A/N: This is in response to several requests for more Tara-PVO scenes based on the fic "Broken Bonds." This falls during the first Faith/Tara/Cat scene in Chapters 15 and 16.
"Remind me why the fuck we're here?" Faith shucked her clothes in the living room of their guest suite. "I feel like we keep chasing our tail with this case."
So did Tara. She stifled a yawn. The long hours got harder and harder every year. "I feel it, too. We're missing something. I just…can't figure it out." And they needed to find answers. Her heart still pounded double-time from listening to the hate-mongering at the Legion meeting. Poor Cat. It had been hard for Tara to stomach the speeches and call to violence as she sat in a BPD command center.
To be in the middle of it? To have to play along? Tara couldn't imagine the emotional fallout from being in the heart of the rally.
"We'll worry about it tomorrow. The crew here should have the transcripts by the time we leave for the precinct." Tara managed a tired grin at Faith's snort and rolled eyes. "I know. This place isn't what we're used to. But not everywhere has a Willow on speed dial."
"Whoever thought we'd want a Willow at every House or HQ?" Faith stretched, and Tara admired the ripple of muscle on display. "See something you like?" The cocky question hadn't grown stale despite more than a decade of use.
Tara let Faith wait for a response as she considered what was best for both of them. Need weighed against the current lack of sleep and food and the burn of tension along her shoulders. "Always, my Slayer." She saw Faith's lips pout and her shoulders slump. "We'll never figure out the missing piece of our puzzle if we don't sleep."
"Don't mean I have to like it." Faith's steps were as stomp-y as possible given her lack of footwear.
It was endearing but required a firm hand. "Careful, Slayer." Tara let her Dominance out. Faith clearly needed a reminder of their roles. More like another reminder. Boston pushed Faith's buttons, which meant Faith had been challenging Tara's control a little more each day they remained.
The stomping abated slightly. Faith's response was still truculent. "Yes, Tara."
"Climb into bed, sweetie." Tara didn't continue to force the issue. Rest would help them find their equilibrium. With all the danger from the Legion and the odd "vibe" at the Boston HQ, Tara took the time and energy to set her own wards in the suite. Nothing and no one were getting in without her approval.
By the time she joined Faith in bed, Tara was ready to drop. She'd barely closed her eyes when her phone rang. Council training kicked in, overriding the numb, heavy feel in her body and brain. "Who is this?" she mumbled; voice thick with incipient sleep.
There was silence, punctuated by someone breathing heavily. A prank? Really?
"I…I…I'm sorry." Tara couldn't place the nearly inaudible whisper at first, but she sat up, straining to hear more. "Never mind."
"Cat?" It had to be. The poor girl sounded ready to shatter. "What's wrong?" Tara was fully awake now. Cat wouldn't have called unless it was urgent. Since Jane hadn't made the call, this was something personal, rather than case-related.
Cat proved that thought correct. "I shouldn't have called." Cat's words were so fast they banged into one another in a rumble of shamed sound. "I'm fine."
Sensing the girl was about to pull away, to hang up, Tara interrupted. "Tell me what's wrong, Cat. Now!" Her raised voice and the amount of snap she'd included woke Faith.
"T? What's wrong? Another murder?" Faith didn't wait for an answer. She was up and dressing as Tara contemplated another demand for information.
"I…you said…you said to let you know. I need to go out. I need…" Cat's struggle, her confusion and reluctance to ask for help hit Tara right in her Dominance.
She snapped her fingers to get Faith's attention. "This isn't about the case. Get the Bag." Tara didn't explain which bag. There was only one Bag. "Are you still at home?" she rapped at Cat. If she let up on the force of her words even slightly, Cat would slip the verbal leash. That couldn't happen. Cat had proven she made poor choices under this type of emotional storm.
"Yes." The tiny, broken voice was nothing like Cat's confident tone earlier in the evening.
Making a split-second decision that might have lasting impacts on everyone involved, Tara did the only thing her conscience would allow. "Leave the door unlocked, kneel, and wait for us. We're on our way." Afraid to give Cat too much time to think, to decide she didn't want Tara's help after all, Tara hung up. "We have to hurry."
"I've got the Bag." Faith grabbed Tara's clothes from their resting place at the foot of the bed. "Shoulda figured this would happen. All that shit with the Legion… Made me remember how it felt when I was fighting with the Council. Angry. Bitter. Ready to hit someone."
Faith was right. She'd put her finger right on the problem. They should have known. Rather, Tara should have known. She was the Dominant. The Dominant who'd gotten right up in Cat's face and demanded the girl accept her care.
They didn't bother with the elevator. Tara followed Faith as she sprinted down the stairs. They were three floors down when Tara realized she had no idea where Cat lived. Fate damn it! She couldn't call Cat back. The girl would more than likely use the lack of address as an excuse to refuse Tara's help.
Dire situations called for dire solutions. Without breaking stride, Tara punched one of the speed-dial buttons on her phone.
"I don't have your transcript. At the risk of conjuring Willow and her Ball of Fiery Retribution, you just dropped off the recording," a grumpy voice announced.
Tara ignored the tone; although, she normally would have slapped the submissive down for it. "I need something else. An address. Cat McClearen. BPD detective. Faith and I are en route but I don't know where we're headed."
The man (Tom? Kim? Ken?) was quiet for a long minute. "You know it's illegal for me to hack BPD records?"
"You know I can call your boss before you can say 'ouch!'?" Tara snapped. "You aren't going to hack BPD anyway. If I wasn't chasing a Slayer down a million flights of stairs, I'd use a search engine myself."
Was that a laugh? Tara vowed to come back and find Willow's minion as soon as she had a spare minute. "I've sent the address to your phone, Ma'am." The line went dead.
It was a good thing, too. Tara might have shown Whatever His Name Was her own Ball of Fiery Retribution. She and Faith burst into the underground parking garage and grabbed one of the gleaming Council cars.
"You gonna tell me what's up with the tiger?" Faith's eyes were closed, but Tara felt the tension and concern in her mind. "The Legion do somethin' we gotta deal with?" It had been years since her Southie cant had been that strong. Tara only heard it when Faith was very tired or very stressed.
She absorbed some of the worry. Soothed it through the bond. "She's spiraling," Tara replied, referring to a submissive's drop into a panicked lack of control.
Faith opened her eyes. "You're gonna help her." It wasn't a question. Faith was absolutely sure that Tara had the key to whatever ailed Cat. It was energizing and terrifying at the same time. That rock-solid trust.
Following the directions that Willow's minion emailed, Tara concentrated on avoiding the few cars on the road and getting pulled over for reckless driving. The last thing she needed was to have to pull the "Council card" to convince a patrol cop not to ticket her.
Twenty minutes later, she parked outside Cat's building. She didn't get out immediately. She was too tense. Too wound. On the edge of her own loss of control. Tara slowed her breathing and began a simple mantra. The first one her mother had ever taught her.
Breathing. Heart rate. Muscles. One at a time. One repetition at a time. Until mind, body, and soul were balanced and ready. There was no mad rush now. Tara took the elevator. No need to undo all of her work with a sprint up the stairs.
When she opened Cat's apartment door, the sight took her breath away. Cat was a vision in tight leather, huddled miserably just inside the short entry hall. Linking her hand with Faith's, needing the anchor as Tara grappled with her unexpected awareness of Cat's beauty, she walked toward Cat.
"I'm sorry," Cat spat out the second Faith and Tara stopped in front of her.
Despite the situation, Faith smiled. "Remind you of anyone?"
"You mean some other stubborn, spiraling submissive who hated needing anyone?" Tara didn't quite roll her eyes. She stayed focused on Cat. Cat needed her…needed them to care for her. She dropped to a knee and raised Cat's chin from her chest. "What are you sorry for, sweetie?" Cat's blush warmed the fingers Tara had on the girl's chin. So sweet. So broken. "When you called, what did I tell you?"
Although Cat could have met Tara's gaze, she didn't. Once again, she avoided eye contact. Training? Or hiding from Tara? "To come back into the apartment and kneel down. To…To wait for you."
As Faith slowly circled Cat, Tara let her approval show. Cat had done a very difficult task: she'd not only called Tara for help. She'd also followed Tara's command to the letter. "Exactly," she praised – and she fell deeper into Cat's need as the girl straightened and preened at the compliment. "Cat, needing help, reaching out, following orders – there's nothing wrong with that."
With quicksilver speed, Tara noted Cat's happiness fade. The relaxed, languid perfection of her posture tightened. Faith saw it, too. Tara marveled at the Dominance radiating from her as Faith grabbed a handful of Cat's hair and dragged the girl's head back. "Looks like you think T's lying, tiger. You want to tell your Dominant she don't know what she's talking about?"
Faith's actions. Cat's immediate, submissive response, "No, Faith", rerouted Tara's plan for the night. The change was further reinforced as she observed Faith and Cat's continued interaction.
Tears streaked Cat's cheeks, and Faith…rough, tough, afraid-of-her-strengths Faith wiped them away with a breath-stealing softness. "Don't, Cat. Don't cry. Let Tara help. She's real good at taking care of people. Tell her what you need." She let go of Cat's hair and crouched next to Tara, eyeing Cat closely.
It wasn't hard to see the petulant droop to Cat's lips. Or the stubborn set to her jaw.
"Stubborn little shit," Faith announced.
"Hello, Pot. I'm Kettle," Tara couldn't resist. She giggled at the same time Cat relaxed enough to laugh. "I told you to come to me if you needed anything." Her voice sharpened as she contemplated the option Cat had resisted when she picked up the phone. "In fact, I made you promise not to go back to that bar when we had our discussion." She wanted to wrap Cat in a suffocating hug. Hold her until Cat understood down to her bones that she wasn't alone anymore. "I'm so proud of you for calling tonight. I know it wasn't easy."
Even without a bond, Cat's struggle to fully submit was clear. Tara pressed an encouraging kiss to Cat's forehead. "We'll figure it out together. Your safeword is 'red,' Cat. If you say it, we stop. If you just need a break or to talk about something we do, you may use 'yellow'."
"Yes, Ma'am." There. That was better. Cat responded much better when given clear directives. When she didn't have the option for making her own choices.
"Mmm, very nice, sweetie, but don't tell me. Tell Faith. She's your Domme for tonight." Tara implemented her new plan smoothly, ignoring the disbelieving expressions Cat and Faith wore. "Is there a problem, girls?"
Faith broke first. Tara had known she would. Her announcement had rattled Faith enough that she protested out loud and not through the bond. "T, I know you mentioned me switchin', but…"
Open and public defiance called for swift reaction. Tara didn't hesitate. She knew she was pushing Faith's boundaries, but they'd already discussed Faith's possible mis-alignment as only a submissive. And, after watching Cat and Faith together, Tara no longer questioned if Cat was Faith's "missing" submissive. Raising the eyebrow Faith loved to hate, Tara said, "Are you deliberately questioning my order?"
She was proud of Faith's accountability. "No, Tara."
Better to not give this issue much weight. Better to push Faith straight out of her comfort zone and into the right mindset immediately. "Then there's no problem."
She'd forgotten how much Faith's past warped her self-image. This was uncharted territory, and that always drove Faith's self-hate higher. "I ain't ready to do this!" Faith jabbed a finger in Cat's direction. "You told her to call you. Not me. You're the Domme."
Proving how connected Cat was to Faith's emotions and needs, she stepped into the conversation. "I don't want to cause trouble between…"
For the love of Fate. Two stubborn girls. Two strong-willed, stubborn girls whose thoughts revolved around caring for the other at any cost. Tara didn't know whether to laugh or put them both in a corner. "I'm not speaking to you at this time."
Cat's spine stiffened so much it was a wonder it didn't snap. Tara waited long enough to determine Cat would remain quiet (for the moment) and unleashed her will on Faith. "Take care of Cat, Faith. She needs you."
It wasn't Lady Tara who eventually swayed Faith. It was a mouthy submissive who couldn't resist trying to protect her Dominant. "I'm sorry," Cat said again. "Look, why don't I just…"
And before Tara's eyes, Faith transformed. Oh, there was a snark to her voice and an unhappy current in the bond, but she changed into something more. Something infinitely more powerful. "You got hard limits, tiger? Better tell me now." The words were for Cat. The bright stare for Tara.
"No. Faith, you don't have to do this. I'll be fine," Cat protested. She actually started to stand.
In a move Tara might have used herself, Faith gripped Cat's shoulder and held her in position. "You suck at followin' orders." She crowded Cat and levered the girl back to the floor. "You stay until I tell you to get up. Got it?"
Tara watched Cat give herself over to Faith in that moment. "Yes, Ma'am."
They were crossing a line tonight. All of them together. Tara wasn't sure what it meant or where it would lead. She did know none of them would leave unscathed.