RC 2018: NEW CHAPTER 7/7/07

[Sheridan]

Ok I've finished 'Body & Soul' and allowing for edits it should be up in a couple of days, fingers crossed.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

[Sheridan]

Title: Body & Soul

Author: Mike Mullen

Rating: NC-17/18 because of violence, adult themes and angst.

Spoilers: None what so ever

Disclaimer: All the original BTVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and ME, everyone else in the stories are my personal slaves.

Summary: With Willow running out of control all Tara has are hard choice and dangerous options...

Authors notes: Again not much in the way of puppies and sunshine, next time though. Coincidentally this is story 13...

Feedback: Just add your comments at the end of the story.

1."Leaving Normal"

Patrolling the graveyards of Sunnydale ranged from merely frustrating to totally terrifying; seldom could it claim to be outright boring; this however was that night. Buffy was wandering along picking a couple of splinters off the stake she was holding, Xander was wondering why he had left a warm Anya for this, and Tara was simply watching Willow work.

The monotony was broken when Willow called out, "It's this way!"

        Tara had stood back with the others while Willow cast the spell she had been working on for the last week. Willow had announced that the locator spell they had used in the past wasn't much use for demon fighting; you had to have a map and a quiet place, and the least little breeze and your magic powder went everywhere. Tara had known a spell that acted as a sort of homing beacon, it was designed to go find the person you wanted and then lead them back to you.

        Willow had picked the spell apart and added a few pieces from the locator spell; plus a couple of bits of her own devising to hold it together. It struck Tara as a little bit sloppy but looking at the red spark hanging in the air she had to concede it seemed to be working.

        The spark set off at walking pace with the gang trailing after. Tara, Buffy, and Xander were spread out behind Willow; she had been clear they shouldn't get between her and the seeker in case the spell broke down; purely coincidentally it also put her on point.

        The demons they were looking for had actually taken up residence in the woods just beyond the cemetery; a pair of multi limbed spidery looking things that had made a series of raids into town and slipped away without Buffy being able to get on their trail. That wasn‘t surprising as they took to the roof tops at the first sign of trouble.

        Willow drew the seeker back to herself and watched the pair of demons. Whatever they were feeding on was to far gone to tell if it had been a human being or not. Willow didn't have time for such concerns; the others were moving up to either side of her and they would soon insist on putting themselves in harm's way.

        A couple of broken branches intended as fire wood were lying close to the demons and offered an obvious means of attack and Willow seized them with her mind. The branches rose into the air and began to beat on the demons. The creatures leapt to their multiple feet squealing and chittering in confusion as they did so. The demons tried to dodge and escape but Willow's mind was quicker than their reactions and they were pinned down close to the tree they had been camped under. Noticing that their bodies were covered in fine fur Willow decided to add an extra dimension to her attack; the branches burst into flame and now left patches of smoldering fur wherever they struck.

        One of the demons was so panicked that it backed against the tree and froze there. Willow seized the opportunity and swung one of the branches to catch the monster between club and tree trunk. The branch shattered against the tree; having first smashed through the creatures head.

        The other demon tried to escape but as it turned the other branch swept through its legs and dumped it unceremoniously on its back. The branch spun in the air a couple of times and plunged down vertically, spearing the creature through the chest with a sizzling sound. The demon squirmed and moaned weakly for a few seconds before it appeared to accept its fate and died.

        Buffy had been waiting with an ax in her hand, ready to leap into action. Now she strolled forward and prodded the corpses, "Hey Will couldn't you have left one for me?" Buffy sounded disappointed rather than upset.

        Willow smiled, she was pleased at the relaxed way Buffy was reacting to taking second place on this little hunt, "I did offer you the night off."

        "Yes you did, guess I should have just gotten some popcorn and a video after all." Buffy poked the demon pinned to the ground with her ax one last time before turning away from it, "It's still kind of early maybe we could go find a couple of vampires and I could stake them to keep from getting rusty."

        "Or we could check in with Giles and then hit the Bronze." Willow countered.

        "Even better," Buffy decided, "Come on, let's get out of here."



        Marching back through Sunnydale Xander had fallen into step besides Buffy, "Am I the only one who feels like a spare wheel around here?" As always when Xander raised a serious point he made it sound like a joke.

        Buffy knew precisely where he was coming from, "Hey I'm not going to complain that the slaying is getting to easy. And Willow did kick ass out there tonight."

        "But?" Xander prompted.

        "But she's wearing me out. It's like she just keeps leaping ahead and I can't keep up." Buffy admitted.

        "You mean like the rest of us with you?" Xander knew he might be pushing his luck with that little comment.

        Fortunately Buffy shook her head and smiled, "Guess I'm complaining about nothing; I'm just not used to feeling like an also ran."

        Xander put an arm around her shoulder, "Hey as a genuine also ran I promise you don't qualify."

        Buffy decided to draw comfort from that, as slender as it was.



        Willow has slid and arm around Tara and Tara could see Willow's face was flushed and her eyes were gleaming, "You took them out without breaking into a sweat." Or showing any pity.

        Willow took that as a compliment, "Well they weren't that tough, we've certainly seen worse."

        "Like Milner." Tara commented as casually as she could.

        "Yeah like him." Willow wasn't entirely paying attention and her voice almost became affectionate as she discussed the half demon businessman; evil he may have been but Milner had offered some interesting conversation.

        Tara picked up that odd reaction but said nothing, she just let Willow snuggle up closer while she focused on staying as relaxed as she could given that her stomach was turning cartwheels.



        By the time the gang got back to Giles apartment the quartet were engaged in the usual sort of banter, which was a relief to Giles after all the recent friction. Since Willow had ended the threat from the half demon Milner things has calmed down considerably, possibly because there hadn‘t been any comparable threat to stir it up. He was a little tense as they made space by moving all his books and papers out of the way. Even after all these years the gang was still rather cavalier in their treatment of his precious volumes. Many of them had survived through medieval inquisition, Puritan purges and innumerable other threats, Giles didn’t care to see them end their existence in Sunnydale at the hands of a spilled soda. "I take it the demons have been disposed of?" he asked when they finally settled down.

        "Oh yeah." Xander commented unhelpfully.

        "Willow sort of squished them." Tara explained more usefully.

        "Definitely two down and about a million to go." Buffy added.

        "Well that's all to the good." Giles decided.

        "Are we finished now? Can I go?" Anya had been left behind with Giles to continue with their ongoing research and she was heartily sick of pawing through musty old books.

        "Have you found anything?" Willow asked sharply.

        Giles hesitated before finally shaking his head, "I'm afraid Glory remains elusive, and I've exhausted all the volumes I have or can borrow. I suspect we will have to consult the Watchers," he looked towards Buffy as he spoke. Giles knew she was loathe to take the risk that the council would find out about Dawn, but what option did they have?

        Buffy still didn't see it that way, "Giles I don't trust them and I don't want to give them a chance to interfere with our lives."

        Willow had been listening impatiently to the exchange, "We don't need the council because we don't need to know about Glory. We should concentrate on the Key."

        Giles and Buffy both looked uneasy. Giles decided to pick up the conversation, "We haven't had anymore success finding out about that than we have with Glory," he pointed out reasonably.

        Willow jumped out of her seat and paced while Tara watched unhappily, "I don't mean that, I mean we need to find it and destroy it."

        "We can't do that!" Buffy blurted it out instinctively.

        Giles moved to cover for Buffy, "We can't be sure that wouldn't play into Glory's hands. For all we know that's what Glory intends to do with it. It may even be some sort of weapon to fight her. Even if it isn't who knows what she might do if she can't have it?"

        Giles points were all very reasonable, still Willow wasn't entirely mollified, "Whatever, but we do need to find the damned thing."

        There was no way either Buffy or Giles could contradict that point without making the others suspicious.

        He was spared the effort by Anya, "Well we aren't going to find it tonight, couldn't we just get out of here?"

        "I could go for that trip to the Bronze." Xander piped up.

        "I think it's a good idea too." Tara added her support. That was enough to persuade Willow and Buffy was already eager for any way to kill this conversation, she practically threw the gang out of the door. If they knew the truth Buffy was pretty sure they wouldn’t be talking about destroying the key, but not entirely sure.



       

2. "Less Than Perfect"

The gang had scared up a couple of tables, which hadn't seen much use as Xander and Anya had immediately dragged Buffy on to the dance floor. Tara could tell that Buffy was a little down at the moment. Elias had been called out of town on some security assignment and the problems with her mother and sister seemed to have no end in sight. Buffy needed someone to lift her spirits, and she isn't the only one, Tara couldn't help thinking.

        She didn't get the chance to think about it any further as Willow returned to the table with drinks in hand. "There you go baby."

        Tara thanked her quietly and took the drink. She sipped from it and waited for Willow to ask a question, the question, to just say; is everything ok baby? As the moments passed Willow just smiled at her and Tara knew it wasn't going to be that easy. She took a gulp from the drink, "Willow I've been thinking." Tara rushed the words out before she lost her nerve.

        Willow wasn't giving Tara her full attention, "What about?"

        "About maybe taking a break." Tara explained hesitantly.

        Willow considered that, "A holiday would be nice, I'm just not sure that now is a good time."

        It was painfully clear that Willow didn't want to see what Tara was driving at, "I meant a break on my own," she whispered.

        Willow stared unblinkingly at her and then her expression turned to horror, "Why?" she demanded.

        "Ever since what happened to the gallery things have felt a little strange; I just feel like I need time to think."

        Willow grabbed Tara's hands and pleaded, "Please don't talk like that, you can't abandon me." Willow seemed to pull herself together as she realized how desperate she sounded, "I mean whatever the problems are we can work them out."

        Tara looked thoughtful, "I guess your right, I mean we can fix anything together can't we?"

        "Of course we can," Willow nodded.

        "I guess I was just overreacting, we haven't really had a lot of time to ourselves lately."

        "That's true." Willow agreed readily.

        "Maybe what we really need is some quiet time to ourselves." Tara concluded sounding like she was making the suggestion to herself rather than Willow.

"Absolutely, just don't say things like that again baby." The words were pleading but there was a note of menace in Willow's voice now.



        Willow's dreams had slid into nightmares again. Visions of abandonment and loss, of her power overwhelming her. As soon as she woke Willow drove those images back to whatever corner they had come from. They were utterly ridiculous and she really did not have the time for them.

        Opening her eyes Willow saw that she was alone in bed. That was no big surprise; poor Tara simply couldn't keep up these days. Willow wondered if she should share a little of her power with her lover so she could keep pace, at least in the bedroom. She rejected the notion; if she started sub dividing her strength that could leave everyone vulnerable; especially Willow herself.

        Willow went down the hall and wandered into the shower stall; She turned on the water with a flick of her hand, naturally the temperature was perfect and Willow wallowed in the sensation of the water. She wished Tara was here to share it with her. It had been quite a while since they had been able to enjoy some hot water together. The shower block in the dorm didn't offer a lot of privacy but Willow could fix that. It would be the simplest piece of magic to make the showers private.

        It occurred to Willow that she wasn't being very imaginative; why settle for a mere shower? She imagined a tropical waterfall cascading down on the pair of them, preferably with some secluded private beach where Tara and her could be 'au naturelle' without worrying about anyone spying on them. Such a combination might be hard to come by but if it didn't exist Willow could always rearrange things; that would certainly give Tara the 'quiet time' she wanted.

        Those thoughts warmed Willow more than the water and she decided it was time to go find Tara.



        The dorm room was still empty so Willow headed downstairs to the cafeteria; there was another place that could do with some radical rearrangement. Willow doubted though that all the magic on earth could make the cafeteria's food even halfway decent.

        Standing in the doorway Willow scanned the cafeteria for Tara and was surprised not to find her. Willow began to wonder if this morning was degenerating into some sort of drawing room farce, the kind of thing where people walked in and out of rooms barely missing one another. She headed back to the dorm room, trying to persuade herself that the tightness in her stomach was just hunger pangs.



        The dorm room remained resolutely empty and Willow couldn't fight off the panic anymore. She pulled open the cupboard and saw the empty space where Tara's overnight bag had been. She tore open the drawers where Tara kept her clothes. Willow was intimately familiar with every item of clothing Tara owned and she could see the gaps; enough to keep Tara going for days.

        Willow screamed in frustration and unleashed a ball of energy that almost blew a hole into the next room. How could I be so stupid? The previous night she had just accepted Tara's glib assurance that she wouldn't go away, allowed Tara to deceive her so easily because she refused to see she what she didn’t want to see.

        Willow began to frantically try and figure out how much of a head start Tara had, how far could she have gone. As she worked out the numbers she grew more frantic. The time couldn't be less than hours and that meant Tara could have reached the bus station, the railway station, the airport. In other words Tara could be almost anywhere by now. Willow decided to put that aside, she couldn't make any more foolish assumptions, it could have been hours but for all she knew Tara might have left minutes before Willow woke up.

        Willow concentrated and the world dissolved around her. She rematerialized standing on the roof of the highest building on the campus. She stretched all her senses to the maximum to try and spot her girlfriend. Tara! Tara! TARA! Willow blasted out the thought with such force that people in the quad below winced and shivered without knowing why; afflicted with sudden spasms of pain.

        The need for Tylenol was the only practical result of Willow's effort. There was no reply from Tara and no visible sign of her. Willow teleported back down and went to the rack of payphones just outside the dorm. One by one she picked them up and worked her magic on them; trying to dredge up the echoes of all the calls made on them in the last hours. It was a jumble of words and emotions, the faint psychic imprint of Willow's fellow students calling home, calling those they desired, or just calling for a pizza.

        Willow reduced each phone to burnt plastic as she worked her way through them and all to no avail. Tara hadn't called anyone, or at least not from here. Tara could simply have walked off campus and used any of the phone booths in the area. With grim determination Willow worked her way through them and presently there wasn't a working payphone within five blocks of the university.

        Staring at the phone in her grasp Willow commanded it to melt and she dropped it as the handset dissolved into a sticky mess of plastic with the speaker and microphone sticking out. She knew it was futile to take the search any further. If Tara had walked this far she wouldn't have bothered to use a phone, she could simply have picked up a cab, or got on a bus to go wherever she wanted. The rage flared in Willow again and as she walked away the entire phone booth folded up as if it had been stuck in a car crusher.

        The anger and sense of betrayal washed over everything but in one corner of Willow's mind there was nothing but utter bewilderment and concern. Those feelings were briskly pushed aside; this was no time for weakness, Willow had to figure out what had happened and where Tara could be.

        It was a fine theory but Willow rapidly realized she had nothing to go on. Tara had executed her escape with amazing speed and precision, she couldn't have simply done this on the spur of the moment. That made the sense of betrayal all the worse; the one person Willow had been sure she could count on had been scheming against her, plotting this humiliation. Even though that lonely corner of her psyche knew it was wrong Willow began to turn her anger and resentment towards Tara; and anyone who might have helped her.

        That thought brought up a whole new set of possibilities that Willow hadn't considered, what if Tara hadn't planned this alone? It seemed awfully devious for Tara and Willow knew that more than one of her so-called friends had resented her new power. Well if this is their way of acting out I'll make them regret being so mean and petty. There was a terrible resolve in that thought.

3."Cold Fire"

As the alarm beeped Buffy was tempted to just pound the thing to pieces. Of course if she did that no one would get Dawn up, or worse Dawn would get up and wake her mother. With a groan Buffy pulled herself out of bed and turned off the shrill beeping. Again Buffy tried to recall what it had been like before the monks had created Dawn; when Buffy was an only child. She quickly gave up, The memories and emotions the monks had embedded in her were a seamless whole.

        Buffy rapped on her sister's door, "Are you awake Dawn?"

        There were a series of muffled words that Buffy decided to take for a yes. She went to the kitchen and put the coffee maker on, Buffy just hoped she could stay awake long enough to actually get a cup. This was all getting so much harder. Dawn was a handful as an ordinary teenager, without even allowing for the whole 'Key' thing and Glory. Add in her mothers illness and Elias being away on business and the whole situation was threatening to swamp her.

        There was a knock on the front door that startled Buffy and she realized she had been drifting back to sleep. The knocking was repeated more insistently before Buffy could answer it. She opened the door to find Willow on her doorstep, "Will what's the matter?" Buffy could see that Willow was highly agitated.

        Willow didn't answer the question, she simply stormed past Buffy into the living room and looked round it. Satisfied that it was empty she marched into the kitchen and looked there, she even looked under the counter as ludicrously unlikely as that seemed.

        With the downstairs checked Willow marched over to the stairs, sidestepping a baffled Buffy who was still trying to catch up. Willow threw open the door to Buffy's room and took in the jumble of clothing and bed sheets. It was a mess but unless Tara was wedged into the wardrobe… Willow hesitated and yanked open the wardrobe with telekinesis. All that revealed was more clothing.

        Willow walked down the hall and pushed open Dawn's door. Dawn was just pulling her underwear on. Caught half naked she demonstrated reactions that would have impressed her sister in yanking a sheet from the bed and winding it round herself. "What the hell are you doing?" she demanded.

        Willow ignored Dawn and scanned the room for any trace of Tara. Dawn was not going to be ignored, "Willow get out, get out! GET OUT!" she shrieked.

        The angry yell didn't really affect Willow, she simply concluded that there was nowhere else to look in the room. As she approached Joyce's bedroom Buffy barred the way, "You can't go in there Willow," she explained remarkably calmly, "and you are going to tell me what the heck is going on."

        Willow flexed her fingers; she could easily throw Buffy aside but it occurred to her that the one place Buffy wouldn't let Tara hide was in there, Joyce was far too ill for Buffy or Tara to drag her into this. "Why don't we go get a cup of coffee and you can tell me everything?" Buffy suggested and Willow wearily accepted.

        "...And when I woke up this morning Tara was gone." Willow concluded her story as Dawn walked into the kitchen. The teenager had been intent on giving Willow a piece of her mind about the invasion of her personal space; that one phrase stopped her in her tracks.

        "Tara is missing?" Dawn sounded as panicked as Willow felt.

Buffy tried to reassure her, "Not missing, more packed a bag and no one knows where she went."

        It was a very fine distinction but it did mollify Dawn a little. Satisfied she had headed of a barrage of babble Buffy turned her attention back to Willow, "I know its bad Will but Tara has seemed a little unsettled since you got back from Quincy. I think her trip home upset her more than she admitted."

        "And the way you two have been arguing didn't exactly make her any happier." Dawn added, tactlessly if accurately.

        Buffy restrained the urge to scold Dawn since she was right and kept her focus on Willow, "Maybe she just needs to think Will, and Sunnydale wouldn't be my choice for a little quiet contemplation." Buffy waited to see how Willow took that point before she went on.

        Seeing Willow seemed to be mulling it over Buffy decided to offer a suggestion, "Maybe we should give her a day or two. I'm sure once Tara sits down and thinks about whatever's bugging her she's going to phone home and let us know everything is ok."

        Willow processed the suggestion and discarded it, “No Buffy. Even if that was her plan we don't know that someone or something didn't interfere. Besides I still think that what I said last night was right; the best solution to our problems is to sit down and talk through them." Who knew what Tara might dream up if left to herself. If Willow could just sit Tara down she knew she could convince Tara to stay, show her everything Willow's power could offer her. So far all Tara had seen was the destructive side of the power and not much of the 'fringe benefits'.

        "I guess you know her better than any of us." Buffy admitted.

        "Yes I do." Willow affirmed rather more harshly than necessary.

        That killed Buffy's efforts to calm Willow down and Dawn decided to stick her two cents worth in again, "Did you try that spell?" she asked less than certainly.

        "What spell?" Willow demanded.

        "You know, the one you use to track down demons." Dawn clarified, feeling a little excited that she had thought of something the others had missed.

        "A locator spell?" Willow asked hesitantly.

        Dawn clapped her hands together enthusiastically, "Yes! That's it!" she had a broad grin on her face.

        Willow stared at Dawn in amazement. Then she slapped her hand against her forehead and leapt out of the chair, "I am a fucking idiot!"

        Before Buffy could admonish Willow for her bad language the witch disappeared in a flash of light.

        "Did I do good thing?" Dawn asked, all her enthusiasm drained away.

        Buffy turned to her, "I honestly don't know," she admitted, doing nothing to make Dawn feel better.



        Willow reappeared in the dorm room and began to tear it apart. She pulled open the drawers and found a white blouse Tara had left behind. Willow cleared a space on the carpet and spread the blouse out. She found some thumb tacks and pinned it down so it was pulled tight.

        Turning her attention to the bed Willow grabbed Tara's pillow and went over it inch by inch to find traces of her lover. Willow plucked up a few blond hairs, it wasn't much but it would do. Taking a small bowl Willow carefully placed the hairs in it and went to fetch a few magical items from her chest. She carefully measured out what she needed and added it to the bowl. She mixed it together until she a thin black liquid.

        Amongst the items Willow kept in the chest was a quill pen. It was extremely low tech but for some spells it was the only thing that would do. Willow dipped the pen in her 'ink' and began to draw on the blouse. The map of Sunnydale that Willow drew wasn't perfect but it was easily recognizable as the town. Willow kept adding details, she wanted to minimize any chance of the spell going wrong.

        Finally Willow was satisfied; she had done everything she could to connect the magic to Tara. Willow took another bowl and began to mix other ingredients together. The magical powder would activate the spell and then she would know where Tara had gone.

        As the powder was sprinkled over the map Willow chanted the incantation and was elated when a bright spot of light appeared on the map. Willow was triumphant and about to teleport out when the spot leapt to the other side of the map. Willow was astonished as the light bounced around the map like a pinball. She repeated the incantation and scattered more powder. All that did was to make the light bounce around faster.

        In the end there was no powder left and the light faded out as the spell exhausted itself. Willow got up and stared at the blouse lying on the floor. She gestured and it tore loose from the carpet, leaving several shreds of fabric behind. As it drifted in the air Willow barked out a command and the blouse vanished in a jet of flame.

        As the ashes drifted back down Willow watched them. The spell had been executed perfectly and yet it had told her nothing. It was almost as if it was deliberately withholding the knowledge from her. That thought just made Willow all the more grimly determined to find Tara and find out what was trying to keep them apart. When she did that power was going to pay.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

Edited by: Sheridan at: 2/23/03 1:06:47 pm

[Sheridan]

4."Hide and Seek"

The security room at Sunnydale railway station was surprisingly well equipped for a small Californian town. There was an entire battery of well concealed cameras covering all the platforms and the entrances and exits. That was matched with a wall full of monitors and VCR's in the control room. Mayor Wilkins had been a great believer in spotting 'troublemakers' before they got into Sunnydale. Since his demise things had been rundown somewhat, a couple of the cameras had broken down and not been repaired and where there had been two men manning the security desk now there was only one.

        Unlike others who might have taken the job simply because it was all they could get this guard enjoyed his work. He was working part time towards a psychology degree and the ability to spend his days observing the behavior of a wide variety of humanity was fascinating.

        One piece of human behavior the guard had never observed before was one materializing out of thin in air in the middle of his workplace. Before the guard could react Willow swept her hand and the man flew out of his chair and slammed into the wall. Willow muttered another spell and tendrils of concrete flowed out of the wall and bound the guard in place.

        Crossing to the wall of monitors Willow placed her hands on the control console and all the tape recorders stopped. The tapes rewound and then started a fast playback. Willow watched as hours flicked through in minutes, waiting for any brief sighting of Tara. As the tapes caught back up with the here and now Willow set them back to record. There wasn't a useful thing in them anymore than there had been at the bus station. That left the airport and the docks to check, though Willow really couldn't see Tara hopping a freighter.

        The guard felt a moment of panic as Willow turned back towards him. He began to beg and whimper as she walked towards him.

        Sat in front of the monitors the guard whirled around to look at the wall behind him, it was perfectly normal and he wasn't quite sure why he thought it wouldn't be. He had a powerful feeling that he had forgotten something important but the feeling faded and he got back to watching his monitors.



        Spike was moving his TV aerial around the crypt trying to improve the reception. The little set top aerial wasn't really up to the job but installing one on the roof would just attract attention and trying to get cable in a graveyard was an insurmountable problem. He finally dumped the antenna down on the ledge besides the small grille that let light into the crypt; nearly burning his hand off in the process. The picture was now tolerable, just in time for 'Passions'.

        He had just sunk into his armchair when the door of the crypt exploded off its hinges. Spike ducked behind the chair to escape the sunlight streaming through the door and quickly scrambled into the shadows at the back of the tomb.

        Once there he looked to see who was after him this time. Spike was somewhat taken aback to see Willow standing in the doorway, what's her bleeding problem? Spike had been diligent about not pissing off the witch since she was both Buffy’s best friend and capable of toasting him in an instant.

        After the hunt around the routes out of Sunnydale came up with nothing Willow had to seriously consider what she had mentioned at the Summers house; namely that whatever Tara's plans were someone had interfered, or maybe even been responsible for her disappearance in the first place. Willow had begun to think about who might have it in for her or Tara. She had quickly discounted those who were either dead or no longer in this reality. She also put Tara's family to one side; none of them would have the nerve.

        When the list started to whittle down one name rose close to the top and so Willow decided to ask Spike a few pertinent questions. "What the hell are you doing woman?" Spike demanded with false bravado.

        Willow hit him with an energy bolt that felt like an electric running over his whole body, "Tara is missing." Willow explained succinctly.

        "Well what's that got do with me?" Spike maintained his front despite the pain.

        Willow shot him with a larger bolt, "That's what I want to know."

        Spike's cockiness began to crumble, "Why would I do anything to her? How could I?" he was trying to avoid another bolt.

        It was wasted effort as Willow struck him again, "You can't physically can't hurt anyone but you could lock her in a basement, or a warehouse, or a crypt. And you might just do it because you think it's funny!" She hit him with several more bolts to punctuate her comments.

        Spike was going to tell Willow what he thought of her idea when he saw her eyes. He had seen that look a few times before and he knew what it meant; if Willow decided that he had anything to do with Tara's disappearance he would die, and not quickly either, "I didn't touch her and I don't where she is. Why would I touch her when I know what you would to me?” Spike's tone was desperate now, if she chose not to believe him this was going to be a long, last, afternoon.

        What Spike said did resonate with Willow, was Spike so suicidally stupid as to cross her or Tara? As much pleasure as it would give her to kill Spike Willow knew he wasn't involved, better to let him continue his miserable existence in this dump.

        To Spike's intense relief Willow vanished in a blinding light. The relief faded into annoyance as he saw she had wrecked his reception again.



        Life at the Summers house had returned to normal after the earlier drama. Joyce had woken but she was simply too out of it to be aware of what was going on. Buffy was far from surprised when Willow appeared out of thin air in the middle of her living room. Buffy had hoped that she might appear with Tara in tow but hadn't really expected it. "No results?" Buffy asked the question anyway.

        "Nothing. I couldn't find any sign of her leaving Sunnydale and the locator spell was, well it wasn't helpful."

        Buffy sighed, "Ok I'm going to call Giles and Xander and get them on the streets searching. I'll call Elias as well, he knows people who know people who might be able to track her down."

        "I don't know what good that would do. I already searched." Willow sounded dismissive.

"Well maybe we'll get lucky." Buffy suggested, and maybe Tara might be more willing to be found by us.

        Dawn decided to make a further contribution, "Maybe Tara teleported out of Sunnydale."

        "I don't think Tara is powerful enough to do that." Willow's words were dismissive but her tone was thoughtful. Dawn had hit on something Willow had missed before, could she have again? Perhaps Tara could have summoned enough power to do it this once. That might explain why the locator spell had gone haywire. "Can't rule it out completely though. I'm going to go to the Magic Box and get some supplies. I'm going to put together a more powerful locator spell and extend the range." Without another word she teleported out.

        "Your welcome!" Dawn called out, annoyed that again Willow hadn't acknowledged her effort.

        Buffy ignored her sisters annoyance. She couldn't avoid feeling that this was all going to get much worse before it got any better, if it got any better.



        The Magic Box was fairly busy, but not busy enough for Anya's taste. She wanted to hear the little whoosh the till drawer made as it closed a lot more often; it made a much nicer sound than the old till. After the break in Anya had decided that the old till was tainted and had to go. Giles had reluctantly agreed to that, eventually, though he had forcefully refused to replace the safe.

        Buffy had phoned earlier to fill her in on what had happened with Tara. Anya had been genuinely upset about it. After all if Tara could walk out on Willow who was to say Xander wouldn't walk out on her?

        When Willow walked in to the store an uncomfortable air seemed to settle over the place and the customers slunk out one by one looking nervous.

        Anya was increasingly unhappy as her livelihood disappeared out of the door, "Why did you do that?" Anya demanded.

        "Do what?" Willow really didn't know, she had simply waited for the crowd to thin out before approaching Anya.

        "You didn't cast a spell to clear the store?" Anya wanted to be quite clear.

        "Well I might have if they hadn't cleared out." Willow simply didn't have the time for this. "Look I need the things on this list," she slammed the piece of paper on the counter.

        Anya picked up the shopping list and lifted an eyebrow at what Willow was after, "Um Willow, how were you planning on paying for this?"

        Willow maintained a very open expression as she answered, "Anya how would you like me to put a hex on this place so no one comes in?"

        Anya decided that she wouldn't enjoy that very much, "I'll go look for these."

        Willow watched as Anya searched amongst the shelves and lined up the jars and boxes that contained the ingredients that Willow wanted; at least she did until she came to one empty jar, "Willow promise you won't curse my shop but…" She placed the jar on the counter in front of Willow.

        "You've run out?" Willow was incredulous and far from happy.

        "I don't know what happened but with everyone running in and out of here taking stuff I can't keep track." Anya was flustered and fearful for the safety of her livelihood.

        Willow muttered a curse, the nonmagical kind, and swept up the other ingredients, "I'll just have to find it somewhere else." She turned and stormed out of the shop.

        Anya kept her mouth shut but doubted Willow would be able to find bats gizzards anywhere else’s. Even if you found a supply of fresh bats the gizzards had to be pickled in just the right way to be any use. She picked up the jar and stared at it, "What did happen to those?"

        "We emptied out the jar before I went downstairs." Tara reminded Anya as she emerged from the basement.

5."Exposition"

Tara took the empty jar out of Anya's hands before she dropped it, "We flushed them down the toilet." Tara prompted. Anya was still staring at her blankly and that was actually a relief to Tara. She reached out to press her fingers tips against Anya's temples. As she did so Anya wobbled and almost fell over. Tara caught her and helped her into a chair.

        "That spell gets worse every time you use it." Anya was venting pent up frustration and Tara ignored it and went to fetch her a glass of water. When she got back and handed it to Anya the ex-vengeance demon had calmed down a little. "Willow was very nasty, she threatened to hex my shop."

        "It could have been worse." Tara suggested quietly, "The Magic Box could have wound up like the Milner Foundation."

        That thought made Anya realize she had been lucky. She pictured the Magic Box as a pile of rubble and shuddered, "Still this is really getting on my nerves, I mean it's been two weeks Tara."

        Tara nodded sympathetically, two weeks, two very long weeks, starting that night outside the Summers house.



        ...It took my mom but isn't having you my love. Tara turned and went back inside. The rest of the gang were gathering their belongings and making their goodbyes. Buffy turned at the sound of the front door opening and closing, "Hey Tara did you forget something?"

        "I told Willow I had to come back for that art book you borrowed." Tara explained

        Buffy frowned and racked her brain, "Must have been someone else because I'm sure I didn't borrow any books from you."

        Tara sighed, "I lied to Willow so I could come back and talk to you all."

        That grabbed Buffy's complete attention, "You lied to Willow?" Buffy had to repeat the point just to be sure she had heard it correctly.

        "I had no choice." Tara replied sorrowfully.

        Buffy sagged into the armchair and Elias sat on the armrest next to her. Giles had his coat in his hands and now folded it and put it back down, "I had a feeling that there was something that wasn't being said," he had also hoped he was wrong.

        Xander piped up, "This isn't some sort of girl thing I shouldn't be listening to?" The tension in the room was unbearable and Xander couldn't help but try and break it. Tara's attitude forced him to give up the attempt.

        "You know things haven't really been right since we got back from Quincy?" It was a rhetorical question but Tara waited for a round of slow nods before she got to the point. The others would have to be on the same word, never mind the same page, to go along with what she had in mind.

        "Well its been getting steadily worse, I mean worse than you knew, worse than I wanted to admit," Tara hesitated, wondering if she could have done more, "the story she told you about what happened at the gallery, it wasn't true, or at least it wasn't the complete truth."

        "Willow told us that Milner set those statues on her and then set off some sort of booby trap to destroy the gallery. Then when she confronted him in the car park he tried to hex her and she had to kill him. I figured she was exaggerating a little." Buffy had been willing to let her friend get away with a little embellishment.

        "It wasn't exaggeration." Tara hated to say it but they had to understand, "Willow just made up a story, maybe she's even convinced herself it's true, but she did make it up. The gallery wasn't destroyed by a booby trap; Willow just blew it up."

        That prompted a response from Xander, "Will wouldn't do that!" It was more instinctual than intended as any real defense of Willow. The sinking feeling in his stomach told him that he knew Tara was right; that didn't mean he wanted to admit it.

        Tara fixed her gaze on Xander, "I felt what happened to the gallery. I felt the power of the fire flowing out and creating a shockwave. I could feel Willow's rage, I could feel it from fifty yards."

        "Perhaps it was the only way she could stop whatever Milner left to attack her." Giles was quite certain that wasn't the case, however he could tell that Tara was building to something and she needed to fill in all the blanks,

        "Even if that was true, she didn't, she didn't know where I was, she didn't know that I was safe when she did it. Another minute and I was going to go and find her; another minute and I would have been caught in the blast." Tears began to run down Tara's cheeks as she said the words.

        "God damn." Elias' profanity broke the sudden silence. "Sorry, just seems like we are in deep...trouble."

        "That isn't even the worst of it." Tara began to explain, "That was just her being unthinking, losing control. After the explosion was much worse. Milner was pinned to against the car by a piece of the gallery wall. He could barely move and he didn't have any magic. After the explosion I went in to find Willow; I saw exactly what happened. She just put a finger on his forehead and just snuffed him out. Willow acted like she was turning out a light switch." Tara's tone shifted from sadness to horror as she contemplated the cold blooded execution.

        Tara pulled herself together, "I looked at her aura and it was like," she paused as she tried to think of a way to describe it to people who lacked her ability, "it was like seeing her in a fairground mirror, everything was distorted and something’s I just couldn't see at all. The Fire was everywhere, so bright I could hardly bear to look."

        "So what are you saying, that Willow is gone?" Buffy was stunned and appalled.

"I don't think so, I'm sure I can bring her back." Tara was far from sure but she wasn't going to think otherwise or she would fall apart.

        "So what are we talking about here; an intervention?" Xander was still trying to understand everything but he was eager to help Willow.

        Tara shook her head vigorously, "No that would be very dangerous, to you and Willow."

        That rather lost Buffy, "Ok I kind of see how getting zapped would be bad for us, but Willow?"

        "If, when, I bring her back Willow is going to have to deal with everything she's done. Milner and the gallery she can deal with. If she hurts one of you; she'd never forgive herself." Tara had to hope the others could appreciate how terrible that could be.

        Buffy understood all to easily. She had seen Willow racked with guilt about forgetting to leave a tip in the coffee shop. If she hurt someone or actually killed someone she wouldn‘t be able to cope. Buffy remembered when Faith killed the deputy mayor; it hadn't really been Buffy's fault but she had been haunted by it for a long time. Willow would tear herself apart with guilt and grief. And if she hurt Tara; Buffy halted that line of thought, there was an obvious conclusion and she wasn't going to give it house room. "So we don't confront Willow and we don't get her mad." Buffy made it clear that it was an instruction.

        Tara suppressed a sigh of relief. If Buffy had gone that far maybe she could take the last step. "That will help but it won't be enough by itself."

        "What more do you want us to do?" Giles asked quietly.

        "I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way, it's just that how long can you keep your cool if Willow is being, well, a bitch?" Tara pointed out.

        The only answer she got were some sheepish looks so she plunged on, "I could help you keep your cool."

"You have a bottle of Valium on you?" Xander's tone was bemused.

        Giles decided to help Tara out, "I believe she is proposing to put us under a spell."

        Xander sprang to his feet, "I do not need some freaking hex to keep my cool!"

        "Obviously." Giles commented dryly.

        Xander slumped back into his chair and Tara explained hastily, "It wouldn't be permanent and it wouldn't be the whole of it. It won't work if you start acting weird around Willow so I'd have to block your memory of this conversation."

        That hardly made Xander or most of the others any more sanguine about it. Oddly enough it was Anya that helped Tara out, "That would leave you all alone doing this; what if something happens to you?"

        The others focused more on the first part of Anya's statement rather than the selfish ending. Xander was still nervous, "Can't we think this over?"

        Tara checked her watch, "I can't stay much longer and we can't wait till tomorrow in case Willow runs into one of you first and guesses something is going on."

        Buffy nodded; she didn't like it but she didn't see any choice, "Alright Tara you better do it quickly before anyone changes their mind."

        Tara stood and walked to the middle of the room, "Everyone form a circle around me." The gang slowly formed up around her and Tara began to chant and turn around with her hands stretched out.

       

        "I guess I don't have that book, sorry." Buffy apologized.

        Tara waved it away, "Probably means I loaned it someone else, anyway I better catch up with Will before she teleports me out of here."

        Buffy laughed, "Yeah, see you later."

        Tara smiled and nodded, I certainly hope so.

6."Charade"

Almost a fortnight later Willow had put on her show with the spider demons and the gang had arrived at the Summers house to face Dawn jumping up and down like a puppy, eager for every detail of the nights patrolling. Joyce had also been around for a little while, doing her best to keep up a cheerful air before the effort exhausted her.

        Buffy made to help her mother up to bed, "I'll give you a hand Buffy." Tara volunteered.

        Joyce tried to dodge all the attention, "I don't really need anyone to help me let alone two..." The words trailed off as Joyce realized she didn't know who she was talking to.

        Tara covered for her gracefully, "Well maybe you don't need it but it's free so you should take advantage of it."

        Joyce nodded wearily and Buffy and Tara helped her up the stairs while Willow smiled at Tara indulgently.

        Joyce was asleep almost before she hit the bed. That was clearly a relief to Buffy, "How is she really doing?" Tara asked.

        "Not good, I think the doctors know what it is but they won't say until they do another bunch of tests; got to pay for their golf club memberships somehow." It was supposed to be joke but Buffy couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. The doctors had poked and prodded her mother a dozen different ways without doing one thing to help Joyce.

        "I'm really sorry Buffy." Tara placed a sympathetic hand on Buffy's shoulder.

        Buffy managed to raise a smile, "It's not like it's your fault Tara."

        Tara looked sad, "But this is," she moved her hand from Buffy's shoulder and placed it on Buffy's temple.

        Buffy jerked away like she had been shocked and swayed on her feet. Her Slayer powers brought her back to normal almost instantly; handling the changed perspective on everything that had happened in the last few days took a little longer. "Sorry Buffy but I needed to talk to you."

        Buffy waved off the apology, "Don't worry about it, and you were right about that spell; I would have snapped and kicked Willow's ass by now," Buffy considered what she had said, "I would have tried to kick her ass and probably would have ended up as a frog or a rat, or a grease spot."

        Under any other circumstances Tara would have been tempted to turn Buffy into grease spot for badmouthing Willow. Right now of course she was simply speaking the truth; which didn't make it any easier to hear. "I had to lift the spell so I could modify it."

        Buffy frowned, "Modify it how?"

        "So that if I don't intervene it will lift itself in five days." Tara made it sound very matter of fact.

        Buffy wasn't fooled for a second. She looked Tara straight in the eye, "Meaning that either this will all be over by then. Or that you won't be able to intervene anymore." Tara didn't reply, "Tara isn't there any way I can help you?"

        "Normally I wouldn't just pile one piece of magic on top of another but this time there isn't anything else and Willow is, Willow is mine." Tara flushed at being so expressive about her passion for Willow Rosenberg.

        "I guess we all have our own responsibilities." Buffy glanced at her mother.

        "Yes we do." Tara put her fingers on Buffy's forehead again.



        After the discussion had dissolved into an argument despite the best efforts of Tara's spell everyone had jumped at the plan to retreat to the Bronze. Willow had been keen to hit the dance floor and of course that meant a slow dance. Tara loved the feeling of Willow close to her and out there leaning against one another Tara could pretend that nothing had changed. The feel of Willow's skin, her scent, her warmth, were all the same. The problem was even with all that the illusion was flawed; they had always moved together synchronously. Now Tara had the sense that Willow was trying to lead, that even on the dance floor Willow had to be in charge.

        Unable to escape from reality even for a few minutes Tara had decided there was no point putting things off any further, while Willow fetched drinks Tara steeled herself for what she had to do.

        Willow grabbed Tara's hands and pleaded, "Please don't talk like that, you can't abandon me. I mean whatever the problems are we can work them out."

        Tara had held her breath after she made her suggestion about taking a break. Her heart had almost broken as she uttered the words but she managed it somehow. She focused her attention on Willow's aura, watching the twisted mess intently. As the desperate anxiety filled Willow's face her aura shifted and dimmed, for that briefest instant it was her Willow again. Tara looked thoughtful, "I guess your right, I mean we can fix anything together can't we?" It was all Tara could not to laugh or shout out loud, Willow was still there!



        With Willow finally asleep Tara dared to slide out from between the sheets. Her elation at Willow's reaction had allowed Tara to keep up with her lover at least for this night. Looking at Willow lying asleep Tara wanted to lean in and kiss her cheek and promise Willow that it would be ok. She couldn't take the risk of course this had to be done quickly and quietly. Instead she opened one of her drawers and took out a small vial. Tara held it close to Willow and removed the stopper. Pale vapor flowed out of the vial and Willow breathed it in.

        Tara closed the vial. The vapor should guarantee that Willow wouldn't interrupt her. Tara hastily stuffed a selection of clothing into her bag along with a few magical items she needed. At the door Tara looked at the sleeping form on the bed. Willow looked peaceful and carefree as she slept, "I'll see you soon baby." Tara whispered.



        Seizing the moment had put Tara on the streets of Sunnydale in the small hours of the morning. She stifled a yawn and walked on. The people and things that were out on at this odd hour didn't pay her any attention as she had wrapped herself in the concealment glamour. Tara's usual experience of demons was of them trying to rip her head off or blow up the world. Seeing them rifling through dustbins or huddling round a brazier eating something Tara didn't want to identify brought it home that even in the demon world there were big shots and also rans.

        Tara made it to the Magic Box just after dawn. She was dreadfully tired and could barely keep her eyes open but she had to keep going for at least a little longer.

        Anya arrived bright and early to open up. She liked to make sure everything was positioned to maximize customer purchases. Anya had studied a number of texts on marketing and selling to enhance her cash flow, plus since the break in there had also been the matter of making sure that the place was still there.

        As Anya walked up to the front door Tara let the glamour drop. Anya gave a shriek as Tara appeared in front of her. Before she could demand an explanation Tara placed her hand on Anya's forehead and the ensuing dizziness forestalled an argument in the street.

        Plucking the keys from Anya's hands Tara opened the door and hustled her inside. Anya recovered sufficiently to enter the code to turn off the new alarm system before turning on Tara, "Why did you scare me like that?"

        "Sorry didn't mean to." Tara tried to sound apologetic but it was hard when she was so sleep deprived. "I snuck out on Willow and I had to walk here."

        "You snuck out?" Anya was anxious, "As in she will be looking for you?"

        Tara nodded, "Probably going to wake up and realize I'm not around. Then she'll try a locator spell."

        "And then she'll use my store for target practice" Anya wailed.

        "No she won't because it won't work." Tara stated firmly, more to calm Anya than because she was really that certain.

        "You sabotaged the spell." Anya leapt to the conclusion.

        Tara frowned, "Not so much sabotaged than confused. I got some little clay jars and put a few hairs and drops of blood in each one. Add the right spell and it looks like me, to a locator spell anyway," she made it sound simple but it had been tricky to keep her activities from Willow and make sure the magic would work. "I scattered them around Sunnydale whenever I got the chance."

        "That was very devious." Anya clearly meant it as a compliment.

        "Thank you." Tara replied dubiously, "But she might to try and put together something stronger when it doesn't work."

        Anya pondered that, "Well she'll need bats gizzard then, and this is the only place she can get them."

        Tara put aside the question of what gizzards were. She considered that perhaps she should get out of here. She decided against it, if Willow could simply sense her it wouldn't matter where she was. A couple of wards should do the trick, and with all the magic in the shop it should provide enough cover, "I really don't think Willow should get those 'gizzards'."

        "You mean I have to throw them away?" It pained Anya to think of losing money like that.

        "I'll pay you for them." Tara offered, removing Anya's dilemma.

        After watching the contents of the jar disappear down the toilet. Tara closed it and put it back on the shelf. "So what do we do now?" Anya asked anxiously.

        Tara didn't bother to stifle a yawn, "Now you forget and I go and find a quiet space in the basement where I can catch some sleep."

        Anya didn't like that much, but she couldn't really object since she really didn't want to have to confront Willow knowing what she knew.

        Tara had found an old chair and laid out a series of wards around it before she sat down. Usually she couldn't sleep sitting up, and she was no longer used to sleeping alone either. On this occasion however exhaustion got the better of her and Tara slid into a deep sleep.

        It was perfectly clear to Tara that she was dreaming; simply because the place she was standing in couldn't exist. The sky was grey; not cloudy, just drained of color. Even the sunlight seemed grey. The ground beneath Tara's was covered in soot and ash. Brushing it aside all Tara found was bare dirt, there wasn't so much as a blade of grass.

        Tara had no idea what this place was supposed to be, there were no landmarks, no sounds, no wind even. She clapped her hands together just to be sure she could actually hear in this dream and the sound rung in her ears like a thunderclap. As she turned around Tara saw light glinting off something on a nearby hill. With the dream resolutely refusing to end Tara decided she might as well check it out.

        Drawing close to the object Tara wished she hadn't bothered. She was looking at some sort of twisted monument or altar; dedicated to the darkest powers imaginable and now it was throbbing with energy, the energy of innumerable human lives snuffed. As she tried to comprehend how many lives had been fed to this thing the truth struck Tara like a kick in the stomach, all of them.

        Tara wanted to wake up now, the dream though stubbornly refused to let her go. Instead Tara felt compelled to turn and look out over the scene of devastation. As she did so she found she wasn't alone. Willow was staring at the horizon. Tara saw a look of terrible sadness in Willow's eyes. "Honey where are we?" Tara asked.

        Willow gave her a look that suggested it was a particularly dumb question, "World's end."

        "But what happened? Who did this?" As soon as she asked the questions Tara regretted it.

        Willow's eyes turned black and she was as grey and colorless as the rest of the world, "I did. I did it for you; they destroyed you I destroyed them, an even trade."

        Tara was deeply grateful to find herself sat in an uncomfortable chair in a dusty basement. She had suppressed the urge to scream, which was just as well as she could feel the nearby presence of Willow and the Fire. Probably what started that dream, Tara decided, and tried really hard to believe it.

        She stayed in the chair and hoped the protective wards would shield her. When she felt Willow leave Tara breathed a sigh of relief and headed for the stairs.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

[Sheridan]

7."Choice"

Anya wished that she had a couple of aspirin to go with the glass of water, "Remembering everything twice in one morning is giving me a headache," she complained.

        Tara shrugged, she was hard pressed to work up any real concern for Anya's problem under the circumstances, "Actually I have a shopping list as well," she produced a neatly folded piece of paper and gave it to Anya.

        Anya regarded the paper with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. The two witches seemed determined to empty her shelves and she wasn't convinced by promises of payment. As she looked at the items though Anya couldn't help being curious. "What are you trying to do with all this?"

        Tara felt time pressured but it would be good to explain her plan to someone; to see if it sounded as desperate out loud as it did in her head. "I wasn't sure whether to treat the Fire as a poison or a possession so I figured out something that was a little of both. I used some exorcism references and parts of an affinity spell that was used to remove poisons from the blood."

        Anya was a little surprised; she had always thought of Willow as the more magically skilled of the two. She hadn't appreciated how inventive Tara could be, "And this will get rid of the Fire?"

        "It should pull the Fire out of Willow, after we get it out I'm hoping that it will turn back into the gem." After that Tara wasn't quite sure what they would do, though the ending of 'Titanic' flitted through her mind.

        Anya didn't like the rather vague ending of Tara's plan, "What if it your plan fails disastrously?"

        Tara hadn't had any sort of backup until she started trying to make a space in the basement. Down there she had come across a souvenir from an earlier fight that had given her an idea; an insane idea but an idea nonetheless.



        There were many trials that had to be borne by those who served the 'radiant Glorificus'. The kindest description was that she was a harsh mistress; an objective observer might describe her more as spoiled, capricious, and psychotic. Of course that objective observer was apt to have their mind sucked out for their temerity, or indeed just for the hell of it.

        Of all the trials that had to be borne the minions were now faced with one of the most dreadful and dangerous possible, "Come on now be honest," Glory prompted them in a sugary voice, "does this dress make my butt look big?"

        The minions glanced from one to the other. There was no question of the answer simply an issue of how the goddess might respond. More than one minion had fallen into some verbal pit, often followed by finding themselves in an actual one, often lined with spikes.

        The lead minion was left to bite the bullet, "As always you are the epitome of perfection your magnificence."

        Glory turned from side to side checking herself out in the mirror, "Darned right," she responded to the near infinite relief of the minions. Glory changed out of the dress and added it to the pile of clothing on the bed. "You can put that all away now," she announced dismissively. Shopping was just about the only thing that humans had created she would remotely miss when she returned home.

        The minions began to gather up the clothing and now they were forced to bring up another potentially dangerous subject, "Oh mighty one we are running short of closet space."

        That caught Glory's attention and she fixed the minions with a stare that said she was watching for the least sign of treachery in their faces. Technically the minions were incapable of disloyalty; born and bred to serve eternally without question. Of course the same was true of those who had sided with her treacherous brethren back home. They had been utterly faithful and loyal, just not to her.

        On this occasion Glory couldn't see any possible way of undermining her by complaining about the contents of her closets, "You mean we need more space."

        "Indeed your Glorificus, that would be an ideal solution." Any solution Glory suggested was naturally ideal.

        Glory gave it a moments consideration, "That couple in the next apartment are making noise at all hours, lets just knock down the wall and then I can brain suck them," Glory beamed, "problem solved."

       

        Glory reached out for a pair of shoes she wanted to try, they went flying out of reach as a shockwave ran through the apartment. Ornaments fell from the shelves and a picture slid over at a crazed angle. As Glory and the minions braced themselves against the earthquake Willow materialized in the middle of the apartment.

        Willow surveyed the apartment and let the shaking cease. It had been intended simply as a distraction to buy her a few moments. Used to sudden bursts of disaster the minions recovered swiftly and moved towards Willow. They halted when they ran into the wall of energy that Willow had erected around herself.

        Unable to reach Willow the minions formed a line between the witch and Glory. Glory herself had been working up to a high state of indignation, "Don't you know better than to barge in to someone's home unannounced?"

        Willow considered a witty reply and decided to forgo it. She lashed out with her right hand and a minion burst into a pillar of brilliant flame, "Not here to answer questions, just ask them." Willow snapped petulantly.

        Several of the minions were trying to put out their comrade. Glory ignored that, "That was just plain rude."

        Willow was going to flame another one of the minions before she decided it wasn't a question, "I want to know what you've done with Tara." Working through her list of people who might wish them harm it hadn't taken long for Willow to get around to Glory. The demons grudge seemed mostly to be against Buffy for getting in the way of her plans. However Glory wouldn't be the first bad guy to take their bad temper out on the Slayer's friends.

        Glory looked bemused, "What the heck is a Tara?"

        "She," Willow corrected firmly, "she is about so tall, long blonde hair, pretty, and if you've hurt her you'll be sorry."

        Glory wasn't truly paying attention so she ignored Willow's threat, "What exactly would I want with this Tara? And that was a rhetorical question," she hastily added. Glory wasn't trying to protect her minions, it was just a bitch finding good help.

        As Glory pondered the question she had asked she realized that it might not be rhetorical after, "Of course if this Tara knows where I can find the Key then I might be interested in her, or I might be interested in helping you find her if you know."

        "If you don't have her then you better keep your demony hands off her or I'll kick your butt!" Willow snapped.

        Now Glory was furious, "A demon? You're calling me a demon? I'm a god you miserable human worm!" She lashed out and Willow's barrier flickered and almost collapsed.

        Willow's initial reaction was to dismiss Glory's claim as ego. The way she had gotten so mad however did make Willow wonder; at the very least Glory believed she was a god. Whether Glory was or wasn't Willow didn't care; now she let her power show, "Then we'll find out if gods can die." Willow's voice dripped with venom.

        Glory was going to rip Willow's head of for her insolence when she felt the power of the Fire, raw elemental magic bound up in this human form. When she had bee driven from home her former co-gods had called up that sort of power against her, and glory knew that now it could kill her if it got the chance; if it found Ben. "I don't have your girlfriend and I will get my Key whatever your friend the Slayer does, so why don't you go and tell her that."

        Willow was pretty sure that Glory just wanted rid of her, and that the 'goddess' didn't know where Tara was. Still it wouldn't hurt to remind her that it would be a good idea to stay away from Willow and her friends. Willow raised her hands in the air and chanted. Thin trails of flame ran down the walls and into the centre of the room where they merged together and reached back up to the ceiling, where they split apart and started the cycle all over again forming a sort of cage, "Don't worry, you should be able to get out in a couple of hours." Willow laughed and then vanished.

        No more than thirty seconds after Willow left Glory felt the irresistible pull of the change. On this occasion she didn't mind; let Ben clean up the mess.

        Ben felt extremely warm as he entered the world; why the hell did Glory have the heat up so high? Then he saw the flame 'bars' cycling around the room. He left onto the sofa and stared. Once he gathered his wits he turned to the minions, "So who did she piss off this time?"

8."Plan"

This day had already claimed its place as the worst in Willow's life. The precise reason why had mutated as the day progressed. First thing this morning it had simply been the awful shock of Tara leaving. As the morning wore on that had given way to the fear that she had been abducted, or worse, by some evil creature. As Willow exhausted her list of possible candidates a new and uglier scenario had occurred to Willow.

                The night before Tara had spoken of needing a break and Buffy had suggested maybe Tara needed time to think. Willow had accepted that at face value, now she was certain it was a lie. Tara had left solely for the purpose of forcing Willow to search for her while at the same doing everything to conceal herself from Willow. No doubt Tara intended to reappear in a few days with her point made; Willow wasn't as powerful as she thought she was. There was one flaw in Tara's scheme, Willow was going to find her and when she did it would be Tara who would be put in her place.



        Spike was trying very hard to keep his eyes off Buffy. He was fairly certain that 'soldier boy' suspected his interest had moved beyond the typical vampire-slayer thing. Clearly Elias hadn't told Buffy since while she was hardly friendly Buffy was at least tolerating his presence in her house. That might partly be because of his account of his encounter with Willow earlier.

        After Willow left Spike decided it might be politic to do some checking around. He could earn himself some brownie points and protect himself against any further temper tantrums by the witch, "So your sources didn't have anything to say?" Buffy demanded.

        "Oh they had plenty to say, mostly about being beaten up by your friend Willow. If you ask me she's a few pence short of a pound."

        "I didn't ask you," Buffy pointed out threateningly, "And she's just upset about Tara right now."

        Spike shook his head, "Right and that explains all her little tantrums lately does it."

        "I have no idea what you're talking about." Buffy insisted; not very convincingly.

        "Listen Slayer shall I tell you what I have been hearing around the bars? Used to be they were all wondering when the Slayer was going to come for them. Now their all muttering about 'the witch'. The witch is going to burn us, the witch likes to watch us fry." Spike enunciated every single word for emphasis.

        "Fine so your buddies are scared, I'm so upset." Buffy dismissed it casually, refusing to be rattled by Spike.

        Spike wasn't looking to fight with Buffy, "Alright, doesn't matter. What it means is that no one is going to be stupid enough to take her girlfriend unless they were desperate."

        "Like if they wanted someone to work a love spell?" Dawn asked innocently.

        Any chance of a reply was cut off by the reappearance of Willow. Buffy was seriously considering asking Willow to please materialize on the doorstep; it was just too unnerving having her teleporting into the living room.

        Willow spotted Spike, "What are you doing here?"

        It was one thing to raise questions about Willow's mental state when she wasn't here. It was quite another to provoke her when she was in shock range, "Just checking in, doing my bit to help," he didn't miss the disparaging look he got from Buffy.

        "And exactly how much help was that?" Willow asked sarcastically.

        "Pretty much none." Buffy explained, "What did you find?"

        Willow wasn't about to share her theory with Buffy, "I couldn't find anything. I worked my way through everyone I could think of who might have a reason to hurt Tara," she cast a significant glance at Spike, "I checked out Glory..."

        Willow's exposition was cut short by Buffy, "Glory? You found Glory?"

        "Yes she has an apartment across from the park, but she didn't have know anything." Willow was irritated by the interruption; Buffy was missing the point.

        Buffy definitely didn't think she was missing the point, "You found Glory and you just went and confronted her. What exactly happened?"

        "I hit the place with a tremor to put them off balance, fried one of her minions when it attacked me, and I set fire to the place to keep her from following me." Willow explained concisely and grumpily.

        Buffy stared at Willow. She was hoping that Willow was joking but she was clearly deadly serious. Buffy's basic plan for dealing with Glory was to stay as far away from the indestructible bimbo as possible until they knew enough about what she was to actually fight her. It was a pretty thin plan but it was all the gang had. Now Willow had just ensured that Glory would be giving them her very special attention; including Dawn.

        "Willow you should have told me you found Glory, I could have got the gang together, we could have come up with a plan." Buffy felt compelled to be reasonable towards Willow though she wasn't sure why.

        "What sort of plan? Let Glory pound Giles and Xander into a pulp while we search her place?" Willow couldn't see what the others could be other than cannon fodder.

        "Not exactly what I had in mind. " Buffy explained. "I was thinking of a little recon, maybe find what she wants the Key for."

        Willow snorted, "The Key, the Key; you and Glory keep whining on about. I told you before we should just find it and destroy it."

        That pushed Buffy to the edge, "Without knowing what it is or what it does? Will I know your worried about Tara and you have every right to be but I have a sister and a sick mother to worry about, and a super powered goon breathing down our necks. I have to worry about all of that as well as Tara, so how about you cut me some slack? If you've been treating Tara as badly as the rest of us no wonder she left!" For the briefest moment Buffy felt good; then she was appalled at how harsh she had been, largely because Tara's hex re-established itself.

        Only astonishment at Buffy's effrontery prevented Willow at frying her on the spot. Buffy hastily moved to patch things up, "I don't why I said that, I guess the stress is getting to me."

        If Willow had been astonished Dawn was flabbergasted. She had been eavesdropping from the doorway to the kitchen; increasingly upset by Willow's harsh behavior. Now when Buffy had finally said something that had to be said she turned around and took it back. Dawn wanted to burst in and ask if Buffy had gone crazy. There was something about the look in Willow's eye that held her back.

        As she stood there Willow contemplated Buffy and replied very cautiously, "Maybe it would be better if I concentrated on finding Tara and you focus on worrying about your family."

        It sounded very much to Buffy like Willow talking about more than a temporary division of labor. Even so Buffy couldn't see any alternative, "Maybe it would be for the best."

        Willow nodded curtly and teleported out.

       

        As soon as Willow was gone Dawn burst into the living room, "Are you nuts? You can't just let her go like that."

        "Well I did, we need to give her some space to figure things out." Buffy stated evenly.

        Spike had been content to slip out of Willow's firing line while the two friends argued. Now he decided it was relatively safe to speak, "Figure out what? Which major demon she's going to piss off next?"

        Now Buffy became annoyed, "I don't think I asked for your opinion Spike. Now unless you have anything useful to say hit the road. Dawn, dinner will be ready in an hour." She brushed past Dawn on her way to the kitchen; oblivious to the attention Spike was paying to her rear.

        His view was cut off by Dawn stepping in front of him, "Buffy said to go Spike." Dawn stated, more loudly than was really necessary.

        Spike took the hint and walked over to the front door. Once there Dawn placed a hand on his arm and her voice dropped to a whisper, "Spike something is really wrong."

        Spike nodded, "The way the Slayer practically has 'welcome' tattooed up her spine?"

        Dawn would have said That Buffy was being a 'wuss' but it came to the same thing, "Everybody is just letting Willow do whatever she wants, like their afraid to contradict her."

        "Yeah well after what I saw and felt I can't blame them." Spike could swear he still felt a tingling from the shocks Willow had given him.

        "Fine, but somebody should be doing something about it, we can't just let everything fall apart." Dawn was in earnest, she wanted to fix things and that it might give her the chance to prove she could help the others hadn't escaped her attention.

        Spike could live with the Slayers little gang falling apart, on the other hand what Willow might do if she wasn't reined in made him think, "Alright, there are a couple of sorcerers of my acquaintance, I'll do some asking around."

        Dawn nodded, "Ok, now you better get out of here." Spike slipped off into the night, not sure what he had let himself in for.

9."Rescue"

Tara looked left and right out of the back door of the Magic Box. It was a little pointless; if Willow even suspected she was hiding in the shop she would just tear it down to find her. Willow wasn't capable of subtle right now.

        Anya handed Tara the bag of items they had pulled together and something rather bulky wrapped in a cloth. She was relieved that Tara had decided to perform her ritual elsewhere. The Magic Box had been in the eye of the hurricane long enough, "You're sure you have everything aren't you? I wouldn't want you having to come back."

        Tara had grown used to Anya's utter lack of tact and on this occasion Tara could hardly blame her, "Absolutely sure, we've been over it three times."

        Anya nodded and then unexpectedly hugged Tara, "Good luck," she looked distinctly embarrassed; wondering if her expression of support was appropriate.

        Tara was taken by surprise, she was however grateful for the gesture, "Thanks." She smiled at Anya and then placed fingers on Anya's forehead. Moments later Anya wondered why she was standing in the alleyway.



        Tara had picked a tree close to the old church that the UC Sunnydale coven had used, back when Buffy first met Elias and they first heard of the Initiative. The chapel had finally been demolished, which the incident with the stone demon had probably contributed to.

        The sight of the few bricks left behind in the grass didn't do a lot to lift Tara's spirits, it was like a piece of their past had gone. Tara pulled a blanket out of her bag and spread it beneath the tree. She gathered a small collection of charms and religious emblems. There was a small cross, an ankh, a star of David laid out in the first row. Below that she placed a horseshoe and a sprig of heather, she left a gap in the middle of the row for later. The final row was composed of pagan and Wicca charms.

        Since the fire wasn't part of any religious pantheon Tara had spread her net as far as possible in creating the exorcism part of the ritual. In the gap in the centre Tara placed a piece of amethyst, it was part of the spell designed to suck out poisons.

        Even though Anya had expressed her admiration of the spell, and she had a thousand years of experience, Tara still had some doubts. She would have been happier with another few weeks to iron out any bugs; Willow's behavior had simply ruled that out.

        Rummaging through the bag Tara pulled out a vial of clear liquid and set it next to her. She set the wrapped package against the tree and attempted to make it look inconspicuous. She really hoped she could leave it there; if she had to use her backup she had no idea where that would take them.

        There was a neatly bound bundle of herbs in Tara's bag; she drew them out and rolled them around in her fingers. Tara realized she was prevaricating. She struck a match and lit the herbs. She let the smoke make patterns over the square of emblems as she chanted.



        The dorm room was thoroughly depressing but Willow didn't have anywhere else to go. Even with all the power of the Fire the human body just couldn't keep pumping adrenaline all day. Finally Willow was feeling tired and listless and she needed to think. If she was going to find Tara Willow had begun to believe it would take extreme measures. She collapsed on the bed and opened a book on demonology to look up those measures. There were several demons who were noted for their tracking skills; of course they usually used those skills to hunt for prey. Willow was sure she could restrain whichever one she summoned, and if they scared Tara, well it served Tara right for putting her through all this.

        Willow put a bookmark in the page of the most promising candidate. Performing the actual summoning would take more magical resources than she had to hand and she wasn't keen on going back to the Magic Box after the earlier failure. It might be time to find out if there weren't other sources for her magical needs; maybe ones that didn't charge so much and didn't ask so many questions.

        Still brooding on the confining nature of life in Sunnydale Willow was taken by surprise when there was a knock at the dorm room door. The possibility that Tara might simply have come home was too absurd to contemplate so Willow answered the knock in a foul temper.

        She yanked the door open just as Dawn was about to knock again, "What are you doing here?" Willow demanded and scanned the corridor for any sign of Buffy or any of the rest of the gang.

        "I just wanted to talk to you, see if you were ok." Dawn explained, and managed to slip past Willow and into the room. She couldn't help but notice that the room wasn't its usually orderly self. Drawers were left open, books and personal items were scattered about, it reminded Dawn of her own room.

        "I'm fine Dawn, I really don't need any picking up." Willow couldn't be bothered to be civil.

        Dawn managed to ignore that and ploughed on with what she wanted to say, "Look Willow I know its been bad today but this is exactly when you need your friends. Pushing them away isn't the answer."

        Willow stared at Dawn and then did something she hadn't done all day; she laughed out loud. Dawn wondered if maybe it had all been too much for Willow, what were you supposed to do if someone just snapped?

        Willow regained her composure, "You really have no idea what this is all about do you?"

        The sneer in Willow's voice Dawn uncomfortable, "Willow I just want things to be right between you and Buffy. I think that might help persuade Tara to come home."

        "You think?" Willow's sarcasm was almost palpable, "That would be a first." she advanced on Dawn and adopted a cynical smile, "Maybe you can do something useful though."

        Dawn was simply trying to get out now; she was past any hope that she could actually get through to Willow, "How?" she asked hesitantly.

        "Make her get out of the way. Get her too understand its her turn to play sidekick now. Sunnydale needs a protector whose talents extend beyond being handy with a stake and self obsession."

        Dawn had been feeling miserable, now she was struck by a spasm of rage, "If you talked to Tara like that no wonder she left you!"

        Even with the sound of flesh striking flesh and the stinging sensation in he cheek Dawn couldn't instantly accept what happened next; that Willow had slapped her in the face, "Get out," Willow commanded, "And be grateful that's all I did." Dawn bolted through the door, slamming it behind her so Willow couldn't hear her sobbing.



Willow dropped on to the bed and glanced at the book again, what was I thinking? The thought struck Willow forcefully; she had struck someone who was simply concerned about her, and she was planning to set a demon on the woman she loved, why?

        She ran away, she betrayed us. Willow remembered the reasoning, she even remembered the feeling that went with it. The whole thing just seemed surreal, it couldn't be her, she wasn't like that.

        Wasn't what? Wasn't strong, wasn't assertive, wasn't taking charge of her life? Everything that had been going on went through Willow's mind, she felt a certain horror at it all and tried to ignore a sense of pride that welled up at the same time.

        The sense of schizophrenia was paralyzing Willow. She wanted to cast some sort of spell to dispel it and was afraid of doing so at the same time. This is ridiculous why do I feel this way?

        The answer came back crystal clear, the Fire.



        Standing there in Quincy with the Fire in her hand Willow had felt its power, its incredible potential. She told herself she would let it go, put it aside, if Tara wasn't in danger. That meant there was no choice, she had to use it and save her lover, what else could she do?

        Somehow it had all gone wrong and she had found herself trapped in that lake of lava standing on that little platform. Now a causeway of solid rock snaked its way out and joined to the platform. Willow looked out at the causeway; it was narrow and twisting but she knew it was the way out. There was no question of what to do; Willow ran.

        Tumbling off the edge of the bed Willow was confused about precisely where she was and when they had put a red light bulb in the dorm room. Willow glanced and saw that the light was coming from the red glow that filled the ceiling. Apparently the Fire wasn’t leaving just yet. Tara? Baby are you there?



        Tara had been screening out Willow's telepathy all day. Now she didn't have the strength to, and besides there was something different in the feel of the thought, something familiar, Willow? Are you ok?

        I have a king sized headache and there's what looks like the contents of a lava lamp swirling a round the ceiling, but yeah I think I'm ok. Willow explained.

        The fact that the fire was still active and hanging around worried Tara; she wasn't going to break the exorcism spell just yet. That aside Tara was elated, Willow was free!

        Willow picked up that thought, I am so sorry baby for the way I behaved.

        Tara was going to wave away that thought when she felt a sudden surge of fear from Willow, They're breaking down the door!



        An ax ripped out the lock and the poorly made door collapsed. Half a dozen of Glory's minions poured in and seized Willow, "Glorificus demands your presence!" The leader yelled, trying to sound more confident than he felt. The earlier encounter with the witch had not gone well but Glory was quite adamant that they bring the witch to her and so they obeyed.

        Willow struggled but with the Fire gone Willow was too magically exhausted to fight back, Tara I can't stop them!

        Tara had been listening in on what was happening. There was no way she could reach Willow in time to help, and she could only imagine what Glory might want with Willow. None of it was pleasant and Tara knew she had to do something to save Willow.

        Tara there's only thing you can do, you have to break the spell. Willow's thought was desperate and terrified, and yet there was a subtle undercurrent of desire. Tara wanted to say no, that there had to be a better way. Instead there was just a terrible sadness, it isn't over Willow, I'll find another way.

        I know you will, Willow replied reassuringly.

        Without another thought Tara grabbed the edge of the blanket and sent the charms flying.

        Back in the dorm room the Fire pulled itself together and poured back into Willow. As she felt the strength returning Willow concentrated and the minions went flying. She stood and looked at the minions. One by one they burst into flame. The last one was trying to slip out the door when Willow locked her gaze on it, "Go back to Glory and tell her what happened, and tell her this is just a sample of what will happen if she messes with me again."

        The minion scurried out the door, to scared for the moment to think of the consequences of delivering that message. Alone Willow turned her attention in a different direction, now Tara I think we need to have a long talk about your lack of trust and support.

        Tara didn't reply and there was clearly no point in running now. She sat with her back to the tree and waited.

10."Fallback"

Willow materialized to find Tara sat quite serenely beneath the tree with her hands folded in her lap. She could simply have been enjoying the night air and engaging in little quiet contemplation. Willow knew the calm was simply a front; inside Tara had to be quaking.

        As with so many things recently Willow was dead wrong. Tara had truthfully been surprised the exorcism had worked as well as it did; she had more than half expected this confrontation, "So what do we do now?" she asked Willow quietly.

        "We could just go home; I'm prepared to accept this was just an aberration." Willow sounded magnanimous, it seemed a perfectly fair offer to her.

        Tara didn't believe it for a moment, "Just like that?"

        Willow smiled, "Well the would have to be certain precautions taken, to limit your ability to do magic."

        There were only a few methods that Tara knew of to diminish someone's talent and all of them involved some sort of mind control. "I really don't think so Will. I do have a suggestion of my own though."

        Willow shrugged noncommittally, "Might as well hear it I suppose, don't want you saying I never listen to you."

        "It's pretty simple, we set the ritual up again and I expel the fire." Tara halted while Willow laughed and then went on, "If after I do that you still want it back then I'll break the spell and you can have it. I'll leave Sunnydale and you can do whatever you want."

        Willow waited a few moments to be sure Tara was finished, "So that's it? I get what I have now and you don't so much as apologize for what you did? I don't see the big plus here."

        "I didn't think you would, Willow would but not you." Tara commented sadly.

        "If you think I'm not really Willow then you're kidding yourself, I'm just as much Willow as ever."

        Tara had the nagging feeling that there was more truth in that than anything else Willow had said. If anything it made the decision easier. "I'm sorry Willow."

        Willow smiled graciously, "Well that's something, not much but it's a start."

        Tara realized Willow had misunderstood, "I'm sorry because I think this is going to hurt, a lot."

        The vial had been cupped in Tara's closed hands; opened and ready. Now as Tara spread her hands wide in a gesture of apology the contents spilled out on to the grass.

        As the vial struck the ground Willow assumed that whatever Tara had planned had gone totally wrong; the liquid hadn't come anywhere near her. Then Willow felt a surge of energy; something rising through the earth in response to the potion, something that set her teeth on edge.

        Tara watched as a small spring erupted from the earth. Tara's reading on elemental magic had contained several spells that could tap those elements, as well as confirming that fire and water didn't mix. The spring contained the tiniest amount of elemental power but it was enough to disorient the Fire drenched Willow.

        As Willow staggered back from the bubbling water Tara knew she only had a couple of seconds before the elemental water energy dispersed and the spring was gone. It wasn't enough to run, it was just about enough for the other part of her fallback plan. She grabbed the bundle from its place against the tree and pulled off the wrapping. In a single fluid motion she brought the weapon to bear and fired; the bolt struck Willow right in the chest knocking her backwards.



        Tara raced to Willow's side and began to shake her, "Willow, Willow honey wake up!"

        The insistent call dragged Willow back and she roused slowly. She wasn't entirely sure she really was awake because the last thing she clearly recalled was Tara shooting at her, "You shot me?"

        Tara nodded, "Yes honey, now we really have to go."

        Willow didn't understand the urgency until she glanced over her shoulder and saw herself still lying unconscious on the grass some feet away. Now her brain snapped into gear and she registered what Tara was holding in her right hand, "Toth's staff, you split me?"

        "It was the only way to get you away from the Fire." Tara explained urgently.

        "Not all of me." Willow pointed out, she was still feeling woozy.

        "It was the best plan B I could come up with," Tara apologized, "Now we need to go before, you, she, wakes up."

        Willow nodded and leaning on Tara she began to walk, "What do we do we do after we make our get away?" she asked.

        Now Tara looked very unhappy, "Actually honey that's where plan B runs out, I was sort of hoping we could think up something together."

        "Well I'll give it a try." Assuming there's enough left of me to do any thinking. Willow couldn’t help wondering what she was leaving behind.

        Willow didn't send the thought but Tara guessed it anyway. She looked back at the other Willow, its aura was saturated with the Fire and Tara directed a parting thought at the unconscious form, []this isn't over, I’m coming back for the rest of her.[/i]

To Be Continued…

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

[darkmagicwillow]

Now that I wasn't expecting. I was thinking the exorcism spell would bring the dark Willow arc to an end too easily, but I was happily pleased by your twist of splitting Willow (where do all those magical artifacts go on the show anyway?) On the bad side, FireWillow is likely to going to be even stronger than before, but on the good side, she doesn't have the intelligence or focus that the other Willow does so there's a hope of defeating her. Good Willow/Fire Willow makes an interesting parallel to Ben/Glory, not only for the ethical implications, but also for the vulnerability that both pairs share in that killing one kills both members of the pair.



I thoroughly enjoyed Tara's planning. It demonstrates her intelligence as well as her love for Willow as she figures out how to fight someone who's so much more powerful than she is but also who she doesn't want to hurt, emotionally or physically. I also like how Tara has become shadowed in her effort to fight FireWillow. She's using mind control spells and doing a lot of work behind Willow's back to set things up. It's all necessary, and she's better grounded in the ethics and consequences of magic than Willow, but it also shows that she's willing to violate those boundaries when she has her own reasons for doing so.

--

"Omnia mutantur, nihil interit." -- "Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost."

Edited by: darkmagicwillow at: 2/24/03 11:59:58 am

[tarafreak24]

damm....is all i can say......

its way way passed my bed time but i just couldnt stop reading.....how the hell am i gonne wake up for uni now ???

Wow - willow is soooo bad ...and tara is so adrable....

and it made me feel so sad.....but im pulling for a happy ending soon....

it was great , hope you updat soon !!!!

thanks

mika

[The Rose24]

WOW. As usual



Now, this is the way it should have been. Tara should have been the one to save Willow. Tara could still be helping Willow get through this in season seven now. The writers missed a lot of stories here.

Tara: My heart doesn't stutter.


Tara: Willow, I got so lost.

Willow: I found you. I will always find you.

[Grimaldi]

that was a great update



Giles worrying about his books was funny. i liked your version of Dark Magic Willow better that the show's, she seemed more dangerous and scary. hopefully nonFire Willow got all of the intellgence because it looks like they are going to need every advantage possible in not only fighting FireWillow but possibly a pissed off Glory too

You can't just go declaring shenanigans on innocent people, that's how wars get started!
I'm not stealing, I'm just taking things without paying for them. In what twisted dictionary is that stealing?
Did you just say the 'F' word?

[Sheridan]

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I like how Tara has become shadowed too in her effort to fight FireWillow. She's using mind control spells and doing a lot of work behind Willow's back to set things up. It's all necessary, and hopefully she's better grounded than Willow was when she began with the magic.

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darkmagicwillow trust me Tara is not going to go off the rails, she's far too sensible.

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WOW. As usual Now, this is the way it should have been.

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Thanks The Rose 24, unlike a certain someone I don't think theres anything cool about blood splattered shirts.

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its way way passed my bed time but i just couldnt stop reading.....how the hell am i gonne wake up for uni now ???

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Glad you enjoyed it Tarafreak 24 hope you woke up ok.

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hopefully nonFire Willow got all of the intellgence because it looks like they are going to need every advantage possible in not only fighting FireWillow but possibly a pissed off Glory too

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Actually Grimaldi in my notes its Willow and Fire Fragment Willow(FFW). Hopefully like this story the resolution of the FFW will make you go: WHAT THE HELL DID SHE DO??!!!

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

Edited by: Sheridan at: 2/24/03 12:00:44 pm

[elessar007]

That was a great update. I loved the self-referencing use of Toth's staff to split Willow. I have this curious habit when I read fanfic. I try and think of how the story would seem if I didn't have all the backstory from the show. I think of how the story would read if I gave it to someone who had never watched BtVS. This story doesn't rely on the reader knowing all the backstory. I believe it could stand on its own and still be a good read. Of course the reactions would be different to a non-viewer but I believe they would enjoy it nonetheless. Since I am not a qualified critic I can't say that's the sign of a well written story but I can't imagine it being a bad thing. Anyway, I just love this story and want you to know that I appreciate all the effort you have put into writing such a compelling tale.



My compliments disguised as rambling aside, I do have a question. Was Tara gambling that the Fire would not be equally divided between Willow and FFW or did she have a reason to believe all the Fire would stay in one Willow? I wasn't sure that possession or poison wouldn't be equally shared since technically the staff's bolt struck Willow and not the poison or possessor. If it's something that will be explained in a future update then I apologize for asking. I only ask because I am enjoying the story so much I didn't want to be confused about an event as pivotal as Tara splitting the woman she loved.



Thanks again for giving us such a great read.

elessar

***

Tara: Hey, Will. This is me. It doesn't all have to be 'good' and 'fine.' This is the room where you don't have to be brave and I still love you.

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elessar's Willow & Tara Wallpaper

[tstcloud]

Just writing to say that I greatly appreciated your update.



I'm particularly impressed with the use of Toth's staff. That's an item I hadn't even remembered until Willow was struck with it.



I'm interested to see if FireWillow will have any traits of normal Willow or if she is a complete embodiment of Fire. If so ... whoa, the mind boggles at the implications. I would be interested to see what would happen if FireWillow had a battle with Glory.



Can't wait for the next update.



Tiff

[SlayerSydney]

What a great update!!!! It's still cliff hang-y and I told you I don't do well with those!!!



I definitely enjoy how you are painting Tara as this great thinker as well as a more powerful witch. That is something that the show overlooked. Willow's power intensified because of Tara. Tara made Willow whole, the other half to Willow's power. So, it's obvious to me that Tara should have a power equivalent to Willow's. Which makes Tara's execution of her plan to rid Willow of the fire so believable for me. I also felt like: GO TARA!



As far as this cliff hang-y stuff....I have to wonder what's to come. Glory is clearly pissed off at Willow. Buffy is going to be more pissed off at Willow for slapping Dawn. And now, FireWillow will be after Willow. What a mess! You have certainly created a interesting array of possible plot lines.

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"You have to believe we are magic. Nothin' can stand in our way."---Olivia Newton-John.

A moment's insight is sometimes worth a life's experience.~~Oliver Wendell Holmes

[barnabasvamp]

Excellent, kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.



Tara, being able to hide herself from Willow, and show of real power on her part.



So many unanswered questions...How will Tara get the other part of Willow back, what will a pissed off Glory do. And Buffy, look out Willow.

BV

"In front of total strangers won't you kiss me, Flowers for no reason but you miss me - OOH, I wanna be in love"Melissa Etheridge

[Sheridan]

Sorry my reply is a little slow, battling a flu bug.

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My compliments disguised as rambling aside, I do have a question. Was Tara gambling that the Fire would not be equally divided between Willow and FFW or did she have a reason to believe all the Fire would stay in one Willow?

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Elessar007 it was sort of a calculated risk; she knew the original plan Toth had for the staff was to create a superpowered Buffy and an ordinary Buffy. She was betting it would divide off the power of the Fire in the same.

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As far as this cliff hang-y stuff....I have to wonder what's to come.

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Slayersydney I'm hoping that I come up with something both unexpected, logical, and downright devious.

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I'm interested to see if FireWillow will have any traits of normal Willow or if she is a complete embodiment of Fire.

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Glad you enjoyed the story tstcloud and actually that's a question that will crop up in the story...

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Excellent, kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

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So you liked it then Barnabasvamp? As for how things go for Buffy and the gang just think worst case scenario.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

Edited by: Sheridan at: 2/26/03 10:23:35 am

[chronic]

I discovered this fic about a week ago, and after some non stop reading i've finally caught up. Well, its not like i needed sleep anyway



I'm really liking this, the way your stories deal with familiar things in a new way. And it shows how great the series would have been if Tara had been there from the beginning, but then we all knew that anyway...



I also like the original aspects you've added, like the future/time travel storyline and L.J (Oh, and i think i've guessed what her initials stand for ) Can't wait to see where those things go.



Great cliff hanger to the last update, what will they do next? Waiting with baited breath for next update.



Chronic

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Tara - There's a monkey problem?
Willow Only if you don't stretch

[Sheridan]

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Great cliff hanger to the last update, what will they do next? Waiting with baited breath for next update.

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Thanks Chronic, and what will they do? Well that should become clear in about a week or so...



Edited to add:

As of today 'Divided Loyalties' is finished so give me a few days for editing and it should be up.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

Edited by: Sheridan at: 3/15/03 4:48:52 am

[Sheridan]

Title: Divided Loyalties

Author: Mike Mullen

Rating: NC-17/18 because of violence, adult themes and angst.

Spoilers: None what so ever

Disclaimer: All the original BTVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and ME, everyone else in the stories are my personal slaves. Also acknowledged on this occasion are the movies ‘Meteor’ and ‘The Day the earth Caught Fire’.

Summary: Two Willows definitely isn’t twice as nice especially as one of them is willing to betray everyone to get what she wants…

Authors notes: The end of the Fire arc and not a moment too soon.

Feedback: Just add your comments at the end of the story.

Divided Loyalties

1. "Splintered"

The campus was quiet as Willow and Tara made their way through it; which would have been nice if they weren't looking for a crowd to get lost in. Willow felt a little nauseated as Tara dragged her along. She wasn't quite sure if that was a result of being shot by Toth's staff, Fire withdrawal, or the awful recollection of how she had treated her friends. “Tara please, we have to stop, just for a second.”

        Tara was going to tell her they had to keep going. The odd color of Willow's face persuaded her otherwise. The pair halted and Willow ran to a nearby hedge and bent over it retching. Tara looked the other way, if she knew Willow as well as she thought she did the last thing she would want right now was a show of sympathy.

        Tara's instincts were on the money, Willow was already working desperately hard not to fall apart. Everything that had happened the last few weeks was pressing in and demanding her attention, "We need to go honey." Tara reminded her. Willow realized she had been staring into space and got moving.

        It all seemed like a nightmare but Willow knew it was far too clear and detailed to be anything other than appalling reality. She really had slapped Dawn, tried to take down Glory and gone after Milner; she had executed Milner, snuffed him out without hesitation or compunction. Willow felt the desire to be sick again but she pushed it down. It was the Fire, it had changed everything, twisted the world out of shape. Now it's gone it will be ok. Willow tried to believe that, problem was that the Fire wasn't really gone. It was still in play and it had a piece of her with it.

        That thought distracted Willow from her queasy stomach, what had Tara split off from her? She didn't feel any different, then again Willow hadn't really felt any different when she absorbed the Fire. How could you tell how you had been changed when you're perceptions had changed as well? That whole chain of thought made Willow's stomach feel worse so she put it aside.

        "Maybe we should go and see the others, tell them what's happened." Willow actually meant go and apologize.

        Tara shook her head, "We would just have to make them forget again." That comment drew a puzzled stare from Willow and Tara filled her in on what she had done.

        The explanation made Willow feel better as she was filled with admiration for Tara's plan, "I guess now we know whose the real brains of the outfit."

        Despite everything Tara blushed and smiled, "I just did what I had to."

        "And modest too." Willow commented. That the others were better off if they weren't in the firing line Willow couldn't really argue with, "I wish I could think of something to do."

        Tara could see that Willow really was at her limit. They needed to stop and give her a chance to recover, regardless of the risk. Grabbing a passing cab the pair made their way to the mall with Tara working on a warding spell, hopefully her earlier magical 'jamming' would still be working, and since there two Willows Tara doubted any locator spell the Fire could do would give any worthwhile results.

        The food court offered a convenient spot to sit down and recover. Tara brought a couple of tall cups from the counter and Willow eyed them suspiciously, "That isn't coffee is it?"

        "Hot chocolate." Tara assured her.

        Willow was still dubious but began to take a few sips. She found the sweet taste improved her mood considerably and calmed her stomach. "We need to figure out what we do now."

        Tara was encouraged to hear Willow sounding more like herself; she decided to it would be better to get Willow to go on before bringing up her own ideas, "What did you have in mind?"

        Willow thought about it for a moment, "I think we do need help, I mean we're pretty much tapped out of resources."

        Tara still felt that was too dangerous, but Willow forestalled her objection, "What I mean is we need to find away to get help without giving ourselves away, and we stay away from Buffy regardless." Willow had no intention of putting Dawn and Joyce in the firing line, especially after how he treated them lately.

        That made sense to Tara, they did need more resources than they had to fight this fight; and Tara had used up her last resort when she split Willow. Then it struck her that she hadn't used the last resort. "The Circle of the Glade."

        Willow grasped the point instantly, "They did sort of get us into this mess, but we don't have anyway of contacting them. And that means research."

        Tara looked uneasy, "The Magic Box is the last place we should go."

        Willow agreed with that but still they needed information and expertise, and they needed some way of getting at it without exposing themselves which meant getting someone else to do it. The problem was that whoever they used as an intermediary would be in terrible danger.



        The crypt door filled its opening precariously; the damage inflicted by Willow had been severe. Since it was hardly the first time that someone had kicked that particular door in Spike had been forced to developed some degree of skill at fixing it, though he would have died, or at least turned to dust, if anyone saw him doing DIY like a common Xander.

        Spike stood back to examine his repair. The door wasn't exactly straight but at least it blocked up the entrance. He quickly put the tools back where they belonged, in a corner next to his collection of Buffy memorabilia; he refused to think of it as a shrine.

        Making his way back to the upper level Spike extracted a bottle of beer from the fridge and removed the cap on the edge of the tomb that occupied the center of the crypt. He was about to slump into his battered armchair when the crypt door trembled under a gentle knock. That startled the vampire more than if it had simply been knocked down again. With the daylight gone Spike was free to open the door and simply tell whoever it was to bugger off; he had been through quite enough during the day and he intended to spend the evening getting thoroughly plastered.

        Opening the door to find Willow on his doorstep his plan changed. He scrambled for the hole that led to the underground part of the crypt, he might be able to hide or collapse the entrance, "Spike don't be stupid!" The sound of Tara's voice brought Spike to a halt. Seeing Willow he hadn't registered that Tara was standing behind her.

        Willow knew that it was somewhat unfair but when she tried to figure out who they could use as a go between there was only one candidate she could bring herself to risk. However much Spike had tried to ingratiate himself, and however rotten she had been to him the vampire was still a monster held in check by a piece of government issue hardware. If Spike really wanted to prove he was on the side of the good guys this would be an excellent chance. The logic was sound, Willow still couldn’t help feeling bad about it. "Spike I'm not going to zap you." Willow promised.

        Spike watched her warily and glanced over at Tara who simply nodded to back up Willow's words. Spike remained uneasy since he had no idea what was going on; Tara was supposed to be missing and Willow, well Willow was behaving like Willow again. "So why are you here?"

        "We need your help." Was Tara's unsurprising answer.

        Spike already had his sarcastic laugh on standby and now he let it loose, "After what she did?" He pointed straight at Willow, "No bleeding chance."

        "Technically that wasn't me." Willow responded weakly.

        The comment didn't win Spike over; it did make him curious, "What are you talking about?"

        Willow looked to Tara; she was the one who had done the hard work so it was only fair that she tell the story. With a nod and a little smile Tara launched into her story.

        By the time Tara had finished Spike found his whole perspective on her had changed. She had always been Willow's tag along, someone to be respected out of consideration of what her girlfriend might do. Now Spike rather uneasily saw her as independent agent; another to add to that long list of people who could reduce him to a pile dust on any given day. In Tara's case probably a very neat pile. "You expect me to put myself right in the middle of this?" As cautious as he might of this pair Willow's alter ego sounded downright terrifying.

        "Well you kind of are involved," Willow pointed out, "since you're the only other person who knows the whole story right now."

        Spike began to wonder if he hadn't been conned; he wasn't going to give in that easily however, "You made everyone else forget, you can do the same for me."

        Tara nodded, "I suppose I could if you won't help us, then we would just have to fall back on Buffy."

        "Are you crazy?" Willow exploded and then looked sheepishly at Tara, "Sorry baby but she wouldn't last five seconds up against me, the other me, and the Fire will be watching her like a hawk."

        Willow was a little surprised when Spike backed her up, "Too bloody right it will, do your own dirty work."

        "We can't, we have to get the kind of help that can beat the Fire and until then we can't go near it." Tara's words had a ring of finality about them, this wasn't open to discussion.

        Spike stared straight at Tara. She knew, she knew how he felt about Buffy and she was calling his bluff. If he really felt anything for the Slayer he would help the witches, otherwise it was all posing. "Alright tell me what this suicide mission is."

2. "Fragment"

The other half of Willow Rosenberg had a pounding headache as she awoke. When she could focus her eyes she saw the cause; a small spring bubbling up and carrying a faint charge of elemental energy with it. She raised her hand and a bolt of flame struck the spring which disappeared in a cloud of steam. When that dispersed all that was left was a scorched divot in the grass.

        With the headache receding Willow tried to figure out what Tara had done to her. It took a few moments for the memory to crystallize. Tara had shot her with that demons weapon, had split her in two! Her reaction was incandescent rage, how dare the bitch? Willow would make her pay. As she was preparing to unleash a barrage of curses an odd thought cut through the tantrum, why bother? After all didn’t she feel clearer, more focused? And Tara had taken herself out of the equation by this act, she could hardly come after Willow and jeopardize her lesser half.

        The more she thought about it the more Willow liked it, Tara and her 'fragment' could go live whatever life they wanted and she was free to pursue her goals without that little voice whining in the back of her head. Perhaps instead of hunting Tara down she should get her a 'thank you' card.

       

        It would have been simple to teleport back to the dorm room but it was only a few minutes walk from the demolished chapel and Willow took the time to evaluate her surroundings; at roughly the same moment as her other self and Tara were flagging down a cab in the belief that she was hot on their trail. There weren't many people around, those there were Willow studied intently; as though looking at them for the first time. She found she could read them as she had Joyce Summers. It was a different power from Tara's, more akin to palm reading, reading the lines of what would be than how a person was feeling right now.

        What Willow got from her study was the clear sense of how ephemeral they were. Mayor Wilkins and Milner had untold numbers of people working for them, all conspiring at their own destruction. She needed to rise above this, make her mark on the world.

        The dorm room didn't exactly help with this new goal. Being ransacked three times in one day had left the room in a terrible state. The door was a ruin from the minions hacking through. There were also several burned areas courtesy of the same minions, or the pyres she had made of them anyway. Added to that was the lesser mess of discarded clothing and open drawers. It was well within her power to make all the damage good but Willow couldn't bring herself to do it. The dorm room was still just one tiny little room, not even truly hers; it simply wouldn't do.

        Willow pondered the alternatives for a moment and then settled on what seemed a reasonable course of action.



        The old mansion wasn't in much better condition than the dorm room in most respects. The remains of Acathla were long gone and even the remnants of Angel's later residence were few and far between. Still the place had a certain worn grandeur. Willow walked around and looked the place over. It seemed far more suitable, once a little work was done anyway.

        The broken glass from the French windows was littering the floor. Willow decided that was as good a place as any to start. She made a few passes with her hands and the glass leapt back into its frames. Some bits were completely gone and the remaining glass 'grew' to fill in the holes and erase the cracks. Willow brushed her fingertips over the woodwork that held the glass in place. The layer of dust seemed to melt away and leave polished, glossy wood.

        Willow stood back and examined her handiwork, rubbing a few traces of dust from her hands. Deciding that it met with her approval she decided to take her interior decorating to a larger scale. She squatted down and let her hands rest on the floor, ignoring the patina of grime and other things that had built up on it. Her eyes blazed with brilliant flame and a ring of energy moved out over the floor consuming the muck and decay as it went, returning the structure to a pristine condition.

        Having dealt with the interior Willow moved to the outside. She had no intention of cleaning it up; that would simply draw the wrong kind of attention. Willow was more concerned with home security. The items she had earlier taken from the Magic Box to put together a more powerful locator spell were now pressed into a different purpose. Willow moved around the perimeter of the property and made a series of holes into which she poured a mixture of the ingredients and a little of her own power before sealing them over again. That should keep away any door-to-door salesmen, permanently.

        Back inside the effect of the earlier magic was literally dazzling; the white walls almost glowed in themselves. The minimalist look might be fashionable in some circles but to Willow it just looked bare. Still that could be easily fixed, all it needed was a little shopping expedition.



        The office manager stared at the piles of boxes and bubble wrapped furniture still in a state of shock. Two and a half weeks before everything had been fine in the Milner corporation and then things had quite literally blown up. The destruction of the Foundation and the company CEO had left the company staggering. What had made matters worse was the fact that all the evidence pointed some sort of terrorist attack, that had pulled in the FBI who had started nosing into all aspects of the corporation, and that turned up large sums of money that had simply vanished.

        Of course that caught the attention of the IRS, and that had led to the closure of company offices all over the country and the impounding of all company property. To the office manager it seemed like some sort of curse had descended over the company. The woman shook her head, put the lights out, and locked the door.

        As soon as she was gone Willow materialized and began to search amongst the goods. There were several large screen TV's and displays, either used for presentations or simply as executive perks. There were also naturally an array of computers and plush office furniture. Browsing through it all Willow simply laid her hands on anything that took her fancy and it simply disappeared. It all seemed perfectly fair to her; indeed she suspected Milner might even approve of her recycling his organization.

       

        One corner of the empty mansion began to form into a plushly equipped office space, with flat screen monitors hanging from one wall and several computers servers lining up next to a chrome and glass office table.

        There was of course more to making a new life than a new place. What was the point in having bright new space if she wandered around in the same old clothes? That at least had been the logic behind trying on every outfit in the most expensive clothing store in Sunnydale. These were the places that once been the haunt of Cordelia Chase and her cronies; places that Willow hadn't dared enter. Now she ran the rather snobby assistants ragged.

        Willow experienced the urge to simply wave everything away as inadequate, but there several items she deeply coveted, and she had thought of a delicious way to pay for all of this.

        The female assistant had also experienced a serious degree of temptation; mostly to throw this irritating young woman onto the street. Only some unspoken survival instinct had prevented her from doing so.

        Now Willow approached the counter with armful of outfits and to the assistants great relief brandished a gold credit card. The assistant took and hastily glanced at the name embossed on it, "Thank you Miss, Ficus."

        "Oh you can call me Glory." Willow offered pleasantly. She had recalled the shopping bags at Glory's apartment and since Glory didn't seem like the sort to carry a lot of cash and the store was still standing that suggested she had some plastic. A little creative hacking and a little conjuration and voila; Glory got to pick up her tab.

        Dropping the bags back at the mansion Willow found her thoughts remained fixed on Glory. The 'goddess' would doubtless be looking to even up her earlier affronts. Glory might go after her other self, which was hardly any better and with if Glory was a goddess? Really and truly indestructible? It could become a long and bloody battle without any guarantee of a clear outcome.

        The more Willow thought about it the more it became clear that she needed to find some way to get Glory to back off; at least until Willow could gather the necessary resources to destroy the opposition. The problem with that was what do you get a mad goddess who has an unlimited line of credit as a peace offering?

3. "Facet"

A quiet evening was usually a cause for celebration with Giles. That his version of celebration was a good book and a small scotch was strictly his own affair. On this evening the Scotch was poured and definitely going to be drunk, the book however lay untouched and forgotten on the coffee table.

        The only reason this was a quiet evening was that no one in his little circle was talking, and that disturbed Giles greatly. When Buffy had drawn in 'outsiders' to help in her fight against the forces of darkness Giles had been more than dubious; it seemed reckless and a slap in the face to all the traditions of the Slayer. Of course as the 'slayerettes', Giles hated that term but had never come up with anything better, had proven their worth and it became clear that those traditions were more to do with maintaining the power and prestige of the Council than the welfare and success of the Slayer those considerations faded away.

        With Tara missing and Buffy and Willow having possibly come to a parting of the ways Giles was now left wondering if Buffy could fight this latest battle without her friends. It wasn’t simply a matter of Willow and Tara’s considerable talents; it was the powerful emotional support they had always given to Buffy and which she now clearly needed more than ever.

        The sight of the front door unceremoniously flying open and Spike walking didn't unduly surprise Giles, it annoyed him, it just didn't surprise him. "Could you kindly go and bother someone else tonight?" Giles asked wearily.

        "You weren't my choice of a fun night out either," Spike growled, "it's just the only I can get this rid of this. It’s buzzing round my head like a sodding bumble bee."

        The words and the way Spike was rubbing his temple sent a shudder of dread through Giles, if the chip was malfunctioning, well it was one more crisis they could live without. Fortunately there was an ax strategically placed next to the bookshelf and Giles made a grab for it, "I really feel you should leave Spike," he insisted, brandishing the weapon.

        Spike stared at the watcher and sighed, why is it always so bloody complicated? He feinted to one side and as Giles moved to block him Spike lunged and knocked the Watcher to the floor.

        Giles tried to writhe out of the vampires grasp but now the ax was turned against. Spike laid the handle of it across Giles chest to pin down his arms and managed to lay his hand on Giles forehead. Giles stopped struggling as the room was plunged into darkness.

        After a moment Giles realized the room was probably still brightly lit, he just wasn't seeing it at the moment. Willow was standing in the middle of the dark space and given what had just happened that didn't make him feel any better. "Hi Giles sorry about setting Spike on you, hope he didn't make to big a mess of it. I couldn't just phone or use telepathy because I could probably pick up telepathy and I'm pretty sure I could trace a phone call."

        Giles wanted to ask what she was talking about but had already deduced that this was some form of recording. Luckily Willow seemed to be aware of how confusing her message was, "Ok maybe I’d better try this again."

        As Willow filled in the details Giles found the memories that Tara had suppressed returning and confirming much of what Willow was telling him. The part about the use of Toth's staff left him uneasy, if they had extracted the better part of Willow what did that leave to restrain the Fire? "Anyway Giles we need someone who can help us make this right and we thought of the Circle of the Glade. I figure they sort of started this so they can help finish it. If you can find anything in the books that would help us find them that would be great. Speak to you soon." Willow looked a little pained at that last comment, but how did you sign off a telepathic telegram?

        Giles blinked and looked at the living room. The axe was casually leant against the coffee table and Spike was sat in the armchair and puffing on a cigarette which was making Giles eyes water, "Would you kindly put that out?"

        Spike responded by taking a long drag and blowing the smoke at Giles, "I've earned this, and if you expect me to take that back," he gestured at Giles forehead, "I'm going to finish it.”

        The buzzing sensation in Giles head quashed the question of what Spike was talking about. Giles shook his head and got to his feet. Trying to ignore the unwanted guest he turned his attention to the bookshelves. He pulled a couple of volumes on the history of witchcraft and placed them on the coffee table; not very accidentally knocking Spike's feet off it in the process.

        Spike stared at Giles as he worked, knowing it was putting Giles off his research and taking a small petty pleasure in that fact. Giles was thankful that the search didn't take too long, "Here, this is what that the girls need. It describes the rituals to contact the coven that Willow thinks could help."

        Spike looked at the book dubiously, "So that's it? You pick up a couple of books and it practically gives their phone number?"

        Giles didn't take the implied criticism well, "I simply have an extensive and comprehensive collection."

        "And you don't think that this was just too easy?" Spike asked again. Seeing that Giles wasn't listening Spike gave up, "Alright just give me the thing back."

        Moments later Giles was standing staring at Spike, "What do you want Spike?"

        "Just popped in for a social visit." The vampire announced, before snatching up the glass of scotch and swigging it down.



        Tara looked around the crypt, even the warm glow of the witch light they had conjured couldn't lend it any charm, "Do you suppose he ever cleans the place up?" she wondered out loud.

        "Well I think I kind of contributed to the mess." Willow pointed out. She remembered the whole of it, not to mention the pleasure she had taken from the sense of power.

        "I think that would count as redecorating." Tara countered.

        Willow smiled at her. It felt good just looking at Tara, which was one more thing to tick off her list. She knew she loved Tara, was concerned for her safety, and felt sorry about all the pain she had caused. So Willow still couldn't find what was missing; what had been taken by her alter ego.

        Tara guessed what Willow was thinking about, but wasn't sure she could help. She had been focused on separating Willow from the Fire and as far as she could see it had worked better than she hoped.

        The quiet reflection ended as Spike arrived back. He was in a foul mood, the buzzing in his head had gotten louder as he made his way back; an insistent reminder of the need to get home and give the witches the information they wanted without making any stops along the way. "Get this bleeding thing out of my head!" He growled.

        Willow stepped over to him without a word, there was no point in talking to him at the moment. She let the message flow back into her and absorbed the information that Giles had provided, "He found away to contact the circle. It sounds like what Lydia described in her diary."

        "Well that's good." Tara tried to convince herself that it was good, she was still ambivalent about dealing with the people who had interfered so heavily with her mother and grandmothers lives.

        Spike had experienced a moments relief when the buzzing left his brain. It had only been a moment; he couldn't truly relax until he got these two out of here, "If you haven't got some other way to make my life miserable would you mind going and leaving me in peace?"

        The pair shot him a look that made his knees go weak but he managed to stay upright. "I guess we should go." Tara announced, if Spike breathed he would have drawn a deep one. In that moment of distraction Tara put her hand to his forehead and he forgot what he had to be relieved about.



        The motel on the outskirts of town was a familiar battleground for the pair but not somewhere Willow had ever envisaged staying. At least she knew fear and disgust were still functioning emotions as well. They had managed to pick up a pen and some pieces of paper and Willow had drawn a rough version of the pentacle Giles had described as well as the list of ingredients. "This is all stuff we could find in the Magic Box."

        "If we could go to the Magic Box." Tara pointed out glumly.

        It was a problem and it wasn't as if they could send Spike on another errand, especially not to gather up actual ingredients. "I think we have to," Willow commented, "we need to look and see, make sure that we get the right things and we can improvise if we can't"

        Willow was earnest and Tara couldn't argue with the idea, "It's just its the one place I can imagine us running into the Fire. If she does something crazy..."

        "Then we would both be gone." Willow finished the thought quietly.

        The way Willow said it made Tara uneasy, "That's not going to happen honey, we're going to find a solution. We just have to figure out how to sneak into the Magic Box."

        Willow pondered that, the concealment glamour wasn't going to cut it with the Fire, that was going to take a whole new level of camouflage.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

Edited by: Sheridan at: 3/20/03 10:39:57 am

[Sheridan]

4. "Pieces"

Three generations of Summers women were sat around their home feeling miserable.

        Dawn had come back from the dorm room and managed to avoid her sister and mother to make it to her room. She had sat in front of her dressing table mirror and stared at herself. Her cheek had still been pink from where Willow had slapped it. When I tell Buffy about this. Dawn thought angrily and almost got up and went back downstairs.

        The only reason Dawn didn't was because she knew Buffy would do exactly what she imagined, go find Willow and confront her regardless of the consequences. Whatever happened then the friendship would be over, at best Willow and Buffy would never speak again at worst one of them wouldn't be around to speak again and Dawn had the uneasy feeling it would be Buffy.



        Downstairs Buffy's thoughts were running along similar lines. She had assumed that when Dawn came in and avoided her it was because her little sister blamed her what had happened with Willow. Why not? She blames me for everything else that goes wrong. Buffy knew that thought was unworthy even it was true. She was constantly on Dawn's back and she couldn't tell her why, couldn't share the burden with anyone else, especially not Dawn.

        Even so Buffy had also nursed the belief that they would as always find a way to defeat the baddie. Now that there wasn't really a 'they' anymore even that reassurance was taken from her.



        For Joyce the world was nightmarish. She kept seeing and feeling things that didn't make any sense. Her youngest daughter sometimes seemed to fade from existence and Joyce had moments when she couldn't remember anything about Dawn. Naturally that scared her. What was even spookier however was Willow. When she looked at Willow she saw the girl wreathed in flames, a fire that seemed to be trying to leap out and burn everything around her. There was something odd about the rest of them as well, as though a piece of them was missing or locked away, even Buffy wasn't immune from it. It was all too much, it had to be a symptom of her illness, it couldn't be real.



        In no mood for cooking Buffy settled for ordering a pizza for herself and Dawn. The prospect of melted cheese and sausage successfully drew Dawn from her room. The pair had barely settled down to eat when there was a gust of air and Willow materialized in the middle of the room.

        Buffy tensed and almost leapt into a combat stance. It took all the restraint she had not to and try and avoid turning this into another fight; assuming that wasn't what Willow had come looking for.

        Willow picked up the tension and decided to try and lower it, "I didn't come here to make trouble. I thought we should talk."

        Buffy wasn't entirely convinced by that, before she could reply Joyce spoke up from the sofa, "Willow you're very bright," she was squinting as if looking at Willow hurt her eyes.

        Willow cast her a look but managed to keep the annoyance out of her gaze. Still Joyce recoiled a little under the stare. Willow turned back to Buffy, "Maybe it would be better if we didn't talk in front of your mom."

        It almost sounded like an instruction; it did make sense though, "Mom maybe you could rest better upstairs. Dawn why don't you call Giles and Xander, maybe we should all be here for this." And having a referee or two wouldn't hurt.

        Dawn nodded and watched Willow uneasily as Buffy took Joyce upstairs. There was something different about Willow and Dawn wasn't sure precisely what. Her clothes were different for one thing but that wasn't it, there was something in the eyes that unsettled Dawn. "I didn't tell her about before, about what happened when I came over." It wasn't so much that Dawn wanted to make up with Willow as a sudden feeling of nervousness.

        "That was good of you Dawn." Again there was nothing to take offence at in Willow's voice but it set Dawn on edge regardless.



        As the others trooped into the Summers house Willow watched them intently, looking for any hint of guile or deception from them. They all seemed tense but otherwise totally oblivious to the reality of the situation. Joyce's reaction to her had come as a jolt, that somehow the sick woman had seen right through her was unnerving. Still she couldn't afford to react, there were bigger issues at stake.

        "So Buff what's up?" Xander was overcompensating with pep for his deep desire to be anywhere else right now. He was dreading being caught in the middle of another fight between his two best friends.

        On this occasion though Willow seemed to be trying to be on her best behavior, "I think I've made a mistake."

        That grabbed Buffy's attention, "What sort of mistake?" she didn't want to sound triumphant or anything, if Willow was coming round there was no point in pissing her off again.

        "I made a mistake with Glory," Willow explained, "I think she lied to me about Tara. Glory is connected to her disappearance.

        Buffy nearly fell off the chair she was sat on, "What makes you think that?"

        "I think Glory is getting desperate to find the Key. And that she's decided that we know more about it than we're telling." As she spoke Willow let her mind reach out and insinuate itself into the thoughts of everyone in the room, "She's identified Tara as some sort of weak link, or she thinks she can blackmail us into handing over the Key."

        The wave of anxiety that came over Buffy almost did away with the need for telepathic probing. Willow was flooded with a series of images. A man in a brown robe, battered and huddled against a wall, spilling his secrets with his last breath. The Key made into flesh, woven into the fabric of the world as it had always been there, as though she had always been there.

        It was everything that Willow had come looking for, and yet she was taken completely by surprise. Willow had been expecting to find out about some text or artifact that Giles had concealed in the Magic Box.

        The more Willow had thought about it the more she was convinced that Buffy and the others knew more about the Key than they were letting on, hence little charade to shake their secrets loose.

        "That seems quite a stretch of the facts Willow." Giles commented cautiously "What inspired this new interpretation?"

        Willow did her best to look contrite despite the almost overwhelming urge to hit him with a lightning bolt, "I just calmed down and began to think more about what Glory said, I realized I was just to upset to think straight before."

        Giles actually felt badly about interrogating her, "Well that's entirely understandable and we should certainly consider the theory. We should all be extra vigilant."

        Willow nodded, "I guess that's all we can do," she had to work hard to keep a suitably unhappy visage. Before anyone else could say anything she teleported out.

        Buffy stared at the empty space, despite all Willow's contrite tone she had the uneasy feeling that somehow things had just gotten worse not better.



        As she materialized in the mansion Willow kicked off her shoes. They were fashionable but not terribly comfortable. She dropped into the sofa and began to concentrate furiously. She was searching for the threads of the magic the monks had cast. She was nobody's puppet and she wasn't going to allow this deception to continue.

        In her anger she almost missed it, the magic was carefully hidden and subtle. Finding it Willow let her power tear into it, shattering the bonds. The universe lurched around Willow and she felt new memories flood in, or rather old ones, of a life in which she had never met Dawn Summers.

        The rage she had felt at being manipulated quickly faded from Willow's mind replaced by smug satisfaction. She had just obtained a huge piece of leverage. There was also a desire to tell someone about it, to have them appreciate her skill and cleverness. Perhaps she should go after Tara and bring her back after all.

        Willow shook the feeling off, Tara would be incapable of appreciating everything she had done and everything she was going to do. Her ex-lover had made her choice and if she preferred the simpering ordinariness of Willow's alter ego then that was her loss.

        The question that Willow decided to focus on was exactly what to do with her knowledge. She had the very thing that Glory was panting to know. Willow realized that really she had only half of what she needed, she had to know exactly what it was the Key opened and if it was something that she wanted to be opened. What was the point of controlling Sunnydale if Glory turned it into a hole in the ground?

5. "Remnants"

The motel was grimy but it could be a palace as far as Tara was concerned. She was entwined under the thin sheets with Willow and it felt right again, no more of sense of being hunted or manipulated there had been in the last few weeks. That brought Tara back to wondering if she had been selfish in what she had done by splitting Willow.

        It had been a hard thing to contemplate using the staff on Willow but Tara hadn’t seen any options. The truth was she had reached the end of her resources, she simply couldn't go any further on her own, without Willow to help her Tara simply didn't have the energy to go on. The plan had worked and they were together again, that alone made the effort worthwhile. Still she knew there was an appalling risk in all this; if the Fire did something stupid and got herself killed...

        Willow stirred in Tara's arms and woke, "Is it morning?" she yawned.

        "Has been for a while." Tara told her.

        That comment snapped Willow awake, "You should have woken me, we have stuff to do."

        Tara kept Willow in her arms, "Yes we do but we have plenty of time."

        Willow settled back, "If your sure."

        "I'm sure." Tara said and kissed her. She wasn't looking for sexual gratification, she just needed to feel Willow's closeness right now, Willow's idea for improving on the concealment glamour was more than a little scary.

        Willow felt the same need, "This is so good, I've missed it," she looked at Tara, "everything was so different, so clear."

        "Clear?" Tara wondered.

        "No doubts, no worries, so crystal clear that I could do everything I wanted and there was no reason not to." Willows voice was tremulous and a little awed at the same time.

        Tara didn't know what to say. She had seen it happening when Willow absorbed the Fire and it had troubled her even though she had tried to believe that it would work out, that Willow would tame it, "Don't think about it, we're going to make it right."



        The street outside the Magic Box was fairly busy and Willow had to concentrate on dodging around people since they were oblivious to her presence. As they reached the door Willow and Tara stopped and waited until someone walked into the store. Tara was closest so she quickly followed behind. Willow waited for the next customer, unfortunately as the man opened the door a woman was coming out and he decided to be courteous.

        As the woman collided with Willow she felt an odd pins and needles sensation. The woman didn't simply strike her; she passed right through Willow, molecule by molecule. It was hardly a pleasant sensation but it wasn't painful.

        The idea of being out of phase with reality was something Willow had seen in any number of 'Star Trek' episodes. It had always been in the back of her mind whether you could really do it with a little magic and somewhere in the time she had been sharing her head with the Fire a way of doing it had crystallized. The big drawback was that interacting with objects was difficult. In theory she and Tara could simply walk through walls but a quick experiment had told them it was just too disturbing to do unless absolutely necessary.

        Willow recovered from the shock of the woman passing through her in time to follow the man in to the store, "Are you ok honey?" Tara mouthed, and then realizing that was stupid and said it quite clearly.

        "I'm fine, it was just too weird." Willow admitted.

        "Do we need anything from downstairs?" Tara asked.

        Willow shook her head, "We shouldn't; unless someone has been emptying out jars again."

        Tara just smiled. She had explained about how she had stopped Willow from concocting her new locator spell and Willow's reaction had been mock outrage at the magical vandalism, then she broke down and laughed about it.

        Anya was suffering from the uncomfortable sensation of someone watching over her shoulder. It was worse since she was at the till; it felt like someone was planning to take the money, or expected her to take the money. Either way it was very disturbing and after recent experiences she felt the powerful desire to count the cash twice just to be safe.

        Tara waited for Anya to walk away so she could get at the shelf behind the till. She felt bad about imposing on Anya once again even if Anya didn't know how much she had been imposed upon. Of course sooner or later she would know and Tara suspected she would on the receiving end of a tongue lashing.

        There was a display of colored vials on one shelf that could be bought by those who were inclined to color code their potions; Tara knew that only the desire not appear obsessive had prevented Willow from buying a selection. Now they had both taken a few to put the ingredients they needed into. Tara reached out for a jar on the shelf and closed her hand around it. A little practice had revealed that they could pull small objects into their phase; anything too big pulled the other way so driving or even opening doors was out of the question.

        As Tara was decanting some of the liquid from the jar into the vial she spotted something out of the corner of her eye; a blurry thing moving across the shop floor for just a moment. Tara wasn't quite sure what it was, or whether it was really there; could the spell be having side effects?

        Willow was waiting for the opportunity to take a couple of small candles, their flame was the ideal way to blend the ingredients for the potion. Almost at the same moment as Tara Willow became aware of the moving shape. She turned to get a good look and found it remained blurry. It was simply a tall, thin, pale blob. As Willow watched something extended from it towards her. Willow wasn't taking any chances, she summoned a barrier and the 'whatever' snapped back as though it had been stung.

        Even though the blur had been taken by surprise it didn't appear inclined to just go away. It moved around, trying to evade the barrier and get to Willow. There was no way Willow was going to just stand here all day being hemmed in by this thing. When it started to press hard on the barrier Willow didn't need any further prompting. She let the barrier go and let loose with an energy bolt. The thing dodged and the bolt traveled on, passing clean through a wall and probably heading out into space.

        Willow had missed but the whatever it was hadn't even noticed Tara, she let fly and caught it in, well what Tara decided to think of as its back. Whatever the thing was it wasn't about to fight a battle on two front. It threw itself to the left and ghosted through the shop window without leaving a scratch.

        Tara walked over to Willow, "Do you have any idea what it was?"

        Willow shook her head, "Maybe just something else that lives out of phase."

        "Or it could have been from the other you, or maybe Glory." Tara suggested anxiously.

        Willow did her best to be reassuring, "If it was the other me I don't think it would have given up so easily. And if it was Glory, well then she's barking up the wrong tree and the Key is safe. Wouldn't hurt though to get what we're after and get out of here as quickly as possible."

        Tara wasn't going to argue with that sentiment, whatever the blur was they could worry about it later.



        Back at the motel the couple shifted back into synch with the rest of the world, the only sensation was a faint shiver as they made the transition, "That is too weird." Willow murmured.

        Tara nodded, "I think I like the concealment glamour better."

        "But a locator spell could find you through the glamour." Willow reminded her, she was glad of the spell, even if it was more than a little spooky.

        Inside the motel room Willow was glad to see that nothing had been disturbed, the places track record on cleanliness was being maintained. They had worked on the pentacle before they left for the store. Willow had demonstrated a 'MacGyver' streak by improvising a way of measuring out the angles and ensuring the shape was perfect. They had left off a couple of symbols as a precaution against the thing being somehow accidentally triggered.

        "I wonder what the Circle will be like, I mean maybe they will just throw us out." Willow was feeling increasingly nervous as they worked.

        "I'm not going to let them, they owe me, they owe us." Tara responded firmly.

        Willow had been so worried about fighting her alter ego that she hadn't really thought about Tara's feelings towards the Circle, "We have to be careful baby, they may be the only ones who can help us."

        "I know Will, but there are a lot of questions I have and there may never be another chance to ask them." Tara let the pain spill out.

        Willow took her hand, "Then we won't leave until we get the answers."

        With the potion in hand the couple stepped into the completed pentacle. They each placed a hand on the cup and tipped it over onto the floor. There was a blinding pulse of light and then they were elsewhere.

        Up to that point it all fitted in with what Lydia had written about. The problem began when the light faded, there was no witch waiting to talk to them and they weren't in the motel room anymore, the were standing in the middle of what might have been a demolition site.

        "Did we get the mixture right?" Tara asked as Willow gingerly stepped over the broken glass and rubble that littered the ground.

        "I'm sure we did." Willow didn't sound sure.

        Tara looked around, it was a disaster area as far as the eye could see, "Where the heck are we?"

        Willow turned over a warped piece of metal and revealed faded, scorched, writing; 'Welcome to Sunnydale'.

6. "Fracture"

The thin charred stripes down the walls were a source of speculation for the crew working to erase them. They were unlike anything any of them had ever seen, which was quite a statement for people who had worked all over Sunnydale removing slime and patching any amount of bizarre damage.

        By the time lunch rolled around the crew were glad to get away, the woman who had hired them was a looker but clearly some sort of loony. The teams electrician was the unlucky one she intercepted before he could reach the door. His colleagues cast some sympathetic glances in his direction, they didn't however consider waiting for him.

        As the door slammed shut Glory interrogated the electrician, "So how long is this going to take?"

        "Well you have to understand ma'am that we still need to find out what did the damage here, I mean those burns could mean you need all your wiring redone." Probably not but why deny the chance to pad the bill a little?

        Since Glory knew precisely what had caused the marks she saw right through that ploy and she wasn't going to take any mortals attempt to steal from her lightly.

        A loud call summoned the minions from Ben's bedroom where they had been crammed in. The electrician was sat cross legged on the floor stroking the burn marks on the wall and burbling, "Get that out of here, I think even his buddies might notice the change."

        The minions said nothing and simply organized the removal of the electrician, it was this sort of behavior that had made getting the flat decorated so difficult in the first place. As they were dragging the unfortunate electrician towards the doorway their progress was barred by rush of wind and the appearance of Willow Rosenberg.



        Willow had decided to sleep on things before proceeding further and after raiding an antique furniture store for a four poster bed she had slid into a dreamless sleep. In the morning in had been perfectly clear that there was only one way to answer all the question and that meant a face to face with Glory again.

        The sight of Willow in her apartment again enraged Glory, "I thought it was clear that you aren't welcome here."

        "Well then its just as well this isn't a social visit." Willow couldn't help putting a sarcastic spin on her words.

        "Actually now I think about it I'm glad your back. Because I owe your ass a kicking!" Glory snapped out the words and gestured to the minions who moved to encircle Willow. None of them seemed keen to actually close in and engage the witch.

        Their hesitation didn't persuade Willow to go easy on them. The one directly in front of Willow rose into the air and began to spin in place like a propeller blade before flying away and ricocheting off the walls and ceiling. The minion came to rest in a mangled heap at Glory's feet. A pair of the minions lunged at Willow and she moved her hands conjuring up a circle of darkness that simply swallowed the pair up and disappeared.

        Glory took in this repeat of the last encounter and decided to do something about it. With lightning speed she crossed to Willow and lashed out with her right fist. Two of Willow's ribs began to shatter under the impact. Pure instinct drew energy into her chest, pulling the pieces back and knitting them together before any damage was done. The pain was another matter.

        Willow staggered back and a minion locked its hands around one of her wrists. The creature vanished in a cloud of ash and Willow swung the hand up; delivering a bolt of energy to Glory's chest that should have drilled straight through her. Instead the bolt ricocheted and vaporized one of the windows. "That the best you got bitch?" Glory taunted.

        Even though she was here to talk Willow couldn't let that pass. She summoned a wall of force that moved towards Glory and wrapped around her. At a command it began to constrict, "Not hardly, I can keep this up all day, or we could just talk politely, up to you."

        Even to Glory the pressure was almost unbearable and she wasn't sure how long she could retain control of her form. If Ben reappeared and the magic didn't work on the witch then she was in deep trouble. That didn't mean however that the mad god was simply going to give in; she focused and pushed back. The barrier shattered with a flare of light, "And why would I want to talk to you?"

        Willow appeared to genuinely consider that, "Well on the one hand if we keep this up I'll kill all your little helpers, level this place, and oh yeah go back to my place and cancel all your credit cards. On the other hand if you talk to me maybe I'll get you one thing you can't buy in any shop."

        Glory was planning another attack but hesitated and frowned, "What are you talking about?"

        Obviously so hard to hurt because of her incredible density Willow decided, "I mean the Key what else?"

        Before Glory could lunge at her again Willow raised a barrier to buy some breathing room, "If you keep this up I'm going to leave and we'll see how long it takes you to find it without me." Willow was sure that there was a big chunk of desperation mixed in with Glory's psychosis. Willow was betting that the god was working to a schedule.

        Glory knew she didn't have long to get the Key, that didn't mean she was thrilled about haggling with a mortal, "What exactly is it you want from me?"

        "How about you tell me what the Key does for a start?" Willow leant against the wall and tried to look casual as Glory tried to make up her mind, "At worst all you've done is save me a couple of weeks of research. At best you've practically got the Key in your hands."

        That was enough to overcome Glory's reluctance, "I could just lie to you."

        "Oh I'll just have to trust you." And you're too dumb to be a good liar. Willow neglected to add.

        Glory took a seat, posing on it as if perched on a throne, "The Key is what it sounds like. It can open up a doorway between realities."

        Willow wasn't overly impressed, "It's hardly the only way of doing that."

        "It is for where I want to go." Glory stated bluntly, "It's the only way home because it just doesn't open up a way to one dimension, it will connect this world to all of them at once.

        That did impress Willow, the power contained in the Key must be enormous. She tried to focus on the problem at hand, "That would let all those realities pour into this one, I don't see a lot of incentive to help here."

        Glory tossed her head impatiently, "Once I'm gone you can toss the key into the opening. That'll destroy it and close the doorway."

        Willow waited for Glory to continue, "That's it? That's all there is to it?" she demanded when it was clear that Glory wasn't going to.

        Glory didn't take implied criticism well, "Look witchy it's all I want, just out of this stinking vermin ridden reality."

        She was so earnest that Willow had to believe her, "Ok, ok, I buy it. I don't see why you shouldn't have your Key."

        Now Glory was dubious, "Just like that? You're just going to hand it over?"

        "Not just like that, I'm not stupid enough to just trust you. But I will get you the Key." Willow mad it sound matter of fact.

        Glory still wasn't wholly convinced, "And your little Slayer friend, she's just going to roll over and play dead for this?"

        Now a smile spread across Willow's face, "You just let me worry about Buffy." Willow straightened up and teleported out.

        The minion stared at the spot where Willow had been standing before turning to Glory, "Your magnificence can you really trust a human?"

        Glory could simply have killed the creature for its insolence; instead she simply smiled, "Don't have to trust, just have to wait and see. And if she tries to screw me I'll make her regret her whole existence."



        Back at the mansion Willow let her guard down and decided to break a couple of glass objects. It beggared belief that Buffy was prepared to risk all their lives and unleash chaos just for the sake of an illusion.

        Willow tried to restrain her temper, Buffy might not know the whole truth, she could be kind of a blonde sometimes. Either way Willow wasn't inclined to hang around, the sooner Glory was gone the sooner she could start making plans to clear out the rest of the garbage in this town. Willow was going to make it a safe place to live if it killed everyone else in it.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

[Sheridan]

7. "Leftovers"

"Baby I think your grandmother left a few things out of her diary." Willow commented. She had dropped the sign where she found it and begun to look over the rest of the ruins for some clue.

        Tara was too bemused to follow her lead, "I don't think so, this is something else altogether. Maybe we did the ritual wrong, or maybe, maybe they dumped us here."

        Willow frowned at that; if the Circle didn't want to see them that was one thing, dumping them in this place was just plain cruel. There was what appeared to be a newspaper trapped amongst some broken bricks. She pulled it out and examined the headline, "That's weird."

        Tara knew Willow wasn't being deliberately obtuse but it was irritating, "What is?"

        Willow started, "Oh sorry baby, this is weird," she held up the newspaper so Tara could read the headline:



"SOVIETS RUN BLOCKADE

ACTION IMMINENT!"



        The date on the paper was October 1962, "I don't remember anything like that from history class." Tara commented.

        Willow shook her head, "It didn't happen, I mean if it had it would have been the end of the world."

        That resonated with Tara who began to search for more newspapers. She found one stuck in the rusted remains of a dispenser, "This one is from nineteen seventy nine, it says, 'missiles fail, meteor strike imminent'."

        "This one is from the fifties, something about the earth being knocked off its axis by A-bomb tests." Willow commented, "Its all apocalyptic, like the last paper ever printed," her voice echoed in the silence of the place.

        Tara felt equally unsettled, "The buildings over there don't seem as wrecked, maybe we should go that way," There didn't seem to be any real purpose to it; it just seemed better than standing there.



        The continuing silence nagged at Tara, it oppressed the desire to speak all by itself but there was also the sense of familiarity. It reminded her of the dream she had when she was in the basement of the Magic Box. There was that identical sense of desolation about the place. Was it some sort of warning to stay away? If so she would have much preferred a simple 'keep out' sign.

        Willow was working on her self inventory again; trying to tick off items on a list of personality traits to figure out what was missing and still getting nowhere. She knew she was starting to obsess over it and it didn't really matter. In the end she would either get it back or she wouldn't have to worry about anything again.

        As they walked Tara felt like the place was growing more familiar, less of a jumbled ruin and more of a place. There was a part of the town that was sitting under a gloomy shadow. Tara looked up to see if there were any clouds but the sky was clear, it was simply an area the sunlight seemed to be avoiding.

        "I think that's the High School." Willow's statement startled Tara. The high school actually looked decidedly better than the last time she had seen. It appeared to be largely intact although one wall of the library was missing. As she watched Tara saw something dark and hideous slink in the opening and vanish, "And the Hellmouth is open." Tara pointed out.

        "Then we're not going that way." It wasn't something that needed to be discussed, Willow had gotten enough glimpses into the gateway to hell to give it a wide berth. Every time someone had opened the thing the gang had closed it, by the skin of their teeth but they had always won even though the odds were against them. Wherever she and Tara were now it was clear the odds had worked the other way.



        Turning away from the demon infested high school Willow spotted something scrawled on a wall. It wasn't the usual sort of graffiti tag, it was more like some sort of protest. There was a red circle with a bar across it and the image of a dead black tree painted beneath it. "What kind of tree is that?" she was just wondering out loud.

        "I think it's a willow." Tara said quietly.

        Willow gave her a sharp look, "That isn't funny."

        "I'm sorry honey but it really does look like one, with the drooping branches." Tara didn't want to say it but she felt compelled.

        "Maybe they just didn't like trees." Willow suggested with a weak smile.

        Tara nodded although the message of the graffiti seemed clear; 'stop Willow'.

        Impatient to get away from the unsettling scrawl Willow spotted something in the distance, "Up there, on the hill, there's something shiny catching the light.”

        As Willow started towards it Tara grabbed her arm, "Lets leave it alone."

        Willow could see that Tara was on the brink of freaking out. That forced Willow to calm down, "This is all pretty spooky but I don't see how whatever's over there could be freakier than that," she waved at the emblem on the wall.

        Tara knew that wasn't true and rather painfully explained about her dream. Willow didn't like any part of it and especially not the image of her as the last person on earth. She looked again at the graffiti and the distant hillside, "So we are definitely not going there," she turned and marched off in the other direction.

        "Where are we going?" Tara asked.

        Willow wasn't actually sure but she quickly came up with a plan, "The dorm room, it must be here somewhere." With this place becoming increasingly personalized Willow was pretty sure of it.

        Tara was willing to go along with that plan, even though she doubted the were going to find anything very homey there.



        The quad outside the dorm was almost normal. There was no rubble, no broken windows, no strewn garbage. It was only when they looked closely at the shadows on the ground and walls that it began to take on a sinister air. Tara had seen pictures from Hiroshima, the shadows of the people who had been vaporized burned in to stone and concrete. This was similar but instead of black these shadow prints were the rust brown of dried blood.

        Something had passed through this place and everyone in it had simply died where they stood, without even knowing what had happened; or at least Tara hoped they hadn't known.

        Willow was staring at a group of overlapping images next to the door of the dorm. Her fingers were hovering over them. She was caught between a desire to touch them to be sure that were what they appeared to be and a horror of contact with them if they were.

        "Maybe we should just go inside." Tara suggested softly. Willow simply nodded and followed behind her.

        The walls of the dorm room were painted with arcane symbols in that now all too familiar rust brown. Tara tried to look beyond that at the details of the room. Much of it was familiar and there was no mistaking it was their room. There things that didn't fit though. A poster for a band Tara had never heard of hung on the back of the door. A souvenir snow globe for someplace they had never visited sat on a bedside table. Not quite home, Tara decided.

        Willow had spotted a open book lying on a bed, and she realized with a start that there were two singles, exactly the way the room had been when they moved in. The book turned out to be a diary and Willow recognized her own handwriting.

“After so long we were sure we

were safe, no one was going to

come for us, no one suspected

we were anything other than

roommates. Now Tara is gone

and they'll come for me soon,

they claim it's the will of god,

that our love and our magic are

unholy and perverse. Well if

they're so big on the Bible I'll

show them a piece of the Old

                                Testament."

        Willow dropped the diary and turned to see Tara studying the writing on the walls. Without thinking Willow loosed an energy bolt that burned off a big patch of the symbols. Tara almost jumped out of her skin, "We shouldn't know that spell, no one should," Willow muttered harshly, "It calls the angel of death only this time there weren't any marks on the doors and it just took everyone."

        Tara could see that Willow was upset but when she moved to console her Willow shook it off and stared at the ceiling, "I've had enough!" she shouted, "If you don't want to talk to us then don't. But I'm not moving one step further in this freak show!" There was no doubt who she was directing her words to and it appeared someone was listening.

        A flash of light blinded Tara for a moment and when she could see again she was alone. Now she began to shout, "Wherever she goes I go! Do you understand; we're in this together, whatever happens we're together!" The light engulfed Tara and the room was left empty once more.

8. "Gaps"

For a few briefs moments Buffy felt relaxed. She had run a bath, added some herbal stuff she had gotten from the Magic Box and taken her brain off the hook so to speak; allowing herself to be hypnotized by the wiggling iridescence of the bubbles and soothed by the almost too warm water.

        The sound of the front door slamming jarred Buffy out of her mood, "Buffy!" Dawn's voice echoed up the stairs.

        Buffy groaned out loud, "Just one hour, that was all I asked for," she wasn't directing her complaint to any particular deity, just the universe in general.

        Pulling on a bathrobe Buffy stomped downstairs and found Dawn in the kitchen drinking out of a carton of orange juice, "Would it kill you to use a glass?"

        Dawn just shrugged and put it back in the fridge, "I was too thirsty."

        "What are you doing home? I thought you had some sort of after school; thing?" Buffy couldn't recall exactly what it was but there definitely was a thing.

        "I didn't feel like it." Dawn failed miserably to explain.

        Buffy decided to ignore the insolence, "You should have called me, if anything had happened I wouldn't have known for an hour."

        Dawn was unmoved, "I'm here now. I wanted to know if there's any news about Tara."

        In fact Buffy hadn't even thought about Tara this afternoon. She felt a little guilty about that but not much; regardless of Willow's theory Buffy was sure that Tara was wherever she wanted to be right now. "There hasn't been any news, I don't think there will be unless, until she decides to call."

        "But what if something's happened to her?" Dawn demanded, "She could be lying in a hospital, or a ditch."

        "I think Willow would have found that out by now." Buffy reminded her calmly.

        "If Willow was thinking straight." Dawn countered.

        That was a point Buffy couldn't answer. Willow clearly hadn't been thinking straight for a while, and that was probably why Tara had gone in the first place, "It isn't really our problem," was all Buffy could offer by way of a response.

        That didn't go down well, "It's not our problem? Their our friends."

        "But it's not our relationship, it's up to them to sort it out." Buffy wasn't keen on continuing this conversation, at least in part because she wanted to go and get dressed.



        There was no respite for Buffy as with a chilling blast of air Willow materialized in the living room, "We need to talk, and alone would be good," she announced before dropping into an armchair.

        "Does anybody mind if I put some clothes on first?" Buffy asked plaintively.

        Willow nodded, "Works for me, we can go for a walk."

        There was something unnerving in Willow's tone, like she was talking to a crazy person and trying to keep them calm. Buffy shrugged it off and went to try and reclaim some dignity with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.



        Dawn had retreated back to the kitchen when Buffy went upstairs, apparently unwilling to irritate Willow with her questions about Tara. That just made Buffy more acutely aware of how bad things were. Willow however wasn't giving her the chance to raise her concerns. As soon as she squeezed into her boots Willow made for the front door and Buffy had no choice but to follow.

        "I think I have a solution to our problem." Willow's opening did nothing to clarify things for Buffy.

        "If we're talking about Tara then I'm sorry Will but you're right, this isn't something I should stick my nose in." Buffy didn't want to sound cold hearted but Willow had pretty much run her through a rollercoaster the last couple of days, she simply didn't have the energy for any more.

        Willow seemed a little lost for a second, "No we're not talking about Tara, I've accepted that she's made her choice and she has to live with, her decision."

        Buffy caught the momentary hesitation; had Tara run off with someone else? Buffy tried to imagine Tara with someone other than Willow and failed, it was just inconceivable. Somewhere in the back of her mind a wild idea formed; that if Tara would only run away with Willow then this wasn't Willow Buffy was talking to. Tara's hex however kept it from reaching Buffy's consciousness.

        Willow had allowed a dramatic pause to let her statement to sink before she went on, "Actually I was thinking about our Glory problem, how to get rid of her."

        Now Buffy's interest was piqued, "You've figured out a way to kick her ass?"

        Willow smiled a little indulgently, "Buffy you tried to beat her up and I hit her with all the power I could muster. We didn't even chip her nail polish. I don't think there's any way to 'kick her ass'."

        Buffy's eagerness cooled, "So what is the answer?"

        "It's simple," Willow explained brightly, "we give her the Key."

        Buffy came to a stumbling halt in the street, "You can't be serious. We don't know what she wants it for or how dangerous it could be."

        Willow let her run through the same old argument, "Buffy could you do me a favor?"

        "What?" Buffy replied cautiously.

        "Just cut the crap. We both know where the Key is, who it is, and why you want to protect it." Willow's voice was harsh, there was no room to coddle Buffy any further.

        Buffy felt as though the entire world were crumbling around her, "How do you..? Wait a second if you know how can you even think of turning her over?" Anger began to bubble up as she spoke.

        Willow shook her head pityingly, "Because I remember the truth now. There's no such person as Dawn Summer's. She's a hallucination conjured by a bunch of fanatics to trick you into protecting it."

        The same thoughts had crossed Buffy's mind on more than one occasion; usually when Dawn was being especially annoying. She had rejected them then and she rejected them now, "No, however she was created Dawn is real, she's my sister. Even if she wasn't I wouldn't turn an innocent person over to a demon."

        Willow looked at her sadly, "I hoped I could snap you out of this delusion and get you to see sense. Guess that was just me being an optimist."

        Buffy's Slayer instincts warned her what was coming. She moved to strike Willow in the face. Her hand stopped an inch from Willow's jaw and the witch gestured with her hands. Buffy flew through the air and slammed backwards into a tree. She slid to the ground barely conscious.

        Willow spread her hands apart and a ribbon of energy flew out and wrapped itself around Buffy binding her to the tree trunk. Willow strode over and crouched next to Buffy. She slapped the Slayers face to get her attention, "Listen to me Buffy. I'm not going to let you sacrifice this town for a phony human being. If you try and get in the way I will kill you and anyone you bring with you. Do you hear me?" her voice was ferocious.

Buffy nodded; she had no intention of just giving up but right now she was in no condition to interfere.

        Willow guessed that and decided to undermine Buffy's resistance, "If on the other hand you stay out of my way maybe I'll figure out a way to save your mom, I mean she is dying, you do know that right?"

        Buffy froze at that comment, it had to be a lie but Willow offered it so matter of factly that Buffy couldn't convince herself. Willow decided that would do for now, a confused Slayer wasn't a threat to anyone.



        Dawn had pulled out her homework in a effort to distract herself, proof of how desperate she was to take her mind off of everything. It simply wasn't fair of Buffy and Willow to cut her out of everything. She had as much right to know what was going on as any of the others. More maybe, after all she was the Slayer's blood kin and that had to count for something didn't it?

        Unable to concentrate Dawn put the books back down and sighed. Her entire life had turned into a disaster and no one would explain anything to her. Buffy treated her like she was made out of glass, Tara was missing, and Willow, Willow was being more than a little strange.

        The thought seemed to act as a call because Willow simply materialized in the middle of it. "Willow where's Buffy?"

        "Semi-conscious and tied to a tree." Willow explained with disconcerting honesty.

        Dawn was going to ask what really happened when it struck her that Willow was deadly serious, "What's going on Willow?"

        "Well Dawnie you've always wanted to be more involved and here's your chance." As Willow moved towards her Dawn backed away, "Don't be tiresome Dawn. Just come over here, I mean you don't want to disturb your mom do you?"

        Dawn wasn't sure if it was a threat or not but she stepped over to Willow. The witch held her uncomfortably close and the world dissolved around them.



        As the world reformed Dawn staggered away from Willow in a state of confusion. It was the first time she had ever teleported and it was incredibly cool. On the other hand Willow had just abducted her from her home and brought her; Dawn realized that she had no idea where she was. It certainly wasn't the dorm room; that could have comfortably fitted into a small corner of this place. It was bright and airy and filled with expensive looking furniture. Dawn was tempted ask about it but she had to keep her priorities straight, "Why did you bring me here? What do you want from me?"

        Willow looked Dawn up and down in a manner that made Dawn extremely uncomfortable, "I really don't think you have anything I would want."

        Dawn blinked, "Who are you?" Now it was Willow who was confused and Dawn pressed the question, "Who are you? You aren't Willow because she would never ever say something like that; she would never look like that."

        "If it makes you feel better to think that go right ahead." Willow growled.

        Dawn wasn't going to be deflected, "I don't think it, I know you're not Willow, that's why Tara went away, she went to find the real Willow!" Dawn's voice was excited as she put her theory together.

        Willow advanced towards her with energy crackling across her fingers, "Listen you little halfwit I'm more Willow Rosenberg than she ever was!" She was on the point of zapping Dawn when she realized that would screw up her plan, "Just sit down and shut up if you want to stay in one piece."

        Choosing a comfortable sofa Dawn decided to obey but she couldn't keep a smile off her face. Willow and Tara were out there somewhere and probably planning how to take this fake out right now. The smile faded as it occurred to Dawn that she might be the only one who knew the truth. The others might think this was really Willow and that she wouldn't really hurt them. Dawn was absolutely sure that this imposter had no conscience and no pity; if Buffy and the gang tried a rescue they would be in big trouble.

9. "Jigsaw"

When Tara could see again she discovered she was still alone, though definitely someplace else. The room she was in appeared to be a castle tower of some sort. The shape was cylindrical and the walls of cut stone blocks stretched up so far she couldn't see the roof.

        It could have been quite forbidding except the lines were broken up with brightly colored banners and tapestries and the arch shaped windows were filled with a diamond pattern of stained glass that covered the floor with a kaleidoscope of light. There were throw pillows and a selection of different comfortable chairs scattered around the room. A line of three steps ran across the rear third of the room creating a raised platform on which was set a large high backed chair. Behind the chair was a large oak door without a lock or a handle and Tara ignored the opportunity to make herself comfortable and simply stood with her gaze fixed on the door.

        Whether someone took the hint or they simply turned up Tara wasn't sure but a woman walked in wearing a bright green satin dress and a smile on her face. Tara studied the woman and felt a sense of recognition.

        "We haven't met but you have read about me." The woman explained; picking up on the puzzled look on Tara's face.

        Uncertainty gave way to anger, "You, you were the one who made grandmother choose; you stopped her from saving my mom!" Only her voice echoing off the walls made Tara realize she was shouting.

        The woman looked pained, "Tara you have to understand."

        Tara cut her off, "No I don't, I don't have to understand just so you will feel better."

        The woman sat in the large chair but looked far from comfortable, "Tara I am sorry. Sorry about manipulating Lydia and that we chose to abandon your mother."

        Tara was still angry but unsettled by the woman’s apparent sincerity, and she had a sudden hunch, “You did more to Lydia than just stop her from saving mom."

        "I'm afraid so. It's ironic that her belief that we refused to intervene and interfere was the result of that very intervention. We pushed her out so she would set off down a different path." The woman seemed increasingly sad as she spoke.

        Tara didn't care about that at the moment, she just wanted the one thing the woman hadn't offered her, "Why? Why did you hate my family so much?"

        The woman almost sprang from her chair, somehow she managed to retain her composure, "We never hated you. Tara you understand we have the power to see the future, to see what is possible?" Tara hadn't really been clear on that but she nodded to encourage the woman to go on, "We have to make choices, decide whether to interfere, decided who will win and who will lose because there are no perfect solutions. We chose to drive out Lydia and abandon Ellie so that you would go, so that the one best chance for the world would be created."

        It was a lot for Tara too take but she grasped what the woman was talking about, "You mean LJ, this is about my daughter, mine and Willow's."

        Now the woman looked almost elated, "She is the golden possibility, the champion who can fight the darkness." The woman blushed, "I'm sorry about, it does sound a little ominous. I promise you though LJ will have a good life. I also promise you that this life you are living is the best that anyone could have offered you, it's everything your mother and grandmother could have wished for you, happy, loved, a place in the sun. I know that doesn't excuse what we did; we simply didn't have a choice."

        Tara wanted to stay mad at the woman, rail at her for everything she had done. And yet there was something about her, something that spoke of a person carrying a terrible weight, "Even if I accept what your saying, even if you were trying to protect the future in someway. That doesn't explain about what we just experienced, the place and the dream I had."

        "The dream was to brace you for what was to come. World's end? Well that wasn't about you, you were simply along for the ride so to speak. That was all about Willow." The woman was edgy, afraid of another outburst of anger from Tara.

        Instead Tara spoke softly, "You didn't have to do that to her, she's suffered enough."

        The woman shook her head, "I'm afraid that's not quite true."



        When Willow could see again she discovered she was still alone, though definitely someplace else. The room she was in appeared to be a castle tower of some sort. The shape was cylindrical and the walls of cut stone blocks stretched up so far she couldn't see the roof.

        The effect was gloomy an forbidding; reinforced by the dull light coming in through the empty window arches. The only break in the gloomy surroundings were a high backed chair set on a broad platform at one end of the room and a heavy wooden door set behind it.

        Willow watched the door shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She was desperately restraining the impulse to pace up and down or hammer on the door; she didn't want them to see how agitated she was.

        After a time that could have been a few minutes or a few hours The door creaked open and a woman walked in clad in a black dress that reminded Willow of a judges robes and wearing a somber expression.

        Something about the woman struck a cord with Willow, "You're the woman Lydia described in the diary. Who are you? What have you done with Tara?"

        The woman sat in the large chair and studied Willow before making a reply, “Those aren't the questions you should be worrying about. What was that place we were in? Why have you brought me here? What are you going to do to me? Those are the questions you should be worrying about."

        Willow didn't really want to think about any of those and when the woman saw she wasn't going to respond she simply provided the answers anyway, "Well in reverse order; it really depends on your response to the first two questions. You're here so we can explore some issues and decide whether to help you against the Fire. As to the place you were in well that was quite real; in effect its the junkyard of the universe, a place for the remnants of realities that came to a rather abrupt end. Including of course the ones that you were responsible for ending."

        That goaded Willow into a response, "That's not true, I wouldn't do that. They were all other realities, different people from me."

        The image of the graffiti she had seen was suddenly floating in front of Willow, "This comes from a world in which you tried to impose your own vision of peace and order. In the end your cruelty drove them to a futile rebellion. You can imagine how that ended." The graffiti disappeared and was replaced by the twisted monument standing on the barren hill, "In that history you decided that you had the right to end all the worlds pain, you incinerated them in an astonishing display of arrogance." The spell covered dorm appeared in its place, "That was a simple act of spite, you wanted teach them a lesson for what they did. Difficult to learn it of course when their all dead."

        The images disappeared and Willow was face to face with the woman again, "Arrogance, spite and cruelty but you say you‘re not like that." Willow was disoriented as she saw herself in an image. She was standing in a field with the fire gem in her hand. She squeezed it tight and the power flowed into her, became a part of her, "A power that killed Ellie Maclay, that Lydia, who knew far more of the magic than you do, buried because of its appalling danger. You simply took the whole of it without a moments thought about alternatives or consequences." The image shifted again and Willow was staring at the Milner Foundation; which disappeared in blast of fire. "Milner manipulated you so you destroyed the Foundation, seems rather spiteful to me." The image changed again and Willow was watching herself with Milner in the car park. Knowing he was in pain and he had to die she simply waited; savoring the moment before administering the coup de grace. "It may just be me but that certainly looked like an act of cruelty. I really can‘t see anything that separates you from your other incarnations."



        The images had begun to blur for Willow, her eyes were filled with tears, "I wouldn't do that, I don‘t have that in me," she whispered.

        "Why should I believe that? You've already lied to me once." The woman was implacable.

        The reply welled up from inside Willow, "Because she took them!" Willow screamed, "The other me has them!" For two days Willow had tried to figure out what she had lost in the split without success. Except that wasn’t true. She had known all along but she hadn't wanted to admit to herself she had those things to lose in the first place.

        "That's enough!" The voice was unusually commanding but still unmistakable. Tara bent beside Willow and gently cupped Willow's face in her hands, "Willow honey look at me."

        Willow blinked away the tears, "I'm a horrible person," she murmured.

        Tara kissed her gently, "No you aren't."

        "Tara is right Willow." The woman commented gently.

        Only now did Willow notice that the room had changed. It was bright and colorful and somehow Willow was sat on a large satin cushion. "But what you just said," she murmured.

        The woman, who was now clad in a colorful green dress, smiled, "That you have a streak of arrogance, spite and cruelty? I'm afraid that just makes you human. The danger wasn't those qualities in you, it was in your refusal to realize you possessed them."

        Willow was beginning to feel better, mostly from the comforting presence of Tara, "But I don't have them now and the Fire does, she could do, anything." It pained Willow to admit it but she had experienced a part of it before she was split.

        The woman nodded, "I'm afraid she's already started."

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

[Sheridan]

10. "Cohesion"

Giles almost tripped over an ax as he walked through Buffy's front door. The weapon wasn't alone; the living room contained Buffy's entire collection of hardware. It seemed to negate the point of her exhortation to 'bring weapons' since she could equip half of Sunnydale with what she already had, "Giles did you bring the stuff?" Buffy asked snappishly as she emerged from the kitchen.

        Giles dropped a bag of weapons on the floor and carefully placed one full of books on the coffee table, "Of course I did, I just wish I knew why."

        Buffy's reply was brief, "Willow knows Dawn is they Key and so she kidnapped her and plans to hand her over to Glory."

        Giles shook his head in effort to get his brain around the statement, "I think you're going to have to repeat that, because I can't have heard it right."

        "Giles it looked like Willow, It sounded like Willow, of course she acted more like, the Mayor, Glory, Angelus, take your pick." Buffy was sympathetic to Giles problem, there just wasn't time for him to catch up.

        Giles was determined to make the time, "Buffy if Willow has succumbed to this power then we are facing a terrible crisis."

        "I know that Giles but the main thing is we have to get Dawn back and just hope Willow hasn't already done her deal with Glory." Buffy had a hunch that Willow was still too smart just to hand over Dawn; she would want to be sure she had the upper hand first.

        "Buffy we can't just charge in, we need to have a plan, and we don't even know for certain where Willow is." Giles knew Buffy was frantic with worry but he had to make her think this through regardless.

        "Then we had better find out." Buffy wasn't about to let reason get in the way of her anger.



        The trip to the dorm room hadn't turned up anything but a couple of anxious campus security guards; concerned about a smashed door and two missing girls. Buffy had proceeded to interrogate everyone who knew the couple and come up with a complete blank.

        It had become clear that Willow was slipping away from her old life and given her new direction there was only one person she could think of who might be able to help.

        The bar was the same dimly lit dive as it always was. Buffy was convinced the bad lighting was mostly so the customers couldn't get a good look at one another. Buffy spotted her prey sat alone at a corner table, "Hello Spike."

        If the vampires heart still functioned it would have been pounding; Buffy, here, alone, with him. The possibilities were…nonexistent, he reluctantly realized. The look on Buffy's face said she wasn't about to let her hair down and have a drink with him, "What brings you here Slayer."

        "I'm looking for Willow. She's moved out of her room and I think she's probably gone for some sort of 'lair'." Buffy explained gruffly.

        "And you think I know where?" Spike did his best to sound uninterested even though he was eager to ingratiate himself with Buffy.

        "I think you can find out. Look she took Dawn and I have to find her." Buffy didn't know if that would motivate Spike or not.

        Spike was momentarily bemused. Why would Willow and Tara do that? Unless it was... Spike shook his head, he had no idea what he was thinking, the bartender must be spiking the drinks, "Alright, I'll ask around, if I hear anything I'll come to your place."

        There was something about the way he said it that made Buffy very uncomfortable, still what choice did she have?



        Back at the house Buffy was relieved to see the rest of the gang had arrived; especially Elias, "I got your message but it didn't make a lot of sense," he admitted as he embraced her.

        "That's because it doesn't make sense." Buffy muttered.

        "Xander was also incredulous." Anya piped up and Xander squirmed in his seat.

        "It's just that, well it's Will Buffy. It's hard to accept." Xander couldn't help expressing his doubts.

        Buffy took it calmly, "You've seen how she's been behaving Xander. Willow's gone over the edge."

        "Well shouldn't we be trying to figure out how to pull her back?" Xander wasn't prepared to give up so easily.

        "It's too late for that," Buffy's tone turned harsh, "we have to focus on getting Dawn back. If we can do something to help Willow, fine. If not then that has to be fine too."

        Xander didn't have an answer for that, and was spared coming up with one as the front door opened and Spike walked in, "What's he doing here?" Elias didn't bother to hide his hostility.

        "I've got useful information, how about you?" Spike sneered.

        "You've found her?" Buffy demanded before the fight could get started.

        "Yeah, would you believe she's taken Angel's old place." Spike sounded eager to pass along the news.

        Buffy wasn't terribly surprised, it fitted in with Willow's newly inflated ego; she was hardly going to skulk in some dark corner. She picked up and ax and shoved it into Spike's hands, "Ok so we're all going to go get Dawn back, and yes your coming Spike; just in case there's anything you've forgotten to mention."

        Elias decided he had had to intervene, "Buffy don't you think we should have some sort of plan?"

        "We go in, surround the place and make Willow give Dawn back. Giles I want you and Anya to work up some sort of spell, something that might slow Willow down." Buffy snapped out the orders, she didn't have time for discussion.

        Giles looked unhappy, "That could take some time Buffy."

        "You have the time it takes us to get there," she retorted.

       

        The gang had piled into Xander and Elias' cars for the trip. Xander kept his foot off the gas; he simply wanted to postpone the confrontation for as long as possible. He kept hoping he would find some way out, some way he could talk to Willow, persuade her to see reason. It was ridiculous though, how could he get through to Willow if Buffy and Dawn and Tara couldn't? Talk about their childhood? Yeah right.

        There were lights on in the windows of the mansion and the windows and doors looked solid. That was the only apparent change in the look of the place, Willow hadn't done anything to clean up the exterior. Buffy put down Elias' field glasses and stared at the distant building, "I don't see anything," she commented dubiously.

        "You probably won't." Elias had been through plenty of ambush situations, one in Minnesota stuck out especially. In those though he had been dealing with perfectly ordinary booby traps. He knew how to spot a Claymores or a pit trap, the kind of magic that Willow wielded was a different matter. Elias turned to look at Giles and Anya who were poring over a magic book. They were supposed to be devising some sort of magical protection. Elias had zero confidence it would do any good.

        Giles was equally dubious, there wasn't a spell in here that Willow didn't already know. Even if any of them were potentially effective Willow had the raw power to brush them aside. He knew this was a mistake but he also knew that they had little choice. They couldn't simply sit by while Willow traded Dawn to Glory.

        "Are you ready?" Buffy demanded.

        "Not really," Anya pointed out, "but since you won't give us anymore time we will just do our best."

        Buffy nodded and hefted the crossbow she had picked out. The rest of the gang fanned out and began to move towards the mansion. Elias tried to take point but Buffy moved past him impatiently. He suppressed a sigh, she was the Slayer but that didn't make her military standard.

        As Buffy passed a gnarled tree it began to melt and dissolve and was replaced by a column of red light. A series of other pillars sprang up around the mansion. As they formed they bent and pinned the members of the gang against the ground and walls.

        Buffy was slammed into a surviving tree. The stream of energy was pressed into her chest making it hard to breath. She was briefly blinded as the front door opened and Willow emerged. She just stood in the doorway and surveyed the scene for a moment, "Buffy, you really don't listen do you?"

        The pressure of the energy left Buffy unable to reply. "Maybe you didn't believe what I told you, I could say that this is to teach you a lesson but you won't be around long enough to learn it." Willow gestured and a pulse of light flowed down the column that had pinned Elias and he disappeared in a burst of flame and ash. One by one each of Buffy's friends was gone until there was only her and Willow left. Willow walked over and bent next to Buffy, "Guess this is the end of the road, any last words?" Buffy still couldn't speak, "Oh well no point in drawing this out," she placed her hands on Buffy's face and the world plunged into permanent darkness.

11. "Joined"

Willow had recovered from her interrogation as the woman led them out of the tower. As soon as the door closed Willow realized she couldn't see the tower from the outside. There was simply a broad green space that Willow assumed was the glade. Where the rest of the circle might be was another issue, "Are you the only person here?"

        The woman shook her head, "No just the one with responsibility for the pair of you."

        That comment made Willow uneasy again and the woman saw it, "Don't take that the wrong way, think of me as a sort of guardian angel."

        After what they had been through neither Willow nor Tara were particularly comforted by that, "How exactly are we going to stop the Fire?" Willow truly wanted the answer to that question; all this had to produce some tangible benefit.

        "Well perhaps you have already realized that the Glade is outside of the continuum; that's why we are able to see so much and to manipulate events when we have to," she paused to see if Willow and Tara were following, seeing that they were she continued, "in theory we could simply return you at an earlier point in time and prevent the entire sequence of events."

        "Wouldn't that mean there were two of us in existence, or maybe three of me?" Willow's intellectual curiosity was kicking in.

        The woman nodded, "And that make things very difficult to predict. Also the further back you intervene the more uncertain it becomes."

        To Tara that sounded like the answer to a question she hadn't asked. If she stopped her mother from summoning the Fire in the first place then that probably meant a life without Willow, without LJ. Even if she was willing to sacrifice all of that could she really save her mother? They could stop Ellie from dying that night but what then? How much was left of her mother's sanity and soul?

        Willow was having parallel thoughts about stopping herself from absorbing the Fire. It would spare her and her loved ones a lot of grief but it might be a temporary reprieve. Her other incarnations had destroyed the world without the benefit of the Fire. It was a bitter thought that perhaps she really did need to see 'Worlds end'.

        The woman let the pair work their way through their thoughts, "Ideally you would return after you left, and no more than about three hours later."

        "Why three hours?" Willow asked suspiciously.

        "Events will be irretrievable after that. The other Willow will cause irreparable damage." The woman decided that Willow had been through her epiphany already, there was no need to burden her with the fate of her friends, especially as it might be erased.

        "Well I could back and face her down." Willow offered, "If she knows that I'll always be in the way she'll have to back off, she can't just destroy me."

        Tara grabbed her hand, "Honey we talked about this, its too risky."

        "It also might not work." The woman commented, grabbing the couples attention again, "The Fire is incredibly powerful, it might be able to destroy you and survive."

        Tara first instinct was horror but as she thought about it she saw a possibility here, "Couldn't we reverse? Find a way for Willow to survive if we destroy the Fire?"

        Willow realized that meant destroying a part of herself, the part people spend years in therapy to get rid of. "It sounds good to me."

        The woman nodded, "There might be a way, it would put both of you at risk though."

        "Then its settled." Tara stated firmly, "We'll be in it together, the way we should be," she smiled at Willow and Willow couldn't help smiling back.

        She turned back to the woman, "We still need a weapon to fight her with."

        "Actually that's the simplest thing of all." The woman offered.



        The woman had led the couple through a screen of trees into what looked like an open air chapel or temple. A circle of tall trees took place of columns or standing stones and there was a sort of stone altar in the middle that appeared to have been carved from a natural outcropping of rock.

        Tara got a very positive vibe from the place, which made her feel better about the Circle in general. Despite the woman's statements to the contrary Tara hadn't been wholly convinced that they were a force of good.

        "This space is very special to us, its only used for the most significant occasions." The woman had stepped behind the altar and beckoned Willow and Tara to stand in front of it.

        "What exactly does this ceremony your planning?" Willow asked. She had picked up on the positive vibe as well but she didn't like not having things explained.

        "Think of it is a deepening of your relationship, it expands on the sort of telepathic link you've used before. This would be much deeper, a sort of synchronicity."

        It didn't seem like much of an explanation but Willow couldn't see a bad in being closer to Tara.

        "Willow would you stretch out your right hand. Tara would you place yours on top of it." The Woman requested.

        Willow reached out her hand and felt the warm smoothness of Tara's resting on top of it. The woman produced a ribbon and wove it through and around the pairs hands. Satisfied that the pattern was properly woven she began to chant in ancient tongue.

        Willow could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears and feel Tara's through their joined hands. At first the rhythms were different and then slowly they fell into step. Their breathing slowed and moved together. Willow could feel a pressure in her head. It was unrelenting though not painful, it demanded to be let in and Willow opened the door. There was a tremendous inrush of sensation, the very essence of Tara pouring into her. There was no sense of being drowned or swamped; it felt right and wonderful because it was a tremendous sense of love and trust. She had always known that Tara felt those things for her, now they were like a law of nature, immutable and unchanging.

        Tara understood what was happening even though it was overwhelming. When she had split Willow in two she had created a huge void in her lover, now she was filling that and closing it up. It felt wonderful because it brought an incredible sense of closeness.

        The woman could see how well it was working; far better than she had ever seen before. Perhaps that's not so surprising, she considered, given the uniqueness of their offspring.

        Willow had lost track of time until she felt the ribbon being unwound. She looked at Tara and just gazed into her eyes, there was no need to say anything, it was all already there.

        "I think that takes care of the first part of our problem, there is still the matter of a weapon." The woman passed her hands over the top of the altar and a small box appeared. It looked rather like a jewelry box and she handed it to Willow.

        Willow almost dropped it as she saw the contents. The box was lined with satin and contained a single teardrop shaped gem. The gem was a dark blue and pale ripples ran over its surface, like waves across the ocean, "Water." Willow whispered.

        Tara had done a lot of reading about the elemental powers and even if she hadn't it was fairly obvious that Fire and Water wouldn't mix, "You had this all along?"

        "We did." The woman confirmed, "We knew that if we could bring the two together we could cancel them both out. The problem was finding the right opportunity to do it."

        "And now you have it." Tara made it into an accusation.

        The woman didn't give an inch, "There is no other means I know of to counter the Fire."

        Willow snapped the lid of the box shut, "Here you take care of it," she handed the box to Tara, "I don't need it and I don't want it."

        Tara took it with a nod of understanding; Willow had experienced enough elemental magic for a life time.

        "Well in that case perhaps you can look after this." The woman offered Willow a small locket.

        "Is this the same as the one Lydia had?" Willow asked dubiously.

        The woman nodded, "So that if you ever need to contact us again you can."

        "If?" Willow couldn’t' keep the sharpness out of her voice. The woman simply remained smiling. Willow decided she could probably pres the woman to tell her exactly why they would come back to the circle. However if she'd had enough of elemental magic she'd probably had twice as much of knowing the future. With a small nod of thanks she pocketed the locket.

        "I think it's time we got back." Tara suggested.

        "Well technically you could stay and rest, have a meal and recuperate for a little while. It won't make any difference to your return." The woman's offer seemed sincere.

        Tara glanced at Willow to confirm what she already knew. She turned back to the woman, "Sorry but we want go back as soon as possible. We couldn't relax until we know things have been put right."

        The woman sighed, "Very well. You'll reappear a little after night fall close to an old mansion I think you're familiar with. You're friends are already there and I'd be careful until you can explain things to them." Seeing they understood the woman raised her arms, "Goodbye and give our regards to LJ when you see her." As she spoke the glade faded into nothingness.

12. "Repairs"

Buffy put down Elias' field glasses and stared at the distant building, "I don't see anything," she commented dubiously.

        Elias was going to point out that the whole point of booby traps was that you couldn't see them when there was a rush of air, a pulse of light and Willow and Tara were standing there.

        Buffy didn't hesitate for a moment; she swung up the crossbow and fired straight at Willow. Willow was too surprised to react. Tara was quicker and threw up a barrier that sent the bolt ricocheting into the air.

        "This is definitely on my list of worst days ever." Willow murmured to Tara.

        Buffy had sprung to her feet and was advancing with mayhem in mind. Tara raised her hand, "Buffy would you stop before someone gets hurt." Tara sincerely didn't want anyone to be harmed but if Buffy pushed things she was quite clear on who was going to be the one who got hurt.

        Buffy hadn't really been aware of Tara's presence, she had been totally focused on Willow. Now that she realized Tara was there she hesitated.

        The rest of the gang had scrambled to their feet and several were pointing weapons in Willow's general direction, "What exactly is it I've done now?"

        The way the question was phrased confused Buffy; she decided to answer it anyway, "You kidnapped Dawn, brought her here to your lair?" Buffy was trying to prompt Willow since clearly the redhead had snapped completely.

        Willow was incredulous, "What did she do that for?" she asked Tara plaintively.

        Elias lowered the sword he was carrying and stepped forward, "Ok forgive me for the language but would you tell us what the fuck is going on?"

        Willow looked to Tara and gestured for her to answer, she knew more of the details than Willow did. Tara began by breaking the memory spell she had cast over the gang. Everyone swayed and Anya slumped to the ground. Spike began to mutter and curse as he recalled his role and Giles went very pale, "Good lord its the other you that's in there."

        Buffy remembered everything that Tara had told her about the plan but she still felt none the wiser, "What do you mean 'other one'?"

        "I needed Willow's help to beat this thing so I used Toth's staff to separate her out." Tara explained succinctly.

        Xander looked pained when he heard that, he was still troubled by his own experience with being divided, "So did you loose all your cool Will?"

        "Not exactly." Willow really didn't want to go over this again.

        "Maybe a little bit of a dark side Willow?" Elias's question was sympathetic rather than accusing. Willow could see in his eyes that Elias understood, perhaps someone who had to been called on to kill would be capable of understanding.

        Elias turned to Buffy, "We can't go in there."

        Buffy eyes went wide, "My sister is in there, we have to get her out."

        Elias placed his hands on her shoulders, "Listen to me Buffy if we go in we won't be coming out," he looked to Willow, "right?"

        Willow nodded unhappily, "Buffy this is something that I, we, have to do. We'll bring Dawn out I promise. Besides you wouldn't get past the barrier." Willow felt like she could sense where her other self had been, and between herself and Tara she could feel the security spells that the Fire had planted. They were ones that had passed through her mind after the Magic Box was burgled. Clearly her conscience had still been sort of working then; because this spell could be lethal.

        Buffy was still dubious about this and determined to be in on the rescue, "What barrier are you talking about?"

        Tara made sure she had a firm grasp on the box containing the Water gem, "This barrier," she stepped towards the mansion and a column of red fire erupted towards her. Instead of pinning her to the ground it swayed off to one side and buried itself in the dirt; forming a glowing arch. Tara stepped to one side and two more columns sprang up and were equally unable to get to her. The ground outside the mansion now looked like a sort of modern sculpture.

        Seeing that Tara had cleared a gap Willow walked over to her, "Just wait here for us, we'll be back soon," she called over her shoulder as they walked towards the door.

        Buffy stared after them, "We'll give them five minutes," she stated firmly.



        Willow was dazzled by the interior of the mansion. It was bright and well furnished; the kind of place she might have imagined living in herself one day, well of course it is dummy! She scolded herself.

        "It's kind of nice, for a lair." Tara commented.

        "Well if doesn't come with an ensuite Tara I just couldn't live here." Willow joked.

        Tara smiled and shook her head, pleased to see Willow's sense of humor was back.

        They padded quietly through the mansion until they spotted a chair with a brunette figure bound to it, "Dawn?" Willow whispered.

        The teenagers head whipped round "Willow? Its really you!" She was almost breathless with excitement.

        "How come she could tell and Buffy tried to kill me?" Willow's complaint was more or less rhetorical and Tara simply shrugged in response.

        The pair moved to untie Dawn and the girl chattered on excitedly, "I knew you would come, where's Buffy?"

        "Hopefully she had more sense." The voice was familiar but the tone was sneering. Willow turned to see herself standing in a doorway clutching a mug of coffee. It's not me, its the Fire, Willow decided that she had to make that distinction or go nuts. It wasn't actually as hard it sounded since there were some clear distinctions. For one thing the Fire seemed to have acquired Cordelia Chase's taste in clothing and Willow hoped that she never ever wore a sneer like the one on the Fire's face, "I step out for a cup of coffee and somebody tries to steal my stuff." The Fire's comment jolted Willow back to the matter at hand.

        "Dawn isn't 'stuff'." Tara countered.

        The Fire laughed harshly, "That's a matter of opinion," she stared at the couple, "guess neither of you are here for a reconciliation."

        Tara slipped her arm around Willow's waist for a moment, "You don't have anything I want," she released Willow and turned back to trying to undo the bonds that held Dawn.

        Willow tried to keep the Fire's attention away from Tara and Dawn, "I'm pretty happy with the way things have worked out," she told the Fire.

        The distraction worked, "Now that's just pathetic," the Fire practically spat the words out, "I didn't think even you could go so far into denial."

        Willow stood firm, "I've stopped being in denial, that's why I don't want anything to do with you anymore."

        Tara had managed to undo the magically enhanced bonds that held Dawn in place. The teenager sprang out of the chair and stood behind Willow and Tara, not wanting to get into the potential firing line. The Fire was exasperated by Willow's statement and the attempted rescue, "What is it with you people? Why do you keep try and save that?" she gestured towards Dawn, "Buffy was just as bad, I even offered to save her mother and she still refused to be reasonable."

        "You told her that?" Willow was horrified at the sheer callousness.

        "She was going to find out sooner or later, and like I said I offered her a deal." The Fire sounded casual, it wasn't really interested in the whole subject.

        Willow had been contemplating a plan all the way back to the Glade; now she decided it was time to try it, "How about we offer you a deal?"

        The Fire looked skeptical, "What exactly do you think you could offer me?"

        Willow turned to Tara, "I think I want that thing I gave you back."

        Tara was hesitant, "Are you sure honey?"

        "Pretty certain." Willow hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.

        Dawn looked between the pair and the clear anxiety even drove out the question of what was going to happen to her mom, "Willow please don't do anything dangerous."

        Willow smiled at, "Don't worry its not dangerous." more like suicidal.

        Willow took the box from Tara and turned back to the Fire, "I think this is worth more than whatever you think you can blackmail from Buffy," she opened the lid so the Fire could get a good look at the gem,

        The Fire‘s eyes went wide, "Water, where did you get that?"

        "I have it, that's all that matters. We'll give it to you in exchange for letting us take Dawn out of here. I mean assuming that you think you can control it." It was a blatant piece of reverse psychology and Willow couldn't really believe that she was capable of being so arrogant to fall for it.

        Thus there were distinctly mixed feelings as the Fire responded, "I can handle it, and I don't see any reason to deal," she gestured and the gem flew out of the box and into the Fire's hand.

        This was the moment the rest of the gang chose to charge in and they all came to a grinding halt as they were confronted by the sight of two Willows.

        "Buffy." The Fire called out cheerily, "Give me a sec and then I'll get right on with killing you," She looked at the Water gem for a second and then squeezed her fist around it; unleashing its power

        "Good god Willow what have you done?" Giles cried out.

        Neither Willow nor Tara were paying attention, they were looking for something solid to shelter behind.

13. "Healed"

As Willow and Tara dragged Dawn behind a solid looking sofa Buffy tried to catch up, "What has that Willow done?"

        "She gave the other one elemental Water, and fire and water are not a good combination." Giles explained hastily.

        Buffy absorbed that and then pulled Giles behind a pillar. The rest of the gang took the hint and sought cover.

        Tara poked her head out form behind the sofa and gazed at the Fire. She could see its aura was burning brighter than ever and the horrible possibility that it could control the Water passed through her mind. Then she spotted flickers of something else; like lightning seen through clouds. She yanked her head back in as an eerie light filled the room.

        Willow felt a pressure in her brain, someone trying to force open telepathic link. Willow could feel the thoughts and emotions and saw herself doing some pretty awful things. Her other self wanted to come home but Willow just steeled herself and shoved it away. There was a despairing psychic shriek and the Willow felt a wave of burning heat wash over her. A moment later it was like she was drowning in the depths of the ocean. The sensations oscillated wildly for what seemed a very long time before they finally died away.

        Sensing that whatever had happened was over Tara helped Willow to her feet. They stared at the spot where the Fire had stood. All they saw was a burnt and warped spot in the flooring. Willow sighed with relief and then slumped against the sofa.

        Tara could feel what was happening. Even though Willow had been split some connection had still remained with her other side. Its destruction had torn that connection apart, leaving a hole through which Willow's life force was bleeding out. The bond the Circle had formed didn't work on the level of thought or emotion; it was a link between the very essences of Willow and Tara. Tara now used it to pour her energy into Willow, using it like a hand pressing against an open wound to prevent Willow bleeding to death. That wasn't enough in itself to save Willow, she needed to close the wound. By pure will Tara force the 'edges' of the rift to flow together and bond. It wasn't a simple thing to do but Tara was not going to fail even if it was impossible. Finally she felt the rift flow into a seamless whole.

        Tara almost collapsed as she released the pressure. Since she was propping up Willow physically as well as psychically she remained upright.

        Willow shook her head and looked at Tara, "That was weird. Now if you don't mind I think I'm going to faint for a little while." With that she slumped into Tara's arms.

        Dawn scrambled out from behind the sofa, "Is she ok?" she reached out to try and feel for Willow's pulse even though she had no idea how to take it.

        Tara smiled, "She's fine, its just been a really long day."

       

        With Willow sufficiently recovered the gang decided to get out of the mansion; with a stern warning to Spike not to come back and 'borrow' anything.

        Buffy and Dawn drifted back to accompany Willow and Tara, both Summers girls had one question uppermost in their minds, "What she said about my mom, was that just a bluff?" Buffy's expression said she was sure it wasn't but she was still desperate to be wrong.

        Willow let her thoughts flow to Tara, sometimes it really is better not to know what's coming.

        Tara could feel that Willow was uncertain about whether it was right but Tara wholeheartedly agreed. She nodded and Willow put her hand on Buffy's, "I don't think I heard the question?"

        Buffy opened her mouth and closed it again, unable to think of what she had been going to say.

        Before Dawn could pipe up Tara laid a hand on her shoulder and the girl just shrugged and remained silent. Manipulating her friends didn't make Willow feel good; she simply felt it was the right thing to do. It was just undoing some of the harm the Fire and her dark side had done; Buffy and Dawn had a right to hold on to hope for as long as possible.



        Glory's apartment was practically as good as new; the result of a mixture of money and anxiety had motivated the repair crew to an almost superhuman effort.

        The mad god was examining the workmanship carefully when Willow and Tara materialized. For a moment Glory put a smile on her face. That quickly turned to a scowl as she sensed this was not going to be good visit, "Let me guess, no Key?"

        Willow nodded, "The person you made the deal with doesn't exist anymore."

        Glory didn't care about anything beyond the failure to deliver the Key, "Whatever. You know I'm going to make you pay for double crossing me?"

        Willow's shoulders drooped but Tara looked Glory right in the eye, "If you do we'll be waiting for you. If you insist on fighting you will lose." Tara made it sound like a done deal and then the couple vanished again.

        As soon as they were gone Glory smashed a vase sat on a shelf. She would break the red head in half next time they crossed paths. Then a better idea struck her; suck out blondies brain and leave her for the bitch to find, that would make her suffer.



        The last time the gang had been in the Bronze there had been a pall of tension and magic hanging over the occasion. This night was different. Willow watched as Tara made her way back from the bar clutching drinks. There was no more beautiful sight for Willow and since the events in the glade she could swear she could actually see Tara's aura. The bond was so intense that Willow was amazed that everyone couldn't see it.

        As Tara took her seat opposite Willow and next to Dawn she handed Willow her drink. Willow let her fingers trail over Tara's hand and felt an electric tingle as she did so, how could things be any better?

        She turned to look out over the dance floor and saw Xander dancing with Anya and Buffy with Elias. Willow looked back to the table and a smiling Dawn and Tara, it was a perfect moment. Willow felt a flash of deja vu; it was the perfect moment. Nervously she turned to Tara, "Tara will you marry me?"

        Dawn coughed up most of the gulp she had just taken from her drink and Tara stared, trying to decide if she had heard correctly. As the silence stretched on Dawn nudged Tara in the ribs, "Say yes," she urged.

        Tara snapped out of her shock, "Yes. Of course yes!" She practically lunged across the table to embrace Willow.

        Willow pulled her tight with a mixture of relief and elation. She knew they would always be together; it was time the rest of the world understood it as well.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

[The Rose24]

Sheridan,



That was hot!!!!! I have imagined many scenarios where Tara is the one who saves Willow from herself, but not that!!!!! The writers missed a lot of great opportunities there.



And Yes!!!! That was the perfect moment for Willow to propose. I can't wait until your next series.

Tara: My heart doesn't stutter.


Tara: Willow, I got so lost.

Willow: I found you. I will always find you.

[barnabasvamp]

Wow, thanks so much for all the updates!



The confrontation for Tara, helped her realize some things in life are just necessary, and usually lead to something good.



Willow, finally realizing what she had in her and that the "other" her had taken those qualities. Very good way to show this to her.



Awww, the proposal

BV

"When choosing between two evils, I always like to take the one I've never tried before"-Mae West

[tkheaven]

hey Sheridan, just wanted to ask...I was skimming through this update so I can 'copy & paste' and read it later (I'm at work) and I noticed at the end of the first post (3. "Facet") the paragraph seems to be cut off somehow, maybe it's my pc. The last sentence I see is:

Willow pondered that, the concealment glamour wasn't going to cut it with the Fire, that

Tk's new and improved "GrrArgg"...

---

"I've become really protective of her. I want to make sure if Tara comes back, it's for good reason." -Amber Benson
Tara ate her, devoured her from beneath. -The Edge of Silence giving new meaning to this season's catch phrase.
"Don't get me wrong. I kinda like being the quirky nympho chick." - Michelle in 'American Pie 3'

[Grimaldi]

really good update



glad they got rid of the Fire. looks like now they are going to have to deal with a really pissed off Glory. loved the proposal at the end

You can't just go declaring shenanigans on innocent people, that's how wars get started!
I'm not stealing, I'm just taking things without paying for them. In what twisted dictionary is that stealing?

[Sheridan]

Sorry but as Tkheaven pointed out there was a sentence missing at the end of part 1, the perils of cutting and pasting. It's been edited back in, sorry.

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That was hot!!!!! I have imagined many scenarios where Tara is the one who saves Willow from herself, but not that!!!!! The writers missed a lot of great opportunities there.

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The Rose24 I think that's the most exclamation marks I've seen in one post. There will be one more S5 story and then I have an S6 arc planned out, of course it bears no relation to that other S6...

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Willow, finally realizing what she had in her and that the "other" her had taken those qualities. Very good way to show this to her.

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Well barnabasvamp I felt there had to be a way of dealing with Willow's bad side that didn't involve mass slaughter.

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glad they got rid of the Fire. looks like now they are going to have to deal with a really pissed off Glory. loved the proposal at the end

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As it happens Grimaldi I did sort of need things to work towards the Gift much as they did in the original S5, of course there will be a small difference...

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

Edited by: Sheridan at: 3/20/03 11:15:01 am

[tkheaven]

Nooooooo! You must be punished!!! heheh...



j/k Can't wait to read the update.

Tk's new and improved "GrrArgg"...

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"I've become really protective of her. I want to make sure if Tara comes back, it's for good reason." -Amber Benson
Tara ate her, devoured her from beneath. -The Edge of Silence giving new meaning to this season's catch phrase.
"Don't get me wrong. I kinda like being the quirky nympho chick." - Michelle in 'American Pie 3'

[SlayerSydney]

That was GREAT!!!!!!

I absolutely loved this update. Tara saving Willow from herself, the alternate realities junkyard, Willow's acceptance of the not-so-good qualities we all have, and the proposal at the end.....well, that was just beautiful. And fitting.



I'm not happy with Glory wanting to suck out Tara's brain. We've all been there and that just sucked. No pun intended. But wherever you take this, I am sure I will enjoy it. Even if it may be painful.

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"Stop sniffing my forehead!"~~my GF to me while snuggling in bed one night.

[Sheridan]

I wondered what that smiley was for Tkheaven.

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I'm not happy with Glory wanting to suck out Tara's brain. We've all been there and that just sucked. No pun intended

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Well SlayerSydney my intial instinct was to avoid it but I realised it backs the whole end of S5 into a corner, both mine and the original broadcast one.

If Tara and Willow are at full strength after Tough Love then my guess is that they could have pinned down Glory long enough for Buffy to get Dawn off the tower and then she could have taken down Glory. Now for the beginning of the S6 stories I assume that 'The Gift' took place, even if not quite the way it happened in the original; mostly because Willow sent Elias up the tower not Spike...

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am

Edited by: Sheridan at: 3/21/03 10:37:58 am

[SlayerSydney]

Sheridan:



I will enjoy your fic no matter what you do with it.

I was being pun-y with the sucking of the brain.

I'm silly that way.

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"Stop sniffing my forehead!"~~my GF to me while snuggling in bed one night.

[Sheridan]

Don't worry SlayerSydney, nothing I like better than talking about my writing. There is oner more S5 tale but before that my S6 'roadmap' should appear.

Willow: ...I have to tell you....

Tara: No, I understand you have to be with the person you l-love

Willow: I am