The Varos Triad Part 15


Disclaimers: - See Part One

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's eyes were swimming. She wasn't sure if it was due to the
amount of text she had glanced through or the amount of coffee she
had sunk in the last two hours but as she rubbed her eyes tiredly,
she realised that the spell she had performed last night was still
taking its toll on her body. Just the thought of performing another
incantation of that magnitude nauseated her, despite the fact that it
was her lover she was trying to rescue.

Wearily, she shuffled over to the coffee pot, only to discover that
she had emptied the contents and would have to make a fresh brew.
Her research so far had not prompted any memories. As she prepared
the coffee, she heard the door to the shop open and she glanced round
to see who had entered.

"Hey Buffy. Where have you been?"

"I went home to sleep. Now that Varos is no longer a threat, there
wasn't any need for us all to stick together." Buffy approached the
red-haired wicca and smiled softly. "How are you doing?"

"Depends what you're asking me," Willow replied cryptically. Before
Buffy could quantify the question, her best friend continued. "I
still feel exhausted, but I slept on the couch for a while so I feel
a bit better. If you're asking me how I'm coping without knowing
where Tara is, then I'm not doing so well. In fact, just the thought
of her alone with Faith..."

"Willow," Buffy warned, her brow furrowing at the taller girl's line
of thought. "You need to get it in your head that if you sent Tara
to where Varos is, she's going to need all the help she can get. And
that includes Faith."

"Buffy, you can't be serious. That girl is unhinged. She's just as
likely to kill Tara herself so that she doesn't have to look out for
her."

"Willow, listen to yourself and then remember what Faith has done
since she's been back. She got and then protected the artefacts, she
went up against Varos with me and Angel and she shielded Cordelia
against that shape-shifter."

Willow looked at the blonde slayer incredulously. "You're defending
her aren't you?" She accused disbelievingly. "After all she did to
you and all of us. How could you?"

"Do you remember when Angel saved you from Gwendoline Post?" Buffy
argued, willing her voice to remain calm. As soon as Willow nodded
the slayer continued. "You told me afterwards that his actions made
him pretty much one of the good guys again. It's the same with
Faith," she told her friend. "I'm taking her at face value. Looking
at what she's done since her stint in jail." Buffy ran a hand
through her hair and sighed. "I'm tired of hating her Willow," she
confessed. "All the time I hold it against her, I have to hash over
everything she did and everything I did too. I'm not the same person
I was then. Why should Faith still be the same?"

"I don't believe this. Not only has Tara got to deal with psycho
slayer by herself but my best friend is now her biggest fan." Willow
moved away from Buffy and back towards the table where she had been
studying.

"Will," Buffy tried, following her across the room. "Don't be like
that. Surely what I've said makes sense?"

"To you maybe. Not to me," the auburn-haired witch insisted. "I
don't want to talk about this anymore. I need to get Tara back. So
if you've finished, I have books to study," Willow grabbed an as yet,
unopened book and pulled it towards her, discarding the last book she
had perused onto the floor.

Buffy shook her head sadly. She just couldn't understand her
friend's behaviour. Willow had never been an admirer of Faith's but
the witch had never been so dogmatic in her contempt before. The
slayer wondered at the change in attitude. Willow had long ago left
her shy, awkward demeanour behind, growing in confidence and self-
assurance as her Wiccan powers grew. Buffy feared that Willow's
continued practise of dark magick was beginning to affect her moral
judgement. Despite repeated requests from Tara and the other Scoobs,
the red-haired witch would use the power of black magick when she
felt the situation warranted it. Buffy fervently hoped that she was
wrong but needed to consult with Giles or Wesley over her concerns.

Resignedly, she sat down next to her best friend. "How can I help?"
She asked softly.

Willow looked up, startled by the intrusion. She had assumed Buffy
would leave her alone to continue her research and was surprised that
the slayer had sat down. "You can start by taking all those books
away and putting them somewhere where we won't get them mixed up with
the others. There's nothing in them that will help." She gestured
towards the books on the floor. Buffy nodded and bent down to scoop
the volumes up. As she stood up, Willow continued. "Once they're
stored, can you start with that shelf over there? I have a nasty
feeling that I am going to have to read an awful lot of material
before I find what I need."

"Can you give us some idea of what you're looking for?" Angel asked
as he stepped through the door into the shop. He was followed by
Wesley and Giles.

"Yes," Giles continued the query. "Any key phrases or specifics that
we can try to isolate. Three pairs of eyes will be infinitely better
than one."

Willow blinked and then thought for a few moments. "Of course," she
muttered to herself. She got up quickly and climbed the ladder that
lead to the upper bookcases.
"Willow?" Giles enquired.

"I wasn't thinking about the specifics," Willow called down, as if to
explain everything. The four people on the ground floor of the Magic
Box shared confused looks.

"Willow, that doesn't help," Giles supplied, approaching the ladder
and beginning to ascend the steps.

The red-haired witch looked up from the bookshelf that she had knelt
in front of. Books lay scattered around her as she continued to
empty it. "I thought that I would need to see a trigger word or
phrase to remember the spell, but I didn't narrow it down any
further. I used dark magick to manipulate the spell Giles," she
explained breathlessly. "It follows that I'm going to find what I
need in a black magick book." With that, Willow yanked a large,
black bound book from the middle shelf. "Can you dig out all your
other black magick books Giles?" She asked as she picked the heavy
volume up. "And I mean *all* of them. I think I've pretty much
found all your hiding places for them." Willow stood to one side and
gestured for the Englishman to finish his assent of the stairs before
she moved to go back to the ground floor.

"Willow, once we've got them back, we need to have a talk," Giles
warned softly.

The tone of his voice made Willow falter and she looked back up the
ladder. She swallowed nervously before nodding meekly.

Once she was back at the desk, Willow sat down and began to search
through the book. She looked up to see Wesley and Angel still
staring at her mutely. "Once Giles has brought the other books down,
I'll tell you the key words and phrases that I remember. Then we can
all search for the spell," she told them.

"I'm not sure about reading through black magick texts," Wesley
hedged.

The witch looked up sharply. "Well it's the only way that I'll be
able to research the spell I cast," she told him assuredly.

"That's not what I meant," Wes continued softly. "These books hold
great power and influence. I'm not sure I want to expose myself to
them. And I'm not at all sure that you should continue to expose
yourself to them."

"Wesley," Giles warned quietly. "Now is not the time." His face
revealed that he understood the younger Watcher's sentiment though.

Fortunately, Wesley read his expression correctly and dropped the
subject. He tugged at the collar of his shirt before taking a seat
and selecting one of the books that Giles had descended
with. "Tell us what we have to look for then," he asked Willow.

* * *

Faith lead Tara stealthily along the path back to where they had
first materialised. She made the most of the shadows cast by the
trees and stuck close to the woodland in order to stay as out-of-
sight as possible. So far, they had managed to avoid conflict with
the demons in the area by scouting out ways round them. Much as it
galled the slayer to avoid a fight and dispatch some more demons, she
knew that they had to remain undetected for as long as possible if
they were to stand any chance of survival.

From the way the demons had been moving, Faith could tell that they
were quartering the area and obviously searching for them. It also
appeared that they were starting to work together and have a common
purpose. None of that boded well for the two interlopers and the
brunette fervently hoped that they reached their destination before
they were forced to enter into conflict.

She snorted slightly even as the thought crossed her mind.

"What's up?" Tara enquired from just behind her. The blonde witch
was just starting to get breathless, but Faith had been impressed at
how well the Wiccan had kept up with her on the journey back.

"I think you're rubbing off on me," Faith replied cryptically. "I'm
actually hoping that we don't have a fight."

"See? It's not so bad is it?" Tara replied, managing to keep her
voice serious.

"Are you nuts?" The raven-haired slayer shot back
incredulously. "Violence is what I exist for." For a long time,
that included most of her childhood, Faith firmly believed that
violence was the only reason she existed.

"Maybe," Tara replied carefully. "But it's not the only thing you
*live* for, is it?"

Faith opened her mouth to reply but hesitated as she thought about
the question. The first thought that it triggered centred around
Cordelia and her mind pretty much stayed there. "Not anymore," she
admitted softly. The younger girl shook her herself out of her
private reflection before she turned all philosophical or mushy.
That would do them no good at all while they were stranded. "Jeez
Tar, you're turning me into a goody-goody peace-lover."

Tara stifled a laugh and then replied in mock horror. "Oh no. Faith
the pacifist. How would the world cope?"

"This world can cope just fine. However, once I'm back in our world,
the vamps aren't gonna know what hit 'em." She grinned back at Tara
quickly before continuing along the trail.

Suddenly, she held out a hand behind her to stop Tara. The blonde
witch took a few tentative steps closer and looked over the
Bostonian's shoulder to see what had made them stop.

In the clearing ahead were two large demons. They appeared to be
patrolling the area and as they paced along a well-worn path, each
demon would occasionally halt and sniff the air, trying to detect a
presence that they were trying to locate.

Faith turned and motioned Tara to back up down the path. Once they
were at a safer distance, the slayer spoke. "This is not good.
They're after us and they know that we need to use that path."

"Isn't there a way round?" Tara suggested. They had already taken a
number of detours. One more would make no difference.

Faith shook her head. "I doubt it. They're waiting there for us. I
get the impression that there'll be others waiting along any other
path we might take."

"So what do we do? You can't take on two of them by yourself.
You'll be killed," Tara protested, her voice rising slightly at the
thought.

Faith waved her hand for Tara to lower the volume and then waited a
beat, listening intently for any movement in the surrounding area.
Satisfied that they had remained undetected, the Southie
continued. "Touched as I am by your concern, Miss peace-loving hippy
chick, I won't be taking them on myself. You'll be helping me," she
told the witch confidently.

"Faith, I have no idea about my magic here," Tara reminded her
quickly.

"I know. But it's about time we found out. Now, all I want you to
do is create a little diversion. If we can get those two scooting
off in another direction we can hightail it through there without me
having to raise a fist," Faith pulled a face before completing the
sentence, "unfortunately."

"I'll try," Tara told the brunette nervously. "But don't blame me if
my diversion consists of ten rabbits hopping through the greenery."

"Listen Tar, if you don't do this, we have to fight our way through.
There's no other way. But let's at least try and keep our options
open for as long as possible, okay?"

Tara nodded faintly, encouraged by the younger girl's support and
determination. She followed Faith back to where they had first
spotted the demons. Once again, the two girls noticed the patrol-
like way they were moving around the clearing. As they sniffed the
air again, one of the demons licked his lips in anticipation, sending
a shiver of disgust through the blonde woman. Carefully, she leant
forward and whispered into Faith's ear. "Where do you want the
distraction?"

Faith pointed to an area opposite to where they were headed. She
looked questioningly at the blonde girl and Tara nodded her
understanding before taking a deep breath to steady herself.

The witch decided that a small fireball would probably be the best
thing to conjure. If she could explode it some way into the forest,
it would attract the attention of any hidden patrols too. She just
hoped any demons running towards the fireball wouldn't run into their
escape route.

Picking out one large tree to be her focal point, Tara took a deep
breath as she mentally rehearsed the spell she was about to perform,
fervently hoping that it would do what she wanted it to do. The tall
girl raised her right hand, pointed at the forest and then spoke the
incantation out loud in a confident but quiet manner.

Faith followed Tara's hand and tried to determine where exactly the
blonde girl was focusing on. As she heard the witch cast the spell,
she switched her gaze continually between the wooded area and the
copse where the demons patrolled in case they heard what was going on.

Tara finished the spell and looked expectantly at the forest.

Nothing happened.

She waited a fraction longer before breaking the stare to look at
Faith, her stomach lurching as she felt a wave of disappointment rush
through her. The blonde woman was relieved to see that Faith had
kept her face neutral. She didn't think she'd be able to hold
herself together if she saw her own disappointment reflected in the
dark brown eyes of her friend.

Suddenly, a deafening crash roared through the trees. Tara and Faith
snapped their eyes back to where the witch had concentrated her
spell.

The tree Tara had centred on had simply been obliterated. All the
trees that had immediately surrounded the tree had suffered the same
fate. A large black circle marked the area where they once stood.
The trees on the perimeter of the circle were scorched and twisted.
Many had been forced over, and the branches and leaves were covered
in match-sized splinters, tiny remnants of the trees that Tara's
magick had destroyed.

"Those ten rabbits are a bit vicious," Faith commented blandly. She
was stunned by the ferocity of the energy Tara had harnessed.

"Oh Goddess," the older girl whispered. "I never summoned power like
that. I cast a simple, *small* fireball," she continued, faltering
repeatedly over the sentence.

Faith looked over to where the demons had been standing. Initially,
they stared at the debris, before looking at each other. Their
confusion was clearly evident, despite the lack of human features the
demons possessed. After a moment, the pair hurried towards the
impact to investigate the site, lumbering through the woodland and
making no attempt to keep their approach quiet.

The brunette slayer cocked her head and listened intently. From all
around, she could hear the crashing movements of other demons in the
trees. They were all descending on the area to investigate. "We
haven't got time to worry about what you meant to do, Blondie," she
told Tara. "We've got to get out of here now."

Tara picked up the urgency in Faith's voice and together they
sprinted through the clearing and along the path they originally
intended to use. There was no need to mask their own footfall as it
was easily drowned out by the noise the other demons were making.


Faith picked the pace up, running as fast as she dared over the rough
terrain but making sure that she did not leave Tara behind. After a
while she slowed down and motioned for Tara to stop, pulling the
taller girl into the shadows as they came to a halt. Once again, she
listened carefully, turning her head round slowly as she tried to
determine if they had company. Tara unconsciously held her breath
and looked at the younger girl expectantly.

"I think we're clear," Faith announced after a few moments. "Come
on, we're not far now." She strode off confidently. "Besides, with
power like that, we've got no worries going up against demons one-on-
one now."

Tara looked at the slayer in horror, before hurrying after
her. "Faith, I don't know how that happened. All I cast was a
simple fireball. There's no way I could have produced enough energy
to cause that much destruction."

"You said it yourself Tar. All that stuff about magickal planes and
how it might work differently here," Faith responded. "It's working
differently all right. Instead of you having lesser powers, you've
got massive powers."

"There's something wrong though," Tara demurred, shaking her head
slightly. "I don't even feel tired by the spell."

"Well you wouldn't if what you cast was a simple fireball," Faith
reasoned. She frowned as she tried to concentrate on a topic that
had always remained mysterious to her.

"Yes, but the energy had to be harnessed from somewhere, or
something." Tara gestured round them. "And if I didn't yoke it, who
did?"

"Unless you did it without realising it. Perhaps the words you use
here hold different meanings," Faith suggested, her mind beginning to
swim with all the concepts that were being raised.


Tara grabbed her companion by the arm and stopped her mid-
stride. "No," she stated firmly, a look of deep consternation etched
on her features. "Because if that was the case, the power I drew on
accidentally would have drained me," the Blonde wicca insisted.

Faith shook her head as it began to buzz with information
overload. "Look Tar, I know this is worrying for you and all, but
wouldn't it be better if we concentrate on getting back to where we
first materialised so that the others can get us home?"

Tara nodded in agreement, but her face remained pensive. "If I can
harness power like that, maybe we don't need the others to get back,"
she suggested tentatively.

Faith rolled her eyes. "One thing at a time. Once we're back where
we started, we can figure out if you have to do some serious magick
shit. Until then, save your breath and get your ass in gear." With
that, Faith set off again, though her pace was far more cautious than
their flight through the trap the demons had set. Her slayer
instincts were on full alert as they negotiated the route once more.
The Bostonian had long ago learnt the merits of caution and was not
about to get complacent after evading one lot of monsters.

Tara followed the other girl miserably. She had always taken great
pains to be careful in the use of magick and had never experimented
without knowing the full implications of each spell she attempted.
To her, it was a tool that was not to be used lightly or for personal
enjoyment or gain. Suddenly, everything she had known about the
arcane arts had been thrown into confusion. She wasn't even sure if
she should attempt any other magick while they remained here.
However, there were still the other demons to deal with.

Deep in her reverie, the blonde witch didn't realise that Faith had
halted until she crashed into the back of her. She stumbled and lost
her balance but was held up by a strong arm that pulled her behind
the slayer's back.

"It helps if you look where you're going," Faith whispered.

"Sorry," Tara apologised meekly, her voice also in a whisper though
she didn't know why. "Why have we stopped?"

"Take a look, Blondie," the shorter girl suggested and pointed to a
gap in the trees ahead.

It took a moment for Tara to find out what she was looking for but as
soon as her eyes locked onto what Faith had already seen, she
swallowed and looked back at Faith nervously. "Varos?" She
questioned hesitantly?

"In the flesh," agreed the slayer grimly. "Twice as big, probably
four times as powerful and he's standing exactly where we
materialised."


To be continued...