E-mail: gpref@aol.com
Rating: PG
Summary: Willow and Spike meet after the season 6 finale
Disclaimer: All characters and aspects of the fictional environment are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox, et al. There is no intent, or remote possibility, of anyone profiting from this.
Distribution: The Willow Tree, if you'd like it ask and I'll let you take it.
Dedication: Angel (angels_1970@yahoo.com) for the idea
Feedback: Please
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~Part: 1~
Everyone drifted back to the Summers' house. First to arrive were Dawn and Buffy warm with their newly minted bond. Next was Xander nearly dragging a weak and confused Willow. Last to arrive were Anya and Giles, they had gone first to the emergency room. Giles was sore and weak, but not seriously injured.
"Now go to bed Will, " Buffy said, " you wanted to wait until you could see Giles. Now you've seen him and you both need to get some sleep."
Willow shook her head, " No, it's all my fault. I nearly killed him, I nearly killed you all. I wanted to kill you all, I can still remember it."
Suddenly, all color left her face, Xander caught her before she could fall and lowered her into a chair.
"Take her up stairs, " Buffy directed.
Xander raised his eyebrows questioningly.
Buffy thought, " not her room, no not there."
"She can use mine, " Dawn offered.
Buffy nodded and Xander gathered Willow up.
"Giles, how about "
"Please, the way I feel, nothing that involves stairs, " he asked.
Buffy got Giles settled on the living room sofa. Xander said he'd sit up in one of the living room chairs and keep him company.
By the time Anya, Buffy and Dawn decided they'd share Buffy's room, Dawn in her sleeping bag, both men were asleep.
~~~*~~~
Willow looked up and down the hall and then walked quietly to the room she and Tara had shared. She opened the door and disappeared within. Ten minutes later, she reappeared with a small bundle and quietly descended.
In the kitchen, she took the phone and punched in the number of her bank's automatic teller. She punched in a few more numbers and listened to the automated voice.
"Checking balance $456.32, regular savings $1056.78, trust account $78,345.90."
She manipulated the buttons and waited.
"Transfer from trust account to checking account of $50,000 completed."
She hung up the phone and went to the small desk where Buffy kept bills and other papers. She pulled out some sheets of paper and envelopes and started to write.
'Xander,I have to go away for a while. That wasn't some evil Willow from anotherdimension that nearly caused the end of the world and killed Warren, it wasme. Despite all the magic and the shock of losing Tara, it was still me. Ihave to be able to understand and accept that. I can't do that here. I'msorry.
W
PS - Please take my car in place of the one I wrecked. I've enclosed a checkfor $1000 to cover expenses in disposing of the old one.
I will always love you.
W'
She took another sheet.
'Giles,There's nothing I can say now. Maybe I can explain things when I return.
I've enclosed a check for $30,000 to cover the damage to the Magic Shop. Besure to tell Anya, I don't want her tracking me down.
W
PS - I'm so so sorry,
She began a third letter.
'Buffy,I've got to go. I think you of all people can understand why. I really dofeel like I've been returned from the dead.I've enclosed a check for $5000 for you. Think of it as your safety net.
W
PS - apologize to Dawn for not saying goodbye to our little sister.'
She wrote the checks and slipped them and her car keys into the envelopes and sealed them.
She put them on the kitchen table and turned with her bundle and walked to the back door.
"No good-byes? a familiar voice said from the kitchen door.
"Dawn, I'm sorry I have to leave like this but "
"Don't say anything Willow, you don't have to."
The girl crossed the room and embraced her.
"I just want you to be Willow again, and if you have to leave to do that, it's Ok."
"I love you little sister, please take care of everyone while I'm gone, " Willow whispered.
"Just come back as soon as you can, " the younger girl said in a choked voice.
Dawn stayed gazing out of the back door long after Willow's figure disappeared into the gloom.
~~~*~~~
Willow and Walter Jenkins sat in his overstuffed and fussy study. He was at a small beautifully carved desk.
"I'm sorry about calling so late, " Willow apologized.
"Our clients come first Ms. Rosenberg, " he replied in a deeply sympathetic voice.
"Her name is Tara McLay and she's still at the morgue. I want you to handle the arrangements. I have a number for a member of her group who will handle the service."
"She was a member of a sorority?" he asked.
"You could say so," Willow responded.
Willow made all the necessary decisions and gave him the clothes she'd brought.
"When she comes here, " Willow closed her eyes and paused, "she should have a silver necklace with intertwined letters W and T, like this one." Willow pulled a thin chain from around her neck and showed him the silver pendant. "Please make sure she has it on when "
Willow wrote a check and shook his hand.
As she walked down the path to the street, she thought to herself, only one more stop."
She stood at a door in the rear of Sunnydale hospital.
"One last time, please, " she said and put her hand on the knob.
Her hand glowed green and the knob turned freely in her hand. She hurried down the corridor to a dark and quiet room she knew all too well.
Tara was the only one in the room. Willow pulled a stool along as she approached the table. She sat and pulled the sheet back.
She smiled at the silver initials she saw at her throat. She sat for an hour holding her hand. Sometimes she talked and sometimes she just sat.
"Goodbye baby, " she said kissing the cold cheek.
She left through the same door. Once she was back on the street, she flagged down a lone passing cab.
She waited at the car rental agency until they opened at 8 AM. Quickly, she rented a car to be returned to LA International Airport. She pulled out of the lot and headed East into the hills.
~Part: 2~
It was noon when she saw the sign, 'Welcome to Slaterville'.
Fifteen minutes later, she slid up to the curb in front of an old storefront with 'Slaterville Journal' lettered on the curtained window.
She'd never been there before but she recognized it all. Tara spent hours telling her about growing up in the old mining town. Some of the memories were pleasant, many weren't. She'd tried to fit in, she'd tried so hard to be like everyone else, as if Tara could ever be like anyone else.
Her mother was the center of all the good things that happened to her. When her mother died, everything that was good died with her. After that, her father tried every day to destroy her mother's memory and to convince Tara that she was less than human.
It took unbelievable courage for her to oppose her father and escape to college in Sunnydale. She joined the campus Wicca group and
Willow looked up in time to see a dark young man leave the newspaper office and turn left toward the diner in the middle of the block.
She got out of the car and intercepted him at the diner's front door.
"I was sure that you'd come, " he said opening the door and ushering her in.
They sat in a booth and ordered coffee.
"The police called yesterday, they talked to dad," he said.
"I'm sorry that you had to learn about it that way, " Willow said.
He sighed, " I saw it on the wire before he bothered to tell me. We haven't been very close lately. I finally realized what he tried to do to her and to our mother."
He put his hands across the table and took hers, " she loved you more than anything, you know. She told me that things weren't always good between you lately."
Willow hung her head.
"But she never stopped loving you."
He put two fingers under her chin and raised her head.
"She called me that morning, she wanted me to know that you were back together again. I never heard her happier."
Willow pushed his hands away.
"I did things after, things she would have hated, " she said in a brittle voice.
"You were shocked and angry, you reacted to a terrible thing."
"It was more than that, I knew what I was doing and I knew how wrong it was."
"Willow, I know she would have forgiven you, she would have wanted you to forgive yourself too, " he said simply.
~~~*~~~
She was back on the road heading west for LA. She wasn't sure what she would do when she got there. Going far away was always an option, that's why she arranged the car drop off for LAX. When she approached the city, instead of the airport she turned off onto a down town exit.
The hotel was dark when she pulled up to the curb. She got out of the car and stretched, it seemed like she'd been driving forever. She walked up to the door. It was locked. She looked up at the dark windows. Her shoulders sagged and she walked back to the curb.
"That's right pet, ' a familiar voice said from the shadows, " no room at the inn for either of us."
~Part: 3~
"Spike is that you?" an astonished Willow asked.
"No one but, "he said as he emerged from the shadows. "But what the hell are you doing here? Did her Royal Highness finally spank the three little wankers and send them to bed without supper? " he said with a pained expression.
Willow suddenly sagged against the door. She would have ended on the concrete step if Spike hadn't darted out to catch her.
"What is it Red, long drive?" he said as he held her limp form.
She was unconscious and her skin felt cold and clammy.
He looked around and spotted her car. He carried her to the curb and managed to get her into the back seat.
He saw the keys were in the ignition and shook his head, small town girls, he thought as he slid behind the wheel.
Now what, he asked himself?
He turned the key and started to drive. The only other place he knew was Lorne's nightclub. He was hoping to get a lead on Angel and also to hand off his little present from Sunnydale.
When he pulled up however, it was dark and locked.
He sat considering his next move when he heard Willow stirring in the back seat.
"Back among the living luv? Spike asked lighting a cigarette."
She sat up rubbing her eyes," where are we?"
Spike told her then asked, " what happened back there? You were starting to worry me."
"I guess what happened in the last few days is starting to catch up to me, " she said in a tired voice.
"I was just .. you know..I wasn't serious about Buffy and those three." He hesitated then asked, " how bad was it?"
Willow began to tell him. By the time she was finished, she was gasping for breath between sobs and he was holding her.
"All those terrible things that I did. It wasn't the magic or some kind of possession, Tara was gone and I wanted to hurt and kill and I didn't care who."
He held her tighter.
"I killed Warren, I tortured him and I he ," she dissolved into another round of tears.
"You can't take it all on, not all by yourself, " he whispered. "You're not the first, believe me. I'm speaking from personal experience."
"But you were a demon, you don't understand. I have a soul."
"Funny you should mention that, " he said with a crooked smile.
He told her about his search for someone to remove the chip.
"I told myself that I wanted to be what I was before. I wanted my strength and I wanted not to feel. My guardian demon didn't agree."
Willow gave him a puzzled look and he told her about the challenges he overcame to get what he wanted, and what he actually got.
"You have a soul?"
He nodded, " I was looking for Angel to join up. I finally understand the way he's driven to make up for his past, I thought I could help out. I'll never make fun of old tall dark and broody again. What am I saying? I'll do it, I just won't feel as good about it."
That finally got a smile from Willow.
"We're a real pair aren't we? " she asked, " have guilt will travel. No good deed too small or evil to large to overcome."
Spike caught movement through the rear window. A car was coming toward them and it was weaving from side to side across the road. He pulled Willow down and covered her braced for the collision that never came. He heard the screech of tires and a metallic bang. When he looked out, he saw that the car had climbed the curb behind them.
He left the car to investigate with Willow close behind him.
"Look, " Willow said peering through the windshield, " isn't that your floppy eared friend from Sunnydale?"
Spike studied the apparently dazed creature, " I think it's his brother."
As they helped the demon from the car and sat him on the curb, he began to come to.
"Lorne, " he said, repeating it several times.
"No bloody luck, he's not here and his place is locked tight, " Spike explained.
"No, it's Lorne he's in danger."
The demon explained that he and another one of his brothers were taking Lorne to Las Vegas to work in a new club. They were driving through the desert until they were stopped by an RV jackknifed across the road. They got out to see if they could help. That's when the attack came. They overpowered Lorne and his brother. He was closest to the car and the engine was still running. He made a break for it and made it with only a few cuts and bruises.
"Demons?" Spike asked.
"No, humans, some kind of a cult I think. They must live out there somewhere. All men with heavy beards and strange clothes."
"Before you ask, I don't know what they intend to do with them. I came here to see if some of Lorne's friends might be here. I tried the hotel, no luck."
Spike looked into Willow's eyes, " were you serious about trying to do some good? "
"You and me?" she asked.
"If not, you can stay here and see if you can raise Angel."
"No, I'm in. Our friend here can wait for Angel., " Willow said with determination.
"Damn, " Willow said pointing to her car, " that's a rental and I'm supposed to drop it off at LAX tomorrow."
"Take my car," the demon said, " and I can take your car to LAX and drop it off."
After getting directions, Willow and Spike were on their way East. On their way to make the first payment on their personal balance sheets.
~Part: 4~
"Ok, what's the plan? We just can't show up and expect to beat all of them up and grab Lorne," Willow said after they'd been driving for while.
Spike gave her a sideways glance, " we can't?"
Willow shook her head, " we don't know who we're looking for, we don't know how many there are. We don't know where Lorne is, we ."
"Bloody hell, I give up. How about you talk them to death?"
Willow sighed, " first, we have to locate these people, then we have to get as much information about them as we can."
"If they're a cult, they might be looking for recruits. Maybe they'd like to help someone who was beaten down, desperate and on the run from the evils of civilization."
"I can do desperate but I'm not sure about the beaten down part, " Spike offered.
"Bet they'll be really impressed though when you burst into flames at the first touch of sun light," Willow said, " maybe they can put your dust in a shoebox and make you an honorary member of the group."
"Oh, " he admitted, " there is that."
"I think they'd be less suspicious of a girl anyway. I could get on the inside and find out where they're holding Lorne."
"I don't like it, these guys might be real nutters. If something happened while you were with them, especially in the daytime, no I don't like it," he said as if he had settled the subject.
"You don't have to like it, I just have to be willing to do it, and I am,"
Spike snorted and stared through the windshield at the desert scenery.
She pulled a road map from the glove box and flipped on the map light.
After checking her watch, she turned to Spike, " We should hit a town called Callas about ten AM. It looks like it might be big enough to have a thrift shop. I'll pick up some extra clothes, some stuff that looks like I've been on the road for a while. I'll also check and see if I can get any information about the people that took Lorne. He was taken about fifty miles East of town."
Spike nodded, " try and get some rest, Ok?"
She responded by crawling into the back seat. She yawned and stretched out, "g'night, " she said and closed her eyes.
Willow was driving when they entered Callas, she'd finally convinced Spike that driving into the desert sunrise was a dangerous situation about 6AM.
She followed the local streets until she found a down at the heels residential area and there on the next corner was the 'St. Andrews Church Nearly New Shop'.
Thirty minutes later, Willow emerged with two pairs of worn jeans, a pair of sneakers three t-shirts and a jean jacket stuffed into a faded and much repaired backpack.
She drove off looking for a likely shady spot with some privacy. She pulled into a narrow alley between two empty factory buildings.
"Ok, " Willow said forcefully, " out."
"Wait a minute, who gave you the bleeding right to "
"I need to change into my new clothes, " Willow explained.
Spike reluctantly stepped out of the car and into the protective shade as Willow transferred to the back seat.
She recounted what she'd bought as she pulled it from the pack.
"No new undies? " he asked with a smile.
"I draw the line at used underwear, " she said to his back as she removed her clothes.
"I don't know, " he said with an evil grin, " you might have got some knickers with a history. Maybe some Fredericks of Hollywood stuff only used once on a second honeymoon."
"Stop it, that's enough, " she said beginning to blush as she buttoned and zipped.
She stepped out of the car, " what do you think?"
He turned and slowly ran his eyes over her from head to toe, " I'd take you in anytime, '"he said in a low voice.
She twirled with her arms out, " do I look needy enough?"
"Seriously, I think you're effing perfect."
Willow continued, " I got the lady in the store to talk about the kind of people who've been coming to the desert around here. She was going on about hippies and new age crystal freaks and motorcycle gangs. Then she mentioned a bunch of people who'd set up a commune about 40 miles East of town."
" She wasn't sure what they were up to. She said they kept to themselves, but they seemed to make her a little nervous. They took over an abandoned mining village named Paradise. She said it was only a few shacks and an old company store building."
Willow slid in behind the wheel and Spike joined her in the front seat.
"I think we should wait until sunset and then you can drive me to within walking distance. I'll tell them I hitched from LA and ran out of money, " she said.
"I think I saw a fast food place with a drive up window a couple of blocks back, " she added.
She put the car into gear and pulled out of the alley, Spike rolled into the back seat.
"I can hardly wait," Spike grinned, "I've always wanted to take you to Paradise."
~Part: 5~
They started when the sun fell behind the distant mountains. Without the directions Willow got from the woman in the thrift shop, they would have missed the place completely. Spike turned off onto the barely marked track and rolled slowly along for a quarter mile before stopping.
"It shouldn't be too much farther, " Willow said opening the door.
She got out and shouldered the tattered backpack.
"I'll find some place close to stash the car and be back by midnight, " Spike said in a low voice.
"You're still sure that you want to do this, right?" he asked.
She nodded and hitched the pack to a more comfortable position, " I'll be OK."
"Be careful, I'm trying to work off some guilt, not add any, " he said as she turned and started off down the track.
When she had disappeared into the evening gloom, he quietly turned the car and drove back toward the main road.
After she'd gone another quarter mile, Willow rounded a curve and could just make out the lights of the settlement ahead.
Spike drove slowly along the main road with the headlights off using his exceptional night vision to spot a likely hiding place.
Eventually, he found an old shack several hundred yards off the road with a patch of dry and twisted bushes dense enough to hide the car. After an hour spent blocking holes in the roof and walls and hanging a blanket he found in the trunk to make a sun proof area, he set out across country.
Willow trudged along turning over in her mind the kind of reception she could expect, from plain wacky religious to wacky religious dangerous and rehearsing the answers to the inevitable questions.
"Hi, how's it going?" a friendly voice called from the side of the road.
Willow stopped and watched as the figure of a young man emerged from the darkness. He was medium height and was dressed in jeans and a sweater. With his ball cap and wire rimmed glasses, he looked like half the students she saw every day at U C Sunnydale.
"Hi, " she said hesitantly, " Back in Callas, I heard there might be a place to crash for a day or two around here. I was hitching from LA and this is as far as I got today."
He started to walk along the road she fell into step beside him.
"Where are you heading?" he asked casually.
"Away, " Willow answered.
"Popular destination, " he said with a smile.
They walked along in silence for a few minutes.
"Things bad in LA?" he asked breaking the silence.
Willow nodded.
"You're welcome to stay as long as you need to. There're fifty or so of us staying here at an old mining town up the road. It 's called Paradise, but don't get excited it's just the name of the old mine. The folks that run the place call themselves the Guardians of Eden, but that's nothing to get excited about either. They keep things pretty nice and don't force their beliefs on anyone else."
"What are they guarding?" Willow asked.
"That's kinda hard to explain. Let's wait until we get you settled in, OK?"
By this time, they'd reached the settlement. It consisted of two low dormitory style buildings on either side of a square two-story structure.
"The visitors stay in the old bunk houses, " he gestured toward the low buildings. "The Guardians stay in the old mine offices there in the middle."
He led her into the nearest dorm. The door opened onto a long corridor with doors spaced every ten feet or so. He knocked on the first door on the right and opened the door. Willow could see a few wooden chairs an old couch and lots of book shelves. A woman in her early twenties looked up from the book she was reading and smiled at the newcomers.
"Hi guys, what can I do for you?" she said.
"Sarah, this is ah sorry, " he colored turning toward Willow, " I'm Rick, " he said extending his hand, " and you are?"
"Willhemina, but everyone calls me Will, " Willow said. Rick turned back, "Sarah, this is Will, she's going to be staying with us for a while."
Within five minutes, Willow was shown to a small clean room with a cot, a chair and a floor lamp. Sarah showed her the bathroom down the hall. Willow was relieved when she told her that this end of the building was reserved for women and the doors were locked from the inside after eleven.
"Good night," Rick said, " I'll see you in the morning."
Willow closed the door and went to the small window and pushed aside the curtain. She studied the home of the Guardians. She noted the lights in the second floor windows and wondered what they meant.
"Lorne, do you feel that?" a hoarse voice gasped.
"I've felt it for the last half hour, I was waiting to see if you picked it up."
"It's scaring me real bad, what is it?" the floppy eared demon whined.
"It's a shadow, what's left over from a real first class display of evil power. If it were the real thing, well, you wouldn't want to be here."
The green skinned demon paused with eyes tightly closed, " I'm getting something else, a personality."
"Is it Angel?" his companion asked hopefully.
"No, it's not Angel, but it's someone I . Willow, it's Willow Rosenberg from Sunnydale."
"A girl, what good is a girl?"
"This girl just might surprise you," Lorne said.
One of the lights Willow was watching was in a state of the art video surveillance room. Two men were viewing the day's tapes when one of them leaned close to a monitor and held up a palm. The picture froze.
"When was this recorded?" the man asked the technician at the control board.
"Ten O'clock tonight in the women's dorm common room."
"Who is this, " he asked pointing to a fuzzy figure.
The technician consulted a clipboard, " a new visitor, just arrived tonight. Rick brought her from the direction of the main road. Her name is Willhemina, Will she said. Is there something wrong Mr. Forrest? "
The man ignored the question and picked up the telephone on the table at his side.
"This is Forrest in the desert, we have a visitor."
"Yes, I think you do know her, Willow Rosenberg from Sunnydale.
~Part: 6~
Spike surveyed the darkened buildings. He figured Willow was in one of the low buildings and directed his attention to the two-storied building in the center of the camp.
He kept to the shadows and circled it slowly. He felt the presence of a sophisticated alarm system, the kind that could detect a demon or vampire trying to enter doors or windows.
"Well, well, " he muttered, " someone's spent a quid or two on security. It makes a bloke wonder what they're protecting."
In his second floor cell, Lorne smiled, " I do believe the cavalry has arrived", he whispered to his frightened companion.
Under his friend's questioning gaze, he went to the window and held his hands up to the small window above his head. A faint green glow came from his fingers.
Spike saw the glow in his second circuit of the building. With his powerful night vision, he noticed the narrow ledge above the first floor window and the part of the roof overhanging the faintly lit window.
With one powerful jump, he was on the ledge. With another, he was hanging from the roof's edge and peering into the cell.
"Angel, is that you?" Lorne whispered at the shadowy figure.
"Not bloody likely, " Spike replied, " they sent the first team."
"Spike?" Lorne asked.
"I don't believe you're in any condition to be choosy, " Spike responded.
Lorne concentrated, his eyes closed, for a few moments then relaxed into a grin. "Now I see why I made the mistake, " he said with a chuckle.
"We're carrying around a bit more baggage now aren't we?" he asked.
"Do you want to get out of this bloody place or not?" Spike asked angrily.
"Ok sweetie, don't get all sweaty about it. What's the plan?"
~~~*~~~
Willow felt the warm stuff splash onto her face and saw the surprised look on Tara's face as the bullet hit her. Then the face was replaced with Warren's pleading as the bullet cut slowly through his flesh. Then it was Tara again, but now she was suspended between the trees. When Willow realized who it was, it was too late. The last syllable of the flaying spell had just been spoken. Tara screamed as her skin dissolved.
Willow sat up rigid in the bed. Her head still echoed with the scream. Her throat was raw from the effort. She felt the tears rolling down her cheeks and made no move to wipe them away.
"Will, are you Ok?" a voice said from the doorway.
Willow continued to sob as the visitor approached the bed.
"It's Sarah, I heard you can I do something?"
Willow looked up tears welling from her eyes and shook her head.
Sarah sat on the bed and took her hand. "It's bad isn't it?"
The other girl nodded.
"You lost someone?" it really wasn't a question, "someone you loved."
Willow dropped her head.
"You feel guilty, right? You should have done something or you did something that turned out wrong and it's eating you alive."
Sarah squeezed her hand. "Let me tell you about Sam."
"When I was fifteen, I ran away. I ended up in San Francisco. It wasn't long until the money I had ran out. I was dating guys, older guys, and I was experimenting with everything. Soon I was 'dating' to get by. I'd stay with a guy for a night or two or three and he'd pay for food and I'd sleep with him. They were mostly nice guys and it didn't seem too bad. Then I met Jim."
"Jim was a friend of one of my regular dates. He asked me to come to a party, he said he might have a job for me too. The party was Ok, but after a while Jim and three of his friends pulled me into a bedroom. They did things to me .." She stopped and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "After a while, I passed out."
"When I woke up, I was up against a Dumpster half undressed. I hurt all over and I wanted to die. Then Sam came along. He picked me up and took me to his place. It wasn't much; but it was warm and dry. He cleaned me up and got some food into me. It was two days before I felt halfway decent. He never asked any questions. He never asked what happened. Finally, I asked him why. He said it wasn't important. He said that we both started fresh when we met and nothing that happened before mattered."
Sarah smiled and settled back, " he was tall and thin. His hair was too long and he lived over a Chinese restaurant where he washed dishes and bussed tables for rent. He was sweet and I fell in love with him." Sarah frowned and looked down, " and he was a junkie. He hadn't been using for three months."
She looked at Willow, " addiction is a terrible thing. It's a struggle every day. It seems there's always something waiting to ambush you. Do you understand?"
The other girl nodded.
"I waited on tables in the downstairs restaurant. We didn't have anything but each other; but that was enough. It was about four months later that it happened. One of his old friends came around and asked us to come to a party with him. I was tired and said I didn't want to go. Sam was so sad, we hadn't been out for weeks. He kept trying to change my mind. I finally got mad and told him to get out and I didn't give a damn where he went, what he did or when or whether he came back."
Sarah stopped for a moment.
"They dumped him at the emergency room at four AM, his friends did. He was dead before I could get there. He took some bad stuff, seven months he'd been clean and just like that .."
"I relived that day over and over again. Sometimes I went with him and kept him away from the stuff. Other times, I convinced him to stay home with me and we sat and watched our little second hand TV and drank a little wine and made love."
"All I did was sleep and dream about Sam. I couldn't eat, I wasn't interested."
"Eventually, I went to a clinic. It was either that or . It took a long time, but I started to get better. Not lots better, but a little bit. It takes a long time, I'm not there yet, but I have hopes."
She lifted Willow's chin with a finger, " did you love them?"
"Yes, " Willow said hoarsely, " more than anything."
"Did they love you?"
"Yes, we were so happy we'd just gotten back together when ."
"Just remember that. Would, " Sarah cocked her head and smiled, " would she want you to be unhappy?"
Willow shook her head.
"Then hold on to that for her sake and your own. For me and Sam too, please."
Willow smiled a very small smile and wiped her eyes.
Her response was drowned out by the wail of a siren accompanied by white shafts from spotlights pouring through the lone window.
~Part: 7~
"Plan, you know the way you're going to get us out of this place, " Lorne said when Spike failed to reply to his question.
"Take it easy, of course I have a plan and a bloody brilliant one too, " Spike snapped.
"Right now, some one is worming their way into the confidence of these wankers, it's just a matter of time, " he added confidently.
"Are you sure Ms. Rosenberg's up to it? She seems a little shaky after her power trip, " Lorne questioned.
He couldn't see Spike's face fall, but he could feel the confidence drain from his voice.
"How the hell did you know about "
"I'd like to discuss the finer points of demon ESP, but I believe we were discussing a plan to get us out of this little fix," Lorne prompted. "I'm not sure how long we're going to stay here. There's a lot of graffiti on the walls in a variety of demon dialects. Based on the number of different ones and the dates in some of them, this has been a very temporary way station for a lot of demons. They didn't seem to know where they were going, but it's a good bet it wasn't to Palm Springs for a facial and a round of golf."
"How long do you think you have before they move you?" Spike asked.
"You mean move if we're lucky. We might end up on a short walk to the nearest ditch and then ."
Spike heard whimpering.
"Pull yourself together, " Lorne said to his companion, who snuffled and then was silent.
"Maybe we have another day max, based on the old writing on the wall."
Before Spike could answer, he heard the sound of movement below him. He thought about pulling himself up onto the roof, but it was too late.
"Who's up there?" a voice called out as a flashlight beam passed over Spike and quickly returned to illuminate him.
"Bloody hell, " he muttered as he dropped straight down landing directly on the source of both the question and the light. Both were extinguished, but it was too late. Calls were coming from the inside the building and he could hear hurried movement. Keeping to the shadows as much as possible, Spike ran flat out for the desert's darkness. He'd just disappeared into a stand of twisted bushes when an alarm began to sound and spotlights began to crisscross the open areas between the buildings.
Willow and Sarah were still rooted in place when they heard a knock.
"Hi, how do you like the excitement?"
They turned and Rick was standing in the open doorway. He had pulled on jeans and a t-shirt, but his feet were bare and his hair was tangled. I think we should get outside, that's the fire alarm and I don't think it's a drill.
Both girls grabbed sweaters and hurried along with Rick to the open space between the dorm and the Guardian's building.
Willow leaned toward Sarah and whispered, " which ones are the Guardians?"
Sarah looked around and then pointed to two large bearded young men dressed in sandals and loose natural colored pants and baggy shirts. Their old fashioned clothes clashed with the small two way radios they were using.
They both turned back when a similarly dressed slightly older man began to speak from the front door of the central building.
"We are checking all the buildings, but it looks like a false alarm, one of our smoke detectors sounded and we wanted to be certain there was no fire. Just stay here for a few more minutes. I'll let you know as soon as it's safe to return."
A few moments later, one of the Guardians approached the little group.
"Sarah, Rick, who's you're new friend?" he asked.
He was introduced to Willow as Daniel.
"Glad to meet you Will, " he said smiling, " I work in the mess hall, that makes me a good friend to have."
"Has Will been introduced to John? " he asked Sarah and Rick.
They both said no.
"We don't have many rules, but one of them is that John, he's in charge of buying food and keeping up the buildings and things like that, meets all our guests."
He lowered his voice, " he'll try to talk you into helping out if you can, but it's purely voluntary."
"I'd be glad to help, " Willow offered.
"That's the spirit. Hey since we're here, why don't we get it over with right now?" Daniel asked taking her arm and guiding her toward the open door in the center building.
Willow shot a glance back at Rick and Sarah, but they both waved and smiled.
Daniel led her into a neat but plain office with a simple wooden desk and a group of wooden chairs. She took one as Daniel excused himself to go and find John.
Soon the door opened and three men dressed in the same loose clothing entered. The first was a young African-American who continued to the desk and sat behind it. The other two were the pair Sarah had pointed out first. They seemed even larger inside.
"Hi, my name is John and you are?"
"Will, you can call me Will, " she said nervously.
"No reason to be frightened. No not at all, " he looked at her questioningly and she looked away.
"Gentlemen, " he said to the other two, who had moved up and were right behind her chair, " I think Ms. Rosenberg has seen through my disguise. I guess it isn't too smart to substitute one uniform for another."
His smile disappeared as his expression hardened, " yes, I'm Forrest one of the traitor Riley's former colleagues. When he, you and your friends destroyed the Initiative, a project that could have, should have, benefited mankind; I looked for a place to use my experience to further the same aims. I found it here collecting specimens for other even more brilliant scientists to use to eradicate the demon menace forever"
"Unfortunately for you, you've also been collected. Fortunately for me, a witch has been on my objectives list for a long time."
~Part: 8~
Sarah was about to turn out the light when Rick knocked on her door.
"Glad I caught you before you got back to sleep, " he said stepping into the room. "Could you help me get Will's stuff together?"
She looked questioningly at him.
"John talked her into helping with the monthly shopping. They'll be leaving first thing and John told her she might as well stay over there."
Sarah nodded and led him across the hall.
In the room, she picked up the few things on the bedside table, put them into the faded backpack and handed it to him.
0
Willow was still in shock when the two men took her by the arms and marched her through a concealed door and up a steep flight of steps. They paused, keeping a tight grip on her, as Forrest passed them and opened the first of a series of blank metal doors lining the upstairs corridor.
"By the way, there's a permanent spell on this entire floor. None of your little witch tricks will work here, " he said with a cold smile.
The next thing she knew, she was tossed onto a narrow cot where she watched the door close behind her.
All I was supposed to do was show up, get a little information and fill in Spike on the layout, she thought to herself.
"What a screw up, "she muttered. "Damn, damn, damn, " she said, raising her voice with each word.
"Don't be so hard on yourself cutie, " a soft voice said.
Willow looked up. It seemed to be coming from the window high in the rear wall. She moved to stand under it and strained her ears.
"Look at it this way, at least you know where we are."
"Lorne, is that you?"
"Nobody but. Your blond buddy told me you were trying to infiltrate this place. Congratulations, but I think you might have gone a little too far."
Lorne filled her in on Spike's visit and his guess that they would be leaving very soon.
"You mean he actually fell on the guard?" Willow asked.
0
Spike waited until the compound was quiet again before he approached the nearest one story building. Using his night vision, he crept from window to window looking for Willow. He found the area reserved for females, but no Willow.
He checked each of the rooms again and decided that she must have moved or been moved, and probably from the only empty room he found with rumpled bed clothes.
He quietly entered the building and slipped into the empty room. He breathed in and smiled, the smell was faint, but Willow had been here. He began opening drawers and searching the floor, looking for any clue to where she'd gone.
He froze when he heard someone at the door. He stepped to the wall and stood next to the hinge side of the door. He pushed himself into the wall as the door opened.
"Will, is that you?" a shadowy figure whispered.
Spike stepped forward pushing the intruder toward the bed with one hand and closing the door with the other.
"Who are you?" the girl standing by the bed said.
"Never mind who I am," Spike growled, " where is she?"
The girl sat on the bed and returned his stare.
"I asked you a question, " Spike said menacingly.
"I can hear perfectly well, " she replied in a steady voice.
"What are you going to do if I don't answer, beat me up? You'd better be good, cause I've been abused by professionals."
Spike looked into her eyes and then away. He hooked a chair with his foot and pulled it to him. He turned it around and sat with his hands gripping the back.
"I really need to find her, " he said in a softer voice.
"Why should I tell you? People who come here usually are trying to get away from something. How do I know you're not her something?"
His shoulders slumped and he pulled out his cigarettes and lighter. He looked at her questioningly. She nodded and he lit up and blew out a long stream of blue smoke.
Spike started, "she lost someone, that's what she's running from. She lost them and she did some things because of it. Things she wouldn't have normally done. She's running away from that too."
"What about you?" she asked.
He looked down flicking ashes into his cupped hand, " I'm running too, there are a few things, a bit more than a few really, that I've done over the years. We decided to try and make up for a few together."
He grinned, "sorry about the tough guy act, still got a few bad habits."
She gestured toward his cigarettes and he passed her one and lit it.
"I guess you're not the only one with a few bad habits." She studied the cigarette, " you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago. He had some bad habits, but his heart was in the right place too."
She put out her hand, " my name's Sarah, what's yours?"
She told him that Willow was staying in the Guardian's building and would be leaving early on the monthly trip for groceries. She agreed to try and find out exactly where she was and get word to her that Spike was here.
She passed through the door to the men's side and stopped at Skip's door. She knocked lightly with no response. She turned the knob and entered.
The room was empty, evidently Skip was still visiting the Guardians. She sat on the bed to wait. When she sat, her foot hit something under the bed. She bent over and felt something. Curious, she pulled and out came Will's backpack.
Sarah's head began to whirl. If Skip hid the backpack here, then he didn't take it to her and he lied about her asking for it. If he lied about that, what else had he lied about?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps in the hall. They stopped outside the door. She shoved the pack back under the bed and managed to straighten up just as Rick entered.
"Hi, " he said, " what's up?"
"Couldn't sleep, thought you might still be up, " she replied.
"Did Will get her stuff?" she continued.
He nodded, " I just left her, she asked me to thank you for everything."
Sarah stretched and yawned, " I guess I wasn't as wide awake as I thought, " she said.
They said their good-byes and Sarah left for her room.
Skip sat down and started to take off his sneakers. He looked down and saw the backpack strap sticking out from under the bed.
Hell, he thought, I know it wasn't showing when I left. He jumped up and hurried after Sarah.
Sarah glanced back and saw Skip hurrying toward her. She broke into a run. She threw opened the door to Willow's room, went to the window., pushed it open and climbed out. Spike was right behind her. When they hit the ground they took off for the nearest underbrush.
A moment later, they lay under a bush and watched Skip search the area around the building.
"I don't think he saw you, " she whispered.
He took her hand and pulled her away from the edge of the clearing.
"I guess maybe I have a few things to make up for too, " she said as they walked into the desert gloom.
~Part: 9~
Rick tried not to watch as Forrest paced back and forth in front of him.
"You left the backpack under your bed?" Forrest said with disgust.
Rick hung his head but didn't reply.
"You left it where anyone could have found it, " he continued his anger building. "Too much to expect you to lock the door; or heaven forbid, actually bring the backpack over here."
He stopped and took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "You think she saw it, you think? Gee, jumping out the fucking window might have been a hint, do you suppose?"
He sat down behind his desk, " and you wait for almost a half hour before you tell security."
He looked up shaking his head, " why did they send me a lawyer?"
Rick cleared his throat, "I'm sorry "
"You bet your ass you're sorry, " Forrest snapped, 'and you're going to get the chance to tell the right people all about it."
Rick gave him a frightened look.
"You're going to take them to the installation all by yourself. Now that I've got to start a search for the girl, I can't afford to send any security with you. It'll give you a chance to think of something clever to say when you get there and explain that because of you Angel and the Slayer may find out that they have the green demon and the witch."
He gestured toward the door, " now get out of here and take that damned backpack with you, there might be something in it of interest to the installation."
0
"Can you see anything?" Spike asked from the back seat. Some dry brush shielded the car and he huddled out of the sun.
Sarah was behind the wheel with a pair of binoculars trained on the Guardian's compound. "There's some movement now, they're bringing the van around to the side door."
Spike tried to catch a glimpse but the sun was too intense.
"What's happening "
She interrupted, " it's them, they're putting them into the back of the van, and it looks like there's only a driver."
She paused for a moment, " I think it's Rick."
"Hold on, " she said dropping the binoculars onto the seat and turning the key. When they got to the main road, she stopped.
"They always go toward LA, " she said gesturing down the road, ' and I have an idea."
"Go to it, " Spike encouraged, " it's one bloody more than I've got."
She turned and sped along until they came to a huge rock on the side of the road. She pulled the car into the shade behind it and shut off the engine.
"He won't be able to see the car. All I have to do is get him to stop and get out of the van."
"Just a minor detail, " Spike said as he slid into the front seat beside her.
She turned to him, " rip my pants."
"What?"
"I want you to tear my pants, maybe my shirt too."
"I'm flattered, but do you think this is the time for.."
"For God's sake, " she said, " I need to look beat up and you're stronger than me."
She put her foot up on the seat and he ripped the leg of her jeans with one easy motion, then he tore the sleeve half off her shirt.
"Thanks, " she said getting out, " just stay here and be ready, OK?"
He slid out of the car and followed her to the edge of the shadows, " good luck and be careful, " he said as she bent down and picked up a handful of dirt.
He smiled as she rubbed the dirt on her face and stepped into the sun.
Rick was thinking of the kind of trouble he could expect from his superiors when he spotted someone standing near the large rock on the side of the road ahead. As he got closer he recognized Sarah. It looked like she was trying to hitch a ride. It took a moment or two for her to recognize the van.
He smiled when he saw her limp as she tried to run. Noticing her tattered clothes, he thought she must have fallen in the dark last night.
He pulled the van to the side of the road and set off after her. What an opportunity, he thought, the chance to make everything right.
He was so wrapped up in his good fortune that he didn't notice that her limp seemed to improve as she managed to keep a fair distance between them. He did react however when he saw her stumble and fall rolling behind the rock. With a triumphant laugh, he turned the corner. He got two steps into the shadows before he realized what was happening.
Spike took him by the throat and slammed him against the rock. Spike tensed himself for the pain, but nothing happened. He grinned, maybe the soul took the place of his electronic conscience; then again, he thought, maybe the effing batteries just ran out.
"What the hell do you think ." Rick choked out.
Spike squeezed harder, " I think you better worry about how I feel about people who kidnap my friends. I think you better understand who you're dealing with."
With that, he morphed into full game face and slid him higher up the face of the rock.
Rick's eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp. Spike dropped him and turned to Sarah.
"I hope I didn't scare you, " he said as his face turned back.
Sarah grinned, " I think the sun shyness and the cold hands were kind of a giveaway."
"You're Ok with me?" he asked.
"A long time ago, I learned what you do is more important than what you are."
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