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 Two
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"Hey, Will," called Xander, spotting Willow as he wandered into the Bronze. "Where's the Buffster?"
"Oh, y'know. Patrol? She said she was coming later, in case Angel was gonna be here."
"Ooooo, a visit from dead-boy," moaned Xander. "The perfect day." He caught Willow's glance. "OK, OK. How's training going?"
"It's OK," objected Willow. "Ade says I've almost built up a sun resistance."
"That's cool, Will. Can't tell though, you still look kinda pale. Whereas I, on the other hand, have developed a fine Willow-tan. See?" He held out his arm. "Most impressive. You could market it, in fact. Although you'd probably have to go to a cold country."
"I don't think I need to go brown," Willow informed him.
"Well, I like you Willow-coloured anyway," grinned Xander. "Coz otherwise I might not recognise you."
"Which would be bad," agreed Willow.
"Is Buffy here yet?" asked a voice quietly.
"Angel!" exclaimed Willow. "No, she's, err, still on patrol. But she'll be here. Later. If you're looking for her."
"Yes, later," echoed Xander. "Much later."
"Y-you can wait with us, if you want," offered Willow.
Angel grinned. "Nah, I might get fried by mistake."
"Oh, but I..." began Willow, realising as she spoke that he had already gone.
"I so wish that guy wouldn't do that," muttered Xander.
"Must be handy though. Sometimes. Like with bad vampires and stuff."
"Well he needs to make the distinction. Much as I would like to beat the guy up, I'm definitely not about to. So creeping up is unnecessary."
Willow sighed and took another sip of her drink.
* * *
"Y-you want me to glow?" asked Willow, surprised.
"Mmmm hmm," confirmed Ade.
"Oh. But no sun."
"You become the sun, Willow. I mean, you do anyway, but you can keep it in you and just protect yourself for hours with practice."
"Mmm. But, just glow. OK. I'll sit here, for glowing then. Is better than standing."
Willow concentrated once again, more controlled already after all the training she had done.
Ade watched intently as Willow began to glow lightly, quickly discovering that the exercise was relatively easy and lessening her concentration to speak to him.
"This is cool," she grinned. "I feel all warm."
Ade reached over to touch her arm. "You are all warm, mind you don't get too..."
"I don't feel so good."
"...Hot," groaned Ade. "Stop, Will. Quick, it'll make you ill!"
But Willow slumped into the chair, only semi-conscious and burning a terrible fever.
"Oh, bum," cursed Ade, touching her forehead to discover that she could almost burn him. "I'd better get her home," he decided, only then realising that there was no way he could carry the sick teenager on his motorbike. He groaned, wondering where Francis would be.
Xander interrupted his contemplation. "Hey, guys. How's it going? Managed to create a bottled tan that doesn't look fake? I was thinking of selling it to Cordy for vast sums of... What's up with Will?" He looked up at Ade, questioning, then knelt beside Willow, gently touching her forehead. "Ow! She's really hot."
Ade nodded. "She was trying to glow. I forgot to warn her about her internal temperature."
"Oh. Will she be OK?"
"Who?" asked Buffy, bursting in. "Oh, Will." She saw the object of their concern.
"She'll be OK, but she might feel it for a couple of days. I don't know. If she's not better by the time of the eclipse..."
"We'll deal," interrupted Buffy. "But right now, she needs to be home. I'll go get Cordy."
"Thanks," replied Ade.
Moments later, Cordy was propelled into the library, looking extremely aggravated. "I'll have you know I was... Oh my God, what happened to her?"
"Cordy, can you give us a lift to Willow's house?" asked Xander.
"Well, so long as she isn't going to throw up, or do anything gross. I'm so not going to clean up after you losers and your certainly uncool diseases."
"Great!" exclaimed Xander enthusiastically, leaping up before Cordy could continue her monologue. He scooped Willow up off the chair, trying to ignore the slight burning in his chest and arms, and nodded to Cordy. "Lead on, we're ready."
As Cordy drew away from Willow's house, Buffy and Xander fought with Willow's keys, trying to get her inside.
"C'mon, Will. Give us a break here, we're trying to help," muttered Xander, trying to balance Willow's burning body and search her pockets simultaneously.
"Got it!" yelled Buffy, triumphantly opening the door. She glanced back at Xander. "You OK, need a hand."
"Thanks Buff, no longer capable of carrying my best bud. I think I can manage."
"Sorry," muttered Buffy.
Finally, they managed to get Willow upstairs and into bed, she hardly stirred, merely mumbled something incoherent and rolled onto her side.
"Well, there's gratitude for you," smiled Buffy. "She gonna be OK? I gotta go. Training, Francis. I think there must be some family thing about tardiness. He just can't cope."
"Sure, go. I'll stay here with her, no problem," grinned Xander. "I gotta see if she talks in her sleep."
* * *
Willow awoke feeling much better. As she sat up, the fog of heat surrounding her body slowly dissipated, and she found herself once more healthy. Shivering slightly from the sudden change, Willow stepped out of bed and nearly tripped over Xander, who lay sleeping on the floor.
"Huh?" muttered Xander, rolling over in his sleep as she disturbed him and hitting his head on her desk. "Ow!" He opened his eyes and blinked vigorously, trying to work out when he was. Finally he focused on Willow's concerned face peering down at him.
"Are you OK?" asked Willow, wondering how he had come to be sleeping on her floor.
"Oh, sure. One more bang to the head, who'll notice the difference? How do you feel?"
"Better," replied Willow. "In fact, I feel so much better I'm thinking more practice would be good. It's not like we have much time before, uh." She waved her hands slightly, trying to think of a pleasant way to describe an eclipse in an area like Sunnydale.
"Whatever you've been taking, Will, I think I need some," groaned Xander, hauling himself to his feet. "Me and Buffy figured you'd be out for days. We thought you'd miss all the excitement."
"Hey," Willow grinned, showing off her muscles. "I'm super-Willow, remember?"
"Sure, Will."
"Well, I-I can do stuff anyway. If it's not involving large muscles." Willow looked embarrassed.
"You'd look silly with big muscles anyway, Will. Look at it that way."
"That's true. Because I am Willowy," she giggled. "Gotta go practice, make sure I can help save the world."
"Ah, world savage. The old classic. Did I miss something, or is this becoming serious habit?"
"You think we need a new hobby?"
"I think we need entire new lives, far from here. But, hey, I'd settle for a new hobby. Do you think it's too late to try something safe, like maybe tightrope walking?"
* * *
"Try to relax, Willow. You know everything you need to, it will be fine, but you don't want to wear yourself out before the eclipse." Francis glared at the girl, who sat fidgeting on a table in the library.
"But, Francis. I can't. It's like there's something inside me wriggling about, and I can't make it stop. How can I make it stop?"
Francis sighed, choosing to move into the office with Ade for some peace.
Willow watched him go, wondering how to occupy herself. She missed playing with the computer, but after her previous accident she wasn't quite ready to try that. Before she could come up with a definite plan, she looked up to see Buffy enter.
"Hey, Will," called Buffy. "What're you doing?"
"Twiddling my thumbs. I always heard this was what people did when they were bored, so I thought I'd try it, and..."
Buffy's jaw dropped. "Will, are you sure that's what they had in mind?"
"I-I don't think so. How do you think I get it back?" Willow stared at the small, spherical object, which was hovering just below her eyelevel.
"Oh boy, weirdness. A fiery tennis ball. I think now would be a good time to call Francis," murmured Buffy, afraid to speak loudly in case she disturbed it.
"It's OK. I-I'll get rid of it. I can probably make it go away. Coz stuff like that's not meant to exist, and I should be tidy with sunny things. It's not good to make a mess."
"Will, just take it away!" exclaimed Buffy.
"OK." Willow reached out for the sphere, intending to grab it and squash it somehow. Instead, it slipped from her grasp and spun rapidly towards the door, exciting through the window seconds before Xander burst in.
"What, was that?"
"I, umm, had an accident. I was twiddling my thumbs," admitted Willow.
"Will, if you're gonna manifest one of those everytime you get bored, we seriously need to keep you occupied. Y'know that thing just flew through a wall?" Xander spluttered, gesturing towards the door.
"Oh. Maybe I should try and find it?" suggested Willow.
"Oh no," objected Buffy. "You trying to grab the thing is why it moved. I'm thinking you need to be calm before you go chasing anything."
"Maybe. OK, calm," agreed Willow, trying unsuccessfully to relax.
"Or we could talk to Francis?" suggested Buffy again.
* * *
Ade looked up from his computer to see Francis enter his office. "Hi, Francis. What's up?"
"Oh, sorry. I don't mean to intrude, but I was wondering if I could, err, borrow a corner of your office while Willow insists on fidgeting in the library. I'm afraid my patience is wearing a little thin."
Ade grinned. "No problem. Why do you think I moved in here?"
Francis chuckled. "Actually, while I'm here, I have a matter I would like to discuss with you. If you have the time, of course."
* * *
Snyder sank into his chair with a hot mug of coffee. "At last a moment without any wretched children," he snarled to himself, resting the mug on the desk as he paused to contemplate the inhabitants of the school.
He was interrupted by a brief crunch, followed by the noise of a small ball landing directly in his mug of coffee and hissing loudly.
Snyder glanced down at the mug, observing the remains of his, largely evaporated, coffee and what looked like a small tennis ball. "I wish we could get rid of children, I really do," he sighed. "Still, arson. Perhaps Miss Buffy Summers could shed some light on this."
* * *
"You didn't trust me because you read that the Watcher to follow your cousin was going to be a bad guy?" repeated Ade, hardly able to keep himself from bursting into laughter. "And you lot consider yourselves such great researchers!"
"I... err, what?" Francis betrayed his confusion. "Don't you mean us, err, lot?"
"Nope," grinned Ade. "I'm not the Watcher. You might say I'm his assistant."
"But, an assistant? Not known to the council?"
"Well if the actual Watcher is so bad, surely that's a good thing," replied Ade calmly.
"Well it is a relief. I have to admit, that prophecy has been rather preying on my mind. I was so sure I was right, yet you are so clearly not the man it describes."
"How do you know?"
Francis spluttered slightly, eyeing Ade's 6ft 4 inches. "Well a portion of the text suggested he would be short, for one thing. I believe tiny was the word used."
"Hmm. I have to admit, people don't often describe me that way," grinned Ade.
"So who is it then?" asked Francis impatiently. "I can't wait all day. Who is this man?"
Buffy burst in. "Francis, Ade. Willow's had an accident. Very wiggy."
* * *
"I’m kinda nervous," announced Willow, hopping from one foot to the other. "I’m not sure I can handle this."
Buffy grinned, feeling like a true veteran. "You’ll do fine, Will. If you start that glowy thing they won’t even be able to touch you."
"But what about everyone else? What if I go wrong? What if I go more wrong and fry everyone? I’m gonna mess up, you can’t rely on me. You’re the Slayer, you can, umm, slay them."
"Francis thinks I’ll be needing a little help," replied Buffy. "But I’m sure you’ll do fine."
"Ah, ladies. Awaiting our moment of glory, I see." Xander put an arm round each of their shoulders.
"Xander, shouldn’t you be inside?" asked Willow, worried about him.
"Hey, thanks Will. I’m not allowed to check up on my best buds before a fight? Besides, I’m a Slayerette, we have uses."
Willow grinned. "Yeah, but that’s like book stuff, and… I can see them coming."
"Ooo, time for us guys to, err, hide!" yelped Xander, disappearing into a bush.
"Ready, Will?" asked Buffy.
"Oh yeah, let ‘em have it." Willow assumed an unnecessary fighting stance.
Soon Buffy was surrounded by vampires, kicking, punching and staking everything which moved in order to remain ahead of the game. Willow forced herself to wait. She knew that if she did this too early, too many vampires would escape. She had to rely on Buffy’s ability as the Slayer, as she had done so many times before.
The darkness from the eclipse began to transform into Willow’s nightmare as she watched Buffy. Soon she was surrounded by waves of darkness which seemed to be nibbling at her being, eating her away piece by piece. Her peripheral vision showed Buffy continuing to fight, hacking out a hole in the vampire population. But Willow was also aware of something else.
Another huge mass of vampires was approaching from behind. These vampires would easily surround them, giving Buffy no chance of defending against them all. These were the vampires Francis had warned of. The reason Buffy couldn’t do this alone.
As she saw these vampires, initially only in her mind’s eye, Willow understood her purpose. She had to wait for that group, and then annihilate them. She would only get one shot at this, in the time it took her to recharge, they could easily all be overpowered and killed.
Willow glanced once more at Buffy and Xander, nodding solemnly to each of them. Then she closed her eyes, summoning all the force she could manage.
The waiting seemed endless. Willow felt as though she stood at a precipice and had only a split second in which she could move her hand to stop from falling. And she knew she wouldn’t be the only one to fall. A hissing sound at her shoulder told her that it was time to hang on. As the vampire which had tried to grab her retreated, staring in surprise at his smoking hand, Willow once more became aware of the real world. She heard Buffy grunt with exertion, and Xander’s battle cry as a vampire found him and began to fight. She knew the time had come.
Raising her hands way up in the air, Willow made the sunlight come. Quietly, but firmly, she created the sunlight which could destroy the vampires.
The landscape, which had been full of vampires, was suddenly empty but for a large scattering of ash. It was as if it had recently snowed. Buffy misjudged her landing, as her target suddenly disappeared, landing almost on top of Xander in the bush.
Willow smiled. Although the light was slowly fading again, the darkness didn’t seem so threatening. She had defeated it once, she knew she could do so again. She reached down to help Xander extract himself from the bush. "It’s over," she whispered.
Xander smiled at her, pulling a twig from his sleeve. "Nice one, Will!" He clapped her on the back, proudly. "You rock."
"Yeah," concurred Buffy, as she beat the dust of up to a dozen vampires out her clothes. "Well done."
Willow beamed at them.
Unseen by the trio, another student had witnessed the entire event from a quiet spot nearby. His jaw remained open as his brain unwillingly recalled the past few minutes. "Who is that girl?" he muttered, heading back to school.
* * *
"Do I know you?"
Francis turned to see Principal Snyder glaring up at him suspiciously. "I, err, I just popped in to speak to the new librarian."
"Hmm, librarian. You know that last librarian had no sense of responsibility, going and dying on us. And now I’m stuck with his job. Well, I’m not having it. Oh, no. Definitely not. I keep the kids in line, the rest is someone else’s problem. I don’t want anything more to do with it."
"Err, quite!" agreed Francis.
"You look like him. He wasn’t your brother or something was he? Grrr, they should ban them too. More than one child. They must think they’re repopulating the world or something."
"He was my cousin. I, err, came to pay my…"
"Good, I assume you can take over his duties straight away. I’ve had enough of covering up for his foul ups. And especially Summers."
"You mean Buffy? Yes, I met her, nice girl."
"… Vermin. Takes all my time clearing up after her. If she puts one more foot out of place…"
Francis shrugged helplessly.
* * *
"So you’re leaving again now?" asked Willow.
"Yep, I’m off again," replied Ade.
"But, you’re a Watcher. You can’t just go. You were teaching me to do stuff. Like with sun stuff."
"Will, I’m not a real Watcher. Or even a librarian. Snyder just thought I was handy. Francis knows what he’s doing much better."
"Where’re you gonna go?"
"Oh, I dunno. I’m gonna take a look around while I’m here though. See what I can find." Ade noticed her look, and smiled. "It’s OK, I don’t mind."
"Sensible guy, Will. Getting out of the Hellmouth," grinned Xander.
"Oh yeah. That’s me," laughed Ade.
"Good luck," offered Willow.
"You too. And don’t forget to practice." Ade waved to the others, nodding to Francis.
"You could always stay," suggested Francis. "I could use an assistant."
Ade grinned. "I think I’ll stick with computers and ordinary people. The Hellmouth is just a bit much." He paused. "Still, if you get desperate, let me know."
"Of course," nodded Francis.
As Ade left, Willow turned to Xander and then Buffy. "I think I need to practice."
Buffy raised her eyebrows, wondering what the hacker would come up with next.
"Err, very good, Willow. You should always make time to…" Francis’ voice trailed off as he realised what she was attempting to do. "Are you sure that’s a good idea?"
"Will, you could be on at any circus," gasped Xander.
"That could be good," agreed Willow. "I need a career after I leave school."
"Somehow I’d never pictured you doing fireball juggling, Will," grinned Buffy.
"Nothing wrong with juggling, Buff. A fine trade. One I may well decide to take up myself, after I flunk high school," Xander chipped in. "Not that I plan to practice with Will," he added hurriedly.
Francis groaned. "How did I get talked into this? The school won’t last five minutes. Maybe I should call the fire brigade in advance."
"Well there’s confidence for ya," pointed out Xander.
"Yeah. I can do it OK now," Willow assured him.
Francis turned to see the three fireballs aiming directly for him. "I sincerely hope so," he swallowed.
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