Title: Learning Curve
Author: Mike Mullen
Rating: NC17. Sex and violence liberally sprinkled around
Spoilers: it’s set in S2 and it’s an AU, so none really.
Disclaimer: All BTVS characters are the property of JW and ME. Reese and LJ are absolutely mine though.
Summary: This story is set in the latter half of S2, Tara has been in Sunnydale a few weeks and this story takes place around the time when Phases and BB&B would have happened. Buffy and Angel still slept together so things are as fraught as they were in the other universe. Of course something’s are different, and events take a very different turn one full moon…
Author’s notes: The major arc of the original season 2 still exists, but of course there’s one large thread that simply isn’t going to happen, this will have consequences both in this story and much later, but you will have to wait for the S4 stories for those.
Feedback: Just add your comments at the end of the story.
Learning Curve 1.“A Whole New World”Joyce walked across the living room to the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen, and it came as no surprise to see Tara standing by the stove as she entered. Tara was stirring eggs in a bowl while a pan heated on a stove, “Tara I thought we had agreed you don’t have to do this.” Joyce reminded her gently.
“I know but I want to, it’s kind of a habit.” Tara gave a hesitant smile.
“Ok just so long as you know you really don’t have to.” Joyce had felt somewhat blackmailed when Buffy had asked her to let Tara stay in the spare room; the tale of her treatment at the hands of her father hadn’t really left her a lot of choice. She had expected to deal with a rather sullen teenager and had been pleasantly surprised by Tara. Not only was she rather sweet and polite she seemed to do household chores almost by instinct, to the point where Joyce had felt guilty for exploiting her and had made it clear that she was a guest. As this morning showed even that hadn’t stopped Tara. Joyce had forlornly entertained the hope that some of her good habits might rub off on Buffy.
“Morning mom, Tara. Are we going for omelettes or scrambled eggs this morning?” Buffy asked as she wandered in, still clad in pyjamas.
“Depends if I stir or not.” Tara pointed out as she poured the eggs in to the pan.”
“Oh go nuts, scramble away.” Buffy slumped into a chair and reached for the carton of juice that was on the table, catching a look from her mother she got up to fetch a glass. "You know mom if this goes on I may have to consider letting you go." Buffy joked.
"Actually Buffy I think you'll find the hiring decisions are made solely on the basis of room tidiness."
"Ouch. Ok I promise I'll pick up all the clothes when I get home." As Buffy turned to the fridge Tara saw the smile on Joyce's face fade. She clearly wasn't being fooled by the front her daughter was putting up; she knew that Buffy was deeply unhappy about something. Though Tara felt a touch guilty about not telling Mrs. Summers the answer to her questions she consoled herself with the thought that it wasn’t her place to do that. It was up to Buffy when and how much she decided to tell her mother about Angel.
Tara had met Angel shortly after she arrived in Sunnydale. Buffy had invited Tara into her bedroom and there he was, tall and good looking, though overdoing the whole brooding thing in Tara’s view. Even so it was clear that Buffy was mad about him and he certainly seemed to feel the same way. Who knew that could be a bad thing? Or that expressing your love could actually destroy it? Tara knew that Buffy blamed herself totally for what had happened, which meant of course she was blaming herself for every nasty thing that Angel, Angelus, was doing. So far the best efforts of her friends couldn’t convince her otherwise. A glance at the kitchen clock reminded Tara of a more immediate problem. “Uh Buffy we’re supposed to get to school early this morning.” Buffy stopped at mid sip and looked down at her pyjamas, she had actually forgotten all about it. ”Oops, okay put those eggs on hold and I’ll be back ASAP.”
Willow had easily managed to arrive at Sunnydale High the planned fifteen minutes early. Her parents had been remotely surprised, or interested for that matter, when she told them she needed to get there early to do a 'project thing'. It was somehow typically a Sunnydale thing, you go find your soul mate and then you can’t even go on a first date with them. They had spent time together, at Scooby meetings, in the bronze with Buffy and the others, but they hadn’t managed to be alone. Willow’s parents had set a new record for staying home and Willow had no intention of sharing Tara with them, she could just see her mom talking about phases and patting her on the head. Now with Angel turned into Angelus Buffy had been adamant about being careful at night and Willow wasn’t going to risk losing Tara now.
Tara saw Willow sitting on the steps as the car drew up at the school, and decided she really did like the new haircut after all. She had been a little surprised when Willow had sliced off most of her hair. She had to agree though that it did make Willow look more grown up. The old hairstyle had been pretty but it did kind of make her look twelve years old. The pair waved goodbye and walked towards the steps, “I’m going to go look at the notice board, see if anyone has signed up for that girls basketball team yet.” Buffy announced and kept going, leaving Willow and Tara alone on the steps.
“Girl’s basketball?” Tara asked, a little wistfully.
“Don’t bet on it, Cordelia is leading a crusade against it, she thinks that its undignified and demeaning, and who wants to see a bunch of sweaty girls in shorts?” When Tara didn’t reply for several seconds Willow playfully nudged her in the ribs, “Hey!”
“Sorry but I was only picturing one sweaty girl in shorts.” Tara explained.
“Well that’s ok then.” Willow conceded and then Took Tara by the hand. Finding a quiet corner they embraced and kissed. Willow started by gently nibbling on Tara’s bottom lip before they locked together and her tongue probed into Tara’s mouth. As their tongues ran around one another it was like they were fused together. Eventually it ended as they finally ran out of breath. “I so needed that.” Willow sighed.
“It does seem kind of a long time between.”
“Yeah I know.” Willow could feel the need coming off of Tara like waves of heat, that private time had better come soon.
As they caught up with Buffy in the corridor Principal Snyder appeared from the opposite direction. The Summers girl, actually early? That had to mean she was up to something, probably scheming with those other two. Rosenberg might be an A student but her association with Summers meant she had to be guilty of something. And now they were hanging around that new transfer student, well he would just have to nip that in the bud before she was completely corrupted.
“Why are you three loitering here?” He demanded, startling Willow and Tara who had pretty much been concentrating on one another.
“Because it’s where my locker is.” Buffy pointed out in a perfectly reasonable manner that Snyder knew was just her way of being disrespectful.
“Well if you have what you need you should move along. And you young lady.” He pointed at Tara; “You should think about the company you’re keeping, being around these two will just get you into trouble. I can guarantee that.” Satisfied with the nervous look that brought to Tara’s face he carried on down the corridor. As soon as he was out of sight Willow put a comforting arm on Tara’s shoulder.
“Snyder is a troll.” Buffy offered in support.
“Actually I think he’s more like some kind of alien beamed down from outer space.” Willow responded.
By lunch time all thoughts of Snyder had given way to the more mundane concerns of the school day, staying awake in History and trying to guess which item on the menu would do the least damage to their digestion. Buffy had lingered longer than the others at the counter, wondering whether to risk the rather grey looking sliced meat or the slightly brown looking salad before deciding that she need the protein. As she reached the table where Willow and Tara were sat opposite one another she saw Willow drag a pencil out of her bag. Even Willow wasn’t usually so obsessive as to do homework at lunchtime, especially since Tara had joined her. Willow wasn’t planning to do that sort of homework. She placed the pencil on the table and as Buffy took the seat beside her she nearly dropped the tray as the pencil began to slowly rotate on the tabletop.
“That’s neat Will.”
The pencil stopped, “Hey it’s no soda machine but it’s a start.” One of the few things about the future Buffy had managed to extract from Willow was the story of moving the soda machine. “This is much cooler.” Willow stretched out her hand and Tara put hers in it. The pencil rose up did a one eighty in the air and came point down against the tabletop and traced out the figure of a heart before resting flat again. Buffy ran her finger around the pencil line, she hadn’t quite believed what Willow had told her, now she was imagining what Willow might be able to do with a year or twos practice.
“I’m just saying we don’t have to ask her.” Cordelia pointed out, for at least the fourth time.
Xander sighed; he had thought that going public would make life easier with Cordelia, fat chance, “Look Cordy the whole point of tonight is to try and get Buffy’s mind off her troubles. Which means Buffy has to come, which means Willow has to come, so how exactly do you imagine we can’t ask Tara? Swear Buffy and Willow to secrecy?”
“I’m just saying I’m already putting my rep on the line hanging with Buffy, I just think you should meet me halfway.” To Cordelia it seemed reasonable, how many nerds was she expected to be charitable to?
Xander shook his head, even if he was willing to go along he knew Will would never agree to leave her new friend sat at home, in fact she seemed unwilling to be parted from her period. “Look Cordy be nice and go along, and I’ll find a way to make it up to you.” He knew
that was going to cost him. It had the desired effect though.
Cordelia smiled, ”Ok, ok, I can be magnanimous. Lets go invite.”
2. “What You Never Had You Never Miss”Everything in life is relative. An hour spent sat in math class seems to last forever. Two weeks on the beach in Maui is over almost as soon as it’s gone. It’s all a matter of perception and perspective. From Tara’s perspective the Bronze was a pulsating mass of people. The energy washed over her and mixed with the music in an exhilarating way. There had been nothing like it back in Quincy, there were probably more people in this room than there were teens in her home town and of course even if there had been a Bronze back there her father would never have let her near it. The loud music had an added bonus in that it meant she had every reason to slide up close to Willow on the sofa when they talked, with all the opportunities that gave for casually touching one another.
To Cordelia the Bronze was a hokey sleazy hole that she chose as her main social venue because the only other place in Sunnydale she could possibly go to was a biker bar. She had been to real clubs in LA and Cancun, without her parents ever finding out. This place would have fitted in their restrooms, and had much the same décor. The only compensation with this place was that she was the high roller here, the one everyone looked to for approval. Now even that seemed to be slipping away; dating Xander had seriously tarnished her image and Cordelia had nagging doubts about whether it was worth it. Willow and Tara distracted her chain of thought. She couldn’t believe how dumb they could be; didn’t they understand that there were rules about personal space? You had degrees of closeness running from casual acquaintance through best friend to date, to ‘get a room’. Willow and Tara were unwittingly straying in to the latter category. It was so sad to see two people who were so clueless about social behavior.
Willow was perfectly well aware of how close she was to Tara, and she only wished she could get closer. It was only her promise to Xander to play nice with Cordelia that restrained her. She knew he wasn’t worried about her flaunting her Tara in front of Cordelia since he didn’t know how involved they were; he was simply worried that his best friend and his girlfriend were going to start sniping at one another again. She was seriously tempted to kiss Tara just to see the look on Cordy’s face, but she wasn’t going to sully one of Tara’s kisses for the sake of annoying Cordelia Chase. A tap on the shoulder startled Willow, she turned to see who was behind the sofa.
“Amy!” Willow was surprised, she hadn’t seen the girl in the Bronze in ages, and with one thing and another they hadn’t even spoken much at school. “How are you? Come on sit down.” She moved still closer to Tara, leaving their legs brushing against one another and leaving a space where Amy could perch herself on the sofa.
“I’m doing ok, it’s been kind of an adjustment and it took a while to sell off moms house. A little too gothic for most people you know?” Amy explained and Willow nodded, ‘creepy’ was actually the word she would have used.
“I’m going to go and see what Xander and Buffy are up to.” Cordelia announced and walked away giving Amy a cold stare. Amy was disappointed, seeing Willow sitting with the head cheerleader she had hoped to exploit the opportunity to open a dialogue with the most popular girl in Sunnydale High.
“Sorry Amy, I don’t think she’s going to forget about the whole being blind thing, even if it wasn’t your fault.” Willow suggested sympathetically.
Tara squeezed her hand gently as a reminder, “Oh, Amy Madison, Tara MaClay. Tara this is Amy.”
“Hi, you’re new here aren’t you?” Amy looked quizzically at Tara.
“Yes I just transferred here a few weeks ago.”
“And you met Willow and Buffy, and…” Amy was fishing.
“Oh Tara knows all about Buffy and Sunnydale, she’s a fully fledged Slayerette.” Willow beamed and looked proudly at Tara, “I never got to tell her about your mom though.” Now Tara looked curiously at Amy.
Amy shrugged, “My mother was big with the black magic and wanted to recapture her youth. Which to her meant borrowing my body and witching her way on the cheerleading squad. Hence the blindness spell and a few other nasties.” Amy said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. She had told the story more times than she cared to remember and it now seemed like it was just that, a story that had happened to someone else.
Willow glanced over at Tara as Amy finished and was somewhat panic-stricken by what she saw. When they had been making their break from Quincy all those weeks ago she and Tara had been confronted by Tara’s father. Willow had thought that she had seen Tara looking scared then. That was nothing as to the expression Willow saw on her face now. Tara looked utterly stricken and horrified.
“Are you ok baby?” Willow was so worried that she didn’t even think about her turn of phrase, and didn’t notice the look of surprise that crossed Amy’s face.
Tara managed to summon up a smile, “I’ll be ok, I just think I need a drink.”
“Ok you just sit there, I’ll go get you one.” She turned and only then remembered Amy, “Uh would you like something Amy?”
“Actually I left one on a table back there. I’ll see you later.” Amy leapt up off the sofa. Willow didn’t notice the rudeness; her attention was solely on Tara.
The music had ended as Willow fought her way to the bar and ordered two sodas. She drummed her fingers on the woodwork impatiently and tried to look back at Tara, her view was blocked by milling dancers making their way off the floor. She practically snatched the drinks out of his hands and turned to find her path blocked. She was going to sidestep when the roadblock spoke up.
“Hey Willow how are you doing?” Willow groaned inwardly. Oz. Anyone else she could just have said fine and evaded, but she couldn’t exactly ignore the guy who had saved her life.
“Hey Oz good, good, oh you’ve got the sling off. Your arm is Ok?” Willow was practically on automatic pilot and willing herself not to fidget as she stood there talking with the bass guitarist. You had to be at least polite to someone who took a bullet for you.
“Yeah it’s good, actually doing a set after the break.”
“That’s great, I’ll be listening. Good luck.”
Ok that’s got to be enough, she decided and moved around him.
Oz wasn’t finished, “Actually I was wondering if you had plans Saturday.”
Willow stopped confused and a little irritated than he couldn’t take a hint, “Plans?”
“You know Saturday night if you weren’t doing anything, maybe we could do nothing together.”
He’s asking me out now? Willow was stunned. “Uh Oz it’s really sweet.”
“But, the next word is going to be but isn’t it?” Oz’s tone remained as laidback as usual, only his eyes betrayed his disappointment.
“I’m afraid so, but I’m kind of involved, actually very involved.” She was trying to be nice but she was desperate to get out of this conversation.
Oz seemed to sense that, it was pretty awkward for him at this point as well, “Well I should have asked sooner I guess, good luck Willow.” He turned away and picked up his guitar and sauntered towards the stage.
As Willow started out again Buffy came up to her side and walked with her, “So what was that about?”
“He asked me out.” Willow said, still not quite believing it herself.
Buffy smiled and shook her head and smiled, “Well I guess he was barking up the wrong Willow tree wasn’t he?” It was a dumb joke but Willow laughed anyway. “It’s always the way. Trust me as soon as hook up with someone all the guys start hitting on you.”
“Really? Well could you not mention that theory to Tara? Or what happened with Oz?”
“Consider my lips sealed.” Buffy promised.
Amy was loitering near the dance floor and saw the whole exchange between Willow and Oz. Life just totally sucked. Willow couldn’t stand Cordelia and she ended up hanging out with her. Willow gets asked out by one of the coolest guys in school and she turned him down. And Willow goes and picks up some stray from god knows where and instantly makes them part of her little crowd. And when Amy gets her life turned upside down and still helps save Buffy’s life what did they give her? A few warm words and then she was left to get on with life. Well she would show all of them that Willow Rosenberg wasn’t as smart as she pretended to be. She would show them it was a mistake to just ignore Amy Madison.
3.“That Old Black Magic”Mr. Houston had let the class out five minutes early, on the grounds that he was feeling unwell. From the look of his eyes Tara judged that it was the same kind of unwell as Donny suffered the morning after hanging out with his buddies. She stopped thinking about her brother; it just brought up more painful memories. She preferred to concentrate on the present, and the good things that had turned her life around. She made her way to where she knew that Willow would still be sat in English class, that class wouldn’t get out early even if the school were burning down Buffy had told her. Tara stood outside and tried to look inconspicuously through the glass in the door. She spotted Willow and thought how cute she looked when she was concentrating. Of course Willow looked cute when she was speaking, or eating, or smiling. Basically Willow was just all around cute and loveable. Tara really couldn’t understand how Willow hadn’t found someone long before now. Of course Tara was more than grateful that Willow hadn’t, she just couldn’t imagine how everyone else could miss what she could see so clearly.
The bell rang and Tara stood clear of the door as the class began to file out. The students stopped only to hand in assignments to the teacher before racing out of the door. Tara saw Amy Madison a few steps ahead of Willow and Tara was about to let her gaze sweep back towards Willow when she saw Amy hand her paper in to the teacher, or rather make a gesture as though she was handing the teacher something. Tara could sense the cloud of magic that enshrouded the teacher as Amy made the gesture and watched the woman nod and unwittingly mimed adding a paper to the pile on her desk. Amy stepped out with a broad smile on her face, which Tara wiped off by grabbing her arm.
“What do you think you were doing in there?” Tara demanded.
Amy brushed off the arm and backed away from the classroom door, “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about that spell you used. How could you do that?”
Willow walked through the door frowning as she heard the angry sound of Tara’s voice; she had never heard Tara angry. “What’s going on?”
Tara pointed at Amy, “She just worked a spell on the teacher; she mind controlled her just to get out of a homework assignment.”
“And who made you the magic police? Don’t thinking you’re something special just cause you hang out with the Slayer and her friends.”
Now Willow was mad, “Back off Amy, Tara’s right, you should know its wrong to mess with peoples heads.”
Amy sneered, “Well of course you’re going to back your girlfriend.” She saw the surprised look on Willows face, “Yeah I figured it out last night. But I don’t go around judging other peoples lifestyles. So why don’t you keep your secrets and I’ll keep mine?” With that Amy stormed off down the corridor. Willow looked after Amy thoughtfully. Tara was still angry, “How dare she? There’s no comparison.”
Willow stopped Tara by taking her hand, “No there isn’t, because I’m proud of you, and it’s time I showed people that. If you’re ready?”
Tara didn’t need to think about it her anger cooled and she pretty much forgot all about Amy as she felt the warmth of Willows hand in hers, ”Definitely.” With that they strolled away, hand in hand.
Oz was replaying events in his mind. Trying to figure out where exactly he had missed his shot with Willow, or if he really ever had a shot with her. The only guy she ever seemed to hang with was Xander Harris, and he was dating Cordelia Chase, which just went to show that you never knew with that little group.
“How are you doing Oz?” Amy had dropped in step with him smoothly, and her tone was sympathetic.
“Fair.” He nodded a little absently for emphasis.
“I thought you sounded really good last night, I’m really glad you’re ok.” It began to filter through to Oz that Amy’s voice was more than just sympathetic.
“It’s nice of you to say so.”
“Look before you say anything else I know I might not be your number one pick, but we could hang out just have some fun, where’s the harm?” Amy made it sound utterly reasonable.
Oz admitted to himself that her could use a little consolation, that wasn’t a good enough basis to start dating someone, however casually. “It would be cool, but I’m just not in that place right now, do you understand?”
Amy didn’t, still she nodded and smiled, “Sure, just keep the offer in mind.”
As soon as Oz was out of sight her expression turned petulant. He was still hung up on Rosenberg. Maybe she should have shared a few home truths about that girl with him. That would just make her look bitchy though. No there were better ways to help him see past his little obsession.
Buffy paused in the shadow cast by a large marble tomb; she knew that she was being stalked. At any other time she might have imagined it was Xander or one of her friends coming along to offer their help and support, wanted or not. Now she had made it clear that they were to stay clear she was strictly working alone as long as Angelus was on the loose. That meant that her unseen companions had to be up to no good and since even Sunnydale muggers didn’t work graveyards she was pretty clear on what sort of company it was. Buffy was not in the mood for a cat and mouse game. She stepped out a brightly lit spot and called out, “OK guys I know you’re there. Why don’t you come out and count to one hundred and I’ll take my turn at hiding?”
Her sarcastic call had the desired effect. A pair of vampires emerged from the shadows. They were already vamped out, but Buffy judged they were the large and dumb variety, strictly slayer fodder.
“Angel didn’t want you to get lonely, but he said he’s too busy to waste any time on you right now.”
“So are you best Angel could come up with? I mean he can’t seriously think you guys can take me out. Maybe he told you that though, figured I could use a little workout.”
“We aren’t supposed to kill you, Angel just figured we could give you a little more experience. So you might be a little more interesting the next time.” The vamp laughed and Buffy felt cold inside. For all her bravado Angel knew how to reach inside and hurt her. The most important night of her life, the biggest decision she had ever made and he had made it sordid and meaningless. Enough with the banter Buffy decided. The vamp that was doing all the talking was going to be her first target. She was preparing to spring towards him when there was a loud howling and something launched itself over the tomb that she had been using for shelter.
It landed on the talkie one’s companion who shrieked as he was driven to the ground. Buffy got a clear view of the attacker now, a mass of fur and claws growling and tearing at the overwhelmed vamp. Being undead and invulnerable to most normal means of death was a distinct disadvantage when something was scooping your insides out. The chatty vamp forgot about Buffy and moved to help its partner. It pulled something out of its pocket and as Buffy saw a bright electric arc she realized it was a taser. That was how they had intended to get her to ‘entertain’ them. The beast was way too quick for the vamp however. It simply lashed out with one of its claws, raking across the back of the hand the vamp was holding the taser in, removing most of the flesh and sending the device flying into the grass. Buffy saw the opportunity and dived on the stun gun.
Buffy didn’t normally go for guns and gadgets but right now she felt the need for some firepower. The beast was clearly a werewolf. As if Sunnydale didn’t have enough problems now it had a wolf man, or maybe a wolf girl, Buffy wasn’t planning to get close enough to find out. If any of the werewolf legends were true getting into hand-to-hand combat was a really bad idea. At the moment the creature seemed more concerned with the vampires. Having tasted the first one and found it wanting it had lunged at the other one who was still focused on his shredded right hand. The wolf solved that problem by tearing the arm out of its socket. The vamp staggered back and the wolf pounced. The vampires wailing was cut off as the wolfs jaws sank into its throat and ripped the head off. The cloud of dust that engulfed the wolf caused it to yelp with surprise and blinded it. Buffy took advantage and dived on to the ground to avoid the swinging claws and drove the taser into the wolfs thigh and then thumbed the firing button. The wolf jerked back and tumbled to the ground, whining and yelping. Buffy leapt to her feet. The wolf was conscious but immobilized for a few moments. What was left of the other vamp was still moaning. Buffy seldom had any compassion for demons, on this occasion she made an exception and plunged a stake into the shattered vampires heart. She wanted to take some sort of action to bring in the werewolf, but with no means of restraining it and the red flashing light on the taser suggested it wasn’t going to be much more use. Reluctantly Buffy decided she had to retreat into the night.
4.“You Saw The Whole Of The Moon”Buffy walked into her bedroom and threw the towel she had been using to dry her hair on to her chair. Willow was sat on the edge of the bed and Tara was on the floor sitting cross-legged and looking through a book she had borrowed from Giles’ collection. Not knowing what would happen that night she hadn’t had the foresight to get something with werewolves in it.
“You’re sure it didn’t having anything to do with Angel?” Willow asked.”
“Pretty sure not, or if it was he really is slipping.” She tugged the robe tighter round her body before sitting next to Willow. “I think he had something…else in mind. The wolf guy was just random Sunnydale mayhem.”
“But it is a person right? I mean its person who turns into a wolf and then turns back again.” Tara asked.
Willow shook her head, “I don’t know honey. According to all the legends they’re only supposed to come out at the full moon and that’s not till tomorrow.”
Buffy hadn’t even noticed, “Great so this thing could be out there every night then. Like I don’t have enough problems to deal with right now.”
“Well maybe we could take over researching the werewolf for you, find out the real scoop and maybe track down the person under the fur?” Willow offered brightly. Tara nodded in support.
“That would be great guys, but I can’t just leave you guys to it. The research yes, but the tracking down is really my department.” Buffy yawned
Willow could see that despite how she might be trying to shrug things off the constant hit and run tactics by Angel were wearing on Buffy, she needed a good nights sleep. “I guess I better get going.” She stood up, Buffy waved her back though.
“It’s way too late and frankly I’m too pooped to walk you home. I figure we can squeeze in one more.” Willows heart was in her throat Buffy was clearly too tried to think about the implication behind the offer. She hadn’t had a sleepover since Tara had moved in to the Summers house. Buffy took her silence as acceptance of the offer, “You know where everything is help yourself.” She didn’t notice the odd coughing sound that Tara made.
Buffy was out like a light when Willow came back from getting ready for bed. She closed the bedroom door from the outside and padded down the hall to Tara’s room. Her girlfriend was propped up in bed looking quite angelic as she lay there reading more from her magic book. She looked nervously at Willow as she crossed to the bed. “Buffy’s already asleep, I’m not really tired yet. We never really talked about it earlier, about what happened with Amy.” Willow hadn’t asked about at school, there was a difference between being open about things and expecting her to bare her soul in the middle of a high school.
“It just upset me, to see her being so irresponsible, to just throw power around like that.”
Willow sensed that was true, it just wasn’t the whole story, “I saw how you looked in the Bronze as well, when we were talking about her mom. Tara I remember what your grandmother said about your mom.”
Tara took a deep breath, “My mom was a good person. It was just that after someone keeps telling you that there’s evil inside you maybe you start to believe it. When I started showing an interest in magic, when my dad started saying that I had inherited her demon side, she felt so guilty.” She hesitated and Willow gave her an encouraging smile, “She just wanted to protect me, save me from the curse. She summoned up something, tried to make a deal. It didn’t work it nearly broke loose but mom stopped it. It took too much out of her, she just seemed to fade away, it was just so quick. One mistake, one bad spell and it destroyed her.” She looked at Willow earnestly, “That’s why we have to be so careful you can’t just use magic casually.”
Tara finished and lay there looking miserable. Willow leant towards her and kissed her on the forehead and then on each cheek before gently touching her lips to Tara’s. The comforting pressure eased Tara’s pain. Willow sat back upright and looked at her girlfriend, “Tara do you want me to stay tonight?” The words just seemed to appear out of nowhere. She hadn’t meant to say anything it was just that she couldn’t imagine actually getting up and leaving.
“Are you sure Willow?”
“Yes, I mean you know I’ve never…” Willow couldn’t quite finish.
“Nor me.” Tara replied. That took Willow by surprise. It also erased her last worry. She stood up and pulled off the baggy t-shirt she had put on just a few minutes before, leaving herself naked before Tara. Tara stared at Willows body, she was so petite and slender, and yet still totally womanly. She had pert little boobs that were cute and arousing all at once.
Tara threw back the bedclothes that were covering her and got up into a kneeling position before she started unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing. She worked the buttons very slowly carefully not revealing anything until she reached the last one. Then she tore the shirt and threw it away so it landed on top of Willows t-shirt. Willow was wide eyed. She knew Tara had a nice body but her girlfriend wasn’t the sort to wear skimpy revealing clothes, mores the pity. The reality was way better than anything she had imagined. Voluptuous was the word that came to mind, when her mind actually managed to get working. Tara had full round boobs that made Willow feel a little inadequate in that department, although the look she was getting suggested that Tara was far from disappointed. Tara lay back down and moved over to leave a vacancy that could be filled by a warm body. Willow took the invite and lay down before Tara pulled the sheets over them.
They lay inches apart and Willow tried to think exactly what she should do next, then it hit her,
don’t think, do what you feel. She reached out and let her fingers brush over Tara’s nipples, feeling them harden even under that light touch. She circled one of them and felt the little goose bumps that sprang up around the hard center. Tara let her hand stray over Willows bottom. Ever since that first day in Quincy Tara had admired Willows butt and her legs. She stroked down over the cheeks on to the back of Willows thighs, and elicited a gasp as she slid her fingers between them. Willow found that gentle touch incredibly exciting and without further thought she dove under the sheets and placed her mouth over Tara's left breast, engulfing the nipple and sucking greedily on it. Tara moaned out loud, that was so much better than, well anything actually.
She moved her hand up the delicate flesh of Willows thigh until she felt the heat and moistness of Willows sex, then she began to rub that as vigorously as Willow was working on her breasts. That sensation sent Willow into a frenzy she wanted to touch and kiss every bit of Tara at once, and she did her level best to achieve that. Her mouth worked its way over Tara’s breasts and belly while her hands worked their way over Tara’s back and butt. Until somehow her fingers found their way inside the lips of Tara’s vagina. Tara was panting and groaning, She looked down at Willow and looking at the red hair and those luminous eyes the words came into her head, “Oh god Will you are such a total vixen!” Then she buried her mouth against Willows as their legs wound around one another, grinding the hot flesh together. Tara was left breathless as Willow broke the kiss, “Ohhh God!” Willow murmured and buried her face into Tara’s neck; so that Tara felt rather than heard the cry that Willow let out, felt her lovers climax. That was more than enough for Tara and she let out a long animal groan as she hit the peak of pleasure.
Willow lay next to Tara stroking her face with a look of pure amazement on her face. “I knew I needed you baby, I just had no idea how much.” She said.
Tara laughed, “I knew and I still need you.” She pulled Willow close and kissed her hungrily, she was unbelievably horny, and sleep was way overrated anyway. Willow had no issues with that and they spent the night working out exactly how various body parts could be brought together for maximum effect.
5. “I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”The sound of the alarm yanked Buffy out of a fitful sleep. She stumbled down stairs to find some juice or coffee or something to kick start her brain before she made as start on the day. Joyce was actually pouring herself a cup as Buffy wandered in, “Hey mom you beat Tara to the punch this morning.” He mother didn’t smile; in fact she looked pretty grim, “What’s up.”
“What’s up Buffy Summers is I would like to know why you haven’t been honest with me.” That woke Buffy up faster than a double espresso.
“What exactly are we talking about?”
“We’re talking about why you didn’t tell about Willow and Tara.” It was at that moment that Buffy actually remembered that Willow was sleeping over, which she had forgotten because her friend had been absent when she got up. And Tara wasn’t up yet. And her mom’s room was right next to Tara’s.
Oh jeez.
Before she could offer up any explanation Tara appeared with Willow trailing right behind her. The pair had slightly sheepish looks on their faces. And at the same time there was a sort of glow to them. “Buffy did you want a cup of coffee?” Joyce asked very calmly.
“Yeah I did, but…”
“The why don’t you take this one and go drink it in the living room.” It wasn’t a suggestion; it was an instruction. When her mom used that tone Buffy knew better than to argue. She cast a sympathetic glance at Willow and Tara as she walked out.
“Willow, Tara would you please sit down?” Joyce asked as she closed the kitchen door.
Willow took a seat. “Mrs. Summers if you object to me and Tara.” She began.
“Willow please, I think I’m entitled to do the talking here.” Joyce pointed out, “I think you have been a good friend to my daughter, and Tara you’ve been a delight to have here as a guest. If the two you have feelings for one another then I have no problem with that. What I have a problem with is the lack of respect that you’ve shown to me.” The two girls remained silent and seemed a little uncertain, “You avoided telling me about the nature of your relationship, and then took advantage of that. You’ve both exploited my good will.”
“Are you going to ask me to leave?” Tara asked nervously.
“No, I’m not. I just hope you are going to show a little more consideration in future. And Willow I suspect you need to have a talk with your parents.”
Buffy dumped the pile of books she was carrying on the library table, “Well it could have been worse.” She commented as Will and Tara sat down opposite.
“Oh yeah, she could have just kicked me out on the street.” Tara commented in a worried tone.
Buffy patted her arm reassuringly, “She wouldn’t do that. Really she isn’t wigged out about you two, it’s really just that you, well.”
“Slept together in her house.” Willow supplied to make it easier for Buffy.
“Yeah and then I got the speech about being responsible, and you’re underage. And I knew she wasn’t just talking about you two.”
“I guess you didn’t tell her about Angel.” Willow stated more than asked.
“I still don’t know how, or if I’m going to tell her about that.”
“You are going to have to at some point Buffy.” The three of them hadn’t noticed Giles approaching the table, “And your mother was also correct that you two were somewhat disrespectful, not to mention the potential trouble you could have gotten her into if your parents found out and objected.”
Willow was surprised by how matter of factly Giles expressed himself, “Giles did you know about me and Tara?”
Giles smiled, “Willow I spent several years at a rather liberal Oxford college, so it hardly came as an overwhelming shock. Now could we please concentrate on our werewolf problem?” Willow wondered if Giles wanted to move on because he was uncomfortable or embarrassed. Then she realized it was his way of saying that it was business as usual, it changed nothing as far as he was concerned.
The atmosphere in the library slid into the usually routine of researching. Giles Willow and Tara diligently going through the books, Buffy getting bored and pacing rounds the room offering up the occasional wisecrack. Xander and Cordelia came about half an hour later. Xander was hoping that they had found out what they needed and he was going to get off the research hook for once he was right.
“All of this seems pretty consistent.” Willow pointed out, “You were right to be careful Buffy, the werewolf curse does get passed on by bites or scratches, the whole silver bullet thing, that’s bogus, they can pretty much be killed by the same things as any of us.”
“Great at least that means I don’t have to go ammo shopping at the jewelry store.” Buffy quipped.
“That wasn’t really an option, the werewolf is still a person, except for three nights of the month.” Giles pointed out.
“Three nights? I thought they only went all Lon Chaney on the full moon. “ Xander asked.
“That’s also a fallacy, the wolf manifests itself on the nights before and after full moon, as well the night itself. Since we haven’t had any previous reports it’s possible that this is a new werewolf. The person concerned may not know what their doing.” Giles explained.
“Or they may not care.” Buffy pointed out.
“Either way we need a way of pacifying them until we can find out the full story.” Giles concluded, which left them with a whole new problem.
Amy let herself into the house and briefly looked round; there was no sign of her father’s things. That was pretty much what she expected though he did occasionally surprise her by getting out of work early. He was still experiencing major guilt over leaving Amy with her mother. This had worked to Amy’s advantage most of the time, for one thing it made it easy to pick out the choice pieces when he had thrown away all of her mothers magic paraphernalia. She emptied her purchases from the magic shop on to her bed, the two little glass bottles she had were bought were intact and the plastic bags of herbs were all there. The charm she had in mind was pretty straight forward and hadn’t raised any concerns from the woman who was running the store now, of course that might mean she simply had no idea that the spells and ingredients she sold actually worked. The owners of the magic shop seemed to oscillate between those who were truly in to the magic and those who just saw the fat bottom line the place generated.
She tipped the contents of the bags in to the mortar one by one. She ground away with the pestle the prescribed number of times after each one, muttering the words of the incantation as she went Amy tipped the contents of one bottle in and stirred with a small piece of bone. The other bottle followed and the rather soupy looking mixture turned to a uniform glossy black. That meant that she done it right and it was ready to go. All it needed was a focus to unleash its power upon. She reached into her bag and extracted the comb. Stealing it from Oz’s bag had been easy, a little glamour to divert peoples attention and she had just reached in and taken it. This spell would just clear thoughts of Rosenberg from Oz’s mind; let him appreciate the qualities of Amy Madison. Once that had been achieved she would let it lapse, just a little bit of magic to get her what she deserved, there was no harm in it whatever that dweeb MaClay might think. Amy dipped the comb in the mixture. It began to foam and tendrils of smoke rose from it. Then a jet of flame leapt from and spread across the ceiling of the bedroom. For a frantic moment Amy thought it had gone horribly wrong. The ceiling was unmarked however and she felt elation as she realized it had worked; now all she had to do was reap the rewards.
6. “Fright Night"Willow had landed a cozy little corner seat for herself and Tara. That was the big advantage of getting to the Bronze early she supposed; though without a crowd it was hard to avoid seeing just how rundown the place had become. When you ran the only nightspot in town she supposed you didn’t really have to worry too much about keeping the décor up to date. Tara sauntered back towards the table and Willow shifted her attention to her girlfriend. Tara was wearing a long floaty skirt and a sweater. It was nothing like as showy and provocative as what some of the other girls in the club were wearing, yet she was still by far the sexiest woman in the place. Willow wondered if that was part of being in love? That you always saw the object of your desire as being super attractive? Willow decided the answer was no, Tara was just basically hot.
Tara saw the dreamy look in Willows eyes, and smiled in return. Despite the embarrassment factor of Mrs. Summers lecture the night before had been more than worth it. Willow had told her about the future she had been to, about the years that were supposed to pass before they met and Tara had wondered if they really had the right to change the universe just for their own happiness. The sheer joy of being with Willow had answered that. It wasn’t just the sheer sexual pleasure it was the sense that they were supposed to be together, and it was purely an accident of fate that had kept them apart for so long. She sat down and handed a glass to Willow.
“What are you thinking?” Tara asked.
“How hot you are.” Willow answered lazily.
“Snap.” Tara answered and closed in to steal a kiss, to the interest of several patrons.
Xander hadn’t been wholly happy with Cordelia’s plans for the evening. It had been little too devious and bitchy for his tastes. Still he did owe her one and hadn’t really tried too hard to talk her out of it, especially when she suggested that she would pick him up in the car with the serious possibility of ‘parking’ later. Cordelia had simply suggested that he should go home and do his homework assignments. If he finished, or more likely he got stuck or bored, then he could call her to see how she was doing and who knew what might happen then? Simply put if they didn’t have any plans then they didn’t have to tell anyone, meaning Buffy, about them. That way no one could complain about being left out or not invited. It was dirty trick still Xander’s hormones got the better of him and he caved. By the time they walked in to the Bronze he had pretty much decided it was cool, especially considering the little black mini dress Cordy had show up in. It would be cool to have a night just with Cordelia and no Buffy or…”Willow” He said it out loud and Cordelia turned to follow his gaze and saw Willow and Tara sat talking. Willow seemed to feel her gaze because she looked up and stared straight at her.
Willow would have been surprised and horrified if she had known it but the same thought passed through the minds of her and Cordelia Chase at the same moment.
What are they doing here? Willow had not deliberately excluded Xander from their plans for the evening. He had simply been very evasive all day about what he was going to do that night and Willow hadn’t elected to push it. Buffy was going to swing by after she tried to scope out any more info on the wolf so she had been expecting her and Tara to have a good two or three hours to themselves. Now all she could do was smile and wave.
Xander waved back at Willow, he couldn’t exactly just walk on by and ignore them, though from the way Cordelia crushed his hand she certainly wanted him to. He walked towards the table dragging Cordy behind him. “Hey Will didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Me neither, I mean I didn’t expect you to be here, thought you had too much something or other to do.” Willow couldn’t help sounding a little accusatory.
“Last minute thing, you know spur of the moment.” Cordelia explained unconvincingly. Xander shuffled into a seat across from Willow and Tara and Cordelia reluctantly did the same.
Willow found herself getting unreasonably annoyed, she hadn’t asked Xander to join them; he had just assumed that she would want his company, even if that meant dragging in Cordelia. He seemed to assume that whatever he may have done, even taking up with someone he knew that Willow despised she would still need him to be there for her to enjoy an evening out. As she was thinking this the canned music playing over the sound system changed to a slow ballad. To Willow it seemed almost like an invitation. “ Do you want to dance?” Willow asked.
“Actually Will I was going to get a drink.” Xander answered before realizing that she wasn’t looking at him.
“I’d love to.” Tara said beaming. Willow took her hand and led her to the floor. She let her arms slide around Tara’s waist and leaned her head on Tara’s shoulder as they began to slowly circle round.
Feeling somewhat foolish Xander turned his attention back to Cordelia and the subject of what she might want to drink. Cordelia on the other hand was still watching Willow and Tara. She began to look distinctly alarmed as she watched the pair begin to dance.
“So do you want a Coke or an orange juice?” Xander asked her.
She turned on him sharply, “I cannot believe you!” She hissed.
“Hey look you can have whatever you want.” He tried to placate her.
“I mean you aren’t just dragging me out with a couple of losers, but a couple of lesbo losers!”
“Jeez Cordy just because they dance together, really slowly, sort of leaning on one another. “ he trailed off as he watched the two girls moving around the floor. He could see Willows face as they moved. Her eyes were closed and she had a broad smile on her face as she buried her head into Tara’s shoulder. He had known her since they were in kindergarten and he had never seen a look like that before. She looked blissfully content, totally happy and free of cares. As they moved Tara’s face came into view and he saw the same expression mirrored on her face. It was pretty clear that what was making them so happy was one another; and that he had no idea how he felt about that fact.
Cordelia didn’t give him time to think about it, “Let’s get out of here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean we stand up and walk out the door and go somewhere that’s not here!” Cordelia was insistent.
“We can’t just walk out without saying something.” Xander was getting a really bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“Fine. Well I can, and if you don’t come now don’t bother coming at all.” She got up and walked towards the exit, keeping her pace slow, expecting Xander to catch up any second. When he didn’t she was amazed at just how much that little detail hurt.
Amy was hurrying along the pavement as best she could, eager to get to the Bronze but not wanting to look to disheveled. She had decided that was the best place to meet Oz. The charm should impel him to find her wherever she was. She heard an odd sound coming from the darkness. An animal running loose, a dog probably as it sounded quite big, and it was getting louder by the second. Amy began to get concerned, she didn’t want some dumb dog leaping up and getting paw prints all over her dress. Then the wolf emerged into the light and she stopped worrying about paw prints. Amy tried to run, but her heels made that nearly impossible and the creature quickly got in front of her. Amy stopped and backed up slowly looking around for something she could use to fend the beast off with. All she found was the lamppost behind her that prevented her from backing any further. She stared into the feral eyes of the werewolf as it approached her and felt its breath as its muzzle pressed close to her face. Then it began to lick at her face before it squatted on its haunches panting and whining in a manner that suggested it would be wagging its tail if it had one. Amy was thoroughly baffled, werewolves were supposed to be primal killing machines, this one was acting like it was…and that was when she figured it out.
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: 6/24/02 2:45:40 pm
Yes the other time line is somewhat void, though there are events that Tara's presence can't really change. Buffy and Angel will inevitably sleep together with all the consequences that brings, the Mayor still wants to be a demon etc. So there will be some familiar landmarks. On the other hand there will be somethings that are very different:
at: 6/1/02 10:29:50 am
