Author's Note: I'm off to London for the next few days! :D Next chapter will be put up once I return. :)
In the next morning, Pat was gone when she woke up, and briefly, Willow was terrified again; then, she heard noise coming from the kitchen and closed her eyes momentarily as she told herself not to be so stupid, that she was out of there and that sooner or later, surely the images would stop flooding her and she'd be okay again, just as her partner had said.
Eager to see her, just to make sure that she was okay, Willow got out of bed, briefly feeling dizzy, her stomach turning, something she blamed on what she had been through; stopping next to the bed, she took in a few deep breaths, then moved to the kitchen once she was sure she wouldn't be sick or even faint, finding her partner there, standing at the stove and making something which looked like waffles while a cup with a teabag-string dangling down the side was sitting on the kitchen table.
"Hey", the taller woman greeted her, smiling at her, "you got up just in time. Breakfast's almost done. I made you some tea, I figured coffee wouldn't be good, in case that… stuff is still in your system…"
"Thanks", Willow gave back, smiling weakly while she sat down at the kitchen table, "and I suppose you're right…"
Nodding, Pat briefly left the waffles alone, risking that they burned, and moved over to where the redhead was sitting; bending down, she kissed her tenderly, simultaneously placing one hand on her shoulder, as if to reassure her that she was real and fine and that none of the things Willow had seen in the tank had been true.
"After you ate something, we should call Buffy", she suggested after the kiss, moving back to the stove and turning the waffle just in time to keep it from getting burned, "and have the gang assemble at the Magic Box so we can hit the books and find out what to do about… what they did to you."
"I'm not sure they will be able to help", Willow sighed in response, removing the teabag from the cup before she brought it up to her mouth, taking a careful sip of the still rather hot liquid, "if what Trevor used was some sort of drug, there might be some magic to help getting rid of it, but… I'm not sure it'll be easy."
"It never is", Pat pointed out with a sigh, deciding that the waffle had been frying long enough and moving it to a plate, where several others already laid, "or else our lives would be too easy or something. And it's worth a try…"
"It is", the witch agreed, smiling weakly at her partner; smiling back at her, the demon moved to her side, crouching next to her chair and grasping her hand, momentarily looking almost like she was about to propose, "and until we figure something out, no matter what you see, always tell yourself it's not real, alright? I'm alive and well, Buffy's alive and well, and so is the rest of us."
"I know", the redhead reassured her, "but the moment it happens, it seems so real… It's really hard to describe, I…"
She just had a second to realize that it was happening again, a cold shiver which ran down her spine being the only warning she got; before she even could try to tell Pat what was happening, the kitchen around her was gone within the blink of an eye, and she was in their living room, standing there in helpless horror as she watched how the dark, evil version of herself had her partner pinned to the wall with magic, smiling cruelly at her as she advanced.
"Don't worry", dark Willow was telling the helpless demon, moving closer to her, "I'm not going to take much. Just enough to make sure I can stay for a bit longer."
"No!" Willow cried as her darker version moved to the pinned black haired woman, placing one hand on her chest; and then, she started taking her magical essence from her, smiling widely just a few seconds later, her voice trembling just enough to let it be audible when she spoke up again. "Whoa, you taste so good… no wonder this pesky good part of me likes you so much…"
Her eyes rolled back into her head and she moaned, an almost sensual sound; and again, Willow's cry went unheard as the demon's hair started to turn grey, then white, her magic soon gone, the dark witch now taking the essence of her very life, and not too long after the last strand had gone white, Pat fell down to the floor and remained there motionless, and even though she couldn't touch her, couldn't even move, Willow knew, just knew deep inside, that she was dead…
"Willow!" Pat's voice, sharp and urgent, snapped her out of it again, making her flinch; she had a moment to realize that she had fallen out of her seat and now was lying in the demon's arms, the taller woman holding her close to herself, concern all over her face as she looked down on her.
"It happened again", the witch whispered, to her alarm feeling something wet and vaguely foamy on her lips and chin as she spoke, "Pat, I'm scared, it just keeps happening…"
"We'll figure something out", the demon told her in response, even though she didn't sound as confident about it as she had a few minutes ago, "there has to be something Giles can do, and if he can't, we'll find someone who can. I promise."
She felt Willow shiver in her arms again, something she for a second blamed on the fear the witch still was feeling; and then, the witch started convulsing in her arms again, just like she had just minutes ago, during the previous hallucination, and when she called out her name in alarm, the only reaction she got was that the redhead started twitching and trembling in her arms again, foam forming on her lips once more and trickling down her cheeks, no reaction at all coming from her, no matter how often Pat called out her name.
"...can't help her with this", Willow heard the demon say as she came back around, to her surprise now finding herself lying on the living room couch, her feet propped up on the armrest, a soft pillow beneath her head while Pat was pacing up and down in the living room, on the phone with, as the witch figured, either Buffy or Giles.
"No, I haven't tried", the taller woman now was saying, running one hand through her hair, the fact that currently, her blind side was to the witch keeping her from noticing she had woken up, "I don't need to. I know it doesn't help with something like this."
"…Pat", Willow croaked, finally finding enough strength to talk; and even though her voice had been barely above a whisper, the demon heard her, almost dropping the phone as she hurried to her side, telling whoever was on the other end of the line that Willow was awake and that she'd call back before she simply hung up, without even waiting for an answer.
"Hey", she said, her voice so tender that it made the witch's heart clench up, "how are you feeling?"
"Tired", the redhead murmured in reply, another weak smile curling her lips when the taller woman began to caress her hair tenderly, prompting her to lean into the touch until Pat's hand was cupping her cheek, "what happened? Did I pass out?"
"Yes", the demon confirmed, now sounding not only tender, but concerned, "after you had some kind of… seizure, I guess. It looked really scary."
"My head hurts", Willow mumbled as an answer, briefly closing her eyes again and thus missing the concerned glance the black haired woman was giving her, "and… my stomach feels all… oh Goddess I think I gotta throw up…"
To her relief, Pat reacted fast to those unpleasant news, and without missing a beat; the second she had uttered the last word, the taller woman had picked her up on her arms and was rushing to her to the bathroom, lowering her to the ground in front of the toilet just in time, holding her hair back when she vomited seconds later, her whole body trembling and sweat quickly forming on her skin, making the pyjama top she still was wearing stick to her back.
"There, there", she heard the taller woman murmur, the words which almost always came from her when she didn't know what to say, "it's alright, maybe this'll help, let it all out…"
In response, Willow threw up again, even though she had been sure that there had been nothing left in her stomach for that; gripping the toilet seat so tightly that her knuckles stood out, she dry-heaved when finally, her stomach had been fully emptied, slumping down moments later and breathing heavily, closing her eyes as she felt Pat pull her into a tender embrace.
"Goddess", she brought out, her voice trembling along with her body, "what did they put in my system? I feel as if I drank for days and this is the world's worst hangover…"
"Not to mention the hallucinations", Pat added, moving to caress her hair yet again in an attempt to help her calm down, "and, well… I know it might be too early to ask that, but… if you want to talk about it…"
"Not right now", Willow gave back, not really surprising the taller woman, "let me… get clean first, and maybe have some tea…"
"Whatever you want", the black haired woman reassured her in reply, carefully helping her to her feet, then staying close to her as she washed out her mouth and brushed her teeth, just to be on the safe side, talking on while the redhead performed those tasks, "I suppose the tea is cold by now, but I can heat it up if you want me to, or make you fresh one…"
"Heating it up will be enough", Willow mumbled after she had finished brushing her teeth, making her way back to the kitchen with her partner and sitting down there again; smiling at her, Pat nodded, then made her smile slightly as well by pouring a cup of tea – and then holding said cup and letting the hand which held it flame up, the liquid steaming visibly not even a minute later.
"Thanks", she mumbled as she accepted the now pleasantly warm cup from her lover, then took a careful sip of it, "one of the perks of dating a fire demon, huh?"
"Yup", Pat agreed with a smirk, earning another weak smile from her lover; for a few more seconds, there was silence as Willow drank a bit more of the tea, then finally spoke up, her voice low and surprisingly calm as she recollected what Trevor had done to her, at least at first.
"He told me he needed my magic", she let the demon know, carefully placing the cup back on the table, her index finger tracing the rim afterwards without her even fully noticing, "to make his soldiers invulnerable. The super guys Buffy and you fought, not the regular ones who were on guard…"
Nodding, Pat leaned forward slightly to grasp her free hand, a silent sign of support and of her presence; with a brief grateful look, Willow smiled at her, then focused on the tea again as she continued, with just the tiniest tremble in her voice now.
"I told him no, and he said I'd… spare myself some discomfort if I changed my mind", she told the taller woman, hearing her growl lowly in response, a deep rumble from the back of her throat, but not looking up at her, "so I asked him if they'd torture me. And he said no again, telling me they weren't savages… And then he told them, the soldier guys, the normal ones, to put me in that tank, only he called it sensory deprivation, and that they should mix in a batch of something, I can't remember what it was and that I'd do all the torturing myself…"
She realized that she had started to babble and that she was close to hyperventilating, but couldn't stop herself; and then, just before she could start breathing so fast that it might make her faint, Pat had wrapped both arms around her and was holding her, rubbing her back as she mumbled soothing words into her ear.
"It's okay", she heard the black haired woman say over and over, "you're out of there, and he can't harm you anymore…"
"It wasn't so bad at first", Willow brought out in reply, another tremble running through her, prompting the demon to tighten her embrace around her, "it was… peaceful, and I was asking myself what was supposed to happen to change my mind about helping him… but then the bad stuff started, and it just wouldn't stop…"
"We'll find out how to make it stop", Pat promised her in reply, still rubbing her back soothingly, "I talked to Buffy while you were out cold, and I suppose she's on the phone with Giles right now. There will be something we can do…"
"I hope so", Willow sighed in response, and just then, the phone rang; still Pat took the time to give her another calming smile and tenderly rub her back, kissing her briefly before she got up and went to get the call, mouthing "it's Buffy" to the witch seconds later."
"…yeah, sure", the demon then said after just listening for half a minute, "you can come here any time, you know that… Yeah, I suppose so… Alright…"
Frowning, she hung up the phone and looked at it for a moment, then put it back down on the table, her gaze moving on to Willow, a hint of irritation in her voice as she spoke up again. "Okay, that was weird. Buffy said she'd come over, and she told me to be sure that I'm calm when she arrives. And that she'll maybe know how to help you, which is great, but why would she tell me that I should be calm?"
"No idea", Willow gave back, getting up from her seat so she could move into the taller woman's arms, smiling weakly again when immediately, Pat wrapped both arms around her, pulling her close, "but I'm sure she'll explain…"
"Yeah", the demon agreed after a moment, then just kept holding her, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what was going on; and while she was occupied with this, Willow merely leaned against her, closing her eyes and breathing in her scent, telling herself that surely, the taller woman was right and that soon, everything would be alright again.