Day 8 - Team Transmitter (tag Tara, Jon, McKay)

[purplerhino.livejournal.com]

The small group gathered early, collecting food to sustain them for lunch, but prepared to scavenge for their own meals after that. Rose was starting off wearing her backpack, and had a Bamboo walking stick. Her hair was pulled up into a pony tail on top her head, keeping it out of the way. The Backpack held two changes of clothing two blankets wand bottled water. The Doctor carried nothing except what was in the pockets f his ever-present leather jacket. Sayid had one of John Locke’s knives tucked into his belt, and one of the sturdy spears from the found crate ‘just in case’.

Sayid had not understood why he had been asked to join them. He knew that between The Doctor and Doctor McKay his own technical knowledge was limited. But the Doctor insisted he’d be invaluable if they were dealing with older equipment and, The Doctor confided, he was obviously one of the ex-military types. He told the Iranian he wanted someone who could handle themselves, and was an adult, with them. Someone he trusted to help protect the group. Although when he said the group he’d turned to look at Rose. Sayid was not certain if The Doctor was mad or not, the things he had heard whispered round the campfire, but he was capable. And the obvious trust was an honor of its own.

McKay, Jon and Tara rounded out the group heading for the Transmitter. Tara had the map. The Doctor had announced he didn’t need it. Rose complained that such a statement was something only those male statements that tended to get people lost, so Tara had been handed the map to keep them on track, should the Doctor’s ‘excellent sense of direction’ fail them.

They had set off keeping to the shade of the treeline. Besides the shade, the ground was harder there, and easier to walk over. They were not traveling fast, in deference to McKay’s still hurting ribs.

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[Tara] Game On (tag Faith, Mara, transmitter team)

[tenebraeli.livejournal.com]

When the puppy came rushing out of the jungle to tackle-pounce on Rose, Tara giggled. This was sur-real, but at least it was cute. Then the two women followed the dog, and she took a good look at them.

At one of them in particular. Tall, dark hair, beautiful and dangerous, moving like she had all the confidence in the world... it was Faith. The last she'd heard the girl was in prison, and doing well, redeeming herself for the murder. To see her here... now....

Tara pushed to the front of the group, without thinking at all. It was *Faith*, and while they hadn't been friends, at least she was a tie to her old life, to Sunnydale. Oh but what if she'd gone bad again, then no one here would know that except for her.

Mind whirling, Tara stepped forward, and said, "Faith? Is that really you?"

[Faith] Game On (tag Tara, transceiver team)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

The sound of her name put Faith completely on guard. She shifted from casually relaxed to dangerously alert in less time than it took to blink eyes. She felt her shoulders tense, the Slayer Power stirring and rising a bit, sniffing the air for blood and danger.

Her gaze narrowed and slid to the source of the voice, taking in the unsure blonde with the cool study of a predator. Long blonde hair, usnure and shy and vaguely familiar, although Faith was hard pressed to remember how or why . . .

"This is Tara."

"So Willow's not driving stick anymore."

"Spit it out already."

Faith blinked, the Slayer Predator slipping back into its cage, leaving Faith empty and vulnerable in front of a group of strangers. She quashed the vulnerability as soon as it appeared, cool mask of aloofness and control sliding in place even as her mind whirled.

(Not my best moment, not me, not her, not anymore.)

"Willow's girl," Faith said with a smile, not the threatening, salacious smile that made some of the toughest mothers in lockup back away from her, but with her friendly smile, the one she'd used from time to time in Sunnyhell before her world and hatred had twisted it all around.

Recognition brought both hope and worry. If Willow's girl was here, then maybe Red was as well. Red and B and G-Man, and as much as her heart skipped because that would mean rescue, it clenched because it would mean facing her past and she wasn't sure she could do that yet.

"It's easy on the inside," Angel reminded her more than once.

The pounding of her heart in her ears and the desperate war she waged against the urge to flee spoke the truth of that assessment.

"Yo, Tara, 'sup? The rest of the Scoobies here too?"

Faith wasn't sure what she wanted the answer to be.

Worse yet, she was already wondering how and why the fuck they would be here in the Backass End of the Middle of Fucking Nowhere, Pacific Ocean.

[Tara] Game On (tag Faith, transceiver team)

[tenebraeli.livejournal.com]

It was so damn unreal, to see Faith -- *here* -- of all places, that Tara had to take a moment to process what the girl actually said. Then she put it all together, the fleeting look of worry and hope, the outward show of complete toughness, but underlying that was a degree of friendliness she'd never seen before. A true smile, that went to the eyes and beyond.

Shaking her head, she replied, "No, it's just... well it's just us now... I mean it's us and about fifty other survivors from the plane crash, and there's so many horrible things here, and now there's you..." she trailed off, out of breath, eyes stinging with tears. Seeing *anyone* from her old life was just too much for her, and before Faith could back off, she darted forward and hugged her, saying very softly, "I'm so glad you're here."

[Ash] See? See! (tag Rose, transceiver team)

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

The brunette strutted around like Queen of the Island. She was hot, no question, but she had a boatload of attitude too. And the chops to back it up, if Ash was any judge of such things. He'd watched her eyes when she looked everyone over on her arrival. She'd seen things. Done things. Had the t-shirt--or, in this case, the tank top. Which she filled out very nicely, thank you.

Her friend looked like she'd seen a few things too. But while Faith had the look of a...participant, her friend looked like a survivor. She looked haunted. Ash knew that look. He'd seen it in the mirror a few times over the years. Whatever she'd endured, Ash was willing to bet it hadn't happened all that long ago.

Ash looked at Rose and caught her eye. "See?" he said without preamble. "This is exactly what I was talking about! We walk a few hours from camp and we stumble across still more castaways!"

[Faith] WTFHUGS? (tag Tara, transceiver team)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

"Um, ok, yeah, sure, you too," Faith awkwardly patted Tara on the back, surprised and amazed by the reception. She kinda figured that B and Red would have been all over painting the nastiest picture possible of her. Not to mention that her entire involvement and interaction with Tara had pretty much been limited to trying steal B's life via her hijacked body.

(Then again, maybe G-Man has been getting regular reports on me. Faith doesn't step out of line, model prisoner, does really well on the knitting.)

Touchy-feely wasn't really her thing, especially when she didn't know the person in question all that well and there was going to be any dirty grinding involved with the touchy-feeliness. Of course, Red's girl -

(Whoa.)

Questions cropped up and as Tara finally released her, ducking her head and blushing pink a bit, Faith launched them. "You were on a plane that crashed here? Was B and G-Man ... Dawnie?"

Faith was terrified of facing her past, but even worse was the thought of all those people she knew, that she formed attachments to, however bad, were dead and gone. B again, and Dawnie ...

[Tara] WTFHUGS? (no tag)

[tenebraeli.livejournal.com]

Blushing, Tara let her go, not really sure what had come over her. It's not like they had been the best of friends, perhaps it was just the sheer relief of seeing someone she *knew*?

But her head came up at Faith's question, and she hastened to reassure her. "No, I was on the flight, but as far as I know everyone back in Sunnydale and L.A is okay. Willow..." she swallowed hard, "We broke up, and I had to get out of town for a while."

Then she heard the rest of the conversation going on, how the Doctor was proposing that the two new women be left here, and that didn't sit right with her.

[to be continued down the line...]