CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER CREDITS: I've used some cut lines from the shooting script of "Hush" as well as some standard lines that I embellished a bit.

CHAPTER NOTES: Time to meet Willow!

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Spike had tired the girl out.

It was like he hadn't had a conversation in thirty-five years and tried to make up for it in one night. Eventually, her head had begun drooping to the side, and so as not to risk her cracking herself against stone (and the subsequent blood lust he knew he'd feel from the potential resulting injury), he had gathered her up in his arms and sandwiched her between the blankets on the crypt's sarcophagus.

Spike had gazed at her for a while, wondering for the third or fourth time that night why he had helped her in the first place, then why he had gone on to protect her, and then why he was still watching over her now. He wasn't one of the white hats; he didn't owe anybody anything.

The gentle witch let out a soft sigh then, whispering something unintelligible in her sleep. Her lips curled into a slight smile that she held for about a second-and-a-half, then her features smoothed, and her breathing quieted.

Damn his fool heart.

If he kept this up, next he'd find himself falling in love. Just what he needed to add to the mockery his unlife had become. No, he had to keep himself occupied with something.

So Spike scuffled around the crypt a bit, inspecting his new place. Maybe he could wrangle up a telly or a record player. Or maybe…

His foot caught on something then as he went towards a wall, and it made him stumble. What the…?

Moving a loose slab of stone away from the floor, Spike peered down into a hole that looked like it might lead to a lower level. Well, isn't this a treat?

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Sarcophagi are not particularly comfortable.

That's not something Tara ever expected to learn. But since moving to Sunnydale, she found that there had been numerous strange discoveries such as this.

She couldn't remember how the night had actually ended. Her spell had apparently worked, then there had been celebratory hugging, way too much talking, and somewhere before or after that maybe there was the not-wasting of beer that Spike had given her earlier.

A slight flutter of culturally-ingrained panic rose up in her then, and she checked the state of her clothing and body parts.

Okay, whew, all normal.

And she felt normal, aside from the ache of back-on-stone. But her companion was nowhere to be found.

So she folded up the blankets he must have wrapped her in and left them in a neat little stack before gathering her books and heading back towards the university.

Well, this may not have been the smartest risk he had ever taken.

Spike brushed himself off as he rose from the heap on the floor he had been in just a few moments before. He had misjudged the drop and now he was trapped within this new discovery unless he could find something to climb on.

Bloody hell.

Flicking on his lighter, he took a quick look around. It was a decent-sized, cave-like space. Definitely a nice hideout, assuming he could ever leave it. At first glance he couldn't tell much about the place other than that, but a wave of the lighter flame revealed that a candelabrum like one in the crypt above must have fallen through the hole once upon a time. It rested in a pile of rubble, dented but usable. A couple candles that might still have a bit of life left in them were nearby, having cracked off from the impact. He lit one and began to think of a way out.

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Tara was so excited to see Willow that she nearly forgot they hadn't properly spent time together. All her time with Willow was spent in her head, in conversations she had practiced so that she wouldn't be so nervous. She tried not to come off as too eager or too awkward, but her stutter appeared. The thought of actually having a real friend to practice magic with was overwhelming.

For her part, Willow was happy to see the other witch, too. And she knew Tara was one; at least, Willow was pretty sure she was the real deal. Unlike the rest of the so-called Wicca group. At first, Willow had thought she was fixating on Tara because of how dismissive the other members were towards her. Willow didn't even know the girl but had already found herself feeling protective of her. Damn Wanna-Blessed-Be's! But then Willow had realized she could feel power coming off of Tara from the other side of the room. It was intoxicating. And the girl's shy, genuine smile made it all seem safe.

"You were there looking for me?" Willow asked her as they sat together in the University Commons recounting the previous night's crazy events.

Tara nodded. "I thought m-m-maybe we could do a spell… make people talk again."

Willow smiled at this, as she had been thinking of spells to try as well.

"When I c-couldn't find you, I…" Tara paused for a moment, not sure she should share what had happened afterward; would Willow panic over vampires? Think Tara was too careless for running off into a cemetery with a stranger? "…I tried out one of my own."

"Ooh! What did you do?"

Tara's pulse increased nervously as she imagined Willow was way more advanced. She could feel the other witch's power and potential and, while exciting, it was also intimidating. "Well, I kinda messed up, c-cuz it was supposed to be spoken…b-but, I forgot that we didn't have voices. So I p-projected it out telepathically. And I think it w-worked! After I did it, I heard a fox call out and my voice was back!"

Willow had her own secret: she knew what really brought their voices back. However, a spell like that? It was brilliant! And would take someone with a good command of magic to even know how to control. That was something Willow really wanted to practice, but she hadn't found anyone either willing or able to work on that with her. "Wow! Seems like you're kinda powerful."

That comment made Tara's cheeks flush. She smiled appreciatively. "I'd like to be. I-I feel like I'm stuck. Like I'm at the door and it won't open."

"I know exactly what you mean."

They both beamed then, as if they had just read each other's minds.