CSI: Sunnydale
by Rin
What's a Slayer?
[reviews]
Willow hadn't come out of her office much this week. It seemed as though she was avoiding Buffy at all costs. Whenever it was time for assignments, Willow would hand them out, and retreat back to her office. The door was always shut, and even Xander hadn't heard from the redhead much. Buffy didn't know how to explain what they saw either but she was handling it better than her supervisor.
"What's she doing in there anyways?" Jonathon stood in front of the door, just staring, willing it to open.
"No idea...but this is getting ridiculous." Buffy was not one known for her patience. Instead of waiting any longer, Buffy went to open the door, and was surprised to find it unlocked. Papers were scattered all over the floor, Willow was in a frenzy, and it looked like she hadn't left the office, ate, or slept for days. "Dr. Rosenberg? Willow? Wills?"
"Huh?" The redhead looked up from her research, and saw Buffy and Jonathon standing in the doorway. "What is it? Something happen in the field?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary." Buffy walked further into the office, and kneeled down beside Willow. "Look...we're worried. I've only known you for a week, and I'm worried."
"Nothing to worry about. I'm just following up on a case." Willow went back to her work, and only stopped when Buffy's hand sent electric shocks through her body, as the blonde placed her hand gently on the redhead's upper arm.
"You okay?" Buffy scrunched her brow in worry, and wanted to just drag the redhead out of the office. For some reason, she had this overwhelming need to take care of the woman.
"Yeah. I'm fine. Nothing to worry about." Willow's eyes were bloodshot, and her hair was going wild. Buffy smoothed down the wild tresses, and made the redhead look her in the eye.
"When was the last time you slept?" Buffy finished fixing her hair, and noticed how her supervisor leaned into her hand. "Better yet, when was the last time you left the office?"
"I've left the office." Willow looked back down but Buffy held her face there.
"If you don't get your act together, the chief is going to come down on you hard, maybe force you to take a leave, or possibly even resign. I don't know how things work around here but we all need you in top shape."
"Sorry. I've just been..." Willow didn't have to finish, as she looked up into Buffy's eyes. Her beautiful hazel eyes that flickered just a bit, a hint of desire and compassion behind them. The windows to the soul, and Willow found she was enthralled with what she saw within Buffy's.
"Am I interrupting something?" Kate noticed the closeness between the two, and her natural jealous instinct kicked in. She was still crazy about Willow but that didn't give her the right to butt in. She wasn't about to go down that path again. The redhead really hurt her that last time.
"Nope...just coercing the boss to leave her office." Buffy stood, and looked over at Kate in the doorway. When had Jonathon vanished? What had just transpired between her and Willow?
"I just thought she was going on another research tangent again. Normally, this happens at home but I've never seen her do it at work." Kate looked over at Willow, who was still sitting on the floor, buried in a pile of paper, books, and pens.
"Oh. I didn't know you lived together." Buffy tried to be nonchalant about it but it wasn't working too well. It was obvious Kate saw straight through her.
"We don't anymore." Kate just looked back at Willow. "You going to get up, or do I have to cuff you?"
"Not like you haven't before..." Willow scrunched her eyebrow in anger, and stood. Of course, that cuffing was pleasant. She missed Buffy's eyes going huge.
"Well...don't put it past me." Kate watched Willow gather her books in order, and noticed Buffy staring at her ex. What HAD she interrupted? "I came to tell you that Riley Finn actually got a trial date set today. I hadn't seen you in the field any this week, so I thought I'd stop by, let you know."
"Thanks, Kate. Um...I'll talk to you later." Willow finished stacking her books, and went to sit at her desk. Kate just looked at the redhead as though she'd grown two extra heads before huffing, and walking out the door.
"Um..." Buffy didn't know what was going on but it was obvious somebody still had a thing for the redhead. The coldness in Willow's actions and tone let the blonde know that the feelings weren't returned in full, if at all. "So, shift is over in ten minutes. Let me get you to bed."
"What?" Willow looked with wide eyes at Buffy.
"Oh...I mean, not get you into bed...with me...but by yourself." Buffy hadn't caught the slip, and was now in panic mode. "I thought I'd drive you home, since you haven't slept in days. I just felt it would be safer than you driving."
"I've seen you drive, Summers. I doubt that." Willow was smiling now, and hung up her lab coat. "Let me check in with the crew first. Make sure everything is okay. I guess I have been a little off center lately."
"Wills, if you wanna talk about what happened..." Buffy left it hanging but the redhead just stood there with her hand on her coat rack. "I saw it, too. You're not the only one freaked here."
"I know. I'm sorry. I just...it's easier to deal with when there's somebody to put behind bars. How do put somebody behind bars that's by all means dead?" Willow turned to look at Buffy, and saw a kindred spirit. "I'm sorry I've shut everybody out but I've lived here all my life. All these unsolved cases...how do I explain that I'll never be able to find evidence enough to convict a person's killer? How do you tell a grieving parent that?"
"You don't. I guess it's just the burden we have to carry." Buffy moved closer to Willow, and took her hand for reassurance. "Just know that you're not alone in this. I'm right here."
"Yeah." There it was again. That flicker in Buffy's eyes. If Willow didn't take action, and move, something could happen. Problem was, Buffy was beautiful, and it was easy to get lost in those eyes. She had to look away to clear her head. "Um...we should get going. I still wanna check on everybody first."
"We can get you something to eat before I take you home, if you'd like." Buffy knew she was taking a risk but she didn't want to just drop the redhead off.
"Breakfast sounds good." Willow's belly rumbled on cue. "See? We're in agreement."
"Good...breakfast in bed." Buffy shook her head to clear it. She really needed to watch her slips better. "I mean breakfast, then you're going to bed."
"You should probably get some sleep, too. From what I understand, you're putting in a lot of overtime already." Willow smirked at Buffy, and they made the rounds, checking everything and everybody.
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"I have a plan." Doyle was driving them to a new crime scene. They were both grateful Willow had started to come around again. Of course, it took two weeks to coerce her completely out of her office. "I'm going places. I'm just taking a long pit stop before I go anywhere else."
"Gotcha." Buffy just sipped her coffee, and nodded her head in amusement.
"So, what's going on with you and the boss lady anyways?" His thick Irish brogue made it sound like he thought something dirty was happening.
"There's nothing going on. I wish everybody would stop asking that. We've just come to a mutual understanding of one another. That's all." Buffy started sipping at her coffee.
"They call it flirting where I come from." Doyle just smirked at the little blonde in the passenger seat.
"There's nothing going on." With a death glare, Buffy dared him to say anything more. The two drove in silent for awhile before they got to the scene. Convenient store shooting, two DBs. Kate Lockwood was there, and Buffy couldn't help her questions. "So, what's with Willow and Detective Lockwood anyways? I can't figure them out."
"Oh, those two? They were the hott item around the lab and over in the police department. They were together two, maybe three years. Don't know what happened exactly but they've always been on each other's nerves since the breakup."
"When was that?" Buffy sipped her coffee, trying to act nonchalant.
"Almost a year ago, I think. Hard to tell." Doyle put the Rover in park, and unhooked his seatbelt.
"Why would it be hard to tell something like a breakup?" Buffy knew she was digging but she didn't want to ask Wills this stuff.
"For somebody who says nothing is going on, you sure have a lot of questions." Doyle just smirked at the blonde again. "They were never really coupley with each other to begin with, so it was hard to tell. I think they were just in it to have a crutch, so people would stop hounding them about their social lives. Working that close together, it was just easier on them, I guess."
"So..." Buffy unhooked her belt, and followed Doyle's example, as he opened the door, and started to get out.
"Look, Buffy. If you like her, go for it. The looks she gives you, and the smile she gets when you walk into the room...that's enough for me to tell she likes you back." Doyle looked over the car's roof at Buffy, and watched the blonde just sip her coffee. "Hiding behind work can only get you so far."
"We have a crime scene to tend to." Buffy shut her door, and walked to the back, where she unloaded her field kit. They didn't talk the rest of the time unless it was about evidence. Simple case. One of the DBs was the shooter, the other the clerk behind the counter. It must've ended in a standoff, angry store clerk against desperate robber. The town seemed to start lacking the odd cases, and the crime lab was back on top again. The mysterious deaths and lack of evidence had greatly decreased in the past month. Nobody knew why, and Willow and Buffy were curious to know exactly what was happening. Why was there all of a sudden a lack in dead bodies of the supernatural persuasion?
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"Thanks for breakfast." Willow found she enjoyed Buffy's company more and more. "I had fun...as per usual."
"Me, too. We should do this more often, just the girls." Buffy smiled at Willow's enthusiasm. The crime lab really was on top this past month, and it made for a happy redhead.
"The lab is kinda testeron-y." Willow was walking Buffy back to the car. "Thanks for carpooling, too. I didn't realize we lived so close."
"I passed a great house on the way to yours, set up an appointment to look at it the next day, and loved it. Reminded me of my old home." Buffy was still arranging things the way she liked, and Dawn would come down from LA every once in a while to help her. "Just think, if I hadn't tucked you into bed that day, I wouldn't have seen the place, and would still be in that ratty motel."
"I still can't believe you stayed at the Sunnydale Arms. Though it explained why you were first officer on the scene." Willow smirked, as they continued their walk back to the lab. "I had a really good time."
"You said that already." Their steady flirting continued on down the sidewalk until they heard a scuffle in the cemetery. "We should check it out."
"Could be nothing." Willow held Buffy's arm, and they hovered close together, as the two made their way to investigate the graveyard noises.
"Look." Buffy pointed at a young girl fighting a grown man, and it looked like the girl was winning. "We need to help her. It could be a..."
"I know. Come on." Willow spotted a small branch on the ground, and picked it up, readying herself.
"You look silly." Buffy just smirked at Willow's expression and stance. She was by no means a pro at this but she'd have a better stance than that.
"Like you could do any better." The redhead led the way, only to see the young girl slam something into the man's chest seconds before he exploded into dust. "So much for helping her."
"You can come out now." The young girl just looked in their direction. When the two women came out from behind the bush, they weren't sure what was happening. "So, what? The Watchers Council send more goons to harass me? I told your bossman, I ain't playin' on his terms."
"Oh, we're not..." Willow coughed to hide her embarrassment and fear of this young brunette.
"You can tell 'em I've been doin' this for long enough. If somethin' was gonna kill me, it would've already." The girl had beautiful brown eyes, and flowing dark hair. She looked to be only a few years younger than they were but her mannerisms showed she was wise beyond her years.
"We're from the crime lab here in Sunnydale. This is Dr. Rosenberg, I'm CSI Summers." Buffy walked closer to the brunette. "Did you just..."
"Yeah, ain't that what your people trained me to do? Kill the vampires? Have you gone delusional or somethin'?" This young girl's attitude was starting to bother Willow.
"We thought you were in trouble!" Willow stopped to think for a minute. "Hey, it's light outside. Why was there a vampire out anyways?"
"Shade of the cemetery. As long as they're not exposed directly to the sunlight, they can still move around in the shadows. Most use the sewers, I've come to learn." The young girl pulled out her pack of cigarettes, and tried to light up but got frustrated, and threw her bum lighter on the ground. "How'd you know I was in Sunnydale anyways? Thought I lost you folks back in Boston."
"We told you, we're from the Crime lab. We have no idea what you're talking about." Buffy let down her guard but still stood in front of Willow. There was an underlying need to protect the redhead from this stranger.
"You don't, huh? Slayer here. I know the way you people work." A light dawned in the girl's head, and it showed on her face. "Oh. You really aren't...you have no idea who I am, do you?"
"That's what we've been trying to tell you." Buffy made sure Willow was behind her completely, as the young girl started walking towards them. "Seeing as how you can take care of yourself, we'll be on our way."
"Fine, blondie." The girl started walking towards the sunlight to give them a better look. The redhead kept staring at her chest. Seemed like this one was a breast girl. "Take Red here, and go. I got it covered here."
Buffy turned around to check Willow's reaction, and turned back around only to see that the girl was gone. It was as though she wasn't even there.