New Fic - Connections

[AlysonGoddess]

Awesome update im glade tara got to meet ev1 and im glad everything worked out with willow please continue

Erin

[CrazyTaraWitch]

Awesome fic, totally love it so far; each chapter's better than the last!!!
I really like Will & Tara's thoughts, u write them quite well!
ur depiction of Xander is simply marvelous, and i liked the bonding between he and Willow, there seemed to be less and less of that on the show as the years went by, and i really missed it
also, i liked Spike and Buffy, they were quite funny
i'm curious to see what Buffy will think of Tara
This prophecy is also enticing; i hope in means the return of Faith!
anyway, this fic is great, please write more soon

[Maccoda]

That was excellent! I bet Tara feels like her brain is going to explode from information overload!

[The_Lord_J]

Okay, so firstly apologies for lack of updateage; I've just bought a new computer and had some great fun trying to get all the data across, reinstall all the programs etc etc...I still haven't got a copy of Word yet.

However, on the up side, I now have an update for ya all And there's more in the works very soon, so stay tuned. This one's quite a short update and is mostly just to bring the relationship on a bit, there's not much plot here, but the following update will be a bit more plot-driven with some new characters in it.

Big thanks to Trom Degray for betaing this, your advice was pretty much spot on

And so, on with the story.

---

PART 6

"I really wish we had more to go on with this whole prophecy thing," Willow sighed, putting down her mocha and fiddling with the 'Espresso Pump' napkin.

"You sound r-really concerned about it." Tara's brow creased.

"Well, if it's gonna be the end of the world again then we should be all with the concerned world-saving research…but we've just come to a dead end," Willow pouted.

"You d-do this a lot?" Tara asked.

"What?"

"The whole, um, s-saving the world thing?"

"Uh, well, not so much of the saving as the 'finding out how to save'. Buffy does most of the saving. But we help."

"That's s-so cool," Tara grinned. The girl I love helps save the world on a regular basis…wow…"So, um, you said 'again'? H-how many times have you…um…saved the world?" Tara was aware how silly the question sounded, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. She wanted to know as much about Willow as she could, and world-saving seemed to be a big part of her life.

"A lot. I mean there haven't been that many near-apocalypses I guess, but there's been lots of big bads we've taken down," Willow replied. Her smile faded a little as Tara starting laughing. "What?" she pouted.

"You s-said 'taken down'. I'm sorry. You don’t really look the f-fighting type, let alone talking l-like a hardened warrior!" Tara giggled.

"Hey! And like I said, we don't really do much of the fighting bit unless Buffy's outnumbered. She can usually handle most of the bad guys on her own," Willow admitted.

"How does she do it? I mean, she's not exactly, um, an Amazon or anything. She looked kinda small," Tara noted.

"Oh, she has this superpower thing, it comes as part of the Slayer package. She gets enhanced senses and strength, and can totally kick a vampire's butt."

"Cool." Tara's mind boggled at the idea of superstrength. "But no-one else gets that, right?" she checked.

"No, just plain old vanilla Willow here. Nothing super about me," Willow replied.

Tara frowned and shook her head. "Oh, y-you're super, Will,” she argued. “You're powerful. Your m-magic…it's m-more powerful than anyone I've met." She ducked her head again, a little embarrassed that she couldn't keep herself from complimenting Willow yet again. "Y-you're…special," she whispered.

Willow's head spun in happiness and a stupid grin erupted across her face. She called me special. She called ME special. "I-I'm not. Really. I mean, I'm not powerful. Or 'special'. Really, I'm just, y'know, plain old me."

"No, you are." Tara repeated the words from their first conversation as she peeked out from under her hair. "You h-have a lot of power. Like, a lot. You j-just haven't tapped it yet," Tara explained, still hiding behind her hair as she looked up into the green eyes regarding her with curiosity. "And…you're special in m-more ways than one, Willow." She couldn't help letting that slip.

Willow sat entranced by the blue orbs that were staring into her own green. Is there something else there? Does she mean 'special' in a different way? Like 'special to her' kinda way? Do I dare to hope she thinks I'm as special as she is to me? No, that's not possible. Those eyes alone are beyond the word special. They're so deep and blue and I could lose myself in them fo-

"Willow?" Tara said.

"Huh?" Willow realised she was staring.

"You, um, you've got that l-look on your face again."

"What look?"

"Um…you sort of look like you're obsessing about something? I-I mean, that came out w-wrong. I meant you, um, you look like you're thinking real hard about something."

Obsessing…I'm obsessing. I'm obsessed. Totally and completely obsessed. Oh god, how can she see through me so easily? Well, I was totally staring at her beautiful eyes…

"Sorry I just, uh, zoned out for a minute there. I have a busy brain," Willow covered, tearing her eyes away from the soft blues that seemed so magnetic.

"I noticed" Tara sympathised. "You, um, want to talk about it?"

"Oh, no, it's okay, I'm just being, y'know, a spaz," Willow tried to avoid the subject.

"You're not a spaz," Tara countered. "You're…" She stopped herself short, knowing that if she said too much she wouldn't be able to stop and her feelings would come crashing out. "…Cool." She settled on the nondescript compliment.

"Thanks." Willow smiled, careful not to let herself get lost in Tara's eyes again.

----

[The Rose24]

I'm glad you have a new computer.

I can't wait to see how you write our ladies. They are so cute when they flirt.

[CrazyTaraWitch]

awesome update! glad u(and ur story) are back!

[The_Lord_J]

And so on to some plot...

No, I haven't gone mad and started writing a completely separate story. This is all relevant, you'll see. Be patient.

No W/T this update, but stay tuned for more...some angst is on the way.

----

PART 7


"What de ye mean ye dunno? Ye're lyin," the enraged dwarf growled at his prey. "Ah've come too many miles to have some scumbag like ye lie t' me! Now, tell me what ye know!" He shook the vampire violently and slammed him into the alley wall.

"I don't know naffin'. Nobody tells me anyfin' around 'ere. I. Don't. Know." The south London accent served to inflame the Scottish dwarf's anger even more.

"T' Hell wi' ye then!" The dwarf pulled the mighty battleaxe from his back and decapitated the vampire in one smooth well-practiced stroke, spinning around to face the other dwarf who gave him a stern look.

"Grindal, ye've got t' keep yer temper in check. He might've known something if we'd pushed him a bit further." The two Scots eyes stayed locked in a silent battle of wills for a few moments. Finally the younger dwarf spoke.

"I'm done wi' waiting around. We've got t' find this bloody thing or we're all as good as dead. You know the prophecy. I'm not gonne let it happen, are ye? Eh, Belgren? Eh?" He spat the last words out in a venomous challenge.

"No. But you're thinkin' with ye're axe and not with ye're head. We'll ne'er get anywhere like that." He nodded to the pile of dust on the ground. "Dust and ash can't tell us a thing." The measured tone of the second dwarf finally tempered the rage of the other. "We need solid info on this. We canne go on with just a mere hunch, lad. We need to know where the bugger's gonna rise for sure."

Grindal sighed and admitted defeat. "Aye, ye're right. I'm sorry."

"Let's go find that hell-born offspring of Bill's then eh? Maybe the poor sod will talk when we tell him his brother's dead."

"Aye. Let's. Christ, I hate dealing with bloodsuckers."

"Right enough, it's almost as bad as dealing with Englishmen," Belgren muttered with a grin.

"I'll drink t' that." Grindal replied, a similar grin on his face.

With that, the pair shouldered their weapons and picked up their bags, loading them into the Land Rover parked at the kerb.

"Thanks for the insult lads. Really appreciate it," a sarcastic English voice came from the driver's seat.

"Eh, ye' know we're taking the piss laddie," Grindal replied as he and Belgren climbed into the cab. "For a start ye're not the typical Englishman."

"Neither are you two typical Scotsmen. Although you drink enough I s'pose."

"And ye don't yerself?"

"Point taken," The Englishman replied, putting the car into gear and pulling away from the kerb as Grindal fished out a bottle of whiskey from his inside pocket and took a swig.

----

"Y'see? A bit o' gentle persuasion and anyone'll talk." Belgren made his point to the younger dwarf.

"Aye. A bit too gentle in my sincere opinion." Grindal sniffed, looking with disdain at the murky London back streets rolling past the Land Rover's window.

"Grindal. He's a source. We can't kill him. What did he say?" the Englishman reminded, flicking the windscreen wipers on as the English weather battered down onto the Land Rover's windscreen.

"Doesn'e make him any less scum-like, Dave," Grindal huffed.

"True. But you can't threaten a dead man," Dave pointed out.

"Ye're forgetting somethin' there, lad," Belgren growled.

"So I'll rephrase it. You can't threaten a dusted dead man. So, what did he say?"

"We've got t' go over the pond," Belgren replied.

"The States?" Dave asked in disbelief.

"Aye. Some town in California - Sunnydale he said it's called. Apparently it's some Hellmouth or other. Attracts all the evil nasty bastards. Word is the bugger will be makin' 'is home over there."

"Bloody hell, Sunnydale? Should be an interesting holiday."

"Best start using the word 'vacation' lad. We might be some time over there, and ye'll want to learn the local lingo and blend in." A wry smile split over Belgren's face.

Dave shook his head in disbelief before looking back to the road in front. "Like you're not going to stand out like a sore fuckin' thumb with that accent…" he breathed. He looked at the dwarf again, and noticed the grin cracking across his bearded face as Grindal stifled a chuckle.

"Oh, sod off, Belgren. You're just doing this to wind me up. Are we going to the States or not?" Dave retaliated.

"Aye, that much is true. And there was me thinking I had the shite end of the stick down here in this godforsaken country. Now we've got t' deal with the yanks." Belgren grumbled.

"Hey, I've got some mates over there who are nice people. They might even put us up for a while, so you two are gonna have to get over your patriotism for a while if you want somewhere to sleep." Dave admonished.

A chorus of "Bugger that!" greeted him in response.

"Great. Are we picking Kerg up from the airport?" Dave asked.

"Aye. He's just got doon from Glasgow twenty minutes ago." Belgren replied.

"Gatwick airport was it?"

"Aye."

They drove on to the airport in silence.

----

[WillowRulez]

I finally caught up! Uhm... where is the rest?

[The_Lord_J]

Um...okay, this is me being embarrassed. Embarrased to admit that I've kinda lost inspiration/interest in writing this fic. It's mainly because I have a bigger, better, far more awesome fic in the making at the moment that seems to be writing itself.

The problem with Connections is that I feel that I have to 'work' at it, unlike this new fic I'm doing where it's all just flowing out naturally. The other thing is that I came to a lot of dead-ends after a while with this fic that I couldn't really resolve - a result of a complete lack of planning on my part really. I had some vague ideas but never really thought them through as to how they were all going to happen, and more importantly, be relevant.

There IS a lot more of this that I _could_ post, but I'm not sure if I really want to at the moment. If anyone really cares THAT much then I will, but it's unfinished. Of course if anyone wants to take up the challenge and finish the fic (or at least continue it) they're more than welcome to it! I'd love to see where this fic can go...it has potential, but I'm just not sure what exactly

SO, sorry to dissappoint you, but keep an eye on pens in the coming few weeks, something new (and far better written) will be surfacing soon.

There I go making promises again. Let's hope I can keep this one.

[AlysonGoddess]

aww well ill definitly be looking forward to your new fic
happy holidays
erin

[willow_tara_always]

hey im realy loving wherethis fic is going pweeeez update soon xxx love Jo xx