To her dismay, the brunette was awfully close to her girlfriend when Willow stepped outside and spotted them; they stood a few steps away from the club's door, both smoking a cigarette, Pat still clutching her beer and looking rather awkward as Faith was now taking yet another step closer to her, oblivious to Willow's presence, having the insolence to place one hand on the taller woman's arm and move it up and down in a rather sensual way, saying something Willow couldn't quite make out.

"Hey!" she spoke up, giving her best to sound friendly, but not able to keep herself from being just a little too loud, holding back the urge to smirk evilly when Faith almost jumped back, at least having the grace to give the witch a slightly guilty look while Willow made her way to her girlfriend, smiling in an honestly non-evil way when immediately, Pat bent down to claim a kiss.

Obviously not all too happy about the sudden company, Faith finished her cigarette surprisingly quickly, letting the couple know that she'd go back inside; while the two still nodded, she already had turned and was hurrying back to the club's entrance, Willow not able to keep down a slight feeling of triumph as she watched her go.

"Wow, can you believe her?" she stated as soon as she could be sure that Faith was out of earshot, frowning when in response, Pat gave her a curious look, clearly having no idea what the witch was talking about.

"The way she was coming on to you?" she thus added, shooting another glare into the direction Faith had gone before she focused on her girlfriend again, sounding miffed when she spoke on. "I was halfway expecting her to be half-naked already when I came here."

"So?" the demon shrugged in reply, "she could have been fully naked right here, I wouldn't have cared… Wait, is that why you came out here? To make sure she's not… doing anything?"

"Kinda", Willow admitted after a moment, not sure what to think of it when Pat frowned at her, sounding slightly annoyed when she replied. "So you came out here to see how I'm reacting to that, or what? Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do", Willow hurried to reassure her, all at once not liking where this talk was going, "but I don't trust her, so…"

"So?" Pat echoed once more, giving her another annoyed look afterwards. "If she'd done something, I would have told her off", she went on, the dismayed tone of her voice making the witch nervous, "I'm actually finding it hard to believe that you would think otherwise."

"I don't!" Willow tried to convince her, all of a sudden regretting that she had come out here, "really, I trust you, I just…"

"You just what?" Pat wanted to know, crossing her arms in front of her chest and managing to do so without spilling any of her beer, "you just had to make sure that this trust you've mentioned is justified? Then you don't trust me."

"I do, really", Willow tried to reassure her once more, now feeling helpless as she didn't know what she could say to make this better, asking herself where this had come from all of a sudden and why things were going so wrong now. "Please don't be mad?" she added, grasping her girlfriend's free hand and giving it a tender squeeze, "I'd never think you'd do anything with her, really, I was just worried…"

"You're contradicting yourself", Pat pointed out in reply, still not sounding all too happy, "and I have the feeling that, if we go on like that, we'll end up going in circles and, eventually, fight, so I guess I'll better go for a walk now, then we can both calm down and discuss this properly once I'm back."

"No, don't go", Willow almost pleaded in reply, prompting the demon to let out a sigh; she reassured her that she'd be back soon and that she just would clear her head a bit, calming the redhead's obvious worries a bit by bending down to kiss her quickly, then turned and walked off, the witch looking after her with a heavy heart, once more asking herself how a simple remark she had made had turned into this.


Ninety minutes later, Willow's heart was still burdened, but the nature of said burden had changed, from simple dismay about the argument to worry – even though Pat had told her that she'd be back soon, she hadn't returned yet, the witch shifting on her seat uncomfortably as she kept looking at the door, willing the black haired woman to enter and sit down next to her so they could kiss and reassure each other that everything was okay.

"I'm worried", she finally confessed when Buffy gave her a concerned look, "she said she'd be back soon, but it's been one and a half hours! What if something happened?"

"I'm sure she's fine", Buffy reassured her in reply, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "maybe she just lost track of time while she wandered around or something. You know she can take care of herself…"

"I know", Willow muttered, "but I can't help worrying… And this was the first time we had something that close to a fight, you know?"

"It was?" Buffy gave back, surprised, "wow. That's quite the achievement actually, going all that time without fighting."

"Well, we screwed up our chance for the world record now", the redhead mumbled in reply, Buffy giving her another reassuring smile and squeeze of her shoulder in reply; moments later, they all were distracted by Spike entering the Bronze and making his way to their table quickly, to the surprise and concern of everyone having a worried expression on his face.

"Buffy", he started once he was close enough to be heard over the music and the noise the other guests were making, then looked at Willow after a moment, the concern of the witch growing when he, for once, referred to her by name and not with "Red". "And Willow… You should come outside with me for a moment. There's… a problem."

"What problem?" Buffy demanded to know before the redhead had a chance to reply; Spike just gave her an exasperated look, surprising her even further when he replied and she could hear the urgency in his voice. "Stop asking questions and wasting time, just come with me, alright? It's not like I could do anything to ya out there, what with you being the Slayer and me having that bloody chip in my head."

"…fine", Buffy agreed after a moment, "but if you've set up some kind of trap out there with your demon buddies, I'll stake you, chip or no chip."

"As if I'd still have many demon buddies after working with you", Spike muttered while the two women got up from their seats, Xander, Anya and Faith watching in confusion as most of the exchange had been too quiet to let them hear; Willow told them that they'd be back quickly, then followed Spike outside with Buffy right next to her, asking herself if the vampire was planning something and why he couldn't do whatever it was he wanted to do just inside, where it was warm and comfortable and they could…

Her thoughts were cut off abruptly when Spike led them to the next side alley and her gaze fell on Pat, the demon sitting at the wall, looking paler than she ever had seen her before, clutching Spike's pocket flask in one trembling hand and a half-smoked cigarette in the other.

"Found her on the sidewalk, close to the cemetery", Spike explained while Willow rushed over to her girlfriend and knelt down next to her, "all passed out. Took her here after I managed to wake her up and she told me you'd probably still be here."

"What happened?" Willow demanded to know, glad when at least, her loved one looked up at her, a dazed expression in her good eye, the eye patch which usually covered her ruined one being quite askew, halfway up her forehead. To the redhead, this was a clearer sign that something was wrong than anything else could have been – after all, her girlfriend usually always made sure that the patch would sit properly, not wanting to freak anyone out by letting them see what was hidden beneath it.

"Sweetie, what happened?" Willow repeated, reaching up with one hand to cup the taller woman's cheek; for a few more seconds, Pat just kept looking back at her, then finally responded, the tremble in her voice and her words making the witch's eyes go wide. "It was him… I-it was him and he took it, he took my demon, it's gone…"


"She's right", Spike was the first one to speak, while Buffy and Willow just stared at the black haired woman, "she's just like the two of you now, perfectly human."

"How do you know?" Buffy finally regained her ability to speak, turning to look at the vampire while behind her, the redhead carefully took her girlfriend into her arms. "Did you hit her and it hurt you, or something?"

"Of course not", the vampire huffed, sounding honestly irritated, "why would I hit her? But, well, I accidentally dropped her once when I was half-dragging, half-carrying her here, and seems that this was enough to make the chip react, because that did hurt."

"Oh", the Slayer smartly gave back, not sure what else to say; for a few more moments, Spike kept looking at her, then moved over to Pat and bent down to retrieve his pocket flask, Willow surprised to see that there actually was sympathy in his eyes as he looked at her girlfriend during the process.

"You better get her home", he stated once he had straightened up again and the flask had vanished into the inner pocket of his coat, "looks like she needs some rest."

Without waiting for any of the two to reply, he started to walk away, stopping though when Buffy called out his name and turning to look at her, a tiny smile tugging at the corners of his mouth at her next words, even though he obviously tried hard to keep it away. "Thanks. That was very kind of you."

"No biggie", Spike casually stated in reply, making her smile as well while she gave him a knowing look; after a moment, the vampire smirked back at her, then finally left, Buffy looking after him for another second before she moved over to where Pat was still sitting, lowering herself into a crouch next to the couple.

"Spike's right", she stated, for a moment not able to believe she actually had said that, "we should get her home. I'll go and get the others, can you keep an eye on her until then?"

"Of course", Willow gave back, not even looking at her, her gaze remaining focused on her girlfriend, filled with worry.

"Alright", Buffy still said, briefly touching the redhead's shoulder before she got up and hurried back inside; once more, Willow didn't even bother to look after her, didn't even notice that she was gone, all her attention focused on her girlfriend. It was obvious that whatever the guy had done to steal her demonic side had shaken the black haired woman up quite badly; she was staring on the dirty ground between her legs, the cigarette between her fingers smouldering away unnoticed, until Willow plucked it out of her light grasp and put it out, suddenly realizing that now, her loved one might actually burn herself.

"Sweetie, hey", she tried again to gain the taller woman's attention, "look at me… We'll find him, and we'll fix this, I promise. But for now, we'll take you home so you can rest. Okay?"

"…forgetting something", Pat mumbled in reply, one hand coming up to rub at her forehead, "something important… Gotta remember…"

"You will once you got some rest", Willow reassured her, although she had no idea what her girlfriend was talking about. In response, the black haired woman only shook her head, her strange behaviour worrying the witch more than the information about Eric stealing her demon from her had; carefully and slowly, so she wouldn't startle her loved one, she moved to take Pat's face into her hands, her breath getting caught in her throat when finally, her girlfriend looked up at her properly and she could see the expression in her good eye.

Not even when she had lost her other eye, she had looked like that, so deeply hurt and stunned; the word which came to Willow's mind was gutted, followed by hollow, both of them sending unpleasant shivers up and down her spine.

"It'll be alright", she still tried to sound confident, making sure to hold Pat's gaze, "don't worry. We'll find him, and find out how he did this, and it'll be alright." She had wanted to say more, reassure her again and again that it would be fine; since she heard the rest of the gang approaching though, she fell quiet, taking the few seconds still left before the others would arrive to place a tender kiss on the taller woman's forehead, then on her lips, trying not to let it hurt her when no response came.

Just when the others rounded the corner and joined them in the side alley, she pulled back, giving her girlfriend another concerned look, then focusing on Buffy; she shook her head when the Slayer asked if Pat was feeling better by now, prompting the blonde to look concerned as well – before she looked at Xander, her words making the young man nod immediately. "I doubt she'll be able to walk on her own, come on, help me with her…"

"Sure", he agreed at once, moving over to the black haired woman afterwards; together with Buffy, he helped her to her feet, then slung one of her arms around his shoulders, Buffy doing the same with her other one, momentarily dismayed about the fact that due to the height difference between Xander and her, Pat now stood rather awkwardly, something she didn't seem to mind much or even to notice though.

Worried, Willow made sure to stay as close to her as she could without getting into the way of Buffy and Xander as they started to walk; thanks to the shaken up state of Pat, it took them much longer than usual to reach the apartment, and by the time they finally did, the black haired woman looked as if she was just about to collapse, Willow's concern increasing with every second she had to see her girlfriend like this.

Still she took the time to thank the others for their help when they finally stood in front of the apartment door; sounding and looking worried as well, Buffy told her not to mention it, then almost ordered her to call her immediately, should anything happen, while Faith was focused fully on Pat, distress written all over her face.

She didn't say anything to the black haired woman though, only told Willow to take good care of her; her anger at the brunette's behaviour forgotten, the witch just nodded, then unlocked the apartment door and carefully led Pat inside while the rest left and returned to their homes as well, their mood gloomy as they all worried about the black haired woman and about what had been done to her.