Deadly As Sin by Talula

Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy Productions. I do this for fun, not for profit.
Distribution: The Mystic Muse: http://mysticmuse.net
The End: http://www.asifyousaw.com/fiction/
Anywhere, but ask first
Feedback: Yes please.
Spoilers: Season 6.
Author's Notes: Sequel to Seeking Out Normal. Read the first three fics in the series first or you won't know what's going on.
Pairing: Willow/Tara

Summary: Tara and the Angel Investigations team are taken over by the seven deadly sins.

Her movements were slow and smooth as she mimicked Angel. Her mind was clear of all thought. She knew only the movements of the Tai Chi. It was succeeding on what Angel had said it was meant for. It was meant to give her a sense of focus and calm. On one particular movement her balance faltered and she exhaled in frustration. Angel stopped and turned to her.

"It’s okay," he said. He grabbed a towel and handed it to her to wipe off the sweat. "We’ve been doing this for over an hour. You picked it up fast. Have you ever done Tai Chi before?"

"Never," she replied. She sat and just held the towel in her hands. "I haven’t felt that stable since before I…before Moktar. I didn’t want to stop."

"That’s understandable," Angel said. He sat next to her and they sat in silence for a moment. He gestured to her bandaged right hand. "You got a little destructive in your room the other night."

"Um, yeah," she said, flexing her hand. The slight sting was a strong reminder of what had happened. "I was upset."

She looked down at the floor. She was afraid to reveal that she was seeing the girl she had killed, being haunted in her waking hours instead of just in her sleep. It made her feel crazy. She knew she wasn’t stable, but she liked to think she had some semblance of sanity about her. Seeing dead people didn’t really put her amongst the ranks of the sane.

"Tara, if you want me to help you, you need to be honest with me," he continued. "I know you’re going through things that you don’t understand or are afraid to understand. I’ll help you understand them."

"Death comes to everybody," he said. He paused, thinking of himself. "Well, almost everybody. Men, women, children." He paused. "Willow."

"Willow’s human. Flesh and blood. She could die tomorrow or she could die in 80 years," he continued. "No matter when it happens, it won’t be because of you."

"I think you do," Angel said. "You trusted yourself the night you went with Cordy and Fred to save the twins."

"Are you kidding?" Tara asked with an exasperated laugh. "I was so far from trusting myself."

"That’s what you think," Angel replied. "But deep down you trusted yourself. If you truly believed you couldn’t keep yourself from losing control and killing an innocent, you never would have gone with them."

She had never thought about it that way. But she remembered what she had felt when Cordelia had held that axe out to her. She was more concerned about Cordelia and Fred being killed by the vampires than by her. She had trusted herself enough to risk losing control. That was something.

"I never really knew when to say this because I wasn’t really sure how to approach you at first," Angel said. "But you are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for. Based off what I know about Moktar, I would’ve expected you to come back completely lost, a vicious animal who knows nothing but killing. You’re more like the person Willow and Buffy described to me than like the person I expected you to be."

"You will have total control eventually," Angel continued. "The things that happened to you won’t go away, but they will fade. You will get back to your life."

"What about the Powers That Be and my big plan?" Tara asked with a smirk. Angel smiled. "That isn’t exactly the life I was looking for."

"Yeah, I know," he replied. The two of them stood and headed for the stairs, on their way up from the basement to the lobby. "Wes has been working on that, but so far we don’t have anything."

"That’s comforting," Tara replied sarcastically. "Nothing like going into a situation blind."

They walked into the lobby and Wesley looked up. He gestured for them to join him in the office.

"I’ve been waiting for you two to show up," he said. "I think I have something."

Intrigued, the two of them waited impatiently as he sorted through his papers. Finally he held up his notes for them to see, pointing to a phrase in a different language.

"I was looking over the shanshu prophecy again and I found this phrase," he said. "This is just a preliminary translation, but I believe this phrase means ‘keeper of earth.’"

"Precisely," Wesley said, his excitement of his discovery showing through. "I’m fairly certain about the portion that means ‘keeper of’ but the last bit could mean several things, including ‘earth.’ I’ve been cross-referencing several ancient languages to verify this. However, I do believe that this passage is referring to you, Tara."

"Were you able to translate anything else?" Angel asked. "Do you have any idea what her role in the prophecy is?"

"Not yet," Wesley replied. He sat in the chair behind the desk and glanced over his notes. "So far, all I have is that phrase. I will keep working on it."

"Good. The more we know the better," Angel said. He shot Tara a look, thinking about their earlier conversation. "No going into this blind."

Tara smiled and then thought about this discovery. Part of her was excited to know what she had in store in her future. Another part of her was terrified. Angel and the others had given her the impression that this prophecy was a major prophecy, a long-term deal working for the PTB. When Lorne had said the PTB had a big plan for her, she hadn’t expected it to be this big. She wasn’t sure she was ready for it. And no matter how much Lorne said she still had free will, Tara knew she couldn’t turn her back on this. She didn’t truly have a choice. She had to see it through, no matter how long it took.

She looked up when there was a knock on her door. Cordelia was there holding a piece of paper.

"Willow e-mailed you," she said as she handed the paper to Tara. "I printed it out for you."

Cordelia was about to walk out when she turned back. Tara hadn’t started reading the e-mail yet.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked. Tara nodded her head. "You and Willow...I mean, it surprised me. You’re nothing like Oz...or Xander." She laughed sheepishly. "Well, of course, you’re nothing like them. They’re guys and you’re a girl. But still...I guess I’m just confused. The Willow I knew seemed really into guys. I guess I’m trying to figure out where this came from."

Tara smiled and sat on the bed. "Well, I didn’t know her before Oz left. So I don’t know what she was like. I honestly don’t know if we’d be together if Oz hadn’t left. The way she talks about him...well, I would’ve had some competition. I like to think we would still be together, that she would’ve left Oz. I don’t know."

"You don’t? As close as you two seem, I would think you would know," Cordelia said. She sat next to Tara on the bed. She knew Tara was going to be with them for a while. She wanted to make an effort to get to know her, earn her trust and hopefully become her friend.

"You can never be sure about things that are never going to happen," Tara said. "When Willow and I met, there was this immediate connection. It was spiritual and strong. I saw her and I just knew."

"That she was my soulmate," Tara said quietly. "She didn’t know. At least not consciously. But I knew from the start."

"Yeah," Tara replied. She remembered the day that Willow figured it out. It had been a difficult day. She had been so worried that she would lose Willow after just finding her. "It was one huge emotional rollercoaster. Oz came back and he had learned to control his werewolf side so he could be with Willow. Things got really crazy."

"But she chose you," Cordelia said with a smile. Tara nodded her head. That night she had spent with Willow was worth everything that had happened during the day. "And now you’re here."

"Life’s crazy like that," Cordelia said. She stood. "Well, I’ll leave you alone."

"Hey, Cordelia," Tara called as Cordelia was in the doorway. She turned back. "Thanks for that. I don’t have a whole lot of friends. Or family really. All I’ve got is the Scoobies."

"Well, now you’ve got us, too," Cordelia replied with a smile. She walked out of the room and Tara turned her gaze to the e-mail. It was a lot shorter than she had expected it to be. Only two short paragraphs. As she read it, she was filled with surprise, confusion and extreme concern.

That was the end of the e-mail. Tara stared at it in awe. She didn’t understand it. Willow had seemed fine. She had been worried about Tara, but nothing from before had indicated anything was wrong with Willow herself. She set the paper on the bed and hurried out of her room.

"I need a phone," she said when she got to the lobby. Cordelia was confused by the change in Tara’s demeanor but quickly handed the cordless phone over.

"I don’t know, but I have to call Willow," Tara said. She moved across the lobby for some privacy as she dialed the numbers to Buffy’s house.

"Hello," Buffy answered. Tara was almost relieved that Buffy answered. She could get an explanation and possibly a warning on Willow’s current emotional state before she spoke to Willow.

"Buffy, it’s Tara. I got a really confusing e-mail from Willow," she said. "What’s going on? I was tempted to get on a bus back to Sunnydale."

"That might not be a bad idea," Buffy said, sighing at the end of her sentence. Tara could tell Buffy was just as worried about Willow. "I don’t know what the e-mail said, but I guess it’ll be no use to lie to you. She’s a mess."

Tara was silent for a moment, a lump forming in her throat. She wondered if this all would’ve happened if she had stayed in Sunnydale.

"What happened? She didn’t explain it very well," Tara said. "She said she went to Rack. Is that true?"

"Yeah, she did. She took Dawn there," Buffy said. There was still a twinge of anger left in her. When she had found out that Willow had dragged Dawn with her to Rack she had wanted to hit Willow herself.

"Oh my god," Tara said, disbelief filling her. "I’ve heard of Rack. I was hoping it wasn’t true. He’s a dealer. Dark magicks. How did she even find out about him?"

"Amy. She de-ratted Amy and they went to him," Buffy explained. "They went on a power binge and it messed Willow up bad."

"Is Dawnie okay? In the e-mail she said she hurt Dawn," Tara asked. She was concerned, but she was still struggling with disbelief over Willow’s trip to Rack. Part of her wanted to find Amy and hurt her for introducing Willow to the dark power dealer.

"They got in a car accident. Dawn’s wrist is broken," Buffy replied. "I’m not sure what we should do. Right now we’re going with the ‘no magic, cold turkey’ approach. I don’t know if it will work. I called Giles, but he didn’t answer and of course with him being all stuffy and British he doesn’t have an answering machine."

"Why don’t you just go to his apartment?" Tara asked, not understanding how Giles’ lack of an answering machine would keep him from helping Willow.

"Oh, you don’t know," Buffy said. Tara heard the discouraged tone in Buffy’s voice and realized the bad just kept coming. "Giles left. He went back to England. He said that I was becoming too dependent on him. I don’t know. Maybe he was right. Maybe we should be able to do this without him, but my first instinct is to go to him. I just want to help Willow. I can’t stand to see her like this."

Tara’s heart sank. She had become used to the Giles safety net, too. With her own father being a controlling chauvinist, Giles became her father. He was the father figure to the whole group. If Buffy was this worried she couldn’t even imagine how bad it really was. She was scared to find out.

"No, she’ll want to talk to you," Buffy said as she headed for the stairs. "I think it might help."

"O-okay," Tara said. She was nervous. She wasn’t sure what to expect. She heard Buffy’s muffled voice when she got to Willow’s bedroom.

There were noises as the phone was passed on and then Willow’s voice, trying to be cheerful when it was impossible.

The cheerfulness was a paper-thin façade. Tara could hear how exhausted and weak and scared Willow was. She very nearly could feel it as if Willow was sitting next to her.

"I’m going to ask a stupid question, but I don’t know what else to say," Tara began. "How are you?" There was a long silence. "Okay, it wasn’t supposed to be like the SATs."

"Everything just happened so fast. I de-ratted Amy and we were hanging out and we were doing all this magic," she explained. "The next day I felt drained and she took me to Rack. I’ve never felt power like that. When the power was gone I felt drained again, and I felt horrible."

"God, I took Dawnie with me, and she wanted to go home and I just dragged her along," Willow said, her voice shaking with emotion. "I could’ve killed us both. I’m so stupid."

"You’re not stupid," Tara said firmly. "You screwed up and you got caught up in something dangerous. The power Rack deals with is intoxicating. Dark magicks are like an extremely potent drug. And when you come down, you come down hard."

"I know," Willow said. "I came down like an anvil. A cartoon anvil that makes a deep, anvil-shaped hole in solid ground."

"Yesterday I got the shakes and I was cold and sweating at the same time and I started hallucinating," Willow said. "And then when I got sane enough and stopped shaking enough, I sent that stupid e-mail to you. You must think I’m so pathetic and weak."

"Never," Tara said confidently. "I would never think that about you. You lost control. People lose control. We all do. I do. Buffy does. It’s what we do. But you chose not to stay lost. You’re strong enough for that. You will get better. I know you will."

There was silence and Tara simply waited for Willow to say something. She could hear Willow’s breathing change. It was ragged and then she sniffed. She was trying not to cry. Tara could tell. It brought tears to her own eyes.

"I’m so scared," Willow said through a choked sob. "I don’t wanna hurt anybody."

"I know. Believe me, I know," Tara said. Did she ever know. She couldn’t stop her own tears as she spoke and tried to reassure Willow. "You just have to take everything one step at a time. Don’t even think about tomorrow. Just think about an hour from now." She looked at her watch. "That’ll be six pm. That’s dinner. Think about if you want to eat anything or what you’re going to eat. Think about simple things and when you get to big things it won’t be so bad."

Willow continued to cry and Tara simply let her get it all out. It wasn’t the same as being in the room with her, but it was working well enough.

"I miss you so much," Willow said, her voice desperate. Then something dawned on Tara. It terrified her that what she was about to ask could possibly be true.

"Is that…is that the reason?" she asked nervously. "Is it because I’m not there?"

"No," Willow said quickly. She forced herself to stop crying. "No, that’s not the reason this happened. I think this would’ve happened either way. I just…I just miss you. Right now everything that rolls around in my brain finds its way out my mouth. You’re not the reason this happened. This is all me."

"Okay," Tara said quietly. There was silence again before she spoke. "I love you so much."

"If you need to talk about any of this, call me," Tara said. "Anytime. I’m starting to become a night person around Angel. I might even get a cell phone."

"You? A cell phone?" Willow asked, a humorous lilt to her voice. "Miss I Won’t Open My Own Free E-mail Account?"

"Yeah, that’s me," Tara said with a small laugh. Willow could still crack jokes. That was good. "Well, I should let you rest."

"Thank you for calling," Willow said. "It helped to hear your voice. And you can call me anytime too. Don’t worry about waking up Buffy or Dawn. They’ll get used to it. I haven’t forgotten what you’re going through. We’ve both got problems."

"Yeah, I guess that’s why we’re soulmates," Willow replied. There was a pause. "Okay, so I should go I guess. I love you."

Tara hung up the phone and just stared at it. She wanted to be in Sunnydale. She wanted to hold Willow again. She wanted to comfort her and find comfort in her. She wanted everything to be okay and not hurt. But that would all take time. Time was something she felt there would never be enough of.

Kravnik ran up the stairs lugging his bag with him as best he could. The weight strained on his shoulders but he pressed on. Finally he reached the top of the stairwell and shoved open the door that read ROOF ACCESS, throwing himself out onto the roof of the skyrise. The sounds of the city assaulted his ears, carried upward through the wind. When the door slammed behind him, he turned to look back at it in surprise. He placed his bag on the pavement and returned to the door, barricading it with every moveable object he could find on the roof. Then he began to set up.

The first item he removed from his bag was an ornate clay urn. It had gold trim around the bottom and the top with gold leaf markings all over it. The markings resembled hieroglyphics. Seven precious stones – ruby, sapphire, emerald, diamond, opal, topaz, jade – circled the urn at the middle. Kravnik placed the urn carefully and then pulled the rest of his supplies.

He surrounded the urn with seven candles, each candle matching the color of one of the stones. He lit each candle with matches he had taken from a hotel bar. Then he pulled a handful of runes from his bag. He tossed them into the circle and then began chanting in another language, an ancient and dead language.

As he chanted, the candle flames flared up and an energy field started to form directly above the urn. Crackles of electricity sparked and flashed as the field expanded. It started to move downward toward the urn.

He stopped chanting briefly when a loud banging broke his concentration. Someone was trying to get out the door. He knew he didn't have much time and he continued, ignoring whoever – or whatever – was trying to get through that door. He watched the energy move down around the urn and then completely surround it, taking on the shape of the urn, like an electrical coat of paint. Finally the urn disappeared completely and the candle flames returned to their typical state.

He stood and looked around. His barricade was starting to fall apart. There was no escape. The obstacles fell aside and the door flew open suddenly, Kravnik's attacker standing tall in the doorway. He backed up until his legs hit the ledge of the roof. He looked down to see cars driving by 50 floors below. Desperate, he climbed up on the ledge as his assailant approached. He made eye contact with the dark figure approaching him and then he jumped, falling quickly down until he struck the pavement.

Wesley and Tara were in the office poring over research. Angel and Gunn were out on a routine patrol. Fred and Cordelia were meeting with a new client, a young woman named Cindy who was being stalked by someone who was less than human. At the moment the only thing any of them knew was that the stalker was not human but was not vampire either. They were attempting to get more information from the woman before proceeding.

The two in the office both looked up when they heard a sound similar to a lightning strike. Then they heard Cordelia's voice.

"Wesley," she called. When they joined Cordelia, Fred and Cindy in the lobby they saw the three of them staring at the floor. Following their gaze, Wesley and Tara saw a large, ornate urn, adorned with gold markings and jewels.

"What's going on?" Cindy asked. She knew there was something strange about her stalker. That's why she had come to Angel Investigations rather than the police. But things just kept getting weirder as time passed.

"We're not sure, Cindy," Wesley said, trying to be soothing. "But I'm sure there's nothing to be afraid of."

He received a look of disbelief from Cordelia. "Do you think there's something inside of it?" she asked, trying not to display her doubt in front of Cindy.

"Possibly," Wesley replied. "But we shouldn't open it until we know where it came from."

"Do you think it's even safe to touch it?" Fred asked. She stepped forward and crouched down, peering at the urn with curiosity. "It doesn't look dangerous."

"Looks can be deceiving," Tara said, glancing at Wesley who had been about to say something similar.

Suddenly the doors to the hotel burst open as Angel came stumbling through, struggling with someone. It was a vampire. He spun and threw the vampire into the lobby. Gunn soon followed, his own vampire pursuing him. The vampire lunged at him, but Gunn ducked and flipped the vampire over onto his back.

Fred and Cordelia quickly guided Cindy back behind the main desk. Wesley rushed over and grabbed the crossbow from the weapons cabinet. Tara hurried into action when she saw Gunn's vampire had him pinned to the floor. She grabbed the vampire by the arms and tossed him aside. As the vampire started to gain his footing he cried out in surprise. The arrow in his chest began to fall to the floor as he turned to dust. Tara turned to help Angel, but she was caught off guard as Angel came crashing into her. The two of them fell backward, striking the urn and knocking it over. Wesley quickly fired and dusted the second vampire. But soon they were all knocked off their feet.

When the urn fell over, the lid clattered off of it and various colored mists emanated from the urn. Each different mist traveled through the air and struck one of the seven people. When the mists disappeared they were all left on the floor, stunned.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Gunn asked sharply. Vampires he could handle. Funky colored mists weren't his forte. Everyone started to stand.

"It poofed out of thin air," Cordelia said as she, Cindy and Fred rejoined the others. Wesley was gathering the urn and its lid.

"Cordy and Gunn, why don't you escort Cindy home?" Angel suggested. The two of them nodded their heads. Angel turned to Cindy apologetically. "Sorry about all this. I promise we will help you."

"Okay," Cindy said. She looked confused and frightened, and it appeared that she felt agreeing with Angel would be the best course of action. She followed Gunn and Cordelia out the door, hoping that things wouldn't get any weirder.

Cindy pushed her apartment door open, and Gunn and Cordelia followed her in. Gunn stretched his arms out as if he were tired. Cordelia looked around impatiently.

Instead of turning to the door, Gunn moved over and flopped down on Cindy's sofa, leaning back and stretching out his legs.

"I think I should stay here and protect Cindy," Gunn said, his intent not entirely selfless. He picked up the television remote and pressed the power button. A basketball game appeared on the screen and he grinned. His voice was mingled with a yawn, "Her stalker might come back."

"Then give me the keys to your truck," Cordelia said. Gunn lazily tossed the keys across the room to her. "I'm not sticking around."

Cindy watched Cordelia walk out the door and smiled. She slipped off her shoes and walked over to Gunn, a sultry smile spread across her face.

"I thought she'd never leave," she said as she sat on the sofa next to Gunn. She ran her hand up his stomach and chest, letting it rest on his shoulder. "It's better with just the two of us, isn't it?"

"Sure," Gunn muttered absently, his eyes transfixed on the television. She stood and backed away.

"I'll be right back," she said. "I'm going to change into something a little more…appealing."

"Whatever," he said. At a commercial, he flipped the channel, disinterested in what Cindy was saying.

Tara stared at a book, her mind having abandoned research long ago. She had been attempting to help Wesley research the urn, but her concentration wasn't on research. She felt an unfocused anger and hatred forming within her. It had come upon her suddenly only an hour ago. It was fueling her instinct to kill.

She set the book she was holding down at the edge of the desk and consequently knocked other books and notes onto the floor. As she cleaned them up she came across a sheet of notes. The name Shi-Ryo was written at the top of the page in her own handwriting and lines branched out from it, tracing the lineage until the bottom of the page. She stared at the two names at the bottom – Tomi and Toshi Rakan. Suddenly her anger and hatred had focus.

"Death comes to all you touch," the girl said. Tara looked up, but she wasn't afraid this time. Her need for vengeance didn't allow fear. "You create death."

"I create death," Tara repeated. She crumpled the piece of paper and threw it across the room, the dead girl smiling at her success. When she went into the lobby she found Angel pacing impatiently. Wesley was at the front desk examining the urn. Fred was nowhere to be seen.

"You know, I'm going to go make sure Cordy and Gunn got Cindy home safe," Angel said. "They probably got attacked and need me to save them. Wes, you keep on that urn."

"I'd rather help you save Gunn and Cordelia," Wesley said, a slight wine in his voice.

"I need you on that urn," Angel said. He headed out the door. "I'll be back later."

"Where's he going?" Tara asked, a scowl creasing her brow. Wesley looked up briefly. If Tara hadn't been focused on one thing, she would've noticed the pout on his face.

Tara turned to the weapons cabinet and grabbed a black bag out of the bottom. Then she began loading weapons into it. She closed the bag and walked out of the hotel without another word to Wesley.

"Correction. I'm just his sidekick," he said, watching Tara with disappointment. Then he turned back to the urn, wishing he was anywhere but in the hotel.

On his way to Cindy's apartment Angel took a shortcut through one of LA's many dark alleyways. He was greeted by several men of the undead persuasion. They seemed pleased to see him. Afterall, he appeared to be outnumbered.

"Angel," one of them said. Angel simply shot them a smug smile. "We've been waiting for the opportunity to take you down."

"Give it your best shot," he said, his smile not leaving his lips. The vampires growled and they charged, pulling Angel into a fight they were sure they would win.

Wesley was still researching the urn, muttering to himself about how he wished he could be out protecting the innocent instead of always being the researcher.

"Where did this come from, Wesley? Translate this text, Wesley," he muttered. "Kiss my arse, Angel. I should be out fighting evil. Instead, I'm studying."

Wesley looked up at the sound of the voice to see a man in dark clothing standing in the office doorway. He walked in and extended his hand.

"Name's Kravnik and I've been looking all over the city for that urn," he said as Wesley shook his hand. "See I was guarding that urn, but there was a demon after me trying to steal it. So I sent it to someone who would protect it until I shook the demon. Only problem was that I didn't know who the protector would be. It was really hard to find it seeing as how you apparently let the sins escape. I thought the protector would be more competent than that."

"No time to repeat myself," he replied. He lifted the lid off the urn. "This urn houses the seven deadly sins in their purest form. I need to get them back in the urn. Looks like I've found envy right here."

He said a three-word phrase in the same language he had used to transport the urn to the hotel. A bright green glow flashed from Wesley and filtered into the urn. Kravnik replaced the lid and Wesley looked stunned.

"The other six sins. There are seven deadly sins, and I've only got one back so far," Kravnik said impatiently. "Where are the other six?"

"The other six," Wesley repeated. Then he remembered what had happened shortly after the urn had arrived at the hotel. There had been seven of them present when the urn was knocked over. "I'm not sure. Fred's in the kitchen, I believe."

"Lead the way, Wes," Kravnik said. Wesley wanted to ask how he knew his name, but figured that was unimportant.

He followed Wesley back to the kitchen to find Fred surrounded by empty take-out boxes and other food containers. She was currently working on a quart of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream. Kravnik repeated the phrase he had said to take back envy and shortly a white flash moved from Fred to the urn. Fred stopped eating and looked over at them. Soon a distressed look spread across her face.

"I think I'm going to vomit," she said as she dropped the ice cream container on the counter.

"Gluttony?" Wesley asked, glancing at Kravnik. He nodded his head in response. Then Wesley moved over to Fred. "No vomit just yet, Fred. We need to find the others."

"We were each possessed with one of the seven deadly sins," Wesley explained. "They came from the urn. I got envy. You got gluttony."

"Oh," Fred said. She stifled a burp and leaned on the desk. She looked more than green around the gills. "How are we going to find the others?"

"I'll start by calling Cordelia," Wesley said. "She and Gunn never came back from escorting Cindy home. Perhaps they're still at Cindy's place."

When Cordelia answered her cell phone, the background noise suggested to Wesley that she was certainly not at Cindy's.

"Cordelia, where are you?" he asked. She was shouting over the noise around you.

"I'm at the casino and I am on fire!" she shouted. "Look Wesley, I've gotta go. You're messing up my concentration."

"Cordelia!" he shouted, but it was too late. She had already hung up. "She's at the casino."

"I'm not sure," Wesley said. "We could try Cindy's address that we have on file."

"She's probably there," Fred said. "She was pretty freaked out by what happened earlier. She probably wouldn't want to go anywhere."

"That may depend on which sin she has. After we take care of greed that would leave sloth, lust, pride and wrath," Wesley said. "I'm not even sure who would have which sin."

"They tend to gravitate toward those who are predisposed to them if possible," Kravnik explained. "That's usually how it works."

They started to head out of the hotel when Angel came in. He had a confident grin spread across his face.

"I've killed three demons and dusted five vampires in one hour," Angel said. "I'm too damn good at this."

"That would be pride," Kravnik said. He removed the urn lid, said the required phrase and a silver glow flashed from him to the urn. "Three down, four to go."

"We'll explain on the way to the casino," Wesley said. The four of them walked out of the hotel on their way to retrieve the remaining sins.

Tara walked into the lobby of Wolfram & Hart, the large black duffel bag clutched in her right hand. Nobody moved a muscle because she was using her power to keep them virtually frozen against their will. She had done this to the entire building. Everyone was under her control now. But there was one person in particular that she was focused on. She made her way to the elevator and pressed the button for the tenth floor, having found Lindsey McDonald's office number in the building directory.

When she walked into his office he was staring forward fearfully. He couldn't move and couldn't speak. He was completely helpless. She set her bag on the floor, opened it and removed chains.

"You will pay for what you did," she said, glaring at him with a hateful gaze. She grabbed him by the throat, pulled him out of his chair and threw him over the desk. He hit the floor hard but didn't move once he landed. He couldn't move as she chained his wrists to the leg of his desk. "You killed two innocent teenagers. Now you'll feel the wrath you deserve."

When Angel, Wesley, Fred and Kravnik got to the casino they deduced that the large crowd around the craps table probably had something to do with Cordelia. They forced their way through the crowd and heard Cordelia's voice.

"Come on. Mama needs a brand new pair of Prada camel-skin boots," she said. She threw the dice, got the number she wanted and the entire crowd cheered. Kravnik quickly said his chant and a black glow passed from Cordelia to the urn. She looked around, confused momentarily. Then she saw the huge pile of chips in front of her and the expectant looks on the faces of her audience. "Um, I think I'm gonna cash out now."

A disappointed groan came from the crowd and Cordelia apologized as she gathered her chips. She followed the others out of the crowd. She started to make her way to cash out.

"Angel, this is fifty thousand dollars," she said. He looked at Kravnik, who rolled his eyes. Then he turned back to Cordelia.

Lindsey screamed as Tara focused her powers on him. His features were flushed from heat.

"My species of demon can harness the elements of the earth, all elements," she said. "That includes all of your elements. I'm making your blood boil right now. It's justice for what you did to the twins. More than justice."

Because she was letting him scream, Lindsey discovered he could speak as well. "Please, stop! I'm sorry!"

"You're sorry?" Tara asked, a disbelieving grin spread across her face. "I doubt that. You work for evil. You're just trying to save your guilty, evil, tainted soul. It won't work."

She focused harder and he screamed as the intensity of his boiling blood increased. She looked down at him, her eyes cold and cruel. He would pay for what he did.

When they arrived at Cindy's, they didn't even bother knocking. They walked in to find Gunn lying on the sofa with Cindy on top of him. They were both still clothed at the moment, but it appeared Cindy was working on changing that fact. Kravnik said his chant and a yellow and blue glow passed from each of them to the urn. They stared at each other and then Cindy jumped to her feet. Gunn sat up. Both of them appeared extremely embarrassed.

"Uh, don't worry about it. We were both...I mean...uh..." Gunn began. He turned to the others in the doorway. "What's going on?"

"Well, that was sloth and lust," Kravnik said. He looked disappointed. "I was really hoping wrath would've been one of the first ones that I found."

"Aside from me, she's probably the worst person to get that one," Angel said, sharing Wesley's concern. "We have to find her."

"And I repeat, what's going on?" Gunn asked. "Not that Cindy isn't a perfectly fine woman, but why were we about to get it on?"

"We were each possessed by one of the seven deadly sins," Wesley replied. "They came from the urn."

As if on cue, Cordelia held her hand to her head and clamped her eyes shut as a vision assaulted her mind. Angel caught her as she collapsed. She saw blood and weapons. Then she saw Lindsey. Then Tara. Everyone waited patiently for the vision to pass.

"Wolfram & Hart," Cordelia said with a gasp as Angel helped her stand. "She's going after Lindsey. She's going to get revenge for the twins."

"We have to stop her," Angel said. "If Tara kills Lindsey it will destroy her. She's worked too hard to have that happen."

They apologized to Cindy and then they all left to find Tara. When they arrived at the law firm, Wesley turned to Angel.

"I don't care. At this point, Lindsey will be happy to see us," Angel said. The group walked into the law firm and was surprised to see everybody just sitting or standing in place. Nobody moved. Nobody even acknowledged their presence. That's when Wesley realized what was going on.

"Tara probably did this with her power," he explained. "That's how she planned on getting to Lindsey."

"Let's hope she hasn't done any permanent damage," Angel said. He led the others to the elevator and up to Lindsey's office. When they reached the tenth floor they heard Lindsey scream and hurried into his office to find Tara standing over Lindsey. "Tara, stop."

She looked up and glared at them. She grabbed a dagger and held it to Lindsey's throat threateningly. "He has to pay for what he did."

"And he will, but not like this," Wesley said. "You have to let him go, Tara. You don't want to do this."

Kravnik chanted and a red glow passed from Tara to the urn. But much to everyone's surprise, her position didn't change. Her gaze turned to Lindsey and she still held the dagger.

"Tara, drop the knife," Cordelia said pleadingly. "You know this isn't right. This isn't what you want. It isn't what Willow wants."

Angel stepped forward and Tara shot a furious look at him. He stopped walking and crouched down to be at eye level with her.

"If you kill him, you'll become him," he said. "You can't kill a human. Not now. It's not who you are."

She continued glaring at Angel for a moment, and then she turned to Lindsey. Except the face she saw wasn't Lindsey's. It was the face that haunted her dreams and her waking hours, the girl she had killed in Moktar. The she recoiled, falling backward and then scooting away. She dropped the dagger and stared fearfully. Lindsey's face replaced that of the girl, but it had been enough. Tara released her hold on Lindsey, but he didn't move much. He was in too much pain to move. Tara simply kept staring at him, tears welling in her eyes. Angel stood and offered his hand to her. She didn't take it at first, too appalled by what she had almost done. Finally she took it, her gaze not leaving Lindsey.

"It's never going to stop. She's never going to go away," she muttered, her voice wavering.

Everyone except Angel was confused. He rested his hand on Tara's shoulder. "Look at me." She slowly complied and saw the sympathy and understanding in his eyes. "She will go away. She can't control who you are. Only you can do that. It's up to you to make her go away."

"I don't know if I can," Tara said. She looked over and saw Lindsey staggering to his feet. He stumbled over to the desk and reached for the phone, but in a split second Angel was next to him, grabbing his wrist.

"We just saved your life," Angel said, his voice threatening. "Tara could've killed you in a heartbeat. So could I. You're going to say thank you to us and you're going to let us walk out of here."

Lindsey stared at him, glanced at Tara and then looked back to Angel. He jerked his arm away from Angel and sat in a chair nearby. A forced smile twisted his lips. "Thank you."

They all turned then, leaving Wolfram & Hart. Tara hadn't released her hold on the rest of the building yet. She didn't release it until they were in the car and well on their way back to the hotel.

"I don't understand why I got greed. I'm not greedy," Cordelia said in annoyance. Angel and Wesley raised an eyebrow at that statement. "Well, I'm not anymore. Just because I like Prada…"

"Kravnik said we all got the sin we were predisposed to," Wesley said. "I'm not thrilled that I got envy, but apparently it's a character flaw."

"But maybe you want to be," Fred said. "We work pretty hard around here. It would be nice to have a day off."

"You're not at all upset that you got gluttony?" Cordelia asked. "Because I saw all the stuff you polished off in the kitchen. That is so going to your hips."

"Don't remind me," Fred said, holding her hand to her still aching stomach. "I guess I do tend to overdo things, though."

Tara was sitting with the group, but Angel noticed she didn't seem to be listening. She was staring off at nothing, obviously lost in thought about what had almost happened as a result of the sin she received. After a while she looked up and noticed Angel watching her. They held eye contact and then she stood.

"I'm going to make a phone call," she said as she walked over to the phone. Cordelia followed her, pulling something out of her jacket pocket.

"Hey, Tara," she said. Tara turned and saw Cordelia was holding a small, silver cell phone out to her. "Here, this is yours."

"I was kind of half-eavesdropping on your phone call with Willow the other day," she confessed. "With no phones in the rooms here, I figured you would need this so you can call Willow whenever you need to. Or vice versa."

"I already called and left the number on Buffy's answering machine," Cordelia continued. Tara kept eye contact with her, thanking her silently before Cordelia returned to the rest of the group. Tara took the phone with her and went up to her room, dialing the phone number as she went. It was late, but Willow had said to call anytime. Her sleepy voice greeted Tara after three rings.

"It's me," Tara said simply. She wasn't ready to tell Willow about the reason for her call, but she had to talk to her. Willow's voice would comfort her. Hearing her voice made her closer. It made things hurt less, and unbeknownst to her, it worked the same for Willow. She closed the door to her room and settled in for a long phone conversation, both of them feeling complete again, even with miles between them.

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Deadly As Sin

by Talula

Copyright © 2004

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