Pairing: Willow/Spike
Disclaimer: I humbly borrow, twisting and bending plots to my will.
Summary: Adopting Janet's plot bunny...Willow is not living in Sunnydale and has no recollection of her time there...though that's all about to change...
A/N: Thanks so much to Janet for all your help :) You're the absolute best!
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~Part: 1~
It was a dream. This much she knew. The same as every other night for the past few weeks, it was a dream. Or a nightmare really. It always started out the same. Willow would find herself in some place or other. It was always a place she didn't recognize but it always felt so familiar. The people, they were always the same and again, none of them she was able to place, but they all seemed so familiar, like a memory that was just under the surface, her mind not quite able to reach it.
They would be talking, laughing, dancing and she would be happy. Happier than she could ever remember being. But, that was always the most frightening moment, because she knew. She knew that soon it would turn dark and terrifying. There would be screaming and crying and death. There was something else, too. Monsters. Monsters that seemed so real, looked so close to human, but their faces- their faces showed their true identities.
Most nights it was pure horror and pain. Occasionally, though, it was something else. Something closer to heartache and loss. None of it was good. She knew it wasn't real. Just a dream. After all, the things she saw at night, while her eyes were closed, were nothing like the reality she lived in.
Here, in the dreams, she and these strangers fought and struggled. They averted dangers and saved people, and sometimes they didn't. Sometimes they died. There was someone, a boy, she felt such love from. And then, suddenly, there was nothing but pain and betrayal and loss. She could almost FEEL her heart rip in half as she watch from a window as the young man climbed into his van and pulled away, but none of it was real.
Her life, her actual life, held none of the peril and danger that lurked in her dreams. She was a simple, quiet college student. She had a close circle of friends and was born to parents that loved her. Granted, they had both been killed a few years earlier, while traveling abroad, but still, she knew how much they loved her.
Life was simple for the redhead. Go to class, study, breathe in, breathe out, daily habits. There were no monsters, no fighting, no pain like this and no passion either. Just simple thing, breathe in, breathe out. This is how she knew. She knew it was a dream, and thank the heavens for that. Dreams didn't mean anything, really. They didn't predict horrors to come, they didn't foretell the future, and they didn't remind of memories lost. Dreams were nothing more than manifestations of happiness or stress or the cause of eating cheese too close to bedtime. These dreams, she was sure, meant nothing, and yet, she never seemed to be able to escape them.
This night was the same as every other. She was sitting with a young man, dark hair, badly dressed. He seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite seem to place the face. They were watching cartoons and laughing. It was as if she was outside of her body, watching, just a member of the audience.
There was someone else there. A blonde, bleached blonde, actually. She'd seen him before, though again, couldn't quite recall a name or place where he was from. He was usually dressed better than this. Tonight, he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and short pants in place of his usual black pants, black shirt and long leather coat. He still looked as dark and tough as usual, but the hint of danger that usually came from him seemed to have dissipated. She supposed it was due to the bad outfit and wondered if he was taking fashion tips from the other guy and how she could kindly tell him to refrain from that in the future.
Before she had a chance to ponder that further, the images shifted and she found herself in a building that looked to have been demolished. She wondered why she could never just stay in the happy, comforting place. Why did she always end up in some abandoned building fighting evil things that…
There was a feeling in the air, familiar, but much stronger than she'd felt before. Evil. It was all around them. Suddenly, she found that she was back in her own body, no longer watching, but now actively participating. This was never a good thing.
She was holding something. It was important. That much she knew. Turning, she saw some sort of monster coming at her and turned away, tossing whatever she was holding to the blonde. She yelled something out, but apparently this was a silent movie and she couldn't hear what it was that she yelled.
Suddenly, the ground was shaking and the walls were crumbling around them. They were shouting things and running. She couldn't understand what they were saying, where they were going, but she felt an arm grab her and pull her along. Once they reached the outside, she felt strong arms wrap around her and there, again, was the comfort and protection.
Looking up, she found herself staring into crystal blue eyes and caught a glimpse of bleached blonde hair. She supposed that if she had to go through all this terror every night, at least it usually ended with this handsome stranger's arms around her or with his lips on hers.
Again, she felt the images shifting, though she was still looking into his eyes. Blinking once, twice, she noticed that suddenly the eyes were not blue anymore, but yellow. Taking a step back, she saw his face morph into that distorted face she'd seen on the monsters before. She was trying to scream, though no sound would come out and she felt his fangs descending upon her neck. Willow tried to pull away, but his grip was solid and then suddenly, it all let go. Jumping up in bed, Willow was panting, her eyes desperately darting around the dark room.
"It was just a dream. Just another silly, stupid, horrible, nightmarish dream," she told herself, trying to catch her breath. Leaning down, she peered under the bed nervously, just to be sure there was nothing hiding under there. Sitting back up, she shook her head and chuckled nervously. "As if monsters were real," she mused, wondering if she would get back to sleep that night.
~Part: 2~
"How did you do on your test?"
"Perfect score," Willow smiled proudly as she held up her paper.
"Should have known," Rosalyn replied with a roll of her eyes. "Always the perfect student."
Willow simply smiled back as they walk down the hall. She'd known Rosalyn her entire life. They both grew up in a suburb outside of New York and moved to the city together when they started college. Now in their last year at NYU, Willow felt closer to Rosalyn than anyone else in the world, though there still seemed to be a part of the girl that remained a mystery.
She was really the closest thing that the redhead had to what she would call family. Willow had taken her parents' death hard, and had it not been for Rosalyn's strength and support, she had no idea how she would have gotten through the last few years.
Looking up and glancing down the corridor, Willow stumbled as she saw an image flash through her mind. She was walking down a hallway, different from this one, carrying books and talking to a pretty blonde girl. It was one of the girls from her dreams, she knew, though she was very sure she was not sleeping. The images only lasted a second before it was gone and Willow found Rosalyn holding her arm and looking at her in concern.
"Willow! Are you alright?" She asked as the redhead tried to regain her composure.
"Yeah. I- sorry. I must have just spaced out for a minute or something. I- I haven't been getting much sleep lately."
"The dreams?"
Willow nodded, "Still coming strong, every night. Still the same things, over and over but I don't get it. They never make any sense. I just hope they go away while I'm on my trip."
"Oh, right! The computer conference. Leaving tomorrow, right?" Willow nodded with an excited smile. "I can't wait. I've never been to California before."
Her friend's face fell as her eyes widened. "Uh, where exactly in California is it?" She asked.
"Some place called Sunnydale," Willow told her. "Never heard of it before, but it sounds nice, doesn't it?"
Her friend gave her a worried look and nodded, but said nothing more and the pair continued on toward their next class.
~*~
"I don't understand why, Giles."
"Because, Xander, I told you. Buffy needs to patrol and we still don't know how to kill this thing."
"Right, so why am I on book duty and the bleached wonder is out kicking demon ass with Buffy?" Xander questioned.
"Because, moron, when I go out on patrol, I actual do kick the demon's ass as opposed to it being the other way around."
"Yeah, well-" Before Xander could finish, the phone rang and Giles silently thanked whoever was on the other end as he jumped up to answer it.
"Hello? Oh yes, how is, oh? Oh, oh, dear lord, yes, well, I, yes, I'll be sure to tell them. Thank you, yes." Giles hung up the phone and immediately removed his glasses. Never a good sign.
"Giles, man, what is it? Word on the demon?" Xander questioned as they all looked toward the Watcher, waiting for an answer.
"Ah, no, I'm afraid not. No, actually, that was a, uh, friend of mine. It seems that Willow is on her way back to Sunnydale."
At those words four jaws simultaneously dropped open.
~Part: 3~
"What do you mean, Willow's coming home?" Buffy ground out, glaring at Giles.
"Does she know?" Xander questioned.
"This can't be good," Anya mumbled.
"You said she would never remember, we would never see her again. You said, Giles!" Buffy shouted, stomping her foot.
"Does she remember us?" Xander asked quietly.
"You know what they say about prophecies," Anya muttered.
"How can she just be coming home? And I thought you had someone watching her!"
"Should we go meet her at the airport?"
"Try as hard as you like but they always work themselves out in the end."
"What does this mean? Was it all for nothing? Did the spell stop working?"
"Do you think she'll hate us? Do you think she'll hate me?"
"Well, wouldn't you hate us after what we did to her?"
"What in the bloody hell are you all talking about?"
All of the questions stopped as everyone turned to look at a seething blonde vampire.
"Willow's coming home? You've know all this time where she was, haven't you?" Spike charged forward, grabbing Giles, ready to slam him into the wall just before the agonizing pain shot through his head and he let go, stumbling backwards.
"That's what you get," Buffy told him with a smirk and a glare.
"How could you? How could you know where she was and not tell me?" He asked, his voice holding a sense of desperation that he despised.
"We had no choice. This wasn't the way we wanted it," Xander told him, surprised at the pang of guilt that ran through him.
"You all lied to me. I fought beside you day in and day out, and you knew how much it killed me that she left, that she was gone and I couldn't find her and you KNEW!!!"
Xander, Giles and Anya had the good grace to look down at the floor uncomfortably. Buffy, however, continued to glare at the blonde.
"We did what we had to do, Spike, to save Willow. It was the only way."
"What exactly is it that you had to do, and what was it that you had to save her from? Me? Because you know bloody well that I would never have hurt her for…"
"Not you, Spike," Buffy interrupted, sighing deeply before continuing. She had hoped to never have to have this conversation with him. "Willow was- there was a thing. I can't explain it to you. Just trust me. We found out something about Willow and had to send her away so that she wouldn't get hurt."
"Not long after Glory showed up, a few years back, we performed a spell. We removed all of her memories of her time here and replaced them before sending her to New York," Giles explained.
Spike just stood still, staring at the Watcher, unable to say a word. "We also bound her powers so that they would not be detectable by people who might abuse them."
"You took her memories away and bound her power?" Spike whispered. "You sent her away from the people that could protect her."
"We sent her to where she would be safe, stopping- stopping her from being hurt." Buffy told him. "We did the only thing we could do to keep Willow alive, after we found the prophecy…"
"You know why it's called a prophecy?" Spike asked, his anger growing. "It's the written word of divine inspiration. It's DESTINED to happen. You can't just stop a prophecy!"
"He's right, you know," Anya added. "I tried to tell you all then, but would you listen to me? No. And, now look what you've done. She's coming back here. You don't know how much she remembers, if she remembers at all, and she has no way to protect herself. The Hellmouth is calling her here and there's nothing you can do to stop it."
"We'll just put her on another plane and send her back when she arrives," Buffy said matter-of-factly.
"Buffy, this is Willow. She's not going to just be all `sure, yeah, no problem' with this, you know?" Xander said.
"Well, we can't let her come here," Buffy told him.
"When are you going to get this?" Anya shouted, startling everyone. "You don't have a choice here! Willow's coming and the prophecy will be fulfilled, whether you like it or not."
~Part: 4~
The plane arrived at the small airport just after sunset, California time. Finding her bags quickly enough, Willow caught a taxi and headed toward her hotel. The town was small and quaint. It was quiet, at least at night, something she wasn't used to. In the city there would be people walking around at all hours. Here, the streets seemed nearly deserted.
Driving along the small little town streets, Willow smiled to herself. It was like no where else she had ever been to, yet it seemed so familiar, though she wasn't sure quite why.
After checking into the small hotel, the redhead decided to head out for a walk, needing desperately to stretch her legs and clear her mind. She hadn't been walking down the street for more than five minutes when she suddenly got the eerie feeling that she was being followed. Turning around, she saw that there was no one behind her, but couldn't shake the strange feeling. Turning back to continue walking, she let out a scream as a figure jumped in front of her. Looking up, she found herself staring into the yellow eyes of the monsters in her dreams.
Backing away, into an alley, Willow closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, this isn't happening. It's just a dream, just a dream," she kept mumbling to herself over and over until she felt her back hit a wall. Opening her eyes, she found that was still staring into the face of the monster, his mouth turned up into a cruel grin, long, sharp fangs gleaming in the moonlight.
She was cornered and had no idea what to do. It had never been like this before, in any of her other dreams. There had always been other people around, helping her, saving her. Now, this time, she was alone and completely terrified.
"Please, please just leave me alone," she begged quietly.
The vampire simply laughed at her. "But, you look so tasty. I can't wait to sink my teeth into you. Haven't had a good bite all night."
"Yeah, well you're gonna have to wait just a little bit longer."
Willow's head shot up as the demon spun around and they both saw the group of people standing at the opening of the alleyway. It was the people from her dreams, but she knew, now, she wasn't dreaming.
"You picked the wrong girl to mess with," Buffy stated, holding up a small cross bow and pointing at the vampire. "If someone were to ask me, I'd say you were about to find yourself dusted."
"Oh yeah, Slayer?" The demon retorted with a grin. "I'd say you were wrong. Dead wrong."
"Dead wrong?" The slayer asked, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, that's original. Never heard that one before. You know, I really don't think guys are even trying any more…"
At that, several other vampires appeared and the fight was on. Xander and Anya were fighting off one vampire while Giles and Buffy each had their own. Spike was struggling with a forth, though he didn't take his eyes off the terrified redhead the entire time.
Willow was cowering in the corner, having no idea what was going on. She just kept muttering to herself, "this can't be real, this can't be real, this can't be real."
Seeing one of the vampire lunge toward the redhead, Spike yelled out, "Willow!" The redhead looked up just in time to see the demon coming at her and dodged out of the way. Spike quickly snapped the neck of the demon he was fighting and was running toward the vampire attacking Willow before the ashes hit the ground. Just as the other vampire reached out to grab the redhead, Spike gripped his arm tightly and yanked him back, sinking a stake into his chest. Willow watched in wide-eyed horror as the creature before her turned to dust.
Looking up, she found herself staring into the all too familiar face of the man from her dreams, though now his eyes were yellow, not blue. She backed away from him nervously and before Spike could protest, one of the other vampires came up behind him, grabbing his shoulders and spinning him around, sending a strong right hook into the blonde's jaw.
Spike resumed the fight, leaving the redhead alone temporarily. Seeing one of the crossbows lying on the ground, she picked it up and backed away, climbing up onto a pile of crates and watching as the last two vampires were killed by the group.
Seeing the last of the vampires turn to dust, everyone let out a sigh or relief. Suddenly, Spike jumped as he heard more than saw a crossbow bolt fly past his head and embed itself in the wall next to him. Everyone turned and looked in the direction from which it came, startled to see the redhead standing up on a pile of crates, looking down at them, pointing the weapon.
"Someone want to tell me what the hell is going on? Who are you people, and why the hell I'm having dreams about you?"
~Part: 5~
(Three Years Earlier)
"I'm just saying, I think it's rude."
"I wouldn't call it rude"
"Rude-ish. Rude-esque. Whatever you want to call it. When a person makes a `destroy all vampires' date, it's simple courtesy to wait for your co-destroyers. Am I right, Giles?"
Xander looked expectantly toward the older man who glanced up looking uninterested. "I'm almost certain you're not, but to be fair, I wasn't listening."
Xander scowled and Willow scoffed, both moving toward the table piled with books while Anya went to look at the new ad for the shop in the phone book.
"Since you're all here, I could use your help researching Buffy's mysterious woman," Giles told them.
Xander let out a groan. "Oh yeah, this has been fruitful. Trying to look up something you never saw and don't know the name of."
"Just do what I do: flip through the pages and look busy," Anya advised him.
"It'd be nice if we knew where she was," Willow mused, "where she was hiding out."
"No doubt lurking around some sewer or condemned church or rat- infested warehouse," Xander quipped. "You know, the usual haunts."
~*~
Glory was growing impatient. Well, to be fair, she never was really good with the patience to begin with. Kinda one of the perks to being a god, you could pretty much be as impatient as you damn well felt like and who was going to say a word about it? Just the same though, Glory was growing impatient. She was running out of time and had to find her key, now.
"Just so we're clear, the spell's gonna work, right?" She asked in annoyance, the minion nodding enthusiastically. Of course, this affirmation meant nothing. The minions were always running around spouting out any ridiculous drivel that they thought she wanted to hear. What she needed was true, hard facts and she supposed that to get them, she would have to use a little tactile persuasion.
"I mean, nothing worse than a gift that doesn't work. Then I'd have to get all mad and kill you! It's this whole big thing," she told him.
"It will work, your extremeness," he assured her. "Provided you have the other items you need a-and a witch powerful enough to cast the spell."
"Don't worry," the blonde replied, glancing down at the phone book and ripping out an ad for a magic shop. "I'll have them, all right. I'll have it all."
~*~
Riley walked up to the door and knocked lightly before opening it, stepping into the small dorm room. Seeing a tattered blanket sitting at his feet, he looked up, surprised to find Spike in Buffy's dorm room, inhaling deeply as he held a sweater against his face.
"What are you doing in here?" Riley demanded.
Spike spun around in surprise and quickly hid the sweater behind his back. "What, me? I was um, uh, what are *you* doing here?" He stalled.
"Looking for the girl who's gonna rip your arms off when she finds out you were in her room," the former soldier replied.
"Oh yeah? Well, me too," Spike lied.
Riley frowned and reached out, trying to grab whatever Spike was holding behind his back.
"Were you- were you just smelling her sweater?" Riley asked with a mixture of amusement and disgust.
Spike let out a forced laugh. "No, well, yeah, all right, I did. It's a predator thing, nothin' wrong with it. Just know your enemy's scent, whet the appetite for a hunt." Pausing, he held the sweater up, sniffing it again. "Ah, that's the stuff! Slayer musk, it's bitter and aggravating!"
Riley reached out and grabbed the sweater. About to toss it onto the bed, he stopped and looked down, making a confused face. "This isn't even Buffy's sweater," he observed. "It's Willow's I think."
"What?" Spike asked, trying to sound surprised, eyes wide, before reaching out and snatching the sweater back, staring at it for a moment and sniffing it again. "You know, I-I think you're right," he said finally. "This is the little witch's." He tried to make a disgusted face and tossed the sweater onto Buffy's dresser.
Riley rolled his eyes. "Alright, you, out," he told him as he roughly grabbed the vampire and shoved him out the door. Just as he was being manhandled through the doorway, Spike reached out, grabbing the sweater off of the dresser and shoving it into his coat pocket.
~*~
"I just wish we knew what we were dealing with. It feels as if we're going in circles." Willow looked up at Giles, Anya and Xander. They had been researching for days on end about this woman that Buffy had fought and still had nothing on her.
"Giles, the Dagon sphere. You said that was created to repel…" Willow thought out loud.
"That which cannot be named," Giles supplied.
"So I'm thinking maybe she..."
"Predates language itself? If that is indeed the case, there's- there's no way we can determine her moves, her habits, where she'll turn up next-"
Giles paused as he turned around and unwittingly came face to face with Glory.
"Oh! I beg your-" He began to apologize.
"Uh-huh," Glory interrupted, handing him a few items. "I want these."
"Yes, of course!" He told her as he quickly went to the register and wrapped her items. "Um, you find everything all right?"
"No problemo," she told him.
"Come on, Wills, you're all big with the magic now. Haven't you figured out some spell to just give us the knowledge we seek at this point," Xander complained as the three of them sat staring at their books, not bothering to look up toward the customer with Giles. Hearing Xander's words, however, Glory's head turned and she glanced at Willow, an evil twinkle in her eye.
"Your receipt," Giles said. Glory turned back to him, annoyed at the interruption of her thoughts. "And thank you! If there's anything else you need, please come by."
"I'll be sure to do just that," she said with a smile, before turning and trotting happily away.
Giles turned back toward the others, completely unaware of whom he had just helped. "She could be anywhere. But if she is as powerful as, uh, Buffy says, I imagine it won't be long before she makes herself known."
~*~
Later that afternoon, Anya went to the register and began glancing through the receipts. Stopping at one, she stared at it for a long time before finally looking up.
"Hey. Hey! HEY!" She shouted.
Willow, Giles and Xander all rushed over to her just as she shouted again.
"HEY!! You sold someone a Khul's amulet and a Sobekian bloodstone. Are you stupid or something?" She asked Giles. "You never sell these things together, ever! Bad news! Don't you know about the Sobekites?"
"Oh! I do," Willow said, smiling proudly. "It was an ancient Egyptian cult, heavy into dark magic. A-and the Khul's amulet, wasn't that a transmogrification conduit?"
"Damn straight!" Anya affirmed.
"Be that as it may, I still see no reason for concern," Giles told them. "I mean, the-the Sobekian transmogrification spells were lost thousands of years ago. And besides, the young woman to whom I sold them would have to have had enormous power-"
"Young woman?" Willow repeated nervously.
"Oh, dear lord."
~*~
Willow had class at three, and surprisingly enough she was actually going. The redhead had never been one to skip class, ever, but lately, with everything that had been happening, she had missed more than her fair share of classes, and though she could keep up with the work easily enough, she was sure her professors were beginning to notice her absence. So, off to class she went. Walking briskly across campus, the witch looked up to see the building she was heading to not far ahead.
"Hey, you there!" She heard a woman calling. Stopping for a moment, she looked around and found a young woman with long, blond curly hair standing behind her.
"Me?" Willow asked, wondering why this woman was speaking to her.
"Yeah. I was wondering if I could get your help with something," the blonde told her.
"Oh, well, uh, I was just on my way to class and I'm in a hurry, but..."
"This won't take too long, and I'd REALLY appreciate your help," Glory told her with a sugary sweet smile.
"Oh, well, ok, uh, what can I do to, uh, help?" Willow asked, glancing toward the building again for a moment. Turning back to the woman, her eyes widened as she saw her raise her fist.
"Fall down," Glory told her, just before punching her hard, knocking her out cold.
Willow slumped down onto the ground, seemingly unnoticed by the many students walking around.
Glory looked around them, glad to see that no one was bothering with them. She snapped her fingers and two of her minions quickly ran up and grabbed Willow, dragging her up and away. "You really gotta love a town full of people THIS oblivious," Glory said to herself with another smile.
~Part: 6~
"I HATE all this waiting! It's like no one cares about what I want, how I feel, you know?"
Willow groggily felt herself pulling away from the darkness and struggled to open her eyes. Her head was pounding and she could hear someone talking. Her arms were throbbing. Trying to lift them, the redhead suddenly realized that she was tied to the chair she was sitting in.
"Do you know how much I hate waiting? Because I really, REALLY," Glory paused as she turned and looked at her little witch. "Oh, goody!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands together and skipping over to the bound redhead.
"You're finally awake!" Glory said, looking down a Willow, her smile quickly dropping into a disapproving frown. "Took you long enough. I was beginning to think you would never wake up."
"Wh-what-what am I doing here?" Willow stammered out, trying to focus her blurry vision and concentrate on what the woman was saying.
"I need you to perform a little spell for me," Glory told her, turning away from Willow and grabbing a nearby book, flipping through the pages.
"Who are you?" Willow asked, though she was already pretty sure she knew the answer.
Glory heaved a frustrated sigh and tossed the book onto Willow's lap.
"Do I really need to explain that to you?" She replied.
"Glory," Willow mumbled, dread washing over her.
"Bingo! Well, aren't you just the smart one," Glory cooed. "Now, this is the spell I need you to cast. Think you can handle that?"
Willow glanced down at the transmogrification spell. She could cast it, she knew, but she also knew that whatever Glory was trying to conjure could only lead to badness and if Willow did the spell, whatever badness came would be because of her.
"I-I don't think I can cast this. It's very complicated and-"
Glory suddenly spun around and glared at the redhead, cutting off her speech. "You wouldn't be lying to me, now would you? Because I REALLY hate to be lied to, and word is you're a pretty powerful witch."
"I-no-no lying, really, I just don't think I can…" Willow's voice trailed off as she shook her head nervously.
"Well, I have faith in you," Glory told her with a big smile. "If you're feeling unsure, maybe you just need a little persuasion.
Before the words could register with her, Willow felt a searing pain across her right cheek as Glory reached out and backhanded her as hard as she could. Willow's head snapped back and she could feel blood seeping from her lip. Slowly, she turned her back to face Glory, her green eyes now black.
"Oh, how cute. The little witch wants to play. Goodie. I'm in the mood for a little fun."
~Part: 7~
"Why won't you just help me find my key?" Glory whined, close to tears.
Willow tried to look up, her head too heavy and her body too weak to perform the simple task. It had been hours. Just how many, she wasn't sure, but she knew she couldn't take much more. She was weak and she knew her resolve was gone.
"Is one little spell too much to ask? I'll tell you what. You do the spell, and I promise I'll kill you quick. You don't perform the spell, I'll keep you alive and I'll kill everyone you know and love. Your parents, your friends, everyone. So, what do you say?"
Struggling to swallow the lump in her throat, Willow lifted her eyes to look at Glory and nodded her head slightly, feeling complete and utter shame. "I'll do it," she told her, her shoulders slumping in defeat.
"Finally!" Glory shouted, walking behind the redhead and ripping the ropes apart that held her to the chair. Lifting the witch up with ease, Glory shoved her to the ground near the spell book. "Do it," she commanded coldly as she watched with her arms crossed over her chest.
Willow struggled to pull herself up into a kneeling position, silently asking for strength and forgiveness from her goddess. Taking the book, she quickly centered herself before beginning to chant the words to the spell. A few moments later the spell was complete. Willow felt the last of her energy leave her as she collapsed onto the floor, sweet darkness consuming her.
Glory watched in annoyance as the witch cast the spell and then passed out. "Nothing is happening! Where is my snake?" She yelled.
"Your greatness," one of the minions interjected. "The witch was weak. The spell did work, I am sure, though I suspect in her weakened state she was unable to summon him to immediate materialization."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Glory questioned.
"It means, oh glorious one, that given a little more patience, I am sure your snake will appear."
Glory let out a deep sigh and rolled her eyes. After all, everyone knew her stance on patience. "Fine! More waiting! All I ever do in this stinking dimension is wait. Wait for my key, wait for my snake, wait for the ritual, wait, wait, wait. Fine! Take the witch, lock her in one of the guest rooms. I'm sure I'll be able to use her later."
At that, two of the minions quickly scrambled to drag the unconscious redhead into one of the rooms down the hall, dumping her onto the floor and locking the door behind them.
~Part: 8~
Giles woke to the sound of someone pounding on his front door, never a good thing. Groggily, he made his way to the door and pulled it open, glaring at the blonde Slayer who charged in.
"Why was your door locked?" She demanded.
"That is generally the way it tends to be when I'm sleeping in the middle of the night," he grumbled. "Buffy, what are you doing here?"
"Willow," the Slayer replied, pacing in front of him.
"What about her?" He asked impatiently.
"She's missing. She didn't come home tonight," Buffy told him.
"Really? Well, that is rather unlike her, now isn't it?" Giles said as he removed his glasses, cleaning them on his t-shirt.
"Yes! Yes, it is VERY unlike her Giles, and you know, with Glory out there and Willow and the whole- we have to find her Giles, now."
"Yes, I understand your urgency, Buffy, I do, and we will find her, but you are going to have to calm down in order to-"
"Calm down? Giles, if Glory has Willow there's no telling what she'll do. We have to find her. Now."
~*~
Again, for the second time in one day, Willow found herself struggling to regain consciousness, her head pounding and her body aching. This time, she was not bound to anything, though she could barely move her body. Looking around, she saw that she was in a small, dark bedroom. She struggled to remember where she was as she pulled herself into a sitting position.
"Getting a little tired of this," she grumbled to herself. "Why am I in…"
Glory! Glory had taken her and forced her to perform a spell, something to summon a snake-demon-thing. She could remember starting to the spell, but nothing further, so she had no idea if the spell had worked. The only thing she was completely sure of was that she needed to get out of that room, now, if she had any hope of living through this.
Closing her eyes, Willow began to pray to her goddess for strength. She only had one option, a teleportation spell. It would take a lot of strength and energy, neither of which she was very full of at the moment, but she knew it had to be done now. She was still working on the spell she had learned, still trying to get out a few of the kinks, the biggest of which being where the object ended up. She still didn't seem to have a whole lot of control on that part, so she prayed to her goddess to send her somewhere, anywhere safe, anywhere, so long as it was away from Glory and where she could be protected.
At that, she began to chant the spell, feeling the air immediately begin to spark and crackle, a moment later, she felt the pull through out her body just before feeling herself losing consciousness for the third time.
~*~
Spike was in the cave under his crypt, brooding. He hated this. He was becoming more and more like Angel everyday, brooding over some little human. A little human that didn't even know he existed let alone that he was in love with her. Not that he had given her much indication of it.
"Moron," he muttered to himself. "The witch is never going to give you a chance if she doesn't even know you like her. Not as if she's going to just fall into your lap."
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, there was a blinding flash of light and Spike felt something heavy fall onto the other end of the bed. Bolting upright and blinking a few times, he looked over, shocked to see the still form of the redheaded witch in a heap on his bed.
~Part: 9~
"What in the bloody hell!" He exclaimed, looking down at her. "Red?"
Getting no response, he reached out slowly and pulled back the few strands of hair that covered her face and gasped as he saw the damage there. She was bruised and bloody and clearly unconscious. Lifting her and resettling her on the bed, Spike looked her over in horror, seeing the evidence of the pain inflicted on the woman he loved.
"Willow," he whispered, "Luv, what happened to you?"
Not bothering to wait for an answer that wouldn't come, he quickly jumped off of the bed and scooped her up, leaving the crypt and making his way to the Watcher's home, hoping that Giles would have some answers, and hoping that he would make it there before sunrise.
~*~
"I don't get it, Buffy. Why would Glory go after Willow?" Xander questioned, looking at her sleepily. He and Anya had headed to the Magic Box to meet Buffy and Giles as soon as they had called.
Buffy glanced toward Giles before answering. "Because! Be-because, Willow is my best friend and Glory is going to go after anything that might hurt me, including my friends."
"Yeah, but does she even know that Willow knows you? I mean, wouldn't it make more sense for her to go after Dawn or maybe Joy- er, your mom?" Xander questioned.
"Well, maybe she knew Willow was a witch and wanted to use her powers," Anya supplied.
"Yes!" Buffy shouted, a little too enthusiastically. "I mean Anya's right. She probably knew that Willow was a witch and…"
Before Buffy had a chance to finish, the front door of the shop flew open and Spike came running inside, someone large cradled in his arms. He quickly kicked the door shut just as the first rays of light peeked over the horizon.
~Part: 10~
"Spike. Always a pleasure to see you when badness is abound, which is pretty much always," Xander quipped.
Spike ignored the dark haired boy and moved toward the large circular table. Everyone was immediately aware of what he held and Xander rushed to clear the table, shoving the piles of old books to the floor. Spike gently laid the redhead down on the table and looked up, glaring at the watcher.
"What are you doing here in the middle of the night? And why was your apartment locked?" The vampire questioned.
"That DOES seem to be the question of the night," Giles muttered.
"Spike, what the hell happened?!" Xander shouted as he looked over his best friend who still remained unconscious.
"Not a bloody clue," Spike replied.
Suddenly, Buffy lunged toward the bleached blonde and grabbed him by the throat, turning him and slamming him against the wall.
"What did you do to her?" She ground out, a stake poised just over his heart.
"Hey! Hey, now! Wait just a bloody minute! I didn't do anything to the little witch!" Spike protested.
"Buffy, let him go," Giles commanded.
The Slayer reluctantly released him from her hold and stepped back just as Giles stepped forward, a menacing look in his eyes.
"What happened?" He demanded.
"I was sitting in my crypt, minding my own business and she literally fell into my lap like this. Just appeared, out of thin air. Didn't know what to do, so I came out lookin for you lot, but when I got to YOUR place, YOU weren't there, so I headed here."
"And you have no idea what happened to her?" Giles asked.
"Not a bloody clue," Spike told him honestly. "Was hoping you would know that."
"Hey!" Anya shouted. "Hey! I think she's waking up!"
Everyone immediately gathered around the table, looking down at the redhead with concern.
Willow slowly opened her eyes, reaching up to hold her throbbing head.
"How many times am I going to have to wake up like this?" She mumbled to herself just before lifting her eyes and looking around, seeing her friends surrounding her.
"Oh," She said, smiling weakly. "It worked. It brought me here."
"It?" Giles asked.
"Th-the spell. Teleportation spell. Still not real clear on the destinations. Just wanted somewhere safe, where I was loved." She looked around at her friends worried faces and smiled again.
Everyone avoided her gaze, not wanting to mention that it was actually Spike's crypt that she had teleported to and not the shop.
"Willow, what happened?" Buffy asked softly, seeing Willow immediately frown.
"Glory," the redhead replied, her voice shaking as she spoke the name. "She-she wanted me to do a spell for her."
"See! I told you!" Anya exclaimed, beaming proudly.
"Very good, sweetie," Xander whispered, squeezing his girlfriend's waist.
"A-A spell?" Giles asked in concern. "What, uh, type of spell exactly?"
"She-She wanted a big snake thing, that stuff you sold her? She needed me to work the spell," Willow told them.
"Did you do it?" Xander asked.
Willow looked down at her hands in her lap, her cheeks coloring. She couldn't bare to see the look of disappointment and disapproval on their faces as she nodded her head and whispered, "Yes."
"So, that means there's some giant snake thing out there, on the loose doing who knows what?" Buffy asked, looking toward Giles.
The Watcher nodded. "I'm afraid so."
"I'm sorry," Willow whispered, still not looking up as a tear slipping down her cheek. "I'm so sorry."
"Willow! This isn't your fault! My god! What you must have endured!" Giles exclaimed, wanting desperately to reassure the girl that no one blamed her whatsoever.
"So, do we have any idea why Glory wanted a big pet snake?" Xander asked. Giles shook his head. "Well, then, sounds like we're in for another rousing session of research-for-answers."
Everyone let out a groan, Xander, Anya and Giles each reaching for a book.
"I should probably go out and patrol. If this thing is on the loose…" Buffy said, grabbing a few weapons before heading out the door.
"Luv, are you alright?" Spike asked as he reached out and ran his hand lightly down Willow's cheek.
The witch smiled softly and swung her legs around over the side of the table. "Yeah, just a little weak," she told him, hopping down to the floor. Her legs immediately gave out and she fell into the blonde vampire who was all too happy to have his arms full of the redhead.
"Willow, you need to rest," he told her, quickly sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her toward the training room at the back of the shop. He set her down gently.
"Don't move," he told her sternly, before disappearing back into the shop.
Willow looked around her as she sat up a little straighter on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest. Thinking about what had happened, she finally let her resolve break completely and felt the first few tears slip down her cheeks.
When Spike returned a minute later, he found the redhead rocking slightly on the couch, sobbing quietly. Coming up behind her, he gently touched her shoulder and she jumped, her head spinning around to look up at him in horror. Her expression quickly relaxed at seeing the vampire, though he could see that she was still shaking and upset.
"Brought you some tea," he explained softly, extending the cup toward her.
Willow smiled appreciatively and took the cup, trying for a moment to raise it to her lips. She let out of sob of frustration as she kept spilling it over the side due to her hands shaking uncontrollably.
Spike quickly pulled the cup back out of her hands and set it on a nearby table before sitting beside her and taking her hands in his, rubbing them soothingly. After a few minutes he felt her begin to relax.
"You should try to get some sleep," he told her.
"Can't," she told him, her voice sounded panicked. He could feel her body begin to tense up again. "Glory. She'll come back. She'll find me. Can't sleep. Can't," she mumbled.
The blonde vampire gently but firmly pulled the redhead against him, wrapping an arm around her protectively as he leaned her head against his chest.
"I'll stay here with you. Protect you from any baddies that might come calling," he told her with a slight grin, feeling her relax slightly against him.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" She asked quietly.
The question surprised him, though he tried not to show it. "I, uh, well, you went up against Glory, luv, and you survived. The Slayer can barely hold her own against this chit, so I'd have to say that makes you pretty damn tough, and after something like that, you need someone lookin after you- you deserve to be taken care of."
Willow looked up at him, not fully believing his explanation, but deciding not to push it any further, and snuggled closer to the vampire, closing her eyes and letting blessed sleep finally take over.
~*~
"Where is my snake?" Glory demanded. "It's been hours! Now, not only is my snake missing, but my witch is missing too! What kind of minions are you? Can you do anything right?"
"We're sorry your gloriousness," one of the minions groveled. "We will go out and find your witch right away, and I'm sure your snake will come back very soon."
"Never mind," Glory grumbled with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I couldn't care less about the witch. She was nothing. The snake, however, had better return soon. I WANT my KEY!"