REVIEWS:
Whiro -You can check out the un-chopped version at my web-site! LOL It flows a lot better.
Just - Glad your Fourth was happy. I was going to try and get this chapter loaded up Monday but got watching Season 9 of the X-files and never got on the computer - Sorry!
Lecter - DUH Now I feel stupid - I was just thinking the word Patience - not that actual lyrics. Hopefully this chapter will give you a fix for arse kicking.
Wordman - Obviously you like. LOL
Sink - If that made you go take a cold shower - you better not read the unedited version! LOL
CHAPTER 16
As the alarm goes off, Tara groans looking over before reaching to turn it off. Smiling as she hears Buffy mumble ten more minutes into her breast. Resetting the alarm to wake herself up in a couple more hours Tara gently shakes Buffy's shoulder. "Honey, wake up, you need to get ready for work."
"Don't wanna." Buffy grumbles.Realizing what she's burrowing into Buffy opens one eye seeing a nipple looking back at her and smiles. "Mine." She whispers before sucking the nipple in her mouth. Gently suckling on it, Buffy closes her eye back. Almost falling asleep.
"Buffy!" Tara cries out quietly in pleasure.
Realizing what she's doing, Buffy finally releases Tara's breast looking up at the dark blue eyes looking back at her. "I'm not helping matters, am I?" Buffy questions quietly.
Shaking her head Tara smiles lopsidedly at the slayer. "No, and if you keep it up, you're going to be really late for work. And I'll be sleeping through a couple of my classes."
"Okay, I'm going. I'm going to have Faith come in, okay?" Buffy asks quietly gently kissing the witch before climbing out of bed.
Tara smiles at the slayer, before snuggling back under the covers, "Okay." Tara mumbles already falling back asleep.
"I love you." Buffy lightly kisses Tara on the temple before putting on a robe and grabbing her clothes, heading into Faith's room.
"Faith?" Buffy quietly calls the slayer's name. "Faith?" She calls out a little louder.
"What?" Faith's gravelly voice asks as she sits up in bed blinking away the sleep in her eyes.
"Can you go in with Tara, I'm getting ready for work." Buffy asks quietly.
"'kay." Faith states standing up wearing a tank top and panties before walking towards the door, stopping when she reaches Buffy. Kissing her lightly on the lips she smirks slightly. "Sounds like you had a good night, B."
"Faith!" Buffy hisses quietly. Starting to smile Buffy lets it turn into a full fledged grin. "I had no idea how good it could be. I mean, damn!" Buffy whispers to Faith. "I need to get ready, I'll pop in before I leave, okay?"
"Sure B." Faith yawns, heading toward the other bedroom. Quietly opening the door she smiles at the sleeping Wicca before gently easing the covers back getting ready to climb in bed beside the witch when she sees naked breasts staring back at her. "Ah man! She couldn't get her to at least put a shirt on before telling me to come in here." Faith growls out quietly. Taking a deep breath, Faith eases in beside the witch, pulling the covers up to cover the breasts that were peeking at her.
"Shut up Faith." Tara mumbles half asleep before rolling over to bury her face in Faith's neck, laying her arm across the slayer's stomach, mumbling about clothes before reaching under the shirt to reach up and cup Faith's breast while easing her leg over Faith's. "Hmm. Better." Burrowing in, Tara falls back asleep.
Looking up at the ceiling, Faith shakes her head slightly. 'You're tryin' to kill me. I know you are.' Faith thinks to herself before wrapping her arm around the witch's back, hugging her gently to her body, while running the other hand over her arm. Hearing the door open she sees Buffy come in quickly and smile down at them. "Is she always like this?" Faith asks quietly.
Chuckling quietly Buffy answers "No, that's usually my position against her. Though my face is usually buried against her breast. Take care of her, if you need me, call me on the cell." Leaning down and pressing a firm kiss to Faith's lips, she turns and places a gentle kiss against Tara's temple. "Love you two." Buffy states before heading towards the door.
"B?" Faith questions quietly.
"Yeah?" Buffy answers.
"I…" Hesitating, not able to say it Faith looks at Buffy hoping she understands.
"I know." Buffy smiles gently at the brunette before leaving the bedroom, gently shutting the door behind her and heading to work.
"Thanks B." Faith quietly says to the closed door, wishing she could tell the slayer she loved her. But knowing that she understood why she couldn't.
AAAAAAAAAA
Hearing the alarm go off for the second time that morning, Tara reaches out to shut it off before realizing her hand is caught in a top. The next thing she realizes is that her hand is cupping a full, warm breast.
"What the fuck?" Faith growls out half asleep, reaching with a hand slamming it around on the nightstand before finally giving the thing making the noise a violent death. "Teach you." She grumbles before reaching back, running her hand back over the arm across her body.
Chuckling quietly at the slayer Tara buries her face in Faith's neck, gently squeezing the breast in her hand before pulling her hand out from under the tank top. "Morning, sunshine." Tara grins pulling away looking at Faith.
"Bite me." Faith grumbles before yelping when she feels teeth bite down on her shoulder.
"I'm going to take a shower and get ready for school." Tara grins at the look she's getting from Faith.
"So, you're just gonna bite and run? Isn't that, like against the rules or something?" Faith asks in her rough voice. "I mean, if you were a vampire, you'd stick around to suck the life from me." Faith smirks as she comes fully awake. "I'm all for you sucking the life out of me. From what I heard, you're pretty good at that."
"Damn!" Tara groans loudly. "Between you and Buffy, I have a feeling I'm not going to get much sleep around here." Grinning wickedly Tara continues "Death by orgasm. I like the idea."
Laughing in appreciation Faith gives her a quick kiss. "Go on, get ready for school, I'll be right behind ya." Faith watches as the blonde climbs out of bed, walking over to the closet to grab a robe to wear. Giving a low wolf whistle, Faith grins as she sees the blonde blush. "Come on, Blondie. You're hot. If you didn't have to go to school I'd have you back in bed showing you how hot you are."
"Shower time." Tara states quickly, running out the door hearing Faith's chuckles behind her as she slams the bathroom door.
Grinning, Faith swings her legs around the edge of the bed. Stretching and yawning Faith's eyes open wide. Getting a good whiff, she can still smell the sex from last night, how she didn't smell it before now, she didn't know. Inhaling deeply, Faith grins. "Oh, yeah. She definitely had a good time last night." Faith growls out before deciding to head to her bedroom to get ready to play bodyguard. Opening the bedroom door, she steps into the hallway and almost runs into Dawn.
"Morning, Faith. I trust you had a good night?" Dawn smirks at the slayer before heading downstairs.
Faith stands there confused, wondering what the hell was going on. Shaking her head she goes to her bedroom, grabbing clothes to wear for the day before heading back towards the bathroom. Hearing the shower shut off, Faith grins evilly. Reaching down, gently turning the door knob, Faith realizes Tara didn't lock it. Poking her head around the door she grins, watching the witch dry herself off.
"Faith, if you're coming in, get in here and shut the door. It's one thing for Dawn to know what's going on, another to see you poking your head in here for a free show." Tara smirks as she looks up, catching Faith's eyes.
"Squirt knows?" Faith's eyes open wide at the thought. "I mean…when, how?" Faith mumbles out, temporarily distracted from watching the blonde dry her body, coming into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
"Yes she knows. Last night. I talked to her." Tara answers the questions, seeing the confusion on Faith's face as she tries to figure out what she's saying. Finishing drying her body, she tosses the towel in the hamper. Grabbing the other towel, Tara gently rubs her head, drying her hair.
Faith gives up on trying to figure out what's going on. Deciding it's not something to worry about if Tara isn't worried. Focusing back in on the blonde, Faith's eyes are drawn to her breasts which are jiggling tantalizingly as she rubs the towel over her head. Unconsciously licking her lips, she steps closer to the blonde her eyes not straying from the sight before her.
"Faith, take a shower. There isn't time for anything else." Tara grins, enjoying the effect she seems to have on both slayers. Figuring her hair is dry enough, Tara throws that towel in the hamper before turning to the mirror, brushing the knots out of her hair until it's smooth. Reaching over for her clothes on the chair she pulls her panties on and reaches for the bra when a hand intercedes her.
Faith growls lightly. "Let me just do this then I'll behave." Leaning down, Faith gently sucks Tara's nipple in her mouth, while reaching with her hand, lightly pinching the other nipple, making Tara groan quietly. Pulling away Faith takes a deep breath looking into the blondes blue eyes, she smiles and states "Yummy," before quickly turning to jump in the shower turning the water on full blast cold, to the laughter of the witch.
Shaking her head at Faith, Tara grabs her toothbrush to quickly brush her teeth and gargle before getting dressed for school. Looking down at her skirt and loose top, she giggles, remembering last night and the two slayers' threats.
"Don't giggle, witch. Those clothes will be gone in a matter of time, trust me." Faith states between chattering teeth as she hops out of the shower. "Fuck, I forgot to get a towel."
"I'll get it." Tara laughs as she cracks open the door before heading out to the linen closet and grabbing a couple towels for the Dark Slayer. "Here." She throws the towels at Faith. "I'm going to go downstairs and fix something for breakfast. I can probably fix you a dozen scrambled eggs with cheese and some toast if you want?"
"Won't hear any complaints from me." Faith grins at the witch. "Thanks, Tara."
Stopping in surprise at Faith using her name Tara smiles walking over to the slayer and placing a quick firm kiss to her lips. "You're welcome, Faith." Before turning around and heading downstairs to fix breakfast.
AAAAAAAAAA
"Good morning Dawnie." Tara grins at the teenager eating a bowl of cereal. "You're going to have a good dinner tonight, with eating that sugar for breakfast."
Rolling her eyes, Dawn can't help but smile at the woman. "Yes, Mom. I'll be sure to eat my vegetables for dinner like a good little girl." Smirking slightly at the witch, Dawn raises an eyebrow "So, you three get everything situated last night?"
Looking up quickly catching Dawn's eye, Tara laughs at the teen. "Well we got some things situated. Yes, we three are going to be together, Faith decided after talking and …" Tara looked up at the ceiling blushing slightly. "after kissing each of us in turn to make sure we were good kissers."
Dawn giggles then starts to laugh loudly. "So, I'm assuming if you're together, you must be a good kisser, huh?"
"Honestly, I wouldn't know. I've never had the opportunity to kiss myself." Tara smirks at the teen. Getting a mixing bowl out, Tara grabs the eggs out of the refrigerator along with cheese and butter and quickly scrambles the eggs before pouring them into the heated skillet, quickly adding the cheese.
"Do you need any help on your project?" Tara quickly glances over to Dawn.
"Nope, almost got it done. I'll probably finish it tonight and turn it in tomorrow. Maybe I'll get extra credit for getting it done early." Dawn smiles as she hops off the stool to rinse her bowl and put it in the dishwasher. Quickly kissing Tara on the cheek she grabs her book bag to head to school.
"Have a good day, Dawnie." Tara calls after the teen.
"You, too Tara! See you tonight." Dawn calls out before heading out the front door.
Scooping the scrambled eggs out onto a plate with six pieces of buttered toast for the slayer, Tara makes herself a fried egg sandwich before sitting down. Taking a bite of her sandwich Tara looks up as Faith comes in the kitchen. Looking at the slayer in jeans and a tight t-shirt Tara grins. Taking a sip of juice watching the slayer sit down and dig into her breakfast, Tara giggles slightly.
"Okay, what's so funny?" Faith asks around a mouth full of eggs.
"Just seeing bad ass Faith wearing a Tweety Bird t-shirt." Grinning Tara winks at Faith. "I honestly think of you more as Taz. We'll have to buy you some t-shirts with him on it, instead."
"Be careful what you wanna do." Faith smirks at the witch. "I'll get you back."
"I certainly hope so." Tara flirts as she finishes her breakfast and gets up to put her dirty dishes in the dishwasher. "I need to grab my book bag, I'll be right back."
"'kay." Faith mumbles around her food watching the witch. Quickly finishing her breakfast and putting her dishes away, Faith heads to the living room, putting her shoes on looking up the stairs as Tara quickly heads towards her with the book bag slung over her shoulder.
"We need to hurry for me to make it to my first class." Tara says, grabbing Faith's hand to head out the door.
"Wait a minute!" Faith growls before pulling her back and kissing her quickly. "We can take the bike, that way I can get a couple more kisses in before we have to leave." Faith leans in and presses her lips firmly against Tara's, insistently passing her tongue over her bottom lip before sucking the lip in her mouth, making Tara groan.
Easing her body into Faith, Tara drops the book bag before reaching up and wrapping her arms around Faith's neck. Gently pushing against the slayer's body until her back is against the wall. Opening her mouth, she lets Faith's questing tongue in to battle gently with hers. Capturing the tongue, Tara sucks gently at first and then more firmly as she hears the deep moan come from the slayer.
Finally easing back away from Faith, Tara rests her forehead against her shoulder, breathing heavily. Taking in deep gulping breaths until she finally gets control, Tara finally looks up to see dark brown eyes shining with love looking back at her. Feeling her knees weaken slightly at the look, Tara runs a hand through Faith's hair and gently pulls her in for a sweet gentle kiss. "I love you." Tara whispers quietly as she pulls away before bending down to pick up her book bag. "Come on, let's get me to school. I got some higher learning to do."
"Okay, Blondie." Faith huskily states. "Here, you wear the helmet. I guess it wouldn't hurt to invest in a couple more helmets for everyone." Quickly hopping on the bike, Faith starts it up, waiting for Tara to climb on behind her.
"You know I'm wearing a skirt, right? Plus, what am I supposed to hold onto?" Tara asks loudly to be heard over the engine.
"You'll be showing some leg by hiking up your skirt, so climb on and you'll be holding onto me, baby." Faith grins.
Tara smirks "Okay." Making sure she has her book bag situated, Tara wraps her arms around Faith and then raises her hands to cup both breasts, grasping firmly. "Ready."
Laughing at the witch, Faith shakes her head before gunning the engine and easing out the clutch to head towards the college. Feeling Tara ease her hands down to clasp around her waist, Faith pouts at the loss.
Faith quickly and carefully drives them across town to the college. Pulling up to the parking lot, she shuts the engine off and waits as Tara gets off the bike. Putting down the kickstand, Faith swings her leg over to watch as Tara takes the helmet off and grins at the witch. "Looks like you enjoyed the ride." Faith smirks.
Tara, flushed and grinning from ear to ear, nods her head. "That was great! Where should I put the helmet?"
"I'll carry it." Faith takes the helmet, following the witch to her first class. Sitting down beside Tara, Faith looks around the class room as the other students file in grabbing seats.
"What class is this?" Faith whispers quietly.
"Psychology." Tara whispers back. "This class is two hours long. The teacher is nice and interesting. Hopefully you won't be too bored."
Faith shrugs, then smirks slightly "I can always watch you if I get bored."
"Faith!" Tara tries to keep a stern note but ends up giggling. "Maybe we should get you some books or something to read, just in case."
"Don't worry about me, I'll be okay." Faith smiles while looking around with interest. Just then a slightly older woman enters the class room shutting the door behind her and walking up to the board. Faith paying attention as the teacher discusses the chapters the students had read since the last class, asking if anyone had any questions or wanting to argue any points, as the discussion went on, Faith became engrossed in the different arguments brought up by the students and smiles as the teacher played devil's advocate to their discussion. All to quickly the class ends and the teacher loudly states to read the next ten chapters before the next class and they would have a quiz that day, so be prepared.
Tara had watched the emotions crossing Faith's face as the class went on and grinned as she saw the interest in her eyes. "So, what did you think?"
Looking at Tara, Faith smiles. "After you read your chapters and study, can I borrow your textbook? It kinda peaked my interest."
Tara smiles, wrapping her arm around the slayer. "Let's head to my next class. You can borrow it anytime."
Faith grins happily, never realizing that school could actually be interesting.
AAAAAAAAA
Buffy groans as she lets herself in the house. "Definitely need more than a couple hours sleep, my ass is dragging." Buffy mumbles to herself as she heads upstairs to shower.
Scrubbing her body five times and still feeling like she didn't get all the grease off, Buffy shakes her head. "I have definitely got to find a new job, I'm going to turn in to a big pile of grease one of these days." Quickly drying off, she goes into the bedroom and grabs shorts and a t-shirt to wear. Stopping to smile at the bed, she thinks about the night before. Turning to head out of the bedroom, she spies the remains of her alarm clock and laughs. "Faith must not have liked the alarm clock." Quickly throwing the remains in the trash Buffy heads down to get a snack before heading to the garage.
Walking into the garage, Buffy stops confused. Looking around, she doesn't see the tools or the wood that was normally in the one corner. Quickly turning around she heads back into the house to the basement, seeing the tools and wood neatly organized Buffy grins. "Guess Faith decided to get a head start last night." Heading back upstairs, Buffy opens the garage door to let some air circulate through and starts sorting through the boxes, making a pile of junk to throw away, a keep pile and a questionable pile.
Hearing the phone ring, she runs inside and grabs it. "Hello…Hi Tara….You are?….Okay…Do you want to tell them now?…Yeah it would be best to let them know what's going on….I just don't want to take advantage of you….I mean you talked to Dawn and now you're talking to Anya about our relationship, shouldn't I be helping you out?….You're going to tell them about Faith, also? Don't you think that might be too much at once?….Yeah, but I kinda wanted to see Xander's face when we told him!…Yeah, inviting them over to dinner would be good, we can order pizza….Okay, babe. I'll talk to you later….Love you too, bye."
Buffy gets off the phone grinning. Looking over at the clock on the stove Buffy realizes she probably has another hour that she can work out in the garage before needing to finish up to take another shower before everyone got there.
AAAAAAAAAAA
"So, I take it from the convo, that we're inviting Xan-man and the demon to dinner tonight?" Faith questions.
"Yes, we are. That way we can let them know what's going on with our relationship." Tara smiles reaching out to brush some hair off Faith's face. "I spent too much of my life hiding away, Faith. I don't want to hide anymore."
Faith nods her head, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on the blonde's lips. "Come on, let's head over to the Magic Box so you can do your thing."
Hopping back on the bike behind Faith, Tara shakes her head realizing that she will definitely have to buy more pants if this became an everyday occurrence. As Faith pulls up in front of the shop, Tara looks around, feeling like someone is watching them. Not seeing anything she hops off the bike and heads into the shop, closely followed by Faith.
"Welcome to the Magic…Hi Tara." Frowning at Faith, Anya walks over to her. "Just to let you know, Xander is mine. You had your chance you're not getting another one. You leave him alone and we'll get along fine."
Tara heads over to the books, looking for something that might have a spell to ward the house against Willow, half listening to Anya and Faith.
Raising her hand and backing away from the ex-demon Faith shakes her head. "No problems, there demon girl. I got an offer I couldn't refuse last night, and it's kinda a forever kind of thing."
Chuckling at the comment Faith made, Tara looks up with laughing blue eyes looking at the Dark Slayer.
Anya frowns turning to look at Tara as she chuckles and looking back at Faith. "NO! Damn it, I wanted Tara and Buffy to get together. You need to leave her alone, she isn't yours!" Anya states angrily.
Shocked at the display of anger coming from Anya, Tara quickly walks over to the ex-vengeance demon. Laying a calming hand on her shoulder Tara quietly states "Anya, it's okay. It isn't quite what you think. Please, I want you and Xander to come over for dinner tonight, so we can discuss things, okay?"
Anya still frowning at Faith turns to look into Tara's calm blue eyes and sighs. "You're my friend. I'll let you explain, but she" Turning to give Faith the evil eye "better not be messing things up."
Tara hugs Anya to her "She's not Anya, trust me." Feeling Anya hug her back Tara smiles before pulling away. "It's really okay, Anya."
Nodding her head Anya heads back over to the cash register, counting the money and calming down, occasionally looking up to eye the slayer who sat down at the table and was watching the witch intently.
"Anya, can I borrow this book? Actually, can I ask you a question?" Tara speaks up as she flips through the spell book, looking for anything that might work.
"Of course you can ask me anything. You promise to take care of the book if you borrow it?" Anya asks frowning slightly.
"I promise to take very good care of the book. And I greatly appreciate you letting me borrow it." Looking up, making eye contact with Anya, Tara asks "Do you know of any spells that we could use to guard the house against Willow, so she can't just pop in and out at will using magic?"
"Oh, no! Did she do something?" Anya asks worriedly.
"She kinda popped in on us Saturday afternoon and pissed me off." Faith growls out lowly. "I want the house to be Willow-proofed if possible, that way Tara has somewhere that she doesn't have to worry about running into the bitch." Faith spits out the last word.
Anya unconsciously backs away at Faith's vehemence. The slayer seemed to be taking this very seriously. "I can't think of a spell off the top of my head. The book you have might have something…" Quickly walking over to the books on the shelves Anya runs her hands over the bindings, reading them and coming across two more. "Here these two might have something in them also."
"Thank you, Anya." Tara smiles in gratitude. "I have a spell at home that should work, but it calls for a couple of ingredients that are extremely expensive and rare. I was kind of hoping to find a different spell to use."
"What ingredients?" Anya questions.
"Mangabola Root and Drazna blood." Tara quietly states watching the ex-demon.
"Damn." Anya frowns pacing back and forth across the floor. "I think I can get the Mangabola Root. The Drazna blood will be the hardest to get a hold of." Looking up at the witch Anya tilts her head slightly. "I would be willing to sell them at cost when I got them, but as you said, they would be very expensive. I will start checking with my resources tomorrow to see what I can find out."
"Thank you, Anya." Tara smiles in thanks.
Waving her hand away at the thanks Anya nods her head "This is what one friend does for another. See I'm learning." Anya smiles happy with herself before dusting the shelves behind the counter.
Adding the three books to her book bag, Tara grunts quietly as she lifts the heavy bag. Looking up in surprise as Faith's hand gently covers hers and relieves her of the bag, Tara looks up.
"Let me get this for you." Faith huskily states looking at the blue eyes of the witch. "It's the least I can do." Handing the helmet to Tara, Faith turns around and heads towards the door.
"Thanks again Anya. See you at 7:00 for pizza?" Tara calls out heading towards the front door.
"Yes, we will be there." Anya calls out waving as the blonde leaves the store.
Waiting for Faith to get on the bike and get the book bag situated on the gas tank, Tara looks around frowning.
Faith looks up and sees Tara frown. "What's up, Blondie?"
"I don't know. I just got this feeling we're being watched." Tara states looking up the street.
Faith swings her leg back off the bike and looks around. Nothing setting off slayer senses, but it doesn't mean a human, or possibly Willow isn't in the vicinity. "Stay here in sight. I'm just gonna make a quick trip up and down the street, okay?" At Tara's nod, Faith walks quickly up the block, looking around. Crossing the street she heads back down the other side, stopping at an alleyway that is almost across from where Tara is standing, Faith looks trying to see if there's anything there.
All of a sudden a two by four comes flying out of the darkness of the alley straight for Faith's head. Quickly ducking, the wood grazes Faith's shoulder. Growling deeply Faith runs to the area she was sure the wood had come from.
"FAITH!" Tara yells out seeing the piece of wood glance off the slayer, quickly looking for vehicles, Tara runs across the street to make sure Faith is okay. Feeling the magic in the alley Tara pales slightly. "FAITH! BE CAREFUL! It's Willow and she may not be able to use magic against you directly, but she's figured out she can throw other objects at you."
"Why don't you come out and fight like a man, Red?" Faith growls out loudly being more careful after hearing Tara.
"She's mine, killer." Willow hisses out of the darkness. "She'll never love you, she's too pure and sweet to love a killer."
Tara quietly listens to the two women, readying a spell to reveal where Willow is.
"I don't think you know your ex too well, here Red." Faith mocks the Redhead. "She loves who she chooses, not who she is forced to love. You need help, Red. This jealousy thing you got going don't work for you none." Faith states easing around the dumpster to see if Willow is hiding behind it.
The spell ready, Tara yells out to Faith "Be ready, Faith." Setting the spell in motion with the last word "REVEAL", there's a flash of light as it shoots down the alley hitting and exposing the invisible Willow to Faith and Tara.
Faith quickly dodges a knife that's thrown at her before taking a swing at Willow, barely catching the witch a glancing blow as she dodges quickly.
"I'm not going to be easy for you, slayer." Willow taunts. "My magic will help protect me." Sending two knives at the slayer this time, Willow laughs.
Quickly doing a back flip onto the top of the dumpster, Faith is able to dodge one knife that imbedded itself into the wall, but the other one slices her thigh before bouncing off the wall. "FUCK!" Faith yells out in pain as the knife cuts her, causing her to lose balance and fall off the dumpster.
"FAITH!" Tara screams quickly putting a protection spell around the slayer before turning to Willow. "You have no right. This is going to end, one way or another, I won't have you hurting the people I love." Tara growls out, her eyes sparking as she slams a bolt of white magic into Willow.
Screaming out in pain at the magic coursing through her, Willow collapses to one knee, looking up at her ex-lover with hatred in her eyes. Slowly her eyes and hair turn coal black. Standing up she advances on Tara. "You love that murdering bitch? But you can't forgive me for a little spell?" Willow spits out.
"You just can't figure it out, can you Willow?" Tara yells exasperatedly. "It isn't the damn spell, it's the fact that you lied to me, took away my right to be angry, treated me like a possession and you can't even see what you did as being wrong! I gave you my love and you spit on it! Buffy and Xander are your best friends and you turned your back on them, treat them like shit! If you don't get help, you're going to die. I really don't want to see that happen." Standing to where she's nose to nose with Willow. "But if you harm anyone else, especially Faith and Buffy, I will strip you of your powers and send you to hell." Tara states calmly and quietly, so even Faith with her slayer hearing can't hear her.
"You don't have the power!" Willow snarls back at the witch.
"Don't fuck with me, Willow." Tara hisses. "Just because I don't use my powers at a drop of a hat, doesn't mean I'm not powerful. Maybe you should pay more attention to the people around you. Now I suggest you get the hell out of here, before I make you."
"I'd like to see you try!" Willow yells as she swings at the witch trying to slice her with her fingernails.
With a quick raising of her hand, Tara blocks the blow with magic and sends Willow back slamming against the building. Pressing her hard against the bricks, Tara slowly advances on the pinned redhead. "You hurt my family, I will wipe your ass from the face of this earth, do you understand me?" Tara yells her eyes white with sparks shooting from them. "I won't like it, but I will do it!"
Willow actually looks in fear at her former lover, seeing the power in her eyes. Deciding for now, that it would be best to leave and regroup for later Willow narrows her eyes. "This isn't over" She hisses before transporting herself away.
Shaking with the power coursing through her, Tara breathes deeply before turning to run towards Faith. "Are you okay?" Tara asks hoarsely seeing the blood soaking the slayer's pants.
"I will be." Faith groans out. "What the hell just happened?"
"We'll talk later, we need to get you taken care of first." Tara whispers, gently helping the slayer up onto her feet and supporting her back into the Magic Box.
"Oh, my God! What happened?" Anya cries out as Tara helps Faith into the shop.
"Willow!" Tara spits out the name. "I'm taking her in back, can you get the first aid kit?"
Nodding her head, Anya quickly runs to the bathroom, grabbing the kit and following the two women to the back room, setting the box down. "I have customers, I'll be right outside if you need anything."
"Thanks Anya." Tara states without looking up, slinging open the first aid box and pulling out the scissors. Quickly cutting the jeans away from the wound, Tara reaches for some clean cloths to gently wipe the blood away. Pressing a pressure bandage against the cut, Tara reaches with one hand for the rubbing alcohol, setting it down beside her, she grabs the thread and a needle to stitch the wound.
Looking up into the pain filled eyes of the Dark Slayer, Tara hesitates a second before reaching up with her free hand and gently pushing the hair behind her ear. "You'll be okay." She whispers quietly and smiles in response to the grin Faith gives her.
"Let me put the pressure on the wound, while you get the needle and thread ready." Faith offers around a grimace.
Nodding her head, she let's Faith's hand replace hers while pouring some of the alcohol on her hands before grabbing the needle, threading it quickly. Laying it aside, she soaks a pad with the alcohol. "Release the bandage, I need to clean it off to see what I'm dealing with." Tara quietly states, before gently easing the soaked bandage from the wound, Tara inhales sharply. "It's deep, but I don't think it's done any nerve or tendon damage." Quickly wiping the blood away from the wound and cleansing it as gently as she can, Tara inspects it a little more intently. "She didn't hit the artery, thank God." Tara whispers noticing it isn't the deep dark red of arterial blood. Reaching quickly for the needle, Tara glances up at Faith. "I need to stitch this, here." Reaching for a clean cloth, Tara rolls it up tight before pushing it in the slayer's mouth. "Bite down on this, I didn't see anything in the box to give you for pain but regular aspirin."
"Ready?" Tara asks and at Faith's nod she smiles reassuringly at the brunette. "I love you." She states quietly before leaning down to gently start stitching the wound closed. Roughly twenty stitches later, Tara ties off the thread, snipping it and reaches for a bandage to put on the slayer's thigh. Quickly taping it down she looks up to see Faith watching her closely, having pulled the cloth out of her mouth. "What?"
"When did you learn to do that?" Faith queries.
"Around here?" Tara rolls her eyes. "Come on, its kind of a prerequisite to do this type of thing. If we went to the hospital every time something happened, our medical bills would be in the million dollar range for all of us all together." Smirking slightly Tara looks at Faith before leaning in and kissing her lightly. "Plus, when I have spare time I read up on medical texts, trying to flesh out my talents so I can be of help."
Hearing the door slam against the wall, both women turn to see a scared Buffy come running in. "What happened? How badly are you hurt?"
"How did you know I was hurt?" Faith questions.
"Anya. Now tell me." Buffy slides to a stop beside the two women, quickly dropping down on her knees looking at the wound that was now bandaged. With a shaking hand she reaches out to try and move the bandage to look underneath it.
Capturing Buffy's hand, Faith looks her in the eye "I'm okay. Tara stitched me up and she doesn't think any serious damage was done. I'll be fine in a day or two."
"What happened?" Buffy growls low in her throat looking from one woman to another.
Alternating turns, Faith and Tara explain what happened, when Faith was telling Buffy about Tara slamming Willow with her magic and her yelling at Willow, telling her she would wipe her from the face of the earth, Buffy looks at Tara, seeing the hint of coldness in Tara's normally warm blue eyes.
"She will not hurt my family." Tara states. Neither woman doubted that Tara would do whatever she deemed necessary to take care of them.
Reaching out to place a calming hand on the witch, Buffy shakes her head. "Tara, we'll figure out something. I'm going to call Giles, Faith take a couple aspirin for now. I have some pain killers at the house."
Reaching over and gently kissing the witch on the lips Buffy runs a gentle hand down her cheek before turning to Faith and kissing her gently. Standing up and turning to head out to the main shop she stops as Anya is in the doorway watching the three women. "Umm, Anya…"
Anya smirks slightly looking from one woman to the next. "I guess that explains things." Nodding her head before smiling genuinely. "Good for you." Turning and walking back out into the shop, leaving three women staring after her, and Tara's the first to laugh.
"You said she wouldn't have a problem with it." Buffy mumbles under her breath. "I bet you're going to be right about Xander too." Buffy grumbles before leaving the training room.
Gathering up the used cloths and throwing them in the trash, Tara puts the rest of the items up in the first aid box. Setting it aside she moves to sit behind and slightly to the side of Faith, so Faith can prop herself against her. Running her hands through the dark curls Tara leans her head into Faith's neck. "I'm sorry." She whispers quietly feeling the tears welling up inside her.
Reaching down to grasp the witch's leg gently Faith asks quietly. "What are you sorry for?"
"I'm sorry that I wasn't quick enough with the spell to keep you from getting hurt." Tara whispers out before a quiet sob escapes her.
Shifting her body, Faith grasps Tara in a tight hug. "Normally she wouldn't have even come close to getting me, Tara. This isn't your fault. I'm still slow from not being able to keep up with my training. My reaction time is screwed up. Please don't blame yourself."
Nodding her head Tara wraps her arms around Faith and rests her head on her shoulder. "We all need to be more careful. I honestly didn't think she would harm anyone else, but I believe she's actually capable of killing you. I don't want you going anywhere alone, okay?" Tara whispers quietly.
"Tara…" Faith starts and Tara cuts her off.
"No, damn it! Out of every one of us, she would be most willing to go after you. I'm not going to let that happen, you hear me?" Tara looks deep and hard into Faith's eyes, daring her to argue. "I've just found you and I'll be damned if I'm going to let her take you away. So no arguing." Tara leans in and gives Faith a punishing kiss on the lips before pulling back to stand up and grab the first aid kit. "I'm going to go put this up."
Buffy stands there watching the display and watches a scared and angry Tara stride by her before coming in to sit down beside a stunned Faith. "I think she's right, Faith. Giles doesn't have any new information for us. He said that there are binding spells, but he doesn't know if they'll work on Willow. Most of them have been used on witch's with a lot less power and even then they have been able to break them in a matter of time."
Faith looks into Buffy's hazel eyes. "We can't let it come down to Tara taking Willow out. It'll kill her. She isn't like me, it'll tear her up inside until there's nothing left." Faith hoarsely states.
Buffy sees the fear in Faith's eyes. Not for herself but for Tara and nods her head. "I know." Taking a deep breath Buffy looks up to the ceiling in contemplation. "I don't think I can do it, either Faith."
"I don't expect you to be able to do it, Buffy." Faith states quietly, looking down at her clasped hands.
Placing her hands on top of Faiths, Buffy shakes her head. "You're not going to do it either Faith. We're going to find some way to do this, but it won't be any one of us taking her out. Hopefully another alternative will show itself."
Looking up with tears in her eyes Faith shakes her head. "I'll do it if I have to." She states roughly. "I may not be able to say it, but I…care too much for you two to let anything happen to you."
"I know you do, Faith. We both do." Buffy whispers before placing a kiss on her forehead. "We love you, too." Pulling her into her arms Buffy rests her head on top of Faith's. "We'll get through this."
AAAAAAAAAAA
"Don't worry about dinner tonight." Anya quietly states to Tara. "I'll talk to Xander. I am assuming what I saw in there is you three are together, right?"
Tara looks up at Anya and nods her head. "Yes. Or at least we will be." She smiles slightly. "Buffy and I admitted out feelings for each other a few days ago and when Faith came here, she let me read her aura and I knew that she loved Buffy, even if she wasn't aware of it herself. Kind of went from there." Tara shrugs slightly. "I guess Willow was right."
"Willow was right about what?" Anya questions.
"She accused me of having Buffy, then Faith as lovers. Even though technically Faith and I aren't lovers yet, it is going to be true." Tara smirks slightly.
Anya smiles "Personally, I see all three of you having lots and lots of orgasms together. Kind of makes me jealous, but I wouldn't trade my Xander for anything."
Just then Xander came in the Magic Box, smiling at Tara and reaching over to kiss Anya. "Hi Ahn. Good evening Tara. What brings you to this neck of the woods?" Xander jokes.
"Nothing good." Tara growls out before heading back to the training room, leaving a shocked and confused Xander behind.
"What?" Xander turns to Anya.
"Willow hurt Faith. They need the vehicle to drive Faith to the house, do you know how to drive a motorcycle?" Anya asks bluntly.
"Uh, I drove one a couple times when I was younger, I think I can still drive one, why?" Xander asks stuck on the fact that Faith was hurt.
"Good. You drive the motorcycle to the house. Tara can drive Faith and Buffy home, then you can come back and pick me up. I'll explain what's going on then." Anya quickly gets out before heading back to the training room.
Xander stands there shaking his head. "What the hell is going on?" He asks the empty room.
"Xander will drive the motorcycle back to your house, Buffy. Tara, you can drive the rest of you home in his car, okay?" Anya asks as she comes in to the training room seeing Buffy and Tara helping Faith up to balance on one leg.
Faith turns pale as she stands up.
"Easy, Faith." Tara whispers holding on to her tightly as she sways a bit. "You lost a lot of blood and even with slayer healing it will probably take you a few days to get back to normal."
Buffy, supporting Faith on the other side nods in agreement. "You need to take it easy."
Faith, finally feeling the light headedness leave, growls slightly. "What the fuck good am I if I can't protect her, B?"
"Don't even fucking go there!" Tara growls right back at Faith. "I won't put up with that kind of talk or thoughts! I'll tear a strip out of your ass, you hear me?"
Faith's eyes open in shock at the seriousness in the voice of the normally calm witch. "Okay." Faith whispers quietly in agreement.
Helping Faith out to the vehicle Tara turns to Xander as Buffy finishes getting Faith situated. "The keys are probably still in the bike. I appreciate this, Xander."
"I'm not doing much, but I would like to know what's going on." Xander states seriously.
"Anya can probably fill you in on the basics, maybe we can get together in a few days to discuss it in more details." Tara wearily states as the events of what happened finally starts hitting her. "Right now, I want to get my family home and taken care of. Thanks Xander." Tara turns and gets in the vehicle and drives off.
Xander watches her leave before getting on the bike, putting the helmet on and starting it up, after a few seconds of playing with the gears, he slowly heads towards Buffy's house.