Part Six
A protest began to form on her lips, but she knew it wouldn't do her any good. She'd done this, and she'd have to fix it. Myrddin was right….the problem was that she didn't know where to begin.
Being, of course, Willow, she made her way over to her bags and fished out her computer. For the next hour, she researched everything she could on telepathic and psychic links between people. She would have eventually figured out all of the information she found, it was all quite logical…but right now she was running on pure emotion.
<So in order to repair the link, I have to get into her mind and see with MY mind's eye the damage and fix it….kind of like rebuilding a brick wall.> "Well, that doesn't seem too difficult." She had no idea.
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"We can't just leave them up there…I need to do something, I feel quite useless, Myrddin." Giles was protesting for the umpteenth time.
"I understand, Rupert….I really do. But the damage is done. You would only prove to be a distraction to her. There is nothing we can do but wait." The words came out in a sympathetic tone, mean to soothe, but all they did was strike more fear in the watcher's heart. "If the girl lives up to all the expectations you have of her, it shouldn't take too long. She's very smart." Giles could do nothing but agree.
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Willow had been arranging the room to suite her needs. Pulling the curtains closed, she pulled out all the red and black candles she'd brought, red to signify love and black for protection. She figured it couldn't hurt. She also set up a censer and her own personal mix of incense was burning in it. Carefully so as not to disturb her, Willow got into bed with Buffy and gathered her into her arms.
When she was sufficiently comfortable, she closed her eyes and began to visualize the task before her. Slowly, the link came into focus. It wasn't severed on the outside, so she'd have to get inside Buffy's head deeper. Carefully, she reached out and touched it, and sent a reverberation through both of them. <Have to be careful with that….don't want Buffy to feel like she drank a slurpee again.> Guided by intuition, she followed the link as far as she could….she literally dove into the recesses of her mind….and hit a wall. <What the……> She shook off the feeling and began to really look around. Opening her mind's eye, she saw before her a large wall, literally. And the link went right through it. <This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.> Thinking she could go through it, Willow began to feel around, checking the solidity of it. <Solid as rock…..now what do I do?> Her hand was resting on the wall. <Oh, Buffy…why won't you let me in? I care for you so much…you're my best friend.> Just then, the wall began to change. Almost immediately it went from solid to an almost Jell-O consistency….then right before her eyes, it disappeared and the link fell just above the ground. <Cool.>
She followed the link for sometime….she wasn't sure how much time had passed or how many corners she turned. She came upon a large dark corridor. Afraid of falling, she reached out and felt for the wall next to her. Before her eyes, a bright white light formed and she quickly pulled her hand away. <That was weird.> She noticed figures in the light before she pulled her hand away, so she decided to try again. Cautiously, she reached her hand out and placed only two feather-light fingers on the wall. A scene began to form before her……
<<< Buffy raises her sword to dispatch Angelus, but stays herself when he suddenly gasps loudly and groans in pain. She sees his eyes glow bright red for an instant and go back dark. He looks up at her, but quickly collapses to the floor, crying. Buffy stares down at him, but still holds her sword raised behind her. Angel raises himself back up, his eyes heavy with tears, and looks into her eyes.
Softly "Buffy?" Sobs. "What's going on?"
She just looks at him, confused but not yet ready to lower the sword. He looks around a bit and gets to his feet.
Looks at her. "Where are we? I-I don't remember."
Finally Buffy realizes that the curse has worked, and she slowly lowers her sword.
Buffy speaks softly. " Angel?"
"You're hurt." He looks at her wound and embraces her tightly. "Oh, Buffy... God." She still isn't completely sure that it's true, but accepts the hug. "I... I feel like I haven't seen you in months." Finally she accepts it, closes her eyes and breathes out a deep sigh. "Oh, my God, everything's so muddled. I..."He holds her even more closely.
She cries into his shoulder and hugs him back. Behind him Acathla lets out a low rumble. Buffy opens her eyes and stares in shock as Acathla's face contorts. His brows angle down, his eyes glow red, his mouth opens grotesquely and the swirling vortex to Hell opens, small at first, but growing steadily in size and emanating a deep, red glow. Buffy lets go of Angel and looks up into his face.
Angel holds her at a short distance. "What's happening?"
She whispers reassuringly to him. "Shh. Don't worry about it."
She brushes her fingers over his lips and across his cheek. She lays her hand on his cheek and kisses him softly. He returns the kiss, and it becomes more passionate. Behind them the vortex has grown to about five feet across and continues to get larger. Buffy breaks off the kiss and looks deeply into Angel's eyes. "I love you."
He whispers back, "I love you."
She touches his lips with her fingers again. "Close your eyes."
She nods reassuringly, and he closes his eyes. She tries hard not to start crying, and kisses him again gently. She steps back, draws back her sword and thrusts it into his chest. His eyes whip open in surprise and pain, and a bright light emanates from the sword. She steps away from him. He reaches out to her and looks down at the sword thrust completely through him. He looks at her imploringly, completely bewildered by this turn of events. She can only stare at the sword protruding from his chest, and slowly steps further back.
"Buffy.……."
Behind him the power of the sword begins to swirl into the vortex. Buffy steps further back, still looking only at the sword in his chest and not into his face. The vortex has enlarged to about twelve feet across, and the two energies begin to interact. Angel still holds out his hand to Buffy. When the vortex finally meets him it suddenly closes into Acathla's mouth without so much as a spark, taking him with it. Buffy stares at the stone demon for a long moment, a light of awareness dawning in her eyes as she truly realizes what she has done, what she as lost.>>>
Willow's hand jerks back, as if in pain. <Oh, God Buffy…I didn't know….it's was Angel….not Angelus.> Tears form in her eyes. <I was too late….I didn't know…I'm sorry, Buffy…Oh, God….I'm so sorry.> Just then the corridor lit up to a brilliant purple and Willow had to shade her eyes. As quickly as it came, it subsided and she could see the link trailing through the darkness in front of her.
Gathering her composure, she began her journey again….the image of Angel being sucked into Acathla dancing on the edges of her mind. After what seemed like forever, she came upon a large hall. In the middle was a large dark mass, suspended in the air, and that's where she saw the link end. She got closer to it and realized that this is where the link had been formed….bound directly to her soul. But something was wrong…upon closer inspection, she realized that the link had been attached to the soul by a thread…and the other pieces of it were dangling precariously, sort of like a frayed string.
<Oh, Buffy…you've almost completely cut it.> She reached out to touch it, only to reconsider, remembering the reverberations she'd felt earlier. <If I can't touch it, I can't fix it…now what?> She fell to her knees, worn out by all that had taken place. The tears began to resurface again….witness to all that had happened.
"Buffy…I need you here…I-I'm sorry I hurt you. You know…after everything I've seen I realize that I can't do this alone..I need you by my side.." She took in a much needed deep breath. "Remember when Angelus held me at the school…I knew you'd come, I knew you'd save me…..I knew you wouldn't let me down…..you've been my link to the outside world…being friends with you has brought me out of my shell…made me come into my own. It wasn't Xander…or Oz….Buffy it was you, and if I lose you now, I'll lose a part of myself." She wrapped her arms around her self, sure of the words, but not sure how to form them. "You were right, you know. You have given me enough of you…now it's time I gave something in return…no more fear, no more questioning myself and my feelings…my feelings for you…It's been on the edge of my mind for so long it's become as automatic as breathing….and I took it for granted and you." She sniffled a little, trying hard to hold herself together. "Buffy, I love you…I love you with all that I have…because you showed me…you taught me how to do it…not to love the man or the woman…but the person inside…the soul."
Suddenly, there was a great tremor…..Willow scrambled to her feet and reached back for the wall, afraid to lose her footing. Instead of the wall, she felt a hand and saw a glimmer of blonde hair before everything went to brilliant white, and then black again.
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She wasn't sure how long she'd been laying there. Slowly, she became aware of each part of her body, and her arms wrapped around a slender figure. Cautiously, she peered down at the girl next to her and was met with a lopsided grin.
"Hey" Buffy whispered.
"Hey yourself." Willow managed to squeeze out as a lone tear fell from her eye.
"Don't cry, Will. I think we've done enough of that to last us a very long time. Don't you?" She smiled at her again.
"I could have lost you…it's my fault….and Angel..I didn't know…"
"I know, Will…but it doesn't matter now. I heard you, you know….every word..it was like I was on the edge of a cliff, and it was your voice that kept me from taking another step."
"Don't leave me again, Buffy…please…." She was crying openly now…her body becoming wracked with sobs.
"Shh….OK…I won't…..Don't cry, Will…..I love you too." <More than you know.>
<I think I DO know, Buffy…..now.> "The link…..it works….that mean I fixed it!…..Yay me!" Willow gave her a little squeeze.
"As much as I'd love to celebrate you're victory, Will….I think I'm kinda hungry."
<Mmmm, hungry for what?>
<Willow!>
She gave a little shrug. "Sorry….can't help myself." She planted a tender kiss on Buffy's lips. "Come on…let's go get something to eat…..I wonder how long we've been up here…." Both girls got out of bed and made their way downstairs, arm in arm.
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"What? Giles, that's impossible…" Buffy gave her watcher a look of shock.
"I'm afraid it's not, Buffy. You've been up there for five days. It was all I could do not to come up there and see what was going on." He looked at her with concern. "Are you sure you're alright? You both must still be very weak."
"For the last time, Giles, we're fine. But this only leaves us with three days before the prophesy begins." Will looked at him with a mix of reassurance and concern.
"Yes, yes indeed. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and little time to prepare." Myrddin was standing behind Giles. "I suggest we get started right away if you're all up to it." The three of them nodded in agreement. "Very well then. Ripper, I'm sure you find the training room sufficient to your needs….you've already set everything up for when Buffy was ready?"
"Yes, quite sufficient I must say. All the modern and archaic weapons I can think of. It'll be a pleasure training with such a supply."
"Good, then Willow and I will be in the tower training." Without another word, he ushered Willow out of the room and up the stairs, and Giles led Buffy down to the basement.
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"Come on…you can do it…I know you have it in you. You just have to harness the power…"
"I'm trying Myrddin, I really am."
"You must try to effectively block my attacks with the magic you posses inside of you. Come on now…try again."
For what was probably the tenth time, Myrddin attacked her and she tried to deflect. Suddenly, Buffy appeared before her and Myrddin was aiming a ball of light in her direction.
"Oh no you don't!" Willow pulled her hands together as if to catch the ball and successfully deflected it, sending careening into a wall where it made a nice big black mark. Then Buffy disappeared. "What the?" Willow shook her head as if to get rid of the cobwebs.
"It was an illusion Willow…Buffy wasn't really standing there. But, the illusion worked, and you successfully deflected the energy ball. Well done." Myrddin gave her a congratulatory look.
<Go me….yeah, I'm bad!> She stood there with a self satisfied look on her face.
-------------- Buffy was battling one of the many demons that had manifested itself in the basement. She was effectively blocking all the punches and defending herself, but she wasn't on the offensive. Suddenly, Willow appeared at the other side of the room and looked around in confusion. Buffy looked over to her and the demon followed her gaze. Immediately he was bearing down on Willow.
"No way you big green oaf….get away from her!"
The demon didn't listen and was upon Willow almost instantly. Buffy ran over and jumped on his back, pounding into him with the mallet she held in her hand.
"I said…" Smash "Get away" Crash "From her." Pound, pound, "NOW!"
Now drawing it's attention to the leach on it's back, the demon swung around and backed into a wall, smashing Buffy into it. She recovered quickly and with a well placed roundhouse kick, she sent the demon flying to the other side of the room. Not wasting any time, she grabbed a nearby sword and cut it's head off in one felt swoop. The demon melted away into the cracks of the floor and, you guessed it, Willow disappeared.
"What? Where'd she go? Will?" Buffy turned around in a circle, not sure what to do next.
"Yes, well…I believe that's what Myrddin meant by incentive." Giles pointed out to her. "It was an illusion, Buffy….incentive to put you on the defensive." He smiled at her.
"Oh, I see…..hey, that was sneaky, Giles." She furrowed her brow and gave him her best reprimanding look.
"I can assure you I had nothing to do with it." He removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, chuckling softly to himself.
She crossed her chest with her arms. "I'm sure."
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Their training commenced much in the same way over the course of the next three days. Each learning and perfecting new techniques. Willow becoming a sort of expert in magical healing, deflection, energy ball formation and so on. Buffy becoming a master of the sword, scathe, crossbow, ball and chain, and perfecting her staking technique with stakes as small as three inches long up to three feet across. They had been so apt, there was still a full day left before the demon's awakening.
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"So what now?" Buffy asked
"Well, there really isn't anything left to teach either of you. I suggest you pack your things and prepare for the journey ahead." Both Willow and Buffy gave Myrddin a questioning look. "You will meet the demon on the active Hellmouth." He said in a-matter-of-fact way.
They both looked at Giles and he guiltily looked out the window. "Yes, well." He straightened up and removed his glasses to clean them. "Shall we?"
Seven
He crouched down next to his companion, both watching the fight ensue nearby.
“What do you think?”
“I think they can handle it. You?”
“Yeah, but I have a funny feeling about this one.” He motioned to the masked figure currently on the wrong end of a high kick. “It’s un-nerving. He’s human but he’s strong. I recognize the scent he’s putting off but I just can’t put my finger on it.”
He glanced up at the dark-haired man, then turned his attention back to the fight. “Yet, she had a bad-ass Wicca to fight next to her, so, there’s an upside.”
They watched the fight continue and Willow appeared from behind a tree. She chanted some words, raised her hands in the air, and swiftly planted an energy ball at the feet of Buffy’s opponent. The fight stopped, Buffy turned to Willow in surprise, and the opponent took that opportunity to high tail it out of there through the bushes.
“I don’t like it, Oz. He’s working for someone . . or with someone which is worse. I can’t fight the feeling that it’s not over yet.” He brought his hand up to his chin as if in contemplation.
Buffy and Willow exchanged some dialogue they couldn’t hear, then headed off in the direction of the dorms.
Both remained in the bushes until the two girls walked out of sight. “I think it’s safe now. We should go.”
No answer.
He rose to his feet and his companion glanced up at him. “Come on, you can perfect your brooding skills on the ride back to LA.”
“It’s not over yet. We should stick around.”
“If you insist. After all, you’re the expert on lurking.”
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“. . .the point is that I was handling it. I didn’t need your light show to bail me out!”
“Buffy, you were getting your ass kicked out there. I was only trying to help.”
They walked into the dorm room, Willow flipped on the lights and Buffy stomped over to her side of the room and tossed her bag into the closet. It had been a month since they’d faced Arthur and won.
“Of the two of us, which one is the slayer here? I can handle myself and my slaying, I don’t need you momming me. Last time I looked, this job wasn’t opening up.”
“I was only trying to help. It looked like you were in trouble so I . . .”
“Jumped in with your Samantha routine.”
“That wasn’t very nice.”
“THAT was the truth.”
Willow got up off the bed and headed for the door. “I really don’t need this right now. . .” She opened the door and slammed it behind her.
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She wasn’t sure where she was heading as long as it was away from her. Things had gone seriously downhill since Christmas and neither one of them could figure out why. It wasn’t all bad all the time, but each one felt like the other was on a different page sometimes.
Willow found herself at The Grotto. <May as well have some coffee. I don’t think I’ll be going to sleep anytime soon.> She walked in, ordered and sat down at a nearby couch.
“Willow?”
She looked up and saw him. <I really don’t need THIS right now> “Jeff.” She had to admit to herself, he looked good except for the shiner he was sporting under his left eye. “What happened to you?”
He walked around the couch and sat next to her. “Two hand touch football with the guys. Some one has to explain the rules to them.” He shrugged and gave her a sheepish grin. “I haven’t seen you around lately. How have you been?”
“Good, I’ve been good. Keeping busy with classes and the computer lab.”
“Willow . . .I just wanted to apologize for the way I acted last time I saw you. It wasn’t me, really, and I feel really bad that I made you cry.”
”Forget it, Jeff. It’s over . . .I’m over it, really.”
”No, I need to explain. See, Veruca and I, well, we had something. I knew she was . . .you know, grrr, but it didn’t matter to me. I should have kept a closer eye on her. If I had then maybe. . .”
Willow’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Wow, you knew? But it’s not your fault. Veruca was responsible for her own actions, not you, and Oz was responsible for his.”
He smiled. “How’d you get so smart?”
“I had some help.” Her mind drifted to Buffy and the fight they just had. “Listen, I should get going. It’s late and I have a class at nine tomorrow.” She rose to leave.
“Let me walk you back. It’s the least I can do since I was so horrible to you.”
”Okay.”
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Buffy looked out the window again. Willow had been gone only an hour, but she was worried none the less. She knew after all, what lurked out there in the darkness. Probably better than anyone.
She’d been feeling strange this past month. She was more sensitive than usual to anyone helping her fight the good fight. She noticed that every time a fight ended and a vamp was dust at her feet, she could still feel it there, like it was lingering and didn’t want to give up.
She also wasn’t sure why she freaked out on Willow like that. She’d only tried to help the way she did a thousand times before. Now Buffy felt guilty for driving her away and making her leave.
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They approached the door and Willow pulled out her key. She hesitated and Jeff noticed it. “What’s wrong?”
“Hmm? Nothing. I had a fight with Buffy earlier and I’m sure she’s still in there and . . .”
“You don’t have to go in if you don’t want to. We can sit and talk . . .”
“I don’t know . . .”
“Come on . . .what could it hurt?” Without waiting for an answer, he ushered her away to the lounge.
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One hour later.
“…she just doesn’t want my help anymore. I don’t know what to do.”
Willow had explained more or less, the problem she was having with Buffy. Avoiding all the vampire and prophesy stuff, she did a pretty good job of it.
“She’s crazy not to want you around to help her all the time. If you were my best friend, I’d never let you out of my sight.”
”That’s sweet, Jeff.” A thoughtful look washed across her face. “Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea for us to room together after all. We have opposing personalities, she’s messy and I like order, she loves to cut loose and I love to sit and read a good musty old book. Totally different.” She sniffled and wiped a threatening tear from her eye.
“You could be right. Maybe you two just need some time apart. Chris and I decided not to room together . . .best idea in the world. He just can’t seem to keep his dirty socks on his own lamp.” She chuckled a bit. “Yeah, you think it’s funny . . .do you have any idea what warm week old gym socks smell like?” He crinkled up his nose to demonstrate the point.
Her mood lightened a little. “Thanks Jeff. I really needed a laugh.”
He put his hand on hers. “You should really do that more often. You have a great smile you know.”
She glanced down and noticed his hand. <Now how did that get there?> She felt the color rise in her cheeks and tried to pull her hand away. “Jeff, I don’t think this is such a good idea. . .”
He leaned in “Do you know how cute you are when you get nervous?” He hesitated a moment then leaned in some more, just brushing her lips with his. “I think you’re beautiful, Willow.” He kissed her again with more determination this time. “And I intend to show you just how beautiful you are . . .” The sentence was broken by yet another lingering kiss. It was passionate, desperate . . .sensual.
Willow gasped at the invasiveness of his lips. Definitely not like kissing Buffy. Buffy’s softer and more gentle. Not like Oz either . . .he had more stubble. Suddenly she realized what was happening. <Kissing Jeff, kissing Jeff…..I can’t be kissing Jeff!> She pushed him away at arm’s length. “I can’t . . .”
“But you just did. Didn’t you like it?” He was puzzled.
“Yes . . .no, I mean I can’t I’m . . .involved with someone.” She rose to go and he rose with her.
“Willow, wait. . . .please don’t go.” He reached out and touched her shoulder. “We were just getting started.” He looked at her with a gleam in his eye.
She couldn’t think . . .couldn’t respond. It was like she was crazy-glued to that spot and not even an earthquake was going to make her budge.
He took the opportunity to kiss her again. This time when she gasped, he took it as an invitation to deepen the kiss. He reached up and let his hand get lost in her silky hair. After a few seconds, he pulled her in closer and enveloped her in his arms.
As soon as she moved, she realized again what she was doing. She allowed him to pull her in and then suddenly planted her knee snuggly in his groin. He immediately fell to the floor and doubled over in pain.
“I don’t know what you think your doing, but you won’t be doing it again mister!” She stormed off to her room.
He could do nothing but curse under his breath and try not to move.
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She crept into the room, hoping that after all this time, Buffy was sound asleep. No such luck.
Buffy looked up when she heard the door open. “Hey.”
Willow jumped a little at the sound of the slayer’s voice but didn’t respond. She walked over to her bed and sat down with her back to Buffy and put her head in her hands.
<Will>
<. . . .>
She got up and crept over to the bed and sat down behind the redhead.
<Come on, Will. I’m sorry.>
<. . . .>
“Damn it. Don’t shut down on me, not again.” Buffy reached out and touched her shoulder.
She bent a little under the slayer’s touch. All the words swirling around in her head were trying to force their way to the surface but she wasn’t sure she wanted them to.
“Hey.” Buffy tried again.
Willow let out a sigh. <Hey yourself>
“No cheating, Will.” Willow huffed a little at her choice of words. “Turn around and talk to me. I want to look into those beautiful green eyes when I grovel for your forgiveness.”
She turned around slowly, unsure if she was really able to face her.
Buffy quickly enveloped her in a hug. She began to rub her back soothingly and play with her hair. “I’m so sorry, Will. My mouth runs away from me sometimes. I didn’t mean what I said before. I wish I could take it back.”
She couldn’t take it. “Buffy I . . .I’m sorry too, I didn’t mean to. . .”Her voice caught in her throat.
Buffy pulled away to face her. “No, it was my fault. I never should have attacked you the way I did. You were only trying to help” Buffy looked at her questioningly. <Something’s different.> She leaned in and sniffed her shirt. “Will, you smell different. You smell like . . .you smell like a guy!”
<Great, now she’s a bloodhound.> Willow looked at her and couldn’t deny it. She also couldn’t bring herself to say anything yet.
Buffy saw the guilty look on her face and wasn’t sure how to take it. “Will?”
“Jeff” She whispered.
Buffy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What about Jeff?” She quickly got to her feet.
“I went to the Grotto . . .I only wanted coffee . . .he was there . . .we talked and he . . .made a pass at me here in the lounge. It happened before I knew it was happening! I didn’t mean to do it, I swear. Before I knew it he was kissing me and . . .and . . .” She broke down and cried.
Buffy stood there for a few moments with her mouth open. “He what!? Did he hurt you . .did he, I mean . . .he didn’t . . .”
“No, he just kissed me. Twice.” She finally looked up and saw Buffy’s expression. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. He was being so nice . . .a-and he apologized for everything he said. . .I didn’t want to . . .Buffy, please say something.”
A few moments passed and Buffy broke out of her silence. She looked calm. Too calm. “I’ll kill him.”
Before she knew what was happening, Willow watched as Buffy became a blur running out the door.
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“She looks a little miffed.”
The were watching Buffy go to town on the masked opponent again. He got a few sucker punches in, but he soon found himself on the business end of a right-hook. He stumbled back a little dazed.
He looked over at his companion. “Still the king of under-statement.”
“Long arduous hours of practice.” He dead-panned.
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Willow ran up the path and noticed Buffy fighting. “Buffy, be careful!”
Buffy turned at the sound of her voice and the figure jumped her from behind. They wrestled on the ground a little. He was on top of her and she brought up her foot to kick him back, but not before grabbing the ski mask and pulled it off. He fell backwards into the bushes but quickly recovered and was on his feet again.
Buffy got up and looked over at him in shock. “I can’t believe it.”
Willow ran over to where Buffy was standing and stopped cold in her tracks. “Jeff?”
He was crouched in a defensive stance and breathing heavily. He looked over to the redhead. “She doesn’t deserve you, Willow. She’s not good enough for you.” He raised his hand in a beckoning motion.
She didn’t know what was happening. She was walking slowly towards Jeff, unable to stop herself.
Buffy shook herself out of her reverie. <Magic? Jeff knows the dark mojo?> She quickly advanced on him and tackled him to the ground gaining the upper hand by getting on top of him.
He held her at arms length. “You don’t want to fight me.” He looked into her eyes. “You know she belongs with me.”
Willow saw the fighting stop and saw Buffy freeze under his gaze. <Two can play at that game.> She chanted a few words and suddenly Buffy was flung back off of him and at her feet. “He’s using magic Buffy. It’s his eyes. He has will-bending contacts in. I’ve read about them but . . .man, he must have paid a fortune for those!”
“Gotcha, Will. Be right back.” She advanced on him again. He’d scrambled to his feet and was ready for her. He rushed her but she sidestepped easily. He turned around and tried for a left-hook but she ducked and slammed him on the back of his head as hard as she could.
Willow heard her make contact and saw two green sparks fly from his eyes. She chanted, raised her arms, and a red spark flew from her hands to where she’d seen the contacts land. As soon as the spark hit the contacts a large explosion occurred and both Buffy and Jeff were flung backward from the blast. Willow ran to Buffy’s side. “Buffy, are you okay?”
She sat up. “Fine, Will. Remind me NEVER to make you angry.” She looked over at the fire in the grass. “I don’t want to find myself on the business end of one of those.”
Jeff was kneeling in front of the fire. He got up and turned around to face the girls. “Are you nuts? Do you have any idea what I had to go through to get those?” He put his hands to his head in frustration. “Man! My dad’s gonna kill me!” He got up and started to pace.
Buffy looked amused. “Um, your dad’s the big creepy warlock that gave you those?”
“No you idiot! My dad’s the demon that made a deal to get those. Now he’s gonna be enslaved to a succubus for the next 1000 years.” His pacing increased. “I am SO grounded.”
Willow gave him a look of shock. “You’re a . . .a demon?” She made a disgusted face and started to wipe her mouth. “Ack, eww . . .demon fluids, demon fluids . . .”
“I’m not a demon. He’s my step-dad. Adopted me when I was two. A friend of my mom’s . . you wouldn’t understand.” He stood still. “Why am I telling you this?”
Buffy couldn’t resist. “Um, ‘cause you’re a big fat loser that needs magic to win people over?” She smiled. “Listen you little half-breed. I never want to see you near my Willow again. Do you understand me?”
“Your Willow?” he gave her a confused look.
Willow stepped up in front of Buffy. “That’s right. I told you I was involved with someone.” To demonstrate her point, Willow turned around and planted a very passionate kiss on a surprised slayer.
“Yuck. Oh, man. . . I was just trying to get into your pants when I said . . “ He realized they weren’t listening. “Never mind. You two deserve each other.” He turned around and started to walk away but stopped. “I don’t know if I’m grossed out or really, REALLY turned on.” Buffy glared at him. He raised his hands in defeat and quietly slipped away.
-----------------
“That does nothing but put a very interesting twist on things.” He smiled to himself thinking about the display they just witnessed.
“I know what it is.”
“What’s that?” He looked up at the taller man.
“What it was I sensed on him before.” He turned to face the blonde. “Jealousy. He was jealous of what they shared. . .so jealous that he went to great lengths to get what it was they have.”
He contemplated the statement. “I see what you mean. Makes sense.”
“They don’t call it the green-eyed monster for nothing.” He stood in silence a moment, choosing his words carefully. “I didn’t recognize it before . . .probably because I didn’t want to admit to myself I’d felt the same thing.” He looked in the direction of the two girls. “Maybe that’s why we’re here.”
Now he was really puzzled. “How’s that?”
“We’re jealous. We now know exactly what we gave up. Maybe subconsciously we’re lurking around hoping for another opportunity.” He paused. “They’ll be fine as long as they have each other.”
“Yeah. We’re not gonna get that chance.” He gave his friend a defeated look then glanced over at the two girls who were retreating up the path. “Come on. I think we need to file this one under ‘Hellmouth activity’.”
They began to walk. “No, it’s much worse than that my friend.” He paused a beat. “It gets filed under male ego. . .human emotion. They don’t need us anymore and we didn’t want to accept that.” He smirked. “And I thought I’d learned every lesson there was in 243 years.” He shook his head. “Go figure.”
---------------
“. . .So, in the plus column, I didn’t kiss Jeff willingly.” She smiled at the blonde in front of her.
“I’m glad.” Buffy smiled. “I never should have treated you the way I did earlier, Will. I’m so sorry.”
Willow looked up at her. “We’re both sorry, Buffy. I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am.” She paused a moment in thought. “I guess I was jealous of you a little bit.” Buffy gave her a surprised look. “You’re the slayer, Buffy. You get to kick undead ass every night. It’s a good fight and I wanted in. I mean, what can I do?”
“You do a lot, Will. You have no idea how much you help me. If I didn’t have your support, mixed in with a little mojo, I can’t even begin to imagine what could have happened to me by now.” She reached over and touched her cheek lightly. “I’m jealous of you in a way too. I wish I could summon up powers and shoot sparks from my hands.” She smiled. “Imagine the look on the vampires face . . .”
“Well, the lesson in all of this is that we compliment each other. I have my powers, you have yours. Together we make a pretty good team. Don’t you think?” She turned her head and kissed Buffy’s hand softly.
“Mmmm, I can think of something else we’re good at too.”
<You’re bad.>
<That’s not what you said last night.>
<Buffy!!>
That night, they made a great team. Really . . .everyone in the whole wing could attest to it.
FINIS