Chapter 11: No Rest For the Weary

A/N: Reading the transcript for 'Seeing Red' and found out Buffy's confrontation with powered!Warren took place the same night as Spike's attack. That means I have to stick in a little something about that.

Challenge: partially to answer a forum request/challenge by DeepBlueJoy for a story with a 'person of color' as a main character – who doesn't die immediately.

Warning: nothing really in this chapter.

Thanks to my betas: zigpal and AshDawnSoulmates.

Disclaimer: BtVS and AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Summers home

Willow finally looked at her computer screen again and gasped, "Did you know that Spike killed Robin's mother? At least I'm pretty sure he did. Spike told us the names of the two Slayers he killed, and Nikki Wood was one of them."

"Buffy must have forgotten to tell me that," Tara replied, not really surprised given the circumstances. She had a feeling that they were lucky Buffy remembered Robin's name long enough to introduce him.

"Whew, I wonder if Robin knew. That would have to be the shock of a lifetime…avenging your mom's death without knowing it," Willow babbled/gushed. If it had been anyone but Spike, she would have been cheering loud and long for the sweet justice of the moment.

Because it was Spike, though, her feelings were more confused. Okay, so the initial months since he was chipped, he was still pretty evil – what with helping Adam almost break up the group. On the other hand, there was his behavior last year, with Buffy's mom getting sick and dying, and protecting Dawn from Glory, then helping with slaying after Buffy's death…Willow really thought that Spike was becoming a Scooby.

But it was all a lie.

When he found out that he could hurt Buffy, did he stop on his own? Apparently not, if Robin had to stake him in the middle of trying to rape Buffy. It was a harsh reminder that a behavior chip was not the same as a soul. Even more than finding out Spike was dealing in dangerous items for money. Huh, guess maybe that incident should have been a big honking clue that he wasn't truly reformed.

Rather than dwell on the betrayal she felt – she could only imagine how bad it was for Buffy…seeing as how she was the one attacked – Willow pulled out the info they got from the Geek Trio's 'lair'. Maybe catching Warren and his minions would restore her belief in good guys vs. bad guys.

Tara sensed her need to focus on the computer files and started searching the paper documents for any hints to their plans.

Over an hour passed when Xander stumbled in the front door, calling out for Buffy. Tara quickly shushed him and pulled him into the dining room where she and Willow were researching.

He explained what happened between him and the newly super-villianized Warren at the Bronze. Willow explained what they found about the armored cars, banks, vaults. Then Xander clapped his hands together and said, "So where's the Buffster? Let's get her all geared up to give Warren a beat down."

Willow shared a look with her girlfriend that made Xander wonder, then she asked the blonde, "Umm, do you think we should bother her?"

"We should at least tell her; leave it up to her to decide," Tara replied.

"Uhh, guys- er, girls? Care to share what's up?" Xander interjected, feeling like he had stepped out for popcorn and missed the part of the movie where the big reveal was made.

Willow ignored him, thinking about Buffy's probable reaction if she found out they had this info and didn't tell her about it. "Yeah, and usually after something like this, she likes to pummel somebody or something. Do you mind if I go get her?" she requested, needing to feel like Buffy's best friend again – something she hadn't felt like since…well, way too long.

"Go ahead," Tara agreed, nodding her head. "Just remember to be careful waking her up."

As she walked up the stairs, Willow heard Xander complain to Tara, "What's going on? Buff talk to Deadboy or something? She usually likes to beat stuff up after she talks to or hears about him. That or eat a container of ice cream."

Knocking on the door as she opened it, she called out, "Buffy? You awake?"

The Slayer was curled up on her side, hugging a pillow and Mr. Gordo. When she heard Willow's voice, she turned over and replied, "Yeah…couldn't quite fall asleep yet."

Grateful that Buffy wasn't sleeping, Willow sat down on the bed next to her. "Umm, Tara told me about Spike attacking you earlier and if you'd like to talk about it, I'm here for you," she promised. "Uhh, unfortunately, right now we have a situation that sorta requires you to get your Slayer therapy on."

Despite the fact her aches and pains weren't entirely gone yet, Buffy got out of bed and started changing into patrol clothes. "What's the what?"

"We've found out that Warren's managed to make himself into a 'bizarro Superman'; those are Xander's words. He was unfortunate enough to try and fight Warren," Willow explained.

Buffy thought about the ramifications of that, then shrugged, knowing she still had to try and fight Warren. "As long as he can't fly, I don't mind the other stuff. But if he can fly, I'm complaining to the Slayers' Union about the unfairness of the bad guys getting stuff like that when I have to run on the ground."

She grabbed her jacket and held out a hand to pull Willow off the bed. "Let's go smack down a misogynist pig!" she quipped.

Willow smiled at the rallying cry, and couldn't help but tease her friend, "Wow, Buffy, 'misogynist'? Dawn get you a word-of-the-day calendar?"

Deciding she wasn't grown up enough to care about looking silly, Buffy stuck her tongue out at Willow. "Hey, I learned a few things in psych before we found out Walsh was a nutcase. Just don't tell anyone; I have a reputation to maintain."

A/N: Okay, the armored car confrontation went like it did on the show. No point in re-hashing that here.