The Two
by acs
Field Trip
[reviews]
TITLE: The Two (9/24)
AUTHOR: -Andy- (see2go4me@yahoo.com)
RATING: R (For future violence and Adult situations) - (though Parts 1 thru 12 just barely make it to a PG-13)
DISCLAIMER: This is a derivative work. All characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox Television, and others. I don't own any of this, just the words and plot.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
[1] Feedback is always welcome, preferably the kind that improves my writing.
[2] [Revised: 11-Dec-2005]
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Chapter IX: "Field Trip"
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Looking at the taller woman, red hair framing her face, for just a second Buffy could have sworn she detected some emotion other than nervousness flying across her pale face. For that brief moment Willow's eyes seemed to take on an almost predatory gleam. Her sense of self preservation too well developed to dismiss it completely, Buffy filed it away for future reference although she knew she could have been mistaken.
They started out slowly, circling each other in the small room. Her mind quickly analyzing the situation, Buffy observed how Willow moved like a small cat toying with a mouse, looking as if she were playing a game and not doing something that could turn deadly in an instant. This went on for what felt like several minutes to her focused attention but which she knew could really have been only for a few seconds.
Suddenly, Willow stepped into Buffy's path and applied a move that would have knocked a normal person off of their feet. Buffy rolled with it, turning the move into a throw that sent the surprised Willow half way across the room. This went on for several minutes. Willow trying to gain the upper hand and Buffy turning every move against her. She could sense Willow's growing surprise at her ability to read a move and react to it so quickly.
After ten minutes of this, Buffy knew that if anything was going to be accomplished by this pseudo-sparring session with Willow, instead of turning into a big waste of their time, she was going to have to initiate it. Unless she used magic Willow just didn't have the skill or strength to provide even the remotest challenge needed to display the things Buffy did best. The way things were going Willow wasn't going to learn anything that would help her decide if Buffy was a fit sparring partner for her slayer.
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"Okay, that's enough," Buffy said to the red faced woman after her attempts to get past Buffy's defenses failed one more time. "This isn't really working. It's got the potential for some fun but certainly won't accomplish what you wanted. There must be another way to satisfy you." Buffy groaned silently as soon as the words left her mouth. She really hadn't intended to say it that way and from the look that appeared briefly on Willow's face she probably didn't want to know what Willow thought she'd meant by it.
Catching her breath, Willow looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "Unless you can arrange to fight several demons and vampires while I watch, I don't know what else we can try."
"That sounds too much like a 'stupid pet trick'," Buffy said, objecting to the idea. "Except a little more deadly."
"A what?" Willow looked at her, her confusion clearly visible. Buffy closed her eyes for a second in an attempt to clear the distracting memory from her mind of her Willow's face scrunched up in that same expression of cute confusion before explaining.
"Sorry. Pop culture reference from my childhood." She was really going to have to get a television if she wanted her quips to make any sense. A world without a David Letterman was just too bizarre even for her life. "It's obvious that you aren't skilled enough to get past my defenses and I'm not going to just stand here and let you hit me. Dawn would quickly get bored trying to spar like that and certainly wouldn't get much benefit out of it."
"But you haven't really given me a chance to assess your technique." Willow grumbled. "I know you are faster and stronger than I am so you certainly would be a better sparring partner for her in that respect. But you're right. We aren't getting anywhere with this. I want to know what you can really do in a fight if Dawn is going to learn anything from you."
"So what do you want to do?" Buffy asked curiously.
"Maybe we should go on a field trip?" Willow suggested in a half serious manner. "There must be a place where vampires and other things congregate, where you can demonstrate the things you know?"
"Sure." Buffy agreed, partly to see if Willow was serious. "As long as it doesn't turn into a circus."
"Maybe we can follow her on her next patrol?" Willow proposed.
"And not let her deal with any vampires she's found? Is that fair to her?" Buffy asked, surprised at the suggestion.
"Well, you've been doing it for weeks now anyway."
"Yes... well..." Buffy said, slightly embarrassed. "I was just keeping an eye on her until I could figure out why all those vampires were following her."
"What did you find out?" Willow asked, distracted.
"Nothing yet. They're just cannon fodder. Whomever is sending them isn't telling them anything useful." Buffy tried to get the conversation back on track. "I guess we could head down to LA. Shouldn't be too hard to find something there willing to fight."
"Okay." Willow agreed reluctantly. "When?"
"No time like the present. Meet me at the bookshop tonight." Buffy suggested. "After you're done working with Dawn. We can have a quick dinner and then we can head south."
"Just the two of us?" Willow squeaked, giving Buffy a look she couldn't quite interpret.
"Yes." Buffy told her, wondering why the idea had gotten that reaction.
"What if Dawn insists on going with us?"
"If she asks," something Buffy really doubted would happen, "tell her it's a date." At the shocked look on Willow's face she raised an eyebrow. "You and I know it won't be but she seems so determined that we get together that she'll fall for it." Buffy wondered at the slightly disappointed expression that appeared briefly on Willow's face.
"Okay. I'll do that." Willow told her softly.
"Do you have to go back to your classroom yet?" Buffy asked her.
"No, I do have lunch duty today but I'm free until then."
"I need to burn off some excess energy before work." Buffy said. "Interested in a quick run down to the beach?"
"Sure." Willow smiled, her face lighting up at the invitation. "Let me get some different shoes. I'll be limping for the next week if I run in these." She pointed at her sneakers.
"Okay. I'll meet you out front?" Buffy said.
"Yes. I'll just be a minute. Thanks." Willow smiled at her again before rushing from the room.
--- --- ---
Buffy set an easy pace as they headed down the street. While it was obvious to Buffy from their abbreviated sparring session that Willow was in pretty good shape they hadn't done anything approaching the strenuousness of her normal quick run. But this wasn't really about the exercise. She'd already had her run for the day. She just had an urge to spend more time with Willow before they both had to head to work for the afternoon.
It took thirty minutes to get to the beach from the Coven house. Buffy was just starting to feel warmed up but it was clear to her that Willow really needed a break. "I think we really need to work on your endurance." Buffy told her, bouncing on her feet as she watched Willow's sweat drenched form shakily sit on a bench near the beach entrance. "You're just like your slayer."
"What do you mean?"
"You're both all set for quick encounters with run of the mill vampires but that's not always how things work out. In a long fight you would both be dead." Buffy told her soberly. "It's not good."
"I have plenty of endurance." Willow protested, before adding with a smirk "just not for this."
Suppressing the image the comment brought to mind, Buffy pretended to ignore the innuendo. "Okay enduro-girl. Let's walk back so you have a chance to recover before our trip tonight."
"Not walking, running." Willow told her, shrugging off the helping hand Buffy offered her as she stood. "We'll see who has endurance."
Buffy watched in amusement as the redhead took off running, setting a pace she knew Willow couldn't keep up for long. Quickly catching up to her, Buffy asked "Are you sure you want to run this fast?"
Willow barely glanced her way, from the look on her face concentrating
on proving Buffy wrong. "Not fast, can't you keep up?"
"Yes. Don't expect me to carry you!" Buffy told her, trying hard not to grin as she kept pace with the struggling woman.
The trip back to the coven house took longer than the run to the beach. Willow ran out of steam halfway and then spent a few minutes recovering before resuming at a much saner walk. They didn't arrive back at the house until almost lunch. Buffy barely had time to do more than take a quick shower in the small locker room next to the other training room before heading to work.
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She had just finished locking the bookshop up for the night when Willow arrived. While waiting quietly in front of the shop for Buffy to finish, she idly wondered why she found watching her perform even the simple action of pulling down the security gate over the front of the shop to be mildly erotic.
Buffy slipped the key in a pocket and smiled over at her. "I hope you don't mind but I ordered out for dinner. It should show up in a few minutes."
"Where did you want to eat?" Willow asked, wondering if Buffy expected to eat in the car on their way to LA.
"If you don't mind the lack of furniture," Buffy said, "we can eat in my apartment."
Willow looked at her in surprise. This was the first mention Buffy had made of her apartment. In the weeks she'd known her, Willow had gotten the impression that Buffy was a very private person. So she had no idea where Buffy was living and hadn't expected to have the opportunity to see it any time soon. "That's fine. We can do that." She waited for Buffy to take the lead.
"It's just upstairs." Buffy told her, taking her arm and leading her around to the back entrance to the building. "I have a loft on the second floor."
Willow watched her unlock a door under a small overhang to the left of the back entrance to the bookshop, noticing how she reached in and turned on a light, revealing a stairway leading up, before going through the door. "This must be very convenient." she commented. "You can eat at home every day."
"It was a coincidence. Or at least I think it was." Buffy told her with a slight smile. "Madeline didn't advertise for help until after I'd moved in. We don't need to wait down here for the food. The delivery boy knows how to find the doorbell."
Willow followed her up the stairs, waiting on the top landing while Buffy unlocked another door. Following her into the loft she found herself in a large room with a small open kitchen to her right. The rest of the visible space was open so she assumed that a door to the left led to a bathroom of some sort. With the exception of a small bed that looked like a futon laid flat, a kitchen table with several chairs, and a large dresser that seemed to be built into one wall, the loft looked barely occupied.
Glancing around Willow noticed several books lying haphazardly in a built-in bookshelf in a corner. Several large cushions and a beanbag chair occupied the space next to it. "You really were serious about not having furniture, weren't you."
"Yes." Buffy shrugged. "I was traveling fairly lightly this time. I don't really have a lot of money for furniture. It's not a big deal. This works for me. I don't need much."
"Okay. But if you ever want more furniture I'm sure we can find you some." Willow said to her, her mind already in motion as she envisioned how the loft would look with different pieces of furniture.
Any answer Buffy might have had to the offer was interrupted by the sound of a buzzer. "That'll be our food. I'll be right back."
Willow was looking at the books on the shelf when Buffy returned carrying several bags. They hadn't really told her anything about the other woman but she still felt slightly guilty for invading her privacy. She moved quickly away from them, trying to make it appear as if she wasn't being nosey.
"I know it's not much. I do most of my reading in the bookshop or the coven's library." Buffy said, placing the bags down on the kitchen table.
Willow blushed in embarrassment at having been caught snooping. "Sorry," she said, attempting to apologize.
Buffy just smiled at her, almost as if she'd expected Willow to look at them. "Why don't we eat? I hope you like spaghetti. Tony recommended this restaurant near his bar that has a fantastic sauce."
"Ooh... I know the one." Willow smiled, pleased. "They also have great salads and garlic bread."
"Great. Then you won't mind that I got us several salads to go with it." she told Willow as she carefully removed the warm food from the bags. "And garlic bread of course."
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They ate dinner at a leisurely pace, keeping to the same topics they talked about during their evenings at Tony's, by mutual agreement avoiding anything overly personal. "We're going to have to do this again some time." Buffy said when they'd finished eating, taking note of the feelings Willow's bright smile and nod of agreement generated.
While she cleaned up, Buffy explained her idea for the rest of the evening. "I was thinking we could check out several demon bars in LA. I was down there a few weeks ago just to get a feel for the area and noticed a few places where demons hang out." she told her. "And then we can see if there is any action in one of the LA cemeteries."
"Do you think that'll give you a chance to demonstrate your fighting skills?" Willow asked curiously.
"Well, normally a human walking into a demon bar is an invitation for violence so it's almost guaranteed that you'll see me fight." She noticed the wide eyed look coming from Willow. "Don't worry. I'll keep you safe. And you do know some defensive spells don't you?"
"Yes." Willow reassured her. "Though I don't get to use them very often around here."
"You'll want to think about them on our way to LA tonight then. You'll definitely need to have them ready to go." Buffy put down the towel she'd been using and gestured to the door. "We should get going."
Buffy hid her grin at Willow's surprise when she reached into the closet next to the bathroom door and pulled out two motorcycle helmets. She handed one to Willow before taking out her leather jacket and pulling it on.
"Okay..." Frowning, Willow looked down at the helmet she was now holding before looking back up at Buffy. "I take it we aren't going by car."
"No. Two wheels." Buffy told her with a small grin before frowning herself. "Unfortunately, I don't have a spare jacket for you to wear. We won't get back until late and you'll freeze without one, so we'll need to stop at your apartment. You'll also need better shoes. Stiff boots would be even better if you have them. Sorry."
Ushering Willow out of her apartment, she led the way down to the shed she stored her motorcycle in, trying to suppress the extra spring in her step as she thought about finally being able to escape her reputation for being a bad driver. No matter how well she'd finally learned to drive, her friends and sister had never been able to let her past mistakes go. But this Willow would never know anything about her past issues with motor vehicles if she could help it.
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Willow watched Buffy pull a motorcycle out of a small shed behind the bookshop. She wasn't an expert in such things but it certainly didn't look like something she wanted to ride down to LA on. "Are you sure about this?" she asked nervously. "I can always drive."
"No. This will be fine." Buffy gave Willow another grin. "Besides, it's not like we need to take anything with us. I've got everything we'll need in here." She patted one of the saddlebags.
Willow just stared at Buffy as she pulled on her helmet and got onto the motorcycle. It suddenly looked much larger with the small woman sitting on it. "I don't know about this..." she said, staring at it nervously.
"If you're afraid we can take your car." Buffy offered.
"Afraid? Me? A slayer's Guide is never afraid!" Willow told her with false bravado. She just hoped Buffy didn't notice how much the thought of flying down the highway on that contraption frightened her. She was sure it wouldn't impress the older woman. She pulled on the helmet Buffy had given her and gingerly climbed onto the motorcycle behind her.
"Just put your arms around my waist." Buffy said, her voice much too calm for Willow's taste, considering what they were about to do. "And keep your feet on the footrests unless we've come to a stop."
"Okay." Willow put her arms around Buffy and held on tightly as Buffy started it up.
"Comfortable?" Willow could feel the vibrations of her voice through her jacket.
"I'm okay." Willow told her nervously.
"Great. First stop - your apartment." Buffy said.
Willow couldn't see her face but she was sure from the tone of her voice that Buffy must have had an amused grin on her face.
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The trip down to LA hadn't turned out to be as bad as Willow had anticipated. Once she'd changed into heavier shoes and her favorite leather jacket she felt a lot more comfortable exposed to the elements on Buffy's motorcycle. The trip was too noisy for any real conversation so she'd concentrated on the feel of the machine beneath her and Buffy in her arms. Who knew when she'd get to do this again.
The journey ended abruptly in a well lit parking garage. After shutting off her motorcycle, Buffy pulled off her helmet and shook her head. "Helmet hair. Ugh!" Willow reluctantly released her grip on Buffy's waist and removed her own helmet. "There's a brush in the left saddlebag. Could you grab it?" Buffy asked her.
"How far are we from our first stop?" Willow asked, looking around after dealing with her own hair, handing the brush to Buffy.
"About a block. Close enough if we have to run for it but far enough that we shouldn't attract too much attention." She took off her jacket and put it in the other saddlebag after removing several stakes and a knife and hiding them somewhere in her clothes. "Why don't you put your jacket in the other saddlebag. You wouldn't happen to know a spell that'll keep people from messing with it while we're gone?" Buffy asked hopefully.
Willow answered quickly. "Sure, not a problem." She looked at Buffy curiously. "What would you have done if I didn't know a spell to do that?"
"Locked it up and attached it to the nearest large immovable object. And hoped for the best." She shrugged. "If someone really wants an old bike like this you can't do much to stop them."
"Okay." She appraised the motorcycle for a moment. "This'll just take a second."
Willow muttered a few well chosen words under her breath. It wasn't anything complicated and for once she didn't feel like making it appear as if it was. "All set."
"Great." Buffy gave her a small smile and Willow couldn't help smiling back. "Let's get going."
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They couldn't get into the first demon bar they approached. The four armed, grey, eight foot high demon bouncer guarding the door refused to allow them in citing a bar policy regarding humans. No amount of verbal gymnastics on Willow or Buffy's parts could convince it that the two women could take care of themselves in the bar and that they should be allowed in.
"It isn't a big deal." Buffy told Willow, dragging her away before the stubborn wiccan could prove it wrong. "There are other places we can go that aren't as picky about their clientele."
On the way back to the parking garage to get Buffy's motorcycle it became a moot point. Just inside the garage entrance they were attacked by several small demons.
Muttering to each other in some guttural demon language, the demons attacked both women at the same time. After putting up a simple shielding spell, Willow was able to protect herself from the larger of the two demons and keep it occupied with a binding spell while Buffy dealt with the other one.
Buffy seemed to be an almost elemental force as she fought her opponent with a combination of force and skill that amazed the wiccan. She wasn't just hitting the demon, she was picking its defenses apart. Every kick and punch seemed to be aimed at slowing the demon down.
Willow winced whenever the demon was able to get past Buffy's own defenses. But she seemed to bounce right back. The fight between the two seemed to last forever until Buffy knocked her opponent out by flipping it into a cement wall with a well placed throw.
At a signal from Buffy, Willow released the other demon from her spell. It had seen Buffy demolish its companion and approached her cautiously. It bowed to her and Buffy bowed back with a slight grin. They circled each other for several minutes before the demon saw an opening and attacked. In an exchange that to Willow looked more like a dance than the deadly fight it was, the two combatants traded a series of blows and kicks.
From what she could tell, they seemed to be evenly matched. And from the grin on her face it was apparent to Willow that Buffy was actually enjoying herself. This went on for several more minutes before the demon stopped and bowed once more to Buffy, saying something to Buffy that Willow wasn't able to hear. She was surprised when it walked over to the other demon and kicked it until it got up. Both demons left without a backward glance.
Willow looked at the slightly battered blonde. "What happened?" She'd wanted to see Buffy in action but this wasn't quite what she'd envisioned. "Why did it stop?"
Buffy shrugged. "We passed their test. The next time we want to get into their bar they won't try to stop us."
"Oh. Do you have to do this often?" Willow asked. She couldn't imagine being challenged like that on a regular basis.
"No. Normally demons don't stop until they're dead or they've killed you. Things seem a bit more civilized around here. But it was fun." Buffy smiled at her. "Haven't had a workout like that in weeks. Let's go check out the other bar."
"Okay." Willow quickly removed the protection spell from the motorcycle and climbed on behind Buffy.
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To Willow their second stop looked more like a club than a bar. It was in a well lit area in a more upscale area of LA. There wasn't a convenient parking garage nearby so Buffy had been forced to park her motorcycle further away. They walked the last two blocks on foot. Stopping for a moment to observe the club, Willow noticed a steady stream of both humans and demons gathered around the entrance.
"Buffy?"
"Yes?"
"I don't think you'll have much opportunity for action here." She felt slightly disappointed. Watching the earlier fight had been exciting for the normally peace loving witch.
"That's not a problem. The night is young. You'll have plenty of other chances to see my Jackie Chan imitation." Buffy grabbed her hand and dragged her to the entrance. "Let's get a drink. We can hit a cemetery or two on the way home if you still need to evaluate my fighting style."
"Okay." Willow allowed Buffy to pull her into the club without further protest. She looked around and stared. She wasn't sure what she'd expected but karaoke and demons was not a combination she'd ever thought she'd see. "Buffy?"
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever been in a demon karaoke bar before?" she gestured at the stage off to their left where a tiny, winged creature was enthusiastically mangling a Cat Stevens song.
"No..." She followed Willow to an unoccupied table and sat down. "I've heard of them but I don't remember ever being in one before." She motioned to the waitress she'd seen near their table.
They spent the next hour watching the other occupants of the club. Buffy pointed out the different demon species she was familiar with and Willow did the same. Between them they had a good idea of which ones were an immediate danger and which ones could be safely ignored. What they couldn't figure out was why humans and demons were mixing in the club without violence.
Their quiet conversation, mixed intermittently with pained glances at the current demonic attempt to display musical prowess, was interrupted by a cheerful voice.
"Ladies! How are you enjoying the entertainment?" asked a slim, green, and apparently male demon dressed in a suit that seemed to match the club's decor. "I don't normally get such illustrious visitors in my humble club."
Willow stared up at him. "Who? Us?"
"Yes, sweetie. You." He leaned forward, smiling at them. "But don't worry, I won't tell anyone that the Chosen and her witch are here." He smiled conspiratorially at them and turned to leave with one last comment - "Enjoy the rest of your evening ladies."
Willow stared at Buffy, noticing she seemed to have suddenly gotten much paler. "What was that all about?"
"Ummm... I don't know." Buffy told her nervously. "I think we should go. If we stay here much longer we won't have time to hit a cemetery on our way home."
--- --- ---
Buffy leaned against a grave stone, absently twirling a stake in one hand and watching Willow who was perched on a small crypt, hopefully out of harms way. She'd rushed Willow out of the club after their encounter with the green demon. She wasn't sure what was going on but this was the second time since arriving in this place that someone had recognized her as more than she appeared to be.
So far she'd managed to deflect Willow's questions about why the demon had referred to her as chosen but she knew it wouldn't last. This Willow was just as single minded in pursuit of knowledge as her former friend. She was just glad that there was more than one slayer at a time in this dimension, and that their traditions were different. Otherwise, given the clues Buffy suspected she already had, Willow might have immediately connected 'chosen' with being a slayer and come to the obvious conclusion.
The cemetery was unnaturally quiet. Buffy could sense several vampires at its edges but they hadn't wandered over to where she and Willow were waiting. Suddenly that changed as she sensed several vampires much closer, as if they had just appeared out of the ground. She motioned to Willow to alert her to their presence and waited patiently for them to come to her.
There were four of them, three young ones who growled as soon as they saw her and an older one, a female vampire that stayed back as the others rushed to attack. Buffy quickly staked the first vampire as it lunged at her, not giving it a chance to get too close. "Oops?" she said with a small grin.
The other two came to a shocked stop and stepped back to wait for the fourth vampire to join them. "Little girl, you shouldn't have come out here if you didn't want to die." the older vampire growled at her from a safe distance.
"Afraid I won't have time for all of you?" Buffy taunted it, ignoring the comment about her height. "There are plenty of stakes to go around."
The female vampire looked at her two minions and told them "Kill her!"
Buffy tensed slightly as they rushed towards her. From the way they mindlessly attacked she knew they weren't really going to be much of a challenge. But if she wanted to deal with the older vampire before any others wandering around the cemetery joined in she first needed to get them out of the way.
The first of the two vampires to reach her was slowed down by a low kick that broke its left knee. She followed that with a kick to its chest that sent it tumbling into a nearby tomb stone where it collapsed and remained. With it temporarily out of the way she was free to focus on the other vampire now menacing her. This one displayed the typical vampiric approach to fighting. It attempted to kill her using brute force, knocking her into the side of the crypt Willow was sitting on.
Getting back to her feet, Buffy returned the favor with a blow to the vampire's head that knocked it to the ground in a heap. Before it could get back up Buffy had reduced it to a pile of dust with a well placed strike from her stake. She dealt with the other unmoving vampire in a similar fashion.
"Looks like it's just the two of us." Buffy told the remaining vampire, grinning as she strolled closer to it, resisting the urge to tease it and staying just out of reach.
"They were weak and stupid." the vampire growled before attacking Buffy. From her perch on the crypt above them Willow watched as they traded blows, neither one gaining the upper hand for several minutes. The vampire had a longer reach than Buffy but Buffy was able to compensate with little trouble. Eventually, the vampire gave Buffy an opening and she quickly staked it.
"That was kind of disappointing." Buffy said, grumbled as she brushed a few stray specs of post-vampire dust from her jeans. Reaching up, she helped Willow get down from the crypt. "Let's go home."
--- --- ---
They arrived back in Sunnydale just after 2:00 AM. Drowsy from the trip, Willow asked a subdued Buffy to drop her off at the Coven house. The trip to LA had given her more to think about than any concrete answers about the enigma that was Buffy Summers. But analyzing what she'd learned would have to wait until tomorrow. She need to get enough sleep to function in her classes in the morning.
"Buffy, can we talk about this later?" She asked, yawning as she removed the helmet Buffy had loaned her.
"Okay. Tony's? Or somewhere else?" Buffy asked quietly, taking the helmet from Willow and attaching it to her motorcycle.
Willow looked at her for a moment. From Buffy's tone she could tell there was something wrong. It bothered her that she wasn't sure what it was. "The Coven house might be best." she answered. "Why don't I give you a call in a day or two?"
Buffy nodded at her and without another word kicked her motorcycle to life, leaving Willow standing on the sidewalk watching her ride away.
--- --- ---
Continued in "Who Are You?"
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