Author's note: In a couple of chapters I'm going to fast forward to Warren, MD, as soon as I've taken care of Amy and . . . one other.

Disclaimer: Joss owns all but the plotline.

X X X X X

To say that I was surprised when Tara asked me out on the second date would definitely be an understatement. To have it happen so soon after the first one –

Well, I understood her reasons for wanting to get away from the hotel and Amy Madison for a while.

She hadn't had to make it a date, though. I would have gone with her either way, unless she specifically asked me not to. That she was willing to make it the second one –

Well, either she was stressed, or she was interested. I'd leave it up to the conversation to determine which. I still wasn't going to be high-pressure about the situation.

It's hard, sometimes, not to just charge in, announce my intentions, and leave it up to her what to do next. It's worked for me in the past – well, it worked more than half the time. You'd be surprised how many people like not to be the aggressor. But when I failed in the past, it was always with someone I simply thought was attractive and wanted to get to know better.

With Tara, things were different. Already being in love with her – more and more every day – changed things around. Aggression with someone you wanted to get to know better might lead to mild disappointment if it didn't work. With someone you were already in love with –

It could break your heart. And much as I like to be brash, bratty Kennedy, pretending I don't care what people think of me, I make an exception for some people.

Tara MacLay is definitely one of them.

As we walked out of the front doors of the Hyperion, Wesley Wyndham-Price was looking at the broken window. "What happened?"

"Witch attack," I said. "You'll get more details inside. Tara and me are headed out for an early lunch."

He blinked. "At 10:30 in the morning?"

"I did say early," I said.

"Right. So you did," he said, and went inside.

"So," I said, "Where to?"

"There, there was a game Willow and Buffy liked to play. It was called, 'Anywhere but here.'"

"Cool. I've always wanted to see what my Slayer powers could do against some hardcore LA gangbangers." I interlocked my hands and cracked my knuckles.

She looked at me, then laughed. "Okay. Almost anywhere. Are you really hungry?"

"I'm a Slayer," I said.

"Of, of course. I think maybe what we need to do is, is find one of those places that serves 72-ounce steaks that you get free if you eat it all. That, that might save us some money."

That sounded good. "Is there anywhere in LA like that?"

She laughed again. "I'll look it up when we get home," she said. "But we're only going to get in once, you know, then they'll bar us at the door."

Grinning, I said, "One trip is all we'll need." After a minute or so of friendly silence, I said, "So. Amy Madison?"

"I told you about her."

"Some of it," I said.

"Well, you, you have to remember, I never actually met her, and I only ever knew her as this amoral sociopath who lured Willow to Rack's, and cast a spell on her during that time she was trying to go cold turkey from magic. So my opinions would not exactly be what you'd call balanced."

"She just tried to make you evil, steal your magic, and maybe kill you," I said. "I'm not interested in fair and balanced. You can be as fair and balanced as Fox News is, for all I care. Give me the propaganda. But if she's going to be a problem for us," and I tried to say us like I was taking in everyone, not just Tara and me, "I think I might want to know more."

"Well, some of this you're getting secondhand," she said as we rounded a corner. "But here's what I know."

We walked and talked for about fifteen minutes while Tara gave me everything she knew about Amy Madison, stopping every five minutes to remind me that she didn't know everything, and I should really be going to the source.

She's so adorable when she hedges like that.

But then, she's adorable pretty much anytime. Although I may be biased in that regard.

Anyway, she was clearly furious with Amy, and with Rack, and even with Catherine Madison, a woman I was hearing about third-hand but whose influence on her daughter had been more than just an ability to do magic -- but Rack was the only one she was planning to 'take down," if necessary. Even now, she was going to try to cure Amy of her insanity, not take any kind of revenge. She also told me I'd better not do anything on my own, either.

She knew me too well. I don't know if I would have carried it through, but I was sure as hell thinking about beating the living hell out of that bitch for what she did. (I wasn't alone in that feeling, I know. Vi had been the one to carry Amy through the hallways, and remember, she was taking special pains to make sure she smacked Amy's head and feet against pretty much anything nearby. I'd been surprised Vi was there -- normally, she's been spending a lot of the day at the hospital while Rona recovered -- but the other Slayers finally confronted her and told her that Rona was their friend too, and maybe she'd like a day off?)

From there we moved onto more general topics.

Around 11, we found a vegetarian restaurant -- Isaac's -- that was just changing over from breakfast to lunch. I'm no vegetarian, but I can appreciate a change of pace every once in a while. Slayers may have different tastes, but the most important thing for us is quantity, not quality.

We were the first ones in. I ordered a pair of vegetarian reubens and some potato chips; Tara had a salad and some kind of garlic toast. We kept talking.

"So," I said. "I have a favor to ask you."

"This is only the second date," she said. "I believe the rule is three."

My jaw dropped. Had Tara MacLay just made a sex joke?

The smile, and then laugh, said the answer was, hell, yes, she'd just made a sex joke. It was vague and non-explicit, but it was definitely a sex joke "I've just done something no one else has ever been able to do," she said. "Find a way to keep Kennedy quiet for more than ten seconds." I stuck out my tongue. "Did that hurt?" she said.

"Did what hurt? Oh. The piercing. Yeah, at first. Now I barely remember it's there. Why?"

"Just curious," she said. "I've never seen one up close before, is all." If I have my way you're going to be seeing it a lot more closely, I thought but didn't say.

And feeling it. But we don't need to go there yet.

Down, fantasies. Down, I say.

"And then there was that favor I wanted to you," I said. "Seriously."

"Seriously. Okay." She wiped her hand across her mouth, and her grin disappeared and was replaced with a frown.

I laughed again. "Dammit, Tara," I said. "How am I going to ask you if you keep making me laugh?"

She nodded and said, "Okay. Go."

"I want to learn about magic. Not to cast it or anything – I'm guessing that if everyone could cast it, more people would –"

"There are, are some spells anyone can cast," she said. "Ritual magic rather than Wicca. Giles knows a lot about these."

"But there are some only witches can cast," I said.

"Yes. Almost everyone has a certain amount of magic in them – unless someone's completely magic-null, they can learn a couple of basics. Why the, the interest?"

Decision time. I was assuming she wasn't examining my aura; she told me so, and I can't see Tara going back on her word barring a new apocalypse.

Part of me wanted her to think it was my idea; that I was giving up my distaste for it just for her. And while there is some truth to that, I can't pretend there's nothing selfish about it. I also can't pretend I'm not doing it because someone else said so.

Much as I might want to. The way to Tara's heart is not by lying to her. I took a deep breath and said, "Willow told me to."

She stiffened, just slightly. "She did?"

"Last night," I said. "I dreamed that I was talking to her. She said that if I wanted to 'pursue' you, then I should learn something about magic, because it's such a big part of your life. It's a good idea and I'm kicking myself that it took a visit from her to point it out to me – " she was sniffling a little bit. Damn. Tell me I didn't make her sad.

Then she smiled. "She's looking out for me in, in so many ways," she said. Whew. She was crying happy. Then she explained the dream she'd had last night. Apparently Willow had been busy.

"Someone else?" I said. "Any hints who?"

"She didn't seem to be able to hint," she said. "I, I don't think it was a reference to Amy, though." Tara was probably alone in thinking she could save Amy. No one else in the room had seemed to think she was worth rescuing.

I tended to agree with them. But I wouldn't bet against Tara. After Willow was killed, she held things together long enough to stop anyone else from going after Warren Mears; she saved Buffy's life; and she stopped Warren from killing Buffy.

Tough chick. Damn tough chick.

"So, did she threaten to beat you to death with a shovel if you hurt me?" Tara asked.

"She might have, but Dawn already took care of that."

"Do you believe her?"

"I believe she'll try," I said. And I did. I didn't believe she'd succeed, for the simple reason that I'm a Slayer, and she isn't. But on the off chance I hurt Tara, I'd take to wearing hardhats for a while.

"I wouldn't count her out from actually being able to do it," she said. "Was that what your dream was about?"

"The magic, and where she was, and you," I said.

"Where is she?"

"How familiar are you with Catholic doctrine?" I asked.

She thought for a second. "Not very, really. The MacLays were phony fundamentalists, so the only thing they said about Catholics is that they were, were going to Hell, like everyone else was, and like I was, if I didn't do exactly what they said."

My fists clenched in anger again. I may not tell her about it, I may never tell her about it, but one of these days I would catch up with the MacLay family and beat the holy hell out of every male member within reach, and you can read male member any damn way you want to. Forcing myself to calm down, I said, "Okay. Do you know what Purgatory is?"

"Another word for Hell, I always thought," she said.

"That's the way it's used sometimes, but Purgatory is actually that place between Heaven and Hell. It's where the repentant sinners end up. God makes them do penance for however long it takes them to cleanse themselves. When they're done, they go to Heaven."

"And Willow was there?"

"Actually, she said it was 'as good a word as any.' Purgatory was my word."

"No suffering?"

"She said most of what she did in her off time was read. She was -- I think it was that magic store Giles used to own. She seemed calm enough. I think her penance is helping us."

"And that, that's something she would have wanted to do anyway."

Right then, our food came. We stopped talking for a few minutes while I ate the first veggie reuben. Very, very good. Take away the corned beef from a normal reuben and replace it with mushrooms.

When I put the last bite in my mouth, I noticed Tara looking at me. "Did you even inhale? Because, I swear, it looked like you took that whole sandwich in in one bite. Maybe two."

"Any chance you found it sexy?" I asked.

"There may be things you do I'd find sexy," she said. "Your ability to eat a sandwich in two bites isn't one of them."

"There are other things I can do with my mouth," I said. It just slipped out. I swear.

"Such, such as putting your foot in it?" Tara said. I must have looked scared, because she said, "Relax. You wouldn't be you if you didn't occasionally push things. So far, actually, I have to say, I've admired your restraint."

"I've been afraid that pushing things too far would drive you away."

"I appreciate that," Tara said. "But you have to, you know, relax a little. I'm not going to tell you to go away if you slip up a little. That you're making the effort is the important thing."

We finished the meal, paid, and left.

X X X X X

We talked about magic for a bit on the way back. Tara said that if I wanted to learn about it in general, Giles would be better suited to teach me. And I saw her point, much as the prospect of spending more time alone with her appealed to me. Giles had been trained as a teacher. I'd ask him if he could spare me a couple of hours.

From there we moved on to more general topics: movie, TV, other mystery novels. As we were talking about which Marcia Muller I should read next, I noticed something. "Keep your pace," I said. "We're being followed."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We have been since we left the restaurant."

We kept walking. "Any sense of what it is?"

"Not a vampire, obviously, and not a demon. I'm not sure."

She closed her eyes. "I see his aura. Whoever it is, isn't evil."

"So I won't kill him," I said. "I'll just ask him a few questions. Turn into the next alley."

We did so. Tara walked a bit further down the alley, and I flattened my self against the wall.

The man -- looked human enough -- walked around the corned about thirty seconds later. I grabbed him, picked him up, and mashed him against the wall. "Okay," I said. "Who are you and why are you following us?"

But, to my surprise, it was Tara who answered. "Put him down. I recognize him."

"Harmless?" I said.

"Mostly," was her response.

I stepped back. The man looked between me and Tara and said, "Good reflexes. New Slayer?"

"One of them," Tara said. "Remember when I told you Willow said she brought in some other help? This is him. Kennedy, meet Oz."