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Witch's Faith
"Get... out... of... my... way!"
The Slayer was enraged. Willow was becoming a major problem, and Buffy's patience was at its limit. The witch blocked the door, hurt and angry. "I am coming with you! You need me!"
Buffy brought her face to Willow's. "I do not need you." She shoved Willow aside and went out to patrol.
Willow turned after Buffy, eyes tearing and hands balled into fists. The Slayer got in the car with Xander and Spike... and Tara. Tara looked away when Willow caught her eye. The Scooby gang drove off to fight evil as usual. But, thought Willow, they don't want me anymore.
Willow sat on the steps and cried. The more powerful she became, the less her friends wanted to do with her. Of course, she had made some mistakes, but the potential to do good with her power was incredible. Exercising that power brought Willow indescribable joy. Letting that power go to waste was unthinkable.
Willow had lost Tara, the love of her life, and she didn't know why. She had lied to Tara, been rude and insensitive, and even wasted the second chance Tara had given her. She admitted that. But... they were meant to be together! And relationships have problems like that. People get through them. So why did Tara keep away still? Why did Tara insist that she was right to begin with–that Willow was abusing magic? Willow wanted that fight behind them, and yet week after week Tara avoided her. And now she was losing not only Tara, but all of her friends, who had shared so much with her for so many years.
Dawn came out and sat beside Willow. She had been watching Willow cry for some time, hesitant to approach. Willow was just not herself anymore, and it made Dawn afraid. Tara had been right to leave. But Dawn couldn't just let Willow cry alone. So she sat beside the witch, hoping there would be no angry outburst. She knew what it was like to feel left out by the gang.
And yet Dawn knew Buffy was right not to let Willow join her anymore. Willow had put them all in danger again and again, and made no distinction between black magic and white. The end justified the means, for Willow. And the end was pure selfishness as often as it was the desire to do good. The witch was slowly but surely becoming blinded by power.
Yesterday had been the last straw. The Scoobies had been wiping out a gang of vampires with great efficiency, when a second group appeared unexpectedly and came to their aid. Willow had a spell on the tip of her tongue that she was just dying to try. She was just waiting for any excuse–and now she had one. Her spell would create magic warriors out of the dirt itself–and her friends would no longer be outnumbered.
The spell worked–but it wasn't the graveyard dirt that came to life. It was the piles of dust from over half a dozen recently-staked vampires. They couldn't bite–they were no longer vampires. But they also would not die when staked–and they were very strong. Buffy knocked limbs off–even heads–and the gray, misshapen dust vampires just kept coming. Willow had not bothered to learn how to destroy the creatures.
Fortunately, the spell was short-lived, and the creatures collapsed into dust again–just in time for the gang to take on the new vampires. Everyone was OK–but more vampires escaped than Buffy would have liked. When she realized who had re-animated the fallen vampires, she was furious. She made up her mind then that Willow would not slay with her again.
Willow had apologized for the mistake–but she didn't see why Buffy made it into such a big deal. It wasn't as if Willow was going just to run out and use the same spell again. Not without further study. Was Buffy jealous of Willow's power? Because Willow was more powerful then the Slayer herself? After all, in some ways that was true.
What hurt worse than anything was that Buffy had turned to Tara's magic instead. Tara, the less powerful of the two witches. And Tara had willingly helped Buffy to exclude Willow. Willow had never known Tara to act out of spite before, but that's what this felt like.
Dawn's small gesture of companionship made Willow feel a little better. She hugged the girl, telling herself that she did not feel Dawn stiffen briefly in fear. Dawn hugged her back, and Willow calmed down. Buffy and Tara would apologize tomorrow. She was sure of it.
They did not apologize. They acted as though nothing had happened. And then they went out slaying again. Without her. When they returned, Willow was waiting for them on the steps, cold rage in her eyes.
Buffy got out of the car and stepped around Willow without speaking. Willow grabbed her arm and the Slayer shook her off–hard. "Drop it, Willow. I'm sure you've got things you'd rather be doing than patrolling for vampires." Buffy closed the door behind her, leaned against it, and let her head slump into her hands.
Dawn approached and hugged her silently. That was just about the only way she could help anyone, it seemed. Buffy ran her hands through Dawn's hair. "Oh, Dawnie... what are we going to do about Willow?"
Outside, Willow was stalking slowly towards the car where Tara waited in back. But as she approached, Xander drove away.
Tara got out a block down the street and walked back. Willow was still standing in the same place, shaking with... anger? fear? grief?
Tara spoke first. "Sorry about that, I think you scared Xander a little. Did you want to talk to me?" Xander waited at the corner to let them have privacy.
"You just can't stand me having more power than you, can you? Was it Buffy's idea to take you slaying and kick me out? Or was it yours?"
"Nobody's kicking you out, Willow! But you are a danger to all of us. Don't you see that?"
"All I see is people I called my friends telling me they don't want me around. When I'm the most powerful ally they could have."
Tara sighed, feeling the sadness well up. The sadness that was with her always now. "I miss you, Willow. I miss how you used to be."
"And I miss you! But this is crazy... I haven't changed! You have. My power has surpassed yours and you can't deal with that."
Tara just stared. Willow was so far gone, and it was killing Tara inside. Then suddenly Willow kissed her. Without warning or invitation. Tara tried to turn away but the witch did not stop. Tara pushed Willow hard and gained some distance. "Willow! You don't want me at all! You want power over me! You want me to think what you want, do what you want... that's not love, Willow! There's no me left, then, Willow!"
"How can you do this to me Tara? You and Buffy? How can you?" Willow's voice was small and wavering. "I only want to do good. I only want to use the power I was born to have."
"You don't even know what doing good means anymore, Willow." And Tara turned and walked back to Xander's car.
Willow met the warlock Rack in secret. Money could not buy what she wanted. She had to trade the powerful and priceless ashes from a witch who had been burned to death over two hundred years ago. She kept a little for herself, and handed over the rest in a small metal box. Rack considered cheating her, but he sensed that this was not a witch he wanted to cross. He handed her a jar containing the brain of a frog that had been extinct for decades. Willow looked at it closely and nodded.
Rack knew he should just leave. But he couldn't help gloating when he had gotten the better of a deal. He turned back to Willow as he walked away into the darkness. "It's too bad you sold to me, really" he chuckled, "when vampires right here in Sunnydale are ready to buy it from me for ten times what I just gave you!"
Willow was merely annoyed. But on the way home she suddenly stopped short. Vampires wanted those ashes! And Willow knew only one thing that a vampire could do with them. A paste of those ashes would protect vampires from sunlight–allowing them to hunt prey in broad daylight!
The Slayer had to be told. Not told that Willow had supplied the ashes, of course–but that a gang of daylight vampires was about to hit the city. And Willow knew the very spell that would obliterate the ashes. With the help of Willow's magic, Buffy could destroy these vampires almost without effort.
Willow considered following the Slayer around, watching for signs of the daylight vampires, and stepping in to save the day. Maybe she could even find the vampires on her own–the ashes would take days to prepare, so there was still time. But people might have been killed already by the time Buffy learned of the threat. And unlike Tara, Willow would give her friends a third chance.
At least Willow was still invited to Scooby meetings at the Magic Box. Although everyone eyed her nervously. Especially Tara. Willow decided to wait until the end of the meeting to share her information–and win back the respect of her friends.
The meeting ended awkwardly–the group was about to go on patrol, but they weren't going to say it out loud in front of Willow.
Willow relished their discomfort. "Hey, guys, before you all go slaying–or whatever it is you get up to every night–you might want this!" She held up a glass tube, corked on both ends, filled with faintly colored mist and some kind of tiny flying insect.
Tara closed her eyes. "Please, Willow. No more black magic. Don't make this so hard."
Willow ignored this and turned to Buffy. "This spell is nearly complete, and I think you'll be glad to have it."
Buffy took the tube in her hand. The insects inside had no oxygen, but the mist seemed to keep them alive. She shuddered. The Slayer handed the tube back to Willow, kissed her gently on the cheek, turned her back, and walked out of the shop with a heavy heart. Tara, Spike and Xander silently followed. Anya looked perplexed, and went behind the counter to tidy up.
Willow ran to the door. "Wait!" But the gang was already gone. They may as well have put a stake through Willow. She felt betrayed, furious–but she did not cry. Her eyes turned very cold.
They could fight the vampires on their own, then, if that's what they wanted. They didn't deserve to know what Willow had found out.
But Willow couldn't just walk away. Fighting evil was part of her soul, and fight it she would. With or without Buffy. Or Tara.
Willow found that patrolling alone was a very different thing from working with the Slayer. Buffy often went slaying alone, and Willow felt that she was surely equal to the task herself. She had stakes, her crossbow, and most importantly, a daunting arsenal of magic. And yet, Buffy's talents were not so easily replaced. Buffy could take on five vampires at once when Willow could only handle one. Buffy could track vampires through the dark when Willow was blind. Buffy could dodge an attack by instinct before anyone else would even see it coming. And without those skills, Willow was making no progress in finding the vampires who had the ashes. There wasn't much time left, and Willow knew she was putting herself in considerable danger trying to do this alone. Reluctantly, after several days, she was forced to face facts. She needed the Slayer.
No... she needed a Slayer.
Who the hell was this Rosenberg? Faith sighted down her arm, practicing her aim even though she had no bow to fire, and spun around to land a series of brutal chops on a patched and lopsided punching bag. Faith thought back on the dozens of cellmates, lovers and temporary allies she had had in prison. Rosenberg? She was sure she knew the name. Faith had agreed to the visit, so she'd find out soon enough.
Faith's workout would have astonished the other inmates–not to mention the guards–if they had been permitted to watch. Her flips, kicks, and sheer speed would have been impossible for anyone but a Slayer. And one day, if–no... when–Faith got out of this hell hole, she would be a Slayer again. There was very little else to do with her time but prepare for that day.
Her gang stood guard around her. They knew what she could do, and her power both impressed and frightened them. Some of them had been her lovers. Most of them even by choice, but none for long. These women kept others off the equipment when Faith wanted it, and they gave secret warnings if anyone got close enough to see past them. Faith would then change to a less unusual workout.
What would she do when she got out? Return to L.A.? Sunnydale? Maybe the filthy, wine-soaked apartment outside of Boston that she had once shared with her mother? Never. She'd start fresh somewhere new. She would build her power and position, gaining the fear and respect of others. She would live an easy life. She would have beautiful men and women for her pleasure... although, truth be told, she was doing just fine without men. She would never be weak again. She would never betray herself again, as she had done when she turned herself in to the police, leading to years of senseless imprisonment. She would trust no one. She would need no one. And she would slay. She would slay until there wasn't a vampire left on this Earth.
She realized she had torn the handle off of a weight machine and rammed it through the heart of the punching bag. It wasn't the first time. Her gang would repair the damage when she left. She kicked the bag, again and again, first high then low, seeking release for the frustration and claustrophobia that always boiled beneath the calm surface she presented to the guards. Sometimes working out actually helped. Sometimes it didn't. Sometimes she woke up screaming.
The buzzer rang and Faith joined the others to shower, her energy still unspent. Would the sight of the naked bodies around her inspire her to spend her energy in other ways? Few would have sex with her willingly–she was not gentle. Most of them could be forced to satisfy her of course, but that was a danger. It was hard enough to manage sexual contact without being detected, harder still to take it by force. And she didn't enjoy rape. It reminded her of things she had done in her life that didn't sit well with her, despite her attempts to forget them. She had taken human lives. That did not hold the thrill of staking a vampire.
There was a new girl showering in the far corner. She was cute. Frightened and vulnerable. Faith should have been interested. But she wasn't. There was only one thing that could release what was pent up inside of her. Getting out of this giant cage and running. Fast and far. With a sharp stake in her hand.
Who the goddamn hell was this Rosenberg?
Continue to Episode 2 – Uncaged.
The afternoon sun turned to rain and it was the sweetest sound Faith had ever heard. She wished Willow would drive faster. A hundred miles an hour... two hundred! She was ready to slay–vampire after vampire turning to dust before her. And then she wanted sex–the real thing, not a stranger's head between her legs in the showers, forcing orgasm quickly because privacy might end at any moment. Faith wondered if her suspicions about the girl's homosexuality were correct.
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