"I'm so sorry," Faith said to her softly after they finished explaining, her dyed black hair falling into her eyes. Tara leaned against the bar of the Bronze, her face pale in the artificial light. Closed for the night the bar had a sad look, chairs tucked away beneath tables and most of the lights turned off. "You mean to tell me that my dead girlfriend is the enemy?" she asked weakly. "We can't be a hundred percent sure," Buffy admitted after a moment, "but the coincidence is pretty startling." Willow spoke up for the first time since they entered the Bronze after returning from their nightly patrol, her expression unusually reserved, "How many other witches named Amy have been attacked by vampires?" "Don't you dare speak of her," Tara's head jerked up to meet Willow's gaze, pure hatred shining in her eyes. "Tara," Mrs. Carpenter cautioned softly. Looking away from her teacher Tara scowled and said, "Amy wouldn't even BE a vampire if not for her!" "She didn't have a soul then..." Buffy started. Willow reached out to put a gentle hand on her arm, "No, Buffy." Looking over to where Giles stood she said, "I'll leave." Before anything else could be said she was off, her long leather jacket swirling around her as she left. "Oooh, dissed!" Dawn murmured softly from where the younger woman was sitting cross legged on a table nearby. "Dawn," Faith growled. "Alright, what else do we know?" Giles asked with a tired sigh, running his hand through his thinning hair. Buffy frowned at him but controlled her temper. "You were there," she said, "Dru and Amy, and BOTH seem to have powers." "Jenny, what was Amy good at, witchcraft wise?" Giles asked. "She was very good with fire, Rupert," Jenny conceded that point, "and also had some healing magics, too." "That makes a certain kind of sense," Giles acknowledged. "How so?" Faith asked, holding Tara's hand comfortingly. Giles took off and polished his glasses absent mindedly as he said, "The information I could get quickly from other watchers states that Dru was mentally ill... it could be that Amy was able to heal that, to some extent." "So Amy's the powerhouse of the two?" Dawn asked innocently. "No," Faith said, "records say Dru is over a hundred years old... not too old for a vamp, but not a kid either." "Do we know who made this Dru?" Buffy asked, mildly curious. "Not yet," Giles said, "but I have a records request on it's way to the watcher's council. We should hear back in a few days." "Your council needs to get out of the dark ages," Jenny sighed, "using a online database and email would save so much time." "There are traditions," Giles frowned. "Bunch of old men afraid of a new era," Jenny rolled her eyes. Faith wondered why they were arguing about that now when she noticed the faintly amused smile on Tara's face. Obviously she was used to these two arguing over this, and the young woman drew some comfort from the familiarity. "We doing anything else tonight?" Buffy asked with a frown. "I think we're done for now, B," Faith said with a sigh, looking questioningly over to Giles and Jenny. "Indeed," Giles agreed. "Then I'm going to go check on my girlfriend," Buffy said coldly. "Dawn, you want to stay with Giles or Jenny tonight?" "Hey," Dawn protested, "not the geezers!" "I'm not that old," Jenny looked offended. "Come on, then," Buffy said as they left. "G-man?" Faith raised her eyebrow questioningly. "You can have the rest of the night off," Giles agreed, "it's close enough to dawn anyway." He looked at Jenny, "May I escort you home?" Jenny reached out to pat his arm, "In a moment." she walked over to Tara's side, "Are you going to be all right?" Tara smiled faintly, "I think so... it's just a lot to digest." Jenny looked at Faith, "Keep a eye on her?" "Always," was Faith's confident answer. "I don't need watching," Tara sniffed. "Do it just to make your teacher feel better?" Jenny smiled up at her as she batted her eyes innocently. Tara's lips quirked upward unwillingly into a smile as she said, "You know how silly you look doing that?" Jenny looked impish as she explained, "Well, it makes Giles do whatever I want so I figured it was worth a shot." Faith shuddered, "Oooh, TMI!" "TMI?" Giles blinked. "Too much information," Faith explained with a roll of her eyes. "You two have a good night," Jenny said as she and Giles left. Faith hesitated, then put her arm around Tara's shoulders. Apparently it was the right thing to do as Tara relaxed against her, looking up at her with a wounded smile. "Sometimes," Tara sighed, "I wonder if the goddess has a sick sense of humor." "No argument from me," Tara sighed, thinking of some of the bizarre things she had seen over the years. "Thank you for telling me about Amy," Tara said to her softly, "it was better hearing it from you, somehow." "I thought about asking Giles to do it," Faith admitted, "but he'd be all nervous cleaning his glasses, then probably need some tea." Tara laughed unwillingly, "You're so bad." "Thanks," Faith grinned. "Hey, Wills," Buffy smiled as they turned a corner to find Willow waiting for them. "Everything all right in there?" Willow asked as she kissed Buffy gently. "Hmm," Buffy sighed once Willow released her. "Wait until we hear back from the Watchers is the current plan," she reported. "Could you two possibly be more mushy?" Dawn rolled her eyes in the way only a embarrassed teenager could. Buffy laughed, "Well, would you rather watch Giles and Jenny making goo-goo eyes at each other?" "Oh, barf," Dawn shuddered. "I'm sorry Tara acted like that," Buffy said softly. "No, it's all right," Willow shook her head, a determined look in her eye. "We all know what I was, and it's not going away." "Maybe, but you aren't like that now," Buffy squeezed her hand gently as she said, "that counts for a lot." "Thanks," Willow kissed her once more. Dawn sighed, "Looks like I'm staying in my room with the mp3 player tonight."
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