Learning Curve
by rebelrsr
Chapter Eighteen
[reviews]
Disclaimer: All things Buffy belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and lots of people in expensive suits. I'm not making any money here, just trying to create a happier Buffyverse for my favorite characters.
Spoilers, etc.: I altered the timeline of "The Yoko Factor," "Primeval," and AtS "Sanctuary" with reckless abandon. It's mostly AU from here.
A/N: Character thoughts are enclosed by **. Flashbacks are enclosed by //. Thanks to Desirata41 and Zenithar for the beta and encouragement! Thanks to Zigpal for the continuing support and suggestions. I couldn't do it without you.
Archiving: By permission only.
A/N2: (red lights flashing; klaxon sounding in background): RED ALERT! RED ALERT! All pure Wiffy 'shippers, I apologize for the extreme Fara. The next chapters for you, I promise.
The ride in the Jeep passed quietly. Both witches were asleep, drained by their magic use. Faith sat with her head tilted against the back of the seat. It felt good to be outside. She extended her Slayer senses, looking for vampires or demons. Nothing, not even a mild flare on the horizon. Frustrated at the lack of action, she dropped her chin, being careful not to disturbed the heads resting on both her shoulders. Smiling a bit at the blonde hair fanned across her right side, the Slayer glanced up to see Giles watching her in the rearview mirror. Automatically, she lost the smile, stiffening — until she saw the twinkle in her ex-Watcher's gaze.
Finally, they pulled into the driveway in front of the Summers' house. Giles and Xander hopped out, leaving Faith to wake two very uncooperative witches. "Um, Red? T? We're here." Eyes widening in horror, the brunette watched Willow turn slightly, burrowing into her side. Swallowing hard as visions of an angry Buffy danced in her head, Faith tried a little harder. Shaking her shoulder and bouncing the red head up and down, she called, "Willow! Willow, get up! Come on, damn it."
Mumbling, the young hacker raised her head, eyes mostly closed. "We're here?" she asked indistinctly. Then the words made sense and her eyes shot open. "Oh, hey, we're home." Completely ignoring the astonished Slayer, she jumped out of the car.
"You're welcome, Red," Faith called after her.
Tara's laughter followed the sarcastic remark. "Don't worry, sweetie. She'll forgive you eventually."
"If you say, so, Blondie," the Slayer almost succeeded in sounding indifferent. "Come, on, let's get you into bed."
"Hmmm, got plans, do you, Slayer?" the older girl asked.
Chuckling ruefully, Faith nodded. "Hell, yeah, Witch. Been plotting ever since you cut me off this morning." Both girls climbed out of the Jeep and walked up the front steps. Before the brunette could open the door, however, Tara caught her hand.
"About this morning..." The blonde hesitated. "I made a mistake."
The Slayer nearly staggered from the unexpected verbal blow. Sucking in a huge breath and fighting a wave of nausea, the younger girl stepped away.
The movement alerted the witch something was wrong. Seeing how pale Faith had gotten, Tara asked, "Faith, sweetie, what's wrong?"
"I thought... I mean, hell, Tara, did I do something? I mean, you seemed OK with everything at the hospital, and now?" The younger girl tried to make sense of the last few minutes.
"Do something? Faith, what are you..." Replaying the conversation, Tara realized she'd caused the Slayer's withdrawal. "Oh, Goddess, sweetie, I didn't mean it like that." She moved into the brunette's personal space, wrapping both arms around the girl's waist. Looking into pain-filled brown eyes, she continued, "I wanted to tell you it was a mistake to call a halt this morning. I swear, Faith, I never thought wanting you, touching you, was a bad decision." She pressed a light kiss against the Slayer's throat, feeling the pulse beneath begin to race. Leaning back, she whispered, "Let's get inside, Slayer. You aren't the only one who's been making plans."
Opening the door, Tara pulled the dazed brunette into the house. Giles and Xander were sitting on the couch. "Where's Willow?" she asked.
"Oh, Tara, my dear, she decided to use Buffy's room. Before she left, I believe she mumbled something about you using the guest room." Giles answered.
"Yeah, Faith, looks like you and me are stuck with the floor," Xander said, grinning and gesturing to a nest of blankets beside the couch.
Eyebrows rising in disbelief, the Slayer shook her head. "Hate to burst your fantasy there, Xan-Man, but, if I gotta crash on the floor, I'm doing it upstairs. Just in case Red decides to make good on earlier threats, I'm sticking close to my bodyguard here." She jerked her chin at the witch next to her.
"But, that means I'm stuck with Giles," the young man whined.
The Englishman smirked. "That might not be as bad as you anticipated, Xander," he intoned. "Just imagine what Anya would say if she knew you'd slept with Faith."
Xander's eyes nearly popped out of his head, "Oh, yeah. Good point, Giles," he stammered. "I'm just going to crawl into the blankets and you girls can go right on upstairs."
Laughing at his antics, Tara grasped Faith's hand and began to lead her upstairs. "I didn't know Mrs. Summers had a guest room," she remarked.
"Hmmm, she mostly uses it as a storage room. B showed it to me one time. We're gonna have to move some stuff to get to the bed." The Slayer watched the witch in front of her. "Damn, T, Red ain't as smart as she likes to think."
Looking back in confusion, Tara replied, "What are you talking about?"
"Just admiring the view from down here, Blondie. Can't imagine how Red chose B over you."
Blushing at the huskily voiced compliment, Tara said, "Faith, I'm not —"
"Don't go there, Blondie. You're beautiful, and if you've changed your mind about waiting, I'm going to show you how happy I am Red's an idiot," Faith declared.
Shivering in excitement, Tara quickened her pace up the stairs. "In that case," she said, opening the door down the hall from Buffy's, "you get started moving this stuff," gesturing to the piles of clothing and artwork, "and I'll make sure we have all the privacy we need."
Faith squeezed by the witch standing in the doorway. "Sure, Blondie. I can do that. But what do you mean about the privacy?"
Tara closed the door and sketched a pattern in the air. Where her finger passed, a trail of green light followed. "I'm going to make sure we don't keep the rest of the house awake all night."
Laughing, the Slayer grabbed clothes from the bed and started piling them in a corner. "You a screamer, T?" she asked, grabbing another armful from the bed.
Tara blushed, but didn't answer. Letting the green light slowly brighten, she chanted quietly. With each word, the light expanded until the lines became shimmering waves of power. The witch waved her hands outward and the green waves flowed along the walls, meeting and merging in the corner Faith was using for the stored items. A final explosion of light marked the merger and then the light disappeared.
The Slayer glanced back at the witch after the flare of green. "Hey, Blondie, what's up with the magic? I thought we were here to get you all rested up for tomorrow?" Grunting with effort, she dropped the last of the clothes on the floor and started shifting Joyce's strange art collection.
Shaking out the tension in her shoulders, Tara turned to watch Faith. "This was an easy one. Besides, I'm not as bad off as I let on." At the Slayer's accusing glare, she tried her best puppy dog look. "Xander's comment about the Mayor caught you off guard. I didn't think you wanted the Scoobies to know how much you really loved him."
The Slayer stopped moving. She looked shocked. "How did you know?"
"Remember when I escorted you out of Buffy's room I told you I could tell if you were lying?" At the brunette's confused nod, Tara went on. "I can read auras. With you touching me at the time, I felt your reaction." She waited anxiously for Faith's response.
"So, you can do this aura thing with everybody?" The younger girl went back to moving artwork.
"Yeah, I can," the blonde answered. "I don't usually. Sometimes, though, emotions just jump out at me." Faith had finally cleared the bed and a path to the door. Approaching the Slayer, Tara pressed against the brunette. "See, right now, you seem to have some excess energy."
"Whoa! Blondie, I thought you were the shy witch," Faith joked, sliding her hands down the older girl's back.
Leaning in, Tara brushed her lips over the Slayer's before gripping the T-shirt Faith wore. She pushed the shirt up slowly, hands splayed to touch as much warm skin as possible. "I'm only the 'shy witch' in public, Slayer. Right now, with just you, I know exactly what I want." She caught the pouting lips in a deeper kiss, tongue dueling fiercely with Faith's. Finally pulling away, she panted, "And I'm going to make sure I get exactly that."
The brunette was flushed; her eyes nearly black with desire. "So, T, tell me what you want. Don't plan on you doing all the work." She brought her hands between their bodies, finding and releasing the hook on Tara's skirt. The material dropped to the floor. Gliding her palms over the newly revealed skin of the witch's legs, Faith begged, "Help me out a bit here, Witch. I don't want to go too far, too fast. Hurtin' you ain't part of the plan."
Tara ignored the plea. It was time to show the brunette she wasn't worried the Slayer would lose control. The witch resumed her quest to remove Faith's shirt, stopping again as her hands found the other girl's breasts. Smiling in triumph as the nipples hardened under her palms, the blonde gave in to temptation. Drawing in a small amount of energy, she whispered a short spell, pushing the Slayer onto the bed at the same time. The move surprised the vastly stronger brunette who lay looking at her companion in shock.
With revenge clearly on her mind, the younger girl tried to push herself out of her prone position, but couldn't move. "What the fuck, Blondie?"
Climbing astride the Slayer, Tara bent down to nip at the girl's neck just below her ear. Despite her unease at the situation, Faith groaned and bucked at the sensation. "You see, Slayer, your strength isn't a problem. You won't ever hurt me." The witch licked the reddened area her teeth had made before gliding slowly down to the pulse point. Sucking the flesh into her mouth, Tara marked the tender area, feeling the Slayer's pulse pounding under her tongue and the body beneath her arching in response. Sitting back and looking into the intense eyes below her, the witch said softly, "The spell reacts to intent, Faith. As long as you aren't trying to get up or leave, you'll be able to move. So, feel free to twist and writhe as much as you like."
***
Down the hall, Willow felt the initial surge in power as Tara insulated the room. At first, the witch wrestled with a desire to stop the lovemaking she knew was planned. However, exhaustion and the image of Buffy's tear-filled eyes from earlier convinced her to stay where she was. Pushing thoughts of Tara and Faith from her mind, Willow concentrated on the faint scent of sandalwood in Buffy's pillow. The smell drove the last images of the two down the hall away. It was a uniquely Buffy smell, and the witch turned her thoughts to her own missing girlfriend. She was worried that her Slayer was pushing too hard and returning to active duty too quickly. *Still, the redhead thought, on the edge of sleep, Buffy'll need someone here to take care of her. Wonder if she'd be interested in some tender loving care from Nurse Willow?*