Virgin Sacrifice

Rating: NC-17

Disclaimer: Joss owns 'em. I'm just using them for my sick, twisted purposes.

Distribution: 

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http://mysticmuse.net

Feedback: Yes, please!

Pairing: Willow/Kennedy

Author's Note: This is a 'choose your own adventure' story. I had three different endings in mind so whatever path you take will lead you to a different outcome. Those of you unfamiliar with 'choose your own adventure' will understand when you reach the bottom of part one.

Chapter 5

"You're the Slayer?" Buffy asked Tara. "You're the Slayer?" she repeated, needing to hear the question again herself.

Tara just nodded and looked toward the living room. She pushed the chair away from the table and made her way over to where Kennedy was sitting on the coffee table with a damp cloth on Willow's head.

"Can I try?" Tara asked.

Kennedy looked undecided at first and spared a glance to Buffy who nodded. Without comment she rose and moved away giving Tara space.

"Willow?…Baby?…You have to wake up Hon."

When that didn't work Tara took away the washcloth and began to rub her hands together slowly, up and down. She placed her palms on Willow's cheeks and a light blue misted seemed to settle around them. After a few moments Willow's eyes began to flutter open.

"Now don't pass out on us again Will," she warned her. "Everyone is here. See?" Tara moved to show Buffy and Giles at the end of the sofa looking on.

"I don't understand," Willow answered.

"Well neither do we but it looks like I got trapped here from another dimension."

Willow reached out and touched Tara's cheek. "You're real," Willow whispered. "You're really…real? I'm not dreaming?"

"No just one of those fluke Sunnydale things that always happen around here," the blonde said with a grin. "C'mere. Let's get you upright." She said pulling Willow into a sitting position and joining her on the couch.

"Willow," Giles began. "We're still trying to piece things together but from what we've gathered so far Tara – this Tara – as she said is from another dimension. How she got here, we're not sure."

"But you're here, right? You're real?"

"Seems so. And from what we've manage to put together, the lives we both know are nearly identical…well except for a few major discoveries," Tara said flashing a smile at Buffy.

"Oh god. Are you two…together?" Willow asked.

Tara began to chuckle and Buffy quickly began waving her hands from behind Tara. "No Will," Tara explained. "I’m the Slayer in my world. You're my lover. And Buffy and Xander are the friends we knew from high school."

Willow broke down at that point and just started to cry. Tara gathered Willow in her arms. "Shh, it's okay Will." She wasn't sure what sent the girl into a hysterical crying fit but she tried her best to comfort her anyway.

"You're here," Willow sobbed. "You're not dead. You're here."

Tara didn't release her hold but she looked to Buffy and silently asked for confirmation. Buffy gave a grim nod. Tara took a deep breath and kissed Willow on top of the head. "S'okay Willow. Calm down Baby, okay?"

Kennedy watched her girlfriend wrapped in the blonde's arms, being rocked and consoled. She felt anger. She felt nausea. But most of all she felt defeat…and hurt. She watched as Willow wiped her eyes and smiled at Tara. It was a look of relief and hope. And it cut Kennedy to the core.

Willow's expression quickly changed and the grin fell. She began to look around the room. Her eyes met Kennedy's and she began to rise to her feet.

It was too much for Kennedy to take. She couldn't have this discussion. Not here. Not now with all these people in the room. And certainly not in front of HER.

"Kennedy," the redhead called out, hoping to make her stop. But it was useless. Kennedy continued up the staircase and a few moments later they all heard the bedroom door close softly.

Willow felt torn. She wanted to stay with Tara and help fill in the blanks but she also wanted to console Kennedy, to tell her that nothing would change even though, she had to admit to herself, she didn't know that for sure. The confusion shown on her face and Willow looked to Buffy, mouth agape, not sure what to say or what to do.

"Go on upstairs Will," Buffy told her. "We'll see if we can piece together what's going on."

Willow nodded and turned back to Tara. "Promise you won't leave. Promise you'll stay until I can speak to you?"

"I can't promise I won't get sucked away like I did getting her Willow. But I'll stay of my own accord. I promise…She your girl?" Tara asked nodded upstairs.

"Kinda. Sorta."

Tara gave a nod. "How long have I been dead to you?"

Willow wasn't sure how to answer the question and she stuttered a bit. "Well it's not like it was last week."

"Two months? Three months?"

Willow still couldn't quite answer. "No, no. I-I spent months trying to get over lots of things a-and…"

"Almost a year," Buffy volunteered when she felt Willow stumbling over her words again.

This wasn't her Willow. Tara knew that. But something seemed to pull her from the inside out knowing Willow had someone in her life. Someone that wasn't her. She wanted to ask more questions. Lots of questions. How long did she know Kennedy? Were they lovers? Was she better than her…or well…this Willow's Tara?

What would happen if she couldn't get home? What if she was stuck here? Would she be forced to watch Kennedy build a life with Willow while she sat on the sidelines? Instead of giving voice to the questions she just cleared her throat.

"Why don't you go smooth things over?" Tara instructed Willow, nodding to the staircase. "The team down here will try to figure things out a bit more."

"So no leaving on your own?" Willow asked.

"I promise. No leaving on my own Will. I'll stay here until we can talk."

With that Willow nodded and made her way upstairs. She heard the group settling into the living room to start their examination of the incidents again as she opened the door to the bedroom. Kennedy was at the window, looking outside.

"Hey," Willow called over. Kennedy still didn't turn around to face her. "You okay?"

"Haven't quite figured that out yet," she answered. "Well…that's not true…I'm not okay. I'm just not sure what I am really."

Willow closed the door behind her and walked over to the window, taking Kennedy's hand in hers.

"Mind if I blankly stare out the window with you?" Willow teased.

Kennedy snorted and tightened her grip on Willow's hand. "There's room," she told her.

They both stood in silence for a few moments until Willow spoke. "I never expected something like this. I'm not…Let's just say you're not the only one not sure what to make of things at the moment."

"I'll never win," Kennedy answered, still not trusting herself to make eye contact. "It's been hard enough competing against her ghost – her memory. But now…I'll never win with her here and we both know it."

"This isn't a contest Kennedy."

"Maybe not this second but it will be."

"Hey," Willow said coming between Kennedy and the window so she could look at her. "Are you giving up on me? Because that's not the Kennedy I've come to know."

"Oh be honest Will. We don't really know each other. I mean sure we're learning more everyday but…you have a history with this woman that I can never match."

"I had a history with Tara. I don't know that woman downstairs, not really."

Kennedy paused and nervously licked her lips. "We both heard what she said. Your lives are nearly parallel…I want you Will. You know that. And not just physically…But I want all of you. I'm not sure if you'd ever want the same from me and now with her here it's…it's making it more obvious."

"How's that?"

"Because I saw the way your face lit up when you realized she was real…You've never looked at me that way…I don't think you ever will."

Willow gave a deep sigh. "Are you saying you want to call it off? That you don't want to see me…well you know…date me I mean?"

"Would you like that? Would it be easier for you?"

"Easier?" Willow answered, her voice rising a bit in anger. "No it wouldn't be easier. And no I wouldn't like that."

"It just feels like some cruel joke," Kennedy replied as she began to pace. "Here's your chance to show off all that slayer stuff you spent years studying but there's a cute little apocalypse to go along with it. And while we're at it, here's the girl of your dreams but we're gonna give her old girlfriend back to her and see how you rate."

"It's really annoying when you get flippant."

"I'm not flippant. I'm…scared. Okay? I said it. Are you happy?…I'm scared about a lot of stuff right now and…each day feels like I have less and less control over what happens. Do you know what that's like?"

"Seven years and counting," Willow said with a small grin. "Some years are worse than others I should add."

"Like the year you lost your soulmate huh? The one that's sitting downstairs waiting for you to come back?"

Willow rubbed her temple and felt a headache coming on. "She's not waiting for me. Well okay technically she is waiting for me but…She's not my soulmate. She's a version of my soulmate. And I'm not willing to throw away our time together just because a carbon copy of Tara showed up at our doorstep. Heck for all we know she could be a secret ax murderer or something."

"She's a slayer," Kennedy said with a dismal grin. "And let's face it…She's everything I'm not."

Willow threw her hands up.

"Fine. You want to throw a pity party go right ahead. I'm not joining in the celebration. You know why? Because you are special. You have power whether you believe it or not. I know what you're capable of and I know how strong you are. Anyone else might have run for the hills after I held a gun on you and babbled. Using you for power to complete a spell might have sent someone off the deep end but here you are. A-And you're also not a mindless groupie like most of those girls, going along with everything Buffy says. Of course I don't always think you're right," Willow added a bit mumbled before adding in a clearer voice. "But I do admire that you're not afraid to speak your mind…So don't tell me you're nothing. You're something to me."

Willow began to leave the room when Kennedy stopped her.

"Where are you going?"

"Back downstairs. Try to piece together what the hell happened."

"What should I do?"

"Stay here. Or come with me. It's your choice."

"I mean about us. We haven't exactly been hiding our feelings lately," Kennedy told her. "Should I…back off…keep my hands to myself…Just tell me what to do here."

Willow could hear the near sob in Kennedy's voice but she knew the potential wouldn't actually break down and cry. Tara's return hurt her and Willow had to admit it hurt her too on some level but there wasn't much she could do.

"Business as usual," Willow told her, holding out her hand. "If it doesn't make you too uncomfortable."

Kennedy gave a slight grin and walked over taking her hand. "Okay," she nodded firmly. "Just promise me one thing, alright?"

"What?"

"Be honest with me…If you decide you do want Tara… be straight with me about it."

"Straight huh?" Willow chuckled.

"Poor choice of words," Kennedy smiled before turning serious again. "You know what I mean. If you start to fall in love with her and you want her…I want you to be happy, even if it's not with me. Promise?"

Willow grinned and took Kennedy's face in her hands, giving her a gentle kiss. "Yet another reason why you're so special."

"You didn't answer my question," Kennedy told her.

"Yes," Willow nodded. "I promise to be honest with you…Are we ready now?"

"No but I gotta get it over at some point," Kennedy sighed.

Willow gave her a supportive grin and led her from the room.

Chapter 6

When they arrived downstairs they were still hand in hand. They found the group huddled around Tara as they still tried to piece together the events that brought Tara, the Slayer, to Sunnydale.

Willow could feel the tension in the room as the group noticed their arrival into the circle. "I think I owe you both a formal introduction," Willow began. "Kennedy this is…well…Tara. Tara this is my girlfriend Kennedy."

Tara gave Kennedy a nod and an appraising eye. "So you're one of the girls in line for the throne huh?" Tara asked. "The Slayer gig, I mean."

There was something sarcastic in the words and the hairs on the back of everyone's neck stood at attention. This was not good. Buffy knew exactly how much Tara felt for Willow, how deep her love for the witch ran. If this new Tara, this Slayer – with speed and strength and attitude – wanted to she could do serious harm to Kennedy.

Sure, Tara was smiling but it was icy to say the least. Buffy looked to see how Kennedy was taking it all because she knew the other young woman as well. Kennedy was wild about Willow in everyway, not to mention a hot head. And she certainly struck Buffy as a fighter. That's why she put Kennedy in charge of rounding up the girls and leading them in basic exercises while she was away at work.

She didn't always like Kennedy but she trusted her and although Buffy thought she would make the best Slayer in the bunch that didn't mean that's how the calling would work. For one Kennedy was much older than the normal 15-16 year-old girls. She just hoped that after she was gone that Kennedy would still be there to offer the support to the new chosen one. Right now however she wondered if Kennedy would live through the night if Tara decided to set her sights on Willow.

Buffy could see that Kennedy was actually holding her tongue between her teeth, waiting for a way to answer the question yet keep the peace. This was a new side she hadn't seen to the young woman - reserve. Perhaps it was even a new side to Kennedy herself.

"Yeah," she finally answered. "That's about the size of it."

"What's your specialty?" Tara asked.

"The crossbow. Among others," Kennedy smirked confidently.

Tara gave a low chuckle and sat back down on the sofa, resting her feet on the coffee table. Her fingers locked and came to rest on the back of her head. "Where you from?" she asked confidently.

"England."

"You don't look English."

"I'm American. Studied abroad."

"American? You look Mexican."

"I'm half Mexican."

"Where you from originally?"

"New Mexico."

"Rich folks?"

"They're set."

"And you? You rich?"

"If I wanted to be."

"Meaning?"

"Dad's money isn't worth the price."

"Meaning?"

"None of your damn business."

Tara chuckled again and Kennedy was near the boiling point. Willow sensed it and reached out, grabbing Kennedy's arm.

"Okay, that was a nice little get to know ya exchange. Kennedy, sweetie, would you go get me a bottled water?"

"In a sec," Kennedy said before turning back to Tara. "Anything else you wanna know?" she asked.

"Do you love her?"

Tara motioned her eyes toward Willow for a brief moment before coming back to focus on Kennedy, pinning her on the spot.

Kennedy smirked and took Willow's hand in hers knowing she had Tara's full attention. She gently kissed Willow on the cheek near her earlobe

"With my entire being," Kennedy answered as she looked at Willow again. "Anything else?" she asked Tara, still not taking her eyes off Willow.

"Nope. But if I think of something else I'll let you know."

Kennedy nodded but still didn't face Tara. She just continued to grin at Willow. "I'll be back," she told her as she made her way to the kitchen.

Once she was gone Willow turned back to Tara. "What the hell was that about?"

"Just want to be sure she's taking care of my girl. She passes so far. She's got spunk."

Where do you want to go from here?

Willow Could STILL Be Tara's Girl            Willow is NOT Tara's Girl

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