Tara

Tara didn't have a tremendous amount of belongings, so it didn't take very long to move her into her dorm room.

"Can we do it now?" Buffy asked as soon as the last box had been brought in.

"Come on, B, give her a bit to get settled." Faith commented, and Tara had to stifle a giggle at Buffy's eagerness.

"But.. yeah, ok." Buffy pouted and dropped down onto the bed.

Tara chuckled to herself and tried to come up with a way to get Faith to give them some time alone without being obvious. "Faith, why don't you go grab us some food while Buffy and I start putting things away."

Faith looked nervously at Buffy and sighed, "Ok, I'll be back."

She watched Buffy track Faith's movements down the hallway and shook her head. She gave her a few more moments to recover from her Faith haze. A term she and Willow had recently coined for whenever Buffy would go into a trance because of Faith leaving or returning.

Tara had changed immensely in the short time she had spent with the slayers. The past ten years of her life were spent trying to make herself small and unobtrusive. She never felt comfortable voicing her opinion or speaking up for herself in any situation. She no longer felt that way. She felt comfortable with herself and confident in her decisions. She also felt incredibly protective of Faith. She knew Buffy had no intention of hurting Faith, but she was also sure that if anyone could destroy Faith, it would be Buffy. She had to do what she could to protect them both.

She knew trying to keep them apart was pointless - they needed each other.

"Buffy?"

Buffy looked confused at the sound of her name but then hopped up from the bed. "What can I help with?"

"You can unpack that box over there. It has my books."

Tara watched her get to work, trying to figure out what to say. Tara had been monitoring the progress of the void within Faith's spirit. There had been a lot of improvement, and she hoped the progress would speed up now that Willow was no longer infested with evil. She wasn't whole yet, though. She still held on to too much fear and uncertainty.

"She's not ready for you yet." Tara finally says, wishing she had thought more about how to handle this.

"What do you mean? Not ready for me to do what?" Buffy looked wide-eyed and confused, Tara gave her a knowing smile, and Buffy blushed. She turned away but didn't comment.

"Do you know anything about her past?" Tara had tried to get Faith to talk about her family. She quickly found it to be a mistake. Faith had completely shut down, her normally light aura - darkened, and she watched in horror as the void within Faith widened. She shook the memory away, needing to focus on helping Buffy deal with what was about to happen.

"No - do you?" Buffy narrowed her eyes a little. Tara knew that Buffy was jealous of her closeness to Faith. Tara had initially thought she and Faith were meant to have a relationship, after spending a short time with the two slayers and meeting Willow, she quickly realized this wasn't the case. They had a strong connection, but it wasn't a romantic one. If she had been more certain of what this connection was, she would have tried to explain it to Buffy, but she was worried about making things worse by discussing it.

"No details, I only know that she was hurt. That it's hard for her to accept…"

"that anyone cares about her?" Buffy added sadly.

"Exactly."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

Tara frowned and looked away, "Once we do what we're about to do, it might be harder for you to be patient."

Buffy frowned, "Maybe we shouldn't do it?"

"I do think it'll be good for you both, but it's going to be hard."

"Is it going to hurt her?"

Tara wasn't sure how to answer that. There wasn't any path that wasn't going to hurt one or both of them to some extent. She didn't want to tell Buffy that it might be the only way Faith might have a chance to ever fully heal her damaged spirit, that seemed like too much pressure. "I don't think it will hurt her."

"But you're not sure?"

"It's not like there is a lot of information about this." Tara sighs, "I think you need to do it. Part of what I want to show you is how to block some of the connection."

"Block it? Why would we want to do that?"

"Faith mentioned it is sometimes distracting, like if you're on patrol and you're worried about her." Faith is probably not going to be happy with me for telling her this.

Buffy frowned, "she never said anything." She looked up at the door, "Faith is coming back." For the first time looking sad at the prospect of Faith's arrival.

"I didn't mean to upset you. I don't know what's going to happen, but you two were meant to have this connection." I went about this all wrong. I don't even know if she's realized how much she cares about Faith yet.

"Meant to?" Buffy looked confused.

"You'll see, your magic connects you."

"Because we're slayers?"

"Right." This wasn't exactly right, Tara thought it was a lot more than the slayer connection, but she didn't know for sure.

Faith had returned to the room and dropped a few bags of food on the bed. "You guys didn't make much progress." Faith commented. Buffy was still emptying the same box of books she had started on, and Tara hadn't put anything away. "Is something wrong?"

Faith

"No, nothing's wrong. We were just talking about what was going to happen. I'm not sure I want to do it now." Buffy frowned and finished emptying her box, reaching for another one.

What the hell? Why would she not want to do this now?

"But... I want to." Faith had been looking forward to this, she knew she hadn't completely figured out how to deal with feelings, but she was ready to find out how much progress she had made. She was sure it would make Buffy happy to open the connection as well.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I want to learn more about how we can use the connection, and we can't do that if you're not connected to it too."

"You want to learn how to block it," Buffy stated quietly.

"What?" Where the hell did that come from? What makes her think I'd want to block it?

"So I'm not so distracting." Buffy pouted and returned her attention to the box of books she was emptying.

Faith groaned and rolled her eyes, giving Tara a fierce look. "No, that's not it at all. I promise."

"I'm just going to give you two a few minutes.." Tara says sheepishly and leaves the room.

Shit, what the hell did Tara say to her!?

Buffy turned back around, Faith's heart was breaking to see Buffy so upset. "I don't know what she told you..."

"How distracting am I exactly?" Buffy's eyes narrowed.

"It's not that big of a deal, and after all this time, it's not that much of a distraction." Buffy glared back at Faith and put her hands on her hips. The clear sign that Buffy knew she was lying and wasn't going to let her get away with it. Faith groaned and ran her fingers through her hair. "Fine. Ok. Sometimes when you're really worried or upset, it kinda... hurts."

Buffy eyes widened, and Faith felt a pang as Buffy's sadness assaulted her. "I hurt you! Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"It hasn't happened all that much." Faith shrugged, wanting this to be over, hoping that Buffy won't ask which emotions hurt her.

"Yeah.. but..."

"Hey, it's ok. I know you never were trying to hurt me."

"Maybe we should just block it. I don't want to hurt you anymore."

Faith leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to figure out how to fix this. "If I wanted to block it... Tara offered to do that the first day she was here. I... can't even imagine not having this with you." Faith had to fight back the tears of thinking what it would be like to no longer feel Buffy the way that she does now.

"You told her about me hurting you the first day she was here?" Buffy's sadness was causing Faith's body to ache.

"It wasn't like that." Faith took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "Let her show you, and then you can decide. If you don't think it's worth the pain we might cause each other - we can block it." It took all of Faith's willpower to make this suggestion.

Buffy left the room without saying anything. Faith felt like her heart was going to explode. She was terrified that Buffy would ask her to block their connection. She wasn't even sure what that would mean for them. Would it go back to just being the slayer tingles they used to feel, or would it be nothing at all? Neither of those options sounded good to her. The door opened a few moments later, Buffy and Tara entering the room.

Tara couldn't meet Faith's eyes, the confidence that she had seen growing in Tara was missing. "I'm sorry I made this harder for you both, that wasn't what I was trying to do."

Faith wanted to ask what Tara was trying to do, but she had a good idea already that Tara was just trying to protect her.

"It's ok, let's just do this," Buffy said with very little enthusiasm.

The three sat on the floor, and Tara placed the crystal between them. "Touch the crystal."

Faith watched in complete awe. It was even more amazing than she had remembered. The bright colors of their auras danced around each other, swirling and intertwining. She winced a little as she saw how much her energy interacted with Tara's, it was no where near the connection to Buffy's, but it was not insignificant. She could only hope that Buffy wouldn't read too much into what that meant. It didn't even occur to her to wonder why she seemed so connected to Tara.

"This is incredible." Buffy's eyes were locked on Faith, and Faith could feel the happiness pouring from her. She could feel it rebounding with herself, making her sure it had been the right decision to help Buffy open the connection.

"All we did before was close our eyes and feel the energy that you can see." Faith suggested, more than a little nervous about what Buffy was about to find out.

She watched as Buffy closed her eyes. A smile was forming on her face. Buffy opened her eyes and looked at Faith. She kept eye contact for a few moments before blushing and turning back to Tara. "How can we make sure we're not hurting each other?"

"It's going to take a little time and practice." Tara shrugged. "It would be easier to block it entirely."

Faith looked to Buffy to see what she wanted to do. Buffy quickly shook her head, "No, I don't want to block it." Faith breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah... I didn't think you'd want that." She placed the crystal back in the pouch. Holding her hand over it and whispering a few words before handing it to Buffy. "The best way will be to use the crystal. Spend time together and talk about what you're feeling. The more you understand each other and your power, the more control you'll have."

Buffy was staring at the pouch in her hands, and Faith could tell she was wrestling with something. "Are you ok? Is this not what you thought it would be like?" Faith asked. She had been expecting Buffy to say something more about what was happening. The silence made her worry about what Buffy felt from Faith. She was beyond grateful that Buffy didn't want to block it, now she just had to worry about everything else.

A small smile crept across her face. "Yeah, I'm OK. It's just going to take a little time adjusting to two sets of feelings."

They spent another hour together, eating and helping Tara set up her room before heading out on patrol.

Buffy

Patient, I have to be patient. Buffy had been reminding herself over and over as they wandered around the cemetery. She wasn't at all paying attention to her surroundings. All her thoughts were focused on Faith and what her emotions meant.

Buffy had only recently accepted that she cared about Faith in a more than friendly way. The past two weeks of sharing a bed had changed things for her. Even though nothing intimate had happened between them, she craved their closeness and wanted more. She became more aware of how much better she felt whenever Faith was around. Any time Faith would laugh or even smile, it would make Buffy's heart flutter. After what Tara had told her, she became even more sure of how she felt. Tara had said Faith wasn't ready yet. Meaning she would eventually be ready.

Buffy had been amazed at what she felt from Faith. She was expecting chaos, fear, and anger. There was some fear, but most of what she felt was hope and excitement.

A grunt from Faith finally got her attention. Faith was fighting with two vampires and losing ground. Buffy took a step towards the battle and then changed her mind. Instead, she sent her strength over the connection. The response was immediate, one of the vampires went flying away, and the other vanished into dust. Faith was upon the one she had sent flying in a flash, burying her stake into his chest.

"What the hell was that?" She asked as she stood up, brushing the ash from her clothes.

"Looks like maybe we can use this connection for more than just emotions." Buffy smiled and moved closer to Faith, finding it hard to resist wrapping her arms around her counterpart.

Faith was looking down at her hands and flexing them, "wicked."

Buffy held her hand out, "let's go find some more demons to kill." Faith hesitated but eventually accepted the offered hand.

The rest of patrolling had been a bust, they only encountered one newbie vampire, and he didn't last long enough for them to test out their new power.

"I guess you're glad to have your room back to yourself," Buffy commented as they approached the house.

"Yeah, you kinda hog the blankets." Faith joked back.

"I do not!"

"You do too. There's also the drooling." Faith laughed as they entered the house.

Buffy shook her head and grinned. She was disappointed that she'd have to sleep alone tonight, but she was happy that she had this connection to Faith. Now that it was summer, they'd be able to patrol together every night. They'd have plenty of time to explore their new abilities and for Buffy to keep proving to Faith how much she cared about her.

It was four weeks before she and Willow were set to start classes. She's hanging out with Willow and Tara while Faith is off training alone with Wesley. They hadn't told him anything about their connection. Only Tara and Giles knew the truth of how powerful it had become.

Suddenly she feels a pang of pain and fear. It takes her a moment to figure out what it is. "Faith." She whispers and starts to panic, looking around as if she could see where she was.

"Buffy? What's wrong?" Willow asked, alarmed.

"Something… Faith.. have to find her." Buffy grabs Tara and drags her out of the house, "take me to her!" Buffy could feel Faith's emotions and send power to her over great distances, but tracking her only worked effectively when they were close.

Tara nods and starts walking, she's quiet, but Willow is asking questions. Buffy can't hear them. She's pushing Tara, practically carrying her trying to get her to go faster. As soon as she felt the pang of fear, she began sending her strength and support over the connection, hoping that it would help Faith survive whatever was happening to her.

"Are you kidding me?!" Buffy screams as soon as she recognizes where they are. She approached the boarded-up house that was the site of her 18th birthday nightmare. Before she can reach the entrance, she's stopped by men in military clothing, telling her to stay back.

"I have to get in there! My friend is hurt!" She's screaming at them and shoving them out of her way. More men move to block her path, she growls in frustration but lets herself be held back.

"We're taking care of her, ma'am. She'll be out soon." A large man she thinks she might have seen around campus approaches her.

"What happened?" Buffy is fighting hard to keep herself under control. Faith is alive, barely, but she's alive. She's going to be ok. She has to be ok.

"She was hurt pretty badly. We're taking her to the hospital." The man replies, his voice is calm, and it is irritating Buffy.

"I need to see her." She pushes him out of the way to find Faith on a gurney being loaded into the back of an ambulance. Faith appears to be unconscious. Buffy tries forcing her way into the back of the vehicle.

"You can't ride with us. You'll have to meet us at the hospital." She's pulled away from the back of the vehicle by more men, all wearing black military uniforms. She thinks it's odd the even the EMTs were wearing these outfits.

Tara and Willow are by her side now, "Come on. We'll go to the hospital. She'll be ok." Tara was trying to be comforting. Buffy wasn't interested in being comforted. She was beyond fury, but there was nothing she could do about it.

A second ambulance pulls up, and she sees another gurney being rolled towards it. "Wesley!" Buffy screams as she sees who's laying there. The man is unconscious and covered in blood. The witches do their best to restrain her and drag her away.