The Slayercave beneath the Library
"Ugh.. what did you do that for? You shot me twice now!" Willow complained as she woke from her stupor.
"I would shoot you again given the chance." Cordelia replied as she glanced over to Tara who was about finished with both her spells.
"S-Stop! N-n-not again! B-both cages s-should be safe now. Yours against human magical interference a-and yours against d-demonic empowered physical alteration." She sighed, feeling rather exhausted after this much work.
"Demonic empowered .. what?" Cordelia asked looking between Buffy and Tara. "What is she talking about?"
"I have no clue what Giles told her, maybe he thinks Willow put a demon in me..."
"I did no such thing! All I did was .. nudge a little." The redhead half mumbled the last part. "Nudge a little? Tara give me the rifle."
"Oh.." Was all the blond Wicca said in reply and focused her attention back to her magical trinkets, slowing putting everything back where it belonged.
"Oh? What's there to oh about?" Cordelia started to get up from her spot next to Buffy but the slayer stopped her. "Leave her alone, this must be pretty confusing for her."
"She's not the only one, I guess the only one who knows what really happened is the tranquilizer target over there." As Cordelia said this Tara raised her hand. "H-how about we try to figure this out, b-but p-please no more yelling a-and snippy r-remarks I-i don't think I can take any more of t-those."
"That sounds like a brilliant idea, go on Willow, tell us why you soulraped Buffy." Cordelia's voice dripped with venom as she said that and Willow flinched.
Tara was about to say something but Willow held up a hand. "No .. she's right .. It's all my faul. I should not have tried the spell this early on and not without a lot more research about slayers first.. but it was the perfect opportunity. Buffy was very upset and we didn't know what happened .. so I thought I could .. you know help her out and try the spell at the same time. I also added a calming effect just to make sure."
"Now that worked out just dandy didn't it, Buffy looked absolutely serene as she slobbered all over the floor while pouncing on your witchshieldthingie." Cordelia huffed before adding a "Sorry sweetie." in Buffy's direction.
"How was I supposed to know something like that would happen? All I wanted was t-take a quick peek and then calm her down so she could sleep better. Afterwards everything would have been fine, we would have talked about what I saw and tried to come up with a plan."
At this Buffy looked over at the redhead. "Or.. you could have simply let me sleep and explain everything later. There was no need to do what you did.. none at all. You used me as a lab rat Willow, that is taking it too far. If you want to know something just ask ok? And if I don't want to talk about something you have to respect that, that's what friends do right?"
Willow nodded and started to sob. "I'm so sorry Buffy! I will make it up to you I swear!"
Cordelia took Buffy's hand and gently squeezed it. She was amazed that Buffy handled this so .. calmly and quite frankly it worried her a little, if it were up to her she would leave Willow in this cell for good dotted with some more darts for good measure.
Buffy and Cordelia kept holding hands and softly talked about something while Tara made her way over to Willow. "The s-spells you wove were very advanced and dangerous, m-my mother did something like that o-once.. weaving dark and light together.. i-it d-did not end well."
"It's not like I had any other chance. The healing spells were needed to support my body, I would have bled out otherwise. And the blood magic was very much needed or I would not have been able to keep the shield up, or .. uh .. make an exit." Willow said in her defense.
"M-maybe, but you c-corrupted the light to your needs, do you realize what this can do to your s-soul a-and hers? This is sick!" This made Willow flinch again and she kept quiet afterwards.
After what seemed like hours Cordelia tried to convince Tara to let them out of the cages since it was obvious that there was no more danger but the blond held firm. Then she tried the door between the 2 cages on the far side of the room, but this was locked, same as the trapdoor leading to the office.
"Great, what if they arrested Giles and we are stuck in here? Com on Tara get them out of the cages, either of them could open the doors easily." The blond shook her head."N-no Mister Giles said.." Before she could finish the was a rustling of keys and the click of a turning lock.
"I'm terribly sorry, but the police was quite insistent that I follow them to the station to help with a description of the 'vandals'." Tara immediately ran over to him and handed him the rifle. "I-i finished the spells b-but I t-there was no need for any of that. I have to get g-going."
"Well, yes sure run along, thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it."
"N-next time warn me about .. s-something like this please?" She gestured to the room and all it stood for.
"Right.. Of course."
Nodding Tara gave Buffy and Cordelia a timid wave before heading out the door.
"Umm.. well, the police is dealt with and from the looks of it you have calmed down. I'm in no mood to discuss what happened here but I expect to hear from you in the morning. Let me open the cages and I will tell you how to use the tunnels to get back out." He went over to Willow and unlocked her cage with a stern expression on his face. The redhead kept her head down and followed the watcher over to Buffy's cage. "I'm sooo sorry Buffy, c-can we talk about this, maybe tomorrow? Please give me a chance to explain."
The blond nodded and Willow made way for Giles to unlock Buffy's cage as well. Buffy however would not leave her cage and when questioned as to why she simply stared at the ground before looking over to Cordelia.
"It's alright Giles, I'll take care of this, what was that about the tunnels?" The watcher quickly explained the fastest way out of the network of tunnels that ran below the school and left the cave with Willow right behind him.
They huddled together in silence, Cordelia's arms hung protectively around the blond. It was as if time had reverted back by a couple of month and they were in each others arms again to comfort each other like best friends would do.
"I-i'm not sweet.. at all." Buffy mumbled and Cordelia's left eyebrow rose. "Umm.. ok.. where is this coming from?" Somewhat confused Cordelia pulled back a bit to look Buffy in the eyes, but the blond averted her gaze. "Y-you called me sweetie."
"Oh.. sorry that must have slipped out, I did not mean anything by it."
Buffy nodded and Cordelia started to smile. "You know what? I got a great idea. My parents are gone so we got the whole mansion to ourselves, how about you come and stay over for a while. We could catch up and have some fun, just like back then you know?" Buffy murmured something and Cordelia went on. "We can talk about anything you want, whenever you feel like it.. or just relax. I'd really like that, what do you say?"
Cordelia looked down at Buffy who was still in her arms. The girl was trying her best to keep it together, but it was obvious that she was severely shaken up. 'Is this because she attacked me again ? No.. I made sure not to mention it.. and no one else did either. Then because the slayer got out and she lost control .. or what Willow did .. that bitch, how could she do that to Buffy?'
"Shhh.. it's ok, I'm here .. we don't have to go to the mansion. We can stay right here if you want." Cordelia kept stroking Buffy's back in a calming manner and very slowly rocked her back and forth. Buffy no longer held back and tears flowed freely but no sound left the slayer. They stayed like that for quite a while before Buffy sniffled and looked up at Cordelia. "L-let's go."
They had made it to Cordelia's car without much trouble, at least something to be thankful for on this day. Dropping by at Buffy's to grab some stuff and talk with Mrs. Summer had been a bit more complicated, especially since Cordelia was still in she costume, but in the end Joyce had let her daughter go. All in all it took them two hours to get to the mansion, almost all of it was spent in silence but small reassuring gestures flowed between them to let the other know everything was going to be ok.
Buffy kept her eyes on Cordelia as they drove up to the front entrance of the Chase Estate. 'She is amazing, after all I have put her through.. all the pain, trouble, doubts and betrayal.. she is here. Helping me, bringing me to her home, listening to me, reassuring me.' Tears started to fall again and Buffy looked away, away from Cordelia, away from all the pain and hurt she had caused the brunette. 'I don't deserve her, I don't deserve any of this.' She started to hug herself to calm the nerves, and Cordelia noticed.
'This is so messed up, I should never have let her stay away for so long. Problems do not go away when you ignore them, they fester.. and in her case there is a lot at stake. I will not let her out of my sight again, we will get through this together.'
Maria waited at the entrance with an umbrella in hand, it must have started raining a while ago but neither girl had noticed. They hurried inside and after reassuring Maria that everything was ok and that they did not need anything they could finally relax. Cordelia kicked off her boots and got out of her rather complicated dress muttering something all the while. "This damn thing.. ill burn it once I get the chance." She slipped out of the last part of the dress and headed over to the wardrobe. "Ah that's better, now for something comfy. Do you want something as well or did you grab your own comfy cloth when we were over at your house?"
There was no answer, only the rustling of cloth. Shrugging Cordelia picked out a rather huge t-shirt and some sweatpants, put them on and closed the wardrobe. "I could get us a bite to eat if you want? I'm somewhat hungry so you must be practically starving huh?" Cordelia smiled and turned around to look for Buffy, expecting to see her in a similar outfit ready to raid the fridge. That was not the case however, she found Buffy in bed with a pleading look on her face. "Or.. we just turn in and calm down a bit, sounds good to me." Cordelia went on and Buffy's face relaxed before turning into a frown.
"I-i'm sorry .. I don't mean to be such a burden, we can go to the kitchen if you want to." The blond mumbled, somewhat embarrassed about being so needy. Cordelia went over to her and cupped her cheek, looking Buffy directly in the eye. "You are no burden to me Buffy. I wanted you to come here, to be with you, to help you.. ok sweetie? This is all about you."
Buffy melted into Cordelia's hand. "This feels so good, a simple touch b-but it means so much to me. That you even talk to me m-means so much to me." It was obvious that she wanted to say more but she stopped with a sigh and sat up straighter, moving her head away from Cordelia's hand. "You know what? I could really go for a steak or two right about now, we can talk later alright?."
Nodding Cordelia helped Buffy up and after she put one something more appropriate they made their way down to the kitchen.
"You did it again by the way." Buffy teased, her mood risen.
"Huh?"
"You called me sweetie."
"Oh.. well .. do you mind? I keep feeling overly protective of you and this .. kinda feels .. fitting you know?"
"It's nice." There was a pause. "Cordelia?"
"Yes?"
"Umm.. nevermind."