Rating - Ummm... some parts are steamier, but mostly PG.
Disclaimer - This takes place early season 6 but I've deliberately not concentrated too much on the emotional state of the Slayer. All the characters are kinda wired though... Oh, and all characters belong to someone else. Mutant Enemy and Fox to be specific.
Feedback - Naturally.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4
"It has been recognised even from the very earliest of
times, during the first gropings towards the essential conveniences of social
decency and social order, that witchcraft is an evil thing, an enemy to light,
an ally of the powers of darkness, disruption, and decay."
-- Rev Montague Summers, introduction to the Malleus
Maleficarum, 1928.
Tara looked up. In the faint light of pre-dawn she could see the shadows of the water as small waves broke against the shore. The white glimmering sand of the beach stretched up to her left and finished in the craggy pile of rocks that marked the end of the private beach.
She sat cross-legged in the sand at the mouth of the cave. It was odd, knowing that Buffy and Angel had once fought a fire-demon here. Even to her attuned senses there were no more lingering traces of evil - nothing to disrupt her mind as she gathered her thoughts for the spell she was about to cast.
The tools for her spell lay in a calico bag at her feet. It was nothing really, this spell, just a blessing to try and dispel the feelings of chaos from her mind, to try and achieve some measure of inner peace. Something inside her felt troubled lately - she was finding it more and more difficult to concentrate and relax into her magic since they had performed the spell to raise Buffy from the dead.
Pieces of that night lingered in her spirit, pulling up anguish and doubt and fear like she'd never experienced before. And Willow was at the centre of it all - Willow with her unexpected gift for dark magic, her shining eyes as she channelled more and more power and supernatural energy through her castings.
She sighed, forcing her mind back to the task at hand. This was exactly the problem, she scolded herself. Even with the most basic of spells she felt her mind wandering. How was she supposed to be useful to everyone when she was constantly off-balance?
As the first tendrils of light crawled over the horizon she knew that the time had come. Reverently she stood and took a few steps down on to the soft sand, her calico bag in hand. She cast cautious glances up and down the small beach to ensure she was alone. At this time of the morning in such an isolated place there should be no one to disturb her ritual.
Out of the bag she pulled the first item - a small lump of clay. With deft fingers she fashioned a long coil from the soft clay, placing it in the sand near her feet. She took a small step backwards and drew from the bag a small, pointed stick that she'd found on campus in her first week at UC Sunnydale. The stick had been a favourite tool in many rituals since then but it had no inherent power. It was simply strong and good for drawing the power circles she sometimes needed for different spells.
She reached out a drew a circle in the sand, large enough for her to sit comfortably within, with the long piece of clay sitting at the centre. Before the circle was finished she drew a stem of corn and a large black rag from the bag and placed the now-empty bag outside the confines of the circle. Then she sealed the circle.
Sitting cross-legged with the long piece of clay at her feet, she placed the black rag by her side and held the corn in front of her, holding it up to eye level so that the yellow edges caught the new light beginning to spray across the horizon. Slowly, a white light began to emanate from her hands, spreading down the length of her limbs, spreading a feeling of warmth through her blood and down through her body. She kept her eyes firmly up and felt rather than saw the shimmerings of light as they grew to envelope her whole body.
Energies swirled and ebbed around her, the lingering blackness of the failing dark crackled as negative energy, confusion and despair fled from her bones, expunged from her flesh by the power of the bright light. Then the darkness lost all its power and was sucked towards the effigy she had made and laid upon the sand, a long serpent-like piece of clay that seemed to buck and twist as it absorbed the negative forces from around her.
She chanted, slowly, deliberately. "Let the power of Maat, Goddess of justice, truth and harmony, rule in my new life, giving me peace, the power of creativity and the joy of living."
The spell lasted only a few more moments and then the full light of sunrise hit the beach, bathing her in a different type of glow, the natural, peaceful illumination of the morning sun. She sighed with pleasure, feeling somehow lighter and more awake.
Finally she stood, picking up the black rag from beside her and wrapping it tightly around the cob of corn, trapping the warm energies inside. This she placed gently on the sand before picking up the long, twisted piece of clay. It looked ugly and grotesque now to her magically enhanced vision and she was loathe to touch it, even for this final part of the spell. She moved forward, breaking the circle of power as she went, until she stood at the edge of the ocean, the cool water lapping at her bare feet.
"Serpent God of chaos and disorder, your true name is Apep." Her voice rang out and she held the effigy high above her head. "As I know your true name, you can no longer hurt me with your destructive forces. Stay within your image. You no longer have the power to hurt me and those that I love."
With all the energy she could muster she flung the piece of clay into the water, watching it sail above the waves until it dropped to the surface and beneath, its blackness consumed by the surging energies of the tides.
The ritual was complete, but she couldn't bring herself to move. Her eyes transfixed on the light patterns that decorated the surface of the water and she imagined her negative forces being sucked beneath that brilliant surface, to be tossed and turned in the turbulent water until their energies dissipated and their power over her was no more.
***
Willow hurried down the corridor, dodging fellow students as she went, clutching a stack of well-thumbed textbooks that threatened to spill out of her arms onto the floor. She threw rushed apologies at those people who she couldn't quite avoid, her excited energy carrying her all the way to the student centre and the room full of study tables next door.
As she crashed her way around the corner she spotted Tara at a far table, bent over a huge volume, eyebrows creased in forced concentration. Paying no heed to the annoyed glances of her fellow students, she ran over and dumped her heavy pile of books on the table with a thump that made Tara jump with fright.
"Willow! You scared me!"
A sheepish grin was all the apology Willow could muster. "You'll never guess who I just met."
Tara shrugged. "Probably not."
"Aww, c'mon, you have to try!" Willow complained, her small body fairly bursting with excitement.
Tara suppressed a grin and prepared for a round of useless questions that she knew would frustrate her red-headed lover no end. "OK. Human or demon?"
Willow growled. Finally unable to contain herself she leaned in conspiratorially. "Another witch! Like us! OK, more like a wizard. He was using some kind of spell to pull the answers to the quiz out of the computer in our computer science class. I could feel the energy he was giving out from across the room. Heck, I probably would have felt it across the campus. He wasn't being real subtle about it…"
Tara held up her hand to stem the flow of excited babbling. "Wait a second. Back up. Who is this guy?"
"Well that's what I wanted to know! And also I wanted to know why he needed to cheat on that quiz because it was pretty easy considering we were given all the answers at last week's class, then again I don't remember seeing him there so…" She caught Tara's look. "OK, getting back to the point. The short answer, I don't know. I tried to corner him after class and all he wanted to do was run away, like he was afraid of being busted for cheating or something. What was I gonna do, turn him in for misuse of the black arts?"
"That'd be a good start."
"Wait, you're suspicious already? We don't even know who he is."
"That's the point Will. We don't know. And until we do know it's probably not a good idea for you to go around admitting that you felt his mystical energies from across the room." Tara said.
Her admonishment took some of the shine off Willow's excitement. "OK, you're right. But I'd still like to track this guy down, figure out his story."
"Absolutely." Tara allowed herself a small smile, despite her immediate instinct to worry. "You planning to access his student file?"
"Yep. And I might just grab a few extra details while I'm at it, like where he came from, if he's been around for a while…"
"His social security number…" Tara couldn't help laughing. "Face it, you're just a big, fat snoop at heart!"
"Willow, witch detective. There are no secrets from me!" Willow cackled in her best evil voice, twirling an imaginary moustache with her fingertip. Still snickering she pointed towards the book Tara was reading. "What you reading?"
"Oh, this? Egyptian Mystical Rites. I tried one of the low-level rituals this morning while I was at the beach but I'm not sure I did it right. I don't feel any different really, but at the time the power felt pretty intense."
"Oh, the whole inner balance thing?" Willow asked, concerned.
Tara nodded. "Just feeling out of sorts, you know? Flat. Like I can't concentrate."
"And I'm currently not helping." Willow said. "I'm sorry, I should go and let you study."
Willow moved to get up and leave but Tara reached out a hand to stay her. "You're the kind of interruption I always like."
As usual that kind of comment sent a warm wave through Willow's body. She swooned back into her seat, still gripping Tara's hand. "Really?"
"Really." Tara said. "But…"
Willow's face fell. "But what?"
"But, don't you have another class?" She indicated the clock on the wall.
Willow cursed and nodded. "I just wanted to come here and tell you about this mysterious wizard-guy."
"Just be careful, Will. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that he did something that obvious knowing anyone with power would be able to feel it. If he's evil he might have been trying to draw you out."
Willow nodded. "Point taken. I'll just do some digging and see what I can find." She stood up and leaned across the table, giving Tara a soft, lingering kiss.
"Hmmm, easily the best part about saying goodbye." Tara murmured, her voice was low and silky. "Can't wait for the hello."
Willow let out a long, soft groan. "Don't say that. How am I ever going to concentrate in class now?"
"Same way you always do, sweetie." Tara teased.
"Evil temptress!" Reluctantly Willow slipped away, waiting until the last possible moment to let Tara's fingers slip from her own. She left, throwing a last look at Tara as she reached the door to the study room. Tara had already started reading again, her long brown hair falling forward to obscure her face.
Willow felt that familiar twist in her stomach as she gazed at Tara, this time accompanied by a happy grin and an absurd desire to skip down the hallway to her next class.
***
He grabbed the end of the branch roughly and pulled, stripping leaves and twigs from the main part of the bough. With his other hand he placed a hand saw close to the trunk and began to saw backwards and forwards in a regulated motion. The bough creaked and snapped, finally coming away so that he held the long piece of timber in his hands.
His lip curled into a self satisfied snarl. The wood was pliable and straight, and he hoped blissfully free of knots that would hinder his carving. He imagined the bough as it would be - a wand carved with mystical symbols and incantations to protect him from evil. The devil worshippers would kneel before him, trembling and begging for their miserable lives as his wand sucked the life force from their bodies and left them empty shells. Just like he had done many time before.
The spell required a new wand for each witch - carefully decorated and consecrated, using only wood cut from a living tree with his own hands. The trees were in league with the witches, he thought bitterly. Only cutting from the flesh of their allies would produce wood imbued with magic enough to hold their essence.
He looked up. The full moon would be in ten days, the perfect night for the augmentation of his powers. He needed to make contact with the witch soon, leaving himself enough time for the required meditations. He was sure it was only a matter of time before the red-headed witch took the bait. She thought she knew him, his power, the energy that flowed from his hands. She probably thought she could teach him, learn from him, share their magical forces and become more combined than either could be alone.
That was the way with all of them and their accursed covens, banding together to worship and cast their demon spells in groups, dancing like the heathens they were under the blessed light of the moon. He pictured them holding hands, naked as the day they wriggled their way into the world, revelling in their effrontery to heaven.
But this one would learn, just like others had learned. She would be judged and found wanting. She would suffer the fate of her sister witches, the way all witches had been punished throughout the ages.
He hefted the tree branch in his hand, feeling his power calling out to him, to imbue this wood with the power of the Lord.
She thought she had a lifetime ahead of her to practice her ungodly religion. She was wrong. The Witch Hammer has spoken, he thought eagerly. The witch will die.
***
Willow munched on a mouthful of potatoes, trying to speak at the same time. "OK, so I checked his student file, and he transferred to UC Sunnydale at the beginning of the semester."
"And?" Buffy asked.
"And nothing. I had never seen him in my class before today. I can't tell where he transferred from, and I know nothing else about him." Willow said. She looked at Tara. "And you were joking about looking up his social security number? Well, I tried doing that, and as far as I can tell, he doesn't have one."
"That's not possible." Tara said.
Buffy scowled. "Those were the kinds of people that when we were in high school we went 'uh oh'. They usually turned out to be the ones stealing body parts."
Tara choked on a piece of squash. "B-body parts?"
"She's just kidding. We knew everything about the guys who were stealing body parts. No mysteries there." Willow said.
Tara put down her fork. "OK, that was a quick dinner."
Willow went on, unfazed. "But it was only a preliminary sweep. I didn't have much time. Tonight, I get serious. We're talking tax returns, criminal records, birth certificates, the whole enchilada."
Buffy smiled and took another bite of greens, years of slaying obviously leaving her appetite undaunted by talk of dead bodies at dinner. "Why the sudden interest, Will? It's not like you haven't met other witches before."
"Not like this guy." Willow said. "This kind of power takes years to develop. And if we don't find out pretty quick whether he's working for the good or the not-so-good, we could end up in a whole bunch of trouble."
"So, what? You hunt him down and he mojos you in self-defence?" Buffy warned.
Tara sighed. "Yeah, I'm nervous about that too. But Willow's right. If he's using his powers for good, then he should have nothing to hide, not when faced with others who are, you know, like him."
"I didn't realise that testing witch powers included checking with the IRS." Dawn put in. "Isn't there some spell you could do that just tells you whether he's full of good or bad mojo?"
Willow shook her head. "I'm just being cautious, Dawnie. Casting a spell like that on another witch is considered kinda rude."
"Why?"
"Well, what would you think if some stranger walked up to you and asked if you were a good little Catholic who went to church on Sundays?" Tara asked. "Or more generally, what your religion is? What you believe deep down inside you? What you practice?"
Dawn nodded. "I'd tell them to mind their own business."
"Exactly." Tara said. "That spell you're talking about is a personal invasion. And if he's practising dark sorcery, his method of telling Willow to mind her own business might be a bit painful."
"Ahhh." Dawn said, understanding. "Ok, so no magical peeking. I still don't get what checking up on his past will accomplish. Why don't you just hang out with him? Buy him coffee?"
"Well, for one thing Dawn, it'll tell us whether or not he even has a past. For all we know he could have been demon-spawned a week ago." Buffy said. "That'd be nice to know before going in."
Dawn sat back in her chair. "Oh, for a normal family where we talk about school, and jobs and which hot boys were in school now."
"No…" Willow frowned. "He's definitely human. And a witch." She looked at Dawn. "But you know, maybe Dawn is right."
Tara shot her a panicked look. "You're not going to cast that spell…?"
"No, not magic silly. Maybe he'll tell me what I want to know if I just walk up and ask him. The direct approach."
"A novel idea." Buffy said.
"It'd certainly save me a night slaving over the laptop."
"Risky." Tara said. "I don't know, Will."
"I promise I'll talk to him in a public place. Lots of people around." She smiled. "Besides, what if he's good? We can always use a wizard with that kind of power. He could be an untapped resource."
Buffy nodded. "OK. Just be careful, and don't tell him more about you than you want him to know. At least not right way."
"I'll be cagey and stealthy." Willow grinned.
"Yeah, I bet." Buffy looked at Tara. "The last person Willow interrogated admitted the terrible crime of peeing in the high school pool."
Tara screwed up her nose. "Ew."
"That was Jonathon! And look at how he turned out." Willow replied, indignant. "Besides, this won't be an interrogation, it's just a friendly conversation."
****
"So…Jared." Willow blurted as soon as they sat down. "How long have you been a wizard?"
He narrowly missed splurting coffee all over her. "What? Well, Willow…" He rolled her name over his tongue, as if testing it out. "How long have you been practising that tactful approach?"
She grinned. "Sorry, I don't mean to be all snoopy, but I saw what you were doing the other day. You know, in computer science class?"
He looked up. "I don't know what you mean."
She changed tack. "Ok, I didn't exactly see what you were doing. I felt it."
"Ah." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"I mean really felt it. You're powerful." She kept her eyes fixed on him, trying to gauge his reactions. "Anyone with powers who doesn't walk around with wards up constantly would have felt…" She stopped, hit with a sudden, unpleasant thought.
"Would have felt what?"
"Felt what you were doing…" She trailed off. "Or maybe it was just because I was so close. Maybe no one else would have felt it."
Tara had been in the next building over. Surely she must have felt something? Even a residual effect. But she'd acted like she'd known nothing about it. If she'd felt magic, she would have said something.
Willow wondered why it had taken her this long to think of it. Was Tara using wards? Or was there something else wrong? And if she was using wards, what was she trying to protect herself against?
"Willow? Are you OK?" He touched her shoulder hesitantly.
She turned. "Oh. Yes, sorry, I'm fine." Dragging herself back to the business at hand, she switched on what she hoped was her most dazzling smile. "So, you never answered my question. How long have you been practising?"
"I never said I was." He smiled, shyly. "But if I was, then, I guess someone would have had to be doing it for a while to do what you said I did…"
"That's what I would have thought." Willow said, sipping on her own large, frothy mocha. "And, they probably had someone powerful teaching them. Wherever they came from."
"Are you asking where I come from?"
"Would you answer me if I did?"
He chuckled. "OK. Most recently? Indianapolis."
She nodded slowly. "I knew a woman who lived there. Ann Wrightson? I spoke to her all the time on the Internet, about stuff… you know, to do with what we do. She died though. Recently."
"How did she die?"
"Cancer. Really suddenly. She was diagnosed and then just 2 weeks later she was gone. There was nothing anyone could do, magically or otherwise." She breathed deeply. "It's sad."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yeah. She was powerful. A teacher in one of the covens there."
He looked blank. "I don't know her."
She couldn't tell if he was lying. "Hmmm… most people who practice there do."
"Not me." He shifted in his seat. "Coven? You actually use that word?"
"Of course." Willow said, the quick change of topic not at all lost on her. "Or group, circle, whatever. It doesn't really matter."
"You have a coven?" he asked.
"No, not really." She answered, cautiously. "I find them a bit limiting."
"Are you too powerful to play with anyone else?" He asked.
She studied him for a second, wondering if he was mocking her, or worse, trying to bait her. "No, I just feel more comfortable on my own."
He just nodded, not offering comment.
"By these questions about covens, I can assume you're a loner?"
"I work alone. Yes." He replied.
"That's not exactly the same thing." She prodded.
"You're very perceptive."
"Comes with the territory. I think it's the whole witchcraft thing. It makes you more aware of the nuances."
He raised one curious eyebrow. "You talk about the craft as if it's this every day thing, like anyone can do it. But they can't… it's very rare...or so I've heard." He added quickly.
Willow snorted. "Not as rare as you'd think. Real power yes, but simple charms, incantations… practically anyone can do it if they've got access to the right knowledge, the proper ingredients and the right amount of reckless stupidity."
"You're serious." His brow rumpled into what Willow would almost have called a scowl.
"Oh totally. I mean, the first spells I ever did I don't think had anything to do with real magic or the type of spells I do now. Back then I was more a kid playing with a supernatural chemistry set. Now it's all like channelling mystical energies and transmutation." She giggled. "In high school it was about making pencils float and making sure I didn't blow anything up. Well, nothing important anyway. Like, you know, people." She took a sip of her coffee. "But it all got clearer over time. How about you?"
"I… I've always had the powers. Exactly as they are now."
"Really? That's amazing. If I had started out at the same level I am now I would have gotten someone killed for sure. Probably me."
"What can you do?"
Willow looked puzzled. "That's kind of a 'how long is a piece of string?' type question."
"Why?"
"Why?" She frowned. "I don't know why. It's not like a circus acts where I have these few tricks I've learned to do well. I can't quantify what I do."
"I don't understand."
"Your powers are different?"
"Maybe." He looked down at his hands, his face still devoid of expression.
His cagey answer bothered Willow. "Well… I guess the best way to describe it is that I think of a thing I want to achieve, and then I think of a way to do it, or find a spell someone else has created that lets me do it. So theoretically there's no limits on what I can do. Though some things give me a blistering headache afterwards, or even nosebleeds. Like teleportation. Can't say I'll be in a hurry to try that again." He blanched. The movement was only slight and he hurried to cover it up, but to her the reaction stood out like a neon sign against his previously impassive face. "Are you nervous about something?"
"No. Are you?"
"Nope." She smiled.
He tried to return the smile, forcing the edges of his mouth upwards. "I've never met anyone like me before."
It was Willow's turn to be shocked. "Ever?"
He shook his head. "I don't think most people who have power are in a hurry to announce it."
"OK. But I'm not most people. And I didn't just announce it - the spell you cast kind of sent me a calling card."
"Obviously." This time he did smile, and after a few moments it even seemed to touch his eyes, to take some of the suspicion from his dark glare. "Do you want to get out of here?"
"Where do you wanna go?"
"I don't know. Somewhere else. I feel like everybody is looking at me."
Willow thought about it a moment, silently weighing the suggestion versus Buffy's warnings that she not go anywhere with him alone.
"I don't bite." He said. "Besides, you asked me for coffee, remember?"
She nodded. "True."
"So what do you say?"
"OK. A walk?"
"Sounds good." He stood up immediately, almost knocking over his half-finished coffee in his haste.
Willow hurriedly grabbed her things and followed, sending a silent thought to Tara to let her know she was going off alone with Jared. She didn't want Tara to worry. The magical missive would float in the air until it found her lover, whispering silently in her ear alone.
Although, she reasoned, if Tara was using wards, she would probably never receive it. The thought bugged her.
***
Tara considered dropping her wards just for a few minutes to try and find Willow wherever she was on campus. Without the magical shields holding all other power sources at bay she'd be able to sense Willow instantly, no matter where she was. It was one of the reasons she'd put up the walls to start with - being able to sense Willow was amazing, but Willow's power was so strong now, and in some senses very unstable, that she found it distracting for everyday life. She was having enough trouble concentrating lately as it was.
No, she would have to try and find Willow the old-fashioned way, and truth be told she preferred it. It made her feel more grounded than if she could do everything at the wave of her fingers. Tara remembered dimly things her mother used to say before she died, about the nature of magic and what it should and shouldn't be used for. Her mother was super-powerful, just like Willow, but she would never use magic for simple things. Sweeping floors, cooking dinner, straightening the picture on the wall that was crooked… to use magic for those things swayed the balance of all other things. There was no real reason for it.
Yet, she knew she had her beliefs and that Willow had her own. If Willow knew she was using personal wards then she would probably get all defensive about it. Paranoid even. She'd had enough debates with Willow over the application of magic to know exactly where her strong-willed girlfriend stood on the issue.
Maybe, she thought, there's no real danger. Maybe my mom just didn't want me to grow up lazy?
The computer labs yielded no sign of Willow, and on investigation she found out that no one in there had seen her that afternoon. Willow was a regular, someone that others noticed and spoke to. It usually wasn't difficult chasing her trail around the campus by finding the people she'd helped, or just talked to.
As it often did her brain jumped to the most obvious comparison; the difference between the way people perceived her as opposed to Willow. Tara knew she could sit in a room for hours on end and no one would even know she was there. Sure, this past year and a half things had changed a lot - she had more friends, she spoke more often in class, she even got involved in school activities - one thing she'd never done before that fateful day she'd decided with great force of will to start showing up for the campus Wicca group.
According to Buffy, Willow had always been like that. She'd been a lot more shy in high school by all reports, but everyone had known who she was, if only because she was the best person to help them pass their Trig quiz or finish their History assignments. She wasn't popular socially but she always helped and talked and made friends in her own quiet way. Now she was obviously just not as quiet.
After another half an hour of looking and asking in the logical spots, Tara eventually picked up Willow's trail. Someone from one of her study groups had seen her leaving the cafeteria with some guy; tall, dark haired, kind of broody. Tara knew instantly who they had to be talking about, even though she'd never seen him.
She felt a stab of irrational jealousy and wandered out through the main hall, knowing that once Willow left campus it would be harder to figure out where she was going, even with magic. The Espresso Pump maybe? Somewhere else more private so they could talk about powers without prying ears overhearing something they shouldn't?
Willow had said that she was going to stay out in public, to lessen the risks of this guy not being what he seemed to be. But after a while it would be entirely in Willow's nature to wander off somewhere else with him if she felt secure enough.
"Willow, baby, where did you go?" She mumbled to herself. After a moment's hesitation she went in search of a payphone. Innocent or not, she didn't like Willow not being where she couldn't find her.
There was a phone in the main hall. Not for the first time she lamented the fact that neither she nor Willow had purchased a cell phone yet. She dug in her purse for a quarter and deposited it in the slot, quickly punching in the numbers for the Summers house.
The phone rang. Once. Twice. Three times. It kept ringing. No answer and no machine message. Dawn had probably forgotten to switch on the machine again.
She hung up in frustration.
A good, old standard locater spell, she thought calmly. That would find Willow in a second. But for that she needed privacy - a rare commodity while standing in the dead centre of the UC Sunnydale campus.
Out of options, Tara concentrated briefly, allowing the invisible, woven fabric of her wards split and break apart. She felt a moment's disorientation as she always did, then nothing. Seconds after the wards dropped she felt that familiar tingle in her ears, a whispering voice that meant Willow had tried to communicate with her. Not being able to find her through the wards the message had lingered at her side in the ether, growing weaker with each minute that passed. Now Tara could barely make out the words. There was most definitely "Jared", and "gone" and "walk".
Whatever Willow was doing, it went directly against the plan she had agreed to the night before, that was for her own safety. But that didn't surprise Tara one little bit.
"Tara, hi!" A voice cut into her thoughts. Relief flooded her senses. It was exactly what she had needed to hear in that moment.
"Buffy. I was j-just trying to call you."
"What's up? Willow back from her little fact finding mission yet?"
"That's just it, she's not. She kind of left a message that she was going with him somewhere, but I don't know where."
"Going with him somewhere?" Buffy repeated, incredulous.
"I couldn't really make it out¾"
"¾Alone? And people call her a genius."
Tara couldn't say anything. She just shrugged her shoulders.
All right." Buffy said. "Where was she last seen?"
"In the cafeteria."
"Well then, we try and retrace her steps. If I was Willow, where would I go with a strange guy who may or not be an evil sorcerer?"
Tara shrugged again, helpless. "I don't know. That's not really a question I thought would ever come up."
"We have to think."
Tara reached out with her mind and tried in vain to sense Willow's power. If her girlfriend was nearby then she ought to be able to sense it. But all she felt was a cold emptiness where Willow should have been.
Buffy recognised what she was doing and waited, tapping her foot impatiently. "Nothing?"
Tara looked miserable. "Nothing."
"So what does that usually mean?" Buffy asked.
"Usually? That she's too far away, or that either she, or someone else, is blocking my power, warding her from me."
"Ok, none of those prospects are really appealing to me right now."
Tara sighed. "We're probably overreacting. She's probably fine. I mean, I like to think I could sense if there was something…"
"Wrong?" Buffy smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure you could." She started walking down the corridor. "Let's check the campus grounds, just to see if they're still here. Then we'll work on finding her in other ways."
"I thought about using the locater spell, but it's not something I'm using to doing and I don't know anywhere I could go where I'm guaranteed not to be interrupted."
Buffy stopped, mid-stride. "I know somewhere."
***
Willow screamed.
"It won't help witch," Jared sneered. "No one can hear you. You're not even making a squeak out loud. It's all in your head."
He took up his position again, seated on a nearby rock carving a series of power sigils into the wand he'd made for this very occasion. The witch's name had to be engraved on the wand, plus a list of her grievous crimes against God. All in the language of the Order of Malleus.
Sickened, he looked down at his captive. From what this one had already revealed to him, getting out of her a full list of her sins could take some time. The psychic gag he'd cast upon her wouldn't last forever. Sooner or later the witch would figure out how to get out, and by then he needed to be ready.
Willow struggled, both against the bonds that bound her wrists and feet, and the bonds that seemed to be crushing her inside her own head - pushing in on her so that she was unable to let loose with her powers. Even the most basic spells seemed impossible. And now, she realised, even her pleading and screams were going unheard.
They were far away from the campus, she knew that much. While they were walking along the pathway had taken them out of sight of anyone else for just a few seconds, but that had been enough for Jared to grab her hand, whisper a few power words and spirit them off to wherever they were now. All she knew was that she'd woken up bound and, for all intents and purposes, gagged.
The forests around Sunnydale were dense and easy to get lost in. She and Tara had taken long walks here, but they had always stuck to the pathways, never gone wandering around in the undergrowth. Nothing around her seemed familiar. Even if she could send out a message to Tara, she wasn't certain she could give enough details about her surroundings for the gang to even have any hope of finding her.
Instead of scaring her, the helpless feelings inside Willow bubbled up into a rage that threatened to choke her. Jared just sat, carving his stupid piece of tree like he had no doubt about his control over her.
On the rare occasions he looked up it wasn't to check she was behaving herself, it was to gloat about his victory over her, just by flashing his disgusting, smarmy grin. When he looked away she dug deep inside herself, working on a way to free herself of the physical bonds that held her. The psychic bonds could wait until she was free and kicking Jared's ass. You picked on the wrong witch, you sorry excuse for a warlock.
As she willed her brain to function inside Jared's wards, she couldn't help feeling equally as angry with herself as she was with him. She should have known better than to just ignore Buffy and Tara's warnings. Being a good judge of people had never been her forte, she knew. Despite her warnings against it to Dawn, one little peek into Jared's aura would have told her everything she needed to know about his intentions towards her.
She didn't need a spell to feel the type of power radiating from him now. He was angry, self-satisfied and smug ¾ not so much evil as purposeful and filled with hate. Of course, I guess most people are evil don't think of themselves that way, she thought. Right now Jared thought himself her conqueror. Willow thought it might serve her best, in the short term at least, if she doing nothing to discourage him from that delusion. At least until she was sure she could pull off something good enough to prove otherwise.
***
Buffy looked around carefully before slipping through into the empty supply cupboard, motioning for Tara to follow. Tara stepped inside, clutching the small backpack she carried as if it was precious. It was really, it contained all the ingredients she would need for the spell. It would take time they didn't have to go and fetch more if the casting didn't work first time.
Tara looked around. "What is this place?"
"Janitor hide-out that no one seems to use any more. I found it my first week on campus when I was snooping around for places to hide stuff." Buffy reached into a small cupboard and pulled out a gleaming, double-headed axe. "From my personal collection."
"You k-keep that here all the time?"
"Uh huh. And I've used it more than once, believe it or not." Buffy inspected the edges of the weapon before placing it carefully back into its hiding spot. "You never know when the lurking evil is going to be.. well, lurking." She plopped herself down on a nearby chair. "Is this OK?"
"Perfect." Tara replied. She dropped to the floor and started pulling the contents out of the backpack. Buffy watched, fascinated as usual as Tara went about preparing herself for the casting. It wasn't a difficult incantation from what she had heard. Willow had done the spell often enough. Buffy was also beginning to understand though that stuff Willow found simple appeared to be more difficult for other witches. Willow had power none of them had guessed. Of course, her own resurrection was proof enough of that.
"Would you like to help?" Tara asked.
Buffy blinked. "Me?"
"Yes." She finished arranging everything and sat down crossed-legged. "You might not be a witch Buffy, but you have immense levels of power flowing through you. It might help to augment the range and intensity of the spell. I can use all the help I can get breaking through those wards."
"Of course." Buffy said. She plopped herself down in front of Tara.
"Just mix the ingredients as I do, and then when I say, hold the dust in the your hands and blow it on to the map."
"I can do that." Buffy said.
Tara smiled. "And don't worry if you feel a little.. disturbed while its happening. Spells like this usually stir you up a bit inside."
"Disturbed how?"
"You'll see." Tara replied. The coyness in her eyes piqued Buffy's curiosity.
Tara began the incantation, motioning to Buffy when she needed to mix ingredients. Buffy turned out to be a quick study. She understood instantly without being told the importance of patience and using exact measures of different powders. When the time came, the two women held the mixture to their lips and blew.
Energies whirled over the map of Sunnydale that Tara had placed on the floor. In theory the dust would gather at all places that had a concentration of good magic. Tara pushed back deep into her mind the memories of the time she and Willow had cast the reverse spell, the spell to locate demonic energy. The spell she had deliberately ruined.
Speckles of enchanted dust landed and moved, gathering in the places of power. Buffy felt a stirring inside and blushed, sure now of what sensations Tara had warned her she would be feeling. The sudden arousal brought with it an image of Riley and a sadness threatened to overwhelm her.
Tara looked up and laughed. "See, I told you."
"Does it affect you like this every time?"
"Yes. More I think, because usually I cast this spell with Willow." A brief flicker of pain flashed across Tara's face.
Buffy reached out her hand to steady her. "It's all right. We're going to find her."
Both of them concentrated then on the map, trying to decipher the patterns that the dust was making for them. A swirl of powder gathered at UC Sunnydale, indicating where they themselves sat.
There were two other central points of energy, one more intense than the other. The lesser power was located deep in the woods outside Sunnydale. The other, stronger gathering of energy was focussed near the centre of town.
"Two?" Buffy looked confused.
Tara leaned forward to inspect the map. "I was actually afraid there'd be more."
"But which one is Willow?"
"Well, if I was to make an educated guess, based on the fact that we both think Willow is in some kind of trouble, I'd say it's the woods."
"But that's the weaker one." Buffy objected. "Willow has to be the strongest power around here."
"Ordinarily yes," Tara said. "But not if she's being warded. She might be neither. She might not be appearing here at all."
Buffy rejected that thought immediately. "Let's be optimistic and say that she is."
"Then, the woods." Tara said.
"I'll go with your hunch. Let's move."
Tara was grateful that Buffy did not even question that she would be coming along. For a few anxious moments she had been afraid Buffy would declare the whole thing too dangerous and insist she stay behind. It took seconds for her to hastily pack up the remaining spell ingredients and shove them into the backpack. She did a quick incantation to dismiss the energies that they had invoked and snatched up the map, scattering the now-ordinary dust on the floor.
Buffy stuck a head out to make sure the coast was clear and they exited out into the empty hall. It was starting to get late. Buffy could feel the impending sunset like an ache in her bones. It was a Slayer talent she had grown long accustomed to.
"We've got a half hour of sunlight left, maybe a bit more. That spell took longer than I realised."
"Time seems to move a lot slower when you're casting. Willow and I once cast a spell that took six hours, and it felt barely like ten minutes."
"Six hours, huh?" Buffy quipped. She flashed Tara a knowing look. "That must have been some spell."
Tara blushed crimson. "I think we should move faster," she said, carefully ignoring the Slayer's slowly emerging smirk.
"I'm just saying, you must have been exhausted." Tara threw her a pleading look and Buffy relented. "All right, all right." Her face went suddenly serious. "Let's go get your girl." As their feet pounded the hallways Buffy uttered a muttered curse. "And not for the first time I wonder why the Slayer is not provided with a car?"
The two women hurried through the almost-deserted corridors, through the entryway and out, striking off in the direction of the Sunnydale woods.