Guardian Temperament

Willow closes the dorm room door behind them and flops backwards onto Tara's bed, leaning up on her elbows. "When they find her, I really do hope they throw the book at her. A big, heavy book. With sharp corners. And, you know, there could be paper cuts as well …"

Tara stays by the door, fingers tugging at the sleeves of her sweater. "I-I think she's scared. When she was in Buffy's body last night …"

Willow's mouth falls open. "Tara, she's evil. Trust me. I know. Been there, saw the evil, was briefly on the sharp and pointy receiving end of the evil. I even bought the 'Faith is Evil' tee-shirt and it came in several different sizes, including extra-extra-extra large."

"Wh-what she did was terrible, I know, and it's not an excuse, but —"

"But, she's full of excuses. Boo-hoo, I had a crappy childhood … boo-hoo, no one likes me … boo-hoo, my mom's dead … ooh." Willow sits up, sucking in a sharp breath, a wide grimace traveling from one side of her face to the other. "I'm sorry. That was stupid of me. I just mean … well, see? That's the thing, 'cause you're not evil, are you?"

Tara crosses her arm over her stomach, hopes it might somehow smother the sick lurch in her belly. "Sh-she's human, though, right? I-I mean, she's a human being."

"You know, now you mention it, I wouldn't be surprised if she isn't. When that big ol' book finally hits her? Sticky, slimy goo. Like that stuff … the humors … black bile instead of blood."

Tara swallows. "You don't mean that, do you?"

With a heavy sigh, Willow blows a lock of hair away from in front of her eyes. "No, she's human. In fact, next to being evil, her favorite thing's flaunting just how 'human' she is."

Despite the gravity of the situation, Tara giggles. "You noticed flaunting?"

"And she wasn't even in her body this time and Buffy doesn't even do flaunting … except when she kills the Master and they try to bring him back and she goes a little bit nuts about it. The point is, you can't help noticing. Faith doesn't let you not notice. There's probably a blind, deaf, quadriplegic nun somewhere she still hasn't forgiven for not noticing how 'hot' she is. If she wasn't so evil, it'd be … stupid."

Tara shouldn't laugh – and definitely not at the thought of tragically disabled nuns – but, Willow looks so cute when she's outraged, and giggling at how ludicrous it is helps distract her from how easy it had been to identify something so fractured and broken.

The spark of anger in Willow's eyes softens, the frowny expression melting into a benign half-smile. "I know you mean well, but, she's bad … worse than bad. She's had loads of chances and she kind of doesn't deserve to have anyone feel sorry for her. She killed people and she doesn't care who she hurts … and did I mention the punching and the threatening and the big apocalypse?"

Tara nods, the lurchy feeling replaced with a tide of guilt that rises in her chest and pushes against the flesh inside her throat.

Willow sighs and shifts back on the bed, making room. "I don't mean to get all ranty and I don't blame you for trying to understand, but … you don't know Faith."

Tara sits beside her, feels a finger trail along her spine, halting and a little bit awkward. Willow's the kindest, smartest person Tara knows and that means she's right about this and Tara's wrong to try and take that away from her. She looks over her shoulder.

"I know."

Willow smiles. "We'll hang out with Buffy tomorrow," she says. "The real Buffy in Buffy's body. Without the big Faith-and-vamps-terrorizing-the-congregation emergency."

Tara smiles back, turns away again, and closes her eyes.

Black bile … earth … autumn … coming soon.

She wonders if Faith feels evil.

She thinks maybe she does.

But, there's always a chance she feels just fine.