Newbie & New Fic: Right In Front of You; Parts 1-3

["Callistosdarkside" <callistosdarkside@xxxxxxxx>]

Hey all. Howz it going. I know, season finale bummer and all, but we know
it'll be fixed come next season. I started writing this fic a while back
and thought I'd post here too. Hope you like it.

Note: Love triangle blues and starts of with W/T.

-CDS

. Title: Right In Front of You; Parts 1-3
. Author: Callisto's Dark Side
. Email: callistosdarkside@xxxxxxxx
. Feedback: The more I get, the faster I write.
. Distribution: Wherever. Just email me.
. Spoilers: Season 5 (Around Tough Love or So)
. Rating: R
. Pairing: W/T & B/W
. Disclaimer: All characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to the
almighty Joss Whedon and Company, and are only being borrowed for the fun
and enjoyment of us, the super fans.
. Summary: Willow/Tara fic in which the two love birds must manage to deal
with the consequences of a spell that threatens to tear them apart forever.


Chapter 1

"Tara, what are you doing?"

Willow approached her lover, who was standing over a bonfire in the middle
of the park. The midnight shadows and flickering flames painted Tara's
body. Dropping one last page of the spell book into the fire, Tara looked
up tearfully.

"Tara?"

Willow placed a hand on Tara's waist and pulled her in gently for a hug.

"What's the matter?" Willow asked the sniffling Wiccan, looking directly
into her watery eyes.

Tara pulled her eyes down and looked at her empty hand. Willow's eyes
followed Tara's eyes. Willow brought Tara's shaking hand to her lips and
softly kissed the top of her lover's hand.

"What were you burning?" Willow asked, leaning her forehead against Tara's.

"I. I." Tara stammered.

Willow ran her hand softly up and down Tara's back.

"Did you burn a spell?"

Tara looked into Willow's eyes and nodded.

"What kind of spell?"

Tara swallowed hard, "A. tele. portation. spell."

Willow smiled and kissed Tara's forehead, then her lips.

"I told you I wouldn't do them anymore," Willow pouted. "You don't have to
protect me from them."

"But.. I. do."

Tara nodded furiously.

"Why?"

"Because, I don't. want. you to get hurt."

"I already told you I wasn't going to do them."

"No," Tara said shaking her head, "You don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"I'm. doing the spell."

"What? Why?"

"I. didn't want. you to reverse it"

"Reverse it? Why would I do that?"

"Because," Tara stopped, closed her eyes, and exhaled a small breath of air,
"the spell also sends the sender along with it."

******

Glory looked the Slayer up and down, somewhat admiring the silky red top,
and smiled, "So are you going to hand over the key or do I have beat it out
of you?"

"What's the point? You got into my house just fine without one."

Buffy put her hand on her hip, mimicking Glory in her red dress.

"Funny. But you know what I mean Slay Bitch."

Glory flopped down on Buffy's couch, leaned back, kicked up her high heels,
and smiled again.

"Let me guess, you let yourself into my house and now you wanna make
yourself more comfortable? May I suggest not wearing the corset? It really
doesn't compliment your hips."

"Again with the jokes."

Glory put her hand on her forehead closed her eyes, then looked up, eyes
wide open.

"Since you like jokes so much, how about I take your little sister there and
play hide-and-seek with her? I promise, you'll never find her."

Buffy looked back then stepped in front of Dawn.

"You aren't touching her," Buffy growled, eyeing Glory with narrowing eyes.

"Yeah, what she said," Willow jumped in, her left arm tightly wrapped around
Tara.

"Please. What are you gonna do, another one of your lame teleportation
spells?"

Willow smiled, "As a matter of fact, we got a new one."

Willow looked sideways at a half-smiling Tara.

"Who's we?" Glory looked at the two witches, "You and your pet broom stick?"

"Hey!" Willow snapped. "She is not a broom stick. She's my soulmate."

"Oh, yeah. Soulmate, soulmate, everyone's a soulmate. Why don't you ask
Buffy how she fared in that department?"

Glory turned her eyes to Buffy, then back to Willow and Tara. "Or, better
yet, you could wait till you're done using her and then throw her away for a
real broom stick."

Buffy stepped back, closer to Dawn, and felt her sister grab onto her arm.
"Why don't you wash your mouth out with soap and then gargle? I hear potty
mouth is tough to get rid of."

"Ha!" Glory laughed and clapped her hands together. "Defending your
girlfriend are ya? It's just too bad Blondie over there got to her before
you did, cuz you two would have made a really cute couple."

"Okay. One. Ewww."

"Hey," Willow shouted from behind Buffy.

"Two," Buffy turned around and gave Willow an apologetic look, "Sorry, no
offence."

"Hmmm." Willow turned her nose up at the Slayer.

"Ooooh," Glory rubbed her hands together, "Now we've angered the girlfriend.
This is getting good."

Buffy put her hand up. Glory stopped moving forward.

"Wait, let me guess. Now you're going to tell me to talk to the hand? Like
that's original, Slay Whore."

"Well, actually I was gonna tell you to sit, but since you're obviously
un-trainable, I've decided to take you to the pound instead."

"Ironic, since if you don't give me the key, I'm gonna pound you and your
girlfriends. Not to mention your sister."

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

Buffy looked unflinchingly at Glory.

"Duh. I'm a God. If I want, I take."

"Well, you won't be doing much of that where you're going."

Buffy turned and made eye contact with Willow, half pleading for an apology,
and half-giving Willow the go-ahead signal. Willow nodded, tears beginning
to well up in her eyes.

Willow turned to Tara. Tara turned to Willow.

"This is it," Tara whispered.

"I know," Willow said tearfully, not looking up into her lover's eyes.

"Look at me."

Tara cupped Willow's chin and tilted her face till she was forced to make
eye contact.

"You know I have to do this," Tara said, wrapping her arms around Willow and
pulling her close.

"But, that's just it," Willow sobbed, "You don't have to do this. Buffy can
find a way to defeat Glory if we just give her time," Willow cried for the
hundredth time.

"Shhhhh."

Tara pressed her fingers to Willow's lips silencing her lover, and then
pulled her in for a kiss.

Glory looked at Buffy as her head turned around from giving Willow the
signal.

"What was that?" Glory laughed.

"That," Buffy smiled, "Was your one way ticket out of my house."

"If it's another one of your lame teleportation spells, then I regret to
inform you that I've already taken care of that. You see my minions slash
monks slash slaves have seen to it that I can no longer be teleported to
anywhere on this lower plane. So ending up in the air over Sunnydale, or in
the sewers of L.A. or wherever the Hell your girlfriend decides to send me,
ain't gonna happen anymore."

Buffy turned and looked worriedly at Willow, hoping for an answer, but she
was busy kissing Tara, oblivious to what Glory had just said.

"Awww. Isn't that sweet? Your girlfriend's making out with another girl,
but I think we've already covered that topic. So if you don't plan on doing
any other spells, I suggest you hand over the key. Now."

Glory put her hand out.

Buffy instinctively grabbed a hold of Dawn's arm and looked back and forth
between the steaming Hell God and the two witches. Before the Slayer could
ask what was going on, Willow finished kissing Tara, turned to Buffy and
said they were ready. The tears in Willow's eyes mystified Buffy. As far
as she knew, this was supposed to be happy time. Willow had told Buffy
earlier that they had found a spell that would teleport Glory out of this
dimension and into another one. Her job, was to distract Glory long enough
for the spell to be cast.

Buffy watched as Tara began chanting and turned to see Glory's face turn to
horror.

"Oh shit," Glory spit out and quickly made a move toward Tara.

"Uh, uh," Buffy said, motioning Dawn back and stepping in front of Glory.
"What's wrong Hell Bitch? Forgot to tell your monks about inter-dimensional
teleportation spells?"

"Move it."

Glory swiped an arm at Buffy's head, but the Slayer quickly ducked and threw
a punch at Glory's gut, sending the distracted Hell God flying into the
staircase. Glory quickly got up and dusted herself off before jumping at
the two wiccans. Buffy intercepted her in mid-flight and tackled Glory to
the ground.

"Get off me!" Glory screamed as she threw Buffy across the room and through
the window.

Willow pressed her fingers against Tara's lips, begging her not to say the
final word. Dawn watched from the corner of the room, as Buffy lay on the
grass outside trying to get up. Dawn watched as Glory walked closer and
closer towards two of her best friends. And then Dawn decided not to watch
any longer and jumped in front of the two wiccans.

"Dawn!" Willow, Tara, and Buffy screamed in unison, with Buffy halfway
through the broken glass window.

Glory smiled and grabbed Dawn by the neck. "So, you wanna play hero do ya?
How about I teach you what I do to heroes."

Glory smoothed her hands on the side of Dawn's face, ready to suck her
brain.

"Kalaiya," Tara screamed.

A bright burst of blue light engulfed the room and then was gone, along with
Glory, Tara, and Dawn.

Willow dropped to her knees and sobbed, not evening noticing Dawn had
disappeared.

"Dawn?"

Buffy climbed quickly though the shattered window, cutting her hands and
feet in the process.

"Dawn?" Buffy cried for the second time, frantically looking around the
room.

"Dawn!" Buffy screamed, before settling her eyes on Willow, hunched over on
the floor.

Buffy hurried over to Willow and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her
roughly. "Where did she take Dawn?" Buffy screamed at the sobbing Wiccan.

Willow looked up; blinded by her own tears, at an angry Slayer shouting
something she couldn't make out.

"Willow! Where did she take Dawn?"

Buffy shook her again, more roughly than the first.

"Huh?"

Willow wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"Where, did Tara take my sister?" Buffy shouted again.

"Dawn?" Willow asked through sobs, not understanding the situation.

"Yes. Where did Tara take her?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Where did Tara go?"

Willow bowed her head and cried, "I don't know."

"You don't know? What the hell was she thinking? Doing a spell that would
send her and my sister God knows where?"

"Ahhhhhh.. Tara.."

Buffy looked down at her friend, her best friend, crying her eyes out on the
floor. Her best friend that had just lost the love of her life. Her best
friend that was there for her when she had lost Angel, and now she was
yelling at her at her lowest point. Buffy wrapped her arms around Willow
and hugged her tight, trying to make both their pains go away. There was
time for explanation later, right now, they both mourned.


Chapter 2


A bright blue flash appeared in the middle of the forest. Glory, Tara, and
Dawn all fell five feet in the air and landed on the hard forest floor.
Glory landed on top of Dawn causing Dawn's head to hit a rock, knocking her
unconscious. Glory surveyed the surroundings and eyed Tara, who was getting
up ten feet away.

"Big mistake bringing me here Missy. Now I'm just gonna have to suck your
little friend's brain."

Glory smoothed her hands on the side of Dawn's face, closed her eyes and
began concentrating.

"No! Get off of her!" Tara yelled as she cast a spell, sending Glory
hurtling into a tree.

Tara ran to Dawn's side, checking the bleeding wound on the back of Dawn's
head.

Glory cricked her neck, stood up, and checked her head, "Owww, that hurt."
Glory began walking towards Tara and stopped when she noticed the blood on
her hand. "Blood? What the hell."

Tara, crouched over Dawn's limp body, watched Glory's face turn to fear.
Seeing an opportunity, Tara cast another spell, setting the forest floor
around Glory on fire. Immediately, Tara picked up Dawn's body and ran.

"You won't get away with this witch!" Glory screamed as her red dress
caught on fire.

Tara ran another hundred feet before almost crumpling to the ground.
Setting Dawn gently down behind some shrubs, Tara looked back to where the
fire still burned.

Glory had managed to get far enough away from the fire and had rolled around
on the forest floor, putting out her dress. The Hell God lay on the ground
motionless.

Tara watched, as Glory didn't move for several seconds. Ducking back behind
the cover of the shrubs, Tara tended to Dawn.

"Mmmm. What's going on?" Dawn said as she looked up through blurry eyes.

"It's okay. You just had an accident," Tara said soothingly as she brushed
away the bloody hair.

"An accident?"

"Yeah, just a small one. Nothing to worry about."

Tara took off her thin-purple-see-through shirt, which overlaid her white
tank top and wrapped it around Dawn's head.

"Why are doing that?" Dawn asked, putting her hand against the ground and
trying to push herself up.

"No," Tara covered Dawn's hand with her own, "You have to stay still."

"Why?"

"Because you hit your head."

"I did?"

"Yes," Tara said as she finished tying her shirt around Dawn's head with a
big knot just above her left ear.

"Is that too tight?"

"Actually yeah," Dawn said while fiddling with the knot.

"Good."

"Good?"

"Yeah, I hear you have to keep the pressure on the wound or something."

"Oh. I just thought you wanted me to suffer," Dawn laughed, still lying on
her back.

Tara cringed. "I'm so sorry. It's all my fault. I should have never done
that spell."

"What are talking about? If you didn't do that spell, Glory would have
sucked my brain."

"I think that can still be arranged," Glory said as she stepped around the
shrubbery and stood behind Tara, somewhat charred from the forest fire.

Glory grabbed the sides of Tara's face from behind and positioned her
fingers. Tara froze, unable to move or think in that moment of terror.
Dawn tried getting up, but was so woozy, she fell back down. After several
seconds, Glory shoved Tara down to the ground in frustration.

"What the hell? This is not happening. First the blood, then this," Glory
complained, while looking at her hands helplessly.

Tara quickly turned herself around and scrambled in front of Dawn, placing
herself between the key and the raging Hell God. Unsure of whether Glory
was just playing with them, Tara cast a protection spell around herself and
Dawn.

"Oh great," Glory said while Tara chanted, "I lose all my powers, but you
still have yours. You did this on purpose, didn't you Blondie?"

Glory pointed accusingly at Tara. Tara swallowed hard.

"Umm, yeah," Tara lied.

"I don't believe this," Glory grabbed her head, "I got outsmarted by a
witch."

******

Buffy carried the sleeping Wiccan in her arms up the stairs, careful not to
hit Willow's head on anything along the way. As she passed Dawn's room,
Buffy looked in, half-expecting to see Dawn lying on her bed reading a
magazine or writing in her journal, but all she saw was the teddy bear she
had given Dawn for her birthday, and a picture of herself, Dawn and their
mother on top of Dawn's dresser. Sniffling back a tear, Buffy continued to
her room, rolled the doorknob with the side of her hand, and nudged the door
open with a shoulder. As she opened the door, she let out a small laugh,
thinking about why the door was closed in the first place. Buffy had always
intended to buy a lock to keep her sister out of her room, but she had never
found the time, or even remembered to get one. Now it wasn't necessary, and
that hurt more than anything.

Buffy walked the short length to her bed and let Willow down gently on her
side. Seeing the peaceful look on her best friend's face was a stark
contrast to only two hours ago, when they had both lost the closest things
in their lives. Willow had cried for almost two hours straight, while Buffy
held her in her arms, trying to comfort her. Eventually, Buffy was able to
convince Willow to have something to drink. While in the kitchen Buffy
slipped a sleeping pill into Willow's drink, although it wasn't easy. She
kept telling herself it was better if Willow got some sleep, but she knew
the real reason. The real reason was because she couldn't handle Willow
crying anymore. Seeing all the tears Willow had for Tara, had made her feel
guilty about barely crying for Dawn. It was the same way when Mom died.
She held it in until no one was around, until only she could bare the burden
of the pain inside.

Softly brushing a strand of hair from Willow's face, Buffy finished tucking
her in and left the room, but not before picking up the picture Dawn had
given her for her birthday. As she stood outside the closed door and looked
at the picture, she crumpled to the floor and cried, to herself, and to
herself alone.


Chapter 3


"I can't believe you took away her powers," Dawn said, sitting across from
Tara on the leafy forest floor.

"Well, actually, I lied," Tara whispered, keeping an eye on a moping Glory
sitting in the middle of a river, cooling her burns.

"You mean she still has her powers?"

"Not exactly. Either the teleportation spell did something that wasn't
mentioned in the book, which actually happens quite often, or we landed in a
dimension that renders Glory's powers useless."

Dawn laughed lightly.

"What?"

"You said 'renders'" Dawn continued laughingly.

"Why? Is that a new word for something I don't know?"

"No. It's just sounds like something Giles would say."

"Oh," Tara said, while rolling a rock in her hand.

The eerily silent forest combined with the presence of a powerless Glory
created an awkward silence between the two of them. But Dawn, ever the
conversationalist, broke it with ease.

"So," Dawn shrugged her shoulders, "What are we gonna do now?"

"Umm," Tara continued rolling the rock around, "I think we should look
around first, to see where we are and all."

"Good idea," Dawn jumped up quickly and nearly fell over, but managed to
hold onto the tree next to her to steady herself, "Head rush," Dawn
explained, somewhat embarrassed by her eagerness.

"Maybe I should go look and you should stay here?" Tara suggested while
holding onto Dawn's arm, making sure she didn't topple over.

"And stay here with that pyscho?" Dawn motioned toward Glory in the river.

"Good point. What do you think we should do with her?"

"I dunno, but I sure feel sorry for the people that have to deal with her
after we leave."

Tara felt a pang of guilt. "Maybe we shouldn't leave her then."

"What?"

"Well, she is kinda my responsibility. After all, I did bring her here and
anything she does is on my head."

Dawn frowned, but knew Tara was right. "Okay, but how are we going to keep
tabs on her?"

"I was thinking I could do a ."

Tara was interrupted by a slap on the shoulder. Turning around, she saw
Glory smiling, still dripping wet from the river.

"Hey girlfriends. What are you two talking about? I hope you weren't
talking behind my back?"

Dawn and Tara clenched their teeth at her.

Glory took her hand off Tara's shoulder and stepped back, "Don't get all
nice and stuff. You know, I was thinking, I should probably hang around
with you two until I get my bearings, ya know?"

Tara and Dawn looked at each other with a look of dread, but knew that at
least one problem was solved, but the prospect of hanging around with Glory,
even powerless, wasn't something either of them was looking forward to.

******

"Tara, what are you doing?" Willow asked, even though she knew exactly what
Tara was doing.

As she approached her lover, the last page of the spell book lingered on
Tara's fingers. The flames lashed out like a lizard's tongue ready to
snatch the page out of the Wiccan's hand.

Willow ran, but her legs wouldn't move. She looked down and hands coming
out through the earth held her legs. She tried desperately to kick the
hands away, but they were too tightly wrapped around her ankles.

Looking up, she could see the last page of the spell book slip from Tara's
fingers. The flames engulfed the page like a starving animal and exhaled a
satisfied black-smoky-breath as it finished gorging itself on the paper.

Tara mouthed the words that Willow didn't want to hear, "I'm sorry my love,"
and then she vanished.

"Noooooo!"

******

Buffy awoke on the couch in front of the television, hearing Willow's scream
from her room. Immediately she threw her blanket to the ground, dropped the
teddy bear and picture of Dawn and herself on the couch, and rushed up the
stairs.

Ripping the knob off the door, Buffy stammered into her room and saw Willow
sobbing on her bed. Her breathing rapid and her heart pounding, Buffy
walked over and sat down on the side of the bed and put her arms around
Willow.

"It's all my fault," Willow cried, "I should have gotten there sooner. I
should have stopped her. I should have."

"Shhhh," Buffy said soothingly. "It's okay. It's no one's fault."

"Yes it is. It's mine. Because of me, Tara's gone, and Dawny too. I
should have stopped her, I should have." Willow repeated over and over while
Buffy held her gently, trying to convince her that no one was to blame, even
though deep down inside she blamed Tara, for taking away the last family she
ever had and the closest person in her entire life.

To be continued.