Sunnydale High, 0830 hours.
Willow met up with Xander, who had skateboarded into the school, at the entrance while leaning against the railing at the staircase. She gave the young man a wide grin as he grabbed onto the same railing after he stopped and then picked up his board, and leaned on the railing next to the redhead.
"Will," he said, "I need your help with the math thing."
"Which math thing?" asked Willow as she racked her brain to think about any test that she may have forgotten about, "we have a test today? Pop Quiz? Or…."
"Oh God I hope not," said Xander as he looked at Willow, "I mean… I just need some help with that algebra thing we have due tomorrow."
"Oh," said Willow shaking her head while sighing, "yea, sure…. At the library after school?"
"Uh huh," said Xander as Willow smiled and nodded her head just as a black jeep stopped in front of them, and a certain blonde Slayer walked out. Buffy, and then Willow and Xander waved at Joyce before she drove off; and then Buffy turned around and told the both of them that they wouldn't believe what happened the previous night on her patrol.
"Nothing bad?" asked Willow worriedly, while inside she knew exactly what Buffy was going to be talking about, "please don't tell me that Spike's…"
"No," said Buffy as she shook her head while the three of them headed towards the school entrance, "not him… this is something different."
"Don't let us be in suspense, Buffster," said Xander as Willow vigorously nodded her head.
"There were the usual vampires," said Buffy as they headed into the building, and then turned left for their lockers, "but Giles and I found a nest of vamps and…. And I mean we fought them off. And, Well, we had a bit of help… a new… I don't know."
"A new Slayer?" asked Xander as Buffy and Willow looked at him and frowned. Xander then shrugged his shoulders and told them that he wouldn't be surprised if there were three Slayers, "things are that crazy."
"Buff?" asked Willow curiously, "is Xander right? A new Slayer?"
"No," said Buffy shaking her head as she headed to her locker and then opened it. She looked at Willow and Xander opening their lockers while she talked to them about the mysterious figure from last night decked out all in black with the ability to fly, and what Giles had told her could be telekinesis.
"No, way," said Xander excitedly as he closed his locker door and looked at Buffy with his eyes wide open, "fly as in…? Wait, is this a guy or a girl?"
"Girl," said Buffy, "wearing a leather jacket, boots, and some seriously tight jeans."
"Oh, really?" asked Xander while he waggled his eyebrows and rubbed his chin. Willow closed her locker door, and then looked at the expression on Xander's face and chuckled.
"What?" asked Willow as she looked at her oldest friend who looked back at her; the redhead couldn't help but wonder what Xander was thinking…. But then she decided asking against it since she knew the young man, and what his thoughts were going to be, "you falling for this mysterious flying… what she call herself?"
Willow then turned to Buffy when she asked the last part of her question, and was just met with a shrug. They continued walking towards their homeroom while Buffy said that the figure didn't say a word, that she didn't even tell them her name.
"She dusted a vamp, threw me Giles stake, and then flew away," said Buffy shrugging her shoulders.
"So…" said Xander as he nudged Buffy while walking next to Willow who was carrying some of her books in her hands, "you're saying that she's wearing tight jeans, black?"
"Uh huh?" said Buffy as Willow shook her head before telling Xander that he was being too hung up on the jeans.
"Well… yeah.." admitted Xander before waving his hands, "but the thing is that maybe whoever this is wants us to name her. I'm thinking the Black Swan.. you know… she's wearing all black and…."
"That's the most ridiculous name, ever," said Buffy while Willow giggled; the redhead at the same time was listening intently while doing everything she could to be the Willow that Buffy and Xander knew. She then listened as Buffy told the both of them that she wished that the figure she and Giles encountered would stop what she was doing, "it's for her safety."
"Aw, come on, Buff," said Xander as Willow listened in, "she killed a vamp on her own; means she can take care of herself. Besides, it's nice to have the help… right?"
"She's not trained to fight vampires, Xand," said Buffy, "she's only one step away from getting bitten by a vampire, and then dying. Or even worse, she can be turned… and with telekinesis… can you imagine the chaos a vampire like that could cause? No, I can't have someone else take that risk… I'm the Slayer, and it should be me taking all of that risk. Will?"
Willow was listening to what Buffy was saying, and it reflected her own doubts as well; that she wasn't trained or that she may not be good enough to fight vampires. Deep down, Willow knew that it was the truth, that she was the same mousy girl; but when she put on the jacket, the jeans, and the balaclava last night… she felt different. She felt more confident, more outgoing…. She remembered the feeling of her body going on auto-pilot as she fought the vampire.. she remembered the feeling of the adrenalin rush as she staked the vampire. The truth was that one part of her feared what would happen to her; she feared dying and knew that Buffy was more training to fight vampires since she was the Slayer after all. But the other part of Willow didn't want to stop what she was doing; she wanted to help Buffy.
Willow knew what her answer was going to be as she looked at her best friend.
She had to hide.
"Maybe she's making a mistake," said Willow as she shrugged her shoulders, "you should tell her to back off and… I mean you should tell her nicely you know? Maybe she just wants to help, but you're the Slayer. You know?"
"Thank you," said Buffy as she looked at Willow, and then looked over her shoulder behind the redhead, and smiled. Buffy then looked at Willow, turned, and stopped; all before turning her around and then pulling away Xander. Xander, for his part, was looking at the redhead waving at a dark-brown haired young man who gave a small wave to the redhead before he looked at Buffy.
"Who's that?" asked Xander as he and Buffy walked into the classroom. Xander saw Willow brushing her hair behind her ear while she was smiling at the young man. And then Buffy pulled him into the classroom.
It was later on after school was over that Willow and the others, with Xander asking the redhead about the young man she was talking to, entered the library where Giles was seated behind the counter checking out books for two students.
"He's just a friend, Xander," said Willow as she waved at Giles before she went to sit down at the table with Buffy to her left as they put down their backpacks. The two students then walked out of the library before Giles walked around the counter and approached the table, occasionally glancing at Willow; he was wondering if the redhead knew exactly the danger she had put herself in last night.
"Giles," said Buffy as she leaned forward, "I told Willow and Xander about what happened last night."
"Oh?" asked Giles as he fixed his glasses and looked at the three of them. He then took one more step before lingering on Willow, mentally telling her to listen to what he had to say, 'what am I doing? She doesn't have telepathy. I just hope she realizes that I'm speaking more to her than anyone else."
"I can say that this person, whoever she is… is putting herself in danger," said Giles who was a little surprised to see that Willow was nodding her head while Xander sighed, and then shook his head saying that whoever the figure was seemed to be able to fight, and had powers. Giles nodded at Xander, and agreed with him before continuing, "even so, vampires and demons are a different breed. If she happens to tackle human crime, then that is still dangerous… but the danger is not as great as being bitten by a vampire and then being turned into one… or getting killed by a demon."
"That's kinda what I said," said Willow as she looked at Giles, "I mean Buffy's the Slayer and…. I mean she's the one who's supposed to take care of this."
"But having another superhero around is kinda cool though; Buff, I'm gonna go to your next patrol," said Xander, "maybe I could see this mysterious…"
"No," said Buffy as she shook her head, "Xand, patrol's not a dating service."
"I know," said Xander just as Cordelia walked into the library. It was then that Willow noticed the shared look between Cordelia and Xander that made the both of them immediately look away nervously. Shaking his head, Xander then turned to Willow and said that it was better for Buffy to have some help.
"Help with what?" asked Cordelia as she waited for Giles to bring up a book that she had requested for from the book stacks. The young dark-haired woman put her elbow on the counter and leaned while looking at Xander, who looked back at her. Cordelia saw that he was looking her up and down, and that immediately brought back the memory of them kissing in Buffy's house basement during the whole situation with the worm-guy from the Order of Teraka. Xander then told her about what Buffy and Giles had encountered the previous night. A surprised Cordelia looked at Buffy who nodded her head once Xander had finished telling her about the woman in black who had telekinetic powers.
"A woman with telekinetic powers," said Cordelia as she looked at Willow, their eyes connecting for a few moments before the redhead looked away, and Cordelia, who remembered hearing about what Willow did to Spike when she was Niko during Halloween, rolled her eyes before continuing to talk, "I wonder who that could be."
"Whoever it is… is doing something risky," said Willow as Cordelia looked at the redhead, "I mean she's not trained or…. I mean Buffy's the Slayer and…"
"Oh please," said Cordelia as she waved her hands about while Giles walked down the stairs with the books that Cordelia was looking for. Giles looked at Cordelia while heading behind the counter as he listened to her saying that Buffy wanted to be the only Slayer. Buffy was about to object when Cordelia looked at her, while Giles was scanning the books on the computer, and said that Buffy would rather put all the world's troubles on her shoulders than accept help, "because you just want others to feel sorry for you when you fail.. and then they have to say that 'hey Buffy, of course I'll come help you', geez… can't you just be happy that there's someone out there willing to help you?"
"That is not the point, Cordelia," said Giles as he handed her the books.
"Yeah… sure," said Cordelia sarcastically at Giles, before she looked at Willow, "let me guess, Willow's all for Buffy being the one and only Slayer?"
"Well…" said Willow as Cordelia looked at her with an eyebrow raised, 'she knows.'
"She's the Slayer," said Willow, "I mean…"
"Oh, come on," said Cordelia, "I know Xander just wants to see the costume that this…. Whoever it is, is wearing and…"
"Hey," said Xander as he looked back at Cordelia.
"You said you wanted to see her in those tight jeans," said Buffy.
"I know," said Xander, "but still…"
"All I know?" asked Cordelia as she walked towards the group, occasionally looking at Willow, "whoever this is? She wants to help, so let her help. If she makes mistakes... she'll learn from them. If she dies? Well, I'm sure she knows the risks. Anyway… I've spent enough time with you losers so… see ya."
Willow and Cordelia looked at each other just for one second before the dark-haired cheerleader turned around and headed out the door. The redhead was about to get up when she looked in surprise as Xander called for Cordelia when she was at the doors. Xander quickly got up and then rushed towards the doors where Cordelia was waiting, and then pulled her outside while loudly saying that he wanted to give her a piece of his mind for what he said about Buffy. Once Xander was gone, Willow shook her head and watched as Giles went to his office. In the meantime, Buffy shouted at Giles if he had anything for them.
"No!" shouted Giles as he walked out of his office and then towards the table carrying some books, "you two should go home, and Buffy does have patrol tonight."
"You think she's gonna show up again?" asked Buffy as she looked at Giles.
"Perhaps," said Giles as he sighed before fixing his glasses, "if I knew who it was under that mask, I would tell her to be very careful.. she did manage to take care of herself last night, but…. But there is the danger that she would find herself out of her depth if she keeps on going on like this."
"Then if she shows, we tell her to stop what she's doing," said Buffy as Willow nodded her head. The blonde Slayer then got up and told Giles that she was going to head to Angel's mansion before heading home. Willow said that she needed stay behind since she was supposed to help Xander with some algebra.
"Cool," said Buffy with a grin, "so… Oz ask you out yet?"
"Buffy," said Willow with her eyes wide open.
"What?" asked the Slayer as she shrugged her shoulders while she was walking backwards towards the double doors to the library. The Slayer then turned around after waving at Willow and walked through the double doors. Once the doors had closed again, Giles took off his glasses and looked at Willow with a frown on his face.
"Nice acting, huh?" asked Willow with a nervous smile, "you know… reverse psychology.. make Buffy and Xadner think that I'm really not approving of the mysterious woman and… I mean I'm scared like you won't believe when I went up against that vamp but… but Giles, it was so cool and… and terrifying at the same time and…"
"Willow," said Giles as he put both of his hands on the table and leaned forward slightly while looking at the redhead, "you should have told me you wanted to do something like this."
"I was asking myself if I wanted to do this or not," said Willow, "even when I was getting the costume ready… I mean I was thinking 'hey, you do this, then you may die' or 'you better ask Giles', but in the end I guess…. I mean I have these powers and… and I… I think I wanna use them. And I think if I told you then I'd chicken out and…"
"You still sound unsure," said Giles.
"I am," said Willow, "but when I put that thing on last night… I felt… felt different."
"Willow.." said Giles as the redhead interrupted him.
"I'm just missing one thing to put on my costume," said Willow, "something that would hide my scent. Giles?"
"Are you certain you want to do this?" asked Giles.
"I… I do," said Willow as her heart started to beat hard in her chest as she finally made the admission to Giles, "I.. I think I do.."
"You keep up your studies," said Giles as Willow nodded her head, "you don't let that drop… is that understood. And if… if you can't handle something…"
"I'll get out," said Willow nodding her head vigorously.
"I know someone who could help with hiding your scent," said Giles, "just…. Just don't go out tonight. I'll call him, and ask him to send something to me by tomorrow afternoon. But just to be on the safe-side, stay home and hone your telekinesis. Someone's coming to help with your magic abilities this weekend."
"Cool," said Willow as the door opened again and Xander walked in, telling Willow that he was sorry he was away for so long. Willow noticed his face was a bit flushed, and his shirt was crumpled in places, but pushed it to the back of her head. Then while Giles was putting away books, and helping students, Willow was helping Xander with his algebra.
Sunnydale Medical Examiner's Office, 2200 hours; two days later.
Buffy killed someone last night.
That's the thought that was going through Willow's mind as she landed on the roof of the Sunnydale M.E's office. It was earlier that day that they found out that Buffy was responsible for killing a man named Ted, a man that Joyce had fallen for. Willow read in the paper that morning that Buffy was taken in for questioning after she said that she had kill him in self-defence; that Ted had threatened her and had even slapped her. Willow knew that the Sunnydale police were inept, that they would never believe the blonde who they, and Principal Snyder, had pegged as a troublemaker. The redhead remembered how upset Buffy had been; she blamed herself and was at home trying to fix things with her mother. In the meantime, Giles was patrolling in Buffy's place while the redhead, Xander, and Cordelia where checking records on Ted. Willow had found several things after hacking into various departments in Sunnydale, and she had given that information to Xander while telling him to go to the man's address with Cordelia, and she would go to Giles and tell him about the fact that Ted used tranquilizers in many of the food that he had fed to everyone so that they would be at ease with him.
That was only a few minutes ago, Willow stayed in the shadows on the roof while she mentally disconnected the camera, and then used her telekinesis to break the lock on the door of the roof access point.
'I wonder what Zachery would say if he saw me doing this,' thought Willow to herself as she opened the door, 'breaking and entering, neat.'
The redhead then mentally blew all the lights in the stairwell before she ran down the stairs. Immediately after finding out Ted's information and handing everything to Xander and Cordelia, Willow waited for the two of them to leave before she flew home, and then changed into her costume which had some added drops of an elixir, thanks to Giles' contact, that was meant to hide her scent. She then flew out of her house in the cover of darkness, and now she was in the basement of the M.E's office as she looked through the reinforced glass panel on the stairwell door that looked out into a lit hallway where there were two guard doing rounds. She then heard a voice over their radio saying something about a silent alarm that was going off; with the culprit being the roof access point.
Willow hid again when the guards were rushing towards her location since it was the one with rooftop access. She then mentally blew out the lights and camera's in the hallway, an action that made the guards cover themselves from the falling shards of glass as Willow used the distraction to quickly open the door and rush in. She punched one guard in the face before she punched another one in the abdomen when he heard his partner going down, Willow saw that he was reaching for a gun… so she mentally took it out of its holster and then threw it to the end of the hallway while the redhead jumped and then kicked him on the side of his head.
Willow then rushed to the room where the bodies were being held after she lay the unconscious guard on the floor against the wall. She used her gloved hand to cautiously open the door, and then she opened her eyes wide in surprise once she saw the mess in the body room. Willow rushed in and kneeled next to a man wearing a lab coat who was lying unconscious on the floor. The redhead felt for his pulse, and breathed out relieved that he was alive. She then looked up at the empty table where a white sheet had been pulled back, and on the floor there was a toe tag. Willow picked it up and then headed to a computer in the corner; she heard the sounds of footsteps in the distance as she started to type in the numbers on the toe tag.
Once she pressed the 'enter' key, Willow's eyes opened wide in shock under her goggles before she closed her entry, and then ran out of there as fast as she could. Just as she entered the stairwell that led to the roof, six guards had entered the body room and discovered the injured morgue attendant.
When she was on the roof, Willow flew up into the air and then headed towards the Summers house… which would take only three minutes as she flew as fast as possible. However, she knew that she needed to land soon since she was beginning to feel pain on the sides of her head the faster she flew.
'Few more minutes,' thought Willow to herself, 'I didn't go out last night, but I did go flying… and if I stay longer than twenty minutes in the air… then I have that headache and I get knocked out. Same thing happened when I go really fast, the time's cut down by half and I get the headaches… and get knocked out for much longer. And right now? It's gonna be eight minutes in the air. I need a break soon.'
Willow slowed down once she reached Buffy's house, and then her eyes went wide open when she looked through Buffy's window and saw Ted back fist Buffy, which then threw the Slayer against the wall. Willow saw Buffy slip down onto the floor as Ted looked down at her, and it was then that the redhead noticed sparks coming off a cut on his arm.
"Sparks?" asked Willow to herself as Ted rushed out of the room, which led to Willow dropping down to the walkway in front of the Summer's porch. She ran up the stairs and, just before reaching the door, the redhead took out her pepper spray and had it ready while she mentally unlocked the door and slammed it open just as Ted reached the bottom of the stairs, and was looking at the black figure heading towards him.
"Who the…" said Ted as Willow knocked him back onto the stairs using her telekinesis… however, the redhead felt something odd when she pushed him back onto the stairs. It was as if he was heavier than he seemed to be. However, Willow stepped in to the foyer and activated the pepper spray… a stream headed towards the man's eyes. But where he was supposed to be screaming in pain, Willow looked on stunned as the man just wiped off the chemical and said that she was a bad girl.
Willow then dove to one side, into the living room, as Ted lunged at her. The redhead rolled on th floor before she got up and took out the baton from its sheath. The redhead flicked her wrist and twenty-six inches of steel extended before she prepared herself to make another move.
"Ted?" asked a familiar voice from behind the man.
"Joyce," said Ted with a smile while he tried to hide the injury to his arm, "I…. wanna play some board games… Joyce my dear, we're going on a trip and…"
"What's going on?" asked Joyce as she looked past Ted at the figure in black, and then she looked at the strange facial ticks on the man who was dead just last night. Joyce looked between the both of them for a few seconds, wondering what was going on while wondering why Ted was talking as if he had two personalities.
"What's going on is that you are living with me," said Ted as he smiled at Joyce while he was rushing towards Willow, "we're going to be so in love and… and…. Buffy's going to die and you will be mine for all time."
Willow ducked as Ted punched at her, and then she rolled behind him and struck the back of his knees with the baton. However, it had no effect… all she heard was a dull 'klang' before she looked up at him. He rushed towards her again, so she ran towards Joyce and grabbed her before she telekinetically pushed her out of the back door.
"Wait," said Joyce as she felt herself being pushed by an invisible force out of the back door while the black figure turned around and crossed her arms in front of her and created an orange shield that blocked Ted's punches, "wait! Ted, stop this…"
"Joyce then felt one more push as the back door was mysteriously shut in her face, and the lock engaged from the inside. With Willow glad that Joyce was safe, she used her telekinesis to push back Ted… however it still felt hard for her to push him back.
'He's much heavier than he looks and….' thought Willow to herself as she used another telekinetic burst to push his away slightly, 'and his arm sparked, I thought I saw lights, and… and the voice. It's like… a robot? Are you freaking kidding me? Well, that does explain some things… using the baton is out of the question… my arms don't have the strength. Well, technically the force depends on my muscles, tendons, blah, blah, blah, and then air resistance and…. Stupid Willow.'
The redhead smiled under her balaclava as she looked at Ted and then pushed him back one more time. She then mentally hit him hard on the side of his face using her baton, with a force that was nearly equal to her own body weight.
"I can lift myself,' thought Willow to herself as she saw Ted stumble and fall onto the floor from that hit. It was then that Willow pulled the baton back to her when she saw Ted looking up at the stairs while covering his face with his hands. The redhead saw Buffy jump down onto Ted's chest before she turned around and saw a cast iron skillet on the island. Willow mentally grabbed it just as Ted pushed Buffy off him and onto the dining room table.
"Two bad girls!" shouted Ted as he lunged at Buffy who was getting up after rolling off the dining table.
Willow threw the skillet at the Slayer who caught it as she was getting up while the redhead, at the same time, mentally swung the baton on the other side of Ted's face with her full body weight behind the hit, on the side of his head. Ted then stumbled sideways while Buffy screamed at him to get out of her house while she swung the skillet hard, much harder that Willow ever could because of her superhuman strength. The redhead stepped to one side as Ted flew right past her and land at the entrance to the kitchen, and there he remained unmoving. Willow and Buffy, both panting, looked at each other just as the front door opened and Joyce rushed in while calling for Buffy.
Taking the distraction, Willow turned, ran, and then jumped over the fallen Ted whose face, Willow had seen, was ripped off by the force of Buffy's hit. She could see the metal and the circuitry underneath as she rushed through the door while Buffy was closely behind her.
'Please don't fail me now,' though Willow to herself as she jumped, and then flew higher into the air before she turned mid-air and hovered. She saw Buffy looking at her and asking who she was, and how it was she knew that Ted was in her home.
"Listen," said Buffy as she looked at the figure in black floating in the air, "we need to talk and.. and this whole silent thing is so not cool. Can we talk? At least? There's… look, thanks for saving mom and…"
Willow just nodded her head, her aching head, as she rose up and flew as fast as she could away from the Summers house. The pain in her head was getting intense the faster she flew home, so intense that her vision was getting blurred and she could feel some wetness coming down from her nose.
'Almost home,' thought Willow to herself as she hurriedly land on the roof outside her window, she mentally opened it and then rushed inside and closed the window behind her. She was feeling so hot now, and her head was burning as she hurriedly took off her clothes… the cool air of her room brushing against her face as she took off her balaclava, and then against her bare skin as she took off her jacket, jeans, and tank top and threw them on the floor. She wiped the blood from her nose as s she stumbled towards her bed while the pain in her head started to get even more intense; now she couldn't even keep her eyes open as she felt for the edges of her bed. Once she felt the mattress, she flopped down on the bed and sighed; and then she lost consciousness.
TBC.