Waiting a Lifetime by Faith Ishida

Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Don't own the show, Joss Whedon does. I do however own the role-play this fic goes with and the ideas that appear on it.
Distribution: The Mystic Muse http://mysticmuse.net
Feedback: Always.
Spoilers: Season 7.
Pairing: Willow/Kennedy

As much as I want to follow her, I know this is more of a Scooby Gang private moment. I mean, they just saved the freakin' world after seven years of trying, gotta hand it to them. Of course, they did have a little help...

Crossing my arms I lean back against the bus, my gaze never leaving Willow's back. She was amazing back there. I knew she could do it. As much as I hate the whole magic thing, and truthfully, that conversation in the bedroom? I wasn't too sure what was going to happen. Getting the life sucked out of me was only a little itty part of what Willow can do when things go wrong. But I wasn't going to let her know I had my doubts, I wasn't going to let her down. And she did it. She's the most amazing, powerful, sexy woman, and she's my girlfriend...

Andrew happens to walk up and see this big, goofy grin spread across my face. "Hey Kennedy. What'cha thinkin' about?"

"Mmm..." Is all I mutter, still trapped the Magical Land of Willow. He pokes me on the shoulder, so I give up thinking nice thoughts for now and turn to him. "Stuff. We-just-saved-the-world kind of things." He nods, and squirms a bit, still standing there. After a moment I raise an eyebrow at him. "What?"

In a rush of words, he suddenly engulfs me in a hug, catching me by surprise. "It's just so sad, we saved the world and not everybody made it and I don't know why I'm still alive and Anya died and I didn't and all those Potentials, and-"

I cut him off as he stops to take a breath, though my own voice is somewhat muffled as I awkwardly pat him on the back. "Um, it's okay Andrew... You did good, you made it out, that's nothing to be upset over." New Slayer powers or not, it takes a bit of effort to pry myself out of his grip, but I manage. "Really. Don't feel bad you made it out alive. You made a difference, whether you believe it or not."

Smiling, I nod again. "Yes. Wouldn't have been the same without you." Hell would it have not. I still can't believe he filmed Willow and I making out on the couch...

He looks a bit happier at least, and I'm glad I helped, until he pounces me again and starts to squeeze the life I just fought so hard to keep out of me. Huh. Death by Andrew. Who would've thought?

"Hey," a voice from behind me sounds, a familiar voice. Speaking of. "Don't wanna interrupt anything, but you think I can steal my girlfriend for a moment?"

Andrew releases me and I quietly sigh with relief. Then, again laying my eyes on Willow, that grin from pre-Andrew starts to return. The boy mumbles something and then scampers off to find Xander.

Willow smiles back, blushing a bit at the way I'm grinning like a moron who just won a million bucks at her. Holding out her hand, I take it and we slowly start back towards the bus.

"You alright?" I question after a moment of comfortable silence. I come to a stop before the bus door and pull her with me, taking her other hand in mine as well. Tilting my head to the side, looking up the short distance at her, I squint my eyes a tiny bit against the light of the setting sun.

"Really, Will. I wanna know. That was some serious mojo you did back there. Absolutely amazing, but serious. Are you feeling all right?"

She pauses for a moment, and I'm slightly afraid that something went wrong and she isn't doing as okay as she said she was. But then a slow smile spreads across her face, and she squeezes both of my hands. Bringing her gaze back to meet mine, I can see the intensity in her eyes, and as always it makes my brain go all mushy. "I really am. Back there... All of that darkness I've been harboring for the last year... I think it's finally gone. I know it is."

A smile breaks out over my face as well, and I quickly close to small gap between us, savoring the feeling of her lips on mine. Pulling back after a moment, I just gaze up at her lovingly. "Told you you would be amazing."

"Always there for moral support. Except with the stabbing thing, wasn't gonna do that..."

"No, not just today. For these past six months, you've just... Been there for me." Willow hesitates a moment, then starts to continue. "Kennedy..." Okay, starts to. The name is a start, I guess. Always good to know she knows my name. "Thank you. I know that's not enough, a-and I should say more, but..."

"Don't." This time I interject. "You don't need to... I'd do it any time, any place... any Hellmouth," I joke.

But I can't help to start grinning again, and Willow laughs, resting her forehead against mine. "I take it you're happy?"

"Happy?" Happy? I've been waiting my whole life for this, and on top of now being a Slayer [even if it IS one in 600 million or something] I'm alive and left standing with the woman I... love. "I guess happy pretty much covers it," is all I say, keeping the rest of my inner debate to myself.

Then, getting an evil idea that's no doubt going to get Willow all cute and babbly, I take a step forward, my body pressed closely to hers. "Y'know..." Avoiding her gaze, I absentmindedly trace a little pattern on her shirt, staring at her neck until I look up at her eyes again. "I could use your help with something, I guess.... I mean, Slayer here, just finished killing a bunch of bad things, feelin' kind of... wired." I raise an eyebrow suggestively, grinning as my desired affect takes over Willow. She's now stuttering and blushing like mad. God, I love when she does that.

Thankfully on her part, Buffy, Faith and the others happen to come over at that point. Guess it's time to do the heroic thing and ride off into the sunset. Towards a hospital. Fun.

Faith rolls her eyes as she passes by, noticing my extreme closeness to Will. Ha, jealous, are we?... Man, that whole h & h thing must really be taking affect. I feel like I wanna bite the next person that comes near Willow.

Biting thoughts aside, I steer her up and onto the bus, taking the very back bench seat. I guess it's being able to sit down when the whole town is not falling in behind you, but a sudden wave of tiredness overcomes me, and I unsuccessfully try to stifle a yawn. Willow sees, and motions for me to scoot over. "C'mere.. You look tired..."

Comes with saving the world. But who am I to deprive her of snuggling? The heart wants what it wants. Which is a little more than I'm gonna get on the seat of a bus full of other people, but I can settle for this.

Pulling my feet up on the seat with me, I lay my head on her shoulder, throwing my right arm over her stomach. After a bit of shuffling, we're both semi-laying down, Will resting against the bus window and me resting against her. Her arm that's sort of pinned under me is holding onto my waist.

It's amazing how much one little action could cause me to feel so much. I know I haven't told her yet, but I think she knows. Why haven't I told her? I'm scared. Yes, me, Kennedy, GI Jane, scared. Had I said that out loud, I'd be forced to kill anyone aside from Willow who knew. I'm not terrified that she'll go all 'grr' on me or turn me into a toad or something, I've just never felt this strongly for anyone before. Been kind of anti-social most of my life, concentrating on slaying and demons. Haven't really had much of a life.

Then, I come here, and fall head over heals for someone who could sneeze and destroy the world. Bit nerve wracking at first.

Closing my eyes, inner-babble starting to fade into itself, I know I should tell her. Accidentally, I do.

Damn. Must have conked out for a few hours. It's now pitch black outside except for the light coming from the buses' headlights, and all I know is that my head is bouncing around like crazy. Forcing an eye open, I glance around the bus, not yet moving from my previously taken position of wrapped in Willow's arms and vice versa.

Damn, that feels nice. Any chance I can not move until we reach the next town? My mind isn't quite working in the right way... mmm... Willow smells pretty...

Next thing I know, I'm laying face down on the floor after a particular nasty bump on the gravel road. Moaning, I hear several girls snort. Greeaat, just what I need. And I was so comfortable.

"Ug..." Rolling over, I blink lazily at the ceiling until Buffy hauls me up to my feet. Whoa, head rush. But The Slayer- er, original Slayer, I guess- steadies me before I fall over again.

"Uh-huh..." My head feels funny... But I shake it off and glance around. Girls are asleep everywhere, some awake and talking quietly. Out of the 30 or so- god, sometimes it seemed like a hundred- that started out there's about 10 or 12 of us left. I'm not sure if that's a good number or a bad number. Hard to tell with death tolls. I don't believe in statistics.

Buffy lets go of my arm and sits down on one of the seats, looking all solemn faced and tired; she's motioning for me to sit across from her. Oh crap, now what did I do?

Um, okay. Thought she just asked me that. "Lost a bit of my pride when I did the face plant, but I don't think it's life threatening."

Reaching up, it's the first time I realize I've got this big-ass gash across my forehead. Eww, it's all gooey... "Oh... yeah... didn't realize that was there..." Maybe that's why my head feels funny.

"We're heading to a nearby town, we have to get to a hospital. Be sure to get checked out while we're there, I don't need you passing out from a concussion. Course... probably shouldn't have let you fall asleep then..." She smile sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Ehh, it's okay, I'm still here..." Shrugging, I stand up again, but before moving back onto my old seat, I stare at Buffy for a moment. "So... We're really all Slayers now, huh?" Sorry, I'm kind of a dumbass. Mrs. State-the-Obvious. But this just feels so weird. Always thought it'd happen some other way. Like I'd still be living back in my old apartment and training with my Watcher, then suddenly the powers would kick in and I'd feel this rush of power... Hey, when a girl waits for eleven years to be called, you start to daydream.

But I guess it isn't meant to be that way. In a sense it's a good thing, not being the only one. Lots of help around and your not always number one on every vamps meal planner. Still... I can't help but feel a little disappointed.

Buffy smiles. "Yep. That we are. You are. Maybe it means I can finally take a break..." She shrugs. "Who knows? We've got all the time in the world now to figure out what to do."

"Or, y'know, just until the next apocalypse." Someone throws a shoe at me, so I take the hint and sit down next to Willow, who's still sound asleep. She looks so peaceful... Then again, so was I until... arg.

"She doing okay?" Buffy questions, standing up and taking the seat I just vacated. She's looking at Willow with worry in her eyes.

"Yeah, she's good. Real good..." I brush a small strand of hair out of Will's face, taking pleasure in just being able to look at her. Even when she's sleeping she makes me feel get that floaty feeling inside. She's like a big teddy bear when she's asleep, a very cute teddy that everyone [being me] wants to just hold and kiss and cuddle with. Only not so in a bear-ish sense, because if anyone dreams of doing those sort of things and more to their teddy bear... Okay, gonna stop right there. Seems Willow is starting to rub off on me. I'm babbling to myself inside my head which is frickin' weird, and hell here I am still going...

Buffy must have noticed the dreamy look on my face, because she elbows me and raises an eyebrow, the corners of her mouth twitching into a not-grin. "Wow, just the mention of her name is enough to make you go all oogley."

"Oogley? I am not oogley!" Dammit, she's just raising an eyebrow and smirking knowingly. "...Okay, so a bit oogley..."

Buffy's grin just grows as she shakes her head. Then she grows silent, just staring at Willow thoughtfully for a moment. Hmm, hopefully not having teddy-bear thoughts... "I think you're right though... With what happened back there, I got the gist of it from her." She's looking at me thoughtfully again, and I'm starting to wonder if there's something dead in my hair that I'm not aware of.

"So... Willow's good, think we've covered that. There any other reason in particular you're staring at me like I'm a vampire?... I'm not, right? Cuz being bitten is something I think I'd remember. or, y'know, not, with the whole being bitten part actually coming into affect..." There I go again! Man, being in Sunnydale has really gotten to me. I'm starting to talk like them all. Though, I guess that's not such a bad thing. "Okay. Safe to say Willow's grown on me," I grin.

Grinning back at me, Buffy shakes her head. Then she does that silent thing again. Before I can open my mouth and ask what's up, she speaks. "She's been fine for a while. I mean, not totally fine, but better. A hell of a lot better. God, you should have seen her when she first came back from England, Kennedy... It hurt to watch her go through so much pain. And then..." She nods at me, and I'm finding that my throat has sort of stuck to itself from the inside. I mean, what do you say when someone tells you this type of thing? "You brought her back to life, Kennedy. I think we're all grateful for that. Tara, she left a big hole. But you helped her heal." Both of us don't find much to say, so we sit there watching Willow for a moment. If she woke up I'm sure she'd find it a bit creepy that we're both staring at her. But then Buffy stands up. "I know you care a lot about her. Don't stop caring. She's worth it."

The lump in my throat moves over a bit and my voice manages to squeeze its way through. "I won't. I love her too much."

Buffy nods, and for the millionth time we both fall silent. Our whole conversation has been a bit hushed, so not to wake Willow and not be heard by everyone else. But Buffy's words did mean something to me, more than she'll know. Sort of felt like I was getting her approval. Coming from Will's best friend, that means a lot to me.

'Course, she's still gonna kick my ass if I ever hurt Willow. But that won't happen.

Buffy stands up, shoots me a genuine smile, and heads off to the front of the bus to talk with Faith.

Looking down at Willow, I brush loose strands of hair out of her face, running my hand over her forehead. She makes a small noise, but still doesn't wake up, just shifts a bit. Hopefully not having any freaky nightmares. But she looks peaceful.

Now I'm starting to wonder what she truly is feeling, magic problems etc. aside. The town she grew up in her entire life has just been destroyed. Everything that ever mattered to her was there.

Of course she wouldn't be totally fine with that. How could she be? I thought I saw the hint of a few tears in her eyes before we loaded onto the bus, but I ticked it off for just the trick of the light.

Back to the 'I'm a Dumbass' campaign. Get your badges here, five bucks. Big picture of me being the jerk on the front.

Dealing with the whole Tara situation hasn't ever been easy. I never feel like I'm good enough for Willow. I know she cares about me, but I'm not expecting her to love me the way I love her. Hey, it would be nice, but I don't think that's gonna happen. Tara had a big impact on Willow's life. I almost wish I had known her. She'd be in Willow's heart forever, no matter how long or short we lived, she'd never leave. Now the only thing, besides memories, that Willow can use to remember her true love is just that, memories.

Feeling defeated, I move closer to Willow again. This time I feel like being the human pillow. Slowly so as not to wake her up, I pull her over towards me, wrapping both arms protectively around her. Subconsciously- at least I think it's subconsciously- she snuggles closer and buries her face in my neck. Hmm... Okay. No problems there.

We're probably gonna be stuck in this thing for another half an hour or so. It feels like the field trip that never ended. Couldn't have stolenborrowed a Greyhound now, could you Wood?

Holding Willow close, I take the opportunity of utter silence in the bus to space out. I don't remember too much before I fell asleep, except that I was curled up with Willow, then suddenly inspecting the dust particles on the floor with my nose.

I don't really know what I said, only I had passed out right after, or even during it. Maybe the words died part way in my throat, and it sounded like 'I like you', or I'm tired', or possibly 'I oven you'...

I don't want to lose her now, not like that. Then again, she didn't exactly push me away. Or maybe the whole bump-on-the-road thing was just a setup and she really pushed me over...

Then again, I think she's known for a while, and she hasn't said anything or pushed me away. Like I thought before, I don't expect an answer back. I just want her to know that I care about her.

Just as I manage to nod off again, Willow curled up in my arms, Faith decides to make herself annoyingly useful by repeatedly poking me in the shoulder.

Oh, 'cause that made sense, Kennedy. Apparently my mouth isn't working as well as I thought it would...

Faith just snorts and grabs the fabric of my shirt, hauling me to my feet. Hey, gimme a chance to wake up, my body isn't very mobile at the moment, which I prove by nearly falling over again. Willow wakes up as well and manages to not completely fall over in the seat with the sudden lack of me.

"Wha..." She looks disoriented for a moment, then shakes her head and yawns. "We stopped already?"

"Yup. Everyone's piling out of the bus slowly. Still a few SITs that sleep like they're dead." She gets this amused look on her face. "Took me a while to bring you back to the land of the living. Did I interrupt some sort of mind sharing trip thing, or..."

"No! No mind sharing, trips, of any sort were interrupted. For them to be interrupted there would have to be a mind trip, which there wasn't so, it couldn't..." Willow trails off finally, shooting me a sheepish grin. "Sorry. I blame it on the previous lack of consciousness. What time is it?" she questions Faith. I'm a bit curious too, since the sun was just setting when we got onto the bus, and then it was dark, and now it's starting to rise again.

"About six or seven in the morning, I think. Wearing a watch was kind of the last thing on my mind going into battle. Now if you two will stop getting all squishy with it, we can figure out where the hell we're going after this..." With that, Faith turns around and makes her way to the front of the bus. I can't hear anything, but she says a few words to Robin and slowly helps him to his feet, supporting him down the steps of the bus. Aww. How sweet. Looks like he'll be her first two-night stand. Or, maybe I'm just being a bitch because she woke me up.

Willow hesitates, still sitting there for a moment. She looks undecided about something, so I reach down and grab her hand, raising a curious eyebrow when she finally looks at me. "You okay?"

Smiling nervously, she nods and stands up shakily. "I-I guess I'm just still tired, y'know, after the magic and stuff..." Doing that nervous smile thing again, she tugs my hand towards the steps of the bus.

Sighing, I follow her off of the bus, nearly falling down the last step. It appears that we're in front of some sort of motel thing. A bit run down, and not to mention abandoned. "Uh... So, this is the hospital you mentioned, Buff?"

Buffy shakes her head and scratches her neck. "Yeah, well... First thing we've come across, since.. Well, not too sure what direction we're going in, so..."

Buffy nods. "Pretty much, yeah. But this place will do for now, we're all exhausted. I don't think anyone's injuries are life threatening at the moment, but we'll move as soon as night falls." Not life threatening? She just got a sword shoved through her gut, gimme a break.

Kinda doing things backwards, but whatever, Buffy's the Slayer. Er, the main Slayer. Still gotta get used to that fact. I'm itching to try out my new powers, but that'll have to wait. I don't think anyone's in the mood to beat the crap out of each other just 'cause they can. Except me.

"So.." Buffy trails off, looking at the abandoned motel in front of us. She looks utterly exhausted, and who can blame her? "Doesn't look like anyone's stuck around. Help yourselves to rooms, share with one or two other people, the injured should stick together in one of the larger rooms where we can keep an eye on them."

Turning around, I give Willow a sly grin. "So, am I right to assume that you'll be rooming with me?" I try to approach her, but she takes a step back, still avoiding my gaze. "Uh, yeah... o-of course..." Giving me a nervous smile yet again, she heads swiftly off to another room, and I have to jog to catch up to her.

"Will, what's up?" I question, grabbing her by the arm. But I have a pretty good idea what's up. I guess she did hear me earlier...

"Nothing's up, or down, for that matter. Why would something be up?" Even she doesn't look convinced by herself. Cute.

I can feel a small smile spread across my face, and reaching forward, I take both of her hands in mine, pulling her a little closer. We're standing in front of an empty room, everyone else grabbing bags out of the bus and heading towards their own rooms; we're pretty much being ignored. "Is it because I said I'm in love with you?"

Willow kind of gulps and laughs a bit, avoiding my gaze. "Well, kind of random, wasn't really..." Shaking her head, she looks like she's trying her hardest not to babble. And she still isn't looking at me. "You can't... It's just..."

Releasing one of her hands, I open up the door to our room and pull her inside, closing it behind her, retaking her other hand in mine. "I'm not trying to drop a bomb- a nice, happy bomb- on you or anything, Will, I just..." Taking a deep breath, I try to explain myself. Though it's weird, not used to having to explain why I love someone. Not that I've explained it to anyone before or anything, or not explained it for that matter... Shaking my head, I continue. "I guess I've never really cared this much about anyone else before, even if I've only known you for six months or so. You are such an amazing person Willow... The way you make me feel by just looking at me or grabbing my hand..." She's still not looking at me. I'm trying my best to not say something stupid, trying to be all nice and subtle about it. Hell, is it not easy. "Going into the final fight, all I could think about was you. After our first night together... Then leaving to go with Faith and the others, all I thought about was you. Right now, when I'm asleep, awake, it doesn't matter where, but I think of you. Your piercing eyes, your red hair, how soft your skin feels under my touch. How you smell with your perfume on. Heck, even without it." That earns a small, shy smile from her. At least I know she hasn't totally tuned me out. "So yeah, I love you. A lot more than I can say."

"Look, I don't expect you to say anything back, okay? I know that... I just needed you to know how I feel. You made me tell you a while ago why I like you, and now I'm telling you why I love you." Raising an eyebrow almost curiously, I finally manage to catch her eye.

She actually looks happy, embarrassed almost. And she's blushing, getting kinda fidgety... I think I’ll take this as a good sign.

"Kennedy, I..." She starts again, then backtracks. "Oh wow... Did I mention baffled?"

"No, but you sure as hell look it..." Grinning, I finally take the initiative and step closer, slowly kissing her lightly on the lips. "But you look hot when you're all baffled..."

Willow laughs, squeezing my hand, and not at all trying to push me away. Oh hell YEAH. Ha, there goes that butterflies feeling again. Flapping full throttle. Whew.

Gazing up into her deep, green eyes, I don't manage to find many words. I poured my heart out to her the best way I could, and she didn't break up with me. It was really the reaction I was expecting, which is why I kinda prolonged it a bit. "I know I'm not Tara, but-"

Willow raises her hand and places a finger across my lips, shutting me up instantly. "Shh... don't..." Then she kisses me, and my eyes drift shut momentarily until she pulls back, but still extremely close to my face. "I don't want you to be..." The she resumes with the kissing, and I obey her every command.

Coming up for air after a moment, I crack my eyes open again, plain shock and happiness probably shining through for Willow to see.

She's currently asleep still, lying in my arms. The clock is behind me, and I don't wanna roll over and break contact with her to look at it. But damn curiosity, it gets the better of me and I nearly break my neck craning it backwards to get a look at the glowing red numbers, without moving my arms from around Willow's waist. Not an easy task when your entire body is aching from fighting an army of super strong vampires less than 24 hours ago. Nine-ow-thirty-ow-PM. Great, curiosity killed the Kennedy, or at least rendered her paralyzed for life. I crack my neck back, returning it to it's previous position of holding my head right up against the back of Willow's.

Judging by the lack of light outside, we've slept right through the day. Not surprisingly, there's a lack of noise in the other rooms as well, everyone's still conked out. Which brings me to wonder why the hell I'm awake...

Guess that'll remain unanswered, since nothing seems to be moving or happening. Then again, I've always been really aware of everything, even when sleeping, something I just grew accustomed to while growing up.

Willow stirs, and I wonder for a sec if I'm thinking too loudly. Okay, still a little loopy from tiredness, but ehh. I think she's sort of awake, because she makes this little noise, and then pulls my arms tighter around her. Smiling, I snuggle up against her back again, burying my face in her neck. This causes her to wake up a bit more, and she again makes some indistinguishable, yet still adorable noise. I feel her hand lightly stroking my arm and soon after hear her mumble tiredly 'hey'.

"Hey yourself," I whisper, feeling the need to be quiet, even though we're both awake. Er, semi-awake, anyway... Lightly kissing her neck a few times, I too make a somewhat adorable grunting noise as my mind starts to wake up a bit more.

"9:30. At night." While trailing small kisses around her neck and shoulders, I can't help but grin as I notice a few claw marks on her shoulder blades. Heeheehee... memories.

Willow suddenly turns over, and since we're already so close, her lips smoosh awkwardly against mine. It's kind of funny, since her eyes aren't even open and she's only half awake. Sort of staying like that for a moment, I pull back ever so slightly, giving her an amused look. "Well that was... interesting. Never had someone fall asleep while kissing me before."

She sort of shakes her head, trying to wake up. "Nuh-uh, here, awake, present... and really, really comfy..." Her voice starts off louder, and by the end of the half-sentence is quiet again as she rests her forehead on my shoulder, and I again wrap my arms around her.

"Uh-huh. Everything kinda ganged up on me at once and knocked me out in the end. That spell drained me, and then with, what we, us, uh, events that happened pre-sleepy time..." she babbled, reddening a bit.

I grin evilly, looking down and meeting her eyes, which also have a glint in them. "Uh-huh. Enough to knock you out, no doubt. Wanna do it again?" My evil grin doesn't leave, and my evilly arched eyebrow joins in the fun.

Willow slaps my arm playfully. "Minx... Thought I took care of your lustiness last nig- er, morning?"

"Oh, that was only round 1..." I muttered as I lean down and capture Willow's lips in a heated kiss, a low growl escaping my throat.

Willow moans against my lips as I growl, then in a rough motion practically yanks me over and on top of her.

11:57am. Now I'm more fully awake. Dressed-and-showered awake, anyway. Just waiting for Willow to finish. I pout again while thinking about how she didn't want to share the shower. She 'saw right through my excuse'. Hey, it wasn't an excuse, I just wanted to make sure she didn't get dizzy and fall over or anything. But, she was keen that no actual showering would get done if we did it together, so now I'm stuck waiting.

Patience has never been one of my strong points. I've already checked all of the drawers, the bible to see if anyone had left anything behind in it (hey, people do some weird stuff), no chance on the TV because the transmission tower is now inside of a big hole, and flipped through a random magazine I found on the floor. Now I'm just sitting on the bed, twiddling my thumbs.

Just when I think Willow can't take any longer, someone bangs loudly on the door, making me jump out of my skin. Getting off of the bed, I make my way over to the door, not bothering to look through the peep hole first. No one else is around, it's obviously one of our crew.

Faith is tapping her foot impatiently, and has her hand raised to knock again when I open the door, nearly knocking on my forehead. Dodging a bit, I give her a look. "Impatient much?"

"Sorry," she says quickly, though doesn't sound very sorry. "Look, heard you guys moving around inside, figured you were up. B and the others are still asleep, so Giles told me to grab you. We're gonna take a little road trip, try and scope out our surroundings a bit, figure out how the hell to get to LA from here."

Nodding, I look back towards the bathroom door. "Willow should be done soon, we can leave right after-"

"Nope, Giles wants Red to stay behind, says they've got some stuff to do regarding the spell and all. Everyone else is asleep, so it means just you and me, brat."

I can't help but roll my eyes a bit at Faith's annoying nickname for me. She has a few, and doesn't seem to care that they all bug the crap out of me. Surprisingly 'brat' is one of the lesser-annoying ones.

Faith grins and shakes her head. "Don't look too over excited. I'm gonna go load the car with some stuff. Hurry up." Backing away from the door, she jumps down the wooden steps and jogs back to the car... wait a second, where the hell did we get a car from??

Staring after her for a moment, I furrow a brow. Parked beside the school bus is a black sports car, and I can't help but feel that Faith didn't obtain it through rental papers.

Grumbling slightly, I close the door and make my way back across the room. It's not the road trip with Faith that's bugging me. I get along pretty well with the other Slayer, we sort of get each other. Whenever some argument between her and Buffy started back in Sunnydale, I always took Faith's side. She's always been easier to understand than Buffy was to me, which might seem kinda strange since Faith's got the whole 'five by five, can't touch this' attitude. But, the understanding is there, and she threatened to kick my ass much less times then she has the other Potentials, so I count that as a good thing. What's bugging me is leaving Willow so soon.

Knocking on the bathroom door, I can hear her still moving around, out of the shower now. "Will? You almost done?"

"Faith. Giles is sending her and I on a road trip, just to see what's in the immediate area and stuff." I'm not at all happy about having to leave her this soon after the big battle, but I don't really have a choice. Duty calls. And hey, maybe if we get bored, Faith will let me try out my Slayer skills on her later.

The door opens, and Willow steps out, clothed and trying to towel her hair dry. "Oh. What about me? I'm up for it."

I shrug again, a pouting slightly. "She said Giles wants you here, to go over some of the spell stuff or something." I can tell she's about as happy as I am about parting this soon.

Smiling, I pull her into a hug, careful not to squeeze too hard. Sore muscles plus Slayer strength, tends to involuntarily inflict more pain on the person. "'Sokay. We'll be back before sundown, I think."

"Yeah, I guess..." Willow smiles into my shoulder and hugs me back, pulling away after a moment. "So... you leaving right away?"

"I think. Faith went to load up the car. With what, I don't know, probably weapons of some sort."

"Weapons?" Willow gives me a worried look. "W-what are you gonna be doing that involves weapons?" Then she thought over I said for a moment. "And what car?"

I shake my head. "Don't ask, I don't even think I want to know." And again, I shrug, trying not to worry her. "Weapons? Probably nothing. Look..." Smiling, I wrapped both of my arms around her neck, pulling her in for a quick kiss. "We'll be back soon enough, and you'll probably be needed to help heal people and stuff around here, anyway. I'll see you tonight."

Grinning, I nod. "Promise." I kiss her again, this time more lingering. Taking a step back, I reach down and grab my bag, my eyes never leaving hers as I back towards the doorway. "Love you..." Nodding once more, I turn around and walk normally towards the door, twisting the handle.

As I'm about to walk out, I hear Willow call my name from across the room. Turning, I look back at her once more.

She's got a bright smile on her face, and a look in her eyes that's been becoming more apparent these last few days. "I love you too."

Faith grins crookedly, shaking her head and pressing the gas pedal into the floor as we rip down the highway. "Even if you did, I wouldn't tell you."

Rolling my eyes, I lean back in my seat. When Faith hits a bump and I swear the car gets some air, I involuntarily clutch at the armrest and try not to look nervous. Holy shit, she's gonna kill me! Where the hell did she get her drivers license, Mexico?

Suddenly, Faith slams on the brakes, downshifts the gear, and squeals around a corner like she's part of NASCAR or something. I feel a yelp escape my throat as I again desperately try to hold onto something. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Driving," Faith simply states, an amused smirk crossing her face. "Relax, we're fine."

"Yeah. Until you hit a lamp post, or another car, or hell, even a squirrel or a rabbit and we spin out of control and explode and die horribly."

"Paranoid much, Kenn?" Faith laughs, rip roaring once again down the road, which thankfully doesn't seem to have any more turnoffs anytime soon. Though when you're going at this speed, they could come up pretty fast.

"When it regards dying in a car accident after I just finished not-dying while fighting the ultimate evil... yes," I grumble, sitting back in my seat, managing to slow my heart beat down enough so it doesn't pop out of my chest. "You do realize that if the cops pull us over they'll find out the car is stolen on top of you being an escaped convict. Therefore screwing us both over."

"Yeah, right, like there's gonna be any coppers in the immediate area. Everyone is just staying the hell away from Sunnydale."

"Until they start sending emergency vehicles around and stuff to find out if anyone survived and needs help," I point out.

Rolling her eyes a little, Faith accelerates again, searches around the random buttons on the steering wheel for a moment before finding cruise control, and hits it. Then, she twists around in her seat, digging through her bag which is sitting in the back.

My eyes dart nervously from Faith to the road, and I kind of squeak "Um, you sure you shouldn't be watching the road?"

"Don't worry, there aren't any lamp posts, other cars, and I doubt there'll be any-"

"Bunnies!!" I shout, diving for the wheel and violently jerking it to the side as a family of four or five rabbits randomly jump out in front of us; two adults and three little babies. Faith nearly goes flying through the window as the car lands in a ditch. She attempts to stomp her foot down on the brake, but apparently hits the gas, because suddenly we're going through some guy's fence and destroying his crops.

"Brake you moron!" I yell at her, lunging for the wheel again and trying to stop us from murdering any more corn.

Finally finding the brake, she slams her foot down on it, and we both jerk forward, nearly doing a face plant in the dashboard.

Holy. Shit. My life just flashed before my eyes, and I always thought that was bullshit. There's about thirty seconds of silence before the air bags suddenly deploy, and I'm eating a face full of rubber and air.

After finally managing to claw it away from my face, it starts to deflate. Growling, I punch Faith on the arm before forcing my door open and stepping out, nearly falling over with my jello legs.

Well, we've successfully slaughtered an entire field of corn. Sigh. It didn't even have a chance.

Turning around to glare at Faith, the other Slayer gets out of the car, shrugs and grins sheepishly, scratching her neck.

We managed to crash-land near a gas station, only about a 10 minute walk from the car. After bickering and finally coming down to rock-paper-scissors, Faith nervously puts a few quarters into the pay phone, playing with the cord around her finger. "B is gonna kill us..."

"Us? I wasn't the one driving like a psycho maniac!" I shoot back, glaring at her.

Faith returns the look. "If you hadn't wonked out and gone all psycho when those things jumped across the road-"

"So what, you were gonna just hit them? Plus, remember what I said about the crashing and dying?"

Faith's answer is cut off from an answer on the other line. "B, hey, it's me... no, everything's fi-" She stops at the look I give her. "Er, okay, not so fine... we had an um... little accident..." Faith only manages to get out that we ran off the road and the car won't start before she falls silent and doesn't say anything else. Any little attempt to cut into Buffy's rant fails, as the time goes on. Finally, she says "No no, we're cool, you don't need to come and get us."

Faith waves me off, giving me a 'shut the hell up' look. "Where are we? Uh, we're... Actually, only a couple of hours out, maybe two at the most."

In the meantime, I'm looking around the outside of the store we're outside of, trying to figure out where exactly. There's a fat ugly dude sitting in there, staring at us, and I internally roll my eyes. There will never be a time when...

"What?" She asks, turning around and sounding annoyed. Then, following my gaze to the sign hanging over top of the door, she too looks confused. "Uh, B, hang on a sec..."

"Phoenix, Arizona?" We both give each other a weird look. "You weren't driving that fast..."

"Not to mention we didn't pass over any mountains and it would take over a day to get there... Go ask the shop owner. It's gotta just be a random sign he picked up somewhere."

Not looking forward to having to converse with the fat slob who's been mentally undressing us this whole time, I turn and push the glass door open. Also not wanting to look like a total moron, I grab a bag of chips and bring them to the counter.

As he rings them through, he keeps staring. Oh god, I really just wish I could kick his ass so he'd stop staring at my boobs... "So, uh, is... Phoenix anywhere around here?"

The shop keeper gives me a weird look. "'bout ten miles up the road, maybe less. You two ain't countin' on walkin' there, are yeh?"

I shake my head. "Uh, no, our car broke down, and we've gotta wait for a friend to come get us... I-is there a tow truck around, someone we can call?"

Fatty chuckles, shaking his head. "Nup. Won't find much around here. Folks mostly don't stop too often... But there's a motel next door in case you didn't notice, it's cheap 'nuff and you'll probably be the only ones staying there." I'm about to thank him when he continues. "Wouldn't be wanting some company, would yeh?" He tops it off with a sick smile, his teeth all crooked and unbrushed.

Shuddering, I grab the chips, rolling my eyes and completely ignoring him. I go to step away from the counter and he grabs my wrist. Okay, touching... "C'mon now, lil' lady, you won't be gettin' much out here..."

Glaring dangerously, I raise an eyebrow. "I 'get' enough back home with my girlfriend..."

His own eyebrows shooting to the top of his forehead, he lets out a laugh, shaking his head as he releases my arm. "Well, if you ever get the urge to drive stick-"

Ten seconds later, I walk casually out of the convenience store, a small smirk on my face.

Well, at least I got to try my Slayer strength out. It really comes in handy sometimes. Hee... Although it feels like he left grease marks on my wrist... eww. Need to get to bathroom, wash hands soon. "Buffy still on the phone?"

Faith rolls her eyes and nods. "Yeah, she's talking to Willow and Giles right now. Are we seriously that far out?"

"Yep. Though how the hell we got through a ten hour or more drive in less than two beats me."

Faith goes back to listening on the phone, then hands the receiver over to me. "Red wants to talk to you."

Taking the receiver, I don't even get a word out before Willow starts talking. "Are you okay? What happened? What did Faith do to you? A-are you hurt? What's this about being suddenly in another state? Did the cops pull you over when she was speeding o-or something? Ar-"

"Will!" I cut in, shaking my head and grinning slightly. "I'm fine. We're fine. Faith just trashed the car, now we're stuck a some roadside motel ten miles out of Phoenix. How the hell did we get here though? We've only been going for two hours."

"W-well Giles said something about now that the hellmouth is closed, its energy might be either activating a new one or making things go wonky."

"Like a time warp where it propelled us forward suddenly? Great... Could this happened any more randomly?

"Don't worry. We'll come get you, you guys just need to stay there, don't do anything." Willow sounds really worried.

"Really, it's too far to drive... Look, you guys head into Los Angeles, we'll met you there when we get the car fixed."

"Exactly. Look, chances are with this thing will have moved, so it'll take us longer to get there. Is there a place you and Faith can stay?"

Looking passed the store, I see the small roadside truckers motel the guy told me about and wrinkle my nose. But, it'll have to do, I guess... "Yeah, there's a motel right here. By the look of it it's gotta be pretty cheap. But, how do you know that if we try and go back it won't land us right in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? Or propel you passed us and into Colorado or Mexico or something?"

"It won't, don't worry. Again, it was probably a random thing, w-which makes it all the more random and less likely to happen. Just... stay inside if you can, wait for us to get there. We should be there by tomorrow night... We're gonna go to L.A. first, drop off the injured, and borrow a car from Angel."

Even though she can't see me, I quirk an eyebrow. "Angel? The one Spike called a table lamp or something?"

Willow scoffed slightly, and I could picture her rolling her eyes. "Yes, well, they didn't exactly- not the point. He's apparently the head of some type of law firm now, don't know how or what happened, but Buffy called him and he's offered to help us out."

Nodding, I switch the phone to my other ear, looking around for Faith. "Well... since we've got no where else to go. 'Guess we'll be here tomorrow when you get here. Be safe, okay? If something funny starts to happen or you think is gonna happen, turn back, I don't need anything bad happening to you."

Willow chuckles softly. "Y'know, I'm tougher than I look. Been in this business longer than you, missy."

"Actually," I drawl out, grinning. "I've got about four years on you with this stuff. Been training and fighting evil since I was eight, remember?"

Willow's soft laughter from the other end of the line reaches my ears. "Okay, true, but I've been with the actual fighting longer. I have my doubts that your watcher set you up against a vampire at age ten."

Okay. She had a point. I open my mouth to retort when I catch sight of Faith waving at me from across the parking lot, and I skip to the chase. "Lets argue about who's more experienced with the evil fighting later, Faith's waving me off of the phone... Just, be careful, okay?"

"You too," Willow says softly, and I can hear the worry in her voice. "I love you, okay?"

"Love you too... I'll see you tomorrow." Hesitantly, I hang up the phone, stare at it for a moment, and then start towards Faith. I know I'm probably just nervous about Willow heading out here, but my stomach is twisting itself in knots over and over again.

Faith punches me in the arm as I walk up, and we start towards the motel. "Don't worry Brat, she'll be fine. Badass wicca, totally capable of handling herself." She offers me a grin, which I weakly return and shrug. "Yeah... I know."

"Plus she could totally kick both of our asses if she wanted to," Faith adds as an afterthought, and I shake my head, smirking.

"Rooms are twenty five a night. How long you two plannin' on staying?" the red neck lady sitting at the front desk questions us. There's no air conditioning inside, it smells of something very unpleasant, and she's got a fan blowing on her while sweat drips off of her face and arms. Her arms, face and neck are all sunburned, and she's got triple chins. She kinda reminds me of a really fat demon or something creepy. Such an attractive place.

"Just tonight, possibly tomorrow. Car broke down and we're waiting for our friends to pick us up." Faith looks just as happy about staying here as I am.

The fat lady chuckles. Wonder if she's married to the fat dude in the store... wouldn't surprise me. "So... um... can we get a room?"

She shrugs, heaves her ass off of the chair, and waddles over to the key rack. "Yup... you be wantin' a queen sized or two doubles?"

"Fuck no," Faith shakes her head, smirking as well. "It's too damn hot to share a bed in this heat."

The lady returns, handing us two sets of keys. "Check out is whenever, doesn't really matter." She stares at us for a moment, then questions "What are you doin' this far out anyway? Not many people come along this stretch of road."

The woman gives us a skeptical look, then shrugs. "Well... good luck. In these parts you'll need it." With that, she gets up and goes to some back room I didn't notice until now.

Both of us raise an eyebrow, then turn to leave. Once outside and walking towards our room, Faith turns to look at me. "Dude, what the hell was with that woman? Good luck on what? And why do I get the feeling that we'd be better sleeping in a bush instead of here?"

"Probably because we would..." Arriving at our room, I shove my key into the lock and turn it. Grrr... c'mon, you piece of crap, WORK... "Dammit, it won't go..."

Faith steps in and tries, but neither of us can open the door. "What the fuck... she said this was our room."

"Oh hell..." Grabbing the doorknob, I twist it off easily and push the door open, walking into the room. If possible, it's hotter than in the lobby. "Shit, these people ever heard of air conditioning?"

"Apparently not..." Faith grumbles, wiping the back of her hand against her forehead. "Dude, there's a shower... I call dibs."

Flopping down on one of the beds, I shrug limply. "Go ahead... just don't use all of the cold water."

I don't know what wakes me up, but suddenly I'm not sleeping and I'm sitting up in bed. Was I dreaming or something? The room is dark, darker than I thought dark could get out here. Slayer vision isn't helping any, either.

Groaning slightly, I slowly push myself up in bed, trying to slow my breathing. Jeez, I feel like I've run a marathon, or triathlon or something... whichever's longer. I'm panting like a dog and sweating like Faith just threw me into a pool while I slept... wouldn't put it passed her, either.

Speaking of Faith, she seems to be the only one in the room, and her not-so-faint snoring noises clue me into her being asleep. Then what the hell woke me up? I swear I wasn't dreaming... or maybe I was but I already forgot about it... Probably just the other Slayer's snoring.

Sighing loudly, I flop back down on my pillow, running a hand over my face. Too bad neither of us thought to bring pajamas with us, we're stuck sleeping in our clothes from before, our duffle bags still back with the others. I've got gray kakis and a white t-shirt on, and I'm boiling. Well, it's actually not that surprising that I'm hot, the room has no air conditioning, and there's only so long I can stand under a cold stream of water before turning into a blue Popsicle Kennedy...

I'm kinda starting to drift back off during my inner water babble when something catches my attention. The curtains by the window are ruffling, but I remember trying to open the window before, it wouldn't budge...

I'm up in an instant, not even half a second before a giant ax slams into my pillow, sending feathers everywhere, exactly where my head had been a moment before. Good god, where the hell did this thing come fr-

"Gah!!" I flail slightly before falling over. Shit, just great, apparently my legs don't feel like working when they're tangled in the sheets. I've successfully done my second or third face plant in 48 hours. The good thing is, it should have woken Faith up-

Or... NOT, I soon realize as the giant black shape rips the weapon out of the bed, raising it above it's head again, only for me to hear another snore emit from Faith's bed. "Faith!!" I screech, slightly desperate as my still-tangled legs manage to get up and briefly allow myself to fling across the room, dodging another blow. The thing grunts, almost like it's frustrated it missed me again. In the dark, all I can see is this giant shape towering over me, red eyes glowing.

My own eyes bulge as it again starts to come closer. Finally snapping out of it, I rip the sheets off of my legs and manage somehow to do a back handspring from half-sitting on the floor. Landing on my feet and slamming my back into the wall loudly, I rip one of the curtains off the window so moonlight floods into the room. But for some stupid reason, the thing, no matter where it is, is still a giant black shape moving towards me. Like it's 2D and permanently black. I jump over the bed and land in front of the door. Luckily it's sorta slow, because if it was any faster I don't think I could dodge much else...

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch sight of something glinting in the moonlight fly across the room, embedding itself into the shape's side. It lets out a mutated-sounding cry, stumbling sideways into the wall. The wall on that side of the room gives out, the majority of it crumbling to the floor.

Faith leaps across both beds, landing right beside me, her crooked grin firmly in place. "Started without me? I'm hurt, Brat."

"So glad you could join me," I say dryly. "I'm surprised your snores haven't scared this thing away yet..."

Faith pretends to look offended, as the demon thing tries to pull the blade out of it's side. "I so do not snore..." she defends, shaking her head. We both back up towards the table where our weapons bag is. "Didn't your mom ever tell you not to let big, scary, ax- wielding strangers into your home?"

"First off, my mom died when I was five. Second, I didn't let this thing in..." But I remember breaking the door handle to get in earlier... whoops.

Grabbing a crossbow, I quickly load several arrows as the thing recovers and comes across the room towards us. I let several arrows fly, then drive-roll to the side. Faith goes the other direction, and the thing goes right between us, into the other wall.

"Not big on stopping, is he?" I quip, scrambling to load more arrows, but the thing seems to be jammed. By now pretty much the whole room is in shambles. "Think they'll notice a little bit of damage?"

Faith doesn't bother to answer as she leaps at the thing, sending several punches and kicks in a matter of seconds. I can tell it feels the hits, but it doesn't really react much. After a moment, it reaches out with one clawed hand and grabs her by the throat, catching both of us by surprise as it lifts her up.

"Faith!" Growling, I drop the jammed crossbow and jump to her aid. Grabbing the thing's arm, I try to tear it off of Faith, but instead of that working it swats me aside and across the room. Ow, pieces of table digging into side...

Getting off of the splintered wood, I shake my head to clear it. Okay, so this thing is just a tiny bit stronger than we both thought. Taking a deep breath, I run at the thing again; if I can tackle it hard enough it should-

Suddenly both of us are flying through the door, knocking the rotting wood off of it's rusted hinges. Pain, ow, very painful... I get the wind knocked out of me, and Faith's just getting the chance to finally breath again. Uttering another strangled sound, the black shape bounds toward us. Oh, crap, this really isn't turning out well...

Grabbing Faith by the arm, I haul both of our asses to our feet, and we start to stumble back away from it, now outside. The demon's too big for the door frame, but that doesn't stop it. With a loud crunch, it breaks through, the door now several times larger than it was designed to be.

Stumbling, I trip over basically nothing, and fall backwards, dragging Faith with me. The demon slides to a stop about ten feet in front of us, huffing and puffing loudly. It's still got that whole black and 2D-looking thing going on, and it's driving me nuts. Neither of us Slayers say a word as it just stands there, eyes narrowed. In the background, almost comically, our motel room finally caves in from the stress.

So we both sit here. Waiting.... and waiting... and waiting... and... waiting... it's still not moving. "Um, what's it... doing..."

"No clue..." Giving me a look, Faith grabs my arm and we both ever so slowly climb to our feet, never taking our eyes off the creature. "Slowly move away..." the older girl tells me, both of us taking small steps backwards.

The voice I get in return isn't the one I was expecting. "Because I haven't told it to."

Faith and I both whirl around at the same time; standing about fifty feet behind us is another shape, however it isn't outlined in black like the other demon. He, whoever he is, stands about six foot six or somewhere around there. His hair is long and greasy, like he hasn't had it cut in several long months. It's funny, he looks like kinda some rock star wannabe who lives in a trailer park and hasn't bothered to bath in a good long while. But his face... it's distorted, almost like a vampire's, but not exactly. I don't know what he is...

"Don't look so surprised. He may be strong, but... if you knew your demons, you'd know that Kyjack aren't generally too smart on their own. They make quick and easy minions." The guy is standing with his hands behind his back, a casual yet amused look on his face. He doesn't say anything for several minutes, just keeps looking over the both of us.

And it's weird, no matter how much I want to turn to look at Faith, or start to back away from this guy this time, or hell, even move I can't. My eyes are locked with this, thing's and I can't move a muscle. Finally, he moves forward, closing in to about ten feet, and starts to circle us. Okay, safe to say I'm really getting creeped out here... just the air around this guy is making the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"Slayers, I see," he says, a small sneer in his voice. Guess he's not a fan of ours. "I should have known... you're everywhere now. The air reeks of you, and it's all her fault. The balance is thrown off, but you know that, that's why you're here..."

"What the hell are you talking abo-" I start to say, before my mouth clamps up. Shit, I can't move my jaw, this is just great. The dude's into magic, and some seriously dark and powerful stuff...

Kinda makes me wish my all-powerful girlfriend wasn't 400 miles away at the moment.

"What's the matter, Rack got your tongue?" he mocks, cocking his head to the side in an amused way. After a moment, he resumes his circling. "Two Slayers, all the way out here. I'm a bit surprised. But, not as surprised as I'm sure you were." He closes his eyes, looking thoughtful for a moment. I manage to give Faith a look, her features probably mirroring mine. "Yes... had a little mishap with an energy transfer, didn't you? Propelled you forward a few hundred miles, away from your friends..." He opens his eyes; blood red eyes piercing straight into mine, sending a shiver down my spine. "Don't look so surprised," he waves it off with his hand, almost casual. "Reading minds isn't as hard as it looks... when you're me." He continues to stare at me for a moment, doing a damn good job of freaking me out.

Suddenly, without even moving his feet, he just freakin' appears right in front of me. Still unable to move, all I can do is sort of twitch, straining to move backwards. "Something... about you..." Again he cocks his head to the side, reaching up one of his hands to stroke the side of my face. Oh god, I feel like I'm gonna be sick... A frown appears plainly on his face. "Well well, isn't that just... interesting." This thing, Rack, or whatever he called himself, shakes his head, sighing. "So the first one dies, she kills me, and I return only to find out that she's already moved on to someone else!?" Suddenly his voice is raging, seemingly filling the air around us. "I'll rip her apart from the inside out!!" Before I can react, his hand rears back and hits me.

Oh, fuck, this really isn't good... I land near our caved in motel room, finally able to move. Sorta. Breathing is kinda difficult right now, and my whole body is buzzing. Feels like he hit me with more than just his fist... this guy's juiced up beyond the point of magic being just bad.

I cough up a small amount of blood before I can breathe. None of this is making any sense. He came out of literally nowhere and processing what he just said, he's an old acquaintance of Willow's. A non-happy one at that. He mentioned her killing him, but... it's not Warren, I know that all too well.

Whatever. Doesn't matter who he is. He threatens my girl? I'm gonna kill the bastard.

Pushing myself up onto my knees, I look back over, trying to catch my breath. Oh shit, Faith! Looks like he let the whole mind and body control on us go. Faith is going all out on him, and he's just taking the hits, laughing. Things aren't looking up, need to help her...

My body still buzzing and my head still hurting, I take a running charge at this guy. He keeps fighting Faith, ignoring my approach. Though somehow I doubt that he doesn't know I'm coming...

I jump into the fight, trading blows with him. Most of them connect; he's not making a real point in stopping us. This isn't really how I pictured my first use of my fighting skills... Meanwhile, the original demon is still standing behind us, just watching.

Then, simultaneously, he grabs my fist in one hand and Faith's in the other, holding us both in place. "Now now, ladies, don't take it out on me. I'd much rather see you take your frustrations out on each other." Letting go of our hands, he steps back, folding his hands neatly in front of him.

"What the fuck are on about?" Faith growls, preparing to jump him. I reach out and grab her arm, and she turns to me. "Kenn, c'mon, we can take him-"

My fist connects with her face, and she stumbles back. That's right, you think you can-

Whoa, what the hell?? I didn't just do that. I give Faith a wide-eyed look. "Faith, I-I didn't..." She looks up, holding her jaw and giving me a strange look. Then it kinda dawns on both of us, just as I feel something else take over my body.

Lunging at Faith, I connect several harsh blows to the side of her face, my knee joining in the fun by slamming itself into her gut. But she isn't gonna hold back any either. She hits me back, hard and fast, and I stumble a bit.

Okay, I'm so not wanting to do this. What the hell has he done to me? Standing back up, I get into a fighting stance, my eyes locked on Faith's.

She looks uncertain, but she knows what she's gotta do. Silently in my head I'm cheering her on. Not looking forward to the beating I'm gonna receive, but doesn't look like there's a way out of it. "Sorry Brat, really not my choice... Red's gonna kill me," I hear her add under her breath before she jumps at me.

Being both Slayers, we're pretty evenly matched. And this isn't some little training session, either. We're both going full out, and I've got a feeling it'll stay that way until one of us is unconscious.

But something in me seems to wake up, or speed up or something. Suddenly I'm going faster than she is, hitting harder, and the other Slayer is falling back, getting hit more and hitting me less. It's not me, it's Rack, I know it is. Oh god, I've really gotta stop, being possessed is not fun.

Faith falls to one knee, and as hard as I try to stop, I can't. Grabbing her by the head, I slam my knee into her face, and she's gone, out light a light. Dropping her to the ground, I finally feel the hold loosen on my mind and I get dizzy. Unable to see straight, I too keel over, landing on my side. After a minute, my vision clears and I stare at Faith's unconscious body. "No..." I manage to croak, crawling towards her.

A foot lands in front of me, blocking my path, and Rack reaches down, grabbing me by the back of my shirt. Now that his mind has stopped corrupting mine, the pain is starting to set in. I think my head's going to explode, and that's never a good thing...

"Well, that was entertaining. Of course, I wish it had lasted a little longer..." Shrugging, in one swift movement he heaves me over his head, throwing me through the air. As I watch the concrete of the highway come closer and closer, I can only imagine how much this is gonna hurt.

Landing hard on my shoulder, I skid several feet back, feeling my t-shirt rip a little and the skin underneath on my arm tear away. When I stop, I lay there limply for a moment. I'm alive, but that's pretty much the only good thing here.

My arm hurts like a mother f... Wincing, I half sit up, leaning all my weight on my right arm, the lesser-damaged of the two. Coughing violently, I spit more blood onto the road. I've got a cut above my eyebrow that's bleeding into my vision, and my head still feels like it's gonna explode. But, I've had worse, and again at least I'm alive. Oh, this is turning into such a fun road trip...

Out of the corner of my eye, something bright catches it. Looking to my left, it takes me a moment to register the bright light coming swiftly closer.

In a matter of three seconds, I see the car speeding towards me, sit there and stare stupidly as it comes closer, and finally manage to get my legs under me and dive forward. At the same time, the driver hits the brakes just as he reaches me, but each of us are a little too late.

I hear the impact more than I feel it. I'm only half out of the way as he slams on the brakes, but he slides, and the front of his car connects with my side. Just like in the movies, I fly up and over the car, smashing into its windshield, then rolling back down over the roof. Landing with a broken thud back on the concrete, I only lie there.

Wow... and ow Never been hit by a car before. It's... painful. Starting to realize that now. Everything's numb, for the moment, at least. I can't really breathe all too well, I think both of my lungs may have collapsed. Or my ribs punctured them, that would probably do the trick too...

Then the numbness subsides, and I wish like hell it hadn't. God, my side... fuck. I'd rather be dead right now I think. Anywhere but here, right now.

Somewhere in the distance, I hear a car door open and slam shut, someone shouting to me. Both of my arms- and just for the record, I am now pretty sure that my left one is broken- are wrapped around my sides, as I finally manage to take in a few gaping breaths. Somehow managing to move my neck and look ever so slightly back, I see who and what hit me.

A cop car. A bloody, fucking police vehicle ran me over. I'd laugh if it wasn't so painful.

"Oh god, are you okay! Stay still!" It's a guy, probably in his mid twenties, and he looks near panicked. Not really caring at the moment, all I do is groan and lay my head back down on the pavement. The guy falls to my side and starts to do the whole checking for a pulse thing. Buddy, I just groaned in pain, I'm alive, now get me a fucking ambulance before I bleed on you...

In the distance directly in front of me, I see Rack start to approach, taking his time. My vision is kinda blurry, but I know it's him. And I know what he's gonna do to the copper if he doesn't run.

Taking a deep breath, I use everything I have and push myself up very, very slowly. The cop is busy trying to tell me to stay still and lie there, but I ignore him. "You've gotta... leave..." I groan again, taking a moment to breathe once I get into a sitting position, then slowly start to stand. "Now... hurry..."

"What?" He looks confused. "No, no I'm not leaving... I got a call about fifteen minutes ago from the shop owner, said there was some kind of fight going on outside-" He barely manages to finish before Rack appears behind him, grabbing him by the neck. The cop's eyes go wide and he starts to choke, grabbing uselessly at the hands squeezing the life out of him.

"Hmm... it's all rather amusing. Authority doesn't really do much in these type of situations, now, does it Kennedy?" With a sickening crack, he snaps the officer's neck, dropping him to the ground.

No, no no no, this is too much... I feel like I'm stuck in one of those horror movies, the ones I always thought were extremely cheesy and hated watching. "Stay away from me..." I practically whisper, starting to stumble back. Rack just laughs at me, following, but not making a rush out of it.

I don't know how I'm walking, or moving for that matter, but all I know is that I have to get the hell away from this guy. Turning around, I start to run as best as I can around the back of the motel. Our collapsed one is near the front, but thankfully the others are still standing. How that will help me, I have no clue.

I think most of the damage the car did to me was my ribs. I can tell I've broken two or three or twelve, and probably bruised the rest of the them. And my arm will barely move, but other than that, everything else was already injured pre-car-hitting. I can't run in a straight line, I'm swaggering all over the place. That's how bad this guy is. I just need to... get away...

I hit the ground without realizing it, collapsing right next to the old motel. My whole body is shaking, and I'm having trouble focusing. Turning over onto my back as Rack approaches, I move back up against the building, trying not to whimper; out of fear and out of pain. I take a moment to wonder how this guy was ever associated with my Will. I guess I'll never know...

"So," Rack cuts into my thoughts, kneeling in front of me. "Willow's new girlfriend... I'm very glad we ran into each other. Very nice coincidence, indeed.... Now. I need you to do something for me, Kennedy. Think you can do that?"

Rack chuckles before placing his hands on each side of my head. "Tell the Red Witch I say hi."

Through the pain and throbbing that has taken over my body, I can feel the tips of his slimy fingers crawl across my forehead to my temples. I don't know what he's doing, but I want him off of me. Too bad I can barely move to prove that point.

Then, the next thing I know, his fingers are pushing into my brain, and this time I'm not too sure my head hasn't exploded. It feels like someone has stuck two of those old- fashioned railroad spikes in a fire and is now manually hammering them in to my skull.

A bright light starts to grow behind my already closed eyes, making the pain intensify. I can actually feel him 'digging' through my brain, my memories, ripping them apart like Christmas presents. Only this sure as hell isn't a happy, Christmas-y feeling. Honestly, I wish he'd just kill me already, nothing is worth this. If I would've had one solitary moment away from the pain, I would've considered fighting back somehow, but currently this is the furthest thing from my mind. He's perusing through memories of my life like you'd page through a book and I can hear him laughing in my ears.

With no other choice, due to the feeling of electroshock sizzling ever inch of me, I let him look and laugh, and simply hold onto to the fleeting thought that if Will has killed him once, somehow she'll find me and do it again.

Every proverbial page he turns in my head is like him ripping another layer of skin off of my body, and that doesn't exactly feel like hugs and puppies, let me tell you. I can vaguely feel my body convulsing now, writhing and shaking against the rocky gravel underneath me and up against the motel wall, but it's small potatoes compared to the searing nails in the side of my head.

But now, something's changing. His laughing is subsiding, and it's making me think he's gotten past the pre-Willow parts of my life, and has moved onto the Willow-centric happiness. Ha, weren't expecting that one, were we? I take a little pleasure in that fact, but it only pisses Rack off even more; I can feel his grip tightening on my head, and any moment I swear it's gonna pop like a grape.

All at once, Rack rips back, out of my head, and if possible that hurts even more than everything else he's done. I'm left gasping for breath; unable to move I slump back against the wall, all but passing out. It takes effort, but I tear my eyes open as several muffled sounds reach my previously-exploded eardrums.

Nothing is making sense right now, and it's taking me even more effort not to heave all over myself at the moment. But someone else has arrived, and there's a bunch of loud noises, nothing I can make out. Several thuds follow the loud talking and shouting, making my head expand each time it happens. God, can't these people just shut the hell up so I can die in peace?

Something's tugging at my brain though. Re-closing my eyes for a moment, I take a deep breath (as deep as I can take without injuring something internally) and reopen them, using all my willpower to focus on what's going on near me. For some reason, I see Rack for a split second, then he's gone in a vapor of purple mist. Great. I have a feeling I'll be seeing him aga-

Willow. That's... wow. She did find me. My brain starts to feel a little giddy, and a stupid smile spreads across my face as my redhead rushes over. Hey, if I'm gonna die, at least I get to see her one last time... or, maybe my mind is really fucked beyond repair and it's just showing me what I want to see.

By now my ears have stopped hearing sounds, a loud yet muffled ringing echoing through my head. I can see Willow's mouth moving, and she looks somewhere between near freaking out and pissed off. Her eyes give away the fact that she's angry, more angry than I've ever seen her.

I don't know what she's saying, all I can do is stare at her. Seeing this fact, she reaches forward and pulls me towards her. My skin burns at her touch, aftermath of my entire body being figuratively pulled apart, but I don't give a damn.

As my brain loses all consciousness, I'm only aware of the fact that I'm at the very least lying in my lover's arms.

"Thanks for seeing us on such short notice," Willow said gratefully, nodding at Angel as the two walked swiftly down one of the many hallways in Wolfram & Hart's science department. "I-I know it's kind of late and all, but-"

"Vampire, remember?" Angel reminded with a soft smile, holding open a door for the witch to walk through. "I don't sleep. I was waiting for Buffy to call after seeing what had happened to Sunnydale on the news."

"Yeah, well," Willow laughed slightly. "Sorry it took us awhile. We all kinda, passed out afterwards." At Angel's alarmed glance, she quickly shook her head. "I-in a sleepy way, not a bad, unconscious way."

"Oh. Good." Now turning his attention to the room in front of them, the vampire gestured at the few metal techs running back and forth. "Woke up the team as soon as you called. Should be all ready."

"So this thing... it'll really work?" Willow raised an eyebrow as she circled the sleek black vehicle sitting in front of them. It was an SUV, a nice one at that. Didn't seem to be any model in particular printed on the back. "I-I mean, wow. Is there anything you guys can't do here?"

"Sir?" One of the technicians came up, wiping his hands on a cloth. "The car is all ready to go, sir. In perfect working condition."

"Positive. All you have to do is activate the emergency travel system, and it'll allow you to cover twice as much distance while going the speed limit." The man grinned proudly, then looked at Willow. "You're our first customer to take it for a test drive. Would you like me to show you how it works?"

The Wiccan shook her head. "No, that's okay, I can figure it out. I just wanna get going." She gave Angel an apologetic smile. "Sorry. We'll visit later?"

"Absolutely. Once Faith and Kennedy are back here safe and sound." He looked behind him as Buffy and Giles came strolling in, along with Vi and Shannon. "All set?"

"Yep," Buffy nodded. "The girls and everyone else are all settled in for now. And thanks for that, Angel. For everything, really."

The vampire waved it off. "Ah, it's no big deal. What's the point in having all this at my disposal if I can't show it off every now and again?"

"Sweet car," Shannon commented, grinning as she eyed the automobile. "Can we keep it?"

Willow fidgeted uneasily. "Um, guys, can we really just, leave now? I'm not trying to rush- well, actually I am, but..."

"You okay?" Buffy gave her best friend a concerned look. "I know you're worried..."

"Just, got a bad feeling is all. Still on a bit of a magic hype or something, I guess. I've got a bad feeling, and getting to Faith and Kennedy as soon as possible seems like a good idea."

"Then I won't keep you here any longer." Angel stepped back, along with Giles and the tech team.

The watcher looked on in concern as the four girls piled into their new vehicle. "Are you sure this is a safe idea, Angel?"

"Which, letting them take a new piece of technology along with them or letting them go off alone to find the other two Slayers who randomly got stuck in a Hellmouth energy transfer and blasted a few hundred miles further than they should have been?"

Giles thought about that for a moment, as the garage door opened and they began to pull out. "Both, actually."

Everything's kinda fuzzy... don't really know where I am. Or remember anything, for that fact.

I let out an involuntary groan as I try to shift my position, keeping my eyes closed. God, I feel like I've been hit by a car...

My mind is only half functioning, and I'm not too sure about the rest of my body. The constant ache is a bit distant, though it is there. Kinda makes me think I've been drugged up. Yay for painkillers, my newest, and dearest friends...

My ears are starting to work again, and I can hear soft muffled voices around me, one of them making a small shushing noise as I groan yet again, a tiny bit louder this time.

Also starting to regain my sense of touch, and I'm now fully aware of someone holding onto my hand. Memories of pre-passing out are filtering back into my brain, so I've got a pretty good idea of who it is. Unless my mind was just playing tricks on me and it's-

In an instant I throw my eyes open and attempt to sit up in bed. Willow's one step ahead of me, already pushing on my chest to get me to lie back down. "Whoa, sweetie, slow down there..."

Oh. So it is her. Heh. Good. But future note to self: Never, ever do that again.

Lying back down, I groan for the third time, re-closing my eyes briefly as my head throbs in resistance to movement. "Am I dead..." I ask stupidly, knowing the answer but needing reassurance.

Willow laughs softly, squeezing my hand. "No, you're not. Broken and bruised maybe, but alive and, ah, semi-functioning."

Taking in a slow breath, I open my eyes and squint slightly as they readjust to the light. "Oh... well that's... good, right? I mean, gotta count for something..." My voice cuts in and out every time I speak, and I can't get it to go louder than a bit above a whisper. But they can manage to understand me. They don't really have a choice. "If you count functioning as at least one lung working and my heart still beating..." Looking passed Willow for the first time, I spot Buffy and Xander standing around in the back. "Hey..." I manage lazily.

Buffy smiles, stepping towards my bed. "Hey yourself. I'd ask how you're feeling, but..."

"Pretty much a given, isn't it?" I start to laugh, but quickly stop. Okay, add that to the 'never again' list. "Where's Faith?"

"Right here." The other Slayer's voice makes me jump, another move I regret making. "Wow, she's alive." Walking into the room with a tray full of coffee in one hand and a box of donuts in the other, she sets them both down on the nearby table, seating herself in one of the chairs. "This is good. Now your girlfriend won't flay me alive."

Willow grunts something under her breath, and I quickly give her hand a small squeeze. "'Sokay baby, it's not her fault..." Damn, so I end up in a hospital bed and she's still up and walking around? Bah.

As I cough a few times, Willow runs a soothing hand across my forehead, and I melt against her touch. "Where are we?" I manage after a moment, the thought randomly popping into my head.

"Back in Los Angeles. Apparently Wolfram & Hart have their own ward in the hospital. Y'know, for supernatural-type injuries and stuff. That's where we are now."

"Nothing," Willow chuckles, laying her head down next to my side and sighing. Unlacing my fingers from hers, I gently cup her cheek in my hand. How did I ever get through life before I met her? Sensing the needed alone time, Buffy herds the others quietly towards the door. As Faith gets up, she shoots me a relieved smile. "Glad you're okay, Kennedy." Each grabbing one coffee and a donut, they leave one for Willow and walk out the door.

It takes her a moment before she finally looks up at me, her green eyes shining with unshed tears. "I'm so sorry..." she all but whispers, gripping my hand tightly. "Kennedy, I-I never knew..."

She can't really be blaming herself, can she? "Will..." I try to sit up, but it's not really working. "Help me up?" I ask.

She doesn't seem to think it's a good idea, but slowly helps me sit up a little more. "Listen to me..." Despite my possible black eye and the trouble I'm having keeping my eyes open, I lock eyes with her, my hand staying on her chin so she can't look away. "Don't you dare blame yourself, all right? It is not your fault."

"I know, I guess..." She sighs, leaning into my touch and kissing the palm of my hand lightly, a few stray tears running down her face. "I just... I can't believe he went after you..." she says softly.

"How do you... how did you know him? What is he?" Two simple questions. For some reason I get the feeling the answer is gonna be a bit more complicated than I want to know.

Willow sighs, leaning back in her chair and dropping my hand. Oh, great, I do not take that as a good sign. After a moment she laughs harshly. "Good question..." Taking in a deep breath, she tries to explain. "Well, you know I went all, grr and arg last year. He was kinda... well, part of the reason?" She looks at me to see if I'm getting it, then continues when I nod. "Rack is a warlock, and a damn powerful one at that. What he did is sorta use his magic like a drug, only not exactly like it... he uses black magic to play with your mind, and you become addicted. I did... and I hurt some people because of it, so I stopped using magic all together. When Tara died... when I went on my rampage, I needed a power boost after a while, so I went to Rack. And I killed him, sucked all of his life force out of him and into me, took all of his power. It was so simple, it didn't take effort... and now, somehow he's resurrected himself and is kinda pissed." Once she stops, she looks at me, almost in a shy way. "So... that's who he is."

Huh. Wasn't quite expecting that. "Oh..." is all I manage before falling silent, biting my lip in thought. "Kinda like you did to me?" That comes out before I can even think about it.

I can tell that hurt Will, and I instantly regret it. "Well, not exactly, I didn't kill you..." she spits back, then bites her tongue before she says anything else. Both of us kinda deflate, letting out long sighs. "Sorry, I didn't..."

"No, I didn't," I cut in, shaking my head. "I really didn't. Ignore me, 'bit delusional at the moment." Smiling, I reach out my hand for hers, and she returns the smile and the gesture, each of us holding on tightly. Will scoots her chair closer to my bed as I lie myself back down fully, the effort of sitting up making me dizzy. Willow lies her head next to my stomach, and I rest my hand on the side of her cheek, lightly stroking her neck with my thumb. And for the first time I notice my left arm in a bright blue cast and sling. "So..." I start lazily, stifling a yawn. "Mind filling me in on what parts still function correctly and what parts don't?"

"Where to start," she jokes, closing her eyes. "Your left arm is broken, you've got four broken ribs, two cracked, and tones of bruises. I was scared you were gonna take a leaf from one of Faith's books and go all comatose on me, but thankfully you're here and awake." She grins, lifting her head up a bit and resting it on her chin. "The mystic specialists here, they wanted to try some magical healing procedure on you, but I told them to lay off for now. I know you don't really like being magically tested on, so..."

"You were right. But, the way I'm starting to feel right now, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea..." I wince as I shift my position a little. The previously dull pins and needles in my side is starting to turn into knives and sharp, pointed sticks.

"Oo, you want me to get you more meds?" I nod and Willow reaches over to one of those handheld remote thingies, pressing a button. "They should be here right away..." Replacing the remote, she sighs, not saying much for a moment. "Hey, Kenn..."

"Yeah?" One of the staff comes in with a replacement bag, giving us both quick smiles as she replaces it.

"Well, I kinda know a way that, well, i-if you were up to it, I think I can help you heal a little faster, but if you don't want to you don't-"

"I trust you," I simply say, smiling at her. The nurse person leaves, and soon I start to feel a little lightheaded and fluttery again.

She flushes slightly, then kind of stutters on. "Y-yeah, but if you aren't comfortable you don't-"

"Will, I trust you, with my life, with anything and everything. So trust me when I say that." I give her my own version of 'resolve face', and she grins.

"Okay, well, it's basically like meditating. I did it to heal myself after a Gnarl demon partially skinned and ate pieces of me while I was paralyzed..." Just the look of horror on my face gets her to stop. She shakes her head, offers me a quick smile and continues. "Okay, skipping to the point. We sit facing each other, holding hands-"

Poking me in the arm, she keeps going. "Holding hands. I concentrate on letting my energy flow into you, and you concentrate on pulling energy from the earth around you into yourself. It's like super-speedy healing, and with your Slayer powers it should be easy as pie."

"You sure you're up for this?" Willow questions me for the millionth time as I pull a shirt over my head. "I mean, doesn't this type of thing usually call for bed rest before you get up and move around and do productive things?"

"I'm fine," I try to reassure her, swinging my now-dressed legs over the side of the hospital bed.

"The most powerful warlock in the world beat the crap out of you and played grenade games with your head."

This is true. But why does she insist on bringing it up? "I know, I know...but isn't this whole power-sharing thing supposed to heal me anyway?"

"Well, yeah..." she shrugs, still looking a bit uncomfortable with it as I slowly stand up, starting to undo my arm sling. "It's won't fix you 100% though, and you might feel kinda tired after. A-and I don't know what he did to you, but it must have been horrible." She goes quiet for a minute, as if waiting for me to elaborate on what exactly Rack did. Not wanting to go there, I turn my back to her, stuffing the clothes I changed out of into my bag, pretending to look busy.

Images, things I've tried hard so forget, things he made me relive, there's an instant where it all flashes before my eyes, and I can feel the pain again. But as soon as it comes, it disappears again. I falter in my movements, but quickly re-stuff my shirt in the bag. One glance at Willow lets me know she's still expecting an answer, but I leave her hanging. I just want to forget about it.

"Remember what I said about trusting me?" I interrupt, giving her a small smile. Making my way around the bed to her, I put on a bright smile for her sake. "I'm gonna be okay, and I'm totally cool with doing this now." Taking her hand, I raise a tentative eyebrow. "Besides, we've gotta get out there and kick some butt-ugly warlock ass, right?"

That wins her over, and she grins widely as she pulls me into a hug. "Okay, I give up. But if an 'I told you so' becomes necessary later, don't think I'm gonna be afraid to-"

"What??" Willow leaps back from me like I electrocuted her or something. "What is it?"

I can't help but chuckle, rubbing my side. "I'm still a bit tender. You squeezed a little too hard is all."

"I'm sorry..." She sounds like a little kid who got caught stealing cookies out of the cookie jar. How can you not love this woman? She makes me turn into mush with everything she does. It drives me nuts yet at the same time I can't imagine feeling any other way around her.

On a sudden whim, I grab her and pull her to me, catching both of us off guard. Her surprise at my suddenness quickly passes over, and she gently places a hand on my waist as she closes her eyes and returns my kiss. Liking this, liking this very much. I haven't done 'this' in over twenty four hours. Using my non-broken arm, I run a hand through her hair, deepening the kiss a little more.

"You guys almost read- ho, hello..." Xander comes bursting in, doing a half backpedal. "Um...I was just..." He kind of pales, staring at the two of us.

Breaking the kiss, my hand still tangled in Willow's hair and her arm still wrapped around my waist, we both give him a look. "Can we help you Xander?" Willow questions sweetly, almost casually. I try not to snort too loudly.

"Just...making sure everything's going okay, which I can see it is. We're um, ready to leave when you two are. Angel's got us all temporary apartments set up, and he said he made sure to give you two an extra cushy bed. Not that he was meaning you two having sex equals need of an extra soft bed, because it doesn't, and he wasn't really meaning anything of the sexual sort, which of course neither am I..." Xander's brain finally catches up with his hormones, and he closes his eyes, laughing nervously and clasping his hands together. "It should help with the healing process, and make it easier for whatever spell you're performing."

It takes all of my energy not to laugh at the poor guy. Willow's keeping a better composure than me, rolling her eyes and nodding at Xander. "Thanks for that, Xander. Really. Um, we'll be out in a minute?"

Nodding, he quickly retreats with his tail between his legs. Sighing heavily, I rest my head against Willow's. "Does he usually do that?"

"Walk in on people doing the make-out thing? Yep. Stutter and fumble for words while pretending he's not staring? Yes. Now c'mon, the sooner we get settled in, the sooner I can get you shaped up."

"Alrighty." Walking back over to the table, I grab my jacket and toss the empty coffee cup in the trash.

"Oh, and Kennedy?" Willow asks as we walk out the door, linking arms with me. She's walking slowly so I can keep up.

"Aye aye, Captain Red." Leaning into her a bit as we walk, I fall silent, and so does she for a bit. Small talk about the others having gone to bring around the car is all that passes between us for about five or six minutes. We're outside now, sitting on one of the benches. Such a talkative couple at times, we are.

"What happened back there?" Willow asks out of the blue. She sounds quiet, reserved, almost like she's afraid to find out.

She lets out a hollow laugh, directing her gaze to me. I scan the parking lot intently, pretending to look for the others. "You know what I mean...what did he do to you? Or, make you see..." More silence. "Can you not tell me?"

"No," I blurt out, then retrace my steps. "I don't mean I can't tell you, but I...do we have to go there right now?"

"There they are," I stand up quickly, pointing out the black SUV heading towards us from across the parking lot. Without waiting for Willow, I start towards it, and I can feel her following me, her eyes drilling yet more holes in the back of my head.

Holy. All I can do is gape stupidly at the room before us. "This is...huh. Have I mentioned I really, really like Angel so far?"

Willow's pretty much mimicking my movements, standing in the doorway looking up and gaping. So not really movements, I guess. "This is a rental apartment? As in a temporary place one finds residence?"

I find my legs before she does and move into the room, turning in circles as I look it over. "Wanna ask if we can keep it?" Dropping both of our duffle bags in the middle of the floor, I flop back on the bed, king size, and stare up at the high ceiling, grinning. "I can tell I'm gonna enjoy staying here...and feel this, extra-cushy bed, just like Xander said. Wicked."

"You should get injured more often," Willow comments, flopping down beside me. "Actually, I really don't mean that. So please don't."

"Not to worry, it's not high up on my list. 'Getting beaten up by uber-ugly warlock' is near the bottom of page four, right after 'getting killed'." Willow turns her head to look at me, cocking an eyebrow. What?

Snorting a bit, I close my eyes and rub my hand over my face. "Nevermind. I think I've got excess brain damage. Or loss of brainial parts...whatever. Can we just, get this thing over with? I'd like very much to be able to kick ass again without something breaking."

Sitting up, Willow pulls her legs up onto the bed, sitting Indian style. I mimic her position, waiting for instructions on what to do next. She's looking a bit thoughtful, so I wait patiently. Finally, she looks up and nods. "Okay, I wanna try something new. Er, still meditating, but it might focus a bit more on the wounded area."

Willow flushes like mad, turning a deep shape of red. "Um...I-I need you to...take off your shirt..."

"Kennedy, I'm not kidding around, it'll work better, so I know where to focus my energy...stop looking at me like that...I'm serious, stop grinning, I didn't mean it like you're thinking." Huffing, she thwaps my arm. I just continue to grin, loving the frustrated look she's got goin' on. "Turn around, doofus."

"Doofus?" Did she really just call me a doofus? "I don't think anyone's called me a doofus since the fourth grade..."

"Sorry. Shutting up and doing as told." Flipping around, I peel my shirt off, left in just one of my usual sports bras. Suddenly I feel Willow practically wrap herself around me from behind, her arms snaking around my waist.

Ahh, cold hands, cold hands...A shiver runs up my spine, and it's only partially from the coldness. "You sure this is a good idea? I can't promise you I can completely fight off the urge to pounce on you right now."

"Save it for after." I can practically feel Willow grinning, yet still blushing. She lightly starts to feel around my stomach from behind, and I try not to flinch too much. "Just relax, close your eyes..."

Doing as I'm told, I swallow several times, trying to calm my nerves. After about 30 seconds my head gets a little light and loopy, and even though I'm sitting I wobble a bit. But Willow's calm voice breaks through the silence, tightening her hold a bit to support me. "It's okay, I've got you..." she whispers in my ear, making me shiver again.

It takes a little bit, but a warmth starts to spread across my torso, tingling slightly. I can feel my bones starting to heal themselves, the bruises fading. One of Willow's hands travels up my arm and back down, and I can tell that it's working its way towards mending itself now, too. "Dude..." I whisper under my breath, a small grin gracing my features. Willow really knows what she's doing...

But the lightheadedness starts to grow instead of fade, and I can feel that familiar passing-out feeling coming on again. Bugger, this isn't good..."Willow?" I ask, swallowing as I feel myself starting to sweat a little bit. "Will, what's..."

*A fourteen year old Kennedy grimaced as her back was thrown against the wall, sliding down to one knee. Blood mixed in with the pouring rain as it ran from a gash above her left eye, getting in the way of her vision. Why didn't she actually listen to Cam for once and stay inside? But no, of course she had to deal with things herself, she always had to prove everyone wrong about her. Looks like this time she'd be proving them right.

"C'mon, mini Slayer, that all you got?" A shadow cast itself over the small girl, flanked by three others. A crooked grin twisted itself across Fawker's face, the rain and darkness casting distorted shadows over his already demonish features. The vampire cult had the image of a human biker gang, complete with the Mohawks, leather jackets and chains. "You showed more guts than this when you burned down half of our nest. So I'm taking it as your Watcher never teaching you to play nice with others. We'll be glad to fix that little problem." He didn't even flinch when Kennedy tried to bolt, just threw her back against the wall and sent a swift kick to her chest, hard enough to knock the Potential down for a while.

The vampire, not even glancing behind him at the others, held his hand out. The smaller one, fresher than the rest, quickly rushed forward, placing a six inch kitchen blade in his hand. Fawker cocked his head to the side, casually turning the blade over in his hands a few times. The blade glinted in the light of one of the street lamps, the small amount of light reflecting off of Kennedy's eyes; she was terrified, yet it was impossible to tell unless you knew her.

As the vamp kneeled down and grabbed her by the throat, pulling her forward, she stared him in the eye, still unwilling to let her terror shine through for the vampires to see, to feast on. "I've been wondering," her voice cut through the pouring rain, it's icy tone surprising her more than the others. "Your name, it's Fawker, right? Who gave it to you?"

Fawker arched an eyebrow, holding the knife up where Kennedy could get a good glimpse of it. "My mom, surprisingly. She was oddly proud of the name, until the day she died...of course, that was the same day I ate her." He snorted loudly, his cronies behind him laughing like a pack of hyenas. "Why, you like it?"

"It's oddly fitting," Kennedy shrugged the best she could, Fawker's hand wrapped tightly around her throat. "Y'know, for a fucker like you..."

The back handle of the knife slammed itself into Kennedy's face, breaking more skin and possibly bone. Slightly dazed, she spat on the ground, a tooth coming out in the mix of blood a saliva. Slowly she turned her head back defiantly, meeting Fawker's gaze.

"Lets see what we can do about those manners..." Fawker muttered before turning the blade around and plunging it into Kennedy's shoulder.*

"What do you mean, accuse? I saw you with her, John! You were all over her, don't lie to me. I'm not stupid-"

"Stop acting like you're a teenager, for God sakes John! I'm not a moron, I've known something's been going on for a while now, things haven't been right between us since you switched jobs. I know it's where you met her, and little old you just couldn't resist some fresh p-"

The muffled sounds of another blowout between Kennedy's parents reached the young girl's ears. She sat huddled on the staircase, peering down into the living room through the wooden bars lining the side, slowly rocking herself back and forth. Involuntarily, tears fell down her cheeks, making small plopping sounds as they reached the carpet. The five year old couldn't take it anymore, the strain of living with this almost every day becoming too much. She was used to it by now, that was the sad part.

They didn't think she watched, think she heard; it's what made them stupid. She always saw, always watched, and they never realized. When she was around, all was good, they were a happy, laughing couple, they never let it show to her. At five, she still didn't understand why they were always yelling at each other. They were a family, families didn't fight like this. At least normal families didn't.

It was near the end now, she could always tell, it was like a feeling. Peering through the bars, she watched as her mother yanked her coat off of the brass hook near the door, throwing it on and pulling gloves out of the pocket.

"Karen..." John's voice was warning, had a slight danger to it. "Do not leave this house..."

"Oh, you won't miss me," she said with mock cheerfulness. "You'll be too busy fucking the secretary to notice that I'm gone." Reaching for the doorknob, she yanked the giant oak doors open, preparing to storm out. It's when her gaze caught Kennedy's, when the two of them locked eyes for several seconds. Karen smiled, and it wasn't a fake smile like the ones Kennedy had so often seen her giving her father. It spoke to her, said 'I'll be back for you'.

So she believed her. As her mother left their happy little Boston mansion officially (to Kennedy, at least). With a click of the closing door, the little girl let out a loud wail, the tears falling more freely now.

An empty wine bottle smashed against the door as soon as it closed, making Kennedy jump and her sobs catching in her throat. Her father looked in defeat up the stairs, watching Kennedy for a moment. With a heavy sigh, he straightened his shirt and returned to the kitchen.*

*It was so strange. Church was supposed to be somewhere you could find solitude, somewhere you could find peace.

Her mother's coffin, big, black and ugly, changed the whole image of churches for Kennedy.

Churches were places of death, places where you talked about someone when they had been alive. Places where you shoved them into a box and chucked them in the ground, only to forget about them.

She didn't understand what the minister was saying in that slow, quietly depressing voice of his, as he stood before them, talking about the tragedy of it all.

She sat next to her father, insides boiling, her tiny fist clenched as hard as she could clench it. On her father's other side, her

Kennedy, now six, understood some things people thought she didn't or shouldn't. She listened, picked up stuff, paid more attention than she appeared to. They said it was a hit and run, they never found out who had been at the other end of the accident. But to her, even if it wasn't literally, she was the one responsible for her mother's death.

As far as she was concern, this woman was the one in the other car. And she hated her for it.

The service passed in a flash, Kennedy in a daze for most of it. At the end, she got up alone while the others filed out into the courtyard. Approaching the closed coffin, she stood by it, staring, trying to see her mother as she remembered her through it.

*Grumbling to herself, Kennedy weaved in an out of London city traffic. Even after managing to not get hit by any cars, she still had to try not to get bowled over or do any bowling to anyone while jogging along the sidewalk. Bloody rush hour traffic. Even the sidewalks made it impossible to get around.

Nearing the apartment, she dug through her pocket for the key. "Shit..." she grumbled under her breath, realizing she didn't have it. "Fan freakin' tastic..." Looking up, she caught sight of one of the lower level tenants going in. Running for it, she managed to catch the door before it closed and locked. Sighing, she walked inside and towards the staircase. Kennedy never bothered with the elevator. Stairs gave her time to think, a little bit of exercise, and there was less of a chance of her getting stuck in the elevator when it broke down. Which it often did.

Reaching floor six, she slowed her movements slightly, mulling over what she was going to say. "Oh, the hell with it..." she eventually muttered under her breath, striding towards the door leading to Cam's residence, across the hall from hers. "I'm 19, I need more of a life than slaying..." she continued to grumble to herself. "He just needs to get that." Knocking on the door, she waited five seconds before knocking again. "Cameron, open up, it's me." Still nothing. She pounded away. "Cam!! It's Kennedy. Look, I'm sorry I took off, okay? I just needed a little time to..."

Kennedy trailed off, furrowing her eyebrows. Something wasn't right..."Cam?" she called out again, a little more wary this time. Grabbing the doorknob, she jiggled it a bit to see if he had left it unlocked. He hadn't, but when she brought her hand away she froze, her breath catching in her throat. A crimson red liquid covered her hand; upon looking closer, she realized it graced half of the lower doorway and floor. "Cam!!"

Using all of her strength, Kennedy reared her foot back, connecting a solid roundhouse kick to the door. The power of the move flung her back, landing her on her ass. The door broke, swinging open and slamming into the wall behind it. Kennedy felt the bile build up in her throat, unable to move as she stared at the paint-by-numbers job something had done to her watcher on the inside of the room. That familiar feeling of hatred boiled up inside her again, something she hadn't felt in years.

Without thinking, she jumped up and ran into the room. The blood was in more places than she originally thought, and she nearly slipped and did a face plant. Regaining her balance, she stopped dead, unable to look away. The smell...the unpleasant visuals...it was too much.

Falling forward onto her hands and knees, Kennedy heaved all over the floor, the taste of her own vomit mixed with everything else making her want to do it all over again.

Something grabbed her from behind, turning her around and then throwing her back onto the floor. The look of fear returned as she landed in a pool of her Watcher's blood, staring up at the thing that had done that to him. Cloaked in black, eyes gorged out and replaced with tribal symbols, it held a long, wickedly curved knife above it's head, preparing to do the Potential the same fate as her Watcher.

It didn't get the chance, something hit it from the side. A few quick swings of an ax, and it was dead. There was a man there now, too, out of breath from the fight, and he looked at Kennedy with concern. "Kennedy. Kennedy, listen to me..." The Potential slowly pulled herself to her feet, staring at the man.

"My name is Rupert Giles. There's no time to explain, I'm terribly sorry...we must leave. Now."

Kennedy stared at him blankly, unable to comprehend this all at once. She turned around, looking at the apartment. This guy, Giles, grabbed her around the waist and started to drag her towards the door, continually insisting they hurry before more show up. More what? A bright light started to grow in front of her vision, and a searing pain shot through her whole body as she was dragged away.

Almost as if it had just sunk in what happened, Kennedy flung herself back towards the apartment, screaming-*

I fall to the floor in a heap, coughing violently. I try to stop shaking and stand up, but it's a no-go.

"Kennedy!" Willow's at my side, looking horrified and terrified at the same time. "Kennedy, oh goddess, are you okay? Sweetie, look at me..." She places a hand on my back, trying to comfort me, but this time around her touch feels like ice instead of fire. I throw my elbow back, smacking her hand away from me. Offended, she backs off slightly with the touching, although she doesn't move from my side.

I'm starting to remember how to breathe, and only when the pain from the vision, or whatever it was, starts to fade do I realize I've got tears streaming down my face. Swiping at them in a hurry, I take a couple of deep, ragged breaths.

I can't believe she just did that to me. I told her I didn't want her to know...okay, so not in so many words, but c'mon, she should have gotten that fact by me being all avoidy. "What...what did you do to me..." My voice is emotionless, and I can't help it, but I never thought I'd be using that tone with her. I'm shaking again, but this time it's in anger.

I trusted her. I trusted her and the bitch goes and...no, not going there. I'm just mad, I just need to...

"I didn't...I didn't want to.. t-that wasn't supposed to happen. I'm so sorry Kennedy, I had no idea..." Willow's shaking as well, constantly reaching out her hand but retracting it, as if afraid it might set me off. With good reason, because I can't guarantee it won't.

"Just...stay away from me..." Finally managing to wobble my way to me feet, I start towards the bathroom. Or where I picture the bathroom being, anyway, since I haven't exactly seen it yet...

"Kennedy, wait." Willow jumps up and steps in front of me, blocking my path. Really not a good idea at the moment, Red..."Please, I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to happen...I just, you wouldn't talk to me, and I could tell something was bothering you."

"You aren't my god damn psychiatrist, Willow, if I say I don't wanna talk then I don't wanna talk. If you knew me well enough you'd know that. But you obviously don't." She starts to talk again, but I hold up a hand to silence her. "Don't even. I need some time to cool off, all right? Can you give me that?"

She looks hurt at the harshness in my voice, but right now I could care less. Without waiting for an answer, I stalk off. Contemplating leaving for a moment, I quickly shake it off. I don't want to go outside, and with my luck Rack would randomly show up and blow my head off.

Willow starts to follow me again, but someone bangs loudly at the door, drawing her attention away from me. Thank god...

Catching sight of the bathroom, I head towards it just as the door opens. I hear Buffy and Xander burst in. "What happened?" Buffy's urgent voice sounds out, ready for battle. The door is around the corner, so I can't see her and vice versa, but knowing Buffy she's in fighting stance and ready to knock someone's lights out. "I heard Kennedy scream, what the hell happened?"

Closing the door, I slump up against it, the conversation outside muffled. Sliding down to the floor, I let out a defeated sigh. What just happened?

All I'm left with is an angry, yet embarrassed feeling. Those are some things I didn't want, didn't need Willow to know. Stuff I have long since dealt with and didn't want to re-deal with just because she might think I need to. Everything that happened before Sunnydale, I've put it all behind me. I kinda consider this a new life, and a damn good one at that.

Resting my head on my knees, I exhale loudly, an oncoming headache starting to poke at my brain with a giant stick. Okay, so at the moment I've got two personalities: one wants to go back in there, grab Willow and screw her to the point where both of us forget anything ever happened. The other one is still peeved, stubborn, and enjoying it. It's just...I thought she'd learned after the last time. She knows how much that shit freaks me out...maybe it was an accident? Maybe she didn't mean for all that stuff to come up? But I'm pretty sure it was intentional. She said she wanted to know, so...

In a period of three or four days, things have gone from absolutely great to shit-tastic. Just my luck...Sigh. Sure, so I spazzed a little at Willow, but with good reason, right? Back to the whole 'freaky-shit-with-magic-done-without-asking-the-experimental-person-first' thing. I guess on the bright side, she did heal me...

I get lost in thought for a while, mulling (and pouting a bit too, I admit) over what to do. Finally I stand up; my ass is starting to hurt from the tile floor. Listening through the door, I can't tell if Buffy's still there or not. Hell, I can't hear anything at all, so with my luck Willow's left too.

Instead of leaving the safety of the oversized bathroom, I glance at the shower, and realize I haven't had one since before being unconscious. Might as well de-stinkify myself then, and take advantage of all the cool soaps and shampoos and whatever else is in here...

I take a while, both procrastinating and just enjoying the feeling of being clean. I don't have too many sore muscles now thanks to Wil- er, yeah. Shaking my head, I eventually turn off the water, stepping out and grabbing some towels from the shelf.

Clothes. Those would be helpful. I'm not too keen on putting my old stuff back on now that I'm actually clean. One whiff of my T-shirt confirms my thoughts. It's a wonder Will let me in the room smelling like that...

Stiffening for a moment, I listen again for noises outside. Again I don't hear any. Taking a deep breath, I open the door, peering out. Seeing no one, I hold the towel wrapped around me closer as I make for my bag. At last the coast is clear-

"Kennedy?" a small voice asks from the corner, making me jump out of my skin. Wasn't really expecting anyone to be here. Glancing over, I see Willow sitting in one of the reading chairs, curled up and staring out of the window. She's stopped and is looking at me with a half deer-in-the-headlights look, like she wasn't expecting me either. Well, where else did I expect her to go? This is kinda our home now...key word 'our'. As in the two of us.

"Oh...I-I didn't know you were still here, " I manage awkwardly, avoiding her gaze.

She stands up and moves across the room to me, wrapping her arms around her sides awkwardly, almost like she isn't sure where to put them. "You've been in there for over an hour and a half. Was beginning to wonder if you'd drown or something."

"Still alive," I comment lamely, and again the word 'awkward' comes to mind since I'm standing in a towel and she's fully clothed. So not the situation I'm used to...

She seems to finally notice this fact, and her eyes widen slightly. "Oh, I'll uh, let you get changed..." Moving passed me, she sits on the corner of the bed and faces the wall, arms still crossed tightly. This is new, the whole facing-away thing. Normally it's...ah, not going there either. I don't need my mind running even further away with me. Bad Kennedy...

Realizing I've been standing there dumbly for a few seconds staring at her back, I quickly throw the towel aside and grab my pants and underwear. I pull them and some socks on, a clean sports bra soon following. My belt is being a pain in the ass though, the damn buckle is stuck...grr, c'mon you stupid...

"So, planning on staying angry at me for all eternity?" Willow asks out of the blue. She's been doing a lot of that lately.

"I mean okay, I've apologized, a-and repeatedly might I add...but Kennedy, why are you honestly so mad? You think I'll be ashamed of you because of what I saw or something?"

"No," I instantly blurt out, glaring at the back of her head. "It's just none of your business, that's all. You should have trusted me when I said I was okay and it was nothing."

"And you should trust me with telling these things," Willow shoots back, standing up and turning around, staring me straight in the eye. I can't keep the gaze up and look away, returning to fumble with my belt. It's silent for a moment before Willow continues. "Look, you're obviously still angry, I get that, okay? But, just listen to me when I say this...Rack is dangerous. And I know you well enough to tell that it's not all me you're angry at, it's him. But please, please don't do anything stupid."

"Like going out alone and/or trying to find him in revenge. He'll kill you, and I can't lose you to him too..."

"Rack? I thought Warren shot Tara." I put it rather bluntly, and instantly regret it. Sometimes I think I just shouldn't talk. My foot must think my mouth is really comfy.

Willow fumbles for a minute, looking down and then nodding. "Well, yeah, he did, but...when I became addicted to Rack's magic, like I told you, Tara broke up with me because of it."

"Oh." I pull my shirt on and turn to face her. "Sorry...But anyway, do you honestly think I'd go after Rack alone?"

"You might not intentionally. He's kinda, er, persuasive, I guess...you might not be meaning to meet up with him when you do. And that was before, now that he's back and obviously stronger, I'm just worried..." She bites her lip, finally meeting my gaze again. "I just don't want to lose you, Kenn..."

Sighing, I slowly make my way towards her, shoving aside my angry feelings for now. "You won't," I promise her, keeping my gaze locked with hers and taking both of her arms in my hands. "I'll be careful. As long as you are, too. I may not have the magical ability to go ballistic and destroy the world, but I'm not very pretty when I'm angry. I don't suggest to him meeting me in a dark alley alone at night..." Trailing off I quickly shake my head, not wanting to think about that. "Just be careful, always travel with one or six Slayers at a time, always carry a large, pointed object that can be used for beheading, and watch where you're going."

She laughs, shaking her head and grinning lightly at me. "Aye aye, Captain. So...this mean I'm forgiven? Somewhat, anyway?"

I shrug, but nod at the same time. "I can't say I'm not angry, or just a bit hurt still...you should have asked, Will."

"I know, but you wouldn't talk to me, and it seemed to really be bugging you..." She lowers her gaze to my bare shoulders, gently running her hand along a deep, yet faint scar running along my left shoulder. "I-is that when...I mean I sorta noticed it before, but not really until now...the vampire?"

"Yeah, that was Fawker. He missed my main artery, at least. Crappy aim. Plus I totally kicked his ass afterwards," I grin at her.

Giving me a playfully skeptical look, Willow rolls her eyes and drops her hand slowly. "Somehow I severely doubt that, but I'll choose to smile and nod anyway."

Another knock at the door interrupts us, and soon Buffy sticks her head in. "Um, we're about to head out for dinner if you guys are ready. Everything okay?" she questions, looking pointedly at Willow.

Willow nods right away. "Yeah, it's all good. We'll be right there, just let me grab my coat." Buffy exits, and Willow breaks away from my embrace to grab her jacket. "I kinda told them that'd we, as in both of us, would be joining them for a little dinner outing thing..." Willow admits sheepishly. "I hope you're up for it?"

Taking Willow's jacket from her hands and helping her put it on just for the sake of doing so, I quirk a questioning eyebrow. "So you expected me to give in to your charm then, did you?"

"Despite what you said before, I do know you quite well. So yes." Willow looks quite pleased with herself.

"Damn. Am I that predictable?" I ask, leaning my head over her shoulder slightly. She turns her head towards mine and our lips briefly meet.

"Yep..." she states after we break apart. "'Cause I knew you were going to do that." She grins even more.

Watching her for a moment, I shake my head, scratching it slightly. Oh well. I guess I'll have to live with being predictable. "So, where are we eating?"

"For Rack's sake, I hope it isn't down some dark alley when you're in a bad mood..." Willow teases, elbowing me slightly. "Or, y'know, I think he might be in trouble."

As the door closed behind them, the sorcerer stepped out of the corner, materializing out of the darkness. His hands were folded in front of him, a satisfied smirk crossing over his features.

Dark, dank, smells of sweat, blood and sex, and so incredibly loud that if the music got turned up a notch higher your eardrums would explode.

This place is slightly more...skankier than anything I'd been to in California, but who gives a damn. Hell, it's expected. This is my kind of club. Bodies packed together, everyone synchronized, constantly on the move with the changing beat and loud bass that fills the air, not caring who or what is staring them down. They can all fuck themselves as far as anyone is concerned.

Now, if I can only get that one cute redhead in the corner to dance with me, my night would be completed.

Willow's excuse is that she's not a good dancer. Which is complete bull, since we've gone dancing together a few times since we've met and although she may not be the world champion, she knows how to move.

Reluctantly, I eventually dig my way back through the crowd and over to our table, grinning as I catch sight of said woman reading a magazine. Glancing up, Willow smiles back and moves over to give me some room next to her; but with the mood I'm in at the moment, I skip over the space and plop down on her lap, stealing a French fry from her tray and throwing an arm over her shoulders. I'm pretty sweaty, but then again so is she. Don't think this place has used air conditioning within the last ten years.

Willow kind of stiffens for a minute, looking around at the crowded place and blushing slightly. "Uh, K-Kenn? Maybe you should..." She abruptly stops as my non-shoulder occupied hand slides up her shirt, rubbing her side softly. Grinning slyly, I lean over and nibble on her ear, hoping my giddy mood will rub off on her.

I can feel her panic a little, but she eventually starts to relax more and more, moaning slightly as I continue to nip at her neck. "Kenn, this is kinda...openish...maybe we should..."

I pull back briefly to fix her with a look. "Willow?" I say slowly. "We're in a gay bar. Absolutely nobody cares."

"Gay for four years and never been to a gay bar?" I shake my head with mock shame. "I'm disappointed, Will. Surprised, even."

"What? I have so been to a gay bar..." she shoots back, narrowing her eyes at me and trying to put on a convincing face. It falters pretty quickly. "Well, okay, so maybe not, but that doesn't mean I'm uncomfortable with my affection for you, it's just, open place, lots of people, you sitting on my lap, your hand up my shirt-"

Sure, she's cute when she babbles, but she's even cuter when she responds to my tongue being suddenly shoved down her throat.

Sighing happily against my mouth, Willow closes her eyes and seems to forget about her previous nervousness, my intended affect. She kisses me back willingly this time, and I lean into her more, allowing her entrance to my mouth, my hand feeling its way upwards-

"Hey!" Willow abruptly breaks the kiss, grabbing my elbow before it can lead my arm any higher. "Okay, smoochies are good, but sex on the table, not so good. Dirty, and this time I'm talking hygiene. Let's save it for later," she says with as much force as she can muster, though I can see the lusty look in her eyes.

Pouting out my lower lip, I sigh in defeat and slide off of her lap, landing beside her. "Okay..." I use my little kid voice, keeping up the pouting. But she knows me too well by now and just rolls her eyes, the faintest hint of a grin on her face.

But it seems I've used that act one too many times. Hmm. I'll have to be creative and come up with something new...Reaching across the table, I snatch a few more fries and stand up.

"Going to dance again?" Willow asks, looking up from the magazine she brought with her.

Again rolling her eyes, she shakes her head and waves me away. "No. I'm content on staying here, thank you very much. But I might dance later."

"In that case, hold that thought and don't go anywhere," I call back to her as I make for the bathroom. It's at the end of the club where it's less crowded, over by the bar. Thinking about having another beer, but my bladder needs to be emptied before I drink anything else.

Pushing the door open, I go to the mirror first, smoothing out my hair. I'm looking forward to getting Willow to dance with me. You had to be slightly more reserved at the closeness level and stuff back at The Bronze, but considering where we are now, no reserve was needed. No reserve equals much more fun.

Spotting the only empty cubical in the three that are there (one is out of order), I head for it and then suddenly stop short.

Rolling my eyes, I try to ignore the sex noises and go in. Too bad the broken stall is the one farthest from the happy couple, so I'm stuck right next to them.

You have no clue how hard it is to pee when the cubical next to you is shaking and making loud, painfully slow orgasm noises.

Suddenly one of them slams into the cubical wall next to me, and then does it again. Okay, this is a little too much. Raising my fist, I slam it with twice the force into the same wall. "Hey!! Get a fucking room!!"

"Fuck you!" Someone shouts back, and then I hear a little giggling noise that's slightly muffled.

I grab her beer and take a big swig, shuddering slightly while I sit down, across from Will this time. Safe to say I'm traumatized for life. I barely escaped, and I'm lucky they didn't try to get me to actually join in or something...I'm sure they would've, but I practically ran out of the bathroom with my pants down before they got the chance.

"You okay?" Willow's voice makes me jump, and I look back at her to see a quizzical look on her face. "You're jumpy...toilet gremlin?" she teases.

I laugh, a little more high-pitched than normal. "Ha, yes, something like that..." Okay, time to get my mind onto other things. I put the beer down and lean across the table a little. "Are you okay?" I give her a serious look.

"It's just...with Rack and everything, you've been a little on edge lately. Last night you nearly gave me a black eye with your elbow when I came up behind you."

Willow gives me a sheepish look. "Well, to be fair, you did startle me...e-even if it was to give me hug..."

"That's my point. I know you're worried that he's been a no-show since he attacked Faith and I-"

"I have reason to be worried. Plenty of reasons. Silence, whether coming from Rack or any ultimate evil, usually means plotting, or waiting until we least expect it to jump out and go 'arg!'. I just, I want to expect it, that's all. I don't know what he's going to do next, and it scares me."

Giving her a sympathetic smile, I reach across the table and squeeze her hand reassuringly. "Hey, we'll be okay, no matter what he does. I promise I won't let him hurt you, even if it kills-"

"Don't." Willow's stern voice cuts me off, and her steely gaze meets with mine. "Don't you dare. I don't want you sacrificing yourself for me, so don't even say that."

"Why not? I mean it. He wants to get to you? He'll have to get through me first. And Buffy, Xander, Giles, the other Slayers." I arch an eyebrow, trying to get my point across in a reassuring way. "We're in this together, all the way, so you don't have to be the only one with weight on your back."

After a moment, Willow nods, though I can tell it's rather reluctantly. I have a feeling she just wants to drop the subject, and I open my mouth to argue but she quickly stands up, pulling me with her. "C'mon. How about that dance?"

"In the bathroom? In the actual stall??" Willow gives me a wide-eyed, horrified look.

I laugh as we exit the club. "Yes, very ew." Stopping just outside the door, I face Willow and place both hands on her hips. "Don't get any ideas, 'kay? I mean, kinky is good and very much encouraged, but that? A little over the edge."

"I'll try and hold my hormones in check," Willow says sarcastically, then leans in to kiss me.

"Mmm...good." Slinging an arm over her shoulders, I lead her back down the alley, away from the noise and smoke. Glancing at my watch, I grimace when I realize it's already 1 am. "Oh man, I've gotta get up at six. I promised Faith I'd go to the YMCA with her so she can kick my ass around and call it training."

"Six? Isn't that a little early? And are you sure you're up to it?" Willow gingerly places a hand over my stomach.

"I'm fine," I assure her, putting my other hand over her own. "Ribs completely healed. Thanks mostly to your healing mojo you worked on me. Don't worry."

"All right. Just don't push yourself too hard...well, more than usual," she adds.

"Will do. Er, won't...do...yeah," I shake my head, thinking I drank just a tiny little bit too much. I'm not completely drunk, just a wee little bit.

"Now that I'm not all dance-y, I feel really beat," Willow mumbles, resting her head on my shoulder as we walk. "But it was nice, though. The date. Good fun was had."

"Doesn't have to stop there," I add casually, shrugging slightly. "We could, y'know, have some more fun when we get home, and into bed..."

"I see where this is heading," Willow smirks, raising her head back up to grin at me. "And extra fun does sound, well, fun, but you're tired too, I can see it in your eyes. Plus you've gotta get up earlier. So maybe you can settle for snuggles?"

I pretend to ponder. "Hmm...I might have to have a little of both, to decided which is more, y'know, relaxing..."

I nearly jump out of my skin, and Willow and I both whirl around. I instantly shove her behind me, even though I can't see anything just yet. I'd know that voice anywhere. It's the same one that's been in my head and my dreams for the last week.

"Oh, don't look so surprised. You both said you wished I would just show up and quit dawdling, so who am I to disappoint?" A loud thud from behind makes both of us jump and turn around once again, as Rack leaps down from a fire escape where he was watching. "You look surprised still. You know I could hear everything you said, both of you. Must be some sort of special...connection, that we have up here." His eyes lock with Willow's, and he taps a finger to his temple. I step forward, ready to jump if he tries anything.

"Yes, remember what she said? 'Don't sacrifice yourself for me, I love you too much'," Rack mocks.

Willow scrunches her brow. "You're a lot more sarcastic than you used to be...what changed?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was dying and going to hell. I hear that can change you."

"You'll be going back there soon enough." Pulling my arm out of Willow's grip, I whip a stake out of my jacket and lunge forward. Sure, he isn't a vampire, but being stabbed will kill a number of things.

Before I can even reach Rack, I either run into something solid or something solid runs into me, and I'm suddenly flat on my back about ten feet further away than I originally started. Damn, I really hate when he does that. I prop myself up on my elbows, wincing slightly.

"She's spunky." Rack looks at his hand casually, cracking his knuckles. "I like her a lot more than your old girlfriend, the other witch. This ones got fire." His black eyes bore into mine, and I can't seem to move from the ground. Although this time I don't think he's holding me there.

"No! Stay away from her." I see Willow step into Rack's line of vision, her hands clenched by her side. I can sense the power start to build up in her. "It's me you came back for, so why waste your time with a Slayer?"

"But it's fun, she's so...easy to kick around. And she keeps trying, no matter what." He shakes his head, almost in a pitying way. "That's exactly what's going to get her killed."

That seems to be the last straw for Willow, and suddenly I'm able to move again. "Willow, no!" I scramble to my feet, but not fast enough.

Willow and Rack engage in a fireball-throwing, lightning and thunder battle. I try to run forward, but smack face first into another barrier, falling back again. At first I think it's one of Rack's, but soon realize it's Willow, trying to keep me out of the battle. Jumping up, I smash my fist repeatedly into the barrier, trying to break through. "Willow! Don't do this!"

Damn. Why can't they just try and put boils on each other, or do jelly legs like in Harry Potter? Why always the need for fireballs?

Rack deflects something Will throws his way, and launches something back. It's scary to see, and I hate saying it, but I think my all-powerful girlfriend has met her match.

My fist already cracked and bleeding, I grit my teeth and rear my foot back, slamming it into the barrier. I fall over for a third time, but manage to break through.

In the time it takes her to yell at me, Rack conjures two extremely ugly looking black balls of energy, and sends them her way.

Leaping forward, I crash-tackle Willow out of the way just in time, the impact of the attack blowing a hole in the cement and sending us flying even further. I land on top of Willow and stay there, not letting her up until I'm sure he's done throwing stuff our way for now.

Blooding running down my face from a small gash that opened up on my forehead, I stand up shakily, hovering over Willow. She's a bit disoriented from the blow and lies there, dazed for a moment.

I'm starting to think this is it. Willow's out of commission, it's already been proved that I can't fight this guy, and there's no way out of the alley except passed Rack.

Great. Why did I have to be all cocky and flat out dare him to corner me in an alley? Smart move, dumbass.

Breathing heavily, I stare right back at him, not flinching as he again raises his arm. I figure if I can take a blow or two, or distract him for 30 seconds, Willow can at least get away...

Then, he suddenly lowers his hand, the power aurora surrounding him fading rapidly. My confused look says all, and he chuckles. "What's the point in killing you both if neither of you can fight back? It just zaps all the fun out of it. No, I think I've got a better idea. I won't kill you, not yet. But I can still make your life a living hell, don't doubt that for an instant. Payback's a bitch, Red, and you'll regret the day you ever came to me."

Just as suddenly as he appeared, Rack disappears into thin air, a purple haze left in his wake.

I stand there for a moment, frozen, then suddenly drop to my knees, turning to Willow. She sits up, holding her head. "I don't know how many times I can take him doing that..." Her nose starts to bleed a little bit, and she swipes at the blood. "W-we have to get to Giles and the others, tell them what's happening..."

"Not so sure I get it myself," I grumble as I help Willow to her feet, letting her lean on me for support. Living hell, huh?

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Waiting a Lifetime

by Faith

Copyright © 2003

faith_ishida@yahoo.com