When she was woken up rather roughly in the next morning, Willow didn't even know when exactly she had fallen asleep; blinking, she was confused for a moment as she couldn't figure out where she was – before she felt the lumpy mattress beneath her and the cold chain around her right wrist, keeping her secured to the wall behind her, the memories rushing back at her, a startled cry escaping her as her gaze fell on the demonic face in front of her, the gruesome sight making her feel fully awake within a second.

"Breakfast", the demon told her, pointing at a paper bag and, surprisingly, a paper cup of coffee on the ground next to the mattress; for a moment, the witch wondered to herself if the stuff maybe was poisoned, then decided it probably was safe to eat and drink – after all, Pat had been rather clear on how she wanted her prisoner to be treated, and since she clearly didn't plan to let her go anytime soon, it was just logical that she'd be fed.

"Thanks", she made herself say, the demon just giving her an irritated look before he got up and left her alone, closing the door behind himself; for a moment, she was surprised that they'd leave her alone, without a guard, then she realized why – even if she'd be able to use her magic to free herself from the chain, she had no idea how many demons were waiting outside, and with that lack of knowledge, it might be suicidal to get rid of the chain and go out there.

With a small sigh, she realized that, even if Pat only had two or three demons out there with her, it'd be of no use to attack them – even if she'd be able to get rid of them with the aid of her magic, she'd never be able to harm her loved one, not even now, when her girlfriend couldn't remember the special bond between them anymore and treated her just like she might have treated any other hostage during her time as an assassin. Rather listlessly, she picked up the paper bag and opened it, slightly surprised to find two donuts inside it; telling herself that she'd need the energy, she made herself eat them both, even though she wasn't very hungry, washing the food down with long sips of the hot, sweet coffee.

The moment she had finished, the door opened again and Pat stepped into the room, making the witch wonder briefly if they were watching her somehow; before she could ponder this further, the black haired woman had let herself fall into the chair she had used the night before and had pulled out her pack of cigarettes, lighting one of them up before she surprised the redhead again, this time by holding the pack out to her. "Smoke?"

"No", Willow declined, giving her best not to let her surprise about this unexpected friendly gesture show, "I don't smoke. You know that."

"No I don't", the demon replied, to the witch's dismay, "I don't know you."

"Yes you do!" Willow almost snapped in reply, suddenly unable to hold her feelings about all of this back, about how unfair it was that all of this had happened, about the fact that somehow, she just couldn't be happy with her loved one, that there always had to be something to ruin their happiness, bright anger all at once filling her soul.

"You do know me", she went on, staring at Pat with such fierceness that the demon had to admit to herself it was impressive and rather bold. "You have no idea how well you know me at the moment, but you do… We've been together for one and a half years! You told me once you'd always love me, you told me I'm your life…"

Just for a second, the expression in the demon's eyes changed as she heard that, so short that Willow wasn't even sure if she'd really seen it or if it had been wishful thinking; then, Pat shook her head as if to clear it, sounding as indifferent as before when she replied. "So you're in on the game the Slayer's trying to play, huh? Good to know."

"This is not a game!" the redhead gave back, now sounding desperate, her mind running wild as she tried to figure out how to make the demon realize that she was telling the truth. "Please, just listen to me… We've been living together for the last six months! You've always been so protective of me, you've beaten people up for just looking at me in the wrong way… Until I made you stop because that was too violent, but that's not the point."

"Shut up", the demon muttered in reply, her free hand coming up to rub at her temple in an unconscious gesture, the heart of the redhead beating faster at the sight as she suddenly was sure that Pat was close to remembering.

"You snapped out of insanity, for me, to rescue me", she pressed on, saying the first thing which came to her mind. "I thought I'd lost you forever back then, that you'd just stay that way, blabbering out lyrics of those songs you're always listening to, but you came back to me…"

"Shut up!" Pat repeated in response, a bit louder and with more force in her voice this time; unimpressed, Willow held her gaze the best she could as she continued, not willing to stop now, not when it felt as if she was this close to making her come back to her once more.

"You promised you'd never hurt me", she went on, her anger now fully gone, her voice as caring and tender as it always had been when she had spoken to her girlfriend about such things. "And you loved me… Just as I loved you… I still do, if you'd just remember…"

"I said shut up!" the demon suddenly bellowed in response, jumping up from her seat and rushing over to where Willow was sitting so fast that it startled the redhead, dropping her cigarette on the way so she could grab the witch's collar, clenching her other hand into a fist and pulling it back – where it froze, trembling lightly, Willow forcing herself to hold her gaze, mentally preparing herself for the very real possibility that she might end up getting punched anyway. For a few more seconds, Pat just kept staring at her, her fist hanging in the air; then, she dropped it and let go of the witch, taking in a deep breath while she turned away from her, both hands moving to her temples this time to massage them soothingly.

Trying to sort her racing thoughts, Willow racked her mind as she tried to figure out what to say next; before she could come up with anything though, the demon strode out of the room without looking at her once more, slamming the door close behind herself, leaving the witch behind alone, something she didn't mind much at this moment though, a small smile curling her lips as she thought about how close Pat had been to hitting her – and that, in the end, she hadn't done it, giving her back some of her hope that maybe, everything would be out alright after all.


All the unlucky barkeeper could do when the door of his tavern was kicked open so forcefully it nearly got torn out of the hinges was stare, asking himself why he ever had accepted demons as his regular customers – sure, they brought money, just like humans did, and were much more loyal since this was the only bar where they were allowed, but they also fought a lot – and now they had brought the Slayer here, something that he always had feared would happen sooner or later. Ignoring the few demons in the bar, Buffy strode over to the counter, as casually as if she belonged here; behind her, a young guy was following, appearing nervous as he looked around and saw the few guests the bar had, the demons holding his gaze with indifference, none of them obviously too keen on picking someone who had come here in the company of the Slayer.

"W-what can I get you?" he asked as soon as she had reached the counter and had leaned on it, giving him a sweet, but still dangerous smile; when she replied, he nearly let out a sigh of relief, giving his best not to let those emotions show on his face.

"Information", Buffy stated, reaching into her pocket and bringing out a photo, placing it on the counter and pushing it towards him so he could look at it. "Has this woman been around here lately? And don't try to lie to me, I'll know if you do."

Gulping, he nodded, then made himself focus on the photo; immediately, he recognized one of the two women on the picture as the one who had been here several days ago and nearly had beat up one of his regulars, relief clearly showing on his face now as he looked up at Buffy again. "I recognize that one", he truthfully told her, tapping the photo, "she was here a few days ago, nearly got into a brawl with one of my regular guests. Haven't seen the redhead before though."

To his surprise, the Slayer nodded in response, as if she had expected that; at her next question, his eyes briefly went wide, and he shook his head immediately the second she had stopped speaking. "Do you have any idea where she went?"

"No, of course not", he claimed, hoping she'd believe him and wouldn't start beating him up, "I'm just a barkeeper, mind you… She didn't even talk much to me."

In response, Buffy just kept staring him for a while, until he had started to shuffle his feet nervously; to his relief though, she obviously decided to believe him, giving him another one of this dangerous, sweet smiles before she picked up the photo and put it back into her pocket, leaned closer to him, keeping her voice low so the demons in the bar wouldn't hear what she was saying to him. "I know that your demon regulars kicked out an… acquaintance of mine, for helping me several times in the past. His name's Spike, I'm sure you've heard of him?"

He nodded in reply, not sure where this was leading; moments later, he found out as the Slayer spoke on, the barkeeper's dismay about her words clearly showing on his round, sweaty face. "He'll come back here from now on, looking for my friend, and you'll make sure that your other guests won't bother him. As long as this works out, I won't come back here at night, when the place is full, and burn it to the ground. Alright?"

"A-alright", he stuttered in reply; still smiling, Buffy reached out with one hand and patted his cheek, then turned and left the bar with her quiet buddy, a relieved sigh escaping the barkeeper the moment she was gone.