Kittens - Thanks to everyone for your wonderful thoughts and blessings. Asher, Rachel, and I are doing very well. He is a beautiful and happy little boy and I’m enjoying my time off work to spend with the family.
Title – Paths Diverged/Divulged Part 33 –
Final RoundAuthor – JustSkipit - Debra
Spoilers –Season 6
Rating – Part 33 – R
Disclaimer – Guess what… I don’t own W&T, Buffy or the rest of the BtVS crew. Any similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental and fortunate. Also Rachel thinks I should point out that I don’t make any money from this…
Thoughts in italicsTara approached the door to her girlfriend's apartment tentatively, not because she was expecting Willow to open it, but the opposite. She knew that Willow wouldn't be answering the door. Thursday was one of the days the redhead spent at a nursing home, helping the staff and residents use the new computers. But the key the girl had given her on her first visit would make Tara's clandestine visit possible. And that visit... Tara's lips curled up in a smile as she remembered that night. She had gone to Willow's apartment open to the possibility of making love but not definite that it would happen. But as would happen with them so many times, everything fell into place beautifully and it was the perfect time for her to confess and then share her feelings with the redhead.
But back to this sneak attack on Willow's apartment... She shifted the box she held to her other hand as she worked her keys from her pocket.
Why did I put them in there to begin with? she wondered as she finally extricated them. Even though she knew that her lover was not at home, she still unlatched and opened the door as quietly as she could and stepped through it, pushing it closed behind her.
"Oooo, pressies," the girl sitting on the couch announced excitedly as she set down the remote and locked her eyes on the blonde.
"Uh, w-w-well," Tara stammered, shocked by teenager's presence as well as her appearance. The girl wore black jeans with a wide belt, a mid-riff T-shirt, and no shoes although hers sat on the coffee table next to an open bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. Her hair was long and dark but had blue, pink, and green streaks running through it.
She assessed the blonde quickly, muttering, "Tara," before picking up the remote again and returning to flipping channels.
Tara stared wide-eyed at the youngster as she set the box on the table near the door. Hearing the meowing coming from the box she quickly opened it and pulled the kitten from within, holding her close and petting her. It had finally happened. The vet’s office always had stray cats and dogs to give away and they tried to pawn them off on anyone who came through the door, including the employees.
With the exception of Scooby, who had taken to the blonde witch when she was just barely walking, Tara had resisted the temptation successfully for years. And Scooby was a unique case. She was dropped on the front doorstep of the office when she was barely 2 months old. Everyone reasoned that she would grow and get stronger along with Tara and since the girl had become so attached, the Vets knew that she would take the dog home.
She had been thinking of getting Willow a pet for some time. At first she thought of getting the girl a dog because she so obviously loved Scooby, but then the reality of coordinating care for dogs living at two separate homes when the girls always spent the night at one place or the other, had set in. But she thought and hoped that Willow would love the kitten. Tara considered giving Willow the present for her birthday but she had something else special to share with her lover and didn’t want to take any focus off her planned gift. In the meantime, if Willow didn’t love the kitten, Tara would take it back to the office.
As soon as Tara picked up the animal, Dawn jumped from the couch to meet her at the door. “Can I?” she eagerly asked.
Tara still wasn’t sure who the girl was or what she was doing in Willow’s apartment but she handed over the kitten nonetheless. Something about the teenager seemed just so familiar, so comfortable, to her.
Just as Dawn was turning to return to the couch, the door to the patio slid open. Tara looked up to see another girl entering the room, “yo sis. You should see the freaking view from this patio. I saw this totally hot bl… “ She looked up and saw Tara at the door to the apartment and allowed her gaze to travel lustily over the girl. “Gotta be Tara,” she announced, “No wonder Red came to find you.”
“Faith,” Tara finally concluded. “And Dawn.”
“Damn. Not just hot but smart too,” Faith joked as she tossed her body heavily into a chair.
“Faith and Dawn,” Tara repeated as she moved over to sit on the couch, first shoving a pile of magazines off the cushion onto the table. She looked at the two girls intently.
Dawn was in her own world, petting the kitten and trying to get it to purr and meow at her. She held the kitten up to her face and rubbed it against it until it made her sneeze, then laughed and teased the cat that it had made her sneeze and why did it do that? Faith had picked up the remote and was flipping channels. “Girl’s got 300 channels and no porn?” she fussed.
“Your life is porn,” Dawn muttered without looking up at her sister.
“How’m I gonna see that?” Faith asked seriously.
“Gee,” Dawn now looked up, “I don’t know. How about mirrors?”
“Is she smart or what?” Faith now asked the shocked blonde. Changing subjects she told Tara, “so you weren’t with the other girl. That’s cool.”
“Willow thought I was w-with Michelle,” Tara stated with dawning comprehension.
“I think someone else,” Faith answered, “Steward or something.”
“Elizabeth,” Tara answered again. “You two on walkabout?”
“Walkabout?”
“Did you go to school at all?” Dawn teased her sister, “it’s like vacation for Austrians.”
“Australians,” Tara muttered under her breath as she reached out to take back the kitten.
“Forget the walkabout thing,” Faith answered as she got up to get a coke from the kitchen, “You usually break into people’s homes in the middle of the day and unsteal animals?”
“It was a p-p-present,” Tara explained wondering vaguely why she was defending her actions, “And Willow g-gave me a key.”
Dawn reached over to grab the remote from her sister’s hand. “Hey,” she announced, “it’s almost five. Willow said to call for pizza when we’re hungry.” She continued, “of course the way you eat, she’ll be broke in no time.”
“Naw,” Faith told her sister, “she’s spending her money on my new tat.” Before either Tara or Dawn could respond, Tara’s phone rang with a text message. She wasn’t surprised to read the final announcement:
RR#4 – W
8:00 today – 12:00 tonight.
Rend: W
Wear: Dark clothes: jeans, dark sweatshirt…“We’re going patrolling?” Tara asked astonished.
“See,” Faith told Dawn as she shoved a handful of chips in her mouth, “I knew she was smart.”
“Are there v-vampires here?” The blonde asked.
“There’s vampires everywhere,” Faith explained, “You just have to look harder for some. I think that Red looked up some places to start.”
“That’s Willow,” Tara asserted, “research girl.”
“That’s what I said when she showed up,” Dawn agreed excitedly.
Reaching for a handful of chips herself Tara asked, “So she’s buying you a tattoo?”
“Yeah,” Faith explained, “I’m thinking a hand with a stake, something tough and unique right here.” She pulled up the back of her shirt and exposed the skin at the small of her back. “Too bad I can’t draw what I want.”
Tara pulled a pad and pencil from her bag. “L-like this?” she offered as she began working on a sketch for the Slayer. While Dawn got up and ordered pizza, Faith and Tara made modifications to the drawing until Faith was satisfied that it represented what she wanted. She wasn’t aware that the witch had imbedded symbols of strength and protection into the design but knew it felt powerful and “cool.”
“No we’re not going dancing but I think you’ll have fun,” Willow was saying as she came in the door holding her cell-phone to her ear. “Tara…,” she trailed off as she saw her girlfriend and Faith looking over the drawing paper on the coffee table.
“Shit, Eliza, I know your name’s not Tara,” Willow muttered into the phone, “She’s here.” She continued, “No. I mean yes, it’s always good when she’s here but … oh Fuck. I gotta go Liza.” She hung up the phone looking back and forth between her lover and the Slayer.
Tara just smiled at Willow as she reached out for her cane and got up to walk over and place a soft kiss on the redhead’s lips. “Hi, sweetie,” she whispered.
“That’s Faith and Dawn,” Willow explained somewhat stupidly.
“Yep sis,” Faith wisecracked, “go to college and you too can state the obvious.”
“Higher education is sounding more and more like a bargain every time you bring it up, Faith,” Dawn teased back.
“Come eat some dinner, baby,” Tara urged as she pulled away from their embrace but led her lover by the hand toward the table.
“Hey, what’s this?” Willow asked as she picked up the drawing pad that Faith and Tara had been so immersed in when she entered the room.
“Faith says you’re buying her a n-new tattoo,” Tara explained as she put a few slices of pizza on a plate for the redhead and pulled out a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
“I guess you figured out my round robin,” Willow supposed sheepishly to her girlfriend as she took the plate and moved to sit by Dawn, safety away from her lover’s artwork.
Tara giggled as she nodded at the two sisters, “well it’s not that often that you have visitors and the fact that one of them is the slayer…”
“You’re the slayer?” Faith deadpanned to her sister.
Dawn giggled as she wiped her fingers on a napkin and reached for the drawing pad, “yep. That’s why Willow’s buying me a new tattoo.”
“Dream on,” Faith answered as she picked up the pad. “What do you think, Red?” She paged through a few designs.
“Nice work, baby,” Willow complimented her lover. She recognized some of the power and protection symbols Tara had put into each design. She also knew that Tara knew much more than she did about imagery and art and that there were probably many symbols that she didn’t even recognize in each work.
“How long are you two staying?” Tara asked, shifting the conversation to the two sisters.
“Gotta leave tomorrow afternoon,” Faith explained.
“That’s a short v-visit,” Tara observed.
“Yeah, well… evil things to kill tend to hang out on the Hellmouth so G-man says to make it a short visit,” Faith said. “Oh,” she remembered, “he said he and Jenny would really love it any time you can come visit again.”
Willow smiled as she heard Faith’s statement. “Thanks,” she agreed, “we’d love to come sometime soon.”
“And I have school,” Dawn added.
“That too,” Faith agreed as she started on what Tara estimated was her sixth slice of pizza. Noting the blonde’s stare the slayer explained, “I work off a lot of calories slaying.”
“And after slaying,” Dawn mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.
“What’s after s-slaying?” Tara asked innocently.
“I’ll tell you later, baby,” Willow reassured her.
“Don’t you mean you’ll show her later?” Faith teased.
“Ok,” Tara emphasized, “I g-got it.” She cut her eyes to Dawn as if to say, “should she be hearing this?”
The younger girl picked up on Tara’s look and sighed loudly. “Faith’s my sister, Tara,” she said, “Do you seriously think I don’t know about this stuff?”
“Point taken,” Tara agreed as she reached for her ringing phone. The other girls continued eating as the blonde carried on her conversation. It was obvious that Eliza and Michelle wanted to know what the event was going to be but she didn’t give them any information past what Willow had sent in their summons. Willow interrupted the blonde’s conversation to give directions for a change in plans. Since she had realized that they would need two cars to get to the cemeteries, she wanted the other couple to meet them there.
After Tara hung up the phone Faith and Dawn both asked, “We’re driving to patrol?”
“Just to the cemeteries,” Willow explained. “I found three possibilities in the police databases but getting around in Austin’s not like getting around Sunnydale.”
“But we still walk to actually patrol, right?” Faith teased. “We’re not going to like ride around in a Hummer and shoot the bad guys with laser guns?”
“Didn’t work that well for the initiative,” Willow mumbled as she stood to take her plate to the sink. “No,” she finally answered Faith’s smart-ass question, “We’ll definitely walk the patrol.”
“Good,” Faith answered as she stood up and started stretching her arms, “I need to work off this pizza.” She playfully grabbed Dawn in a headlock and patted the younger girl’s stomach. “So does the kid.”
“I’m svelte,” Dawn argued. Tara and Willow both laughed as the young girl pushed out of the hold and teased, “why don’t you go look that up in the dictionary while I go play with the ki… I mean the uh… cable. Yeah cable.” She plopped down on the couch and quickly started flipping channels on the television quickly.
Willow raised her eyebrow first at Dawn and then at Tara and Faith who were intently pouring over the artwork. “What did she say?” she asked.
“What did who say?” Faith answered as if on cue.
“Dawn,” Willow answered. “What did Dawn say?” She was starting to feel impatient. It was obvious that the girls were playing a trick on her. Spying the closed door to her bedroom she started quickly toward there, aware that Tara was reaching for her cane to stand up from the table.
The redhead opened the door and let out a shriek as she ran toward the bed. The shriek woke the kitten who was sleeping on a pile of the girl’s clothes but it merely rolled over, its claws pulling a shirt with it. Once the shirt got tangled over the pet’s head, Willow started giggling and helped extricate the kitten before she picking it up and petting it.
“S-s-surprise,” Tara said from the doorway.
The smile on the redhead’s face as she turned and walked over to kiss her girlfriend left no doubt that Tara wouldn’t need to return the kitten to the office. “You got me a kitten?”
“I thought about getting you a dog but …,”
“… you didn’t want to coordinate sleeping arrangement?” Willow finished for the blonde. As Tara nodded Willow leaned over to whisper in her lover’s ear: “Believe me. I don’t want anything to interfere with my sleeping with you every night.” The kitten gave a loud meow and pawed at the two kissing girls who pulled away to began to address the fluff-ball. “What’s wrong kitty? You want more attention?”
After a few minutes of petting and tickling the kitten both witches heard Faith’s voice from the other room, “if you’re done playing with your pussy, do you want to go and kill some vampires or what, girls?”
“Thank you,” Willow whispered as she let the kitten down and kissed Tara. The two girls started down the hallway toward the living room and Willow asked, “Is that my birthday present?”
“N-n-no. I have something else for your b-birthday present,” Tara explained somewhat nervously.
“Let’s go,” Faith encouraged as she tossed a jacket to each girl and jingled Willow’s keys.
“Awww,” Willow pouted, “she’s so cute. I don’t want to leave her.” She knew that she was being silly. It wasn’t a good idea to take a kitten patrolling but she just wanted a few more minutes with the adorable pet.
As the redhead set the kitten on the bed Tara asked, “What are you going to call her?”
“How about Faith?” the slayer suggested as she grabbed yet another piece of pizza from the box and started out the front door of the apartment.
“That’s dumb,” Dawn argued, “But how about Sunny?”
“Subtle, sis,” Faith mumbled.
“Wow you used the word
subtle, Faith,” Dawn teased, “Have you been studying that word of the day calendar Giles gave you?”
“Faith,” Willow stood outside the driver’s door, “you’re not driving.” She held out one hand palm up and the other on her hip in a determined look.
“I helped you buy this car,” Faith argued, “I think I could drive it.”
“By that theory Tara owns the bed and couch here and can use … well maybe that’s not the best example but you’re still not driving,” the redhead said as she grabbed the keys from the dark-haired slayer and unlocked the doors.
The four girls pulled into the parking lot of the cemetery just before Eliza and Michelle arrived in their car and all of them stepped out onto the blacktop. After making introductions Willow took a moment to assess both girls’ clothing choices. Michelle was wearing dark jeans and a navy sweatshirt but Eliza had apparently gone all out. The girl wore leather pants perhaps as tight as what Willow had sported for Michelle’s birthday party and an equally revealing black silk camisole. “Aren’t you going to be c-cold in that?” Tara asked as she took in the somewhat distracting sight of her friend wearing lingerie to the cemetery in late November. Even in Texas, a chill was in the air and she thought the girl might think better of her attire.
“Willow said dark so here I am,” Eliza smartly answered.
“She looks good,” Faith purred. “So leave her alone.”
Michelle didn’t acknowledge the slayer’s tone other than grabbing her girlfriend’s hand and asking, “so what are we doing?”
Willow nodded to Faith who pulled a few wooden stakes from her jacket and tossed them to the newcomers.
“Building a little fence?” Eliza suggested. “Or maybe a church,” she added.
“Roasting weenies?” Michelle added.
“Didn’t I tell you my friends were smart-asses?” Willow asked the slayer.
“Well… I don’t know about smart,” was as far as Faith got before Tara interrupted: “good g-guesses.” She turned to her girlfriend to suggest, “Sweetie, do you want to explain?”
“Sure,” Willow smiled, “Welcome to my round.” She sounded proud and excited as she explained, “We’re going to patrol and dust vampires.”
“Sounds like bull-shit to me,” Eliza quickly argued.
“Hey,” Faith interrupted, “I’ve got a great idea. Everyone keep being loud as hell while we walk around so the vamps can come to us.” She started walking between headstones looking left and right as she went. “Sunny,” she whispered, “Stay close.”
“Hello, grown up here,” Dawn muttered exasperatedly but moved closer her sister nonetheless.
“How many, Red?” Faith asked knowing that Willow had done her research.
“Well,” Willow answered, “I figure three may rise from the last two days and maybe the three that sired them? Could be fewer.”
“Why don’t y’all have stakes?” Michelle asked the two witches.
“We’ll torch them if we need to,” Willow explained. She glanced to Tara to ensure that the girl agreed before continuing, “but really we want to let Faith do most of the work. Your stakes and our magic are for self-defense. I want you to see a slayer in action.”
“So you invited your friend to come and work for your round robin?” Eliza teased.
“She’s buying me a tattoo,” Faith smirked.
“Plus,” Dawn piped up, “she’s paid for our tr…” That was as far as she got before three vampires rushed from behind a tree toward the group. Faith was in action quickly exchanging punches and kicks with the apparent leader. Willow watched the other two closely. On one hand, as the most experienced member of the group besides Faith, or perhaps Dawn, she wanted to keep her friends safe but she also wanted to let Faith show off a bit.
Michelle, Eliza, and Tara all backed up a few steps from the action but Dawn and Willow remained close. Suddenly Willow was knocked to the ground from behind by a vampire she never saw. Before she could get to her feet she saw the creature that knocked her down burst into flames and glanced over to see the residual spark draining from her lover’s fingertip. That was all the time that the other two original vampires needed though. Both attacked Dawn at once. It was obvious that neither was expecting the girl to put up a fight as she cleanly shoved her stake through the first creature’s heart. As he was crumbling, the second grabbed her shoulders and lifted her off the ground. Hearing her sister’s scream, Faith dusted her opponent and turned to see the remaining vampire knock Dawn awkwardly into a close headstone.
Willow began the incantation to set fire to the vampire currently holding Dawn a few feet off the ground. Before she could get half-way through it, Faith had reached her sister and grabbed the vampire from behind. “That’s my sister, you piece of shit!” the slayer screamed as she grabbed him and threw him to the ground. She looked worriedly at Dawn while keeping an eye on the vampire slowly rising behind her.
The dark-haired slayer turned back toward the creature, moving toward him like she was stalking her prey. Perhaps realizing that this encounter was more than he bargained for, the vampire looked around as if hoping for an escape route. “Don’t even think about it, bumpy,” Faith told him. “You touched my little sister. Not a good idea. Not good at all.” She circled him twirling her stake as she went. “No one touches her,” she continued, “You see she’s the most important thing in the world to me.” She seemed to stop to think before letting a side-kick fly. As the heel of her boot caught him in the jaw, knocking him to the ground she concluded, “Nope. Not a good idea at all.”
While Faith taunted and circled the vampire, Tara and Willow ensured that Dawn was not hurt. They helped the girl up and Tara did a quick check. “I can h-help those not b-bruise,” Tara offered, indicating the red marks on the girl’s upper arms and another on her back. At Dawn’s nod Tara placed her hands lightly over the area and immediately began her healing magic. For a witch of her skill and power, it only took a few seconds before the red marks were completely gone. In the meantime Willow watched the dark-haired slayer’s battle with the offender.
For the first time, Willow saw the kind of fury and rage she was used to from the Faith she knew. Whereas in Willow’s world, Faith’s rage had seemed unfocused which perhaps caused her to latch on to the affection offered by the Mayor, this rage was completely focused on the vampire who had hurt Dawn. The redhead was relieved that Faith was fighting on the side of good this time as the dark-haired girl unleashed blow after blow at the barely resistant vampire. Kneeling above him as she pummeled him, she continued to lecture him. “You never touch my sister. Ever. Ever. It’s the last thing you ever touch, scumbag.” Each sentence was punctuated with a blow and Willow noted that Michelle, Eliza, and Tara were all looking away from the gory scene.
Willow tried to get the slayer’s attention: “Faith? Faith?” She moved closer trying to decide how to stop the girl without incurring her wrath.
Before she could move close enough to stop the slayer, she saw that Dawn had approached the girl. “Faith,” Dawn whispered.
The slayer’s hand stopped almost in mid punch and although she couldn’t entirely stop its movement forward, she slowed it enough to allow it to barely glance off the unconscious vampire’s shoulder. Before turning to look at the younger girl, Faith whispered, “are you ok?” and for the first time Willow realized that she was crying. She jumped to her feet and started running her hands over the younger girl, checking for injury before pulling her into a hug.
After a few seconds Dawn whispered, “I’m fine sis. Why don’t you let go so Tara can take a look at your hand?”
Faith nodded and started to hold up her hand. She stopped for a second before asking, “Willow, can you take care of … that?” A nod clarified that she meant the unconscious vampire.
“Sure, Faith,” Willow answered as she stepped forward to pick up the stake lying by the prone figure. She momentarily considered allowing Michelle or Eliza to do the deed but decided that this really wasn’t the time. Without further ado she staked the remaining vampire and dropped the stake in the center of the dust. Standing up she gently patted the slayer’s arm. “I think that’s it,” she explained. She turned to the group and attempted to break the uncomfortable tension, suggesting, “who’s up for dinner on me?”
As they began walking back to the car Faith was obviously recovering quickly as she announced, “You know… I always get hungry and …”
“No!” Willow, Dawn, and Tara shouted all at once.
“This isn’t t-too bad,” Tara announced after assessing the condition of Faith’s hand. She knew that anyone else would have numerous broken bones from hitting anyone that hard that many times but Faith’s strength was apparent and the blonde suspected that her slayer healing was already at work. On the drive to the restaurant, Tara and Faith sat in the back seat and the blonde witch healed the open cuts on the slayer’s hand as she thought about what she had seen and everything she had heard about these visitors.
The rest of the visit was without incident. The girls all enjoyed getting to know each other better. Both Willow and Tara were amazed at the level of love and affection that Faith and Dawn held for each other. The witches exchanged hugs and promises to visit soon with their visitors as they left the freshly tattooed slayer and her sister at the airport the next day.
Edited to fix three errors. Thanks Susan.
---
"Your little will can't do anything. It takes Great Determination. Great Determination doesn't mean just you making an effort. It means the whole universe is behind you and with you - the birds, trees, sky, moon, and ten directions." - Katagiri Roshi
Edited by: JustSkipIt at: 2/4/04 8:03 am
by JustSkipIt » Mon Jan 19, 2004 1:20 pm 
!!!
Debra 
,
at: 1/22/04 8:03 am
Congratulations, sweetie!! 
inky
