Title: Reunited
Rating: PG
Couples: W/T
Spoilers: Oh yeah, right up to Gone. If you're trying to stay clean then flee! Flee now!
Notes: Willow and Tara are the main focus of this story, however I tried to write it as I thought it might play out on the show (Pffff! Listen to me. As if this piece of crud will ever even remotely resemble the brilliant plot twists Josh has planned for us this season) so all main characters have their scenes. Think of it as a W/T centric episode with all those annoying filler scenes revolving around the other, less important characters, as sandwich breaks.
Archiving: Umm, ok. But asked first.
Feedback: Sure. Take special care to point out all the plot holes and dumbass mistakes. Although I think Rane has saved me from most of the impending embarrassment.
Copyright: In the fantasy world in which I spend most of my time BTVS, all its characters, spin-offs, comic books, animated series, merchandise, etc, are mine all mine. But in the real world, a place I rarely visit, they belong to some guy called Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
Summary: I am way too long-winded to sum up this story in a few lines.
Thanks: I humbly bow to my magnificent beta reader Rane, without whom this story would certainly never have been written, let alone posted. Oh great Weevil Faerie Otter Princess I know you and Ruth share a miraculous love but, marry me?
*********
Part 1:
"Now that's just gross"
The vampires' head snapped up and turned in the direction of the voice, its latest meal dropping to the floor of the alley. Blood dripped off its teeth onto its chin.
"I mean look at you. Where in gods name did you get that shirt? And ribbed jeans? You can't be serious." Buffy took a casual step forward, shaking her head. "You'd think living forever would give you time to read Vogue once in while"
The vampire turned fully towards Buffy and let out a low growl.
"And a book of comebacks would be worth the time too." Buffy slowly slid a stake out from her jacket sleeve. "Can we get this over with? I'm gonna be late."
The vampire lunged at her but she sidestepped easily, ramming her elbow into the vamps back as it flew by. It recovered quickly though, ducking below Buffy's next swing and sweeping her off her feet with its leg. As it lunged again Buffy rolled to the left, then swiftly brought her stake down into the vampires back and through its heart, producing a swirling cloud of dust.
Buffy got to her feet, shaking the dust out of her hair. "They really need to start making a shampoo for this." She looked over in the direction of the vamps victim and was surprised to see the girl dizzily trying to stand.
"You ok?" Buffy asked dispassionately as she slipped her stake back up her sleeve.
"I think so. Feeling a bit woozy" The girl leaned back against the wall for support.
"Well woozy is better than dead. And walking alone in dark alleys, not really the best "get home safe plan" I've seen."
"IÉ your right. My name's Jane. Thank you for saving me. " The girl looked close to tears as she pushed herself of the wall and extended her hand to Buffy.
Buffy glanced at the hand offered but didn't take it. "It's what I have to do. You should get home now."
Jane awkwardly withdrew her hand. "Right. Well thanks again." She said, smiling weakly as she made her way past Buffy to the alleys entrance.
Buffy watched her walk by, suddenly feeling more than a little guilty. Well that was worthy of the Queen C Hall of Fame for general bitchiness. "Hey." Buffy called out to her. "Wait up. I'll walk you home."
******
After Buffy had walked Jane home she started towards the Magic Box, taking a shortcut through one of Sunnydales many cemeteries. 'I'm going to be dreadfully late for the Scooby meeting she thought. Dreadfully, god, that sounds like something Giles would say, or would have said if he hadn't left.'
She missed him, but not like she thought she should. When he had first told her he was planning to leave she had felt something. Anger, fear, and sadness. But even then those feelings were dull. Buffered somehow. Like she was seeing someone else expressing them and was merely remembering what the sensations had once felt like. And now? Now there was just the dullness. It filled her. Buffy was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't see the vampire lurking in the shadows of the crypt she was approaching. It readied itself for attack.
She new she was being distant, knew she was neglecting things. The old Buffy wouldn't have let Giles leave, wouldn't have given him reason to. She wouldn't have left Dawn alone all night to doÉ other things. She wouldn't have let Willow fall so far. Her face darkened at that thought. Willow. God I still can't believe what has happen. I can't believe she would get involved with someone like Rack and endanger Dawn like that. I should have seen it. Everyone else did. She's my best friend and I let her down.
A surge of anger, more than she'd felt in a while, erupted within her and her fist lashed out to strike a nearby gravestone, shattering it. The vampire, who'd been just about to jump out from his hiding spot, suddenly decided he wasn't as hungry as he'd thought and scampered of into the darkness, stomach rumbling.
"Well, well. Someone's certainly got a lot of pent up energy this evening." Spike stepped out from the shadow, head tilted slightly to one side, his face wearing his patented smart-ass grin. "I've got just the activity to burn it of."
Buffy turned around, directing her best slayer death stare squarely at Spike. "I really don't have time for you right now Spike. It's already been a long night and I'm late for a meeting."
Spike put his hand to his chest and feigned shock. "What? And I wasn't invited?" Spike's grin widen. "Afraid if we're in the same room together your friends might sense all that animal lust between us?"
Buffy stepped towards Spike. "We don't have animal lust between us. We don't even have rock lust. There is no lust of any kind." To emphasize her point she jabbed his chest with her finger.
"Just can't keep your hands of me can you."
Fuming, Buffy opened her mouth to blast Spike with another verbal volley but was interrupted by the sound of glass shattering. "It came from over there," Spike said as both he and Buffy started running towards the noise.
Buffy was first to reach the crypt. The door was open, hanging awkwardly from one hinge, the stain glass pane in the upper half broken. Just as she was entering the crypt two demons came rushing out. The first one ran straight into her, the force of the collision flinging Buffy backwards. She landed hard but was immediately on her feet. Spike tackled the other demon, rolling with it between the headstones, trying to avoid its long claws.
Buffy squared of against the other, sizing up her opponent. It was short but wide, 'Definitely rugby player material' she thought, with three horns protruding from the top of its head. It reminded her of a rhino. 'Except for the extra horn, the claws, and the fact that it walked upright. Oh, and the green scaly skin. Ok maybe it's not like a rhino. And what is it with demons and green skin? Is it like the demon worlds skin color of choice?
Buffy's musings were cut short as the demon charged towards her. As it came forward she grabbed its horns and used the leverage to flip over its head, landing on her feet behind it. She quickly delivered a hard kick to the middle of its back, sending it sprawling, face first into the ground. Buffy shifted into a defensive stance waiting for the creatures next move.
Which was to get up and run away.
"Well that was unsatisfying," quipped Buffy dryly as she watched the demon scamper off.
"Hey! Come back here ya big baby. Big Bad hasn't finished kicking your scaly green ass!" Spike yelled as he picked himself up of the ground and straightened his long leather jacket. Buffy turned to look at Spike, rolling her eyes at his words. She started towards the crypt, intent on discovering what the demons had found so interesting about it, when a red sparkle from the ground caught her eye. She walked over to the spot, bent down and pick up the object. It was a silver chain, thin and beautiful, with what appeared to be a ruby the size of a quarter dangling from it.
"What you got there slayer?"
"I don't know. The demon must have dropped it."
"Looks broken"
It did indeed. One side of the ruby was smooth and round, but the other was jagged. Both Buffy and Spike searched the surrounding ground and the inside of the crypt but couldn't find the other piece.
"Maybe it was already broken." Buffy mused out loud to herself.
"Maybe. But why someone would go to all this trouble for an old, broken necklace I can't figure."
"Well no one's going to accuse you of being one of the great deducers of our time Spike."
Buffy paused, realizing that she hadn't actually made any progress in getting to the Magic Box. "And why am I still here talking to you?" With that she turned and walked off.
"Yeah, wellÉ. When was the last time you looked in a dictionary! Like deducers even a real word!" Spike shouted at Buffy's retreating form. "So you'll stop by later then?!" he queried hopefully. When he got no response Spike turned and headed back to his crypt. "Deduce, decucer, deducers. Bloody hell!" he mumbled to himself.
*****
Willow sat nervously at the research table in the Magic Box. She glanced at the clock on the wall. Buffy was late. Quite late actually. Going on 30 minutes late. But that wasn't why Willow was nervous. Buffy could take care of herself. She was almost always late for Scooby meetings. Vampires and demons seemed to all have the annoying habit of showing up as Buffy was making her way to a meeting. Slaying inevitably ensued, which inevitably resulted in a late slayer. Nope, that wasn't why she was nervous.
What was making her nervous was sitting directly across the table from her.
Tara glanced up when she felt Willows eyes on her. Willow quickly diverted her attention to her open laptop and began surfing the net with a zeal she didn't feel. Tara returned her gaze to the open book in front of her. But she wasn't reading it. Hadn't been reading it since she'd opened it 20 minute ago. The conversation Xander and Anya were having filtered in and out and she occasionally remembered to supply the required hmmm or uhhn. But if asked later what they were talking about she wouldn't have had a clue. She was way to busy discretely watching Willow.
'God she looks so weak.' thought Tara. Her gaze fell on Willows hand as it steered the computer mouse around the mouse pad. 'Willowhand' she thought, a smile briefly gracing her lips. But then it faded as she realized how thin that hand had become. Willow had lost a lot of weight and her skin was much too pale for Tara's liking. Buffy had filled Tara in on her struggles to get Willow to eat regularly. It had been touch and go for a while but Slayer resolve apparently surpassed even slayer strength and finally Willow was eating a well balanced diet.
Yes, the gang had been keeping her well informed. After the incident with Dawn, Willow had been in no shape to attend and help out at Scooby meetings so Tara had taken up the witchy slack. At each meeting, after the important monster things had been dealt with, Tara would get a full report on Willow from everyone. Except Dawn. She still wasn't speaking to Willow and refused to discuss her with anyone, including Tara.
Buffy was seemingly indifferent. She supplied a detailed report of what Willow had been up to at home but it was always delivered in a voice void of emotion, making it difficult to tell what she really though of the situation. Xander was upset and angry, well as angry as he could ever be at Willow. And AnyaÉ. she was just being Anya. She refused to let Willow enter the Magic Box without someone to constantly supervise her. She was surprisingly (most of all to Tara) upset over Tara's departure and took every opportunity to tell Willow as much, pointing out more than once whose fault it was. Tara wasn't sure she should feel touched by Anya's concern for her or guilty for being the cause of Anya's wrath towards Willow.
No, no more guilt. I don't have anything to feel guilty about. The blonde thought.
Still, it seemed like Willow was making progress. She had, on occasion, taken a step back and cast a spell without even thinking. But what had been encouraging was that even when this occurred without witnesses, Willow had come forward and admitted it.
Tara snuck another peek at Willow. The laptop's mouse was still, Willows hand resting atop it, and although she was staring at the screen it was obvious that she wasn't really looking at it. A smile flittered across her face but was quickly replaced by a frown. Tara wondered what she was thinking.
'I don't know if I can stand this thought Willow. For her to be so close but not to be able to touch her. Gods, she looks so beautiful. It's like I haven't seen her in years. Ok so it's only been a few weeks but those were weeks without Tara, and a Taraless week feels like a year, or longer. Definitely longer. I wishÉ.' Self-loathing suddenly washed through Willow. 'She shouldn't see me like this. All weak and,.. and useless. Maybe I shouldn't have come. They can do it without me. Their better of with Tara anyway. They can trust her. I should go.'
Willow looked at Tara then towards the door, planning her escape. But her eyes were reluctant to be deprived of the sight of Tara and her gaze shifted once again to rest on the blond. It had been worth it, all these nerves, just to see Tara again, in the flesh. 'And what beautiful flesh it is. No. I don't have any right to think those thoughts, not anymore. Not after what I did to her.'
"I think maybe I should go" Willow said as she clicked shut her laptop. Tara looked up from her book but Willow suddenly found a spot on the floor near her chair very interesting and wouldn't meet her eye.
Xander looked up from the wedding magazine he'd been forced to browse. "But we haven't had the meeting yet Will. I'm sure Buffy will be here any minute"
"IÉ I just thinkÉ you've got things covered with Tara here so-" Willow was interrupted by the sound of the shop bell ringing and turned to see Buffy striding through the door.
"Hey Buff." Xander said as he and Anya moved from the counter and took their seats around the table. "Judging from the fine sheen of particles covering you I'd say your late either because you stopped to stake some vamps or you finally started using that sander I got you last Christmas."
Buffy smirked at Xander. "No woodworking fun for me. Just a vamp and some demons. Ohh but I did score some jewelry." She held out the necklace for all to see.
"Pretty!" Anya quickly seized the necklace from Buffy. "Rubies go so well with my complexion. I chose this as my wedding gift." Anya's eyes swept the group. "You are all aware of the traditional giving of gifts to a married couple on their wedding day aren't you?"
"Yes Anya, we're all familiar with that particular tradition." Buffy snatched back the necklace, rolling her eyes. "Unfortunately I've already got you something."
"But you kept the receipt right? Stores allow you to return unwanted gifts."
Buffy chose to ignore Anya's last remark. She removed her jacket and sat down. "A couple of demons were trying to pilfer it from a crypt but Spike and I interrupted them."
A look of irritation crossed Xander's face. "Ahh, our Miss Clairol reject. It must have made your day to run into him," he said sarcastically.
"No!" Buffy shouted, quickly realizing she'd said that way to loud. "I mean, noÉ it reallyÉ. sucked." She ended lamely. A moment of silence passed between the group as quizzical glances were exchanged.
Buffy quickly changed the subject. "It was the venÉvermÉ vermicelli crypt?"
Willow's brow furrowed. "Like the pasta?"
"No, wait. That's not right. It wasÉ Venii. Yeah that was it." Buffy took a step towards the table, holding out the necklace. "Any ideas Tara?"
Willow, who had been extending her hand expecting to take the necklace, jerked it back like it had been burned. She quickly looked down at the tabletop. No one seemed to have notice, except for Tara. A wave of guilt swept over her and she looked at Willow, a mixture of concern and sadness in her eyes. But when Willow didn't look up she turned her attention back to the necklace.
"I don't know. It could be a charm of some type. Or an amulet." She examined it more closely. "It looks broken."
"Yeah, it was like that when I found it. Couldn't find the other piece though," Buffy offered. "What about Venii. Mean anything to you?"
"No. I guess we should start-"
"It's Etruscan."
All eyes turned to Willow. "What?" Tara asked her softly.
"The word. It's Etruscan I think." Willows voice was barely a whisper as she brought her head up to look into Tara's eyes. She pointed at the closest bookcase. "Try some of the texts on the top shelf to the left. I think they deal with Etruscan stuff." Willow's gaze flittered nervously over the group and then returned to Tara. "Not magical stuff. Other stuffÉ of the non-magical variety. The magic stuff is on another shelf." Willow's voice became even smaller as she continued. "Those books are on the back case, third shelf."
Willow continued to look directly at Tara. It was the first time they'd really looked at each other since they'd arrived. Tara could see the sorrow and guilt in Willow's green eyes. The intensity of it threatened to wash her away. She was suddenly overwhelmed by the need to take the redhead in her arms and return that special Willow sparkle to those green eyes. To help her forget everything that had happened. Forget.
A slight jolt went through Tara and she blinked, breaking eye contact with Willow. 'No. There will be no more forgetting.'
"Ok" Buffy said slowly. "Thanks Will." Noticing an increase in the tension Buffy glanced at the clock. "Look it's kind of late. Dawn will be back form Melinda's soon and I still have to sweep the other part of town. This doesn't seem like world ending stuff so let's call it a night and meet tomorrow sometime."
"Yes let's do that." Anya rose from the table, moving to stand by Tara who still held the necklace. She extended her hand. "I'll take good care of myÉ. the necklace tonight."
Buffy took the necklace from Tara and walked towards the counter. "Thank you Anya but I think it's best if we leave it in the safe for tonight."
"But I need to take it home." whined Anya. "Xander and I were going to play rich Duchess and pool boy tonight and that would really go with my costume."
"Right! Well! We should lock up the back. See you tomorrow then." Xander squeaked as he grabbed Anya and fled into the back.
The slayer smirked at Xander's embarrassment as she placed the necklace in the safe behind the counter. When finished she turned towards Willow. "You ready Will?"
"Oh, it's ok Buffy. I can get home by myself. You go patrol" Willow asserted as she started packing away her laptop.
Buffy glanced at Tara, and then looked back at Willow. "Well actually I forgot Mr. Pointy at home so I wouldn't mind swinging by to pick it up," she said lightly as she stealthily pushed Mr. Pointy further up her sleeve. "You know, lucky stake and all. And maybe we could grab a late night mocha on the way." Buffy smile, hoping Willow would buy it. Willow had been doing well but there was still a lot of uncertainty with respect to her control over not using magic. The last thing they needed was Willow going of by herself, unsupervised, and getting into a situation were she had to use magic.
Willow wasn't fooled. "I'm perfectly capable of defending myself without magic. I did just fine before I knew how to use it" There was an edge to her voice, a challenge.
Tara quickly stepped in front of Buffy. "Actually Buffy, I can walk her home. It's on my way so it makes sense really. Besides I can stop and say hello to Dawn." Buffy looked in surprise at Tara. She hadn't been expecting the offer. Truth be told Tara hadn't expected it either. It had kind of just popped out.
After a moment Buffy shrugged. "Works for me. See you at home Will." Buffy grabbed her jacket from the back of the chair and quickly exited the shop. Tara took in a deep breath and slowly turned to face Willow.
"I'll grab a cross and stake just in case. You ready?" Tara asked, keeping her tone neutral, as she went to the trunk in the corner and retrieved the weapons.
"You don't have to you know," said Willow softly.
With her back still to Willow, Tara inquired, "I don't have to what?"
"Walk me home. Be nice to me."
Tara closed the trunk and then walked back to the table in silence, stopping to grab her bag from underneath her chair. Then she turned and headed for the door. "Coming?"
Willow didn't move. She had wanted Tara to say something, anything, but it hadn't happened. This was the first time that she'd been alone with Tara in almost a month. She wasn't going to let this opportunity slip by. She needed Tara to know how sorry she was. That she knew how wrong she'd been.
"I know what I've done to you is beyond forgiveness, and I know there's no way I can ever make it up to you. But I want you to know that doesn't mean I won't spend the rest of my life trying."
Tara paused, her hand on the doorknob. Willow drew in a deep breath and then plunged ahead. "You're my life Tara, even if I can't be yours. I love you." Silence fell over the room. Willow held her breath. Tara closed her eyes as a single tear fell down her face.
"We should get going." She whispered. Without another word she opened the door and stepped out into the night. Willow sadly followed.
As they walked away from the Magic Box each of them was too wrapped up in their personal pain to notice someone standing in the shadows. Watching.
TBCÉ.
[This message has been edited by xita (edited January 26, 2002).]