Author: Chris Cook
Rating: NC-17
Copyright: Based on characters from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon and his talented minionators, and all manner of things including the James Bond series by Ian Fleming/Eon Productions, and The Avengers by Brian Clemens. All original material (I'm sure there's some in there somewhere) is copyright 2005-2007 Chris Cook.

The Eiffel Tower
Daniel Osbourne's Lair
2035 Hours

All three occupants of the lair - Daniel at his master console, Willow handcuffed to an overhead girder, and Harmony reading Valley Villain Monthly - looked at the hatch as the handle started to turn.

"Harm, cover it," Daniel ordered.

"Why?" she asked, nonetheless producing an assault rifle which someone had assaulted with glittery stickers. "We saw Agent Whatsername fall over the rail, it's Cordy out there."

"Humour me," Daniel shrugged.

"What-ever," Harmony sighed, aiming the rifle at the hatchway.

Willow's heart sank as it swung open, revealing Cordelia, stretching her back and rubbing at a bruise on her shoulder.

"Daniel!" she snapped, striding in and slamming the hatch behind her. "Why the hell is she holding a working firearm?"

"It's-" he began to reply.

"Even if it was Tara, she's not as dangerous as that ditz with a loaded weapon - put that away," she shot at Harmony, who lowered the weapon with a disappointed sigh. Cordelia snatched it out of her hands and put it down on an equipment case.

"Tara?" Daniel asked.

"No longer our problem," Cordelia said curtly, glancing sidelong at Willow. Daniel followed her gaze, and gave a rueful shrug.

"Sorry about that," he said to the redhead. "You two didn't leave me a choice."

"I need to change," Cordelia complained, undoing the buckles on her costume. "She got me a kick in the spine that's thrown this thing's integrated armour out of whack..."

Willow closed her eyes and fought off tears. The image of Tara falling over the railing spun again and again through her mind, fighting for dominance with rage at Cordelia, and Daniel, and Harmony, and herself for being captured in the first place, and the Ministry for not protecting Tara, and the whole world for continuing to exist when it had no right to go on...

"Are you okay?" Harmony asked - Willow opened her eyes, and saw through a blur of tears that she was talking to Cordelia.

"Fine," the rogue agent nodded.

"Only she used to be your trainee and all," Harmony shrugged.

"It had to be done," Cordelia said flatly, pulling off her top, which caused Daniel to mutter in disgust and turn back to his console. "So far as she goes... she never gave up, got to give her credit for that. Never give up."

Something in her voice made Willow stare at her, and blink her eyes clear - she imagined Tara saying that, 'never give up', realised that even now, if Tara were here in her place, she'd keep trying. She stared at Cordelia, hating her, trying to think of a way to get free, to win, to make Tara proud... and all of a sudden a wave of disorientation washed over her, as if her eyes were seeing something her brain couldn't process. She frowned in blank incomprehension, as Cordelia dropped her top and arched her back, and then a realisation swam through her mind, blocking out everything else: 'Those are Tara-boobies.'

Willow goggled, forgetting that she was staring openly at Cordelia's breasts - and she realised it was true, that they were Tara's breasts. And as her gaze lifted to Cordelia's face, the brunette caught her eye, and winked quickly.

"Har... Harmony," Willow said, coughing to clear her throat as a desperate idea came to her. Cordelia watched sidelong as the blonde sauntered over to Willow and looked at her quizzically.

"Have you got to the beg-for-your-life bit?" she asked. "'Cuz no need, we're not going to kill you - Daniel'll need someone to gloat to once he's had his, you know, big triumph."

"His 'big triumph' is going to wipe out all smut, Harmony," Willow said quietly.

"Yuh-huh," she grinned, "and then I'll-"

"No," Willow interrupted, "all of it. Even yours." Harmony frowned in confusion.

"But that can't be right," she said slowly, as Cordelia pulled on a spare green-and-black villainess outfit and wandered over to glance at Daniel's console.

"It's the truth," Willow insisted.

"But... that'd mean... there wouldn't be any smut... anywhere?" Harmony reasoned, after a struggle.

"That's what he wants," Willow assured her. "He doesn't like how smut makes him feel, so he doesn't want anyone to have any."

"But... I mean, it's not like he's being forced to... it's not his business what other people do in private, and..." Harmony's face scrunched up with the effort of intense cogitation. "Daniel!"

"Not now, Harm," he said over his shoulder.

"Are you trying to wipe out smut?" Harmony demanded.

"...yes, Harm," Daniel sighed. "That's what we've been doing all this time, remember?"

"Even my website?" Harmony added, snatching up her rifle. Daniel looked back at her, then gave Willow a mirthless grin.

"Yes, Harmony," he said to the infuriated blonde, "even your pathetic little website. Did you really think I'd go to all this trouble to rid the world of the scourge of pornography, just so you could push your filthy football team party videos on impressionable minds?"

"Hey, my site has age checks!" Harmony shouted.

"Fire away," Daniel shrugged.

"Fine, I will!" Harmony yelled.

"Go ahead."

"I'll do it!"

"I'm saying, do it."

"Right, you asked for it!"

"...yes, I did."

"I'm going to count to five!" Harmony shrieked.

"Five, fire," Daniel sighed dejectedly. Harmony tensed, and lifted the gun to her shoulder.

"Harmony, you don't have to kill him-" Willow said quickly.

"He's mean!" Harmony shouted, and pulled the trigger.

"Hey," she said after a moment, "that's when... you know, the shooting's meant to happen when I do that."

"It's not loaded," Daniel said slowly. "Good effort, Willow - but poor choice of pawn. And thanks to her taking so long to have her little tirade, I'm afraid you've run out of time." He glanced at his watch. "Three seconds ago, in fact. The world's pornography is being erased even as we speak."

"Oh, sorry," 'Cordelia' said from behind him, holding up the data cable she had disconnected. "Was this meant to be plugged in?"

"You..." Daniel spluttered at her, going red in the face. "Traitor! What...?! How could you-"

"How could I do this?" Cordelia asked. "Simple, really - Buffy gave me the idea this afternoon when we were chatting about past missions." She reached to her jaw, hooked her fingers underneath the skin, and in one swift motion pulled off her mask.

"Shy Bunny!" Daniel exclaimed in disbelief.

"Surprise?" Tara grinned sheepishly.

Daniel gave an inarticulate yell, and pulled a pistol from inside his jacket. Tara ducked behind the console even as Willow was shouting a warning to her, Daniel took one step forward - then Harmony swung her rifle like a club, smacking him in the back of the head. He lurched forwards, collided with the console, and collapsed over it with his head in the web of electricity crackling between the two plasma rods. There was a flash, a bang, then the whole console lost power, and the lights abruptly went out.

"See," Harmony's voice said in the blackness, "it still works as a club."

Willow heard footsteps approaching her, and hands on her body, making their way up to her wrists, where they worked on the shackles keeping her suspended from the ceiling.

"I hope that's who I think it is," she murmured.

"I can guarantee it is, sweetie," Tara chuckled. "But if you need further proof, I can arrange for more body parts to be available for inspection."

Just as Tara released Willow there was a commotion from outside, and after a moment's sustained hammering the hatch swung open. M strode in, wearing a jetpack and with a taser gun in one hand and a torch in the other, and quickly assessed the situation.

"Good work," she nodded to Willow and Tara, as the Gold Bunnies appeared behind her, one of them checking Daniel, the other two holding Harmony's arms. "The whole defence system went dead just now - we're securing the tower, but I thought I'd take the quick way up. I hate stair climbs."

"Ma'am," Tara said briskly, "Cordelia Chase is on one of the catwalks outside, unconscious and under an immobiliser collar - south side, one level down."

"Unicorn Bunny, Gay Bunny," M said into her wrist communicator. "Prisoner retrieval, south side, one level below my position. Maximum caution. Scooter Bunny, Dream Bunny, medical on standby. Straight Bunny, Baby Bunny, Goth Bunny, stand down on escapee interception. All units... secure the area, and confirm end of action."

"I-I'm sorry I gave you a scare," Tara said quietly to Willow. "I saw the camera had shorted out, and I had to get his guard down..."

"It's alright," Willow said, suddenly feeling light-headed. "I just... I was never happier to see your breasts in my life."

Tara chuckled, and Willow followed suit, and a moment later they were hugging, faces buried in each other's hair, in a desperate attempt not to collapse laughing.

"Agent Shy Bunny," M said. Tara sucked in a deep breath, managed to compose herself, and stood straight before her commander, still with her arm around Willow's waist.

"Ma'am," she said.

"I received a request for reassignment from you, just prior to your little aerial escapade," M said, with a wry grin. "Rather short notice, don't you think?"

"Yes Ma'am," Tara nodded. "But it's my final decision, regardless." Willow looked at her curiously, Cordelia's pessimistic words coming back to her. 'Reassignment'? She put her hand over Tara's, feeling its warmth.

"Very well then," M went on with a shrug. "Effective immediately, Agent Shy Bunny, you're transferred from solo ops to team operations, with Agent Adorabunny as your permanent partner. If Agent Adorabunny agrees, of course?" she added to Willow.

"I-I..." Willow stuttered, with her heart leaping into her mouth. "You mean... yes! Yes, absolutely, Agent Adorabunny agrees!"

"I'll have the necessary orders filed," M nodded. "In that case, your first assignment will be three weeks' paid leave, with full access to Ministry recreational resources. You've earned it, ladies," she smiled at last. "Submit a brief after-action report in the next 24 hours, full debriefing can wait until you get back."

"Th-thank you," Tara said, hugging Willow close.

"Thank you!" Willow echoed. M nodded again, then went to check on their prisoners, while Willow turned to Tara.

"You... you're sure?" she asked.

"I've never been more sure of anything," Tara smiled.

"What happened out there?" Willow asked. "With Cordy, I mean? I saw you starting to fall, and..." Tara sobered, and took a deep breath.

"She caught me," she admitted. "I... I d-don't think even she expected it, she seemed surprised - actually that's what distracted her, let me get in a kick that knocked her cold. Just as I fell, without thinking, she caught me."

"What do you think?" Willow asked softly.

"I think... maybe she's still in there," Tara shrugged. "My friend, like she used to be."

"She's still dangerous," Willow said gently. Tara nodded her agreement.

"I hope someone can help her," she replied. "I want to try, if it'll make a difference, but I'm not sure what it'd take. She... she's important to me, Willow. Now that I don't have to fight her any more-"

"I understand," Willow said. "Never give up. I wouldn't want you to." Tara gave a brief grin.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You don't have to thank me," Willow said. "I love you, you know."

"I do know," Tara smiled. "I love you, too."

"He's alright," Whipped Bunny called out, attracting their attention. They looked up to see Daniel Osbourne sitting upright, rubbing his head. He looked up to see M towering over him.

"Do I know you?" he asked politely.

"How do you feel?" she asked flatly.

"I, uh... okay," he shrugged. "What's been going on?"

"You don't remember?"

"Can't say I do..."

"Anything about a campaign to eradicate smut come to mind?" M asked, arching an eyebrow.

"What would I want to do that for?" Daniel asked.

"He fell into the plasma," Willow called over. "Where the program was stored..."

"Did he now?" M said, looking intently at Daniel. "Mr. Osbourne, if I could have your attention for a moment...?"

She leaned close to him, his face level with her chest, then slowly pulled down the zipper of her skin-tight battle suit, baring more and more cleavage, and attracting stares from the other onlookers. When the zip was finally down past her navel she reached into a concealed pocket at her hip and produced an ice cube, which she slowly ran up her stomach, very slowly passing up between her barely-contained breasts, leaving a trail of melted ice behind it. She lavishly licked the semi-melted cube, then glanced at Daniel.

"Thoughts?" she asked.

"How did you keep that ice cube cold in your pocket?" he asked curiously. M gave him a wry grin, then zipped up her suit and left him to the attention of the arriving Bunny medics.

"It seems Mr. Osbourne's plan to rid himself of smut has succeeded," she said airily. "If not quite in the way he intended... ah," she added, as her eye fell on the hatchway. Tara looked too, and tensed up, and Willow looked to see Cordelia being escorted in, wearing the basics of Tara's HALO suit, with four Bunnies surrounding her, her wrists bound, ankles locked in short-distance magnetic shackles, and the immobiliser collar around her neck ready to be reactivated at a moment's notice.

She looked around, saw Tara and Willow, and took a sharp inward breath, her face a mix of emotions. Before she could speak, M approached her from behind.

"Queen Bunny," she said, in a soft voice that nonetheless carried through the suddenly silent control room. Cordelia's eyes opened wide in surprise, and she spun around - and knelt.

"Mistress Bunny," she said, head bowed.

"What are we going to do with you?" M said. Cordelia looked up at her, with a trace of defiance in her expression.

"I did what I had to," she said.

"Indeed," M said, her voice emotionless. "You betrayed everything the Ministry stands for, everything you were. Everything I taught you to be."

"I had to!" Cordelia insisted - and the anger in her face was changing, becoming almost desperate, pleading. "I had to, it was the only way to... to..."

"Yes?"

"To prove I was... I had to show you that... I was strong, that I was worthy... even if it meant defeating every other operative in the world, just to show you... that I was..." Her gaze fell.

M stared at her intently, then slowly knelt down and lifted Cordelia's chin with her fingertip.

"Worthy...?" she asked.

"... of you," Cordelia whispered, eyes closed. M's eyes closed too, and she let her head drop, frowning as if suddenly in pain.

"You always were," she said softly. Cordelia stared at her, startled, then her face crumpled in realisation, and she trembled. At last, a quiet sob escaped her lips. M put a hand on her shoulder, then stood up straight.

"Agent Queen Bunny," she said. "What you have done - no matter why you did it - can't just be forgiven. If you're ever going to redeem yourself... it'll be a long, difficult process. Making amends to all those you've harmed, or tried to harm. And repairing the damage you've done to yourself." Cordelia nodded without looking up. M reached into another of her concealed pockets, and pulled out a slim black leather collar.

"But if you choose, you can start that process now," M said, holding the collar in front of Cordelia's face. She opened her tear-filled eyes, realised what she was seeing, and for the first time Willow had ever seen, she smiled with joy.

"You of all people know," M went on, as Cordelia reached for the collar, "how demanding, how unforgiving, how... thorough, I am."

"Yes," Cordelia whispered. "Mistress."

M nodded, and allowed her to take the collar. Willow felt the tension melt out of Tara, and gave her a curious glance.

"I think she'll be alright," the blonde sighed.

"With M?" Willow asked.

"When she used to talk about M she... she was so... reverent," Tara replied. "I never realised why, I thought it was just that M had mentored her - until all this, I suppose I kind of thought of Cordelia the same way, she'd taught me, she was the person I was trying to be like. Not in every way," she added with a grin. "I never knew she felt more for M, but... I can see it, now." She took a deep breath, and gazed thoughtfully at Willow.

"I wonder," she said quietly, "if I thought you were out of reach, what I'd do to try to be good enough for you..."

"Let me know, if you ever think you're not," Willow smiled. "I'll go on for hours and hours explaining why you are. I can do it, you know. Full babble, minimum amount of pauses for breathing." Tara chuckled, and hugged Willow tightly.

"Mistress," Cordelia said, quietly pleading. M glanced at her, and followed her gaze to the two agents.

"You have something to say to them?" she asked. Cordelia nodded.

"Choose your words carefully," M advised. She followed the rogue agent to Willow and Tara, keeping a stern eye on the brunette as she knelt in front of them, looking up but not quite able to meet their surprised stares.

"Cor... Cordelia," Tara said.

"I..." Cordelia began, haltingly. "Everything I... said, what I did, I... there aren't words. I can't ask your forgiveness, I can't... I want to so much, but it's too much..."

Willow looked from her tearful enemy to Tara, and when the blonde turned to look back at her, swallowed and nodded. Tara touched her face, a brief caress of thanks, and turned back to Cordelia.

"Let M help you," she said softly. "Please... my friend."

Cordelia let her head hang, crying silently.

"Thank you," she whispered. She gathered herself, and started to rise and turn back to M, but paused.

"Willow," she said, her voice uneven. "She's never looked at anyone the way she looks at you." Quickly, ashamed, she returned to M's side and followed her as she moved away.

"I'd never deny any of the things she did," Tara whispered to Willow, gazing soulfully at her. "Least of all to you. But... I hope one day, when she's better, she'll come to me and ask to be forgiven. And I will." She stared into Willow's eyes, silently pleading for her understanding.

Willow slowly smiled, and cupped Tara's face.

"Of course you will," she said simply, closing the distance between their lips.

London, England
S.M.U.T. Headquarters, M's Office
1100 Hours, Next Morning

"Yes your majesty," M said into her phone. She was back behind her desk, smartly dressed in a grey suit, with no trace of the lithe warrior she had been the night before. "All tests so far show that Osbourne's libido has been effectively eliminated. With no personal reaction to erotica, he no longer has any cause to feel resentful towards it, and his memories of his extremist actions have been suppressed. ... I agree Ma'am, best to put him back in charge of his corporation, and smooth over the other evidence of the crisis. Naturally we'll be maintaining close surveillance on him. Yes, the rogue agent is undergoing rehabilitation... I guarantee it. Yes Ma'am. I'll pass on your congratulations to them, of course. On leave, I believe they decided on the Mediterranean, on one of our luxury yachts. Yes, I'm sure they will. Thank you. Goodbye your majesty."

She replaced the phone in its cradle and leant back in her luxurious leather chair, closing her eyes. A quiet sigh escaped her lips, then she glanced down beneath her desk.

"Alright," she said, "that'll be enough for now." She rolled her chair back, revealing herself to be naked from the waist down, and Cordelia Chase - likewise naked, besides her collar - crouched in the recess beneath the desk. M's inner thighs, and Cordelia's chin and chest, glistened with ample evidence of what she had been doing down there.

"Now pay close attention," M said sternly. She leaned back in her chair, lifted her legs up to rest her calves on the desk, and reached down between her thighs with both hands, deliberately parting her glistening labia with the fingers of one hand, while with the other she stroked her clit once, twice, then pinched sharply. An inward hiss of breath escaped her as she came, with Cordelia staring longingly at her sex, lost in every detail of her muscles spasming and the nectar gleaming as it emerged from her opening.

"Good pet," M said, after a long, silent pause in which she caught her breath. "Three hours without a break, and very stimulating, too... If you continue to perform that well, I may let you taste the next climax, instead of just watch."

"Thank you Mistress," Cordelia said huskily.

"But now," M said, lowering her legs and standing, "it's time for punishment. You understand why this is necessary?"

"Yes Mistress," Cordelia nodded. M waved a hand vaguely at her, and the submissive brunette quickly slid out from beneath her desk and rounded it to stand in front of it, legs spread, bent at the waist, her body flat against the rich wooden desktop. M casually stripped off her jacket, blouse, and bra, then closed the gold-plated restraints bolted to the corners of her desk, into which Cordelia had placed her wrists.

"Tell me why this is necessary," she said evenly.

"To... to atone for what I've done, Mistress," Cordelia said in a whisper, closing her eyes. "For my selfishness, for ignoring the needs of others in pursuit of my own needs..."

"Good pet," M said. "I know you know this. Miss Kendall's debriefing covered the punishments you had her give you, though of course she didn't entirely understand that that's what they were. I appreciate that you made that effort, pet. It shows that, misguided as you were... the beautiful, noble woman I knew was always inside you, trying to be heard."

She crossed to an ornate antique cabinet, opened a drawer, and selected one of a variety of riding crops.

"A hundred strokes, pet," she said, moving to stand behind Cordelia, lightly tapping her firm ass cheeks with the end of the crop. "For today. Your rehabilitation will take a long time, but I promise, my pet, I won't fail you. There will come a day when you no longer need be my pet, and endure my punishments, to conquer the darkness inside yourself."

"Mistress...?" Cordelia asked, breathily.

"You may speak, pet," M said.

"...Wh-when I do get better, Mistress," Cordelia said, nervously, "can I still...?"

"Yes, pet," M smiled. "When you're better, should you want more..." She gave Cordelia a light swat between her legs, then readied the crop over her ass, and drew back for the first stroke.

"...you will get everything you want, my love."

S.M.U.T. A-Branch: Technology R&D
1130 Hours

Fred wandered into Anya's workshop to find her tinkering with an array of devices, all of which were predicably phallic. From one of the testing chambers a series of energetic moans emerged.

"New remote control for the car?" Fred asked, pointing to a familiar looking gizmo.

"Yeah, I'm trying to got it working with a scout plane," Anya said. "You know how they say 'flying by the seat of your pants'?"

"Right," Fred nodded slowly. "How's your 'chain gang' girl doing?" Anya glanced at the test chamber, where the moans were becoming increasingly heated, before suddenly tapering off to be replaced by intent muttering.

"They weren't kidding when they said she's a genius with AI design," she shrugged. "She's nailed half a dozen subroutines we've been puzzling over for months. Granted, she's a bit... you know, not all there, otherwise, but she's good at what she does." She swivelled her office chair around and tapped a button, turning the wall of the test chamber transparent.

"Hey Harmony, how's it going?"

Inside the chamber, Harmony was seated in a contoured chair, with stirrups for her legs. She wore a slim metal collar, connecting her via a light dura-steel chain to a restraint built into the chamber's ceiling, leaving her hands free to work any of half a dozen laptops on the trolley tables around her. Between her legs, mounted on a swivel arm and connected by bundles of moisture-proofed cables to the laptops, was a shining silver vibrator, still in situ, though evidently silent for the time being.

"Getting there," she said happily, swinging the arm back to extract the vibrator. "Do you think you could rustle up some heavy duty vibrating butt plugs, just for comparison purposes? I think I can make this work either way, with a bit of extra hardware."

"I'll have some brought up from storage," Anya promised.

"Thanks! Oh hey, could I get a couple of video cameras in here? It'd be neat to, y'know, watch myself work..."

"For biometric analysis?" Fred asked.

"Biowha? No, nothing kinky - I just get off on seeing myself on film."

"We'll get right on that, Harmony," Anya said, reaching for the transparency control.

"Thanks! Hey you can watch if you like, that helps too."

"Maybe later, I've got some gadgets to work on," Anya replied.

"Okay, just lemme know when, I'll put on a show..."

"Like I said, a bit of a scatterbrain," Anya said quietly to Fred. "But all in all, I think with her help we'll have the world's first artificially intelligent vibrator up and running within the year."

Faith picked at her food, and glanced across the table at Buffy.

"You sure you don't mind taking an assignment, right on top of the Osbourne one?" she asked quietly. Both were dressed in exquisite skirt suits, at a table for two in one of the world's most exclusive restaurants.

"No, promise," Buffy shook her head. "I'm up for it, and I know how you get when you're in a big op, but don't get to actually kick anyone's ass."

"Heh, true," Faith grinned. "Red and her girl got all the fun. How about that, huh?"

"Well, yeah, there's that too," Buffy admitted. "You know Will, if we hadn't 'had to go on a mission' in a hurry after the whole Eiffel Tower thing, she'd have felt obligated to hang around. And you could see she was just itching to get some private time with Tara."

"No kidding. Getting her pants off in the middle of the Moulin Rouge theatre hall - I guess it really is true what they say about the quiet ones." She laughed to herself. "Not that she was really that quiet, but you know what I mean."

"Uh-huh. Can't imagine what it'd be like to do that with all those people around."

"Yeah..." Faith looked around, then down. The long tablecloth, combined with the solid backs of the chairs, kept the diners moderately concealed from the waist down - though not entirely.

"Hey B," she said, "it's still what, there quarters of an hour before these guys who were backing Adam Walsh's crew show their faces here, right?"

"At least," Buffy nodded, oblivious to the mischievous grin forming on her lover's face.

"Hey B..." Faith said.

"Yeah?"

"You wearing panties?"

"You know I'm not," Buffy replied with a knowing smirk.

"Good," Faith said quietly. "So take your skirt off and slide it over to me... we're gonna have some fun while we wait."

She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Buffy's shocked expression, and settled back to watch the show as the blonde, blushing furiously, opened her mouth to speak, hesitated, glanced nervously around, then slowly slipped her hands beneath the level of the table.

London, England
Willow Rosenberg's Home
1400 Hours

Tara pressed the doorbell, grinned when she heard a surprised yelp from inside followed by much hurried scurrying, and stood back as the door was wrenched open from inside.

"Hi!" Willow exclaimed, panting from her sudden dash to the door. "I wasn't... expecting you so... soon..." She gulped her breath back, and glanced at her watch. "Oh... actually I was, you're right on time, I just lost track of time, which is unusual, normally I'm the one to be ready for appointments early just to make sure I'm not late. Come in."

"Busy day?" Tara asked, entering and following Willow's gesture to the lounge room, where she ignored the arm chairs and sat instead on the sofa, next to the patch where a squashed cushion and a laptop on the coffee table showed Willow had been a moment earlier.

"Busy?" Willow echoed, sitting next to her. Tara glanced at Willow's attire, sweatpants and a thin tank top, rather obviously with nothing underneath.

"You're coming to the airport wearing those?" she asked slyly.

"Oh, no," Willow smiled. "No see actually I... well..." She blushed, and then grinned at Tara. "I noticed you'd said you'd be here about half an hour before we'd need to leave to make our flight..."

"Oh, did I?" Tara asked innocently.

"...so I thought when you got here, it'd be fun if I had a toga on, like an ancient temple-goer, ready to worship you as a goddess..."

"Really?" Tara blushed.

"...and then I kind of got distracted trying to find out what the historically accurate attire was for a disciple of Aphrodite, and I kind of got lost in research-mode... sorry," she finished sheepily. Tara shook her head and wrapped her arm around the redhead's waist, pulling her close.

"It looks to me," she said softly, "like you've got everything you need to be my goddess right here."

"Crappy old sweatpants?" Willow joked bashfully, glancing down at Tara's clothing: stylish canvas shorts and sandals, a white buttoned shirt with the top few buttons undone, revealing a tight white t-shirt beneath.

"You do look sexy," Tara said firmly. "But I was thinking more of what's in them..."

"I just wanted to do something," Willow said softly, smiling but still slightly rueful. "You know, show you... show you how much I-"

"I know," Tara assured her. "You don't need a costume. Or some new hot kinky sex technique. Just you."

"Really, just me?" Willow asked, leaning into Tara's embrace and gazing up into her eyes.

"Let me tell you something," Tara whispered. "I've never told anyone this - it's not a huge secret, it's just never seemed important, until now." Willow nodded, giving Tara her full attention. "When I think of what I want out of life - really, in the end, in idle contemplation kind of moments - I imagine myself old, wrinkled, hair all grey, and I'm sitting on a bench, in a park by a lake, feeling the sunlight warming me. And there's kites in the sky, and people around, and grandchildren charging around the way they do in parks in the movies... but there's someone beside me, holding my hand, and we look at each other - she's old and grey like me, and I think, 'We've lived our lives together, and it's been so wonderful.' And I don't say it, because I don't have to, and neither does she - we just know, after all that time. Whatever happens between then and now, if that's where I end up, it'll be the most amazing thing."

Tara leaned forward and gave Willow a soft kiss on the lips.

"I've thought that for years," she went on. "I never tried to imagine who it was, I just knew if it was someone I could share that moment with, it didn't matter - I'd meet them someday. And it's you, Willow." She sniffed, and realised there was actually a tear in her eye; she brushed it away lightly.

"It's you. I want it to be you. I love you."

Willow's eyes had filled with moisture, and she blinked quickly to clear them, gazing at Tara with an expression almost of awe.

"Th-that's... the most beautiful thing anyone's ever said to me," she whispered.

"There's so many beautiful things I want to say to you," Tara smiled. "So many I can't think of them all." She chuckled suddenly. "And a few that are actually pretty vulgar, but in the context I'm thinking of saying them I think you'll like them anyway..."

Willow blinked once more, then abruptly burst out laughing, dropping her head to Tara's chest and clutching her as she giggled uncontrollably. After a moment she took a breath and steadied herself, and slid closer on the sofa, resting her head on Tara's shoulder, closing her eyes as the blonde's hair stroked her face.

"I want it to be me too," she murmured. "I love you, Tara." She sighed happily as she felt Tara kiss the top of her head, and the two sat in silence, perfectly content.

"Of course," Tara said after a moment, breaking the silence, "when I say I don't need costumes and hot kinky sex techniques-"

"Doesn't mean we shouldn't," Willow agreed.

"There's a lot of time to fill up before we're old and grey," Tara nodded sagely.

"As if I'd stop then," Willow grinned. "You're a sexy vixen, Tara Maclay, and you always will be."

"I'll hold you to that," Tara promised mischievously.

"Hold me to whatever you want," Willow shot back without a pause. "I... god," she shook her head, smiling, "I swear, you've done something to me, I just... I'm not saying I used to be naïve or sheltered, but with you I feel like all my inhibitions just packed their bags and went on permanent holiday, and left me here ready for anything."

"How do you think I feel?" Tara joked. "I'm supposed to be 'Shy Bunny'... I'm going to have to get all my stationery changed. I seem to recall someone suggesting 'Wanton Bunny'?" She grinned slyly, and Willow, sensing the smile, lifted herself up so as not to miss it. Tara took the opportunity to slide her hand down the redhead's back, beneath the waist of her sweatpants, and settled into a steady rhythm massaging her ass.

"Ohh, yes... Do you have any idea what it does to me," Willow breathed, "knowing that if you told me to, I'd do anything, just to turn you on? Any idea how alive that makes me feel?"

"I do," Tara whispered. "I really do. Before I met you, it never even occurred to me that I would ever make love in the middle of a crowded theatre, and that it'd excite me so much... or scuba-diving, or playing with fruit-flavoured sauce, or watching erotic dancers together, or having a sexy nurse set about me on an examination couch, or sharing a fantasy over a radio link, or teaching a naughty 'student' all about the facts of life, or having a stewardess rub me with her stockings, or-"

"Huh?" Willow asked. "When did we do that?"

"Didn't I ever tell you?" Tara smiled. "That's what I was dreaming, on the plane to New York, that you were a stewardess, and... uh, long story short, sexiness ensued."

"So that's what had you clambering all over me and coming in your sleep!" Willow grinned.

"Didn't I ever tell you?" Tara asked incredulously. "I seem to remember you demonstrating me 'clambering all over you and coming', in very elaborate detail, in the car after we left Osbourne Tower."

"I certainly do remember that," Willow nodded vehemently. "But unless I'm mistaken, we never actually got into the fine details of what you were dreaming about."

"I didn't tell you?"

"You told me you were dreaming about me," Willow clarified.

"Oh yes," Tara nodded, "and after that I... had my mouth full."

"Mmm," Willow purred. "Sexy stewardess stockings, huh? Details?"

"Here's a thought," Tara offered. "I'll ask our people at Heathrow to have a uniform in my size waiting on the plane. I'd rather show you than tell you."

"Oh, I like that thought," Willow sighed. "I'd say let's head to the airport right now, if it didn't mean you'd have to take your hand out of my pants to get in the car."

Tara glanced down at her hand.

"The car drives itself," she said thoughtfully. "How likely do you think it'd be that anyone would notice, if we were walking side by side really closely, just from your front door to where the car's parked?" She gave Willow's ass a firm squeeze by way of emphasis.

"I think a better question," Willow gasped, "is how you expect to keep doing that without me tearing off our clothes and making love to you on the spot?"

"I think a better better question," Tara grinned playfully, "is why would that deter me?"

"You're that sure I can restrain myself?" Willow panted, as Tara's hand snuck lower, between her thighs.

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Tara said seriously. "We're secret agents. Risk is... oh, yesss..."

Willow, having silenced the blonde by pulling the collar of her shirt open and starting to hungrily suck at a nipple through the thin, tight t-shirt beneath, paused just long enough to murmur: "...all in a day's work."