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snoggedI'm getting this chapter out a little earlier this week as I've got lots of stuff going on tomorrow. Hope you enjoy it!
Title: Mission X (3/?)
Author: snogged
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Co. own the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don’t.
Pairing: Willow/Riley
Word Count: 1673
Overall Rating/Warnings: FRT-13/PG-13 (will be FRAO/NC-17 in later chapters); language, angst, drama, violence, het sex, sexual innuendo.
Setting: AU! Season 6. Parts of this story come from the established canon plot lines and others are my own desire to twist things my way.
Summary: When Riley comes back to Sunnydale, he stays for a reason that’s not Buffy.
Beta: the sweet Gabrielle and the quirky![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
angelskuuipo.
A/N: This is my second foray into a guilty pleasure pairing of mine, and I’m looking forward to exploring the possibilities as this story moves along.
Previous Chapters
“Does it feel hot in here? It’s hot in here, isn’t it?”
Xander tugged at the starched white shirt collar, fear dilating his pupils as he caught his reflection in the mirror. It was the big day. The day he was supposed to watch the love of his life walk down an aisle in a white dress that didn’t match her personality. It was the day he was supposed to recite lengthy monologues in front of family and friends. The day that was supposed to start the rest of his life and, in a way, that terrified him more than any of the apocalypses he’d helped stop.
A bead of anxious sweat dribbled down from his hairline, marking a thin wet trail down his cheek as his teeth scraped over his bottom lip. “Shit, man. I’m gonna sweat my way out of this suit. I need to…need to get it off. I don’t care if I walk down the aisle naked but I can’t…I can’t wear this.”
Riley bit back a chuckle at the thought of Xander baring all to his guests before realizing how apt a metaphor that really was. Standing in front of judging eyes, knowing that God or Allah or whatever higher power was looking down on you, was enough to make any man feel pretty damn vulnerable and insecure about cementing the bonds of love. But he also knew it was possible and he knew Xander was ready for this.
“Stop acting like this is the end of the world, Xander. Anya’s got your heart wrapped around her little finger and I promise she won’t be letting it go anytime soon. Trust in that.”
Xander paused, running his fingers through his thick, brown hair as he mulled over Riley’s words of support. For a guy who just lost his wife to the frozen tundra of Nepal, Riley was handling things better than expected. Probably had something to do with the fact that soldiers were trained in stuffing their feelings into the deepest recesses of their souls. He couldn’t help but be tempted to turn the spotlight around though; a little distraction could be just what was needed to get him over cold feet.
“Speaking of hearts, how are you doing, man?”
It didn’t come as a shock for Xander to broach the topic of Sam, but Riley wasn’t sure what to say really. Sure, he missed the banter and that little thing she used to do with her tongue when they got physically intimate with each other but the last two days, with the mission on his mind, had kept a lot of that from being front and center. Willow was his priority now and he was determined to do whatever it took to keep other government operatives out of Sunnydale. But he knew that Xander would be expecting a certain sort of reaction so he opted to stretch the truth a little.
“I’ve been better,” Riley responded, hoping he sounded melancholy enough. “It’s hard losing someone you love. I imagine Willow’s been having a tough time of it too.”
Cocking an eyebrow, Xander offered Riley a nonverbal signal that suggested he should explain the sudden segue into Willow’s love life.
Riley immediately considered retracting the statement somehow, wondering if Xander was Sherlock Holmes-y enough to figure out what was going on. Then he considered the fact that this might be a good opportunity to get Xander’s point of view on Willow. There was nothing like the assistance of a good friend when it came to getting deeper into Willow’s inner circle. “It seems to me that she’s been working pretty damn hard to get back into Tara’s good graces. I remember how much those two loved each other and I can only imagine how much of a struggle it is for Willow to prove that she can still fit into the frame Tara’s molded for her.”
“Whoa, dude. Back it up. Willow’s doing fine, no molding necessary. I haven’t seen her use magic in weeks and Tara was plenty chatty with her at Buffy’s latest birthday bash. I’m sure they’ll be back together in no time. Heck, they may even be making out in the broom closet as we speak…”
Riley caught the glazed look in Xander’s eyes and if the slight tenting in Xander’s slacks was anything to go on, he would wager that Xander was more than aroused by this fantasy. He wasn’t immune to the sexy allure of two gorgeous women surrendering to their desires but that reaction made it clear that Xander wasn’t going to be the bastion of information Riley had hoped when it came to Willow’s current status. He knew that Willow’s relationship with Tara wasn’t that simple. This wasn’t Hollywood; this was real life where shit got complicated and there wasn’t always a happy resolution.
The sound of chiming bells kept Riley from pushing Xander in a different conversational direction, but at least he could feel good knowing that Xander would walk down the aisle wearing a regular suit and not his birthday suit.
“Let’s go get you married,” Riley said, lightly smacking Xander on the shoulder. Xander nodded, stepping into the annex of the Bison Lodge.
And his feet knew exactly which direction to send him in.
***
All things considered, the ceremony went well despite the few snags that could have sent the whole thing into a twisted, downward spiral if the people affected by them hadn’t been blessed with the gift of surviving the hellmouth countless times.
Buffy had been forced to make a few last minute alterations to her wretched-looking bridesmaid’s dress when a demon had shown up hell bent on destroying Anya’s nerve by whispering seeds of doubt and betrayal into her ears. To Anya’s credit, she hadn’t freaked out, because, as she told Xander in their vows, she was proud of him for being a good man, for being the hero to her damsel, for being her everything, and for making her feel like the sexiest creature on the planet. To Anya’s former employer’s credit, he’d made the final gesture that sent the demon stumbling into the sharp end of the Slayer’s makeshift weapon.
Xander’s dad had been booted from the reception hall after drunkenly stumbling into a carefully balanced tower of brandy snifters and swearing a blue streak in front of three oddly cute demon kids. Their scaly, reptilian mother didn’t take kindly to people corrupting her children’s minds with filthy language and Xander didn’t argue with her when she hoisted Mr. Harris up by the trousers and tossed him onto the steps outside.
As for Willow, she was sporting a badly pasted-on smile and twisting a cloth napkin up at the head table, trying hard not to glance over at Tara who seemed very in tune with Anya’s quest to be the center of attention today. Something about her look told Riley that she hadn’t made it into the closet for kisses today. So when the opportunity to isolate her from the rest of the crowd came up, he decided to take advantage of it.
He didn’t even need to prompt her to get her to start spilling her thoughts to him. She was apparently more than willing to let loose a ramble on anyone who was willing to listen.
“I talked to her today. I told her all about the calendar and the progress I’ve been making staying away from magic.” Willow paused, chewing on her bottom lip, and giving Riley the sense that this story wasn’t going to have the happy ending Willow had been hoping for when she’d started the mission to reclaim her girlfriend. “But I don’t think we’ll be moving back into happy couple territory yet. She said she still needs time to think about us, which, roughly translated means that she still doesn’t trust me.”
Riley pursed his lips together, processing her story and contemplating the different ways he could approach it. One route would be reassurance, promising her that Tara just needed more time. Another route would be challenging her to consider whether or not she had actually seen what she thought she saw. The one he settled on though was escape. It was the one choice that had the highest probability of achieving his goal and the one most likely to distract her from the frustrating thoughts in her head.
“How about we get out of here? Go for a walk?”
Willow nodded slowly, feeling ready and willing to agree to any suggestion, and together they headed for the French doors at the back of the hall that would take them out towards the riverfront.
Inhaling sharply, she breathed in the rank smell of the water and coughed harshly, turning her head away from the polluted stream. Parks and Rec would be receiving a very strongly-worded letter from her as soon as she got home.
Riley’s hand was soon on her back, patting her spine gently. “Should we go back inside?”
Her cough settled and she looked up, catching his gaze. It was a bit strange for him to be this nice to her when their friendship had never been as strong as the one she had with Xander or Buffy but she couldn’t say she didn’t mind the change. She also didn’t mind the protective feel of his hand on her back. It made her feel steady on her feet even though Tara and magic were constantly tugging on the rug underneath her.
“I’ll be okay,” Willow replied softly. “Just need to keep breathing through my mouth.”
In the moment of silence that followed, Riley moved to withdraw his hold on her and was surprised when she stopped him with a pleading glance.
“Can you just leave it there? You know, just in case…”
He couldn’t help but let a little smile tug at one corner of his mouth. He liked knowing that she wanted him to stay, wanted to keep the connection between them. It was promising. “Sure, Willow. I can do that.”
Chapter Four
Title: Mission X (3/?)
Author: snogged
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Co. own the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I don’t.
Pairing: Willow/Riley
Word Count: 1673
Overall Rating/Warnings: FRT-13/PG-13 (will be FRAO/NC-17 in later chapters); language, angst, drama, violence, het sex, sexual innuendo.
Setting: AU! Season 6. Parts of this story come from the established canon plot lines and others are my own desire to twist things my way.
Summary: When Riley comes back to Sunnydale, he stays for a reason that’s not Buffy.
Beta: the sweet Gabrielle and the quirky
angelskuuipo.A/N: This is my second foray into a guilty pleasure pairing of mine, and I’m looking forward to exploring the possibilities as this story moves along.
Previous Chapters
“Does it feel hot in here? It’s hot in here, isn’t it?”
Xander tugged at the starched white shirt collar, fear dilating his pupils as he caught his reflection in the mirror. It was the big day. The day he was supposed to watch the love of his life walk down an aisle in a white dress that didn’t match her personality. It was the day he was supposed to recite lengthy monologues in front of family and friends. The day that was supposed to start the rest of his life and, in a way, that terrified him more than any of the apocalypses he’d helped stop.
A bead of anxious sweat dribbled down from his hairline, marking a thin wet trail down his cheek as his teeth scraped over his bottom lip. “Shit, man. I’m gonna sweat my way out of this suit. I need to…need to get it off. I don’t care if I walk down the aisle naked but I can’t…I can’t wear this.”
Riley bit back a chuckle at the thought of Xander baring all to his guests before realizing how apt a metaphor that really was. Standing in front of judging eyes, knowing that God or Allah or whatever higher power was looking down on you, was enough to make any man feel pretty damn vulnerable and insecure about cementing the bonds of love. But he also knew it was possible and he knew Xander was ready for this.
“Stop acting like this is the end of the world, Xander. Anya’s got your heart wrapped around her little finger and I promise she won’t be letting it go anytime soon. Trust in that.”
Xander paused, running his fingers through his thick, brown hair as he mulled over Riley’s words of support. For a guy who just lost his wife to the frozen tundra of Nepal, Riley was handling things better than expected. Probably had something to do with the fact that soldiers were trained in stuffing their feelings into the deepest recesses of their souls. He couldn’t help but be tempted to turn the spotlight around though; a little distraction could be just what was needed to get him over cold feet.
“Speaking of hearts, how are you doing, man?”
It didn’t come as a shock for Xander to broach the topic of Sam, but Riley wasn’t sure what to say really. Sure, he missed the banter and that little thing she used to do with her tongue when they got physically intimate with each other but the last two days, with the mission on his mind, had kept a lot of that from being front and center. Willow was his priority now and he was determined to do whatever it took to keep other government operatives out of Sunnydale. But he knew that Xander would be expecting a certain sort of reaction so he opted to stretch the truth a little.
“I’ve been better,” Riley responded, hoping he sounded melancholy enough. “It’s hard losing someone you love. I imagine Willow’s been having a tough time of it too.”
Cocking an eyebrow, Xander offered Riley a nonverbal signal that suggested he should explain the sudden segue into Willow’s love life.
Riley immediately considered retracting the statement somehow, wondering if Xander was Sherlock Holmes-y enough to figure out what was going on. Then he considered the fact that this might be a good opportunity to get Xander’s point of view on Willow. There was nothing like the assistance of a good friend when it came to getting deeper into Willow’s inner circle. “It seems to me that she’s been working pretty damn hard to get back into Tara’s good graces. I remember how much those two loved each other and I can only imagine how much of a struggle it is for Willow to prove that she can still fit into the frame Tara’s molded for her.”
“Whoa, dude. Back it up. Willow’s doing fine, no molding necessary. I haven’t seen her use magic in weeks and Tara was plenty chatty with her at Buffy’s latest birthday bash. I’m sure they’ll be back together in no time. Heck, they may even be making out in the broom closet as we speak…”
Riley caught the glazed look in Xander’s eyes and if the slight tenting in Xander’s slacks was anything to go on, he would wager that Xander was more than aroused by this fantasy. He wasn’t immune to the sexy allure of two gorgeous women surrendering to their desires but that reaction made it clear that Xander wasn’t going to be the bastion of information Riley had hoped when it came to Willow’s current status. He knew that Willow’s relationship with Tara wasn’t that simple. This wasn’t Hollywood; this was real life where shit got complicated and there wasn’t always a happy resolution.
The sound of chiming bells kept Riley from pushing Xander in a different conversational direction, but at least he could feel good knowing that Xander would walk down the aisle wearing a regular suit and not his birthday suit.
“Let’s go get you married,” Riley said, lightly smacking Xander on the shoulder. Xander nodded, stepping into the annex of the Bison Lodge.
And his feet knew exactly which direction to send him in.
***
All things considered, the ceremony went well despite the few snags that could have sent the whole thing into a twisted, downward spiral if the people affected by them hadn’t been blessed with the gift of surviving the hellmouth countless times.
Buffy had been forced to make a few last minute alterations to her wretched-looking bridesmaid’s dress when a demon had shown up hell bent on destroying Anya’s nerve by whispering seeds of doubt and betrayal into her ears. To Anya’s credit, she hadn’t freaked out, because, as she told Xander in their vows, she was proud of him for being a good man, for being the hero to her damsel, for being her everything, and for making her feel like the sexiest creature on the planet. To Anya’s former employer’s credit, he’d made the final gesture that sent the demon stumbling into the sharp end of the Slayer’s makeshift weapon.
Xander’s dad had been booted from the reception hall after drunkenly stumbling into a carefully balanced tower of brandy snifters and swearing a blue streak in front of three oddly cute demon kids. Their scaly, reptilian mother didn’t take kindly to people corrupting her children’s minds with filthy language and Xander didn’t argue with her when she hoisted Mr. Harris up by the trousers and tossed him onto the steps outside.
As for Willow, she was sporting a badly pasted-on smile and twisting a cloth napkin up at the head table, trying hard not to glance over at Tara who seemed very in tune with Anya’s quest to be the center of attention today. Something about her look told Riley that she hadn’t made it into the closet for kisses today. So when the opportunity to isolate her from the rest of the crowd came up, he decided to take advantage of it.
He didn’t even need to prompt her to get her to start spilling her thoughts to him. She was apparently more than willing to let loose a ramble on anyone who was willing to listen.
“I talked to her today. I told her all about the calendar and the progress I’ve been making staying away from magic.” Willow paused, chewing on her bottom lip, and giving Riley the sense that this story wasn’t going to have the happy ending Willow had been hoping for when she’d started the mission to reclaim her girlfriend. “But I don’t think we’ll be moving back into happy couple territory yet. She said she still needs time to think about us, which, roughly translated means that she still doesn’t trust me.”
Riley pursed his lips together, processing her story and contemplating the different ways he could approach it. One route would be reassurance, promising her that Tara just needed more time. Another route would be challenging her to consider whether or not she had actually seen what she thought she saw. The one he settled on though was escape. It was the one choice that had the highest probability of achieving his goal and the one most likely to distract her from the frustrating thoughts in her head.
“How about we get out of here? Go for a walk?”
Willow nodded slowly, feeling ready and willing to agree to any suggestion, and together they headed for the French doors at the back of the hall that would take them out towards the riverfront.
Inhaling sharply, she breathed in the rank smell of the water and coughed harshly, turning her head away from the polluted stream. Parks and Rec would be receiving a very strongly-worded letter from her as soon as she got home.
Riley’s hand was soon on her back, patting her spine gently. “Should we go back inside?”
Her cough settled and she looked up, catching his gaze. It was a bit strange for him to be this nice to her when their friendship had never been as strong as the one she had with Xander or Buffy but she couldn’t say she didn’t mind the change. She also didn’t mind the protective feel of his hand on her back. It made her feel steady on her feet even though Tara and magic were constantly tugging on the rug underneath her.
“I’ll be okay,” Willow replied softly. “Just need to keep breathing through my mouth.”
In the moment of silence that followed, Riley moved to withdraw his hold on her and was surprised when she stopped him with a pleading glance.
“Can you just leave it there? You know, just in case…”
He couldn’t help but let a little smile tug at one corner of his mouth. He liked knowing that she wanted him to stay, wanted to keep the connection between them. It was promising. “Sure, Willow. I can do that.”
Chapter Four