I came up with this idea while watching an episode of Angel where he calls Giles to ask for Willow's help in saving Fred from being taken over by Illyria. Immediately, I thought about how much Willow would probably hate Giles making that decision for her and possibly hindering her ability to help a friend.

The characters don't belong to me, but the story ideas do. Let me know what you think and if I should continue. Hope you enjoy!

Distressing Decisions

Vision-clouding tears and trembling hands hindered her speed as she haphazardly tried to pack the bag sitting on her unmade bed. Her ears were muffled by the sobs she was trying desperately to hold back and the voices she refused to acknowledge. Occasionally one of them would step forward and try to stop her progress, but she shrugged them off and continued to pack in between her trips to the laptop where she was desperately trying to schedule a flight out of the nightmare in which she was currently drowning. A petite brunette stood in the corner of the room, trying to talk to her through her own tears. Two men, one in his late forties and the other her own age, were trying to reason with her from the doorway of the tiny bedroom.

"Willow, please stop this," Kennedy cried from her corner. She was clutching one of Willow's sweaters, acting as though keeping that one article of clothing might also help her keep the owner. The redhead barely looked up long enough to glare at the younger girl, whose dark eyes were glistening with tears of frustration and guilt. Kennedy was well aware of what she had done and of the terrible consequences her actions had caused. Then again, she had always before gotten her way and it shocked her that Willow wouldn't even stop long enough to listen to her side of the story.

"Will, listen. We know you're upset—" If Xander had been trying to come up with the least offensive, most comforting way to speak to his friend, he failed miserably.

"You have no idea how I feel. You never knew her. You didn't have the choice to save her taken away from you—"

"Willow, you weren't reachable at the time," Giles said calmly as he removed his glasses and began to clean them.

"Don't speak to me," Willow hissed at her former mentor and father figure. "You- I can't – I can't even look at you." She tried to maintain her anger, but it hurt so much. She sat down on her bed and buried her face in her hands, refusing to allow the rest of them see her finally break. The tension was thick enough to choke on by the time the petite blond came running into the tiny house. Xander, Giles, and Kennedy were simply standing and staring at the distressed redhead, who was now curled up in the middle of her bed, her body racked with painful, sorrow-filled sobs.

"What is going on here?" Buffy demanded as she pushed through the two men and spotted the position of her best friend. The three bystanders looked around guiltily, but no one seemed willing to explain the situation. Buffy glared at Kennedy, on who she liked to lay the majority of the blame, and then sat down on the bed next to the sobbing witch. "Will, what happened sweetie?" Her voice became lighter, slightly teasing as she stroked Willow's hair. "Was it Kennedy, because I'd happily kill her for you." The younger slayer visibly flinched and backed further into the corner as Buffy's blue eyes came up to meet hers. The tiny blond continued to rub Willow's back as her sobs began to slow.

"Giles—" It was the only word Willow was able to stammer before falling back into a fit of sobs. Buffy looked up in confusion at him; the man she trusted most in the world. What could he have possibly done to cause so much distress to Willow, a girl who had looked up to him most of her life?

"We need to talk." Buffy addressed the three calmly, but with an ominous tone. "Dawn!" The littlest member of their strange and eclectic family appeared in the doorway and pushed her way past the two familiar men. She tried to smile in greeting, but the atmosphere didn't allow it. Buffy leaned down close to Willow, so that no one else heard could hear the hushed exchange of words. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Try to rest. We'll talk when I get back." Willow barely blinked in acknowledgement. "Dawn?" Dawn nodded and took a seat next to Willow as Buffy stood up and led the three guilty-looking parties into another room of the small house.

Dawn snuggled next to the redhead who had practically raised her over the past few years and tried to lend a comforting word or two. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew that Willow didn't cry over trivial occurrences; it had to be something gigantic and awful. After trying unsuccessfully to start a conversation with the now sniffling witch, Dawn sighed and attempted to listen to the screaming match that had begun in the living room.

"What happened to Willow?" Buffy demanded an answer as soon as they were all in the living room, as far away from the bedroom as the little abode would allow. She perched on the arm of the chair Xander occupied and faced the sofa where her ex-watcher and least favorite new slayer were sitting.

"I just got here," Xander attested with hands raised in a gesture of complete confusion and innocence. "I have no idea what's been going on. All I know is that Fred died. She's not taking it well."

"Why would she?" Buffy replied. "Especially right after Cordy. And everything that happened last year—and the year before that she lost Tara. Of course she's not going to take it well. But why is she packing? And why did you call me? What aren't you guys telling me?" Buffy realized that Xander's answer had created more questions that she had originally had swimming around in her jet-lagged brain.

"You're the only one who can convince her to stay here," Kennedy answered quietly. "Or at least the only one who can force her to stay here, if it came to that—"

"Newsflash Kennedy. In case you didn't realize this, I don't like you. And I'm really not going to force Willow to stay with you. If she wants to leave, I'll buy her the plane ticket myself. She knows she's always welcome to stay with Dawn and me in Rome—"

"It's not for me, it's for Willow's own good. She needs to stay here."

"Why? What's missing from the story? What's going on? Giles?" Her eyes fell to the retired librarian, who was once again cleaning his spotless spectacles. It usually meant he had to tell her something he knew she wouldn't want to here. He stood up and began to pace the short length of the room, stopping only to avoid the few pieces of furniture impeding his path. Not certain where he should begin; he simply started to talk.

"A little over two months ago, Willow was experimenting with astral projection. You probably remember—"

"Yeah," Buffy said with a nod. "Her astral self scared me to death when she showed up in my kitchen. She thought it was so funny. I mean, it sort of was, but only after I stopped screaming."

"Yes, well, she progressed beyond this plane of existence and began to use astral projection to travel to different dimensions. She was doing quite well, but she never knew how long she would be gone. Indeed, it was probably a bad idea to allow her to continue, but she had progressed to such an elevated level, she always wanted to see how much further she could push her powers."

"Sounds like the same old Willow. This story going somewhere?"

"Yes, well, if I may continue." He cleared his throat and replaced his glasses. "While she was on one of these trips to another dimension, I received a telephone call from Los Angeles. It was—of course—"

"Angel," Buffy supplied. Giles nodded and continued.

"Yes. He wanted Willow's help on a problem. He said that his scientist friend—"

"Fred," Xander supplied.

"Yes, Fred. She had inhaled the essence of an ancient being. Illyria, I believe they call her. She was being taken over, inside out. It eventually became the girl, looking just like her but possessing the spirit and mind of the ancient being. Angel wanted, actually demanded—Willow's help."

"And what did you do?"

"I told him that we weren't in the business of helping people working for the enemy."

"You punished an innocent girl because of a decisions Angel made?" Buffy was stunned by the lack of emotion in Giles' voice as he spoke of Fred. "It was Angel's choice to take over Wolfram and Hart. From what I understand, the rest of them were part of his team and so they went with him. They were working for Angel, not the enemy."

"Buffy, when well you learn? Angel is the enemy. As long as he is aligning himself with an evil entity, he is enabling that evil. Anyone who became involved with him was aware of the risks associated—"

"She could read Latin," a tremulous voice informed them from the doorway. They all turned to see a tear-stained Willow standing against the doorframe, obviously leaning against it for support.

"Sorry," Dawn whispered softly to Buffy. "We could hear you in there. She wanted to come out." Buffy nodded took Willow's hand, leading the distraught witch to the last remaining piece of available furniture. The two old friends fit themselves in the oversized armchair and Dawn took Buffy's place on the arm of Xander's chair.

"What were you saying Will?"

"She could read Latin," Willow repeated in a stronger voice. "Fred. The woman whose life you had a hand in ending." Her commented was pointed at Giles, but Buffy couldn't help but notice that Kennedy looked awfully guilty as well. "She read Latin, and loved fairy tales. And had a stuffy bunny named Feigenbaum—"

"Mister Gordo—" Buffy whispered softly.

"She was a person Giles, a good person. She didn't deserve to die—" Willow's eyes were red from holding back fresh tears, but she was determined not to cry again. "She lived through hell in a demon dimension where she was a slave for five years. She was a pretty, intelligent college student from Texas who spent her late teens and early twenties in an alternate dimension where she was treated like an animal. Angel saved her. That's why she was so willing to go to Wolfram and Hart for him. He saved her. And this time, he needed my help to save her. And you didn't even give me the chance. She died because you didn't give me a chance to help."

"Willow," Giles said calmly, holding the redhead's green gaze. "I'm sorry you feel that way. But you weren't even in this dimension. It's unrealistic to believe—"

"You knew how to get me back. You knew how to do it, just in case of emergencies."

"I apologize. I used my best judgment."

"That's not good enough!" Willow screamed, startling everyone in the room. "It wasn't your choice to make. It was not your choice—" Her voice began to break as she began to cry again and she sagged exhaustedly into her best friend, who was trying to pay attention to Willow and glare daggers at Giles at the same time. Buffy rubbed Willow's back and tried to whisper reassurances, but she wasn't sure what to say. In one simple act, Willow's faith in Giles was shattered and her friend was dead.

"Buffy, you have to help me go. They're trying to stop me from going—"

"Go where? Stop you how?"

"I think she wants to go to the city of Angel," Xander said solemnly. He tried to fill in gaps wherever possible, but he knew very little of what was going on. Kennedy had called him because she thought he could convince Willow to stay away from the City of Angels and remain with her in Brazil. Xander had agreed to come only after realizing that Willow was on the verge of a major meltdown.

"I have been working on a binding spell," Giles admitted finally, realizing that Buffy knew there was more going on than they were leading her to believe.

"To keep her here?" Giles nodded shamefully and Buffy's eyes narrowed once more.

"I know you don't like Angel," Buffy started out in a warning voice. "But we're not in the business of judging and being spiteful before helping someone who is in trouble. If Willow thinks she can help, she'll go to L.A." Before Kennedy could begin her protest, Buffy silenced her with a steely blue glare. "Let me fill in the holes to this lovely story you've all woven for me. Giles doesn't tell Willow about Fred, but he does tell Kennedy to tell her when she returns. Willow returns, but girlfriend here conveniently forgets to tell her. Jealous much?" Kennedy glared at the older slayer, but couldn't deny what she was implying.

"Here's what we're going to do," Buffy said in a mockingly cheerful voice, never taking her hand out of Willow's. "Giles, you're going to get at least three tickets to L.A. as soon as possible. First thing tomorrow morning would be great. Xander, call Angel and get an update on what's happening with this ancient power running around in Fred's body. Dawn, could you pack a bag for Willow? Kennedy, you can box everything else up while we're in L.A. It'll be sent for later." Willow couldn't believe her ears; Buffy was breaking up with Kennedy for her. She wasn't sure whether to argue because Buffy was making a decision that clearly wasn't hers to make or be grateful that there would be an end to the continually tense relationship.

"You can't just take her away from me—"

"You did that yourself," Willow answered in a soft, shaking voice. "You never had anything to worry about with Fred. If you would have just trusted me, but no – and now your jealousy cost a lovely woman her life."

"Willow, please—"

"I'm sorry Kennedy. I have to go."

I've never written Buffy fiction before, so please let me know if you're interested in the story and think I should continue.