Lossen End
Chapter 1
by Cynthia Taz (cynthia_taz@yahoo.com)
* Disclaimer and other information on Prologue.
// // = Voice
# # = Time, Place
~.~.~.~.~
# 21:23, Sunnydale Airport #
Buffy, Xander and Dawn were all standing outside the gate in the Sunnydale Airport, waiting. Buffy kept pacing, Dawn kept looking around, while Xander was holding a white sign with 'Welcome Back Willow' written on it.
"Do you think she will get the sign?" Xander asked nervously.
"Get the sign?" Buffy raised an eyebrow. "I don't even think she'll *see* the sign."
"Why is it so pale?" Dawn asked.
"I used yellow crayon. It was a thing from when I talked to Willow on the bluff. I hope she gets it."
"Oh. Tell us again what you said."
"Well, I was talking from my heart and I knew evil Willow wasn't real-" Xander looked at Dawn's face. "You were kidding."
"Um... a little bit." She smiled.
"We've heard the crayon speech a few times." Seeing the disappointment on Xander face, Buffy added. "Not that it's not great, of course."
"I saved the world with talking from my mouth. *My* mouth saved the world." Xander said proudly.
Ignoring Xander, Dawn stepped closer to the gate. "I'm getting nervous. Are you nervous?"
"Yeah. It's gonna be weird seeing her." Buffy frowned. "What do you say to someone in this situation?"
"I'm gonna say, hi Willow."
"C'mon. You're saying it's not going to the least bit strange?" Buffy whispered. "We saw her kill someone. She was about to kill Dawn-"
"And Giles wouldn't let her leave unless she completed that whatever recovery course."
"Right." Dawn said, then saw the guilty look on Buffy. "Right?"
"She kinda didn't finish."
"She didn't finish? She didn't finish being *not* evil?" Dawn eyes widened.
"H-he said it was *really* important that she come back early and that she was doing *really* well and we shouldn't worry."
"Guys, I just noticed something." Buffy and Dawn looked at Xander. "Everyone's off the plane, so where's Willow?" The three of them looked around at the waiting area, worried.
~.~.~.~.~
# 21:23, Sunnydale Airport #
Willow walked out of the gate nervously. She looked around, trying to find her friends. When she couldn't find them, she sat on a chair nearby and waited.
After some time, all the people from the plant were gone. The gate closed. Still, no Xander, no Buffy. "Welcome home me." She whispered.
//Welcome home you.//
Willow smiled sadly at Tara who was sitting next to her.
~.~.~.~.~
# 22:41, Summers' Residence #
Willow knocked on the front door and waited. No one. She frowned, and went towards the backyard. She entered the house through the back door. Putting down her luggage, she shouted. "Hello?"
The redhead witch walked towards the second floor and she entered her former room - the room that belonged to Buffy now. She sighed. Looking out of the window, she put her palm on the cool glass, the scene of Tara's death replayed inside her head, just like the way she had for all these months. The sound, the blood, the death; the rage, the confusion, the sorrow...
She turned and looked at the photos around her.
Buffy and Xander smiling.
Buffy and Xander and Dawn, smiling.
Giles and Buffy, smiling.
Joyce, smiling.
//No room for Willow.//
She picked up the phone book on the desk, reading the first page with "FAMILY NUMBERS" written on it.
Buffy's work.
Xander's office.
Dawn's cell.
Giles.
//No room for Willow.//
A huge noise downstairs brought her back to reality. "Dawn? Is that you?" Willow dropped the phone book and rushed towards the front door. She looked around, and sighed again. No one.
//No one for Willow.//
She walked sadly towards the couch and lied down. Slowly, she closed her eyes, and let the darkness claimed her.
~.~.~.~.~
# 22:41, Summers' Residence #
"Giles absolutely said he put her on the plane in London." Buffy frowned as she opened the front door.
"So she got out in Chicago when they stopped?" Xander asked, stepping aside to let Dawn entered first.
"She could have caught a flight anywhere from there." Dawn said, stepped inside the house.
"Or she doubled back, got off the plan after Giles left in London." Buffy put her hand on her chin, thinking.
"If she's doing that, ducking Giles... then she's evil, right?"
"I avoided Giles tons of times and it just meant I was lazy, not evil." Xander protested.
"Well, I hope you're right, because defeating lazy Willow probably less hard." Buffy said quietly.
"We should check the messages, see if she tried to reach us here." Dawn supplied, still thinking if Willow's evil or not.
"Good idea." The slayer smiled. Xander closed the door firmly, making a huge sound.
THUMP!
"What's that?" The trio froze at the sudden noise.
"Upstairs." Buffy said, pointing at the second floor.
"Willow? Is that you?" Xander shouted. The three of them walked slowly towards the second floor, and found nothing except a phone book on the floor.
Walking back downstairs, Xander sat on the couch quietly.
"She didn't leave a message." Dawn shrugged, sitting beside Xander.
"I checked with Giles again. He hasn't heard from her." Buffy said, sitting beside her little sister.
"Is he throwing a tasteful British wiggins?" Xander gave her a small smile.
"With extra wig." Buffy sighed. "I think he's blaming himself pretty hard. Like, he should've known she wasn't ready. I kept telling him it wasn't his fault. I mean, maybe it's something about us she couldn't face-"
"Like she didn't think we were ready to forgive her?" Xander supplied, then sighed. "I get that."
"So Giles is blaming Giles and we're blaming us. Is anyone gonna blame Willow?"
Xander and Buffy looked at Dawn, shocked.
"Oh, don't give me shock faces. I mean, what I want to know is, will anyone around here ever ask for help when they need it? Instead everyone just keeps secrets, and suffers alone, and then we're supposed to be all sympathetic when they start ripping the skins off people or dragging their sisters into the basement!" Dawn paused, then frowned. "I may have some stuff to work through."
"Undoubtedly." Buffy recovered from her shock. "But you do have a point."
"I thought I might."
"If Willow's flipped out, it's her bad. We can only be here for her so much if she won't be, you know," Buffy looked at her sister and her friend. "Here."
The three of them looked up at the ceiling together, lost in their thoughts.
~.~.~.~.~
# 09:28, Summers' Residence #
"Yes... hello. I'm calling for Giles-" She shook her head a bit. "Um... Mr. Giles. Right..." Her face fell. "The Council meeting... No, I know he can't be reached there. Thanks. Bye." Putting down the phone, Willow sighed. She turned, and looked around at the empty house.
~.~.~.~.~
# 09:51, Magic Box #
"Anya!"
Anya, who was carrying a box of damaged merchandise walking out from the Magic Box, looked up when she heard someone calling her. Her eyes widened with fear when she saw Willow. Without second thought, she stepped back and tried to run.
//She's scared of you, Willow.//
"Don't Anya! Please don't run away." Willow prayed, walking closer to the vengeance demon slowly, not wanting to scare her more.
"What are you doing here?" Anya took a few more steps back, and said in a fearful voice. "I thought you were with Giles studying how to *not* kill people."
"I just got back."
"And you're back 'cos you're all better or you're back to bring about a fiery apocalypse of death?"
"Neither." She said hopefully. "But I have been studying. Working real hard..."
//Except skipping couple classes...//
"I'm going to be fine." Willow smiled a bit, trying to ensure the vengeance demon.
"Oh good. Because I remember the last time you said that. I've spent a lot of the time since then cleaning the debris out of my ex-livelihood, stuff like that."
"I want to help any way I can with that. I feel really responsible."
"You feel really responsible?! You are really responsible! You broke my store! Plus, you killed two people." Anya said angrily.
//You're the one who talked.//
Willow frowned a bit, stared at the now destoryed shop behind Anya, then turned her attention back to her. "I know I hurt you, and everyone. I'm sorry."
"Here's a little something you should know about vengeance demons. We don't groove with the 'sorry'. We prefer the 'oh God, please stop hitting me with my own rib-bones'!"
"Go on. Say whatever you want. Rib-bones and so forth. I deserve it."
"And you won't mind?"
Willow shook her head. "No."
"Well then that's no fun!" Anya pouted.
"Sorry." The redhead sighed and sat on the curb, watching the Sunnydale street sadly.
Anya sighed. She put down her box, sat quietly beside Willow. Willow smiled a bit.
"So," Willow tried to keep her tone casual. "Um, where is everybody these days?" She turned around, picked up a small demon head bone from the box, and start playing with it.
"Well, I'm back in my own apartment. And of course vengeance takes me all over the world. I was in Brazil yesterday. They love their soccer." Anya said, watching the street also.
"And... the others? Dawn and Xander and Buffy? Do you know where they are?"
"You haven't seen them?" Anya asked, feeling a little surprised.
"Not so much." She said sadly, still playing with the demon head, but her eyes kept watching the street.
//Quick! Put it back!//
Sensing the urgent tone in Tara's voice, she looking down, and found the cause. The horn on the head was broken. Her eyes' widened, and put it back into the box immediately.
Luckily, Anya didn't noticed. "Huh, guess they're still mad at you. They've been a little temperamental lately, just between you and me. We had a bit of a mix-up a few days ago-"
//We should find the others.//
"Right. Where do you think they'd be?" Willow asked Tara, but Anya answered her.
"Oh, at the new high school, probably. Everyone's all about the high school right now. Buffy's got some kind of job helping junior deviants. Spike is insane in the basement, and Xander's doing construction there on the gym."
Willow turned to Anya. "Spike's what in the what-ment?"
"Insane, base. And Xander does construction. He likes to start early so he's probably there by now."
"Oh."
~.~.~.~.~
# 10:32, Sunnydale High Construction Pit #
Walking near to the site, Willow couldn't help but aware how desert it was. There was no one nearby, no noise, no nothing. It scared her a little, especially since Tara had disappeared after they left the Magic Box. 'C'mon Rosenberg. What's your problem? You're a Scooby, remember?' She carefully climbed down the ladder into the pit. "Xander?" She shouted. "Are you there?"
She walked slowly, looking around. Suddenly a familiar smile hit her. She looked down, and saw skinless body lying in a pool of blood in front of her.
~.~.~.~.~
# 10:32, Sunnydale High Construction Pit #
"No skin." Buffy and Xander stood in front of the skinless body, staring at it.
"Tough to look at." Xander said quietly, trying hard not to throw up.
"And yet my eyes refuse to look away." Buffy rumbled. "Stupid eyes."
"I found it first thing this morning. I gave my crew the day off, called you right away."
"I gotta find a job where I'm not the one called right away for this stuff."
Xander turned and looked at the ladder behind him when he heard footsteps.
"Do you know what I'm thinking?"
"Yeah, I know *exactly* what you're thinking." Xander turned back and stared at the body again when he couldn't see anyone. "Maybe Willow's back."
~.~.~.~.~
# 10:46, corner near Sunnydale High Construction Pit #
Willow ran.
She never ran that fast before.
Not even when she was chased by vampires.
She couldn't take it anymore. She stopped at the corner of the street, bend down and puked. Her eyes filled with tears.
//Are you alright?//
Willow looked up and saw Tara staring at her.
"I'm fine." She wrapped up her tears. "Sorry. I just-"
//No need to explain to me Will.//
The witch smiled a bit. "Guess bathroom visit is in order, huh?"
~.~.~.~.~
# 11:02, Sunnydale High basement #
//Are you sure you want to do this?//
"I have to." Willow said, putting her resolve face on.
The two of them walked slowly in the maze like basement. Willow looked around, trying to find Spike. "Tara?"
Tara looked at the redhead witch.
"Thank you."
//For what?//
"For being here... for being with me."
Tara said nothing, but smiled. They stopped when they heard someone rumbling something in front of them. Willow stepped closer to the source.
"Spike?"
She turned to the corner, but saw nothing. She turned back.
"AHH!"
"Out! This is my place! You need permission to be here! You need a special slip with a stamp!"
"Spike?" Willow calmed herself down when she saw it was Spike who suddenly appeared in front of her. "My God, Spike. Anya said... what happened to you?"
"Can't you see?" He said angry. "Read it on my face! Look!"
"I don't-"
"You go off and try to wall up the bad spots, put your heart back in where it fell out, and you call yourself finished, but you're not. You're worse than ever, you are."
Suddenly, Spike looked calmed, then turned and stared at the empty space nearby. "You went away."
"I did. I needed to go. But I'm back, and I just found... there's a body..."
"Tragedy." Spike turned back at stared at Willow. "Is there blood?"
"Um, yeah. And I can't find Buffy or Xander or Dawn and now there's something killing people. The victim was skinned. What would do that?"
"You did it once. I heard about it."
Willow heart skipped a beat. "Anything other than... other than me?"
"Lots of things like skin. I mean, who doesn't like skin?"
"What kinds of things? I have to know. Is there anything else that could have done this?"
Spike stared at the empty space again.
"Look at you, glowing. What's a word means glowing? Gotta rhyme."
"Spike?" Willow frowned.
Spike suddenly tensed again. "I should hide, hide from you. Hide my face. You know what I did."
"What you did? You didn't do this." Willow paused. "Did you?"
"Not the time. Not the time. Probably better left unsaid anyway. Unsaid things grow healthy in the dark, little tadpoles..." Spike eyes widened. "Everyone's talking to me, no one's talking to each other."
"Please, try to listen to me..."
"Someone isn't here." Spike smiked, and started pacing. "Button, button, who's got the button? My money's on the witch. Red is a bad girl. They made her go away, you know. She told me. Shh."
"Spike. I'm... I'm sorry about whatever... but I think I should go." Willow turned and started to walk away, but stopped when she heard Spike's words.
"They think you did it."
Willow turned.
"The Slayer and her boy. They think you took the skin."
~.~.~.~.~
# 11:03, Sunnydale High basement #
"You can't use the blueprints to find your way around, down here. Seems like the walls move or something..." Xander sighed.
"I think I hear him." Buffy said quietly. They turned around the corner, and saw Spike speaking angrily.
"...and you call yourself finished, but you're not. You're worse than ever, you are."
"Spike." Nothing. "Spike!" Buffy shouted.
Spike turned, and calmed a bit when he saw Buffy. "You went away."
"Yeah. You scared me a little, in the church. I'm... I had to think. I didn't know what to think."
"We're here for a reason, Spike." Xander said.
"Tragedy." Spike turned and stared at the space at his right side. "Is there blood?"
"He knows. He must have seen the body."
"You did it once. I heard about it." Spike continued to talk to the air.
"We need to know who did it. Who skinned the boy out there?" Buffy tried to reason.
"Did you hear anything or see anything?" Xander stepped closer.
"Lots of things like skin. I mean, who doesn't like skin?"
Spike suddenly turned back and stared at Buffy. "Look at you, glowin'. What's a word means glowing? Gotta rhyme."
"Spike, please..."
Spike suddenly tensed again. "I should hide, hide from you. Hide my face. You know what I did."
"Boy, he's extra useful today..." Xander started to make another comment but Buffy stopped him.
"This isn't the time."
"Not the time. Not the time. Probably better left unsaid anyway. Unsaid things grow healthy in the dark, little tadpoles..."
Spike eyes widened. "Everyone's talking to me, no one's talking to each other."
Buffy sighed. "We might as well go." They turned and started to walk away.
"Someone isn't here." Spike smiked, and started pacing. "Button, button, who's got the button? My money's on the witch. Red is a bad girl. They made her go away, you know. She told me. Shh."
Buffy and Xander stopped, exchanged a look.
"Willow. He's talking about Willow."
"And that means something because he's chock-full-o-sanity." They turned and stared at Spike again.
"Well, it doesn't exactly make it less likely. Maybe he saw her." Buffy said.
"They think you did it." He paused. "The Slayer and her boy. They think you took the skin."
"Spike, is there something here? Something that killed?" Buffy frowned, trying to make sense of his words.
Xander, on the other hand, was focusing on a total different issue. "'Her boy'? I'm 'her boy'?"
"I have to go." Spike stepped back a little. "There's things here without permission and I have to check their slips, make sure they have authorization." He ran off, leaving a very confusing Buffy and Xander there.
~.~.~.~.~
# 11:44, Sunnydale Main Street #
Willow wondered around the Sunnydale street, trying to figure out what to do next. "What should I do Tara? I mean, we need to do something."
//You mean you.//
Willow stopped and stared at the blonde. "I..." Then sighed. "Yeah. I mean *I* need to do something." Feeling defeated, she started walking again. "May be a spell?"
//Locating spell?//
Willow nodded. "Someone should do it with me, make sure I'm okay."
//You can do it yourself. It's a simple spell.//
Willow stopped and stared at the blonde again. "You know I couldn't."
//Not could. Won't.//
Tara paused.
//You're scared.//
"Tara, you know what I did. How can anyone be *not* scared? How can *you* be *not* scared?" The redhead snapped.
//I 'm dead. What do you except?//
Willow paused, the shadow of losing Tara again started swallowing her. "I'm sorry I snapped." She whispered like a child seeking for forgiveness.
Tara said nothing, but watching Willow as she stared at the ground, feeling ashamed. After a whole minute, Tara broke the silence.
//We should get going.//
"Yeah." Willow said quietly. She was still staring at the ground, as if afraid that Tara would be gone if she looked up.
//It's lunch time. Go get something to eat.//
Willow nodded, walking towards the Summers' house, not aware of the strange look she got from by passers who saw her keep talking to herself.
~.~.~.~.~
# 16:12, Anya's Apartment #
"Alright! Keep your underpants on!" Anya shouted as someone pounding at her door. She rushed towards and opened it.
"I need help." Willow, standing in the corridor, said quietly.
"I don't have any money." Anya said.
Willow frowned, feeling ignored. "I don't want money!" She said, stepped inside the apartment without waiting for Anya's permission.
"Come in. Enjoy my personal space." Anya said angrily.
"I found a dead body near the high school."
"Yes, that can happen." Anya shrugged, walking towards the boxes in the apartment and started unpacking them.
"Something horrible killed a boy, Anya! Took his skin off!"
Both of them froze at the same them and stared at each other. "Was it you? NO!" They said at the same time.
"With the skin thing, they're definitely going to think it was you. Buffy is, anyway."
"Yeah." Willow sighed, running her hand through her hair. "Maybe she already does. I don't know. I just... I need to find
whatever really did it. I need to do something right."
"And so they'll see it wasn't you, right? I mean, that has to be part of it. Maybe you're even thinking, you kill this thing, they never even have to know about it, don't have to suspect you even for a minute?"
"I... I don't..." Willow shook her head a bit. "When did you get all insightful?"
"I'm surprisingly sensitive."
"So... will you help me?"
Anya sighed. "Is it difficult or time-consuming?"
~.~.~.~.~
# 17:31, Anya's Apartment #
After closing the blinds carefully, Willow sat on the floor opposite to Anya, facing each other, with a Sunnydale map lying between them.
"This isn't gonna get all sexy, is it?" Anya asked.
"You'd be shocked." Paused. "Okay. You have your powder?"
"Oh, I ate that." Willow stared at her. "I have it."
"We scatter it over the map, and everywhere there's a demon, it makes a little light." Willow said, picking up a jar.
"How pretty! Will it hurt the carpet?"
"No."
Willow closed her eyes and prepared herself. After some time, she opened her eyes. "Okay. Scatter."
They scattered the powder onto the map. Little white lights started glowing on it.
Anya pointed at one of the light spot. "Look! That's me! Hi me!" She waved at the light, feeling exciting. Then she pointed at the bright lights at the center of the map. "What's that huge clump?"
"The high school. It's all Hellmouthy underneath." Willow kept staring at the map, trying to figure out where was the demon that killed that boy.
"Yeah, things are stirred up lately." Anya frowned. "Is it... getting brighter or something?"
"Smoke!" Willow jumped up as flame brusted out from the 'huge clump' of light. She stomped out the fire.
"Okay, remember our talk about the carpet?" Anya said angrily.
Willow ignored her, but picked up the map, studing it. "That could be it. It's strong. It's near the body, and by itself. Hiding in the woods, or a cave... there's a couple of good caves around there..."
"I don't know, seems kinda thin to me."
"That's why you teleport over there real quick like a bunn-" Willow stopped herself when she got the look from Anya. "-real quick, and see if I'm right."
"Nope. Sorry. You damaged my carpet." Anya said, started clearning the carpet.
"Anya! It would take, like, a millisecond."
"I won't. Also. I can't."
"You're a vengeance demon. Just teleport!"
"Well, see... turns out, teleporting isn't a right, it's a privilege. I withdrew a vengeance spell last week and this is my punishment. I can only teleport for official business. Have to file a flight plan and everything."
"Wow." Willow face fell. "I'm sorry. That must be hard."
"Yeah, it bites a pretty big one. And the vengeance itself? It's not as fulfilling as I remember."
"Really? Because I got the impression you enjoyed, you know," She got the look from Anya again. "Inflicting."
"Well, see, causing pain sounds really cool, I know, but it turns out, it's really upsetting. It didn't used to be, but now it is."
"Is it like, you're scared of losing that feeling again, and having it be okay to hurt people and then you're not in charge of the power anymore because it's in charge of you?"
"Wow, that was really overdramatically stated, but yeah, that's it."
"I get it. Believe me." Willow sighed, looking down at the carpet.
Anya stared at the redhead witch. "I'm sorry, Willow. I wish it was better for you."
Willow looked up and gave her a small smile. "You too."
"It did get a little sexy, didn't it?"
Willow paused, shook her head and changed the subject immediately. "I have to go find this monster." She took the map and walked towards the door.
"Hey, Willow?" Willow turned around. "Isn't there another spell? I mean, you're trying to find Buffy and Xander. Couldn't we use a spell to do that?"
"I did. I tried. But something went gaflooey and it didn't work."
"What did it say?"
"It said they don't exist." Willow said sadly, opened the door and left.
~.~.~.~.~
# 16:56, Summers' Residence #
Xander and Buffy were sitting at the table, reading, while Dawn was sitting in front of the computer. The trio was busy researching on the body they found earlier.
"I looked up demons that "skin" their victims and demons that "flay" their victims. Because, you know, same thing. There's a ton of prospects." Dawn said, busying typing on the keyboard.
"Spike may have gone to the land of the twirly hand gesture next to the temple, but he was right. Everybody likes skin." Xander said, reading a book.
"Anything else gone? Eyeballs or toenails or viscera?" Dawn paused when the other two stared at her. "That's guts."
"She knows about viscera." Buffy told Xander. "Makes you proud."
"Just skin." Xander turned to the slayer's sister.
"Okay, I'll work on that."
Buffy closed the book she was reading and went towards the weapon chest. She stared at her blades. Xander walked towards her. "What's up?"
"I..." Buffy looked stressed. "I need to do something. And I just have this feeling in my gut-"
"In your viscera." Xander corrected her.
"-that we already know exactly who did this. And all this work, it's just us trying to talk ourselves into thinking Willow's alright."
"She is." Xander frowned.
"See?"
"Hey Guys!" Dawn shouted, getting their attention. "I got a good one."
Xander and Buffy walked towards Dawn and stared at the screen over her shoulder.
"Demon called Gnarl. He's a parasite with these nasty long fingernails. He secretes something through them and he uses that to paralyze his victims. Then he cuts strips of skin off while they're still alive. He starts in the middle, like belly-button-centric, and works out. It takes hours."
"We didn't find any strips of skin. Which, by the way, grh." Xander made a face.
"You wouldn't." Dawn continued. "He eats them. That's why he's a parasite. It's like his natural food."
"I don't know, Dawn. You're new at this-" Dawn stared at Buffy. "-and I get why you're proud of finding this, but I don't see why this guy is any more likely than all the others."
"'Cos you guys never said 'pool of blood.'"
"What?"
"You get your skin ripped off, normally you'd end up in a pool of blood. You never mentioned one."
"There were lots of spatters, no pool." Buffy was confused.
"Then it's the guy. He laps up the blood. You could say it's like, his natural beverage."
Xander stared at Dawn. "You're terrifying."
Dawn smiled. "Now if we just knew how to find this thing."
"We could ask around at Willy's-"
"Or we could be smart." Buffy paused, and turned to Xander. "Sorry, Xander."
"What?"
Buffy changed the subject immediately. "Whoever did this, they had to get blood on them. And they'd leave a trail-"
"Right, minute traces of blood." Dawn said.
"-and we have a way to track it."
"We have a-" Dawn thought for a moment. "Oh. I get it."
"What? How?" Xander looked between the sisters. "What's going on?"
~.~.~.~.~
# 18:47, Sunnydale Woods #
"William's a good boy. Carries the water, carries the sin. It's supposed to yet easier. It's supposed to help to help. 'Cept it doesn't. And it's still so heavy-" Spike kept mumbling while Xander, Dawn and Buffy followed him right behind, trying to trace the demon.
"We should've put him on a leash." Xander told Buffy.
"Yeah, let's tie ourselves to the crazy vampire!"
"Really think it's working?" Xander asked again, staring at the back of Spike.
"It's pretty easy. Spike follows the exciting smell of blood. We follow the fairly ripe smell of Spike."
"It's smellementary!" Dawn beamed, ignored the strange look given by the other two. "Also, I bet there's tons of stuff like this, procedures we can use that don't involve spells, just good solid detective work. Like, we could develop a database of tooth-impressions and demon skin samples. And I could wear high heels more."
"Wow, that was so close to being empowered." Buffy smiled at her sister.
"Well, everyone wants a slender ankle." Dawn shrugged.
"Oof." Xander rushed into Spike's back who stopped suddenly.
"This is it. End of the line, everyone off." Spike turned and stared at Xander. "Keep your ticket. You'll need that."
"This is a rock cliff." Buffy stared at the cliff in front of them.
"Hey, Buffy, give him a break. Maybe it's a vicious skin-eating rock cliff." Xander laughed.
Spike stared at Xander, felling disgusted. "'S got a cave in it. Look." He pointed at small opening on the cliff nearby, then turned to Buffy. "I'm insane. What's his excuse?"
~.~.~.~.~
# 18:48, Sunnydale Woods #
"We're here." Willow took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.
//I don't like this. Don't go.//
Willow gave Tara a sad smile. "I had to."
~.~.~.~.~
# 18:50, Sunnydale Woods - Cave #
Xander, Buffy and Dawn carefully crawled through the small opening into the cave. It was large and dark, even with the moonlight shined through the hole at the ceiling.
"Dark and dank. I was hoping it would be dark and dank-"
"Shh." Buffy silenced Xander. "Listen. You hear that?"
"I don't-" Xander paused. "I do now."
"Something's moving." Dawn said, looking around.
"Guess we're at the right place."
~.~.~.~.~
# 18:50, Sunnydale Woods - Cave #
Willow looked around the dark cave, and started walking. She stopped suddenly when she heard some strange noise - something was moving inside the cave.
"Look at the shorn lamb." A voice echoed inside the cave. "See how it trembles. Is it the cold wind? Or is it-"
~.~.~.~.~
# 18:50, Sunnydale Woods - Cave #
"-that the flock is nowhere to be seen?"
The trio looked around nervously.
"Poor little lamb, all alone..."
"You guys hear that?" Dawn asked.
"Yep." Xander walked closer to Buffy.
"It's echoing around. He sounds close but-"
Suddenly a shadow launched at Dawn. Before anyone could react, a claw went throw Dawn's stomach, drawing blood. Dawn screamed.
"DAWN!" Buffy and Xander rushed towards Dawn. Buffy held Dawn up while Xander guided them.
"Where'd he go?" Xander looked around, frustrated.
"Dawn, you okay?"
Dawn looked down at her injured stomach, her face blank. "Paralyze..." She fell into Buffy's arms, unable to move.
"Dawn!" Buffy turned to Xander. "We gotta get her out of here!" They held Dawn up, and carried her away quickly.
"We can't deal with him now. Seal him in!"
~.~.~.~.~
# 18:51, Sunnydale Woods - Cave #
"Who's there?" Willow looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. She walked deeper into the cave.
The redhead witch turned when she heard some noise coming from the entrance. A huge rock came out from nowhere and blocked the only way out. "NO!" She shouted, rushing towards the small opening. "Stop!"
Willow pounded on the rock, but it didn't move at all. She turned back, terrified, as laughter filled the cave.
"No way out now. No way out."
"Protect me, Goddess. In thy name, I supplicate myself. Take the powers from my enemy, and lay him lower than the lowest field." Willow waited, but nothing happened.
"Gnarl loves spells. He keeps them as pets. They love him. And they leave him alone." The voice laughed.
"You may be immune to magic, but I've got more than that." Willow said nervously. "You wanna fight?"
"Your friends left you here." It said in a singsong voice. "No one comes to save you. They wanted me to have you." It laughed again. "Did they leave you as a gifty for me? Are you a tasty little gifty?"
"Stop it!" Willow shouted.
"Or did they just throw you away?"
"Were they here?" Willow looked around, still trying to find the source of the voice. "Were my friends really here?"
Suddenly a shadow launched at Willow. A claw went through Willow stomach. She fell back and sank to the floor. A short green-skinned creature with long fingernails and pointy ears stood in front of her.
"They were here." It smiled, stepping closer to Willow. Willow couldn't move, but only staring at it helplessly. "Here they were. And there they went." It sang. "Gone, all gone, what a pretty song." It paused, stepped even closer to her, and pulled her leg, dragging her deeper into the cave. "They sealed you in with me. I love a gifty. Can't wait to unwrap it."
~.~.~.~.~
# 19:23, Summers' Residence #
Buffy and Xander, one carrying Dawn's head, one carrying her legs, carefully walked into the house.
"OK, watch the head." Buffy said while Xander slowly stepped inside.
"Gotcha."
"WATCH MY HEAD! WATCH MY HEAD!" Dawn shouted in a not so clear tone since she couldn't move her mouth.
Buffy and Xander put her down to the couch, but face down on it.
"FACE UP! FACE UP!" Dawn shouted again.
"Oh right." Xander rolled her up.
"Okay, I'm gonna check the computer. Find that page. See if there's an antidote." Buffy said, leaving the room and checked on the computer.
"It'll be all right. We'll get you fixed up." Xander smiled at Dawn. "You'll be doing limbo in no time."
"Yeah, as a pole."
"No, not as a pole. I promise."
"Oh, got it." Buffy shouted from the dinning room. "It says the paralysis is permanent." Dawn eyes widened - well, as wide as she could get in her state. "No, oh, wait, my bad. Permanent until the creature dies. Sorry." Buffy walked back to the living room. "Guess we have to go back."
"We can't just leave her here like this. What if she vomits?"
"I won't vomit." Dawn protested.
"Do you think she'll vomit?" Buffy frowned, stepped back a little.
"Stop talking about vomit!"
"I'll call Anya. She can watch her."
"Right, she'll love being called for vomit watch." Xander said.
"Stop talking about vomit!"
~.~.~.~.~
# 19:23, Sunnydale Woods - Cave #
"Gnarl makes a pretty picture." Gnarl slowly scratched through Willow's stomach. "It's easy when you know how. It's easy when everyone helps. They helped me." He licked the blood on his fingernails, smiling. "Too bad there's no one to help you."
It turned it attention from his fingernails back to the stomach, slowly, it removed a strip of her skin from her wounds and ate it. It purred, then bent over and licked her wound.
Willow lied there, helpless. She couldn't feel any pain, but she could hear the sound of the skin removing piece by piece from her, and the noise Gnarl was making while it sucked her blood.
//Told you.//
Willow looked up, and saw her dead girlfriend standing next to her.
"I'm sorry..." Willow sobbed.
//You never listen to me.//
Tara smiled sadly.
"I'm sorry..."
//If you died, I'll be lost. Forever. You know that.//
"No..."
//Why are you doing this Willow? Why?//
"Please babe..." Willow tried to move, tried to touch her, to do anything, but couldn't. "I'm sorry... I'm so so sorry..."
//Do you want me to leave?//
"NO! PLEASE!" But before Willow could say anything, Tara disappeared. "TARA!"
~.~.~.~.~
# 19:35, Summers' Residence #
"I bet she's dying." Anya said, watching Dawn lying on the couch, helpless.
"She's not dying. She's just paralyzed." Buffy protested.
"Oh. Paralyzed how?"
"Paralyzed how?" Xander frowned. "In the not moving way."
"Well, there's lots of different ways. Did you try this?" Anya walked closer to Dawn, and lifted her legs up in 90 degrees. It held there and didn't fell.
"Hey!" Dawn and Buffy shouted.
"Oh! You're poseable." Xander smiled, picking up an sword from the weapon chest.
"She's poseable?" Buffy picked up a can of nuts on the coffee table, watched in interest.
"It's a common variety. Watch this." Anya rearranged Dawn so that she was sitting on the couch upright, her legs still hanging in the air.
"Huh. Neat as you please. Hardly a need to undo her."
"Where'd you get the nuts?" Buffy asked, her mouth full of nuts.
"Brazil." Anya took the can from Buffy's hand. "No need to thank me, by the way, for sitting with her. I'm feeling very benevolent today. Helping Willow. Helping you. You might even call it even for that whole worm thing last week."
"Yeah, I don't think-" Realization hit Buffy. "Wait, you saw Willow?"
"Um-hmm. Oh, she's looking for you, by the way. Decided you might be out in some cave. Sounded pretty tenuous." Anya said causlly.
"Cave?" Dawn asked.
"Anya, listen." Buffy turned Anya around so she would be facing her. "This is really important. Did Willow go to that cave?"
"Mm-hmm. Last time I saw her, that's where she was headed." Anya turned back to Dawn. "Shall I make her salute? That'd be very cute."
"Xander, she could be there right now. Willow could be trapped with the Gnarl."
"Uh, it's not 'the Gnarl', just 'Gnarl'." Anya played with Dawn's hand, making her into a salute pose. "Oh, wouldn't it be tragic if you were here being kinda silly with your comically paralyzed sister while Willow was dying?"
Buffy picked up an axe from the chest. "Anya, you know about this creature?" Anya nodded. She handed Anya the axe. "You're coming with us."
~.~.~.~.~
# 19:58, Sunnydale Woods - Cave #
Willow stared hard at the ceiling. She couldn't move, and Gnarl was immune to magic, but that didn't mean she couldn't work the way around. She was not about to die and lost Tara again. She focused on the rock hugging there, hoping that she would have enough energy to crack it, and with luck, it would hit the monster. The rock shook a little, but didn't fell.
"C'mon." She focused harder. Suddenly, Gnarl jumped away from her, and ran towards something.
~.~.~.~.~
# 19:58, Sunnydale Woods - Cave #
Buffy busted into the cave. Gnarl jumped up and rushed towards her. The slayer tried to cut him with her sword, but it jumped away and disappeared.
Buffy looked around, trying to find Willow and Gnarl. "What's going on? Where's Willow?"
"She's right here." Anya kneed down nearby. "Can't you see her? She's hurt!"
"What? Where?" Xander kneed beside Anya, holding out his hands and felt around. "There's nothing here."
"Your hand's going right through her." She turned to Buffy while Xander held his hands back immediately. "What's going on?"
"I don't know, but I'm starting to get why we haven't seen her."
"Because we haven't seen her." Xander shouted, still trying to figure out what to do.
"Behind you!" Anya shouted. Buffy stepped back, just missed Gnarl's fingernails.
"Close one." Buffy started attacking Gnarl again.
"Remember what I said. Get him in the eyes." Anya turned back to Willow. "I'm here. Wow, you're really hurt."
"What's going on?" Willow looked around but couldn't see anything except Gnarl jumping around.
"Buffy's fighting the demon over there, see. But if they get too close, I'm gonna have to run."
"I don't see."
"But they're here. Buffy and Xander."
"They came? They didn't leave me?"
"No, they didn't leave you. They can't see you."
"They're here. They're here. I'm not alone. I'm not alone..."
"Good." Anya frowned. "You're doing really good."
Buffy used a dragger to block out Gnarl's claw. Gnarl jumped, leaped over the slayer's head and landed behind her. Buffy turned and ducked, stabbed his foot with her dagger. Gnarl screamed, and without a second thought, Buffy plumbed her thumbs into his eyes. Gnarl was dead.
"Ew. Ew. Thumbs? I can't believe you did that." Xander stared at the slayer, feeling disgusted.
Anya turned to Willow. "Oh, Buffy killed the demon. It was gross."
"I can... I can move. Oh..." Willow moaned, then closed her eyes, trying to block out the pain.
"Willow? Are you here?" Buffy ran and stood beside Anya, looking around.
"Where is she? Is she alive?"
"She's right here." Anya looked at the wound on Willow's stomach. "She's hurt really bad, you guys. I'm gonna go get help." Without waiting, Anya left the cave immediately.
"I think she's sort of-" Xander gestured, pointing at the area in front of him. "-here-ish."
"Willow? W-we can't exactly see you, but we're really glad that you're back. I-I don't know how badly you're hurt, but-"
Suddenly, Willow appeared on the ground in front of them, talking.
"-I couldn't find you guys and I looked everywhere. And the demon said that you left me and-" Willow looked up. "Oh, there you are. There you are! Don't go away."
"We're not going away." Xander said, and turned to see her wound. "Oh, God."
"It's gonna be okay, Willow. You're gonna be okay." Buffy kneed beside Willow, trying hard not to cry when she saw Willow's stomach.
Willow smiled sadly.
~.~.~.~.~
# 10:44, Summers' Residence #
Willow sat on the bed in Buffy's old bedroom, meditating. Buffy walked up to the door, watching her for a minute, then turned away. But before she left, Willow opened her eyes.
"Buffy."
Buffy turned back, facing Willow. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."
"That's all I had left in me anyway."
Buffy walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "I didn't realize meditating was such hard work."
"I'm healing. Growing new skin."
"Wow. That's magic, right? I mean, when most people when they meditate don't get extra skin, right? 'Cos Clem should, like, cut back."
Willow smiled a bit. "It's magic. I'm drawing power from the earth to heal myself."
"We're on the second floor."
"You know Giles says everything's part of the earth. This bed. The air. Us."
"Explains why my fingernails get dirty even when I don't do anything."
"Plus you stuck your thumbs in a demon."
"True." Buffy watched as Willow leaned back on the headboard, look exhausted. "You're wiped out. I should go."
"No. Please stay." Willow prayed. "I missed you so much when I couldn't find you."
"We missed you too. I missed you. Dawn's working on what caused the mutual no-see-ums, but so far we haven't-"
"I did it." Willow looked down.
Buffy stared at her best friend. "You did a spell?"
"No!" Willow paused. "I mean, I didn't mean to. I-I just remembered thinking I wasn't ready to see you guys yet. I was afraid we wouldn't, you know, connect."
"So, you made it happen just by thinking it?"
"Guess I have a ways to go before I master my powers, huh?" Willow looked up at Buffy again.
"It's OK. As long as you're all right."
"It's nice to be forgiven. Too bad I need so much of it."
"I have a confession to make." Willow looked at Buffy. "I thought it might be you. With the flaying."
"I know."
"I wanna be the kind of person that wouldn't think that. Xander never thought it."
"He did, a little. Heck, I did a little. Xander has the luxury of not saying it, but you're the slayer. You have to say stuff like that. It's OK. It's okay too if you still don't think I can recover from this magic stuff, 'cos honestly, I'm not that sure about it either." Willow sighed. She sat upright, closed her eyes and started to meditate again.
"I thought you were too tired."
The redhead witch opened her eyes. "It hurts too much not to try."
"I'm sorry."
"It just takes so much strength. I don't have that much."
Buffy thought for a moment, then took Willow's hands. "I got so much strength, I'm giving it away."
"Are you sure?"
"Will it help?"
Willow nodded. "Much."
Buffy sat cross-legged across Willow, and they started meditate together.
Unknowing of those two, a three figure was standing near the nightstand, watching them.
//Willow...//
~.~.~.~.~
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