Learning Curve
by rebelrsr
Chapter 29
[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 Angel the Series "Sanctuary" with reckless abandon. It's mostly AU from here. Thanks to the best beta crew: Zenithar and Zigpal I couldn't do it without you. Thanks to David for helping me get Faith to think before she ran.
A/N: Thoughts enclosed by **. Flashbacks enclosed by //.
Archiving: By permission only.
Buffy and Giles moved Joyce from the bed when she seemed free of her dream state. Now came the tricky part. In order to maintain their link with Faith, Willow had to merge with Tara, taking over control of the dream. The blonde witch then had to join the Dark Slayer on the bed while Willow connected her to Faith's subconscious. Willow moved next to Tara, placing her hand on the one resting on the brunette's forehead. Dropping into a trance state, she skillfully touched the older girl's aura, letting her know it was time to do the change over. For a split second, the redhead felt the extent of her ex-girlfriend's power. It drained away, and she focused on holding the link steady. Even at this early stage, she struggled to pull in enough power to complete the task.
A short time later, she sensed Tara was ready for the next step. Her right hand touched blonde hair, and she began to tie her two charge's essences together. Sweat beaded her hairline and she fought the power coupling. With a burst of energy, though, she managed to match the electrical pulses. Tara was in.
***
...opened her eyes and peered at the blonde head nestled on her shoulder. *Damn. What a dream.* She took stock of her surroundings, just in case she hadn't imagined the Professor and his freaky vision quest. The crowded guest room met her eyes, and Faith relaxed, running a gentle hand down Tara's back. She wasn't sure what the dream meant. It hadn't felt like a Slayer dream, but it was still so vivid in her mind. Shrugging off her unease, the brunette tried to go back to sleep. Every time her eyes closed, though, she jerked awake, breathing ragged.
Mumbling dire threats against evil monsters and drama professors, Faith carefully rolled out of bed. Her body ached, and she felt fuzzy-headed. The guest room didn't offer much in the way of chairs, so she contented herself with standing against the bed, admiring her sleeping witch. The flood of emotion caught her off guard. How had Tara gotten inside her defenses so quickly? The Slayer smiled crookedly, remembering the fire in the blue eyes back at Angel's apartment. Watching the rise and fall of the cotton-wrapped chest, Faith felt the first stirring of an old need. Time to run, get out.
Thoughts and feelings she'd never wanted raged inside. With an unaccustomed inner-truth, the Slayer realized she was terrified. In the past few days, she'd found a place in Sunnydale. A good place. And she'd made a tentative peace with the Scoobies. Faith was afraid she'd screw up again. She was afraid it would all go bad. The brunette had tried being part of the team once before. The results had been disastrous. When things imploded the first time, she'd really only lost her bond with Buffy. This time, she risked far more. Better to leave now. Staying meant maybe losing new friends...and Tara. The Slayer knew she couldn't stand to see Tara turn her away. It was easier to walk away before she crossed the point of no return.
Faith took a step back and froze. She didn't want to leave. Arguing with herself, the brunette marshaled all the evidence of a new and improved Faith. She had come back to Sunnydale, facing arrest and possible dismemberment from Willow to help. The Scoobies had listened to her, let her in, trusted her with their lives. Somehow, Faith knew the gang would help her with the police and the murder charges. For a brief moment, she closed her eyes, imagining a future with the blonde witch and a family.
That vision was too much. Even though she'd gained some kind of acceptance from Buffy and crew, Faith knew she didn't deserve any of it. She'd just betray them and her Calling again. She didn't have what it took to stay on the right side of the fight. Dropping her head tiredly, Faith realized it was time to go. Dawn was a few hours off, and the house was quiet. Slayer senses told her everyone was asleep. She'd be out of Sunnydale long before they woke. She stepped away from the bed, blinking away the dust that had gotten in her eyes, and climbed into her clothes. Brown eyes flickered back to the sleeping form. *I'm sorry, T.*
Slinking to the door, she reached out a shaking hand — and bit back a shout. Blue sparks flared where her fingers brushed the doorknob.
Spinning around, she looked into irritated blue eyes. "Morning, T," she tried.
"Faith." Tara's voice was flat. "Going somewhere?"
The Slayer didn't have an answer for that. At least, not one that was plausible. Hunching her shoulders, she leaned back against the door.
"I set the wards, hoping they weren't necessary." The witch sat up, back against the wall, keeping a close watch on the younger girl. "Why are you running, Sweetie?"
There was no way Faith was going to respond to that. "Just open the door, T."
"No."
"Fuck you, witch. Am I some kind of freakin' prisoner now?" The Slayer stalked to the bed, looming over the blonde. The action didn't get the response she expected. Tara threw off the covers and knelt on the bed, unafraid of the brunette.
"You want to run, Faith? Is that it? What are you afraid of? Loving me? Being a Scooby?" The witch reached out and rubbed at the frown on her Slayer's lips. "Please don't be scared. You don't have to be comfortable with everything going on. I know it's a lot and it happened all at once."
Faith hesitated. The finger stroking her lips was warm, soft. Unwillingly, she leaned into the caress. "T, I-" she broke off, staring at the wall behind the blonde. It rippled, seeming to expand and contract. Grabbing Tara, she yanked her off the bed, pushing the taller girl behind her.
"Oh, Goddess. I was afraid of this," the blonde whispered.
"What's going on, T?" the Slayer demanded. After a few minutes, the strange roiling had stopped and everything looked normal. Not trusting her senses, Faith moved to the bed and leaned across, gingerly touching the wall. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Tara pulled on her jeans and top before closing her eyes and grounding the energies holding up the warding. "We need to leave, Faith."
This time, the Slayer dug in her heels. She may have been on the verge of running, but now she thought it best to stay. "Not until you explain all this."
The witch smiled wryly. "Well, I don't think you're going to like it."
"Big surprise, there, T. Welcome to SunnyD and my life." Faith grinned. "Just give it to me in small words, 'k? What the hell is going on?"
"We're still in the vision quest." Tara grimaced at the Slayer's look of amazement. "I know. You thought we were back at Buffy's. I wanted it that way." Quickly and concisely, she detailed the Scoobies interference in the quest.
"So, you guys got into my head? All the scenes...they're because of you?" Faith's emotions swung from tentative happiness at their willingness to help and a burning rage at the interference.
Tara saw all of that when she scanned the brunette's aura. "Yes." She didn't want to push, but the Slayer's confusion tore at her. "We didn't know what the First Slayer was angry about. Vision quests can be dangerous." She hid behind her hair and whispered, "W-we just wan-wanted to help."
"You did good, T." The Slayer sighed, trying to pin her emotions down. "Give me a bit to deal with the whole 'Scooby in my head' thing. Beyond creepy."
Her Slayer senses screamed.
"Think you may have had the right idea, Blondie. Something's coming." There wasn't anything very useful among the discarded items in the former storage room. Cursing, she twisted the metal legs off the bed and handed two of them to her companion. The tingle running along her spine grew. "Fuck. Think it's downstairs."
She scanned the room, desperate for something, anything that would help. "Window. Let's go, Blondie." She jumped onto the bed and opened the window. Both of them scrambled for the roof, stumbling along the angled surface. Reaching the edge, Faith peered over. It was a long way down. Unlike Buffy's old room, there was no tree to help with the descent. "I'll go first, Tara. Once I'm on the ground, jump."
"You think you can catch me?" A blonde eyebrow shot up.
The Slayer shrugged. "Probably not. But if you sorta dangle off the edge, I can get you down safe." Taking her own advice, Faith slipped over the edge, holding onto the eaves until the last minute. The several-foot drop was jarring, but didn't cause any lasting damage. "Hurry up, Blondie. Whatever's inside is upstairs now." Seconds later, she grabbed the witch's legs, letting her slide down her body to the ground.
"You're the vision expert, T. Where do we go?" Faith asked.
"Anywhere that isn't here," came the sharp response. A frustrated roar sounded from the house. "I don't want to meet the source of that noise."
"Good point." The Slayer took the older girl's arm, and they ran down the street toward downtown. A block later, the brunette noticed holes appearing in the background. Instead of manicured lawns and middle class houses, portions of the scenery were simply missing. Total blackness filled the gaping spaces. "Damn. Things are going to hell fast. What happens when the scene you created disappears?"
Gasping from breath, Tara shook her head. "No idea. Best case...the First Slayer picks the scene."
"Worst case?" Faith ground out as they passed a larger section of nothingness.
"We get sucked into some sort of dimensional rift?"
"I ain't never bringing you on another quest, understand?" They'd reached the edges of downtown, and Faith dragged them to a stop. "We gotta stop, T."
Busy sucking in much-needed air, the witch didn't respond.
Faith reached out with her senses. The area was filled with demons and vamps. All of them seemed to be converging on their location. "You got any witchy tricks up your sleeve?"
"No." Tara felt for her power reserves and found them blocked. "Someone's interfering."
"Then we need to find a better location for the big showdown. We've got company coming." The Slayer reached into her memory of Sunnydale, trying to come up with a more defensible spot. "Got it. Let's go."
The place she chose wasn't ideal, not by a long shot. However, the narrow alley meant their attackers had only one way to enter. The surrounding buildings were old and dilapidated. Faith prayed to any higher being in existence that the rooftops wouldn't bear the weight of the demons on their heels. Shoving Tara behind her, she faced the entrance, bent metal legs in hand and waited.
***
Holding the ephemeral bonds with Tara and Faith settled into monotony. Willow relaxed into the magic, feeling the steady beat of both hearts and the comforting flare of their thoughts. Even though most of her concentration centered on keeping Tara in the vision quest, she heard the faint rumblings of conversation in the bedroom and smiled.
Suddenly, a secondary source of energy tore through the bindings of the spell. The redhead fought off panic and repaired the damage. However, Tara was more experienced and more powerful. The new bond wasn't so seamless as the original. Willow poured energy into the spell, but the excess didn't help. Instead, the overflow leaked out of the coupling, draining her even further. Bursts of green light exploded from the tenuous link Willow was holding. She felt the power growing, pushing her out of the bond. "Buffy, Joyce, help!"
She couldn't see either woman, but she felt them next to her, worried, needing answers. The witch was afraid to split her focus, however, and simply ordered, "Put your hands over mine." Willow was going to take them all back inside. The fracturing of the bond would leave Faith and Tara trapped and alone. No way was that going to happen. Pulling in energy from her Slayer, the redhead created a new link, keeping her magical hook small and unobtrusive. She'd have to be careful, making sure the First Slayer didn't realize what she'd done until it was too late. By the time she'd created the five-fold coupling, she was trembling with the effort and the amount of raw energy rushing through her channels. She pulled the links tight and drew each of their essences through the power cords, until...
***
Vampires swarmed the area, each trying to be the first into the narrow alley. Fortunately, Faith had chosen well. At most, three vamps stood side by side. They had no way to flank the Slayer and witch. "Come and get me, boys," Faith taunted, crouched and ready.
The trio looked at each other, confused, before charging en masse. The first went down instantly, speared in the throat by the metal bar. The other two took longer. Dodging a wild right, the Slayer slammed her other weapon into a stomach and caught the third in the chin with a wicked scissor kick. No matter her skill, these three were still in the game. She didn't have the right tools to dust or decapitate them. As the first vamp climbed slowly to his feet, Faith moved a step back, running into Tara. "Shoulda maybe stopped for a weapons upgrade, Blondie."
"Make sure to remember next time, Slayer," the blonde fired back.
Ducking a round of blows from her rebounding attackers, Faith didn't reply at once. This time, she didn't waste time or energy. A strong kick sent one vamp flying into the line of demons waiting at the alley entrance. "Fuck! T, I don't think there's going to be a next time." She grunted and went to a knee, rocked by a series of punches from Vamp Number Two. Shaking her head, the Slayer pushed off the ground, but was too slow. She never even saw the kick that caught her in the temple. The world flickered in and out. Dimly, Faith heard Tara scream. She wanted to apologize for not being good enough to protect the witch, but the words didn't form. A feeling of despair engulfed her, and she gave in to the darkness. Right before she closed her eyes, she thought she saw blue fire burning a path through the vampire army.