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And here we are with Chapter 2, where a lot more happens, have fun.
Chapter 2- We are the same
In the darkness, Tara walked through the forest alongside Anya, with Buffy and Xander a little behind them.
"She's close, I can feel her power", Tara told the other two grimly as they reached closer.
"Over there", Anya pointed.
"Willow!" Buffy called out loudly, and now they could make her out a few hundred feet away, with Warren tied up to the tree, begging.
Willow looked in the direction but didn't see them properly and turned back, and Warren was saying something to her.
Willow was about to make a gesture with her hand when Tara called out at the top of her lungs. "WILLOW! STOP!"
Hearing the voice made Willow freeze as Tara, Buffy, Xander and Anya arrived in time, and Willow looked at Tara with wide eyes, backing off.
"Oh my God! She's alive! Yay! Let me go now! I didn't kill her!" Warren ranted but was ignored by pretty much everyone.
"Willow, listen to me, this isn't you", Tara said, raising her hand as she slowly walked to Willow, taking in her new look. Dark clothes, dark hair, veins visible on her.
"No…." Willow trailed off, violently shaking her head. "You're not real! You're an illusion!"
She turned to Warren in a rage. "You created an illusion of her to stop me?! How dare you bastard?!"
"I am not an illusion! He didn't make me!" Tara said a little forcefully, making Willow turn back to her, as she held out her hand, reaching closer.
"But I saw you…." Willow's voice quivered as she shook.
"I am real, come, see", Tara grasped Willow's hand gently with both of her own, and placed it over her heart, allowing Willow to feel it beating, and she looked at Tara in shock.
"Your heart…."
"It's beating", Tara told her with her lovely crooked smile when sparks cackled around the point of contact of the two women, surprising them. The energy from the sparks seeped into Willow, making her close her eyes as the dark hair slowly disappeared, replaced by her natural red, and her look turned back to normal, the veins disappearing from her face.
Willow now looked at Tara with remorseful eyes as tears dropped down. "Tara…"
"Willow…"
"Tara, baby, I got so lost….." Willow staggered as Tara hugged and let them both fall to their knees for balance, with Willow crying into Tara's shoulder.
"I found you, baby, I'll always find you, Willow", Tara assured, letting Willow cry into her as Buffy, Xander and Anya watched with expressions that were a combination of sadness and relief.
It was done. Tara was alive, and she had saved Willow from taking a path where there was no coming back from, and now Warren would get what he deserves, but not by Willow's hand, as she didn't need to lose her goodness and soul over scum of the Earth like that.
Tara suddenly felt a prickling at the base of her neck, and it chilled her to her core, as if something, or someone, was coming really close, and this someone seemed to be a threat to her.
Suddenly, getting a burst of adrenaline, Tara heaved both herself and Willow out of the way, rolling away to the dirty, leaf and root riddled ground as a two-handed broadsword was now stuck on the ground where they had been a few moments ago.
There were two hands holding that sword, and looked up at the owner of the hands. He was a giant of a man, a crazed look in his eyes, and he seemed to be Russian.
Laughing maniacally, he lifted his sword, intending to strike Tara, but was kicked away by Buffy, staggering back a little, and turned to look at her with his psychotic eyes, laughing again, and tried to strike her as Buffy ducked to avoid and decked his abdomen before punching his face, sending it the other way.
But all reaction she got regarding that was him turning to look back at her with a hysterical smile on his face, and he swung his sword again as Buffy flipped back to avoid, and then she kneed his gut before grabbing his hands as he raised his sword, and both struggled a little before he managed to push her back.
Buffy then threw a spin kick but to everyone's surprise, the man weaved away, avoiding it, and they realized in spite of his hulking size, he was not slow by any means, and quite a fast opponent, enough to even match Buffy, a Slayer!
Buffy leapt and kicked his face with both feet, slightly staggering him back, and landing with a flip, gave an uppercut, but he laughed maniacally and as she tried to punch him again, he caught her wrist.
"Not interested, little girl, but maybe later," he said, licking his lips disgustingly as he eyed Buffy up and down lecherously, and then he squeezed hard, making Buffy gasp in pain as her wrist was dislocated, and he let go as Buffy fell to her knees, holding her wrist while the man raised his sword to slice at her.
"Buffy!" Xander yelled as he leapt at her, pushing her out of the way, but his arm was still sliced as he screamed in pain from the wound.
"Willow", Tara said as Willow looked at her. "We need to use magic, now!"
Willow wanted to argue, but knew her friends needed her, besides, when Tara had touched her, it had seemed to flush out the dark magicks and replace it with light, it made Willow feel more comfortable regarding her magic.
The two raised their hands together and standing up, fired at the man, managing to stagger him back, and now he looked at them, though his attention seemed to be more on Tara, and he laughed once more.
The Wiccas were horrified that their spell seemed to stagger him at worst, and threw magic balls again, but he planted his feet on the ground, resisting with gritted teeth, and they tried again, to the same result.
He then marched at the two, raising his sword as Willow and Tara hit him with a small magic beam, but he roared, powering through it and rushed them both.
In that moment, Anya teleported to the two of them and grabbing them, teleported away as the man swung his sword, only to slice thin air, and he turned to see Anya teleporting with Willow and Tara to where Buffy and Xander were, and then she teleported all five of them away from the area.
Instead of getting angry, the man simply laughed maniacally, for the hunt had finally begun, and it brought him great and sadistic joy.
"Uhhh…..can you help me?"
The savage glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Warren still tied to the tree, having been forgotten during this whole event. But he seemed disinterested and turned away when Warren made an offer to him. "You want to kill the Slayer, right? Well, I can help you with that, just free me, please! We can work together and take the bitch out."
The man tilted his head, looking like he was considering, then turned to Warren.
"The Slayer", he raised his sword to hover over Warren's eyes as he began to wet himself, "is not who I want. But I will free you."
He held his sword back as Warren smiled, and the man smiled back, only, his smile was vicious.
Next moment, he brought his sword down once, and then twice, with Warren screaming and crying in pure agony.
The man had freed him…..by chopping off both of his arms! The pathetic misogynist stared in horror at his stumps where his arms used to be, moaning and sobbing.
The giant man laughed maniacally and swung his sword one last time, taking off Warren's head, and with another crazed laugh, kicked the head away like it was a football before turning to look in the direction of the town.
With a smirk, he headed towards Sunnydale towards his target so he could take her out and have what was meant to be his.
At the Magic Box, Xander's arm was bandaged up by Dawn as they all sat in silence, trying to process everything that had happened until now.
"Anya…." Anya turned to Willow. "I'm sorry….I'm so sorry….I didn't mean to….."
"You had lost Tara", Anya muttered, not being humorous and sarcastic for once. "Apology accepted."
Willow nodded gratefully and said. "I was so…so angry, I wanted to hurt him….I wanted him dead!"
"But you were stopped before you went that far", Xander pointed out to Willow.
"The bot-"
"Was just a bot, not the real thing", Xander reminded her. "You're still here, Willow."
"I was never going to let my girl go on a path she can never return from", Tara said, looking at Willow kindly as she stroked her face gently, and Willow basked in her touch and presence, feeling the warmth of her lover's soul.
"But the fact that I wanted to do it…..I can still go too far", Willow pointed out. "I can lose myself."
"I'll never let you", Tara assured Willow, kissing her forehead, and then her lips as they joined foreheads. "I love you, Willow."
"I love you too, Tara", Willow replied as Dawn had a smile.
"I'm just happy both of you are back", Dawn said, and Tara held out her arm, allowing Dawn to join the hug too as she let out a sound that was a mix of a laugh and sob.
The hug lasted for 2 minutes before the two lovers and their foster daughter parted, and Buffy, whose wrist was back to normal due to Slayer healing, finally asked the big question. "Who was that guy?"
"Beats me", Xander sighed.
"I know who it is", Anya said, her voice lacking its usual excitement and energy, and all turned to look at her.
"Who is he?" Willow asked.
"He is called the Kurgan", Anya revealed to all of them with a grim look in her eyes. "He is an Immortal. For the last 3000 years, he has raped and murdered his way across the world and caused grief to many."
The word 'Immortal' made the others think he was a Vampire and so none of them asked Anya to clarify it.
Buffy asked Anya. "Why is he after us?"
"Not you."
They all turned towards the door and were surprised to see Giles walk in.
"He wants Tara."
Tara suddenly felt the prickling again, but this time she did not feel any dread from it, it wasn't harsh either.
Giles stepped aside to reveal a brown-haired man who was about the same height as Spike. He was young and handsome, but his eyes seemed older and wiser beyond his years, carrying a melancholy in them.
He walked further in as Tara, feeling some kind of connection to him, stood up.
"Who are you?" Tara asked as she stepped closer, and so did the man as they met halfway.
Then he smiled and introduced himself.
"I am Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. We are the same." Connor said as lightning danced in the sky.
"We are Immortal."
A while later, all of them were sitting down except Connor MacLeod, who paced around, explaining the whole thing to them.
"We existed since the dawn of time", Connor explained to them in a serious tone. "Immune to disease and anything of the like. And this starts once we receive a fatal wound."
Tara touched her chest instinctively, realizing the fatal bullet was what had activated her immortality.
"Why does this happen? Why do we exist?" Tara asked the older Immortal.
Connor remembered the words his mentor Ramirez had once told him. "Why does the sun come up? Or are the stars just pin holes in the curtain of night, who knows?"
All realized that no one knew the true origins of these Immortals.
"And this Kurgan guy?" Willow asked, holding Tara tighter, worried for her, and Tara grasped her hand back too.
"He is an Immortal too, the strongest one, the perfect warrior", Connor said grimly, and the Scoobies could not disagree, as they had seen him in action themselves. "He killed me too, but was stopped before he could take my head, that is when I became an Immortal."
"Why did he want your head?" Buffy asked.
"Beheading is the only way to slay an Immortal, and the Immortal who does the beheading gains the power of the dead Immortal, it is called the Quickening", Connor explained the concept to all of them.
"And now he wants Tara's", Dawn said with a gulp, shaking as Xander put an arm around her.
"I was with the Devon Coven when they sensed your power", Giles told Willow, who gulped and looked away, making Tara resolve to talk to Giles about a certain thing after a while, and then he continued. "But then they sensed an Immortal waking up here", he looked at Tara. "You."
He then said. "And they also realized the Kurgan was on his way, so they sent me to Connor, and then sent us both here."
"You know about these Immortals, don't you?" Xander asked him.
"There is another faction of the Watchers", Giles revealed to them. "One that merely observes the Immortals, learning more about them, and waiting, hoping that a good Immortal shall win the Prize."
"What Prize?" Tara asked.
"One day, the Gathering will occur", Connor told everyone sitting there. "Where the few remaining Immortals shall come together due to an irresistible pull and fight for the Prize."
"Why do you have to fight?" Dawn asked in concern.
Connor looked sad and withdrawn.
"There can be only one."
Giles told all of them. "The Prize is presumed to be the ultimate power in this Universe. It is a collection of Quickening from every Immortal that has even been, since the dawn of time."
"Sounds like a prize right", Anya quipped, finally regaining some of her humor.
"You have aura sensing powers, right?" Connor asked Tara.
"Yes, I do", she nodded.
"That happened because your sensing powers as an Immortal emerged prematurely", Connor revealed, to her shock. "And now it is much stronger than before due to your power as an Immortal being awakened."
He turned grim. "That is why the Kurgan is after you, he wants your power to increase his own, and help with his head hunting."
The atmosphere was tense.
Tara was alive, Willow was saved, Giles was back, and Tara was Immortal!
But they had a new enemy, one who was dangerous and unstoppable, and he was after Tara.
Something was about to happen soon.
And finally done with this one too, oof! So as you all guessed, Tara is an Immortal too here, and hope all enjoyed Connor coming in.
Bet Warren is now wishing it was Willow who killed him instead, HA!
Also, here Willow was stopped before she actually killed Warren and then went off the deep end following that, so I imagine it would be easier to alleviate her guilt here than in canon.
Anyway, next chapter will be the climax for this, like I said before, was meant to be a short 3 chapter story anyway, though I have a longer sequel in mind which shall cover Buffy Season 7 and Angel Season 4, but that won't be too long either.
Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for his help once more, and see you all next time with the final chapter.