They had arrived in Sunnydale within hours of the first call. Things were so tense there, him and Buffy didn't get to do their angst thing, as Cordy liked to call it. And the explanation of Connor had to wait until later as well. Angel, Gunn, and Wesley had taken off in pursuit of the missing redhead and her captors. Fred, Cordelia, and Lorne were left in Sunnydale with Connor. Wesley figured they would be safe from Wolfram and Hart and Holtz with the Slayer. Angel hoped he was right.
But he didn't have time to think about that. Angel trusted Buffy, knew she would look out for his friends and his child. The vampire himself was more focused on his redheaded friend and getting her back from those four robbers. Angel was well aware he was on the road to redemption, but he couldn't help but wonder if the PTB would begrudge him four deaths. Not like the jerks didn't deserve it. Xander had explained to him in great detail the fear in Willow's eyes when they spoke to her through the mirror. It made the vampire very angry.
He let out a frustrated growl as the car jumped once again. Maybe reading the file while Gunn was driving was a bad idea, but no time to worry about that. They were heading south, stopping at every gas station along the road Willow had said they were on. They were making for the Interstate, but they had to make sure Willow had come through here.
They had just left some gas station in the middle of nowhere. The owners had recognized Willow's picture. Went on a great spiel about how good of a couple she made with Jeff, her husband. Angel wasn't too pleased to hear about that.
But on the plus side, he had gotten better descriptions off the old woman. He had regretted to inform her that Willow, uh Cherry, was only seventeen years of age and her parents were very worried about her. Willow probably wouldn't be happy to hear about that. Angel doubted his friend would appreciate being made out to be a pregnant teenage who had run away from home with her older boyfriend. Anne, the old woman, had been more than willing to give a description after hearing that story though.
The vampire flicked his gaze to the sketches he was able to make of the four. They sounded very large and intimidating. Angel couldn't help but feel for Willow. The poor girl must be scared out of her mind. Angel was pretty sure he was going to shred these fools into little pieces for ever touching his friend.
"Knock it off," came the command from Gunn. Angel shook himself, coming out of his dark thoughts. He turned to Gunn with confusion in his eyes.
"Knock it off with the brooding," the man clarified. "Ain't going to help get Red back. We need to focus, not drive ourselves insane with rage."
"Gunn is right," came Wesley's agreement from the back. "If we let ourselves get caught up in our personal feelings about this, we might overlook things. That won't help Miss Rosenberg in the least. We need to keep calm heads about us."
"How can I keep a calm head when one of my friends is being dragged god knows where with four losers with guns?" Angel growled out. "You do even know how scared she must be right now?"
***
"If you take the north route, we'll get there faster."
Jeff gave a little snort at that, turning to his brother.
"I agree with the captive," he said, jerking his thumb at Willow. "The north route looks faster."
Edge nodded his agreement.
"See?" Willow told Matt smugly. The elder Hardy frowned, gazing down at his map.
"Faster won't do us any good if the cops catch us," he reminded them. Willow rolled her eyes before jabbing at the map with her finger.
"We've been going south the entire time," she told him. "The cops have probably already figured that out. If we continue going south, they're going to be able to find us faster. Hit the north route, our direction changes and they have to start from square one again."
"You're surprisingly good at this," Christian informed her, giving her a strange look. "Any special reason why you're helping us kidnap you?"
"Because the faster you get to wherever the Hell you want to be, the faster I get home," the redhead shrugged. "And no offence, but I'd rather spend time with my friends than you guys, so faster is better."
"We're wounded," Edge grinned at her. "But how do we know you're not trying to help lead us into a trap?"
"Because I planned this out with the cops ahead of time, right?" Willow raised a brow at him. "I'm psychic and I knew that you were going to rob that bank and kidnap me. That's why I phoned the cops in advance and had this whole thing worked out."
Jeff shook his head slightly.
"She's right," he reaffirmed. "Taking the north route is faster, and we should change directions every now and then to throw off the cops. It might take us a day longer to get there, but in the end, we'll get there unhindered."
"Makes sense to me," Matt sighed, folding up the map. He headed to the car, keys in hand.
"You're driving?" Christian asked cautiously.
"Yeah, so?" Matt frowned at him.
"Well, it's just that we want to get there alive," Christian shrugged. "Can't really see that happening if we let you drive."
"Hey! I drive just fine!" the dark-haired man protested.
"Said the man who's had his license revoked twice for reckless driving," Jeff muttered under his breath. Willow paled at that.
"Maybe you should let one of the others drive," she suggested. "Because if I die in a car, it'll be at the hands of my friends, not my kidnappers."
"Interesting friends you got," Edge mused, helping her into the backseat. Willow gave him a bit of a smirk.
"You have no idea."
***
It hurt. It really really hurt. She couldn't understand why it hurt so much, but it did. She really wished it would go away, that she could just die already. The hurt was just too much.
"Li?"
She opened her eyes at the tentative call, seeing her blonde friend at her bedside. The blonde was holding a wet rag in her hand, using it to dampen the redhead's forehead occasionally. There were tear tracks on her face, smudging her mascara and making it run down her cheeks.
"Lita?" the blonde ventured once more.
"I hear you Trish," came the mumbled reply. "What is it?"
"Can you eat?" Trish asked softly. "You haven't had food in you for about a day now. You need to eat to keep your strength up." Lita snorted, rolling onto her side.
"What does it matter?" the redhead moaned. "Strength isn't going to do me any good. I wish I would just die already."
"Don't say that," the blonde pleaded with her. "The guys are on their way. Christian phoned us last night, they've got the money and they're on the way. It'll be over soon."
Lita resettled to lay on her back. She turned her head to Trish, taking in the desperation in her eyes. She gave an inward sigh and made herself feel a spark of hope.
"I'd like some soup if you could make it," Lita finally whispered. Trish's face lit up as she nodded. The blonde got to her feet and scurried out of the room. Lita watched her go sadly. She would hang on, if only for her friends. She just wished the guys would hurry. She couldn't take much more of this.
***
Willow was having the dream again. That poor redhead, she was in so much pain. The will to live was leaving her. And Willow could sympathize. She felt the pain along with her, and it was crippling. But Willow knew this girl was extremely strong, that was the only way she could have survived this long. The blonde woman was back, carrying a bowl of soup. Good, the redhead would never admit it, but she was starving. Having some food in her would be good.
"She's been having an awful lot of nightmares."
Willow slowly came into consciousness. It took her only seconds to figure out the guys were talking about her. Jeff had been the one to speak. His hand on resting on the side of her forehead, fingering a strand of hair. Willow didn't dwell on how nice that felt. She decided to keep her eyes shut and listen. Maybe she'd pick up more from them this way.
"Yeah, she has," Willow heard Matt agree. "She's always whimpering in her sleep. It's like she's in pain. Reminds me of-"
The man broke off, emotion catching him. Willow felt herself become more and more curious. Reminded him of what?
"Don't worry man," she heard Edge say. "We've got the money. We're on our way. Lita will be better soon."
"I know," she heard Matt sigh. "But I can't help but to think of all the pain she's in. I just wish we could get there faster."
"We're getting there as fast as possible," Christian assured him. "We're not leaving Li in the lurch here. We're going to get her better."
"They're right bro," Jeff spoke up. Willow noticed her head was on his head, she could feel it rumble when he spoke. It made her feel warm inside, but again, she ignored that.
"But what about the hostage?" Matt changed the subject. "What do you think is wrong with her?"
"Other than the fact that we kidnapped her at gunpoint?" Edge shot back sarcastically. "I don't know. What could possibly be bugging her?"
"Look, we all agreed on the plan," Christian called out. "And unfortunately the plan called for a hostage. And we would have taken one. We just happened to take this one."
"It'd be easier if she wasn't so darn cute and nice," Jeff mumbled. "I had her pegged for a smart mouth. Figured she'd be rude and pissed at us the entire time. Thought that would make it a bit easier. But she's crying and being helpful. I don't know what to make of this girl."
"We all realize you want to make with the girl," Edge teased.
"Hey, shut up!"
"Well, you are paying a lot of attention to her," Matt mused from the front seat. Willow had to bit the inside of her mouth to keep from laughing. Rainbow had a crush on her.
"But look on the bright side man," Christian spoke up. "She might like you too."
"What?"
Willow echoed that sentiment silently. What gave him that idea?
"Well, look at her man," Christian continued. "She decided to cuddle up against you for this ride. Hell, she seems to gravitate to you more so than not. Maybe our little captive has developed some feelings for you."
Willow felt herself burning with embarrassment. This conversation needed to end now. Trying for a convincing act, Willow shifted a bit in her sleep, making some mumbling noises. Very slowly she opened her eyes, turning to look at Jeff in confusion. She had cuddled up against him. That made her blush.
"Sorry," she muttered, struggling to get into a sitting position. He quietly helped her upright, hand straying on her arm for a second. It gave Willow a little bit of the shivers. But again, not thinking about that. After all, she was their hostage. They kidnapped her.
"We there yet?" she called out. Christian shot her a look in the rear-view mirror.
"You're not going to try and drive me insane with that game are you?" he asked her. Willow gave him a devilish little smile.
"I could," she giggled. "But that was an honest question."
"We're still far away from our goal," Matt answered her. "Sorry, but it's going to be another few days."
Willow nodded, her heart sinking slightly.
"Well, can we make a stop?" she asked brightly. "Cause I'm hungry and I have to pee."
"You wouldn't have to go so much if you didn't drink all that water," Edge reprimanded her.
"I need it," she whispered, hand going possessively to her water bottle. "And shut up. Who are you? My father?"
"Now there's an interesting question that should remain for private quarters," Edge shot back easily. Willow scrunched up her face, unaware that Jeff was glaring at Edge over her head.
"EW!" she declared. "Like that will ever happen. But seriously, I'm hungry and I have to pee! It's common courtesy not to torture your hostage."
"All right," Matt sighed. "There's a diner coming up. We'll stop there. And Edge, stop teasing Willow."
Willow shot the blonde man a smug look. He gave her a mock glare before snaking a hand out to tickle her. Willow gave a squeal and climbed onto Jeff's lap to get away.
The rest of the way to the diner was filled with Christian threatening to stop the car and come to the back. God, those two in the front were such parents some times. They reminded her of Angel.
***
"They wouldn't keep going south."
Angel nodded, agreeing silently with Gunn's assessment. He turned to Wesley, who was using his limited magical powers to scry for her. It wasn't a totally effective means of location, but it did give them general directions.
"Anything?" he asked.
"North," the British man replied. "They've switched to the northern direction."
Angel nodded and turned back to the map. The vampire was seated in the back with Wesley, blanket carefully covering him from the sun. He trailed a finger along a single road before shoving the map at Wesley.
"That's got to be the route," he told them. "Fastest way out of state from the north."
Wesley nodded his agreement, turning to hand the map to Gunn. The driver nodded, starting the car and pulling out of the motel parking lot.
"The clerk did say that they stayed in the same room," Angel mused. "So, they're keeping a closer eye on her than before. Meaning she probably won't be able to get away long enough to try and call Tara again."
"Well, we can hope for the best," Wesley sighed. "Because then Miss Maclay would be able to get her exact location. And then we would just be able to go get her."
Gunn nodded.
"Here's hoping for the best," the man muttered, getting onto the right exit. Angel sighed and leaned back against the car seat. He was worried about his redheaded friend. He knew she wouldn't be able to stand much more of this.
***
"She's holding on by a thread," Trish muttered to her brunette friend. Stephanie nodded, peeking around the blonde woman to glance at their friend.
"The boys are coming," Stephanie murmured. "They'll get the antidote and she'll be all better. I know it."
"I hate seeing her like this," Trish admitted tearfully. Stephanie sighed and pulled Trish into a hug.
"I do too," she whispered to her friend. "But I have faith in the boys. They're coming and Lita will be just fine."
Trish sniffled and nodded.
"I just pray they hurry."
***
Willow jumped out of the car seconds after it stopped. Pretty amazing feat since she had to scale Edge to do it. The blonde man in question watched her go while shaking his head.
"We should hide that water bottle on her," he mused. "This can't be good for her bladder."
Christian merely got out of the car, shooting the back passengers a death glare. He had not been impressed by the tickle war.
"Lighten up," Jeff laughed, getting out of the car. "At least she's not crying all the time anymore."
"We should probably get in there after her," Matt mused. "Change of attitude or not, I'm not trusting her until we get to Lita."
The others mumbled their agreement, Jeff already at the diner doors. He looked towards the bathroom area, noting that the door was still swinging. Willow was definitely in there.
He planted himself outside of the door, closing his eyes while he waited for her. Maybe Edge was right; they should take that water bottle away from her. She drank too much and then subsequently had to go a lot. And she seemed to have an unhealthy attachment to the thing.
She sure was weird.
***
Willow washed her hands, looking at herself in the mirror. Before she realized what she was doing, Willow found herself fixing her hair. What the hell did she care what her hair looked like? Hello, she was being kidnapped here.
But that didn't mean she didn't have to look bad. She could look nice and still be a hostage. And if her captors, especially a certain blue haired one, noticed, well all the better.
Willow shook her head, fixing herself with a glare.
"Stop that right now," she muttered to herself. "You do not like Jeff."
She got a few weird looks from the other inhabitants of the washroom. Willow ignored them, drying her hands and making her way out the door.
Jeff was waiting for her out there. He was leaning against the wall and he had his eyes closed. Her breath caught in her throat. He looked so much younger and innocent like that. Hard to put that image in with her scary kidnapper with a gun category she had created for him.
"Sleeping on the job?" she needled him, wagging her finger when he opened his eyes. "What would Matt say?"
"He'd say we need to take that damn water bottle off you," Jeff replied easily. "Your bathroom breaks are holding up the trip."
"So sorry Mr. Kidnapper," she shot back, pushing past him. "But you can't keep me from drinking water. Humans kind of need it to live."
"But they won't live if they burst," Jeff retorted, coming to walk beside her. "And that's got to be where you're headed. You drink too much damn water Willow. What's up with that?"
Willow stiffened slightly, eyes clouding over.
"Nothing is up with that," she whispered. "I just like water."
Jeff kept silent, knowing not to push anymore. His eyes followed the redhead carefully. Willow knew he was doing it, but she couldn't very well tell him not to look. Best to just ignore it and hope it goes away. Like that ever worked.
She spotted the others right away and made her way to them. She settled in quietly, picking up the menu and looking at it. She saw Edge shoot Jeff a look, tilting his head to her. Willow had to bit her lip to keep from laughing. He was worried about her. They were all worried about her. Real considerate kidnappers she had gotten herself.
"Can I ask you guys something?" she asked suddenly. She looked up from her menu, seeing them looking at her expectantly. She gave them a bright smile before asking.
"Who is Lita? And what supernatural whosit got to her?"
***
Angel was feeling very homicidal. It just got worse as the minutes, hours, and days dragged on. Okay, granted it had only been about two days since Willow had been taken, but that was two days too many for the vampire.
He shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat. Gunn refused to let him drive. Said he was too out of whack to do it properly, and safely. Wesley agreed. Angel was feeling a bit ganged up on. They wouldn't let him drive, wouldn't let him rip apart the countryside looking for Willow, and probably wouldn't let him tear the hearts from the chest of her kidnappers. They were such hard asses at times.
"Stop growling at me man," Gunn spoke up at that moment. "It's damn unnerving. I'm sorry Red got taken, but with this attitude, I'm about to leave you at the side of the road and go home."
"Sorry," Angel mumbled. "Just don't like this at all. Willow must be so scared."
"You're worrying too much Angel," Wesley put in from the back. "Miss Rosenberg has always been such a strong individual. And she's grown up since we last saw her. I think that if anyone could keep their calm in this, it would be her."
Angel huffed and slunk down in his seat.
"Still want to find her," he muttered. "Still want to get her home. And especially still want to disembowel her captors."
Gunn sighed as he changed lanes.
"Don't we all?"
***
Stephanie leaned against the door, eyes intent on Lita. The redhead was suffering more and more each day. But she was holding on, just for her friends.
She knew that the boys were coming, and she knew they coming as fast as they could. But when watching Lita, nothing seemed fast enough. It would still be a few days, from what Christian had told her. All Lita had to do was hold on for a few more days.
And then everything would be all right again.
***
Dawn sat on Willow's bed, hand patting one of the redhead's fuzzy sweaters. Willow had changed her wardrobe this year, but she still kept some of the good ole fuzzies. Dawn smiled at the thought of Willow in her fuzzy sweaters. The redhead looked like such a little kid when she donned one of these.
But Willow wasn't a little kid. She was a strong and mature adult. Most of the time she was a mature adult, but she was always strong. Dawn knew in her heart that if anyone could make it through such an ordeal, it would be Willow. She really was the rock when it came to the Scooby Gang. And they really wanted their rock back.
The little blonde sighed and looked over to the sleeping figure next to her. Xander was having the worst of it. He was curled up on the bed, cuddling one of Willow's sweaters. There were tear tracks on his cheeks and he slept fitfully. He was killing himself with worry over his friend.
Dawn got off the bed, careful not to disturb the young man. She hoped that Angel would find Willow soon. They really couldn't take much more of this.
***
They had finished their meal in total silence. The boys had silenced immediately after her question. Now, they seemed to flicker between suspicion and curiosity. Willow felt a little frustrated. She had wanted an answer to that question.
It was only after they were back on the road that any real discussion could begin.
"How do you know about Lita?" was the first thing that Matt asked.
"I've been listening to you guys talk a little," the redhead shrugged. "You should really learn to keep your voices down. Heard you when I was in the shower, heard you while I was sleeping. Actually woke me up."
Jeff stiffened a bit at the mention of her sleeping. He was well aware that that meant the redhead had overheard the comments about his crush on her. He couldn't decide if he was embarrassed she knew or angry that she had been eavesdropping. Christian was mad about the latter.
"Eavesdropping is rude," the blonde informed Willow through clenched teeth.
"And kidnapping is such a display of manners," she retorted, a frown coming over her features.
"What do you know about the supernatural?" Edge asked her softly. "How do you know about the supernatural?"
"I've lived in Sunnydale my entire life," she explained. "That kind of stuff does not go unnoticed by me. And the fact that one of my best friends was turned into a vampire sophomore year in high school. Kind of opened my eyes."
The four men fell silent after that. Jeff took her hand and sighed.
"Sorry about your friend," he mumbled. "And I guess we owe you an explanation."
That got him a look from Christian and Edge. But surprisingly, it was Matt who agreed.
"Let him tell her," he ordered the other two. "And then maybe she'll get some peace of mind over all of this."
Willow turned to Jeff, eyes intent on his.
"What?"
"Lita is Matt's girlfriend," Jeff explained. "And we've all been friends since like birth. We actually live in a duplex in Sunnydale, all seven of us."
"Seven?" Willow frowned, mentally counting only five of them.
"Trish and Stephanie too," Edge explained. "Trish is Christian's girlfriend, Steph's mine. We've known each other for a while. Lived in Sunnydale for about ten years now."
"But you couldn't have been more than fifteen," Willow protested. "Where were your parents?"
"We never said life was easy for us," Matt shrugged. "In fact, life sucks most of the time. Parents fell out of the equation long time ago. Only Trish and Jeff were able to make it all the way through high school. The rest of just worked from the get go. Wasn't the best life, but we got by. And we were happy."
"What went wrong?" Willow prompted.
"Lita got attacked by something," Jeff shrugged. "We never saw it coming. It was this green creature, red eyes and lots of horns. Well, I hope they were horns anyhow."
"Lita was hurt badly," Edge continued for him. "We took her to the hospital, but after bandaging her up, there was nothing they could do. A nurse there took pity on us, gave us this address in New York. A witch doctor or something, someone who would know how to help Lita."
"We spent most of our money getting Lita and the girls there," Christian added. "We stayed here, working in hopes of getting the cash to pay for everything. But it was all in vain."
"The thing that attacked Lita, a Gymilan demon, put some sort of poison in her," Jeff explained. "Apparently after the poison runs its course in the body, the person is perfect for hosting larvae for the demon. We chased the demon away before he could really do anything about the larvae deal, but the poison was still in her system. The cure involves this rare animal part or something. And the witch doctor told us the cure was damn expensive."
"Unattainably expensive," Matt put in. "There was no way we could afford the cure. But if we didn't get the money-"
"Lita would die," Willow finished for him. "So you held up the bank to get the money."
Edge nodded.
"Not quite the mastermind criminals we appear, huh?" he asked laughingly. But there was a hint of sadness there. Willow took a good long look at him, at all of them. They were so tired and so worn out. How could she not notice this before? Maybe because she was too busy feeling sorry for herself and alone.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Not your fault," Matt replied from the front. "But now you know. We still monsters?"
"Not monsters," she disagreed softly. "Definitely not monsters. Just humans."
She sighed and leaned her head against Jeff's shoulder.
"Nothing more than human."
***
"Sick little monsters."
Buffy looked up, watching as Xander paced the floor of her living room. The phone lay strewn across the coffee table, right where Xander had chucked it. Angel had called, letting them know they were on the right trail. He just pulled into a diner where the waitress remembered seeing Willow with her captors. Apparently they had been acting all chummy. Xander didn't like that.
"You need to calm down," she pleaded with him. "Stressing out is not going to do any of us any good. Angel is on his way."
"He hasn't found her yet!" Xander interrupted. "It's been almost three days and he hasn't found her yet! I don't care about anything else! Willow isn't safe and until she is, I don't care about anything else!"
"Don't you think we worry too?" Buffy screamed at him, leaping to her feet. "Don't you think the rest of us are sick with worry too? We're all scared Xander, but yelling and fighting isn't going to make a difference."
He wouldn't still. He kept pacing like a caged animal, clenching his fists like he wanted to hit something. He probably did want to hit something. But again, none of that was going to help anything.
Buffy looked up as Cordelia entered the room, carrying Connor with her. Yet another problem, or burgeoning problem at least. Angel had a baby, with Darla. And if Buffy gave that too much thought, she would hit something.
Cordelia noticed this as well. She gave Buffy a little jerk of her head, signaling the blonde to leave the room. Buffy left without a complaint. She didn't want to deal with Xander right now. In fact, she didn't want to deal with him until Willow got back. Maybe then he wouldn't such a pain.
Cordelia watched the Slayer leave, slamming the door on her way out. She flicked her eyes to Xander and couldn't help but sigh. Xander eyed her angrily.
"Don't tell me not to worry," he spat out. "I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear that Angel is doing his best. I don't want to hear-"
Cordelia cut off his tirade by stepping right in front of him. Before he could even protest, she deposited baby Connor right into his arms.
"Until Willow is back, you are taking care of this baby," she informed him. "You will put him to sleep, change his diapers, feed him, and calm him when he is agitated. So, until his dad gets back, you are sole caretaker of this child. Have fun."
She left him there, sputtering with a crying Connor in his arms. Xander watched her go with wide eyes, debating whether or not to go after her and argue. But the kid was crying.
"It's okay," he whispered, shifting the baby to his shoulder. He patted the child's back and commenced walking him around the room.
"It'll be okay."
***
"I used to be a witch."
Christian faltered a bit, causing the car to swerve. There was a chorus of screams and shouts. The blonde man righted the car and smiled a sheepish apology to his passengers.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "But would you care to repeat that?"
Willow sighed and switched her head to Edge's shoulder. She didn't notice the frown that came over Jeff's face when she did that. The redhead just continued on with the story, getting all of it off her chest.
"I used to be a witch," she repeated. "Did the whole magic thingy. Was very good at it too."
"Magic?" Jeff repeated, eyebrow arched. "As in bubble, bubble, toil and trouble?"
"I never actually did that," Willow giggled. "Didn't use that many cauldrons either. Mixing bowls would suffice most times."
"Okay, why?" was Matt's question.
"Well, I think we can all agree that Sunnydale is not the most normal place in the world," Willow mumbled, noting the nodding heads. "Well, it's more abnormal than you think. Basically, it's called the Hellmouth, and it is literally the mouth of Hell. That's why all the baddies are there. I was part of a group of people who worked to make sure that the evil things stayed more or less under wraps. I used magic to aid us, and at first it was okay."
"What changed?" Edge asked softly.
"Well, I guess I changed," Willow sighed, frowning thoughtfully. "We all changed. And then we were faced with this really big problem, so we kind had to upgrade all our skills really fast. Too fast for the likes of some."
The redhead shifted again, returning to her former position of leaning on Jeff.
"I got addicted to doing magic," she confessed. "And I mean addicted. It was like a drug to me. I started doing riskier spells, and then wound up going to see a dealer about it."
"There are magic dealers?" Christian interrupted incredulously.
"There are a lot of things in this world," Willow replied simply. "And magic dealers are one of them. I was out of control. I nearly killed one of my friends while on a high. That was the wake- up call for me. I quit that day. Just gave it all up. And it was damn hard to do."
She jiggled her water bottle in Edge's face.
"Withdrawal is hard," she informed them. "It gives you fevers and chills and shakes and nerves all at the same time. And it makes you incredibly dry on the inside. That's why I drink so much water. To take care of the dryness and to distract myself. When I want to do magic, I take a swig of water."
"And that would explain why you're drinking so much now,"
Jeff nodded. He swung an arm around her shoulders, leaning the side of his head on top of hers.
"Sounds rough."
"It is," Willow nodded. "And so, now you guys know my little secret."
"We do seem to be on a sharing kick," Edge laughed. "All the skeletons are out. Right?"
Willow nodded silently.
"Well, there's some stuff I left out, but that's because it's not really my place to tell you them," she shrugged. "Some stuff about my friends that don't really apply right now, but are nonetheless their secrets. But as for me, that's about it."
"Glad you told us," Matt offered from the front seat.
Christian nodded his agreement. Willow smiled, swallowing some tears that were forming. She let Edge take her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. Jeff kept his arm around her.
Sighing again, Willow closed her eyes and drank in their comfort. Maybe things weren't so bad after all.
***
"Is that for real?"
Anya shrugged at Dawn's breathless question. Both of them were watching Xander as he cooed to baby Connor. The man seemed to have let all his anger and tension go, instead concentrating on the baby. It was a nice change from him yelling all the time.
"Cordelia is one smart cookie," Buffy mused, peeking over Anya's shoulder to watch the man and the baby.
"Yes she is," Anya agreed, smiling as she watched her fianc� play with the infant.
"Now I want one," she declared whiningly. Dawn laughed and pulled the former demon in for a hug.
"Look on the plus side," the teenager offered. "After this, Xander might want one too."
Anya brightened at the suggestion. Smiling, she made her way over to her love, joining him at cooing at Angel's baby.
***
"I don't know what to think," Gunn admitted to his friends.
"I mean, every place we go, we find that she's acting nicer towards them," the man shook his head. "Like she's friends with them."
"She is not friends with them!" Angel interrupted. "They kidnapped her. That is not grounds for a friendship. How could she be friends with a bunch of robbers?"
"How could she be friends with two vampires, a Slayer, and a former demon?" Wesley shot back. "We all know that Willow is an amazing person. She is never one to judge people on circumstance."
"You're saying she's considering her abduction an unavoidable circumstance?" Angel growled at him. "Do you even realize how much nonsense that is?"
"Listen, Angel, I am not presuming to know anything," Wesley sighed, taking off his glasses to clean. "I'm just saying, we don't know what is exactly happening. And as for the robbers, it could be there aren't inherently evil. Not everything is black and white, you should know this. You're a vampire with a soul for Pete's sake!"
Angel clenched his fists, slowly counting down from ten.
Then he tried counting up to ten. And then down again. Who said counting calms you down. Angel was just getting angrier with every passing number.
"I just want Willow safe," he finally managed to growl out. "And I will know she is safe when I find her. I'm not leaving her with those people. I don't care if they're Robin Hood and the Merry Men; I am not leaving her with them. We're getting her back."
"We never said we weren't," Gunn sighed. "All we're saying this that the equation has changed a bit. We just don't know how exactly it has changed, and that's the problem."
Angel sighed, finally feeling the anger drain from his body.
"I know," he whispered. "This is just so damn confusing. Willow was kidnapped by a bunch of bank robbers. First she was scared of them, now she's all buddy-buddy with them. What the hell is going on?"
Wesley sighed, leaning back into the car seat. "That's the million dollar question, now isn't it?"
***
Despite the fact the boys had yet to show, Lita felt a bit better. Not physically mind you, but emotionally. Physically she still felt like dying. The burning pain crawling up and down her spine would not fade. She would develop chills and hot flashes at the drop of a hat. Her temperature still hovered around 100 degrees, refusing to come down. She could barely stomach solid foods anymore, now being confined to soup. Her head hurt constantly and sometimes her vision swam.
But for all of it, she felt better. It was as if someone was looking out for her, bearing the pain with her. Lita felt so at peace at times. It was like someone was at her side, taking some of the pain from her. It made her feel safe and content. And loved for some reason.
"Lita?"
She lifted her head to smile at Stephanie and Trish.
"Still here," she croaked out. They offered her sad smiles, Trish going to get a washcloth for her forehead and Stephanie moving to fluff her pillows. More soup was placed in front of her and Lita made a face.
"You haven't eaten anything since yesterday," Stephanie told her in a reprimanding tone of voice. "You are eating this right now and you're going to eat all of it."
"Yes ma'am," Lita mock-saluted her. Trish laughed at the redhead's antics while Stephanie merely smiled.
"Someone's in a better mood," the brunette noted.
Lita shrugged.
"I feel like things are looking up," the redhead mused. "Everything will be okay, in the end. I can feel it."
Her friends exchanged slightly confused looks before shrugging it off. All that mattered was that Lita was feeling better. And maybe everything would be all right in the end.
***
Willow shifted in her sleep. Her forehead was creased with worry lines and every now and then she let out a little whimper.
Jeff watched her with worry in his eyes. Having learned of her previous problem, the man could understand why she was having nightmares. But it still didn't sit well with him. The poor girl looked like she was in pain almost.
He raised his head, noting that Edge was watching her in the same way.
"I wonder what she's dreaming about," the blonde man mused.
"It could be a number of bad things," Matt shrugged. "From what she's told us, Willow has been through a hell of a time. The things she's seen in her life are probably nightmare worthy."
Jeff grumbled and pulled the sleeping girl closer to himself. It seemed to calm her a bit and the whimpers ceased. The others exchanged looks at that, but Jeff ignored them. He didn't like the way she cried out in her sleep. It sounded like real pain. But then she would be awake and nothing was the matter.
Jeff sighed and started stroking her hair. Secrets revealed and she was still a mystery to him.
***
Willow was with her again. And the pain just wouldn't go away. The redhead wished she could do something for this girl. The urgency of her situation just got worse every time Willow closed her eyes. She knew in her heart she was supposed to help this girl, but she didn't have a clue as to where to start.
And maybe it was just her subconscious going nuts on her. The stress of the last few days manifesting itself in strange dreams. It made a certain amount of sense, but deep inside Willow knew there was more to the whole matter than that.
But she couldn't figure out what it was. And like she was in any position to help. She was being kidnapped by criminals with hearts of gold by her standards. She couldn't very well leave these guys hanging while their friend was fighting for her life in New York.
A female friend who was accompanied by two other women . . .
Now, there were only two things in this whole world that the Scooby Gang refused to believe in. One was the national budget plan and the second was coincidences. They also used to be wary on the idea of leprechauns, but that disbelief had been dispelled by some of Anya's old friends.
Slowly, the redhead floated back into the world of consciousness. The car had stopped moving. She opened her eyes and noted that she was cuddled up against Jeff once more. And she didn't really care too much about it. Jeffie was a handsome young man.
Her eyes went to the window, seeing that they were at a gas station. She turned a slightly sleepy and confused face to Jeff.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"I think we're about three days from New York," he replied. "I wasn't paying much attention to the signs. Fell asleep myself. The others might know what state we're in. I can go ask-"
"Jeff," she cut him off. "I have something important to ask you."
The young man sat back down, turning a concerned face to the redhead.
"What is it?"
"What does Lita look like?"
***
Angel was grumbling. He was currently in the back seat, hidden under a blanket. Daytime travelling really pissed him off sometimes. Well, all the time, but whatever. They couldn't lose any time on this. He rested during the day and drove at night while the humans slept. They were making great time.
Hopefully better time than the kidnappers.
Angel felt the car slowing down.
"What now?" he growled out from under his sheet.
"Relax Dead Man," Gunn replied. "We need gas. Just stopping for a total of ten minutes to do that."
Angel mumbled a sheepish apology and settled back down. He was going to have to learn to control his impatience. Willow did always say it was one of his faults.
And when they got her back, he was going to make an effort to control that. He was going to kill her captors with the utmost patience.
***
Willow stared at the photo in her hands spellbound. All three women were in it. Trish, the blonde, Stephanie, the brunette, and Lita, the redhead who was in pain. Willow could hardly believe her eyes. She traced a finger over the image of Lita, remembering the pain the woman was in.
"Are you okay?"
She looked up at the question. Jeff was watching her with concern. So were the others. Matt was turned in his seat, watching her reactions carefully. Edge was seated next to her, turned sideways to look at her. Christian was busy pulling out of the gas station, but he was looking at her in the rear view mirror.
Slowly she nodded, eyes going back to the picture.
"You guys are not going to believe this," she shook her head. "But it sure does explain a lot to me."
So absorbed was she in the picture, she didn't notice the black convertible that pulled into the gas station mere seconds before Christian pulled out onto the freeway once more.
***
"But why?"
Willow shrugged, still holding the picture of Lita in her hands.
"I honestly do not know why," she admitted, frowning as she looked at the image of the tall redhead.
"Maybe because I'm still sensitive to magical things," she mused. "And since this started off all stressful for me, my magical senses were going all off whack. I could have made the connection to Lita through you guys. That might be the reason."
"What's the other possibility?" Edge asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine," the redhead sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm not the one who gets the psychic dreams. That's Buffy's territory."
"Again, interesting friends you got back home," Matt laughed from the front seat. Willow knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but the whole dream thing disturbed him. There was a slight tension in his posture and his eyes remained forward at all times. Having this happen to his girlfriend was obviously taking its toll on him. But kidnapping a former witch who had struck up some sort of psychic connection to his ailing girlfriend? Well, the man was not having the most pleasant time.
"She's holding on Matt," Willow whispered. "Most people would have given in by now, but she holds on. She's damn strong and stubborn too. She's not letting go so easily."
Matt nodded, turning around for the first time in a long time. He offered her a small, sad smile.
"Thanks."
"No problem," she returned, leaning her head on Jeff once more. His arm was still around her and Willow decided she liked it. The dream situation was just too weird for her. Something about the whole scenario was chilling, leaving the redhead feeling cold inside. Jeff was warmth and comfort, which she appreciated.
She also realized that the others were smirking and laughing at them. Like she even cared. Edge could tease her all he wanted, Willow still wasn't moving from her spot next to Jeff.
"Should we pull in for the night?" Christian asked the passengers. Willow shook her head.
"Keep going," she instructed. "We'll have to take turns driving. If we drive non-stop, we can get there in two days. And we need to get to her fast guys. I don't want to leave her there alone anymore."
The guys exchanged looks. Christian slowly nodded, putting slightly more pressure on the gas pedal. Willow shut her eyes and leaned back against Jeff.
"What's wrong?" he asked her. She shrugged, keeping her eyes closed.
"It's like something is very close," she mumbled. "Or someone is very close. We have to keep moving. Or we'll never make it to Lita in time."
Matt growled at that.
"Step on it Christian."