FIC: Love's an Adventure (1/?)

["Pat Kelly" <bandits@xxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Love's an Adventure (1/?)
Author: Pat Kelly
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A small re-writing of history, allows for this Buffy/Willow fic that starts near the end of the fifth season finale, and goes, well, on an adventure. Hopefully.
Spoilers: "The Gift" (Way to go, Joss!), Season 3 and "Graduation Day 1 and2".
Disclaimer: All hail Joss and his army of Mutant Enemies. I don't own BTVS.I make no money. Long live UPN! Burn the WB!

LOVE'S AN ADVENTURE

Part 1
---------

'I shouldn't be standing here. Not like this. None of us should, cause we're not looking down at what we're looking down at. We can't be. Cause of Joyce, and it wouldn't be fair, would it? But my brain thinks we are, cause myeyes wouldn't be misty, and my cheeks wouldn't feel all soggy. Giles, Dawn...little Dawnie...
 
'If I wasn't helping Xander check on Anya, I could've gone up and...but no,I sent Spike instead. He tried so hard, and oh God, is he crying? She wouldn't have had to make the choice. I could've in a split second. Open a nicehole, zap up there, knock that creepy guy off, and we'd all be here. *All*. I know she doesn't like when I do it; it's scary to me too, but I should have. I didn't, and now she's gone...
 
'No, she's not. She's not. That's not her body. Stupid, Willow. Stupid. Andeven if it is, which it's not, I can bring her back. I'm really strong in the magick department. Super strong. I can do it so easily. Consequences? Messing with nature? Who cares? At least she'd be back. At least she she'd be with me, and she wouldn't've left me. Oh...
 
'No, no, no, no, no, no! She's really dead isn't she? Buffy wasn't supposedto...what did I do wrong? This has to be my fault. That one moment. How could she just leave me for the world? It's a mean, nasty world. It doesn't deserve all she does for it. Or...did for it. What she gave up for it. Suddenly finding it hard to stand...'
 
Willow dropped to the floor by the lifeless slayer's body, which was lying oddly on broken pieces of wood. They didn't see her body land, so they didn't know if whatever was under her broke on impact or...but that wasn't evena question or concern on any of their minds. The redhead was finding it harder and harder to breathe, but the tears continued. And then she tried to straighten herself up. 
 
Buffy. Buffy looked uncomfortable. She wouldn't stand for that.
 
"Look at her. She can't be comfy." Willow began to tell everyone, as she cleared her throat. "And you know her, she wouldn't say anything, cause she wouldn't want to bother us. Well, I don't care. That position is no good. Wejust have to move her. It'll be better." She stood up, and started to benddown. "Xander, help me. Help me help her."
 
Her friend came out of his trance, and looked at his girlfriend, soon to befiancé, who was in his arms. Anya had taken quite a few hits for the team, and was weak, but she nodded back at him. He let her down, and Giles stood by her for support. Xander grabbed Buffy by the feet, and Willow took her by the arms. They gently laid her on the floor, and he crouched over his fallen friend. The one he respected, the one he owed so much to, and he snapped.
 
"Don't worry, Buff. No sweat. We've done this before, right? You die, I bring you back. That's the way it works, cause you're you and not like other people. The world needs you, we need you, and you don't stay...this'll be a piece of cake. I'll just get the CPR goin', you'll come around, and then we'll all go out for..."
 
Now it was Giles' turn to come back to reality. "Xander..."
 
The watcher reached for the young man's arm, and he was shrugged off.
 
"Relax, Giles. I know what I'm doing. She'll be back in no time. Yep. Back in no time."
 
During this, Willow was fixated on Buffy's face. The face of her best friend and girlfriend of two years. And what she saw there, brought a smile to her lips. No, she wouldn't mess time or nature. Not because she was afraid of what might happen, but because it wouldn't be fair to Buffy. She'd have to settle for the memories that were coming back to her in a rush. Even the memory of the moment where she could have gone instead of Spike, and possibly changed the outcome of things.
 
There was a time when she wouldn't have been able to change the outcome of anything; she knew that. She had Buffy's encouragement to thank for her discovery of her power, her abilities, and for putting her back together well enough, so that she wouldn't fall to pieces like the last time someone she loved died. She'd carry on; fight the good fight. 
 
But her mind was going crazy. The memories weren't under her control. They were hitting her quickly, replaying themselves backwards from this night. It was like their life was flashing before her eyes, but it wasn't starting at the beginning and moving forward. It was strange, but then again, why goforward? Because they'd come back to this, and what came after it? Nothing. 
 
She looked at her face again, and things slowed.
 
'That's enough.'
 
She'd let the memories take her where they wanted to go.
 
It would be a welcome escape from where she currently found herself.
 
***
 
Several Months Before
 
Buffy laid prone on the grass of the cemetery, her eyes closed. She could hear them. Two. Young and stupid. They were coming slowly closer to her, trying to figure out what to do. They must've had their game faces on, becauseshe could hear the deeper, lisp-like inflection in their voices that all vampires got when they were wearing their fangs.
 
"Is she dead?" One asked.
 
"How should I know?" The other responded. "She looks dead."
 
"But that doesn't mean she is. We're supposed to be able to tell, aren't we?"
 
"She ain't movin'. I say, free meal. Just imagine the respect we'd earn, telling people we killed her. The slayer."
 
"What do you think really did?"
 
"How the hell should I know? Just shut up and eat."
 
They were on either side of her now, growling. Morons. Now, she'd just...wait, what was that noise? And where'd they go? She opened her eyes, got to her feet, and saw a "witched-out" redhead, blackened eyes and all, standing just in front of a blue light. As the tear closed, Willow stuck out her hands and lifted the demons into the air. She didn't see any tree branches, soshe'd have to settle for doing it all herself. A mere two seconds later, she was trying not to cough on the dust, and her eyes were no longer creepy.
 
"Did I, um...save you?" Willow asked her girlfriend hopefully.
 
"No, but you wowed me, so feel free to be pride-filled and act all tough. Iwas just planning on jumping up, yelling 'surprise' and using the traditional kicking and punching method. That was way more impressive." 
 
She was the only person who had gotten to see how powerful Willow had become, and it was pretty amazing, considering that it seemed like just yesterday floating a pencil was the extent of her skills.
 
The witch smiled broadly, but was blushing so much that she could have passed for a tomato. "Tradition'll always have its place. Besides, I like watching you beat up demons." She considered what she just said, her brow furrowing. "I think that's healthy." 
 
"Thanks for validating my job." Buffy smirked. "But -"
 
"But you don't like me opening inter-dimensional holes and using them as transportation?"
 
Buffy was ashamed that she had become so predictable. "Don't forget your other options, that's all. Like the bus. You could've taken the bus." Willow simply stared, and Buffy quickly surrendered. "Suggestion only. I just seemto remember when I went with you and we got kinda...what's the word? Lost?"
 
"Oh, come on. That was how long ago? And I was trying to get to *another* dimension, not move around this one. Other dimensions are what's tricky. I'min complete control now. Anyway, I had good intentions then." She walked up to the slayer.
 
A flicker of sadness passed over two sets of eyes.
 
"Yeah, you did." 
 
"And-and wasn't it an adventure? As far as adventures go, I thought it was pretty unforgettable." The redhead huffed.
 
Buffy eyed her. "Okay, lay off the guilt trip. It got us where we are today, and for that, I'm so glad that I'd have to invent a word to express the amount of my gladness." The girlfriends kissed. "Out of tragedy eventually comes happiness." She cringed. "Get out of my head, Giles."
 
Willow giggled. "Just have to wait a little, sometimes." They kissed again."I rented The Mummy. Your favorite." She looked worried then. "Right?" 
 
"You're too good to me." Buffy wrapped her arm around Willow's waist, and they walked. "Where would I be without you, Will?"
 
"Uncultured and still in high school?" Willow grinned.
 
"Maybe I should've been clearer on the fact that that was a rhetorical question."
 
"Oops." Buffy couldn't stay mad when faced with such a sheepish, cute smile. "So...we haven't had a movie night in awhile; I thought it'd be nice. Popcorn and ice cream and junk food stuff..." The slayer opened her mouth to speak. "...and before you ask, I walked through the doors of the movie placelike a normal person."
 
Her arm was swatted. "Are we inviting Xander?"
 
"Uh...no. Him and Anya are still uh, 'coping' with him being split it two, and...can we skip to something else?"
 
"This is me skipping." Buffy nodded. "Though not in the physical sense." Moments passed, and then she had to ask something. "Willow?"
 
"Buffy?" She teased.
 
"Do you...when you...is it really..." Buffy paused, and then spit it out. "When you go witchy, do you *have* to do that thing with your eyes? Cause it's -"
 
"Thing? What thing?"
 
"Where your eyes turn black."
 
Now Willow's eyes were widening, and frightened. "They turn black?"
 
***
 
The Present
 
"Come on! Come on!" Xander yelled, hurriedly doing chest compressions.
 
Spike was hovering over her now. "I'm sorry, Buffy. I never should've told you..."
 
Xander let up, and stood. "Told her about what?" Spike didn't answer, so hegot shoved hard. "Told her about what, Spike?"
 
Spike looked at her. "A little while ago -"
 
"When?"
 
"Bloody hell, I don't know!" He snapped. "When I was havin' problems handling how I felt about her. She came to me one night...asked me questions. About the ones before she showed up. I said she...I..." He began to choke up again. "I said she had a death wish."
 
The next thing he saw was a fist coming at his face. 
 
"You...twisted..." Xander shook his head. "I can't believe how much of a bastard you are."
 
"Wanna find somethin' sharp?" Spike taunted, as he shook off the punch.
 
"Don't tempt me." Xander was massaging his hand.
 
"Go on, put ol' Spike out of his misery." He held his arms out. "Don't think I don't regret it, cause I do."
 
"Oh right, you love her. I forgot. You show it real well, you know that? When you're not busy telling her she wants to die!" They got in each other's faces. "I'm gonna kill you."
 
Spike's face shifted, and he snarled. "If you threaten someone, be ready toback it up. Gotta follow through, Harris." He whispered. "But I don't think you can."
 
"Oh yeah? Why's that?"
 
"Cause she had a bigger set than you'll ever have."
 
Xander was more than ready to follow through, but Giles stepped in.
 
"Stop it! Both of you! This won't bring her back."
 
Dawn started coming down the stairs, and Willow, who hadn't taken her eyes off of Buffy, spoke.
 
"He's right."
 
Their beginning was apparently next, and she remembered every moment, everydetail that allowed that to happen. It had been some ride, starting off ina dark place, but ending up in a happy one. They weren't the only two who loved her, and luckily for Willow, Buffy had loved her back. Another smile,as she drifted off once more.
 
***
 
Two Summers Ago
 
Buffy laid on Willow's bed, her eyes closed, as the realization of what hadhappened hit her. She stabbed Faith and put her into a coma, they graduated, the Mayor turned into a giant snake, she blew the school up with him inside, Angel left, and Oz...Oz was dead. Willow didn't deserve this. Didn't deserve the pain. She was too good of a person. Too nice, too caring, too...special.
 
After the battle, Oz didn't join them, so they searched for him to make sure he wasn't injured somewhere. They had all gotten separated during the confusion of the fighting. When they found his body, it was half-buried under rubble, and his face was blackened with soot. Buffy had helped Willow remove the stone, but before any of them even checked for a pulse, Angel shook his head at Buffy discreetly. But it was worse than that.
 
Oz had taken a stray arrow in the back, through to the heart, and most likely had already been dead when the building started to explode. Willow couldn't stop crying, and after a week, after they'd buried him, she was still awreck. As much as they should have expected it, they weren't prepared for it. Willow had never been like this before. Almost like what Buffy had beenlike when Angel "died" and Angelus took over. The slayer tried not to leave her side, and right now the redhead was in the bathroom. She had come over because Willow said she wanted to talk.
 
Hearing footsteps, Buffy sat up, opening her eyes. Willow entered the room,taking a deep breath.
 
"I've been thinking." She began making hand motions. This was important to her, whatever it was. "Oz was a werewolf, right? Or...part werewolf."
 
"Yeah..." Buffy agreed. Uh oh. She hoped Willow wasn't thinking what she thought she was thinking. "Will, you know what Giles said. The whole 'silver bullet' thing is made up. I guess for all those old B-movies that carried over into the eighties." She made a face at that. "People can waste their time making them if they want, like that, 'I'm man, bow down to me' hunter guy, but -"
 
"Werewolves are supernaturally strong, and pretty invincible, but if you get their heart to stop, whether they're in human or in beast form, they're dead no matter what you use. I know, Buffy." She said. "I know he's really gone."
 
Buffy frowned, feeling incredibly dumb and insensitive. "I'm sorry."
 
"It's okay." Willow smiled sadly. "I was gonna say that cause werewolves aren't exactly thought of as nice, and kinda bad...not that Oz was bad...he just..."
 
"No, he wasn't." She had to get her to focus. It wasn't time for a babble.
 
The redhead began to pace. "But what if his soul is in a bad place now cause of what he had in him? Like a dimension that, you know..."
 
"Like a dimension that Angel was in." Buffy finished for her, feeling the sting. "I get it."
 
"He doesn't deserve that, Buffy. He didn't choose to be bitten." She stopped walking and faced her friend. "Souls are real, we know that, so that means Oz has one. I wanna make sure he's in a good place. That he's not suffering. I don't want him to suffer."
 
"I'm not gonna like this next part, am I?"
 
"Well...no, probably you won't. B-but hear me out first before you judge. I've been doing a lot of reading about spells and dimensional gateways and holes and...there isn't much about the dimensions themselves, and that's a tiny snag, but I'm ninety-nine-point-nine percent positive I can open up a hole and go -"
 
"Wait." Buffy got off the bed. "Give me a second. I think I know how to connect these dots. You wanna go search for Oz's soul in dimensions you know nothing about. How am I doing?"
 
"Err...good."
 
"And lemme guess. The spell might not work, or it may blow you up. Ooh, andI bet if it does work, you won't know what door you're walking through, oreven how to get back."
 
"Sorta. Uh huh." Willow said meekly.
 
"Okay, here's where I hope you told me this so I could be the voice of reason." She sighed. "Though I tend to lack reason often, and don't have much experience in that area, I'll give it a shot." There was a pause. "Are you nuts? I know you loved Oz, and the thought of him not being at rest or however it works, bugs me too. Cause I should've saved him."
 
"Buffy..."
 
"But you can't do this. I've only heard of two types of dimensions. 'Hell' dimensions, and just plain, 'a different world than ours' dimensions. Both of which sound scary to me, and I know for a fact, based solely on the one I went to, that they are."
 
"That's true." Willow conceded, nodding. "But if there's 'Hell' dimensions,there's got to be 'Heaven' dimensions too."
 
"One would assume...but...not the point. If I lost you in any dimension, I..." Words just weren't coming. "It's too risky, Will." 
 
Willow smiled at her. "I need to do this, Buffy. I can't sit here anymore. I'm running out of tissues, and they make my nose sore." She rubbed it. "I have to go, and I had to tell somebody. I knew that even though you'd wannastop me, you wouldn't, cause you understand how I feel. And if I don't come back, you'll tell everyone why. I wrote a note and everything."
 
"I do. Understand how you feel, I mean." Buffy took her friend by the shoulders. "Which is how I know that when a person feels like you do now, they do irrational things that they end up regretting later. Says the girl who ran away for three months."
 
"But then you came back."
 
"There's no guarantee that you will."
 
"There was no -"
 
"Guarantee that I would either. Bad argument, I strike it from the record."She had to come up with something. "Maybe we can talk to Giles and he can find -"
 
"He wouldn't find anything."
 
If the clock in Willow's room wasn't digital, the only thing they would've heard was it ticking.
 
"You're still going through with this, aren't you?" 
 
"Yep. I am." The redhead said determinedly, with a firm nod.
 
"No matter how many times I object?"
 
"'Fraid so. And it's not your fault what happened to him. It's not."
 
"But if something happens to you, it'll be my fault." She hugged the hacker. "So if I can't keep you here, then I'm not letting you go alone. If I cankeep you safe, I'm gonna do it." Willow wanted to protest. "I'm not backing down."
 
They separated, and any objections Willow had were washed away. They both had resolve faces, neither of which were meant to be trifled with. She settled on a two-word response.
 
"Thank you."
 
"Who knows? Could be fun." Buffy smiled.
 
"And interesting. Don't forget interesting." Willow got serious again. "Do you think he's okay?"
 
"I'm sure he's fine and I'm sure he's happy; probably playing guitar with Jimi Hendrix right now. He was a big music guy, wasn't he?"
 
"You really think so?" 
 
"I'd bet the farm on it. If I owned a farm."
 
"I should put the note somewhere where they'll find it, and then we can...leave."
 
Now the fear was setting in.
 
"Oh, when we get back," Optimistic, she had to stay optimistic, "and Giles and my mom freak, you are *so* going to take the heat for this with me. Especially if we don't get back in time to register for classes."
 
Willow frowned. What was she getting them into?
 
***
 
The girls fortunately had the bright idea to grab supplies and weapons before they left. After all, there was no telling how long they'd be gone, or where they'd end up, so they needed protection and nourishment. Buffy had sent her mother away before graduation, and Joyce had called the other day tosay she was staying gone longer. One of her sisters was having a family crisis. So they didn't have to worry about running into her, or Xander for that matter. He had already embarked on his road trip.
 
The only wildcard was Giles. But because the school was obliterated and there wasn't a big threat to humanity looming over them, he wasn't likely to leave his house. They set about hurriedly gathering up what they wanted to bring, and were soon back in Willow's room. Buffy was dragging Mr. Gordo along because he was still her comfort blanket; something she didn't share that with anyone for fear of maturity backlash. 
 
She remembered that when her parents shipped her off to summer camp, she had to have something familiar with her, and she hadn't been sure if they were coming back or not. This was kind of like that, except no one was coming to get her, and she was almost certain that hiking wouldn't be the worst thing she'd be forced to do this time around. As she stood next to Willow, who was reciting the necessary words to open the hole, she prayed for two things: 
 
That this "trip" wouldn't be for nothing, and that they'd both return, preferably alive.
 
Buffy could feel the energy radiating off of Willow, and couldn't help but wonder just how much the spell was taking out of her. Before she could really dwell on the danger her friend was putting herself in however, a bright flash suddenly came out of nowhere, and when they could see again, a blue, "tear" sat in front of them. It was very surreal, and looking at it, they realized that it was now or never. Checking to make sure their backpacks were secure, deep breaths were taken.
 
Then, grasping hands, the slayer, and hacker turned witch, ran into the unknown.
 
***
 
Darkened stone on separate islands that sat suspended in the air, pits of fire, stifling heat. A fog-filled atmosphere with rivers of blood and the stench of decay. Demons unable to be described using human words, battling simply to win and kill. Waiting for the time when they'd break through to theearth they were banished from so long ago. 
 
This was Hell, the one all the other dimensions similar to it branched off from, there was no doubt about it. It lived up to every stereotypical conception of it. Except for the pitchforks. There were no pitchforks.
 
As Buffy and Willow fell out of the hole, this was where they found themselves. More specifically, they found themselves in front of a cave. They got up slowly, trying to make everything stop spinning so much.
 
"Are you okay?" Buffy asked her friend.
 
"Sleepy. And achy." Willow answered.
 
Buffy gave her a sympathetic look. "Nap time is..." The slayer looked around. "...Probably a bad idea." Inspecting their surroundings closer, she became somewhat disappointed. "How...unoriginal." She sniffed, instantly prepared to gag. "Eew. And it reeks."
 
"Where are we?" The redhead dusted herself off.
 
"Total shot in the dark, but I'm gonna guess we landed on the less attractive side of the Hellmouth."
 
"But this could be any -"
 
Inside the cave, three unnatural bellows became one, and the girls backed away.
 
"No, it couldn't."
 
"Why?"
 
"Cause I know that sound. We have to get out of here *now*. Do the spell again." She looked at Willow. "Hurry. Before it decides to come greet us and call its cousins over."
 
"Before what - oh." Willow's eyes bugged out. "Oh."
 
She was tired and exhausted, but she had no choice. Things were going to gofrom bad to worse, and they had to get out as quickly as possible. But in her room she had set up candles and other necessities. Would it work? Therewas only one way to find out. She didn't think Oz's soul ended up here, anyway. At least, she hoped not. When they got to wherever the next place was, she had to remember to try and figure out why they went here first.
 
Maybe she could learn to control it somehow. Buffy was tapping her on the shoulder.
 
"Willow? Question."
 
"Yeah?"
 
"Can you do magick and run at the same time?"
 
"In theory...yeah, I can try."
 
"Great." Buffy grabbed her arm. "Start running."
 
Several demons, which looked like slugs with wings, had smelled the girls' foreign scents, and immediately flew over to see who was intruding. Buffy *could* attempt to fight them, but she recognized a suicidal task when she saw one. Besides, if anything happened to her, Willow would be left by herself, and she couldn't do that. Not if there were other options. And retreating was an option.
 
"Erumpo et foro..." Willow said quietly as they moved, mentally crossing her fingers, hoping she wouldn't forget a word.
 
One of the creatures swooped low, and Buffy had to pull them both down to the ground, as she covered her friend's body like a shield. "Don't stop."
 
They had reached the end of the island they were on, and it occurred to Buffy that she might need to get a weapon out. However, a tentacle burst up through the ground, and tried to wrap around her legs. She rolled out of the way, and Willow scrambled to her feet, finishing the spell. Willow operating purely on fear adrenaline now, glanced around, searching for the hole, and was pleased when she saw it.
 
But then...not so pleased.
 
"Poop." She muttered. "Buffy! I-I got it, but there's a...a..."
 
Though what she hadn't seen was one of the demons above her release some kind of a black, acidic fluid from its mouth, and a small amount of it dripped down onto her. Little bit or no, it was enough. The fluid was currently eating through the material on the sleeve of her shirt. 
 
Meanwhile, the slayer had removed a sword from her bag, and sliced off partof the tentacle that had attempted to get a hold of her. Soon after, she saw what Willow saw. A winged demon was blocking the hole, which consequently, was off the island, in mid-air.
 
"Damn." Buffy's mind raced, as she wondered what to do. 
 
Then she got an idea. Picking up the severed tentacle part, she made her way over to Willow, telling herself that she had to remember to wash her hands as soon as possible.
 
"Hey!" The demon shrieked, turning to look at Buffy, as Willow covered her ears. "Yeah, you! The, uh...Superfly Slug!"
 
"Superfly?" Willow questioned, smirking.
 
Buffy shrugged. "You hungry?" She threw the tentacle away from them and the hole, and as it began to descend, all three demons dove after it, fighting the entire way. "Fine. Don't leave a tip."
 
The hole was becoming more and more unstable by the second.
 
"Are we going to do what I think we're going to do?" The three-headed Hell-Beast had come out of its cave then, angry, and caught their attentions. "Is it just me, or is it bigger?"
 
"Geez. What does that thing eat?" The slayer paused. "No, forget I asked. Okay, on the count of three." She reached behind her and put the sword back in her bag.
 
"Hands." The redhead requested, reaching for her friend's.
 
Buffy smiled, linking them together. "One, two...three!"
 
And they jumped.
 
***
 
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Willow repeatedly half-exclaimed, half-whimpered as they arrived on the ground of their second destination.
 
Buffy picked herself up off of the...it felt like grass. Slick grass. It must've just rained. That was good. It meant they weren't in another Hell dimension. It was night here, with a full moon. Strangely, there were no stars. The sky looked like it wasn't complete, because of their absence. Hearingher friend's exclamations, she searched frantically for the source of the pain.
 
"What? What is it?"
 
"My arm...it hurts...ow...please." Willow's eyes were glistening with unshed tears.
 
Buffy lifted up the redhead's arm, and gasped when she saw the problem. There was a portion of her shirtsleeve missing. It was almost as if it had been dissolved, leaving her skin exposed. A black substance was sitting on thearea, and...it was cooking the flesh. Buffy could smell it.
 
"Jesus." She said under her breath. "Hang on, Will. It'll be..." She trailed off. Words weren't going to be any comfort. "I'm getting your bag."
 
She pulled the pack off of Willow's shoulders, and quickly opened it, trying to find...there it was. Grabbing the thermos full of water, Buffy unscrewed the lid, and carefully began to pour the contents onto Willow's skin, washing away the black fluid. She didn't know what it was, but she knew she had Hell to thank for it. Her friend hissed and bit her lip, and with the goop out of the way, Buffy could see a bunch of welts in its place.
 
"It's gross." Willow complained. "I'm gross."
 
"You're not gross." Buffy told her, holding back an amused laugh. She went into her own bag, and pulled out an object. "Here. Mr. Gordo'll keep you company while I go..." She started rifling through the bags, losing her trainof thought. "What First Aid stuff did we bring? You should put disinfectant cream on that or -"
 
Her friend smiled at her. "You brought Mr. Gordo?"
 
"Yes, I brought Mr. Gordo." She coughed, hiding her embarrassment. 
 
The pig was accepted gratefully, but she wasn't allowed to move. "You said 'go.' Go where?"
 
"To find someplace that's inside. For more comfortable sleeping. We've earned it."
 
"Don't leave. It's too dark, and you could get...please don't leave." Willow's eyes were pleading. And scared. "Just stay here. I don't mind being outside."
 
Buffy smiled. "I'm not going anywhere, promise. But we do have to at least attempt to take care of that. We can play 'explorer' tomorrow and check theplace out. Sound good?"
 
"K." Willow nodded. "Yeah, we brought cream and Band-aids and -"
 
"Band-aids aren't gonna do it. How do you feel about losing the rest of your sleeve? I think the shirt's done for, anyway." She got another nod, and proceeded to tear it off gently. She got Willow the kit, and they tended to her injury. As she finished tying the sleeve around the injured part of Willow's arm, she smirked. "You know, you could lose the other sleeve and they'd match. Then you'd have a muscle shirt."
 
"Except...no muscles."
 
"Who needs muscles?" She cleared her throat, trying not to wonder why she suddenly wanted to get Willow to undress. "Um...too tight?"
 
"No, no it...feels fine." Willow paused. "I'm glad you came, Buffy. *Really* glad. And now I'm thinking that I probably should've put more thought into this."
 
"We'll find out where he is, and we'll get back. Somehow. If I didn't believe that, would I be so calm?"
 
"Yes, cause you don't want me to worry. Well, I already am, so you don't have to -"
 
"Relax." Buffy shushed her. "We've got each other for support, and I have total confidence in you. But what we both need now, is about a thousand winks. I'm gonna get out the sleeping bags, and until we can find better, warmer shelter tomorrow, we'll put up camp here for the night." Her face brightened. "I always wanted to say that. 'Put up camp.'"
 
Willow laughed, and watched as Buffy set up everything. She wanted to help,but she was told to stay put. Several minutes later, they were both situated in their respective sleeping bags, looking up at the starless sky.
 
"Is your arm any better?" The slayer asked, turned on her side facing Willow. "That black...whatever, was from Hell, so I don't know if -"
 
"It doesn't feel paralyzed or diseased or anything. I think I'll be okay." Willow said to her. "We make a good team." They both smiled. "I'm still trying to figure out why we went there, though."
 
"Maybe cause, from Sunnydale, the Hellmouth's already broken through, and it had the strongest..."
 
"Pull? Yeah, that does make sense."
 
"I made sense? Wait'll Giles hears about this." Buffy grinned. "By the way?I'm glad I came too."
 
Willow was going to say something back, but then she saw what she could've sworn were eyes, peering at her in the dark. She gulped.
 
"Do you see them?" Buffy scanned the night, and did indeed see a set of eyes looking in their direction. "What do you think it is? Is it a Gremlin? Cause if it's a Gremlin, I saw the movie. They're *not* nice. With the teeth and the slime, and...sure, the little furry guy was, with his ears and noseand he had the sweetest voice, so tiny...but then they got water on him and fed him too late. There isn't any water nearby, is there? And how can things that ugly and mean come from something so cute? How?"
 
That's when Buffy heard a sound that was fairly recognizable. And there it went again.
 
A ribbit.
 
"I think it's just some type of a frog, Will." Buffy said.
 
"A frog!" The witch squeaked, and hugged Mr. Gordo to her. "Frog fear, remember? Frogs are bad. It's a bad frog."
 
Buffy thought. "How about...how about we put our sleeping bags together, which'll make one big one. That way, I'll be right beside you, and I'll protect you if he comes closer." 
 
"You'll chase him away?"
 
"Far, far away, I swear."
 
"Good, yeah, okay. Thanks, Buffy."
 
"No problem." 
 
This was just starting, and with all that had already happened, neither of them had no idea what to expect. Despite the fear, it was kind of exciting.Just the two of them. Who knew what would come from this?

***

To be continued....
         
"And I gave that man directions, even though I didn't know the way, cause that's the kinda guy I am this week." (Homer J. Simpson)

"You think you know? What's to come? What you are? You haven't even begun."
(Tara and Dracula to Buffy, BTVS)

"Man, attonement's a bitch." (Angel, ANGEL)