Pairing: Willow/Spike
Disclaimer: I humbly borrow, twisting and bending plots to my will.
Summary: Willow goes back in time to right some wrongs
Dedicated to Fayth, in the hopes of more Tempus and Enough:D
Thanks so much to Janet for all your help :) You're the absolute best!
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Chapter 10: Resolutions
~Part: 1~
Willow stood in the kitchen, making breakfast for Dawn, contemplating everything that had happened in the last few months. Buffy was gone, Tara had left and her friends didn't seem to totally trust her. It didn't seem to be too far off from the first time around. But then, this time, Faith was here, Willow and Spike seemed to be starting…something, and Spike had killed Rack.
Well, there was something different. Relief flooded her every time she thought about it. Rack being gone meant that something had shifted. He wasn't there for her to drain and kill this time, so that had to be good, right?
Willow looked up at Dawn as she came into the kitchen.
"Hey, Dawnie, I…I called for you…making breakfast," Willow said with a small smile.
"Yeah, sorry," Dawn muttered.
"I…uh…i-is something wrong?" Willow asked.
"No, fine, really."
"Are you sure? `Cause I'm really getting some `teenage angst' vibes from ya."
"Thanks for your concern," Dawn replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Dawnie…what's wrong? Did I…did I do something?"
"What's going on? With you and Spike?"
Willow's eyes widened in surprise at the question.
"I mean, Faith sorta filled me in last night, but…"
"What…um…what did she tell you?"
Dawn shrugged. "That you were going through some stuff and that Spike was there for you in a way that no one else has been, but I mean, come on Willow, I'm not blind. There's something going on between you two, isn't there?"
"I…I don't know what's going on exactly," Willow tried to explain.
"Do you love him?" Dawn asked softly.
Willow looked away. "I don't know. I think…I think maybe, but…"
"What about Tara?" The girl asked quietly. She was confused. She had always thought that Willow and Tara were so perfect together, and she still loved Tara, but now…Willow and Spike didn't seem all that wrong together either.
"It's…complicated," Willow told her, and it was. She herself still didn't know exactly where they were going or what they were thinking, so how could she explain it to someone else?
"Yeah, you know, everyone keeps saying that, but I don't really think it is," Dawn spoke up, surprising the redhead.
"There's just so much that…" Willow's voice trailed off.
"That what?" Dawn proded.
Willow let out a sigh, trying to think of a way to explain it. "When I'm with Spike, things…aren't quite so horrible." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them, seeing the pain in the younger girl's eyes. "Not that things are…horrible really…just…it's been hard and Spike…he makes it a little…less hard."
"I get that. I do," Dawn told her with a soft, loving smile. "I just want you to be happy, Willow. If Spike makes you happy, then I'm all for it. Plus…you gotta admit…he's pretty hot."
Willow giggled at Dawn's words, relief flooding over her. She watched as her young charge put down her empty glass and left the room, turning in the doorway to waggle her eyebrows at the witch, grinning as she heard the older girl giggle again. Willow didn't laugh nearly as much as she should these day.
Turning toward the kitchen table, Willow stopped as the back door flew open and Spike ran in, a small smoke trail behind him. He tossed the blanket to the floor and looked up, smoothing his hair out and gave her a smile.
"Spike! Wh-what are you doing here?" She exclaimed.
"What? Not happy to see me?" He replied.
"No…it's just…" she paused, gesturing out the window, "it's, you know…sunny and…stuff."
"Never stopped me before," he told her with a grin, before pulling her to him and kissing her deeply.
Suddenly, Spike pulled away and Willow looked up at him with a questioning look. "Xander," he whispered.
Willow gave him a strange look before hearing the front door open and shut.
"Good Godfrey Cambridge, Spike!" The man yelled out as he walked into the room, Spike's back blocking the view of his arms around Willow.
She pulled away quickly and walked back over to the stove.
"What in god's name are you doing here?" Xander questioned. "Isn't this the time of day when all good little vampires are sleeping?"
"Um…uh…Xander, I think Dawn's ready to go," Willow said nervously, grabbing her friend's arm and steering him out toward the living room. "Let's go get her."
"Dawn! Xander's here!" Willow yelled up the stairs.
"Here," Dawn replied, coming down from her room.
"Okay, got everything you need?" Willow asked.
Dawn simply replied with a `yep'.
"And after school, you-"
"Yeah yeah. Let's go, Xander," Dawn interrupted with a roll of her eyes and a grin, walking toward the door.
"You'll be coming straight home?"
"Right," she nodded. She turned to see Xander walking toward his car before glancing back at Willow and adding with a wink, "and try not to get too wild and crazy with the sexy vampire."
Willow chuckled and looked up, startled to see a woman standing at the door.
"Oh, good morning," the woman said cheerily. "You must be Dawn." Dawn simply nodded. "I'm Doris Kroger, from Social Services. We had an appointment?"
"Oh, crap," Willow mumbled before giving her biggest fake smile. "Right, come on in."
~Part: 2~
Willow nudged Dawn out the door with a forced smile and ushered the woman into the house. This was not something she needed right now. She had already hacked into the records, giving herself legal custody over Dawn, but couldn't really find a loophole to get her out of these surprise visits.
"Little bit on the tardy side, isn't she?" The woman asked.
"Yeah…it's, uh, been one of those morning…you know?" Willow said, glancing around at the messy house while Ms. Kroger walked into the living room.
Her eyes widened seeing Spike sprawled out on a chair.
"Spike!" Willow squealed, causing the woman to jump. "I…uh…I have a guest," she said, gesturing nervously at the woman.
"Uh, yeah pet, I see that," he replied lazily.
"Miss Rosenberg, if you and your boyfriend…" Ms Kroger began.
"Oh! No! He…he's not…I mean…I…well.." Willow sputtered as Spike scowled at her. "Spike! This…um, nice lady is from Social Services."
Spikes eyes widened in understanding and he quickly stood up. "Oh, right! Uh ... hey! Willow's a great mom. She takes good care Dawn. Like, um, just the other night, Dawn wanted to go out on patrol, but Willow put a stop to that straight away…"
"Patrol?" The woman questioned.
"Oh! Yeah! You know, going out on patrol, hanging out, shaken their groove thing…and…it's the way those kids talk now a days what with all the slang and the…uh…you know," Willow babbled, looking around nervously.
All three heads suddenly turned and looked toward the stairs as Faith came clattering down and opened the door.
"Hey, Will, I'm gonna go to the shop for some weapons training!" She called out.
Ms. Kroger turned and gave Willow a look.
The redhead laughed nervously. "She just meant…um…"
"Does she live here too?" The woman asked before Willow nodded. "So you live with another woman?"
"Oh! Oh, it's not a…a gay thing…I mean…I…I technically was…er…am…I mean…uh…she's just a friend…staying here to help," Willow tried to explain.
Suddenly, she noticed Ms. Kroger leaning down and picking up a small baggie from a table full of magic supplies.
"Oh! Oh, that's not what it looks like. I mean, I know what…but…uh, it's magic weed!"
The woman gave her a look, clearly conveying that she wasn't convinced and Willow frowned.
"I think I've seen enough," she said with a scowl, walking to the door.
Willow followed after her quickly. "No! No, you haven't, really… it's just that it's been, kind of a hard time, and…" Before she could finish, the woman opened the door and turned back to her, about to open her mouth to say something.
Spike watched as the woman paused and Willow stared at her, an extreme look of concentration on her face. A minute later the woman shook her head a little and smiled.
"Everything looks ship-shape here, Miss Rosenberg. In fact, I don't see any need to investigate this arrangement any further."
"Uh…thanks," Willow said quietly as the woman walked out and closed the door.
The redhead turned around and saw Spike staring at her strangely.
"What?" She asked, still looking nervous.
"What did you just do?" He asked, his voice sounding more accusing than he had intended.
"I…uh…nothing?" She lied weakly.
He gave her a look and she threw herself down onto the couch.
"I couldn't help it! I panicked," she told him, clearly upset by what she'd done. "I…I…I don't have the invisibility-bility that Buffy had and I…they would have taken her away…and…" Her voice trailed off as she buried her face in her hands.
Spike quickly moved to the couch and sat next to her, rubbing her back softly, and let out a deep sigh. "Red…luv…I'm not chastising you here. Just wanted to know what you did."
"What I did was horrible and wrong and bad…a-and…full of horribly wrong badness," she sobbed. "I just didn't know what…"
"Willow, it's alright. You did the right thing. It was what you had to do," he told her.
She looked up, her eyes now red and puffy. "But I…I manipulated her mind. I violated her. Wh-what if I did something to her a-and messed up her brain or…"
"Oh, bullocks!" He said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Ms. Kroger there didn't exactly appear to me to be the genius, scholar type. You fried a few brain cells, I'm sure it wouldn't make any difference. Should have given her the weed, told her to loosen up a bit."
At that he gave her a lopsided grin and she felt herself smile a little, wiping at her eyes.
"What would Giles say?" She asked quietly.
"He would say that you did the right thing."
Both Willow and Spike looked up to see Giles walking in from the kitchen.
"You were here? You heard?" The redhead asked in alarm.
"Yes, I was…I did," he told her. "And you did the right thing Willow. Dawn belongs here, with you. You take good care of her. It was the right thing."
Hearing Giles say that, Willow smiled brightly before she suddenly noticed how she was leaning into Spike and quickly pulled herself away.
"Luv…" Spike whispered. "I think it's a bit late for that."
"Willow," Giles said, removing his glasses and cleaning them, "I'm well aware of the growing…closeness…between you and Spike."
"Oh my god! You are? Does…does everyone know?" She asked.
Giles shook his head. "The others are surprisingly unobservant when it suits them to be," he told her.
"A-and you're okay with it?" She questioned.
Giles let out a deep sigh before giving her a soft smile. "Willow, you're a grown woman, more than capable of making your own decisions. Besides that, I'm sure that Spike is well aware that if he ever does anything to hurt you, he'll have several people more than ready to stake him."
Giles gave Spike a knowing look and the vampire nodded in understanding.
Suddenly, Willow jumped up from the couch and ran over to the older man, throwing her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. Giles smile awkwardly and hugged her back.
"Thank you so much, Giles, for everything," she whispered. "Thank you so much."
~Part: 3~
That night Willow lay in her bed, Spike next to her, his strong arms wrapped around her. It was so strange to her how this could seem so differently new, and so familiar and right all at the same time.
Tara was fading quickly from her thoughts, replaced solely by Spike, but as she laid there, feeling Spike trailing a hand softly up and down her bare arm, Willow began to wonder how much of this was real for him. Did he really care for her, or was she just a replacement for Buffy?
Spike must have noticed the change in her mood as she silently contemplated their growing relationship. "Penny for your thoughts, luv?"
"What is this to you, Spike?" She asked softly, unsure if she really wanted to hear the answer.
The vampire sat up a bit and looked down at her in surprise. "You have to ask?"
"Well, I mean, one minute, you're all in love with Buffy, and then all of the sudden, you want me…a-and you've never even…you know… looked at me."
"I've looked at you, luv. Might have been too much of a blind fool to really understand what was in front of me, but I saw you. And this isn't just a sudden thing. It's been gradually coming on. Ever since…you came back, I…there's just something…I'm drawn to you…to your strength, your weaknesses, your heart, your soul."
Willow smiled softly at him.
"What about you?" He questioned in a voice not hiding his uncertainty. "You only just lost your witch. Is this…"
"Spike, I lost Tara a long time ago. This…with you…you're all I want."
The vampire smirked and leaned back. Finding his coat on the floor beside the bed and reached into one of the pockets. Sitting back up, he held up a pair of handcuffs, still smiling at the now slightly blushing redhead.
"Do you trust me?" He asked softly.
"Always," she replied.
~*~
"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Andrew mumbled over and over, looking toward the unmoving body.
"Her neck," Warren said, looking the woman over, "it just..." He looked up toward Jonathan.
"No, that's ... not... " Jonathan muttered. "This isn't happening."
"I just, I gotta ... I gotta, lemme think," Warren said, pacing back and forth, trying to ignore Andrew who kept muttering "oh god" over and over.
"What did you do?" Jonathan yelled. "What the hell did you do?!"
Jonathan grabbed Warren's shirt, but Warren quickly grabbed Jonathan back and shoved him hard against a wall.
"*We* did this," Warren yelled. "Me, and Andrew, and you. It's on all of us."
"Oh god oh god oh god..."
Warren looked toward Andrew, who was still muttering. "Shut up!"
"We, uh, we have to get ... we have to get r-rid of it," Warren told them.
"Oh, well that's it, man. We're screwed," Jonathan yelled.
"No, we just have to stay calm," Warren reasoned.
"Tell that to your girlfriend!
"Ex-girlfriend!"
"It doesn't matter!" Jonathan told him. "There's a link. You knew her, so there's a link. You don't think any one will be able to put that together? That's what that little Scooby gang does, they'll figure it out!"
"It was an accident. Maybe if we turn ourselves in-" Andrew began.
"No," Warren interrupted.
"He's right. If we go to the police now-"
"I'm not going to jail."
"We can't hide this!" Jonathan yelled. "Sooner or later, they're gonna find out she's dead."
"Well, then maybe it should be sooner," Warren said, suddenly getting an idea.
"Are you insane?" Jonathan asked.
"Listen! We have two problems. The body and the Slayer's gang. Well, what if there was a way that we could take care of them both ... with one big stone?"
"Pin the death on that witch?" Andrew asked.
Warren shook his head. "No, no…she's been too much trouble. Knows too much. The less we mess with her, the better. But we do still have another Slayer…"
~Part: 4~
Willow and Faith sat at a table at The Bronze, watching Xander and Anya swing dance.
"You don't think we're gonna have to do that at the wedding do you?" Willow questioned. "Cause there's this last thread of dignity I've been desperately clinging to."
"Well, you sure as hell won't see me out there, and can you picture blondie doin that?"
Willow giggled at the thought of Spike dancing with her like that or dancing at all really.
"How are you two doin?" The brunette asked.
Willow's smile widened, "Really good, actually. I mean, it's so weird, cause, well, you know, it's Spike, evil undead and all, but, it really seems to just, I don't know, fit."
"Yeah, well, it's good to see you smiling again. Anyone that can make you smile can't be all evil."
Willow noticed the sad look in the Slayer's eyes. "How are you doin? You know, bein out of the clink and all?"
Faith raised an eyebrow at her choice of words. "The clink?" She smiled slightly as the redhead blushed. "I'm doin okay. You'd be surprised at how much bein evil takes out of you. It's a lot of work."
"Tell me about it."
"Yeah, I guess you would know. But Angel, he helped me a lot, you know? Having someone believe in me like that? It made things matter. I just wish…"
"Let me guess, Dawn?" The redhead questioned.
"It's not like I want her to, you know, worship and idolize me or anything. I mean, I'm not trying to replace Buffy. I just wish she would look at me as more than a killer, you know? I feel like she'll never see past that."
"Dawnie's very forgiving. She's just gone through a lot. I guess we all have. Just give her a little more time."
Faith nodded just as the song ended and a breathless Xander and Anya came over to join them.
"I see sitting where there should be dancing," Xander accused.
"Come, share in the joy of our groove thang," Anya added with a bright smile.
Both Willow and Faith looked at each other uncertainly before the Slayer spoke up. "Actually, guys, I think I'm going to go patrol. I'll catch up with you later." Before anyone could protest, Faith was up and on her way out.
"I, uh, I think I'm just going to go get another drink," Willow told them, before heading toward the bar.
Once the redhead reached the bar, she decided that another drink maybe wasn't such a good idea and set the cup down before heading up to the balcony. The second floor was more or less void of people, for which she was grateful. It gave her a moment to relax and think a bit.
Willow looked down at Xander and Anya on the dance floor, smiling softly to herself. She loved seeing those two happy and together again. She would have to be sure to warn Xander about the troublesome demon that would be at his wedding.
"All alone again?" She heard the voice behind her, but didn't even jump. It was getting harder for him to sneak up on her these days and they both smiled at that thought. She turned her head as she felt his arms go around her waist and met his lips for a soft, sweet kiss.
Sighing deeply, she turned to look back at the dance floor, leaning against the blonde vampire.
"What are you thinking about?" He asked her quietly.
"Just happy," she told him, surprising herself at the thought.
"Happy?" He questioned.
The redhead nodded. "Even more so now that you're here," she told him, turning her head and smiling up at him.
"That right?" He replied with a grin, watching as she nodded again. Leaning in, he began to kiss her neck, trailing light, cool kisses up and down the heated flesh. Willow closed her eyes and leaned further into him.
"No, don't close your eyes," he said, his voice hoarse. "Want you to know whose hands are on you, who you belong with."
"I know, Spike," the redhead said with a smile. "I know exactly who I'm with."
The vampire smiled and let his hands slide down her arms, over her hips and to her thighs before whispering in her ear. "So, Dawn knows about us, doesn't she?"
Willow turned and gave him a surprised look. "I heard her this morning, at the front door," he explained.
"Oh, right that. Uh, well, yeah, she asked and I couldn't lie to her."
"What exactly did you tell her?"
"The truth. That things were happening, and I didn't know exactly where they were leading but that I was happy with you."
Spike nodded and let out a sigh. "Yeah, the Slayer knows too."
"Faith?"
"Yeah, she figured it out last night. I think the witch, Amy, she knows too."
"Goddess, is there anyone that doesn't know?"
"Xander," Spike replied with a slight grin, waiting to see what she would say to that.
"Right, Xander," she mumbled, contemplating that.
"He's going to find out, pet," he told her and she thought she heard a bit of anger in his voice.
"I-I know, it's just- he's not going to react as well as everyone else did, and our friendship, it's still a little shaky, you know?"
"Right, well you can't just keep this a secret forever." Yep, he was definitely getting angry.
"Spike, it's not that I want to keep it a secret. I mean, you can hardly even call it that, considering that everyone else knows, but just give me a little more time. I want to see where this is going first, and besides, I kind of like you this way, non-dusty and all and I'm thinking once Xander finds out…"
"He won't hurt me, luv," he assured her.
"I know," she told him. "I just hope that I don't have to hurt him."
~Part: 5~
"Oh! I think I pulled a jive muscle last night," Xander groaned as he and Willow walked toward The Magic Box.
"The Funky Monkey claims another victim," Willow responded with a laugh, which quickly died from her lips as she looked up to see Tara walking toward them.
"Tara!" She exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here? I mean, uh, it's okay for you to be here if you have things that you have to be here for." She winced at how similar her words were to the first time around. This time was different and she had to keep reminding herself of that.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go bring Anya up to speed on that monkey situation," Xander said, quickly excusing himself from the situation.
"There's a monkey problem?" Tara asked nervously, hugging a book close to her.
"Only if you don't stretch first," the redhead replied with a chuckle, looking at the all too familiar book that Tara was holding "A little light reading?"
"Uh, yeah, I was just- I wanted to look at the spell that you did."
"Okay," Willow replied, uncertainly. "Any reason why?"
"I just sort of wanted to get a better understanding of some things," Tara told her.
"Oh, well, because you know another good way to get a better understanding is to actually come out and ask me."
"Well, we tried that before, didn't turn out as well," Tara said sadly, and Willow nodded, looking away.
"I-I have to go," Tara mumbled, turning to walk away. Pausing, she turned back for a moment. "Will? I'm glad you're doing better. If you're happy, I'm glad." At that, she turned and left, leaving Willow with a massive mixture of feels and emotions running through her.
~*~
That night Willow and Faith went out on patrol with Dawn, who insisted on tagging along. Both the Slayer and Dawn had noticed that Willow was being unusually quiet that night, but neither wanted to say anything about it. Besides, there was already enough tension between the two of them.
"Man, if I don't find something to fight soon, I'm going to go crazy," Faith thought out loud, just before hearing a loud scream coming from further inside the cemetery.
"Thank you," she mumbled, before taking off into a full run toward the sound. Willow and Dawn followed her, though neither was able to keep up with the Slayer.
Seeing a woman being chased by two figures, Faith ran, tackling one of them, only to find that as they hit the ground, the figure disappeared from beneath her.
"What the hell?" She whispered, looking up to find that there was no one around. She heard a strange noise around her and then the sound of someone crying. Spinning around, Faith saw a woman lying on the ground not far away, crying with her hands over her ears and her back to the Slayer.
"Hey, it's alright," Faith called, slowly walking toward her. "We'll get you outta here. Can you walk?"
Again, she heard the strange noise and looked around, seeing that the woman on the ground was now gone. Looking around nervously, she heard distant voices whispering to her.
"What did you do? What did you do, Faith? Killer… killer…"
Faith clamped her hands over her ears, shutting her eyes. "Stop!" She screamed. "Shut the fuck up!"
Hearing a noise, Faith opened her eyes to see Willow sprawled on the ground, her lip bleeding and Dawn hovering over her, looking toward Faith nervously.
"Faith, what's wrong with you?" Dawn asked, sounding more upset and scared than angry.
"What? Willow-I- what's going on?" Faith asked in confusion. Hearing the noise again, Faith looked to the side to see a figure in a robe attacking her, punching her in the face.
Willow climbed to her feet just as she saw Spike approaching. They were now surrounded by three demons in blue robes, who quickly attacked. Faith punched one of the demons hard before kicking him, sending him to the ground. Spike was fighting off a second demon, while Willow was facing a third, trying to keep Dawn behind her, muttering a protection spell.
Seeing the demon in front of Willow go toward Faith, she yelled out the Slayer's name. Faith looked up, just as the other demon caught her jaw with a right hook and everything got blurry. Looking up again, she saw Willow and Dawn running up to her with no evidence that they had been fighting. Spike came running up, not far behind.
"Willow? What the hell just happened?" She asked, looking around wearily.
"You ran off," Willow told her. "We tried to keep up with you, but you were too fast."
Hearing the strange noise again, Faith found herself again fighting with the demons. Glancing at Willow, she saw her yell out something just before one of the demons was thrown away from her. She kicked the other one several times, seeing him fall to the ground. The first one, now lying near the woman's body, jumped up and ran toward her again. Lashing out, she punched the demon just as she heard the noise again, yelling out "what the fu-"
Suddenly, she saw Willow in front of her and gasped as she realized that she had just hit the witch, again, seeing her lip again bleeding. She looked at Dawn, who gave her the same confused look and asked what Faith was doing.
Again, the Slayer heard the strange noise and found herself fighting the demons. Now the noise kept coming and she was quickly becoming disoriented, not knowing what was happening or who she was fighting. Trying to fight off the demons as best she could through the flashes of consciousness, Faith felt someone grab her shoulder and turned, backhanding whoever it was and gasping as she saw that it was the woman who had been on the ground. Watching the woman tumble back down a hill, Faith jumped up in horror and ran down the hill after her.
~Part: 6~
Seeing Faith run down a hill, Willow let out a low growl before suddenly letting loose with a flash of light, quickly taking out the three demons. Dawn and Spike blinked a few times, looking around, surprised to see the three demons were gone, as was Willow, who was already running after Faith.
As she reached the bottom of the hill, Willow saw Faith kneeling next to the body of the woman and ran to her.
"I killed her," Faith mumbled. "I killed someone, again, I didn't mean to, but, I killed her."
Spike and Dawn reached them, watching as Willow knelt down next to the shocked Slayer.
"No, Faith, listen to me…" She tried to get through to the brunette, grabbing her arm.
Faith jumped and shook her off. "No! You see? This is what I am! I'm a murderer! Even when I try, I try to do good, I still can't do it! I'll never be as good as Buffy. I'll never be even close but look! I killed her and this is what I am, a killer!"
Dawn watched, her mouth open in shock. She had never seen this side of Faith, never knew that she felt this way about herself.
"Faith, you have to listen to me. This is a trick. They did this before. Those guys, the ones involved in robbing the bank, they did this, they made it same like you killed her, but you didn't, they did."
"Red, I was there, I know what I did!"
"No! It seemed like you did it, but I'm telling you, I swear to you, Faith, you didn't do this. You are not a killer. Not any more than I am, or any one else."
Faith looked up at Willow, wiping a few tears from her eyes. "You're telling me this was a trick? I didn't kill her?"
"You didn't kill her," the redhead confirmed. "Last time, they did this to Buffy. I wasn't there that night, but she told me about it, and they did some kind of spell or something, to make it seem like you killed her, but you didn't, they did. You didn't kill her."
Finally, Willow pulled the distraught Slayer to her feet and they started home, Spike walking on the other side of Willow and Dawn following behind, contemplating the emotional display she had just witnessed.
~*~
"Is she going to be okay?" Willow looked up as she walked out of Faith's room and shut the door. Dawn was standing in the hall, shifting nervously from foot to foot.
"Yeah," Willow told her. "She's just upset still. Took a lot out of her, you know? How are you doin?"
"Okay," Dawn replied quietly. "Just thinking, I've sorta been giving Faith a hard time, haven't I?"
Willow nodded. "Well, you miss Buffy. We get that."
"Yeah, but I shouldn't have been treating Faith like that. I mean, it's not her fault that she's the Slayer, and she isn't THAT bad, once you get to know her."
The redhead chuckled.
"So, what happened, with that woman, I mean," Dawn questioned.
"I called the police, told them where they could find the killers," Willow told her. "They should be arresting them as we speak."