"Okay, plan", Buffy recapped the results of their talk once the demon had gulped down one cup of coffee and now was halfway through the second one, "you guys stay here with Dawn and me, just to be on the safe side. Willow, you're gonna do some of those noise spells so we'll know if Pat needs to demon out again to fix her ears, and you'll renew the blocking spell on the chip, just in case he's human. I'll call Giles and ask him to figure out why he didn't take your power right away, and what we can do to stop him from trying in the first place."
"Sounds fine to me", Pat agreed while Willow just nodded, "let's hope Giles will figure something out. But hey, on the plus side, at least we know now that he's not after the kid, as I first thought."
"That doesn't make much of a difference though", Willow pointed out, giving her an unhappy look when she glanced at her questioningly in response, "if he takes all my magic… Well, the same thing was suggested after I'd started going on my roaring rampage of revenge, you know, after Tara, and the coven said that simply cutting me off from my power would kill me. So, if he takes it all at once…"
"…you'll die", Pat finished darkly, with a tone in her voice that made it clear that, had the man appeared in front of her right this instant, she would have strangled him to death with her bare hands, "and the child with you."
"Yes", the witch gave back, a weak smile curling her lips again when the demon reached over and grasped her hand tenderly, her voice kind, but sincere as she replied, showing that she meant every word.
"I'm not going to let that happen", she reassured her, her quiet determination making Buffy smile slightly as well, as it was just another instance of the demon making it more than clear how much Willow meant to her and how far she was willing to go to protect her, even though any doubts about her devotion had been blown to pieces a long time ago, "I swear. I'll demon out a hundred times if I have to, to make sure he can't take me down again, and then I'll make him rue the day he heard your name for the first time."
"Anyone who doesn't live the kind of life we have would be worried now, and probably call the police, or a psychiatrist", Willow smiled, making the taller woman chuckle slightly, "but considering all the things we have been through so far, that was really sweet."
"I have my moments", Pat gave back, making it the witch's turn to giggle; Buffy took another moment to smirk at them, as well, then announced that she would call Giles now and got up from her seat, leaving the kitchen just as Dawn entered, the brunette clearly surprised to see Willow and Pat, not having noticed them arrive in the middle of the night.
"You guys are here early", she stated as she moved over to the kitchen counter and started preparing a cup of coffee, obviously having taken pointers from Pat about the amount of sugar needed to make it what she called good coffee, "did something happen?"
"Yes, but not this morning", the redhead gave back while next to her, the demon chuckled lowly, "we came by last night. Our mysterious new friend decided to drop by, and once he'd left again, we figured it'd be safer here."
"You know, for someone who lives in a town as dangerous as Sunnydale, I really do sleep way too deeply", Dawn grumbled, sitting down at the table and looking at the couple, "I didn't notice a thing. Could just as easily have been some demon eager to wreck the house and I would have slept through it."
"Well, lucky for you, all the demon who came to this house last night wanted was some decent sleep", Pat smirked, making the young woman giggle slightly – before she grew serious again all at once, momentarily startling the taller woman, only to make her smile again with what she said next.
"I'm glad you're okay again", Dawn told her, reaching out to briefly touch her arm; by now, she wasn't idolizing her anymore as she had during the first year Willow and she had been together, having matured past that point, but still she was fond of the demon, and hated it to see her hurt.
"When they said that the café had blown up, I was really scared", she freely admitted, clearly having no troubles with talking about her feelings, unlike other people her age, "I know you always go there while we have our study group… well… went there…"
"…yeah", Pat gave back after a moment of silence, her face darkening; by now, she had been told that she'd been the only to make it out of there alive, and now, after some proper sleep and time to let everything which had happened settle, she couldn't help but think of the two people who had died in there, one of them the young man who might have become a true friend, had their opponent not made his move.
Sensing what she was thinking about, Willow gave her hand a tender squeeze, making her look at her; knowing that there was nothing she could say to make it better, the redhead merely held her gaze, her serious and understanding expression silently telling the demon that this was yet another thing they would make Morgan pay for.
After a moment of holding her gaze, the taller woman managed a weak smile, a just as silent reassurance that she was okay; Willow gave her hand another squeeze in response, then let go of her again, just as Buffy came back into the room, the worried expression on her face making all three of them concerned immediately, as well.
"What is it", Pat was the first who dared to ask, exchanging another uneasy look with her lover, "Giles have bad news?"
"I think so", Buffy gave back, running a nervous hand through her hair, "he didn't say much, but after I told him what had happened and what the guy had said to Willow, he got really quiet, said he had to look into something and that he'd come here as soon as he found it."
"That's bad news", Willow mumbled, her tone of voice making it Pat's turn to reach out and grasp her hand in quiet support, "if he has to look something up, he usually finds something really dreadful and dangerous then."
"Well, whatever it is, we'll handle it", the demon replied at once, having regained her usual confidence, "you know we will. We always did so far."
Even though she wasn't as sure about that, with a sudden uneasy feeling sending shivers down her spine, the redhead made herself nod; Pat gave her another smile, then squeezed her hand tenderly, unable though to take away the sudden knowledge that something far more dreadful than they had first thought was going on.