Author's Note: so my update schedule is completely wonky again. There will be one on Thursday too though, so perhaps it'll get back on track then :D
"How long until this takes effect?" Buffy wanted to know half an hour later, after having watched how Willow had crumbled half of the sage Anya had given her into a bowl and had lit it up, now placing the bowl close enough to her partner to ensure she'd breathe in the smoke; with a small sigh, the witch shrugged, then looked up at her from her seat on the edge of the bed, for the first time allowing herself to show her emotions about the whole situation.
"I don't know", she mumbled, looking down on her unconscious partner again and reaching out to tenderly caress her hair, a touch Pat was noticing nothing of, "she took so much from her… You should have seen her when I found her, she was so exhausted and so scared, I've never seen her like this before…"
"But she'll be okay, right?" Buffy wanted to know, looking at the demon as well, concern written all over her face, "she can recharge, can't she? She did so after the dark magic leeched from her, right?"
"Yes", Willow confirmed, "but it didn't take that much back then… just look at her, she's been drained so much, she even lost weight, not to mention her hair…"
"Let's hope she can recover a bit before this woman comes back and tries anything", Buffy stated in reply, making the witch nod; for a few minutes, they both were quiet afterwards, Willow still caressing her loved one's hair while Buffy just looked at the demon, trying to imagine how powerful their new opponent had to be now, after taking so much of the taller woman's strength.
"Want me to stay the night?" the Slayer finally broke the silence, making her best friend look at her again, "just in case she attacks or something…"
"Yeah", the redhead gave back after a moment, smiling thankfully at the blonde, "that'd be nice… I'll ready the couch for you, alright?"
Nodding, Buffy smiled back at her, then watched her get up from her seat on the edge of the bed; together, they made their way into the living room where she helped Willow prepare the couch for the night, nodding yet again when the witch asked if she was hungry and if they should order some food.
"I'm starving", she then let the witch know, her stomach grumbling audibly moments later as if to underline her words; to her relief, Willow let out a small giggle in reply, then shook her head while she asked the Slayer what she wanted to eat, already picking up the phone.
"We have three restaurants on speed dial", she then let the blonde know, "you know, with Pat's lack of skill in the kitchen and me often not feeling like cooking after coming home from college…"
"Sometimes I wonder how she got so old, with so little knowledge about cooking", Buffy joked in reply, making the redhead giggle once more; afterwards, they settled on ordering Chinese food, quickly choosing what they wanted before the witch hit the fast dial for said restaurant, the employee on the other end of the line greeting her cheerfully, all of the workers there by now knowing both Pat and her as regular and good customers.
"We'll deliver in twenty minutes", he told her after she had told them what they wanted to eat, "that'll be eighteen dollars, Miss Rosenberg!"
"Thanks", the witch gave back, then said her goodbye and ended the call; she told Buffy what the employee had said, making the Slayer smile happily at the thought of food in a rather short time – before her gaze moved to the bedroom doorway again, her voice concerned when she asked if Willow thought the demon would wake up anytime soon.
"Not sure", the redhead sighed in reply, glancing at the doorway as well, "you know, stepping through that portal took quite the toll on me already, and she's much weaker right now than I was… Who knows how much of a strain it put on her, in her weakened state…"
"Let's hope the sage will help", Buffy tried to be optimistic, "I really don't like the thought of her being so drained while this witch is still out there and might come back…"
"I'm afraid she will", Willow had to admit, running a suddenly shaky hand through her hair as she thought of the pits she had seen in the other dimension, "when I was there, there were… kinda like pits, you know, and they were filled with body parts… human and not so human… so that must be why there's no info on her in any of Giles' books. No one ever lived to tell the tale, and she'll want to keep it that way…"
"Well, she's welcome to try", Buffy stated, a look of determination settling over her face, "I'll kick her ass from here to next Sunday, and maybe we can give back what she took from Pat then."
"Might be possible", Willow nodded, "but until then, we'll just have to hope that her powers will recharge on their own… The sage should help with that, I just hope I got enough."
"You can always get more from Anya, right?" her best friend wanted to know in reply, "just tell her to order more in case she's close to running out. I'm sure she'll gladly help you out, you're both her friends after all…."
"Yeah, she didn't even charge me for what I took along now", Willow let her know with a small smile; Buffy smiled back at her, then reached out and placed a comforting hand on her arm; the witch's smile widened slightly in response, then the doorbell rang, signalling the arrival of the food, distracting them both from the witch still out there and the possibility that she might attack yet again, even though Willow found herself unable to stop thinking of the bad state her partner was in, asking herself how long it would take until she'd be back to her regular strength and how long it'd take her to handle what had been done to her.
After the food had been delivered and eaten, Willow let Buffy know that she'd check on her partner, making the Slayer nod her agreement; and while she made her way into the kitchen to clean up the dishes they had used, the witch moved into the bedroom, the room by now smelling strongly of sage, but even the burning of the herb hadn't helped with waking the demon up, as Willow had to see to her dismay upon entering.
"Hey", she said anyway, with the small hope that perhaps, her voice might accomplish what the sage hadn't and bring Pat out of her deep sleep or perhaps even unconsciousness, "just wanted to check on you…"
She fell silent as she moved to the window and opened it, eager to let some of the smoke which was filling the room by now out; then, she sat down on the edge of the bed and took gentle hold of her girlfriend's hand, caressing the back of it tenderly with her thumb while she looked at her.
"You'll be okay", she then said yet again, not sure how often she had reassured her partner of this by now, "you know that, right? No matter what she did to you, and how awful it was, you'll be okay…"
Not knowing what else she could say, she bent over the taller woman's lifeless form and tenderly kissed her, momentarily startled by how cold her lips were; then, with a small sigh, she straightened up again and quietly left the bedroom, leaving the door open to make sure she'd hear any noise Pat might make while waking up, and joined Buffy in the kitchen, shaking her head when the blonde asked if anything had changed.
"She's still out cold", she then sighed, "if the sage helped, it didn't have enough of an effect to wake her up… If she doesn't wake up until tomorrow morning, I'll have to think of something else…"
"I'm sure she will", Buffy reassured her, smiling calmingly at her, "she's one tough cookie, you know? She'll be okay."
"I hope so", Willow sighed, "as I said, I've never—" The scream interrupted her and startled her into silence, her eyes widening – before she, without another word, dropped the dishtowel she just had picked up and rushed to the bedroom, not even noticing that Buffy was right behind her, her fists clenched as if she expected battle to happen any second.
Upon entering the bedroom, they couldn't spot any enemy though, just finding the empty bed; and in the corner farthest from the door, Pat sat huddled against the wall, staring into nothingness while mumbling inaudible words under her breath, the sight so unexpected and shocking that it made both Buffy and Willow stop dead in their tracks, both of them just standing and staring for a few moments.
"Pat?" Willow then managed to tear herself out of her stupor, cautiously approaching the demon while Buffy remained where she was, ready to jump in though, should the taller woman display any signs of aggression towards Willow, prepared to hold her back or, if necessary, even knock her out.
"Sweetie", the redhead tried again, by now close enough to her partner to lower herself into a crouch and tenderly place one hand on the taller woman's back, feeling like crying when she felt the demon tremble beneath her touch and heard how hectic her breathing had become, just another sign for how scared she was, "it's okay, you're home, you're safe… Come on, look at me…"
Now that she was close enough, she could make out what the demon was mumbling, the words she was hearing only heightening her worry and how bad she was feeling for her partner; seemingly without needing to pause for breath, Pat kept muttering pleas to be left alone to someone only she could see, not even reacting when Willow moved closer and put both arms around her.
"Nobody's going to hurt you", she whispered into the taller woman's ear, hearing how Buffy retreated to give them some privacy, "you're safe here, Sweetie, just look at me, come on… It's me, I got you out as I said I would, you'll be okay…"
Finally, to her relief, Pat reacted to her voice, slowly glancing up at her, with so much fear and pain in her good eye that it almost made the witch cry again; instead of allowing her emotions to show though, not wanting to upset the taller woman even further by crying in front of her, she moved one hand to caress her hair tenderly, closing her eyes when moments later, Pat reacted by burying her face in her chest and let out a racked sob.
"It's okay", she mumbled into the trembling woman's ear, still caressing her hair and rubbing her back soothingly, "it's okay, you're not there anymore, she's not gonna hurt you again…"
"She'll be back", the demon whispered in reply, clinging to Willow so tightly that it almost hurt, "I know she will, she never lets anyone go, she'll be back to finish it and then she'll feed on you…"
"She won't", Willow gave back, trying her best to sound confident, "I'll protect you, and Iris will come over and help. No one will feed on anyone anymore, alright?"
To her relief, Pat seemed to believe her, since she didn't try to convince her otherwise; instead, she just kept clinging to the smaller woman, slowly calming down as Willow kept caressing her hair and back, making soothing noises in an attempt to help her calm down further.
"Come on", she mumbled as soon as the shaking had stopped as well as the flow of tears, "you should get some more rest, you need to regain your strength…"
"Stay here with me", the demon almost pleaded in reply, the lost and scared tone of her voice clenching the redhead's heart up again, "please, I… I don't wanna be alone…"
"Of course", Willow reassured her at once, "I'll just tell Buffy, I'll be right back, okay?"
Nodding, Pat reluctantly let go of the smaller woman, her gaze never leaving her as she made her way to the door; there, Willow exchanged a few words with her best friend, explaining what was going on and that Iris would come by later, then gently closed the door, giving her partner a reassuring smile when she turned back to face her.
"Buffy will stay here", she then let the taller woman know, moving over to the corner again where she still sat with her back against the wall, "just to make sure we'll have an extra pair of fists, should this woman come back. So if she does, she's in for a world of hurt."
"Good", Pat mumbled, allowing it that Willow helped her to her feet and led her the few steps to the bed where she sat down heavily, "because I'm in no condition to fight. I'd even lose against Anya right now."
The tiny bit of snark the witch could hear in her partner's voice as she said the last few words relieved her more than she would have thought possible after seeing the demon in such a distraught state; smiling, Willow shook her head while she laid down next to the taller woman, prompting her to immediately snuggle up to her, her head coming to a rest on her shoulder in a curious reversion of the position they normally slept in.
Eager to give her the comfort she so obviously needed, Willow wrapped both arms around the black haired woman, then moved one hand to caress her hair again; and to her relief, her embrace and the tender touch seemed to help calming her further, since her breath slowed down not all too long afterwards, showing the witch that she had fallen asleep.
Not daring to get up though, since she didn't want to wake her up again, the redhead stayed where she was, holding her close and still caressing her hair; and after a while, she drifted off into sleep, as well, not even noticing anymore how Iris arrived and rang the door bell, the day's excitement and activities finally taking their toll on her.