Willow slept the sleep of the dead, and was now awake, ready to see her longtime friend off on his cross-country trek. She was up, moving, and out the door by 8:00; surely this was early enough to stop by and say good-bye to Xander.
She walked up to Xander's house, looking over to his neighbor, who was walking out to pick up his paper.
"Hi, Mr. Garrett. How are you this morning?"
"Fine, Willow. Come to see Xander?" She had said good morning to Mr. Garrett for the last twelve years; their banter was familiar.
"Yep."
"Well, you're a little late. He took off this morning, around 6. There was an RV behind his car, and he stopped to chat with the folks inside, then they left. Thought I saw a pretty little brunette inside, along with two men. She was a cute little number, wore leather pants."
Willow stopped and thought for a moment before speaking. "Well, that just doesn't make any sense. I mean, the only person who might wear leather…" She trailed off and got a worried look on her face.
"Thanks, Mr. Garrett. I'll see you later." She took off before Mr. Garrett could speak, positive that something horrible had happened to her friend.
Willow raced to Revello Drive, not caring that Buffy was still sleeping. Something bad had happened to Xander, and she needed the Slayer's help to get him back.
No one had thought that the dark-haired Slayer would ever awake from her coma, and that was fine by Willow. The rogue Slayer had nearly killed them all, and Willow Rosenberg was not one to let a grudge go.
Knocking on the door of the Summers' residence, Willow tried to catch her breath. The door opened, and Joyce Summer answered, wearing her robe and slippers, drinking a cup of coffee.
"Willow, it's nice to see you." The eldest Summers woman stepped to the side, allowing for the human Willow Rosenberg to enter uninvited. Joyce Summers came late to the battle in Sunnydale, but that didn't mean she was a slow learner, and when instructed, she was eager to keep her home as safe as possible.
"Willow, what's wrong? You look upset."
Willow paused, remembering that Mrs. Summers was in the loop now. In one long run-on sentence, Willow unloaded. "Well I went to say bye to Xander and his neighbor told me that he got in his car and left with two guys and 'cute little brunette' and now I think Faith is out of her coma and she kidnapped Xander and I need to talk to Buffy and is she awake yet?"
Joyce took a moment and sorted through all of the thoughts in Willow's statement and answered. "Buffy's upstairs in the shower. You say Faith is out of her coma?" She did not like the way the situation with Faith had begun, developed, or ended, and while she was upset that Faith fell through the cracks, she did not excuse the young woman's slide, or the subsequent actions, as she understood them. Joyce continued to process, and asked another question.
"Willow, did you say that Xander got in a car and left with Faith and these men, or did they leave separately?"
The question brought Willow up short, and the young redhead thought about it for a moment.
"Well, I think he got into his own car and that the two men and Faith were in an RV."
"OK, well, wouldn't that mean that Xander was comfortable enough with those people to travel with them?"
"Yes, I guess it does. But it doesn't make any sense! Why would Xander want to go anywhere with Faith? And, and who were the other two men?"
Buffy came downstairs, and saw her mom and Willow talking in the living room. "What's up?"
Willow related the events of earlier in the morning, and Buffy took it all in. "OK, Mom's right. Xander wouldn't just get into his own car and leave against his will, not without someone holding him hostage. But it still doesn't make sense. We should call Giles and see what he thinks." With that, Buffy got on the phone, and after a few moments, hung up.
"He'll be over here in twenty minutes. We'll get to the bottom of this, Willow, don't worry."
The three women sat in the dining room, waiting for Giles to arrive. Fifteen tense minutes passed, and Rupert Giles knocked on the door. Buffy went to let him in, and the four sat and discussed the past few hours.
"There could be an explanation, Buffy," Giles noted, "however, given the circumstances of the last few months, we should begin to look into this immediately. Why don't you call the hospital and tell them that you are Faith's sister. You're on your way into Sunnydale from out of town and were wondering about her status."
Just as Buffy picked up the phone to dial, a person knocked on the door. More suspicious than before, Joyce looked through the peephole. She turned and spoke.
"It's that horrible Travers person."
