Title: Gift of a Future 21/?
Author: Gileswench
Feedback: Constructive criticism always welcome.
Praise abjectly sought.
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss, Mutant Enemy,
etc., etc., etc. I just let them have all the fun Joss
won't. I own nothing except my twisted mind which you
really don't want. Please don't sue.
Buffy cautiously lifted a corner of the blind and peered out to see who or what was shooting at them. Her eyes went wide at the sight of a horseman. He shouted back.
"Come on, now! Bring up the rear! Let's go!"
Several more horsemen, all brandishing archaic, pointy weapons, hove into view. All Buffy could tell about them was that they were gaining on the Winnebego and they weren't there to invite her to tea. She rushed out the door to the front cabin, Dawn and Deanna right behind her.
"Giles!" she called.
"I see them!" he replied.
"See who?" Spike asked
Just then, another arrow pierced the vehicle.
"Arrows!" Spike exclaimed.
"Merde!" Captain Picard added with feeling.
"Who do they think they are? Bloody Robin Hood?" Spike yelped.
Buffy pushed her sister to the floor.
"Get under the table!" she ordered.
Anya was already there, helping Dawn get to safety. Willow peeked out the window.
"Horses. They're on horses," she said numbly.
Several arrows suddenly sprouted out of the wall next to Giles.
"Weapons?" he exclaimed.
Buffy tossed a bag to Spike and Worf.
"See what you can use from that," she ordered.
"Hello," Spike reminded them, "we're driving a weapon."
"Don't hit the horsies!" Willow cried.
Buffy moved next to Giles and leaned over his shoulder. She whispered conspiratorially in his ear.
"Aim for the horsies."
Giles didn't even take time to nod. He quickly began to twist the steering wheel of the Winnebego wildly into the paths of as many horsemen as he could. He willed himself to forget the many happy hours he'd spent riding and caring for horses during his childhood and youth. This was a matter of kill or be killed.
He aimed for the horsies.
It did little good. The Knights were expert horsemen and guided their mounts smoothly out of the way. A few were able to follow the wild careening of the vehicle and began to leap from their horses to climb onto the Winnebego.
Willow looked nervously at Buffy.
"Did we shake them? Without making horseburgers?"
Just then a sword thrust through the ceiling.
"I don't think so, Will," Buffy said wryly as the sword disappeared.
A moment later, the blade again stabbed into the cabin of the RV, then was pulled back outside.
"Stay low!" Buffy ordered. "Watch out for the -"
Worf lunged and grabbed the sword as it descended again. He stopped it mere inches from the crown of Buffy's head.
"Now might be a good time for something heroic," he intoned.
Buffy turned to Riker.
"Hatch," she ordered.
She climbed onto the table and helped Riker open the hatch. The first officer of the Enterprise helped boost her through the narrow opening.
"Will, Deanna, do what you can here," Picard ordered.
"What are you going to do, Captain?" Riker asked.
Picard hefted a sword from Buffy's weapon bag.
"Something heroic, Number One."
With a quick grin to his crew, the captain mounted the table and pulled himself through the hatch and onto the roof.
*****
"So, is anyone after us yet?" Xander asked.
"Um...I don't know. Is there a Renaissance Faire in Sunnydale?" Tara asked.
"Not that I know of."
"Then I think we've got the Knights of Byzantium after us."
The Buffybot brought the car to a screeching halt.
"What the hell are you doing?" Xander yelled at the bot.
"I'm a hero," the bot pouted. "I have to fight the bad guys no matter what. They want to hurt Dawn. I can't allow that."
Xander turned on Geordie.
"If we get out of this in one piece, I'm going to make you regret it," he yelled. "This is not what Buffy's like at all!"
"Well it's not like I'd know that, is it?" the engineer retorted. "I barely know Buffy."
"Shut up, both of you," Beverly shouted. "This isn't the time or the place. And you," she turned to the bot, "drive, already. We have a plan. We're sticking to the plan."
The Buffybot looked uncertainly at Data.
"I believe Dawn's safety would be best served by sticking to the original plan," he assured her dispassionately.
The bot floored the gas pedal.
*****
Buffy and Picard moved into position, back to back atop the RV. The knight with his sword stuck in the roof had his back to Buffy. He struggled to release his sword, but seemed unable to do it. Of course this might have something to do with the fact that Spike and Worf had combined their superhuman strengths to bend his blade back on itself. It wasn't coming out again.
with a vicious kick, Buffy sent the knight flying off the vehicle and into the sand around them.
"That'll teach you to play with sharp things," she taunted as he fell.
She turned to help Picard who was holding off two knights with swordsmanship worthy of Giles. Buffy had to smile slightly. A fencing match between this guy and her Watcher would be something to see. Still, there was no time to let her eyes glaze over at the image. She leapt into battle beside the Captain.
*****
Worf gave throat to a Klingon victory song as Anya bound his bleeding hands. Dawn tended to Spike's wounds between glances at the now u-shaped sword in the ceiling. Deanna moved to Worf's side.
"Don't you think it's a little early for that?" she asked.
"Never too early to celebrate kicking the enemy's ass, pet," Spike crowed.
The Klingon smiled.
Giles rolled his eyes.
"We're not out of the woods yet," he reminded them.
"We're in the bloody desert, mate," Spike giggled. "No trees for miles."
"And it's the middle of the afternoon," Giles said testily. "If we lose this camper, you're not going to do well."
"Oh don't get your knickers in a twist, Watcher," Spike sneered. "Slayer's on the clock, me and my snarly friend here have a couple more on the run, and Baldy's up there pretending he's Errol Flynn. Now if Pretty Boy," he nodded derisively in Riker's direction, "lends a hand, we might just manage."
Just then, a knight burst through the window and made a grab for Dawn. She shrieked as his gauntlets closed around her arm and struggled to get away. Riker lunged to protect the girl, but Anya was faster. She grabbed her frying pan and whacked the knight squarely in the face. His eyes crossed, his hands lost their purchase on Dawn, and he slid bonelessly out the window again.
"Not a piano, but hey..." Anya smiled.
Worf sighed. This woman was truly Klingon in spirit.
Somehow, he would find a way to be worthy.
*****
Soon Buffy had managed to disarm one of the knights and she and Picard twirled wildly on the RV roof as they parried one attack after another. While she was grateful for the help, Buffy couldn't stop herself from thinking how much more smoothly she and Giles had fought together when they faced Balthazar. Picard was an excellent swordsman - there was no denying that - but she wasn't used to his style and he wasn't used to hers. When she and Giles took on an enemy with swords together, they knew almost telepathically what moves each would make, which creature each would face next. It was slightly awkward when she realized she and Picard were headed for the same guy, making moves that would most likely injure one another if one of them didn't change directions immediately.
She swerved and knocked another knight off the rooftop. Unfortunately, Picard had swerved at the same instant to fight another adversary as well. The now unfettered knight came up behind Buffy and attacked.
The Slayer felt the movement behind her and turned to face the knight. She was too late. He lunged. Buffy leapt out of the way, but lost her balance and fell.
*****
The Buffybot kept the gas floored as she careened madly through the backroads. After a while, Xander closed his eyes and prayed to any and every God he could think of that they wouldn't hit anyone or anything. when he opened his eyes again, the world outside the windows was still a blur of excessive speed. He whimpered softly and screwed his eyes shut again.
Even that only helped so much, because he could hear the sound of hoofbeats and shouting men behind them.
Then came another, far more disturbing sound. The engine began to sputter as the car came to a sudden halt.
The hoofbeats came ever closer.
"What happened?" Tara asked at last.
"I think the car broke," the bot supplied cheerfully. "Data can fix it. He can fix anything."
Xander sighed.
"Did anyone remember to fill the gas tank in this thing lately?" he asked.
"Xander," Tara urged, "they're almost here. What are we going to do?"
"Get out of the car, everybody," Xander ordered. "And grab whatever you can hold out of the back."
*****
Buffy grabbed wildly, barely managing to catch hold of the edge of the roof before she could tumble to the ground. She could see Picard still fighting the remaining knights. Another went flying past her to the sand below. She couldn't help wincing at the sight.
That had to hurt.
She wanted to call out to Picard to help her up again, but he was somewhat busy. Buffy gritted her teeth as she tried to pull herself up. The fact that the RV was going as fast as possible wasn't helping.
Nor was the knight she had to kick in the face to get him to let go of her foot.
At last Buffy managed to crawl onto the rooftop again. She saw Picard locked in struggle with the final knight. The battle was not going well. The knight had Picard nearly backed to the edge of the roof. She saw him prepare to lunge again. She moved.
The knight raised his weapon. The gleam of certain victory was in his eye. Then, just as he began to swing his mace, his feet were efficiently kicked out from under him and he landed several feet below his previous position with a mouthful of sand for his trouble.
Picard watched the knight tumble off the RV in some confusion. Then he saw Buffy lying less than a yard from him. She shrugged and gave him a small smile.
"I was gonna give you a hand, but, well, a foot seemed more useful at the time," she quipped.
Picard leaned down and helped the Slayer to her feet.
"Given the extremity of the situation, I'm just glad you had a helpful extremity to offer," he grinned back.
*****
Giles peered into the rear view mirror and gave a sigh of relief.
"I think we've outrun them," he said.
"The enemy is vanquished as I knew they would be," Worf added.
"And I didn't even dent my frying pan," Anya said proudly as she held the cooking implement up to general view.
"Is everyone all right?" Giles asked.
There were several nods and affirmative statements. He smiled and turned his view back to the windshield. What he saw there made his eyes widen in terror. He twisted the wheel wildly, but it was too late. The windshield shattered as one final knight thrust a spear into Giles' side. He slumped forward as the RV careened out of control and began to roll.