Disclaimer: I,
of course, own nothing. BtVS
belongs to Joss, ME, ect. I'm not sure who owns The Pretender, but it sure
isn't me. *sigh*
Distribution: Just tell me if you want to take it.
Feedback: Feedback is always appreciated.
Spoilers: None really.
Now and forever: No Spuffy!
Summary: The Centre wants Willow. Will Jarod be able to save her?
Rating: PG-13
Author's note.
I know I've said it before, but this story will be done soon. There are just a few more parts. Right now writing this story is like
pulling teeth. But I'm determined to see it finished.
Jarod looked up from his computer when he heard a knock on his
door. He stood and opened it, not
surprised to see Willow standing outside.
"Willow. Come on
in." Jarod motioned the
red-haired witch into the hotel room.
Willow entered and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Nothing's gone wrong, has it?" Jarod asked, concerned.
Willow shook her head. "I'm actually not sure. Apparently Robert's sister is in
town. She and a couple of guys
stopped by the Magic Box looking for him.
Do you know anything about her?"
Jarod sighed. He knew that'd they'd be showing up eventually, he just wished it could have happened later. "That'd be Miss Parker. The two men with her were most likely Sydney and Broots."
Willow looked up at him.
Jarod had told her about the people chasing after him. "You have to go. If there here to take you back to the
Centre, you have to go."
"No. I'm not going
anywhere. As long as they don't
catch me before our plans go into effect, it won't matter."
"Jarod, I don't want you to take that risk."
"The risk is worth it.
You're revenge on Lyle is going to end up helping us both." Jarod sat down next to Willow. "I can handle this. I'm not going to leave you to deal with
that monster by yourself."
Jarod reached out and brushed some hair off of Willow's face.
They were both silent as Jarod's hand touched Willow's skin. There was a
stillness as they sat, just looking at each other. Suddenly Jarod realized what
he was doing, and pulled his hand away.
Willow looked at the floor, her face turning red.
"I'm sorry," Jarod began.
"No, don't be."
Willow interrupted.
There was an awkward pause and Jarod cleared his throat. "So,
you've been looking through your spell books, right?"
Willow nodded.
"Yeah. I actually brought
them with me. I thought you could help with the research. I know you don't know much about magic.
But, hey, your a genius."
Jarod smiled. "I'll do what I can." He took the book Willow was holding out and moved to a chair
by the room’s table.
"Just mark anything that looks relevant," Willow instructed. "I can go
through later and figure out if it's actually something we can do or not."
With that, the two began to study.
For a long while there was silence. They only sound that could be heard was the turning of
pages. Jarod broke the silence.
"Willow, I can't tell you how sorry I am that you got dragged into
all of this."
Willow looked at him, surprised, "Jarod, it's not your fault."
"I know that. But
still..." Jarod trailed off.
Willow stood and walked over to where Jarod was seated. She put a hand on his shoulder.
"Jarod, these people have ruined a lot of lives, including your own. You help everyone, not matter how hard you
try. You've done so much good
Jarod. You should be proud of
that.""
Jarod looked at her, reading the concern that was so evident on her
face. From what he could tell, she
was a lot like him. It didn't matter how many lives were saved; it would never be
enough. He was no more willing to
stop his fight then she was to stop defending Sunnydale. He wondered briefly if she knew how
brave she was. He doubted it. She and all of her friends, they fought
because it was right. A lot of
people would have just walked away.
"I can't stop fighting, Willow. It doesn't matter if it's the wrong doing of the Centre, or
of someone else. This is my mission. The plans I came up with when the
Centre had me....I didn't know that they'd be used in the way they were. But
that doesn't matter. The fact is
that people are died because of things that I thought up. Nothing I can do can ever make up for that."
Jarod noticed that tears were forming in Willow's eyes. He stood, and reached out, brushing the
tears from her face. Willow stepped closer to him, pressing her body against
his. She tilted her head up, and
Jarod leaned down. Their lips
brushed against each other, gently.
Then Willow wrapped her arms around Jarod's neck, pulling him further
towards her, deepening the kiss.
Jarod responded in kind.
Willow began to walk backward toward the bed, pulling Jarod with her.
As
they broke the kiss for breath, Jarod studied her. "Are you sure about
this?"
Willow ran her hands though Jarod's hair. "I'm sure," she
breathed, before pulling him into another kiss. Wrapped in each other's arms, the pair collapsed onto the
bed.