Chapter Three

Disclaimer: None of it belongs to me. It's all Joss's.

"Willow?" Giles asked from his position chained to a wall. He frowned, feeling quite uncomfortable and lost as he had no idea where he was or what he could do about it. All he knew was that he was not at the Magic Box. "Willow, where are we?" he asked.

"Aw, disappointed that we're not in Kansas anymore?" Evil Willow asked as she faced Giles with a wicked smile on her face. "You're in my world now and you're going to help me with something."

"And what on earth would make you think I'd do that?" Giles asked weakly.

"Because that way you get to live," Evil Willow answered plainly as she turned back and faced her table covered with various spell ingredients, from herbs to candles to eyes of newt.

"I'm not afraid to die," he stated.

Evil Willow nodded. "True, you're not. But Buffy is. And Dawn, Xander. Anya too, if she's still alive."

"What did you do to her?" Giles demanded.

Evil Willow immediately dismissed the question with a short wave of her hand. "Giles, are you with me or not?" she asked angrily. "I need a bit of help. And isn't that what you Watchers are for? Helping people."

"Helping Slayers," Giles rasped. "Not mega-witches who want to destroy the world."

"I'm not destroying the world," she corrected him. "At least, not yet," she added. "There's something I have to take care of first and for that to work I am going to need some help. Are you with me or not?"

"What did you do to Anya?" Giles repeated.

Xander stood impatiently in fear directly outside the operating room. That was as far as he was allowed to go. He hated it with a vengeance, but there was nothing he could do about it. The only thing he could do was sit and wait until his Anya would return to him.

"She'll be ok," he whispered to himself. "She'll be ok. She's immortal, she'll be ok. She has to be ok. I'm telling her to" Once again, he peeked in through the window, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on. And once again, he could see no part of Anya, just five or six doctors surrounding her as they tried their hardest to repair the damage that Willow had done.

"Come on, Ahn," he begged as the tears began forming within the pools of his eyes. The sound of footsteps echoed through the small white hallway he was trapped in. "What are they doing to her?" he demanded as he grabbed the passing nurse by the collar. "What is going on in that room?"

The nurse shook her head. "I--I don't know," she responded in fear. "I'm needed down the hall." She frowned, finding that Xander was still holding her hostage. "Like now, sir," she added as she felt Xander release his grip on her. "When I'm done, I'll get you some information on your girlfriend," she promised as she ran down the hall.

Xander nodded as he watched the nurse go. Her light brown hair bounced against her shoulders as she ran into her room and Xander returned his attention to Anya's room.

Worry and panic quickly overcame Xander's face as he saw one of the doctors pulling away, followed by another, then another. Either they were done, or they realized she could not be saved and it was a lost cause. His face grew paler as he saw the lead doctor coming out and over to him.

"How is she?" Xander asked with a gulp.

The doctor looked back inside before turning to Xander. "I think it's fair to say she's been better."

"How is she?" Xander demanded. "She's alive, right?"

The doctor drew in a deep breath as he gestured at the two seats on the other side of the hall. "You might want to sit down, sir."

Xander was now officially worried. No one ever had to sit down for good news. He gulped as he sat, knowing that whatever the doctor was about to tell him, he was not going to like. "What is it? What did you do to her?"

The doctor nodded. "Well, we've stitched up all seven gashes that were covering her body and got a transfusion to replace the blood she lost--"

"Is she alive?" Xander interrupted.

"Alive in the sense that her heart is still beating," the doctor answered truthfully. "But sir, there is serious head trauma involved. It's doubtful she'll ever regain consciousness."

Xander nodded as he looked mournfully into Anya's room. "Can I see her?" he asked a moment later.

The doctor nodded again. "Of course," he replied as the two of them stood up.

Spike smiled viscously as he entered the town containing the Hellmouth again. Darkness had covered the town, making it free reign for him. He was free once again. There were few people wandering around the streets along with a group or two of demons.

"This is neat," he said with a wicked smile as he continued walking. "Revello Drive," he pointed out as he turned onto the street, browsing the house numbers before finding the house he wanted. He had been inside that house on numerous occasions. Now he could get what he had originally came to Sunnydale for, back when he was with Drusilla. The death of the Slayer.

He walked up, peering into the window just to make sure they were home. The younger Summers girl was sitting on the couch, watching television but not really concentrating on what was going on there. Spike grew bored with her as he walked along to the kitchen window.

"There we are," he said happily as he caught sight of the vampire slayer he would love to kill. She was on the phone again, presumably with Xander or Giles the vampire thought. "Perfect," he whispered as he walked over and kicked the kitchen door open, causing Buffy to scream.

"Xander, I have to go," she said as she dropped the phone to the ground.

"Slayer," Spike noted. "Alone at last."

"Um, I'm right here," Dawn pointed out from behind the vampire. Her slender arms were folded across her chest as she glared at the vampire. "Or did you forget about me?"

Spike chuckled. "Nonsense. I would never forget about the little Summers girl. You just run along now," he said. "Go back to the telly."

"Nothing good on," Dawn said with a frown.

"Then rent something!" Spike yelled. "This is between me and your sister."

"And after what you tried to do to her, I'm supposed to trust you?" Dawn asked in shock as she looked at Spike. "I swear, you must be on some kind of drugs."

Spike chuckled again as he vamped out. "Not drugs," he said with a laugh as he lunged at Buffy.

"Dawn, get out of here!" Buffy yelled as she punched Spike hard in the jaw, causing him to fall back a little.

Dawn nodded as she dutifully did what she was told. The front door slammed shut as Dawn ran over to Janice's house.

"What did you do?" Buffy asked, looking over at Spike. Her fists were clenched and she held them out in front of her, ready for anything Spike might try to try.

"That's right, Slayer. I'm back," he told her with a smile as he stared longingly at her neck. "It's been a while since I've had Slayer's blood. Wonder if it's still the powerful aphrodisiac it used to be."

Buffy rolled her eyes in disgust. "How?" she asked after a moment.

"Cave demon in Africa," Spike said with a smile as he moved in closer. "I got better and now we have to pick up where we left off."

"Now Rupert," Evil Willow began as she once again turned back to Giles. "I've told you what you wanted to know. Now come on and help me out. You are one pesky little Watcher. It's getting quite annoying."

Evil Willow glanced over at the window. "It's almost midnight, I am going to need your help. This can only be done on a full moon at midnight," she pointed out as she walked over to her table with magickal supplies."

"Help with what?" Giles asked exhaustedly.

"Making Tara come back to me," Willow began with a grin.