"Yeah, it fought", Willow repeated half an hour later, on the phone with Giles, "it was awesome. It's kinda hard to describe, but it performed all these awesome moves, really quickly, but without making me feel as if it is doing this against my will. It was as if it was just… helping me to utilize fighting skills I didn't even know I possessed."
"Interesting", Giles gave back, frowning slightly, "I've never read of this before, and I did quite a bit of reading on the Staff after it was given to you. You really should try to find out what else it can do."
"I will", Willow promised, "and I'll let you know as soon as we find out something new."
"Take care until then", Giles instructed, now sounding slightly concerned, "who knows what other forces might be after the Staff, and seeing how fast this group of hooded men struck…"
"We'll be careful", Willow reassured him, "no worries, you know Pat will protect me and if the Staff does this every time I'm in danger…"
"Then anyone after it might be in for a surprise", Giles said, and she could practically hear the smile on his face; she giggled slightly and nodded, then said her goodbye, her partner's voice reaching her ears the moment she had ended the call and had put down the phone.
"So what did he say?" the demon wanted to know, strolling in from the kitchen with a cup of coffee in hand, "did he know the Staff can do that?"
"No", Willow let her know, moving over to her and smiling when she was pulled into a one-armed embrace, the couple sharing a short, but tender kiss before the redhead spoke on.
"He had no idea", she let her partner know, "and he was quite surprised. He told me again we should try to find out what else it can do, and that we should be careful, because a lot of people might be after it."
"Let them come", Pat shrugged, interrupting herself with a sip of her coffee before she continued, "we can handle whatever they might throw at us. I mean, we kicked the Devil's butt and stopped like ten apocalypses by now."
"That number's a little high", Willow smiled, "but you're right, we can handle anyone they might send after us. We are quite the battle couple."
Secretly, she was glad to hear her partner talk with such great self-confidence again; after the whole mess with the power-stealing with Lana they had dealt with just a few weeks ago, the demon had been quite affected for a while, jumping at unexpected noises and touches, and reluctant to go anywhere where big crowds might be expected, but getting better about this, as well.
At first, Willow had been worried that what she had experienced in that other dimension, locked up in the tower the power stealer had been living in, might have an unexpected negative effect on her fighting skill; it quickly had become clear though that this wasn't the case, the taller woman still battling their foes with the speed and strength she always had displayed, sometimes even with a bit more force than necessary, something which worried the witch every now and then, but so far, there hadn't really been a good moment to bring it up, to her dismay.
Making a mental note to herself that she still had to talk to her partner about this, Willow stood in the tips of her toes for another kiss, gesturing at the couch afterwards and making the taller woman smile with what she said next.
"So, after all this excitement", she started, looking up at her partner, "how about we just cuddle a bit? Maybe watch a nice movie?"
"Sounds like a plan", the demon agreed at once, not really surprising her, "any particular movie you want to see?"
"Nothing bloody", Willow told her at once, "something funny would be nice."
"Fine with me", Pat shrugged, already moving to the shelf holding their movie collection; doing the same, Willow studied the row of DVDs for a few moments, then pointed one out, the taller woman nodding her reply when she asked if this one was alright.
"I wonder if anyone else will come after us", the redhead mused after they had popped the movie in and had made themselves comfortable on the couch, the witch having snuggled up to her partner and enjoying the feeling of her arms around her, one of the demon's hands moving up to play with a few strands of her hair, "and if we'll find out what they want to do with the Staff."
"Probably something nasty", Pat grumbled in reply, momentarily regretting that she had put her coffee cup on the table since now, she couldn't reach it without leaning forward and putting Willow in danger of being tossed off the couch by her; as if she had read her mind, the witch leaned forward instead and grabbed the cup, handing it to her with a smirk and earning a grateful look in reply.
"Finding that out was the reason why I wanted to question that one guy", the demon went on after taking a sip of the coffee, "but unfortunately, he pulled off his little vanishing act before we could get a hold of him."
"In case they try again, I'll use a binding spell on him", Willow decided in reply, "then we can keep him from vanishing into thin air again and ask him what exactly they are planning to do. And if he doesn't want to talk, I can put a truth spell on him."
"I like that plan", Pat smirked, making the witch smile back at her; the couple exchanged another tender kiss, then both focused on the movie, all thoughts of the Staff and what mayhem it still might cause in their lives at least for the moment forgotten.
Even though by now, Willow knew that her partner still suffered from nightmares about what had been done to her by Lana, it still startled her to no end whenever the demon's screams tore her out of her peaceful slumber; as always, it took her a few moments to realize that they were not under attack and that nothing bad was happening except for the images of the taller woman's nightmares, her heart racing in her chest as she hurriedly sat up in bed, switched on the lamp on the nightstand and then did the only thing she knew would help – she pulled her partner into an embrace and held her, whispering soothingly into her ear and caressing her back and hair, tightening her embrace around Pat when the demon woke up moments later and looked at her in confusion and fear.
"It's okay", she mumbled, telling her what she needed to hear to get out of the nightmare's clutches and realize that she was safe, "it was a dream, it's not real, she's gone and you're okay…"
For a few more minutes, Pat remained silent, just letting the witch hold her and rub her back soothingly; then, she finally spoke up, in a surprisingly stable voice, considering that she'd had dreams bad enough to make her scream, her words prompting Willow to tighten her hug around her yet again. "Sorry for waking you up… again."
"Don't worry about that", Willow gave her standard response, "are you feeling alright? Do you want me to get you something?"
"No", the demon mumbled in reply, snuggling up closer to her and prompting her to caress her hair again, her tender touch clearly helping to calm her down further, "just… keep doing what you're doing. I'll be fine…"
Nodding, Willow raised her head slightly so she could tenderly kiss her on the cheek; then, she just kept holding her, rubbing her back soothingly with one hand while the other rested on her upper arm, the hardness of her bicep showing how tense the demon still was.
"Try to relax", the witch mumbled, briefly closing her eyes when she felt her partner tremble in her arms in reply, "you're okay, it was just a nightmare…"
"I wish they'd just stop", Pat brought in a trembling voice in reply, startling Willow slightly with this unexpected display of such strong emotion, "I'm sick of dreaming about that bitch… about what she did to me…"
"They've been getting less and less though, no?" Willow wanted to know, moving her hand from her back to caress her hair tenderly yet again, "I'm sure they'll stop completely soon, Sweetie… And it's normal to dream of such… things, it was quite the painful and terrifying experience for you…"
"Yeah", was all the demon replied to that; she had told her loved one a few bits and pieces about what exactly Lana had done to her in that tower and how it had felt, but never had gone into great detail, and from her monosyllabic response, it was obvious that she wouldn't do so now, either.
"…I still dream of Warren, you know", Willow thus said after a moment, more to break the silence which had been forming, since it had been one of the few uncomfortable ones which hardly ever happened between her lover and her, "of what he did. And of what I did to him."
"You do?" the demon wanted to know, looking at her in surprise, the witch's eyes by now having adjusted enough to the dark so she could read that expression on her lover's face; nodding, she moved one hand to play with a strand of the taller woman's long hair, keeping her voice low when she replied.
"Yes", she confirmed once more, "not often, and by now, it's not bad enough anymore to make me wake up screaming, but I do. Of Tara, how she looked at me the moment the bullet hit her, and of how he looked after I… after I flayed him. Of the sound and the smell…"
She took in a deep breath, for a moment almost able to smell the said odour; then, the unpleasant memories had been pushed to the back of her mind successfully, and she smiled weakly at her partner, knowing that Pat could see her just as well, if not even better, in the dark room as she could see her.
"And that has been years ago", she then went on, still caressing the demon's hair tenderly, "so, as you see, it's normal to dream about such experiences. Of course it's not pleasant, and I hope too that the dreams might stop some day, but until then, all I can do is deal with them."
"Why did you never tell me?" Pat wanted to know, frowning slightly now, "even if those nightmares don't cause you to wake up screaming anymore, you could have told me…"
"They were just dreams", Willow shrugged in reply, "not prophetic like the ones I had before he came back, just nightmares. It just didn't seem important."
Still frowning, the demon looked as if she wanted to protest; before she could do so though, a low thump reached her ears, and from the way Willow stiffened next to her, it became immediately clear that she had heard it as well and that she hadn't imagined it.
"Someone's in here", she whispered what Pat had been thinking, momentarily amazed by how well the demon's nightmare and awakening had been timed – if she hadn't had one of her bad dreams that night, they never would have woken up, and whoever had entered their home now would have gotten away without the two of them ever having the slightest idea he'd been there.
"Stay here", the demon muttered, already moving out of her embrace, "I'll take care of this."
Even though she wanted to protest, wanted to tell her that she'd come with her and make sure she wouldn't get hurt, Willow merely nodded; by now, she knew Pat well enough to be well aware of the black haired woman's need to protect her and to display that she was strong enough to do just that, and after how weak and helpless Lana had made her, had made her feel, it was just natural that she would take the first chance given to prove that she still could handle anything Sunnydale might throw at them.
Thus, she stayed where she was, watching how the taller woman snuck to the door, moving with the soundless grace decades of assassinating people had granted her; it was unavoidable to open the door, and thus risk being discovered as awake and aware of what was going on, but still, she managed to do that just as quietly as she had been moving, her good eye narrowing seconds later.
"Hey", she then called out, to whoever had entered their home uninvited, "I don't think that's yours to take. Drop it, buddy."
"Why are you awake?" the burglar asked in reply, of all things to say, still clutching the wrapped up Staff in one hand; in response, Pat just let out a snarl, then started moving, all tries to be quiet forgotten now that they were facing each other, her fists already flaming up while she still was moving, the sight prompting Willow to wince as she thought of scorch marks on the carpet and the furniture.
"Careful, love", she thus called out, finally getting out of bed as well and moving to the doorway so she could watch her lover fight, "don't set anything on fire. Except for him."
"Not him, either!" the man called out as he ducked a fist aimed at his face, only to end up with a knee in his gut; with a low "Ooff", he got thrown backwards, dropping the Staff in the process and immediately using the fact that now, both his hands were free to raise them and to call out "I give up, I give up!", prompting the demon to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"You give up so fast?" she then wanted to know, sounding almost annoyed, to Willow's imminent amusement, "what kind of a demon are you?"
"What!" the man squeaked, scrambling backwards and out of her reach, somehow managing to do so without lowering his hands, "demon? I'm no demon, I'm just a man! … and everyone knows demons aren't real anyway."
"Demons aren't real?" Willow echoed, moving closer to her partner and looking at the man in disbelief, "you come to our home and tell us demons aren't real? How do you think she makes that fire happen?"
With those words, she gestured at the flaming fists of her partner, making her realize that the fire was still there and prompting her to let it flicker away into nothingness; shrugging, the man dared to sit up a bit, looking relieved when he wasn't immediately attacked again.
"Some sort of parlour trick?" he then guessed, clearly not realizing what was going on, and displaying what the gang by now referred to as "Sunnydale Syndrome" in spades, "I was told that one of you is a witch when I was sent here. I figured it's her."
"I'm the witch", Willow let him know, "she's the demon. And yes, they are real, and yes, she can make that fire come back whenever she wants, and yes, it is real and it can hurt you. A lot."
"Um", the man replied, looking at the taller woman slightly nervous now – before he let out a strangely melodramatic sigh and, with his eyes rolling back into his head, fainted, hitting the carpet with a low thump moments later.