"Dammit", Pat grumbled at the same time, frustrated, feeling like kicking or punching something, but having nothing suitable within reach, "come on, Giles, use that big brain of yours and figure out how to find her!"
"It's not that easy", Giles gave back, taking off his glasses as he always did when he was feeling dismayed or unhappy, "we can't just do a locator spell, the way we did whenever you had gone missing."
"That makes it sound as if I go missing all the time", the taller woman grumbled, "and I know that, cause unlike me, she's not a demon, but there has to be something we can do!"
"I'm trying to come up with something", the Watcher reassured her, regretting that she had declined his offer of tea, convinced that she would be calmer, had she accepted it, "perhaps the coven might have an idea how to find her, locate her magic or…"
The phone in the demon's pocket started to blare and interrupted him, prompting him to raise an eyebrow; after a brief look of surprise, Pat pulled the phone out and glanced at it, frowning when she saw who was calling her.
"It's Willow's cell", she then explained the reason for the look on her face, "they must have taken it from her… Probably calling now to make a ransom demand."
Taking in a deep breath so she'd remain calm, she pushed the button which took the call, managing to sound surprisingly normal when she greeted whoever was calling with a simple "Yes?"; moments later, her composure slipped though as her partner's voice reached her ear, sounding frantic and scared, but at least not full of pain.
"Pat, it's me, I don't have much time to talk", she told her hurriedly, the way the demon sat up straight prompting both Buffy and Giles to give her concerned look, "they don't know I still got my phone, but they might come back any moment… They took me to the old factory, you know the one close to the woods, please come and get me out of here…"
"Yes", Pat confirmed at once, "we're on our way. Try to hide the phone, but if they find it, don't fight them, we know where you are and we'll get you out. Hold on, I love you…"
"I love you too", Willow gave back, and then the connection ended; and while she was still tucking the phone back into her pocket, the demon was already coming to her feet, hurriedly telling Buffy and Giles what she just had learned, the Slayer immediately coming to her feet as well while the taller woman was still talking.
"Let's get weapons", she stated once Pat had finished the explanation, "and go there to kick some ass. Giles?"
"Already on it", the Brit gave back, already having moved to the chest he kept at the far back of his living room; he hurriedly unlocked it, then opened it, revealing a collection of swords and axes, not surprised when the black haired woman chose one of the latter a few moments later.
Figuring that one axe was enough, Buffy took hold of a sword, swinging it a few times to make sure it was well-balanced; nodding in satisfaction, she then turned to look at the taller woman, a slightly nasty smile on her face as she spoke up, causing the Watcher to sigh when the demon started to smile in quite a similar way at her words.
"Well, then", the blonde stated, hiding the sword beneath her coat, "let's go then and kick some ass, and teach them that it is not a good idea to kidnap the Slayer's best friend."
"Let's", the taller woman agreed, tightening her grip on the axe; not even bothering to tell them to be careful, Giles just told them that they could take his car to get there faster, making them both nod before Pat accepted the keys from him and they hurried out of the house, over to where the Watcher had parked his vehicle.
"Who'll drive?" the demon wanted to know, not really surprised when immediately, Buffy told her that she should, pointing out that each and every person who ever had driven with her had said that she drove like crazy.
"Says the woman with two eyes and thus, perfect depth perception", the taller woman muttered, but didn't try to change her friend's mind, instead simply getting into the driver's seat; taking the passenger side, Buffy just smiled innocently at her, only to end up pressed into the seat when immediately after the starting the engine, Pat stepped down on the gas pedal hard.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she brought out after a few moments of shocked silence, "slow down! We could get pulled over or, even worse, crash, and how would that help Willow?"
In response, Pat let out a low growl, but did ease the pressure on the pedal after a moment, causing the car to slow down; still she was above the speed limit as she drove through Sunnydale and to the outskirts of town, Buffy shifting nervously on the seat the whole time, relief filling her when finally, the factory the witch had been talking about appeared up ahead.
"There", she unnecessarily pointed it out to the taller woman, only earning another grunt in reply; not wanting the people in the factory to hear the car approach and figure out that they were coming, the demon then pulled over and killed the engine, grabbing her axe from the backseat moments later and getting out of the car, Buffy following suit, a look of cold determination on their face as they headed for the entrance together, eager to get the witch out and to make whoever had taken her pay for that grave mistake.
To the surprise and slight relief of both Buffy and Pat, the door leading into the factory was neither locked, nor guarded; they both time to ask themselves if maybe, it was a trap, then both pushed those thoughts aside without voicing them out loud, knowing that, even if it was, they just couldn't leave Willow in there.
Holding back the urge to call out, the demon was the first to enter the run-down building, glancing around as she tried to spot any threats; the large hall was empty though, only a few forlorn looking shelves standing around, causing her to frown as she asked herself where exactly Willow had been taken – before Buffy tucked her sleeve and, once she had gained her attention, pointed out a door at the far end of the hall, the black haired woman's good eye narrowing when she spotted the footprints in the dust leading to said door.
After exchanging a quick look with Buffy, both of them proving that by now, they had fought side by side so often that no more words were necessary, they both started moving to the door, as quietly as possible; keeping the noise level down to a minimum, they moved to stand to the right and left of the doorframe, the demon waiting for the Slayer to nod at her before she reached out and turned down the knob, the door swinging open seconds later, revealing an empty hallway, several doors lining the walls.
"She must be in one of those rooms", Buffy whispered to her companion, making her nod this time; side by side, they snuck to the door closest to them, but just as the blonde reached for the knob, a bloodcurdling scream came up from behind a door farther down the hallway, making them both jump – before they exchanged shocked, wide-eyed looks, both the Slayer and the demon having recognized the voice immediately.
Without hesitating for a second, Pat started to rush down the hallway the blink of an eye later, ignoring it when Buffy called out her name sharply; without even slowing down, she burst through the door from which behind the scream had originated, only to come to an abrupt halt when, instead of finding Willow as the victim of torture or abuse, her fearful gaze spotted the redhead sitting on a strangely throne-like chair, holding the Staff in one hand, the scream ending the moment her eyes met the demon's.
"So predictable", the witch sighed, while all Pat could do was stand and stare, unable to believe what she was seeing, that the darkness had taken hold of her lover like this again, "I knew you'd come running the moment you'd think someone's hurting your precious Willow."
"Willow", the demon brought out in reply while finally, Buffy had caught up and ended up standing beside her, looking just as shocked as the taller woman was feeling, "what did they do to you…?"
"Nothing", the witch shrugged, smiling an unsettlingly cold and uncaring smile at her afterwards, "why would you think they had to do anything? I believe it's about time I let this side of me out to play again, it's been hidden for so long."
"No", Pat gave back, only now noticing the robed figures which were standing next to and behind the chair, "no, this isn't you… And you know it!"
"But this is a part of me", Willow let her know, rising from her seat and walking over to her with slow, almost casual steps, "as you should know. How often have you told me that your need for violence is part of you?"
She stopped inches from the taller woman, looking up at her and smiling – before her gaze moved to Buffy, her eyes narrowing, the Slayer letting out a yelp of surprise moments later as the Staff, once more seemingly with a life of its own, shot up, aiming for her head, the blonde managing to duck the hit in the last second.
"I'll tell you everything there is to know about violence", Willow hissed as she twirled the Staff expertly, as if she had done nothing but handle such a weapon for years, "and once I got rid of the two of you, I can tap into the real power…"
"Stop this", Buffy now was the one to try reason, even though deep inside, she knew just as well as Pat that it was useless, "Pat's right, this isn't you!"
"Oh, not willing to fight me now?" Willow wanted to know in reply, a malicious smirk curling her lips, mirrored by the men still keeping a safe distance, content with merely watching, "I remember a time when that was different. And if Giles hadn't saved the day back then, I would have kicked your self-righteous ass. But there'll be no Giles today, right?"
Before Buffy could respond to that, the Staff shot out again, and she barely managed to duck the hit yet again; and while she still was moving, a bright blast of energy shot from the end of the Staff aimed at her, hitting her in the chest and sending her backwards until the wall stopped her harshly, a grunt escaping her as she slumped down.
"You know you'll never forgive yourself if you do this", Pat still tried to reason, knowing that she couldn't fight her partner, no matter what, "she's your best friend, and I love you, don't do this Willow…"
"Telling me you love me won't work again", Willow gave back, clearly unimpressed by her lover's words, "that only did the trick once, back then. Please don't tell me you'll be a spoilsport like Buffy and won't fight me? I've been so longing for a good challenge."
"I won't fight you", the demon confirmed, only to grunt a second later as the Staff shot out and the dull end was rammed into her stomach, knocking the air out of her; and as she doubled over, the weapon moved yet again, landing painfully hard across her shoulder blades and sending her down on all fours.
"She's really not fighting back, boys", Willow told the by now chuckling watching men, "who would have thought."
Gritting her teeth against the pain, the taller woman slowly looked up at her, just in time to see her pull back the Staff the way a golfer would pull back his club on the green; and then, it swung down in a merciless, hard arc, stars exploding in her field of vision as it hit her in the lower jaw, with so much force that she was actually lifted off her feet and sent backwards, crashing against the wall next to the still dazed Slayer.
"Doesn't really matter though, does it", the witch went on, now sounding almost thoughtful, "I can still give my boys a good show, can't I? Too bad there won't be a happy ending… for the two of you."
In response, the men started cheering and clapping while the two women struggled back on their feet, both ignoring the pain of both the witch's attacks and her words; they exchanged one look, a silent promise to each other that they would find a way to end this without actually hurting the redhead, then both slid into a fighting stance, knowing that, even if they couldn't battle her, they at least had to avoid her attacks until a way to stop her from attacking them had been found.