Beta Read: FF: The Light In Her Eyes: Chapter Two

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Title: The Light In Her Eyes (a sequel to "Purgatory")
Chapter: Two/Two 
Rating: PG-16 
Pairing: Willow/Buffy 
Spoilers: Yep, anything is up for grabs 
Timeline: Before Adam 
Beta Reader: Scotty ' Hot Lips ' Welles 

Disclaimer: Not mine....yet 

<><><><><><><> 

The hollowed-out halls of the compound were burnt, scorched beyond
recognition. With silent steps, she entered what was left of the main
office. The computers lay scattered across what was left of the tiled
floor, smashed into thousands of pieces. The carved wooden desk was
splintered and cracked. The filing cabinets were bent and ash-stained.


Making her way to the cabinet that the torn cards read Hostiles 60-70,
she braced her foot against the wall and yanked hard. Her muscles
strained impossibly, the veins in her neck appearing against her pale
skin. The drawer let out a long, metallic groan as it gave way. 

She nervously shifted through the torn files, until she found the file
for Hostile 63. She flinched at the idea of being reduced to a number.
A tired sigh left her lips as she opened the dreaded thing, her eyes
scanning the neat computer printouts. Results of tests, findings of
her DNA compared to that of a normal human's. 

Tucking the file into her backpack, she began to walk around the
compound. Just looking, remembering, and dealing with the ghosts that
she felt in every room that she entered. 'Goddess, would they have
gone after Buffy next?' 

She sighed at the thought of her blonde friend. When she got back she
was going to be in for it, using a sleeping spell on a Slayer was not a
good idea, but then again nothing seemed like a good idea to her
anymore. 


<><><><><><><> 


Right, left, right, left, turn. 

Where the hell was she? She glared for the hundredth time at the door,
expecting it to open anytime now. She was furious...no, she was beyond
furious. She was on the verge of white-hot, boiling rage. Her
muscles, tensed to the point of pain, were wound up so tight she was
ready to spring. 

That...that...errrr. Willow, her Willow, her best friend and
confidant. The one person in this entire world that she depended on
and trusted without any doubt had used some sort of sleeping spell on
her. She'd woken up, half off her bed at 1:02 A.M. to find her gone. 

So what if she swore she'd stop following her around like an
over-anxious puppy dog? So what if she had no intention to keep her
promise? So what if she had bribed Spike into talking to her? Or that
she hadn't left her friend alone for long since they'd rescued her? 

Left, right, left, right, left...turn. 

She had absolutely, positively, no right to do that. Damn her anyway. 
What the hell did she think she was doing running off alone in the
middle of the night? In Sunnydale, no less. There were all kinds of
bad, fanged evil things out there, just waiting for someone to snack
on. 

Just because she was a witch didn't mean she was invincible. Did she
honestly believe that her abilities would get her out of any situation?
It didn't stop that bastard Riley, did it? No. In fact it was her
stupid powers' fault that she got caught in the first place. After
all, if she hadn't been playing around with magic then the Initiative
wouldn't have wanted her, now would they? 

Then again, if she didn't dabble in magic, Angel would be soulless, and
they would've ended up dead -- or worse -- on a number of occasions. 
Damn. 

Right, left, right, left, right, turn. 

Hostile 63. How could anybody believe that sweet innocent Willow was
hostile? Okay, so the redhead wasn't all that innocent, but she was
sweet, and self-sacrificing. Hostile 63. Did they really believe that
someone like Willow could be a demon? How could they even think that? 
If they weren't already dead she would... No, let's not go there. 

Left, right, left, right, left, and turn. 

She growled angrily and scowled at the door. 

Where the hell could she have gone? She'd spent the last two hours
searching every cemetery in Sunnydale. Finally, coming back here
thinking that she'd come back already. But was she? No. Why did she
have to be so damned stubborn? 

Couldn't she see what her pain was doing to her? The silence that met
her everyday, the cold, measured eyes that used to hold so much life
and love. Why couldn't she understand what it was like for her? 

She spun around, mid-pace, and stared at the redhead trying to slip
softly into the dorm room. Her anger and worry evaporated into relief.
Immediately, she grabbed the young wiccan and searched her thoroughly
for any signs of injury, pain, bruises, bumps, poison oak, rheumatism. 


"Stop that." 

She pushed her friend onto her bed, sitting next to her, still
searching her for...something. "Where have you been? Do you have any
idea how worried I've been? What the hell were you thinking using a
spell on me? What if I was needed and hadn't woken up? Are you
okay...?" 

"The compound, yes, I had no choice, you would have, and yes. Does
that cover everything or do you want to take my vital signs too?" 

For a brief instant, she was tempted to do just that, maybe throw in a
complete physical to be safe. But from the look of Willow's face she
didn't think she'd appreciate the gesture too much. Still... 

The redhead got up and grabbed her pajamas, heading for the door and
most likely to the dorm floor's shower. 

Her mind wrapped around the girl's answers, coming back to one thing. 
"Just what were you doing at the compound?" 

A frustrated sigh left the witch as she turned sharp, cold eyes on her.
"I was necking with Dru." 

She held back the instinct that was telling...that was demanding she
check Willow's neck again. Instead she focused on her anger. "That
isn't funny. You could've been..." 

"What? Hurt, maybe tortured or experimented on?" Willow's raw
emotions hit her hard. "Been there, done that, bored now." 

She winced as the dorm room door slammed shut behind the retreating
witch. "Oh god, it must be bad, for her to be channeling evil Willow."



<><><><><><><> 

The scalding hot water poured down her red skin. She shuddered
slightly, feeling an onset of goose bumps sending waves of chills
throughout her body. Numbly, she turned the water even hotter,
pressing her hands hard against the horrid colored tile wall. 

Her head was bowed so the water would run over her, engulfing her in
waterfall. The chills gradually left, warming her cold body, but
leaving the deep chill in her bones untouched. She closed her eyes so
she wouldn't have to see her own body, yet behind her lids she could
still see it. 

Raw pain tore at her as her tears mingled with the water flowing around
her. The nightmares never seemed to stop for her, day or night, awake
or sleeping, they were there haunting her, reminding her, demanding her
attention. 

Blame was there, every time she saw her friends, especially Buffy. She
brought that bastard into their circle, she insisted that he could be
trusted, and the others had accepted that. No background checks, no
doubts, no questions. Just accept and move on. 

"Willow? I'm sorry I was angry before." The voice came from just
outside the shower, trying to be soft and tender and yet still be heard
above the spraying water.

Rage grabbed her heart, telling her not to trust this woman she once
called her friend. The reluctant hand that touched her shoulder caused
something to snap inside herself. 

The voice came closer as Buffy ventured inside. "I just want to make
sure you're all ri--"

Spinning to the concerned Slayer she grabbed her and slammed her into
the wall. "No, I'm NOT ALL RIGHT! Because of YOU!!" 

The blonde's thin workout clothes were quickly soaked through as her
eyes widened, but she made no move to break free. 

"You brought him to us!" Willow screamed at her, "You led him right to
me! I trusted you, I loved you, and you fed me to them!!" She wanted
to jerk the Slayer away from the wall and smash her back into it, or
through it, but her strength failed her as the trembling began.

"I know, and I'm so sorry," came the quiet reply, Buffy's voice also
trembling. "I'd do anything to make it better, I'd rip my own heart
out if it could undo what's happened to you, I swear." Her body
language declared that she'd accept any abuse Willow could heap on her
in penitence. 

Looking into those eyes that seemed to mirror her own soul, Willow felt
the barriers within herself crack, like the mirror she'd punched her
way through to freedom, then crumble and shatter. She let out a moan
of deep-seated pain and horror and collapsed, sobbing against her
friend.

Buffy held the naked young woman close against herself, trying to
shield her, shelter and comfort her. Wanting to hold the torn and
ravaged body and spirit together, erasing the scars and wounds no
matter how deep they ran. They sank to the shower floor together,
coiled together like twins in the womb. 

The sobs and wails seemed to go on forever, long after the hot water
ran out, but neither one moved. When they finally subsided, Buffy
could feel the guarded tension finally abate in her friend's body.

"I'm here, Wills," she whispered. "You're my best friend and I love
you. Please, please let me in, let me help you..."

Willow's eyes rose, met hers. Like a break in the storm clouds, she
could see through the rage and hurt to the beautiful spirit she knew
and loved. Like the sun's rays, there was a first glimmer of the light
returning. The light in her eyes.

"I need you," the young witch whispered, pulling her closer. Buffy
tightened her grip, ready to give whatever Willow needed, be whatever
she needed.

Her demanding lips covered her friend's willing body, blending together
in a desperate attempt to exorcise her demons. 


<><><><><><><> 


She pulled the unhealthily thin redhead tighter against her, burying
her face into the back of her neck. It hadn't been a lot, but the
simple smile Willow had given her had made her heart soar. It was more
of a start than she could've asked for. 

She suddenly knew that everything would be okay. It would just take
time and patience. 

Something she was willing to find for her friend and lover. 





" I signed the release waiver, 
so feel free to put things in my slot anytime."

- Charles Angels.

Odo: Madam Ambassodor, I'm not like you.
Every sixteen hours I revert to a liqiud.

Lwaxana Troi: I can swim.

- DS9: The Forsaken.

Aeris Jade Orion
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