By the time Willow woke up again, Pat was still sleeping soundly next to her, apparently not plagued by nightmares this time; hearing voices in the living room, the redhead frowned to herself, then remembered that Buffy was there and figured that someone else had come and joined her, now getting out of bed as carefully as she could, to her relief managing to do so without tearing Pat out of her slumber.
She still took the time to bend over the demon and tenderly kiss her on the forehead, then left the room as quietly as possible; and after she had closed the door behind herself and turned to face her guests, she found herself looking at Buffy and Iris, honest concern in the other witch's voice when she asked her how Pat was doing.
"Not good", she sighed, moving to sit next to the Slayer on the couch since Iris had taken her favourite armchair, "it's… I didn't even know this was possible, but it seems like she's really traumatized by what this woman did to her. So far, we all thought demons can't really be traumatized, she didn't even react that badly when she lost her eye."
"I was wondering how that had happened", Iris commented, raising an eyebrow, "but I guess we can speak of this later. And, well, about demons getting traumatized… It can happen to them just like to anyone else. Especially if they used to be human and only became a demon due to a curse."
"Why did you curse her, anyway?" Buffy asked, momentarily changing the topic from the taller woman's state to her colourful past, "she never told us, she said she can't remember what she did. Was it really bad?"
"I bet she still remembers, but didn't want to tell you because it's silly", Iris gave back, to the surprise of both Willow and Buffy blushing, "it was a really… petty reason. As I said, I was quite big with throwing the curses around for a while, but I promise I got better about that."
"So what did she do?" the redhead demanded to know, now curious despite herself; in response, Iris blushed even deeper, then mumbled out her response, forcing both Buffy and Willow to strain their ears so they could hear her, her words causing their eyes to widen.
"She seduced me", the elder witch mumbled, "and then she just kinda dropped me in the next morning."
"So, to get this straight", Buffy was the first one who regained her ability to talk, "you turned her into an immortal fire demon because she had a one night stand with you and didn't call you?"
"Kind of, yeah", Iris mumbled, having the decency to look slightly ashamed, "but hey, it's a good thing, right? If I hadn't done that, the two of you would never have met."
"Yeah, indeed", Willow had to admit, "but still, the reaction is a bit… extreme."
Clearing her throat, Iris nodded, then obviously had enough of talking about the past she shared with Pat, changing the topic back to their previous one by asking if the demon had said anything about how exactly the witch had been draining her.
"No", Willow shook her head, "and I'm not surprised she didn't, I doubt it's easy for her to talk about this. You should have seen her when I came to get her, she started to cry and told me that witch said no one would ever find her. I've only seen her cry before once, and it was after a rather… unsettling incident."
"I wish I knew more about how she works", Iris sighed, shaking her head, "I really should have kept better tabs on her, after the curse I put on her…"
"Which curse did you put on her, exactly?" Willow wanted to know, giving her another curious look, "we need to know as much as possible to defeat her. Can this curse be broken?"
"All my curses can be broken, or reversed", Iris replied, shrugging at the surprised look she received in reply, then frowning as she went on. "What? It'd be rather unfair if not, right? I never said it'd be easy. But it can be done."
"How?" Buffy now was the one to ask, slightly annoyed by how Iris made them ask for every little thing, "tell us already, who knows when she'll attack again."
"Her curse is that she can't gain nutrition from regular food", Iris explained in reply, "the way all of us do. Instead, she has to feed on the magic of any magically inclined being she can find, witches, demons… uhm, I think she even fed on a Slayer once. Anyway, she's immortal, like all the demons I made, and if she doesn't feed, she just grows old and then wastes away. Might end quite badly for her one day, because technically, she still won't die even after her body has been reduced to the mere bones."
"Might be one way to get rid of her", Buffy commented, "cause her to get stuck in her dimension, even though that would be rather cruel."
"All her former victims might disagree", Willow mumbled, once more thinking about the pits filled with body parts she had seen in that other dimension; then, with a brief closing of her eyes, she pushed those thoughts out of her mind, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand as she looked at Iris again, managing to keep her voice surprisingly steady despite the bad memories when she went on.
"So, we either can break the curse, and make her normal", she summarized, "or find another way to kill her. Does she absorb the powers of the ones she feeds on?"
"For a while", Iris replied, looking apologetic at the dismay which appeared on the faces of both Buffy and Willow, "so we'll have to deal with her tossing fireballs around. Possibly even gaining an extra, slightly furrier form. Wait, you know about that, right?"
"Of course", Willow replied with a roll of her eyes, "how could we not? I've been with her for years. But I don't like the thought of that woman possibly being able to control fire now like Pat is."
"She is", a low and hoarse voice came before Iris or Buffy had the chance to reply, prompting Willow to jump in her seat – before she turned and looked at her lover accusingly, the same emotion in her voice when she asked the demon if she was sure she should be out of bed already.
"No", the taller woman mumbled, making her way to the couch on visibly unsteady legs and sitting down after Buffy had moved a bit to let her take the seat next to her partner, "but my back hurts. And not a word about my age now."
"Just make sure you won't overdo it", Willow sighed, knowing that arguing wouldn't lead anywhere – no matter how shaken up and traumatized her partner might be, she could still sense the stubbornness which was such a big part of her personality, thus just giving in, even though she did raise a disapproving eyebrow when the black haired woman grabbed her pack of cigarettes from the table and lit one up, only to cough heavily after the first deep drag from it.
"So", she then stated as soon as she had managed to get the coughing under control, her gaze focusing on Iris and managing to, despite her weakened state, to be intense enough to make the other woman shift on her chair, "you of all people have come to help. Wouldn't thought I'd ever see you again."
"You never would have, if you hadn't changed", Iris shrugged, now sounding a bit defensive as well, "as I told your lovely girlfriend and your Slayer friend here, I would have left you to rot there, but seeing you spent the last couple of years fighting for the good side, it would have been a vile thing to do."
"Lucky me then", the demon dryly replied, prompting Willow to grasp her free hand and give her a scolding look before she let her know that, without Iris, they never would have figured out where she had been taken in time and that she never would have been able to make her way to that dimension to get her out.
"Thanks for that", Pat muttered, not sounding as if she really meant it, "but why is she still here? She's the one who cursed me!"
"We know that", Willow tried to calm her down, dismayed about how agitated her partner seemed to be about Iris being in their home, "but she's also the one who helped us find you. And she'll help us defeat this horrible woman."
"I will", Iris nodded, even though Pat still didn't look all too convinced; at least, she wasn't protesting anymore though, merely taking another drag of her cigarette and grumbling under her breath, prompting Willow to squeeze her hand tenderly once more.
"So how can we defeat her?" Buffy wanted to know, bringing the topic back to their opponent, "if she's capable of using fire the way Pat does now, she'll be really dangerous, and if you guys are right, she might come back to finish what she started…"
Immediately, she regretted those words, since the demon paled so quickly that it seemed as if someone had flicked a switch to drain all the colour from her face; and immediately, Willow was embracing her partner, rubbing her back soothingly and mumbling words neither Iris nor the Slayer could understand, both of them wondering once more what exactly this woman had done to the demon to put her in such a frightened and vulnerable state.