Author’s Note: Some dialogue in this chapter is adapted from the Buffy episode Family.
Dawn expected to hear slamming doors, and have her sister come storming into her room, yelling at her, but none of that happened. If she hadn’t been listening carefully, she wouldn’t have heard the downstairs door open and close at all, and Buffy seemed to be moving in full Slayer Stealth Mode as she came up the stairs, because Dawn didn’t hear anything else until there was a quiet knock on her door.
Dawn opened it, expecting to see an angry Buffy looking at her, but instead she was still wearing the same indecipherable expression that she’d had down in the back yard. “Can I come in?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah,” said Dawn carefully, stepping back from the door.
“I’m not mad at you,” said Buffy as she came into the room. “…much.”
“You’re not?”
Buffy shook her head. “Hardly any at all. We knew there was a risk when we went into the back yard, instead of coming inside, or finding somewhere else. Anyone else watching would have really turned me on…and knowing you were there really did turn Faith on, and what turns her on… So, yeah. Not mad.”
“You wanted to be watched?”
“Well…not by you, but yeah…I like the idea…of just about anyone but you watching me…and Faith doesn’t have that exception.”
“Did Xander order…” Dawn didn’t know what she’d think if Xander had ordered Buffy to have sex where she could see. On one hand, it could mean that he was thinking of her as more grown up…on the other, it was kind of icky.
“No!” said Buffy. “In fact, if he’d known, he probably would have ordered us not to do anything anywhere you might be able to see us. It’s just…I’ve always been a bit of an exhibitionist, but since the Reward started, I’m…more of one. It used to be that I’d just dress so that people would look at me, but now…I’m dressing sexier, and knowing that people—other than you—are watching me really turns me on.”
“It does?”
“Yeah.” Buffy gestured down at what she was wearing. “I mean, look.” Dawn hadn’t really noticed before Buffy brought her attention to it—the camouflage pattern made it hard to actually focus on her—but Buffy’s outfit almost looked like it was painted onto her skin. “I like being dressed like this. I like that people can see me like this.”
“Uh…actually—”
“You know what I mean,” said Buffy.
“I guess,” said Dawn. “Why are you telling me all this?”
“Xander said I had to be honest with you.”
“But didn’t he also tell me that you could tell me that it was none of my business?”
“Yeah…but I still have to be honest. Faith and I doing what we did, where you could see us, made it your business. I owed you an explanation.”
“Buffy…” Dawn didn’t know if she could ask what she wanted to ask.
“What?”
“I’m just wondering…if there was any way…I think maybe Xander’s attracted to me, a bit…”
“More than just a bit, I think,” said Buffy.
“You think that I could…”
“Xander isn’t going to act on that attraction… Not for a while, anyway.”
“But…”
“Dawn, you’re fourteen. Do you know what happens to twenty year old guys who have sex with fourteen year old girls in this state?”
“Oh,” said Dawn. “I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
“Yeah, so, ask again when you’re eighteen.”
“Okay.” There was something else that Dawn was wondering about. “On a totally different subject: do you know what you guys are getting Tara for her birthday?”
Faith had finished up at work for the day, and was on her way to the Magic Box to meet up with Xander. She spotted Willow and Tara ahead of her, going in the same direction. She ran to catch up with them, and fell into step beside Tara. “Hi, guys.”
Tara smiled shyly at her. “Hi, Faith.”
Willow didn’t look so happy. “Hello.”
Faith decided to ignore Willow’s continuing hostility. “Tara, I wanted to say I’m sorry for being so bitchy with you, last year.”
“That’s okay,” said Tara.
“No, it wasn’t,” said Faith, “but if I want to make amends, I have to start by acknowledging what I did wrong in the past.”
“You in a twelve step program?” asked Willow. “Homicidal Maniacs Anonymous?”
“Only six steps,” said Faith automatically, “The other six are—” She stopped. “You know, I used to think that all that stuff about a higher power and such was crap, but now, I do have a higher power helping me: Xander, so let’s call it a nine step program.
“Tara, I’m sorry I was mean to you last year, and I hope that I can make it up to you. Willow, I’m sorry I held a knife to your throat that time in the Mayor’s office, and you know, everything you said to me then was totally true. I had completely screwed up things for myself, all on my own.”
“You think saying ‘sorry’ makes things right?” asked Willow.
“No,” said Faith, “But it’s a step in the right direction.” They had reached the Magic Box, and Faith opened the door, and held it for them. “You know what they say: ‘The longest journey starts with a single step.’” She followed them into the shop, but stopped a couple of steps inside the door, having noticed that Tara had frozen in her tracks. She quickly looked around, looking for a threat that could get that sort of reaction from her. Was it a demon, vampire, or some other sort of monster?
A twenty-something year old guy with a scraggly goatee was looking at Tara. “Well, what do you know?” he said. “What’s the matter? You don’t have a hug for your big brother?”
“Brother?” asked Willow.
“W-W-Willow, t-t-this is my b-brother, Donny,” stammered Tara. “D-Donny, this is Willow.” She gestured around at the others. “A-and these are my friends.” Faith was pleased that Tara’s gesture had included her.
“What, all of you hang out?” asked Donny. “Wow. That’s more people than you met in high school.” Donny gave Tara a poke. Faith decided that she didn’t like him much.
“How did you f—” Tara stopped what she was saying. “Uh…what are you doing here?”
“Well, duh, Birthday Girl,” said Donny. “We came down in the camper. Been all over the campus.”
“We?” asked Tara, dismay evident in her voice.
The bell over the door rang, and a couple more people came into the shop: a middle aged man and a girl, about eighteen years old.
“D-dad?” asked Tara. “Beth?”
The man held out his arms, clearly expecting a hug that Tara seemed strangely reluctant to give him. “You’re a tough girl to find,” he told her, “but someone at your dorm told us you might be here.”
“Um, yeah, I come here a lot,” said Tara. “D-dad, these are my friends, and Mr. Giles. He owns the store.”
“How do you do?” said Giles.
“Pleasure,” said Mr. Maclay, sounding anything but pleased. “Well, I don’t mean to interrupt your plans,” he added to Tara. “I know we’ve come on you kind of suddenly. But I thought we’d have dinner.”
Tara didn’t look like that was something she was looking forward to. “Okay.”
“Why don’t I pick you up at six?” asked Mr. Maclay. “And we’ll… do some catching up.”
“Yes sir,” said Tara, in a tone of voice that just felt wrong to Faith. It wasn’t said with love or respect, the way she or Buffy would say it to Xander or Giles. If there was any emotion behind that “sir,” it was fear. Faith was really starting to dislike Tara’s father.
Mr. Maclay was smiling insincerely at the group of them. “Forgive me for running out, but we’re double parked.” He started for the door, and beckoned for Tara’s brother to follow him. “I’ll see you tonight,” he told Tara.
“Nice to meet you all,” said Donny, as he and Beth followed Tara’s dad out the door.
Everyone looked around at each other after they had gone, wondering who would speak first. Turned out it was Willow. “Well, they seemed…nice.”
That wasn’t the word Faith would have used, and she was pretty sure that if Xander’s Reward magic had been making Willow be honest, it wasn’t the word she would have used, either.
“They’re okay, you know,” said Tara. “Families are always…”
“They make you crazy?” asked Willow.
Tara smiled at her. “Yeah. So, do we have anything to research?” She pretty clearly wanted to direct conversation into a different direction.
“I’ve identified the creature that Buffy and Faith slew last night,” said Giles. “It was a Lei-ach demon, and they usually travel in clans. Where there was one, there will be more, and they will be looking to avenge their kinsdemon.”
After a little more time at the Magic Box, discussing the demon that they’d killed the night before, and not discussing Tara’s family, Buffy went home with Xander, Anya and Faith. She was a little surprised to realize that she was now thinking of Xander’s apartment as “home,” instead of the house in which she’d spent most of the previous four years with her mother and sister.
Once they were inside, Xander looked back and forth between her and Faith a couple of times. “Well, since Buffy missed the fun last night…” Buffy really hadn’t. Even discounting the sex with Faith in her back yard, their bond had allowed Buffy to share in everything that Xander and Anya had done with Faith after she’d gotten home the night before. “…Faith can take care of getting dinner ready.”
The light flashed, and Faith’s clothes disappeared, leaving her dressed in just an apron, and high heeled shoes.
“Yes, Sir,” said Faith. “What would you like?”
“Whatever’s in the fridge,” said Xander. “It’s up to you.”
“I put some steaks in the fridge to thaw this morning,” said Anya. “Xander likes his rare. I like mine medium. How do you like yours, Buffy?”
“Uh…medium-rare, Mistress.”
“Make it so!” said Xander to Faith.
Faith snapped him a salute. “Aye-aye Captain.”
Xander returned the salute. “Carry on.” He turned his attention back to Buffy, who was momentarily diverted by Faith’s ass, as she turned away and sashayed off into the kitchen.
Her attention was snapped back to Xander by him gently saying “Buffy.”
“Yes, My Lord,” she said.
Xander looked inordinately pleased to be called that. “Bedroom,” he said. “Now!”
“Yes, Sir!” Buffy ran into the bedroom, as quickly as Slayer muscles could make her, without breaking the door.
Xander and Anya followed her more slowly. When he came into the room, he just stood looking at her for a moment with an expression in his eyes that made Buffy want to melt.
“Get undressed,” he told her. Buffy’s hands flew up to start untying the tails of her blouse knotted beneath her tits. “Slowly,” he added.
Buffy forced herself to slow down, and not just rip her clothes off. If Xander had wanted her undressed quickly, he could have just made her clothes vanish. She finished untying the knot in her shirt slowly, and then gradually pulled it open. She rotated a bit so he could see her tits in profile as she pulled her shirt back off her shoulders, and let it drop to the floor.
She did the same with the t-shirt she’d been wearing under her blouse: lifted the hem slowly, and then when she was just about to expose her breasts to Xander and Anya, she turned a little more, so her bare back was to them as she pulled it up over her head. She knew that Xander wanted to see her tits, but she also knew that he was enjoying her teasing him this way. She started to sway her hips as her hands came down to undo the buttons in her skin tight jeans, and then she turned again, as she started to push them down her legs, only letting him get the barest glimpse of her ass, before she had twisted it away from him, showing him her bare back again, this time as she bent down to remove her shoes, and finish taking off her pants.
Only when she was fully naked did she start to turn again, letting Xander see her ass as she turned away from him, and then finally twisting around as she came fully erect, to stand facing him, with her legs slightly parted, so he could see her tits, and her pussy.
Xander stood there for several seconds, looking at her with his head cocked a bit to the side as his eyes moved up and down, and his adorably goofy grin on his face. “Absolutely gorgeous,” he said. “Now Buffy, undress your Mistress.”
“Yes, M’Lord,” said Buffy, and she moved quickly to stand before Anya. “Mistress, may I?” she asked.
“Certainly, Buffy,” said Anya, and Buffy started unbuttoning her blouse, again going slowly so that Xander could take his time appreciating the view.
It took a little longer to get Anya fully undressed, partially because she was wearing underwear. As she had done when undressing herself, Buffy turned Anya away from Xander so he could only see her back as she undressed her, but this time he had ample time to appreciate Anya’s “back” as Buffy removed first her pants, and then her panties.
When Buffy was finished undressing Anya, she was on her knees on the floor in front over her, with her eyes on the dark triangle of Anya’s pubic hair. She licked her lips.
“Looks good, doesn’t it?” asked Xander.
“Yes, M’Lord,” said Buffy.
“You want to lick it.”
“Yes, M’Lord.”
“Soon, but first, come here and undress me, too,” said Xander.
Buffy walked on her knees over to where Xander was standing, and reached for his belt buckle.
“Pants last,” said Xander.
“Yes, Sir.” Buffy leaned down and started to unlace his shoes.
Soon she was back kneeling before her naked Lord, with his beautiful cock pointing out toward her. She looked up at his smiling face, and he reached out a hand to gently stroke her hair. She licked her lips.
“Buffy,” said Xander softly. “I want you to pick Anya up, and put her on the bed.”
“Yes, M’Lord.” Buffy quickly stood, went to Anya, swept her up in her arms, carried her to the bed, and laid her there, with her head resting on the pillows.
Xander crawled onto the bed, between Anya’s wide spread legs, and placed a kiss on her mound. “Come here, Buffy,” he said. “Let’s see how many orgasms we can give to your Mistress, before dinner’s ready.”
“Yes, M’Lord!” Buffy climbed onto the bed beside Anya, and kissed her mouth. Anya’s moan against her lips told her that Xander was doing something interesting, lower down.
Buffy moved her mouth from Anya’s, trailing kisses and licks down her throat, and across her chest to her breasts. She teased and tickled her mistress’s nipples with her tongue, teeth and fingers, while listening to Anya’s moans and gasps of pleasure, and Xander’s slurps at her pussy.
It wasn’t long before Anya was coming. Xander came up on her other side, and took over kissing the breast that Buffy’s fingers had been playing with, and told Buffy it was her turn to go down on her mistress.
“Yes, Sir.” Buffy smiled, kissed Xander, getting a pre-taste of Anya’s sweet pussy, and moved down to the place Xander had vacated. She gave Anya a lick up the full length of her slit, to taste her nectar directly. She gave her pussy another lick, more slowly, and this time wiggling her tongue as deeply in between Anya’s lower lips as she could before moving up to concentrate on Anya’s clit, while slipping two fingers of her right hand into Anya’s pussy. She reached out with her left hand for Xander’s cock, and wrapped her fingers around it.
She slid her hand up along his cock, feeling his inner hardness, covered with velvety smoothness. Her hand glided over his tip, coating her fingers with his pre-come. She slid her lubricated hand back down to the base of his cock, and then lower, to fondle his balls, all the while still licking at Anya’s clit, and probing her pussy with her other hand.
Buffy turned her hand, slid a third finger into Anya’s pussy, and circled her pinky around her anus. Anya moaned, and her hips shimmied, inviting more. She pressed her pinky into Anya’s ass. She felt her mistress shudder, and heard her groan.
Buffy pulled herself away from Anya’s pussy, but kept her hold on Xander’s cock. She placed her hand on Anya’s buttock, and rolled her toward him, while pulling Xander to Anya. She guided his cock to her pussy. As soon as his head touched her entrance, Anya took over, rolling Xander over onto his back, with her straddling him. Buffy pulled her hand away as Anya sank down around his cock.
“Oh yeah!” said Xander. Anya started to move up and down on him, her moans in harmony with his. Buffy knelt on the bed beside them, watching in fascination.
Xander turned his head, and reached out his hand to her. “Come here, Buffy.”
Buffy took his hand, and let him pull her toward him. He guided her into position straddling his face, where he could lick at her pussy, and her Reward Ring. She leaned toward Anya, and kissed her. Her hands found Anya’s tits in the same second as Anya’s hands found hers. They both squeezed, but Buffy didn’t squeeze nearly as hard as Anya did. She moaned as she felt Anya’s nails cutting into the flesh of her tits.
Xander’s talented tongue soon had Buffy joining Anya in another orgasm. She was just coming down from the crest of it, when she heard a knock at the bedroom door. She turned to see Faith standing there, watching them. “Dinner will be ready in five minutes,” she said.
“Thank you Faith,” said Anya. “Carry on.”
Faith gave her a little curtsey, which seemed very incongruous to Buffy. “Yes, Mistress.” She turned on her heel, and paused briefly, giving them a good look at her bare ass, before she headed back to kitchen.
Xander tried to say something, but Buffy couldn’t make it out, as it was muffled by her pussy on his mouth. It didn’t matter, because Anya apparently understood him. “Yes, Dear,” she said, and started bouncing up and down on his cock. Soon he was spasming under them, as Anya shuddered with yet another orgasm of her own.
Anya rose up off Xander’s cock, and leaned back, supporting herself by placing her hands behind her on their bed. Her wide spread legs fully exposed her wet pussy to Buffy. “Lick us clean, Buffy,” she said.
“Yes Mistress,” said Buffy, and she leaned down to suck Xander’s softening cock into her mouth.
“Don’t take too long,” said Anya. “I don’t want my dinner to get cold.”
Buffy pulled away from Xander’s cock with a soft pop! “Yes, Mistress,” she said, and leaned back down to lick Anya’s pussy clean.
Xander decided that they should be dressed for dinner, which in Buffy and Faith’s cases manifested as them suddenly wearing matching bustiers, with thong panties, and garters holding up sheer stockings. They both had their hair held up by ribbons tied in it. Xander and Anya dressed in more conventional shirts and pants. While they were eating, Buffy told Xander about her conversation with Dawn.
“Of course, she’s too young!” he nearly yelled. “I would never—”
“I was Dawn’s age, when my father sold me to Olaf,” said Anya.
“And I was screwing guys at fourteen,” said Faith.
“And how did that work out for you?” asked Xander, and instantly regretted it, as Faith looked down at her lap. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Yes you did,” said Faith, “And you’re right…because none of the guys who took advantage of me, were you.”
“I wouldn’t have taken advantage of you, and I’m not going to take advantage of Dawn.”
“I wasn’t exactly legal the first time we fucked,” said Faith.
“I know that now,” said Xander, “but I didn’t know it then!”
“And if you had?” asked Anya.
“At the time, my brain had pretty much stopped functioning, but it is functioning now, and I’m not an eighteen year old virgin, anymore, and Dawn is still younger than you were, then.”
“She still wants you,” said Faith.
“And I’m the adult…never thought I’d hear myself say that…so I’m the one who’s going to have to exercise some restraint. And who thought that they’d ever hear me say that?”
“Me,” said Buffy. “It was your restraint, after the love spell Amy cast, that I remembered when Gimmel asked me who I trusted most.”
Since Faith had cooked dinner, Buffy took care of cleaning up afterwards, while Xander took Faith and Anya into the living room of their apartment to have sex with them. Buffy was somewhat bemused by the way she accepted that without question. Here she was, washing dishes, cleaning pans, and wiping off table tops, when just a few feet away, fully visible to her in their open concept apartment, Xander was fucking Faith and Anya on the sofa.
They were both there on the couch, legs pointing at the ceiling, with Xander on his knees on the floor in front of them, fucking one, and then the other, moving back and forth… Buffy scrubbed faster.
Buffy took her place on the sofa beside her mistress, with her toes pointed at the ceiling. Xander pulled his cock out of Anya’s pussy, ripped Buffy’s panties away, and plunged himself deep inside her.
Buffy exalted in the feel of Xander’s cock plunging into her wet pussy, and the feel of Anya’s fingers on her Reward Ring, and her clit. Buffy reached over to Anya’s pussy with her hand, to try to do for Anya, what Anya’s fingers were doing for her.
Xander pulled himself out of Buffy’s cunt, his fingers replacing his cock, as he moved back to Anya.
When Xander came back to Buffy, after spending time with Anya, and Faith, it was his mouth that he pressed against her cunt, licking, kissing, and nipping at her with his teeth. They went on like that for a long time, with Xander moving back and forth between the three of them. He spent the most time with Anya, since she was in the middle, and he couldn’t just pass by her to shift between Buffy and Faith, but neither of them felt short changed, because with their link fully open, whenever he was with one of them, it was like he was with them both. Sometimes it was his cock in their pussies, and sometimes it was his tongue, or his fingers, but whatever he was doing to one, the other felt.
Faith moved silently from shadow to shadow through the UCSunnydale campus. For some reason Xander’s darts had given her and Buffy different patrol areas tonight. She missed having her sister Slayer with her. So far, things had been quiet, the night was clear and cool, and she hadn’t encountered any vamps, or other demons. Her link with Buffy told her that things were almost as dull for her. She had gotten the job of staking out the grave of a vampire victim, and she’d staked the new vampire as it had still been digging its way free from the ground.
She was nearing the dorm where Willow and Tara shared a room when she heard the voices. She knew one of them. As she crept closer she recognized the other person. It was Tara’s cousin, Beth.
“…selfish bitch,” she was saying. “You don’t care the slightest bitty bit about your family, do you? Your dad’s been worried sick about you every day since you’ve been gone. There’s a house that needs taking care of… Donny and your dad having to do for themselves while you’re down here living god knows what kind of lifestyle. I can’t wait till your little friends find out the truth about you. And they will, you know. It doesn’t matter how innocent you act. They’ll see.”
“No, they won’t,” said Tara.
“They will unless you do some kind of spell on them.” Beth saw Tara’s reaction. “You did!”
“N-n-no!”
“You did something to them! I’m telling your father.”
No!” said Tara. “I didn’t do anything!”
“You think you can just go around cursing people? Your dad’s gonna pop!” Beth turned and nearly ran away from Tara. She passed within a few feet of Faith, without noticing her.
“I didn’t do anything!” Tara called out to Beth’s retreating back.
Faith briefly considered just leaving, but she decided against it. She stepped out into the light, where Tara could see her. “Hey,” she said.
Tara started at her sudden appearance. “Oh, Faith, uh…”
“So, what was that about?” asked Faith.
“N-n-nothing,” said Tara.
“You’re not a very good liar,” said Faith. At Tara’s indignant expression she added. “That’s a good thing. Means you don’t do it much.”
“I’m not—”
“So, what is it that you don’t want us to see?” asked Faith. “And what spell did you do to keep us from seeing it?”
“I didn’t do a spell,” said Tara, “yet,” she added in a tiny voice.
“Yet?” asked Faith.
“I was going to do it when you were all together at the Magic Box, but you guys didn’t show up. I’m sorry. It’s really a harmless spell, to keep you from seeing…the demon part of me.” The last bit was said in a whisper that Faith wouldn’t have been able to hear, if she wasn’t a Slayer.
“No way!” said Faith.
“What?”
“No way are you part demon,” said Faith. “Buffy might have the Slay-dar of a brick. How long had Angel been hanging around before she figured out he was a vamp? But if you had any demon in you, I’d know.”
“But the magic,” said Tara. “If I’m not a demon, where does it come from?”
“So, Willow’s part demon too?” asked Faith. “And even if it were true, who cares?”
“What?”
“Umm…what do you know about Oz?”
“Willow’s old boyfriend?”
“Yeah, did you know about him being…”
“A werewolf?”
“Yeah, and it never bothered Willow. And then there was Buffy and Angel, the vampire; Anya’s an ex-demon; I’ve killed people. Even if you do have some demon in your ancestry, it doesn’t matter. You are a good person.”
“Y-you think so?” asked Tara.
“I know it,” said Faith. “I’ve known lots of bad people, and you aren’t one of them.”
Faith and Tara walked to the Magic Box together, with Tara telling her about her upbringing, about how her family had told her about her demon heritage, that was always passed down along the female line.
“What about Beth,” asked Faith. “Is she supposed to be part demon too?”
“No,” said Tara. “She’s from my father’s side of the family. They were always clean.”
Faith shook her head. She hadn’t been able to shake Tara’s belief that she carried some demon blood, just as her mother, and grandmother had. “So, is your dad, or granddad a demon?” she asked.
“No,” said Tara.
“So, even if you’re right, you can’t be any more than one eighth demon,” said Faith.
“It only takes a single drop,” said Tara.
“God, where did you grow up?” asked Faith, “The old South? That’s what they used to say about being black. If you had just one African in your ancestry, you weren’t a real human being, and your only place was to be someone’s property. And it’s just as nonsensical with demon ancestors. You go back far enough in anyone’s family tree, you’re going to find someone who came from Africa, and since demons have been interbreeding with humans for as long as we’ve existed, the same is true for them.”
Tara looked at her. “From everything Willow’s told me about you, that’s not the sort of thing I’d expect you to say.”
Faith shrugged. “Willow’s got some issues with me, which are pretty much totally my fault, but I had a lot of time to do some reading when I was in prison. Did you know that according to some people, there was one person, who may have lived as recently as a few thousand years ago, that everyone on Earth is descended from? And if you go farther back, you find more and more people that we are all descended from. Go back twice as far and you’ll find that everyone on Earth is either one of your ancestors, or that they have no living descendants.”
“I guess I never thought of it that way,” said Tara.
“And, hey, since we’ve both got European ancestors, you probably don’t have to go back more than a few hundred years to find someone who’s in both our family trees.” Faith held out her hand to Tara. “So shake your umpteenth cousin’s hand.”
Tara laughed, and took Faith’s hand to shake. “Hi, Cuz.”
Faith grinned at her as they shook. “Hi. Welcome to the family…and if Willow’s got a problem with it, I’ll kick her ass, and then hold her down for you to spank it.”
Tara blushed. “Um…ah…”
“Hey, what are cousins for?” asked Faith.
They had nearly reached the Magic Box, when Faith heard the sound of something breaking. During her conversation with Tara she had shut down her link to Buffy, but now she let it open again, and sensed that she was in the middle of a fight with a couple of those Lei-ach demons. “Come on!” She didn’t want to abandon Tara on the street, so she swept her up in her arms, and carried her as she ran the last hundred yards to the shop, before dropping her again on the doorstep. She saw that the door had been broken open.
Inside, Buffy was fighting with two Lei-ach demons. Xander was standing protectively in front of Anya and Willow, and at first glance it looked like Giles was protecting his desk, but then Faith noticed that Dawn was crouching down underneath it.
Buffy knew that Faith was there, and kicked one of the demons in her direction, and then turned to give the other her complete attention, knowing that Faith would handle the one she’d sent her way.
With the others there, Faith didn’t mess around. She drew her knife, and went for the demon’s throat. It’s hot blood sprayed out across the room as it collapsed to the floor.
Once she’d only had one demon to worry about, Buffy had finished hers off almost as quickly, and much less messily, flipping it to the floor, and stomping on its neck to snap it.
Everyone stood still for a moment, looking around the shop, and listening for the sound of any motion. Giles stepped away from his desk, letting Dawn emerge from underneath it. “Is it over?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” said Buffy. “For now, but be careful. There might be more lurking about.”
The front door creaked on its bent hinges, and everyone spun toward it. Faith saw Tara, followed by her father, brother and cousin, enter the shop.
Mr Maclay looked around. His gaze settled on the demon that Faith had killed, its throat still oozing blood into a growing pool on the floor. “What is this?” he asked.
“Demons!” said Beth. “Just like Tara!”
“No!” cried Tara.
“What?” asked nearly everyone.
“She’s a demon!” Beth pointed to the Lei-ach on the floor. “Just like that disgusting thing, and you’d all see it if she hadn’t cast a spell on you!”
“I didn’t!” said Tara. “I haven’t cast any spells!”
“You told me!” said Beth.
“No she didn’t,” said Faith. “I was there. You jumped to a conclusion. Tara never said she’d done it.”
“But—” said Willow.
“Willow, I’m sorry,” said Tara. “I didn’t want you to see, but I never had the chance…”
“See what?” asked Willow.
“Demon,” said Mr. Maclay. Tara hung her head in shame. “The women in our family…have demon in them. Her mother had it. That’s where the magic comes from. We came to take her home before…” He looked back down at the demons on the floor. “Well, before things like this started happening.”
“You cast a spell on us to keep us from seeing your demon side?” asked Giles.
“No!” said Tara. “I didn’t cast any spells! I wanted to, but—” She cut herself off. “I’ll go.”
“Wait? Go?” asked Willow. “Why would you go?”
“It’s not the point and it’s not your concern,” said Mr. Maclay. “She belongs with us. We know how to control her…problem.”
Willow stepped in front of Tara. “Look at me,”she said. “I trusted you more than anyone in my life. Was all that just a lie?”
Tara was visibly trying to hold back her tears. “No!”
“Do you want to leave?” asked Willow.
“It’s not your decision, young lady,” said Mr. Maclay.
Willow looked at him. “I know that!” She looked back at Tara. “Do you want to leave?” Tara shook her head.
“I don’t care what she wants!” said Mr. Maclay. “She belongs with her family! I hope that’s clear to the rest of you.”
Buffy stepped toward him. “It is.” She looked at Tara. “You want her, Mr. Maclay? You can go ahead and take her.” Tara couldn’t look Buffy in the eye. Buffy turned her attention back to Mr. Maclay. “You just gotta go through me.”
“What?” asked Mr. Maclay.
“You heard me,” said Buffy. “You want to take Tara out of here against her will? You gotta come through me.”
Dawn stepped up beside her sister. “And me.”
“Is this a joke?” asked Mr. Maclay. “I’m not going to be threatened by two little girls.”
“You don’t want to mess with us,” said Dawn.
“She’s a hair puller,” said Buffy.
“And you’re not just dealing with two little girls.” Giles stepped up behind Buffy and Dawn.
“You’re dealing with all of us,” said Xander.
“This is insane,” said Mr. Maclay. “You people have no right to interfere with Tara’s affairs. We are her blood kin! Who the hell are you?”
“We’re family,” said Buffy.
Donny’s face twisted in anger, and he stepped toward Tara. “If you don’t get in that car, I swear by God, I will beat you down!”
“And I swear by your full and manly beard you’re going to break something trying,” said Xander. Donny took one look at the expression on his face, and backed off.
“Well,” said Beth. “I hope you’ll all be happy hanging out with a disgusting demon.”
Anya put up her hand. “Excuse me. What kind?” Beth just looked confused. “What kind of demon is she?” asked Anya. “There’s a lot of different kinds. Some are very, very evil, and some have been considered to be useful members of society.” She exchanged a smile with Xander.
“Well, I—I— what does it matter?” asked Beth.
“Evil is evil,” said Mr. Maclay.
“Well, let’s just narrow it down,” said Anya. Tara’s relatives just looked more confused.
“You know, I’m pretty good at sensing demons,” said Faith. “Way better than Buffy, and I don’t feel anything from Tara.” She looked at Mr Maclay. “But I’ve known men like you. You tell your tales to control the women around you, ’cause you’re a worthless piece of shit who couldn’t buy a whore to fuck him, without the tale.
“You just made up that story, didn’t you, to keep the ladies in line? Tara’s no more demon than anybody else.” She saw the look in his eye, acknowledging that she’d spoken the truth. “Fuck, you’re a piece of work.”
“I think it’s time for you to leave,” Giles told Maclay.
“Tara. For eighteen years, your family has taken care of you and supported you,” said Mr. Maclay. “If you want to turn your back—”
“Dad… Just go,” said Tara.
Mr. Maclay started to leave. He paused to look at the dead demon on the floor, and shook his head in disgust. “Magic!”
“Are you happy now?” an angry Beth asked Tara.
Tara smiled at her.
Xander shook his head. Fifteen minutes ago, Willow and Tara had been floating three feet above the dance floor of the Bronze, and it seemed that no one had noticed. But now, Buffy and Faith were gyrating together on the dance floor, and it seemed like they had captured the attention of nearly every male in the club, and quite a few of the females. He overheard more than one guy doing an unintentional Beavis and/or Butt-head impression as they drooled over the sight of the two of them dancing together.
He’d heard a few similar comments about Willow and Tara, earlier in the night, but as soon as they started floating, it seemed that nearly everyone lost interest in them. Girls dancing together: droolworthy. Girls floating: nothing to see here, move right along.
He looked around the club, picking out all of the people he cared for. Willow, Tara, Anya and Dawn were all together, talking about something that he was sure that they found fascinating, but would only confuse him. Giles was sitting off to the side at a table with Joyce. He was a little surprised that the old folks—he shuddered to think how either of them would react if he knew that Xander thought of them that way—had shown up, but it made sense for them to stick together.
Buffy and Faith were out in the centre of the dance floor, garnering the attention of everyone who didn’t have something better to capture their attention…and Xander had to admit that there was nothing in the club that was more attractive. He rose to his feet, and went out to join them.
“Life is good,” he thought to himself as he danced with his two Slayers.
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