Fan Fic: Just a Day in the Life (3/4)

[Erin <erin@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

TITLE: Just a Day in the Life
AUTHOR: Erin (erin@xxxxxxxxxxx)
SPOILERS: Some spoilers through Doomed (Season 4)
RATING: PG-13 at worst. Probably not even that. It is a Buffy/Willow
fic, so if that bothers you, or it's illegal to even think of a Slayer
and a Witch getting it on, then just don't read it. Or move.
DISCLAIMER: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all characters belong to Joss
Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and Fox. I'm just borrowing them for a bit.
I'll put them back when I'm done, no worse for wear (but maybe a
little happier).
ARCHIVE: Currently, none. Just ask, I'd love to say yes.
FEEDBACK: Constructive comments are encouraged.
SUMMARY: (Buffy/Willow) Buffy has more trouble than she can handle,
between dealing with Riley, her feelings for Willow, and a rogue
Warlock who is out on a power grab.


Buffy stormed around the small room, shoving an assortment
of weaponry into a gym bag. Willow sat on her bed, watching Buffy
stalk around like a mad tiger. "Oooh, he just...oooh! He just
ticks me off with his whole 'Oh, Buffy, don't worry your pretty
little head about all that mystic mumbo jumbo' routine. Hey, I
know!" Buffy rushed over to Willow, and grabbed her shoulders.
Willow let out a small squeak at her friend's sudden movement.
"You could cast a spell! Just a little one! That would show him."

"Uh Buffy, do you really think that would help things..."

"No, maybe not..." Buffy absently chewed a nail while
she thought. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter. If we can't
beat this warlock..."

Willow rose, and put her arms around her best friend.
"Buffy, don't think like that. We can do it, no one can stand
against the Slayer, right?"

Buffy stood silent for a moment, taking comfort in
her friend's embrace. "You don't know, Will... You didn't
feel his power. He made me freeze, with no more than a ...
a thought. What good is my Slayer-ness against that?"

Willow turned Buffy around, and looked into her
eyes. "Listen to me. We can do it...together, understand?
The two of us, Slayer and Witch. What I can't do, you can..."

"And what I can't do, you can..." Buffy finished,
quietly. "What would I do without you, Will?"

Willow looked into Buffy's face, just inches away
from her own. *Now, Rosenberg!* "Um, Buffy..." She
took a step back, and said, "Maybe you should sit down.
'Cause I need to tell you something, and I kinda can't
think that well with you standing there."

Buffy looked at her friend, puzzled. "Ok Will."
She took a seat at the edge of her bed.

"See, I need to tell you something, and I know
it's not the best time, with the warlock and everything,
but I need to tell you because I may not get a ... I
need to tell you," she finished, cutting off her previous
thought.

"You can tell me anything, Will." Inside, Buffy's
chest was gripped with fear. *She knows! I must not have
been able to hide it, and she knows! She must know about my
feelings for her, and she's going to leave!*

"You know, we've been together for a long time now,"
Willow began, "fighting the forces of darkness and all that.
And ... I've had this feeling growing for quite some time.
I've gotten this feeling from us, from our relationship,
our friendship, and I can't ignore it."

Buffy stood, and walked to their window. She stared
out into the dusk, not quite seeing anything. "I...I know,
Will. I'm sorry, I should have done a better job of hiding
it."

"Well, I...huh?" Willow replied, intelligently.

"I didn't mean for you to know, I've tried to hide it
for so long; at first, because it wasn't fair to you and Oz,
and then, because it wasn't fair to you. You need someone
in your life who can make you happy, not some broken Slayer
with a short life-span." She sighed, and let her head drop.
The effort of keeping it up was just a little bit more than
she could stand right now.

Willow came up behind Buffy and put her hands on
the Slayer's shoulders. She knew that she would have
otherwise probably been very upset by the secret her friend
had kept from her for so long. Time enough to be upset
later; right now, Buffy was hurting.

"How can someone understand so much and so little
at the same time?" Willow asked. She turned Buffy around
so that the Slayer faced her, and then put a hand under
Buffy's chin, raising her head up. "You know, I can't
really explain this. Not well enough, not right now.
I'm going to just have to show you." She leaned down
a bit, and met Buffy's lips with her own.

Buffy's nerves went electric. She had dreamed about
this what seemed like a thousand times, but here it was. She
had been so sure that Willow was going to deliver bad news, that
she found herself totally unprepared for good. It didn't take
her long, however, to bring her arms up around Willow's neck,
and allow the kiss to deepen.

Willow felt Buffy stiffen for a moment, and then
relax into the kiss. She placed her arms around Buffy's waist,
and drew her in closer as Buffy put her arms around the
redhead's neck. She had never felt so much at home.

After a long while, the two broke the kiss. Buffy,
on the verge of tears, gulped and said, "I guess that was your
answer, huh?" Willow laughed, and said, "I guess so. I love you,
Buffy, I love you for everything you are. Best friend, confidante,
Slayer. And as for slayers having short life-spans, well... None
of them have had a best friend named Willow, a friend who also
happens to wield awesome Wicca power." She smiled at her friend.

Buffy pulled the redhead into a big Slayer-hug. "No,
they haven't. Only me. I love you, Will. I have for so long,
I can't remember what it's like not to."

Willow grinned, and let out a muffled, "Ok, oxygen
becoming an issue!" The friends laughed, and broke the hug
regretfully.

Buffy looked out the window, where full night had fallen
over the town. "Man," the Slayer griped, "why do warlocks
always choose the most inconvenient times to hold their dark
rituals?" Willow grinned, and said, "I don't want to go either.
But a Slayer's--and a Slayer's assistant's--work is never done."

The girls left the dorm in high spirits, heading for
the woods. So caught up were they in their newly-discovered
love for one another that there was no way they could have noticed
a lone figure in fatigues and camo following them.

* * *

"So what is this spell supposed to do again?" Buffy watched
as Willow set up a small circle and lit a couple of candles. She took
some type of herb out of her backpack, and crumbled it over one of the
candle flames.

"It will summon a guiding spirit. The spirit will be drawn
to the area with the most magical power, like a moth to a flame.
That's where we'll find our warlock, I'll wager." Willow took a
vial of oil from her pack, and sprinkled a few drops on the ground,
muttering an incantation as she did so. The oil glowed as it hit
the ground; Buffy assumed it was a trick of the candlelight, but
the glow became brighter. Slowly, the glow rose, and coalesced
until it hovered before them as a single ball of energy. It slowly
began to be drawn into the woods, leaving a bright, glowing trail.

"That's it!" Willow cried, more than a little excited.
"It worked!" She snuffed the candles, and stuck her gear back in
her pack. "Now we just follow it."

The girls followed the spirit deep into the dark woods. Buffy
took a crossbow from her gym bag, and loaded it. She drew strength
from the presence of the woman walking beside her. They began to see
some flickering firelight from up ahead, and they knew they were
nearing the grove.

The two friends stopped, just outside the grove. In the
center was a large clearing, this one was a good 30 feet across.
Again, there was a makeshift altar, and a small bonfire burned off to
one side of it. Standing behind the altar, all dark radiance, was the
warlock.

At one time he was known as Christopher, before he had sold
his soul for dark power. The power gave him life beyond that of
normal, mortal men; the power gave him strength, strength to have men
do his bidding, and obey his will. And in return, he gave the power
victims. Now, he was looking for more.

Buffy aimed the crossbow at the black-robed figure behind the
altar. The warlock cut his palm with a large knife, and drew a sigil
on the altar with his blood. Setting the knife down, he began to
chant.

Buffy fired the crossbow, noting with some satisfaction that
the bolt was heading right for the warlock's heart. Right for...and
right through, as the bolt passed harmlessly through his body, and
thudded into a tree behind him. It startled the warlock, but it
startled Buffy even more. The man glared in the direction of Buffy
and Willow's hiding place, and began to raise a hand.

"Willow, get down!" Buffy yelled, and then she launched
herself into the clearing. She immediately jumped at the warlock as
he pointed at her, and she felt her whole body freeze. *This is going
to hurt...* she thought, as she felt her body fall.

Willow knew something was wrong the moment the warlock pointed
at Buffy; sure enough, she collapsed at the foot of the makeshift
altar. "No..." Willow said, softly, and took a step into the clearing.
Before she could blink, though, she heard someone else run up.

"BUFFY!" Riley yelled, running into the clearing. He raised
his tazer gun, and saw the warlock turn to look at him. He was
suddenly not in control of his actions; he dropped the gun, placed
both hands around his own throat, and began to squeeze.

With the warlock distracted, Buffy was released from the
spell. She gasped for breath, and began crawling weakly back to where
Willow stood. Willow watched, stunned, as Riley began crushing his
own windpipe. "No!" She yelled, and suddenly wind began to whip
around the clearing, throwing sparks and hot ash from the bonfire.
The warlock looked at the young redhead speculatively. He released
Riley from the spell, and Riley collapsed, straining to breathe
through a crushed windpipe. "Well, the Slayer has all sorts of
surprising friends," he said, sneering. He raised a hand, and pointed
right at Willow. A bright streak of light left his finger, arced
toward Willow, and...ran into an invisible shield, just inches away
from Willow's body. The energy crackled there for a moment, seeking
the edges of the shield, and finding none, dissipated.

The warlock looked at the witch coldly. "Very well, we do
this the hard way," he said, and looked down at the knife. The
sacrificial knife rose off the altar as if of its own accord. It rose
up, pointed directly at Willow, and streaked toward the girl.

Buffy saw the knife, and very much doubted if Willow's shield
would hold THAT off. She stumbled to her feet, and, to Willow's
horror, placed herself between Willow and the blade. She felt
something hit her, low in the shoulder, and when she looked down she
saw the hilt of the dagger protruding from her body.

Buffy fell to her knees, and fought to stay conscious. Her
body was getting cold, and it hurt to breathe. She felt
someone's--Willow's?-- arms around her.

"No, Buffy, you can't go, you have to listen to me, you have
to stay awake..." Willow's eyes filled with tears.

The warlock, satisfied that the Slayer was no longer a threat
to the ritual, continued with his incantation. The surface of the
altar began to glow, and soon, a column of pure, white light was
emanating from it, reaching into the heavens.

"Tuatha! Hear me! Brighid! Come!" the warlock finished the
incantation.

(End part 3)
--
"If you hurt her, I will beat you to death with a shovel. A
vague disclaimer is nobody's friend. Have fun!" - Willow
*email: erin@xxxxxxxxxxx