Tireseus: The Cycle

by ShadowOfApate

Second in the Series.

Series: Tireseus
Title: The Cycle
Chapter: One
Rating: PG-16
Pairing: Willow/Buffy
Spoilers: Season two.
Timeline: This is Angel becomes Angelus and goes all grr.
Beta Readers: Scotty Welles
Shadow Mage
The Dark Gremlin

Summary: A spell sends Willow's life spiraling out of control, and no matter what she does things only get more and more complicated.

Disclaimer: So not mine

PROLOGUE

Willow slunk along the bookshelf and peeked around it. Her dark red hair came loose from where it'd been safely tucked behind her ear. Short hair was something she was still getting used to; the spell that had changed her back had left her hair much darker than before and, in her opinion, much sexier. The temporary transformation into male form had shortened her hair considerably, and seeing how much less trouble
it was that way, she'd kept it short upon returning to female form. She'd grown to love it this way; still girlish, but light and sassy.

At the moment, though, her hairstyle was the last thing on her mind.

On tiptoe, she slunk past the table where Buffy was trying to read her history book. She took slow, careful steps, watching out for any lint that would make noise under her sneakers. She lifted her arm and pressed her hand to the library doors, pushing them open with exquisite care. She held her breath as she stepped out into the hall and...

"Willow...?"

'Damn.' She spun around with a fake smile pasted on her face, giving the blonde Slayer a wave.

"Ohhh, hiiii! I didn't see you there." She ignored the 'yeah, right' look and stepped back. "Oh, is that history? Wow, that's a good book, a best seller, my favorite book of all. It's got some interesting articles on Vikings. Which I'm sure you'll love.
You know, with all the violence, and weapons, and mystic beliefs, and...oh, look what time it is," she said, looking at her bare wrist. "I've got to go. Jenny'll be waiting for me." She dashed out of the library, and started to walk rapidly towards to computer lab.

"Willow. Wait." It wasn't a request.

She shifted from foot to foot, biting into her bottom lip. "I've
really got to..."

"Please."

'Oh no, not the eyes, please don't...Oh goddess, she did.' Willow nodded nervously, trying to avoid looking at her friend.

"Wills, are you mad at me?" Buffy asked her, the voice softening. "Did I do something wrong?"

"NO! I mean, no. Why would you think you did something wrong? If anyone did anything wrong then it would be me, not that I did anything wrong, because I didn't. You're my friend and I would never intentionally hurt you, because you're you, and I'm me, and...I need to go." She brushed past her friend, determined to get as far away from her as she could.

Buffy stepped in front of her. "Is it Angel?"

"It's not Angel," she said, trying to get out of there.

"But you admit that there's something wrong," the Slayer persisted.

'Oh that was sneaky.' Willow kept her back to her friend, knowing that if she looked at her friend she'd be a gonner. Those pleading blue eyes and... 'NO!! Bad Willow.'

"You're my best friend, and since you came back, it's like you don't want to be around me anymore. Is it me? Did I say something, or...?"

"No, I just...Buffy, I've really got to go." She forced her feet to
move, ignoring the part of her that wanted to engulf the Slayer in her arms and tell her everything.

"Willow...I miss you."

The lost, pleading voice tore through her heart, but she kept going, unable to risk losing her friend.

'You already have,' she told herself.

She walked past the chem lab...and stopped, backing up quickly. Did she see what she thought she saw...?

She cocked her head curiously and entered the room, staring in shock. Yup, she did.

Cordy didn't notice her as she added something to an already half-full beaker. A spell book was beside it.

'Oooh, Cordy and magic, not a good combination...'

Curiosity turned to fear as the cheerleader began to chant a summoning spell. She opened her mouth to stop Cordy, but froze as the last ingredient fell into the mixture, setting off an explosion...

CHAPTER ONE

"Whoops."

She groaned, trying to ignore the male voice that parroted her. A male voice that sounded distinctly like...

"Oh my god, William! You're back!" Cordy shrieked. "Eww, what are you wearing? That's just gay. Cute, but gay."

She forced her eyes open and sat up. "Giles..." She gulped and
reluctantly looked down. "...someone stole my breasts..." Recognition entered her mind as her...no, his voice resonated in the room. "Oh goddess, not again..."

He reached down and yanked the sneakers off his sore feet, having been crammed into the too-small shoes. He let Cordy help him up, taking some pleasure in the lustful look in her eyes as he pulled off the fuzzy, bright pink flowered sweater. He wasn't crazy enough to go walking around the school in it, for any length of time.

Looking back down at himself, he sighed. The baggy jeans he'd been wearing as Willow were now excruciatingly tight, hugging his lower body like skin. The white top he'd worn under the sweater was even tighter, making it impossible to breathe comfortably.

"Did I say gay?" Cordy whispered huskily. "I meant...sexy."

He rolled his eyes at Cordy, trying to think about something other than the lithe body pressed into his arm, and the long, graceful hand laying over his heart. Ruby red lips drifted closer to his and...

"It's me, Cordy," he said, leaning his head away from hers. "Willow."

She opened her eyes, lips still half-pursed for the kiss. "Willow...?"

"Yeah. It's me."

Those eyes widened with comprehension, recognition...and then disgust.

"EWWW!! Ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-wwwww!" Cordy backpedaled fast, bumping into the table and bouncing nervously in place, as though trying to shake off the last few moments.

"What did you do, anyway?" Turning away from her in annoyance, he grabbed the spell book, marking the page, and tucked it into her...his book bag with her...HIS shoes and sweater. He scowled at Cordy, with the knowledge that it was more effective as a male, then stalked through the empty hall towards the computer lab.

He glared over at Cordy when she fell into step with him. "What are you doing? Haven't you caused enough trouble today?"

"Are you kidding?" she squealed, already over the girl-kissing cooties thing. "I'm not about to miss any of this for the world."

Typical. He ignored her and turned into the classroom to sat in the chair across from Jenny.

"H'lo, Willow," the young teacher absently acknowledged him without looking up from the forms she was filling out. "With you in a minute..."

Cordy set next to him and studied him. "That look is sooo you. Well, the William you anyway. Hmm...I know just the thing. There's this shop at the mall that specializes in men's clothes, and there's this sexy outfit that would just..."

"Oh my goodness, what happened?" Jenny cut in, suddenly looking up and taking notice of her change.

He shot another glare over at Cordy. "Why don't you ask Miss May Queen?"

Cordy bristled under Jenny's sharp look. "Hey, it's not my fault. I was just trying to help."

"Yeah, right. And Bart Simpson knew what happens when you mix acids and bases..."

Cordy glared back at him. "It's your fault, you big doofus. Ever
since William...you...left, Buffy has been moping around like her favorite dog died. Then Willow...the other you...has spent the last three months acting all awkward and trying to avoid her. So yes, I was performing a spell."

Jenny rubbed her forehead. "What spell?" she asked, obviously dreading the answer.

"It's only a summoning spell." Cordy grabbed the book from his book bag and handed it to the gypsy. "See, look."

The teacher scanned the page quickly, then groaned. "Oh,
Cordiella...You didn't."

Cordy gulped, slightly looking unsure. "What is it?"

Jenny handed the spell back to her. "Read it out loud."

She took it, obeying.

"Goddess Aphrodite, Goddess Discord.
Bring back the love of the mourning.
Bring the man and woman of guilt back together,
For only together shall they bring
Their love's mourning to an end.
For the cycle shall bound the man and woman into one,
And then shall find balance.
Let the cycle permanent the soul
Of the two of the one."

William involuntarily braced himself for another explosion, but no magical powers were invoked by the words without the accompanying ritual.

"Do you know what that means?" Jenny asked patiently.

"Um, that Willow and Buffy would be friends again, and Buffy would get her human teddy bear back?"

"It means that Willow now has an extra set of chromosomes," Jenny informed her, her own patience clearly wearing thin. "Male chromosomes."

Cordy looked blank.

Jenny sighed and tried again. "It means that I'm now going to have to teach her how to change from male to female at will. It means that we're now going to have to search for a spell to counteract this, and unless we do, then that means that Willow will be stuck constantly shifting from form to form."

"Um. Oops?"

"Oops?" William turned to growl at Cordy. "You rearrange my entire reproductive system, and all you can say is Oops? I've gotta replace my entire wardrobe, learn how to pee standing up, and start shaving my face instead of my legs, and that only merits an Oops?!"

"Wills," Jenny broke in, the nickname working either way. "Calm down. This may not be an insoluble problem, or an insurmountable lifestyle adjustment."

"Yeah," Cordy muttered. "Have a cow, already..."

He sighed tiredly and rubbed his eyes. "Look, we need to get out of here before Buffy sees me."

Jenny nodded. "Unfortunately, I'm going to need to stay here and talk to Rupert. I can't drive you right now."

Cordy perked up. "I can take you home." She eyed him critically. "But we're going to have to do something about that hair Style it a little more."

William snatched up his book bag and followed behind her, thinking of all the evil things he could do to her. Maybe he could cut a lock of her hair off, or...

"William!" the astounded voice burst out.

'Rosenburg, you are so busted.' He subtly pushed his book bag into Cordy's arms, and turned to the Slayer, taking in the sight of the blonde dressed in workout clothes. "Buffy, hi..." He cleared his throat, and smiled happily. "I was going to try and find you tonight."

She broke into a huge smile, posing coyly. "Why not now?"

He pointed at his clothes and shoeless feet. "I had a small accident."

Buffy laughed softly, taking in his attire. "What happened? A clothes demon come after you?"

"I stopped over at the beach and got pushed in. Lost my shoes, and my clothes shrunk up on me."

The Slayer walked into his arms and sighed contentedly. "I've missed you so much. You left so suddenly, and...I wanted to talk to my friend Willow about you, but she's been..." She broke down into tears, soaking his shirt.

He frowned at the 'I told you so' look that Cordy was shooting him and did the only mature thing he could. He stuck his tongue out at her and crossed his eyes.

He pulled the smaller woman tight against his chest, trying not to admit whata thrill it gave him. "Hey, it's all right. I'm here now."

"I don't know what to do..."

He ran a hand through her hair, and engulfed himself in the rich smell of his friend. "Tell you what, why don't we meet tonight? We can go up to that mountain view that I saw on my way here."

"That's make-out point..." Buffy looked at him. "...and there's no one else I'd rather go with you."

"Great. I'll pick you up at eight, and then we can talk."

"Is that what they're calling it now?" Cordiella interrupted. "Because I thought it was sex."

"Tell me, has anyone bought your book yet?" he responded. "'The Virtues of Cheerleader Sluts'?"

"Meow. Someone forgot to get declawed."

"I'll call your vet for you, but I'm not sure they take cats with
rabies."

Cordy raised her eyebrow with a one-cornered smile. "Remind me to take you with me to be neutered."

"Aren't you afraid they'll put you down?"

"They're probably a lot better at it then you."

"Oh, I don't know, I think I could figure out a way to kill you.
Painfully."

"Look, are we going or not? I have things to do other than play taxi driver to you," Cordy snapped back.

"Fine." He kissed Buffy quickly then chased after the brunette,
narrowing his eyes as he thought of all the delicious things he could do to the brunette.

William grunted in frustration and dumped the last of the shopping bags on the floor. How on earth had he gone from trying to kill the cheerleader to shopping with her was beyond him. But at the time Cordy's argument seemed logical.

"You can't run around in the same tight shirt and jeans for however long you're stuck like that," she'd pointed out. "Besides, the only pair of shoes you have that actually fit are those horrid, torn-up loafers."

He ran a hand through his newly cut hair and sighed. This whole thing was just so messed up. He was supposed to be Willow right now, not William. The only good thing was that today marked the last week of school, and being Willow, she had been exempt from all her exams. Normally she would've taken them anyway but unless he learned to stay a
'she' before tomorrow, then that just wasn't going to happen.

He grabbed the pair of black cargo shorts and one of his new tee shirts, yanking them on without bothering to remove his new running shoes.

"Willow?"

He sighed and went down stairs to see Jenny and Giles leaning over a couple of books. The frustrated faces of his mentors didn't bode well with him, alerting him that something was terribly wrong. "What's wrong?"

Giles took off his glasses and glanced at him nervously. "We've found a spell that will help with your predicament. However, while it will leave you female, it will simply suppress your male form."

Will looked from one to the other, searching for some hint. "But that's a good thing, right?"

"By and large, yes," Giles admitted. "It will stop the constant
shifts, but the second set of chromosomes will still exist. There
doesn't seem to be a way to make them remain dormant, but..."

"Can't you just reverse the spell?"

Jenny glared angrily at the nearby wall. "The spell that Cordiella performed is permanent."

Will gasped desperately, and fell back aiming for the couch...and missing. From his seat on the floor he stared up with tear-filled eyes. 'Oh goddess, I'm in trouble now.'

Chapter: Two

Will nervously rang the door bell. Tonight was the night, tonight he was going to tell Buffy the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Not because Jenny had been urging him to, or because of Giles' deep concern over both of them, but because his conscience was slowly eating away at him, leaving a dark pool of guilt.

He stood up straight as the door swung open. "Can we ta...oomph!"

Buffy dragged him into the living room before he could protest. "Mom, this is William, the guy I was telling you about."

'Oh, this is not good. Not good at all.' He wiped his sweating hands on his shorts and held one out. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Miss Summers, Buffy has told me so much about you."

Joyce frowned at him, closely studying him before taking his hand. "So you're the mysterious William that has my daughter in such a good mood."

"Yes, ma'am."

Joyce leaned back, keeping her eyes on him. "Buffy, could you run to the grocery store for me? I forgot to get another box of brown sugar for the spaghetti sauce."

"But Mom, we were..." Buffy trailed off at the stern face that she received. "Right. The store. I can do that. Come on..." She
reached for William, intending to bring him along.

"Oh, I'm sure that William wouldn't mind keeping me company until you get back. Would you?"

Will shook his head hard. "No, ma'am, of course not." He shot Buffy a pleading look, but the Slayer simply gave him a quick peck and left. 'She left me. She left me alone with...with...her mother! Oh goddess oh goddess oh...'

"So, Willow...how exactly did you end up like that?"

"It's a long stor--" He snapped his head up with wide eyes.

"Then I suggest you start talking." The voice of his friend's mother was only slightly above permafrost.

William sat beside her numbly. "Yes ma'am."

'How do mothers always know these things?'

Joyce stood up and refilled their cups of tea, then resumed her place at the kitchen table. "So let me get this straight," she said slowly. "My daughter's best friend is a witch, and the two of you spend your free time...slaying vampires?"

"That's right."

"You were turned into a man when a demon tricked you, in an effort to steal your powers..."

"Uh-huh."

"Until a gypsy computer teacher turned you back into a female."

"Right so far."

"But a cheerleader cast a spell that changed you back..."

"Yup."

"...and my daughter, who thinks she's in love with you, has no idea who you really are."

"But wait, the worst is yet to come!" William said, like the announcer on the old 'Batman' cliffhangers.

Joyce's cool eyes leveled him, completely unamused.

"Yes ma'am," he mumbled into his cup.

"And you're planning on telling her the truth tonight?"

"Yes ma'am."

There was a long silence.

Joyce sighed. "Well at least it explains a lot," she said. "It's so
hard raising kids today and trying to keep them out of trouble..."

"Who's in trouble?" said the one voice William really didn't want to hear just yet.

Joyce looked up at Buffy as she placed the box of brown sugar up. "Elizabeth Anne Summers, just when were you planning to tell me about your dabbling in the Occult?"

Buffy gaped at her then shot a panicked accusing look at him. "Dabbling what?"

"Don't try to play innocent with me, young lady! I refuse to be kept in the dark anymore. Mr. Giles may be your so-called 'Watcher', but I am still your mother, and I have a right to know what is going on in my daughter's life. Especially when that life is putting you in danger."

Buffy glared at William, making him scoot down in his chair.

"And don't you blame this on Will, I'm the one that forced him to tell me what was going on."

Will stood up.

"I should leave so you can talk." He paused beside Buffy and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." He sighed and started to leave.

"Thank you." A hand gently stopped him. "It's not your fault, Will. This talk has been coming for a long time."

"I'll say," Joyce added in a flat tone.

Buffy kissed him for a moment, then let him leave. His guilt loomed worse than before.

He turned onto his back, wearing only a tank top and a pair of boxers, keeping his eyes closed in hope of falling back to sleep. It wasn't just the adjustment to the different body masses that kept him awake.

A soft knock was heard at the door, and then it opened quietly. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah. Come in."

The bed's edge dipped sharply with the smell of English lilacs and nature, alerting him to Jenny's presence. "Did you tell her?"

He groaned and flipped over to bury his head in his pillow. "Dnn't wnn tlk'bt it," he replied, almost inaudibly.

The soft-feathered heaven was ripped from his possession. "Will?!"

"I told her mother."

Jenny's eyes bulged. "You told her mother?!" she repeated. "Told her what, exactly?"

He finally rolled back over and opened his eyes. "Everything. Buffy, Giles, you, me. Everything. I didn't mean to, but she knew it was me, and sent Buffy out so she could talk to me. And she was so understanding, and all my guilt was just pounding for release and forgiveness. And she believed me when I told her about the demon and spell, and then she wanted to know how Buffy and the others were
involved and then everything just came pouring out."

Jenny dropped the pillow on the floor and covered her eyes with the same hand.

"Remind me to speak to your guidance counselor," she moaned. "He shouldn't recommend any careers with the CIA. Or anything involving confidential information at all."

"Will you stop it, I feel bad enough."

Jenny winced in sympathy. "I know, I'm sorry," she said. "But I think we should keep you away from Giles until he calms down."

"Ohh, I didn't even think of how he'll react..."

She stood up and patted his knee. "In the meantime, get dressed in something comfortable and we'll get started."

"Huh? Started doing what?"

"That's the good news," Jenny told him. "We think that your shifts in gender are controllable. You may have to spend time as both William and Willow, but at least you'll be able to control when they occur."

"Great. Then I can choose which fate is worse. Willow's or
William's."

The gypsy woman smiled tolerantly. "Look on the bright side, at least Xander hasn't found out about all of this..."

"What do you MEAN that Willow is William?! She's a she and not a he, and he is a he and not a she, so she can't be a he who's a she!" Xander pronounced with a proud stance.

Cordy rolled her eyes. "Oh, get with it. They look identical, the
same hair color, and Willow has a habit of disappearing and reappearing whenever William's around. Then there's the little fact that I saw her change in front of me, duh!"

"So? Just because one of your screwed-up spells backfired doesn't mean she's a he. I know her, I've been naked with her..." He shifted. "...when I was five, that is...and I've seen the evidence. And she is completely and totally female."

"Oh, really? Well, I've seen the 'evidence' too, and I can assure you she is all man." Cordy winked at him and sauntered off.

Xander's mind was hurting worse than the night he tried to cram for that history exam. Unwilling to believe anything the cheerleader said, but concerned about his friend, he did the only thing he could. He made a run for Jenny's house.

"...remember what your female body felt like. That's it,
concentrate... Now imagine your body changing." Jenny sat across from the meditating man and smiled as the contours of his body blurred shifted into Willow's.

Her red-haired protégée opened her eyes and smiled happily. "Yay, I'm me again! Although, technically I was always me, just a different me, but my normal me is back. Yay me!"

"Excellent job, now try it again."

Willow stopped in the middle of her happy dance and stared at her with wide eyes. "What? But I'm already Willow, why do I need to try again? There's nothing to try, is there?"

"You need to practice changing into both forms."

Willow plopped down across from her. "Why?"

"We have no idea when your new...talent could come in handy, and the more you practice, the easier it will be." She smiled. "Think of it as having the ultimate secret identity. Who would ever suspect that Clark Kent is Wonder Woman?"

"Um...that's even creepier, Jenny."

"Just humor me."

Willow pouted as she closed her eyes and went back through the exercise, her body morphing back into the male form...

A high pitched scream shattered their concentration, sending both women scrambling to their feet in confusion and alarm. Xander was bonelessly leaning against the wall, his eyes glazed over in terror and his knees shaking.

"Xander I can explain." She...no, he took a step toward him, but stopped as he moved away letting out another scream.

"Stay back!" He yanked a cross out of his pocket and held it out. "What have you done with my Willow? Give her back or I'll stake you!"

William sighed and closed his eyes, reverting back to 'her' natural form. Jenny was right, it seemed to be easier each time.

"Will...? Wh...? No, no no no no no no." Xander leaped forward holding the cross closer. "Bad, bad demon..."

Willow held out her hand and the cross flew into it. Each change also seemed to bring slight increases in her other magical abilities. Absently, she tossed it onto the nearby sofa and walked over to a petrified Xander. "I'm sorry," she said as she slapped him across the face.

Immediately he pouted, with tears in his eyes. "Hey, that hurt."
Xander glared at her pitifully as she pushed him back into a recliner.

"I was turned into William by the evil demon Buffy killed three months ago, and yesterday Cordy did a summoning spell which left me with the ability to shift between forms, and no, Buffy has no idea."

"Oh." Xander rubbed the side of his face. "Did you have to slap me so hard?"

"What are you doing here anyway?" she asked.

"Cordy told me."

She groaned and covered her face. "I'm going to KILL her! No, that's too good for her. I'm going to torture her and leave her with all her fingernails broken and cracked. Then I'm going to give her a buzz cut that will..."

"Can I help?" Xander interjected, brightening a little.

Jenny muttered under her breath about cheerleaders and big mouths.

"Stop right there," she instructed. "I'm the responsible adult here. So if anybody's going to kill her, it's going to be me."

They laughed a little, anger fading.

Jenny returned their smiles, glad to have brought things to a more sensible level. "Right now, I'm more concerned about who else she's told."

Willow watched Jenny storm into her study, towards the phone.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Xander asked, his tone hurt.

"It's...complicated."

"Because of Buffy?"

She nodded and leaned against his chair. "I don't know what to do."

"Trust her. She's your best friend, and will be no matter what."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. Sure, it'll take a little time for her to adjust, but, y'know.
That's life, right?"

She hugged him tightly. "Thank you."

Chapter: Three

He walked into the darkened library, inhaling the soothing smells of old antique books. Wooden book
shelves was lined the two floor room. The shadows seemed natural in the place that had kept her secrets
and pains, and tonight it was going to be the place that he would tell Buffy the truth.

He sat on the bare library table, staring at the double doors where Buffy stood expectantly. The blonde
slayer wearily walked towards him.

" Are you finally going to tell me what all this is about?"

He ducked his head in embarrassment. " I lied to you."

Buffy gently raised his head, " Whatever it is I'm sure you had a good reason."

" You don't understand I..."

Her lips found his, silencing him. " No. It doesn't matter."

" I really need to tell you. Please, it's important."

Buffy mock sighed and wrapped her arms around him. " Oh alright."

" You know how sometimes a person isn't who they seem, but they can't be who they really are because of circumstances. And they end up not being who they are but who they seem to be and it causes all kinds of mix ups and other problems. But then you're yourself again, but then instead of going back to be
yourself your still partly who you're not and things get even more messed up?"

Buffy whistled. " I think you're starting to channel Willow."

Will sighed, " Look maybe I should just show you."

He closed his eyes, concentrating on...

BANG!!

His eyes snapped open, reaching for the stake in his waist band. Freezing at the gun in his face. He swallowed and slowly held up his hands. ' I'm starting to think the gods don't want Buffy to know. '

" Ethan?" Jenny asked quietly from where she stood on the other side of the living room window.

Giles grimly shook his head no.

Jenny peaked around the side again, scanning the inside room. She could see Will and Buffy seated tensely on the sofa, Xander was in the chair by the television, and Cordy was standing arrogantly behind him studying her nails.

A blonde that looked like she was in her early twenties, she was smirking at William, her gun tucked into her belt holster. Beside her was a six foot tall three hundred pound rock of muscle. His bald head shining under the living room lights.

Her eyes locked onto the sculptor on the living room table and cursed under her breath. " That's the sculptor of truth."

" Why would she want to use that?" Giles mumbled under his breath.

The blonde put her foot up on the coffee table and looked at each one of them in turn.

" We're going to play a little game. I have a job in L.A. but it requires a certain set of...talents shall we say, and one of you has that talent. The problem is which one of you is it."

Buffy rolled her eyes, " Look, blondie, I don't know what the hell you're talking about but none of us have anything that could be of use to you."

The blonde smirked and stood up straight. " Does the person in question want to speak up? No? Very well."

She picked up the sculpture, under her voice she chanted. The ruby eyes flared to life, glowing darkly, and it... fell to the floor. Giles slammed the woman to the ground, snatching her gun away as he rolled from her. William yelled, distracting the bigger man, and his gun flew into her outstretched hand.

Jenny threw a powder over the large man, freezing him into place.

" Well that was cold." Buffy commented as she thumped her finger into his chest with no response.

" GILES! The sculpture..."

The watcher sucked in a harsh gasp and dived for it, trying to remember the words to deactivate it. The ruby eyes flashed even darker and engulfed the room.

Will stared into the slayer's wide blue eyes, neither of them noticing anyone else in the room.

" Willow?"

She gulped and slowly stepped towards her friend, wincing as the slayer moved back from her. " I tried to tell you... Please let me explain. I..."

" No." Buffy whispered and started towards the door.

" Buffy..."

" NO!" The slayer whirled on her, anger flashing in her eyes. " How could you?"

" Because I love..." She whispered sadly to the now closed front door, her heart shattering to a million pieces.