Hey Kittens, it's update time. Sorry for the delay, but I was out of town for a long-neglected family visit and the days before I left were a bit chaotic. I also found it nearly impossible to write while I was home: too much family and too many dogs. Anyway, we have update.
Rating is R - Mostly for implied violence.
Angst level is oh, around 7, maybe, I think. Obviously I'm not sure.
I hope you enjoy.
*****
Tara felt like she was wrapped in cotton wool – yet she felt so much better than she had just moments before. Talking to Buffy had helped. Buffy and Willow: they'd find out about the thing that had attacked her; they'd make certain no one else got hurt. It was what they did. She looked up into Willow's face. Her love looked ... guilty. No, not guilty. She knew guilt from the inside, how it tasted, how it felt. Willow's expression was more like she was blaming herself –which was also a familiar sensation.
Last night had brought it all back. She shivered.
"Awww, baby, you're cold?" Without waiting for an answer, Willow pulled the comforter back up over her and tucked it in around her. That was confusing. She didn't own a comforter. Whose was it? She was getting it dirty. That was wrong.
Willow.
No.
She wasn't home.
She looked up into Willow's face and her chin lifted a little. When Jo had said her name, Willow's name, it had given her strength to remember where she was.
She was in Sunnydale. She was hurt. It was wrong, but it wasn’t her fault. She was in Sunnydale, where there were no Maclays except her. In Sunnydale there was a Hellmouth. She was female and a Maclay - she belonged in Sunnydale. And Sunnydale had Willow.
Willow. Nothing was wrong when she was with Willow. Willow saved her.
Willow loved her.
Willow had said so, had said the words because she was hurt and Willow was afraid of losing her … of losing her, too.
Willow loved her.
Willow had said the words, not knowing what she really was, not knowing that she was a demon.
Willow loved her.
It was enough.
****
Willow half rose at the soft knock, but sank back down as the knocker didn't wait to be admitted. Jo. Her small smile froze and began to turn into a frown as a second slightly taller girl slipped into the room on Jo's heels. She didn't want company, and Tara certainly didn't need it. Particularly a stranger who was friends with Jo – Jo, who was intrusive at the best of times – although she had to admit that had been useful today.
“Hey.” Jo smiled disarmingly. “Dani brought the pads.”
“Oh.” She tried to erase the frown, she really did – the stranger had brought something useful and saved time – but still! The stranger's – Dani's – eyebrows lifted over narrowing eyes. And why did the new girl seem familiar?
Jo glanced between them. “Willow, this is Danielle ... or Dani?” Her voice questioned slightly at the end.
“Dani's fine, Jo.” The stranger murmured, her eyes shifting to Tara on the bed. “Hey, Tara.”
Willow watched Tara focus on Dani, her blue eyes steadying a little and her body relaxing a bit more, but her soft "Hey" was nearly inaudible. Now why was Tara comfortable with this girl? Willow stared at her, trying to determine the source of her familiarity. Oh, right. Danielle. The girl from Wicca Group who had been yesterday’s breakfast conversation. She, Dani, walked further into the room as Jo closed and locked the door.
Apparently, her face was betraying her inner thoughts again, because the girl – Dani – spoke up. “I'm in Wicca Group with Tara. I think I saw you at a few meetings last semester.”
“Yeah, I went to a few.” Willow tried to keep her opinions about the Wicca Group from her face.
“I thought so.” Dani nodded slightly, a peculiar expression on her face. “It's changed a bit since then.” Her gaze shifted back to Tara. “Have you given her anything, something warm and sweet? Cocoa, or tea with sugar?”
“No, I haven't been here that long,” Willow replied defensively. “I wanted to get her scrapes cleaned up a bit.”
“That's good, but ....” Dani's voice trailed off, and she shrugged. “Why don't I make her something? It helps … sometimes.”
“Okay. Some chamomile maybe; Tara likes it. It's over there.” Willow pointed and watched the girl as she busied herself. She blotted the scratch on Tara's forehead again.
Jo knelt and set the pads on the mattress at Tara’s knees. “Uh, how do you want to handle this?” she asked, actually looking embarrassed for a change.
Willow blushed. “I know it’s nothing new to any of us, but I should do it, I think.”
“Okay,” Jo replied, her relief very obvious. “I’ll go help Dani,” who snorted softly from across the room. Willow watched Jo for a moment, watched her enfold the other girl in her arms. Hmm. Yesterday’s date must have been very good.
“Smoochies?” Tara’s voice was a mere whisper and barely reached her ears.
Willow smiled, leaned close, and lightly kissed her lips. “Yes, smoochies for Jo.”
“Good.” Tara blinked slowly and licked her lips. “For you, too.”
“Yes, for me too.” Willow kissed her again.
“Nice,” Tara murmured. She shifted a little and winced.
“Baby, shhhh.” She stroked Tara’s face with her fingertips. “Let me do it, okay?” She heard the microwave start, and opened one of the wrapped pads. Untucking Tara’s legs, she lifted the comforter out of the way. It was getting smeared with the blood that was soaking through the denim skirt. Gently, as gently as she could, she lifted the skirt. Tara’s panties were probably ruined. Heedless of the blood, she tucked the pad into the panties, but she had to do something more. She couldn’t leave Tara feeling all icky. She began wiping the blood from Tara’s thighs with the washcloth and heard her sigh softly. “Feel good?”
Tara nodded, just a little up and down motion of her head, and opened her legs a little. The microwave dinged.
“Okay, we have tea,” Dani announced as she removed it. “I put in lots of sugar, so it’s really syrupy, and will probably counter the effects of the chamomile, but I think she could use a little sugar high. How do you want to ….” She froze in place.
Willow looked down at her blood-smeared hands. Okay, yeah, they were bloody … did Jo’s friend have a problem with blood?
“Oh.” Jo caught Dani’s hands, which had started to tremble, and removed the cup of tea from them. “Breathe. Just breathe.”
Dani breathed, eyes closed.
“It’s just menstrual blood. Nothing more,” Jo reassured her.
“I … know, but I freaked out at my last period,” Dani stated and opened her eyes which were sparkling with suppressed tears and anger. “I hate this,” she snarled and wiped the unshed tears away.
“Hey, Tara hasn’t eaten, has she? And I haven’t. Why don’t you go over to my room? I have some crackers and some cheese, some blueberry preserves. We could have a breakfast picnic here,” Jo suggested, “since I don’t think we’re going out to brunch.”
Dani looked at her steadily. “You’re sweet … transparent as glass, but sweet.” She touched Jo on the arm and without looking at Willow or Tara left the room.
“I am such a moron,” Jo proclaimed as she brought the tea over. “I just didn’t think.”
Willow bit her tongue at the fairly accurate description, except Jo was sweet, too. She was curious about Dani’s reaction, but Tara needed to come first. She kept her questions to herself.
“The tea’s really hot and should cool a bit,” Jo advised as she knelt beside the bed and set it on the floor.
Willow nodded and tucked the comforter back around her girlfriend. She needed to wash her hands and get some fresh water. She stood and ….
“Willow.” Jo’s voice stopped her. “You hunt vampires, don’t you? With Buffy?”
She looked down at the girl who knew more about her than her best friend. “Yes.”
“You kill them?”
“Well, they’re not really alive, but yes, we kill them,” Willow supplied and waited, her attention focused on the girl at her feet.
“I want you to kill the one that hurt Dani.”
****
The Fyarl demon had suffered no ill effects from its dinner of meat and blood yesterday. Maybe it was safe. Sarah tossed the meat to the demon, but kept the packet of blood for herself.
She pierced the bag with her fingernail and licked the blood from it. Old, cold, and not human – pig’s blood, she thought. But that was all. She couldn’t taste any drugs or poisons – or smell them. She’d had worse. She eyed the demon, who had already demolished the meat. She’d contemplated worse – like Fyarl blood, for instance. But the only plus that the Fyarl’s blood had was that it was warm. Pig was better than Fyarl any day.
She leaned back against a cell wall and sank to a crouch, sipping at the blood. She had a good imagination – and a better memory. She had a feeling she might need both to keep her entertained here.
So, what would it be: a memory of one of her meals or the writhing of her most recent toy? Her face morphed and she grinned, fangs out. She’d save her memories of her toy for later.
Her first meal in Sunnydale would do. She sipped some of the pig’s blood and remembered how the girl had squealed when she’d bitten her breast.
Such a nice squeal. It had made her want more squeals and she’d gotten quite … rough with the girl.
She sipped the blood and remembered.
****
Jo watched as the slender redhead walked past her to the sink and turned on the water. She could see the tension in the other girl’s back and shoulders. That was okay, she could wait. She glanced aside at Tara, who was gazing at her quietly, but clearly concerned.
Willow came back to the bedside, hands clean, cloth rinsed, with a bowl of fresh water. She sighed. “I wish I could get her cleaned up. That would make her feel better. Wouldn't it, baby?”
Tara sighed and nodded slightly, but didn’t take her eyes from Jo’s face.
Was she just going to avoid the question? Jo decided she couldn’t wait after all. “Willow, I know you’re worried about Tara, and I am, too, but …..”
“Jo.” Willow turned to her. “People vampires eat usually don’t walk around afterwards. Why do you think a vampire hurt Dani?”
“I saw the scars from the bites.”
“Uh-huh. Were they neat little pinpricks?” Willow’s eyes were piercing.
“No. They were semi-circles with punctures on each end. I could see where each tooth sank,” Jo added.
Willow hesitated a long moment, then pulled her hair back, exposing the left side of her neck. “They looked like this?”
She nodded and sat back on her heels, stunned. “How?”
“Usual way. I got bit.” Willow turned her attention back to Tara, carefully cleaning the gash on her leg. “I was careless and got chatty with an old schoolmate whom I hadn’t seen since graduation. Turns out she’d had a ‘life-altering experience’. Fortunately, my b … a friend pulled her off me.”
The door opened behind them and closed with a click. “Okay, I’m back with food … of sorts,” Dani announced.
“Hey, don’t knock the cheese!” Jo kidded as the brunette rejoined them. She took the foodstuffs from her friend and began making little open-faced cracker sandwiches, using the foot of the bed as a table. As the silence stretched, she was all too aware that Willow’s eyes were examining Dani minutely.
“Afraid I’m going to freak again?” Dani jabbed defensively, unable to stand the silent scrutiny any longer.
“Are you?” Willow asked softly.
“No.”
“Okay, then.” The redhead returned to her ministrations.
“What happened to Tara?” Dani asked suddenly.
“She was attacked last night,” Willow replied, but Jo overrode her, “Some – thing – attacked her last night.”
“Thing,” Dani repeated in a curiously flat voice.
“Yeah. Thing. It clawed up the door to the janitor's closet something fierce,” Jo explained. Dani's hand lifted to the collar of her turtleneck and smoothed it with what looked likely to become a habitual motion. “I don't think it was Sarah.”
“Sarah? Who is Sarah?” Willow asked, confused.
“Uh, Sarah’s the vampire who attacked Dani,” Jo replied as she picked up the tea. “This is cool enough now – how do you want to do this? She’s going to need to sit up,” she continued, as the other girls stared at her. “I know. Willow, why don’t you hold her, and Dani and I can give her sips of tea and bites of food? You in Willow’s arms – that sound okay, Tara?”
“Y-Yes.” The blonde even nodded for emphasis.
“It’s a plan then.” Jo looked pointedly at Dani and Willow.
“‘Take charge’ Jo,” Dani murmured. “Why am I not surprised?”
Together the three of them maneuvered Tara, into a near-seated position. Leaning back against Willow, the redhead’s arms around her, she looked much happier.
“There. I’ll do the crackers, you do the tea.” With that, Jo gave Tara her first offering, a little bite of cracker with blueberry preserves. This time she would wait. Really. Either Willow’s curiosity or Dani’s irritation would win out – one of them would pick up the thread. She hoped.
And it was Willow who did. “By any chance is Sarah blonde and vacuous, kind of a tramp?”
“No,” Dani said succinctly as Jo shook her head.
“N-No. Sh-She’s small and d-dark,” Tara supplied the information, and shocked them all into silence. “Isn’t she?”
Dani nodded, surprised.
Jo also nodded. “Slim, with long dark hair, and intense, wideset, dark eyes. And very cold hands.”
“Baby, how do ….?” Willow started to ask, but Tara interrupted.
“She was at the dance.” The blonde made her statement without stuttering, an edge of anger in her voice. “She was there … hunting.”
“Yes.” Jo and Dani answered simultaneously, but it was Dani who continued. “She … she picks up girls at the dances and …..”
“Dancing and vampires, no surprise there,” Willow muttered.
“Why’d you ask if she was blonde?” Jo asked.
“Oh, I thought it might have been Harmony – the one who bit me – since Dani is still walking around in the daylight. Harmony isn’t particularly … competent … although she’s managed to get away from us so far,” Willow explained.
“Sarah isn’t blonde, and I suspect she’s extremely competent.” Jo rubbed Dani’s back with her hand.
“I don’t mean to dispute you, but Dani isn’t dead – or even undead,” Willow pointed out, “Which usually indicates incompetence in a vampire.”
“What if ….” Dani’s voice was hoarse. “What if the intent wasn’t to kill me, just to – play with me?”
“Well, I’ve nev…..” Willow stopped. “Actually, I do know a few instances when a vampire ‘played’ with humans.”
“Spike?” Jo asked.
“No – and how do you know about Spike? Oh, never mind.” Willow frowned. “Angelus. He liked to play, mostly mind games, but he was good at the physical bit, too.”
“Okay.” Dani sat back on her heels. “Are you telling me you hunt vampires?”
“Well, I didn’t actually say that, but yeah, I help,” Willow admitted. “Buffy is the actual Vampire Slayer – and she is going to kill me when she finds out I’m telling people.”
“Buffy. The little blonde who was here? She’s – what, some kind of super hero?” Dani asked.
“Yes,” Willow confirmed.
“Isn’t she a little short for a storm trooper?” Dani said in a voice full of skepticism.
“Uhhh, wait a minute,” Jo interjected, “Aren’t those the bad guys?”
“We get the job done,” Willow replied softly. “Size isn’t everything.”
Jo grinned as a cracker lifted from the plate and hovered for a moment before gliding to Willow’s hand. The redhead nibbled it delicately. She felt Dani’s muscles tense beneath her hand, then with a shake of her head, the brunette relaxed. “So what hurt Tara?”
“A monster.” Willow’s green eyes flashed with suppressed fury. “A soon-to-be-dead monster.”
Pax -Bev 
Poor Jo putting herself down about being alive and safe. Must be true that the hardest thing to do in the Buffyverse is to live in it. I really like how Dani was there for her though and that she had someone to support her.
The banter between Steve and the girls, priceless!!
Because this fic mostly follows canon (follows the actual events of the show), I have the opportunity to expand plot lines, solve inconsistencies, play with motivations, and explore the expressions we see on the screen - and of course, invent friends for Tara. The closet scene was uncomfortable to write, so I’m glad you think it was well done. Thanks for reading.
And you’re right - she is unselfish, she doesn‘t agonize over the consequences. She acts when necessary and will deal with any fallout later. Whiny Jonathan - you hit on one of the key aspects of the boy’s personality. Never liked him either. Thanks.
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goodness you've instilled in the story. Keep up the great writing!
Welcome back and thank you for the update.
That sounds funny, but you know what I mean. I think Jo might do something crazy, going after on her own, getting herself hurt in the process. I don't know. 
