*~*~*~*
"Oh dear," Giles said, removing his glasses. He polished them, then slid them back into place, looking at Buffy, to Xander, to Spike, until finally settling on Willow's blank face. "It is apparent that this is in fact *our* Willow, and not the Willow from 1994. That's good, that means it's just her memories that are gone, not all of her. It would be much easier to find her
memories than try to find her." He sat down heavily.
"I don't think we should let her out at night," Buffy said. "Too many dangerous things out. They know she's friends with the Slayer, and that puts her at a higher risk than if she were just someone off the street."
Xander nodded. "Buffy's right. Willow can't defend herself in this state."
"Stop it," Willow said softly, staring at a spot on the floor. "Stop talking about me like I'm a child. Like I'm not here. I'm almost 15 years old. I can take care of myself. I've been doing it for eight years now. I get myself up in the morning, make my lunch, make Xander's lunch, get myself to school, do my own homework. . .I take care of Xander's problems when his parents are being mean to him. . ."
"Luv," Spike said gently, trying not to scare her again. It pained him when she was scared of him. "If you came face to face with another vampire, you would be dead. . .there's. . .I mean, it would bloody happen. He wouldn't care about you, or that you could take care of yourself during the day. . .he would rip into you."
Willow glared at Buffy. "It's all your fault. Nothing bad ever happened here before *you* came."
Hurt crossed Buffy's face. "Wills. . .I. . ." she faltered, tears filling her eyes.
Xander reached out, touching Willow's arm. "Willow. Don't blame Buffy for this. If she *hadn't* of come, then the two of us would have been vampires."
Willow crossed her arms. "There is no way in the world you could know that, Xander Harris."
"Actually," Giles piped up, "it's true. Cordelia wished that Buffy hadn't of come to Sunnydale because she was upset you and Xander were cheating on her and Oz, and the alternate universe that was created had you and Xander as vampires."
Willow blinked, opening her mouth, then shut it. She gathered her thoughts. "Ok, first off, me and Xander were together, but cheating on someone?" She turned, glaring at Xander.
Xander looked somewhat sheepish. "Stop looking at me like that, Wills. You were just as much a part of it as I was."
She took a deep breath. "I can give you credit for that. Ok, number two, me and Xander were vampires in this other universe?"
Giles nodded.
"Alright, so then I guess I should thank Buffy?" Willow asked softly.
"No," Buffy said. "You don't have to if you don't think you should. . ."
Willow reached out and touched Buffy's hand. "Thanks," she said, smiling softly.
Buffy squeezed her hand tightly, returning the smile.
"And number three." She turned to Xander and narrowed her eyes. Xander winced. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, Xander blurted out:
"Yea, I dated Cordelia. It is over and done with, she lives in LA with Angel, doing the save people thing. She's not the same person, Wills. You two are friends."
Willow shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "Of everything that's happened, from knowing that there is one girl who is destined to save the world, to seeing. . .Spike. . .go all grr on me in the middle of the living room. . .the most amazing thing is that me and Cordelia Chase are friends."
~*~*~*~
Giles sighed into the phone. "Nothing, Wesley?"
"No," Wesley replied in LA, leaning over Cordelia's shoulder, watching as she scrolled through the demon database. "Rupert, I don't understand why you aren't doing this in Sunnydale. Not that I don't mind helping - I don' - but. . ."
"The program is on Willow's laptop. Buffy, Xander, and Spike are patrolling, trying to find out what happened to her. She is asleep on the couch."
"Ahh," Wesley said, remembering how Giles stayed away from computers if at all possible.
Cordelia glanced up at the former watcher. "I'm not finding anything," she said softly, somewhat worried about Willow. They had become very good friends since the struggling actress moved to LA.
Angel paced back and forth, then put his hands on the desk, leaning towards the phone, where Giles had been put on hands-free talk. "Rupert?"
"Angel."
"How is Spike?"
"Spike is holding up rather well. He's taking a perverse pleasure in making her blush and giggle, as a 15-year-old girl would. He starts whispering all the things he'd like to do to her in her ear and she giggles and squeals and blushes and pushes him away, but it's making her feel better about her situation. It is making Anya rather happy too, as Xander's girlfriend was
having a problem with Willow wanting to be next to him," Giles explained.
Angel snickered, remembering the way Willow was when he first met her. The redhead was probably a walking blush when she was around Spike. "But he isn't trying to hurt anything?"
"Only whatever it is that did this to her."
"It *is* the oddest thing," Wesley said. "There doesn't really appear to be malice to the situation. . .just. . ."
"Almost like someone was totally playing around with you guys," Cordelia said, picking up her mug of coffee and taking a sip.
"Hmm. . ." Giles' small voice came from the phone. "Someone playing around with us. That. . .sounds familiar. . ."
"You aren't thinking Ethan. . .?" Cordelia questioned.
"No," Giles said, shaking his head for no one to see. "Ethan would have let me know he was here. This seems to be more of a joke to someone. I have to do some research. . .Wesley, will you look into demons and spirits that like to perform practical jokes?"
"Sure, Rupert."
"Thanks. Oh, I need to go, Willow's waking up. Thank you for your help. . .I'll call if we have further developments," Giles said.
"Thanks, Rupert. Tell William if he needs me I'm here," Angel nodded to the phone.
The call linking the Sunnydale crew to the LA crew was disconnected.
*~*~*~*
To be continued...
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