BTVS Tornado of Souls 7/8 - B/F W/T - R

[Dana Hunter <carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx>]

Tornado of Souls
Part 7

Author: Frau Hunter Ash
Copyright © 2002 by Hunter Ash. All Rights Reserved.
Email: carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx Feedback welcome!!
Homepage Addy: http://www.hunterash.com/

Disclaimers: The characters and show all belong to
Joss Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, and God only
knows who else. The storyline, however, is the sole
property of the author. This story cannot be sold or
used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may
be made for private use only and must include all
disclaimers and copyright notices.

F/F romance: the story assumes a loving and sexual
relationship between people of the same gender and may
even include 3 at the same time <G>. If this offends
or is illegal for you, then please leave. Come back
when you are older, have an open mind, moved, or
changed your laws.

Spoilers: Up to Season Three  to Faith, Hope and
Trick.

Summary: Willow is back but sick in the hospital.
Buffy and Faith take their relationship a step higher
while Giles tries to explain the true nature of
werewolves (Garou) to Willow. Will she accept Buffy?
Will Buffy forgive Willow for joining the Hunters?
Will the Hunters come back for Buffy?

Rating: R (US) 15 (UK) MA (AUS)

Author's Note: pairings: B/A (past tense), B/F, X/An
W/O

* * *

Buffy hugged Oz carefully and then his cousin as
Speaks-With-Song waited by the car for the two newest
members of the Clan of Fiana.

"Stay safe and sane," Buffy said softly as Oz glanced
around, taking in the sight of his home once again and
his parents standing on the porch. Mrs. Osborne was
trying to be brave and not let her son see her crying
but was beginning to fail.

"You know how to get ahold of us, let me know about
Willow?" he asked once again. "I still want to stay
and see her."

"I know you do, Oz," Buffy said gently, suddenly
feeling much older than her 17 years. "You'd better
go."

"I have to give her up, don't I?" the young werewolf
frowned.

"Just concentrate on getting through the next year and
learn to control the wolf," Buffy suggested.

"Okay," Oz nodded and bent down to pick up his
acoustic guitar and wrapped an arm around his younger
cousin. "Let's go, Cuz."

"Drive safe!" Mrs. Osborne called as the two cousins
turned and waved.

Joyce wrapped an arm around Buffy's shoulders as the
Slayer wiped at the tears filling her eyes.

"How can he leave with Willow still in danger," Joyce
asked.

"We've been talking day and night," Buffy said as the
car pulled out of sight. "He knows that he's in a
dangerous stage right now. If the wrong Garou get
their hands on him, they will corrupt him and he'll be
so evil that he'll come back and kill his family,
Willow and all of us. It's safer for all of us if they
leave now."

"And you can't be corrupted?" Joyce asked as they
headed for the Summers car.

"Yes, just like anyone else," Buffy corrected. "It
would be harder because I've made my connection to
Gaia. I also have the strength of my tribe and clan
mates."

Joyce jumped when her cell phone started beeping.
Buffy quickly opened her mother's purse as Joyce's
hand dived inside and brought the phone out to her
ear.

"Yes?" she answered. "Yes, Giles. How is Willow?"

Buffy drummed her fingers nervously as she waited.

"Yes, I know where it is, we'll be there in a few
hours," Joyce clicked the phone off and started the
car. "Willow is very sick, Giles and the others are
at the hospital with her. The doctors say she's going
to be in the hospital for at least a week."

"Her mind?" Buffy asked softly.

"She's very feverish, Giles said," Joyce answered.
"Sit back, Buff, we'll be there in a couple of hours."

* * *

Buffy was relieved to see Xander and Cordelia sitting
in chairs in the waiting room of the small hospital.
Xander spotted her and Joyce and ran up to grab them
in a large, but careful, hug with Cordy right behind
him.

"How is she?" Buffy demanded.

"Her fever broke," Cordelia answered with a tired
smile.

"The doctors say it'll take a few days to clear her
lungs, though," Xander added.

"Can we see her?"

Xander frowned and Cordelia looked away quickly.

"Uh, Giles said to wait down here when you got here,"
Xander said softly. "Faith, Giles and Willow's new
friend are talking to her, trying to convince her that
you're not evil and that some werewolves are good
guys."

"New friend?" Joyce asked as Buffy frowned.

"A trainee that wanted out and was trying to take care
of Will," Xander explained. "She's a witch, she
said."

"Her name's Tara," Cordy added.

"I hate waiting!" Buffy complained as they turned
towards the chairs.

* * *

Buffy waited an hour and then dashed up the stairs to
the third floor to burn off some energy. She waited
outside Willow's room impatiently. She decided not to
enter the room yet, not until Giles thought it might
be okay but she could wait closer to her friends and
girlfriend.

The Slayer's face lit up when the door opened and
Faith walked out with a grin on her face.

"I thought I sensed you," Faith whispered and glanced
around at the crowded corridor. "I missed you, B."

Buffy looked around with a moan of frustration and
grabbed Faith's hand. The blonde Slayer pulled Faith
into the nearest bathroom. Faith laughed and checked
the stalls, taking the lead and pulling Buffy into the
handicapped stall. She barely had time to click the
lock into place before she was pinned to the wall and
Buffy was attacking her lips.

Faith moaned, running her fingers through Buffy's hair
and returning the kiss with equal passion and
aggression. Buffy's lips moved to Faith's neck as
Faith held her tight.

"Oh God, B," Faith mumbled. "I really missed you!"

Buffy sighed and tried to calm down and touched her
forehead to Faith's, breathing heavily.

"Sorry, that was intense," Buffy muttered.

"I don't think I mind," Faith smiled.

"Mom wants us to wait until you're legal," Buffy
smiled ruefully. "When the hell is that anyway?"

Faith laughed and lightly kissed Buffy softly.

"Two months," Faith whined. I lied and told your Mom
one.

"Oh damnit!" Buffy joined the complaining as Faith's
hands roamed up and down her back, holding Buffy
close.

"How far is too far?" Faith mumbled, her hands shaking
as they rested on Buffy's shoulders and she looked
down at Buffy's body and hers, almost melding
together, the heat fusing them.

"Five more minutes with you," Buffy growled, attacking
Faith's neck again causing the brunette to jerk
against her, hip to hip.

"I never did obey rules," Faith muttered, moving her
hands down to Buffy's breasts.

Buffy cried out and braced her hands against the wall
as Faith took advantage of the move and lowered her
head to tease Buffy's aroused nipples through the
blonde Slayer's t-shirt.

"Faith, stop!" Buffy whimpered, pulling back slightly.
"If we don't stop right this moment I'm going to lose
control here."

"Good, you need to lose control sometimes," Faith
growled.

Buffy pulled back and held up her hand to stop Faith
from moving closer.

"Faith, not in a hospital bathroom," Buffy pointed
out. "Not like this."

"Okay, you're right," Faith nodded, her breathing
ragged. "I've never felt like this, B."

"Me either," Buffy admitted. "I don't know if it's
Garou meeting Slayer or Slayer to Slayer."

"Why don't Weres get together? You looked pretty cozy
with Angus," Faith asked as they kept separated, not
trusting touching each other without losing control.

"The genetics work wrong among Garou," Buffy frowned.
"The offspring are called Metis and are deformed in
some way and the majority of them are nuts."

"Deformed werewolves?"

"Yeah, crippled legs, missing arm, bald and no fur,
stuff like that," Buffy shrugged. "The energy between
Garou is intense and it's hard to resist."

"Kinda like Slayer energy, Slayer lust?" Faith
grinned.

"Maybe," Buffy smirked back. "How's Will? Xander said
to wait," the smirk becoming a concerned look.

"We haven't gotten far yet," Faith frowned as Buffy
unlocked the door and they walked out of the bathroom,
heading for the small waiting room on that floor of
the hospital. "She's still weak and fuzzy. Giles is
approaching it slowly, getting her to talk about what
happened to her, you know, the Hunters."

"I really want to see her," Buffy complained. "It was
so hard to keep this from everyone, especially Will.
We tell each other everything."

"Then I came along," Faith smirked.

"Yeah, kinda distracted everyone," Buffy agreed.
"Thanks, Faith, for getting Will back, I mean."

"5x5, B," Faith grinned.

* * *

Willow opened her eyes slowly and smiled when she
realized Tara was sitting next to the hospital bed and
holding her hand. The young witch noticed Willow
glancing at their hands and started to pull back with
a blushing expression but Willow held firm.

"I, uh, it seemed to calm you," Tara said softly.

"Thanks, it does," Willow agreed, her voice harsh and
barely a whisper. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere in LA," Tara said softly, reaching with her
other hand to push the button to raise Willow into
more of a sitting up position.

Willow glanced around, taking note of the IV running
into her arm and oxygen tube around her ears to her
nose.

"You've been really sick," Tara commented.

"You got us out?" Willow questioned.

"Your friends came for you," Tara explained. "They let
me come along."

"Thank you, I&I'm glad," Willow blushed.

"Mr. Giles and Xander just stepped out for a moment,"
Tara said softly.

"Tara," Willow began to frown. "Did they say anything
about&about Buffy?"

"No, they've been really worried about you and said
they would explain everything when you were better,"
Tara explained.

Willow jumped and looked apprehensive when the door
opened but smiled softly when Xander stuck his head in
the door.

"Will!" he exclaimed and dashed to the side of the bed
and wrapped his arms awkwardly around the tubes, wires
and bed railing.

"Xan," she whispered as Tara poured water into a
plastic cup and handed it to Xander. He looked
pleased to help as Willow drank gratefully.

"You had us worried, Will," he said softly as he
handed the cup back to Tara.

"Me too," the red-head whispered. "LA?"

"We had to stop and get you into a hospital," he
explained. "We couldn't take the chance on going all
the way back to Sunnydale."

"You came after me?" she asked.

"You bet!" Xander grinned. "Faith wouldn't stop till
we had you back. Tara kinda came along with the deal."

Both young women began blushing and Xander frowned,
wondering why.

Giles entered the hospital room with a smile.

"Oh excellent," he said, seeing Willow's eyes focusing
and alert. "The nurses thought you might wake up
soon."

Willow blushed again at all the attention.

"What happened?" she asked.

"What do you remember?" Giles questioned.

Willow frowned and glanced over at Tara and the witch
reached out for Willow's hand again, reassuring her
new friend.

"Being introduced to lots of people at the training
center and then everything gets fuzzy," Willow said
slowly.

"You got really sick with pneumonia," Tara explained.
"Then they began giving you drugs and trying to
control you mentally."

"Drugs, they would use drugs?" Willow asked with a
frown.

"I'm afraid they did much worse than that, Willow,"
Giles said softly.

"What?" she asked, her frown increasing.

"The pictures they showed you were faked, Will,"
Xander explained. "Buff didn't kill anyone."

"But I saw her changing!" Willow protested.

"Buffy is a werewolf," Giles nodded, sitting on the
edge of the bed. "But we've learned a lot about
werewolves, even about Oz. I truly believe that Buffy,
as a werewolf, she didn't kill anyone. We checked and
double checked that cell of hers and Buffy has control
over the wolf on any night but the full moon."

"Whoa!" Willow protested. "Slow down!"

"Sorry," Giles muttered.

"Buffy is a werewolf but didn't hurt anyone?" Willow
demanded. "Then why would the Watchers make me think
she had? We already watch over Oz, why is that
different than Oz?"

"They're Hunters, Willow," Giles said slowly. "You
know how there are some demons that aren't evil, just
different?"

"Yeah, Angel mentioned there were some demons that
didn't want to hurt humans," Willow nodded.

"Do you think we should hunt them down and kill them?"
Xander asked gently and Willow frowned.

"No, not if they don't hurt humans," she said after a
moment.

"That's why we didn't kill Angel," Giles agreed.

"Yeah, he had a soul and didn't hurt people until he
lost his soul," Willow agreed. "I'm not stupid, just
get to it."

Tara smirked at Willow's irritation.

"Hunters feel that anything not human should be
killed," Giles explained. "No matter what or who."

"They said they understood about Oz," Willow
protested.

"They would have demanded you kill him after you
killed Buffy," Tara countered.

"But Oz didn't hurt anyone," Willow protested.

"Neither did Buffy," Xander added.

"They knew that and tricked me?" Willow asked.

"Yes, they wanted you as a Hunter and were willing to
trick you," Giles nodded. "They wanted you to kill
your best friend."

Willow frowned.

"She didn't hurt anyone but she's still a werewolf?"
Willow whispered.

"Actually, they prefer the term Garou," Xander
grinned.

"They?" Willow looked puzzled.

"Let me tell you about werewolves," Giles smiled,
pulling up a chair.

"Hey, Tara, let's go down and get something to eat,"
Xander suggested. "You've already heard all of this."

"I&I don't know," Tara said slowly.

"She hasn't left your side since yesterday," Xander
complained.

Willow squeezed Tara's hand with a smile.

"Go on, when Giles starts, it can take awhile," she
urged.

"You can spend some time with us," Xander added. "I
got a feeling we're keeping you."

Tara's eyes widened and Willow blushed, wondering
again why she was blushing. It just felt right to
have Tara next to her, she decided.

Willow nodded as Tara walked out the door with Xander,
glancing back at the red-head with a worried
expression.

Giles pretended not to be confused about Tara's
presence and affect she seemed to have on Willow and
began to clean his glasses.

"That long of an explanation?" Willow teased.

Giles looked embarrassed.

"Well, yes, actually."

* * *

Xander and Tara found Buffy, Cordelia, Faith and Joyce
sitting at a table in the cafeteria of the hospital.
Xander noticed the shy former Hunter trainee hesitate
and smiled, trying to reassure her.

"It's okay," Xander said softly. "You already know
Cordy and Faith."

"The only Were I've ever seen was my brother when he
killed some of my family," Tara whispered.

"Buffy's not like that," Xander reminded her. "That
was an evil Were, he had been corrupted from your
description. Give us a chance to show you."

"Okay, for Willow," Tara nodded and they walked
through the cafeteria, Xander making Tara pick out
more than just the carton of milk she first selected.

"Food!" he ordered with a grin.

Buffy glanced up and grew silent when she saw Xander
and a stranger approaching their table with trays in
hand. She knew this had to be the other trainee that
Faith and Cordy had told her about. Willow's friend,
Tara.

"Hi, guys," Xander said cheerfully. "This is Tara.
You already know Cordy, my most gorgeous girlfriend
and Queen of Sunnydale High; Faith the Slayer; that's
Mrs. Summers and that's Buffy, Slayer and friend."

"Join us, Tara," Joyce invited.

"Hi," Buffy said softly.

"Cordelia says that you were part of the training
group that Willow was going to be part of," Joyce said
easily.

"Yes, they knew Willow has magical skills and assigned
me as kinda an upper classman type thing," Tara said
softly, almost hiding behind her hair.

"You became close in a couple of days?" Xander asked,
wanting to prompt the young woman to talk.

"Yeah," she nodded. "It&it feels strange. Like it's
right or something. I didn't like what they were
starting with her."

"Xander says that Giles explained about Garous?" Joyce
asked gently, noticing how quiet Buffy was.

"Yes," Tara nodded, glancing at Buffy for a moment.
"I'm trying to understand."

"It's not easy, I know," Buffy said softly.

Faith reached under the table and grabbed the blonde
Slayer's hand and squeezed tightly.

"Maybe Giles can explain it to Will," Xander said
thoughtfully.

"She really didn't want you to be evil," Tara said
softly. "I think that's why she got so sick; she
couldn't take the thought of killing you."

"I thought Watchers were bad, training young girls to
be Slayers and dying young," Joyce complained. "These
bastards are worse!"

"They're training people to fight evil," Tara
protested.

"Giles says it's just these guys that are totally
warped," Xander pointed out.

"Well, the other Hunters won't listen to Garou," Buffy
countered. "They refuse to listen to reason and to see
the truth that there are some nice demons, daemons and
werewolves and that we have a culture and history.
It's like a family only closer and traditions and
stuff."

"I'm listening," Tara said softly.

"Thanks," Buffy said with a small smile.

"Is that why you had those books on Celtic stuff?"
Faith asked, putting some of the puzzle together.

"Yeah, my werewolf family is descended from Celtic
werewolves and our traditions and& and& personalities
come from the Celts," Buffy nodded. "Like the
werewolves you hooked up with are from the group known
as the Get of Fenris, descended from Vikings. That's
why they love to fight and stuff."

"Any plans, Tara?" Cordelia asked, leaning over to
snatch one of Xander's fries.

"Not really," the witch said slowly. "I ran away from
home and was found by the Hunters."

"Did you finish high school?" Joyce asked calmly.

"No, the Hunters were teaching those of us who hadn't,
in order to pass the GED," Tara explained.

"Well, what about your family, were they all killed?"
Joyce continued.

"No, my father, cousin and brother lived," Tara said,
her voice barely a whisper. "I don't want to go back
there. It was bad before the attack."

"Then we need to take some steps to get you declared
an independent adult and back in school if you're
coming to Sunnydale," Joyce said firmly.

"I don't have anywhere to go," Tara said softly.

"Then welcome to the Scooby Gang," Xander said
cheerfully.

"Scooby Gang?" Tara asked, raising her eyebrows.

"The local losers of Sunnydale High that happen to
save the world upon occasion," Cordy smirked.

"And you are a member, yes?" Buffy countered.

"Against my better judgment!" Cordy snapped back.

"Is Willow going back with you?" Tara asked,
interrupting the snipping.

"Yes," Buffy said firmly. "Even if she won't talk to
me, I won't let her go through brainwashing and become
a Hunter."

"How is she gonna handle Oz leaving?" Cordelia
pondered.

"Oz?" Tara asked.

"Her werewolf boyfriend," Cordy explained. "He left
to live with the pack and learn how to handle being
furry."

"Boyfriend? She didn't mention him, just Buffy and
Faith," Tara mumbled.

"Things weren't exactly smooth sailing for them,"
Cordy said sarcastically. "Being the best friend of
two Slayers, a loser and girlfriend of a werewolf
isn't exactly what you put on a social resume."

Tara frowned over her lunch, thoughtful.

* * *

It was an hour before Giles made his way to the
cafeteria and joined the gang. Buffy's grip on
Faith's hand tightened as she looked at her Watcher
with apprehension.

"Willow wants to see you, Buffy," he said with a
smile.

"Oh thank God," Joyce whispered and Xander released
the breath he had been holding.

Buffy's eyes filled with tears and she leaned against
Faith, heavily.

"Go on, B," Faith urged and helped Buffy stand up.
"I'll be here."

Buffy dashed for the main hallway, dodging tables and
chairs with the skill of a Slayer.

Faith turned back to the obvious stares of the Scooby
members. Only Joyce and Giles "knew" about her
beginning relationship with Buffy.

"What? I can't hold hands with my girlfriend?" she
demanded.

Xander coughed and Cordelia smirked. Giles and Joyce
decided to ignore the outburst and turned to Tara with
more questions.

* * *

Buffy stood outside the door, hesitating. Her heart
was pounding harder than if she was facing five
vampires without a stake. The Slayer thought the only
thing that could hurt more than Willow's tears would
be Faith leaving her.

Buffy was distracted with her own thoughts and fears
as she opened the door. The Slayer blinked for a
moment, seeing two men holding Willow down on the bed,
one with his hand over her mouth.

Buffy snapped up her right arm, blocking a blow from a
male standing just inside the door but missed blocking
the one behind the door and fell to the floor writhing
from an electric shock from a stun gun. Whoever it
was stunned her again at the back of the neck and
Buffy felt all the energy leave her body and her
muscles twitching.

"Buffy!" Willow's muffled scream reached her.

The Slayer felt herself turned over and her hands
cuffed behind her back. Then hands roughly pulled her
to her feet and held her up.

"Welcome, werewolf," a voice said as someone slapped
her.

Buffy tried to focus and flinched at the silver dagger
the tall man held up under her chin.

Willow continued to struggle against the one male
holding her.

"Buffy!" the redhead cried.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Willow," Elder Johnson
said calmly. "I thought you were one of us."

"I'm not a killer! I might help Buffy hunt demons and
vampires but I don't kill friends!" Willow said,
falling back onto her bed, gasping.

"Even if your so-called friend is a monster?" Elder
Johnson demanded.

"She's less&of a monster&than you!" Willow choked out.

"Let her go," Buffy whispered.

"Don't worry, werewolf," Elder Johnson smirked. "I
have no intention of killing her. WE don't kill
humans, unlike your kind."

"You wouldn't know the truth of my kind," Buffy
growled. "I'm a Slayer and a werewolf, get over it."

"Actually, I think we'll be getting on with it,"
Johnson snarled, holding the knife under Buffy's jaw.

Buffy cried out and Willow tried to scream but the
Hunter watching over her, covered her mouth as Johnson
rammed the knife into Buffy's ribs. Buffy whimpered
as the knife cut into her body again and again. She
knew the Hunter was doing it to torture her, or else
he'd just cut her throat.

The knife was silver and it hurt more than a normal
knife.

The Slayer werewolf felt her body weakening and wished
she had the talent to change shape in the daylight.
One of the downsides of her particular inheritance was
that she couldn't change shape in daytime and she
couldn't control changing on the Full Moons.

"Buffy!" Willow cried weakly as Buffy's eyes closed,
blood welling up in her mouth.

* * *

The oxygen tube had fallen away from Willow's nose
during the struggle and the fighting back hadn't
helped her condition either.

The witch was barely conscious when Faith kicked the
door open and dived right into the mass of bodies with
Xander right behind her. The Hunter watching Willow
started to move to help his co-Hunters but stopped
when Giles entered the room, pointing a gun at them.

"Everyone stop!" Giles yelled and stepped aside as two
large security guards rushed by him. The Watcher
quickly pocketing his weapon.

Faith had to be pulled off Johnson's throat, kicking
and screaming.

"Don't hurt her!" Giles yelled. "He attacked them!"

The security guards quickly secured the Hunters,
handcuffing them and standing them up against the wall
as an emergency team responded to frantic calls.
Buffy was un-handcuffed and turned over.

Joyce gasped. Faith swore and launched herself back at
Johnson when they saw the multiple stab wounds, all
the blood and Buffy's unconscious face.

Giles grabbed her as the emergency team quickly threw
the Slayer onto a gurney and pulled her into the
hallway.

"Alert Surgery!" one of the doctors working on Buffy
yelled to the nurse at the nurse's station. "Tell me
we've got multiple stab wounds, large hunting knife.
We're coming up!"

"Joyce, I'm going to stay with Willow, you and Faith
follow Buffy," Giles said firmly.

Cordelia helped Xander stand up and they watched as a
second trauma team worked on Willow. To their relief,
Willow was soon breathing easier and color began
returning to her cheeks.

"Can you stay with her?" Giles asked the young couple.

"Yeah, go find out about Buff," Xander nodded as the
security guards led the Hunters out the door. Giles
resisted pulling his gun out and shooting Johnson.

* * *

Buffy smiled when she opened her eyes and found Faith
hovering over her.

"B, you do that again and I'll kill you myself," Faith
whispered, tears filling her eyes.

"Didn't&ask&for it," Buffy whispered.

"I know, just don't do it again, okay?" Faith said, a
little softer as she leaned over to kiss the blonde
Slayer.

"Will?" Buffy whispered, noticing the tube running up
her nose, IVs hanging over her and leading to her
arms, and other tubes heading under the sheets
covering her.

"She's okay," Faith said and Joyce walked into Buffy's
view.

"Hi, baby," her mother said gently. "You scared us."

"Scared&me," Buffy admitted. "Silver&hurts."

"We know," Joyce said, trying not to cry at the sight
of her only daughter looking so frail. "I called that
number you gave me and someone said they'd visit you
in a couple of days and help."

"What does that mean?" Faith asked.

"One of Buffy's pack mates will come with some magic
stuff to help in her recovery since she was attacked
with silver," Giles explained, out of Buffy's sight.

"Hunters&got&to&move," Buffy insisted.

"Don't worry, the small group that attacked you were
caught," Giles said softly, coming into view. "They
won't talk because they know they'll sound crazy.
Hunters are as secretive as vampires. They'll make
bail and then disappear."

"They&won't&be&back?"

Faith whimpered at how weak and frightened Buffy
sounded and looked.

"No," Giles said gently. "I talked with their leader
and warned him that I would reveal everything to the
Council, including kidnapping young women and using
mind altering drugs on them."

"How&long&hospital?"

"At least a week, Buffy, even with the healing," Giles
answered truthfully. "Johnson knew where to stab. The
doctors have no idea how you survived."

"Slayer strength," Faith grinned.

"I quite agree," Giles nodded, noticing Buffy's eyes
closing.

"You'll watch over her, Faith?" Joyce asked, almost
whispering. They knew the Hunters were in jail but
Joyce wasn't trusting her daughter's safety only to
hospital security.

"Not leaving her side, Joyce Mom," Faith assured her.

The hospital staff had quit trying to get Faith away
from Buffy's bedside after the first few hours once
the Slayer was out of Surgery and Recovery.

She had pulled a chair up next to Buffy's bed, propped
her Doc Martin boots on Buffy's it and dared anyone to
try and move her.

"Willow?" Faith questioned.

"She'll be fine," Joyce assured Faith. "I'm having
both of them moved to Sunnydale as soon as they can be
transferred."

"We'll be okay," Faith said firmly. "We just get them
home and healed. We'll be fine."

* * *

Buffy smiled three days later when Xander wheeled a
pale looking Willow into her room. Faith grinned and
worked the controls to sit Buffy up a little
straighter.

Xander grinned and positioned Willow next to Buffy's
hand.

"Well, ladies," he said calmly. "I'm going to take
Faith down for some lunch while you two do the
re-bonding thing."

Both Buffy and Willow nodded shyly, Willow's eyes
widening when Faith leaned over and kissed Buffy.

"Hang loose, B," Faith smiled. "I'll be right back."

Xander and Faith left the young women alone.

"Buffy," Willow said slowly, reaching for Buffy's
hand. "I'm sorry, I should have believed in you."

"They were convincing, Will," Buffy said softly.
"It's okay. I'm just glad we got you back before they
hurt you too bad."

"Giles says that Oz is gone and that you might have to
leave," Willow said unhappily. "I don't want you to
leave, Buff."

"I don't want to leave either," Buffy smiled. "We'll
see if the Hunters come after me or if the ones that
grabbed you will keep quiet."

"Can you forgive me?" Willow asked softly, ducking her
head.

"Already done, Will," Buffy smiled. "Forgive me for
not telling you when I came back?"

"Yeah, I understand now," Willow smiled slightly.
"Giles and everyone has been talking to me about this
Garou thing, including that friend that came to help
heal you."

"Walks-in-Spirit is her Garou name," Buffy smiled.

"What's yours?" Willow asked with a smile and grinned
when Buffy blushed.

"Little Stalker," Buffy admitted. "They tease me about
being kinda small but strong."

"Walker and I talked a lot," Willow smiled. "She says
I'm a natural with the magic stuff. Kinda like what
Ms. Calendar was beginning to show me and what Giles
won't."

"Giles is overprotective," Buffy agreed.

"What's up with you and Faith," Willow asked after a
few moments of comfortable silence.

"What's up with you and Tara?" Buffy countered and
knew she had scored a hit when Willow turned bright
red.

"I&I'm not sure," Willow admitted. "It feels so right
with her. I'm not sure I can explain it."

"I understand," Buffy smiled. "What about Oz."

Willow frowned. "It hurts but not like I thought it
would. It feels different with Tara. I looked into
those sleepy eyes of hers and&and&my heart stopped."

"I know," Buffy smiled. "Faith and I admitted we feel
more than just friendly feelings for each other. In
fact, it's kinda hot feelings."

"Wow!" Willow stammered. "I&we&we haven't even talked
about it."

"You should, Will," Buffy urged. "Recent school year
should tell us to move quick when we find some kind of
happiness."

"I know&but&but," Willow frowned. "We've only known
each other a week."

"Okay," Buffy smiled weakly.

"I'd better get back to my room, I'm kinda tired,"
Willow said quickly. "They're going to transfer us to
Sunnydale in a couple of days."

"That'll be good," Buffy said softly, closing her
eyes. "I love you, Will. I don't want to lose you."

"I'm so sorry, Buff," Willow said gently. "You're my
best friend and something more. Nobody's gonna break
our friendship up again."

"Not on this end, either," Buffy said firmly.

"We got a lot to figure out when we get home," Willow
nodded as Xander, Cordelia and Faith returned to the
room.

"It'll be 5x5, Red," Faith grinned. "Tara is waiting
in your room for you. Seems we can't separate you
two."

"I'd talk, Miss Buffy's Shadow," Cordelia countered.

"Forever if she'll let me," Faith smirked back.

"Gods, what a weird summer!" Cordelia complained.
"Buffy comes back, we find out she now gets furry;
Faith shows up and is a pain in the ass; Willow wigs
and joins some weird demon hunter cult and brings home
a female stray; and now these two want to get
horizontal!"

"Wow!" Buffy grinned as Willow blushed. "I think she
managed to sum that up in one sentence!"

"Talented much with that tongue?" Faith teased the
cheerleader as Xander tried to keep from laughing.

"Only in your dreams, Faith," Cordy snapped back.

"Is that why you're acting so jealous?" Faith
demanded.

"Of you guys?" Cordy squeaked. "Sorry, I like males
for warm fuzzies."

Willow frowned as Xander began to wheel Willow out of
the room.

Did warm fuzzy feelings with Tara mean she was gay?

* * *



=====
The Viking Bard/Skald "Nothing is ever forgotten"
www.hunterash.com

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com