Title:
To Those Who Wield
Author:
CN Winters and Susan Carr
Fandom:
Buffy fanfiction, Willow fanfiction, Buffy slash
fanfiction, Willow Tara fanfiction
Disclaimers:
Joss owns ‘em. I’m just borrowing ‘em.
Rating:
NC-17 for grown up stuff like sex, language and
violence.
Paring:
Will and Tara; Vamp Will and Vamp Tara
Feedback:
CN Winters (cnwinters71@yahoo.com) or Susan Carr
(skeeter451@mysticmuse.net)
Synopsis:
Takes place during season six after Tara and Willow’s
break up and Willow’s recovery. We took the liberty of
letting Vamp Willow live when she returned to her world
just because we can. Anyway, seems Vamp Willow has
returned to ‘Buffy’s Sunnydale’ again, this time
with her new lover, Tara Maclay, to wreck a little
havoc.
Special
thanks: To Chris Cook for the ultra-cool banner
Part
Seven
Spike took a deep
breath before he raised his hand to knock on the door
before him. Just shy of making connection, the door
swung open.
"Just the gal I
wanted to see," he said coming face to face with
Buffy.
She wore a lazy grin.
"Speak of the devil," she said in a voice far
too chipper for his liking. He knew something was askew.
It wasn’t a shock
when he felt himself being dragged into the house by the
lapel of his jacket and slammed against the wall near
the staircase. He watched Willow close the door behind
them with all the damn Scoobies in the living room.
He wore a silly grin
as he turned back to Buffy. "A round of rough and
tumble luv," he cooed. "Sure your friends want
to see this?"
"Shut up
Spike," Buffy answered, pushing him against the
wall, pulling a stake out from behind her, and pushing
it over his heart. "Give me one good reason why I
shouldn’t do this right now?"
He just grinned and
instantly Buffy regretted the question. She knew he
could tell all of them – Willow, Tara, Dawn, Xander,
Anya – about the trysts she’d recently come to know
with the vampire. She watched as he shifted his
shoulders on the verge of saying what he wanted yet
holding back. He licked his lips and instead of spouting
things about their affair simply said, "I’ve got
information you need."
"No shit
Sherlock," Xander remarked. "Just do it and
get it over with," he called from over Buffy’s
shoulder, egging her on to stake him. "You can’t
trust what he says anyway."
"Are you two
willing to take that chance?" Spike asked Willow
and Tara, totally ignoring Xander’s rant.
Tara walked over and
gently touched Buffy on the shoulder, sliding next to
her to stand in front of Spike.
"That’s what I
thought," Spike said smugly.
Tara’s slap echoed
through the entire house and Spike’s head shot in the
opposite direction, his face stinging from the blow. He
turned back around wide-eyed to see the resolve on the
Wiccan’s face.
"How could
you?" she asked him. "After all those months
of helping us and…" Tara stopped herself when
Spike turned away from her gaze. She grabbed him by the
chin and turned him to look at her. "We believed in
you."
The slap was nothing
compared to the pain of her comment although he’d
never admit it. Instead of letting it show, the walls
went up around him and gave her a cocky grin.
"Sorry the people
in your life’s been letting you down Pet. But don’t
take all those frustrations out on me," he told
her, sparing a glance to Willow who stood in the hallway
behind the blonde women facing him.
The trick might have
worked for Vamp Willow on her ex-lover but Tara wasn’t
about to let Spike work her into a tizzy.
"No," she
told him. "You tell me Spike. Why did you sell us
out?"
"Who said
anything about selling you out?" he countered,
trying to delay while he processed his thoughts. Stupid
bitch must’ve spilled the beans on me, he thought.
"I don’t know what you’re bloody talking
about."
"Come on
Spike," Willow said. "You’re the only one
who could have told them about the memory spell."
"Told who?"
he asked innocently. "I’m good at keepin’
secrets, ain’t that right, Slayer?"
Buffy thrust her
forearm into Spike’s windpipe, cutting off his words.
"You damn well know who, Spike. Now spill! Tell us
what you know about them."
Spike gagged in an
attempt to speak until finally Buffy relented and
loosened her hold. Spike looked into her eyes as he
cleared his throat and knew she was in no mood for
games.
"Alright, fine
then, but would you mind moving the stake, luv? Makes a
fella of my persuasion a bit edgy, know what I
mean?"
Buffy nodded as she
released Spike and the gang moved back into the living
room.
"Well,"
Spike began, pulling out a cigarette and then letting
out a small sigh when Buffy grabbed them and threw them
on the table. "Imagine my surprise when these two
birds show up on my doorstep? Thought for a moment that
they’d been turned…broke my heart, it did."
"Yeah
right," Willow murmured sarcastically.
"Tis true,
pet," Spike said. "Like I told your double,
I’m the only one who has the right to sire you and
I’ll break in half any bugger who tries."
"How
touching," Buffy said. "What did they want
from you, Spike?"
Spike shrugged.
"Place to crash. Took a real fancy to some of the
more interesting equipment in the basement of my crypt,
they did. Say, you two like to play the same way?
Cause…judging from the noise Blondie was making, you
both must be real wildcats."
Tara glanced at
Willow, her face darkening with blood. She looked ready
to slap Spike again. He realized it and continued.
"Alright,
fine," he sighed. "Knew it bloody wouldn’t
happen anyway, but they promised to magic away the chip
in return for a little distraction."
"Distraction?"
Buffy asked.
"Keep you busy,
Slayer, while they perform a little mojo on the two
witches here. Say! Perhaps you gals can help out a
bit…they said all it would require was a wee
teleportation spell. Seems like if you can teleport a
bitch goddess away, you can get rid of this tiny thing
in my head."
"Sorry
Spike," Tara said, sounding anything but.
"Willow can’t do magic anymore and I don’t have
that kind of power or control. Half your brain would go
out the door as well and that would leave you with
nothing at all."
Spike blinked at the
insult. "Yeah, well, you think you could be a
little more grateful, seeing as how I’m helping out
the bloody Scoobies, yet again!"
"Helping,
Spike?" Willow asked. "You call airing our
dirty laundry with a couple of evil creatures helping?
What is that? Some kind of vampiric bonding thing?
Bloodsucker solidarity? Did they let you join them for
supper perhaps? Or how about a little ‘play action’
in the dungeon?"
"Ease up,
Red," Spike said, wondering just how many buttons
he could push before the witch snapped like a twig.
"I said I’d help you. Your bitch double’s
starting to get on my nerves anyway. Nothing she’s got
is worth the crap she gives out."
"Buffy…"
Xander began.
"No, wait,"
Buffy said. "What are they planning."
"Some kind of
spell to drain the witches here of their power," he
said, nodding his head toward Willow and Tara.
"And you agreed
to help them do that?" Buffy said, her anger.
"They said it
would only drain ‘em, not kill ‘em," he
defended.
"What’s the
spell, Spike?" Tara asked.
"Something called
the alkie seltzer spell," he said with importance.
"Akor tures?"
Tara asked.
"Uh, yeah,"
Spike shrugged. "That’s it."
"Then they lied
to you, Spike," Willow said.
"What?"
"Unless they have
our total cooperation, the An etay akor tures
spell will kill us," Tara said, sitting heavily on
the couch.
"Bloody
hell!" he swore. "They promised they
wouldn’t hurt any of the Scoobies."
"And you believed
them?" Buffy said. "Just how stupid are
you?"
"Is that a trick
question?" Spike asked.
"Anything else
you can tell us, Spike?" Willow asked.
He shrugged.
"Other that describing what they like to do in my
basement, I don’t think so. Unless you two would care
to share?"
"Then get out
Spike," Buffy ordered. "Pretend like you were
never here. We’ll contact you when we’re
ready."
"Uh, can I speak
to you alone privately?" he asked, trying to catch
her eye.
"No," she
said. "Just go before I change my mind about
staking you."
"Yeah,
whatever," he said standing up and striding out the
door.
The group just looked
at each other.
"Well," Tara
began. "We’ve confirmed what their plans
are."
"Yeah,"
Willow said. "Now what?"
XXX
After leaving the
campus and stopping at their suite for a change of
clothes, Willow and Tara made their way to the mansion
in a leisurely fashion. Despite Willow’s outward calm,
Tara sensed her sire’s nervousness. The emotions were
running high in Willow and Tara was naturally curious
about the rest of the evening’s events. She was
reluctant to question Willow at this time, but
Willow’s mood was beginning to affect her as well.
After a few minutes of
silence, Willow glanced at Tara. "You okay,
Kitten?"
"What’s wrong,
Willow?" Tara asked in return.
Willow sighed.
"Nothing you need to worry about, Kitten. I want
you to be yourself tonight."
Tara looked at Willow
and knew her sire was hiding something from her. She
thought about probing through their connection, but
decided to let it go, willing to trust Willow on this. If
this is another test, she thought,
I want to prove myself to her on my own. I want her to
be proud of me.
Willow smiled at her.
"I’m already proud of you, my love," she
said affectionately.
Tara would have
blushed if she could have, but the sweet smile she gave
Willow ran though the redhead like a forest fire.
"You look
wonderful, Kitten," Willow added, looking
appreciatively at her childe. Underneath a long, leather
coat, Tara was dressed in dark leather pants, boots and
a diaphanous silk blouse that left very little to the
imagination. Her long hair was left unbound to flow in
the breeze and her pale face only accentuated the ruby
red of her lips. Willow could feel herself growing
aroused again. What you do to me, you vixen! She
chuckled to herself, willing Tara to pick up the
thought.
"Nothing compared
to what you do to me," Tara smirked.
"Later,
love," Willow promised.
The pair continued on
in relative silence through the night, absently holding
hands as they made their way up Crawford Street to the
large mansion at the top of the hill.
"Nice
neighborhood," Tara commented. "The university
student handbook warned us to stay away from here. I
just assumed it was like an inner-city ghetto from the
way they described it."
Willow laughed.
"What else are they gonna say? Watch out for the
crack ho vampires? No, Kitten. The mansion is the center
of the Master’s stronghold. He rules from here and
anyone stupid enough to wander near wouldn’t last
long…even in the daytime with the human slaves keeping
guard. The Master is well protected. Even the White Hats
can’t get close to him here."
"White
Hats?" Tara asked, her mind whirling with even this
little information that Willow was imparting. She knew
she had so much to learn and strengthened her resolve to
keep her wits about her tonight. Thank the goddess they
had already fed well.
Willow’s tone turned
dark. "Goody-goody humans who dare to interfere in
our business. They’re led by a busybody librarian from
the high school. He was the one who summoned the Slayer
who killed Xander. I’m going to eat him for
that…after I’m done with him."
Tara didn't know
exactly Willow would do but by the glimmer in the
redhead’s eyes she knew it wouldn't be good…for him.
Soon another thought occurred to Tara. Slayer?
"Vampire
Slayer," Willow remarked as if Tara said the word
out loud. "Just another White Hat, only stronger
than normal. There’s only one in the world and when
one dies another is called…blah, blah, blah. The
Master killed the one who got Xander so they can’t be that
tough."
"The Master was
your sire’s sire?" Tara asked.
Willow nodded,
anticipating Tara’s next question, delighting in how
sharp Tara’s mind was. Her kitten knew to ask the
right questions.
"So that makes
him my great-grandsire," Tara concluded.
"He’s old?"
"Very old,"
Willow said. "Centuries. Other than Drusilla,
he’s the oldest vampire I know."
"Who is
she?"
"She’s very
special, Kitten," Willow smiled. "I think
you’ll like her. She’s taught me a lot of what I
plan on teaching you."
Tara shivered at the
tone in Willow’s voice; the implied promise frightened
her a little, but excited her as well.
The two vampires
walked up the path to the entrance of the towering
mansion, and Tara could not help but wonder if its
occupant was as imposing. With her newly born senses,
she could tell there were many of the undead close by. Minions,
Tara thought, remembering what Willow had called the
fawning creatures back at the suite who seemed to jump
at Willow’s every command. Lesser
vampires who serve more powerful ones. Like my Willow.
"Do they always
show their demon face?" Tara asked, looking at one
of the guards who held the carved wooden doors open for
them as they walked into the foyer. Tara noted how he
bowed respectfully before them, especially Willow.
"There’s very
little human left in them, my love," Willow
replied. "Makes it hard for them to hunt since they
can’t blend in. Sometimes a minion can raise itself to
a higher position, but that’s rare…depends more on
who made them. They make good foot soldiers, spear
carriers, cannon fodder…there’ll always be
more."
"So, you’re
like a big general or something?" Tara giggled at
the image.
Willow grinned.
"More like second-in-command, Kitten."
Tara thought again as
another minion took their coats. "And I?" she
asked. "What am I?"
Willow smiled tenderly
at the blonde and gently caressed her soft cheek,
relishing the close contact of their bodies.
"You’re my childe…my mate…my everything. When
you are at my side Kitten, there’s very little in this
world you need fear. Always remember that and act
accordingly. Understand?"
Tara nodded as she
leaned in to Willow’s caress. Willow moved forward and
captured Tara’s full lips in a passionate kiss,
certain now that her childe would pass the tests
required of her this evening.
After a few minutes,
she moved away and sensuously moved her hand down
Tara’s silk-clad arm to take her cool hand in hers.
"Let’s go," she breathed, her body still on
fire from the kiss.
Tara smirked and,
feeling more confident, nodded to the minion waiting on
them to lead the way.
The minion brought
them through the vaulted living room and through a pair
of open French doors into a pleasant courtyard. The area
was lit with hanging paper lanterns and the sweet smell
of night-blooming jasmine filled the air. Tara’s
senses also picked up the faint echo of heartbeats and
she noticed several humans clustered in a group in one
corner of the garden being watched over by minions.
Suddenly forgetting
the humans, Tara was flooded with new sensations…awe
and fear at the top of the list. Focusing on the large,
ornate throne sitting at a prominent place in the
courtyard, she knew without asking that this was the
Master.
Tara felt as if her
childhood nightmares of death had suddenly leapt into
reality. The Master radiated power and strength,
confidence and humor. His features were sharp and harsh;
more vampiric than her own…as if he were Vampire
personified. And yet, he radiated a certain compelling
beauty. She looked on him the same way a human would
look upon a respected elder, as if the wizened face of
the Master was his mark of age and experience.
"Ah! Willow, my
dear," he said raising himself from his throne and
holding out his hand. "How good of you to attend me
this evening."
Willow stepped forward
and politely offered her hand to him to kiss. "How
good of you to have us, Master."
"Your company is
always a pleasure, my sweet," he said holding her
hand in both of his. Tara looked at his long claws in
fascination as they gently caressed Willow’s white
skin.
"Master,"
Willow began. "May I present my childe -
Tara."
"Tara," the
Master whispered as he let go of Willow’s hand and
took Tara’s. "A strong and mighty tower."
Tara felt her throat
dry up with fear…she could feel the Master’s
presence moving inside her and instinctively knew he was
judging her. Strengthening her resolve, she willed
herself to speak. "May I prove so for Willow and
you, Master."
"Indeed?" he
asked, looking deeply into her eyes. "Tell me,
Tara, where are you from? I’m sure I would have
noticed a prime specimen such as yourself before now so
you surely can’t been a local?"
"North of here,
Master," she replied, uncomfortable with the line
of questioning. She didn’t want to share her past with
anyone, especially this creature, but she felt compelled
to answer him.
"And what brings
you to our fair town?"
Tara felt Willow’s
presence nearby as her mind churned in turmoil. She was
ready to tell the Master everything…about her
father’s abuse and her brother, but thinking of Willow
she found the strength to resist. "Willow’s here,
Master," she finally answered. "Here is the
only place I belong."
Tara felt the
Master’s hold on her mind fade away as the old vampire
laughed.
"Oh, she’s a
rare gem, Willow. Well done, my dear. Well done,
indeed."
"Thank you,
Master," Willow smiled, taking Tara’s hand again
and squeezing in gentle reassurance. Tara could feel the
relief in her sire and noted to herself to ask Willow
about what had just transpired later when they were
alone. She knew she had passed the Master’s test, but
if she were to be a player in this game, she’d need to
know the rules.
Willow could sense
Tara’s annoyance, but simply smiled at her with a wry
quirk of her eyebrow as the Master led them towards the
group of humans.
"Well," he
began. "I can smell that you’ve already dined
well tonight my dears, but perhaps I can offer you both
a bit of refreshment? Willow? I believe you have a
preference for Chinese?"
"Mmmm, yes
Master," Willow purred.
Tara watched as a
minion dressed in a stylized servant’s garb approached
an Asian woman. Another minion held her tight while the
first used a scalpel to deftly open the vein in her
wrist, allowing the rich blood to drain into a large
golden goblet he held carefully underneath as the woman
whimpered in pain.
"And you,
Tara?" the Master asked. "What do you have a
taste for? A Mexican beauty from just south of the
border? Or perhaps a smooth French tart?"
Tara looked over the
selection. "Mexican, if you will Master. I prefer
my women spicy rather than saucy."
The Master gave a
hearty laugh as another minion jumped to fill the order.
"I myself do prefer a good smorgasbord. Variety is
the spice of life, I say."
Watching Willow, Tara
carefully controlled her features as she sipped from the
warmed goblet. The aroma and taste of the fresh hot
blood filled her senses and she closed her eyes in
pleasure. Opening them again, she saw Willow looking at
her and again she sensed how pleased her sire was with
her. She remembered Willow’s lessons from the night
before and realized why Willow had at times been very
forceful with her, insisting she control herself as she
drank of the sweet nectar from Willow’s veins.
"Yes," the
Master continued as he drank from his own goblet moving
away to sit once again in his throne now that business
was taken care of. "Willow has taught you well, my
dear. But I sense that in you she found a good
student."
"Well, she did
find me at the university," Tara joked.
Willow joined in the
laughter, but before she could respond another voice cut
through the night.
"She was wasting
her time with that bunch of wanna blessed bees. Isn’t
that right, Kitten?"
Tara turned toward the
newcomer and immediately realized whom she was. Willow
had said Drusilla was special, but at the time Tara did
not realize what her sire had meant by that. Tara
instantly knew that the woman approaching them was a
seer – her mother had been one and Tara could feel the
same vibrations coming from the older vampire. Drusilla
might be mad, but Tara instinctively knew the woman
deserved her respect.
"That’s right.
Mistress Drusilla, I presume?" Tara answered,
trying to impress yet stay respectful under the scrutiny
of the Master’s eyes.
Drusilla simply nodded
her head and offered her hand, which Tara took, giving a
brief shake and a slight bow of respect. With a gentle
smile Tara continued. "Nowadays every girl with a
henna tattoo and a spice rack thinks she’s a sister to
the dark ones."
"But not you,
Kitten," Drusilla purred. "You’re the real
thing. Tell me, do you like stars?"
"Yes, I do,"
Tara replied.
"Ohh! Show
me!" Drusilla cooed in her little singsong voice as
she led Tara to the center of the courtyard in a little
dance.
"Well, there’s
the big pineapple," Tara pointed out as Willow and
the Master watched in amusement. Soon however, Willow
sensed her grandsire’s attention turn back to her and
she looked away from the laughing couple. Without being
told Willow approached the Master so they could speak
more privately.
"She’s a witch,
Willow?" the Master asked, his tone dark.
"That was the power I felt?"
"Yes
Master," Willow answered. "Hereditary witch, I
believe. I haven’t spoken about it with her yet.
We’ve been otherwise…occupied."
"No doubt,"
the Master snorted. "She is a morsel. Keep
her safe, my dear. She’ll serve you well…or destroy
us all."
"She already
serves me well," Willow smirked. "And I think
the only destroying that will happen is with a few White
Hats - starting with a certain bookworm who’s a wanna
be Watcher."
The Master chuckled at
Willow’s tone, trying to remain carefree. Yet still,
Willow could feel an uncertainty brewing in her Master.
"I’ve known a few vampire witches in my day,
Willow. They’re rare, but they can become quite
powerful. You need to be certain which side she’s
on."
"She’s on my
side," Willow told the Master looking him deep in
the eyes. "I don’t even know if she still retains
her power. Now that she’s no longer human, the point
might be moot," Willow knew there was much the
Master was not saying but she didn’t press, not now.
"Still…she
should be tested," he mused.
"I’ll look into
it, Master," Willow assured.
"You do
that," he ordered.
"Miss Edith likes
your new precious," Drusilla said to Willow as the
pair returned. Tara wondered who Miss Edith was when
suddenly an image of a porcelain-faced doll formed in
her head. She glanced at Willow whose expression
remained serious despite the amusement radiating from
her.
"Thank Miss Edith
for me." Willow leaned up to kiss Drusilla’s
cheek. "Welcome back, Dru. How was your trip?"
"Tiresome,"
Drusilla replied. "Not at all adventuresome as
yours."
"A nightmare
I’d rather forget," Willow said. Again an image
formed in Tara’s mind, this time of her Willow, but
rosy-cheeked and dressed in a fuzzy pink sweater. She
added it to the list of things to ask Willow about
later.
"Nightmares have
their uses," Drusilla laughed and danced away.
"More drink, my
dears?" the Master asked.
"Thank you, but
no Master," Willow answered. "It grows late
and we’ve had a long night. We are both weary."
"Of course,"
the Master said and stood up. Before he could summon a
minion a shrill scream cut through the peaceful night.
"Oh!"
Drusilla cried, clutching one of the humans and staring
into her face. Tara could see that the woman was thin
with light chocolate skin. "She comes. She comes.
She wants to kill us all."
"Who comes, Dru?"
Willow asked, moving to the seer’s side.
"Her!"
Drusilla said, her face morphing into its demon form.
The frightened human screamed in terror. "Her! The
girl. The one girl. She comes to kill us
all."
"Slayer,"
Willow whispered as Drusilla tore into the woman’s
throat, cutting off her screams.
"A slayer,"
the Master said, anger in his voice. "Take care of
it, Willow. Immediately. We don’t need another
disaster."
"Yes,
Master."
"And I think this
would be a good opportunity to test your new plaything.
See if she does have any real potential. If not, then
you’d better find another use for her…fertilizer for
the jasmine, perhaps?"
"Yes,
Master," Willow repeated. Tara could feel her sire
carefully controlling her emotions.
"Come on,
Kitten," Willow said after the Master had stalked
away and Drusilla wandered off after finishing her meal.
"Let’s go home and prepare."
Tara held her
questions until they had cleared the mansion gates. She
simply allowed Willow to collect their coats, the
redhead making sure to help her with hers. Once they
were away from listening ears Tara began to speak.
"Is the Master
going to…?"
Willow knew what Tara
was going to ask. She made a promise that no harm would
come to Tara and as the blonde’s sire she was going to
keep it.
"No," Willow
answered. "I won’t let him destroy you."
"But he’s the
Master. Your Master."
Willow stopped walking
and turned to face Tara. "Why did you give up your
waking life? Why did you join me? Just for kicks?"
"No!" Tara
said as she quickly shook her head. "I…I don’t
understand it all Willow but…"
"It’s karmic
Tara. We belong together in any life, by any means. I
feel it," Willow said closing her eyes and taking a
deep breath and blowing it out. "You feel it
too."
Tara nodded.
"And you
wouldn’t let anything hurt me would you?" Willow
asked.
Tara shook her head.
"Don’t you
think I feel the same? Master or no master. Nobody
messes with my girl. Nobody."
There was a finality
to Willow’s voice that told Tara not to protest.
Willow was quite serious and would drain the bastard who
would dare try to harm her – even if that someone
happened to be the Master. Tara knew if any bad were to
befall her that the guilty party would be sure to feel
Willow’s wrath. It was something that Tara never
experienced before – someone willing to fight, kill
and die for her. Yes her mother loved her but not enough
to find a way to stop her father’s abuse. For the
first time Tara fit with someone, with something, and
she couldn’t help but smile.
Willow found herself
grinning in response before nodding toward the other
side of the street. "Let’s call it a night
Kitten," she said casually.
Before she could take
another step forward Willow felt the crossbow bolt slice
through her ribcage, just inches from her heart. She
shoved Tara from the sidewalk and toward the small
bushes.
"Stay down!"
Willow warned as she joined Tara in the cover of the
foliage, trying to determine the location of the
shooter.
Tara grabbed the end
of the arrow and chanted, "Reveal."
Suddenly a green light
began to flicker from the rooftop across from them and
Willow smirked as she yanked the arrow out of her chest.
She saw the image of a young woman looking at her
glowing skin as she quickly tried to hide. The light
however was too bright and Willow could still see it as
the girl jumped to the next rooftop. With that much
speed and strength the girl was a demon, a vampire or a
slayer. Her money was on the latter.
"Come Tara,"
Willow said taking her hand. "Time to bag our first
Slayer and show the Master how truly powerful you
are."
Continued
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