The Little Witch That Could…But Shouldn’t
Buffy didn’t resist as the weakened demon scented her, inhaling deeply in an effort to either commit her scent to memory or confirming the fragrance that he already knew. He seemed so weak and his faint gasps of pain kept her still and pliant
The moment she’d heard his whispered words, she knew she was dealing with Spike rather than William. Buffy couldn’t help but smile when he snuggled into her, purring in contentment.
“Spike?” she whispered gently not wanting to wake him if he were truly sleeping.
“Mmmmm…” he sleepily responded as he half opened his eyes. “Buffy, luv?”
She lifted a hand to gently brush the side of his face. “My word, Spike. You have my word that I’ll do everything in my power to help you.”
His eyes filled with sad resignation. “And after, Pet? If it works?”
“I take the time to get to know the person that’s been hiding from me,” she assured him firmly.
“William’s only part of me, Buffy,” Spike whispered. He was terrified that the only reason she was being this nice to him was because she liked William, not him.
“And I’m glad I met him, but he’s not you, and I kinda miss the whole package. He’s sweet and wonderful, but it’s really hard to argue with someone that calls you ‘Miss’ all the time,” she gently teased.
Spike looked up at the Slayer as she gently moved away from his comforting embrace. The fear in his eye’s made her think that William had returned. “I’m scared, Slayer,” the demon admitted so softly that Buffy had to strain to hear.
“Don’t be. You have me,” she whispered quietly back.
Anya quietly closed the door to the spare bedroom before making her own vow. “And me, Spike. And me.”
When William woke the next morning, it was to the most intoxicating aroma he could ever remember smelling. As he lifted his head, he noticed the article of clothing he had been sleeping on. He stared in confusion, positive that it hadn’t been there the night before.
“It’s Buffy’s,” Anya explained from the hallway entrance. “The demon was restless and Buffy was the only thing that seemed to calm him down. The top was my idea.”
“I must a-apologize,” William’s stuttered, embarrassed.
“Why?” Anya asked. She really hoped that her new relationship with them would mean that someone would take the time to explain things to her
“For being such a bother,” he gave her a little self deprecating smile.
“You are family, William; you are not being a bother at all,” Giles reassured him as he entered the living room and started placing all manner of food on the dinning room table. “I believe it has been a while since you’ve partaken of a true English breakfast,” the Brit suggested as he proudly indicated the well stocked table.
William rose on slightly shaky legs and began slowly making his way to the table, his stomach gurgling with anticipation. The smells may not have been as enticing as that of the beautiful young slayer, but at least they would sate one of his hungers.
Anya lightly clutched his arm and offered her assistance in his trek to the dining table. Once the well bred English gentleman had ushered the ex-demon into her seat, he paused. “Is Miss Buffy not joining us?”
“She needed to go back to her dorm room for some things. She promised not to be long,” Giles informed him.
William’s mouth watered at the sight before him, but his sense of propriety made him hesitate. “Should we not wait for her?”
“We could, but then I would have to explain to an irate slayer why you haven’t been fed.” Giles lifted a challenging eyebrow in amusement.
William smiled. “Well, we can’t have that now, can we?”
“This is really good, Giles,” Anya announced happily. Both men smiled indulgently when they saw that the blasé ex-demon had started without them.
Joining her, the three were soon enjoying a wonderful breakfast, and when Buffy entered the apartment moments later, she was quick to join them and the swiftly disappearing food.
“Did you see Willow?” Anya asked Buffy the question they all wanted to know.
Buffy ducked her head in guilt. How could she have forgotten that? When had food become more important than a human? Reaching down to her bag, Buffy quickly located what she wanted. Grimacing slightly, she placed the object on the table.
Giles and William sat in shock, unable to take their eyes away from the small statuette. Only Anya broke the silence, her heavy sigh filling the room.
“This only happens when you really piss off a benevolent deity,” she told them. “It’s the goddess’ way of teaching the offender what it feels like to be under the control of another individual. This is the direct result of Willow trying to place us under her control and the protection spell rebounding on her.”
“Can you reverse it?” William quietly asked. It saddened him that the little witch was handling her guilt in such a destructive way. He wished her no harm.
“No,” Anya admitted as she looked through the notes that Buffy had brought with her. “She petitioned Gaia. That means that only a pure, or ‘white’ witch, can reverse it. Until we can find one, maybe we can make her understand about magic and consequences.”
“She can see and hear us?” Giles asked.
“Oh, yes,” Anya assured them confidently.
After a bit of discussion the group got themselves organized. Anya would go to the magic shop to get supplies while Giles would help William bathe and Buffy would statue-sit Willow. Buffy wasn’t particularly happy with her job, but as her ‘bad Buffy’ voice was making all sorts of suggestions and she didn’t want to remain a permanent shade of puce, she decided to go with the flow.
Sitting in the living room, she silently contemplated the statue in front of her. There was so much she wanted to say to Willow and knowing that the redhead had no choice but to listen was opening up possibilities that Buffy had never dreamed of. Maybe now would be the perfect time to get it all off her chest. She really didn’t think Willow would be in a listening mood after her powers were bound.
“I could have gotten over the first spell, but the second one makes that kinda hard, Wills. You said you were trying to renew our friendship- and Xander’s as well- but you missed something. Our friendship, yours and mine, was fine. I mean, sure, there’s been changes and everything, but a little time and a nice long talk would have fixed that. You didn’t need magic. As for Xander…well, I’ll get back to that.” Buffy moved down on the floor so that she could be eye level with the statue.
“You messed up big time with that second spell, Will. Thanks to the protection spell we had set up here, we were fine, but you took away three years of memories from yourself- not to mention Cordy, Oz, Xander and Angel. To get them back, I had to act as anchor, which means I got to see them, too. All of your memories in surround sound? Not so fun. I saw everything Willow. Everything. But I didn’t see anything that we couldn’t work out, other than you seriously needing to learn that you don’t get to have control of every situation. You have to get a handle on that, ‘cause if you don’t learn to deal with the pain, you kinda lose with the pleasure too.
“That third spell was the clincher, Wills. We no longer have a choice; you’re not thinking straight and look what happened to you because of it. We have to bind your powers. Maybe someday we can reverse that, but you need to deal with all your issues first.” Buffy sighed heavily. “And one of those issues is Xander.” This was not something she relished going through at all.
“When Xander was possessed by the spirit of that Hyena, he tried to rape me. Denial Buffy let me push it away and not think about it. When I got his memories, I learned that Xander was daydreaming about raping me. He fantasized about it all the time. And then there’s the time when you were re-souling Angel. You asked him to tell me to stall, but he told me that you said to kick Angel’s ass. He’s been telling Anya that she has to stay with him, because as an ex-demon no one else would accept her. He told her that the only reason they were together was because my calling kept us apart. Anya hasn’t said anything. I got it all from Xander’s memories.
“You need to totally understand that there is no way I will ever let him back in my life, Willow, not with everything I learned. There is nothing you can say to change my mind. I can’t be friends with someone who daydreams about raping me. What you need to decide is if you can still be friends with me knowing that. I don’t want to lose you and I’ll help you get through this in anyway that I can, but you can’t fix it, Will. It’s not a problem that can be fixed, magically or otherwise. It’s something you have to live through and deal with.
“All of this started because you were missing Oz. I get that, but he left to learn how to control his inner wolf. His memories are nothing but good about you and he plans on coming back. You didn’t need to do any of this. You just had to be patient.” Buffy stopped speaking and lstared at the small figurine on the coffee table.
The statue was crying.