Author's Note: Due to the shocked reactions of some of you guys (and because they made me feel bad about the cliffy), here's the next update a day early. Do tell if you want another one tomorrow, anyway ;) and enjoy!
"Willow!" This time, a bit of pain came with the yelling of her name, and it stunned her to realize that she had been slapped; she had a moment to ask herself how inconsiderate Buffy actually was, then she noticed that she was flat on her back again, her eyes flying open as she realized what this might mean, even though she barely dared to hope so – until Pat leaned over her and looked at her, the sight of her lover alive and well nearly making her faint again. Ignoring how dizzy she was feeling, she sat up and practically flung herself into the taller woman's arms; clearly startled, Pat stared at her for a moment, then returned the embrace, her voice as concerned as her expression when she asked the witch if she was okay.
"Yes", Willow gave back at once, still hugging her tightly, "I am now, now that I know that you're okay…"
"Why shouldn't I be okay?" Pat wanted to know, now not sounding worried anymore, but just confused; pulling back from the hug just enough so she could look at her, Willow smiled and told her it wasn't important, then kissed her tenderly, glad when she saw that she had managed to put a smile on her partner's face with the gesture afterwards.
"Did the spell work?" the demon then wanted to know, her smile widening when Willow nodded at once, the horrible event she'd dreamed off while she'd been unconscious ignored for now.
"Just as it was supposed to", she reassured the taller woman, "I can feel it, it all came back…"
"Great", Giles' voice came from behind them, the Watcher looking a bit roughened up as he moved up to her and smiled at her, "so getting thrown across the room at least was worth it."
"Sorry", the witch sheepishly mumbled, relieved when Giles waved her apology aside with a casual gesture, then asked her if she felt dizzy or otherwise strange, appearing slightly relieved when she shook her head.
"Good", Buffy threw in before he could say anything, and maybe voice the reason for the brief flash of concern Willow had seen in his eyes when he had asked how she was feeling, "then we can now figure out how to kill that demon. Any ideas?"
"We have to come up with something to stop her from making our nightmares come true again during the fight", Willow pointed out, shrugging off the concern she had seen in the Brit's eyes, "or who knows what will happen…"
"Would the blocking spell help?" Buffy wanted to know, ignoring the dismayed look she received from Pat for this suggestion, the demon still remembering well what had happened the last time Willow had used that spell, appearing a bit relieved when the witch shrugged in reply.
"Not sure", she then let the Slayer know, "that depends on how she uses her powers… If they're purely magical or part of her nature. Like Pat's flames, you know, the blocking spell wouldn't work with those either cause they're kinda part of the package."
"Is there a way to find out if it would work?" Pat wanted to know, frowning when the witch shrugged in reply, then crossed her arms over her chest, sounding as dismayed as she was looking when she went on. "So you wanna try a spell which we know tires you out terribly and gives you a massive nosebleed without even being sure that it'll help? No way."
"Not one of the best ideas, indeed", Giles agreed, to the surprise of the others, since so far, he usually had gone along even with the more outrageous plans, "we at least should find out if the spell would do any good before using it. It is quite unnerving that we don't have more time to find out more about this demon…"
"There has to be some sort of spell which can defeat her", Buffy thought out loud, shrugging when they all looked at her, then smirking slightly, her next words making the Watcher and the demon smile as well while Willow looked slightly unnerved. "Think about it, at first she took Willow's magic from her, and then, when we decided we'd figure out how to give it back to her, she came here to make a deal with her and to threaten her. There must be a certain reason why she's obviously afraid of you, Willow."
"Well, if there is, I have no idea what it is", the redhead sighed in reply. "There's probably some spell or something, but as Giles said, we don't have forever to search for it, if we take too long, she'll finish feeding and go to sleep for another thirty years, and it'll never stop."
"Indeed", the Watcher sighed out again in response, "and we can't let that happen, for the sake of the people here, not to mention that it is your duty as the Slayer to stop this creature, Buffy."
"I know", Buffy grumbled, "but how do we stop her? We have no idea how to find her, and even if we do, just fighting her won't do any good, you saw what her son was capable of doing and he was just a child. There must be some reason why she's after Willow like that, and I bet that, once we found out about it, we can defeat her."
"Wait", the redhead mumbled, with that particular look on her face that showed she was having an idea, making them all look at her curiously, "I think I'm coming up with something…"
"Hopefully nothing dangerous", Pat mumbled, shrugging when Giles gave her a scolding look, not adding anything else; and before the Brit could make a comment, Willow went on, making them both focus on her again, even though her attention was fully on Buffy and she didn't even seem to notice them.
"Remember when you were kinda out of it after that whole mess with Glory, when she'd managed to capture Dawn?" she wanted to know, not surprised when Buffy nodded at once, her face briefly darkening at the unpleasant memories.
"You entered my mind then", the blonde added at Pat's confused look, the realization dawning on her a moment later and making her smile. "And you want to do that again, right? Or something similar?"
"Something similar", Willow confirmed, smiling, now warming up to her own idea, suddenly sure that it would work. "I'll enter the dream of one of you", she went on, "and confront her there. Maybe we could find some binding spell so I can bind her to the dreamscape, then she'll be stuck there forever and won't be able to come here anymore to feed…"
"And if that doesn't work, you can bring her back here with you and you can kill her, right?" Pat wanted to know, looking not so worried anymore when the witch nodded after a moment, giving her partner a calming smile, the effect she'd been intending ruined by her own words moments later though.
"It's quite a big bit of mojo I'll have to do to make it work, but I know it can be done, so I'm not worried… the question is just, which dream will I enter, and how will that entrance happen", she let the rest of the small group know, choosing her next words carefully since she knew that her partner wouldn't like them one bit.
"I'll either enter that dream as myself, like I did when I entered Buffy's mind", she started the explanation, "or as the person who's dream I'm entering. So, no offense, Sweetie, but I'd prefer it to be Buffy's dreamworld, if your worst nightmares are mostly about me dying or getting horribly wounded."
"Yeah, that makes sense", the demon agreed after thinking about this for a moment, while Buffy looked quite nervous, shuffling her feet, shrugging when Willow gave her a curious look.
"I'm not sure I'll be able to fall asleep if I know you'll want to enter my dreams", she then explained, to the amusement of everyone, even Giles, blushing slightly, "you're not gonna look at anything… private, right?"
"No", Willow reassured her at once, not having the slightest interest in the private matters Buffy was referring to, "and I can help you with the falling asleep too, there's a spell for that."
"Alright", the Slayer finally agreed, after thinking about it for a few more seconds, "let's do this then… Right now?"
"No, not right now", the redhead declined, "I need to get some stuff from home first, ingredients I'll need for the spell to enter your dreams and more of that incense sticks, unless Giles still has some."
"Two", the Watcher let her know, not surprised when she told him that two weren't enough; it didn't surprise her that moments later, Pat spoke up and stated that she'd accompany her to their place, not willing to let her go alone. For a moment, she felt like telling her that it'd be better if Buffy came along, remembering the threats of the nightmare demon; then, she realized that it didn't really matter, since that demon could be anywhere and use the dreams of any citizen of Sunnydale against them and just nodded.
"Let's go then", she added after a moment, "I want this over with quickly, before she finishes feeding somewhere else and goes back to sleep."
Nodding, the demon came to her feet; Buffy took the time to tell them to take care, making them both nod before they left the house together, the witch looking left and right as she stepped outside with her partner in tow, almost expecting the nightmare demon to pop up and threaten her again, or maybe even try to do more than just threaten this time.
"Relax", Pat's voice came from behind her, the taller woman moving up to her side a moment later, "if she pops up here now, the business will be finished quicker than she thinks right now, cause I'll kill her."
"If it'd be so easy, she already would be dead", Willow pointed out in reply, "who knows what she'll do, just think of her what her son did when he made you stab me instead of that thug."
"Don't remind me of that", Pat grimaced, making the redhead smile slightly while she reached over to grasp her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze, giving her best to also sound reassuring when she replied. "That wasn't your fault, and let's hope she won't pull a trick like that… But we shouldn't take any risks."
"Good point", the demon agreed after a moment, "and even though being careful is something I'm usually not all too good at, I guess I'll have to try this time."
"Yup", Willow smiled, "at least until we got rid of that demon, then you can go back to being reckless."
Chuckling, Pat nodded her agreement, then stopped walking for a quick kiss, a demand the witch gladly fulfilled; afterwards, they continued on their way to their home, both of them hoping that the solution Willow had come up with would help them to get rid of this demon once and for all, before even more harm could be done to any of them.