Rating: PG
Pairing: W/S
Summary: Willow is adjusting to being home again, and things are going pretty good, but she can’t help but wait for the other shoe to fall
Spoilers: Series begins just after ‘Lover’s Walk’, now a couple of years have passed, and we’re now at the very beginning of season seven.
Disclaimer: I did not build the Buffyverse that would be Joss, it is merely my playground.
Distribution: If you want it, fine by me, just drop me a line first.
Special Thanks: Kat for checking over my ramblings, Aden for always being happy to see me, and all the super cool people who send me feedback!
Feedback: Pretty please with sugar on top!
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Days turned into weeks, and soon four months had gone by, but still there was no sign of Spike. Willow had reacclimated to life on the hellmouth, falling once again into the steady routine of research and patrolling. Life was pretty good, all things considered. She had a beautiful home all to herself, with her parents unavoidably detained elsewhere. She had taken her GED tests and received perfect scores. After blowing away the people at the admissions office with her entrance exam scores, she had no trouble getting into U.C.Sunnydale, and was doing quite well with her classes. She had almost forgotten how much she liked school.
As for her social life, things were a bit strained there. Most of the Scoobies were feeling a bit leery about her checkered past. They had no proof that she had killed anyone, but they all knew she had become a powerful enough witch to do a great number of undesirable things. Willow refused to talk about it, any of it, with any of them. It was her business, and she was content to keep it that way. For the most part the redhead kept to herself, although she did take a job at the Magic Box, working with Anya. The ex-demon could be a bit much to take sometimes, but she was painfully honest and Willow could respect that. Besides, there was still too much weirdness between her and Giles for her to work the same hours as him.
Xander was the only thing that truly hadn’t changed. While most of the others were somewhat hesitant around her, he was like an unwavering beacon of friendship, offering her support in any way he could. It was true that he didn’t quite understand what all she had been through or what was going through her head when she would sit for long periods of time, staring off in silence, but he was so happy to have his friend back again, that he was content to just sit in silence with her if that was what she needed. He had even learned to deal with her new flappy friend, Clem, coming over once a week for movie night with him and Dawn. Buffy hadn’t been too thrilled at the thought of the littlest Summers spending a bunch of time with the redheaded witch, but with Xander there also, she couldn’t really think of a good enough excuse to keep them apart. Although, she did put the kibosh on Willow teaching Dawn any magic. Dawn had pouted, but Willow had just smiled and nodded and then later slipped some beginner’s books into the girl’s bag.
The situation with Oz had been quite a bit trickier. He was never one to press, but he had been persistent in his pursuit of reclaiming his former high school sweetie. Willow had trouble understanding his motivation. In her mind, the girl that had once dated the guitar wielding werewolf was long dead. But in his mind Willow hadn’t changed a bit. She was still beautiful and vibrant, and while she was a bit quieter, this only seemed to add to her allure. The redhead would have none of it though. While she was flattered by the flowers and love songs sent her way, she knew in her heart that eventually Spike would find his way home and they would be together again.
One night, about two months after she had returned, Willow had had the most intense nightmare of her life involving a battle to the death with various demons. Most of it had faded from her mind over time, but she could still remember the darkness of the cave and distantly the sound of drums. When it was all over, a figure cloaked in shadows touched her chest and it was like being struck by lightening. A pain unlike anything she had ever known had ripped through her body, but when she opened her mouth to scream the sound was not her own, it was Spike’s. The memory of that nightmare still made her break out in a cold sweat. It haunted her, but she tried to keep her hopes up and believe that Spike was okay and that he would come back to her.
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Willow was doing her usual patrol with Xander when she felt it again. For about a week now, she had been getting feelings, almost flashes, that told her Spike was near. But something wasn’t quite right about it. Her bond with the blonde vamp was still intact, she was sure of it, but the sensations she was getting were almost like that of another person. Still she hoped it was a sign that Spike was on his way home. Tonight however, the feeling was so overwhelming that she had to pause a moment and catch her breath. He was here, in Sunnydale, somewhere very close.
It had been her and Xander’s turn to patrol by the new Sunnydale High, and as the redhead regained control of her feelings, she looked over at the darkened building, like some great sleeping beast, and she knew he was inside.
“Um, Will, what are you doing?” Xander asked in confusion, panting slightly as he caught up with his friend who had bolted to the school. But Willow just ignored him as she said a little spell to unlock the door in front of her. “Look, I’m sure if you want to look around the new school, Buffy would be happy to give you a tour tomorrow, but the whole stealth mode breaking and entering thing, probably not of the good,” he said, grabbing her arm to stop her.
“Don’t try to stop me, Xander, he’s in there and I’ve got to get to him, now.”
She turned to face him with eyes gone inky black. Xander had heard from Buffy about Willow’s little black eyed moment at Spike’s crypt, but this was the first time he had seen it, and now he understood why it had spooked the slayer so badly.
Willow watched her oldest friend pull back from her in fear, and it made her heart heavy with sadness. She felt the power recede somewhat, and focused green eyes on him again.
“Xander, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to scare you, but I have to go to him,” without waiting for a response, she turned and entered the building.
She moved through the dark structure as if she had been there before, or as if some unknown force was directing her to exactly where she needed to be. Xander followed at a safe distance, unsure if Willow knew of his presence, and unwilling to leave her to whatever potential baddie could be hiding around each corner. However, when she headed straight for the basement, he paused momentarily to wonder if he should call Buffy and ask for a little back up. He hadn’t given it too much thought though when Willow disappeared down the stairs and he was forced to follow or leave her alone, so of course he followed.
With every step Willow took, she felt the feeling within her grow, and with it her dread. He was very close, but something was wrong, very wrong. Finally she came to stand before a large steel door in the basement. She didn’t remember exactly how she got there, but only that once she opened this door, her life would once again be changed forever. She took a calming breath and with a shaky hand opened the latch.
Inside was darkness so black that even with the dim light coming in from the door, it took her a moment to adjust to her surroundings as she eased inside. She could just make out a figure, huddled in the corner rocking and muttering to himself. ‘Something is definitely wrong,’ she thought to herself as her blood turned to ice in her veins.
“Spike?” she asked softly, approaching the figure. It wasn’t until she was almost up to him that he stopped his rambling and looked up at her, his eyes full of pain and fear. “Spike? It’s me, it’s Willow.”
“You’re not r-e-a-l,” he said in an almost sing song manner that reminded her of Drusilla.
She reached her hand out to stroke his head lightly, but the moment she touched him, he let out a high, piteous scream and scuttled away from her. It was tearing her heart out to see him like this. She didn’t know what was wrong with him, but there in the dark, directly above the hellmouth, was not the place to deal with it. Willow backed away from him a bit, wiping tears from her eyes, and began a simple incantation that would render the vampire temporarily unconscious. She had just finished the spell when Xander appeared in the doorway, blocking out what little light there had been. As he moved closer to her, he was able to see Spike’s form out cold on the floor, and let out an audible gasp.
“Oh my god, Spike! Willow are you okay?! Did he hurt you?!”
“I’m fine Xan, but I gotta get him back home.”
“Why?” Xander asked in confusion, flinching when she turned to glare at him, “Okay, don’t go all black eyed Susan on me again. I just don’t understand why you’d want to help him, but that’s your business I guess. So, moving him, hmm? Well, he’s a bit heavy to carry the whole way, unless we call Buffy to help…”
“No! I mean, no, I don’t need Buffy’s help on this. In fact, for now, I’d rather no one knew he was back at all. At least until he’s well again, okay?”
“I don’t know, Will, lying to Buffy, not so good. I mean we’re not really best buds anymore, but she is the slayer and he is a vamp. Don’t you think she should know?”
“No Xander, please! I know you don’t understand, but please just don’t tell anyone!” she pleaded.
“Okay, Wills, but if he’s going to be at your place, then I’m staying there too to make sure he doesn’t do anything.”
“Look, I appreciate the concern, but it’s really not necessary,” she began, but stopped when she saw his own version of the resolve face, “Fine. You can stay.”
“Great, now how are we going to get him back there?”
“Well, I kinda figured we’d meet you there,” Willow said as she knelt on the ground, pulling her lover’s body against her, before the both of them disappeared in a swirl of light and color.
“Okay, you don’t see that everyday,” Xander muttered to himself as he made his way back to Willow’s house.
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Willow and Spike landed in a heap outside her parent’s house. She was exhausted and queasy from using such a powerful spell. The redhead knew there were ways to greatly increase her magical powers beyond what they already were, but it would involve using very dark magics, and she just wasn’t willing to go down that path anymore. She was already one of the most powerful witches on the western hemisphere, and that was good enough for her. Although, as she dragged Spike’s body through the front door, she thought that a little juice to do a levitation spell would be nice.
Once they were safely inside, Willow collapsed on top of Spike, and simply held him, while she waited for the waves of nausea to pass. She was sick and scared, but above all, she was happy. Spike was home, and no matter what was to come next, they could handle it because they had each other. So it was with a smile that the redhead finally dozed off, laying half on top of her paramour, waiting to get her strength back.
And that was how Xander found them, both out cold on the floor in the entry way. At first he panicked, thinking something had gone wrong, but after checking her pulse and breathing, the dark haired man was reassured that his friend was in fact all right. He lifted her small body easily and carried her up to her room, placing her on her bed carefully. Then, heading back downstairs, he grabbed a couple of extra blankets out of the linen closet, pausing at the bottom of the stairs to toss one over Spike, ensuring he wouldn’t burst into flames from any spare rays coming through the window, and then made himself comfortable on the couch before calling Anya.
The former demon was none too pleased to hear her sweetie was spending the night at another woman’s house, but then Xander fed her a story about Willow tripping and hitting her head, and that he was just there to keep an eye on her. It took him several minutes to convince her that he was indeed sleeping on the couch, but finally she relented and asked him to call her in the morning.
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Early morning light crept through Willow’s bedroom windows, spilling across her face, and rousing her from her sleep. Like any other day, she stretched and yawned, and then the memories of the night before came flooding back to her and she bolted upright in a panic, searching the room for any signs of Spike or his dusty remains. But as she glanced around, she saw nothing out of place, except that she had apparently fallen asleep in her clothes again. ‘It all must have been some sort of vivid dream,’ she thought sadly as she headed downstairs to scrounge up something to eat. ‘Maybe I have malaria,’ she wondered, noticing the achy feeling of her body. But as she neared the bottom of the stairs, she stopped short, seeing a large blanket covered lump on the floor with just the slightest bit of shocking blonde hair peeking out from underneath.
“Spike,” she whispered to herself.