A Forgotten Time
TITLE: A Forgotten Time
AUTHOR: Tienco (tienco@msn.com)
COUPLE: Willow/Spike (eventually), Willow/Xander friendship (cause I just love Xander, he's such a hottie. I like it better when him and Wills are getting along. . .)
RATING: Somewhere between PG and R
DISTRIBUTION: My site!! www.oocities.org/tienco_21 and various lists. Ask if you want it, I'll let you have it. Oh, Kylia, and Jai can always have it. . .if I've given you permission for something else, you are welcome to this.
DISCLAIMER: All belongs to Joss Whedon. Gosh, I wish I were Joss. I'd have such a good time with Spike. . .and Angel. . .and Xander. . .and Graham. . . and Lindsey. . .throw Willow and Faith in there and it's a party!!
FEEDBACK: Of *course*. Makes me write more.
SPOILERS: Hmm. Let's say the whole four seasons to be safe.
SUMMARY: Willow has a few problems. . . (yea, yea, I suck at summaries. Sue me)
NOTES: This takes place beginning of fall season, cept there's no Tara. Wills and Spike are becoming closer. . .
NOTES 2: I threw this idea around for a while, had this first part written for god knows how long. Decided I'd post to see what you guys think. Let me know if it sounds interesting enough to continue, or should I just chunk it.
DEDICATION: To Jinni, cause she's on vacation, and I miss her badly.
*~*~*~*
Willow Rosenberg moaned softly, sitting up. "God, where am I?" she asked softly. She looked around with a frown. "Ok. I'm not even going to try to figure out why I'm sitting in the park in the bushes." She glanced at her watch, her eyes widening. "Oh, god! I've got to get to school!"
She hauled herself out of the bushes and ran all the way home, thankful her parents weren't at the house to question why she was coming home at half an hour till eight. She hurriedly climbed up to her balcony, entered her room, and got ready for school.
*~*~*~*
"Should we call Giles?" Xander asked, wringing his hands. "I mean, no one has seen Willow since last night."
Buffy sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Xander, Giles is on vacation. He didn't want to be bothered unless it was something important. . ."
"And you don't bloody think Red missing is important?" Spike asked with a growl, pacing back and forth.
"Ok," Anya said calmly. "What happened, tell me, one more time."
"I was walking Red home from the movie. We were going back to the dorms. We were just talking about this, that and the other. Nothing really important. She glanced around, saying she felt some evil. I let the demon out to see if I could sense anything, and there was nothing. And when I turned back around to ask if she were sure, she was just bloody gone," Spike growled.
"Willow wouldn't just walk off like that. Not without telling someone. And anyway, she likes Spike, she definitely wouldn't do that to him. You two had a good time?" Xander asked.
"Yea," Spike growled. "We went to see a movie, laughed the whole time, the bloody witch even held my hand. She wasn't scared of me, and I wasn't being *too* evil. . ."
"Ok," Buffy said. "Did you feel anyone else in the area? At all?"
"No," Spike shook his head.
"How do we know *you* didn't do something with her?" Buffy asked.
Spike narrowed his eyes, stepping to the Slayer. They were nose to nose. "You stupid bitch. If you dare think I would *ever* hurt Red, then you've got another thing coming. I don't care *how* much pain I'm in. I'll rip your bloody intestines out."
Xander stepped forward, placing his hand on Spike's chest. "Buffy. Seriously. Spike didn't do anything to Willow. Why would he come to us if he had? He likes her too much to hurt her."
"Thank you, Harris," he growled, his eyes still shooting daggers at the Slayer.
"Come on, guys," Riley spoke up for the first time that morning. "Let's think. If you were Willow, where would you go?"
*~*~*~*
Willow ran through Sunnydale, horrified. Everything was wrong, nothing was the way it was supposed to be. She ran to the only place in all of Sunnydale that she knew she would be safe. Her best friend Xander Harris' house.
She shimmied up the side of the house, having years of practice sneaking into his bedroom. She pushed open the window, throwing her leg over the sill. She crawled in, and looked around, frowning. The room was dark, that she expected, but the bed was gone, and most of Xander's personal items were missing. Tears filled her eyes. She knew it was still his home, she could see some of his older things lying about. She went to the door and opened it, peaking out cautiously. The last thing she wanted was to come in contact with anyone else in the Harris clan. Deciding that she was alone, she walked through the house, tears streaming down her face.
Everything was so wrong. . .and where the hell was Xander? "XANDER!" she sobbed, dropping to her knees in despair.
*~*~*~*
Xander's head shot up. "Willow!" he cried.
The entire gang tore upstairs, all skidding to a stop. Willow was on her knees in the middle of the living room, sobbing. "Pet!" Spike cried, rushing to her. He grabbed her and pulled her up, hugging her tightly. "Pet, where the bloody hell have you been?"
Willow looked at Spike with wide eyes, blinking in shock. "Uh. . ." she said softly. "Around." She looked past him, her eyes settling on Xander. She wiggled out of Spike's arms and rushed to the comforting embrace of her best friend.
Xander frowned, yet held Willow tightly. After a moment, she pulled away, blushing. "I'm sorry, Xander," she said softly, looking down.
"Willow, are you ok?" he asked gently.
"I am now that you are here," she whispered. She stepped back, out of his embrace. She blushed, looking down again. "Xander, you've. . .you've grown overnight."
Xander blinked. "Huh?" He shook his head, trying to clear it. Sure, it had been a long time since he'd really hugged Willow, but it hadn't been that long. . .had it?
Spike growled, not enjoying the coy looks *his* witch was giving Xander. "Red," he said. She didn't even acknowledge him. He growled louder.
Buffy put her hand on his shoulder. "Something is wrong," she whispered. "Willow hasn't looked at Xander like that in a couple of years."
Spike's growl grew. "That look is for *me*, Slayer," he hissed. "Why is she looking at the moron like that?"
"I don't know," Buffy whispered.
"Um, Xander," Willow asked. "I have a couple of questions. Uhh. . .what happened to the school? I went over there, and it was. . .well, ahhh. . .it was kinda. . .charred."
"It blew up, Wills. You know, at graduation last year?" Xander said.
Willow frowned. "O. . .k," she whispered. She wiped her forehead, deciding to deal with that later. She looked around at everyone in the group. "My next question. . .what happened to our happy little group of three? When did it become a group of. . .six?"
"Group of three?" Riley asked with a frown.
"Me, Xander, and Jesse. . ." Willow said, her eyes shimmering with tears. "I went to his house, and he wasn't there. . .none of his family was. It was like. . .they were gone. Where did Jesse go, Xander?" she said, looking up at him. Tears were streaming down her face.
Xander stepped back, blinking his eyes. Tears filled them. "Willow," he whispered. "Jesse was killed five years ago."
"Five *years*?" Willow whispered, her knees buckling. Buffy reached out, grabbing her. She looked at the blonde, no spark of recognition in her eyes. "It. . .it couldn't have been. . .I mean, just yesterday we were at my house, playing monopoly. . ."
"Willow, this is important," Buffy said softly. "My name is Buffy, and I'm a friend of yours."
Willow shook her head, fear entering her eyes. "I've never seen you before in my life. . ." she whispered.
"Willow, what day is it?"
Willow swallowed heavily. "It's September 20th," she whispered.
"Ok, that's right," Buffy nodded. "It *is* September 20th. . ."
"1994," Willow finished.
Buffy blinked. That was a whole year before she even got to Sunnydale! Willow thought she was a freshman in high school, had no clue about vampires or demons, and she thought Jesse was still alive. "Oh, my god," Buffy whispered. "Someone call Giles. We've got problems."
*~*~*~*
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