The Varos Triad Part 13
Disclaimers: - Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all the characters
belong to Joss Whedon, Warner Brothers and anyone else who own them -
and that does not include me. I am making no profit from this - I'm
just borrowing them to write a story and entertain.
Author: Steff
Pairing: Faith/Cordelia
Rating: PG-13 I think - but if anyone thinks it should be higher let
me know.
Feedback: yes please: - rebelgirl_uk@yahoo.co.uk
Archive: CordySlash, Disco Inferno, Passion and Perfection and ~Miss
K~'s sites are all welcome. Anyone else, please ask.
Summary: - Faith returns to Sunnydale in pursuit of a demon, but is
not well received by Buffy and the Scoobs. However, it appears they
have to join forces with Faith and the LA gang when they discover the
history of the artefacts. Cordelia has a vision that includes seeing
Faith attack her but what she really sees is a shape-shifter
attacking her. In the middle of the battle to vanquish Varos, Willow
casts a spell that makes Faith and Tara disappear...
______________________________________________________
Willow continued to stare at the space where Faith and Tara had been
standing just moments ago. Her mouth hung open slightly and she
realised belatedly that her nose was bleeding, indication that once
again, she had surpassed her limits as a witch and was now physically
paying the penalty for it. She wiped away the trickle of red fluid
running down her face but was too dazed to realise that it was
quickly replaced as she failed to staunch the flow.
Emotionally, she was paying a far higher price. In her haste to deal
with Faith, she had used her powers rashly and had now ended up
hurting the person she cared for most. She could feel her heart
hammer in her chest, almost as if it was trying to escape, and Willow
knew that it had nothing to do with the effects of the spell she had
cast. Seared into her memory was Tara's voice. The blonde witch had
worked out exactly what Willow was going to do, and even as the blue
energy blast swept over her and Faith, Tara had turned to face her
lover, a look of utter disbelief and hurt etched on her features.
Willow rolled her eyes in an effort to stop unshed tears falling.
Tara had sensed that the redhead had used dark magick again, despite
Tara's pleading with her not to succumb to its allure. As Tara
disappeared within the blinding-white light, Willow could distinctly
see her blue eyes staring back at her, clearly showing how betrayed
she felt by Willow's actions.
The auburn-haired girl could hear someone calling her name but hardly
had the strength to stand, let alone determine who was talking to
her. The witch felt her arm being tugged and she looked away from the
scene wearily and stared at Buffy.
"What happened, Willow?" The blonde slayer asked the question slowly
and without any hint of accusation or blame, yet Willow flinched as
she remembered the last moments of the spell.
The Wicca shook her head slightly in confusion. "Tara got in the
way," she began hesitantly. "She wasn't supposed to get hurt." Willow
broke off and looked back to the empty area of the cemetery, her
breathing still coming in heaving gasps, as if she'd just completed a
long-distance run.
"I know that," Buffy replied, stroking her friend's arm
sympathetically. "But what happened? How did they disappear?" Her
forehead crumpled quizzically.
"I used the residual power left over from when we banished Varos."
Willow paused and then continued, looking at Buffy once more. "I
directed the energy towards the shape-shifter. It should have just
destroyed it. But Tara got in the way…" Willow faltered again, and
looked at the other Scoobs who had gathered round her, feeling as
confused as they appeared to be.
Cordelia hadn't moved from the place where she had stood and watched
Faith and Tara get enveloped by a blue-white energy beam. She
clutched at her stomach and was frightened to take her hand away in
case the bleeding got worse. She could feel hot, sticky blood ooze
over her fingers, and she had to swallow down the sensation of nausea
that began as she finally comprehended that what she could feel was
her own blood escaping.
Recalling the last events, she began to look round the graveyard
trying to locate the rogue slayer and blonde witch, blinking in an
effort to rid her sight of the dark spots burnt onto her retinas by
the intensity of the light.
As she turned her head, she locked eye contact with Angel and then
Wesley as they hurried over to her. Out of desperation, she asked the
question that was screaming inside her head. "Where's Faith?"
Angel and the young Watcher looked at each other before speaking.
Cordelia took this to be a bad sign. "Oh no." She brought her free
hand up to cover her mouth in horror. "She's not dead is she?" The
Seer began to look round frantically, hoping not to find the renegade
slayer's body lying motionless on the ground somewhere.
"I don't know," replied Angel softly.
"What do you mean you don't know? What the hell is going on?"
Cordelia could feel her anger mounting at the vague reply she
received. She remembered the flash of energy that had emanated from
where Willow had been standing, and how Tara had run over to where
Faith and the shape-shifter had been fighting. The ex-cheerleader
suddenly turned cold as she came to an awful conclusion. "What did
she do to her?" she asked, her voice low and menacing.
Wesley looked back to where Willow stood with Buffy, a lost and
exhausted look on her face. "I don't think she knows what she did
herself," he commented with remarkable insight.
The Seer swayed slightly and shot out a hand to grab onto anything to
steady herself. Angel reacted quickly and closed the distance
between them and offered an arm for Cordelia to hold onto. The
brunette made no further attempt to move until she regained her
balance. "Help me over to them," she asked softly. Angel nodded
and
led the way slowly, wanting as many answers as his secretary.
Buffy turned round when she heard the others approach. "Cordelia,
are you all right?" The blonde slayer appeared to be genuinely
concerned for her ex-school friend.
"I have to get to the hospital," admitted the Seer candidly, looking
down towards her wound instinctively. "But I can't go without
finding out what happened."
Willow turned and looked at Cordelia for a moment. "I used a power
bolt to kill the shape-shifter. But Tara ran into its path. I had
to change the nature of the spell to save her."
"You changed a spell halfway through casting it?" Giles interjected
incredulously. "Do you know how difficult that is to do?"
"I don't know how I did it Giles," Willow responded wearily. "I just
knew that I couldn't let Tara die."
"That's incredible Willow. Well done," Anya complimented. When the
red-haired witch just stared at her blankly, Anya felt compelled to
make an enquiry. "What did you do to the spell then?"
"I manipulated it and turned it into a displacement spell. I've sent
them to another plane."
"Well, that can't be too bad," the blonde ex-vengeance demon
reasoned. "Just regain your strength and summon them back."
"It's not quite that simple," Willow began, looking nervously at
Cordelia.
"Oh my God," interrupted Giles as he realised what the adept had
done. "You've banished them to where Varos was sent haven't you?"
Willow blanched as he voiced his concerns. "I think so. I'm not even
sure of that. All I do know is that wherever I've sent them, it won't
be a safe place."
"I thought that the incantation they performed destroyed Varos."
Buffy's brow creased once again.
"No, it destroyed the artefacts that could summon him back here. The
recitation sent him back to where he was originally banished," Wesley
explained.
"Oh great," Xander muttered.
"So you sent Tara and Faith back with him?" Giles wanted the theory
confirmed.
"I don't know. I think so, but I can't be sure." Willow staggered
slightly as exhaustion washed over her, but concentrated on staying
upright. Buffy grabbed her arm and helped to support the girl's
weight.
"Well it can't be that bad," Anya commented. "Just summon them back."
"Wait a minute," Buffy interjected. "What about the shape shifter?
Did you send them 'wherever' with that thing?"
"Buffy, I don't know," Willow responded desolately. "I think I
killed the shape-shifter, but because I tampered with the spell, it
could well have been caught up in the energy beam."
"Get them back now," Cordelia insisted, her voice tight with emotion.
"I can't yet. I'm too tired." Willow decided not to mention that she
had no idea *how* to summon her lover and the rogue slayer back from
wherever she had sent them. That precious gem of information could
wait until she had regained some of her strength and she could at
least begin to think straight.
Cordelia looked at the Wiccan carefully. "What I want to know is why
Tara decided to leap in front of your energy bolt. Surely if she
knew what you were up to, she would have kept well out of the way."
"Unless she wasn't only aiming for the shape-shifter," supplied Gunn
darkly.
Willow looked at the man quickly before looking away, shaking her
head slightly in silent denial, even as Angel and Wes stared at her,
contemplating what Gunn had suggested.
Cordelia's eyes widened. "Wait a minute," she began, her mind once
again remembering the previous events. "Tara yelled out at you.
She
wanted you to stop." The Seer broke off for a second, trying to work
out what had happened. "You were going to kill Faith weren't you?"
she accused angrily.
"Cordy," Angel interjected, trying to placate the Seer before things
got out of hand and tightened his grip on her gently.
"Well?" Cordelia ignored the vampire and stared at Willow.
"N-not intentionally. But I-I-I couldn't hold onto the energy any
longer. I had to release it at the shape-shifter, and Faith was still
fighting it." Willow was reluctant to admit her real reasons while
she was still in a weakened state after casting.
"Bullshit," refuted Cordelia. She shrugged her arm out of the grasp
of Angel's hand and took a step toward the shorter girl. "You were
going to kill Faith all along weren't you?"
"No! Definitely not. No, in no way was I thinking of doing that."
Willow could feel her cheeks redden as she continued her denial.
"Then why did Tara get in the way?" pursued Cordelia doggedly.
"Because she realised that Faith would get hurt too," explained
Willow quickly. She tried changing tack. "Cordelia, I've lost my
lover."
"You've lost mine too," the brunette informed her, no longer wanting
to hide her growing emotions for the younger woman, and not caring
what anyone else thought about their relationship. "And I'll make
sure that you stop at nothing to get her back."
Willow nodded rapidly. "I'll get them back," she vowed.
"Oh, you'd better. Because I sure as hell won't rest till I've got
Faith back," Cordelia swore sincerely. "And that means that you
won't be resting either."
Willow looked down and then turned back to where Tara and Faith had
disappeared. "I won't rest," she whispered, tucking a loose strand
of hair back behind her ear absently as she tried to order her mind
so that she could begin her search.
The Seer swayed slightly after her sudden outburst and closed her
eyes in an effort to steady herself. Cordelia turned round and was
about to take Angel's arm for assistance once again, when she changed
her mind and turned back round. "Willow?" she asked softly.
Willow looked up at the summons, only to be the recipient of a
vicious bitch-slap that sent her sprawling onto the ground. She
looked up in shock and gingerly felt the corner of her mouth. Willow
inspected the tips of her fingers and slowly rubbed away the blood
that had transferred onto them from her split lip and returned her
gaze upwards where Cordelia stood over her, a look of dazed confusion
on her features.
"If you hurt her again, the only psycho bitch you'll have to worry
about will be me," the dark eyed girl told her quietly. Cordelia
stepped back and held onto Angel as he lead her back towards the
Magic Box and his car.
Willow looked round at the remaining members of the group and was
surprised to see confused, almost accusatory looks from them. She
held out a hand towards Buffy so that she could assist her to her
feet. The blonde slayer hesitated for a fraction before reaching
down and helping her friend. As the redhead got to her feet, Buffy
stepped back and looked at her steadily.
"Willow, tell me that you realise your actions were wrong," she
pleaded.
Willow returned the look. "I thought I was doing the right thing. The
shape-shifter had to be dealt with," she justified, her voice rising
in pitch as she defended herself.
"But not at Faith's expense. And not by using black magick. You
promised," Giles reminded her, a hurt look on his usually impassive
features.
"Can we apportion blame later? I need to get some rest so that I can
find Tara," Willow stubbornly refused to deal with the subject head
on, and was content to come up with an excuse to avoid discussing
what had transpired.
Buffy nodded tiredly. She was feeling the effects of fighting Varos
and was also in need of recuperation. But she knew that she would
have to make Willow face up to her actions at some point. She just
hoped that Tara and Faith hadn't paid the ultimate price for the
Wiccan's misguided initiative.
* * *
Tara could hear a voice calling to her. It sounded muffled, as
though it was coming from a long way away, and yet she instinctively
knew that whoever was trying to talk to her was close by. The blonde
witch shifted slightly, in an effort to make her body move in some
way, as her eye lids appeared to be refusing to open for her. She
felt a grip around her tighten and realised that she was being held,
probably by the same person who was talking to her. She felt
frustrated that she couldn't communicate with her unknown companion
and the feeling compounded as she felt herself slip back into the
realm of unconsciousness.
The second time Tara heard the voice speaking, it was much clearer,
and definitely feminine. She recognised the tones but couldn't quite
place it yet. She was swaying and, at first, became alarmed and
tried to sit up. Once again, she felt something strong increase
pressure round her body, but this time, it felt secure and
reassuring. Tara's brain finally began to analyse the sensations
properly and the wiccan realised that she was being carried. And
judging by the rapidity of the motion, whoever was carrying her was
moving at quite a pace.
The voice that now sounded so close by, spoke up again. "Don't
struggle. You'll set me off-balance, and we need to find somewhere
safe to hide."
Perversely, the words did not comfort her, for Tara knew
instinctively that the person carrying her did not often run or avoid
conflict. Something felt horribly wrong and what made it worse was
that Tara was feeling pain wrack in spasms through her body. The
jogging motion did nothing to help and she couldn't help but cry out
in pain as a particularly vicious jolt vibrated her body. Suddenly,
the motion stopped and she felt herself being lowered to the ground.
Desperately, she tried to open her eyes and see whoever it was that
was carrying her, but the pain had made her woozy and blackness
enveloped her once again.
Tara moved and snuggled into the warmth that lay next to her.
Instinctively, she wrapped her arm around the body next to hers and
pulled her own body in closer so that they touched as much as they
could. Sleepily, she buried her head into the neck of her sleeping
companion, nuzzling into long hair and breathing in the scent and
heat of the woman. Somewhere in the recess of her mind, she was
slightly puzzled at how Willow's hair could have grown, but the
thought barely registered. Instead, Tara increased the pressure on
her arm and enveloped the woman lying next to her. Unconsciously,
Tara moved her arm so that she could stroke lazy circles on her
partner's abdomen. She grinned when she heard a low grumble and took
this as a sign of encouragement and moved her hand steadily upwards.
It was only when her hand cupped a breast that was obviously larger
than Willow's that it registered that the moan she heard was far
deeper than any sound Willow would make. Her eyes flew open and she
sat up, blinking rapidly as she stared at the woman she had been
groping. "F-F-Faith, I'm s-s-s-so s-sorry. Oh my God, I- I-I didn't
mean..."
Faith grinned as she stretched. "Nice hands, Tar."
"Oh God, Faith. I thought I was with..."
"Please don't finish that sentence," Faith begged as she sat up. "Do
I look like I'm complaining? Just about the best wake-up call I've
had in years."
If it were at all possible, Tara's eyes widened even more and she
blushed furiously. "I'm s-sorry," the blonde witch repeated.
"Don't apologise for that." Faith couldn't help teasing the
embarrassed girl. "I take it you're feeling better," she commented
with a grin.
Tara nodded, willing the blood to leave her face so she could cool
off and calm down. She switched topics in an effort to distance
herself from what she'd done. "Where are we?"
"I was kinda hoping that you could answer that one. I don't have a
frickin' clue." The rogue slayer was brief and to the point.
"Well, at the moment I'm guessing that we're in a cave?" Tara
suggested with a hint of sarcasm.
"Well, I worked that bit out for myself, seeing as I carried you in
here," Faith returned, rolling her eyes.
The raven-haired slayer's words made Tara remember her previous
attempts at regaining consciousness and she wondered what had
happened during that time. "Faith, what happened?"
"When?" Faith couldn't follow the wiccan's line of enquiry.
"When we got to wherever we are? How long have I been unconscious?
And why did you have to carry me anywhere?"
"Okay, okay, I got the idea." Faith held up her hand to stop Tara
from asking any more questions. "I was fighting the shape-shifter
and then we got zapped by this bright light. The next thing I know,
we're in this crazy place and the shape-shifter's all over me again.
Luckily, it took pretty much all of the blast and I managed to kill
the bitch. When I looked round I saw you lying on the ground. I
couldn't wake you up." Faith looked at the other girl and grinned at
her. "You looked like shit by the way."
"Thanks," Tara replied, returning the grin. "So why did we move and
how far have we gone?"
"We had to move. We were surrounded by demons. And there was no way I
was gonna be able to fight my way through and protect you at the same
time, so I just picked you up and ran for it."
Tara looked gratefully at the brunette. "Thanks for not leaving me."
"Hey, you're the one who's gone around telling everyone I'm not
psycho anymore. Would have been a bit shitty of me to leave you to
fend for yourself, you being unconscious and all."
"You found this place straight away then?" Tara asked.
"No. Had to run and hide for a while. I had to put you down a few
times to clear the way. But you remained out of it. Didn't matter
what I did to you. It's difficult to tell how long we were moving
for though. Pretty much been running all day, I think. It all feels
wrong here. I feel outta sorts."
"You carried me all day?" interjected Tara incredulously.
"Well, I had to put you down to kick some demon ass. And, like I
said, it feels all out of whack here. It's difficult to judge time,"
Faith explained. The Bostonian rubbed her shoulder absently.
Tara noticed it immediately. "Are you hurt?"
"I'll be all right."
Faith stiffened slightly as Tara looked her arm carefully and then
widened her examination. "Goddess, Faith. Is there any part of you
that isn't injured?" The blonde witch felt her heart sink as she
surveyed a mountain of bruises and cuts.
"Not sure. The demons here are massive. Luckily they're also stupid.
None of them teamed up against me or there's no way we'd be having
this conversation."
Tara pondered over Faith's words. "They're not humanised here. This
could be very bad," she muttered to herself. However Faith picked up
the murmured words.
"Humanised?" she enquired.
"When demons cross the Hellmouth, they become humanised and end up
smaller versions of their original selves. Wherever we are, it sounds
like they can keep their true size. It also means they retain their
true powers." Tara looked at Faith with wonder. "You've done very
well if you defeated them here."
Faith shrugged the compliment off. "More like I've only come up
against the minor ones," she amended.
The blonde smiled wanly at Faith's self-depreciation. "Possibly. But
whatever the case, you've got to be at full strength if we're going
to survive here. How long will it take you to heal?"
"Well, usually a good night's sleep sorts me out. After I found this
place and made it safe, I had planned on doing just that. As you were
shivering, it made sense to lie down beside you and share body heat.
Never knew that you wanted to *really* share body heat." Faith
wiggled her eyebrows suggestively provoking another blushing episode
from Tara.
"Faith," she pleaded. "Honestly, I didn't know it was you. I would
never…"
"Never?" Faith interrupted. "Now I *am* offended. You telling me I'm
not worth a look at least?" She couldn't help but tease Tara. It was
too easy to get her embarrassed.
"No, no. I didn't mean it like that. You're d-definitely worth l-l-
looking at. You're very attractive…"
"So you *were* coming on to me?" Faith nudged her body in closer and
her grin widened.
"Faith!"
"Relax Blondie." Faith couldn't help but laugh again. "I know you and
Red are tight."
Tara's face clouded slightly. "I'm not so sure anymore."
Faith sat back as her eyes widened. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Tara rubbed the back of her neck. "Willow used dark magick to try and
eliminate the shape-shifter."
"Yeah and? She got rid of it all right."
"She never intended to send it somewhere else. She intended to kill
it."
"I'm still not getting why you're so upset by that," Faith admitted.
Tara looked steadily at her companion. "I have two problems about
it," she began. "Willow made no effort to protect you from the beam
and she used black magick when she *promised* me that she wouldn't."
"Tara, she did what she thought was right. She's never hidden her
feelings about me. And you can't blame her really, after the way I
treated them all."
The blonde witch stared incredulously at the younger girl. "She might
hate you Faith, but that's no excuse for trying to kill you. And
you've just tried to defend her. If that's not an example of how much
you've changed, I don't know what is." Tara ran a hand through her
hair worriedly before continuing. "The point is that it doesn't seem
to matter what you do or say. Or what I say for that matter. She
needs to understand how she's behaving. And it all stems down to her
continued use of dark magick. It sucks you in and then begins to
influence your behaviour. She used to know the difference between
right and wrong. Goddess, she's been fighting evil for years. But
each time she uses black magick, her moral judgement just gets more
and more clouded. She could turn totally and not even realise it."
Tara gasped for breath after her outburst, and felt her heart
hammering in her chest, her emotions raging through her as she voiced
her fears openly for the first time.
"Hey, calm down Tar." Faith swung an arm around the woman and hugged
her tightly. The gesture prompted Tara to burst into tears and she
held onto Faith as she sobbed into the brunette's shoulder.
Faith patted Tara's shoulder awkwardly. When she had reached out to
hug the girl, she hadn't expected a flood of emotions to come
bursting out. The dark slayer was the first to admit that she wasn't
that great at dealing with emotion at the best of times, and she was
at a loss as to how to continue. She let the blonde witch continue
to cry for a few minutes before venturing to speak again. "Listen
Tara, we both need to be at full strength if we want to get out of
this place. And that means that you've got to concentrate on what we
can do now and not on what's going to happen when we get back to the
others. I'm gonna need your witchy powers as much as my slayer
strength to fight off these mothers so you've got to deal with this
now or put it to one side and deal with it later."
Faith could feel Tara nod into her shoulder and gently, the blonde
woman sat back, sniffing and taking gulping breaths as she tried to
control her breathing and stop the tears from falling. Gently, Faith
wiped the wicca's face. "Let's concentrate on getting out of here
alive. Then you can worry about what Willow's going through. Okay?"
Tara sniffed spasmodically and blew out a deep breath of air before
nodding. "I'll be okay. But I don't know if I'll be able to perform
any magick here," she answered.
Faith frowned. "Why not? You're not still injured are you?"
"No, I think I've slept enough for most of the energy bolt to
dissipate out of me. I just don't know about the spectral dynamics of
this place. Any incantations that I perform here might not create the
desired effects."
"Can I have the English version Tar?"
Tara smiled weakly. "Sorry. My spells might not be spells here. I
could try to create an energy bolt and produce a rabbit instead," she
explained.
"Great. As if we haven't got enough to worry about. Oh well, we'll
just have to see what happens," Faith decided.
Tara frowned. "How long will it take us to get back to where we
materialised?"
"I don't know if you were listening earlier, but that place was
crawling with demons. It's not in my top ten places to revisit,"
Faith replied laconically.
"We don't have a choice, Faith," Tara told the dark slayer. "If
Willow and the others try to summon us back, the energy concentration
for the retrieval will be centred where we were originally set down.
If we're too far away from that point, we won't fall within the range
of the summoning and they won't get us back."
"Is that how it works? Shit, how do you know all this stuff?" Faith
was amazed. It made perfect sense but she was impressed by the blonde
witch's knowledge of the magick arts.
Tara burst the bubble slightly. "I'm not sure to be honest. I've
never been on the receiving side of it all before. But that's how I
interpreted all the texts that are available on it," she admitted.
"Good enough for me," Faith told her. "I'm not up to full strength
yet. Unless they've spotted the camouflage I set up outside, we
should be safe to rest here until we're both able to take on the
natives."
"But what if they're trying to summon us back now?" Tara persisted.
"Not much point summoning back dead bodies is there?" Faith told her
brutally. Tara looked downcast at the thought. The rogue slayer
sighed. "I want to get back as much as you do. Cordelia's injured. I
need to know that she's safe," she admitted.
Tara looked at the brunette and recalled Cordelia's outburst
concerning her vision. "You know she loves you don't you?"
Faith shook her head. "I'm not sure of anything anymore Blondie," she
told her. "But I know that I'd never want any harm to come to her.
I've got a lot to deal with when we get back. But we need to
concentrate on the 'getting back' bit before anything else."
"I know," concurred the taller girl. "I just don't want to miss the
summoning home," she continued.
"I'm right there with you Tar," Faith told her. "But if Willow used
up all this magic, surely she'll need time to recuperate too," she
suggested.
Tara nodded. "Of course she will. How stupid of me. And I thought you
didn't know anything about magick," she accused good-naturedly.
Faith shook her head. "I don't. Give me a knife or a crossbow any
day."
"I'll buy you one for your birthday if we get out of here," Tara
vowed, the pacifist inside her shocked for offering to do something
like that. The look of surprise and veiled delight on Faith's face
was enough to convince her that she would do just that if they did
return to Sunnydale though. The blonde wicca could justify her
action, secure in the knowledge that Faith would use the implement in
the fight against evil, for she was now totally convinced that the
brunette slayer had regained her sense of duty.
"Come on Tar, lie down. I promise I won't do anything if you don't,"
Faith grinned lasciviously at Tara as she patted the ground beside
her.
Tara shook her head. "You're incorrigible Faith," she told her. "And
keep your hands to yourself," she warned, a look of mischief in her
eyes as she lay down by the Bostonian.
Faith laughed. "It wasn't me who was getting down and dirty before,"
she reminded the older girl.
"You encouraged me. I distinctly heard you moaning," Tara shot back,
despite blushing to her hairline again.
"Who wouldn't?" Faith retorted. "Besides, I was asleep. Not my
fault that the girl of my dreams decided to get all erotic on me."
She wiggled her eyebrows again.
"I thought it was the girl of my dreams too," Tara whispered, her
mood falling again.
"You'll see her again," Faith told her assuredly.
"And you'll see Cordelia again," Tara replied.
"I know," agreed Faith. "Now shut up and let me sleep. We've got
demon ass to kick later." Her eyes were closing as she spoke and Tara
realised that the slayer must be exhausted. The blonde witch turned
slightly and shut her eyes, savouring both the warmth and protection
the brunette was emanating and thought absently how lucky Cordelia
was.
To be continued...