Please read the Disclaimer before continuing to remain in the site or reading the stories. These stories contain adult material with scenes of women loving women. Consider this story to have an R rating. If this is illegal in your state or you are underage, please go to a more appropriate site now.

Please do not archive, link or reproduce without Author's Written Permission

Disclaimer: I don't own any Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters. No copyright infringement is intended. Original characters are mine.

Pairing: W/T... of course.

Angst Rating: Some angst, less than most of my stories.

Rating: PG 13 for adult themes and W/T goodness.

This is a sequel to the Willow and Tara novel, Unexpected Consequences. If you haven’t read that first, you will be quite lost. It can be accessed at

http://www.quiknet.com/~lcountry/unexpected01.html

Unexpected Consequences: Milestones

By Lisa Countryman

lcountry@quiknet.com

© July 2002

CHAPTER ONE

The sun was high in the blue sky and the grass under Buffy’s feet was as green as in any summer movie. It was easy to see why Tara and Willow loved living at the sanctuary. The Imbolc house was far enough away from the rest of the sanctuary to offer a panoramic view of the manicured and majestic grounds and the sea in the distance, and yet it still allowed them the privacy they cherished. The guardians adored Brianna, and they’d offered Willow and Tara what they both craved, an extended family filled with love and devoted to Wicca.

Buffy looked across the lawn and saw Willow and smiled. The redhead had a blanket spread out in the shade and was on her belly with a laptop at her fingertips, but she was obviously ignoring her latest project. Brianna was playing with a large box several feet in front of Willow and that had the young mother’s complete attention.

"Hey," Buffy said as she plopped down beside her best friend.

"Buffy!" Willow squealed and sat up and hugged her friend. "Oh, my god, why didn’t you tell me you were coming?" She squeezed Buffy tightly.

"Well, you sounded so sad on the phone," Buffy pointed out as the embrace broke. "What? I’m just gonna’ leave you here all alone to pine for Tara?"

"Mama?" Brianna backed out of the box she was investigating. "Where mama?" She climbed unsteadily to her feet and trotted over to the blanket. "Mommy?" She dipped her head and gave Willow a hopefully stare. "Mama home now?" Her smile was radiant.

"Good lord." Buffy sighed and stared at her surrogate niece. "Talking up a storm and growing like a weed."

"Brianna, mama isn’t here, sweetie." Willow rested a hand on her daughter’s shoulder and gave her a loving squeeze. "But Aunt Buffy came all the way up to see us. Isn’t that nice?" Willow smiled even though the emotion never reached her eyes. She was missing Tara and nothing other than Tara’s return would ease that ache.

"I brought you a surprise," Buffy said. She reached under her jacket and pulled out a stuffed animal that looked like a cross between a cat and a duck.

Brianna smiled and grabbed the toy, then paused and hugged Buffy. "Peas," she said with the utmost sincerity and then ran off to introduce her new stuffed friend to her box on the lawn.

"Peas?" Buffy raised and eyebrow at Willow.

"She’s learning proper manners. She still confuses ‘thank you’ and ‘please,’ but she’s really trying." Willow’s eyes lit up as she smiled at her child.

"That’s adorable." Buffy snickered. "And wow, she’s not even three and she’s talking really well. She’s like a genius." She pretended to wipe a tear from her eye. "I’m so proud," she said. "You know she gets that from me, right?"

"Hmmpt." Willow crossed her arms over her chest. "I’ll have you know, I was stringing words together by the time I was two."

"Yeah, you’re a regular Rainman, Will." Buffy was glad that Willow’s spirits seemed a little better.

"You think I’m like a mentally challenged Dustin Hoffman?" Willow glared at Buffy. "Gee, thanks."

"No." Buffy rolled her eyes. "With the freakish math skills, not the other issues. Like Rainman, but without the rain. Just the smarts."

"Rainman without rain. That leaves man. So, you think I’m a man?" Willow pretended to be insulted. "That’s so much better."

"We could do this all day," Buffy commented. She knew Willow being intentionally obtuse. "Are we done?"

"Yeah," Willow said with a smirk.

"How are you holding up?" Buffy glanced over and saw that Brianna was in a deep conversation with her stuffed animal.

"Horrible," Willow said honestly. "There’s a whole big huge ocean between us, and the entire continental United States." She sighed forlornly. "It was never this bad before," she whined.

"Willow, when Tara went to England before, you lasted an entire three days before you flew over and joined her." Buffy cleared her throat. "Remember? Every time she had to go over to look at some musty old book, you went along and it was all hugs and puppies and touring the English countryside and eating French bread under oak trees and having tea with Giles." She glanced over at Brianna and saw that the redheaded child was teaching her stuffed toy the finer points of crawling inside the cardboard box. "Now you have to stay home. Of course you’re going to be miserable."

"We never had French bread under oak trees," Willow grumbled. "Tara prefers croissants." She smiled remembering one picnic they’d had just outside London. It had turned into an impromptu lovemaking session and only an embarrassed call to Giles and the council had kept them out of jail when a police officer on holiday had caught them.

"Thinking about the infamous picnic?" Buffy asked innocently.

"Oh, shut up." Willow snorted.

"So, not only are you lonely-Willow, you’re frustrated-Willow." Buffy sighed grimly. "Must be hell with no naked mommy weekends."

Willow’s eyes shot open wide. "There are no naked mommy weekends," she insisted. "There are the mommy weekends. Mommy yes … naked no."

"Right," Buffy said with a giggle. "Willow, the guardians take turns helping me in Sunnydale, remember? With their help, things are pretty darn slow, so we have lots of time to talk as we patrol. Lots of time." She waggled her eyebrows. "Lots of talk."

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Willow said primly.

"You, Tara, every third weekend alone? Naked? Ring any bells?" Buffy smiled as she watched Willow’s face turning redder by the second.

"Those are bonding weekends," Willow said with a mischievous smirk. "As parents, we need time alone so we can be the most loving couple possible. Besides, Brent is teaching Brianna the myths of the flame. She and Brianna love the time alone." She and Tara had waited until Brianna was one year old before beginning their weekends alone. It gave Brianna the chance to grow and expand her self-identity and it gave Willow and Tara time to spend focusing on each other, though the first weekend they had left to check on Brianna five times. Brianna had been fine with Brent; it was Tara and Willow who were nervous wrecks.

"Bonding? Guess there’s more vamp Willow in you than I knew." Buffy bit her lip as Willow’s ears began to blush.

Brianna came to the blanket and sat on Willow’s lap. She yawned and snuggled into her mother. "Mama sing?" she asked as her lips trembled.

"We’ll call mama at bedtime to sing, sweetie," Willow promised. She kissed Brianna’s head and ran her hand over the child’s silk soft hair. "You need a nap, little one." She rubbed her hand up and down Brianna’s back.

Brianna shook her head as another yawn escaped.

"Mama home," Brianna insisted. She sighed and her lip quivered harder until her jaw shook. "Peas," she pleaded.

"Baby, she’ll be home when we tear off all the calendar pages." Willow eased Brianna away and wiped a tear from the brokenhearted child’s cheek. "We tore one off this morning after our Brigit blessing." She leaned down and pressed her forehead to Brianna’s. "Four more to go and then mama will be home, okay?"

"Mama now." Brianna insisted. "Mama cry. Mama sad."

"That was a movie, darling," Willow said as she tucked a few of Brianna’s wild strands of red hair behind her ears. Her shoulder-length hair fell softly around her pale cheeks. "Go get the calendar and we’ll count the days, okay?"

Brianna nodded as she stood. She hugged her new toy and gave Buffy a shy, crooked smile that made her look just like Tara. "Thank you, Fluffy," she said and then turned and ran toward the back door of the house.

"Okay, first … she can manage ‘thank you,’ but can’t say ‘Buffy’? Did you tell her to call me Fluffy?" Buffy asked impatiently. "Because that’s just not funny."

Willow shook her head. Her eyes were open wide and she looked like she was about to bolt.

"And second, what the hell kind of movies are you letting her watch?" Buffy asked in a hushed whisper.

"Stupid Dumbo." Willow’s eyes narrowed. "That thing is awful." Willow waited until Ceridwen followed Brianna inside before explaining. "They chained up the mother elephant and made her cry," Willow said angrily. "Brianna was missing Tara, so I figured we’d watch a nice Disney movie. Disney, full of motherly love … it was so not full of motherly love!"

Buffy laughed so hard she began coughing. "What did you watch after that? Bambi?"

Willow glared.

"No…" Buffy snorted. "How about Peter Pan? All the parents are gone."

"Very funny." Willow met Buffy’s eyes and then looked down at the blanket. "Brianna was in tears. Tara sings her that song all the time."

"There’s a Dumbo song?" Buffy asked. She was no longer laughing. She loved Brianna and hated the thought of her shedding even a single tear.

"Yeah, it’s called ‘Baby Mine,’ and it’s really beautiful … when it’s not being sung by an elephant chained up and kept from her child." Willow picked up a strand of grass and studied it. "I miss her so much, Buffy."

"I know." Buffy moved closer and draped an arm over Willow’s shoulder. "This is her career. Giles told me she’s the most intuitive translator the council has ever seen. She’s really good at it, Will."

"She’s not just good," Willow corrected. "She’s incredible. She can read ancient ceremonial Sumerian. Do you have any idea how difficult that is? She can read and translate it without any reference materials." Willow frowned at the thought of doing any academic activity without reference material. She shivered. "Well, she uses references, but she can read it without them if she has to, and that’s just … wow."

"And it’s important," Buffy added gently. "She’s translating stuff that Giles says could save thousands of lives."

Willow was quiet for a long moment. "She told them she’s only gonna’ work on stuff that’s life or death from now on," she finally whispered. She lifted her head, half-expecting Buffy to be giving her a disapproving look.

"Well, she has a family now," Buffy said with a half smile. "You guys come first." She gave Willow a playful shake. "Besides, you make enough money with your computer stuff, you should be pampering her."

"I’d love that," Willow admitted. She smiled crookedly. "I’d love to have her stay home with Brianna all the time, but Tara likes working. She talked to the local grammar school and they want her start substituting part time next year." Willow cleared her throat. "Tara isn’t sure. I mean, she’s great with kids, but we kind of want to spend the first few years with Brianna."

"She’d be great with kids. I mean, if she teaches them English and math and not Demon Sumerian. And hey, after Brianna gets bigger, you guys can start to travel again, fly and stuff." Buffy knew her friends loved seeing Europe, but she also knew they wouldn’t take Brianna on a plane until she was much older.

"But when Brianna’s old enough to fly, we’ll have anoth—" Willow’s eyes widened as she realized that she’d just said too much.

"Another…" Buffy grinned. "Are you guys pregnant again?" She gasped. "Oh, my god… Tara’s flying? Are you insane?"

"She’s not pregnant. Geez, Buffy. You think I’d let her out of my sight, let alone out of the country, if she were pregnant? Neither of us is pregnant," Willow insisted. "We want Brianna to enjoy having us to herself before we have another baby." She swallowed and took a deep breath. "And … um, I’m having our next child." She met Buffy’s eyes. "There’s no way in hell I’m letting Tara go through hours of painful labor again." Her eyes narrowed. "No way."

"So you’d rather suffer through that pain?" Buffy teased.

"Yes," Willow said truthfully. "Buffy, she’s my everything. I still get all sick to my stomach just thinking about Tara in pain."

"I’m sure it won’t be as bad next time," Buffy said, though she had no facts to back up her statement.

Ceridwen came out of the house. She was smiling as she came over to where Willow and Buffy were visiting. "Lady Willow? What exactly did you tell Miss Brianna?" she asked with a smirk.

"Why?" Willow asked. She climbed to her feet knowing Ceri wouldn’t ask without having a specific reason.

"Well, she’s in the altar room doing her very best to perform the Brigit blessing." Ceri was smiling proudly. "I thought it was a spontaneous need to commune with our goddess, but then she ripped off one of your calendar pages and began the ritual again. She finished, tore off another page and then started over again."

"Oh, goddess." Pain flashed over Willow’s face.

"She’s trying to get Tara back," Buffy said. "That’s so smart."

"Mama?" Brianna wandered outside carrying Willow’s desk calendar. She looked down the hill at the main road.

Willow walked toward her daughter and picked her up and hugged her. "Honey, your mama will be home in four days."

"No." Brianna held the calendar out to Willow. The pages had been torn away to reveal a circled date. "Mama," she in insisted with a yawn. "Mama home now?"

Buffy could see the pain in Willow’s eyes. She cleared her throat and nodded toward the house. "I’m gonna get a drink," she said as she left her best friend to explain why Tara was not going to suddenly materialize now that the calendar pages were torn off.

Thirty minutes later, Brianna was down for her nap, but only after many tears. Willow had rocked Brianna as she cried. She shed a few tears as well, but only after her daughter had finally dozed off. She tucked Brianna in and then went into the living room and sat across from Buffy.

"She okay?" Buffy asked.

Willow nodded with a sniffle. "I keep forgetting she takes everything so literally."

"So she did all her blessings, huh?" Buffy shook her head. "You realize, that’s brilliant. I told you she’s a genius."

"A brokenhearted genius," Willow grumbled.

"She’ll be fine," Buffy promised. She rested a hand on Willow’s knee. "Your parents traveled all the time when you were growing up, and you turned out great.

"Yeah, and I wasn’t warped." Willow rolled her eyes and remembered how many lonely nights she’d spent before meeting Buffy. It still amazed her that being chased by vampires every night had been a vast improvement in her life.

"We were all warped," Buffy said. She leaned back against the couch and looked around the living room. A hardwood floor now filled the space where the pool used to invade the house, but a wall of windows still made it possible to enjoy the view of the water outside.

"It wasn’t exactly a normal adolescence. Which reminds me … how’s Dawnie?" Willow asked.

"I think when she gets her M.D. we’re gonna’ have to stop calling her that." Buffy smiled proudly. "Doctor Dawnie just doesn’t have that professional ring to it."

"True," Willow admitted with a wry smirk.

They talked for almost an hour, catching up on everything from Dawn’s progress at med school to Buffy’s current dealings with the hellmouth. They were standing in the kitchen making a snack when they heard Brianna crying. Willow hurried off to get her while Buffy finished in the kitchen.

"I’ve never seen her cry this much," Buffy said to Ceri as she brought a sandwich to the dining room table where the guardian was busy checking her email.

"She’s usually such a happy child," Ceri agreed. "She’s really having a tough time with Tara away." Ceri frowned and looked at her computer.

"Kinda like you missing Brigh?" Buffy asked gently.

"Yeah." Ceri blushed. "But I’m glad she’s with Tara."

"Don’t you trust the London guardians?" Buffy asked. She edged closer.

"Oh, they’re great," Ceri said quickly. "I just like knowing Tara has some familiar faces around." She smiled. "Gandu promised to keep Brigh out of the pubs." She looked down at the table. "Goddess, I miss Brigh."

Buffy was about to comment when Willow came down the hallway with Brianna on one hip. "Hey, how’s my little niece?" Buffy asked.

Brianna continued sobbing and buried her face under Willow’s shoulder length hair.

"It was just a dream, sweetie," Willow soothed as she rubbed Brianna’s back. She furrowed her brow. "Stupid Disney," she mouthed to Buffy.

Buffy almost laughed, but despite how humorous Willow’s newfound Disney-hate was, seeing Brianna upset made Buffy’s tummy rumble.

"Bad men hurt mama," Brianna said plaintively. "Mama hurt."

"It wasn’t real, baby," Willow said gently. "I know dreams feel real, but you’re thinking about the cartoon and missing mama. That mixes things up and makes bad dreams confuse you when you sleep." Even as she said the words, she knew her child couldn’t logically comprehend the complex workings of the human mind, but she hoped the love in her voice and the safety of her embrace would calm Brianna.

"Mama…" Brianna’s voice trembled. "Bad men hurt Mama. Bad Keeper hurt mama."

Willow felt as if her blood suddenly turned to ice water. She literally shivered. Her body stiffened and she spun and locked eyes with Ceri.

Ceridwen stood and grabbed the cell phone from a clip on her hip and dialed before Willow could say a word. "Pick up the phone, Brigh," she whispered as she listened to the ringing on the line go unanswered. Her chest constricted. She knew that her lover always had her cell phone within reach. After a few more rings, a recording asked for a message. "Brigh, call me as soon as you get this. Please, baby, call me." She hung up the phone and swallowed with a gulp.

Willow shifted Brianna further to one side and took the phone from the wall and called Tara’s cell phone. It rang until it was transferred to the automated message center. "Honey, it’s me. Call me. I love you." She hung up and put the phone down and then put Brianna on the counter. "Sweetie, can you tell mommy about your bad dream?"

Ceri moved across the room and called Brent while Willow comforted Brianna.

"Bad men," said with a sniffle. "Hurt mama."

"I got that part." Willow wiped the tears from Brianna’s cheeks and smiled reassuringly. "What did it look like?"

Buffy moved alongside Willow.

"Mama fall down," Brianna said as a fresh trail of tears rolled down her reddened cheeks. "Mama won’t wake up."

"Will, it’s probably just a coincidence," Buffy whispered. She was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to calm Willow.

Ceri moved closer and looked down at the floor, unable to make eye contact.

"What is it?" Willow demanded.

"Brent wasn’t in her office," Ceri said quietly.

"And?" Willow asked harshly.

"Brigan said Brent’s on her way here. She needs to talk to you and Brigan won’t say why." Ceri lifted her face and met Willow’s eyes. "Brigan was crying."

"Keep trying to get Brigh," Willow ordered. She grabbed her own phone and hit redial and kept one hand on Brianna’s shoulder as she listened to the distant ring through the line. ‘Pick up, baby,’ she thought as she waited. She glared at Ceri. "Call Brigandu, damn it. She and Brigh are supposed to be with Tara."

The front door opened and Brent came in without knocking.

"Where is she?" Willow demanded.

Buffy scooted closer and took Brianna from Willow’s arms.

"Lady Willow…" Brent was pale and her eyes were filled with anger.

"What happened?" Willow said in a dangerous growl. She stalked across the room and stood in from of Brent.

"They were at a mall," Brent said quietly. She waited until Ceri moved to Willow’s side. "A group attacked them and took Tara."

"What the hell were the guardians doing?" Willow asked in a hiss. "What happened to the blood oath?" she yelled. The Witches’ Committee had sworn a sacred oath to leave Tara alone. A band of Celtic beasties had witnessed the oath and Brent had assured Willow it wouldn’t be broken.

"An oak sprite just visited me," Brent said. "The beasties that witnessed the oath had been bound." The elder sighed. "It doesn’t nullify the oath, but it did keep the beasties from notifying me."

"So that’s it?" Willow asked bitterly. "They just break a blood oath?"

"A blood payment will be taken," Brent said. Her eyes were full of rage and the depth of her hatred was clearly visible. "But now is not the time," she added. "We must focus on getting Tara back."

"What happened to her?" Willow asked quietly. "Do you know?"

"Brigh told us what happened before she lost consciousness," Brent said quietly. Her eyes met Ceri’s. "I’m sorry. I don’t know if she’ll survive. She’s on her way to the hospital."

Willow inhaled deeply and closed her eyes as she let out a long breath.

"Brigandu and two of the London guardians were killed," Brent said. "The Keeper’s men shot them."

"What are you doing to find her?" Willow asked hollowly.

"Every sanctuary has been activated, Lady Willow," Brent promised. "This only happened ten minutes ago, and the London guardians are already on scene. They’re confiscating the mall security recordings as we speak. They’ll look for any clues, and our contacts with Interpol and the Yard are already setting up road blocks."

"I want the recordings uplinked here," Willow said as she hurried to her computer and booted it up. "Which mall was it?"

Brent hesitated. She cleared her throat and moved closer to Willow. "I’m not sure that’s a good idea," she said gently.

"Do it," Willow ordered firmly. She saw the older guardian flinch. "I am a security expert," Willow said as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I can get more out of the digitized recordings than anyone in the world." Her eyes pleaded with Brent. "Please, I design these systems. This is what I do." She sighed and tried to steady her nerves. "Which mall was it?" she asked again.

"Oak Haven Center," Brent said quietly.

"Good. They opened last fall." Willow nodded. "Compudyne Industries did their system. I designed most it."

Brent nodded. She knew Willow’s skills at designing online computer security were topnotch. She had also begun designing physical security systems and found her true calling. Her systems were world-renowned. Brent had no doubts about Willow’s skill, but she didn’t want Willow seeing the brutal battle.

"Mommy?" Brianna asked. She could sense Willow’s fear and it was upsetting her even more.

"I’m here, sweetie." Willow picked up Brianna and cradled her. "Shh, mama’s gonna’ be fine." She kissed Brianna’s temple. "She has to be," she whispered hoarsely.

Ten minutes later, two young guardians were playing with Brianna so Willow and the others could view the incoming images from the security recordings. Willow fidgeted with her mouse as she waited for the data-stream. She hoped she’d see something that would help them find Tara. As soon as the images downloaded, she ran them through her system so she could view all of the feeds from the 32 mall cameras.

"The attack came ten minutes before the hour," Brent said. She was standing at Willow’s shoulder watching Willow click through the screens. She’d enlarge one, scan it for looking for Tara, and then move to the next.

"Do you know where they were? Which shop?" Willow hit a few keys and pulled up a list of the various stores in the mall.

"Elderway Jewelers," Brent said quietly. "I suggested it to Lady Tara."

Willow nodded and keyed up the security recordings near that store. Her breath caught when she saw Tara’s image, just as it did every time she saw her beautiful lover.

"There," Buffy said as she pointed at the screen. "She’s with Brigh and the others."

Willow nodded and reached out and touched the image of Tara. She hit a few buttons and zoomed the image a bit closer. She used her mouse to circle Tara’s image and then tapped a few more commands and all of the screens switched to display all of the available shots of the blonde witch. Willow had designed recognition software that could pinpoint a person and track them wherever they went. The computer would pull up every shot available and give it to the user as the subject walked from one camera to the next.

"She’s happy," Willow observed. She watched her lover and then smiled when Tara laughed and tossed her head back. There was no sound with the image, but Willow didn’t need to actually hear the conversation to know the exact sound of Tara’s laugh.

Tara was holding a small box and Brigh was playfully trying to grab it. Tara was laughing and doing her best to keep it away from the guardian. Brigh took a step back and held up her hands in defeat and then gave Tara pleading look. The blonde witch rolled her eyes and motioned Brigh over. She draped an arm around Brigh’s shoulder and they opened the tiny box and admired the contents.

"That’s for me, isn’t it?" Willow asked. She could see the love in Tara’s expression as she studied the item in the box.

"Yes," Brent said. She cleared her throat and fought back a wave of tears that threatened to fall. "Elderway Jewelers is owned by a Wiccan family. They make traditional ceremonial items as well as the more commercial stuff they sell in the mall."

"Their back room has some of the finest swords in the world," Ceri added. She was transfixed by the image of Brigh. Her lover was relaxed, but Ceri could see that even while Brigh was laughing and playing with Tara, her eyes would dart around to check the safety of the area.

"Swords?" Willow asked as she watched the screen. "We’ve been wanting to get a lightweight practice sword for Brianna," she said absently. "She’s getting really good with her wooden sword."

"Tara ordered one last week," Brent said. "They went there today to check the progress and to pick up something Tara ordered for you." She scanned the screen looking for any sign of danger, but she couldn’t see anything out of place.

Willow’s keen eyes caught a group of police officers walking toward Tara. "Where were they when those bastards attacked?" she asked. "There were four officers in the mall. Why didn’t they help?"

"Yeah, and they have guns," Buffy said as she watched the officers approaching. "Why didn’t they help?"

"British officers don’t wear guns," Ceri said as her entire body tensed.

On the screen, Brigandu was next to one of the guardians from the London sanctuary. She saw the officers and turned back toward Tara, but then slowly spun back and faced the approaching men.

"She noticed the guns," Brent said. "Can you get any closer?" she asked.

Willow hit a few keys and the image zoomed closer. "Oh, goddess," Willow said as she pointed at one of the other screens. Four more officers were coming toward Tara from the rear. Brigh moved in front of Tara to keep the first set of officers away from the blonde. The uniformed men were still several yards away when a shopkeeper next to Tara stepped into the mall walkway and pulled a weapon out from under her coat and fired. The bullet hit Gandu in the chest and pandemonium erupted in the crowded mall as the men dressed as officers took aim and began shooting the remaining guardians.

Willow clenched her teeth as she watched Tara step in front of Brigh and wave a hand at the oncoming attackers. A blue wall of light left Tara’s hand and knocked the officers back. Brigh reached under her jacket and drew her sword as the shopkeeper tried to shoot, but couldn’t.

"Lady Tara incapacitated their guns." Brent’s face went pale. She knew it was too late for Gandu and the London guardians on the floor. Her hands shook with rage as she watched as the attacking members of the Keeper’s group tried to shoot with weapons that no longer functioned and then casually switched to their own swords.

Tara reached down and grabbed Gandu’s sword from her broken body. She spun just as the attackers reached her.

"Oh, goddess," Willow whispered. She wrapped her arms around her upper body as if she were fighting off the icy wind of a hurricane.

Buffy didn’t say a word. She watched in awe as Tara and Brigh held their own against at least ten attackers. She had no idea that Tara had kept up her sword skills. Two of the officers swung swords at Tara and she deflected them both, but her sword snapped. She spun and began running down the mall. The crowd had already escaped so she sprinted toward the jewelry shop unimpeded. The camera screens shifted as soon as Tara left the area of one camera to the next. Willow’s program worked perfectly.

Willow watched the tiny screen and tried to slow her racing heart. As Tara got to the door of the jewelry store, an elderly man met her and tossed her a sword. She spun just in time to face two attackers. The man tried to help, but Tara yelled at him. Willow didn’t need to hear the words to know that her lover was trying to protect him. One of the attackers sliced the kindly jeweler’s arm, and he retreated into his shop. Brigh shoved past one of the attackers. He dropped to the ground dead and then Brigh stood at Tara’s side. The two young women were arguing. It was obvious that Brigh wanted Tara to leave, but Tara wouldn’t go.

Tara pointed a hand and sent a flash of light at the closest officer. He was tossed back, but Tara staggered with the effort.

A female officer pulled an amulet from her pocket and slid it over her neck. She said something and then smoke vapor erupted from the floor at Tara’s feet.

Tara tried to cast, but nothing happened. All of the attackers rushed forward with swords drawn.

Tara and Brigh fought with a flurry of sword strokes, but there were just too many attackers. Brigh had a sword in each hand and was hacking the oncoming attackers to bits as soon as they came within the reach of her blades, but Tara was still using only one sword, so she was being pushed away from Brigh.

"Stay at her side," Ceri whispered to her lover on the small screen. As if Brigh had heard her, the young guardian stabbed her way back to Tara and then handed the blonde one of her swords and grabbed another from a dead attacker.

"Oh, no," Buffy whispered. She saw that one of the officers had worked his way behind Tara. The man thrust his sword forward, but Brigh had seen him as well. She moved past Tara, but as she twisted to block the blow, she couldn’t get her sword up to block a second blade in his left hand. She protected Tara from the blow, but it cost her. The man’s dagger cut through Brigh’s belly and she dropped to her knees.

Ceri grimaced as she watched her wounded lover trying to defend Tara even as her belly poured blood onto the tile floor of the mall. Tara spun and stabbed the man in the throat and stood over her injured friend. Brigh’s swords fell to the ground as she collapsed against Tara’s legs.

A man dressed in black approached the macabre scene. The mall was empty now except for Tara and Brigh and the group attacking them. The man nodded as two more men moved toward Tara.

Willow bit her knuckles as she watched Tara. The blonde was no longer holding back. She was hacking at the men attacking her, maiming anyone who approached. One of the men dressed as an officer swung a nightstick at the back of Tara’s head.

Willow gasped, but Tara swung a sword over her back and deflected the blow while keeping her opposite sword extended to protect Brigh. A second man took a swing with a sword and Tara had to twist her head to see him. The distraction cost her dearly. One of the other men grabbed her arm and twisted her wrist. She screamed as her arm was bent unnaturally and the sword fell to the ground as her arm snapped above the wrist.

Brent’s entire body was shaking. Her eyes darkened with barely contained rage. She watched as Tara twisted and stabbed her blade under her injured arm and killed the man gripping her broken wrist. Tara never saw the blade that took her down. The blow struck her in the side of the head just above her right ear and the impact drove her forward. Her body went limp before she ever hit the ground. She landed in an unconscious heap sprawled half over Brigh’s body.

Willow covered her mouth and her stomach lurched. She felt bile in the back of her throat as she watched the surviving attackers rush to where Tara lay unconscious. "She’s not moving," Willow said in a tiny whisper. "Move, Tara. Move, baby."

The man dressed in black shoved the others aside and bent down and pressed his fingers to Tara’s throat. He relaxed slightly and began yelling orders. Two men rushed forward. Each grabbed one of Tara’s arms and they hurried toward the nearest exit with Tara dragging limply between them.

"No…" Willow whispered. She watched in shock as the group hurried away. The screen would switch as they passed each camera station. Each new shot confirmed the previous one. Tara’s body hung between the men. They each had her by one arm and her feet trailed along behind them. Her head was slumped forward obscuring her face, but other than bouncing with the rhythm of the attackers’ footsteps, Tara never moved.

"What are you doing to find her?" Willow asked as the view shifted to a parking lot camera. There was a black van backed onto the sidewalk. The doors burst open as the men pulled Tara out of the mall. They hurried to the van and tossed Tara’s limp body into the van and then climbed in over her. The doors closed and the van sped away.

"Roadblocks have been set up," Brent said. "But they had at least a ten minute headstart."

"How is Brigh?" Willow looked over at Ceri. The guardian had slumped into a chair and was staring at the floor in shock.

"She’s in surgery," Brent said. "We know she lost one of her kidneys. The doctors are doing their best."

"I want Diana to see the recording," Willow said. "I want to know how badly Tara’s hurt." She reached down and hit few keys and called up the section of the recording that showed Tara’s final struggles. She froze the screen on the image of the sword hitting Tara’s head. A few more keystrokes called up the exact moment from another camera in the same area.

"Wait," Buffy said. "Can you zoom that in?" She pointed at the reverse angle. It was taken from far down the mall.

"Yeah." Willow quickly highlighted the area she wanted to see and zoomed the image. It was blurry but she quickly cleared it up with some of her imaging software.

"They hit her with the side of the blade," Buffy said. She relaxed slightly. "See?" She pointed. "It knocked her out, but I don’t think it would have cut the bone."

"The blade is heavy," Brent said. "But she’s right. It may have cracked her skull, but they didn’t intend to kill her."

"A blow with the sharp edge of the blade would have cut right through the bone," Ceri said. "The side of the blade can’t cut through the skull. An experienced swordsman wouldn’t have hit her like that by accident." She gave Willow a weak smile. "They want her alive. This is good news, Lady Willow."

"Yeah, but what do they want her for?" Willow asked glumly.

End chapter one

Love Tara? Hate what they did to her and Willow on Buffy? Let the ME, UPN and Fox know how you feel. Please take a few minutes to send an email and let the people at Buffy the Vampire Slayer how you feel. Write every week if you feel like it. They need to know we still miss Tara and want her back. I would consider it a personal favor. Thanks!