Jean had lingered once the policeman was gone, but Spike itched to get away, make his way through the sewers to the hospital. He was about to tell the girl he had to go when Anya's head shot up. "My god. Tara."

He could see the veins rippling just below the surface, fading in and out like some bizarre special effect in a bad science fiction film. "You feel something."

The eyes she turned on Spike were all too human, both sad and frightened. "Tara's gone. Willow...Willow wants vengeance. She's coming here."

A beat and Spike turned to Jean. "You need to leave. Now."

"I don't understand..."

"Now!" He nearly slid into game face; his vision began to make the shift and he could feel the fangs start to descend. Something was happening. He could feel the magic make the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Jean ran.

***

Buffy heard the noise, saw the lights dim and felt her senses begin to tingle. Not good. The moment the Slayer was stuck in the emergency room with a doctor probing her shoulder was not the moment demons should be striking.

Then she heard Giles yell. "Willow!"

That was enough to get her moving...or at least make an attempt to. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" the doctor demanded. "You've lost a lot of blood and you're lucky that bullet didn't hit a major vein or shatter your shoulder bone. You really need to wait until we've had a chance to go over your x-rays."

She didn't have time for this. "Giles!" she yelled, hoping he could hear. Medical equipment was going off all around her, alarms blaring. A place that only a few minutes ago had been quiet and controlled was now swimming with chaos.

A nurse poked her head into the cubicle. "Doctor, room six. We've got cardiac arrest."

The doctor didn't hesitate, putting down his instruments and hurrying out. Buffy took that as her cue, sliding down from the gurney, wobbling a little as her feet hit the floor. Okay, not the greatest idea, but it wasn't the first time she'd gone out under less than optimal conditions.

She managed to make it to the entrance unnoticed, wincing at the pain that hit her with every step. Note to self: try to avoid stuff that jars the shoulder for the next couple of days. The waiting room was in chaos as well, people bent over a woman crumpled at the bottom of a wall. Whatever set her spider-senses tingling had been here. No sign of Giles or Willow, which was strange. She'd expect Willow to stick close, waiting for word of Tara.

"What hit Mrs. Rosenberg?" Xander asked as he appeared at her shoulder.

The woman on the floor was Shelia Rosenberg, Buffy realized. This wasn't good. The two of them made their way to the small group crowded around the woman. "You okay, Mrs. Rosenberg?"

For the first time Buffy could remember, Sheila Rosenberg looked happy to see Xander. "Where's Willow? She was doing some chant to Osiris and her eyes were all black and she just moved her hand and I hit the wall..."

That answered the question as to what had happened to Willow. Off the "no magic" wagon big time. "Did she say anything else?" Buffy pressed. "Give you any idea of what she was trying to do?"

"Buffy." Xander's voice was quiet. "Osiris was who Willow called on when we, you know, brought you back."

The realization sunk in and Buffy was back on her feet, heading toward the nurse's station. She stopped short as she spotted Giles coming in the entrance, breathing heavily. "Getting too old for this," he said, leaning against the wall. "Willow's too fast. I fear she's heading for the Magic Box."

"Something's happened to Tara."

He nodded. "Willow must have been in some sort of bond with her. I touched her shoulder when we were both at the check-in desk and I could feel the magic. If she was in Tara's mind and felt her die..."

"We've got to find her." Buffy looked back over her shoulder. "And I need to get out of here before that doctor comes looking for me."

"Your shoulder..."

"I'll deal. Right now, our primary concern is Willow." Tara's face flashed before Buffy's eyes, but there was another image competing for her attention: Willow the night she'd taken Dawn to Rack's. "If she's fallen of the magic wagon because of this, it's bad."

Part of her wanted to crawl into a corner and pull herself into a little ball, hide from the way her world was crashing down, but she didn't have that luxury. "Xander, you stay here. Make sure Willow's mom is okay and see what you can find out about Tara. Call the store if you get news. Oh, and call the house and leave a message for Dawn, telling her to stay put when she gets home. I need to not be worrying about her."

Xander nodded as he reached into his pocket and dug out his keys. "Just make sure you take care of Willow," he said as he tossed the keys to Giles.

***

She didn't so much walk into the shop as entered, her very presence making the air crackle. Anya took the lead, stepping away from the counter to stand in front of her. "Willow, I'm sorry about Tara, but you shouldn't do this. Don't go down this road."

"I want the Protocols." Willow's voice was tight, raw power thrumming behind it.

"No." Anya put on a brave front, but she was nervous and Spike didn't blame her. A woman powerful enough to raise the dead was not someone you wanted to piss off. "They aren't here."

A single hand movement and Anya froze in place. Eyes that were growing ever darker turned toward Spike. "Where are they?"

"Giles took them back to England when he went." As she looked at him, it suddenly occurred to Spike that she could easily rip the answer out of his mind if she wanted to, find out he'd had his own copy. And then she did.

"So you were trying to figure out what I did? Didn't trust Willow to do the job properly. Thought I screwed up." She sneered at him as he tried to drag himself back up off the floor. "You and Giles are more alike than you want to think. Pity Buffy had to play hero and blow it up along with the rest of your stuff."

She stood quiet for a moment as if centering herself. Then she began to chant. "Osiris, lord of the underworld, hear my plea. One approaches who should not pass, whose time is not yet come. Refuse her passage, return her to the land of the living."

The words rose in the stillness of the shop. Then the very air began to swirl and churn around her. A dark cloud began to form over her head, eddies and lightning highlighting the energy formation. These were things not to be summoned lightly.

Willow began the chant again and the clouds grew thicker. A rumble began, vibrations felt deep within the bone. A voice boomed out: "It is not possible. Bother us no more."

In a blink of an eye, the cloud was gone, unfocused magic sizzling. Willow stood frozen, her head tilted back, mouth open. Then, she began to scream. "No!"

Spike stumbled to his feet, trying to close the distance between himself and Anya. She was still unmoving, caught in whatever spell Willow had cast. He reached out to touch her, but Willow's hand clamped tight over his wrist. "I'm not finished with you yet, either of you. Warren's going to pay for this…and you're going to help."

He couldn't move, unable to stop her as her hand plunged into Anya's chest with a bright light. He'd see that light before, but a hell god had wielded it.

The contact didn't last long before Willow pulled her hand out. "Don't want to drain too much; not into making crazy people. Just a little magic to get me through until I can get the big guns."

Anya was gasping, but there was no madness in her eyes - only pain and anger. The spell held her still, though, as Willow turned to Spike. "Not so sure about this. Don't know what type of energy a vampire can provide, but there's gotta be something in there that will give me a little boost."

No, it didn't hurt quite as much as when Glory did it, but that was only a small comfort for having his insides ripped out through his chest. The smile on Willow's face as she pulled back was no comfort at all. "You've been holding out on me, Spikey. Didn't know you'd done magic. We'll have to talk about that some time."

She turned and headed away. "Later, though. I've got to see a man about some powers."

Giles and Buffy found them like that some ten minutes later. The spell had started to lift and they could move, but slowly. "I don't think we need to ask if Willow's been here," Giles said ruefully as Spike and Anya stretched cramping limbs.

"She wanted to know where the Protocols of Osiris were," Anya said as he helped her down onto a bench. "Told her we didn't have them, but she didn't believe me. Where did you manage to find a set, Spike?"

It was not a question he particularly wanted to answer, not with his chest aching and Buffy watching him. Buffy. She was pale and he didn't like the way she held her left shoulder, but it was good to see her standing before him. Not that they had the time to do more than simply acknowledge each other's presence. "Tell you later, pet. Right now, I imagine Giles is going to tell us we need to figure out what Red's up to next."

"Go after Warren." Anya's lips tightened to a thin line. "Her desire for vengeance was very specific."

Buffy frowned, leaning against the counter next to Spike. "I understand why, but what does she hope to do when she catches up with him?"

Three sets of eyes looked at her, delivering the answer. "We've had this conversation before," Spike reminded her gently.

She looked up at him with eyes that were suddenly very tired and very old. "We've got to stop her."

"We will," Giles said. "We've got to find her first…hopefully before she gets to Warren. Anya, can you track her?"

Anya nodded. "The voice is pretty loud. I can hear them…cries for vengeance…in my head. That's how a vengeance demon knows where to go. Willow's so loud she's drowning everything else out, but she doesn't actually want anyone's help, she wants to do it…"

Anya tilted her head to one side. "That's strange. She just disappeared, as if she wasn't there."

Something Willow had said as she left clicked in Spike's brain. "Rack. She said she was going to see a man about some powers."

"And what she took from us was only supposed to hold her until she could get the big guns." Anya rubbed her chest. "Hurt like hell."

Giles was growing more serious with every passing moment. "She took power from you?"

"Did the glowy finger thing like when she restored Tara's mind. She took magic from me and was going to take energy from Spike, but she said he had magic, too."

Her puzzled words earned him looks and Spike knew there was going to be some serious conversation when this was all done. "So we find Rack," Buffy said, slipping into Slayer-General mode. "Sun's set. Think you can find his lair for us, Spike?"

He nodded and headed for the door, muscles still complaining. "Who's Rack?" Anya asked Giles in a loud whisper as they fell into step behind him.

"Someone who feeds on other's desire for power. He temporarily gives them magic, but feeds on their energy."

"Oh, Willow's pusher. Makes sense she'd go to him. After all, a temporary burst is all she'd need to…"

The other three turned to look at her. "Do you want me to pretend I didn't say that or are we going to speak the truth?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

A long pause and then Buffy said, "The truth is better. It just…hurts to hear it."

The two women looked at each other for a long moment and then, for the first time since she'd returned, Anya seemed to soften toward Buffy. "That I can understand. Let's go stop her before she can do it."

***

Spike didn't find it any easier to uncover Rack's location than it had been in November when he and Buffy had been looking Dawn. Fortunately, Giles managed to keep Buffy's "Anything yet?" to a minimum.

The first time he'd come looking for Rack, shortly after he and Dru rolled into Sunnydale, it'd been a simple matter to find the place and stroll in. Of course, Spike reminded himself, he hadn't deigned to do the actually sniffing. That's what minions were for. One or two would come in handy at the moment, give them some extra muscle. Might do a better job at tracking... "Got it."

He stretched out his hand toward the seemingly empty alley. It disappeared as he breached the barrier, a slightly unpleasant tingling crawling up his arm. Satisfied, he pulled his arm back and turned to the others. "Do we have a plan or are we favoring the rushing in method?"

They didn't have a plan; that much was apparent from the way Buffy chewed her lower lip. "Maybe rushing in is the best method," Anya suggested. "The longer she's in there, the more likely she is to get all the power she wants out of him. If we rush in, we could take her by surprise."

"And do what?" Buffy looked like that problem was just occurring to her. "What are we going to do with her when we catch her?"

"Binding spell," Giles suggested. "It should keep her contained until we can bring her down."

It was a woefully inadequate plan, but the risk increased with every moment they waited outside. Buffy must have realized that, for she nodded and indicated to Spike he should lead the way in.

Probably not the best idea, he realized as they reached the dingy little waiting room that looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. For all her going off the deep end, Willow was still human and the chip still worked. Rack was human as well, unfortunately. There was precious little he could do to help.

That thought disappeared the moment Buffy threw open the door to reveal Rack's inner sanctum. Didn't matter that Rack was human…rather, had been human. Wasn't much to do with a dead body hanging from the ceiling, his face a rictus of pain and a hand-sized hole in his chest.

"And the cavalry arrives." The voice came from behind them, sly with power. "The slayer and her little minions…the watcher, the demon and the pet vampire. Ooh, should I make that vampire layer instead of slayer?"

Her shoulders were tense, but Buffy turned to face her friend. "Willow, I know you're hurting, but you can't do this."

"Can't?" Willow's eyes were even darker, if that was possible, deep dark pools that glittered dangerously. The power shimmered off her, hair a fiery red, bright enough to give the illusion of living flame. "I'm tired of other people telling me what to do. I'm tired of being the good girl and accepting every hurt with a smile. This time, those who hurt me are going to find out that's not a bright thing to do."

She was reveling in her newly acquired power, a smile on her face that was both bright and frightening. Buffy proved her mettle, however, stepping forward even if it was cautiously. "Willow, let us help you. The police are looking for Warren…"

"Who they probably won't find. Come on, Buffy; you know how deeply stupid the Sunnydale police are. Warren thought he'd killed you…at least until the boys down at Willy's told him otherwise. See, he didn't count on the fact you have more lives than a cat, even if you don't appreciate it. He came running to Rack for help." She paused, her face suddenly thoughtful. "I wonder how Warren found out about Rack. Probably slime calling to slime. Rack helped him…and then he helped me."

Willow turned for the door. "Gotta go. Have a nerd to take care of and I don't want to keep him waiting."

Buffy reached for her arm. "I can't let you…"

She was thrown back hard. "Don't. Don't ever try to stop me again. If you hadn't stopped me outside the shop, we wouldn't have been standing there when Warren decided to play target practice and Tara wouldn't have…"

She choked off the words with a howl and was out the door before the others could react. When Spike did react, it was to go to Buffy's side. "You really need to stop doing that."

"Oh, and you wouldn't have?" Her tone was snappish, punctuated by more than a few grimaces as he helped her up. "Any suggestions, Giles? 'Cause that was not average Willow strength."

"We need to find her again. This time, I'd better try that spell before she realizes we're there. Think you can track her, Anya?"

"Given the way she's radiating? No problem." Anya looked around the room nervously. "We should probably get out of here. I don't know how deep the spells Rack had on this place go, and with him dead, there's a strong possibility this place could rapidly become unstable."

None of them needed a second hint. "You'd better head back to the shop, Spike," Giles suggested as they started down the alley, Anya in the lead this time. "See if there's been word from Xander. And look at the Franzen; I need you to read up on draining spells. I'll probably need both you and Anya as seconds."

That earned him another strange look from Buffy, but there wasn't time to argue. Anya was moving at a fairly rapid pace and they needed to keep up. He gave Giles his agreement, reached out to touch Buffy gently on the shoulder, and then headed back toward the shop.

Buffy watched him go, cataloging the questions she was going to ask later. Assuming there was a later. The situation was becoming too dark too fast for her liking. Fighting monsters was easy; fighting her friends was something she hated doing.

Anya led them out of the business district, straight for the edge of town. Here was a wooded area Mayor Wilkins had declared a wilderness preserve, which probably meant it had some occult properties. More than once, Buffy's hunts and patrols had taken her here, climbing through the underbrush after some demon. She'd once seen a particularly stupid fledgling accidentally stake himself on a branch while trying to avoid her. "Can you tell where she is?"

"She's close." Anya cocked her head to one side. "So's Warren…she's got him."

They began to run.

***

He'd been so pitifully easy to find. Whatever power Rack had given him led her to him as surely as a homing beacon. Funny how magic had its own distinctive sense, letting you know exactly where it'd come from…if you knew where to look.

Rack hadn't even bothered to give him the best power, either. Warren threw up a fireball, but Willow batted it aside without a second thought. "That the best you can do, big boy? All your fancy toys and the best you can throw at me is a stupid fireball?" She snorted. "I'd think a geek like you would have more imagination."

He backed up, terror on his face. Good. He should suffer. He should suffer like he'd made Tara suffer. Just a little farther…

When Warren was perfectly positioned between two trees, Willow moved her hand and he found himself bound. Another twitch of her hand and the bonds tightened uncomfortably. Why give him any consideration?

With him right where she wanted, Willow moved forward slowly, intending to savor the moment. "So, Warren. Did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy taking your potshots at Buffy, not caring who you hurt? Nothing else worked, so you decided to prove yourself a big man with a big gun?"

She paced in front of him, taking pleasure from the way his eyes anxiously followed her. "I bet you've been laughing all these months at the way we've been unable to catch you because Buffy had her head up her ass and wasn't paying attention. Can you picture?" Willow stopped and faced him. "Yes, you can because you had the cameras going on all of us, making us puppets for your amusements. I didn't tell the others, but I saw the disc you made of the footage of Tara and me. That's what gets you off? Girl on girl action? Or did you prefer Xander and his demon? Or Buffy and her dead lover? Or did you just flip back and forth, getting off on the fact you filmed us without our knowledge?"

She stepped closer, lowering her voice to a hiss. "That's what gets you off, isn't it? The power. Knowing you were making us dance to your tune and we didn't seem to be able to stop it. You like power, don't you Warren? You like causing pain because it means you have power over someone. We're all just toys to you, aren't we?"

He shook his head frantically. She could smell his fear, sense the rapid beating of his heart. The heart that still beat while Tara's had stopped. "That's it. We're toys, something for you to play with. Only you don't know how to take care of your toys, do you? You broke Katrina."

"That was an accident." His voice was pleading.

"One you tried to frame Buffy for. See, can't even pick up after yourself."

"I will! I'll go to the police, confess, turn myself in."

"So you can get a smart lawyer and spend your life in prison while those who should be alive are cold in the ground? I don't think so." He began to beg again and she decided she'd heard enough. A quick pass and his lips were bound shut, only a dull, muffled whimpering escaping. The eyes were still fully aware of what was around him, though, the fear in them giving her a rush she hadn't expected.

"You know what your stupid little macho display did? You hit Tara in the chest and the stomach. The bullets tore through her gut and her chest. Her lung collapsed. Know what that feels like?" She placed her hand on his chest, focused and pushed. Every muscle in his body tensed as she drove her power through him, tearing at muscle and tissue. Just enough…mustn't kill him…make him suffer…suffer like Tara suffered.

He was suffering. The fear was coming in waves, his body struggling to keep going. "I could keep this going for hours," she whispered. "Can you picture that? Existing with nothing but pain? Keep imagining because…"

There was a noise over the ridge. They were coming. Damn Anya; she would have decide this was the time to share her demon powers and act as bloodhound. "Well, this is your lucky day. The white hats are coming, so I need to finish up and head out of here."

There was the smallest flicker of hope in his eyes. The idiot actually thought Buffy would save him. "I'd keep you going for hours, give you a taste of what you've done to us all these months, but guess what? You're not worth it."

He looked at her, the tiny flicker growing larger. Good. "Unlike you, though, I'm a good girl. I clean up my messes when I'm done with them."

She deliberately raised her hands so he could see them, let him register what was going to happen. Let the hope flicker and die into despair. And then she made it as painful as possible.

On to Part 3

Back to Part 1

Back to Confrontation

On to Aftermath