The Slayer Chronicles: The Sunnydale Years

Chronicle One: Her Little Secrets

by

sHaYcH

Disclaimer: Buffy and Co. belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and whoever else has a financial stake in the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm just borrowing them for a nice little story and I'll put them back when I'm done.

Note: I'm following most canon relationships in this one, including the implied Tara/Willow relationship, which means, kiddies, that if you don't like that kind of story, aren't old enough to read it, or it's illegal where you live, please pick another story to read. Thank you. : )

Note #2: This story takes place in the weeks following "Who Are You" and as such, discounts the events of "Where the Wild Things Are" and "New Moon Rising". From here on out, this story is happening in a different universe from Joss'.

Feedback and constructive criticism are appreciated. You can contact me at: shaych3@yahoo.com.

***

It was Friday night in Sunnydale, California and two friends were holed up in their dorm room at the university, discussing possible plans for the evening.

"So, let's do a Scooby Night at the Bronze, 'kay? I mean, we haven't ganged for a while and I miss you all and ..." Buffy said as she paced around the small room.

"And Riley's out on assignment, right?" Willow filled in for Buffy, who winced.

"All right," she replied, clapping her hands against her breast, "you got me. Fair and square, but that doesn't mean I don't wanna hang with you guys. I mean, that's what friends are for, hanging with, right?"

The two girls were supposed to have been doing homework, but in reality were shooting the breeze. Willow had finished all her schoolwork in class and Buffy rarely ever did hers. Which wasn't fair, in Will's mind, because Buffy always managed to skate by in her classes. Must be a Slayer thing, she thought with a touch of asperity. Something we lesser mortals lack, even those of us who are practicing Wiccas. And hackers, can't forget hackers! she added mentally, tallying up her contributions to the small group of friends who had supported Buffy over the last four years of the slayer's residency in Sunnydale.

Willow toyed with a corner of her textbook and sighed. Psychology just wasn't the same without Professor Walsh. Sure, the former leader of Riley's oh-so-secret military black-ops group "the Initiative" had tried to kill Willow's best friend, and sure the woman had been responsible for building Sunnydale's current thing that murders, maims, and destroys everything in his path, and yes, Willow would even grant that Professor Walsh had probably been the one to addict Riley and his fellow marines to a mind and body altering cocktail of drugs, but still, as a teacher, Walsh had style. Willow had loved going to her class because she knew she'd be stimulated.

On the up side, now that Walsh was gone, Willow had more time to study Tara's hair. The hacker was pretty sure that she could tell from memory the shade of each fine golden strand of hair on the back of her pagan friend's head. Not that she was looking so hard, oh no. How could she look so hard, Tara was a 'she' and she was a 'she' and she... ow, my head, was supposed to be with Oz... He never even called... Angel said he saw Dingoes play and that Oz looked fine, but, how could he not even call? she sighed mournfully. Buffy stopped pacing and stabbed a finger out toward Willow.

"See, that's my point. Willow sighage. We must put an end to this unhappy wiccan hacker vibe you've got and return you to the happy Willow we all know and love," Buffy declared, shaking her finger to emphasize her statement.

"Yeah." Willow shrugged resignedly and said, "I guess you're right. I do need to move on. I mean he hasn't even called and it's been months and months..." her lower lip started to quiver.

"Hey! None of that unhappy frownyness here, missy. Tonight, we Bronze it!" Buffy nodded her head forcefully and grabbed the phone. A few minutes later, she turned back to Willow and said, "Okay, it's all set. Xander and Anya will meet us at eight, which gives us," she looked at the clock, "exactly forty-five minutes to get ready. So skedaddle, woman!"

Willow, infected by Buffy's enthusiasm, leaped off of her bed, grabbed a towel and some clean clothes and raced for the showers. Ten minutes later, she was struggling into her favorite sweater and skirt when Buffy poked her head into her stall and frowned.

"Will... what's with the frump-suit? We're going to dance our booties off, not crochet." The slayer was decked out in a tight white tank top, black leather mini skirt and black ankle boots. Willow blinked as semi-ancient feelings of lust were resurrected.

Down, hormones! she chastised mentally, and pacified her inner self with an image of Oz. The picture did nothing for her though, and the hormonal surge grew stronger and more demanding. So she tried again, building a lovely mental picture of her beloved wolfman in his birthday suit, all the while saying to Buffy, "Hey, I like frump. Frump is good. Frump is in, you know, very in. Guys go for frump..."

"Yeah, in a nursing home," Buffy said. "Come on Wills... we still got time. Let's go back to our room and I'll pick something suitable for you." Buffy reached out and grabbed Willow's hand and started dragging her back to their room. Willow paused long enough to grab her towel and then allowed herself to be hauled along willy-nilly.

Normally, she would have argued with Buffy over the clothes issue, because normally, Willow just wasn't the kind to really give a transformed rat's ass about her appearance. If she was clean, and her clothes clean, then that was cool. And that had been cool with Oz, too, cuz he'd loved her for her. And this brought her back to why she was so meek. Yes, meekdom was where Willow was because her little hormone chilling image ... the one that was supposed to make her stop drooling over Buffy in bitch goddess gear ... failed miserably.

Now, Willow was an analytical kind of girl. She loved puzzles. When she was younger, she used to go to the grocery store and buy those puzzle books marked "expert" just to see how long it took to solve them. So now, she took this little mental puzzle of "why is Willow so turned on by Buffy in leather" and "why isn't Willow turned on by naked Oz" and began to work on it. First, she tried other memories of Oz, figuring that maybe she just wasn't horny, but that didn't work either.

By this time, the girls had reached the dorm and Buffy had started to go through Willow's limited wardrobe. So far, she'd okayed a pair of old jeans that were pretty trashed up. Will sneaked a glance at her friend and was secretly thrilled to note that Buffy was bent over, digging through Willow's meager shoe collection. For long moments she started at her friend's leather-covered derriere, thinking naughty thoughts. Buffy stood up and started to turn around. Quickly the hacker turned away and rubbed her temples.

What is wrong with me? I'm ogling Buffy! I haven't done that since... since... since well, since I first met her and figured out that she liked boys. Not that Willow didn't like boys. Boys were quite nice, in all kinds of ways. In fact, Oz had been very, very nice. So nice, that she'd fallen completely, one hundred percent in love with him and had started thinking about such things as the names of their first born children when Veruca... Willow's lip curled into an angry snarl... had appeared on the scene.

"Hmm... don't like these either?" Buffy asked, noting Will's disdainful sneer over a pair of fuchsia keds that she'd pulled out of the hacker's closet. "Honestly Will, have you bought a pair of shoes recently?"

"Huh? Oh, no, not really. I mean, these are still good..." Willow picked up her favorite shoes and held them out for Buffy's inspection.

The slayer looked them over and then sighed. "I supposed they'll do. Now for the top half of you."

"Why can't I just wear this sweater?" Willow plucked at the one she was already wearing. "It is kinda chilly out, and I don't want to get sick. I mean, I'm not the slayer, I don't have super-healing powers." And Tara really likes this sweater on me... she said so yesterday. She remembered blushing hotly when the other girl had briefly touched her shoulder and mumbled something about the sweater being soft.

"This is true," Buffy agreed, recalling Willow's last cold, and her own lack of sleep from listening to her best friend cough all night. "Okay, the sweater stays, but you wear this," she produced one of the hacker's tank-tops from the closet, "under it. 'Cuz you might get hot at the Bronze."

"Oh, all right," Willow took the shirt from Buffy and gritted her teeth against an expected surge of hormonal charge from flesh-to-flesh contact. Which, strangely, never came.

Huh? What the heck is wrong with me? First I'm all hormonal for Buffy and then nothing? What? Willow shook her head slightly as she wiggled out of her skirt.

It felt strange not to be wearing the skirt and shirt together. After all, she'd been combining them since... since I started hanging out with Tara. A warm flood of affection washed over the hacker at the thought of her wiccan friend and then her knees went all rubbery. I wonder if she'll be there tonight... Whoa! Clue! Dingdingding! Yes Alex, I'll have "who's got a crush on her new friend for a thousand, please?"

"Buffy?" she asked suddenly, while buttoning the jeans.

"Hmm?" Buffy replied.

"Is this ah, just an 'us' thing, or can I invite someone else?" she said, rushing her words as an idea began to take shape in her mind. Puzzles, being all puzzlely, have clues for the solution, and Willow felt she'd just stumbled on a big one. Her new friend Tara, a shy, sweet girl that she'd met through the college's wicca group, made her feel all sorts of wonderful things. Not the least of which was tingly. Oh yes, the tingly thing. That started the night they'd moved mountains... or at least soda machines... to keep out some nasty demons that had stolen the voices of the whole town. Tara had joined their hands, and ever since Willow had spent much of her time with or thinking about the other girl.

Fleetingly, she wondered if she were under the effect of some kind of strange love spell. Tara had been the one to seek Willow out the second night of the Gentlemen's killing spree. Nah, Tara'd never do that... besides, even if she has cast a spell on me, what has she done but to cause me to see beyond the pain of losing Oz?

"Uh, well... since this is a 'cheer Willow up' night, I would think that you're welcome to invite whomever you'd like. Why? Did you suddenly remember that you've got a new boyfriend you've never told me about?" Buffy said teasingly.

Willow threw a pillow at her friend and laughed. "No, silly! Actually, I thought I'd invite my friend Tara."

"Tara? Um..." Buffy thought, frowning... "Frumpy dresser, blonde, kinda cute, shy as hell?"

"Geeze, Buff, what is it with you and frumpy? Yes, that's her. She's the girl I met at the wicca group... the one I sorta told you about? She helped me to make the spell that got you your body back?" She thinks Tara's cute? Willow wondered silently.

"Oh, please, don't go there Will. I don't even want to think about that 'Invasion of the Body Swappers' drama."

"Snatchers," Willow mumbled, reaching for the phone.

"What?"

"Snatchers. Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

"Whatever. Faith took my body and then slept with my boyfriend with it and thereby made my life hell. Not to mention sticking me inside of her messed up body. God that girl needs help!"

"Mmmhmm... and about twenty years in prison," Willow growled while waiting for Tara to answer her phone. She and Faith had... issues. Mostly resolving around a knife held at the hacker's throat, but also having much to do with the other slayer's messing with her friends.

The phone rang and rang, and Willow started nibbling her fingernails worriedly. Where could she be? She had to be home, she just had to!

"Oh come on Will, she's not there. You can invite her another time!" Buffy said, impatient to go. It was 7:45. She began pacing again, and stopped, forcing herself to calm down and feed Amy, their friend-turned-rat. The rat, who'd been listlessly tumbling in her wheel, raced over to the food bowl and began to happily pig out. Buffy reached her finger in and stroked the animal's back, sighing wistfully. She wished so badly that she could bring her witch friend back... maybe then Willow would have someone to help with her spells.

"Tara?" Willow was saying excitedly. "I'm so glad I got you. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, it's just that me and some of my friends are going to hang at the Bronze and I was sorta wondering if you'd," Willow blushed a little at whatever Tara said and Buffy raised an eyebrow curiously. Now what have we here... Willow blushage... and she doesn't look embarrassed. The wiccan's eyes were downcast and she was playing with the phone cord. Her voice had dropped a few octaves and if Buffy were any judge of character, she'd swear that her friend was acting like someone with a serious case of "crush" going on. Buffy wasn't slow on the uptake, ever. Willow and ... Tara? Buffy shivered. Well wouldn't that just make all of Xander's fantasies come true? Oy vey... well-a-day slayer-girl, what're you gonna do? If it's true and Willow's gone all rainbow pride on you are you gonna act like some phobic dweebette or are you gonna be support friend and stand by your wiccagirl? It wasn't much of an argument, or even a debate. Right. Stand by my wiccagirl. She smiled, happy that she'd figured it out.

Now, all I have to do is figure out if it's a "like" as in "smoochie-smoochie" like and if Tara's got the same feelings... I wonder if I can get the others to help... Buffy chuckled. Yeah, I bet Xander'd be glad to help make some of his fantasies real and Anya... well... she'd just have to be Anya...

"'K, I'm ready. Tara'll meet us at the Bronze," Willow said as she grabbed her purse.

"Awesome. Let's make tracks," Buffy smiled in return.

***

Buffy and Willow arrived a little late but had still beaten Xander and Anya. The slayer looked around and spotted Tara standing over at the bar looking a little lost so she nudged Willow and nodded toward the blonde wiccan.

"Oh! Hey, Tara's here. I'll just, uh, go get her," Willow said as she gravitated toward her friend. Buffy smiled knowingly. Oh yeah, she's definitely in that 'first crush' stage. She settled down on a couch, then jumped when her phone rang.

Buffy fumbled around in her pocket for a few minutes looking for the compact cell phone that had been a gift from the gang. "Hello?" she said when she finally pulled it out and pushed the right button.

"Hi," said a soft, warm voice that she knew so well.

"Riley!" she squealed in that way that she knew made her boyfriend wince.

"I just thought I'd call and uh, say hi. I missed you," he said softly.

"Cool! Great! You're just the person I needed to talk to," Buffy said enthusiastically, peering over to watch Willow and Tara say their hellos.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, 'cuz you're the only person I'd know who'd know how to find out if someone is a lesbian."

"Excuse me?"

"Willow. She's got the hots for this girl and I want to know how to find out if this girl feels the same way about Will," Buffy babbled quickly. "So is there like a test or a secret handshake or something?"

"Willow is a lesbian?" Xander's voice startled Buffy into dropping the phone. She looked up to see her two other friends standing in front of. Anya was, as usual, wrapped around Xander's hip possessively and playing with the back of his hair. "Oh that is so not good for my libido," he said as he glanced speculatively around the club, a peculiar expression on his face.

"Xander!" Anya chided, "I thought I was the only one who made you make that face."

The young man paled and babbled, "Oh, but you do Anya, you do!"

"Good!" the former vengeance demon said, then kissed him fiercely.

Buffy had looked back and forth between the two and was only drawn out of the discussion by Riley's harsh, "Buffy! Buffy! I've got to go!"

"Riley! I'm so sorry. I love you!" she said quickly, folding up the phone. Then she looked back at Anya and Xander who were still engaged in some serious tonsil hockey.

"Guys... guys... you hoo..." Buffy snapped her fingers and reluctantly, the two lovers pulled part.

"Uh, so, Willow's..."

"Don't go there again, Xander," Buffy held up a hand to stop him. "Just leave it alone, I'll deal with it."

He nodded and put his hands in his pockets and swayed back and forth, whistling innocently. This lasted for all of three seconds. "So, uh, who's the lucky gal?" he asked, giving Buffy a knowing look.

The slayer sighed and rolled her eyes. "It's not me, Xan, 'k? So you can just bury that little fantasy right now."

Xander had the grace to look crestfallen, but then he perked up and said, "If not you, then," his eyes slid around to Anya and he smirked.

"No, not her," Buffy growled searching the crowd. Surely the wiccans would walk up and rescue her, right?

Anya poked him in the ribs and said, "I think she's trying to say that Oak wants to be orgasm buddies with Tara."

Xander's eyes lit up like flashbulbs and he said, "Well. Well, well, well, well. well." He rubbed his hands together, then looked at Buffy. "So, and, um, and you were saying?" He looked slightly flushed.

Buffy kicked him in the shin. "Save your fantasies for Anya. And I don't actually know if Tara feels the same way, so..." she heard Willow's distinctive laughter close by and finished in a rush, "just keep it under your hat. I'll take care of this!"

Xander pouted and said, "Aw, I wanted to help. I bet I'd be really good at pumping Tara for information if you drag Willow away."

"No! I said I'll take care of it," Buffy whispered through the side of her mouth as Willow and Tara, who were hand-in-hand, finally made their way through the crowd of people.

"Hey gang, this is Tara. Tara, this is the gang. You know Buffy," Willow indicated the slayer, "and this is Xander, my bestest best bud from a long way back, and this is his girlfriend Anya."

Tara smiled shyly and said, "Hey. Wow. I've heard so much about you guys. It's so great to meet you."

"Yeah, hey, any friend of Will's is a friend of ours," Xander said, speaking for them.

"So, are you Willow's new orgasm buddy?" Anya leaned around Xander and asked bluntly. Buffy's mouth dropped open, Willow turned six shades of purple and Xander just buried his head in his hands.

"I-I-I-ah..." Tara babbled, blushing furiously.

"I am so sorry, Tara," Buffy finally said.

"N-no, th-that's all-all right," Tara stammered. She looked down at her feet and noticed that she was still clutching Willow's hand. "Sh-she probably just saw Will-Willow and I ho-holding hands is all."

"Drinks," Willow blurted. "I think we all need some drinks. Come on Tara, let's go get some sodas." With that she dragged her friend off, leaving Buffy, Xander and Anya to talk.

"Well, that went well," Anya yelled smugly as the DJ of the evening tuned up the sound system, then tossed Rob Zombie's Dragula on.

"How can you say that," Buffy yelled back. "She probably thinks we're some kind of sex-cult now."

Xander moaned loudly. "This is not happening. We are not here." He scrubbed his hand over his face. "I'm dreaming. I've got my clothes on, but I'm dreaming."

Anya smacked him in the ribs. "Xander, I thought only I was in your dreams." The young man just moaned and shook his head some more.

"I am really sorry about Anya," Willow said to Tara as soon as they got out of earshot of the rest of the Scooby gang. "She doesn't exactly have 'social graces 101' down yet."

"Oh, no, it's really okay. I don't mind." Tara blushed, then smiled goofily. "I mean, it's kinda neat that your friends would think that I was good enough to be your girlfriend." Then Tara clapped her hand over her mouth like she'd just said "sex" in church.

Another piece fell into Willow's puzzle then, as her hormones woke up after a short nap and raged. Starting from her and Tara's joined hands, a surge of electricity flowed through her body.

"Wow," Tara whispered, eyes widening.

Willow blinked and said, "Y-you felt it too?"

"I-If you mean that tingle-tickle-fuzzy thing that sorta makes your knees turn to jelly and your stomach turn to hot chocolate, then yes," Tara replied, just as the music started.

"What?" Willow yelled, wincing at some of the words of the music. They struck way too close to home as far as she was concerned. Burning witches would not be a good thing, nope, no way.

Tara leaned up against Willow and put her lips as close to the other girl's ear as she dared and said, "Yes."

The word tore through Willow like an arrow. She stopped pushing her way through dancers and stared at the other girl, then, ice-like fear crept along her spine. What if Tara didn't like it? What if she, Willow, decided she didn't like it? What if Oz came back? Oz! Willow's heart hammered in her chest and she decided to pretend she hadn't heard what Tara said. Instead, she continued pushing through people until they got to the bar where she ordered four cokes and one sprite.

Tara was scared. She'd taken a chance and answered Willow's question honestly, hoping that maybe Willow felt the same way. Sighing, she glanced about the room and spotted a couple of familiar faces, faces that made her already shot nerves fray even more. Damn him! she cursed, then ducked around a dancer and bumped into Willow, who was waiting for a group of moshing teens to move on.

Once the moshers were gone, Willow made a bee-line for the gang. After handing out the sodas, the two girls sat down and Tara quietly nodded as Buffy profusely apologized for Anya's behavior.

The former demoness kinda shrugged like, "eh, whatever" at Tara's smile of forgiveness, then dragged Xander off to dance.

"So, Tara, how long have you been going to UC Sunnydale?" Buffy asked lightly.

"J-just this year. I was in private school before," she replied slowly, hoping that the slayer didn't focus too much attention on her. Don't look at me, oh please don't look at me, I'm not worth seeing... her inner mantra played.

"Catholic school girl, huh?" Buffy asked, then she leaned over and whispered something to Willow that made the hacker blush again.

Willow's so cute when she's flustered, Tara thought, then sighed. This was harder than she'd first thought it would be. Spying on the "Scooby gang" hadn't seemed like such a tough job when Adam had first proposed it to her. "Get close to them, get to know them. Study them for me," he'd said, "and if you please me, I will keep your secret from her."

At first, it'd been kinda fun. She got to play 007 and hang with people who were a lot like her, people who wouldn't mind that her hobby was magic, but then she and Willow had joined minds to fight the Gentlemen and everything changed.

When she had joined her hand with Willow's, it was like shaking hands with her soul, or maybe the missing parts of it that she didn't know were missing until she'd touched Willow. But now she was stuck. If she told them about herself, she'd be dead, and death wasn't very conducive to romance. Pills! she suddenly thought, nearly smacking herself in the head, I didn't take my pills today. Almost as if the memory were a trigger, she began to feel queasy. Goddess, I need those pills... gotta get them... wonder if I could just sneak away...

It suddenly occurred to Tara that she was staring off into space and that Buffy and Willow were both looking at her expectantly. "Oh. I-I'm sorry. Um, yeah, something like that. My mom sent me to this special school. B-but she couldn't afford it anymore." The convenient lie felt like ashes in her mouth, but she forced herself to spit it out.

"Oh, well hey, UC Sunnydale isn't that bad, I mean, if you ignore the fact that it's on a hell-" Buffy started to say until Willow elbowed her in the ribs and nodded at two young men who were herding two girls toward the back of the club. "Damn, gotta scoot. Duty calls."

Tara looked at the two couples that Willow had pointed out and paled slightly. It was Adam's flunkies. Damn, she thought, of all the places in Sunnydale they could get a meal, they had to come here? Damn, damn, damn! If they were dusted by Buffy, Adam might blame her. Why does this have to happen now? Tara chewed her lip thoughtfully, trying to think of a reason why Buffy should just let the two vamps leave when things went from bad to worse for Tara.

Riley Finn ambled up to the three young women seated in a cozy circle of couches and said, "Hey there," then opened his arms to receive an ecstatic Buffy.

"Riley! I thought you'd be busy all night!" Buffy kissed her beau passionately, then pulled away and said, "hey, meet Willow's new friend Tara."

Riley looked over at the girl sitting next to the hacker and blinked. I know her, I know I do.

Tara smiled and gave a little wave with one hand while shoving her other hand in a pocket and rubbing her disguise spell enchanted crystal and thinking, I'm no one important, you don't remember me, I'm just a kid in Professor Walsh's class...

Finally, Riley remembered that the girl was in Professor Walsh's psych class. He smiled and put on his "I'm harmless" face and said, "Hey there Tara, I liked your last paper a lot."

Tara's eyes went wide as she shook his hand. "Thanks, I-um-I'm glad you liked it, Riley." It worked, I can't believe it actually worked!

Riley slid behind Buffy and wrapped his arms around her waist, allowing her to scoot back against him. Tara looked a little less nervous, but her eyes were still flitting everywhere but on the teacher's assistant. Willow cleared her throat loudly.

"Um, Buff... duty?" she indicated the back exit with an exaggerated nod.

Buffy, who'd been in the midst of snuggletown jumped a bit and said, "Oh! Yeah, right. Hey, Riley, wanna watch my back?"

"Anytime!" he replied enthusiastically, and the two ambled off to slay.

Willow jumped up and made to go after them, but stopped when Tara hadn't followed. "Hey, come on, we can help," Willow said beckoning to her friend.

Tara shook her head fearfully. "Oh no, I-I couldn't. I'm not brave, or strong, or..."

Willow looked torn. She really wanted to help Buffy slay, but she couldn't leave Tara behind.

"Go on, I-I ah, need to go anyway. I'm not feeling so good," Tara encouraged, thinking, and then I can take my pills and maybe the shaking won't start. Except she knew she didn't have that many pills left, and her source had recently dried up. Tara felt her hands start to quake and she knew she had to get away. She stood up to leave.

Willow noticed how pale Tara looked and nodded. "Okay, but I'm walking you home. It's way too late for you to be out alone. At least, in Sunnydale," she joked nervously.

"Oh, I, ah, didn't walk," Tara said shyly.

The hacker frowned, "But I thought you didn't have a car?"

"Oh, no, I don't. I, um, have a bike," she said, shuffling her feet and looking everywhere around the nightclub but at Willow.

"You rode a bicycle all the way from campus, at night?" Willow yelped.

"Of course not! I mean, it's a motorbike... a Honda," Tara said proudly. "I left my helmet on the bike," she added, trying to explain.

Willow's eyes went all big and she said, "You drive a motorcycle and you didn't tell me?" Her eyes narrowed suddenly and she pinned Tara with her gaze and said, "Bad Tara. You're not supposed to keep things like that from me." She kept her eyes on the wiccan, appraising her. So that's why she's wearing jeans and boots. Willow shivered slightly, oh Goddess, but does she ever do 'biker chick' well. Tara had worn a pair of blue jeans, a dark green silk blouse and a pair of combat boots. At first Willow hadn't really noticed her friend's choice in clothes, chalking it up to another facet of her friend's personality. Now she knew better.

"Ah, well, I, ah, didn't want you to worry," Tara offered fearfully.

"But, I like to. Worry, about you, that is," Willow said, stepping toward Tara and laying a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Seriously, you shouldn't feel you have to keep things from me. We're friends, and friends talk and tell each other stuff."

It took everything Tara had to keep from spilling her guts about every little thing right then and there. She wanted so badly to just say it. She slumped her shoulders thinking, But what would I say? Willow, I'm a spy and I'm in love with you and oh, yeah, I'm a-

"Hey," Willow had watched while Tara went someplace else in her mind, "Tara, come back. It's okay, I was joking." She looked around the club and noticed that Riley and Buffy had come back in and were dancing with Xander and Anya. "I mean, if you feel so bad, you can make it up to me by taking me for a ride on your bike."

"But what about Buffy?" Tara whispered. Goddess... Willow's hand was a burning weight on her shoulder and Tara was close to the breaking point.

Willow smiled and pointed to the dance floor, releasing her grip on Tara's shoulder. "She's done. Musta been an easy dust."

Tara giggled nervously. "She's a regular dustbuster, I guess." They both laughed, then Tara said shyly, "I guess if you really want to, I can."

"Great! Oh, wait, do you have an extra helmet? 'Cuz there's a law and I try not to break laws too much, not that I break them at all. Usually bending them is good enough and-"

"Yeah, I have another helmet," Tara smiled. Willow was in babble-mode, which was cute and sweet and much less apt to cause Tara to spill her guts.

"Cool! Well, let's go tell Buffy that we're leaving," she grabbed Tara's hand and started pulling her toward the dance floor.

The music was just switching over to something slow and romantic when they reached the slayer and the teacher's assistant.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Willow asked.

"Easy as pie," Buffy said, shrugging lightly. "Riley got one, I got the other. Simple stuff. What's the what with you?"

"Oh, well, Tara said she wasn't feeling too good so I thought I'd walk her home but then she told me that she had a motorcycle so instead she's giving me a ride," Willow babbled happily, relieved that she hadn't left her friends in the lurch.

"No you're not," Buffy stated, stopping her dance with Riley to give her friend a hard look.

"I'm not?" Willow asked, shocked.

"Not until you've danced one dance. We came to dance and dance we shall, so boogie oogie on down my friend, and do it like you love it!"

"Oh! Well, it's not really a boogie type song, it's more like a cheek to cheek kind of groove..."

"No excuses!" Xander piped in, letting go of Anya to give Tara a little shove toward Willow. "Both of you, dance." He smiled good-naturedly, hoping that Willow wouldn't hit him too hard.

Willow sighed and rolled her eyes heavenward. "Oh, all right. If you insist." She turned to Tara and said, "Will you dance with me?"

"Um, ah, um..." Tara babbled.

"Oh just say yes," Anya said.

"Okay," Tara managed.

Willow gently put her hands on her friend's hips, drawing her fairly close, but not too close. Tara hesitantly wrapped her arms around Willow's neck and the two began to dance, gravitating closer and closer until there was no space between them. Xander stared until Anya swatted his chest and grabbed his chin pulling it back to look at her.

"What?" he whined.

"Mine," she growled, leaning forward to kiss him fiercely. He caved, kissing her back.

Willow was lost the moment Tara wrapped her arms around her neck. The music, the club, her friends all faded away, lost in the background as everything came down to one person: Tara. Green and blue eyes met and melded and suddenly, there wasn't even breathing room between them as their bodies merged. Another piece of the puzzle fitted itself into Willow's mind, leaving her breathless. I'm falling in love with Tara! And I like it!

At the end of the dance, the two girls said their good-byes and quietly walked outside. It was chilly and Willow hugged herself, rubbing her arms. Tara led them to a smallish metallic blue bike and unlocked two helmets. One she handed to Willow, the other she kept for herself. Then she opened her saddlebags and produced two denim jackets.

"Um, it gets really cold on the bike and I noticed you didn't have a jacket --" Tara offered the extra garment to Willow, who took it gratefully. The coat was large on her, but she didn't care, it was warm and, she inhaled slightly, smelled like Tara. What exactly Tara smelled like, Willow could never put her finger on completely, but it was nice, reminding her of sunshine and magic all at once.

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "Oh! I've never been on a motorcycle before," she laughed nervously, "do I have to do anything special?"

Tara grinned mischievously, "Not much, except lean into the curves with me and hang on tight!"

"I've got no problem with that!" Willow said enthusiastically as Tara settled herself on her bike. "Um, how do I --?"

"Get on? Easy, just lift your leg and slide in behind me." Willow did as Tara instructed, muffling a giggle at the strange sensation of the bike's leather seat between her legs. Once she was stable, Tara turned and said, "Okay, now, lean forward and wrap your arms around me." Willow did, gently cradling her arms around the wiccan's waist. "Tighter, there's no seatbelts on a bike, Willow." Willow was a bit taken aback by Tara's unflinching commands regarding the bike, and Tara knew it, but she also knew that if she didn't get Willow to cooperate, their evening ride could end tragically.

Willow fitted herself against Tara's back, knocking their helmets at first, then getting the hang of being so close and tightened her grip around the wiccan's waist until Tara said, "Perfect," and started the bike's engine.

The first thing Willow noticed about being on the bike was the vibration. Oh my! Oh dear! Gee, um, now I understand all those vibrator jokes... she thought to herself as Tara pulled out onto the street and headed for the highway. The second most amazing thing about being on the bike was the absolute feeling of freedom. She didn't know exactly how fast they were going, but to Willow, it was as if they were flying. The third, and most wonderful part of being on the bike was Tara. She was holding on to Tara so tight she could feel the other girl breathe. Willow sighed happily and rested her head on Tara's shoulder. This was perfect.

Tara was about to burst. Her body craved the drugs, needed them and if she didn't get them soon she knew she'd be in for a terrible time -- possibly even death, and Willow being all snuggly was a torture of another sort entirely. She was tempted to just pull off the road right now and confess her soul to the other wiccan, then leap into the sure to be astonished other girl's arms. But no, besides having confession issues, Tara was a chivalrous sort of person and would never press herself on a woman who hadn't invited her to. So she kept going, kicking up the bike to law-bending speeds.

It wasn't too long before they arrived at the campus and the dorms. Tara parked the bike in her assigned spot and waited for Willow to dismount. Willow, shaky from the ride, hesitantly slid off the bike and promptly crashed to the ground as her wobbly legs gave out.

"Ouch! Oh darn," Willow said as she stood up. Right where the left knee of her jeans was torn out she'd scraped her leg on the uneven pavement of the parking lot. Tiny flecks of blood were welling up through the abraded skin.

Tara immediately got woozy. The site of blood made the wiccan ill, even the little bit that was starting to spill down Willow's leg. Then, harsh reality hit - it also made her hungry, and she had a sinking feeling that if she didn't get away from Willow soon, something horrible and totally irreversable would happen.

"Y-you better g-get inside and get that f-fixed, Will," Tara stammered as she accepted Willow's borrowed helmet.

"Nah, that's okay, it's just a scratch. I'd rather walk you back to your dorm. Gotta make sure my wiccagirl is safe, y'know," Willow smiled affably as she flexed her knees finding her ground-pounders legs again.

'My wiccagirl?' Tara shivered delightfully. It was true, truer even that perhaps Willow knew. She was Willow's -- almost. Part of her belonged to something else, to another world that Willow could never desire to walk in, much less love. She smiled nervously and took a deep breath, telling herself to wait just a little longer. Soon, she promised, just to the door, then you'll be inside and you can have your pills.

"O-okay," Tara mumbled, dismounting from her bike, then taking a few moments to whisper a "steal-me-not" spell over it. Willow joined her, slipping her hand into Tara's and adding a descant whisper of spellwork. Momentarily the bike glowed green, then the aura dissipated leaving the bike as it was. Tara smiled and said, "Thanks," to Willow, who grinned in return and gave her hand a squeeze.

Silently, they walked up the steps to Tara's dorm. At the door, Tara released Willow's hand expectantly, but Willow shook her head, "Nuh-uh, to your door, silly," then she put on her "resolve face" and Tara gave in without a fight. Five minutes later, they were standing in front of Tara's door. Willow let go of Tara's hand and said, "Well, I guess this is good night. I uh, I wanted to say that I had fun, on the bike, you know?"

"Yeah," Tara agreed, searching her pockets for her keys. "I-I did too. We should do it again, sometime, maybe."

"Definitely," Willow responded, swinging her arms and wringing her hands. Tara got the door open and Willow turned slightly and said, "Well, good-bye. Sleep well and stuff."

"Yeah, you t-too, Will," Tara stepped into her room and set the helmets down and watched Willow watching her. The craving was getting really bad; she could feel her face start to itch.

Willow lifted one arm and waved, "Uh, bye." Goddess, why can't I just turn around and walk away? The hacker plastered a smile to her face as Tara continued to just stand in her own doorway, sorta shifting back and forth on her feet. I just want... to... to... that puzzle she'd been constructing all day intruded on Willow's thoughts and she blurted, "Kiss her!" then clapped her hands over her mouth.

Tara flinched and Willow babbled, "Gottagobye," then fled.

***

Willow raced home and burst through the door, startling Buffy and Riley who were doing some serious cuddling on Buffy's bed.

"Will! What's wrong?" Buffy asked, jumping up and reaching for a stake while Riley stuck his head into the hall.

"I-kissed-said-her!" the hacker babbled.

"Will... Will, calm down, you're not making any sense."

Riley pulled his head back in and said, "I think she's trying to say that she just kissed Tara." He shrugged and added, "No biggie."

"You-she-kissed?" Buffy babbled. The stake toppled harmlessly to the ground as the slayer sank down on her bed. "Way to go, Will. Guess I'll have to get you a rainbow flag now."

Willow shook her head profusely. "Nonononononono!"

Buffy heaved a big sigh. "Oh, well, darn. If that's not it, then what's the what?"

Willow tried again, "I, she, we were saying good night and I thought that I should kiss her and I sorta blurted um, babbled um, said it. Aloud. To her face."

Buffy nodded while Riley leaned back on the door and hid a smile. "Oh-kay, and what did she say?"

Willow's jaw dropped and she said, "I, well, she, I, ah don't know, actually." The hacker started to pace, punctuating her words with hand motions. "I, um, sort of, um, ran, actually." She stopped in front of Riley and looked up at him pleadingly, "You understand, don't you?"

He gave her a gentle smile and nodded, not trusting himself to answer. Willow weakly smiled back and moved over to Buffy. "She-she-she doesn't like me that-that way, Buff. Right?"

Buffy crossed her legs and gave Willow a speculative glance. "Are you so sure of that, Will?" Willow's mouth worked as she attempted to answer. "I mean, since you didn't stick around and all... maybe she's just waiting for her kiss?" The slayer tried to sound rather nonchalant about it, and it must have worked because suddenly, Willow was shoving Riley out of the way and rushing out the door again.

"Well, that worked. It wasn't slayage, but heck, it was still challenging."

"And you didn't even have to learn the secret handshake," Riley quipped.

"Which is all to the good, because I really suck at secret handshakes. Now, where were we?"

***

After Willow took off, Tara quickly shut her door and locked it, then went in search of her pills. She looked on her dresser and was caught by her reflection in the mirror, terrified by what she saw. Her face, only not her face looked back at her. She reached up and touched her nose and forehead.

"No wonder she fled," she whispered, as tears formed and slipped down her cheeks. Her pills were on the counter and she silently swallowed the concoction and then watched as her face began to revert to normal.

She nearly had heart failure when a voice said, "That's right my sister, always remember your true nature." Tara spun and nearly ran into Adam's chest armor.

"Wha-wha-wha?" she babbled.

"I'm here to listen to your report. Tell me about tonight. Everything." The monstrous man indicated the bed, "Go, sit. Speak." He moved out of the girl's way and she stumbled over to her bed and sat.

She told him everything she could, withholding her feelings for Willow only at the last minute. He nodded along with her words and when she was done, he said, "You are terrified of me, and you know that these humans help those in need. Why do you not tell them about me?"

"Because sh-they'll hate me!" she blurted.

"Ah, so you keep my secret out of fear. Interesting. Fear of what? Death?"

"N-no, I don't fear death," Tara said almost calmly. She rode a motorcycle, just getting from place to place was life threatening.

"What do you fear then, sister?"

Tara scowled. "I wish you wouldn't c-call me that."

"Why? You are as much my sister as if we had been nurtured in the same womb."

"I could never be related to you, Adam," Tara said softly. "I could never hurt anyone."

Adam smiled, his oddly made face wrinkly grotesquely. "This is why you were cast aside. Now, my question, what do you fear?"

Tara shrunk in on herself, knowing that he was right. She had been cast aside, forgotten and left to rot. "Rejection," she whispered.

"Then you have nothing to fear from me, my sister, for I welcome you and embrace you."

"I don't want your embrace!" she shouted defiantly, then shrank back as if expecting a blow.

Adam shook his head sorrowfully. "Such a waste of potential. So be it. You are free of your obligation to me. I shall call upon you no more."

Tara's head snapped up. Could he be telling her the truth? "D-do you mean that?"

Adam looked at her coldly. "Of course, I cannot lie. That is my flaw." He reached up and pushed the eject button on his disk drive and a floppy popped out. "Commence memory purge of all files pertaining to subject ‘Lillith’." A light went on in the cyborg's chest and Tara could hear the sounds of machinery. Goddess, he's just so ... so squicky! She shuddered in both fear and revulsion. Just before the light went out, he dropped the disk on the bed. "This is the only record left of your secrets. Do with it what you will. I must leave now." Mechanically, he turned and walked out of her room.

Tara stared at the dark green disk for long minutes, debating whether she should destroy it or not. A little voice urged her not to, told her to save it "just in case". The rest of her wanted nothing more than to smash it to little green bits. She was just reaching for it when someone knocked on her door. It was a knock she knew well. Soft, yet insistent, a plea for entry as well as an announcement of presence. Tara closed her eyes and opened her othersense, allowing herself to bask momentarily in the bright stream of energy that was Willow Rosenberg’s aura.

She got up in a daze, wondering briefly what had brought her friend back over so soon, and opened the door. Willow was leaning on the frame, panting as if she'd been running for her life. Tara reached out to touch Willow's arm and said, "Will, you okay?"

Willow blinked as if seeing Tara for the first time, then nodded. "I-you-we-I-I wanted to say I'm sorry for babbling and running earlier."

Tara, who could barely remember what had been said, just nodded and said, "It's okay. Um, wanna come in?"

Willow smiled and replied, "Yeah, yeah I do." Tara returned the smile and pulled her friend inside.

***

Adam watched the interaction between Riley Finn and Buffy Summers with interest. The tape he'd stolen from Maggie Walsh's files was one of his most intriguing finds. Two humans engaged in the act of non-reproductive copulation. The act was strange to him, filled with shades of emotion that he could not begin to fathom. He regretted having extinguished the life of Professor Walsh so soon. It seemed that she did, indeed, have more to teach him. Pity. An internal sensor informed him that his download was complete and all files had been restored. He steepled his fingers and turned away from his bank of monitors to look over the small group of vampires and demons that slavishly served him. He nodded to one, "You, bring me the human known as Willow Rosenberg." He wished to test his theory regarding love and the actions it would drive those who felt it to perform.

"Now?" the one he'd chosen whined. "I just finished painting my nails! They'll chip!"

He fixed his gaze on the bleach blonde vampire and said, "Now."

Harmony rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, yeah, all right, sheesh, I'm going. But Buffy's not gonna like this much. If I die because of this, I'll... I'll... I'll do something mean!" She flounced off, stopping to grab her outdated teddy bear backpack and a long overcoat.

The former Sunnydale High student stepped out into the darkness and took a deep breath. "Well, he didn't say I couldn't have a bite to eat first!" She began walking toward the university campus at a brisk pace.

Five minutes later, Adam stepped out of the shadows and followed her.

***

"So..."

"So..." Willow echoed Tara, then nodded, "Oh, yeah, well, I uh, I wanted to explain myself. See, I, uh, well," she began pacing around Tara's dorm room, swinging her arms back and forth wildly. Her eyes came to rest on the Doll's Eye crystal that Tara had once tried to give her. A smile crept over face as she recalled the first spell they'd done with it and she walked over and stroked the smooth surface of the stone. Warm. It was so warm and tingly. The same way she felt when she was in Tara's company.

Tara walked over to Willow and put her hand over Will's. "D-do you want to do some spellwork?" She smiled nervously and lifted her eyes to meet the hacker's.

Willow just stood there, bathing in the dark depths of Tara's gaze, falling in deeper and deeper until all she could feel was the wiccan's hand over hers. "No," she whispered, wetting her lips, "I don't."

Tara could feel the walls of her room dissipate as Willow moved closer and closer to her. Little, simple details became as sharp as razors. The shadows that blended with her softly winking Christmas lights, the left over scent of incense, pungent and sweet, the reddish golden highlights of Willow's hair as she turned her head, all these things fell into Tara's memory one by one. "Will-"

"Shh..." the hacker laid the tip of her finger over Tara's lips. "I need to say this now Tara, or I never will." She moved her finger away from Tara's mouth to brush a strand of golden hair away from the girl's face. "I-I never thought I'd look at anyone again and feel so much... so deep... Tara, you, I-"

Shattering glass stole away whatever Willow was going to say. A rock the size of a fist had punched through one of the panes of Tara's windows. Both girls raced to the window to look out.

Perched above was Harmony and as soon as she spotted Willow's red hair, she reached down and grabbed a handful. "Gotcha!" she crowed gleefully.

Willow yelped as her hair was yanked hard and she was forcibly pulled through the window, being scraped and battered on the way out. She kicked, screamed and batted at whatever held her.

"Hey! Watch it Willsy, you wouldn't want me to drop you would you?" Harmony whined, her game face morphing out as she caught the scent of blood. The vamp was perched on the ledge above Tara's window.

"H-Harmony?" Willow squeaked as the former Sunnydale high student continued to lift Willow out. Tara tried to reach out and grab hold of Willow's feet, but the vamp was too quick for her.

"That's my name, don't wear it out. Honestly Will, your fashion sense is just awful. Don't you ever read Glamour or Cosmo?" she asked as she tied the hacker's hands behind her back. Willow thought about trying to jump, but realized that she'd only end up being splattered on the ground below. Since Harmony hadn't tried to kill her yet, she decided to go along with the vamp and see what developed.

Below, Tara was softly chanting a spell of warning, hoping she could send a message to Buffy. Part of her wanted to chuck it all and give in to the monster she knew raged just below the surface. She could feel her face shifting as she suppressed the urge to rush out and rip Harmony to shreds. Terror kept her rooted to the spot though, unable to move, barely able to whisper out the spell. Gripping the windowsill she choked out the words that would, hopefully, reach the slayer in time. She never noticed that her hands were being slashed to ribbons by the broken windowpane.

"Wh-what do you want, Harmony? I-if Buffy finds out what you're doing sh-she'll--"

"What? Dust me? Puh-lease, she didn't do it before... she ain't gonna do it now. Besides," Harmony pouted, "I have friends now, big, powerful friends." She then pulled out a roll of tape and slapped a strip over Willow's mouth. The hacker gave the vamp an outraged glare and Harmony shrugged, "Sorry Willsy, can't have you screeching your brainy little head off, can I?" Then she grabbed the hacker and jumped off the ledge, landing on the grass below with a soft thud. She giggled, "Oh, I do like doing that! Wouldn't Coach Reynolds love me now?" she asked Willow, who only glared at her in response.

Harmony giggled again and pushed the red-head along. A few minutes later, they stopped and Harmony pulled out a scarf and blindfolded Willow. Then they started walking again, with Harmony pulling the hacker along. It was all Willow could do to keep from stumbling over every rock and crack in the ground. "Gosh Willow, you're so clumsy," Harmony whined.

"Mhmm hmmm mrpyhm grpthfth," Willow grumbled. The hacker was peeved beyond belief. Just give me a pencil, any pencil! she thought angrily.

"Oh hush, or I'll bite you," Harmony threatened unconvincingly, tugging Willow along. Finally, they got to Adam's hideout. Inside, the vamp dragged Willow into the main room where the other vamps looked up with interest.

"Hey," one drawled, "Harm brought us a snack."

"No." Adams voice held a note of command. "You will not feed on this one. This one is mine. Put her in there," he nodded toward a small lab where he conducted his experiments.

Willow was freaking out. She'd thought maybe Harmony was gonna have some fun with her, then Buffy would show up with the gang and there'd be a showdown and everything would be hunky-dory, but something about the voice of the nest's leader made her want to run as fast as she could. She was pushed along, then flung into a room where she kinda collapsed against a table. A wet, bleach-scented table. A wet, bleach-scented metal table. Another smell registered. Formaldehyde. I'm in a morgue! she thought fearfully. She shook her head, trying to work the blindfold off.

"Let me," the voice that belonged to the one who had given orders said. Willow jumped, she hadn't even heard him come in. Adam slowly removed the girl's blindfold, laying the scarf aside. Will blinked at the bright lights, then looked up into the face of horror. Adam was an unholy blend of human, demon and machine.

"Umam," she whispered into her gag. I am so fucked, she thought.

"Rosenberg, Willow. Human, genius intellect, computer hacker, practicing witch, friend of the Slayer. Welcome to my world," he said, then removed the tape gag.

"Ow. Um, I mean, uh, hi?" Willow tried nice, sometimes nice worked.

Adam tilted his head curiously. "You do not react as I expected. Why?"

Willow glanced around the room. She wasn't exactly in a morgue, but various jars containing parts of things she didn't want to name suggested that she was in a lab of some kind. She backed away from Adam some, trying to put a little distance between herself and the nasty looking spike that was housed in his forearm. "Uh, well, it never hurts to be polite?" she offered timidly.

He still appeared confused. "I expected fear, not courtesy. You interest me. You will be a more interesting subject than I had first thought. Excellent. Do you require anything?"

I require that you let me go! she thought. "N-not really. E-except, c-could you maybe untie me?"

Adam seemed to consider this for a minute, then he looked her in the eyes and said, "If you will give me your word that you will not try to run."

Shit, Willow thought. How did he know that I won't break a promise? She gritted her teeth, the ropes were cutting off the circulation to her arms, and even if she did make that promise, there wasn't anything saying she couldn't try to get a message to Buffy in order to get her rescued. Willow chewed her lip and mumbled, "Oh, all right, I promise."

Adam may have seemed haphazardly constructed, but he moved with the grace of a dancer as he gently cut her hands free of the rope Harmony had bound her with. As if that weren't unnerving enough, he used a razor sharp blade that shot out from the tip of a finger on his right hand to do the cutting. "Recall your promise, Human," he said as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Without realizing what she was doing, Willow flew to the door and tried the handle, stopping herself just as she was about to turn the knob. What if this is a test? she asked herself, forcibly tearing her hand away from the chrome surface of the handle, then shuffling over to look at the various parts and pieces of things preserved in formaldehyde.

"Gross," was her only comment when she got to the head of a demon she didn't recognize.

From outside the room, Adam monitored Willow's activities, chuckling when the girl carefully evaded his first test. He deactivated the electric shock device on the doorknob and smiled in anticipation of learning much from this human.

***

Buffy was fully engaged in enjoying some snuggle time with Riley when she first heard the whispering cry.

"B-b-b-b-Buffy!" a strange rushing sound filled her ears and a sense of fear and urgency filled the Slayer. She looked up from nibbling on her boyfriend's bare chest.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

"What?" he panted, his concentration long since shot to hell.

"H-h-Help! B-b-b-Buffy!" again, the whisper came, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as icy shivers of fear crept up her spine.

"That!" she declared, jumping off the bed and grabbing her clothes. "It sounded like Tara."

Riley sat up, having long since learned to trust his girlfriend's "Slayer-sense". "Want me to get dressed too?"

"Hang on," she held up a hand and fumbled around for the phone, then dialed a number.

***

Tara heard a ringing sound coming from somewhere very far away. Time unfolded and started to move forward again as she numbly walked away from the window to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" she said calmly.

"Tara? Hey, it's Buffy - Will's friend?"

"Buffy!" Tara blurted, then said, "Sh-she's gone. Th-they took-took her, help!" Then the tears came and she dropped the phone and covered her face with her blood smeared hands.

"Fuck. Riley, get Giles and Xander, Anya too, if she wants to help. Someone's taken Willow," Buffy raced around the room now grabbing scattered articles of clothing and dressing hastily. Riley followed her, dressing as quickly.

"Right. Should I mobilize a team?" he picked up the cell-phone that only called the Initiative headquarters.

"No," Buffy growled, "this is personal."

***

Buffy knocked and knocked on Tara's door before finally just opening it. The first thing she noticed was the busted in window with the bloodstained sill. She raced over and touched the blood, which was still warm.

"Oh Will..." she whispered, stricken. Then she turned to look for Tara, who was curled up in a ball on her bed, hands covering her eyes and shaking. This was when she noticed that at least some of the blood on the window was Tara's as the sight of the other girl's blood-covered hands came into clear focus. "Tara! Are you okay?" she was by the wiccan's side in three strides and carefully peeling a hand away from the still shocked girl's face.

Quickly she looked over Tara's hands but could find no would. She swallowed, hard. "Tara," she said harshly, using her voice as a slap, "is this blood Willow's?"

"No!" Tara wailed suddenly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she babbled.

Perplexed, Buffy said, "What do you mean, Tara?"

The wiccan sat up and absently wiped her hands on her legs, leaving dark crimson streaks behind. Tears and blood stained Tara's face and in her eyes was a look of utter loss. "I'm sorry," she said again, then added, "for not telling you the truth when I had the chance." Tara's heart was hammering in her chest and her legs started bouncing nervously.

"I don't understand, Tara, what is it?"

"I-I'm a vampire," the shy wiccan whispered as Xander, Giles, Riley and Anya slipped into the room.

"What?" Buffy barked, "You can't be. I-I've seen you outside. During the daytime even. Vampires go 'poof' in sunlight. You no 'poof'," she waved her arms expansively.

"Yeah, and I accidentally stabbed her with a pencil too," Xander helpfully jumped in. Anya gave him a hard look and he shrugged. "Hey, she and Will snuck up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder when I was drawing..."

"I will admit that this is a highly unlikely claim you've made, Tara," Giles piped up.

"No, I-I really am a--"

"I know you now," Riley said softly, coming into the light. "You're NHST 001, Project Lillith, Subject TW3362. I remember seeing your file on Professor Walsh's desk. Your picture was on top, well, you were a little different then. You had blue eyes and there was another picture, an unnamed HST female. I think it might have been a vampire." So that's why Professor Walsh had me get in good with the Lesbian Alliance, Riley thought, bemused. He wondered if Willow knew that Tara was a member of the group.

"TW3362 is my initials and my birth date," Tara said softly. "Tara Walsh, March 3, 1962."

"You're Maggie Walsh's daughter?" Buffy asked incredulously. She then flew across the room and grabbed Tara by the throat, startling the gang. "Where is she? What have you done with Willow?" she screamed, shaking Tara vigorously.

"I-I-I-I..." Tara babbled, frightened out of her wits. She had expected this, and yet she was still unable to cope. The wiccan started turning purple as Buffy's grip tightened.

Xander was the first to react, moving over to glower at Tara, "Yeah, you pseudo-vamp you, what'd you do with Willow?"

Giles sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Buffy," he said, "don't you think it's more important to find Willow and beat up Tara later?"

Buffy scowled and relaxed her grip some, "But that's what I was trying to do. She obviously knows where Will is-"

"I don't! Know where she is, that is. Really. P-please. I-I wo-would n-never h-hurt W-willow," Tara stuttered, hyperventilating.

The slayer looked down into the frightened girl's eyes for a long moment then shoved her away. "Fine. Then what does - what'd you call her Ry, an 'NHST' - have to do with Willow's kidnapping?"

Xander gave the girl one last glare, then went back to Anya's side and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's a l-long story. I'll t-try to shorten it," Tara said as she drew up her knees, hugging them against her chest and rocked slowly back and forth. Softly, she began to tell them about how right after Adam had been activated and had escaped from the Initiative's bunker, she'd received a phone call. The caller had not only known who she was, but more importantly, what she was, and had threatened to reveal her whereabouts to Buffy if she didn't go to a certain place at a certain time.

Terrified of being revealed, Tara went. She met Adam, who explained to her that he knew who she was, and how he knew. He claimed to be her brother, generated by one of Maggie Walsh's projects.

He showed her his first "experiment", the dreadful corpse of the little boy and told her how he wished to learn things and how he'd chosen her as his liaison to the Scooby gang. He was very interested in Buffy and her friends.

"So you've been spying on us?" Xander interrupted to accuse.

Tara hung her head and slumped forward. "Yes, but I didn't want to, really! I would have been happy to leave everyone alone." She went on with her story. The advent of the Gentlemen's raid on Sunnydale had been both a blessing and a curse. It gave her the perfect excuse to get to know the one member of the Scooby gang that seemed approachable to her -- Willow. "A-and we be-became fr-friends and then I-I didn't want t-to spy anymore and I told Adam that and he laughed and t-told me that if I quit, he'd tell you all how I deceived you. H-he told me that he'd tell W-Willow that I was only interested in her as a link to Buffy, for him. S-so I kept spying, t-trying to tell him things that weren't important, o-or were common knowledge, and he seemed happy. And then, tonight he shows up after Willow went home and asked me about what we did at the B-bronze and a couple of other questions, and then he said he released me from my promise. G-gave me that disk," tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she pointed at the green floppy on her bed. "He said he wouldn't bother me anymore, but I guess he lied," she finished.

"And this has to do with Willow, how?" Buffy growled. She was slightly angry, no make that hugely pissed off that Tara had babbled on for almost fifteen minutes - minutes Buffy could have spent looking for her friend.

Tara drew back, stricken and whispered, "W-willow came back over and we were talking wh-when that rock over there," she indicated the rock in the center of her floor, "broke my window. We went to investigate and she was grabbed and pulled out. I caught a glimpse of someone on the ledge above, then ducked back inside and c-cast the calling spell."

"I'm sure you did all you could," Giles said as Buffy turned away from the now silent wiccan and strode over to the window.

The slayer carefully climbed through, then up onto the narrow ledge above. Shortly, she was back in the room and dusting off her hands. "Had to be a vamp or a demon. It would have been hard as heck for anything human to pull someone out from that position."

"B-by the hair," Tara supplied. Everyone shuddered at the thought of Willow dangling over the ground below, held only by her own hair.

"Well, I suppose the first thing to do is to look for clues," Giles suggested.

"I guess I'll watch Vamp-Girl here and make sure she doesn't go anywhere," Anya volunteered.

Xander looked surprised and gave his girlfriend a kiss and a pat on the bottom, but Buffy shook her head. "No, she's going with me. She's the only one who knows anything about what happened. Riley, I want you and Xander to go with Giles back to his place and stay by the phone. Tara, I- well, there's a lot of things we are going to talk about when this is all over, but right now my primary goal is to find and bring home Willow, understand?" When Tara nodded, Buffy went on, "Now I've heard that you're a pretty fair hand with the wicca stuff, and I know Anya's got some experience, so you guys are on spell patrol, got that?"

Anya made a face, "Xander, do I have to? Danger and I don't mix well, it gives me hives."

Tara looked at the former demon and said, "Please?"

Anya met the wiccan's stare, then, surprisingly, capitulated. "Oh, all right, but you owe me big time."

Tara stood up and walked over to the other girl and put a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you." Then she turned to Buffy, "I-I don't know if this'll help any, b-but I'm pretty indestructible. I mean, like you said, neither sunlight nor wood harms me. I-I think they only way I can really be hurt is by being decapitated." There, she'd said it. She'd told everyone in the room exactly how to kill her.

Giles was the first of them to fully understand the depth of the knowledge and he took off his glasses and cleaned them, then cleared his throat, "Well, yes, ahem, I'm sure that won't happen."

Buffy looked long and hard at Tara then said, "Not by me, anyway. You don't make my vampdar go crazy."

"How about your gaydar?" Xander leered, then whined, "Ow," as Anya smacked him across the back of the head.

"Xander, please!" Anya, Buffy and Giles all said at once.

***

Adam stared at the bank of TV monitors and frowned. He had not expected this variation. Interesting. He switched off the view of Tara's room and got up, pacing the room. Some of his lackeys pulled away, fearful that the construct would decide to "study" one of them, closely. Finally, he stopped, and went over to the window that looked into the lab and began to watch the hacker he'd taken.

The girl was wandering around, curiously examining the her prison. He watched as she shuddered in revulsion over his experiments and he smiled when she came across the scalpel he'd purposefully left behind. What perplexed him was the pencils. Every pencil she found, she pocketed.

"Curious," he said as she picked up another one and examined it, then slipped it into a pocket.

Inside the lab, Willow was nervous. She could feel eyes on her as she wandered through the smallish room, but she still tried to prepare. What she was preparing for, she didn't know, but she'd grabbed several sharp pencils - for vampire stakage - and a scalpel - for whatever else - and was now looking for a place to sit. There was a chair folded in the corner so she took it and sat, cradling her chin in one hand while fidgeting with a pencil in the other.

Spells, incantations, and prayers circled in her mind, blending to become a weird sort of disharmonious chant that became a whispered, "Buffy..."

***

Buffy jerked up and looked around, "Willow?" she yelled, running for the window.

Giles walked over and put a hand on her shoulder, "What is it Buffy?"

"I-I heard her... she's scared, Giles," Buffy rested her head against her Watcher's chest momentarily, then looked around the room at her friends. "All right, you know what to do, so let's go." Tara raised her hand meekly. Buffy raised and eyebrow and said, "Yes, Tara?"

"I... I think I might know a way to find her," she mumbled.

Anya snapped her fingers suddenly and blurted, "A contagion spell!" Tara nodded, agreeing with the former demon.

Buffy looked at Giles, Riley and Xander who were sort of lingering around, shuffling their feet. "Well," she frowned fiercely, "what are you still doing here? Go," she made shooing motions with her hands and actually gave Riley a shove toward the door. "Go," she reiterated, "Willow could be calling right now and getting no answer."

"Yes, yes, we're going," Giles said, backing out the door as Xander gave Anya a lingering kiss.

Riley brushed his fingertips across Buffy's cheek and said, "Are you sure you don't want me to call out a team? We have things that might help us to track her..."

Buffy closed her eyes and leaned into her lover's touch and sighed, "Ry, I know you want to help, but I'm just not sure I want the Initiative involved with this. I want to bring Willow home, not tag and bag demons."

Riley raised an eyebrow at the slayer's words but said gently, "How about this, I'll get some of the guys to do extra sweeps in some of the less populated areas, then let me know if they spot anything unusual?"

Buffy chewed on her lip and played with the lapel of Riley's shirt before drawing him down for a brief kiss. "All right," she agreed, releasing him, "go play soldier-boy, but don't let it turn into a war."

He smiled and replied, "I won't." Then he ducked out. Giles and Xander also made tracks, Giles muttering something about wishing Willow were around so she could use her infernal computer to read the disk that Adam had left.

The slayer turned to Anya and Tara who were pouring over a dusty grimoire. "Okay," she said, clapping her hands together briskly and startling the two other girls, "you mentioned something about a way to find her?" Her eyes held Tara in place as the wiccan nodded nervously.

"Um, yeah, like Anya said, a spell of contagion might work."

Buffy's face twisted as she thought about it, trying to recall where she'd heard the term before. It had something to do with like calling to like... the light bulb of memory went off and she said, "Oh yeah! Willow's done that kind of thing before for me, when I've lost stuff. That can work on people, too? Great, let's get magicking."

Anya put the grimoire down and looked at Buffy. "All right Buf, let's get one thing clear - you may be the bad ass-kicker around here, but Tara and I are the bad-ass magickers, so why don't you go, go, go slay something!" She punctuated her statement by poking the slayer in the chest with her finger.

"Whoa, chill Anya," Buffy backed away from the vehement girl. "I wasn't tryin' to step on your toes, I just want to find Wills."

"Well, well, all right then!" Anya huffed and returned to browsing through the grimoire.

"Buffy, can you get something o-of Willow's and bring it here?" Tara suggested softly.

"Right! I'm gone." Buffy spun around and walked out the door.

***

The door opened and Harmony walked in carrying a pizza box, which she dumped unceremoniously on the steel exam table. "Dinner's served," she giggled, wiping her mouth which was just slightly bloody. "Course, we already ate, but I'm sure you won't mind leftovers." Her fingers left crimson stains on the box. "Oh, yeah, and if you get," she laughed again, "tired, there's a blanket in that cupboard."

Willow blinked. Sleep? They expected her to sleep in this place? Not even if she were narcoleptic would she sleep here. Nuh-uh, no way! "Th-thanks, I think," she said, nodding at the pizza, only slightly queasy from the blatant bloodstains.

Harmony flicked her fingers at Willow and sing-songed, "Toodles."

Willow halfheartedly lifted her own hand and waved, "Um, yeah, bye, or whatever." The vampire left the room and Willow got up and carefully opened the pizza box - then promptly shut it again. White faced, she backed away. "Oh, yuck." She'd only caught a glimpse, but inside the box was a pizza - covered with things she'd rather not name. Her stomach churned and she closed her eyes, sitting back down on the chair.

"Please hurry Buffy," she moaned, holding her head in her hands. It was Tara who she thought of though. Tara's face that she sought for comfort and the memory Tara's sweet smile that allowed her to relax. What helped the most was just the hint of sandalwood incense from Tara's jacket that still clung to her shirt.

***

"That was fun," Harmony giggled as she ducked out of the lab. "But I still wish I could just eat her."

"The human is more interesting to me alive. You will wait until I've learned all that I can from her," Adam rumbled from his seat by the video monitors, not bothering to look up from his study of a textbook. The disk drive in his chest was working, downloading more information from Maggie Walsh's personal files. Ahh, interesting. The formula for Tara's pills. His patchwork face split into a rictus grin. Very interesting, and even better, more information. He wondered if his sister - for despite her denials, she was his sister in everything but blood - knew that her own mother had been feeding her placebos. The formula for the pill was simple: corn starch and food coloring and something to give it a bad taste. Devious, really, and he liked that. He appreciated the simplicity of it. What better way to keep Tara in line? His grin got wider and he stood up. Time to pay his guest a visit.

Willow had her head down when he walked in, but she looked up quickly. He cocked his head curiously and said, "I see you have not eaten. Was my hospitality not to your liking?"

"I-I'm not v-very hungry," she mumbled, not wanting to anger the hulking cyborg.

"Very well," he took the box of pizza and opened a steel door, which proved to be a cadaver freezer, and carefully laid the box inside. "It is here, should you desire it."

The hacker carefully hid a shiver. Inside the locker had been a body - whether human or demon she couldn't tell, and she didn't want to. Another cabinet was unlocked, revealing a laptop. This he removed and plugged in, then popped the disk from his chest into the computer's drive.

He turned and looked at Willow while the laptop booted up. "I find it - interesting - that you have not tried to win your freedom," he said.

"I promised I wouldn't," Willow said almost defiantly, as a way of explanation.

Adam nodded as if confirming something, then turned to the computer and opened the a file on the disk. "You are familiar with computers, correct?"

"Y-yes," she said, licking her lips and standing.

The cyborg stepped away from the laptop and stood at parade rest next to the steel table. "Could you use these parameters to design a virus to stop me?"

Willow's eyes widened and her mouth moved but no sound came out. Finally she squeaked, "Wh-wh-what?"

Adam nodded toward the computer, "Could you, using those design schematics, design a virus that could deactivate me?"

Carefully, Willow edged over to the laptop and briefly scanned the file. "I... I don't know," she said after a few minutes, then, "Why? I-I mean, not like it'd be a b-bad thing where I was concerned and all but don't you have s-some grand 'take over the world' scheme?" The hacker ran a hand through her hair and shuffled her feet nervously.

Adam's face underwent a radical change. "No," he said darkly. "I am not interested in the world. I am interested in knowledge," then the monster actually sighed, almost sadly. "But my pursuit of that knowledge has led me to perform acts that are -- evil," he paced the room, head down, "and there is some part of me that remembers that evil is wrong." The construct looked at his hands, one demonic, the other cybernetic and made fists. "Maggie Walsh created me to be more than human -- to be better than human, but my research leads me to believe that I am less than human."

Willow looked at the cyborg, utterly confused with his words. It was almost as if Adam were having half of a conversation with her, and the other with some voice within him. She thought he was asking her to help him commit suicide, but that couldn't be right. He was probably just testing her, like with the grody pizza. She perused the file again, absorbing Professor Walsh's coldly accurate details regarding Adam's creation. She could almost feel the woman's pride in her subject as various aspects of the cyborg's construction were outlined.

She flinched as a large hand reached over her shoulder and closed the laptop. Another turned her to face the result of Walsh's experimentation. Cold blue eyes bored into hers as Adam's mostly human hand closed down on her shoulder. "Could you?" he asked, his voice deep and mesmerizing.

The hacker pulled back, screwing her face up in anxiety and babbled, "I-I-I don't know! Maybe, yes, no," What answer is gonna keep me alive? she screamed mentally as she tried to duck away from Adam.

He let her go and spun on his heel, walking away. He rested his hands on the exam table and kept his back to her. "Try. If you succeed before your friends rescue you, I will let you go. Fail and you will watch them die."

"B-but why?" she asked, even as her mind began twisting Professor Walsh's formulae this way and that, looking for a way to undo the horrible thing she had done.

"I wish to know if I am perfect," he replied simply.

"Oh. Well, okay." She grabbed the chair and pulled it up to the laptop and began reading the file in earnest. A few minutes later she looked up and noticed the cyborg standing behind her, not in the way or looming, just kind of existing. "Um, could I h-have a pad of paper? For notes? A-and maybe something to drink that isn't gonna make me sick?" she asked, pushing her luck a little.

Adam considered her requests, then walked over to the door and opened it. He looked around the room and spotted one of his lackeys, a pip-squeak named Jason. He reached out and grabbed the young man as he passed and said, "You will bring paper and food for this human, now."

Jason backed away nodding, "Yessir, right away, sir," and ran off. He returned shortly carrying a notebook and a bag from a late night burger stand. Adam took the items from him then turned back to Willow who was still reading from the files.

"Here is what you requested," he said handing her the bag and book.

Fearfully, she took the items, peering first into the bag to ascertain that it was, truly, food she could eat, along with a drink she could drink. It was, and she wasn't about to complain that she hadn't asked for food. Besides, she was famished. The notebook she opened, and, pulling out one of her hoarded pencils, she began to make meticulous notes.

Adam watched the hacker for a while, then nodded and left the room.

Willow worked and ate for almost an hour, reading through the professor's file, making notes, when she came across an interesting item, a link to another file entitled "First Project". She chewed her pencil wondering if she should ask if Adam had this file, or if it were on the disk. Curiously, she clicked it and the screen flashed, opening a new file.

Non-hostile subterranean Walsh, T. DOB 03-03-62. DOD 07-14-82. Status: At large, no risk to project. Willow's pencil hit the floor with a clatter that echoed through the tiny room. Professor Walsh had a son? she thought, reading through the file.

Willow was horrified by the cold details that the woman had written in the file. Apparently, Walsh had somehow managed to morph her own child, who'd died of leukemia, into a vampire. At first, the professor had been overjoyed with the results, but several problems had forced the powerful witch to give up magic and turn to science -- and the government. Taking her first experiment, her child, to a secret military funded group, she began working on the blueprints for what was to eventually become Adam.

The hacker could only shudder as the woman coldly continued to experiment on her child, whom she'd kept locked in a room, away from all human contact. It broke her heart to learn that the child had no memory of his life. She started to read: "December 11, 1982. Subject still requires daily plasma for nutrition. Subject displays unnatural aggressiveness and extreme sensitivity to light." Willow scrolled down and read, "January 16, 1987. Subject had bonded well with pathogen, nearly all light sensitivity is gone, uncontrolled aggressiveness remains. Weaning from plasma diet has succeeded, subject ingests as normal human."

Adam quietly allowed Willow to absorb the information, intrigued that the hacker hadn't yet made the obvious connection.

"September 26, 1988. Success! The chip has worked!" she read after paging through the document. "Subject is calm and controllable. Re-education begins immediately." Then, several reports later, "February 14, 1993. Subject is too docile for the program. Relegated to inactive status and repatriated to society. New project to begin immediately. I think I'll call this one Adam." Unlike the rest of the file, this part had a personal comment attached. "It's too bad that Tara didn't work out like I'd planned. She would have made a fine Hunter." Willow stared at the screen in shock thinking, No, it's not her, it just can't be her...

The only other bit of information in the file was a formula for an oversized sugar pill as well as a note to make sure that the subject was made to believe that they required the pill to survive.

***

By the time that Buffy had returned from picking up something of Willow's - a hairbrush, as she couldn't think of anything else to grab - Tara and Anya had already inscribed a circle and were getting out the components for the spell.

"Rosemary for memory, dragon's wort for seeking and a pinch of rowan bark to bind it together. Oh, and this crystal," Anya grabbed a rough quartz stone from a box on Tara's dresser, "to be the guide."

"Hey guys, I um, got this," Buffy handed the brush to Tara, who smiled.

"You did great, Buffy. Hair is good, because it was a part of her," the blonde wiccan said, taking the brush from the slayer and removing a bit of Willow's distinctive sunset colored hair.

Buffy beamed happily. "Great, cool and stuff. What do I do now?"

"Go stand by the door and stay out of the way," Anya ordered, gathering the items into the center of the circle, then lighting a candle.

Tara knelt down in front of a brazier and blew on the already glowing coals. Anya settled across from her then closed off the circle. Slowly, they each sprinkled the herbs on the coals, chanting,

"We call upon Oghma, the guardian of all knowledge.

Please, lend us your wisdom, let like call to like."

Anya dropped Willow's hair onto the coals and chanted,

"We call upon Bridget, great lady of fire.

Let our shadowed path be lit by your sacred flame.

Tara laid the crystal in the brazier and chanted,

"Our friend is lost, let us find her

by wind and water

by fire and stone

and by the grace of the gods, let us bring her home.

Together, they chanted,

"An it harm none, so mote it be."

They joined hands and repeated the spell three times, then waited. There was a brilliant flash of light, followed by a gentle humming. Buffy winced and covered her eyes until she could see again. The noise subsided and the room returned to candle-lit darkness. In the brazier was just the crystal, which glowed softly. Anya and Tara sagged over, panting. After a few moments, Tara reached out and scooped up the crystal and handed it to Buffy.

"Here, this should help."

Buffy accepted the stone and nearly dropped it when she found that it was quite cool -- almost frozen. "Hey, it's all icy!"

Anya sat up and nodded, "Yeah... it gets warmer the closer it gets to its target."

"Oh, cool. Well, um, is there anything I can get you two? You both look pretty drained."

Tara stood up and turned on a lamp, then opened her fridge and removed two containers of Gatorade. "This is fine," she said, handing one to Anya, who made a face, then chugged the contents. "W-willow figured out that this stuff helps with spell casting exhaustion."

"That's my Will," Buffy said offhandedly, causing Tara to wince. Buffy noted the expression and smiled slightly. So, she is falling for Willow. I wonder if that's why she decided to come clean?

"If you wanna find Oak then I suggest we get moving. The spell doesn't last forever," Anya said, standing up and brushing her hands off.

"Yeah, right," Buffy grabbed the phone, called Giles and spoke rapidly for a few seconds then turned to the other two girls, "Okay, let's go."

***

Willow leaned back and stretched, cracking her back. She'd been working on the code for several hours now and she needed a break. Slowly, she got up and moved around the small lab, working the kinks in her body out. She congratulated herself when she only jumped a little bit when Adam opened the door.

"Have you finished?" he asked, eyeing the open laptop.

Willow shook her head, "No, I just needed a break. I was getting all kinked up and I can't think when I'm kinked up and..." she trailed off as Adam cocked his head and looked at her with a "does not compute" expression on his face. "Uh, I was stiff, that's all. I'm all better now, see?" she bent over and touched her toes.

"Excellent. Do you require nutrients?"

"Um, well, I could use another drink... if that's okay?"

Adam nodded and stepped outside, then returned with a case of cola. "Harmony informed me that you enjoy this beverage the most."

"Oh," Willow didn't know what to say, remembering the "pizza" that the vamp had delivered. "Well, yeah, usually, but, um, well," she babbled. Adam set the box down on the table and tore it open, spilling cans out everywhere. Quickly, Willow grabbed at the rolling cans, righting them. "You don't know your own strength, do you?" she whispered.

"What do you mean?" he asked, catching her wrist in his hand.

The hacker froze and tried to speak. "I, well, I just, I meant that, well you kinda just shredded ...the box is all," she finally managed to get out.

"Ah," he replied, letting her go. "Why did you seem hesitant in accepting the beverages?"

Willow sighed, "Well, the last thing Harmony brought me was all icky and I... don't do ick," she finished lamely.

"Ick-y?" Adam drawled the word out, tasting it and testing it against his database. "What is 'ick-y'?"

For an answer, Willow opened the cadaver freezer and removed the pizza box and flipped it open, revealing the contents. There was a pizza in there, but it had been liberally splattered with blood and other non-food substances. "This is icky," Willow said.

Adam examined the box and its contents. After a while he nodded. "I see. Interesting. Why do you think Harmony did this?"

Willow paced around and ran her hands through her hair. Why did she always have the tough ones? Growing up she always got the hard teachers and now she was the captive of a demonic version of those teachers. "Um, well, I guess she wanted to make fun of me or torture me or something," she said finally, hoping that Adam was grading on a curve.

"Making this 'ick-y' is a torture?"

"Well, sorta," Willow laughed, "although I'm not really fond of anchovies to begin with. But the blood and - stuff - makes it completely inedible to me. But that's okay, 'cuz the burger was great!"

"How do you feel about the human called Tara?" Whoa! Now that one's from way out of left field!

Willow ran her hands through her hair, pulling on it slightly, "Uh..."

Adam's toneless voice boomed through the room. "Why do you avoid my question?"

"Am I being graded on my answers?" she asked, letting her hands fall. "Because if I am, I think I'm gonna fail. Which would be a first, 'cuz I don't normally fail. I'm not a fail kinda person, nope. But, um, what - was - the - question - again?"

The cyborg took a moment to answer, then said, "I am struggling to understand things. Of the subjects I wish to know more about, Humanity is one of the most fascinating. I have observed you and your friends; how you interact with each other and how you interact with others. I wish to know why you interact with the human Tara Walsh in the same manner that Buffy Summers interacts with the human Riley Finn."

Willow's knees gave out and she fell backwards against the sink, ending up on the floor in a dazed puddle. A wash of emotions flood across her face and she haltingly said, "I-I do-don't kn-know what you-you mean. I don't kn-know a-any T-tara W-walsh."

In a heartbeat Adam moved from his almost parade rest stance to lifting the suddenly terrified hacker into the air and shaking her. "You are lying, why?" he demanded menacingly.

Willow tried to answer, but the combination of Adam's abuse and her own mind's inability to wrap itself around the idea of "Walsh,T" being her beloved wiccan friend caught up to her and she fainted.

Adam looked at the body of the girl draped over his arms and frowned. "I did not expect that," he said as he gently laid the girl down on the table. Thoughtfully, he pulled out a blanket and covered the girl. An almost wistful expression crossed his face as he tucked her in. Then he turned and began reading her notes, impressed despite himself over the girl's quick mind. Perhaps should would succeed, after all.

***

The girls met the guys in the center of the university campus. Buffy held out the crystal and said, "All right, we've got something that our wicca chicks say will lead us to Willow. Giles, I want you and Xander to cover our rear..."

"I can do that!" Xander leered.

"Xander hush!" Giles remonstrated while Buffy glared at her friend.

"Okay, okay, sorry."

"Good. Riley, you and I are on point, you take my left. Anya, Tara, just," she looked over at the two girls. Tara smiled nervously and made weak punching motions while Anya wrapped herself around Xander. "Just stay in the middle and try not to get in the way."

"You'll get no argument from me," Anya said in between kissing Xander until he was delirious.

"Wonderful. Let's go kick some bad guy butt," Buffy stated flatly, juggling a stake from hand to hand.

***

Willow woke up slowly. She rapped her knuckles against the table and mumbled, "Buffy? Goddess, I feel like I slept on a steel --" she opened her eyes, blinking against the harsh brightness of the lab's lighting. The brushed metal of the table's surface gleamed mockingly at her as she finished softly, "table." Memory rushed in, filling in the gaps. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, groaning. "Toto, I'd like to go home now," she said softly. The laptop was still over on the counter, only it was closed. The room was chilly so she wrapped the blanket- Blanket? Who covered me? around her shoulders and slid off the table and sat back down in the chair.

The laptop clicked on as soon as she opened it. Her notes and the file she'd been working on were still there, as well as a can of coke. The rest of the sodas were stacked against the wall, lined up like soldiers. She cracked the can open and began working on the virus.

***

Buffy felt the crystal's heat flare when she moved passed a closed down outbuilding of the campus. Tara's hand shot out and touched the slayer's arm almost simultaneously.

"Here," she murmured, eyes not quite focused. "She's in here."

"Are you sure?" Buffy asked, turning to face the wiccan.

Tara took a deep breath, closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel for Willow's presence. She was rewarded with a softly muted flow of warmth that reached for her from within the old building. Tears welled up in her eyes and she nodded.

Anya, Giles and Xander had caught up to them by this time and Xander nodded toward the building. "I take it that this is where we menfolk split off and go cause a serious distraction while you ladies run in and grab Wills?"

"Something like that," Buffy nodded, then pointed toward an obvious door. "Xander, Riley, go knock on that, then deal with whatever answers the door. Anya, Giles, you stay back here and wait for us... and take care of anything that tries to get away that isn't human. Tara, you're with me."

"Wait," Riley said, reaching into his waist pack. "Here," he handed out several intricate devices. "Throat-coms so we can stay in touch." He demonstrated how to put them on and secure the small battery pack as well as how to use them.

Xander put his on quickly and efficiently. "They've improved these things since I last..." Riley looked at him sharply. "...saw them in a magazine," the young man finished lamely.

"All right, are we good to go?" Buffy asked.

Everyone nodded and moved off to their assigned positions. Tara hovered around Buffy's back, trying hard not to just bolt. The throat mic was constrictive and she had to swallow harshly several times to stop herself from gagging. She watched as Giles and a grumbling Anya sat down on a nearby bench and began acting like a student and professor going over some bit of homework. Riley pulled down his blaster and clicked it on while Xander hunted around for a large stick. The commando shook his head when all Xander could come up with was a bit of kindling.

"Here," he said, handing over a smallish handgun. "It's a needler. Be careful and don't shoot yourself in the foot."

"What's it do?" Xander asked as he accustomed himself to the needler's weight and sites.

"It'll knock a demon out cold in ten seconds," Riley said as he slipped off to head for the door.

"I can deal with that," Xander said, quickly kissing Anya, then following the commando.

Buffy grabbed Tara's hand and dragged her off toward a window she'd spotted and waited for Giles' signal. Shortly, she heard her watcher's whispered, "They've engaged a couple of vampires," and she kicked in the window.

***

From his chair, Adam watched the scene unfolding outside with great interest. Six of his monitors showed the outside of his hideout as the hacker's friends tried to break in to rescue their friend. The rest were targeted on Willow as the girl worked feverishly to finish her coding. The cyborg stroked his chin, part of him repulsed by the alien feel of the demonhide armoring, part of him thrilled, and smiled.

Harmony looked up and saw Adam's gleeful expression and shuddered. The demon hybrid just made her skin crawl. Quietly, she got up and began to creep away.

"Harmony," Adam said softly, causing the vampire to stop.

"What?" she said, putting her hands on her hips and affecting a bored stance.

"Go to the south corridor and wait there. When Buffy and Tara arrive, grab Tara and bring her to me."

"Oh all right, if you insist. But if Buffy dusts me, I'm not going to be happy. I just painted my nails!" the vamp huffed off, grabbing an aluminum baseball bat on her way out.

Adam watched the vamp go, then stood and went to check on his captive. Willow was rubbing her eyes and staring blankly at a wall when he walked in. She didn't even flinch, just flicked him a glance and said, "I need a break. The code is starting to melt."

"No breaks. You will continue to work until you are finished or you will watch your friends die." He depressed a hidden button and a section of the wall slid open, revealing his bank of monitors. Willow watched in stunned fascination as Xander and Riley fought with several of Adam's demonic followers. Xander had just ducked a vicious kick and Riley was firing his blaster at something covered in brown slime. On another monitor, she watched as Giles and Anya had some kind of head-to-head discussion while sitting on a bench. Occasionally, Giles would glance over in the direction of where Xander and Riley were, then put his hand up to his throat and speak. Unfortunately, her lip reading wasn't good enough to make out what he said.

Other monitors showed the different areas of Adam's little base, as well as places she was sure were dorm rooms because she recognized Tara's, but the one that caught and held her attention was the one that displayed Buffy and Tara sneaking through a window and into the building.

"Tara..." she whispered, starting for the monitor only to be stopped by a heavy, scaled hand on her shoulder.

"The code, human. Finish the virus and you may join your friends," Adam rumbled.

Willow closed her eyes and bit her lip, holding back tears. She was so tired, even after the nap she'd had. Her fingers were sore from typing, her body kinked in a thousand places and her brain felt like it was the poster child for one of those "don't do drugs" commercials. The hacker shook off the cyborg's hand and sat back down.

"I won't promise you that it will work," she said, tapping in more commands, "but it is nearly done."

"Excellent."

***

Harmony slipped down a hallway, muttering imprecations softly under her breath. "Damn cyberpunk reject, what does he think he is? The Hellmouth's gift to demonkind? Order me to go after the Slayer all by myself will he? Well I'll show him! I'll run away, I will. I'll... I'll go find some nice, cuddly snuggledums like Spikey-wikey and we'll run away to France and never, ever again worry about Slayers and Hellmouths and - " she broke off as she rounded a corner and ran right into the slayer in question.

Buffy recovered first, shoving Tara back into the shadows. She smiled at the vamp who was nervously holding her bat in front of her like a shield. "Well, well, if it isn't one of Queen C's little sycophants. How's the bootlicking life now, Harm? Grown to enjoy the taste of rotting flesh yet?" Buffy twisted her wrist and a stake slid into her hand.

Harmony backed away, nearly tripping over her own feet. "B-b-b-b-Buffy, look, I don't w-want any t-trouble," she stuttered, letting the bat dangle uselessly in her hands. "J-just let me go and I'll leave - I'll go as far away as I can get."

Buffy stopped and considered the vamp's request. Staking Harmony would be fun and it would be oh so lovely to tell Queen C all about how her best of friends from high school had ended up on the wrong side of Mr. Pointy... but it would also shave precious seconds off of rescuing Willow from whatever dire fate Adam had planned for the hacker. She looked back at Tara and said, "What do you think, Tar? Should I let this -" her eyes flicked back Harmony, "reject from Goodwill go, or should I stake her?"

"Uh..." Tara blinked, uncertain how to answer. On the one hand, Harmony was a vampire, a demon who delighted in the destruction of all mankind. On the other, she was a vampire, the same kind of creature responsible for Tara's being alive today. The wiccan was torn and confused. If she gave Buffy permission to kill Harmony, was she also giving the slayer tacit permission to do the same to her? Had she already when she'd told the slayer most of her secrets? "I-I..."

"Goodwill reject!" Harmony shrieked, interrupting the wiccan. "I'll have you know that I got these clothes from the Chase auction!"

Buffy smirked. "Exactly my point -- that wasn't an auction, that was a glorified yard sale. No wonder you're so out of date."

Harmony's eyes blazed and she brought the bat up and swung, connecting solidly with the slayer's left shoulder. Buffy grunted and rolled with the blow. She bounced off of a wall and spun around, delivering a high, hard kick to the vamp's jaw. Harmony's head snapped back and her face morphed. The vamp snarled and leaped toward the slayer, swinging the bat. Buffy dodged and the bat punched a hole in the wall. The slayer grinned as endorphins took over and began delivering a series of rapid kicks and punches to Harmony's body. The vamp backed away, tripping over Tara.

Harmony flung out a hand and grabbed the girl's sweater and pulled her in front of her. "Stop!" she shouted, baring her fangs. "I'll take her! Don't come any closer!"

Tara's mind blanked. Fear blossomed then died as rage erupted from some deep part of her soul. The hands on her body were familiar, as was the voice. This was the monster that had taken her Willow from her! A roar of anguished fury was torn from her throat as she felt the change happen for the first time in several years. "No!" she screamed as her face morphed, fangs grew and blood-thirst took over.

Harmony felt the girl in her arms shudder, then convulse. Surprised, she let go of the blonde and watched in astonished fascination as Tara morphed into a vampire. Got to be the strangest vamp I've ever seen though, she thought, checking out the other girl. Tara looked much as Harmony did with thickened brow and fangs. It was in the eyes that the difference became clear. Whereas Harmony's eyes were clear and bright with joy in her vampiric self, Tara's eyes were filled with crushing sadness. The grief was so strong that Harmony felt her own eyes water in sympathy.

That emotion flickered and died as Tara's gaze came to rest on Harmony. "You," she growled, "took the only good thing in my life away." The wiccan allowed the blood thirst to descend upon her fully as she reached for the vampire.

Buffy's jaw hit the floor at Tara's tone. Gone was the soft-spoken, shy wiccan. What remained was a harsh, bitter woman who grabbed Harmony by the throat and ripped the vampire's head off. Blood and gore painted the small hallway in brilliant crimson patterns as the body crystallized and turned to dust. The slayer gaped, unused to such calm violence. She swallowed once or twice, then squeaked out, "Um, Tara, I think Willow's that way." She pointed in the direction that the crystal had warmed to.

Tara nodded and wiped her hands off as best she could. "I'm ready."

***

Adam watched the fight in the corridor with interest, smiling openly when Tara's demonic nature took over and slew Harmony. And now the real fun begins, he thought as he turned to Willow. "Have you completed the virus?"

Willow typed in three more lines quickly, then saved the file. She took a deep breath and looked up at the cyborg. "Yes," she said simply, removing the disk from the drive. "Here. Now let me go."

Adam took the disk and examined it with a half expression of hunger on his face, then his lips twisted into a snarl. "Not today," he growled in a menacing tone. Sparkling different hued eyes flicked over Willow's body as she slumped in fatigued in her chair. "Thank you," he crooned. "You have just given me the key to immortality."

Willow buried her head in her hands, letting tears fall unhindered. It was all too much; too fucking much. She screamed in frustration, "Let me go!" and launched herself toward the door of the lab.

Adam reacted quicker than thought, grabbing her and raising her up into the air. "I don't think so, human. You are far too excellent of an experiment to terminate so soon."

***

The crystal led Buffy and Tara around a hallway and into a larger room. Just as they ran in, they heard Willow scream, "Let me go!"

"There!" Buffy pointed, spotting Adam's huge shoulders through and open doorway. He had Willow suspended above him and was holding her out away from him while the hacker kicked and screamed.

Willow heard Buffy's voice and she yelled, "Buffy! Be careful!"

Adam's smile got even wider. His little project was turning out so much better than he'd hoped. Casually, he flung the hacker away, sending her into a wall of cabinets and glass jars. Willow landed with a crash of breaking glass and blacked out.

"Willow!" both Buffy and Tara shouted simultaneously. Tara snarled and jumped on Adam's back while Buffy looked around for something to use as a weapon. The cyborg and the wiccan vampire crashed to the ground and wrestled. Tara came up on top and she started punching Adam's face as hard as she could screaming incoherently at him.

Adam allowed the punishing blows to land for a moment, then returned one of his own that rocked Tara's head back and dazed her. "How does it feel, my sister, to finally taste the ambrosia of your rage?" he asked as Tara blinked and tried to gather her wits.

"I hate it," she growled and swung weakly at him. He caught her fists, rolled over and stood up with her.

"Good, revel in that hate, my sister, because I cannot!" he said calmly. Tara struggled in the cyborg's grip, gnashing her fangs in frustration. The cyborg smiled and gripped her tightly.

"I wish you would just kill me," Tara whispered brokenly.

"I could, but I won't. You amuse me, sister. I learn so much from you and your friends."

By this time Buffy had found a chair and was creeping back into the lab. She saw the denouement between Adam and Tara and acted, bringing the chair down heavily on the cyborg's back. "Why don't you take a lesson from this!" Buffy yelled as the chair shattered. Adam, distracted, loosened his grip on Tara enough for her to tear away. The wiccan raced to Willow's side, shaking the hacker.

"Willow! Come on, wake up!" she shouted as Buffy engaged Adam. The slayer and the cyborg squared off, trading rapid blows that rattled the floor.

Willow groaned and blinked her eyes. "Tara," she croaked, then gagged as the overwhelming stench of alcohol, formaldehyde and blood reached her nose. Tara helped Willow sit up, keeping her hair down over her face the whole time.

"I'm here Will," she whispered soothingly. "Let me help you up so we can go."

"Okay," Willow said as she tried to stand, "But I'm feeling kinda ookey."

"I know, but it'll be all right," Tara replied, pulling the hacker to her feet. Willow wobbled unsteadily, then grasped Tara's blood covered... blood covered?! Willow looked down at Tara's hand, which was slimed in rapidly gelling blood. Her eyes traveled up the wiccan's arm to her shirt, noting the spatter patterning of the blood. Even the ends of Tara's beautiful golden blonde hair were soaked. Startled, Willow reached out to brush the hair away from the wiccan's face, just to make sure she was okay.

Tara pulled away. "No! You-you shouldn't see me like this, Will," she said, anguish in her voice.

"Like what, Tara?" Willow asked, aware that Riley and Xander had also just burst into the small room and were helping Buffy fight Adam. She reached for Tara again. "Tara, I-well-I care a lot about you. I mean a lot. A-and there's nothing about you that could be that bad," dimly, the memory of Walsh's file on her daughter flickered in her mind. "I mean it," she said resolutely, quickly dragging her fingers through the soft strands of hair to reveal Tara's face.

Tears streaked the wiccan's bloodstained cheeks. Gently, Willow reached out and traced her fingers over the thickened portions of Tara's brow. Chaos raged around both of them as chair parts flew over their heads and the steel table was knocked off of its foundation. Tara was shaking as Willow continued to touch her, allowing her fingertips to follow the curve of the wiccan's cheek to her lips. A soft "oh," of surprise was whispered when Willow's questing finger parted Tara's lips to delicately touch the fangs that curved down below her front teeth.

"Tara," Willow said, swallowing, "You are beautiful to me, no matter what face you wear." They were both crying now and Tara's hand came up to take Willow's.

"Willow," she whispered wonderingly. They stepped in closer, eyes fluttering shut, breaths mingling...

"Ladies! Please! Save the romance for another time!" Xander's voice shocked them back to reality. Buffy and Riley had beaten Adam back out of the room and Xander had stayed behind to get the two girls to safety.

Willow blushed and said, "Sorry. Oh, wait, disk! Get the disk!" she pointed to a red floppy that was sticking out from under the remains of the table. Xander reached for it and grabbed hold of it, but it was well and truly stuck.

In the other room, Adam saw Xander reach for the floppy he'd planned so long to obtain and growled, "No!" then knocked Buffy aside, leaping for the young man. Riley spun, following Adam's path and sighting on the base of the cyborg's neck. When his cross-hairs clicked, he fired.

The bolt arced out and hit, paralyzing the cyborg. Adam fell to the ground, defeated. Riley grimaced and walked over to help Buffy up. Xander was still trying to rescue the disk.

"What's so important about this thing anyway?" he grunted.

"It's a virus I designed using some files and stuff that Adam had," Willow said, trying to push the table away. "He said he was gonna use it to become immortal."

"Oh, well in that case," Xander stood up and stomped down on the disk, hard, several times. Willow watched with a slightly sick look on her face. "There," he said proudly as he stepped away to reveal the smashed bits of plastic. "None of that livin' forever for you, bud," he said, kicking Adam sharply, then grabbing his foot and hopping up and down. "Ow, damn demonhide armor!" He noticed Willow's face and said, "What? Don't tell me that you wanted that disk that badly? I mean, can't you just write the virus again?"

Willow sighed. "I don't know, Xander. But that's a discussion for another time. I think we should get out of here."

"I agree one hundred and ten percent," Buffy said from the doorway, holding up a badly mangled arm. Riley stood right behind the slayer, looking over his lover's arm with unveiled concern.

"Buffy!" Willow raced over to her friend and looked over the arm. It was broken. The bone was actually sticking out through the skin just above the elbow.

"Hey Will," the slayer said weakly. "Think we can go to the hospital now? Slayer genes just don't cut it in the pain-killing department."

"Definitely," Willow replied as the five of them limped out of the building.

***

Giles and Anya leaped to their feet as their friends came stumbling out of Adam's hideout. Buffy had her hand clasped tightly over her left arm and Riley was hovering protectively over her. Willow and Tara were clinging to each other, though Tara looked as though she might bolt at any moment. The wiccan's face had reverted to normal and her eyes held a haunted glaze to them as she numbly greeted Giles and Anya.

Anya raced to Xander's side, checking him all over for hurts, exclaiming over ever bruise and cut and punctuating her exclamations with kisses and light slaps. "Don't," kiss, "you ever," smack, "leave me," kiss, "alone with Giles that long," smack, "again!" Xander gathered Anya up in his arms and kissed her solidly. The former demon sighed and tucked herself against his body. "I missed you," she mumbled happily, running her fingers over his chest. She sniffed him. "Oh, you're all sweaty and macho smelling," she started bouncing on her heels. Her nostrils flared and she trailed her fingers down to his waistband. "Do-do you think we could go now?"

Xander swallowed and looked at his friends, who waved him off, laughing. He grinned foolishly, wrapped his arm around Anya and the two ambled off.

Giles sighed and rolled his eyes, then turned to look over the remainder of the group. Riley had a lovely purple and black shiner under one eye, Tara's hands and shirt were blood soaked and Willow looked rather battered as well. Another day, another visit to the emergency ward, he thought, then examined Buffy. The slayer was cradling one arm tightly and a determined grimace had settled on her face. Just as he was about to say something, he noticed a couple of drops of blood spatter onto the ground beside the young woman.

"Buffy," he reached out for her, "You're hurt!"

"It's nothing, Giles," the slayer said through gritted teeth, swaying against Riley a little. "Really." Then she fainted. Riley caught her and hefted her up.

"Her arm's broken," he said by way of explanation as the group began to hurry towards the parking lot. "I'm going to take her to the ER in my car, meet me there," he added, turning off toward resident parking.

"I-I should be going," Tara mumbled, turning away.

"Tara, wait!" Willow called out, reaching for her friend. "You don't have to leave," she added softly. Tara stopped, shoulders slumped.

Barely turning her head around she said, "Will... I... there's just some stuff..."

"Perhaps you should let her go, Willow," Giles said gently, understanding the wiccan's desire to go. "She may want to get cleaned up."

Tara smiled gratefully at the former watcher and nodded a little. "Yeah, I-I don't think it'd be too good to walk into an ER covered in... stuff." She looked away as she spoke.

Willow stepped over to her friend and laid her hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Then I'm going with you. We can meet up with Giles and Riley later."

Tara jerked away slightly but Willow held on. "Will..." she whispered.

"Tara, I-I know that you have some secrets... I know," she ran her hand across the wiccan's shoulder and through the girl's hair, brushing away vampdust and dried blood. "...that you aren't ...exactly what you seem to be..." Willow took a deep breath, then stepped around to face Tara, "But I don't care." She leaned in and drew Tara closer until there wasn't any space at all between them, then shyly, she closed the distance and covered the other girl's lips with her own in a brief, sweet kiss.

Giles turned away and pulled off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. Teenagers! he thought, as he conveniently forgot his own youthful folly.

When Tara didn't immediately reject her embrace, Willow wrapped her arms around the blonde and opened her mouth to run her tongue over Tara's bottom lip. The wiccan drew in a shuddering breath and pulled away. The hacker blinked, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Tara? Did I do something wrong?"

Tara had covered her mouth with her hand. "No," she said softly. "Never, Willow," her voice was muffled by her hand, but Willow could hear the ragged edge of pain in it.

"Then what is it?" the hacker asked, reaching once again for her friend.

Tara closed her eyes and turned away. "You shouldn't be kissing a monster," she replied softly.

Willow tugged on her friend's shoulder, causing Tara to turn and face her. Cupping both hands around the wiccan's face, Willow said, "Tara Walsh," she emphasized the last name, "I said I don't care."

Tara's eyes widened as understanding flooded her mind. "You-you know? Everything?"

"I know enough," Willow replied, running her thumbs over Tara's lips, parting them and revealing still-budded fangs. "I know that these," she traced the points of Tara's teeth gently, not even flinching when the sharp points pricked her skin, "Won't ever hurt me." Softly, she replaced her thumbs with her lips and when Tara didn't immediately pull away, she slipped her tongue into Tara's mouth and passionately kissed her.

Tara crushed Willow to her, kissing back hungrily, desperately. A moan trickled out of her throat and was swallowed into Willow's mouth. They parted, breathing heavily. "Will," she whispered, resting her forehead against Willow's as tears streaked her face. "There's so much I have to tell you," she finished raggedly.

"I know," Willow smiled, brushing away the wiccan's tears. "We'll talk about it all later. Right now, we have to get cleaned up and go see Buffy. Giles," Willow turned around, slipping her arm around Tara unconsciously. The watcher hadn't turned around but was still staring off into the night, waiting for the girls to finish their discussion.

"Oh! Yes?" he turned around and raked them with a raised-eyebrow glance. "Are you quite done?"

Willow smirked and said, "I haven't begun, but that's neither here nor there." Giles' face turned a unique shade of purple, causing Tara to cover her mouth to keep from giggling. "Tara and I are going to get cleaned up. We'll meet you at the ER in an hour."

Giles cleared his throat and replied, "All right," and turned to walk away. Just before he stepped onto another path, he turned back to the two girls and said, "But I would have taken at least two hours," then strode away.

Both girls picked their jaws up off the cement.

"Did he mean what I think he meant?" Tara asked, cautiously draping her arm over Willow's shoulder.

Willow looked up at Tara and considered. "Hmmm. Probably," she said, then giggled. Tara joined her and the two started walking toward Tara's dorm. They'd walked for a while when Willow said quietly, "Well, you're certainly different than the last girl I had a crush on."

"What?" Tara asked as they turned a corner.

"Oh, just that," Willow turned crimson as they came up to the stairs that led to the dorm doors. "I-I-I had this crush on this girl and she-she didn't really think that Giles was all that hip to certain um, things and um, I'm babbling, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are," Tara replied softly, tilting her head down and brushing a kiss across Willow's hair, "But I like your babbling."

Emotions chased each other across Willow's face and she smiled brightly. "Well, gosh, um, thanks," she finally said.

They climbed the stairs and reached for the door at the same time. Tara smiled shyly and reached out, opening the door. "After you," she nodded toward the brightly lit hallway. Her other hand had slid into her pocket and was rubbing the small crystal she kept cached there.

"Why thank you," Willow said, in a mock-haughty voice and stepped inside.

As soon as her friend was inside, Tara subvocalized, "See me not, hear me not, notice me not. I am invisible, I am soundless, I am no one in particular." She shivered as the familiar tingle of her own magick settled onto her shoulders, then stepped inside.

"I really hope the showers are empty. I don't really feel like sharing the bathroom with a bunch of gossiping girls," Willow commented as they climbed the stairway to Tara's room.

Tara just smiled in return, concentrating on keeping her spell active. She really didn't want to have to tell her RA that the blood on her clothes really didn't belong to her, or anyone else living. Unlike most people that lived in Sunnydale, Lauren Bishop was nosy about everything her "sisters" were up to and had latched onto Tara as her own personal "project". Willow babbled happily on, dragging Tara down the hall until they got to the wiccan's doorway. Tara disengaged herself from Willow and opened the door, stepping through first just in case there were more surprises to the night.

The room was empty. Light streaming in through the open window dappled the floor in mosaic patterns until Tara flipped on her lamp, scattering the shadows. Willow walked over to Tara's bed and sank down into it with a grateful sigh.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to sit on this block of cement again," she said, stretching out. "But it is way better than sleeping on a steel autopsy table."

Tara chuckled and closed her curtain. Tomorrow, she'd have to talk to Lauren about having her window fixed. She'd say she'd been out most of the night studying and had come in to find the window broken out. There'd be an investigation, she looked at the bloody hand prints on the sill and sighed. Better take care of those first. A water bottle on her nightstand was half full so she used it to clean up the mess. Tiny snores trickled around the room -- Willow had fallen into a light doze as Tara cleaned up as best she could.

When the wiccan was ready to shower, she woke Willow. "Willow," she shook her friend lightly.

"Hunh? Oh, darn, I'm sorry Tara I was gonna help you-"

"It's all right. Do you still want to get cleaned up? I think I have some clothes that will fit you."

"Yeah," Willow smiled shyly, "I do."

After locating some clothing for both of them, Tara and Willow padded down the hall to the communal showers. The place was thankfully, dead. Thank goddess for Friday nights! Tara thought as she hung her clean clothes on pegs. Willow put her borrowed things up next to Tara's, then kicked off her shoes. Her sweater came next, revealing the skimpy tank top Buffy had dressed her in earlier.

Tara's eyes sparkled as she noticed the article of clothing. "If I'd seen you in that earlier, I probably wouldn't have been able to speak coherently for a month," she said conversationally as she unbuttoned her shirt. Hands covered hers, stopping her.

"I feel like I should be doing that," Willow whispered, looking up into Tara's dark blue eyes.

A muscle in Tara's jaw twitched as she smiled slightly. "I would love it if you did, but I can guarantee that we won't be making it to the ER in less than 30 minutes if you do."

Willow cocked an eyebrow, "Oh, really?"

Tara leaned in and kissed the hacker for an answer. When she pulled away, Willow's eyes were slightly bemused. "Yes, really," Tara said, gently disengaging the hacker's hands from her own.

"You are certainly getting over your shyness," Willow said as she began to unbutton her pants.

"I never feel shy when I'm around you, Willow." Tara had removed her shirt and was now working on her boots.

"But what about earlier?" Willow asked as she slid her tattered jeans down over her hips into a puddle on the floor.

"That wasn't about shyness, that was about not wanting you to make a mistake," Tara replied matter-of-factly.

Willow turned and slipped her arms around Tara, hugging her close. "Any relationship with you could never be a mistake," she said, snuggling the wiccan and sighing when Tara hugged her back.

I only wish that were true, Willow, she thought sadly as she held the hacker. She released the other girl when she felt her shiver. "Go take your shower," she said nudging the girl toward a stall. "There's not much left to our hour."

"Okay," Willow grinned impishly, "but I'd rather stay in your arms."

***

Not much more than an hour later they arrived at Sunnydale Memorial's ER. Giles was pacing the waiting room while Riley made paper airplanes for a pair of runny-nosed children. Willow and Tara walked in hand in hand. They both wore heavy leather jackets and were carrying helmets. Giles stopped and looked at his watch. They were only a little late. He pursed his lips with annoyance. Didn't those kids know that they should seize every moment together that they could? Honestly, Buffy would wait... He shook his head slightly and harumphed. No matter. He put on a slightly disapproving face and said, "I see you didn't waste any time getting here."

Willow laughed and replied, "Nope, but I think Tara may have broken a few laws..."

Tara gulped and said, "Well, I didn't want us to be late."

"Anyway, how's Buffy?" Willow interrupted.

Riley looked up from his airplane construction and said, "She'll be okay, but they had to put a pin in her arm because of the severity of the break. She's in surgery right now." Small tension lines crinkled around the tall commando's eyes as he spoke. He was more worried than he let on and Willow walked over to him and put her hand on his arm.

"She'll be fine, Riley. She heals quickly," she said quietly. "Don't worry. In no time Buffy will be away and demanding smoochies for her owie."

Riley grinned, a bright flash of teeth and sparkling eyes, but the worry crept back in. "Thanks," he said. His beeper chose that moment to go off and he looked down, then stood. "I'll be right back."

"So how long has Buffy been in surgery?" Willow asked as Tara settled herself onto a seat. The two children -twin boys- walked up to her and began chattering at her about how cool her helmets were.

"Just like the power rangers!" one crowed happily, running his fingers over the smooth blue surface of the helmet.

"Not long," Giles replied, stopping his pacing momentarily.

"Then why are you acting like a nervous father?" Willow gently teased. "This is Buffy, remember?" she stepped close enough to whisper, "She who slays and walks away?"

Giles pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Yes, yes, I know. But it doesn't make this any easier."

Willow gave the watcher a half smile and squeezed his hand. "I know," she said, then went to sit next to Tara.

"Where's Buffy's mom, anyway?" Tara asked as the hacker sat down and started making faces at the two boys.

"Joyce? She had to go to Europe, remember? Something about getting some stuff for the gallery." She made a particularly freaky grimace, causing both boys to fall over laughing. Their weary parent gave both girls a smile of sincere appreciation.

"Oh, yeah, that's right."

A few minutes later a nurse called the boys back to the ER and Tara, Willow and Giles sat in tense silence. Riley walked up a little while after that and sat down saying, "Sorry, Graham had some questions." He sat down and steepled his fingers, whistling slightly.

Casually, yet timidly, Tara draped her arm around Willow, who smiled up at her girlfriend. Tara smiled back and let her arm come to rest. Willow grinned wider and snuggled up against Tara. As the minutes ticked by, the hacker slowly toppled over until she was leaning her head on Tara's shoulder. Soon, soft snores could be heard in the waiting area. Tara carefully cradled the hacker against her, making sure Willow wouldn't fall. In her sleep, Willow wrapped her arm around Tara's waist and held on tight.

"I have to use the loo," Giles said suddenly, then left the group.

Riley and Tara just sort of looked at each other for a bit until Riley wiped his hands down the front of his pants and said, "Um, Tara, I, uh, just wanted to tell you how sorry I am about Prof... er, your mother."

Tara smiled a little and nodded. "Thanks, Riley," she said quietly, stroking her fingers through Willow's hair.

"She really did care about you, you know," he added in a soft voice.

Tara shrugged and said, "Yeah, I guess."

"No, really. I can't think of any other reason why she'd have me join the Lesbian Alliance. In fact, she told me to 'watch out for them, Riley, they can't always defend themselves'. I'm sure she was really talking about you."

"M-maybe, I-I don't know," Tara stammered, shifting uncomfortably. Riley noticed and sighed.

"I'm sorry, I just thought you'd want to know."

"N-no, it's okay. I do, it's just that... well, it's hard for me. I don't really want to talk about it right now though, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem," Riley smiled a little and settled back in his chair. Giles walked up a little later and began pacing out the waiting room once more.

Almost an hour and a half later, a woman came out wearing blood speckled surgical scrubs. "Mr. Giles?" she asked, looking over the motley group.

Tara shook Willow gently. "Will... Willow," she whispered into the hacker's ear. When she didn't move, she bent her head over and said softly, "Wake up, Willow," then placed a warm kiss on the flesh below the hacker's ear.

Willow twitched and twisted her head up to look at the wiccan. "I'm awake," she said brusquely, sitting up quickly. Tara jerked away, stung, but calmed down when Willow put her hand on her knee and squeezed gently. "No, it's all right, it's not you. I'm just a bear to wake up."

"Yes, I'm Rupert Giles," Giles said, getting up to shake the woman's hand.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Natalie Fisher, Buffy's doing just fine. She's in recovery right now but you'll all be able to say good night to her in a few minutes. I was curious -- how did she break her arm?"

Riley stepped up and said, "It was a sparring accident. She's my student." He pulled out his wallet and handed her a card with a strange oriental pictogram on it. "She's taking Tae Kwon Do from me and we were working out. I slipped on something and accidentally connected with a blow."

"Mr. ... Finn, is it? You should be more careful. There was a real mess in that arm of hers. She's going to need to wear a cast for several weeks. And she shouldn't be doing any Tae Kwon Do during that time, either."

The doctor walked away, dragging Giles with her and explained to him what Buffy would need for care. She left and a little bit later a harried looking ICU nurse came out and told them where they could go visit Buffy.

"But don't stay for too long. The medicine is making her very sleepy," she admonished. The nurse led the way to the slayer's room, then let them in.

They all filed in quietly. It was a private room, only one bed, which allowed for enough space for the group to arrange themselves around Buffy. Her arm was encased in a cast and suspended from a sling.

"Hi guys," she croaked. Riley leaned down and gave her a quick kiss.

"Buffy, I'm glad you're okay," Willow said, reaching out and squeezing her friend's foot gently. "Sorry you had to come in and get me again."

"No problem Will, you know that. I love you, you're my best friend," the slayer's voice was harsh from the drugs and she pointed at a glass with a straw in it. Riley held it while she drank. She took a few swallows then looked at Tara.

The wiccan seemed to shrink under the slayer's gaze until Buffy said, "Tara, don't you ever, ever keep secrets from us again! We don't bite! Honest!" Riley was stroking Buffy's head and she nuzzled his hand. "Mm, that feels good."

"I-I-I-I," Willow lightly kicked her, "I won't. I am so, so sorry. You don't know how sorry I am. Really, sorry is written everywhere 'cuz it's how I feel. Sorry," she nodded fervently.

Buffy looked at Giles then at Riley and said, "Oh no, now there's two of them."

The group chuckled as Willow and Tara looked at each other and shrugged.

"Tara, I think what really needs to be said here is that we need to know that you're willing to be honest with us," Giles said as Buffy nodded.

"Giles is succinct boy tonight," Buffy said happily, then added in a mock growl, "Oh yeah, if you break her heart, I'll break your face."

"She's kidding," Willow whispered to a terrified Tara. At least, I hope she is... she thought.

"Okay, time to let your friend sleep," the nurse said as she poked her head in the door. "Say goodnight and see you tomorrow."

Everyone stepped up and gave Buffy a light hug or pat then left, leaving Riley behind to say a private good-bye. When he was done, he stepped out and joined them.

"Listen, I'm gonna stay here tonight. She should have someone familiar around when she wakes up," he said as they walked toward the exit.

"Yes, yes that's an excellent idea. You'll call if there's any trouble?" Giles asked, somewhat in a daze at not being the "concerned parent type" for once.

"Of course. Oh and Tara -- you won't be a target for my team, I promise."

"Thank you," she said, ducking her head.

Giles, Willow and Tara walked outside and headed over to where Giles had parked. The Englishman stopped at his car and looked at Tara. "You know," he said carefully, "Buffy may not have been very precise about things, but she's right. There is no need to keep secrets from us. We're the good guys." Tara just smiled and nodded. "Well, goodnight then. See you tomorrow."

"Bye," both girls kinda waved as he got in his toaster oven, er, car and drove away.

"Well," Willow said as she and Tara walked to the wiccan's bike. "I suppose we'll go home and go to sleep and go to class and stuff..." Tara stopped Willow with a kiss.

"Come home with me," the wiccan said, in between kisses.

"Well," kiss, "I don't," kiss, "know," kiss, "Yes. Home. With you. But, um," she pulled away from Tara's embrace a little, "can we just um, cuddle?" she bit her lip, afraid Tara might be hurt.

Tara leaned over and brushed her lips on Willow's cheek. "I'd love to cuddle," she said, then got on her bike and put on her helmet.

"Coolaroonies!" Willow found her place behind Tara and the two drove off.

fin

04-30-00

Prison of Choice