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.
A Warlock, her mentor and her parole officer walk into a bar.
"Is something funny?" Dresden asked the woman who was trying desperately to hide her laughter from behind her hand.
"It's just... a really bad joke?" she replied in between bouts of light laughter. "An apprentice, her mentor and her parole officer walk into a bar..." she trailed off. "Oh shut it I'm paying for dinner I can laugh at my own jokes"
Harry wasn't sure how to take this young woman. She looked so small, her eyes so innocent and bright. But what little information they had in her file showed that she was dangerous and a potential wild card. But then both Rashid and McCoy seemed to think she was important for something, what he hadn't been able to find out.
"So now we are all on neutral ground what exactly brings you to my door? I am pretty sure I am the one who is supposed to be following you."
A blush crept through Willows cheeks "Well... see... you might have read that... well"
Dresden wasn't sure he had heard this much amusement in the Gatekeeper's voice before "What my apprentice is trying to tell you Warden Dresden is that she has given a total of 14 Warden's before you the slip. Most were recovered seriously injured by no fault of her... or her friends."
"And so why decide to come to me... actually hold it a moment. Mac three beers and some dinner. Do you have any of that roast beef?"
Mac looked up at the group.
"Do they have tea or some of that lemonade you make?" Rashid asked. "Old habits die hard and I am afraid I do not consume alcohol"
Willow debated having tea as well but her mentor answered faster than she could "So two beers would be fine and some dinner if it is not too much trouble."
Mac grunted at Willow and then disappeared behind the bar.
"I feel kind of bad about it. In a it was totally not my fault way. I did warn them but none of them listened to me and just went running in ..." all shyness dropped from the red head as she ranted "I mean really you would think they would listen. But oh no me telling them NOT to be some where apparently meant clearly they SHOULD be some where... and sure I can understand the first time it happens but do warden's never learn or do they hire deliberately pigheaded men to preform the job?"
"Willow ... we should remember that Warden Dresden is one of those pigheaded men" Rashid was clearly very amused.
"Eep! I'm sorry! It's not that you specifically are pig headed it just it seems to be a common theme with wardens!"
Harry wondered when his beer would arrive.
"And that brought you to my door how." Hopefully he could get the conversation back on track so he could enjoy his beer and apparently his dinner.
"That was all Rashid. Apparently you are even more stubborn than the other wardens that came before you. He suggested it might be better to try and work with you during crisis situations rather than have alarm bells go off and get you killed."
Rich laughter flowed out of the cloaked man "Those were not my exact words apprentice. I believe I simply implied that Warden Dresden was one of the most stubborn men I had met but that he may also be useful in some of the situations your council comes across and it would be safer for both groups if there was information shared."
"So here!" Willow thrust a small pin across the table.
Harry sat there staring at the pin. The last time someone has given him something like this it had turned out to be a tracking device that had lead the Billy Goats Gruff to him from fairy. It was still not funny. The pin was left there untouched sitting on the table "And that is?"
"Oh!" Willow suddenly understood the confusion. "Oh! Oh yes you people are touchy about things aren't you? This is like the name thing right?" Her brow furrowed in confusion as she ignored Dresden and turned to her teacher.
"Apparently you guys are touchy about using magic to communicate with each other's minds. So if I am doing anything big and magicy I can let you know ahead of time and give you some idea of what the situation is. Then vola!" the petite witch spread her hands "Fewer chances of you getting killed."
"And why now? Why after you've gone through all those Wardens would you give me any warning?"
"Because neither of us have a much of a choice. You have to follow me, you have to tail me and every time I use the big magic you have to make sure I am still a good little witch." The animated witch shrugged.
"Because The Gatekeeper says you are to be trusted. Because I trust him and he trusts you." Willow quickly shifted from serious to mischievous "Plus imagine how pissed off the Merlin is going to be when he finds out we're actually working together instead of getting each other killed."
Harry sat there thinking about what the red head had told him.
Eventually the silence got to Willow. Her anxiety growing. She still wasn't fully convinced this was a good idea. But Rashid had put a good case forward. If it was approached any differently it seemed Mister... Wizard... Warden Dresden would unlike the other wardens go charging in with good intentions and possibly could get killed by joining their battle unprepared.
Willow gave up fidgeting and excused herself from the table fleeing to the washroom instead of continuing to sit in silence.
Sitting alone with The Gatekeeper Dresden fought to keep the bitterness out of his voice. It wasn't her fault that she was lucky enough to have someone step in and save her but he couldn't help but wonder why The Gatekeeper would save her and not any of the others "So why her? You've never interfered with an execution before so why take her as an apprentice?"
"Her employers intervened on her behalf." The Gatekeeper answered simply
Harry still didn't understand what power could her employers have over The Gatekeeper "The Watcher's Council?"
If the booming laughter flowing from the other man was anything to go by there was something Harry was not getting. "No Warden Dresden not the Watcher's Council. Those whom the Watcher's Council work for. I believe they call them the Powers That Be. Higher Beings dedicated to ensuring that the demonic balance in our world does not tip to the side of evil."
"But what could they tell you that would sway your mind?"
"To look at the possibilities myself." Rashid grew solemn "We have both noticed how things have been changing. There is not a single possibility where we can survive with out her."
"How do I know I can trust you? How do I know that you are not..."
"From your Black Council? Look at her with your sight if you must. Perhaps then you will understand and your choice will not be so difficult." Rashid sipped his lemonade and sighed contentedly at the taste. "She did not feel offended when McCoy felt the need to soul gaze her after the Merlin assigned you to watch her."
"Why would..."
The older man interrupted the younger "He has warned me that children how ever capable they become are difficult to let go of at times. Ah Willow!"
Willow had been chattering to Mac at the bar on her way back from the bathroom. The silent man seemed to be putting up with it good naturedly which reassured Harry slightly. But only slightly.
Once she was sitting at the table again Harry debated how to phrase what he wanted to ask her. If it was him he would have been horribly offended. Hell when it was him he was horribly offended.
"It's okay" Willow reassured in her quiet gentle voice. Her eyes down cast "I know you don't trust me. Goddess I barely trust me some days still. So if you want to do that ooky Wizard soul check thingy you can."
Of course she had to look so sad about it. As if he had just kicked her puppy. "I just ... I" Oh there was the Dresden charm.
A soft gentle smile came across her face and she gently patted his hand "It's okay. I know."
"Here? Now?"
Her shoulders lifted in a light shrug "well it is a safe and neutral zone. It seems best for both parties it get done here. That is if Mac does not mind"
The bar tender grunted and went back to putting away the clean glasses Willow had interrupted him from.
Willow's eyes sparkled "plus if I am really horrible and evil and disgusting on the inside I can steal your dinner since you wont want to eat it" she tried to make light of the situation.
"But that's..!"
She leaned forward and whispered slyly "Well I would be evil then you know. I'm pretty sure disgusting you to get your dinner would be small potatoes." she sat back and smiled "Or we could do it after we eat...but then I'll just get nervous and talk all of your heads off."
So Harry opened up his Wizard sight and turned it onto the woman sitting across from him. While the scar of her darker past was clearly left hanging around her. The power that poured out her radiated light making her pale skin even more pale. That power seemed to hold the darker fog that hung around her light at bay. The two dancing together. If Murphy was a knight when he had looked at her through is Wizard's sight then Willow was a goddess.
Her light and darkness seemed to touch and connect with everything around her. And while the darkness was still there hanging around her. The light she glowed with was so bright it may as well have been soul fire. She lit up everything around her more brightly than it was with normal vision. Everything seemed to have more details, more life. Her shadows sucked the light out of the corners.
Even with the darkness clinging to her she was clearly not evil. Powerful yes. Scarred by black magic yes. There was too much life and light that poured off of her. The darkness clung to her like a shadow or a cloak, a mark she wouldn't be able to shake off but it didn't reach into her. At least not any more.
But perhaps that wasn't a distinction most Warden's would make he supposed.
Pulling back his site Harry spoke "So how does this thing work?" he picked up the small device Willow had put on the table earlier.