The Boiler Room by Dana

Disclaimer: All non-original characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and Co.

Author's Note: This first one I whipped up just for fun...to get it out there. Enjoy!

Summary: Kennedy and Willow find themselves in a bit of trouble.

"In here!" Kennedy shouted to Willow as she motioned with her arm. Kennedy stepped out of the access tunnel and into a very warm room. Willow's shoes made a clip clop sound as she ran down to catch up with Kennedy. Just like the access tunnel in these sewers the lighting was poor and the air thick and humid. This room was different, the heat had pushed out all the moisture in the air and some of the fires from the boilers cast flickering shadows.

"It." Kennedy corrected. "It's in here...somewhere." Kennedy also scanned the room. There were two huge boilers, each about the size of a house, in the center of the large room. Around the perimeter of the room there were pipes going in every direction. "I think I heard it bump some pipes..." Kennedy trailed off as she started to walk around one of the boilers. Willow followed close behind.

Kennedy stopped and removed her brown leather jacket. "Do you mind?" Kennedy held out her jacket to Willow. The heat from the boilers had made Kennedy's brow heavy with sweat. Willow was on the warm side too.

"No problem." Willow donned the jacket. "You may need your freedom to fight." Willow stated as she performed a couple of karate moves mockingly.

"And you may need the leather jacket for protection. Maybe even from me!" Kennedy finished with a smile.

"Hey...look at this." Willow grasped Kennedy on the arm. Behind a number of large shelves that held pipes Willow saw a control panel in the corner. There was some small task lighting illuminating the gages used to control the boilers, otherwise it was very dark. The red head went over to investigate.

"What..." Kennedy was uneasy with Willows move. She walked briskly to follow her friend. "What good is that going to do us?" Kennedy asked, her voice more of a whisper. She was watching Willows back, trying to peer into the darkness. Willow studied the panel.

"Well there might be a light switch...or a, a-ha." With a loud click the lights came on and revealed the rest of the room. "See. Just what we needed." Willow beamed proudly to Kennedy. The Slayer in Training was looking up at three demons on top of shelves. They had been ambushed.

Willow looked up and saw that the three demons had surprised them all right. All were short and stocky with large muscles and claws and matted fur. They were ugly looking things. Kennedy assumed a fighting stance as the largest one leapt at her. She rolled with its attack and moved away from Willow. The witch saw that, with Kennedy out of the way, the only thing between her and these two demons was Kennedy's leather jacket. They leapt at Willow in quick succession.

Instinct took over for the witch and her eyes filled with the darkness. She uttered an incantation and the first demon was thrown back before it reached her. In the air it collided with the second leaping demon and the two of them crashed into the shelves. With a loud series of clangs a section of free pipes fell off the shelves and began landing on the two demons. After a few moments neither pipe nor demon moved.

Kennedy was not fairing as well. Her opponent was bigger, stronger and, well, had claws. She was quicker though, and she used that every opportunity to dodge the demons big swipes. With a quick roll to get out of the way of a double attack the brown-haired mini slayer came up with a short lead pipe in her hands.

"Want to play some base ball?" She asked of the demon as she swung. Swing and a miss. The demon backed off a bit, but the contest was not over.

Willows head was reeling. She was simply standing there, not even looking in Kennedy's direction. She was trying to recover her power, her inner strength. Black pools still filled her eyes, and her body was still filled with the powers of black magic. The battle had not ended for Willow, her fists clenched she fought to regain control.

"I won't...I can't...can not..." A single teat of blood slipped out of her eye and ran down her cheek. "Must not let..."

Slowly circling around each other Kennedy pointed the pipe at her opponent. Quickly she glanced at Willow and saw that she was not in danger. She had beaten her demons, so why was she just standing there.

"Willow, you okay?" She asked with her eyes locked on her opponent. The demon seemed to crack a smile with its ugly mouth and attacked. Kennedy swung and blocked with the pipe. Training with the sword and her quick reflexes kept her unhurt. The demon was not getting anything on Kennedy.

Willow faintly heard a voice she recognized. "That's Kennedy..." she thought. "Kennedy...she's...she's..." Willow felt sick to her stomach, she turned and caught herself on the control panel. Her hand was near the light switch. "This...this switch was important." Willow mustered her strength and flipped the switch.

Kennedy had gotten in some solid blows with the heavy pipe, including one on the creatures' head, but then all went dark. Willow had switched the lights off and Kennedy was not able to get her eyes to adapt. Suddenly she found herself being pushed to the floor as the demon ran by her. There was a loud clanging of pipes and then it was over.

"You okay?" Willow was over helping Kennedy up of the floor. "I think they've left us." Kennedy looked around into the darkness, but something inside told her they were alone. She left the pipe on the floor and dusted herself off with Willows help.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why did you shut the lights off? I don't think that was the best idea..." Kennedy wore a look of concern for her friend.

"Oh, well..." Willow was grasping for an idea. "I thought that it would throw the demon off...his game. Then you could knock him on the head...with your pipe!" Willow finished with a confident smile. Kennedy cocked her head sideways; her expression now had even more concern. Willow kept her smile and Kennedy gave up worrying. Her frown melted into a smile and she reached her hands inside the jacket Willow was wearing and gave her a big hug.

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The Boiler Room

By Dana

dana_number_29@yahoo.com