Rating: R
Summary: When is a picnic not a picnic?
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: If you'd like it ask and I'll let you take it.
Feedback: Please
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~Part: 1~
Willow looked out the kitchen window at the bright sunshine and thought what a nice day it was again today. She was finishing up the raw vegetables for the picnic today, she already had the homemade yogurt dip in the fridge. She was looking forward to seeing Anya and Xander, Buffy and Reilly and of course Dawn. She frowned for a moment, it was a shame that Tara couldn't be there.
Willow brightened again, Tara would be home soon and they could all go on another picnic then.
She went back to chopping carrots and admiring the view out the kitchen window.
~~~*~~~
Giles hung up the phone in frustration. He'd been trying to reach Buffy, Willow and Xander for the last week with no result.
To tell the truth, he'd been trying to reach Buffy. When he hadn't been able to get her, he'd tried Xander and then Willow .
He was concerned that Willow might be having problems fitting back into things after the six months she'd spent with him in England. Returning to the places she'd been with Tara would be difficult. Six months isn't much time when you're dealing with the violent death of a loved one, especially when it happened right in front of you.
He sat back and gave some thought to his next move.
~~~*~~~
Willow was the first to pull into the parking lot. She removed her basket and a light blanket from the trunk and walked to the spot overlooking the city she considered 'their spot'. She spread the blanket on the ground and sat to wait for the others.
She turned form the view when she heard the cars enter the lot. It was Reilly's black SUV followed by Xander's rusty sedan. She smiled and waved as Buffy and Dawn climbed down from the SUV.
Reilly and Buffy were such a cute couple, maybe one day …..
Willow blinked. When she thought of Reilly and Buffy together, she wondered about their future. But when she thought about marriage, the picture that flashed through her mind wasn't of Reilly and Buffy. The picture was Reilly and some stranger.
The picture was driven from her mind by the arrival of the rest of the picnic party. By the time the food containers were passed around and commented on, Willow's momentary concern was long forgotten.
~~~*~~~
"Sunnydale High School, Ms. Robbins speaking how may I direct your call?"
Giles spoke, " yes, I'd like to speak with a student, Dawn Summers."
"and you are sir?"
"I'm a close family friend, my name is Giles, Rupert Giles, and it's imperative that I speak with her."
Ms. Robbins continued in a dry voice, " I'm sorry, that isn't possible."
"But it's urgent that I speak with her," Giles pleaded.
"I'm sorry, but that would violate our security procedures, " the woman said without much sorrow.
Giles hung up in frustration.
"Hello, Sunnydale High Health Office, Nurse Jenkins, " a warm voice said.
Giles thought for a moment, " this is Dr. Giles, I need to speak to a student, Dawn Summers. Could you help me?"
"Oh, I'm sorry Doctor, but that's not possible, Dawn is HS."
"HS, " Giles repeated questioningly.
"Yes, home schooled, she was withdrawn a week or so ago.
Giles hung up the phone and glanced at the sheet on the desk in front of him.
"Let's try plan B, ' he murmured picking up the receiver.
"Hello, Rollins Construction, " a crisp voice said.
"Yes, " Giles said, " I'm trying to reach Alexander Harris, I believe he works there."
The line clicked and sounded dead for a few moments. Giles was tempted to hang up, but the line clicked again.
"I'm sorry sir, Mr. Harris is no longer with the company."
"I'm sorry, this is very confusing, can you tell me what the circumstances of his departure were?"
The voice hesitated for a moment, then continued, " it was confusing to us too, he resigned suddenly ten days ago."
~~~*~~~
Willow was feeling drowsy, she was watching Dawn as she braided a daisy chain. She shifted her eyes and smiled at Buffy lazing in Reilly's arms. She looked so happy and content. Almost as happy as I am, she thought.
She smiled again as she closed her eyes and snuggled back.
A hand gently brushed her brow, " rest sweetheart you deserve it, ' Oz said softly.
~~~*~~~
After he pulled the rental car into Willow's driveway, Giles sat for a moment and rubbed his eyes. The flight from London had been exhausting.
He took the spare key from its hiding place and entered the house. He quickly looked through he downstairs rooms and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He climbed the stairs to the second floor. He paused outside the closed door to Willow's room. Then he heard the sound of movement.
He swung open the door, "Willow, what …."
He stopped in mid sentence as a familiar figure turned toward him.
"Spike, " he demanded, " what the hell are you doing here and what the hell is going on?"
~Part: 2~
How peaceful Sunnydale looked from up here, Willow thought. It was so relaxing to get away from all the pressure. High school could be so hard.
She glanced over at Xander and smiled. It was so typical, he and Jesse fighting over the last piece of cake. She was so lucky to have friends like them.
Just as she closed her eyes she noticed something strange. A shadow crossed Jesse's face and it looked for a moment like it was covered with ridges and there was something strange about his mouth. Then the sun broke through again and he had the old familiar grin. Willow smiled again and drifted off.
~~~*~~~
Giles was surprised by Spike's reaction. He'd expected Spike to respond to his demands with a sarcastic remark or to at least to bluff and bluster until he thought of something suitable. But it appeared for all the world that he was frightened.
Overcoming his momentary paralysis, Spike made for the French doors leading to the balcony. He was halfway through the door when Giles caught him and spun him back into the room.
Giles pulled up a chair and sat opposite Willow's bed where Spike lay shivering in the fetal position.
"Spike, do you know where Willow is?"
There was no response and Giles repeated the question.
Spike shook his head.
"Buffy, Spike, have you seen Buffy?"
Again the vampire shook his head.
Giles sat back and paused for a moment.
"Ok Spike, what's wrong? What's happened to you?"
He pulled his shirt open and pointed to a freshly scarred area on the left side of his chest.
"I tried but I can't get it out. It burns so hot, it burns so hot."
~~~*~~~
Time to clear up and get ready to go, Willow thought. She picked up empty containers and utensils and repacked her basket.
Typical, she thought looking around, no one to help with the grunt work. She'd watched Buffy disappear to start patrolling. Everyone knew it was just an excuse to see Angel. Xander and Cordelia came up with some lame excuse to sneak off too.
She shook her head and grinned, " I should be jealous but somehow I'm just not," she said winking at Tara who was folding the blanket.
A chill breeze ruffled the trees and caught the blanket. Willow shivered as she reached to help Tara.
Their hands touched and Willow was surprised at how cold Tara's hand felt.
~~~*~~~
Giles sat back in disbelief, Spike with a soul, he could hardly believe it. Apparently neither could Spike.
He considered his approach, he didn't understand what was happening in Sunnydale, but he was sure that Willow and the rest were in danger.
"Spike!" he shouted taking the vampire by the shoulder, " I haven't got the time to put up with your personal crisis. What a shame! You have a soul and you're upset. Get over it and show that you deserve the second chance that you've been given. Lord knows you don't deserve it."
Spike looked up in shock.
Giles rose, " it's as simple as this, you can either lie there feeling sorry for yourself or get up off your arse and do something to help find Buffy and Willow before it's too late.
Spike pulled himself up to a sitting position, " Buffy and Willow are both missing?" he asked weakly.
Giles nodded and softened his tone, ' it's up to us to get to the bottom of this, are you with me?"
Spike nodded and got shakily to his feet.
~~~*~~~
Willow stretched out on her bed, she had time for a nice nap before the big night. When she woke up, she'd get ready and before she'd know it, Xander would be there to pick her up. She smiled, there's only one Prom and she wanted it to be perfect and it would be.
Just as she closed her eyes, the wall of her room appeared to shimmer like a sidewalk on an August afternoon. As she lost consciousness, her mind registered two shadowy figures behind the shimmer.
"Are you sure this is working?" one figure asked.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Everything's going to be OK," said the second.
Scanning the dimly lit room, his companion's eyes lingered over the five still figures lying on low cots. Everything will be Ok one way or the other, he thought, fingering the dagger sheathed at his waist.
~Part: 3~
It didn't take them long to discover that Dawn, Anya and Xander were also among the missing. Giles and Spike sat outside Xander's apartment in Giles rental car.
"What's next? " Spike asked in a tired voice. Helping Giles search had brought him at least part way out of his fog.
" We've got bugger all, " Giles admitted.
After a moment, He turned to Spike again, " has anything strange, I mean especially strange, happened lately?"
Spike gave him a puzzled look, " it's still the bleeding Hellmouth," he said with a little of his old energy. "What do you mean by strange?"
Before he could reply, Giles had to grab the wheel as a violent shiver passed through the car. Craning his neck, he peered up into a sky rapidly filling with black clouds.
Spike gave a mirthless grin, " oh you mean like this."
Giles slowly nodded.
~~~*~~~
Willow pulled back violently, "Oz, what's happening to you?"
She watched in horror as wiry dark hair sprang up everywhere on his body. His face seemed to shift and lengthen. But that wasn't the worse thing, it was his eyes. They were large, black and void of every vestige of humanity.
She backed away slowly and began to scream, " NO!! NO!! NO!!!"
At every cry, the wolf's outline became more indistinct, until it dissolved along with the surrounding scene.
Willow ran, she didn't know where she was going, she just knew she had to get away.
She looked up and saw Tara. She sobbed in relief as Tara smiled and held out her arms. Her sobs turned to screams as the other girl's chest exploded showering Willow with blood. With a surprised look, Tara slowly collapsed.
Willow fell to her knees sobs tearing at her already raw throat. The spasms were so strong that she didn't feel the ground quiver beneath her.
~~~*~~~
Jonathan felt the ground shake and immediately headed for the large room where they'd put their captives. He stopped in the doorway and scanned the five figures stretched out on the floor on air mattresses. Four were moving restlessly, the red haired fifth was twitching in a near epileptic seizure.
"Andrew, " what's going on? Where' s the globe?"
His friend stood smirking at the other end of the room.
"Is this what you're looking for?" he said teasingly holding out a six inch diameter glass ball. It was glowing with cold green fire.
"Put that down, ' Jonathan snapped.
He walked slowly across the room his face fixed in a stiff smile.
He began to speak in a soft and soothing tone, " remember, we decided that this was the best thing to do; to substitute happy memories for dark memories and eliminate all the feelings for vengeance from Willow and the rest. That way we could go away and not have to look over our shoulder every minute."
"No, that's what you decided. Everything has been about you since Warren left. Do what you want, go where you want, that's what it's been like and I'm sick and tired of it."
Jonathan stopped, shock on his face.
Andrew smiled a cold hard smile, " I've been busy too since we returned to Sunnydale and I've found someone who appreciates me and my ideas."
He glanced up and a tall well-built man appeared at his side. He put a proprietary arm around Andrew's shoulder.
"Who is this guy?" Jonathan asked.
"Someone who likes me for who I am and will stay with me for all time."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
In response, the man's face morphed, " I promised to turn our friend here. That's how I found out all about your little plan and about this." He reached over and took the globe from Andrew.
Andrew smiled triumphantly, " now it's both of us against you. How do you like it."
The vampire shook his head sadly, " Andrew you're nice enough, but … Oh hell, to tell the truth. You're a whiney little mama's boy."
With this, the vampire slid his arm from the boy's shoulders to his neck. One quick move followed by a dry snap and Andrew's lifeless body slid to the ground.
The vampire took a step toward Jonathan, " don't worry, you I need. Your idea, the happy thought one, was very nice; but I think we'll try the other side of the coin."
Jonathan backed off a step, " no, if I stimulate Willow's dark side, there's no telling what could happen."
"Oddly enough I can tell you exactly what will happen. To put it simply, the opening of the Hellmouth once and for all.
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