Title: Home is Where Your Heart Is (1/2)
Author: Reatha
Email: spikes_witch@WitchesBrew.zzn.com
Rating: PG (sorry, no room for smut)
Summary: Willow’s got a REALLY big heart.
Distribution: my site (whenever I get around to updating the damn thing)
www.fortunecity.com/lavender/dolomite/713/fireinth.htm - anyone else: if
you have my stuff, take it, if you want it, ask.
Disclaimer: AS IF!!!
Feedback: pretty please???
Notes: I know I still owe lots of you a chocolate covered Spike (promised form when I wrote the Candy Series) - I just need to get into the mood first....(that was a
subtle hint for EVERYONE to write some smut fic for me....)
Part 1
"Willow, can I speak to you for a moment, please?" asked a blonde haired woman, as soon as Willow stepped through the doors to the modest sized house. From the outside, no one would be able to tell what went on inside. In fact, most people couldn’t even imagine what the truth was.
"Sure, Cynthia. What’s up?" said Willow, taking off her coat, and throwing it in the closet by the door, with her purse. Her regular Saturday morning visits here always left her in a good mood, and each week she was anxious to get back. She’d often thought about sharing this activity with Buffy and Xander, but something always held her back from opening up. They probably wouldn’t understand. But deep down she knew why she never told her best friends about her weekly visits to the quiet house on Mason St. This time was hers alone, when no one knew who she was suppose to be. No one would even suspect that shy Willow Rosenberg would spend 5 hours a week working with people like these.
"Well, I have someone new for you to work with. The gentleman who called said he wanted the best, and I immediately thought of you." said Cynthia. It always amazed
her how blind people could be. Here was an absolutely beautiful girl, who spent her Saturday mornings in a place that almost everyone in the town was oblivious to. She knew more about Willow than the girl thought. Cynthia was very particular about who she let into the small world inside her house, and had checked her out before hiring her. Unlike most of the inhabitants of Sunnydale, Cynthia was aware of the strange occurrences around the town. She knew about demons and vampires, even about the Slayer, though she never let on to Willow. What amazed Cynthia the most, however, was that this girl gave so much of herself everyday - fighting demons and saving the world, yet she somehow managed to keep an aura of innocence about her.
Even more, this small red headed had girl come to this house every Saturday morning for the past 2 years, to help work with the victims of this strange town. Mainly, the people who had been blinded by some mysterious creature or occurrence, of the supernatural variety.
< Authors Note: Bet you all had your minds in the gutter up until this point, didn’t you??? And don’t lie!! I know you all…..your mind was in the very pits of the
gutter....right where mine is most of the time.. >
"Who is it?" asked Willow, curious and happy. Curious because of this new person Cynthia wanted her to help. She always got a rush out of meeting someone new,
and helping them to see the beauty in the world they could no longer see with their eyes. Willow knew how deceiving the world actually was, and taught people how to appreciate it now that they had to rely on other senses. The smell of a flour, or a loaf of freshly baked bread was more beautiful to her than a garden full of colourful flowers in full bloom. The feel of the rising sun’s warmth on your skin was more inspiring than actually watching it. She was also happy, because Cynthia had said she was good. < The best. > trilled Willow in her mind, a huge smile breaking across her face.
"His name’s William Conway. It’s his sister who’s blind. He wants her to feel comfortable and be able to get on with her life.. He thinks she slightly suicidal, now
that she can’t see, and he wants desperately to help her." said Cynthia. "You may have quite a handful, Willow. Do you think you can handle it?" asked the blonde, turning to Willow. At Willow’s excited nod, she continued. "This isn’t going to be some sort of weekly activity, Willow. If you decide to help this woman, you’ll need to dedicate yourself. That means almost everyday, you’ll have to be there for her. Help her through the hard times, and be there to encourage her."
Cynthia waited for Willow’s response, watching as the red head pondered
what she’d just said.
What else could she do? This woman, whoever she was, needed help. Fighting demons and saving the world were good and all, but she never felt like she made
that much of an impact. Working here with the victims of the various demons who’d wreaked havoc in the town, before the Slayer could deal with them, gave her that sense of completion she’d been missing before. Most of the men and women who lived in cynthia’s house, knew her and liked her. she became a different Willow when she was here. No longer the dependable, reliable one, Willow was loved by many people in the house, all who returned her friendship with equal enthusiasm, and had
never seen what she looked like. They never saw the fuzzy sweaters or the tights or overalls she wore all the time. Here, Willow was judged on her personality and
character, not her looks. That gave her the confidence to be someone she’d only dreamed of, and that Willow was the one who now contemplated helping out full time, with a new addition to Cynthia’s clientele.
"I’ll do it." said Willow softly, looking up into the blonde’s brown eyes.
"Here’s the address. I’ll call and tell him to expect you around 1:00, OK?" replied Cynthia with a smile. She’d known all along that Willow would jump at the chance to
help. It was just the kind of person she was.
Taking the paper, Willow nodded and walked into the main room, calling out a general hello as she tucked the piece of paper into the pocket of her red jeans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willow walked up to the front door of a sizeable house, nervously tucking her red hair behind her ear. She didn’t know what to expect, and it scared her. granted, she was
excited about this opportunity to work closely with someone who needed her help, someone who needed Willow Rosenberg, and not Buffy Summers the Vampire Slayer, but she was also nervous.
What if they didn’t like her? What if she didn’t help? What if the woman was really suicidal, and Willow only drove her over the edge? These questions tumbled through her mind, as she hesitantly raised her hand to the large, wooden door. < But Cynthia
wouldn’t recommend me if she didn’t think I could do it. > she reasoned as she knocked.
The sound seemed to echo through the large house. Then came the sound of footsteps, as someone made their way towards the covered entryway where she now stood.
However, her burst of courage faded as she got a good look at the ‘someone’ who opened the door.
"Spike?" cried out Willow. Before she could even think, her instincts kicked in, and she turned to run, but a strong hand on her arm stopped her.
"Well, well. If it isn’t the Slayer’s pet witch." drawled an accented voice, as Spike drew the struggling red head into the house. Throwing her away from the door,
calmly turned and locked the door behind him, before returning his attention to the trembling red head in front of him. He could smell the fear rolling off her in waves. He almost smiled at that, until he realized why she was here.
"You’re the ‘Willow’ Cynthia was talking about ?" he spat out as the situation made itself clear. The Slayers best friend was the one sent to help his ‘sister’.
"This is the right house?" asked Willow fearfully. Another thought came on the heels of that first one. "You’re not going to eat me, are you? I mean, you didn’t make up
that whole ‘sister who’s blind’ story to get an easy meal, did you?" her eyes going wide at that thought, then even wider at his loud laugh.
"Sorry to disappoint you, ducks, but you’re not here to become anyone’s evening meal." he said, once he managed to stop his laughter. "No one in Sunnyhell goes after Cynthia, or anyone who works for her."
"Oh. Why?" she asked, curiously, her fear leaving her some, but not totally.
"She’s been good to us. Gives us a place to stay if we’re caught away from shelter at dawn, among other things. She’s kind of like Willy, except that we respect her and her work. I know it’s hard to believe that demons could respect a human, but we all owe her a debt of some sort." looking at the red head closely, he continued. "If we’d known you worked for Cynthia, you’re life wouldn’t be in danger every night. No vamp or demon would dare go after you. If they did, you’d have the entire underground population after whoever it was."
"What do you mean?" she asked, curious.
"We have a type of agreement with Cynthia. She provides us with information and services, and we make sure her and her staff and patients are safe from the night-life
around these parts." he explained, still slightly shocked that this shy hacker worked for Cynthia, and was considered ‘one of her best’. Unbeknownst to Willow, Cynthia didn’t work with the blind, alone. She had a large network in Sunnydale, which covered just about everything. In essence, she was the unofficial ruler of the Hellmouth. If you needed to know anything, Cynthia was the one to ask. She also
knew if a vampire so much as sneezed in the town.
"Oh. Wow." mumbled Willow under her breath. Her Saturday morning activities had just taken on a whole new meaning. Then, something else occurred to her. "What
about your blind ‘sister’?" she asked, wondering if that had been the truth.
"That part’s true." he told her. Just then, a noise from the stairs drew both their attentions.
"Princess, you shouldn’t be up and about yet. Your still weak." said Spike, hurriedly making his way to the black haired vampiress’ side.
"Spike?" she questioned in a child-like voice, her eyes staring blankly into space in front of her. "I feel magic here. Miss Edith said she’s here to help me."
"That’s right, Dru." replied Spike softly, in a comforting type of voice. "This is Willow. She’s a witch. She’s here to help you."
"Is she going to make me all better?" Dru asked, innocent hope coloring her voice, her eyes continuing to stare off into nothing.
"I can help you, but I don’t know if I can make you better." replied Willow before Spike could, making her way to the vampiress’ side. She’d made her decision in a
split second. She couldn’t leave Drusilla like this. Even though Willow was terrified that she might be killed by the black haired beauty, she would still do all in her power to help the injured vampire. So she drew her courage up into herself, and reached out to touch Drusilla’s hand, not wanting to startle her by grabbing it.
"Now, who’s this Miss Edith? I’d like to meet her." said Willow, smiling when Drusilla latched on to her hand, a smile curving her pale lips.
"Miss Edith said I would like you. She said I’m a princess." Drusilla said the last with a great deal of pride in her voice.
Unknown to Drusilla, Willow answered with her own smile. In her own way, Drusilla had accepted Willow.
The dark vampiress turned and began leading Willow up the stairs, one hand on the wall to guide them.
At the bottom of the stairs, Spike smiled in relief. It had been too long since his Princess had smiled, at him or anyone. Yet this small girl had his Dark Goddess
smiling in less that five minutes after meeting her. he had a feeling that these two females would become very important in his unlife, and couldn’t find the urge to resist that particular feeling.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 2
Willow smiled to herself as she walked home from school, a month later. She’d been spending almost all her free time at Spike and Dru’s, and she felt like a part of
the family. Once it had gotten out that Willow worked for Cynthia, and was now practically living with Spike and Dru, vampires and other creatures of the night steered clear of her, for which she was incredibly grateful.
In the last month, things had been going great on the vampire side of her life, but on the human, normal side, things were steadily getting worse. Oz was getting worried
about her. They’d barely seen each other in weeks, and she could tell he was getting tired of her thinly disguised excuses. Buffy and Xander weren’t much better. They kept asking her why she didn’t come to the Bronze, or why she didn’t help out with research. Willow truly tried to be there, but Dru seemed to take up most of her time. It wasn’t that she was demanding, it was just that Willow found more satisfaction in spending time with Dru and Spike, than she did researching the newest baddy to
appear on the Hellmouth. Also, more often than not, she found that Spike took care of any unwelcome demons, before the Slayer could even become aware of it. He
didn’t want any outsiders in his town, and got rid of those who were of danger to his
clan, hearing about it through Cynthia. Her reach truly was extraordinary. An hour after a demon appeared in Sunnydale, Spike knew about it. If it was dangerous, or threatened his control over the town in any way, he’d take it out. Willow still researched, but know it was to help Spike, and not the Slayer.
More and more she found her thoughts and actions revolving around her new ‘family’, for that’s what she thought of them. Spike and Dru were her family. They asked her
about her day, comforted her when she’d had a particularly bad day, and threatened to kill whoever had upset her. Lately, that had mainly been Buffy and Xander. Willow felt loved and special. She had people who would kill those who made her unhappy. As much as that thought disturbed her, Willow felt loved.
Reaching the house she now considered home, she paused outside the door. She had the nasty feeling that she was being watched, but couldn’t figure out from where.
Turning slowly, she looked around, but couldn’t find the reason for the shivers racing up her spine. Shaking it off as nothing, she continued inside the house, to Drusilla and Spike.
Spike. Just the thought of him sent warm fuzzy feelings through her. Willow didn’t know when or how, but over the last month, she’d fallen in love with him. He could
be so caring and considerate of Dru one minute, and ripping the heart out of a demon the next. The latter kind of scared her, but seeing him with Dru, all that care and love lavished upon one person, made her ache. It made her ache to be that person.
But never in a million years would she tell either of them. Dru was fragile, and disrupting the household could have a disastrous effect on her. her current state of
health was a direct result of the Chaos demon she’d been with. The same one Spike had been ranting about the last time he was in town, when he’d kidnaped her and Xander. The damn demon had used the black haired vampiress for her powers, and discarded her after. She was almost completely drained, and would have died if Spike hadn’t found her. As a result, Dru was blind, and incredibly weak. So weak, in fact, that Willow could easily take her on, and win with no problems. As Spike had said, she was ‘as weak as a kitten’.
"Good day, pet. How are the bore, the gnat and the chit, today?" asked Spike, referring to Giles, Xander and Buffy, respectively.
"Spike, be nice." she chided him, but more and more she lost the desire to defend her friends. The only time they spoke to her, now, was to get her to research, copy
homework or interrogate her about her after-school activities. "School was school. I can’t wait until I graduate." she said. Looking around the room, she noted a lack of Drusilla. "Where’s Dru?" asked Willow.
"Getting ready." was all he said.
"Getting ready for what?" she asked him, dread filling her. Even though Dru was weak and blind, she was still insane, and still a vampire.
"She’s decided to take a walk in the park tonight." he told her. At hearing this, a large smile spread across Willow’s face.
"She wants to go out?" almost jumping in joy, Willow bounced on the spot. She’d been trying for weeks to get the other woman out of the house. The only time she’d been outside, had been when Spike had brought her to Sunnydale.
"That’s what I said." the blonde vampire told her. He, too, was excited. His Princess was finally getting better - well, maybe not better, but she was showing a definite
improvement. She had regained some of her strength, and her confidence was coming back, which is what gave her the courage to go outside again. And it was all due to this small red headed witch, who was best friends with the Slayer. She had brought so much energy and joy into their house, even into their clan. All the boys liked her. Especially after she’d killed a rogue vampire who had threatened their Mistress. They’d all watched in awe as she let loose an arrow from her small crossbow, instantly turning to dust the vampire who was about to stake Dru. None
of them could have gotten to them in time, but this red headed human had saved Drusilla, and the entire lot of them, cause Spike would most certainly taken out his loss on them all. The few times she’d gone out with them to fight a demon, she’d shown more courage than a lot of the new fledglings had.
"I’ll send some of the boys around town, distracting the Slayer from the park. You should be safe there, pet." Spike informed Willow.
"‘Should’?" asked Willow with a raised eyebrow.
"The rest of them will be scattered around the park, but well out of Dru’s sight." he said with a small smile. He wasn’t taking any chances with either of his women. He
didn’t know when he’d started to think of Willow as his, but he did. She was part of their family, almost as surely as if he’d turned her himself. It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in his lifetime.
"I’ll just go get ready." said Willow, as she ran up the stairs to her room. Unknown to the Scooby gang, or even her parents, was the fact that she’d moved out of her
house almost 2 weeks ago. What really hurt was the fact that no one noticed she had moved. Her parents - well, she was use to being ignored by them. But Buffy, Xander, Giles, even Oz, hadn’t noticed that she came to and from school, from a different house on the other side of town.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The stars are singing to me!!" exclaimed Drusilla as she walked arm and arm with Willow through the park later on that night. What had disturbed Drusilla the most, was the lack of ‘singing from the stars’. Just like Miss Edith, they told her things,
and she always listened.
"They’re saying Little Tree has a love." she said with a smile, turning her head in Willow’s general direction. Trying to control her reaction, Willow told herself that there was no way that Drusilla could know about her feelings for Spike.
"Really?" Willow managed to choke out. "What are they saying?" she asked carefully.
"They say my Spike is lonely, and needs Little Tree to make him happy." she said, before her face formed a little pout. "Spike still loves his Princess, but he loves
Little Tree, too." rambled Drusilla.
Stopping suddenly, Drusilla turned to face the red head, her eyes staring right through Willow. "Make my Spike happy." to Willow, it almost wounded like a plea.
"Wha-" stuttered Willow, unsure of what to say.
"Willow." said Drusilla, interrupting the red head, and startling her at the same time. In all the time Willow had been helping Dru, the vampiress had never used her name.
"I can’t take love him the way you can. He needs someone to be there for him." Willow suddenly realized that this was one of Dru’s rare moments of complete sanity. She wasn’t raving on about Miss Edith or the moon, or even the ‘nasty Slayer’. Drusilla was telling Willow to go after the man that they both
loved, and loved them both.
Slowly nodding her head, Willow accepted what Dru offered, before she realized that the vampiress couldn’t see her. "I love you, Dru." she said, wrapping her arms around the woman in front of her who had come to mean so much to her in such a short time.
"Willow! Get away from her!" yelled a voice form behind her. Releasing Drusilla, Willow spun in time to see Oz holding a crossbow, pointed at Drusilla’s heart. Behind him was Xander, who looked scared and protective at the same time.
"What are you doing?!" screamed Willow, taking a step towards her boyfriend. < Scratch that. After this, he becomes EX-boyfriend. > she thought angrily.
However, that single step was enough room for Oz to aim for the insane vampiress’s heart. Seeing the arrow released from the bow, Willow did the only thing she
could think of.
She threw herself in the path of the arrow. She felt a sharp pain pierce her back, and then she was falling. Falling onto a cold body. Drusilla. Pain wracked her body,
almost causing her to lose her grip on consciousness. Willow was vaguely aware of the growling and snarling around her, as Spike’s boys came out of the shadows, going after those who dared to threaten their mistress and hurt Willow. Not only was Willow protected by cynthia, but she was also part of their family. And no one hurt their family.
Gentle arms wrapped around her limp body, drawing her close. Willow heard murmuring on the edge of her consciousness, and realized it was Dru. It was the last
thing Willow remembered before the agonizing fire in the center of her back eclipsed everything else, drawing her down into a pit of darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Opening her eyes slowly, it took Willow a moment to realize where she was. She was lying on her bed, in her room, in her home. < Home. Not where I grew up, but where Spike and Dru are. >
It was then that she remembered. Everything. The park. Dru. Oz and Xander. And then the arrow. And finally pain, then blackness. Sitting up, she noticed a pair of ice
blue eyes watching her.
"What happened?" Willow asked, still feeling week. She didn’t know what was going on, or how long she’d been unconscious.
"What do you remember?" asked Spike. Willow wondered where this was going, but answered anyways. She told him all she could recall from the night’s events.
"How do you fell?" he asked her then, but the way he said it, made her curious.
"I feel kinda tired." she said, but at his look, knew there was something else he wanted to hear. Closing her eyes, she concentrated and looked into herself. What she saw there frightened her. "I’m a vampire?" she asked, shocked. She had felt another presence inside her. It was dark, and menacing, but she knew instantly what it was. Her demon. But... "But I don’t feel all that different." she told him, her eyes begging him for answers.
"You were dying." he began, his face never changing from it’s stony expression. "Dru knew it, and wasn’t about to let it happen. So she turned you. I didn’t even know
what she was doing until I came over to the two of you." he paused for a moment, his eyes closing. Willow saw his face ripple, and knew he was trying to control his own demon. "The arrow was still sticking out of your back. When I pulled it out, I saw it start to slowly heal. When I asked her what she had done, she said she’d made it so that we could be together. I’m guessing that because she was so weak, her blood didn’t allow the demon to gain full control. You still have your soul, or at least a
portion of it."
"Where is she?" asked Willow after a moment, wanting to see her friend and sire. Spike didn’t say a thing, but got up and motioned her to follow him. He lead her down
the hall to Drusilla’s room, where he opened the door and let her enter first. What she saw there shocked her, and sent waves of pain through her heart.
There, laying on the bed, in her favorite gown, was an incredible pale Drusilla. Going over to her sire’s side, Willow leaned down onto the bed next to Dru, one hand gently stroking the pale face and black hair.
"I did this, didn’t I?" she asked Spike, the torment clearly heard in her voice, and visible on her face. "It’s because of me that she’s like this, isn’t it?"
"Yes." was all he said, then instantly regretted the word, for it caused blood red tears to fill her green eyes, then silently fall down her now-pale cheeks.
"Don’t cry." he said softly, drawing her up into his arms, holding her tightly against his body as she continued to quietly cry. "It was what she wanted." he soothed her.
He continued to hold onto her, until her crying dwindled down to the occasional sniffle. "Besides, I know of a way to make her all better."
Raising her red streaked face, Willow looked him in the eye. "How?" was all she said. Whatever it took, she would get Drusilla back. Laying on the bed was her best
friend, mother and sister, all in one. She wouldn’t let that go without a fight.
"A ritual." was all he said.
"But don’t you need the duLac cross?" she asked, remembering that that’s what he needed last time. Well, the cross, and Angel.
"No. That was a one-time deal, anyways. The restoration ritual was a second choice, because her best bet wasn’t possible, until know." he explained, looking deep into her green eyes, marveling at this creature he had come to love.
"What was the first choice?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"It’s another ritual, but the main ingredients are the blood of a sire, and a childe." he waited a moment for this to sink in. Spike saw the question form in her eyes, before she even spoke it, and answered before she could ask. "You’re the first childe Dru ever made. She knew about the ritual, and knew we’d find a way to bring her back." he said, a smile crossing his face for the first time in days, at seeing the happiness of her expression.
"So does that mean we’re going to LA to see grandad?" she asked excitedly.
"Of course it does, pet." replied Spike. "But first, you should say a proper farwell to those friends of yours." he suggested, knowing she’d catch his meaning.
"You mean their not dead, yet?" she asked, truly surprised. Willow had figured they’d be feeding the worms by now.
"Not all of them. I was saving some for you." Spike informed her.
"Well then, by all means, lets not keep them waiting. It’s very rude." she said, pulling herself out form his embrace, to walk out into the hallway. "Besides, I just realized I’m famished." added Willow over her shoulder, with a smile on her face.
"Certainly, luv. First - dinner. Then - LA." responded Spike, following her out the door.
Soon he would have both his Princesses. Drusilla, his Dark Queen. And Willow, his Red Queen.
What a perfect match.
End.
