Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Buffy or Xena, more's the
pity. I'm making no money using them here.in fact, this fiction has
effectively managed to waste a good chunk of my work day.
Spoilers through the season six finale.
So here's the story so far: Xena and Gabrielle are vampires. Xena turned Buffy into a vampire. Willow's come back to Sunnydale after ten years to find the city in ruins and her best friend one of the undead. In this chapter, they'll meet face to face for the first time since Willow left town. Enjoy! And please feed the writer. You can contact me at xencall@yahoo.com. Catch the rest of my fiction and lots of other alternative universe fiction over at my website: http://suddenshift.topcities.com
***
Willow picked her way through the rubble of the Magic Shop, stumbling a bit over a piece of flooring that jutted upward. It was much easier to recover from the loss in balance in the pair of sneakers Spike had brought her the night before. They were gray with ash, and part of the right sole was melted away. Willow didn't dare ask him where he found them. They actually matched the ratty sweatshirt and faded jeans he also offered. But at least she was more comfortable now.
She wasn't exactly sure what had brought her back to the Magic Shop after all this time. There was nothing of the past here, nothing that could possibly bring her up to date on everything she'd missed in her absence. And since Anya had left town long before the place was demolished by vamps, there was nothing left of Buffy, either.
As she took another step through the rubble, something crunched under her foot. Kneeling down, Willow picked up a quartz crystal that had somehow managed to survive the fire. Closing it in her fist, she felt an immediate surge of energy course through her. Quartz was a powerful tool for meditation and spellwork. If she were superstitious, she'd believe it was a positive sign that the stone had emerged from the flames unscathed and waited for her to find it. She closed her eyes, feeling a tingling warmth pass through her.
But although the magick she'd been unable to deny was still a powerful force deep within her, Willow had slowly moved away from the supernatural and the unexplained. It was easy when surrounded by the four white walls of her office, and the simple, unfettered emptiness of new homes. Making the sale had become her spellwork. Until she'd returned to Sunnydale, that was. Already, she could feel her powers building up inside, demanding to be released. It might become difficult to control them if she stayed here much longer.
"Hmm," a female voice interrupted her musings. "And here I'd assumed you'd gotten off the sauce, seeing as how you almost incinerated the planet last time I saw you."
Willow's eyes flew open at the familiar sound. Standing not twenty feet away, near the open frame of the doorway that had once lead to the training area, the Slayer smiled winningly at her. Her first instinct was to run into the other woman's arms. All she'd been able to think about as she drove down here two days ago was giving Buffy an enormous hug and begging her for forgiveness. But it was painfully apparent that the thing standing in front of her was not her best friend.
"How did you." Willow stammered, glancing behind herself. The sun streamed into the ruins of the building. Rays of light sprawled across the rubble just beyond her feet. She took a quick step back into the protective warmth, knowing Buffy could not follow.
Chuckling, Buffy crossed her arms before her chest and leaned against the rickety doorframe. "Sewer entrance in the back. Remember?" she asked. "The time you did a bit of a mind screw on us to make good with your girlfriend?"
Willow winced. Buffy certainly knew exactly what to say to hurt them the most, she thought, recalling Gabrielle's earlier taunting.
"It's funny," Buffy continued, not bothering to savor the jab. "I had a dream that you'd be here, and here you are. I still have them, you know. The dreams. That hasn't changed."
"It's the only thing," Willow muttered.
"Tsk, tsk," Buffy said. "Why so bitter with me? I'm not the one who ran out on her friends, who never said a word in ten years to let them know she was even alive."
"No," Willow agreed, "You're just trying to kill them."
Buffy laughed. "You know," she said, gazing around herself. "This is exactly where we were the last time we saw each other. Only this time, I'm the big bad."
Willow shook her head. "I wouldn't be so smug. You know what happens when a new evil hits this town. They don't tend to have a long shelf life."
"Were you always this strident?" Buffy wondered. "I never realized just how damned obnoxious you really are. And as to the crime fighting, you and your little Scoobies should leave it to the experts. I'm the only one who ever accomplished a thing in this town. You don't have a prayer without me."
Willow glanced down at the crystal in her hand. "We always protected our friends, you and I," she said sadly. "Tried whatever we could to save them when anyone else would just let them be sacrificed to the greater good. I'm tired being the one who always compromises. The others think I should try to help you. But I really don't think you're worth saving."
A flurry of emotion crossed Buffy's features. Surprise, fear, and hurt all vied for supremacy in the instant she lost her composure. But then she grinned, and her mocking expression was back in full force. "Why don't you try to kill me, Will?" she asked. "You couldn't do it last time. And now that I'm no longer shackled with a soul, there's nothing holding me back."
With that, she turned and rushed into the back room. Willow took a few steps forward in spite of herself. Buffy would be long gone in a moment, and she really didn't have any way of fighting her now. She stopped and stared at the empty space in the doorway. It was a long time before she turned back and returned to the street.
* * *
"Here," Spike said, handing her a mug. "You look like you can use this."
Willow accepted the cup and took a swig without glancing inside to see what he'd offered. The fluid burned its way to her stomach, making her choke. When she was able to breathe properly once more, she gasped, "What is this?"
He smiled at her. "My own recipe," he said. "Not much by way of booze left in this town. We have to make due."
Willow put the mug down on the table before her. She sat on the patch- covered couch in what had once been the minister's office area. There were no windows here, making this the perfect place for Spike to move about in the day. For some reason, she'd been oddly compelled to visit with him after her chat with Buffy.
"I saw her," she said, shuddering at the thought. "She's changed."
Spike chuckled to himself. "That's a fine understatement," he responded. "She's just getting her wings. Right now, her human life is still all around her. Any little.she'll be attending to any little conflict left unresolved when she was alive."
"Basically that means destroying us in every inventive way she can imagine?" Willow asked.
Spike shrugged. "That's what I did," he said. "She's lost her soul, Will. She has no moral compass to point out the way. She's going to do whatever impulsive dark little desire she's ever harbored in her young life."
Willow sighed. "I guess you're the only one who really understands what she's going through now."
"I don't know about that," he said, patting her on the arm. "Seems to me someone else in this room lost her way once upon a time. Of course, I wasn't here, but there are a few reliable witnesses left."
Willow frowned. "Part of me thinks I owe her a chance to live," she said. "What I almost did-there should've been no turning back from that. And she fought me then, but she only wanted to stop me. To talk some sense into me. I think with the distance between us it was easy to jump to conclusions and think that killing her is the only answer."
"And now?" Spike asked, not unkindly.
"Now.I'm wondering how I possibly have the right to make that kind of a decision," Willow admitted.
"You can do it, you know," he told her. "The spell. The magicks involved are powerful, but they aren't dark. They should be easier to control."
Willow shook her head. "You know a lot about what Buffy is thinking and feeling right now," she said. "But you have no clue what it's like sitting where I am."
"Touche," Spike inclined his head.
Glancing around, Willow realized just how quiet the place was. "Where are Dawn and Xander?" she wondered.
"Out for some supplies," Spike responded. "Daylight's just about the only time a person can leave the city these days."
* * *
"There it is," Dawn said, pointing. "I told you this place would still be here."
Xander followed her toward the storage locker, a heavy bolt cutter in his hand. They were several miles outside of Sunnydale, in the 'burbs of a nearby city. The destruction that was centralized in Sunnydale had already begun to spread, and they weren't positive that this area had been untouched. Thankfully, Anya's Magic Box stash was still safe and sound.
"I thought she would have been back to collect her stuff," Xander mused, staring at the broad white door. He and Anya had been finished for years, but he still felt a twinge of remorse just at the sight of this place. Behind that door sat the remains of Anya's human self.
Dawn shook her head dismissively. "What does she want with some furniture and leftover magic tools?" she asked. "She's in full-on demon mode. She can take what she needs where she finds it." Glancing at Xander's reaction, she took a deep breath. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't think."
Approaching the door, she examined the large padlock securing it. "I don't suppose you have the combination?" she asked. When he shook his head, she held out her hand for the bolt cutter. "We'll do it fast, and get out of here," she promised him. The hangdog expression on his face was difficult to bear.
Inside, Dawn immediately began tearing through the stacked boxes while Xander lingered at some furniture from Anya's apartment. "It's amazing," he said. When Dawn turned to glance his way, he continued, "To think about how messed up everything is now. Just when--just when I'd started getting on the right track, you know? Start a business, buy a home.what's the point in Sunnydale?"
Dawn smiled sympathetically. "This is a temporary thing, Xander," she assured him. "We're getting Buffy back, and she'll put things right. I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. Now help me look for the stuff we need."
As he moved to open a few cardboard boxes, Dawn added, "Sunnydale will bounce back from this. It always does. And just think of all the rebuilding that will have to be done. Your construction business will be the only game in town. Guess where everyone will go for bids on their projects?"
Xander chuckled at her optimism. "That's only if we can convince Willow to do this," he said.
Dawn scowled. "She can stay the hell out of it for all I care," she said with a toss of her head. Angrily, she ripped into another box. "I'm doing this myself. It's the least I can do for my own sister."
Xander stopped searching, surprised. "What?" he asked. "Are you sure you can handle something like this?"
"You really think I dragged you out here just 'in case' Willow got off her damned high horse and decided to do something good for a change?" Dawn sneered. "I can do this. When she got Angel's soul back, she was just a beginner, too. And it was successful.before Buffy had to kill him. But it worked. And it'll work this time, too. Buffy hasn't been without a soul as long as Angel had when he was cursed by the gypsies. It naturally wants to return to her. It'll be easy."
"You've been researching this," Xander commented.
Dawn snorted. "Where do you think I was all day yesterday?" she asked. "Plus.I called Giles."
"What!?" Xander demanded. "I thought we all agreed on this. No Council involvement in this. You know what their response is going to be. Stake her and move on. How could you do that without telling us?"
Frowning, Dawn said, "Because I knew this would be your reaction," she said. "Giles was her Watcher. He would die before putting her in danger. He was pretty pissed about being left in the dark for nearly two years, too."
"Great," Xander muttered. "He's going to jump on the first plane over here and end up getting himself killed. The Watcher's Council will wonder what's up and come sniffing around themselves."
"Not if we do this tonight," Dawn said. "Not if we fix things before Giles has a chance to get here." Pausing, she peered into the box in front of her before triumphantly pulling out a heavy crystal sphere. "Here it is!" she said. "I told you she had one before she left."
* * *
When Dawn had gone out for a quick patrol early after sunset that evening, Xander filled Spike and Willow in on her plan.
"That's ridiculous," Willow argued. "She can't do this herself. I won't let her get involved in magick."
Spike gazed at her a moment before saying, "I'm not sure she's likely to listen to what you have to say, Red."
Willow shook her head. "I know she's pissed at me right now, and I can understand her anger. But she can't open herself to this kind of power."
"Well, if it's going to be done, it has to be done tonight," Xander said. "Giles knows what happened to Buffy."
"You mean you didn't tell him?" Willow exclaimed.
"We thought it best, under the circumstances," Spike said. "You really think bringing the Council into this situation would be the best thing for Buffy?"
Willow pondered a moment. "Giles can just as easily do the spell once he gets here," she said.
"Oh, so now you're for this?" Xander asked.
"I wasn't necessarily against it," she countered. "We had to consider whether or not Buffy was willing to be saved."
Xander shook his head at her flimsy excuse. "Look, just because you're afraid to step in on this, don't-"
Willow interrupted him, "It isn't a matter of being afraid. I seem to be the only one here who recognizes the danger in fooling around with magick."
"You told her?!" a voice shouted from the doorway. Xander groaned when Dawn hurried into the chapel. "I said Willow is out of this one. She'll only be a hindrance."
"Dawn, you can't expect to just waltz in there and have this spell go right for you," Willow tried to reason. "You may end up doing more harm than good. You should let someone who knows what they're doing handle this."
"Well, you certainly don't mean you," Dawn retorted. "I'm through waiting around. This is killing her, don't you see that?"
"Please, Dawn," Willow said. "Just wait for Giles, that's all I'm asking. Sleep on it, at the very least. It can wait until morning."
"I thought you were on my side," Dawn accused Xander. When he merely stammered a reply, she turned on her heel and went back into the hallway. A nearby door slammed shut. She'd closed herself into one of the makeshift bedrooms.
Willow sighed. "Maybe someone should keep an eye on her tonight," she said. "We can just as easily take care of things tomorrow."
The two men shifted uncomfortably, and she knew she was alone in her opinion on the matter. Shaking her head, she headed back toward the small room where she'd slept the past two mornings. "You watch her, Xander," she warned. "I know she listens to you." She closed the door to the chapel behind her, wanting to block them from her sight.
* * *
Willow tossed and turned that evening, unable to sleep soundly. Whenever she fell under, her dreams would fling her back into wakefulness. The images were terrifying, and far too real. Most of them involved Buffy in her new form, goading her into a fight. Dream Willow was always much too quick to respond with magick, descending back into the pit which nearly devoured her the first time.
She had finally drifted off to a more soothing sleep when someone started shaking her by the shoulder. "Willow," a voice urged. "Wake up."
Willow realized it was Xander. He was still dressed in the same clothes, and looked as though he hadn't slept a bit. "What is it?" she asked, alarmed.
"Dawn's not here," he said. "And neither are the spell components."
To be continued.
Spoilers through the season six finale.
So here's the story so far: Xena and Gabrielle are vampires. Xena turned Buffy into a vampire. Willow's come back to Sunnydale after ten years to find the city in ruins and her best friend one of the undead. In this chapter, they'll meet face to face for the first time since Willow left town. Enjoy! And please feed the writer. You can contact me at xencall@yahoo.com. Catch the rest of my fiction and lots of other alternative universe fiction over at my website: http://suddenshift.topcities.com
***
Willow picked her way through the rubble of the Magic Shop, stumbling a bit over a piece of flooring that jutted upward. It was much easier to recover from the loss in balance in the pair of sneakers Spike had brought her the night before. They were gray with ash, and part of the right sole was melted away. Willow didn't dare ask him where he found them. They actually matched the ratty sweatshirt and faded jeans he also offered. But at least she was more comfortable now.
She wasn't exactly sure what had brought her back to the Magic Shop after all this time. There was nothing of the past here, nothing that could possibly bring her up to date on everything she'd missed in her absence. And since Anya had left town long before the place was demolished by vamps, there was nothing left of Buffy, either.
As she took another step through the rubble, something crunched under her foot. Kneeling down, Willow picked up a quartz crystal that had somehow managed to survive the fire. Closing it in her fist, she felt an immediate surge of energy course through her. Quartz was a powerful tool for meditation and spellwork. If she were superstitious, she'd believe it was a positive sign that the stone had emerged from the flames unscathed and waited for her to find it. She closed her eyes, feeling a tingling warmth pass through her.
But although the magick she'd been unable to deny was still a powerful force deep within her, Willow had slowly moved away from the supernatural and the unexplained. It was easy when surrounded by the four white walls of her office, and the simple, unfettered emptiness of new homes. Making the sale had become her spellwork. Until she'd returned to Sunnydale, that was. Already, she could feel her powers building up inside, demanding to be released. It might become difficult to control them if she stayed here much longer.
"Hmm," a female voice interrupted her musings. "And here I'd assumed you'd gotten off the sauce, seeing as how you almost incinerated the planet last time I saw you."
Willow's eyes flew open at the familiar sound. Standing not twenty feet away, near the open frame of the doorway that had once lead to the training area, the Slayer smiled winningly at her. Her first instinct was to run into the other woman's arms. All she'd been able to think about as she drove down here two days ago was giving Buffy an enormous hug and begging her for forgiveness. But it was painfully apparent that the thing standing in front of her was not her best friend.
"How did you." Willow stammered, glancing behind herself. The sun streamed into the ruins of the building. Rays of light sprawled across the rubble just beyond her feet. She took a quick step back into the protective warmth, knowing Buffy could not follow.
Chuckling, Buffy crossed her arms before her chest and leaned against the rickety doorframe. "Sewer entrance in the back. Remember?" she asked. "The time you did a bit of a mind screw on us to make good with your girlfriend?"
Willow winced. Buffy certainly knew exactly what to say to hurt them the most, she thought, recalling Gabrielle's earlier taunting.
"It's funny," Buffy continued, not bothering to savor the jab. "I had a dream that you'd be here, and here you are. I still have them, you know. The dreams. That hasn't changed."
"It's the only thing," Willow muttered.
"Tsk, tsk," Buffy said. "Why so bitter with me? I'm not the one who ran out on her friends, who never said a word in ten years to let them know she was even alive."
"No," Willow agreed, "You're just trying to kill them."
Buffy laughed. "You know," she said, gazing around herself. "This is exactly where we were the last time we saw each other. Only this time, I'm the big bad."
Willow shook her head. "I wouldn't be so smug. You know what happens when a new evil hits this town. They don't tend to have a long shelf life."
"Were you always this strident?" Buffy wondered. "I never realized just how damned obnoxious you really are. And as to the crime fighting, you and your little Scoobies should leave it to the experts. I'm the only one who ever accomplished a thing in this town. You don't have a prayer without me."
Willow glanced down at the crystal in her hand. "We always protected our friends, you and I," she said sadly. "Tried whatever we could to save them when anyone else would just let them be sacrificed to the greater good. I'm tired being the one who always compromises. The others think I should try to help you. But I really don't think you're worth saving."
A flurry of emotion crossed Buffy's features. Surprise, fear, and hurt all vied for supremacy in the instant she lost her composure. But then she grinned, and her mocking expression was back in full force. "Why don't you try to kill me, Will?" she asked. "You couldn't do it last time. And now that I'm no longer shackled with a soul, there's nothing holding me back."
With that, she turned and rushed into the back room. Willow took a few steps forward in spite of herself. Buffy would be long gone in a moment, and she really didn't have any way of fighting her now. She stopped and stared at the empty space in the doorway. It was a long time before she turned back and returned to the street.
* * *
"Here," Spike said, handing her a mug. "You look like you can use this."
Willow accepted the cup and took a swig without glancing inside to see what he'd offered. The fluid burned its way to her stomach, making her choke. When she was able to breathe properly once more, she gasped, "What is this?"
He smiled at her. "My own recipe," he said. "Not much by way of booze left in this town. We have to make due."
Willow put the mug down on the table before her. She sat on the patch- covered couch in what had once been the minister's office area. There were no windows here, making this the perfect place for Spike to move about in the day. For some reason, she'd been oddly compelled to visit with him after her chat with Buffy.
"I saw her," she said, shuddering at the thought. "She's changed."
Spike chuckled to himself. "That's a fine understatement," he responded. "She's just getting her wings. Right now, her human life is still all around her. Any little.she'll be attending to any little conflict left unresolved when she was alive."
"Basically that means destroying us in every inventive way she can imagine?" Willow asked.
Spike shrugged. "That's what I did," he said. "She's lost her soul, Will. She has no moral compass to point out the way. She's going to do whatever impulsive dark little desire she's ever harbored in her young life."
Willow sighed. "I guess you're the only one who really understands what she's going through now."
"I don't know about that," he said, patting her on the arm. "Seems to me someone else in this room lost her way once upon a time. Of course, I wasn't here, but there are a few reliable witnesses left."
Willow frowned. "Part of me thinks I owe her a chance to live," she said. "What I almost did-there should've been no turning back from that. And she fought me then, but she only wanted to stop me. To talk some sense into me. I think with the distance between us it was easy to jump to conclusions and think that killing her is the only answer."
"And now?" Spike asked, not unkindly.
"Now.I'm wondering how I possibly have the right to make that kind of a decision," Willow admitted.
"You can do it, you know," he told her. "The spell. The magicks involved are powerful, but they aren't dark. They should be easier to control."
Willow shook her head. "You know a lot about what Buffy is thinking and feeling right now," she said. "But you have no clue what it's like sitting where I am."
"Touche," Spike inclined his head.
Glancing around, Willow realized just how quiet the place was. "Where are Dawn and Xander?" she wondered.
"Out for some supplies," Spike responded. "Daylight's just about the only time a person can leave the city these days."
* * *
"There it is," Dawn said, pointing. "I told you this place would still be here."
Xander followed her toward the storage locker, a heavy bolt cutter in his hand. They were several miles outside of Sunnydale, in the 'burbs of a nearby city. The destruction that was centralized in Sunnydale had already begun to spread, and they weren't positive that this area had been untouched. Thankfully, Anya's Magic Box stash was still safe and sound.
"I thought she would have been back to collect her stuff," Xander mused, staring at the broad white door. He and Anya had been finished for years, but he still felt a twinge of remorse just at the sight of this place. Behind that door sat the remains of Anya's human self.
Dawn shook her head dismissively. "What does she want with some furniture and leftover magic tools?" she asked. "She's in full-on demon mode. She can take what she needs where she finds it." Glancing at Xander's reaction, she took a deep breath. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't think."
Approaching the door, she examined the large padlock securing it. "I don't suppose you have the combination?" she asked. When he shook his head, she held out her hand for the bolt cutter. "We'll do it fast, and get out of here," she promised him. The hangdog expression on his face was difficult to bear.
Inside, Dawn immediately began tearing through the stacked boxes while Xander lingered at some furniture from Anya's apartment. "It's amazing," he said. When Dawn turned to glance his way, he continued, "To think about how messed up everything is now. Just when--just when I'd started getting on the right track, you know? Start a business, buy a home.what's the point in Sunnydale?"
Dawn smiled sympathetically. "This is a temporary thing, Xander," she assured him. "We're getting Buffy back, and she'll put things right. I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. Now help me look for the stuff we need."
As he moved to open a few cardboard boxes, Dawn added, "Sunnydale will bounce back from this. It always does. And just think of all the rebuilding that will have to be done. Your construction business will be the only game in town. Guess where everyone will go for bids on their projects?"
Xander chuckled at her optimism. "That's only if we can convince Willow to do this," he said.
Dawn scowled. "She can stay the hell out of it for all I care," she said with a toss of her head. Angrily, she ripped into another box. "I'm doing this myself. It's the least I can do for my own sister."
Xander stopped searching, surprised. "What?" he asked. "Are you sure you can handle something like this?"
"You really think I dragged you out here just 'in case' Willow got off her damned high horse and decided to do something good for a change?" Dawn sneered. "I can do this. When she got Angel's soul back, she was just a beginner, too. And it was successful.before Buffy had to kill him. But it worked. And it'll work this time, too. Buffy hasn't been without a soul as long as Angel had when he was cursed by the gypsies. It naturally wants to return to her. It'll be easy."
"You've been researching this," Xander commented.
Dawn snorted. "Where do you think I was all day yesterday?" she asked. "Plus.I called Giles."
"What!?" Xander demanded. "I thought we all agreed on this. No Council involvement in this. You know what their response is going to be. Stake her and move on. How could you do that without telling us?"
Frowning, Dawn said, "Because I knew this would be your reaction," she said. "Giles was her Watcher. He would die before putting her in danger. He was pretty pissed about being left in the dark for nearly two years, too."
"Great," Xander muttered. "He's going to jump on the first plane over here and end up getting himself killed. The Watcher's Council will wonder what's up and come sniffing around themselves."
"Not if we do this tonight," Dawn said. "Not if we fix things before Giles has a chance to get here." Pausing, she peered into the box in front of her before triumphantly pulling out a heavy crystal sphere. "Here it is!" she said. "I told you she had one before she left."
* * *
When Dawn had gone out for a quick patrol early after sunset that evening, Xander filled Spike and Willow in on her plan.
"That's ridiculous," Willow argued. "She can't do this herself. I won't let her get involved in magick."
Spike gazed at her a moment before saying, "I'm not sure she's likely to listen to what you have to say, Red."
Willow shook her head. "I know she's pissed at me right now, and I can understand her anger. But she can't open herself to this kind of power."
"Well, if it's going to be done, it has to be done tonight," Xander said. "Giles knows what happened to Buffy."
"You mean you didn't tell him?" Willow exclaimed.
"We thought it best, under the circumstances," Spike said. "You really think bringing the Council into this situation would be the best thing for Buffy?"
Willow pondered a moment. "Giles can just as easily do the spell once he gets here," she said.
"Oh, so now you're for this?" Xander asked.
"I wasn't necessarily against it," she countered. "We had to consider whether or not Buffy was willing to be saved."
Xander shook his head at her flimsy excuse. "Look, just because you're afraid to step in on this, don't-"
Willow interrupted him, "It isn't a matter of being afraid. I seem to be the only one here who recognizes the danger in fooling around with magick."
"You told her?!" a voice shouted from the doorway. Xander groaned when Dawn hurried into the chapel. "I said Willow is out of this one. She'll only be a hindrance."
"Dawn, you can't expect to just waltz in there and have this spell go right for you," Willow tried to reason. "You may end up doing more harm than good. You should let someone who knows what they're doing handle this."
"Well, you certainly don't mean you," Dawn retorted. "I'm through waiting around. This is killing her, don't you see that?"
"Please, Dawn," Willow said. "Just wait for Giles, that's all I'm asking. Sleep on it, at the very least. It can wait until morning."
"I thought you were on my side," Dawn accused Xander. When he merely stammered a reply, she turned on her heel and went back into the hallway. A nearby door slammed shut. She'd closed herself into one of the makeshift bedrooms.
Willow sighed. "Maybe someone should keep an eye on her tonight," she said. "We can just as easily take care of things tomorrow."
The two men shifted uncomfortably, and she knew she was alone in her opinion on the matter. Shaking her head, she headed back toward the small room where she'd slept the past two mornings. "You watch her, Xander," she warned. "I know she listens to you." She closed the door to the chapel behind her, wanting to block them from her sight.
* * *
Willow tossed and turned that evening, unable to sleep soundly. Whenever she fell under, her dreams would fling her back into wakefulness. The images were terrifying, and far too real. Most of them involved Buffy in her new form, goading her into a fight. Dream Willow was always much too quick to respond with magick, descending back into the pit which nearly devoured her the first time.
She had finally drifted off to a more soothing sleep when someone started shaking her by the shoulder. "Willow," a voice urged. "Wake up."
Willow realized it was Xander. He was still dressed in the same clothes, and looked as though he hadn't slept a bit. "What is it?" she asked, alarmed.
"Dawn's not here," he said. "And neither are the spell components."
To be continued.