Disclaimers – Any
disclaimers can be found in part 1.Other than that this story deals with two
women in love. If that offends you leave now.
Feedback – Yes,
definitely. Feedback is like food to writers, any comments or suggestions send
them to Alex at keeper444@webtv.net
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Chapter 5
Giles
slammed the ancient book shut and in anger and frustration threw it across the
room. It had been nearly a week and still Buffy was no better in fact despite
of the injections she was getting progressively worse. His inability to help
her enraged him and the look of agony and fear in Willow’s eyes every time he
failed to report a cure was killing his soul.
“Damn
it!” he raged, “All that great Watcher training was worthless. All these
fabulous resources and they can not even tell me how to cure a simple bloody
bug.” He glared at the stack of books he had already gone with disgust, for a
moment he considered setting fire to the entire lot.
<Get
a hold on yourself old man> he berated himself. <They’re your only chance
at finding the cure you promised Willow. And you’d better find it fast…if you
don’t, you’ll lose them both. > Giles took off his glasses and began
cleaning them then with a sigh of resignation he turned back to a stack of
books he hadn't checked yet, chose one and returned to work.
He
had to succeed, there was no alternative.
**************************************************
Willow
wept quietly as she watched over the frail body of the person she loved most in
the world. Buffy was lying on the bed wasting away. So far no one was able to
help her. The sun had long set and soon the full moon of the equinox would
rise.
The
young Witch wiped at her tears, stood and walked over to the window. The sun
had long since set and soon the full moon and the Vernal Equinox occurred
simultaneously. At the fringes of her mind she seemed to recall an ancient
Celtic legend involving this occurrence and a sect of Druid warrior-priests
that were also powerful wizards. She tried to recall the story if for no other
reason than to occupy herself.
All
other thoughts were erased from her mind when she heard Buffy begin to moan and
thrash weakly.
“It's
alright Buffy” Willow said softly. “I’m right here.”
Soon
Buffy seemed to fall back to sleep so Willow was able to relax enough to go
back to the window and observe the strange weather. The sky was crystal clear
with the stars shining brightly. The
full moon was rising in the black velvet sky, its mystical light turning the
dark night almost into day.
But,
what drew Willow’s attention were the flashes of blue-white lightening that
streaked the across the brightening sky.
Witch felt a faint tingle of some indefinable, though familiar, energy
teasing her senses.
A sudden
and shocking clap of thunder shook the dorm--rattling the windows.
The
distraught Slayer sat-up screaming, her eyes searching the room for Willow.
“Willow
!” she cried in an anguished voice.
“I’m
right here Buffy,” Willow said. She reached out her hand to touch the Slayer on
her shoulder, trying to reassure her friend. “Your Wills isn’t going anywhere”
“No!
Wills they know” the delirious Slayer said panic rising in her voice, “they
found out and now they're coming.”
Who
Buffy? Who found out?” she asked patiently “and what did they find out.”
“Oh
Wills,” Buffy cried “I tried so hard t hide it from them but now they know and
they’re on their way here now!”
Lightening
was striking faster and closer and the moon neared it's zenith illuminating the
room with its soft light.
“I’ve
got to stop them.” Buffy cried, desperation and panic causing her voice up an
octave.
“Who
is it Buffy?” Willow asked in a soft soothing voice. “Tell me who’s coming.”
“All
of them.” Buffy said tears beginning to flow from her eyes “The Master,
Angelus, Spike, the demons, all of them.”
“But
Buffy their they’re all dead or gone” Willow tried to convince her friend, “Why
would they come back?”
“Oh
Wills, they’ve come back because they know how to hurt me.” Buffy sobbed, fear
and panic pushing her tears. “They know I love you and they’re coming after
you. They’re going to get you because they know I can’t live without you. I’ve
got to stop them!”
Willow
was stunned unable to speak or react. After all this time trying to hide her
feelings for fear of rejection and possibly driving Buffy away and now when
Buffy was so sick that she was delirious, now she finds out that Buffy felt the
same way all along.
“It’s
alright Buffy I l-love you too.” Willow said softly her voice quivering.
“I
know that Wills, I’ve known for a long time” Buffy stated. “I couldn’t tell
anyone, not even you because if anyone knew about my feelings you would’ve been
in more danger! Oh God, I can’t lose you.”
Willow
was so stunned she didn’t know how to react, all this time her friend had not
only felt the same urges and desires as Willow, but she had known all along how
Willow would have returned her feelings. She didn’t know whether to be angry or
sad.
Even
though it angered her that Buffy had known all along and had denied her the
love she’d ached for--she also knew that meant the Slayer had also been forced
to deny herself the same love. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of how many
times Buffy must have yearned to seek comfort in Willow’s embrace only to force
down her feelings to protect her friend.
“Willow
you’ve got to hide!” Buffy implored, still deep in her delirium. “They’re
coming. I don’t know how they found out. Angelus knew, he must have told them.”
Willow
tried to push her seriously ill friend back down in the bed. For a few moments
Willow forgot that a sick Buffy was still a very powerful Slayer. Without
warning Buffy exploded out of the bed unintentionally knocking Willow across
the room. Before Willow could react Buffy was swaying in the middle of the
room, searching the corners for demons.
“Got
to stop them before they can hurt my Wills!” Buffy cried, “I can’t see them.
Where are they?” She then ran out of the room before Willow could react.
“Buffy
no!” Willow yelled as her friend disappeared out the door either not hearing or
ignoring her all together. Willow leapt up from the floor and pressed the
button on Giles emergency pager then ran after her friend as fast as she could.
As she ran down the stairs Willow heard the exit door slam shut “Oh goddess
protect her,” Willow prayed as she sprinted down the stairs and as she went out
the door the young witch began chanting a tracking spell.
A
flash of white let Willow know that Buffy had run into the woods toward the
center of the Hellmouth. A faint blue glowing line showed her Buffy’s trail as
the result of her spell. Lightening flashed wildly across the crystal clear sky
and Willow noticed a thick unnatural fog rising from the ground. As Willow
followed the trail that was leading her to Buffy she wondered how Buffy could
run so fast through these thick woods without hurting herself.
<Must
be a Slayer thing> she thought to herself.
Soon
Willow could hear the unmistakable sounds of fighting close ahead. She burst
out of the trees into a clearing that was brightly illuminated by the huge full
moon. She gasped in horror when saw what was happening. In the middle of the
clearing was Buffy fighting three vampires and she wasn't doing so well. She
was doing her best but the Slayer was simply too weak from her prolonged
illness. It was a credit to her skills and training Buffy was able to ‘dust’
two of her supernatural opponents, but the third one struck her from behind
sending her sprawling across the clearing hitting the ground hard forcing the
air out of her lungs. Seeing that the Slayer was unable to get back up the
vampire let out a roar of victory and launched itself at its unmoving prey.
“No!!!”
Willow screamed and nearly flew across the grassy field to help her injured
friend.
Willow
moved faster than she’d ever had before and reached Buffy a few steps ahead of
the charging vampire without thinking she threw up her hand.
“STOP!”
she commanded and the vampire stopped as if he’d hit a wall.
Out
of the corner of her eye Willow noticed the clearing was enclosed in wall of
thick white unnatural fog.
Buffy
moaned softly and tried to get up but she only succeeded in distracting Willow causing
her to lose the barrier that held back the vampire. The night creature sensed
the absence of magic and started to spring on its’ vulnerable victims.
“Hold
demon!” a deep commanding voice boomed across the clearing. A blinding bolt of
bluish white light streaked through the air that struck and enveloped the
vampire who screamed in agony then burst into a cloud of dust.
Willow
was temporarily blinded by the bright explosion of light, then as her vision
cleared she saw three figures standing in front of her. They were wearing gray
robes with vests of heavy black leather and cowled hoods. Each carried an ash
staff covered in Celtic runes and long daggers hung from their braided cord
belts. They were surrounded by brightly glowing lights that flashed blue-green
then red. When they reached the two friends they pulled back their hoods
revealing their faces.
When
they reached the two friends they pulled back the hoods revealing their faces.
Two were beautiful women that Willow guessed were about 25 or 30, the third
figure caught and held her attention. The third was a man, he wasn't tall or
particularly handsome but Willow found him irresistible and there was an
ageless quality about him, he had long, brown hair and a full beard both
streaked with gray and a slight smile that seemed permanent. But his most
arresting feature were his kind hazel eyes that seemed to glow with a light of
their own.
“Who
are you?” Willow asked finally her voice squeaking from a mixture of curiousity
and fear.
“Relax
little Wyccan,” the man said, his deep resonant voice wrapping around Willow
like a warm comforting blanket. “Our people have been caring for your kind
since the age of Chaos.”
Willow
didn’t know why but she felt safe and secure. Her eyelids became heavy and Willow
felt herself drifting off.
“What
about the wizard?” Willow heard one of the women ask as she fell asleep.
“He
still denies his true nature,” the man's voice answered. “We will have to
return for him at another time. They need us more than he does.”
That
was all Willow heard.
..................................
Giles
had fallen into an exhausted sleep at his desk; it was the first time he’d
closed his eyes in nearly a week. It had been at least 4 days since he'd
showered or shaved. The only time he'd left his research was when he went to
Buffy’s condition and give the Slayer her injection.
His
concern for Buffy was balanced only by his admiration of Willow. This crisis
had certainly brought her out of her shell and revealed a strength of
personality and her iron will that Giles hadn’t known had existed in the
hacker.
She’d
always been caring and compassionate but now she was also strong and fiercely
protective of her seriously ill best friend. The down side was she was also suspicious
and unforgiving of anyone that had ever hurt Buffy.
Giles
knew she basically trusted him on one level but on another more instinctual
level he fell into the second category. He could see it in her eyes every time
he gave the Slayer her injection; he had made one mistake he’d followed the
Council’s orders. And that would condemn him to live forever without the
Witch’s trust. The Ripper side of him wanted to scream and rage at Willow that
he would never hurt Buffy again-but the other side, the ashamed side of him,
felt he deserved her fury.
He
was suddenly jolted out of his sleep by a loud obnoxious beeping. Growling with
irritation he sat up pulled off his glasses and rubbed his aching eyes. Then he
remembered the beeping and realized it was his emergency pager.
“Oh
my god” he groaned. “How long has this been going off?” He grabbed the pager
and shut it off then hurriedly phoned the girls room. Panic started to rise in
him when no one answered. He snatched up his keys and grabbed a well-worn leather
jacket putting it on as he dashed from his apartment.
He
reached the dorms in record time, slammed the car into park and launched
himself out of the door almost before the car stopped rolling. Giles burst
through the doors of the dorm ran up the steps taking them two at a time. When
he reached the girl's floor he ran down the hall and came to a sliding stop in
front of their door.
He
knocked on the door pushing it open further, “Willow... Buffy is every thing
alright?” Giles asked as he opened the door and stepped into the room. “Oh god
no.” He froze for a second when he saw the empty room, that in itself was bad
enough, but as he surveyed the room he saw evidence of a violent struggle.
“Where
are they?” he asked himself out loud the answer came to him instantly. “The
Hellmouth!” In an adrenaline rush Giles charged out the door and ran down the
hall to the stairs. He barely touched the stairs as he ran down them and out
the back door unknowingly following the same path the girls had taken.
When
he got outside his naturally magic sensitive eyes picked up the pale blue glow
of Willowss tracking spell. Recognizing it for what it was he immediately began
following it. “Bless her Wyccan skills.” Giles muttered as he entered the woods
knowing he was following the right path thanks to his favorite redheaded witch.
When he reached the clearing the smell of death and ozone nearly over powered him. He could tell his girls had been there and fought some kind of battle. Giles searched the clearing frantically some evidence of their whereabouts. He found evidence of a fight and the three mounds of dust that used to be vampires, but no other sign of his daughters.
Willow's spell obviously ended here and he
could tell that no one had left the clearing by any conventional means. So
where were they? Giles fell to his knees in pain and horror realizing they had
simply disappeared from this spot and it took something a lot more powerful
than a vampire or demon to do that.
“Oh god please” Giles moaned in total despair.
“I have failed them again.”
He
fell the rest of the way to the ground, his mind numbed with guilt and
self-loathing. Giles lay in the grassy field for hours berating himself for his
lack of talent and his inability to properly care for the two young women fate
had placed in his charge.
Just before sunrise Giles felt a gentle warm
breeze brush his face and his nose picked up the sweet spicy smell of the
Slayer's perfume combined with the subtle earthy herbal scent that Willow wore.
<Fear
not Watcher, > a deep resonant voice said in his mind, A voice he more felt
than heard. <The Chosen One and the Wyccan are safe and will return to you
in time. >
For
some reason Giles knew he could trust the voice completely and his spirits rose
with the sun. He got to his feet went
home and after a long needed shower and shave he collapsed into his bed and
fell into a deep dreamless sleep