FIC: Enough of Me (5/7)

[Kimber]

Title: Enough of Me (5/7)
Author: Kimber (kacoe@xxxxxxx)
Disclaimer: I am a gnat in the world that is Joss. All characters
belong to him and Mutant Enemy. I'm only borrowing them.
Summary: Sequel to 'Many Facets'. Someone wigs out from the encounter,
two of the most unlikely allies bond, and Christmas just doesn't seem
like Christmas. Will it all work out?
Spoilers: Everything up to and including "Hush" is fair game. All
episodes are subject to bend to my will. *Bwahhhahahahaha*
Distribution: Just drop me a line and it's yours to archive.
Author's Notes: Feedback = Food. Thoughts are enclosed in < > and
flashbacks are enclosed in <<< >>>
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A protest began to form on her lips, but she knew it wouldn't do her any
good. She'd done this, and she'd have to fix it. Myrddin was
right….the problem was that she didn't know where to begin.

Being, of course, Willow, she made her way over to her bags and fished
out her computer. For the next hour, she researched everything she
could on telepathic and psychic links between people. She would have
eventually figured out all of the information she found, it was all
quite logical…but right now she was running on pure emotion.

<So in order to repair the link, I have to get into her mind and see
with MY mind's eye the damage and fix it….kind of like rebuilding a
brick wall.> "Well, that doesn't seem too difficult." She had no idea.

------------

"We can't just leave them up there…I need to do something, I feel quite
useless, Myrddin." Giles was protesting for the umpteenth time.

"I understand, Rupert….I really do. But the damage is done. You would
only prove to be a distraction to her. There is nothing we can do but
wait." The words came out in a sympathetic tone, mean to soothe, but
all they did was strike more fear in the watcher's heart. "If the girl
lives up to all the expectations you have of her, it shouldn't take too
long. She's very smart." Giles could do nothing but agree.

-------------

Willow had been arranging the room to suite her needs. Pulling the
curtains closed, she pulled out all the red and black candles she'd
brought, red to signify love and black for protection. She figured it
couldn't hurt. She also set up a censer and her own personal mix of
incense was burning in it. Carefully so as not to disturb her, Willow
got into bed with Buffy and gathered her into her arms.


When she was sufficiently comfortable, she closed her eyes and began to
visualize the task before her. Slowly, the link came into focus. It
wasn't severed on the outside, so she'd have to get inside Buffy's head
deeper. Carefully, she reached out and touched it, and sent a
reverberation through both of them. <Have to be careful with
that….don't want Buffy to feel like she drank a slurpee again.> Guided
by intuition, she followed the link as far as she could….she literally
dove into the recesses of her mind….and hit a wall. <What the……> She
shook off the feeling and began to really look around. Opening her
mind's eye, she saw before her a large wall, literally. And the link
went right through it. <This is going to be a lot harder than I
thought.> Thinking she could go through it, Willow began to feel
around, checking the solidity of it. <Solid as rock…..now what do I
do?> Her hand was resting on the wall. <Oh, Buffy…why won't you let me
in? I care for you so much…you're my best friend.> Just then, the wall
began to change. Almost immediately it went from solid to an almost
Jell-O consistency….then right before her eyes, it disappeared and the
link fell just above the ground. <Cool.>

She followed the link for sometime….she wasn't sure how much time had
passed or how many corners she turned. She came upon a large dark
corridor. Afraid of falling, she reached out and felt for the wall next
to her. Before her eyes, a bright white light formed and she quickly
pulled her hand away. <That was weird.> She noticed figures in the
light before she pulled her hand away, so she decided to try again.
Cautiously, she reached her hand out and placed only two feather-light
fingers on the wall. A scene began to form before her……

<<< Buffy raises her sword to dispatch Angelus, but stays herself when
he suddenly gasps loudly and groans in pain. She sees his eyes glow
bright red for an instant and go back dark. He looks up at her, but
quickly collapses to the floor, crying. Buffy stares down at him, but
still holds her sword raised behind her. Angel raises himself back up,
his eyes heavy with tears, and looks into her eyes.

Softly "Buffy?" Sobs. "What's going on?"

She just looks at him, confused but not yet ready to lower the sword. He
looks around a bit and gets to his feet.

Looks at her. "Where are we? I-I don't remember."

Finally Buffy realizes that the curse has worked, and she slowly lowers
her sword.

Buffy speaks softly. " Angel?"

"You're hurt." He looks at her wound and embraces her tightly. "Oh,
Buffy... God."
She still isn't completely sure that it's true, but accepts the hug.
"I... I feel like I haven't seen you in months." Finally she accepts
it, closes her eyes and breathes out a deep sigh. "Oh, my God,
everything's so muddled. I..."He holds her even more closely.

She cries into his shoulder and hugs him back. Behind him Acathla lets
out a low rumble. Buffy opens her eyes and stares in shock as Acathla's
face contorts. His brows angle down, his eyes glow red, his mouth opens
grotesquely and the swirling vortex to Hell opens, small at first, but
growing steadily in size and emanating a deep, red glow. Buffy lets go
of Angel and looks up into his face.

Angel holds her at a short distance. "What's happening?"

She whispers reassuringly to him. "Shh. Don't worry about it."

She brushes her fingers over his lips and across his cheek. She lays her
hand on his cheek and kisses him softly. He returns the kiss, and it
becomes more passionate. Behind them the vortex has grown to about five
feet across and continues to get larger. Buffy breaks off the kiss and
looks deeply into Angel's eyes. "I love you."

He whispers back, "I love you."

She touches his lips with her fingers again. "Close your eyes."

She nods reassuringly, and he closes his eyes. She tries hard not to
start crying, and kisses him again gently. She steps back, draws back
her sword and thrusts it into his chest. His eyes whip open in surprise
and pain, and a bright light emanates from the sword. She steps away
from him. He reaches out to her and looks down at the sword thrust
completely through him. He looks at her imploringly, completely
bewildered by this turn of events. She can only stare at the sword
protruding from his chest, and slowly steps further back.

"Buffy.……."

Behind him the power of the sword begins to swirl into the vortex. Buffy
steps further back, still looking only at the sword in his chest and not
into his face. The vortex has enlarged to about twelve feet across, and
the two energies begin to interact. Angel still holds out his hand to
Buffy. When the vortex finally meets him it suddenly closes into
Acathla's mouth without so much as a spark, taking him with it. Buffy
stares at the stone demon for a long moment, a light of awareness
dawning in her eyes as she truly realizes what she has done, what she as
lost.>>>

Willow's hand jerks back, as if in pain. <Oh, God Buffy…I didn't
know….it's was Angel….not Angelus.> Tears form in her eyes. <I was too
late….I didn't know…I'm sorry, Buffy…Oh, God….I'm so sorry.> Just then
the corridor lit up to a brilliant purple and Willow had to shade her
eyes. As quickly as it came, it subsided and she could see the link
trailing through the darkness in front of her.

Gathering her composure, she began her journey again….the image of Angel
being sucked into Acathla dancing on the edges of her mind. After what
seemed like forever, she came upon a large hall. In the middle was a
large dark mass, suspended in the air, and that's where she saw the link
end. She got closer to it and realized that this is where the link had
been formed….bound directly to her soul. But something was wrong…upon
closer inspection, she realized that the link had been attached to the
soul by a thread…and the other pieces of it were dangling precariously,
sort of like a frayed string.

<Oh, Buffy…you've almost completely cut it.> She reached out to touch
it, only to reconsider, remembering the reverberations she'd felt
earlier. <If I can't touch it, I can't fix it…now what?> She fell to
her knees, worn out by all that had taken place. The tears began to
resurface again….witness to all that had happened.

"Buffy…I need you here…I-I'm sorry I hurt you. You know…after
everything I've seen I realize that I can't do this alone..I need you by
my side.." She took in a much needed deep breath. "Remember when
Angelus held me at the school…I knew you'd come, I knew you'd save
me…..I knew you wouldn't let me down…..you've been my link to the
outside world…being friends with you has brought me out of my shell…made
me come into my own. It wasn't Xander…or Oz….Buffy it was you, and if I
lose you now, I'll lose a part of myself." She wrapped her arms around
her self, sure of the words, but not sure how to form them. "You were
right, you know. You have given me enough of you…now it's time I gave
something in return…no more fear, no more questioning myself and my
feelings…my feelings for you…It's been on the edge of my mind for so
long it's become as automatic as breathing….and I took it for granted
and you." She sniffled a little, trying hard to hold herself together.
"Buffy, I love you…I love you with all that I have…because you showed
me…you taught me how to do it…not to love the man or the woman…but the
person inside…the soul."

Suddenly, there was a great tremor…..Willow scrambled to her feet and
reached back for the wall, afraid to lose her footing. Instead of the
wall, she felt a hand and saw a glimmer of blonde hair before everything
went to brilliant white, and then black again.

------------

She wasn't sure how long she'd been laying there. Slowly, she became
aware of each part of her body, and her arms wrapped around a slender
figure. Cautiously, she peered down at the girl next to her and was met
with a lopsided grin.

"Hey" Buffy whispered.

"Hey yourself." Willow managed to squeeze out as a lone tear fell from
her eye.

"Don't cry, Will. I think we've done enough of that to last us a very
long time. Don't you?" She smiled at her again.

"I could have lost you…it's my fault….and Angel..I didn't know…"

"I know, Will…but it doesn't matter now. I heard you, you know….every
word..it was like I was on the edge of a cliff, and it was your voice
that kept me from taking another step."

"Don't leave me again, Buffy…please…." She was crying openly now…her
body becoming wracked with sobs.

"Shh….OK…I won't…..Don't cry, Will…..I love you too." <More than you
know.>

<I think I DO know, Buffy…..now.> "The link…..it works….that mean I
fixed it!…..Yay me!" Willow gave her a little squeeze.

"As much as I'd love to celebrate you're victory, Will….I think I'm
kinda hungry."

<Mmmm, hungry for what?>

<Willow!>

She gave a little shrug. "Sorry….can't help myself." She planted a
tender kiss on Buffy's lips. "Come on…let's go get something to eat…..I
wonder how long we've been up here…." Both girls got out of bed and
made their way downstairs, arm in arm.

---------

"What? Giles, that's impossible…" Buffy gave her watcher a look of
shock.

"I'm afraid it's not, Buffy. You've been up there for five days. It
was all I could do not to come up there and see what was going on." He
looked at her with concern. "Are you sure you're alright? You both
must still be very weak."

"For the last time, Giles, we're fine. But this only leaves us with
three days before the prophesy begins." Will looked at him with a mix
of reassurance and concern.

"Yes, yes indeed. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and little time to
prepare." Myrddin was standing behind Giles. "I suggest we get started
right away if you're all up to it." The three of them nodded in
agreement. "Very well then. Ripper, I'm sure you find the training
room sufficient to your needs….you've already set everything up for when
Buffy was ready?"

"Yes, quite sufficient I must say. All the modern and archaic weapons I
can think of. It'll be a pleasure training with such a supply."

"Good, then Willow and I will be in the tower training." Without
another word, he ushered Willow out of the room and up the stairs, and
Giles led Buffy down to the basement.

-------------

"Come on…you can do it…I know you have it in you. You just have to
harness the power…"

"I'm trying Myrddin, I really am."

"You must try to effectively block my attacks with the magic you posses
inside of you. Come on now…try again."

For what was probably the tenth time, Myrddin attacked her and she tried
to deflect. Suddenly, Buffy appeared before her and Myrddin was aiming
a ball of light in her direction.

"Oh no you don't!" Willow pulled her hands together as if to catch the
ball and successfully deflected it, sending careening into a wall where
it made a nice big black mark. Then Buffy disappeared. "What the?"
Willow shook her head as if to get rid of the cobwebs.

"It was an illusion Willow…Buffy wasn't really standing there. But, the
illusion worked, and you successfully deflected the energy ball. Well
done." Myrddin gave her a congratulatory look.

<Go me….yeah, I'm bad!> She stood there with a self satisfied look on
her face.

--------------
Buffy was battling one of the many demons that had manifested itself in
the basement. She was effectively blocking all the punches and
defending herself, but she wasn't on the offensive. Suddenly, Willow
appeared at the other side of the room and looked around in confusion.
Buffy looked over to her and the demon followed her gaze. Immediately
he was bearing down on Willow.

"No way you big green oaf….get away from her!"

The demon didn't listen and was upon Willow almost instantly. Buffy ran
over and jumped on his back, pounding into him with the mallet she held
in her hand.

"I said…" Smash "Get away" Crash "From her." Pound, pound, "NOW!"

Now drawing it's attention to the leach on it's back, the demon swung
around and backed into a wall, smashing Buffy into it. She recovered
quickly and with a well placed roundhouse kick, she sent the demon
flying to the other side of the room. Not wasting any time, she grabbed
a nearby sword and cut it's head off in one felt swoop. The demon
melted away into the cracks of the floor and, you guessed it, Willow
disappeared.

"What? Where'd she go? Will?" Buffy turned around in a circle, not
sure what to do next.

"Yes, well…I believe that's what Myrddin meant by incentive." Giles
pointed out to her. "It was an illusion, Buffy….incentive to put you on
the defensive." He smiled at her.

"Oh, I see…..hey, that was sneaky, Giles." She furrowed her brow and
gave him her best reprimanding look.

"I can assure you I had nothing to do with it." He removed his glasses
and rubbed the bridge of his nose, chuckling softly to himself.

She crossed her chest with her arms. "I'm sure."

-----------------

Their training commenced much in the same way over the course of the
next three days. Each learning and perfecting new techniques. Willow
becoming a sort of expert in magical healing, deflection, energy ball
formation and so on. Buffy becoming a master of the sword, scathe,
crossbow, ball and chain, and perfecting her staking technique with
stakes as small as three inches long up to three feet across. They had
been so apt, there was still a full day left before the demon's
awakening.

----------------

"So what now?" Buffy asked

"Well, there really isn't anything left to teach either of you. I
suggest you pack your things and prepare for the journey ahead." Both
Willow and Buffy gave Myrddin a questioning look. "You will meet the
demon on the active Hellmouth." He said in
a-matter-of-fact way.

They both looked at Giles and he guiltily looked out the window. "Yes,
well." He straightened up and removed his glasses to clean them. "Shall
we?"

------------



--
Willow: It's horrible! That's me as a vampire? I'm so evil and...
skanky. (aside to Buffy, worried) And I think I'm kinda gay.
Buffy: Willow, just remember, a vampire's personality has nothing to do
with the person it was.
Angel: Well, actually... (gets a look from Buffy) uh, That's a good
point.

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