FF: Razor's Edge 2/9 - AU W/Fitz - PG13

["Hunter Ash" <carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx>]

Razor's Edge
Part 2

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 and may even include 3 at the same 
time <G>. 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: up to season 5. Oz never returned.

Summary: The gang learns the differences between Fitz' alternate 
reality and their own and just how close she was to Willow in that 
realm. They look for a way to send the Slayer back as she recovers 
in the hospital. After learning Willow in the other realm was 
killed, how will the gang handle Fitz' attraction to their Willow?

Rating: Strong PG-13 (US) 12 (UK), M (Aus), alluding to torture and 
physical abuse  nothing graphic but character death in alternate 
realm.

Author's Note: pairing: AU  Fitz/Willow, B/A. This reality: ?

* * *

"Angeleus?" Willow squeaked.  

Fitz looked over at the red-head and recognized the look of 
fear. "Here too?"

"Yes, Buffy's birthday," Willow whispered.

"What happened?" Giles asked.

"Angeleus was a right bastard, he was," Fitz continued, her eyes 
hard. "He&he hurt all of us."

"Go on," Giles urged.

"Why do you want to hear this? It didn't happen here," Fitz suddenly 
demanded.  

"Go on, I need to know about you," Giles answered.

"In case you can't send me back and I'm stuck here?" Fitz ventured, 
her voice bitter.

"Yes, actually," Giles answered honestly. "We all need to know a bit 
about you."

"Why? I won't be a Slayer anymore, you won't need me," Fitz said 
bitterly motioning at her plaster encased leg.

"You were a Slayer and a Scooby member, that makes you family," 
Willow protested and Giles nodded. "If you are stuck here, you'll 
need friends. You don't even have an ID."

Fitz frowned.  

"We'll compare worlds," Willow joined in.

Fitz' blue eyes softened as she looked at Willow but quickly looked 
away.  

Willow felt her face flushing, she never thought anyone would look at 
her with such adoration before. Not even Oz looked at her that way.

"It's not pretty," Fitz warned.

"Go on," Giles urged.

Fitz closed her eyes. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Watcher.  
Angeleus first went after Buffy, taunting and then teasing her 
sexually. She knew right away something was wrong but his words and 
actions still hurt the girl, she was so vulnerable. Then he killed 
Will's fish and left a drawing of Willow, nude, tied down on an altar 
with an upside cross above her."

Fitz didn't open her eyes but by the sound of Willow's gasp something 
similar had happened in this realm as well.

"Willow?" Giles questioned.

"I&I never showed anyone the drawing," Willow said softly. Fitz 
opened her eyes and wasn't surprised to find Willow's head ducked, 
hair falling and hiding her face. "I knew it would just upset 
everyone."

"Aye, it did," Fitz agreed, closing her eyes again. "I knew I was in 
love with you&I mean, my Will, but she was still grieving for Oz."

"Oz?" Willow's voice was taunt and slightly shrill.

"In my world he was killed by a bounty hunter our sophomore year," 
Fitz explained. "We spent a lot of time together and I knew I had 
fallen for her and Angeleus torment of Willow just sent me into a 
berserker fury."

"What happened?"

"I went raging after him and was caught," Fitz said slowly. "He threw 
me to Dru and Spike while he set about destroying Buffy and the 
others."

"Fitz," Giles said softly.

"You wanted to hear it, Watcher," Fitz snapped, her eyes opening and 
Giles flinched under the stern stare of the Irish woman. "They 
decided to keep me alive and torture me a bit."

"What did they do?" Willow asked softly.

"Let's just say it wasn't a very pretty sight," Fitz said firmly. "I 
was more dead than alive when Buffy and Xander rescued me. In 
revenge, Angeleus killed Jenny and her unborn child."

"Child?" Giles asked, dropping his notebook and pen.

"You had a Jenny here, as well then?"

"Yes, she and Giles were dating," Willow explained.

"Mine were married and with child," Fitz said.

"Giles?" Willow asked softly as his face sagged with the horrible 
memory of finding his own Jenny murdered in his bed.

"We never&we were&she wasn't," he stammered. "How did she&.?"

"Leave it, Giles," Fitz warned. "Both Jenny's are gone."

Giles nodded as he picked up the notepad and pen again.

"Angeleus kept leaving drawings, notes and such to all of us," Fitz 
continued. "I was in the hospital for three days and Buffy was 
nearly out of her mind with worry about all of us. My Giles tried to 
go after Angeleus and nearly got himself and Buffy killed."

"Same here," Willow said.

"Buffy, Xander, Will and Cordy set a trap with me as the bait," Fitz 
continued. "Angeleus, Spike and Dru walked right into it. We managed 
to kill Druscilla and Spike went insane, breaking Xander's arm before 
we drove them off."

"We were in over our heads and couldn't face it," Fitz 
complained. "Every time we tried something, Angeleus would merely 
counter with something more horrible. This time he kidnapped 
Cordelia, tortured her for hours and carved upside crosses in her 
cheeks."

"Oh God, Cordy," Willow said softly, horrified.  

"Aye, her parents sent her overseas to the best plastic surgeon they 
could find and she transferred school to Paris," Fitz nodded, still 
keeping her eyes closed.  

"What next?" Giles pushed.

"Saints, haven't you heard enough?" Fitz demanded, opening her eyes 
but turning away from the Watcher and young woman. "The next night 
Angeleus overpowered Xander with a pack of vampires and crucified him 
to the front wall of Buffy's house. He had his vampires slowly drain 
and torture the boy before he died."

"I, uh, I&."

Fitz looked up as Willow dashed out of the room.

"How did it end?"

"The bastard had decided that the end of the world would be a good 
thing and set about calling up a particularly vicious demon," Fitz 
continued.

"Acathla," Giles prompted and Fitz nodded.

"To get the incantation and spell right, he kidnapped my Giles and 
tortured the hell out of him," Fitz noticed the expression and look 
in Giles' eyes and her own widened. "You too?"

"Yes, Buffy and Xander rescued me when she came to kill Angeleus.  
Spike turned against him and rendered Druscilla unconscious and then 
left," Giles answered.

"Maybe without Spike and Xander there is why it was worse with my 
Giles," Fitz pondered.

"How so?"

"His kneecaps were drilled through," Fitz answered brutally and 
smacked herself mentally as Giles turned pale. "He can walk with 
braces and crutches but not well and he's in pain most of the time.  
Much like I'll be I'm thinking."

"I'm sorry but please don't take your anger out on us," Giles 
growled. "We're trying to help."

"I know," Fitz said wearily. "I'm scared and I've never admitted 
that to anyone in me life. Willow died in front of me, I couldn't 
move, I couldn't help her, I couldn't protect her and she was my 
life. I watched her die, Giles."

Giles nodded, his face pained and troubled.

"That left just you, Willow and Buffy," Giles said after a moment.

"Aye," Fitz said softly, her eyes filling with tears. "Spike was 
really angry at me for Dru, I was the one that killed her. He 
kidnapped Willow and&and&both he and Angeleus hurt her."

"Oh God," Giles muttered, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

"She was shattered. They left her in my bed for me to find," Fitz 
continued. "It backfired in a way. While I was blubbering like a 
fool, I told Will how I felt about her. Spike made the mistake of 
trying to sneak up on me in the hospital while I sat with Willow. I 
took his head off."

Giles nodded.

"Buffy and I found Angeleus and Giles. I got Giles out of there 
while Buffy took on the vampire," Fitz explained. "When I went back 
inside he almost had her but she rallied, she did. Buffy took him 
down and she shoved her sword through his chest as I took his head."

"I can't say I'm sorry that happened to him in your world," Giles 
muttered.

"And in yours?" Fitz demanded. "What's different?"

"Angeleus killed Jenny, tormented all of us, came between Buffy and 
her mother and such," Giles began. "He planned on bringing Acathla 
into the world here as well. Spike didn't want the world to change 
so he struck a bargain with Buffy, he would help her in the battle if 
she let him take Druscilla and leave. Buffy was reluctant because 
Druscilla had killed Kendra, the other Slayer, and had put Willow in 
the hospital."

"Kendra, she's the Slayer in training after me," Fitz 
commented. "What happened?"

"Willow found a spell on one of Jenny's disks that would restore the 
curse and performed the spell," Giles continued. "Xander rescued me 
while Buffy took on Angeleus. Spike surprised him and rendered 
Druscilla unconscious and then left. Buffy was able to defeat 
Angeleus but the spell had been cast and Acathla was crossing over.  
Willow's spell worked and Angel was back but the world was about to 
be destroyed. Buffy killed Angel to stop the spell."

"She knew her boyfriend was back?" Fitz asked with a frown.

"Yes, she ran away the next day and was gone for months," Giles said.

"My Will did magic, got really good at it, she did," Fitz added.

"Our Willow's spells are hit and miss sometimes," Giles 
admitted. "They seem better since she started practicing with a girl 
she met on campus."

"Tara?" Fitz asked.

"Yes," Giles answered, startled.

"She's our best friend and new Scooby member," Fitz explained. "In my 
world, she's dating Verucca, a werewolf singer."

"Our Verucca seduced Oz and liked being the werewolf and killing, 
that's what broke Willow and Oz up," Giles countered.

"My Verucca is okay, we just lock her in an old bomb shelter three 
nights a month," Fitz shrugged. "What else, Watcher? I'm getting 
tired."

"You and Willow?"

Fitz' face looked pained. "After Angeleus, I found out she heard me 
and my confession of love and she said she had been fighting the same 
feelings and&and she was so damned cute! I don't know much except we 
were kissing, crying and were together after that. No one batted an 
eye except her parents; they disowned her and threw her out. Buffy's 
mom took her in."

"Where did you live?"

"Hah!" Fitz snorted. "With you, I mean, with my Giles. With his 
legs all busted up, we moved him into a ground floor apartment with 
two bedrooms."

Willow stuck her head in the door. "Can I come back?"

"Sure," Fitz said softly, glancing away.

"Fitz was just telling me that she lives with the other Giles," Giles 
explained. "Seems his injuries from Angeleus were more serious than 
mine."

"Did you kill him?"

"Aye," Fitz nodded, noting Willow's troubled expression. "In my 
world, Will didn't find a spell and she wasn't in any shape to be 
casting one if she had found it. Buffy had no reservations about 
killing Angeles and neither did I."

Willow nodded but still looked troubled.

"That means Angel didn't come back, I wonder what the Powers That Be 
had in mind for your realm?" she said thoughtfully.

"PTB?" Fitz questioned. "You're saying Angel came back here?"

"Yes, he returned from hell," Giles answered, his own voice curiously 
flat. Fitz had the feeling Giles still wasn't sure if he wanted 
Angel back or not. "He has an investigation service in Los Angeles, 
he and his team help people in trouble, usually of a supernatural 
origin."

"He does good things and is trying to make amends," Willow added.

"What about him and Buffy?" Fitz demanded.  

"Unsure about losing his soul again," Giles commented. "So he left 
rather than face the temptation and putting both of them through the 
hell of seeing each other and unable to be together."

"Right big of him, then," Fitz growled.  

"Your Spike?" Willow questioned.

"Dust," Fitz said simply. "He tried to attack me and my Will while 
she was in hospital and I took him out."

"Oh," Willow muttered. "This is all confusing."

"It doesn't get better on my side," Fitz joined in the complaining.

"What about the Mayor and graduation?" Willow asked.

"We found the Mayor was at the bottom of some major drug dealing, 
bribery, harboring of demons and vampires, and planned on blowing up 
the school on graduation to open the Hellmouth again. He had made a 
deal with demons that the graduating class would be dinner."

"Our Mayor became invincible and planned on this Ascension to godhood 
or something," Willow countered. "We stopped him."

"So did we," Fitz nodded.

"Did you blow up the school?" Willow asked with a grin.

"No, we didn't get that far," Fitz admitted, smiling at a little at 
the one-up-manship game. "We did take down a really mean biker demon 
bar that had me and Buffy on the ropes for a bit."

"Did you have the really weird episode of where no one could talk 
because of The Gentlemen?" Willow asked enthusiastically while Giles 
kept quiet and took notes, not wanting to break the friendly and 
informative banter.

"Yeah! You ran into Tara from the Wicca group," Fitz grinned. "I 
mean, my Willow did. They were in serious trouble and I didn't know 
it. I was looking for her and Buffy. They managed to protect 
themselves by combining their powers."

"Were they close?" Willow asked softly.

"Aye, best friends, the lot of us," Fitz nodded, her eyes going 
distant with memory. "Tara began dating a musician, Will and I were 
together and Buffy had just hooked up with an old friend from her 
previous school, Billy Ford."

"Billy Ford died our Junior year," Willow frowned again. "He had 
brain tumors."

"Our Billy boy is quite healthy," Fitz countered. "And quite taken 
with our Slayer."

"How did you&you and your Willow?"

"Well, Fitz," Giles interrupted and stood up. "I think the questions 
can wait for another day. Come on, Willow, she's exhausted."

"Can I stay?" Willow asked. "We don't have to talk."

"Willow," Fitz said gently. "I know you're trying to help. You're so 
much like my Willow, she's the first to help, put in the long hours, 
never complain and be a friend. Because you're so much like her, 
it's killing me. I need to sleep, I need a pain shot and I need to 
cry some more and I don't do that well with company."

Giles was surprised, if Fitz was anything like the other Slayers he 
had known, the pain must be incredible for Fitz to ask for 
painkillers.

Willow looked hurt and confused.  

"I don't even have a picture of her," Fitz said softly, closing her 
eyes, touching her wedding ring.

"You said the Council didn't approve of your marriage, why?" Giles 
asked, seeing the wedding ring, suddenly curious. 

"Blasted stuffed shirt Brits!" Fitz snapped, her eyes blazing. "Said 
they wouldn't allow a Slayer to get 'emotionally' involved with 
anyone while they were active Slayers, they did. Pointed out the 
disaster of Buffy getting involved with someone, a vampire and such. 
I pointed back that Willow sure in hell wasn't a vampire and they 
could twirl on their blessed umbrellas."

"And the Irish Church agrees with same sex marriages?" Giles 
countered and watched Fitz blush.

"Nay, you're right there, Watcher," Fitz admitted. "But then Mother 
Church hasn't said much about me life since I joined the IRA either. 
Willow had already been disowned by her parents and we told the 
Council to stuff themselves."

"You were still with the Council?" Willow asked.

"Aye, why in shouldn't we be?" Fitz asked.

"What happened on Buffy's 18th birthday?" Giles asked.

"The Council showed up on our doorstep and said they'd be testing 
Buffy and for us to stay out of it," Fitz said slowly. "Giles found 
out what the test was and told them off and threatened to expose 
them. The Council and Giles compromised, they followed Buffy and me 
for two weeks without us knowing it. They even called in some 
particularly nasty demons and vampires to test us and we passed, 
using our resources, brains, talent, and strength. They passed all of 
us. What happened on this end?"

"The test was a major bitch and Giles agreed to it!" Willow 
snapped. "He drugged Buffy so her Slayer strength was useless and 
she had to defeat an insane and super strong vampire on her own."

"And I paid for it!" Giles snapped back. "We left the Council."

"Well, we didn't and the Council threatened to send me away, with me 
being a minor at the time and such," Fitz said. "I told them plain 
that I wouldn't leave and they didn't want a war with two Slayers, 
two witches, a werewolf and a Watcher with magic training."

"Werewolf?" Willow questioned. "You said Oz died."

Fitz glanced away quickly. "He did. Tara, in my world, is dating a 
female werewolf."

"A musician," Willow said, her eyes narrowing. "Verucca."

"Aye, Giles said that your Verucca is a wrong one," Fitz nodded.

"Was, and you don't have a Faith in your world," Willow muttered.  

"I'm tired," Fitz repeated. "Come back later, both of you."

Giles nodded and placed his hand on Willow's shoulder as Fitz rang 
the buzzer for the nurse.

* * *

Willow was unusually quiet on the ride back to the college in Giles' 
car. He knew the last two weeks had been difficult on everyone but 
especially on Willow. First she had received word from Oz that he 
wasn't returning and then she had been kidnapped by that damned 
sorcerer.

Now they had Fitz to deal with. An angry, confused, and grieving 
Slayer. One who was very much in love with her own version of Willow.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"No, I'm not," she admitted, keeping her eyes on the passing 
scenery. "How do we help her, Giles?"

The Watcher smiled gently, thinking this was the reason he loved the 
kids so much. Their undying love for each other and especially 
Willow's innate goodness. Even though everything was confusing, she 
was quick to jump in and try to help the wounded woman in their care.

"I'm not sure you're the best person to help," he said slowly.

"Because I'm Willow but not her Willow?"

"Yes," Giles nodded. "I know it would kill me if Jenny's double came 
through a portal somewhere."

Willow was quiet for several more minutes.

"Giles," she said slowly, hesitating. "You remember my vampire 
double?"

"Of course, Willow," Giles said calmly, letting Willow go at her own 
speed in the conversation.

"She wasn't straight," Willow ventured, her voice soft.

"No, I think all vampires are highly sexual and aren't particular 
about gender but she definitely had a preference for females, I 
believe," Giles said honestly.

"Buffy said that the demon vampire doesn't reflect the person's 
personality," Willow pondered.

"I'm not sure she was correct on that point," Giles fought to keep 
his voice calm and steady. He could sense the girl was struggling 
with something and had a good indication of where she was heading.  
The Watcher didn't want her retreating back into her shy shell. It 
had taken over a month to get her to stop crying over Oz and Giles 
knew the new girl from the Wicca group had been a big part of that 
recovery.  

Giles also knew that Willow might be on the edge of trusting him with 
something she probably hadn't even talked with Buffy about and he 
didn't want to scare her off.

"Do you think that you're having feelings for Tara?"

Giles kept his eyes on the road but glanced at the young witch out of 
the corner of his eye and found her blushing a bright red, just as he 
thought her reaction would be.  

"I, uh, I like Tara, a lot," Willow stammered. "I don't know&it 
feels&and then there's Fitz."

"Well, nothing wrong with that," Giles said easily. "It's not 
something easy to discover about yourself but it can be very nice 
too."

Willow's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?" she squeaked.

"We've found over the years that most Slayers are bisexual, vampires 
are just sexual and a good portion of the human race is bisexual or 
gay," Giles shrugged. "You won't shock me if you discover that you 
are bisexual or lesbian."

"You&you won't be disappointed in me?" Willow asked, her voice soft 
and so young sounding it nearly broke the Watcher's heart.

"Why?" he asked. "Because you have the capacity to love someone? 
Willow, that's what makes you so much YOU. My Willow gives so much 
and loves with all her heart. I don't care what gender the person is 
that receives that beautiful part of you. Besides, you remember 
Ethan. We were more than close at times, that's one reason I have 
trouble taking permanent action against him. Never question love, 
Willow, gender doesn't matter."

Willow wiped away tears of relief and stress.

"You've known Tara for awhile now but you just mentioned there was 
something about Fitz that disturbed you?" Giles asked.

"I don't know," Willow frowned. "It's like I'm drawn to her and 
don't want to leave until I know everything about her. It doesn't 
feel like&I don't know what it feels like."

"Fitz hasn't even begun to grieve," Giles warned. "I don't know what 
happened but she watched as her Willow was killed in front of her. It 
would be natural to cling to you, especially now."

"I think I understand that," Willow frowned. "She used the term 
wife."

"Yes, they had a ceremony in which they were 'married' in all ways 
except legally, I believe. My counterpart walked your counterpart 
down the aisle," Giles said.

Willow became quiet again and Giles let the conversation drop.  

He watched the witch as she walked towards her dorm, head low in 
thought and he felt his heart aching for her.  

* * *

"Will, please, no!" Fitz thrashed on the bed as cool hands and voices 
tried to calm her. "No, don't hurt her! Willow!"

"What's wrong with her?" Buffy's voice was demanding.

"Her wounds have become infected and she's spiking a high fever," an 
unknown voice answered as hands held her arms down and someone was 
strapping her wrists in restraints.  

"How serious?" Giles was demanding from somewhere far away.

"Will?" Fitz called, unable to focus on anyone.

"I'm here," a voice answered and a familiar hand and energy brushed 
black hair from the Slayer's forehead.

Fitz calmed instantly, crying as Willow wrapped her arm around under 
Fitz' head, moving as close as she could.

"I saw you die, please don't let it be real," Fitz sobbed. "I can't 
do it without you, lass."

"I'm right here, Fitz," Willow's voice reassured her. "Its okay, let 
them give you a shot for the pain and the fever, okay?"

"Anything for you," Fitz whispered. "I can't touch you!"

"Let one of her hands go," Giles' voice insisted.

"You saw how she's flailing about, she'll rip the IV's out," a male 
voice protested.

"You also see how she's calmed down with Willow there," Giles 
countered. "Willow can call for a nurse if Fitz begins thrashing 
again."

Fitz felt her right hand being freed and managed to focus on the 
green eyes she adored so much as Willow slipped Fitz' hand hers.

"You feel real," the delirious Slayer said in wonderment.

"I'm here, Fitz," Willow said softly, tears streaking her 
face. "She's hurting so bad, Giles."

"I know," he said softly. "Don't mistake empathy or sympathy for 
something else though."

Buffy walked back into the hospital room.  

"The doctor says Will can stay with her since it's the only thing 
that seems to keep Fitz calm," she announced.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea," Giles grumbled. "Fitz is 
grieving for her own Willow, having our Willow here all the time will 
only delay that grief and there's a good chance Fitz will rebound 
right into Willow."

"Just until the fever breaks and she's out of danger," Willow 
countered.

"She's right, Giles," Buffy added. "With Slayer strength, the nurses 
will have a hard time if Fitz is out of her head and fighting."

"Until the fever breaks and then you put some distance between you 
and Fitz," Giles ordered.  

Giles pretended to not notice Willow's infamous 'resolve face' and 
saw Buffy frowning as she watched her best friend's reaction to the 
order.

"Saints, it hurts, Will," Fitz whined. "Feels like fire in me leg."

"I know, Fitz, it'll be okay," Willow said softly as Buffy and Giles 
left the room.

"Jess, why are you not calling me Jess, my love?"

"I'm sorry, I'm just so worried about you," Willow said 
quickly. "You're my Jess, just like Jesse James."

"Aye," Fitz smiled, closing her eyes. "Like that Cher song you like 
so well. Yours forever, Will."

Willow felt tears flowing down from her eyes as she held the wounded 
Slayer.

"Why couldn't you have been in this realm?" Willow asked the 
Fates. "No one could love me like you did her."

Buffy hesitated outside the door, her Slayer hearing everything 
Willow had muttered. The blonde Slayer turned to go and find Xander 
and Anya for the evening patrol.

* * *

So what the hell do we do with Fitz?" Xander demanded as they walked 
along in one of the many graveyards in Sunnydale.

"What do you mean, Xan?" Buffy asked. "We help her recover and send 
her back to her own realm, like we did Willow's vampire double."

"I think Will is spending too much time with her," he 
grumbled. "She's been at the hospital almost four days straight now!"

"You know how Will is," Buffy shrugged, keeping her senses alert for 
any vampires or demons. "She wants to help anyone that's hurt."

"Yeah, will this injured puppy has major issues with Willow and I 
don't think we should be encouraging them to spend any time 
together," he snapped.

"What is your major maladjustment?" Buffy finally demanded, spinning 
to face her friend so quickly that it surprised Xander and almost 
knocked him over. "Fitz is a Slayer and in the wrong realm! It's not 
her fault!"

"For some reason the thought of Fitz and Willow being orgasm friends 
bothers him," Anya said calmly.

"Homophobic much?" Buffy snapped, turning around to scan the 
graveyard.

"I am not!" Xander snapped back. "I don't care either way!"

"Unless it's one of your friends?" Buffy snarled. "Or is it just 
Willow?"

Anya's eyes flashed with instant anger and jealousy.

"Yes," she joined in. "Is it the thought of two women together? I 
don't think so because of the porn movies you like, they include a 
lot of woman-to-woman action and you seem to enjoy that very much."

"Enough!" Xander growled. "I am not homophobic, I just don't want 
Will getting hurt. She's not even over Oz yet and here's someone 
totally head over heels for her."

"Will is an adult and will make her own decisions, Xander," Buffy 
growled back. "She's not dating a werewolf, a vampire or a former 
demon. In fact, they're not dating! She's helping keep Fitz calm 
until Fitz can heal."

"She doesn't belong here," Xander muttered.

"We know that already," Buffy complained. "Let's find that damned 
spell book and send her back so we can all continue on with life, 
Fitz included!"

"What if she doesn't want to go back?" Xander demanded. "Her Willow 
is dead, ours is alive!"

"Is that what's bothering you? That Willow might fall for her?" Buffy 
asked.

"Why would that bother him?" Anya asked. "Xander, why does Willow's 
sex life bother you so much?"

"It doesn't!" he snapped. "I just don't want her hurt."

"None of us do, so drop it," Buffy muttered.

Xander nodded reluctantly as they followed Buffy on patrol.

* * *