Ethan

Cleveland. It was a pitiful excuse for a city, but the magic of its Hellmouth could help conceal Ethan until this mess blew over. He was beginning to think that Rupert had given up, or had accepted Warren as a sacrifice, when he felt someone powerful yanking him back to Sunnydale.

It wasn't Ripper, though. It was his little witch. Oh, shit. At least with Ripper, there was some chance of appealing to his sense of nostalgia and friendship.

Willow dumped him unceremoniously onto the floor, without bothering to cushion his fall. He was in some bland suburban kitchen. Willow's blonde girlfriend was there, as well as Willow's mentor, the barren witch.

He pushed himself up from the orange tile floor, trying to maintain a modicum of dignity. "Oh, hello, my dear, how may I help you?"

She gave him a glare that could stop a Fyarl demon at fifty paces. "Giles is doing a massive spell, and I need you to tell me how to stop him."

"Why me? I'm just a humble chaos sorcerer. Well, maybe not so humble."

"Because you figured out how to use my power against me-"

"The only reason that worked is that you're just a tiny bit arrogant. Don't make that face at me. I'm not criticizing; it's one of your more endearing qualities. You'd be bloody boring without it."

"-and because you know what Giles is like when he's using a lot of magic. Maybe better than any of us do." Shrewd of her to appeal to that angle. Did Rupert know what a calculated manipulator she was? Was that part of her charm?

"And why, exactly, should I care about a dispute between the two of you?"

"Because if he completes the spell, there's a coven that's going to do a counterspell that will kill him."

He sighed. No matter how much he hated Rupert sometimes, he couldn't imagine a world without him in it. No choice but to try to help her. His back throbbed from the fall to the floor, and he struggled to keep his voice and his expression neutral. No sense in letting her know that she'd managed to hurt him.

"The trick I used on you is a fairly common maneuver for fighting a powerful opponent. It worked on you because you haven't spent a lot of time fighting other magic users or thinking about tactics. Rupert is a different story. He used to pick fights with sorcerers and witches for fun. And that was before the Council training. There isn't a fighting strategy he hasn't seen before. Whatever strategy you try, he'll be expecting it and ready to counter."

"So what about something really, really basic? If he's Mister Strategy, maybe he won't be expecting that."

Willow's teacher said, "You could try to get close to him, and steal the magic away from him. But a magic transfer under those circumstances could be dangerous to both of you."

Danger wouldn't be enough to dissuade Willow, so he raised a practical concern. "Also, if he has enough magic to pull off an invulnerability spell, he'll be able to read your mind. He'll never let you get close enough to even try."

She sat down and buried her face in her hands for a minute or two. Her girlfriend put a hand on her shoulder.

Willow looked up at him with determination in her eyes. "If I can figure out a spell to handle the mind-reading thing, do you think the transfer could work?"

"I think it's got a better shot than any strategy I could teach you." It wasn't a lie-even a plan with a tiny chance of success was better than trying to play Ripper's game on his terms.

Willow

Willow said, "Ok, so what can I do make it less dangerous?" She could figure out the telepathy part later.

Catherine said, "It would help if you bring someone with you to keep you grounded."

That was a no-brainer. There was no one calmer, more down-to-earth than Tara. "Tara? Can you-"

"No. Absolutely not."

Tara's voice was so calm, it took a moment for Willow's brain to register the words she'd said. "But-why?"

Tara stood up a bit straighter. "I won't help you do something that could kill you, especially when it's for no good reason."

"There is a very good reason! Giles is going to die!"

"All he has to do is stop casting the spell, and he'll live." Tara said. Then she sat down beside Willow, looking directly at her. "You aren't rational where he's concerned. You were shot a few hours ago, and now you want to do some major mojo like this?"

"This isn't about that. Why do you keep insisting you know how I feel about him?"

"Because those feelings are there, and you won't talk about them. You hide them from me. Maybe you don't mean to. Maybe you're hiding them from yourself, too. And it's not just him. I think you like having a lot of powerful magic, and you don't want me to see that part of you."

"That's not-"

"Can you let me finish? I know what it's like to be scared, to want to hide."

What was she talking about? Oh, the time when Tara thought she was a demon. That seemed like a million years ago. And it was so not an issue, back then. Willow had forgiven Tara instantly.

"I don't know why you can't stop hiding." Tara grabbed her purse and started walking towards the door. "I just don't have the energy to even be friends anymore."

"I didn't think things were that bad." Willow tried to keep the tremor out of her voice. It felt like someone had yanked the floor out from under her.

Tara stopped at the door, and turned to face Willow. "We were really good together, for a long time. I think that's why both of us tried to hold on to each other for so long. But we've just kind of drifted apart. I hope you find some way to do this safely, but I can't help you."

She walked out the door, and Willow tried to collect her thoughts. There was the gut-clenching feeling of rejection, but there was also something else-relief. She didn't have to keep trying, and failing, to do things that Tara approved of.

"She's right, you know." Willow had almost forgotten Catherine was there.

She whirled around to face Catherine. "What's your problem with saving Giles?"

"I've watched for years as that man has used you and pushed you to the breaking point every time there's an apocalypse. I've bitten my tongue about his interference because I want the world to go on existing." She put her hands on Willow's shoulders and moved in closer, her gaze intense and unnerving. "But you're not risking yourself for the world now. You're risking yourself for him. I have worked too damned hard to help you reach your full potential to just watch you throw it all away."

Willow pulled away. "You've worked hard? I don't see you getting the nosebleeds and the insomnia and the chaos sorcerer attacks. You-you're like a stage mom, only with magic."

She gathered up her spellbooks and opened the door. "I don't care about reaching my full potential if it means turning my back on someone I love. I'm gonna help him because he'd do the same for me, if I were doing something really stupid. You don't have to like it, but you're gonna have to accept it."

As she slammed the front door shut, Willow realized that she knew exactly how to handle the telepathy.