"This is about the child, I just know it is", Pat raged half an hour later, looking as if she wanted to kill the demons all over again, "why else would they attack now? There's been peace on that front for a while now, but we all knew it wouldn't last!"
"We did", the witch had to agree, giving her partner a worried look – after all, she still was injured, not having bothered to demon out to heal, too agitated to even think of this after what Anya had said. Once more, the redhead had the chance to observe how much Pat's protective streak had extended to the child she carried, something which at times astonished her, considering how she had reacted when she first had been told the news of the pregnancy; clearly, all doubt was gone by now, and she was as fiercely protective of the baby as she was of Willow, willing to get injured and even die if she had to, to protect them both from harm.
"There's not much we can do for now though", she went on after pondering this for a moment, grasping her partner's arm to stop her frantic pacing, "those demons are dead, they wouldn't have been able to tell us anything if they weren't, and we have no idea who sent them."
"There has to be some way to find out", the demon grumbled in response, running both hands through her hair now that Willow had stopped her from marching up and down, "don't tell me that all we can do now is wait until they try again and see if they send smarter demons this time. Cause I'm not willing to put you into harm's way just so we can find something out."
"You could try Willy's", Anya suggested in response, smiling brightly at her own smart idea, "he's a snitch, and he might know something!"
"He might", Pat agreed at once, her gaze darkening, "and if he tries to tell me that he doesn't, I'll beat it out of him. Wouldn't be the first time, either."
"No, it wouldn't", Willow agreed yet again, "but before we go anywhere, you demon out and heal, that demon got in a few pretty good hits. And now don't tell me that this can wait because I can tell you're in pain."
"Hmph", the taller woman let out, to the slight amusement of her wife, "you know me too well. But fine, demoning out first, then Willy's."
Momentarily, Pat wasn't sure if she wanted to take Willow along to the bar, considering the fact that some malevolent human or demon out there wanted to harm their child; on the other hand though, leaving her behind alone, with no fighter around to protect her, wasn't a all too welcome thought either.
"Call Buffy", she thus told Anya after pondering this dilemma for another minute, "tell her we need her here right away, I'm not taking Will to this dive full of demons if we don't know who's after her."
"You want to go there alone?" Willow protested at once, not really surprising her, but still prompting her to cross her arms over her chest while she nodded, "don't you remember what happened the last time you did that?! You got beaten up and then Buffy and I nearly burned to death when we went to find you!"
"I'm not taking you there", Pat immediately argued back, giving her a strict look to underline her point, "not if someone's out there who's willing to hire or mind control demons to get you! That creep might be sitting right there right now and the moment you walk in with me, they got a free shot at you, and I am not letting that happen!"
"And if I stay here, they might have a free shot in case they send someone else, or drop by themselves to see how the demons did", Willow pointed out while Anya hurried off to call the Slayer, giving her best to keep her voice level and calm – they hadn't fought much before the marriage and not once since the wedding itself, and she intended to keep it that way.
"That's why Buffy will be here", the demon gave back at once, making her partner grimace as she realized that she couldn't really argue against that, "she'll keep an eye on you, and I'll go and beat some information out of Willy."
Even though she still wanted to protest, not liking this idea at all, the witch found herself at a loss for words; and moments later, the taller woman's expression softened considerably and she moved closer to her, pulling her into a tender embrace, the anger gone from her voice as she spoke on.
"I know you don't like this, and I can't say I don't blame you", she mumbled, keeping her voice low so Anya wouldn't hear, even though the brunette was still on the phone, explaining to Buffy what had happened, "but you know that whoever is behind this isn't the only one out there who'd jump at a chance to attack us. I can handle a bunch of demons if I have to, on my own, but not if I have to make sure none of them get past me and at my pregnant wife."
"I know", Willow had to admit, "and you're right, I don't like this… but you're also right about the rest, the Goddess knows we both did more than enough to piss off the demon population of Sunnydale. They'll attack you on sight as well, so please be careful…"
"I will", Pat promised her, "and hey, it's in the middle of the day, so at least there'll be no vampires. If I'm lucky, there won't be many demons, either."
"Call me the second you got done there", the witch strictly told her, "just so I know that you're alright and that Buffy and me won't have to rush in and rescue you."
"Will do", the taller woman reassured her, making her smile weakly at last; for a few more seconds, the couple just looked at each other, then Willow pulled the demon down for a tender kiss, trying hard to forget her worries as they waited for Buffy to arrive at the Magic Box, trying to push her worries about this quickly cooked up plan to the far back of her mind and telling herself that surely, everything would work out alright.
To her relief, Pat's guess that there wouldn't be much business at Willy's at that time of the day turned out to have been correct; apart from Willy himself, only three others were in the bar, all three of them demons, two of them snarling as she entered while the third one, a small and thin one, apparently decided that he was in no mood to fight, getting up from his seat the moment he recognized her and hurrying outside, even mumbling an apology as he brushed past her on the way to the door.
"Alright", she spoke up as the other two demons got up from their seats as well, not looking as if they were keen on leaving though, smiling at them pleasantly, "obviously, you guys want to fight. Fine with me, I always like some good exercise. You wanna go one after the other or both at once?"
"Slayer's pet", the bulkier of the two hissed in response, a split tongue darting out between his pointed teeth, prompting the black haired woman to raise an eyebrow before she shook her head, smirking again as she replied, both she and the two other demons ignoring the way Willy was trying to hide behind the counter.
"Really, that nickname?" Pat wanted to know, making the two demons growl, "you guys have been using that one for years. Can't you come up with a new one?"
"Less talking", the slimmer demon demanded, taking a daring step forward, "more fighting. I'll rip you apart, traitorous cunt, and then I'll deliver your head to the witch you're fucking."
"Such dirty language", Pat replied, shaking her head, "you should be ashamed. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
"I ate my mother", the demon hissed, of all things – and then he got moving with surprising speed, launching himself forward, an attack the black haired woman had anticipated though, having noticed how his body had tensed up during the last word, nonchalantly sidestepping his charge and, in one smooth movement, turning and kicking his back, making him grunt as the combination of messed up attack and kick sent him down on all fours.
Hearing movement behind her, Pat spun back around to face the other demon, just in time to see his fist come flying at her; hurriedly, she dropped down to her knees, avoiding the punch, only to end up flat on her face as the slimmer demon had recovered surprisingly fast and tackled her from behind, a low chuckle coming from him as he pinned her beneath himself, his breath hot and stinky on her face as he bent down to murmur into her ear.
"Didn't expect that, did you", he wanted to know, the claws of one hand digging into her side, the sudden and unexpected pain causing her to grit her teeth, "that I'd recover so fast. Now I'll rip you apart, and then—"
She slammed her head back with all the vigour her position allowed her, a satisfying crunch reaching her ears as the blow connected, followed by a nasal cry of the demon while he fell backwards, clutching at his broken nose; the bulkier one's eyes widened, then he snarled and took a step forward, only to cry out in pain as well seconds later as her hand shot forward, firmly clutching the grip of the dagger she had brought along from the Magic Box, the sharp blade biting into his flesh right above the ankle.
The attack came so unexpected and cut so deep that he stumbled, then fell, giving Pat the room she needed to get up; and this was just what she did, a well-placed kick sending the slimmer demon back down as he tried to come up before the dagger flashed up again, gurgling sounds coming from the demon as she almost effortlessly slit his throat.
Again, she heard movement behind her, along with heavy breaths this time as the bulky demon was struggling to get to his feet; and this time, she knew no one would attack her from behind as she turned to face him, but still didn't waste any time, bringing her arm back and, with a snarl, sending the dagger flying, a squeal coming from behind the bar when it hit the demon in the throat and he went down.
"Don't try to run", Pat growled into Willy's general direction, sending a glare his way just to make sure, "I didn't come here just to kill your regulars, but I'm sure you figured that out by now."
"I can't tell you anything", the bartender whimpered from behind the counter, where he had been crouching during the fight, only glancing over the edge every now and then to make sure they weren't taking apart his bar, "I don't do this kind of thing anymore. Bad for business and I have to eat, too!"
With her good eye narrowing, Pat strode past the dead bulky demon, bending down and pulling the dagger from his throat without even slowing down; one glance at the nearest tablecloth told her that getting some demon blood on it wouldn't make it much dirtier, and she wiped the weapon clean on it before she tucked it back into the sheath on her belt, then moved a few more steps to the counter, reached over it and grabbed Willy, making him squawk as she pulled him into a more or less upright position.
"You won't have to eat again anytime soon if you don't answer my questions", she told him, momentarily glad again that Willow wasn't with her – the fight had been quick and not all too messy, but now, to get the answers she was quite sure Willy had, she might have to do some things to him the witch wouldn't approve of, having managed to still be kind-hearted and caring, despite all the things she had been through ever since her friendship with Buffy had begun.
Or because of them, the demon found herself musing while Willy was trembling in her grasp, she's seen so much horror and death, so she does what she can to make the world a better place. Even if it means sparing shitheads like Willy here, something she probably knows I would never do.
"Tell me", she moved her attention back to the trembling bartender, "did you give answers to anyone about Willow? I'm sure you, being the town's demon grapevine, heard by now what's going on in our camp."
"I heard you got married", Willy confirmed, his gaze briefly flickering to her wedding ring a if to make sure it really was there and that he had heard the right thing, then his eyes focused on her again, a slight smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth as he went on. "And I heard she's got a bun in the oven. Did she end up in the wrong bed, eh? And you married her anyway? That's kind of you."
He started chuckling, as if he had said something incredibly funny; for a few seconds, the demon just looked at him while he laughed, his amusement keeping him from noticing how her body went tense – and then she grabbed him at the back of the neck and slammed him down onto the bar, cutting his laughter off at once, a strangled squawk coming from him instead.
"You speak of her that way again, and I rip out your tongue", Pat told him, her grip on him tightening slightly when he tried to struggle, "I came here for answers, but I suppose I can get them elsewhere. Now talk. New arrivals in town, anyone asking after her or me? Spill your secrets, or I'll spill your blood."
"You can't", Willy pressed out, rolling his eyes in an attempt to look at her, somehow managing to put a sneer on his face despite the fact that one side of his face was pressed against the wood rather harshly, "I know you can't, you can't harm humans, you can't do anything to me!"
"Oh, that", Pat gave back, to his obvious dismay not sounding all too perturbed, "the chip. You know, funny story about that. We ran into a spot of trouble during our honeymoon, and, well, dealing with that taught us a few interesting things about that blasted piece of technology. Did you know that there's a certain spell which shuts it down? No? Let me demonstrate."
Smiling rather pleasantly at him, she pulled him into an upright position again, just giving him a second to see her free fist clench – before she punched him, with no obvious ill effect for her, a nasal cry coming from him as his nose broke beneath her fist.
"There", the demon smirked, still holding him tight with her other hand, watching how blood trailed down his face from his nostrils, "told you, I'd make you bleed if you didn't talk. You gonna talk now or do I have to hit you some more?"
"There's not much I can tell you!" Willy wailed in response, sounding as if he was close to tears now, "there was some guy, asking about the two of you, the witch and you, but I know nothing about him I swear!"
"What did he look like", the taller woman demanded to know, glad that they were finally getting somewhere, "come on, you must be able to tell me that."
"No", Willy whimpered, looking at her with so much fear that she found it hard not to believe him, "he… he did something, I can't remember, I swear… I'd tell you if I knew, just don't hit me again!"
It still amazed her how, after years of running a demon bar and getting beaten up for information, he still was so afraid of pain; holding back a low growl, she let go of him, and he nearly slumped down, looking as if it took all his strength and willpower to just stay on his feet.
"I wish I could tell you more, really", he reassured her, holding on to the counter with both hands, "but I really can't… he came here and he asked about the two of you, where you hang out and everything, and I told him, but that's all I can tell you…"
"Fine, I believe you", the demon grumbled after a moment, figuring that she wouldn't get much more from him, "and if he shows up again, tell him that he's welcome to meet us directly and ask anything he might want to know."
"I will, I will", Willy nodded, looking absurdly relieved about the fact that she believed him; she gave him another hard look, as a quiet reminder that she could come back anytime and dish out some more punishment, then turned and left without another look, heading back to the Magic Box, hoping that she would find it just as she had left it and that no one had shown up there to attack her partner while she had been gone.