(O.O)
Guilt.
Willow was beginning to be familiar with the emotion.
Her outburst earlier with Buffy revealed so many parts of herself that she hadn't known existed. Now that she was back and alone in Giles' apartment, her mind wandered over things she never thought she'd have to think about.
For starters, she thought about the cookies' influence on her. Spike and Buffy said she was bossy and controlling. Those were two things she never associated with herself. But for some reason, those were traits or parts of her that she hid from others that her cookies brought forth.
Introspection was a research method in Psychology for examining one's conscious thoughts and feelings. Her mom would be so proud of her that she actually remembered how Wundt did his own Scientific study using this method.
Applying such a method, she thought back on her life when she exhibited her need to be in control of a situation and to boss people around. And realized that there were a lot of instances of it happening.
They weren't big things. Just small situations, like taking over school projects so she could decide the direction they would go when completed, or volunteering to take over a class to showcase that she can do it better than teachers themselves. She even remembered being controlling towards Buffy and Xander, her best friends, when it came to their relationships.
Willow always had to approve of the person her friends dated.
For Xander, she controlled her friend's choices in a partner, by being very vocal in her objections. She couldn't stop him from dating a person, however, she at least could make him or his date uncomfortable enough that they would either split up or stop seeing each other again.
For Buffy, she tried to be more subtle in her approach to meddling in her friend's romantic life. Unlike with Xander, she didn't grow up with Buffy, so she avoided being vocal in her complaints about her friend's relationship choices. Instead, she opted to be more proactive in swaying her friend towards who she should date.
Owen, Angel, Parker, and Riley, just to name a few of the men she had encouraged her friend to date.
She always thought that she did it so she could help Buffy. But now, thinking back on everything with her drug-affected brain, that was forcing her to be more honest with herself, she knew that she only did it because she liked the idea that Buffy would be grateful towards her for helping her get a boyfriend.
That wasn't really best friend-y behavior and she should be ashamed of herself.
But she wasn't.
It could be because the drug was still affecting her or maybe because she was such a terrible person. Willow was willing to admit that she didn't have the slightest bit of remorse in how she handled things in her life or how she acted towards other people and her friends.
If she didn't like how things didn't go her way, she tried her best to change them to her liking.
People shouldn't fault me for that, right? She thought.
But did she have a right to mess with other people's lives and choices in the process?
No, I don't have that right, nor should I have such power to do so.
While her drug-induced mind didn't make her feel sorry for her actions, she was still able to see that what she did was wrong. She knew they were wrong and the fact that she knew she was wrong and didn't feel bad about it, well, that made her a horrible person.
And if there is one thing she didn't want to be, that was to be the bad guy in people's lives.
The upside to being Buffy's friend was the extreme desire to do what's right. The blond was just such an inspiration that it made it hard for the people around her to turn evil or at least be evil.
So, while she didn't feel bad for how she had been acting in the past, she still vowed to change herself. To be a better person.
"I'll make it up to my friends, especially to Buffy, when I see her again," she said out loud.
Bang!
She jumped and turned towards the entrance of the apartment and was surprised to see Spike looking distraught.
"Buffy!" He cried. "They have her!"
He approached her.
"She's in danger, Ms. Willow! We need to do something!"
(O.O)
After calming the vampire, Willow was finally able to get the full story from him.
And it wasn't pretty.
Apparently, the soldiers found Buffy and Spike inside one of the old crypts in Restfield and had thrown some sort of light bomb at them. They had attacked them while the two were still disoriented, but Buffy fought the soldiers and had yelled at Spike to get help.
The vampire had not wanted to leave but knew there was nothing he could have done to help the Slayer. So here he was, looking guilty and heartbroken because he left Buffy to fend for herself against the soldiers who took him and put the chip in him.
Well, it seems Giles and Angel were wrong. Vampires do feel guilt because there is no way what I am seeing on Spike's face would be anything but that. She thought as she watched the vampire imploring her to do something.
She shook her thoughts away and opted to focus on the problem at hand.
Buffy was in the hands of some sort of military group that captured demons and put chips in them, maybe even experimented on the poor things. It was a horrible thought and she felt afraid for her friend.
She turned to Spike with a determined face. "We need to rescue Buffy," she said.
Spike nodded, looking equally determined.
"However, we can't do it alone," she stated.
The vampire dawned a grim expression. "I agree, Ms. Willow. It is best if we call in reinforcements."
"Alright. You find Giles and I'll look for Anya and get Xander from his place. Let's bring all of them back here and then we'll all work on getting Buffy back."
(O.O)
Buffy woke up disoriented and in pain. She slowly sat up from the cold floor she was laying on and tried to remember what had happened to her.
All at once, the events that happened before her waking up rushed back to her.
She immediately stood up and inspected the room she was in. It seemed she was inside a containment room of some sort with a large glass window that allowed her to see several demons being held captive in their own prisons. She approached the glass and touched it before she immediately removed her hand.
It was electrified glass, which meant she could not just punch her way through it. She looked around the room and found that everything was plain white and aside from the camera in one corner, there were no furniture or bathroom utilities.
These idiots probably don't think that demons need such human luxuries.
Since there was nothing else she could do, she decided that the best way to get out of here was to call out to the people in charge.
"Hey! Helloooo!" She called out while looking at the camera. "I think there's been a mistake!"
She waved her hand as she continued to call out to the people on the other side of the camera.
"I'm not supposed to be here! Can you hear me? I'm not a demon! Heeeeeey!"
"That's enough from you!" A soldier yelled from the other side of the glass.
Buffy turned and put on her best scared look.
"Hey! P-please! I don't know who you people are, but I—I don't belong here. Please let me go." She felt a couple of tears fall from her eyes.
Man, I should get an award for this performance. She thought.
The soldier seemed to be taken aback by Buffy's acting and looked like he was believing her, seeing as he was eying the control panel on the side.
"Don't trust her, Simmons," an authoritative voice said to the soldier.
Another man came into view and this time Buffy recognized the person. It was Forrest! One of Riley's friends!
"This one is just acting. It's probably going to attack you once you let it out," the newcomer said.
"You're Riley's friend," I stated, dropping the scared look to glare at the man.
"See? All part of the act," he said, ignoring her and continuing to talk to the soldier, Simmons. "Walsh thinks it's a new HST that can imitate human signatures and act like she's one of us."
"Hey! I am human!" Buffy exclaimed.
"Interesting," Forrest said, finally focusing his attention on her. "It seems to show extreme belief in its human appearance. We can add that information to her file. At least it will prepare the other science nerds when they start opening her up. It'll help them to avoid any sympathy for her."
"What is she?" Simmons asked.
"Don't know," was his answer, before eying Buffy with a disturbing smile. "But we'll find out what it is once we're done with it."
It was at that moment that Buffy truly felt scared for herself. Forrest's predatory gleam looked even more menacing than any demon she had encountered. It made it worse considering it was a human who directed it at her.
Guys, please help me. She thought as she watched the two soldiers leave her alone in her prison.
(O.O)
Ripper was bored.
After leaving the apartment he went to the nearest convenience store to buy some cigarettes. Once that was done, he went to the nearest demon pub that wasn't Willie's and played a couple of rounds of kitten poker with some demons. After defeating them several times, he exchanged his winnings with cash and left the establishment.
Once he was out, he realized that it was still 10 in the evening. He didn't want to return to his apartment where he knew Red and the others were most likely researching a cure for their current drugged-up state, so he opted to visit the Bronze instead.
He had hoped to have fun there but found that the patrons were all too young for him. While he thought that a couple of ladies who approached with a drink or two looked pretty, none of them struck his fancy. Aside from that, the music, if one could call it that, the place didn't appeal to him. So after his 4th drink in the club, he was already bored off his mind.
This town sucks. He thought. Terrible beer. Horrible music. And demons that are pathetic at poker. They couldn't even tell I was cheating them from the start.
"There's just nothing fun to do in here," he grumbled as he downed his whisky.
"There you are!" A voice called from behind him. He turned and was surprised to see that it was the vampire, Spike, that was coming towards him.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to look for you, Mr. Giles?"
"Don't care," Ripper said, turning away from him and lit another cigarette.
"Well, you should. Ms. Buffy is in danger and she needs our help," the vampire informed him.
"And this should concern me, why?" the man asked with a sneer.
"For heaven's sake! Because you're her Watcher! That's why!"
This earned a bitter laugh from Ripper. He then stood up and poked the vampire on the chest.
"That shows what you know, mate. I ain't her Watcher. I got fired from that job because the wankers from Merry Old England forced her to undertake that bloody Cruciamentum."
"Dear Lord!" Spike exclaimed, looking horrified.
"Tell me about it! Those ponces had the gall to tell me I failed as a Watcher 'cause I cracked and tried to save my Slayer!" Ripper added.
Spike could hear the frustration in the man's words. It must have really affected him to lose the position. Probably explained why he didn't want to help his Slayer at the moment.
"So just cause you lost the job as her Watcher, you no longer care enough about the girl to help her when she's in danger?" Spike questioned. He needed to get things straight with this man before he took him back to Willow.
"Don't be a daft. Course I still care about her," the older-looking man stated, earning a confused look from the vampire. "I just think she doesn't need me anymore. Whatever trouble she's in, she'll get out of it on her own. It's what she always does."
This statement enraged the vampire.
"You pillock! Of course Ms. Buffy still needs you! You're like a father to that girl! Aside from that, you have more experience and know more about demons than any of her friends combined! They didn't even know about the demon market for Christ's sake! And you think they no longer need you?! You're the biggest idiot I've ever met!"
Ripper looked upset at the fact that he was being yelled at by a vampire.
"Don't call me an idiot, you git! How the bloody hell would you know what Buffy needs and what I should do? You don't know anything about us!"
"Exactly! I don't know anything about what she needs and what she wants, but I do know one thing! That girl is still alive because she has people who care for her and help her. It's because of you and the Scoobies that she's still fighting so hard to live and save this planet. So don't you dare abandon her now and say that she doesn't need you. A child will always need their parents no matter their age or how independent they become."
Ripper looked like he was going to argue. But stopped himself. As much as he didn't like what was being said to him, he knew deep down that the vampire was right. Despite how inadequate he had been feeling lately, he still cared about Buffy and he knew that deep down Buffy probably still needed him.
He turned away from the vampire and picked up the duster from the chair he had hung it on.
"Fine. Let's go help MY Slayer," Ripper said before walking towards the exit.
Spike was surprised that he got through to the Watcher. He thought the drugs would have affected the man so much that he'd have to fight harder to remind him that he still cared about the Slayer enough to help save her.
The drug merely pushed forward a person's hidden personality. It hadn't really changed the emotions and feelings a person had towards certain things or people. Spike thought. I should have expected that it would be easier to convince the man to come back compared to Mr. Harris or Ms. Anya.
He decided not to dwell on the thought and merely went after the ex-Watcher.
I just hope Willow is also successful in convincing the other two missing Scoobies.
TBC
(O.O)
