FIC: Battling the Green Eyed Monster 2/2

["Selenay" <selenay@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Conversations Continued 4: Battling the Green Eyed Monster 2/2
Author: Selenay
E-mail: selenay@xxxxxxxxxx
Summary: Buffy has to battle her inner demons to save Willow...
Rating: PG-13 (Buffy/Willow)
Spoilers: This is set during the time period of 'Out Of My Mind', but as
Riley is gone it's a completely different story. So possible spoilers for
events up to OOMM, but that's it.
Distribution: My site, http://www.selenayhaven.com and 'A Slayer A Hacker.
Anyone else please ask first.
Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy and her friends. It all belongs to Joss
Whedon, Mutant Enemy et al. I'm only playing, and sadly make nothing from
this.
Feedback: Gratefully received


An hour later they reconvened at the Magic Box, all three drawing a blank.

"Willow didn't go to her lecture," Tara reported with a worried frown.

"Her laptop and witch-stuff are still in the dorm," Buffy added. "Whatever
happened must have been straight after lunch."

Giles nodded. "Did you check the cafeteria?"

The blonde Slayer nodded, her eyes full of fear. "She left shortly after me.
I followed the path she would have followed and there's a scorch mark on a
building, but I didn't see any sign of Willow."

"A scorch mark?" Giles asked, interest lighting in his eyes. "Can you
describe it?"

"It was triangular, with a swirly pattern in the middle. Sort of like the
tattoos last night. I thought it might have been made when that guy was
killed." Buffy paused. "Do you think the whateveritwas got Willow too?"

"It's a coincidence," Giles allowed. "But let's not get carried away."

"Well, do something. Look stuff up. Willow's in danger, I know it, and I
have to find her."

Tara stepped forward. "I could help. It sounds sort of familiar, so I might
have read about it somewhere."

Giles nodded. "Very well, we'll research."

***

After a couple of hours Buffy threw her book down and began pacing. "I
should be out there looking! Something's happened to her. I can't just sit
here."

"And where would you start looking, hmm?" Giles asked rationally. "We have
no idea where she is, what took her or how to find her."

"But sitting here isn't getting us anywhere, is it?"

"Uh, maybe," Tara cut in. "I think . . . i-i-is that what you saw?"

The blonde witch held up a book and Buffy hurried over to it. The page that
Tara was holding open had a diagram of a triangle with swirling patterns
inside it. Below, in black and white, was a copy of the tattoo she had seen
the previous night. She tried to read the descriptions below the diagrams
but it was in a language she could not understand, which described most
languages apart from English.

Giles moved to stand behind Tara so he could look at the book. "I think you
might be onto something. Well done."

Tara smiled shyly at him and held out the book. He took it and began
reading, frowning as he translated. For a few minutes Buffy watched him but
her patience didn't last long.

"Well?" she said, frustrated. "Is this going to help us or am I going out
there to beat up Willy?"

"It's . . . I think . . . yes, I think this is it." Giles looked up and she
could triumph in his eyes. "Those tattoos we saw last night were made by a
Setka demon. It feeds on souls, the very life energy of beings, and those
marks are the bindings it uses to hold its victim in place until it's
finished."

Cold fear settled on Buffy and she knew her voice sounded as chilly as she
felt. "And it's killed Willow."

"Not necessarily. It's simply transported her somewhere." Giles referred to
the book and looked up again. "It feeds on souls but what it really needs is
life. Willow is a witch. The Setka demon captures witches, any being that
works magic actually, and keeps them. It's a sort of . . . well, I suppose
you could liken it to a water tap. Willow will act as a tap, and keep
replenishing herself each time the demon needs to feed."

"S-so you're saying she's still alive?" Buffy asked, stumbling slightly over
her words.

"Yes."

Buffy sat down heavily, missing the chair completely and ending up on the
floor. She did not notice. "She's alive. Where is she?"

Giles shook his head, his expression uncertain. "I have no idea. The book
doesn't say anything."

Tara looked up with a thoughtful expression. "If we could do a locating
spell . . ."

Hope flared in Buffy and she met the witch's green eye gaze, for the first
time not feeling the flame of jealousy. "Is that possible?"

Nodding her head slowly, Tara pulled out a book and flicked through it. She
stopped at a page and showed it to Giles, who took it and read silently for
a moment.

"Well?" Buffy asked impatiently. "Is this going to work?"

"I'm not sure," Giles said uncertainly. "In principle it should be possible
. . . but it's not exactly . . . I have no idea."

"Tara?"

"I've never tried it before," the blonde witch admitted.

"In that case there's a first time for everything. We all love Willow and we
don't want anything to happen to her, right?" Buffy fixed them each with a
pleading look. "So we're going to find her, no matter what it takes."

***

Willow sat huddled in the corner of the cell the creature had put her in. It
was cold, damp and she could hear rustling sounds from another corner. <
Rats. I hate rats. Don't these things ever have nice warm, comfy dungeons?
With maybe lights, and wallpaper and cushions. I mustn't panic. Buffy will
find me. Buffy will save me. >

***

"That's where she is?" Buffy asked, staring at the tiny luminous blob on the
map.

"I-I think so," Tara confirmed.

"Another abandoned church," Giles said heavily. "This town really does have
an excess of churches."

"Why would a demon hide out in a church?" Buffy asked. "Most demons avoid
the places. Unless they're Spike doing a ritual to heal his girlfriend, but
he had to go to the church. This is . . . weird."

"It probably has its reasons," Giles said.

Buffy nodded. "We'll find out when we get there, I guess. It could just be
that it's the last place we'd look. I'll get the weapons, you bring the
map."

"I-I-I'd like to come," Tara said quietly, stopping the Slayer and Watcher
in their tracks.

"You would?" Buffy asked.

Tara nodded. "Willow's my friend and I c-c-care about her. I need to help."

For a moment Buffy hesitated. On one hand it would be easier if she had back
up. On the other, this was Tara. Willow's ex. Could she work with her? A
flash of memory, Willow's face when she finally admitted to being in love
with her, decided Buffy. She could do anything if it would get Willow back,
up to and including working with her former girlfriend and putting her own
jealousy aside for a while.

"All right, you're in the team," Buffy said. "Let's get you kitted out."

***

Her cell seemed to be getting colder, although that could just be her
imagination. Willow hugged her knees, trying to keep some warmth in.
Something compelled her to look up in time to see green eyes flashing at her
through the barred window into her stony prison. A dark shape cut out the
light from the window and Willow stopped breathing. After a few heartbeats,
the longest in her life, the dark shape moved away and she took in gulps of
air. < Hurry, Buffy, > she silently prayed.

***

Buffy walked with Tara through the streets of Sunnydale. Giles was following
a few paces behind and she knew that it was his subtle way of hinting that
she should talk to the girl walking beside her. She sighed but realised that
he was right, in his way. She needed to talk things out with Tara before
they got into any life-threatening situations. Not to mention that it would
be better for Willow if she could accept their friendship. So many
relationships around her had failed through jealousy; she did not want this
one to add to that number.

"So, Tara," she began uncertainly, "you're, uh, here."

Tara nodded.

"And you want to be friends with Willow."

"I-i-it's not what you're thinking," Tara said quickly. "I'm not going to
take her away from you. But we agreed, before Oz, that whatever happened we'
d still be friends. Her friendship is more important than anything else I
could have with her."

"But you still love her."

"Yes. But she loves you more. I've always known how she felt about you. I
didn't know how you felt until you came to see me that day."

"You knew?" Buffy asked, surprised. "I wasn't even certain then."

"It was written all over your face. I knew that if she ever found out . . .
well, I couldn't keep her when I wasn't the one she wanted. I didn't want
her to be with me out of duty, or guilt, but because she loved me." Tara
smiled sadly. "And as soon as she knew that you loved her everything
changed. It's better that she's with you and happy than with me and not."

"Oh."

Tara looked at Buffy intently, and for the first time the Slayer began to
realise why Willow cared for the other girl so much. "She's happier than I'
ve ever seen her. You've done that. How could I take that away from her? But
I need a friend. She needs someone to share things with, things she can't
share with you - not that you're not important, but there are some things-"

"That we can't do together," Buffy finished. "I know. And I think she's
feeling guilty about it."

"Yeah, she is."

They walked in silence for a while. Thoughts whirled through Buffy's head
before settling on one thing. "You haven't just got her friendship."

"Oh?" Tara said curiously, fear flashing through her eyes.

"You've got all of us."

Buffy suspected that the other girl had tears in her eyes, but she just
said, "Thank you."

They continued in silence until they reached the church. It was tall,
imposing and in the dark all they could make out was the bulk of it looming
over them. They silently found the door and Buffy was surprised to find it
unlocked.

"Not security conscious then," she commented under her breath as she pushed
the door open.

The interior was pitch black so they reluctantly turned on torches to begin
searching. The aisles were full of rubbish and there was graffiti on the
walls so it had obviously been abandoned for some time. There was no sign of
the demon or of Willow. Buffy indicated that they should spread out and her
companions complied. The search was conducted in complete silence, even when
they found Willow's knapsack, and it was a few minutes before Tara waved and
pointed.

Giles and Buffy hurried over to the witch and smiled grimly at the door that
was almost concealed behind the altar. Buffy put her hand on the iron handle
and indicated for Giles and Tara to stay behind her.

"I'll take the demon, you get Willow," she breathed.

The other two nodded and hefted their weapons threateningly. As they both
carried crossbows they were not idle threats. Buffy was also armed with a
crossbow and had several stakes, along with a long knife, concealed in her
clothing. She opened the door, grateful that it did not squeak, and crept
down the stairs to the cellar beneath the church.

It was actually somewhat larger than a cellar, more the size of a cavern,
Buffy realised part way down. At the far end there was another altar but the
crucifix above it was upside down. And the cloth was red. And the statues on
the table were . . . she firmly looked away. Now she knew why the Setka
demon had chosen this church. The priest must have had a crisis of faith and
begun worshipping the other side. The cavern was some kind of second church
under the original one.

She crouched as she reached the bottom of the stairs and waited, hardly
breathing, until her eyes adjusted properly to the light in the cavern.
Flaming torches guttered in iron holders on the wall and lit candles covered
every surface. She could just see a barred door on the other side of the
cavern and she guessed that was where Willow was being held. < Great. We
just have to walk across the brightly lit demon-church, break open the door
and sneak out again. Piece of cake. Just once, I'd like a really stupid
demon. >

In a shadowy corner something moved. Buffy focused and watched as the shadow
detached itself from the wall and began to flow towards her. She
concentrated and, as it drew nearer, she realised it was actually a tall
creature wearing black robe. A deep hood concealed its face and a sword was
belted at its waist. Her eyes blurred and she blinked, rubbing them. The
creature, probably the Setka they were looking for, was walking strangely.
As it moved its robe stayed completely still, not even flowing out behind
it, and it moved with sinuous grace.

The demon came within range of her crossbow and Buffy grimly aimed. This
thing had Willow so she was not going to miss.

Her bolt shot forward with unerring accuracy and embedded itself in the
demon's chest. The Setka kept moving forwards, not even stumbling at the
force it had been hit with.

Buffy heard the whirring sounds of two more crossbow bolts whizzing over
head and the Setka sprouted two more feathered bolts from its chest. It
simply continued advancing.

"How do I kill it?" Buffy called up to Giles.

"I have no idea. You could try chopping off its head," he suggested,
throwing down a sword.

Instincts honed over many training sessions took over and Buffy plucked the
sword out of the air before running at the demon. Behind her she heard Giles
and Tara begin running but all her attention was taken by the demon in front
of her.

The demon calmly drew its own sword and waited for Buffy to reach it. She
immediately slashed at it and then jumped into a spinning summersault over
its head. She landed lightly behind it but the demon was as quick as she
was. It whirled, robe still unnervingly motionless, and faced her. Buffy
took up a guard position and waited. From deep within the hood she heard a
chuckling hiss.

"Think this is fun?" she asked, vaguely aware that Tara and Giles had
reached the door. "Let's see how you feel about me when I'm done."

Without warning the creature struck, its sword flashing in the candlelight,
and Buffy was forced to parry its stroke. Their swords connected with
jarring forced and for a split moment Buffy could not feel her hand.
Sensation returned and she fought back. Her sword moved so quickly it was a
blur of light and motion but the creature managed to parry and deflect every
stroke she made. All the knowledge that Giles had imparted over four years
came to the fore. The sword blade became a part of her and she reacted by
instinct, one minute defending and the next launching her own lightening
attacks.

She was slowly being forced across the room, towards the altar, and she was
becoming breathless. The creature she fought simply chuckled quietly and
continued its attack. It hardly seemed to be working at all, its robe stayed
utterly motionless, and yet Buffy could not get past its guard. She felt a
burning pain in her arm and realised that the demon had managed to score a
hit. It was only a cut but it was the first blood drawn.

The Slayer was aware that Giles and Tara were still working to open the door
and, briefly, she heard Willow's frightened voice. That put new energy into
her attack and she bared her teeth, snarling. Her sword flashed and whirled,
she attacked high and low, and was rewarded with an inhuman scream when her
sharp blade bit into the creature's side. It hesitated only briefly before
attacking again but it was long enough to show Buffy that she could hurt it.
That was all the encouragement she needed. Her sword hand was now slippery
with her own blood but she knew that she was going to win.

To one side she saw Giles swing the door open and Willow stumbled out. Pure
rage filled her at the bruised face of her partner. Buffy forced the rage
down, turning it into a cold, burning fire that powered her next attack. She
thrust at the creature's head and, as it brought its sword up to counter,
she changed to swing low at its legs. Ducking under its upraised sword she
darted in and thrust, not with her sword but with her knife, and was
rewarded with a shuddering scream. Her hit had been straight through the
heart but she did not stop to gloat. Giles' words rang through her head and
she brought her sword up to counter the creature's return attack.

Buffy danced back a few steps and transferred her sword into her uninjured
hand. The demon tried to attack again but its thrust was weaker and Buffy
parried it easily. She waited, defending calmly as the creature became
weaker, until she saw the opening she was looking for. Without hesitating,
she swung and decapitated the demon. For a moment the body appeared not to
notice that its head was gone and it continued swinging blindly. Then it
slowly tumbled to the ground and lay motionless.

The Slayer stood over the body with her sword poised over its heart for a
few breaths but it was completely dead. She felt the adrenalin drain out of
her body and shakily leaned on her sword.

Moments later she was being enveloped in a tight, almost desperate, hug and
she buried her face in the familiar fragrance of Willow's hair.

"Sssh, sssh, I'm ok," she said, rubbing the sobbing witch's back.

"I-I know. I just saw that thing and . . . I was so frightened for you,"
Willow said, hiccupping as she calmed down.

Buffy pulled back slightly and grinned. "I'm fine. See?"

She slowly leaned forwards and met Willow's lips in a passionate kiss. The
redhead seemed to be trying to put all the love, fear and relief she felt
into the kiss and Buffy returned it eagerly. She pulled her partner closer,
dropping the sword, and stroked her cheek with trembling fingers. Willow
sighed and relaxed, running her hands up Buffy's arm.

Buffy winced as Willow's fingers brushed over the slash in her arm and
groaned slightly. The adrenaline had allowed her to push past the pain
earlier but now she was being vividly reminded of it. Willow pulled back and
looked at the gash before meeting Buffy's eyes with her own worried green
ones.

"Buffy, that looks pretty bad," she said slowly. "You should get that looked
at."

"It's nothing. It'll probably heal up by tomorrow," Buffy protested, wincing
as she flexed the arm.

Willow pulled back and frowned. "It's pouring blood. Your sleeve is soaked.
That's not nothing."

"Ok, but I've had worse. Lots of times."

"That's meant to make me feel better? You're hurt! Giles, take a . . . oh."

Buffy watched the blush flood her friend's face as she realised that they
had been kissing in front of Giles. "I love when you blush."

Willow punched her on her uninjured arm. "Stop that. I'm not distracted."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

Buffy leaned closer, grinning as she whispered, "Bet I can distract you
plenty later."

***

Willow sat behind Buffy, brushing her long blonde hair. Unfortunately the
'nothing' was painful and it was Buffy's right arm so she was having some
trouble doing things. Like brushing her hair. Which meant that Willow had to
help her, and it also gave her an excuse to run her hands through the think
blonde hair and reassure herself that Buffy really was going to be fine. <
Mental note; dating a Slayer may cause premature death from stress. >

"Buffy," she began.

"Hmm?"

"Were you afraid?"

"Of course. I was scared that I wouldn't get there in time, or that the
demon would get past me and hurt you. I'm always a little scared when that
kind of thing happens."

"But weren't you scared for yourself?"

"No."

Willow was silent for a while, turning that over in her head. "Well, do you
think you could be? Because I don't think I'd know what to do if I lost
you."

"I'm careful."

"That's not what I mean. I need you to care about what happens to you. If
you don't, I'm scared that one day you won't come back from patrol."

"Will, I love you. And I never want to leave you. But when there's a choice
between my life and someone else's, there really isn't a decision to make. I
'm a Slayer; it's what I do."

Willow slowly pulled the brush through Buffy's hair again before putting it
down and wrapping her arms around the blonde girl's waist. "It's part of the
package then."

"Yeah."

She rested her cheek on Buffy's shoulder. "I guess I wouldn't want to change
you."

They were silent for a moment and Buffy put her hands around Willow's where
they rested on her stomach. "It's ok to need friends outside of me. We each
have things we have to do but we can't be everything to each other. I can't
join in your witch stuff and you aren't my Watcher."

"I know."

"I'm just saying . . . you don't need to feel guilty about Tara. We talked
and I think I understand."

At Buffy's words Willow felt as though an enormous weight had lifted from
her shoulders. "Thank you."

They sat for a long time, just holding each other and thinking. Eventually
Willow began to move towards her bed but Buffy held her hand.

"Stay with me?" she asked. "I just . . . I need to know you're here."

Willow considered for a moment and then nodded. She crawled into the bed
beside Buffy and felt the Slayer's arms wrap securely around her. Buffy
turned the light out and they held each other until they fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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