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Wrecked

Prologue

Tara and Dawn are awakened by the morning sun, and cartoons on the TV. They both fell asleep on the sofa.

Tara looks around and wonders why no one woke them up. They go upstairs and check Buffy and Willow’s rooms. Neither of their beds have been slept in. Dawn is afraid that something might have happened.

Tara tries to reassure her. “I’m sure they’re fine, Dawnie. I’m sure they just…lost track of time.”

Buffy wakes up beside Spike, and surrounded by rubble. They are both naked. She grabs her skirt to cover herself, and stands up. Her motion has awakened Spike, but he stays lying on the floor, smiling and looking at her.

Buffy looks at the rubble around them. “When…when did the building fall down?”

Spike grins at Buffy, and looks around. “I don’t know. Must have been some time between the first time and the, uh…” He chuckles.

“Oh.” Buffy looks around at the devastation. “Oh my god!”

Act I

Buffy searches the rubble for her other boot. She’s mostly dressed now.

Spike still hasn’t made any move to get dressed himself. He’s just lying back watching Buffy. “What’s the hurry, Luv?”

Buffy finds her boot and starts to zip it on. “The hurry is I left Dawn all night. And don’t call me ‘Luv.’”

“You didn’t seem to take issue with that last night. Or with any of the other little nasties we whispered.”

Buffy doesn’t want to talk about that. She spots her jacket on the other side of Spike, and tries to step around him to get it. He grabs her and pulls her down into his lap. Buffy tries to pull away from him, but Spike’s hand starts to slide up her inner thigh, and her resolve quickly crumbles. They start to kiss.

Spike rolls Buffy onto her back, and slides on top of her. “I knew. I knew the only thing better than killing a Slayer would be f—”

Buffy throws Spike off her, and jumps to her feet. “What? Is that what this is about? Doing a Slayer?”

Spike thinks she’s a fine one to talk. She seems to be something of a vampire groupie herself. “I’m just saying vampires get you hot.”

“A vampire got me hot. One!” says Buffy. “But he is gone. You’re just… You’re just convenient.”

That visibly stings Spike. He gets to his feet and grabs his pants. He doesn’t think that they will ever be able to go back to the way things were between them before. “Last night changed things. I’m done being your whipping boy.”

Buffy doesn’t think anything’s changed. Last night was just a mistake.

Spike zips up his pants. “Bollocks! It was a bloody revelation. You can act as high and mighty as you like, but I know where you live now, Slayer. I’ve tasted it.” He puts his hands on Buffy’s shoulders, and holds her. “I may be dirt, but you’re the one who likes to roll in it, Slayer. You never had it so good as me. Never.”

Buffy breaks free from Spike. “You’re bent!”

“And it made you scream, didn’t it?”

Buffy pulls on her jacket. “I swear to god, if you tell anyone about last night, I will kill you!”

“Right.” Spike reaches into his pocket and pulls out Buffy’s panties. He holds them out to her. “You’re going to want these, too?”

Buffy punches Spike on the nose. He goes down, and doesn’t get up.

Tara prepares pancakes for Dawn. She asks if Dawn wants funny shapes, or rounds.

Dawn wants to phone Xander to see if he knows anything. “What if they’re all in a ditch somewhere? Ditches are bad. Mom always used to talk about the ditches.”

Tara thinks they should wait a little while, before they start phoning around. Give people a chance to wake up.

Tara and Dawn are interrupted by Willow and Amy coming in the back door. There’s a bit of an awkward moment when Willow and Tara see each other, and Willow tries to cover by introducing Amy. Tara is a little surprised to learn that Amy isn’t a rat anymore, but she mainly just wants to get out of there.

The situation only gets worse when Amy starts raving about all the spells Willow was doing last night. “I can do some transmogrify, but she is messing with dimensions and everything. It was awesome! This blowhard dude, first she made his mouth disappear, thank god. And then—” Amy finally notices Willow and Tara’s discomfort. “I’m talking too much. Sorry. It’s just been, you know, me and a bag of pellets for the last few years, so—”

Tara starts to retreat toward the front door. Willow asks her to wait. She left some of her stuff behind. Tara says she’ll pick it up later, and keeps going. Buffy is coming in the door as Tara goes out.

Buffy limps into the kitchen. Dawn is happy to see her at first, but then she notices the limp, and Buffy’s bruises and gets worried.

Buffy tells Dawn she’s fine. “I just—uhh—” She winces as she sits on a stool by the counter. “I had a fight, you know, the all-nighter kind.”

Dawn asks what sort of creature it was, but Buffy tells her not to worry about it. She switches topics. She was surprised to see Tara. Willow tells her that Tara stayed overnight with Dawn.

Buffy is a little disturbed to learn that Dawn would have been left alone if Tara hadn’t stayed. Willow says that she never would have stayed out, if she had known Buffy wouldn’t be home.

“No, of course. I mean, you know, it wasn’t intentional. And, you know, everyone’s safe. You are, right?” Buffy asks Dawn. “You’re okay?”

“Oh, yeah. I mean, um, I think my pancakes are burning, but— Tara was making—”

The frying pan that Tara was making the pancakes in has started to smoke. Willow removes it from the stove and turns off the burner. She tells them that she needs to get some sleep. Buffy thinks she should be getting to bed too. Amy takes that as her cue to be leaving. Willow tells her that she’ll call her later.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Buffy asks Dawn. “I’m sorry about everything.”

“It’s okay,” says Dawn. “You should rest. You’re beat from monster wrestling all night.”

“Yeah. Right. Thanks.” Buffy heads off for bed.

“Yeah, I’m going to crash, too.” Willow follows Buffy out of the kitchen. “Night, Dawnie.”

Dawn is left alone in the kitchen. “No problem. I’ll just…go find some awake people.”

Willow collapses on her bed in her room. The bright morning light is streaming in through the window. She waves her hand at the curtains. “Claudete.” Nothing happens. She waves again. “Claudete!” Still nothing.

Willow pulls herself off the bed, goes over to the window, and closes the curtains by hand. She collapses back onto her bed, and goes to sleep. She doesn’t even bother to pull off her boots.

Xander and Anya are seated at the round table at the back of the Magic Box with books piled in front of them. Xander isn’t getting anywhere with the book he’s got. No diamond stealing frost monsters. He asks Anya to pass him another one. She doesn’t move.

“Great. We’re not even married yet and already you’ve stopped listening to me.” Xander reaches past Anya and grabs the book he wants. As he pulls it toward him a bridal magazine falls out of it. He pulls down the book that Anya has her nose buried in, and sees that she’s using the book to hide another one. “Anya!”

“I’m sorry, but this is pointless,” says Anya. “We’ve been researching forever, and we’re not even close to finding out who robbed that museum.”

Buffy gets up from the counter which she has covered with her own books, and asks them what’s up.

“Anya has a theory,” says Xander. “She thinks that Martha Stewart froze that guy.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” says Anya. “Martha Stewart isn’t a demon. She’s a witch.”

“Please, she— really?” asks Xander.

“Of course,” says Anya. “Nobody could do that much decoupage without calling on the powers of darkness.”

Buffy thinks all this is fascinating, but they have work to do. Anya agrees. She’s trying to decide between cocktail dresses, or the more traditional burlap and blood larvae for her bridesmaids.

“The traditional what?” asks Xander.

“Well, I was a demon for a thousand years, Xander. You can’t expect me to turn my back on all the ways of my people.”

Buffy thinks that she should have some say in whether or not she wears larvae, but both Xander and Anya shut her down. Buffy sits down at the table and tries to pull the discussion back to whatever robbed the museum.

Xander is starting to think Anya’s right. They aren’t going to find it in the books. Maybe it’s time to hit the streets. Get Spike to help.

Buffy quickly vetoes that idea. They should stay in the shop and avoid distractions. They can figure this out. Anya figures that Willow would be good for that, but Buffy tells them Willow’s still home sleeping.

Xander asks if Willow’s sick, but Buffy says it’s just because she was out all night with Amy. Xander doesn’t like that any better. Buffy says that Willow’s just helping Amy through a tough transition.

“And making herself a playmate to do magic with,” says Xander. “Someone who won’t monitor her, like Tara.”

“Willow’s a grownup,” says Buffy. “You know, maybe she doesn’t need to be monitored. She’s going through something, but we’re not her. I mean, maybe she has reasons for acting this way. And so what if she crossed a line? You know, we all do stuff. Stupid stuff. But then we learn. And—and we learn, and we don’t do it again. Okay, so, you know, who are we to be all judgey?”

Xander doesn’t think he’s being judgey. Just observey.

Anya agrees. Willow hasn’t been herself lately.

Willow and Amy walk by the Espresso Pump. Amy thinks it’s going to be hard for them to top last night. Willow doesn’t want to try. She was burnt out all day. She just wants to take it easy.

Amy has something else in mind. “I know this guy, and he knows spells that last for days. And the burn-out factor is, like, nothing. I’m not kidding you. This guy will blow your mind. He will take you to places that you can’t even imagine.”

“Is it dangerous?” asks Willow.

“Would that stop you?”

Willow and Amy enter an alley. Willow is puzzled. She doesn’t see anything. Amy is surprised Willow doesn’t feel it. She takes Willow’s hand and pushes it at the air in front of her.

“It’s hot,” says Willow.

“Come on.” Amy turns and walks backwards down the alley, looking back at Willow. She vanishes as she passes through an invisible barrier.

Willow puts out her hand and steps forward. Her hand vanishes as it hits the barrier.

Willow follows Amy through into a dingy waiting room. There are three other kids already there, looking emaciated, and strung out.

“It’s cool, isn’t it?” asks Amy. “The place is cloaked. Moves around a lot, too. Keeps Rack out of trouble.”

Willow doesn’t look too sure about this, and starts to ask who Rack is. The inner door opens.

Rack comes into the waiting room. His face is scarred, and his right eye is clouded by cataracts. The waiting kids start arguing about who’s turn is next.

Rack ignores them, and looks at Willow and Amy. “I believe these two are next.”

Act II

Rack shows Willow and Amy into his inner sanctum. Amy thanks him for taking them so quickly. She starts to explain why she hasn’t been there for three years, but it isn’t necessary.

“You were a rat. I hope that taught you not to mess with spells you can’t handle. You should leave that in the hands of a professional.” Rack puts his hands together, and power crackles from them. He looks at Willow. “This one’s giving off vibes.”

Willow is very nervous. She apologises for vibing at Rack.

Rack likes what he’s feeling from Willow. He circles around her, feeling her aura. “You have power, girl. It’s just coming off you in waves.”

Willow says she doesn’t think she’s so special. She can do spells and things, but she gets tapped out quickly.

“And what do you want me to do about that?” asks Rack.

“I don’t know. I thought… Amy said—”

“Amy said… Amy said I could help you, but did Amy say how you could help me?”

“No. I have some money. A bit—”

Rack isn’t interested in money. He also isn’t interested in help with his computer. “Just relax. I’m not going to hurt you. You got to give a little to get a little, right?” He holds his hand out toward Willow’s chest.

Willow looks nervously at Amy who tells her it’s okay. “It’s over fast.”

“That’s right. I’m just going to take a little tour.” Rack places his hand on Willow’s chest, and power flows between them. Willow staggers back, looking dazed.

Rack leans forward and whispers in Willow’s ear. “You taste like strawberries.”

Amy twirls around in Rack’s sanctum. He reclines on his sofa watching her, and holding an image of her dancing cupped between his hands. He looks up. Willow is lying on the ceiling, rolling around in ecstasy.

Willow looks down at the floor, and sees plants starting to grow. They quickly cover the entire floor, and grow into a forest. She sees something rustling through the bushes, and catches a glimpse of something dragging a nude girl through the trees. A demon looks up at her and snarls.

Willow falls from the ceiling, and lands on the rug in her bedroom. She lies dazed for a moment, but some force grabs her and pulls her out of her room. She finds herself standing in the Bronze. The force grabs her again and pulls her to the street in front of the Magic Box.

Willow wakes up lying on the floor in her room. The morning sun is shining, and she can hear the birds singing outside her window.

Willow stands in the shower, letting the water pour over her. She leans against the wall crying.

Willow returns to her room. She sees the box of things that Tara left behind, and pulls a dress out of it. She lays it out on her bed. She sits down beside the dress and passes her hand over it. The dress starts to inflate, filling with the invisible form of Tara. The dress sits up. Willow rests her head against its breast, and puts her arm around it. The dress hugs her back.

Willow enters the kitchen that evening and finds Dawn trying to pull a quesadilla out of the frying pan, without the benefit of a spatula. It is her latest culinary experiment. Peanut butter and bananas. She asks Willow if she wants some.

Willow declines. She just wants some water. Her stomach isn’t feeling up to anything more. She gets herself a bottle out of the fridge.

Dawn tells Willow that Buffy called from the Magic Box—for about the tenth time that day—to say that she was going to go out for a patrol before she comes home.

Willow apologises for the mixup the other night, and offers to make up for it by taking Dawn out to the movies. She also offers to buy Dawn dinner, if she feels like giving up on the quesadilla she’s been picking at while they talked.

“Oh. Heh. Thank god. Remind me never to invent that again.” Dawn takes her plate and dumps the quesadilla into the trash. “Ecch.”

Willow goes to check the movie ads in the paper while Dawn writes a note for Buffy to leave on the fridge. “That’s the first place she goes after patrolling. She’s such a pig after she kills things.”

Buffy comes in the front door, and drops her keys on the table beside it. She calls out for Dawn and Willow, but she doesn’t get an answer. She hears the sound of something breaking coming from upstairs.

Buffy looks into Willow’s room. It’s in total disarray. It looks like it’s been ransacked. Buffy looks into the open trunk that Willow keeps her magic supplies in.

Buffy hears a squeak behind her and spins around. Amy had been hiding behind the door, and is trying to sneak out. Buffy grabs her and shoves her up against the door. She wants to know what Amy is doing.

“Uh-oh. Busted,” says Amy.

Buffy wants to know where Willow is, and what Amy is doing there. She notices Amy is holding something in her hands. “What is this?” She takes the bag of herbs away from her.

“It’s not what you think it is,” says Amy. “It’s sage.”

“That is what I think it is. What’s going on? Where’s Willow and Dawn?”

Amy says she hasn’t seen Willow since last night, and tries to deflect the conversation away to Buffy’s clothes. “When does the Slayer find time to shop?”

Buffy refuses to be deflected. She knows that Willow and Dawn didn’t let Amy in, and asks what else Amy has been taking.

Amy says that she’s hasn’t taken anything, but Buffy’s quick search of Amy’s pockets finds more spices.

“Please. Please, I need this stuff,” says Amy “Willow wants me to have it. She understands.”

“Understands what? Breaking into someone’s house for kitchen spices? No, I don’t think so.”

“You should,” says Amy. “She’s as bad as I am. Worse. I bet she’s at Rack’s right now.”

“Rack’s?”

“A place. He does spells, heavy stuff. Willow’s his new favourite.”

Buffy shoves Amy up against the door again. “She’s there? With Dawn?”

Amy is starting to look nauseous. “Oh, don’t shake me again, Super Strength. I think I’m going to boot.”

Buffy says she’ll stop as soon as Amy tells her where to find Rack’s.

Amy can’t really do that. It’s somewhere downtown, but it moves around. “You just kind of have to feel it out.”

Buffy lets go of Amy. Amy puts her hand over her mouth and runs for the bathroom.

Dawn and Willow walk along the street. Willow asks if the burger was good. Dawn says it was, but she thinks that Willow should have eaten something. She asks if she’s feeling all right. Willow says she’s fine, she’s just saving space for popcorn.

“The other day, you had fun?” asks Willow.

“Mmm, what other day?” asks Dawn. “Give me a ‘Mon’ or a ‘Fri’ here, something to work with.”

“The other day with Tara,” says Willow.

Dawn says that it was nice, but Tara is pretty sad. Willow asks if Tara said anything.

“Not exactly. I can just tell by the way she was acting.” Dawn looks at Willow. “Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little—”

Willow still says she’s fine, and asks if Tara got settled into her new place okay.

Dawn doesn’t really know, they didn’t talk about that. She looks around. This doesn’t seem to be the way to the theatre to her. Willow says they are taking the long way around, because she needs to pick something up.

Willow and Dawn enter Rack’s waiting room. Dawn looks around uncertainly. Willow tells her to wait there, she’ll only be a few minutes.

“What about the movie?” asks Dawn. “It starts at nine.”

“We’ll make it. I’ll just be a minute, and it doesn’t matter if we miss the trailers.” Willow goes through the door into Rack’s sanctum.

“I like the trailers,” says Dawn to the empty room.

Act III

Dawn sits on the tattered sofa and looks up at the clock on the waiting room wall. It’s after ten. There’s an old National Geographic on the table in front of her. It still has the laurel border around the picture on the cover.

A scuzzy looking guy comes in and sits down beside Dawn. He lights up a cigarette.

Dawn gets up and goes to stand in the opposite corner.

“What do you think, Strawberry? Can you handle some more?” Power crackles from Rack’s hands, up into the sphere of energy that Willow is floating in.

Willow feels herself floating in space among the stars. A portal opens and the demon steps out, carrying the nude body of a girl in its arms. Willow screams.

Rack looks up at Willow and smiles.

Spike is awakened by a large candle bouncing off his chest. It was thrown by Buffy. “God, do you sleep through anything?” she asks. “I was, like, yelling and nothing.”

“I’m a bit knackered. Had a long night.” Spike throws aside the sheet and sits on the side of his bed. He’s totally nude. “Someone should teach you how to use candles in foreplay, Luv.”

Buffy puts down the other candle in her hands, and throws Spike’s pants at him. “Get dressed. Dawn’s missing.”

“Again? Ever think about a Lojack for the girl? What’s the story?”

“She went out with Willow.”

“Willow? It’s kind of a sorry excuse to come by. You want the touch, all you need to do is—”

“Spike, Willow’s into something. Okay, her and Dawn have been missing for hours. There’s some guy named Rack.”

That gets Spike’s attention. He’s heard of Rack. “He deals in magic. Black stuff. Dangerous.”

Buffy has looked all over downtown, and she hasn’t been able to find his place. Spike isn’t surprised. Rack’s place is cloaked. “You can’t feel it unless you’re into the big bad— a witch or a vampire, or…”

“So let’s go,” says Buffy.

Spike gets off the bed, and Buffy looks away from him.

“Oh, that’s right,” says Spike. “Hide your blushing eyes.”

Dawn looks up at the clock. It’s nearly eleven. She’s tired of waiting. She starts toward the door into Rack’s sanctum. The other guy in the waiting room tells her to wait her turn, but Dawn ignores him.

The door opens before Dawn gets to it, and Willow comes out. She’s looking kind of spaced out. “Hey, Dawnie. Come on. It’s movie time.”

“Do you know how long I’ve been out here? It’s too late for the movie. And that guy smells like—” Dawn notices Willow’s eyes. They are totally black. “Are—are you okay?”

Willow says she’s fine. “Let’s get out of here.”

Dawn and Willow walk down an alley. Dawn just wants to go home, but Willow still wants to have some fun.

“I’m serious,” says Dawn “I think we should just get out of here.”

“‘I think we should just get out of here.’” mocks Willow. “Come on, Dawnie. It’s grownup time. Do you want to play with the grownups or not?”

“Why are you acting this way?”

“Oh, don’t get all weird on me. We’re fine. Everything’s fine.” Willow hasn’t noticed that her demon is watching them from the shadows.

Buffy asks Spike if he’s picked up anything. He hasn’t. It may be because she keeps asking him every two seconds. Buffy is starting to think that Spike is dragging this out deliberately.

Spike stops and looks at Buffy. “What? So I can linger near your precious self? Get a grip.” He may have done that in the past, but things have changed now.

“Will you quit that? The only thing that’s different is that I’m disgusted with myself,” says Buffy. “That’s the power of your charms. Last night…was the most perverse, degrading experience of my life.”

Spike smiles at Buffy. “Yeah, me, too.”

“That might be how you get off,” says Buffy, “but it’s not my style.”

“No, it’s your calling. Gave me a run for my money, Slayer. Now, I admit it. You’ve had me by the short hairs. I love you. You know it, but I got my rocks back. You felt something last night.”

“Not love.”

“Not yet, but I’m in your system now. You’re going to crave me like I crave blood, and the next time you come calling, if you don’t stop being such a bitch, maybe I will bite you.”

“That’s it!” says Buffy. “I want you out of my life, out of my work, out of my home!”

“Too late for that. You invited me in already. And as for your work, you do need me…like tonight.”

“I’ll find Dawn myself.”

“You really going to put your little sis in danger just to spite me?” asks Spike.

Dawn tells Willow that she’s going home. That’s fine with Willow, Dawn can go of she wants, but she’s going to go have some fun.

Dawn is a little surprised that Willow is willing to just let her go off by herself. Willow proposes that she do a quick spell to teleport Dawn back home. Dawn doesn’t like that idea at all. They are interrupted by a snarl.

Dawn looks around, trying to find its source. Willow isn’t worried. She figures it was just a cat or something.

Dawn yelps when the demon steps out of the shadows in front of them. Willow recognises it, and tells Dawn not to worry. She thinks it’s an hallucination.

“Seems real.” Dawn starts to back away. “Very real.”

“You summoned me, witch. You raised hell with your magic.” The demon lashes out and slashes Dawn’s cheek. It licks her blood off its claw. “Fresh.”

Willow steps in front of Dawn. “Don’t! She has nothing to do with it! It was me, it was me!”

“Yes,” says the demon.

Dawn kicks the demon in the chest, and it falls back into a pile of garbage. She and Willow turn and run out of the alley.

Dawn glances back as they leave the alley. The demon is gaining on them.

Willow spots a car up ahead, and casts a quick spell. Its doors open. She tells Dawn to get in. Willow takes the driver’s seat and magically hotwires the car. They take off down the street, with the demon still chasing them. Willow doesn’t bother to use the steering wheel. She steers by magic.

The car weaves down the street. “What are you doing?” asks Dawn.

Willow ignores Dawn. She’s having a blast. Dawn is terrified.

Willow swerves into an alley. She looks back over her shoulder to see what’s happened to the demon. “Take that, scuz—” The car slams into a concrete pillar.

Act IV

Willow lies slumped over the steering wheel of the car. Dawn forces her door open and gets out. She’s cradling her left arm, and has a bloody gash in her forehead. She staggers around the pillar, and goes to check on Willow. The demon leaps over the car after her.

Dawn hits the demon with her good hand, and tries to get away. It knocks her to the ground. She crawls under the car.

Buffy and Spike hear Dawn screaming.

The demon grabs Dawn’s leg and drags her out from under the car. Dawn claws at the ground with her right hand, and grabs a handfull of dirt. She throws it into the demon’s face and tries to run. The demon grabs her and tosses her across the alley. Dawn tries to crawl away, but the demon backs her up against a pillar.

“Dawn!” yells Buffy, and she knocks the demon away from her sister. She hits and kicks at the demon, knocking it farther and farther down the alley. Spike goes to check on Dawn.

Buffy fights with the demon. It’s tough. It seems to be able to take everything that she throws at it. Buffy catches it in the head with a flying kick, but even that doesn’t seem to phase it at all. It grabs Buffy and throws her against a pillar. Buffy picks herself up, and braces for a fresh attack.

The demon stops, and starts to tremble. “Now you’re scared?” asks Buffy. “Better late than never.”

The demon’s tremble turns into convulsions, and it starts to smoke. It bursts into flames, and vanishes. When the smoke and ash clears Buffy sees Willow standing behind where the demon had been. Her eyes are black, and sparks are still crackling around her hands.

Buffy just glares at Willow for a moment, until she hears Dawn crying. She’s still sitting against the pillar, cradling her arm, with Spike kneeling by her. Buffy joins them. She asks Dawn what happened.

“He was after Willow,” says Dawn. “She made the car drive.”

Buffy reaches for Dawn’s arm to look at it.

“Don’t!” cries Dawn.

Buffy wants to look at the arm, but Dawn doesn’t want to move it.

Willow comes up behind Buffy and sees Dawn. “Dawn? Oh, god, there’s blood.”

Buffy ignores Willow, and she and Spike help Dawn get to her feet. They need to get her to a doctor.

Willow keeps asking if Dawn’s okay. Buffy tells her to back off, and she and Spike start to help Dawn move toward the alley entrance.

Willow follows after them. “No, Dawnie!”

“I mean it,” says Buffy. “Stay away from her.”

Willow moves around in front of them. “Dawnie! Dawnie, I am so sorry. I’m so sorry. It was an accident. I didn’t see. I am so, so sorry.”

Dawn stops and glares at Willow for a few seconds. Then she slaps her. Buffy, Spike and Dawn start moving out of the alley again.

”Dawnie. Dawnie. Don’t! Dawnie, I’m sorry.” Willow collapses to the ground. She starts to cry. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Buffy and Spike exchange a glance, and he indicates that he’ll take care of Dawn.

Buffy goes back to where Willow is crying on the ground. “Get up,” she snarls.

Willow stays on the ground. “I screwed it up. Everything. Tara—”

Buffy grabs Willow by the shoulders, and pulls her to her feet. “Yeah, you know what? You did screw up. Okay? You could have killed her! You almost did!”

“I know. I know. I can’t stop, Buffy. I tried and I can’t.”

“You can.”

“I can’t! I can’t. I ju— God! I need help.” Willow grabs Buffy and hugs her. “Please. Please help me. Please. Help me. Please.”

Buffy slowly puts her arm around Willow’s shoulder.

Epilogue

Willow sits on her bed wrapped in a green blanket. Buffy leans against the frame of her door. Willow asks how Dawn is. Buffy says that she’s gone to sleep. The E.R. doctor gave her a sedative that knocked her out. Her broken arm is going to take time to heal though.

“God. I’m sorry. I’m so…”

“I just don’t understand,” says Buffy. “I don’t understand why you’d go to see somebody like Rack, and I certainly don’t understand why you dragged Dawn into it.”

“I don’t know. The magic, I…I thought I had it under control, and then…I didn’t.”

Buffy asks if it was because of Tara, but Willow says it goes back farther than that. It was why Tara left.

“Seemed like things were going so well,” says Buffy.

“It was. But I mean…if you could be plain old Willow or super Willow, who would you be?” She looks up at Buffy. “I guess you don’t actually have an option on the whole super thing.”

“Will, there’s nothing wrong with you. You don’t need magic to be special.”

“Don’t I? I mean, Buffy, who was I? Just some girl. Tara didn’t even know that girl.”

“You are more than some girl…” Buffy moves away from the door, into the room. “…and Tara wants you to stop. She loves you.”

“We don’t know that.”

“I know that. I promise you.”

“It just…took me away from myself. I was…free.”

“I get that. More than you—” Buffy sits on the edge of the bed beside Willow. “But it’s wrong. People get hurt.”

“If something had happened to Dawn tonight, something worse…”

“I know.”

“No, I don’t think you do. I…I was out of my mind. I did things. I can’t even… It won’t happen again, I promise. No more spells. I’m finished.”

“Good,” says Buffy. “I think it’s right to give it up. No matter how good it feels.”

“It’s not worth it, not if it messes with the people I love. Magic wasn’t all great. I won’t miss the nosebleeds and the headaches and stuff.”

“There you go.”

“Or keeping stinky yak cheese in my bra.” Willow notices the curious look Buffy is giving her. “Don’t ask.”

“Now I don’t have to.”

“’Cause it’s over.”

“Exactly,” says Buffy. “It’s over.”

Willow lies in her bed later that night, sweating, trembling, and panting for breath.

Buffy sits on top of the blankets of her bed in her darkened room. She is still fully dressed, and clutches a cross in her hands. She has strands of garlic strung by all the windows, and hanging from the posts of her bed.

Death Toll