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Chapter 3 - Repercussions

("I can feel it coming back again, like a rolling thunder chasing the wind" Live - Lightning Crashes)

 

                As Spike busted through the Magic Box's front doors, Tara and Dawn, who were sitting next to each other reading at a back table, looked up at the noise.  The vampire, ignoring everyone’s gaze, moved towards Giles who was standing in a corner near Dawn and Tara.  The watcher looked up from his own book that he had been studying to view the grim faced sight walking at him.

                "Hey, you should be quieter when entering the Magic Box.  Noise disrupts the consumer process," Anya stated to Spike who seemed to be caring even less about her prattle than normal.

                "Spike," Tara said standing up.  "What's wrong?  Where's Willow?"  William walked past the blonde to stand next to Giles.

                "We need to talk," Spike said in grave tone.  Giles crinkled his forehead slightly as he adjusted his glasses.

                "About what, Spike?" he asked, dryly.

                "Not in front of them," the vampire said as he shot a glance at Dawn and Tara.  The last thing he wanted to do was upset Willow’s little sister.  And Tara....  Jesus, a grief stricken witch wasn't something he wanted to see.  It had been bad enough when Willow had died.  He knew how Tara felt about the Slayer, and right now he didn't want to be around that potential anger.  Giles gave him a sardonic look and then proceeded to the training room in the back.

                "Ga, Giles?" Tara said looking up questioningly.  "What's going on Giles?  Spike, tell me wha, what's going on."  The vampire closed the door on the blonde’s plea.  Dawn looked up.

                "What's going on Tara?"  Dawn asked eyeing Willow’s best friend.  Tara ran her hand through the little sister’s hair as she sat back down.

                "I don't know," she replied feeling something in her break.  Tara suddenly felt it become harder to breathe.

                Inside the training room Giles stepped forward onto the blue mat and faced Spike.

                "Well Spike, what is it?"  Spike dropped his gaze from the Watchers eyes to the floor.

                "It's Willow,” the vampire said, pausing.  “She's gone."  A silence settled in the room as they both looked at each other.  Giles paused for a moment in thought, he’s face frowning.

                “What happened...?”  Giles stood grim faced as Spike explained.

                Dawn watched as the training room door opened, Spike stepping out and walking to the front of the Magic Box without meeting anyone’s gaze.  The vampire quietly opened up the front door and went through it.  Tara looked up to see Giles putting his hand on her shoulder, tears forming on the blonde’s cheeks. 

                "What's going on Giles?  What's wrong?" Dawn asked.  Giles looked down and the brunet could read it in his face.  It was happening all over again.  Faintly she heard Tara's moan as everything started to drift away.  Dawn leaned her face against the table and began to cry.

 

Chapter 4 - Juxtapose

("Crawl through the forests, above the trees, within my stomach, scrapped off my knees" Nine Inch Nails - Closer)

 

                Willow could feel herself falling in the black.  She tried to reach out to find something to hold on to, but she couldn’t feel anything.  As she looked around, Willow saw that it wasn't black that she was falling through though; it was emptiness.  She could feel the terror in her as she desperately tried to look for some reference point, something to measure her fall, where she was going.  She felt her mind lose concentration as fear gripped her from watching the endless starless night slide past her.  Willow screamed out.  And then the Slayer watched as a burst of light ripped open underneath her.

                Willow hit the floor on her right side feeling ribs and her right arm snap and break, all her breath leaving her.  Gasping for air, she felt her mouth clog from something that was like whipping cream with a taste like spiders.  She struggled, trying to pull breath in but instead only swallowing the lumpy substance into her throat.  With the last ounce of strength she had left she pushed air out of her lungs that she didn't even think she had and coughed the slime inside of her out onto the rug.  Reeling back she breathed in as hard as she could, feeling her lungs light on fire as she took what felt like her first breath in hours.  As soon as she had filled her lungs up, her body doubled over and Willow could feel the air in her become trapped as the only thing she could exhale out was her own bile. For what seemed like an eternity, Willow pushed the acidic substance in her stomach up through her esophagus.  Finally the vomiting subsided and then she felt the cold that had seeped into her.  She tried gripping herself for warmth but the pain in her broken bones kept her still.  The Slayer attempted to look around, seeing only haze and darkness, then she vomited again.  After a moment Willow’s body finally seemed to stop retching.  Then the young woman began her screaming.

                Jeff had been a manager at CompTech for over a year now and he didn't quite know how to handle something like this.  He watched as the girl on the floor convulsed and cried out in pain as he picked up the phone and dialed 911.  The young man could barely make out the operator’s voice as the girl’s violently loud voice got higher, only to be separated by bouts of more vomiting on the carpet while customers were piling over each other trying to leave the store.

                Willow dimly heard a man shouting at someone about an ambulance and as she expelled the last that she could from her stomach, her body started to slide into unconsciousness, even through the pain.

                "Can't die, not like this," she began to mumble.  "Not like this, not again, can't die."  She heard and ambulance near as things began to blur.  "Can't die like this."  Everything went black.

 

Chapter 5 – Misunderstandings

(“As if I didn’t know my own bed” Paul Simon - Graceland)

 

                Willow woke up in a hospital bed, gripping her side as a dull throb beat in her body.  The young woman’s chest felt like a ton of bricks as she lifted her head up to look around.  The room had a clean sterile feel that made the redhead feel out of place.  Everything was polished and shining, letting Willow know that she was somewhere else other than her home.  Mumbling to herself, the redhead paused and looked around to see Xander standing near the door, alone.  "Xander, what the happened?"  Willow steadied herself from swaying by gripping the arm rail of the bed.

                "I was gunna ask you the same thing.  The doctors said they found you on the floor at CompTech busted up pretty bad," her friend said in a worried tone.  Willow let out a breath.

                "Gotta think, gotta clear my head.  Something is pressing in my mind, I'm forgetting something." Willow said distractedly as her memory started to shed some of its haze.  "What time is it?"

                "It's nine."  Willow felt the blood drain from her face.

                "It's almost Sunday!  I gotta leave; I can’t be here with doctors floating around on Sunday."  Willow slowly started pulling out the tubes that were in her arms, Xander rushing over to her side.

                "Will, what are you doing?  The doctors put those in you for a reason."  Willow pushed Xander’s hand aside as he tried to keep her from moving.

                "I can't leave with these things in my arms, so I’m taking them out.  Here, help me up," Willow said.  The young Slayer slowly started edging herself off the bed, feeling her head start to spin as the dull throb in her body increased a little.  Xander reached his hand out and started pushing his friend back into bed.  "What the hell are you doing?  Help me up!  I've got no time for this!" Willow said in a quiet yell.  She watched Xander’s face look at her in confusion.

                "Willow, you can't leave, the doctors want you to rest.  You gotta--"   Xander felt himself pushed back.

                "Fine then, I'll leave by myself.  Sorry Xander, but you know I don't have time for this.  I gotta get home before midnight."

                "Or you'll turn into a pumpkin?  Listen Willow, if I have to, I'll call the doctors in to keep you in bed, you gotta stay here.  Who knows what all is wrong with you," Xander pleaded with her.

                "Wrong with me?  I'll tell you what will be wrong with me.  Tomorrow when the doctors come in and I don't wake up I'm gunna have all sorts of tests on me and who knows what they'll find.  What if they find something they don't like?  What if they start asking questions that I don't have answers too?  What if they start wondering why my wounds heal so fast?  It'll be bad and I'm not gunna be here for that.  I don't need to be poked and prodded so that someone out there can find out that I’m Supergirl and make me their life's work.  Either help me out of bed or stay out of my way.  Either way, I’m leaving."  Xander watched as Willow slowly eased herself off the bed and onto the floor.  As his friend started to prop herself up, the door to the room opened and a young gentleman stepped in wearing a doctors uniform.

                "Well Miss Rosenburg, it's nice to see you up and moving again, now if you would kindly lay back down I can ask you a few questions," the doctor said coolly.  Willow ignored the man as she began to slowly walk forward, a small groan escaping her lips as she felt a draft run along her backside.

                "Where are my clothes?" she asked, staring the doctor in the face.  It was bad enough to be here, but wearing just the patient’s gown topped it off.

                "I'm sorry, we had to cut them off.  Your coat and your.... sword are fine though.  We jus--"

                "Where are they?" she interjected.  The doctor pointed at the closet that was in the far side of the room.

                "Listen Miss Rosenburg, I'm sorry but it isn't wise for you to leave here in your condition."  Willow listened to the doctor ramble about hurt thises and possible thats as she wrapped her coat around herself.

                "My sword, where is it?  It isn't here, where did you put it?" she asked without turning around to face him.

                "It's being kept at the checkout counter."  Willow stumbled a little bit as she closed the closet door, but quickly regained her footing.  Slowly she tried to make her way out the door but the doctor blocked her way at the entrance.

                "I can't keep you here Miss Rosenburg but at least wait here while I get you a wheel chair.  It's hospital policy for you to be wheeled to the door."  Willow pushed the doctor aside.

                "Screw your policy, I'm leaving."  Willow walked through the doorway.  In the background the doctor talked to Xander about a wheel chair policy as the redhead moved carefully down the white hallway feeling the cold anesthetic smell in her nose as she moved her bare feet along the tile floor.  Willow felt a hand on her shoulder, helping to steady her.

                "Here, I got a wheel chair for you, you need to sit down Will," Xander said from behind her.

                "Are you going to wheel me back into that room?" Willow asked without turning.

                "Yes."  Willow extended her middle finger up over her shoulder without looking back and continued to walk forward, her chest moving around like glass.  "Fine, I'll take you home, just sit down."  Willow let out a breath she didn't even know she was keeping and felt it scrape in her throat as she looked back and eased herself softly into the chair.  It felt good to sit down, she could feel her muscles relax as she rested in the cushions of the chair.  Xander began to wheel her through the hallways towards the elevator, glancing down at the redhead with baffled thoughts running through his mind.  The two moved into the first elevator that opened up for them and Xander pressed the lobby button.  "Will....  Wanna tell me what happened?  Did this have something to do with, you know.....  Magic?"  Willow rested her eyes as she let the sound of the elevator course through her.

                "Yeah, something definitely magic, don't know what though.  I don't want to talk about it right now ok?  I'm not feeling too good and I just want to get home and rest."  She felt Xander's silence be his only response as the elevator lowered itself to the lobby floor.  As the doors opened, her friend began wheeling Willow once more forward.  The young girl felt her stomach throb as the chair she was in went over the elevator entrance, shaking slightly.  "Just got to keep it together Will," the Slayer whispered to herself.  As the two approached the front counter Willow motioned for Xander to stop.  The counter clerk watched as the woman in the wheelchair pushed herself up by the arm rests of the chair and stood up.

                "Yes Miss, may I help you?" the woman asked politely.  Willow felt herself grit her teeth as she leaned against the counter.

                "Yes, I was told my sword is down here, I would like it back.  I'm leaving."  The lady at the counter gave a curious look.  After a pause she handed a clipboard to Willow with a pen attached to it.

                "Please, fill that out and then you can have your item back."  Willow took the clipboard and sat back down in the chair.  Xander wheeled his friend over into a corner and sat down next to her as she started filling out paper work.

                "Anyone else know about this?" Willow asked as she started scribbling in her name and social security number.  She picked up the pace as she wrote, feeling her need to get out of the lobby start to nag on her more.

                "No.  I was just passing by on my way home and I saw you being carted away from the store.  I tried getting a hold of everyone but no one was at home."  Xander said.  She could see the confusion coming off of him in the corner of her eye.

                "Listen Xander, I really don't know what happened.  We can figure it out later after I get out of here.  I just really don't want to be here right now ok?  It'll be all right."  She noticed that Xander’s face never changed expressions.  He looked genuinely worried and Willow couldn't blame him; she’d feel worried if he was in the hospital too.  "Wheel me back to the desk, I'm done," she said as she laid the pen and the clip board down flat on her lap.  Willow didn't even bother getting up again as she slid the clipboard on the counter back towards the woman.  The clerk got up and left the desk, telling the two to hold on for just one moment and then came back shortly, handing Willow her sword.  The Slayer felt the reassuring weight in her hands as she laid it across the handles of the wheelchair.  Xander eyed the sword with a look that Willow didn't understand, but she didn't feel like asking about it.  The two went out the front finally, Willow sitting quietly as Xander moved them towards his car.  He opened up the door and Willow made her way onto the passenger’s chair.  She watched as Xander pushed the chair back to the lobby area.  The young woman laid her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes as Xander got into the driver’s side and started up the car.  As Xander started the vehicle forward Willow cradled her chest gently.  "Gotta keep it together," she felt herself saying, noticing Xander shooting her a glance that she promptly ignored.  "What time is it?"  Her friend turned on the interior light for a second and glanced at his watch.

                "It's nine thirty.  We should be home by about ten thirty, just lay your head back."  Willow took Xander’s advice and tried to rest.  She watched in silence as the night scenery slipped past her window and blended into itself over and over again and tried playing back the night again in her head but it all seemed so fuzzy. Willow felt herself having to work through it over and over again as Xander sped down the highway.  By the time they made it home Willow could remember being pulled into something but...  Willow decided that it would come back with time, no need to worry about it anymore, plus she’d be asleep soon so no real reason to care.  Xander parked his car and opened up the passenger side door, helping Willow out and up the stairs to the door and stopped.  Willow waited patiently for a moment before she realized that he wasn't going to unlock the door for her, to which she began to dig in her coat pocket and pulled out her spare key, unlocking the door.

                "Hey thanks for unlocking the door there," Willow said under her breath.  Xander gave a confused look again.

                "What are you talking about Willow?" he said in a mystified tone.

                "Never mind, who cares...  Just, just help me up the stairs," Willow said dryly.  Xander helped his friend put her arm around his shoulder as the two walked slowly up the stairwell.  "Listen, don't tell Dawn about any of this till Monday ok?  I don't want her to worry about anything, same thing goes for Tara.  Just tell Giles, see if he can scrounge up something," she said.  Willow motioned for Xander to keep the light off as he brought her into the bedroom and eased her into bed.

                "Willow, are you feeling ok?" Xander asked as he let go of her arm.  Willow laid down and let her muscles rest into the bedspread.

                "Yeah, I'm fine, just banged up."  Willow rolled over slightly on her side to get more comfortable.  Laying her arm out across the bed she felt her hand bump into a body in the darkness.  "Listen Dawn, you need to sleep downstairs tonight ok?  I'm home early, sorry about that."  She felt the body groan slightly as it turned over in her bed.

                "Listen Willow, when Buffy gets home, I'm gunna send her up to try and talk some sense into you ok?" Xander said as he backed up to the door.

                "What did you say that for?  That isn't funny," Willow replied in a confused tone.  ‘What the hell was that about,’ she thought to herself.  Just then the light in the room came on.  Willow brought her hands up to cover her eyes from the sudden glare.  "Listen Dawn, I need to sleep ok?  Just go downstairs, I'm really, really beat."  Willow waited for the bitter response but only got silence.  Willowed lowered her hand and opened her eyes up to the person laying next to her.  She felt her mouth open slightly as she looked at an exact copy of herself laying across from her.  "What the hell is going on?  Who the hell are you?"  Suddenly Willow felt a drowsiness set in, the one she always felt before she took her naps.  It was too early though, the clock on the counter read eleven pm, this couldn't be right.  As her head started to spin, Willow dug in her coat for her watch.  The young redhead clicked the pocket watch open that held the picture of Tara and Dawn smiling together.  It read eleven fifty nine.  "Oh shi--," Willow said as she slipped into unconsciousness.

 

Chapter 6 - Dreams and Hideaways

("I'll build a wall and we can keep them on the other side, but they keep picking, and picking, and picking, and picking" Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile)

 

                "Willow?  Willow??"  The Slayer heard the voice calling her in the distance.  Struggling out of bed, Willow slowly looked around the room.  Everything looked an oblong musty grey, flat and uncomfortably different.  "Willow???"  Feeling her chest, Willow noticed that she wasn't in pain anymore, no pain at all.  Stepping onto the floor from the bed, she walked toward the door, her footsteps unsure as the floor seemed to give a little each time she moved forward.  Reaching for the handle, she steadied herself against the door as the floorboards started the move in small wave like fashions.  As she stared at the sight she felt herself pulled forward as the doorway opened out into the hall.  Willow’s body slowly started to fall as the handle she was gripping slipped from her grasp, everything seeming slow as her body tumbled in the air.  Willow tried to grab something but she couldn't hold on to anything as she moved closer and closer to the floor.  Then she felt arms around her, stopping her, lifting her back up.

                "What's going on?" Willow asked as she tried getting her bearings to stand up right.  Looking up, she saw Tara standing next to her, holding her arm to keep her from falling again.

                "You’re dreaming, kind of,” her friend responded.  “The necklace I gave you, you’re still wearing it.  It's what’s making this happen."  Willow looked around more closely, seeing where she was.  She stood on the top floor of the house, the stair well to the left reaching down forever to the bottom floor.  The walls seemed to bulbous outward as they stretched forward, all a dull grey.  "This is your first dream with the stone so your mind is learning how to use it.  It'll take a while for things to cheer up.  Sorry about that, I was hoping to tell you all about it but I didn't get the chance to."

                "It's ok," Willow replied, and she felt it was ok too.  The Slayer thought everything was odd here but she didn't feel sad or scared, just confused.  Everything looked different but it all felt familiar, and safe.  "I'm not scared here, just kinda weirded out ya know?"  Willow looked around again and then looked back at Tara.  "Are you really Tara?" she asked.  She seemed too real to be part of the house, too colorful.

                "Yeah.  I kept a piece of the stone that I made you to wear myself so I could peek into your head.  I wanted to make sure that everything worked out alright.  And, if anything went wrong I’d be here to help.  I'm dreaming too."  Willow felt the floor start to move under her lightly.  Tara looked down at their feet and then started to lead Willow down stairs.

                "Where are we going?" Willow asked as the walked.

                "I'm trying to see if I can take you out of this house while your mind works on it, take you into my dreams.  It should be more solid there.  We need to talk anyways."  Tara walked her friend to the front door of the house and opened it up.  Willow watched as the door revealed a landscape of infinite green grass with hills here and there.  Stepping out the door her foot set itself on more solid ground, warm soft grass mushing in-between her toes.  Willow smelt the fragrance of flowers drift by in the air.  She looked as Tara guided her a few steps out and turned her to face the house she had just came from.  It looked so tall and pale but when she looked hard enough she could see the color slowly working its way into the wood paneling.  She craned her neck back, gazing into the blue sky with a few white clouds dotted here and there.  Willow could feel the sun on her but couldn't actually see it anywhere, just an unseen pleasant soft warmth.

                "It's beautiful," Willow said softly.

                "Thank you," Tara replied, moving closer to her friend.  "Willow, can you tell me what happened to you earlier today?  Where you are now?  We can't find you, we thought you were gone...  Spike said you were dragged into some kind of hole at your work."  Willow felt her mind swim through thoughts as she tried to fish for the answers Tara had just asked for, her concentration breaking apart while she tried to focus.

                "I....  What's that over there?" Willow asked pointing towards a hill near the horizon which didn't seem so far.  She could make out a small house that stood by itself.  Tara lowered Willows hand down, back to her side.

                "It's my house here, don't worry about.  In our houses, at least in this dream world, that's where we keep a lot of our stuff.  It helps make the dreamer feel safe.”  Tara gazed intently into her friend’s eyes.  “Willow, think.  Where are you right now?"  Willow looked at Tara with face full of confusion.

                "I'm here with you," the Slayer replied.  Tara closed her eyes for a moment and then put both her hands on Willow’s shoulders, staring as hard as possible into Willow's face.

                "Listen Willow, this is a dream, you’re not here right now.  Before you came here, when you were awake, what do you remember?"  Willow tried to make her thoughts clear up.  She took a moment, caught in Tara's eyes, and concentrated.

                "I remember something taking me away from work...  Then..."  Willow's mind circled around itself as she tried to remember.  "I remember falling for a while in emptiness and...  And then I fell to the ground and I don't much remember what happened next."  Tara's face grew sterner as she looked at Willow.

                "Listen Willow, time in the real word passes a lot quicker than it does here; we don't have long before one of us wakes up.  We need to know where you are."  Tara gripped Willow's shoulder more sternly.  "Willow!  Listen!  It's going to be time for me to leave soon, I can't help it.  Where are you?!?"  Willow closed her eyes and tried to force her head to stop moving all around.

                "I'm...  I went home.  Xander took me home.  I'm at home.  I remember going to bed and seeing...  I saw something, I can't remember."  Willow suddenly heard ringing coming to them from across the fields, being carried on the wind.  Tara jerked her head from Willow's gaze to the approaching sound.  As the ringing came closer and closer Willow could see the terror on Tara's face.  Willow felt confusion sweep through her.  She felt confusion before.  She felt confused when she went to bed.  She had felt confused because she had seen herself.  "I saw me.  I, I saw...  I saw myself in bed.  Before I went to sleep, I swore I could have seen someone in my bed that looked just like me, I thought it was Dawn but, she looked just like me."  Willow felt Tara's grip lighten as the blonde slowly started fading from view.  She watched as Tara looked at her, trying to hug her but fading away instead.  Willow stood quietly in the grassy field for a moment in bafflement, wondering what to do.  As if in answer, she looked once more to the house on the hill that she had pointed at earlier.  Getting up, she started making her way across the soft long green fields, listening to the gentle wind pass across her body.  The air cooled her as it blew by, making her feel refreshed and happier.  As she approached the house she could see a tiny white fence surrounding it, perfectly painted.  Willow opened the small white gate and stepped into the front yard that held a sidewalk which stretched out to a pure white door.  On both sides of the brick walkway, she saw flowers in full bloom, all white and red roses.  She smiled to herself.  Willow bent down and picked up a rose and brought it up to her nose, breathing in the aroma.  She loved the smell of a fresh garden, it reminded her of when her mother used to garden for recreation.  She remembered helping out with the weeding and the planting of flowers and herbs in the summer, breathing in the smells that used to float around her and her mother as they played in the dirt.  Tara planted too, she always had some type of plant at least somewhere.  Willow stepped up to the door and brought her hand up to knock as she heard a voice from behind her.

                "Tara?  Is that you?"  Willow looked to her right as she saw a figure walk towards her, coming out from behind the side of the house.  "You’re not Tara.  Who are you?"  Willow felt herself letting go of the rose as she saw her own face, herself, walk towards her.  "Do you know where Tara is?"  Willow stumbled back a little as she looked at herself.  The woman walking towards her, the woman that had her face, was dressed in a light blue shirt and overalls, dirt on her knees.  Willow could smell the earth that was coating the woman’s hands, could see the sweat on her forehead from toiling in the ground.  She had a gentle smile as she walked up towards Willow.

                "Who are you?  Are you me?" Willow asked to the woman while stepping back, trying to keep distance between them.  The woman wiped her right hand off on her pant leg and extended it out to Willow.

                "Hi, I'm Willow.  I don't know if I'm you though," she said lightly, in a cheery voice.  Willow felt herself backup even farther from the outstretched hand.

                "No, you can't be me.  I'm me.  Who the hell are you?"  Willow felt herself trip over something, landing on her back on top of a rose patch.  She thought it strange that no thorns cut her as she laid there.  She watched the woman keep approaching, putting her hand out to grab her.  Willow recoiled, bringing her self out of the strangers grasp.  Then the woman was on her, shaking her by the shoulders.

                "Where's Tara?  I miss Tara.  Where is she?  Do you know?"

 

Chapter 7 - Waking Trials

("But I'm on the outside, I'm lookin’ in" Staind - Outside)

 

                Willow’s eyelids fly open as she felt an arm shaking her.  She looked around with her eyes, keeping her head perfectly still and saw Dawn standing near.

                "Dawn?" Willow said stupidly.  She watched as her little sister, who was standing next to the bed that she was laying in, let go of her.

                "Buffy said I couldn't come in here but she isn't the boss of me," Dawn said as more of a statement and less of a conversation.  The young girl looked at Willow closely, almost examining her as Willow began to sit upright in the bed, quickly wrapping her hands around her stomach, feeling a dull ache.  The Slayer could tell that the pain in her chest wasn't anywhere as bad as it was when she went to sleep but it was still going to bother her for probably about a day.

                "What the hell is going on Dawn?  What are you going on about?" Willow said as she scooted back in the bed, leaning herself against the backboard.  The redhead took a breath, forcing herself to stay calm.  This whole situation had an air about it she didn't like and she knew that she was only going to get through this with patience.  Best to collect all the information she could, be calm and cool before doing anything.

                "Is it true?  Are you really some kinda robot like Spike had?" Dawn asked as she gazed down at Willow.

                "No Dawn, I'm not a robot," Willow breathed out heavily.  "What's going on here?  Where is everyone?"  Willow felt herself breathe in and out another time, forcing her muscles to relax instead of tensing up in anger.  ‘I can do this, I can play along,’ she thought to herself.  "Where is Buffy?"  The words felt like rocks in Willow’s throat.

                "She's downstairs talking with the other Willow and Xander.  I didn't wanna hang out there anyways.  So why are you here?" Dawn asked, trying to sound authoritative.  Willow closed her eyes as she tilted her head back and rested it against the bedroom wall.

                "I'm here to free the chickens of the world, Dawn.  To let them rise up and bring down the oppressive monster that is humanity."  Willow opened her eyes again and scanned the room.  "Where's my coat."  Dawn eyed her again, trying to size Willow up.

                "How do you know my name?" she asked intently.  Willow stopped herself from letting out another sigh.

                "I guessed Dawn,” the redhead said in a sarcastic voice.”  “I guessed.  Where’s my coat?"

                "Xander took it downstairs after you passed out."  Willow looked at the clock on the night stand next to her.  It announced eleven fifteen pm in bright unflinching red numbers.  Well, if there was a Buffy in the house, best way to find out what was going on was to go downstairs and say hi.

                "This should turn out good," the Slayer muttered to herself.  As Willow tried to swing her feet out from under her covers onto the floor she felt something wrapped around her feet stop her from completely resting her soles on the floor.  Ripping the covers off of herself she looked in shock at her feet.  She gazed at the chains that were attached to her, keeping her locked near the bed post that the other end of the chains were attached too.  "You have got to be kidding me."

                "That was Buffy's idea," Dawn said absentmindedly.  "She didn't want you running off if she wasn't here.  She can be like that."  Willow shook her head a bit in disbelief.  Pulling her right foot back as far as the slack in the chain allowed, Willow thrust her leg out at the bed post, snapping it off.  Dawn stepped back at the loud noise.

                "I knew you were a robot, I knew it!" she said with her eyes wide.  Willow watched Dawn slip out of the door down the hallway as she slid the chains that were attached to her off the broken bed post.  Standing up, she kept the slack of the metal links in her hands so as not to trip over anything as she started for the door, feeling the jingling of the chains as she walked.  Out in the hallway she could hear the voices faintly below and chuckled to herself.

                "Yeah, this can only end good," she said with thick sarcasm.  Willow ambled herself to the bathroom at the end of the hallway and locked the door as footsteps started coming up the stairwell.  The Slayer curled her bare toes as she felt the cold tiles beneath her, waking her up a little bit more.  "No need for any spells when we have the good old bathroom, now is there," the redhead said to herself as she shuffled through the drawers under the sink.  Holding a hairpin up triumphantly in the mirror to herself, she smiled defiantly as she felt her wits coming back to her more, her strength starting to return, and her senses begining to waken up a little bit more.  Willow started the chanting of her spells that she had done for years after a wake up as she picked the locks on her ankles, and, speaking the words, her senses started to stretch out more, letting her feel and see everything in the room around her.  She could smell the left over toothpaste that was barley visible on the sink and the mildew between the tiles.  She could also hear the four people standing outside the bathroom talking in whispers as she finished picking the lock end of the chains that were around her ankles, letting them fall loudly to the floor, echoing throughout the bathroom.

                "She has the chains off," she heard Xander say from outside the bathroom door.  Willow wanted to pause to laugh at her friend, but kept chanting instead.  Finishing up another spell, the Slayer stretched out with her mind, feeling for her sword.  She caught it in the corner of her mind, under the bed she had woken up on.  ‘It must have fallen out of my coat when Xander took it,’ she thought to herself.  Hurrying as fast as she could through the last of her spells, the redhead heard a knocking from the door ring through the room, filling the bathroom with noise.  As Willow finished the last spell while walking to the bathroom door, she reached her hand towards the handle.

                "It's like Christmas all over again," the redhead said.  Opening the door, Willow felt words leave her as she looked Buffy Summers in the face.  "It's true..." she whispered out.

                "Someone seems to be a little reckless with my property," Buffy said holding up the bed post end that Willow had broken earlier in the bedroom. 'Keep your wits girl, don't let this jostle you,' Willow heard herself saying in her head.

                "What can I say, I don't like being chained," Willow replied, stepping forward, hoping Buffy would move out of her way.  ‘Just got to make it to my sword, everything will be ok if I can make it to my sword.’  Buffy stood her ground.  Willow was tempted to force her way through but she didn't want to hurt anyone and she had a feeling that, if pushed, this situation would get out of hand and violent really quick.

                "Going somewhere?" Buffy asked.  Willow eyed Buffy for a moment, unflinching.

                "I guess not."  Willow looked at everyone gathered in front of the bathroom door, keeping her from reaching her sword.  "Well hello Spike," the Slayer said, giving a nod to the blonde haired vampire.  "Xander, Dawn," she nodded again respectively.  "And of course, Buffy and well.....” Willow gave a long look at another Willow to the right of Buffy.  “Me.  I guess it's safe to say that I'm a little confused, so if someone here could fill me in on what's going on, I think I'll be a little bit more happy then I am right now."

                "Actually, we were hoping you could do the same for us," Buffy said curtly.  "You don't seem to be a robot and Willow said she didn't get zapped with any staff ray thing so we're all stumped."  The blonde Summers still stood there, facing Willow with an almost accusing gaze.

                "It's nice to be loved..." Willow said, not turning away.  "Just to be sure...  The problem has to be with me right?  The fact that you’re dead," Willow said pointing to Buffy, "and you’re the one who’s a copy...." the redhead then pointed at the other Willow.  "That would be the stretch right?  I’m just making sure about that."  Willow needed some time to think.  She needed to be alone.  Buffy and her gang stood there, not moving.  "Listen, I think I'm gunna take a shower while you all figure this out, unless of course you want to chain me up again."

                "I don't think we can leave you alone.  Who knows what you'll break next," Buffy said in a accusatory manner.  Willow shrugged and turned around.

                "Fine, suit yourself."  Willow took off her pants and walked over the shower in the corner of the bathroom.  She heard the whispered conversations start behind her with the other Willow urging the rest of group to leave the bathroom, probably not wanting the others staring at a naked version of her.  Willow laughed lightly to herself as she started up the water, adjusting the temperature.  The other Willow commented that she would stay in the bathroom and keep an eye out for funny business and Buffy reluctantly agreed, pushing the rest of the gang back.  The Slayer listened as the other redhead stepped in the bathroom and shut the door behind her.  "How are things in your world princess," Willow said taking off her shirt.  The other Willow stood in the corner and stayed quite, ignoring Willow’s comment.  "Fine, don't talk to me.  Nice to know that there’s another me out there that, when faced with a question, knows how to be quiet.  I feel reassured by that."

                "How do you know you’re not another me," the other Willow replied firmly.  The Slayer finished undressing and stepped in the shower and closed the curtain around herself.

                "Just a stab in the dark is all, just a guess."  With that, both Willows decided to let the silence between them fill the air for a moment, only being taken up by the sound of the water from the shower..  "You have any idea what's going on here?" Willow finally said after a long while from the shower.

                "No, not really.  It's not everyday you meet yourself," came the voice from the corner of the bathroom.

                "I know what you mean.  I had this dream when I was sleeping yesterday where I met myself.  I wonder if that means anything.  I was dreaming about Tara then she left and I was at this house and saw myself.  It was weird."  Willow paused for a moment.  "Tara!  If anyone can help with this, I'm sure she could."  Willow opened up the curtain slightly and stuck her head out and looked at the other Willow.  "Is she downstairs?"  She watched, through the steam in the room as her mirror image looked down at the floor.

                "No, she isn't here, she left.  She's gone," Willow heard, barely audible over the shower.

                "Gone?  Where?  What the hell do you mean she is gone?  I was out for one day and a clone tells me Tara's gone!"  Willow turned the shower off and stepped out and started drying herself off.

                "She's been gone for a while now.  Buffy can call her if you need her though."  Willow didn’t respond as she quietly got dressed and combed her hair, thinking about what to do next.

                "This isn't right," Willow said to herself after a bit.  "Come on, let's go."  As the redhead opened the door, her shadow followed behind.  Willow walked down the hallway and turned left into the bedroom she had slept in, her copy stepping in and slipping on the light.  Willow held out her left hand and willed her sword that was under the bed into her palm.  The scabbard twitched slightly, then landed softly in her palm.  Willow turned around and saw a look play across the other Willow’s face that she didn't quite know what to make of.  The Slayer gripped her sheath in her hand, feeling a bit more comfortable about her situation with her weapon near, being reminded once more about how naked she felt without being armed.  Willow started for the door once more and then noticed the pictures on the mantels and drawers all around.  A few pictures of Willow and Tara that she never remembered were scattered about as well as pictures of Buffy with Dawn.  Then more pictures of Buffy with Xander and Willow.  She couldn't remember any of them, couldn’t remember ever being at half the places where the photos were shot at.  "Curiouser and curiouser," she said to herself and her shadow.  Willow stepped through the doorway and headed down stairs, keeping her sword visibly in her hand, looking about the house.  It was still the same house she lived in but different somehow.  She saw different tables here and there, curtains with different colors on them.  It was like someone had come in while she was sleeping and redecorated all the small things.  Willow stepped into the kitchen where everyone was talking, all the faces quieting down and turning to look at her as she stepped in.  The other Willow stepped out from behind her and moved to stand next to Buffy.

                "Nice to see you up and around."  Buffy looked down at the sword that Willow gripped at her side.  "You mind setting that down?"  Willow felt her hand reflexively grip the sheath tighter.

                "Yes," she said flatly as she leaned up against the island counter in the center of the kitchen.  Buffy looked at her for a moment then turned away.  "So, find out what is going on?" Willow asked.

                "Not really," Buffy replied.  "No one really remembers anything strange happening recently."  Willow's mind suddenly flooded with images of her falling in the empty abyss again, alone.  The redhead felt her ribs again with her hand.

                "I guess…  Something happened to me..." Willow said slowly as she felt all the eyes in the room on her.  "I was working at CompTech Saturday and got called out to the front room by Spike."  The Slayer watched Buffy look at Spike who gave a blank lost stare back.  "I came out and we were talking and then I...  I remember a thing opened up, a hole or a sphere or something, in the middle of the room.  I felt myself get pulled in and then I was falling."  Willow paused for a moment remembering how helpless she felt.  She closed her eyes.  "I landed somewhere, I think back at work and then I passed out.  I woke up in the hospital.  I'm pretty sure you've heard the rest from Xander."  Willow hopped up gently and sat down on the counter, laying her sword across her lap.

                "A dimensional vortex," the other Willow chimed in.  Buffy turned her head.

                "A dimensional whatzit?" the blonde asked.

                "I bet it was a dimensional vortex.  I read about them a while ago.  If you can get something sucked into one they pop out in another dimension, probably one close by to the original dimension, in a manner of speaking.  It seemed like a good idea on how to get rid of an enemy but after I read it all, it was way too much effort and timing.  It's just easier to deal with the person directly than send them to another dimensional space.  Plus there is the chance that the person you’re targeting won't get taken plus about a hundred tiny other factors."

                "I'm glad that someone thinks I'm worth the time then," Willow interjected.  "So how do we find out that that's what happened for sure and, if so, how do I fix it?"

                "There's a spell," the other Willow said in a low voice.  "It reveals where you've come from.  I'm pretty sure that it'll say whether or not you’re from this dimension or not."  Willow felt an awkward silence for a moment.

                "Ok...  I don't know about you guys, but I’d like to get this going as soon as possible.  As much as I like strange crap going on in my life, I'm pretty sure I’d like things set back to the way they were."  Willow watched everyone sit in silence.

                "I'll call Tara, she can do it," the other Willow said as she stood up and walked away from the table.

                "Don't everyone jump for joy all at once," The redheaded Slayer added in as her shadow left the room.  Willow watched as the kitchen sat in silence.  Hopping down gently off the center island, she walked over to the refrigerator and opened up the door, sticking her head in.  "So Buffy, saying this is all true, what's your story," she said as she poked a carton of milk with her finger.  Reaching her hand in farther she snagged a soda from the back of the fridge and pulled it out, popping open the top.

                "What do you mean?" Buffy replied.

                "I mean, what's your story.  I remember you dying to the Master and now, walah, here you are.  Pretty strange business if you ask me."  Willow watched as Buffy seemed to get lost for a moment in memories of the past.

                "The Master, I’d almost forgotten about him.  I did die but Xander…  He uh, he revived me.  He and Angel brought me back," Buffy said.  "How do you remember it?" Buffy asked.  Willow paused for a moment as her mind drifted.

                "After you died,” Willow started off in a far off voice.  “The Master, he came for us at the library.  No one revived you so we were pretty much all on our own.  It was all pretty hectic.  It felt like there were a hundred things going on at once and it was hard just to concentrate.  Cordy and Xander tried holding the doors and windows shut while Giles and Angel and I tried to fight the Master.  He...  He hit Giles, throwing him back.  I froze up after that, watching Giles, his face covered in blood.  I vaguely remember the Master coming after me next.  He was saying something he found funny but I wasn't paying attention anymore, I was just standing there.  Angel must have jumped him from behind then ‘cause the Master fell back.  I watched as Angel and the Master struggled for a moment.  Giles got up then, wiping blood from his eyes...  He stumbled forward and grabbed a splinter of wood from one of the broken tables in the library.  He tried stabbing it into the Master but he couldn't shove it in all the way; the Master’s skin was too tough.  He called my name out for help but I just stood there.  I remember the Master looking at me, smiling that big toothy smile that he had.  Giles and Angel kept yelling at me and finally I started moving again.  I ran over and helped Giles and finally pushed the stake all the way to his heart but not before he stabbed a letter opener into me."  Willow brought her hand down and ran it across her stomach.  "After that everything kinda calmed down.  I remember Giles carrying me to the car but I passed out after that.  From what I was told, they barely made it to the hospital in time.  I’d lost a lot of blood by then and the doctors thought I was dead at one point.  I made it through though.  Guess there are a few advantages to being a slayer."  Willow took another gulp from her soda.  She watched the eyes of everyone at the kitchen table look at her with a kind of curious note.

                "So wait, let me get this straight," Xander said.  "You’re a slayer?"

                "Isn't everyone?" Willow said grinning.

                "Prove it," the vampire said, disbelievingly.

                "I’d expect that from you Spike." Willow replied snidely.  "I would think that the fact that I'm walking around after I got about three or four ribs busted up and my arm broke would be proof enough."  Buffy got up and walked over to Willow.

                "Even I don't heal that fast," Buffy said as she put her hands on Willow's arm.

                "That's what you get for not paying your Slayer Union dues," Willow said, taking another drink of her soda.  "They cut your regen factor down and you don't get any of those nifty little free cheese baskets."  Buffy opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by their own Willow walking in from the living room.

                "Tara said she could be here at around eight pm.  I didn't tell her about you," she said pointing to Willow.  "I just told her that Buffy needed her help with some magic stuff."

                "So you’re saving me as a surprise?" the redhead asked, confused.  The other Willow looked like she was going to say something but didn't.  "Ok, whatever you wanna do is cool.  I just want to get everything back to a semblance of normal."  The Slayer started heading to the door that lead to the back porch.

                "Where do you think you’re going?" Buffy asked.

                "I'm heading out on patrol, what does it look like?" Willow replied opening up the door without turning around.  "Gotta eat up time."  As she walked out onto the porch, the redhead realized that she was wearing a dress instead of pants, and didn't have on any shoes.  Willow turned around and, grabbing the side of the dress with one hand, looked at everyone inside the house.  "Where the hell did I get this from?"

 

Chapter 8 - Absolution

("I cry when Angels deserve to die" System Of A Down - Chop Suey)

 

                Willow's shadow took her up into the bedroom and shuffled through some clothes that Willow could wear.  The Slayer looked through everything, amazed at the variety.  She picked out some black pants and a black shirt and put them on and found an extra pair of old red shoes that the other Willow wasn't wearing anymore and tied them up.  After getting on something decent, Willow felt the itch to head out.

                "Listen shadow, I don't really wanna head downstairs ok?  If I go out I think Buffy is gunna wanna follow me and I want some time to myself tonight to figure some things out.  Don't say anything ok?  I mean, who can you trust more than yourself right?" Willow said as she opened the window on the far wall of the room.

                "I'm not going to cover for you.  You may look like me but that doesn't mean I'm gunna lie to Buffy for you," Willow heard from behind her.  She sighed to herself, she really couldn't blame her.

                "Fine, suit yourself.  I'll be back around noon or so.  Tell Buffy whatever you want, just so long as Tara shows up and can figure this out."  Willow crawled out the window and jumped to the ground.  As Willow started to head out she sniffed a scent in the wind and smiled to herself.  "You know, for a dead guy, you sure do use a lot of hair gel. You should probably cut that down a little."

                "Thought you’d head out this way.  So what's your deal?  You sure don't act like our Willow." Spike said as he circled Willow.  Willow cocked an eyebrow.

                "I guess I'm sorry then?" she asked mockingly as she kept walking, Spike keeping a brisk pace with her.  "What do you want Spike?  How can I be of service to William the Bloody?"

                "You're sure a pleasant conversationalist.  I was just wondering something..." he asked as he looked down at the path he was walking.  "If what was said back there is true, I was just wondering…  I was wondering what I'm like, you know. "  Willow stopped walking, her feet sinking a little into the damp grass.  She could smell a fireplace going somewhere off in the distance as she closed her eyes.  "I was just wondering you know."

                "What do you want me to tell you Spike?" Willow said as she opened her eyes back up and looked at the blonde man.

                "I just want to know what he's like..."  Spike took out a cigarette and put it to his mouth.  Willow smiled to herself.

                "You know what?  I'll tell ya whatever you want to know.  You want to head down to the Bronze for a drink?"  Spike put a lighter up to his face as he looked on at Willow and gave out a sidelong grin.

                "What about patrolling?" he said as closed up his Zippo and put it into his back pocket.  Willow lifted her head up to the stars in the sky.  It had been a long time since there was another Slayer, since there was anyone else to take care of everything.  Faith had seen to that.  Willow let out a breath.  It had been a while since she wasn't the one who had to be the front line of anything.  Willow whacked the back of her hand against Spike’s chest.

                "Screw it.  Let Buffy handle it.  Until Tara gets here tomorrow with some answers, I'm on vacation.  Let the demons and vampires of the world quake in fear from some other slayer."  Willow put her hands in her pants pockets and changed her direction, heading towards the Bronze.  After a moment she looked at Spike who was dutifully following her as she realized her pockets were empty.  "You're buying."  Spike let out a sigh of disgust to which Willow laughed.  "Spike my boy, where I come from, you're pretty much the same.  Everything is pretty much the same, mostly.  Except for Buffy.  And if you want," Willow added in as she kept her pace just a little ahead of Spike, "you can call me Poppie."

                Spike and Willow spent most of the night talking.  Willow had a couple of drinks while she recanted tales of the Spike she knew.  As Willow watched Spike drink down his beers and cheer at his own exploits, she felt it important to add a few details, making the vampire sound a little larger then life and smiled as the Spike leaned back with a cockiness.  Every once in a while he added in a 'Damn right!' to help emphasize any points she was making about some of his heroics.  After some time he finally asked the question she knew he had been wanting to ask.

                "Do I…  He I mean, does he love you?  I mean.  I...  Buffy-" Spike started to ramble on

                "Yeah, I think he does.  I think he cares about me a lot."  Willow watched as Spike chuckled.  "What?"  Spike took another gulp out of his mug.

                "You two do it yet?" he asked.  Willow grinned to herself.

                "Even here you think too high of yourself.  I don't think me and you...  him...  would ever work out.  We're too different.  I don't know what's gunna happen in the future but I try not to think about it honestly."  Willow eyed the half empty drink that sat in front of her as she watched through the thick colored liquid, seeing Spike's image as he finished off another drink.  She picked up her glass and swirled the soda in it around a little and took a gulp.  "Spike, I've been wondering something for a while now."  She eyed him seriously now.

                "What's that Poppie?"  Spike watched as Willow gave a brief smile to herself.

                "I guess there isn't a way to beat around the bush on this...  What's gunna happen when the chip stops working or gets removed?"  Willow watched as the vampire's face became grave as he set his beer down on the table.

                "What do you mean?" he asked in a curious voice.  Willow forced herself to stay firm.

                "You know it's gunna happen one day.  Look where we live?  Or you live I guess...  Nothing ever goes right here, nothing.  Eventually that chip is gunna break, stop working, get removed, something.  With or without your permission, it's going to happen.  I've been putting this conversation off with my Spike for a while now but as he gets closer to the group it keeps pressing in on me about what to do."  Willow watched as Spike looked down at the table they were both sitting at.

                "And you thought you’d try your questions out on me first to see what the vampire would do?  That's bloody cold," Spike said after a bit.  Willow kept herself forceful, trying not to buckle under the guilt.

                "You were the one that tailed me.  Either because Buffy asked or you wanted to keep an eye on me for her, so don't act so pure.  Besides, if you do care about Buffy, you’d think about this.  Once that chip comes out it's only a matter of time before you kill again and you know it."  Spike looked up at Willow when she finished her sentence with a sharp look on his face.

                "Don't pretend to know me, I've changed a lot from who I was.  Chip or no chip, I'm a different person." he said flatly.

                "I believe you Spike, I do.  But the fact that you've changed won't ever stop the fact that you'll always have the urge.  It's suppressed now but when that chip is gone, the suppression will be gone.  Do you believe you could stay around and protect Tara and Dawn and Buffy with the chip gone?  Do you believe you wouldn't be a danger to the people you care about and the person you love when you have nothing holding you back from your needs?"  She watched as Spike sat quietly in his chair.

                "You know you're not like our Willow at all," the vampire murmured.  "She has tact."

                "Being killed changes your outlook on conversation, you should know that Spike, look at you."  Willow knew she wasn't going to budge now, she needed to know his answer.  "You can hate me for asking this all you want, but someone has to do it, and better me asking you than Buffy.  I don't know what she's like but I can guess if she is anything like me--"

                "She's not."

                "That she probably won't bring it up.  Don't be pigheaded about this William, you know this is too important to let anger blind you."  Willow felt an awkward silence creep up between them that even the background noise of the bronze couldn't seem to keep down.  Finally Spike spoke up.

                "I’d leave 'em." he said.  Willow pressed in.

                "Could you?  Could you leave the object of your desire?  Could you leave and just walk away?"

                "I know what you want Poppie," Spike said snidely.  "You want approval to stake me when something goes bad don't you?  You've already made up your mind what you’re going to do, you just want me to forgive you so you don't feel all mopey and bad after you give ol' Spike the dusting."  The blonde man let his accusation hang in the air.

                "Yes," Willow said.  "I respect my Spike enough now to tell him...  To talk to you truthfully.  I want your forgiveness Spike."  Willow felt a part of her break inside.  She tried to hold back but she felt her insides start to twist as she began to cry.  She kept her eyes locked on the vampire, kept her mouth clenched as she felt her tears betray her weakness.  Spike looked down at his beer on the table again.

                "It doesn't really matter what I think or say does it though.  What you want can only come from the other me."  Willow kept her head up, not moving, as she wiped a hand across her face.  "But I’d give it to you."  Willow sniffed lightly and wiped her face again as she watched Spike keep his gaze on his beer.

                "Because you want to or because I'm asking for it?" Willow asked in a soft chocked voice.  Spike brought his head up and looked into Willow's bloodshot eyes.

                "Both."  Willow let out a breath and dropped her gaze away from the vampire.  As some of the tension between them drained away they both felt an uncomfortable silence set in that neither one wanted to be the first one to break and, as in response to their need for some way to talk again, the closing announcement was made.  "I guess it's time to be heading out," Spike said as he stood up, anxious to have something new to talk about it.  As he pushed his chair in he watched Willow rush over from where she was sitting and wrap her arms around him, burying her head in his chest.  Spike stood still and looked down at the redhead as she hugged him.  Willow let go after a moment and backed up smiling at Spike.

                "Thank you," she said quietly as they both started to walk towards the exit.  Spike stuck his hands into his trenchcoat pockets as he walked aside Willow out the exit, watching his breath stand out against the cold.

                "You know Will, you look kinda sexy when you talk about staking me to death.  You sure we haven’t shagged?" Spike asked as they walked to nowhere in particular.

                "I get that from all the vampires," the Slayer retorted as she stuffed her own hands into her pockets.  The two wandered about aimlessly for a while, traversing old haunts that both used to visit, talking about past experiences and friends.  Both of them tried to stay away from talking about Slayers and vampires and deaths, just talking about childhoods and pointless stories of youth.  Finally the two ended up back at the house, standing at the door steps.

                "I guess this is your stop Poppie, past your bed time," Spike said.  Willow put her hand on her shirt, feeling the dream stone underneath it.

                "Not really.  I don't sleep anymore.  It gets in the way of all that skulking around in the middle of the night you know," Willow replied absently.  "I cooked up some spells a few years back that keep me going pretty much twenty four seven."  Spike looked down at her.  "I do sleep," she said as she watched him eye her.  "I sleep for a full day about once a month.  The sleep that I just had was the latest one.  Dawn calls it my dirt nap.  She has a morbid sense of humor but, living in Sunnydale, who can blame her."  Willow felt herself want to squirm as Spike kept staring down at her.

                "You know, magic isn't something to play with," the vampire said with a serious tone in his voice.

                "Thanks Mom," Willow replied with sarcasm and a slight tone of annoyance.  "I've been at this a while now and I know what I'm doing.  The Willow here may not know how to use magic but I've been practicing for quite a while now."

                "Oh Willow knows how to use magic here, you should ask her about that sometime.  Ask her how it almost killed Dawn and drove Tara away.  Using magic to adjust things for your own benefit isn't something to be taken ligh--"

                "I don't take it lightly," Willow interrupted.  "I don't take much of anything lightly anymore you know that?  I've had lightheartedness beaten out of me.  I'm sorry that I do things that rub you the wrong way but it isn't my job to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  My job is to hurt the things that people can't fight on their own.  I use magic to help me and if that bothers you--"  Spike turned his head quickly, seeing the porch light come on and the front door open.  Buffy stuck her head out while Willow turned the opposite direction, watching a van from across the street that she hadn't notice before open up its sliding door.

                "Spike!  Will you be quite?  You're being loud enough to wake... yourself."  Buffy paused as she realized that Willow was the one accompanying him.

                "Get in the house," the redhead said shortly.  Before Buffy could respond, a burst of light shot out from the van across the street, hitting Willow in the chest and knocking her back onto the wooden porch.  Buffy stepped out of the door, moving to Willow to help her up while the sliding door of the van closed as it began to roll off.  Buffy watched as the redhead stood up and broke into a dead run after the vehicle, Spike starting after her.  The blonde begrudgingly followed suit. 

                Moving after the vehicle, Willow let her foot steps become faster, letting her breathing calm down as she started to move again in the rhythm she was accustom to now.  Her body moving, interacting with all the spells that wrapped around her bones and her muscles.  As the van speeded up, Willow ran faster, leaping on top of the vehicle as she drew her sword and pushed it into the metal of the roof, sinking the blade next to the two occupants inside.  Spike and Buffy watched the van drive off away from them down the road, increasing its speed as they saw the figure riding on the top, hanging on.  Upstairs in the house Dawn closed a window and hurried back into bed.

                "Way cool," the little sister said excitedly to herself.

                Warren yanked the steering wheel back and forth, trying to shake the person on top of the van off while pressing the gas pedal down as far as it would go.  As Willow began sliding around on top of the moving vehicle, she started a small chant, heating up the metal of her sword, while Andrew and Jonathan both began inching their way to the front part of the van, keeping clear of the blade extending from the ceiling.

                "Ummmm Warren, I think she's not happy," Jonathan said in a weak voice.

                "I told you it was the wrong spell!" Andrew said, slapping Jonathan on the side of the arm with his hand.  Jonathan hit him back with the spell book he had used just used a moment ago.

                "It was the right spell.....  It just hit the wrong person."  Jonathan began to back up further as he watched the sword start to burn red and slowly drag back, slicing a line down the center of the roof.

                "It was the wrong spell," Andrew said defiantly back.

Warren yanked the wheel again, sending his two cohorts in back tumbling on top of each other.

                "Hey up there!  Watch the driving!" Jonathan grumbled from under Andrew, whose arm was now in his face. 

                Willow felt herself slipping around on the metal she was laying on as the van swerved back and forth in the night.  While the driver weaved the vehicle back and forth, the Slayer twisted the hilt of her sword, digging into the metal of the roof for more hold.  Using her free arm, Willow brought her elbow down on the cut she had made in the roof, slowly bashing an opening in while still trying to keep herself steady.

                "Is she off!?  Is she off the roof!?" Warren yelled from the driver’s seat as he kept the gas down.

                "Well...  If by, ‘is she off the roof?’, you mean coming through the roof into the van, then yes, she is getting off the roof," Andrew said out of the side of his mouth, watching the elbow part the ceiling.

                "It did work too." Jonathan added to the end of Andrew's comment.

                "Not now Jonathan!" Warren shot back from the driver’s seat.  "Get her off or something!"  Both Andrew and Jonathan looked at each other, then at the sword and the elbow that was banging on the roof harder, then back at each other.  Andrew pushed Jonathan off and back onto the other side of the van.

                "Fine, if you did the spell right then tell her to get off the ceiling."  Jonathan gave a wide eyed look at the rip in the top of the van as the sword was drawn out, leaving no trace of their would-be attacker.  For a brief moment the two in the back held their breaths hoping that everything was fine now.  Finally Jonathan started to inch towards the hole in the ceiling and look up, fright suddenly playing across his face.  Andrew watched as he saw a hand quickly come down and grab hold of Jonathan by the collar, pulling him up. 

                Willow yanked the boy in her hand up slightly as she looked into his eyes through the hole she had made in the roof.  She couldn't climb through the opening but it was big enough to jostle the boy around with her arm.

                "You should be careful who you cast spells on Jonathan, peop--"  Willow felt herself loose her balance as the van swerved again, the inertia causing her body to slide off to one side of the roof. 

                With the grip on Jonathan still firm, he felt himself rise up as Willow held on to him for support.  He watched as the serrated edges of the metal from the ceiling, that were now bent down from Willow bashing them in, get closer to his head as he was dragged up while the redhead slide around atop the vehicle.  Jonathan brought the large book that was still in his hands, up over his face, letting it slam into the sharp edges of the roof that angled down resembling jagged teeth.

                Willow regained her balance quickly by using Jonathan to steady herself and then took her other hand and stuck it down into the van, grabbing a hold of the book the young boy was clinging to.

                "HEY!  Let go of my spell book!" Willow heard from underneath her as she tried yanking the book away.  Jonathan looked at Andrew.  "My spell!" Jonathan exclaimed.

                "It was the wrong one," Andrew replied.  Jonathan stuck his tongue out at Andrew just as Willow yanked him up by his collar again, causing him to hit his head on the book he was using to cover his head with, biting his tongue.

                "OW!" Jonathan yelled out!

                "Will you two stop playing around and get her OFF!" Warren yelled from the front.  Jonathan brought in a deep breath and, from under the book he was using as his shield, said loudly," Wiwow, whe go of fa farm!"

                "Dude, you sound like a dork," Andrew said as he watched Jonathan get danced around by the hand sticking through the ceiling.

                "I bib my hung!  You fry an hawk whem you bibe yo hung!"  Jonathan felt himself get yanked around by the collar faster.

                "Told you it was the wrong spell," Andrew said as he watched Jonathan flail about.  Just then Andrew felt a fist hit him on the shoulder.  "OW!  What was that for!?"

                "Help Jonathan get her off!" Warren yelled.

                "Fine." Andrew grumbled in a whine as he brought his hand up over his shoulder where he was hit, lightly rubbing it, and then slowly started to approached Jonathan, watching his cohort  struggle with the hand in the ceiling.  Warren yanked the steering wheel again and as the van swerved, Andrew fell into Jonathan, yanking him free from the grasp, the two tumbling to the floor as Jonathan let go of the book.

                "My hero," Jonathan said sarcastically as Andrew lay beside him.  The van swerved again and suddenly the hand was gone as the two heard loud bumping across the roof.  Andrew rushed to the back door and opened it up, looking out and Jonathan watched through the open back as Willow rolled into the road.  "She's off the roof, gun it!"

                "Gun it?" Andrew asked as he looked back to Jonathan.

                "Yeah.  Gun it.  What?  I can't say gun it?" Jonathan said in a questioning voice.

                Willow felt her body roll as it hit the ground, healing fractures re-breaking again.  As her body came to a stop she looked up to see the van wink out of sight over a hill.  The redhead began to stand up, holding on to the book with one hand, using her other one to cradle her stomach in pain.

                "Ow," she winced to herself.  Starting her walk back, Willow’s mind drifted to a memory of when Tara had rubbed her stomach when she was in pain from some bad food she had eaten once and she smiled, wondering why she would think of that now.  Willow felt homesick for a moment, knowing that when she got back to the house, it wouldn't be her home at all, and then she remembered that Tara was coming by later that day with a spell and things would be fixed.  Willow smiled again as she walked slowly, gripping the large book with her right hand.  "Well at least Sunnydale is a safe place to walk through in the dark...  Oh wait..."

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