Willow woke slowly and stretched before snuggling back under her quilt. She shut her eyes and slowed her breathing. After a few minutes she rolled over and sighed. Although it was too early to be awake, her body did not seem to agree and was firmly telling her that she was awake. She opened one eye and peeked at the clock. Half-past eight. Groan. It's Saturday. Who gets up this early on a Saturday? Sigh. Obviously I'm destined to.
She gave in to the inevitable and propped her head up on her hand. Grumble. This sucks. I want to be asleep! The soft, rhythmic sound of breathing drew her attention to the other bed in the room. I guess she deserves to sleep in. After all, she was the one out slaying last night while I did the Bronzing thing with Xander. And she does look pretty cute there. I don't always realise how much stress she's under - she looks younger like that. Buffy's blonde hair framed her face and she looked almost child-like when her face relaxed in sleep. And what could be better for a tired Slayer than waking up to coffee and bagels?
As soon as the plan formed in her mind she could not rest. Buffy was always doing little things for her, so it was time she did something in return. As quietly as she could, Willow slipped out of bed, gathered up some clothes and went into the bathroom. A few minutes later she emerged carrying her shoes so that she would not wake up Buffy. Silently, she picked up her bag and put her hand on the door-handle. A though occurred to her and she quickly backtracked to write a note which she left on the dresser before opening the door and slipping out.
When she got into the hallway Willow was concentrating so hard on shutting the door without waking Buffy that she did not notice the person exiting the room next door. Sea green eyes watched her wince as the door clicked and then stoop down to put on her shoes.
Willow was tying her shoelace when she heard something behind her. She turned but there was no one there.
"You're getting jumpy in your old age," she muttered to herself and set out for the coffee shop.
***
Willow walked carefully up the stairs carrying the coffees with the bagels safely in her bag. She could already see Buffy's surprised expression in her head and she barely managed to stop herself bouncing up the steps and spilling the cups of coffee. In fact she was so busy imagining Buffy's face that she did not notice that someone was waiting for her outside her room.
A voice calling her name, familiar and unexpected, was what finally drew her attention. She looked up and stopped, shocked, as she recognised the girl standing in front of her. "Tara?"
"Hi," the blonde girl greeted her with a shy wave.
Willow could feel her mouth hanging open but she was powerless to do anything but stare at her former girlfriend with a sense of shocked disbelief. Tara's here? Why is Tara here? I thought . . . I don't know what I thought . . . Tara's here? What's Buffy going to say?
"Willow?" Tara asked. "Uh, y-you're going to drop the coffee."
"I am?" Willow said absently, her mind still doing frantic revolutions.
"It's a little precarious," Tara said with a small grin.
"Oh." She managed to slow her thoughts long enough to take a firmer grip on the tray and hold it straighter. "Thanks."
There was an awkward silence and Tara began to nervously play with the cuff of her jumper. Nothing in Willow's planning had prepared her for this. She had no idea what to say or do or even whether she wanted to say anything. But Tara was blocking her path to the door so she had to either stick this out or leave and wait outside until Tara had gone.
"So . . ." Willow began, and trailed off.
Tara looked up expectantly.
"So," she began again, "I didn't know you were coming back."
"I didn't have anywhere better to be," Tara said nervously.
"Oh." Willow paused. "How are you?"
"Ok. You?"
Willow shrugged. "Fine, I guess."
"Are you happy?"
She could not help the smile that lit up her face at the thought of Buffy. "Yeah, I am."
"Good. Then I'm happy for you."
"You are?"
"Willow, all I ever wanted is for you to be happy. If you were going to be with me I wanted it to be because you loved me more than anything else. And you didn't. But that's ok because you do love Buffy that way." Tara smiled sadly. "I could never compete with that and I don't want to. I've seen you a couple of times since I got back . . . I made the right choice."
"I'm sorry," Willow said, feeling all the guilt she had lived with over the summer rush back. "I tried but-"
"Don't," Tara cut her off before she could finish the sentence. "You have something special; don't ruin it because you feel bad for me. I don't."
"You don't?"
The blonde girl shook her head. "If I had, I wouldn't have come back."
"Oh."
There was silence again as Willow tried to find something else to say. "How long have you been back?"
"A couple of weeks."
"Oh."
"I guess I should have told you sooner. I-if this is going to cause problems I can move . . ."
"You're living here?"
Tara shrugged and indicated her door. "N-next door."
"You don't have to leave because of us. If it doesn't bother you then it doesn't bother us." Inside Willow added, I hope. Buffy isn't the jealous type, is she?
"Ok." Tara smiled, her sea-green eyes shining. "Thank you."
Willow tried to smile and found it was actually easier than she thought it would be. "You're welcome."
"Willow, I know it's probably too soon . . . but . . . you were a good friend to me before we . . . and I'd like to know . . ." Tara's head was down but she peaked up hopefully. "Could we still be friends?"
"I . . ."
Tara immediately ducked her head and stared intently at the floor. "I-I-I'm sorry. It's too soon. I shouldn't have . . . I should go."
She darted to her door and Willow almost reached out towards her, before remembering the cups of coffee she was carrying. "Tara?"
The blonde witch paused, halfway through her door. "Yes?"
"I'll think about it."
Tara gave her a shy smile before closing the door behind her, leaving a confused Willow standing in the corridor. Part of her missed the friendship they had shared before it all got complicated but another part, the part that loved Buffy so much it hurt, felt guilty. It was not that she was worried something would happen with Tara because that was the past. Why would she want something to happen when she had what she had always wanted already?
But at the same time she knew she had missed Tara. Buffy was her best friend and partner, but there were some things she just could not share. Buffy and I can talk about anything but she can't understand some of the witch-stuff I need to do. She can't do spells with me and when I get excited about a new crystal or finding something really cool in an old book she can be excited but she doesn't *get* it. I love her but I need a friend outside of her. Is that wrong? Am I being selfish? I shouldn't need anyone outside of Buffy, but I do. Is there something wrong with me?
The thoughts were not going anywhere and were just making her more confused. Plus, cold coffee is not good.
Concentrating on that thought made her other worries recede slightly so she quietly opened her door and slipped through. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the occupied bed where she could just see blonde hair peaking out above the quilt. She put the tray down and pulled the bagels out of her bag. Her first instinct was to go to the bed and wake the Slayer up. But she's tired. Maybe I'll let her sleep.
For a few breaths Willow stood beside the bed watching Buffy sleep, trying to calm her thoughts. Then the quilt stirred and two blue eyes peaking through a curtain of blonde hair peered up at her sleepily.
"Hey Will," Buffy said, her voice throaty from sleep. "This is a nice sight to wake up to."
Involuntarily Willow smiled. "Hey Buff."
"What are you doing up already?" Buffy pushed her hair back and struggled to sit up. "Is it Saturday or did I miss the weekend?"
"No, it's Saturday," Willow reassured her. "I just couldn't sleep. So I went out and got breakfast."
Buffy grinned up at her. "Now that sounds promising. Watcha get me?"
Willow got the bag of bagels and the tray of coffee and returned to the bed. She dropped the bag in Buffy's lap and held out a cup of coffee before sitting down on the edge of the bed.
Buffy pouted. "That's no fun. Where's my snuggles?"
The redheaded witch grinned. "My, aren't we demanding this morning?"
"You were asleep when I got in last night. I feel the need for extra snuggle time." She pulled her quilt back and patted the bed invitingly. "Please?"
Willow carefully put her cup down on the small table that separated their beds before kicking off her shoes and crawling under the quilt. Buffy immediately put an arm around her waist and drew her closer, and Willow happily obliged. When they were comfortable she picked up her cup and spent a few minutes enjoying the sensation of being close to the woman she loved.
"Is everything all right?" Buffy asked eventually, taking a bagel out of the bag and breaking off a piece.
"I guess."
Buffy chewed for a moment and frowned. "That doesn't sound like a happy Willow. What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong . . . exactly." Willow sighed and put her head on Buffy's shoulder. "I saw Tara."
"You saw . . . Tara?"
The witch nodded.
"What did she want?" Buffy asked calmly.
"It looks like she's living next door. She didn't know we were living here until we moved in. I told her she didn't have to leave."
"Oh."
"She wants to be friends."
Willow felt Buffy stiffen next to her but her voice stayed perfectly calm. "I see. And how do you feel?"
"I don't know."
Buffy turned her head and managed to kiss Willow's forehead. "It's your decision."
"But I'm confused." Willow did not dare look into Buffy's face.
Although she could feel the tension in her partner's body, Buffy's voice sounded like she was talking about nothing more important than the weather. "Will, whatever you decide is ok with me. I love you and I trust you. If you need Tara's friendship then I'll accept it."
"You will?"
She felt Buffy nod. "I will."
Willow took a deep breath and sat up so that she could kiss Buffy lightly. "Thank you."
***
A shadow moved down the corridor. It paused at a door marked 'Rosenburg/Summers' and sniffed. Green eyes shone briefly and a snarl could be heard from the shadow. It sounded inhumanely hungry.
In the dorm room Buffy shivered and Willow pulled her closer.
A student wandered down the corridor, his head buried in a book. The shadowy creature chuckled, a low, rattling sound, and moved towards the unfortunate boy. At the last moment he looked up and froze with horror, but by then it was too late.
***
"Giles? Do you think I'm being paranoid?" Buffy asked.
It was Sunday afternoon and she was sitting at the table in the Magic Box flipping listlessly through a dusty old book. Giles was behind the counter checking through the contents of the shelves and making notes as he went. Buffy assumed it had something to do with stock checking, but if she asked he would probably make her help so she stayed well away.
"Pardon?"
"About Willow," she elaborated. "Do you think I'm being paranoid about Willow? Would you be paranoid if your girlfriend wanted to be friends with her ex?"
"Well, I-"
"Or am I being really selfish? After all, I'm not exactly in a position to be friends with my exes but does that mean I should stop her?"
"Uh, I-"
"It's just that she and Tara were so close. For some reason I wouldn't feel so bad if it was Oz. Is that crazy?"
"Buffy, I-"
"You're right. It's crazy. Oz and Tara are totally different. Maybe that's why I'm going crazy here. Will's so kind and sweet . . . she hates to hurt people. She'd never lead Tara on."
"I agree-"
"It's just that I'm going crazy, sitting here, wondering what they're doing. What they're talking about. Whether they're talking about me. God, what if she's not happy with me? What if that's why she wants to be friends with Tara? What if she's suddenly realised that it's Tara she loves, not me? Oh God, what if-"
"Buffy!"
The Slayer suddenly realised that Giles was standing right in front of her, glaring.
"Yes?" she said meekly.
He sighed and sat down on a chair opposite her. "Willow loves you. Any fool can see that. Have you considered that maybe she needs Tara for other reasons? Tara is a witch and Willow is a witch. You're a Slayer. There are things that she has to do that only another witch would understand. I know that you come to me with problems that only a Watcher can understand, but do you see Willow worrying that you'll leave her for me?"
Buffy shook her head.
"Exactly." Giles smiled slightly. "She doesn't love you any less but she needs someone who understands the things you can't. Does that make any sense to your overreacting mind?"
The Slayer blushed and pouted, but nodded anyway. "I guess. I just got so . . . jealous." She winced. "Not pretty."
"No, it isn't. But as long as you recognise it you'll be fine."
"It's that simple?"
"No, but it is a good starting place."
She nodded and looked down at the table as she said, "Thank you. How do you always manage to be so . . . oh."
Giles, just about to return to his stock counting, sat down again and looked at her expectantly. "Oh?"
Buffy picked up the newspaper that had caught her eye. "Oh. Student found dead outside college gym. Rodney Pearce . . . yadda, yadda . . . no wounds . . . yadda, yadda . . . no apparent cause of death . . . police to investigate . . . body has been moved to Sunnydale General. Huh."
"Intriguing," Giles agreed.
"Interested in a little midnight breaking and entering? I hear the morgue is quite the tourist spot."
***
The morgue was dark and silent as the Slayer and her Watcher slipped in. Buffy turned on her torch and Giles quickly flicked through the papers on a clipboard near the door until he found what he was looking for. He signalled to Buffy and walked over to the bank of refrigerated units where the bodies were kept. Buffy shone her torch on the labels until they found the right one and then she opened it.
A wave of frigid air washed over them as they slid the pallet with the body on out of its cubby-hole. Buffy shivered and wrinkled her nose, although the body only smelled of the chemicals that preserved it.
"Welcome to the glamorous world of vampire Slaying," she whispered.
Giles nodded but concentrated on studying the body. There was silence for a while as they checked for bite marks, needle marks - anything that would give them some clue as to what they were up against. But there was not even a bruise, let alone anything that could have caused the young man to die.
"I'm coming up empty over here," Buffy whispered. "You?"
"Nothing as yet. Except . . ."
"What? Don't keep me in suspense. I intend to finish this looking at dead bodies as thing as soon as possible."
"Buffy, are there any tattoos on your side of the body?"
She frowned. "Well, there's something on his wrist here. A black band of some kind. Looks like . . . swirly things."
"Have you checked his ankles yet?"
"Eeww." Buffy check his ankles. "Another tattoo. Is that it?"
Giles nodded and they carefully put the body back as they had found it. They were closing the refrigerator door when Buffy heard footsteps in the corridor outside. She stiffened and signalled to Giles to freeze as she turned off the torch. For a long moment Slayer and Watcher stood motionless, hardly daring to breath, and then they heard the footsteps slowly walk away from the door. After a few more nervous heartbeats they both let out a deep breath and relaxed.
"Let's get out of here," Buffy whispered.
***
Willow was half-dozing when Buffy eventually crept into their dorm room. The sound of the door closing startled her out of her sleep and she blinked blearily up at the blond woman.
"Buffy?"
The Slayer jumped and whirled around, stake in hand. When she realised that it was only Willow she dropped her hand with a sheepish grin. "Hey Will. Could you not sneak up on me when I've just had a nervous morgue visit?"
"I didn't sneak. It was more of a lying here waiting thing than a sneaking thing," Willow protested, grinning at Buffy's blushing. "Did you have fun breaking into the morgue and . . . there is no way that sentence is going to end in a good place."
Buffy sat on her bed and began pulling her boots off. "It was educational. I got a whole lesson in goose bumps and terror. Just what a girl needs on a Sunday night."
"So long as you had fun," Willow said sleepily.
She felt Buffy stand and walk over to her bed but her eyes just would not stay open long enough to look up. After a moment she felt a soft kiss on her cheek and then she was asleep again.
***
Buffy picked at the unidentifiable mush on the plate in front of her. The cafeteria assured her it was beef casserole, but she was not too sure. A touch on her shoulder and she looked up into Willow's smiling face.
"Hey," Willow greeted her. "Why the glum?"
Buffy crinkled her nose. "I'm trying to decide if this is safe to eat. What do you think?"
Willow waved her sandwich. "I'm playing it safe. I passed the kitchens on my way in." She shuddered. "I've smelled better demons."
The Slayer needed no further information and pushed the plate away, picking up the bag of peanuts she had added to her tray as a last thought. "Thanks. I think I'll stick to these. They can't have done anything to them, can they?"
"Well . . ." Willow grinned. "It's your stomach. And your life."
"Thanks sweetie."
"I'm only trying to help." Willow paused a moment. "Did you just call me sweetie?"
Buffy ran the past two minutes through her head and realised with a start that she had. "I-I guess so. Unless you don't like it. I can take it back-"
"No," Willow said quickly. "I liked it. It's sort of . . . coupley. Affectionate." She smiled shyly. "Loving."
The blonde girl smiled at her partner. "I'm glad. Because I do. Love you, that is."
Buffy suddenly found herself pulled into a tight hug, in the middle of the crowded cafeteria, and after a moment's surprised hesitation she put her arms around Willow and held her tightly. Willow's hugging me in public? This is a public display of affection? Hmm, I could get to like this.
The redheaded witch reluctantly pulled and smiled shyly. "I love you too."
For a few minutes they sat in silence, eating and exchanging glances. Buffy reflected that this was different to anything she had ever felt before. With both Angel and Riley she had always felt a need to fill the silences with talk but with Willow she could say everything she wanted to with looks. They still talked, frequently annoying Giles with their chatter, but they could also have moments of silence like this where nothing existed outside of them.
Unfortunately life has a habit of intruding at times like these and Buffy accidentally looked up at the clock on the wall behind Willow. "Oh, god, look at the time. I have a class in about . . . five minutes ago."
"It's ok. I'll see you later." Willow paused and then looked up with a faintly worried expression. "I'm meeting Tara after class. There's this new spell we wanted to try out. Is that ok?"
Buffy firmly forced the hot spurt of jealousy down. "It's fine. I'll meet you at the Magic Box later."
Willow nodded.
"We can compare notes - your spells and my training. And maybe get mochas on the way home."
The redheaded girl's face lit up. "Cool. Mochas always make everything better."
"Bye . . . sweetie." Buffy leaned down and quickly kissed Willow's cheek before running for the door.
***
She did not see the shadowy figure lurking around the corner. Nor did Willow when she left the cafeteria a few minutes later and set out across the college campus. The shadowy figure's green eyes flashed, deep inside its concealing hood, and it followed her.
***
*Thwack*
*Thud*
*Swish*
*Thwack*
*Thud*
"That's enough!" Giles shouted quickly, and then more calmly added, "That's very good."
Buffy twirled her staff and grinned. "Giving in?"
The Watcher stiffly picked his staff up from the ground and rotated his shoulder. "No. Just, uh, allowing you some time to recuperate."
"Aha. And this recuperation time will last . . ?"
"Probably until next week."
For a few minutes there was silence as the two combatants concentrated on straightening the training room and putting the weapons away safely. When it was all done to Giles' satisfaction Buffy got two bottles of water out of the small fridge they kept for the purpose and threw one to her Watcher before opening hers.
"You're improving," Giles said, wiping his face on a towel. "I think this new schedule is working. But you must remember not to drop your guard even if you seem to have won."
Buffy took a long gulp of water. "Giles, usually when I seem to have won the bad guy is dust. Kinda hard to organise a comeback from that."
"Nevertheless, you must stay alert. You don't always face foes that turn into dust; need I remind you of the Kalxa demon last week?" he asked severely.
"That was a one off . . . I hope. And how was I supposed to know it would sprout extra heads when I cut off the first one?"
"Which is precisely why you mustn't drop your guard so quickly."
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the bell ringing in the shop.
"What have I told you about locking up?" Buffy asked, glaring at her Watcher.
He sighed but said nothing, knowing that this particular argument would probably never end. Instead he followed the blonde Slayer into the shop and stopped, surprised, when he saw Tara standing uncertainly near the counter.
"Tara?" Buffy said slowly, unsurprised by the spurt of jealousy she felt on seeing the blonde witch. "Where's Willow?"
"Y-y-you mean she's n-n-not here?" Tara asked, her face betraying her anxiousness.
Buffy shook her head. "Not yet. I haven't seen her since lunch."
"Oh." Tara began wringing her hands nervously. "She was supposed to be meeting me after classes but she didn't show up. That was an hour ago."
A lump of ice-cold fear lodged in Buffy's heart. "She's . . . missing? Willow's missing?"
"N-n-not necessarily. Maybe she changed her mind and went somewhere else."
Buffy began pacing. "No, she'd have called or left a message. It's not like her to just not show up."
"That's what I thought."
"Something terrible has happened."
Giles put a hand on Buffy's shoulder and stopped her frantic pacing. "Let's not jump to conclusions. Willow may have just lost track of time."
"For an hour? Giles, you know Willow. She's never late. She's almost as obsessive about it as you are!" Buffy felt panic fluttering at the edges of her mind. "Something must have happened!"
"Buffy, stop panicking."
"But-"
"I said, stop it," Giles ordered. "I know you're worried, but if you panic it won't solve anything. You need to find out where she was last seen and when. That will give us something to work from."
"I-I-I'll go talk to her lecturer," Tara said.
Buffy nodded and the blonde witch hurried out. "What can I do?"
Giles pinched his nose wearily. "You can try your rooms, see if she's gone there for some reason. I'll wait here in case she tries to call."
***
An hour later they reconvened at the Magic Box, all three drawing a blank.
"Willow didn't go to her lecture," Tara reported with a worried frown.
"Her laptop and witch-stuff are still in the dorm," Buffy added. "Whatever happened must have been straight after lunch."
Giles nodded. "Did you check the cafeteria?"
The blonde Slayer nodded, her eyes full of fear. "She left shortly after me. I followed the path she would have followed and there's a scorch mark on a building, but I didn't see any sign of Willow."
"A scorch mark?" Giles asked, interest lighting in his eyes. "Can you describe it?"
"It was triangular, with a swirly pattern in the middle. Sort of like the tattoos last night. I thought it might have been made when that guy was killed." Buffy paused. "Do you think the whateveritwas got Willow too?"
"It's a coincidence," Giles allowed. "But let's not get carried away."
"Well, do something. Look stuff up. Willow's in danger, I know it, and I have to find her."
Tara stepped forward. "I could help. It sounds sort of familiar, so I might have read about it somewhere."
Giles nodded. "Very well, we'll research."
***
After a couple of hours Buffy threw her book down and began pacing. "I should be out there looking! Something's happened to her. I can't just sit here."
"And where would you start looking, hmm?" Giles asked rationally. "We have no idea where she is, what took her or how to find her."
"But sitting here isn't getting us anywhere, is it?"
"Uh, maybe," Tara cut in. "I think . . . i-i-is that what you saw?"
The blonde witch held up a book and Buffy hurried over to it. The page that Tara was holding open had a diagram of a triangle with swirling patterns inside it. Below, in black and white, was a copy of the tattoo she had seen the previous night. She tried to read the descriptions below the diagrams but it was in a language she could not understand, which described most languages apart from English.
Giles moved to stand behind Tara so he could look at the book. "I think you might be onto something. Well done."
Tara smiled shyly at him and held out the book. He took it and began reading, frowning as he translated. For a few minutes Buffy watched him but her patience didn't last long.
"Well?" she said, frustrated. "Is this going to help us or am I going out there to beat up Willy?"
"It's . . . I think . . . yes, I think this is it." Giles looked up and she could triumph in his eyes. "Those tattoos we saw last night were made by a Setka demon. It feeds on souls, the very life energy of beings, and those marks are the bindings it uses to hold its victim in place until it's finished."
Cold fear settled on Buffy and she knew her voice sounded as chilly as she felt. "And it's killed Willow."
"Not necessarily. It's simply transported her somewhere." Giles referred to the book and looked up again. "It feeds on souls but what it really needs is life. Willow is a witch. The Setka demon captures witches, any being that works magic actually, and keeps them. It's a sort of . . . well, I suppose you could liken it to a water tap. Willow will act as a tap, and keep replenishing herself each time the demon needs to feed."
"S-so you're saying she's still alive?" Buffy asked, stumbling slightly over her words.
"Yes."
Buffy sat down heavily, missing the chair completely and ending up on the floor. She did not notice. "She's alive. Where is she?"
Giles shook his head, his expression uncertain. "I have no idea. The book doesn't say anything."
Tara looked up with a thoughtful expression. "If we could do a locating spell . . ."
Hope flared in Buffy and she met the witch's green eye gaze, for the first time not feeling the flame of jealousy. "Is that possible?"
Nodding her head slowly, Tara pulled out a book and flicked through it. She stopped at a page and showed it to Giles, who took it and read silently for a moment.
"Well?" Buffy asked impatiently. "Is this going to work?"
"I'm not sure," Giles said uncertainly. "In principle it should be possible . . . but it's not exactly . . . I have no idea."
"Tara?"
"I've never tried it before," the blonde witch admitted.
"In that case there's a first time for everything. We all love Willow and we don't want anything to happen to her, right?" Buffy fixed them each with a pleading look. "So we're going to find her, no matter what it takes."
***
Willow sat huddled in the corner of the cell the creature had put her in. It was cold, damp and she could hear rustling sounds from another corner. Rats. I hate rats. Don't these things ever have nice warm, comfy dungeons? With maybe lights, and wallpaper and cushions. I mustn't panic. Buffy will find me. Buffy will save me.
***
"That's where she is?" Buffy asked, staring at the tiny luminous blob on the map.
"I-I think so," Tara confirmed.
"Another abandoned church," Giles said heavily. "This town really does have an excess of churches."
"Why would a demon hide out in a church?" Buffy asked. "Most demons avoid the places. Unless they're Spike doing a ritual to heal his girlfriend, but he had to go to the church. This is . . . weird."
"It probably has its reasons," Giles said.
Buffy nodded. "We'll find out when we get there, I guess. It could just be that it's the last place we'd look. I'll get the weapons, you bring the map."
"I-I-I'd like to come," Tara said quietly, stopping the Slayer and Watcher in their tracks.
"You would?" Buffy asked.
Tara nodded. "Willow's my friend and I c-c-care about her. I need to help."
For a moment Buffy hesitated. On one hand it would be easier if she had back up. On the other, this was Tara. Willow's ex. Could she work with her? A flash of memory, Willow's face when she finally admitted to being in love with her, decided Buffy. She could do anything if it would get Willow back, up to and including working with her former girlfriend and putting her own jealousy aside for a while.
"All right, you're in the team," Buffy said. "Let's get you kitted out."
***
Her cell seemed to be getting colder, although that could just be her imagination. Willow hugged her knees, trying to keep some warmth in. Something compelled her to look up in time to see green eyes flashing at her through the barred window into her stony prison. A dark shape cut out the light from the window and Willow stopped breathing. After a few heartbeats, the longest in her life, the dark shape moved away and she took in gulps of air. Hurry, Buffy, she silently prayed.
***
Buffy walked with Tara through the streets of Sunnydale. Giles was following a few paces behind and she knew that it was his subtle way of hinting that she should talk to the girl walking beside her. She sighed but realised that he was right, in his way. She needed to talk things out with Tara before they got into any life-threatening situations. Not to mention that it would be better for Willow if she could accept their friendship. So many relationships around her had failed through jealousy; she did not want this one to add to that number.
"So, Tara," she began uncertainly, "you're, uh, here."
Tara nodded.
"And you want to be friends with Willow."
"I-i-it's not what you're thinking," Tara said quickly. "I'm not going to take her away from you. But we agreed, before Oz, that whatever happened we'd still be friends. Her friendship is more important than anything else I could have with her."
"But you still love her."
"Yes. But she loves you more. I've always known how she felt about you. I didn't know how you felt until you came to see me that day."
"You knew?" Buffy asked, surprised. "I wasn't even certain then."
"It was written all over your face. I knew that if she ever found out . . . well, I couldn't keep her when I wasn't the one she wanted. I didn't want her to be with me out of duty, or guilt, but because she loved me." Tara smiled sadly. "And as soon as she knew that you loved her everything changed. It's better that she's with you and happy than with me and not."
"Oh."
Tara looked at Buffy intently, and for the first time the Slayer began to realise why Willow cared for the other girl so much. "She's happier than I've ever seen her. You've done that. How could I take that away from her? But I need a friend. She needs someone to share things with, things she can't share with you - not that you're not important, but there are some things-"
"That we can't do together," Buffy finished. "I know. And I think she's feeling guilty about it."
"Yeah, she is."
They walked in silence for a while. Thoughts whirled through Buffy's head before settling on one thing. "You haven't just got her friendship."
"Oh?" Tara said curiously, fear flashing through her eyes.
"You've got all of us."
Buffy suspected that the other girl had tears in her eyes, but she just said, "Thank you."
They continued in silence until they reached the church. It was tall, imposing and in the dark all they could make out was the bulk of it looming over them. They silently found the door and Buffy was surprised to find it unlocked.
"Not security conscious then," she commented under her breath as she pushed the door open.
The interior was pitch black so they reluctantly turned on torches to begin searching. The aisles were full of rubbish and there was graffiti on the walls so it had obviously been abandoned for some time. There was no sign of the demon or of Willow. Buffy indicated that they should spread out and her companions complied. The search was conducted in complete silence, even when they found Willow's knapsack, and it was a few minutes before Tara waved and pointed.
Giles and Buffy hurried over to the witch and smiled grimly at the door that was almost concealed behind the altar. Buffy put her hand on the iron handle and indicated for Giles and Tara to stay behind her.
"I'll take the demon, you get Willow," she breathed.
The other two nodded and hefted their weapons threateningly. As they both carried crossbows they were not idle threats. Buffy was also armed with a crossbow and had several stakes, along with a long knife, concealed in her clothing. She opened the door, grateful that it did not squeak, and crept down the stairs to the cellar beneath the church.
It was actually somewhat larger than a cellar, more the size of a cavern, Buffy realised part way down. At the far end there was another altar but the crucifix above it was upside down. And the cloth was red. And the statues on the table were . . . she firmly looked away. Now she knew why the Setka demon had chosen this church. The priest must have had a crisis of faith and begun worshipping the other side. The cavern was some kind of second church under the original one.
She crouched as she reached the bottom of the stairs and waited, hardly breathing, until her eyes adjusted properly to the light in the cavern. Flaming torches guttered in iron holders on the wall and lit candles covered every surface. She could just see a barred door on the other side of the cavern and she guessed that was where Willow was being held. Great. We just have to walk across the brightly lit demon-church, break open the door and sneak out again. Piece of cake. Just once, I'd like a really stupid demon.
In a shadowy corner something moved. Buffy focused and watched as the shadow detached itself from the wall and began to flow towards her. She concentrated and, as it drew nearer, she realised it was actually a tall creature wearing black robe. A deep hood concealed its face and a sword was belted at its waist. Her eyes blurred and she blinked, rubbing them. The creature, probably the Setka they were looking for, was walking strangely. As it moved its robe stayed completely still, not even flowing out behind it, and it moved with sinuous grace.
The demon came within range of her crossbow and Buffy grimly aimed. This thing had Willow so she was not going to miss.
Her bolt shot forward with unerring accuracy and embedded itself in the demon's chest. The Setka kept moving forwards, not even stumbling at the force it had been hit with.
Buffy heard the whirring sounds of two more crossbow bolts whizzing over head and the Setka sprouted two more feathered bolts from its chest. It simply continued advancing.
"How do I kill it?" Buffy called up to Giles.
"I have no idea. You could try chopping off its head," he suggested, throwing down a sword.
Instincts honed over many training sessions took over and Buffy plucked the sword out of the air before running at the demon. Behind her she heard Giles and Tara begin running but all her attention was taken by the demon in front of her.
The demon calmly drew its own sword and waited for Buffy to reach it. She immediately slashed at it and then jumped into a spinning summersault over its head. She landed lightly behind it but the demon was as quick as she was. It whirled, robe still unnervingly motionless, and faced her. Buffy took up a guard position and waited. From deep within the hood she heard a chuckling hiss.
"Think this is fun?" she asked, vaguely aware that Tara and Giles had reached the door. "Let's see how you feel about me when I'm done."
Without warning the creature struck, its sword flashing in the candlelight, and Buffy was forced to parry its stroke. Their swords connected with jarring forced and for a split moment Buffy could not feel her hand. Sensation returned and she fought back. Her sword moved so quickly it was a blur of light and motion but the creature managed to parry and deflect every stroke she made. All the knowledge that Giles had imparted over four years came to the fore. The sword blade became a part of her and she reacted by instinct, one minute defending and the next launching her own lightening attacks.
She was slowly being forced across the room, towards the altar, and she was becoming breathless. The creature she fought simply chuckled quietly and continued its attack. It hardly seemed to be working at all, its robe stayed utterly motionless, and yet Buffy could not get past its guard. She felt a burning pain in her arm and realised that the demon had managed to score a hit. It was only a cut but it was the first blood drawn.
The Slayer was aware that Giles and Tara were still working to open the door and, briefly, she heard Willow's frightened voice. That put new energy into her attack and she bared her teeth, snarling. Her sword flashed and whirled, she attacked high and low, and was rewarded with an inhuman scream when her sharp blade bit into the creature's side. It hesitated only briefly before attacking again but it was long enough to show Buffy that she could hurt it. That was all the encouragement she needed. Her sword hand was now slippery with her own blood but she knew that she was going to win.
To one side she saw Giles swing the door open and Willow stumbled out. Pure rage filled her at the bruised face of her partner. Buffy forced the rage down, turning it into a cold, burning fire that powered her next attack. She thrust at the creature's head and, as it brought its sword up to counter, she changed to swing low at its legs. Ducking under its upraised sword she darted in and thrust, not with her sword but with her knife, and was rewarded with a shuddering scream. Her hit had been straight through the heart but she did not stop to gloat. Giles' words rang through her head and she brought her sword up to counter the creature's return attack.
Buffy danced back a few steps and transferred her sword into her uninjured hand. The demon tried to attack again but its thrust was weaker and Buffy parried it easily. She waited, defending calmly as the creature became weaker, until she saw the opening she was looking for. Without hesitating, she swung and decapitated the demon. For a moment the body appeared not to notice that its head was gone and it continued swinging blindly. Then it slowly tumbled to the ground and lay motionless.
The Slayer stood over the body with her sword poised over its heart for a few breaths but it was completely dead. She felt the adrenalin drain out of her body and shakily leaned on her sword.
Moments later she was being enveloped in a tight, almost desperate, hug and she buried her face in the familiar fragrance of Willow's hair.
"Sssh, sssh, I'm ok," she said, rubbing the sobbing witch's back.
"I-I know. I just saw that thing and . . . I was so frightened for you," Willow said, hiccupping as she calmed down.
Buffy pulled back slightly and grinned. "I'm fine. See?"
She slowly leaned forwards and met Willow's lips in a passionate kiss. The redhead seemed to be trying to put all the love, fear and relief she felt into the kiss and Buffy returned it eagerly. She pulled her partner closer, dropping the sword, and stroked her cheek with trembling fingers. Willow sighed and relaxed, running her hands up Buffy's arm.
Buffy winced as Willow's fingers brushed over the slash in her arm and groaned slightly. The adrenaline had allowed her to push past the pain earlier but now she was being vividly reminded of it. Willow pulled back and looked at the gash before meeting Buffy's eyes with her own worried green ones.
"Buffy, that looks pretty bad," she said slowly. "You should get that looked at."
"It's nothing. It'll probably heal up by tomorrow," Buffy protested, wincing as she flexed the arm.
Willow pulled back and frowned. "It's pouring blood. Your sleeve is soaked. That's not nothing."
"Ok, but I've had worse. Lots of times."
"That's meant to make me feel better? You're hurt! Giles, take a . . . oh."
Buffy watched the blush flood her friend's face as she realised that they had been kissing in front of Giles. "I love when you blush."
Willow punched her on her uninjured arm. "Stop that. I'm not distracted."
"Oh?"
"Yeah."
Buffy leaned closer, grinning as she whispered, "Bet I can distract you plenty later."
***
Willow sat behind Buffy, brushing her long blonde hair. Unfortunately the 'nothing' was painful and it was Buffy's right arm so she was having some trouble doing things. Like brushing her hair. Which meant that Willow had to help her, and it also gave her an excuse to run her hands through the think blonde hair and reassure herself that Buffy really was going to be fine. Mental note; dating a Slayer may cause premature death from stress.
"Buffy," she began.
"Hmm?"
"Were you afraid?"
"Of course. I was scared that I wouldn't get there in time, or that the demon would get past me and hurt you. I'm always a little scared when that kind of thing happens."
"But weren't you scared for yourself?"
"No."
Willow was silent for a while, turning that over in her head. "Well, do you think you could be? Because I don't think I'd know what to do if I lost you."
"I'm careful."
"That's not what I mean. I need you to care about what happens to you. If you don't, I'm scared that one day you won't come back from patrol."
"Will, I love you. And I never want to leave you. But when there's a choice between my life and someone else's, there really isn't a decision to make. I'm a Slayer; it's what I do."
Willow slowly pulled the brush through Buffy's hair again before putting it down and wrapping her arms around the blonde girl's waist. "It's part of the package then."
"Yeah."
She rested her cheek on Buffy's shoulder. "I guess I wouldn't want to change you."
They were silent for a moment and Buffy put her hands around Willow's where they rested on her stomach. "It's ok to need friends outside of me. We each have things we have to do but we can't be everything to each other. I can't join in your witch stuff and you aren't my Watcher."
"I know."
"I'm just saying . . . you don't need to feel guilty about Tara. We talked and I think I understand."
At Buffy's words Willow felt as though an enormous weight had lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you."
They sat for a long time, just holding each other and thinking. Eventually Willow began to move towards her bed but Buffy held her hand.
"Stay with me?" she asked. "I just . . . I need to know you're here."
Willow considered for a moment and then nodded. She crawled into the bed beside Buffy and felt the Slayer's arms wrap securely around her. Buffy turned the light out and they held each other until they fell asleep.
*finis*