Woah, hang on kids...it's going to be one hell of a ride for a while...
Title: Lost & Found - Part 23
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: R (strong language)
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Back at the Summer’s house, the rest of the gang, sans Buffy were in a heated debate with Willow over the status of her relationship with Tara. Giles, Anya & Dawn were seated on the couch, while Willow sat in an armchair. Xander was standing behind her for support. He didn’t like what Willow was doing, but he did understand why she was doing it.
“Willow, what your doing is extremely dangerous. This decision is going to condemn you to a life of addiction for no reason.” Giles said, then stood up and started pacing around the room.
“It’s what I deserve. I brought this on myself.” Willow insisted with resolve.
“Well, that’s certainly true enough.” Anya agree with the former witch.
“Anya.” Xander chastised her in a pleading way.
“Well she did. And besides, Anteros isn’t going to like this. You don’t spit on destiny. It just isn’t done.” She said to re-iterate her concerns about a certain god of love getting really pissed with them. Soon.
“There’s nothing he can do to me that would hurt more than not being with Tara.” Willow pointed out.
Anya’s eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t bet on that.”
Willow felt a strange sensation. At first, she thought it was just her body’s way of reacting to Anya’s warning, then she recognized the warm feeling attached to it. Tara. As the awareness passed, Willow could tell that Tara wasn’t very close by. When she had used magic to open Willow’s bedroom door, the feeling was overwhelming. This was more like someone whispering in her ear as opposed to screaming in it.
Willow mentally caught some of the words that Tara had been chanting and tried to place what spell they might be used for. Willow looked down at the floor in deep concentration. She was mentally reciting hundreds of spells in her brain trying to figure out which one Tara was casting.
Finally, she realized what she was missing. She hadn’t taken into consideration that Tara might be using other tools. ‘Something about sight. What would she be looking at? A map?’ Willow wondered.
Giles was concerned about the young redhead. “Willow, are you alright?” he said leaning forward. He didn’t know what to make of her sudden silence and blank stare.
Willow picked her head up and tried to shake off the spells she had been mentally reciting. “Um, ah, I’m fine.” She said unconvincingly. “I mean, well, I just kinda felt something and I thought it was something else and then I didn’t know what the something was so I was trying to figure the something out.”
Giles raised his eyebrows at her in question.
Willow laughed nervously and started rubbing her palms together. Her shoulders slumped forward in defeat. Lying to them was not an option. “I felt Tara. She’s casting.” she admitted.
Giles and Anya were extremely alarmed at this revelation. “Are you sure?” Anya asked while Giles wanted to know, “Do you know what she cast?”
“Um, yes to both questions. “ She said looking back and forth between the watcher and the ex-demon. “She’s doing a location spell. She’s looking for someone.” Willow informed them.
Anya turned and glared at Giles. “Why’d you let her leave!? You should have known this was going to happen. Especially after Willow went all bad-ass on Glory.”
“Buffy and Spike are out there looking for her. I’m sure they’ll find her.” he said trying to stay optomistic.
Looking up at the clock, Dawn voiced her concern. “It’s 11:00. Where would Tara go at this hour?” she asked.
Anya also looked over at the clock. “Tara’s probably going to give Rack piece of her mind.” Anya said in a pissed tone. “It’s what I would do.” She thought about that for a moment. “Well, actually, I would probably break every single bone in his body. Slowly.”
She noticed the displeased looks from the rest of the room. “But Tara’s not like me. No siree. She‘s just walking around in the dark, lost and confused like a little scorned puppy.”
Willow’s jaw dropped and her eyes shot wide open. Despite knowing that her lover was safe and only casting a knowledge spell as opposed to an offensive or protection spell. Picturing Tara as Anya suggested was just wrong.
“Anya.” Xander began.
“I’ll be quiet now.” she assured him.
“She can’t see Rack. I don’t want her anywhere near him!” Willow shouted.
“It’s not your decision to make.” Dawn said bitterly.
“We have to stop her.” Willow insisted standing up and heading for the door.
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Tara and Spike walked up to the Madison house in silence. They had formulated a plan, which Spike was not too keen on. Basically, Tara would ask Amy nicely first, and if she wouldn't tell her what she wanted to know, she'd use magic to make her talk.
Spike had offered to rough Amy up a bit, but Tara politely reminded him that the chip in his head would not permit him to hurt humans. He finally consented that it was her show and he was strictly there as moral support.
Tara knocked on the door, hoping Amy would answer so she wouldn't run the risk of have to deal with her father.
After a few seconds, Tara could see a pair of eyes looking out window of the door. Amy opened the door a crack. "Can I help you?" she asked wearily.
Tara intended to play no games. Her tone was low and even when she spoke. "Do you know who I am?" she inquired demandingly.
Amy thought about the question for a moment. "You look familiar. I think I've seen you before." She studied the face in front of her for a moment. "At Buffy's house maybe?"
Tara nodded. "Yeah. Willow introduced us." A pause. "I'm Tara." Another pause. "Will's ex."
'Ut oh.' she thought. Amy was positive that nothing good would come out of any conversation with Willow's ex-girlfriend. "I don't know where Willow is. I haven't seen her in like, two weeks." Amy annouced quickly.
"I'm not looking for Willow." Tara said inching closer to the door. "I just want you to answer some questions for me." she explained.
Amy wanted absolutely nothing to do with this girl. She could tell by the look in Tara's eye that her statement was less of a request and more like a demand.
Nonetheless, Amy decided to try for a quick exit. "I can't help you." Amy said and started to close the door.
Tara's arm shot out and grabbed the edge of the door. Amy could almost feel the fire emanating from her steely blue gaze. The door stopped abruptly and so did Amy's coherent thinking. 'Oh shit. She's pissed. Fuck! She's gonna kick my ass. Shit!' she rambled off in her mind. After seeing the look on Tara's face, Amy desperately wanted to look away, but for some reason she simply couldn't. 'I thought Willow said Tara was this sweet, innocent little farm girl! FUCK!' she thought as she stared at the blonde wiccan and waited for her to make her move. Amy could feel the beads of sweat forming on her forehead. 'And I was worried about Rack.' she thought as her fingers tightened on the doorknob and her arm began shaking.
The lines on Tara's face hardened. This was the woman that helped take away the love of her life. Tara wasn’t about to let her just close the door and walk away. "You can, and you will." she clarified for the dark haired witch. "Now join me on the porch and close the door...otherwise, I might start playing with your dimensions." she threatened in a low growl.
Amy recalled the morning she had met Tara. She was praising Willow's ability to mess with dimensions. 'Oh boy.' she thought. Amy didn't think she had a chance if she had to use magic. She was pretty good with the dark stuff, but she could feel the power surrounding Tara. Amy could tell Tara was like a white magic gold card member. They just weren't in the same league. The only way to try and get out of this was to do everything that the blonde witch said. Amy threw on her coat and stepped across the threshold, closing the door behind her.
Spike was quite impressed. He honestly hadn't figured Tara capable of intimidation. The fact of the matter was, she wasn't bad at it. Not bad at all. Apparently, the young witch had some vicious claws. 'Wonder when she grew those?" he thought. He felt his lips curl up in an evil grin. He may be on the good side now, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate a little bad attitude.
The moment Amy took a step away from the door, Spike, with his vamp face on, slipped behind her to block the entrance.
Amy was startled at seeing the vampire. "You brought a vampire with you?" she said incredulously.
"What can I say? Liam is quite handy backup." she said giving a brief nod to the blonde vampire.
Spike heard her use his real name and gave her a sly grin. He was starting to like the idea of using his old name. He definitely liked hearing it from Buffy and Tara. He crossed his arms and stared menicingly at her. "Just do what the witch says." he reminded her with a snarl.
Amy could only nod. 'A witch being served by a vampire. FUCK! I am so dead.' she thought.
"I'm giving you one more chance to help me out before I get very upset and have to persuade you to help." She moved in front of Spike, so that she was staring at both of them. "Oh and Amy? Don't even think about lying to me. I'll know if you do." She watched as the terrified witch fought to swallow the lump in her throat. Amy finally just nodded.
Once Tara felt she had the witch‘s complete cooperation, she began questioning her. "Why did you take Willow to Rack?"
Amy took a deep breath and started rattling off the explanation, fearing what the other witch might do if she took too long to explain. "We were burnt out after our night out at The Bronze. We needed a quick fix. Rack does that sort of thing. He gives you a casting high. All you have to do is let him taste your magic."
Tara's eyebrows shot up. "Taste?" she said, her anger rising. "Did he touch her?" she demanded.
Amy dropped her eyes to the ground. "Yes" she mumbled.
"Where?" Tara was growing agitated. She hadn’t even considered that Rack would have actually laid his hands on her girl.
"Chest. Right above her heart." Amy used her own hand and demonstrated exactly what Rack had done.
Tara's eyes widened. "Did she tell him to do this or did he just do it?" Tara didn’t want to believe that Willow would let anyone other than Tara touch her in such in intimate manner.
Amy tried to remember exactly what had happened when she took Willow to Rack‘s. "Um, well, she kinda had some second thoughts when she saw him. She was trying to talk him out of doing it, then he just did it." She glanced up to see the blonde’s reaction. Amy hoped that Tara would be happy that Willow had been extremely hesitant about the whole thing.
Tara was slightly relieved by the other witch‘s words, but wasn‘t about to let Amy off the hook so easily. "So she didn't do it willingly." She restated.
Amy shook her head. "Honestly, no. If she had known what she was walking into, I don't think she ever would have gone." She told her.
"How did you get her to go?" Tara asked.
Amy began to fidget nervously under Tara‘s gaze. "I just told her about the casting high." She said shrugging her shoulders. Amy had no idea what else to say.
"If she didn’t want to do it in the first place, why did she go back?" Tara inquired.
Amy wrapped her arms around her chest and tried to look anywhere but at Tara. "One time at Rack's is all it takes.” She was speaking now more about her own experiences than Willow’s. “You want more. It's not a choice. That's how he works."
"And if you don't go back?"
"Withdraw." She sighed. “He doesn’t go looking for people. Usually after the first time, you belong to him.” she explained.
Tara felt her anger flare up. She tried to hold back the tirade, but it was a futile effort. “Willow doesn’t belong to anyone. Nobody owes her. No one controls her. And if anyone could claim any kind of ownership to Willow, it would be ME. Do you understand that?” Tara decreed.
Amy quickly nodded. ‘Shit. I’m gonna die.’ she thought.
Calming ever so slightly, she continued her questioning. "You look pretty calm. When did you last see him?"
"Um, yes-yesterday." She stuttered out.
If Amy had seen him yesterday, then he was still in Sunnydale. He was somewhere close. "Where is he?" she said, her voice sounding extremely harsh.
“He's down at the end of the alley at 7th and Main. He might have moved, but he usually keeps the same place for about a week, unless something happens." She eyed Tara suspiciously. "Something's going to happen, isn't it?"
"Good possibility I would say." Tara confirmed.
"Fuck." Amy knew Rack wasn’t one to go after his users, but she felt like she was sending the angel of death to his doorstep. "Promise me one thing?" she asked in a weak voice.
Tara cocked her head to one side. She could tell that Amy was facing an inner battle. The dark haired witch couldn‘t decide if she should be more afraid of Rack or Tara. "Depends." Tara said crossing her arms.
"Please don't mention my name to him." She said turning her back on Tara. If Tara was going to be the one to hurt her, she could do it now.
Tara put her hand on Amy‘s shoulder and spun her back around. She lifted Amy‘s chin so that she could focus on her eyes. "Amy, after I leave this house, I don't want to have to think about your name ever again, let alone say it out loud." Amy didn’t blink. "Do you know what that means?" she asked.
Amy couldn’t decide whether it would be better to say yes or no. Instead, she stood there and said nothing.
"Let me spell it out, just to make sure. You will never call, come over, run into, or even think about talking to Willow. If you see her, you damn well better turn the hell around. If you don't, I will deal with you. Are we clear?" she said removing her hand.
Spike felt that he could add to the threat by bearing his fangs and hissing at the witch.
Amy looked from one to the other. "I got it."
Tara wanted to make sure there wasn‘t a doubt in Amy‘s mind regarding her intentions. She held out her hand and said, "Flame." A flame appeared in the palm of her hand in a small burst, and steadily grew in intensity. After about five seconds, it had tripled in size, then burnt itself out in a bright flash. "Don't ever forget it." she said walking past the petrified witch. "Liam." she called to Spike to follow her.
Spike walked past Amy and let out an evil laugh. "Do what she says, if you know what's good for you." he said with a sneer and hurried to catch up with Tara.
Amy stood on the porch and listened to their footsteps as they walked away. Amy never turned around to look at them, fearful that Tara would burn her alive. Amy had the strangest feeling that this wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot. She headed back into her house and determined it would be in her best interests not to come back out for at least a week.
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After they were about a block from Amy's house, Spike leaned over and put his arm around her shoulder. "You ok?" he asked. Spike was expecting her to be very down on herself for what she had just done to Amy.
"No, not really. But happy at the same time." she said in an even tone, while leaning her head on his shoulder.
Spike was slightly surprised by her response. "It didn't bother you acting like that to Amy?" he asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Tara shook her head no. "No, she deserved it." Technically, Tara hadn't really done anything unusual. If someone was a threat to Willow, Tara would do anything in order to keep her safe. Tara might not be doing it as much in the future, but right now, Willow needed to be protected from negative magical influences. No one in the Scooby Gang was capable of dealing with that kind of menace but her.
"I'm worried about what's going to happen at 7th & Main." she confessed.
"You don't have to go there." he pointed out.
Tara lifted her head off his shoulder and looked up at the stars. "Yes I do. If he's the reason I have to be miserable for the rest of my life, then I certainly am going to meet the bastard and give him a piece of my mind." She declared.
"Are you just going to talk to him?" he asked knowing damn well that she had a lot more in mind.
Tara considered what he was asking and chose not to lie. "No." she simply replied.
They walked in silence for a minute before Spike spoke again. "Do I get to be more helpful this time? Not that playing the big bad body guard was a problem, but I’d like to do more than just look menacing and growl this time.”
Tara had to laugh. Spike was just not the type of person to stand by and do nothing. More importantly, he wasn‘t going to stand on the sidelines and let the woman do the fighting if he could do something to help. "Possibly. He's a warlock."
The thought of getting a piece of the action this time excited him. "Sounds like a bloody good time."
The moment of mirth had passed and Tara‘s face was stone once more.
He noticed the look and suddenly wished he could do something, anything to make it all go away. He looked down at the sidewalk. “You don’t want to kill him, do you?" he asked softly.
"Want to? Yes, I do.” A pause. “Will I? Doubtful.” she informed him.
Spike gave her a puzzled look. Suddenly it dawned on him. "But you've got something planned, don't you?
Tara nodded. "Nobody messes with my girl." she vowed staring straight ahead.
Spike grinned. He really liked this kick ass Tara. "Let the ass kicking commence." he declared removing his arm, pulling out his smokes, and lighting a cigarette.
Tara wasn't as thrilled about being Rack‘s judge, jury, & executioner. On the other hand, she wasn't about to let Rack hurt anyone else the way he had hurt Willow. His dealing days were definitely coming to an end. Tonight.
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I really love over protective butch Tara...I think she's going to hang around for a while. Hmm, one more part to get everyone together...then Showdown at Rack's.
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Love will find a way.
[This message has been edited by jessan15 (edited March 26, 2002).]
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