What I Am
by sailor80
Eight
[reviews]
At a commercial break, Faith muted the set and turned her attention again to Tara. "Yo, Blondie, you cookin' tonight, or what?"
Faith's voice pulled Tara from her thoughts. "I'm sorry, what?" she asked.
Faith rolled her eyes and asked again, "You fixing dinner or what?"
"Um, I could, I guess." Tara pushed herself out of the chair, relieved to have a task, and something to think about other than her relatives and her impending birthday.
Faith trailed Tara to the kitchen. "I saw some chicken in the freezer," she said helpfully.
"Okay," Tara answered absently.
Faith retrieved the gallon bag of chicken from the freezer and put it on the counter. "What else?"
"What is there?" Tara took the bag of chicken to the microwave and set it to defrost.
"All kinds of stuff." Faith held the freezer door open.
Tara obligingly went to the freezer. She recalled Willow's instruction from the morning to fix plenty of food, and pulled out another bag of chicken and two bags of frozen vegetables. Faith closed the freezer door. Tara put the goods on the counter and reached up to open a cabinet.
"Whatcha looking for?" Faith asked.
"Just checking," Tara told her, and went from cabinet to cabinet. From one cabinet, she got rice; from another, two cans of tomatoes. She found the spices over the stove, and baking goods next to it. When the microwave beeped, she asked Faith, "Would you please take that b-bag out and put the other in?"
"Sure," Faith answered, and moved to do Tara's bidding.
"In the sink," Tara said, before Faith asked her where to put the first bag of chicken.
"What now?" Faith asked her.
"P-pots. And a tray to cook the chicken on."
Faith explored the lower cabinets until she found what Tara asked for, and set them on the stove.
"Thanks." Tara smiled at Faith. "I don't really n-need any help but company is good."
"Okay," Faith smiled back, and took a seat at the far side of the table so she could watch Tara without interfering. She watched Tara silently for a while, then asked, "How'd you meet Red?"
"W-w-wicca group meeting." Tara combined the rice and crushed tomatoes, and added seasoning.
"Red's still messin' with the mojo, huh?"
Tara nodded and moved the rice onto a burner. Then she prepared the vegetables and chicken for the oven. That done, she looked through the cabinets again until she found a cake mix. Faith jumped to find a pan, and while Tara mixed the batter, she greased and floured the pan. Tara handed Faith the beaters, then poured the batter into the pan. It went into the oven, too, and Tara set the timer. When she went to the sink to start cleaning up, Faith bumped her aside. "Your turn to sit."
Tara smiled at Faith. She was surprised by the small kindness, finding it completely at odds with everything Willow had told her about the younger Slayer. "Thanks," she said, and moved to the chair Faith had vacated.
"Least I can do." Faith washed the few things Tara had used and put them in the dishrack, then turned to Tara. She pulled out the chair next to Tara and sat down. "What's the deal with your family?"
Tara started to stutter before she even formulated an answer.
Faith put a hand on her shoulder. "I'd tell you they can't be any worse than mine," she said in a low voice, "but I've seen lots worse. They hit you?"
Tara nodded. She stared at the table.
"And that was the easy part, right?" Faith's voice was still low.
Tara nodded again.
"Lemme guess, they're comin' to take you home."
Again, Tara nodded.
"Why?"
"They s-s-s-say I'll t-tu-turn into a d-d-d-demon on my b-b-b-bu-birthday."
"Oh, please." Faith rolled her eyes in disgust and patted Tara's shoulder. "When's your birthday?"
"T-t-t-to-to-tomorrow."
"Then we'll know soon, won't we?"
Tara kept her head down as she nodded again. Then she lifted her head and looked at Faith. "I-if I am, w-wi-will you k-k-kill me?"
"No, I won't kill you," Faith said indignantly. "Unless you go all end-of-the-world on me," she added. Then she grinned at Tara. "If I kill you, who's gonna cook?"
Tara smiled despite herself.
Faith smiled back. "Whatcha want for your birthday?"
"You d-don't," Tara began.
Faith gestured as she interrupted. "Just answer the question, Blondie."
"Tara."
Faith grinned cockily. "I know your name. And you still haven't answered my question."
"I don't know," Tara said after a few moments.
"You must want something," Faith persisted.
"I w-want it to be over." Tara got up to check on the rice. She stirred the contents and replaced the lid. She turned to Faith. "I'm r-ready for more c-ca-car-cartoons."
"Sure," Faith answered, and followed Tara into the living room.
Buffy and Willow were camped on the couch. The TV was still showing cartoons, but they weren't really paying attention. Willow was reading and stroking Buffy's hair. Buffy, eyes closed, laid with her head in Willow's lap.
Faith let Tara sit in the chair, then debated sitting on Buffy's feet, She decided not to antagonize Buffy and sat on the floor near Tara's chair. At the next commercial break, Tara got up again, and headed to the kitchen. Faith followed her, and stayed out of Tara's way as she stirred the rice and checked the progress of the rest. Satisfied, she turned to Faith and asked, "Will you h-help set the table?"
"Sure," Faith answered, and began hunting for the things they needed. A few minutes later the table was set, and Faith returned to the kitchen, where Tara was removing the cake from the oven. She set it aside to cool while Faith took her seat at the far side of the table. She watched Tara work, and didn't move until Tara asked her to carry the plate of chicken to the dining room table and get the Buffy and Willow.
Dinner was quiet, except for compliments to Tara, and when they finished eating, Buffy and Willow began cleaning up while Faith and Tara went into the back yard to sit in the twilight.
Buffy took a dripping plate from Willow's hand and transferred it to the dish drainer. "You haven't said anything about how you got us out of there," she said as casually as she could.
"We had help." Willow handed Buffy another plate.
"Who? Or what? And just how?" Buffy waited for the next plate.
"Riley."
"Riley?" Buffy's voice got louder.
"Yeah."
"Will, Riley's got to be the reason they got me."
"What?" Willow's voice went up this time, She turned to Buffy, the dishes forgotten.
"I told you, he fought the Gentlemen with me. No one else saw me."
"You don't know that, Buffy. Remember, Faith said, they nabbed her in a graveyard. They could have been watching you, or maybe Faith told them about you," Willow pointed out.
"Maybe," Buffy said doubtfully.
Willow returned to the dishes.
"Tell me the rest," Buffy urged.
"Riley snuck us in. He and Xander and Tara were soldiers, and I was a scientist. I had a lab coat and everything."
Buffy arched an eyebrow. When she took the next plate from Willow, but said nothing.
"Riley opened your cells and put shackles on you and we just walked out like it was no big deal. Xander got his folks' car and we brought you here." Willow shrugged and rinsed the pot the rice cooked in. She handed it to Buffy.
"Wow." Buffy said. "You just walked right in, they didn't check your ID or anything?"
"Yup."
:"So we could get in again," Buffy said thoughtfully.
"No, Buffy, you aren't going back there." Willow again turned away from the dishes and pointed at her chin with a soapy finger. "See? Resolve face. You are not going back there."
Buffy chuckled and grinned. She leaned over and pecked Willow's lips. "You're so cute."
"I'm serious."
"I know."
"Promise me, Buffy."
"Will, you know I can't do that. It's my job, remember? Kill demons and save the world."
"Promise me you won't go looking for trouble."
"We don't' have to look, sweetheart. Trouble always finds us." Buffy stepped forward and pulled Willow into a hug. "I promise I'll be careful."
Willow squeezed Buffy tightly. Buffy held her for a long time. They both remembered what they were doing at the same time. They shared a brief kiss before separating, and went back to cleaning up after dinner.