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Title: Ask Me No Questions, I'll Tell You No Lies
Author: Karen U
E-mail: ksu2@juno.com
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Joss Whedon, the WB, and Fox
Summary: Graham's plan involving Willow yields unexpected results
Spoilers: Through Doomed and Parting Gifts

Part One

She was very cute; he had to admit that. From what Riley had told him, it
appeared she was also rather smart as well. And sweet. Incredibly sweet.

Of course, there was also the distinct possibility that she was dangerous.
She did seem to have a knack for getting into some rather unpleasant
situations.

Which was why Graham was interested in Willow Rosenberg.

He was absolutely sure that Willow knew something about what was going on in
Sunnydale. Just how much of it she was aware of, he wasn’t sure. There
had, of course, been the whole incident with Hostile 17. She had barreled
out of that room like it was on fire, and, from what he could tell, had
never mentioned the incident to anyone. Most girls he knew would have told
everyone they had ever met about what had happened: the three army guys
outside the room, the strange guy with fangs inside the room, the huge fight
that had ensued.

Yet she had never said a thing.

Which meant she had to be hiding something.

The whole blackout incident that had happened in Stevenson dorm during the
fight with Hostile 17 had been written off as a fraternity prank, and what
had occurred during that time had never been mentioned. And Graham knew
that Professor Walsh would have let them know if something to contradict the
prank theory had been said. He, Riley, and Forrest would have never heard
the end of it. He was thankful that the theory hadn’t been challenged. The
failure of the mission had made things bad enough, anything else added to
that would have made the situation with Professor Walsh unbearable.

Then there was what had happened a few nights before at the party.

He didn’t suspect Willow of having anything to do with the dead body; she
had appeared way too shaken up for that thought to even enter his mind.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to get close enough to the body - or her,
for that matter - to tell what had happened. Besides, he knew any questions
from him - a complete stranger - would have made her suspicious, and
possibly even more frightened. So he figured the only way to get
information from her was to get close to her. He just had to figure out how
to go about it.

"Hey, Graham. What are you doing? It sure as hell better not be class
work. This is the weekend, you know."

Graham looked up to see Forrest Gates enter his room, and he smiled
slightly. Forrest was brilliant, but he often put off doing any and all
work until the last possible minute.

"No, it’s not homework," he replied, putting his pen down. In between
making plans, he had been doodling some rather gruesome demons on the sheet
of paper in front of him. Graham sighed. He needed a hobby besides demon
hunting.

"Then what, pray tell, is it?"

"I’ve been thinking..."

"Well, let’s alert the media."

"Forrest, this is serious. Do you know who Willow Rosenberg is?"

Forrest thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Can’t say that I do.
But I feel relatively safe in guessing that she’s a girl. Why? You got a
thing for her?"

Graham shook his head. She was adorable, but that wasn’t the main
attraction. "Not exactly. You could say I’m interested, though. She’s
Buffy’s roommate."

"Oh, man. You’re not going to start acting all stupid like Riley, are you?
Because if you are, I reserve the right to knock you upside the head."

"No, Forrest, I’m not going to act like Riley. Trust me on that. I would
never come to you for advice on a girl I liked." He paused, then broached
the subject that had been on his mind. "You remember Hostile 17?"

Forrest snorted. "How could I forget? Walsh mentions it whenever she can.
I think she’s still pissed about it."

"Well," Graham said with a sigh, "it is the first time there’s ever been an
escape. But that’s not the point. Willow Rosenberg is the girl who was
with him. The one Riley wouldn’t let us quarantine. And then there’s the
other night... she’s the one who found the body at that party."

"You think she’s involved?"

"Not involved, per se. She doesn’t strike me as the type who would be too
competent at covert operations. Besides, she seemed way too afraid of
Hostile 17, not to mention how shaken up she was at the party. But I do
think she’s knows something."

"And that would be?"

"If I knew, I wouldn’t be stressing out over it. I’m going to find out,
though. Get close to her, see if I can get her to trust me. Then I’ll ask
her."

"What about Riley?"

"He has nothing to do with this."

"Meaning you’re not going to tell him."

"Tell him what?"

Forrest and Graham both swiveled around in their chairs to find the man in
question staring at them.

Riley Finn.

Part Two

"I repeat, ‘tell him what’?" Riley asked after a few moments. He looked
back and forth between his friends expectantly.

Graham and Forrest exchanged a glance, and Forrest shrugged. They both knew
how persistent Riley could be if he set his mind to it. Especially if he
thought someone was hiding something, and he obviously did. Sighing rather
heavily, Graham finally spoke.

"It’s about Willow Rosenberg."

Riley sat down on Graham’s bed, his eyes suddenly wary. He hated to admit
it, but he felt rather protective of the little redhead. Not only was she
Buffy’s best friend, but he considered her to be a friend of his as well.

"What about her?"

"Well," Forrest began in a voice that showed he was still harboring a few
doubts, "Graham here is convinced she knows something."

"About what? The Initiative?" Riley asked, trying to keep the panic out of
his voice. The fact was, he figured she did know about the Initiative. She
had, after all, referred to him as one of the ‘commando guys’ back when he’d
helped Buffy at the high school, and he knew that Willow was aware of
Buffy’s status as the Slayer. Besides, he had a feeling that Buffy and
Willow shared just about everything with each other, and Buffy had been
rather knowledgeable about the Initiative. He hadn’t even had to tell her
anything about it; Buffy just knew.

Which probably meant Willow knew. Not to mention Xander and that Spike guy.

"No, not about the Initiative," Graham hurriedly assured his friend, who had
gone a bit pale. "Just about demons and stuff. Maybe she doesn’t even
realize she knows it. But Hostile 17 did target her, and she did find that
body the other night. It would probably be a good idea to at least question
her."

"We can’t exactly pull her aside and ask her what she knows about vampires,"
Riley retorted a bit uneasily. He could just picture it. If Willow spent a
lot of time with Buffy, she probably knew as much as they did. That would
make for an interesting interview.

"I have no intention of doing that. I doubt that she’d tell a complete
stranger anyway."

"Well, I’m not doing it. There is no way I’m pulling one of my friends in
for questioning." That would blow whatever was left of his cover to kingdom
come.

"Did he say you had to do it?" Forrest asked.

"Then who... No! No way. You are not going to do what I think you’re going
to do."

"And what do you think it is that I have in mind?" Graham questioned.

"Let’s see... how about this? You ask her out, earn her trust, find out
everything she knows - which is probably nothing," Riley lied. "And then,
after that, you drop her. Am I close?"

"You make it sound so harsh."

"That’s because it is, particularly to someone like Willow. You don’t know
her like I do."

"Then enlighten us," Forrest challenged. He couldn’t believe how adamantly
against the plan Riley was. That Buffy chick had obviously gotten to him,
completely and totally. The other girl had apparently gotten to him as
well. He wondered just what was so special about the two girls.

"Look, Willow had this boyfriend named Oz, and from what I’ve been able to
gather, they were together for a pretty long time. Something like a year
and a half. A few months back, something happened - I’m not sure what,
though I suspect he cheated on her - and he left town before they could work
things out. It pretty much made her a wreck; she’s just now getting back to
the way she was before he left. And now Graham here is suggesting that he
use Willow for information, then dump her. I do not want to see her get
hurt again. She doesn’t deserve it."

"I wouldn’t hurt her."

"Maybe not intentionally. But think about it. You’d be using her for
information. What if she found out about it? Willow is one of the
sweetest, most sensitive people I know. I don’t even want to think about
what something like that could do to her."

"But-" Forrest began, only to be cut off by Riley.

"The answer is no. Don’t even think about going through with it," Riley
ground out before leaving the room, slamming the door behind him.

Forrest and Graham sat in silence for a moment, then Forrest turned to his
friend.

"So what now?"

Graham shrugged. "I go ahead with the plan. Once I get it started, Riley
will have to fall in line. He wouldn’t tell her; it’s obvious he cares too
much about her to tell her something that would hurt her."

"But what about you? Will you hurt her?"

"Not if I can help it."

"And if you can’t help it?"

Graham sighed and ran his hand over his face. "Then I guess I’ll just have
to deal with that when the time comes."

Part Three

Willow sighed as she made her way to her next class. The weekend had been,
without a doubt, lousy. Spike had tried to stake himself, she had found a
dead body, and three demons had tried to bring about the end of the world.

And Percy had called her a nerd.

Willow smiled and shook her head ruefully. Something was obviously wrong
with her when being called a nerd took precedence over a possible
apocalypse. She had definitely spent too much time on the Hellmouth. She
was so engrossed with her musings that she didn’t even notice the guy
approaching her until he ran into her.

"Oh, sorry!" Willow cried out as her books went flying. Because she hadn’t
been paying attention, she assumed it was her fault. She didn’t even
consider the fact that the guy was paying even less attention than she was.
Annoyed with herself, Willow dropped to her knees and began to pick up her
things.

"Here, let me help you with that," a male voice said.

Willow looked up to see a rather attractive guy kneeling beside her, holding
her American History book in his hands. Wow, he was cute. She didn’t think
she’d ever seen someone with such piercing eyes.

"Thanks," she said as they both stood.

"No problem," Graham replied. "Are you okay?" He’d had nothing to do with
the collision, but he had seen it and decided it was the perfect opportunity
to introduce himself to the redhead.

"Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking. I should have been paying more
attention to where I was going."

"It wasn’t just you, you know. He should have been paying attention, too."
Graham glanced at the book in his hand. "History? Do you have Professor
Lyde, by any chance?"

Willow smiled. "Yeah, actually, I do."

"I had him for Western Civ a couple years ago," Graham told her. "He was
pretty much a laugh riot."

"He still is," Willow replied as she began to walk toward her next class.
Surprisingly, Graham fell into step beside her.

"Do you mind if I walk you to class?"

"No, not at all."

"By the way, I’m Graham Miller."

"I’m Willow Rosenberg."

The two walked in silence for a moment, and Graham surreptitiously studied
the young woman walking beside him. She really was quite lovely, even
though she didn’t dress to flaunt it. She wore a long floral skirt with a
sweater set, and she looked very pretty, if not incredibly eye-catching. Of
course, Graham amended silently, her hair color certainly made up for her
lack of flashy clothes. He didn’t see how anyone could not notice a girl
with hair that red. The way it shined, the way it caught the sunlight. It
was beautiful.

She was beautiful.

Uh-oh. This was not good. He was supposed to be getting information from
her. He was not supposed to obsess over her hair. Even if it did look like
it was as soft as silk. And, more importantly, he was not supposed to
obsess over her. He certainly didn’t want to end up like Riley. That guy
was completely gone when it came to Buffy.

"Are you okay?"

Graham jumped slightly; he’d been so busy mentally berating himself, he had
forgotten that he was still with Willow.

"Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just, I was wondering..."

Willow stopped suddenly, and Graham was a bit surprised to discover that
they were standing in front of Professor Lyde’s lecture hall.

"I should really go in," the redhead said reluctantly. She had enjoyed
Graham’s company, and she figured it would be a while before she lucked out
and ran into him again. With a slight wave, she turned to go.

"Wait!" Graham blurted out. Even if he was having a slight case of second
thoughts, he couldn’t let this opportunity slide. If he did, he’d probably
regret it when he was thinking rationally again. "I was just wondering...
There’s this party tomorrow night. It’s at this local club called The
Bronze. Do... Would you like to go with me?" he finally asked while
mentally kicking himself for his complete lack of suave. Could he get any
lamer?

Willow smiled slightly. She couldn’t believe how flustered Graham had
suddenly become. She found it incredibly endearing. "Well, actually," she
answered with regret, "my friends and I were already planning on going. But
we could meet up there. If you wanted to."

"That would be great. I’ll see you there around nine?"

"Sure," she replied as she headed into her class. "I’ll see you then."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Graham entered his room at the frat house and tossed his books on his bed.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that he had done something terrible by going
ahead with his plan.

"You did it anyway, didn’t you? Even though I told you not to."

Graham whirled around at the sound of his friend’s voice. "Yeah, Riley, I
did. I’m meeting her tomorrow night at the Bronze."

"I guess I can’t really stop you, can I?"

"No, you can’t."

"Just don’t blame me when this blows up in your face," Riley informed
Graham. He glared at his friend for a few more seconds, then headed for the
door. After opening it, he paused. The words Willow had said to him at a
frat party - right after she had given him advice on how to win Buffy over -
came flooding back to him, and they seemed oddly appropriate for this
moment.

"Oh, and Graham? If you hurt her, I’ll beat you to death with a shovel."

And with that, Riley was gone.


Part Four

Graham surveyed the rather crowded Bronze, searching for Willow. He hadn’t
been able to shake the unease that had settled over him after Riley had made
his threat the day before, and he hoped that focusing on his mission would
give him some relief. Unfortunately, he didn’t think it would. He was
pretty certain he’d just wind up feeling worse. Taking another sip of his
drink, he continued to scan the crowd, and he smiled when he saw the person
he had been looking for.

She was sitting at a table with a pretty brunette, and the two girls were
laughing over something one of them had said. Willow was wearing a long
skirt once again, but this time it was black and clingy. She’d paired it
with a emerald green tank top and black leather jacket, and she wore black
boots.

She looked amazing.

Graham felt his stomach clench as he saw a guy walk up to the two girls and
put an arm around each girls’ shoulders. Who was this guy? Was he with
Willow? Graham breathed an audible sigh of relief when the guy kissed the
brunette. He was obviously the other girl’s boyfriend.

He wasn’t with Willow.

Graham cursed himself and the surge of satisfaction he felt. He was not
supposed to care what Willow did; all that was supposed to matter was that
he got the information he needed. Graham sighed, irritated, and let his
gaze wander again. He’d go find Willow in a few minutes. First, he had to
collect his thoughts.

He took in the crowd at the Bronze. There were a lot of high school kids,
but the Bronze had its share of college students there as well. Because of
that, Graham wasn’t overly surprised when his eyes met those of Riley Finn,
who was standing at the bar with Buffy Summers. Graham took in the knowing
look that Riley sent his way, and he knew that Riley had been watching him
for a while. There was no doubt in his mind that Riley could sense his
inner conflict. Straightening his shoulders slightly, Graham headed toward
the redhead with newfound determination. He had to prove to Riley that this
not only had to be done, but that it could be done without hurting Willow.

"Willow, hi," he said as he drew near.

Willow turned to face him, a bright smile lighting up her face. "Hi,
Graham. It’s good to see you again."

Graham smiled back, making sure to include the guy that was with Willow and
her friend in his gaze. The guy was glaring at him, and it was obvious to
Graham that the guy was the overprotective type, leaving Graham with no
choice but to try and win him over.

"It’s good to see you, too. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to
find you in this crowd," he said, enjoying the slight blush that stained
Willow’s cheeks. He glanced at Willow’s friends again, and Willow hurriedly
made introductions.

"Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry! I forgot to introduce you. Graham, this is Xander
and his girlfriend Anya. Xander and Anya, this is, well, Graham. We met on
campus yesterday."

"Hi," Anya said with a smile, studying him. He was definitely cute. She
hoped Willow would have sex with him. The girl needed to get some.

"How did you two meet?" Xander asked, obviously not as quick to accept
Graham as his girlfriend was. He probably would have freaked out if he had
known what was going on in Anya’s mind.

"I ran into someone, and Graham helped me pick up my things, then walked me
to class," Willow replied in a slightly challenging tone.

Graham shifted uneasily, not sure what to say to Willow’s friends. The girl
was looking at him like he was a piece of meat, and the guy looked like he
wanted to deck him. Well, Graham figured, when in doubt, leave. Just make
sure the redhead goes, too.

"So, Willow, would you like to dance?"

"That would be nice," Willow replied, setting her drink on the table and
accepting the hand Graham that extended to her. With a smile, he set his
own drink down and led her out to the dance floor.

The pair swayed to the slow music, all the while aware of Xander and Anya
staring at them.

"I don’t think your friend likes me."

"Who, Xander? I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. He always gets this
way when Buffy or I even look at a guy."

"Buffy?"

"My best friend. Well, actually, one of my best friends. Xander’s the
other one. He and I have known each other since we were little."

"Which explains the protectiveness," Graham said with a smile as he pulled
Willow a little closer. He couldn’t believe how small she was. She
certainly didn’t look like someone who would have a knowledge of demons.
But then again, he probably didn’t either.

"Yeah."

After a moment, Graham spoke again. After meeting Willow, he had decided
that it was important to be as honest as possible with her, and he figured
that hiding his friendship with Riley would be a big mistake.

"Considering how Buffy doesn’t seem like it would be a common name or
anything... Is your friend Buffy dating Riley Finn by any chance?"

"I take it you know him?"

"We’re friends; we’re actually in the same fraternity."

"Oh, well then I guess we have a mutual friend then. It really is a small
world," she said as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I guess so," Graham replied, enjoying the closeness for a second, then
wondering why he felt a sudden wave of guilt. After a moment, he
remembered.

Oh, yeah. He was using her.

Or, at least, he was supposed to be using her.

Part Five

Willow reached into her closet and pulled out an item at random, wincing
when she came up with one of her fuzzy sweaters. Ugh. Why hadn’t she
gotten rid of all of those things when she graduated from high school? It
wasn’t like she wore them anymore.

"Didn’t your mother ever tell you your face could freeze that way?"
Willow turned to see Buffy standing in the doorway, and she raised her
eyebrows at her friend.

"In case you’ve forgotten, my mother never told me much of anything that
didn’t involve some obscure psychological theory, and she didn’t put much
stock in old wives’ tales... or whatever the face freezing thing is."

Buffy made a face, then plopped down on Willow’s bed. "So, Wills, what’s
with the sudden hatred of fuzzy sweaters?"

"Nothing. It’s just... I kind of have a date today."

"Ooh, is he a studly?"

"You know, Buffy, you probably shouldn’t refer to guys like that," Willow
replied with mock sternness, then gave up and grinned. "But, yes, he is a
studly. He lives at the same frat house that Riley does, actually."

"Oh, he does, does he," Buffy mused, wondering if this anonymous studly also
happened to be a member of the Initiative. She doubted that Riley would
tell her, even if he was. It really wasn’t Riley’s place to tell. Still,
it wouldn’t hurt to try.

"Does this studly have a name?"

"Graham Miller. Now, get up off your butt and help me decide what to wear."

With a smile, Buffy got up off Willow’s bed and headed for the closet,
filing away the name Graham Miller for future use.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"I can’t believe you’re actually going through with this."

Graham shut his closet door and glanced over at Riley, who had just entered
his room.

"I told you I was. I wish you’d just get used to the idea."

"What’s going to happen when she finds out why you started this whole
thing?"

"She’s not going to find out. Unless, of course, you plan to tell her,"
Graham stated, pinning Riley with a glance.

"You know I don’t."

"Then I don’t see what you’re so damn worried about. Nobody’s going to get
hurt, Riley, least of all Willow. I won’t let things get out of hand."

Riley shook his head in disgust, then turned to go. "You just keep telling
yourself that. Maybe one day you’ll actually believe it."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

They went to the zoo.

Not the most mature place in the world, but Graham had correctly thought it
would appeal to Willow. Besides, a darkened theater was no place to hold a
conversation, and Graham found that he truly did want to get to know Willow
better. She was so smart, very nearly brilliant, yet still so childlike in
some ways. The combination intrigued him more than he was willing to admit.

Graham watched Willow as she studied one of the koala bears, pure delight on
her face.

"Isn’t it adorable?" she asked.

"Absolutely," Graham replied without taking his eyes off Willow’s face. The
redhead noticed where his attention was focused, and she blushed.

"I meant the koala bear."

"What? Oh!" Graham exclaimed, surprised to discover that he had completely
zoned out. He had been with the Initiative for over three years, and Walsh
had often praised him on his ability to focus on the matter at hand. If
only she could see him now. She’d probably throw a fit. "Yeah, the bear’s
really cute."

"You do realize you still haven’t actually looked at the bear, don’t you?"

"I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t notice," he replied sheepishly, putting
his arm around Willow’s shoulders. What was it about this girl that made
him act as if he were fifteen again? He was twenty-one years old, nearly
twenty-two; he should be able to handle himself around women by now.

"So," he said as they walked away from the bears, "how about heading for the
hyena house?" He looked at Willow, curious, when he felt her tense up.

"Bad memories," she explained, seeing no need to bring up what exactly the
memories were. "Why don’t we go see the tigers instead?"

Graham shrugged; he was content as long as he was with Willow. "Sounds good
to me. But only if we can go to the reptile house afterwards."

"Oh, ew," Willow moaned. "Why is it that all guys want to go to the reptile
house? Xander and Jesse always made me go there when we were kids.
Everything in there is so creepy."

"Well, it does mean that you can grab onto me and scream every time you get
scared."

"I’m not going to scream. Although I might grab onto you."

"Sounds good to me."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

After their afternoon at the zoo, Graham walked Willow back to her dorm
room. Willow was carrying the stuffed koala bear that he’d bought for her.
Graham had seen it in the gift shop as they were leaving, and he hadn’t been
able to resist getting it for her. It was the perfect reminder of their day
together.

"This was fun. You know, seeing the animals and all. And I got a bear,
which is an even bigger plus."

"Does this mean we can go out again sometime?"

Willow grinned. "I think it does."

"Oh, well, good," Graham replied. "I’ll call you tomorrow, and we can work
something out." Before he could stop himself, Graham leaned over and did
something he’d told himself he would never do.

He kissed Willow Rosenberg.

Part Six

"What happened, man? Did she find out?" Forrest asked as he walked into
Graham’s room. Graham had flopped down on his bed, and he looked rather
ill.

"No. She has no idea."

"Then what?" Forrest asked as he pulled out Graham’s desk chair and sat
down. "Did she dump you before you could get any information out of her?"

"Worse. I kissed her."

"And of course, kissing a pretty girl is a terrible thing to do. You should
be taken out and shot. I’d be glad to offer my services and do so."

"It complicates things, Forrest. I just shouldn’t have done it."

"Meaning?"

"I don’t want to hurt her."

"And here we find the crux of the matter. Our hero Graham decided that
Willow, the lovely damsel in distress sort-"

"Since when is Willow a damsel in distress?"

"Well, she did almost get eaten by Hostile 17. Not to mention finding Mr.
Dead Guy. Therefore, damsel in distress. Work with me here, okay? Anyway,
Graham decides to use the fair Willow for information, then - gasp! -
discovers that the lovely maiden is indeed lovely. Face it, Graham, you
have a thing for your potential source."

"Your point being?"

"You have to make a choice. Is getting the information worth taking the
chance that she’ll figure out your original motive and dump you faster than
I can bag a Hostile, or is being with her worth saying screw getting the
info? You have to choose, and you have to do it soon."

Graham stared at the ceiling for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Yeah, I
guess you’re right."

"I’m always right. I suggest that you accept that and move on." Forrest
stood and headed for the door, turning back to face his friend when he
reached it. "Just out of curiosity, where did you two go today?"

"The zoo."

"Oh, man. You took her to the zoo? With little fuzzy animals and all that
stuff? You have definitely got it bad for the little redhead, Graham. And
I think we both know what your decision is going to be. It’s not that big a
deal, though. She probably didn’t have any information anyway."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Why don’t you die already, damn it!"

"Um, Will, I don’t think yelling at the bad guy’s going to help," Buffy
said, struggling with a vampire of her own. She quickly dusted him, then
turned to see if Willow needed any help.

"That’s what you think," Willow replied, smiling as her adversary became a
cloud of vampire dust. "See, he’s dead."

"Yeah, and all he needed was for you to ask him nicely to do so."

"Well, Slayer, you do it your way, and I’ll do it mine. Whatever works and
all that," Willow said as she picked up her cross, which she had dropped in
the battle with the particularly hard to kill vampire.

"So, Will, not that I mean to pry or anything-"

"She says, prying anyway," Willow remarked with a grin.

"Very cute. I just wanted to know how the date with the studly went. Where
did you go, by the way? I never did get around to asking."

"First of all," Willow said with a smile, "his name is Graham, not ‘the
studly.’ Second, we went to the zoo, and he bought me a stuffed animal."

"He bought you a stuffed animal? No fair!"

"He was so sweet about it, too. I was looking at postcards in the gift
shop, and he decided to surprise me by buying it."

"Let me say it again: no fair. Do you want to trade guys? I’ll take
Graham, and you can have Riley."

Willow couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s suggestion. "Oh, yeah, I’m
sure Riley would really go for that one. I can just see you explaining it
to him. ‘You see, Riley, it’s not that I don’t like you; it’s just that you
never gave me a stuffed animal.’ That would go over really well."

"Fine," Buffy replied with false haughtiness, "you just be that way." She
turned to her friend and grinned. "I think we’ve spent enough time hanging
around this cemetery. Let’s go find Spike and Xander, see if they had any
luck."

"You do realize that if we find them, Spike’s going to try and convince you
to patrol some more with him."

Buffy sighed heavily. "God, you’re right. Ever since he found out he could
still kill demons, he’s been even more of a pain than usual. I almost wish
he was still in his ‘oh, woe is me, why don’t I stake myself’ phase."

"Yeah, but then, you’d be the one that would have to kill all the demons.
Besides, at least he’s being useful. Before, he was just a big lump of dead
guy who whined all the time. He hasn’t whined once since he found out he
could patrol."

"True. He has, however, begged, which is just as bad, maybe even worse. I
never thought Spike would be so eager to go out and kill the bad guys."

"I guess that’s Spike for you. He’s happy as long as he gets to kill
something; he doesn’t particularly care what it is."

"Which, of course, is why we have to make sure that his implant is never
reversed." Buffy stopped and turned to Willow. "You know, we don’t really
have to go find Spike and Xander. I mean, Spike is at full strength. It’s
not like they need our help or anything. We could go do girl stuff
instead."

"Girl stuff?"

"Oh, yeah," Buffy replied as she began to head back to the dorm. "I want to
hear more about the date with the studly."

"You know, if you keep calling him that, I’m never going to introduce you to
him."


Part Seven

Graham smiled as he saw a flash of familiar red hair down the street. It
had been two months since he had first asked Willow out, and he loved the
rush he still got every time he saw her. His grin widening, he walked
across the street, then stepped up behind Willow and covered her eyes with
his hands.

"Guess who?"

"Um... how many guesses do I get?"

"Three."

"Hmmmm... I wonder who it could be? I would say it’s Graham, but he would
never do something this childish..."

Laughing, Graham dropped his hands, then turned Willow around and kissed
her. Looking up, he caught the name of the store Willow had just exited.

"A magick shop?"

"Yeah. It’s one of my favorite places."

"I didn’t know you were into witchcraft," Graham remarked as he fell into
step beside the redhead.

"For a couple of years now, actually. Did you know that the word Wicca
comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for wisdom?"

"I wasn’t aware of that," he replied, fascinated by the ease with which she
spouted such random and sometimes obscure facts. In the time since they had
started dating, Graham had found that Willow continually amazed him. He
liked it. "So, you’re a witch, huh? Should I be worried?"

"Only if you make me mad."

"Got it. Don’t piss off the witch. I think I can handle that. So, is it
okay if I ask you what you bought?"

"Just some stones. Rose quartz, for one. It’s said to have healing powers,
and I wanted to get one to send to a friend of mine. Well, she’s sort of a
friend. Anyway, someone she was close to died recently, and I thought the
stone might help." Willow took Graham’s hand and the two walked in silence
for a while before Willow spoke again.

"So, it doesn’t bother you? My being a witch?"

"You just told me you bought a healing stone to help your friend through a
tough time, which is a wonderful thing to do. You’re a terrific person, and
your being a witch doesn’t change that."

"You know something, Graham?" Willow said with a smile as she stood on her
toes to kiss him. "You really are quite the human."

"I think this is where I say ‘ditto’."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Buffy sat lounging in one of Riley’s chairs, her legs hanging over the side.
She was swinging her bare feet in time to the CD that was playing as Riley
absently hummed along with the tune. Sighing happily, Buffy turned her head
to look at her boyfriend.

"So, Riley, what’s up with this Graham guy?"

Riley jerked his head up, and he dropped the book he was holding, wincing as
it landed on his big toe. "What do you mean?" he asked, trying not to sound
as nervous as he felt. Did Buffy suspect something? What was he going to
do if she knew that a stupid plan had been the catalyst for Willow and
Graham’s relationship?

"I mean, is this Graham guy okay? You know, a human of the non-serial
killer variety. He and Wills have been spending a lot of time together
recently, and I know he lives here in the house, so I thought maybe you
could clue me in."

Riley picked up the book he had dropped on the floor and placed it on his
desk, trying not to sigh in relief. This was something he could handle.
"Well, what do you think of him? You seem to be a pretty good judge of
character," he said, flashing a smile. "You did end up with me."

"Very cute."

"I try."

Buffy swung her legs over so that her feet were resting on the floor, then
leaned down so that her elbows were resting on her legs and her chin in her
hands. "I’m usually a pretty good judge of character, but I really haven’t
seen much of Graham. He and Willow usually actually go out some place; they
don’t just hang out at the dorm all that much. And from what I have seen of
him, he just seems really quiet. That really doesn’t give me much
information, you know?"

"But that’s Graham for you. It takes a while to get to know him, and even
then, he’s not all that talkative." Riley stopped there, not sure how to
continue. Willow and Graham had been spending a lot of time together over
the past couple months, but not a word had been said about Graham’s original
plan to use Willow for information. Deciding that ignorance was bliss,
Riley had stopped questioning Graham about his intentions, but he wondered
if the plan had been discarded when Graham had really gotten to know the
redhead. Riley knew how wonderful Willow could be, and he wouldn’t have
been at all surprised if Graham had ended up falling for her.

"But is he a good guy?" Buffy asked imploringly. "I know it’s really none
of my business, but Willow’s my best friend and I love her. I just don’t
want to see her get hurt again. I mean, I know that happens in
relationships, sometimes people hurt each other, but... Graham’s the first
guy she’s even gone out with since the whole Oz thing, and now they’re
together almost all the time. I just... I worry about her."

"Buffy, it’s okay; I understand. I think it’s good that you care about
Willow so much and that you want to look out for her. I know Willow feels
the same about you. I mean, she did threaten to kill me if I ever hurt
you."

Buffy grinned. "Well, that’s Willow for you."

"Yeah, I guess it is. But that really doesn’t answer your question, does
it?"

"No, it doesn’t. What can you tell me, Riley? Should I be worried about
this Graham guy?"

"Look, Buffy, all I can say is this: Graham would never intentionally hurt
Willow. Never forget that," Riley told her, hoping he was doing the right
thing.

Part Eight

Willow scrunched up her nose as she surveyed the clothes on her bed, then
turned to Anya with a questioning glance.

"What do you think?" she asked the former demon. She had do admit it,
former man-torturing demon or not, Anya had great taste in clothes.

"Well, in my experience, guys don’t care what you wear. They just want to
take it off of you as quickly as possible."

Willow groaned. "I’m talking about Graham, not Xander, okay? I’d really
appreciate it if you’d keep that in mind."

"Graham doesn’t want to take off your clothes?"

"No! I mean, yes. I mean... we haven’t really discussed it all that much
yet. I think he does. I hope he does."

"Do you want to take his clothes off?"

"I’m... I’m not sure." She glanced over and saw the knowing look Anya gave
her, and she shrugged. "Okay, okay. Yes, I would love to take Graham’s
clothes off. Are you happy now?"

"Not entirely, but thank you for asking. I think you should go for it. Sex
is fun."

Willow sat down on her bed. "I know it is," she whispered. "And I want to.
Boy, do I want to. Graham... he’s just amazing. He’s so sweet, and he’s
funny, and he’s smart, and have you seen him? The man is gorgeous. And I
really want to take that next step."

"But? There’s got to be a ‘but’ in there somewhere. I’ve been human long
enough to know that much."

"But I’m scared."

"Of what? I mean, you’ve done it before. It’s not like it will hurt."

"I’m not concerned about by body. I’m concerned about my heart."

Anya sat down beside Willow, trying to process the information. "You’re
afraid because of what happened with Oz, aren’t you?" she concluded after a
moment. She was rather proud of herself with coming up with that reasoning;
she’d known watching all those daytime soap operas would be of use somehow.

Willow nodded slowly. "I guess I am. It’s silly, I know. Graham’s not Oz.
But it’s still hard to get back into the swing of things. Maybe I just
feel like I need to guard my heart a little harder this time around."

"Or maybe you’ve already lost your heart, and that’s what’s really scaring
you."

Willow simply stared at Anya, surprised by the other girl’s insight.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Forrest walked into Graham’s room, not at all surprised to discover that
Graham had already left for his date with Willow. He seemed to be spending
nearly all his time with the little redhead, and Forrest had to admit that
he was happy for his friend, as well as slightly jealous. He hadn’t spent
much time around Willow - he’d only met her once or twice - but he had found
her to be sweet. Plus, Graham and Riley both adored her, and Forrest
considered his friends to be good judges of character.

Now if only he could find someone of his own.

Sighing deeply, Forrest set the book he had borrowed on Graham’s desk, then
turned to go. He was on duty tonight, and he needed to go suit up.

He didn’t even notice when the never-delivered note he had been using as a
bookmark slipped from between the pages and fell to the floor.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

The date had been amazing.

Willow followed Graham up to his room, moving quietly. The house seemed to
be fairly empty, most of which was the result of another fraternity having a
party a few blocks away. Willow and Graham had passed the frat house the
party was at on their way back to Graham’s, and the place had been packed.

As they entered the room, Graham shut the door behind them, then turned on
his lamp. As the soft glow dimly lit the room, he went to his CD player.
The house was far too silent tonight, almost eerily so. As Graham put a
Filter CD in the player, he caught sight of Willow watching him.

"What?" he asked as he turned to face her fully.

"I’m just... watching you. I love to watch you."

Graham smiled slightly. She looked so beautiful. She was wearing a pair of
black pants with a fitted jade button-up blouse. In Graham’s slightly
biased opinion, no woman had ever looked so lovely.

"What?" Willow asked, repeating Graham’s question from just a moment before.
She was beginning to blush under his stare.

Graham walked over to Willow and gently tucked her hair behind her ear. "I
was just thinking that I love to watch you, too. It’s quickly become one of
my favorites things to do." He leaned in and kissed her gently, then pulled
back to smile at her. "Of course,
there are a few things that I enjoy more."

Willow giggled softly and pulled away. "And that would be?" She sat down
on the edge of Graham’s bed and grinned at him.

Graham knelt in front of Willow, cradling her chin in his hands. "Pretty
much anything that involves you is one of my favorite things. Talking to
you, kissing you, holding you... just you."

Sighing softly, Willow urged Graham to rise, catching his lips with her own.
Graham sat on the bed beside her, then lay down, pulling Willow with him
as the kiss grew in intensity. Neither one had idle hands, and Graham broke
away to stare into Willow’s eyes as his hand came to rest on the buttons of
her shirt.

"Are you sure about this? We can stop if you want to."

Willow placed her hand over his, pressing it harder against her chest so
that Graham could feel the rapid beat of her heart. "I don’t want to stop,"
Willow whispered. "I want you." With that, she leaned in to kiss him
again.

Neither one had another coherent thought for the rest of the night.

Part Nine

Graham watched Willow as she slept, his hand gently stroking her hair. He
liked the way it fell across his bare chest, as soft as silk and as bright
as flame. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful in the morning light. She
looked like she was precisely where she was meant to be. He gently brushed
a few strands of her hair away from her face, letting it slide through his
fingers. Sighing happily, Graham let his eyes stray over Willow’s body,
which was partially covered by his comforter, then back up to her face.

His lover.

What a perfect word.

And he did love Willow; there was no doubt in his mind about that. If he
didn’t love her he would have never allowed things to go so far the night
before. Graham smiled softly as he continued to look down at Willow’s
sleeping face. He had no idea how she had become so important so quickly,
but she had.

Willow moaned slightly as she began to wake up, and she curled closer to
Graham, basking in the warmth of the sun’s rays across her bare back.

"Hi," she mumbled, opening her eyes slightly.

"Hey," Graham replied, shifting so that he could kiss her gently.
"Morning."

"Morning," she whispered sleepily.

Morning? Was it really morning?

Willow’s eyes flew open, and she looked in disbelief at the patch of
sunlight that shone through Graham’s window.

"What’s wrong?" Graham asked, alarmed by Willow’s sudden change of mood.

"Oh, God. It’s morning. It really is morning," she said as she began a
frantic search for her clothes. Finding none, she grabbed one of Graham’s
shirts and pulled it on, buttoning it up as she walked around the room
looking for her things. Graham reached over and picked up a pair of
sweatpants, pulling them on quickly, then went to Willow, lightly gripping
her shoulders.

"Willow, calm down. What is wrong?"

"Buffy. She doesn’t know where I am. She must be so worried." Willow
pulled away and headed for the phone, only to once again be stopped by
Graham.

"It’s okay. She knows where you are. I called her last night when you fell
asleep. I didn’t want to wake you, but I knew you wouldn’t want Buffy to
worry, either. And I knew she would. Worry, that is. Sunnydale’s not
exactly the safest place in the world. So I called and left a message on
the machine telling her that you were with me."

"Oh," Willow said, her panic dissipating almost instantly. She should have
known that Graham would think to do something like that. She sat down on
his bed and looked up at him sheepishly. "Thanks for doing that. I’m sorry
I kind of freaked on you. It’s just, I know that if I thought Buffy was
supposed to be coming home, and she never showed, I’d be really worried
about her. And Buffy’s the same way when it comes to me."

Graham sat on the bed and pulled Willow into his arms. "It’s okay. I
understand. I’m just glad you have people who worry about you when you’re
not where you’re supposed to be."

Willow leaned in and briefly kissed her lover on the lips, then stood up.
"As much as I’d love to stay, especially now that my massive panic attack is
over, I really should be going. I have a class in an hour, and I need to
get ready. I don’t think showing up in your shirt would go over too well."

"You can’t skip?"

"We’ve got a test, and Dr. Robbins doesn’t give make up exams. So, I have
to go." Willow grabbed her pants and pulled them on, then glanced around
the room. "Is it okay if I get the rest of my clothes later? I’m not sure
where some of them landed."

Graham rose to his feet and pulled Willow into his embrace. "Sure," he said
before kissing her. When he pulled back, he gazed at her flushed face and
smiled. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Willow replied with a small smile. The couple kissed one
more time, then Willow grabbed her purse and turned to go, stopping at the
door. "I’ll see you tonight?"

"I’ll head to your room after your last class."

Willow nodded, then opened the door and stepped out, nearly colliding with
Riley, who had been about to knock on the door. "Morning, Riley. Not to be
rude, but I’ve really got to go," she said to the dumbfounded young man.

Riley watched as Willow headed down the hall, then turned to his friend.

"What the hell happened last night?"

"I really don’t think that’s any of your business."

"You had sex with her," Riley said accusingly as he entered the room,
shutting the door behind him.

"We made love."

The fierce way Graham spoke the words had Riley stopping and taking notice.
He scrutinized his friend for a moment, then nodded slightly, pleased with
what he saw. He had been ready to tear into Graham, but apparently it
wasn’t going to be necessary. "You’re in love with her."

"Yeah, I am," Graham said with a huge grin.

"Does she know?"

"I just told her, actually. And she loves me, too."

"I’m happy for you. And I actually mean that and everything. Although I
still don’t agree with how this whole relationship started."

"Yeah. Stupid plan, amazing result. I wish more stupid plans could end up
working out this well."

"But if they did, we’d have to stop calling them stupid."

"Shut up, Riley."

Part Ten

Things were going well.

It had been two weeks since Willow and Graham had taken their relationship
to the next level, and the two had spent nearly every night together since
then. They didn’t always make love; sometimes they simply held each other
all night, content to be with one another. They’d also spent more time with
Buffy and Riley, even going on two double dates with the other couple.
Buffy had discovered that she liked the quiet young man, and the Slayer was
glad that Willow and Graham had found each other. She honestly believed
that she’d never seen Willow so happy, not even when the girl had been with
Oz. The only thing missing was Forrest, and the group had jokingly decided
that finding Forrest a girlfriend should be their next order of business.
Then, things would be perfect, or about as close to perfection as they could
get.

Of course, all good things have a way of coming to an end.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Graham entered his room, smiling when he saw that Willow was already inside,
standing by his rather cluttered desk (he hadn’t actually cleared the thing
off in weeks) and looking at a book. At least, he thought it was a book.

"Hey, beautiful," he said, coming up behind her.

Willow jerked away before he could touch her, turning to face him in the
process. Graham was stunned to see tears in her eyes.

"Willow, honey, what is it? What’s wrong, sweetie? Did something happen to
Buffy?"

"No," Willow replied tightly, shooting daggers at him with her teary eyes.
She held a note up to his face so that he could read it. "What the hell is
this?"

‘Graham - Any info from the redhead yet? - F.’

What the hell? Graham frowned as he read the short note, which was
obviously from Forrest.

"I’ve never seen that before in my life." And it was the truth; he hadn’t,
because Forrest had never intended for the note to get delivered. It had
been written shortly before Graham first kissed Willow, and Forrest had
taken to using it as a bookmark as soon as
he figured out that what Graham felt for Willow was real. He had never
meant for it to see the light of day.

"Then why the hell was it on your desk?"

"Someone must have left it..." Graham’s gaze settled on the book Forrest had
returned a few weeks ago. His stomach lurched as he realized what must have
happened. He knew of Forrest’s tendency to use whatever was handy as a
bookmark, and he vowed to kill his friend later. Right now, he had to fix
things with Willow.

"Is it me? Am I the redhead? Or is there someone else I should know
about?"

Graham looked at his feet, then tried to meet Willow’s eyes. "I never
meant..."

"Answer me! Is it me? Were you supposed to be getting some type of
information from me?"

"Yes," he whispered. He couldn’t lie to her. There was just no way. In
their time together, Willow had somehow managed to become capable of reading
him like a book.

"So, what? I was an assignment or something?"

"An assignment?"

"Yeah. I mean, I figure you’re in the Initiative like Riley is."

"Wait a minute. You knew? You knew about the Initiative all this time and
didn’t tell me?"

Willow shrugged. "I knew you thought you were protecting me, and I can
accept that. I thought you wanted to keep me safe. But now, this note...
you were just lying to me, trying to get information. I was just an
assignment."

"Willow, you can’t believe that. You were never an assignment."

"Oh, so, what? This wasn’t an Initiative condoned action or whatever? You
just decided to get info from me all by yourself, or were there others
involved?"

"Honey-"

"Was sleeping with me part of the plan, or was that just a bonus?" she
asked. The pain in her voice broke Graham’s heart. He was losing her; he
could feel it.

"No! Willow, please listen to me. I love you-"

"Don’t you dare say that!" she yelled as tears spilled down her cheeks.
Graham took a step toward her, wanting to reach out and comfort her, but
stopped when she shied away. "Just answer this one question. Back on that
first day when we met, back when you asked me to go to the Bronze with you,
did you really want to go out with me, or had you already come up with your
splendid little plan?"

"It’s not as simple as that-"

"Answer me. A simple yes or no will do," she ground out fiercely as she
tried to regain her composure. She hadn’t thought it was possible to hurt
this much. She didn’t think the pain could get any worse. And then he
answered her.

"Yes," Graham whispered, his voice so ragged it was amazing he could
actually form the word.

The pain got worse.

Willow tried to ignore the feeling of her heart being savagely ripped in two
as she glared at him. "So even meeting me was part of the plan. What other
events in this relationship were part of the plan? The kisses, the sweet
words, the sex, the way you actually made me feel special? Was that all
part of the act, too? No, don’t answer that; I don’t want to know," she
said as Graham opened his mouth to protest. "Fine. You want information?
You’ll get information. What was it you wanted to know? Was it about how
Hostile 17, who is actually a 126 year old vampire known mostly as Spike,
but also as William the Bloody, came to my room to kill Buffy, then me, but
it turned out he couldn’t because of your implant? Or was it about the dead
guy I found that had been ritually killed by a group of demons trying to
open the Hellmouth and bring about an apocalypse?"

Graham couldn’t find the words to answer her; all he could do was stare.
She had known about demons and vampires all along. She had known.

Willow pushed her hair out of her face and wiped the tear tracks from her
face. She had to get out of there before she started sobbing so hard she
couldn’t speak. Taking a deep breath, she spoke one last time, forcing the
words over the lump in her throat. "Well, congratulations, agent. It seems
you got your information. Mission accomplished. And you only had to break
one heart to do it."

With that, Willow left the room, never Graham’s softly spoken correction,
nor seeing the tears that had begun to fall from his eyes.

"Two hearts."

Part Eleven

"I am so sorry."

Graham sighed raggedly, then looked up at his friend. He had wanted to kill
him earlier, but he knew that was pointless now. It wouldn’t get Willow
back. "I know you are, Forrest. But it’s not really your fault. None of
this would have happened if I hadn’t come up with the damn plan in the first
place. Maybe I should have told her up front
what was going on. Or maybe, once I realized how much I cared for her, if
I’d sat her down and told her-"

"Do you really think that would have made a difference?"

Graham looked at his hands, which were clenching and unclenching in a
combination of anger and grief. "I don’t know. Maybe if I could have
explained things... made her see how much I love her... Maybe it would have
helped. Probably anything would have been better than the way she did find
out. But it doesn’t really matter now, does it? I’ve lost her for good."

"Don’t say that, man. You’ll get her back."

Graham wearily ran his hands over his face, then looked over at his friend
again, and Forrest was taken aback by the bleak expression on Graham’s face.

"How?"

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Buffy..."

"You knew, didn’t you? About what Graham was up to?" the Slayer asked as
she turned to face Riley.

"He loves her."

Buffy shrugged. "Maybe he does. I truly don’t know. But the fact is, he
hurt her. He set out to use her-"

"And he never followed through on that plan. After he met her, the plan
just sort of fell by the wayside. It didn’t matter anymore. He fell
completely and totally in love with her. Graham and I have known each other
for three and a half years, ever since Graham started coming to UC
Sunnydale. I’ve never seen him like this."

"Like how?" Buffy asked, curious despite herself.

"In love. Willow is so important to him... and now, it’s like he’s being
ripped apart inside."

"Yeah, well, that makes two of them." Buffy paused, crossing her arms over
her chest, then looked at Riley. "I don’t think you should come by the dorm
anymore."

"What? Why? Are... are you breaking up with me?" he asked in disbelief.

"No! No, it’s not that. Although I am mad at you. I mean, I specifically
asked you about Graham-"

"And I told you he would never intentionally hurt Willow, which is the
truth. He didn’t mean for any of this to happen."

"Fine, whatever. But it did happen. That’s not the point right now,
though. The point is, no, I’m not breaking up with you. I just don’t think
it would be a good idea for you to be around Willow for a while. She’s
really hurt, and if she thinks you knew about what was going on... well, it
would just make it worse. I’ll still come by to see you, and we’ll figure
out places to meet that aren’t, well, here," she finished, looking around
her dorm room.

"I see what you’re saying. And I understand, even though I hate it. But
she’s not going to be able to avoid Graham, or me for that matter, forever."

"I know. She just needs time."

"Are you sure about that? Maybe if we got them together, made them talk..."

"No," Buffy said fiercely. "Look, Graham may really love Willow. I really
can’t speak for him. Maybe they do belong together. But I will not try and
push her into anything. She already feels betrayed because of what happened
with Graham. I will not compound that feeling by trying to fix things
before she’s ready. If she’s ever ready at all. Understood?"

"Understood."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Willow sat at her desk, absently doodling on a sheet of paper. It had been
nearly a week since everything had fallen apart, and Willow discovered that
she felt worse rather than better. She missed him so damn much. The phone
calls weren’t helping either. Graham had called a few times, and even
Forrest had called once trying to explain. In order to avoid having to talk
to people, Willow had taken to letting the answering machine get every call.

Which was what she was doing now.

The phone rang for the fourth time, and Willow leaned back in her chair,
staring at the machine.

‘Hi, you have reached Buffy and Willow. We’re busy right now, but if you
leave a message, we’ll get back to you...’



"Look, whoever gets this, please call back as soon as..." Willow gave a
start at the unexpected voice, then grabbed the phone and raised it to her
ear.

"Angel?"

"Willow? Is that you?"

"Yeah. Sorry about not picking up right away. I was screening the calls."

"That’s okay. Look... the reason I’m calling... Cordelia had a vision."

"A vision? I’m guessing it involves Sunnydale."

"Yeah. It’s big, Willow. We’re about to leave for Sunnydale, and we’ll get
there in a couple of hours at the most. I want you to get everybody to meet
at Giles’s apartment."

"I can do that. By everybody, do you mean-"

"I mean everybody. We’re going to need all the help we can get, and I mean
that. Anyone you can trust to help us."

"I’ll get right on it. See you soon. Drive safely."

"I will."

"Bye, Angel."

"Bye, Willow."

Willow set the phone down and stared at it for a moment. Sighing heavily,
she picked up the phone again and dialed Riley’s number.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Riley watched as Buffy hung up the phone and turned to face him. He had
been shocked when Willow had called, and he knew whatever was going on had
to be important.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Slayer stuff. I need to get to Giles’s. And... Angel told Willow we were
going to need help..."

"Angel? Your ex?"

"Yeah. He called Willow. Apparently something big is about to happen. He
told Willow that we were going to need all the help we can get."

"I’d be glad to help. If you want me to, that is."

"Trust me, I want you to. I was about to ask you to come with me. But the
thing is, we may need more than just you. Can you think of anyone you would
trust enough to help us?"

"Just Forrest and Graham."

Buffy thought for a moment, then nodded, knowing that it really was the only
option.

"Go get them, and meet us at Giles’s in three hours. I’ll go on ahead, help
Willow find the others, and explain that you three are coming."

"Are you sure about this? I mean, Graham and Willow-"

"Will have to work together. There really isn’t any other choice, Riley."

"What should I tell them?"

"Just that we need help. We can explain everything else when you get
there."

Part Twelve

"What exactly are we doing here?" Forrest asked, a bit irritated as they
stood outside the apartment of Rupert Giles.

"Buffy said they needed help. We’re the help," Riley replied a bit
impatiently. Graham just stood silently.

"And just what does this help entail?" Forrest questioned.

"Probably fighting nasty, evil monsters. You know, the usual. Oh, and
they’ve got Hostile 17. His name’s actually Spike, and Buffy said we can’t
have him back. So, are we ready?" Riley replied, ignoring the surprised
look on Forrest’s face.

"Well, I think one of us is crazy," Forrest said in disbelief, "but, yeah,
we’re ready."

Taking a deep breath, Riley knocked on the door.

Forrest’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when the door opened to reveal
Hostile 17.

"Oh, look," the British vampire said with a wicked grin, "commando boys.
Can I eat them?"

"No, you can’t. Remember, big pain in your head? God, you vampires, always
thinking with your teeth." Anya shoved Spike aside and gestured for the
three young men to enter. "Come on in. The sooner we get started, the
sooner we save the world, and the sooner I can have sex with Xander."

Forrest and Graham exchanged a rather shocked glance, then followed Riley
inside.

Graham surveyed the room, immediately noticing that, besides Anya, the only
people in the room that he knew were Xander and Willow. Buffy wasn’t in the
room at the moment, but Graham knew that she would be there, too. He
sighed, then let his gaze drift back to Willow.

Willow.

She was sitting on the couch, looking at some ancient text with a man that
was unfamiliar to Graham. He was older, probably in his late twenties, and
had dark hair and a muscular build. Graham was certain he had never seen
him before, and he found himself resisting the urge to rip the guy’s head
off for sitting so close to Willow.

Willow.

She looked beautiful. Her hair was pushed behind her ears, and she was
wearing a short red dress. The dress was held up by thin straps, and she
wore clunky sandals on her feet. She had never looked so unattainable, and
he had never wanted her more.

Buffy came out of one of the back rooms, followed by an older gentleman, and
the three Initiative members snapped to attention. "Good, you’re here,"
Buffy said, immediately grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. "I
guess we should start with introductions. For those of you who don’t know,
these guys are Riley Finn, Graham Miller, and Forrest Gates. That is your
last name, isn’t it, Forrest?"

"Yeah. But one question. Are you the one in charge here?"

"Yes, I am."

"Why?"

"I’m the Slayer." She turned to Riley. "You didn’t tell them?"

"I didn’t think it was my place."

"Excuse me," Forrest said with a laugh. "Did you say the Slayer? She’s
just a myth. And if she did exist, I imagine she’d be a lot bigger than you
are."

"Trust me, I’m the Slayer. But if you don’t believe me, I could take you
out back and kick your ass. Would that be proof enough?"

"I wouldn’t take her up on that offer," the dark haired man by Willow put
in. "Besides, we don’t have the time to take you to the hospital."

"Just accept it, Forrest. I’ve seen Buffy fight, and she is indeed the
Slayer," Riley told his friend.

"And everybody else?"

"Well," Buffy said, "I’m sure you’re aware that Spike is a vampire."

"Which leads to the question, why didn’t you slay him? If I understand
correctly, that is your duty," Forrest commented wryly.

"He can no longer harm humans, but he can still kill demons and vampires.
He’s useful, therefore, he gets to live. Angel," she continued, pointing to
the man beside Willow, "is a vampire as well. He has a soul."

"And you know this because...?"

"I gave it to him," Willow said, speaking for the first time.

"Any particular reason you gave a demon a soul?" Forrest asked in disbelief.

"Maybe because he lost it," a tall brunette put in.

"Look," Buffy said, "long story short. Angel became a vamp in 1753, got a
soul about a hundred years ago, lost it two years ago, and got it back about
a year and a half ago. We trust him, so deal with it. Everyone else is
pretty much human. Anya’s a former demon, Cordelia gets visions, and
Willow’s a witch, but they’re still human."

"And the others?"

"Giles and Wesley are former Watchers. The Watchers Council is kind of the
group that is in charge of the Slayer. But I quit, and they got fired. And
Xander... well, he usually just goes for donuts. So now you know who we
are, and I think it’s time to get down to business." She turned to the
vampire that was sitting by Willow. "Angel?"

Angel sighed needlessly, then began. "We’re not entirely sure what is going
to happen. Cordelia’s visions aren’t always that informative, but they are
always accurate. Usually a name or a face, sometimes just a location."

"And this time?" Giles asked.

"The location was definitely Breaker’s Woods," Cordelia spoke up. "As for
faces, I know for sure that I saw Willow and Anya. And him," she said,
pointing to Graham.

"And what exactly does that mean?" Graham asked.

"It means," Angel said, "that there’s going to be trouble in Breaker’s
Woods, and you, Willow, and Anya are going to be in the middle of it.
Cordelia saw fighting. We haven’t been able to figure out the type of demon
in the vision, but we’re working on it. There
were six of them, and they were huge. A good ten feet tall, by Cordelia’s
account."

"So what now?" Riley asked, unsettled by Cordelia’s vision. At first he’d
hoped that she’d simply been worried for her friends, and that had caused
the vision. However, Graham’s appearance in the vision through him for a
loop. Cordelia and Graham had never met before.

Buffy shrugged. "We come up with a plan and stick to it. Try to figure out
what the demon is, how to kill it..."

"And I go to the magick store to get supplies. There are some demons that
can only be vanquished magickally. The supplies tend to be the same for
each demon, so I should probably get some just in case," Willow interjected.

Graham bit his lip, then spoke, knowing she would probably reject his offer.
"I’ll go with you."

Willow sent him a measuring look, then nodded, knowing that she’d have to
speak to him eventually anyway.

"Fine."

Part Thirteen

Willow and Graham walked in silence, but Willow could feel Graham staring at
her.

"What?" she snapped after a few moments.

"I was just thinking... you never told me how powerful you are."

Willow stopped and turned to face him. "I told you I was a witch."

"Yes, that’s true, you did. But I was thinking more along the lines of
healing stones and growing herbs, not restoring vampires’ souls and
broomsticks and turning people into frogs and stuff."

"Well, I guess there was a problem with your perception then. Besides, I’ve
only restored Angel’s soul, no one else’s. Not to mention the fact that I
don’t even own a broomstick, nor have I turned anyone into a frog. I’m
afraid of frogs. Now, are we done, or do you want to waste more time?"

"You’re mad because I kept secrets, but you kept secrets, too."

"Give me a break. Let’s get this straight once and for all. I didn’t tell
you about Buffy because it wasn’t my place to tell. It’s her story, not
mine. And I had no problem with you not telling me about the Initiative. I
thought you were misguidedly trying to protect me. What I did have a
problem with is the fact that you asked me out with the intent to use me for
information. And that’s all I have to say on the subject." Willow looked
at her watch and sighed. "We have got to get to the magick store. Rachel’s
staying open late just for me, and I really hate to keep her waiting." With
that, Willow turned and headed towards the store.

Graham followed.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Does anyone care to explain how Giles and Wesley got fired from the
Watchers Council?" Forrest asked, not sure if he should really trust these
people.

"Not particularly," Buffy replied as she browsed through a demon index.
"But I guess I can. The Watchers don’t really give a damn about Slayers.
One dies, the next one is called, and all that. They’ll never run out of
Slayers, so it doesn’t really bother them when one dies. They even have a
test for us. If we make it to eighteen, they take away all of our powers
and basically lock us up with a vampire. If we manage to kill it, we pass.
If we don’t, we’re dead. In my case, the vamp got loose and kidnapped my
mother. Obviously, I’m still here, so I passed. That’s when Giles got
fired. He told me about the test - it’s supposed to be a surprise - and he
tried to come to my rescue. Giles made the mistake of caring about me, so
they fired him."

"And Wesley?" Forrest asked, a bit subdued by Buffy’s answer.

"He was Giles’s replacement. I’ve actually died before... I drowned when I
was a sophomore, so there are two Slayers. Wesley was supposed to be in
charge of both of us, but I quit the Council, and Faith went evil. Doesn’t
exactly make for glowing reviews."

"Why’d you quit the Council? Because they didn’t care?"

"They wanted to let Angel die," Buffy replied, glancing at the vampire who
was currently going over a demon index with Cordelia. "They didn’t have a
problem with him when he was helping us, but they refused to help him when
he needed it."

"I don’t think I like the Watchers Council."

"Join the club."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Riley sighed as he listened to Professor Walsh’s voice. "Miller and Gates
are already with me, and we’re on it," he said before hanging up the cell
phone and heading back to the main room.

"One of the demons has been spotted."

"What? Where?" Buffy asked, surprised.

"In town. It didn’t get anybody; a few of the Initiative’s men drove it
off. They didn’t have enough fire power to drop it, though. Whatever it
is, Walsh is worried. She put me, Graham, and Forrest on assignment."

"Meaning?" Cordelia asked, afraid that they’d lost their help.

"Meaning, we’re still here working with you. Walsh wants us after the
demons, so we’re after the demons. She never said we had to be alone."

"Good," Angel said as he turned the book he was holding to face the others.
"I think I’ve found our demon."

Cordelia took one glance at it and nodded. "That’s our baddie. What’s the
book say about it?"

"Two ways to get rid of it: magickally or decapitation. Oh, and it’s not
ten feet tall. It’s twelve feet tall."

"Le’s hope Willow and Graham get back soon. I’m thinking we’re going to
need the magick."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Willow, Anya, and Giles went over their supplies one last time, then nodded.

"We’ve got everything," Anya said quietly.

"Are you sure you guys have to come with us?" Xander asked, concerned. He
didn’t particularly like the thought of the three of them out there without
weapons. They’d be completely helpless while they were casting the circle.
"Can’t you do it from here while the rest of us go fight?"

"We have to be there," Willow said. "The potion actually has to come in
contact with the demon. Otherwise, it won’t work."

"But-"

"Look, Xander, I know you’re worried. But there really isn’t any other way.
We have to be there."

"Besides," Buffy said with more confidence than she felt," we’ll be there to
distract the demons and kill the ones we can. We’ll make sure nothing
happens to Willow, Anya, and Giles."

"Fine."

Buffy looked around the room, making sure everyone had a weapon of some
kind. She looked at the sword that she held in her hand. It was long and
sharp. It would be perfect for decapitation.

If she could get high enough up to actually decapitate one of these things.

Part Fourteen

"We’re here," Cordelia said, looking around her. "This is the place from my
vision."

"Now what?" Forrest asked from his spot at Cordy’s side. "I mean, no
demons. Do we go search for them, or what?"

Willow and Anya knelt on the ground, beginning to prepare the circle. "We
wait," Willow told him briskly. "They’re sensitive to magick, so they’ll
come to us. That’s another reason Giles, Anya, and I had to be here. The
magick will call them."

"So basically we’re sitting ducks. Oh, well, that’s a comforting thought."

Xander sent him a hollow smile. "Welcome to our world."

"Everyone keep quiet. We need to be able to hear them coming," Wesley
admonished.

Giles knelt down between Willow and Anya, helping them with the supplies.
After a moment, he looked at Buffy.

"Protect the perimeter. We’re about to get started. Be careful."

"Aren’t I always?" Buffy replied cheekily before turning toward the others.
"You heard the man. Let’s go wait for some baddies."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

The candles glowed; the words were chanted softly.

The demons turned nearly as one.

There was magick in the air.

And it was calling to them.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

"Incoming!" Buffy cried as she heard a demon running through the brush. As
the demon came into view, the Slayer exchanged a horrified look with Graham,
forgetting for a moment that she was supposed to hate him.

"Oh, my God," Graham muttered as the first demon made it into the clearing.
It was huge, more than twice as tall - and twice as wide - as he was.

Buffy attacked the first demon with a vengeance, doing anything in her power
to keep it away from the circle until the potion had been completed. She
groaned as the demon flung her into a tree. Seeing Buffy in trouble, Graham
acted, tackling the demon’s legs with all his might and thanking God that he
had played football in high school. The demon tripped, and Buffy had it
decapitated before it hit the ground.

"Looks like only five of them are going to need magick," she said as the
demon disintegrated before their eyes.

Angel and Forrest fought the second demon, and Forrest found that he was
grateful for the vampire’s presence. Without Angel’s strength, there was no
way the thing could have been held at bay. An idea suddenly coming to him,
Forrest took out his gun, aiming for the knee.

"That’s not going to help!" Wesley shouted from his position fighting with
Spike. "It can’t be killed with bullets!"

"Yeah, but they might make it fall down," Forrest replied as he shot the
creature’s knees in quick succession. As the demon fell, Angel caught the
sword Buffy tossed to him and immediately decapitated the creature. He
nodded to Forrest.

"Good work."

Xander and Riley did their best to hold off the third demon, but it was a
losing battle.

"Damn, this thing’s strong," Riley muttered at he was knocked to his knees.

"You’re telling me."

"The potion!" Xander turned at the sound of Willow’s scream. She was
holding a vial up, and Xander sighed in relief.

"Not a moment too soon."

"Go get some; I’ll hold it back."

Xander nodded and took off, knowing that asking Riley if he was sure would
only waste time. Riley groaned as the demon knocked him to the ground
again, then grabbed the demon by the tail, determined to distract it long
enough for Xander to take it out. The demon turned and roared, it’s fangs
and claws getting closer to Riley. Then... it was melting. It’s skin was
steaming and becoming green slime.

Ew.

Riley let go of the demon and scrambled over to Xander, who was standing
with an empty vial.

"Well, that’s disgusting," Xander commented.

"Oh, yeah. I think the cut off the head method is a lot neater."

Wesley and Spike continued to fight their demon of choice while Cordelia
went for some of the potion. Spike admittedly was having a blast. He loved
anything that had to do with violence. Wesley, on the other hand, was
trying to keep from screaming like a woman. And then it was over. Cordelia
flung the potion at the demon, screaming when it seemed to turn into ooze
before their eyes.

"Okay, I like vampires better. Vampire dust is a lot easier to get out of
your clothes than this crap."

Spike stared forlornly at the puddle of demon slime. "Well, there goes my
fun."

Angel, Forrest, and Buffy took on the fifth demon. The two humans darted
back and forth, dodging the demon’s fangs, claws, and tail while effectively
distracting it for Angel. The demon let out one cry of surprise before it
began to smoke and turn to ooze.

The sixth and final demon tossed Riley out of the way, and the young man
went flying into Graham and Cordelia, knocking them over. Buffy ran to her
boyfriend, momentarily forgetting that there was still a demon to fight.

"Riley, are you okay?"

Riley nodded and started to answer, but was interrupted by Graham’s yell.

"Willow!"

The demon had figured out precisely where - and who - the magick was coming
from, and it was determined to take it out. It lunged toward Willow,
catching her off guard, and the redhead screamed. Graham, unable to get
there fast enough to do anything, watched in horror as the demon flung
Willow into a tree. The young witch shrank back against the tree, and
Graham could almost feel her fear. The demon drew closer, completely
blocking their view of Willow, then... the demon screamed and writhed,
falling to the ground as it began to dissolve. Willow dropped the vial of
potion she had been holding, then slumped to the ground.

Graham was at her side in an instant, knowing she would probably push him
away, but not caring. He pulled her close, running his hands over her
frantically. Willow allowed it, actually resting her head against his chest
for a moment, knowing that Graham was simply trying to reassure himself that
she was okay. She had been through much worse than this before, but Graham
didn’t know that.

After a moment, she pulled away, taking Graham’s chin in her hand and
forcing him to make eye contact. "I’m okay. I promise you. I’m okay."

Graham nodded his understanding as his breathing slowly returned to normal.
He helped Willow to stand, then lifted her into his arms. Willow opened her
mouth to protest, then decided to let it slide. She watched as Giles and
Anya quickly dismantled and cleaned up the circle they had cast, then turned
her head to look at Buffy.

"Let’s get back to Giles’s," the Slayer said. "Our work here is done."

Part Fifteen

Riley hung up his cell phone, then turned to the others. "Walsh knows the
demons have been taken care of; she just doesn’t know how it was done."

"Did you tell her how many there were?" Buffy asked.

"Negative. I mean, no. She had a report on how large they are; she would
never believe that Forrest, Graham, and I took out six of the things by
ourselves. And since they’ve basically disappeared, there’s no way to
disprove us when we say there were only two. We’ll stick with decapitation
as the method of death, though. Just in case we run across any more of
these suckers. That way the Initiative will know how to kill them."

"We would have never been able to figure out how to take these creatures out
by ourselves," Forrest said quietly. He lifted his head and looked at the
others in the room. "The Initiative - we wouldn’t have been able to do it.
I mean, we have all kinds of weaponry, but knowledge? We don’t have the
resources you people do. The books, the Internet sites, the friendly
neighborhood vamps to ask, the knowledge of magick... we would have been at
a complete loss on how to proceed."

"What are you saying, Forrest?" Riley asked, confused.

"I’m saying, I’d rather work with the people here than the people at the
Initiative. If you’d let me, that is," he said to Buffy, who smiled in
response.

"I need all the help I can get. We’d be glad to have you."

"All of us?" Graham asked. Riley nodded in agreement.

"You three would really quit the Initiative to join us?" Giles questioned.
"Even though we have two vampires and a former demon as allies?"

"Well, the way I figure, Spike can’t bite, Angel doesn’t bite, and the key
word for Anya is former," Forrest said with a shrug. "I’m okay with it.
How about you guys?" he asked Graham and Riley.

The two young men exchanged a glance, then nodded.

"We’re in," Riley stated. He turned to Spike. "Are you okay with this?" he
asked the blonde vampire.

"Well, it does keep you from hunting me," Spike reasoned. "I’m all for it."

"We can turn in our resignations tomorrow," Riley decided. Forrest and
Graham quickly agreed.

"Welcome to the family," Buffy told the former Initiative members with a
grin. Things were definitely looking up.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Graham had followed Willow outside. The others were celebrating their
victory and new alliance, as well as preparing to say goodbye to Cordelia,
Angel, and Wesley - the three would be leaving the next night - but Graham
had no interest in that. He stood a few feet behind Willow, not sure what
to say to her. He wanted to fix things so badly, but he was afraid he would
just make everything worse. He was afraid any discussion would fall along
the lines of ‘open mouth, insert foot.’ He was about to turn around and go
back in without saying anything when Willow spoke.

"You really do love me."

Graham stopped and stared at her, not sure if he’d heard her right. After a
moment, Willow turned around, and he could see tears in her eyes.

"What did you say?" Graham asked quietly.

"You really do love me. After I found the note, I didn’t believe it."

"But now you do?" he questioned slightly skeptically.

"Tonight, when that demon was after me, I heard you scream my name. I had
never heard such panic in my life. And then, afterwards, when you held
me... I just knew. You were so scared... so worried. And the look in your
eyes. No one’s ever looked at me like that before."

"Like what?"

"Like I was everything."

Graham came to stand by Willow, wanting to be near her, but afraid to touch
her. He was afraid this was all in his imagination and she would disappear
if he did touch her. Or worse, she would reject him.

"So what does this mean?" he asked.

"It means we love each other, I guess."

"It means we... wait. You still love me?" he asked, unable to believe his
ears. He had thought she hated him. He’d never really considered that what
he believed to be hate had really been hurt, the kind of deep hurt that
could only be caused by someone you loved.

"I never stopped," she said in a near whisper. "That made it even worse,
you know. Loving you and thinking it was all a game to you."

"It wasn’t a game."

"I know. I saw you tonight, remember? What you did was still wrong,
though. Nothing changes that."

"I realize that. I knew that from the beginning, which just makes what I
did worse. The thing is, when I met you, I immediately felt guilty for what
I was planning to do. Then I dropped the plan totally. It’s difficult to
regret the plan, though. I mean, it did lead me to meeting you."

"It probably would have happened anyway. I mean, Buffy and Riley are
dating."

"I know," he said after a moment. "I guess I’m still trying to rationalize
my behavior." He turned to face Willow. "I am so sorry, Willow. I never
meant to hurt you, and I’m sorry I did. I love you, and I’m begging you to
let me have another chance so we can start over."

"We’ve already slept together. Starting over would be rather difficult."
Graham closed his eyes in defeat, then opened them wide in surprise as
Willow continued. "I think I prefer the term rebuilding. We’ve already got
the foundation... we love each other. We just have to build on that."

Graham yanked Willow into his arms almost before she was done speaking.
"Thank God," he mumbled into her crimson hair.

"My thoughts exactly," Willow said, pulling away enough to look into
Graham’s eyes. "We don’t have to keep secrets anymore, either. We’re both
working with the same people... just, no more secrets, okay? No more lies."

"No more lies," Graham agreed. Then he did something he had been afraid he
was never going to get to do again.

He kissed Willow Rosenberg.

The End