Title- Admissions of Guilt 12/?
Sequel to- Admissions
Author- Veronica
E-mail- roni.s@sympatico.ca
Pairing- G/W
Rating- PG 13, some language (not much though)
Disclaimer- Joss owns all in the Buffyverse, I just use them like Barbie's for my own twisted fun.
Spoilers- post Grave
Distribution- if you like it, take it… just let me know where.
Feedback- sure, why not. ;)
Summery- An old nemesis is back, and is seeking revenge on Giles and Willow.
She was near to exhaustion as she entered the shop and made her way to the counter and placed her order. The Espresso Pump wasn't a long distance from her place, and should be easy to walk to, as she had done many times over the years; but now, even a small trip down the block tired her out. Something was draining her energy-but what?
The red head was worrying more and more; and rightly so. The blackouts came more often, and lasted longer than when they had first started. So far, it had only happened while with her friend's once-as far as she knew. All of a sudden finding herself in a different part of the house, or somewhere on the streets with no memory or explanation as to how she got there; it was really beginning to wear on her nerves and it was taking everything she had not to snap at everyone.
"Your turn to buy again? Don't your study buddies ever buy?" asked the young woman behind the counter as she took the money and counted out the change.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Actually, one of the girls is paying for this round. I just happened to get elected to go and get them." Lied Willow with a shrug. The women shook her head and handed Willow the change, as well as push the coffee tray forward.
"The two with the ice cubes is marked on the lids."
"Thanks." And she grabbed the coffees and made her way out the door. Down the street a ways, she sat down on a bench, removed the lid off one of the paper cups and quickly gulped it back. Giving herself a couple minutes, she then removed the lid of the second cup and did the same, thankful for the ice cubes that allowed her to drink the coffee the way she did.
She sat back and tried to let herself relax a little as she watched people walking along the streets, totally oblivious to the real dangers around every corner. She should know; it wasn't that long ago she was the one to be afraid of. She wondered how an entire town wouldn't see the things that go on, how they could be so blind as to not to notice.
Then she realized, she'd lived here for fifteen years before she discovered that what goes bump in the night really does go bump; or, more like `thud', with a little ignored screaming thrown into the mix. Yeah, it's truly amazing what you can make yourself believe or ignore if you try hard enough.
She decided it was time to pick herself up and get home; `Sun will be setting soon.' She thought as she popped the top on her third coffee, stood up and walked down the street sipping away, hoping it wouldn't be too long before the sugar and caffeine took effect. This had become her new routine, drinking as much coffee as she could, and eating chocolate. It was becoming a necessity lately.
Although, she was beginning to wonder if it was helping at all. For this past week, everyone seemed to be paying closer attention to her. No one said anything to her, but maybe they were catching on that something wasn't right, and that she was trying to hide it. When she returned to Sunnydale two weeks ago, she knew it would take a while for all of them to adjust to her again. And just when things seemed to be getting back on track, out of the blue it started.
She almost never had any time to herself anymore; there was always someone there with her. Whether it was Xander or Buffy, it didn't matter. Giles was staying with her at her parent's house, so that couldn't exactly be helped; but still. If it weren't for sneaking out to get coffee at the `Pump', she'd never have any peace.
It was hard keeping up the façade that nothing was wrong; no blackouts, and back to her energetic self. But for how much longer she could keep this lie going, she didn't know. But she did know that she couldn't put it off too much longer; soon she'll have to tell them what's happening to her-not that she even understood it herself yet.
* * * *
Willow walked in the front door and could smell an inviting aroma wafting in from the kitchen. Giles had heard the door shut and peeked his head around the doorframe.
"Ahhh, your back." He said.
"Hi, Rupert." She said and sniffed. "You cooked dinner again." And with that, Giles noticed she didn't exactly sound all that enthused about it.
"Uh, yes I did. I hope your hungry." He replied, wondering how to handle this. "Is there something wrong?"
"I-it's just that, well you've cooked all week and I was hoping to cook for you. You know, more than just the once. I guess I'm being a little petty, aren't I?"
"Oh, I see." He commented. "I-I didn't realize that you felt that way. I'm sorry, luv. It's just that it has been so nice to prepare a meal for someone else after so many years of having no one to do this for but me. I guess I've gotten a little too carried away." He finished, looking to the floor.
"Oh, Rupert. I'm so sorry. I didn't really think about it that way." She said, "That's so sweet of you, really!" she said, putting him at ease. Her reward was a bright smile that threatened to make her knees to go weak. She walked over to him and gave him a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Here, you sit while I finish with dinner." He said, as he pulled away and gestured to a chair for her to sit, and made his way back to the oven. "So, where did you get to today?"
"No where special. Just took a walk around, then went to the coffee shop."
"Well, I must say, you had picked a rather nice day for it. Not too hot, nor too cold."
"How are the plans coming along with the Magic Box?"
"Wonderful! Anya's quite excited about it. We were finally able to agree on a set of blue prints that we were shown, and the rebuilding will begin next week."
"That sounds exciting! How long will it take to do?"
"Well, the main part of the structure isn't really damaged, but we are going to do a little expansion on it. So the back room where Buffy normally trained will be torn down, allowing for a larger room to replace it, and we'll be adding a second storey to it as well. The room will be used for training-as always, but the room above will be used more as an office. Purchasing products and filing and what-have-you."
"Wow! I can't wait to see how it turns out." She said with enthusiasm.
"I would show you the blue prints, but Anya wanted to keep them for herself. She's anxious to get started as soon as possible. I must say, she was quite unhappy that they would not start construction tomorrow."
"Knowing Anya, she'll sleep with it under her pillow." Both couldn't help laughing at Willow's comment as Giles brought over two plates and placed them on the table.
"I hope you like pot roast?" he asked.
"Mmmm, smells great!" she said as she cut a small piece of meat and placed it in her mouth. "And it tastes even better than it smells." But as she chewed a sharp pain hit her temple causing her to flinch slightly and close her eyes.
"Willow, are you alright?"
"No, no. I'm fine, just a headache." She said as she looked up, but a movement outside the window caught her attention.
"Would you like me to get you some aspirin?"
"Yes, would you please?" she smiled at him thankfully as he got up from the table.
"I shant be more than a minute, luv." He said, but once he left the room, the red head got up from the table and quickly made her way to the door and stepped out.
"I told you morons to be more discreet! If you can't hide better than this, then you deserve to be caught and killed! Or maybe I should just do it myself!" she hissed, and the two robed figures backed away and hid in the bushes. "Good help is so hard to find these days." She said to herself and went back to the table and sat down again.
"Here you are." He said as he handed her the tablets. "Would you like some water to wash those down with?"
"You know, I'm actually feeling much better." She said, as her blue-flecked eyes scanned his form appreciatively. "I'm also not all that hungry anymore," and with that, she gave him a seductive smile, "for food that is."
She stood slowly and pressed her body against Giles, and wrapped her arms around him, with one hand finding its way to his head and tangling its fingers in his hair. The red head pulled his head to hers and kissed him hungrily, eliciting no struggle from Giles at first. But the older man regained his senses quickly and gently pushed her back, looking into her eyes and drawing his brows together slightly.
"Willow? Your eyes."
"Yeah, what about them?" she said impatiently.
"I've never noticed the blue flecks in them before. Have they always been like that?"
"I guess it just depends on what kind of mood I'm in." she snickered, "Now, where were we?" and she leaned in to kiss him again, but he held her back. "Now what?"
"You do realize that this will change things." It was a statement, and he couldn't help notice the astonishment in her eyes.
"You mean we…" But she didn't finish the question. `Damn!' she thought, `They haven't even bedded each other yet! SHIT!' "Yes, I realize this will change things for us, but I'm ready for that. Change is a good thing, if it brings us closer together." She said, and seeing the acceptance in the man's face she knew she said the right thing. 'Yeah, I'm good.'
Giles took her hand in his and led them upstairs to his room, but as he turned to shut the door, he didn't notice the sinister smile that came to the young woman's lips.