Sunnydale High.
"Ooooh," Buffy groaned while she reached for the right side of her body, just under her ribs. Tara had Buffy's right arm around her shoulder to steady the Slayer while her left arm was around the Slayer's waist on the latter's left side. It was only a few seconds after Anya vanished from sight in the hallway that Buffy was limping with Tara towards the school infirmary.
"Just hold on for a little while longer, Buffy," Tara whispered as they walked past open doors where classes were empty, with the students being in the cafeteria or out of campus for lunch. The hallway, with lockers on either side, was empty with the only sound being the footsteps of the two young women. The two of them simply hoped that they didn't meet up with any of the faculty, especially Principal Snyder. Buffy whispered that the principal already thought she was a trouble maker and she didn't want to reinforce his dislike towards her.
"A Vengeance Demon," Buffy shook her head. The pain on her lower right ribs felt as if someone stabbed her with a knife, and then twisted it around just for the fun of it all, "never heard of them. And.. and did she say that she'll teleport us into the sky and leave me there?"
"Yep," Tara whispered as the both of them made a turn into another hallway, and then limped up a staircase. "I'm guessing you'd be falling to…"
"Yeah," Buffy whispered as pain travelled up and down her spine from the back of her thigh, the same place where Anya kicked her earlier, "I'll be going 'splat' onto the ground." Buffy looked around at Tara as they walked up the stairs and said, "you would have been hurt if you were in there."
"And now you're the one hurt," Tara whispered as she looked at Buffy. Tara focused on Buffy's facial cuts and scrapes before looking away. "You're going to be okay."
"That's my job," Buffy chuckled for a few seconds before groaning in pain once again as she pressed against her ribs with here hand, "oooo, it hurts when I laugh." Tara chuckled as they moved along.
"Momma's going to take care of you, Buffy," Tara said as she tried to remember what little she read about Vengeance Demons, the very same demons she thought about calling against her father and brother when she first heard about their existence months before she and Sarah left. In the meantime, while she and Buffy walked up the steps on a flight of stairs.
In the meantime, Tara mentally called out for Sarah while verbally explaining to Buffy what she read about Vengeance demons in Sarah's magic books. While Tara told Buffy that she used to read some of her mother's magic books, the truth was that the books were hidden away in a secret spot in the basement so that Teddy would not find out about them. When Teddy and Donnie weren't home, Tara would read the books; and sometimes Sarah would train her on magic use in the basement.
While Tara was talking to Buffy, she was continued to mentally speak with Sarah about Buffy's injuries. Tara thought Sarah was in the infirmary, and so was surprised to hear from Sarah that she was in the library with Giles. However, once Tara magically informed her mother of the situation with Buffy, Sarah said that both she and Giles were heading to the infirmary.
"You know what to do, Sweetie," Sarah mentally told her daughter after she relayed to Giles that Buffy was injured. Faith, Willow, and Xander wanted to accompany Sarah and Giles as they were about to leave for the infirmary, but the Watcher ordered them to search the books in his office for the identity of the fear demon.
"Mom's in the library with Mr. Giles," Tara said as she opened the doors to the infirmary using her shoulder. Buffy grunted before asking if everything was alright while Tara led her to a bed, and then helped her take a seat on top of the mattress. "I don't know why," Tara said before Buffy could ask anything. Tara then looked around and laid her eyes on the fridge near the far wall. Tara rushed to the fridge, opened the door and then reached down and grabbed a blue coloured pack. It was ice cold to the touch as Tara pulled it out and then closed the door. She then turned and rushed to Buffy.
"Buffy," Tara said as she held the pack in her left hand and said, "I need you to lift the left side of your blouse," while pointing to Buffy's left side, and continued without a beat, "I need to see if you're bleeding internally or if your ribs are broken, or…"
"I didn't hear a crack, or… or anything like that," Buffy whispered as she lifted the left side of her blouse. Tara saw some bruising, but nothing that seemed to indicate internal bleeding. It was just a simple, but painful, bruise. Tara wanted to place her fingers on the area above the ribs to check if they were broken, but she felt Buffy would feel more comfortable with Sarah instead of with her.
'I could ask her and… no… it looks alright. A broken rib and internal bleeding would be something different and… and if I touch her skin, even with her permission, then she may get the wrong idea and… okay… okay.. momma said she's coming so I'll try something else.'
"I'm going to place this on the bruise, Buffy," Tara said while gently placing the ice-pack just onto the bruise, which made Buffy flinch before she grabbed Tara's shoulder. "Ow," Buffy squeaked as she felt the cold plastic make contact with her bare skin. She closed her eyes as the coolness went through her body while her hand gently squeezed Tara's shoulder. Buffy opened her eyes and saw Tara's eyes on the icepack as the latter held it down. Buffy looked down and saw one of Tara's hand on the mattress to her right side before she looked up at the profile of Tara's face. "Thanks."
Tara heard the whisper and looked up at Buffy. Their eyes locked, and Tara felt herself swimming in the brown of Buffy's eyes. Suddenly Tara was aware of where she was; alone with Buffy in the infirmary. Tara had seen the Slayer's milky white skin around the bruised areas of her waist, she had seen the toned muscle that lightly showed through from what Tara glimpsed of Buffy's abdomen when the latter lifted the side of her blouse.
Tara felt her face flush as she imagined kissing Buffy and the Slayer returning the kiss. She imagined gently kissing Buffy's abdomen as her ears started to warm up.
"Tara?"
It was only a second in real time, which to Tara seemed like minutes, when Tara snapped her head away after Buffy called her name once again. She tore her eyes away from looking into Buffy's brown orbs when hearing, "you ok? You looked like you were deep in thought or something while you looked at me. I thought that maybe you used your magic to see if I had any major injury, and then you found the injury, and it was bad so you were trying to find a way to tell me, and…" Buffy rambled on before Tara interrupted her.
"No, no," Tara shook her head as she looked back down on her hand being on the icepack, "I.. I was just thinking about something…"
"Don't tell me you thought that Anya chick was cute," Buffy smirked.
"What?" Tara exclaimed before shaking her head, "no. I mean yeah she was kind of cute but no… I wasn't thinking about her. And… I mean she's a demon, so… yeah."
Buffy chuckled before groaning again as she slumped forward. Tara looked on in worry before reaching out to steady Buffy who, once again said, "laughing hurts."
Tara smiled a little as she helped Buffy lie down. She then took Buffy's hand and placed it over the ice-pack. Tara then, while Buffy held the ice-pack down against her own body, went to grab a chair and sat down next to her. Tara wanted to comfort Buffy, she wanted to stroke her hair, to brush her fingers on her skin… but she did everything possible keep her feelings from boiling up to the surface. The both of them made small talk about the current situation, in regards to the murders, with Buffy asking Tara if there was any other type of ritual that required children.
And the both of them spoke about several other theories on why the children were murdered. And all their theories led to the same conclusion, a possible apocalypse was coming for Sunnydale and the world. It wasn't a few seconds after Buffy and Tara agreed they needed to check in with Giles that the latter and Sarah hurried in through the double doors. And behind them was a worried Joyce who the both of them met on the way to the infirmary- the former was heading towards the library to meet with Buffy.
"Honey," Joyce exclaimed as Tara got out of the chair and stepped back while Joyce rushed around the bed and stood over Buffy and holding her hand tight. Joyce looked over the Slayer's wounds while Sarah grabbed one end of the curtain before beginning to pull it around the three of them; herself, Joyce, and Buffy- for privacy. Joyce, seeing her daughter's injuries, then looked up at Sarah, "This was magic, this was the thing that killed the children, and…"
"It wasn't, Joyce," Sarah said before she looked over at Tara just before pulling the curtain shut, "Tara, Rupert will fill you in on what's happening. I'll talk to Joyce."
"Okay," Tara said as she turned towards Giles who said that they came across Joyce as they got out of the library. Joyce was going into the library to talk to Buffy and then when she was told about Buffy being injured, she rushed up to the infirmary with them.
Giles then looked at the curtain, and then back to Tara while nodding towards the exit. The both of them then made their way to the exit while Sarah was checking Buffy's injuries while Joyce held her daughter's hand tightly. The doors to the infirmary swung open as both Giles and Tara made their way into the hallway where the latter told him about the Vengeance Demon named Anya.
"A vengeance Demon?" Giles asked with his eyes narrowed at Tara while he fixed his glasses, "are you certain?"
"Yea," Tara replied while nodding towards the just closed infirmary doors, "Buffy and Anya fought and.. and anyway, she said that she didn't cause the murders."
"No, Vengeance Demons don't kill needlessly, and they never kill children," Giles agreed while nodding his head and rubbing his chin at the same time. He then looked through the glass viewport at the green coloured curtain before turning his head back to Tara, "Faith came to see me with Willow, Oz, and Xander. She said that she recognized the children from the picture in the newspaper… they could very well be demons that feed on fear."
"Oh," Tara was surprise, "do you want me researching with Willow and the others?"
"Willow is already searching the internet for these children," Giles replied as Tara looked away from him and stared at the doors. She then sighed before looking back at Giles, their eyes locked for an instant before Tara looked away. Giles could see that she was worried, but he didn't know if she was worried about the current situation with the murdered children and the possible demon, or that Buffy was injured.
A second later, Tara answered that question by saying, "I hope Buffy's going to be alright." Giles then nodded his head before placing a hand on her shoulders and said, "she's going to be fine. You brought her to the infirmary. Your mother will take care of her, and Buffy's got Joyce in there with her now."
"I know," Tara said before shaking her head and then taking a deep breath, "so, I'll run over to the library and help research."
"Faith, Oz and Xander have already started, at least I've told them to start," Giles said, "just make sure they don't laze about. It is very important that we find out more about these demons."
"How about Miss Calendar?" Tara asked before she was about to leave, "she and Willow together would be… you know… two really good computer people being…."
"Computer people?" Giles arched an eyebrow at Tara, "you and Buffy have been spending too much time together." Tara then chuckled before saying she'll call Jenny and ask her to meet at the library where she and Willow could scour the net for information. Giles nodded his head before adding, "if you see Cordelia, have her help."
"Sure," Tara said before she ran down the hallway. Meanwhile, Giles turned back to the viewport and stared at the green curtain, and the shadows of Joyce and Sarah moving behind the curtain. Suddenly, as he stared at the curtain, Giles snapped his head to the left when he felt a cold rush past him.
"What are you?" he whispered just as the cold feeling that had him erupt in goosebumps subsided, until it simply vanished.
TBC