Where? When? Gah!

Chapter 8 - Potions and Hell Goddesses

Buffy met Willow at the Magic Box. It was already dark and since
Glory had attacked both Tara and Spike, she hesitated to let any of
her friends out alone at night.

The bell jingled as she enteree she shop, searching the front area for
Wills. She found her behind the counter bagging what looked like
severiffeifferent types of herbs and labeling them.

"Hey Wills, what you got?"

"Oh! Hey Buffy. Giles found a potion that might help Spike. I'm just
getting the last of the ingredients. I should be ready in a few
minutes." Willow continued to tie and label little baggies as shspokspoke.

"So you think he'll get his memory back? Go back to his old self?"
Buffy asked casually.

"I hope so. Poor Xander. I feel so bad. Do you see how hard he's
taking it?" Willow answered without looking up.

"Yeah." Buffy felt slightly guilty.

"What's wrong?" Willow heard the hesitation in Buffys' reply.

"Nothing." Buffy pulled herself up so that she was sitting on the
counter. "It's just that...well don't you think that Will is better, in some
ways, than Spike?"

"Buffy!" Willow's brow scrunched in admonishment. "What do you
mean? You don't actually want to keep Spike the way he is do you?"

"Well...He is sweeter. And way more polite. A girl could get used to
that sort of thing..." Buffy's voice trailed off.

"Buffy Summers! Are you crushing on Will?!"

"Crushing? Me? No! Of course not!" Buffy's cheeks were red.

Willow just continued to stare at Buffy. Finally she broke. "Well you
have to admit he's hot!" Buffy cried.

"Well, it's not like losing his memory made him any hotter! He's
always been sexy." Willetoretorted.

"I know. It's just that. Well, now he' doesn't seem to hate me as
much. At least not verbally. Still seems like he's afraid to be near
me." Buffy ended dejectedly.

"Well he is a vampire. And you are the Slayer." Willow tried to
reason with her. "Besides Buffy, whether you like him more as the
new improved polite Will doesn't matter. He and Xander belong
together. Don't you see what this is doing to Xander? It's breaking
his heart every minute that Spike can't remember loving him."

"I know." Buffy answered quietly. "It's just some wishful thinking."
She sighed heavily, before jumping down from the counter.

Willow came around with her supplies in one hand, her other reaching
out to pat Buffy on the back. "Don't worry Buffy. You'll meet your true
love someday soon. I know it!"

They shared a small smile before walking out the door.

***

"Spike!"

"Er...Yes miss?"

"Oh my god! It's true!" Dawn studied Spike carefully. Even without
having spoken she could tell that there was something different about
him. His normally cocky pose was replaced with a shy and almost
trepidatious stance. But it was his eyes that gave him away
completely. They were wide and quite innocent at the moment.

"So...you're William, right?" Dawn asked cautiously.

"Yes little miss. You must be Dawn. Xander tells me that you are
Buffy's sister." Will bowed to her at the introduction.

Dawn giggled. Before she could reply the door burst open, Willow
and Buffy entering at a dead run.

"Grab whatever you can and go!" Buffy screamed. She immediately
went foles'les' weapon cabinet and pulled as many swords and axes
as she could from the shelves.

"Buffy, what has happened?" Giles demanded.

"Glory." Buffy pulled another axe from the wall. "Willow and I were
talking. Stupid! And she overheard us. She knows about Dawn."
She moved to her sister's side trying to reassure her. "Don't know
what stopped her. She was right behind us, but about 4 or 5 blocks
away and she just disappeared."

The others were gathering supplies as Buffy spoke. "We have to get
out of here." Buffy warned.

"I'll get us some transportation." Giles left the flat as fast as humanly
possible.

"What's happening? What's Glory?" Will was perplexed. He could
feel the tension in the room, making his own senses go haywire. He
moved closer to Xander.

"She's bad news. Don't worry Will. I won't let anything happen to
you." Xander promised.

"I've found us a vehicle. Let's go." Giles reentered the room and
ushered everyone out.

***

FUCK! Xander wanted to scream. And at the same time he felt
numb all o Gl Glory had Dawn. Ben was *fucking* Glory. How did
they not all see that? We led her right to us! And Buffy just shut
down. No one could get through to her. They'd finally returned to
Buffy's place to regroup.

How were they going to get Dawn back? They couldn't fight a hell
god. Xander sighed heavily before slumping down into the sofa
cushions. He glanced briefly at the stairs, hoping that Willow was
somehow getting through to Buffy. Without her they definitely didn't
stand a chance.

He glanced to his right to see the nervous vampire. He'd been
witness to all the crazy sword wielding maniacs and then Glory's
kidnapping of Dawn. He was dazed and more than a little confused.
Without Buffy or Spike there was no plan on earth that could save
them.

He reached across the coffee table grabbing a hold of Willow's bag.
Sifting through, he didn't think she'd mind the privacy invasion at the
moment, he found the little bag of herbs she'd brought back from the
Magic Box. Grabbing them he went in search of Giles.

He found the ex-watcher in the kitchen putting a kettle of water on the
stove. In times of crisis, the G-man was always ready with some
soothing tea! He cleared his throat to get the older man's attention,
throwing the bag onto the counter in front of him.

"I think we should try the potion." Xander stated.

"Xander, I know that you're worried about Spike, but we do have
some other more pressing matters right now." Giles tried to make
him understand.

"I know that G-man! I'm not just thinking about me here. If we don't
get Spike back up to fighting status we're that much more fu tha than
we already are."

"Oh. I see." Giles pulled his glasses off, cleaning them with his ever
present handkerchief. "I supposed you're right." He nodded before
picking up the bag of ingredients. "I can mix up the potion now.
Since Willow is a bit busy at the moment." He sighed, turning to find
a bowl to mash the herbs in.

Xander didn't answer before turning around to reenter the living room.
He went to sit next to Will, grabbing his hand in squeezing.

"Will, I know it's been pretty wiggy tonight. But don't worry. Giles is
mixing the potion right now. Hopefully you'll have your memory back
before the end of the night. And then you won't feel so intimidated.
You're a really good fighter." Xander continued to reassure him,
rubbing soothing circles with his thumb across the back of Will's hand.

"What do you think is happening to the young miss?" Will was
worried for the young girl he'd met that evening.

"I don't know Will." er ler looked away. "I'm hoping that nothing is
happening right now. That we'll still have time to save the day, you
know? That's all we can do right now."

The room was silent when Tara entered. She was carrying a mug of
foul smelling liquid, which Xander assumed whe phe potion. "Does he
have to drink the whole thing?" Xander asked, trying to mask his
distaste of the smell.

"I'm af-fraid so. But I'm sure it will help him. I infused it with a p-
prayer to the G-Goddess after Giles prepared it." Tara answered.

Will took the cup feeling the warmth spread through his palms. He
was scared. He'd never in his life thought that he would encounter
any of the things that he'd seen since awake in in Xander's arms.
Hell gods, knights in armor, witches, magic - these were things out of
fairy tales. And now here he was, ready to drink a magic potion
blessed by a witch so that he could go out and fight a Hell god to
save a mystical princess?

He turned frightened eyes to stare into warm chocolate brown ones
and met only reassurance and love. He couldn't deny that no matter
what else he'd learned in this place, he knew that this man would
never hurt him.

Taking a deep calming breath, he brought the mug to his lips,
guzzling the sticky fluid until he'd tasted the last drop.