Buffy stormed around the small room, shoving an assortment of weaponry into a gym bag. Willow sat on her bed, watching Buffy stalk around like a mad tiger. "Oooh, he just...oooh! He just ticks me off with his whole 'Oh, Buffy, don't worry your pretty little head about all that mystic mumbo jumbo' routine. Hey, I know!" Buffy rushed over to Willow, and grabbed her shoulders. Willow let out a small squeak at her friend's sudden movement. "You could cast a spell! Just a little one! That would show him."
"Uh Buffy, do you really think that would help things..."
"No, maybe not..." Buffy absently chewed a nail while she thought. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter. If we can't beat this warlock..."
Willow rose, and put her arms around her best friend. "Buffy, don't think like that. We can do it, no one can stand against the Slayer, right?"
Buffy stood silent for a moment, taking comfort in her friend's embrace. "You don't know, Will... You didn't feel his power. He made me freeze, with no more than a...a thought. What good is my Slayer-ness against that?"
Willow turned Buffy around, and looked into her eyes. "Listen to me. We can do it...together, understand? The two of us, Slayer and Witch. What I can't do, you can..."
"And what I can't do, you can..." Buffy finished, quietly. "What would I do without you, Will?"
Willow looked into Buffy's face, just inches away from her own. Now, Rosenberg! "Um, Buffy..." She took a step back, and said, "Maybe you should sit down. 'Cause I need to tell you something, and I kinda can't think that well with you standing there."
Buffy looked at her friend, puzzled. "Ok Will." She took a seat at the edge of her bed.
"See, I need to tell you something, and I know it's not the best time, with the warlock and everything, but I need to tell you because I may not get a ... I need to tell you," she finished, cutting off her previous thought.
"You can tell me anything, Will." Inside, Buffy's chest was gripped with fear. She knows! I must not have been able to hide it, and she knows! She must know about my feelings for her, and she's going to leave!
"You know, we've been together for a long time now," Willow began, "fighting the forces of darkness and all that. And ... I've had this feeling growing for quite some time. I've gotten this feeling from us, from our relationship, our friendship, and I can't ignore it."
Buffy stood, and walked to their window. She stared out into the dusk, not quite seeing anything. "I...I know, Will. I'm sorry, I should have done a better job of hiding it."
"Well, I...huh?" Willow replied, intelligently.
"I didn't mean for you to know, I've tried to hide it for so long; at first, because it wasn't fair to you and Oz, and then, because it wasn't fair to you. You need someone in your life who can make you happy, not some broken Slayer with a short life-span." She sighed, and let her head drop. The effort of keeping it up was just a little bit more than she could stand right now.
Willow came up behind Buffy and put her hands on the Slayer's shoulders. She knew that she would have otherwise probably been very upset by the secret her friend had kept from her for so long. Time enough to be upset later; right now, Buffy was hurting.
"How can someone understand so much and so little at the same time?" Willow asked. She turned Buffy around so that the Slayer faced her, and then put a hand under Buffy's chin, raising her head up. "You know, I can't really explain this. Not well enough, not right now. I'm going to just have to show you." She leaned down a bit, and met Buffy's lips with her own.
Buffy's nerves went electric. She had dreamed about this what seemed like a thousand times, but here it was. She had been so sure that Willow was going to deliver bad news, that she found herself totally unprepared for good. It didn't take her long, however, to bring her arms up around Willow's neck, and allow the kiss to deepen.
Willow felt Buffy stiffen for a moment, and then relax into the kiss. She placed her arms around Buffy's waist, and drew her in closer as Buffy put her arms around the redhead's neck. She had never felt so much at home.
After a long while, the two broke the kiss. Buffy, on the verge of tears, gulped and said, "I guess that was your answer, huh?" Willow laughed, and said, "I guess so. I love you, Buffy, I love you for everything you are. Best friend, confidante, Slayer. And as for slayers having short life-spans, well... None of them have had a best friend named Willow, a friend who also happens to wield awesome Wicca power." She smiled at her friend.
Buffy pulled the redhead into a big Slayer-hug. "No, they haven't. Only me. I love you, Will. I have for so long, I can't remember what it's like not to."
Willow grinned, and let out a muffled, "Ok, oxygen becoming an issue!" The friends laughed, and broke the hug regretfully.
Buffy looked out the window, where full night had fallen over the town. "Man," the Slayer griped, "why do warlocks always choose the most inconvenient times to hold their dark rituals?"
Willow grinned, and said, "I don't want to go either. But a Slayer's--and a Slayer's assistant's--work is never done."
The girls left the dorm in high spirits, heading for the woods. So caught up were they in their newly-discovered love for one another that there was no way they could have noticed a lone figure in fatigues and camo following them.
"It will summon a guiding spirit. The spirit will be drawn to the area with the most magical power, like a moth to a flame. That's where we'll find our warlock, I'll wager." Willow took a vial of oil from her pack, and sprinkled a few drops on the ground, muttering an incantation as she did so. The oil glowed as it hit the ground; Buffy assumed it was a trick of the candlelight, but the glow became brighter. Slowly, the glow rose, and coalesced until it hovered before them as a single ball of energy. It slowly began to be drawn into the woods, leaving a bright, glowing trail.
"That's it!" Willow cried, more than a little excited. "It worked!" She snuffed the candles, and stuck her gear back in her pack. "Now we just follow it."
The girls followed the spirit deep into the dark woods. Buffy took a crossbow from her gym bag, and loaded it. She drew strength from the presence of the woman walking beside her. They began to see some flickering firelight from up ahead, and they knew they were nearing the grove.
The two friends stopped, just outside the grove. In the center was a large clearing, this one was a good 30 feet across. Again, there was a makeshift altar, and a small bonfire burned off to one side of it. Standing behind the altar, all dark radiance, was the warlock.
At one time he was known as Christopher, before he had sold his soul for dark power. The power gave him life beyond that of normal, mortal men; the power gave him strength, strength to have men do his bidding, and obey his will. And in return, he gave the power victims. Now, he was looking for more.
Buffy aimed the crossbow at the black-robed figure behind the altar. The warlock cut his palm with a large knife, and drew a sigil on the altar with his blood. Setting the knife down, he began to chant.
Buffy fired the crossbow, noting with some satisfaction that the bolt was heading right for the warlock's heart. Right for...and right through, as the bolt passed harmlessly through his body, and thudded into a tree behind him. It startled the warlock, but it startled Buffy even more. The man glared in the direction of Buffy and Willow's hiding place, and began to raise a hand.
"Willow, get down!" Buffy yelled, and then she launched herself into the clearing. She immediately jumped at the warlock as he pointed at her, and she felt her whole body freeze. This is going to hurt... she thought, as she felt her body fall.
Willow knew something was wrong the moment the warlock pointed at Buffy; sure enough, she collapsed at the foot of the makeshift altar. "No..." Willow said, softly, and took a step into the clearing. Before she could blink, though, she heard someone else run up.
"BUFFY!" Riley yelled, running into the clearing. He raised his tazer gun, and saw the warlock turn to look at him. He was suddenly not in control of his actions; he dropped the gun, placed both hands around his own throat, and began to squeeze.
With the warlock distracted, Buffy was released from the spell. She gasped for breath, and began crawling weakly back to where Willow stood. Willow watched, stunned, as Riley began crushing his own windpipe. "No!" She yelled, and suddenly wind began to whip around the clearing, throwing sparks and hot ash from the bonfire.
The warlock looked at the young redhead speculatively. He released Riley from the spell, and Riley collapsed, straining to breathe through a crushed windpipe. "Well, the Slayer has all sorts of surprising friends," he said, sneering. He raised a hand, and pointed right at Willow. A bright streak of light left his finger, arced toward Willow, and -- ran into an invisible shield, just inches away from Willow's body. The energy crackled there for a moment, seeking the edges of the shield, and finding none, dissipated.
The warlock looked at the witch coldly. "Very well, we do this the hard way," he said, and looked down at the knife. The sacrificial knife rose off the altar as if of its own accord. It rose up, pointed directly at Willow, and streaked toward the girl.
Buffy saw the knife, and very much doubted if Willow's shield would hold THAT off. She stumbled to her feet, and, to Willow's horror, placed herself between Willow and the blade. She felt something hit her, low in the shoulder, and when she looked down she saw the hilt of the dagger protruding from her body.
Buffy fell to her knees, and fought to stay conscious. Her body was getting cold, and it hurt to breathe. She felt someone's--Willow's?--arms around her.
"No, Buffy, you can't go, you have to listen to me, you have to stay awake..." Willow's eyes filled with tears.
The warlock, satisfied that the Slayer was no longer a threat to the ritual, continued with his incantation. The surface of the altar began to glow, and soon, a column of pure, white light was emanating from it, reaching into the heavens.
"Tuatha! Hear me! Brighid! Come!" the warlock finished the incantation.