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whichwillow
Title: The Faintest Glimmer of Red
Pairing: Willow Rosenberg/Simon Tam (more or less)
Word Count: 2197
Rating: Teen
Disclaimer: These are Joss' creations, not mine. Some dialog taken from "Entropy" and "Seeing Red"
Prompt: Willow gets sucked into another universe; or a character from another show/book/movie gets sucked into Willow's.
Summary: When an interdimensional teleportation spell goes seemingly awry, Willow makes an interesting discovery.
She came to in a room with white walls. Hospital, she thought. Even in another dimension, it was an instantly recognizable space.
“You’re awake.”
Willow tried to sit up to see the source of the voice, but found she was strapped to the bed. Her mind flitted, in fits and starts, struggling to seize any of the thoughts that were crowding in, one on top of the other.
Interdimensional teleportation spell. She’d taken care of the demon threat, but in trying to get to her next destination…
Caleb. She thought Buffy had killed him, but apparently the evil had survived. She hit him with a blast of magic before something knocked her out.
And now this. She saw the doctor come into view and push a button on the wall. “Captain. The girl is awake.”
Captain? Was she on a boat? There was a bit of a gentle rocking feel.
“How are you feeling?”
“Headache,” she whispered.
“You’re lucky River didn’t do worse. She’s a little protective of the Captain.”
“Are we on a ship?”
“Some call it that. This is Serenity. She’s a Firefly.”
“Is this a weird dimension where we’re itsy-bitsy and travel on bugs? I’ve been to the one without shrimp. You know it’s nothing to write home about. I don’t know what Anya saw in it.”
“I’d like to monitor your brainwaves. Unfortunately, the capabilities on this ship are rather limited.”
Caleb’s voice sounded in the hallway outside the infirmary. “So how’s the-?”
The lights went out as the door slammed shut and the bolt shot home. Willow tried to lift her hand to direct a blast of energy toward Caleb, but the restraints held her firmly in place. She felt a sharp pinch to her forearm and looked to see the doctor pushing down the plunger on a syringe.
The doctor unlocked the door and let the other man in. Willow struggled on the bed. There was a whirring sound and the emergency lighting kicked in.
“Are those going to hold?” Caleb asked.
“They held River just fine. She’s not much bigger.”
“Good,” replied Caleb.
Good Goddess, he’s going to kill me. Can’t let that happen. Can’t. Willow reached for the nearest available power source and came up empty. Oh god, Osiris, please help me.
The doctor seemed to sense Willow’s agitation. “Maybe you should let her get some sleep, Mal.”
Mal? Who was Mal? She concentrated, seized the last thought that flitted across her mind as she whispered, “Mal. Bad. From the Latin.”
Closing her eyes, she missed the astonished look on Simon’s face.
A soft hand caressed her face. “Mmm. You wouldn’t believe the dream I had,” Willow said, moving into the touch.
“Not a dream,” stated the girl.
“Where am I?”
“Three-three-five-seven-nine by four-one-eight-eight-five in the Sigma quadrant.”
“Can you be less specific?”
“Serenity. A Firefly-class transport.”
“We don’t have those where I’m from.”
“Earth-that-Was.”
Slightly panicked, Willow tried to sit up.
“Simon, may I…?” The girl asked.
“Captain doesn’t want it.”
“I’ll deal with the Captain. He’s not going to say ‘no’ to me.”
“Where are you going?”
“Bridge,” said the girl, unfastening Willow’s restraints.
“Thank you,” said Willow. She sat up, and felt a little lightheaded. “Whoa.”
“Are you all right?” asked Simon, pressing a hand to her back to support her.
“I think so. Just a little bit of a head rush, that’s all.”
“Just take it slow.”
“You’re very kind. Thank you for taking such good care of me,” Willow said, blushing.
“My pleasure.”
“Simon graduated in the top three percent of his class.”
“River.” Simon sounded exasperated. “Why don’t you take our passenger to the bridge? And try not to run into Mal. He’ll blame me for this, not you.”
“I don’t have to leave,” said Willow. Leaving the infirmary meant leaving the one space she was familiar with. She didn’t know what she would find on this transport ship, but if it was another agent of the First, she didn’t know how she would deal with it. Willow’s eyes pleaded with Simon.
“Maybe I’ll accompany you both,” Simon responded. Willow looked relieved, River pleased with that outcome.
River linked her arm through Willow’s. Simon followed behind them.
“Not an Apocalypse,” stated River.
“Pardon?”
“It was a slow process brought on by changes in the environment and a dwindling of natural resources. Most of the things you worry about never came to pass.”
“Oh.”
River and Willow stepped onto the bridge. Willow stared out through the glass into the Black. “Shouldn’t there be… water?”
“No.”
“But that would mean that we’re...”
“Yes.”
Willow suddenly felt unsteady on her feet. River caught her before she went down and held her up. Slayer instincts, she thought, then, oh Goddess, the spell. She’d crossed the teleportation spell with the Slayer-locator spell in order to reach her next destination more quickly. That’s what you get in order to save time, Willow.
“Shouldn’t have taken that left turn at Albuquerque,” Willow muttered.
A moment later, she felt River’s hands tighten on her arms. River whispered in her ear, “Not him. Same face, different soul. Aura is tinted with colors of guilt, regret. Allow yourself to see before you act.”
Mal entered the bridge, frowning as he saw the inhabitants. “Doc,” he said crossly.
Simon gave River an “I told you so” look.
The lights flickered. “If she blows my power again, I’m holding you responsible.”
Willow stared at the Captain. It was as River had said. Mal’s aura pulsed with anger, but held less evil than her own did.
“She sees,” said River, loosening her grip on Willow.
Willow turned toward River to test out her theory. River’s visible aura screamed “Slayer”, but there were areas that seemed out of place, as if constructed. This was something she’d have to ask the girl about later. There were also colors that matched the Captain’s aura – one mystery solved.
Turning back around to face the Captain, her gaze swept over Simon. And froze. Auras were something distinctly personal, like fingerprints. She’d never seen two auras that were similar. She moved hesitantly toward Simon, circling around him. Mostly green, with threads of blue and gold, and – there – the faintest glimmer of red.
“I thought I’d…” Willow began, staring into Simon’s eyes. She wanted something – a flicker of recognition, something to confirm that she wasn’t just imagining this. She leaned forward and touched her lips to Simon’s.
“Whoa. Hold on there a minute, young lady,” said the Captain, gently disengaging Willow from Simon. “Doc, you wanna explain this?”
“I’m not sure I can, Mal.”
“When do we reach our next destination?”
“Seventy-six hours, twenty-two minutes.”
“Keep her with you.”
“Me?”
“She tries to kill me. She kisses you. God only knows, what’s she’s going to do to Jayne. Besides, you have experience with crazy killer women.”
“Hey!” Two female voices sounded in unison.
Willow followed Simon down the corridor as Mal began to smooth things over with River.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Look, Simon. I could explain why I did what I did but I’m not really sure that you’d believe it. I’m not really sure that I believe it, but…”
“It wasn’t that. Not, not really. I just… it seems silly now considering, but…”
“You’re making me nervous here.”
“It’s just that… what’s your name?”
Willow gaped at him for a long moment and then broke up laughing. “Willow. Rosenberg.”
“Willow. Unusual name.”
“For a guy whose sister is named River.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t beautiful. Suits you.”
Willow blushed.
Simon pushed open a door to one of the passenger quarters. “This is where you’ll be… hey, I’ve been looking for this,” Simon said, picking up a book off the floor from near the bed on the left.
Willow stole a glimpse at the title. “The Art of War?”
“I thought it might help me to understand my sister better.”
“I can help you with that.”
“I’m sorry, but how?”
“River’s not like other girls, is she?”
“How do you know?”
“It’s a very long story.”
“Can it be told in seventy-six hours?”
“I can probably tell it in six, but I have the feeling I’ll need the other seventy to convince you that it’s the truth.”
“That doesn’t leave us much time for dilly-dallying.”
“I know that. It’s ‘The Princess Bride’. You’ve seen ‘The Princess Bride’?”
“On the Cortex, every spring since I was a boy.”
“Like ‘The Sound of Music’.”
“What?”
“Okay. You’ve seen some movies. That’s a good starting point. Have you seen ‘Dracula’?”
“No. I have read the book.”
“Top three percent. Of course you have.”
“Actually, it wasn’t part of my studies. My father forbade me to read it.”
“So naturally you did,” said Willow smiling.
“I was a rebellious seven-year-old.”
“Seven!”
“River stole it and read it at the age of five. She thought Mina was a silly girl.”
Willow thought about Buffy and Angel. “Well, some vampires can be fairly seductive.”
“You talk about them as if they exist.”
“Yes.”
“Next you’ll be spinning tales of werewolves and witches, I suppose.”
“Are you always such a condescending prat?”
“Yes. One of the perks of growing up on Osiris.”
“Like the god.”
“Naturally. The Alliance named the Core planets after the gods and goddesses on Earth-that-Was. Osiris, Hera, Persephone.”
Willow took his hands in hers. Different hands, but the same energy running through them. Softer than a man’s hands should be. “Tara,” she whispered.
A look of confusion crossed Simon’s features. “I don’t think there’s a goddess named Tara.”
Willow smiled slightly, “There was for me.” She turned over Simon’s palm, tracing the lifeline, beginning where Tara’s would have ended.
“You were going to tell me about River.”
Willow blinked. “Yes. Your sister is the reason I’m here.”
Simon rose quickly to his feet. “I’ll let you know that if you make one move to hurt her, I will…”
“Simon. I’m not going to hurt her. I was tracking Slayers and I wound up here.”
“My sister is an ordinary girl. What you people did…”
“I didn’t. Well, maybe I did. It’s complicated.”
“So you’re from the Academy?”
“How do you know about that?”
The door opened and Mal stuck his head in. “Doc, your sis is having a fit.”
Simon ran toward the bridge. Mal sat down on the bed opposite Willow. “Thought we might have a chat while the Doc’s away.”
Willow nodded. Any words that she wanted to say were caught in her throat.
“I don’t know what you did to make River so partial to you, but she is. And as I’m partial to her, I’m going to overlook the little rule about stowaways on my boat making an immediate trip out the airlock. From what River was babbling, sounds like Doc was thinking something along those lines himself.”
“It doesn’t make any difference.”
“What doesn’t?”
“Everyone I know thinks I’m dead. Well, by now, everybody I know is dead.”
“Was like that once my own self. Everybody ‘cept for Zoe gone. She kept me going til I found this boat. Fly fast enough and leave the past behind.”
“Is it that easy?”
“No. But it’s a popular theory.”
“My past is here, Captain.”
“You’re talking ‘bout that fella I remind you of?”
Willow shook her head. “Do you believe in reincarnation?”
“Don’t hold much stock in mystical mumbo-jumbo. Know plenty of people that do though. So you think Doc’s your departed love?”
“How’d you…?”
“I’ve been in the infirmary a time or two. It does not inspire lip-locking bouts of gratitude.”
Willow let out an involuntary giggle just as Simon re-entered the room.
“Got everything straightened out, Doc?”
“Yes, Mal.”
“Shiny.” The Captain winked at Willow and left the room.
“I owe you…” “You wanted to…” They said in unison.
“Ladies first,” replied Simon.
“You wanted to send me out the airlock?”
“If you knew,” he sighed. “I get a little irrational when the Academy is mentioned.”
“Did you ever think there was more than one Academy?”
“Irrational, remember?”
“Top three percent, indeed.”
“I deserve that, I suppose. You deserve an apology. Willow, I am sorry.”
“You were being protective. I get that.”
“I’d take a bullet for her.”
Willow closed her eyes. She heard Tara’s voice in her mind, Your shirt. Hundreds of images flashed through her mind, from those first moments at the Wicca meeting until that last morning.
Simon reached out and tightened his fingers around hers. “Willow?”
Willow took a deep breath and looked at him. “Things fall apart. They fall apart so hard. You can’t ever put them back the way they were.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Her words. Tara’s. When I thought I’d lost her. She said ‘You have to learn if… if we’re even the same people we were, if you can fit in each other’s lives.’ Is it possible?”
Simon moved to sit beside her on the bunk. “Maybe it wasn’t the right lifetime for the two of you.”
“You know?”
“My patients don’t usually demonstrate their gratitude to such a degree.”
Willow grinned at him. “So what do we do?”
Simon leaned close to her. “Can you just be kissing me now?”
whichwillowTitle: The Faintest Glimmer of Red
Pairing: Willow Rosenberg/Simon Tam (more or less)
Word Count: 2197
Rating: Teen
Disclaimer: These are Joss' creations, not mine. Some dialog taken from "Entropy" and "Seeing Red"
Prompt: Willow gets sucked into another universe; or a character from another show/book/movie gets sucked into Willow's.
Summary: When an interdimensional teleportation spell goes seemingly awry, Willow makes an interesting discovery.
She came to in a room with white walls. Hospital, she thought. Even in another dimension, it was an instantly recognizable space.
“You’re awake.”
Willow tried to sit up to see the source of the voice, but found she was strapped to the bed. Her mind flitted, in fits and starts, struggling to seize any of the thoughts that were crowding in, one on top of the other.
Interdimensional teleportation spell. She’d taken care of the demon threat, but in trying to get to her next destination…
Caleb. She thought Buffy had killed him, but apparently the evil had survived. She hit him with a blast of magic before something knocked her out.
And now this. She saw the doctor come into view and push a button on the wall. “Captain. The girl is awake.”
Captain? Was she on a boat? There was a bit of a gentle rocking feel.
“How are you feeling?”
“Headache,” she whispered.
“You’re lucky River didn’t do worse. She’s a little protective of the Captain.”
“Are we on a ship?”
“Some call it that. This is Serenity. She’s a Firefly.”
“Is this a weird dimension where we’re itsy-bitsy and travel on bugs? I’ve been to the one without shrimp. You know it’s nothing to write home about. I don’t know what Anya saw in it.”
“I’d like to monitor your brainwaves. Unfortunately, the capabilities on this ship are rather limited.”
Caleb’s voice sounded in the hallway outside the infirmary. “So how’s the-?”
The lights went out as the door slammed shut and the bolt shot home. Willow tried to lift her hand to direct a blast of energy toward Caleb, but the restraints held her firmly in place. She felt a sharp pinch to her forearm and looked to see the doctor pushing down the plunger on a syringe.
The doctor unlocked the door and let the other man in. Willow struggled on the bed. There was a whirring sound and the emergency lighting kicked in.
“Are those going to hold?” Caleb asked.
“They held River just fine. She’s not much bigger.”
“Good,” replied Caleb.
Good Goddess, he’s going to kill me. Can’t let that happen. Can’t. Willow reached for the nearest available power source and came up empty. Oh god, Osiris, please help me.
The doctor seemed to sense Willow’s agitation. “Maybe you should let her get some sleep, Mal.”
Mal? Who was Mal? She concentrated, seized the last thought that flitted across her mind as she whispered, “Mal. Bad. From the Latin.”
Closing her eyes, she missed the astonished look on Simon’s face.
A soft hand caressed her face. “Mmm. You wouldn’t believe the dream I had,” Willow said, moving into the touch.
“Not a dream,” stated the girl.
“Where am I?”
“Three-three-five-seven-nine by four-one-eight-eight-five in the Sigma quadrant.”
“Can you be less specific?”
“Serenity. A Firefly-class transport.”
“We don’t have those where I’m from.”
“Earth-that-Was.”
Slightly panicked, Willow tried to sit up.
“Simon, may I…?” The girl asked.
“Captain doesn’t want it.”
“I’ll deal with the Captain. He’s not going to say ‘no’ to me.”
“Where are you going?”
“Bridge,” said the girl, unfastening Willow’s restraints.
“Thank you,” said Willow. She sat up, and felt a little lightheaded. “Whoa.”
“Are you all right?” asked Simon, pressing a hand to her back to support her.
“I think so. Just a little bit of a head rush, that’s all.”
“Just take it slow.”
“You’re very kind. Thank you for taking such good care of me,” Willow said, blushing.
“My pleasure.”
“Simon graduated in the top three percent of his class.”
“River.” Simon sounded exasperated. “Why don’t you take our passenger to the bridge? And try not to run into Mal. He’ll blame me for this, not you.”
“I don’t have to leave,” said Willow. Leaving the infirmary meant leaving the one space she was familiar with. She didn’t know what she would find on this transport ship, but if it was another agent of the First, she didn’t know how she would deal with it. Willow’s eyes pleaded with Simon.
“Maybe I’ll accompany you both,” Simon responded. Willow looked relieved, River pleased with that outcome.
River linked her arm through Willow’s. Simon followed behind them.
“Not an Apocalypse,” stated River.
“Pardon?”
“It was a slow process brought on by changes in the environment and a dwindling of natural resources. Most of the things you worry about never came to pass.”
“Oh.”
River and Willow stepped onto the bridge. Willow stared out through the glass into the Black. “Shouldn’t there be… water?”
“No.”
“But that would mean that we’re...”
“Yes.”
Willow suddenly felt unsteady on her feet. River caught her before she went down and held her up. Slayer instincts, she thought, then, oh Goddess, the spell. She’d crossed the teleportation spell with the Slayer-locator spell in order to reach her next destination more quickly. That’s what you get in order to save time, Willow.
“Shouldn’t have taken that left turn at Albuquerque,” Willow muttered.
A moment later, she felt River’s hands tighten on her arms. River whispered in her ear, “Not him. Same face, different soul. Aura is tinted with colors of guilt, regret. Allow yourself to see before you act.”
Mal entered the bridge, frowning as he saw the inhabitants. “Doc,” he said crossly.
Simon gave River an “I told you so” look.
The lights flickered. “If she blows my power again, I’m holding you responsible.”
Willow stared at the Captain. It was as River had said. Mal’s aura pulsed with anger, but held less evil than her own did.
“She sees,” said River, loosening her grip on Willow.
Willow turned toward River to test out her theory. River’s visible aura screamed “Slayer”, but there were areas that seemed out of place, as if constructed. This was something she’d have to ask the girl about later. There were also colors that matched the Captain’s aura – one mystery solved.
Turning back around to face the Captain, her gaze swept over Simon. And froze. Auras were something distinctly personal, like fingerprints. She’d never seen two auras that were similar. She moved hesitantly toward Simon, circling around him. Mostly green, with threads of blue and gold, and – there – the faintest glimmer of red.
“I thought I’d…” Willow began, staring into Simon’s eyes. She wanted something – a flicker of recognition, something to confirm that she wasn’t just imagining this. She leaned forward and touched her lips to Simon’s.
“Whoa. Hold on there a minute, young lady,” said the Captain, gently disengaging Willow from Simon. “Doc, you wanna explain this?”
“I’m not sure I can, Mal.”
“When do we reach our next destination?”
“Seventy-six hours, twenty-two minutes.”
“Keep her with you.”
“Me?”
“She tries to kill me. She kisses you. God only knows, what’s she’s going to do to Jayne. Besides, you have experience with crazy killer women.”
“Hey!” Two female voices sounded in unison.
Willow followed Simon down the corridor as Mal began to smooth things over with River.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Look, Simon. I could explain why I did what I did but I’m not really sure that you’d believe it. I’m not really sure that I believe it, but…”
“It wasn’t that. Not, not really. I just… it seems silly now considering, but…”
“You’re making me nervous here.”
“It’s just that… what’s your name?”
Willow gaped at him for a long moment and then broke up laughing. “Willow. Rosenberg.”
“Willow. Unusual name.”
“For a guy whose sister is named River.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t beautiful. Suits you.”
Willow blushed.
Simon pushed open a door to one of the passenger quarters. “This is where you’ll be… hey, I’ve been looking for this,” Simon said, picking up a book off the floor from near the bed on the left.
Willow stole a glimpse at the title. “The Art of War?”
“I thought it might help me to understand my sister better.”
“I can help you with that.”
“I’m sorry, but how?”
“River’s not like other girls, is she?”
“How do you know?”
“It’s a very long story.”
“Can it be told in seventy-six hours?”
“I can probably tell it in six, but I have the feeling I’ll need the other seventy to convince you that it’s the truth.”
“That doesn’t leave us much time for dilly-dallying.”
“I know that. It’s ‘The Princess Bride’. You’ve seen ‘The Princess Bride’?”
“On the Cortex, every spring since I was a boy.”
“Like ‘The Sound of Music’.”
“What?”
“Okay. You’ve seen some movies. That’s a good starting point. Have you seen ‘Dracula’?”
“No. I have read the book.”
“Top three percent. Of course you have.”
“Actually, it wasn’t part of my studies. My father forbade me to read it.”
“So naturally you did,” said Willow smiling.
“I was a rebellious seven-year-old.”
“Seven!”
“River stole it and read it at the age of five. She thought Mina was a silly girl.”
Willow thought about Buffy and Angel. “Well, some vampires can be fairly seductive.”
“You talk about them as if they exist.”
“Yes.”
“Next you’ll be spinning tales of werewolves and witches, I suppose.”
“Are you always such a condescending prat?”
“Yes. One of the perks of growing up on Osiris.”
“Like the god.”
“Naturally. The Alliance named the Core planets after the gods and goddesses on Earth-that-Was. Osiris, Hera, Persephone.”
Willow took his hands in hers. Different hands, but the same energy running through them. Softer than a man’s hands should be. “Tara,” she whispered.
A look of confusion crossed Simon’s features. “I don’t think there’s a goddess named Tara.”
Willow smiled slightly, “There was for me.” She turned over Simon’s palm, tracing the lifeline, beginning where Tara’s would have ended.
“You were going to tell me about River.”
Willow blinked. “Yes. Your sister is the reason I’m here.”
Simon rose quickly to his feet. “I’ll let you know that if you make one move to hurt her, I will…”
“Simon. I’m not going to hurt her. I was tracking Slayers and I wound up here.”
“My sister is an ordinary girl. What you people did…”
“I didn’t. Well, maybe I did. It’s complicated.”
“So you’re from the Academy?”
“How do you know about that?”
The door opened and Mal stuck his head in. “Doc, your sis is having a fit.”
Simon ran toward the bridge. Mal sat down on the bed opposite Willow. “Thought we might have a chat while the Doc’s away.”
Willow nodded. Any words that she wanted to say were caught in her throat.
“I don’t know what you did to make River so partial to you, but she is. And as I’m partial to her, I’m going to overlook the little rule about stowaways on my boat making an immediate trip out the airlock. From what River was babbling, sounds like Doc was thinking something along those lines himself.”
“It doesn’t make any difference.”
“What doesn’t?”
“Everyone I know thinks I’m dead. Well, by now, everybody I know is dead.”
“Was like that once my own self. Everybody ‘cept for Zoe gone. She kept me going til I found this boat. Fly fast enough and leave the past behind.”
“Is it that easy?”
“No. But it’s a popular theory.”
“My past is here, Captain.”
“You’re talking ‘bout that fella I remind you of?”
Willow shook her head. “Do you believe in reincarnation?”
“Don’t hold much stock in mystical mumbo-jumbo. Know plenty of people that do though. So you think Doc’s your departed love?”
“How’d you…?”
“I’ve been in the infirmary a time or two. It does not inspire lip-locking bouts of gratitude.”
Willow let out an involuntary giggle just as Simon re-entered the room.
“Got everything straightened out, Doc?”
“Yes, Mal.”
“Shiny.” The Captain winked at Willow and left the room.
“I owe you…” “You wanted to…” They said in unison.
“Ladies first,” replied Simon.
“You wanted to send me out the airlock?”
“If you knew,” he sighed. “I get a little irrational when the Academy is mentioned.”
“Did you ever think there was more than one Academy?”
“Irrational, remember?”
“Top three percent, indeed.”
“I deserve that, I suppose. You deserve an apology. Willow, I am sorry.”
“You were being protective. I get that.”
“I’d take a bullet for her.”
Willow closed her eyes. She heard Tara’s voice in her mind, Your shirt. Hundreds of images flashed through her mind, from those first moments at the Wicca meeting until that last morning.
Simon reached out and tightened his fingers around hers. “Willow?”
Willow took a deep breath and looked at him. “Things fall apart. They fall apart so hard. You can’t ever put them back the way they were.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Her words. Tara’s. When I thought I’d lost her. She said ‘You have to learn if… if we’re even the same people we were, if you can fit in each other’s lives.’ Is it possible?”
Simon moved to sit beside her on the bunk. “Maybe it wasn’t the right lifetime for the two of you.”
“You know?”
“My patients don’t usually demonstrate their gratitude to such a degree.”
Willow grinned at him. “So what do we do?”
Simon leaned close to her. “Can you just be kissing me now?”
