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More Toil and Trouble by slaymesoftly
 
Ten
 
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CHAPTER TEN
 
Leaving Riley, Spike, and Giles to exchange suspicious glares, Buffy crossed the room to where Willow had been watching them.
 
“So, you heard?”
 
“Most of it. Big mechanical monster, can’t be killed, blah blah.”
 
“Yeah. So, I don’t think killing him will be a problem for us, but we’re going to need a little assistance to get close to him. Are you up for it?”
 
“You want me to help? I thought you didn’t trust me?”
 
“I trust you if you tell me you want to help. But I have to know that you do. I mean really do.”
 
“Of course I do! But I don’t have anything to offer. My magic is gone.”
 
“You didn’t have any magic when you first met me. Except for your ridiculously smart brain and your computer skills. I miss my brainy friend who can find out anything just by touching her laptop.”
 
Buffy gave Willow a tentative smile. “Just think about it for awhile, okay? We’ll have a Scooby meeting tonight at Giles’s. If you want to be part of a team again....” Buffy left it at that and turned to go back to the men when she heard Willow’s whisper.
 
“I... I miss you. All of you. Even Giles... a little bit.”
 
“We’ll be at his place. Tonight. We’ll get Xander, and Giles and you and me.”
 
“And Spike?”
 
Buffy’s eyes narrowed. “Is that a problem?”
 
“Nope. Just checking.  Nice neckwear you’ve got there,” Willow said with what was almost her usual giggle. Buffy’s hand flew to the side of her neck.
 
Buffy shot a quick look towards the door. “Oh crap! I forgot about that! I hope nobody else saw it.” Buffy pulled the collar of her shirt up a little higher.
 
“I only saw it because I was looking for it. I’m just glad it’s only a hickey, not fang marks.”
 
“Spike wouldn’t bite me!”
 
“That’s what I told Giles. Spike isn’t going to hurt you, so this is a good thing, not a— I mean, the spell was bad. Very bad. Badly bad. But the outcome is pretty good—isn’t it?” Her eyes pleaded with Buffy to tell her it was fine. Buffy sighed heavily.
 
“Maybe? I dunno. It looks like it might be. We’ll see. But that’s not the point, Willow—”
 
“Oh! I know. I’m not expecting thanks for anything—“ She paused when Buffy’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped, hastening on before she could speak.  “I just want to be sure I haven’t screwed up so much that you hate me.”
 
“No hating here,” Buffy said with another sigh, then allowed herself a small smile. “And I’m pretty sure Spike would kiss you if he thought you wouldn’t turn him into a toad.”
 
They giggled together for a few seconds, then when they saw the three men staring at them, burst into genuine laughter.  
 
XXXXXXX
 
When a bewildered Riley had left, promising to provide them with any additional information he could get, Giles, Spike, Willow and Buffy stood together near the open door.
 
“So, this plan, Sla-Buffy, what is it?”
 
“It’s okay to call me Slayer when we’re doing slayer stuff,” Buffy said. “I know you’re choking on every Buffy that leaves your mouth.”
 
“That’s not true, love. But it is a hard habit to break.”
 
Buffy shrugged. “It’s what I am.”  She turned to Giles. “Willow’s going to be helping us. She can be valuable, even if she isn’t doing magic.”
 
“Do you have a plan?” Giles’s question was an indication of how their relationship was shifting from watcher/slayer to one of equals in the fight against evil. He waited for her to respond.
 
“Well, not really. Not yet. I mean, yeah, I’m going to pull out that power pack, but I have to figure out how to get close enough to do it without being killed. Those are some pretty impressive weapons Adam has built into him.”  She shrugged. “But Willow’s going to do some research and see what else we can find out about him. And you and Spike and me are going to figure out how to get us close enough. Maybe Xander will have some ideas tonight—stop that!” She hit Spike on the arm when he coughed to cover a snort of laughter. “Xander’s a Scooby. He has ideas.”
 
“To be sure,” Giles said, exchanging a quick look of solidarity with Spike. “In the meantime....”
 
“In the meantime, you guys need to go do research on... things. Things that can help us get in there.”
 
Willow moved a little closer to Buffy. “I want to help, Giles.  I can try to hack into the system and maybe we can find out what he’s doing. I won’t try to do anything—anything magical. I promise.”
 
“And what will you be doing?” Giles raised his eyebrows at Buffy.
 
“Um... I guess I’ll stay here? And eat all the food you brought? I don’t want to go home, cause Mom will just do her Mom thing and find out about Adam, and then she’ll worry, and—”
 
“I would have thought, now that it’s safe enough, you would want to go back to your dorm and change clothes, shower, all those things you can’t do here in this mausoleum.”
 
“Oh. Right.” She looked at Spike, then back to Giles. “Good idea. I can go to my own room and... do stuff to get ready for tonight.”
 
“Sounds like a good idea, Slayer,” Spike surprised her by saying. “I think I’ll catch some sleep and then head out to see what the demon population thinks of the new situation. Maybe get some insights there.”
 
“Excellent idea!” Giles said with what Buffy felt was more enthusiasm than it deserved. “I’ll just drop you at the dorm on my way home, shall I?”
 
Spike rested a hand on her lower back and whispered, “Go on, love. I’ll meet you later at the Watcher’s.”
 
XXXXXXXX
 
Giles stopped at the entrance to the dorm area and waited for Buffy to get out of the car.  Willow, who had been sitting quietly in the back seat, reached for the door handle also.
 
“I think I’ll go in with Buffy. My laptop is here, anyway, and I can get started researching Adam.”
 
“I will see you both later this evening then,” he said. “In the meantime, I will look into some possible methods of gaining access to this creature.”
 
“I think Riley could get us access,” Buffy said. “Maybe?”
 
“I dunno.” Willow shrugged apologetically as if it were her fault Riley couldn’t do it. “He said they barely made it out of there alive. He lost a lot of men, and most of the weapons are kept down in the lab.”
 
“Well, maybe Spike will learn something useful. It’s not like we have to go rushing in right away. As long as Adam stays down in the Initiative lab area, we should be okay.”
 
XXXXXXXX
 
“What do you mean, he’s ‘recruiting’?”  Buffy glared at Spike, hands on hips.
 
“Meant just what I said. The ugly berk has put out word that he wants all the vamps and demons to join him. Promised them unlimited feeding once he takes over the town.”
 
Buffy sighed. “Well, so much for we’ve got lots of time. Dammit!” She peered at Spike. “Have you seen him? How do you know he’s ugly?”
 
Spike shook his head. “That’s what everybody is sayin’. You can figure if vamps and demons think something’s ugly... it’s ugly.”
 
“If I might....” Giles waited for everyone to turn to him before introducing the quiet-seeming woman standing by his desk.  “Buffy, Willow, Xander... Spike, this is Evelyn. She is an old friend of mine... and a member of the Council’s—”
 
The elegant, silver-haired woman interrupted him. “We are not ‘the Council’s’ anything,” she said firmly, smiling at Buffy and Willow who were both glaring suspiciously at Giles. “We are a coven of practitioners of earth magic who often assist the Council of Watchers in their duties.”
 
“Yes. Quite. My apologies.” Giles looked for a moment like a little boy standing in front of the headmaster. He raised his eyes to glare at Spike who wasn’t even trying to hide his smirk. Evelyn turned her attention on him.
 
“So, this is the vampire? William the Bloody, childe of Drusilla the Mad, grandchilde of Angelus the Scourge of Europe.” She walked, completely unafraid, up to Spike, who had gone into game face, and stared into his eyes until they faded back to their normal blue. “And you have chosen to assist the Slayer in her duties?”
 
“Got her back, if that’s what you mean. If that means I have to help her fight evil—” Spike stopped and turned to Buffy in horror.  “You’ve turned me into a white hat! Me! William the Bloody! Spike the... the—”
 
“The overly protective boyfriend?” Buffy queried, cupping his cheek with her hand.
 
“I’m not—boyfriend?” Eyes wide, he leaned into her hand. “Really?” He glanced around the room, seeing smug satisfaction on Willow’s face, resignation on Giles’s, and a grimace of disgust on Xander’s. 
 
“If you want to be. Isn’t that what we—I mean, I wouldn’t have... don’t you want—”
 
He stopped her with a quick kiss. “Do. Am. Whatever you want me to be, love.”
 
“Why do I feel like I’ve missed several episodes of the Spike and Buffy show?” Xander said. “Boyfriend? Is this another spell? Willow, undo it!”
 
“Not a spell, Harris. Get used to it.”
 
You can not be Buffy’s boyfriend. Angel was bad enough, but at least he had a soul... some of the time... but you....   Buffy! Tell me this is a spell, or a joke. That’s it, it’s a joke on me, right?  Ha ha. You got me good, now step away from the evil undead.”
 
“Xander, just stop, okay?  We’ve got a new evil to take down and I need all the help I can get.  Spike’s part of that help.”
 
“He can’t help without being—something I can’t even say without choking?”
 
Buffy sighed. “Two different things, Xan. Only one of which is any of your business. That’s the one where we figure out how to get me—and Spike—close enough to—”
 
“I can get close, love.  All I have to do is pretend I’m answering the call for more vamps on his side. That’ll get me in. If you can get close enough, I can distract him—”
 
“That only works if I’m close enough to take advantage of the distraction. I’m only going to get one shot at that chest.”
 
Giles cleared his throat and waited for Buffy to turn to him. “We have found a spell that may be of assistance... if Willow is able to participate.”
 
“I can’t spell yet!”
 
“Have you tried?” Evelyn asked gently.  Willow gave Giles, and then Buffy, a guilty glance.
 
“Yes. But not lately.  And I got nothing.”
 
“That’s odd. I can certainly see the power in your aura. Perhaps you might try again now? Just a very small spell...”
 
Again Willow looked at Giles and Buffy. Buffy shrugged at her, while Giles waited, his face unreadable.
 
“I... I don’t have any supplies with—” Evelyn smiled and took Willow by the hand.
 
“Let’s see how we can do without them, yes?” She led Willow a short distance away, almost, but not quite into the hallway. “Instead of thinking about candles and herbs, try to feel the magic that flows under your feet.  The earth has all the magic you need. You just need to learn to channel it.”  When Willow stared at her dubiously, she smiled. “Try it. You’’ll never know unless you give it a try. Close your eyes,” she added softly. “Let yourself feel.”
 
Willow squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, as she expelled the breath, she followed Evelyn’s whispered “Just relax, let it flow... that’s it, you can feel it, can’t you, Willow? You feel it just under your feet, tickling your toes, waiting for you to draw what you need....”
 
Willow’s eyes flew open and she gasped. “I feel it!  I can feel it. It’s... it’s—” She frowned. “It won’t obey me.”
 
Evelyn exchanged a quick look with Giles before saying, “You can’t control it, Willow. You have to learn to ask it to work with you. Let’s think about something simple, moving that cup, for instance. Relax, don’t try to order the magic around, just let it flow up into your body and out your fingers...”
 
Willow scrunched up her face, then visibly forced herself to relax and shut her eyes. When she opened them, she stared at the cup on Giles’s desk and smiled as it slid toward the edge. She turned to Evelyn and beamed. “I did it! I didn’t even have to point at it. I’m getting my magic back!”
 
When she looked around the room, she saw varying degrees of acceptance. Xander looked happy for her, if a bit concerned; Giles was trying not to frown but failing miserably; Buffy was smiling nervously, and Spike was staring at her with one eyebrow raised.  Before the exchange of looks could grow into something nobody wanted, Evelyn said in her gentle way, “That’s wonderful, Willow. Now how do you feel? Did you feel as though the earth was helping you... or was it hindering you?”
 
Willow narrowed her eyes at the older witch, then her shoulders slumped and she sighed and shook her head.  “I was fighting it. I wanted to pick the cup up, but I wanted to do it by myself and I couldn’t.”
 

Evelyn nodded. “You could feel the earth magic, but you didn’t want to use it because you wouldn’t feel in control.  You are clearly very strong, or you wouldn’t have been able to move the cup at all.” Evelyn glanced around the room, finally focusing on Giles. “Will you explain to her where the assistance comes from, or shall I?”
 
Giles gestured to his old friend. “I believe it will be best coming from you. Should you need my input... as someone who has some experience with one of the less-pleasant alternatives, I will be happy to contribute, but I will leave it to you.”
 
Willow stared back and forth between them, an annoyed frown forming on her face. “What assistance? I moved that cup. I didn’t use the earth magic. I told it to get lost.”
 
Spike leaned over and whispered just loud enough for Buffy and Xander to hear,  “We’re gonna want some popcorn while we watch this show.”
 
Xander glared at him and Buffy elbowed him in the ribs, but she nodded and sat down next to Xander. Spike sat on the arm of the sofa, leaning back so as to rest his hand on Buffy’s shoulder.  His eyes challenged Xander to say something, but he only sighed and muttered, “At least you don’t have a soul to lose.”
 
Their attention was drawn back to the three people facing off on the other side of the room. Willow was standing, hand on hips, watching Giles and Evelyn exchange looks.
 
“What? Why is this a problem? Are you just jealous because I don’t need to use earth magic to do stuff? Maybe I’m stronger than you and I don’t need any ‘assistance’.”
 
“Willow, please, come and sit with me.” Evelyn gestured to the chair near the desk and, after a moment’s consideration, sank to the floor in front of it. It wasn’t lost on anyone in the room that she was deliberately making herself smaller and non-threatening, rather than trying to appear superior to Willow.
 
“Smart woman,” Xander whispered, earning shocked looks and then nods from Buffy and Spike.
 
“Rupert, would you mind getting us both a nice cuppa while we chat?”  Evelyn turned to look up at Willow, now sitting, somewhat reluctantly, in the chair. “Allow me to explain something very basic about magic,” she began.  “While it is true, that different people have differing levels of ability and innate talent, the talent they are born with is not the magic itself, but one that allows them to unconsciously tap into the nearest source of power. They are born with the ability to call upon the power, not the magic itself. That must be borrowed from a source. Unfortunately for those not trained in the use of earth magic, that often means tapping into much less benign sources of power.  Demonic, if you will. Even pure evil if one is really unfortunate.”
 
She paused to let a skeptical Willow absorb her words, then continued, “When you began your experiments with spells, you were tapping into the nearest source of magical power... which is....” She paused, waiting for Willow to fill in the gap.
 
“The Hellmouth!” Buffy and Xander gasped out the answer at the same time, while Spike and Giles just nodded their heads.
 
“What? No! No, I just followed the instructions in the spell manual. I wasn’t calling on anything!”
 
“No?” Evelyn waited while Willow went over in her mind some of the words she’d used in her incantations.  Her face visibly paled as she recalled parts of the spells she’d used when asking that her will be done, and the later ones aimed specifically at Giles and Buffy.  Evelyn watched the battle going on behind Willow’s eyes as her need to think she was completely in charge fought with the evidence that she may have had demonic assistance.
 
“Let me ask you something,” Evelyn said in a kind tone. “Did you feel like yourself at the time?  Is cursing blindness upon a friend, or a demonic attraction on another something you would normally do? Or, telling another friend to go off and have sexual congress with a notorious vampire? Is that something Willow Rosenberg would normally wish upon the people she cares about?”
 
While Xander and Buffy’s eyes grew big as they understood what Evelyn was suggesting had happened, Willow’s own expression hardened into stubborn denial.
 
“You’re trying to say that I did those things because some demon was controlling me?  That’s ridiculous – all I said was Buffy should marry Spike. They’re the ones that couldn’t tear themselves apart when I tried to break them up. And the other stuff was... accidental.  I was just mad and unhappy and I... I said things. I didn’t mean them!”
 
“And when you saw what you’d done, why didn’t you release them immediately? Why did you make them remain in those conditions for days? Are you always so unforgiving and vindictive?”
 
“Unfor—Vindic— Who the hell are you to come in here and say that I’m... any of those things?” Willow’s eyes flashed almost black for a second, and while Evelyn remained calm, Giles set down the cups of tea he was carrying and moved closer to them, his body visibly tense.
 
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