An hour later, Iris came back from the Magic Box at last, armed with two bags filled with stuff and with Giles in tow; upon the surprised look she received from Willow for that, she beamed happily and let her know that Anya had given her a discount and that Giles had expressed his desire to help with the spell, the Brit earning a thankful look from the redhead at those words.
"I will stay here while the four of you go into this dimension and keep the portal open", he explained, "but just to be clear, why exactly would you want to take your partner along? No offense, Pat, but remember what toll going through the portal put on you, and in your current state…"
"…I probably won't be much help", Pat finished for him, giving Iris a grateful glance when the smaller woman handed several packs of cigarettes to her, "but I really don't like the thought of Willow going there without me."
"Which is understandable", Giles let her know, giving her a strict look afterwards, "but still rather reckless. I'd prefer it if you'd stay here with me, just so this Lana person can't feed on you again once she starts taking damage from Buffy, Willow and Iris."
"Giles is right", Willow had to realize, "I didn't like the thought of leaving you here alone, in case she might not be… home, but still around here somewhere, but if he's here, you should stay here, too…"
"And we'll make sure nothing happens to Willow", Buffy threw in before Pat had the chance to say anything, "so you won't need to worry about that."
"Seems you already decided I'll stay here anyway", the demon dryly gave back, making the blonde smile slightly, "and, for once, as surprising as this may be, I'm not in the mood to argue, I know I'm in no shape to fight, especially not her… So, fine, I'll stay here. Just be careful, alright?"
"Of course", Willow reassured her, then bent down for another tender kiss; and afterwards, they all focused on Iris as she explained what had to be done to create a much more stable portal, one which hopefully wouldn't close while they were over there hunting Lana, especially not if Giles would use his not inconsiderable experiences with magic to make sure it would stay open.
"Good", Iris smiled as soon as she had finished explaining and everything had been readied, "let's get started then, not that I mind being with you guys here, but I want to kick that bitch's ass and go back home as fast as possible. I have stuff to do."
"Cursing more people?" Pat muttered, ignoring the dark look Iris gave her in reply; next to her, Giles smirked, the demon smirking back after a moment, then both of them focused on the preparations of the three women, everything needed for the spell soon readied on the living room table.
"All set", Iris stated the obvious, "so shall we get started? Buffy, do you want to bring a weapon or something?"
"Got one already", the Slayer replied, raising the sword she had borrowed from the demon with a slight smirk; smiling as well, Iris nodded her approval, then her gaze moved to Willow and she asked her if she was ready to get started.
"Yes", the redhead gave back at once, "let's go and get rid of her, before she can drop by for another visit."
Nodding, Iris moved to sit opposite of her, grasping her hands yet again just as she had done the first time they had opened the portal together; they said the spell in perfect unison once more, then picked up their share of the crushed herbs and powders they had readied, yet again blowing on it simultaneously, the portal opening with an audible whooshing sound the second the ingredients met in the air.
"There we go", Iris smiled, pride in her voice, "let's go and kick some witch ass."
She let go of Willow's hand, this time being the first to move through the portal; Buffy was next, firmly clutching her sword, then the redhead finally stepped through as well, after giving her partner yet another reassuring look and telling her that it would be okay, the demon dismayed at just having to sit there and wait for them to come back, but giving her best not to let this show as she watched her lover step through as well.
"Well", Giles said after a few moments of silence, rising from his seat and dusting off his pants, "that went really splendidly."
"Uh-huh", Pat let out, not sure why he was pointing out the obvious like that, since usually, he didn't make a habit of doing just that; and moments later, her good eye went wide as the Watcher casually waved his hand at the portal and it vanished, a malicious smirk on his face when he looked at her, said face melting moments later and rearranging itself until not the Brit was standing in front of her anymore, but Lana, a hungry, evil glint in her eyes.
"Alone at last", she almost whispered, moving to the couch where the demon sat frozen with shock and fear, "I already thought they'd never leave. And I knew eating that shapeshifter would pay off sooner or later…"
With her smile widening, she straddled the demon, taking her face into her hands much like Willow had done not all too long ago; for a few more moments, the two just looked at each other, Pat with obvious fear and Lana with delight at inspiring such feelings in her victim – before she bent down and pressed her lips to the taller woman's, ignoring the feeble struggles she was trying to fight her off with, only to frown a few seconds later.
"What the Hell", she mumbled, pulling back and glaring at Pat, "why can't I…?" Without giving the demon a chance to answer, she bent down yet again, her lips finding her victim's once more; and again, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the tiniest bit of magic from her, a small, but triumphant smirk on Pat's face when Lana pulled back yet again.
"Surprise", the demon let her know, regaining some of her confidence now that she knew that Willow's spell had worked just perfectly, "my girl made sure I'm not available as your snackbar anymore."
For a few moments, Lana just kept staring at her – before unbelievably big anger twisted her features into an ugly grimace, her hands moving from the taller woman's face down to the collar of her button up shirt, grasping her tightly and picking her up far enough so her feet were dangling in the air as she got off of her and off the couch.
"I always finish what I started!" she yelled into the demon's face, with so much fervour that her face reddened, "how dare that… that bitch do this!"
Now that her fear of this woman was slowly receding, thanks to her inability to feed on her yet again, a million comebacks for this came to Pat's mind; before she could voice any of them though, Lana's grip on her collar tightened, her muscles flexing visibility – and then she threw her, with enough strength to make her fly through the whole living room until the wall at the other end of it stopped her harshly, a low grunt escaping her as she slumped down to the carpet, once more having to realize how weakened the repeated attacks of the evil witch had left her.
"I always finish what I started", Lana told her, now sounding much calmer as she strode across the room, grabbed the back of her shirt and hoisted her up, "and if I can't finish this by feeding on you until your lights go out, I'll just have to do it another way."
They'll reopen the portal, just hold on until then and it'll be fine, Pat still had time to realize – and then Lana was ramming her through the closed window head first, glass splinters flying everywhere while blood stained the carpet, Lana's crazy laughter filling the demon's ears as she was jerked back and tossed across the room yet again, fighting as hard as she could to stay conscious until her friends would come back for her.