The look on Pat's face when she heard those words was one Willow never had seen before, not even when the taller woman had lost her eye; she looked so defeated and hopeless that it was scaring the witch more than the thought of being stuck here, since in all the years they had been together, she never had seen her partner just give up like that.
"We'll never get out", the demon told her, slumping down to the ground and ending up with her back leaning against the tower, "she was right, we'll never get out of here… First she'll finish me off and then she'll start feeding on you…"
"She'll do no such thing", Willow reassured her at once, giving her best to sound confident, crouching down next to her and grasping her hand, "I'll find a way to open a new one and get us out of here, I promise."
Falling silent, not sure what else she could say, she squeezed the taller woman's hand tenderly, fighting hard to hide her own dismay about the vanished portal; since apparently though, time ran much faster in this dimension than it did in the one she had come from, it was no surprise that the portal was gone, the witch briefly wondering how much time had passed back in her world and what the people she had left behind there were thinking, if they wondered if she was dead or had figured out what was going on.
"It'll be okay", she made herself say again, shocked by her partner's behaviour; in all the years they had spent together, she never would have imagined that anything could be done to change her strong and confident partner into the frightened, defeated woman she was now.
"Come on", she finally said, putting one arm around the demon's waist and helping her to her feet again, "let's at least move away from that tower, in case she comes back… Once we found a hideout, I can come up with something…"
"If she comes back, we're done", Pat replied tonelessly, managing to come to her feet somehow though despite how exhausted she was, "I can't fight her, I can't even flame up, let alone demon out, and if she gets her hands on you… She'll be so strong…"
"Won't happen", Willow reassured her once more, then started leading her away from the tower; she made sure to avoid any of the body part pits, still managing to look out for anything they could use as a hideout, simultaneously not wanting to go too far away from where the portal had originally appeared, just in case it might open up again.
"Over there", she finally spotted a formation of rocks big enough to hide behind, "these rocks should do… Just until I figured something out…"
Even though by now, the demon was breathing heavily, and having trouble with staying on her feet, she nodded; forcing herself to move along next to her partner; still having an arm around her waist, Willow gave her best to support her, but still the taller woman slumped down to the ground the moment they had reached the rocks, leaning her back against them, sweat trailing down her cheeks as her good eye slipped close, her heart racing in her chest.
"It'll be okay", Willow told her once more, concerned and dismayed by the bad state her loved one was in, "I promise, just hold on and I'll figure something out… I'll get you back home and there you can rest and regain your strength…"
Even though she wasn't as sure about that, unable to stop thinking about what might happen, should the other witch come back, Pat made herself nod; grasping her hand, Willow gave her another reassuring smile, then glanced over the rock formation and at the plain area around it again, willing the portal to appear, only now realizing that she might not be able to open it again on her own, not without the ingredients needed and with no one around to support her. Under different circumstances, she would have asked her partner for support, and would have tapped into the potential for use of magic the demon carried within herself; one look at the black haired woman was enough to tell her though that this wasn't an option, the redhead not wanting to risk draining her even further.
Not daring to voice those thoughts out loud, since she didn't want to upset the demon even further, the witch gave her best to hide her thoughts and to keep up the reassuring and confident façade; to her relief, Pat didn't seem to notice her inner turmoil, having leaned the back of her head against the stone as well and just staring off into nothingness, the empty look in her good eye taking quite a bit of the redhead's relief away as she asked herself what exactly had been done to the taller woman in that tower.
Telling herself that she could figure this out later, and that now, she had to focus on finding a way to reopen the portal; already, she started considering tapping into the dark magic deep within her, well aware of the risk, but not seeing any other solution. Taking in a deep breath, she started to focus, hoping that she'd be able to get the darkness back under control once she had managed to reopen the portal with it; and that was when the wind came up, a light breeze at first, but quickly developing into a raging storm, prompting her to narrow her eyes as the wind blew fine corns of sand into her face.
"What's happening?" Pat wanted to know, sounding slightly alarmed; not sure what to reply, Willow just squeezed her hand reassuringly in reply, her eyes going wide again moments later despite the sand still flying around as the portal opened up in exactly the same spot it had been in before, the witch jumping to her feet a second later and grasping her partner around the waist yet again, quickly helping her to her feet.
"The portal!" she cried out, tightening her grip around the taller woman when she felt her sway dangerously on her feet, "come on, quickly!"
Even though her legs felt as if all the muscle had been replaced with jelly, Pat forced herself to hurry along as Willow started moving closer to the portal; she stumbled and almost fell after just a few steps, but the grip the witch had on her kept her from ending up on the ground, her heart skipping a beat as she found herself unable to stop her mind from conjuring up terrifying images of the portal closing again, leaving them both stuck there – or of just Willow getting through, leaving her behind, weakened and helpless until the other witch would come back to finish what she had started in the tower.
The mere thought of this happening to her, of being fed on by that witch again, gave her the strength she needed to reach the portal; and half a minute after it had appeared, both Willow and she stepped through, out of the horrid dimension where the demon had been held captive and back to their home, the portal closing behind them with an audible pop, leaving not the smallest trace behind.
Only when they stepped through, Willow remembered how bad using the portal had affected her, realising how much worse it had to be for her partner in her weakened state a second before she felt Pat fall next to her; with a tremendous crash, the demon landed on the table of the Magic Box, briefly making Willow feel relieved that said table hadn't broken – before she ended up on her hands and feet next to the taller woman, fighting hard to keep herself from throwing up yet again while, dimly, she heard various voices call out her name and her partner's.
"I'm so sorry!" Iris' voice came next, prompting the witch to look up at her as soon as she could be sure she wouldn't puke again, "I tried to keep it open, I really did, but it was so hard… I had to let it close for a while to recharge… are you okay?"
"I am", Willow made herself say, carefully getting off the table after convincing herself that her legs wouldn't give in beneath her the moment she'd try to stand, once more shocked at how much using the portal had exhausted her, not wanting to imagine how it had to have been for her already exhausted partner, "make sure Pat's okay…"
"She's out cold", Buffy gave back, sounding concerned as she spoke on while turning the taller woman on her back, "and, Jesus, what happened to her? Just look at her…"
"She fed on her", Willow replied, grasping her partner's hand once more, her heart clenching up yet again when the demon didn't react at all, but just remained on the table motionless, her good eye closed, her breath so shallow and slow that for a horrible moment, the redhead thought yet again that she had stopped breathing all together.
"How could she take so much?" Buffy wanted to know, looking as startled and concerned as Willow had felt when she had found her partner in the tower, "it's just been a few hours since she's taken her!"
"Time seems to pass faster over there", the redhead explained in reply, moving one hand to tenderly remove a strand of grey hair out of the demon's face, "she said that this horrible woman kept telling her that no one would come for her, that we wouldn't find her, and that after a few days, she started believing her…"
"Did you know about this?" Buffy immediately demanded to know, glaring at Iris, "did you know that time passes faster over there? Why didn't you tell us?"
"I wasn't sure", Iris sighed, giving them an apologetic look, "it was that way when I visited her, but that has been so long ago, I wasn't sure anymore if it still is that way or if she changed it… It's her creation, she can do as she pleases there, so…"
"You should have told us anyway", Giles admonished, shaking his head, "so we would have been prepared. What if it had taken us longer to get there and she would have… finished feeding?"
"Let's not even think about it", Willow threw in before Iris had a chance to reply, shuddering at the mere idea, "I just want to get her home so she can get some rest. Anya, I'm going to need some sage, it'll help her recharge her strength…"
Nodding, and for once not trying to argue about payment, Anya hurried off to get the sage while Giles let Willow know he'd drive them home; Buffy volunteered to get Pat out to the car, using her Slayer strength to lift the knocked out demon from the table after Willow had nodded her agreement, letting her best friend know that she'd be there in a second.
"I doubt this witch will just accept that I took away her source of food, and ruined one of her gargoyles in the process", the redhead then told Iris while Buffy was making her way to the door with Giles in tow and the unconscious Pat in her arms, "so if she comes back, I need to know how to fight her."
"I'll help you", Iris promised at once, "I'll just get some stuff from my hotel room and then meet you at your place. Where do you live?"
After telling their address to the witch, Willow watched how she wrote it down, glad that Iris had offered her help so readily; then, Anya finally came back with the sage, handing the plastic bag filled with the dried herb to the redhead, letting her know that she could have more, should she need it.
"Thanks", the witch gave back, "but I hope this will be enough… Even though she took quite much from her…"
"Just call me if you need more", Anya told her, giving her a reassuring smile afterwards, "I'll have Xander bring it to your home! And I won't charge you, I promise. Poor Pat, she looked so bad."
"She'll be fine", Willow replied, managing to sound more confident than she was feeling, once more remembering how defeated and frightened the taller woman had been when she had found her, a state she never had seen her in before, "she just needs to get some rest, then she'll recover. Thanks for the sage, I better go now so Giles can get us home…"
"Just call if you need anything", Anya repeated, making the witch nod; she gave her friend a grateful smile, then finally hurried outside where Giles already was waiting in the car, with the engine running and Pat lying on the backseat, still out cold, the redhead barely able to take her eyes off of her as she got into the car, taking the unconscious woman's head into her lap since Buffy had occupied the passenger's seat, and the Watcher drove off, taking them to their home.