Glorified Friendship
by Didge
[reviews]
Glorified Friendship
All
characters and settings and such are property of Joss Whedon and the usual
suspects. I'm only taking them out of their box to play with for awhile.
Rating: R for graphic language
Feedback:
Always appreciated.
"Take this out and dump it!" Glory's
foot lashed out at the heap of bleeding, broken flesh in front of her and she
turned away. "No wait! I've got a better idea." She went to the desk, wrote a
short note and she was rolling it into a tube as she walked back to the mangled
remains. "Deliver this message to Fluffy."
----Four Days Previous----
Buffy was just coming up from the
basement after loading the washing machine when the phone rang.
"Hi Buffy." Buffy recognised Xander's
voice.
"Hi, what's up with my bestest bud?"
"Buff is Willow
with you?" The seriousness evident in Xander's voice sparked a small sense of
concern in Buffy.
"No I haven't seen her all day. Isn't
she with Tara?"
"No, Tara's here with us she says that
Willow was supposed to meet her for lunch but she never showed and she's
worried that something may have happened to her." Xander's reply caused Buffy's
concern to grow.
"Have you called Giles?" she asked and
upon receiving a negative response Buffy told Xander to bring everyone over to
her house and she would call Giles straight away. Buffy's sense of unease grew
when Giles told her that he hadn't seen Willow
either and he promised to come right away. The members of the Scooby gang all
arrived at Buffy's house together and Tara
was evidently upset as she told them that everything had seemed all right that
morning when Willow
had left for class, arranging to meet Tara
for lunch. As they discussed their options in the search for the redhead Buffy
looked across and noticed that Tara
was sitting on the couch with her head in her hands. Crossing to the couch
Buffy sat down beside her friend and tried to comfort her. Tara
lifted her head and Buffy could see the tears in her eyes.
"Buffy where's Willow?"
the blonde witch asked but Buffy had no answer for her so she just held Tara
and let her cry on her shoulder.
The gang started to search for Willow
and Buffy spent all night looking without any success. The next morning she
went to the Magic Box where they had agreed to meet and compare notes.
Receiving negative reports from all the gang Buffy was just about to get
herself a drink when Anya, who was looking through the mail, called her over.
"There's a letter here addressed to
you." She told Buffy handing over an envelope. Buffy opened the envelope and
took out two photographs and a note. As she looked at the photographs Buffy's
face drained of colour. One picture showed Willow
tied up and blindfolded, while the other was a close-up of Willows face showing
bruises and marks where she had obviously been hit. Seeing Buffy's reaction
Giles crossed over to her and she handed him the photographs while she read the
note. "One slightly damaged witch in exchange for my key. The longer you wait the
more damaged the witch will be." After she had passed him the note Buffy
indicated the door to the back of the shop and they both headed into the
training room.
After Giles the closed door he turned to
see Buffy collapse, sobbing, to her knees. He crossed to comfort the distraught
girl and as he knelt beside her Buffy grabbed onto him and buried her face in
his chest.
"G... G... Giles w...w...what are
w...w...we g...going to d...d...do?" Giles didn't say anything he just stroked
Buffy's hair and tried his best to provide her with some comfort. "If the
k...key was j...just an object like the Mayor's chest then I would let Glory
have it and we'd find another way to defeat her. But it's Dawn." Buffy lifted
her head and looked into Giles' sad eyes. "The key is Dawn Giles. How do I
choose between my sister and my best friend?" Giles didn't have an answer. He'd
never seen Buffy so distraught, even when her mother died.
----Present----
Buffy hadn't slept for four days; she
had spent all her time scouring Sunnydale for any sign of Willow or Glory. The
only breaks that she took were when she called in to see if any of the gang had
found anything when she would grab a quick snack before heading out again.
Buffy and Giles had just walked into the house after another fruitless
afternoon when they heard Dawn scream. Buffy rushed into the kitchen where she
saw her sister at the back door staring down at what looked like a butcher's
carcass on the back porch. Crouching down she realised it was a girls body. As
she felt a weak, thready pulse in the victims' neck she rolled the body over
into the light spilling through from the kitchen and saw a faint gleam of red
hair. "God no!!" she thought.
"Giles!!" she screamed. The Watcher
dashed out from the living room. "Dial 911 quick!!" "Oh god Willow" she thought
as she gently stroked the blood streaked hair. "Hang on. Please don't die"
Morning came and found Buffy sitting in
the waiting area of Sunnydale
Hospital.
Her arm was around her sister who was dry sobbing into her breast, having cried
her self out hours ago. Buffy herself was numb, she couldn't feel anything, every part of her just seemed to have shut down. She could
see Giles talking with a man in surgical scrubs but it didn't really register
with her. Giles came over to the two young girls and touched Buffy gently on
the shoulder. Her head slowly turned towards him and she took in the sad look
in his eyes.
"God no." she whispered. "Giles! No!! Willow
isn't...?"
"No she's alive. They've stabilised her
condition and she's been moved to intensive care. The doctor says we should go
home and call in a few hours when they'll have a better idea of her condition."
"No Giles she might need me er... us."
"Buffy she won't need anything that the
doctors can't provide better. Now come on you and Dawn need to get some rest."
He helped Buffy to her feet and with an arm round both of his young charges
began to walk them slowly towards the door.
"Has anyone told Oz?" asked Buffy,
thinking of the last time her friend had been lying badly injured in a hospital
bed. Giles and Dawn looked at the slayer.
"Don't you mean Tara?"
he asked knowing that her thoughts had been completely derailed by recent
events.
"Oh God right Tara and what about
Xander?"
"Well Tara
was going to spend last night with Xander and Anya so I'll drop you two off and
then I'll go and break the bad news. I dare say we'll all be at your house
soon.
"Why did they do this to her? What did
they do to her?" Buffy asked as they climbed into Giles' car.
"Why, I don't know for sure but I'm
sure we could have a pretty good guess. As to what..." He left the sentence
unfinished as he glanced at Dawn cuddling her knees in the back seat.
After Giles dropped them at home Buffy
put Dawn to bed and left her cuddling a large teddy bear while she went
downstairs to get a drink. Looking out of the back door Buffy could see a large
patch of drying blood staining the porch. "God I've got to get rid of that
before Tara
sees it." she thought. Getting a bucket of water and bleach she began to scrub
at the red stain. Thinking about poor Willow
lying here oozing blood Buffy realised there where tears running down her face.
She sat back against the door jamb and began to sob finally able to get a
little relief for her pent up emotions.
Just as she had finished cleaning the
stain Buffy heard someone at the front door and walking through to the hall she
saw Tara, Xander and Anya had just come in. Tara
approached Buffy and collapsed, sobbing, into her arms.
"Wh... what's happened Buffy? Willow
needs me but G ...G... Giles says I c... c... c... can't see her." Buffy tried
to comfort her friend as Xander, tears running down his face, embraced them
both. Buffy glanced over at Anya who looked like a lost little girl. Standing
alone, fiddling with the hem of her cardigan. Buffy remembered what Willow
had told her about the ex demons reaction to her mothers death so she
disentangled herself from her two friends and went over to her.
"Anya, are you all right?" she asked.
"I'm not sure. Why do these things keep
happening?" The former vengeance demon replied. Buffy gave her a hug and then
guided her to the sofa where Xander was comforting Tara.
Giles came in and looked at the group.
"I think we could all do with a cup of
tea." he said looking at Buffy and walked into the kitchen. As she joined him,
making sure the door was closed, Buffy became all business.
"Right! What did they do to her?" Giles
sat down at the work top and in a calm emotionless voice began a litany of
beating, burns, broken bones and other tortures including multiple rape,
physical and with assorted objects.
"The one good thing and I'm not sure
it's a good thing is it doesn't look as though she was mind sucked." Buffy
looked aghast at her watcher.
"Why would that not be a good thing?"
she asked.
"Would you want to remember having all
that done to you?" he replied. Buffy's head dropped. "And the doctor said he
found this shoved up inside her." He handed Buffy a blood soaked sheet of paper
with four words written on it. 'I WANT MY KEY'.
The next day Giles phoned the hospital
and on being told Willow
was conscious they all congregated at the observation window at the side of her
room. Willow
was laid in bed flat on her back,
with various tubes and wires attached to her,
just staring at the ceiling. It was too much for Tara
to see the love of her life just lying there almost like a corpse so they left.
The next day was a terrible day. They went back to the hospital and the doctor
told them nothing had changed, Willow
still hadn't moved, but two people at a time could go into the room. Tara and
Dawn went in first and without looking at them but as if she sensed who was
there Willow
turned her back to them and curled into a ball. The doctor asked them to leave
as he didn't want Willow
to move. But this wasn't the worst When Buffy went into the room she put her
hand out to stroke Willows hair Willow flinched away and then, looking straight
at Buffy, began to scream. Buffy was hustled out of the room as the nurses came
in and gave Willow
a sedative.
Over the next few days the friends
found that Giles and Anya could be with Willow
without any reaction. If Tara or Dawn were in the mix Willow
curled up into a ball. But as soon as Buffy entered her room it was as if Willow
could sense her and she began to scream and had to be sedated so Buffy stopped
going and relied on Giles to keep her informed of her friends' progress. One
evening Buffy and Giles were sat in the Kitchen alone. Giles seemed pleased as
he gave his daily report.
"I've been talking with Willows
psychiatrist today. He's managed to get her to start talking. It seems that her
reaction to Tara and Dawn is understandable. Tara
is her lover and she considers Dawn to be part little sister and part daughter
so she is ashamed to let them see what has been done to her."
"What about her reaction to me?" asked
Buffy.
"Well that's a little more complicated.
You see the psychiatrist doesn't know what's happening with Glory and the Key
but reading between the lines from what he told me Willow
holds you responsible for what happened to her and for not rescuing her. We
know Willow
was missing for almost a week and it seems that she held out and wouldn't tell
Glory anything for the first few days. For a couple of days Willow
knew that you would save her but after that she just gave up and waited to
die." Buffy held her head in her hands.
"God Giles! It is my fault we searched
everywhere but couldn't find a trace of Glory. What did I miss? What didn't I
do? Why didn't Glory come after me?"
"Buffy it's not your fault you've done
everything you can to keep everyone safe but Glory knows she can't do anything
to you because you would never tell her about the Key and if she kills you
there goes her chance of finding it"
"So who's next Giles? You, Xander, or
God forbid, Dawn. How do we stop Glory from grabbing one of you and doing to
you what she's done to Willow?"
"We just keep alert Buffy. We know her
tactics now and knowing your opponents tactics is half way to winning."
Willow
continued to improve and she was eventually allowed home. Giles brought her
home and helped her through the door and then handed her over to Tara and Anya
who took her upstairs. As she passed Buffy she gave her such a look of hatred
that Buffy was rooted to the spot and when Giles touched the Slayers arm she
grabbed him and buried her face in his chest weeping softly. Although Willow
would talk to the others, except Buffy, she wouldn't let any of them touch her
or change her dressings so they hired a nurse to come in daily and attend to
her. They changed the sleeping arrangements around to suit Willow.
Tara and Dawn moved into Joyce's old room and Buffy slept in her own room so
that she wouldn't disturb anyone with her erratic hours. They tried to give
Buffy's room to Willow
but she wouldn't go in so they gave her Dawn's room.
Things settled into a routine. Xander
and Anya called round everyday and spent a few hours chatting to Willow.
Giles and the others checked in regularly but Buffy wasn't allowed in. Then the
dreams started. Buffy was working at the Magic Box and a woman came in and
asked for a witch's hand. "Certainly madam. Left or right?" Buffy asked. "Oh
left I think." Buffy walked out to the back room and there was Willow
hung up like a side of beef in the butchers. She took a cleaver and hacked of Willow's
left hand and walked back into the shop asking the woman if she would like it
gift wrapped. Buffy woke with a start and looked round. It was night, she was
in bed, everyone was asleep, everything was normal. It must have been a dream
but it had seemed so real. She settled down but found it difficult to get back
to sleep; she drifted off just before Dawn woke her for breakfast.
The dreams continued. They were varied
but always seemed to end with Buffy assaulting Willows body in some way, in one
dream she even stuck a broomstick into her friend and said "Try riding that!
Witch!!" The lack of sleep was beginning to affect Buffy. She had bags under
her eyes, her face was drawn and she was beginning to walk round like a zombie
through lack of sleep. Finally Giles cornered her in the kitchen and asked her
what was happening. She told him about the dreams and how this was her repayment
for what she had done to Willow.
"You didn't do anything to Willow!"
he hissed keeping his voice low to avoid alerting the rest of the gang in the
other room.
"It is my fault." She hissed back.
"Whatever happened to Willow
I did. I didn't protect her and I didn't rescue her. I was more concerned about
what Glory wants Dawn for I didn't even care about Willow." she hid her face in
her hands and began to sob. Giles tried to comfort her then a thoughtful look
crossed his face.
"Why don't you go back to bed and see
if you can get some sleep now. We're all here and nothing is going to happen to
any of us if you get some rest. Buffy stood up and slowly stumbled back
upstairs. Giles followed Buffy to the bottom of the stairs and as she went to
her room he heard Dawn's bedroom door softly close. Giles went into the other
room and asked Tara
to come and help him get lunch ready. When she came into the kitchen Giles
closed the door and told Tara
what Buffy had just told him.
"I think it's a spell" he told the
girl.
"Do you think its Glory trying to get
to Buffy?" She asked.
"No I think it may be something to do
with Willow.
Will you help me?" Tara
pondered for a moment.
"All right but we won't have to hurt Willow
will we?" She asked.
"I sincerely hope not." He replied.
They quietly climbed the stairs and approached Dawn's room. As they stood
outside the door they could smell incense and here a low chant coming from
inside. Giles threw open the door to see Willow
sitting crossed legged inside a magic circle. She had cut her hand and was
letting the blood drip onto a picture of Buffy. Giles moved forward and broke
the circle. Willow
screamed and as she stood up she slashed at him with her knife. Tara
grabbed for Willow
but the red haired witch pulled away from her and threw herself down on the
bed. As the others came dashing in to see what was happening Giles tried to
keep them all calm as Tara
tried to talk to Willow.
"Why are you doing this Will? You're
hurting Buffy."
"The bitch deserves it." Looking up she
saw Buffy standing in the doorway. "Hear that bitch. I know I can't hurt you
physically you're too strong with your fucking slayer powers but there are
other ways of getting you and you're going to suffer for what you did to me. Bitch!!" Everyone looked aghast as the invective poured from
Willow.
Buffy stood rooted to the spot until Dawn pulled her gently away and led her
back to her room where she broke down in tears.
As Buffy began to
calm down Giles and Tara came into the room.
"P... p... poor Willow.
What can we do to help her Giles? We have to help her." Tara
was distraught.
"I don't know if we can." He replied.
"As far as I can see we have two choices. We can let the psychiatrists have a
go at her but then we would have to co-operate with them and tell them
everything that's been going on for the last five years. I'm not sure if they
would believe us and we might all end up locked away."
"What's the second choice?" asked
Buffy.
"Well there are some people I know in England.
They specialise in helping people. Healing their spirits. Things like that."
"They're witches?" asked Tara.
"Yes. There's a coven in Devon.
They are all powerful healers and teachers. If anyone can help I think they
might be able to."
"Would that mean that Willow
would have to go away?" asked Tara.
"Yes and I'm not sure how long for."
Replied Giles.
"I'll go with her. I'm sure I can
help." Tara
was already making a mental list of things which needed to be arranged before
they could leave. Giles took Tara's
hand
"I'm not sure she will want you to."
Giles said as kindly as he could. "You just helped Buffy, sided with her enemy
against her. I think Willow
might see you as her enemy now." Tara
broke down.
"But I love her!" she sobbed.
"I know and we'll try but I wanted to
warn you." He tried to console the sobbing girl.
"If she goes to England
will she still be able to affect my dreams?" Buffy asked. Giles looked to the
blonde witch.
Tara?"
The young girl lifted her head.
"I can make you a protective amulet but
I don't know how effective it will be. Willow's
a much stronger witch than I am and she seems to be growing more powerful all
the time but I'll do what I can."
"Are we agreed then?" Giles asked. Both
the young girls nodded sadly.
The next day Giles and Willow
left for England.
As he had predicted Willow
wanted nothing to do with Tara.
When Tara
tried to talk to Willow
she just told her to go and join the other bitch and then ignored her.
So Willow
disappeared from their lives
----Two Years Later----
"Times change."
Thought Dawn as she walked down Rivello
Drive. She didn't live
here any more. After Buffy sacrificed her life for her by diving into the
portal that Glory had opened by using Dawn's blood Dawn had been taken into
care. Xander and Anya watched out for her and took her out every weekend and
she helped out at the Magic Box. In fact that's what she was doing now. She had
just made a delivery and was walking back to the Magic Box. Dawn didn't know
why she had come this way. It wasn't far off her route but she didn't like to see
her old house. It brought back too many memories. As she walked down Rivello
Drive Dawn noticed someone standing on the other side of the road staring at
her old house. She stopped and stared at the figure noting the slim outline and
red hair.
"Willow?"
she asked tentatively. "Willow
is that you?" The figure turned.
"Hi Dawnie." Willow
smiled sadly as the young girl ran up to her.
"When did you get back? Have you seen
Xander? Are you better?" Questions gushed out of Dawn.
"I just got in today and came straight
here. Giles said to say hello by the way. I've been better for a while but I
didn't know if I wanted to come back. Things have changed. Giles told me about
Buffy and he said that you were all right and being well looked after so I
didn't know if there was anything here for me."
"Are you going to see Tara?"
Dawn asked nervously "I'm sure Xander would drive us over to the hospital. We
sometimes go and visit her on Sundays."
"It's an asylum Dawnie not a hospital.
Giles told me about Tara.
How Glory sucked out her mind and there was no chance of her recovery now that
Glory's gone. I don't think I could stand to see her. Not yet anyway. I want to
remember her as she used to be. Kind, caring and beautiful." Dawn heard a catch
in Willow's
voice so taking her hand she led Willow
away.
"Come on lets go to the Magic Box. I'm
sure Xander will be pleased to see you and you can tell Anya how old she's
starting to look."
Author's
Note: I've hit a blank wall with my main story and this idea forced its way to
the front of my limited brain capacity. I know that it's not strictly Wiffy and
please don't hate me for how it worked out. As some kind of compensation I've
also posted a short PWP which is definitely Wiffy.