FF: Fallen, part 1

["carrkjar" <carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx>]

A short Buffy series. A little dark, enjoy


Title: Fallen
Part 1

Author: Frau Hunter Ash 

Copyright © 2002 by Hunter Ash. All Rights Reserved.

Email: carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx Feedback welcome!!

Homepage Addy: http://www.hunterash.com/ 

Disclaimers: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, 
Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, and God only knows who else. The storyline, 
however, is the sole property of the author. This story cannot be 
sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made 
for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright 
notices. 

F/F romance: the story assumes a loving and sexual relationship 
between people of the same gender. If this offends or is illegal for 
you, then please leave. Come back when you are older, have an open 
mind, moved, or changed your laws. 

Spoilers: Wrecked, Season Six
The lyrics from Papa Roach's "Last Resort" used without permission 
but no harm intended.

Summary: This takes place the day after "Wrecked"  Buffy and the 
gang need to deal with the aftermath of Wrecked. The story takes 
several turns from there. 

Rating: R for description of magical withdrawal

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Buffy hesitated outside the bedroom door and listened for a 
moment. "Don't Fear the Reaper?" she asked softly. "Willow usually 
isn't that retro."

The Slayer really began to frown when the track switched to Papa 
Roach's "Last Resort." Buffy felt frozen to the spot as she 
listened, hearing the lyrics really for the first time.

// Cut my life into pieces, this is my last resort
Suffocation, no breathing, don't give a fuck if I cut my arm bleeding
This is my last resort

Cut my life into pieces, I reach my last resort
Suffocation, no breathing, don't give a fuck if I cut my arm bleeding
Do you even care if I die bleeding, would it be wrong, would it be 
right
If I took my life tonight, chances are that I might
Mutilation out of sight, as I contemplate my suicide

Cause I'm losing my sight, losing my mind
Wish somebody would tell me I'm fine//

Buffy knocked on the door with a worried look on her face. After a 
moment she looked surprised and knocked again. She knew Willow was 
in her room, the young witch hadn't moved since they had gotten back 
from the hospital with Dawn.

Buffy Summers, the Slayer, pounded on the door and tried the knob 
when Willow still refused to answer her. Surprisingly, it was open.

The blonde walked into the room as cautiously as she would enter an 
unknown darkened tomb, something didn't feel right. Besides the fact 
that Amy was no longer a rat, playing in her cage on her wheel, that 
is.

A single lamp was the only illumination in the room and that was 
covered by a dark blue scarf, casting an eerie glow in a small circle 
in the room. Buffy could make out that Willow was on her side on the 
bed, her back to the door and she wasn't moving.  

"Wills?" Buffy called softly. She didn't think Willow was asleep, 
she had been pounding pretty hard on the door, but then again, the 
witch had been through something traumatic.

"Willow?"

"Go away," Willow's voice was strained and somehow seemed to lack any 
life.  

Buffy, instead of leaving, moved further into the room and sat on the 
edge of the bed.

"Wills, can we talk?" Buffy asked softly, resisting reaching out for 
Willow's shoulder. Only hours earlier she had been about to hit her 
friend, probably more than once but now everyone had calmed down and 
it was time for answers and decisions.

"No," Willow muttered, surprising Buffy. Willow had never refused to 
talk to her before.

"Willow, we need to talk, I need to talk," Buffy said slowly, a bit 
of irritation creeping into her voice. Willow had endangered her 
sister, damnit! Last thing she was going to do was feel sorry for 
Willow.

"No," Willow muttered again. "No need to talk. Give me a couple of 
days and I'll move out. I'll transfer to another school next 
semester. You can even have Tara move in to help keep an eye on 
Dawn."

Buffy frowned, torn between the feeling of panic at the thought of 
Willow leaving all of them and irritation at Willow feeling sorry for 
herself.

"You don't have to leave, Wills," Buffy protested. "We just need to 
get a handle on this magick thing. You know that you're out of 
control. You almost got Dawn killed tonight."

"Yeah, I know and I'm sorry," Willow nodded, her hair and head moving 
slightly but she still refused to turn over and look at Buffy. The 
Slayer was getting more irritated. "It won't happen again, I won't 
go around Dawn. No more magick, no more black stuff and no more me."

"I am so not going to get into a pity party for you right now!" Buffy 
snapped.  

"Good, neither am I," Willow said calmly, again surprising the 
Slayer. "I'm not feeling sorry for myself, Buffy. I knew this would 
happen, I prayed it wouldn't and that I could control it. I was an 
idiot and now I'm removing myself from the scene. I won't become a 
danger to my friends."

"You could work with Tara controlling the magick thing," Buffy 
suggested.

"I'm more powerful than any of you realize, Buffy," Willow 
shrugged. "Nobody can help. I do it or I fail, just me."

"You said you knew this would happen, they why did you do it?"

"Just go away, already," Willow snapped, her hand suddenly clenching 
into a fist. "You haven't wanted to talk to me since we brought you 
back. In a couple of days you won't have to."

"That's not true!" Buffy protested weakly.

"Yes it is and we found out why, didn't we?" Willow said softly and 
Buffy could hear the tears in the voice, sounding more like her 
Willow. "I ripped you from a peaceful ending and brought you back to 
this hell called Sunnydale. You've blamed me since."

"I don't blame you," Buffy continued to protest but her voice wavered.

"Yes you do," Willow pushed verbally. "I knew what my price was in 
bringing you back and I was willing to pay it. I thought I could 
handle it and I couldn't. End of story."

"What do you mean your price?" Buffy asked. "That hitch-hiking 
demon?"

"No, that was a surprise," Willow admitted. "Listen, you didn't come 
in here to talk about any of this. You came to yell at me about my 
use of magick, getting Dawn almost killed, her arm broken and you 
sleeping with Spike, why not get to it and get it over? I'm tired."

Buffy almost fell off the bed.

"Spike?" she whispered. "What? How&.did you&"

Willow's laugh was bitter as she turned over to face Buffy. The 
Slayer tried to not look surprised when she saw Willow's eyes were 
magick black. She couldn't help look confused and concerned about 
the rest of Willow's appearance though.

The red head was sweating, trembling, blood was running in a steady 
stream from her nose and her eyes were sunken into her head.

"Wills?" Buffy asked softly, reaching her hand out, almost touching 
Willow's cheek but the witch looked angry and Buffy held back.

"I can smell him on you Buffy," Willow snarled.  

"Wills, what's wrong?" the Slayer asked as Willow collapsed back onto 
the bed, holding herself as if she were in pain. Buffy pulled up the 
covers over her friend and grabbed a tissue to hold against Willow's 
nose.

"Don't bother, it's not going to stop for awhile," Willow said calmly.

"We need to get you to a hospital," Buffy growled, prepared to carry 
her friend all the way there if necessary.

"Again, don't bother," Willow said softly, the anger fading from her 
face as another wave of muscle cramping doubled her into a fetal 
position. "They can't help with this!" she growled through gritted 
teeth.

"What's happening?"

"I'm detoxifying from black magick," Willow muttered and cried out 
with the pain. She struggled as Buffy tried to take Willow into her 
arms. "Don't feel sorry for me, damnit!"

"Willow, what am I supposed to do?" Buffy demanded. "You're my best 
friend! Yeah, I'm pissed at you and you deserve it but you're still 
my friend!"

"No I'm not," Willow's eyes were unnerving to look at and Buffy was 
having a hard time looking at her friend. "We haven't been friends 
since you got back."

"Okay, maybe I had a hard time adjusting and blamed you," Buffy 
admitted, standing up and beginning to pace. "You're still my 
friend, damnit!"

Willow didn't answer her but her eyes told the Slayer that she didn't 
believe Buffy.  

"How did you know about Spike?" Buffy asked, not looking at Willow.

"One demon can smell the mark of another on a human," the witch 
answered softly.

Buffy's head snapped up and she was by Willow's side instantly.  

Willow flinched back, unsure if Buffy was going to attack her or hold 
her. Buffy looked deep into Willow's blackened eyes.

"What was your price for my life, Wills?" 

"It doesn't matter now, does it?" Willow demanded. "I'm a danger to 
everyone so I'm going to leave. It doesn't concern you, Slayer."

Buffy winced. Willow's words felt like a physical blow and it 
showed. The blonde ignored the tears threatening to escape her eyes.

"Wills, please don't leave. If you do this detox thing, we can help," 
Buffy urged. "Then it can go back to the way it was, you part of the 
gang."

"Buffy, my love," Willow said sadly between the painful cramps. "It 
can never go back to the way it was. Tara will be there, being your 
magick girl. Xander and Anya will be there as the married couple 
trying to have a normal life. Giles is in England. Do you know how 
badly that hurt? Even more than Tara leaving me. He knew I was 
hurting and in trouble and he left."

Willow's tears began to flow freely again.

"He was more of a father than my own father and he left," Willow 
whimpered.

Buffy was alarmed at the amount of blood flowing onto the towel 
Willow had placed under her head for her bleeding nose.

"I know," Buffy said softly.

"Tara loves me but she'll never trust me," Willow continued. "I 
messed that up permanently. None of you will ever trust me again."

"Willow, we're human, we've all made mistakes and forgiven each 
other," Buffy said softly. "You were there after I was gone, you 
took care of Dawn, you kept the gang together, and you kept up the 
patrolling and living with the nightmare of pretending I was still 
alive and dealing with that Buffybot."

"That was weird," Willow admitted. "I didn't sleep a single night 
after you died. The nightmares were so horrible. We watched you dive 
into that other realm and come out dead on the other side. I died 
that night, Buffy. I kept going because of Dawn and to honor your 
memory."

"You risked black magick to bring me back," Buffy commented, hoping 
to keep Willow talking, even though she was in obvious pain.

Buffy moved slowly back onto the bed and Willow didn't move away this 
time and didn't struggle when Buffy placed her hand on Willow's 
shoulder. The Slayer remembered the anti-drug movies they watched in 
high school and Willow, in her present condition, reminded Buffy of 
someone withdrawing from heroin.

"I kept having those nightmares of you being in one of the many hells 
and suffering," Willow said, laying her head in Buffy's lap. Buffy 
whimpered as Willow cried out, curling up around the pain. "I would 
have done anything to get you out of there and I did," she said after 
a few moments.

"Wills, don't leave, please," Buffy repeated.

"Why not? Tara will move on, Xander has Anya, you've got Spike and 
Dawn prefers Tara. Not that I blame her after breaking her arm and 
getting her chased by a demon&"

"Wills!"

"Ah, I guess there's some of me left," Willow grimaced around the 
pain. "I can still babble."

"Tell me, damnit! Quit dancing around it!" Buffy snapped. "You said 
demon about you and Spike, and that you knew we slept together and 
that you had a price to pay for my soul."

"Yes to all of that," Willow nodded, clenching her hands into fists 
until Buffy could see the knuckles outlined in white skin.

"You gave up your soul?" Buffy whispered, praying that the answer was 
anything other than what she knew it was. The Slayer knew, it all 
made sense and it was so horrible.

"Seemed like a fair exchange," Willow said softly and Buffy could 
feel Willow's tears soaking into her jeans. "Don't yell at me right 
now, okay?"

Willow's voice finally sounded small and pained.

"Wills, anything but that," tears streaked the Slayer's face as she 
held her friend.

"When I die then the Arch Prince gets my soul," Willow said, trying 
to sound calm. "I guess& I was hoping to play& a Faust and try to 
find a way& out of the bargain before my death. It also& opened me 
to temptation and& the probability of losing my soul& long before 
that."

"You sound like a teacher or a scientist explaining a math problem," 
Buffy complained.

Willow gritted her teeth tightly as she whimpered.

"Hurts!" she finally admitted. 

"What can we do?" Buffy demanded, wrapping her arms around her friend 
and holding her tight, rocking Willow.

"The&options&are limited," Willow admitted. "Kill me&.throw 
me&.out. Let Rack&.have&.me. Let me&suffer and&.hope I&make it."

"Willow, I am so not amused with those choices!" Buffy growled. She 
held tighter as Willow cried out with the pain, finally unable to 
hold back.  

Buffy looked up and saw Dawn standing in the doorway.

"How much did you hear? Truth!" Buffy demanded.

"Everything," Dawn admitted. "I heard you pounding on the door. How 
can we help her?"

Willow was weeping and whimpering in Buffy's arms.

"Get Xander, Anya and Tara over here," Buffy ordered. "Anya and Tara 
might have some answers. Tell them to also get snacks for everyone.  
I've got a feeling it's going to be a long few days. Also, bring me 
the phone."

Dawn scampered off to obey her sister as Buffy held onto a convulsing 
Willow.

"My God, Wills," Buffy whispered, tears streaming down her face. "I'm 
not going to let you go! You're not going to die because of me!"

"Let me go! You&have&Spike!" Willow hissed, her eyes glazed over with 
the pain.

"He was just a convenience," Buffy argued but wasn't sure if Willow 
heard her.

The witch's eyes rolled back in her head and her body went limp.

Buffy waited for Dawn to finish her calls to Xander and Tara. The 
Slayer knew that it would probably take a few minutes to convince 
Tara to come over, especially if it concerned Willow.

Tara had already heard from Dawn that morning about Willow breaking 
her arm and summoning a demon that chased them all over town. The 
witch was more than upset with her former lover.  

Buffy hoped that Dawn could convince Tara to come over, the Slayer 
felt out of her league as Willow's body convulsed in her arms.  

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Rupert Giles here," a familiar English accent greeted Buffy and she 
almost sobbed with relief. She hadn't talked with Giles since her ex-
Watcher had left the country. Buffy knew he had arrived safe in 
England and was settling in as a researcher for the Watcher's Council 
because Anya had talked with him concerning business about the Magic 
Box.  

"Giles, it's Buffy," the young woman said slowly and heard his intake 
of breath. She knew what he was thinking; Buffy would only call if 
it was trouble.  

"Buffy, so good to hear from you!" the voice was enthusiastic but 
Buffy had known Giles since she was 16, she could hear the hesitation.

"Giles, I need information," Buffy said, cutting to the point. "I 
know the Watcher Council has held back since I returned from the 
dead, I assume they're focusing on whoever they got to replace 
Faith. I really need information and you and the Council are the 
only ones I can think of."

"What is it? Some sort of new demon or something?" Giles asked, 
beginning to become curious.

"No, I need to know how to help someone detoxing from black magick 
and then I need to know how to break a deal with an Arch Prince of 
hell," Buffy said, almost holding her breath as she waited for a 
reaction from Giles.

"Oh God, Willow," he said softly.

"Yes," Buffy confirmed, trying not to cry as Willow whimpered on the 
bed behind her. Even unconscious, the witch's body was racked with 
pain and cravings.

"How bad is it?" Giles asked over the long distance connection.

"How about the worst heroin withdrawal they ever threatened us with 
in school? How do I know? I don't know about this stuff!" Buffy 
protested. She wanted to yell at him and was trying to keep her 
temper in line. The Slayer felt Willow had been right, Giles might 
have felt Buffy was ready to stand on her own without his parental 
and Watcher guidance but he had known Willow was headed for trouble.

"Calm down, what's happened?" Giles asked and Buffy could almost hear 
him removing his glasses and beginning to clean them; his habit when 
he was nervous, thoughtful, and embarrassed or anything.

"Willow got mixed up with a black magician and in over her head," 
Buffy tried to explain, running a hand through her hair. Buffy was 
tired and she wasn't sure she was going to get sleep any time soon 
either. "Stuff happened, Dawn got hurt and Willow has sworn off 
magick and wants to move out."

"Go on," he encouraged. "You said detoxifying."

"Yeah, I came in to talk to her and found her in like total 
meltdown!" Buffy tried not to shout. "Willow says she's detoxing and 
she's a total mess! Her nose won't stop bleeding, she's got the 
shakes worse than some wino, and she's in pain, Giles!"

"Oh God," he muttered. "It does sound like detoxing. The best thing 
you can do is get her to a hospital and tell them you found her this 
way. Explain that you don't know what kind of drugs she's been on, 
they will keep her safe and alive."

"Giles, how bad is this?" Buffy asked, still keeping her back to 
Willow, not wanting to see the witch struggling against the blankets 
in her sleep.

"From what you describe, it could kill her and most likely will," 
Giles answered truthfully. "I didn't think she could fall that far 
this quickly though. This implies some major dealings with black 
stuff, Buffy. I knew she was playing with power and pushing the 
boundaries from gray to black but I didn't think this far."

"She said something tonight, Giles," Buffy said softly. "Willow said 
there was a price for bringing me back."

Buffy looked puzzled at the "clunk" sound on the other end of the 
phone and Giles obviously stumbling to pick the receiver back up.

"Buffy, I'm catching the next flight I can," he said firmly and then 
hesitated. "I'm an idiot!"

"What?" Buffy demanded.

"I didn't question her about the details!" he shouted and Buffy knew 
he was angry at himself about something. "Of course there was a 
price! Why didn't I ask? I merely scolded her for using high level 
magick."

"Giles, will you explain already?" Buffy shouted and Willow whimpered 
behind her.

"To bring your life and soul back there had to be an exchange," Giles 
said, his voice calmer. "To bring you back would create a vacuum in 
the reality of things. Something had to take your place. Normally 
that would have been someone's life. That's why these spells are 
never done! It was always done by black sorcerers who offered human 
sacrifices for it."

"Willow gave up her soul for me," Buffy added. "She said when she 
dies that the Arch Prince Demon gets her soul and she would be open 
to temptation and losing her soul before then."

"Did she say what Arch Demon Prince?" Giles asked urgently.

"No, she didn't. She said something about pulling a Faust," Buffy 
explained.

She could almost see Giles nodding.

"Yes, she was hoping to outwit the demon and break the bargain before 
she dies," he answered.

"You said `was,'" Buffy said softly, turning to look at the 
struggling Willow.

"It may be too late, Buffy," Giles said gently. "Get her to a 
hospital or try and handle it yourselves, I'll be there as soon as I 
can. If you can get her to talk, get the name of that demon."

"Giles, she did it for me and I treated her terribly," Buffy 
whispered.

"If you get the name of that demon, call me  I'll have this damned 
phone thing with me," he instructed, ignoring her comment.

"Okay, I'm going to try and keep her here. If they think she's on 
drugs then they'll throw her out of school and screw up her future," 
Buffy decided.

"I understand but she may not have a future," Giles said softly. "If 
it gets too bad take her in. I'm going to send over some supplies 
through the Watcher Council and a nurse. Don't fight me on this."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Oh my God!" Xander exclaimed softly when Dawn showed him and Anya 
into Willow's room.  

Buffy was sitting against the headboard with Willow between her legs, 
lying on the bed. The Slayer had Willow's wrists in her hands and 
the witch was struggling and thrashing against the pain.  

Both young women were sweating but Willow was worse and looked like 
she had been, and was going through, hell. The witch's eyes were 
still black, her nose still bleeding, and her body convulsing and 
trembling.

Xander couldn't believe how bad the scene looked and he couldn't 
believe the tears flowing down Willow's and Buffy's faces.  

"Xander, this is not good," Anya said calmly and moved past her 
fiancée and sat on the edge of the bed. She quickly looked Willow 
over and nodded as Willow whimpered in pain. "She is trying to purge 
potent black magic from her system. It shouldn't be this bad though."

Xander frowned and turned to Dawn, standing in the hallway. "We 
brought some orange juice and other stuff. Get a large glass, better 
yet, bring the jug and a plastic cup. Also the bag of chocolate 
bars."

"Okay," Dawn scampered down the stairs towards the kitchen as Xander 
turned to look at the women.

"What's going on, Xander?" Buffy asked as Willow yelled loudly from 
the pain.

"Willow never said anything but she knows," Xander began. "When we 
were 14, my older brother ran away from home. I found him in the bad 
part of town in a run down hotel."

"I didn't know you had a brother," Buffy said softly.

"I know," he nodded as he squatted next to the bed, reaching out to 
hold Anya's hand. "No one did. He was three years older than me and 
my half brother with a different last name. Phillip was hooked on 
heroin and wanted help. I helped him quit cold turkey during 
Christmas break."

"Xander?" Buffy's face reflected her concern.

"He didn't stay clean though and was dead of an overdose by 
Groundhog Day," Xander continued, wiping away tears as he watched 
Willow struggling. "Our parents told everyone he died back east in a 
car crash and forgot about me from that day on."

Anya leaned to hug Xander around the waist as he stood up next to her.

"Dawn said that Willow was detoxing and I know a little bit about 
that. Orange juice will keep her sugar level up from losing fluids 
over the next few days and sweets are about all she'll be able to eat 
or hold down."

"Loss of fluids?" Buffy questioned.

"Vomiting until she breaks something inside, diarrhea you wouldn't 
wish on your worst enemy and sweating like crazy," Xander explained 
grimly.

"He is right, it is like your modern day drugs," Anya nodded. "It 
will be miserable for her and all of us to get her through it."

"Listen, I am so glad you both have some answers," Buffy said slowly 
as Willow stopped thrashing, only half conscious. "You don't have to 
stay. I know we've all been a little battered around the edges 
because of her magic lately."

"Buffy, Willow and I were friends before kindergarten," Xander 
growled. "I'm not leaving. I know what to expect better than you."

"I'm staying," Anya merely nodded.

"Me too," a voice said from the doorway and everyone was surprised to 
see Dawn and Tara standing there. Tara looked like she was about to 
break into tears at the sight of her former lover. She crossed the 
room quickly and Anya got up so she could sit next to Willow.

"Willow?" she asked softly but Willow didn't seem able to hear her as 
she lightly struggled against the pain.

"Thank you for coming, Tara," Buffy said sincerely.

"Dawn didn't explain until I walked in the door," Tara smiled at the 
young and manipulative teenager. "I couldn't believe she was this 
bad off."

"I know," Buffy nodded and gritted her teeth as another round of 
muscle cramping caused Willow to cry out and struggle against the 
Slayer's grip.

"We should find the belts from robes and tie those wrists to the 
bed," Xander suggested and blushed when Buffy raised her eyebrows at 
him. "Why are you holding her arms?" he countered.

"Because she's tearing at her skin, like the lightest touch hurts," 
Buffy said.

"Yes, it does. Light, sound, touch, everything will hurt," Xander 
nodded. "By tying her down, we can try and keep her from injuring 
herself or us."

"Us?" Dawn asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, in the middle of withdrawals, she'd claw your eyes out to get 
a fix," Xander said, brutally honest.  

"Xander is right," Anya nodded again, leaning against him. "She will 
call all of us the most foul names and threaten our lives if we don't 
help her get a magic fix."

"Damn, this is not going to be fun," Buffy growled. "Dawn, help 
Xander find what he needs to secure Willow to the bed."

The two dashed out of the room.

"Tara," Buffy said softly. "Have you ever seen this?"

"No, it's only whispered about among magic users and sorcerers," Tara 
shook her head. "Buffy, it takes a lot of power to do this to 
someone."

"I know," Buffy nodded. "Wait for Xander to get back in here."

It didn't take long to secure Willow to the bed by her wrists. Next 
came Buffy's explanation of finding Willow in the condition she did 
and Willow's explanation. Dawn didn't say anything about Buffy 
leaving out the part about Spike and Buffy sleeping together and the 
Slayer was grateful.

"Oh sweet Goddess," Tara's eyes were wide with shock and fear as she 
looked at the red haired witch. "She made a pact with an Arch Demon 
Prince for her soul?"

"Yeah," Buffy said unhappily. "In exchange for my body and soul."

"And you hated her for bringing you back, ironic," Anya commented and 
Xander hissed at her to keep quiet as Buffy glared.

"Giles is on his way and is sending someone over with supplies, 
medical stuff," Buffy added, ignoring Anya's observation.

"Well, this is going to take awhile, let's settle in," Xander 
suggested.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Whatever or whoever Buffy was expecting from the Council it wasn't 
the extremely old black woman knocking on her door the next morning.  
It did ease Buffy's mind a little that the woman was carrying a large 
doctor's bag and a medium size duffle bag that looked full and heavy.

The old woman looked at Buffy and began nodding.

"From the looks of it, honey, I'm in the right place," she said 
easily. "I'm Dorothy Hanson, the Watcher Council sent me to see 
after a friend of yours."

Buffy sighed with relief. It had been a rough night on everyone and 
she knew it must show. Willow had been hit constantly with racking 
muscle spasms until she was screaming with the pain and throwing up 
until there was nothing left in her system except dry heaves.

The gang took turns taking care of their friend while the others 
tried to sleep. It wasn't easy with the screams sounding through the 
house.  

Everyone was finally able to relax and get a couple of hours of sleep 
when Tara found a sleep spell that helped put Willow into a restful 
sleep for two hours. It still wasn't enough for the weary friends.

On top of dealing with the horrors that just seemed to be beginning 
with Willow, Spike had shown up, demanding Buffy's attention. He had 
been only slightly sympathetic over Willow's condition and argued 
with the Slayer when she refused to go anywhere with him while Willow 
was hurting.

Buffy was nearly frantic with the stress of trying to keep the others 
from finding out she had had sex with Spike, from worrying about 
Willow, worrying about the affects everything was having on Dawn, and 
about Giles returning.

"Honey, can I come in?" Dorothy asked and Buffy blinked and began to 
blush.

"I'm sorry," she immediately apologized. "I guess I'm a little 
tired. Let me grab that for you."

"Sure thing," Dorothy agreed, following the Slayer into the 
house. "I'm a nurse and I brought some medical supplies that we'll 
need."

She didn't even bat an eye at the sight of Anya curled up in an easy 
chair under a blanket and Xander stretched out on the sofa, both 
sound asleep.  

"Where's the young one?" Dorothy asked softly.

"Upstairs in her room," Buffy said, pointing at the stairs. "She's 
finally sleeping."

"Really? I'm surprised," Dorothy commented as she followed the Slayer 
up the stairs.  

"You know this is magic, right?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, I'm a specialist in helping runaway students detox from this 
stuff," the woman nodded. "I got into the biz at an early age, 
honey."

"Okay," Buffy said wearily. "What did the Council tell you?"

"That you are a Slayer," Dorothy began as they stopped in the 
hallway. "You and your friends have been through a very rough time 
including your death."

Buffy frowned.  

"To get you back your friend made a deal with some demon and did some 
high level magic," Dorothy continued. "Then she fell into using the 
magic too easily and crossed the boundaries between gray into black. 
Now she wants back."

"Something like that," Buffy nodded. "She hooked up with a guy into 
black stuff and almost got my little sister killed by a demon.  
Willow is swearing that she's done with magic and will be leaving us."

"That wouldn't be a good idea," the nurse frowned. "If she cuts 
herself off from her friends and her normal surroundings, the 
temptation to fall back into the magic will be too strong."

"I agree, we don't want her to leave," Buffy nodded.

"You said she was sleeping?" Dorothy asked.

"Her girl&our friend Tara is a witch and did a spell to help Willow 
sleep for a couple of hours," Buffy explained.

"Another witch?" 

"Yeah, only does good stuff," Buffy muttered. "She left Willow 
because of the magic stuff but she's helping now."

"Good, she can help me with your friend," Dorothy said, nodding for 
Buffy to open the door to Willow's room.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dorothy sat down at the kitchen table as Tara poured them both a cup 
of coffee. It had been a rough eight hours and they were both 
tired. Willow had awakened as bad as before, her eyes dark and 
doubled over with pain until her nose was bleeding freely again.

The nurse had provided restraints that wrapped under the bed for 
Willow's wrists and inserted an IV drip to keep the young woman from 
becoming dehydrated. Together with Tara, the nurse turned into a 
witch and kept Willow shielded from reaching out for any kind of 
magic relief.

Finally, after six hours of suffering, Dorothy had insisted on a 
tranquilizer for the red haired witch. Now Buffy was out patrolling 
with Xander and Anya, Dawn was doing homework while watching over a 
sleeping Willow and Tara was pouring coffee.

"The Council said your girlfriend made a pact with a demon, has she 
said his name?" Dorothy asked as she poured sugar into her coffee.

"No, she t-told Buffy she made a deal with an Arch D-Demon Prince, 
that he g-gets her soul when s-she dies in exchange for Buffy's life 
and soul," Tara explained. 

Dorothy frowned and held out her hands, palms up. Tara looked 
puzzled but extended her hands to the old woman and watched as 
Dorothy wrapped her hands around Tara's and closed her eyes.

"Your family did you a disservice, young witch," Dorothy declared 
after several minutes, opening her eyes but keeping Tara's hands in 
hers. Tara felt a familiar blush creeping over her face. "You 
aren't worthless, you aren't evil and you are more than beautiful."

"I&.."

"No protesting!" Dorothy snapped and held tightly to Tara's 
hands. "I need you strong and confident! And no more stuttering, 
you're better than that."

Tara gasped as a surge of energy shot through the old woman's hands 
and through her body. Dorothy acted as if nothing happened.

"You said Arch Demon Prince?" she asked.

"What? Yes, that's what she told Buffy?" Tara said absently.

"Damn," Dorothy muttered.

"What is it?" Tara demanded.

"We might be able to pull her back and keep her alive for a few 
years," Dorothy muttered. "We might even be able to keep her on the 
gray side of magic but I doubt we can break whatever pact she's made."

"I heard that," Buffy complained from the doorway with Xander and 
Anya behind her. "Want to explain?"

The small group moved into the kitchen, Anya going to pour all of 
them cups of coffee.

"There are different levels of demons and such," Dorothy began 
explaining, not noticing Xander and Buffy glance in Anya's 
direction. For once she was keeping quiet about her demon 
past. "Your friend Willow went straight to the top if she made a 
deal with an Arch Prince."

"Arch Prince?" Anya asked, "you just said demon, you didn't say 
anything about Arch Prince," she complained.

"Willow said Arch Demon Prince," Buffy explained.

"Oh boy, oh boy," Anya muttered, getting up from her stool to pace 
restlessly in the kitchen as everyone watched her, especially 
Dorothy. "Arch Prince, not good. This is so not good!"

"Anya!" Buffy snapped. "Calm down and both of you explain!"

"Even my Lord was only a Prince, he wasn't an Arch Prince," Anya said 
hurriedly. "I never even wanted to see any of them! Most of them are 
ugly and they are so powerful, they just zap you where you stand 
without a thought, just a wave of a finger and you're toast."

Tara and Buffy felt the energy rising around Dorothy as her eyes 
widened and both quickly jumped in.

"Anya is a former demon, she lost her powers and was cursed by her 
demon lord to spend the rest of her life as a mortal," Buffy 
explained rapidly.

"She's a good guy now, helps us and is engaged to Xander," Tara added.

"Anyanka?" Dorothy asked softly.

"I was," Anya said miserably.  

"I heard through the Council that you had fallen into the light," 
Dorothy said gently. "What do you know about the Arch Princes?"

"Just that no one messes with them," Anya repeated. "The demons 
below them try and stay out of their way or curry favor with them."

Dorothy nodded. "If Willow made a deal with one of them, we won't be 
able to break it. They are exceptional at covering all loopholes not 
in their favor."

"Willow's soul is lost?" Tara whispered, her eyes filling with tears 
as Buffy reached out to hold her hand.

"More than likely," Dorothy said bluntly. "She'll always be tempted 
by black magic and when she dies, the Arch Prince gets her soul. The 
only other option is unthinkable."

"What is that?" Buffy demanded, jumping on any hope.

"That someone trades their soul for hers," Dorothy answered. "Or 
Willow tricks enough souls to darkness and holds off her own death, 
trying to outlast or outwit the demon."

"That's not funny!" Xander growled. "And that's not Wills."

"She did it to save me!" Buffy snapped. "Fine, they can take me 
again!"

"Not that easy, Slayer," Dorothy said grimly. "This time you 
wouldn't end up in a peaceful place. The demon that would claim your 
soul would make your nightmares of hell seem like a church picnic."

"I risked that for Dawn and the rest of the world, why shouldn't I 
for Wills?" Buffy demanded.

"Because if you willingly take over that pact for your friend, then 
an Arch Prince of Hell will have the soul of a Slayer at his hands," 
Dorothy explained. "He could send you back to Earth as a demon that 
would make anything you've faced seem like child's play."

"There has to be an answer!" Buffy growled, "We've always found an 
answer!"

"Even when it meant your death?" Dorothy asked gently and wasn't 
surprised when Buffy jumped up and ran out the back door.

Dorothy looked around at the group, each looking miserable.

"Have they always been this close?" she asked them, sipping her 
coffee.

"Yeah, almost the first day of our sophomore year," Xander 
commented. "Willow and I were the social outcasts and Buffy was 
slated for the fast track to popularity but she became friends with 
Willow and I came with the package."

"I think they've been in love for years," Tara commented.

"What?" Xander demanded, almost falling off his stool. "What are you 
talking about and where's the stutter?"

"We decided she didn't need it," Dorothy said casually, nodding for 
Tara to continue.

"What are you talking about?" Xander repeated. "Buffy is straight 
and Willow was with you."

"I don't doubt that Willow loves me," Tara said quickly. "I've 
always known how she feels about Buffy and I've suspected Buffy felt 
the same. I think the timing was never right, neither of them could 
face it and when Willow could, Buffy was with Riley."

"You're saying that you were second choice?" Anya asked.

"No, not exactly," Tara said, shifting uncomfortably in her 
chair. "Willow really loves me, or believes that she does, but 
Buffy's always first in her heart."

"That might explain why they're willing to go to such extremes for 
each other," Dorothy said slowly, still sipping her coffee.

Everyone jumped when the doorbell rang.

"Who the hell?" Xander demanded. "Everyone we know is already here 
except Giles and he's not due until tomorrow night."

"Well, let's hope it's not Spike, he's just annoying lately," Anya 
muttered as Xander slid off his stool and headed for the door. After 
a moment, she followed him.

Xander's face reflected his surprise when he opened the door and 
found Amy standing there.

"Hi, Xander!" the witch said cheerfully.  

"Hi," he said, his voice not as enthusiastic as Anya placed a worried 
hand on his arm.

"Can I see Willow? I didn't hear from her for the last couple of 
days, thought we could hang at the Bronze or something," Amy asked.

"No, not right now," Xander said slowly. "Willow's not feeling well."

"She spent enough time with you already," Anya snapped.

Amy's eyes lost her cheerfulness and became hard.

"If she's not feeling well, maybe I could help with that," she 
suggested firmly.

"No, you've done enough," Xander growled, placing his arm across the 
doorway.

"Xander, I need to see Willow and you don't even live here," Amy 
growled, her hands beginning to glow slightly.

"Neither do you, rat-girl," Anya snapped. "You've done enough damage 
with Willow. Now leave."

"Maybe I should step in here," a masculine voice suggested. Rack 
stepped out of the shadows from the porch to stand beside Amy, 
wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "I'm Rack and Willow belongs 
with us."

Xander felt a chill sweep over his body as Rack's one good eye glared 
at him. He tried to slam the door shut but Rack merely placed his 
hand on the door and Xander couldn't budge it.

"Anya, get to Willow and Dawn," Xander said softly, standing his 
ground in the doorway.

"Boy, you couldn't stop me on your best day," Rack smirked.

Suddenly a figure darted under Xander's arm and threw something at 
the witches, causing them to howl in anger and stumble back down the 
stairs. A firm hand grabbed Xander back and slammed the door shut.

The young man looked over in surprise at Dorothy as she held out 
something in her hand, chanting and motioning with her other hand as 
she moved the wand around the door. A faint bluish light filled the 
jam of the door.

"I've already sealed the rest of the house," Dorothy said simply as 
she turned to face a surprised Xander. "That the evil one Willow's 
been messing with?"

"Yeah," Xander nodded.  

"Hey, witch!" Rack called from outside.

Dorothy opened the door but didn't step outside, Xander sighed with 
relief when Buffy came running in from the kitchen to stand beside 
the old nurse and witch.

"She's already mine," Rack taunted and extended his hands, energy 
dancing between them like a ball in a child's hands.

"Sorry, scum, we're taking her back," Buffy growled but Rack merely 
laughed.

"Her soul will be mine and so will the child," he grinned and got 
into a car and Amy slid behind the wheel.

"Child?" All three standing at the door repeated and Buffy felt her 
knees growing weak. Xander grabbed her from behind.