Willow stormed around her apartment. She was so angry. They had taken her books, all of her carefully acquired spell books. Giles wouldn't give them back anytime soon unless Buffy told him to do it. How was she going to get Buffy to do that after tonight's fiasco? Buffy was going to play the anti magic party line. Cookies wouldn't fix this.

She needed to get Buffy happy fast. A happy Buffy usually equaled an easily persuaded Buffy, an easily distracted Buffy. The others would be happy again if she could just figure this out. She pressed her fists against her head, fighting the urge to scream. Buffy needed to be happy, so she could be happy again. She rubbed her head and paced trying to focus and think. The apartment felt to small, so she headed off to campus still lost in thought.

Riley found Willow walking in front of Lowell House, and smiled to himself. He'd been looking for a way to get back into Buffy's good graces after screwing up her patrol last night, and Willow was just the girl to help him.

"Willow, what's up?" He jogged to her, so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't notice her tearstained face. "I screwed up with Buffy. I didn't even get to give her the earrings we found."

Willow cast a quick glamour to hide the mess of her face, and looked up at him. Buffy had been giddy around him for a bit last year. Things had gone sideways with the whole Adam situation, but Buffy needed just this kind of attention. She looked at his hopeful, pleading face and latched onto his arm.

"Well, aren't we the pair. She's pretty angry with me over a spell that went wrong. She got hurt. She should have given me all the facts, but I understand her being upset. Maybe we can help each other out?" Willow let her lower lip tremble a bit and used her best puppy dog eyes on him.

"You're her best friend. She won't stay mad at you for long. Buffy doesn't hold a grudge, but I'll help anyway I can." He nodded happily.

"So, we need to come up with a plan that gets you back tight with Buffy. She really likes you, so it shouldn't be hard." Willow squeezed his arm. "In fact my screw up can be used to fix yours. I'll bet. Buffy got hurt tonight. You could take over the earrings, along with some flowers, and maybe even some soup tell her you heard about her collapsing at the Bronze and were worried. She'll eat that up."

"What happened tonight? Was she badly hurt?" Riley looked down at Willow, eager for details.

"She's the slayer. It wasn't that bad." Willow assured him. "I'm sure she'll be right as rain in a few days."

"Days? What did you do?"

"I was trying to protect Tara. I didn't have all the facts, so I overdid it. I feel really bad that Buffy got hurt, but none of us have all of her powers to rely on." Willow eased up on the glamour, letting Riley see her face.

"It is easier for her. I've seen her trade punches with vampires for fun. She likes a good brawl. Even on those damn drugs I wasn't fast enough or strong enough to take her." He looked unhappily ahead of them.

"She's the best slayer in a long time. Don't feel bad. I bet you could have taken Kendra." Willow patted his arm reassuringly.

"Kendra?"

"She was the slayer called when Buffy died." Willow looked across the campus. "There's only supposed to be one girl at a time, but now there are two."

"I thought that was Faith. Buffy told me a little about Faith." Riley grimaced and looked down at the sidewalk.

"Kendra didn't last long. Drusilla, a crazy, vampire childe of Angelus, took her out because Buffy fell for one of Angelus' tricks. Buffy doesn't like to talk about her." Willow shrugged. "It's hard on her, when she fails. Every life Angelus took she counts as a personal failure."

"Do you know how the calling thing works? I mean, it sounds so strange. Why girls? Wouldn't men have made more sense?" Riley looked at Willow. "Why can't Buffy just retire?"

"Giles is the better source for your information, but he won't talk about it much. He just gets this distant look in his eyes and usually winds up drinking. I would bet Angel knows some, but he won't talk either, and the reaction is scarier. Oh, if you really want slayer info, Spike could help. He used to hunt them, so he probably made a study. He isn't half as silly as he wants everyone to think."

"I can't really see myself going to Spike for information on my girl's calling. It would be a little strange." He grinned and shook his head sheepishly. "I'll walk you home."