FF: Rewrite Season 6, part 12 - B/F W/T - R

["carrkjar" <carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx>]

Rewrite Season 6, part 12
Rainbow in the Dark

Author: Frau Hunter Ash 

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

Acknowledgments: Note: Plot collaborated on by Hunter Ash and Dark 
Gremlin 
Suggestions from many people and many boards. A special "thank you" 
to them.
 
Another special "Thank You" to Joan the English Chick 
(pisces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) for her transcripts.  

Disclaimers: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, 
Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, and God only knows who else. No harm intended.  
The character of Maggie Doyle belongs to whoever created ER and I'm 
just borrowing the absent character.

F/F romance: the story assumes a loving and sexual relationship 
between people of the same gender and opposite gender. 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: In my universe here, Season 6 is happening again! Starting 
with Bargaining and taking off from there. Things will be different 
here.  

Rating: R (US); 15 (UK); MA (Aus) Pairings: W/T, X/An, B/?

Summary: Ethan has Willow, Dawn and Tara ? can Faith, Buffy and the 
others save them before Spike and Ethan carry out their revenge?

* * *

Faith worked her crutches under her and quickly made her way to the 
dark and foreboding looking two story house, the address Ethan had 
given her.  

The front door was open and the inside dark.

"Hello?" Faith called.

"Help!" a voice called faintly.  

The brunette Slayer flipped the light switch on the wall next to her 
and frowned when only a dim overhead light came on, barely cutting 
through the darkness of the boarded up and enclosed house. It 
smelled dank and musty.

"Keep shouting!" Faith yelled.

"Help! Down here! Help us!" 

Faith followed the voice to a door under the staircase. The Slayer 
growled when she found it locked.

"Help us!" a young voice shouted, louder now.

She normally would kick in the door but having a leg in a cast made 
that option not such a good idea, the Slayer thought. Faith looked 
around for something to use against the door while on crutches but 
didn't find anything except broken furniture.

"Fuck it!" Faith mumbled and leaned back on her crutches and kicked 
the stubborn door with her good leg. The Slayer promptly fell on her 
tailbone. "Ow."

"Help! Down here!" someone yelled again.

Faith got to her feet reluctantly. "Yeah, yeah, hang on!" she 
grumbled and reached around until she felt the light switch. Another 
dim light flashed to light down below in the basement. Faith looked 
at the stairs with a deep frown. She put one of the crutches aside 
and used only one crutch and the handrail to get down to the bottom.

Faith's eyebrows rose in surprise when she saw Dawn and Willow 
chained to the wall of the damp basement. Dawn was struggling 
against her chains but the witch appeared unconscious.  

"Willow?" Faith asked, moving to the witch and raising her head.

"She's been like that since that jerk whacked Tara over the head and 
chained me down here!" Dawn complained. "He said he had drained her 
magic and?and maybe her mind too!"

"Fucking bastard," Faith growled and easily broke Dawn's chains and 
then Willow's. Together they lowered the unconscious hacker to the 
floor. "Okay," Faith said slowly. "Take my cell phone and call your 
sister, she's at Giles'. Give her this address and get the cavalry 
here."

"Why don't you call her?" Dawn demanded, unsure if she wanted to 
leave Willow alone with Faith.

"We're in a basement, cell phone won't work down here," Faith 
explained irritably. "Look around up there and find something to 
wrap Willow up in, she's freezing down here. I can't carry her up 
with this damned broken leg."

"Okay, I'll be right back!" Dawn growled.

"Good, bring some water too, if you can," Faith said, holding 
Willow's head in her lap. "Damn sorcerers and vampires!"

* * *

Ten minutes later Willow still hadn't regained consciousness and 
Faith was beginning to get worried that Ethan and Spike might return 
before Buffy got there. The brunette Slayer was under no illusions 
that she could take both Spike and Ethan on with a broken leg.

"I hate magic users!" she growled as Dawn held Willow in her arms.

"Hey, Willow uses magic!" Dawn protested.

"Yeah, but she's a good guy," Faith countered.

"Like you are now?" Dawn asked softly.

"Trying," Faith shrugged. "I got out of prison because I thought I 
was being a good guy. Trying to keep the effort going."

"Dawn?!" Buffy's voice yelled from upstairs.

"Down here, B!" Faith yelled back.  

In moments, Buffy, Xander, Anya, Sam, and Giles hurried down the 
basement stairs.

"How did you find them?" Buffy demanded.

"I called Ethan," Faith said and hoped Buffy would listen before 
hitting her. "I wanted to make sure he wasn't around."

"What do you mean? You were willing to take on Ethan by yourself?" 
Giles demanded.

"No, he thought I was still on his side," Faith said softly. "If he 
was in the house when I got here, I was going to wait until he left 
or I had an opening to get them out of here."

"We could handle him!" Xander growled, still distrustful.

"You couldn't handle Ethan or Spike on their worst days, Harris," 
Faith snapped back.  

"Let's get them out of here!" Anya urged.  

"Giles, is Willow okay?" Buffy asked, her voice shaky.

"I don't know, what happened, Dawn, Faith?" the Englishman asked.

"Ethan drained her of her magic," Faith said bitterly.  

"He said it might have taken her mind too," Dawn added, her eyes 
filling with tears.

"Oh God, let's get her out of here," Giles said urgently. "If he's 
taken her magic energy and life force, he'll be like someone on 
amphetamines."

Buffy gathered Willow into her arms and looked closely at Dawn. "You 
okay, runt?"

"Yeah, Spike just shook me a little," Dawn grumbled.

"Did he hurt you?" Buffy demanded.

"A little," Dawn admitted. "He bruised my arms and hit my head on a 
wall."

"Did it hurt him?" Giles asked as Buffy began walking up the stairs 
with Willow in her arms.

"No, no chip pain or anything," Dawn said bitterly. "Not even a sign 
of guilt."

"What do we do about Tara?" Xander demanded as Faith began working 
her way up the stairs.

"I'll wait for Ethan and Spike and find out where she is," Faith 
volunteered.

"They'll kill you when they find Dawn and Willow missing," Anya 
protested.

"I'll tell them that they were gone when I got here," Faith 
shrugged. "It's the best idea I've got."

"Faith, odds are that they'll kill you," Giles agreed with Anya.

"B, just get Dawn and Willow out of here!" Faith shouted. "I'll find 
Tara!"

Giles handed Faith the other crutch and stopped the young Slayer for 
a moment. He placed his hand on her shoulder, closed his eyes and 
muttered something.

"What was that?" Faith asked when he pulled back.

"A minor level tracing spell," Giles explained. "It's been awhile but 
I remember some of it. We'll be able to find you."

"Thanks, Giles," Faith said softly as Buffy carried Willow out of the 
old house.

"You know they'll hurt and maybe kill you," Giles said softly.

"Yeah, I do," Faith nodded wearily. "I gotta do something right, 
Giles."

"You got Dawn and Willow back, let us help you with Tara," he urged.

"No," Faith shook her head. "Let me do this."

"I won't be too far away, Faith," Giles said softly and followed the 
rest of the Scooby gang outside as Faith waited for two maniacs.

* * *

Tara whimpered as someone slapped her face, waking her up. Her head 
hurt, her arms were burning and her body was protesting as well. The 
witch wanted to go back to sleep, it didn't hurt so bad then.  

The magical energy bolt that had hit her before she even touched the 
door handle had been strong and fast. The witch was unconscious 
before she landed several feet in the front yard of the house with 
Dawn screaming.

Now everything hurt and someone was making it worse.

Tara opened her eyes reluctantly, ready to try the first spell that 
came to mind, confident of skills or not, Tara was upset.

"Good, witch is awake!" Spike snapped, lowering his hand from 
slapping her again.  

Tara got her feet under her and looked around, realizing she was 
chained in the middle of the main area of a large mansion-like 
building and had been hanging by her wrists. Now that she could 
stand up and take some of the weight off, her wrists were screaming 
and burning with pain.

"Spike?" she asked softly. "Why? W-we were good to you!"

"Because I was neutered like some damned street alley mutt!" the 
vampire growled. "Would you let me in your bedroom now without the 
chip?"

"I would have if you hadn't tried to rape my best friend!" Tara 
snapped.

Spike shrugged, the evil glint still in his eyes.

"W-what do you want me for and where is Dawn?" Tara demanded.

"I want your magic," Ethan explained, stepping around into her 
sight. "Dawn is merely bait. I don't care what happens to her."

"Where's Dawn and Willow?" Tara demanded.

"At the other house," Ethan shrugged. "I left them there 
intentionally. I've got all the magic out of your girlfriend I could 
for now, it'll be at least two weeks before she can even mentally 
lift a toothpick. The Slayer will show up and rescue them and then 
the spell I put on the brat will kick in tonight. She'll lead them 
right into the midst of a pack of very anxious vampires and demons."

Ethan grinned viciously.

"Giles will live though and he'll be mine again when Ripper comes out 
to play," he continued. "Spike will have his revenge on the Slayer 
and all your friends and I get enough magic to take this town down 
for my pleasure and get Ripper back."

"And?and me?" Tara asked softly.

"You're my revenge," Spike grinned.

"For w-what? Treating you n-nice?" Tara snapped.

"Always thought you had some spunk under that Country Mouse routine 
of yours," Spike laughed. "Yes, for treating me nice! I'm a goddamn 
vampire! You tried to turn me into a human!"

"You thanked Buffy once for treating you like a man and not a 
monster," Tara countered and Spike backhanded her.

"That's the bloody point!" Spike growled. "Why do you think Angeleus 
tormented her? Because of what she did to Angel, making him think he 
could be a man again and not a monster. That's what we are!"

"That's what your demon resents, you mean," Tara frowned.

"Maybe," Spike shrugged and moved closer. "But you'll know what 
that's like real soon, my little Wiccan."

"Just kill me and get it over with!" Tara snapped.

"Oh don't worry, luv," Spike grinned as Ethan watched 
indifferently. "First Ethan takes your power and then you'll die. 
The best part is that you won't stay dead."

Tara felt herself go pale at Spike's implications. A moment later 
she screamed and struggled against the chains as Spike laughed.

* * *

Willow moaned and thrashed her arms and hands until she realized it 
was Buffy's voice trying to soothe and hold her down.

"Tara!" Willow whispered, her voice harsh. 

"Easy, Will," Buffy urged as Willow sat up, her eyes 
panicked. "You're home, you're safe."

"Where's Tara and Dawn? Ethan said he was going to hurt them!" Willow 
demanded.

"He got them," Buffy nodded. "We got you and Dawn back but Tara 
wasn't there."

"He still has Tara?" Willow whispered, her eyes wide and 
fearful. "Ethan, he, he hurt me, Buff. He plans on hurting her too!"

"Dawn said that he took your magic?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, it's like draining a gas tank of a car," Willow said 
slowly. "You can fill the gas tank again but the car won't run until 
you do."

"How do you get it back?" Buffy asked as Willow got up slowly and 
moved to change clothes.

"Just time," Willow shrugged. "There's ways of taking short cuts but 
the best way is just time."

"What are you doing?" 

"Getting dressed, what does it look like?" Willow snapped. "How do 
we find Tara?"

"We're waiting for a phone call or Giles' tracer spell to kick into 
gear," Buffy explained.

"Tracer spell?" Willow asked with a frown.

"Yeah, he did a spell so we might be able to find where Spike and 
Ethan took Tara and?"

"Buffy! The spell!" Giles shouted from downstairs.

Both girls hit the stairs running as Giles held the door open, his 
eyes vaguely unfocused. Willow struggled to catch her breath after 
the short dash, having expended what energy she had left. 

"Giles?" Buffy asked softly.

"Just get in the car," he growled. "Must concentrate."

* * *

Riley growled as he pulled the rental car into traffic behind Giles' 
car. He had spent several hours watching the Englishman's place and 
had followed the gang to an old house. The soldier was very 
surprised to see them emerge several minutes later with Dawn and an 
unconscious Willow.

Riley debated about approaching them and helping but held back. His 
pride was hurting. His wife had chosen to help his ex-girlfriend and 
her freak friends instead of standing by him and his decisions as a 
soldier.

Riley Finn was also upset with himself. He had no idea why he had 
approached Buffy like he had. He loved Sam more than anything. It 
was as if Buffy Summers was a drug that he couldn't resist. Like 
those vampire whores who drank his blood to make him feel important 
and needed, he taunted himself.

The soldier growled. He knew he had better get his life figured out 
quickly or he was going to lose Sam and maybe his position in the 
Initiative Strike Force. Riley didn't want to lose either.

Maybe Sam was right and it was time to get out of Sunnydale.

* * *

Faith wasn't surprised when Ethan and Spike didn't believe her. She 
got in a good slash with a dagger across Ethan's chest and rammed a 
broken piece of her crutch into Spike's chest, barely missing his 
heart. She was taken down with a vicious blow from Spike's fist and 
an energy blast from Ethan. 

"Buffy," she muttered as darkness claimed her.

* * *
Sam pulled to a slow stop as Giles held his head and moaned in the 
front seat. Xander skidded to a stop behind her in his car. Willow, 
in the back seat of Giles' car, resisted snapping at the ex-Watcher 
to hurry up. She knew he was long out of practice and he was hurting.

Finally, Giles pointed to the left and Sam started to pull away from 
the stop sign when Buffy shouted in surprise.

Willow's head snapped around in time to see her best friend 
struggling with Dawn.  

"Damnit, Dawn, what are you doing?" Buffy demanded as Dawns struggled 
wordlessly.  

Xander came running up from his car and fought Dawn with Buffy until 
they had her pinned in the car, almost lying over Buffy and Willow in 
the back seat. Dawn screamed in frustration and continued to 
struggle as Xander held her legs and Buffy her arms.

"Sleep!" Giles muttered and ran his hands over Dawn's face. The 
teenager relaxed instantly in her sister's arms and Giles collapsed 
over the seat, barely conscious.

"What the hell just happened?" Xander demanded as Sam checked Giles' 
pulse and eyes.

"I haven't a clue!" Buffy complained.

"Spell?" Giles muttered. "Under spell."

"Damn," Willow growled as she stroked Dawn's hair. "She was under a 
spell by Ethan. Giles countered it and put her to sleep."

"What about Tara?" Buffy demanded as tears began to flow down 
Willow's cheeks.

"Breaking Ethan's spell and doing the sleep thing broke his 
connection with the tracer spell," Willow said softly.

"We can't find Tara?" Buffy whispered and Willow shook her head, 
crying.

"What about that connection thing you guys have?" Xander suggested 
but Willow shook her head.

"I can tell that Tara's scared to death about something but not where 
she is," Willow sobbed. "Now I don't have the magic to track her."

"Take us home, Sam," Buffy said softly, looking down into her 
sister's face.

"We're giving up?" Xander demanded.

"No, we're taking Dawn and Willow home and then we're going to turn 
this town upside down!" Buffy growled as Giles shook his head, trying 
to wake up. 

* * *

The sun was just appearing on the horizon when the weary band of 
hunters returned to the Summers' house. Willow and Dawn both shot up 
from their places on the sofa and chair with hopeful expressions, 
only to fall back when they saw Buffy's face.

It took an hour to convince Willow to try and sleep but she only 
relented and drifted off with Buffy holding her on one side and Dawn 
on the other.

Buffy whimpered, dreaming of Faith. Dreaming of Faith screaming for 
her or fighting her.

* * *

"Will?" 

Willow looked up and Buffy almost whimpered at how fragile her best 
friend looked. 

The red-haired witch looked away, clenching her fists.

"That bastard!" Willow hissed. "If he hadn't drained me, I could 
find Tara through our connection!"

Buffy frowned and crossed the room quickly and wrapped her arms 
around her friend, pulling Willow close.

"I know, Will, I know," Buffy said gently as her strength began to 
force Willow to relax slightly.  

"Where is everyone?" Willow asked after a few moments of sobbing in 
Buffy's arms.

"Dawn and Giles are tormenting Willie; Xander and Anya are searching 
mansions and crypts that Spike has been known to haunt; and Sam is 
talking with Riley," Buffy said softly. "I'm not sure if they're 
making up or heading for a fist-fight."

"I feel so helpless!" Willow snapped. "My computer skills are 
useless with this! My magic is temporarily gone and no one knows what 
to do!"

"Will, you know Mom said that we're connected now," Buffy said 
slowly, pondering. "You, me, Tara and Dawn. Could you like tap into 
Dawn and me and find Tara that way?"

Willow startled Buffy by sitting up abruptly.

"Yes!" she shouted. "That would work! You see, I could go to some 
black market type magic guy or girl and get a boost on my magickal 
skills but that's not a good idea because there's always hidden price 
tag and very fine print and sometimes you end up dealing with demons 
in human form?"

"Will! Slow down!" Buffy smiled.

"I could take a short cut to get some magical energy but it's always 
bad news to mess with those types," Willow said, a little 
calmer. "But maybe with our connection it will work just as well."

"How do we do this?" Buffy asked, suddenly hopeful.

"Where's Dawn? It would work best if she's here," Willow said, 
distracted.

"I'll call, just hang loose and concentrate on Tara!" Buffy said as 
she dashed for the door to find her cell phone.

* * *

Giles frowned but nodded once Willow and Buffy explained their idea.

"Yes, that could work without putting Willow in danger from the 
demons that normally traffic in easy, quick and loose magic," he said 
thoughtfully. "Let's try it, we don't have much choice since I lost 
the locator spell."

Xander, Anya, Sam and Riley sat in the Summers' living room as 
Willow, Buffy, Dawn and Giles sat in the middle of the floor. Buffy 
still wasn't talking to Riley but accepted his presence and his 
potential help.

"Just concentrate on Tara and me," Willow said softly as the four 
joined hands.  

"Why is Giles in on this?" Dawn questioned. "He's not like part of 
the whole connection thing."

"He's used magic before, he can help Willow channel, now shut up 
runt," Buffy said softly with a grin.

Buffy closed her eyes and let herself drift. She allowed her mind to 
roam to memories of Willow and Tara, especially of the two witches 
together. The cute shy smile of Willow; the quirky smirk that Tara 
would sometimes get; the way both blushed just before disappearing 
into the bedroom. Buffy almost startled herself out of the light 
trance.

*Where the hell did that come from?* she demanded mentally with a 
frown.

The Slayer felt her body jerk and recognized Willow's psychic touch.  
Buffy heard Dawn gasp beside her.

"Easy, girls," Giles soothed. "Just relax, think of Tara now."

Willow felt the energy starting to mesh with Giles stabilizing it and 
reached out, following her connection to Tara. She could see their 
lines, they were almost braided together.  

Then Willow jerked, realizing that there were two other lines braided 
in with hers and Tara's and was surprised. She hadn't anticipated 
them being that linked and connected.

Willow narrowed in, following the line.

Xander held Anya's hand tightly as Willow jerked and moaned in her 
trance.

"Are they okay?" Riley asked in a whisper.

"Shut up, soldier boy," Xander snapped. "This isn't your field, so 
just watch like the rest of us."

"Willow is reaching out to find Tara's life-line, hoping to connect 
with her psychically," Anya explained to the husband and wife 
soldiers. "Hopefully, if they connect, Tara can tell us where she 
is."

Anya squeaked in surprise and Xander nearly jumped off the sofa when 
Willow suddenly screamed, her body arched and then fell forward in 
the circle.

Buffy and Dawn collapsed without a word and Giles moaned, holding his 
head.

"Giles? Will?" Xander yelled as he cradled Willow in his lap a moment 
later.

Anya was checking on Dawn while Riley and Sam had Buffy sitting up in 
Riley's arms, both looking scared.

Giles moaned again and opened his eyes slowly.

"Oh dear Lord, I don't want to do that again," he muttered and then 
looked around. "Willow!"

Xander stroked Willow's hair as he looked to Giles for answers.

"What's wrong with them?" the young man demanded.

"Come on, Willow," Giles muttered as he knelt next to Willow. "Come 
on, Willow, don't follow! Please don't follow! Fight! Please fight to 
stay with us!"

"Giles!" Riley shouted.

"Buffy and Dawn should be alright, just a back-lash headache and a 
major sense of loss inside," Giles snapped back. "Willow!"

Willow's eyelids fluttered and Xander heard Giles say a quick prayer 
of thanks.

"Giles?" Xander questioned.

"We lost the line," Giles muttered.  

"You lost the spell thing?" Riley frowned.

"No, we lost Tara's life line," Giles said softly, wiping a tear away 
from his eye as Willow moaned. "She almost followed Tara down."

"Down?" Xander squeaked, his voice cracking as he held his best 
friend. "Down where?"

"Tara's life line is gone, it snapped and almost took Willow with it 
into death," Anya explained.

"Death?" Xander whispered. "No, no."

* * *

Faith whimpered and struggled against the chains that held her. The 
sprained arm was hurting and it was impossible to keep her weight on 
just one leg for long, meaning she'd have to drop and let her body 
hang by the wrists.  

The Slayer's wrists were raw and bleeding but she still couldn't get 
her hands loose and Spike's fangs had drained her to the point of 
weakness.

Faith stood up on her one good leg as the outer door opened and 
someone approached the room she was chained in.

The Slayer resisted reacting to the sight of Spike entering the room 
with someone over his shoulder, followed closely by Ethan Rayne.

"Hello, Faith," Ethan said cheerfully. "I should have known your 
redemption thing was real when I got you out."

"Well, your mistake," Faith growled, spitting the blood from her 
split lip at him but missing. "Might be your last. Your trap didn't 
work, did it?"

"No, a minor set back," Ethan shrugged. "It'll just take a little 
longer to reach my goal."

"How's that?" Faith asked and ignored Spike dropping an unconscious 
or dead Tara at her feet. The Slayer refused to look down, as if she 
didn't care about the college student.

"Well, we wait for Tara to wake up and kill you," Ethan explained 
with a smirk. "The Slayer and her friends will be devastated to find 
you dead and their beloved witch now a vampire."

"They'll be forced to kill her and that'll drive Buffy insane and 
make her careless, wot?" Spike grinned.

"Then, with her death or the death of the others, Ripper will come 
out and attempt revenge," Ethan finished with a manic shine in his 
eyes. "He'll come back to me."

"Why the hell don't you just send flowers?" Faith demanded.

"Because it takes more than a couple of drinks and a good fuck to 
bring Ripper out," Ethan snarled. "He didn't even come out when I 
turned Giles into a damned demon!"

"Why do you want Giles so much?" Faith demanded, sneaking a glance 
down at Tara and forcing her heart not to skip a beat when she saw 
the fang marks on Tara's neck and traces of blood around her lips.  
Slayer senses told Faith that the girl was dead. Or, more likely 
undead.

"Ever have someone in your life that you can't live without?" Ethan 
demanded as Spike smirked.  

"I'm beginning to think I did," Faith answered truthfully.

"Only that person turns on you and despises you? Hates everything 
about you?" Ethan snapped.

"Oh yeah, been there, done that!" Faith agreed readily. "Got the 
scars to prove it too and several months in a coma from our last 
encounter."

"Ah, you did fall for the Slayer," Ethan smiled and Faith saw real 
emotion in his eyes. "Well, maybe Tara will turn you when she wakes 
up and you can have your Slayer."

Faith's heart began beating faster as she looked down at the young 
Wiccan.  

"Stake her! Please!" Faith pleaded. "I'll do anything you want, just 
don't do this to her!"

Spike laughed and smacked Faith on the back of the head to irritate 
her.

"Have fun when she wakes up," he grinned. "First awakening, she 
probably won't even notice you're female and try to seduce you, 
she'll just rip your throat out."

"Goodbye, Faith," Ethan grinned and walked out the door with Spike 
following. "You failed your friends again."

Faith screamed in rage as she struggled against the chains.

* * *