disclaimer in part one.
Phoenix Rising
by Rebecca Carefoot
Part Two
Angel and Buffy edged closer to the railing, putting themselves in front of the other three. Buffy tightned her grip on the stake hidden behind her leg and wished she'd taken a few knives out of Giles' weapon's chest. Stakes weren't as good for throwing.
"We don't want any trouble," she said cautiously.
"Do put down the gun, Phileas," the woman said. "They're only children."
"Not all of them. And they outnumber us," Phileas countered. "It could be a trick."
"It's not a trick," Buffy said. She slipped the stake into the pocket of her jacket and raised empty hands. "We're not going to hurt you."
"But we will defend ourselves if attacked," Angel said, his soft voice infusing the words with quiet menace.
"We don't want it to come to that," Giles put in hurriedly.
"Why should we believe you?" Phileas asked.
"Mainly because it's true," Xander said.
"What sort of proof do you require?" Giles asked.
"These clothes they wear could maybe prove that they are not from now," Passpartout said. Phileas stared at Buffy and Angel, then raised an eyebrow at Buffy.
"Did you lose most of your clothes on the way?" he asked, his voice bland.
Buffy glanced down at the short black skirt, knee high black boots, and tight grey tank top she was wearing under the leather jacket Angel had given her. "Nope," she said. "Nothing's missing." She grinned and shook her hair out of her face. "Where we come from, this is normal."
"And where would that be exactly?" the woman asked.
"Sunnydale, California," Xander supplied. "1998."
"Amazing," the woman breathed.
"I'm starting to feel slightly ridiculous holding this thing," Phileas said. He slowly lowered the gun to his side, but cautiously left the pistol cocked.
"Only slightly?" the woman said with a sly half smile.
"Passpartout," Phileas said to the Frenchman. "You're the one who sent the infernal contraption to their time. Send them back."
"I am not knowing how," Passpartout said, raising his shoulders apologetically. "I directing the machine to another dimension, a parallel. I was not telling it what time to go."
"Still," Giles said. "If you can explain how you sent it. Or perhaps if you could duplicate what you did it would send us back."
"Or it could send us to the middle of the Ice Age," Willow pointed out.
"Parallel dimension?" Xander said.
"This is ridiculous," the British woman broke in. "We're standing out here in the middle of the night, in the chill night air, in our bedclothes. I suggest we retire to the Aurora."
"Rebecca," Phileas snapped.
"Phileas," Rebecca echoed. "I for one believe them. We're obviously going to need some time to straighten all this out. And I'd rather spend the rest of it with a cup of tea in my hand."
"A cup of tea would be lovely," Giles admitted.
"There you have it," Rebecca said. She motioned for Passpartout to come with her, and after a long backwards glance at Phileas the man obeyed, trailing in her wake. Buffy used the railing to vault over the side of the machine and land on the ground near Phileas. Angel copied the motion and landed beside her.
"Just climb over," he said to the others. "I'll help you down." Phileas looked at Rebecca's retreating back, then at Willow attempting to climb down over the whirling corkscrew part of the time machine. He sighed with closed eyes, and shoved the pistol into the belt of his robe. Then he joined Angel at the side of the ship and offered a hand to Xander as the boy scrambled down.
"So you're Phileas," Xander said once he was on the ground. "I'm Xander. Xander Harris. Nice to meet you." He offered his hand and enthusiastically shook the appendage Phileas offered in return. He pointed to each of the others in turn. "That over there is Angel. No last name because he's so full of himself he thinks he doesn't need one." Angel turned to give him a glare before returning his concentration to helping Giles reach the ground. Xander turned his finger to the next introductee. "Buffy Summers. And that's Willow Rosenberg." Giles was the last to reach the ground, and Phileas eyed his three piece tweed suit with approval.
"Rupert Giles," Giles offered when he noticed Phileas' eyes on him. He extended his hand for a shake as well.
"Phileas Fogg," Phileas said finally. "We should follow my rapidly retreating cousin."
"What about the machine?" Buffy said. "Is it safe to just leave it here?"
"I should think so," Phileas said. "We're in the middle of a large field surrounded by a fairly dense forest on one side and a good sized mountain range on the other. I don't believe anyone lives within miles of here. It was a good landing spot for the Aurora."
"The Aurora?" Buffy said.
"My dirigible."
"A nineteenth-century dirigible," Giles said, his face lighting up. "I've always wondered what it would be like to be on board. Like flying on an ocean liner."
"I think I speak for those of us who aren't old when I say...what's a dirigible?" Xander asked.
"It's a flying air ship," Giles said.
"Like a deluxe hot air balloon," Angel said.
"Like the Goodyear blimp?" Xander asked.
Angel shrugged. "Sort of."
Phileas stared at Willow curiously. She tugged nervously at the hem of her shirt. "What?" she said.
"It's nothing really," he said, turning his gaze to Buffy. "Just your clothes."
"Yeah, you probably look naked to him," Xander teased.
Willow looked down at her long sleeved white shirt, her purple overalls and chunky sneakers. She fidgeted with one of the pigtails her red hair was braided into. "Now I kind of feel naked."
Buffy shrugged. "Want my jacket?"
Willow shook her head.
"Do all women in your time dress this way?" Phileas asked.
"Some wear even less," Xander said. "Spandex, my friend. It's the greatest invention of the twentieth century."
"Spandex?"
"Yeah, it's this stretchy material, that-"
"Xander," Giles interrupted. "We don't want to disrupt the current timeline by changing the course of history."
"You think me talking about Spandex is going to change the course of history?"
"There's no way of know, what could or couldn't..."
"Fine," Xander said. Then he turned to Phileas and whispered. "Skin-tight." He winked, and Phileas raised an eyebrow. Then Xander hurried after Giles. And Phileas followed.
"Now what's this about parallel dimensions?" Giles asked as Phileas drew even with him.
"You'll have to ask to Passpartout," Phileas said. "I never can seem to wrap my brain around it, no matter how many times he and Jules try to explain it to me." He tapped his candleholder absently. "Sometimes I daresay I believe they don't know what they're talking about either."
"Sound familiar?" Buffy asked, giving Giles a grin.
"How exactly did you get here?" Phileas asked.
"Well, the machine just appeared," Buffy said. "So we went to go see what it was. And we were trying to move it somewhere, to hide it, you know? But then doofus over there," she said, pointing to Xander, "couldn't work the controls. And clumsy over there," she said, sticking her thumb in Giles' direction, "fell into the thing with the spinning rocks."
Phileas gave her a puzzled look. Then looked at Giles. "Is she your daughter?"
Giles exchanged a glance with Buffy. "Not exactly."
"How are you all related?" Phileas said.
"We're not technically," Buffy said. "In the family reunion sense of the word."
Phileas blinked. "In that case, how do you know each other?"
"I'm the librarian at the childrens' school," Giles said. "And Angel-"
"He's with me," Buffy broke in.
They were approaching a spill of light, as from an open door. And as they got closer, Buffy could make out the large dark mass of the dirigible against the trees. Rebecca waited for them at the door of the compartment under the inflated balloon. She stood aside, and motioned for them to enter.
will continue
Feedback
Other Characters // Rebecca Fic