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Chapter 7 Sometimes Family is a PITA, Part 1

Tara snuggled into Willow’s side. Oz was out with Lawson on patrol to give Spike and Buffy an evening alone for a change. The entire clan had been caught up in Sultana-Aurelian business lately. Even Tara and Willow had been out at the coven site helping Serina with some protection spells. Tara looked up at Willow, and she smiled happily. She wasn’t sure she could tell Willow her biggest secret yet.

“Tell me a story,” Willow whispered. She noted the look in her girlfriend’s eyes. Something was on Tara’s mind, and it was sometimes easier for the young woman to open up in other ways than outright saying what was on her mind.

“Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess.” Tara buried her face in Willow’s shoulder.

“Named Tara, right?”

“Yeah, her name was Tara. After her mother died, Princess Tara moved to a kingdom far way where she met another beautiful princess named Willow and a prince named Daniel. However, Princess Tara had a terrible secret that she was scared her new friends would find out about.”

“Terrible?” Willow asked with a quivery voice. “Terrible how?” She sent a frantic message to Oz via the clan link.

Tara ducked her head. “Princess Tara didn’t know how to tell her new friends that on her very next birthday she would turn into a demon like her mother before her.”

“Is that all?” Willow gave a shaky laugh of relief. “Why would Princess Tara think her new friends cared about that? I mean, isn’t Princess Willow a kick ass witch? Doesn’t Prince Daniel get a little furry once a month?”

“M-my father s-says that I’ll b-be evil,” Tara whispered. She switched from her story mode to talking normally about the situation.

“Your dad’s an idiot,” Willow grumbled. She sent a message of relief to Oz. Even if Tara did somehow turn into a demon, there was no way they’d be abandoning her.

“He’s going to show up to try and make me go back with him,” Tara whispered.

“Well, he can’t have you. You belong here with us.”

Tara ducked her head. “I’m not sure anyone else thinks that.”

“You’re very, very wrong.” Willow put her arm around Tara’s shoulders. “I bet the next time the gang sees you, they’ll prove it too.” She didn’t tell the other young woman about the messages she was receiving via the clan link from Buffy and Giles. Tara was going to be in for a big surprise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

THE NEXT MORNING

“Petra, send Mr. McDonald in,” RoseSeri said into her intercom.

“Yes, Ms. Hassib,” Petra’s voice floated back through the speakers.

Lindsey McDonald stepped into RoseSeri Hassib’s inner sanctum. “You wanted to see me, Ms. Hassib?” he said politely.

“Yes, I did. Come sit down.” RoseSeri waved towards the chair across from her.

Lindsey took the seat, and he looked at RoseSeri with an expectant look on his handsome features. He had no idea what his boss wanted to talk about, but he was ready for anything.

“So, what are my old buddies, the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart, up to these days?” RoseSeri asked. Her eyes glowed in reaction when she stated the dreaded names.

Lindsey rubbed the back of his neck while he wondered exactly how much he should spill about his ex-employer’s plans. He wasn’t loyal to them anymore, but breaking WRH contracts wasn’t easy. He wasn’t quite sure how the CC managed it, and he was worried that some lingering clause would strike him if he said too much. “They’re not interested in anyone in Sunnydale, if that’s your worry. They’re after Angel exclusively.”

“Hmmm, do you think we need to warn him?”

“I’m fairly certain he’s already found out that his Sire has been returned to her mortal life.”

RoseSeri sighed. “That’s what I was afraid of. Sometimes, they can be so damned predictable.”

“Do I even want to know?” Lindsey asked in a tentative voice.

“Probably not,” RoseSeri reassured Lindsey. “Needless to say, we probably should just let it play out. It’s not like we can change their minds. At least we lured you away.”

Lindsey folded his hands in his lap. “So, you did. There is something I wanted to talk to you about. I’m thinking about buying a house here in Sunnydale. Who do you recommend?”

“Well, we bought our house from Leticia Dobson at Coldwell Banker.” RoseSeri shuffled through her business cards. When she found the right one, she handed it to Lindsey.

Lindsey looked down at the picture on the card. He noted that Leticia was a very beautiful woman. “Sounds good to me. Thanks, boss.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

AT THE MAGIC BOX

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Brother Malachi,” Buffy said as introduction. “He was being held prisoner at the factory. We rescued him, along with Mr. Burns here.”

“Hello.” Malachi smiled a little when all eyes turned on him.

“Yeah, I just stopped by to let you know I went to visit Henry this morning,” Elias Burns commented. He shuddered while he remembered the blank-eyed ramblings of the woman he’d seen at the hospital earlier that day. Her words were so eerily similar to Henry’s that it very much creeped him out. “He’s not the only one who’s had some kind of mental breakdown. I heard a couple of interns talking, and one of them said there have been five this month.”

Buffy shook her head. “We need to keep an eye out at the hospital. Sunnydale is known for it’s strangeness not usually of the mental whacko kind. If we can figure out where the people are being… what on earth would it be called? Brain sucked? We could figure out where this Beast’s lair is at.”

“Ronald is at loose ends,” Willow replied. She crossed the room to look at the rolodex that contained the phone numbers of everyone associated with the clan. “Ever since he quit the army after the Initiative left town he’s been trying to decide what to do with himself. Perhaps this job could help him with that?”

“Sounds good,” Buffy replied. She directed her question towards Willow. “Can you talk to him when we’re done here?”

Willow nodded. “Sure thing.”

Malachi cleared his throat. “I haven’t told you about what the Beast is looking for.”

Spike and Buffy glanced at each other before they turned to Malachi. Buffy grabbed Spike’s hand before she opened her mouth to speak. “We’ve already had a run in with that Doc dude. He wanted the Key.”

Malachi opened his mouth to speak.

“We know where the Key is, mate,” Spike replied. “We’ll protect it with our bloody lives. You have the promise of the Sultana-Aurelius clan.” His eyes glowed blue.

Buffy’s glowed in response to Spike’s. “Absolutely.”

“So mote it be,” Anya whispered, and the other clan members present echoed her.

Tara looked down at her clenched hands. Despite Willow’s reassurances the night before, she was still quite sure that the clan would abandon her once they discovered her demonic nature. Tara trembled when Oz placed his hands over hers in her lap. It was just like the werewolf to know when either of his mates was in distress. He was pretty sensitive especially for someone that normally seemed so stoic.

Willow moved to Tara’s side where she dropped her hand to the other woman’s shoulder. It’s time, Buffy, she whispered across the bond. Tara needs to know she belongs here with us.

Of course Buffy thought in response. She turned to Malachi and Elias, and she said aloud, “I need some private time with some of my clan members. I will leave you here in Giles’ capable hands.” She took Spike’s hand, and she led him towards the back room.

Oz and Willow pulled Tara to her feet, and they followed Spike and Buffy. Behind them, they could hear Giles speaking to Malachi and Elias while Anya returned to her place at the counter.

Once they were in the back room, Buffy sat down on a small couch, and she patted the cushion beside her. “Come sit, Tara.”

Tara reluctantly left Willow and Oz to sit beside Buffy. She stared down at her hands.

Buffy took one of Tara’s hands. “Willow told me what you told her. About being a demon. Tara, what am I?”

“T-the S-slayer,” Tara stammered.

“What is Spike?”

“A v-vampire.”

“And Oz?”

“Werewolf.”

“Willow uses magic like you.” Buffy pulled Tara’s hair to the side, and she lifted the other woman’s chin. “Anya is a vengeance demon. Doyle is a half demon. I bet you didn’t know that when Giles was our age, he and some of his friends summoned a demon. Really, the only ones of us that could be considered normal would be Xander and Cordelia.”

“R-really?” Tara stuttered. Her eyes darted to Willow and Oz who were both smiling at her.

“Really.” Spike sat down on Tara’s other side where he took her other hand. He peered around Tara, and he nodded his head at Buffy.

With a smile Buffy let her Slayer Sultana bleed through. “I claim thee, Tara Louise Maclay, as one of my own, belonging to the clan of Sultana-Aurelius. My Wicca.”

Welcome, Tara. The joyful words echoed through Tara’s mind. Tears flowed down her face when her clan members embraced her physically and mentally. She truly felt loved by her ‘new family’ now which was something she never felt with her biological family.





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