Hmm, probably no update again until Tuesday, so I hope this slightly larger update will hold you all till then. Exciting things coming....
Title: Lost & Found - Part 22
Author: Jessan
Feedback: Yes, bring it on...I can take it. Sniff. LOL
Summary: Two witches going in different directions...for the moment
Spoiler Warning: Up to and including "Wrecked" in Season 6.
Disclaimer: They do not belong to me...no copyright infringement intended. Joss is my God. All hail the glorious one. (It just called out to me.)
Rating: PG-13
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After Giles had relayed everything that had happened since the five friends left earlier that afternoon, the questions started.
"Is Willow crazy or just stupid?" Spike demanded. Buffy shot him a steely gaze. "No luv, not taking it back. When is she going to get off her high horse and realize the world does NOT revolve around her?"
"Liam, she's doing this because it's ultimately unfair to Tara." Several eyebrows shot up at hearing the slayer call the vampire by his real name for the first time. “I would feel the same way if every time I was with you all I could think about was Angel.”
Giles glared at his slayer. Clearly she had failed to mention something to him. Unfortunately, now was not the best time to question her about the ethics of dating a vampire.
Spike stood up, enraged. "Bullshit. How can you defend her?” he said with more than a little disgust in his voice. “I warned her about magic.” he said pointing towards upstairs, where Willow was. “She played the game, now she has to pay the piper. So she has to deal with some sodding memories. She needs to get the hell over it." he shouted.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" said a voice from the stairs. Once she felt Tara leave, Willow decided it would be safe to come down. She had no idea she would be walking in front of the firing squad. "Have you gotten over everything you've done in your life?" she fired back.
Spike looked over at Buffy. "Actually, yeah I did. Found something called LOVE and dealt with it.” he said cynically. “Gonna tell me Blondie doesn't love you Red?" he dared her to deny it.
"This isn't her decision to make. It's mine." She countered.
That pulled Anya into the conversation. "I remember the night you two fought at our apartment. She was very specific about how YOU didn't get to decide what was best for us." Anya paused, realizing that was slightly confusing. "Meaning you two." she clarified. Anya felt the need to defend her friend. "You're doing it again." She said with an accusing glare.
"I am not. This has nothing to do with what I was doing before." Willow said in her defense.
"Yes it does Will." Xander piped in. "You just don't see it that."
Dawn walked over and stood in front of Willow who was standing at the bottom of the stairs. "How can you stand to be in the same room as me?" she questioned. "Don't I remind you of everything that happened at Rack's?"
Willow looked away from the young girl.
"Don't I?" she pushed.
"It's different Dawnie." She said sadly, unable to look at the teenager.
Dawn refused to back down. She hadn‘t had the chance to do anything the first time Tara left, but she refused to watch it happen again. "How is it different? You hurt all of us when you went to Rack's. We all forgave you. You still live in this house, don't you? How can you say its different?" she asked.
"You've never been addicted to anything, you couldn't understand." She said still unable to look at the dark haired girl.
Xander couldn't be silent any longer. "How about the child of two alcoholics Will? Could I understand?"
Xander questioning her was the last straw. She lashed out at her best friend. "Yes Xander, remember what all the beatings felt like when your dad was drunk when you were little? Are those good memories? Do you like to think about them every minute of every day? If Anya turned into a drunk and abused your child, could you deal with that?" she spat.
Xander suddenly understood where Willow was coming from. It was a suck-y place to be. He walked over and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry." he told her sincerely.
The moment she felt his arms, all the tension in her body was released. The anger was gone, now their was only emptiness. "Just hold me." she begged him.
Anya spoke up annoyed. "Why does she always turn me into the bad guy?" she asked looking at Giles, who was sitting next to her not saying anything.
Spike looked out the window and noticed that the sun had gone behind the hills. "I'm gonna go look for Tara." he said. He wasn't willing to see Red's side of the story. He had a private motto about his favorite women(Buffy & Tara). 'What the blonde wants, the blonde gets.'
"I'll go with you." Buffy said and they walked out the door.
Dawn walked over and sat next to Giles. "What are we going to do?" She asked watching Xander holding Willow.
"It all depends on Tara." he said with a sigh. "And maybe a certain God." he added.
Anya looked at him quite surprised. "You think Anteros will help them?"
"He is the God of mutual love isn't he?" he asked suddenly realizing that Anya had some knowledge about this specific God that he hadn’t asked about yet.
"Yes, but he also incurs wrath against the one who destroys mutual love." She said tipping her head in Willow’s direction hinting that she most likely would be the intended victim.
"But they still love each other." Giles noted. "They never stopped."
Anya eyed him suspiciously. Her jaw dropped when she determined what he was plotting. "You're going to summon him, aren't you?"
Giles removed his glasses. "I think its going to be necessary." He said rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Dawn was extremely worried. The last time they came in contact with a god, things didn‘t work out that well. "He's not going to do anything bad to them, is he?" her voice cracked on the last two words.
Giles put his arm around Dawn to reassure her. "No, they're one of his chosen pair. He would only enact vengeance if one of them fell in love with someone else or cheated on the other." He said with a smile, knowing very well that neither girl would ever do either.
Dawn‘s was calmer, but still concerned. "So how's he going to help?"
Anya cut in before Giles could answer her question. “You can’t petition a request. You do realize that? It has to be one of them.”
Giles nodded in understanding. "Yes. I know the petition has to come from one of them but I can summon him on their behalf.“
“Willow won’t do it. I can guarantee that.” Anya stated grimly.
Giles sighed. “As I said, it depends on Tara."
When Xander finally released Willow from his embrace, she grabbed onto the banister to steady herself.
Xander dipped his head down to look her in the eyes. “Will, everything’s gonna work out. You‘ll see. I don‘t know how, but I know that you‘re not meant to be sad.” He put on a frown. “Sad Willow is not an option in Xanderland.” He said with mock seriousness. “The only Willow that is allowed in Xanderland is the wild, wacky, wonderful, worry-free, wiccan-lesbian-loving, Willow.” He held his hand up and scratched his chin “Have you seen her lately? We seem to have misplaced her.” he said trying desperately to make her smile.
His efforts were rewarded. She gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “You always could do that.” she told him.
“What?” he asked.
“Make me smile.” Willow said wrapping her arms around her chest.
Xander nodded approvingly. “True.” Despite the smile on her face, Willow still looked like she was missing something. She was missing a certain blonde witch that made her complete. “But I passed the crown about three years ago. I guess you were a little too preoccupied to notice.”
Willow went over and sat in the armchair. Her eyes saddening at the thought. Tara could always make her smile. It didn’t take much. A gesture, a chuckle, a grin, a touch, a word, almost everything she did made Willow smile. Just thinking about Tara made Willow smile.
Xander could almost see the gears turning in her mind. He could tell she was thinking about Tara. “Or maybe not.” he remarked with a sly grin. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
Willow looked up at him and gave him a nod.
Their tender moment was interrupted by Giles clearing his throat. “I really think we should discuss this situation further.” he said. “Immediately.” he said in a demanding tone that left no room for argument.
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Spike and Buffy split up as they left the house. Buffy headed toward downtown and Spike headed towards campus. Spike saw a dim light on in Tara‘s dorm room and decided he should go take a look. As he approached the door, his senses picked up the soft chanting on the other side of the door. He tried turning the handle, but the door was locked. "Figures." he muttered. “Open up Blondie.” He shouted, but got no response as the soft chanting continued. Tara was busy casting.
Spike waited for about two minutes. When Tara still hadn’t opened the door, he opened it himself. He pushed the door with a little vampire strength. The iron deadbolt smashed thru the steel doorframe with a sickening screech. ‘At least the door’s still on its hinges.’ he thought. Totally pissing off an irate witch would be a bad idea. Spike wasn’t sure how forgiving she would be about him breaking the lock. As Spike walked in the door, he was surprised to see Tara sitting in a casting circle with a map of Sunnydale in front of her. He determined she must be looking for something or someone. The question was…who or what was she trying to find? "What're you doing luv?"
Tara didn’t flinch. Even when Spike busted in, she never moved or raised her voice. The sheer amount of concentration and determination Tara possessed was enormous. Spike quietly closed the door and took a seat at her desk and waited for her to find what she was looking for.
After about ten minutes of waiting, Tara suddenly stopped chanting and turned to look at the vampire. “You’re lucky you didn’t break my focus. Do you have any idea how hard it is to locate someone you’ve never met, when don’t have anything of theirs to use as an aide?” she said with a slightly annoyed tone.
“I stopped pestering you, didn’t I?” he asked trying to get some points for patience.
Tara consented. “Yes, you did. Thank you.” She said as she stood up in the circle and stretched her legs.
“So who’re you looking for?” he asked as she walked over to the desk.
“Someone that can give me some answers about this whole mess.” she said grabbing a pen and piece of paper.
Spike put his hand on her arm. “Tara, you’re not going to confront Rack.” he asked searching her eyes looking for any hint of rage or anger.
Tara gave him the moment of rage he was looking for. “You won’t tell me what to do Spike.” She was sick and tired of other people taking decisions away from her. Tara’s calm demeanor returned when she remembered that Spike was worried about her, not trying to tell her what to do. “But no, that’s the last resort.” She reassured him. “I’ll start at the bottom and work my way up.” she said kneeling down in front of the map.
If not Rack, then who? “The rat?”
Tara nodded while she copied an address from the map. “Amy and I need to have a chat.”
Spike was starting to get really worried. “No one’s seen her since what happened with Willow. She may be strung out for all we know Blondie.” He watched the witch walk over to her closet and begin changing clothes. When she removed her top, Spike jumped up and turned the other way.
“You could have warned me.” he whined at her.
“I had no idea that my back would offend you. Forgive me.” He removed her silk blouse and put on a long-sleeve t-shirt. “And if Amy has any idea what’s good for her, she won’t be.” she said answering his previous question.
Spike stared at the mural on Tara‘s dorm room wall. “Blondie, she was stupid git and got Willow into something nasty, but she’s not all there.” he said pointing to his head. When he realized that they both had their backs to each other, he shook his head at his own stupidity. ‘Xander must be rubbing off on me.’ he thought.
“I know. Rat psychosis, right? Whatever.” she said pulling on her red duster. “But I don’t care about her problems.” she said turning around. She stared at the back of Spike’s duster and sighed. “Spike. I’m dressed now. You can turn around.” she said rolling her eyes. Inside, Tara felt honored that he was being such a gentlemen to her.
When he faced her once again, she continued her speech. “I want her to tell me about Willow. I want to know how she got her there. What she said or did to get Willow to go to someplace like that.”
Spike shoved his hands in his pockets and was still looking at the floor. “Ah, so you’re just gonna interrogate her?” As he finished, he lifted his head and tried to meet her eyes.
Tara‘s eyes went wide. “Do you really think I would hurt her?” she said in a wounded voice.
Spike shook his head. “No. I’m worried she’ll take you to Rack.” He looked over towards the window. “If that Bugger got off on Red, I can imagine how much he’d enjoy you Blondie.” he said in a small voice which betrayed his concern for the young witch.
Tara knew he was trying to scare her, but she refused to back down. No more running away, from anything. She had promised. For herself and for Willow. “Meaning?” she challenged him.
Spike wouldn‘t meet the eyes he knew were staring at him waiting for a response. “Guy like Rack works off of the dark mojo. Mostly because those are the only types of people that come to him. To get a chance to play with someone as powerful in white magic as you…” he left the statement hanging in the air.
“So, you want some backup?” he said finally meeting her gaze.
“Amy can’t hurt me.” she declared defiantly.
Spike nodded. “I didn’t mean for Amy.”
“I’ll be fine Spike.” She assured him.
Spike walked over and stood toe to toe with the witch. “No, you won’t. You’ll never be fine until you and Red are doing the wild thing again.”
He had more in that tirade, but the look on Tara’s face when he referred to them having sex as ’the wild thing’ was just to precious. They both burst into laughter.
Once they both calmed themselves, he looked at her with pleading eyes. “I don’t want you going to Rack’s alone.” A pause. “I know you’ll head there next with or without Amy.” he said as he looked away.
“Really?” she said sarcastically.
“You’re frustrated and you want answers. Only way to find something you lost is to return to the place you think you lost it.” he tried to explain his logic to her.
Tara just got a confused look on her face. “My head hurts from trying to follow that statement.” ‘And I thought following Willow was a challenge.’ she thought.
“Let me come with Blondie. For my own piece of mind. Please?” He begged
Tara held her hands up in front of her face. “Don’t look at me like that! God, you’ve been with around Buffy and Dawn too much. They give me that look all the time when they want something.”
Spike smiled. “And you always give in don’t you?”
“Unfortunately sometimes.” Spike shot her a doubtful glance. “Ok, always.”
Spike beamed. “I always know how to get what I want.” he said reaching over and opening the door.
“Begging and pouting?” she replied as she walked into the hall.
“Guys gotta be flexible, ya know? And don‘t forget the crying!” he said with mock anger. He tried closing the door then looked at the doorframe. “Um, sorry about that.”
Tara held a hand up. A few softly chanted words. “Return.” she said. The doorframe molded itself back into its original state. She closed the door, twisted her key in the mechanism, and locked the door. “Not the first time its happened.” she informed him. “Did Buffy ever tell you about Xander’s prank phone call about me and Will?”
“It involves a broken door frame?” Tara nodded. “Oh now this I gotta hear.” he said as they headed for Amy’s house.
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Hmmm, witchy showdown coming up. Amy ain't gonna know what hit her...um, literally. Let's see, what else is coming up...paranoid Willow...then it's off to see the wizard. Wonder who all's going?
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Love will find a way.
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