•Title: Aeternum Vale - Chapter Fourteen - Part A
•Author: FlyingPoppy
•Feedback: Here or by pm is fine.
•Distribution: No, thanks. It's just for Pens.
•Rating: R
•Pairing: W/T
•Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Willow and Tara, they belong to
ME/UPN/whoever. All other characters belong to me. I'm just writing a story to keep myself out of mischief, I'm not making any money from it.•Summary: This story is totally AU and will be long. Two girls meet and fall in love, but all is not what it seems.
•Notes:
- The hellmouth does not exist in this story but evil certainly does. A happy ending for W/T is certain, it's going to be a bumpy ride, though. Turn back now if your vehicle doesn't equip the suspension to deal...
- Thoughts in <italics>
- Many thanks to Kita and Patches for their beta work.
Chapter Fourteen - Propino Fibi Salutem!
If Natalie hadn't been so damn annoyed, Molly might have risked a laugh at the sight that greeted her as she rounded the corner at the bottom of the narrow staircase. Grace had one sleeve of Tara's brown jacket in her mouth; the other sleeve was wrapped around Natalie's hand as she pulled in a vain attempt to extricate it from the pup's steely grip. The young dog's front paws were digging into the carpet as she tried to gain some purchase, jerking her head from side to side, matching Nat's attempts tug for tug.
"Don't just stand there, Mol!" Natalie was way beyond pissed.
"Grace, leave it!" Molly's voice was deep and assured.
Grace stopped pulling and looked up at her Mistress in question, head bent low. The soggy and tattered sleeve hung from her mouth, no longer pulling, but not relinquishing.
Natalie tried to take the dog by surprise with a sudden yank, but Grace let out a deep growl and, giving no ground, pulled her head sharply to one side.
Tara reached the bottom step in time to hear a loud ripping noise. Natalie was standing in the middle of the room with what seemed to be Tara's jacket in her hand. Tara's very bedraggled jacket. Minus a sleeve. A quick look toward the kitchen confirmed this. Grace was by the kitchen doorway, sleeve in mouth. On seeing Tara, the dog gave a sad whine and turned tail to the kitchen, dropping the sleeve on the way.
Natalie bent down, intending to pick up the sleeve, and caught Tara's eye. The blonde's mouth hung open slightly in shock at what had just happened.
“Tara, I'm sorry. I...I don't know what's wrong with her,” Molly said sadly, reaching out to touch the other woman's arm.
Tara shrugged the apology off. “It's ok. Really.” She sighed and turned away from her friend, arms crossed over her chest. <Now that’s just great. What did I do?> Tara was more than a little annoyed at the turn of events.
"Stupid fucking mutt," Natalie mumbled as she stood, leaving the tattered sleeve where it lay. "You're not telling me that was just her being a puppy," she continued to Molly, angrily.
"It was an old coat anyway," Tara interrupted, half turning toward Natalie.
Natalie looked into Tara's eyes once more and saw just how annoyed she really was. "That's not the point, Tara. I've had it up to here with this," she said as she gestured to a point as far above her head as she could reach.
Molly was desperately trying to figure out some form of damage control. "I can try to sew it back together," she suggested hopefully. Maybe if the jacket turned out to be all right then Natalie wouldn't be as angry.
<Ok, this is no biggie,> Tara thought, taking a deep breath. <Don’t want to cause a huge argument resulting in that puppy going back to the pound.>
"Actually, I think I'd rather just bin it." Tara carefully knelt and picked up the slobbery sleeve. "It's full of holes anyway."
“Bin it?” Molly laughed. “Where’d you roll in from?”
“I—” Tara began to stutter.
“Would you wear that Mol?” Natalie challenged.
Tara spotted an opportunity to completely break the mounting tension in the air and go for a change of subject. “Talking of wearing things, I think I need to go change.” The blonde looked down at her attire and blushed, embarrassed on seeing the outfit in the cold light of day.
“No! We need to get you some boots to go with that. Maybe a little band for your arm or something? Nat?” Molly desperately tried to get Natalie onto another topic.
“I’ll get changed, you guys think about it,” Tara said, running up the stairs whilst at the same time trying to keep her dignity intact. The blonde couldn’t help but smile as she caught sight
of herself in the mirror as she pulled the door firmly shut.
~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m serious, Molly, I can’t take this any more. If she’s going to start chewing stuff up again... There’s a reason I don’t want kids, remember?”
If Molly thought that such a crude attempt at a subject change would calm her fiery girlfriend, then she was severely mistaken.
“I’ll buy Tara a new coat. Just let me—”
“But you don't get it! It’s not about the coat. What if next time it’s the couch, then the doors? What next? I don’t need it Molly. God only knows how I let you convince me it was a good idea in the first place.” Natalie strode into the living room and slumped down on the couch, Molly close behind.
“I don’t like arguing with you, Sweetheart,” Natalie continued. “That mutt has caused more arguments between us than we’ve had in the rest of the time we've been together.”
Molly sat down beside her love. “Just give her one more chance. Something’s going on, I know it. The way she was with Tara before, that’s not her. I don’t know what...” She softly placed one hand on Natalie’s thigh and gave a light squeeze. “Why she would act like that...but tell me have you ever heard that dog growl—even when she was a little pup?”
Natalie covered her girlfriend’s hand with her own and gave a deep sigh. “Not before today, no.”
“Then you agree that something is up?” Molly looked at Natalie, her eyes full of hope but with the most pitiful expression Nat had ever seen her wear. How could she do anything but agree?
“Ok. But if there’s not...” Natalie raised both eyebrows and nodded her head slightly. “You should get her checked out. Just in case there’s anything. Y’know.”
There was a moment’s silence between the two women as they both contemplated what this meant.
“You wanna give me a hand accessorising our little leather queen?” Natalie broke the silence and held out a hand to her girlfriend. Molly gladly took it and managed to raise a small smile. Judging by the look on Natalie’s face, she knew that things were about to heat up for Tara.
~~~~~~~~~~
At 7:30, after what seemed a much longer than usual walk, Willow rounded the corner onto Tara's street. The redhead pulled her thin coat tightly about her as she picked up the pace despite being early. It wasn't really coat weather but the redhead didn't want people staring at her strange attire. <Remind me again why I didn't get a cab? Oh, I know, nice cool evening for a walk... except these damn things have been cutting my ass in half for the last half hour.> Yet again, she tried to adjust the trousers as she walked, whilst at the same time not letting on to anyone who might see that she was surreptitiously trying to make herself a little more comfortable. <Wait 'til I get my hands on Nat... comfortable my ass! Ha... my ass...> Willow let out a giggle at the unintentional pun, then lifted a hand to rap gently on Tara's newly painted, pale blue door. She waited a while, then knocked again, a little harder.
As she stood waiting for her girlfriend to greet her, Willow took a step back and looked at up at the house. All of the lights appeared to be off. The redhead glanced at her watch and realised just how early she was. <7:35? Damn, I bet she’s in the shower...Mmm, Tara in the shower...Ooh, leading to Tara in a towel.> She pulled her cell phone from her bag and moments later could hear Tara’s phone ringing just the other side of the door. After a few rings, a curt voice cut in, “Hello. We cannot take your call at the moment. Please—”
<Damn answering machine, why do they always—> “Hey Tara,” Willow began in a bright tone. “It’s Willow. I’m right outside...kinda early, I know but I thought ‘Hey, don’t wanna be late tonight.’ Not that I ever want to be late...or am...I just, well, I’m here so it would be good if you could come down and open the door, ‘cause I’m all with the leather and...stuff.” The answer machine beeped and cut out as Willow finished speaking. As she was about to put her cell back into her bag, a plan came to mind. The redhead tapped in Tara’s cell number, hit ‘call’ and waited. And waited. Five rings. <Now this should get her attention!> Ten rings. <She should have heard it by now. Just turning the water off and grabbing a towel.> Fifteen rings. <Any second now. C’mon, pick up, dammit!> Twenty... Tara wasn’t going to answer.
Willow pressed a button and slipped the cell back into her bag, then took another look through the window for any sign of life. <C’mon Tara, someone’s gonna see me out here like this.> The redhead checked her watch again, 7:40, then looked around. The street was deathly quiet, only the eerie orange glow of the street lamps casting any light on the area. Feeling a sudden chill, she crossed her arms tightly and paced back and forth.
<She must be out...cell on silent.> Willow pouted and looked up at the house once again. Movement in the front bedroom caught her attention. <Surely she heard the phone if she’s getting showered or dressed. I don’t hear music...this is weird.> The redhead began to think through reasons why Tara hadn’t responded. Still looking up at the window, she could definitely see someone moving about in there. She tried the door one last time. If she hadn’t been as slight, she may have damaged the door.
Finally, she decided to try the rear of the house. Willow unhooked the gate and pushed it open, quickly walking to the back and checking the upstairs bathroom light. It was off. Tara wasn’t in the shower. But someone was in the darkened front bedroom. Someone who was ignoring the ringing phones.
Panic began to set in. Again, Willow tried Tara’s phone but the answering machine picked up almost immediately. Then Tara’s cell, it rang and rang. The sound was distant. Pulling the cell away from her ear, Willow peered through the small window. The ringing was coming from Tara’s bag on the kitchen table.
<She wouldn't go out without her purse and just leave it lying there...shit, what's going on?>
Grasping the handle of the door, Willow turned it, then pushed and pulled increasingly franticly. The door didn't move. “Dammit!” She was starting to hyperventilate. <Goddess, no, not now!> she almost begged. The attacks had stopped and now was definitely not the time for them to return. Taking some deep breaths in order to calm herself, Willow let go of the handle and looked for another way in.
Her breathing returning to normal, Willow noticed the small kitchen window was open a tiny crack, more importantly, through it she saw a bright red light in one corner of the room. On closer inspection it was the 'on' light of a coffee machine. Surely Tara wouldn't have left that on either. <But what if it had been an emergency? Or what if she's laying injured at the bottom of the stairs!>
In Willow’s mind, there was only one thing left to do. She squeezed her small fingers reached the open window and managed to unhook it from the latch, then opened it up as wide as she could. Looking around to check no one was watching her, she stuck her head through the window and groped around on the other side for something to grab hold of. Anything to give her a bit of leverage. Looking for all the world like she was robbing the joint, she made a concerted effort and pulled her torso through the window. The house was as quiet inside as it seemed from the outside. The window was above the long counter, so Willow scrabbled at the wall with her feet and finally squeezed herself the whole way through into Tara's kitchen. Once inside, the redhead got to her feet and rushed into the other room, turning on lights as she went.
“Tara, are you home? Baby, where are you?”
Forget all the hope crap, life just sucks.
Ok this chapter has 3 parts but I reallllllllllllllllllllly hope the next one has a sneak preview of the party please please 
Pax -Bev 
Hope you haven't been sitting there waiting for more all this time...I think you have plenty of time to go and grab a shower...maybe even a bite to eat.
but that's no bad thing at all 
great to have you back keep it flowing 
