Since Pat refused to even leave the cellar room to get some sleep, Valeriana, after a short and useless discussion, had a camping bed brought down for her; and on that, she spent the night, the room illuminated by the gentle glow of the blue liquid which had become visible once the lights had been switched off, making her wonder what more what exactly the shapeshifters had filled the tank with.
For a while, she pondered if that glow would keep her from going to sleep, as if her worry for her partner hadn't been enough to accomplish that; then, she did drift off after a while, into a light slumber, only to wake up again and again at the smallest noises, the continuously interrupted sleep making her quite glad about her demon side – after all, thanks to that, she didn't need as many hours of rest as regular humans to function properly.
After a while, she gave up on trying to fall asleep and sat up on the creaking bed, finding her cigarettes and lighting one of them up; the shapeshifters hadn't made any comments to her about her smoking so far, and even though they hadn't provided her with an ashtray, she figured they were okay with it, just using a glass half-filled with water instead, watching the tank as she sat there and smoked in silence. Now that the room was dark and quiet, she could hear the soft sloshing sounds the strange blue stuff inside it produced every now and then, along with the soft hissing noises coming from the oxygen mask which helped the witch breathe; she held back another sigh, then finished her smoke and dropped the cigarette into the glass to put it out before she laid back down again, staring up at the ceiling as she waited for sleep to take her.
Just when she got close to drifting off once more, the sloshing sounds from the tank increased, prompting her to roll over so she could gaze at it; and moments later, her heart skipped a beat as her gaze met Willow's, the expression in the witch's eyes scared and pained and close to panic, making it obvious to the demon that she had no idea where she was and why she had been put there.
"No", she quickly said while scrambling to her feet and seeing her partner reach for the oxygen mask, "don't take that off, it's okay, this stuff is helping you, it's okay…" For a few seconds, she wasn't even sure if Willow could hear her, not wanting to imagine what might happen if she didn't and removed the mask; then, the witch's hand fell back to her side, and she just floated there, looking a bit calmer now as she had realized that Pat was with her and that the weird stuff she had been put in wasn't harming her.
"It's okay", the demon repeated, moving closer to the tank and giving her a hopefully calming smile, "we put you in there until I can give my healing to you, it's okay…"
In response, Willow held her gaze for a few moments, making her realize in the back of her mind that she had taken off the eyepatch before laying down to sleep, then shrugging it off since she knew the redhead wasn't freaked out by the empty, scarred socked usually hidden beneath it; and moments later, this was fully forgotten as the witch started to move upwards, prompting her to cry out "No, no!", only to have Willow ignore her and keep going until she could grasp the edge of the tank and pull at least her head over the surface.
"Sweetie, I'm not sure that's a good idea", Pat scolded while her girlfriend moved the oxygen mask up so she could talk, "we don't even know how that stuff works, who knows what will happen now?"
"Nothing bad", Willow replied at once, with a surprisingly strong voice, even managing a slight smile, "I felt it the moment I woke up, it's magic, as long as the wounds are covered, nothing will happen."
"Are you sure?" the demon wanted to know, giving her another concerned glance, "cause if not, you better go under again, or I swear I'll push you."
"That's not nice", Willow admonished with another smile, glad when the taller woman smiled back after a moment, "and yes, I am sure. I'm the witch here after all, remember?"
"Yeah, the witch with horribly deep gashes in her back", Pat argued back, clearly not willing to accept this so fast, "doesn't holding on to the edge like that hurt?"
"No", the redhead reassured her, smiling slightly, touched by her concern, "the magic in that blue stuff numbs it, I barely feel them all. Just a tiny bit."
"Fine then", the demon sighed after another moment, stepping as close as possible to the tank and placing her hands on the witch's, causing her smile to widen, "you won't give in anyway. And I'm glad you're awake, and not in pain…"
"So am I", Willow reassured her, "I still remember how it felt when those claws went down my back, it was as if someone set me on fire, so I'm glad that magic stuff numbs it so well."
"Setting on fire, not a good frame of reference for me", Pat smirked, making her giggle slightly as she realized that this was true, "but I get what you mean. Poor you, but you'll be fine again, right when twenty-four hours are up, I'm gonna give my healing to you."
"I know", the witch smiled, enjoying the feeling of her partner's bigger and much rougher hands on hers, the only contact they could maintain as long as she was stuck in that tank, "and I'm glad you didn't do it right after I got hurt, before that panther took me down, I saw that Alexia bit you quite a few times."
"Often enough actually to make my healing go into overload", Pat admitted with a sigh, gesturing at the bandage wrapped around her shoulder and chest; to her relief, the bite didn't hurt too badly at the moment, but she knew that this would change the moment she moved too much, not letting this knowledge stop her tough from grasping her partner's hands again while Willow gave her a worried look.
"Are you sure you should give me your healing then?" she wanted to know, frowning as she glanced at the bandage and the few by now rusty brown stains which marred the white fabric, "what if it's too soon and it all opens up again?"
"Nah", Pat replied with her usual confidence, "usually, if it goes into overload, two to three hours is enough to have it… um, recharge, I suppose. So it'll be fine, technically, I could demon out now and heal it, but I won't cause then we'll only have to wait longer until we can heal you."
"If you're sure about this, fine", Willow nodded after a moment, "and now come closer, so I can steal a kiss from you."
"You know I always give them freely", Pat smirked in reply, then leaned closer until her lips met Willow's; closing her eyes, the redhead moved one hand from the edge of the tank to her partner's neck, a content sigh escaping her as the kiss deepened, making her feel so good that she even forgot about the slight pain she still had felt in her back moments before.
"I love you", the demon mumbled after they had pulled apart again, reaching up with one hand to caress her cheek tenderly, "and I'm really glad you'll be okay… I got so scared when I saw you lying on the ground back there, with all that blood…"
"I love you, too", Willow let her know at once, smiling, "and I'm sorry for scaring you, I should have been paying more attention to what that panther was doing behind me…"
"Did you figure anything out?" Pat wanted to know in reply, even though she was aware that maybe, this wasn't the best time to ask, "or are you gonna have to do it again once you're fine?"
"I felt… something", Willow gave back, frowning slightly to herself as she tried to remember what exactly she had picked up when she had been magically connected to the panther, "her energies were… disturbed, but I couldn't figure out by what… I'll need to check again once I'm out of this tank."
"Let's hope you won't be interrupted again", the taller woman smirked, "both Buffy and me still think that one of the shapeshifters is responsible, so who knows what they might come up with."
"You are probably right", Willow had to admit in reply, frowning to herself as she thought about the unpleasant implications of this, "maybe I should insist to be alone with the animals the next time I try…"
"Yeah, so they can eat you easier in case something goes wrong with keeping them knocked out", Pat said with a roll of her good eye, "we can ask the shapeshifters to stay away, but I'm gonna be right there by your side."
"Sounds good", Willow smirked, then pulled her close for another kiss; afterwards, the demon suggested that they both should get some more rest, sure that she'd sleep easier now that her loved one had woken up and been surprisingly alright, making the witch nod – before she pulled the oxygen mask back on and let herself sink back into the blue liquid, closing her eyes as it surrounded her fully again. Pat took a few more moments to watch her, then finally made her way back to the camping bed and laid down on it; and a minute later, she was fast asleep, the room falling quiet as they both slumbered peacefully, the taller woman's concerns and worries for the moment forgotten.
"Okay, careful now", Pat stated in the next day, right the moment the twenty-four hour timespan had passed, Oliver moving to her side to help her with getting Willow out of the tank unharmed; nodding, the witch pulled herself up at the edge of the tank, then grasped the hands Oliver and Pat were holding out to her, the two helping her to move over the edge and then lowering her to the ground carefully, the demon keeping one arm around her waist just in case as she led her to the camping bed and asked her to sit down there.
"Alright", she then stated, digging through her pockets again for the small leather bag filled with powder, "I'll do the spell now, and no protesting, you'll need your strength for later."
To her relief, Willow just nodded, the gashes in her back aching much more now that she was out of the blue liquid; she gave her best to control her breathing and to hide her pain from the demon and the shapeshifter in the room with her while Pat finally found the powder and poured some of it on the palm of her hand, then grasped one of Willow's with the other one, Oliver watching and listening with interest when she started the chant a few seconds later.
The moment she had said the last word and had blown heartily on the powder, making sure she wouldn't cause it to fly right into Willow's face, her free hand flamed up, causing Oliver to let out an audible gasp; and then, the gashes in the witch's back slowly started to heal with audible fleshy noises, a low groan coming from the redhead at how unpleasant this was feeling.
"Almost there", she heard Pat mumble, her grip on the demon's hand tightening in response; and a few moments later, the gashes had closed up fully and she quickly let go of her partner, not wanting to take any more of her strength than absolutely necessary, letting out a heavy breath as she still felt the pain in her back, telling herself that it'd fade away after a while.
"This is astounding", Oliver said, sounding awed, "we never managed to find a way how to borrow our healing to others, and you do it so easily…"
"Not that easily", Pat corrected him at once, smiling slightly at him while the flames on her hand died out slowly, "if I do that too early after healing myself, it's all undone, so the wounds open up again. That's quite painful and nasty."
"I imagine", Oliver grimaced, then made a vague gesture at her eyepatch, sounding curious when he went on. "And your healing couldn't deal with that?"
"No", the demon sighed, not liking to be reminded of this, "it just healed the empty socket, but it didn't make the eye grow back."
"Guys?" Willow threw in before the young man could reply anything to that, "it's nice you're talking and bonding and all, but do you think you could find me some clothes? I don't wanna parade my underwear to a bunch of shapeshifters both male and female, you know."
"Oh, of course, sorry", Oliver gave back at once, smiling at her, "we took the liberty to grab some of Alexia's clothes for you, they should fit and, well, she doesn't really need them at the moment, so she won't mind."
With those words, he bent down and picked up the plastic bag he had brought, handing it to the witch before he excused himself; briefly, Willow wondered why, since he already had seen her in her underwear after all, then she peered into the bag and saw the reason for it – he also had provided her with fresh underwear, and now she was glad that he had left, not wanting to change that in front of him, as well.
Clearly having no such qualms, Pat just sat down on the chair she had used the previous day again and dug out her cigarettes, lighting one of them up while her partner critically eyed the garments the man had brought for her; to her relief, it was quite a simple selection, a black t-shirt with a neckline a bit lower than she was used to, and black pants, the witch figuring that this might do after a moment and quickly removing her blood-stained underwear, smirking when she noticed the look of approval on Pat's face.
"Like what you see?" she asked teasingly, not surprised when the demon nodded at once, her voice even hoarser than usual when she replied, her words causing the redhead's cheeks to heat up. "Yup, very much. It's been years and I still just have to look at you to get all worked up."
"That's good to know", the witch finally smiled after a moment, then made the taller woman's face fall by obscuring the nice view with the panties and bra Oliver had provided for her; the bra was a bit wide for her liking, but some fiddling with the straps solved this, and she figured it'd be okay for at least a while, until they could go back home and she could put on her own underwear again.
"It's too bad we have to go meet the others right after you changed", Pat sighed out, watching how she put on the rest of her clothes and suppressing the urge to jump up and pull them off of her again right away, "or I'd totally ravish you on that camping bed here."
"Then it'd probably break", Willow giggled in reply, only laughing harder when the black haired woman just shrugged; she quickly finished getting dressed by buttoning up the pants, wishing for a belt since Alexia was a bit wider around the hips than she was, then moved to sit on her partner's lap, smiling when immediately, the demon reacted by ditching her half-smoked cigarette into the glass of water she used as an ashtray and wrapped both arms around her.
"I'm glad you're okay again", Pat then mumbled, her hands coming to a tender rest on her back, playing with her long hair, "it was really scary when that panther hurt you so badly."
"I'm glad you can borrow your healing to me, unlike those shapeshifters", Willow let her know in reply, "or it would have been really painful to wait until it healed naturally. Talking about healing though, how's your shoulder? Doesn't it need stitches?"
"I guess it would if I were a normal person", the demon smirked in reply, "but now that you're fine again, I can heal it in a few hours, so I decided I wouldn't bother with that."
"Typical", the redhead replied with a roll of her eyes, "let me look at it then, just to make sure it's not infected or anything."
"It looks kinda ugly though", Pat warned her before she unbuttoned her shirt and slid it down her arm so Willow could lift the bandage and peek beneath it; she grimaced at the sight of the rather nasty looking bite, then shook her head again, making a mental note to herself to have that bandage changed later on as she moved the bloodstained fabric back in place.
"It does", she then confirmed, giving her partner a concerned look, "so take care with that until you can heal, alright?"
"Of course", Pat reassured her at once, then kept her from making any more comments about the bite by pulling her down and kissing her tenderly; immediately, the witch responded to the kiss, gently taking the taller woman's face into her hands as the kiss deepened, the fact that they had to meet the shapeshifters and Buffy in a few minutes for the moment forgotten.
Holding back the urge to wrap her arms around the black haired woman's neck, since she didn't want to hurt her on accident, Willow shifted on her lap instead to get even closer to her, without breaking the kiss; and just as she moved her hips forward again, sharp pain suddenly flared up there, prompting her to pull back with a small, surprised noise, the demon giving her a concerned look in reply.
"What is it?" she then wanted to know, eying her with worry, "your back still hurting?"
"No", Willow gave back, frowning, "something… poked me." With her frown deepening, she shifted on the demon's lap, then moved her fingers over the inside of the pants' hem; and moments later, she found what had been poking her, a splinter or shard of some sort, the witch taking careful hold of it before she pulled it out and held it up to examine it.
"What's that?" Pat wanted to know, eying the shard curiously; it was obviously from some sort of stone, glistening and grey, the redhead still frowning as she studied it, turning it this way and that and so it caught and reflected the artificial light provided by the lightbulb dangling from the ceiling.
"Not sure", she finally mumbled, looking from the shard at her partner again, "but… it seems to have some sort of energy, wait…"
With those words, she got off Pat's lap, carefully placing the shard in the palm of her hand before she concentrated; her brow furrowed again as she focused her magical energies on it, slowly reaching out just as she had towards the panther the previous day, almost able to see the thin tendrils of magic snaking from her mind and towards the shard. And then, her magic made contact with the shard, and sharp pain flashed up in her mind; she cried out while Pat jumped up from her chair, her good eye going wide as she saw how the witch's hair started to darken, the darkness filling her eyes as well as she let out a low groan, her whole body trembling.
Even though she wasn't sure if it might not make things worse, Pat did the first thing that came to her mind – she stepped closer to the redhead and, with one smooth movement, snatched the shard from her palm, noting in the back of her mind how warm it felt – before Willow's legs gave in beneath her and she quickly caught her, gritting her teeth when the movement caused fresh pain to well up in her shoulder.
"Oh Goddess", Willow brought out in a trembling voice, clutching to her tightly, "it's back, the darkness is back, don't let me hurt anyone, please don't let me…"
"You won't hurt anyone", Pat reassured her in a hopefully calming voice, holding her close despite the fact that one of the redhead's hands was clutching right at her wounded shoulder, sending pain from the wound in constant waves which seemed to be in sync with her heartbeat, "don't worry, Sweetie, it's okay, look, the black's already receding."
To her own relief, she wasn't just saying that to calm her partner down – the moment the shard had been taken away from her, the black had started to give way to her natural red again, her eyes back to their green colour as she looked up at the demon, the taller woman's heart aching at the tears which were glistening in them.
"It's okay", she repeated, pulling her even closer and caressing her hair tenderly, "really, you're not going dark again, you won't hurt anyone, it's okay."
"I could feel it", Willow whimpered in reply, still clinging to her as if she was drowning and only holding on to her girlfriend could prevent this, "I can still feel it, inside me, it's there and it wants out…"
"Try to stay calm", the demon advised her in reply, caressing her back and hair to help her with doing just that, "remember what they taught you in England… breathe slowly and deeply, think of something nice…"
Holding on tightly to the taller woman, Willow tried to do just that, telling herself that it was okay, that the darkness was under control and that she wouldn't let it take over; and after a while, she managed to slow down her breathing, her trembling slowly ceasing as well and her heart rate going back down to more normal levels, her partner smiling encouragingly at her, still caressing her hair in an attempt to help calm her down.
"Yeah, that's it", she then told her, bending down to kiss her forehead tenderly and managing to calm her down even further, "see, no darkness anymore, you're fine, no need to be scared."
"Thanks", Willow whispered in reply another minute later, by now having calmed down enough to be sure that the darkness within her was where it belonged, namely locked up at the far back of her mind, "for a moment there, I thought it'd take over…"
"You lost control", Pat gave back, "and it wasn't your fault." With those words, she raised the shard again, both of them looking at it before their eyes met, the witch saying aloud moments later what they both were thinking. "Guess we found what's responsible for their loss of control as well, then."
