Hey Kittens.
Darcy's mom wasn't feeling well, so dinner was cancelled. I finished writing and Darcy just did the beta, so here it is. And Ruth, Nicky, and Celia: thanks.
Rating - R for violence
Additional disclaimers: I borrowed some dialogue from the actual show, "Superstar" written by Jane Espenson. Sorry, but I needed it.
Hope you all enjoy.
****
She felt more than saw Jo take a step back. A quiet step. Good, her neighbor wasn't going to add stupid to clueless. Tara's hand closed on the cross and she lifted it just a bit, not pulling it out of the bag, just getting it ready. Her eyes searched the surrounding darkness. Spike might be harmless, but what if he had friends?
"So, who's your new bint?" He stopped about a body length from them.
"D-Does it matter?" Tara mentally kicked herself for responding at all. "Wh-What are you doing here?"
"Avoiding the question, pet? And here I was thinkin’ you were so polite and all – not like your girlfriend." Spike's smile had an edge to it, which sharpened to a nasty grin as he leered at the woman behind her.
"She's not my bint, Spike.” Tara’s voice had its own edge now.
"Yeah. Right. This one has a bit more to hold onto, though, doesn't she? Red's a bit scrawny. As for why I'm here – I thought I might scare up some cash for blood and smokes. And beer." His face morphed.
Jo squeaked and Tara filed that information away - her neighbor wasn't a screamer. Taking a deep breath, she stepped toward Spike. "Y-You're going to scare people into giving you money? You're going to do it here?"
"Well, yeah."
"Are you really that stupid? I m-mean, here, where the ...." She paused, searching for words that wouldn't reveal too much to Jo.
"Oh. Yeah, I suppose you've got a point there." Spike's face shifted back to human. "Where do you think I should go?"
"Home. I think you should go home." Her hand released the cross. "You do h-have a home, don’t you?"
"Worried about me, pet?" He chuckled. "Oh, I've got a place. Right nice, it is."
"Then go there. Here." Tara pulled a $20 bill out of her bag and handed it to the vampire. Okay, she was enabling, but at least he wouldn’t terrorize some poor innocent.
He looked from the bill to her face and back. "What's the catch?"
"N-No catch. Just take it and go."
"See, I knew there was a reason I liked you." His cold fingers brushed hers as they retrieved the bill and pocketed it. She resisted the temptation to wipe her hand on her skirt as he turned to go.
"Spike."
"Yeah, pet?"
"Just ...." Tara couldn't think of anything to say that wasn't patronizing. "Just try."
The smile was mocking, and she knew he understood what she meant. "I'm evil, little bird. No soul – and no amount of trying will ever change that." He turned, stepped from the walk onto the grass, and swaggered off into the darkness.
Her eyes tried to track him, but failed. She sighed and wondered if she'd done the right thing – and wondered if next year she would be the one who had to try. Would she be as soulless as Spike?
Jo stepped up beside her, drawing her attention back. "That was a vampire? How do you know him? Why'd you give him money?" The questions attacked in a flurry. “And what's a bint?"
Tara began to laugh.
****
Jonathan picked himself up and gaped at the monster as it finished dismantling the door. He shivered, unwilling to step between it and the outside again. Already his bruises were healing, although he still ached from the price of the spell. The last piece of wood skittered across the floor and the thing was free.
He slipped into the clothing he had brought, hissing as the soft fabric brushed over the raw but rapidly healing marks on his shoulder. Stepping through the splintered doorway, he followed in the monster's footsteps. He hadn't expected it to be so strong, but it had turned the heavy door into kindling. He shrugged philosophically. This was Sunnydale, after all. What did one more monster matter?
Hungry from his exertions of the past twenty-four hours, he took the stairs two at a time, reveling in his new found strength and marveling at the changes to the abandoned house. It seemed he now owned a mansion.
Cool.
****
Willow shrugged her shoulders within the heavy coat. She was tired – and she had a bit of a kink in her neck. Tara was stronger than she looked. She grinned. That had been ... intense. Her fingers closed over the key ring in her coat pocket, stroking the new addition. If they finished this soon enough, she planned to pay her girlfriend a late night visit. She wanted serious snuggles – particularly since Buffy was being so very inquisitive tonight. She glanced guiltily at her best friend. All of her defenses were up, and she hated feeling like she needed them.
Who is Tara Maclay? Where is she from? How long has she been a witch? How strong is she? All sorts of questions like that. And questions regarding specific spells too – what had she been thinking when she made up that collar explanation? Now Buffy was worrying about her magic more than ever. And the hardest question of all: why are you spending so much time with her?
Willow resented it. She really did. Suddenly Buffy was all worried about her, worrying about Tara and her motivations. Why hadn’t she cared like this when Oz left?
It hurt.
At least since Xander and Anya's arrival Buffy had ceased her game of way-more-than-Twenty Questions. Surprisingly, it had been Anya who had deflected the Slayer before she'd been able to enlist Xander's help in her inquisition. That was strange. She wasn't used to being rescued by the former demon, and she had to wonder why she’d bothered. It wasn't like Anya to be concerned about anyone but herself. The former demon had interrupted Buffy – which wasn't unusual in itself – but had done so just as the Slayer was beginning to dissect Tara's motivations in becoming Willow's friend. It definitely piqued her curiosity, especially since her girlfriend had seemed quite chummy with Anya last night. With no more clues forthcoming, she decided to just be grateful for the respite.
She shivered in spite of the coat and the furry collar. Very tired. And she was beginning to regret the boots. Okay, so it was nice to be the second tallest Scooby present, but the heels were just a little too high for comfortable walking. Well, at least it was a quiet night for a Friday. Whether that was due to Adam or the chilly weather, she didn’t know, and really didn't care. They had finished their sweep of the streets already and were starting the cemeteries. Maybe it would be a really early night and she could surprise Tara by being in her bed when she returned from seeing Jo to the Alliance dance. She smiled.
That would be fun.
*****
The monster wasn't intelligent, but it wasn't without an animal cunning. It stared at the building it had escaped from. Lights burning in every window, it glowed in the darkness. This was no good. There was no food here. No easy food, anyway. The humans that had recently arrived were protected by the lights and its other self.
It hungered.
It would be able to find its way back when it needed to. Long arms swinging, chittering to itself, it loped into the bushes to hunt.
*****
Jo pranced alongside Tara as they headed across the hall toward the stairs down to Collins’ lower level. There was quite a crowd in the hall as students headed to the Friday night events held throughout the three-story student union. She was having difficulty containing her excitement. She’d met an actual vampire – and now she was going to meet a whole bunch of lesbians. Which was also kind of scary, come to think of it.
“So why are these things in the basement?” That seemed weird and somewhat discriminatory.
“The Lesbian Alliance gets the nice big room on that level for the dances. The W-Wicca group needs a permanent location for ceremonies – it doesn’t need to be big, but it does have to be ours,” Tara explained.
Jo glanced at her on the landing. “Uh … while I wait for the other thing to start happening …. I won’t be intruding, will I?”
“No, sweetie. I’m early for the actual group. I j-just have a few things to do.” She smiled reassuringly at her, a little surprised by her sudden discretion.
“Witch stuff?”
“Yes.”
“I get to see you do a spell? Cool!” Jo grinned, then frowned and cocked her head to one side as she thought it through. “Uh, why just you? Why not the whole group?”
“I’m a witch. They’re not,” Tara answered.
“Then why are you even bothering? Why aren’t you off with Willow doing, uh … whatever?” She was confused, and not sure she wasn’t getting herself in trouble again.
Tara stopped outside the door to Room 43. “W-Witchcraft is what I do. Wiccan is what my m-mother w-was; it’s what I’m t-trying to be.” She paused, a slight frown on her forehead. “At home it was just the two of us. Coming to UCSunnydale g-gave me an opportunity to meet other Wiccans, to perhaps join a coven. So far, I’ve m-met one witch and a bunch of what Willow calls ‘wannablessedbes’. But some of them have good h-hearts and most of them mean well.”
“Oh. That’s the other reason Willow’s not here. She’s not a believer.”
“No. She’s not Wiccan.” Tara turned the doorknob.
“Uh, are you sure you don’t mind me waiting with you? I mean, I can wait somewhere else,” Jo offered.
“I’m fine with you being here, Jo.” Tara turned on the lights as they entered the small room.
Jo looked around at the fairly normal room. If normal rooms had what was very obviously an altar. And didn’t have any chairs, just rugs and cushions. Breathing deeply, she tried to identify some of the scents perfuming the air.
“Uh, what should I do?” she asked softly.
“N-Nothing. But if you could be quiet for awhile ….?” Tara’s voice trailed off and she lifted her eyebrows in encouragement.
“Sure. No problem. I’ll just wait here.” Jo settled on a cushion near the door.
“Um, l-leave me room to walk behind you, okay?”
“Sure,” Jo replied. She scooted the cushion in a bit.
Tara placed her bag on the floor and rummaged through it, finally withdrawing the bottled water and some matches. She walked directly up to the altar, knelt, and lit the center candle. The water she poured into a dish on the right side; taking three pinches of something from a dish on the left side, she added them to the water.
Jo heard her speaking very softly, but could make out very little until the end.
“…my will. So mote it be.” Tara stood and lifted the bowl of water from the altar. Solemnly she walked clockwise around the room, sprinkling water in a large circle that included both Jo and the altar. Her soft voice didn’t stutter as she spoke. “Blessed be sunrise, sunset, midnight and noon, when two or more shall gather to draw down the moon. So mote it be.” She returned the bowl to the altar and picked up a kind of knife.
Jo smiled. Tara radiated a confidence as she performed her ritual that made her completely different from the Tara she’d surprised at her door on Monday. It was as if they were two separate people. And whatever she was doing was absolutely beautiful. Smooth motions to each of the four directions, an elaborate design that she cut into the air at each compass point, accompanied by softly spoken words. Shy, insecure Tara was no longer present.
The witch returned to the altar and set the knife back in its spot on the left side. She lit the other two candles then, once more speaking in a soft, calm voice. Smoothly she lit the coals in the censer and sprinkled some powder over them. Almost immediately the room filled with aroma.
Jo sniffed. Sandalwood, she thought, and something else she didn’t quite recognize. It didn’t matter what it was – it was all just so beautiful and calming. She was feeling a lot less nervous about the dance.
It was all good.
*****
“Buffy! Watch out! Another one!” Willow yelled.
The Slayer risked a glance to the side, spotting another vampire almost upon her. “Xander! Anya! Here!” She tossed the vampire she’d been struggling with to her friends and ducked past the newcomer.
“Ow!” Anya exclaimed, and shook the hand that she’d just used to punch the vampire. She and Xander hung onto it, trying to keep it from returning to the fight.
Buffy ducked another flurry of blows from her new opponent.
Risking a possibly fatal distraction, Willow shouted, “Buffy!” and tossed the Slayer a stake.
It arrived just as Xander propelled the first vampire back in her direction. Impaled on the stake, it shrieked and twitched as it turned to dust. She whirled around, stake at the ready. “Where’s the other one?”
“Scampered like a big bumpy bunny,” Xander answered.
“In there,” Anya added and pointed out a nearby crypt. As Buffy walked towards the tomb, the ex-demon whirled and smacked Xander on the arm.
“Hey! What was that for?”
“I’m never going to sleep tonight because of you!” Anya stalked forward in Buffy’s footsteps.
“Uh, what was that all about?” Willow asked.
“Oh, she’s afraid of …” Her best friend made a rabbit with his fingers and hopped it in Anya’s direction.
Willow grinned and shook her head. “Weird. She’s afraid of little rabbit Foo-Foo?” She frowned suddenly as she reconsidered. “Well, okay, the bit about scooping up the field mice and bashing them on the head is kinda gross.”
“Guys, shhhh,” Buffy admonished them. Anya just stared at them in horror.
“Field mice,” she muttered. “That’s how it begins. Next it’s chickens, and lambs, and then it’s ….”
“Anya. Be quiet.”
The ex-demon glared at her boyfriend and followed Buffy into the crypt.
*****
She was just so tired. Why had she even come this way? Why had she been such a fool? This was the Hellmouth. She knew it was anathema to Faerie. But no, she had to risk taking a shortcut back home from her visit with the leprechauns. So stupid.
It felt like all her magick was being sucked out of her by the evil beneath her. She no longer had the strength to fly; she could only trudge along like a mortal or a demon. She flapped her wings, and gasped in alarm as a cloud of dust surrounded her. She was molting. That wasn’t supposed to happen again until the middle of the next millennium!
Her wail sounded like bells being tumbled. This was all wrong!
She turned clumsily as the crashing from the brush beside her finally registered.
The hand that swatted her to the ground was enormous, easily half her size. She chimed once more, brokenly, as the monster bent over her and began to feed.
*****
Tara sat cross-legged on the floor beside her neighbor, simply watching the women of the group arrive. Jo was quiet, or at least wasn’t saying anything. She didn’t think Jo actually knew how to be quiet. The woman couldn’t sit still, her head threatening to rotate completely as she stared at the newcomers, and her eyes danced with questions.
Well, she’d found it safer to be quiet – to be unnoticeable. She was a little pleased that Jo hadn’t had to learn that lesson.
She leaned towards Jo as the last two women – Cheryl and Nicole – arrived. “I th-think you should go now. The dance should be starting. You’ll be a little early, but you can find a good place to watch from.”
Jo took a deep breath. “Uh … you will, uh ….”
“I’ll come ch-check on you after, yes.” She patted the other woman lightly on the knee.
“Okay.” Jo stood, her hands balling into fists at her sides, nervous all over again.
“Jo.” Tara looked up at her neighbor. “Just relax and be yourself. Don’t try so hard.”
“That’s what Willow said.” Jo looked at her, amazed.
“Well, my love g-gives good advice. See you later.”
Jo nodded and hurried through the door.
Tara composed herself again and reached out to the harmonies of the room. They had gone all jangly with the addition of the two lead wannablessedbes. She chanted softly under her breath and felt the harmonies recognize her. She smiled, glad she had taken the time to do the blessing and the banishing of evil energy. Gently she soothed them back to peace.
***
Buffy led the retreat from the crypt, shaken by what she’d seen. This was just sooo evil. “That poor man.”
Xander nodded.
“I don’t care if it is an orgy of death. There’s still such a thing as a napkin,” Willow muttered in disgust. She frowned at Xander’s scandalized look. “Well, there is. There’s no need to eat so messily.”
There were so many of them. Buffy shuddered. She couldn’t do it, could she? Well, maybe. With the others, she might manage it. She nodded, trying to pump herself up. “Okay. A nest. No biggie. I bet I could do it. I mean, I know I could take out two ….”
“Yes. And we could run for help while the other three suck your heart out through your neck,” Anya interrupted.
“Hey. She’s the Slayer!” Xander tried to cheerlead, but the expression of doubt on his face did nothing for her morale.
“No, Xander.” She turned to Anya. “You’re right. There’s too many for just us. You know who we need.”
by darkmagicwillow » Wed Oct 23, 2002 3:53 pm 
and 
worthy. Especially the previous. 
Hee... 
Wheewww.... and yes, I do agree that beds are overated. 
I'm sitting on the edge of my seat for when Will does FINALLY say those words. I hope that will be soon.
Say hey to Darcy for me.
God, she's hilarious! I think she needs some smoochies, by the way. 
Thanks, sweetie.
Thanks Rose.
Yeah, karma will come around and bite you every time. Well, I think you're gonna really like the next update, which is mostly Jo/Tara centric. Thanks again.