They encountered three more of the green-skinned demons as the female led Pat through the house, but none of them attacked her; one of them looked as if he was about to, then the female raised her hand and shook her head, and he held still, merely glaring at the black haired woman as she walked past him.
Forcing the urge to glance over her shoulder and back at him, Pat followed the other demon through the mansion; to her surprise, she wasn't taken downstairs, as she had somehow expected, but up into the second floor, the demon finally stopping in front of one of the doors and gesturing at it.
"In there", she then added, as if to make sure the taller woman had gotten her right; Pat took another hard look at her, then stepped forward and opened the door, not even noticing that she was holding her breath as she entered the room. She had to admit that, even though it was just as run-down as the rest of the house, they had taken care to make it nice and comfortable; it was warmer than the other areas of the building had been, and the few pieces of furniture inside were simple, but clearly new, a table with two chairs, a comfortable looking couch and a bed – and on said bed, Willow was sitting, turning to look as the door opened, her eyes going wide when her gaze met her lover's.
"Thank God", the demon breathed as she hurried over to the bed, her caution forgotten; the part of her brain which still was capable of rational thought noticed that, for some strange reason, handcuffs glinted on her partner's wrists, the chain which had connected them having been snapped in two, the cuffs still closed tightly though, not hindering her movement, but impossible to miss.
Having gotten over her surprise quickly, Willow got up from the bed and rushed to meet her; and moments later, she was in the demon's tight embrace, clinging to her as she let out a shaky breath, her relief so great that it was almost palpable.
"Are you alright?" Pat demanded to know after just holding her close for almost a minute, breathing in her scent and convincing herself that it was really the witch she was holding in her arms, "did they hurt you?"
"No", Willow reassured her, to her great relief, pulling back slightly so she could look at her, "they didn't… the demons I mean… the guys, not really, I'm fine… What's going on? I get kidnapped by a bunch of men and saved by demons? Shouldn't it be the other way round?"
Only now, the demon noticed that apparently, her captors had thought of providing the redhead with new clothing, after they had left hers on the ground to set up their little ambush; the t-shirt and jogging pants were clearly oversized for her, but seemed comfortable and fresh enough.
"I'm not sure what is going on", Pat had to admit in response, pulling her closer again as if to make sure she wouldn't be taken away again, "but I'm so glad you're okay, I was so worried… I'm so sorry I let them take you, I should have gone looking for you when you took so long…"
"Don't be", Willow told her immediately, "even though we live in Sunnydale, I guess not even we expect to be kidnapped from a restaurant restroom. Especially not by regular humans. Do you have any idea who they are?"
"Yes", Pat gave back at once, making her smile slightly, "but before we discuss this, I should get you out of here, I told Buffy and Alexia to come in here with blazing guns if I'm not back out with you in two hours… Bit more than an hour now. Oh, Alexia's here by the way, she helped track you."
"Calling in the big guns, huh", Willow replied, her smile widening, "that makes me feel all special."
"Well, you are", the demon told her, "and now, let's get you out of here, before Buffy and Alexia come storming in and start laying waste to those demons."
"I'm afraid we can't allow that", the voice of the female demon came from the door before Willow had the chance to reply something; frowning, Pat turned around to look at her, and that was when the male demon standing next to her fired his crossbow, the pained grunt the black haired woman let out when it hit her mixing with the cry coming from her lover, her voice crying out her name being the last thing Pat heard before the darkness engulfed her and took her away.
"No!" Willow cried out as the demon started to move into the room, approaching her fallen lover; she had a moment to see where the bolt had hit, the feathered shaft now sticking out of the taller woman's side, inches beneath her armpit, "stay away from her! You said you wouldn't harm us!"
"We said we wouldn't harm you", the female corrected her, "but we can't let you leave. Not until this child has been born and has been taken into our clan."
"Don't come closer", the redhead snapped in reply, crouching next to her lover and fighting the urge to pull her into her arms, knowing she might only make it worse, "stay away from her! From us!"
"She'll receive medical attention", the female replied, unimpressed by her anger, "we have no interest in killing her. We will use her well-being as… incentive though, to encourage compliance from you for the duration of your pregnancy."
"Stay away", Willow repeated, not sure what else she could say; in response, the female shook her head, still sounding calm and reasonable when she replied, her words prompting the witch to stare at her helplessly as she knew that the demon was right. "And then what? If we don't take care of this injury, you know she might not wake up in time to heal it. And you can't use your magic to aid her."
With a mixture of anger and fear, the witch glared down at the handcuffs; when the demons had gotten her out of the cage, and the room it had been in, she had been sure that those surroundings had been what had kept her from using her powers, but then she had ended up hit by that painful flash again when she had tried to use her magic and had been forced to realize that somehow, the handcuffs were what was keeping her from accessing the magic deep within her.
"Take care of her here, then", she demanded, knowing that she was in the weaker position now and hating how helpless it made her feel, "so I'll know you didn't just kill her!"
"We have no reason to kill her", the female replied, "but fine. If you insist. Karrahan, leave us."
"Are you sure?" the male demon rumbled in response, making her nod; he took another doubtful look at her, then apparently shrugged it off, since he turned and left the room without another word, closing the door behind himself while the female moved closer to the lifeless demon on the ground.
"I'm not going to harm her", she promised when Willow glared at her; still the witch didn't move back, but merely watched how the demon knelt down next to Pat, unable to hold back a wince when she grabbed the bolt and pulled it out, accompanied by a gush of blood and an awful fleshy noise which made the redhead's stomach turn.
Silently vowing to herself that she'd kill this demon with her bare hands, should she do anything to make Pat worse instead of better, Willow watched how the female concentrated, then placed her hands on the bleeding wound; and moments later, bright light started to flow from her fingers and over the wound, the witch feeling slightly relieved when not too long after, the injury closed, the only trace it ever had been there being the hole in the black haired woman's shirt and jacket and the bloodstains on her clothing.
"She should wake up again soon", the female told Willow, glancing away from the demon, "but surely you understand that we can't leave her in here with you. The risk for escape is too big."
And while she was still speaking, the male from before – Karrahan, Willow remembered, his name is Karrahan – re-entered the room, with yet another male in tow; crying out wordless protest, the witch tried to stop them, only to end up flat on her back as the female made a casual gesture at her, invisible strings of magic tying her down and to the floorboards before she even realized what was going on.
"No!" she still cried, struggling in vain as the two males grabbed the unconscious form of her partner and hoisted her up, "don't take her away! Leave her alone!"
"If she doesn't try to harm us, we won't harm her", the female replied, unimpressed by her cries, "have no fear. Her death or yours are not what we seek."
"You heard what she said", the witch gave back, regaining enough of her calm to sound convincing, "two friends of us are just outside, and they'll come looking for her if she's not back in an hour. And then they'll kill you all, because they'll realize something is off here when they find her locked up in some basement room, no matter how often you reassure them that you won't harm me."
In response, the female smiled, a slightly unsettling smile which made the redhead's skin crawl; and moments later, she realized why, the demon's voice deceivingly sweet and kind as she replied. "They might, yes. But they'd have to find her first… and get to you."
And with those words, she turned and left the room, the spell losing its hold on Willow the moment the door had snapped close behind her; and while the witch was still getting up and running for the door, the sound of a key turning echoed through the small room, her helpless cry ignored as she slammed both hands against the woods, her mind racing as she tried to figure out how to get out of this.