Author's Note: Ugh I hate make summaries. This story is gonna have quite a few graphic scenes in future chapters, so if that is not your cup of tea, I recommend skipping those (I will put warnings to the chapters in question)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Burning Heart

"How likely is it that she will come back?", Buffy asked in a low voice, making sure that in the next room, Willow couldn't hear her, "can you even tell?"

"No", Giles gave back with a sigh, and an unhappy look at the Slayer, "there's no way to tell. I wish I could, but… we know nothing about this. If we knew where she went, where she is right now, if she even is still alive…"

With her dismay clearly showing through her features, Buffy glanced around the back room of the Magic Box in response, remembering how often she had sparred with Pat in this room, finding it hard to believe that now, this would never happen again.

"Willow is working on finding out where she is", she said out loud, tearing her mind away from the now painful memories, "trying to modify the locator spell…"

"She told me, yes", Giles gave back, keeping his voice low still, knowing that the witch was in the store's main room, getting more supplies for said spell, "and I didn't have the heart to tell her it might not work. This is what helps her deal."

"And keeps her from going over the edge, I know", Buffy glumly finished for him, throwing an uneasy look at the door leading to the main area of the store; it had been a week since the demon had thrown herself into the Hellmouth to stop the magic within her from connecting to it and unleashing something dreadful onto the world, and so far, Willow seemed to be holding up fine, devoting all her energy into finding her partner, working practically non-stop on the locator spell to succeed with the modifications needed to find her lover.

"But sooner or later, if it doesn't work, it won't help anymore", she added after a moment, making the Brit nod, "and who knows what she might do then…"

"She might go dark again", Giles told her, rather bluntly, "as we both know. Or, perhaps, the fact that she still carries a child within her will keep her from doing something so drastic. It is hard to tell."

"And impossible to find out", Buffy grumbled, "because she refuses to talk to me about it. Whenever I try to bring up Pat, she changes the topic."

"Which is not surprising", Giles gave back, earning a sigh from her, "what happened to both of them was a traumatic experience, and you know firsthand how difficult it can be to talk about something like that."

"Yes", the blonde sighed in response, "but she's bottling up those emotions while carrying all that darkness. I just worry for her Giles…"

"I know you do", the Brit reassured her, "we all do. And hopefully, Willow knows, and knows that all of us are ready to be there for her the moment she needs us to. For now, she chose to deal on her own, and we should respect that."

"And I would, if I didn't have to fear her going dark", Buffy sighed, "but you're right, we can't force her. I'll go back out there now, see how she is doing, if she needs anything…"

Nodding, Giles briefly reached out, placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze; Buffy weakly smiled back at him, then made her way to the door and stepped out of the backroom, immediately spotting Willow, the witch standing with her back to the door leading to the backroom at one of the shelves, studying the contents of a dusty glass jar.

"Hey", the blonde smiled, moving to stand next to her friend, "whatcha looking at?"

"Dragon's Blood", Willow gave back, prompting Buffy to take a closer look at the jar, briefly relieved that it wasn't filled with red liquid, but with chunks of reddish-pink resin, "it's one of the plants associated with fire. Might be useful for the spell."

By now, Buffy knew, Willow had amassed a veritable collection of all things associated with that particular element; from plants to stones and even weapons, knives and staffs with complicated carvings on them to chunks of rock which had been lava years and years ago, making use of them all as she worked on the spell to find her lover.

"So", Willow started in a casual tone, a tone which didn't fit her next words at all, "you got done then discussing with Giles if I'll try to end the world again?"

All Buffy could do was splutter in response, a not all too dignified reaction; briefly, the witch smiled at her, pulling the jar out of the shelf as she spoke on, her tone still casual and calm, to the blonde's evident relief.

"No worries, I don't blame you", she told the Slayer, moving to the counter and holding the jar out to Anya, "I can't blame you. But I can calm you down, I am not about to go dark again. As long as there's the tiniest hope that she's somewhere out there…"

In response, the blonde just nodded, not having the heart to tell her what Giles had said; Willow gave her a small, sad smile, showing that she knew perfectly well even without being told, then accepted the bag Anya had filled with Dragon's Blood, not really surprised anymore when the ex-demon told her it was for free – whenever she found something even vaguely associated with fire, the brunette just gave it to her instead of charging her for it, the redhead figuring that this was one of her ways to deal with what had happened.

"Thanks", she smiled, earning a nod from the other woman; she carefully stowed the bag into her handbag, then made a vague gesture at the door leading outside, asking Buffy if she wanted to come along or if she still had stuff to do at the shop.

"I'll come", Buffy gave back at once, the witch having been living at her house ever since the incident, neither of them wanting to leave her alone at the apartment after what had happened, "Dawn should be home from college by now, maybe she can try to help you again."

Nodding, Willow gave her another smile, a slightly happier one this time; even though Dawn's forays into magic hadn't been as extensive yet as the witch's had been when she had been her age, she was capable of casting minor spells by now, and of aiding the redhead with her more complicated magic, having done so with the locator spell whenever Willow had requested it from her.

"Let's go then", she then said, already moving, the Slayer right behind her, "maybe it'll be successful this time…"

Again, Buffy just nodded, silently asking herself how many more times her best friend was willing to try before she'd give it up, and what might happen then; then, she pushed those thoughts aside, telling herself that for now, there were other things to worry about and that surely, everything would turn out fine in the end, giving her best to ignore the little voice in the back of her mind which told her that this time, a bit of magic wouldn't be enough and that much worse things were to come.