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The screams kept coming as Willow watched in horror. It appeared that her best friend and her mentor were literally burning alive from the fireball that she sent at them. There was nothing she could do anymore. The two were dead. She had killed them. It was all her fault.
That's when she felt a gentle shaking. A sweet familiar voice was saying her name. The voice was worried. "Willow! Sweetie, wake up!" Willow was still watching her friends burn. She felt gentle kisses on her forehead.
Her eyes popped open and she gasped. She fell into Tara's arms and began crying. She was crying so hard that she was having trouble breathing. "I-I..." She gasped again for breath. "I-I" Her eyes were wide with the sight that she had just took in. "I killed Buffy and Giles."
Xander, who had run to the car along with Anya when he had heard the screams, looked at his friend. "What are you talking about, Will?"
"I-I did it. I killed my friends." The tears were flowing so fast and hard she couldn't see anything. Her body was shaking hard from the thought of the horrible thing that she had just done. "Oh, God! Oh. God!"
"Willow, Sweetie." Tara swallowed hard. It wasn't often that Willow broke down like this. At least not with her. The Blonde had known the red head when she was at her strongest. When she was so sure of herself. This was something she'd only seen when Willow had lost control of her powers. Or at the thought that she could be the one to destroy the world. "It was just a dream. You dreamed it all." She gently kissed Willow on the neck and held her even tighter as she was still shaking and sobbing uncontrollably.
Willow just held on to her girlfriend for dear life. If she hadn't had Tara there, she didn't know what she would have done. The woman seemed to known just what to say and do. And she loved her more than anyone else in the world.
Xander pointed to his watch. It was nearly midnight. The time that Ethan had told them that Buffy and Giles would return if they were still alive. Speaking of Ethan. "Damn it!" Tara gave Xander a look. Like this is not the time. "Ethan's gone."
Tara sighed. That was the least of her worries at the moment. Her everything was on the verge of a breakdown because she had dreamed that she had lost control again. And this time she had cost two people she loved their lives. She wanted to forget about Ethan, even though she knew he could be very dangerous himself.
Spike finally came around the side of the old building. He was running in fact. He came up next to the car and saw the state that Willow was in. "Bloody hell! What happened here?"
Tara shot Spike a look and he immediately backed off. It wasn't often that you got Tara mad. But when you did, you best be backing off. And she was mad. Mad that Willow thought she could ever harm her friends. Mad that Willow was having to go through this. And mad that it was a reminder of what was now only a few short months away. Too soon in fact.
Finally, Willow began to calm down. "Are you sure it was all a dream? I mean, it just felt so real." Tears still slowly fell down her cheeks.
Tara kissed each tear away before answering. "I'm sure. You fell asleep. You are more than exhausted. And it's so late. You're mind just let your fears come out, that's all. When midnight comes, you'll see. Buffy and Giles will be back."
"Uh," Xander got a scared look on his face. "I hate to say this, but it's past midnight."
Willow was again about ready to cry. The look of fear on her face was unmistakable. She looked up into Tara's beautiful blue eyes. "I told you. It was real." She swallowed hard. "I thought that maybe I had control over my powers. And I think what happen was I was so afraid that something had happened to Buffy and Giles that I kinda astral projected myself to the dimension they are in. And I lost it. I got so upset at seeing the demons attacking Buffy. And Giles was unconscious. I just lost it." Now tears did start falling again. "I so don't deserve the powers that I have. Not if it's going to cost me my friends, damn it!"
That's when a bright light flashed from the sky. Two figures fell hard to the ground. Spike and Xander were the two that reacted first. Both ran over to see what had happened. What they found was a real relief to Xander. Buffy was very bloody, but she was still breathing. And Giles had his fair share of scrapes and bruises. But both appeared more or less all right.
Buffy's eyes fluttered open. She instinctively attacked Spike. Spike let her knock him to the ground. He didn't even fight back. And it wasn't because of the chip. Although, that did play it's part. There were other reasons as well.
"Buffy!" Xander shouted at her as he still knelt next to Giles. "He's on our side. For now anyways."
Buffy turned and looked at Xander. Her eyes were wide. She had a wild look about her like she was an animal on the prowl. But the minute she really took in Xander, she smiled. "Sorry. My slayer side really took over. And if that fireball hadn't come out of no where, we surely would have been toast ourselves."
Willow sat up quickly. She and Tara made their way over to where everyone else was now standing. "What do you mean, there was a fireball?"
Buffy shrugged. "Well, just when it looked like I was a total goner, this fireball flew out of nowhere. It was the strangest thing. I could feel the heat, but it didn't do a thing to me or to Giles. But it made crispy critters out of the demons that I was fighting. That fireball saved my life."
Willow collapsed to the ground. Tara was by her side in an instant. "I-I didn't kill them." She looked into Tara's blue eyes again and saw the love and understanding in them. "I saved them?"
Tara smiled at her and took her into a hug. "I guess I was wrong. I guess you did astral project yourself. But you didn't hurt them. You were probably just too out of it from the dimension hopping. You probably only saw the fireball hit them and thought you saw them burn up. You saved them, Sweetie. You used your control and you saved them."
Willow smiled big. She couldn't believe it. All that time in England had been well spent. She hadn't been sure if she had really learned anything. She felt she had, but she couldn't be sure. But to have had to use that knowledge and have it come out with her friends safe made her heart swell. And it wasn't with pride. It was with relief. She now may be able to help again with the fight against evil, if she was really careful.
"What exactly is going on?" Buffy looked at Willow who was still on the ground with Tara. "If I'm understanding any of this, it sounds like Will saved us. Unknowingly, but you did save us, didn't you?"
Willow shyly nodded her head. "I fell asleep thinking about you. I was sure that you wouldn't last. Ethan told us it wasn't a good place he sent you. But there was no way to bring you back. We had to wait for midnight. I guess my mind did what I wanted it to. Only not knowing. I was the one that sent the fireball. Only, I thought that I killed you and Giles as well. My mind was a little hazy. As Tara said, it must have been because I astral projected myself. Only part of me was actually there. So I got kinda confused. God, I thought I killed you Buffy!"
Buffy quickly made her way over to her best friend. "Thanks to you, I'm alive." She looked at her self. "I would hug you but I'm kinda icky at the moment."
Willow quickly stood up. "Since when has that stopped us." She pulled Buffy into a big hug. That's when they heard a groan.
"He's coming to." Xander watched as Giles tried to sit up. "Careful, G-man. You've been knocked out again. Probably gonna have one of those concussions you are so good at getting."
"I rather think you are right." Giles held his hand with his head. "And I've asked you not to call me that." He looked up to see a bloody Buffy and a teary eyed Willow. "Is everything all right?" He got his worried tone.
"Just peachy." Buffy looked at her self again. "Although there is definitely no saving any of these clothes. Mom's magic wash is just not gonna do the trick this time." Her eyes went big. "Oh! Mom! She must be worried sick. And where's Riley?"
"Somewhere still off looking for you." Xander shrugged. "He said he just couldn't sit around. He had to try and find you. Still not sure where the big guys is."
"First, I gotta get home." Buffy looked at Giles. "You gonna be able to get home all right?"
"With a little assistance, I should be able to manage quite nicely." Giles was now sitting up.
"I'll help get him home." Spike stepped forward. "You just see to it that your mom is all right."
Buffy eyed him for a moment. He had been helping on patrol all summer long. And he had been really nice to her all that time. She couldn't help but wonder what the vampire was really up to. "Thanks." She watched Xander and Anya help Spike get Giles into Xander's car. They slowly sped into the night. "What about you two? Are you two gonna be all right?"
"Just need a couple good nights sleep and I should be fine." Willow smiled at her friend. "You don't want to know how much it hurt when I thought I had accidentally killed you."
"I'm just glad you didn't." She smiled at Willow and gave her another quick hug. "Shall we meet at Giles' tomorrow? Not too early. None of us needs that."
"Sure. Tell your mom hi for us." Willow smiled as Buffy took off so fast. "The only thing I wonder in all of this is where has Riley gotten to?"
Riley stood in an empty cave. There were telltale signs that somebody not too long ago had been using it. But it wasn't an ordinary person that had been using it. There was computer things lying all around the cave.
Riley knew who it had been. It had been Adam. But Adam was gone. Unfortunately Adam was long gone. Riley made his way through the cave. He walked to what looked like a master control unit. There were several monitors and other things.
He flipped a switch and all the monitors came on. He pressed several buttons. There was now a picture of a bloodied Buffy running towards her house on Rovello Drive. He smiled as he watched her run.
A familiar voice came out from behind him. "Sorry that our plans didn't work out." Ethan stepped out from the shadows.
Riley shrugged. "It's only a matter of time before my plan succeeds. I just wish I hadn't had to destroy Maggie's great creation. But he was out of control. And everything needs to be under my control."
Ethan watched as he pushed a few more buttons. The monitor was showing Giles being carried into his flat by Xander and Spike. Another few buttons pushed and there were the images of Willow and Tara on the way to Willow's house. More buttons were pushed and he was watching Buffy walk into her house.
"It will all only be a matter of time before I control every thing in this town." He turned to Ethan. "I don't want to have to worry about loose ends." He took several threatening steps towards the old sorcerer. "I can get very creative when I'm upset so I suggest that you keep me happy. Does that sound like a plan to you?" Ethan simply nodded. "Excellent. And I know that you underestimated the red head. I trust that it won't happen again in the future."
"I now know what the girl is capable of, I assure you." Ethan swallowed. Suddenly this wasn't sounding like such a good arrangement.
"Your very life depends on it." Riley turned back to the monitors. Buffy was now in her living room. And Riley was watching her every move.