"So", Iris said an hour later, after finally having awoken and getting rid of her morning grumpiness with a generous helping of coffee, reminding them all of how Pat usually behaved after getting up, "now that she can use fire, we need to be extra-careful when we face her. I suggest though we first come up with some sort of protection spell to put on you, Pat, so she can't feed from you anymore, and then worry about defeating her."
"I'm still fireproof", the demon let them all know in reply, "I can feel it even though right now, I can't flame up. I tried. But at least, we won't have to worry about her burning me."
"She might burn the rest of us though", Willow gave back, not liking the thought at all, "or our home, in case she has the audacity to attack us here again. I agree with Iris, we should find some protection spell first so she can't feed from you anymore… or perhaps even a reversal spell so, if she tries to, you'll get back what she took from you."
"Won't that be dangerous?" Buffy wanted to know, looking slightly worried, but giving the demon an apologetic glance, "I mean, what if you get it back too fast and lose control or something?"
"Might happen", Pat had to admit after a moment, "but just waiting until I recharge on my own doesn't sound like an all too appealing though, either, not to mention that I'll soon get sick of all the sage I have to breathe in to make it speed up at least a little bit. Perhaps if we could fight her somewhere where no one will be in danger in case I really do lose control…"
"At her home, perhaps?" Iris suggested, the way Pat immediately tensed up next to her at the thought of going back there prompting Willow to place a reassuring hand on her leg, "she'd never expect us to go there again, I'm quite sure, and even though she'd have the advantage of home ground, you can burn as much as you want there."
"Not that there is much to burn", Willow mumbled, grimacing as she thought of the empty plains she had seen first there, right after her arrival, "except for her tower, I couldn't see any buildings or anything."
"There's no way in Hell I'm going back into that tower", Pat let them all know, her voice trembling just enough to let her notice, "no matter what. No way."
"I don't think you'll have to", Iris hurriedly told her while Willow moved even closer to her on the couch so she could put one arm around her and rub her back soothingly, "once we all arrive there, she'll notice for sure and come out to get us."
"But", Buffy interjected, frowning, "didn't you say that only one of those doing the magic to open the portal can go through? No offense, but magic isn't really my strongest ability, and while Pat is magically inclined, I don't think she's in a state to do any spells."
"It had to be done that way because we were in a hurry", Iris explained in reply, "and couldn't prepare properly. Now that we have more time, I can open a more stable portal which will allow all of us to pass through."
"Good thing then", the Slayer nodded, making Iris smile briefly at her; then, she got up and moved to the bag she had brought along, looking through it and frowning to herself, but before anyone could ask her what was up, she straightened up again and looked at the small group, explaining the reason for her dismayed expression.
"I'll need some extra stuff for that portal", she let them know, "I guess the Magic Box will have it, so if it's fine with you guys, I'll go and get it."
"Should I come with you?" Buffy wanted to know, looking a bit worried, "what if she goes after you, now that she knows you are here? You did say that she holds a bit of a grudge against you."
"She can't come after me", Iris confidently replied, "what do you think I am, silly? I made sure that she can't feed on me when I put that curse on her, or coming after me would have been the first thing she would have done back then."
"Did you also make sure I can't burn the shit out of you?" Pat wanted to know, her usual snarky demeanour briefly surfacing while Willow mumbled "Language" next to her; smirking slightly, Iris nodded, then looked at Buffy again, her smirk vanishing as she spoke up again.
"You better stay here", she advised, "just in case Lana decides to strike again faster than we think right now, it won't hurt to have a capable fighter around then."
"Good point", Buffy had to admit, "good, I'll stay here then, but hurry, okay? I want to kick that bitch's ass as fast as possible."
"You're not the only one", Willow let her know, her gaze fixed on her loved one; the bruises and cuts inflicted on her by the evil witch still were an angry purple and red, the white hair only intensifying how bad they looked, rage flickering up within the redhead as she once more thought of the things her partner had gone through before she had managed to get her out.
"She's in for a world of hurt", she thus added, reaching up and tenderly caressing the taller woman's hair, the gentle gesture making both Buffy and Iris smile slightly, "for what she did to you…"
"I wish I could help", Pat sighed out in reply, giving the witch a dismayed look, "but it seems that I'm only capable of doing anything when she's threatening you. Not to mention that all I did was push you out of the way and then let her feed again, which was exactly what she wanted. Not one of my better moments."
"I told you, you shouldn't be so reckless", Willow admonished in reply, even though she knew that it wouldn't do any good anyway, "but still… thanks for doing that. I don't want to imagine what she'll be capable of if she gets some of that dark magic…"
"We'd be in real trouble then", Iris nodded, "so we better make sure that we stop her before she gets the idea to feed on you after all. Which is why I'll go to the Magic Box now, anyone else need anything from there?"
"No, but I need cigarettes", Pat commented, looking into the pack of smokes as she spoke, "so if you'd be so good…"
"Sure", Iris shrugged, taking a closer look at the package to know which brand to get, "no problem. See you guys soon then."
Nodding, Buffy told her to be careful despite her words about how Lana was unlikely to attack her; this made the other witch nod as well, and she reassured them that she'd be back soon before she left, the Slayer looking at her friends again the moment she had left the room.
"So, Willow", she then said, "about that spell protecting Pat from being fed on again? Do you think you can do that, like, now?" Just in case?"
"I'll have to look it up first", the redhead gave back, already rising from the couch, "just a minute…"
Making her way to the shelf where she kept all of her books on various spells and magic, she quickly found the one she had been looking for; hurriedly, she leafed through it, the demon and the Slayer watching her in silence, Pat lightening up another cigarette while she waited for Willow to find the spell, hoping that it would work the way it was supposed to and protect her from being fed on yet again, not sure how much more of this she would be able to take without any lasting damage or perhaps even her death.
"There", Willow distracted her from those ponderings, holding the book up proudly, "this should do the trick. It puts a kind of shield on your magic, so it can't be manipulated or transferred."
"For how long?" Pat wanted to know, sounding a bit worried, "I mean, what if this shield thingy stay there indefinitely and we can't do that spell anymore for you guys to borrow my healing?"
"I can remove it again once we dealt with Lana", Willow reassured her, smiling at her, "no worries. Even though you shouldn't even think about borrowing your healing to anyone as long as you didn't recharge."
"I know", the demon sighed, a bit calmed down by those words, "but who knows when it might be needed again, and what this Lana has up her sleeves. She's really… powerful."
Nodding, Willow gave her a concerned look, then pushed those thoughts out of her mind so she could concentrate on the spell; moving back to the couch, she sat down next to her partner again and briefly closed her eyes, then tenderly took the taller woman's face into her hands, telling her to relax and to empty her mind as much as she could, giving her a calming smile while Pat nodded as far as Willow's hold on her allowed it.
"It won't hurt", she then told her, "it just might tingle a bit. Close your eye…"
Taking in a deep breath, the demon did just that, giving her best to relax; feeling how tense she was, Willow took a few moments to tenderly caress her cheeks, then closed her eyes as well, starting the spell under her breath, glad that it was one for which she didn't need any ingredients, something which considerably sped up the process.
As she spoke, she felt more and more of her magical energy build up with every word she was saying; and when she said the last one, the power started to flow, from her to her partner, forming the shield she had intended when she had started the spell, putting up the protection she needed to make sure Lana wouldn't be able to feed on her yet again.
"There", she mumbled as soon as the flow had stopped, opening her eyes again; and moments later, she gasped, prompting Pat to give her a worried look, slight alarm in her voice when she asked what was wrong.
"Nothing's wrong", the redhead hurriedly reassured her, "but… well, it seems I gave you more than just that shield when I did the spell right now…"
With those words, she took careful hold of one of the strands of her partner's hair so she could show it to her; amazed, all Pat could do was stare at it, mimicking both Willow and Buffy as she studied the hair, then finally looked up at the witch again, a slight smile on her face when she spoke up.
"Seems your spell had a little side-effect", she then said, running both hands through the tousled strands, "not that I mind…"
"Indeed", Willow gave back, still studying her partner's hair with fascination; while she had performed the spell, clearly, it had not only put up the shield, but also had restored some of the demon's energies, her hair now not fully white anymore, but back to the grey it had been before Lana had fed on her the previous night.
"Never a dull moment with the magic", Buffy commented, smiling; smirking at her, Pat nodded, then surprised Willow by leaning in for a short, but tender kiss, something the witch hadn't expected to happen anytime soon after she had seen how exactly Lana had fed from the demon.
"Best girlfriend ever", Pat mumbled after the kiss, making the witch grin from ear to ear; happily, she snuggled up against her loved one, a content sigh escaping her when she felt the taller woman wrap both arms around her, both of them suddenly sure that, no matter how bad things were for Pat and how long it would take her to deal with all of it, things would be alright in the end.