Thirteen Steps -2- The Noose
by Valyssia
The Hour of the Wolf
[reviews]
Looking up, Willow said in a firm voice, "Let the spell be ended." As she laid gasping and trying not to burst into tears, her eyes met Buffy's. Instinctively, she reached for the little bundle under her arm and felt Amy squirm. She's okay and I seem to be living, so it's all of the good. She released a deep breath and lay there panting.
Buffy looked at the package in Willow's arms with interest. "Will, do you always bring back souvenirs when you're captured? Is this another Willow-ism we need to record?"
Willow smiled as she retorted, "Only when I think the thing is useful," she passed the small package up to Buffy, "Be careful with her. She's scared to death. I'm amazed I got her out of that place alive."
Buffy took the little bag, and with the others huddling in close to look, she opened it and a smile crinkled her face with genuine mirth.
Xander erupted, "Oh my god, Will! You are so cool sometimes..." he seemed to be hugging himself to stave off the peels of laughter.
The shamans and the remainder of Alpha Team just stared as Buffy fished a fat gray rat out of the bag and stroked it behind the ears. "It's Amy," she offered to the room. "You know, the witch that attacked us tonight?"
They looked no less confused to hear this, but they all seemed to take it in stride...Befuddlement kind of came with the job at times.
"Sort of a long story..." she concluded taking in the looks of mild confusion around her.
"Amy turned herself into a rat back in Sunnydale in a brilliant attempt to escape an angry mob and lived that way for about three years as Willow's pet because none of us could fix her," Xander interjected helpfully.
"Oh...Kay...so it wasn't that long..." Buffy sighed.
Everyone laughed a little at this except for Amy.
Willow managed to pull herself up as Buffy stooped, offering her a hand. "Please see what you can make of that portal they opened ladies. I would really like to know that I shut it for good," Willow smiled as kindly as she could at the two shamans, "Oh, and I am so sorry for the entrance. I hope I didn't hurt either of you."
Looking up at her and speaking almost simultaneously they said, "It's fine...go rest dear," their voices echoed in a sort of singsong harmony.
Willow slumped a little, falling against the Slayer as she spoke in a thin voice, "I'm not really sure I can do this myself." Utterly defeated, she continued, "Oh... Buffy would you hand Amy to the ladies as well? I want them to check the binding spell I placed on her. It was sort of a rushed patch job. I wouldn't want her getting out in the middle of the night to cut our throats. I have little doubt she would, provided the chance. I want to take her back to the coven to see if she can be salvaged. I sort of owe her that." Willow seemed to ponder for a moment.
"On second thought, if one of you could just handle the transport, it might be best to get her out of here tonight. She may be far from safe, even with the best binding spell in place. Be sure you pass that sentiment on to the sisters." Willow could not avoid trembling a little as she said this. "I'm just going to sleep here tonight. Maybe Amy would be better off there. I'm sorry, I know you two have to be tired too." she finished with a consoling gaze as she slumped against the Slayer.
Xander rounded on Buffy sweeping Willow up in his arms, "You need to get out of your drop gear anyway, Buff. I got this," he felt Willow wince as he put pressure on her back. His eyes filled with concern.
Seeing this, Willow said, "I'm just a little sore, Xander. I'll be better with some rest."
Buffy nodded to her team as they all made their way up the stairs, "We'll have another night. I think the show's over. Get some sleep, you deserve it." They all filed out, leaving the two shamans with Amy glowing a soft blue between them.
Willow put her arms around Xander's neck and held him tight; taking some of the weight off her back in the process. "Goddess, I missed you," She said almost breathlessly.
"Where you wanna be?" Xander offered trying to be as smooth about the question as he could, "Private room or one with company?"
Looking back at him almost tearfully, Willow said, "Buffy's room if you would. I think I need a bit of girl time now and about a year to sleep. I'll fill you all in later. Right now my head feels fit to split," an apologetic smile crossed her features and then fell away.
Silently, Xander carried Willow up the flights of stairs and down the halls to the residential wing. Finding Buffy's room, he carried her in and laid her gently on the bed. "Good night Willow." Xander smiled as the redhead caught his cheek; kissing him there.
Buffy met Xander at the door and hugged him, "Thank you for bringing Willow." Planting a soft kiss on his cheek, she bade him good night.
Willow looked up and said, "Xander," hoping to catch his attention before he left.
Buffy grabbed Xander and pulled him back into the room with her. "I think he's going deaf with the blind?" she teased.
Xander chuckled; grateful that Buffy's foul mood seemed to be passing.
A serious expression stole across Willow's face as she said, "One more thing? Please pop by and see Dawnie for me on your way to bed. Tell her I'll be here when I wake to talk to her."
"Oh...yeah...sure thing Will... That'll make her really happy," Xander smiled and turned to leave, "Anything else you can think of or is that about it?"
"No, thank you, Xander," Willow smiled sympathetically.
Buffy came over and looked down at Willow. The redhead looked terrible...so tired she almost took on a sickly appearance. Recognizing that Willow could not hope to undress herself, Buffy offered, "May I?" Her lovely green dress is so badly torn from all of the...wow...are those bullet holes? There's no blood, so that's good. "Willow, honey, I'm just going to cut this off of you. It's ruined. Do you mind?" she looked a little frightened in spite of herself.
Willow looked up at Buffy and shrugged, "Well, I do love it, but I can only imagine what shape it's in... so go ahead."
Buffy went to her desk and fished a pair of scissors out of the drawer. Returning to the bed, she cautiously started to cut the material, and the dress fell away from Willow in pieces. "You know, this might almost be sexy if you weren't looking so rough?" She felt her face fill with concern as she worked to disrobe her friend.
"I'll be fine Buffy...I'm just so tired. Just finish and come hold me if you will, please. I need the contact," Willow said frankly.
Buffy was pulling off Willow's boots now...she couldn't resist the urge to grab the dress off the floor and examine it. Counting the holes she marveled. There had to be at least thirty in the skirt alone, "Yup... It's dead, Jim."
Willow sat up a little to look, "Oh dear... I guess they did get me, huh...that's gonna hurt like hell tomorrow."
"Turn over, Will...I need to see for myself that you're okay," Buffy knew she looked about ready to cry, but she couldn't help herself. She tossed the dress into the bin and turned around to examine Willow.
Obligingly, the witch carefully turned on her stomach, "I'll be fine Buffy."
There were marks that looked like large, angry hornet stings: puffy, red and blotchy, littering the surface of Willow's back, legs...and even a few on the back of her neck. "I won't ask you to explain this now, but I will need to hear about it in the morning, okay?" She took the opportunity to unhook Willow's bra, knowing the straps must hurt, and carefully caressed the redhead's back, avoiding the marks, "Do you want some pajamas?"
Willow rolled over and caught the slayer's hand, "I'm not sure I could stand to have anything against my skin now, Buffy. Do you mind if I just sleep like this?" she pulled off the bra dropping it to the ground.
Buffy went to lock the door and stripped down to her undergarments; she unhooked her bra and pulled it out the side of her undershirt. "It won't bother me," she confirmed. "I just want you to be as comfortable as you can be. I'm worried about you, Will. I've never seen anything quite like that," she admitted aloud as she worked her way to the other side of the bed. She pulled the covers down and pulled Willow carefully toward her, tucking her legs under the covers and then bringing the covers back up over them. She then scooted over, turning away from her friend. She felt the witch cling to her back, spooning her. Buffy reached over and switched off the bedside lamp.
"Do you mind? I just need the contact with another body. I promise to be good." Willow said softly, knowing that this might a bit too familiar for two friends to behave.
"Willow, if this helps...well, it's killing me so...besides you look like you are all kinds of able to misbehave," Buffy laughed very softy trying not to shake as she did. In truth, were it not for the nagging worry, Buffy might have actually enjoyed this. It felt good to be close to Willow after so long apart. She took the witch's wrist in her hand and pulled her into a back-to-front hug.
"Oh yeah... Just call me a frisky vixen tonight," Willow smiled as she willed herself to relax. Then, melting into the slayer's warm body, Willow was asleep almost instantly...no dreams please...she told the air as she feel asleep from sheer exhaustion.
Willow knew better than to request things like that from the powers that be. It was like tempting fate. The remainder of her sleep was filled with fitful, semi-lucid dreams of the night's activities.
An army of killer zombie, undead things was clawing their way up the castle, wounding slayers in their path. Willow, in an inspired bit of adaptive magic, made them turn and do a waltz. But when she looked for the judge's scores, she had only ranked a 7.3 from the Russians and a 6.2 from the Yugoslavians. The American and British judges were much kinder, scoring her in the high 8's.
She bowed to the cheering crowd and was caught unaware by a blast of painful energy to the back from Amy. She wheeled around to curse the other witch, sending a blast of dark energy that pinned her to the ground.
Then a giantess Dawn came along and walked on the sprawling Amy; dragging her shoe like she was trying to remove a piece of old gum.
"Serious magic is kinda like improv, Dawn. You can't just stop it cold, you gotta adapt," she felt herself say to the massive Dawn.
Buffy was unconscious in her room, Xander and the other slayers all around her with their eyes closed. She willed Xander be still, then bent to kiss Buffy and she sprang to life asking for breakfast.
She and Buffy were standing in the basement of the old castle next to a bound Amy sharing a private joke as Xander strolled in looking all left out and discarded. A surge of magical energy hit them and she was sucked into a portal along with a cackling Amy.
Darkness then... Darkness all around... Warren is standing there skinless laughing at her...a bullet...a bloody red crystal...more laughter...then death...
Willow snapped awake to the faint light of day and a concerned look from the Slayer.
"Will, you gonna to be all right?" Buffy stroked her hair in a soothing fashion, "You were talking in your sleep, hon."
Appearing groggy and beaten, Willow simply said, "Eventually, or so they assure me."
Buffy cautiously gathered Willow up again, holding her and trying to comfort her. "You need more sleep, honey. I'm still not sure what happened to you last night, but I know it must've been horrible."
"Warren, Buffy...it was Warren," Willow choked and started to cry as she winced with the movement.
"Warren?" Buffy's eyes grew wide, "Willow, Warren's dead. I watched him die." She hoped she had not said too much with this, as it was Willow she well knew, who had flayed the man alive.
Willow shook her head frantically, "Amy kept him alive, she rescued what was left when I finished with him and kept him frozen, right at the brink of death for these last two and a half years."
"Oh my God, Will!" Buffy could not wipe the shock off of her face. Doing the only thing she could, she continued to hold the other woman as she lay there shaking and crying. "Is he still?" the Slayer trailed off into thought as she spoke.
Willow sobbed, "I put him down. I had to finish it. There wasn't any hope of actually salvaging anything human from him, "she rasped a little and went on, "All this time, I was working to try to resolve what I did and he and Amy were working to make our lives miserable. Mildly karmic..." she finished, looking more calm and thoughtful.
The witch carefully turned over to face Buffy, "I need you to promise me something. It's important."
"Oh...Kay...I will if it's in my power to give." Buffy replied honestly, but hesitantly.
Willow suddenly looked serious and stern through her tears, "Tell me you won't leave this place alone again until we've resolved this," she made this a demand, not a request, with her eyes.
"Will, you don't ask much do you?" Buffy sputtered a little.
Willow added, "I'll do my very best to be around, to keep you company. I may have to leave now and then for a day or two, but I'll only do so if I have to. I need to watch over you and keep you safe. Buffy, this is big, bad, nasty stuff...like the Initiative only worse from what I saw...these people have three things that, put together, scare the frilly hell out of me...money, lots of it...organization...and numbers...their numbers may well be in the thousands...the look I got suggested hundreds, but I'm not ruling out that there may be more nests of them. This place was huge!" she collected herself for a second.
"Ready for the icing and the gooey cream filling? They wanted you. I was taken by mistake," she looked fearful and she knew it, "The only good I saw was that there were no demons or demon bits lying around, so they're not the Initiative...the bad sequel...or anything. Though that may not actually be of the good...at least if they were the Initiative, we would sorta have their number and know what to expect. The devil you know, you know... You do know, right?"
Buffy lay watching patiently, waiting for Willow to finish. She looked thoughtfully at the redhead and concluded, "Okay, I'll stay in for you, but only if you amuse me," she shot Willow a grin that broke into a warm smile.
"I'm serious, Buffy. We need to get Giles on the phone this morning, so he can spread the word and send orders for your doubles to be on guard. They may be in very terrible danger," Willow lifted an eyebrow at the smiling Slayer.
Buffy gave Willow a slightly more serious look, "Don't worry, Will. I'll not be stupid...I promise," she sighed, obviously defeated...Warren...wow...they couldn't have done anything to hurt or frighten her more if they had put some active thought into it.
Willow looked satisfied finally, "Okay...I trust you and if you give me a reason not to, I can get a collar and leash." A wicked grin stole over her features.
Ignoring Willow's jibe, Buffy said thoughtfully, "Would you like a bath? This room came with one of those huge, dolphin-sized old claw-foot tubs. It really is nice and it might help you relax." Buffy wore an open look of concern with this.
Willow considered this offer for only a second, "Yes, please."
Buffy drug herself up and, tossing her robe where she had lain on the bed for Willow, went to draw a hot bath. "Nuclear hot or really warm, Will?" she asked over the running water.
"Nuclear," Willow retorted.
"Bubbles or bath salts?" Buffy asked again.
"Salts," Willow replied as she tried to move. Wow! Not good! The witch relaxed and focused on herself. Lots of deep bruising...nothing feels too broken but this is definitely bad. Moving...going to be an issue. Feel like I have a cracked rib, she groaned as she tried to move her arm. I'll have to have Buffy help me bind it later. She'll love that. There may be a bit of bleeding but it's not from any major organs, just soft tissue, so I'll live.
She carefully worked to move out of bed and gingerly put on Buffy's robe. She was sore from the bottoms of her feet to the top of her head. Yeah...moving...definitely an issue... She limped into the bathroom. The water was steaming and Buffy was not lying in the least about the size of the tub. It was mammoth. Willow chuckled...Major score! Now all I have to do is get in it, she moaned. The salts will be good for the bruising, as will the heat.
Buffy said, "I can leave if you wish, but I would like to see your back before I go."
"You don't have to go. In fact, I'd prefer you stay." Willow said, frankly still wanting the company too much to care.
"Okay... I just don't want to invade your privacy," Buffy gave the redhead a concerned look, then turned her back on her.
"It's okay... It's not like one can really be wiccan and modest at the same time. It's an oxymoron. You're sort of forced by your calling to shed certain inhibitions." As she spoke, Willow gently worked to remove her underwear and the robe, hanging the robe on the door hook. Carefully, she went about getting into the tub. Well, that hurts...I'll be better for it but...
Buffy moved to the tub. "Lean forward, Will. I want to see." She sat on her knees, examining Willow for a moment. I don't think I've seen worse even on me. All those welts from earlier had grown into what looked like a fairly consistent patchy deep bruise. "I'm betting you feel that, don't you?"
The Slayer's mind snapped to a program about body armor she'd dully watched to pass the time one night. She'd seen exactly that same sort of injury before. Whatever Willow had done didn't affect the impact that much. It only stopped the bullet from piercing her skin. She thought back to the talk about internal injuries and her face went dark.
Willow sniffed a little, noticing the mood change in the other woman and trying to make her smile, "Well, it doesn't exactly feel like rolling in puppies, but it sure beats the other options I had," she said as she concentrated on controlling her breathing and began to attempt working on the healing. Goddess I'm exhausted...
"Willow, I think we should take you to see a doctor. This is a lot worse than I though it was last night. I'm afraid there might be some internal bleeding you aren't aware of," Buffy gave the witch a grave look and started to weep.
"I'm fine, Buffy. Please...don't cry. I would know if it was deeper. You have to just trust that I know myself," reaching up, Willow tried to comfort the Slayer.
"Could you have gotten out of there unseen if you had left Amy?" Buffy asked honestly.
Willow considered this for a moment. "Not through the portal you were trying to open. And I had to come back through. They had at least 200 heavily armed men waiting to kill you and the Alpha Team on the other side. It was an ambush, Buffy. I did what was best for all of us. Amy's life was just a gift with purchase."
The witch sniffed before she continued;"Besides it's best to keep it simple. No one was injured except Warren and me... well... But he was already dead for all real intents and purposes...his soul had moved on... Couldn't change that...if I could...I would..." a tear rolled down her cheek as she admitted this.
Buffy absorbed this and, grabbing a soft wash cloth, applied some fragrant liquid soap to it, massaging the cloth in her hands. "May I?" When she saw the redhead nod, she began to very gently work the lather into the other woman's back and shoulders, then turned off the taps and let Willow sink into the tub. Grinning, she said, "Better wash that neck or we'll have to plant potatoes." With that, she dropped the cloth into the tub and pulled a small stool over to sit on.
Willow simply sighed in reply. I need to try to keep a little air in my lungs so I float. The pressure is much the uncomfortable. Bites when it hurts to breathe...
"So tell me, Will...Do you have the energy to do that healy thing we did when you were hurt by Gnarl?" Buffy asked, trying to be helpful.
"Maybe..." Willow said honestly, "That fight last night sort of left me on the side of the magically bankrupt. I may have to file an appeal to get my powers back."
Buffy answered this by leaning forward and offering the witch her hands. She felt her accept them and begin to concentrate. "Take whatever you need." she relaxed completely, bidding Willow to consume her.
She considered Willow as she began to feel the pull...pretty amazing, she thought, but what she actually said was, "You know...I think I still kinda love you," Buffy smiled sweetly at the witch.
Willow smiled back at the Slayer with a serious look on her face and said, "I've always loved you."