Shattered Souls

“You have to slam the orbs together to destroy them.” Tara looks intently at the slayer as the angry woman slides a knife in the back of her jeans.

“I’m going to take these idiots out one way or the other. Warren killed Katrina, I know he did but I can’t prove it.” Buffy growls searching through the weapons chest seeing if there’s anything else she can use.

“Here’s the route that the armored truck is taking. This is your best bet.” Willow hands the printout to the slayer, frowning deeply. “Is there anything else I can do?” Willow questions worriedly, looking from Buffy to Tara and back again.

“No. Thanks for your help researching this, Wills.” Buffy allows a small smile to cross her face before she heads to the door. “I know Christina and you have plans tonight, go have a good night.”

“Be careful, sweetie.” Tara calls after the quickly departing slayer, holding Phoenix as she tries to follow the slayer. “No, Phoenix, honey. You have to stay here.”

Willow chuckles at the growing puppy. “She’s getting big.”

“Yes, she is. So, where are you and Christina going tonight?” Tara questions, trying to get her thoughts off the slayer and the danger she’s in. Smiling at the blushing redhead, glad that Willow had started to come around more often the last couple weeks. The two women slowly becoming friends again.

“She wants to take me to that new Japanese place that fixes the food in front of us.” Willow smiles shyly. “What plans do you and Anya have tonight?” Willow sits down in the chair across from the blonde witch.

“She should be here in about fifteen minutes to half an hour, after she closes up the shop.” Tara nibbles on her lip, worrying about Buffy. “We’re just going to stay here, wait for Buffy to get in. These three idiots have me worried. Buffy doesn’t normally have to go up against humans.” Tara feels her heart getting heavy at the thought of the blonde slayer getting hurt, or possibly having to hurt humans, knowing it’ll tear her up. Rubbing her forehead, Tara thinks back over the last couple weeks. How with Buffy and Anya’s help, she graduated school with top honors, and how Buffy’s still confusing the hell out of her with her mercurial disposition changes. One moment being teasing and playful to being quiet and keeping to herself.

“Tara?” Willow softly calls the woman’s name, drawing her out of her thoughts.

“Yes?” Tara blinks, eyes focusing back in on the redhead.

“I don’t think I ever really said this, but…” Willow rubs her hand nervously over the arm of the chair before looking back up, looking intently into the curious blue eyes. “I’m sorry for everything I did to you. And even though I never deserved your forgiveness, I want to thank you for giving it to me.”

“Oh, Willow!” Tara smiles softly at the woman, seeing the woman she first fell in love with, finally shining back from the green depths, knowing that Willow is really and truly right with the world again. Standing up she quickly walks over to her and kneels beside her hugging her tightly. “You finally got back to yourself, sweetie.”

“Thanks for making me own up to what I was doing.” Willow cries, hugging her ex-lover tightly. “Between you making me deal with my problems of my own making and then Christina talking with me and helping me see just what I did to you, I finally feel like I’m back to myself now.”

“That’s all I ever wanted for you.” Tara smiles softly as she pulls back brushing loose hairs behind Willow’s ears. “You’re going to be okay now.”

“I am.” Willow smiles tremulously as she wipes the tears from her face. “Just so you know, I’ll always love you. You showed me a part of myself I never realized was there. And I understand more of what you told me when you broke up with me that day for good. And no matter how much it hurt, it was really the best thing for us.”

Tara brushes a tear from Willow’s cheek, smiling gently at the redhead. “Christina is a very lucky woman to have you, Willow. I need to tell her to make sure she takes care of you.”

Willow chuckles quietly. “She does, Tara. How are you and Anya getting along?”

Tara blushes, then chuckles wickedly as Willow smirks at her. “We’re getting along great. Now that schools over with, I’ve been going to the shop and helping her during the day. Kind of reorganizing items, seeing what’s selling and what’s not, that way we can mark the stuff down and get rid of it.”

“And I’m sure you’re having lots of smoochies going on in the store when you’re by yourself, also!” Willow jokes with the blonde, finally feeling like she can, without it breaking her heart of the thought of the two women together.

Tara chuckles looking down. “Maybe occasionally.”

“You actually expect me to believe that?” Willow questions with a lifted eyebrow, smirking at the blonde.

“Stop it!” Tara smacks Willow lightly on the leg, smiling at the redhead as she sits back down on the couch, scratching Phoenix‘s head before she jumps down running to the door. Smiling Tara waits for Anya to walk in.

Willow glances towards the door as it opens, watching as Anya quickly walks in, shutting the door behind her. “Hi, Anya.” Willow whispers softly, still not real sure how the ex-demon feels about her, not having spent much time with the woman.

“Hi, Willow.” Anya smiles briefly at the redhead, then reaches down to the wiggling Phoenix. “Hi there, Phoenix. Are you being a good girl?” Anya chuckles as Phoenix barks and licks her hand.

“Of course she is.” Tara chuckles as Anya looks and winks at her. “Close up the shop earlier than you planned to?” Tara questions glancing at the clock.

“Yes. I thought it for the best. I knew you would be worried.” Anya explains, looking knowingly at the blonde as she sits down beside her, kissing her softly on the lips before grunting as Phoenix jumps up into her lap. “You’re too damn big for this, Phoenix!”

“She’s only about four months old. She’s got a lot of growing to do!” Tara chuckles as she clasps the shopkeepers hand in hers, threading their fingers together.

Anya smiles and squeezes the fingers gently, seeing and feeling the worry practically coming off the witch in waves. Turning her gaze to Willow, she’s surprised the ex-witch isn’t picking up on the feelings coming from Tara. Even with her limited magical abilities, she’s tuned in enough to Tara to feel them.

“I’m going to go. I need to get ready.” Willow smiles at the two women as she stands, quickly walking to the door.

“Be careful, Willow.” Tara calls after the redhead. “You know you’re welcome to come by here anytime.”

“I know. Thanks, Tara.” Willow smiles before turning her gaze on Anya. “Take care of her, Anya. You have a wonderful woman there.”

Anya watches as Willow leaves the house, surprised at the acceptance she saw in the woman’s eyes. “She’s really okay with us, now, isn’t she?”

“I think it’s more that she’s okay with the world now.” Tara admits softly, leaning into Anya as she wraps her arm around her shoulder. “I’m worried.”

“I know you are.” Anya whispers, stroking her hand down her lover’s arm, hugging her tightly. “She’ll be okay, Tara. She has to be, we haven’t had a chance to talk with her.”

Tara nods her head. “I may end up moving in with you, if this isn’t what she wants or causes problems, you know that, right?”

“I know.” Anya sighs quietly. “Not that I don’t want you to be with me whenever possible. But I know that she cares for us, Tara. Every time I catch her looking at either one of us I see longing in her eyes before she turns away or puts that damn slayer look on her face.”

“You’re positive?” Tara questions softly, shifting so she looks at Anya. “I mean, sometimes I see what you’re talking about, then other times I just see a good friend looking back at me.”

“1200 plus years can’t be wrong, Tara.” Anya smiles softly at the witch brushing her thumb over the worry lines between the witch’s eyes. “Trust me, on this.” Anya whispers brushing her lips softly over Tara’s.

“I trust you.” Tara whispers leaning down against Anya, sighing softly.

“Can you eat?” Anya questions, holding Tara to her gently.

“Not right now. Are you hungry?” Tara pulls back to look at the woman, frowning deeply. “I probably should fix something. That way when Buffy gets home, she has something to eat if she’s hungry.” Tara jumps up, striding into the kitchen, leaving a bemused Anya sitting on the couch.

“Why don’t you do that?” Anya murmurs to the empty room, shaking her head. “We have got to get this thing figured out. Between Buffy’s hot and cold routine with both of us, and Tara feeling guilty over her feelings for Buffy, I have got to knock some sense into these two!” Anya looks down in surprise as she hears a quiet bark come from Phoenix. “You agree?” As Phoenix licks her hand, Anya chuckles. “So you and I are the two smart ones in this family, huh? Damn good thing they have us then!” Anya laughs quietly as Phoenix wags her tail enthusiastically. “Let me see what Tara’s up to.”

Anya follows Phoenix into the kitchen, watching as Tara starts chopping up vegetables throwing them in a container. “What are you fixing?”

“Beef stew.” Tara bites her lip as she turns the meat before turning back to chop more vegetables.

Sitting down at the island, Anya silently watch’s Tara for a few minutes. “Want any help with anything?”

“No, thank you.” Tara looks up, briefly, a quick smile crossing her face before she turns back pulling down spices to throw in with the meat.

“Where’s Dawn at?” Anya questions, wondering why the teen wasn’t in the other room.

“Her friend Kaylee’s parents took the two of them to their summer house at the beach for a couple weeks. I thought I mentioned it to you?” Tara looks up confusion showing in her eyes.

“You might have. But there’s a good possibility that I might have been distracted at the time.” Anya admits, smiling softly at the witch.

Tara blushes lightly turning back to the meat. Adding the water and additional seasonings, Tara slowly adds all the vegetables she’d chopped, stirring the items gently before covering the pot and turning the gauge down to let the stew simmer. Walking over to Anya, she wraps her arms around the woman’s waist and hooks her chin over her shoulder, hugging her tightly. “I love you.” Tara whispers softly.

“I love you, too.” Anya hugs Tara tightly as she tilts her cheek down to lay on the witch’s shoulder. “She’s going to be okay, Tara. I promise. If not, you get to kick my ass.”

“You enjoy it too much when I do that.” Tara smiles, holding Anya tightly. “I wish we could afford a cell phone. When I get a job teaching, that’s going to be the first thing I buy is cell phones for all of us.” Tara sighs deeply.

“We don’t have to wait for you to get a full-time job, Tara. I’d be willing to pay for the phones.” Anya offers softly, knowing she’d been over this type of thing before with the witch.

“Anya, you know I can’t accept you doing that.” Tara whispers pulling back gently to look in the woman’s eyes. “You do to much already.”

“You don’t let me do hardly anything.” Anya frowns. “Tara, I make good money running the Magic Box. I also have quite a bit of money put away from when I was a vengeance demon.”

“You got paid for being a vengeance demon?” Tara questions, tilting her head.

“Sort of.” Anya grins mischievously. “Through the years some of my more… happy customers would give me tokens of their appreciation. I have multiple boxes in different banks holding jewelry. I can send a couple items to the auction house, and none of us would be hurting for money for a very long time to come.”

“You’re kidding?” Tara blinks in surprise.

“No, actually I’m very serious.” Anya admits, looking seriously at Tara. “Would you let me help you?”

Tara stands there in shock, looking at Anya. “Anya…” Slowly disentangling herself from the ex-demon, she pulls one of the stools to where she’s sitting beside the ex-demon. “I can’t accept your help, sweetie.” Tara runs a hand down Anya’s cheek. “And I know Buffy is stubborn enough not to accept it, either. She’s trying her best to pay me back for the money I gave her for Phoenix. We’ve had a couple arguments over that.” Tara admits, frowning.

“You’re tensing up again.” Anya points out looking at the tense body of the witch.

“I can’t help it.” Tara mutters, standing up to pace back and forth, glancing out the window at the fading sun. “Every time she goes out there, I’m afraid something’s going to happen. This shit with the stupid idiots really has me worried. She’s never had to go up against humans before, Anya. And if Warren did kill Katrina, there’s a possibility he’s going to try and hurt her.”

“Do you know where she’s going?” Anya questions, watching Tara stride back and forth in the small area. “And can you try to calm down, you’re getting Phoenix riled.” Anya sighs looking down at the puppy as she alternates whimpering and growling lowly.

“Damn it! No, I don‘t know where exactly she is.” Tara mutters as she slows down, reaching for the puppy. “Come here, Phoenix.”

“Does she do that often?” Anya blinks a couple times as Tara sits down on the floor, Phoenix climbing into her lap, pushing against the witch.

“What, get upset? Actually, the few times Buffy and I have argued and she’s been in the same room, she has gotten upset. She‘s pretty tuned into our emotions.” Tara explains softly as she calms the dog, sighing heavily.

Anya tilts her head watching as Tara pets the puppy, calming her down. Anya decides right then and there that one way or another before the next week is out, she was going to have a very serious discussion with Buffy, whether Tara wants her to or not. “How about we curl up on the couch and you try and relax. I’ll make you a cup of tea.” Anya states calmly as she stands filling up the kettle, turning it on before pulling down a mug. Digging through the different teas, she finally pulls out a honey chamomile bag, placing it in the mug before hunting out the honey, placing it beside the mug.

“Thanks, Anya.” Tara whispers watching the woman gather her tea makings.

“Go get comfortable in the living room. I’ll bring the tea to you when it’s ready.” Anya urges softly, smiling as Tara nods her head, easing Phoenix off her lap before standing and slowly walking out of the kitchen. Turning back to the kettle, Anya waits for it to boil while thinking about the two women that are slowly but surely becoming her life.

**********************

Buffy growls silently as night falls across Sunnydale. Glancing at the stops that the armored truck is supposed to make, she tries to figure out where Warren, Jonathan and that other nerd would decide would be the best place to hijack the truck. Making a calculated guess she heads across town.

“I SO do not have time for you, right now!” Buffy growls ducking a swing from the vampire that jumped out at her from the alleyway.

“Make time, little girl.” The vampire hisses, slamming a fist into the slayer’s stomach before grunting in pain as she knees him hard in the balls, making him drop to the ground in pain.

“I said I don’t have time for you!” Buffy growls, staking him quickly, before continuing on her way, unconsciously rubbing her aching stomach. Jogging across town, Buffy keeps her eyes open, a small smile crossing her face as she eyes Jonathan looking around nervously. Slowing down, she hides in the shadows as she sneaks up on the young man, glancing around she snarls her nose as she watches Warren flip the truck with the other guy egging him on.

Quickly snatching Jonathan back, with her hand over his mouth, she hisses in his ear. “You’re going to jail, Jonathan. I would have thought you had learned your lesson the last time you decided to play games.” She frowns when she watches his eyes silently begging her to release him. “You warn them, I’m going to beat you within an inch of your life then drop you off outside the police station with a confession attached to you, understood?”

Jonathan nods his head quickly, the fear obvious in his eyes. As Buffy slowly pulls her hand away, he lets out a shaky breath. “Thank God. You got to stop him, he’s gone off the deep end. He killed his ex-girlfriend, Buffy.” Jonathan whispers begging her. “He’s got a power boost, you got to destroy the orbs to beat him.”

Buffy narrows her gaze on Jonathan. “Why the change of heart, Jonathan?”

“I thought it was all going to be fun and games, but he went over the edge with Katrina. I never really wanted to hurt anyone, Buffy.” Jonathan quietly begs her. “Please, I promise to never, ever do anything like this again. Destroy the orbs.”

Buffy growls quietly, knowing that Jonathan’s telling her the truth, since she already knows that she has to destroy the orbs. “Don’t fuck with me, Jonathan. I’ve about had it with you and your games.” Buffy warns before slowly working her way to the corner, watching as Warren rips the doors off the back of the truck, pulling the bags of money out.

“Andrew, get your ass over here and help me unload the truck. Where the hell did Jonathan disappear to?” Warren yells as he tosses more bags out of the back of the truck.

“I don’t know, but it never fails he disappears when there’s work to be done.” Andrew grunts as he picks up two of the bags of money, carrying them the short distance to the vehicle, tossing them in the trunk.

Buffy sneaks up on the sandy haired man, called Andrew. As he turns back to the armored vehicle, she smacks him on the back of the head with a stake, knocking him out. “Coming back for you, ANDREW.” Buffy stresses the boys name, before quickly easing up to the outside of the armored truck.

“Andrew? Where the hell did you go, you’re falling behind.” Warren bitches as he throws some more bags out. “Bunch of idiots I’m working with. The less work you guys do, the less money you get!”

“How about you don’t get any money at all?” Buffy snarls as she spins around in front of the opened car, daring Warren to come out.

“Oooh. It’s the slayer.” Warren shivers as if he’s scared, before smirking as he quickly strides out of the armored car, watching as Buffy backs up, watching him intently. “I’m going to so enjoy kicking your ass, you know that? And after I kick your ass, I plan on fucking it!” Warren laughs evilly as he works his way closer to the slayer.

“You aren’t getting anywhere near me, you sick bastard!” Buffy growls as she jumps up, doing a quick spin kick. Surprised when she lands that he just stands there smirking at her.

“That isn’t going to get it done, honey.” Warren chuckles at the surprised slayer. “I’ve got a bit of a power boost and there ain’t no way you’re going to be able to beat me!” Warren snarls as he slams his fist into Buffy’s cheek.

Buffy shifts as she sees the punch coming at her, but not quickly enough to dodge it completely. As her head snaps back, she follows the flow of the hit, spinning away from Warren, eyeing him, trying to figure out where he’s hiding the orbs. Not holding back, she comes in swinging, knocking him back, but not knocking him down. Continuing the fast, hard punches, Buffy grunts as Warren slams his fist in her ribs. As she feels one of them give, Buffy cries out in pain.

“Oooh, I like that sound.” Warren growls as he slams another fist into her ribs time and time again, chuckling madly as he hears the satisfying crunches.

“Under his jacket, Buffy, in the bags hooked around his waist!” Jonathan yells as he sees the slayer slowly get up from the ground, holding her ribs. “Come on, Buffy! I know you can do it!” Jonathan whispers, frowning.

Buffy groans, as she takes a last ditch effort by slamming her body into Warrens, her hands reaching around the guys waist, as they fall back onto the bags of money, feeling the bag, she yanks it away from him, crying out in pain as she slides away from him, pulling them out of the pouch, she looks up into Warren’s shocked eyes. Slamming them together, she growls as they break apart. Slowly trying to stand, she drops back to the ground for a moment, trying to catch her breath.

“Fucking bitch! This isn’t the last of it.” Warren snarls as he runs over to the car, yanking on the jet pack, strapping it on as Buffy slowly stands trying to make it over to him. “We’ll meet again, slayer. As for you, Jonathan?” Warren turns his gaze towards the Jonathan. “Better pray that I don’t find you.”

Buffy watches in disbelief as Warren takes off into the air, flying away. “No, way.” She whispers, dropping back to her knees, grasping her ribs.

“Is there anything I can do?” Jonathan questions as he runs up beside the slayer, frowning at the pale woman.

“Get the fuck away from me.” Buffy snarls. “You better plan on being on your best behavior, because this is your last get out of jail card, Jonathan. Call the cops, explain to them that you came across the armored car being robbed, that a concerned citizen was able to knock out one of the robbers, and scared the other one away. All that money better still be here when the cops arrive, understand me?” Buffy slowly stands, her arm tight against her ribs, as she stares Jonathan down.

“Go, Buffy. I’ll call the cops.” Jonathan whispers, defeated, as he slowly walks back to the car, tying Andrew up before pulling the cell phone out of the car, calling the police.

Buffy slowly walks away, heading towards the house, listening as Jonathan calls in the attempted robbery. Her body hunched over her ribs protectively as she makes her way as quickly as possible towards her house, silently praying that she doesn’t run into any trouble on the way.