going to pay us 50 grand just to show up tonight?" Faith

repeated.

"Yes, I’m afraid the price is not negotiable. If you have a problem

with that-"

"No!" Angel interrupted hastily. He shook Stephanie’s hand

energetically. "That’s sounds fine."

"Well, if we’re taking the job, we need a game plan," Faith spoke

up.

Wesley looked at his team.

"Let’s get to work."

Cordelia clapped her hands together in glee.

"I’ll help Willow get ready!" she squealed. The former cheerleader

grabbed Willow by the hand and led the protesting redhead up the stairs.

"What about the plan?" Wesley called after them. Cordelia snorted

this off and proceeded to drag an unwilling Willow into her bedroom.

"That is going to be counter-protective," Gunn mused, gazing up at

the stairwell.

"Well, then the rest of us can-"

"I best go get ready too," Faith interrupted, trotting up the

stairs.

There was a moment of silence. Angel looked at Fred expectantly.

Noticing his attention, the brunette made her way over to the staircase.

"I’m going to go save Willow," Fred offered, following the rest of

the women up the stairs. Wesley threw his hands up in defeat.

There was a moment of silence.

"You all live in this dump?"

* * * * * * * * *

* *

Chapter Two:

Willow wrapped her arms tightly around herself.

"I don’t see why I have to wear this," she complained to Lita. "I

mean, you have on more clothes than I do."

The other redhead smiled sympathetically.

"Another thing," Willow continued. "I should at least get a jacket.

I’d be able to conceal a bigger weapon with a jacket. Don’t you think I

should get a jacket?"

"You’re concealing a weapon?" Jeff repeated shocked. He gave the

redhead an incredulous once over. "Where?"

"Somewhere," Willow insisted. "You can stop the staring now.

Faith, give me a goddamn jacket."

"Calm down Red," Faith soothed, coming up from behind. "I think you

look great. And if I give you a jacket, you would just cover right up. And

then how would the Ogre know to attack you if you don’t look like the

others?"

"It’s the Orc," Willow corrected testily. "And I’m sure it wouldn’t

mind if I had a jacket."

"Red, it’s not even that much," Faith told her amusedly.

"That’s my problem with it!" Willow shrieked. "It’s not much! It

is very little!"

"I think you look fine," Jeff offered.

"Well, thank you," Willow replied. "But I do not like it. Where’s

Wesley? He’s created an uncomfortable work environment for his employee.

That’s like a federal felony or something. I could sue."

"Quit babbling," Faith admonished her. "You have to be in the west

corridor, in about . . .now."

"I am not going in there dressed like this!" Willow shrieked. The

cause of her distress was the very skimpy green halter-top Cordelia had

forced her to wear. The black leather pants were no big deal, but the top

left very little to the imagination. And it had no back. Willow preferred

her shirts to have backs.

"Girls?" crackled a voice over their COM links.

"Yeah Wes?" Faith answered, continuing her discussion with Willow

with hand gestures and pointed looks. She glared when the redhead sent her

one very rude finger gesture.

"Very mature Wills."

"Girls?" came Wesley’s voice again. "Why aren’t you in position?"

"Wills decided she doesn’t like her outfit. I think she’s planning

on going on strike or something."

"Miss Rosenburg," came the sigh from Wesley. "Would you please make

your way to your post?"

Willow glared at Faith. "Anything you say boss," she muttered.

Faith shot her a brilliant smile. The redhead turned on her heel and

marched off. Seconds later, she came skittering back in.

"What’s my post?"

*****

"We’ll be right next door," Lita soothed, leaving Willow alone in a

locker room. She turned to the waiting Hardy Boys.

"Are you sure we should leave her alone?" Jeff asked worriedly. "I

mean, that thing is huge. Willow is not. It could rip her in half."

"She says it’s her job," Lita shrugged. "I wasn’t sure either, but

her co-workers thought it was okay. And I think they have a better

knowledge of her abilities than we do."

"She keeps saying she has a weapon," Matt added. "But where? I

mean, where could she be hiding it? She’s not wearing a hell of a lot."

Lita frowned. "Should I be concerned that my boyfriend and his

brother are obsessing over our bodyguard’s clothing?"

The brothers shot her identical smiles.

"Just saying, I can’t see where the hell she could keep a weapon."

"Well, just keep it to yourself," Lita told them. "She’s obviously

nervous. I don’t think she dresses like that often."

"I like it," Jeff piped up.

"I’ve gathered that," Matt grinned. "I think little brother’s

getting a crush."

Jeff shrugged. "So? She’s hot."

"Can we take this discussion to our locker room?" Lita gestured

towards the door. "We have strict instructions from our bodyguard. She

wants us together and in doors."

The three entered their room.

*****

Willow looked around herself, whistling nervously. She had been

sitting in the room for about an hour. The show had started; she could hear

the screaming fans from where she was.

"Oh, come on," she whispered into the room. "Tasty little redhead

right here. Sitting all by her lonesome. Come get your dinner."

"I thought you guys said it wasn’t an eating kind of demon," came an

amused voice from behind her.

Willow turned around and smiled at Jeff Hardy.

"It’s not," she answered. "But, I figure it just needs some sort of

encouragement to come out tonight."

Jeff grinned. "You think you make it nervous?"

"Of course," Willow snorted. "Don’t I look intimidating?"

"I’ll just let that one go unanswered."

Willow gave a little laugh.

"What’s up?"

"We’re heading out for our match now," Jeff explained. "We moved

Torrie, Taijri, and RVD next door so . . ."

"So they can protect me from the evil monster that I’m suppose to be

protecting them from?" Willow finished for him.

Jeff smiled sheepishly.

"I also smuggled you in a little something," he tossed something at

her. Willow caught it. It was a large button up jersey with jagged writing

all over it.

"Team Extreme?" she looked at him.

"It’s not a jacket, but Lita wears one just like it," he explained.

"This way, you can cover up and still fit in."

Willow smiled, blushing slightly.

"Thanks."

"Don’t mention it," Jeff turned to leave.

"Good luck on your match," she called after him.

Jeff just grinned once more in response before leaving.

"What a nice guy," Willow whispered to herself. Happily, the

redhead wrapped herself up in the jersey. It was entirely too big, but it

covered. She could smell a faint whiff of cologne. She figured it was

Jeff’s own jersey.

"A nice guy," she repeated.

*****

Faith smirked at the cowering figure in front of her.

"So, you’re like not evil now?"

The Slayer rolled her eyes.

"No Percy," she answered snidely. "I am once again on the side of

perpetual goodness. I have forsaken all that corrupted my former life. Me

and Red participate in random acts of kindness from our house on Lollipop

Lane."

The former jock glared at her.

"Hey, you were intent on massacring my entire senior class," he

pointed out.

Faith closed her eyes in remorse. She had tried so hard to put that

behind her, but she constantly faced reminders of her past. All it took was

one look of fear and Faith felt like the murdering bitch she had been.

"I’m sorry," she whispered. Sorry, like that would fix anything.

"It’s okay," Percy reassured her. "I’m sure you’re all better now.

Hell, Rosenburg wouldn’t keep you around if you weren’t. Speaking of which,

where is Rosenburg?"

Faith grinned at the hopeful look on Percy’s face.

"She’s at her post," Faith replied. "Away from here."

"Maybe I should drop in, say hi."

"Hi can wait until after the show," Faith frowned at him. "No

unnecessary changing of positions. This thing is random at best, everyone

needs to remain in their sections until we find it."

"You guys are going to take it out, right?"

"We’re going to try," Faith trailed off as a giant man approached

them.

"West, you ready for our match?" the giant asked.

"Yeah Taker, just give me a second," Percy replied.

Taker gave Faith a once over.

"Who are you?"

"I’m your security," Faith answered.

"You’re the answer to our situation?" the man looked cynical.

Faith opened her mouth to give some retort but crackling from her

COM distracted her.

"Yo, Tiger," she heard Gunn greet. "You see anything?"

"Nope, clear here," she replied, eyes still on the wrestlers in

front of her.

"Damn, when is this thing coming out?" Gunn whined.

Faith grinned to herself.

"Is someone bored?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Well, talk to the Dead Man, maybe he’ll keep you entertained."

"Who should I keep entertained?"

Faith frowned at the giant.

"What are you talking about?"

"You just said for the Dead Man to keep someone entertained."

"So?"

"Faith, this is the Undertaker," Percy jumped in. "His nickname

around here is the Dead Man."

"Oh, I get it. Undertaker, Dead Man, makes a certain amount of

sense," Faith nodded sagely. Then she gave the giant another once over.

"Suits Angel way better," she added, walking away.

"Who the hell is Angel?"

"Angel’s here? Is he still not evil?"

Faith turned back to give Percy a mocking grin.

"That’s for me to know, and you agonize about," she quipped,

disappearing into the adjacent hallway.

"This place gets weirder and weirder every year," Taker muttered.

"And I think I’m getting too old for it." He glared at the younger man.

"Let’s get to our match boy."

*****

Angel stalked the hallways silently, vampire hearing stretched wide

as he tried to pick up any sign of their demon.

"Yo, Dead Man," came the voice over his COM.

"I’m here Gunn," the vampire replied, still focusing on the

surrounding environment.

"See anything?"

Angel sighed.

"Nope," he answered. "Not a demon in sight."

"What about yourself?"

Angel grinned to himself.

"Not like I could see myself if I wanted to," he reminded Gunn.

"Oh, right, no reflection," came Gunn’s reply. "Tell me again why

you get to patrol right outside the diva’s locker room while I’m stuck in

the office part of the building?"

"Because if you were here, you wouldn’t be concentrating on the

mission."

"And you are?" Gunn snorted. "You may be a eunuch, but you’re still

a male."

"I am not a eunuch," Angel growled. "I’m celibate."

"Not by choice," Gunn added. "But by necessity."

"Gunn, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to eat you."

There was a brief silence.

"I’m going to check in with English."

Angel sighed again and looked down at his watch. Nearly two hours,

the show was almost over. When the hell was this thing going to show up?

*****

Wesley tapped his foot in impatience. He cast another glance around

the parking lot. Not a demon in sight. Not anybody in sight.

"English?" came the call over the COM.

"Yes Gunn?"

"See anything?"

"Not a thing," Wesley replied.

"Don’t suppose you’re up for light conversation?"

Silence answered him.

"Right, so I’ll just talk to Red."

"You do that," Wesley replied. His COM fell silent once more.

Wesley cast another glance around the area.

"Come on already," he muttered to himself.

*****

"Red, you there?"

"Where else would I be?" Willow answered lightly.

"Cute Red, you know, all y’all just don’t seem to be appreciating my

conservation skills today. First Tiger gives me the brush off, then the

Dead Man, and then English. Now, you’re giving me lip. It’s like you guys

don’t love me anymore."

"We love you Gunn," Willow soothed. "We’re just a little busy."

"Doing what?" the young man demanded. "No one’s seen hide or hair

of this damn thing. I’m starting to think they made it all up."

"And why would they do that?"

"So that Jock Boy would have another chance at getting in your

pants."

"For the last time, Percy is not allowed in my pants!" Willow

shrieked.

"Damn straight!" agreed Gunn. "Knock that bastard for a loop if he

even tries it."

Willow grinned at the wall in front of her.

"You say the sweetest things gang banger."

"Don’t you forget it," came the reply. "I am the absolute sweetest

guy this side of Southern California. Why do you think Fred loves me so?"

Willow grinned to herself.

"I could think of a few other reasons."

"Hey, no dirty thoughts Red."

There was a moment of silence.

"What the hell do you make of this situation?"

Willow sighed.

"I don’t know," she answered. "There’s no seeming link between any

of the victims. We don’t know a hell of a lot about this demon. I really

don’t understand what it could be doing here."

"And why it left the middle?"

"Yeah that too. You know, I’d die happy if we ever found one tome

or text that actually explained things properly. Or at least, wasn’t

horribly vague about stuff. The middle? The middle of what?"

"My sentiments exactly," Gunn agreed. "But I don’t like it. It

gives me this weird feeling. Tonight as well. Something is up, and we’re

in here blind."

Willow frowned slightly. "How much longer left in the show?"

"Ten minutes," Gunn replied. "I don’t think this thing is going to

attack-"

Gunn was abruptly cut off. Willow heard some grunts and bangs.

"Gunn?"

"I got it Red! Just need to-" this time he was cut off by a yell.

Willow leapt up and made for the door.

"Guys, Gunn’s in trouble," Willow shouted into her COM. Her hand

wrapped around the doorknob. A sudden dizziness washed over her. Willow

leaned against the door, slightly nauseous.

A low growling drew her attention back to the bench she had been

occupying. There stood the demon. It was ugly, blue and big. It also had

its eyes trained on her.

"There’s more than one," she whispered. Willow drew in a sharp

breath.

"Faith-" she was cut off by the attacking demon.

*****

"Red, where the hell-"

Faith stopped when she heard the growling. Turning around, she

looked squarely at the demon.

It growled menacingly at her.

Faith grinned.

"Come to Mama," she whispered.

The demon attacked.

*****

"What the hell is going on?" Angel demanded into his COM. He turned

around, intent on finding Gunn. Screams from the women’s locker room drew

him away.

Angel charged in. The demon had pinned a half dressed woman to the

floor. Other female wrestlers ran about, looking for hiding spots or

weapons, he wasn’t sure.

"Hey ugly!" he shouted at the thing. It raised yellow eyes to him.

"Get off of her," Angel ordered.

The demon growled and then leapt. Angel and the creature went

tumbling out into the hallway.

*****

Wesley marched for the building doors. Someone on his team had

found the demon, and now they needed help.

Suddenly, the demon plopped down in front of him.

"I thought you were with Gunn," he said to it.

The demon growled. It was answered by more growling. From behind

Wesley.

Wesley turned around. There was another demon behind him. He

turned back to the one in front.

"It was a trap," he whispered. The demons smiled at him

maliciously.

They both crawled closer.

*****

Bangs and shouts from next door drew Jeff’s attention.

"It’s in there with Willow!" he shouted. The whole group of

wrestlers bolted out the door.

They entered the hallway and Jeff made for the door to Willow’s

room.

Before he could reach it, the door flew open. A body came speeding

out, crashing up against the opposite wall. The wrestlers stared in shock

at the demon that had been hunting them for weeks.

Willow came flying out the room as well. Her green eyes were

blazing, literally. They glowed an eerie incandescent green.

"What the f-" RVD was cut off when the little redhead charged at the

demon. Before they could register what happened, the demon had been

skewered by Willow’s sword.

It made a few pathetic gurgling sounds and then slumped to the floor

dead. Willow, eyes back to normal, walked over and pulled her sword out of

it.

"Where were you keeping that?" Matt’s disbelieving voice broke the

silence. Willow glanced up, noticing them for the first time.

"Get back in your room!" she ordered. "Stay together, keep some

sort of weapon on you!"

"But, you just killed it," Jeff protested.

Willow shook her head.

"I killed one," she answered. "There are more."

"More?" Torrie repeated fearfully.

"Yes, now get in your room!" the redhead pushed them all to the

door.

"Don’t leave until I come and get you," she ordered them, slamming

the door shut behind her.

"What the hell is going on?" Lita demanded.

Taijri started spouting off in Japanese. Torrie paled and looked at

the rest of them.

"He says he thinks the shit hit the fan."

*****

Willow raced down the hallways.

"Hello, anyone there?" she shrieked into her COM.

"Red!" came the answer, but not from her COM.

Willow glanced up and saw Gunn making his way over, a triumphant

smile on his face.

"I got it!" he announced proudly. "Nice jersey by the way. Where’d

you get it? Anyway, demon’s dead, I got ‘em."

"You and me both," she muttered darkly.

Gunn frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

"I just got attacked by one of those things," she replied, jerking

her thumb in the direction she came from.

"There’s only supposed to be one."

"Tell me about it," Willow muttered. "Where the hell is everyone

else?"

"I need help in the parking lot!" came the shout over the COM.

Willow and Gunn exchanged glances.

"Wesley!"

*****

Faith dashed towards the parking lot. She noticed something out of

the corner of her eye. Angel quickly joined her.

"Did you just-"

"Yup," he answered.

"There was only suppose to be one," she grumbled.

"Tell me about it."

The vampire and the Slayer burst out into the parking lot.

*****

Willow and Gunn stumbled into the parking lot. First thing they saw

was two of the demons. The second thing they saw was Wesley unconscious and

bleeding at their feet.

Willow and Gunn charged at the monsters.

Seconds later, Angel and Faith joined the fray.

The screams of the Orcs echoed across the night sky.

* * * * * * * * *

* *

Chapter Three:

"You said there was only one!" Faith yelled. Vince McMahon flinched

slightly at the tone of her voice.

"Miss Wilkins, I assure you that-"

"Assure bullshit!" Faith interrupted. "There were six goddamn

demons here! You said one and there were six! Now our boss is in the

hospital, internally bleeding! What the fuck can you assure?"

The gathering of wrestlers grumbled and shifted uncomfortably at the

girl’s words. Angel placed a restraining hand on Faith’s arm.

"Calm down," he ordered lightly. Faith glared at him. He glared

back. Relenting, the Slayer walked over and sat down next to Willow.

"Nice jersey by the way," she muttered to the redhead. Willow just

smiled wanly in response. The redhead was too tired to come up with

comeback.

After the attack, ambulances had been called in. Gunn had ridden

with Wesley down to the hospital. The rest of them would have followed,

except Mr. McMahon wanted a word with them. So they met in some sort of

assembly room. The entire WWF roster had trickled in. Vince had tried to

start off the discussion but had been interrupted by Faith’s angry

accusations. He tried to start once more.

"I am very sorry for what happened to your employer," he started

hesitantly. "But I assure you, we only thought there was one. We have only

seen just one."

"That doesn’t explain why they attacked our team solely tonight,"

Angel countered.

"Yes it does," came a slight whisper. Everyone turned their

attention to Willow. The little redhead sat sullenly on a chair, biting her

lip furiously.

"Care to explain Red?"

"We were a threat," she answered calmly. "These things are after

something or someone here. They are on a mission. When you hired us to

protect you, we became a threat to their mission."

"So they decided to take us out," Angel finished for her.

"And since they didn’t do too good of a job, they ganged up on our

leader," Willow continued. "Oldest war tactic in the world. Take out the

leader, and the army will fall."

"That’s why they sent two after Wes," Faith muttered to herself.

"But how did they know?" interrupted Percy. "I mean, how the hell

did they know who to go after?"

"They’re watching you," Willow replied. The assembled group began

to mutter alarmingly.

"How?" came Stephanie’s demand. The woman stood next to her father,

a slight sneer on her face. She was fiddling with her chain once more.

Willow narrowed her eyes at her.

"They are after something," she repeated. "Obviously, that

something is here. They use a portal to come and leave, which means they

have access to magic. Very strong magic. They might have a link to

whatever they’re looking for, giving them some guidelines to work by."

"If they have a link, why don’t they just take it?" demanded the

Rock.

"Inter-dimensional travel is a very tricky thing," Angel answered.

"Even though they know where it is, doesn’t mean they have its exact

location."

"Basically, if there is a link, it must be pretty weak," Willow

continued. "They sent two after Wes because he’s the boss, but only one

after each of the other team members. They obviously know very little about

us if they thought that would get it done."

"But where does that leave us?" Stephanie interjected. "I mean, now

there’s a whole bunch of these things after us? What the hell are we

suppose to do?"

"You can’t cancel," Willow sighed. "And you guys can’t be alone,

ever."

"And what do you plan on doing about it?" Vince asked.

Angel glared at the man.

"We don’t have a clue."

"Very well," Vince continued. "Then I have a plan, or a proposition

if you will. A very lucrative proposition."

*****

"I don’t like it."

Willow rolled her eyes.

"You don’t like anything," she told Angel. "You’re the King of

Brood. Only things you like are angst and poorly lit areas."

Angel frowned at her.

"I am not the King of Brood," he shot back. "I’ve lightened up.

Somewhat. Anyway, it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like it."

"What’s not to like?" Faith piped up. "Fifty grand a night, ten

grand for each dead demon, and all expenses paid. What more could you ask

for?"

"My friends out of the line of fire," he retorted. "I don’t like

the prospect of sending you guys off on your own."

"Dead Man, concern stuff aside, we are adults," Gunn looked the

vampire in the eye. "We do know how to take care of ourselves."

"And it’s the best solution," Willow added. "You need to stay here

with Connor. Cordy isn’t travel worthy, we still don’t know exactly what

the demonizing did to her. Groo is helpful, but not really adjusted to this

world yet. Wes is in the hospital and Lorne would just make them all

nervous. You know this is the best way to go."

"Sure, use logic," the vampire muttered unhappily.

"Angel, look I know you don’t feel okay with this," Fred pleaded.

"I’m not that comfortable with it myself. Hell, the whole use of portals is

enough to make me regress to Pylea. But, these people need our help. They

don’t have anyone else to turn to."

"You’re going to do this no matter what I say, aren’t you?"

"Pretty much," Faith shrugged. "Wes already said we take the case,

and he is the boss man."

"If English is for it, there ain’t anything left to be said," Gunn

added.

Angel sighed.

"Fine," he consented. "But I want regular updates. And no fooling

around. If you guys are ever in over your heads, pull back and give us a

call."

"Yes dad," Faith muttered.

Angel growled at her.

"So," Willow interrupted. "Shouldn’t we pack?"

*****

"Dead Man was none too happy," Gunn commented, helping his

girlfriend check her bags over.

"Yeah, I’ve never seen him so put off," Faith added.

"Not even that time you died all his shirts pink?" Willow asked.

Faith frowned.

"Why do you always bring that up?"

"Cool it girls," came Fred’s suggestion. "You can bicker after we

check all the equipment.

The AI team had assembled at the airport along with the WWF roster.

Wrestlers could be seen milling about, eyes directed at their supposed

protection. For their part, the team was trying to make sure all their

equipment was loaded properly into the plane.

"Lucky for us David Nabbit lent us this cool camera stuff," Fred

chortled happily.

"Ain’t lucky honey," Gunn told her. "The boy just has a huge crush

on Red here."

Willow frowned at him.

"Not everyone in the world has a crush on me," she replied sourly.

"But most do," Faith quipped. Willow turned her glare on her.

"And can you really blame them?" Gunn sighed. "I mean, Red, you are

just so adorable."

"Watch it gangbanger," the redhead warned. "I’m not above turning

you into a rat."

"Oh, please Willow," Fred pleaded. "You promised me you wouldn’t

turn my boyfriend into a rat as a birthday present."

"Speaking of crushes," Faith announced. "Looks who’s heading our

way."

Willow glanced up and gave an inward sigh. Percy West trotted up

the group.

"How you guys doing?" he asked in greeting.

"Can’t complain," Gunn answered, giving the man a steely glare.

"Um, Rosenburg, can I talk to you?"

Faith gave Willow an "I-told-you-so" smirk.

"Sure Percy, no problem," Willow followed him off, sending the

Slayer an acid glare over her shoulder.

As soon as they were out of sight, Faith and Fred burst into

giggles.

"This isn’t funny," Gunn told them. "That guy has serious nefarious

intentions towards our friend. This is not funny."

"Oh, relax big brother," Faith needled him. "Willow can take care

of herself."

"Since when do you use words like ‘nefarious’?" was Fred’s question.

"Can I help it if your sexy brain is rubbing off on me?" he replied,

nuzzling his face into her neck. Fred blushed and giggled as she cuddled

her boyfriend.

Faith made loud gagging noises at their display.

"Get a goddamn room."

*****

"So Percy, what’s up?"

Willow sat facing the former jock as he nervously toyed with a ring

on his finger.

"I have something to tell you," he stuttered slightly. "It will

probably embarrass the hell out of you, but hear me out."

Willow nodded, her face strained.

"What do you need to tell me?"

"First off, it’s not the crush," he told her. Percy smiled at her

shocked expression.

"Yeah, I know that Faith and Cordelia have been pestering you about

that."

"How?"

"Well, the Hardy brothers kind of overheard your conversation that

day at your office," Willow’s face turned a deep shade of red. "Don’t

worry, they didn’t tell everyone. They just wanted to know if I still had a

crush on you."

"Oh," Willow gave a little sigh of relief. Then she frowned.

"Still had a crush?"

"Yeah, okay, so I use to have a crush on you when you were my tutor,

and for a little while after. I’m totally over that now. Not that you’re

not still crush worthy, cause you so are. I mean, you even hotter than

before, I really like the new leather fetish you got going on. Not in a

perverted way, but in a male appreciative way-"

"Percy?" Willow interrupted, a smile on her face. "You’re

babbling."

The former jock looked momentarily shocked. Recovering, he flashed

her a brilliant smile.

"Kind of a switch of roles, eh?" he grinned at her.

"Percy, what is it you need to tell me?"

"I know hearing that I was a wrestler might have been a slight shock

for you. But I want to tell you that it’s because of you that I’m here."

"What?"

"Wait a second, that came out wrong," Percy paused for a moment. "I

dropped out of university a little while after that Aftershock party."

"What?" Willow looked at Percy in concern. "Why?"

"I got too into the partying," he explained. "Got kicked off the

basketball team, lost my scholarship, and ended up back at my parent’s

house."

"Oh Percy . . ."

"Wait, it gets better, I promise. My parents had kind of expected

this from me. Not that that’s new, nobody ever really expected me to do

anything on my own. In high school, it was the teachers and Snyder, giving

me a tutor to do my work for me. In my entire life, you were the only

person who expected me to do something on my own."

"Isn’t that a good thing?" she asked.

"Hell yeah, it’s a great thing!" he assured her. "And that’s what

motivated me. You tried you damnedest to get me to graduate on my own. You

made me work for it. And you were damn encouraging. You supported me on

doing something for myself. Basically, you were the only person who ever

had any expectations of me. And in those months following my drop out, you

were all I could think about. I became obsessed with not letting you down.

I wanted to accomplish something on my own, make a career for myself, so

that you could be proud."

Willow was stunned.

"You wanted me to be proud of you?"

"Your opinion was the only one that mattered," he told her. "So I

joined the WWF. Began training, got a contract, and made it as a Superstar.

Thanks to you."

Willow smiled slightly at the man in front of her.

"You’ve grown up a lot," she said finally. "Percy, you did great."

"Really?" he looked at her hopefully. "Not just saying that because

of what I told you?"

"Hell no!" Willow denied. "You really did good for yourself. I

mean, I hear you’re pretty popular and you’re still very athletic. And you

did it on your own. I guess in my status of former tutor, I am very proud."

Percy smiled. Impulsively, Willow leaned over and gave him a hug.

"Thanks Rosenburg," he mumbled into her shoulder.

"Don’t mention it Percy," she told him. She pulled back after a

while. "I better go help with equipment checking."

"Need some help?"

"Sure," Willow led him back to her friends.

"Hey," Percy spoke up suddenly. "Is that Angel guy still not evil?"

*****

Team Extreme toured the hallways looking for one of their

bodyguards.

"Making themselves pretty scarce for people who are suppose to be

watching our every move," Matt grumbled.

They rounded a corner and came upon Willow and Percy. The wrestler

was holding some electronic equipment and tools. The redhead was perched on

a stepladder, fiddling with some sort of a camera on the wall. The two were

chatting and laughing. Jeff had to stop the rise of jealousy he felt at the

scenario.

"Hey," Lita greeted them. The two looked over at them.

"Hey guys," Willow smiled at them warmly before turning back to her

task.

"What’s up?" Percy asked.

"Just wondering where our sector was," Jeff replied a bit sourly.

It went unnoticed by most, only Willow gave him a questioning glance.

"I actually do not know," she answered finally. "Just give me a

second to finish this up and I’ll take you to the others. Faith and Gunn

have divided the building into various war zones."

"What are you doing?" Matt asked.

"Cameras," Percy answered. "They have this whole control room thing

set up in the offices. It’s kind of cool."

Willow shot him a wiry grin.

"What were you guys laughing about?" Jeff asked, trying to control

his jealous emotions.

"Just catching up on some stuff," Percy answered easily. "I can’t

believe Harris got married, after he walked out on his bride the first

time."

"Well, he wasn’t ready the first time," Willow defended lightly.

"But he really loves Anya, which is kind of surprising considering the

circumstances under which they met. But, they love each other and Xander’s

all grown up. He’s even got a good job and is doing the whole adult, paying

his bills thing. I am very proud."

"Your friend walked out on his fiancée and then married her the

second time around?" Lita repeated incredulously. "That’s bizarre."

"Well, you never met Harris," Percy grinned at them. "The boy use

to be a total loser in high school, then he started dating the most popular

girl in school. Then he cheated on her . . ." Percy trailed off slightly,

giving Willow a quick glance. The redhead concentrated on the camera, her

cheeks reddening slightly.

"Anyway, I was just saying I haven’t seen a lot of people since we

graduated," Percy changed the subject. "Kind of wondering what happened to

them. Like Harmony, haven’t seen that girl since summer 98."

"Uh, if you do see her, make sure you have a cross and stake handy,"

Willow muttered from her place on the ladder.

Percy’s eyes bugged.

"You’re kidding!"

"I speak the truth," Willow told him.

"What?" the others looked confused.

"Someone turned Harmony into a vampire!"

"Vampires?" Matt repeated.

"Yeah, there’s a demon trying to kill you and you’re surprised that

vampires exist," Willow teased him lightly.

"Well," Matt trailed off.

"Harmony, a vampire?" Percy shook his head in wonder. "Some one

actually wanted that girl to live forever?"

Willow broke into peals of laughter.

"Yeah," she giggled, recovering after a while. "I couldn’t believe

it either."

"Whoever did that had to be pretty desperate," Percy chuckled.

Willow paused, seeing Spike in her mind’s eye.

"You have no idea," she agreed. Willow returned to the camera.

Jeff stood simmering at the casual banter between the two. He didn’t know

why he felt so possessive of Willow, hell he just met her. But Jeff really

liked her. He just didn’t appreciate the bond between her and West.

"Done!" Willow shouted in joy. She jumped down from the ladder and

gave them all a dazzling smile.

"That was taking forever," she told them. Willow turned on her COM

and spoke to Fred.

"They’re all up."

There was a moment of silence.

"Okay," came Fred’s reply. "Everything’s working. Head on back."

Willow turned to the rest of them.

"Come on, let’s go figure out your sector."

"I gotta go," Percy declined. "Gotta talk to Flair about my match

tonight."

Willow and Jeff took all the equipment from him. With a wave, Percy

trotted off down the hallway. Willow watched him go with a little smile.

She remembered the others and saw them looking at her in interest.

"He’s changed a lot from high school," she offered. "He never used

to be this independent. Or helpful. It’s kind of weird, but in a good

way."

"What was he like before?" Lita asked, walking alongside the

redhead.

"Percy use to be a really big baby," Willow giggled. "He was great

at sports, not so great at school. In senior year, our principal made me

his tutor so he could avoid academic suspension. Of course, Percy thought

that meant I would do all the work for him. I managed to change his mind."

"What happened?" Jeff pressed.

"I had to knock some sense into him," Willow answered vaguely.

"Is that the meaning behind the sub comment?" Matt piped up.

"Sub comment?" Lita repeated.

"Maybe," Willow muttered, reddening. "And don’t you know

eavesdropping is wrong?"

"You were eavesdropping again?" Lita demanded, giving both brothers

an evil look.

"Not so much eavesdropping as picking up conversation bits in

passing," Matt stammered. Lita continued to give him the look.

"We were eavesdropping," he admitted, looking at his feet in shame.

Lita glared at the two of them.

"What have I said about abusing privacy?" she asked, sounding like a

mother reprimanding her disobedient children.

"Invasion of privacy is like a violation of a person’s mind," the

two brothers chorused together, looking at their feet in shame.

Willow giggled.

"I haven’t met anyone so whipped since Spike," she laughed.

Lita laughed along with her. Both Hardys looked enraged.

"We are not whipped," Matt sputtered indignantly.

"Lita is not even my girl," Jeff protested. "She does not by any

means have me whipped. Matt maybe, but not me."

Matt glared at his brother.

"Whose side are you on exactly?"

Jeff shrugged.

"My own, obviously."

"Boys," Lita interrupted. "Could we finish this discussion later?"

"We’re here!" Willow announced, stopping in front of a door.

"Good," Lita beamed at her. She turned back to the brothers.

"Come on," she ordered. "I’ll deal with the eavesdropping later."

Matt and Jeff followed the girls into the room wearing identical

looks of fear.

*****

The Fang Gang Control Room, as Faith had taken to calling it, was an

amazing sight. There was a huge table in the centre, covered in computers,

televisions, and other electronic equipment. Fred sat in front of the

machines, giving each her attention. The rest of the room was covered in

maps and blueprints. Each map accounted for one sector of the arena.

Underneath each sector, was were pictures of the Superstars assigned to that

area. Faith and Gunn wandered around the room, making notes on maps and

moving weapons around. Off in the corner stood a large roll in felt board.

In the centre of the board was a drawing of the Orc. Surrounding it was all

the information they had accumulated on the demon and the various sightings.

On the other side of the board, there were half worked out theories on its

mission.

"Welcome to Control," Willow quipped as she led the members of Team

Extreme into the room.

Matt gave a low whistle.

"West was right," he whispered in awe. "This is pretty cool."

Jeff gave a slight simmer at the mention of Percy. Willow shot him

a frown.

"Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

Jeff looked slightly startled at her question.

"Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?"

"You look a little put off," she answered, green eyes still lined

with worry. "Are you sure you’re okay?"

"He’s just mad that Billy and Chuck managed to steal another one

from them," Lita jumped in, saving her friend from further embarrassment.

"Oh, well don’t let it bother you," Willow smiled at him brightly.

"From what I’ve seen, you guys are way better than those two. Just give it

some time. Everyone’s luck runs out at some point."

"Hello, what brings the high flyers here?" Faith asked, bounding up

to the new arrivals.

Willow looked at her happy face in suspicion.

"Did someone give you coffee?" she demanded. "You know Faith, we’ve

talked about this."

"Caffeine makes me slightly hyper," Faith announced to the

wrestlers.

"Slightly?"

Faith rolled her eyes.

"Okay, it makes me very hyper," she assented, bouncing on the balls

of her feet.

"And did you have any?" Willow pressed.

The Slayer rolled her eyes.

"Just a little, mom."

"How much is a little?"

"About ten mocha lattes," Faith answered breezily.

Willow’s eyes bugged.

"Gunn!" she turned to yell at the young man. "Haven’t I

specifically told you to keep her away from the coffee?"

"Yeah, but you neglected to tell me what to do when she uses her

Slayer strength to physically remove me from her path," Gunn shot back

defensively.

Willow turned her glare on Faith.

"You know using your Slayer strength against humans is wrong," she

chided the giddy brunette.

"But it gets things done a lot faster," Faith whined in protest.

"It can also land you in lots of trouble," Willow reprimanded.

Faith just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Any hoot, since no one answered me, what are the high

flyers doing here?"

"We need to know what our sector is," Matt answered.

Faith pursed her lips thoughtfully. It would have made a serious

image if the Slayer hadn’t been jumping from foot to foot.

"I remember putting your pictures up around the west block," she

mumbled. The brunette turned to her coworkers.

"Where did we put them?"

"In western block, section G," came Gunn’s reply.

"And that would be where exactly?" Lita asked.

Faith led Lita and Matt over to the other side of the room. Jeff

made to follow, but Willow stopped him.

"Hey, I got something for you," she motioned him to follow.

Curious, the wrestler trailed behind the redhead.

"You have something for me?" he repeated.

"Yeah, well, technically it’s already yours. I‘m sorry it took me

so long to return it," Willow grinned at him. She rummaged around in a

duffel bag for a moment before emerging with Jeff’s Team X-treme jersey.

"I figured since you were nice enough to lend it to me, I should at

least take the time to wash all the demon blood out of it," she explained,

handing it over to him.

"That is much appreciated," he told her.

Willow just smiled and handed him back the jersey.

*****

Chapter Four

    "Nothing!  Absolutely nothing!"
    Willow winced slightly at the shrieks of her friend.
    "Faith, calm down," she admonished.  "It’ll show.  It has to."
    "Yeah," Gunn chipped in.  "They haven’t got what they came for, so
they should be back."
    "But its been three weeks!" the Slayer shouted in frustration.
"Where the hell are they?"
    Fred raised her hand.
    "Just a shot in the dark," the Texan shrugged.    "But most likely
they’re still in the middle."
    Faith narrowed her eyes.
    "Don’t get snippy with me Physics," Faith glared, and then pouted.
"I want to slay something!"
    Willow and Gunn exchanged glances.
    "This is all just about you getting some action, isn’t it?" Gunn
shook his head.
    Faith frowned at him.
    "Yeah, but don’t say it like that.  Sounds dirty."
    Willow laughed.
    "Never thought I’d see the day that dirty talk upset Faith," she
chortled.  Faith simply stuck her tongue out in response.
    "Why not just go on a patrol?" Fred suggested suddenly.  "I mean,
this is a big city, right?  Should have plenty of vampires in need of due
slaying."
    "Physics is on to something here," Faith agreed.
    "You’re not going out by yourself," Gunn protested.
    "Fine, I’ll take Red with me.  That way you and Fred can start
catching up on all that sex you’ve missed."
    Fred turned red at the Slayer’s comments while Gunn smiled
hopefully.  He turned to his girlfriend with pleading in his eyes.  This
just served to turn Fred even redder.
    "Come on Slayer," Willow piped up, taking pity on the girl.  "Let’s
go find you some nice nasties to slay the hell out of."
    The Slayer and witch left the couple alone.
    "At least some of us are getting some," Faith muttered as she closed
the door behind them.
    Willow rolled her eyes.
*****
  Another week passed in the WWF without sight of the Orcs.  Everyone
was getting tense.  Willow chewed her lip furiously.  Faith pounded all
training equipment straight into the ground.  Gunn paced a lot.  Fred
twisted and pulled on her hair frequently.  The wrestlers were all fidgety
as well.  Team Extreme had actually dulled down their performances, no
longer able to muster the energy to pull off most of their stunts.
Stephanie shrilled more than usual.  Y2J snapped at anything that moved.
Triple H engaged in brooding worthy of Angel.  Percy couldn’t sit still.
Everyone was on edge.
    That’s why when RAW rolled around, everyone was caught off guard.
Four weeks without a single sighting had heightened security in the
backstage area.  Between regular security and the AI team, nothing happened
backstage without adequate supervision.  Backstage was under lock and key.
Somehow, the Orcs had figured that out.
    "Looks like an end to yet another uneventful night," Faith
commented, eyes glued to the screen.  RAW was almost over.  The main event
was just starting.  It was a huge six-man tag match.  Triple H and the Hardy
Boyz faced off against Y2J and the Dudleys.  Lita stood in the Hardys corner
while Stacy Kiebler occupied her usual spot alongside Bubba and D-Von.
Stephanie McMahon cheered loudly for Chris Jericho from ringside.  The crowd
loved it.
    Willow joined Faith next to the monitors.  She watched as Jeff Hardy
flew into action, taking down Bubba from the top turnbuckle.  He was really
fearless, and really hot.  Willow flushed slightly at the direction her
thoughts were taking.  She was here to protect Jeff, not jump him.  Though
the jumping idea just got more appealing as time went by.
    "I guess you’re right," she finally said to the Slayer.  She cast a
glance over at Gunn and Fred seated behind the security monitors.
    "Anything?" she asked.
    "Well, Billy and Chuck are doing squat thrusts," Gunn answered,
grinning at the redhead knowingly.
    Willow made a face.
    "I hope you mean as in the stretches, because we do not need to see
that captured on tape."
    Gunn just laughed.
    "What the fuck!" came the cry from Faith.  The Slayer spun past her
friends, racing for the weapons.
    "What?" Willow asked, turning back to the monitors.  Then she saw
it.  Four Orcs, in the ring with the wrestlers.
    "Holy sh-"
    "Come on!" Faith ordered, racing out the door.    Willow and Gunn
grabbed their own weapons and raced for the ring.
*****
    Jeff wasn’t sure what happened.  One minute he was setting Bubba up
for a Twist of Fate, the next he was staring an irate demon in the face.
    Breaking his hold on the Dudley, Jeff stumbled away from the
creature.  Only to find it had three companions.  Jeff exchanged glances
with Bubba.  Simultaneously, the two dove out of the ring.  One demon swiped
at him, scratching him across the arm.    He tumbled out of the ring and into
Lita’s waiting arms.
    "What the hell are they doing out here?" she shrieked.    All the
wrestlers had edged away from the ring.  The four demons glared out at them,
getting ready to pounce.
    Out of the corner of his eye, Jeff caught sight of a redheaded
whirlwind heading down the ramp.  He watched in amazement as Willow, Faith,
and Gunn leapt fearlessly into the ring.  The demons scrambled together and
the two groups faced off in the centre of the ring.
    With a loud snarl, one demon launched itself at Willow.  The other
demons took this as their cue and proceeded to jump on their opponents.  The
fight was on.
    Jeff scrambled to his feet.  He watched on in horror as his Willow
(when did she become his Willow) went toe to toe with the rather large
demons.  Though he knew she was well capable of taking care of herself, he
felt his heart constrict.  He made an attempt to jump in, to help her, but
was restrained.
    "Chill little brother!" Matt yelled in his ear.  "They’ve got it!"
    Jeff turned to give his brother a deathly glare.
    "She knows what she’s doing," Matt insisted.
    Turning back to the ring, he found that the fight was over.  There
in centre stage stood Willow and her friends with four bodies scattered at
their feet.
    The fans went nuts.
******
    Willow stood over the dead body of an Orc.  She was breathing
heavily and leaning on her sword for support.  She cast a glance at her
friends, checking to see if they were all right.  Gunn and Faith both stood
among the bodies looking winded, but okay.
    Slowly, Willow became aware of a loud roaring noise.  She turned in
a slow circle and then remembered where she was.  Centre stage, surrounded
by throngs of wrestling fans.  Fans who were going positively nuts for her
and her friends.
    Willow felt the blush creeping up her neck.  Within seconds, the
redhead’s face was the same colour as her hair.
    "Red?" Faith ambled over.  "You okay?"
    "Look at all the people!" she squeaked.
    The Slayer cast a quick glance around, taking in the masses.  She
grinned mischievously at Willow.
    "I think we’re a hit."
    "I think we’re in shit," Gunn interjected.  "Took a hell of a risk,
attacking out here."
    "They’re getting desperate," Faith agreed.  "That is so not good."
    Willow wasn’t paying attention to anything they were saying.  She
noticed Jeff out of the corner of her eye.  He was clutching his arm and
staring at her in shock.  Almost immediately, Willow made her way over to
him.
    "Are you hurt?" she asked, eyes filled with concern.
    "Just a scratch," he assured her, green eyes line with shock.  "They
attacked us in the ring.  They’ve never done that before."
    Willow returned his stare with a grim one of her own.
    "They’re desperate," she explained.  "And that makes them even more
dangerous than before."
*****
    "What the hell was that?"
    Willow glanced over at the irate Stephanie McMahon.  The woman had
been in a snit since they had returned backstage.  Willow just rolled her
eyes at her antics and turned back to Jeff who was getting his arm bandaged.
God, when she had seen the blood on his arm, she had felt her heart go up
her throat.  Willow honestly didn’t know when she had come to feel so deeply
for the man, but she didn’t have time to wonder.  He was living on some
seriously borrowed time.  All of the wrestlers were.
    Jeff sat patiently while the paramedics tended to his arm.  He
ignored Matt and Lita’s incessant fretting, instead choosing to focus on
Willow instead.  She had accompanied him backstage, checking on his wound as
they walked.  When the paramedics took over, she stayed at his side, eyes
watching the whole process worriedly.  He reasoned this away as guilt.    She
was supposed to protect him and something had happened.  But in the back
corner of his mind, a hopeful thought lingered.  Maybe, just maybe, the
redhead was concerned because she had feelings for him.  God knew he had
feelings for her.
    His hope momentarily shattered as Percy West came up beside her.
    "Hey, you all right?"
    "I’m fine Percy."
    Percy turned a concerned face to Jeff.
    "How about you man?" the young wrestler asked.
    "Fine," Jeff muttered.
    Seemingly satisfied by his answer, Percy turned back to Willow.
    "They took a pretty big risk," he commented.
    Willow nodded.
    "But at least in doing so, they gave us a clue," the redhead mused,
eyes never leaving Jeff.
    Lita frowned.
    "How so?"
    "They’re desperate," Willow shrugged.  "If they were willing to risk
that much exposure for the attack, then they must have thought they would
succeed."
    "Meaning whatever they wanted was at ringside," Percy finished for
her.
    Willow nodded gravely.
    "Whatever, or whoever, these things are after, they think someone in
that match has it," Willow broke her gaze from Jeff to glance back at the
trading Stephanie.  "At least it narrows the search down."
    "What happens next?" Matt asked.
    Willow looked at him grimly.
    "We need to get all of you to safety."
*****
    "What are we going to do now?" Vince demanded.  The AI team had
gathered in his office to speak with the owners privately.
    "The wrestlers refuse to be left alone," Ric Flair chipped in.
"They won’t even go back to their hotel rooms."
    Faith rubbed her eyes tiredly.
    "That’s not such a bad idea, actually," she mumbled.  "These things
are getting seriously desperate.  Wrestlers shouldn’t be left alone, ever."
    "If they attacked in the ring, they’re not above attacking hotel
rooms," Gunn added.  "And since there are only four of us, I doubt we can
watch all the wrestlers while they sleep."
    "What are we going to do?" Vince repeated.  "They won’t sleep in
their hotel rooms, you say they shouldn’t.  What am I going to do with my
entire roster?"
    There was a brief silence while everyone contemplated their options.
Timidly, Fred raised her hands.
    "I have a really stupid idea," she offered meekly.
    Willow sighed.
    "It’s the best we got," she nodded to Fred.
    "Let’s hear it."
*****

Chapter Five
   
    "This is a stupid idea," Faith muttered under her breath, eyes
watching various wrestlers stumble about.
    "It was the only idea," Willow interjected.  "Which makes it a great
idea."
    "At least we can keep an eye on everyone," Gunn offered.
    "Even if it is a little cramped," Fred added.
    Faith just rolled her eyes.
    The "idea" was a massive gathering of wrestlers and security into a
recreational hall.  Vince had gotten on the phone immediately following RAW
and booked the building.  After a quick run to a camping store by some
confused crew members, every wrestler and security personnel had their own
sleeping bag.  It was stupid; it looked ridiculous, but it was the best they
could do.
  Currently, the wrestlers were milling about, trying to find ample
floor space for sleeping.  Percy had taken a spot in the right corner,
surrounded by blond divas.  Willow could only roll her eyes at that.  Some
things just didn’t change.
    Her eyes flicked over to the members Team Extreme.  Lita sat in
Matt’s lap as Jeff lay on the floor using his rolled up sleeping bad as a
pillow.  They were in a deep discussion about something.  Lita was chuckling
and nudging Jeff with her foot.  Matt just grinned at his brother.  Jeff was
blushing lightly and shaking his head.    Willow wondered what they were
teasing him about.  She let her eyes take in his body, stretched out over
the floor.  Damn but he was hot.  Nice lean body, contemplative face framed
with blue, green, and purple hair.  Funny that the colours looked natural on
him.  He was so strange; so special.  Willow definitely wanted to jump him.
    "Take a picture it lasts longer."
    "Huh?" Willow turned her head to find Faith grinning at her.
    "You were staring pretty intently at Rainbow Boy over there," Faith
nodded in Jeff’s direction.  "You so want in his pants."
    Willow went red.
    "Try to focus on the case," she reprimanded the Slayer before
brushing past her.  It didn’t occur to her to deny the brunette’s claims.
    Faith just stood, smiling at her retreating back.
*****
    "What are you so happy about?"
    Faith turned her head at the voice of the gruff voice.
    "Excuse me?" she asked, eyes raking over the large figure of the
Game himself.
    "What are you smiling about?" he repeated.  "You guys were freaking
out when those things attacked in the ring.  Now, you’re just skipping about
like nothing’s wrong.  How do you do it?"
    "Can’t be serious all the time," Faith rolled her eyes.  "A person
would end up killing themselves if they took everything in this life
seriously."
    "But this is a serious situation!" Triple H protested.    "How can you
not be serious?"
    "It’s in my experience that if you approach things seriously, you
tend to miss things," Faith shrugged.  "Getting too serious about something
gets you involved.  You lose the objectivity you get with light
heartedness."
    She frowned at him.
    "Y’all getting so worked up by this thing, you shouldn’t.  We got
it, don’t freak about it.  Everything’s going to be five by five."
    Triple H stared at her.
    "How can I not worry?"
    It wasn’t a demand.  It was a honest question.    This guy looked
tired.    Tired and scared.  Faith took pity on him.  These guys were stressed
and nervous.  They needed something to take their minds off of it.
    "Think about something else," she suggested cheerfully.
    "Like what?"
    Faith beamed happily.
    "Well, you can stay here and help me make fun of Willow and Rainbow
Boy.  Those two are so hilarious."
    Triple H looked confused for a moment.    He turned to look at Jeff.
The boy was staring intently in Willow’s direction.  A smile slowly came to
his face.
    "Well, isn’t that cute," he snickered.
    Faith nodded, jumping up and down.
    "They so need to be teased about it," she confided in him.
    Triple H nodded.
    "So, how would we go about that?"
    Faith beckoned him closer and whispered her plan in his ear.
    The Game looked stunned.
    "You’re evil.  I thought she was your friend."
    Faith just cackled.
*****
    Willow sat in front of the felt board.    She was staring intently at
the picture of the Orc.  Her eyes raked over all the information they had
gathered on the thing.    It was very little.  They were demons and they were
from the middle.  They wanted something, they wanted it bad.  They had
attacked seven times.  They were getting desperate.
    Willow drew her legs up to her chin.  Nine people at ringside.    Nine
suspects.  And she had a raging crush on one of them.
    Willow dropped her head onto her knees.  This was going to be
difficult.
    "You okay?"
    Willow raised her head.  The Game looked down at her in amusement.
    "What?" she asked, confused.
    "Are you okay?" he repeated, taking a seat next to her.  He flicked
his eyes to the board.
  "I’m fine," she laughed uneasily.  "Why do you ask?"
    "You’re the only one sitting here, brooding over this thing," he
answered, shrugging his shoulders.  "Your friend Faith is running amok all
over the place.  Fred and Gunn are just doing weapons check.  You’re sitting
here, glaring at the board like it killed your best friend."
    Willow gave a little laugh and shook her head.
    "Getting too caught up in this aren’t I?"
    "Since Faith’s philosophy is to light-heartedly objective, maybe,"
Triple H agreed.
    Willow shrugged.
    "I can’t believe they did that," she mused.  "It’s so breaking from
their pattern.    And millions of people saw me slaying demons.  It’s making
my tummy do the rumbly."
    Triple started to laugh.  She looked at him strangely.
    "What?"
    "I just can’t get over how you people act," he chuckled.  "The way
you talk, how you handle things.  It’s just so-"
    "Unprofessional?" Willow filled in for him.
  "Strange," he amended.    "It’s hard to believe you can be as
effective as you are."
    "Not feeling to effective right now," she muttered.
    "Don’t worry," he assured, patting her back.  "You guys will get it.
I mean, you’ve done great so far.  I have faith."
    Willow smiled, blushing lightly.
    "Thanks."
*****
    Jeff craned his neck to get a better look at Willow.  Hunter had
approached the little redhead awhile ago.  They were sitting awfully close
together, heads bowed in conversation.    He idly wondered what Hunter was
doing with his Willow.    Again with the "his", Jeff needed to control that.
    He turned his head away, seething inside.  Not his Willow, just
Willow.  Willow the bodyguard, who was incredibly beautiful.  Jeff groaned
and dropped his head into his hands.
    "They look comfy."
    He glanced up to find Faith had settled down next to him.
    "What?"
    "Willow and Triple H," Faith nodded in the direction of the two.
"They look comfy."
    "I wouldn’t know," Jeff muttered unhappily.
    "I’m fine," Faith stated, as if he hadn’t spoken.
    "Why?"
    "Willow needs a man," she said simply.    "Ever since her last
relationship ended in shambles, she hasn’t been showing much interest in
dating."
    "He asked her out?" Jeff exclaimed.
    "No, don’t know," Faith shrugged.  "There just looks like
possibility.  And that’s good.    Willow needs to get on with her life."
    Jeff was silently shaking with rage.  Willow was not going to get on
with her life with Hunter!  He refused to let that happen.
    "Well, see you," Faith got up and trotted away.  Jeff barely
acknowledged her departure, eyes intent on his redhead.
    That’s right.  His redhead.  And Jeff would be damned if Hunter got
her.
*****
    Faith watched Jeff out of the corner of her eye.  The boy looked
about ready to snap.  Hunter patted Willow’s knee and his eyes bulged.
    The Slayer chuckled to herself.  Her plan was working.
*****
    "What is Faith up to?" Gunn asked his girlfriend.
  "Mischief, no doubt," Fred answered, peering at the other brunette
intently.
    "Should we do something?"
    "Nah," Fred waved it off.  "We got bigger problems than Faith
misbehaving."
    "Right," Gunn agreed.  He glanced around them, the floor was
littered with weapons.    "What are we going to do?"
    Fred shrugged.
    "Sleep," the girl suggested.  "Come up with a game plan in the
morning."
    "Sounds good."
*****

Chapter Six

    "Okay, so we have nine leads," Gunn started.  "Question is, what do
we do now?"
    The AI team had cornered themselves off from the wrestlers.  The
felt board had been wiped clean of theories.  Now, it had nine pictures
posted up on it.  Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Lita, Bubba Ray Dudley,
D-Von Dudley, Stacy Kiebler, Stephanie McMahon, and Chris Jericho.  Their
photos stared silently at the AI team, or appeared to do so.
    Willow wasn’t sure what it was, but she was pretty sure she knew
what or who the Orcs were after.  Nine equally eligible suspects but her
gaze always settled back on one.  Stephanie McMahon.  There was something
about that woman, something that told Willow this was all about her.  But
then again, there wasn’t any real evidence of that.  Maybe it was just the
fact that she didn’t like Stephanie.  Either way, Willow’s attention was
focused on her.
    "Wills, you with us?"
    Willow was roused out of her reverie by Faith’s question.
    "Huh?"
    "You with us?" Faith repeated.    "Because we kind of need a game plan
right now."
    "We should probably investigate all the wrestlers," Fred piped up.
"We should track their movements, figure out if they were close by when the
other incidents occur."
    Gunn nodded.
    "I think that’s-"
    "It’s Stephanie," Willow interrupted.
    "What?"
    "It’s Stephanie," she repeated, gazing at her co-workers.
    "And you know this?" Gunn asked.
  "No, not for sure," Willow shook her head.  "But it’s her.  I feel
it."
    "And we’re basing this on what?"
    "Six years on the Hellmouth, saving the world from oblivion," Willow
replied.  "I have a gut feeling about this.  We need to focus on Stephanie.
But she can’t know."
    "Think she knows what’s going on?" Faith asked, shooting a glance at
the woman in question.
    "I don’t know, I don’t think so," Willow bit her lip.  "But she’s
hiding something.  She’s also fiercely protective of it.  I don’t want to
set her off before we get all the details."
    Gunn nodded.
    "What do you want us to do?"
*****
    Jeff wondered what their protection was up to.    They had holed up in
the corner and began a heated discussion about something or the other.
    "What do you think they’re talking about?"
    Jeff turned at the sound of the Hunter’s voice, bristling slightly
on the inside.    He wasn’t happy with the man, and he was guessing Hunter
knew that.
    "Hey man, lighten up," the Game smiled at him.    "Not after your
girl."
    "My girl?" Jeff played dumb.
    "Yeah, Willow, your girl," Hunter grinned.  "Faith just wanted to
mess with your head.  I figured I’d help, being the Cerebral Assassin and
all."
    "Mess with my head?"
    Hunter chuckled.
    "Yeah, something about it motivating you to get off your ass and ask
Willow out.  Faith’s is getting tired of the dance you’ve been doing."
    "You seem to know a lot about Faith," Jeff changed the subject.
"Where’s all this sudden interest in our bodyguard coming from?"
    Hunter just grinned again.
    "Hey man, we’re not discussing me here," the Game protested.  "We’re
talking about you and the redhead."
    "The redhead doesn’t seem to want to talk about me," Jeff mumbled
sourly.  "She just wants to reminisce with Percy about high school and
demons that they killed."
    "Man, you are stupid!" Hunter exclaimed.
    "Excuse me?"
    "Willow likes you, moron," the Game gave him a look.  "Don’t tell me
you haven’t noticed."
    "Noticed what?"
  Hunter rolled his eyes.
    "If you really are that stupid, then you deserve to have to do this
on your own.  But know this:  Faith assured me that Willow likes you."
    "Faith said that?"
    "Well actually she said Willow was having naughty thoughts about
your pants, but that’s what I inferred from it."
    Jeff blushed slightly and then recovered.
    "Willow thinks about my pants?"
    Hunter rolled his eyes again.
    "You are hopeless, you know that?" Hunter glared at him.  "Just ask
the girl out, save the rest of us from this little teenage drama you have
going on."
    Jeff ignored the last comments.  He gazed at Willow.
    How the hell could he ask her out?  This was not the most opportune
time to start a relationship.  And what if everyone was wrong?    What if she
didn’t like him?
    Jeff groaned and dropped his head into his hands.  When did
everything get so complicated?
*****
    "Fred, I want you to talk to Vince," Willow instructed.  "Get all
the layouts of the arenas where these things attacked.    Also, give Stephanie
a quick interview about the attack."
    The brunette nodded and trotted off obediently.
    "Gunn, I want you to talk to some of the divas," she continued.
"Ask them about Stephanie.  If she’s been displaying any sort of strange
behaviour before the attacks began.  Also, question the Dudleys and Stacy,
make it seem like we‘re just checking up on the victims."
    Gunn beamed and ran off in the direction of busty females.
    "You sure that was a good idea?" Faith asked dryly, watching Gunn
approach a group of divas.
    "It’ll be fine," Willow soothed.  "I want you to talk to Hunter and
Jericho.  Jericho’s usually with Stephanie, so ask him where she was when
the attacks occurred.  But do it discreetly, make it a question of his
whereabouts.  I don’t want this leaking back to Stephanie.  And Hunter, ask
him about her behaviour before the attacks.  What she was like at home, etc.
And then to Team Extreme."
    "Aye, aye," Faith mock-saluted.  "What will you be doing?"
  "Conferencing with the others," Willow answered.  "We need more
information on these things, and we need it now."
    The two went to their separate tasks.
*****
    "Cordelia, that’s not good enough!"  Willow protested into her cell
phone.
    "Well, Willow, what do you want me to do?" the seer demanded.  "No
visions, no leads.  I can’t find a damn thing on these demons.    Not anything
new anyway.  Just the same crap about the middle."
    "What about the Scooby Gang?"
    Cordelia sighed.
    "They’ve been busy, something about a Quarnta demon that’s been
eating elderly folks.  What they’ve only uncovered the same as we have.
Demons from the middle."
    "What about Anya?" Willow asked.  "Does she remember anything about
these things?  Any previous encounters?"
    "Nope, they’re new to her," Cordelia answered.    "Anya doesn’t know
much about the middle.  She only said that D’Hoffryn forbade his demons from
traveling there."
  Willow frowned.
    "Why is that?"
    "Something about there being enough magic there," Willow could
almost hear the shrug the seer did.  "He didn’t say much.  And he’s not
exactly up for sharing with us at the moment."
    Willow shut her eyes and rubbed them.
    "Why is everything so hard?" she moaned.
    "I don’t know Wills," Cordelia admitted.  "I didn’t think it would
take this long."
    "What about Giles?" Willow asked suddenly.  "Does the Council have
anything on these things."
    "Actually, I haven’t heard from Giles," Cordelia mused.
    "That doesn’t sound like Giles," Willow frowned again.    "Did he say
when he would get back to you?"
    "He didn’t say anything at all," Cordelia chirped.  "I haven’t been
able to catch him.  But I did leave several messages on his machine and I
don’t know why-"
    "Cordelia," Willow interrupted.  "You left Giles messages on his
machine?"
    "Yeah."
    "Rupert Giles."
    "Is there another one?" Cordelia giggled.  The seer paused when it
hit her.
    "Oh fuck!" she swore.  "I forgot Giles was technologically impaired.
You want me to try again?"
    "No, I’ll do it," Willow sighed.  "Just try to find something more
on these guys.    Anything at all."
    "Will do," Cordelia promised.  "I’ll talk to you later."
    "Bye."
    Willow turned her cell phone off and sighed again.
    "What’s up?" Faith asked, walking up to the redhead.
    Willow glanced at her.
    "Did you finish asking?" she asked.
    Faith nodded.
    "What did LA say?" the Slayer wanted to know.
    "Nothing new, except Cordelia informed me she hadn’t actually talked
to Giles, but left him messages on his machine."
  Faith chuckled.
    "G-Man doesn’t know a coffee machine to a computer."
    "I know!" Willow threw her hands up in the air.  "All this time
we’ve wasted when we could have had some helpful information on these
things."
    "Relax Red," Faith soothed.  "It’ll be okay."
    "What did they say?" Willow said, changing gears.
    "Just like you thought," Faith shrugged.  "Jericho said she was with
him for three of the previous attacks.    As for Hunter, he said she’s been
going slowly downhill since they got married.  He says she just gets more
vicious and more paranoid as the days go by.  I feel sorry for him.  He was
married to her for like two years."
    "Yeah, poor him," Willow smirked.
    "What’s the smile for Wills?"
    "Like you don’t know."
    "Don’t know what?"
    "You like Hunter!" Willow jumped up and down, jeering at her friend.

    Faith went red.
    "What are you, nuts?" the Slayer sputtered.
    "Nuh-ah," Willow taunted.  "I keep catching you checking out his
ass.  You like him!"
    "So, you’re like five years old?" Faith demanded, glaring at the
bouncing redhead.
    "So, you don’t deny it?"
    "There’s nothing to deny!"
  "Yeah, and Giles can use the Internet."
    Faith narrowed her eyes.
    "Shut up Red."
*****

Chapter Seven

    Willow was right.  Well, partially.  Stephanie seemed to be the key.
Tracking her movements the nights of the attacks, the AI team had
discovered Stephanie had either just left that exact area or was around the
areas.    Three of the times she had been with Jericho in their locker room,
the attacks had taken place on the other side of their room. 
    Also, to add to Willow’s theory of something being off, there was
Stephanie’s behaviour.    In the last few weeks, Stephanie had escalated her
seemingly endless drop in wretchedness.  She had lied to Hunter about being
pregnant, worked with Kurt Angle to cost him his Wrestlemania shot, and
joined forces with Y2J to make his life miserable.
    She had become more erratic as well.  Lillian Garcia remembered an
event when Stephanie had poured hot coffee over her for asking a question.
She had tried to force Hunter to beat up random people.  It looked like the
Billion Dollar Princess had taken a nose dive off the deep end.
    But what did it mean?  All the evidence was there, what did it make
Stephanie guilty of?  Willow had never felt so confused in her life.  There
was no motive for the demons to be after Stephanie.  She was just some rich
girl with a temper problem.
    But Willow had seen her eyes at times.    They were wild, unfocused.
Willow had seen that look before, on her own very face.  Magic.  Black
magic.    Stephanie was deep into it, but Willow couldn’t sense it in her.
Stephanie had no power, she wasn’t a witch.  So that begged the question:
where is the magic?  And what the hell did it have to do with the Orcs.
    Willow had no idea what the connection could be, but she knew it was
there.    She just prayed Giles would be able to help her.  That is, if she
could ever get in touch with the man.
    She had left several messages with Quentin Travers secretary.  She
hadn’t explain the problem, just asked for Giles to call her.  And she was
waiting on that call.  But they were running out of time.
*****
    "Vince demands the meeting happen today," Faith frowned.
    "What are we going to tell them?" Fred asked.
    Gunn didn’t say a word, he just looked at Willow.  The redhead
sighed.
    "We don’t have any choice," she assented.  "We have to call
Stephanie on whatever she’s doing."
    "But we don’t have a clue as to what that is!" Faith protested.
    "We’ll have to bluff her out," Willow shrugged.  "We’re out of
options."
    Consenting, the AI team got ready to head for the meeting, which
would be occurring outside of the corner they had situated themselves in.
They could see the wrestlers assembled on the other side of the hall.
Everyone watched them in anticipation.
    Ringing made Willow turn back.
    "It’s my phone," she waved the others on.  "Go, I’ll be a second.
Don’t start in on Stephanie before I join you."
    The others nodded and trotted off.  Willow flipped open her phone
and answered it.
  "Hello?"
    "Willow?  It’s me Giles."
    "Giles!" Willow exclaimed in relief.  "I have been trying to get a
hold of you for ages!"
    "Yes, I’m sorry.  I was detained for a little while.  But, what is
it you need to speak to me so desperately about?"
    "Well, I’m on a case for Angel.  You know the WWF?"
    "The World Wildlife Fund?"
    Willow rolled her eyes.
  "No, the World Wrestling Federation," she amended him.    "What the
hell is the World Wildlife Fund?"
    "It’s a-"
    "Never mind," she interrupted.    "Anyway, these guys were being
stalked by some demons.  They’ve even started attacking them during
matches."
    "That’s sounds unpleasant."
    "Tell me about," Willow sighed.  "The problem is, we don’t know why
these things are after them."
    "How can I help?"
    "Do you know anything about Orcs?"
    There was a silence.
    "Oh dear god!"
*****
    Faith watched Willow out of the corner of her eye.  The redhead was
bug-eyed about something being said to her.  She glanced up and shot a look
of disbelief in Stephanie’s direction.    Faith frowned as she saw the redhead
visibly pale.  What the hell was going on?
    "Do you have anything new to report?" Vince’s voice cut in her
thoughts.  "Because we can’t stay like this."
    "Well, we have a few theories," Fred answered vaguely.    "We’re just
waiting for Willow to finish up her phone call so we can-"
    "Out of my way!"
    Faith turned to see Willow pushing her way to the front.
    "Red, what the hell are-"
    Willow brushed past her, not bothering to answer.  The redhead
marched forward to stand in front of Stephanie.  She reached a hand out to
Stephanie’s throat.  The Billon Dollar Princess recoiled as the redhead drew
near.
    "What do you think you’re-"
    "Freeze!" the redhead commanded, eyes flashing green.  Willow was in
full witch mode.  Stephanie was stopped in her tracks, eyes wide.
  "What is the meaning of this?" Vince demanded, stepping close to the
witch.
    Willow merely glared at him in response.  Reaching out, she ripped
the front of Stephanie’s shirt off.
    "HEY!" Stephanie screamed in protest.
    "Miss Rosenburg!" Vince yelled.
    "Silence!" the witch commanded, causing the owner of the WWF to lose
his voice.  Vince’s eyes widened and his face went red in rage.
    Willow ignored the uproar starting.  She simply turned back to
Stephanie and ripped a necklace off the woman’s neck.
    "You better hope this isn’t what I think it is," she spat at her.
    "Red, what are you doing?" Faith demanded.
    "Checking on something," Willow replied curtly.  "If I’m wrong, then
I apologize to both of you," gesturing to Vince and Stephanie.
    "And if you’re right?" Jeff asked, curious to see what set the
normally mild mannered girl off.
    "Then Stephanie’s in deep shit," the witch growled.  She brought the
necklace up to eye level.  On the end of the gold chain was a golden ring.
It wasn’t terribly fantastic, but it was alluring in its own way.
    Willow stretched out her palm, a fireball appearing in her hand.
She telekinetically moved the ring into the fire.  Then she waited.
    "Stop that!" Stephanie screamed.  "It’s mine!"
    Willow ignored her.  Eventually she extinguished the flame.  The
ring still floated in front of her.
    "Fred, hold out your hand," she commanded.
    Fred did as she was told.  The ring was lowered onto her palm.    It
was surprisingly cool; she flinched at the contact.
    "What do you see?" Willow asked, voice strained with worry.
  The brunette merely held the ring between her fingers.    She stared
at it in wonder.  It appeared only to be a simple ring, but then it
happened.  Letters appeared on the ring band.  They flickered on, flame-red,
in a language she had never encountered before.
    "Writing," she answered finally.  "There’s writing on it.  But I’ve
never seen this script before."
    Fred raised her eyes to Willow.  The witch looked positively sick.
    "What does it mean?" Gunn pressed.
    Willow just turned to Stephanie.  She advanced on the woman, eyes
flickering in rage.
    "Roughly translated, it means:    One ring to rule them all.  One ring
to find them.  One ring to bring them all and bind them.  In the land of
Mordor where the Shadows lie."
    "What does that mean?" Hunter asked.
    Willow continued to advance on Stephanie.
    "It means we’re all in serious shit," she answered.
    Willow stopped speaking when she came face-to-face with Stephanie.
    "You stupid little girl," she whispered in a choked voice.  "What
the hell have you done?"
    Stephanie screamed in anger.
*****
Chapter Eight

    "What’s wrong with her?"
    Willow looked at the tear-streaked face of Vince McMahon.  Funny,
she never figured him to be a crying kind of guy.  He looked more like one
of those guys who would go to a funeral and tell everyone to suck it up.
She hated those kinds of guys.
  She returned her gaze to Stephanie.  They had arranged for a sort of
cot for the girl.  Ever since the ring had been taken from her, Stephanie
had been in hysterics.    They had been forced to tie her down.  At the moment
she was struggling futilely against her bonds, muttering incoherently.    Her
face was glazed with sweat, her eyes wild.  Her hair was a mess and she
looked red in the face.  She had a fever and was crying constantly.
    "Withdrawal," Willow answered simply.
    "Withdrawal?" Vince repeated angrily.  "Stephanie doesn’t do drugs!"

    "The ring was enough of a drug," Willow answered in the same tone of
voice.    The witch was tired and scared.  This was supposed to be a simple
case.  But it wasn’t; it was so much more.  And they had no warning for it.
Cordelia didn’t even get a vision and she usually did with things of this
magnitude.
    "How can this ring be a drug?" Chris Jericho asked bitterly.  Willow
glared at the man.  He was worried and she would make allowances for that,
but she was getting tired of repeating herself.  Watching the man smooth
hair away from Stephanie’s forehead, she realized something.  This guy had
it bad for the Billion Dollar Princess.  Too bad for everyone else that
Stephanie set off a chain of events that could end in her death.
    "The ring is magic, some of the blackest magic I have ever felt,"
she answered finally.  The other wrestlers gathered around.  Willow would
have laughed at the sight of it.  WWF story time.
    "It’s a tool of someone of great power, someone who would kill for
it," she continued.  "You’re all just lucky he couldn’t figure out which one
of you had it.    Otherwise the Orcs would have just killed all of their
victims instead of just putting them in the hospital."
    "This ring is so powerful that this guy sent these things after us?"
Percy asked, eyebrows raised.  "But it’s just a ring.  It doesn’t even look
that special."
    Willow sighed.
    "That’s the point," she explained, rubbing her eyes.   "If it looked
unique, everyone would be after it.  If it looks like an ordinary ring, how
can a person distinguish from all the others?"
    "But Stephanie, she’s in pain," Vince looked wretched.    "If that’s
what she needs, then just give it to her."
    "Haven’t you heard a word she said?" Faith demanded.  "If she gives
that thing to Stephanie, it’s not going to help her.  The Orcs will just
come after her until she’s dead.  Is that what you want?"
    Vince was silent, gazing at his daughter.
    "Also, it warped her," Gunn brought up.  "That thing did something
to her mind.  She got addicted to it.  Look at her.  It practically turned
her into a junkie."
    "The ring, it has a mind of its own," Willow continued her
explanation.  "It trapped Stephanie.  I don’t even have a clue as to how
long she’s had this thing.  And if she was ever stupid enough to put it on,
well then I know how the Orcs found out it was here.  Does anyone know where
she got it from?"
    "In her attic," came the answer from Hunter.  The large man was
watching his wife with haunted eyes.  "She’s had it for a little over two
years.    She told me she found it in her family’s attic.  She liked it so she
put it on a chain and kept it on her always.  She would never take it off,
not even when-well, you know."
    There were a few half-hearted chuckles.  Willow kept silent,
watching Stephanie.
    "Two years is long, but not that long," she finally whispered.    "She
can get over this, but she’s going to need a lot of help.  And she needs to
be far away from the ring."
    Vince nodded.
    "I’ll arrange for her to go home," he muttered.  "Her mother and I
will look after her.  But what about that ring?"
    Willow glared at the look in the man’s eye.  She knew what that
meant.
    "The ring will be dealt with," she answered curtly.  "You would do
well to stay away from it.  If you try to take it for yourself, I will blast
you into another country."
    With that, the witch turned on her heel and stalked to the other
side of the hall.
*****
    "What are we going to do with it?" Faith asked.  She watched the
miserable witch seated on the floor.
    "I’m waiting for the Council," Willow answered.  "They’re making
preparations.  Whatever that means."
    Willow sank her head into her hands.  They were sitting on the
proverbial time bomb.  The ring was safely placed in a pouch in her pocket.
But it felt like it was burning a hole right through her clothes.  The ring
had been pretty close to accomplishing what it wanted, and it was pissed
Willow stopped it.  Lucky for her the Orcs wouldn’t find them again unless
someone put it on.  And that was so not going to happen.
    "Willow, why are you so worried?" Fred asked quietly.
    The witch sighed and raised her head.  The wrestlers were leaving
them alone, giving them a wide berth.  That was good.  They didn’t need to
hear this; it would just freak them out.
    "The guy who’s after the ring, his name is Sauron," Willow
whispered.  The other team members leaned in to hear better.  "He’s really
bad.  In the middle, he’s like the big bad.  Nearly twice the guy had taken
the whole dimension over.  His whole dream is to enslave the entire realm.
He’s been stopped both times, and after the final time the ring was thought
to be destroyed.  Obviously that didn’t happen.  That thing has a mind of
its own.  It must have transported itself across the dimensional barrier.
So it disappeared from the middle and showed up here.  When Stephanie put it
on, which I believe she did, she basically told Sauron where to look.
Luckily the guy isn’t powerful enough to come and get it himself.  This
thing is real bad news."
    "What did the Council say to do?" Gunn asked.
    "Just to keep it out of sight, never put it on, and wait for them,"
Willow sighed again.  "Guys, the real problem is this.    The ring is
obviously still potent here.  That means its magic is not restricted to the
middle.  It can have a severe influence here."
    "And so Sauron would be able to enslave us," Faith finished for her.
Willow nodded miserably.
    "The world’s in danger," Gunn muttered.  "Again."
  "And we get to save it," Fred added.  "Again."
    There was a brief silence.
    "We really should look into another line of work," Faith mused.
"Cause this bullshit is just too nerve racking.  We’ll have grey at thirty
at this rate."
    Willow gave a half-hearted giggle.
    "Of course, you are assuming we live to see thirty," she needled the
Slayer.
  "Yeah, assuming that," Faith shrugged.
    "Good thing I don’t plan on living past 28," Gunn piped up.
    Fred gave him a sharp glare.
    "You’re going to be alive until I say otherwise mister," she growled
at him.
    Faith winced.
    "Ouch, the gang banger is so whipped."
    Gunn glared at the giggling females surrounding him.
    "I need male friends."
*****

Chapter Nine:

    "What now?"
    Willow was getting tired of questions.    Everywhere she turned,
another wrestler asking her "what now".  How the fuck was she supposed to
know?  It wasn’t like she had been in this situation before.
    Well, possible apocalyptic she had been in before.  However, she did
not deal with threats from another dimension.  Unless you count Glory, but
she was in this dimension, so Willow wasn’t counting that.
    "We wait," she answered for the umpteenth time, making her way over
to Stephanie.
    Trish ran to catch up with her.
    "Wait for what?" the blonde asked nervously.
    "Help," Willow replied briskly.  She approached Stephanie and the
woman began thrashing again.  Vince had left to make arrangements for her
travel, Chris knelt by her bedside.  The man hadn’t left since she was put
there.    He was being so obvious.
    "Give it to me!" Stephanie shrieked.
    "Why do you keep coming over here?" Chris demanded.  "It just upsets
her."
    "I can’t help it," Willow sighed.  "No one else on the team will
hold the ring.    And I need to check on her.  If I don’t, she might
deteriorate beyond our helping.  Unless you want that to happen, I suggest
you stomach her irritation."
    Chris looked lost.
    "I know you care about her," Willow whispered in his ear.  "And I
want to help her.  This thing, it warped her mind.  The Stephanie she’s been
isn’t the Stephanie that she is.  All of this, it’s the ring.  And for her
to get better, she will need help.  And until she gets to Connecticut I’m
the only help she’s got.  It’s all we can do for now."
    "When does help arrive?" Chris asked, eyes intent on Stephanie.
    Willow sighed again.
    "I don’t know," she admitted.  "It may be a little while.  They’re
in England.  But, they are hurrying."
    Chris seemed to accept this.  Willow made to check on Stephanie.
She started with the physical aspects.    Pulse, heart rate, the usual.  Then
she turned to the spiritual.  Willow did a quick scan of her aura.  It was
still in turmoil, but most of the black from the ring had dissipated.  It
hovered around the edges, clinging to Stephanie tightly.
    Willow raised her eyes.  She scanned the hall.    Wrestlers sat in
tight knit groups, gazing after her every movement.  Faith sat next to
Hunter and Team Extreme, chatting idly.  Her gaze kept flicking to the
redhead as well.  They shared a glance.  Faith was tense too.  She wanted to
do something, kill something most likely.
    Fred and Gunn sat at the board.  Fred held the cell phone
expectantly in her hand.  Gunn twirled a sword in his hand, gaze flicking
around the hall as well.
    They were waiting.  And almost everyone was sick of it.
    "Give it to me!" shrieking brought her attention back to Stephanie.
The woman glared at Willow.
    "Give it to me!" she repeated.    "It belongs to me!"
    "No," a voice from the entrance stated.  "You belong to it."
    Willow turned at the sound of the familiar voice.  Her heart leaped
when she took in the figure at the entrance.
    "GILES!"
*****
    Jeff looked up at the redhead’s shrieking.  He watched as her jumped
into the arms of an older looking man.
    "Who is that?"
    "That’s G-Man!" Faith answered, jumping up in happiness.  "Help has
arrived."
    The brunette raced over to the new arrival as well.  Wrestlers
milled about as the two women hugged the man fiercely.
    "Well, combined you two are very strong," the man gasped.  He
sounded British.
    The girls started and released him.  He bent over slightly,
breathing heavily.  Then he raised his head and smiled at them.
    "Hello girls," he smiled warmly at them.
    "Oh Giles, thank god!" Willow breathed in relief.  She fished a
pouch out of her pocket.  "Take it!"
    The man, Giles, held his hands up in denial.
    "Don’t offer me that thing," he whispered.  The two exchanged a
glance and the redhead returned the pouch to her pocket.
    "Who are you?" asked Ric Flair.
    "Rupert Giles," the man stretched out his hand for a shake.  Ric
accepted it.  "I’m here to help with the situation."
    "Giles, you remember Gunn and Fred," Willow motioned to the two AI
investigators behind them.  Giles shook their hands as well.
    "You’re here to end this shit, right?" Undertaker asked.
    "Yes, quite," Giles stuttered.    "But first, this girl, Stephanie?"
    Willow led him over to the Billion Dollar Princess.  He knelt beside
her, hand on her forehead.
    "Her aura," he started.
    "I know," Willow finished for him.
    He handed a few bottles to Chris.
    "Give her these, it should help."
    "What are they?"
    "Just something to fill the magic need, healthily."
    Giles stood and motioned for Willow and the others to follow him.
They made to do so without question.  Jeff reached out and grabbed Willow’s
arm.
    "What’s going on?" he asked her.
    "It’s okay, Giles is here," she assured him.  "Giles will take care
of it."
    With that, she trotted off to join her friends.
    "Giles will take care of it," he muttered unhappily at her back.  He
turned to his friends.
    "Who the hell is this guy?"
*****
    "Giles, I don’t want it," Willow started off.  "Can’t you take it?"
    Giles smiled at her strained.
    "I can’t," he answered.  "It’s too much of a temptation."
    "Giles, I can feel it," she whispered to him, scared.  "Its like
this crawling feeling all over my body.  Like it’s pushing at me to
recognize something that I don’t want.    What is it?"
  "It is the Ring of Power," Giles replied softly.
    "What does it do?" Gunn piped up.
    "It is the tool by which Sauron can retake his form, and his
throne," Giles answered.
    "And that is bad right?" Faith prompted.
    "Very bad," Giles agreed.  "We must hold on to it.  The Council is
trying to get a hold of certain individuals in the middle.  We’re having a
slightly difficult time."
    "No one’s home?" Fred asked.
    "More like we keep getting the answering machine," Giles smiled at
her.
    "And these people are as technologically impaired as you?" Faith
pushed.
    Giles glared at that.
    "It seems they don’t get the severity of our situation.  So I came
and hopefully we can keep this under wraps until we get some guidance."
    "How did you get here so fast?" Willow asked suddenly.    "I mean, I
just talked to you yesterday.  You didn’t have a lot time to do everything
you said."
    "I teleported," he admitted.  "The Council did it for me."
    "The Council can do that?" Faith’s eyes bulged.  "Damn, those
buggers have power."
    "Giles," Willow whispered again.  "Do we stay here?  I mean, this is
pretty much over on this end.  Should we leave the WWF?  If we have the
ring, they should be out of trouble."
    "I agree," Giles nodded.  "It would be wise to return to LA as soon
as possible."
    "Okay," Gunn clapped his hands together.  "Any idea how to break
that to them?  Cause, they’re all pretty attached to us.  It’s kind of
freaky."
    Willow turned to glance at the wrestlers.  Huddled and scared, like
they have been since this all started.    She darted her eyes to Jeff.  He was
so handsome, so brave, and so innocent.  He didn’t belong in this world, her
world.    No one them did.  They had to leave, take the darkness with them.
    "We’re leaving," she stated firmly.  "They’ll just have to accept
it.  We stay here with the ring, they remain in danger.  We have to leave,
no matter what they say.  It’s for their best interest."
  Everyone nodded in agreement.  It was for their safety, for their
sanity.  Willow and the others would leave with the ring.
    Even if it meant she would never see Jeff again.
*****

Chapter Ten
    "You’re leaving?"
    Willow sighed at the expression on Vince’s face.  It was Smackdown!
and the AI team had just informed the owner of their departure.
    "We have to," she explained.  "This ring, it’s what they were after.
If we stay here with it, they keep coming."
    "But what if you’re wrong," Ric countered.  "What if that isn’t what
they want and they come back?"
    "This is most assuredly what they want," Giles insisted.  "However,
we have thought of that.  If you like, we can leave Gunn and Fred here to
keep security going.  But Willow, Faith, and myself must return to LA with
the ring."
    "You make it sound like the end of the world is coming," Vince
muttered unhappily.
    "That’s because it is," Faith shook her head.  "Don’t you get it?
If these things are so violently motivated to get it, they aren’t likely
trying to achieve world peace.    They want it for something, and that
something is not exactly in anybody’s best interest."
    Vince sighed and dropped down in his chair.
    "The wrestlers will take this hard," he told them.
    "That’s why we are willing to leave Gunn and Fred here," Willow
restated.  "If you guys don’t feel safe, then we will leave them behind.
But we need to get this thing away from here.  Even if this isn’t what
they’re after, it’s not going to help matters if they find out it’s here."
    Vince and Ric exchanged a look.
    "We will keep Gunn and Fred," Vince agreed.  "I’ll tell the roster
at today’s production meeting."
    Rising to his feet, Vince extended a hand to them.
    "I do appreciate everything you two have done for us," he told them.
"And you too Mr. Giles, for coming all this way to help us."
    They accepted his hand and Ric’s as well.
    "Good luck," Willow wished them, turning to go.
    "Goodbye," Giles bade them, pausing to look at the WWF logo blazoned
on Vince’s desk.
    "Did you know you have the same acronym as the World Wildlife Fund?"

    Willow and Faith dragged him out of the office, leaving the two
owners slight perplexed it their wake.    When the door shut behind them, Ric
turned to Vince.
    "What the fuck is the World Wildlife Fund?"
*****
    Jeff sped through the hallways.  He had just left the pre-show
production meeting.  Vince had dropped the bombshell just before the meeting
ended.    He had left them all in some sort of uproar.  He couldn’t care less
about what they were arguing about.  He had only one thing on his mind.
    Willow.  She was leaving.  And he sure as hell didn’t want that.
    Coming upon the Control Room, he let himself in without knocking.
Willow, Faith, and Giles looked up at his intrusion.  He ignored the latter
two.  His attention was on Willow.
    "You’re leaving?"
    The three exchanged looks.  Faith and Giles got up and left the
room.  Willow motioned him in closer.
    "Yeah, I’m leaving," she admitted.  "We have to get the ring to LA.
It’s a serious risk-"
    "I don’t care about that," he interrupted.  "I just don’t want you
to leave."
    Willow was slightly stunned.
    "Jeff, I have to," she reaffirmed.  "This is serious shit.  The ring
needs to be dealt with."
    "But you’ll be in LA," he protested.  "Far away from here, from me."

    Willow gave him a little smile.
    "You like me being near you?"
    "Yeah, I really do," Jeff admitted.  "I’m just sorry I didn’t say
anything sooner."
    "Well, it wasn’t the most opportune time," Willow replied.
  "Is this?"
    Willow frowned.
    "Is this an opportune moment?"
    "For what?"
    Jeff reached over and pulled the redhead into a breathless kiss.
*****
    It was safe to say that Hunter was amused when he came across Faith
kneeling in front of the Control Room doorway, ear pressed against it.
    "What are you doing?" he asked, grinning down at her.
    Faith jerked her head up, a slightly shamed look crossing her face
for being caught.  When she saw who it was, she broke out into a bright
smile.    She waved him down.
    "Willow and Jeff are having their moment," she explained, ear back
against the door.
    "Isn’t that supposed to be private?"
    Faith snorted.
    "Ain’t got anything better to do," she shrugged.
    "I could think of a few."
    "Meaning?"
    "Well, you’re leaving right?" Faith nodded.
    "Well, let’s have a moment."
    "You want to have a moment."
    "Actually, I’d like a few uninterrupted hours," Hunter chuckled.
"But under the circumstances, a moment will do."
    Faith grinned before drawing the large man in for a kiss.
*****
    Willow was stunned when she felt Jeff’s lips on hers.  But she
recovered quickly, wrapping her arms around his neck, hands weaving into his
hair.  Jeff replied by pulling her in closer, pressing up against her
tightly.
    Neither noticed the light glow permeating from the pouch in Willow’s
pocket.
*****
    Lita had seen a lot during her time in the WWF.  But it was safe to
say she had never had seen this.
    Her and Matt had just been looking for Jeff when they came across
Faith and Hunter in the hallway.  The two were kneeling in front of the
Control Room door.  And they were kissing and groping like no one’s
business.
    Matt choked at the sight.  The couple didn’t notice.  Lita had
started to lead Matt away when she noticed a light wavering out under the
door.  It was a strange green colour.
    "What’s that?" she demanded, walking over to the kissing couple.
    Faith drew away from Hunter, a slightly annoyed look on her face.
    "I’m busy . . ." she trailed off when she was well noticed the glow.

    "The ring!" she shrieked, leaping to her feet.    Hunter scrambled to
his feet while Faith yanked the door open.
*****
    Willow had been enjoying herself until she heard some loud cursing
and the door opening.
    "Hello?" she snarled at the intruders, drawing away from Jeff.
Faith, Hunter, Matt, and Lita tumbled into the room.  That’s when Willow
noticed the green glow.
    "What the f-"
    "The ring!" Faith shrieked, interrupting Jeff.
    Willow glanced down at her pocket.  She withdrew the pouch to find
the glow was indeed coming from the ring.  The others drew closer.
    "What’s going on?" Lita asked fearfully.
    "Go get Gi-" Willow’s command was cut off when she felt pulling.
The assembled shared a shocked look.
    "Did you feel-"
    Hunter was cut off when the pull happened again.
    "Shit!" Willow cried before the glow opened up and enveloped them
all.
*****


Chapter Eleven

    Rupert Giles wasn’t having the best day of his life.  He was still
weak from the transportation spell and was having to deal with an entire
roster full of scared adults.  One of who used to be a student of his.
Though Percy West was actually being more helpful than irritating, it didn’t
make up for the rest of them.  He couldn’t wait until he left this place.
The world was in peril, he didn’t want to baby-sit sixty odd wrestlers.
    "Hey Mr. Giles," Fred approached him.  "Where are the girls?"
    "Willow is having a conservation with the young man whose hair is
tie-dyed.  Faith scampered off elsewhere."
    "Jeff and Willow are talking?"
    Giles nodded.
    "Oh," the tiny brunette bit her lip.  "Then I guess it is a private
conservation and I can’t go listen in."
    "Indeed."
    "Oh well," she shrugged.  "Gunn’s on the phone with some British
people.  They’re asking for you."
    Giles thanked her and accepted the phone from Gunn.
    "Hello?"
    "Rupert?"
    "Yes Quentin.  Did you reach them?"
    "Yes we did.  In fact, the problem should resolve itself."
    "How so?"
    "They’re calling the ring back to the middle," the Head of the
Council chirped happily.  "Oh, you should make sure no one is touching that
thing right about now."
    Giles stared at the phone in his hand.
    "Willow!"
    With that, he dropped the phone and raced back to the Control Room.
*****
    Willow slowly came back to herself.  She was lying on top of
something.  Feeling breathing on her hair, she kind of figure she was lying
on someone.
    The redhead raised her head, pushing hair away from her face.
Underneath her and unconscious was Jeff Hardy.
    "Jeff?" Willow shook him, slightly worried.  "Jeff?"
    "Yeah?" came the mumbled response.  He opened his eyes, one at a
time, blinking in the sudden light.  He looked towards Willow.
    "You okay?" she asked.
    Jeff nodded and rose up on an elbow.
    "You?"
    "I’m fine," Willow replied.  She turned her head, taking in their
surroundings.  They were in a forest.  Now, Willow might have a tendency to
be flaky at times, but she would have remembered if there was a forest in
the arena.  So, she guessed they had teleported somewhere.  Her head was
still fuzzy, preventing her from giving it too much thought.
    Her scanning eyes fell on four other bodies.
    "Shit," she moaned, moving away from Jeff.  The young man dusted
himself off and followed her.  They approached the figures to find they were
Faith, Hunter, Lita, and Matt.
    Willow knelt beside her friend.
    "Faith, wake up," she shook her friend.  "I don’t know where we are,
but a conscious Slayer would make me feel ever so better."
    She was rewarded with slight groaning from the brunette.  Willow
then shook Hunter awake.  Jeff turned to his brother and friend, poking them
until they awoke.  When all four were sitting upright and blinking in the
sudden light, Willow sat back down.  Jeff settled down next to her, reaching
for her hand.  She shot him a grateful smile while they waited for the
others to regain their bearings.
    "Where the fuck are we?" Faith was the first to recover.  She leapt
to her feet, face decisively angry.
    Willow shrugged.
    "Beats me," she pulled the pouch out of her pocket.  "But I think I
know what brought us here."
    Hunter glared at the pouch.
    "I’m really starting to hate that thing," he muttered.
    "Join the club," Willow replied.
    Faith brightened.
    "Can I be president?"
    "I’m president," the redhead interjected.  "You can be my muscle."
    Faith nodded.
    "Works for me."
    Lita stared at them in shock.
    "You two are unbelievable," she shrieked.  "How can you joke?  We
have no idea where we are!"
    "Nah-uh, I know where we are," Faith protested.
    "Where?"
    "In deep shit," the brunette answered cheerfully.
    Lita looked pissed.
    "Guys, no fighting," Matt help up his hands for peace.    He turned to
Willow.
    "What do we do?"
    "Well, we’re going to start by cooperating with the guys with arrows
pointed at us."
    The others stiffened and followed Willow’s gaze.  Numerous men, all
with long hair and dressed in greens, approached them.    Each had an arrow
trained on the travelers.
    "I’d be happy to fight them," Faith told her companions.  "If it
weren’t for all of those in trees that I can’t see."
    One tall blonde man approached them.  Jeff’s eyes bulged.
    "Check out their ears!"
    The man, with pointed ears, yelled something at them.
    Willow held up her hands.
    "I have no idea what you just said," she shouted back.    The archers
exchanged looks.
    "Who dares to trespass?" the leader shouted in English.
    "Oh, we didn’t dare to trespass," Willow quickly amended.  "We were
just kind of thrown here."
    "Speaking of which," Faith piped up.  "Where are we?"
    "You know very well where we are," the pointy-eared man answered.
    Hunter rolled his eyes.
    "Man, we are telling you we don’t know where we are," he glared at
them.  "Why don’t you just be helpful and tell us?"
    The leader paused.  He turned back to the other archers and they had
some conversation in the first tongue they had spoken in.
    "What do you think they’re saying?" Matt whispered.
    "Whatever it is, I hope it isn’t ‘off with their heads’," Willow
gulped.  "I hated that part of ‘Alice in Wonderland’."
    Everyone just stared at her.
    "What?" she demanded.  "The queen was being way mean."
    Faith snorted but straightened when the leader of the archers turned
back to them.
    "You are to come with us," he told them.  "Do not attempt to
struggle.  We will shoot you."
    "Fine," Faith rolled her eyes.    "But again, where are we?"
    "You are in the forest of Rivendell, city of Lord Elrond," he
answered.  He got six blank stares in response.
  "What the fuck are you talking about?"
*****


Chapter Twelve

    "I DON’T CARE!" Giles shrieked into his phone.    "CALL UP THE GODDAMN
MIDDLE AND TELL THEM TO RETURN OUR PEOPLE!"
    "Rupert," Quentin sighed.  "I cannot do that.  They’ve taken it back
and shut themselves off.  We won’t hear from them until the ring is dealt
with."
  "Quentin, six humans were dropped into the middle without warning,"
Giles seethed.    "One is a Slayer, one a witch, and four of them are
wrestlers.  They cannot exactly blend into the surroundings until this
ordeal is over."
    "Rupert, you know my hands are tied," Quentin repeated.  "They’ve
cut themselves off.  No one enters or leaves the middle until the ring is
destroyed.  They decreed it."
    "But those people, what about them?"
    "I don’t know," Quentin replied.  "We will keep trying to contact
them, but I can’t promise anything until the ring is destroyed."
  Angrily, Giles hung up on the man.  He turned to the assembled group
of people.
    "Well?" Ric demanded.  "Where are my wrestlers?"
    "And our girls?" Gunn added.
    "They’re in the middle," Giles sighed.
    "Get them out of the middle!" Fred ordered.
    "We can’t."
    "Why not?" Percy asked.
    "The middle has closed its borders," Giles explained.  "They want no
outside interference until they can deal with the ring for good."
    "Are you saying that they’re stuck there?" Gunn asked incredulously.

    "It would appear so," the Watcher rubbed his eyes tiredly.  "We
can’t get to them until the middle reopens its borders.  And they don’t do
that until the ring is destroyed.  We could be in for quite a wait."
    There was a brief silence.
    "Are they safe there?" Fred spoke up.
    Giles brightened at that.
    "Actually, they should be fine.  That’s the one thing I’m grateful
for.  Faith is a Slayer and the others can more than take care of
themselves.  And as for magic, Willow is mostly likely the strongest witch
in the Western Hemisphere.  They should be just fine."
    "Should be?" Ric repeated.
    "Yes, should be," Giles swallowed audibly.  "At least they will be
as long as they don’t piss any of the Elves off."
    There was a stunned silence.
    "ELVES?!"
*****
    "You’re what?"    Faith demanded.  Their captors winced slightly from
the height of the demand.
    "We are Elves," the leader repeated.  "And Rivendell is an Elven
city."
    And then he returned to the front of the group.  The humans were
left alone, marching along silently with the Elves.
    "Elves," Hunter repeated.  "Damn we are in so over our heads."
    "Speak for yourself," Willow grinned at him.  The Game rolled his
eyes at her.
    "You know about Elves?"
    "Of course," the witch answered.  "Just never met any.    But there
was that time with the fairies . . . Faith, remember the fairies?"
    The Slayer grimaced.
    "Unfortunately," she muttered.    "The ditziest species ever created.
It was like trying to converse with drugged up hippies."
    "You never mentioned that particular story before," Lita piped up.
    "If we live through this, I’ll tell you all about it," Willow
promised.
    "But only if we live?" Jeff raised his eyebrows at her.  "If we live
through this, we deserve so much more than just one story."
    The redhead shot him a dry smile.
    "Fine, we live through this, I’ll tell you all about the
Initiative."
    Faith rolled her eyes.
    "That’s a stupid story," she protested.  "You should tell your
boyfriend all about Muttboy."
    "Then you can tell yours about Xander," Willow shot back.
  Hunter and Jeff exchanged glances.
    "Are these stories we want to hear?"
    "Silence!" came the command from the Elves.  Willow frowned at them.

    "What is your deal?" she asked.
    The Elf in charge shot her a dirty look.
    "We enter the city of Rivendell, speak only when spoken to."
    "Hey, don’t talk to my girl like that!" Jeff shot at the Elf.
"She’ll damn well speak when she wants to.  And knock off that snotty
attitude unless you want me to knock it out of you."
    Willow pulled on Jeff’s arm with a worried expression on her face.
    "Let’s not piss off the people who have sharp objects pointed at
us," she muttered.
  Jeff just glared.
    "They’re pissing me off," he replied.
    "Me too," Matt agreed.    "Can’t give our girls lip like that."
    "Keep the testosterone level down boys," Faith told them.  "Let’s
not piss them off until we know what’s going on."
    The lead Elf nodded at her words.
    "Keep your silence, your women give wise council."
    "Bite me," Willow heard Jeff mutter under his breath.  Willow just
took his hand and gave it a squeeze.
    "If they piss us off too much, I’ll turn them into rats," she
assured him.  Jeff grinned down at the redhead.
    "That’s my girl."
    "About this my girl crap," Faith shot Hunter and Jeff a look.
"Don’t we get consulted on it?"
    "Nope," Hunter replied, snaking an arm around her waist.
    "Just checking," she giggled.
    "Holy shit," came the whisper from Lita.  The rest of the humans
followed the redhead’s stunned gaze.  Before them stood a mass city wall.
They couldn’t see much beyond it, but the top of a few buildings stood out.
They were magnificent from what they could see.  It was something straight
out of the fairy tales.
    "This is Rivendell, Lord Elrond’s city," the lead Elf announced
quite proudly.    "The Lord awaits for you in his house."
    The rest of the Elves surrounded the stunned humans and lead them
into the city.
*****

Chapter Thirteen

    Things just got worse.    Vince had sent his wife and son to deal with
the issue of the missing wrestlers.  Linda was quite helpful; Shane was a
younger, easier irritable version of his father.  Giles hadn’t had a
headache this big since Cordelia asked for help with her English paper.
    "We can’t do anything," he repeated for what had to be the hundredth
time.  "The Council is trying to contact them, but they have closed their
borders.  We are still trying but have gotten no response."
    "But they can’t just keep them there!" Shane protested.
    Giles gave him a look.
    "They are extremely powerful beings, some of them as old as
civilization," Giles shot back at him.    "Until they feel the danger is over,
the borders will not be lifted."
    "Are they going to be okay there?" Linda asked calmly.
    "I have no reason to think that they wouldn’t," Giles assured them.
"Faith is a Slayer.  You may not understand what that means, but she is
basically a superhero.    And as for Willow, nowadays I doubt there is anyone
who can compete with her level of power."
    "And these two will keep our wrestlers safe?" Shane demanded.
    "Yes, they will," Giles shot him a look.  "Willow and Faith have put
their lives on the line for others for the past six years.  They will not be
idle if innocents are in danger."
    "We understand that Mr. Giles," Linda interrupted.  "But this is
hard to digest.  I just can’t begin to fathom how this happened.  I never
thought that ring would be any trouble."
    "And you know how Stephanie came into possession of this ring?"
Giles prodded.
    "It belonged to an ancestor of mine," Linda explained.    "So many
hundred years ago.  But the strange thing was, my great aunt never wore it.
Her husband found it and gave it to her as a wedding ring.  But she never
put it on.  Kept it on a chain like Stephanie."
    Giles nodded.
    "It is possible your great aunt had witch blood in her," he
surmised.  "Witch’s have the ability to recognize magic when they find it.
Like with Willow, she might have sensed it was evil and refused to put it on
her finger."
    "But Stephanie put it on?" Shane asked.
    "That is our best guess," Giles nodded.  "The witch blood descended
to her must have kept her from donning it in the beginning.  But as time
progressed and things failed to go her way, Stephanie became more
susceptible to the ring’s call.  She must have put it on, alerting Sauron to
way it was."
    "And they aren’t coming back now," Linda prompted.
    "No, nothing will get through now," Giles rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"Nothing can get through those barriers."
    "Not even Willow the powerful witch," Shane arched an eyebrow.
    "Willow could try," Giles nodded.  "But she won’t.  Any attack on
the borders would allow Sauron to get at the ring.  She wouldn’t dare risk
it."
    "So, we just wait," Linda stated tiredly.
    Giles nodded.
    "It’s all we can do."
*****
  "So, we just wait."
    Willow gave Faith a glare.
    "Well, you could try to break out," the redhead suggested.  "But all
the Elves with the arrows might slow you down."
    The Slayer frowned at her friend.
    "Don’t get snippy," she warned her.  "I just don’t like waiting."
    "I am well aware of that," Willow smiled at her.  "But you’re going
to have to put up with it."
    "I’m with Faith," Hunter jerked his head in her direction.  "Why are
we just sitting here?  Give them the goddamn ring and let’s get on our way."

    Willow sighed and rubbed her temples.
    "They won’t take the ring," she told him.  "I tried to give it to
the guards, but they all but ran away.    No one will take it.  And I sure as
hell don’t want to keep it.  Stalemate."
    Jeff pulled her into a hug.
    "It’ll be okay," he assured her.  "Eventually, someone will realize
we can’t keep the damn thing and come get it.  And then we’ll all be on our
merry way."
    "Jeff’s right," Lita agreed.  "I mean they brought us here because
of the ring.  Logic states that they will take it and we can go."
    "Logic," Willow smiled dreamily.  "I remember logic.  It made
everything so much simpler.  But logic no longer has a place in my world.
It was replaced with something else."
    "What’s that?" Jeff asked, smile on his face.
    "Reality," Faith piped up.  "The real world intrudes and you realize
that nothing makes sense.  And it damn well plans on staying that way."
    "That’s pessimistic," Hunter frowned at her.
    "Not at all," Faith shot him a grin.  "That’s the way I like
things."
    "In case you haven’t figured it out, Faith is psychotic," Willow
supplied helpfully.
    Faith responded by sticking her tongue out at the redhead.
    "Like you’re any better," she retorted.  Willow nodded at that.
    "I’m not," she consented.  "Sometimes I think I’m crazier than you.
I’d have to be to put up with you and Cordelia."
    "Is this all you two do?" Matt asked incredulously.  "Get stuck in
dangerous situations and commence throwing barbs at one another?"
    Faith paused and then nodded.
    "That’s about it," the brunette grinned.  "Just be glad Xander isn’t
here.  Things would be about ten times worst."
    "How the hell do you guys get anything done?" Matt shook his head.
    "I don’t know," Willow agreed laughing.  "The way we are, the world
should have ended like ten times over already."
    "The world?" Jeff raised a brow.  "Want to clarify on that?"
    "Not really," Faith chirped, scampering over to sit in Hunter’s lap.
"Because I hear people coming."
    Willow jumped to her feet as the door began to open.  Jeff stood
beside her, holding her hand once more.  Hunter wrapped his arms around
Faith and fixed his face into a glare.    Lita bit her lip and leaned against
Matt.
    An old man entered the room.  He was dressed in a long white robe
and carried a gnarled old staff.  His hair was a white as his robe and his
eyes a startling grey colour.  He took one look at them and broke out into a
large smile.
    "Hello children!" he greeted them.
    "Who are you?" Faith demanded immediately.
    He chuckled.
    "Impatient aren’t we?"
    "You have no idea," Willow muttered.  "But all that aside, who are
you?"
    The man smiled and bowed deep.
    "I am Gandalf the White.  It is my supreme pleasure to meet you."
    There was a brief silence then Willow let out a gasp.
    "He’s a wizard!"
*****