Choose
by sailor80
Eighteen
[reviews]
Buffy sat silently and watched Willow's body. The demon would stare at her without blinking for minutes at a time. Its reptilian black eyes were unnerving but at the same time comforting. 'Will's eyes are green,' she told herself.
Dawn came in and sat in the other chair. "They want you downstairs," she told Buffy.
"Don't talk to it. Don't listen if it talks."
"'Kay."
Buffy got up and reluctantly left the room. She went down the stairs and through the living room. She stood at the head of the table and waited for someone, anyone, to speak.
Giles cleared his throat. "The demon possessing Willow has been with her longer than any of us knew."
"Get to the point, Giles."
"Everything says that she must die to force the demon to leave."
"Not gonna happen."
"What does it want, Buffy?" Aislin asked quietly.
"What does any monster want?" Buffy answered. "Since we're on the Hellmouth, I imagine it wants to end the world."
"Has it said that?"
"No. It hasn't said much of anything. When I asked what it wants, it asked what we're offering. I told it I'd let it live if it left without hurting Willow."
"That wasn't acceptable?"
"No."
"We seem to be at a stalemate," Giles said.
"There has to be a way," Buffy insisted.
"We've brought you back twice," Xander said. "Why can't we do the same for Will?"
"Are you willing to kill her?" Buffy asked him.
Xander put his hands up in front of him. "Not me. I'm resusc-a-guy."
Buffy looked around the table. No one would meet her eyes.
Wearily, Giles said, "We'll keep looking."
Buffy left. She climbed the stairs slowly, but sped up when she heard voices in her room.
Dawn was still in the chair, but she was talking quietly. Willow, Buffy saw from the doorway, was answering. Buffy was at her bedside in a flash. "Will?"
"Yeah," she answered hoarsely.
"You have a little case of possession." Buffy forgot that anyone else was in the room.
"Figures."
"We're working on it."
"'Kay," Willow nodded.
"Do you want anything?"
"You." Willow answered without stopping to think.
Buffy leaned over and kissed her cheek, then turned her face enough that they were cheek to cheek. She fumbled one hand between them until she grasped Willow's, then sat up.
"It wants," Willow squeaked out, and clenched her jaw.
"It can't have you," Buffy said defiantly.
Willow's breathing became erratic and she closed her eyes. Buffy braced herself for the demon's return, but it was Willow's green eyes that opened wide.
"Hurts."
"Dawn, get them up here now," Buffy said sharply without looking at her sister. "Hang on, Will." She held Willow's face with her free hand.
"Love you," Willow gasped.
"Don't you dare give up," Buffy ordered. Her tone softened. "Stay with me, Will. Please."
Tara, Aislin and Giles came through the door behind Dawn as Willow's body went rigid. Buffy leaned down close to Willow's face. "I've got you, Willow. You're safe. I love you. Just hang on." She repeated that mantra in a voice too low for the others to hear.
"How sweet," Gienah answered mockingly.
Buffy sat up. "I'm really sick of you."
"I like it here. You should get used to me." It looked over Buffy's shoulder at the assembly. "Mmm, yummy witches. The Watcher's kind of stringy. And you," it looked at Dawn. "Oh, we're going to have such fun together."
"You're not having any fun," Buffy said harshly.
"What do you want?" Giles asked.
"Hmm, what do I want? What do I want? I like it here. Think I'll stay." It sat up, despite the binding Aislin and Tara had put on it earlier. Before anyone could stop it, the demon rolled off the bed and dove out the window. The IV lines tore away from Willow's arm. Buffy followed it through the shattered remains of the window within seconds. The rest of them headed downstairs as quickly as they could. By the time they reached the front yard, neither Buffy nor Willow were anywhere to be seen.
Buffy returned hours later. She was filthy. Her pants were ripped and her shirt was nearly gone. She was bleeding freely from several small cuts on her arms and one large one across her left cheek. She didn't greet or even look at anyone. The Slayer trudged upstairs slowly. A few minutes later, they heard the shower start.
They expected Buffy to come downstairs after her shower, but she didn't. After half an hour, Dawn went to check on her sister. Buffy was sitting cross-legged on the floor in old pants and a Sunnydale High t-shirt. Her eyes were closed, and blood continued to drip from her cheek. She didn't acknowledge Dawn, even after her sister shook her gently. Dawn backed away slowly and went downstairs. Her eyes were wide with fright as she relayed to Giles what she had seen.
While the others debated what to do, Tara went to Buffy's room. She sat across from her on the floor and rested her palms on Buffy's knees. It wasn't long before Buffy put her hands over Tara's. A few moments later, she opened her eyes. "I failed her again."
"No."
"It's my fault, Tara. All of it. She tried to save Angel for me."
"No," Tara repeated.
"Everything I did's made it worse." Tears started to slide down her cheeks. She didn't flinch when they flowed over the gash on her cheek. "I looked everywhere. Everywhere."
"We'll find her." Tara moved her hands to Buffy's face. She thumbed away her tears. "Let's get your face fixed."
"I tried."
Tara frowned. "How'd it happen?"
"I dunno," Buffy shrugged. "Maybe when I went out the window."
"Okay." Tara stood and held out a hand to Buffy. Buffy took it and got to her feet.
They went into the bathroom. Tara sat Buffy on the edge of the tub. She got the first aid kit from under the sink, then closed the toilet lid and sat. She opened the first aid kit and sat it beside Buffy.
She cleaned the cut with hydrogen peroxide soaked gauze. It continued to bleed freely as she put butterfly bandages along its length. She covered the whole thing with gauze and taped it to Buffy's face. Then she inspected Buffy's arms and repeated the process on a few small wounds on her forearms.
Buffy didn't move or speak while Tara worked. Tara finished and closed the first aid kit. She replaced it under the sink and sat on the closed toilet again. "You need to talk with Dawn."
"What am I supposed to tell her? I let some demon take Will but I'm sure you're safe," Buffy said sarcastically.
"You need to tell her you're okay. I know you aren't," Tara added in a rush, "but she's scared. She relies on you, Buffy. When you're all right, everything is fine in her world. The whole time you were g-gone, nothing any of us did was enough for to believe things would ever be okay again."
"But," Buffy started.
Tara talked over her. "You have to believe that we're going to beat this. Even if you don't believe it for yourself right now, you have to act like you do so Dawn can."
"How can I do that, Tara?" Tears welled up in Buffy's eyes again.
"Can you still feel her?"
"No," Buffy sobbed. She threw herself onto Tara like she had a few weeks before. Tara folded herself over the Slayer.
"I can." Tara said. "She's strong. She's fighting. She trusts you to come and get her again." She sat up and stroked Buffy's hair with one hand. "You can be worried. You can be scared. But when you talk to Dawn, you need to be the Slayer."