Title: Something Wicked This Way Comes
Author: eena_angel2001
Email: igrewal@sfu.ca
Category: WWE/BTVS crossover
Pairing: Willow/Jeff Hardy, Faith/Edge
Disclaimer: All WWE characters belong to the WWE. Joss Whedon and Mutant
Enemey Inc. own Buffy.
Distribution: Ask first
Rating: R to be safe.
Spoilers: Season Six for Buffy, not really any for WWE.
Summary: Slightly AU. Tara never existed, Willow doesn’t go evil, Faith is
out of jail. WWE, no stupid branch extension. Willow and Faith must stop
an evil from destroying the people of the WWE. It would be helpful if they
just knew what they were trying to save them from.
"I still think this is insane," Willow Rosenburg grumbled to her
companion.
Faith Wilkins glanced up and grinned at her friend.
"Is Red not liking the undercover job?" the brunette needled.
Willow glared and stuck her tongue out in response.
"Real mature Wills," Faith rolled her eyes. "Sheesh, you’re so
grumpy you can’t even take teasing in stride."
"I’m not grumpy," the redhead protested stubbornly. "I’m
frustrated."
"Which is making you grumpy," Faith quipped lightly.
"Well, if I was grumpy, which I am not, I would have good reason to
be so," Willow shot back stuffily.
Faith sighed.
"You do have a good reason," she agreed. "Hell, I’m not too keen on
this idea either. But there is Cordelia’s vision to consider, and all the
portents. Something bad is going down here, and we have to stop it."
"I know, I know," Willow mumbled, rubbing her face tiredly. "But
couldn’t they" she pointedly glared up at the sky "make things easier for
us. You know? Give us some more details, or at least tell us what we’re
looking for?"
"Of course not Red, that’s how the wackos get their kicks," Faith
joked.
The redhead frowned at her.
"I wouldn’t go around saying stuff like that," she warned. "You
never know who might be listening."
Faith snorted.
"Whatever. We all know the PTB are nothing more than a bunch of
sadistic creatures who just like to dick around-"
A giant clap of thunder broke out across the clear summer sky,
halting her words. Both girls jumped and turned to stare at the sky in
suspicion.
"You don’t think . . ." Faith trailed off.
Willow held up her hands.
"I am not going there," she insisted. Sighing once more, the
redhead gathered herself up and turned to her friend.
"Let’s just get on with it," she grumbled.
The two girls picked up individual duffel bags and made for the
entrance of the building in front of them.
"WWE, here we come."
*****
Willow and Faith tried to navigate their way through the maze of
hallways. There was an endless stream of corridors intersecting each other,
with no real indication of exactly where each one led.
"Okay, that’s it!" Faith promptly stopped in her tracks. "We are
lost."
Willow looked around her uncertainly. Nothing looked at all like
the office they were looking for.
"You’d think there would be signs or something," the redhead
grumbled in annoyance.
"Or one of those helpful maps with the stars that say ‘you are
here’," Faith chipped in happily.
"But no, there’s nothing," Willow frowned, hands on her hips. "Does
this whole thing have to be an upward struggle?"
"Duh! That is just how the PT-" Faith broke off suddenly, eyes
shooting skyward.
"I mean, that’s just how Ukrainians get their kicks," she quickly
amended.
"Ukrainians?" Willow repeated.
Faith grinned.
"I would have said Czechoslovakians, but I figured that would be
ripping off ‘Roswell’ too much."
The redhead rolled her eyes.
"You’re nuts," she informed her friend.
"And a convicted felon," Faith added merrily.
Willow chuckled.
"Let’s not broadcast that one around," she told Faith.
The former rogue Slayer widened her eyes in a fake innocent look.
"Why ever not?" she asked jokingly. "You think I would scare all
the wrestlers away?"
"You’re going to do that anyway," Willow grinned at her. "A few
moments with you, and the whole roster will be running for the hills."
"Hey, watch what you say," Faith mock threatened.
"Or what?"
"Or I’ll put you in a headlock."
Willow snorted.
"I’m petrified," she intoned comically.
"You should be," Faith grinned. "I’m a dangerous woman."
"You’re also a dangerously lost woman," Willow countered. She
nodded in the direction of some crewmembers.
"Go ask one of them," she prodded.
"Why me?" Faith demanded. "I don’t want to look like some idiot who
can’t negotiate her way around an arena. Why don’t you go?"
"Because you know I have that nasty aversion of speaking to people I
don’t know."
Faith frowned.
"I thought you got over that and are now a new and improved Willow."
"I’m having a relapse," Willow shot back, this time giving the
Slayer a slight push towards the people.
Faith glared at the redhead. Turning, she prepared to swallow her
pride and ask for directions.
*****
After getting the directions, the girls were able to make it to
their destination with only two delays. One was when they turned down a
wrong corridor. The second was when they came across two blond women deeply
immersed in a bitch-slapping contest. Faith had wanted to stay to see which
one won, but was dragged away by her rather irritated companion.
Finally, the girls arrived at their destination. "Ric Flair" was
blazoned across the office door. Squaring her shoulders, Willow lifted her
hand and knocked.
*****
The three members of Team X-treme lounged about Ric Flair’s office.
The co-owner of the WWE had summoned them but had yet to show himself.
"What do you think he wants?" Jeff Hardy piped up suddenly.
His brother Matt shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe he put us in some sort of six man inter-gender tag match,"
the older Hardy mused.
His girlfriend Lita absently played with the edges of his shirt.
"Most likely about some sort of match," she agreed. "But he usually
doesn’t call us in for that."
Their musings were cut off when the man himself entered the room.
"Lita, Matt, Jeff," the boss greeted them.
"Hey Ric, what’s up?" Jeff responded.
The Nature Boy grinned at him mischievously.
"Someone sounds a bit impatient," he needled.
"You have to excuse Jeff," Matt interjected. "He’s not used to
being forced to sit in one spot for so long. I’m surprised he didn’t
destroy your office by bouncing off the walls."
Jeff stuck his tongue in response.
The co-owner of the WWE just laughed.
"So Ric," Lita piped up. "Why did you call us down? Is there a
match or something we should know about?"
"Actually yes, but the boys have nothing to do with it," Ric
answered. "Lita, you’re the one I really need to talk to."
The trio exchanged glances.
"What’s up?" Jeff asked once more.
"It’s nothing serious," Ric assured them. "It’s just we have a new
female wrestler joining our ranks. Her name is Faith, and her manager is
Willow. Tonight on RAW is going to be her first match, and you’re her
opponent."
Lita nodded.
"Doesn’t sound like a problem," she looked at her boss. "Why’d you
call us in?"
Ric sighed.
"I need you to take it easy on her," he started.
"You want Lita to throw the match?" Matt demanded incredulously.
"No, no, absolutely not," Ric held his hands up in denial. "I know
Lita could win this match easy, but I’m worried about the rookie. It was
Vince’s idea for her to take on Lita for her debut match. I think that is a
huge mistake. Lita is the best in the women’s division. This girl, not
only is she new, but she’s tiny. I’m not saying to throw the match, but not
to do too much damage to her."
"How tiny?" was Jeff’s question.
"About Terri’s size," Ric answered.
"Is she about Terri’s level?" Lita asked.
Ric shook his head.
"I don’t know, this is her first match. But the trainers at the
camp said she was a natural. She was accelerated through the training. But
then again, she is gorgeous, and so is her manager. Vince could have just
accelerated them based solely on that fact. It is what he did with Trish
originally."
Lita nodded.
"So win the match, but leave the rookie more or less intact?" Ric
nodded.
"I can do that," she agreed.
Ric smiled in relief.
"Thank you," he told her gratefully.
"Why are you so worried about this girl?" Matt asked.
"You’ll know when you see the both of them," Ric assured him.
"They’re tiny things. Willow, the manager, looks like a china doll. I’m
deeply afraid they’re going to get broken out there. I’m not saying let
your guard down, we all know people are full of surprises. But when you go
to beat her, just don’t beat on her too hard."
Lita nodded.
"I got it."
*****
"You’re up," a stagehand announced to the high flyers.
Team X-treme scrambled to their feet and made their way to the ramp
entrance.
"Hey," Matt nudged Lita. "There’s your opponent."
Sure enough, two girls paced in front of the ramp entrance.
Suddenly, the redheaded one broke from her pacing and made to run to the
back. Her companion seized her by the arm and pulled her back.
"Red! What are you doing?" demanded the brunette.
"Do you realize how many people are out there?" the redhead
squeaked.
The brunette grinned.
"Stage fright?"
"Oh hell yeah," the redhead nodded emphatically.
"Well too bad," the brunette grabbed her by the arm and led her back
to the entrance. "We’re in this thing together."
"But I can’t!" whined the redhead.
"Okay, don’t think about the fans," the brunette advised.
The redhead glared.
"And how am I going to avoid thinking about the tens of thousands of
them?"
"Think about Fangless instead," the brunette grinned devilishly.
"He still doesn’t know who took his duster."
The redhead looked down at her long leather jacket.
"He is going to be so pissed if he sees me on national television
wearing his jacket," she mused. The redhead smiled brightly.
"Let’s do it!"
The two made their way through the curtains.
"Stage fright?" Jeff repeated, when the two were out of sight. "Is
that even allowed here?"
Matt chuckled.
"They’re just nervous, first match and all," he offered. Matt
looked down at his girlfriend.
"Ready to kick her ass?"
Lita nodded.
"Ric’s right," she said suddenly. "They are tiny things. God, I
hope I don’t hurt her too much."
*****
Crazy Town’s "Butterfly" broke out across the arena. Faith and
Willow made their way through the curtains. Suddenly, they were on the
ramp. The screams and lights overwhelmed their senses. Willow faltered,
stunned by the level of noise and lights. Faith just grabbed Willow and
proceeded to make her way down the ramp.
"Making her way to the ring, being accompanied by Willow, for her
first match in the WWE . . . Faith!"
Loud screams followed the ring announcer’s introduction. Faith and
Willow slipped between the ropes and entered the ring. Willow caught one of
the cameramen approaching her. She shot him a dazzling smile, running her
hands over her leather duster. Well, Spike‘s leather duster. The fans just
cheered more.
"This is kind of fun," she confided in Faith. The brunette grinned
in agreement.
Suddenly, their music faded and was replaced by another. The lights
faded, and started blinking rapidly across the arena. At the sound of the
familiar tune, the fans leaped to their feet in an astounding ovation.
Three figures appeared on the ramp. In the absence of light, you could
detect their presence by the glow in the dark clothing they all wore.
The lights came back on and revealed one redheaded woman and two
men. One man had dark hair; the other had what looked like a rainbow on his
head. The trio began dancing/jogging their way on the ramp.
"Making her way to the ring, being accompanied by Matt and Jeff
Hardy . . . Lita!"
The crowd roared at the sound of her name.
"Hey, no fair!" Faith protested. "How come she gets to have two
people in her corner while I only get one?"
"Why do you care?" Willow asked.
"Hello, have you ever watched this show?" Willow shook her head.
"People accompany others to the ring to help them cheat."
"They’re going to cheat?" Willow repeated, eyes wide.
"Possibly," Faith shrugged. "Either way, stay away from the guys.
Don’t want anything happening to you."
Willow opened her mouth to reply but was cut off when the trio slid
into the ring. They promptly made their way to the turnbuckles, playing to
the crowd. Willow jumped out the way when Rainbow Boy raced for her side of
the ring.
After a while of posing for the crowd, the trio finally assembled
calmly in Lita’s corner. Willow watched them with wide eyes.
"They’re kind of weird," she whispered to Faith.
"What tipped you off?" Faith giggled back. "The glow in the dark
clothing or Skittles over there?"
Willow gave a little laugh.
"Definitely Skittles," she giggled.
The music stopped blaring. The two guys jumped out the ring,
leaving Lita alone. Willow turned to Faith before exiting as well.
"Remember, that muscle relaxant numbed your abilities only
slightly," she warned the Slayer. "Don’t accidentally break her."
"Yes mom," Faith muttered sourly. Willow gave her a look.
"And if it numbed your strength more than expected, just lie down,"
Willow shot a nervous look over at the awaiting redhead. "I like having my
friend in one piece."
Faith grinned.
"Don’t worry Red," she soothed. "I got it."
Willow gave her a little hug before hopping down from the ring
apron. The referee signalled for the bell.
The match was on.
*****
Willow nervously chewed on her lip. This Lita person was very adept
in the ring. She had been throwing Faith around quite a bit. And taking
anything Faith threw at her in stride. Some of it barely fazed the girl.
Willow frowned. She couldn’t tell if Faith was holding back or if
the muscle relaxant was overdoing it. She brushed her long red hair out of
her face and peered closely at the two combatants.
Faith wasn’t holding back. The redhead was wearing her down. At
the moment, Lita had put her in a sleeper hold. Willow saw Faith’s eyes
start to droop.
Willow ran over to the other side of the ring. She barely
acknowledged the presence of the Hardy Brothers. Her eyes were firmly
trained on her struggling friend. She looked about ready to quit.
"Come on Faith!" Willow screamed encouragingly. "Break the damn
hold! Just think of all those times Gunn and I short sheeted your bed!"
Upon hearing the redhead’s cries, Faith’s eyes took on a dangerous
glint. She rose up and threw Lita up over her head. Instead of taking
advantage of the redhead’s surprise, Faith just turned livid eyes on Willow.
"I knew you were helping the gang banger!" Faith accused Willow from
inside the ring. Willow just pointed frantically behind her. Faith,
apparently remembering where she was, turned back to the match.
Willow jumped up and down in joy when Faith gained the upper hand.
She finally took notice of the brothers next to her, giving her the
strangest looks.
"What?" she demanded. Huffing slightly, the redhead turned heel and
made back for her side of the ring. Matt and Jeff just stared in confusion.
*****
The match just got worse. The two women were giving it their all.
No one could tell how it was going to end. There were numerous near falls.
"Oh, come on ref!" Willow shrieked after a particularly long two
count. "That was three!"
The referee just raised two fingers. It was just a two count.
Willow fumed slightly.
In the ring, Lita sent Faith flying into the ropes. Luckily, the
brunette was able to prevent herself from falling to the outside.
Unfortunately, it gave Lita the perfect opportunity to use the ropes to
choke her.
Willow was absolutely livid. She leapt onto the apron.
"What the hell?" she screamed at the ref. "She’s choking her!"
The referee came over and commenced a slight argument with Willow.
Meanwhile, Lita had landed the moon salt and was awaiting the three count.
The referee was too busy fighting with Willow to even notice. Lita turned
to the Hardys for help.
Willow wasn’t sure what happened. One minute she was arguing with
the ref about Lita choking Faith and the next she was being pulled down from
the apron. Willow struggled wildly in the arms of her captor. She turned
and saw both Hardy brothers glaring at her. Jeff Hardy was the one holding
her by the waist.
"Let me down Skittles!" she demanded.
"You shouldn’t interfere in matches like that," Matt informed her.
"Your girlfriend shouldn’t try to choke my friend on the ropes," she
countered.
"Listen, what happens in the ring stays in the ring," Matt
continued. "Outside should never get involved in what’s going on inside."
Willow was furious. She promptly gave him the Stone Cold salute.
The crowd, who had been following the outer ring conflict, roared in
laughter. Willow remained in a stare down with Matt Hardy, with Jeff Hardy
still restraining her.
A loud bang from the ring drew their attention back to the match.
Willow watched as Faith went for the cover. The ref counted. One . . .Two
. . .Three.
"Yeah Faith!" she shrieked in joy. The Hardys were stunned. Using
this to her advantage, Willow delivered a swift kick to Matt before
struggling out of Jeff’s embrace. She ran over to where Faith had exited
the ring, jumping on her friend in joy.
"You won!" she enthused, hugging her fiercely.
Faith laughed happily, spinning the both on them in circles.
"I kicked ass!" the brunette declared.
"And without your Slayer strength," Willow added. The two
celebrated up the ramp, before turning back to the ring.
Lita stood, furiously pounding on the ropes as she glared up at the
two girls. The brothers had joined her in the ring. Jeff glared at the
girls as well. Matt hopped about, nursing his leg while giving Willow the
evil eye.
The girls paused their celebration.
"They look mad," Willow commented nervously.
"Sure do," Faith agreed. They watched as the trio made their way
out of the ring and up the ramp.
"Why don’t we bail?" Faith suggested, backing up slightly. "I can
shower at the hotel."
"Sounds good," Willow agreed. The girls turned tail and fled.
*****
"I can’t believe it! I can‘t believe that rookie beat me!" Lita
shrieked indignantly. RAW had ended for the night, but the redhead had yet
to calm down.
"I can’t believe that girl kicked me!" Matt added in anger, rubbing
his sore leg.
"I had her after that moon salt," Lita continued, not even
acknowledging Matt’s complaint. "That little twit on the outside screwed
me!"
"Maybe you guys should chill," came Jeff’s opinion.
"Chill?" Lita repeated, eyes flashing.
"That rookie just stole one from me and you want me to chill?"
"You can get her back," Jeff soothed. "And the little redhead too.
Just ask Flair for a rematch."
"Jeff’s right," Matt assented. "No point in getting riled up about
it. Get the rematch, and we’ll watch the redhead more closely next time."
Sighing, Lita stopped her tirade and made her way to Flair’s office.
Matt and Jeff trailed behind quietly, Matt still limping slightly.
*****
The next morning found Willow seated at the hotel restaurant,
morning coffee in hand and laptop on. Having turned off her cell phone last
night, Willow successfully avoided any verbal confrontation with the
bleached blond vampire whose jacket she stole. Chuckling to herself, Willow
snuggled into the aforementioned jacket while sipping her coffee. Spike had
left her about ten irate emails demanding the return of his precious duster.
RED, one warned, YOU BETTER NOT RUIN MY JACKET OR I’LL RIP YOUR GUTS
OUT AND STRING A GUITAR WITH THEM.
Willow giggled at that one.
"Before or after your head explodes," she muttered to herself.
Happily, she deleted all his threatening messages and turned to the ones
from the others.
Dawn wanted to know if the redhead missed her. Xander was having
hysterics over the match last night. He was making several threats to the
Hardy Boys well being. Buffy, Angel, and Gunn wrote similar such messages.
Groo simply wanted to know if she required the service of his sword. He
lightly mentioned something about slaying Team X-treme if need be. Cordelia
informed her she hadn’t had another vision just yet. Fred wrote about the
date she had with Gunn the night before. Lorne wrote something about Angel
attempting to sing last night. Connor informed her that he was not happy
with his new curfew imposed on him by his totalitarian father. Anya had
sent her some nice locating spells and some tidbits about her sex life.
Willow was completely tomato-faced when she was done reading it.
Giggling to herself, the redhead set about answering her friends.
*****
Jeff Hardy felt like crap. Last night was supposed to be easy. All
Lita had to do was pin a rookie. Then rookie turned around, with the help
of her friend, and pulled a major upset over Lita. And to make matters
worse, Molly Holly and Jazz had yet to stop ribbing the redhead about it.
Matt himself was becoming the butt of many jokes surrounding the mighty kick
delivered by the not so mighty Willow. He still had a little limp and a
very large bruise on his shin. And overnight, everyone had picked up that
Skittles nickname the slight redhead had bestowed on him.
All in all, not the best night of their careers. Jeff couldn’t wait
until Smackdown! At least Lita could put that rookie in her place. And her
manager wasn’t going to cause trouble this time.
And now that his dark thoughts had run their course, it was time for
breakfast. Jeff wandered into the hotel restaurant, stomach grumbling
rather audibly.
"Jeez Jeff," came a rather loud voice from behind him. "You fasting
or something? Cause it sounds like you haven’t fed that bottomless pit of
yours for awhile."
"Shut up Chris," Jeff muttered, taking a seat next to his friend,
Y2J himself.
"Man, you are one for the books," Chris grinned mischievously.
"First you’re rude and then you make yourself comfortable at my table.
Where are those Southern manners I’m always hearing so much about?"
"Where are those quiet, polite Canadians I’ve heard about?" Jeff
retorted easily.
"Mere propaganda," Chris waved off. "A ploy by the government in
hopes of raising tourism. Deep down, we’re more hostile and sarcastic than
you Yankees."
Jeff failed to come up with a reply. He just dropped his head into
his hands and made a general request for caffeine.
"What is up with you today?" Chris needled him. "Is it what
happened last night? It’s okay, you know. Everyone has an off night."
"Lita had that match won!" Jeff protested. "If it wasn’t for that
Willow, she would have won!"
"Well, in all fairness, Lita did choke Faith on the ropes," Chris
shrugged. "Willow had good reason to be angry."
Jeff glared at him.
"Whose side are you on anyway?"
"Well there’s an interesting question," Chris chuckled. "I support
you guys, because you’re my friends. But as for sides, I wouldn’t mind
being ‘on’ Willow or Faith."
Jeff moaned.
"Try to think without your dick for once," he grumbled.
"Oh come on," Chris protested. "You had to notice how seriously hot
the newcomers are. After all, you got a nice firm hold on one of them."
"I was pulling her down from the apron!" Jeff argued.
"I wouldn’t mind pulling her down anywhere," Chris waggled his
eyebrows at his friend. Failing to get a rise out of him, Chris sighed.
"Lighten up!" he demanded. "Look, Willow isn’t freaking out over
last night, why should you be?"
"Because Willow won and how do you know she isn’t?" Jeff answered.
Chris nodded his head toward the corner of the restaurant. Sitting
by herself was Willow herself. She was nursing a cup of coffee and
chuckling to herself over something on her computer. Jeff watched as she
began to turn a very bright red colour in response to whatever she was
reading.
"Think its porn?" Chris’s voice broke into his thoughts.
"What?" Jeff asked, confused.
"Think she’s reading porn?" Chris repeated, gesturing to the
red-faced redhead.
Jeff didn’t respond. He merely stood up and made his way over to
the slight girl in the corner. Chris watched him go in confusion.
"I don’t have to know that badly," he muttered to himself, worried
eyes following his friend.
What was wrong with that boy today?
*****
Willow reread Anya’s email. That girl really needed to learn
something about discretion.
Hearing someone slide into the seat in front of her, Willow giggled
out loud.
"Hey Faith, you have to read this email Anya sent me," the redhead
chuckled. She raised her eyes to a pair of angry green ones instead of the
dancing brown ones she had expected.
"You’re not Faith," she stated flatly to Jeff Hardy.
The young man just stared in response. A long silence carried on
between them.
"Just going to stare all day Skittles?" she prodded him.
The nickname did it. Jeff bristled visibly. Willow had to check
her grin. Getting someone’s goat like that was very satisfying for some
reason. Willow could only assume it meant she was spending too much time
with the brunette Slayer. Faith was getting to be a bad influence on her.
"Lita got a rematch for Smackdown!" Jeff informed her.
Willow raised her eyebrows.
"She wants to lose again?" Willow shrugged. "Fine by me. Faith
will be more than happy to oblige."
"You’re awfully cocky," he accused her.
"And you’re awfully rude," she shot back. "Why exactly are you
here?"
"I don’t get you," he answered simply. "You cost Lita a match and
you’re the one all indignant about it."
"Excuse me?" Willow demanded. "I cost her that match? I didn’t do
anything. She was choking my friend with the ropes. That is against the
rules. The fact that she lost was her own fault. Should never let your
guard down during a match."
"You distracted the ref from making the three count," Jeff insisted.
"Hadn’t been for you, Lita would have picked up the win."
"Look, just because your friend lost last night doesn’t give you the
right to give me flak about it," Willow snapped at him. "Get lost Skittles,
you’re ruining my morning."
Jeff glared.
"You are one bizarre chick," he stated.
"Says the man with the multi-coloured pigtails," she sneered at him.
"Would you leave already? I’m tired of this pointless confrontation."
"Now look here-"
"Hey Red, what’s the what?" Faith interrupted Jeff. She glanced at
the young man before turning to Willow with a question in her eyes.
"Nothing," Willow replied, gathering her things. "Let’s go out for
breakfast."
"Fine by me," Faith agreed, shooting Jeff a death glare. She wasn’t
sure what happened, but it obviously upset Willow.
"I’ll see you at Smackdown!" Jeff told them before stalking off.
Willow glared at his retreating back.
"What is going on?" Faith demanded as soon as he was out of earshot.
Willow sighed.
"I’ll tell you about it over breakfast," she told her. "Let’s just
get out of here."
The two girls left the hotel and made their way out into the sunny
day.
*****
Willow made her way through the crowded hallways. It was only her
second day in the WWE and she was hard at work. The only thing was, she was
hard at work for Angel Investigations and the PTB.
"Stupid Ukrainians," she muttered to herself. "’Go save people, do
it in the WWE. How, you may ask. Well figure that out for yourselves like
good warriors of the light.’ That’s it, after this, I’m so looking into
warrior of light retirement programs. I‘m getting too old for this crap."
She did a mental check of her wards. Yes, she had been reduced to
putting wards up around the entire freaking arena. It had taken hours, and
a lot of lame excuses on her part for it to be accomplished. At least if
anything bad came here tonight, she would be well aware of it.
She just hoped she wasn’t at ringside when it happened.
Willow was also a little pissed about that. All three members of
Team X-treme had been accusing her of costing Lita that match. Willow
couldn’t figure out what they were thinking. She hadn’t cost Lita anything.
Lita lost that match all on her own, with some help from that power bomb
Faith had given her. But still, they were bitching about Willow. The
redhead had half a mind to skip giving Faith that muscle relaxant and
letting Lita face the Slayer at full form.
Too bad she had that nasty conscience preventing her from doing so.
Gingerly picking her way around cables and equipment, Willow made
her way back to the divas locker room. Or where she assumed the divas
locker room was. Willow had developed a slight habit of getting lost in
these hallways.
She gave uneasy smiles to the crew members wandering around. She
had been informed that the cameras back here were always rolling. Willow
had to be on her guard to make sure that they didn’t pick up her doing
anything supernatural. Cause that would be bad, and very hard to explain.
So lost in her thoughts, Willow turned a corner without fully
watching her step. That one lapse in vigilance resulted in Willow slamming
headfirst into someone else.
"Oh, I am so sorry!" she began apologizing, but trailed off when she
saw whom she had run into.
Jeff Hardy glanced up and groaned. Imagine, running into her of all
people. It was like there someone up there that had some serious problems
with him.
"Are you following me?" she demanded suddenly.
Jeff snorted.
"Why would I be doing that?"
"I don’t know," Willow tapped her chin theatrically. "Maybe so you
can sling some more accusations at me. You and your teammates had developed
of habit of that. Maybe you found a way to blame your lack of colour
coordination on me as well."
Jeff glared at her.
"You’re really irritating you know that?"
"Bite me Skittles."
"Don’t call me that."
"Or?"
Jeff narrowed his eyes.
"Word of advice Willow, you should watch what you say to people
here," he gave her a meaningful look. "You might end up in some serious
trouble."
"I can hold my own," Willow sneered at him.
"Whatever, see you at ringside."
"Gonna put me in another bear grip?" she asked him
"Why? You want me to?" he smirked at her.
"Hardly," she snorted. "Just want to know if I should bring my
pepper spray down with me."
"You’re hilarious."
"I try."
"You’re friend will have to try harder tonight."
Willow rolled her eyes.
"That’s real original. You need to update your material."
With that, she turned on her heel and gave him an off hand wave.
"Later Skittles."
Jeff was left simmering. Neither was aware of those every present
WWE cameras that had picked up their entire exchange.
*****
"Ready for round two?" Willow asked Faith as she watched the three
members of Team X-treme made their way down the ramp.
"Oh yeah," Faith assured her friend. "Ditz-a doesn’t stand a
chance."
"Ditz-a?" Willow repeated.
Faith shrugged.
"I needed to disparage her, but couldn’t really come up with much.
Ditz-a is going to have to do until I can give it some serious thought."
The two continued to banter as Lita and the Hardys slid into the
ring. The trio commenced playing to the crowd for a bit. Willow and Faith
just watched, unimpressed expressions on their faces.
Jeff Hardy came to a stop right in front of Willow, attempting to
stare her down. Faith interjected herself in front of the redhead, glaring
at the man.
"Back off," was her command. Jeff stayed where he was, glaring
right at Willow. The fans were going nuts. They were eating the tension
right up.
Eventually the referee came over and led Jeff away from the two
girls. Faith escorted Willow to the ropes.
"Watch yourself," she advised her as the redhead slipped through the
ropes.
"Don’t worry about me," Willow flicked her eyes to Lita. "Just kick
her ass."
Faith grinned.
"Will do."
*****
The match started off brutal. Lita speared Faith and commenced
landing a barrage of punches on the fallen girl. Willow winced every time a
punch landed.
"Come on Faith!" she screamed, pounding the ring with her fist.
Faith managed to reverse her position, ending up on top of Lita and began
landing her own punches.
"Yeah Faith!" Willow shrieked in happiness. "Kick her ass!"
"Come on Lita!" came the cries from the other side of the ring.
Willow glared at them. Like her tiny vocal cords could overpower the huge
lungs of those two. She mildly contemplated magically taking their voices
away but then scraped the idea. Not really undercover when you expose your
witch powers on national television. Besides, she was pretty sure Angel
would give her some sort of lecture about it.
Inside the ring, Faith barely dodged clothesline. The brunette spun
around and landed a drop kick on her opponent. Willow gripped the edge of
the apron nervously. She watched as Faith prepared to give Lita a power
bomb when she felt it.
Something was approaching her wards. They hadn’t quite penetrated
it, but they were almost there. Her head spun. Whoever was coming was
incredibly strong. Willow sunk to her knees, head in hand. The power
surging through her wards was damn near paralysing. She felt nauseous.
"Red!" came the scream from above. "You okay?"
Someone was shaking her. That was helping her rumbling tummy any.
"I don’t care!" she heard Faith shriek. "I fucking forfeit!"
"Forfeit?" came Willow’s drugged response. "You can’t forfeit.
Hafta kick Ditz-a’s ass."
"Wills, you with me?" Faith asked, shaking her once more.
"Stop that," Willow batted her hands away. "Gonna make me hurl."
"What’s the matter with her?" another voice asked.
"Nothing wrong," Willow giggled, sounding a bit drunk. "I’m five by
five."
She felt a hand on her forehead.
"Wills, what’s wrong?" Faith demanded again. "You’re freaking me
out!"
"I sorry," Willow mumbled, truly dejected. "I didn’t mean to. I’m
a bad Willow."
The redhead threw herself into Faith’s arms.
"Please forgive me!" she wailed.
"Okay, enough of this," she heard a male voice declare. Willow felt
arms encircling her as she was swept up into an embrace.
"Where are you taking her?" came Faith’s frantic shriek.
"To the back," came the response. "To the paramedics."
Willow sighed and leaned her head against the man carrying her
backstage. She burrowed her face into his chest and let out a pitiful
whimper.
"Everything’s spinning," she moaned.
"It’s okay Red," came Faith’s voice from somewhere beside her.
"Everything will be okay."
Willow felt herself being lowered. Hands poked and prodded.
Someone stuck something in her ear.
"Go away!" she batted at it futilely.
"Her temperature is threw the roof!" she heard someone exclaim.
"Nah, I’m five by five," Willow insisted. She struggled into a
sitting position.
"Gonna go slay the evil that just arrived," she told them. "See you
later."
Hands pushed her back down.
"She must be delirious," stated another voice.
"Am not!" Willow protested angrily. "Just ask Faith. She’s the
Sla-"
Hands clamped over her mouth.
"She’s very delirious," came Faith’s voice. Willow was jostled
around a bit more.
"Knock it off!" she screamed, struggling wildly. "I have to go!
This is important!"
More hands restraining her. Willow felt a slight prick in her arm.
Her head became fuzzier. She slowly drifted off into sleep.
*****
"What the hell happened?" demanded Ric Flair. He stood in front of
the paramedics who were attending Willow. Faith, looking visibly shaken,
kneeled at her friend’s side. Whenever someone tried to shoo her away, she
gave them a deadly look.
"I don’t know," Lita answered the boss’s question. "One minute
she’s cheering at ringside, the next she’s rolling around on it."
"It was instantaneous," came Jeff’s reply. "She just got this weird
look on her face and dropped to the floor."
"Faith just jumped out of the ring and forfeited on the spot," Matt
added.
"I saw all that," Ric snapped nervously. "I meant, what’s wrong
with her."
"She has an extremely high fever," the paramedics offered. "I can’t
find a cause for it. It’s making her delusional."
"She wasn’t feeling so hot this morning," came a whisper from Faith.
Everyone turned to stare at the brunette.
"What?"
"She wasn’t feeling so hot this morning," Faith repeated louder.
"But she didn’t have any fever or anything. She just said her head felt
fuzzy."
"It might just be a 24 hour virus," the medic speculated.
"That developed in under two seconds?" Ric looked doubtful. "Maybe
you should take her to the hospital, get her checked out."
"No hospital," came a mumbled from the gurney.
The medics jumped into action.
"Miss Rosenburg, can you hear us?"
"Yeah, I hear ya," the redhead grumbled, eyes opening slowly. "And
I’m not going to the hospital."
"But you’re sick," Ric protested.
"I’m fine," Willow stated firmly. "Just need some bed rest."
The redhead turned to the medics and gave them all a deep look.
"Don’t you agree?" she asked them.
They all shook themselves, as if clearing away the cobwebs.
"Yeah, you should just go back to the hotel and rest," one agreed.
"Make sure you drink lots of fluid," another added. "And if you’re
temperature stays high, you need to go see a doctor."
"Will do," Faith agreed. She helped the redhead to stand. "I’ll
take her back now."
The crowd moved out of the way as the Slayer helped her friend out
of the arena.
*****
When Willow awoke next, she was comfortably tucked into her hotel
bed. Sunlight streaming in from the window informed her that it was
morning.
Groaning slightly, the redhead pushed herself into a sitting
position. She rubbed her hands over her eyes, trying to brush sleep away.
"Feeling better?" came the question.
Willow glanced up and saw a very solemn Faith sitting on the end of
her bed.
"Yeah, much better," she replied. The Slayer nodded for a moment
before launching herself at the redhead.
"You scared the shit out of me!" Faith accused, pulling Willow into
a ferocious hug.
"I’m sorry," Willow apologized, returning the hug just as fiercely.
Eventually, Faith pulled back and examined the redhead more closely.
Seemingly satisfied that her friend was indeed okay now, Faith demanded an
answer.
"What in the fuck happened last night?"
Willow shook her head slightly.
"The wards," she answered simply.
"The wards?"
"Yeah, something was approaching the arena last night," Willow gave
Faith a meaningful look. "A very powerful something. It sensed my wards
before I even knew it was there."
"So you passed out and developed a fever?" Faith stated in
disbelief.
"No, the thing flooded the wards with magic," Willow chuckled
mirthlessly. "I was on a magical overdose last night."
"It tried to kill you?" Faith shrieked in anger.
"No, it wasn’t enough to kill me," Willow mused. "It was just
enough to make me all loopy. Whatever it was, it was just messing with me.
I’m fine now."
Faith nodded slowly, taking in the new information. She looked at
Willow with a determined gleam in her eyes.
"You phone LA," she ordered, rising from the bed. "Tell them what
happened. Maybe it will help them figure out what’s going on here."
"Where are you going?" Willow asked, watching her friend go to the
door.
"Get some stuff, food," Faith answered vaguely. "And to give Flair
a full report on your recovery. The boss man was very concerned about you
last night. You seriously freaked everyone out."
Willow frowned.
"What happened?"
"Well, to start, you kept insisted you were five by five," Faith
gave her a little glare at that one. "Then you were acting kind of
drunk-like. I felt your forehead and you were burning up. Jeff Hardy had
to pick you up and carry you backstage to the medics."
"Jeff Hardy carried me backstage?" Willow repeated in disbelief.
Faith grinned devilishly.
"Yeah, and you enjoyed it. You just kind of cuddled up against him
the whole time."
Willow went red.
"I did not!" she protested.
"Yeah you did," Faith chuckled. "Then, while the paramedics were
checking you out, you insisted you were fine and wanted to fight evil. And
you almost told everyone that I‘m the Slayer."
Willow groaned and tried to crawl back under her sheets.
"Never coming out again," she stated.
Faith laughed and pulled the covers off her head.
"Don’t worry, everyone thinks you were delusional from the fever,"
Faith assured her. "Just get up and act like nothing’s wrong. And phone LA
and Sunnydale. I answered like a billion calls last night. Everyone’s
freaked out. You should call and waylay their fears. I‘ll be back soon."
With a slight waved, the brunette left the room. Sighing, Willow
reached over for her cell phone and began the long task of returning her
calls.
*****
Faith returned about an hour later. Willow was still seated on her
bed, legs folded underneath. She was currently on the phone and seemed
quite exasperated.
"Xander, I am fine," she declared firmly, rolling her eyes a little.
"Everything is fine. Just a magical overload . . . No, I do not need you
to come here . . . I am fine, Faith is taking care of me . . . The Hardys
had nothing to do with it . . . No Xander, they were helpful. Jeff’s the
one who carried me to the back . . . I know, I love you too, but I can take
care of myself . . . Yeah, don’t worry. Not planning on trying the wards
offensive again . . . Give Anya my love . . . Later."
With a dramatic sigh, the redhead turned off her cell and turned to
her friend.
"That’s the last of them," she announced, throwing her cell phone
onto the night table.
"How is everyone?" Faith asked. "Any overprotective males running
to come save us?"
Willow laughed.
"Actually, I think I managed to talk all of them out of it," Willow
rolled her eyes. "They vote to send us to deal with this situation and yet
they don’t think we can handle it. Honestly, I don’t understand how we get
things done."
"Scary to think that at times, our group is the only thing standing
between life and oblivion, huh?" Faith grinned at her.
"Which is another thing," Willow ranted. "We can handle the world
ending. It’s no big deal, its been done. But when it comes to something as
simple as tracking a big bad, we are so lost. If we were really as
effective as the underworld perceives us to be, we should have figured out
what we’re doing here by now."
"Relax Red, we’ll figure it out," Faith soothed. "Besides, you
shouldn’t get riled up. Still recovering from magical bear traps,
remember?"
"I’m fine, I’m great," she insisted. "Hell, I’m five by five."
"Hey!" Faith protested. "Stop stealing my catch phrases."
"Or what?" Willow snorted. "You going to slay me?"
"Nah," Faith grinned. "I’ll just be forced to put frogs into your
bed while you’re sleeping."
Willow’s eyes widened.
"Don’t even joke about that," the redhead warned her.
Faith just laughed and bounded onto her own bed.
"What did Flair say?" Willow asked suddenly.
Faith shrugged.
"Glad that you’re feeling better, hope to see you at RAW, the
usual."
"What’s on for RAW?"
Faith rolled her eyes.
"Yet another rematch between myself and the Scarlet Butch."
"Scarlet Butch?" Willow giggled. "At least that’s better than
Ditz-a."
"I told you, give me some time and I’ll come up with a better name,"
Faith grinned at her friend. "Speaking of which, Skittles asked about you."
"Jeff asked about me?" Willow frowned. "What did you say?"
"I said it was none of his damn business."
"Faith!" Willow moaned. "I can’t believe you said that."
Faith raised an eyebrow at her friend.
"You want it to be his business?"
Willow blushed.
"No, I mean, he was nice enough to carry me backstage. You
shouldn’t have been rude to him."
Faith laughed.
"Relax Wills, I didn’t really say that," she soothed. "I told him
you were okay and would be back at RAW."
"Did you thank him?" Willow prodded.
"Isn’t that your job?" Faith countered.
"Whatever," Willow rolled her eyes.
"What did LA say about the presence?" Faith changed the subject.
"They’re looking into it," Willow answered. She frowned slightly.
"What’s wrong Red?" Faith asked, seeing the look on her friend’s
face.
"That thing that was there, it knew what I was," the redhead mused.
"It pulsed that magic through the wards to mess with me. It didn’t want to
hurt me. It was like it was saying hello."
"Saying hello?" Faith repeated. "Hell of a way to do it."
"It wanted my undivided attention," Willow stated. "It wanted me to
know it was there and-"
"And what Red?" Faith demanded.
"And it wanted me to know, it’s coming back."
*****
"Round three," Willow muttered under her breath as Lita’s music
started up.
"Hey, how come she always gets to come out last?" Faith asked
suddenly. "Maybe I want to come out last. Why doesn’t anybody think to ask
me?"
Willow grinned at her.
"Sorry, but we are the rookies. Kind of at the bottom of the pile."
Faith frowned.
"I don’t think I like that much," the Slayer pouted.
Team X-treme slid into the ring. Lita nodded at Willow.
"Feeling better?"
"Fine," Willow answered, startled that the redhead would even care.
The trio turned and commenced their pre-match ritual of riling up
the fans.
"Damn," Faith swore under her breath.
"What?" Willow asked.
"I won’t be able to enjoy kicking her ass if she suddenly starts
acting nice to us," the brunette wrinkled her nose. "It’ll make me feel
bad. Man, I miss the days when my conscience was non-existent."
"Well, I appreciate the Faith version 2.0 much better," Willow
waggled her eyebrows at Faith. "I mean, this one doesn’t want to kill me as
much."
"Nope, I just want to stick frogs in your shoes," Faith shot back
smoothly.
Willow paled.
"You wouldn’t really do that, would you?"
Faith just grinned and escorted Willow to the ropes.
"You’re evil you know that?" Willow glared at her.
"Yup," Faith chuckled. "It’s what makes me so special."
Willow hopped to the ground mumbling something about lodging a
complaint with Angel.
The bell rung. Round three was under way.
*****
This match, like the others, was brutal. Lita and Faith were more
than content to beat the crap out of each other. Willow watched rather
quietly from her side of the ring. She cast a few glances across the ring.
Jeff was staring at her almost continuously. She even caught Matt doing it
a few times, but Jeff wouldn’t take his eyes off her. It was kind of
unnerving.
Willow couldn’t really blame him. From what Faith said, her episode
on Smackdown! was deeply frightening for observers. Jeff was probably
worried that she would have a relapse or something. Touching as his concern
was, it was still kind of freaking her out. Willow didn’t like being under
scrutiny. It made her nervous.
"Knock it off Skittles," she mumbled to herself. "I’m not about
pass out again."
Inside the ring, Lita just tossed Faith over her shoulder. The
brunette landed with a resounding thud. Willow winced. That had to hurt.
Tingling on the back of her neck drew Willow’s attention from the
ring. Willow turned towards the fans. Amidst the screaming throngs, she
saw him.
Tall, dark, handsome, isn’t that how it always goes? Willow was
looking forward to the day where she would just have to face down a short,
fair, and relatively cute bad guy. They were less intimidating.
The tall man looked directly at her. He stood stone still among the
thrashing masses. His dark eyes gazed right into her green ones. He had a
knowing gleam in them.
Willow watched mesmerized as the man smiled maliciously. His lips
moved. From where she was, she shouldn’t have been able to hear him, but
his words washed over her anyhow.
"See you soon," she heard him whisper.
And with a slight wave, he disappeared from sight.
*****
"ONE! TWO! THREE!" the crowd screamed along with the referee’s
count.
Willow turned back to the ring. Faith stood jumping in the middle,
the referee raising her hand. Lita was slowly climbing to her feet,
assisted by Matt Hardy. Jeff Hardy stood next to his friends, watching
Willow carefully.
Willow shook her head, clearing away the cobwebs. She slowly
climbed into the ring. Upon her arrival, Faith pulled her into a
celebratory hug.
"I WON!" she shrieked, spinning her friend in circles.
Willow couldn’t help but laugh at the Slayer’s antics. She would
have joined in the screaming, but that would rile Faith. And as soon as
Faith calmed down, the sooner they could deal with Tall, dark, and handsome.
Eventually, Faith realized Willow wasn’t as enthused as she was.
"What’s wrong?" the brunette demanded, stopping her celebration.
Willow flicked her eyes to the waiting Team X-treme members.
"I’ll tell you later," she whispered before turning Faith around to
face the trio.
Lita approached them cautiously, Matt and Jeff trailing behind her.
Silently, the two sides stared at each other. Finally, Lita extended her
hand to Faith. Faith exchanged looks with Willow. The redhead nudged her
friend, prompting her to take the offered hand. Faith relented and shook
Lita’s hand. The crowd roared its approval.
*****
"Okay, what’s wrong?"
Willow turned around at Faith’s impatient demand. The brunette
stood in the middle of the divas locker room, fully dressed and hair still
wet from her shower.
Willow nodded her head towards the showers. Faith turned around and
checked to make sure they were clear. Willow cast her gaze around the
locker, making sure no one else was there.
"Showers’ are clear," Faith announced. Willow nodded and quietly
locked the door. This wouldn’t take long, but still it wasn’t a
conversation that should be overheard.
"All right, our big bad showed," Willow said to Faith, plopping down
on a bench.
Faith sat down next to the redhead.
"Where? When?"
"During your match, in the crowd," Willow answered. "He was tall,
dark, and handsome."
Faith snorted.
"Is there ever any other kind?" the Slayer remarked.
Willow gave her a little smile.
"Well, there was Glory," the witch offered. "She didn’t exactly
fall into that category."
"But Ben did," Faith argued. "So by default, so did Glory."
Willow rolled her eyes.
"Whatever, that’s besides the point."
"Fine, what did he say?"
"See you soon," Willow repeated quietly.
Faith looked at her in alarm.
"’You’ as in specifically you?" Faith demanded.
Willow shrugged.
"Don’t know, just said see you soon," Willow rubbed her eyes. "He’s
very strong Faith."
"Not a problem," Faith waved away her concern. "Now we know who it
is, we just slay and leave."
"It’s not that simple," Willow told her.
Faith frowned.
"Why not?"
"Because this guy is a Master Vampire."
*****
"Think you could have been more obvious?"
Jeff frowned at his older brother. It was Tuesday morning and he
sat in the hotel restaurant nursing a cup of coffee.
"What are you talking about?" he demanded.
"Willow," Matt answered, shrugging his shoulder. "Could you have
been more obvious?"
"Obvious about what with Willow?" he frowned.
"That you like her," Matt elaborated, waggling his eyebrows at his
younger brother.
"What?" Jeff looked at his brother strangely. "Are you high?"
"Nope, but you sure are hooked," Matt grinned.
"Don’t know what you’re talking about," Jeff shook his head. He
returned his attention to his coffee.
"Sure you do," Matt objected, sliding into the seat across from his
brother. "The way you were staring at her all match long. The puppy dog
eyes you were shooting her during Faith’s celebration. Hell, the way you
were so worried about her after Smackdown! Little brother, I think you’re
in love."
"Are you crazy?" Jeff shot his brother a look. "Did you bump your
head or something? Willow and I can’t stand each other. She calls me
Skittles."
"It’s a term of endearment," Matt chuckled.
"She doesn’t even like-"
"And there were all those looks she sent you," Matt interrupted.
"Looks? What looks?" Jeff looked up hopefully.
"You mean you didn’t notice?" Matt looked at his brother in
disbelief. "How could you not notice? You spent the entire match making
goo-goo eyes at her."
"What looks?" Jeff repeated, ignoring his brother’s other remarks.
"Looks of interest," Matt smiled smugly. "I think there’s love in
the air."
Jeff shot him a look.
"Don’t be an idiot," he admonished Matt.
Matt just grinned. Jeff turned back to his coffee.
"Willow and Jeff, sitting in a tree . . ."
"Shut up Matt."
*****
Things progressed somewhat slowly after that. Willow and Faith
didn’t catch sight of their undead foe since that night on RAW. Frustrating
as it was, the girls were more than distracted by the likes of Molly Holly
and Stacy Kiebler.
Molly Holly, the self-proclaimed virtuous diva of the WWE, had taken
a distinct disliking to Faith. She sauntered down during Faith’s match with
Trish Stratus and promptly cost her the pin. Faith retaliated by kicking
the virgin’s ass on the proceeding RAW telecast. Throw in some very heated
arguments backstage, the two found themselves embroiled in a deep rivalry.
Willow probably would have been more involved in the dispute if it
hadn’t been for Stacy. The leggy blonde had developed an insane jealous of
the little redhead. No one knew quite where it came from, but Willow knew
it had something to do with the fact that Randy Orton had taken an interest
in her. Either way, Willow was getting pretty tired of Stacy’s cheap shots
and cat fights. The redhead lost her temper on one Smackdown! and had
deftly punched the blonde out. Stacy sported a colourful black eye for
about a week.
Tensions were running high for the girls at home too. Xander became
increasingly concerned with the amount of time the case was taking. Angel
and Cordelia were absolutely frustrated with the PTB’s lack of assistance;
the seer had yet to have another vision. And to make matters worse, the two
teenagers were rebelling. Connor had more than once blatantly ignored his
mandated curfew. Dawn had been caught sneaking back into the house at 1 am
on a Sunday night. Usually, the redhead would have been able to diffuse
both situations, but she was quite busy with the WWE.
That’s why, on Monday night, following the RAW telecast, both girls
got quite the shock.
*****
Team X-treme had had an almost uneventful past few weeks. They had
participated in a barrage of matches, yet nothing to show for it. No member
had been in any sort of title match, so the wins didn’t have as much impact
as they should have. And, there was no conflict. In fact, the last rivalry
Team X-treme had going was with Faith and Willow. Granted, it had only been
three weeks since that ended, but they were getting restless nonetheless.
Jeff actually regretted ending the minor feud between Faith and
Lita. It gave them all something to focus on and gave Jeff ample time
around Willow.
Willow. The little redhead pretty much dominated his thoughts. He
hated to admit it, but his brother was right. He was hooked on her. And he
hadn’t really been around her much since that third match between Lita and
Faith. He was even starting to miss being called Skittles.
And then there was Randy Orton. The relatively new wrestler had
developed an interest in Willow. He was always around her. The cameras
picked up numerous instances of him flirting with the redhead. Jeff didn’t
like it; he didn’t like it at all. He tried to rationalize his emotions,
telling himself he didn’t really have any claim on Willow, but it didn’t
work. He wanted her and she barely remembered he was alive.
So, for all those reasons, Jeff Hardy trudged into the hotel after
RAW feeling more or less like crap. Matt and Lita had made various attempts
to cheer him up, but it didn’t work.
"Come on Jeff," Lita pleaded. "Lighten up. So Willow hasn’t really
talked to you for a little while. It’s kind of your fault. You haven’t
even approached her once in three weeks. If you really like this girl, you
should do something about it."
"I agree," Matt consented. "It isn’t like you to get all depressed
over a girl. Just suck it up and talk to her."
Jeff continued to ignore them. He had listened to their arguments
over the past weeks and they made sense. However, Jeff wasn’t in a sensible
mood. He blamed Willow. She had done something to him. With her fire red
hair, sparkling green eyes, and alabaster skin . . . What kind of guy could
resist that?
A slight commotion at the lobby desk drew him out of his brooding.
Two teenagers, one dark blonde girl and a dark haired boy, stood having an
argument with the desk clerk.
"What do you mean we can’t get a room here?" the girl demanded.
"We can’t rent rooms out to minors," the clerk explained.
"Why not?" the boy snapped.
"Because you’re minors and you’re trying to use someone else’s
credit card to pay for it," the clerk told them.
Matt nudged Jeff and pointed to the kids. They both shared a
chuckle. Teenagers were so amusing.
The boy bristled.
"This is my father’s card and he gave it to me to use," he
protested.
"Where is your father?" the clerk asked, rubbing his temples.
The two fell silent.
"His father is in LA," came the voice from behind Jeff. He turned
around to find a very angry Willow behind him.
"That’s where he’s supposed to be as well," the redhead continued,
making her way over to the two teenagers.
"You know these two?" Lita asked, eyebrows raised.
"Unfortunately," Willow admitted. The two teens stood side-by-side,
eyes on the floor. They looked positively shameful. And it seemed to make
the redhead even angrier.
Willow marched up to them and snagged them both by the ears. She
pulled both their heads closer to her, ignoring their little cries of pain.
Jeff nearly doubled over with laughter.
"What are you two doing here?" she demanded icily.
"Uh, visiting?" the girl offered.
"Dawn Marie Summers!" the redhead reprimanded. "Don’t lie to me!"
"We missed you?" came the boy’s pathetic attempt.
Willow turned angry eyes on him.
"Connor Stephen O’Brien, you are in so much trouble!"
The clerk cleared his throat.
"You know these children?"
"Yes, they’re like family," Willow told him. "They’ll be staying
with us."
With that, the redhead ordered them to pick up their bags and follow
her. All the while, she kept a firm grip on both their ears.
Team X-treme watched them go.
"Man," Matt breathed. "Those girls are strange."
Even though he had hopelessly fallen for one of them, Jeff could
only nod in agreement.
*****
Willow burst in her hotel room, still dragging both teens by the
ear.
"Oh god Willow!" Faith shrieked upon hearing her arrival. The
brunette came skittering out of the bathroom, worry etched on her face.
"Dawn and Connor ran away from home!" she wailed in distress.
"I know," Willow spat out angrily. Faith stopped and finally took
notice of the two other inhabitants of the room.
"What are you doing . . .?" Faith trailed off. Her look of worry
was replaced by one of anger.
"Are you two insane?" she demanded. "Do you realize how frantic you
made everyone? Angel’s been calling here totally freaked out of his mind!
Buffy’s been having a heart attack!"
The teens had enough sense to looked shamed. Willow let go of their
ears and pushed them onto her bed. Her and Faith took a seat on the other
bed and stared at the two.
"What possessed you to come here?" Willow asked, showing the first
signs of calm.
Dawn cleared her throat.
"We missed you," she whispered, eyes still on her feet.
"That isn’t a good enough reason to come halfway across the
country," Faith told her. "Try again."
"No one understands us!" Connor exclaimed, jumping to his feet in
agitation. "They want us under lock and key. My father never lets me out;
he doesn’t have any respect for me. He thinks the moment I step outside I
am in danger. He doesn’t think I can take care of myself!"
Dawn nodded empathetically.
"Buffy’s like that too!" she affirmed. "She won’t let me out. I
can’t hand out with my friends. I went on one date last week and she had
Spike follow me! I am sick and tired of that kind of treatment!"
"Buffy had Spike follow you on a date?" Willow repeated
incredulously. Dawn nodded.
"Whoa," Faith breathed. "That is harsh."
"But, it doesn’t justify you two running away and scaring everyone,"
Willow told them. "You have to go back home."
"But can’t we stay for a little while?" Dawn pleaded.
"We really did miss you two," Connor pitched in.
"I don’t think-"
"Oh, come on," Dawn begged. "You guys are going to LA in like two
weeks. Can’t we stay with you until then?"
"Guys, we’re on a case here!" Faith protested. "We can’t have you
two here!"
"Because we would be in danger?" Connor countered stuffily.
"No, and yes," Willow answered. "The big bad hasn’t shown for a
while, but some of the people here are complete psychos. They make
Druscilla look normal."
The two teens chuckled over that one. Dawn recovered quickly and
began her plea once more.
"Please!" she begged. "It’s just two weeks. We can be helpful. We
are always helpful with the research and the tracking."
"Yes, we can assist you," Connor jumped in. The two teens looked
pleadingly at their friends.
Willow and Faith exchanged a glance. Sighing Willow reached over
for her cell phone.
"Better let everyone know where you guys will be," she muttered
defeated.
With shouts of joy, the two teens jumped on the girls.
*****
So it was on Smackdown! that Team X-treme came across Faith, Dawn,
and Connor in the arena hallways. The brunette wrestler was watching the
two excited teens in obvious amusement. Dawn was skipping about, babbling
almost constantly. Connor was more silent, but smiling widely nonetheless.
"Hey Faith," Lita called out. Faith raised her head at the
greeting.
"It’s the Hardys and Lita!" Dawn shrieked happily. Faith gave the
trio an amused grin.
"Hey guys," Faith answered. "Have you met our guests, Dawn and
Connor?"
"No, nice to meet you," Matt smiled warmly at the two.
Dawn returned his smile with a squeal.
"You guys are the coolest!" the little blonde declared.
"I’m mean, next to Faith and Willow, you’re the coolest," she
amended, tossing an apprehensive look at the brunette.
"Yeah, sure," Faith chuckled. "That’s what you meant."
"So, where you guys from?" Jeff asked.
"Sunnydale," Dawn answered, jumping from foot to foot.
"LA," Connor responded, watching his friend in amusement.
"How long you guys staying with Faith and Willow?" Lita wanted to
know.
"Until you guys swing by LA," Connor answered.
"Against our better judgement, might I add," Faith glowered at them.
"I can’t help but feel we’re rewarding you guys for running away."
"No, no, you’re so not!" Dawn protested. "I’ve totally learned my
lesson, Connor too. This is just quality time."
"Of course, we have seen the error of our ways," Connor added.
"This is just so you can keep an eye on us. Totally for our benefit. Not a
reward in the least."
Jeff chuckled.
"They’re like little Willows," he laughed.
Faith joined in.
"Yeah, they kind of are."
Dawn stuck her tongue out in response while Connor looked confused.
"How is that bad?" he asked. "I love Willow. She is a good person.
Being like her is good."
"Absolutely," interjected Willow coming up from behind Team X-treme.
She shot everyone dazzling smiles.
"Hey guys," she greeted the trio before turning to the teens.
"Here are your backstage passes," she announced, handing them
badges. "Just keep them on you and security shouldn’t give you any
trouble."
Dawn and Connor accepted their passes in excitement.
"Where’s the Rock?" the young girl demanded suddenly.
Willow feigned shock. She patted down her pockets.
"I don’t know," she cried in false panic.
Dawn frowned at the redhead.
"Don’t worry!" Willow exclaimed, shaking the girl lightly. "He
couldn’t have gotten far! You go that way; I’ll go this way. Never fear
Dawnie, we’ll get him back!"
Connor and Faith dissolved into laughter while Dawn huffed in
indignation.
"Not funny," she whined, stamping her feet. "Willow, stop acting
like Xander!"
"Who’s acting?" the redhead snorted.
Team X-treme burst into laughter.
"You guys are priceless," Lita laughed. "Are you sisters?"
"I wish," Dawn rolled her eyes. "But no, I have to be related to
Buffy."
Willow gave her a look.
"None of that Dawnie."
"I think you should let her be angry with B," Faith piped up.
"After all, B did send Spike to stalk her on a date. I mean, you used to
get so pissed when Xander did the same thing to you."
"Buffy is my best friend," Willow said, speaking to the trio. "Dawn
is her younger sister. And apparently wants to get sent home early with
those kind of comments."
Dawn’s eyes bulged.
"I sorry," the girl apologized quickly. "I’ll refrain from the
Buffy bashing."
"What’s up for you guys tonight?" Willow asked, turning away from
the hyperactive teens.
"Jeff’s got Kidman," Lita answered. "Otherwise we’re free. How
about you guys?"
"Don’t know," Willow shrugged. "Flair said he wanted to talk to us
about that."
"Speaking of which," Faith interjected. "We should probably go see
what the boss man wants."
"Yeah, see you guys later," Willow waved, moving to usher Connor in
front of her. "Good luck in your match Skittles."
Faith waved goodbye, leading the bouncing Dawn by the arm.
"We get to meet Ric Flair!" they heard Dawn exclaim.
Jeff watched them go, not turning away until Willow disappeared from
sight. When he turned back to his friend and brother, he found them
grinning at him.
"What?"
"You are so pathetic," Matt declared.
"Yeah," Lita agreed. "You should have seen your face when she
called you Skittles. I thought you would die from happiness."
Jeff turned red.
"Okay, we’ve established I like Willow," he muttered. "Can we drop
it now?"
Matt and Lita exchanged looks.
"Not a chance!" they chorused in unison.
Jeff groaned.
*****
"Mr. Flair?"
"Willow, Faith, come in," the co-owner of the WWE waved them into
his office. He smiled at the two teenagers who trotted in after them.
"You must be Dawn and Connor."
"So nice to meet you!" Dawn squealed.
"Enjoying your stay with the WWE?"
The blonde girl nodded.
"But, I haven’t seen the Rock yet," she pouted.
Ric smiled.
"Don’t worry," he assured her. "He’s around here somewhere."
"So, boss, what’s up?" Faith asked.
"You two have a busy night ahead of you," he informed them. "Molly
Holly challenged you to meet her in a match."
Faith rolled her eyes.
"So what else is new?"
"She wants it to be an inter-gender tag match," Ric elaborated.
"Who would I get to tag with me?" Faith frowned.
"I’ve already worked it out," Ric assured her. "It’s going to be
Molly and Regal versus you and Edge."
Dawn’s eyes widened.
"You get to tag with Edge!" the girl squealed in happiness. "That
is so cool!"
Willow watched her giddy display with amusement.
"If I had known you were such a rabid WWE fan, I would have sent you
home on the first plane."
Dawn stopped jumping to stick her tongue out at the redhead.
"Is that all?" Faith asked, ignoring the banter of the others.
"No, in fact, there is something else," Ric looked a little
uncomfortable.
"What’s wrong?" Willow frowned.
"Well, Stacy wanted Willow in a match," he began. "So she went to
Vince. He granted her the match for tonight."
Willow shrugged.
"No big deal. I can take Stacy."
"Well there is the stipulation . . ." he trailed off.
Willow exchanged a worried look with Faith.
"What stipulation?"
*****
Knocking on their locker door pulled Team X-treme out of their
strategy session. Lita opened to reveal Willow, Dawn, and Connor. Willow
looked pale, Connor angry, and Dawn extremely red in the face.
"You guys okay?" Lita asked, concern evident in her voice.
"Fine," Willow squeaked faintly. "But I need to ask you a favour."
Lita ushered them in. They waved to Matt and Jeff who nodded in
return.
"What’s up?" Jeff asked, eyes trained on Willow.
"Faith and I both have matches, one right after the other," the
redhead explained. "We were kind of wondering if you guys would keep an eye
on the kids for us."
"We’re not kids!" came Dawn’s protest. Willow silenced her with a
look.
"Sure thing," Jeff replied quickly. "Anything we can do to help."
Willow smiled at him faintly.
"Thanks Skittles," she rubbed her eyes. "I kind of also have a
favour to ask of Lita."
"Fire away."
"What’s the best way to win a bra and panties match?"
*****
Faith twirled a lock of hair around her finger. She was really
trying to focus on Edge and his strategy session, but her mind kept flitting
back to Willow.
A bra and panties match. How the hell does that qualify as a match?
"Hey, you with me?"
Faith blinked when Edge snapped his fingers in front of her face.
"Huh?"
The blonde man frowned at her.
"Listening to me would work better if you were actually listening to
me," he informed.
Faith feigned surprise.
"Is that how it works?" she breathed in false wonder.
"Cute, you’re really cute," he glared at her. "What is more
important than our match?"
"Willow’s match," she answered without thinking.
"Willow’s match?" he repeated. "What about Willow’s match?"
"That little twit Stacy got Vince to make it a bra and panties
match!" Faith seethed.
Edge raised his eyebrows, a slight smirk on his face.
"We get to see Willow in her underwear?" he asked.
"Absolutely not!" Faith glared at him, finger poking his chest.
"There is no way I’m going to let anyone strip my friend to her underwear on
national television just so you males can jack off!"
Edge backed up, hands raised.
"I wasn’t planning on jacking off," he informed her. "I thought I’d
enjoy the match on a technical level."
Faith bristled.
"I’m joking!" he laughed, trying to diffuse the situation. "But you
do realize working here means taking matches you don’t necessarily want."
"It’s not my problem!" she shrieked. "I don’t have a problem with
these types of matches. I’m the wrestler, Willow’s just my manager. God,
she’ll spontaneously combust if Stacy even gets her top off."
"She’ll be okay," Edge offered, awkwardly patting the girl on the
back in comfort. "She’s tough."
Faith rolled her eyes.
"You don’t know Willow," she sighed. "It took forever just to get
her to come out with me on my matches. The idea of being stripped on
television . . . She practically passed out when Flair told her."
"Look, Willow can take care of herself," Edge affirmed. "I’ve seen
her around Stacy. I sure as hell saw that black eye she gave her. She’ll
be okay. But you won’t be able to help her if you get hurt in our match.
Which is why we should discuss Regal and his ‘Power of the Punch’."
Faith sighed. She turned back to the man, taking in the handsome
face. She smirked to herself.
"I can concentrate," she told him. Whether or not it was on the
match, that remained to be seen.
*****
Dawn sat down quietly next to Jeff. She watched as Willow and Lita
carried on a debriefing session. The redhead was nervous and unhappy. Dawn
could tell by the way her fingers were twitching and the way the corners of
her mouth was down-turned.
She turned to Jeff and found him watching the redhead too. His eyes
had this glint to them. She knew that glint. It was the same glint Riley
got in his eyes when he looked at Buffy. It was the look of looovve.
Emphasis on the stretching out of the word.
"You like her," she whispered to the older man.
He looked startled.
"What?" Jeff looked down at the little blonde sitting next to him.
"You like Willow," she repeated, her tone firmer.
Jeff gave an embarrassed chuckle.
"I don’t know . . ." he stuttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He
caught the look Dawn gave him.
"Am I that obvious?"
"I like to think that I’m just that observant," she assured him.
"Anyway, Willow doesn’t know. She’ll probably never figure it out."
"How do you figure?" he frowned. "Practically everyone can tell."
"Willow has confidence issues," Dawn confided in him. "She would
never believe you were interested in her, unless you told her. And even
that would take some convincing."
"How can she not have confidence?" Jeff protested. "She’s
beautiful!"
Dawn grinned at this.
"Oh yeah, you got it bad," she giggled at him.
Jeff blushed.
"But she is," he muttered dejectedly.
"I know."
They sat in companionable silence for awhile.
"She hates frogs."
"What?" Jeff turned back to Dawn, a confused look on his face.
"Willow hates frogs," Dawn nodded towards the redhead. "However,
she does keep a stuffed one at her bedside. But that’s only because Xander
won it for her at a carnival. That’s another thing, if you do ask her out,
take her to some sort of fair. Make sure to win her something, but don’t be
obvious about it. Keep it light."
"What? Why?"
"I figured you need some help with it," Dawn shrugged. "And god
knows it’s about time Willow went out again. And I think you’re cool. So,
go for it and remember what I said."
She patted his knee and made to go.
"Oh, I forgot," she exclaimed, turning back to him. "For future
reference, if she ever pulls out her Resolve Face, you better back the hell
down."
"Resolve Face?"
"You’ll know it when you see it," she assured him. Then she shot
him a bright smile.
"Oh and you better ask her out soon," she informed him.
"Why?"
"Or I’ll get impatient and just tell."
And with that, she scampered away.
*****
Faith trained her eyes on Molly Holly. The virgin diva was mouthing
her off, trying to get her to make the first move. Faith wasn’t having any
of that. Molly challenged her to the match; she was going to have to throw
the first punch. That way Faith wouldn’t feel too bad about royally kicking
her ass.
After about thirty seconds, the virtuous one lost her patience. She
dove at Faith, who easily sidestepped her. Whirling around, Faith had her
back to Regal. The man took advantage and knocked her down.
The fans jeered as Molly ran over and tagged Regal into the match.
Faith remained on the ground. She wasn’t really stunned, or even fazed in
the slightest. That wasn’t the problem.
The problem was she wasn’t fazed in the slightest. With the muscle
relaxant in her, she should have been stunned. That’s when Faith realized
something she had forgotten.
Willow hadn’t given her the muscle relaxant. She was in full Slayer
mode. If she wasn’t careful, Faith could end someone’s career tonight.
That is if she didn’t end someone’s life tonight.
Regal yanked her up by the hair, jolting her out of her thoughts.
She saw Edge being restrained by the referee. Regal smirked and taunted the
blonde man. Faith wondered if Willow would begrudge her one hit.
Calling it extenuating circumstances, Faith decided she wouldn’t be
that mad. She wrenched out of Regal’s hold. She turned on her heel,
brought her leg up, and kicked him squarely in the chest.
Regal went flying backwards. Hitting the ropes, the man fell
forward onto his nose. To say he was stunned was an understatement.
Faith raced to her corner, hand raised to tag Edge in. Feeling
apprehensive, she stopped just shy of him. Lightly as possible, Faith
brushed her hand across his.
Edge gave her the strangest look before jumping into the ring with
Regal.
*****
"Holy crap!" Dawn cried, watching Faith kick Regal into the ropes.
"Damn!" Jeff swore. "She kicked him halfway across the ring! How
the hell did she manage that?"
"She’s at one hundred percent!" Connor declared in alarm.
Matt looked at him in confusion.
"What do you mean one hundred percent?"
"Uh, I just meant that that kick must have taken one hundred percent
of her energy," Connor supplied lamely.
Jeff raised an eyebrow.
"Sure you did."
"Oh look!" Dawn pointed frantically at the monitor. "Edge is in the
ring! Isn’t that great? And attention deserving?"
The brothers exchanged a look.
These people were strange.
*****
"Holy shit!" Willow shrieked, watching Faith kick Regal.
The man ended up halfway across the ring, slamming into the ropes.
She watched as Faith ran to Edge, skidding to a stop just in front of him.
The Slayer tentatively reached out and tagged Edge in.
"Good, this is good," Willow muttered to herself. "Stay out of the
match. That way, no one will die."
She prayed to whatever Ukrainians were listening.
"Let the match end now."
*****
Edge took Regal down with a spear. He damn near ended it when Molly
interrupted the three count.
Faith groaned. Now she had to get involved.
Hopping down from the apron, she raced over to the opposing corner.
Grabbing each ankle, Faith yanked Molly off the apron. The brunette smacked
her head on the edge, getting dazed.
Faith spun her around and gave her the lightest punch she could
give. Molly went down like a ton of bricks.
Faith watched her with stunned eyes. Reaching over quickly, Faith
searched for a pulse. Finding a strong one, she came to the conclusion that
she didn’t do any permanent damage to the virgin diva.
"Oh thank the Ukrainians."
*****
"Is she okay?" Dawn asked nervously.
"Faith’s fine," Jeff looked at her strangely. "Molly’s the one who
got hit."
"I meant Molly Skittles," Dawn rolled her eyes.
"Faith’s walking away," Connor spoke up. "She must be okay."
"Why are you concerned about Molly?" Matt demanded. "Aren’t you
cheering for Faith?"
"Of course we are," Dawn protested. "But can’t we show some human
compassion for another person? Yeesh, you guys are barbaric."
"Lame," Connor muttered under his breath.
"Bite me Prophesied Boy," Dawn shot back.
Jeff frowned.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Nothing!" the teens yelled in unison.
*****
Willow gripped the edges of the monitor. She was guessing Molly was
fine, the way Faith backed off breathing in relief. She looked to the ring.
Edge lined Regal up for the Edge-cution. Nailing the man with his
DDT, Edge rolled him up for the win. Faith jumped back into the ring,
clapping hesitantly.
"Oh thank god," Willow sighed. "Oh thank Ukraine."
*****
Faith’s eyes kept going back to Molly. When the woman showed signs
of stirring, she nearly bent over with relief.
"Oh thank you," her eyes shot to the ceiling. "I’ll never make fun
of Ukrainians again."
"Ukrainians?"
Faith turned to find Edge staring at her in confusion.
"Yeah, what about them?"
"You just said-" Edge shook his head. "Never mind. The Hardys told
me you guys were weird. I guess I just have to deal with it."
"Nice match," she changed the subject.
Edge looked at her expectantly.
"What no celebration? You usually jump around madly after you win a
match."
Faith raised an eyebrow.
"You want me to jump on you?" she asked, smirk returning to her
face.
Edge grinned in return.
"Wouldn’t have a problem with it," he replied as the referee came
over to raise their hands.
Faith remained smirking. After the ref dropped their hands, she
made for the ropes. Edge followed closely behind.
Just before slipping between the ropes, Faith whirled around and
planted her lips on Edge.
The man was stunned. Her tongue pushed through his teeth and
pummelled his mouth. Edge just managed to grasp her by the hips. Faith
grinned while she kissed him, grinding her body ever so slightly against
his.
Then just as abruptly, she ended it.
"Good match," she winked at him. Faith jumped to the ground and
trotted nonchalantly to the back.
Edge remained in the ring, stunned. The fans were going nuts.
*****
Lita let herself back into Team X-treme’s locker room. She had just
left a nervous Willow and a content Faith. The brunette had gone off to
shower while the slight redhead had resignedly made her way to the ring.
When she entered the room, she found Jeff in the middle of tickling
the living day lights out of Dawn.
"Take it back!" the younger Hardy demanded.
Dawn was shrieking in laughter, trying to fend off the large man.
"Never!" she declared between bursts of laughter.
"You asked for it!" Jeff grabbed her foot, took off the shoe and
tickled her feet mercilessly. Dawn bucked wildly, kicking at the man.
"No! Stop! I take it back!" she relented finally.
Satisfied, Jeff let go of her foot and hauled her to her feet.
"Let that be a lesson to you," he advised the little blonde.
"Whatever Skittles," she shot back.
"What’s going on here?" Lita demanded, a slight smile on her face.
Connor and Matt, who had been watching the altercation in amusement,
looked up at her question.
"Jeff was making Dawn eat her words," Connor informed her.
"She said that RVD had less regard for his own safety than Jeff, and
he got mad," Matt elaborated.
Dawn rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I’m sorry about that. Jeff Hardy is the most suicidal
wrestler I’ve ever seen."
"And don’t you forget it!" Jeff beamed, plopping back down on the
bench. Dawn sat next to him, pushing him playfully.
"Doesn’t change the fact you love Willow," she taunted him. "Jeff
wants Red Skittles."
Jeff just stuck his tongue out at her.
Lita raised an eyebrow.
"We’ve progressed to love here?" she asked.
Dawn nodded emphatically.
"Oh yeah, like a long time ago," she answered breezily. "But
Skittles here can’t muster enough backbone to ask her out."
Jeff rolled his eyes.
"How is Willow holding up?" he asked Lita.
The redhead sighed and sat down in her boyfriend’s lap.
"Okay, she’s nervous as hell, but she’ll be fine."
"She better be," Matt commented. "She’s up right now."
The group turned their attention to the monitor.
*****
Willow stepped onto the ramp nervously. Her eyes darted to Stacy
Kiebler, stalking the ring smugly. Willow bristled at the sight. She
couldn’t wait to give this girl what she had coming. Willow just hoped she
kept her clothes in the process.
Lita’s advice rang through her mind.
"Keep an eye out for her legs," the other redhead had advised. "She
likes to use them to choke her. If you can get her bottom off, the top will
be no problem. Don’t turn your back in the ring, she’ll just use it to
cheap shot you."
Willow slowly climbed into the ring, eyes on Stacy. She planned on
following Lita’s advice, just adding her own little twist. She hoped it
would work. The move had only been tested in theory; Willow had never done
it herself.
The referee called for the bell. Almost immediately, Stacy launched
herself at the redhead. Willow moved out of the way and delivered a kick to
her stomach.
While Stacy was winded, Willow put her plan into action. Like she
had seen on television so many times before, Willow pulled the blonde’s
shirt over her head and snagged it on her chin. Stacy was left in the dark
and fumbling with her shirt.
Willow knocked the blonde down and pulled her shorts off. Stacy
thrashed in protest, but in the end, her knickers were gone. The shirt
remained locked over Stacy’s head. All Willow had to do was finish yanking
it off. The ref called for the bell.
Willow had won her first ever WWE match, and under three minutes.
And she kept all her clothes.
Thank God.
*****
"Oh thank god," Connor muttered in relief.
Lita was stunned.
"That was quick," she commented.
Dawn jumped to her feet in celebration.
"Yea for Willow!" the blonde shrieked. "She totally kicked ass!"
"Again," Connor shot at her. "She can’t hear you."
"Again, shut up Quartoth Boy," Dawn shot back.
"What toth?" Matt asked.
"Nothing," Dawn waved off. "Point is, both girls won their matches
and Faith even got a little tongue. All’s well that ends well."
Jeff stared at her.
"Is everyone back home like this?"
"Like what?"
"Like strange," Matt supplied.
Dawn paused, finger tapping her chin.
"Pretty much," she mused. "Home’s lots of fun. You should come, if
Willow and Faith say it’s okay. Wouldn’t want you to end up unnecessarily
dead."
"I’m not even going to bother asking about that one," Lita stated,
heading for the door.
"Where are you going?" Connor asked.
Lita stuck her head out the door. Turning back to the others, she
grinned.
"I have a surprise for Dawn," she told them.
"For me?" the little blonde repeated. Lita nodded and opened the
door wide.
Dawn’s jaw hit the floor.
*****
Willow and Faith, slightly tired from their matches, entered Team
X-treme’s locker room to find Dawn hugging the daylights out of Lita. The
little blonde was jumping up and down while the redhead laughed and hugged
her back. Connor sat in the corner with Jeff and Matt, a slightly sour look
on his face.
"Hey guys," Willow called out. "What’s up?"
"I love this woman!" declared Dawn, pulling on Lita’s arm.
Faith raised an eyebrow.
"I didn’t know you swung that way little sis," she needled.
Dawn’s eyes went wide and she started to sputter.
"I do no swing!" she protested. "Not that there’s anything wrong
with that."
"Why do you love Lita?" Willow interjected.
"She brought some large man in for Dawn to see," Connor piped up
from the corner.
Dawn rolled her eyes at him.
"Not some large man," she corrected him. "She brought the Rock!"
"The Rock, pretty cool," Faith nodded.
"I saw him getting ready some coffee, so I snagged him and talked
him into seeing Dawn," Lita explained.
"That was nice of you," Willow grinned.
"And he came in and gave me a autograph and called me a little mama
and-"
"Whoa," Faith held up her hands. "That’s a little too fast for me.
Why don’t we go over the play by play back at the hotel?"
Dawn’s face fell.
"We have to go?"
"Show’s over girl," Jeff chuckled. "We all have to go now."
"Oh, okay," Dawn nodded. "But we get to come back, right?"
"Yes, on RAW," Faith shook her head at the girl. "How the hell are
we supposed to get you home at the end of two weeks?"
"We’ll staple her to the couches at the Hyperion," Willow assured
her. "That way, she can only get out when Buffy comes to get her."
"Oh sure, leave me all tied up and defenceless when my psycho sister
comes to get me," Dawn pouted at the two. "I thought you loved me!"
Willow rolled her eyes.
"Grab your stuff drama queen," she instructed. "We’re going back to
the hotel now. I bet these guys have had more than enough of you two by
now."
"Nah, they’re okay," Matt chuckled. "A little strange, but then
again, we don’t hold that against you guys."
Faith stuck her tongue out at him.
"Yuck it up Hardy," she advised him. With a slight wave of her
hand, she motioned the teens to follow her. "Come on, let’s get a move on
it."
"Hey, thanks again for keeping an eye on them," Willow smiled warmly
at the trio. "We really appreciate it."
Jeff returned her smile brightly.
"No problem, we kind of like them," he shrugged.
With a final wave, the foursome made their way out of the locker
room.
"So," they heard Dawn declare. "How was tonsil hockey with Edge?"
*****
Willow sat contemplatively on her bed. Connor was lounging on the
couch/his bed drinking some water. Faith had gone out for a late night ice
cream run and Dawn was currently in the shower.
"Connor," the redhead spoke suddenly. The boy raised his head.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think that Dawn has a crush on Jeff?"
Connor choked on his water, coughing and sputtering. Willow looked
at him in concern.
"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
"Fine," he rasped. "Why do you think that?"
"Oh, it’s just that she keeps bringing him up," Willow mused. "She
hasn’t stopped talking about how much fun she had tonight. And she keeps
insisting he’s a really nice guy. It just seems like she has a crush."
"And if she does?"
"I think it’s cute," Willow replied. "However, she might not like
having to go home at the end of two weeks."
Connor sat still for a moment. It still amazed him how oblivious
Willow could be. After all, she was the smartest person he knew, how could
she be so blind? Instead of explaining the truth, Connor’s mischievous side
took over.
"You know what? You might be on to something with that?"
"So you see it too?"
Connor nodded.
"Totally."
*****
Faith wandered back into the hotel lobby carrying two large bags
filled with buckets of ice cream. She nonchalantly waved at the desk clerk
on her way to the elevator. Facing it, she came to a dilemma. How to reach
the button without looking it an idiot.
"Need help?"
She whirled around, coming face-to-face with Edge. The blonde
wrestler grinned at her, eyes raking over her appreciatively. Faith
returned the favour, eying him like a piece of meat.
"Well?" she smirked at him. "Gonna help me or what?"
Edge smiled and reached around her, pushing the button. Faith
smiled. This guy knew how to play. She liked it.
Stepping into the elevator, Faith made like nothing was happening.
Edge followed her, giving her parcels an appraising look.
"Ice cream?" he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yeah, fun food," she replied. "Besides, easiest way to keep two
teenagers occupied."
"How are the kids? Enjoying their stay?"
"Oh yeah. Excited over the entire wrestling gig. Remind me to
introduce you to Dawn. She thinks you’re cool."
"And what do you think?"
"What do I think?"
"About me."
The elevator dinged, letting them know it was Faith’s stop.
"Saved by the bell," he muttered, sounding disappointed.
Faith smirked and stepped out of the elevator. She turned back as
the doors began to close.
"I think you’re yummy," she called out to Edge before the doors
closed. Edge was left in the elevator, grinning like an idiot.
*****
"Who wants ice cream?" Faith announced, walking into her hotel room.
Dawn and Connor raced over, unloading the bags from her.
"Ice cream is good," Connor grinned, snagging some Rocky Road.
"But not as yummy as Edge, apparently," Dawn waggled her eyebrows at
Faith.
The Slayer frowned at them.
"Were you two eavesdropping again?" she demanded.
"Yup," Connor informed her happily. "Willow was helping."
Faith turned her frown on her friend.
"Red."
"Faith," Willow replied.
"How about some respect for privacy?"
"How about you just go jump the guy and spare the rest of us your
melodrama," Willow countered.
"There is no melodrama," Faith protested.
"Please, you guys were practically dancing around it in the ring,"
Dawn scoffed. "Everyone knows it. They saw it on national television."
"Dad called and wanted to scold you about it," Connor offered.
Faith scowled.
"Dead Man," she muttered distastefully. "Don’t tell me he’s going
to do that overprotective brother gig. It is so old."
"Now you know how I feel," Dawn shot at her. "Spike tried to kill
my date for holding my hand."
Willow giggled from her spot on the bed.
"You two are priceless," she laughed. "You’ve possibly had a worse
time with relationships that I do."
"You’d have an easier time if you weren’t so blind," Dawn muttered
under her breath.
"What was that Dawnie?" Willow frowned.
"Nothing!" the girl chirped. "So about breakfast tomorrow."
"What about breakfast?" Faith asked.
"Lita, Matt, and Jeff invited us to have breakfast with them," Dawn
explained. "Can we?"
"Sure, why not?" Willow smirked at Faith.
"Great, because they’re cool. And don’t you think Jeff is the
nicest?"
Connor doubled over with laughter.
*****
"Why were you laughing?" Dawn demanded of Connor the next day.
Faith and Willow were still in the hotel bed and the teens had opted to go
meet Team X-treme while they got ready.
"What are you talking about?"
"Last night," Dawn reminded him. "You started laughing when I
mentioned breakfast."
"No I started laughing when you mentioned Jeff," Connor amended.
"Could you be more obvious?"
"I just want her to notice," Dawn whined.
"Well if you aren’t less obvious about it, she could get the wrong
impression," he warned her.
"Like what?" she demanded.
"Like, she might think you have a crush on Jeff."
Dawn snorted.
"Don’t be ridiculous," Dawn scoffed. "Why would she think that?
It’s a stupid idea."
Connor just shrugged, struggling to keep his laughter inside.
*****
"Do you think Dawn has a crush on Jeff?" Willow asked Faith as they
walked to the elevator.
"Excuse me?" the Slayer looked at her friend in disbelief.
"Haven’t you noticed?" Willow looked at her friend expectantly.
"The way she always brings him up. And she’s constantly talking about
hanging out with Team X-treme. I think she has a serious crush on Jeff."
"I’m not so sure about that," Faith protested. The Slayer couldn’t
believe how dense Willow really was. Didn’t she realize Dawn was trying to
play some demented form of matchmaker between Jeff and the redhead?
"Connor agrees with me," Willow defended herself.
Faith raised an eyebrow.
"He does, does he?"
Willow nodded and turned to push the button for the elevator. Faith
stood seething. She was really going to have to give it to that boy of
Angel’s. Playing tricks like this with Dawn and Willow. That was her job.
"I think that Dawn and Connor are more dancing around a teenage
romance," Faith told Willow.
The redhead’s eyes bulged.
"Are you kidding me? Do you know how awkward that would be?"
"Since when do we care about awkward?" Faith shrugged. "Besides,
Connor is always looking at her. And when she was going on and on about the
Rock, he looked decisively jealous."
Willow paused to think it over.
"They would be kind of cute," she agreed. "But I still think Dawn
has a crush on Jeff. Why else would she bring him up all time?"
"Because you are so dense," Faith muttered under her breath.
"What was that Slayer?"
"Nothing," Faith covered up quickly. "Look. The elevator is here.
We should get ready to board."
"Because that takes serious preparation," Willow gave her a strange
look.
The doors opened to reveal Edge. He looked up and smiled.
"Two of my favourite people," he grinned at them. "The morning is
turning out good."
Willow gave an inward grin at the look on Faith’s face.
"Such a flirt," she giggled, moving to stand next to Edge. "Edge,
you sure make a girl feel appreciated. Don’t you agree Faith?"
The Slayer glared at her friend.
"Ignore her," she advised the blonde man. "She hasn’t had her
coffee yet. The strangest things will come out of her mouth."
Willow rolled her eyes at that. She batted her eyelids at Edge.
"Heading down for breakfast?"
Edge nodded.
"Want to join us? The more the merrier."
Edge grinned while Faith shot Willow a deadly glare.
"Breakfast with two of the hottest divas in the WWE? Twist my arm,
why don’t you?"
"You know I will," Willow giggled back at him. "Anyway, I am so
hungry, I can’t wait for breakfast. In the mood for food full of salty
goodness. How about you Edge?"
The man nodded, an amused grin on his face.
"I like breakfast."
Willow shot a look at Faith.
"No, I meant are you full of salty goodness?"
Willow jumped out of the elevator just in time to avoid Faith’s
swing. The brunette ran out in pursuit of her friend while Edge followed
laughing.
*****
Willow gave a tiny squeal before jumping into the seat next to Jeff.
"Save me Skittles," she declared breathlessly. "Someone let the
Faith monster out of her cage."
Dawn shot her a weird look.
"What are you talking about?"
"I think the question is what did you do to Faith?" Connor grinned
at the redhead.
"Not funny Red!" the brunette in question marched up. Willow just
hid herself behind a laughing Jeff Hardy.
"You can’t hurt me," she told the irate girl. "Skittles is going to
protect me. Aren’t you Skittles?"
Jeff nodded.
"Definitely. Knight in shining armour, that’s me."
"What is going on?" Matt asked.
Faith pointed her finger at Willow before settling in beside Connor.
"She started it."
"That’s very mature," Dawn rolled her eyes. "You’re like two or
something?"
Edge joined the group, pulling up a chair in between Lita and Dawn.
"You should have seen them in the elevator," he chuckled. "I
thought they would rip each others throats out. But in all fairness, Willow
was baiting Faith."
The redhead stuck her tongue out at him.
"I was not," she protested mockingly. "I’m just horribly attracted
to you. Couldn’t keep the flirting inside."
Edge laughed good-naturedly before turning to the astounded young
girl next to him.
"You must be Dawn," he extended a hand. "I’m Edge."
Dawn made some unintelligible noises before taking his hand. Edge
smiled and offered his hand to Connor as well.
"Hey."
"Hi," Connor shook his hand. "I’m Connor."
"Nice to meet you guys."
Willow snorted.
"Now that’s just sucking up," she grinned at him. "You don’t have
to do that. There was plenty sucking last night from what I could tell."
Jeff spent the rest of breakfast trying to save a giggling redhead
from an angry brunette.
*****
Things were pretty quiet after that. Dawn became absolutely
attached to Lita when the redhead continued to introduce her to her
favourite wrestlers. First it was Chris Jericho, then Triple H, then Hogan,
and then Austin. The younger Summers sister was just a giant squealing
bundle for the rest of her stay. Connor, though unhappy at all the
attention Dawn was bestowing upon the male wrestlers, quickly became
addicted to the world of wrestling. It became painfully apparent to both
Willow and Faith that getting these two to go home was going to be more than
difficult.
And the big bad was as elusive as ever. Not one sighting during the
entire two weeks the teens visited. Willow had Connor commission a sketch
of the vampire to send to the others, but no information had turned up.
Which meant the girls would have to stay on as wrestlers. Not that they
minded that much.
Dawn, though occasionally thwarted by pranks pulled by Connor and
Faith, was marginally successful in her matchmaking attempts. Team X-treme
and the four Californians had attended a fair together. After several
tricks, Dawn had been able to isolate Willow to Jeff. The two were
abandoned and spent the entire day together. When the whole group met up
again, Willow was carrying a large stuffed Scooby Doo toy and a big smile on
her face. Though the redhead couldn’t quite seem to grasp that Jeff liked
her, she was becoming partial to the man herself. But she generally pushed
that down, content to be friends. Because regardless of what happened,
Willow was here on a case. She didn’t want to drag Jeff into any danger.
Faith and Edge got closer, through many attempts of Connor. Though
it took very little effort on the boy’s part, he had the two almost
constantly together. Willow had more than once stumbled upon the two of
them making out in janitor closets at arenas. Edge would blush while Faith
merely shut the door and then locked it. This of course did not sit well
with the boss man. Faith spent many nights arguing with Angel on the phone.
She was an adult; she could make her own choices. But it never really
seemed to penetrate with the vampire.
So it was at the end of the two weeks that the girls found
themselves without any further clue about their mission and more confused
about their emotions.
*****
"I don’t want to go!" Dawn whined.
Willow rolled her eyes at Faith. The brunette shook her head in
dismay.
"I knew they were going to do this," the Slayer sighed. "You guys,
the two weeks are up. You have to go home."
"But we like it here!" Connor protested. "Can’t we stay just a
little longer?"
"No you can’t," Willow told him. "We can’t have you guys with us
here permanently. You said a visit, and two weeks is a long enough visit.
Besides, no way would Angel or Buffy agree to any more time."
"But I don’t want to go back to Sunnydale!" Dawn pouted.
"But you have to," Faith countered. "Now come on, you guys are
acting like kids. You’ve had your two weeks of fun, but now you have to go
home."
"But-"
"No more buts!" Willow held out her hand for silence. "Get your
things. We’re leaving right after breakfast."
Sullenly, the two teens complied, marching out into the hallway side
by side. Faith and Willow followed behind them.
"I feel like such a monster," the brunette whispered to her friend.
"Don’t," Willow advised her. "That’s how they get you. Make you
feel guilty and then trick you into keeping them. Just remember, use a
Resolve Face to counter any Puppy Dog Eyes."
Making their way down to the hotel restaurant, the four went over to
the table where their friends sat waiting.
"Hey guys," Lita greeted them warmly. She got no response out of
the teens. Dawn sat down and proceeded to pout while Connor continued his
brood.
"Hey," Willow greeted everyone, taking the seat next to Jeff.
"Ignore them, they’re just cranky."
"Come on guys, it’s not the end of the world," Matt chided them.
"You can come visit sometime later on."
"Yeah," Edge jumped in. "More than happy to have you guys back
later."
"How about we skip later and do that right now?" Dawn suggested
earnestly. One look from Faith quelled her hopes.
"They don’t want to go," Faith informed the wrestlers. "But they
have to go."
Connor glared at her unhappily.
"I’m going to be upset with you for a long time," he informed her.
"We’ll survive," Willow rolled her eyes. "That is if you live
through to the end of the day. Still have to deal with Buffy and Angel."
The two teens paled at the prospect. Dawn turned to Lita with a
forlorn face.
"Come to my funeral?" she asked sadly.
"I don’t think it’ll be that bad," the redhead laughed.
Dawn’s eyes darkened.
"You don’t know Buffy."
"Or my father," Connor added. "He will most likely kill me. Could
you two live knowing that you sent me to my death."
"Better yours than mine kid," Faith smiled at him. "Because if we
let you stay longer, Brood Boy will most likely rip my throat out."
"They were mad enough we let you stay for two weeks," Willow added.
"Now it’s time to face the music."
"More like the firing squad," Dawn muttered darkly.
Jeff laughed at their antics.
"It won’t be that bad," he cajoled them. "Besides, the ladies are
coming with you. You’ll have moral support."
"I’d rather have military support," Connor shot back.
"Enough," Faith held up her hand for silence. "Finish your
breakfast. Then, you two are going home. And this time, you’re staying
there."
Both teens reluctantly dug into their breakfasts, identical sour
looks on their faces.
*****
Willow peered down nervously at the closed door. She shot Fred an
apprehensive look.
"Awful quiet down there," she stated.
"Angel had it soundproofed while you were gone," the little brunette
offered. Willow paled at that.
"Don’t worry," Gunn soothed. "They’re just getting chewed out. We
all knew it was going to happen."
"Besides, it’s not like they’ve been at all chastised in the past
two weeks," Cordelia added from her desk.
Faith frowned at her.
"What are you trying to say Cheerleader?"
Cordelia shrugged.
"I’m just saying that they must have had fun the past two weeks,"
she clarified. "Not at all worried over the fact that they ran away and
gave everyone massive heart attacks."
Willow rolled her eyes.
"Relax mother bear," the redhead joked. "We took care of your cub.
Besides, the two of them needed time away from everyone else."
"What do you mean by that?" Cordelia demanded.
"She means y’all suffocating them," Faith elaborated. "I know you
still think of Connor as that little baby boy. Probably because he’s
technically only a year old, but actually he’s sixteen. Remember sixteen?"
"I remember sixteen," Cordelia huffed. "I’m not ancient you know."
"Faith’s just saying that they want some independence," Willow
jumped in. "And giving them some would be good for everyone."
"But they’re just children," came Fred’s protest.
"I agree with the wrasslers," Gunn intoned. "Teenagers want
independence. Best just to give them some than to go to war with them over
it."
"Enough parenting talk," Faith interjected before a full-blown
argument could start. "Anything new?"
Cordelia shook her head.
"The PTB don’t seem to like sharing at the moment," the seer
shrugged. "Haven’t had a new vision since."
"Anything on our Tall and Dark?" Willow asked hopefully.
"A tall, dark, and handsome vampire that radiates danger," Fred
tapped her chin mockingly. "Shouldn’t be hard to pinpoint. After all, it’s
not like there are hundreds of such creatures."
"Not even narrowing it down?" Faith whined.
"Well, we definitely knocked Angel off that list," Gunn grinned at
them.
"That’s really helpful gangbanger," Willow glared at him. "What
about the Scooby Gang? Or Giles? Anyone find anything that resembles the
sketch?"
"Nada," Cordelia shook her head. "You got to remember how many
texts there are on Master Vampires. And since we only have a description,
not a name, we’re pretty much sifting through thousands of resources."
Faith sighed.
"It’s never easy," she groaned. "We basically have nothing new."
"But you could fill us in on what life’s like in the WWE," Fred
jumped in happily. "I love that show."
"You and half the planet," Willow grinned. "What do you want to
know?"
"I want to know if Edge is a good kisser," Cordelia called from the
office.
"He’s great," Faith answered smirking. "Leaves a girl wanting for
more."
Gunn made a face.
"If you’re just going to swoon over male wrestlers, can I leave the
room?"
The girls laughed at him.
*****
Part Fourteen
Willow sighed as she made her way to the rental car. Another
two weeks and nothing. Well, nothing on the vampire front. Why the
hell was this guy taking so long? What was he after here?
So, on the supernatural front, there was nothing new. But on
the human front, plenty was new. Faith was in love with Edge.
Willow knew it without even hearing it from the Slayer. Willow had
never seen the brunette this way. Once, she had seen something close
to it, when Faith was on the Mayor's side. When the Slayer felt good
about herself and felt safe in someone's love for her. And this is
what Willow saw when she saw them together. Only, it was so much
more so than that time, and so much better for the brunette. Willow
hated to think that something bad might result when the case
resolved. She doubted that Faith would want to leave Edge, and
Willow wouldn't blame her for it.
And as for Willow, well, things were getting more complicated
for her. Jeff was quickly becoming closer to her heart, and that
just wasn't good. Willow didn't want to feel that kind of
connection, because she would leave by the end of the case. Faith
had been fooled by the lack of activity, but Willow had not. She
knew that the vampire was waiting for something. And eventually, it
would reveal that to them.
And after everything is said and done, Willow would say
goodbye to these people and go home to LA. That was the plan
anyway. Falling for Jeff put a severe hamper in that plan. Too bad
Willow couldn't seem to stop herself.
Sighing, the redhead pushed her hair out of her face as she
unlocked the front door of her passenger car. She stuck her head in
and quickly found the extra elbow pad that Faith had been missing.
Willow reached over and plucked it up. Slowly, the redhead
got out of the car and shut the door behind her. She barely
registered the presence before it was right behind her.
Willow spun around, hands going up immediately. He just
grabbed her wrists and slammed her against the car door. The witch
was scared, but she kept a calm expression on her face. The vampire
grinned at her.
"Miss me?" he whispered in her ear. Willow held her chin up,
taking in his face carefully. She tried to get anything off of him,
absolutely anything. She could tell he was British, she had heard
that from his voice.
"Not in this lifetime," she shot back. "Or in yours either."
He merely chuckled.
"So, do we make with the formalities or what?" she asked,
acting a cool she wasn't. "Because I only play mind games with vamps
who I know on a first name basis."
"Marcus," he whispered in her ear, pushing himself fully
against. Willow noticed two things right away. One, he was trying
to nuzzle her neck. Two, he had a raging hard on. All this meant
one thing. He was in blood lust.
"Okay, that's enough!" she declared, putting magic into her
hands. She pushed at his chest and used the force of her power to
push him off. The vampire flew back a few feet. A shocked look came
to his face, which he quickly covered.
"You're stronger than you look," he chuckled at her.
"And you're deader than you look," she shrugged. "Doesn't
really matter. So, how's about you tell me your evil plan?"
"And then comes the part when you and your Slayer foil my
every moves?" Marcus asked in reply. "Honestly, have some respect
for your elders girl. I may be dead, but I'm not brain dead."
"Oh darn," she snapped her fingers in resignation. "It's
easier for me when the baddies are."
"Sorry to disappoint," Marcus returned smoothly. "But there
is the little matter at hand of you interfering in things that do not
concern you."
"Really?" Willow raised a brow. "Well, can't really help
that. We're the good guys. We like sticking our nose into evil's
business. It's how we stay on top."
"Not here," Marcus protested vehemently. "Do you really
think I'm the worst there is? I scare you as it is, but I'm not even
the leader. I'm just the go-between. My master is something else
all together."
Willow swallowed the lump of fear she felt rising at that
remark.
"So, where is he?" she asked stubbornly.
"Around," Marcus answered, circling her slowly. "Nearby."
"Why doesn't he come deal with this on his own?" Willow
asked, stalling. Why wasn't there anyone else here?
"He doesn't need to," Marcus replied. "When the time is
right, he will appear. And then the shit will hit the fan."
"And why are you here?" Willow demanded. "To kill me?"
"Hardly," Marcus sneered. "Even I know enough not to attack
a powerful witch with a Slayer at her back. But remember this witch,
you have been warned."
And then he made like Angel and disappeared. Willow snapped
her head about, trying to find out where he went.
"Stupid vampires," she muttered to herself, making her way
back to the arena.
"They should come with bells."
*****
Willow was trying to stop herself from shaking. Her hands
weren't really listening to the commands from her brain. They were
shaking uncontrollably. She had to find Faith. So much for their
months of non-activity.
"Hey there pretty lady. What's wrong?"
Willow closed her eyes and cursed her luck. Imagine, running
into two creeps, one right after the other. Willow spun around when
she felt a hand clamp on her arm. The redhead fixed Test with an
angry glare.
"Go away Test," she warned him. The blonde man raised a brow
at that.
"Well, that's not very nice," he admonished. "Here I am,
worried about your safety-"
"More like trying to get into my pants," Willow cut him
off. "Listen Test, go bug someone else. I am not in the mood for
this right now."
The redhead made to leave, but Test yanked her back by the
arm. Willow shot the ceiling a dark look as she was dragged back to
Test.
"I don't like your attitude," he growled at her.
"Bite me asshole," she snapped back at him. Willow struggled
to get her arm out of his grasp. If Test wasn't careful, Willow was
going to let loose some witchin' on his ass.
"Hey! Let her go!"
Willow breathed a giant sigh of relief when she heard the
familiar voice. She fixed Test with a smug look as Jeff joined the
two of them. Test looked Jeff up and down, as if assessing him.
Jeff glared death at the man, body tense and ready for a fight.
"Stay out of this Hardy," Test warned him.
"I will when you get your hands off my girl," Jeff hissed
back at him. Willow felt her heart stop momentarily. His girl?
Test looked between the two of them. Apparently deciding she
wasn't worth the trouble, Test dropped her arm and stalked off. Jeff
continued to glare at him until the man was completely out of sight.
Only then did he turn back to Willow, eyes checking her for injuries.
"Your girl?" Willow repeated meekly. Jeff's eyes widened and
the man stared at the ground, shuffling his feet slightly.
"Yeah, well you know, if you want to be," Jeff stammered.
Willow looked at him forlornly. Why did he have to be so cute and
sweet? The two of them looked in each other's eyes and began to lean
closer. Their lips were almost touching when Willow remembered.
"Faith," she blurted out, jerking back from him. Jeff
frowned and looked more than a little confused.
"Huh?"
"I have to go find Faith," the redhead stuttered, taking off
down the hall. Jeff watched her go before turning to stare sadly at
the wall in front of him. He had just completely embarrassed himself
in front of his crush. And she didn't even like him back.
Jeff made to leave when he felt hands tugging him around. He
turned just in time to see Willow grab his head and pull him in for a
kiss. The redhead mauled his mouth. He barely had time to put his
arms around her waist and kiss her back when she pulled back again.
"I have to go find Faith," she repeated. "But can we discuss
this your girl stuff later?"
Jeff blinked and then nodded, a stunned look on his face.
Willow grinned brightly and gave him another quick kiss before racing
back down the hall.
Jeff watched her go, an idiotic smile on his face.
*****