The Slayer And The Witch Chapter 4/? - The tree awakens

["Stefan Akerblom" <nagarek62@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all.

Ok, next part, not sure how long before the next bit, but will try not 
to keep you in suspenders ... er ... suspense too long! As always, comments 
and critique is most welcome, it's helped a LOT!

Stef.



The Slayer And The Witch - Stefan Akerblom - nagarek - nagarek62@xxxxxxxxxxx
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Critique:	Yes please, but no flames (I'm flammable)
Warning:	Building to NC-17, f/f relations, possibly f/f/m
Characters:	Willow, Buffy, Xander, Anya, Giles, Angel, Dawn, Spike, Wes,
Cordy, Oz (?), nurse Becky Chapel, nurse Erin Lonsdale,
Main Pairing/s:	Willow & Buffy, maybe Giles/Becky/Erin - who wants to see
that? :o) (not sure yet about Anya/Xander ... maybe) time will
reveal all!
Disclaimer:	Joss Whedon owns all in the Buffy Universe, I have merely played
and embellished, not claimed any rights, apart from a couple of
nice nursies!
Brief: Buffy and Willow have both recently lost their partners, Willow is
hospitalised and Buffy is almost paralysed with guilt over it, both
Willow and Buffy realise how much they really mean to each other,
they embark on a voyage of discovery and figuring out a way to
break their new relationship to their friends while keeping the
minions of the hellmouth from taking over. Meanwhile solutions
present themselves which can have far reaching effects on Buffy
and Willow's future.

Many thanks go to:
Crys Loch (pagansoul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) for answering my email, and
a lot of inspiration and much encouragement (you said just the right
things to make me think while I channelled Willow),
Dan Spector (danspector@xxxxxxxxx) for some much needed help
with authenticity,
and to Cairo (played at ear-splitting volume) for setting the mood.
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Chapter 4 - The tree awakens
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What was she hearing? A stupid question Willow thought to herself, seeing 
as she'd just spent the last twenty five minutes listening to Buffy and 
trying to get the lump that was her own body to respond, but no use, it 
wouldn't move or do anything no matter how much she threatened it in her 
mind. Ohhhh you're going to be so sorry once I get through with you ... you 
ungrateful ... MOVE DAMMIT!!! Buffy was baring her soul to her and she 
couldn't respond to her. Willow felt as if she was buried under tons of wet 
sand that refused to yield or let any part of her move, not an arm or leg or 
her mouth or anything. Inside this living morass, she was screaming 
frantically to be let free, but the body just didn't have enough energy to 
make any big moves, the anaesthetic was still affecting her. Maybe if she 
tried something smaller, maybe the fingertips, maybe she could make them 
move a bit.

Slowly as Buffy poured her heart all over Willow's hospital gown, Willow's 
strove to move her index finger with her willpower, and she thought she felt 
the inklings of success, something felt like it was restricting her hand 
movement, and it felt like her limbs had pins and needles, but no matter, 
she was making progress. Buffy's tears were really getting to Willow, she 
felt she should be crying right along with her, she had to respond one way 
or another and she was just having the hardest time making anything at all 
happen. Just a bit more, fingers ... move your ass! That's it, wiggle a 
little, ok now you forearm, and don't leave elbow behind, you need the 
support. How was she going to tell Buffy about how she felt about all the 
unbelievable things Buffy was confessing to her? Some of the stuff was so 
shocking she didn't know how to respond to them, she just had to let Buffy 
know where she stood, after all they were both coming off unsuccessful 
relationships, maybe this was just hurt and despondency from rebound. That's 
it fingers, keep going, ignore that you feel heavy as lead and full of open 
screaming nerves ... just do it!!!

She could feel her hand moving up, the effort should have been plain on her 
face, but her system had no energy to waste on things like sweating and 
grimacing and grunting in agony. Her mind roared with the supreme effort, 
MOVE YOU STUPID LUMP!!! Success, the hand had raised off the bed a few 
inches and she made a move as if she was swinging her hand sideways, and 
felt it collide lightly with Buffy's hair, and drop to the bed, spent. 
That's it, nothing left, no more energy. She was furious nothing was 
working, she was frantic that she couldn't tell Buffy how she was going to 
be about all this personal stuff that Buffy had never before pushed on her, 
and she didn't know if she could take it. Then she began to hear Buffy 
getting up and preparing to leave. Oh god, please don't let her leave 
without acknowledging anything! Willow wanted nothing more than to scream 
out, but her mouth was equally inert. With all the effort her mind could 
muster, she once again tried to make her eyes and mouth work, once again she 
was clawing her way through wet sand and mentally screaming her heart out 
with the effort.

She felt Buffy's soft lips on her forehead kissing her as she often did, 
and as usual it felt so warm and so nice. And as she always did, Willow 
imagined the kiss on her lips instead. Then as if Buffy had just read 
Willow's mind she felt Buffy's lips gently caressing her own mouth softly, 
and oh so sweetly. It felt to Willow like she'd suddenly been struck by a 
bolt of lightning, she was surprised her hair hadn't stood on end. God it 
felt incredible, electric didn't really adequately describe it. And all of a 
sudden she felt she had the strength to maybe make her eyes and mouth move. 
But Willow could hear Buffy standing up and rummaging around at the side of 
the bed, then walk away from her side. Oh please, just a moment longer, 
don't go yet. Desperately Willow screamed out Buffy's name as loud as she 
could, and opened her eyes to see her, but all that came out of her mouth 
was an almost inaudible hoarse croak, and all she saw was a whirlpool of 
disjointed colours and shade, and what she believed to be Buffy's back 
towards her walking away at an odd disorienting, rotating angle. She heard 
the sound of a door click into place, and knowing Buffy wasn't there any 
longer, she gave up trying to move or talk or see, Buffy had left and her 
chance was gone for now. Sleep, rest, recover and talk to Buffy the next 
time. But the incredible electric residue from Buffy's kiss on her lips, 
lingered deliciously with Willow until the soft dark blanket of dreams 
folded gently over her.

--------------------------------

"It's OK Giles, she's resting now. she'll be there for a couple of days. 
One of the nurses told me she's fine really, all her injuries are relatively 
superficial. But I don't mind telling you I mucho panicked there for a 
while, she looked like the leftovers from some of the fights I've had." 
Buffy walked around the kitchen of her house after several hours sleep and a 
hot shower, preparing salad and other sustenance, cordless phone clamped 
between chin and shoulder.

"Well how are you holding up? It must have been a dreadful shock, I mean 
good heavens ..." she heard the concern in Giles' voice.

"Yeah I'm ok now, but remind me not to do this again in a hurry, it's not 
scoring high on the old fun-o-meter. Did you find the witch you went after?" 
she chewed down noisily on a stick of celery.

"Yes I did, Sarah MacGuinness, quite an amazing lady and very charming. She 
and I have had a couple of good conversations and, well ... she had some 
extraordinary stories to tell. But the meetings are winding up, she's off 
back to Oregon where she has been living mostly in seclusion now since the 
early fifties. I'll be back tonight around 8:00 o'clock, my plane takes off 
around 6:45. I'll go straight to the hospital after I drop my luggage off at 
home. Is there anything I can get you?"

"Nope, can't think of anything, except maybe if you have something light 
and easy in the demon/hellspawn book category, nothing too heavy, something 
easy for Willow to read."

"I gather she has been studying some of the Gremorgan Texts, she asked me 
for them last Thursday, but they'd be a little on the heavy-going side. Oh I 
know, I'll bring Wyet Kellorman's Transcripts, they contain some fascinating 
anecdotes about witch-craft through the lower Balkans in the thirteen 
hundreds, and it's got some classic quatrains about ... uh ... well Willow 
will see the humorous side of them anyway. I'll see you tonight then between 
8:30 and 9:00 at the hospital. I gather you won't be doing any patrolling 
tonight, we'll just have to hope there's a bit of peace about while Willow 
recovers. Oh and I tried Xander's cell phone, still no answer, and his uncle 
has some form of technophobia regarding telephones and televisions and other 
electronic machinery, can't say I blame him, most of the time. Anyway, I 
believe we'll hear from those two when they decide to surface and not 
before."

"OK, Giles, we'll meet at the hospital then, room 402 on the south side. 
Have a good flight, Bye." Buffy pushed the button on the cordless phone and 
lay it down on the breakfast bar. The microwave oven dinged loudly 
announcing it's job was finished. Buffy walked over and opened the oven 
door, took a bowl of steaming potatoes out of it and added it to the salad, 
walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of milk, poured herself a large 
glass and replaced the bottle, then sat down and began eating the potato and 
salad concoction she'd cooked up. Smacking her lips as if something was 
missing, she abruptly stood up and walked over to a cupboard and pulled out 
a bottle of thousand islands dressing and poured a generous dollop all over 
the salad, and put back the bottle.

Ruminating as she ate, her mind pondered on the things she'd said to Willow 
while she lay in the hospital. This was the first time she'd said everything 
in such blunt and brutal clarity and honesty, but it was exactly how she 
felt, no use hiding things from herself. But she wished she'd had the 
courage to say it all to Willow when she was awake and could register what 
she'd said, instead she'd picked a time when Willow lay unable hear or to 
fend for herself, in a hospital no less, injured and helpless.. But now, 
Giles would be there when Willow was awake, and she'd have no chance to say 
it to her until they were alone again, and she doubted she could work up the 
nerve to be that forthright again in a hurry. Her words had come out of 
desperation and remorse and the abject terror she'd felt at realizing she'd 
nearly lost Willow. That immediate fear seemed now to have passed and Willow 
would still be around for some time to come. Sighing and pouting, she 
resigned herself to the fact that she'd likely never get another good chance 
to say what she'd said. Willow would remain oblivious to how Buffy felt 
about her.

OK, so be it, she'd be no worse off than she had before the accident, but 
the mere fact she'd voiced her desires and wants had somehow changed Buffy's 
outlook. She could no longer really hide her desires from herself, but 
somehow she had to hide them still from Willow and the others ... especially 
the others ... at least for now, she couldn't stand the thought Willow might 
reject her outright ... this could get awfully messy and awkward. She had to 
tread very carefully, right now Willow was vulnerable in so many ways, she 
had to make sure that she didn't take advantage of her for her own gains, 
she had to be there and be supportive until she fully recovered. If 
something was to happen, Willow had the right to be strong and able to 
defend herself and be able to accept or reject objectively, not because her 
head was full of loose screws from the drugs and the aftermath of a car 
accident. OK, that's the plan ... she sighed miserably to herself ... this 
is brave stoic Buffy face now, watch me smile and laugh ... while my heart 
breaks into tiny little pieces ...

-------------------------

Buffy had left to get to the hospital a little earlier, but Giles was 
already there when Buffy arrived, a cancelled flight was his response later 
to her question, which meant his plane had landed over an hour earlier than 
anticipated. Buffy sighed again, she'd had thought if she could get there 
before Giles, and could discuss things with a conscious Willow, maybe she 
could be brave and stoic and not have to hide things after all, waiting for 
Willow to recover instead so they could explore. But now that chance had 
also been blown out the window. Darn it Giles, sometimes your timing just 
really sucks!

Buffy walked through the door to room 402 with a small case of Willow's 
clothes and a small bouquet of flowers. Giles stood up out of the chair he'd 
been sitting in when Buffy walked in. Buffy looked over to Giles and smiled 
without speaking, Giles returned the sentiment equally silently. Then her 
eyes turned on Willow.

Willow lay back on the bed, obviously still a bit tired and worse for the 
wear, but essentially conscious. but how she looked! The bruises and welts 
on her face had all manifested themselves in full glorious technicolour. 
Buffy almost gasped at what she saw, but instead she smiled, put down the 
case and walked over to the side of the bed. Willow's face was a riot of 
colour and lumps, her eyes were nearly swollen shut, she was an incredible 
rainbow of hues of the bruised variety. but through it all, Buffy could 
still see the glorious smile which she loved so much to see. The tube had 
been removed from her nose, but the drip was still in place.

"Hey you! How's the gorgeous lumpy girl feeling?" Buffy said softly and 
bent down and gave Willow a gentle but heartfelt hug and a kiss on the 
forehead. Willow snorted a laugh, then abruptly stopped, regretting it. The 
battered and broken ribs making her wince. "Oh god Will, I'm sorry, not 
thinking straight." Buffy apologised.

"It ... it's ok Buff, just hurts a little is all, but then you'd know that, 
you break your ribs all the time." Willow croaked through swollen lips, she 
looked at the little bouquet in Buffy's hand. "Ooo ... posies, nice. Acckkk 
... Can you pass me the water please? That tube they shoved up my nose dried 
me out. I sound like a frog. Sore throat." She swallowed a little painfully. 
Buffy passed her the glass of water, which gave her some trouble to hold 
because of her injured hands. So Buffy sat down on the edge of the bed and 
held the glass for her so she could reach the drinking straw sticking up out 
of it. After a few sips which took monumental effort, Willow lay back down 
and sighed as deeply as she dared, the jabbing from her broken ribs showing 
on her face as she cringed. Licking her lips to wet them she spoke. "Hey 
Giles, you're back a little earlier than anticipated, the alternative 
lifestyle thing rained out or something?" Buffy got off the bed and walked 
to a shelf at the back of the room, where she found a small vase. She put 
the flowers in it and returned to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Uh ... no, I spoke to Buffy earlier and she told me what had happened, the 
gathering was finished and everyone was packing up to leave, I just left a 
little earlier than I'd planned, that's all." Willow nodded. "Is there 
anything I can get you, oh ..." he fished around in an inside pocket of his 
tweed blazer and brought out a small leatherbound book "... here you go, 
I've brought you the Wyet Kellorman Transcripts, Buffy said you'd like 
something light to read." Willow looked at Buffy, and smiled crookedly, 
despite Giles' description to Buffy, she knew the book was written in an 
obscure and long dead dialect of old high Germanic, light reading it 
certainly was not. "Oh thanks Giles, how ... thoughtful." Willow croaked 
hoarsely and looked at Giles and smiled again. She accepted the book and put 
it on the table in front of herself. Giles smiled awkwardly at the 
compliment. "Uh ... is there any place around here where one could get a 
decent cup of tea?" Giles looked at Buffy.

"Don't think so, but the lounge around the corner and up the corridor a bit 
has some acceptably bland instant coffee." Buffy said. Giles looked around, 
and again smiled awkwardly at Willow, he seemed to be having a hard time 
looking at the injured girl.

"Right then ... I'll go and get a cup of this ... coffee, care for a cup 
yourself? I can bring you one."

"Sure, white and strong, with no sugar ... lo-fat milk ... if the milkman's 
been yet. Thanks." Giles fled the room.

"Wow Buffy, Giles is looking funny at me, I must be quite a sight!" Willow 
sighed and adjusted herself awkwardly in the bed.

"Well put it this way, you look a bit like one of those berry ice cream 
swirls with all the reds and purples and greens all over your face. I 
wouldn't try to get any flattering photos of yourself taken just now."

"Like duh ... as if I EVER have any flattering photograph taken!" Willow 
mocked, but smiled at the idea.

"Oh Willow, don't be a silly, you're really gorgeous, all strawberries and 
cream. You've had this stuff pounded into you by Cordelia and her idiot 
friends, but it's simply not true, you make the sun shine and the flowers 
sparkle, and you know it."

Willow smiled broadly which at the moment looked mostly comical with all 
the bruises and swelling.

"No I don't know it, and you're just being nice. But right now, I bet I 
outshine a rainbow! Don't you dare show me a mirror until I've lost some of 
the michelin man looks!"

"Trust me, I'll make you feel like you're in a vampire's lair, with the 
total lack of mirrors!" Her smile faded slightly. "How are you feeling 
Will?"

"Ugh ... I'd say about as if I'd bounced off the bonnet of a Buick. 
Everything hurts, even the bits that don't ... do ... if that makes any 
sense. They told me I've been bleeding inside, but that's stopped now. Still 
the taste in my mouth is revolting ... blech, like metallic. If things go 
well however, they say I'll probably get to go off the drip tomorrow. I'm 
dying to get up and walk but my ankle's swollen up a bit, I haven't had a 
look yet at it, too difficult to move in bed, can you look for me, right 
leg?"

"Sure ..." Buffy lifted the bedclothes again and saw the knee and ankle not 
much different from earlier that morning, the bandages on her shins seemed 
to have been changed. "Well, ... looks like there's quite a bit of swelling 
on your ankle, it could pass for a bowling ball, and the knee's a bit thick 
too, which is ok, you always did have knobbly knees ..."

"Hey ... I do not ..." retorted the redhead, but smiled when she saw that 
Buffy was teasing. "Knobbly knees, humph!"

"A couple of days and you should be able to hobble around a bit." Buffy 
adjusted the bedclothes to cover up Willow's legs. Giles wandered into the 
room with a cup of coffee in each hand.

"... bad enough you have to drink this stuff in the first place ... here 
you are!" Giles handed one cup to Buffy. At that moment nurse Chapel walked 
into the room.

"Hi Buffy, good to see our guest has woken up?" she cast eyes over Giles 
briefly and looked to Buffy.

"Oh yeah, much better, talking to her while she was asleep was so one 
sided." Willow looked nervously down at her hands, and then apparently 
busied herself with the water glass. "Oh ... nurse ... Becky, this is Rupert 
Giles, a ... a friend of the family." Giles smiled at the nurse and nodded.

"Hello Mr Giles. Nice to meet you." nurse Chapel smiled broadly to Giles.

"Nice to meet you too ... er ... miss ..." Giles smiled back at her in his 
typical nervous British Giles way. Buffy noticed for the first time how 
attractive nurse Chapel was, her long strawberry blonde hair bound up in a 
complex braid, warm brown eyes and a tanned complexion on a trim athletic 
frame. She was also noticing how Becky was looking at Giles, more than just 
passing interest. In spite of the situation, Buffy smiled to herself ... hmm 
... this could become interesting. Becky turned to her patient.

"Willow, it's time to do some of this horrible hospital stuff, I see 
Buffy's brought you a change of things to wear, perhaps you'd like a shower 
first?" She turned back to Buffy and Giles. "But right now I have to ask you 
and Mr. Giles to step outside for a few minutes, Buffy. I'll give you a call 
when it's ok to go back inside, why don't you both go wait in the lounge?"

Giles and Buffy both filed out as nurse Chapel closed the door to the room. 
In silence the two walked to the lounge. Buffy sat down in the chair she'd 
used earlier, Giles paced the room like a caged animal, his hands 
alternating between stuffing themselves into his pockets and dragging out 
the handkerchief to polish his glasses furiously.

"Good lord Buffy, I had no idea she was so badly beaten up, your ... your 
description, it ... it didn't give me any inkling it had been that serious. 
But you are certainly right, she does look like the aftermath of some of 
your combats. Poor girl must have been frightened out of her wits."

"No I somehow doubt that, she was unconscious for almost all of it. But 
initially she was in a bit of pain, before we knew the true extent of the 
damage. There was concern because there was bleeding and possible damage to 
her spine and her kidney and spleen and lung and ... oh god what a mess she 
could have been." Giles blanched as she rattled off the words, looked at the 
insipid cup of coffee in his hand, and walked over to the drain and poured 
it out and binned the styrofoam cup.

"Can't drink this muck, I'll make a decent cuppa when I get home. Look 
Buffy, Willow looks like she's basically all right for the moment, and being 
in here with you beside her, she couldn't be in better hands." Buffy 
mentally disagreed. "Would you mind very much if I went home and cleaned up 
a bit? I'll return tomorrow, right now I am having a hard time dealing with 
how badly hurt Willow is. Can you apologise to her for me please? I promise 
I'll be here around lunchtime tomorrow. I just ..." his voice trailed off 
and he looked around the lounge, his eyes casting about restlessly. Buffy 
looked questioningly at Giles. He'd never acted this squeamish before, any 
number of times she'd come in with equivalent looking injuries to what 
Willow now had and Giles had been very business as usual about it. Of course 
she was the Slayer and could deal better with injuries than the redhead, but 
still there seemed something unusual in Giles' manner, and the fact that his 
normally tanned face was pale and wan and looking very tired and worried.

"Sure ... I'll tell her when I go back in. I'll spend most if not all night 
here, I have the cell phone with me tonight so just give me a call if 
something happens."

"Right then, I'll ... I'll see you tomorrow sometime. Try to get some rest, 
sooner or later you're going to have to go out and patrol, in spite of 
Willow being here." Giles looked nervously up into Buffy's eyes, and quickly 
glanced away, he couldn't seem to settle his gaze anywhere. "Take care and 
... and good night for now." Without waiting for a reply, he shuffled from 
the lounge.

"Night Giles." Buffy whispered to the Watcher's back as he walked away.

to be continued in:

Chapter 5 - Second contact

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