Tara wasn't there when Willow was brought back to their cell and despite the added time, her captors allowed her to take a shower after her latest 'testing session' along with changing into a fresh change of clothes everything hurt considering those she considered Initiative big wigs had been forcibly testing just how powerful Willow's magic abilities were.

"Were, is she?" Willow demands.

"Who your vampire girlfriend?" the guard pushing her back into the space scoffed "Don't know. Maybe the General finally decided she wasn't worth the effort in keeping around."

Before Willow could give him another good chock for the assumption the very floor, they were standing on rumbled with the force of a strong earthquake.

"How are you doing that?" the guard asks trying and failing to find a stable footing as the ground and surrounding building continued to shake around them.

"Like I could do anything with these on." Willow argues holding up her hands to show off the restrains he had yet to take off her wrists.

"Need a hand then?"

Willow's eyes light up at the sound of the voice coming from behind the military-looking man.

It wasn't Tara's but it was the next best thing to her kind of crush of a vampire.

"What took you so long?" Willow pouted when the guard crumpled to the ground after a hard knock to the back of his head reviling her 5'4 best friend standing behind him.

"Sorry, Wills but traffic was horrible." Buffy shrugged finishing in locking one of the cuffs on the wall around the unconscious soldier's wrist.

"Wait. I'm not leaving. Not yet." Willow argues when Buffy's hand closed around her upper arm pulling her toward the door. "I have to find out where they took her. We have to get her out of her too."

"Willow I'm really sorry, but we don't have time for a side trip." Buffy insists this time using a bit more of her slayer strength to tug a stubborn Willow out the door behind her.

"But they took her, Buffy. They took her away from me." Willow sobbed her knees threatening to buckle under her as she cries. "She's too weak to get out on her own. I have to find her."

Buffy hated herself for this, but she also knew if they didn't move faster, they'd risk becoming trapped themselves in the falling chunks of wall and ceiling as the building continued to crumble around them.

"Buffy, please. Please I can't just leave her." Willow sobbed after Buffy finished lifting her over her shoulder as she hurried back the way she'd come. "Tara." Willow wailed "Tara, please, please get out of this." She begged unable to budge Buffy's slayer grip around her middle keeping her in place a crossed the super-powered woman's shoulder.

Willow didn't stop yelling Tara's name all the way out of the clasping building not even when her voice started to go hoars from the effort. Each time Buffy gives a regretful "I'm sorry Willow but it's her or you and we pick you." Whenever she felt the redhead struggling again to roll off her shoulder.

Later back at the dorms:

Buffy answered the door considering Willow had yet to move from under the comforter she'd pulled up over her head almost as soon as she'd fallen onto her bed in her and Buffy's shared dorm room. The rest of the gang having been shooed out an hour before after assuring themselves Willow was safe.

Another time Buffy ended up cursing her slayer heightened hearing when she picked up another broken sob sounded from the curled lump that was her best friend at the sound of the light tapping against the door.

Willow hadn't spoken a word to any of them since they'd dragged her away from the ruin that was now the Initiative lab those evil mega nurds had been keeping her. Not even to tell them who this "Tara" was that Willow seemed so upset at having to leave behind in her own bid for freedom.

A gift-wrapped box waited on the doorstep. "Guess someone doesn't know Christmas isn't here yet." Buffy jokes as she bends to pick it up the festively wrapped package immediately flipping over the handwritten tag baring Willow's name to read the note on the back.

The handwriting wasn't one the slayer recognized but considering her slayer senses weren't telling her whatever was in the box wasn't dangerous she decided it wouldn't hurt to do a little more digging before handing it over to its intended recipient.

'For your next movie night' with a hand-drawn winking cat emoji.

'Cryptic much." Buffy whispered to herself carrying the thing back toward the bed. "Hey Will?" Buffy prods returning to her place perched on the edge of her best friend's bed. "This came for you."

"Want me to open it for you?" Buffy offers when Willow doesn't move any more than pulling the comforter from over her head as red tear-filled eyes find the blonde's worried green then dropping to the box in her hands with a curiously upset sniff.

Willow nodes tugging the plush puppy she'd been snuggling with under her chin.

"Oooo candy. Yes please." Buffy grinned when removing the top showed several packs of chocolate and other sugared treats along with another folded bit of paper.

'I didn't know what you liked so I got a bit of everything currently in my dorms vending machine.'

"Seems like your admirer is a fellow college-goer Will." Buffy assumes sorting the varieties of candies into the small amount of comforter space between herself and Willow's curled-up form. "Oooo and microwave popcorn. Heck yes." The blonde cheered "I might have to steal whoever sent this away from you. They sure have good tastes in snacks." She teases already unwrapping one of the packs of extra buttery theater style as she crosses to the room's microwave.

Willow however was more drawn to the DVD case tucked away under all the junk food the box contained.

"She made it out." Willow sobs now crying happy tears as she hugs the movie case against her chest as if not believing until that very moment who had left the care package on her doorstep.

"Huh?" Buffy questions.

Willow shakes her head whipping her eyes on her shirt sleeve as she reaches for her laptop. "Wanna watch Titanic with me?" she asks holding up the DVD case for inspection.

"Will its 3 in the morning and we have class in like-" Buffy glances at the clock between their beds. "three more hours."

"Says the girl currently making microwave popcorn." Willow argues much more playful as she finishes powering up her computer and pops open the DVD case.

"Point." Buffy agrees tugging the popcorn bag from the microwave. "Okay let do it."