The Varos Triad Part 14


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...

______________________________________________________



Faith woke, relishing the body heat so close behind her and realised
with a smile that Tara had somehow managed to spoon herself behind
the brunette.  Her smile widened as she pondered on how touchy-feely
her relationship with Willow must be.  Then she remembered the blonde
witch's face falling when she described her take on the events that
had put them here and her visage became more wistful. 

She sighed and extricated herself softly from the taller girl's grip,
wondering what it would feel like to wake up in Cordelia's arms.  She
blocked those thoughts off as quickly as they started.  The dark
slayer had shut the Seer out, as soon as they had hit a bump in their
relationship.  She could hardly expect Cordelia to stick around and
trust her, when she couldn't even trust the ex-cheerleader enough to
talk things through.  

Her movement was enough to disturb Tara and the tall wiccan yawned
loudly before looking at Faith, her cheeks reddening with
embarrassment, realising that she must have curled up practically on
top of her to get as warm as she currently felt.

"If you're gonna apologise again, don't," Faith advised her with a
smile.  "We've got too much to do without having to worry about
saying sorry all the time."

"Sorry."  Tara shook her head in frustration as the word slipped out
but started to laugh as Faith slapped her forehead in mock
annoyance.   "I can't help it," she told the brunette.  "I've spent
most of my life apologising.  You'll just have to be patient with me."

"Not one of my stronger attributes but I'll see what I can do." 
Faith smiled back at the girl and wondered about the past Tara hinted
at.  There was more to her throwaway comment than met the eye. 
Perhaps Faith's own experiences allowed her to see its hidden depth. 
Faith reflected on what she knew about Tara.  The blonde witch seemed
to have coped with whatever crappy hand life had dealt her.  Perhaps
it was an intrinsic part of her character.  There was something about
the quiet girl that Faith found compelling.  "Why have you been
defending me?" She asked suddenly.

Tara blinked at the directness of the question.  "Because you've
changed," she replied simply, hoping that it would be enough to
satisfy the raven-haired slayer.

Faith shook her head.  "You don't know that.  You never knew me
before."

Tara sighed.  "You're right.  But I can..." she struggled to find a
suitable word.  "I can 'sense' someone's aura."  She shook her head,
flustered by her own inadequacy at description.  "I knew it was you
inside Buffy's body," she continued, by way of an explanation.

Faith coloured and looked away.  "I was pretty crazy back then," she
muttered.  "Sorry for being such a bitch to you."  Her words were
almost inaudible.

"I thought we had put a ban on apologies," Tara replied gently. 
Faith just shrugged and refused to look at the witch.  "You admit to
being crazy back then.  Would you admit it if you were still crazy?"

"Dunno," answered the Bostonian gruffly.  "Probably another aspect of
my psycho nature."

"Faith, stop running yourself down.  I defended you because I know
you've changed.  You think about what you do, you consider other
people's feelings and opinions and you apologise for your mistakes. 
That's not 'psycho'."  Tara held up her fingers to gesture quotation
marks round the word.  "That's being normal."  She shook her head
sadly.  "It's just a shame that people are more comfortable sticking
with their memories and perceptions than trying to move on and give
credit where its due."

Faith snorted.  "It shouldn't matter, but it does," she
admitted.  "But I don't know what else I can do to convince them."  
She shook her head ruefully.  "There's not much point talking about
this at the moment though.  If we can't get back, it doesn't really
matter what the hell they think."  She stood up, suddenly
uncomfortable with revealing her feelings.  "We need to get moving. 
I don't want to miss our summons home."

Tara stood up and stretched carefully, stiff after sleeping on the
cold floor of the cave.  The blonde girl studied the slayer.  "I
always imagined you as not being a morning person," she told her.

"Years of prison routine are difficult to break," Faith returned
candidly.  "Besides, who says it's morning?  I have no idea how long
we've slept.  Have you?"

Tara frowned as she thought about it.   Her watch just flashed the
figure 12:00 at her repeatedly.  Somehow, it had decided to reset
itself and was effectively useless in her determination of the
time.  "I don't know how long we've slept," she told the shorter
girl.  "But I do know that I'm hungry."

Faith groaned.  Her stomach automatically growled in response.  "You
had to say it," she whined as she held her hand over her abdomen,
trying to muffle another loud protest.  "I'm starved."

"Don't suppose you can rustle up breakfast can you?" Tara asked
hopefully. 

"Do I look like a cook?" Retorted Faith quickly.

Tara giggled.  "No, I can't see you with a chef's hat on somehow,"
she confided, grinning as the slayer poked her tongue out at her.

"Not really my style," the slayer concurred.  "Come on, let's get
moving.  The sooner we get back to our," Faith faltered as she tried
to find a word to describe where they had appeared.  "Our landing
site, the sooner we can get back and eat." 

Satisfied with her description, the brunette woman took the lead and
headed towards the exit of the cave.  "Stay behind me while I check
it's safe for us to break cover," she told the wiccan, trailing an
arm behind her to prevent Tara from getting too close to the opening
of the cave.  She glanced back to make sure that Tara was doing what
she had asked and then crept out of the cave stealthily, rolling her
weight on her feet to minimalise any sound she was making as she
stepped out of the cave's safety.

Blinking rapidly as her pupils contracted with the sudden change in
luminescence, Faith looked round quickly before ducking back inside. 
Feeling her pupils dilate once again, she looked at her
companion.  "It looks like it's all clear to get going.  Are you sure
you're up to this?  Do you want more time to recuperate?"

Tara smiled at the brunette.  "Don't worry about me.  I feel much
better.  No pain at all now, other than from sleeping on a hard floor
anyway.  I just hope that I can help you if we run into trouble."

"When we run into trouble," amended Faith pessimistically.  "Don't
sweat it Tar.  One stage at a time," she told the older girl.

Tara nodded in agreement and then tucked in behind Faith as they
stepped out of the cave.  She stood up and then turned round in a
slow 360, taking in the bizarre scenery and alien skyline.  The sky
was a dark purple, and darker coloured clouds were shredded
throughout it, scudding across the vista by an unfelt wind.  The
landscape before them was covered in tall, forbidding trees that
bathed any open areas in dark shadows, giving the whole area a darkly
sinister undertone.   "We're not in Kansas anymore," she breathed.

Faith rolled her eyes.  "Yeah, well if the only enemies we have to
face are munchkins and the Wicked Witch of the West, we'll do Okay."

Tara glanced at the dark slayer.  "I never pegged you as watching The
Wizard of Oz," she confessed with a grin.

"I had a shitty childhood, doesn't mean I didn't have a childhood at
all," Faith replied, unconsciously getting defensive.

Tara rolled her eyes at her own insensitivity.  "I-I-I'm sorry Faith,
I didn't mean..."

Faith held up a hand, realising that she had overreacted.  "Whoa,
whoa.  No apologies, remember?  Besides, if you never thought I
watched it, at least I got my image right, huh?"  She wiggled her
eyebrows, making Tara relax slightly.  "So tell me, did it really go
into colour?  We only had a black and white."

Tara looked at the girl open-mouthed, wondering if she was teasing
her.  Somehow, she didn't think so.  "When we get back, I'm going to
make you sit down and watch it with me," she vowed.

"Not likely," the slayer demurred.  "You'd end up comparing witchy
spells."

At that, Tara burst out laughing.  "Come on.  I have no idea where
we're headed otherwise I would have forged ahead to make a point by
now.  Knowing my luck, I'd head in the wrong direction."

Faith smirked.  "Okay.  But this doesn't mean I'm watching some
crappy film," she repeated as she began to stride along a barely
visible pathway.

Tara stretched out her legs to match the other girl's pace and fell
into step next to her.  "How long do you think it will take for us to
get back to where we started?"

Faith shrugged.  "Can't say for sure, Blondie," she replied.  "I
don't know how much you slowed me down on the trip out, and I don't
know what we're gonna come up against before we get back.  But we're
looking at hours here, not minutes."

"I'll try not to slow you down too much on the way back," the taller
girl commented dryly.

"I'm counting on you speeding us up," replied the brunette
cryptically.

"Huh?"

Faith stole a quick glance at her companion before looking ahead once
more, her eyes constantly scanning the vicinity for any unwanted
company.  "Well, rather than me fight our way through, maybe you can
come up with some distractions or diversions for the munchkins," she
explained.

"I told you Faith, I'm not sure how my magic will work here," Tara
replied nervously.

"We'll find out soon enough.  No point worrying till we have to," the
Bostonian reassured the wiccan.  Tara shook her head worriedly, not
wanting to let the slayer down, but fearing that she would do just
that.  She remained silent though, and the two women continued to
make progress under the shadow of the trees back to where they had
first materialised.

* * *

Willow stretched out languidly and yawned as she woke up, realising
belatedly that she was in the Magic Box and had spent another night
curled up on one of the sofas there.  The witch  no longer felt so
bone-numbingly exhausted after the magical effort of the night
before, but she had a deep-rooted weariness blanketing her and she
wondered how long it would take before she recovered fully.  She
scanned the room carefully before sitting up, wondering who else was
in the shop with her.  Finding that she was apparently alone, the red-
haired wiccan got up and stretched again, feeling the satisfying pop
of stiff tendons as she raised her hands above her head. 

Satisfied that she had got rid of the kinks, Willow made her way over
to the coffee pot and was gratified to see that, as ever, there was
plenty in the pot.  She quickly poured herself a large mug and then
moved over to the table where she and Tara had been studying the
incantation. 

At the thought of her lover, Willow faltered and sat down quickly. 
She had no idea how to retrieve the blonde witch and Faith but she
knew that she had to have seen the spell somewhere before for her to
be able to draw on it.  It looked like she was going to have to sit
down and peruse a great number of tomes in the hope that as soon as
she began reading the correct incantation, she would recognise it and
research a way of summoning the two women back. 

Despite an eagerness to find the spell as quickly as possible, Willow
was practical enough to know that she was still in no fit state to
perform whatever the ritual was, so in a perverse way, she hoped that
she didn't stumble across what she needed straight away.  It would be
difficult, if not impossible to convince Cordelia that she was not
capable of the task till at least tonight.

Willow sighed heavily.  She wanted Tara back certainly as much as
Cordelia wanted Faith back.  If only her lover hadn't realised how
Willow was manipulating the power she had stored, none of this would
matter.  Faith would be gone forever out of their lives and everyone
could finally move on.  It appeared that Cordelia seemed to have
feelings for the rogue slayer, but they couldn't possibly be that
strong.  Faith was incapable of dealing with her own emotions, let
alone forming a relationship with other people, unless it was a hate-
hate relationship.  It wouldn't be that difficult for the ex-
cheerleader to move on and find someone else.  Finding someone who
wasn't a deranged murderer would be far healthier for her, not to
mention less fatal.

Unfortunately, Willow had sent her lover to another realm in the
company of said deranged murderer.  Willow felt herself get angry
again.  If Faith did anything to harm Tara, she would stop at nothing
to ensure it was the last thing the rogue slayer did.  She just hoped
that Tara had the strength and ability to deal with the manipulative
bitch and stay alive long enough for Willow to get her home.

Focused now on rescuing Tara from the fate that she had placed her
in, Willow started her search with the books already on the table. 
Maybe she would be lucky and find what she wanted in what she had
read recently.

* * *

Angel looked out of the side room window nervously.  The sun would be
rising soon and he needed to leave.  However, he really didn't want
to leave Cordelia until he had spoken to her and reassured her that
he had stayed with her all night.  He glanced over to where the Seer
slept, a bag of fluid dripping into her arm and a loop of tubing
feeding her oxygen through her nose.  The brooding vampire sighed. 
He was starting to spend far too much time in hospitals, worrying
over his friends as they recovered from injuries.  Faith had been in
this very room the night before.  Now, Cordelia lay there.  Angel was
beginning to wonder if he expected too much from his work
colleagues.  Even as the thought formed though, he realised it was
futile.  Faith was a slayer, called to protect the world from demons
and despite going off the rails in a spectacular way, was now
fulfilling her destiny with determination and vigour.  Cordelia, ever
since she had been 'gifted' with visions had begun to change her
outlook on life and was determined to help those in need, regardless
of the danger she put herself in.

When Faith had been released from prison, Cordelia had surprised
Angel by tolerating her presence, stating that as long as she was on
the payroll and doing her bit, she could hardly complain.  After one
case though, Cordelia had cut the slayer more slack and they had
become friends.  Faith had become more trusting and had been more
open with her emotions.  Cordelia had become more tolerant and
perceptive to feelings.  Of course, it didn't always apply, and both
girls were still capable of cutting comments and sarcastic put-downs,
but they were more often said for amusement value rather than out of
spite.  And they always managed to calm each other down, often with
just a few words or a look.  What pleased Angel the most was the fact
that they could be themselves in each other's company.  They felt no
compunction to hide behind masks or the preconceived images others
expected from them.

Now, it would appear that they were more than friends, and Angel
couldn't be happier at the development.  They were more similar than
most people realised and had helped each other to sort out inner
demons.  The dark vampire just hoped that they would get the chance
to actually build on their relationship.  That meant getting Faith
back from where ever she had been sent to.  In a twisted way, it was
fortunate that Tara had gone with her, for had she been the only one
banished, Angel was convinced that Willow would not find a way to
retrieve her. 

The souled vampire shook his head sadly at how Willow had changed. 
She was starting to get consumed by the magic she used and yet could
not see the changes in herself.  Despite the need to get Faith back,
he hoped that Willow didn't have to call on black-hat magick to get
them back, for it would only continue to meld and change her. 
Something pretty drastic would have to be done to pull Willow back to
the way she was.  The irony that Faith and Willow seemed to have, for
all intents and purposes, swapped their positions, was not lost on
Angel.  He just wasn't sure if he was capable of helping the red-
haired witch in the same way he had helped Faith.

A slight moaning broke him from his reverie.  He spun quickly and
closed the gap between him and Cordelia's bed.  "Hey.  How are you?"
He asked softly.

Cordelia opened her eyes slowly, already knowing that if it was Angel
asking her questions then Faith had not been located.  Her mind felt
fuzzy and thick and there was a general aching around her
abdomen.  "Hey," she whispered, wincing as the word scraped past her
parched throat.  "What have they told you?" She murmured.

"You were in Theatres for about an hour.  You lost a lot of blood but
you're going to be fine.  No major damage to any of your organs."

Cordelia winced as she changed her position slightly.  "That's twice
I've been lucky.  I don't fancy my chances next time," she commented
roughly.  She pinned Angel with a steady glare.  "Where's Faith?"

The vampire returned the stare.  "We don't know Cordelia.  Willow
went back to the Magic Box to get studying.  I haven't heard from
them since.  I thought I'd concentrate on making sure you were going
to be all right first."

The Seer nodded and smiled gently at the concern Angel showed
her.  "Thank you.  But you know that all I want to do is get Faith
back.  I'll be fine here.  I need you to act as my muscle man to make
sure Willow gets her back."

Angel sighed.  "You realise that its not going to be easy," he
started but Cordelia cut him off sharply.

"If they could get sent there, they can be called back.  There has to
be a way Angel," she told him firmly.  "And if you can't fight my
corner for me, then get me my clothes so that I can do it myself."

"Wait up Cordelia, that isn't what I meant.  Of course I'm with you,"
Angel replied.  "But you have to face reality..."

"Reality?" The Seer interrupted incredulously.  "Our lives are far
from realistic.  Or have you not noticed?  I work for an un-dead
vampire and provide messages from the 'Powers That Be' so that he can
continue to justify the existence of his soul.  The woman I love is a
vampire slayer that also works for a vampire, which is ironic in
itself, and we're currently back in good old Sunnydale, home of the
Hellmouth.  I do not lead a 'normal' life, though God knows,
sometimes I wish I did.  So I will not react normally to this
situation.  The 'reality' is that Faith and Tara need to be located
and found.  And the 'reality' is that I will not stop until they
are." 

Cordelia drew a shaky breath, shocked at how weak she felt.  "I won't
give up on her Angel," she whispered.  "Not when I've only just
realised what I've got."  She shook her head slightly.  "You wouldn't
understand."

"You're wrong," Angel refuted angrily.  "I do understand.  I care for
Faith as much as I care for you.  We have a lot in common.  But
you're making a point about love aren't you?"  He clenched his fists
and stalked across to the window.  "I lived a short life to have it
taken away from me by a cruel woman.  I spent nearly 200 years
believing that all humans wanted to do was hurt each other, and had a
lot of time to do my share of hurting.  Then I went to Sunnydale and
found out that there were some people out there who were different. 
I learned to love again and learned to let go, when I knew that I
couldn't give her what she deserved."  Angel stopped for a moment and
swallowed.  "So don't tell me I don't understand."

Cordelia stared at the normally reticent vampire.  "I'm sorry Angel. 
I'm just lashing out because I feel so useless stuck here," she
whispered.

Angel turned round and nodded before returning to the hospital bed
and sitting on the edge.  "I'm sorry too, Cordy.  We *will* get her
back."  He took her hand and squeezed it gently. 
The Seer returned the pressure, even as she felt comforted by the
vampire's touch.  Cordelia then stole a glance at the window and
noticed the pink tinge in the darkness, indicative of the approaching
dawn.  "Angel, you need to get out of here.  I'll be all right on my
own," she insisted.

"I'll be back later," the dark-haired man vowed, squeezing her hand
again.  "Gunn will be around during the day.  He said he'd rather be
here than going through a load of books."

Cordelia nodded, feeling tired again already, but suspecting that it
had something to do with the painkillers she had probably been
given.  "Keep me informed please," she pleaded.  "Even if it's just a
phone call to say you haven't come up with anything.  I don't want to
be left out of this," she insisted.

Angel nodded quickly before glancing at the window
worriedly.  "Cordy..."

"Go.  I'll see you later," Cordelia smiled at her employer.  "And
thanks," she told him, grateful that she had not woken up alone, even
if the person who had kept her company was not the person she
desperately wanted nearby.


To be continued...