"I have quite the good news", the Watcher let them know an hour later as he joined them in the Summers house, "I spoke to the coven, as promised, and they told me some very interesting things."
"Well, don't make us wait for them", Pat demanded, sounding impatient; she had made herself comfortable on the couch with her partner after Buffy had called Giles and had been told that it'd take too long over the phone and that'd he come over, her arm now around the redhead's shoulders, so she could feel her tense up as well at the Brit's words. To the dismay of both of them, he didn't do so immediately though, but instead decided that an explanation was in order before he could tell them what exactly the coven had said, as always when he was going into lecture mood taking off his glasses and polishing them while he spoke, holding Willow's gaze as he informed her of the call's results.
"As you know, Willow, magic theoretically can be done by anyone with the right ingredients and spells, but not everyone has the same potential", he started, making the redhead nod, a slightly impatient look on her face as well now.
"The strength of someone's potential depends on how deep their connection to the magical energies of the world are", Giles went on, unimpressed by her facial expression, "a connection which can be deepened and strengthened by regular use of magic, but which also can be severed, cutting the person in question off completely."
"Is that what that demon did to Willow?" Pat wanted to know, clearly not willing to wait much longer; this resulted in a disapproving look from the Brit, but after a moment, he nodded, focusing on Willow again and giving her a calming smile.
"Your connection to the magical forces was very deep, and thorough", he went on, "as you surely were aware of yourself. I guess we could say that your natural state is to be connected to the magic, so, according to the coven, it won't be too hard to re-establish that connection. They told me about a spell we'll need to do, for which I'll need your help, Pat, since as a demon, you are naturally connected to those forces as well."
"Yeah, I know, I've heard that before", the demon gave back, "so is this spell complicated? What do we have to do?"
"You won't have to do anything, except for supporting me with your strength", Giles informed her, "I'd do it alone if I was sure that I'm powerful enough, but unfortunately, I'm not quite convinced of that. I already brought everything we need."
"Wise man", Pat said in reply to that, making Willow smile while the Watcher gave her another disapproving look; then, he turned to Buffy and asked her to move the rug on the floor aside so he could draw the symbols needed for the spells on the wood beneath, the Slayer nodding at once and getting up to do just that.
"Is this spell dangerous?" Willow wanted to know, once more remembering the threat of the nightmare demon and giving her partner a worried glance; to her relief, Giles shook his head, then smiled calmingly at her, briefly making her wonder if Buffy had told him about the threats that had been made, a thought she shrugged off when the Watcher spoke up again and gained her full attention once more.
"Not any more dangerous than any spells you did together with Pat before", he reassured her, "in the worst case, you might pass out for a minute or two, if the rush of the magic coming back is too big."
"Well, that's calming", Pat commented dryly, shrugging when Willow gave her a look, sounding slightly defensive when she went on. "What? I just don't like the thought of my girlfriend passing out because of some magic overflow crap."
"As I said, I'm not sure that this will happen", Giles reminded her of his own words, "it is very possible that the magic will just flow back into her at a level she can deal with, and nothing unpleasant will happen at all."
"Let's hope that'll be the case", Pat sighed, making them nod; then, Giles got up from his seat and found a piece of chalk and a book in the bag he had brought, the rest watching with interest how he started drawing various complicated looking symbols on the floor, consulting the book every now and then, double-checking a few times to make sure he really got them all right.
"Alright", he finally muttered, putting both the book and the piece of chalk aside and removing a bunch of incense sticks from the bag, "almost done… Now, once the smell of these sticks spread enough, we can get started. Pat, I'll need to stand next to me, we'll hold hands while I say the incantation, and you, Willow, please stand right here, in the middle of the symbols. Pat, a bit of fire please?"
In response, the demon made a small flame appear on her index finger, then held her hand out to Giles; he gave her a brief smile, then lit up the incense sticks, placing them at several of the symbols he had drawn, the strong, musky odor soon filling the room, new nervousness filling Willow when he looked at her at last and nodded. Gulping, giving her best to hide how nervous she was feeling, she stepped on the spot the Brit was pointing out to her; Pat moved right behind her, stopping next to Giles and letting him grasp her hand, holding back a snarky comment about how they shouldn't do that in front of her girlfriend, forcing herself to remain quiet as he started chanting the incantation.
Giving her best to calm herself down, knowing that she was endangering the success of the spell if she was too nervous, Willow forced herself to stand still and not to fidget around; after a few moments, Pat caught her gaze, and the calming smile the demon gave her helped her to calm her further, until she even managed to return an honest, albeit not all too wide smile.
Moments later, said smile faded from her face again though when Giles finished the incantation; Pat felt his grip on her hand tighten, then a strong breeze suddenly came up in the living room, the smoke which still was rising from the incense sticks forming symbols and figures too complicated to be mere coincidence while Willow, another few seconds later, was lifted off her feet, the witch automatically closing her eyes as she felt the energy all around her. She didn't even notice how she clenched her fists and grit her teeth, a low groan escaping her, prompting Pat to look at Giles in worry; he gave her a calming glance as an answer, then Willow suddenly let out a hoarse cry as the connection was reestablished all at once, her eyes practically flying open, filled with a bright orange glow none of them had ever seen there before, the sight startling Giles enough so he involuntarily squeezed the demon's hand with surprising strength, making her wince in pain.
She just had the time to give him a brief look, then the air around both of them seemed to contract, making it hard to breathe; and seconds later, it expanded with shocking force, something which felt like the blast wave after an explosion hitting both of them and sending them flying, the sight of her partner hitting the living room table being the last thing Willow saw before the energy became too much to bear and darkness enfolded her.
She didn't know how long she had been out when she came around again, groaning softly to herself as she opened her eyes; to her surprise, she found herself flat on her back, on the ground, briefly wondering why no one had bothered to put her on the couch – before several things registered in her mind, one of them making her happy, the others causing worry to well up within her. The reason for her happiness was pinpointed quickly, and easily understood – the spell had worked just as it had been supposed to, and she could feel the magic flowing within her again, ready to be used the moment she'd decide to.
Even though she had been looking forward to this from the moment on Giles had told her that he'd be able to help her, this was not important anymore now though, since the reason for her concern was bigger than any happiness ever could have been – a few feet away from herself, she could hear Pat groan softly, and Buffy was saying the demon's name over and over again, as if trying to gain her attention – or maybe, trying to keep her awake.
Ignoring how dizzy she was feeling, Willow sat up on the ground, her eyes going wide a second later as she took in the scene in front of her, her heartbeat speeding up until it felt as if her heart would explode right out of her chest while she, dizziness and the regain of her magic now fully forgotten, came to her feet and hurried over to where Pat had fallen on the table, her brain nearly going into overload as it tried to cope with what she was seeing.
The wooden surface of the table had broken when the black haired woman had landed on it, not able to withstand the force of the impact and her weight; three of the table's legs had been splintered as well, and one of them now stuck out of the groaning demon's stomach as she laid impaled on it, covered in blood, more blood seeping from the wound and making the already shockingly large puddle on the wooden ground even bigger.
"No", Willow brought out, still unable to belief her eyes; her voice had sounded tiny and soft to her, barely audible, but still Buffy had heard her, turning her head to look at her, the terror in her wide eyes telling the witch everything she needed to know.
"No", she repeated, as if just saying this certain word often enough would make this undone, "this… No. No!" With the final word, she moved the last few steps to where her partner laid, the taller woman's hands by now clutching the table leg, blood covering her hands; not sure if she should cry or scream or both, Willow fell down on her knees next to her, not caring when she landed right in the puddle of blood and it started soaking her pants.
"Pat", she brought out, after swallowing down her tears, telling herself that it wouldn't help her partner if she'd cry in front of her, "look at me, come on…"
To her relief, the demon reacted to her words by doing just that, the pain she could see in her good eye making her heart clench up again, something she fought hard to hide as she spoke on the moment she could be sure she had her loved one's attention.
"I know you're in pain, and it'll get worse before this is over, but we have to get that piece of wood out of you, so you can demon out and heal that… okay? It'll hurt, but it'll be okay… it has to be okay…"
"Not gonna… be okay", the demon whispered in reply, her voice so weak that the redhead barely heard it and was forced to bend closer to her, her chest tightening again at the sight of the blood which had come from the taller woman's mouth and now was running down her cheeks, "too late…"
"No", Willow replied at once, shaking her head for emphasis, even putting on the Resolve Face, "you'll be okay, you hear? You won't just… you can't, no, I won't let you! You promised!"
"Sorry", Pat brought out, then let out an awfully wet sounding cough, more blood trickling down her cheeks moments later; not sure what else to do, realizing that her girlfriend was right and that it was too late and too bad to ever be okay again, Willow grasped her hand and held it, giving her best to look and sound soothing when she moved her free hand to caress her lover's hair, biting down her tears, telling herself that the last thing she wanted her partner to see was a smile.
"I love you", she told her after a few moments of just looking at her, feeling how Buffy put one hand on her shoulder, but not reacting to the blonde's touch, "and I'm sorry…"
If the demon had anything to reply to that, she couldn't bring out the words, her lips just moving soundlessly; after watching this for a few moments, and feeling her heart break at seeing her normally so strong and confident partner so weak, Willow put an end to it by bending down and kissing the dying woman, not even noticing the taste of blood that inevitably came with the kiss.
While they still were kissing, Willow felt her partner shudder beneath her, a raspy, uneven breath coming from her; and then, she laid still, and when the redhead pulled back from the kiss, she saw the empty gaze and that the demon had stopped breathing, and now she allowed herself to break, tears running down her cheeks moments later as she clutched her dead partner, not even hearing anymore how Buffy kept calling out her name…