For another three hours, the research went on, with all members of the gang present now, even Dawn tagging along, clearly eager to help; despite their efforts though, they found nothing which appeared even remotely helpful, even though Anya had dug out every book she could have been able to think of.
"I can't believe it", Buffy finally stated, her annoyance clearly showing through her voice, "there has to be something somewhere!"
"Nothing here", Pat sighed, snapping the book about poisons she had been reading shut; she'd gotten excited several times when she had found substances which could cause one of the symptoms Willow was suffering from, but none of those had been cited as causing all of them at once.
"But there has to be something, somewhere", Xander almost grumbled, staring at the book he had been going through angrily, as if it was the fault of the pages that so far, they hadn't found anything, "I mean, there has to be a reason for why this is happening to Willow, right?"
"For sure", Giles agreed, sounding tired and dismayed as well, "but it seems as if the answer to that question isn't in any of my books, which is, frankly, quite disconcerting."
"So what do we do now?" Pat demanded to know, crossing her arms over her chest while next to her, the redhead shifted on her chair nervously, "just wait and see what will happen? That's not an option, you know."
"I could check the internet", Dawn suggested, shrugging when everyone looked at her with surprise, sounding slightly defiant when she spoke on. "It's worth a try, right? The worst thing that could happen is that I don't find anything, but if I do…"
She shrugged again, smiling slightly when after a moment, Giles nodded, then asked her when she could do this, prompting her to shrug for a third time before she told him she could get started right after returning to her home.
"I'll keep looking into this, too", the Watcher promised in response, looking at Willow again now, "and maybe we should contact the coven in England, they might know something about this…"
"I doubt it", the redhead sighed, prompting the Brit to raise an eyebrow at her, the questioning look making her explain the reason for her doubts. "They're witches, and it's not been caused by a spell. They don't know much about poisons, right?"
"Probably not", Giles had to admit, taking off his glasses and starting to clean them, as he always did when something was bothering or annoying him, "but it is worth a try. We are at a dead end here, after all…"
"Is there anything we can do?" Willow wanted to know after having to admit that the Watcher had a point here; to her dismay, he shook his head, then moved over to her, placing one hand on her shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"Just go home", he then advised, his voice kind, "and I suggest that you stay there as much as possible, if your aggression is still at this high level… We don't need unwanted attention before we can figure out what is going on."
"You're asking me to stay at home until this has been solved?" Willow demanded to know, sounding both bewildered and slightly annoyed; keeping her current tendency to overreacting in mind, Pat quickly reached out and grasped her hand, making the redhead look at her, giving her best to sound soothing when she answered for the Watcher.
"Giles has a point, you know", she let the witch know, choosing her words carefully, "plus, you'll be safest at home, in case any other symptoms come up… And I'll be there with you, I'll make sure you won't get bored."
"Plus, it surely won't be for long", Buffy added, making the redhead look from her girlfriend and at her, "we'll figure out what is happening to you, and how to get rid of whatever it is, and then everything will be just as it was before… whatever it was that happened and caused all this."
"Also", Dawn found it necessary to add her own arguments, making Willow wonder briefly if she had sounded that angry about staying at home for a few days, since they all were trying to convince her otherwise, "if this is caused by some poison, maybe it'll go away once there's no more of it added to your system, and if you stay at home, that won't happen, right?"
"Alright, alright", the redhead finally – and grudgingly – gave in, "I'll stay at home. I just hope it won't take forever until we figure something out."
"I'm sure this won't be the case", Giles reassured her, patting her shoulder once more; she just gave him a miserable look, then got up from her chair, prompting Pat to do the same a second later.
"We'll call in case anything comes up", the demon promised, making Buffy nod before she told the taller woman to take good care of Willow; reassuring her that she would, Pat put on her jacket, then put her arm around the redhead's shoulders again, giving her a calming smile when she felt how tense she was.
"And you call us as soon as you know anything", she then stated, giving Giles a strict look and making him nod as well; afterwards, both Willow and Pat said goodbye, then left the Magic Box and headed home, the witch still not all too happy about the thought of having to stay there for God knew how long, but knowing that at least for now, she didn't have much of a choice.
The moment they had arrived at the apartment, Willow almost jumped out of her shoes and jacket, then hurried into the living room; startled at her speed, Pat quickly followed her, raising an eyebrow when she saw the witch sit down with her laptop on the table in front of her.
"Dawn's idea is good", the redhead explained at her girlfriend's questioning look, "maybe we can find something on the internet. And it'll keep me busy, if I really am supposed to stay here as much as possible…"
"Can I help?" the demon asked in reply, figuring that her girlfriend had made a good point; smiling, Willow nodded, then patted the couch beside her, a mischief glint in her eyes when she spoke up. "Yes, you can, by sitting down here and cuddling with me while I look…"
"Gladly", Pat agreed at once, asking the witch if she should get drinks for them first; after thinking about for a moment, Willow nodded, making the demon smile at her before she moved into the kitchen, finding two cooled cans of coke in the fridge, opening them while she returned to the living room, handing one of them to her girlfriend before she sat down next to her.
"Thanks", the redhead smiled, leaning in for a kiss afterwards, another wish the demon gladly fulfilled; then, she leaned back into the couch and put an arm around the smaller woman, prompting her to take the laptop into her lap and lean back against her girlfriend, making Pat wrap both arms around her a moment later.
"Now I'm all set", Willow decided once she had made herself comfortable; she took the time to make sure that the laptop was standing on her upper legs securely, then started typing, entering the address of one of her favourite websites about all things supernatural.
"Unlike most other sites about those topics, this is one of the few which is not ninety-five percent junk", she explained, giggling when Pat pointed to a recently added article about how the water from the tap was used to control the population, her voice dry when she replied. "So it's only seventy percent junk, then?"
"I don't know why they allow this conspiracy theory stuff", the witch gave back, moving the cursor to the search field of the site, "but other than that, they are pretty good. Now let's see if there'll be anything useful here…"
Even though looking at computer screens tired her eye out very fast, Pat forced herself not to look away as Willow started looking for answers; it didn't take long until her eye started to tear up, and she absent-mindedly wiped at it, making Willow look away from the computer screen and at her, worry clearly showing through her gaze.
"Are you sure you want to look at this with me?" she asked, sounding just as concerned as she was looking.
"I'll be fine", the demon stubbornly gave back, leaning forward a bit before Willow could reply anything and tapping the laptop monitor, pointing one of the links out to her.
"What about this?" she asked, as if to underline the point that there had been enough conversation about her eye's reaction to computer screens, making a long face when Willow shook her head.
"We've already ruled out possession, remember?" the witch then reminded her girlfriend of the results the day's research had brought, "so that won't help. It has to be something else…"
"All I can think of is poison", Pat mumbled in reply, glaring at the laptop screen as if it was the machine's fault that so far, they hadn't found anything, "but the thought of someone poisoning you is just as unsettling as the thought of some weird spirit possessing you. And I have no idea when either of the two could have happened."
"Me neither, especially not the possession thing", Willow sighed, focusing on the website again. "Poisoning would be possible", she went on while she clicked on several other links, leading to different websites, "at college, for example…"
She trailed off, her fingers coming to a rest on the keyboard as she frowned to herself, her mind suddenly working on high speed, unpleasant possibilities rising to the surface.
"Or someone close to me", she added after a few moments of silence, turning her head to look at her girlfriend, "like you."
In response, the demon let out a chuckle, shaking her head – before she saw the expression in the redhead's eyes, the sight prompting her good eye to go wide, shock in her voice when she replied. "Wait, you're not joking, are you? You're serious?"
"Well, it can't be possession, as we figured it out", Willow gave back, her voice now cold; she shut the laptop and put it on the couch beside her, then got up, shooting an accusing look at the taller woman.
"And if it is poison, that would make sense, right?" she went on, not even realizing how crazy she was sounding. "How often do you bring me drinks and food? It'd be easy for you to slip something in there, right?"
"This is crazy", Pat gave back, barely able to believe her ears, still hoping that the witch was joking, even though she clearly could see in her eyes that she wasn't. "Why would I do that?" she went on, getting up from the couch as well and staring down at the smaller woman incredulously, her mind racing as she tried to find the right words to make Willow see how crazy exactly that idea was.
"I love you!", she added after a moment, holding back the urge to nervously run both hands through her hair, "why should I do this to you?"
"I don't know", Willow gave back, crossing her arms over her chest, clearly not impressed by her girlfriend's words, "why would you? You'd have your reasons, I imagine."
"This is crazy", Pat repeated, hating how helpless this was making her feel, but giving her best not to let that show.
"Look", she went on after another second, "this has to be another symptom of whatever it is that is wrong with you! At first it made you aggressive, and now it's making you paranoid!"
"Or that's what you want me to think", Willow snapped, her eyes going in the next moment, another very unpleasant thought coming to her mind.
"You're all in on it, aren't you?" she cried out, with so much force in her voice that the black haired woman nearly took a step back, "all of you! The whole gang! This is why you all wanted me to stay here, so you can keep an eye on me easier, isn't it? And go on with poisoning me easier!"
"Are you even listening to yourself?" Pat demanded to know as an answer, staring at the witch with disbelief. "This is crazy!" she said for the third time, as if Willow would realize that too after hearing it often enough, "don't you realize that, as well? I'm your girlfriend, the others are your friends, Buffy and Xander are your best friends! Why would we do such a thing?"
"I don't know", Willow gave back, "but I'll find out. I'm afraid this means I can't play along much longer."
With those words, she grabbed her handbag and started to make her way towards the hallway; before she could reach it though, Pat had moved with surprising speed to stand in front of her, all annoyance and disbelief gone from her voice, concern replacing it fully as she tried to stop her girlfriend.
"Don't go", she almost pleaded, grasping the redhead's shoulders and making sure to hold her gaze, "don't you see? This is just like after we gave you that potion, you thought we're all thinking that you lost your mind, but then you realized something's wrong… This is just another symptom, calm down and think about it and you'll see I'm right!"
"I'm leaving now", Willow replied coldly, clearly not willing to do what her girlfriend had suggested, "and you won't keep me from doing so."
"I have to", Pat gave back, tightening her grip on the smaller woman's shoulders slightly, "I can't let you go out there as long as you're… like this. I'm sorry."
"So how do you intend to stop me?" the redhead asked sweetly in reply, "knock me out? Tie me up? Both?"
Stunned, all Pat could do in reply was stare at her, having to admit that she didn't have an answer to that; Willow gave her a smile, then pushed past her and into the hallway, the sound of her putting on her shoes tearing the demon out of her reverie. Quickly, she turned and hurried after her girlfriend, reaching out and grasping her arm just as she reached for her jacket, not sure what she wanted to do to stop her, but also knowing that she couldn't just let her go.
"Willow, please", she thus tried to reason once more, "just think about this…"
"Let go of me", the redhead snapped in reply, turning to glare at the taller woman, "I'm leaving, and I will not let you stop me!"
In response, Pat merely kept holding on to her arm, fumbling for words as she tried to find the right ones to make her girlfriend see reason; before she could come up with anything though, Willow's gaze suddenly darkened – and then she reached out with her free hand, placing it on the black haired woman's chest, a malicious smirk Pat never had seen on her face before slowly curling her lips.
The demon just had another second to wonder what was going to happen, sensing that it would be something quite dreadful; before she could say anything though, or try to step away, blue fire suddenly crackled between Willow's fingers, sharp pain racing through her chest for a few horrible moments, a low groan escaping her.
"See, this is the problem", Willow stated coldly, the crackle of her magic increasing, heightening the pain of her girlfriend as well, "unlike you, I'm willing to take certain… measures to get what it want."
With those words, her fingers curled into a fist, making Pat momentarily feel as if something was tugging at her heart with nauseating, horrible strength – before Willow unclenched her fist with a quick movement, a low thumping sound echoing through the apartment as the demon got hit by some massive, shockingly strong force, her feet even leaving the carpet briefly as she got thrown backwards, the apartment door stopping her harshly.
The sound of her girlfriend hitting the wood and the sight of how she slumped down the carpet, grasping her chest in pain, accomplished what all the reasonable words hadn't been able to do – Willow's eyes went wide as she stared at her and realized what she had done, all unpleasant thoughts about how her state was the fault of her friends and her girlfriend vanishing from her mind within the blink of an eye.
"Oh, God", she brought out, dropping her handbag and rushing to the taller woman's side, "I'm so sorry… Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"
"I think I'm fine", Pat groaned in reply, moving her hand from her chest to the back of her head, grimacing when she felt the bump which was already forming there.
"I never knew that door's so robust", she added, giving the witch a thankful smile when she put an arm around her waist and helped her to her feet, all at once feeling close to tears.
"I can't believe I did that", she brought out, her voice trembling, "I'm so sorry…"
"It's not your fault", the demon reassured her, grimacing once more as she let Willow lead her back to the living room, her head pounding by now, but at least the pain in her chest was slowly fading. "It's… whatever it is that is wrong with you…"
The quick forgiveness and the ease with which it was provided pushed Willow over the edge within seconds; she looked at her girlfriend for a few moments longer, then her lower lip started to tremble, tears rolling down her cheeks moments later, a harsh sob escaping her.
"Hey, no, don't cry", Pat tried to calm her down at once, "please? I'm fine, really, it wasn't that bad…"
"I can't believe I did this!" Willow sobbed in reply, sitting down next to the demon on the couch and burying her face in her hands.
"It's okay, really", Pat reassured her once more, putting one arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to herself, her pain forgotten at the sight of Willow so distressed. "I'm fine, and you'll be fine too, we'll figure out what is causing this and then we'll help you get rid of it… I'm just glad you didn't leave."
"I hope this won't happen again", the redhead sniffled in reply, accepting the handkerchief her girlfriend was holding out to her and blowing her nose before she spoke on, sounding a bit calmer now, the flow of tears slowly coming to an end. "I was so sure that all of you are behind this, it just came into my mind like out of nowhere, but the moment I thought of it, I was so sure that it's true and that I have to leave…"
"Almost as if whatever it is wanted you separate from all of us", Pat thoughtfully gave back, "who knows what would have happened if you'd really gone…"
"I don't even want to think about it", Willow mumbled, shuddering at various horrible possibilities which came up in front of her inner eye, "I'm just glad I snapped out of it, even though I hurt you before doing so…"
"You didn't hurt me badly", Pat reassured her, "stop worrying about that… But we really have to figure this out fast."
"Indeed", Willow sighed, showing how fast she wanted to figure this out by opening the laptop up again and placing it on her upper legs, focusing on the search for answers again not even a minute later while Pat remained next to her and watched her, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what was going on – and how to stop her girlfriend from leaving the next time such thoughts might be put into her mind.