FIC: Three's Company 4/5 "R" W/T/B

["amberbensonfan" <AmberBensonFan@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

DISCLAIMER IN PART 1

By the time she got to the cemetery she skid to a halt. Before her 
eyes four vampires pinned Buffy down who barely seemed conscious.  
The fifth vampire was clearly enjoying his way with the slayer while 
bragging to his fellow vampires about it. "I'm next man, I want a 
turn," one of them complained.

"I don't think so!" Willow yelled, her rage taking over and she 
released a large ball of sunshine, the only spell she knew that would 
dispatch them quickly and easily. Piles of ash fell onto the slayer, 
but she barely noticed. Once the pressure of her captures was 
released she simply rolled to one side with a deep groan of pain and 
curled up into a fetal position. "Buffy!" Willow cried out and ran 
to her lover and knelt by her side.

She was covered with cuts and bruises, her clothes torn, tattered, or 
simply discarded. Willow went to touch her slayer, but stopped, not 
seeing a place that was unmarred. Twigs snapping behind her brought 
Willow's attention back to her surroundings and she quickly stood up, 
ready to attack anything else that dared to come near her lover.

"Whoa, aye, watch it there, luv. What are you doing `ere by your..." 
Spikes words froze in his throat as he looked past Willow and saw the 
huddled form of what could only be Buffy. "What the hell happened?" 
he yelled, running to Buffy.

"I don't know, I just got here and they were, they were, oh my god!" 
Willow couldn't control her tears any longer and she began to cry.

"Alright, let's get the slayer home," Spike commanded. He slipped 
off his long leather duster and gently laid it over the slayer and 
then lifted her into his arms. "It'll be alright, Red, we'll get her 
home safe."  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tara came rushing down the stairs quickly followed by Dawn, both of 
whom had been waiting anxiously for their return once Willow went 
running out the door in the middle of the night. Tara, catching the 
ragged sight of her lover in Spike's arms, quickly turned around and 
pushed Dawn back up the stairs. "Dawn, no time to argue please, just 
get upstairs and into your room. Everything'll be okay."

Dawn knew something major was going on if Tara wouldn't even let her 
see her sister. "She's not dead, is she? She can't be dead, not 
again," Dawn broke down, bypassing all stages and went straight to 
hysterics. "Let me see her, let me see my sister!" Dawn yelled.

"Not now, Dawn, please. I swear; I'll come up for you in a minute, 
let me just figure out what's going on. Your sister is alive, she's 
fine, okay, just please, just go to your room."

Dawn was pissed, Tara knew that, but she didn't have time to stand 
there and debate the issue with her all night. Dawn would simply 
have to accept the fact that right now the best thing she could do 
for Buffy was be out of the way. Little did Tara know just then that 
the situation was definitely not something Buffy wanted her little 
sister to witness.

Spike gently laid Buffy down on the couch, leaving his duster in 
place to cover the slayer. He launched himself upstairs and into the 
bathroom, knowing full well where all the medical supplies were and 
returned faster than lightning. Tara was kneeling next to Willow 
fretting over the condition of her lover and pleading for some 
information. Spike gently nudged the witches out of the way and 
began to pull back the duster.

Just then, seeing the condition of Buffy's body, the full magnitude 
of what happened to the slayer slammed into Tara full force, almost 
knocking her back to her knees if it wasn't for Willow grabbing hold 
and steadying her. "Who! Who did this?" Tara yelled through her 
tears.

"I don't know. I didn't take the time to ask questions, I just 
dusted them and then Spike came along and got her home." Willow 
answered, though not with much information. She turned to the blonde 
vampire, "Spike, what's going on?"

"God damn bastards. There've been a rash of brutal, um, attacks," 
Spike substituted `attack' for the word he could not bear to bring 
himself to say. "They hunted and attacked as a pack and probably 
caught her off guard. You did good in dusting them, but right now we 
just need to clean her up, let her rest, and be there for her. I'm, 
um, told this type of thing is, ah, very traumatic and will take time 
to heal."

No one could bring themselves to say the actual word. Granted, 
getting your butt kicked by any number of demons on any given day was 
not exactly an ideal life, but Buffy and the Scoobies were prepared 
for it. They faced all sorts of horrors, but never have they ever 
had to face this. The horror of being completely invaded, utterly 
humiliated, this was beyond demonic, and Willow wished she made those 
bastards pay more dearly than the quick and easy death they got.

The witches cried on each other's shoulders while they watch Spike 
gingerly apply salve to the slayer's wounds, consciously trying to 
avoid the more intimate parts that were exposed during the 
attack. "She, ah, she should pull through. None of her injuries are 
life threatening, at least not to her. She'll probably have a 
splitting headache in the morning, but I think that's the least of 
her worries right now." Spike stated, sitting back to allow the 
witches to come in and comfort their unconscious lover. "Ah, the 
lil' bit is really upset and I don't think seeing her sister like 
this is a really good idea. Why don't I take her upstairs for you 
guys, you get her changed and tucked away all nice and snuggly and 
then let Dawn check on her sister." Spike offered. He fought to keep 
a clear and logical head while the witches were currently too lost to 
keep their own thoughts straight, though they did nod their consent 
to his idea.

Once he brought the slayer to their room and laid her on the bed, he 
slowly backed out of the way. "Ah, do you all want me to call 
someone? Xander, or something? Need anything?" Spike never really 
liked to see the slayer hurt, not after everything they've been 
through together over the years. It was pretty much a common law 
among vampires that you do not defile humans in this way. Bite them, 
change them, and then do what you want, fine, but this was out of 
bounds and his fury was raging. He wanted to do something, anything 
other than just standing here twiddling his thumbs waiting for her to 
come to.

"No, no thank you, Spike. I, um, I don't think she'd want everyone 
to know the details of what happened to her. Let her be the one to 
make that decision," Tara offered, some semblance of control coming 
back to her.

"Alright then," he said and closed the door behind him. He saw Dawn 
peak her head out from around the door down the hall and went to 
her. "Hey there, lil' bit."

"What's going on, Spike? What happened to Buffy?" Dawn demanded.  
She always liked Spike, even when her sister seemed to despise him.  
He was the first one to see her as an adult, not as a little baby.  
He always told her straight, no half-truths.

"She's alright, a few knocks on the ol' noggin', some scrapes and 
bruises, but she'll be okay," Spike offered. Tara already said that 
no one else should know the full extent of what happened and he knew 
well enough that most certainly included Dawn, if not, specifically 
Dawn.

"Dawn," Tara called out from down the hall. "You can come in now if 
you want to." Spike stepped aside as Dawn flew down the hallway, but 
Tara stopped her before she could make it into the room. "Listen, 
Dawn. She's banged up and not really aware of what's going on.  
She'll be all right though, okay? Just give her a couple of days and 
the cuts will heal."

Dawn nodded, her fear already increasing at needing a disclaimer 
before she got to see her sister. She knew Tara was saying it to try 
to calm her down, make whatever shock it would be to see her sister 
less of one, but it only made matters worse. She slipped into the 
room and gasped at the sight. Willow sat on the edge of the bed, 
holding Buffy's limp hand. The slayer was pale, her breath slow, but 
shallow, her beautiful skin marred by an array of cuts. Before 
anyone could stop her, Dawn jumped onto the large bed, jostling the 
fragile slayer, and when she groaned in pain, Dawn's eyes filled with 
tears instantly. No one could yell at her about not being careful 
because the teen was already beating herself up about it. She 
reached out a tentative hand and lightly stroked away some dirty 
strands of hair.

"She'll, she'll be alright, right?" Dawn looked to Willow, then Tara, 
and then caught the sight of Spike standing in the doorway and even 
looked to him; her eyes pleading with them to give her the honest 
answer, but also the answer she wanted to her.

All they could do was nod. It was true, after all, that with Buffy's 
special slayer healing powers the cuts would fade away in only a few 
days, leaving her skin good as new ? well, maybe a stray scar or two ?
but for the most part she'd be healthy. The problem was how would 
she react to the emotional side of things? Buffy could react in any 
number of ways ? from becoming completely reclusive, never wanting to 
be touched, or she could become the complete opposite, wanting and 
craving physical attention constantly. Or, she could shy away from 
Willow and Tara and throw herself into the arms of someone else, or 
become so attached to Willow and Tara that for anyone else to even 
dare enter into their space would cause the slayer to guard her 
territory fiercely. She could very well swing from one reaction to 
the other without discrimination. Only time would tell and right now 
the only thing the slayer needed was her family around her and some 
serious rest. Spike knew the Scoobies would handle whatever was 
thrown at them and this was no different. He was just upset that 
after things had been going so well for them, now, so near to the 
birth of their child, something like this had to happened. He began 
to brood, blaming himself. If he had just been there sooner, not 
dragged his feet bitching and complaining, and paid more attention to 
what was happening up ahead, perhaps he could have stopped things 
before they got to this point. Well, the world is full of `what ifs' 
and there's little he could do about it now, other than be here any 
way he could for Buffy. As a friend to talk to, as a person to hate, 
as a thing to use to hit and get her aggressions out, anything she 
needed, he was there, though he'd never actually say that out loud, 
he knew Buffy knew.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun rose and the birds sang heralding the coming of a new day, 
though within the Summers home the atmosphere was decidedly bleak and 
dreary. Xander came barreling through the door like always, cheery 
as though nothing was amiss in the world, but stopped dead in his 
tracks when he saw the two worn out witches slumped at the table, two 
mugs of coffee nearby, but forgotten.

"What's the what?" Xander asked, cautiously making his way to the 
table. When he received no response he went into alert mode. He 
knew that to see these women like this was bad news and his mind 
immediately jumped to the baby. "Is the baby okay? Oh my god, is 
the baby okay?" Xander was quickly approaching hysteria, but Willow 
jumped in and saved him.

"The baby's fine, Xander. She's just fine," but Willow's voice was 
hollow and Xander knew all was not well with the world, at least not 
with Sunnydale.

"Then, then what is it?" He looked around the table and thought it 
odd that if something major was going down Buffy wasn't around and 
then it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Oh my god, it's Buffy. Is 
she? Is she dead... again?" Xander asked, his stress level peaking 
once more and when he got no answer he knew he'd hit the nail on the 
head and began to freak. "No! Not when we just got her back."

"Xander, shut up and sit down, she's not dead." Willow said too tired 
to put up any type of pleasantry and she knew deep down that Xander 
would forgive her for it.

"For god sakes will someone please tell me what's going on! If it's 
not the baby and it's not Buffy, oh, oh, it's Dawn!"

"It's not Dawn," a weak voice drifted through the air almost missed 
by her friends. All three turned and saw the frail figure of Buffy 
barely holding herself up against the door frame and Xander jumped to 
his feet and rushed to her side. All he meant to do was help her to 
a chair so she could rest, but she threw his arm off her with the 
little strength she had and yelled at him, "Don't! Don't ever touch 
me!"

Willow, Tara, and Xander exchanged concerned looks. Willow made the 
next move by getting up and cautiously walking to the slayer. She 
went to raise a hand to guide her lover while saying, "Why don't you 
sit, Buffy," but the look the slayer shot her stopped her dead in her 
tracks. It was a warning. A warning that if even her lover touched 
her there would be hell to pay. Willow quickly backed off giving 
Buffy plenty of space and allowed her lover to make her own choice on 
whether or not to sit. "Um, do you, do you want something to eat or 
drink?"

Buffy didn't answer, but simply shuffled her way past Xander and 
Willow until she stood over Tara facing her. The slayer's eyes bore 
into Tara's, blue penetrating blue, until Buffy finally collapsed to 
her knees laying her head on Tara's bulging stomach. She wrapped her 
arms weakly around the blonde and cried, hard.

Willow and Xander looked at each other while Tara gently stroked the 
blonde hair splayed across her lap and stomach. She let out gentle, 
soothing, tones, and in that moment Buffy silently declared that only 
the mother of her child would be able to make any form of contact and 
even then, only when the slayer initiated it.

Xander was hurt, yes, but he shrugged it off assuming it was 
a `woman' thing, but Willow was nearly crushed. Her best friend for 
so many years and lover for almost a year walked right past her and 
fell into the arms of her other lover. This was supposed to be an 
equal partnership and right now she most certainly felt like an 
outsider, a third wheel.

Xander leaned close to his childhood friend and whispered, "What the 
hell happened?"

"Only she can tell you, Xander," Willow answered, pain evident in her 
voice, and she walked away from the scene of her two crying lovers, 
one comforting the other.

Xander followed Willow into the other room opting to allow the two 
blondes their moment together. Once alone Tara decided to try her 
luck and placed a gentle finger under the slayer's chin and lifted 
slowly until their eyes met once again.

"Buffy?" Tara approached with ease. When she got no sign she pressed 
on, hoping that she didn't wind up pushing Buffy away considering 
this was the only contact she was accepting at the moment. "Buffy, 
you know I love you. Willow loves you just as much. We're here for 
you no matter what you need, no matter how long it takes. Xander and 
Anya too if you want us." She saw that Buffy was registering her 
words, but there was still no response. "I know that now is too soon 
for you, but you will need to talk to someone about this in order to 
begin the healing process. Please don't block any of us out."

That seemed to set the slayer off and she quickly rose, roughly 
wiping the tears from her face and sniffling a few times before 
pulling herself together and letting a veil fall over her eyes and 
wall go up around her heart. Tara watched it all happen and knew it 
was her fault. She was the one person Buffy went to for comfort and 
she wound up alienating her. Tara hung her head in disappointment 
and was lost, not sure how they were going to handle things now.

"Buffy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to push."

"What happened to them?" Buffy asked, no inflection in her voice, no 
emotion.

"Them?" Tara asked, puzzled for just a second before she realized 
what Buffy was talking about. "Oh, um, Willow dusted them all. She 
used the sunshine spell."

Buffy nodded clinically. She processed the information, but there 
was no sign of relief that these demons were gone for good and 
couldn't harm her again. Buffy just walked away and went back 
upstairs to their room, shutting the door, and remained there without 
so much as a word to her friends.

Tara pushed off the chair and made her way into the living room where 
she found Willow crying and Xander, though utterly confused at what 
was going on, trying to comfort his friend. Willow looked up, her 
eyes red and tired.

"She just asked about what happened to them and went to her room," 
Tara supplied.

Willow sniffed and looked away from her lover, hurt in her eyes, and 
Tara felt the pang in her heart. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Willow answered miserably.

"No, there's something wrong. I mean, more wrong than what's already 
wrong." Tara pushed.

"Don't you see?" Willow asked, her anger getting the better of her 
and she pushed off Xander's shoulder and faced Tara. "Me! Her best 
friend for years and she walked right past me like I didn't even 
exist and went straight into your arms. This is supposed to be an 
equal relationship. 50 ? 50" Willow stopped for a second and then 
added "and 50, whatever, you know what I mean."

Tara rushed to her lover and wrapped her arms around her trying to 
comfort her.  

"C'mon, Will. Maybe it's just because Tara's going to be a mom.  
Maybe Buffy just associated it with her own mom. You know, I have no 
clue what the hell's going on, but I can tell you easily that Buffy 
was not thinking straight right then." Xander offered some very 
logical advice and Willow couldn't really argue with logic.

"I, I guess you're right, Xander," Willow sniffled and then looked up 
to Tara who was stroking her back lovingly. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry 
I got mad at you, I didn't mean..."

"Shhh, it's okay." Tara held on to Willow a little longer until she 
calmed down some more. "Xander, it doesn't look like Buffy's up for 
any type of talking right now and it's not fair for us to say 
anything, so you might as well head to work. As soon as Buffy's 
ready we'll call you," Tara stated, her way of politely asking him to 
leave.

"Yeah, um, sure, whenever," he said, hurt that he just got the brush 
off. Old insecurities rose their ugly head and if he listened, he 
could almost hear Cordelia taunting him, calling him Zeppo. He hung 
his head and left the house, but sat in his car for a few moments 
letting his hurt die down. It would do him no good to go to the job 
site all upset like a big baby. He'd never hear the end of it that's 
for sure.

He never expected Willow to come flying out the front door so fast 
that she literally slammed into his car before she could decrease her 
speed enough to stop. "Xander! The baby, she's having the baby!" 
Willow yelled.

Xander jumped out of the car and ran into the house where he saw Tara 
sitting on the steps holding on to the banister for dear life, taking 
in rapid breathes. "Okay, okay, everything's cool. Everything's 
under control. I got everything under control."

"Xander," Tara grunted at him through gritted teeth.

"Right, um, can you walk?" he asked panic mode in full swing.

She took a few breaths and then nodded.

"Buffy! Tara's in labor!" Willow called out. The way the morning 
was going so far she didn't know if she should even expect a response 
or even see Buffy come out of the room. However, when the door 
slammed open and Buffy flew down the steps, neatly jumping over the 
railing and picking Tara up in her arms and making her way out the 
door, Willow and Xander barely had time to realize the bedroom door 
had even opened.

"Let's go! What the hell are you waiting for?" Buffy called out as 
she eased Tara into the back seat of Xander's car. Xander and Willow 
just shrugged and ran out the door and into the car, which Xander 
quickly threw into gear and sped down the street, his tires 
screeching, leaving marks in the road.

"Oh, damn!" Willow slapped herself in the head.

"What? What? Oh, damn, what?" Xander asked, jittery, as he swerved 
in between traffic and raced through stop signs.

"I forgot to leave a note for Dawn, she'll be worried." 

"Here," Xander handed Willow his cell phone and Willow quickly dialed 
the house number and left a short message for Dawn telling her that 
everything was okay, but that Tara was in labor and they're heading 
to the hospital. She'd call back later and let her know what's going 
on.

The sirens and lights behind Xander caught him off guard. With a 
groan he quickly pulled over and as the cop neared the car Xander 
started freaking out. "We got a woman in labor here!"

The cop took his sweet time making his way to the car and looked into 
the window. He saw Tara in the back seat leaning up against Buffy.  
She was breathing fast, holding her stomach, her face already 
sweaty. Without turning back to Xander he simply stated, "Follow 
me," as he walked back to his car. He hit the lights and sirens 
again and sped up in front of Xander who quickly took the hint and 
sped behind the officer to the hospital.

The cop must have radioed ahead because there was a wheelchair and a 
nurse already waiting at the emergency room entrance for them when 
they pulled up. When the nurse went to take Tara from Buffy's arm, 
the slayer shot the older woman with a look that could have killed 
and the nurse wisely backed away, allowing the strong blonde to place 
her lover in the chair herself.

And then they were off, racing down the hallway and through double 
doors. The nurse at the check in station stopped Willow and Buffy 
before they could go any further. "Um, are you with the woman just 
brought in?" She asked.

"Yeah, why?" Buffy turned to the woman, daring her to stop her from 
seeing Tara.

"I need some forms filled out. Insurance and whatnot."

"Oh," Willow said stepping forward. "She's under my insurance. Can 
we do this a little later? I really want to get in there."

"I'm sorry, but only the mother and father are allowed back there 
right now, you'll have to wait here."

"We are the parents," Willow said pointing to herself and Buffy.

The nurse looked at her like she'd just gone crazy and Willow only 
rolled her eyes. "Long story, you don't want to know it, but the 
three of us are the parents of the same baby, so if you'll just allow 
us to go through, that'd be great."

Xander came running into the ER and asked, breathlessly, "Where is 
she?"

The nurse brightened up at the sight of a male. "Ah, you must be the 
father," she said, completely ignoring the statements made by the 
crazy redhead.

Xander was taken aback for a moment and then caught on. "Um, no.  
They're the parents," Xander corrected, pointing to his two friends.

The nurse looked at him with the same expression she'd reserved for 
Willow and decided that now no one was getting past her. That was 
until Buffy lunged across the nurse's desk, grabbed her by the 
collar, and stared at her deep in the eyes. She felt Willow and 
Xander pulling on her arms but they were no match for her slayer 
strength, especially when she was enraged. "Now listen to me you 
bigoted bitch. That beautiful woman in there is carrying not only my 
child, but her child as well," Buffy indicated Willow by a tilt of 
her head. "We're not asking for your blessing, personally, we don't 
give a shit, but I swear by any god listening, if you prevent me from 
being there for the birth of my daughter I will tear you apart limb 
by limb."

All the nurse could do was nod vigorously as Buffy slowly released 
her hold on her. Once she was finished with the nurse, she quickly 
threw her arms out of the reach of her friends and stormed through 
the double doors. Willow sent an apologetic look to the frazzled 
nurse that said, `sorry, she's had a bad day, but you really did 
deserve it,' and she followed her lover through the door.

It took her and Buffy a moment to track down where they'd taken Tara, 
but all they had to do was follow the cries of pain and they found 
her soon enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After about an hour, the doctor determined it was a false alarm, most 
likely brought about by increased stress levels. She'd have to calm 
down, stay in bed for a while, maintain a healthy diet, and if she 
felt up to it, some exercise. Once Willow was assured, several 
times, that everything was fine and that this happens quiet often, 
she went out to the nurses station to finally fill out the paper work 
for her lover. Luckily her job didn't ask too many questions about 
why she had two non-related women as dependents covered under her 
insurance and the beneficiaries to any policies she'd get through the 
company. Considering this is Sunnydale, they probably just figured 
with the rate that people suddenly disappeared, it was probably best 
to have more than one person watching your back in case something 
happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the time they pulled up to the house most of the day had already 
come and gone and Dawn was pacing anxiously throughout the house 
until she saw them helping Tara inside. "What? No baby?" Dawn 
asked, not really sure what the hell was happening lately.

"False alarm," was all Willow managed to get out. She settled Tara 
on the couch and went to fetch some water for her while Buffy quickly 
made her way back upstairs and into their room leaving everyone in 
her wake.

"Okay, what was that about?" Dawn asked, a bit hurt by how her sister 
just ignored her, especially considering the shape she was in last 
night.

"No one's told me anything either, Dawnie, so don't feel bad."  
Xander may not be the quickest one to pick up things in the group, 
but over time he noticed how much Dawn had changed and how 
desperately she wanted to be considered one of the gang, especially 
in her sister's eyes. It helped her to know that for once she wasn't 
the only one being left out in the cold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week passed and Buffy refused to do anything more than sleep, eat, 
and use the bathroom and Willow was quickly losing her patience.  
Tara was feeling much better after the initial scare, so they were 
able to focus on Buffy once more. They both knew the slayer needed 
time to come to terms with what happened, but they also knew that if 
she didn't start talking about it Buffy would fall further into her 
depression and they couldn't really afford to have her go into 
another catatonic state, not with the baby already itching to get out 
so soon.

So now they sat, the trio of lovers, in the bedroom. Buffy stared 
sightlessly out the window while Willow and Tara flanked her on 
either side, each holding a book of baby names.

"Buffy, what do you think of the name Elizabeth?" Willow asked, 
hoping that coming up with a name for their baby would spark some 
type of life back into the slayer. Between the extra classes the 
witches were taking on and now having to care for Buffy, Dawn, and 
Tara, the only ones left to handle the slaying duties were Spike, 
Anya, and Xander. Buffy had to snap out of it soon because it was 
only a matter of time before their friends wouldn't be able to 
maintain the peace that had settled over Sunnydale. 

"No? Don't like Elizabeth?" Willow asked, gently prodding the slayer.

"How about, um," Tara flipped through the book, "Stacey?" Tara 
didn't get a response either.

"I don't know, Tara," Willow started in a stage voice, "We might wind 
up calling our daughter `hey you' for a while since we can't seem to 
come up with something we all agree on," Willow pressed her patience 
waning.

The slayer kept her eyes on the window, barely blinking. When the 
witches weren't around she'd cry; she'd let her mind wander replaying 
the scene in her head, trying to find where she'd gone wrong. When 
they were near she'd close up, refusing any contact, physical, 
verbal, and especially anything sexual. She knew she was being an 
ass, but she didn't know what else to do.

"Okay, that's enough," Willow yelled, throwing her book down on the 
bed and jumped in front of Buffy. "Buffy, you've got to snap out of 
this. You've got to let us in. We're your friends, your lovers, and 
your family. You need to talk about what happened and let it go.  
Okay, fine, you may never forget what happened, that's fine, but 
you've got to start putting it in the past."

Willow searched her eyes, green piercing blue, pleading with her to 
break out of her daze. They needed the slayer, not just because she 
was the slayer, but because the baby was going to be brought into 
this world in about a month and she was going to need all her mothers 
there for her. Willow concentrated; her eyes sending that very 
message to Buffy, and the slayer began to blink. Slowly at first and 
then more rapidly until her eyes watered and she broke down in tears 
throwing herself off the bed and into Willow's arms, knocking them 
both to the floor.

"I'm so sorry," Buffy cried, "It's all my fault."

Willow held on to her lover as though their lives depended on it, and 
perhaps, in a way, they did. "Shhh, it's okay. It's not your 
fault. What happened... that was most certainly not your fault."  
Willow gently ran her hand up and down the slayer's back to comfort 
her. She felt the muscles that littered the blonde's back tense, but 
she kept moving her hand up and down in a soothing motion until the 
tension slowly began to leave the powerful muscles. Buffy's body 
shook as wracking sobs were finally released. "That's right. Let it 
out; let it all out. You can cry here, you're safe here. Nothing's 
going to hurt you while I'm around."

Tara cautiously slid down to the floor, which took a little while 
considering the bulk in front of her now, but once she made it she 
added her warmth and support to Buffy. Willow's words reminded her 
of a lovely song and she began to softly sing, not just for the 
slayer, but for all of them, for Willow, Buffy, the baby, and herself.

Nothing's gonna harm you
Not while I'm around
Nothing's gonna harm you
No sir, not while I'm around
Demons are prowling everywhere
Nowadays
I'll send them howling, I don't care
I've got ways

No one's gonna hurt you
No one's gonna dare
Others can desert you
Not to worry, whistle, I'll be there

Demons'll charm you with a smile
For a while
But in time
Nothing can harm you
Not while I'm around

Being close and being clever
Ain't like being true
I don't need to, I would never hide a thing from you
Like some

No one's gonna hurt you
No one's gonna dare
Others can desert you
Not to worry, whistle, I'll be there

Demons'll charm you with a smile
For a while
But in time
Nothing's gonna harm you
Not while I'm around
Not while I'm around
(-Barbara Streisand)

Tara's soft, melodic voice swept over them, soothing hurts, and 
cleansing away the pain. Buffy stared at the blonde witch, always 
enjoying the rare occasions she'd let her talent of singing come 
through and was deeply touched by the words sent to her through the 
song. Fears were slowly stripped away and with a deep breath she 
slowly began to retell what happened that night a week ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week later the Scooby gang, this time minus Dawn, were assembled at 
the Magic Box, each taking a seat at the round table in the center of 
the shop. Hesitantly, Buffy once again relived the night of her 
attack. When she was finished silence surrounded them, each taking 
in the words of the slayer. Willow and Tara had heard it before, had 
been there for the very end of it, but it was still hard to hear it 
told and still needed their own time to digest the horror that befell 
the mighty slayer.

Anya was unusually silent but the rage was clearly burning in her 
eyes. For over a millennia she had sought revenge on men for the 
wrongs they'd caused women and she had come across the occasional 
rape victim. Whenever she was called to exact revenge on scum like 
that she made sure it was the slowest most painful event in their 
lives and she was praying that she could have been a demon once more, 
just for a moment, before Willow destroyed the vampires so she could 
enjoy tormenting them. The women who called her were always 
strangers to her, but she'd always felt their pain, being a woman 
herself, but now, sitting across from someone she considered a dear 
and close friend, she was ready to explode with rage.