"Alright, channelling your girlfriend with the smoke and being pissed off, that was bad enough", Buffy almost ranted at her as she hurried along behind her, "but playing right into his hands like that?! This is suicide!"
"He needs something from me", Willow argued back, not even slowing down; Collard had been reluctant to let her go, claiming that the cleansing process wasn't fully done yet, but when she had glared at him and he had seen a brief flash of glowing red in her eyes, he had given in remarkably fast, the Slayer not willing to do the same so easily though.
"As long as he does, he won't kill me", the witch went on, snatching up her jacket on the way out of the professor's house, "but he'll do God knows what to Pat if I refuse. You think I'll let him harm her?"
"You'll let him kill you", Buffy still tried reason in reply, "come on, let me come along! If you go there alone, you'll be completely at his mercy!"
"No, I won't", Willow gave back, making Buffy frown, "because if he wants me to make his goons invulnerable, so he'll have to allow me to use my magic. If he even really did find a way to block if and wasn't just bluffing. And once he does, well… You know how powerful I am."
"I know", Buffy had to admit, "but I also know that you might go dark again. What if he knows about that, and it's just what he wants? What if he… did something to Pat to make you go dark the moment you see it?"
"Then he won't kill me, either", the witch replied flatly, sounding strangely like Pat had when they had been told about the pregnancy, "because I'll kill him."
"Willow, please", Buffy still refused to give up, still trying to reason with the redhead, "you're doing just what he wants you to do… Please, just think about this a minute and—"
Twirling around so fast that it almost made the Slayer flinch back, Willow stopped to glare at her, with such intensity that briefly, the blonde feared her best friend might go dark then and there; and when the witch spoke up again, there was a distinct rumble in her voice, something she didn't even seem to notice though, eerily unaware of how much like her girlfriend she sounded in this very moment.
"I don't have a minute", she almost snarled, now making Buffy take a step back from her after all, "he's got my girlfriend, and right now, he might be doing the Goddess knows what to her. So I'll go there and I'll take him down."
"Okay, this sudden burst of confidence aside", the Slayer gave back after sorting her thoughts for a moment, "then at least let me come with you. You can do that spell to keep them from hearing me! Then they won't even know I'm there!"
"…fine", Willow mumbled after another long second, the growl, to Buffy's relief, now gone from her voice, "you won't give in anyway until I do this, so I might as well agree."
"Exactly", Buffy told her, smiling brightly at her; to her dismay, the redhead just gave her another dark look in reply, then turned and kept walking, forcing the blonde so hurry so she'd catch up with her.
"Our priority is getting her out, right", she said once she had gotten to the witch's side, giving her another smile, hoping she'd be able to calm her down a bit, "we can take care of Trevor and his soldiers later…"
"If they get in my way, I'll take care of them", Willow darkly gave back, missing how the blonde gulped at her words; she gave her a worried look, then fell silent, not sure what else she could say, merely hurrying along next to the witch for a while, giving her more concerned looks every now and then.
"We shouldn't have let her go", Willow finally broke the silence after they just had been walking side by side for almost ten minutes, steadily approaching the entrance to the underground laboratory, "we knew they'd still be after us, we should have stopped her…"
"She'll be okay", Buffy told her at once, "even if he… did do something to her, she can heal it, so you know she'll be okay…"
"Depends on what he did to her", Willow gave back, the look she gave her now pained and full of fear and worry for her partner, "there's only so much she can heal…"
"She'll be fine", Buffy stubbornly repeated in response, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "as you said, he needs something from you, he won't risk your willingness to help him by harming her…"
"Let's hope you're right", the witch sighed, then stopped walking, prompting Buffy to do the same, explaining the reason for her unexpected halt before the blonde could ask her.
"We're almost there", she let the Slayer know, "so I should do the spell now, or they'll notice you're with me…"
"We already did", a deep male voice told them before Buffy could reply, making them both flinch; and seconds later, the soldiers came out of their hiding places all around them, forcing the Slayer to bite back a curse as she had to realize that they probably had been following them from the moment on they had left Professor Collard's house.
"Don't move", one of them told the two, their helmets hiding their faces from view, all their guns aimed at them; glancing around, Buffy had a second to hope that someone was seeing what was happening, but had to realize that the streets were empty, having to admit to herself that this wasn't all too surprising.
"We have orders to take you to Doctor Collard", the soldier who obviously served as a spokesman for the group told them, distracting her from her thoughts, "will you come peacefully, or must we restrain you?"
"Just take us there", Willow snapped, not letting it show if she was afraid; in response, one of them lowered his gun, then moved to her side, making her glare at him when he grabbed her arm, something he didn't seem all too impressed though, one of his companions doing the same with Buffy seconds later.
"Move", their speaker ordered, and they all got walking; minutes later, they had reached the entrance and led the two women inside, the witch and the Slayer exchanging a worried look as they were marched down the hallway, asking themselves what might await them now – and in which state Pat would be in, unable to keep from wondering how far exactly Trevor would be willing to go to get what he wanted.
"Oh Goddess", Willow brought out the moment she was led into the laboratory where she had first faced Trevor, with a sudden, unexpected burst of strength breaking free of the grip the soldier still had on her and rushing to where her partner was kneeling on the ground, in front of a stern looking Trevor and one of his soldiers, said soldier having his gun aimed at the back of the demon's head, even though it was more than obvious that she wasn't in any state to try anything.
Dully, Willow wondered if they had chained her wrists behind her before or after they had beaten her up; due to the fact that Trevor didn't even have a scratch and the soldier next to him looked remarkably unhurt, as well, she figured that, even if she hadn't been handcuffed when they had beaten her, Pat hadn't had much chance to fight back, getting a closer look at the bruises and the cuts from which the blood which had dried on her cheeks and throat had spilled as she reached the taller woman and fell down on her knees in front of her.
"I'm so sorry", she brought out as she pulled the demon into an awkward hug, not sure how badly exactly she was hurt and not wanting to make it worse, "Sweetie, I'm so sorry…"
"Touching", Trevor commented, a brief gesture keeping his soldiers in place when they looked as if they wanted to move in and separate the two, "if I had known that taking her would make you so compliant, I would have done so much sooner."
"You'll pay for this", Willow gave back, still holding her lover in that slightly awkward embrace, feeling her slump against her, her head coming to a rest on her shoulder, "and this is not a warning, this is a promise. I'll make you pay for this."
"Your devotion is quite charming", Trevor dryly gave back, clearly not all too impressed by her threats, "but I don't think you're in the position to make any threats."
He nodded at the men standing behind Willow, and before she realized what was going on, they had grabbed her again and roughly manhandled her away from her partner; and just a second later, the soldier who had been standing next to Trevor took a step forward, brought up his gun in a swift move and made the witch cry out as he slammed the butt against the back of Pat's head, a strangled noise coming from the demon as she slumped forward, her good eye rolling back into her head, fresh blood trickling down her cheek moments later.
"Stop!" Willow snapped, struggling against the grip the men had on her, "stop hurting her!"
"She's out cold, so, sure", Trevor gave back, smirking coldly at her before his gaze moved to the soldier, his voice cold as well when he went on. "Take her away and lock her up. Doctor Rosenberg will be reunited with her lover as soon as she did what I want from her."
"No", the witch sharply spoke up, to Buffy's surprise managing to put enough authority in her voice to actually make the soldier who had started bending down towards the unconscious demon stop, "if you take her anywhere where I can't see her, I won't do a thing for you!"
"You're in no position to make demands", Trevor gave back, gesturing at the soldier though anyway and making him straighten up again, then crossing his arms over his chest, "if you don't do what I want from you, I'll kill all of you. And not just the three of you I got here, but everyone else who's important to you… Your family, your friends, and I'll make you watch."
He just had another second to look smug, then the smile was wiped off his face, replaced by an expression of shock as Willow let out a low growl in reply, the way her eyes flashed up brightly red startling him so much that he missed the alarmed look Buffy was giving her best friend; and seconds later, fire burst from her arms where the men were still holding her, both of them yelling in surprise and pain as they let go of her and almost jumped back.
"You will do no such thing", the redhead told Trevor, the young man finding himself unable to do anything but stand there and stare; the red was gone from her eyes now, but he knew that he had seen it, his mind racing as he tried to figure out what it meant.
"I think these negotiations are over", Willow added, turning to look at Buffy, the flames slowly dying, but still none of the soldiers dared approach her, "Buffy, take Pat and let's get out of here."
"Not so fast", Trevor finally got over his shock, now glaring again before he angrily gestured at his soldiers, "take them!"
In response, the soldiers exchanged a look, then started moving; and without even looking at them, Willow made an almost casual gesture at them while she said "Stop", and they all froze on the spot, along with Trevor, the Slayer being quite sure that his startled expression when he found himself unable to move was mirrored by the soldiers, their faces hidden by their helmets.
"How did you do that", Trevor pressed out between grit teeth, making Buffy wonder how thoroughly Willow's so casually cast spell had actually immobilized him, "you're not supposed to be able to do any magic in here unless I allow it!"
"Surprise", the redhead gave back dryly, then her gaze moved to Buffy again, and she raised an eyebrow, silently asking her best friend what she was waiting for; this startled the blonde out of her stupor, and she hurriedly moved to where Pat was groaning on the floor, the demon slowly coming back around after the hit she had taken, prompting Buffy to reassure her that everything would be okay while she moved her on her back, then picked her up on her arms.
"Let's go", Willow told her, making her nod almost automatically at the commanding tone in her voice; the witch gave Trevor another cold look, one which promised even more dangerous and potentially much more painful spells, should he try anything, then started walking, Buffy hurrying along behind her, still finding it hard to believe how eerily easy the witch had resolved their problems with the doctor and his super soldiers.