Note: I do not own or claim to own any content or character's borrowed from Buffy the Vampire Slayer / Angel or The Dresden Files. Both belong to their respective owners.
Set sometime after Season 7 with some elements from the Season 8 graphic novel (so spoilers if you are reading them). For the Dresden Files set sometime after Turn Coat.
"We need Giles! Xander, where is he?! Why hasn't he returned my calls?!?!"
Xander looked up from his seat by his bestest bud. His bestest bud who had not woken up for three days. His bestest bud who had shown up looking tired and drawn and about to break. "He will call us back Buffy. Why don't you go and beat something up? Train some of the girls? Check in on Dawnie? I'll stay here and the first second she wakes up I will send someone running."
Buffy's face wrinkled up "No one will train with me right now and Dawn sent me here to check up on Willow. Xan I can't do this. I can't do the political stuff. I can't negotiate with them. They did this to Willow." She stalked about the room just aching to beat something up. She had been to worried to go and patrol Giles might phone, Willow might wake up. "Give me someone to punch and I am your girl but this? This is Giles and Willow territory."
Xander picked up a small cell phone from one of the side tables. It had been sitting out the entire time "Go. Smash. Bash. Beat up some vampires. The second she wakes up I will let you know."
"But.." Slayers were not built for waiting or for sitting. Willow was lying there in the bed helpless and there was no one to hit. Buffy felt useless. Even if Willow was a big-magical-powerhouse a part of Buffy still clung to it being her job to keep them all safe. She'd got better at not pushing them away, she'd learned those lessons but she still wanted to keep them safe. She still normally could which made it a million times worse when the few times she couldn't happen.
"No, no buts. You go out there and do the slayery thing, get some sleep and then in the morning we trade off so I can sleep. Buff I can't leave her alone and I will need to sleep soon. We can take shifts." Xander knew he had won when Buffy's eyes had started darting to the door. They couldn't leave Willow alone like this but at some point they would both need to sleep. Plus the pacing was driving him insane.
The blonde slayer plucked up the phone "And you will call if she wakes up?"
"The very second she wakes up the second thing I will do is call you" Xander promised sincerely.
"Second?" Ooops now Buffy's feet were firmly planted on the floor.
"Yes. The first thing I am going to do is tell her off for scaring us like this and then I will phone you." Xander held his breath and hoped that would be enough to reassure Buffy, it should be.
Buffy frowned. "Fine. I'll ask Dawn to bring up some coffee and something to eat for you. Need anything else?" she still sounded reluctant but at least she was leaving.
"Twinkies and pay per view?" his one eye twinkled though not as much as usual.
Finally alone with Willow Xander sagged. "Come on you big badassed wiccan. You know it's not fair of you to scare me like this Wills. If something happened to you too... I just I couldn't ... and you heard Buffy we can't
An hour later a knock at the door startled him awake. Dawn wouldn't have knocked? Dawn would have just walked right in. Bleary eyed he noticed the blanket around his shoulders. Looking around the room he noticed a cold cup of coffee and a plate of twinkies. Dawn had already been. "Yes?"
In walked a tall cloaked figure wearing long billowy robes and holding a staff. While Xander recognized the man he was automatically on the defensive. These Wizards had brought Willow nothing but harm and now here was her teacher. The man who was supposed to guide her and in Xander's book keep her safe and look at what good that had done. This big strong powerful Wizard was standing there perfectly unharmed while Willow lay motionless in a bed.
"Wizard give me one good reason why I shouldn't have the slayers tear you out of here. I know a fair few who have taken issue with how your kind have been treating our Willow." he snarled as he stood.
The Wizard at the door stood motionless from behind the cloak "Because it will make things much harder than they already are for her. She is well?"
Xander shot up roaring "No she damn well is not well! She wont wake up we can't wake her up! And you didn't keep her safe! As far as I am concerned the Slayers and Angel can have the lot of you treaty be damned!"
"Your loyalty for your friends is admirable but misguided, I have no intentions of harming my own apprentice." Again the man stood very still making no motions and kept his deep voice calm and low. "My being at the meeting would have caused no good and would have created very little harm."
Xander stayed standing arms crossed and glaring "Make with the sense talking or the leaving or we will force you."
"Would you believe young man that if I had left to go to the meeting the world as we know it would have ended and she would have been in far worse condition than she is now."
Xander's foot tapped "Less of the vague and more of the explanations I'm not going to ask you again. That is my best friend lying there and you guys put her there"
"I cannot everything to you we hold our secrets more closely than you do. But I will try to think of a way to explain." finally the cloaked man moved into the room some and gestured towards the chairs by the bed. "Shall we sit because this will probably take some time."
"Fine. But wizard if I'm still not happy after you explain the Slayers get a new punching bag" Xander fell into his seat some what glad he didn't have to try and guess depth perception while groggy and with only one eye. Some things never got easy to do.
Rashid sat there for a contemplatively for a moment. "There was no way I could get to the meeting. I was kept by very pressing matters. Your people, of all people might understand the seriousness of it. If I had left to go to the meeting the world would have likely ended."
A silver beard ghosted out from behind the cloak "in the end it may be best that it happened this way. There are those among us and those within the Senior Council who will hold Willow's past actions against her. While we all now understand how well connected this young witch is they were not counting on her to have an Outsider among her allies. She has made a large show of power and put those who would move against her in a weaker spot.
Xander didn't look impressed "so if she wakes up, great, she's not in a totally horrible position just a mostly horrible one."
"None of her paths were to be easy." Rashid brought back the hood on the cloak.
Years ago Xander would have reacted visibly. Sitting on the other side of the bed was a man with a face that would make his look like it belonged in a modelling catalogue. One eye was missing and in it's place was a small silver coloured ball. The old silver scars that ran across the eye still stood out strongly against the leathered skin. As it was the shock almost threw him off.
Collecting himself by eating a Twinkie "What exactly is that supposed to mean?" Xander asked in between bites.
"That is harder to explain and some context may help." Rashid paused collecting his thoughts and words "when I attended what was to be your friend's execution for her crimes looking at her something became very clear to me. Things have been changing. Your people have noticed it too I am sure. The balance is shifting more heavily and the dark creatures are becoming more active. Something is moving and your young friend is instrumental in all of us surviving."
Xander thought about what had just been said "so if Willow wasn't something important in that situation you would have just let her die? What sort of people just kill someone? I heard about her so called attempt at a trial."
"Yes we would have killed her as regrettable as the loss of any life can be we cannot allow Warlocks to run unchecked. What does your organization do with slayers that past reforming? Are there not rules and codes that cannot be crossed?" Rashid still kept his voice soft and gentle so as to not alarm the boy.
"But that's different! They're slayers and we don't just automatically kill them! You may not get this but we don't follow the old way of doing things any more here" Xander exclaimed defensively.
"Xan... loud... head... hurting." a weak protest came from in the bed.
"Willow you're awake! Don't you dare scare us like that ever again!" Xander exclaimed extra loud.
Willow looked down and worried her lower lip. She hadn't meant to worry him. She just had to find a way to get her an Illyria out of that situation with out anyone ending up dead "Sorry"
Suddenly she found herself engulfed in a Xander hug. "I can't bear to loose you too. None of us could take it Wils."
The after school special moment was ruined a blur of blonde flung the Rashid from his seat into the wall.
Though the wizard dropped his staff in shock he did have enough time to let his entire body go limp saving himself from a few broken bones from the force of the impact.
"What is one of them doing here?" Buffy glared at Xander looking more hurt than upset "You were supposed to get me if she woke up! How could you let one of them in"
"Buffy don't!" Willow cried from her bed. "This is my teacher. Remember, the one who saved my life?"
Xander snorted "yeah just in time to let them abduct you and attack you"
"Xan, not helping right now" the witch snapped at her oldest friend before trying to reason with her other best friend. "Buffy seriously he's one of the good guys"
"Willow how can you trust them after what they did to you? What they keep trying to do to you?" the small blonde woman tried to reason with out ever letting her grip loosen.
"One no one else can teach me what he can Buff and I need to learn."
"But the coven"
"Just because they didn't have anything else they could teach me doesn't mean that I should stop trying to learn. I have all this power in me Buff and it isn't going away the coven taught me basic control but there is so much more I could be doing with it Buff and I can't learn it all alone. You know how well that one ends"
"That's just one though" Buffy protested weakly.
"Two, even magically inclined he's still a human. Slayers don't kill humans remember?" Willow countered.
"There's a whole lot of hurting he could do before I ..."
"Three the treaty. We kill him and we've started a war, Buff you didn't see it their soldiers their cops are kids. Do you want to send these girls out to fight kids?"
"I don't like it though" It was something to see a slayer whine even if she had her hand firmly around your wind pipe.
"You don't have to like it. Plus he can kick my magical ass Buffy. You think he's not just letting you throttle him out of a sign of good faith?"
Buffy turned to look at the man she was throttling only to find her hand was wrapped around air. She tried to squeeze her hand in and it felt like a throat. She could feel the warmth of flesh under her hand. Some how though the wizard had managed to get of her hands with out her even noticing and was across the room his hood concealing the his face. The blonde glared "I don't like it"
"You don't have to like it Buff, now sit down and stop trying to kill my teacher please?" Willow made big sad green eyes at her best friend.
"Fine!" Buffy hurled herself into a seat "But just don't let him forget that we have friends who can kill humans."
A rich loud laugh burst out from the cloak. "It is an honour to meet you Slayer Buffy. I have heard many tales of the slayers during my time as Gatekeeper."
"So. Wait. If you're all uber powerful magical mojo guy and you could take out the slayers how exactly did Willow manage to take you all down?"
There was a tone of pride in the Gatekeeper's voice "And not have a single fatality or inflict a single injury herself?"