Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live 3

[angelina2006@xxxxxxxxxxx]

TITLE: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live 1
AUTHOR: Angelina
DISCLAIMER: Not mine, Joss's. Charmed girlies not mine either, 
Constnace M. Burge's
SUMMARY: Not a B/W 'ship thing....unless you want it to be. 
Crossover with Charmed
SPOILERS: Up to Amends in Buffy and Love Hurts in Charmed
DISTRIBUTION: It's yours if you e-mail me
AUTHOR's NOTES: If you have read this fic somewhere before it's not 
because I copied it. It is archived elsewhere under the name Duchess
FEEDBACK: Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!!

Back in Sunnydale the mood was somewhat more sombre. Buffy had taken 
Willow back to her house so that she wouldn't have to be alone. 
Joyce had taken one look at Willow and known that something was 
seriously wrong. However, she could tell from her daughters face 
that she should leave them alone for now. Sometimes it was better 
not to know when Buffy's nocturnal activities were involved. 
Ignorance had indeed been bliss in this case. In the past Joyce had 
worried that Buffy was getting involved with undesirable people or 
that she was in a gang, smoking, drinking, any number of other 
things. And now Joyce wished every single night that that was all 
she had to worry about. It was not easy being the mother of the 
slayer.

In Buffy's bedroom the two friends had talked, laughed a bit, cried a 
whole lot more and eventually Willow had fallen into a fitful sleep. 
Buffy sat, unable to sleep, thinking. Yet again one of her friends 
was in mortal danger. This could probably be termed an occupational 
hazard but it seemed to be happening with alarming frequency. 

Maybe the slayer wasn't supposed to have friends she thought as she 
watched Willow sleep, her face the picture of innocence. Giles' 
watcher diaries had never really mentioned the slayer having a posse 
of friends. She was the Chosen One blah, blah, blah. And yet she 
was never alone in her fight against the forces of darkness. Her 
friends had never let her down, despite having no divine obligation 
to battle demons and vampires. She was grateful for each one of 
them. Even those who fought evil very reluctantly...with a spatula. 

A smile played at the corners of Buffy's mouth at this memory. She 
thought of Willow and Xander, the two people who had befriended her 
upon her arrival in Sunnydale and hadn't left her side since. The 
original Slayerettes. Of course the gang had grown since then. 
Cordelia had battled in vain, trying to resist being associated with 
Buffy but she had eventually succumbed. Oz had joined to be with 
Willow. Buffy wished Oz were there now instead of touring with his 
band. He would know what to say....well, maybe not say exactly but 
his presence would be a calming influence on Willow, and all of 
them. And of course there was Angel. Buffy tried not to think about 
him too much but it was hard. There was no way the could be anything 
more than friends now but his beautiful eyes still haunted her 
dreams. However, some things had to stay firmly in the past. 

Each one of these people had put themselves in life-threatening 
positions, repeatedly, for Buffy. And now Willow might.....Buffy 
couldn't bring herself to even think the word. Willow was the first 
genuine friend she's ever had. In LA all her friends had been 
shallow, self-centred bitches. Willow couldn't be more different 
from them. She was the most caring, selfless, sweet person Buffy had 
ever known. And now she was sick. Very sick. Because of Buffy. 
Hot tears spilled down Buffy's cheeks as she cried silently into her 
hands. She'd never forgive herself if something happened to anyone 
she loved because of her duties as the slayer.

She was trying to calm herself down when the phone rang, making her 
jump. She sniffed and wiped her eyes before lifting the receiver.
"Hello, Giles?"

"Yes it's me." Giles sounded as close to excited as he could get.

"Did you find something?"

"I think we may have, however, we need Willow's web skills. Do you 
think she's up to it?" Giles asked.

"Well, she's got one hell of an incentive, hasn't she?" said Buffy, 
trying not to get her hopes up too high. Giles hadn't said anything 
concrete.

"Indeed, indeed. I'll come and pick you both up now."

"OK Giles, we'll be waiting." They both hung up. Buffy looked at 
herself in the mirror. She was a mess. It was obvious she'd been 
crying. She went to the bathroom to wash her face - she didn't want 
Willow to see her in such a state. She patted her face dry and 
checked her reflection again. A slight improvement. 

She headed back to the bedroom to wake Willow. She smiled down on 
the sleeping form on her bed, the gentle rise and fall of her 
breathing told Buffy that she was sleeping more peacefully now. It 
was a shame to disturb her, but it was a necessary evil. Buffy sat 
on the edge of the bed and shook Willow's shoulder gently.

"Willow. Hey Will, wake up." She said softly. Willow slowly opened 
her eyes. Buffy smiled but Willow didn't return it.

"Are you OK?" asked Buffy. Willow sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah I'm fine." She tried to smile at her friend. "I guess I was 
just kinda hoping that this was all a dream, that's all." Buffy 
looked into Willow's huge eyes and felt as if a stake were being 
driven through her own heart. She put her arms around Willow and 
held her tight. Willow buried her face into Buffy's neck, grateful 
for the comfort.

"I wish I could make all this go away." said Buffy, her voice thick 
with emotion. "After all, if it wasn't for me you wouldn't....."

Willow abruptly pulled away from Buffy. "What??" she looked 
genuinely shocked. "Oh Buffy." She shook her head. "The last thing I 
want is for you to blame yourself. None of this is your fault." She 
wiped a solitary tear from Buffy's cheek.

"But if you hadn't got involved with me you would...."

"Be a lot less happy than I am right now. I'd still be the shy girl 
no-one spoke to. I'd be in Denialville with the other residents of 
Sunnydale." She smiled. "Buffy, being friends with you has changed 
my whole life and I wouldn't trade a second of it for the world."
Buffy found that she couldn't answer, her voice had stopped working, 
so she just pulled Willow back into a bear hug. They stayed that was 
for a long time, until Buffy remembered why she'd woken Willow in the 
first place.

"Oh God, I can't believe I forgot. Giles thinks they may have found 
something. He's coming to get us - he needs you to check the web for 
something" she said, wiping her eyes again.

Willow's face brightened at this news. "Really? He thinks we can do 
something to stop this?" her voice sounded hopeful. Buffy nodded.

"He didn't give me any details but he sounded pretty worked up about 
something"
A horn sounded outside. Buffy and Willow got off the bed. Willow 
staggered to the side as she straightened up and Buffy reached out to 
steady her. Willow looked at her and smiled.

"I'm OK, I was just a little dizzy because I'd just woken up."

Buffy smiled back but it didn't quite reach her eyes which were 
clouded with concern. She kept an arm firmly linked with Willow's as 
the walked downstairs and out to Giles' car. She was terrified that 
Willow's health was deteriorating.

********

Giles got out of the car and opened his door to allow Buffy to 
clamber into the back while Willow took the passenger seat.

"How are you feeling?" Giles asked.

"I'm OK right now thanks."

Giles nodded and started the car. The journey to the school was 
silent. Both girls knew that it was better to wait until they got to 
the library to ask for explanations - Giles was always more 
comfortable around his books. 

********

When they reached the school Buffy once again took Willow's arm as 
they walked to the library. There, Xander was waiting, impatiently.

"There you are! God, you were gone so long I was sure that heap of 
junk you drive had broken down somewhere" Xander was obviously 
relieved to see them safe and well.

"OK Giles, what's the news?" asked Buffy after getting Willow seated 
and standing behind her.

"Well, we read up on this Proctorion person...mostly it was what 
Willow had told us earlier. However, what was more interesting was 
what we found out about the witch who banished him into this state of 
limbo...or tried to at least.."

"Giles, do you think we could get the highlights here?" asked Buffy, 
making winding up motions with her hand.
"Yes, yes, I'm getting to the point" said Giles, looking a little 
flustered. "This witch was called Heather Warren and she was part 
of, as far as I can tell, a long line of very powerful witches, good 
witches who take it upon themselves to protect innocents and...."

Xander cut in "Short story: only a descendent of this Warren dame can 
reverse Proctorion's curse" 

Giles looked at Xander. "Yes. Quite."

Buffy and Willow looked at Giles, Willow was first to speak.

"So do we know if there are any of these descendants still around?"

"Well, now this is the part I found to be quite exciting," said 
Giles, his voice getting higher pitched with every word. "According 
to various prophecies I've read, the Warren line is destined to 
produce the most powerful witches the world has ever seen - three 
sisters, known as the Charmed ones - and here's where it gets 
interesting, all the prophecies indicate that they will be born of 
your generation." Giles finished with a flourish and looked at the 
three faces regarding him with varying degrees of alarm - it was 
unusual for him to be so worked up.

"Sooooo, this is a good thing right?" Buffy asked, to clarify things.

"Indeed it is. If these witches are so powerful, it may just be 
possible that not only will they be able to help Willow, but also 
they may succeed in finishing what their ancestor started."

"OK, so this is a plan," said Buffy, rubbing her hands 
together. "Where do we find these Wicca-chicks?"

"Ah." said Giles.

"Ah?" asked Willow. "Is that a good `Ah' or a bad `Ah'?"

Xander answered for him. "Well that's where you come in my friend. 
The books kind of lose track of the line around 1900. We hoped that 
you could work your magic on the web..." Xander realised what he'd 
said and slapped his hand over his mouth. "Sorry Will, that was a bad 
one."

"It's OK Xander," said Willow, standing up and heading for the 
computer. She took a few steps and suddenly doubled up in pain, 
clutching her stomach. The others were by her side in an instant.

"It'll pass, it'll pass" said Willow through gritted teeth as she 
rocked herself back and forth. Buffy pushed her hair off her face 
while Xander rubbed her back. Giles paced nervously. Slowly Willow 
straightened up. "I'm OK now." She took a seat at the computer and 
called up a search engine. Xander pulled up a seat beside her. Giles 
headed into his office, closely followed by Buffy.

"She's getting worse" she stated, matter-of-factly.

"Yes" Giles agreed.

"So, do you have any idea how long we have to stop this thing?"

"No, I don't have the slightest idea." Giles leaned his elbows on the 
desk and put his face in his hands. He lifted his head and looked 
Buffy in the eye. "I'm so sorry Buffy. I want to do something to 
help her, help all of you. I feel so useless." He slammed his fist 
onto the desk.

Buffy sighed and took a seat. "Tell me about it. I never thought I'd 
want to fight some big, hairy monster but compared to this I'd take 
an army of them."

Giles nodded. "It's terrible to see someone you care about in trouble 
and not be able to do anything."

"Giles, if anything happens to her..."

"We can't afford to think that way." Buffy knew he was talking to 
himself as much as he was to her. "We must believe that we will find 
these women and put and end to all of this."

"I guess." Neither continued the conversation. They sat in silence, 
Buffy knew Giles was thinking about Jenny. They couldn't go through 
something like that again. They just couldn't.

********

Xander watched as Willow surfed the net. "Does that happen often? 
The pain?"

"Not that often" Willow replied, keeping her eyes on the screen.

"Any other symptoms?"

"No, Dr Harris." Willow said with a slight smirk. It faded 
quickly. "Xander I'm scared."

He reached for her free hand and held it. "We all are Will, but 
we'll get through this, we always do."

She looked at him, her eyes bright with unshed tears, and nodded. 
She turned back to the screen. A grin spread on her lips. "Gotcha!"

Buffy and Giles came out of the office upon hearing Willow's 
exclamation.

"Did you find something?" asked Giles.

"Well, it's not much but the last known whereabouts of the family 
line is San Francisco. They bought a house there around the time of 
the big `quake. And there's no record of the house ever being sold."

"Is there any indication of the existence of the Charmed Ones?" asked 
Giles, peering at the screen.

"I can't find anything specific, but if the family never left the 
house surely they'd be able to tell us something?" Willow looked at 
Giles with pleading eyes.

"Yes....yes that's out best hope." Giles confirmed.

"So we're off to San Francisco?" asked Xander.

"Maybe Willow should stay here." Buffy said.

"No!" replied Giles and Willow together.

"No." Giles repeated. "I think the best thing would be for us to get 
Willow to these women as soon as possible so they can help her."

Willow looked relieved - she knew Buffy was only thinking of her 
health but she didn't want to be left behind.

"OK then," said Buffy. "It's settled. What about school...and your 
parents?"

"I'll deal with that." said Giles. "We can say that we're going on a 
field trip to look at various historical earthquake sites. And we 
can take my car." None of the others looked particularly thrilled at 
this prospect but since it was unlikely that Cordelia would join them 
it was their only choice. Giles continued, "Willow, do you think 
you can type up a permission slip to that effect on the computer?"

Willow turned back to the screen and set about her task. The others 
watched the screen too. Each one hoping beyond hope that this was 
the answer, that this would make it all stop. The alternate outcome 
was too terrible to contemplate. This had to be it.

TBC - more Charmed and more angst coming up