~Part: 1~
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“We should start,” Giles told the group, hoping it went smoothly.
“Giles, are you sure about this spell?” Willow asked as she looked it over quickly, recognizing only a couple of words.
“Yes, Anya and I looked it over.”
“We should get on with it,” Anya rushed, a bit too in a hurry to get started.
Soon the three began chanting, the air changing to an icy green, then changing to a red. That was when Willow realized something was wrong, but it was too late.
A blinding flash arose, paralyzing them for a second, then it was over. She was gone.
* * * * * * * * * * *
BizarroLand
“Stake her,” Oz told him.
“No,” the other replied.
“Why not?” Oz asked confused.
“Because she’s alive.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
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“Where the hell is she?!” Buffy yelled at her as she shook her.
“I don’t know.”
“The hell you don’t!” Xander screamed.
Buffy continued shaking her, willing to do something drastic. With a second bang against the wall, Anya finally cracked.
“I made a tiny alteration,” she replied.
“What kind of alternation?” Giles grounded out.
“The spell should have sent me back, not her.”
“You sent her to that world?!” Xander said terrified.
“I think so,” she replied a bit unsure.
“You think so?” Buffy asked incredulously.
“Bring her back!” Oz yelled.
“I can’t,” she replied a bit frightened.
“And why not?” Buffy asked shaking her again.
“Because I don’t know how to... I sent her back at a different time in that world... You can only bring someone that belongs from that world...” she replied a bit shaky, her mind scrambling for a reason.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Giles replied.
“A Willow from that world has already been brought over, the Willow we sent over isn’t from there.... she’s from here.....”
“Then she can only bring herself back then,” Giles reasoned.
“Did anyone notice we’re missing someone?” Xander interrupted.
The group turned around to find she was gone.
* * * * * * * * * * *
BizarroLand
“This is amazing,” Giles remarked as he looked over the body.
“It might be a trick,” Oz said a little on the cautious side.
“I think the whole pulse and breathing thing kind of proves she’s alive even a bruise.”
“Does this mean.... is she.... you know?” Harmony asked.
“She’s the child,” Giles replied, still in awe.
“Now what?”
“We wait until she wakes,” Giles replied.
“How did this happen?” Oz asked.
“Only she’ll be able to answer that.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
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“Searched everywhere. She’s gone,” Angel replied as he re-joined the group.
“Where could she gave gone?” Xander asked.
“She did say she was hungry.” Oz commented.
“Too close to sun rise, not enough time. She went to find shelter,” Angel told them.
“But where could she hide?” Buffy asked out loud as she thought of the possibilities.
“Their are numerous warehouses, some abandoned buildings, she could be anywhere,” Giles said a bit panicked.
“She still might be on the trail. I’ll check the sewers, then I’ll head to the mansion. I’ll call you when I get there,” Angel told them as he left.
“What do we do?” Oz asked.
“We can search, but we might find more unfriendly things then anything. We sleep, then we research..... we need to find a spell that will bring Willow back,” he told them.
They all nodded, praying they found it soon, never bothering to search the only place that evil Willow knew by heart - the Bronze.
* * * * * * * * * * *
BizarroLand
“I think she’s waking up,” Oz shouted as he saw her begin to stir.
“Aahh,” Willow voiced as she came to.
Her head felt swollen and heavy, making it throb. She tried to open her eyes, but felt they were too heard to move. Once she managed to open them, she was blinded by the light above her, making a rush of memories bombard her mind. She shot straight up into a sitting position only to fall back down in pain.
“Are you all right?” Giles asked cautiously.
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Willow opened her eyes.
“Giles?” she asked happily.
“Yes, I’m Giles, but how did you....?”
Her head moved to the side catching someone next to him.
“Oz?”
Oz simply looked at her a bit confused, not knowing how she knew him. To Willow’s complete surprise next to him was Harmony dressed down.
“Harmony?”
“Hi?”
But what shocked Willow completely and made her eyes water, was to see the man next to her.
“Jesse?”
“Hey, Will.”
“But you... you died.. during the Harvest...” she began to say, not sure if she was just seeing a ghost.
“What harvest?” Giles asked unsure.
“When the Master... what he needed to rise and...” she said frantically.
“We managed to kill the Master two nights ago,” Giles told her.
“How..... what about Buffy... and Xander?” she replied freaking out.
“Who’s Buffy?” Oz asked a bit confused.
“I don’t know,” Jesse replied.
Willow couldn’t believe what was happening. She looked around the room and noticed she was no longer in the warehouse, but in the library.
“How did I get here?” she asked, curling her legs up to her chest.
“I found you,” Jesse replied. “By the warehouse.”
“How long ago?” she asked trying to process everything that was going on.
“Last night.”
Willow’s mind scrambled to find an explanation and all she could think of was Anya.
* * * * * * * * * *
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She needed to be patient, she knew that, but it wasn’t easy. Daytime was the worst, there was nothing to do. She had already played, already fed, already killed anyone who had been at the club. What else was there to do?
She could have used the tunnels, but everything was just too different, she couldn’t be sure if any of her places were secure, and she couldn’t take that risk, not now. She hadn’t become one of the Masters favorites by not being skillful or patient. It was her who brought him a slayer to drain, her who had arranged the plans for the warehouse.
She moved to the back of the club and found offices where once she stood and shared the power of Sunnydale. It disgusted her. Then she smiled looking at the part of the hallway and room where she had played with her “puppy”. How much she missed him, especially now. But he was here, in this world, stronger, handsomer, deadlier. This was a puppy she could get used to, wanted to.
But first things were first, she had far more important things to take care. She picked up the phone and pulled out the yellow pages. She quickly found what she was looking for and dialed the number.
“Morgan and O’Briens.”
“Hi, I got locked out of my house again. Would it be possible to have someone meet me at six tonight?”
“No problem. All we need is the address and we’ll be there at six sharp.”
“Thanks, I don’t know what I’d go without you.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
BizarroLand
Willow’s heart broke as she saw Harmony kiss Oz and take his hand. He was hers.... but not in this world. She looked away, not able to see the happy couple embrace.
“You can stay with me,” Jesse told her as he pulled on his jacket and sat next to her on one of the chairs.
“Do you believe me?” she asked him a bit worried.
“It explains a lot if it’s true....”
“It is..” she began to defend.
“...which is why I believe you,” he quickly added. “Anyway, there isn’t any reason for you to lie.”
“Thanks.”
Willow looked up to see Oz and Harmony leave hand in hand as close as possible.
“Have they been together long?” Willow whispered, trying to fight back tears.
“About a year. Oz sort of saved her from a vampire. From then on they’ve been inseparable.”
“They love each other...” Willow said as her heart completely broke.
“Think so. He almost lost her two nights ago. Should have seen how worried he was, scared that he might lose her. We were lucky we got out alive.”
“What happened?”
“You.”
“Me?”
“You disappeared. The Master, Xander, they all searched for you. They came after us, to see if we had staked you, but we hadn’t. We had placed traps around, expecting something like that might happen someday. They stepped into it, but we didn’t all survive,” he replied, sadness coming back.
“I’m sorry Jesse,” she replied as a tear fell.
“Anyway, stay here. Giles and I are gonna go and speak to Amy’s parents. It’s still night, it isn’t safe to be out right now. I’ll come back for you,” he told her as he stood up.
“Stay right here,” Giles told her once he joined Jesse by the door.
Willow simple nodded and wiped away her tears. She waved goodbye as they left, then finally broke down.
* * * * * * * * * * *
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“I checked the tunnels and the mansion. She isn’t there. I don’t know where she could be,” Angel replied over the phone.
“Me neither. Thanks. Keep us posted if you find anything.”
“I will. Buff?”
“Yeah?”
“You okay?”
“No. Not until Willow comes back.”
“What’s the plan?”
“Research. Research some more, then go and find her.”
“Call me when you’re ready to go out.”
“I will. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Angel hung up the phone, his feelings a mixture of emotions. Having seen Willow as a vampire had made quite an impact, one that he himself didn’t want to admit. Now the evil Willow was loose, while the good Willow was gone in a world that seemed to be ruled by evil. He took off his jacket as threw it on the chair as he took a seat on the sofa.
Could they kill her? Could Buffy see her other then her Willow? Could he? It was something he wasn’t looking forward to answering, not now at least. He closed his eyes and settled back on the couch, questions running through his mind.
“She has to live,” a familiar spoke. “You can’t kill her... even if you could.”
“Why not?” he asked, remaining still.
“Because she’s the other reason you came to Sunnydale for.”
Angel quickly turned around, completely surprised.
“Got anything to drink?” Whistler asked as he headed to the kitchen.
“No. What do you mean she’s the other reason I came to Sunnydale? You knew this was going to happen?”
“Look, things aren’t written out for me anymore then they are for you. I was told to look for you, I did. They told me to train you, I did. They told me you were meant to keep hell from opening, you stopped it. Now they’ve told me you can’t kill Willow, I have. They didn’t tell me why. But Giles might know, ask him.”
“They haven’t found anything yet.”
“He will. She’s meant to help, she’s needed here.”
“How is she gone help us?” he asked him.
“The same way you did.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
BizarroLand
Willow pushed the book away, her nausea coming back in full force.
“This can’t be true,” she said aloud, clutching her stomach.
“Prophecies don’t lie.”
Willow jumped out of her seat as she heard the new voice, her eyes searching for any kind of weapon around her.
“And from the undead she will come, alive with breath and hair of flame to reclaim the night back the living.”
“How did you...?”
“Been waiting for you for fifty years. I knew I was close when you became a vampire.”
“I’m not from here,” she told him.
“It doesn’t matter where you’re from, you’re needed here.”
“What you need is Buffy,” she replied panicking.
“What they need is you.”
“I’m just Willow..... and I just want to go home,” she replied, her voice cracking.
“Who ever you are, you were sent here for a reason. Prophecies don’t lie, they guide. You’re the one that was chosen because you’re the person who can change Sunnydale.”
Willow looked at him, surprised to see how serious he looked.
“I’ll be around if you need me,” he told her and headed back out.
“Who are you?”
“Name’s Whistler.”
Willow thought for a moment, recognizing the name.
“Didn’t you help Angel?”
But by the time she blinked, he was gone. She almost jumped out of her skin as the doors opened.
“Ready to go?” Jesse asked.
“Yeah.”
“Oz is taking us.”
“Okay.
Willow followed, still not used to the fact that Jesse was really alive. Everything felt familiar to her, but she knew it wasn’t. This wasn’t her world, and all she could think of was getting back to hers.
She entered the van, still silent and refused to meet their gazes. She was as much an outsider as they were to her. She stared out the window as they pulled out, her arms wrapped around her for much needed comfort.
And in that short ride, Willow realized just how different this Sunnydale was, seeing what Whistler meant
The streets were deserted. The few people out looked scared and walked quickly, paranoid. Stores had bars on their windows, doors closed firmly. This was nothing like her Sunnydale, it was something much worse.
“Does anyone come out at night?” Willow asked, more to herself then anyone.
“Without a car - no. Not of you wanna see tomorrow alive,” Harmony replied.
Willow turned around for a brief moment and looked at her, then back outside. At that moment Willow made her decision.
She only prayed it was the right one.
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