A/N thanks for the reviews

Chapter 11

As Britney Walsh sifted through some of her aunt's papers the next afternoon, Graham came quietly into the room." Hey, you know that burying yourself in work isn't going to help ease the stress of the Willow situation right?" He sat down a bag that contained lunch from the local burger joint. "You find anything interesting in there?"

"I don't know yet," Britney said morosely. "I think there is a lot more to this slayer bit then Rupert Giles is letting on though."

Care to share?" Graham questioned with an intrigued look on his face.

"Not just now," Britney said briskly. The fact was that she didn't fully trust anyone that was connected with her mother's operation, though Graham had proven to be loyal to her thus far. Riley was still out there and she wanted to be careful of each move until she brought him to justice.

"What are you going to do about Willow?" Graham asked with a hint of disdain in his voice, which Britney noticed quickly. "Do you know that she's having lunch with Xander's friend?"

"It's not my business to follow her every move Graham." Britney said in a flippant tone of voice. The look on her face betrayed the words however and Graham caught it. It was as if the two were playing a game of chess to see who had the better mental principles about them.

"You don't trust me do you Brit?" Graham finally folded his hand and got to the real conversation.

"Should I?" Britney asked with an indifferent look on her face. Though Britney didn't trust him, she didn't see him as a huge threat either. If he was truly an ally that would be great but if not, she felt that she had dealt with more harmful foes then him.

"I understand why you don't but you can. I'm not in this to help Riley and hope that you will see that someday." Having said that and realizing that he hadn't gained an inch with the officer, Graham stood up and exited the small office.

Britney studied the paper that read about the slayers for a few more minutes and then closed the notebook. If what was written was true, Buffy Summers was going to need to be protected for the next several years. As she punched the buttons to lock the room securely and picked up her keys, the phone rang. "Yeah," she said curtly.

"This is Rupert Giles," was the reply from the other end of the phone. "You wanted to meet with me regarding some papers that you found and are planning to allow me to put in my files?"

"Nice try Rupert," Britney said with a mock grin on her face. "I'm smarter then the average high school kid. I want to talk with you about something that I read but you will not be getting the papers. I will be free after 07:30pm." She said bluntly and then hung up the phone.

As Britney left the office and headed up the street, she wanted to go into the diner where Willow and Tara were having lunch. She wished so much that Willow could see that she wasn't involved in some sordid plot against the world and come back to her but feared this girl could get between them before that happened. It wasn't that Britney was jealous of the woman, but she knew how things like this worked and didn't want it to be the case with she and Willow's relationship.

As Britney stood quietly and contemplated which eatery to have lunch at, Willow and Tara walked up the sidewalk with smiles on their faces. As they neared the corner, they shared a long hug that Britney's gut told her was more then a friendship hug. The two girls separated as she quickly turned the opposite way so that Willow did not see her. She didn't want to come off looking like she was spying on the two, because she wasn't. She didn't want to seem as if she were following them, which she wasn't doing either. She also didn't want Willow to know that she thought of going inside that restaurant for fear that Willow would think she was some sort of jealous stalker.

- - - - -

Willow sat in a corner booth at her favorite diner waiting for Tara. The two had only spoke briefly the day before, but Willow felt some odd connection with the bashful woman. She looked forward to their lunch date all morning. She also was glad to get a breather from worrying about her love life and the daily trials that being a Scooby brought forth. As she sipped a soft drink, she saw Tara come in and Graham following after her. She briefly wondered if he was spying for Britney but dismissed that thought quickly. She didn't believe that Britney would go to such a low tactic to keep tabs on her.

Tara walked over to the booth with a shy smile on her face. She then extended her hand to Willow, who shook it gently. "Glad you could make it." Willow offered in a chipper tone of voice.

"Me too," Tara said pointing out the window. "The rain finally let up enough for me to walk. I thought I was going to have to grab a cab or cancel out."

"Well I'm glad that didn't happen," Willow said and handed Tara a menu, as Graham continued to glance out of the corner of his eye at their table. "So, are you from around here?" Willow asked in way of starting up a conversation.

"I'm from a small farm in the northern part of the state actually." Tara said shyly.

"What type of farm?" Willow enquired, as the waiter came and took their orders.

"A horse farm," Tara replied with a smile. The only thing she missed about home was tending to the horses.

Willow visibly flinched at Tara's mentioning of horses. "I'm terrified of horses," she said in a high-pitched tone of voice.

"Did you have a bad run with one?" Tara asked with concern on her face. It was beyond her how anyone could be frightened of such graceful creatures.

"No, I'm just afraid that when they make that high-pitched noise, they're going to mull me or something." Willow said with a tinge of red appearing on her face.

Tara smiled delightfully and Willow couldn't help how pretty the woman's smile was, as she noticed Graham watching them. In the back of her head, that thought of Britney putting him up to it surfaced again. "You just need an understanding person to take you on a ride and that should get you over the fear." Tara replied softly, having too noticed Graham watching them.

The two had a casual conversation, with lots of laughter and smiles, throughout the remainder of their meal. They had walked each other out and made a tentative magic study date for the next couple of days, when Willow saw Britney driving off. That same old thought crept back into her head as Tara released her from a hug and walked off. She then shook her head, with a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. Britney had always been so caring and loving to her, there was something going on and Willow didn't have a good feeling about it. Her first instinct was to pull out her phone and call Britney but she hesitated for some reason.

- - - - - -

As Britney walked towards the Bronze with a troubled look on her face that night, she saw Willow walk in ahead of her with Tara. She frowned and kept on walking towards the club. There was no way that this woman and Xander were going to take Willow from her without a fight. She had not had the best of meetings with Rupert Giles, who had all but threatened her to keep the secret that was held within her aunt Maggie's papers. His reasoning was that keeping the secret from Buffy would be the best way to help protect her for the length of time that was needed for the slayer line to be restored to order. Britney had neither agreed nor disagreed to keep the secret, which angered Giles. But he knew that there was nothing he could do about it until he got his hands on those papers.

By the time Britney walked inside the club, Willow and Tara were seated with Xander and some other girl. She was surprised to see that Buffy and the cheerleader were sitting at a different table then the foursome and walked over. "Hey Britney," Buffy said with a tentative smile on her face, as she looked over at Willow.

"May I ask you one question and then I'll leave you to your evening?" Britney asked the slayer, as something nagged at the back of her mind for her to inform Buffy of the things that she'd learned.

"I bet it's the same question I had." Harmony said with a smug look of disgust on her face. "Willow says that she may not be able to forgive Xander and now she's partying with him, what's up with that?"

"That's basically it," Britney said, as she felt a pair of eyes on her. She turned her gaze quickly to catch Tara removing her gaze from Britney's direction.

"I saw that too," Harmony added. She wasn't good at monsters, book knowledge, and things of that nature, but she was good at knowing what looks on faces meant. "She's wondering if you are going to make some sort of move, which tells me that this chick isn't as um," Harmony stopped and searched for the words that her vocabulary seemed to lack.

"Shy, innocent and naive," Britney added and Harmony confirmed her correct words with a nod.

"If you go over there however," Harmony began to speak. Relationships were another of her expertise having been trained by Cordelia in the field. "It is gonna look like you're jealous."

"Wait a minute," Buffy said, finally having caught up with the conversation. "Are you two trying to say that Willow is being played on some level?"

"I don't know what is going on exactly but Britney has to play it coy or else whatever is going on will go in their direction." Harmony added triumphantly.

"Maybe she was looking over here out of concern for Will," Buffy added meekly. Tara looked to be a caring person and Buffy thought they were making this bigger then it needed to be.

"That's possible too," Britney added with a look of resignation on her face. "It's just strange that Willow is out having such a good time and not making an attempt to fix whatever is truly wrong with us."

"Maybe you are jealous," Buffy added protectively. She still didn't trust the officer fully either and wanted Willow to be happy.

"Of course she is," Harmony replied smugly. "Would you like it if the one who was supposed to be hurting and making a big decision about your relationship was found having a good time while you were still all depresso-girl? Just cause she's jealous doesn't mean that something's not up with that chick over there."

"I'll leave the two of you to your date," Britney said with a fake smile and started to walk off.

"We're not on a date," Harmony said and stood up. "Look, if they want to play games, I used to be a member of the best game players club in town." Having said that, to Buffy's dismay, she took hold of Britney's hands and headed towards the dance floor. "Counter one act with another. If there is something going on, seeing you with her once mortal enemy should be enough to shake Willow out of it."

As Willow looked up from talking with Tara, she saw the two on the dance floor. She had thought, once again, that Britney was spying on her and ruining her good time with Tara. Now she wondered if Britney had moved on so quickly and then did a double take in her mind. It wasn't like Willow to think so selfishly and certainly was not like her to have such a good time with another person so quickly after a bump in the road in a relationship. She knew that something was amiss and tried to figure out how to play her cards.

- - - - -

As Britney got home and tossed her keys on the table, the phone began to ring. She had spent her walk home wondering why she allowed herself to be sucked into these teenage games and then remembered why, love. "Hello," she said in a rushed manner.

"Britney, this is Willow. I need to talk to you but don't drive your truck here and come around the back." Willow said and simply hung up.

Britney knew that there was something more going on then jealousy over her dance with Harmony and did as Willow instructed. As she got to the house, she wondered just what she was getting into this time. Her mind was a mixture of emotions, love and sadness for Willow, uncertainty as to how to handle discussing her theory with Willow and lastly, how to handle Willow's possible theory as to what was going on.

"Hey," Willow said as she ushered Britney in the house and almost kissed her instinctively. She backed away quickly and just looked at Britney sadly. "Look, something is causing me to think in ways that aren't normal for me to think. I think there is something out there that is trying to sway my thoughts away from you but I don't know why. I don't like not knowing things Britney and am afraid that I've put Tara in some kind of danger now by being near her and allowing her into my life. I need to find a way to fix this problem and look after her without scaring her to death."

Britney looked at her girlfriend with the utmost love in her eyes and then began to speak the words that she knew could damage their relationship for good, given Willow's state of mind. "You want to protect Tara but I think that she's involved." Britney said with the most sincere tone of voice that she could. Hiding things from Willow was what started this mess to begin with and Britney made the quick decision that she wouldn't go to that place again.

Willow looked at Britney in disbelief. "Britney Tara is the most gentle and kind woman that I have ever met. She is so good to me, listens well and is supportive. There is not a chance that she would do anything to hurt me and I know that for a fact." The sternness in Willow's voice made her girlfriend frown as she finished speaking.

"Listen to yourself Willow." Britney kept her voice calm on the outside, though she was raging on the inside. "We are involved and you act as if you trust her more then you ever did me. You've got her on a pedestal, a place that I was never held. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be worshiped nor put on some throne but why the hell is she?" Britney allowed a little of her anger slip out in her last sentence, as she looked at Willow. "Think about it Willow, Xander is the one who brought her here. Now you're all close with him again and by the sounds of it, are soon to be closer with Tara then you are me. So what gives here?"