Chapter Eighteen C
Pairing: W/T
Rating: R – for a little bit of language
Angst/Drama Rating: This is about an 8 on the 1-10 scale.
Setting: Sunnydale – The Summers House
Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form own the characters from BtVS, they’re owned by Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. All original characters are in no way connected to them except by me in this forum. No money – and trust me I don’t have anything you would want anyway – is involved, this is simply for my own pleasure and hopefully for those who are reading it.
Email:
riverwillows@me.comFeedback: I request it, I crave it, I do read them, and any suggestion or pointers given will be taken.
Author's Notes: Well, kiddies first and foremost I'd like to thank my beta Cyteach; Crystal you’re such a help, you just don't know! This chapter was written entirely to Adele's "21" - I highly suggest it, she's just amazing. This ties up the three parts that have made up this chapter bringing it to a total of forty pages and a word count of 16,911. I feel like I should sing Auld Lang Syne to it or something, lol. Onward we go! I also have to say this is probably the darkest entry in the story yet, so be forewarned, kittens. Narcissistic Personality Disorder: A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning in early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements, high ego).
2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.
3. Requires excessive admiration.
4. Has a sense of entitlement, (i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations).
5. Is interpersonally exploitative, (i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends).
6. Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.
7. Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.
8. Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudesWillow shifted on her feet and stared at Amy. The form that stood before her looked nothing like the girl she once knew. Tara’s observation was spot on, even though Amy was clean and so were her clothes, there was something feral about her. Maybe it had always been there; her eyes darker than the warm brown they had been, her hair had stripes of green and blue in it, but the colors didn’t hide the coarse straw like condition of the hair. Her face was heavily made up, making her look much older, and the texture of her skin seemed to be almost as coarse as her hair, and sallow that couldn’t be hidden under the heavy eye makeup and lip color. She now had a prominent scar from her lower lip to the underside of her chin.
Amy stared from under her bangs back at the girls in front of her; her nostrils flared and subconsciously her nose twitched, as a slow smirk began to crawl across her features.
“I have to take care of this,” Willow said lifting the sheets in her hands as she turned to go to the basement.
Buffy stopped short of Giles, her arms crossed over her chest and her own “resolve face” in place as she eyed Amy, her distrust obvious. “Giles, she can wait on the porch for all I care, I don’t trust her near Willow. I know she’s a sneaky, self-serving bitch, so why should I let her anywhere near
anyone I care about at all?”
Giles ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “Buffy, I understand your reticence, but I can assure you she can’t harm anyone at the moment.”
Dawn piped up. “She’s so twitchy, once a rat, always a rat, I guess. Look at her Giles; I wouldn’t trust her as far as Xander could throw her.”
“Dawn,” Tara said, as she shot Dawn a look and kept a wary eye on witch in front of her.
Willow topped the stairs and leaned on the door frame from the basement; she watched this unfold, and the creepy smirk on Amy’s face grow. Amy turned her head slightly as she almost sniffed the air like the rat she had once been, and spoke for the first time.
“My Willow, things
have changed, haven’t they? Do you remember when we first cast together? How about the Bronze?” She inhaled deeply, although she kept her eyes downcast. “Yes, things have changed…”
Willow moved so quickly it seemed like she just appeared in front of Amy, staring at her suspiciously as she addressed Giles.
“Who bound her? This isn’t you, Giles, so who did it?”
Giles cleared his throat, and spoke softly. “Rowan,”
Willow glanced at him. “Who?”
Clearing his throat, Giles answered, “Rowan bound her, Willow.”
Willow placed her finger under Amy’s chin forcing her to look up into her eyes. This made Amy start to shift, her uneasiness under Willow’s cold gaze becoming quite clear. “Lady Rowan came
here to bind this one? Why? What makes this one special enough for Lady Rowan to do it herself?”
“She’s going back to The Grove with us, Willow. She is one of the witches the Council is interested in being a part of the coven should it be formed, but as you can see she’s not in any condition…” Giles trailed off and waved a hand at Amy as if that explained everything.
Willow laughed; it was harsh and cold, and so unlike Willow’s normally warm laughter.
Amy flinched under the scrutiny and laughter. Any bravado she attempted to display seeped away.
“Buffy, she’s harmless. If Lady Rowan has bound her then she will stay bound, and let me guess, Giles, Lady Rowan agreed to work with her in some way, didn’t she?” Willow said.
Giles just nodded.
Willow shook her head. “Giles, you have some explaining to do.”
Willow looked hard at Amy, seeing in her what could have been her own fate. “Amy, what did you let yourself do? What was so important that you lost you, hmm?” Willow’s voice was so sad.
Shaking her head again she turned her back to Amy moving into the living room. “If you like, tie her to a chair, Buff. Since she’s going back with us we have to deal with her for now. We leave in a few hours anyway and she can’t pull anything. I trust Lady Rowan’s binding
far more than I would anything the Council could provide.”
Willow began to pace, and really look at Giles. She noticed a bruise on his jaw and several scratches on his hands.
“Geez Giles, did she do that to you?”
“Well, yes,” Giles said as he entered the living room with the daylight coming in, dark circles under his eyes and more scratches on his face becoming clear. “It seems our Miss Madison, had err...decided to form her own little ‘coven’ of miscreants. With Rack gone there was an open market for that kind of thing here, and while her ‘coven’, and I use that term in the
loosest sense of the word, held no real power, they had intimidation and fear. She was the only one with any real potential for power.”
Giles sat in the arm chair, taking his glasses off and pinching the bridge of his nose. Buffy came in from the kitchen carrying rope in one hand and a chair in the other.
“Have a seat, Amy,” Buffy said pointing at the chair.
Tara and Dawn were still on the stairs watching Amy warily, waiting for anything she might try. Amy shuffled over to the chair and sat. She continued to watch Willow with the utmost interest. Once Amy was tied securely to the chair by Buffy, Tara and Dawn made their way to the couch and sat waiting for Giles to continue.
“She bullied anyone with any potential into joining with her and then drained any of their own acquired magicks that they might have. Here on the hellmouth, as you well know, Willow, it seems to enhance even the smallest bits of latent talent. So instead of feeding off of the magicks the way Rack had to then feed it back altered, she was simply taking. What she gave back was fear, not magicks – fear of her – she kept them subjugated to her, more or less servants. As long as they feared her, she could bend them to her will.”
Willow turned to look at Amy, her eyes narrowed. “How did you bind her then, Giles? “
Amy started to laugh and it was a hollow, evil sound. “Yes, Giles, how
did you bind me?” her tone flippant.
“That’s where Rowan and Dana come in. They agreed to bind her after I explained what I had found her to be doing. We separated her from her coven, and gave her an offer and then an ultimatum. The offer was help, a way out of practicing by way of fear and cruelty. We tried to explain that’s not what these gifts are for. Well, ask her yourself, Willow, she’s not even an sixteenth of the witch you are, and nowhere near what Rack had become. She’s a wannabe, she doesn’t even have the power her mother had, but like her mother, she has the malice of intent.” Giles spoke softly, his voice carrying strains of fatigue.
“Why?” Willow asked Amy.
Amy laughed again. “Why
else, Willow? The
power! I
know you
liked the power Willow, so you know how it can be. Power over others, power over nature itself, bending the natural order to my will — what’s
not to like about
that? But you’re not the same anymore, are you, sweet Willow? What happened to you? We could have been great together, you know. We still could.” Amy then stared maliciously at Tara. “It was always
you, though. I thought once you were gone, she’d see, and what a team we would make.” Amy rolled her eyes dramatically. “It always came back to
you; do you know how much
whining about you I had to listen to? Just when I thought I had her,
you came
back…” Amy spat.
Tara sat expressionless, but a coldness crept into her eyes that lowered the temperature in the room ten degrees with its strength. “You never had a
clue, did you? Did those years as a
rat teach you nothing?” She asked softly.
Willow muttered, “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Willow cleared her throat. “Amy, I never wanted to
hurt anyone. Why do you think I stopped seeing you and Rack? When Tara left, that’s what it took. I finally realized that I had started to become something I never wanted to be.”
“And what is
that, sweet Willow? You finally grew a
pair, only to give them back?” Amy said contemptuously.
Willow laughed sadly. “
You, Amy. I never wanted to be like you or your mother. I just wanted to help people, it was when that line became so blurred and I thought I knew best for everyone…” Willow shook her head. “No one has the right to take away anyone’s free will. You would think after what your mother did to
you that lesson would have been learned by you, but I guess some people never learn.”
With a growl, Amy tried to lunge at Willow but only succeeded in hopping in the chair, causing her to pitch forward towards the floor face first. Both Dawn and Tara leapt to their feet, ready to charge in Willow's defense.
Willow reacted instinctually to protect herself; a small field shimmered in front of her that stopped Amy's fall as it wrapped itself around her, holding her in place. Amy's eyes widened in surprise as she was held at a forty-five degree angle momentarily before Buffy grabbed her.
Willow watched as Buffy righted Amy in the chair. “So you were bound by force then, weren’t you? Why are you agreeing to go to The Grove?” Willow asked and got nothing but a hate-filled stare in return.
“Giles?”
“It was either getting help here or let the Council take her back with them to do whatever it is they do to witches that prey on their own,” Giles said with some distaste.
Willow chewed on the side of her thumb while looking intently at Amy. Suddenly Dawn started to laugh, causing all eyes to turn to her.
"Don't you see it? She's in love with you, Willow, and jealous of Tara," Dawn said. "C'mon Will, it never crossed your mind? Why else would she get as bent as she did when you didn't want to see her anymore? That’s a little more than friendly, don’t ya think?"
"Dawnie, there's no way..." Willow trailed off surprised at the suggestion, and looked to Tara for back up.
Tara shrugged. "She has a point, Will. Why else would she come back and dose you just to get you to go back to Rack's with her? That's a pretty crappy way to get near you, but it's one she thought would work, right?"
"Even I have to agree; maybe Dawn is on to something," Buffy said.
"You're all nuts! It was never like that between us. We cast some in high school, we were kids, we didn't know what we were doing back then, and bam! She turned herself into a rat! I didn't even know I was
gay then! End of story until I turned her back. Yeah, we did some stupid things at the Bronze, but that doesn't mean anything…" Willow huffed.
Amy sat silently while being talked about like she wasn't there, her expression carefully blank.
"Will, maybe it
wasn't for you, but the one person that can deny it
isn't, now is she?" Tara said as she pointed at Amy.
Willow turned to Amy. "Amy, tell them they're wrong."
Amy's shoulders started to shake, and she hung her head, only to throw it back laughing, a hollow and cruel sound.
"In
love with her? Willow has
everything I should’ve had, and what's worse, after you left, she didn't even want it!
Love her? She's
weak! She let love blind her to what's really important, the
only thing that makes any difference in this world or the next -
power. All because of
you, with your simpering little stutter, '
W-Willow that's n-not what m-magicks are f-for,' - how would
you know? ‘
Oh Amy, she has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen, and the softest hair, I love her hair, and skin, oh god, she has the greatest skin,’ I listened to that drivel for hours! It’s amazing I didn’t drag you to Rack just to get you to shut up about
her. The pair of you are
pathetic!" Amy mimicked and raged.
Willow grabbed Amy's jaw forcing her to look at her. "You
don't ever get to talk to her that way."
Amy spat in Willow's face.
The room grew deadly quiet, as everyone held their breath waiting for what Willow’s reaction was going to be. Slowly Willow wiped the spit from her cheek, and continued to hold Amy, her grip so tight her knuckles were turning white.
"Power? You wanted
power? And what? I was going to get it and just hand it over to you on a silver platter? You want to know the consequences of what true power is like, Amy? Let's take a little tour,
shall we?" Willow clapped her free hand over Amy's eyes, and poured out her memories of her time in England, the pain, the sickness, all of it for Amy to see. The muscle spasms, feeding tubes, broken bones.
Amy started to dry heave and gag as she was forced to relive Willow's withdrawals. Tears started to pour down her face and she began to sweat.
Willow let her go; shaking, she stumbled to move away from Amy. Tara was immediately by her side to steady Willow and led her to the couch to sit.
"Dawn, can you get some water?" Tara asked.
"I'm alright, really, I promise," Willow said her voice shaky and thin.
Dawn came back and handed the glass to Tara. Giles sat quietly watching Willow, with a wary eye.
"Willow, what just happened?" Giles asked gently.
"Nothing, I didn't hurt her or anything. I just showed her...showed her what England was like for me. That's all...she just saw it all once, like a movie – The Exorcist uncut maybe," Willow tried to joke between sips of water.
Buffy glared at Amy. "Isn't there a spell to keep her quiet? If not, I'm sure we can find something to gag her with."
"Buff, its ok..." Willow started to say.
"No Will, it's
really not. We have to travel with her. Giles explain. What the
hell is going on?" Tara said softly as she put her arm around Willow protectively.
"Yes, of course. Given what her options are, Miss Madison has chosen to go to The Grove and work with Rowan to release back what she has taken and once that is complete, she has agreed to be permanently bound and never practice again. She is on the Council’s list; it would appear she has family there at The Grove to help in the process," Giles said.
"After what you just saw, do you honestly believe she won't practice again, Giles? That she won't want the power of it?" Willow asked.
"Given what has just happened, no, I don't think she'll be able not to attempt to practice again," Giles responded.
"Wait, you said she has family there? Who?" Tara asked cautiously.
Giles cleared his throat. "It would appear that Tabitha Rosseur and Amy are cousins. Rosseur was Catherine's maiden name. Amy's Uncle Byron Rosseur married a woman, Jill Mayfair, who had a small amount of power, Byron, himself chose never to practice but was as strong as Amy's mother, Catherine, if not stronger though untrained. Or at least he was; he died in an apparent suicide when Tabitha was twelve. He was found in the family's swimming pool by Tabitha."
"Oh," Willow said. "What happened to Jill?"
"The last we know she was placed in a psychiatric hospital in her hometown, we believe," Giles cleared his throat. "We believe that Amy's mother took whatever power Jill had and may have even had a hand in Byron's death." Giles gave Willow a meaningful look.
Willow nodded her understanding that there would be another conversation later that would give more detail.
"Well that explains a lot," Tara said.
Willow looked at Tara for a moment. "Oh, it does, doesn't it?"
"Um, can you get us a seat on the clue train there, Will? What does it explain?" Buffy asked her eyebrow quirked in question.
Willow smiled weakly. "Tabitha is...
off. That’s the only way to explain it, there's just something about her that makes your skin crawl. So her being Amy's cousin would explain it, especially now." Willow pointed to Amy making her point clear.
"Giles, why is Tabitha at The Grove?" Tara asked.
"Due to the trauma of finding her father, and her mother's subsequent hospitalization, she needed someone to take her in and teach her how to control the power she has. It would seem that Tabitha actually has some power and is also on the list of witches of interest. She couldn't be turned over to the foster care system for obvious reasons. Once again, Rowan stepped up to take her in." Giles began cleaning his glasses.
"So Amy comes from a long line of fruit loops," Dawn snarked.
"Dawn," Buffy said.
"She isn't far off though, is she?" Amy said through a clenched jaw. This was the first time since Willow let her go that she had spoken. Her face was slick with sweat and her already sickly pallor had only gotten worse. "Lucky me, a good ol' reunion with my
dear cousin Tabby." Her voice lacked any form of sincerity or warmth at all.
"Giles, a gag, please?" Buffy asked menacingly.
"It's what she wants, Buff, just let her be, she'll shut up on her own," Willow said. "Besides, if I know Lady Rowan, her binding will have a timer in it to keep her in line until she's at The Grove. Am I right Giles?"
"Yes, Willow, you are exactly right," Giles looked at his watch. "She should have another twenty minutes before she'll be out until half an hour before we need to leave for the flight. Rowan’s quite amazing with her spell work, you know."
Willow smiled.
Everyone sat quietly watching Amy waiting for the timer in her binding to kick in before delving into just what would be happening next.
Willow leaned into Tara's embrace, slowly sipping away at the water, but her eyes never left Amy.
"Baby, what do you see when you look at her?" Willow asked.
Tara stroked Willow's cheek and turned her full attention to Amy and gasped. Everyone looked at Tara as she stared.
"I've never seen anything like it, Will. Not even when Faith was in Buffy's body. It's beyond forced, it's
ruptured...or like shards forced into place, but none fit. Some are stronger than others, mostly dark, murky greys and browns. A few slivers of blue and even fewer of white." Tara turned to Willow. "Willow, I don't see how she
functions, there's so many things fighting for control..." Tara just shook her head sadly.
Just then, with a gasp, Amy went out like a candle.
"Wow, that must be what a narcoleptic looks like," Buffy said.
Everyone looked at Buffy.
"What? I did pay some attention in some of my classes," Buffy said defensively.
"When did they start holding class in Riley's room, Buff?" Willow snickered.
Buffy turned bright red. "Okay, okay, so it was when you made me watch 'My Own Private Idaho' and River Phoenix kept falling out, I looked it up."
Giles rose and went to the kitchen followed by the four girls. They went into the dining room and sat down around the table. Giles could be heard putting the kettle on in the kitchen. Just as the kettle began to whistle, the front door opened and Xander came in.
"Whoa," They heard Xander say before he went to find the rest of the gang. Giles had just sat down and everyone was looking anxiously at him, causing him to stop short.
"Would anyone care to explain the who with the why there's a girl tied to a chair in your living room?" Xander asked.
"It's Amy, and she's going back to The Grove with us, Xander," Willow said quietly.
"Oh, well that explains everything, then," Xander said sarcastically.
"Xander, sit down please, and I'll try to explain," Giles said.
"Sure G-Man, what's the what?"
With grimace and a sigh Giles began. "Before leaving England I managed to get some information about the Council being interested in Willow and Tara forming a coven. They also had been watching 'witches of interest', so to speak. They wanted to influence who would be participating in an effort to have some control over the coven. They are banking on Willow feeling some sense of gratitude strong enough to make her agree to their terms." Giles paused to take a healthy swallow of his tea.
"Which there is no chance of this happening. Willow and I have already talked about this. She feels no sense of debt, and if we form a coven it's on our terms, the Council be damned," Tara said.
"Quite right, as it should be. However, when I saw Amy's name, I thought perhaps I might make some contact with her to test the waters. I had no idea I would find her in her present state. I called Rowan at once, and of course she agreed to help. Potentially, Amy could be dangerous, and that is the point of taking her with us. To remove that threat. So Rowan and Dana came here, and we forcefully bound Amy. She cannot cast nor will she be able to until it is removed by Rowan."
"That won't happen anytime soon will it?" Dawn asked her brow furrowed with worry.
"No, even once we get back she will simply modify it to remove the sleep timer, but Amy won't be able to cast in the near future," Giles responded, placing a hand over Dawn’s.
"So what's the plan then, Giles? What about what you said about her Uncle and Tabitha?"
"Ah yes, well we believe Amy's mother was practicing with Jill, Tabitha's mother. Now, we don't know any of this for sure, but everything points to her doing just what Amy was doing. Draining them, we don't know if Byron found out, or if she tried to drain him and he tried to stop her, but we do know Jill has been catatonic for the last decade since Byron's death. There are also indications that Amy and Tabitha may have somehow been involved." Giles took his glasses off and began to clean them as he looked around the table.
"So the screwball didn't fall far from the tree," Xander said.
"Ahh, yes, so it would appear, Xander." Giles said.
"Giles, that explains so much about Amy. It's so sad though," Willow said softly.
"Is there anything more we can do to make sure she is out of commission until you guys are safely at The Grove?" Buffy asked as she drummed her fingers on the table, obviously agitated.
"Buffy, I trust Lady Rowan. She doesn't do anything half way, so if she bound Amy, she'll stay bound," Willow stated, with Giles' nod of approval.
"It makes me incredibly uneasy, but if both Giles and Willow trust this binding, then I'll go along with it, but I think we should be extra alert. She’s not harmless or stupid," Tara added trying to ease Buffy's nerves as well as her own.
"How much time do we have left on her timer Giles?" Willow questioned.
Giles checked his watch, and rubbed his face, his fatigue plain. "We leave in an hour and a half, so she'll be out for another hour. She'll be awake for an hour, and we'll use a wheel chair to get her to the gate in case the flight is delayed and her timer kicks in again. She'll be out for four hours. Enough to cover the flight and the drive to The Grove."
"Wow, this Lady Rowan thought of everything, didn't she?" Xander quipped.
"Xan, she would, trust me," Willow smiled sadly.
“Does it hurt her, when she goes out like that?” Dawn asked.
“No, Dawn, it’s like being heavily sedated and just falling deeply asleep. She’s not aware of what’s going on around her, she’s in no pain. She wakes up groggy and compliant. Rowan really did think of everything in order to make this as easy as possible until we can get safely to The Grove.” Giles said.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, Giles; it’s kind of scary to watch. Just how strong has she gotten?” Buffy asked.
“By herself, she is a moderately powerful witch. When directing her coven, she had gotten very powerful, because she was accessing the power of twelve other people to feed her own. She will never have the power Willow or Tara has, but at that level she was comparable to her mother; making her no small threat on the magickal level.”
Willow looked at Tara with a small smile at the mention of her power. Tara smiled back shyly, ducking her head slightly.
Buffy started to get up from the table. "Well, let's load everything up, that will kill some time. Will, why don't you, Tara, and Giles stay with the wicked witch of the west and we'll take care of the rest, ok? I'd just feel better knowing that if anything happens we've got our best defense on the ready," Buffy said trying to smile.
"That's probably a wise decision, Buffy," Giles said shuffling into the kitchen to pour himself more tea.
Everyone rose; Buffy, Xander and Dawn disappeared to take care of several bags Willow and Tara had coalesced to take with them. Some Xander would be shipping after getting everyone to the airport and on their way.
"Besides, Giles you look almost as bad as Amy, so maybe you can rest for a bit before we leave," Tara observed openly.
"I'm just going to put the sheets in the dryer, baby... unless you wanna come with me for a few smoochies? I could use a hug too," Willow said as she slipped her arms around Tara.
"Awww, sweetie are you ok?" Concern clear in Tara's voice.
"I am now. I don't know what's worse, Tara, seeing her like this or knowing it could have been me. I knew her mother wasn't exactly June Cleaver but I didn't think she was Mommy Dearest from Hell either," Willow tightened her hold on Tara and rested her chin on her shoulder.
Tara stroked Willow's back trying to soothe her. "No, I imagine you didn't, sweetie, but this is the hellmouth. Things like this happen here, and it seems more bizarre than in other places." Tara pulled back to look at Willow. "But Will, I don't think you would have ended up like Amy. Your motivation was different; ultimately you saw what it was doing to you and you didn't want that for yourself. Amy just didn't care."
"You're right, as usual," Willow said placing a soft kiss on Tara's lips. "Sheets, we can make the bed back up before we leave."
Tara chuckled wickedly. "Makes clean sheet day have a whole new meaning."
"I don't mind when the cause was anything like last night, baby," Willow pulled Tara close again so she could bury her face in her neck.
"Mmm, me either," Tara purred. "Did you really say all those things to her about me?” She asked, her natural shyness coming through.
Willow placed several small kisses on Tara’s neck before replying, “Yes, God, Tara, don’t you know how I adore you — how beautiful I think you are? Not just physically, but your soul is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen! It doesn’t hurt that it’s wrapped up in such a
yummy package.” Willow wiggled her eyebrows at Tara with a goofy smile.
“You goof,” Tara said giving Willow a peck on the cheek. “Sheets. Don't get sidetracked, sweetie."
"Yes, ma'am, but it's so easy to do," Willow smiled as Tara led her off to the basement.
******
After a few minutes, they were back in the living room watching Amy sleep. The cars were loaded up and ready for the trip to the airport. Now it was all about the waiting. Giles rested in the arm chair, while Buffy paced in the kitchen. Dawn and Xander channel surfed to waste time.
Slowly, Amy’s fingers started to twitch, and Tara squeezed Willow's knee. With a short nod of her head towards Amy, they watched her come back to life. They knew it meant it was time to go.
Willow woke Giles, while Buffy freed Amy from the chair and they all trooped out to waiting cars. As they pulled away from the Summers House, both Tara and Willow turned to look over their shoulders from the backseat of Xander’s car, as he followed Giles down and away from Revello Drive.
TBC...