Author's Note: And here we go with yet antoher fic of the little series-thingy or whatever this is :) This one's getting a special dedication to my dear friend who helped with some ideas and provided her opinion on this before it got posted here. I hope you'll enjoy it! :)
Disclaimer: All characters used from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and so on, I'm just taking them off the shelves to play with for a while.
I Am The Wrath
The day at campus had started like many others before, with Buffy and Willow meeting before their first class and then heading to the lecture hall together; they sat next to each other during said class, giving her best to pay attention, something which was considerably harder for the Slayer than for the witch, thanks to the fact that patrol had taken longer than she had thought the night before and that she only had gotten a mere three hours of sleep before the alarm clock had torn her out of her slumber again.
Thus, she let out several hearty yawns during the lecture, something which earned her several strict looks from the professor, even though she covered her mouth every time the urge to yawn overtook her again; when the class finally ended, the elder man who had been teaching it gave her another strict glance as she walked past him on her way out, and she smiled back at him innocently, the smile vanishing from her face the second he wasn't looking at her anymore.
"I wonder if he'd still give me the evil eye every time I yawn if he knew why I'm so tired", she mumbled, making Willow smile next to her, the witch shrugging afterwards and reaching out to patch her friend's shoulder reassuringly.
"I'm sure he wouldn't", she then told the blonde, not surprised when Buffy started towards the cafeteria, clearly in the need for some caffeine, "but you can hardly tell him that, so you'll just have to deal with his annoying looks."
"I know", Buffy sighed, "the sacred duty of being… what I am has to be kept secret. I've heard that from Giles a million times."
"Not that it worked so well with us", Willow giggled in reply, making the Slayer smile as well as she remembered how quickly both Willow and Xander had found out about her – and how fast they had accepted the gruesome truth about the town they were living in and had decided to join in on the fight.
"I'm glad it didn't", the blonde stated, making the witch smile again as well, "I couldn't do it without you…"
"And without you, we'd all be dead by now, several times", Willow shrugged, entering the cafeteria with her best friend and making her way to the counter with her, both of them ordering large coffees there, turning to each other again as soon as the clerk started preparing them and their attention didn't need to be focused on him anymore.
"I hope that coffee will help", Buffy sighed, briefly glancing at the clerk again and watching how he poured said coffee, "or I'll just fall asleep during the next class. Which subject is it anyway?"
"Psychology", Willow told her without hesitation, once more making the Slayer glad about the fact that her best friend was able to memorize their schedules like that, something she never had been able to do as well as the redhead, always forgetting one class or another.
"I really hope that coffee will help then", she sighed to herself, "Professor Crichton gets even more annoyed about yawning people than the prof we just had does, do you remember how he asked that one guy to leave when he kept yawning?"
"Yeah, that poor guy, he was so flustered when he left", Willow grimaced, for the sake of her best friend sharing her hope that the caffeine would kick in properly; moments later, the clerk put the two paper cups down in front of them, prompting the redhead to pay for both of them, Buffy taking the time to thank her – briefly – before she picked up the cup and took a big gulp of the coffee.
"This is so good", she sighed out afterwards, clutching the coffee to her chest as she left the cafeteria with Willow in tow, making sure that she wouldn't spill any of it, should another student bump into her, "and so strong, just perfect."
"Really?" Willow gave back after taking a sip of her own coffee, frowning at the cup, "it doesn't taste that strong to me."
"That's because you're used to the coffee Pat makes", Buffy smirked in reply, "when I drank one of those for the first time, I thought I'd have a heart attack!"
"Good point", the redhead had to add, grinning as well, "and considering how much sugar she always pours into hers, I'm surprised she's not hyped up for hours after drinking that stuff."
"True", Buffy agreed, a giggle escaping her as she imagined a hyped up Pat, the mental image of the demon running in circles amusing her enough to aid the caffeine in taking some of her tiredness away.
"Must be connected to her nature or something", she added once she had managed to get that picture out of her mind, "I know that I'd be hyped up if I drank coffee the way she does."
This made both of them giggle, and afterwards, they grinned at each other; still smiling, they entered the room were the next lecture would be held together, taking their seats and making themselves comfortable, sipping their coffee while they waited for the professor to arrive and start the class.
To their surprise, the normally punctual professor hadn't shown up ten minutes later, something which was highly out of character for him – during all the time he had been teaching them ever since he had taken over after Professor Walsh's death, he never had been late, and often had let his students know about how much he despised it if they were unpunctual.
"That's weird", Buffy finally murmured to her best friend, making her nod; around them, the other students were starting to mumble among themselves as well, showing it to the Slayer that she wasn't the only one who thought that this was odd.
"He's never been late before", Willow now stated, keeping her voice low as well, "this is really odd."
As if her words had been some kind of cue, the door to the lecture hall opened, but it was not the professor who entered; instead, another teacher moved up to the lectern, clearing his throat uncomfortably before he spoke up, his words prompting Buffy to close her eyes briefly.
"Unfortunately", the professor began, "Professor Crichton unexpectedly passed away last night. We're looking to find a replacement for him as fast as possible, but until then, psychology classes will have to be cancelled. A memorial service for all those who are interested will be held in the auditorium tomorrow at three p.m.."
"Why am I sure that he died of neck trauma", Buffy whispered to Willow, making sure none of the other students around them heard her; next to her, the redhead nodded glumly, a small sigh escaping her afterwards.
"Honestly, I'm surprised this hasn't happened earlier", she then whispered back, glancing around as well, glad when no one else reacted to her words, "I mean, he did mention how fond he was of nightly walks across the campus quite often, and we know how dangerous that is here in Sunnydale…"
"You'd think though they know by now that the Slayer's going to college", Buffy muttered, only to make Willow point out the fact that she wasn't living on campus anymore, the blonde having to admit that her friend was right.
"Maybe I should move back into the dorm", she then sighed while the professor who had told them the tragic news left the class and the students started packing up their stuff, their enthusiasm about a cancelled class noticeably dimmed by the fact that the professor who had been supposed to hold it had died, "then they maybe would stop going on the hunt here."
"I don't think so", Willow gave back, making the blonde raise an eyebrow and prompting her to go on. "Well, you've been the Slayer here in Sunnydale for years now, and that didn't really stop them until now, right? They're still hunting at night, at the Bronze even though that's the bar you always go to, and a few times, you even caught them right in the street you live in. So, even if you did move back to the dorm…"
She trailed off and shrugged, and after a moment, Buffy had to admit that her best friend was right, another sigh escaping her as a response.
"Well", she then stated, "since that class is off, what do you think about having another coffee?"
"Sure", the redhead agreed, making Buffy smile again; together, they left the class and made their way back to the cafeteria, spending the time until the next class there with drinking their coffee and talking, their mood slightly dimmed by the death of the professor, even though such deaths were not a seldom occurrence in Sunnydale.
Already when she stepped into the apartment, the smell of food hit Willow's nostrils, and her stomach rumbled audibly in response; she had had lunch at the campus with Buffy, but as always, the food there hadn't been all too filling, her mouth watering as she identified the smell as the one of pasta sauce.
Quickly, she took off her shoes and jacket, then moved into the kitchen, throwing her book bag on the living room couch as she walked past it; upon entering the kitchen, she found her girlfriend standing at the oven and stirring a pot with noodles, every now and then doing the same to the smaller pot next to it, keeping the sauce the witch had smelled in the hallway from burning.
"There you are", Pat greeted her as she entered, bending over to kiss her Hello, "just on time, dinner's almost done. How was college?"
"Bit depressing", Willow gave back, sitting down at the kitchen table, her words making the demon raise an eyebrow at her, prompting her to speak on. "Our psychology professor was killed last night… Not surprising in that town, but it's still a blow every time it happens to someone we know…"
"Oh, ouch", Pat grimaced, briefly leaving the sauce and noodles alone and moving to her girlfriend, putting an arm around her shoulders, "are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine", the witch replied, smiling slightly, "as I said, it's a blow when it's someone you know, but we are in Sunnydale, so…"
"It's kinda part of life here", the demon finished, making the redhead nod; the taller woman still took the time to kiss her quickly, but tenderly, then moved back to the stove and focused on the food again, deciding that it was done a few minutes later.
"I hope that didn't ruin your appetite", she stated while she started filling two plates with noodles and sauce, "or that wonderful food will go to waste."
"You made all that?" Willow wanted to know in reply, sounding a bit sceptical – she knew that her girlfriend wasn't exactly a genius in the kitchen, this being the main reason why she hardly ever made lunch or dinner.
"The noodles", Pat smirked, putting the plate down in front of her girlfriend before she sat down as well, "the sauce's been pre-done, it came in a glass, the wonders of modern times. We didn't have that when I was your age."
"They didn't even have cars when you were my age", Willow giggled in reply, picking up the fork the demon had put down next to her plate and starting to eat, a happy sigh escaping her after the first bite.
"This is really good", she then told her girlfriend, "even though the sauce has been pre-done."
"Yeah, it's a yummy one", Pat smiled, taking a big bite of her food as well afterwards, taking the time to chew and swallow before she spoke on. "So you'll get a new teacher, then? Do you already know whom?"
"Nope", Willow gave back, "I hope they'll find a replacement quickly, I mean, that sounds nasty now, but the class still has to go on, not to mention the exams and everything."
"Well, this is Sunnydale", the demon shrugged, "they're surely used to finding replacement teachers rather quick here, right?"
"I guess so", the witch agreed after a moment, "as you said, this is Sunnydale. Honestly, sometimes I'm surprised people are still living here, what with them getting killed all the time."
"Well, they can't move away after they've been killed", Pat pointed out, smirking when Willow raised an eyebrow at her in reply, chuckling when the redhead pointed out that this wasn't what she had meant.
"I know", she then reassured her girlfriend, "but yeah, you're right, sometimes, I wonder about that too, I mean, there's a good reason that Buffy and the rest of the gang are staying here, but for the normal citizen types? No idea. Good selective memories or something."
"Very good selective memory", Willow mumbled, then changed the topic by asking Pat how her day had been; and while her girlfriend told her about it, making her giggle by letting her know how she had helped Anya at the Magic Box and the ex-demon had tried to reward her with a jar of dried frog eyes, Willow forgot about the death of her professor for a while, the relaxed and happy atmosphere in the apartment pushing all those unpleasant thoughts out of her mind.