Buffy awoke sometime in the early morning. The bath water was tepid, and goose bumps speckled her arms and legs. She shivered and pulled herself out of the tub, wrapping herself in a beach towel. She dried herself off and then put on some warm flannel pajamas. As she combed out her hair, she glanced down at her form in the mirror. She missed her “yummy sushi pajamas.” The flannel plaid pink and white outfit she now wore was just not the same.

After combing out and drying her hair, she went back downstairs to put on some tea. Dawn would be waking up soon, so breakfast would be in order. Buffy glanced at the calendar as she prepared the teapot, noting that today was marked in a big red circle on the Robin Hood calendar. Dawn had been planning this day for weeks. Katie and Sarah and their mom were taking Dawn on a week long trip to London. Apparently they had family there. They planned on showing Dawn the sights, catching a play, and doing a million and one other touristy things. Dawn had been counting the days. Buffy was excited for her, but was sort of dreading it herself. She was going to be alone while Dawn was away. She hated being alone these days.

The phone rang then, shaking Buffy out of her doldrums. “Hello?”

“Buffy, I hope I didn’t wake you?”

“Nope, you didn’t. How can I help you today, Robin?”

“You don’t think I would just phone you up for a nice chat?” Wood was teasing her, and they both knew it, but it was nice and light hearted. Buffy smiled at her sister as Dawn made her way into the kitchen, a big yawn gracing her face.

“Morning,” the teenager mumbled.

“Actually, “ Wood began, “you are correct. I do need your wisdom. Hopefully you can help me out here anyway. We’ve ran into a demon here that I don’t know a lot about. I don’t even know if I can pronounce it’s name correctly. I want to say ‘Glarghk guhl kashma'nik?’”

Buffy paused, holding the spatula with Dawn’s scrambled eggs still on it in mid air above the plate. “‘Glarghk guhl kashma'nik!’”

Dawn rolled her eyes and snatched the spatula out of her sister’s hands. “I hated that demon. Made you crazier than usual.”

Buffy shushed her sister and sat down at the kitchen table.

“Yes, I know that demon. One skewered me in the arm once, and injected me with some kind of poison that made me think I was in a mental institution. I almost killed Dawn and…my family.” Buffy said the last in a quiet voice. It wasn’t often when she referred to them as her family, but that’s what Willow and Xander were to her. Dawn glanced up sharply at her sister, noting her pale face and quiet demeanor as Buffy listened intently into the phone.

Buffy finally went on to explain to Wood that in order to reverse the poisonous effects, they would have to break off the demon’s skewer and make an antidote out of the poison. “Willow can help you with that. Frankly, I was a bit out of it at the time. All I remember was that it tasted awful.”

“You don’t know the recipe?” Wood asked.

Buffy nodded as she spoke into the phone. “Nope, that was all Willow. She made it.”

Dawns arched her eyebrows. “I remember it. I wrote it down in my journal too.”

Buffy covered the mouthpiece of the phone. “You did?” She then uncovered the phone to tell Wood. “Dawn says she has it.”

“Well, that’s good.” Wood sighed in relief. “Willow is out of touch, so I was counting on you.”

Buffy began to shovel the now cooling eggs into her mouth. “What is she up to these days?”

Wood frowned. It was sad that he had to tell Buffy what her friends should be telling her themselves. “She joined Xander in Africa on a safari. She was quite excited about it.”

Buffy closed her eyes against the pain of the loss of intimacy with her friends. They were continents apart from each other now. It was rare that Wood and her talked more than just business. Maybe it was Dawn’s eminent trip that struck Buffy with longing, but she found herself asking about them. “And Giles? Have you talked to him?” Why did her heart ache as his name crossed her lips?

“Not lately, no. He’s helpful at times, but I sense that he’s quite sad these days, Buffy.” Wood leaned back in his chair, curious as to what Buffy would say. He knew there was a rift there between the Watcher and Slayer that needed healing. He felt guilty for contributing to that rift when Giles and he had conspired behind Buffy’s back to kill Spike. They had failed in that, and Wood now thought that was the final nail in the coffin between Giles and Buffy. He would love to aid in some kind of reconciliation between the two, but Wood had no idea how to do that.

Buffy pushed her plate away and stood up, cradling the cordless phone to her ear as she helped Dawn clear the table.

“A phone call from you could help, perhaps?” Wood knew he was walking on dangerous ground now, but he couldn’t seem to hold the words back.

“Yeah, well, he hasn’t bothered to phone me either.” She also wanted to mention that he was the one who left, he was the one that abandoned her, and he was the one that stood there as they all kicked her out of her own home. Why should she now be the one to call him? But she remained silent, angrily shoving things around in the kitchen. Dawn finished clearing the table and stood against the counter, crossing her arms in front of her chest and gazing at her sister with a concerned look.

Wood sighed heavily. He knew this conversation would not improve. Sensing Buffy’s mood, he decided to end it as soon as possible. “I’m sorry, Buffy, but I really should get that antidote from Dawn so I can get it to the girls as soon as possible.”

“Certainly, Robin.” She handed the phone to Dawn and finished cleaning up the breakfast dishes. Dawn told Wood she’d email him the ingredients right away. Buffy smiled, proud of her sister, then she ran upstairs to change into some clothes and then she’d help Dawn finish packing for her trip.

* * *

The drums never stopped. They bore into Willow’s brain like a drill, vibrating her very skull. She clenched her teeth, and they too rattled inside her mouth. She yearned for peace and quiet and stillness with every fiber of her body.

She was guarded every second of every day. She didn’t know where she was. All she saw was the inside of a hot canvas tent, and various black faces whom she assumed were members of the tribe that now held her captive for some unknown reason.

The leader, or at least she assumed he was the leader, only came to see her once. She knew he was a Shaman of some sort, and his magic was powerful. He had stepped into her tent the moment she had begun her spell to send Xander and herself to Giles. Xander had been teleported successfully, she hoped, because he had vanished. But she had remained, and her magic ceased to work. Somehow, this Shaman had turned her magic off. That was the best way for her to describe it. Her magic was still there, just as her heart was beating and her blood was pumping. He hadn’t drained her of it or stripped her of it. She could feel her magic there, just under the surface. But the connection between it and her seemed to be broken. In some way, this Shaman had turned her magic off, and she didn’t know how to get it back on.

No one had hurt her, at least not physically. But she was obviously a prisoner, stuck in a tent in the middle of Africa. No one talked to her, or told her what they wanted. No one even seemed to speak English. She had babbled non stop for days, but now she was silent. Her throat was parched, and the minimum water provided did little to slake her thirst.

She only hoped that Xander did get to Giles, and they’d eventually find and rescue her. Until then, all she could do was wait.

* * *

Giles hung up the phone, cursing.

“Didn’t go well, G. Man?” Xander had changed into some of Giles old clothes and had been fed. He was feeling a lot better. Just being in Giles presence helped his confidence grow. They would get Willow back. There was no other option.

“They didn’t know a bloody thing!” Giles had phoned various contacts he had, but no one had heard anything about demonic or evil activity brewing in Africa. None of them had heard about a red headed witch either. Willow seemed to have simply vanished.

Giles was pacing back and forth in his living room. He shoved his hands down deep into the pockets of the jeans he wore. He was unshowered and unshaven, and had just thrown on a black t-shirt with his blue levis.

“I even tried phoning Wood, but his secretary or whoever she was said he was away on a crisis, making some kind of antidote for a poison.” Giles thought the lady was going to ask for further information from Giles, but he had hurriedly hung up, realizing that Wood was a dead end. Besides, Wood had his hands full there in Cleveland on that Hellmouth. He most likely would have been of no help, but Giles was desperate for any kind of help he could get. He had told the secretary to have Wood call him back as soon as he could, and that is was an emergency.

“Maybe we should try Buffy?” Xander sat on his hands, an anxious expression on his face.

Giles paused in his pacing, throwing himself down onto his leather lounger across from Xander who sat on the couch.

He hated to disturb Buffy. She deserved whatever peace and happiness she had now found. But, this was Willow, and they’d need all the help they could get. If Willow was in need, Buffy deserved to know. No matter what had transpired between them all, Giles knew Buffy would be there for her best friend. He nodded in agreement with Xander, and picked up the phone.

More to come