FF: Red Moon Rising, Part 4 B/W/T

["carrkjar" <carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Red Moon Rising 
Part 4

Author: Hunter Ash 

Copyright © 2001 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: Some general 5th season stuff, but nothing major.

Story Summary: OZ is back and causes havoc when he demands Willow 
join him as his mate. Buffy, Willow and Tara have other ideas.  

Rating: R, violence, werewolf attacks, major character injury, angst, 
hurt and comfort. It's Buffy, there's violence.

Author's Note: While this is not my first story, it is my first Buffy 
story. So?.kind words are hoped for?<G>. Oh, and by the way, this 
will be posted in parts. This being part four. Feedback always 
welcome.


Red Moon Rising
Frau Hunter Ash
Part 4

October 10

Willow smiled when she opened her eyes again and saw Xander sitting 
in the chair last occupied by Tara. The young man was reading one of 
Willow's schoolbooks and had his feet on the bed. She also noticed 
he had a pistol tucked in his waistband.  

Her friends were determined to protect her, Willow realized 
with a smile. First they saved her life and now they were going to 
make sure Oz didn't get a second chance at the redhead.

"Hey," she said softly and smiled wider at the extremely 
pleased look on her best male friend's face as he scampered to his 
feet and hugged her gently.

"Hey, yourself, beautiful!" he grinned and put the book 
down. Willow noticed it was her biology book as he reached for her 
glass of water and handed it to her one good hand.

"Biology? I thought you and Anya were practicing enough 
already," she said softly, teasing him.

"I thought I might take some junior college classes next 
semester and maybe try for the University next fall," he responded 
with a blush.

"How long was I asleep this time," she asked. Willow was 
becoming used to waking up and finding she had been asleep for 
hours. The doctors had told her that it was a normal reaction after 
what her body had been through. Being stabbed through the heart and 
having her hand mangled had been rough on the young witch.  

Especially since she had died from the knife in the chest, only Tara 
leading a magick circle had saved her, pouring the unconditional love 
of her friends and the two women she was very much in love with: 
Buffy and Tara.

"About nine hours," Xander smiled.  

"Your eyes are better," she mumbled, trying to keep her eyes 
open.

"Yeah, the nose isn't too bad either," he continued to grin 
and turned on the light above Willow's bed, looking at his watch.

The young man's nose hardly looked like it had been broken at 
all and his eyes were finally losing their boxer look. Anya kept 
insisting that it gave him character and crowed how brave he had been 
trying to protect her by fighting off vampires and werewolves.

He noticed Willow's head falling forward again and turned out 
the light as he realized she probably wasn't going to stay awake this 
time.

Xander's hand went to the gun in his waistband as the door to 
Willow's hospital room opened; he relaxed with a smile when he saw 
Detective Santiago. The would-be college student dropped his shirt 
over the evidence of a gun in his trousers and Detective Santiago 
ignored the movement.

"Has she woke up at all today?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, just a minute ago but drifted right back off," Xander 
answered softly and moved to the end of Willow's bed. "Any sign of 
Oz?"

"No," Brad Santiago noticed Xander's frown and nodded in 
agreement. "It's been a week and I won't be able to keep up the 
massive manhunt for him much longer. He's going on America's Most 
Wanted and they'll want to talk to all of you."

"I don't know if Willow will want to be on camera," Xander's 
frown deepened.

"The show helps catch some of these bastards and they won't 
use Willow, they'll use an actress," Brad assured him.  

They both looked over as Willow whimpered in her sleep and 
then was quiet again.

"She has nightmares all the time," Xander growled.

"They'll ease up over time," Detective Santiago said softly, 
his own face reflecting his concern. The young Ms. Rosenburg looked 
a lot like his young teenager daughter and the police officer wanted 
to get his hands on Daniel Oswald very badly whenever he saw Willow's 
pale and pained face lying on that hospital pillow.

"What about the guys outside the door?" Xander asked the 
Detective about the police protection outside Willow's door ever 
since they had found her.

"Only for the weekend and then they'll be re-assigned," Brad 
answered and tried to ignore the sullen look on Xander's face. "Once 
Willow is out of the hospital next week we'll increase the patrols 
past Ms. Summers' house and Mr. Giles' place as well. That's about 
all I can do."

"I know, it just sucks," Xander complained.

"At least she won't be returning to the dorms this semester," 
Brad pointed out.

"Yeah, they're putting her on home-study and she's staying at 
Buffy's home," Xander confirmed. "Mrs. Summers wants to look after 
Willow with the rest of us since Willow's parents are in Europe."

"I can't believe they went to Europe with Willow in the 
hospital," Brad growled, looking down at the fragile looking young 
woman. "Didn't they know how close they came to losing her?" he 
hissed, trying to keep his voice low.

He was surprised when Xander Harris merely shrugged. "It's 
Sunnydale," the young man said, as if that explained everything.

"What do you mean?" Brad Santiago, a newcomer to the 
Sunnydale police department from New York City, demanded.

"You'll figure it out eventually," Xander said 
sullenly. "Nobody cares here, Detective. They don't notice things 
like people disappearing for no reason and without a trace, nobody 
notices their kids."

"Experience that yourself?" Brad asked softly.

"I think the last time my parents noticed me was when my 
father walked in on me having sex with my girlfriend last week," 
Xander grinned but it wasn't a happy smile, it had more bitterness 
than pleasure in it. "Before that I think they went to a fifth grade 
play I was in."

"Mrs. Summers and Mr. Giles seem to like all of you," Brad 
commented as Xander walked with him outside of Willow's room into the 
hallway. Xander's eyes always looking for the guard stationed 
outside the computer geek's door.

"They're the best!" Detective Santiago's quick eyes noticed 
how Xander's face lit up at the mention of the two adults. Santiago 
had interviewed Joyce Summers and Rupert Giles over the last couple 
of weeks in dealing with Oz. At first he had been suspicious of what 
the older Giles could have in common with kids barely out of high 
school. He became even more suspicious when he discovered the 
Englishman had been the librarian for the burned out high school and 
had been very close to Xander, Willow, Buffy and Oz when they were in 
school.

Some of his skepticism was eased once he met Mr. Rupert Giles 
and Mrs. Summers and realized that they either were or had been 
dating and still cared for each other. Detective Santiago assumed 
that Giles had gotten to know Buffy and her friends through his 
interest in Buffy's Mom.

Brad Santiago still held some reserve judgment about the 
Englishman though. A background check had revealed nothing out of 
the ordinary except a couple of arrests for drunken behavior when 
Giles was much younger. Somehow the clean record made Santiago 
uncomfortable, his instincts flaring that something wasn't right and 
felt wrong about Giles' overseas record.

What the detective couldn't deny though was the affection 
that Giles had for the group of young adults and no alarms or warning 
flags went up in the detective's mind about it. Brad Santiago came 
to the conclusion that Giles was actually the closest thing to a 
father figure that most of the kids had. He also concluded that 
Giles actually loved them very much and they loved him with nothing 
kinky involved.

Brad Santiago wasn't surprised when both he and Xander looked 
down the hall and saw Buffy and Tara walking their way.  

"The night shift?" Brad asked Xander with a grin and Xander 
blushed and shuffled his feet. "You know the police officer won't 
let Oz near her, that's what he's there for."

"We know, we just feel better being with her," Xander 
muttered. "The hospital quit trying to kick us out last week, now 
they ignore us."

Having seen the desperate looks on the faces of Ms. Willow 
Rosenburg's friends, Brad wasn't surprised the hospital caved in and 
let at least one of them stay with her twenty-four hours a day. It 
helped keep the young student calm and made her feel safe. That was 
a major plus, Brad reflected. The doctors had warned against any 
excitement or fear for at least a month until her heart muscle had 
healed a little more. Having her friends there ensured Willow didn't 
wake up in a panic, and that Oz wouldn't get through the door, and 
they could wake her out of any nightmare before it got too bad.  

Brad Santiago had seen the gun in Xander's belt and knew the 
others were probably armed as well. He knew he was obligated to at 
least take the illegal weapons from the kids but didn't have the 
desire to. He didn't feel totally secure for Willow with just one 
police guard on the door and he knew Willow's friends would die 
protecting her.

"Detective Santiago," Buffy said when she got close to 
Willow's room. "Any sign of Oz?"

"No," the detective repeated. "I'll let Xander fill you in.  
I've got to get home for dinner. My wife gets nervous when I'm out 
past dark if I'm not on a case. She says she hears strange things in 
the alley sometimes," he said with an amused grin. 

"Tell her not to go outside and look," Buffy said sternly.

Brad Santiago frowned. He had expected the kids to smile at 
the thought of his wife being spooked by noises in the dark, instead 
they looked deadly serious. Brad began to wonder exactly what it was 
about the town that he had been trying to put his finger on since he 
had arrived last month.

<It was like something out of a gothic novel,> he complained 
to himself as he walked down the hall. The inhabitants were 
reluctant to talk about anything, the parents seemed to be lost in a 
fog, and the kids seemed to keep to crowds and well lit places after 
dark but seemed confused as to why they did it if you pointed it out 
to them. It was like a village living under the shadow of Castle 
Frankenstein.

Brad glanced back and saw Xander encompassing both Buffy and Tara in 
his arms.

The detective had a gut feeling that it wasn't quite over for the 
young group he had come to like over the last week.  

"Hey, Xander," Buffy said easily, her eyes darting to the police 
officer sitting outside Willow's room, ensuring that he was alert and 
watching everything.  

"Hey, Buff, Tara," the young man answered as he pulled back.
Both young women could see the unasked questions forming on his face 
once again and Buffy held up her hand.

"No, we haven't `decided' anything and we haven't talked to Willow 
about what any of this means," Buffy snapped.

"I'm sorry," Xander said softly.  

"Its okay, Xander," Tara said softly as Buffy turned and entered 
Willow's room. "It's just been so hard watching Willow struggling to 
get her strength back and none of us can do anything, we haven't even 
mentioned relationships and feelings."

"You know you don't stutter as much when you're around us now?" 
Xander pointed out with a smile and laughed softly when Tara began 
blushing. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder affectionately. "I 
know we didn't spend a lot of time together before this but you're 
one of the gang, you're an official Scooby type person. I know you'd 
never hurt Buffy or Willow."

Tara blushed even more and he quickly hugged her and slipped his 
pistol to her. The young witch stuck it in the waistband of her own 
jeans and pulled the t-shirt over the butt.

When Tara opened the door she knew she'd find Buffy in a chair by 
Willow's bedside, holding the computer geek's uninjured hand, whether 
Willow was awake or not.

Night and day both women were by Willow's beside, especially when the 
young witch didn't bounce back from the knife injury as quickly as 
the doctors had hoped. None of the Scooby Gang could tell them that 
it was probably because Willow had died that night and it was only 
the combined efforts of love and magick that had brought her back.

"Hey, Xander go home?"

"I think he was heading to his job?" Tara commented.

"What is it this week? Pizza or burgers?" Buffy asked softly, hoping 
not to disturb the redhead in the hospital bed.

"Actually he got a job as a security officer at the mall," Tara 
grinned at Buffy's surprised expression. "He wants to save some 
money and move out of his parents' basement and go to junior college."

"He mentioned that," a groggy voice joined in the conversation and 
both Tara and Buffy smiled as Willow opened her eyes and smiled 
back. "Hi, guys."

"Hey, Wills!" Buffy's smile widened as green eyes met her blue ones 
and the Slayer felt her heart melting all over again.  

Without thinking about it, Buffy held out her other hand and Tara 
responded by holding it and gently brushing back a lock of Willow's 
hair with her other hand, unconsciously forming a triangle between 
the three women. Willow noticed and smiled even more.

"I love you both," she said softly.  

"I can't stay long, I'm patrolling tonight," Buffy said as a way of 
avoiding the emotional stuff they had been dancing around. 

It had been a hurried decision not to talk about the emotional 
confusion the three women were going through until Willow was out of 
the hospital and a little more stable. The doctors had warned 
against extreme emotional distress and none of Willow's friends were 
willing to add to any worries she might have, especially Buffy and 
Tara. 

"I'm staying the night though," Tara said cheerfully and felt the 
warmth of Willow's smile hit her like a physical blow. Then she 
looked in Buffy's eyes and felt the same warmth.  

Xander told Willow earlier that during the week, as she had been in 
and out of consciousness from her wounds, that Buffy and Tara had 
been acting strange. Willow had been worried that they weren't 
talking or something but Xander had said that was the weird thing.  

Without Willow around, the two women seemed lost unless they were 
together. The strangest thing was that they didn't seem to talk 
much, as if they were avoiding issues but couldn't seem to be apart 
from each other. Willow thought she understood, any time she had 
tried to bring up her feelings for either or both young women they 
had dodged and changed the subject, saying it could wait until she 
was better.

Willow figured they were going to kill her with kindness if she let 
them.

Buffy noticed Willow's "resolve" face faster than Tara did, having 
been around Willow since they were sophomores in school. The Slayer 
drew back slightly and Tara felt the blonde slam down mental and 
emotional shields without even being aware that she was doing it.

"Wills?" Buffy asked softly as Willow seemed to be gathering her 
strength and had a most determined look on her face.

"Look," the young witch began as Tara caught onto the "resolve" 
face. "I've told you both that I love you and you can both say it 
back. I don't expect us to work this out while I'm here but I don't 
want to dance around it and feel like a criminal because I love you 
both."

Buffy and Tara both looked pained. "Willow, we're not blaming you 
for loving both of us and you shouldn't feel guilty. I?I love you 
both too," Tara began.

"And I feel lucky that the cutest women at the University happen to 
like me," Buffy finished with a smirk that eased the tension.

"More than like you, silly," Willow grinned. "I know you want to go 
patrol but can you stick around for a few minutes?"

"Sure, anything for you, Wills," Buffy agreed immediately. "What's 
up?"

"They want me to take another walk down the hallway tonight and I'd 
like some company," Willow said, blushing at how weak she was.  

Both Buffy and Tara nodded eagerly, knowing that it was Willow's way 
of asking for help. With a broken arm the patient couldn't use a 
wheelchair or walker and the doctors and nurses had warned about 
weakness. Having a friend on either side made Willow feel more 
comfortable and not as scared of falling.

"This recovery thing sucks," Willow grinned.

"That's why I love that Slayer healing thing," Buffy grinned back, 
showing the movement of her left arm. Just the week before both 
bones had been bitten in two and the muscles ripped viciously by Oz, 
now there was just angry red scars on both sides of the Slayer's 
arm. Willow knew from experience that those would settle down into 
barely noticeable thin white scars.

The main question was whether the inner wounds had scarred or were 
just beginning.

The Slayer had been bitten by a werewolf and there was still the 
question of whether Buffy Summers was now going to be cursed and turn 
into a werewolf on full moons. They hadn't talked about that much 
during Willow's recovery either. Tara had assured Willow when they 
were alone that Giles was practically living in his books and Tara 
was helping Joyce, Buffy's Mom, do the research on the internet for 
anything pertaining to werewolves.

They had three weeks before the next full moon would reveal whether 
Buffy had fought off the infection or not.

For now, Buffy refused to talk about it, had threatened Xander with 
another broken nose when he had attempted to joke about it, and 
ignored the research going on around her.

"Listen, guys," Willow continued. "The doctors say I can get out of 
here in a couple of days if I regain some more strength and don't 
over do the walks. Tell me that one or both of you aren't going to 
disappear on me when I get out of here. I mean, that would not be 
good, the doctors said so. No major emotional trauma they said.  
Girlfriend leaving would be a bad thing, or girlfriends leaving.  
Bad, very bad."

Both Buffy and Tara grinned at a typical Willow ramble and the 
computer geek began blushing.

"Well, since you're moving into my Mom's house, I guess I'll stick 
around," Buffy teased.

"And I'm the one that will be handling bringing your assignments and 
working with the campus teacher they're sending out, guess I'll stick 
around too," Tara smiled shyly.

"Thank you," Willow said seriously. "I know this isn't going to be 
easy for any of us, I don't want to lose either of you."

"Wills, you died so Oz wouldn't hurt any of us or use you to hurt 
us," Buffy said softly as Tara sat down on the other side of the bed, 
still holding Buffy's hand. "I don't know what's happening between 
the three of us but I'm willing to talk and work on it."

"Me too," Tara agreed simply.

"I died," Willow said thoughtfully and looked down at the cast on her 
hand. "It's still hard to think about."

Buffy reached up to gently wipe a tear away from Willow's cheek.

"We live in Sunnydale," Willow continued. "Buffy is the Slayer and 
has died before fighting the Hellmouth things. I've come close 
several times because we help Buffy. Even Tara almost got killed 
with those weird Gentlemen creeps. I can't live without either of 
you."

"I've always known as the Slayer that I probably wouldn't live to 
collect Social Security," Buffy said thoughtfully. "Seeing you lying 
there with that dagger?" Buffy swallowed and fought back tears. "I'm 
willing to accept whatever this means between the three of us. Life 
is way too short for a Slayer to let outdated morals get in the way 
of being with who I love."

"How do you feel about Tara, Buffy?" Willow asked softly and noticed 
Tara's body language retreating back into her normal "shy mode" of 
dropping her head and letting her hair cover most of her face, almost 
shrinking into herself.

"Wow, truth discussion, huh?" Buffy asked with a smirk. "Thought we 
weren't going to talk about this until you were out of here."

"Now," Willow insisted.

"I? I know for certain I'm in love with you, Willow. With Tara, it 
is more than the beginning of a wonderful friendship. It feels 
complete with her near me, especially when I'm with both of you," 
Buffy said, trying to put awkward and new feelings into words.  

Then Buffy's eyes sparkled with an impishness that Willow hadn't seen 
in a long time. "Besides," the Slayer continued. "I think you are 
both incredibly hot and I get weak in the knees fantasizing about 
kissing both of you."

Tara's head snapped up and her eyes were wide with surprise and 
Willow began blushing as bright as her hair.

"I guess that teaches me to ask!" she muttered as the Slayer laughed.

"Well, I've been dreaming about both of you," Tara admitted, blushing 
even worse than before.

"So have I," both Willow and Buffy responded at the same time and 
raised their eyebrows at each other.

"Whoa," Buffy said softly. "Does this mean something cosmic with us?"

"I don't know and I'm not sure Giles wants us to ask him either," 
Willow grinned.

"Well he does begin coughing and cleaning his glasses whenever he 
catches us holding your hand," Tara agreed.

"He can be so British it hurts," Buffy agreed and they all laughed 
easily.

"Goddess, this feels good," Willow smiled. "I feel better. Thank 
you both."

"Anything for my Wills," Buffy said easily.

"Any sign? has anyone seen or heard from? Oz?" Willow asked 
hesitantly.

"No, America's Most Wanted wants to put him on their list and re-
enact the kidnapping and attempted murder," Buffy explained what 
Xander had told them while hugging the two women.

"I don't want cameras and Hollywood type people!" Willow protested, 
her breath suddenly quickening.

"Willow, calm!" Tara urged. "Think calm! We're not going to let them 
near you. We, we haven't discussed it but they won't get near you if 
you don't want them."

"Nope, have to go through one bad witch and one bad Slayer," Buffy 
agreed and was grateful when Willow smiled slightly but was worried 
at how she now looked tired.

She saw the same concern in Tara's eyes and they both knew that the 
recovery was going to be long and hard for their beloved.

* * *

October 15

Willow surprised everyone by rapidly regaining her strength after the 
reassurances from Buffy and Tara that things weren't going to change 
until Willow was out of the hospital. She was able to walk about the 
hospital several times a day and had finally gotten rid of the IV of 
extra fluids.

The doctors were pleased with the change in her progress and 
pronounced her well enough to go home, with lots of hesitation, 
cautions, and stern warnings.  

Willow's friends and adopted family listened closely to the doctor's 
instructions, especially when they explained that Willow wasn't like 
a normal heart operation patient. Most patients had valves replaced 
or even heart transplants and recovered within a few weeks of the 
surgery and most were home within a week. The doctors, especially 
Dr. O'Connor, had explained that Willow's injuries were more serious 
because the operation had been more invasive. Having a knife rip 
open your heart was more damaging than the gentle touch of a surgeon 
carefully opening a clogged artery or replacing a valve under perfect 
operating conditions. The scars of having her breastbone sawed into 
two pieces, a rib spreader thrust into her chest and hands trying to 
rapidly repair jagged wounds were going to be painful to heal, long 
and bright red. The actual healing of the heart muscle would take 
longer than a normal patient but the doctors were confident of a 
complete recovery, eventually.

All of the small crowd gathered to lend support to the young computer 
geek had gotten very quiet as the doctor's described Willow's wounds 
and the steps the doctors had taken to save her. They all knew that 
technically Willow had died and somehow their love and magick had 
brought her back. It was hard to hear how serious the wound had been 
even with the magickal intervention. Willow wasn't totally out of 
danger yet.

Willow did find it strange to be in Buffy's home and not the dorm 
room or her own room at home. Not that the room at the Rosenberg's 
house felt like home anymore, she thought as she lay back on the 
guest bed. The redhead fought back a sense of displacement, of 
depression over not really having a home and reminded herself that it 
was just probably one of those moods that the doctors had warned her 
about. She had been told that depression was common after such an 
intense operation; her emotional state would probably be even more up 
and down since her operation was the result of an attack by her ex-
boyfriend.

Having heart surgery brought up a lot of feelings and fears, they had 
told her. Fears especially about death, about never being healthy 
again, fear of physical exertion and even serious fears about sex.

Willow had blushed a bright red but had managed to keep from 
squeaking and was pleased when her voice didn't crack from 
embarrassment when she had pursued questions about that kind of 
activity. The doctors had been frank and honest and hadn't seemed 
embarrassed about talking about sex with a beautiful young female 
patient.  

Willow hadn't gone into details about her sex life or her questions 
and was grateful that the doctors seemed to have expected such 
questions. She mentally kicked and reminded herself that they dealt 
with that question from almost every patient undergoing operation, 
especially life threatening ones.

The computer geek grinned; she had no idea what was going to develop 
between her and Tara, her and Buffy, or between them. She was 
hoping, however, that they might explore some of those sexual areas.

"Goddess," she whispered to herself, listening to Buffy and Joyce 
moving in the house outside her door. "What am I going to do? I 
love them both."

A knock didn't answer her question but it did give her a break from 
the thought. She fought the urge to jump up and answer it. Willow 
reminded herself that she wasn't healed yet and it was going to take 
time to return to her normally active self. Everything was going to 
be a hassle for awhile, including just sitting up from a bed without 
losing her breath and increasing her heart rate significantly.  

"Come in," she called and smiled as Joyce walked in the room with 
Buffy behind her. Willow sat up slowly, shifting positions to have 
the headboard behind her. 

Joyce sat down on the edge of the bed and Buffy moved around to the 
other side and sat down. Willow caught Joyce watching her daughter's 
interaction with the young witch and couldn't blame her. Buffy's 
interests in Willow had come as a surprise to Joyce and Willow knew 
she was still adjusting to the situation. It didn't help that all 
their friends were confused over the relationship between Willow, 
Tara and Buffy.

Buffy, not noticing her mom's concerned gaze, smiled widely and took 
Willow's good hand in hers.

"Are you settling in okay?" Joyce asked, ignoring the questions she 
was dying to ask.

"Yes, Mrs. Summers," Willow smiled. She didn't have to admit to them 
that she was tired; they could see it. Just getting her checked out 
of the hospital, into Joyce's car and back to Buffy's home had tired 
her out. She still blushed when she thought of Buffy suddenly 
playing gallant knight and lifting Willow into her arms and carrying 
the college student up the stairs to the bedroom after seeing Willow 
hesitate at the bottom of the stairs.

Xander had laughed and made a joke about Slayer strength, Anya had 
clapped at the apparent act of chivalry, Tara had grinned at Willow's 
embarrassed face and Giles and Joyce had pretended not to notice.

"Call me Joyce, please," Joyce Summers insisted. "I have to go to 
the gallery and help set up a new exhibit. Will you two be okay 
tonight?"

"Sure Mom," Buffy said cheerfully. "I'm not going out slaying 
tonight and Tara is coming over to help set up Willow's computer 
stuff in here. We'll probably watch a movie or something."

"No pizza!" Joyce warned. "The doctors said no extreme food for 
awhile."

"I'll get Tara to pick up something on the way over," Buffy promised 
as Willow turned red from all the attention.

"Okay, I've got my beeper with me in case you need me and Rupert has 
his pager and cell phone too," Joyce continued thoughtfully, 
reluctant to be away from the young recovering girl her first night 
in the Summers' home.

"Giles is going to be there?" Buffy asked, her eyebrows raised.

Willow resisted grinning as Joyce began to blush herself. "Yes, he's 
going to help me with the exhibit."

"Excellent!" Buffy exclaimed. "You two are `on' again?"

"Well, maybe," Joyce admitted with a shy smile.  

"As long as you have `relations' at his place and not here with me in 
the next room, I think it's cool," Buffy declared.

"Elizabeth Anne Summers!" Joyce squeaked and Willow tried to hide her 
grin. "I'm leaving now, thank you!"

"Love you, Mom," Buffy said sweetly, not passing up the opportunity 
to tease her mom. It had been awkward enough to learn that her mom 
and Giles had been dating when she was in high school. It was more 
than awkward to discover that, while under a spell, they had wild and 
uninhibited sex on a patrol car. Twice. Buffy wasn't sure if she 
was still in need of some therapy over those images in her head.

Willow grinned at Buffy and drew the Slayers hand to her cheek, 
relishing the warmth. She saw Buffy's eyes close and the Slayer's 
breathing increase a notch.

"Buffy," Willow said softly. "How long have you been in love with 
me?"

"Right to the point, huh?" Buffy asked with a teasing smile. "I 
don't know, I realized recently that it's always been you, Wills."

Willow smiled and sighed. She patted the bed beside her and Buffy 
moved to the head of the bed and the young hacker snuggled down into 
the Slayer's arm. Willow sighed at the feeling of peace settling 
over her, even the throbbing of her arm and the pain of the incision 
down and across her chest didn't hurt as much with Buffy holding her.

"I figured out what a jerk I've been with Riley and the damned 
Initiative thing," Buffy continued as Willow interlaced her fingers 
with Buffy's. "When Oz left you needed me and I wasn't there. You 
were always there for me, even when I made major mistakes. You were 
there when Angel turned and there when I had to kill him. You even 
stood by me when he came back and I made the mistake of keeping it a 
secret. I let you down, Wills."

"You were trying to form a relationship with Riley," Willow protested.

"Yeah, and turned into a bitch while doing it," Buffy said bitterly 
about herself. "I'm sorry, Willow, I should have been there for you 
and I wasn't. By the time I discovered that Riley was no substitute 
for having you in my life, on any level, you were gone."

Willow started to sit up in protest and Buffy tightened her arm 
around the witch. "I wasn't gone!" 

"Yeah you were," Buffy countered, her voice still soft. "You had 
found Tara and had gotten back on your feet, all without me. It was 
like I had been smacked in the face when I realized that one. It 
hurt a lot and I had no one to blame but myself. It also didn't help 
that I was fighting the same feelings you were having for Tara."

"When did you realize that you're? what, bi?"

"That terms fits better than most, I guess," Buffy replied 
easily. "I asked Giles once about sexuality and Slayers."

Willow giggled and Buffy smiled. "I bet he was so not happy with 
that questioning!"

"Nope," Buffy agreed. "I pressed him though. Faith was always so 
damned? frisky, especially after a good night of slaying. I thought 
it was just me but Giles said that it was common and it was also 
common that almost all the Slayers were bisexual. Actually, I think 
it's just sexual."

"Did you and Faith ever??" Willow asked, her voice becoming soft and 
timid as her hand played with Buffy's.

"Yeah," the Slayer admitted, hating the way her face suddenly 
flushed. "After one really heavy night of slaying, I went back to 
her dingy hotel room and we had a beer. I don't know how it 
happened, we were both so turned on from the Slayer blood lust and we 
were both on the same bed. I don't know who kissed who but it 
happened."

"Did anything else happen?"

"Yeah," Buffy said, almost in a whisper. "There was ripped clothes, 
lips everywhere and a lot of hand action. I couldn't take it any 
farther though. I ran out of the room with my clothes in tatters."

"Why couldn't you? Because of what you felt for Angel?"

"No," Buffy hesitated. "It was? I didn't see Faith's face; all I 
could think of was you."

"What? That long ago?" Willow asked with a frown.

"Yeah," Buffy admitted.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Willow demanded.

"What? Why?" Buffy countered. "You were dating Oz and were like 
totally happy. I wasn't going to tell you that while Faith had her 
tongue down my throat I was wishing it was you with Oz sitting there."

"Okay, I get it," Willow said reluctantly. "I was always so jealous 
of Faith; she knew it too and used to tease me. She more than hinted 
that you two did more than just slay together."

"She could be such a bitch," Buffy grumbled. After a moment of both 
young women contemplating the past, Buffy kissed the top of Willow's 
head with a smile. "Have you ever??"

"With a female, you mean?" Willow squeaked.

"Yeah, I know you and Oz got together," Buffy clarified.

"No to both," Willow whispered.

"What? I thought you and Oz?"

"He was so terrified that a condom might break and I would have his 
werewolf baby," Willow said bitterly. "We did mutual things. Like, 
well? you know."

"You haven't been with anyone?" Buffy asked. The Slayer was 
surprised, she had assumed that Willow's relationship with Oz was 
serious enough to include most acts of sex, including `going all the 
way.' On the other hand, she wasn't surprised the shy computer geek 
hadn't gone that far either. It kinda described Willow, a hidden 
passion held back by a shy exterior and self doubt.  

"Well, we did cover a lot of sexual action except that," Willow 
smiled, further clarifying and embarrassing herself in the process.

"So no males or females," Buffy grinned.

"Not technically," Willow agreed, closing her eyes and snuggling down 
on Buffy's chest.

"God, Wills," Buffy asked softly. "What are we going to do? I like 
Tara."

"Me too," Willow mumbled. "Fantasies of both of you in the same bed 
with me are rather nice."

"Willow?" Buffy squeaked, never dreaming that her shy best friend 
would have those kind of fantasies. She realized with an irritated 
grimace that Willow had fallen asleep in her arms.

Tara and all of the rest of the Scooby Gang were now carrying cell 
phones and pagers. They had learned, anti-tech feelings or not, they 
needed to keep in touch with each other with Willow recovering and 
Buffy possibly infected by a werewolf.

When the young witch appeared on Buffy's doorstep she arrived bearing 
Chinese food and rented videotapes.  

Buffy's tenseness eased when she saw Tara's shy smile.  

"Hey, Tara," the Slayer said easily and reached for some of the bags 
of food, snacks and tapes.  

"Hey, how's Willow?" the witch asked as she entered Buffy's home.

"Taking a nap, checking out and in wore her out," Buffy smiled and 
headed for the kitchen.

"She's okay, though?" Tara frowned.  

"Yeah, doctor said she'd tire out easily," Buffy continued as Tara 
followed her.

"Maybe we should take a tray up to Willow's room?" Tara suggested.

"Yeah, I agree. I moved my TV and video recorder into her room while 
she slept," Buffy responded, pulling out plates and bowls from 
various cabinets.

"Cool, like a slumber party," Tara grinned.  

"Tara, I know we've been avoiding things while Willow was in the 
hospital, I just want you to know that I admitted to her that I've 
been in love with her for awhile," Buffy said softly.

"So have I," Tara smiled.

Buffy lost her smile and frowned, appearing puzzled. "I know I'm in 
love with Willow but you're driving me crazy too," the Slayer 
admitted, gripping the sink with a killer grip.

Tara hesitated, watching the shorter but powerful woman in front of 
her. She felt Buffy stiffen when Tara walked up behind her and 
wrapped her arms around the Slayer. It was Buffy's turn to hesitate 
and then Tara felt Buffy relax. Buffy leaned back into Tara's arms 
and sighed, letting the witch's warmth encompass her. She laid her 
arms on Tara's.

"Guess that means you kinda like me, too?" Buffy grinned.

Tara felt Buffy's breath quicken along with her own and leaned down 
to nuzzle the Slayer's neck.  

"I don't know what's happening either but it feels right and I'm not 
sure we should fight anything that feels right in Sunnydale," Tara 
said softly.

"I'll second that!" Buffy agreed, her head leaning back into the 
witch. "God, that feels good."

"What else did you talk about?" Tara questioned, relishing the smell 
of Buffy's hair and the feel of her skin.  

"Uh? that I, uh," Buffy stammered. "That I fooled around a little 
with Faith but didn't? That we didn't?"

"Neither have I," Tara said softly.

Buffy turned in Tara's arms and wrapped her own around the taller 
witch's neck and resisted kissing Tara right then.

Tara leaned down until their foreheads were touching and both of them 
closed their eyes in the moment.

"Maybe we should get the food upstairs before it turns into cold 
leftovers," Buffy suggested.

"Buffy," Tara whispered, refusing to let go of the Slayer 
yet. "Willow and I have kissed."

"I know," Buffy said softly. "We haven't. I mean, Willow and I 
haven't."

Both women hesitated, unsure as to what to do next when Tara finally 
broke the embrace.

"Let's get upstairs with Willow," she suggested.

"Sounds good," Buffy agreed and began a delicate balance of plates, 
bowls and glasses. "This might take a couple of trips," she 
complained as Tara grabbed the boxes and bags food.

"I agree!" Tara grinned, realizing they still had the soda, tapes and 
snacks.

Both Tara and Buffy broke into wide smiles when they opened the door 
and found Willow opening her eyes and grinning at them.

"Hey, guys!" the redhead smiled and moved to a sitting position on 
the bed.  

The next fifteen minutes were spent arranging dinner on the bed with 
the three women. The difficulty of eating Chinese food on a medium 
size bed was finally solved with a combination of trays and two 
nimble college students and one giggling Willow.

The three ended up feeding each other egg rolls and shrimp and 
somehow the bedspread was spared any kind of mess.

After awhile, Willow held up her hands in protest as Tara started to 
pass her another round of noodles. "I'm stuffed," she declared.

"Me, too!" Buffy grinned. 

"Let's clear this stuff and settle in for a round of movies," Tara 
suggested and started grabbing boxes and plates with Buffy gathering 
up bowls and boxes.  

"Wish I could help," Willow complained. "I feel silly sitting in bed 
while you guys clean up."

"Don't worry about it," Buffy grinned. "You can take a trip down the 
stairs later for your walk."

"Does that mean you'll carry me back up the stairs?" Willow began 
blushing.

"Maybe," Buffy continued the grin and managed an impressive balancing 
act out the door with Tara a step behind her.

The rest of the evening for the three students relaxing watching 
rented movies, Buffy and Tara on either side of Willow and somehow 
leaning behind the computer geek so they could touch as well.

"This is nice," Willow said softly while one of the tapes rewound.

"I agree," Buffy said, bringing Willow's hand to her lips and kissing 
the fingertips lightly.

The redhead giggled and Tara laughed a soft laugh. Buffy grinned at 
the blonde witch and ran her other hand through Tara's hair.

Willow caught Tara's intake of breath and her own quickening heart 
rate.

"Guys?" Willow said softly.

She glanced up into Buffy's face and felt her breath quicken when she 
saw Buffy's eyes a shade darker than usual and her eyelids looked 
heavier. Willow realized that the Slayer was aroused.

Willow was about to launch into another "we need to talk" bit when 
Buffy lowered her head and lightly kissed the redhead. Willow 
whimpered as sparks of energy dashed through her system. It felt 
like the rest of the world melted away as the kiss started out 
tentative but became more passionate as Buffy moaned and shifted her 
body even closer to Willow.  

Buffy pulled back and leaned her forehead against Willow's. "God, 
Wills," she whispered. "I've wanted to do that for so long."

"Me too," Willow agreed and then began blushing when she realized the 
arm around her waist was Tara on the other side of her. The redhead 
turned to face the other witch, her face fearful.

"Its okay, Willow," Tara said softly and leaned in to kiss Willow.  

Willow felt like she was melting and once again cursed the cast on 
her arm, she wanted to hold and touch both of them.

The computer geek leaned back, panting slightly.

"That was very nice!" she stated.

"I agree," Buffy smiled.

"Me too," Tara concurred.

"I love you both," Willow whispered.  

"Feeling's mutual," Buffy smiled and drew Tara's head to her for a 
kiss while they both held Willow.

The computer tech smiled and snuggled in between the two of them and 
basked in the energy flowing from them.  

She smiled as Buffy's hand played with hers and Tara's arm tightened 
around her ribs as the kiss between the Slayer and witch intensified 
and Willow heard Tara moan and then break contact.

"Oh God, I? I need to slow down," Buffy whispered.  

"Me too," Tara agreed.

Willow sighed a sigh of contentment. "Me too," she smiled. "Not 
ready for that heart rate."

Both Tara and Buffy were instantly attentive and Willow playfully 
shrugged their concerned protests about doing too much and apologies 
for causing her any pain and smiled.

"I'm fine, guys, honest!" she smiled. "It's not out of control or 
anything, just beginning to race and it still hurts a little."

"Gods, Wills," Buffy whimpered. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt 
you! Neither would Tara."

"I know that, just looking at either or both of you sends my pulse 
racing," Willow admitted and watched both of them blush. "If you two 
want to continue the kissing stuff then I need to move and lower my 
thermostat."

"Well how about another movie and snuggles?" Buffy suggested and was 
greeted with approving clapping from Tara and a wave from a one-armed 
Willow.

The Slayer laughed delightedly and went to put in another tape into 
the VCR.

"This feels good," Buffy said with a shy smile. "It doesn't happen 
often. Thank you."  

"Hey, our pleasure," Tara grinned.  

"Then let's continue it before Buffy has to go back to patrolling 
tomorrow night and I have to start catching up on classes tomorrow," 
Willow suggested. "More snuggles!"

Buffy grinned and leaped onto the bed to the squeals of laughter from 
Willow and Tara.

None of them mentioned the upcoming full moon in two and a half weeks.

October 16

It was well after midnight when Joyce and Giles peaked into the room 
they had established Willow in and both of them first shook their 
heads and then smiled at the sight of three figures on Willow's bed.  

They both figured the girls had fallen asleep watching videos given 
they were all on top of the covers and still dressed with the TV on.  

Joyce smiled and walked quietly into the room and glanced down at her 
daughter and, apparently, at the two women she was in love with.  

Buffy, her senses sharper than the others, opened her eyes and smiled 
when she saw it was her mom and closed her eyes again. Willow was 
still in between the other two women and facing Tara, her good arm 
draped over Tara's waist. Buffy was snuggled up against Willow's 
back, her own arm thrown over Willow's ribs.  

Joyce turned off the television and pulled a blanket over the 
women.