Fic: Heroes and Lovers (7/?)

["another_soul_lost" <anotherlostsoul@xxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Heroes and Lovers
Author's Name:  anotherlostsoul
Author's Email and URL:
anotherlostsoul@xxxxxxxxx,http://www.hopelessdreams.com
Pairing: W/Buffy
Disclaimer:  Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and a lot of other people own
the show and all the characters.  The plot and the story are mine.
This cannot be sold or used for profit in any way, shape or form.
Please don't sue me, because I really don't have anything to take.
Rating: R, but may vary by chapter.
Spoilers:  Set in season 4 of Buffy, so anything before that is fair game.
Summary:  Spike escapes the Initiative without being chipped.  How
will this effect the Scooby gang?

Author's Note:  Most of the dialogue for the scenes relating to
Buffy's dream in this chapter has been adapted as directly as possible
from the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode "Hush" written by
Joss Whedon.  The author of this story wouldn't dream of trying to
take credit for it.

Chapter 7  Hush Part I

"They are coming and you're all going to die!"

Willow's eyes snapped open with a startled whimper as the menacing
voice echoed in her mind.  She was scared.  The room was still dark
and part of her somehow knew that there were still a few hours before
sunrise.  Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her fears, to slow
her racing heart and breathe normally.  She had been dreaming, she
knew that, but she couldn't recall the dream, just the feelings of
terror it had inspired and the echo of a warning.

"It was just a dream," she thought as she took a few deep, cleansing
breaths.  As she calmed down, she quickly became aware of Buffy's warm
body lying next to her.  The petite blonde was holding Willow
possessively, and stirred slightly at the tension in the redhead's body.

"Will?" she mumbled, mostly asleep, "somethin' wrong?"

Willow smiled gently and relaxed snuggling closer before whispering,
"Not anymore."  The few remaining fragments of her disturbing dream
slipped away in the Slayer's comforting embrace as she drifted back to
sleep.

* * * * *

Buffy sighed slightly and fought to stifle a yawn as Professor Walsh
continued to drone on about language and communication.  Normally
Buffy would have been interested in the class, but after the events of
the previous evening Willow had slept fitfully at best, plagued by
nightmares.  Buffy had slept beside her through the night, holding her
and trying to comfort her.

Buffy blushed slightly as she recalled some of her own dreams from the
night before.  Of course, her dreams had featured a very naked Willow
doing all sorts of naughty things to her.  Despite the fact that her
Willowy dreams were extremely enjoyable at the time, they'd left her
feeling tired and sexually frustrated when she woke up.

She shifted slightly in her seat and tried to focus on the lecture again.

"So this is what it is, talking about communication, talking about
language... not the same thing," Professor Walsh said looking around
at the class.  "It's about inspiration. Not the idea, but the moment
before the idea when it blossoms in your mind and connects to
everything. It's about the thoughts and experiences that we don't have
a word for."  The Professor paused, her eyes falling on Buffy, "A
demonstration: Buffy Summers, come on down to the front here."

She paused, looking around embarrassedly before standing up and moving
to the front of the class.  

Professor Walsh smiled, addressing the class, "A typical college girl,
one assumes."  She turned to Buffy, "Lie down on my desk."

Buffy frowned, confused, "What?"

"Go ahead, you're perfectly safe."

She sat cautiously on the edge of the desk, before turning and lying
back, supporting herself on her elbows rather than lying flat.

"Willow Rosenberg, if you could oblige?"

Willow walked down, grinning.  "A demonstration, right?"

"Be a good girl," Professor Walsh instructed.

Buffy spoke softly as Willow placed her hand on Buffy's waist and
leaned over, "This feels very strange Will."

"Don't worry," she said with a smile, "If I kiss you, it'll make the
sun go down."  Willow leaned in pressing her lips softly against
Buffy's in a gentle, loving kiss.  When she pulled back a moment
later, she whispered, "See?"   

Buffy sat up and looked around.  The room was empty, save for the two
of them, and it had gotten dark.  She looked back at Willow with a
smile as she spoke.  "Fortune favors the brave."

She thought she heard something though, like a little girl humming out
in the hallway.   "Do you hear that?" she asked as she got up and
walked through the door out into the corridor.  Looking around, she
saw a little girl holding an ornate wooden box.

The little girl was singing what sounded like a nursery rhyme, "Can't
even shout, can't even cry. The Gentlemen are coming by.  Looking in
windows, knocking on doors. They need to take seven and they might
take yours. Can't call to mom, can't say a word. You're going to die
screaming but you won't be heard."   

She felt a touch on her shoulder and turned, expecting to find Willow.
Instead a horrifying sight startled her: a gray corpse-like face
drawn into a hideous mockery of a smile.

She woke with a start, looking around her.  It was daylight and the
lecture hall was filled with students.  Willow sat next to her with a
sly grin on her face as she heard Professor Walsh's voice, "So I'll
see you all Monday for a final review session."

Willow turned with an excited gleam in her eye, "Man that was an
exciting class, huh?"

"Oh, yeah well&" Buffy started, avoiding her eyes.

"And the last twenty minutes was a revelation.  Just laid out
everything we need to know for the final.  I'd hate to have missed that."

She grimaced slightly at Willow's relentless teasing, "Just tell me I
didn't snore."

The other girl's grin couldn't have gotten any wider as she responded
with a wink, "Very discreet, minimal drool."

"Oh yay," she replied unenthusiastically as they walked out of the
classroom.

"So were you dreaming?"

"Yeah," Buffy paused a moment as she thought about the dream again,
"it was kind of intense."

Another voice startled them, as Riley stepped out from behind a pillar
with a grin and walked along with them, "Really? `Cause you seemed so
peaceful."

Buffy felt her face flush with embarrassment again, "Of course, it was
only for a moment."  She narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched the
smile drain from Willow's face at Riley's presence. 

`Why would Riley being here bother Will?' she wondered.

"Right," he said.  "So you guys headed over towards Judd?"

"Student Center." Buffy responded distractedly as she pondered
Willow's reaction to the young man's presence.  

"Oh, great.  So this dream&" he began.

Willow broke in abruptly.  "You know, you guys go. I'm gonna do... the
thing."  She glanced briefly at Riley, before looking back to Buffy. 
"So I'll see you after Wicca group?  Bye."  The pain she saw in her
friend's eyes during that brief exchange stunned Buffy.

Riley smiled at Willow as he said "Bye." But Willow darted off before
Buffy could speak.  "So tell me about your dream," Riley went on,
completely oblivious to what had transpired, "as a psych major I'm
qualified to say `hmm' and look thoughtful."

Suddenly it all became clear to Buffy.  `Oh god, Willow thinks I'm
interested in him!'
"Riley?" She needed to clear this little misunderstanding up
immediately.  Otherwise, Willow was going to get hurt, and that was
absolutely the last thing she wanted to happen.

"Yeah?"

"We need to talk," she stopped and looked him in the eye.  "Look,
you're a great guy, and I'm sure that you have many, many wonderful
qualities.  But before you get any ideas, I'm in love with someone else."

Riley looked completely stunned, "Oh&uh, well, I mean&I'm sorry I
didn't know, Willow didn't warn me that there was anyone else&"

"She didn't know," said Buffy gently.

They started walking again.  "So who's the lucky guy?" he asked
casually.  "Was it the one who came and got you that night at Lowell
house?"
 
Buffy cringed at the question.  She could tell that he wasn't really
happy about it and a part of her felt that telling him the truth might
strike a serious blow to his manly pride.  On the other hand though,
she didn't want to lie to him either.  `Fortune favors the brave,' she
thought.

"It's not actually a guy," she said tentatively.  

Riley stopped cold and his jaw dropped.  "It's Willow, isn't it?" he
said softly as he suddenly looked back toward where the other girl had
gone.  He looked back to see Buffy nodding slowly.  "And suddenly the
shovel comment makes a lot more sense."

Shovel comment?  "Huh?" she asked.  "What shovel comment?"

Riley smiled, "That night at Lowell house, Willow told me that if I
hurt you she would beat me to death with a shovel.  Her exact words
were `A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend.'"  He chuckled.  "No
wonder she was so overprotective, she feels the same way about you."  

"She says she does, but we're trying to take things slow, she's been
through a lot lately," Buffy said softly, "and I want her to be sure."

"Now this is really embarrassing," he said with a wry grin.  "Here I
was asking her for help to try and date the girl she's in love with
and I didn't even see it.  Some psych major I am, I really owe her a
big apology."

"Well," Buffy said with a grin, "if it's any consolation to you, it's
taken us both years to figure out how we feel&so you shouldn't feel
too bad about it." 

* * * * *

`This day just keeps getting worse,' Willow thought unhappily as she
walked across campus from her Wicca group meeting, heading to this
evening's training session with Giles. 

`First Riley and then that sorry excuse for a Wicca group&what's next
an apocalypse?' she wondered angrily.

"Will! Hey, wait up!" She heard Buffy's voice and turned to see her
jogging to catch up.  

"Hiya Buff," Willow tried unsuccessfully to force herself to sound
cheerful.  She knew she'd failed miserably when she saw the concerned
expression on her best friend's face.

"Okay Willow, something's bothering you."  Buffy's voice was stern, "I
saw the look on your face before you ran off earlier and now you sound
like someone just diagnosed you with cancer of the puppy, so spill it.
What's wrong?"

She sighed as she tried to figure out what to say.  "I know that you
want to take things slow Buffy, and I can totally appreciate that." 
She trailed off, fumbling for what to say next.

"But?" Buffy prompted her gently.

"But, I just&I need to know what this is.  Between us I mean."  She
took a deep breath, "I told you how I feel about you, but you haven't
told me anything yet, and I love that I'm getting to hold you and kiss
you and God, I can't even look at you without wanting to kiss you&but
I don't know if this is what you want, or if you even know if it's
what you want and I don't know how to react to it all&"

Suddenly she felt Buffy's arms slip around her and their lips met. 
The passion in that kiss exploded through her, causing her knees to
buckle, but the Slayer held her tight and kept her from falling.

When Buffy pulled back, Willow was left breathless.  "Willow," she
said softly, "I love you.  I want to be with you, but right now too
much has happened way too fast, and I don't just mean us.  I mean Oz
leaving, and Spike, and your change and everything.  I don't want you
to look at this later and think it was a mistake, or for you to have
regrets."  She took a deep breath, "That's why I want to take this
slow.  If it's real, if it's what you want, then I'll be yours
forever, but I have to know that it's really real."

Willow swallowed deeply, she hadn't even thought of Oz since before
Spike attacked her.  `Does that make me a bad person?' she asked
herself irrationally.  

"You really love me?"  She asked, her voice full of her own insecurities.

"More then anything else," came her answer.

Willow smiled, "Then I can wait forever if that's what it takes."

* * * * *

"'Can't even shout, can't even cry, the Gentlemen are coming by.'" 
Giles read back the line off the notes he'd made from Buffy's
description of her dream.  "Well it does sound vaguely familiar,
you're sure it's nothing you heard as a child?"

"Positive."  Buffy said simply.  She and Willow sat on the floor,
stretching in preparation for their training. "As creepy as that rhyme
was, I would remember it if I'd heard it before."

"I don't recall having ever heard it before either Giles," Willow
volunteered.

"Oh, all right," he stared thoughtfully at his notes, "and she was
carrying some sort of wooden box?"

"Yeah, it was kind of ornate," Buffy recalled, "and seemed really
important somehow."  

"Well, it certainly could have been one of your prophetic dreams or it
could just be the eternal mystery that is your brain.  I'll look into
it after we finish with the training session."  Giles set his notes
aside and looked down at the girls.  "Are you ready to begin?"

Willow nodded and stood up.  Buffy followed suit, getting to her feet
as well, but stepping back out of Giles' way.  

"All right then, we'll start with the fundamental stances and then
move on to basic blocks as well as punching and kicking techniques,"
he said clearly, "Buffy will demonstrate as we go&"

* * * * *

Buffy watched as Willow worked with Giles.  He was really putting her
through the paces:  rapidly calling out a series of moves and
observing as the redhead executed them.  Buffy couldn't help but grin
slightly at the look of intense concentration on the other girl's
face.  `She's always so cute when she's focused on something,' the
blonde thought happily.

Giles continued to call combinations, steadily increasing the
complexity with each sequence.  Buffy was surprised at how smoothly
Willow was able to execute each group of attacks and blocks.  `I guess
I really shouldn't be surprised,' she thought, `Will's always been
quick to learn anything she put her mind to, why would this be any
different?'

`Except that this is different, totally different,' her mind raced
with the realization.  `Willow's life is going to be on the line every
night.  And if she freezes again like she did last night&'  

"Very good," she heard Giles comment as Will completed a particularly
difficult sequence smoothly.  "Buffy, if you would please," he
gestured for Buffy to join the redhead on the mats.  

She looked at Giles, wondering what he had in mind as he spoke again,
"Now then, Willow, you've demonstrated a strong grasp of the basic
techniques and the mechanics of fighting.  However, the real test of
fighting ability is facing a real opponent," he kept his voice level
and serious trying to emphasize just how critical this was.  Buffy
noticed as Willow swallowed nervously.  "Sparring with Buffy will give
you an opportunity to put these techniques to the test."

`Spar with Willow?' she thought, suddenly worried, `But I might hurt
her!'  She looked at Giles wondering when he'd lost his mind.  Giles
smiled slightly as if to reassure her.

"Ready?" he asked.  Buffy took a deep breath trying to calm her
nerves before shifting into a fighting stance.  After Willow did the
same, Giles called out "Begin."

She waited a moment, trying to make sure that Willow was really ready
before throwing a quick, light jab at the other girl.  Buffy was a bit
surprised by how easily the redhead blocked it.  Smiling slightly, she
launched a jab-hook combo, and was shocked as the other girl simply
side-stepped the jab, blocked the hook and struck out with a jab of
her own, which she barely dodged.

Stepping back for a moment Buffy looked at her love with new respect
and complimented her, "Nice one Will."  A warm feeling spread through
her at the surprised blush her compliment sparked.  

The Slayer spent the next several minutes exchanging blows with Willow
with neither girl managing to actually hit the other.  `Damn, she's
good,' Buffy thought simply, `definite knack for the defense.'  

"Stop," she heard Giles call out.  Both girls immediately turned to
face him, noticing that he was staring intently at Willow.  "Do you
realize what you were doing?" he asked gently.  

* * * * *

"Do you realize what you were doing?"

`What I was doing?' Willow wondered, `I was sparring with Buffy?  What
does he mean?'  She thought she was doing pretty well, even though she
knew that Buffy had been holding back; she'd blocked or avoided every
attack that Buffy had thrown.

Every attack?  She sparred with the Slayer and never got hit. 
Suddenly it hit her, "I-I could feel the attacks&before they came." 
Giles smiled widely at her realization.

She turned to Buffy and watched as the surprise on her friend's face
was quickly replaced by a puzzled expression.  "That's cool Will, but
if you could feel my attacks coming, why couldn't you feel the vamps
that jumped us last night?" her tone was gentle, without any trace of
accusation.

Willow felt herself blush, "It was different.  Today, I was focused
and could concentrate on what was happening.  Last night&"  She
swallowed nervously, "the energy from the Bronze was overwhelming, I
didn't feed, but I couldn't block it all out either, I couldn't think
clearly let alone concentrate.  It left me feeling disoriented and
pretty helpless."

When she glanced at Giles she wasn't surprised to see him cleaning his
glasses thoughtfully.  "It sounds very much like being, well,
intoxicated actually," he offered.

"If that's what being drunk feels like, remind me to never ever get
drunk," she said with a wry grin, "I hated not being able to think
clearly."  Then she whispered just loud enough for Buffy to hear,
"Though feeling totally uninhibited was kinda fun."

Buffy blushed brightly at her whispered comment.  Luckily, Giles
either didn't notice or chose not to ask.   

"Yes, well you'll have to work to strengthen your mental shields in
order to prevent similar occurrences in the future," Giles lectured. 
"Now then, I think that it would wise to spend some time working with
your other powers before we stop for the night."

Willow spent the next hour focusing intently.  Giles had her working
on moving objects with her powers, improving her control and her
ability to accurately hit small targets.  It was difficult and by the
time they stopped, she was mentally drained.   

"Yes, very good Willow," he said as she hit a ping pong ball mid-air
with a stake she levitated.  "That's quite enough for today."  He
stared at her for a moment, "how are you feeling?"

"Pretty tired.  I haven't fed since Xander and didn't sleep well last
night." She smiled, "I'll get a good night's sleep, and try to feed
tomorrow.  I'll be fine."

Buffy looked at her, concern in her eyes, "Are you sure Willow?"

"Positive Buffy, I just want to go home and get some rest."

"Okay, well I should patrol tonight," Buffy grimaced slightly.  "I
think I've slacked off a bit too much lately.  Getting attacked less
than 2 blocks from the Bronze is not a good sign."

* * * * *

It was nearly midnight when Buffy got back to the dorm room she shared
with Willow.  She entered the dark room quietly, expecting the other
girl to be asleep, but was surprised to discover that her friend was
lying in bed awake, waiting on her.

"Hey Buffy," she called out quietly after the Slayer closed the door.
"How was patrol?"

"Patrol was busy, but nothing out of the ordinary."  She smiled and
chided gently, "Will, you shouldn't have stayed up and waited for me.
You looked exhausted when Giles finished with you earlier."  Buffy
quickly changed for bed without turning on the lights.

"Well, I am exhausted.  I napped a little while you patrolled, but I
couldn't really sleep `til I knew you were home safe."  Willow replied
softly.  

Buffy's extremely sharp night vision let her see the redhead frown
slightly as she climbed into her own bed.  "What's the matter Willow?"
she asked gently.

"Oh, I&it's just that I&well, that is&we'd slept together&you
know&since I got back, and I was&sorta lookin' forward&to snuggles,
with you&when you got back&but I mean if you don't want to that's okay
too, I don't want to push or anything&I just&"  Buffy couldn't help
but smile.

"Will," Buffy said softly, cutting her off.  "I just didn't want to
assume that you wanted me to sleep next to you.  We hadn't really
talked about it, you know."

"Oh," came her reply.  "I guess we really hadn't."  She trailed off as
if uncertain of how to continue.

"Would you like me to sleep over there with you?" the blond asked gently.

"Please&I think I sleep better with your arms around me," there was a
gentle pleading in her voice that Buffy couldn't say no to.  Not that
she really wanted to.  She got into Willow's bed, slipping under the
blankets next to her and wrapping her arms around the woman she loved.

"Is that better?" 

"Much," Willow replied sleepily.  "I love you Buffy."

Buffy smiled before whispering back, "I love you too, Willow."

Within minutes, both girls were sound asleep.  

* * * * *

A short while later, a pale mist escaped unseen from their mouths with
a whisper.  The mist lingered just a moment before being drawn out
through the dorm window and into the night sky.  Throughout Sunnydale,
similar mists fled from the mouths of every being in the town and were
pulled through the air to an abandoned clock tower.

Inside the tower, the mists are pulled by magic into an ornate wooden
box, identical to the one the Slayer had seen in her dream.  After the
last of the mist has vanished into the box, a pale grayish hand gently
closed the lid.






"It's a good fight, Buffy, and I want in."
"I kinda love you."
Buffy & Willow, 'Choices'

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