Faith sighed to herself softly as she went into the Bronze
alone. Black hair fell around her face, the simple clothing she wore
allowing maximum freedom of movement. She scanned the crowd for any
signs of vampires, feeling a bit of relief as she saw the place was
clean.
"What can I get you?" Tara asked as Faith reached the bar. The
slightly heavy brown haired young woman didn't even turn away from the
glasses she was cleaning, somehow knowing that Faith was sitting there.
"Rum and coke," Faith ordered her regular. The drink was poured
smoothly and as it was set down Faith asked, "How did you know I was
there?"
Tara smiled slightly, her expression kept carefully neutral.
"You have a distinctive scent around you," she explained.
Faith took a small drink, pausing to listen to the sound of the
ice cubes clinking together. "That's the nicest way I've ever heard
someone say I stink," she noted.
Tara's laugh was soft, her voice honestly amused as she said,
"Not stink, slayer. There's a delicate scent around you, of carved wood
and holy water, along with that perfume you wear." A pause, "It's a
pleasant combination."
Faith gave her a wary look, but decided not to argue that. She
set her glass down delicately, "You took Willow off, earlier tonight.
Can you tell me what happened?"
Tara gave Faith a measuring look. "We confirmed that Willow
indeed has a soul," the wiccan said simply, "but other than that, I'd
rather not say."
"I didn't see her or Buffy out again tonight," Faith mused,
picking her glass up again. "I wonder what happened once she got home?"
she asked.
"Not for me to say," Tara answered, her voice hard.
Faith looked at her thoughtfully, then nodded slightly, "Sorry."
She didn't know what had angered Tara, but something had. Faith finished
off her drink before asking for a refill. "This place good for singles?"
"Not bad," Tara poured the run first, then added two cubes of
ice before topping it up with coke. "Are you looking?"
"Something like that," Faith quietly agreed. She picked up her
glass, taking a little drink before smiling slightly, "Thanks." She laid
a bill down on the counter and slipped away into the crowd, not waiting
for any change.
Tara tilted her head to the side, watching the dark haired woman
stride away. 'I wonder why I complimented her like that?' she mused,
taking a towel and wiping off the counter. There was something about
this Faith, a feral beauty that she carried so well.
The house band was only mildly good, the covers handled well,
but the originals were a bit iffy. Tara found herself wishing that Oz
and the Diego's were still around, but the intense young man had left
town with his werewolf girlfriend after the Master had been slain.
There was a soft shriek, and Tara spun around to scan the crowd.
She puffed out an irritated breath, "Clem!" The dogfaced demon looked
over at her sheepishly and Tara continued, "What have I told you about
scaring the customers?"
"Sorry, Tara," Clem said, looking down in embarrassment.
Tara sighed, he was such a loser that it was hard to stay angry
at him for any length of time. "Drink your drink and try to stay out of
trouble, would you?" she asked as she poured him his usual glass of
whisky neat.
"Thanks," Clem reached to take the drink, but Tara stopped him.
"No tab," she firmly reminded him. Clem produced the money and
Tara checked it over, "Thank you very much, I know your reputation."
Tara watched him go, shaking her head. Clem had been booted from
the non-human bars for not paying his tab, as well as outstanding
gambling debts. Personally, Tara didn't really care about him being a
demon, but he was not going to run up a tab on her watch.
"Hi," the voice said from nowhere.
Tara looked up and smiled, "Hey, invisible girl." She poured a
glass of scotch even as she asked thin air, "You ever going to tell me
your name?"
"I'm not sure I even remember anymore," the voice said as small
bills were placed on the counter. The glass was picked up, it hung there
in midair, then disappeared.
"And I'm not even going to ask where you got the money from,
either," Tara said firmly. She wiped up a spill, "Have you considered my
offer?"
"You really think the circle can help me?" the voice sounded
wistful.
"They've dealt with a lot of strange stuff," Tara noted, "from
Moloch the corrupter on up. If anyone can help, they will."
"I'll think about it," and the presence that Tara felt faded as
the girl walked away.
Tara fought back a sigh. Somehow, some combination of things had
rendered the young woman invisible to everyone. The only reason Tara
knew about her was because of her skills as a witch, her practice with
seeing the unseen. She was oddly like a stray cat, skittish and nervous,
and Tara had used patience and kindness to draw her out.
"Interesting place you got here," Faith noted, the taller woman
navigating her way back to her seat. She looked curious, "What's this I
hear about this place once being a coffee bar?"
"Once upon a time," Tara agreed, "back before the Master took
over, anyway. It closed up after awhile, and I acquired it more
recently."
Faith nodded to a corner, where a woman oddly dressed in a
labcoat sat. Her brown hair was sprinkled with gray, and she had a
bottle of red wine beside her, ready to refill her glass. "What's her
story?" she asked.
Tara hesitated, "I don't know her name, we all just call her the
Professor. She was involved in a government project out near Sunnydale
called the Initiative."
"And?" Faith asked, instantly sensing there was more to the
story than that.
"The Initiative was intended to train soldiers to fight demons
and other monsters," Tara said grimly, "but they got tangled up with the
Master's forces. He nearly destroyed the Initiative, and the feds cut
funding because they thought it was useless."
"Poor lady," Faith said a bit more sympathetically.
"Don't feel too sorry for her," Tara said cynically, "she was
apparently building her very own Frankenstein's monster in the basement
using selected demon parts."
"Well, ewww!" Faith murmured. Tara had poured her another glass
when she wasn't looking and Faith took another drink. "This isn't a
demon bar," Faith said, "but you've got quite the mixed bag of
customers."
"I don't hide the fact that I'm a wiccan," Tara said mildly, "so
I think the more borderline customers don't mind coming in."
"That fits," Faith agreed, "but do you think you'll loose
customers now that the Master is gone and things are going back to
normal?"
Tara surprised her with a laugh, "How do you define normal? The
city is still vampire and monster infested and it doesn't seem to be
changing." A bit more seriously she continued, "Sunnydale was built on a
Hellmouth, one of the few in the world. It's a magnet for supernatural
trouble."
"Giles gave me that lecture," Faith said with a slight smile,
"he was nearly giddy about the variety of things that turn up here."
"Watchers," Tara rolled her eyes.
"If it is so dangerous around here," Faith looked at her
thoughtfully, "why are you here? I'd think most people with common sense
would be gone by now."
"Someone other than the Watchers and Slayers need to be here to
keep an eye on things," Tara said simply, "someone with a different
point of view."
"Fair enough," Faith got up, stretching. "I'll see you tomorrow,
maybe," she said as she walked with feline grace to the exit.
"I thought you said you were looking for someone?" Tara asked.
Faith paused. She looked back over her shoulder and smiled, "And
I found the one I want, I think. Maybe tomorrow night." And with that
odd statement she was out the door and gone.
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