Title: Somebody I Used To Know
Author: Tariq (Formerly Aeris Jade Orion)
Pairings: WR/TM
Timeline: Season Seven (Never Leave Me)
Spoilers: Season Eight (Comic Book)
Authors Notes: This is a time travel fic. I know, I know. Been there, Done that. Way over used, still anything that gets Tara back with Will, right?
Second, due to health issues, and taking care
of my disabled mom, I haven't been able to
write much. But over the last several years
I've managed to slowly write on a number
of stories.
What I've decided to do is go ahead and
publish what I've managed to put together.
The stories are unfinished, and sometimes,
the last chapter I worked on is unfinished.
Plus, there maybe multiple chapters, each one a
different version. Just warning everyone.
So I apologize in advance.
Summary: Willow attempts to stop Amy and her boyfriend, Warren's newest plan at revenge.
Disclaimer: Not Mine
00000 Prologue 00000
Willow Anne Rosenberg stepped out of the portal, letting her magic lash out before the magical doorway had completely disappeared. Within seconds every bringer in the two story house exploded into ash.
Another wave of magic slammed into Amy Madison, destroying every magical device on her. The same wave threw the skinned Warren away from a very much alive Tara Maclay.
A tentical of energy slithered towards her once dead lover and yanked the dirty blonde safely out of Warren's reach. The red head didn't let go until the wiccan was next to a fully armed Xander.
"Bitch!" Amy spat.
Willow's eyes flickered as the rest of the scooby gang came charging into the living room. Each one stopping to gap at the red head.
"Will..." Tara breathed tearfully.
The red head choose to ignore the good guys for the moment. Instead she turned her full attention to Warren and Amy.
She could easily see that the former rat barely had thirty percent of her magic without all the various devices. Still, she was aware that Amy remained extremely dangerous, and violently ruthless.
Never a good combination.
"Damn it! What the hell does it take to kill you?!" Warren growled in a rage.
Despite the situation she found her mouth twitching in wry amusement. So far the two had buried an axe in Willow's back, lobtimized her, gutted her, and at one point broke her neck.
All in all it was getting rather frustrating for the two.
"So there I was dimension hopping when I felt the time line change. 'Course I was rather curious cause there's very few people actually strong enough to create a temporal portal, and even fewer dumb enough to break the magical laws so blantantly." Willow babbled rather calmly.
Her emerald eyes darted thoughtfully back at Tara before settling once more on the raging Warren.
"Considering how lively Tara's looking, can I assume you had my past self switch places with her?" She asked, refering to that horrible day when Tara died.
"What of it?" Amy snapped back darkly. "How the hell did you survive? The minute she died you should have ceased to exsist."
"It doesn't matter. You and your boy toy are to go directly to the coven while I correct your meddling."
"We're not going anywhere with you." Warren spoke up. "We're just getting to the fun part."
"The balance must be restored." Willow said.
"And your so-called soulmate? You're really going to let her die again?" Amy sneered. "After all that crap you pulled the first time around."
"You're right, as her soulmate I would do anything and everything to allow her to live." She whispered, allowing a solitary tear to fall from her left eye. "But as a witch, the magical laws are clear, the balance must be kept at all costs."
Scorpions swarmed over Willow from Amy giving the duo precisious seconds to escape. The red head allowed the critters free reign and walked over toward the open front door.
She sighed in irration as she felt the tell tale energy of teleportion. The annoying couple had escaped for the hundredth time, much to her displeasure.
Willow absently absorbed the magical scorpions, adding the magic to her already refilled core.
"Willow..."
The red head turned to the scoobies. She could see that they were rapidly moving from shocked silent to what on the hellmouth going on.
"Hi." She waved rather sheepishly.
Black spots appeared in her eyes as the entire gang dragged her into a suffacating group hug.
"Breathing...necessary.." She gasped.
Thankfully they backed off, though Tara and Dawn remained extremely close to her. Hoovering would be an accurate description.
"Excellent timing there. " Xander gave her the thumbs up. "And not to seem ungratefull, but should you well..."
"What beedy eyes is trying to say is, magic plus Willow, bad." Anya blunted scolded.
"I'm not the Willow you knew. I'm from a very different timeline."
"And that matters how?" Anya inquired.
"Is anyone hurt?"
"Hey, don't try changing the subject! I asked you a question. " Anya scowled.
Willow ignored the ex-demon and visibly scanned everyone. Thankfully there was no obvious signs of injury. Though they did look extremely worried about her magic use.
Satisfied that no one was in immediate danger of dying, she finally allowed herself to fully consider the current situation and all it's possible consequences.
The whole thing was majorly bad in the worst possible way. She'd learned the hard way what tended to happen when you broke the laws of magic.
She'd learned and paid with Tara's life.
Now Amy was not only following Willow's past foot steps but the former rat was taking things to a whole 'nother level of badness.
She exited the house and kneeled on front lawn. Her left hand sank deep into the earth, the dirt opening for her, allowing it's very being to intertwin with her magic.
The hellmouth was extremely active, on the verge of blowing completely open.
"From beneath us it devours." She muttered softly.
"What is it?"
She removed her hand and considered the wiccan kneeling beside her. The blonde was visibly worried about Willow's magic use, but the wiccan was also willing to hear the red head out.
Willow took Tara's hand in her's, and gently slide their hands into the willing earth. Her magic join with the other witchs, drawing it out and into world below them, showing the blonde the hellmouth.
"Dear Goddess." A horrified Tara breathed.
The red head disengaged their hands, standing up slowly. She raised her left hand out, a single finger pointed calmly, allowing a multi-colored beautifly to land on it.
With a tenderness that was more automatic than intentional she brought the insect close to her face. Whispered words left her lips, so soft they weren't audible to even a vampire.
Each word wafted over the winged creature, with equally inaudible noises responding to her. The tiny male eager to help her and showing surprisingly witty humor.
Finally she held up her hand, watching serenly as the beautifly launched itself into the black night. It's coloring fading into the inky atmosphere.
"I hate to interrupt your Gandalf moment, but we need to have a serious scooby meeting." Buffy commanded.
"And Will has a lot of explaining to do." Xander agreed.
Tara couldn't keep her eyes off of the red head. This Willow was so different from the woman that died just months before.
She scooted closer to the time traveler breathing in the scent that was barely noticeble. The strawberry scent was gone replaced by a hint of vanilla.
The red hair had also changed. No longer dyed, instead it was a darker, richer red naturally. It feel in layers to an inch below her jaw giving Willow a more mature look.
What was truely telling to Tara was the rather eccentric outfit Willow was wearing.
The form fitting crushed black velvet pant suit clung to every curve and dip. The open knee length jacket showing a dark emerald poets shirt.
" If Tara's finished drooling over Willow I'd like to know about the magic. " Anya spoke up.
Tara blushed a dark red. She had been checking out Willow, she wouldn't deny that, or apologize.
The red head looked like she'd been traveling nonstop for a long period of time. Her hair was ruffled, her clothes wrinkled and dusty.
Willow had never looked more breathtaking than she did at that moment.
"There's not a lot to tell." Willow answered. "I'm too powerful to not use it."
"You weren't." Anya accussed.
"I fell off the wagon, so to speak. In the end Giles took me to England for rehab and training."
Tara could sense there was far more to it than that. There was a heavy sadness and exhausting guilt that hung over the red head.
More curious was the red heads emotions. From the moment Willow had appeared she had been nothing but serene. Only the slightest hint of irration had been shown, and even then it hadn't lasted longer than a few seconds.
"What's the deal with Amy and the living dead?" Buffy asked, cutting to the chase.
"The living dead is Warren, or rather what's left of Warren. Amy's keeping him alive, and in a suspended state."
"And the time thing?" Dawn questioned.
"They want me dead and will do anything to accomplish it." Willow admitted showing a tinge of saddness.
"Not a new thing then?" Xander spoke up.
"Not exactly, no." The red head smiled. "They've tried just about everything."
"Will, we need to know." Tara softly said.
What they needed to know, she couldn't say. She just knew that there was a lot of stuff Willow was hedging around.
"There's not a lot I can risk telling you. If the First found out, you'd lost any chance you have of survivng."
"Then tell us what you can." Buffy pleaded.
Tara watched heartbroken as Willow stood up from the sofa, physically pulling away from Tara.
She felt helpless at the sight of the red head moving several feet from the entire gang. The calmness fading slightly to allow a measure of nervousness in.
"Amy and Warren are obsessed with getting revenge against me. Amy because she's jealous of my power, and Warren because I'm the reason he's lacking skin."
"When I appeared I detroyed all the various items Amy's been using to boost her powers, so she's going to have to relay on her own magic." Willow explained. " Warren is just an ordianry, albeit skinned, human serial killer."
"What about the Bringers?" Buffy questioned.
"Again, I can't risk telling you anything." Willow refused, once more becoming calm.
Tara frowned at the way the red head seemed to be keeping such tight rein on her emotions.
She was also worried by how tired the red head looked. It wasn't very visible, but future, present, or past she knew Willow better than anyone ever would.
"It's been a long night, and Will must be exhausted." Tara cut off anymore questions. " She can sleep in my room."
"Tara's right, hopping dimensions can really drain a person." Willow sheepishly admitted.
"It's good to have you back Will." Buffy stated.
Tara slipped her hand into Willow's and began to pull the unresisting witch upstairs.
"Thanks." Willow softly said. "I haven't slept in two days."
Tara firmly shut the bedroom door, aware that in a few hours Dawn would sneak into bed with them.
"I still have some of your cloths. There's not much to chose from but.." Tara nervously fluttered.
She came to a stop at the mischievious smile that Willow gave her.
A flicker of magic surrounded the red head, swirling into a ball at the end of the large bed. The energy shifted, becoming a portal, and dropping an enourmous steamer trunk into the room.
"H-how...?" She trailed off.
Did she have the right to ask about the magic?
They weren't together. They were both different. They'd changed from trauma they'd suffered through.
"The spell to travel to other dimensions doesn't let you carry anything with you." Willow beamed. "So I created my own little pocket dimension. I can store anything in it, and can open it anywhere with almost no energy."
-
To Be Continued