Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Not mine, I do not have that honor.
Distribution:
The Mystic Muse: http://mysticmuse.net
My Site: http://www.angelfire.com/vamp/bwriter/
Anyone else, just ask.
Feedback: Gimmie gimmie gimmie.
Spoilers: Everything up to the end of season 4.
Author's Notes: Buffy and Willow were together in High school up
until the end of season two when Buffy moved over to England with Giles for
Special Slayer training, (her mom knows all about it) leaving Faith (who was the
second slayer called not Kendra) to guard the Hellmouth. Not knowing how long
she would be away, Buffy broke up with Willow. This story starts with Buffy
coming home after two years just as Willow is starting college.
Pairing: Willow/Buffy
Summary: Buffy comes home.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20
Buffy stepped off the plane and walked across the airfield, Giles at her side. Being home in Sunnydale was at once both scary and exciting. She couldn't wait to see her mom, her friends and most of all Willow.
She knew that she had told Willow to move on but she had held out hope that her lover was still hers.
"It's late. We can hold a meeting tomorrow. I will contact the gang and arrange to meet them at your house, say about noon?"
Buffy nodded her agreement and slide into the waiting car.
Two years ago she never really thought about the council, who they were, what their jobs were, but now she knew each and every single member. Especially the crack team that were her bodyguards now.
It made her smile every time she thought about it. The Slayer with her own private bodyguards. The demons would have a field day with that one.
Tom, the biggest of her minders, closed her car door and got into the drivers seat. He was six foot tall with the body of a champion boxer. If Buffy wasn't so into girls, and one in particular, she would have went for him when they first met. As it was now, she thought of him as a brother.
Buffy passed Giles the book he had asked for and lowered the glass separating the driver from the back of the limo.
"Hey T."
Tom smiled at her in the mirror.
"Hey there Buff. Glad to be home?"
"Yes and no. When is Mike and Jonny arriving?"
Giles looked up, wanting to know the answer to that as well. While he was fond of Tom and Mike, Jonny was another story. There was just something about him that didn't sit with the Watcher, nor the Slayer.
"Tomorrow night. Travers needed them to take the High minister to Ireland on a art buying trip."
The High minister was like the President of America. He was the main boss man. The only people who held more power in the council were Buffy and Faith.
Giles went back to reading his book while Buffy talked with Tom.
"Hey stop the car."
Tom met her eyes in the mirror and stopped the car.
Buffy got out and walked the few feet to the familiar figure she could make out in the dark.
"Hey there Faith."
The other Slayer jumped.
"Shit B! A little warning next time."
Buffy gave the other Slayer a hug.
"You shouldn't need a warning."
Faith nodded her head before looking in the direction Buffy had come and seeing a tall good looking guy leaning against a car door and Giles head sticking out the back window.
"Hey B, who's the hottie?"
Buffy looked back at Tom before turning back to her sister Slayer.
"Tom."
Faith sent a smile his way, happy when it was returned.
"Hey G-man!"
Giles automatically replied with a "don't call me that" which was drowned out buy Tom's laughing.
"So B, when did you get back?"
"Pretty much just now. I'm heading home. Giles is going to organize a meeting tomorrow, but I want it to be a surprise so don't mention seeing me to the gang okay? Wanna lift home?"
Faith nodded her head and walked back to the limo with Buffy.
"B?" Tom mimicked.
Buffy rolled her eyes at him while Faith laughed.
"Don't you start, you've given me enough nicknames for three lifetimes, you don't need anymore. Besides, that's Faith's name and only she gets to use it."
Faith had a goofy smile on her face as Buffy got into the car before she followed.
While Buffy and Giles had kept up to date on what was going on in Sunnydale, there was a few things they hadn't known about, like the school getting blew up and Faith being put through the Cruciamentum.
Buffy went mad when she heard about that.
"They put you through that! Bastards!"
Tom met her eyes in the mirror and silently begged her to calm down.
Giles looked just as angry as Buffy was.
"We were with them and they never told us. I will be having words with Quentin in the morning."
Buffy's expression changed from anger to amazement as she looked at Faith.
"You passed."
Faith nodded her head and explained about how the Vampire had escaped and kidnapped Xander. She told them about how she killed him by making him drink holy water and about how Angel saved her from a minion.
Buffy smiled, proud of Faith.
"Congratulations, you survived their torture."
"It wasn't that bad B."
Buffy shook her head.
"Cruciamentum is Latin for torture/torment."
Faith's eyes widened before Tom piped up.
"Where am I driving you Faith?"
Faith looked to Buffy, her eyes going wide.
"What?"
Faith looked at Tom and told him to drive to 1780 Revello Park.
Buffy's eyes widened. Faith was living with Willow? Jealously flared inside her and she was helpless to stop it.
"What?" Tom's head whipped around to Buffy's as he stopped the car, as did Giles. They only heard that voice when Buffy was on the hunt, or dealing with Travers.
Faith seemed to pick up on what Buffy was thinking and put an end to it, she may like messing with Buffy's head now and again, but she never used Willow to do it.
"Her parents moved away to L.A and let her stay in the house. We all live there. We all have a room and we pay rent."
Buffy nodded her head, her posture sill stiff.
"Who is 'we all'?"
"Me, Wills, Xand and his girl Anya and Kim."
Buffy raised her eyebrows.
"Kim?"
Faith looked uncomfortable again and for a second, Buffy didn't want to know.
She got her wish.
"Your stop Faith." Tom didn't much like this Slayer. She had been in his presence for ten minutes and she'd upset Buffy twice.
'maybe she'll grow on me. Buffy did'
Faith jumped out and waved goodbye.
The whole way home, which was only around the corner, Buffy wondered just who Kim was.
"Well Buffy, here we are. Mr. Giles, you can take the car home."
Tom got out and opened Buffy's door for her.
"You know, you really don't have to do that."
He smiled at her.
"Humor me."
Buffy rolled her eyes and turned back to Giles.
"You'll arrange tomorrow for noon then?"
"Yes. Well, I'm a bit knackered, so I'm off. Tom, make sure she sleeps."
"Yes sir."
Buffy rolled her eyes and hugged Giles goodnight.
"Come on you."
Buffy dragged Tom up the steps to her house and in through the front door.
"Mom?"
"Buffy! Oh your back, thank god!"
Joyce hugged Buffy tightly then turned and gave the same treatment to Tom.
"Thank you for bringing my baby home."
He blushed and ducked his head, hiding his big brown eyes.
"Mom, I'm tired, can we catch up tomorrow morning, right now I wouldn't be much company."
"Okay, go get some sleep honey. Tom, I made up the spare room for you."
"Thank you Joyce. That was very kind of you."
"Nonsense. Go on, go to bed."
Buffy didn't need telling twice.
After using the bathroom, Buffy headed over to the guest room to say goodnight to Tom.
He was fast asleep on top of the covers, fully clothed.
Buffy smiled before walking over and lifting Tom up. She held him in one arm, and pulled the covers back with her other before placing him under them and bending to take off his shoes and pulling the covers up over him.
Giving him a kiss on the forehead, she whispered goodnight and left to go great the Sandman, wondering what tomorrow was going to bring.
Willow rolled over and stared out the window. She couldn't sleep. She had this feeling that she needed to be awake for something, but she didn't know what.
She heard the front door close and a car take off and assumed that Faith must be back, considering that everyone else was home. 'wonder who was driving her?'
She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but the feeling would not leave her.
Sighing, Willow got out of bed and shuffled out of the room and down to the kitchen.
"Hey Faith."
Faith jumped and turned around, a leg of chicken sticking out of her mouth.
Willow shook her head suppressing a laugh and poured herself a glass of orange juice from the container Faith had left out.
"Good hunt?"
Faith finished her leg of chicken before reaching for another.
"No more than usual."
Willow knew what it was like when a Slayer had finished a hunt. She had been on the receiving end of the aftershocks, not that she was complaining.
"Do you want a sandwich?"
Faith chewed her chicken and swallowed before answering.
"Yeah, that'd be great."
Faith watched as Willow set about making her a sandwich and felt guilty for not telling her that Buffy was home. Faith didn't know what was going to happen, Willow was with Kim, and Buffy, well Buffy still loved Willow. The question was, did Willow still love Buffy?
"Hey Will?"
Willow turned to see Faith looking at her wearing a serious expression.
"What?"
"Do you love Kim?"
Willow closed her eyes and turned away from the Slayer.
Faith walked up behind Willow and placed a hand on her shoulder. When Willow refused to turn, Faith applied some pressure, not enough so she would hurt her friend, but enough to let Willow know that Faith was serious.
Willow's eyes closed again, but this time she got caught up in a memory.
Strong hands, just like Faith's had held her before. She had always felt safe when those arms had been wrapped around her, like nothing could ever hurt her.
But the arms holding her now were not the phantom ones she could still feel. These arms belonged to the wrong Slayer.
"I do feel something for her, but I'm not in love with her."
The words hurt Willow, because she knew at once that they were true.
Faith let go of Willow and took the offered sandwich.
"Well, what are you going to do about it?"
"I'm not going to do anything. I may not be in love with her, but I do love her. I enjoy being with her, she made the pain go away." The last part was said so quietly, only Faith's enhanced hearing could pick it up.
Tom awoke and had no clue where he was. Jumping out of bed, he took a look around.
Noticing the pictures of Buffy and Joyce on the walls, it all came back to him and he exhaled before opening his door and going over to Buffy's room.
Her door was open and her bed was empty. Forcing himself not to panic he made his way downstairs and into the kitchen, where he could hear Buffy talking with her mother.
"Morning T."
"Hey. Coffee?"
Joyce poured him a cup and he glanced at the clock.
"Jesus why didn't you wake me?"
It was 11.30am and the gang was arriving at 12. He wanted to look nice when her friends arrived. He was kind of nervous about meeting them.
"God you sound like a girl. It only takes you fifteen minutes to get showered and ready. I was going to wake you in a minute."
Tom smirked at her and gulped down the hot coffee before running back upstairs to get ready.
Buffy smiled at his retreating back.
"Are you two dating?"
Buffy's head whipped around to face her mother.
"NO! God no, why…I'm gay mom!"
"Buffy dating one girl doesn't make you gay."
Buffy's eyes turned stormy.
"Leave her out of this. I did what you wanted and we broke up. You may have convinced me that I was being unfair to her by making her wait for me to come home, but I'm home now and if she still wants me, then by God I'm getting her back."
Joyce never responded. She had never seen Buffy that commanding, well not when it was directed at her anyway.
They sat in silence and drank their coffees. Buffy was never so glad to hear the door bell.
"Hey Giles."
"Hello Buffy. Are they here yet?"
"No, we still have ten minutes. What reason did you give them, and do they know I'm with you?"
"I told them I had some news and no, they have no idea that you are here."
Buffy motioned for him to follow her into the living room.
"How are things with your mother?"
Buffy sat down and put her head in her hands.
"That good eh?"
She raised her eyes to Giles before they widened.
"Their early!" She could here them from the pavement.
Tom came walking down the stairs at the same time the front door bell went.
"You want me to get that?"
Buffy nodded her head yes and stood up.
Tom opened the door as Giles moved to stand by Buffy.
"Relax."
She smiled up at him gratefully and face the front door.
"Hello, you must be the Scoobies. Come in."
Tom led the five into the living room where Buffy was.
Two of the five stopped walking, Faith, who knew what was going on, carried on in and sat down on the couch.
"Hey B."
That snapped Xander out of the daze he was in.
"Buffy, holy cow, when did you get back?"
He came over and gave her a hug, which was returned.
"Last night. Got here late."
Buffy let go of him and looked over to the two people she didn't know.
"This is Anya. My Girlfriend. And this is Kim-" Xander broke off as he turned to stare at Willow.
Buffy followed his gaze and finally let her eyes rest on her lover. 'can I still call her that?'
"Hey Will."
Tom had to look at Buffy to make sure she was okay. He had never heard her voice that soft. His gaze swung over to Willow.
Willow's mouth opened and closed a few times. Her gaze went from Tom to Buffy and back again and she moved closer to Kim who placed an arm around her shoulder.
Buffy saw the move and tried not to show her hurt. She took a minute to size up this Kim person.
She was tall, with brown hair and green eyes. The more Buffy looked at her, the more she reminded her of Cordy.
"Pleasure to meet you." Buffy turned her attention to Anya and offered her hand.
Anya took it and said her hello to Buffy.
She had stalled long enough. Buffy's gaze rested on Kim, who it seemed was now with Willow.
"Hello."
Buffy's gaze traveled from Kim to Willow, waiting for someone to introduce the new girl properly.
"This is Kim, she's Willow's orgasm buddy."
Buffy's gaze shot to Anya and her mouth dropped open at her bluntness. Then the words she had said registered with Buffy and she lowered her head a fraction.
It seemed Willow had indeed moved on.
"An, remember when we talked about blurting things out without thinking?"
Anya merely rolled her eyes and sat down.
Tom moved closer to Buffy, as did Giles.
"Nice to meet you Buffy." Kim stuck out her hand for Buffy to shake, and for more than a second, Buffy seriously thought about ripping it off her body.
"Same." Buffy shook her hand and didn't feel the least bit guilty that she applied force.
Everyone in the room who knew Buffy, knew that she was lying, including Willow, but no-one called her on it.
"Your back then."
Buffy's eyes locked onto Willow's.
"Yeah. It's been a while huh?"
"Two years to be precise."
Buffy flinched at the coldness in Willow's voice.
"Seemed longer." Buffy murmured, but everyone heard it.
Tom cleared his throat and Buffy realized that the gang didn't know who he was yet.
"Guys this is Tom. He's one of my bodyguards, well mine and Faith's now-"
"Sorry Faith, but I'm Buffy's only. Mike and Jonny will cover you."
Buffy rolled her eyes at him before noticing the looks on her friends faces.
"I know what your thinking. She's the Slayer, why does she need a bodyguard? Well truth is, it's complicated and I would much rather Giles told the story, but at the minute, I really need to pee."
Buffy left the room and nearly every eye followed her retreat.
Once she was in the bathroom alone, the tears she had been holding in fell. Buffy buried her head in a towel to block out the sound of her crying, not wanting anyone to hear.
Back down in the living room everyone was looking at Giles expectantly.
"Giles?"
He looked over to Xander and gave him a friendly smile.
"I really have missed you three."
Faith, Willow and Xander all moved forward to give him a hug.
"We both missed you." Giles met Willow's eyes as he spoke but she looked away.
"Why don't we all sit."
Each person found a place either on the floor or on a seat. Only Tom remained standing.
Joyce walked into the room at the same time as Buffy returned. Neither would look at the other.
Buffy had washed her face clean of tear tracks.
"He start yet?" The question was asked to Tom.
"No, just saying hello to old friends. Think he's going to now though."
Buffy made her way over and plonked herself down between Anya and Faith. She saw how Willow and Kim were cuddled together on the floor and moved her eyes to stare at Giles, waiting for him to begin.
"I won't tell you everything, there is simply too much to get through so why don't you ask me what you want to know."
"Why does Buffy have a bodyguard? You beginning to slack on the work there Buff?" Xander received a slap on the arm from the girl in question but Tom took things a little more seriously.
"She is not slacking off." His tone made it quite clear that Xander should stop talking about things he knew nothing about.
"Relax T. He was just kidding." Buffy didn't want anyone to not get along.
Tom relaxed his stance and leaned against the wall.
Xander looked from Buffy to Tom, happy that the tall beefy guy wasn't planning on hurting him.
"She has bodyguards because she is the Slayer Xander. All Slayer's before her should have had them but all that come after her will have them, maybe not the same ones, but they will be guarded none the less."
"Why?" This time the question came from Faith.
Giles looked to Tom, and after getting a nod he moved his gaze to Buffy who also nodded her head, then he continued:
"The first Slayer was created a millennia ago by men who believed they knew more than they did. The power of the Slayer comes from a demon. The power that runs through both Buffy and Faith comes from darkness, yet it is used for good. It wasn't common knowledge until we had been in London for a month or so. They had been putting Buffy through a training exercise when she, well the best term would be cracked up-"
Tom moved over and sat on the floor at Buffy's feet.
"-The council discovered that the power that runs through the Slayer, cannot be contained indefinitely. It needs a release every now and then. Previous Slayer's who have been believed to have gone rouge, have suffered from the power of the demon. If they survive long enough, they get restless.
A diary was found that had been written in 1912, by a French Slayer. In it she wrote:
"it grows every day, I cannot control it. I feel like I am losing my mind. My watcher is of no help and to be truthful I feel he is afraid of me. I heard him speaking with another man about the selection of another, but I know of only one way that can happen. I need this madness to end before it consumes me."
She was later found dead by her watcher, she had killed herself.
During our stay in London, Buffy had bursts of power, unlike anything I had ever seen from her. The bodyguards are more for our safety that her own."
Everyone sat there looking stunned before the gaze shifted to Buffy.
"What about me?"
Giles' gaze went to Faith.
"I have never seen the same from you, as I have Buffy, but I'm sure that it is there, lurking beneath the surface. All the Slayer's who showed the symptoms had been so for over five years, you were only called three years ago. If you agree, you will travel to England, just as Buffy did, where you can learn to live with the power inside and discover things about yourself that you never knew you could do."
Faith never responded.
Buffy rested a hand on hers for a second before removing it and catching Willow's eye, however Willow looked away.
"So Tom is here to do what exactly?"
"I'm here first and foremost to protect Buffy. If not from herself, then from outside forces that might hurt her in any way, shape or form."
The last was said with a glance at Willow that Buffy caught.
"T. Don't." The last word was nearly a growl and he heeded her warning.
"How come the council didn't know all this before, about the Slayer's I mean?" It was the first time Willow had spoken in front of Buffy, and Buffy could do nothing but soak in the sound of her voice after so long.
It was the same voice that had told her it loved her on more than one occasion, the same voice that she had made scream in pleasure and the same voice she had made weak with tears, when she broke her own heart and Willow's on the advice of her mother.
"It seemed that some of them did know, but it was less bothersome for the council to just kill the Slayer and activate a new one than to try and help."
"What changed?" This came from Kim, and Buffy again averted her eyes to look at Tom.
"Well, once Buffy heard about that, she decided to do what no Slayer had done before. She took on the council and won. She told them that in no uncertain terms were they killing another Slayer. She claimed her place as leader, well joint at least with Faith, and the council could do nothing but agree. Those that disagreed were persuaded by the Elders to change their views."
Xander looked at Buffy with pride in his eyes and reached around Anya to give her another hug.
Willow, Giles noted, looked like she wanted to do the same thing though she never moved.
"So B, did you bring us presents?"
Buffy could tell that Faith wanted a change of subject and smiled at her before getting up.
"Yeah I did. Sorry but I only got Xand, Faith, Will and Angel, who isn't here. I didn't know about the knew recruits."
The was an apology to Anya for no present and a look sent to Faith that she should have been told about Kim in that one sentence.
Buffy left to go get the gangs gifts and heard Anya muttering about not getting a present.
When she got back she found that no-one had moved.
She handed Xander his gift first, then gave Faith hers before looking towards Willow.
"I don't know if you are going to like them or not."
Buffy handed Willow her gift, making sure her fingers brushed the redheads.
Willow pulled her hand back as if she had gotten burnt and Buffy backed away.
Xander had tore the wrapping off his gift already, as had Faith.
"Hey thanks."
Xander put on his over sized hat with the Union Jack embroidered or the front as Faith held up the silver cross.
"Thanks B."
Buffy smiled and looked over at Willow to see if she liked her gift.
Before Willow could comment on the gift, the front door opened and a body came rushing in, covered in a smoking blanket.
Buffy stood up and tore off the blanket to reveal Angel. She gave him a quick hug before stepping back and sitting down.
"Glad you could make it."
Angel smiled at her before leaning against a wall in the shaded part of the room.
"Very nearly didn't."
He took a quick look at everyone present, and he eyes rested on Willow.
"Hey, where did you get the claddagh ring?"
Buffy was about to stop him saying anything more, but then she stopped. She wanted Willow to know what the ring meant, to know that Buffy still loved her.
Willow gave him a funny look.
"My people, before I was changed, they exchanged this as a sign of devotion. The hands represent friendship, the crown represents loyalty and the heart... Well, you know."
Willow's wide eyes turned to Buffy, as did everyone else present.
Looking at Buffy, sitting there looking back at her, Willow had too many emotions going through her. She settled to being angry with the blonde Slayer.
It was Buffy that had left her. Buffy that broke her heart, and now she gives her a ring that symbolizes devotion?"
Willow stood up and put the ring back in the box it came in before throwing it at Buffy.
Buffy caught the ring in a closed fist, never letting her eyes leave Willow's angry ones.
"Keep it. I don't want it."
Buffy held Willow's gaze for a few seconds before lowering her eyes and placing the ring in her pocket for safe keeping.
Angel's eyes widened before turning stormy.
"Will-"
"Angel, leave it."
The Vampire and the Slayer had a staring contest, which the Slayer won.
Willow pulled Kim up, said goodbye to the gang, and then left the house.
Buffy took a deep breath before lifting Angel's gift out of the bag at her feet.
He took it and opened his slower that Xander or Faith had.
Inside a black box was a necklace. The chain was silver and the pendant was in the shape of a sword.
"Hope you like it."
Angel looked off and gave her a smile before ducking his head and putting the chain around his neck.
Buffy stood up and looked out the window to see Willow and Kim walking past her house.
Tom stood up and placed an arm on her should, which was quickly shoved off.
Tom stepped back and sent a worrying glance to Giles.
Buffy turned and saw the concerned look on his face before offering him small smile, letting him know that she wasn't about to blow a gasket, before leaving the room without a word.
"This is not going to be fun to watch."
The statement came from Xander, and silently, everyone agreed, including Joyce.
Buffy was patrolling with Faith around town, with Tom by their sides.
"So B. You okay after earlier?"
Buffy shrugged but answered as well.
"I will be. I should be over this by now, I mean, its been two years. But, its Will, I don't think I'll ever move on."
Faith looked at Tom to find him looking back at her, a look of contemplation on his face.
"Well B, think about it later because we have company."
Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Where have you been Faith? These guys have been trailing us from three blocks down."
Buffy turned just as the Vampires reached them.
The Buffy that faith remembered would have opened the fight with a quip of some sort, this new Buffy never bothered, she just launched herself at the closest Vampire, before moving onto the next.
Tom keep a close eye on Buffy, making sure that she was doing okay and not getting too caught up in the fight.
Faith was still battling the Vampire she had started on when she saw Xander, Anya, Kim and Willow running over to them, stakes and crosses out.
"Hey B!"
Buffy turned to look at Faith and followed her line of vision.
There was no way her friends were getting involved in this. One of the main reasons she left in the first place was to become a better Slayer so that she could keep them out of fights.
Stopping her fight she raised her arms.
Tom saw what she was doing and stopping fighting, yelling at her not to.
The Vampires turned to Buffy as she was the biggest threat, but they weren't her intended targets this time.
"Adamanteus Aer, Circling arms, raise a wall."
As the gang reached them they found their way blocked by an invisible force.
Buffy ignored them and turned back to the remaining five Vampires.
"Faith, you okay?"
Faith was looking between the gang and Buffy, her mouth hanging open.
"I will take that as a yes. How about you T?"
Tom nodded his head yes.
Buffy, happy that Faith and Tom were doing okay, launched herself into the group of Vampires, and the fight began again.
Willow watched with awe as Buffy created a shield that was strong enough to block out four people.
Thinking fast, she tried to come up with a counter spell, but she had to be honest, her spells never really worked like she wanted them too. More than likely, she'd end up hurting someone.
Kim looked over to see Willow staring at her ex-girlfriend, a look of awe on her face and couldn't help the jealously she felt.
Turned her attention back to the fight, Willow noticed that all the Vampires were gone now.
Buffy raised her arms again.
"Adamanteus Aer, Circling arms, remove this wall."
The force that had been keeping them out left and Xander, who had been leaning against it, fell forward, only to have Buffy catch him before he could hit the ground.
"Thanks, and what the hell did you just do?" Xander asked while he straightened himself.
"Something very foolish." Tom was not happy, and it showed in his voice.
Buffy begged him with her eyes not to start anything, but he was too angry.
"You could have hurt yourself! What if the fight had not ended so quickly?"
Buffy walked to him on what the gang now saw as shaky legs.
Just as she stumbled, he caught her.
"It was worth the risk."
Tom looked down and could see that she was close to blacking out.
Swallowing he nodded his head.
"You know I worry."
Buffy gave him a soft smile before giving into the darkness that was beginning to surround her.
"What's wrong with her?"
Everyone heard the worry in Willow's voice, including Kim, though she couldn't blame the redhead for being worried, as the blonde Slayer had just passed out.
Tom looked up.
"Seems she values your lives more than her own."
With that said he turned and began the walk back to Buffy's house, not surprised when everyone fell into step with him.
"Could someone call Mr. Giles?"
Xander nudged Anya and she handed over her cell phone.
"Hey Giles its Xander…there was a little problem on patrol…no Faith is fine…she's fine too, well I think so anyway…something weird happened then she passed out, we're heading over to her house now…right see you then."
Xander handed Anya back her phone can told Tom that Giles was on his way over to Buffy's now.
Willow was walking in between Kim and Faith.
Kim reached down and held her hand, but Willow let go and grabbed Faith's in an unconscious move. She needed to fell the strength of the Slayer right now. Pity it wasn't the one she really wanted holding her hand.
Kim looked away and wondered, not for the first time since the blonde had shown up, if her relationship with Willow, was still a relationship. The blonde had been home a day, as Willow had yet to give her one kiss or even give Kim her entire attention for more than two minutes at a time.
They reached Buffy's house just as Giles was pulling into her drive way.
"What happened?" He looked at Tom who was carrying Buffy.
"She used the Adamanteus Aer during a fight."
Giles looked confused.
"But why…"
He trailed off as he looked around him.
"Never mind."
Tom still wasn't happy over what Buffy had done, and he let Giles know it.
"She knows the risks! If this is what happens when her friends are around, then from now on, she patrols alone."
Xander took offence to that.
"We weren't patrolling with you three tonight, we were coming back from the movies and saw the fight! And we've patrolled with her before and nothing like that has ever happened."
Tom wanted to hit him, unfortunately, he was holding Buffy in his arms.
"She's not the same. What she did tonight, that could have seriously hurt her. If she hadn't killed the Vampires, she would have drained herself, then they would have killed her. She put your safety above her own, knowing the cost if it all went wrong, and now to top things off, she's going to have to deal with the withdrawal!"
Tom had said his piece and left the gang staring opened mouthed as he entered Buffy's house followed by Giles.
Willow took a few steps forward, wanting to make sure Buffy was okay, before remembering that it wasn't her place. 'Not anymore.'
It was 3am and Buffy was still thrashing about on her bed. She had started as soon as she came around four hours before.
Tom had tried all the usual methods to get her under control, so far nothing had worked.
Looking at Giles he saw the same worry he felt, reflected in the Watchers face.
"What do we do now?"
Buffy stilled for a minute and both men breathed a sigh of relief. It only lasted a second.
"RED!" As soon as she had finished shouting, Buffy began thrashing around again.
"Red? What the hell does that mean?" Tom again tried to calm the Slayer down by letting fresh air into the room, but like everything else, it didn't work.
"It means Willow."
Tom's head snapped around to see Giles reaching for the phone.
"How do you know?"
Giles barely spared him a glance.
"They had a lot of names for one another. Red was Buffy's favorite for Willow."
Tom stopped Giles from ringing out.
"She wouldn't want her to see her like this."
Giles knew that Buffy would be mad later, but looking at her now, he honestly couldn't care.
"Fine, I will deal with that later, but right now I just want her sane again."
"And what if she hurts the girl?"
Giles looked from Buffy to Tom, his gaze resting on the other man.
"Did Buffy ever talk of Willow with you?"
Tom nodded his head yes.
/Buffy was sitting under a tree in the garden, trying to keep sheltered from the rain.
"Hey there Buffy."
She looked up to see Tom standing before her, rain bouncing off his broad shoulders.
"Hey."
She sounded so sad to him. He sat down and asked her what was wrong.
"I miss Willow."
"Who's Willow? Is she your friend?"
Buffy got a smile on her face, one that let Tom know that there was more involved than simple friendship.
"Girlfriend."
So he had been right then.
"Call her. You know where the phone is."
Buffy's head lowered and he felt like an idiot.
"You broke up huh?"
"Yes."
He didn't know what to say, but that was fine because Buffy starting talking.
She told him all about her redheaded girl, about their relationship and about why she ended it.
"And now your sorry that you ended it?"
Buffy looked up at the gray sky.
"I was sorry even before the words left my mouth."//
"She's told me some stuff."
"Then you should know, even like this, she would never hurt Willow."
When Giles reached for the phone, Tom never stopped him.
The ringing of the phone downstairs woke up the whole house.
"Hello?"
"Faith? It's Giles-"
"Is B okay?"
"Not entirely, Could I speak with Willow?"
"Yeah hang on."
Faith ran up the stairs to wake Willow and met her at the top.
"Its G. Something is wrong with B."
Willow picked up the phone, knowing her lover was behind her.
"Hello?"
Over at Buffy's, Giles breathed a sigh of relief.
"Willow, thank god. Do you think that you could come over?"
Willow turned wide eyes to Faith.
"Me? Why?"
Giles actually frowned at that. He hadn't expected Willow to ask questions, he expected her to come at once. Even if they were not romantically involved, he expected Willow to show some concern for Buffy.
"We can't calm her down, it will go on for at least another five hours if we don't stop it."
"Stop what Giles?"
"Willow, the spell Buffy did earlier, it's after effects aren't pleasant and she's going through them now."
When Willow never spoke Giles tried one last time.
"She's been calling for you. Even in this state, Willow please."
Willow heard the desperation in the Watchers voice and handed the phone to Faith.
"Tell him I can't."
Faith, who had heard the conversation, narrowed her eyes at Willow before turning her back.
"Giles…no it's Faith. Will can't make it."
Giles closed his eyes as Buffy stopped thrashing. No doubt she could hear what was going on, the question was, did she understand it all? He thought that maybe she did as she started thrashing again.
"Fine. Faith could you please come over, I don't know if we can manage alone, she's never been this bad."
"Sure I'll be there in as soon as I can. Its B."
The last part was said to Willow, who lowered her head and walked back up stairs, Kim at her heels.
Willow sat on her bed, a million thoughts racing through her head.
Their bedroom door opened and Faith stood there, decked out in clothes and ready to go.
"I'm going now. Just wanted to say that what you did tonight? That was low."
With that said, Faith left. She made it to the front door before Willow stopped her by calling her name.
"Wait, I'll be ready in two seconds."
Faith hid her smile from Kim, who she noted wasn't looking too happy.
It wasn't that Faith never liked Kim, its just she liked Buffy more.
"You really think you can help?"
Willow never stopped getting ready.
"She was calling for me, so I'd say I have a shot."
"She could be faking."
Willow did stop then.
"I heard the moans, she's not faking."
Kim was grasping at straws and she knew it, but something was telling her that if Willow left tonight, that was it for them.
"How do you no it wasn't the good kind of moans?"
"Because, I've caused and heard those kind of moans many times, so I can tell the difference."
Kim's mouth dropped open but before she could reply Willow was gone.
Faith smiled at Willow as they left the house.
"I knew you wouldn't leave her like that."
Willow turned to Faith, tears in her eyes.
"She sounded real bad."
"I know, but we're going to make her better."
There was no more talking for the rest of the walk.
Giles opened the front door to reveal not only Faith but Willow as well.
"Thank god."
Giles pulled Willow into a quick hug before ushering her upstairs.
Willow didn't know what she was expecting, but seeing Buffy thrashing about on her bed, a bed she used to spend hours in with her, one of them.
"Baby?" It was whispered so softly, Willow was sure no-one heard her.
One person did.
Buffy stopped moving all together and turned her bloodshot eyes to Willow.
"Red?"
Willow's tears escaped her and she took a step closer to the bed.
"It's me."
Buffy tried sitting up, but she couldn't.
"Red!"
Buffy's eyes opened wider and Willow moved closer to the bed before sitting down.
Buffy lifted one of Willow's hands and held it in one of her own.
"Red."
Buffy sighed before closing her eyes and falling into a dead sleep.
Both Giles and Tom were looking at Willow wide eyed.
"Whatever you did, thank you."
Tom hadn't really spoken to Willow yet, so he shocked her when he said that.
"I didn't do anything."
Giles knelt before her.
"Obviously you did. You saw how she was. She was like that for hours."
Willow looked down at Buffy and saw that she looked wrecked, even in sleep.
"Tell me."
Faith sat down in the chair by the bed and Giles sat at the end of the bed. Tom remained where he was sitting on the floor by Buffy's head.
"Well, when Buffy did the protective spell tonight, she drew on the power that runs inside her. She was worried that you lot would have joined the fight and gotten hurt. The power load plus the fight, well it wiped her out. Her body is trying to reset itself and it was taking longer than usual. Then, she started calling for you."
Willow looked down at the girl holding tightly to her hand.
"But why me, we haven't been together for over two years."
Tom stood up.
"She regretted breaking up with you. She told me so. If it hadn't been for Joyce, I doubt she would have. She never stopped loving you Willow, the ring should have showed you that at least."
Tom left the room to get a basin of warm water and returned to wipe at Buffy's face.
Willow took the damp cloth from him and set about the task herself.
Faith, Giles and Tom watched as Willow cleaned off Buffy's face, and saw how, even in her sleep, Buffy's head turned towards the caress.
When Willow woke up again, she was in a bed she never expected to be in again, with strong arms holding her that hadn't held her in years.
"Morning."
Buffy knew that Willow was awake, but she didn't let go of her until Willow had spoken.
Buffy moved off the bed, unsure of Willow's reaction.
Willow sat up and noticed the lack of other people in the room.
"Where is everyone?"
Buffy closed her eyes.
"Tom is in his room, Faith is in the kitchen, mom is in the bathroom and Giles is in the yard."
She opened to her eyes to see Willow staring at her.
"Things have changed."
"They really have."
Buffy's head lowered a fraction.
"Tom said something last night, something about your mom and us breaking up."
Buffy's head snapped up.
"So your willing to talk to me now?"
Willow knew that she had been unfair to Buffy the day before, she had all but ignored her ex.
"Yes."
Buffy sat down in the chair and looked at the floor.
"It wouldn't have been fair to you, she made me see that. I couldn't have asked you to wait for me when I didn't know when I would be back. In hindsight, I wouldn't have listened to her."
Willow moved closer to Buffy.
"What would you have done different?"
Buffy looked up and met Willow's eyes.
"I would have begged you to come with me."
Before Willow could say anything, the bedroom door opened.
Faith's head stuck through the gap.
"Sorry to interrupt, but Will, Kim's here."
At the mention of her girlfriend, Willow stood up and smoothed out her clothing.
"Are we done?"
Buffy wanted to say no, she really did. But it wouldn't be fair to Willow.
"Yeah, I guess we are."
Buffy was talking about more than the conversation and Willow picked up on that.
"Faith, tell Kim I'll be down in a minute."
"'kay."
Willow turned to see Buffy standing by the window.
"Can I come by later? We need to talk."
Buffy turned and smiled at her before nodding her head.
"Right, I'll be back in an hour or so."
Buffy watched as Willow left before going into Tom's room.
"You mad at me?"
"Yes."
Tom was sitting on his bed.
Buffy sighed and sat down beside him.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't let them fight and possibly get hurt."
"Buffy, people get hurt everyday."
Buffy stood up and began pacing.
"Yeah, but not fighting demons. That's my job, mine and Faith's. Tom, you have to understand, when it comes right down to it, if I have to chose between my life and the lives of the people I love, I choose their lives every time."
Tom never responded and Buffy left the room.
Buffy was in the living room painting her toenails when the doorbell went.
Standing up, she carefully walked to the door and opened it, not surprised to see Willow standing there.
"Hey."
Willow returned the greeting and stepped inside.
Buffy motioned for Willow to followed her upstairs but Willow shook her head no.
"Outside, in the yard?"
Buffy frowned but went along with what Willow wanted.
Willow couldn't go back into that room. All night she had had flashbacks to the first time they had ever made love.
/"Will stop!" Giggled Buffy.
Willow was on top of Buffy, tickling her when Buffy suddenly flipped them over.
"No fair, I don't have that nifty Slayer strength."
Buffy never said anything, she was too busy getting lost in Willow's eyes.
The mood changed from the playful tickle fight to something more.
Keeping her eyes locked with Willow, Buffy lowered her lips until they met in a kiss.
Tracing Willow's bottom lip with her tongue, Buffy pulled it into her mouth and nibbled on it, causing Willow to moan out loud.
Buffy stopped teasing and moved her mouth fully over Willow's.
Willow's tongue came out and met Buffy's in a kiss they both knew well. Buffy's body lowered until every inch of hers touched Willow's.
"Baby?" Buffy asked as she moved her kisses along Willow's jaw to her ear, "Are you sure?"
They both seemed to realize that this was going to take them further than they had gone.
"I'm sure. Make love to me."
Buffy smiled before bringing her lips back to Willow's/
"Will? You still with me?"
Willow snapped out of the memory to see that they had reached the back yard.
"Yeah, sorry. So, where do we start?"
Buffy had no idea, the only thing she knew was that whatever Willow had been thinking of had gotten her aroused. Buffy could remember every tell tail sign, the reddening cheeks, the shortness of breath and the spaced out expression that had been in Willow's eyes.
'probably thinking about Kim' she thought with a disgruntled look on her face.
"No clue. Where do you want to start?"
Willow sat down on a deck chair then realized that maybe the yard wasn't the best place to have this conversation either.
'god we must have been sex mad or something' she thought with a blush.
"Tell me about England."
That wasn't what Buffy was expecting, but it was as good a place as any to start.
"The first couple of months were hell…"
Buffy told Willow about her experiences in London, the people she met there and her other two bodyguards.
"I'm still not to clear on the whole bodyguard thing."
"Tom made it pretty clear I thought. What didn't you get?"
"Why he has to be with you all the time."
Buffy thought she heard a note of jealousy, but that couldn't have been it because Willow was over her. Wasn't she?
"He's not with me 24/7. He's not here now is he?"
Willow actually looked around for Tom and was about to agree when he poked his head out.
"Sorry to interrupt, but Buffy, Mike and Jonny are here. Finally."
Buffy turned to Willow.
"Want to meet the other two?"
Nodding her head yes, Willow followed Buffy and Tom into the living room where two men sat.
They both got up and gave Buffy hugs before looking over at Willow.
The first looked friendly. He was tall with shoulder length blonde hair, which he had tied in a ponytail. His eyes were the greenest Willow had ever seen, and he was as tall as Tom and dressed like what Willow imagined a model looked like in person.
"This is Mike."
Willow shook his hand and said hello before turning her attention to the second man.
He was completely different to the other two.
He had jet black hair which was cut short and brown eyes that were so dark, they bordered on black. He was smaller than the other two, but he looked more menacing if that was possible. He dressed in street clothes and he had that whole "don't mess with me" look down well.
"And this is Jonny."
He reached for her hand, before brining it to his mouth to place a kiss on it.
Buffy looked like she wanted to rip his lips off and Mike and Tom interrupted before she could.
"Jonny, meet Willow."
The other two smirked as Jonny dropped Willow's hand as if he had been burnt, and sent a quick look to Buffy to see her glaring at him.
"Nice to meet you Willow." Mike kept the smirk off his face as Jonny repeated his greeting.
Willow looked confused and turned to see Buffy still glaring at Jonny.
"Buffy?"
Buffy snapped out of it at the sound of Willow's voice.
"You guys are late. You were supposed to be here this afternoon."
"Tom relax, it is afternoon. Its 5pm." Jonny shrugged off Tom's concerns and sat down.
"The boss man took longer than we thought to pick out an ugly statue of some Greek god."
"From now on, the Slayer's are your first priority. Your orders come from them, not the council across the ocean. Understand?"
Jonny nodded his head at Tom, as did Mike.
"Any food going? I'm starving." As soon as he finished talking, Jonny's stomach began rumbling.
"Why don't we go out for food? Call the whole gang?"
Willow agreed with Buffy's suggestion and left to call everyone.
She came back a few minutes later.
"Okay, we're meeting in thirty minutes at the Bronze."
"They do food now?" They hadn't done food before Buffy left for England.
"Yep, they started about a year ago. Pretty good too. Right, I'm going to head home and meet Kim. See you in a while."
When Willow was gone Buffy left to go freshen up, leaving the three men alone.
"How did she look to you?" Tom was still worried.
"Tired, no…drained. How long did she take to calm down?"
Tom sighed. He had filled the other two in before he left to fetch Buffy from the yard.
"Over four hours."
The other two looked at him in shock.
"How the hell did you calm her down?"
Tom gave a humorless laugh.
"I didn't. Willow did. Me and Mr. Giles put together couldn't calm her."
"Should we call the council?"
Jonny's question was met with Mike leaping up and grabbing him by the neck.
"No. You heard what Tom said earlier. No council. It's too risky."
"Mike."
Mike let go of Jonny and turned to see Buffy standing in the doorway.
"I'm okay. I want to go out and have some food, maybe even some fun with my friends. Now we have to leave in a few minutes, so get your act together."
Turning to Jonny, Buffy checked that he was okay before looking over at Tom.
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah."
"Cool, you can start the car. Oh, wait, guys tell me you drove something other than a limo from the airport. Please."
Jonny stood up and looked smugly at Mike.
"Told you she hated those limos. People should really start listening to me when I talk. Things would go a lot faster that way. We picked up a Beamer."
Buffy's eyes lit up.
The Bronze wasn't too crowded when they arrived. Buffy looked around for the gang and found them sitting at two tables they had pulled together.
"There they are."
Buffy led the three men over to the tables and introduced them to the gang and Faith.
"So, this is the other Slayer then."
Jonny's eyes raked over Faith's body.
Faith, who was used to that sort of thing, just sent him a smile. Tom, however whacked him over the head.
"Eyes back in the sockets."
Jonny rubbed the back of his head and shot a glare at Buffy when she giggled.
Once everyone was seated, a waiter came over and took their orders from them.
Everyone was amazed by the amount of food Buffy ordered. The only one that came close to matching her was Faith.
"Hungry?"
The question came from Kim.
Buffy briefly looked at her before turning her attention back to her empty place setting.
"Little bit."
Willow nudged Kim in the side while Buffy fiddled with her napkin.
She thought she had gotten over this, people staring at her when she ordered a meal. Sure, she ate a lot, but Slayer's needed the energy.
Tom caught one of her hands in his and stopped her from ripping the napkin to shreds.
He let go once she sent him a small smile.
Willow looked over to see Anya whispering something in Xander's ear that had him blushing.
Buffy noticed it too. Seemed Xander had his hands full with that one.
Something was bugging Buffy. Okay, so Xander and Cordy broke up, she hoped anyway considering his relationship with Anya, but where was Cordy? Surely they were all still friends.
"Hey guys? Where's Cordy?"
Xander's eyes widened before flicking over to Willow, seeing a matching expression on her face.
Anya looked at Xander, a scowl on her face.
"His ex, is no longer around. She moved to L.A over a year and a half ago I'm told."
Buffy turned confused eyes to Xander.
"Why, did her parents move or something?"
Xander squirmed in his seat.
"Not exactly. She moved to live with her cousin, he owns a model agency."
Buffy noticed that Xander really didn't want to give any details, but at the same time she was curious.
"Why did you two break up? You never told me in your letters."
"I cheated on her."
Buffy's eyes widened. Cordy and Xander had seemed so right together and she couldn't imagine him cheating on her.
"Who with?"
"Me."
Buffy whipped around to face Willow, her jaw hanging open.
She did the calculations in her head and didn't like the answers she was getting.
"Didn't take long did it?"
Willow flinched and stood up.
"Newsflash! Its none of your business anymore. I need a drink." Willow marched over to the bar, and after few seconds Kim followed her.
Buffy turned to look at Xander before standing up.
"Outside. Now."
Tom, Mike and Jonny stood up.
"Alone guys. I'm okay."
Seeing their disbelieving looks she tried again.
"Really, I just want to talk to him."
Turning back to Xander she noticed he hadn't moved.
"Xand, come on. Please."
Xander stood up, kissed Anya on the cheek and followed Buffy outside.
He had just got out when Buffy pinned him to the wall.
"When did it start?"
Xander's eyes widened at the implications in that question.
"It's not what you think. Willow was depressed over you leaving and I jokingly suggested getting drunk. She called 'round to mine about a hour later with a bottle of Jack Daniels. We were both drunk. It was an accident. We were kissing when Cordy walked in."
Buffy knew he was telling her the truth. Xander had never lied to her before.
She let go of him and stepped back.
"Did you two-"
"No."
"Sorry about that."
Xander rubbed at his throat.
"It's okay. We cool?"
Buffy walked over to give him a hug, thankful when he returned it.
They were about to go back in when the door opened and Willow marched out.
"Buffy this had nothing to do with you. You left me remember? Who I date or sleep with now is my business."
Buffy indicated with her head for Xander to head back in and focused fully on Willow.
"I'm sorry about the way I reacted. It was shock, I never expected to hear that."
Willow calmed down a little.
"Why, because it was Xander?"
Buffy shook her head sadly before heading away in the opposite direction of the Bronze.
"No. Because it was you."
Buffy walked a little away before turning back to face Willow.
"I know I told you to move on, but I guess I always held out hope that you wouldn't. Unfair huh? Don't worry though. I get the message loud and clear."
She walked away, leaving Willow standing there.
Willow went back into the club and sat down.
Tom looked over her shoulder, waiting for Buffy to come back.
"Don't bother straining yourself, she's gone."
Tom stared at Willow like he misunderstood.
"Gone? Gone where?"
Willow shrugged.
"She went for a walk. Maybe she'll go patrol."
Tom's wide eyes met Jonny's and Mike's matching ones.
"Call Giles, tell him, I don't know, tell him something and get him here."
"T, if she patrols now…"
Jonny let his sentence trail off, Tom knew what he meant.
"She won't. She's smarter than that."
Willow was starting to worry.
"What's going on?"
"If she wasn't going to patrol, where would she go?" Tom wasn't about to tell Willow, or the others, what was
going on with Buffy. That was up to the Slayer.
Willow looked at Xander, then Faith and nodded her head. If the three English guys were going to look for Buffy, they were going too.
"You don't know your way around town. We'll take you, it'll be quicker." She added that last part because it looked like they were going to argue with her.
The other two looked towards Tom to see what he thought. Sighing he nodded his head yes and gestured for Willow and Xander, who had moved over to stand beside Willow, to led the way.
"Just you three though."
Turning towards Anya, Tom asked her to let Giles know what was happening.
The six set off, leaving two disgruntled girlfriends behind.
Once they got outside, Willow led them in the direction Buffy had taken off in.
"She went this way, so really, she could be in any number of places. We'll try the ones she liked best first."
Willow led them to the park first. There was a tree there that Buffy used to love to sit under, especially if Willow was with her.
That proved a waste of time, because there was no sign of the Slayer.
For three hours Willow led them around every place she could think of, but they couldn't find Buffy.
Xander and Faith each suggested places they thought she might be, but each time, there was no Buffy to be found.
Willow stopped walking. It took a while for everyone to notice, and when they did they doubled back to her.
"I think I know where she is."
Willow led them to the very edge of town. Xander looked up and Angel's place, not sure why Willow had brought them here.
"Will? Why would she be at Angel's? He was supposed to be meeting us later."
Willow never answered him and led them around back. From the garden, she led them up stone steps until they reached the top.
At the top, everyone but Willow was surprised to see that it led out onto a hill.
Sitting at the top, was none other than Buffy.
Buffy was sitting, thinking of the first time she had ever come here.
/"Why didn't you tell me?"
Buffy looked over at the girl sitting beside her.
"Come on Will, I thought I made it plain enough, what with the hand holding and the spontaneous hugs. I figured that you already knew."
Buffy inched closer, giving Willow plenty of time to back away, before letting their lips brush.
She was the first to end the kiss.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Buffy used Willow's own words against her.
Willow never answered with words. She moved forward and caught Buffy's lips in a kiss that soon had each gasping for breath./
"Buffy!"
"Will." It was whispered so softly, so lovingly.
Buffy was lost in her memory and didn't realized that Willow was near her.
"Buffy."
Buffy started at the sound of Willow's voice, and before turning around, she wiped her face dry.
Hoping her voice was steady, Buffy faced the gang.
"What are you guys doing up here?"
Faith, now that Buffy was safe and she didn't have to worry, dropped down onto the grass and made herself comfortable.
"Seems you doing a runner from the Bronze worried the guys here."
Buffy looked over at her bodyguards.
"Why?"
"We were worried, you aren't up to patrolling yet, and we didn't know if that's what you were doing or not so we thought we'd come find you but here you are, not hurt."
Tom stopped and closed his eyes. He never rambled. Not once. But, he had to make something up fast, or Buffy's friends, not to mention the other Slayer, would start asking questions. Again.
Buffy realized what he was doing and smiled at him.
"You don't need to worry. I'm fine. Feeling a lot better. Besides, Angel is down there somewhere."
"What are you doing up here? Did Angel show you this place?"
Buffy looked over to Xander before shaking her head no.
"Found it when I first moved here. Always liked it."
"Why?"
"Lots of reasons."
Buffy motioned Faith to come closer to the edge of the hill.
"Take a look."
Below Faith, was the entire town, laid out like one of those hand made American Quilts.
"Wow B."
"Exactly. I get to think up here. Its quiet."
"Everything looks so small."
Buffy looked out over the town and smiled.
"Nothing matters. Not up here. All of it disappears. No more demons, no more destiny, no more pain. You can forget it all, with the town lit up below, and the sky lit up above. Even if just for a little while. This is one of the places I missed most when I was away."
Faith detected the sadness in her sister Slayer's voice, and she knew the cause of it.
Leaning in, she whispered so no-one else could hear.
"Don't worry. Things will work out. If it comes to it, I'll scare Kim off."
Buffy laughed and gave Faith a quick hug.
"I appreciate the sentiment. But just leave it. Is she happy?"
Faith knew that Willow wasn't entirely happy, but even she had to admit, Kim had been good for her redheaded friend.
"I guess she is, in a way."
Buffy's eyebrows creased.
"Then that's all that matters."
They had been talking in whispers the entire time so their conversation couldn't be over heard.
"Now that we have found her, want to fill us all in on why you three were so worried?"
Willow knew something was going on, she just didn't know what it was.
Buffy looked over to Tom.
"It's not really that big a deal, these guys just blow it out of proportion."
Tom's eyes widened.
"We blow it out of proportion!? Mike please remind her how she reacted the first time it happened."
"Lets see "oh god I hit like a girl" comes to mind, wait so does "what the hell is happening?" and I know there are more but Tom, she looks a little, wait make that a lot mad at me."
Mike darted away from Buffy and stood beside Tom.
Buffy sighed, then copied what Faith h done earlier and plunked herself down onto the soft grass.
"Okay. So I freaked the first time it happened, who wouldn't? Faith would, wouldn't you?"
Faith held her hands up.
"You have to tell me what you were freaking about before I agree to anything."
Buffy sighed and gestured for them all to sit.
"What I did last night has consequences. I drained myself with that spell. This is part of the fallout. Until tomorrow night, I won't have any strength. At all. I'm a normal girl 'til sunset tomorrow."
Faith gulped.
"Yeah, I would freak at that."
Buffy sent her a grateful smile.
"So you see, this was why these three were freaked tonight. But I know better than to patrol when I'm like this."
"Wait, you're the Slayer, how can you not have any strength?"
"Xand, what I did last night, it took all the power I had in me. I can't remember everything after I blacked out, just pain, then calmness," Buffy left out the cause of her calmness but nearly everyone there could guess, "it will take a while for me to be 100 per cent again."
"But your okay? Right?"
Buffy smiled at Willow.
"Yeah, I'm still me."
Buffy's stomach rumbled, breaking the moment between the too.
"I never got to eat. What say we head back to the Bronze?"
Xander perked up at the mention of food.
"Sure, and they are still serving so we can still eat."
They all headed off, away from the hill, not noticing the lone soldier that hadn't noticed them either.
When they got to the Bronze, Anya, Kim and Giles were nowhere to be seen.
"Crap. We haven't told Giles, he has to be worried sick." Mike left to go phone Giles while the others ordered food.
He came back a few minutes later and plonked down into the closest seat.
"He is going to send the other two back. He says that next time wait for him to get here."
Tom watched as Buffy chatted with Xander, and he couldn't help but think that since she had come home, he hadn't seen her laugh, even once. Not really anyway.
Jonny left to get drinks for everyone, coming back with beers and cokes.
Xander raised his eyebrows when he was handed a beer.
"Ah, I'm not legal yet."
Jonny looked at him like he was daft.
"Jon, the legal drinking age over here is 21."
Jonny shook his head at Buffy.
"How the hell did you cope?"
Buffy blushed as Faith, Xander and Willow's gazes all swung over to her.
"He's making it sound like I was an alcoholic, I wasn't."
Jonny raised his eyebrows and Buffy caved.
"Okay, so there was that one time-"
"Five."
"-five times, but over two years, that's a pretty good average."
Faith reached over and snatched Xander's beer off him.
"If you aren't having it, I will."
Tom reached over and snatched it off her.
"We need one functional Slayer, so no drinking."
Faith looked like she was going to argue, until Buffy nudged her in the side.
"Don't bother, besides, he's right anyway. Sorry."
Faith pouted but accepted her coke from Tom.
"Here come the guys." Willow had looked up to see her girlfriend and Anya walk in.
Buffy sighed and sat back in her seat. In the background, a song came on that she vaguely recognized, but couldn't remember the name of.
"Hey, we ordered food for you." Xander kissed Anya hello, and Buffy turned her head as Willow did the same to Kim.
Willow broke the kiss off after only brief contact with Kim. It felt wrong kissing another person in front of Buffy.
"Glad to see your okay. Now Xander won't be too preoccupied to give me orgasms."
Buffy smiled at Anya while Xander blushed.. She liked Xander's current girlfriend far more than she had liked the previous.
"Thanks."
Willow was only half listening, as Kim was telling her about something that had happened that day, when she heard the words of the song playing.
Willow snuck a look at Buffy, and saw that she wasn't listening to Xander but was also listening to the song. Her breath caught when Buffy's eyes caught her own.
~It's the hardest thing I'll ever have to do
To look you in the eye and tell you I don't love you
It's the hardest thing I'll ever have to lie
To show no emotion when you start to cry
I can't let you see what you mean to me
'Cause my hands are tied and my heart's not free
We're not meant to be
It's the hardest thing I'll ever have to do
To turn around and walk away
Pretending I don't love you.~
Willow broke eye contact and blinked in an attempt to hold back tears.
~I know that we'll meet again
Fate has a place and time
So you can get on with your life~
The problem was, Buffy didn't want to. She wanted to hold onto the past, except, that the past was just that, the past.
The song ended and their eyes met again.
Buffy had to struggle to hide her feelings, and she failed miserably.
Willow gasped. She was seeing things in Buffy's eyes she hadn't seen in two years. Love was the main emotion shining through, but it was rivaled closely by pain.
This was too much. She couldn't be having feelings for her old girlfriend, while her new girlfriend sat beside her.
"I'm not feeling too good. Kim can we go?"
Kim, who really didn't want to be in Buffy's company anyway, stood up and took Willow's hand.
"Sure baby."
They left after saying goodbye to the gang.
The walk home was made in an uncomfortable silence. As soon as the front door had closed behind them, the questions started.
"Are you still in love with her?"
Willow froze. She had two options: lie or tell the truth. If she lied, everything could go back to the way it was, if she told the truth, well nothing was for certain then.
"Yes." The answer was out before her brain could catch up to what her mouth was saying.
Kim moved away from Willow and sat on the couch.
"I should have known."
Willow didn't know what to say or do, so she settled for standing by the door.
"What do you mean?"
"You keep me at a distance, you always have."
"No."
"You have. You were never as open with me as you were with her."
"You weren't around then, how do you know what our relationship was like if you weren't there to witness it?"
"Anya told me tonight, after I asked questions."
Willow frowned.
"But she never even met Buffy until yesterday."
"Xander told her."
Willow lowered herself to the floor.
"Oh."
Kim snorted bitterly.
"Yeah, oh."
There was silence for some time.
"Are you going to leave me for her."
Willow looked up, her answer in her eyes.
"Its not that I don't love you, I do, please believe that. When we broke up, it felt like someone had ripped my heart out, I felt like I couldn't breath, until you came along. You made me feel again, when I didn't think I could. For that I love you more than you know."
"But not enough right. Not enough to stay with me." It wasn't a question.
Willow stayed quiet.
Kim stood up and made her way passed Willow to the stairs.
"I'm going to move into the dorms early."
Willow stood up and grabbed her by the arm.
"You don't have to do that."
Kim gave her a sad smile.
"I really do. I'll be out of your hair in a few hours."
Kim swallowed before meeting Willow's eyes, tears falling from her own.
"Go find Buffy. If being with you has taught me anything, its that Life, is far to short."
She left Willow standing there, at the bottom of the stairs, and went to pack her bags.
A week had passed since Buffy had seen Willow. She reasoned with herself that Willow was busy, what with college starting soon.
She wondered why, with the brains she had, Willow had chosen to go to US Sunnydale instead of somewhere like Yale or Harvard or even Oxford.
Leaving the house, she made her way over to meet Xander and Anya at the Espresso Pump.
She had ordered Tom, Mike and Jonny to take the day off and sent them to the beach to work on getting a tan. They were far to pale to live in California.
She still found it strange being home. Sunnydale was a lot different than London. The shops, the people, it didn't even compare. The only difference was, Sunnydale was where she had everyone she loved in one place.
"Hey Buff."
Buffy looked up and saw that Xander and Anya had chosen a table out in the sunshine, instead of indoors.
"Hey guys. I'm going to order a mocha, be back in a bit."
Not even a minute after she left, Willow joined them.
"Hey Will, taking a break from dorm life?"
Willow pouted at him before sitting down in the booth opposite them.
"I needed coffee."
Buffy, who was in hearing distance heard that last remark and turned back to get Willow her coffee, only changed it to a mocha at the last minute.
"I thought you'd quit. Here."
Willow accepted her mocha with a frown.
"I heard you say you needed coffee, so I got you a mocha instead.
Buffy sat down beside her and took a sip of her mocha.
"Thank you." Willow said quietly.
Xander looked between the two, wondering if they could ever get back to the way things were.
"Where's Kim?" Xander asked, looking for his friends current girlfriend.
Willow lowered her head, and Buffy noticed.
"Will? Something wrong?"
Buffy always could read her moods.
Without thinking, she rested her hand on Willow's which were sitting on top of the table.
Willow froze at the touch before pulling her hands back.
Buffy lowered her eyes and busied her hands with fiddling with her cup.
"We broke up."
Everyone's gaze shot to Willow.
"What? Why? When?" Xander fired off questions, wondering what he had missed.
"We broke up. Because it wasn't working. Last week." Willow rimed off the answers in the order he asked the questions.
Buffy was intently studying her mocha, and not saying anything and Anya noticed.
"So, after dating for a year, you decide its not working?" She never had learnt the meaning of tact, Xander thought.
Willow blushed and avoided looking in Buffy's direction.
"We both talked and realized that we wanted different things from the relationship."
"Like what?"
Willow really didn't want to talk about this in front of Buffy.
"Just things. Can we change the subject please."
Buffy drained her mocha, not noticing as it burned the back of her throat.
Willow had broken up with Kim, but that didn't mean that she wanted to get back together with Buffy, and that hurt more than seeing Willow with another person.
"So, how's college going?"
Willow sent Xander a smile, letting him know she appreciated his help.
"Great, classes start next week, so I have to go buy some book still. Anyone want to come with me?"
"Sure, we could go after we leave here." Xander wanted to get Willow and Buffy back together, maybe if they spent enough time together, nature would do its part.
Willow excused herself to go and use the bathroom.
"Guys, I think I'm going to head home."
Xander turned wide eyes to Buffy.
"You can't!"
Buffy quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Why not?"
He sighed, not being able to come up with a reason. Surprisingly, it was Anya that came to his rescue.
"Willow asked us to come."
Buffy caved, as Anya had a feeling she would.
They all talked as they finished their respective drinks before heading over to the college book store.
"So Will, what books do you still need?" Buffy turned to face Willow.
Willow avoided her eyes, something that was starting to annoy Buffy.
"I still need to get my Psych book. Professor Walsh is like, world-renowned." Willow couldn't help getting excited about school.
Buffy smiled, glad that Willow hadn't changed too much in the time she was away.
"So your looking forward to school then?"
Willow forgot all her problems at the minute, glad to talk about school.
Buffy was reaching for a book on the top shelf when one slipped.
She watched, as if in slow motion, as it fell. Just as it would have thumped Willow on the head, she caught it in her grasp.
Willow was none the wiser as she chatted to a guy that had taken Walsh's class before.
"Will? This the book?"
Willow pulled her attention away from Riley and looked over to see Buffy holding the book she needed in her hands.
"Yep, that's it. Buffy this is Riley, he's the TA in my Psych class."
Buffy said a polite hello to Riley.
"Well I have to go, but it was nice to meet you both." Riley left them there, but as he was walking away, he kept looking back at Buffy, more importantly, Buffy's ass, Willow noted as her friend bent down to get a book from the bottom shelf.
Scowling, she decided she didn't like Riley that much and moved to stand in front of Buffy to block her from his view.
"What's with the look?"
Willow jumped.
"Oh nothing. Lets go find Xander and Anya."
Buffy was glad she stayed. It felt nice to be able to hang out with Willow.
Buffy heard them before she saw them. Putting her hand on Willow's arm, she held her back a minute.
Willow, like she had done before, flinched from contact with Buffy and Buffy once again noticed.
Its not like Willow was doing it on purpose. She didn't know what to do. She knew she still wanted Buffy, was still in love with her, but Buffy had broke her heart, and she didn't trust her not to do it again.
"Sorry. It's just, you really don't want to round that corner yet."
Willow sent her a funny look.
"Huh?"
Buffy shook her head.
"Just wait."
A few seconds later, a dishelmed Xander and Anya, came from behind the corner, and it had been clear what they were up to.
Willow was outraged. There were in public for gods sake.
"You could get arrested for that you know."
"It's not like your one to talk. You did worse in the past."
That shut Willow up. Buffy glared at Xander for the implied comment, no matter that it was true.
"So, how was your day?" Buffy watched with an amused grin as Tom, Mike and Jonny all walked into the kitchen, a little on the red side.
"We got burnt. Remind me to never listen to you ever again will you." Mike sat painfully down in the closest chair.
"Guys, they have this thing, I don't know if you have in over in England. Its called Sun lotion. See you put it on your skin, and it stops it from turning that color." Buffy pointed at them and giggled.
Buffy dodged the paper towel Jonny threw at her and hopped off her seat to answer the phone.
"Hello?…oh hey Xand…sure what time?…okay, meet you there."
Buffy hung up the phone and made her way back into the kitchen.
"Hey, guys, that was Xander. We're all going to meet up at the Bronze later. You want to come?"
Tom stood painfully.
"Sure, we have to patrol later anyway. Just tell me…do you have any lotion that will take way the pain?"
Buffy smirked at him but went and fetched some after sun lotion for the three lobster colored English guys.
"Right, I'm going to get ready. We leave in two hours."
Buffy dashed upstairs and turned on the shower before going into her bedroom to gather her gear.
She entered the bathroom, glad to find steam filling the room and stripped off before stepping in and sighing when the hot water hit her skin.
Tom, Mike and Jonny were sitting in the living room with Joyce, waiting on Buffy. There were supposed to have left half an hour ago.
Sighing, Jonny stood and walked to the bottom of the stairs.
"Would you hurry the…bloody hell." He trailed off as he saw Buffy starting to descend the stairs.
She was wearing red leather pants with a black, long sleeved silk shirt, her black chunky boots and her knee length black leather coat completed the outfit. She wore minimal jewelry. A simple cross necklace and a ring, matching the one Willow had refused.
"You look gorgeous."
Buffy smiled at Jonny and turned to see everyone else staring at her as well.
"Come on. We're already late. Bye mom."
Nobody bothered to mention, that the reason they were late, was because Buffy had taken so long getting ready, because honestly, it was worth it. She did look great.
"All this to impress a girl?" Mike laughed with Jonny, but Tom hit them both upside the head, causing Jonny, who was driving, to jerk the car a little.
"Watch it mate."
Buffy's head lowered. It had been her intention, but she didn't really think that Willow would care. Still, she had made the extra effort.
"Where are we patrolling tonight?"
Buffy looked up at the night sky and took a deep breath.
"Well, we can check with Faith, see if the hotspots are still the same."
They exited the car and paid the cover into the club.
"There must be a band playing tonight."
Buffy found her friends almost immediately. They pushed they way through the crowds and finally made it to them, minus Tom and Mike, who had headed to the bar to get drinks.
"Hey Buff."
Buffy said her hellos and sat down, Jonny taking a seat beside her.
"Hey Jon boy."
Jonny sent Faith a glare.
"Don't call me that."
Faith smirked at him.
"Whatever you say."
"You all sorted for classes to start Will?" Buffy had noticed Willow's stare and it made her feel happy inside.
Willow snapped out of the fantasy she was in. Ever since Buffy had entered, Willow's eyes hadn't left her. She looked amazing tonight, decked out in leather.
"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm totally ready. How about you guys?"
Xander slouched in his seat as Faith shrugged her shoulders. Buffy felt sorry for them.
"Why go to college if you hated school?"
Willow opened her mouth to defend her beloved education when Faith spoke up.
"We weren't going to, but between Will and your mom B, we had no choice."
Buffy smirked at her fellow Slayer.
"In that case, thank god I left." It was said in jest, but Willow didn't find the funny side of it.
She got up and mumbled an excuse to go to the bathroom.
Buffy dropped her head into her hands, only looking up when Anya nudged her.
"Go after her you fool."
Buffy didn't think, she just followed Anya's order and went in the direction Willow did.
When she reached the girls bathroom, she waited outside for her…she didn't know what they were anymore.
Willow came out, and Buffy could swear she saw tear tracks. Cursing herself, she made her presence known.
"Willow."
Willow jumped at the sound of Buffy's voice. She hadn't seen her standing there.
"Oh, hey."
Buffy walked closer.
"I never meant it to sound like-"
"No, its okay."
"Its not. The whole time I was there, I mean every day, you were the first thing I thought of in the morning and the last thing at night."
Buffy stepped back and let that information sink in.
Without her knowledge, Willow smiled.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Really." Buffy took a deep breath and gathered the strength to say what she was about to say, even if it broke her heart.
"Look, I know that's there is no going back, I messed up big time and I have to deal with the consequences of that, and I know that just because you and Kim broke up doesn't mean that we…well that there is going to be a "we", but I would like us to be at least friends, like we were before. But if you can't, well, I'll understand."
Willow looked at Buffy. Really looked at her for the first time since she had seen her again. She looked different, but the same. It was something Willow couldn't put her finger on, but she had a feeling it had to do with the power Buffy had now.
"I would like that."
Buffy smiled at her. If friendship was the only thing being offered to her, she would take it.
The rest of the night went well. If you grade by Sunnydale's terms that is. They listened to the band play, watched as Tom kicked Xander's ass at pool, and laughed at Jonny's attempt to dance. All in all, Buffy was having fun.
She looked up when a shadow feel over her, to see a brunette standing beside her.
"Hi. I'm Tammy. Want to dance?"
Buffy got a deer-caught-in-headlights look on her face, so Faith dived in and saved her.
Sliding up beside Buffy, Faith wrapped an arm around her sister Slayer, while glaring at the brunette.
"She's spoken for."
With a scowl, the girl walked away.
Buffy turned to Faith and gave her a smile.
"Thank you."
Faith nodded her head that it was fine, before catching the look on Willow's face.
When she saw Faith, of all people, slide up to Buffy, Willow had to strain to keep her mouth from dropping open.
She had always had jealously issues concerning Faith, but every time they had come up in the past, Buffy had a knack for taking her mind off it.
Faith smirked inside.
Turning to Buffy, she put on her best leer.
"So, want to dance?"
Buffy had missed what Faith had saw, and had no clue about what Faith was up to, so she agreed.
"Sure. You coming Will?"
At least Buffy had offered.
"No, you two go on." The words tasted bitter in her mouth.
The two Slayer's walked off onto the dance floor together, leaving the green eyed monster in place of Willow.
Five minutes later, and everyone on the dance floor and in the club in general, were clued to the dancing duo.
They contrasted each other to every extreme.
One was dark, one was light. One was decked out in leather, the other was decked out in skin tight pants and top. One was dancing like she was having sex, the other was just dancing, letting the music move her.
Willow watched as Faith moved even closer to. She grabbed her by the waist and pulled the blonde in closer. Willow sighed in relief when Buffy gently eased the other Slayer away with a smile.
She really is beautiful, Willow thought.
"How come your not dancing Will?"
Willow jumped and turned to see Xander and Anya.
"I figured it would be a little crowded."
Xander followed her line of sight and chuckled.
He knew what Faith was up too, he was in on the plan too, as was Anya.
"They would make a cute couple," seeing Willow's look he rushed on, "I mean if it really is over between you two."
Willow looked away, not having an answer to what she knew had been a question.
"I'm going to head home early. I'm a little tired." It was a lie, but the others didn't call her on it.
"Where you getting off to then?"
Willow looked up to see that Jonny, Mike and Tom had arrived back.
"Hey guys. I'm getting tried, going to head home and go to bed."
They all frowned.
"Alone?"
"Yeah, its not that far, I can walk no problem," she pulled out the cross she had in her pocket, "see?"
The three bodyguards exchanged looks, all knowing that if they let Willow leave, and something happened, Buffy would kill them. Literally.
"How about we walk with you?"
"Tom, really, I'll be safe."
Willow was just about to walk away when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Buffy had looked over to see Willow standing up, talking to Tom. Looking closely, she saw the words Willow was saying, and the reply she was getting from Tom.
Leaving Faith standing there, she had made her way over to the table.
Just as Willow was about to leave, Buffy stopped her.
"Leaving so soon?"
Willow, by this point, was fed up with people asking her that.
"Yes. I'm tired and I want to go home. Now if no-one else has a problem, I'm going to do just that. God, people, I'm not a kid, stop molly coddling me."
Willow knew she was being unfair, and she knew that in the world they lived in, it was good of them to worry, but she couldn't seem to care at the minute.
Buffy withdrew her hand but kept her eyes locked with Willow's.
Things were different, she was different.
She could feel the power, bubbling just below the surface and struggled to calm herself.
"Did you forget where we are? Hellmouth? Nothing is ever safe when it should be."
Willow rolled her eyes, though inside she was happy Buffy worried about her.
Pointing to her face, which was now set on its "resolve" look, Willow told Buffy she'd be fine and turned to walk away.
"Fine. Ignore me. I'm just the Slayer." Buffy turned from Willow and started talking to Tom.
When she knew Willow was gone she started after her.
"I'll meet you back here in half an hour, that should be enough time to follow her home and get back here."
Buffy followed after Willow, easily catching up with her, but staying back so she wouldn't be seen. She could hear her mumbling about "slayer's thinking they know better" and "skanky brunettes" and people being "overprotective" over letting her walk home alone.
When a Vampire blocked her way, Willow suddenly wanted nothing more than to have Buffy with her.
Buffy saw red when she saw the Vampire.
Willow didn't know what happened. One minute, there was a Vampire, the next, there was Buffy standing in front of her, the dust that used to be the Vampire, floating around them.
Willow opened her mouth to speak, but one look at Buffy's face stopped her.
Buffy knew she had to calm down, but seeing that Vampire, and knowing what could have happened was making her a little unsteady.
"Willow. I don't know what is going on with you tonight. You were fine up until a little while ago, but whatever it is…get over it. If I hadn't followed you, that Vampire would have killed you," Buffy paused to consider something else that made her blood boil, "or turned you. What happened in the last half hour to piss you off?"
Willow could have swore she saw the power dancing in Buffy's eyes.
Lowering her head, she looked away. It wasn't like she could tell Buffy that she was jealous of Faith. That would give Buffy mixed signals, and damn if Willow didn't have enough of those herself.
Buffy wanted to scream and shout at the redheads stubborn nature, instead she let lose a growl that had Willow snapping her head back in shock.
Buffy noticed, what she thought was fear in Willow's eyes and doubled her efforts to calm herself, but every time she closed her eyes, she saw a dead Willow. Or worse, a Vampiric Willow.
"Buffy, what happened to you in England?" The question surprised Buffy.
"What's that got to do with your not thinking clearly?"
Willow sighed and leaned against the wall.
"Nothing. But I would like to know."
Buffy scanned the area around then, not sensing anything demonic, apart from Angel who was lurking around the corner.
"Hey Angel. Do me a favor? Head back to the Bronze and tell the guys I walked Willow home and we are having a chat. Tell Faith to take the guys on patrol and I will meet them later.
Willow was looking at Buffy like she had finally lost it.
When Angel stepped from around the corner, she was glad she was leaning against the wall. Buffy had never been able to pick out a Vampire like that before.
"Sure thing. Night guys." Angel left, his coat billowing behind him.
Buffy pushed off the wall and turned to Willow.
"Your place or the dorm?"
"My place, its empty, we can talk there."
They headed off into the night, one with a queasy feeling in her gut, and one wondering just what the night would bring.
Buffy sat on the couch, opposite Willow who sat on the armchair.
"So…what do you want to know?"
Willow looked up.
"Your…different. What did you do over there?"
Buffy eyebrows creased in that adorable way when she was thinking.
"Balance. I found my balance. It's like a coin. There's two sides, but each side needs the other. The power in me, it was always there, I just didn't know how to control it, or use it. Now, I can use it, I can call on it whenever I want, bend it to do what I want it to do, but its still hard to control sometimes, and it…I could become dangerous, that's why I have to have Tom and the guys with me."
Willow stood up and moved over to sit on the couch, though a little away from Buffy.
"What was it like?"
Buffy leaned back into the softness of the cushions.
"At first, it was weird. It was very hard to control. I had to go through all these meditating techniques. It was kind of scary…no not kind of…it was scary."
Buffy trailed off and looked at her hands.
Willow hadn't thought about what it would have been like for Buffy, being over there, alone, learning things about herself she never knew.
Reaching over, she gave the Slayer's hand a quick squeeze before backing away again.
Buffy gave her smile.
"What about you? What's been going on in the last two years?"
Willow copied Buffy, and leaned back into the couch.
They talked for ages, and only stopped when there was a knock on the front door.
"Seems Faith and the guys got tired of waiting."
Willow turned a confused look to her.
"How do you know its them?"
Buffy just looked at her.
Willow rolled her eyes at herself.
"Right, of course."
She made her way to the front door and opened it to let in Faith, Tom, Mike and Jonny, without actually inviting them in.
"They were worried." Faith plonked herself down and rolled her eyes and Buffy.
"You were supposed to meet us," Mike grouched.
Tom noticed a light in Buffy's eyes that he hadn't noticed before and nudged Mike to shut up.
"She didn't do it on purpose."
Buffy sent him a smile and stood up.
"I guess we really should patrol. Thanks for the chat Will."
Willow stood up and grabbed her coat.
Buffy noticed and her eyes narrowed.
"What? Faith actually lets us patrol with her, unlike some people who will remain nameless." Willow looked pointedly to Buffy.
Buffy turned murderous eyes to the other Slayer, who had the decency to blush.
"I don't let them get hurt B."
"We will be talking about this later." Turning to Willow, Buffy was about to tell her she couldn't go when she stopped.
She was there, Faith was there and the guys were there. Willow would be alright. Besides, she wasn't ready to say goodnight.
"Okay. Lets go."
Everyone's surprised expressions followed Buffy out. No-one, including Willow, had expected Buffy to let the redhead come along.
They reached the first cemetery and Buffy let Faith take point, but it was only so the younger Slayer didn't begin to feel redundant, because Buffy could sense practically ever demon in the place.
"How come you let me come?"
Buffy ignored the feelings those words brought and looked sideways at Willow.
"Your complaining? I thought you wanted to come?"
Willow turned her face away to look forward.
"I did, I was just wondering." She didn't sound as upbeat as she had before.
Buffy sighed, sure she had messed up, but not having a clue how.
Reaching down, she squeezed Willow's hand, not unlike Willow had done earlier.
"Because, I wasn't ready to say goodnight."
Willow smiled at Buffy before realizing that they were holding hands.
Not wanting to complicate things, she let go of Buffy and noticed the sad look Buffy tried to hide.
"So, do you sense anything then?"
Buffy shook her head no.
Tom caught up with Faith.
"You sure this is a hot spot?"
"Used to be," Faith snorted.
Willow was going to say something when Buffy stopped and turned her head to the left, looking past Willow.
"Faith, demons, five of them. Seven o'clock."
Faith spun in the direction Buffy had called out and could make out the demons her sister Slayer had spotted.
"Damn B. Your good."
But Buffy didn't answer, she was already calling on the power that she had at her disposal. Walking a few steps forward, she waited until they came into view, before sensing something else as well.
"Faith, I'll deal with these guys, you take the Vampires are trying to sneak up from behind." Her voice was much deeper than usual.
Faith had sensed them too spun around to see three Vamps, trying to attack from behind.
"No probs B. Take care of yours, I'll take out these guys and protect the others."
Buffy nodded her head that she had understood, and got ready for battle.
Tom, Mike and Jonny all formed a circled around Willow, but she didn't complain, not when she finally caught a glimpse of the demons Buffy was going to fight.
"I…will she be okay?"
Tom nodded his head at her and offered her a smile.
"You kidding, she'll kick their asses."
Buffy turned around, facing away from the demons.
"You know what to do?" The serious tone didn't go unnoticed by Willow.
Tom nodded his head at her as did Jonny and Mike.
Buffy nodded once before letting the power consume her. She turned to face the demons, a feral smile crossing her face.
"What is she talking about?" Willow looked from Tom, to Mike and finally to Jonny.
"Later, kind of busy right now."
Willow was about to say something when she saw Buffy kill two of the demons in a flash.
"Wow."
Buffy was moving fast, throwing punches, kicks and jumps faster that Willow could see.
Faith had already finished off her Vampires, and was watching the fight, open mouthed.
"Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?"
"No, your seeing every move she makes, we aren't, she's going to fast," Tom deadpanned as he strained to watched Buffy move.
Launching herself behind the last remaining demon, Buffy could feel the power inside her wanting to break out more.
Breathing calmly, she tried to hold it in, but she was too far gone.
Tom finally caught Buffy's eyes. Turning to Mike he nodded his head and make a hand gesture.
The three made the way towards Buffy, but they weren't fast enough.
Buffy met Tom's eyes, and knew he understood what was happening, but she knew it was to late.
She didn't know why, but she couldn't seem to control the power tonight for some reason.
The demon turned and lashed out, but he was too late.
Buffy's hand shot out, gripping his throat.
"Uh uh." She shook her head at him before throwing him free.
He tumbled head over feet before coming to a stop three feet away from Faith and Willow.
Buffy's hazel eyes went wide before turning stormy.
When it was all over, no-one was able to say what had happened, the only thing they could see, was tiny demon parts, covered in blood, guts and every other kind of bodily fluid imaginable.
And there was Buffy, standing in the middle.
Everyone had their eyes clued to Buffy, which is why they missed Jonny pulling out his gun and aiming.
Willow jumped when she saw Buffy crumble to the ground, Faith, who was the fastest, reached the fallen Slayer first and saw tow darts embedded in her neck.
"What the fuck?"
Mike and Tom both rounded on Jonny, who raised his head defiantly.
"It needed to be done."
Tom punched him once, watching with delight as blood spurted from his nose.
"She was fine, she would have been fine. She was worse than this the other night. You jumped the gun. Literally. If you do something like that again, we'll be posting you back to England in a coffin."
Tom back away, but Faith grabbed Jonny before he could move.
"What did you do to her?" For the first time since meeting her, Jonny was aware that he was dealing with a Slayer.
"It was just a dart. She'll be fine by tomorrow night."
"Dart?" Everyone turned to see Willow kneeling by the unconscious Buffy.
Tom shuffled his feet before meeting her eyes.
"Stun dart, it releases a toxin into her blood, it shouldn't knock her out, just restrain her enough to get her to safety. Jonny upped the dose, which is why she's sleeping now."
Willow nodded her head and turned her attention back to Buffy. Raising her hand, she rested it against the Slayer's cheek.
Looking up, Willow meet Jonny's eyes.
"I really don't like you." The look in her eyes unnerved the English man, though he didn't show it.
Jonny watched as Mike picked up Buffy, only to have her taken off him by Faith.
He really hadn't wanted to do what he did, but Buffy was to far gone, in his opinion, to drag herself back.
"Where to? Giles?"
Tom shook his head no.
"She'll be fine, just needs to rest. Take her home, we'll be there anyway. Just in case."
Joyce had arranged for them all to stay in the house. Tom had the guest room, while Jonny and Mike were sharing the basement.
Willow walked with Faith, one hand holding onto one of Buffy's, her thumb drawing small circles n the patch of skin it rested on.
"She was amazing tonight."
Willow turned to gaze at Faith.
"Yeah she really was."
"If I was to go, do you think I could fight like that?" Faith sounded curious.
"Sure, I mean, why wouldn't you? Your both Slayer's."
Faith looked at the girl she held in her arms.
"Yeah, but B was always THE Slayer, you know."
Willow stopped them and gave Faith her full attention.
"Faith, your every bit the Slayer Buffy is, well was since this new version came back from England."
Faith resumed walking and looked at Willow from the corner of her eye.
"You don't sound too happy about that."
Willow avoided her and glanced behind them to where the guys were.
"I'm glad she's home."
Faith waited for more, but none came,
"But?"
Willow looked up and the night sky before looking at the sleeping Buffy.
"I just wish she was the old Buffy." My Buffy she added silently.
Faith stopped walking this time and turned her body to face Willow, holding Buffy between them like a shield.
"She is the same Willow. You have just refused to see it."
Whether she was answering the spoken or unspoken words from Willow, she answered both in one go.
She carried on walking, leaving Willow standing there, hearing the mewl of protest from Buffy at the loss of contact with Willow.
A month had passed and Faith was leaving for England in a few days. Tuesday to be exact. The council had wanted her to go sooner, but she kept putting it off, not wanting to leave her friends.
"B, I don't know how you pulled this off."
Buffy turned quizzical eyes on her sister Slayer.
"Huh?"
Faith rolled her eyes and punched the vamp she was currently fighting.
"When you left? How did you handle it? I'm stressing over leaving you guys, and I'm not even fucking any of you."
"Faith. It was a little more than fucking. And it was easy. It came down to the choice between being the best Slayer I could be and keeping the people I love safe, or staying and getting myself and the others killed. Which would you pick?"
Faith dusted her vamp and watched as Buffy toyed with hers. She rarely took the time to play with the vamps anymore, but tonight, she was.
"I've been thinking-"
"Always a bad thing Faith."
"-we should all do something before I go. Maybe this Saturday."
Buffy finally staked her bloodied and broken punch bag and turned to fully face Faith.
"Sure, sounds good. What did you have in mind?"
Faith shrugged. She knew exactly what was going to happen.
"Bronze then back to mine for a party?"
So it was agreed, and that was how Faith found herself standing in the kitchen getting drinks for everyone.
"Okay, Will here is your coke, Xander, Tom and Buffy, your beers, Anya your wine and my JDs."
They were all sitting in various seats about the living room of Willow's parents house. Faith hadn't moved into the dorms, she couldn't afford it, and she was glad now as she was transferring to an English school for however long it was going to take to become 'super Slayer'. It had taken Buffy two years, god knew how long it would take her.
"So, what do you guys want to do?" Faith asked as she looked at her friends.
Xander was vetoed for his strip poker idea, even though Faith was interested. She had something else in mind.
"Okay then, how about a game of truth or dare?"
Tom groaned and flopped back. He had said yes to going to the party, now he wished he had stayed with Mike and Jonny at the bar.
"Faith, that is a kissing game. Those never go well."
She stuck her tongue out at him and motioned with her eyes towards Buffy, then Willow.
"So then how about truth or consequences? No dares in that game, but forfeits if you can't answer the question." what she didn't tell them, was that a forfeit was a dare in essence.
So it was decided. Faith found two dice and each rolled them. Xander got the highest score, so he got to ask a question first. He looked damn right evil and Faith noticed.
"Oh, I forgot to mention, once a question is asked, no matter who its asked too, everyone has to take a turn answering it."
Everyone smirked when Xander groaned and watched as he thought of a new question before his eyes lit up.
"Faith. What age did you loose your virginity at?"
Faith shrugged at him. "Thirteen."
"What?" Buffy looked over in shock. When she was thirteen, she had been getting into makeup sure, but having sex, no way.
"I don't have to explain, he just asked for age." Faith looked smug and waited for the others to answer.
"Fifteen." Tom gave his first when it looked like no-one else was going to.
"Seventeen." This came from Xander.
"Fourteen." Anya got some raised eyebrows. "What? I grew up as a human over 1100 years ago. Things were done differently back then."
"Seventeen." Willow and Buffy said theirs at the same time, which worked out considering they lost theirs at the same time too.
It was Faith's turn to ask the question and she looked at each person before her eyes lit on Anya.
"What's your biggest fear?"
Anya looked at Xander before looking back at Faith.
"It used to be bunnies, now its that something bad will happen to Xander."
The man in question wrapped his arms around his lover and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"Snakes." Again, Tom answered first.
"The world ending." Xander pulled Anya tighter to him and she smiled up at him before snuggling in.
Willow watched with a heavy heart and her eyes sought Buffy's only to find she was looking at her fingers as if they contained the knowledge of the lost world.
"B, your up."
Buffy looked up at each of her friends before her eyes landed on Willow's.
"My biggest fear? I'm a Slayer, I have loads."
Faith saw the way Buffy's eyes skirted over to Willow before moving away again.
"Spill."
Buffy's eyes flashed at her, but she nodded her head resigned.
"That I could end up hurting someone I loved."
Willow flinched and Buffy saw. She had ended up hurting someone she loved, but emotionally instead of physically.
"Will? Your turn."
Willow shifted in her seat and avoided everyone's eyes.
"Frogs." She was lying, and Buffy knew it. But she also knew that she was the only one who knew it.
They had been playing for an hour when Faith pulled out the big guns.
"Buffy. Describe the first time you fell in love."
If Buffy's eyes had been knives, Faith would be dead. She really didn't want to think about any of this. It was bringing back feelings that had never left her to begin with, and it was tearing her heart apart to not have Willow.
Willow's eyes widened. Buffy had already told her this, it was the first time they had a sleepover at the Slayer's house.
//Buffy turned over in bed, opening her eyes to see a pillow or red hair. Lifting a hand, she brushed some of it back to see Willow's face.
Looking at her sleeping, listening as she mumbled, Buffy felt something for her best friend. Something that she knew was going to change their relationship, for better or worse she didn't know.//
She didn't want that memory shared with everyone. That was between her and Buffy.
Buffy looked up to the ceiling then down to Faith, who for some reason looked smug. Does she want me in pain? Is that it? Buffy shook the thoughts from her head, knowing that Faith would never hurt her like that, or so she hoped anyway.
"No."
Willow wanted to smile in relied, instead she let out a sigh which Buffy heard and her eyes flickered over to Willow's before landing on Faith's.
Faith's eyes narrowed. "Why not?"
Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Because, its private. What's my consequence?"
Faith's eyes narrowed as she thought of something that would rile up both Buffy and Willow, hopefully getting the latter to realize that not being with Buffy was stupid.
"Kiss Anya for a full minute, and I mean a full kiss, tongues, teeth and lips."
Buffy's jaw dropped and her head swiveled around to see how Anya was taking this.
Anya smiled and beckoned her over. She wasn't stupid, she knew what Faith was up to.
"But…Xander, a little help here." Buffy begged him with her eyes, but he was a male, and offering her no help.
Willow lowered her own eyes so she wouldn't have to watch as Buffy got up and covered the distance between herself and Anya. She wouldn't have to watch as the lips she longed to taste again kissed the lips of her best friends girlfriend. She wouldn't have to watched as the girl she loved above everything else, kissed someone else in front of her as her heart slowly broke.
That's when it hit Willow. It must have been that way for Buffy when she was with Kim. And she was damned if she was going to have to go through that when Buffy eventually found someone else to love.
Standing up, she interrupted Buffy's slow walk over to Anya, and dragged her by the arm out into the kitchen and away from prying eyes.
Buffy followed, wondering what was going on when she found herself pinned to the refrigerator and being kissed by Willow as if there was no tomorrow.
Pulling her head back, she attempted to speak, only to be dragged back into the kiss by the redhead.
Tongues twirled, teeth nipped and mouths caressed.
Buffy's arms wrapped around Willow and pulled her in closer before she broke the kiss again, this time not letting Willow distract her.
"Oh God…as much as I want this, do you? Why now?"
Willow moved her mouth to Buffy's neck, knowing what a sensitive spot it was for the Slayer. She was rewarded with a low moan of approval.
"Even just thinking about you kissing Anya made me sick."
Buffy pulled back and stepped away from Willow, who suddenly wondered if she had done the right thing. She knew Buffy loved her, but did Buffy want her?
"So, that just now, was because you were jealous?" If that was the only reason Willow suddenly wanted her, Buffy knew she wouldn't be able to hold back the tears, even if she got a happy feeling knowing that Willow was jealous.
Willow's eyes widened and she pulled Buffy back to her, forgetting her own worry in favor for the Slayer's.
"No, it made me realize what I would be missing, what you must have gone through to see me kissing Kim. It made me realize, that when it boils right down to it, nothing else matters other than that I want you, and that I love you."
The last word was barely out of her mouth when Buffy pulled her closer and kissed her, pouring all her love into it.
Neither saw the brunette Slayer poking her head around the kitchen door, nor did they see the rest of the gang follow suit, or the smiles on their faces.
They both knew that this didn't make things right between them, but it was a good start.
Everyone had ended up crashing at Faith's – well Willow's really – that night.
The girl in question woke up with a hangover and groaned before rolling out of bed and making her way down to the kitchen, surprised when she saw Buffy up.
"Hey B."
Buffy nodded at her, but never gave any other indication that she noticed her.
Faith frowned and walked around the kitchen island and into Buffy's line of sight.
"What's up?"
Buffy blinked and concentrated on Faith.
"Nothing."
Faith's raised eyebrow showed told Buffy all she needed to know.
"Why aren't you in bed?" The rest of the question was left unsaid, but Buffy got her meaning.
"I stayed down here on the couch."
Faith's eyebrows rose again. She thought for sure that Buffy and Willow would have spent the night together.
Buffy seemed to read her face and stood up, rinsing her coffee cup in the sink.
"We aren't ready for that yet, and I honestly don't think I could have controlled myself if we were in the same bed."
"Morning."
The Slayer's turned to see Willow made her way into the kitchen.
Both had known she was there, but with human hearing, wouldn't have picked up on their conversation.
Faith excused herself to go shower and Buffy pulled out a seat for Willow.
"Breakfast?"
Willow nodded her head yes and watched as Buffy made her way around the kitchen, finding things from memory.
Another memory rose in Willow's mind. The same kitchen, but cooking wasn't on the agenda.
//Buffy hoisted Willow up onto the counter and stepped between her legs.
"You" kiss "sure" grope "they" moan "wont be home?" Buffy gasped out as she pulled Willow's top from her body.
"Sure."
Buffy pulled her own top off and reached for Willow's pants.
"Thank god."
They stopped talking and nothing but moans and gasps filled the room.//
"Will…Willow?" Buffy waved her hand in front of Willow's face, pulling her from wherever her mind had wandered off to.
"Welcome back. Pancakes?" Buffy tried hard to ignore the fact that Willow was panting and turned back to the cooker.
"Please." Willow closed her eyes at how husky her own voice sounded.
She missed Buffy giving a body shudder before she could get herself under control.
"So, what's your plans for today?" Asked Buffy as she poured the pancake batter into the frying pan.
"I have a paper to finish then I'm free. Why? Did you have something in mind?"
"I'm training until lunch with the guys but I thought that maybe after we could go for lunch somewhere. If you wanted to that is."
Willow stood up and got a drink of juice from the fridge before sitting back down and accepting the breakfast Buffy handed her.
"Sure, oh but how about, instead of lunch, we go on a picnic?"
Buffy smiled and leaned into place a kiss on Willow's mouth.
"You have the best ideas Will."
Willow smiled and tucked into her pancake just as the others came in.
"So, are you two orgasm buddies now?"
Willow blushed at Anya's bluntness and Buffy turned to clean her dishes.
"We're back together." Willow tried to stop blushing as she spoke.
That seemed to satisfy the ex demon and she happily munched on an apple.
"So, what are we doing today? Sunday, the last day of freedom before Faith leaves us for the mother country."
Faith fought to keep the sad look off her face and shrugged her shoulders at Xander.
Buffy's eyes widened. She had forgotten Faith was leaving so soon.
Looking over at Willow, the rest watched as they almost seemed to have a silent conversation that ended with Willow nodding her head.
Buffy smiled at her girlfriend and turned to her sister Slayer.
"How about we all go for a picnic later on. Will has a paper to finish, I'm sure the guys have things to do and we have to train. We could all meet in the park at say…two?"
So it was settled.
Willow left the house and headed over to the college dorms, surprised when she heard Buffy calling her.
"Wait up, I'll walk you."
Willow smiled and locked their hands together, swinging their arms gently as they walked.
"I missed this." Buffy's voice was soft as it cut into the silence.
Willow's grip on her hand tightened before relaxing.
"Me too."
Faith trained with both Jonny and Mike while Buffy trained with Tom and Giles.
Buffy was not having fun. Usually, she loved to see how far she could push Tom, but today she just wanted it over so she could go and meet Willow.
After a hit to the head that she should have blocked, Tom called a time out.
"Get your head together and concentrate."
Buffy sighed just wishing they would hurry up and finish so she could go and meet Willow as she was leaving college.
"I know, I'm just…antsy."
Tom rolled his eyes and sighed before sharing a look with Giles.
"Okay, you can go." When Faith tried to leave too, Tom called her back.
"You can leave at one, that gives you an hour to shower and change before the group lunch thing."
Faith had to restrain the angry growl as she faced off with all four of them now.
Smirking, she stopped holding back.
Buffy never saw the punch that landed hard against Mike's jaw, she was too busy darting from the room to get ready herself.
Forty minutes later, she was waiting outside Stevenson Hall, Willow's dorm room.
Just as she was about to go in, the girl in question came out laughing at something.
Buffy was about to call her when another girl appeared.
She was a little taller than Willow, with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. From the style of her clothing, Buffy could tell she was a student as well.
For some reason, Buffy never called out to alert her girlfriend to her presence.
She hadn't seen this girl before and wondered why that was.
Buffy watched as Willow and the new girl laughed about something again and frowned.
Willow had told her she had a paper to finish.
"Hey Will." Buffy was moving towards them before her brain caught up with her body.
Willow spun in the direction of Buffy's voice and a smile graced her face.
"Buffy, your early."
Noting the look in her girlfriends eyes, Willow pulled her close and dropped a kiss on Buffy's lips that went miles to appease the Slayer.
"They let me off early. Who's your friend?"
Willow rolled her eyes. She could see right through Buffy and she knew her girlfriend was jealous.
"Buffy, this is Tara. We met at Wicca group. Tara this is Buffy, my girlfriend."
Tara smiled and reached out a hand to Buffy.
"Pleased to meet you. Willow hasn't shut up about you all day."
Buffy smiled and shook her hand.
Turning to her girlfriend, she noticed the slight blush.
"Only good things I hope."
Tara watched the play of emotions on the other blondes face and decided to leave them to it.
"I'll see you at the next meeting Will." As Tara turned to go, Willow's voice stopped her.
"I'm not going to go back to them, they are full of people who, well they don't know what they're on about."
Buffy saw the sad look that came over Tara's face and wondered about it.
Willow saw it too and rushed to get out the rest of her sentence.
"But that doesn't mean we cant still be friends and do spells together."
They both missed Buffy's frown.
"Okay, but I really do have to go. See you around Will and it was nice meeting you Buffy."
"Likewise."
Tara left, leaving Willow staring at Buffy and the Slayer a million miles away in thought.
Buffy rushed after Faith and pulled her into a hug.
"No matter what, remember, your in charge over there, not them. And if you need me, just call."
Faith looked relieved and nodded her head as she pulled out of the hug.
"See ya in a few."
Nobody knew if it was going to be a few months, or years, but Faith hoped that it wasn't years. Buffy was away for two years, at the very least Faith would be embarrassed if she was away from home much longer than that.
Buffy walked back to the group and wrapped her arms around Willow before turning to wave Faith and Mike off.
Mike had decided to go with her after he, Tom and Jonny discussed it a few weeks before.
Tom sighed as the plane took off and headed for the car, the ret of the gang on his heels.
"Where to?"
"I have a class in half an hour so I need to get back to college."
Buffy pouted at Willow.
"Me too." Xander groaned, slumping into the seat.
"Ok, so are we meeting up later before or after I go on patrol?"
"After," Willow raised her head from Buffy's shoulder to look at her girlfriend. "I'm meeting with Tara to try out a new spell."
Buffy hid her reaction to that and nodded her head.
"Okay. Tom, Jonny, how about after we drop the guys off at school, we call into the coffee place?"
Tom winked at her in the mirror in response.
"Sounds like a plan to me."
The drive was made in silence, each one contemplating a Sunnydale without Faith.
Willow was lost in thoughts of Buffy leaving to do just what Faith was.
She was so out of it, she hadn't noticed that they had pulled up in front of the college dorms.
"Will." Buffy nudged her girlfriend, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Sorry, zoned for a minute there."
Willow leaned over and gave Buffy a quick kiss goodbye which wasn't good enough for the Slayer, who pulled her back into a much more passionate one.
Pulling back, Buffy helped the panting Willow out of the car and made arrangements to meet later.
"Bye."
Tom pulled off and Buffy waved to Willow and Xander.
Patrol went smoothly that night. Just three Vamps and no demons.
Demons seemed to have gotten the message that the blonde Slayer was back and stronger than ever.
Walking into the bronze, Buffy felt the aftermath of the slaying flow through her.
Spotting the gang, she led Tom and Jonny over to the group before noticing that a new member had joined.
Shrugging, Buffy sat down before Anya and Willow, Xander across from Anya and Tara across from Willow.
"Hey guys. We're going to go to the bar, anyone want anything?"
As the gang gave their orders to Tom and Jonny, Buffy started twitching in her seat and sending longing looks to the dance floor.
She couldn't take it anymore.
Standing, she tugged on Willow's hand.
"Lets dance."
Willow never got a chance to say yes or no as she was dragged up from her seat and onto the dance floor.
A fast song came on and Buffy got lost in its beat. Pulling Willow closer to her, Buffy moved their bodies to the music, Willow holding on for dear life.
She thanked whoever was listening when a slow song came on.
Buffy's breath hitched at the first note.
She knew this song well.
Wrapping her arms around Willow, she placed a tender kiss on her lover's neck.
Willow smiled and tightened her own arms just as the singers voice came through the sound system.
It's daybreak, and you are asleep,
I can hear you breathe now,
Your breath is deep
Willow caught the hitch in Buffy's breathing and pulled back to look at the Slayer, surprised when she saw tears form in her girlfriends eyes.
"Baby?"
Buffy shook her head and pulled Willow back into her arms.
But before I go,
I'll look at you one last time,
I can hear a heart beat,
is it yours or is it mine?
Buffy took a deep breath and turned her head, burring her face in Willow's neck, breathing in the scent of her girlfriend, her lover -or soon to be again- and her life.
I look at your lips,
I know how soft they can be,
Did they know what they wanted,
the times they kissed me,
And your hands,
that I've held in mine,
Now they're reposing on the pillow,
Will they ever miss me sometime?
I'll remember you,
you will be there in my heart,
I'll remember you,
but that is all that I can do,
But I'll remember
Buffy couldn't take it anymore and pulled back before bringing their mouths together in a kiss.
Willow frowned at the tears she could taste on Buffy's lips and let her mind connect with the song, knowing that somehow it was the reason for the tears. Buffy had been fine before it came on.
Your eyes,
that always make me shiver,
Now they're closed,
they just sometimes twitch a little,
And your body,
I could hold for an hour,
It sent me to heaven,
with its heat and power,
I'll remember you,
you will be there in my heart,
I'll remember you,
but that is all that I can do,
But I'll remember
The song ended and Buffy pulled back, kissing Willow again, a little desperately this time.
Another song was starting, but Willow didn't feel like dancing and pulled Buffy off the dance floor and looked for a secluded spot.
Looking up, she saw that the balcony was quite as everyone seemed to be on the dance floor.
Buffy followed where Willow led and found herself looking over the club.
"Baby? What was all that about?"
Buffy shook her head, feeling stupid.
Willow's face took on its resolve look and Buffy crumbled.
"It's stupid." She was stalling and she knew it. Worse, she knew that Willow knew it.
After a few seconds of Willow's stare, Buffy relented.
"That last time, before I left, I was watching you and that song came on the radio."
Willow had no clue what Buffy was talking about, and it showed.
Blowing out a deep breath, Buffy continued.
"The last time we made love, I was sitting on the bed, watching you sleep and the radio was playing in the background. I wasn't paying attention to it until I heard the words to that song. I knew that I was going to leave Sunnydale…you…and it hit me. At that moment it really hit me."
Buffy looked so sad at that minute, Willow couldn't help but lean forward and wrap her up in a hug.
"What hit you?"
"That I would never that close to you again."
Willow pulled back, a smile on her face.
"But see, you can do it again. I'm not going anywhere. You're here and I'm here."
Buffy looked up, tears shining in her eyes before a smile covered her face.
Backing Willow up, they bumped into a wall before Willow found Buffy plastered to her front and a very touchy feely Slayer devouring her mouth.
Pulling back, Willow gasped for air even as Buffy nibbled at her jaw line.
"Good Slay tonight?"
Buffy pulled back.
"No, pretty boring."
Willow gulped at the raw hunger she saw in Buffy's eyes.
She knew how the Slayer reacted to each patrol.
A long fight left her feeling fulfilled, a short one left her feeling empty.
A boring one left the Slayer with energy to burn.
Willow used to love being the outlet for that energy, but they had just gotten back together, she wasn't ready for their relationship to go back to the intimate one it had once been.
Buffy saw the look in Willow's eyes and backed off, reigning in her lust.
Taking Willow's hand, she led her back down the stairs and onto the dance floor where the redhead found herself once more wrapped up in the Slayer's embrace.
"I hope you didn't mind me bringing Tara tonight."
They had just dropped Tara off at her dorm room and Buffy was walking Willow back to her own.
"No, she's a friend right? Why shouldn't she hang out." Buffy still couldn't pin point why she felt so…put out by Tara, the blonde Wicca seemed pleasant enough.
Willow smiled and snuggled into Buffy's side.
"Good. I'm glad you like her, and the rest of the Scoobies seemed to as well. It can't hurt, having one more magically inclined person helping us out."
Buffy gave her a funny look, which Willow read correctly.
"I mean beside you. Someone I can do spells with and stuff."
Buffy nodded her head to show she was listening and turned them onto the path that would lead them to Willow's dorm.
"Angel, stop following us and come out for Gods sake."
Willow rolled her eyes when Angel appeared, a sheepish look on his face.
"Hey guys."
He looked uneasy, and Buffy noticed.
"Haven't seen you around for a while. I was starting to worry. Where have you been?"
Angel looked over his shoulder before moving closer to Buffy.
"Not here."
Buffy shook her head at him.
"There's no demons around apart from you."
Angel gave her a little half smirk and shrugged his shoulders.
"Its not demons I'm worried about."
Buffy frowned and shared a look with Willow.
"We can go to my place. It's not far."
Buffy tightened her grip on Willow, her senses extending to look for any threat to them.
Angel fell into step beside Willow, ensuring the redhead was flanked by both Slayer and Vampire.
It only took a few minutes of tense silence to reach Willow's dorm.
Buffy followed Willow into the room and Willow turned to invite Angel in.
Once everyone was inside, Angel plopped down on a seat.
"What do you know about theses Commandoes running around?"
At Buffy's blank look, Angel had his answer.
"There is a group of Commandoes searching out and capturing demons, Vampires, you name it. I recently came across a Vampire that escaped them, it wasn't pretty."
Buffy took off her coat and made herself comfortable on Willow's bed.
"What do you mean?"
Angel took an unneeded breath, the image of Spike floating through his mind.
"They torture them, do experiments on them. The Vampire I found was starved and unrecognizable. I could only tell who it was because of the bond."
Buffy looked confused and Willow looked worried.
"Bond?"
Angel closed his eyes.
"Family. Childer."
Buffy drew in a breath, the implications hitting home. Angel only had three childer. Dru, Penn and…
"Spike."
Angel had never heard a name spoken with more hatred than Buffy was able to infuse into his Childe's.
Needlessly, he nodded his head yes.
"And I should care about this why?"
Buffy now had a death grip on Willow's bed covers, knowing that if she gripped the redheads hand, it would be crushed.
"What?" Angel was taken aback, and it showed in his voice.
"Why should I care if a bunch of army boys are turning the tables on the demons? Makes a changed from them trying to take over or end the world."
Angel couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stood up and began to pace the confines of the room, his displeasure apparent in his rigid muscles.
"Because, it isn't just evil demons these guys are targeting, they are going after harmless ones as well. Because we have no idea how far they will go. Because you are the Slayer and because they almost got me tonight."
Buffy's whole demeanor changed. No body hurt her friends. Even the ones who were undead and made vampires she despised. Well okay, that was only Angel.
Standing up, she walked over to the window and peered out.
"Tell me about Spike." the words tasted bitter in her mouth, but if Angel needed her help, she would work passed it.
That or dust the bleached blonde.
Angel sighed in relief.
"He was starved, beaten, burned and bloodied. But that wasn't what concerned me most. He told me he heard a few boys talking when he was hiding from them just after his escape. They implanted a chip in his head. It stops him from hurting any living thing, but it doesn't work on demons, he had to escape a vamp who thought he'd be easy pickings."
Buffy smirked, thinking of a fangless Spike. Something he once said about happy meals came back to her and the smirk grew before she turned serious again.
"If they can do this to a Vampire like Spike, what else are they doing? We have no idea what their goals are and until we do, they are a threat."
Buffy looked from Angel to Willow.
"Are they human?"
Angel nodded his head yes.
"Call Giles and tell him we're on our way over. Tell him to get the rest over there now."
Angel pulled out his cell phone to do as she asked while Buffy turned back to face the window, looking out into the darkness.
Willow stood behind the Slayer.
"Buffy, what is it?"
"Will, if these people are human, what are we supposed to do? It's not like I can kill them."
Willow had answer that one so she settled in wrapping her arms around Buffy from behind and hugging her tightly.
Angel closed his phone and turned to the couple.
"Will, you got any ice?"
Willow left Buffy and went to her small fridge, opening the tiny freezer compartment and pulling out an ice pack.
"Here."
Angel took it from her and eased his coat off and reached under her shirt to hold the ice over his left shoulder.
"What happened?"
Looking over to Buffy, he gave a shrug.
"Got shot with a stun gun."
Buffy nodded her head and her thoughts went back to her present dilemma.
"Giles is going to get everyone over. He said to give them half an hour and they should be there."
Buffy sighed and sat down on Willow's bed, falling back on to it and breathing deeply through her nose.
Angel looked over to Willow, wondering what to do about the obviously confused Slayer.
"Buff, I'm not saying that we go in guns blazing. We just need to shut them down. You don't need to worry about me or Spike loosing control."
Buffy cracked open one eye and gave Angel a small smile before closing it again. She wasn't just worried about the Vampire's loosing control.
Then, both eyes shot open and she sat up.
"Wait, Spike?"
Angel looked uncomfortable.
"He's back at mine. I'm going to swing by there before we hit Giles and pick him up."
Buffy groaned at having to deal with the bleached vamp and fell back on the bed.
Willow smirked at Buffy plopped down beside her girlfriend.
"He's not that bad."
Buffy growled softly, causing Angel to raise his eyebrow.
"He's a pain in my ass is what he is."
Willow picked up her pillow and batted Buffy with it.
"Jealous much?"
Buffy shot up off the bed and walked over to the door.
"We better go if we're going to pick him up before we head over to Giles. Are Jonny and Tom meeting us there?"
Angel nodded his head yes and he and a laughing Willow followed the grumbling Slayer out of the dorm room.
Willow's jaw dropped when she saw the state of the once pristine Vampire.
His head had been shaved, he was covered in bruises and cuts, and he look starved.
He looked worse than she imagined from Angel's brief description.
Buffy entered Angel's apartment on Willow's heels, stopping when she caught sight of Spike huddled in the corner.
"Angel?"
Spike's head snapped up when he heard the Slayer's voice.
"Spike?"
He whipped around to face Willow, snarling low in his throat.
Buffy pulled Willow behind her, giving Spike a sharp look.
When he realized what he had done, Spike lowered his head, as a way of apologizing. He hadn't meant to snap, he was jumpy ever since escaping.
"Sorry Red." he figured it wouldn't be wise to piss off the Slayer if she was going to help with his little problem.
Buffy growled under her breath at his use of her nickname for Willow, but no-one picked up on it.
"Spike, can you even walk?"
In answer to Willow's question, Spike stood, though he looked like he was in pain, and made his way out of the apartment.
"'Course I can. A few cuts never stopped me before."
Buffy rolled her eyes and shadowed Willow as they left Angel's and headed over to Giles.
Something about this didn't sit right with the Slayer.
Everyone was already there when the four arrived.
Tom and Jonny were talking to Giles in a corner while Xander and Anya were cuddled together on the couch.
Buffy, Willow and Angel drew Giles attention, and when he saw who was behind them, just outside his door, his worried gaze shot to his Slayer.
"It's okay Giles. It's a funny story really, invite him in."
Spike growled at Buffy, who turned to glare at him before she bounced over and sat beside Anya, taking Willow with her.
Giles, after taking three deep breaths, invited yet another Vampire into his home.
He was getting tired of having to do that.
If he could have, Spike would have swaggered in, as it was, he could only just about walk without Angel helping him.
"So, who is going to tell this 'funny story' then?"
Giles looked at the four newcomers as Tom and Jonny moved over to sit on the table in front of the couch, close to Buffy.
Angel looked over to Spike, who nodded his head and pulled out the desk chair before easing himself into it.
"Okay, first off, not that much of a 'funny story', more or a survival thing, only not quite as adventurous."
For the next half hour, Spike told them of how he was caught on his first night back to Sunnydale, how the commandoes beat him and locked him in a cage before moving him to a lab.
The crowd listened as he told of the beatings he was given, the weapons they used.
Finally, he reached the part about his chip, and Xander couldn't hold in a laugh.
Turning to Buffy, he winked at her and waggled his eyebrows when she smirked at him.
Spike ignored the exchange and went on to tell the group about his escape from the drugged blood and the army boys with stun guns.
When he reached the part about Angel finding him, the vamp in question began to pace, throwing looks over to his childe every so often.
"-And here were are." He finished his tale and spread his arms wide to indicate the entire room, grimacing as he did so.
Giles hadn't heard anything about any commandoes operating in town.
"Buffy, head down to Willies and see what the locals are saying about this organisation, see if they know anything."
Buffy stood up to go, Angel, Tom and Jonny standing with her.
"No, if I go in there with you three, a fight is bound to break out. Me and Angel go, you two stay here."
Buffy met Tom's eyes and nodded once before leaning down to give Willow a kiss goodbye before she and Angel left.
Tom sat down in Buffy's vacated seat and threw his arm along the back of the couch.
"So, while those two are off playing good cop bad cop, what are we going to do?"
Giles gave him a look, which resulted in Tom rolling his eyes.
"Right, when in doubt…research."
Xander groaned and hot Tom on the head with his pillow.
"You had to ask."
Buffy and Angel walked along in silence, each one keeping their eyes and ears trained on their surroundings.
Just before they entered the bar, Buffy turned to Angel.
"So, just so we're clear, are you Mr. Nice Guy or am I?"
Angel just looked at her before flashing his game face.
"Right. I never get to have fun."
All conversation stopped when the pair entered the bar, with many of the demons trying to escape out the back.
"Aw come on, we haven't come here to fight, we just want some information."
Angel took a step forward and growled at a few of the demons who were still trying to leave.
"Just because we didn't come to fight, doesn't mean he wont rip you to shreds just for kicks. So, information. We want it and some of you might have it."
Buffy paused for effects and let her gaze sweep the room, taking in the few new faces she saw there.
"Commandoes. Running around taking demons, which shouldn't bother me, except it does when they interfere with me and mine. So, who here knows what I'm talking about?"
"You think they got any leads yet?"
Xander shrugged his shoulders at Willow and turned his attention back to Anya, who was dozing with her head in a book, her face turned towards him and a little drool escaping.
Gently, he lifted her head and removed the book, placing his sweater underneath her instead.
When he stood up he met Giles eyes. The watcher gave him such a look of gratitude, he had to chuckle.
The door opened and in walked Buffy and Angel, neither looking worse for wear.
"I take it things went well?" Giles studied the two, happy when he saw no appearances of a fight.
Buffy sat down close to Willow and accepted the coke Tom handed her.
"Seems the demons don't know much. Spike here was the only one to escape."
Spike sat up straighter at that.
"What they do know, is that these commandoes are doing more than just torturing demons."
Buffy paused and made sure she had Giles full attention.
"They're making one."
Giles mouth dropped open and her tore his glasses off, polishing them to the point of breaking the fine glass lenses.
"Making one? How on earth…"
"They didn't know much, just whisperings among the underground."
Giles swore and pulled out his scotch, pouring one for himself before knocking it back and pouring another. Looking up, he offered the other males, bar Xander, in the room a drink.
Willow rested her had on Buffy's shoulder, sighing when her girlfriend's arm reached around to hold her tight.
"So, how do we find out what's going on then?"
Buffy had no clue, and from the look on her face, that answered Anya's question.
Jonny looked around the room before raising his hand.
"I have a really bad idea that just might work."
"I don't like this plan."
Buffy chuckled and wrapped her arms around Willow from behind.
"I don't like it either, but it's a good plan. We just have to see if they fall for it."
Willow turned around in Buffy's arms and pressed a kiss to her lips.
"What if they don't and they take you and do experiments on you and then-"
Buffy cut off Willow's babbling with a kiss, one that progressed from a gentle caress to a major grope fest.
When Buffy's control finally asserted itself, she realised she had Willow pinned to the bed, the redheads top was off and her own pants were unbuttoned.
"Will…?"
Willow looked up at Buffy's lustful eyes and couldn't help lowering her own.
Her body was screaming for release, but her heart wasn't ready for it yet.
Buffy closed her eyes and counted to ten, trying to reign in her lust.
Opening her eyes, she gave Willow a small smile before rolling off her and standing up to fix her pants, giving Willow the chance to grab her shirt and put it back on.
Neither knew what to say to the other, so Willow held out her hand, glad when Buffy took it and lay down beside her on the bed.
"Do you have to go tonight?"
Buffy rolled over and wrapped her arm around Willow, pulling her body close.
"No, I'm good here."
Buffy listened as Willow's breathing changed to indicate that she was sleeping and let her mind wander.
She was still awake when Willow's alarm clock went off at eight in the morning.
Willow groaned and stretched an arm out to shut it off. Sighing, she relaxed into the strong arms that held her, thinking Buffy was sleeping.
She had missed this. The feel of the Slayer's strong arms wrapped around her.
She realised Buffy was awake when the hand that was resting on her stomach began rubbing small circles around her belly button, through her clothes.
"Morning."
Buffy placed a small kiss to Willow's neck and whispered her reply against it.
"We never even got changed."
"I think that in this case, that was a wise thing."
Buffy chuckled and pulled an unresisting Willow closer to her.
Looking over at the clock, Willow groaned.
"Tara will be here soon, we have the same schedule on Fridays."
Willow sighed and pulled at Buffy's arms.
Buffy only loosened them enough for Willow to turn, then tightened them again when she had.
"I'm sorry about last night."
Buffy shook her head and kissed Willow's forehead.
"We got a little carried away, but stopping is nothing to be sorry for."
Willow raised her head and gave Buffy a small smile.
"Guess I just have to get used to the idea that your back and that we're together again."
Buffy closed her own eyes against the pain in Willow's.
Opening them, she rolled Willow onto her back and braced herself above the redhead.
"I promise you, I will never leave you again."
They both knew it was a lie, but both wanted to believe it so much.
No matter how good Buffy was now, a day would come when she faced something that she couldn't walk away from.
Willow pulled Buffy down for a kiss and tried to keep her tears in.
Buffy pulled away and Willow frowned and pouted at the same time when she stood up.
"What?"
Willow stood up as Buffy grabbed her coat.
"That was my goodbye kiss?"
Buffy reached up and grabbed the back of Willow's head before pulling her into a kiss that never even got the chance to begin as a gentle exploration.
Grasping the back of Willow's neck, the Slayer shoved her tongue into her mouth, growling low in her throat when Willow's own tongue met and duelled with hers.
Just as Buffy's hand was making it's way to Willow's ass, there was a knock on the door.
Willow pulled back and smiled at Buffy's growl.
She opened the door and let Tara in, who frowned when she noticed Buffy.
Willow didn't notice, but the Slayer did.
"Hey Tara. I'm running a little late. Why don't you wait with Buffy while I shower, we still have half an hour."
Willow had gathered her shower things while she spoke and was out the door before Tara could utter a word.
Buffy, knowing that this girl was close to Willow, smiled and sat up.
"You want a drink or something?"
Tara shook her head no and sat down at the desk.
Buffy looked at Tara, who was looking anywhere but at her.
Sighing, she picked up the phone and dialled her own house.
"Hey T…I so did tell you…oh come on, just as we were leaving Giles I said and I quote "don't wait up"…yeah yeah…anyway, the reason I'm calling, any chance of a lift home? Thanks…she's in classes all day. Right see you soon. Bye."
Buffy hung up and turned to see Tara staring at her.
"What?"
Tara blushed and lowered her head.
Buffy looked up as Willow entered the room and groaned aloud at the way she looked.
A towel was wrapped around her body, creamy pale flesh showing drops of water cascading down.
Willow flashed her a grin before heading over to her walk in closet.
Buffy noticed Tara was blushing even more than she had been and frowned.
"So Buff, what are you up to today?"
Buffy shook her head to clear it and looked over in Willow's direction in time to see the towel drop to the floor.
Jealously and anger rose up sharply in Buffy and she had to restrain the urge to jump up and cover her Willow, who was clothed only in underwear.
Jealously that Tara could see Willow like this, and anger because it seemed Willow didn't care about that.
Flashing a look over at Tara, who Buffy saw quickly avert her eyes, she jumped up and stepped into the other Blondes line of sight before heading over to her girlfriend.
"Tom is on his way." Her words came out in sharp clipped tones and Willow turned to see what the problem was.
Willow actually took a step back at what she saw in Buffy's eyes.
She frowned before looking over to Tara.
"Change of plans, how about I meet you outside English?"
Tara stood up and nodded her head before grabbing her bag and leaving the room.
Willow turned her attention back to her girlfriend, who hadn't diverted her attention during the short exchange.
Bravely, Willow thought, she took a step forward, only to stop at the look that hadn't left Buffy's eyes. She could honestly say that had she had never seen that anger in Buffy's eyes ever directed at her before, and that scared her.
Worst thing was, she knew that Buffy knew that.
"What is it?"
"Do you do that often?" Buffy's tone hadn't changed yet, it still sounded angry.
Willow was beyond confused.
"Do what?"
"Walk around half naked in front of other people."
"No!" The indignation in her voice was good news for Buffy.
Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply five times before opening them again, ignoring the car horn she could hear from outside.
When she met Willow's eyes this time, all the anger was gone from her own, though the jealously remained.
"Sorry, its just…you dressed like that…Tara being able to see…"
Buffy's words were jumbled, but Willow got the idea and huffed before pushing her back and pulling on the jeans she had in her hands.
Grabbing a top, she pulled it on and headed for the door. She stopped and spun around to face Buffy, who was still standing in the spot Willow had pushed her to.
"You need to learn to control that you know."
With those parting words, Willow left the Slayer standing there alone in the room and headed off to meet Tara, bumping into Tom on the way down the hall.
"Hey Will, where's Buffy?"
Willow snorted before telling him she was back at hers and after telling him to knock some sense into the Slayer, she continued on to class.
Tom looked up the hall and took a deep breath before heading over to Willow's dorm door and knocking once.
The door opened and Buffy walked out.
"Hey."
Well, she sounds okay, was the first thought to enter his head.
"So, you ready to go or what?"
Buffy retreated into the room to grab her coat and then followed Tom back to the car.
After five minutes of silence, he couldn't take it anymore.
"What happened?"
Buffy sighed and rested her head against the window.
"I have no clue."
Tara looked up as Willow came into view.
"W…Willow."
Willow smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes and Tara noticed.
"What's wrong?"
Sighing, she took Tara's arm and led her into class.
"Tell you at breakfast."
Willow wasn't paying attention to what the teacher was saying, which was bad considering he caught her.
"Perhaps Miss Rosenberg would know the answer."
Willow jerked out of her thoughts to see the entire class looking at her.
"Em…what was the question?"
The teacher sighed but repeated his question for her.
"Macbeth."
He gave her a stern look, but let a scolding slide considering she was one of his best students.
For the rest of the class, Willow paid attention.
When class was over, both Tara and her had an hour before their next one.
Making their way down to breakfast, Willow filled her in on what had happened that morning.
Tara listened and made no comment until she was sure Willow had finished.
"W…Willow, I d…don't mean to j…judge, but are you s…sure that being back with Buffy is a g…good idea?"
"Yes." There was no hesitation in Willow's voice at all.
Buffy opened the door to see Xander on the other side.
"Hey Buffy, I figured that since Will had classes all day that I'd come by and see how my bestest bud was doing."
Buffy opened the door wider to let him in and followed him into the living room.
"You don't have classes today?"
"I did. They finished at eleven."
Buffy sat down and leaned her head back against the couch.
"Where's Anya?"
Xander copied her moved and threw his arm around her shoulders.
"She's still in class. Who would have thought it? An ex demon worried about higher education."
Buffy laughed, but Xander heard the strain in her voice.
"How are things between you and Wills then?"
Buffy closed her eyes and rested her head against his shoulder.
"Tense right now I think."
Xander frowned and tightened his grip on Buffy.
After Buffy had left, he was the one to comfort Willow, but because Buffy was an ocean away, he had never gotten to give her the same treatment.
"Really? But with the kissing, I thought things were fine." Xander was as confused as he sounded.
"We were doing great, but this morning I messed up, big style."
Xander wanted to ask how, but Joyce entered the room and Tom and Jonny followed behind her.
Buffy sat up straight and turned to Xander, giving him a small smile.
"Later."
He nodded his head and turned to listen to something Jonny was saying about the patrol that night.
Willow made her way to the phone box before dialling Giles house.
No point walking over to his if Buffy was at home.
"Hey Giles its me…is Buffy there? No…okay I'll try her at home then…what time are we meeting later?…right, see you then."
Willow walked out of the phone box, and walked straight into a hard male body.
"God, Riley, I'm sorry."
Riley reached out to steady her and straightened out her books for her.
"Willow hey, I was hoping I'd run into you, only not literally."
Willow gave him a small laugh, but all she wanted to do was go talk to Buffy.
"Yeah? Why?"
He seemed to pull himself together and stand up tall.
"I was wondering if your friend Buffy was seeing anyone? It's just, I was going to ask her out and I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be stepping on anyone's toes."
Willow's mouth dropped open.
"You want to date Buffy?"
"Yeah." Riley was confused as to why that shocked the redhead.
"Sorry Riley, but your out of luck. Buffy's involved with someone."
Riley nodded his head.
"I figured, a girl that pretty had to be involved with someone."
They talked for a few minutes more before Willow made her excuses and left.
The entire way back to Buffy's house, an idea grew in her head. She didn't like it, but it would be the perfect cover for Buffy.
Joyce let Willow in and led her to the kitchen where the rest of the gang minus Giles now was.
"Hey guys."
Buffy looked up and caught Willow's eyes, smiling when she got a smile from her girlfriend.
Willow's smile didn't last very long when she realised that she had to sell her idea to the others, not to mention Buffy.
Buffy frowned before standing up and offering her seat to Willow.
"What's up?"
Willow sighed and looked up to see everyone staring at her. All but Joyce who had just left to go to work.
"I think I have a way to get Buffy in with the commandoes. Maybe. If I'm right, which I think I am but I could be wrong."
Everyone seemed to move forward as one.
Willow took a deep breath and turned to face the Slayer.
"Remember Riley?"
Buffy shook her head no and Willow had to smile.
"You met him at the college book shop when you first came back. Seems you made quite the impression on him."
Buffy crinkled her nose, trying to remember who Willow was talking about.
"Willow, what has this got to do with the commandoes?"
Willow turned her gaze to take in the rest but her eyes kept wandering over to Buffy.
"I think Riley is one of the commandoes. It never hit me until I bumped into him today. I remember seeing him dressed in army gear at Halloween, but I figured that it was a costume. What if it wasn't?"
"Just because he was dressed as an army boy doesn't mean he's one of the commandoes."
Willow nodded her head at Tom. She had thought of that too.
"No, Willow might be on to something there." Xander stood up and began pacing.
"I bumped into Riley one night when I was going over to Anya's dorm. He was with a few other guys and they all seemed in a hurry for me to leave, plus they were kind of dressed the same, I mean, different tops, but the same dessert army pants and heavy black boots."
"So, even if he is a commando, what has this got to do with getting me inside?" Buffy looked over to her girlfriend, waiting for an answer.
This was the part Willow knew was going to upset the Slayer.
"He likes you, you could use that to your advantage."
Buffy's mouth dropped open as everyone's gaze travelled from her to Willow like they were watching a tennis match.
Buffy tried to wrap her head around it, she really did.
Trouble was, she couldn't. Well, she reached one conclusion, but if that was what Willow was suggesting she do, there was no chance in hell.
"How do you mean?" Soft, controlled words hid her anger well.
Willow closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I mean that because he likes you, you could pretend to like him, and hope-"
Willow stopped talking when Buffy slammed her hand down on the kitchen counter, actually denting the top of it.
Buffy looked down at her hand, almost surprised to see the damage.
She raised her fist when Tom tried to take her hand and examine it.
"No."
Turning, Buffy looked at Willow before lowering her head and walking out the back door, closing it so hard the frame cracked.
Nobody spoke for a few seconds, before Tom stood up and followed Buffy out.
"She's in the garden, doesn't seem to sociable at the moment."
Jonny stood up from his seat and shot a dirty look at Willow.
"Would you expect her to be when her girlfriend just told her to whore herself out?"
Willow's mouth dropped open before she rushed out after Buffy.
"Did you have to say it like that?" Tom cuffed Jonny on the back of his head, causing the other Brit to scowl at him.
"Buffy…I didn't mean it the way it sounded."
Buffy's back stiffened as soon as Willow came out, but she relaxed her muscles and turned to face her girlfriend.
"How did you mean it then?"
Willow sighed and walked closer to Buffy, stopping a few paces away from her, feeling the heat of the sun on her back.
"I want you safe when you go into this…place. I thought that if Riley thought that he had a shot with you, he would help keep you safe. You think I like the idea of you pretending to…I don't. I hate it, but I want you safe and if that means watching you bat an eyelash at him…well…it would be hard and I-"
Buffy stood up and captured Willow's lips with her own before pulling back and sitting down on the bench, Willow beside her.
"Will, there is the chance that these commandoes wont even want me in their group."
Willow shook her head.
"Buff, you're the Slayer, and a dame good one at that. They'll want you."
Buffy smiled and threw her arm around Willow.
"You biased."
"I just…I just got you back and…"
Buffy cut Willow off with another kiss, this one deeper and longer than the last.
"Willow, not only do I have my nifty knew power control thingy, but I have two Vampire's, an ex demon, Xander, Tom and Jonny, Mike and Faith if I need them, and you. I have you."
It wasn't saying that it was a certainty that she would be okay/ There were no certainties in life, well except taxes and death, but death was pushing it with everything they'd seen, but it told Willow that Buffy wasn't going down without a fight, and that was good enough for the redhead.
Closing the distance between them, Willow brought their lips together again.
"Love you."
Buffy was just pulling Willow into her lap when the back door opened.
"Buffy, your mum is on the phone."
Buffy broke off from the kiss and stood up, taking Willow with her before setting the redhead on her feet.
"T, you've been here long enough. It's 'mom' not 'mum'"
Hearing a mumble about 'bloody Americans' ruining the British language, Buffy smirked at him before going in and taking the phone into the living room.
"Hey mom what's up?…Right well when?…No I'll be there with bells on…Yeah love you too. Bye"
Buffy hung up and sat beside Willow on the couch.
"Mom wants me to stop by the gallery later. She got in a new shipment and can't get the thing opened."
Xander reached over and gave the muscles in Buffy's upper arm a slight squeeze.
"Very misleading."
Buffy gave him a look before flexing her hand and grabbing his arm in a tight grip, but not a painful one.
Willow stroked Buffy's arm that was closest her, drawing her attention.
"What was the shipment?"
"Some art thing."
Willow shook her head at her clueless girlfriend.
"So, is the Riley idea in or out?"
Willow shook her head no.
"It's out."
Buffy shot her a look before nodding her head, a smile crossing her face.
"It's out. We find another way in."
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