Summary:       Elizabeth finally has a talk with Anne.  Willow is sent to San Francisco.

Disclaimer:    Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own everything.  But I wouldn't mind leasing Spike from them for a couple of weeks :)

Feedback:     As always, appreciated.

Leaving for the Greater Good

Anne had been right about the two fledglings in the Restfield Cemetery.  It had only taken minutes to dispense with the inexperienced vamps.  The two Slayers were slowly making their way out of the cemetery and back to the Magic Box.  Elizabeth was trying to find a way to open the conversation with Anne.  They needed to talk.

Anne stopped in her tracks.  "Shit!"  The brief exclamation was followed by a short burst of violence.  With one swift kick, the agitated Slayer broke a tombstone into pieces.  "Damn!  Damn!  Damn!"

"Anne, what's wrong?  Did you feel something?"  Elizabeth turned around in circles, looking for whatever it was that had set Anne off.

The other Slayer suddenly remembered she wasn't alone.  "Yeah, something's wrong.  I need a drink.  Come on.  Spike will have a bottle in his crypt."  She swung back into the cemetery, not waiting to see if Elizabeth would follow.  Once they reached the inside of the crypt, Anne made quick work of finding the whiskey she knew Spike would have.  She took three healthy gulps straight out of the bottle, then casually offered the liquor to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose.  "No way.  You know what that stuff does to us.  When did you start drinking it?"  Anne shrugged her shoulders, taking another drink.  She was obviously not going to answer Elizabeth's question.  The 'younger' sister sat down on the arm of Spike's couch.  "What's got your panties in a twist?  I'm thinking you felt another baddie out there.  Why the karate-chop to the tombstone?"

Anne sat down on the floor in front of Elizabeth.  Might as well tell her the truth.  "Willow let loose with the bad mojo."  Elizabeth stared to stand.  "Sit back down.  She didn't hurt anyone.  Well, Giles might be a bit roughed up, but Buffy's taking care of it."

Elizabeth was confused.  "If Giles is hurt, we should get back."  Anne made no move to get up.  "How can you sit there like nothing happened?"

Anne rolled her eyes and took another drink.  "I told you, Buffy is taking care of it.  So are the rest of the Scoobs.  It's a family thing.  They don't need us around right now."

"But we ARE family!"  Elizabeth's voice reached the ceiling.  She looked down at the still unconcerned Slayer sitting on the floor.  "You knew something was up earlier.  That's why you ran out of the shop.  What exactly did Willow do?"

Confession was never a Slayer strong suit.  But truth be told, Anne wanted to talk to somebody about it.  She just couldn't handle the looks from the rest of them.  Not yet.  "I didn't know anything was going to happen, but I did feel something earlier.  That dip into Spike's brain was me trying to change the direction of my thoughts.  I felt Willow.  The bad vibe she was putting off.  God, how can you NOT feel it?  She's dripping with it!  She's so far over the edge, she can't even see the cliff."  Anne wiped her hands over her eyes in frustration.  "I felt her energy spike.  I knew she did something.  I touched Spike and Buffy's minds.  Watched the rest from there.  Willow threw Giles across the room, but he's okay.  Buffy has the sitch under control.  They're going to send Wills away.  To a coven Giles knows about.  He thinks the other witches will be able to help her.  Tara's going with.  I think they're leaving tonight.  See?  There's nothing for us to do."

Elizabeth's mouth was open in shock.  Anne had felt all of that?  "We could be there for support.  We could help Buffy and Dawn and the others.  This is going to be painful for them.  You must know that."

Anne just laughed.  "I must know that?  I don't know that.  I don't know anything about them.  These people you call my friends?"  Anne stood up, hands flailing around as she spoke.  "While I was being tortured in Hell, all I could think about were my friends.  How much I missed them.  How much I wanted to be back with them.  Wondering every second of ever day if they were dead or alive.  Wondering about Dawn.  How she was dealing with the death of another person she loved.  They were the only things keeping the demons from completely destroying me.  And this is what I come back to."  She sent the now empty bottle crashing against the stone wall.  "Willow helped keep me in Hell for thousands of years by screwing around with things way beyond her control.  Xander is so preoccupied with his own self-doubt that he couldn't see her slipping away.  Dawn has no one to talk to and has become a juvenile delinquent.  Giles left her, left his Slayer, to deal with it all on her own.  Even I can see it was too much for her.  And Buffy.  God, she hates it here as much as I do.  She wishes she was back six feet under the ground.  So explain to me again why I should even care about the pain they are going through."

Silent tears rolled down Elizabeth's face.  This woman of mystery standing in front of her.  This woman filled with hurt.  "Because we love them.  No matter what happens.  We love them."  She wiped the tears from her cheek.  "I'm sorry the world you returned to doesn't match the perfect memories that kept you alive in Hell.  I'm sorry that you had to go through everything you went through to come back to this.  I'm sorry that these people are human and they make mistakes and they royally screw things up.  But I'm not sorry that you're back, or that I'm back.  And I'm not going to sit here and feel sorry for myself or for you or for Buffy.  This is it.  This is the world.  Deal with it."  Elizabeth took a rehearsed Slayer stance in front of her twin, hands braced on either hip.  "Now pull yourself together because we are going back to the Magic Box and we are going to comfort our friends.  You are going to help Buffy and Dawn in anyway you can because it's what we do.  And tomorrow you are going to explain to Giles about the mind probing thing and any other little tricks you managed to pick up along the way.  Do you understand me?"

Anne was almost as shocked as Elizabeth had been a minute ago.  What the hell had just happened?  Did she really think talking to another piece of herself was the answer?  Someone she couldn't hide from.  Someone who knew the way her mind worked.  Anne had been wallowing in self-pity for days and Elizabeth had effectively slapped her across the cheek with her simple speech.  Yeah, the world sucked; deal with it.  Be a Slayer.  Do your job.  Love your family.  Get through it together.  Was there really any other choice?

Anne nodded her head in agreement.  Elizabeth tentatively held out her hand to her sister.  Anne grabbed it with the force of a woman drowning.  She needed the lifeline.  This little argument wasn't the end of it, but it was a good beginning.  Instead of pushing everyone away, maybe she needed to cling to them for support.  The same type of support that her friends needed now.  Together, hand in hand, the two Slayers walked back to the others at the Magic Box.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY        

When they walked in, Giles was on the phone with the head of the San Francisco coven.  He had called right after the scene at the Magic Box.  The coven was more than happy to accept Willow and Tara into their fold temporarily.  They would make every attempt possible to guide Willow back to the correct path of true magik.  Giles talked to them for several hours arranging details while the others offered comfort and support to each other.  Although Anne still couldn't stand the touch of anyone else, she was able to hold on to Dawn.  Her little sister was scared.  No one knew how long Willow would be gone, but everyone knew this was the best thing for her.  Even Willow herself was slightly relieved.  She was tired of battling the forces inside alone.

Several times Buffy looked in Spike's direction, not knowing how the vampire was dealing with the emotions spiraling around the room.  At one point he opened his arms to her.  She fell into them, needing the strength she found in his protective embrace.  In all the emotion turmoil recently, he was her rock. 

The next night, everyone met at Buffy's house.  They were all going with Giles to drop Willow and Tara off in San Francisco, except Spike.  The trip would take two days.  Spike agreed to say behind to patrol.   Before the wiccans could protest and before he had time to talk himself out of what he was doing, Spike grabbed both the girls in a bear hug, telling them to take care of each other.  Then he was gone into the night.  If anyone was surprised by the outward display of emotion from the vampire normally reserved only for Buffy or Dawn, they made no comment about it.    

The scoobies divided up into two cars.  Anya, Willow and Tara riding with Xander in his car.  Giles driving Joyce's old SUV with Buffy, Anne, Elizabeth and Dawn.  Several times during the trip, occupants switched cars so that everyone could spend time together. 

The San Francisco coven had a mansion in one of the suburbs of the main city.  The members of the coven, mostly women, were very hospitable.  They gave the group a guided tour of the house and offered each of them a room to stay in for the night.  In the end, Buffy, Willow and Xander stayed together in one of the larger rooms.  They were awake most of the night, talking about good times, remembering past evils that had all fought together.  It was a core Scooby pajama party.  And it was something all three needed.

The next morning, the healer of the coven, Delia, examined Willow.  She found exactly what Giles had suspected.  Willow had great power, back a lack of focus.  Her emotions permeated her spells, making them unstable and dangerous.  Her direct contact with Osiris in performing the resurrection spell had made the situation worse.  The spell needed to be guided and controlled by several well-trained wicca.  The power that had gone through her was intense.  There were remnants of it all through her aura.  It needed to be cleansed.  Rack's dark magik was also interfering with Willow's inherent power.  The first ritual Willow would undergo would be a magik detox. 

Giles met privately with the head of the coven, an old woman named Patience.  She possessed the strongest magiks of all the members.  In confidence, he explained the other situation the small group was dealing with at the time.  Although Patience had not come across a spell that would recombine the splintered essence of the Slayer, she promised to make subtle inquiries among her colleagues throughout the world.  Any information she found, she would pass along to Giles. 

Hugs, kisses and tears were shed as the group readied themselves to leave.  Willow promised to call every week to keep the others informed of her progress.  Tara told Dawn she could call anytime she wanted to talk; the two having a special relationship that had nothing to do with Willow or Buffy.  Xander made a few stupid jokes, trying to lighten the mood.  Buffy told Willow she would keep her in the loop about the missing pieces. 

At one point Giles asked to speak to Willow alone.  The exchange between the two was brief.  Giles told Willow that he loved her, would always love her.  She was one of his special children.  And he was proud of her for agreeing to the help she needed.  Willow again told Giles how sorry she was for everything that had happened and promised to do her best.  She didn't want to lose him as a friend or a mentor.  She loved him too.

For portions of the ride home, Xander and Buffy rode alone together in his car.  The loss of daily contact with Wills hit them harder than the rest of the group.  Especially Xander.  Willow had been his best friend since, well, forever.  He couldn't recall a time when they had been more than a few streets away from each other.  Definitely not entire cities.  Although they didn't talk, each friend was comforted by the other's presence.

It was late when they arrived back at the Summers' house.  Dawn was the first to burst through the door.  She hoped Spike would be back from patrol.  He had promised to stop by to see how things had gone in San Francisco.  She had a million things to tell him about the ride, the witches they had met and the house they had stayed in.  But she didn't find Spike.  All she found was a note. 

"Uh, Buffy.  You might want to read this."  Dawn handed the note to her sister before Buffy was two-steps inside the house.

"What?  What is it?"  Buffy read the brief note, written in sweeping Victorian hand.  "That son-of-a-bitch."

By now all the Scoobies were slowly filing into the house.  Anne grabbed the note from Buffy, read it, then passed it along to Elizabeth.  "Well, at least he told you this time."

Giles looked between the three Slayers and their younger sister before settling his eyes on Buffy.  It had been a long two days.  He was not in the mood for cryptic conversation.  "Told you what, Buffy.  What does the note say?"

Buffy sat down on the stairs in the foyer.  She lost three friends in one day.  Even if the loss was temporary.  "He's gone.  While we were away.  The Powers sent him to find the last missing piece."  She slammed her fist into the banister next to her, splintering the wood.  "He did it to me again!"

---TBC