Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Willow settled down onto the floor next to the couch. She checked Legolas's pulse, noting that it was still very weak. She'd tried to get him to drink some water, but he was too far out of it to even try to swallow. Still, if the poison didn't kill him, she'd hate for him to die of dehydration.
"He's not going to die," she murmured to herself, propping her laptop open on her lap. With her wireless modem she could do research from anywhere in the house, leaving her free to be at Legolas's bedside...er...couchside.
She typed quickly, sifting through site after site looking for exactly what she wanted. There had to be something, somewhere that could help him.
Legolas moaned, stirring restlessly. Willow adjusted the cool compress on his head and squeezed his hand. "I'm not going to let you die," she promised. "You are far too important to me. I know we never said anything, really, about how we felt about each other...but it's obvious, you know? I said I 'care' about you but it goes much deeper than that." She soothingly stroked his hair, hoping that he knew she was there, watching over him. "I love you. I think you love me too. And I'm not going to let you die." She sat back down and picked up her computer, determined to scour the net until she found a solution to the mystical problem.
****
Hidden from Willow's sight, Buffy could hear her speech. She was right - Will did love her elf. Buffy scrutinized her friend. Wills didn't seem to be corrupted, so maybe the ring wasn't talking to her...or if it were, she was strong enough to resist it. She had to be. If Willow succumbed to the will of the evil ring and was seduced by its evil, they were all doomed.
Turning around, Buffy nearly ran into Dawn. She pushed her little sister backwards, towards the kitchen.
"What was that about?" Dawn asked indignantly.
"Nothing," Buffy replied. "Just...Willow was talking to Legolas. Private, personal stuff. I didn't think she needed company."
"Okay." Dawn nodded. She held up a small pile of books. "'Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs,' 'Curses, Hexes, and Spells,' 'Mystical Potions for All Occasions.'" She read off the titles. "Unfortunately, there's no 'Help! My Elf Boyfriend's Been Poisoned' book... but I'm working on it."
"Good." Buffy nodded. She grabbed her cell phone and headed for the door. "I'm going to call Wesley, see if he knows anything. Call Anya...she's like a thousand years old and was big into magical vengeance for most of that time...maybe she knows something. Call Xander, too. He can help you with the research."
"What about Spike?" Dawn asked. "Should we see if he can help, too?"
Buffy grimaced. Spike was talking to invisible people and living in the high school basement. How could she explain the vampire's current state to her little sister? "Spike...hasn't really been himself lately. I don't think he'd be a lot of help." She headed out the door. "Call Xander and Anya."
Dawn gave a mock salute, heading to the phone. Sisters. Sometimes they could be so...
****
Buffy headed out to the backyard, not wanting to take the chance that Willow could overhear her conversation with Wesley. Her friend was in love again, which would have been wonderful, if only the object of her love hadn't been dying in the living room. They had to find a way to save Legolas...for Willow, if not for the rest of the world.
She flipped open her cell phone and dialed.
"Angel Investigations, we help the helpless," came a female voice over the phone. "No one's available to take your call right now, but if you leave your name, number, and the nature of your problem, we'll get back to you as soon as possible."
Darn. No one was at the office. Now what? Did Wesley even have a cell phone? Was the stuffy British guy even capable of using the modern technology? Buffy couldn't imagine Giles using a cell phone, an Wesley was basically a mini-Giles...well, without the fun or personality. Though, apparently, from what she'd gathered from Willow's conversations with the L.A. crew, Wesley had changed quite a bit lately. Speaking of Willow... if anyone would know how to get in contact with Wesley... at the very least she could look him up on the net.
With a sigh, she headed back inside. Though she'd wanted to leave Willow alone with Legolas for a while, time was of the essence -- she'd have to interrupt her. "Willow?" she called, heading for the living room. "I'm just getting the machine at Angel Investigations. Do you know how else I can get a hold of Wesley?"
"Hold on." Willow began typing. "Accessing my address book. Angel, Cordy, Wesley... there it is..." She wrote down a set of numbers on a scrap of paper. "Home and cell."
Buffy smiled. "Thanks, Will." She headed for the doorway. "I'll tell you when we know something."
She headed back out to the backyard. Better try his cell phone first. If no one was left at the office, she doubted Wesley would be sitting home and knitting. Buffy hesitated before hitting 'send.' She hadn't talked to Wesley in so long. They'd exchanged brief words on her last trip to L.A., but that had been a couple of years ago. "Here goes nothing," she muttered, finally hitting the 'send' button.
"Hello." He picked up the phone on the second ring.
"Wesley? It's Buffy." They'd never exactly been close. Would he be willing to talk to her after how she'd treated him most of the time she'd known him?
"Buffy?" Wesley's surprise was evident in his voice. "What can I do for you?"
"I need information on magical poisons. Something specialized. Something powerful enough to kill an elf."
"An elf?" he asked in disbelief. "Did you say an elf?"
Great, more disbelief. Buffy groaned. Didn't anyone believe that an elf might talk to a human being these days? "Yes. I know that they're extremely rare in modern times. But he's the real thing. Pointy ears, shiny hair, the works. An elf. He's in my living room dying, and we don't know why. He acted like he's got a bad case of the flu, only now he's unconscious."
Wesley paused, as if he were trying to process her rapid-fire stream of information. "Elves are immortal. They can't catch human diseases."
Buffy rolled her eyes. He really needed to get over this 'I'm-in-shock' thing and get with the program. "I know. Which is why we think he's been hit by some kind of mystical poison. It's bad, Wes. The last time I saw something this bad was when..."
"When Angel was poisoned," he finished grimly.
Buffy grimaced. That night had permanently torn a rift in her already shaky relationship with her replacement Watcher and cemented her belief in the selfish callousness of the Watcher's Council. Both a high and low point in her life, it had been the night she quit working for the Council - he Slayer graduation, as it were.
"I'm sorry I didn't help you then."
A harsh laugh escaped from her throat. He sounded truly sorry now, but why couldn't he have felt that way when she'd needed him? "Water under the bridge, Wes. What matters now is Legolas."
"Legolas? The Legolas?"
Again with the shock. You'd think this elf guy was Elvis or something, the way Giles and Wes were talking about him. "Yeah. Giles told me he was famous. I know all about the Fellowship, the One Ring, yadda, yadda, yadda. What I don't know is how to cure him."
Suddenly, Wesley was all business. "I don't know of any poison that powerful, off the top of my head, but I've got books on the subject. I'll look into it. Failing that, I'll ask the Watcher's Council."
"I don't exactly have a lot of faith in the Council, Wes." After all that they'd put her through, she basically thought they were a bunch of self-absorbed, holier-than-thou idiots.
"There's no stipulation against helping elves, Buffy. And even if there were... well, let's say if the Council knows anything, I'll find out what it is."
"What if...?"
"I'll find out."
His voice was harder, colder. Buffy knew that he'd been through a lot since he'd left Sunnydale. Looks like the once-pompous Watcher was finally doing what was right instead of what he was told to do. "Thanks, Wesley."
"I'll be in touch."
Buffy remained silent and still, even after she'd heard the click that indicated he'd hung up.
****
Far from Sunnydale, another felt the stirrings of evil.
It was almost time, Haldir thought, for time to come around again. Circles of existence, lives entwined, time and again. The past fed the future, the future nourished the past. What was yet to be for one was the past for another.
Cycles. Fate.
It was time, and he would be needed. He hurried through the dark streets, knowing that destiny awaited.
Chapter 3
Willow settled down onto the floor next to the couch. She checked Legolas's pulse, noting that it was still very weak. She'd tried to get him to drink some water, but he was too far out of it to even try to swallow. Still, if the poison didn't kill him, she'd hate for him to die of dehydration.
"He's not going to die," she murmured to herself, propping her laptop open on her lap. With her wireless modem she could do research from anywhere in the house, leaving her free to be at Legolas's bedside...er...couchside.
She typed quickly, sifting through site after site looking for exactly what she wanted. There had to be something, somewhere that could help him.
Legolas moaned, stirring restlessly. Willow adjusted the cool compress on his head and squeezed his hand. "I'm not going to let you die," she promised. "You are far too important to me. I know we never said anything, really, about how we felt about each other...but it's obvious, you know? I said I 'care' about you but it goes much deeper than that." She soothingly stroked his hair, hoping that he knew she was there, watching over him. "I love you. I think you love me too. And I'm not going to let you die." She sat back down and picked up her computer, determined to scour the net until she found a solution to the mystical problem.
****
Hidden from Willow's sight, Buffy could hear her speech. She was right - Will did love her elf. Buffy scrutinized her friend. Wills didn't seem to be corrupted, so maybe the ring wasn't talking to her...or if it were, she was strong enough to resist it. She had to be. If Willow succumbed to the will of the evil ring and was seduced by its evil, they were all doomed.
Turning around, Buffy nearly ran into Dawn. She pushed her little sister backwards, towards the kitchen.
"What was that about?" Dawn asked indignantly.
"Nothing," Buffy replied. "Just...Willow was talking to Legolas. Private, personal stuff. I didn't think she needed company."
"Okay." Dawn nodded. She held up a small pile of books. "'Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs,' 'Curses, Hexes, and Spells,' 'Mystical Potions for All Occasions.'" She read off the titles. "Unfortunately, there's no 'Help! My Elf Boyfriend's Been Poisoned' book... but I'm working on it."
"Good." Buffy nodded. She grabbed her cell phone and headed for the door. "I'm going to call Wesley, see if he knows anything. Call Anya...she's like a thousand years old and was big into magical vengeance for most of that time...maybe she knows something. Call Xander, too. He can help you with the research."
"What about Spike?" Dawn asked. "Should we see if he can help, too?"
Buffy grimaced. Spike was talking to invisible people and living in the high school basement. How could she explain the vampire's current state to her little sister? "Spike...hasn't really been himself lately. I don't think he'd be a lot of help." She headed out the door. "Call Xander and Anya."
Dawn gave a mock salute, heading to the phone. Sisters. Sometimes they could be so...
****
Buffy headed out to the backyard, not wanting to take the chance that Willow could overhear her conversation with Wesley. Her friend was in love again, which would have been wonderful, if only the object of her love hadn't been dying in the living room. They had to find a way to save Legolas...for Willow, if not for the rest of the world.
She flipped open her cell phone and dialed.
"Angel Investigations, we help the helpless," came a female voice over the phone. "No one's available to take your call right now, but if you leave your name, number, and the nature of your problem, we'll get back to you as soon as possible."
Darn. No one was at the office. Now what? Did Wesley even have a cell phone? Was the stuffy British guy even capable of using the modern technology? Buffy couldn't imagine Giles using a cell phone, an Wesley was basically a mini-Giles...well, without the fun or personality. Though, apparently, from what she'd gathered from Willow's conversations with the L.A. crew, Wesley had changed quite a bit lately. Speaking of Willow... if anyone would know how to get in contact with Wesley... at the very least she could look him up on the net.
With a sigh, she headed back inside. Though she'd wanted to leave Willow alone with Legolas for a while, time was of the essence -- she'd have to interrupt her. "Willow?" she called, heading for the living room. "I'm just getting the machine at Angel Investigations. Do you know how else I can get a hold of Wesley?"
"Hold on." Willow began typing. "Accessing my address book. Angel, Cordy, Wesley... there it is..." She wrote down a set of numbers on a scrap of paper. "Home and cell."
Buffy smiled. "Thanks, Will." She headed for the doorway. "I'll tell you when we know something."
She headed back out to the backyard. Better try his cell phone first. If no one was left at the office, she doubted Wesley would be sitting home and knitting. Buffy hesitated before hitting 'send.' She hadn't talked to Wesley in so long. They'd exchanged brief words on her last trip to L.A., but that had been a couple of years ago. "Here goes nothing," she muttered, finally hitting the 'send' button.
"Hello." He picked up the phone on the second ring.
"Wesley? It's Buffy." They'd never exactly been close. Would he be willing to talk to her after how she'd treated him most of the time she'd known him?
"Buffy?" Wesley's surprise was evident in his voice. "What can I do for you?"
"I need information on magical poisons. Something specialized. Something powerful enough to kill an elf."
"An elf?" he asked in disbelief. "Did you say an elf?"
Great, more disbelief. Buffy groaned. Didn't anyone believe that an elf might talk to a human being these days? "Yes. I know that they're extremely rare in modern times. But he's the real thing. Pointy ears, shiny hair, the works. An elf. He's in my living room dying, and we don't know why. He acted like he's got a bad case of the flu, only now he's unconscious."
Wesley paused, as if he were trying to process her rapid-fire stream of information. "Elves are immortal. They can't catch human diseases."
Buffy rolled her eyes. He really needed to get over this 'I'm-in-shock' thing and get with the program. "I know. Which is why we think he's been hit by some kind of mystical poison. It's bad, Wes. The last time I saw something this bad was when..."
"When Angel was poisoned," he finished grimly.
Buffy grimaced. That night had permanently torn a rift in her already shaky relationship with her replacement Watcher and cemented her belief in the selfish callousness of the Watcher's Council. Both a high and low point in her life, it had been the night she quit working for the Council - he Slayer graduation, as it were.
"I'm sorry I didn't help you then."
A harsh laugh escaped from her throat. He sounded truly sorry now, but why couldn't he have felt that way when she'd needed him? "Water under the bridge, Wes. What matters now is Legolas."
"Legolas? The Legolas?"
Again with the shock. You'd think this elf guy was Elvis or something, the way Giles and Wes were talking about him. "Yeah. Giles told me he was famous. I know all about the Fellowship, the One Ring, yadda, yadda, yadda. What I don't know is how to cure him."
Suddenly, Wesley was all business. "I don't know of any poison that powerful, off the top of my head, but I've got books on the subject. I'll look into it. Failing that, I'll ask the Watcher's Council."
"I don't exactly have a lot of faith in the Council, Wes." After all that they'd put her through, she basically thought they were a bunch of self-absorbed, holier-than-thou idiots.
"There's no stipulation against helping elves, Buffy. And even if there were... well, let's say if the Council knows anything, I'll find out what it is."
"What if...?"
"I'll find out."
His voice was harder, colder. Buffy knew that he'd been through a lot since he'd left Sunnydale. Looks like the once-pompous Watcher was finally doing what was right instead of what he was told to do. "Thanks, Wesley."
"I'll be in touch."
Buffy remained silent and still, even after she'd heard the click that indicated he'd hung up.
****
Far from Sunnydale, another felt the stirrings of evil.
It was almost time, Haldir thought, for time to come around again. Circles of existence, lives entwined, time and again. The past fed the future, the future nourished the past. What was yet to be for one was the past for another.
Cycles. Fate.
It was time, and he would be needed. He hurried through the dark streets, knowing that destiny awaited.