I am ashamed to say that it's been many months since I updated this story. It's not reviewed much, so I had been focusing on other stories. However, I don't plan on abandoning it, and I will finish it. I apologize for the long wait for those that are reading and following this story. I actually finished this chapter last week, but I forgot to post it. Sorry!

Chapter 22: The Hex

*****Neptune, the next morning*****

Willow and Tara came to visit Veronica before the sun was up. Currently, she was in a private room. They peeked into the room and saw Keith sitting in the chair next to her bed, dozing. Logan was on the other side, holding her hand.

"How are we going to do this?" Tara asked Willow.

"If Keith wakes up, we'll just tell them his daughter's been cursed, and we are going to break the curse," Willow said.

"What if he tries to make us leave?" Tara inquired.

"He won't," Willow said. "He loves his daughter more than anything, and he would grab any solution that might help her."

"We'll have to be quick," Tara said. "Without finding the witch who hexed her, this is a bit more complicated."

"Not really," Willow said.

"Taking her to a body of water would be the best," Tara said. "If we light sage in the hospital room, this will be a short session."

Willow didn't know how to explain the power she felt coursing through her. Since leaving Sunnydale, her power seemed purer and stronger than ever. It was like she was overflowing with magic, and she didn't doubt that curse or magic could stand against her own magic and will.

Tara tapped Logan on the shoulder to rouse him. "Sshh," she said quietly. "We're here to help Veronica."

Logan nodded and stood up to move out of their way, but he was near enough to reach her if she needed him.

Veronica was a light sleeper, so as soon as Tara rubbed anointing oil on her forehead and eyes, she stirred. She smelled something burning.

"Who's there?" Veronica asked, hating the note of fear in her voice.

"It's okay, Veronica," Tara said softly. "It's just Willow and I."

"Oh," Veronica said. "Thanks for coming."

"We came as soon as we heard," Willow said.

"What did you put on my eyes?" Veronica asked. "What's that smell?"

"Babe, they're going to fix you," Logan told her moving to the side of the bed Keith was on. He hadn't awoken yet, so Logan kept his voice down.

"How can they do what the doctors can't?" Veronica asked, her fear and dejection apparent in her voice.

"There's nothing physically wrong with you," Willow told her. "You've been cursed. We've seen this before in Sunnydale."

"That's ridiculous," Veronica said. "There's no such thing as curses."

"Veronica, what would it hurt if they say a Wiccan prayer?" Logan asked. "Let them try to help."

"It's your time to waste," she said sourly.

Now Keith was awake and blinked at the girls on the other side of his side. "Good morning, girls," he said. "What time is it?"

"It's not yet five a.m," Willow said. "We came as soon as we heard."

"They don't like non-family here when it's not visiting hours," Keith said.

"I'm Veronica's brother," Logan said with a smirk.

"It's still not funny," Veronica said, grimacing in distaste.

"It's a little funny," Keith remarked. "Did you burn something?"

"Just a little sage. It's for warding off darkness," Tara said as simply as she could.

"Keith, we know what's wrong with Veronica," Willow shared. "It's not something a doctor can fix."

"What do you mean?" Keith asked, frowning.

"She's been cursed by a witch," Willow said. "We're going to break the curse."

"I know it sounds crazy," Logan said. "But they're not fakes. Willows got special abilities, and they made some salve that helped me heal from the explosion. I have no scarring."

"That's true. You don't," Veronica said, frowning. How did she not question that fact? Some detective she was. "You told me it wasn't as bad as the doctor's first thought."

"I told you they gave me some homemade salve," Logan reminded her.

"You didn't tell me they made magic medicine," Veronica countered.

"Guys, the nurse could come in," Tara said anxiously. "We need to hurry."

"This won't take long," Willow said.

"It's painless," Tara added.

"Go ahead," Veronica said. "When nothing happens, I'll still like you."

"We appreciate that," Tara said, smiling. She reached over and took Veronica's hand.

She and Willow began chanting, "Maledicta frangatur!"

"Let the curse be broken?" Veronica translated.

Willow stopped and looked at her in surprise. "You know Latin?" she asked.

Veronica nodded. "Yes. It was a summer project," she shared.

"Breaking curses simply requires ritual words that reflect your will, faith, and a bit of power," she said.

The pair picked up the chant, holding each of Veronica's hands. Keith watched with a frown on his face. He found their actions very strange, but if it could help his little girl, then he would not interfere. It seemed a benign exercise, so he didn't have to be too concerned for his daughter's safety.

Then something changed. Willow broke off from the chant, shouting, "Praecipio tibi, dimitte eam. Hic tibi nulla potestas!" Then her eyes went solid white and the hands holding hers glowed for a flash. Then everything was back to normal.

Keith stood up and looked at his daughter, who had closed her eyes. "Veronica, are you okay?" he asked.

She opened her eyes, smiling at her father whom she could now see. "It worked!" she exclaimed.

Tara stepped back, so Keith could embrace his daughter. "I am so happy!" he told her, looking at her.

"Even your hair is back!" Logan shared, stroking her head. He grinned at Willow.

"No way!" Veronica shouted, jumping out of the bed and going to the mirror. Not only could she see herself in the mirror, but there was no missing hair from her head.

"It's amazing," Keith said.

"You two freakin' rock!" Logan said, hugging Willow.

Veronica turned to the two girls and nodded. "I don't know what to think, and I don't know how you saying in Latin, 'I command you, let her go. You have no power here,' managed to do this."

"You couldn't see her, sweetheart," Keith said. "Willow was channeling something I can't explain. Her eyes went completely white, and then her hand holding yours and Tara's hand holding yours glowed."

"Really?" Veronica asked, looking curiously at them.

"They have real magic, snookums," Logan said, coming up to hug her. "It's pretty incredible."

The nurse came in, interrupting. "What's all the commotion? I've gotten some complaints," she said.

"Sorry. We were conducting a healing service," Logan said with a cheery grin.

The nurse frowned, looking suspiciously at Veronica. "Your eyes do look better," she observed.

"It was like the film just fell off," Veronica explained.

"I need to check her vitals," the nurse said, looking at the visitors. "You can't be burning stuff in here! What is that?"

"Oh, it's just some sage," Tara said, quickly grabbing it.

"We'll get out of your way," Willow said. "Glad you're doing better."

"Thanks, girls," Keith said, holding out his hand to hers.

She shook it. "You're very welcome," Willow said. "Call me later, Logan."

As they left the room, Tara said, "That was a good thing to do."

"It was," she agreed. "Now we need to figure out what witch hexed Veronica."

"Do you think someone in Neptune did it?" Tara asked.

"Maybe," Willow replied. "However, I would be very surprised that anyone with enough power to do that resided here."

"You mean besides us?" Tara pointed out with a grin.

"Well, yeah," she said. "I could probably do a magical detection smell. If it's not here, we can follow to the nearby town, begin asking questions."

"We should tell Xander," Tara said. "He could go with us in case someone gets ugly." Meeting strange men still made her nervous."

"You know I'd protect you," Willow assured her, reaching for her hand.

"I know," Tara said, nodding.

"Xander has a job. We should ask Dick since he does nothing much be hang out at that frat of his," Willow said.

"Well, they did just buy a hotel," Tara reminded her.

"True, but I bet he would still join us. He has the flexibility Xander doesn't since he's his own boss," she said. "However, Xander might still be in Sunnydale with Anya."

"Do you think Dick's still with Faith?" Tara asked.

"Possibly," Willow said, pulling out her phone. "Xander, are you still in Sunnydale?"

He looked over at Anya, whose bed he slept in last night. He was so weak and unable to resist her. "I'm still here," he admitted.

"Are you with Anya? Are you two back together?" Willow asked.

"Who knows?" Xander said, a note of dejection in his voice. "I don't think anything's changed except I can't move on to another girl, not completely."

Willow knew that he had had fun with Parker and felt bad for him. "Well, if you're not in a hurry to leave, can you stick around? I broke Veronica's hex, but now I'm going to track where it's from. If it doesn't originate from Neptune, it could be there in Sunnydale."

"Okay. Do you want me to tell Kennedy and Wes?" he asked.

"Not yet. I'll let you know," she said. She hung up and called Dick.

"What?" he asked, barely awake as he answered the phone.

"Sorry. Did I wake you? It's Willow," she said.

Dick blinked the sleep from his eyes and looked at the time on his phone. "What the hell, Willow? It's not even daytime yet! I didn't go to sleep until two hours ago," he shared.

"Sorry!" she said. "I just needed some help tracking a witch. Are you here or still in Sunnydale?"

"I'm still in Sunnydale," he said.

"Are you going to be home today?" she asked.

Dick looked at Faith, who was nude and laying on her stomach. The thought of leaving her caused an ache in his chest. He had it bad. "Not if I can avoid it. It's the weekend," he pointed out.

"Okay. Sorry to bother you," she said. Then she hung up before getting into it.

"So they're both in Sunnydale still?" Tara asked.

Willow nodded. "Yep. It's just the two of us," she said.

"I'm sure Buffy will help or Weevil," Tara said.

"True. Let's go get some breakfast and plan out what to do," Willow suggested. The hex was broken, but if a witch was targeting Veronica, she could easily hurt Veronica again.

*****The Summers*****

It was an hour before they allowed Veronica to be released from the hospital. When Keith had called Joyce to tell her the news, she insisted that they come over to her house for breakfast.

Veronica wasn't really up for socializing because she was still trying to wrap her mind around what happened to her. However, Joyce was going to have brain surgery on Monday, and Veronica just didn't want to upset the woman by rejecting her invitation. Logan was going to be with her, so she figured that they could stay for a bit.

One thing that she noticed was how tense Buffy was. She sat next to her sister and was watching her closely. It was odd.

"So you were hexed, huh?" Dawn asked. "One time, witches at Buffy's school hexed her and Cordy. Cordy was so blind that she almost got ran over walking into traffic before Buffy saved her."

"It wasn't witches. Just the one—Amy's psycho mom. Amy was a friend of ours in the same grade," Buffy said. "Her mom had stolen Amy's body, wanting to relive her glory days as a cheerleader. She was totally on the dark magic crazy train."

"How about we not talk about witches at breakfast?" Joyce asked as she passed around a plate of bacon.

"But Veronica was just hexed," Dawn argued. "What else can we talk about? Your brain tumor? Do you want to talk about that?"

"Don't be a brat," Buffy said, frowning at her in disapproval. She looked at Veronica. "Besides me, who else have you pissed off lately?"

Veronica shrugged. "No one that I know of," she said. "I've not solved any mysteries or opened up any can of worms since May."

"Why do you ask that?" Keith asked.

"Because hexes are something only someone really pissed would put on someone," Buffy said. "Most witches wouldn't stoop to even do one."

"I still can't believe magic is real," he said in bemusement. He looked at Joyce, an obvious question in his head.

"No, magic can't help Mom," Buffy said quickly.

"No need. The doctors can," Joyce said lightly.

"We already asked Willow," Dawn explained, looking glum.

"The brain is a tricky thing," Buffy explained.

Keith nodded. "So, Logan, what have you been up to lately?" he asked.

Logan looked at Veronica, smirking. Her eyes warned him not to answer honestly.

"Besides spending time with Veronica and going to school, not much," he said easily. He winked at Veronica.

"He and Dick bought a hotel," Buffy said, giving him a proud smile.

"Really? That's wonderful!" Joyce exclaimed. "The one you're living in?"

Logan nodded. "Buffy and Willow kept ragging us about wasting money, and it just made sense," he said.

Veronica felt a pang of sorrow that it wasn't her that prompt his change of behavior, but she said nothing.

Buffy was still reeling from the news that Dawn wasn't really her sister. How could she know for sure? She would have to talk to Willow.

Keith was just glad his girls were able to spend time with him, and Joyce's daughters seemed to be welcoming him and Veronica in their life. He still didn't understand this magic stuff, but it wasn't his concern anymore. Veronica was fine now, and Joyce would be soon.

*****Willow and Tara's Dorm Room*****

After they ate breakfast, they decided to do the magical detector spell. It was no surprise that the only magical residue in town was their room and Buffy's house.

"That sort of makes sense," Tara said.

"How? Buffy's not magical," Willow said.

"Well, she's kind of a magical creature, right?" Tara asked.

"I suppose," Willow said. "Do you have a piece of Veronica's hair? We need to trace the witch who cursed her."

It was no surprise that the witch was in Sunnydale. It could be anyone as the magic on the hellmouth was too strong to detect one specific witch.

There was a knock on their door, so Willow opened it.

"Hey, Buffy. What's up?" Willow asked.

"I need a spell to break the spell in my house," she said.

"Huh?" Willow asked, confused.

"The monk from last night told me that Dawn is the Key. She's not my sister," Buffy said flatly.

Tara looked at the first map that showed Buffy's house as a magical vortex.

"It wasn't Buffy; it was Dawn," she told Willow. "Dawn is the magical creature in the house."

Willow sighed. Things had been going so well in Neptune, but now it seemed that they had two problems on their hands. A witch hexing their new friend and Dawn.

Even when they weren't on a hellmouth, problems seem to follow them.

*****To Be Continued*****

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