It was early the next day when Willow entered the library. She had decided to come alone this time, wanting this meeting to be without the tension she was sure would be present if her friends from Section were there. She smiled when she saw Cordelia already there. The brunette had surprised her the night before, offering her unconditional friendship. Cordelia was the last one she would have expected that from, but she was glad for it. It meant that at least one person in Sunnydale was willing to accept the new Willow.

"Hey, Willow, you got here early. Where are the others?" Cordelia asked as she saw Willow enter, causing Buffy and Xander to also turn to face the red head.

"Birkhoff is trying to pinpoint exactly where Red Cell may be hiding and Michael and Nikita are out getting used to Sunnydale," Willow explained. "Almost like a little vacation for the two of them." Willow grinned at the thought of her two friends taking advantage of the down time before they truly had to worry about Red Cell. "So I thought I would come over and see you guys. That is, if that’s okay with you."

"Hey, that’s cool with me," Cordelia smiled. She had found herself extremely comfortable with Willow and the others the night before. Like she was accepted by them. She looked forward to spending more time with them before they had to leave. Willow grinned at the brunette.

"Thanks," Willow turned to face Buffy and Xander.

"What about the two of you?"

"Sure, Wills, I would love to spend some time with you," Xander said as he came over to hug his old friend. "I’ve missed you. We have a lot to catch up on. Apparently more me than you." Willow smiled at the boy she used to have a crush on.

"Willow, I do want to try and understand what has happened to you," Buffy said, still not moving from her spot. "I mean, what happened to the shy little hacker that was my friend?"

"She’s right in front of you, Buffy," Willow told the blonde slayer, walking over to her. "I’m still the same Willow, just a little more grown up them before. Doing what I do for a living kind of makes you that way."

"Then why do you do it?"

"Because I don’t have a choice," Willow shrugged. "And I don’t mind it as much now. I mean, sure the whole killing people thing is like ewwww, but they aren’t exactly nice people to begin with. I mean, they kill people. I mean, when we found Spike, he was holding kids hostages for Red Cell. Children. How am I supposed to feel guilty for wanting to hurt them?"

"But that’s not who you are," Buffy said. "That’s not our Willow."

"I’m not your Willow. Not anymore," Willow replied. "I’m my own Willow. I’m who I have made myself into. If I’ve learned anything since I’ve joined Section, it’s who I am. They’ve let me grown into someone that I like. I finally broke free of the restraints that have been placed on me by people since I was little. I would never have been able to do that if I had stayed here. I was already changing when I was taken, even to the point that I was one hell of a fighter, but I was always afraid of letting you know that. I knew that it would make you unhappy and I didn’t want to risk losing your friendship."

"But you don’t care about that friendship now?"

"I care, Buffy. I really do, it’s just that I don’t need it to survive," Willow told her. "I have other friends now. People who respect me for my ability. People who rely on me with their lives. Do you have any idea of how that makes me feel?"

Buffy shook her head. "I guess I don’t. I had always assumed that you were happy with the role you were in. That you liked being my best friend. Being our little hacker."

"I did like being your best friend," Willow explained. "And I still want that friendship to continue. But if you want it too, then you have to be willing to accept me for who I am now and not try and make me go back to being the Willow that you knew when you first came to town."

"But that’s the Willow I knew. That was the Willow that was my friend," Buffy rebutted.

"I know, but aren’t you at least a little willing to get to know the Willow in front of you."

"I am," Xander answered. Willow turned and gave him a small smile. "I mean, any Willow is a good Willow. As long as I know that you’re happy and all, I’m willing to at least try and keep our friendship."

"Thanks, Xanman." Willow turned to face Buffy again. "What about it, Buff, friends."

"I’m not sure. I’m just not comfortable with the whole thing." Willow watched sadly as Buffy gathered her books and left the library. She felt Xander come over and place his arm on her shoulder.

"She’ll be cool with it. Just give her some time," he comforted the red head.

"I hope so, Xander. I really hope so."

Later that night, everyone was gathered in the library. Graduation was in two days and the Section operatives knew that if Red Cell was going to make a move it would be soon. Buffy had yet been able to come to terms with the changes that she had seen in Willow, and the hacker realized that the friendship with the slayer had been permanently damage by her involvement with Section. Not only that, but Buffy was taking her anger out on Angel for his past involvement with Section, not convinced that he hadn’t had a part in them taking Willow in the first place. Never mind, that when she was taken Angel was Angelus, all Buffy could see was that people from Angel’s past had kidnapped her friend and changed her.

"Okay, we have two possible targets. We have a team moving in on the first one as we speak. They will let us know about the mission as soon as possible," Michael explained for everyone in the library.

"What happens if no one is there?" Anya asked. She had only been a mortal for a short time and didn’t exactly relish the idea of dying already.

"Then, we prepare to go into the second one. We have another team waiting for their orders," Michael replied.

"What about the four of you," Faith wanted to know. "I mean, I thought it was up to you guys to keep us safe."

"We’re here for protection only. We stay with you until we know that you will be safe from Red Cell," Willow answered. Faith nodded her head showing her understanding. While she didn’t like the idea of anyone protecting her, she knew that the people that Section were taken out were beyond what she was used to. For that reason alone, she was willing to accept the help. Faith saw Angel tense as he cocked his ear, listening for something. She was surprised to see him pull a gun from under his coat.

"Michael, we have company." Michael saw Angel’s gun and pulled his out also. As did Nikita, Birkhoff and Willow. "Giles, take the other’s into your office," Angel hissed.

"If there’s trouble, I can help," Buffy complained.

"Get in the office now," Angel growled, forcing the girl into action. She followed the others into the office to await whatever was about to happen. As soon as the door to the office closed, Angel and the operatives all found themselves a hiding spot in the library.

They watched as the library doors slowly opened, revealing about 8 men, all holding weapons. Willow looked over at Michael, waiting for his signal. She saw him raise his gun, aiming for the leader of the group. At the first nod of his head, everyone opened fire. The men from Red Cell never knew what hit them. They had only come prepared to face a bunch of high school kids and, instead, found themselves going against Section’s best. It was over within a matter of minutes, leaving the library awash in a sea of blood. Once the gun fire ended, Willow walked over to the office door, signaling that it was all right for the people inside to come out. Michael pulled out his comm set.

"We need housekeeping at the library." He turned to face the stricken slayerettes. "Is everyone all right?"

"F..f…fine," Giles stammered as he looked at the bodies lying on his floor. Michael saw where his gaze had fallen. "We have some people on their way that will take care of the problem." Michael put his hand to his ear as he heard something in his comm. "Well, it looks like target one was their headquarters here. It has been neutralized."

"Does that mean we’re safe?" Cordelia asked. Michael nodded his head.

"Wait a minute, that means you’re going to leave now," Xander exclaimed, not willing to lose Willow so soon.

"We can stay until graduation and help with the mayor, that is, if it’s okay with Buffy. But yes, after that, we have to leave," Willow told everyone. Buffy just stared at the girl she used to know. The girl who now carried a gun and wasn’t afraid to use it.

"I don’t know about B, but considering how you just took out those guys, you are more than welcome to help with any problems that might come up," Faith told the group.

"Buffy?"

"Sure, you can help. I mean, that’s what you’re good at. Killing things that is," Buffy retorted, anger in her voice. She wasn’t sure who she was angry at, but she still felt it.

"Yeah, like you’ve never killed anything before," Cordelia rolled her eyes and she walked over to the people from Section. "Please, be grateful they were here or we’d be dead right about now."

"Yeah, thanks." Buffy walked out of the library not even glancing back at the people standing there.

"I’ll go talk to her," Xander offered. He and Anya left the library, carefully skirting around the bodies on the floor.

"Hey, on the bright side, maybe we can get in some shopping," Cordelia said, returning to her normally shallow mode. She wanted to do something that would break the tension in the room. "I mean, hey, I like the influence Nikita has on you. Maybe the three of us can hit the mall."

"I’d like that," Willow smiled.

"So would I," Nikita answered, glad to see that Willow had finally found a friend her own age, even if it was for only a short time.

"Coolness. Well, I don’t know about anyone else, but those bodies are getting a bit too much for me," Cordelia said. "I’m outta here."

"Do you need someone to walk you home. I know you said your car was in the shop," Angel offered. He and Cordelia had grown closer since she had found out about Xander and Faith, him having found her crying form in the park one night. And, with the way that she has so willingly accepted Willow’s place in Section, he wanted to make sure that she was okay.

"Sure, I’d like that." Cordelia smiled as the vampire led her out of the library, both completely missing the grins on the remaining people.

"You know, if I didn’t know any better, I would say that B has some competition for a certain vampire’s affections," Faith commented.

"I can actually see it," Willow said. She and Cordelia had had a long talk that afternoon after Buffy had left the library in a huff. She had discovered how much the former May Queen had changed. She had known that Angel and she had formed a tentative friendship and was pleased to see how close they really were. "But, the question is, do they?"

"Doubt it. Knowing Liam, he is completely oblivious," Nikita grinned, remembering how many times women actually threw themselves at her friend’s feet.

"Yeah, and Cordy is still seriously hurt over what Xander did. I mean, okay, I admit it, I was at fault for that one," Faith said sheepishly, "and I understand why she is hurt. I just hope that she is able to let go of it and move on."

"Well, we’ll just have to see what we can do about that before we leave, now won’t we," Willow grinned. Nikita, Michael and Birkhoff all recognized the look in her eye.

"Willow," Nikita admonished, "what do you have planned?" "Nothing," Willow replied innocently. "Nothing much, that is. Let’s just say that tomorrow will be a very interesting shopping trip."

Nikita, Faith and the others all laughed as they realized that the tiny red head was about to start playing matchmaker to very unsuspecting people.

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