Lost Pages Update #7
Author: Jixer
Spoilers: Up through the end of Season 6
WARNINGS: Moderate Kitten Angst Advisory. This is after Season 6.
Tara struggled to get into her heels. The television ad with the models playing basketball not withstanding she hated putting on heels for the second night. The small room with the tiny lockers reminded her too much of gym classes past as well. She was just standing up when there was a knock on the door. Then Jason pushed into the room with a small blonde in tow.
“This is Patty,” the bartender announced. “She’s new. Daniels wants you to break her in, but not that way.”
“Hi,” Patty said quietly.
“H-hi,” Tara answered hesitantly, ignoring the leering man.
“Hurry up,” Jason said after a moment. “I’ll get the boxes ready.”
Tara waited until the door was closed. Then she looked at the small blonde woman in the short skirt and heels that were the uniform of a waitress in the club. She hadn’t been born blonde, but the make over had been well done. Tara held out her hand.
“Tara Maclay,” she said quietly. “I suppose the first bit of advice is to watch Jason.”
“I’d rather not,” Patty answered with a frown. “He was hitting on me all the way downstairs.”
“He does that to all the girls, I mean the wait staff, not the dancers,” Tara explained. “He’ll short your drinks and play with your cash box if you’re not careful. I found out the hard way.”
“Watch the creep, got it,” the blonde answered. “What about Daniels?”
“He’s never done anything out of place,” Tara said quietly. “I tried to talk to him about Jason and the ventilation in this p-place but I’m n-n-not very good at, you know, talking to people.”
“That’s okay,” Patty said with a grin. “Most guys probably are too busy looking at something else about you to listen.”
“Um, if there’s a problem like that, ah…” Tara said with the warm feeling of a blush burning her face. “If a guy gets out of control, call Tim or Daniel. They’re pretty good at keeping the peace.”
“Anybody else I should watch out for?” Patty asked as they left the small dressing room.
“Hey, new girl, keep an eye on our resident dyke,” Tawny said brusquely as she came out of her dressing room. “Get my stuff, Tara.”
The dancer slipped past them with a grace Tara knew she could never match. She reached for the real blonde’s stuff and then looked up at Patty who was looking at Tawny’s retreating figure with undisguised disdain.
“Yeah,” Tara answered late. “A big money maker, but a royal pain in the…fanny.”
Patty just nodded and tried to hide her smile.
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Friday nights were busy at the club. Thanks to a hole in the zoning coverage and political donations from a narrowly based special interest group the club was the flashiest “gentlemen’s” club in the Seattle area. Even in the slow times for the rest of the region the parking lot outside was chock full of high end cars.
Inside Tara was constantly in motion. The few times she was able to check on Patty the blonde had looked harried but capable. Several other times the smaller girl had come looking for Tara, almost always when she was at the bar filling her orders. Tara noticed Patty cocked her head and looked very dense when Jason was talking to her. Tara smiled inwardly. She had no idea how to play that game, but if it worked for Patty she wished her luck. Finally Tara took a quick break for a grilled cheese sandwich and made sure Patty got off the floor for a few minutes as well.
“Is it always like this?” Patty asked as she bent down to take off her shoes.
“On a Friday, yes,” Tara responded. “Don’t take them off. You’ll never get them back on.”
“Something else you’ve learned the hard way?” Patty asked with a sigh as she picked up her chicken sandwich and diet pop.
“My first night here,” Tara explained as she rubbed her calves.
“So, are you gay?” Patty asked seemingly giving her quick meal more attention than the question.
“Yes,” Tara said steadily. Patty shrugged.
“You don’t watch the girls,” Patty observed.
“It’s too em-embarrassing,” Tara said in an apologetic tone. “Besides, I’ve got my girl at home now…”
“Wow,” the small blonde said with a grin. “You can smile. Is she cute?”
“Oh, yes,” Tara answered quickly.
“How is your family with all that?” Patty asked as she studied her diet drink like there might be unwanted life forms in it.
“Mine wrote me off, the ones who were left,” Tara explained as her smile vanished. “Besides, since my Mom died…it’s just my little sister and me anyway. She’s why I’m here.”
“How old is she?” the small woman asked.
“Sixteen now, going on forty,” Tara sighed and shook her head. “Between her clothes and Willow’s books…”
“Willow?” Patty asked. “Sounds very girly.”
“She’s all girl,” Tara said with a smile she wasn’t aware of, but said more than her words ever could to the new girl. Tara looked at the clock and got up reluctantly. “We need to get back to work.”
“Ten minutes off?” Patty asked with a look of dismay.
“Minimum wage here,” Tara explained. “Well liquored tips out there.”
“Mercenary,” Patty muttered, but she got up.
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Tara was exhausted as she waited at the bus stop. She always got a ride to the transit point in one of the club’s minivan-limousines that took the dancers, except for Tawny, home each night. As Tara waited with the other evening shift workers from a dozen places a figure she didn’t see lifted a camera and took her picture. Tara didn’t see the car follow the bus or the figure taking more pictures as she made her way home.
She was almost asleep when she opened the main door to the older apartment building that now held her family. After the old elevator’s doors closed a small woman with her hair tucked under a watch cap made a note of where the light above the lift stopped. The woman Tara knew as Patty ran her finger down the tenant list near the door and noted the newly printed ‘Maclay/Rosenberg’ tag on the third floor. She stepped away from the building and looked up. A light came on and went off. She returned to her car.
“Subject does live on Capitol Hill, in different address than noted on personnel record,” Patty looked at her watch. “Subject arrived home via bus at approximately three fourteen A.M. and went to apartment.”
The blonde erased the last part. She hadn’t seen the quiet young woman go there and she was too professional to make an assumption at the beginning of a case.
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Tara stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself up in her robe. She crept to Dawn’s small room and looked in on the girls. Dawn was asleep but Cora was looking up at her with wide eyes that almost shined in the dark. When the younger teen saw Tara she relaxed and waved with an embarrassed smile. She pulled the sleeping bag that was her usual bedding when she crashed at Tara’s apartment over her and was asleep in moments.
Tara eased her way into bed as Willow rolled toward her. The warmth of her lover in the flannel sheets made her relax until she realized Willow was sleeping in the nude, taking advantage of the soft sheets. Tara let out the smallest of gasps as Willow pressed against her.
“Welcome home,” the redhead said sleepily as she draped an arm over Tara and almost accidentally cupped her breast. Then the elfin face smiled lazily in the soft, filtered light from street lights outside as she gently closed her hand on warm, nylon covered softness.
“Too many clothes,” Willow whispered.
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Willow was wondering where her weekend had gone. Mondays had once meant school and structure. Now they meant that Tara would be sleeping at home alone in the daytime, at least when she wasn’t trying to get Dawn into high school. Willow wondered if she could get a class schedule that would leave Mondays free. She shook her head and tried to concentrate on the papers in front of her. The adviser was reading her transcripts and her application for the University of Washington as she filled out the secondary paperwork. Just as she was filling out a parking application out of habit the unkempt looking man stuck his head out of his office and waved her in.
“This is all very impressive,” he said as he pushed a pile of papers from one side of his computer to the other. “But there are some gaps. I understand that in these times of…uncertainty that many people are being called to serve in some different ways. You can’t make this any clearer?”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Willow said as she stood in front of him in her most sever and grown up outfit. “The DEA and Interpol both have informed me that I must not reveal anything at this time. Things are still too delicate.”
Like my status as a witness and not a suspect, but let’s leave that out, Willow thought to herself.
“Well the references check out for that time period,” the adviser said absently as he tried and failed to straighten his tie. “I think we will have an opening in the Computer Engineering program that fits you. Unfortunately the scholarship you were applying to has gone belly up. Is that going to be a problem?”
“I’ll need to take stock of my alternate funding,” she said tightly. “How long do I have?”
“Ummmm,” the man mostly hummed as he tapped inexpertly on the keyboard. “A month from now. We’ll need to have the fees a week before that and you won’t qualify for Washington state resident status. Will you need on campus housing?”
“No,” Willow answered without clenching her teeth.
“Very well, Miss Rosenberg,” the man said as he stood up. “I think you’ll like it here.”
“I’m sure I will,” Willow said distantly.
The redhead walked out and looked up at the rare winter day that was filled with sun. It seemed cruel to have people smiling and hurrying past her in bright daylight. She looked again at the tuition schedule. She already knew she wasn’t yet eligible for any of the other scholarships available. She looked at the bustling campus.
“I would have liked it here,” she whispered.
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“Well, the important thing is to get Dawn into classes as soon as possible,” the administrator said earnestly. “You’re the only current family member, Miss Maclay?”
“And my partner,” Tara said levelly, meeting his eyes. “Our mother is…passed on and her father, well, we never have found him afterwards and it’s been years now.”
“What about your father?” the older man asked.
“My mother trusted the wrong men,” Tara said tightly. The moment lengthened. Dawn fidgeted in her chair and tried not to. Finally the official nodded as he picked up Dawn’s transcripts.
“Very well,” he said quickly. “I’ll get started on this transfer and have Mrs. Durkin show Dawn around the school. Welcome to Garfield High School, Miss Summers.”
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“Twelve thousand dollars?” Dawn asked again in a shocked tone.
“A bit more than that,” Willow said tiredly.
Tara had insisted Dawn be included in the discussion, and Willow knew it made sense for her to know the truth about what this small family was planning, but the girl’s worried look was eating at Willow’s resolve. She was supposed to be Dawn’s guardian. At least Cora was in Dawn’s room trying to work out a math problem from the library’s outreach education section. Tara leaned over the table and took Willow’s hand.
“Is this what you want?” Tara asked with a tone that said she already knew the answer.
“It’s one of the top programs in the country,” Willow answered. “But, I mean, there’ll be other openings. I can wait.”
“Those aren’t answers,” Tara pointed out easily.
“Yes, I want to go back to school,” the redhead whispered. “I have to. But I can do it next year.”
“It’s hard to get back into school once you’ve been away,” Dawn said looking down. “Life keeps sweeping you along. And there’s questions.”
“We’ll get there,” Willow replied as she brushed Dawn’s hair out of her face and smiled into clear green eyes. “I could take some classes at the community college.”
“But you’re better than that,” Dawn insisted quickly.
“I was,” Willow said with a sigh. “But I’ve been away for a while. Maybe I need to take some classes and, you know, get back on the college horse, only it would be a community college pony, but only as a metaphor, not one with teeth and sharp hooves that’s all evil and hates little girls in pink and, well, you know.”
“No ponies, real or metaphorical,” Tara said with a smile.
“Bicycles,” Dawn suggested. “Better metaphor anyway. Horses don’t have training wheels.”
“Okay,” Willow said nodding. “I’m going back to school, just slowly with training wheels. And cheaper.”
“For now,” Tara said firmly. Dawn nodded.
“For now,” Willow agreed. “I’ll be a Husky yet.”
“Cool!” Dawn said with a smile, then her smile widened. “Since we’ve saved all this money, can we have pizza tonight?”
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Buffy glared at the screen when it showed a small framed woman following Willow to Seattle Central Community College the next day. She shifted forward, forgetting the chips and the soft drink on the arm of the chair. Strangely they didn’t fall over. It was one of the small benefits of being here, wherever ‘here’ was.
“You hurt them and I’ll pull off your arms,” she growled at the screen. Then her stomach clenched. They were on their own, these remnants of her true family. There was nothing she could do to protect them.
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And I will rip off a few appendages as well should this Patty character be up to the no good she seems to be. But at least she's a *PROFESSIONAL!*
And Buffy, stuck somewhere viewing her friends try a life, a life that seems to be as perilous as the old one except she can't help them there. 
), to be able to change the landscape of this hostile world, like a lonely flower bringing life to the desert.
Skating uphill! Could do it!
Maybe Will would be fine with it. But somehow I think a few sweet proprietary hackles might be raised.
I thought the "Tara as Eastern Goddess" reference sort of obscure but...I never cease to be amazed on this board. It's a wonderful story and so applicable to Miss Maclay I think.
But I do continue to puzzle it all out!