Was It Always Like This?
folder
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
24
Views:
3,899
Reviews:
0
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
-Buffy the Vampire Slayer › Het - Male/Female
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
24
Views:
3,899
Reviews:
0
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Buffy unwound the protective wrapping on her hands and slowly rotated her shoulders to relax. The punch bag was still swinging and she put hand and out to stop it before heading for the front of the shop.
“Hey guys” she said as she finished drinking from her water bottlehat’hat’s the skinny?”
“Nothing” Xander murmured and returned to reading his comic book.
Dawn looked up from her homework. “I got algebra, other than that, zip” she said and returned to her books.
Willow smiled at both of them and indicated that Buffy should take the remaining seat next to her. “I’m writing to Giles to let him know that the Hellmouth has been particularly quiet for the last couple of weeks, to see if he has heard of any big, brewing evil”
Buffy leaned over to read the letter in front of her friend. “And he needs to know you’re glad to be showering alone because?” she asked humorously and watched as the red head flushed and quickly covered over the rest of the letter.
“It’s just an English joke” she muttered and prayed that the others would let it go.
Xander looked at her in astonishment. “Who did you shower with while you were over there?” he asked then clasped his hand to his mouth. After several seconds of stunned silence he finally removed his hand and waved it in the air. “Forget I asked that, I so don’t need to hear about slippery when wet Giles”
“Xander!” Willow shouted in outrage and looked towards Buffy for assistance. Buffy just continued to stare at Willow with a look of deep concentration on her face.
“What makes you think it was a man?” Dawn asked Xander, with a completely straight face.
“Dawn!” Willow shouted, even more concerned at this turn in the conversation.
“Dawn, pack up your homework, I think it’s time I took you home” Buffy smiled and leaned closer to Willow. “You and I are going to talk later tonight” she whispered and then moved to the doorway. “Xander, could you give Dawn and I a lift?”
The young man was sitting with a shocked look on his face. He had initially succeeded in removing an image of Willow and Giles in a shower from his mind, but the image of Willow and another woman in a shower was taking much longer to evaporate. He was finally brought back to the present when Willow punched his arm.
“You had better get home and clean out that dirty mind of yours Xander Harris” she suggested and kept eye contact with him as he rose and followed the others out of the shop.
Willow sighed in relief at being let off the hook and had uncovered and returto hto her letter when Anya suddenly appeared behind her.
“The mind connection was still there, wasn’t it?” she asked and then sat down in Buffy’s recently vacated seat. “When you got to the coven, you and Giles could still see what the other saw?”
Willow cursed herself for forgetting Anya and the extremely silent nature of the ex demon’s footware. She considered lying to her but realised that Anya wouldn’t stop and the thought of this conversation lastfor for days was more than Willow could bear. “It lasted for about two weeks” she admitted in a quiet voice, her eyes still on the letter.
“I didn’t tell anyone else” Anya said quietly and waited for the Witch to meet her steady gaze. “After you both left we were all pretty busy with the clearing up and then everyone sort of dealt with their own pain. After a couple of weeks the day was never mentioned again and I never told anyone that Giles could see and feel what you were doing” Anya explained.
“Why?” Willow asked.
“Nobody asked how I was doing or made sure I was OK” Anya explained quietly and then smiled a little as she looked at Willow. “The others were all busy bonding again and dealing with their ‘issues’ and I was just left to get on with it” Willow made to interrupt but Anya placed her hand on the girl’s arm to stop her. “I stayed with him after you and Buffy left and I thought he had died”
Willow looked at her in shock and suddenly felt sick. “I didn’t know” she perepered.
“I know” Anya replied. “I ‘ported over to Buffy and Dawn and told them where you were and that he was really bad, then I came back here and stayed with him. He told me he was dying and then passed out for a while” Anya stood up and straightened out some books on the nearby shelf. “He came back round and said that Xander had managed to stop you but I was just so happy to see him still alive that I didn’t care what you had done. After a little while I helped him out of the shop and he met up with you at Kingsmans Bluff before you both teleported back to England”
Willow wiped her eyes, trying not to give in to the urge to sob. “I don’t really remember much after I took his power” she said quietly and took a deep breath. “It really overloaded me and I didn’t really come back to full awareness until I had been in England for a couple of days. The coven had been slowly removing his power from me and it was only when I was able to think straight agthatthat I realised our connection was still there”
Anya nodded and sat down at the opposite side of the table.
Willow wiped here eyes once more. “Giles said that it had originally been a two way link but I don’t remember seeing through his eyes and I’ve never been able to since then, but he couldn’t switch the connection off from his end for a couple of weeks and” she paused.
“And he was your back scrub buddy?” Anya asked and smiled a little.
Willow sighed and gathered herself. “At first I tried to shower with my eyes closed but you only need to drop the soap once and that’s not going to work. Eventually he managed to cut that part of the connection and I was able to get clean without the trauma”
“Didn’t you miss him?” Anya asked with the brutal quest for the truth that only she could bring to bear.
Willow blushed again and put her head in her hands. “The connection was never completely broken, just the visuals” she admitted and then looked up at a slightly surprised shopkeeper. “We were still able to sense each other’s emotional state right up until I got on the plane to return. And yes, I do miss him inside my head and by my side every minute of every day but I will deny it if you ever tell anyone else”
Anya gazed at the determined young woman and sensed a build up of power around her. She held up her hands and stood, backing away from the table. “I’ve kept it a secret this far, you t hat have to worry about me but I think Buffy is starting to get suspicious”
Buffy unwound the protective wrapping on her hands and slowly rotated her shoulders to relax. The punch bag was still swinging and she put hand and out to stop it before heading for the front of the shop.
“Hey guys” she said as she finished drinking from her water bottlehat’hat’s the skinny?”
“Nothing” Xander murmured and returned to reading his comic book.
Dawn looked up from her homework. “I got algebra, other than that, zip” she said and returned to her books.
Willow smiled at both of them and indicated that Buffy should take the remaining seat next to her. “I’m writing to Giles to let him know that the Hellmouth has been particularly quiet for the last couple of weeks, to see if he has heard of any big, brewing evil”
Buffy leaned over to read the letter in front of her friend. “And he needs to know you’re glad to be showering alone because?” she asked humorously and watched as the red head flushed and quickly covered over the rest of the letter.
“It’s just an English joke” she muttered and prayed that the others would let it go.
Xander looked at her in astonishment. “Who did you shower with while you were over there?” he asked then clasped his hand to his mouth. After several seconds of stunned silence he finally removed his hand and waved it in the air. “Forget I asked that, I so don’t need to hear about slippery when wet Giles”
“Xander!” Willow shouted in outrage and looked towards Buffy for assistance. Buffy just continued to stare at Willow with a look of deep concentration on her face.
“What makes you think it was a man?” Dawn asked Xander, with a completely straight face.
“Dawn!” Willow shouted, even more concerned at this turn in the conversation.
“Dawn, pack up your homework, I think it’s time I took you home” Buffy smiled and leaned closer to Willow. “You and I are going to talk later tonight” she whispered and then moved to the doorway. “Xander, could you give Dawn and I a lift?”
The young man was sitting with a shocked look on his face. He had initially succeeded in removing an image of Willow and Giles in a shower from his mind, but the image of Willow and another woman in a shower was taking much longer to evaporate. He was finally brought back to the present when Willow punched his arm.
“You had better get home and clean out that dirty mind of yours Xander Harris” she suggested and kept eye contact with him as he rose and followed the others out of the shop.
Willow sighed in relief at being let off the hook and had uncovered and returto hto her letter when Anya suddenly appeared behind her.
“The mind connection was still there, wasn’t it?” she asked and then sat down in Buffy’s recently vacated seat. “When you got to the coven, you and Giles could still see what the other saw?”
Willow cursed herself for forgetting Anya and the extremely silent nature of the ex demon’s footware. She considered lying to her but realised that Anya wouldn’t stop and the thought of this conversation lastfor for days was more than Willow could bear. “It lasted for about two weeks” she admitted in a quiet voice, her eyes still on the letter.
“I didn’t tell anyone else” Anya said quietly and waited for the Witch to meet her steady gaze. “After you both left we were all pretty busy with the clearing up and then everyone sort of dealt with their own pain. After a couple of weeks the day was never mentioned again and I never told anyone that Giles could see and feel what you were doing” Anya explained.
“Why?” Willow asked.
“Nobody asked how I was doing or made sure I was OK” Anya explained quietly and then smiled a little as she looked at Willow. “The others were all busy bonding again and dealing with their ‘issues’ and I was just left to get on with it” Willow made to interrupt but Anya placed her hand on the girl’s arm to stop her. “I stayed with him after you and Buffy left and I thought he had died”
Willow looked at her in shock and suddenly felt sick. “I didn’t know” she perepered.
“I know” Anya replied. “I ‘ported over to Buffy and Dawn and told them where you were and that he was really bad, then I came back here and stayed with him. He told me he was dying and then passed out for a while” Anya stood up and straightened out some books on the nearby shelf. “He came back round and said that Xander had managed to stop you but I was just so happy to see him still alive that I didn’t care what you had done. After a little while I helped him out of the shop and he met up with you at Kingsmans Bluff before you both teleported back to England”
Willow wiped her eyes, trying not to give in to the urge to sob. “I don’t really remember much after I took his power” she said quietly and took a deep breath. “It really overloaded me and I didn’t really come back to full awareness until I had been in England for a couple of days. The coven had been slowly removing his power from me and it was only when I was able to think straight agthatthat I realised our connection was still there”
Anya nodded and sat down at the opposite side of the table.
Willow wiped here eyes once more. “Giles said that it had originally been a two way link but I don’t remember seeing through his eyes and I’ve never been able to since then, but he couldn’t switch the connection off from his end for a couple of weeks and” she paused.
“And he was your back scrub buddy?” Anya asked and smiled a little.
Willow sighed and gathered herself. “At first I tried to shower with my eyes closed but you only need to drop the soap once and that’s not going to work. Eventually he managed to cut that part of the connection and I was able to get clean without the trauma”
“Didn’t you miss him?” Anya asked with the brutal quest for the truth that only she could bring to bear.
Willow blushed again and put her head in her hands. “The connection was never completely broken, just the visuals” she admitted and then looked up at a slightly surprised shopkeeper. “We were still able to sense each other’s emotional state right up until I got on the plane to return. And yes, I do miss him inside my head and by my side every minute of every day but I will deny it if you ever tell anyone else”
Anya gazed at the determined young woman and sensed a build up of power around her. She held up her hands and stood, backing away from the table. “I’ve kept it a secret this far, you t hat have to worry about me but I think Buffy is starting to get suspicious”