Disclaimer: The following story is intended for entertainment purposes only. This document can be freely distributed with the condition that no part of the text is modified, and this notice is included with all copies.
Some characters and elements of this story are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy and are used without authorization. No copyright infringement is intended. The author receives no compensation from the distribution of this work. Any comments or criticism would be welcome.
Note: This story follows on from "No Longer Looking", and should only be read after that one.
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Part One
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Willow opened her eyes, waking abruptly, her heart still racing as a result of her dream. She swallowed dryly.
"It was just a dream," she told herself. "Nothing to worry about."
But it was enough to stop her from going back to sleep. She yawned widely.
* * *
Mr Giles removed his glasses to rub his tired eyes, then turned his focus back to the book. He struggled to translate the text.
"After the looker becomes his own enemy and dies, the new looker shall bring troubled times to the Slayer."
He frowned. "Oh, the Watcher!" he exclaimed. "I'd better get packed."
* * *
"So I saved the day by eating the..." Xander trailed off as he realised that Willow and Buffy were no longer paying attention to him.
"G...? Who are you?" asked Buffy, abruptly, interrupting Ade and the stranger, who were apparently having a heated argument.
The man turned to her. "Civilians? How could you allow them to endanger themselves. What kind of Watcher are you?"
Ade sighed. "Well that is Buffy, hardly a civilian. And these are her friends, Willow and Xander. They've been helping me acclimate."
"You let them? That is against the very code of..."
"Your cousin let them, although from what I've seen I don't think he had a choice," smiled Ade.
"Oh. Well, why...?"
"Cousin?" asked Buffy, Willow and Xander together.
"What kind of library is this?" asked Snyder, standing in the doorway. "I expend all this effort getting kids to study, be punctual, and preferably remain quiet, and then the staff start making ridiculous amounts of unruly noise. Don't think I didn't notice you either, Summers," he added as he once more exited the library. "Good grief, first Giles is careless enough to let them get to him, and now this..."
A stunned silence enveloped the library, which was finally broken by Buffy.
"I'm sorry about Giles," she told Giles' cousin sincerely. "I let him down. I wasn't there when it mattered."
"I'm sure that wasn't true," he smiled. "From what I heard from my cousin, which was admittedly less than I'd like, you are an excellent Slayer, and he was very proud of you. I'm sure he wouldn't want you to feel this way." He paused. "Francis Giles, how do you do. Why don't you let me take you for a tea, I mean, err, coffee? Get to know one another a little."
Buffy smiled back. "I'd like that."
Willow lowered her eyes as they left the room, once again thinking of her part in Giles' death. But she said nothing, instead she turned to Buffy's new Watcher, Ade. "Why was he upset with you? You didn't do anything did you?"
The tall, young Watcher shrugged. "He said I'm a bad Watcher. That my lack of expertise could well get Buffy killed. It's true I'm not much good with books, but I haven't finished scanning them all into the computer yet."
"Well we could help you scan stuff in if you like," offered Willow, eagerly. "Something useful I can do."
"And I will simply decorate the library by making it look untidy," added Xander. "Or used. Yes, it's important that it looks like the library gets some actual use."
Ade grinned. "Thanks, guys."
"You can help me, Xander. With the books?" suggested Willow.
"Ooooo, a post as assistant. Sure, Will," agreed Xander.
Leaving Xander to put a book on the scanner, Willow grabbed the mouse next to the computer. There was a loud bang and a smell of burning plastic.
"But I..." began Willow, bewildered.
Ade began to laugh, unable to help himself.
"I-I only touched the mouse!" she exclaimed. "That's not normal. They're not supposed to do that."
"Come on, Will. We'd better get out of here before Snyder smells something," chuckled Xander.
"I-I'm sorry, Ade," stammered Willow.
"No worries, I'm sure I can fix it. It's probably been waiting to do that to someone for weeks," he grinned. As Willow and Xander left the library he turned to the computer. "And you, are not going to get away with that. Oh no, I'll have you, I will..."
* * *
Everything was dark. Willow was surrounded by darkness, and there was nothing she could do. She couldn't even run.
She screamed, waking herself up with a start.
"Not again," she groaned.
* * *
"Hey, Will. How's it going?" Xander greeted her cheerfully.
"Hey," she replied, less enthusiastically.
"Well, you're not your usual happy self," pointed out Xander. "What's up?"
"Yeah, you look like death warmed up, Will. What gives?" added Buffy.
"I just had trouble sleeping," mumbled Willow. "Nothing serious, just your average nightmare. I'll be OK."
"What happened?" asked Buffy.
"Was it to do with slayage?" enquired Xander.
"I'm, umm, not really sure. I just woke up kind of suddenly."
"I know that feeling," sympathised Buffy.
"At least you have nightmares for a purpose," argued Willow. "I feel like I'm being all cowardly."
"You are so not being cowardly, Will," reassured Buffy.
"It's just the price we pay for helping to save the world, Will. There are gonna be downsides," grinned Xander.
"Yeah," she agreed. "Slayerettes rule, coz we help the Slayer. And are usually totally uncowardly."
* * *
"How do you do that, Will?" asked Xander.
"What?"
"Stay awake all through math class. I can only manage 2 seconds before my mind just goes blank and my head finds this irresistible urge to rest on the table. I just can't fight it."
"Or the drooling," added Buffy.
"Hey!" objected Xander. "I do not drool in my sleep. Well, not in class anyway. Well, when I say I don't drool, I mean..."
"... Xander?" Willow nudged him.
"What? Oh, the library. Ooooo, joy, an evening of vampires and books and prophecies, I'll bet."
"W-well we did promise to help Ade with the scanning," Willow reminded him.
"That was before you blew up the computer, Will. He is so never going to let you near that again."
Buffy raised an eyebrow, surprised, but chose not to ask. "Well, speaking of vampires. I have to bail. I promised Giles-mark-2 I'd do some training with him tonight. Y'know, the usual."
"But, Ade's..." began Willow.
"See ya later," called Buffy, already halfway down the corridor.
"Oh," remarked Willow.
"Well we don't look silly," muttered Xander, following Willow into the library.
Willow giggled quietly, causing Ade to look up.
"Oh, hi Willow," he grinned. "I'm just taking revenge on the computer for you." He gestured at the mass of cables which surrounded him. "I'm thinking permanent rewiring will probably do the trick."
"Oh man. Computer wizards. Y'know I was much happier when computers were just white boxes with little tiny men working inside," groaned Xander.
"I think the men ran off when I started the rewiring," grinned Ade. "But I did get an apology first."
Willow smiled. "Do you want any, um, help?"
Ade glanced round at his tangled mass of cables. "Nah, you look tired, go home, have a night off. Besides, I don't think I can cope with another explosion right now. I'd have to call it mutiny."
* * *
"Ha," said Ade to himself, fitting the case back round the computer.
He sat down at the computer, triumphantly watching as it successfully booted. He was tempted to start playing a game, but thought better of it. Instead, he looked over at the mass of books still to be scanned in. As he did so, he noticed a small sphere, which had apparently been knocked while he'd been on the floor wiring.
He gazed at it intently before going to pick it up. It was glowing.
"Unngh! Don't understand," he groaned, wondering what on Earth could be making it glow. He felt as though the books were glaring at him, almost threatening him for failing to use them properly.
"OK. If that's how you want it," he told them, trying not to worry too much about the fact that he was talking to a pile of dusty old books.
* * *
Willow ran as the darkness seemed to close in on her, terrified. Finally, it surrounded her. All she could see was the darkness which reached out to touch her. She screamed.
* * *
Xander and Buffy exchanged horrified glances at the state of Willow. She looked as though she hadn't slept in a week, and her manner was strangely distant and nervous.
"C'mon, Will, my buddy. Tell me what's going on," pleaded Xander, casually placing his arm over her shoulders.
"We gotta get you to the library," announced Buffy, pulling one of Willow's limp arms.
"OK. Library good," mumbled Willow, as Xander and Buffy moved her carefully between the gathering crowds of students waiting for school to start.
"What is it, Will? You can tell me, I'm your bestest bud," persisted Xander. "And keeper of many nightmares."
"The dark," she whispered, shaking slightly at the memory. "The dark came t-to get me."
"Whoa, Will. Calm down. See, all light here. Absolutely no darkness, except in closets. Which we are definitely not visiting."
Willow chuckled slightly. "Bad closets."
"Yeah," grinned Buffy. "Closets are not good for your health. Note taken."
"Ah ha, the library. Home of the books. And the librarian, or, well. Kinda," babbled Xander, trying to keep Willow's mind off her nightmare.
"Actually, guys. If you don't mind, I'm gonna bail. This smells sorta wiggy, I wanna go ask Francis about it."
"Giles' cousin?" asked Willow gently, "you’re on first name terms?"
"Yeah, what about Ade, your new Watcher?" asked Xander.
"He's cool, I just wanna see Francis," pouted Buffy. "Weirdness."
"See ya then," smiled Willow, trying to appear cheerful.
"You take care, Will," said Buffy seriously.
"It's OK, Buff. Darkness I can handle," grinned Xander, sticking out his chest.
As Buffy ran off down the corridor, Xander propelled the weary Willow into the library. "Hey, Ade," he called. "Weirdness."
"Hmmm, like what?" called Ade, from behind a pile of books.
"Willow's nightmares. Nasty darkness. Spooky things. On familiar territory yet?" asked Xander.
"Yes!" cried Ade, leaping out from behind the books and pointing happily at the small glowing sphere on the desk. "Yes."
"You did hear me right. Nasty, scary dreams. Bad things getting Willow?"
"Why's it glowing?" asked Willow.
"Oooooo, night light," commented Xander.
"In a way," replied Ade. "You said you'd been having nightmares, Willow? About darkness?"
"Y-yes. It came to get me, like it was going to swallow me, a-and I couldn't get away," she replied.
"I think this might be yours," announced Ade, handing her the sphere.
"Pol gave it to me, w-when he died," stammered Willow, hesitating slightly. "It's not really mine."
"Oh yes it is," grinned Ade. "Someone knew they sent me to meet you. And this, is yours." He placed the sphere firmly in her hand.
Willow glanced down at the sphere. "I can feel it!" she cried, surprised.
Neither Xander nor Ade responded, they were too mesmerised by the transformation taking place before them. As they watched, worn Willow became glowing, energetic Willow.
"Quite astounding," commented Francis, catching the end of the transition as he entered the library with Buffy.
"Wow, go Willow," gasped Buffy.
"You," began Ade dramatically. "Are a sun maker, Willow."
"I-I'm a what?" asked Willow. "Are you sure you didn't get me confused with somebody else? L-like Buffy?"
"No way, not me. I don't do that instant energy thing," replied Buffy.
"Well cool, Will. You gonna do that again sometime?" asked Xander excitedly.
Willow grinned. "If it comes without the nightmares next time."
"How did you, err, discover this, Adrian?" asked Francis.
Ade grinned. "I just saw the sphere glowing. I felt like such a spanner, not realising before!"
"Well it is to be commended. A-and I must say, it seems I owe you an apology, f-for my earlier behaviour." Francis held his hand out and the two men firmly shook hands.
"No problem."
"So what now?" asked Xander. "Come on, you gotta tell us what a sun maker does. Can she spontaneously make toast, as many suns have been known to do with a lack of suncream, or..."
"Xander!" protested Willow.
"It's a hair thing isn't it? You always looked like your hair was on fire, Will."
Francis glared at him. "I think the question now is what these nightmares mean. I personally have never met a ghrian, but I've heard that their nightmares are meaningful, as with a Slayer. This would certainly warrant some research." He glanced at Ade. "If you don't mind, that is."
Ade nodded. "Please do. I haven't managed to scan all the books in yet. I got distracted." He winked at Willow, who was trying not to look guilty.
"Well, I'll get started then," announced Francis eagerly. "My, my the ghrian and the Slayer under one roof, incredible."
"So now we're in research mode?" asked Buffy.
"And this is because...?" added Xander.
"B-because of me. I had nightmares about the darkness. And we need to know why," answered Willow.
"Ooooo, research party," groaned Xander.
"Oh boy, books," muttered Buffy, taking a book offered to her by Francis and curling up in one corner.
"And I can search the net," smiled Willow, once more her usual cheerful self.
"Actually." Ade stopped her. "I was wondering if you could go to sleep, see if you could remember more of the dream you had?"
"She said it was a nightmare, you can't make her go back!" objected Xander, glancing at Willow's worried face.
"I-I'll be OK. I'll do it, if it'll help," agreed Willow nervously.
"You'll be fine now you have the sphere," Ade told her. "No need to worry. You'll probably remember more clearly too. Quite safe with the sphere."
"Perhaps if you keep an eye on her, Xander," suggested Francis. "To ensure she doesn't drop the sphere."
Xander nodded. "Sure, watch Will sleep. Sounds restful. Do you talk in your sleep, Will?"
"And you could see if the local vampires have anything planned, Buffy," suggested Ade. "They might know something, I suppose."
"Sure! I should patrol anyway," said Buffy brightly. "See you guys later," she called, already on her feet and halfway out of the door.
* * *
This time the nightmare seemed more detached somehow, less personal. Calmly, Willow observed the darkness as it slowly covered Sunnydale. This time the darkness hardly seemed to touch her, instead she saw herself glowing lightly, as the sphere had earlier.
Then the vampires began to rise, surrounding them. There were too many for Buffy to handle, and there was no sign of Angel. Helplessly, Willow turned to Xander and Ade, who stood beside her. But there was nothing they could do either, they were hopelessly outnumbered.
As something grabbed her from behind, Willow opened her mouth to scream.
* * *
"Ha. Take that!" cried Ade triumphantly, earning a surprised stare from Francis.
"Excuse me?"
"There's going to be an eclipse," grinned Ade. "That has to be it, it'd be bound to disturb her, after all."
"Well yes, but do you think that's all it is? An eclipse, whilst interesting, isn't normally considered to be a threat to one's life," replied Francis.
"True. A good point," conceded Ade. "I'll get back on it, no problem. I will defeat it."
"Quite," agreed Francis.
* * *
Xander watched Willow sleeping, trying not to let her slow, regular breathing hypnotise him. He had begun to pace in a desperate attempt to remain awake, when she suddenly stirred and mumbled in her sleep. Quickly, he knelt by her side.
"Will? Will, you OK?" he shook her gently, wanting to relieve her of any nightmare she may be experiencing, despite Ade's assurances. Initially, she remained asleep, then, abruptly, she screamed. Xander jumped out of his skin. "Will! Wake up, it's not real!" He shook her again, more violently this time.
"Xander? Huh?" Willow mumbled sleepily. "Oh." She sat up, more sure of herself. "I'm in the library?"
"Good guess, Will. And you just gave me a heart-attack, definitely not good for the health."
"Oh, sorry."
"So? Are you OK? What happened? Tell all. Well, OK, not all. Tell most. But then that sounds stupid..." Xander began to babble as he realised that his best friend was perfectly all right, and he could release his tightly wound nerves.
"Yeah. It wasn't just the dark this time either, Xand. There were vampires, and..."
"... How did I know the undead were just gonna have to be in on this one? It's like they have no lives of their own, which I suppose they don't. And?"
Willow shuddered. "One of them grabbed me, I think. And they were all around us."
"Breathe, Will. No bad men here," grinned Xander.
"OK, breathing, not thinking. But got to tell Francis and Ade," she remembered.
"Yeah, Will, but coherent would be nice first. Breathe, remember?"
* * *
Willow and Xander re-entered the main part of the library to find Francis and Ade thoroughly engrossed. Neither of the adults noticed their presence until Willow giggled slightly.
"They look so at home," she chuckled.
"I think that's coz they are, Will."
"Hmm?" Francis looked up from his book, and finally registered Willow and Xander standing watching him. "Oh, you're awake. Adrian? ADRIAN!" Francis shouted at Ade, who was rocking slightly to the beat on his headphones. Failing to draw his attention, Francis kicked him under the desk.
"Ow!" yelped Ade. "Oh, hi." he smiled sheepishly as he removed his headphones. "Did you hear? There's going to be an eclipse!"
"Ooooo, does this mean some actual daytime vamp activity, or have I just been living on the Hellmouth too long?" quipped Xander.
"I-I got further with the nightmare. There were vampires, and they surrounded us. And I think I should stop now. Breathing first," explained Willow hurriedly.
"This is serious..." began Francis.
"Buffy!" exclaimed Ade. "How did it go?"
Willow and Xander turned to see their bud enter the room, bearing news.
"Hey, guys. Miss me?" grinned Buffy. "Angel tells me there's gonna be a serious vamp-fest, major slayage."
"Well, yes. As I said, this is serious. Did Angel tell you anything else? Any details?" questioned Francis.
"Oh, the usual. Major danger. We should beware," answered Buffy.
"Was it having to do with smoochies too?" asked Willow.
"Well, I suppose we did get a little distracted during the interrogation," replied Buffy.
"Buffy, Willow! Could we focus on the task at hand, please? There is a serious vampire celebration due to take place next week, when the sun is eclipsed over the Hellmouth. Vampires will already be arriving from all over the world. This is a major event." Francis glared at them.
"Sorry," whispered Willow.
"So? We've had these things before, we'll get by. What gives?" asked Buffy.
"On the contrary, Buffy. This, from what I can gather, is entirely out of the ordinary."
"But, you having just got here, how would you know?" pointed out Xander.
"I have followed my cousin's and my Uncle's work for quite some time, I assure you I am no novice," responded Francis curtly.
"Hmm, well getting back to the point," interrupted Ade. "You think this is why Willow has been having nightmares, and why she happens to have been called now?"
"Well ...yes."
"B-but me? There's a whole load of vampires coming here on a holiday and you want me to slay them? But Buffy. Is the Slayer. And she slays. I just help out with research and stuff. I don't do slaying," protested Willow.
"You do now," announced Ade. "In your own way, anyway. Don't think you'll be needing any stakes though, just practice."
* * *
"Oooooooo, space-Willow," commented Xander, as he watched Ade help Willow into an old space suit he'd obtained.
"Umm, tell me again why I need a space suit," asked Willow.
"Well, I was thinking it'd be a bad idea to let you fry yourself on your first attempt," grinned Ade. "I don't think the thing with the computer counts, it was asking for it," he added.
"Oh, OK. So, I go into a separate room, and try to create sunlight?"
"Yep."
"Right." Willow braced herself and marched awkwardly in the cumbersome suit over to a small, sealed room in the abandoned building where they now stood. "I'm just supposed to go to school and learn stuff, maybe help Buffy or hack into things on the computer. I'm not supposed to be an astronaut," she muttered, feeling completely ridiculous.
"You can do it, Willow." She caught Ade's voice over the helmet's radio. She could hear Xander muttering in the background about reaching minimum safe distance too, she was beginning to agree with him.
Willow concentrated hard, trying to imagine a blast of sunlight as clear and sudden as the one she had seen Pol emit. To her surprise, a sudden burst of flame shot from her hands, creating a small fire in one corner of the room, which she rushed to stamp out. "I think it might take a little practice," she informed Ade and Xander.
"We're still here, at least," answered Ade, the laughter obvious in his voice. "Give it another try, see if you can exert some control."
"OK." Willow concentrated again, this time prepared for the sudden burst of flame, but no less amazed by it.
* * *
"So you can really fire flames out of your hands?" asked Buffy.
"Well, umm, yeah," admitted Willow.
"You shoulda seen it, it was well cool. Will, you are gonna be such a hit at our next barbecue. Provided you don't toast any of the neighbours, although maybe they'd call it a mercy killing... So what're you doing next week, Will. Do you think you can fit us in?" rambled Xander.
Willow grinned. "I don't think I should kill any of your neighbours just now, Xander. I don't wanna go to jail."
"Err, Buffy, Willow, shouldn't we be training now, rather than loitering here?" called Francis.
"He's even more of a slave driver than our Francis, must run in the family," muttered Buffy.
"Oh the joys of relaxing and watching you two work," grinned Xander, leaning back against his chair and laying his hands behind his head.
"Yes, Xander, you can reshelve these books while you're here," added Francis.
"Don't say a word," groaned Xander, hauling himself up.
"Ready," smiled Willow, looking expectantly at Ade.
Silently, Ade handed her a bottle of sunblock.
* * *
"So I just do what I've been doing, only gently?" asked Willow nervously. "What if I get it wrong? I don't want to fry everyone. I can't fry everyone!"
"It's OK," reassured Ade. "It's been safe enough the last few times, now you need to learn fine tuning, so we have to be here to feel it."
"So... you want indoor sunny weather?"
"It is Sunnydale," observed Ade. "It's sunny everywhere else anyway."
"Ooooo, indoor beach party," grinned Xander. "Shoulda brought my bucket and spade."
Willow smiled. "OK, you asked for it. Indoor sunshine. Willow's very own solarium." She closed her eyes and concentrated, blocking out Xander's continuing babble.
* * *
Buffy and Francis looked up from training as Willow, Ade and Xander entered the room.
"Guys! What happened? You look like someone put you on the barbecue," gasped Buffy.
"You may laugh," began Xander. "But I don't think you were so far wrong. Will, I lost my eyebrows. I liked my eyebrows. They were an important facial feature. One you obviously don't appreciate til it's gone..."
"... Sorry," mumbled Willow. "I.. didn't mean to, it just kind of got a bit too strong suddenly. I don't know how it happened. Will you be OK?" She turned to look at Xander and Ade.
"Man, I'm never gonna live this down," groaned Xander. "I'm gonna be fried Xand indefinitely. People at the old folks home will be calling me fried Xander."
"It's OK, Willow," put in Ade. "I think you did really well."
"You think that was good? You couldn't have warned me? Where was the warning on the label?" muttered Xander.
Buffy glared at him. "He means he's fine, Will. You didn't mean it."
Xander turned to look at Willow, who looked terribly guilty. "OK, Will, I'm sorry. I'll bring my shades next time." He hugged her, trying to make up for his previous words. "Are you sure you can't try this instant suntan thing on a few other people though? I can make a list of possible candidates."
* * *
Willow winced as she sat down for lunch. "I think I need a different occupation," she groaned. "Like something underwater, where sun doesn't go. Or maybe I could move to Britain, Francis doesn't seem to think it's sunny there very often. Lots of rain too. To put me out, in case of accidents."
Buffy grinned. "You'll be fine, Will. Ade says you've nearly got it down now."
"But he said that before, and I'm still all sore. Bad sun, got me. Supposed to get vampires. I'm not a very good shot."
"Will, there weren't any vampires to aim at."
"Well, no... but there should be. Coz then maybe they'd go poof, and I wouldn't feel so dumb. I'm a sun maker and I can't even kill one vampire."
"No, not yet. But it'll come. And in the meantime..." Buffy looked up. "You get a good laugh at Xander in his sunglasses."
"That's true," smiled Willow, looking happier. "Which is good."
"Hey," Xander greeted them, sitting down as cautiously as Willow had a few moments before. "What?"
Buffy and Willow exchanged a knowing grin.
* * *
"Uh!" exclaimed Willow. "But, red skin. Sore. No room for more training."
"Well, you need to build up a resistance, and I have the perfect plan," answered Ade mysteriously.
"Tired, need rest," mumbled Willow. "But must go on."
Ade grinned, patting her on the shoulder. "It's OK. I have the best solution ever. Trust me."
"K."
"Come on." Ade motioned for her to follow, waving enthusiastically.
"But, it's a sunbed..." observed Willow.
"Yep," answered Ade. "You can train and relax, simultaneously."
"Wow." Willow gazed at the sunbed. "So, I just sleep on there? And get more burnt?"
"Well your body needs to learn to process the rays, you have to get burnt a little to start with," replied Ade.
"Oh. But, sleep, is good. I can sleep," she grinned, hoping it wouldn't be too painful when she woke up.
"It's OK," Ade replied to her unspoken question. "I'll watch out for it getting too nasty."
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