The Evil That Men Do
Author: MeB (aka XanWill4Ever-Michael B)
Email: lenoxfiles@hotmail.com
Url: http://mlenox.freeservers.com/
Rating: R - V/L/AC
Spoiler: Majority takes place in the summer after the First Season. There are scenes that takes place some time after Lovers Walk from Season 3. There may be some slight AU, but not much.
Summary: Willow loses her memory and finds help from a private investigator in Boston.
Disclaimer: The characters from Spenser For Hire belong to Robert Parker. All characters from Buffy tVS belong to Joss. The Lost Boys idea is borrowed from the movie "The Lost Boys" which starred Keifer Sutherland. The actual characters in this story are just four vamps who saw the movie and they simply took the name for themselves.
Distribution: Near Her Always-anyone else, please ask. Thank you.
Pairing: Prologue & Epilogue-Willow/Oz
*** ***-Willow's thoughts.
xwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxw
11
Willow was sitting on the end of the bed with her hands folded in her lap. Since we arrived, she stayed by my side and she watched everyone closely.
Giles and Angel were willing to give her space, and that had proven to be very helpful. The young boy, Xander, had also backed off, for he had invaded her space upon entering the room.
"Willow!" he had exclaimed, and then he had rushed up to her and he attempted to give her a hug.
It was the only time I had seen Willow react strongly.
She had let out a cry of alarm and she quickly darted away from him. She ended up behind me. I had then let Xander know that he really did need to back off and allow Willow the time she needed to remember him. If her memory would even return, that is.
He had reluctantly agreed.
We talked for awhile. I told Angel and Giles everything I knew, and they in turn shared with me everything that they knew. Giles and Angel had wanted to share something else, but I had a feeling that they were holding back because of Willow.
I was a detective.
I could figure it out. In my mind, this is what it all came down to.
A white slaver by the name of S'ushi Alyssia had somehow discovered a Willow Rosenberg who resided in Sunnydale, California. She found out about a computer camp Willow attended every summer, and somehow, using her resources, S'ushi ends up working at the summer camp.
A week into the camping, S'ushi Alyssia manages to get Willow, and another girl named Kali, into her clutches. She drugs them without their knowledge, and with the help of an accomplice named Sheldon Sunter, she kidnaps them. The two drugged girls are then placed into trunks or chests and they are put into a vehicle for transport. Probably a van or a truck. Or maybe even a boat.
The girls were then taken to a place called the Funhouse and at this point, Willow is separated from Kali. Something happened at the Funhouse that Angel, Giles, and Xander wouldn't talk about and I was sure it had to do with Kali. Maybe they had found her. I knew what a Funhouse was, and I knew what S'ushi Alyssia was capable of. I had a pretty good idea what had happened to Kali and I was afraid for Willow because I suspected that she had been forced to watch.
From the Funhouse, Willow was continuously drugged and subjected to some form of repeated electrical skocks judging by what the doctor had found at the hospital. Willow was packed back into the trunk again and flown to Boston where she was kept in the basement of a crack house on the Wharf. Somehow, a fire had started and the house became ablaze. This proved to be Willow's saving grace, because without the fire, who knows where she would have ended up; but because of it, she was found tied to a cot in the basement by firemen and she was taken to the hospital. Marty Quirk called me in to help her, and this is where she ended up with the hero of our story.
That would be me.
In fact, this hero had an idea.
"Willow," I said, turning to look at her as she tossed curious glances at Xander. I pulled a piece of paper from my pocket and I held it up to her. All that was on the paper was the 'X' she had written for me earlier. "Do you know why you wrote this?" I asked her.
She took the paper from me and she looked at it, scrunching up her nose as she thought. She looked at the X, and then she looked at the boy. "Xander..." she said experimentally.
Xander took a hesitant step closer. His reflection was in the mirror on the wall. Willow could see herself in the mirror with me on one side of her and Xander standing on the other in front of the second bed.
"Willow," he began hopefully, "are you remembering something?"
She looked thoughtful. "I-I remember chewing on a pen."
Xander looked at her blankly. "A pen?"
Willow nodded her head.
*** In her mind, she saw herself standing at her locker and Xander was there with her. "It's worse!" he told her. "I'm just like the part of the scenery, like an old shoe. Or a rug that you walk on every day but don't really see it." ***
Willow looked at Xander, and she said softly, "L-like a pen that's all chewed up, and you know you should throw it away, but y-you don't, not 'cause you like it so much, more 'cause you're just used to..." She stopped.
Xander smiled as he remembered that day. "You do remember!" he exclaimed.
She smiled, too. Then, her smile turned upside down. "A-are you my brother?"
Xander stopped smiling, too. "Uh, no, Willow. I'm not your brother."
"Oh."
Angel moved beside Xander. He looked at me and said, "We've got to get her home."
And that's when it happened.
It frightened Willow, but what happened also shocked the hell out of me. If I was man enough to admit it, I'd say that it even brought shivers a fear running up and down my spine.
I happened to look into the mirror and I saw Willow's reflection beside my own. I saw her look at Xander. I saw her look with confusion toward Angel. Then I saw her look in the mirror and she practically turned white.
Her eyes widened in fear.
And I quickly discovered why.
Angel did not have any goddamn reflection.
I rose to my feet as Willow bolted over the bed and pressed her back into the wall away from us. Her eyes were wide and they were locked onto Angel now.
I turned to face him. "What the hell are you?!" I demanded.
Something strange happened then--Something I thought I'd never see. Hawk moved around Angel and he put himself between me and the man with no reflection.
"Calm down, Spense," he said to me soothingly, his voice low, "there are things you do not understand. But you will."
I glared at him. "What things?"
"Things you should know. We should talk. Away from the girl so we don't spook her."
I glanced over at Willow. "She's already spooked." I turned my head to glare at Angel. "I'm not leaving Willow alone in a room with a man who has no reflection. How in hell is that explained anyway, Hawk? How can a man NOT have a reflection? That isn't natural!" I was angry. I glared at Hawk and I wanted to hit him for not telling me about this. "Why are you standing there like you're protecting him?"
"Let's go outside and talk about this," Hawk said carefully. "You. Me. Angel. And the librarian."
"Er, uh," the librarian began hesitantly, "th-that's Giles."
We ignored him.
"Willow will be safe in here with Xander," Hawk said.
I sighed. I looked in the mirror just to make damned certain that Xander had a reflection. I turned to Willow. "I'll be right outside the door."
"N-no." Willow looked at me fearfully. She shook her head.
"It will be okay," I assured her. "I have to talk to them. I have to understand what this is all about." I glanced at the boy. "Can you stay with Xander?"
She looked at Xander. There were tears in her eyes and I hated that she was so scared. She was backed up against that wall as far as she could be and I had the feeling that if she could have, she would have gone through it.
I shot a venomous glare at Angel for scaring her. To his credit, he did look like he felt horrible about it. But even so, I was angry. I went to Willow and I took her into my arms. I held her close and I felt her trembling against me.
"It will be all right," I said to her softly. "I promise."
She turned her head to look up at me. "H-he has no reflection!"
I nodded. "I know. I can't explain it, but--"
"H-he must be a vampire," she said suddenly. "V-vampires have no reflections."
"Vampires?" I inquired. I glanced at Angel. "No, Willow. I'm reasonably sure that there's an explanation for this, but there are no such things as vampires. Vampires are a myth. Legends. They don't exist."
She looked at me. "B-but th-they do exist! I've seen them. They..." A far away look came into her eyes, as if she were remembering something. "...they took Jesse! H-he became one of them!"
"Willow!" I exclaimed. I took her by the shoulders and made her look at me. She was dangerously close to becoming hysterical. "Willow! Listen to me."
She looked at me with wide, frightened eyes.
"I'll take care of this," I told her. "I swear to you, they won't get you. Okay?"
She took several deep breaths. Then she nodded.
"Can you stay here with Xander?"
She nodded again.
"Okay. I won't be long," I promised her. "I'll be right outside if you need me." I gave her a hug.
Then I followed Hawk, Angel, and Giles out into the hallway. I closed the door, leaving Xander and Willow alone together.
_______________________
For a moment, Xander and Willow just looked at each other. Willow was still against the wall, and Xander was across the room. He had never seen Willow this scared before. He wanted to go to her and wrap his arms around her, but he couldn't do that without causing her distress.
But he had to do something.
He moved cautiously to the chest against the wall beside the entertainment system and sat down. It brought him a little closer to Willow.
She looked at him. Then she looked at the door Spenser and the others had gone through. She fearfully turned her head and looked at the chest that Xander was sitting upon.
"P-please d-don't," she pleaded, shaking her head. Her eyes were filling with tears.
Xander felt his own throat constricting. "I won't," he said hoarsely. "Whatever it is you think I'm going to do, Will...I won't."
Willow looked at him doubtfully. "Y-you promise?"
"I promise." Xander was scared for Willow. He had to know what she was thinking. "What...uh, what did you think I was going to do, Will?"
Willow hesitated. "I-I thought you were going to p-put me in there!" She pointed at the chest he was sitting on with a shaking finger.
Xander almost turned white. "Oh, God, Willow! No. I swear to you, no one is going to put you in there." He tried to think of something encouraging to say. "I-it's for Angel. He traveled from California in it so he could avoid the sun." He realized that he was talking about a vampire and he looked at her with concern. "I'm sorry."
Willow regarded the chest, and then she looked at Xander in wonder. "A- Angel was in that?"
"Yes."
She thought about that. "He-he did that to get here...from California?"
Xander nodded. "He...did that."
She looked at him. "Y-you came here to find me," she said softly. It wasn't a question. "And h-he got in that chest...for me." She marveled at the thought.
Xander hesitated as he watched her. "You know, Will...I think our roles may have actually reversed here. You used to tell me that Angel could be trusted and I didn't have to worry whenever he was around. I never fully allowed myself to trust him because of what he is." He shrugged. "You would remind me that he has a soul and so that made him special. Now...I'm here telling you the same thing."
Willow moved slowly to the edge of the bed and she sat down.
Xander looked at her. He couldn't take it any more. He still wanted to grab her and hold onto her, but he forced himself to stay where he was. "Willow, please, just tell me that you're okay! They-they didn't hurt you, did they?"
Her lower lip trembled. "I-I don't know what they did."
"You don't remember any of it?"
She shook her head. "No. S-Spenser says my subconscious remembers 'cause I-I react to things. But-but I don't remember any of it."
"Do you remember me?"
She studied his face. "A little," she said softly. Then she said, "Are you my boyfriend?"
He shook his head. "No."
"Oh." She frowned. She hesitated. "Do I have a boyfriend?"
"Well...no."
"Oh. Guess I'm not the popular one, huh?"
Xander looked at her. "You're popular with me. We grew up together. I stole your Barbie when we were five."
"Y-you did?" She scowled. "Well, what did you do that for, you-you Barbie- Snatcher, you!" She opened her mouth in surprise and put her hands to her mouth. "I-I think I just reacted."
He smiled at her. "You did."
"O-okay." She looked at him as she put her hands in her lap. "Tell me more. Uh, you didn't steal anything else, did you?"
"No."
"Well, uh, what else do we do?" she asked curiously.
"We're Slayerette's." He held up a hand. "Well, technically, you and Cordy are Slayeretts's. I do have my pride, after all. Uh, and that's only if you actually count Cordy as a team member."
Willow looked thoughtful. "Who is Cordy? That sounds like a-a name for a pet pig."
Xander laughed. "A pet pig! Willow, that's a good one."
She smiled. "Uh, i-it is? I made a funny?"
"You did! Cordy, the pet pig!" He leaned back against the wall and laughed. "Oh, she'd love that! So would Buffy."
"Buffy?" Willow frowned in thought. "I-is that another pet name? Wh-what kind of name is Buffy?" She looked at Xander. "We really know people with names like Cordy and Buffy?"
Xander nodded. "Yes, we really do. But...Willow, we have a strong friendship with Buffy. You, me, and her...we really care for each other." Then, he added, "And that goes for G-Man, er, Giles, too, uh, although he doesn't really show his feelings well."
"Why not?"
He shrugged. "He's British."
She paused. "What's a Slayerette?"
"Oh...back to that. Okay." He took a deep breath. "Here's the deal. Buffy is the Slayer. You, me, and Giles--and Cordy when she isn't polishing her nails and grooming her delicate image in front of a mirror-- are the Slayerette's. You came up with that name for us, by the way. Do you...remember any of this?"
Willow nibbled her lower lip. A tear was forming in the corner of her eye. "No." She shook her head sadly. "I-I'm sorry. I don't."
Xander looked at her closely. "Will...I've missed you so much. I never knew how much it could hurt not having you near me." He paused as he tried to gather his thoughts. "You called me every night during the first week of camp and we talked for hours. You were so excited about camp. And I looked forward to your calls." He chuckled nervously. "They were the highlight of my evenings." He hesitated. "Then you wound up missing. I was scared, Will. When we found out what happened, I-I thought I'd never see you again." He looked into her eyes. "Now that I've found you again, you don't even remember me."
"A-a little," she said, trying to reassure him.
He put his face in his hands and what he had tried so hard to prevent from happening happened anyway. He began to weep. He cried for Willow. He didn't know what had happened to her that caused her to lose her memory, but whatever it was, it couldn't have been good. What did those bastard's do to my Willow? he asked himself.
At first, Willow didn't know that he was crying. When she realized it, she got up from the bed and knelt before him. She put her hands on his shoulders.
Startled, he raised his head and looked at her.
"I-I'm sorry," she said to him. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble."
"Will, you're not causing any trouble." Xander put his arms around her and he hugged her. "I love you, Will."
She returned the hug.
Willow had the feeling that she was where she should be with someone who cared for her. It made her feel like she belonged. It made her feel safe. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx TO BE CONTINUED--
Author: MeB (aka XanWill4Ever-Michael B)
Email: lenoxfiles@hotmail.com
Url: http://mlenox.freeservers.com/
Rating: R - V/L/AC
Spoiler: Majority takes place in the summer after the First Season. There are scenes that takes place some time after Lovers Walk from Season 3. There may be some slight AU, but not much.
Summary: Willow loses her memory and finds help from a private investigator in Boston.
Disclaimer: The characters from Spenser For Hire belong to Robert Parker. All characters from Buffy tVS belong to Joss. The Lost Boys idea is borrowed from the movie "The Lost Boys" which starred Keifer Sutherland. The actual characters in this story are just four vamps who saw the movie and they simply took the name for themselves.
Distribution: Near Her Always-anyone else, please ask. Thank you.
Pairing: Prologue & Epilogue-Willow/Oz
*** ***-Willow's thoughts.
xwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxwxw
11
Willow was sitting on the end of the bed with her hands folded in her lap. Since we arrived, she stayed by my side and she watched everyone closely.
Giles and Angel were willing to give her space, and that had proven to be very helpful. The young boy, Xander, had also backed off, for he had invaded her space upon entering the room.
"Willow!" he had exclaimed, and then he had rushed up to her and he attempted to give her a hug.
It was the only time I had seen Willow react strongly.
She had let out a cry of alarm and she quickly darted away from him. She ended up behind me. I had then let Xander know that he really did need to back off and allow Willow the time she needed to remember him. If her memory would even return, that is.
He had reluctantly agreed.
We talked for awhile. I told Angel and Giles everything I knew, and they in turn shared with me everything that they knew. Giles and Angel had wanted to share something else, but I had a feeling that they were holding back because of Willow.
I was a detective.
I could figure it out. In my mind, this is what it all came down to.
A white slaver by the name of S'ushi Alyssia had somehow discovered a Willow Rosenberg who resided in Sunnydale, California. She found out about a computer camp Willow attended every summer, and somehow, using her resources, S'ushi ends up working at the summer camp.
A week into the camping, S'ushi Alyssia manages to get Willow, and another girl named Kali, into her clutches. She drugs them without their knowledge, and with the help of an accomplice named Sheldon Sunter, she kidnaps them. The two drugged girls are then placed into trunks or chests and they are put into a vehicle for transport. Probably a van or a truck. Or maybe even a boat.
The girls were then taken to a place called the Funhouse and at this point, Willow is separated from Kali. Something happened at the Funhouse that Angel, Giles, and Xander wouldn't talk about and I was sure it had to do with Kali. Maybe they had found her. I knew what a Funhouse was, and I knew what S'ushi Alyssia was capable of. I had a pretty good idea what had happened to Kali and I was afraid for Willow because I suspected that she had been forced to watch.
From the Funhouse, Willow was continuously drugged and subjected to some form of repeated electrical skocks judging by what the doctor had found at the hospital. Willow was packed back into the trunk again and flown to Boston where she was kept in the basement of a crack house on the Wharf. Somehow, a fire had started and the house became ablaze. This proved to be Willow's saving grace, because without the fire, who knows where she would have ended up; but because of it, she was found tied to a cot in the basement by firemen and she was taken to the hospital. Marty Quirk called me in to help her, and this is where she ended up with the hero of our story.
That would be me.
In fact, this hero had an idea.
"Willow," I said, turning to look at her as she tossed curious glances at Xander. I pulled a piece of paper from my pocket and I held it up to her. All that was on the paper was the 'X' she had written for me earlier. "Do you know why you wrote this?" I asked her.
She took the paper from me and she looked at it, scrunching up her nose as she thought. She looked at the X, and then she looked at the boy. "Xander..." she said experimentally.
Xander took a hesitant step closer. His reflection was in the mirror on the wall. Willow could see herself in the mirror with me on one side of her and Xander standing on the other in front of the second bed.
"Willow," he began hopefully, "are you remembering something?"
She looked thoughtful. "I-I remember chewing on a pen."
Xander looked at her blankly. "A pen?"
Willow nodded her head.
*** In her mind, she saw herself standing at her locker and Xander was there with her. "It's worse!" he told her. "I'm just like the part of the scenery, like an old shoe. Or a rug that you walk on every day but don't really see it." ***
Willow looked at Xander, and she said softly, "L-like a pen that's all chewed up, and you know you should throw it away, but y-you don't, not 'cause you like it so much, more 'cause you're just used to..." She stopped.
Xander smiled as he remembered that day. "You do remember!" he exclaimed.
She smiled, too. Then, her smile turned upside down. "A-are you my brother?"
Xander stopped smiling, too. "Uh, no, Willow. I'm not your brother."
"Oh."
Angel moved beside Xander. He looked at me and said, "We've got to get her home."
And that's when it happened.
It frightened Willow, but what happened also shocked the hell out of me. If I was man enough to admit it, I'd say that it even brought shivers a fear running up and down my spine.
I happened to look into the mirror and I saw Willow's reflection beside my own. I saw her look at Xander. I saw her look with confusion toward Angel. Then I saw her look in the mirror and she practically turned white.
Her eyes widened in fear.
And I quickly discovered why.
Angel did not have any goddamn reflection.
I rose to my feet as Willow bolted over the bed and pressed her back into the wall away from us. Her eyes were wide and they were locked onto Angel now.
I turned to face him. "What the hell are you?!" I demanded.
Something strange happened then--Something I thought I'd never see. Hawk moved around Angel and he put himself between me and the man with no reflection.
"Calm down, Spense," he said to me soothingly, his voice low, "there are things you do not understand. But you will."
I glared at him. "What things?"
"Things you should know. We should talk. Away from the girl so we don't spook her."
I glanced over at Willow. "She's already spooked." I turned my head to glare at Angel. "I'm not leaving Willow alone in a room with a man who has no reflection. How in hell is that explained anyway, Hawk? How can a man NOT have a reflection? That isn't natural!" I was angry. I glared at Hawk and I wanted to hit him for not telling me about this. "Why are you standing there like you're protecting him?"
"Let's go outside and talk about this," Hawk said carefully. "You. Me. Angel. And the librarian."
"Er, uh," the librarian began hesitantly, "th-that's Giles."
We ignored him.
"Willow will be safe in here with Xander," Hawk said.
I sighed. I looked in the mirror just to make damned certain that Xander had a reflection. I turned to Willow. "I'll be right outside the door."
"N-no." Willow looked at me fearfully. She shook her head.
"It will be okay," I assured her. "I have to talk to them. I have to understand what this is all about." I glanced at the boy. "Can you stay with Xander?"
She looked at Xander. There were tears in her eyes and I hated that she was so scared. She was backed up against that wall as far as she could be and I had the feeling that if she could have, she would have gone through it.
I shot a venomous glare at Angel for scaring her. To his credit, he did look like he felt horrible about it. But even so, I was angry. I went to Willow and I took her into my arms. I held her close and I felt her trembling against me.
"It will be all right," I said to her softly. "I promise."
She turned her head to look up at me. "H-he has no reflection!"
I nodded. "I know. I can't explain it, but--"
"H-he must be a vampire," she said suddenly. "V-vampires have no reflections."
"Vampires?" I inquired. I glanced at Angel. "No, Willow. I'm reasonably sure that there's an explanation for this, but there are no such things as vampires. Vampires are a myth. Legends. They don't exist."
She looked at me. "B-but th-they do exist! I've seen them. They..." A far away look came into her eyes, as if she were remembering something. "...they took Jesse! H-he became one of them!"
"Willow!" I exclaimed. I took her by the shoulders and made her look at me. She was dangerously close to becoming hysterical. "Willow! Listen to me."
She looked at me with wide, frightened eyes.
"I'll take care of this," I told her. "I swear to you, they won't get you. Okay?"
She took several deep breaths. Then she nodded.
"Can you stay here with Xander?"
She nodded again.
"Okay. I won't be long," I promised her. "I'll be right outside if you need me." I gave her a hug.
Then I followed Hawk, Angel, and Giles out into the hallway. I closed the door, leaving Xander and Willow alone together.
_______________________
For a moment, Xander and Willow just looked at each other. Willow was still against the wall, and Xander was across the room. He had never seen Willow this scared before. He wanted to go to her and wrap his arms around her, but he couldn't do that without causing her distress.
But he had to do something.
He moved cautiously to the chest against the wall beside the entertainment system and sat down. It brought him a little closer to Willow.
She looked at him. Then she looked at the door Spenser and the others had gone through. She fearfully turned her head and looked at the chest that Xander was sitting upon.
"P-please d-don't," she pleaded, shaking her head. Her eyes were filling with tears.
Xander felt his own throat constricting. "I won't," he said hoarsely. "Whatever it is you think I'm going to do, Will...I won't."
Willow looked at him doubtfully. "Y-you promise?"
"I promise." Xander was scared for Willow. He had to know what she was thinking. "What...uh, what did you think I was going to do, Will?"
Willow hesitated. "I-I thought you were going to p-put me in there!" She pointed at the chest he was sitting on with a shaking finger.
Xander almost turned white. "Oh, God, Willow! No. I swear to you, no one is going to put you in there." He tried to think of something encouraging to say. "I-it's for Angel. He traveled from California in it so he could avoid the sun." He realized that he was talking about a vampire and he looked at her with concern. "I'm sorry."
Willow regarded the chest, and then she looked at Xander in wonder. "A- Angel was in that?"
"Yes."
She thought about that. "He-he did that to get here...from California?"
Xander nodded. "He...did that."
She looked at him. "Y-you came here to find me," she said softly. It wasn't a question. "And h-he got in that chest...for me." She marveled at the thought.
Xander hesitated as he watched her. "You know, Will...I think our roles may have actually reversed here. You used to tell me that Angel could be trusted and I didn't have to worry whenever he was around. I never fully allowed myself to trust him because of what he is." He shrugged. "You would remind me that he has a soul and so that made him special. Now...I'm here telling you the same thing."
Willow moved slowly to the edge of the bed and she sat down.
Xander looked at her. He couldn't take it any more. He still wanted to grab her and hold onto her, but he forced himself to stay where he was. "Willow, please, just tell me that you're okay! They-they didn't hurt you, did they?"
Her lower lip trembled. "I-I don't know what they did."
"You don't remember any of it?"
She shook her head. "No. S-Spenser says my subconscious remembers 'cause I-I react to things. But-but I don't remember any of it."
"Do you remember me?"
She studied his face. "A little," she said softly. Then she said, "Are you my boyfriend?"
He shook his head. "No."
"Oh." She frowned. She hesitated. "Do I have a boyfriend?"
"Well...no."
"Oh. Guess I'm not the popular one, huh?"
Xander looked at her. "You're popular with me. We grew up together. I stole your Barbie when we were five."
"Y-you did?" She scowled. "Well, what did you do that for, you-you Barbie- Snatcher, you!" She opened her mouth in surprise and put her hands to her mouth. "I-I think I just reacted."
He smiled at her. "You did."
"O-okay." She looked at him as she put her hands in her lap. "Tell me more. Uh, you didn't steal anything else, did you?"
"No."
"Well, uh, what else do we do?" she asked curiously.
"We're Slayerette's." He held up a hand. "Well, technically, you and Cordy are Slayeretts's. I do have my pride, after all. Uh, and that's only if you actually count Cordy as a team member."
Willow looked thoughtful. "Who is Cordy? That sounds like a-a name for a pet pig."
Xander laughed. "A pet pig! Willow, that's a good one."
She smiled. "Uh, i-it is? I made a funny?"
"You did! Cordy, the pet pig!" He leaned back against the wall and laughed. "Oh, she'd love that! So would Buffy."
"Buffy?" Willow frowned in thought. "I-is that another pet name? Wh-what kind of name is Buffy?" She looked at Xander. "We really know people with names like Cordy and Buffy?"
Xander nodded. "Yes, we really do. But...Willow, we have a strong friendship with Buffy. You, me, and her...we really care for each other." Then, he added, "And that goes for G-Man, er, Giles, too, uh, although he doesn't really show his feelings well."
"Why not?"
He shrugged. "He's British."
She paused. "What's a Slayerette?"
"Oh...back to that. Okay." He took a deep breath. "Here's the deal. Buffy is the Slayer. You, me, and Giles--and Cordy when she isn't polishing her nails and grooming her delicate image in front of a mirror-- are the Slayerette's. You came up with that name for us, by the way. Do you...remember any of this?"
Willow nibbled her lower lip. A tear was forming in the corner of her eye. "No." She shook her head sadly. "I-I'm sorry. I don't."
Xander looked at her closely. "Will...I've missed you so much. I never knew how much it could hurt not having you near me." He paused as he tried to gather his thoughts. "You called me every night during the first week of camp and we talked for hours. You were so excited about camp. And I looked forward to your calls." He chuckled nervously. "They were the highlight of my evenings." He hesitated. "Then you wound up missing. I was scared, Will. When we found out what happened, I-I thought I'd never see you again." He looked into her eyes. "Now that I've found you again, you don't even remember me."
"A-a little," she said, trying to reassure him.
He put his face in his hands and what he had tried so hard to prevent from happening happened anyway. He began to weep. He cried for Willow. He didn't know what had happened to her that caused her to lose her memory, but whatever it was, it couldn't have been good. What did those bastard's do to my Willow? he asked himself.
At first, Willow didn't know that he was crying. When she realized it, she got up from the bed and knelt before him. She put her hands on his shoulders.
Startled, he raised his head and looked at her.
"I-I'm sorry," she said to him. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble."
"Will, you're not causing any trouble." Xander put his arms around her and he hugged her. "I love you, Will."
She returned the hug.
Willow had the feeling that she was where she should be with someone who cared for her. It made her feel like she belonged. It made her feel safe. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx TO BE CONTINUED--