Mirror Mirror by Kirk Baldridge

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. If I did, I'd treat them better than...some people.

Summary: Vampire Willow makes a return appearance, and finds a new toy to play with—Tara.

Spike paced angrily, the heels of his boots making a loud clacking noise on the floor of the empty warehouse. His long black duster swept out behind him, and he was gnashing his teeth.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," said an inhuman voice. "I had another appointment to deal with first."

Spike turned, his face going from vampire to human again, as he saw the robed figure standing in shadow. From beneath a heavy hood, two piercing red eyes gazed at him, nothing else was visible.

"Cripes. Do you have to sneak up on me like that? I think you scared a century off me."

"I have no time for games vampire," said the demonic figure. "I have come to perform a task, as we agreed. Though I'm still somewhat at a loss as to why it must be in this place."

Spike took a cigarette out of his shirt pocket, and lit it. "I told you before. I have it on good authority that this's where it happened the last time. I thought it'd be easier to do this way."

"We shall see." The dark figure glided forward. "Did you bring what I asked for?"

Spike nodded. "I did the best I could. It wasn't easy, let me tell you." He reached into his coat pocket, and took out what appeared to be a woman's hairbrush. "How's this?"

The demon sighed. "It will suffice." It's eyes glowed, and a lock of red hair rose from the brush and began to float in mid-air. "Before we begin, I must point out that success is not guaranteed. Opening a rift in the fabric of time and space would be difficult enough under any circumstances. Performing a retrieval under the specific conditions you have put forth is something I have never before attempted. It will require pinpoint, surgical accuracy."

"I know the routine," said Spike. "I asked around, and everybody says you're the only temporal demon capable of making this work. Do it for me, and I'll make it worth your while."

"Very well. I shall do my best." The demon's eyes flashed, and the lock of hair began to glow. "This may take a little time, however. In order to do as you ask, I must..."

Spike gestured. "Listen mate, I'm not interested in the details. Just get it done."

The demon glowered, but said nothing more as ribbons of light began to swirl and dance around it.

Across town, on the campus of UC Sunnydale, Willow Rosenberg rested her hands on her hips as she looked from one side of the dorm room to the other. Her usually well-coiffed red hair was matted and tangled, making her appear particularly frumpy in her faded blue jeans and UCS sweatshirt.

Willow sighed as Tara, her girlfriend of only a couple of months, slid out from under the bed. The pretty young blond wearing a long blue sun-dress stood up and brushed herself off.

"It's okay," said Willow. "I was just hoping maybe Miss Kitty had knocked under there while she was playing." Across the room, a cute little black and white kitten continued to groom herself, heedless of the accusing stares being half-jokingly thrown her way. "But we've looked everywhere. Where could it be?"

Tara shrugged her shoulders. "Are you sure it isn't back in your dorm room somewhere?"

"We already searched there," said Willow. "It's not like it has any value. Not in money, anyway. It's just...I got it as a birthday present from Buffy, and I'd hate to have to tell her I lost it."

Spike, who had his back turned, jerked his head up when he both saw and felt a tremendous flash of light. He looked to see the temporal demon, who was standing in the center of a smoldering ring, and it was no longer alone. The vampire's eyes narrowed as he saw the equally vampiric face glaring back at him.

"Not exactly." Spike slowly circled the new arrival. "But I do know you." He smiled. "Willow."

They were supposed to have been at Giles' a half hour ago, but since he hadn't actually said it was an emergency the missing hairbrush had taken first priority for Willow, and thus for Tara as well. When they finally got to Giles, Buffy Summers was the first person they happened to see.

The Slayer was sprawled out on the couch on her back, twirling a stake in her hands. She did not exactly look ready for battle, in jeans and a tee-shirt, so they could presume it was not an emergency. "Hey guys." She acknowledged the two of them without actually moving or getting up. "You're too late."

"Too late for what?" Willow asked, keeping Tara's hand firmly clasped in her own.

"Giles," said Xander Harris, he of the bulky jeans and several times too large shirt, as he came out of the kitchen bearing an unusually large sandwich. "He's gone."

"To visit Olivia," Buffy replied. She sat up. "He said since we still have two months before school starts up, it's the perfect opportunity for him to get away for a while. We'll have plenty of time to patrol and keep an eye out for vamps and everything, so he's off to jolly ol' England."

Willow sighed. "I wish he'd said something on the phone. We'd have gotten over here sooner."

"He just decided this morning," said Xander. "Said he barely even had time to pack."

"So what did take you so long anyway?" Buffy asked. As it turned out her timing was perfect, Xander had a mouth full of sandwich at that moment, and was unable to make the expected wry comment.

Willow shrugged her shoulders. "I misplaced...umm...something, and we were looking for it." She shook her head. "Did he say how long he was going to be gone? In case we have a Hellmouth emergency or something?"

"Don't worry about it Will," said Xander. "We've got a genuine vampire Slayer right here in our midst. I doubt being without one ex-librarian slash would-be folk singer is going to hurt us too much."

Spike watched the vampire-Willow twirl her hair in her fingers and stare at the ceiling as he tried to explain to her how she had come to be back in this reality.

How he learned of her existence for the first time just days before, when he and Anya—the eleven hundred plus years old ex-vengeance demon, and Xander's current girlfriend—spent some time talking at the Bronze. She mentioned how a plan to reacquire her power center, her necklace, accidentally resulted in bringing the vampire Willow from another dimension into this reality. Realizing such a creature would be of great use against the Slayer and her 'Scooby Gang' he arranged for a temporal demon to peer into the other reality, where he found the vampire-Willow as she reappeared after her return from the real Willow's reality, and was about to be staked on a stray piece of wood by that realities version of Oz. Spike's plan to grab the vampire-Willow moments before she would be dusted had been perfectly executed, and now she had returned with memories of her previous journey to his dimension completely intact.

Spike was already starting to wonder if he had made a mistake. He sighed. "Because the Willow of this world is the Slayer's best friend. You look exactly like her...except for maybe your skin, and that wardrobe." He shook his head. "Even so, it's perfect. She'll never see it coming."

The platinum blond vampire took a step back. He had seen this before...some humans did not react well to being killed, and then brought back as one of the undead. It appeared to have driven Red insane. "I'm not in the mood for games, doll. I brought you here for a specific reason. To help me kill the Slayer."

"Because I'm not as bad as I used to be. I've got this bloody chip in my..." Spike shook his head. "Never mind. That isn't important right now. We have to talk about the Slayer."

Willow pouted. "I don't wanna talk about her. I don't like her." Then her eyes lit up. "But I do like me." She looked up at Spike. "Is the other one still here? Pink and fuzzy?"

Spike could only guess she was talking about Willow. He nodded. "Used to be you'd find her wherever the Slayer was, or else running around with dog-boy." He smirked. "But word is, she's got a new toy now."

"I thought you would." Spike turned to the temporal demon, who had been silently standing and waiting all this time. "You really did it, mate. I guess I owe you one."

The demon shook it's head. "The continuum is now unbalanced." It glanced at Willow. "The creature may prove far more trouble than she is worth, and whatever victory you achieve with her at your side will extract a far greater price than any I could ever hope to ask for. Consider our agreement satisfied."

It stepped back into the shadows and vanished, leaving Spike puzzled. He knew from past experiences that dealing with temporal demons usually resulted in a headache. They tended to talk in riddles, and even if you happened to get a straight answer from one there was no guarantee you would understand it.

"Bloody loon." Spike shook his head, and then turned his attention back to Willow.

The plan was for them to meet Xander and Buffy and Anya at the Bronze later that evening, so they could hopefully help the Slayer forget about missing Riley Finn, her boyfriend. He was still at the court-martial hearings, and had called just recently to say he was going to away somewhat longer than he thought.

"I'll be fine," he told Buffy over the phone. "You know how the government is. You have to go through all the documents and red tape, just to get to the documents and red tape."

"Sure." Willow took Tara's hand in her own, and smiled. Even during all her time with Oz, everywhere she went and everything she did seemed to, in some way, revolved around Buffy and the Scoobies. But ever since meeting Tara, it was as if a whole new facet of life had opened up to her. She now had time to herself, to spend hanging out with someone she loved without the constant fear of being attacked by some vampire or demon. "That'd be great."

Many of the citizens of Sunnydale, human and inhuman alike, were night dwellers, and so there was generally little or no appreciable activity during the day. Not just because the vampires went up like Roman candles either—the sunlight often exposed the darker side of humankind as well, so most everyone preferred the night.

Spike and Willow emerged from their makeshift hiding place as soon as the sun went down. They had not made it back to the cemetery as he'd intended, the daylight coming upon them faster than he anticipated, forcing the two vampires to duck into one of the many abandoned warehouses in that part of town. As it happened a couple of street people apparently had a similar idea, and the redhead had quite a feast as she waited for dusk.

Spike, unfortunately, had to watch and salivate. The chip in his head prevented him from harming any living thing in any way, which meant he couldn't feed. It was fortunate for him the vampire Willow did not notice, or she might have questioned why he did not take part in such a scrumptious feast.

The redhead ran her hands up and down the length of her body as they stepped outside. "Time to play."

"First thing's first," Spike said as he lit a cigarette. "We're going to have to get you some decent clothes."

Spike frowned. "So do I. But Red doesn't. If this's going to work, we're going to have to make you look as much like the real Willow as possible, and that means..."

He started as she turned on him, her face suddenly vampiric. "I am Willow!" she snarled.

"Of course you are." Spike held up his hands. "My mistake." Her face humanized, her eyes losing focus again, and he shook his head. 'This chippie is just as loony as Dru,' he said to himself.

"But maybe you're right," said Willow. "Last time, I fooled the Slayer because I looked like the other me. If I look even more like me this time, maybe I can play with all their bones."

Spike puffed on his cigarette. 'I was wrong,' he said to himself. "She's even worse than Dru."

When she saw all the people present, some of them even looking their way, the blond instinctively even started to pull her arm away. But the redhead stopped her, and shook her head.

"It's okay." Willow tightened her hand around Tara's, and then kissed it. "Really."

Tara smiled and leaned closer to her girlfriend as the two of them strode across the search floor in search of Buffy and the others. They found her, along with Xander and Anya, sitting on a couch sipping mochas.

"So then it's been a good day for everybody," said Xander. "I got a call from the guy who runs Video Palace. He said they were looking for help. Someone who really knows about videos, and..."

Anya nodded. "...and since Xander rents all of our pornography there, he immediately thought of him."

Willow offered Tara the chair, and then sat down on the arm beside her. "You'll do fine, Xander."

Back in an alley across the street from the Bronze, Spike stood with his arms crossed and watched as Willow sank her fangs into the neck of a young brunette girl who had been heading to the club when the vampire grabbed her. She never even had the chance to scream before the life was drained from her.

Watching the redhead feed was beginning to make Spike hungry, and more than a little jealous. That, in fact, was one of the reasons he had stopped associating with other vampires. The main one, of course, had to do with the demon society as a whole turning its back on him because of his perceived relationship with the Slayer and her friends, but he also did not like to be reminded of the monster he could no longer be.

Willow finished feeding on the girl, and then dropped her lifeless body to the ground. She glared with open disgust at the pink sweater and long skirt her victim was wearing, and then turned to Spike. "Do I have to?" she whined. "She's so fuzzy. It makes me itch to dress like that."

Spike shook his head. "If you want to pass yourself off as Willow..." She growled, and he dropped his cigarette. "The Willow from this world, I mean. If you want to make people think you're her, then you'll have to dress like her. Since we can't get you into her dorm room..." One vampire could not invite another into a mortal's home, even if they themselves had previously been invited in. "...we'll just have to make do."

Willow pouted. She peeled off the tight leather outfit she was wearing, and for a few moments she was totally nude as she began to strip off the dead girl's clothing.

Spike stared in spite of himself. He did not normally look at mortal girls in that way, but looking at this vampire was literally the same as looking at the Slayer's best friend. He had always believed Willow to be the more attractive of the two, but now he was certain she looked even better as a vampire.

Willow finished dressing, and turned to find Spike was staring at her. She smiled. "I like you."

"Don't wanna work." Willow ran her fingers up and down his arm. "Wanna play. Come on, let's be bad." She smiled. "I promise I won't tell anyone if you don't."

Spike was having mixed emotions. He was, in some perverse way, attracted to this woman. On the other hand...and then the part of his internal self that had been arguing suddenly caught itself. 'What the bloody hell am I doing?' He hadn't had any good times since he broke up with Harmony, and even that wasn't always so good. Harmony was as wrapped up in herself as a vampire as when she was alive, maybe more so since she could no longer see her reflection in a mirror. Red appeared to be genuinely willing, so what was the problem?

"Well?" Willow asked, more than a little annoyed. Her interest seemed to be waning ever so slightly, probably because she could not tell if he was interested or not.

Buffy spent most of her seated on the couch, staring at the wall or half-listening to the band onstage, though if asked she would have been hard-pressed to recall the name of even one of the songs played that night. She was zoned out, all it seemed she could concentrate on was missing Riley, and her favorite pastime—slaying—had tapered off considerably since a certain charismatic demonoid's death left a void in the demonic community.

Xander, to his credit, did the best he could to make Buffy smile or laugh. Unfortunately he kept being distracted and sidelined by Anya, who did not seem to understand why they were there at all. In eleven hundred and something years she'd developed little in the way of interpersonal relationship skills, and generally speaking the only person she genuinely liked to spend time around was Xander.

Willow and Tara had a little more success, at least at first. Every time they got up to dance, which was more often since their relationship became 'public', they invited Buffy to join them. Once, probably just so they would stop pestering her, she agreed, and for a few minutes actually appeared to be enjoying herself. But, before too long, the Slayer started to notice the way the duo was leaning close and talking, smiling at one another and holding hands while they danced and she started to feel more and more like a third wheel.

"I think I'm gonna take off," Buffy said, when they returned to the others. "Maybe patrol the cemetery."

"I'll be fine," the Slayer replied. "You guys stay here and have fun. Somebody ought to."

Spike was still getting dressed as Willow, who had already put her clothes back on, wandered out to the mouth of the alley and glared across the street at the Bronze.

"Who?" Spike put on his duster and stepped up behind her. "Oh." He saw Buffy, alone for a change. "The Slayer. I thought maybe you meant the other Willow."

"I don't like her," said Willow, indicating Buffy. "I want to rip out her heart and eat it as a snack."

Spike arched an eyebrow. "Yum." He then lit a cigarette. "We can't just go after the Slayer."

"She may not look it," said Spike. "But little miss goody-two-shoes is a ball of fire. She'd kick the crap out of the both of us if we just attacked her. That's not why I brought you here anyway."

"Attacking the Slayer is just asking to be dusted," said Spike. "Instead, we're going to go after her friends."

Spike frowned. "Excuse me? It sounded like you needed me just a few minutes ago."

"You used me?" Spike was stunned, sort of. "You're not really as crazy as you act, are you?"

Willow ran her fingers up and down his chest, and smiled. "Of course I am. But you're in my way. You're not like my puppy, or my Xander. You don't fight, you don't eat..." She glanced down at the ground where she and Spike had been just a short time before. "...and there are other things you don't do well either. I don't need you."

Spike's jaw went slack, and Willow took the cigarette out of his mouth. Still grinning, she put it out with the palm of her left hand, not even flinching as her skin smoldered. She then tossed it aside and turned her back on him. As she was walking away she waved, revealing the cigarette burn had already healed.

Buffy got the distinct impression she was being followed, but each time she stopped and looked back over her shoulder there was never anyone there. While it certainly wasn't unusual for vampires or demons to stalk her prior to attacking, it had been nearly an hour since she had left the Bronze.

'Get on with it,' the Slayer said to herself. 'If you want to fight, let's fight.'

Eventually, Buffy got fed up with the waiting, and decided to take matters into her own hands. She paused at the next crypt she came to, grabbed one of the pillars on either side of the door and propelled herself to the top of the structure with ease. She then crouched down, out of sight, and waited.

Minutes passed, and nothing happened. Buffy was just about to give up and go home when she heard footsteps. Someone was approaching, and from the light sound of their footsteps either they were trying to be quiet, or else it was a smaller person who simply had a lighter gait. She slid a stake out of her sleeve.

The Slayer tensed as someone came into view, and then all of the air was released from her lungs as she recognized who it was. "Will?" She rolled off the top of the crypt as the redhead turned to face her, her face pale. "Sorry. I didn't expect to see you. What's going on?"

Buffy realized her friend had changed her clothes, and she was alone. "Where's Tara?"

Willow hesitated—a significant pause that the Slayer might have commented on, had a wild-looking vampire not leapt out of the shadows at them at that moment. The redhead stepped out of the way, an odd smile on her face, while Buffy turned and drove a stake into the unsuspecting bloodsucker's heart. She turned her back as he snarled and disintegrated, his body being scattered on the breeze as the Slayer sighed.

"Some people are just so rude," Buffy said. "Interrupting our conversation like that."

"Thanks," Buffy replied. "I work out." It was dark, in this part of the cemetery, so she had to move closer to get a better look at her friend. "Will, are you okay? You seem pale."

"I'm fine," the redhead said after a moment. "Just a little tired..." She licked her lips. "...and hungry."

Buffy nodded. "We could go get something to eat. Or are you staying over at Tara's?"

"Tara." Willow smiled. "Yes, I think I'll go see Tara." She looked around. "But I'm a little worried, after the vamp attack. Could you walk me to her place?"

She and Willow had left the Bronze, shortly after Buffy, with the intention of going back to the dorm and 'practicing some spells' as they euphemistically liked to call it. But the redhead was so worried about her friend, that she asked if it would be all right for her to take a rain check so she could find Buffy and help her get past missing Riley. The two Wiccans had agreed to meet up for breakfast the next morning.

Tara playfully rolled the kitten over on her back, and was just rubbing her little belly when she heard a knock on the door. Once upon a time she probably would have simply asked "who is it?" or just said "come in", but since Willow warned her about vampires, and their inability to enter a home without being invited, she had been more cautious. Carefully putting Miss Kitty out of sight, since she was not actually supposed to have a pet, she went to the door. "Willow." She started to smile, until she realized her girlfriend was not alone. "Oh, hi Buffy."

"Hi, Tara." The Slayer, who was holding Willow's arm, then stepped aside. "Will wasn't feeling well, and I told her I would walk her to your place. I have, so...I'll see you guys later."

"Of course not." Tara moved out of her way, and gestured toward the room. "Come on in."

A smirk passed quickly over Willow's face. "Thank you." She entered, and Tara closed the door behind her.

Buffy entered the dorm room she and Willow shared, to discover the redhead laying on her own bed with an open book in her lap. "Will?" The Slayer took off her jacket. "How'd you get back here so fast?"

"What do you mean?" Willow asked. "I've been here waiting for you. How'd the slaying go?"

"Fine. I killed another vamp." Buffy shook her head. "Will, I left you over at Tara's. How'd you get back here ahead of me anyway? And why'd you change clothes?"

Willow stood up. "Buffy, I've been here for nearly an hour. I walked Tara back to her dorm and then I came here to wait for you. I haven't seen you since you left the Bronze."

Buffy frowned. "Something's wrong. I took somebody who looked and sounded exactly like you to see Tara."

When they arrived at Tara's a few minutes later, Buffy and Willow found the place a shambles.

Most of the furniture was trashed, the mirror had been shattered, all the posters and pictures had been torn down as well as the string of pretty white lights. It looked like a tornado had gone through the room, but was very selective about it's course of damage. Everything remotely related to Willow...photos, clothes, had been intentionally and obviously targeted, almost as if whoever had done it had been attempting to wipe out her presence all together.

"N-No...no...this can't...who could have done this?" Willow was pale and trembling as she entered the room. "Tara?" Her voice was a frightened squeak. "Miss Kitty? Please, no..."

"Take it easy Will." Buffy clasped her friend's arm. "There's no blood. I doubt Tara put up much of a struggle. She was probably knocked out and taken away somewhere, while someone trashed her room to make a point." She turned. "I think they wanted us to know it has something to do with you, Will."

"I don't know," Buffy replied. "But I promise I won't stop looking until I find her. Someone hurts Tara, they're going to have to deal with one pissed off Slayer."

Both girls turned as they heard a muffled mewling sound from underneath what remained of the bed. Since it was a lost cause anyway, Buffy flexed her Slayer-strengthened arms and shoved aside the mattress and frame, to uncover a shivering, wide-eyed little black and white ball of nerves.

Willow smiled slightly. "Miss Kitty." She gathered the terrified up into her arms, and kissed her head. "I'm glad you are all right," she whispered. "But I just wish you could talk so you could tell us what happened to Tara." Tears filling her eyes. the redhead turned to Buffy. "What are we going to do?"

"I wish Giles was here," said the Slayer. "He's really good with this investigative stuff."

Willow found that even stroking Miss Kitty could not calm her nerves. The kitten seemed to be on-edge to, though it was understandable considering what she had probably been through. "We can't just stand here. We have to do something. If anything happens to her, it's because of me. She wouldn't be in trouble if she hadn't met me."

"Don't talk like that." Buffy frowned. "Will, if it wasn't for you, the Gentlemen probably would have caught Tara that first night. If it wasn't for Tara, we all might have lost to Caldon." She put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "And, most importantly, if you two hadn't found one another, you wouldn't be in love right now."

After a moment, the redhead nodded. "Maybe. But I still can't help thinking this is all because of me."

As she opened her eyes she was struck with a sudden bout of vertigo, and closed them again. Too much light, too much noise, it was hard for her to think. For the time being, she concentrated on getting her breathing under control, and trying to remember what had happened to get her in this position.

"Finally," a throaty voice purred, right in her ear. "I was starting to think you'd never wake up."

Tara shivered as a chill shot up and down her spine. She knew who it was, she remembered now, but that actually did not make her feel any better. Far from it. "N-No..."

Fighting back tears, Tara opened her eyes, and looked into the pale face of her beloved. "Willow?"

Tara shifted, trying to get comfortable, but realized it was impossible with her hands tied above her head. She'd been stripped down to her underwear, and someone had casually tossed her clothes off in the corner. "Willow, why are you doing this? What's the matter with you?"

"I want to play," said the redhead. She reached out and stroked Tara's cheek, and the blond flinched—as much from an ugly bruise forming there, as the fact Willow's hand was cold. Very cold. "Don't you?"

Tara remembered it all now...the two of them sitting on the bed, first talking and then kissing. Noticing a strange lack of passion from the redhead. She had leaned back and was just about to say something when she looked into Willow's eyes and, for the first time, saw no trace of the woman she loved there. It was as if she were dead inside. She saw Willow's face contort, becoming all of the sudden monstrous, and she gasped as the other woman reached for her. They struggled for a few moments, but in the end it was a useless battle on Tara's part, if something had happened to Willow then she was not so sure she wanted to live anymore anyway.

The redhead's face changed, as the vampire took over. "No more talking. I want to play now."

"I don't think so." Willow turned, and Tara twisted around enough to see Spike standing in the door of the crypt with a cigarette in his hand. "This isn't what I brought you here for, you know."

"You're not exactly the most difficult person to track you know," Spike replied. "I've been on your trail since you took off after the Slayer." He shook his head. "Why didn't you kill her when you had the chance?"

"You and your bloody games." Spike strolled into the crypt, tossing the cigarette over his shoulder. "You're not here to play with witches. I had you conjured up to take care of the Slayer."

Willow shook her head. "No." She growled. "I don't take orders from you, puppy."

Spike knew enough about this Willow to recognize she only used that nickname for people she had slept with. 'Biggest mistake of my life,' he said to himself. "Listen, Red..."

Willow turned from Tara, her face still vampiric, and snarled. "The last person who called me that...I tore his heart out of his chest and ate it with my bare hands. You leave now."

Tara heard the two vampires arguing—technically over her—but all she could think about was that she'd lost the woman she loved. 'Willow,' she said to herself. 'I'm sorry.'

Even though it was late, Xander and Anya came right over to Giles' when Buffy called.

She had been strangely vague on the phone, and when they arrived and she finished explaining the situation to them he, at least, understood why. Willow was curled up on the couch with Miss Kitty Fantastico curled up in her lap, her cheeks soaked and red from crying, but she was past the tears now. She was into the shock stage, where she sat and just stared at the walls, and gave no sign of even being aware when the others arrived.

"Do you have any idea who did this?" Xander whispered, from the relative privacy of the kitchen.

Buffy shook her head. "No," she replied, also keeping her voice down. "I don't think it was a vampire. I can't imagine Tara would be careless enough to invite one into her room."

"But didn't you say the person you took to Tara's looked and sounded exactly like Willow?" Xander asked. "Don't you remember a certain redheaded vampire we came across a while back?"

"I thought about her," said Buffy. "But that was more than a year ago, and we sent her back to her own world. There is no way she could get back..." The Slayer paused, and turned to Anya. "...is there?"

The ex-demon shrugged her shoulders. "Not on her own. But there are demons, and some sorcerers, who can manipulate time and space." She frowned. "I used to be able to. I'd still be able too if it wasn't for Giles." Anya was the only one of them who had any memory of the alternate world which formed when Cordelia Chase made a wish to the vengeance demon Anyanka. Eventually, she told them what she knew, and how her efforts to regain her power center, led to the Willow of that reality being brought into their own. They had just barely stopped her the last time, and with help from Anya managed to send her back to her own world. "Still, I guess it is possible."

"But why?" said Xander. "It's crazy. Why go to all that trouble, when there's got to be so many easier ways to get a vampire to go after Tara? Something doesn't track."

Buffy was silent for a moment. "You're right. Which means, this can't just be about Tara. If we're right, someone was after the vampire Willow specifically. Maybe Tara just got in the way."

"Okay, but who?" Xander asked. "Who would have that kind of power and influence? Ethan?"

Buffy shook her head. "No." Ethan Rayne, an old friend of Giles', and a magic user of ill repute, had been a major pain in the ass on more than one occasion. Most recently, he had turned Giles into a demon. "If Ethan was behind this I think we'd know it by now. He's never been one for keeping a low profile."

"I think I know," said Anya. They both turned. "Xander, do you remember when we had that disagreement concerning the nature of our relationship? Whether it was purely sexual or something more?"

"How could I forget?" he asked. "Though it was really more of a screaming match. Why do you ask?"

"I ended up at the Bronze," Anya continued. "With Spike. We both consumed large quantities of alcohol and complained about the direction of our lives. He was upset because the chip in his head has neutered him, and I was reminiscing about the days when my power center gave me unlimited freedom." She lowered her eyes, but not her voice. "I may have mentioned how I brought the other Willow out, and how we sent her back."

"Because at the time I didn't think anything of it. We were both upset. And the only reason I remembered at all now, is because the both of you mentioning the other Willow reminded me."

"Do you think it could be Spike?" Xander asked. "Once again trying to make our lives miserable?"

Buffy nodded. "I'd say he's our prime suspect. We should go look for him..." She paused. "...but, someone needs to stay here, with Will. The last thing she needs is to be alone right now."

Sure enough, Miss Kitty Fantastico was sitting on the couch all alone, and the front door was wide open. Willow was nowhere to be seen.

Buffy shook her head. "No, but she can certainly hurt him. And if Willow dusts Spike, before he tells us where the vampire Willow is, then we may never be able to find Tara."

He hit the ground rolling and landed hard on his stomach, where he lay there for a few moments with his jaw throbbing from a backhanded blow he hadn't even seen coming.

As Spike was starting to get back to his feet, Willow emerged from the crypt as well. She still had her 'game' face on and bared her fangs in a sneer as she kicked Spike in the side of the head. He tumbled and rolled, ending up flat on his back as she put the heel of her boot to his throat.

Still inside the crypt, Tara realized the two vampires were not going to be coming back any time soon, and she saw it as her opportunity to act. Perhaps the only one she would have.

The blond Wiccan raised her head and glared at the ropes binding her hand. One whispered incantation later, and the knots began to unravel on their own. She sighed as her exhausted arms dropped limply to her sides, and she desperately looked around for a way out. Unfortunately, the only entrance to the crypt was also the only exit, and if she wanted to get away she would have to go past the two vampires to do it.

'Maybe,' she said to herself as she was getting dressed. 'If I wait until they're really distracted...'

Spike was becoming increasingly sick and tired of being tossed around like a rag doll by women...first Buffy, then Dru in a sense, and now some crazy vampire bitch who was only there in the first place because of him. His eyes narrowed, he put his 'game' face on, and he snarled like a rabid beast.

Even Willow was surprised by the suddenness of Spike's attack. He jerked his up head and bit her on the ankle, and when she recoiled, snarling, he leapt to his feet and kicked her in the stomach. She doubled over, and he kicked right in the face with enough force to knock her off her own feet. He then came down upon the other vampire, straddling her waist, and wrapped his strong hands around her throat.

Since vampires did not need to breath he could not actually strangle her, but it was certainly possible for him to snap her neck like a twig if he exerted enough force. He was not quite ready to do that just yet, however, because as wild as she was this Willow had promise. She had been able to fool both Buffy and Tara with relative ease, and that made him wonder if she wasn't the perfect weapon against the 'Scoobies' after all.

"Now listen..." he said through clenched teeth. "I'll kill you if I have to, but I think we can work things out. We still might be able to help each other, if you'll just give me a chance to explain!"

Willow shook her head. "No more talk!" She brought her knees up into Spike's stomach, and as he was lifted off she punched him in the face and then rolled out from under him. He slammed back down into the ground face-first, while she got to her feet and straddled his back, her face once again human. "Play now?"

Spike snarled. "Get off me you crazy..." His words became muffled when Willow grabbed a handful of his platinum blond hair and rubbed his face into the dirt. "I'll rip out your..." Every few seconds she would lift his head, and if he continued to sputter and curse, which he did, she would push it right back down again. "Enough!"

"No," Spike said with a sigh. "Puppy is tired of having his mouth full of dirt. Get off me."

"I'm through playing games," said Spike. "You want to play with Red's..." She snarled, and he paused. "...your girlfriend? That's fine with me. I'll be around when the Slayer dusts you." He turned to leave.

"Please? Don't go." The redhead undid the top few buttons of her sweater. "I want to play. Don't you?"

"Why not?" Spike turned, his arms flexing as he ripped the tombstone right out of the ground. Despite the fact it had to way several hundred pounds he swung it like a baseball bat, or a club, shattering it upside the head of a wide-eyed and unsuspecting Willow. She was viciously thrown back against the side of the crypt, and slid to the ground, her eyes drifting closed as she shuddered into unconsciousness. "Glad that's over."

Spike's face fell. Willow's voice. But that was impossible. As a vampire she would certainly have survived, but there was no way she could be conscious again yet. No one was that tough. He turned. Willow was there alright, on her feet and angry, but it was not the vampire he had just defeated. The real, still alive redheaded best friend of the Slayer clasped a crossbow in her hands, and had it aimed directly at his heart.

Unknown to Spike, Tara was already several hundred yards away and still running.

As soon as she realized the two vampires were fighting too hard to notice her, she made her escape. Unfortunately, it was too dark to be wandering around the cemetery, and she got turned around more than once. Just when it seemed hopeless, and she was prepared to stop and try a locator spell to find the exit, she heard voices. Familiar ones, approaching from a direction she had not yet tried to run in.

Through the trees, Tara breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Buffy, Xander and Anya. The Slayer had a stake in her hand, he was carrying a wicked-looking dagger, and she held a flashlight. Tired, sore and gasping for air, the Wiccan stumbled out on to the trail and in to their line of sight.

"Tara!" Buffy rushed forward and put an arm out to support her. "Are you all right?"

Tara pointed. "Back there, somewhere. With Spike." She sighed. "She's a vampire. Somebody..."

"No." Buffy shook her head. "Well yes, but it's not our Willow. It's complicated. Xander, help me out?"

"Me? Umm, no, I think I'll refer to the resident expert in alternate realities here. An?"

The ex-demon crossed her arms. "A vampire Willow from a world where Buffy never came to Sunnydale," she said in a very matter of factly way. "Willow and I accidentally brought her here last year, and now apparently Spike has brought her back for reasons I can only imagine include slaying the Slayer."

"For now," said Buffy. "But our Willow, the Willow we both love, is still in trouble. We think she's going to come after Spike because she thinks he has you." She frowned. "Speaking of which, how did you get away?"

"A little magic," Tara replied. "I was going to cast a locator spell to try and find my way out of this place. Maybe I should do one to help us find Willow instead?"

Buffy shook her head. "I don't think that's necessary, yet. Why don't you show us where Spike and the other Willow are? We can always figure out our next move from there."

"I'll try," said Tara. "But I've gotten so turned around, I'm not sure which way is which."

Spike stood in the middle of the now empty crypt, with a length of room in his hands.

In the doorway stood Willow. The real Willow. "Right." She was aiming a crossbow she had taken from Giles' on the way out, and had her teeth clenched. "Like I'm supposed to trust you?"

Spike snarled. "I don't care if you trust me or not! But, since I'm facing the pointy end of oblivion here, with no way to defend myself, do you honestly think I would lie to you about this?"

He nodded. "Well, that is true." She gestured with the crossbow, and he shook his head. "But I am not lying to you now. Your bad seed self out there grabbed your girlfriend 'cause she said she wanted to play."

"And you're telling me you had nothing to do with it?" Willow asked. "Why do I find that so hard to believe?"

"Maybe because working with Buffy has made you jaded," Spike replied. "I had the other you brought here because she was going to be my final bit of badness against the Slayer. I knew she'd never be able to fight with a vamp-version of her best friend, and I'd be free to...well, whatever."

"She's out of her bloody gourd, that's what. She's certifiable. Makes that other Slayer, what's her name? Faith? She's a poster child for sanity next to you. Or her." Spike shook his head. "I'm getting a headache trying to keep all of it straight. Point is, it's over. Your chippie is safe, so just bugger off."

"I can't do that," said Willow. "You got us into this mess, and now you're going to get us out."

Spike glanced past the redhead momentarily, and then gritted his teeth. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're going to help us send her back to her own world," Willow replied.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Spike asked. "Wouldn't it just be easier to stake her and be down with it?"

Willow nodded. "Maybe. But she doesn't belong in our world, she deserves to be back in her own, and besides..." She sighed. "I don't think I could bring myself to hurt someone with my own face."

"How pathetically generous of you," said Spike. "Too bad she can't say the same thing."

Too late, Willow heard the footsteps coming up behind her. Someone struck her in the back of the head and she went down, landing in a crumpled heap, while Spike reached out and caught the crossbow. He glanced up at the vampiric Willow, who glared down at her human twin with an angry sneer on her face.

Tara really had gotten turned around, and she could not immediately direct them back to that crypt where she had last seen Spike and Willow. Worse, so many of the tombstones and crypts looked alike, especially in the dark, that she was not able to use any of them as landmarks to help her find her way.

"Willow," she sighed, at a moment when then had stopped to take a break. "I'm sorry."

Buffy shook her head. "It's okay. We'll find it sooner or later. After all, this place isn't that big."

"Are we even sure she's here at all?" Xander asked. "I mean, I know she was going after Spike, but how can you be certain she'd come here?"

Xander shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, so we keep looking. Just as long as you don't suggest we split up. 'cause we've done that before, and it never really works out the way it's supposed to."

Two vampires—one armed with a weapon, courtesy of the unconscious redhead at Willow's feet. Neither of them willing to make the first move, but also not ready to give the other a chance to take it either.

Spike shook his head. "No you don't. Trust me. My temporal demon friend showed me the world you come from. It's not really much better off that this one, just a little different. And even if we did send you back, you'd just end up staked in a few seconds, courtesy of your would-be dog-boy." He smiled. "Which, when you think about it, is kind of ironic. He kills you in that world, and Red there kills his chance of a relationship with her in this one."

Willow cocked her head. "You mean that white-hat? The one who talked to me like we were friends in the Bronze? I wondered about him." She frowned. "He...and me? Are together?"

"Were," said Spike. "Until he ran off, and Willow hooked up with Blondie. Interesting couple that."

Willow pouted. "I don't like this world. You say I can't go back to mine. So what am I supposed to do?"

"Help me," Spike replied. "We get rid of the Slayer, and we can make this world as much like yours as we want. You could even make her..." He gestured at the other Willow. "...into a vampire, Blondie too. Then the three of you can have a grand old time." He smiled. "What do you say?"

"I like the idea," Willow replied. She raised her head. "But I don't need you. You can't even bite."

Spike's eyes narrowed. "Just had to bring that up didn't you?" He pointed the crossbow and fired, not taking the time to aim. As a result his shot missed her heart by a mile, and the way she twisted to one side caused the bolt to go even further off-course, digging through part of her left shoulder. "Bloody hell!"

Had it been a normal wooden crossbow bolt the wound might have been minor and would already had started healing, even thought it still would have hurt a great deal. But as it happened it was a specially treated crossbow bolt, soaked in holy water for one thing, and Willow bellowed in pain when her flesh began to sizzle.

Tara, Buffy, Xander and Anya all raised their heads as they heard the cry echoing through the eerie silence of the cemetery. One by one, they came to the same realization.

Buffy's Slayer-hearing allowed her to pinpoint the direction of the sound. "Follow me!" She took off with an incredible burst of speed, her legs making lengthy strides the others couldn't match.

Spike had probably expected, at the very least, that the crossbow bolt would incapacitate Willow, even if he happened to miss her heart. So when the other vampire howled in pain and leapt at him, he was caught totally flat-footed, and unable to defend himself from what happened next.

Willow rammed into his stomach with enough force to lift Spike off his feet, and sent him flying back into the shadowy inside of the empty crypt. There was a resounding thud as he struck the far wall, while she grabbed the heavy stone door and slammed it closed, sealing him inside.

The redhead's shoulder was still throbbing with pain, though at least the bleeding had stopped, and she snarled as she crouched down beside her alternate self.

"You're more trouble than you're worth," Willow said. "Maybe I should just kill you and get it over with."

She jerked her head up as she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Someone was crashing through the brush more rapidly than any normal human, yet she could sense the pounding heartbeat and flesh blood of a mortal. That could only mean one thing, and the redhead snarled angrily.

Willow scooped the other Willow up into her arms, despite the pain it caused her, and stood. She wasn't prepared to deal with the Slayer just yet, that would come at a time and a place of her own choosing. Right now, she knew she needed to get far away and plan her next move.

Buffy arrived mere moments later, but it was too little too late. By the time she stomped into that clearing the two Willow's were long gone, and with all the dirt and dust filling the air she was unable to make sense of any tracks. She got the feeling she had been on the verge of finding her friend, but now that opportunity had been snatched right out of her hands.

"Damn." The Slayer sighed as her arms dropped limply to her sides. "I'm sorry, Will."

Buffy turned, her eyes narrowing, as she heard the door of the nearby crypt beginning to open...from the inside. Willow or not she was prepared, and moved into a battle-ready posture, her stake in hand.

Spike stuck his head out of the crypt, his angry vampiric face becoming human again when he saw Buffy. "Oh." He took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. "It's you." He shook his head. "You're too late you know. The little witch sucker-punched me and took off with Red."

"How should I know?" said Spike. "I broke it off as soon as I realized how bloody mad she was."

Buffy arched an eyebrow. "You broke it off?" Now she lowered the stake, he was no threat to her. "The way I heard it, she was the one who nearly broke you in half, Spike."

Spike nodded. "She should be. If your Red's got it in her head to be half as daft as the other one, you all had best keep a close eye on her. Very dangerous chippie, that one."

"Why did you do it?" Buffy asked. "Why did you bring the other Willow back to our world?"

"Why do you think?" said Spike. "I know this might be hard for you to remember, but we are enemies. I hate you even more than you hate me, believe it or not, and I'd enjoy nothing more in this world than ripping your still-beating heart from your chest and eating it while you watch." He frowned. "But thanks to your boyfriend, and those commando geeks of his, I'm stuck in neutral. So I have to settle for finding someone else to do my dirty work for me, and since most other demons in this town won't even give me the time of day anymore, I had to look elsewhere."

Buffy blinked. "Nice ramble. You should really try and cut down on the caffeine, Spike. It's bad for the nerves." She glanced over her shoulder as Tara, Xander and finally Anya arrived. "Sorry. guys. According to the fangless wonder here, Willow two made off with the real Willow. We're too late."

Tara shook her head. "W-We can't be. W-We have to find her, before..." Her words trailed off, as she wasn't about to finish that thought out loud. Hey eyes welled up with tears.

"We'll find her," said Buffy. "I swear if it's the last thing I do, I will find Willow."

Willow woke with a mouth full of cotton, and a headache that threatened to split her skull apart from the inside. She sat up, knowing she had to still be alive since death could not possibly hurt so much.

"W-Where...where am I?" It was too dark for her to see her surroundings, but the feel of the floor beneath her told her she was indoors somewhere, at least.

Willow shuddered as she felt a cold, unseen hand caress her cheek. "You're home," a voice whispered in her ear. The declaration was followed by a lick to her face and neck.

Willow didn't have to ask who it was. She already knew. Certainly she could recognize her own voice. Moments later the lights flicked on, and she had to shield her eyes. When she could see again, she gasped. "Wha...the dorm?" The room she and Buffy shared, to be exact. "But how?" She turned, to look into her own face. "You shouldn't be able to come into our home. You were never invited in."

"Wasn't I?" the other Willow asked. "This is your home, after all. And I'm you."

Willow's eyes widened as she realized the vampire was right. As a human, her soul lay claim to this place. And while she did not actually have a soul the vampiric version of herself had technically been 'invited in' when she moved in several months prior. Over the years she had studied everything there was to know about vampires, but none of the texts or their writers had ever anticipated this eventuality.

Putting a hand her head, which was still throbbing from the blow she had taken in the cemetery, Willow lurched to her feet and backed away from her vampiric twin. It was then she realized that she had been stripped, down to her under- wear in fact, and that the other Willow was in the same condition—except she had no underwear.

"I imagine your Slayer friend won't think to look for us here," said the vampire. "Or at least, by the time she does, we'll be long gone." Willow smiled. "I've decided I like you. I want to play."

Willow shuddered at the mere thought of a...creature with her face touching her. Doing things to her a part of her was still trying to get used to doing with Tara. Her eyes widened. "Tara!"

The vampire pouted. "Aww, you're here with me, and all you can think about is your puppy? I'm hurt."

The vampire shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, and I don't care. I'm with you now. We're together."

"Not on your unlife." Willow frowned. "And put some clothes on, would you? You're starting to creep me out."

Xander agreed, since he was just as worried about Willow as she was, and Anya went along because she wasn't willing to let her boyfriend spend time alone with someone he used to have a crush on.

"I want to try a spell," she announced to the group. "To seek out Willow. I know a couple that might work."

The Wiccan lowered her gaze. "Maybe...fifty fifty. Better, if Giles has the right supplies."

"Good idea," said Buffy. "Only it could take too much time we don't have. Tara, why don't you stay here and try your spell? The rest of us can..."

"Do nothing, without me." Spike stood in the doorway, watching them and smoking a cigarette.

Buffy frowned. "What in the hell are you doing here? This is all your fault, you know. What could possibly make you think we'd ever want your help?"

The vampire shrugged his shoulders as he strolled in. "Easy. You know as well as I do, there's no way this is going to end like it did the last time. She won't want to go back to her world."

Spike glanced at each one of them, and then turned back to Buffy. "You'll have to kill her to stop her this time, and I doubt any one of you has the courage to do it."

"It has nothing to do with nobility." Spike growled. "I owe her, and I intend to see she pays."

Buffy sighed. "Look, at this point, all I want to do is find Willow. You wanna tag along? Fine with me. Just stay out of our way, or so help me..."

"Do what you can," Buffy said to Tara. The Wiccan nodded, and headed for Giles' occult book collection. "Come on guys. I know where we should go first."

In Sunnydale, when one had questions of the supernatural persuasion, there was only one man to see.

Although he was human, the mousy little owner of the bar of the same name catered to people and creatures from every walk of life, and some who didn't live at all. Humans, vampires, demons, everyone was welcome as long as they had cash to spend and were willing to abide by Willy's house rules.

No violence was the main one. The bar itself was, for the most part, considered neutral territory. Even vampires and demons who would normally kill each other for sport stayed pretty much to themselves on the premises, and so there was a general perception that the place was sort of a safe haven.

But whenever the Slayer needed help she could not get from her friends, or books she would come to Willy, and that caused tension among his inhuman clientele. Since she didn't patrol the area, however, and had never rousted anyone in the bar except Willy himself, and because not all of them knew what the Slayer actually looked like in person, most vampires and demons were never any the wiser.

So when Willy glanced up from tending a vampire at the bar, and saw Buffy and two of her friends enter, a momentary look of panic crossed his face. To his credit he recovered quickly, particularly when he realized none of the creatures in the bar had noticed her, and ushered Buffy to the other end of the bar.

"What is it this time?" he asked, his voice a little more than a whisper. "You're really bad for business."

"Sorry Willy," Buffy replied. "But this one's important. I don't have time for our usual routine. I need to know about a new vampire in town. One who looks just like my friend Willow."

"You mean the redhead?" Willy asked. "Someone turned her? I'm sorry to hear that."

Buffy resisted the urge to reach across the bar and throttle him. "Don't play dumb with me, Willy."

"I'm not playing." Willy picked up a glass and began cleaning it. "I haven't heard anything about new vamps..." He paused, and a familiar gleam in his eyes informed Buffy he was on to something.

Willy rubbed his chin. "I heard your buddy Spike hired out a temporal demon recently. Rumor was he wanted to bring a new player on to the field, somebody from another world."

"That's it." Willy shrugged his shoulders. "Spike doesn't come in much anymore, none of the other demons trust him, so I don't have any confirmation one way or the other. I suggest you go talk to him."

Willy, of course, had no way of knowing they had already done that. Spike had told them everything he had gone through to get the temporal demon, and to find the Willow in the other world, and refused to come inside with the others when the four of them got to Willy's. He was still waiting outside.

"You don't have anything else?" Buffy asked. "Where this someone from another world might be?"

She had a book in her lap, a bowl full of water in front of her, and a lit candle on either side of her. In her hands she held a picture of Willow taken from one of Giles' photographs. She knew he wouldn't mind, especially if—when, Tara corrected herself—they got Willow back.

"Trinity of life and heart and home...I beseech you to hear my plea...grant me this boon and open my minds eye to locate the one I love. I ask this freely, I ask this humbly...please..."

Tara's hands reflexively jerked open as she felt a rush of heat from the photograph, and she opened her eyes to see it land in the bowl of water. The picture began to twirl as the water churned and boiled, while tendrils of gray mist rose into the air and surrounded her, swirling into an image.

Two of them, to be exact. Standing in the middle of a room. A room she recognized.

One of the redhead's was just pulling a blouse down over her head, while the other stood with her hands on her hips and appeared to be angry. Unfortunately, the spell did not allow for sound as well, so Tara could not understand what that Willow was upset about, but from the look of things she could tell which one was which.

'That must be the vampire,' Tara said to herself. 'In blue. Willow's wearing red, and she's in blue." In her haste to get up she accidentally kicked the bowl, dumping out the water and the picture, and the mists quickly faded, taking with them the image of the two Willows. But it didn't matter. She had what she needed.

"I'm coming." Tara grabbed a cross and, after a moments hesitation, a stake as well and headed for the door.

The vampire had been watching her human self trying to get dressed for the better part of twenty minutes now, and she was becoming more and more agitated with each passing moment. She knew the longer they remained the better the chance of their discovery by the Slayer, and she wanted to prevent that if possible.

Willow dropped her arms and frowned. "My head hurts! Believe it or not, some of us can't take a major blow to the skull and laugh about it a few minutes later. I think you gave me a concussion."

The vampire cocked her head. "Stalling now? You're hoping the Slayer will come and save you."

"That's ridiculous." It was also true, of course, but Willow wasn't about to tell her that. She really did hurt, and it was making it hard for her to move, but she also did not want to spend any more time with the vampire her than absolutely had to. Already, the other her had groped her several times while she was getting dressed, and Willow was afraid if the two of them were around a bed much longer there was no telling what would happen.

"You can't lie to me!" The vampire growled. "I am you! I know what a lie looks like from us!"

Willow turned. "All right! Yes, I'm hoping to be rescued! Like that's news? Tell me something, on your world, weren't you hoping someone would come and save you before you were turned?"

The vampire shrugged her shoulders. "I never had the chance. He took me by surprise."

"Xander," said the vampire. "One of the Master's underlings turned him, and a couple of nights later he showed up at my house. I didn't know he was a vampire, so I invited him in. The next thing I knew he had me pinned on the bed and he sank his fangs into my neck." She grinned. "When I woke up, I was strong. Stronger than I'd ever imagined. I had all the power in the world...unlike you."

Willow shook her head. "Oh, I've got plenty of power. I just wish I could show you..."

"So do it." The vampire licked her lips and Willow hesitated. "I know you play with magic. Come on, impress me. I'll give you this one chance, so you'd better not screw it up!"

"I don't kid," said the vampire. "I'm giving you an opportunity I never had. A way out. Come on!"

There was a stake sitting on the window sill, but Willow knew she would never be able to get to it before her vamp self came after her. Unless she used her magic. "Okay. I'm in!" Thinking back to that night in the laundry room, when she and Tara had focused their powers in order to move the soda machine and fend off the Gentlemen, she concentrated on the stake. On making it move. On making it fly, just a little.

"Bored now." The vampire took a step forward. "Maybe, if I find that girlfriend of yours..."

Willow's eyes widened. 'Tara?' Her concentration, her anger, erupted. "No!" The stake didn't rise, it didn't float, it just suddenly shot across the room like a rocket, and slammed into the vampire with enough force to knock her back against the dorm room door. The Wiccan gasped as she realized what she had done.

The vampire stumbled, a stunned expression on her human face. "Nice...shot..." All at once she jerked her head up, and her features were those of the vampire again. "But not nice enough!" She rose, moving her hands to reveal the stake was sticking out of her stomach, not her chest. "If you'd just aimed a little higher..."

Whatever pride Willow had felt at moving the stake went right out the window. Now injured, even angrier than before, the vampire would be impossible to control. 'If she wasn't in a mood to kill me before, she certainly is now!" Desperation took over, and she grabbed the chair from her desk and hoisted it over her head.

"Are you kidding?" The vampire bared her fangs. "Do you really think you can hurt me with that?"

Willow shook her head. "No." Though it made her dizzy, she threw the chair at the vampire with all the strength she could muster. Her undead self casually slapped it aside, but in the time it took her to do so her human counterpart opened the dorm room window and started to climb out.

"Clever," said the vampire. She darted forward, and grabbed the human's ankle. "But not fast enough!"

Willow kicked her square in the face with the other foot. It did little, if any, actual damage, but the unexpected blow did momentarily stagger the vampire. The Wiccan wiggled the rest of the way out and slumped to the ground, hesitating just long enough to catch her breath, then she got up and ran like the wind.

Tara made it back to the UC Sunnydale campus in record time—especially considering she was still tired and aching from her own encounter with the vampire Willow. But her discomfort was secondary, compared to how worried she was about Willow. Her Willow. As far as she was concerned that other Willow was simply a blood-thirsty monster, even if she did happen to have such a beautiful face.

But when Tara got to the dorm room Willow and Buffy shared, she found she was too late.

The door was wide open, and there was no one inside. There were, however, signs of a struggle. Someone had broken a chair, and also opened the window, and her heart stopped as she saw a bloody stake laying on the floor in the middle of a pool of fresh blood. She saw no body though, a minor comfort under the circumstances.

'Gone,' the Wiccan said to herself. 'But where?' She didn't have the time, or the supplies, necessary to do another locator spell. 'There has to be some other way.' She bit her lip. 'Willow...'

Somewhere else on the campus, Willow ducked into an unlit alleyway and leaned back against a wall to catch her breath for a moment. Her head was pounding, she felt nauseous and was almost on the verge of passing out, but she knew she had to keep going if she wanted to stay ahead of the vampire.

The redhead gasped as she felt a strange sensation. It was almost as if someone was calling her, on a spiritual level she could barely begin to comprehend. She blinked.

Willow heard footsteps, and saw the vampiric version of herself—with a hole in her blouse where she had been struck with the stake—coming around a corner. She moved further back into the shadows, hoping against hope the vampire would not be able to find her too quickly, and closed her eyes.

In truth it was really more like felt than heard, and it wasn't so much her mind as her heart. But in that instant she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Willow was, for the moment, alive and okay. She was scared, the Wiccan could feel that, and she was also compelled to turn in a certain way.

'I feel...a connection...' Tara said to herself. 'I don't understand...' Nevertheless, she was not about to let a chance go by, however slim, and raced off in the direction indicate by her minds eye.

When she realized the vampire was coming her way, she turned to run down the alley she was standing in the mouth of, not knowing until too late that it was a dead-end. Whatever hope had risen in her heart at sensing Tara's presence began to dwindle, and started inwardly saying her last good-byes to those she loved—not just either Tara but Buffy and Xander and Giles as well. Then her parents, though she could not even remember the last time she had actually seen them, some time before she started going out with Tara no doubt.

The vampire clucked her tongue as she stepped into the alleyway, and sneered. "Bad little girl. Why did you run away from me? I just want us to be friends."

"I'm not your friend," said Willow. "And I'm not you either. You're some twisted distortion of me!"

"What's the difference?" the vampire asked. "Friend...lover...they all end up dead in the end." She arched an eyebrow. "I think, when I'm done here, I'll hunt down your girlfriend and kill her too."

Tears welled up in Willow's eyes. "N-No...please..." She shook her head. "Leave Tara out of this."

"Sorry." Both Willow's turned, to see the blond Wiccan approaching. "I'm in until the end."

"Which won't be long," said the vampire. She took a step toward Tara, then recoiled and snarled as the blond raised a big wooden cross and pointed it at her. "That's cheating!"

Tara noticed she still backed away as she moved further into the alley. "Willow?"

The vampire growled, unable to look directly at Tara because of the cross in her hands. "How touching." She gnashed her teeth, and turned to Willow. "I can still win, you know!" Moving faster than either Wiccan was expecting, the vampire lunged at Willow and grabbed the other redhead by her supple shoulders.

But the cross had no further affect on the vampire, since she was looking at it. Instead, she bared her fangs. "You've got to be kidding." She caressed Willow's cheek, and grinned at the way her human twin shuddered. "Do you really think I could stand this close, and not want a taste?" She bared her fangs.

Willow struggled, but to no avail, the vampire was holding her wrists together with one hand. With the other, she bent the redhead's neck back, exposing her delicate throat.

A strangled gasp escaped Willow's lips as the vampire plunged her fangs deep into her neck. The vampire drank deep, a slight flush creeping over her pale skin while her captive started to go limp.

Already she was unconscious, and it wouldn't be long before the vampire drained her completely, killing her. Worse, if she gave Willow some of her own blood, she'd become a vampire herself.

'But we don't have time to wait for her,' the Wiccan said to herself. 'And I'm no Slayer.'

Willow, the vampire, opened her eyes as she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. She was surprised to see the other Wiccan girl, the blond, racing toward her. She was only just able to disengage her fangs before Tara lunged up and struck her in the face with the cross she was carrying.

The vampire lurched back, dropping Willow in the process, as her cheek charred and smoldered.

Tara glanced down at Willow, thankful that she could still see the redhead's chest slowly rising and falling. She was, for the moment at least, still alive. She smiled slightly.

"My face!" The vampire shrieked, in dismay as much as in pain. She leaped at Tara, swatting the cross right out of her hands despite the further pain it must have cost her. "You witch!"

Tara raised her other hand, now holding the stake she had also brought with her, and pressed the sharp end of it to the vampire's chest. Right above her heart. "Yes, I am."

Willow, the vampire, looked down with narrowed eyes and clenched teeth. She knew if she moved too much, it would all be over. But after a few moments, when Tara did not strike, the vampire's face changed. She raised her head and smiled at the trembling Wiccan girl. "You can't do it, can you?"

Tara's arms were in place, all she had to do was push, but nothing was happening.

"I knew it." The vampire licked her lips, her fangs still red with blood. "You look at me and all you see is her. It's a common human failing. You just can't bring yourself to kill the one you love."

"Y-You're right." Tara lowered her eyes, though not her hand. "I do love her. And I could never hurt Willow." Before the vampire knew what was happening, the Wiccan stepped forward and thrust the stake into the redhead's chest. It cleanly pierced her heart, and the countdown began. "But you...are not...Willow..."

Gasping, the vampire lurched back, her eyes wide. She glanced at Willow, then at Tara, and then she nodded as her body finally turned to dust and was whisked away by the wind.

Tara felt all the strength beginning to fade from her body as she flung herself down beside Willow and let the tears fall freely.

Willow Rosenberg opened her eyes, looked around, and found herself in a strange place.

Of course she recognized it as a hospital room easily enough, but she had no idea how she had gotten there or why it had been deemed necessary for her to be there at all. But then again her head was a little fuzzy, and as she was putting a hand up to her head she grazed a thick bandage on her neck.

The other Willow, the vampire, from the alternate world, had her in an alley. She was starting to bite her, and then the last thing she remembered was seeing Tara come running up.

"Tara!" Willow gasped. Where was her girlfriend now? Had the vampire attacked her too? Unfortunately, there did not seem to be anyone around to answer her questions, and she begin to feel very scared.

The redhead lay there, worrying, until she heard the hospital room door open. She raised her head and saw a familiar tuft of blond hair peeking inside. Not the one she had been hoping for, but still...she smiled. "Buffy?"

"Will? Cool. You're awake." The Slayer glanced over her shoulder. "Come on in, guys." She entered—making way for Xander, Anya, and two others Willow had not seen in some time.

"Yesterday afternoon," Giles replied. "I was worried when I heard what had happened to you. I'm sorry."

Riley put an arm around Buffy. "Just this morning for me. Ran into Buffy on her way here, so I thought I'd tag along. I hope you don't mind."

"Well, I'm officially no longer a member of the US military," said Riley. "Other than that? I'm fine."

Xander nodded. "You were lucky, Will. The docs said you lost more blood than he's ever seen anyone survive, and you had a concussion that must have sounded like a brass band in your head."

"We found you in an alley," Buffy replied. "Unconscious, covered in dust and blood."

Willow licked her lips. "What..." She hesitated, afraid to here the answer to what she was about to ask. "Buffy, what happened to Tara?"

The Slayer smiled. "Other than shock, nothing." She gestured. "Look for yourself." Willow glanced off the right side of the bed. Tara was curled up on a cot there, sound asleep. "She's been by your side almost the whole time. I think she was even more scared than the rest of us, and she wouldn't stop crying."

Buffy nodded toward Tara. "It must have been her. We didn't get there until too late, and you certainly weren't in any condition to have dusted her." She frowned. "Still, that must have been tough."

"You've got a very special girl there," said Giles. "You should be very proud of her."

When Tara woke and she raised her head, she saw a beautiful face smiling down at her.

"Hey there." Willow rested her chin in her hand. "I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to wake up."

"Oh, about three in the afternoon." Willow rolled on to her back as Tara stood up. "According to a nurse you've been asleep for nearly ten hours." She sighed. "You just missed Buffy and the others."

Willow shrugged her shoulders. "Under the circumstances, fine." She arched an eyebrow. "What about you?"

"Actually," said Willow. "You did. But that's not what I meant. Buffy told me you killed her."

Tara lowered her head. "I almost couldn't. I know it wasn't you Willow, not really, but it was your face." She bit her lip. "She was so horrible." She fought back tears. "Willow, I-I..."

The redhead held out her arms, and Tara flung herself into them. "Shh...it's okay." She kissed Tara's cheek as the other Wiccan cried into her shoulder. "We're together. That's what matters. We'll get through this, I promise. It may be a while, it may be hard, but we will get through it. Together."

"Together," said Tara. She raised her head, and the two of them kissed for real.

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Mirror Mirror

By Kirk Baldridge

Kirk@mysticmuse.net