Loosen End (previous: BtVS S7 Version 2)
Chapter 6
by Cynthia Taz
* Disclaimer and other information on Prologue.
Notes:
- Finally - sometime to do some writing... :)
- The song "Where" belongs to Lisbeth Scott
/ / = Voice
~.~.~.~
Buffy, holding a bowl of water and a towel, stopped at the top of the stairs towards the basement. She stared at Spike, who was now lying on the floor with shackles around his waist and feet which connected to the wall behind him. The slayer sighed, kneeing in front of the chained vampire and carefully washing the dry blood off his face.
Spike stirred a bit and opened his eyes. "Did I hurt anybody?"
"You took a good bite out of Andrew."
"Who?"
"Tucker's brother."
"Oh."
"He'll be okay."
Spike frowned. "I don't remember."
Buffy stood. "It's okay." She matched towards the sink and started cleaning the bowl.
"Buffy, I don't know why."
Buffy sighed. "We think we do. Something's playing you. It figured out a way to control you." Spike sat up. "The gang is researching right now. Xander has this theory that you're being triggered-"
"Kill me."
Buffy spun around to face him. "What?"
"Buffy, you have to kill me."
"You don't understand. When I left the room earlier, I heard you talking to some-"
"Do you have any idea what I'm capable of?"
Buffy's face darkened. "I was in the cellar with you. I saw what you did."
"I'm not talking about the cellar. The people in the cellar got off easy. I'm talking about me. Buffy, you have never met the real me."
"Believe me." The slayer crossed her arms defensively. "I'm well aware of what you're capable of."
"No. You got off easy too." Spike stood, his eyes hardened for a second. "Do you know how much blood you can drink from a girl before she dies? I do. You see, the trick is to drink just enough to know how to damage them jussssst enough, so they'll still be crying when you..." He paused, taking a deep breath. "It's not worth if they don't cry."
"It's not your fault." Spike snorted as Buffy continued. "You're not the one doing this."
"I already did it. It's already done. You wanna know what I've done to girls at Dawn's age? This is me, Buffy. You've got to kill me before I get out." The vampire pleaded.
"We can keep you locked up. Keep you here and we'll figure out."
"Have you ever really asked yourself why you can't do it? Off me? After everything I've done to you, to people around you. It's not love. We both know that."
"You fought by my side. You've saved lives. You've helped."
"Don't do that." Spike rolled his eyes. "Don't rationalize this into some noble act. We both know the truth." He looked away. "You like men who hurt you."
"No."
"You need the pain we cause you. You need the hate." Spike turned back towards Buffy. "You need it to do your job, to be the slayer."
"No. I don't hate like that. Not you, or myself. Not anymore." The slayer shook her head. "You think you have insight now because your soul's drenched in blood? You don't know me. You don't even know you. Was that you who killed those people in the cellar? Was that you who waited for those girls?
"There's no one else."
"That's not true." Buffy took a step towards the vampire. "Listen to me. You're not alive because of hate or pain. You're alive because I saw you changed. Because I saw your penance."
Spike suddenly jumped forward, and Buffy took a step back, watching as he struggled against the chains. "Window dressing." He growled.
"Easier, wouldn't it? If it's an act?" Buffy asked calmly. "But it's not." She stepped forward again. "You faced the monster inside of you and you fought back. You risked everything to be a better man."
"Buffy-"
"And you can be." Buffy stood face to face with Spike. "You are. You may not see it, but I do." Her voice softened. "I do. I believe in you, Spike."
The vampire and the slayer stared at each other, the quiet basement intruded by the music coming from upstairs.
~.~.~.~
Willow pushed herself up from the dirty ground inside the cage that once belonged to Oz, picking up the sweater that she had discarded earlier, and putting it back on. She reached towards the keypad of the cage, pressing the pin number, and let herself out.
[ on this half lit day, with your crown beneath your wing ]
~.~.~.~
The vampire and the slayer stared at each other, one with the face of hope and another with the face of resolve. Suddenly, the lights flicked out, and a group of robbed men busted into the basement through the window, shoving Buffy away before matching towards Spike.
And the fighting began.
~.~.~.~
[ every word just echoes, and the empty world sings ]
The redhead slowly made her way down the quite path, until she reached the water fountain. She stopped, her eyes staring hard at the water surface, at the empty eyes that were staring back at her.
Then, Willow kneed, and started vomiting.
~.~.~.~
Xander, Anya and Dawn were gathering around in the dining room researching when robed men broke into the house, breaking down doors and smashing windows. The trio watched in horror when the attackers uncovered their hoods, facing them with no eyes but big scars on their skin.
~.~.~.~
[ where have you gone, my feather light heart? ]
Passing through the main street, Willow stopped in front of a closed shop window, and stared into the weak reflection that was looking back at her. A single tear rolled down on her right cheek, matching the thin red line on her left.
[ I never imagined I could leave. ]
~.~.~.~
Andrew was lying on the bed with his hands tied up when a robed man kicked open the door. He screamed and rolled away as the attacker lunged at him, barely avoiding the dragger he was holding. Buffy, who had been following him from downstairs, ran into the room and kicked away the dragger. The two started exchanging kicks and fists as Andrew hid at the corner, watching nervously.
~.~.~.~
[ in the glistening of the lost and open sky ]
Willow was about to reach the street where Buffy's house located in when she stopped. Instead of continuing her journey, she sat down on the side of the road, and stared up at the night sky.
A cool hand touched her arms, and the redhead knew who it belonged to immediately. Even so, she looked down, watching as the hand slid into her own.
[ tiny piece of you sits, simple wish waits for reply ]
~.~.~.~
Two robed men ran into the room as the slayer knocked one unconscious. Andrew took the chance to start crawling towards the exit, but Buffy grabbed him from behind and started swinging him at the attacker, knocking them off onto the floor before throwing Andrew back onto the bed. The attacker picked up the forgotten dragger from the floor and lunged at Buffy again, but the slayer grabbed his wrists, twisting and stabbing the attacker with the same dragger in one smooth motion.
~.~.~.~
[ where have you gone, my feather light heart? ]
Willow stared at the familiar hand, the one that belonged to her dead lover, the one that was now squeezing her own. Slowly, she looked up, and stared into the deep blue eyes.
And under the moonlight and clam sky, they kissed.
[ you mustn't forget what love can see. ]
~.~.~.~
Xander rushed into the room as the attacker fell onto the floor. "Buffy?"
"Xander. Dawn-"
"She's okay." Xander frowned as he looked down at the dead men. "That's it? I thought there's more."
Buffy looked around, her eyes widened as realization hit her. "Spike."
Andrew watched as Buffy and Xander rushed out of the room. His eyes turned towards the two men on the floor. "H-hey! Wait! Don't leave me here!" He whined, following gang down the stairs.
~.~.~.~
Willow opened her eyes again, a ghost smile on her lips as she stared into Tara's blue, before slowly letting go of her dead lover's hand and matched towards the Summers' house.
~.~.~.~
Willow's eyes widened as she spotted the broken glasses and hanging door of the Summers' resident. Quickly, she ran into the Summers house, and found Anya and Dawn sitting on the couch with Buffy standing nearby, covering them with a blanket. "What's happening? Are you guys okay?" She quickly looked around. "Xander-"
"I'm fine." Xander said as he was marching out from the kitchen with two cups of what seemed to be hot chocolate and handed them to Anya and Dawn.
"What happened?"
"A group of creepy men came and took Spike." Anya answered as a matter of fact as she took a slip of the offered beverage. It was then she noticed the red line on Willow's cheek. "Willow, your face..."
Willow's hand reached for the scratch on her cheek. "It's nothing." She turned towards Buffy. "They want Spike?"
Buffy nodded. "They wanted Spike all along. We were just in the way." She explained, and moved towards one of the attackers' body nearby, studying it.
Xander thought for a moment and frowned. "They were so fast, so organized, like-"
"I know these guys." Everyone turned towards the slayer as she kneed in front of the body. "I fought them before. It isn't some demon. It's all the same!" She jumped to her feet and turned towards her family. "Spike's ghosts... Andrew... from beneath us? It's all the same thing. I know we're up against." Buffy's eyes hardened. "The First."
~.~.~.~
Standing just outside the hanging door was Tara, smirking.
~.~.~.~
Willow was sitting at the table with Buffy, one facing the laptop and another facing a pile of books, but neither of them were really focusing on the text in front of them. The witch was staring, but not really seeing the words on the screen of her laptop, while the slayer was staring at her best friend.
Nearby, Dawn and Anya was sitting on the couch that had pushed towards the middle of the front room, watching Xander standing in front of the broken windows, boarding them up. "It's a loop... like the Mummy Hand." The carpenter muttered to himself as he nailed another board. "I'm doomed to replace these windows for all eternity." He shook his head. "You know, maybe we should just board these up until things are less hellmouth-y."
Buffy did not seem to register Xander's words, instead concentrating on the redhead. "Will?"
When the redhead didn't reply, the blonde leaned forward a bit and tapped her friend's shoulder. The redhead jumped and turned towards the slayer. "Wa-?"
"Are you okay?" Buffy asked and turned towards the clock nearby. "It's pretty late. May be you should take a nap or something?"
Willow shrugged. "My class isn't until late afternoon tomorrow. I'll deal. What about you? You still got work tomorrow."
It was Buffy's turn to shrug. "Slayer trauma. I'm still kinda jumpy after the attack." Willow nodded, turning back towards the screen and started typing away. "Why... why did you move out?" Both Dawn and Anya looked up when they heard the question, while Xander halted his hammering.
The redhead halted for a second before replying with a totally unrelated question. "Are you sure this thing's called 'the First'?"
Buffy frowned at the change of subject but answered anyway. "Pretty sure. It claimed to be the original evil, the one that came before anything else."
Anya snorted and rolled her eyes. "Please. How many times have I heard that line in my demon days? 'I'm so rotten, they don't even have a word for it. I'm bad. Baddy bad bad bad. Does it make you horny?'" Everyone stared at her. "Or terrified. Whatever."
Buffy shook her head. "It wasn't a line. When I came up against this thing, I felt it. It was ancient and enormous. It almost got Angel to kill himself. God knows what it'll get Spike do if we don't recuse him soon."
~.~.~.~
/You'll have to excuse the spectacle, but I've always been a bit of a sucker for the old classics./
Spike opened his eyes, and found himself being tied onto a wooden wheel, face to face with, well, himself. The vampire did not reply, but simply glaring at him.
/Oh, don't look at me that way. I wanted to do this more subtle-like./
Spike/First smirked.
/My bingers have a tendency to call attention to themselves./
Spike screamed in pain as a robed man appeared with a huge knife and cut him with it. Blood spilling out like river, rolling down Spike's chest.
/You're the one who couldn't hold the end of the bargain. You're the one who couldn't take care of what's-her-name. You're the one who had to make breakthroughs and learn something about himself./
Spike screamed again when the knife connected with him the second time.
/So now, you're the one who gets to do the honors./
Spike/First turned into Buffy and smirked.
/I'm glad it worked out this way. I was going to bleed Andrew, but you look waaaaaaay better with your shirt off./
Buffy/First nodded at the nearby man, and he moved towards the chain nearby and started pulling, hoisting the wooden wheel that Spike was tied onto into the air directly above the Seal of Danthazar. Blood dipping down the seal, and slowly, the wheel glowed brighter and brighter, the pointed tips of the pentagram at its centre fold up one by one to form a pyramid.
/To be honest, I'm getting a little tired of subtle. I think it's about time we brought some authority to our presence./
The pyramid sank into the ground first, following by the remaining piece of the seal. Spike's eyes widened as a leather arm appeared from other, quickly followed by a disfigured face.
/Now, Spike, wanna see what a real vampire looks like?/
The monster stood, baring its fangs as it growled towards the blond vampire.
~.~.~.~
Buffy sighed as she closed the book she had been staring for the last hour, frustrated that the gang had not been able to find a shred of information about the First. "Give me the Watchers Chronicles again?"
A book was handed to her, and Buffy took it. "Thanks."
"Can I get you something else, baby?" Buffy froze, and slowly turned towards the voice. "How about some tea?"
"M-mum?" Buffy swallowed. "No... you're not real."
Joyce smiled. "Okay. So it that a slang like 'you are not for real' or..."
"You're the First."
"Oh baby." Joyce shook her head. "You are so tired that you are not making sense. Maybe you should get some sleep?"
"No..."
"You cannot win this thing not if you don't rest-"
"Stop... stop... it's a lie..."
Joyce signed. "I don't want to scare you, but I want you to take care. You need to see, Buffy. You need to wake up."
"What-"
"Buff, wake up."
Buffy looked up, and found Xander standing in front of her, instead of her mother who was no where in sight. "Did you see it?"
"There's nothing to see. You're just doing a little dream talk. That's all."
Buffy frowned, and looked down at the blanket that was now on the floor. She turned towards the clock nearby, and found that it was already after six. She must have dosed off half way into the research. "Oh."
Sensing the confusion, Xander frowned. "Are you okay?" He looked at her, concerned. "What did you see?"
"Nothing." Buffy looked down at the pile of books in front of her - more specifically, the Watcher's Chronicles. "It's nothing."
~.~.~.~
Willow closed the door to her house, and put the keys on the stand nearby.
/Hey./
Willow looked up, and found Tara standing there. She did not reply. Instead, she threw her bag onto the floor, and walked past her into the front room.
/Will?/
Willow sat on the couch, her eyes staring hard at the wall opposite her.
/You okay? I though you are going to class this afternoon./
Willow did not answer as she continued to stare at the wall. After sometime, she finally spoke. "You're not her."
Tara moved closer to the couch, and hugged the redhead from behind her, placing kisses along the redhead's pale neck. /Who, honey?/
"Tara."
Tara/First halted. Then slowly, a smile appeared on her face. /Does it matter?/
Willow stood, pushing Tara/First away from her. "You're not Tara! You're evil! A-and you kidnapped Spike! You tried to kill us!"
/I tried to kill them. Not you./
Tara/First walked around the couch, and stopped in front of Willow.
/And you honestly think that after what you did, you will ever see your precious Tara again?/
"Shut up."
/C'mon now. You and I both know that no way you will get to see her again. After all, she is pure and innocent, while you are... not./
"That doesn't give you the right to pretend to be her!" The redhead snapped when Tara/First tried to reach for her. "STOP! JUST STOP! You're NOT HER!"
/Fine./ Tara/First turned into Jenny in a blink of an eye. /Better?/
Much to the First's surprise, the redhead jumped forward, and pushed the Jenny/First onto the ground. She sat on top of her, her green orbs darkened with power as she held Jenny/First arms above its head, growling. "Stop playing games!"
/Seems like you're the one who want to play games./
Jenny/First cocked her head.
/Who would have guess little Willow has a thing for her teacher?/
Willow blinked, finally taking notice of their position. Jenny/First took the opportunity to flip the redhead backwards, before sitting on the witch with her arms pinned above her head, just as the redhead did seconds ago.
/Naughty Willow, should I bend you over the teacher's table and spank you?/
"Let go!"
Willow struggled, but Jenny/First held firm.
/No./
"Why? Why are you doing this? Why don't you just kill me and be done with it?"
/You really should listen to what your teacher was saying, Willow. I told you, I don't want you dead. I want you to be by my side, to-/
Willow let out a horror laugh. "What? To destory the world? Been there, done that, got the souvenirs."
/I don't need the world to end to get what I want. But if you like this better, we can always arrange-/
"NO!"
Jenny/First simply smirked and bend down, its face was so close to Willow that their noses almost touched.
/I can do this with you, or without you. But things are going to change, Willow. And I want you by my side when it does./
Jenny/First let go of Willow's hands, even though she refused to move away from Willow's lap.
/You're not stupid. You may not know what I am, but you knew I'm not that Tara for some time now, haven't you?/
Willow looked away.
/But I can still be her. I know that, and you know that. That's why you are still here, instead of running back to your slayer, isn't it? Because even if I may not be her.../
Jenny/First turned herself back to Tara.
/I'm the only Tara that you can have./
"I... I don't want to be evil..."
Tara/First's hand reached for the redhead's cheek, touching it lovely. Willow closed her eyes, a single tear rolled down from the corner, but the redhead did not move away.
/It is not about being evil, sweetie. It is about being with Tara./
Willow turned and opened her eyes, staring at the blond ghost in front of her.
/Let me be your Tara, Willow./
Tara/First bent down, and kissed the tears away.
/Be with me./
~.~.~.~
Anya and Dawn stood in front of the sleeping Andrew, who was once again being tied up on a chair, staring at him intensively. Suddenly, Anya held up the glass in her hand, and splashed the water on his face. Andrew shuddered, but did not wake.
"That was something." Anya said.
Dawn frowned for a second before turning towards Anya. "Maybe if you should throw hot water on him."
"Good thinking."
They turned as one and walked towards the kitchen, but when Buffy came into the room, as one, they turned towards the couch, and sat on it.
"Hey." "Hi." Anya and Dawn greeted, their eyes staring at the television - that was not turned on. "Nothing." Dawn added.
Buffy frowned. "What?"
"Oh." Dawn side-glanced at Buffy before quickly turned her attention back at the blank screen of the television. "Um, I though you were going to ask what we were doing."
"No," Buffy raised an eyebrow. "I was going to ask-"
The slayer's words were cut short as Andrew coughed. "Oh! Looks who's awake!" Dawn jumped out of the couch, quickly followed by Anya. Buffy's other eyebrow raised as she watched the two ran towards Andrew.
"Silly Andrew." Anya said as she stopped in front of the man, slapping his chin soundly. "Drooling all over yourself."
Andrew blinked and opened his eyes. "I- I was about to be dead." He looked over Dawn and Anya's shoulder and found Buffy. "You saved me."
"For the time being." Buffy stepped up between Dawn and Anya, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "But if you don't tell us what we need to know, then I'm gonna offer you to the First on a silver platter and let him chop you into tiny pieces."
"The first what?"
"The name of the evil thing that pretended to be Warren and get you to kill Jonathan." Anya supplied.
"Oh." Andrew frowned. "Not very ominous sounding."
Dawn frowned. "No, it's if you understand the context..."
"No. An evil name should be like Lex, or Voldemort, or-"
"Hey!" Buffy glared at the other three. "I was intimidating here!"
"Sorry." Andrew pouted. "Go ahead."
Buffy sighed. "Forget it. Where's the seal?"
~.~.~.~
Willow sat under the shower, feeling nothing even as hot water raining down her back, redden her skin.
/It's not going to help, you know./
The redhead looked up, her dull eyes staring into the general direction where her dead lover was standing.
/Don't tell me you are trying to drown yourself in the shower./
Silence.
/Or are you having naughty thoughts?/
Silence.
/Willow?/ When dull eyes continued to stare pass her, a frown, quickly followed by concern, creep onto the gentle face that once belonged to Tara. /Will?/ Cool touch on the hot cheek, but the redhead did not response at all. /Will? Willow? You're scaring me.../
Slowly, the green orbs focused on Tara/First. "It's okay." Willow whispered, as she leaned forward into the cool embrace. "It's okay now... Buffy will need my help... she will find a way somehow... and we'll get through this... we'll stop them..." The confused expression on Tara/First's face slowly turned into grin as she heard the last whisper. "... we'll kill them all."
~.~.~.~
The gang plus Andrew walked around the labyrinth like basement of Sunnydale High; Andrew was walking at the front with Xander, while Buffy and Dawn were at the back. "Stop stalling." Xander growled at Andrew as they walked into yet again another dead end.
"I'm not!" Andrew whined as he looked around. "It's here somewhere..."
"You said that hours ago."
"I know!" Andrew led the gang back to another junction. "Um..." He frowned. "Around this corner." Paused. "I think."
Buffy narrowed her eyes. "You better be right this time."
"I told you! I'm not sure!"
"Well, maybe you should get sure. I'm sick of all the run-around with you-" Xander paused when he was led into a room. "Whoa. Check out the goat-heady badness."
Everyone looked down at the huge metal pentagram with a horned goat head. "What is it for?" Dawn asked.
"I don't know. Something not good. It didn't work 'cos there wasn't enough blood." Andrew shrugged and turned around, wanting to leave, but Buffy, who was standing at the back, crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay." Andrew turned back towards the seal.
"There's blood on this." Dawn moved towards a huge wooden wheel nearby. "Lots." She turned towards Buffy. "Looks like the First had made another sacrifice..." She frowned. "Or a music video."
"The seal could have been activated. I bet that's what the First needed Spike for."
Andrew saw the look on Buffy's face as she commented, and immediately threw up his hands. "That wasn't there before, I swear! I had nothing to do with that!"
"Thanks for clearing that up 'cos otherwise we might have though you were up to no good here at the satanic manhole cover." Xander rolled his eyes. "You killed your best friend!"
"He's in a place of joy and peace! He told me!"
Dawn took a step forward and smashed Andrew's at the back of his head. "Nobody told you, you little monkey! You got tricked by a fake ghost."
"Boys, can we save the encounter session?" Buffy shook her head. "We need to cover this thing up." She grabbed the shovels nearby and handed it to others. "Whatever it does, we can't leave it exposed like this."
Everyone sighed, and started shoving dirt to cover the seal.
~.~.~.~
After covering the seal, the gang made their way out of the school basement. Xander and Andrew were at the front with Buffy and Dawn at the back.
"Man, this place gives me creeps." Andrew whined. "It's like in Wonder Woman, issue 297 to 299-"
"'Catacombs'? Yeah..." Xander nodded and smiled just as Andrew did the same.
"That was cool."
Both Xander and Andrew halted. The two of them looked at each other, surprised that they had said the same thing at the same time. After couple of seconds to recover, Xander frowned and pushed Andrew. "Move it." He growled, not believing that he had just agreed with Andrew.
Dawn shook her head at Xander before turning towards Buffy. "So what next?" She asked. "We found the seal, but no Spike."
Buffy sighed. "I don't know. The First was camped underground last time I found him, but-" She halted when Principal Wood appeared from around the corner with a shovel in his hand. "Principle Wood?"
Wood blinked. "Buffy? Oh hey." He looked at her with confusion. "I thought you were, um..."
"Sick?" Dawn plugged in immediately. "She was. Vomiting and oozing from various places and-"
"Yes, I remember. So, please, don't go on." The principal pleaded.
"Oh." Dawn nodded. "But it's amazing. The doctor gave her some cream-"
"Pills." Buffy and Dawn paused, looking at each other. "And cream." Buffy turned back towards the man. "I'm all better now." She claimed, her eyes moved towards the shovel in the principle's hand.
"Oh, yeah, um... apparently somebody left this in the courtyard. I was just returning it."
Buffy smiled. "That's some full-service principal-ing."
"I try." Principal Wood smiled, and looked down at the shovel Buffy was holding.
"Oh. I was... I was down here helping Dawn with a school project."
Dawn quickly added. "For science."
"We buried a... um... time capsule."
"Hello people of the future! Kids of today like Red Bull, and, um, Jackass! Ha! Ha!" Dawn laughed nervously.
Seeing Dawn rather poor attempt on explaining, the slayer pulled her sister away. "We better go."
The two were about to leave when Principal called out. "Buffy?" The slayer halted immediately. "You know, if you're feeling better, I could really use you back at work. I've been wait-listing kids who really want to see you."
"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I was just... I've been ill and stuff."
"No, no. It's fine. I understand. It's just, things are starting to back up."
"Well, I'll be there tomorrow. No problem. One-hundred percent ooze free."
Principal Wood raised an eyebrow. "Good."
"Okay."
Buffy and Dawn walked away. The principal started at them with an unreadable look on his face.
~.~.~.~
"I am just not sure if I can do it."
Anya said nothing as she put some candles around the bowl that was now in front of the redhead on the dinner table. Buffy was standing at the doorway, watching, while Dawn was sitting nearby, working on Willow's notebook.
"I know you can, Will."
Willow gave a pain smile to Buffy before watching Anya preparing for the spell.
Xander made his way towards Buffy from the front room. "How's it going?"
Buffy turned towards Xander. "Dawn's trying to find out anything she can about the Seal of Danzalthar. Will's about to do a locator spell, see-" she yawned a little. "See if we can find the First."
Xander frowned. "Why don't you go get some rest? You haven't slept for like two days. We'll call you if we find anything."
Buffy shook her head. "Can't sleep. Too much going on."
"It'll be okay, Buff." Xander watched as Willow started pouring some sands into the bowl while Anya was about to light one of the candles. We've faced this kind of stuff before."
"You don't see the First. I did. I felt it. It was like-"
Suddenly, Anya screamed. Buffy and Xander turned around, just in time to see Anya got thrown away from the table towards the corner of the room. Dawn jumped up and quickly back away from Willow, while Willow's hair suddenly turned black, just as her eyes. She screamed.
"WILL!" Buffy ran towards Willow, but before she could even take the second step, a bolt shout out from the redhead's hand and knocked her flying into the front room. Buffy's eyes widened as she watched Willow stood and turned towards her, her dead black orbs staring holes into her.
"BIG MISTAKE." She held out her hand, and invisible force held Buffy by the neck and pull her up into the air.
Xander, taking the chance that Willow was focusing on Buffy, ran for the glowing bowl and threw it against the wall. The bowl shattered, the glow disappeared, and Willow collapsed just as her hair turned red and her eyes turned green again.
"WILL!" Buffy fell back onto the floor, and without even a sightly hesitation, she crawled forward, collecting the redhead into her lap as Willow crying and trashing against her. "WILL!"
"Nononononononono..."
"It's okay Will. Shh." Buffy cooed, smoothing the redhead and placed a soft kiss on her temple. "It's gone now. You're okay now."
"No... too close... it's not... please... don't... I can't..."
"We won't. I promise, okay? We won't use magic to fight this thing until we know what we're doing."
"I'm sorry... I'm so so sorry..."
~.~.~.~
Buffy picked up her coat from the couch as was about to move towards the front door when she saw Dawn and Anya walking down from the stairs. "How's Will?"
"Shaken up." Dawn commented, and sent an evil glare at Anya. "Anya drugged her."
"What?" Xander, who stood behind Buffy, turned towards his ex-girlfriend with wide eyes.
"It's just a sleeping pill." Anya shrugged. "She needs to clam down."
Buffy shook her head. "Just look after her." She put on her coat and moved towards the foyer.
"wait." Xander turned towards the slayer and put his hand on her shoulder. "At least let me come with you."
"I'm going alone."
"You said it yourself. You don't know how to fight the First, or even where it is."
"No Xander." Buffy said firmly. "It's out there, it's hurting my friends; I'll find it." She pulled the front door opened, but halted when she saw Giles standing there, looking at her, surprised. "Giles."
"Buffy." Giles looked up, and smiled.
Buffy blinked for a second, her legs automatically moved forward, looking for the fatherly comfort that the slayer could always find surrounding Giles - only to be cut off when three figures appeared.
"Nice place." The first girl said, looking around. "Bit of a mess though."
Buffy raised an eyebrow. She was about to open her mouth when the second girl walked in, nodding at the slayer. Buffy watched as the two girls wandered into the front room, when the third girl appeared, staring at her. "This is a slayer?" She asked the watcher standing just outside the door, shook her head, before following the others into the front room.
Buffy raised her other eyebrow, and turned back towards Giles.
"Well, huh..." Giles, in his true fashion, took off his glasses and started polishing it. "Sorry to barge in. We have a slight... apocalypse."
~.~.~.~
Willow could feel cool hand smoothing her hair, and knew that it won't be long before the pills Anya had forced on her to take effect soon. "No." She snapped away the cool comfy hand, and turned towards its owner.
Tara/First smiled.
/No what?/
"You know what." Willow stared at 'her'. "I felt it. When you..." She looked away. "I don't want it."
/But it felt good, wasn't it? To let it out?/
Willow turned to the other side, her eyes staring at the far wall.
/Besides, the slayer will back off now. She won't make you do any spell anymore./
"Like you did?" Tara/First did not answer, instead resumed smoothing the redhead's hair. "Are you going to kill Spike?"
/Do you want me to?/
Paused. "No?"
/You sound hesitated./
"I can't really stop you if you want to kill him. I don't even know where you have stashed him."
/Maybe so, but I won't./ Willow turned towards Tara/First again, looking at her curiously. /I won't kill him./ The First bended down and placed a cool kiss on her forehead. /For you./
Willow stared at Tara/First for a moment, before closing her eyes again. "Hold me." She whispered.
Cool arms surrounded the redhead's torso, and the last thing the redhead heard before sleep claimed her was the familiar voice whispered into her ear. /Always./
~.~.~.~
