Enemy IncognitoBy Wynn
Chapter Five: Unexpected Arrivals
Approaching the door to the Magic Box, she hesitated. She took a deep breath and another step forward before stopping again. Moving to the window, she cautiously peered inside. Drop cloths were spread throughout the shop and scaffolding sat underneath a large hole in the roof. She could see Giles on the scaffolding talking to Xander, Buffy and Dawn painting a wall in the back of the shop, and Anya applying putty to a wall near the entrance. She turned from the window and closed her eyes. She couldn't face everyone. Not yet. Not after everything she had done to them. Opening her eyes and clenching her fists, she stared out into the busy Main Street of Sunnydale. Everyone was so complacent in their ignorance of the dangers that lurked in the shadows of the world. Shadows she herself had reveled in. Sighing softly, she turned and peered inside the Magic Box again.
***"It shouldn't be too hard to fix. None of the studs were damaged, so you won't have to try to replace those. That would've been expensive. All you'll need is some plaster, insulation, a few shingles, and you'll be back in business." Xander rubbed the back of his neck. He examined the jagged tear in the ceiling and continued, "I'll talk to a guy I know through work. He owes me a favor, so he should be able to fix this in a day or two."
Giles nodded. "Thank you, Xander."
Xander shrugged. "No problem. It's the least I could do. I know how much the shop means to you." He looked past the Watcher to his ex-fiancée. "And to Anya." Refocusing on Giles, he asked, "Is there anything else? Are you going to rebuild the loft?"
"I'm not certain. Rebuilding the shop was not my idea. It was Anya who wanted to keep the Magic Box despite the work necessary to repair it." He removed his glasses and wiped them on the hem of his white t-shirt. His gaze traveled from polishing his glasses to his young companion's face. "You'll… ah… have to talk to her about the plans for the shop." Replacing his glasses, Giles moved to the edge of the scaffolding. "I should see if Buffy and Dawn need help painting." He descended the ladder without waiting for Xander to reply.
For a moment, the brunette stared at the hole in the ceiling. Willow had left Sunnydale a week and a half ago; she still had not contacted him or Buffy. 'Probably for the best. Everyone's still on edge.' Moving to the edge of the scaffolding, Xander looked at his ex-fiancée. They had barely spoken to each other since the end of Willow's revenge trip against the leftover Nerds; what they did say to each other was muffled mumblings about the shop's repairs. Xander ran his fingers through his hair, smoothed his navy t-shirt, and climbed down the ladder. Walking over to Anya, he said, "Hey."
The blonde vengeance demon tensed. Placing the jar of putty on the floor, she wiped her hands on her jeans and faced Xander. She smiled tightly. "Hey."
Swallowing, Xander said, "Ah… the roof should be repaired in a few days. I asked Giles about rebuilding the loft, but he didn't know." He paused. "He said I should talk to you about it."
"He did?"
"Yeah."
The two stood in silence, looking anywhere in the shop but at each other. Out of the corner of his eye, Xander saw a shadow flit past the Magic Box's window. Dismissing the apparition, he glanced at Anya and said, "Um… about the loft?"
"Oh," Anya inspected the blank back wall where the Magic Box's loft used to reside. After a moment's contemplation, she said, "Yes, I want to replace-"
"Do you want to have coffee sometime?"
"What?"
Xander fidgeted under the blonde's steady gaze. His gaze flickered from her to the floor. "I asked if you wanted to have coffee sometime. With me. I thought that we could… talk." Lifting his head, Xander sought his ex-fiancée's golden-flecked brown eyes. "If you want to, that is. I mean… I think we have a lot we need to talk about, or I have a lot I need to explain, and I would like to. Explain."
Anya's face softened. "That wouldn't be horrible," she said. "I like coffee."
Xander smiled. "Great." The door to the Magic Box jingled. "How about to..." He trailed off as he recognized the figure hovering by the open door. Turning, he locked eyes with Buffy. The blonde Slayer edged in front of Dawn, set her paintbrush on the floor, and looked at the woman by the door.
The woman's hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, and she wore a pair of rumpled black pants and a tank top; her nails were bitten to the quick. She smiled nervously at the silent Scooby Gang and set her battered brown suitcase on the floor.
"Hey, guys," Willow said.
***The two vampires trudged through the dank sewer water. Each carried a large battle-ax coated in green demon slime, which was the same substance that covered the pair from head to toe. Spike wiped a glob of the green goo off the tip of his nose; a disgusted look crossed his face. The group of Florvak demons he and Angel had pursued for information had put up one hell of a fight, but ultimately, they were not a match for the vampires. Which was unfortunate for Spike and Angel because Florvak demons had green sludge for blood that tended to stick to every surface it came across.
"I have to say that that was probably the most disgusting situation I have ever been in," Spike told Angel as he attempted to fling the goo that stuck to his hand. "And I've been in some weird situations before."
Angel smirked. "You're just mad because your formerly blonde hair is now lime green."
Spike inspected Angel's hair. "You brown poof isn't looking too good either, Peaches." He sighed as he realized the slime was not flinging itself off of his fingers. "At least tell me you got the info you needed."
"Yeah," Angel muttered. "I got the information. I don't know how much good it'll do, but I got it." The Florvak demons were the last known entities to have seen Connor and Holtz. The brunette was silent as he inspected the blade of his battle-ax. Scraping dried demon blood off the edge of the blade, he continued, "Hopefully the lead Fred and Gunn are tracking down will pan out too."
Spike regarded the older vampire. Angel had told him about Connor a week ago; the tale of the liaison between the brunette and the resurrected-human-turned-vampire Darla was almost as unbelievable as his own relationship with Buffy. Spike knew that Connor's betrayal was consuming Angel's thoughts, as was the absence of Cordelia, the ex-cheerleader turned seer turned half-demon whom Angel had fallen in love with. Shaking his head, Spike snorted.
Angel looked at him. "What?"
"Nothing." Spike paused as the duo ascended the ladder that led to the basement of the Hyperion. "I was just thinking of how complicated everything's become. Used to be so simple. Feed, fuck, sleep. Now it's falling in love with your mortal enemy, two vampires having a kid…"
"Welcome to the real world." They exited the basement and were assaulted by the raucous sound of rock music blaring from the hotel. "What the hell is that?"
"Nirvana," Spike said as the pair moved closer to the Hyperion's lobby. Spike followed Angel as they crept past the empty office and lobby desk into the hotel's sitting room. A stereo and a set of large speakers sat in the middle of an arrangement of chairs. Sprawled across one of the plush chairs, feet tapping with the beat of the music and broad smile on her face, was a young brunette dressed in black. A stake was clasped in her right hand.
"Hey, Angel. Miss me?"
One corner of Angel's mouth quirked up as he said, "Faith."
***Tension spread throughout the Magic Box. Willow glanced at Xander, then Buffy; she shuffled next to her suitcase. Tara had been right. This wasn't going to be easy. How do you tell your best friends you're sorry for jumping on the black magic train, physically and mentally torturing them, and attempting to destroy the world? Hallmark didn't make a card for this. Taking a deep breath, she faced her friends… her family.
Buffy moved into the center of the shop, hazel eyes fixed on her best friend and most recent enemy. Willow returned her steady gaze, her fidgeting hands betraying her nervousness. "Willow."
The redhead gave a slight wave. "Hey, Buffy… Xander."
Xander walked over to his best friend and gathered her into a hug. "I'm glad you came back," he said. He smoothed her hair with his hand. "We were worried about you."
"Yeah… Me, too." She broke the hug and squeezed Xander's hand. Turning toward the blonde Slayer, Willow slowly approached her friend, stopping when she saw Buffy tense. Taking a deep breath, Willow said, "I'm sorry. I- I know that's not enough. And that it never will be. But it's true." Her faded green eyes glistened with tears. She looked at her best friend and said, "I'm so sorry."
"I know." Buffy closed the distance between herself and Willow. She reached out and embraced the redhead, holding her tight. Pulling back, she peered at her friend; Willow's face was gaunt and dark circles rimmed her closed eyes. Buffy smoothed a lock of hair behind Willow's ear and said, "I know."
"Hello, Willow."
Brushing a few stray tears off her cheek, Willow faced Giles. He stood a few paces behind the pair and studied the redhead. Moving forward, she stopped in front of her one time mentor and friend. "Giles… I'm sorry about the shop." Her eyes drifted to his face and then down to her hands. "And for everything else."
A sad smile crossed the Watcher's face. He laid a hand on her shoulder and said, "I'm just glad that you are alright. We can replace the shop. We can't replace you."
A wan smile crossed her face. "Not so sure about that…" She looked towards the rear of the store where Anya, during the course of the apologies, had crossed the store and stood next to a frozen Dawn. "Hey Dawnie."
Flinching, Dawn took a few steps back. She gazed at Willow with cold, hurt eyes. "Don't call me Dawnie."
Buffy moved towards her sister. "Dawn…"
Dawn glared at Buffy. "What? Am I supposed to act like everything's Ok because she said she was sorry? Everything is not Ok. She wanted to kill me, Buffy. She didn't just try to… she wanted me dead. She wanted you dead and Giles and Anya. And I'm just supposed to forgive her for trying to kill my family because of one 'I'm sorry?'"
"Dawn…"
Willow interrupted her friend. "No, Buffy. Dawn's right." She looked at her surrogate little sister and said, "I don't know what else to say, Dawn, except I'm sorry. I don't want you dead. Not now and not ever."
Xander approached the center of the store and stood opposite Buffy, on the other side of Willow. "Dawn, she didn't know what she was doing. She-"
Dawn rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. "Whatever, Xander. Willow knew exactly what she was doing."
The fractured Scooby Gang was silent in their tense circle inside the Magic Box. The air felt heavy with pain and sorrow and guilt accumulated during the past few weeks, the past few years. The fights and the lies and the betrayals and the hurt they had caused to each other seemed insurmountable. They were fragile, hollow, shadows of the selves they had been six years ago. All had hit rock bottom and they were desperately trying to claw back from destruction and despair.
Willow cleared her throat. "Maybe I should just go." She turned from the group and headed to the shop's entrance.
"No." Xander grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop. "You're not leaving again. We'll get through this. All of us."
The lifelong friends stared at each other, oblivious to the rest of the world. Silent communication passed between them and, nodding softly, Willow said, "I- I'm tired. It's been a… rough week."
Buffy pulled her keys out of her pants pocket. "Ok, we'll take you home. Are you coming Dawn?"
"No."
The blonde Slayer grabbed Willow's suitcase and headed for the door. "I'll see you later then."
"No, you won't." As her sister turned, Dawn stood resolute. "I don't want to stay there if she's there."
Gritting her teeth, Buffy set the suitcase back on the floor. "Dawn…"
"No. "
Xander interrupted the sister standoff. "She can stay with me." To Willow, he said, "You can sleep on the sofa, if you want."
A brief smile crossed Willow's face. "Thanks, Xander."
"No problem." He locked eyes with Anya. She stared at him in shock. Glancing between her ex-fiancée and his best friend, she shook her head, turned, and left the Magic Box, the door to the training room slamming behind her.
Xander took a few steps towards the door to the training room. "Anya. Anya!"
Giles stepped in front of Xander, blocking his path. "You need to attend to Willow. Make sure she eats something and gets some rest. I'll make sure Anya is alright."
"But-"
"Xander. Willow needs you."
He stared at the closed door to the training room and slowly nodded. Turning, he walked with Willow to the shop's entrance, lifted her suitcase, and left the shop.
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