The Varos Triad Part 16

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...


______________________________________________________



Uncharacteristically, it was Tara who voiced what they were both
thinking. "We're screwed."

Her comment managed to raise Faith's eyebrows. "You got that right,"
she concurred. "You up for some more fireballs?"

"I'm not convinced that Varos will go off to investigate one of my
fireballs," Tara pointed out.

"Not as a distraction Tar," Faith corrected. "You could toast the
fucker without him even realising it."

"No," Tara demurred quickly. "I can't use power like that on the
demons here."

Faith stared at the girl incredulously. "Why the hell not?"

Tara looked around for a few moments before settling her gaze on the
rogue slayer. "I cast spells against demons and vampires in
Sunnydale because they don't belong there. I can justify my actions
because innocents will get hurt if I don't." She tucked a stray lock
of hair behind her ear as she continued. "The demons in this place
belong here. It's their world. We're the ones that don't belong. I
have no right to destroy them just to get back."

"But they're out to get us Tar. You've already seen that," Faith
pointed out.

"I know. And I'll willingly use magick to create a diversion. But I
can't go on a rampage. It would be wrong."

"Who's asking you to go on a rampage?" Faith began to get indignant.

"You know what I mean," Tara returned.

"No I don't. They're where we want to be. I don't think tapping
Varos on the shoulder and asking him to move on so we can get home is
gonna work somehow." Faith made no effort to hide the sarcasm.

"I know that," Tara replied, getting frustrated. "I can't use a
power I know nothing about to kill demons that belong here. I don't
know what the implications would be."

Faith shook her head in confusion. "Oh, so it's all right for me to
risk my ass so that we stay alive, just as long as you keep your
principles intact. Is that it?"

"That's not what I meant at all," Tara refuted. "It's not just about
principles and moral issues. I don't know how my magick works here.
And I don't want to be inadvertently drawing on powers that I don't
agree with for my own personal gain."

"You mean black hat shit," Faith surmised.

"I'm not even sure if there is a difference between white and black
magick here. I just don't know. That's the point Faith. How can I
use a power I know nothing about against Varos?"

"I don't think you've got much choice, Blondie," retorted Faith, her
voice harsh with restrained anger.

"There's always a choice Faith," Tara replied.

"Well think on this choice then," the slayer's voice was beginning to
shake. "What if Red tries to summon us back while Varos is standing
there? Is she going to be able to differentiate between us and
him?" She paused as she watched for a reaction from Tara. "So
you're gonna have to choose between Varos being sent back to
Sunnydale or destroying him here."

* * *

Willow held her head in her hands and sighed. Her eyes were dry and
scratchy from so much reading and a thick band of tension tightened
across her head as her frustration at not finding what she wanted
began to mount. "I need a break," she announced to no one in
particular and stood up to stretch.

"I think we all do," Giles concurred as he sat back and rubbed his
neck absently. "Perhaps we should go out and get something to eat,"
he suggested, looking round at the table's other occupants.

Angel smiled wryly. "I'll eat later," he told the Watcher. Giles
nodded but looked expectantly at the others.

Suddenly, Wesley looked up from the book that lay open in front of
him. "Willow, I think I've found what you used," he told her, his
voice quiet and cautious. The researchers had already suffered too
many disappointments during the day. Now, each enquiry was forwarded
with hesitancy and doubt.

The red-haired wiccan rubbed her temples roughly in an effort to
dislodge the pain she felt there. "Give it here then," she asked and
extended a slender arm out to take the tome from Wes's grasp. It
took her a few moments to find the passage that Wesley was referring
to, but as soon as her eyes scanned the words, she looked up
excitedly, all previous evidence of exhaustion evaporating as she
spoke. "This is it, Wes. Well done."

Suddenly, the Magic Box became invigorated with anticipation.
Willow read the passage again and then worked her way back through
the book steadily. It took time, and the tension started to build.

Buffy got up and began to pace while she waited for her friend to
finish her study. If it wasn't for the fact that it was still the
middle of the day, she would have gone out and hunted something to
stake but there was no way she was going to leave until she knew the
outcome of this latest breakthrough. Unfortunately, her heart sank
when she saw Willow lean back in her chair, a look of defeat etched
on her visage. "What's up?"

"I don't think I can open a gateway to get them back," was the flat
reply.

"Why not? You've got something to work with now. What's the
problem?" Angel lost his normal reticence to probe Willow quickly.

"I haven't got the power to do it," the witch answered simply.

"But you sent them there. If you had the power to do that, why
haven't you got the power to bring them back?" It was Wesley this
time that shot off the question.

"I was absorbing the power from the summoning spell. I stored up as
much excess energy as I could. To invoke another gateway, I'd need
the same sort of power," Willow replied.

"Then perform the summoning again."

All the occupants of the Magic Box turned round quickly as Cordelia
entered the shop. She looked pale and drawn and as she walked
towards them, the tall woman winced occasionally but she kept her
eyes firmly on the auburn-haired girl sat at the table.

"Cordy," Angel got up and hugged her lightly, relieved to see his
secretary out of hospital at last. "How did you manage to get out?"

Cordelia held onto the tall vampire tightly. "I think I wore them
down in the end. Faith's not the only one who doesn't like
hospitals."

From one side, Gunn snorted and shook his head. At the enquiring
glances from everyone else, he grinned. "By the time you finished
with them, you would have either left by the front door or in a body
bag," he told her.

Cordelia grinned back at the black man. "It was their own fault for
trying to make me stay for more tests," she justified.

"Yeah, well. Just make sure that your little performance doesn't get
back to Faith." As soon as he mentioned the rogue slayer's name,
Gunn tensed and then rolled his eyes. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Cordelia shook her head slightly. "Don't worry," she replied,
acknowledging his apology at the gaff. The tall brunette swung round
and concentrated her gaze on the red-haired witch. "Right. What's
all this about not being able to get Faith back?"

"I haven't got the power. I'd need to summon Varos again to generate
that sort of power."

"Then do it."

"Are you serious? We can't summon back something like that."

"If that's what it takes, then that's what we do," Cordelia
insisted. "I told you, Willow. I'm not giving up on them."

"Nor am I," Willow objected, her voice rising in protest. "But I
can't perform the summoning again. We destroyed the artefacts,
remember?"

Cordelia faltered as she recalled the events at the cemetery. "Is
there no other way of generating that power?" She asked, her
demeanour business-like as she tried to think the problem through.

"You don't need the artefacts," Anya stated as she got up to pour
herself a cup of coffee.

Ignoring what the ex-vengeance demon said, Willow looked steadily at
Cordelia. "I do have limits to my powers, even if I don't know it
myself sometimes," she admitted. "I can't conjure up a portal to
another realm by myself. I need additional resources."

"Isn't there anything in these books that can give you that power?"
The Seer gestured at the books scattered on the table contemptuously.

"Well there was Varos' summoning. That would create the right type
of energy as well as the right amount of power to do it. But the
artefacts are gone. That ship has sailed." Willow sighed and seemed
to sink into her chair, allowing defeat to wash over her again.

"The artefacts only held Varos' power, it was the incantation that
generated the power in the first place," Anya remarked
conversationally as she returned with a full mug.

"Don't worry, Anya. I didn't want a cup but thanks anyway," Cordelia
told the blonde girl sarcastically before turning back to
Willow. "Isn't there any other type of ritual you could perform?
Varos can't have been the only demon to be banished by a bunch of
witches," she pursued doggedly.

"Probably," Willow admitted. "I just don't know where to find it."

"But you know *how* to get them back if you did have the power now?"
Cordelia was determined to at least know that some of the problem had
been solved.

"Yes," Willow admitted. "If I had the power, I could use it to
create a gateway to the correct place and get Tara back."

"And Faith," added the Seer quickly.

"Always assuming Faith hasn't already gone Loony-Toons on Tara and
left her for dead out there," Willow continued, oblivious to
Cordelia's rising anger.

"Look Miss Insecurity complex, I'm just about half past give a shit
with your attitude. Let's examine the facts here shall we?"
Cordelia was seething.

"Cordy," Wes warned softly, trying to stem the tide before Cordelia
went into a full-scale tirade.

"Shove it Wesley." The Seer dealt with the young Watcher
dismissively before returning her attention to Willow. "One," she
began, indicating her first point with a raised forefinger. "Faith
returns to Sunnydale whilst doing her *job* only to be run down by
you and your super-friends who are still getting off on what she did
years ago."

Willow opened her mouth to protest but no words formed as the look
Cordelia gave her hardened dramatically. "Two, she manages to get
the third artefact from a shape-shifter who almost guts her in the
process. Three," by this time, there were three fingers held up to
accentuate Cordelia's argument. "When we come to destroy the
artefacts, not only does she take on Varos, she saves mine and then
probably your life by taking out that bitch shape-shifter..."

"That you thought was Faith in your vision and believed she was going
to kill you," Willow interjected quickly, trying to at least even up
the score in some way.

Cordelia faltered for just a fraction of a second, reliving the pain
of that moment before she went in for the kill. "And four, it was
*you* who decided to kill Faith with magick and it backfired by
harming Tara as well. The only person I've witnessed harming any of
the Scoobs is you, Willow. And you did it to your own girlfriend."

The whole shop remained in stunned silence as they waited for Willow
to react to Cordelia's outburst. Willow found herself without an
answer, but the mention of harming Tara cut her deeply and she
focused her resolve on finding a way to get her back. "We need to
look for a way for me to get more power," she muttered, deciding not
to answer any of Cordelia's points.

Surprised at the lack of conflict, the Seer felt surprisingly
deflated and sat back. She winced slightly as a wave of pain burned
through her stomach but she fought off her nausea and stamped down on
her anger, satisfied at least partially, that she'd been able to set
Willow straight on a couple of issues. "So do you know of any other
summoning spells that we could use?" She asked again.

"Not off the top of my head," Willow returned quietly. "It's time
for some more research."

The rest of the room groaned at the thought but the sounds were
quickly muted by Cordelia's sharp stare that encompassed everyone.
Reluctantly, those around the table reached out to grab books.

"Why are you still reading?" Anya enquired as she took another sip of
her coffee.

"Did your brain desiccate when they took away your powers?" Cordelia
asked incredulously.

The blonde ex-demon returned the Seer's stare easily. "Possibly.
I'd have to ask D'Hoffryn. What I don't understand is if Willow
knows how to get Tara and the psycho back, why aren't we just making
preparations to do it?"

"Because I need to find a way of harnessing enough power to do it."
Willow ground the words out deliberately slowly, as if speaking to a
small child.

Anya used the same style to answer her. "But you already have a way
of harnessing the power."

By this time the whole Magic Box was focused on the conversation.
There was a long pause as they waited for Anya to tell them what they
were missing. After the pause showed no sign of being broken Xander
decided to prompt his girlfriend. "Honey, what are you talking
about?"

"The incantation to summon Varos will generate the power Willow
needs."

"But we don't have the artefacts," the red-haired wiccan pointed out
persistently.

Giles interrupted, suddenly recalling Anya's previous
comments. "No. The incantation doesn't rely on the artefacts at
all. Of course. Anya, that's brilliant."

The blonde girl smiled in surprise. "Really? Does this mean you'll
let me look after the money from the shop now?"

Wisely deciding to ignore her last comment, Giles began to pace as he
pounced onto the task at hand. "We still need three people to
perform the rite."

"And Tara's not here," Willow pointed out quickly. "I'm not sure
that the recitation could be performed by only one witch."

"But I've already done it once," Cordelia pointed out. "And it
worked all right. We just need Anya to do Tara's part."

Willow groaned. "She'll never remember it correctly. That's why you
had to do it."

"I am still in the room you know," Anya pointed out.

"I know," agreed the auburn witch acidly.

"Look. We don't have a choice here. Unless you want Buffy doing the
spell." Cordelia looked up for an instant and met Buffy's hazel eyes
apologetically. "Sorry, no offence."

Buffy shook her head and gave the Seer an amused look. "None taken."

"So all it comes down to is when to do the incantation again."

"You're serious aren't you? You're prepared to summon Varos back in
order to get Faith back?" Giles stared at Cordelia in amazement.

"Deadly serious Giles. If Varos comes back with them, at least we'll
have two slayers and two witches to help us defeat him."

"Those are odds I'll take," Angel supplied softly.

Giles looked round at the other occupants of the Magic Box as he
considered the alternatives. He took off his glasses and absently
cleaned them before speaking again. "So when are you going to do
this?"

"As soon as Anya's learnt the incantation," Cordy vowed.


* * *


Tara licked her lips nervously as she considered what Faith had told
her. The brunette girl was quite right of course. There would be no
way of determining who was at the portal should Willow have the power
to reopen it. More to the point, even if she knew it was Varos
standing there, Tara doubted that she would have the power to prevent
him from coming through the gateway without collapsing it. She
flicked her eyes at Faith who was studying her quietly and then
sighed. "I can't do it Faith. I won't use power I don't understand."
"What?!" Faith exploded. "So you're prepared to let that thing be
unleashed on Sunnydale again?"
"No. I'm not going to let that happen again either," she told the
slayer.
"So what are you gonna do then. Invite him back to the cave for
afternoon tea?"
"I'll collapse the portal from this side if he attempts to enter it."
There was a long pause as Faith stared at Tara. She immediately
understood the implications of Tara's plan but allowed herself a few
moments of denial before responding. "You're going to destroy our
route home?" It was intended to be a question, but it was voiced more
like a dull statement of fact.
"That's what I meant by there always being a choice," Tara told her
softly.
"Well that ain't my choice Twinkie," Faith retorted. "I have no
intention of staying in this hellhole for longer than absolutely
necessary."
"Faith, I can't use this power on Varos."
"So you keep saying. But you're quite happy to sacrifice me in the
process of keeping your principles."
"No. I'll collapse the portal once you're through. That way we can
guarantee Varos not returning to Sunnydale."
Faith shook her head. "Jeez Tar, do you really think I'm gonna let
you stand here and destroy your way home?"
"It's the best option we have."
"No it isn't." Faith turned on her heel and began to head to where
Varos and a number of other demons were standing. "If you don't want
to use magick to destroy him, we'll go back to the old-fashioned
method," she muttered, swinging an arm down towards her boot and
plucking out her knife as she strode along.
Tara stared at Faith's back for a moment, unsure if Faith was calling
her bluff or not. Then she realised that it didn't matter. The slayer
was determined for her to change her mind one way or another. Shaking
her head, the blonde witch hurried after Faith and tugged her on the
arm.
The younger girl shook her arm free but stopped walking. "Changed
your mind?" She asked.
"No, but you can't go up against Varos just like that. It would be
total suicide."
"And what you're proposing isn't?" Faith spat back contemptuously.
"I know what you're saying Faith, but there has to be another way.
Let's just back off and think for a few moments and see if we can
come up with another plan between us." Tara knew that it would be
foolish to dismiss Faith's plan totally out of hand. It would simply
make the young brunette all the more determined to go through with
it. And, she had to admit, Faith did have a point about her own
decisions. Their best option was to work things out together. She
just hoped Faith appreciated that.
The shorter girl studied Tara's face for a moment as she contemplated
her words. Reluctantly, she nodded tersely. "Come on then. Let's find
somewhere safe and get thinking."

The two girls turned together to put some distance between themselves
and Varos but made no further attempt to go anywhere when they saw
four demons standing in their path. As they turned round to look for
an escape route, Tara and Faith quickly realised that they were
surrounded.

"How the hell did that happen?" Faith muttered, her fists clenching
as she inspected the lines for any weaknesses.

"They sneaked up on us while we were arguing," Tara replied, feeling
responsible for the situation.

"Well, now you're in a predicament," Faith told her. "Cos there's no
way I'm gonna be able to deal with all of these munchkins."

"Well, what do we have here?" A deep voice resonated from behind
them. Faith and Tara turned round and saw Varos approaching them.

"It's the good little witch and the dashing Knight."

Tara frowned, confused at his words. "Dashing knight?" She whispered
at Faith.

The Brunette slayer squirmed slightly before answering. "It's my
surname."

"Dashing's your last name?"

Faith shot the blonde girl an icy look. "Please tell me you're not
that dense."

"And I know you know who I am, so that completes the introductions."
Varos took charge of the conversation once again.

"How polite of you," Faith returned. "So what do you want?"

"Always so impatient," Varos' deep voice mocked the
slayer. "However, there is something I require from you."

Faith looked at Tara quickly before scanning their surroundings
again. As far as she could tell, they had no escape routes at all.
Deciding to play along with Varos, the rogue slayer spoke again. "So
what is it that you *require* from us?"

"Nothing from you, slayer. But I need the witch."

Tara stiffened and her eyes widened slightly. "W-w-what f-for?"

"I need you to open the gateway back to Earth."

Tara shook her head assuredly. "There's n-no way I'll help you get b-
b-back there."

The tall demon smiled maliciously. "You don't have a choice," he
told her.

"Deja vu, much," Faith muttered.

Varos ignored the brunette and continued to stare at Tara. "You're a
good little witch. Only using good power, assisting when necessary
and never for personal gain. I know this about you."

Tara swallowed. "Then you know I'll never help you," she retorted.

"Ah, but what will it take for you to change your mind. The torture
of your friend perhaps?"

Both girls looked at each other. "Tara, don't do it," Faith warned.

They looked around and saw the demons that had surrounded them
closing in.


To be continued...