One comment then the update:
Tawilove – Ahhh shucks. Thanks so much. Glad you liked the connection of part 28. I meant it sweet and loving and it came through. The guide will show up again but it will take a while to get to the meaning and the answer(s). Ha ha. Seldom naughty. But here definitely. Heading? We’ve arrived in Sunnydale with a bang!
Title– W/T Season 3 Y’all – part 31 –
Confrontation Author– JustSkipit - Debra
E-mail –
debraser@yahoo.com Feedback – Yes please.
Spoilers–Season 3 through Amends
Rating– Part 31 - PG Disclaimer – Willow and Tara and any other character that appeared in the syndicated television show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is property of Joss and Mutant Enemy, I’m only borrowing them and am not making any money off them Thanks.
Thoughts in italics! Luckily for Tara, both Faith and Angel were distracted as she rushed forward. Nearing Willow, she simultaneously reached out both hands. The cross, dropped by Willow as she fell, flew into her left hand which she held outstretched toward Angelus. Her wish to keep the creature away from her was increased by her first view the face of evil as bumps and ridges stood out on his forehead and his fangs hung over his lips. With her right hand, she motioned toward a large piece of pipe in the alley. The pipe flew quickly through the air, knocking the Faith to the ground and holding her there by pressing firmly against her throat.
Standing stock-still over Willow’s fallen form, Tara concentrated on both other figures in the alley. She attempted to hold an awareness of the area behind her but knew that even this much concentration was really pushing her abilities. Needlessly, she waved the cross at the vampire: “stay b-b-back Angelus.”
Working to return his face to its human visage he obeyed her asking, “who are you?”
Tara could feel Faith struggling against the pipe and couldn’t believe her strength. Of course, having heard Angel call her Faith, she knew that the brunette was a slayer. The blonde poured more energy into holding the pipe against the dark-haired woman’s neck. Rather than answering his question, Tara expressed her confusion: “y-y-you’re d-d-dead. Willow s-s-said so.”
Struggling against the pipe Faith spit out, “Hey B-B-Blondie, wanna find out about D-D-Dead? Keep the pipe…” she was cut off as Tara pressed the metal more heavily into her throat. At the best of times Tara had no fondness for anyone who teased her about her stutter and this was not the best of times. Add to that the threat and she was really not finding herself warming to the dark-haired slayer.
Angel attempted to calm the blonde, “I’m back. Why don’t you let Faith up and we can try to explain?”
Tara looked from Willow to Faith to Angel, unsure what to do, “I d-d-don’t think s-s-so. Willow’s already h-h-hurt.”
Tara felt another presence behind her and turned slightly to see a smaller blonde running toward the group. She immediately recognized Buffy from Willow’s photograph. Waving her the hand holding the cross at the slayer, she indicated that she wanted her to stop. Tara’s feelings were torn as she looked from the two slayers to the vampire to her lover. The energy it took to hold the pipe in place was more than she had ever had to expend before. She could feel the energy of the Hellmouth pouring through her, giving her strength she had never felt. At the same time, it went so harshly against her nature that she felt blackness overpowering her senses. Her stomach turned violently and she feared being sick right there in the alley.
Buffy broke the silence, “who are you? What happened?” She rushed to Angel, seeing that he was hurt where Willow had hit him with the cross and the stake, and then advanced toward Willow as if to check on her.
“S-s-stop!” Tara ordered before Buffy could get to the two of them.
Buffy looked again at everyone in the alley before speaking. She held out her hands, palms up: “you’re Tara right? Willow’s friend? Let’s calm down and we can talk about what happened.”
As Tara looked confusedly around Angel said, “Buffy, we’ve got to get Willow inside. The blood.”
Realizing the danger from predators other than her boyfriend Buffy pleaded with Tara, “Tara, we need to get Willow to a hospital. A doctor needs to see her and give her stitches ok?” As Buffy looked again at Tara she noted the thin line of blood beginning to drip from the witch’s nose down her lip and chin. “You too ok?”
Trying to assess everything, Tara finally realized that she couldn’t keep up the attention to all three. If they wanted to attack her, they would. She decided to trust Willow’s faith in Buffy. As she released the pressure on the pipe she told Buffy, “N-n-no doctor. I’ll take c-c-care of W-w-willow.”
Faith leapt to her feet and Buffy gave her a stern look and moved toward the witches: “I’ll carry her, ok?”
Tara nodded: “O-o-ok. Be c-c-careful with her h-h-head.”
As Buffy picked up the Willow and turned to enter the club, she addressed Faith: “Faith, can you go take patrol for a little while?” The dark slayer left and Tara finally felt the pressure of the encounter and the poison of the mystical energy take hold. She leaned against the wall, vomiting violently. Wiping her mouth and nose on her shirt, she silently followed Buffy into the club with Angel leading the way.
Angel quickly led them to a couch in a corner of the bar and Buffy laid the redhead down on the couch. Tara immediately dropped to her knees to look at Willow. Willow’s cheek was split open with blood coming from the cut and she sported a large bump on the back of her head, apparently where she hit the pavement when she fell. Her eye was starting to blacken.
Holding out a glass of water and a towel, Buffy asked, “Tara? Look, I don’t want to distract you but do you need anything?”
Tara had been really involved in examining Willow’s injuries. Part of her was concentrating on the magical assessment of the pain and hurt and the rest of her was just worried for her girlfriend. Buffy’s voice jolted her from her own world. “W-w-what? Oh uh th-th-thank you,” she answered taking the glass of water. She took a quick drink before pouring it on the towel and beginning to lightly dab at Willow’s face. She was going to try to heal the injuries but first she needed to see the extent of the damage.
Buffy kneeled next to the witch, ready to help with anything Tara needed.
Oh God, what if Willow’s really hurt? Why didn’t I tell her about Angel? What in the Hell is she doing here now? Worries and questions rushed through her mind one after the other. Although Willow had not mentioned it, it was obvious to the slayer from the moment she entered the alley that Tara was a witch. Buffy was amazed that she had had the presence and power to contain Faith and now apparently she believed that she could do something to help Willow. If not, they could still go to the hospital.
Actually, Buffy was starting to think that maybe Tara needed a doctor as much as Willow. Her nose was bleeding freely and she looked like she was going to lose her cookies any moment—again. As Buffy watched, Tara finished cleaning the wound. The bleeding had slowed and she could now see the edges of the split skin. The witch closed her eyes, recited an incantation, and placed her hands over the cut.
Buffy gasped in shock as she watched Tara work. While Buffy was impressed with the witch’s power, it was obvious that she was feeling the strain of her efforts. Blood poured from her nose, over her lip and down onto her shirt. Her body shook more and more violently as the spell gathered strength and sweat poured from her brow. A pale green light seemed to flow from her fingertips, winding between her hands and Willow’s skin. As the streams of light tightened, the cut pulled together slowly. The skin appeared to be knitting together and after a few minutes it had sealed completely, leaving only a dark angry looking mark on the skin.
Buffy looked back and forth between the two witches wondering which might need her help more. After getting the water and towels, Angel had left the bar and Buffy was now alone with Tara and Willow. Just as the slayer was wondering what she should do, Tara opened her eyes. Quickly she took another drink and wiped her nose with the towel before looking at Willow’s injuries again. “That’s b-b-better,” she nodded at the redhead.
Buffy looked from one witch to the other before speaking: “It looks good. When will she wake up?” Before Tara could answer Buffy spoke, “Um, Tara? I’m Buffy, nice to meet you.”
She held out her hand which Tara took laughing lightly: “N-n-nice to m-m-meet you t-t-too.”
The two girls heard a laugh from behind them: “Awww, how friendly huh? Well, I might as well get friendly too. Nice to meet you Tara, I’m Faith.” The dark slayer held out her hand to the blonde who took it gingerly but shook it firmly.
“How was patrol?” Buffy asked.
Faith leered back, “mmm three vamps dusted. Now it’s time for some action. Anyone good around tonight?”
Tara’s jaw dropped as Faith spoke. She couldn’t believe the energy the dark-haired slayer emitted. The girl was obviously sexually excited by slaying vampires, taking a rush off the violence? She looked to Buffy who shook her head as if saying, “don’t ask me.”
Pulling herself to her feet, Tara glanced around panicked before muttering, “b-b-bathroom?”
Laughing lightly Faith quickly tapped her hand on the blonde’s arm: “Come on Blondie. I’ll show you.” Tara quickly followed the slayer in the direction of the bathroom as Buffy moved onto the couch to cradle Willow’s head, wondering if she would wake up soon.
As Buffy brushed her hands over her friend’s face, Willow suddenly awoke. Her eyes flew open painfully as she shouted out, “Tara? Buffy? Angelus! I saw him! Where’s Tara? Is she ok? Oh Goddess!” She tried to sit up but the room spun in front of her and she had to lean against Buffy.
As she caught Willow in her swoon Buffy tried to calm the redhead, “Will, breathe. It wasn’t Angelus. It was Angel.”
“What? Angel? Where’s Tara? Did something happen to her? Oh Goddess!”
Still trying to calm the redhead, Buffy held her hands: “Tara’s fine. She’s in the bathroom with Faith.”
“Faith?”
“Faith, the next slayer after Kendra. Your head met her foot a little while ago?” Buffy teased.
Willow began to remember how she came to be lying on the couch. Her cheek ached and she grimaced as she spoke: “I attacked Angel? Faith knocked me out?”
Handing the glass of water to Willow, Buffy explained: “I wasn’t there but here’s what I gather. You attacked Angel. Faith knocked you out. Tara went after them. She held a cross on Angel -- he wasn’t going to attack anyway of course. She knocked Faith down with a pipe and held her down. I showed up and convinced her to let up and we brought you in here.” Willow nodded as Buffy spoke. “By the way, she seems very powerful. I thought you would need stitches but she fixed you up.”
“Damn,” Willow exclaimed as she looked around panicked. “She shouldn’t be. She…”
“What Will? What’s wrong?” Buffy asked puzzled.
“It’s just, well she spent like 10 hours trying to heal a horse yesterday. She doesn’t have the energy to spend. Was she ok? Is she sick or anything?” Willow worried.
“Um, well yeah. She got sick outside and I think that’s why she had to head to the bathroom now.” As she saw that Willow looked like she wanted to get up and go check on the other witch, Buffy put out her arm to stop her: “Hey, Faith’s with her. She’ll be fine and I’m sure she’ll be back any minute.”
“Who’ll be back any minute?”
The girls on the couch looked up to see both the dark-haired slayer and Tara striding toward them. Tara looked much better although blood splattered the collar and top few buttons of her shirt. As Buffy moved aside, Tara quickly took her place: “How are you feeling Will?” she asked, carefully avoiding any pet names.
Brushing her fingertips over her lover’s face and then the dried blood on her shirt, Willow took no such precautions: “I feel like I got kicked by a slayer. Are you ok? You shouldn’t have done this baby.”
As Tara grasped Willow’s hand, stroking the skin on the back, Faith looked between the two witches nodding and smiling. Tara whispered, “I couldn’t let you be hurt. And I figured you didn’t want to see a doctor or your folks would know you are here.”
“Sorry to interrupt this touching moment ladies,” Faith announced loudly. “I’m Faith by the way. Sorry about the kick,” she said as she held out her hand to the redhead who shook it tentatively. Turning to Buffy she explained, “look, being attacked by a possessed pipe tired me out. I’m going to head back to the hotel. Maybe look for some company on the way,” she leered. “I hit three on patrol so why don’t you take the witches home and take the night off.”
Buffy nodded at her counterpart before addressing the other two girls: “Hey, Faith’s right. I’m going to go call mom for a ride so we don’t have to walk home ok? Where is your luggage?”
Willow nodded, although her grimace showed that even that movement hurt her tender head. “At the station,” she explained. “Where’s Xander?”
“He thought you weren’t coming till tomorrow. He’s out of town: trying to ride out the holidays away from his family. He’ll be home tomorrow Will,” Buffy reassured her friend. After explaining Xander’s absence, she went to use the phone.
“How are you f-f-feeling sweetie?” Tara asked gently.
Willow took a deep breath: “Well, let’s see. It seems that Angel is back among the undead and no one bothered to mention it to me. I got my head split open by a slayer. And I haven’t managed to talk to Buffy about us yet, so considering that, peachy with a side of keen.”
Tara leaned over and gently hugged her girlfriend, kissing her on the forehead: “Oh baby, I’m so s-s-sorry that it went like this. Your head will be b-b-better in a few days and I can do some m-m-more healing on it t-t-tomorrow ok?” As Willow nodded, she continued, “and y-y-you don’t have to t-t-talk to Buffy about us until you’re r-r-ready.”
“But I WANT to tell her, she’s my best friend.” Willow answered.
“Tell me what?” Buffy asked as she returned from the phone. “Mom will be here in 10 minutes and I told her we’d be outside waiting. I uh, had to tell her you got hit since you look kindof beat Will.”
“Tell you what? Uh well, you know. I mean about why we came in on the earlier train and I just wanted to surprise you and everyone only it was a bigger surprise for us than for you it seems like. And I got kicked for my efforts so next time, no surprises and Xander’s not here and big surprise for me and hey, is it time to go?” Willow’s babble surprised no one and Tara giggled surreptitiously as she looked at the woman she loved.
Joyce picked up the girls in front of the club. She felt concern for both Willow and Tara and tried to convince them to go to the emergency room but neither would relent and eventually she gave up trying. After stopping by the train station to pick up their bags, the group headed home.
While Willow went in the kitchen with Joyce who wanted to take a good look at her injuries, Buffy showed Tara around. “Here’s the guest room Tara,” she explained as she pointed it out, setting the girl’s bags on the floor. “I thought Willow could sleep with me in my room like a sleepover. We haven’t had a slumber party in a while you know?”
Willow had come upstairs for the last part of Buffy’s speech. “Uh Buff?” she questioned as she looked over at Tara.
Buffy looked from Willow to Tara who was intently studying her shoes: “Oh right: You guys are both feeling crummy and sick. You don’t need to be up half the night. Why don’t you two sleep in the guest room tonight and tomorrow we can do the slumber party thing.” Satisfied with her solution, Buffy hugged Willow good night and entered her room shutting the door behind her.
---
"War may be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary it is always evil." - President Jimmy Carter after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize
) As usual, wonderful work, and I can't wait for more! -Nora
by Penrose Orleans » Tue Jan 14, 2003 6:58 pm 
(BV runs off to check the train schedule....)
I've been missing out 
Heck, I can improvise. 
aren’t I?
could be so naughty, well even if it's seldom 
is also very good in the vixen departement
. Don’t know if that means people are tiring of this or just busy or just not commenting or I’m inpatient. Either way, to the Kittens who do comment:
at: 1/22/03 7:14:28 pm