"What the Hell just happened!" Iris shouted as the portal vanished just seconds after Willow had stepped through, "it wasn't supposed to close! Giles said he can handle it!"
"I'm not sure", Willow gave back, eying the spot where the portal had been moments ago with suspicion, "but I have a bad feeling about this. We need to go back…"
"What about Lana?" Iris asked, frowning slightly as she looked at the witch, "if we go back right away without fighting her, all the magic was for nothing."
"I don't think Lana is here", Buffy threw in, glancing around at the empty plains all around them, "don't ask me why, it's just a feeling I have. And I agree with Will, something's wrong, we should go back. Now."
"Trust her about this", Willow added before Iris could try to protest yet again, "it's a Slayer thing. We have to get back."
"Okay, fine", Iris gave in with a sigh, "but how? In case you didn't notice, the portal is gone, and I didn't bring any ingredients to reopen it from here, I was sure it would stay open!"
"Take my hands", Willow instructed her in reply, Buffy watching with slight nervousness how the other witch did just that, not sure what her best friend was intending, "and concentrate. If we're lucky, we can do this without any ingredients, just try to empty your mind and focus on nothing but the portal…"
Even though she didn't look all too convinced, Iris nodded, then closed her eyes and started breathing deeply in an attempt to do what Willow had said; tightening her grip on her hands slightly, the redhead focused, recalling the spell they had performed just minutes ago, the air around her crackling audibly as her energies started to build up, as she tapped into magic she had absorbed a long time ago, during a time of grief and rage and hatred.
A few feet away, Buffy gulped nervously as she had to watch how the roots of her best friend's hair were slowly blackening, her eyes darkening simultaneously; she had a few moments to ask herself what she would do, should Willow lose control and go dark instead of opening the portal, and then a strong breeze came up, the slight smirk on the witch's face showing that this was what was supposed to happen, even though said smirk unsettlingly looked like the smiles she had smiled when she had been after the one responsible for her lover's death.
"Almost there", the witch pressed out, her grip on Iris' hands tightening even further, the other witch groaning slightly as she channelled much more energy than before into the spell, having to make up for the lack of ingredients, "just a little bit more…"
She grit her teeth, simultaneously using the darkness within her and keeping it at bay, keeping it from taking control; and, finally, just when she felt that she couldn't take it anymore, that she just had to let it take over and let it wreck all the havoc it wanted to, the portal opened, and she immediately let go of Iris' hands, pushing the darkness back to where it belonged, a sigh of relief coming from Buffy when the black vanished from her hair and eyes.
"Quick", she stated, giving her best to ignore how drained she now felt, "I'm not sure how long this remains open, let's go…"
Nodding, Buffy was the first to move through, being closest to where the portal had opened; Iris followed, and again, Willow went through last, knowing that her initial feeling that something was wrong had been right the moment she arrived back in the apartment and felt the cold coming in through the open window, saw the bloodstains on the floor.
"What the Hell are you doing here!" Lana's voice reached her ears, distracting her from those observations; automatically, she looked over, and her blood froze as she saw their opponent standing at the other end of the room, next to her partner, with Pat down on all fours, positioned so that Willow couldn't see her face, but had a chance to take in the blood on her hands and clothes.
"You were supposed to be stuck there until I came for you!" Lana shrieked, "how dare you ruin this for me as well, stupid bitch!"
These words at least showed Willow that her lover had been protected from being fed on yet again, but clearly, it hadn't stopped Lana from attacking her physically; as if to prove that point, the witch pulled back her foot and kicked the demon in the stomach, hard enough to throw her over and cause her to land flat on her back, a startled small noise coming from Willow when she saw the mass of cuts and bruises marring her partner's face, neck and upper body.
"I've had enough of all of you", Lana added, bringing up her hands; and moments later, energy burst from them, flickering and shimmering, the blasts hitting Buffy and Iris with shockingly good aim and sending them halfway across the room, pained cries coming from them when they slammed against the wall – before their shouts became into noises of shock as the wallpaper came to life and wrapped around them, fixating them firmly against the wall and keeping them from moving more than a few inches.
"I'll deal with the two of you later", Lana snarled into their general direction, her gaze never leaving Willow's, "first, I'll take care of this bitch here, I'll teach you to mess up all my plans…"
She snarled, even let out a growl unsettlingly similar to those which came from Pat whenever the demon was pissed off, then threw yet another bolt of pure magical energy at the redhead; in the last second, Willow managed to get up the shield spell she had used in the coffee shop what seemed like eternities ago, a pained cry coming from her nonetheless when the magic hit, the shield flickering visibly.
"Doesn't feel so good, does it", Lana taunted, smiling, ignoring Pat for now as she took a step closer to the redhead, the demon groaning on the ground behind her, "you have no idea of my true power yet. Let's see what your girlfriend gave me…"
Her brow furrowed as she concentrated, then fire burst from her fists, a smile curling her lips again – before she slammed one fist forward and sent a ball of fire flying, the flames puffing away the moment they hit the shield, but still Willow cried out yet again, even stumbling back a few steps, momentarily feeling as if she could feel the flames on her skin, even though they never had reached her.
"Stop", Pat pressed out behind the smaller woman, only to end up being ignored as Lana took another step closer to the witch; swallowing heavily, Willow held her gaze, realizing to her immense dismay that, as long as she kept up the shield, she couldn't do any other magic to defend herself, and that the moment she'd drop said shield, Lana would attack yet again, obviously not dumb enough to let her fire a spell of her own at her.
Still, she knew that in the end, she didn't have much of a choice – already, keeping the shield up was taking its toll on her, and it would fade away on its own after one or two more hits, and leave her weakened and vulnerable; and thus, she let it drop, magic forming brightly glowing orbs around her hands the second it had vanished, but before she could let them fly, Lana's spell hit her, sending her backwards and against the wall, the back of her head connecting harshly with it and stars exploding in front of her eyes as she slumped down to the carpet, gasping in pain, feeling as if someone had hit her right in the solar plexus with a sledgehammer.
"I told you", Lana smiled cruelly, ignoring how Buffy cried out "Willow!" and Iris was yelling at her to stop, "you have no idea of my true power. But once I killed your partner over there, I'll feed from you, and then no one will be able to stop me. I know about what you carry inside…"
A living and breathing picture of arrogance, she strode over to where Willow was struggling to get to her feet, the redhead telling herself that she couldn't let this woman defeat her so easily; then, the fire hit her, and she screamed as the flames ran over her arms and back, burning her clothes and the skin and flesh beneath, her yells of pain mixing with the laughter Lana was letting out at the sight.
Still, Willow wasn't willing to give up, trying to focus through the pain, to will it away as she managed not to get on her feet, but at least to turn so that her back was to the wall and she could lean against it for support, a brief flash of magic putting out the flames still eating at her clothes; she brought up her hand with the intention to finally throw a spell at the other witch, but before she could do so, another one hit her, thankfully without fire this time, but still with enough force to knock the breath out of her lungs.
"Time to end this", Lana stated as she kept moving, finally reaching her newest victim and stopping in front of her, "and to put you to sleep. Don't worry, when you wake up again, you'll be safe and sound in my tower…"
She brought her hand up as all Willow could do was look up at her, breathing heavily, unable to keep her fear from showing through her eyes, her gaze never leaving the new spell which was forming around Lana's raised hand; her eyes narrowed as if she had to take careful aim, even though she was merely inches away from the redhead, and that was when a bloodied hand grabbed her arm and forced it upwards, the blink of an eye before she released the spell, the magic hitting the ceiling and puffing away harmlessly.
"There's no way in Hell I let you take her", Pat snarled, all her injuries and her weakened state clearly forgotten as she pulled back her free fist; obviously not having expected this turn of events at all, Lana could just stare, then the demon hammered her fist into her chest, hitting her solar plexus with painful aim, aided by the fighting experience of decades, a disbelieving huff coming from her as she stumbled back.
"This isn't possible", she managed to press out through teeth grit in pain, "how can you have the strength to do this…?"
"For her", was all the demon replied to that – before flames burst from her fists and spread up her arms, the rest of the group just capable of staring as they watched how, with a snarl, Lana tried to land a hit with an equally burning arm, the taller woman blocking it with her forearm, then her fist shot forward again and nailed her straight in the face this time, blood gushing from her nose seconds later as she had to take a few more steps back.
"No", she brought out, clearly not used to being defied this way, not after centuries of kidnapping her victims, tying them down and feeding from them until they died; the only response she got was that Pat let out a surprisingly loud growl, then tackled her, using her height and weight to her advantage and easily bringing the witch down.
"Fucking bitch", she snarled as she straddled her, "you never should have laid a finger on her…"
And then, she started punching her, over and over, straight in the face, until the blood on her knuckles wasn't just hers anymore; and while she didn't notice that tears were streaming down her face, Willow did, somehow managing to get to her feet despite her pain and burns, Iris and Buffy looking helplessly how she stumbled over to where her partner was sitting on their opponent, grasping her fist tenderly when she pulled it back yet again, the demon straining against her hold, clearly still having the need to punch the already knocked out Lana.
"Stop", the redhead said in the gentlest voice she could manage, "stop it, please, she's out cold, you defeated her, you won and she won't hurt me… Don't do this Pat, Sweetie, look at me…"
Just when she thought that Pat hadn't even heard her, the demon finally did what she had asked her to, looking at her while she stopped trying to break free from her hold; for a few more moments, the couple just looked into each other's eyes – before the taller woman broke with a racked sob and Willow pulled her into a tender embrace, holding her close and tight as she cried in her arms, neither of them noticing how the spell used against Iris and Buffy finally stopped working and they both fell down to the ground, their relief at the defeat of their opponent overshadowed by the obvious bad state it had left Pat in.