Fic: Simple Choices...NC-17 Buffy/Willow (12/?)

["Chris " <elizabethrex1@xxxxxxx>]

Faith felt warmth flow over her arm where Tara's hand had been. 
Peering through her lashes, she watched the witch slowly drag her 
hand up her body. Everywhere she moved it, the warmth touched. It 
felt good, and Faith shivered. The silence in the room pulled at her, 
and she drifted, letting the peaceful feelings put her into a trance-
like state. The room and the staring Scoobies faded away.

***

Tara waited until Faith drifted off before sending her energies 
deeper into the Slayer's aura. The top layer didn't show anything out 
of the ordinary. The brunette was tired, confused, and very scared, 
but given the information she'd gleaned from Willow in recent weeks, 
those didn't clash with Faith's background. Sinking deeper into 
Faith's aura, Tara bit her lip. The emotions here were far darker. A 
dozen shades of black rippled in front of her inner sight. Despair, 
rage, bitterness. They pushed at the witch, trying to overwhelm her. 
Maintaining her own emotional stability was a struggle, but Tara kept 
going. Finally, buried under the layers of Dark Slayer-ness, the 
blonde reached Faith's emotional center. Crystalline tears of grief 
flowing from her astral eyes, Tara embraced the rainbow of shifting 
colors, hunting for external tampering. As she coasted down the 
Slayer's energy channels, the witch noticed pockets of atrophy and 
scarring. Faith was badly damaged and weakened, but there were no 
overt signs of outside influence. If the problems Faith had 
experience were normal, physical ones, Tara could perhaps alleviate 
some of the symptoms. 

She withdrew enough to regain regular sight. Blinking her eyes, she 
looked for Willow. "I need your help," she told the other witch. "I 
don't think Faith was drugged. All I can find are the normal, 
expected problems of an eight-month coma. If you link with me, we can 
repair some of the internal injuries."

"Hey, I don't know?" The redhead hesitated. "Are you sure? I mean, 
I'm all for having another person to help with Adam, but this is 
Faith. I've told you about her. She-"

"I won't argue the point, Willow." Tara's regarded her friend 
sadly. "However, I'm telling you she is not a threat. Certainly not 
in her current condition, and I don't think that will change once 
she's back on her feet. Please."

Biting her lip, Willow looked at the three other people gathered 
around. "Guys? What do you think?"

Buffy was the first to answer. "I can't read auras, Will. But there 
is a bond between me and Faith. She felt wrong, somehow. Not the 
scary, I want to kill you stuff I got when she was working for the 
Mayor. If there isn't a big reason not to, I say do it."

"Indeed. Although I am loathe to perhaps create a second adversary, 
we could use Faith's assistance with Adam." Giles regard them 
seriously. "If she has, in fact, returned to her Calling, we must 
help her."

Joyce frowned. "I can't believe we are even talking about this. She's 
just a girl. The last time I checked, the Scoobies were all about 
helping people." She stood and moved toward the kitchen. "For God's 
sake, Buffy, look at her." Joyce pointed at the pale, emaciated 
brunette. 

"Oookay, then. That's three yes votes," Willow mumbled. "What do you 
need me to do, Tara?"

Smiling crookedly, the older witch said, "Just let me borrow some of 
your energy. You aren't familiar with healing, yet, so I can't 
actively use you to help me repair the damage. Link with me and 
slowly feed me power from your reservoir."

The redhead nodded and got comfortable on the floor, leaning against 
the couch. Seconds later, Tara felt an invisible hand touch hers, an 
energy conduit opening at the same time. With a silent thanks, she 
returned to Faith. Concentrating on the largest wounds and scars, the 
blonde witch used focused bursts of energy to clear the blocked 
channels and prod the Slayer's enhanced healing abilities. By the 
time she finished, Tara was shaking with effort. As she left the 
brunette's aura, the blonde left a final suggestion in Faith's mind, 
urging a deep, healing sleep. Back in her own body completely, Tara 
gently broke her link with Willow and sagged.

"I did what I could," she said. Sinking onto the couch next to Faith, 
she continued, "There was too much to fix in once attempt. And, she 
really needs someone with more medical knowledge. I helped get the 
Slayer healing back on line and added some energy to her reserves, 
but she needs a lot more."

Buffy placed a hand on her shoulder. "You did good, Tara. We heal 
pretty fast when everything's normal. Faith should be much better in 
the morning." The blonde Slayer watched her younger counterpart 
sleep. "Will she be out long?"

"Probably most of tomorrow," Tara answered.

"OK. Giles, is one of the bedrooms useable?" Buffy asked her Watcher.

He nodded and stood up. "Even though we have renegade status here in 
Sunnydale, the Council has kept this house in workable condition." 

"Lead the way, then." Buffy slipped one arm behind Faith's back and 
another under her knees. Grunting with the effort, she picked the 
brunette up and followed Giles down the hall. The older man opened 
the second door on the left, revealing a room lavishly decorated and 
containing a King-sized bed. "Let me guess, this is where your friend 
Travers stays when he's in town? Get the covers, will you?" Once the 
bed had been turned down, she placed her bundle down gently and 
pulled the blankets into place. 

***

Back in the living room, Buffy dropped onto the couch with a loud 
sigh. "Any luck, Will?"

"Not yet. This is more complicated than I expected." Willow's green 
eyes glared at her laptop. "I don't know, Buff. I may not be able get 
the information." She sounded frustrated. "I think it must be Adam 
doing the security now. There's nothing to grab onto."

Sitting forward and resting her hands on her knees, Buffy glanced 
around the room. "If the computer's no help, where do we go from 
here?"

"I could check the magical texts for a way to shut Adam down," Giles 
offered. 

"Didn't Tara and Willow already try that?" the Slayer wasn't good 
with the magic work. Pushing off the couch, she wandered over to peer 
at Willow's computer. "Hey, Will, is that still on autopilot?"

The redhead kept typing and didn't look up. "Mostly, but I'm trying 
to find a backdoor to the system." When Buffy didn't respond or move 
away, she leaned back, staring into clouded hazel eyes. "What's up, 
Buffy? You're like Freak Out Girl all of a sudden. Are you sorry we 
helped Faith?"

A blush stole up the narrow face. "No. No, of course, not. Um, I just?
could we maybe find somewhere to talk?"

Sensing there was more than just Adam or Faith on the Slayer's mind, 
Willow nodded. "Sure, Buff." She typed a few commands into the 
computer and set it on the floor. "Back room or outside?"

Biting her lip and bouncing on her toes, Buffy considered. "This 
place has a back porch. We can sit there?"

"OK." Willow smiled slightly. She'd never seen her friend quite this 
wired. "Maybe we should have had Tara check you out. Are you sure you 
feel alright?" 

"Nah, I'm good." Buffy flashed her teeth in a patently false smile. 
She took Willow's hand and pulled her rapidly out of the house. Once 
they were both standing on the tiny covered porch, staring into the 
darkened yard, the Slayer didn't seem to know how to continue.

Watching her closely, Willow bumped her shoulder, "Hey, Buffy? If you 
want to talk about something, you actually have to open your mouth. 
Cause, you know, witch here! But I can't read minds." She pulled the 
suddenly reluctant blonde around to face her, keeping a firm grip on 
both small hands. "You want me to tell you what I think, Buffy? 
There's really only one thing we could be here about if it isn't work 
related."

Buffy couldn't move. Green eyes bored into her.

Smiling gently, the redhead continued quietly. "I don't know what 
happened tonight. We've been best friends for three years. Is there 
something you want to tell me?" She swallowed audibly. "We can forget 
it ever happened, if that's what you want. I won't mention it again. 
Or," she looked away for a second, "we could see if there's more to 
us than just best friends."

"Will, I don't?" Buffy looked at their joined hands. "Before tonight, 
I thought there was no way this would ever happen. I mean you were 
straight. And, for the most part, so was I."

"So, when did you become not so straight?"

"The feelings have always been there, Will." The Slayer pulled them 
farther into the shadows and leaned against the wooden railing. "It 
was just way easier to ignore them because life was hard enough 
without adding a bisexual label to the mix." She grimaced. "And, can 
I just say how freaky this conversation is?" 

The redhead giggled. "Come on. Is it any worse than talking about the 
Bug Guy, or stabbing Angel, or figuring out how to sneak you out of 
the house without your mom knowing? Face it, Buffy. Our lives would 
make a great TV show."

"Yeah, right, like anyone would watch us kill demons every week." 
Buffy moved a little closer, her voice dropping to a near 
whisper. "I'd like to see if there's more, Will."

"Sweetie, of course there's more." A tiny smirk flitted across the 
freckled face. "Unless you want to tell me the kiss earlier was only 
the hornies taking over?"

Relief coursing through her at the gentle teasing, Buffy laughed and 
picked Willow up, spinning them around. "Thank you, thank you, thank 
you." She stopped spinning, but continued to hold the taller girl off 
the ground. "I'm sorry it took Riley and his narrow mind to get me to 
tell you."

"I'm not sorry, Buffy." Willow squeezed the muscled shoulders under 
her fingers. "Now, put me down. I'd like to see if that kiss earlier 
was skill or just the thrill of the fight. After all, Faith's down 
for the count. We shouldn't have an audience this time."

"Mmm, good point." Smiling in anticipation, Buffy lowered Willow to 
the ground and leaned in. The kiss was slower this time. The witch 
had been partially right. The thrill of the fight had been riding the 
Slayer hard. Loving the feel of the soft lips on hers, the blonde 
wrapped one arm around Willow's narrow waist, pulling her flush 
against her body. Gently slipping her tongue past the redhead's lips, 
she stroked inside Willow's mouth, dueling gently. Needing a 
breather, she finally put a little distance between them, letting her 
cheek rest against Willow's shoulder. "That was so much more than 
wow, Will. Where did you learn to kiss like that?"

The answer, when it came, wasn't from her best friend. "G-guys, Mr. 
Giles said you ne-needed to c-come inside." Tara stood just outside 
the doorway, tears shining brightly in the moonlight. "Adam just made 
the news." She slipped quickly back inside, not waiting for 
acknowledgement.









Willow: "It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
Buffy:  "I kinda love you."
                      --'Choices'

Community email addresses:
      Post message: buffywantswillow@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
      Subscribe:    buffywantswillow-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
      Unsubscribe:  buffywantswillow-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
      List owner:   buffywantswillow-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shortcut URL to this page:
      http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow

Official archive for the list:
      http://www.ikoly.com/fanfic

Other links to Buffy/Willow fics:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow/links  
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/buffywantswillow/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:buffywantswillow-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
    mailto:buffywantswillow-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    buffywantswillow-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/