A/N: Without further ado:

What She Needs

Chapter Twelve: Ties

Seeing Tara still upset the next day, Willow assumed that Faith was to blame. She may have been right, but not in the way she guessed. She confronted Tara at breakfast, her eyes darkening almost imperceptibly to show her anger.

"What did she do?" Willow snarled at her unresponsive girlfriend. "I've had enough of her. She shows up and suddenly you're sad and not spending time with me, and it's not fair and I bet she's trying to steal you away. Tell me, what did she do to upset you? Don't lie to me, I hate it when you lie to keep me calm." Willow's emotions ran wild, rippling across her features. Tara could sense the untapped magic roiling within. Her eyes widened. With the focus she'd been putting into Faith's treatment she'd forgotten to keep an eye on Willow's magic use. It was clear to her that this was a grave error on her part. Willow had most certainly been experimenting with dark magic.

"S-she did-dn't d-do anything, W-willow. C-calm down," Tara uttered meekly, crossing her arms over her chest protectively. It hurt her to fight with her lover. It hurt her to see her lover mad. It hurt most to fear for her own safety with Willow, who she had trusted to keep her safe.

Willow did not listen. Her hair darkened at the roots and her veins began to show. Truth spells shot through her head. She fought with her magic. She didn't want to have to force Tara to tell her. That would be wrong, a voice weakly reminded her. Her rage was taking over her mind.

"I'll ask you once more, Tare," Willow rumbled, "What did Faith do to you?" At her girlfriend's silence she roiled. She began to twist a spell.

Tara shot out of her chair at the breakfast table.

"You wouldn't!" she exclaimed, almost in tears. Shaking with emotion, she cried, "Willow, I can't tell you. Stop this now! I-I don't want to lose you to your anger. Believe me when I say nothing happened." She hopelessly brought her hand to her hair, clearing it away from her face.

Willow couldn't believe that her love was lying to her. Lying to protect Faith, no less. She lost control completely, eyes blackened. Her truth curse shot out, directed only by her emotions.
Tara blocked the burst of energy. Her pure magic protected her from the blast physically, but emotionally she was shattered. She had truly believed that Willow wouldn't hurt her. Willow had given her hope that humans weren't only bringers of hate and pain. She ran from the room sobbing.

Willow stared after her, shocked and appalled at herself once her outburst was done. She fell numbly, and stared at the ground for a long time.

Cordelia jerked up from where she'd been peacefully napping at the reception desk of Angel Investigations.

"I'm awake, I'm awake. Shut up and let me get to the door," she grumbled lowly as she headed for the entrance. She'd heard banging. "Don't you know it's open?"

She let Tara in. The blonde was a mess, hair askew, eyes red, and fingers twitching.
"What the fuck happened, Tare?" Cordelia bluntly inquired. She shook back her thick mane of hair and approached the woman she'd recently come to care for as a friend. She took in Tara's torn expression with worry. Her brow creased, as it seemed often had been the case in the past few weeks.

"W-willow, sh-sh-she…" Tara broke off, holding herself together at the seams. Cordelia's eyes suddenly burnt with fury.

"What did she do to you?" the Queen rumbled.

"She w-wanted me t-to t-tell her wh-what had, had h-happened w-with F-Faith b-but I d-d-didn't and she, she t-tried to spell me, C-Cor," Tara pushed out, her words trembling as they passed her lips. Cordelia fought her anger, knowing that Tara needed support now, and vengeance later, although she doubted the mild witch would ever seek it. She drew Tara into her arm gently, hushing her. All the while she plotted ways to destroy the redhead she'd used to think of as so harmless. She'd been wrong, clearly. Tara let herself be comforted by the strong brunette. A stray thought ran through her head that maybe Cordelia's affection was so rare because it was so potent. She had come to Los Angeles because she hadn't known where else to go, but it appeared that even if she'd had other options Cordelia would have won out. The socialite's silent support and anger on her behalf were more comfort than empty words could ever have been.

Giles, in his home, decided to give Faith the privacy she deserved. Her past, however spotted and miserable, he would carry to his grave, as it was never his secret to tell. Buffy visited, waving a white flag. She said that she'd come to conclude that hating Faith would be counterproductive. She told him that if Faith ever got better and came to town, she'd try to work with the other Slayer. Giles smiled.

Buffy's guilt finally began to fade away along with her imaginings of Faith's attempted decapitation.

Unfortunately, she came home to Willow's grief. Seeing her best friend absolutely lost, she ran to the redhead's side.

"Willow!" she cried desperately, hoping to provoke some reaction from her dear friend.

Willow only pounded on the ground in response.

"Willow," Buffy repeated weakly.

Willow looked up.

"I ruined everything," Willow revealed, "she'll never trust me again. I couldn't control it, it just shot out of me, I swear! But I lost her forever, I just know it." She frowned. "Faith tore us apart." Hearing this, Buffy very nearly lost it. She'd seen her friend's mind unraveling, but she'd never expected her to threaten Tara as she'd implied.

"What did you do, Will?" Buffy pleaded. She hoped to all gods seen and unseen that Willow still held some rationality in her.

"I tried to make her tell the truth," Willow blankly replied. "With magic," came the afterthought.

Buffy began to cry.

"Willow, please tell me that you didn't do this to her," she begged. "Tell me that you didn't!" Willow could not. Buffy's lips trembled. Her heart cracked for her old friend.

"What kind of magic have you been playing with, that this shot out with no chanting or herbs or Wicca-fu?" Buffy wondered aloud. Her pulse thudded in her ears. This was not her Willow. It had to be an imposter; certainly her Willow would try to force her love into anything. She knew the answer to her question: Willow had been wandering again into dark magic. Cold fear slid over her like a white sheet.

"You need to get help," Buffy commanded, though her voice trembled, "You can't be delving into dark magic. Not when it makes you hurt Tara. Not ever, but especially not when it makes you hurt Tara. God, Willow, what were you thinking? That she'd confess that Faith did something evil and then you'd make sweet love for hours to make up for Faith's evilness?"

Willow stayed silent, although at the mention of Faith her eyes grew cold and dark.