Aftermath and College
by Bwriter
part 29
[reviews]
Part 29
Buffy found her attention drifting as Angel spoke. Her eyes kept seeking out the redhead, who had moved to sit across the room from her after the blondes hands had started to stray.
Pouting, she turned back to the Vampire.
"We need to shut them down."
Phillips was nodding, agreeing with the demon, and trying to hide his shock at it. He had a problem working with two Vampire's, but Buffy had made it clear, Angel was family, as was Spike by extension.
"We need to take them down, hard and fast. That thing I saw in my dream is nothing something to dawdle with."
Giles nodded his head at Buffy's words and looked at Phillips.
"What do you suggest?"
It had been decided that as they were dealing with humans, the council ops team would have the control over what was to happen to them, the Slayer would deal with their creation.
"We do recon, find out where the head quarters are, how many men they have, what demons they have, and anything and everything we can about this new breed they have taken it upon themselves to make."
Buffy nodded, pleased with the plan so far.
"What I want to know, is why? Are they planning to build a new breed of soldiers ala Universal Solider, or are they just doing it because they can?"
Everyone turned to look at Willow, Buffy with pride in her eyes.
"Told you she was the smart one."
Willow blushed and ducked her head.
Buffy stood up and began pacing, made harder by the amount of people in the room.
The special ops units watched the Slayer. Few actually had met her before, and were shocked by how small she was.
"Will, do you think Tara would help with the magic's if they were needed?"
Willow looked up and nodded her head, standing up to move over to the phone, smiling at a tall redheaded man when he moved to let her sit by it.
Buffy turned to her troops and nodded to Phillips. They were his to order around. Walking over to Giles, Buffy indicated that she wanted to talk to him in private.
He followed her into the spare room and sat on the bed, watching as she paced the floor.
He had a feeling he knew what was on her mind.
"Am I making a mistake Giles?"
He frowned and tilted his head.
"By mistake you mean...?"
Buffy took a seat beside him and rested her elbows on her knees.
"Willow. You saw what happened earlier."
Giles sighed and removed his glasses, letting them dangle from his thumb and forefinger.
"Buffy, you have to understand that Willow hasn't had as long as you to get used to this. It will take some time for her to get her head around."
Buffy sighed and fell back on the bed, looking very much like the nineteen year old she was.
"Your right, but I have this thing inside me, screaming to claim her, and how freaky is that huh? Not exactly of the normal."
Giles tilted his head in acknowledgement of her plight.
"Just give it some time, and do more of the meditations we've been discussing."
They were interrupted by a knock at the door before Angel poked his head through.
"Buffy, Tom says he wants your input on something."
Buffy gave Giles a smile and followed the Vampire out to the main room.
"What's up T?" Tom stood up, drawing everyone's attention.
"When do you want to do this?" It was no secret he didn't like the councils special ops teams, and the hostility was clear in his voice.
Buffy sighed. She so didn't need anymore stress added on to this mission.
-----
Willow was sitting on Giles back porch, staring at the stars. that's what she liked most about living in a small town, you could actually see the stars.
She could hear the others talking loudly inside, well, the council ops were talking loudly, Tom was trying not to yell at them, and Buffy, she hadn't heard Buffy raise her voice once.
That was strange.
The door opening brought her out of her musings, and she looked up to see Tom stepping out.
"Finally had enough?"
He nodded and sank down beside her.
"I hate them, don't really know why, apart from the fact that they are stuck up snobs, but they do get the job done."
He sighed before opening his eyes and catching Willow's.
"How's things with you and Buffy?"
Willow ducked her head, giving him his answer.
He looked towards the door before moving closer to the redhead.
"Willow, I'm only going to say this once, and if she knew I was out here talking to you about this, she'd kill me." Willow was shocked by how much he believed that.
"If you don't think you can deal with everything, the Slayer, the claiming, then back out now. If you don't, your only gonna hurt Buffy in the long run, and I don't want that."
Willow looked at him before looking away.
"I love Buffy, with everything I have... but this... this is different. This goes beyond human comprehension. Its old and primal, and it wants me. And I'm having trouble wrapping my head around it." She paused and met his eyes again.
"But I love her. It just about killed me losing her the first time. I can't give that up again."
He held her gaze for a full minute before smiling and standing up.
"Good answer."
-----
Buffy looked up as Tom returned, and expected to see Willow with him.
"She's still outback."
Buffy nodded her head and turned back to what Phillips was telling her.
-----
Willow stood up and dusted off her jeans. It was starting to cool down as the night went on, and she knew Buffy would come looking for her, even if she was only in Giles yard.
-----
Buffy looked up, her head tilted to the side.
Something wasn't right.
The sun had set a while ago, she knew that as sure as she knew her own name.
So where was Willow? Surely the redhead wouldn't stay outside that long?
Standing up, she ignored what Giles was saying and walked to the back of the apartment.
Yanking the door open, Buffy was faced with reality.
Something was wrong.
Willow was gone, the only thing left was her sweater, and there was blood on it.
Angel reached Buffy first and caught the Slayer as she sank to her knees, a low whimpering sound coming from her.
"Willow's?"
Angel nodded his head yes, and was suddenly thrown back as the Slayer stood.
Bending, Buffy picked up Willow's pink sweater and ran back into the house.
"Willow's missing," thrusting the clothing at Angel, she barked her orders as she gathered weapons.
"Track her Angel."
Loaded down, Buffy was ready to go, as was Tom and the entire ops team.
-----
Willow groaned as she rolled over. It took her only a second to realise that something was very wrong.
As she struggled to sit up and open her eyes, she was assaulted by the glare from the white walls surrounding her.
Reaching up, she gently touched her forehead, her hand coming away sticky with blood.
Panic was starting to set in.
Willow tried to stand, only to fall back down again, a searing pain shooting through her.
What the hell had happened to her?
-----
Walsh watched on the monitor as Willow came awake.
"Agent Finn. Go and make sure our friend knows who has her."
-----
Willow looked up as a shadow fell over her.
"Riley."
Willow knew she was in trouble by the look in his eyes, and the only thing she could think was, oh crap."
-----
The had been searching for hours. The blood trail had led them to the woods then just died off.
Tom kept throwing worried glances at his charge and knew she was about to take a swan dive off the deep end.
Turning to the ops, he ordered them to spread out and search the town.
He didn't want them around when Buffy went postal.
Next he ordered Angel and Spike as far away as possible. Two vamps, even those two, would be dust before they knew she had moved.
He sent them to collect Tara, hopefully the witch could do a location spell.
Soon, there was only Buffy, Giles, Tom and Jonny left in the woods.
The Slayer scanned the area around them, hoping to find some trace of Willow.
"Buffy?"
Tom walked closer and reached out to touch her.
His hand never made contact.
Buffy spun and caught him in a grip so tight he couldn't move.
"Someone took Willow."
Buffy had reached breaking point. Images of Willow being hurt kept flashing through her mind.
The Slayer looked up at the night, and howled her pain out to the stars above.
-----
When Willow next woke up from her forced sleepy time, she was horrified to realise she was naked, and strapped to a table.
"Ah, I see our patient is finally awake. I was worried that Riley here had hit you too hard."
Willow tried to swallow, but her mouth was too dry.
Walsh saw this and motioned for Kim to get her a drink of water.
Willow glared at her ex, even as she gulped down the fluid.
"Buffy's gonna destroy you."
Walsh merely smiled before holding up a shape instrument.
"Well then, for your sake Miss Rosenberg, I would pray she shows up soon."
-----
Buffy was pacing Giles living room.
It was two days, and they still hadn't heard anything.
Making up her mind, Buffy lifted the phone and dialled England.
-----
Faith ginned as she threw her opponent across the room.
"Man I love the violence."
"Faith? Buffy's on the phone, something about a Willow tree."
Faith blanched. There was only one reason Buffy would interrupt her studies.
-----
Buffy hung up the phone and turned to Giles, her eyes blank.
"She wanted to come back, I told her not to."
Giles and Tom exchanged looks.
"Buffy, wouldn't two slayers be better than one?"
Buffy shook her head and turned back to staring out the window.
"If we don't find Willow, or if we do and she's... I'm done."
-----
Willow curled into a ball, hugging her knees to she chest as she tried to stop the sobs from escaping.
Walsh had wanted to see if there was a scientific reason that Willow could do magic.
Willow had been sliced, probed and cut before they bandaged her up.
She didn't understand how humans could do this. For so long, Willow had lived in a world of good and evil, then the grey came along in the guise of Angel.
As she closed her eyes and tried to stop crying, she prayed that Buffy would find her.
-----
Buffy jerked awake, not sure what had woken her from her sleep. It had been the first time all week she had slept, and it was only because Giles had made her.
A full week Willow had been missing.
Looking around the spare room where she and Willow had slept, it all came back to her.
As her eyes filled with tears, her dream played through her mind. It wasn't very clear, but two images stood out.
The image of the demon the initiative had created, and Willow.
The Slayer's eyes widened before they narrowed.
Standing up, she stormed out of the room and was greeted with a room filled to breaking point.
"I know who has Willow."
----
Riley panted as he jogged the campus track. He had a hour before he had to be back at base, and he was using his time to relax.
The whole Willow thing had him on edge. He didn't agree with Walsh. He hadn't been raised to hit women.
Demons were different, they weren't human, but nothing Walsh could say would convince him that Willow was anything other than human.
Finally making up his mind, he changed direction.
-----
Giles stood up and tilted his head.
"Who has her?"
Just then, the was a knock at the door. As Tom was closed, he opened it, thinking it was Xander coming back.
It wasn't Xander.
"I need to talk to Buffy."
Buffy's eyes narrowed and she had Riley by the throat in seconds.
"Where's Willow?"
He flinched back from her, scared to see golden flecks in her eyes.
"That's why I'm here."
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a/n - another one... guess my muse does like fiji then