Title: Desperation Samba
Fandom: BtVS
Rating: This chapter FRU, evetually FRAO
Pairing: Eventually Willow/Giles. Brief mention of Willow/Kennedy
Summary: Willow ends her relationship with Kennedy and tries to make a new life for herself
Spoilers: none, really
Feedback: Pretty please. Constructive criticism is always welcome. If you want to flame me, well okay, I have chainsaws.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters (if I did Willow would be with Giles where she belongs!); I just hijack them and take them out for a joyride every now and then. Also, I have no beta, so any and all mistakes are solely mine.
Warnings: mentions non-consensual sex, but nothing graphic
Author's Notes: forgive me if the Portuguese isn't right; I used an online translation website. I may know some Spanish, a little German, and thanks to Carla a tiny bit of Italian, but I do not know Portuguese!
Author's Note #2: This chapter is dedicated to the lovely scratchingpost1. I hope she likes it!
Willow lay in bed, eyes closed, feigning sleep. She listened to the door close, then surreptitiously stole to the window to make sure Kennedy was truly leaving, not just running somewhere. When she saw the weapons bag, she sighed with relief, then turned and threw some clothes on and began flinging her clothes into her suitcases. She didn't bother with folding them; she had only an hour and a half to get to the airport. Luckily, Eduardo, a kindly old cab driver who'd taken to Willow from her first time in his cab, though he didn't care for Kennedy, promised to be waiting to speed her to the airport.
Willow felt as if she were escaping a vampire den or demon lair. Her life in Brazil with Kennedy had been a nightmare. Receiving her Slayer powers had changed Kennedy. Or, more accurately, had crystallized something that had always been within Kennedy. Her bullying ways, which Willow had seen before when Kennedy had been given the authority to train the Potentials but had rationalized away as she did the faults of anyone she cared for, had surged to the fore and Willow had the bruises to prove it. Sex had become another form of battle to Kennedy, who reveled in overpowering Willow, holding her down and forcing her attentions on Willow. All secure in the knowledge that Willow couldn't physically stop her, and wouldn't magickally. After having gone dark, Willow had sworn to never use magick to harm another human being, so Kennedy's superior strength had assured she could do pretty much whatever she wanted with Willow. Willow had endured the cruelty, but had begun secretly planning her escape. It hadn't been easy, as Kennedy barely let Willow out of her sight except when she went on patrol. She had no compunction about checking Willow's cell phone to see who she'd been calling or nosing around on Willow's laptop to see her e-mails. She'd done everything to isolate Willow, deleting e-mails, hiding and destroying letters from Willow's friends, turning off Willow's phone so she couldn't receive calls and erasing voicemails. When Willow had discovered this, she was hurt and angry. Willow had finally set up a separate e-mail account that Kennedy knew nothing about to receive e-mails about the plane ticket she was buying with her Watcher's Council credit card. Kennedy knew nothing about the card, as Willow had let her believe that the Council had only issued them one since they were living together. That credit card had become Willow's life preserver in stormy seas. She wasn't sure when, but she knew someday she'd use it to escape the hell her life had become since the defeat of the First and the destruction of Sunnydale.
And today was that day. Or rather tonight was that night, as she'd had to wait for Kennedy to leave on patrol to make her getaway. Snatching her toiletries from the bathroom, she stuffed them in her suitcase and zipped it shut. She slipped her laptop into her carry-on duffel and checked to make sure she had her passport. Grabbing her suitcases, she hurried out to Eduardo's waiting cab. He sadly put her luggage in the trunk, knowing he would not be seeing her smiling face again.
"Tu és saindo para sempre?" he asked ("You are leaving for good?).
"Eu devo não ser vendo costas. Eu devo sempre lembrar a ti e seu bondade," she replied in shaky Portuguese, emotion threatening to overwhelm her.(I'm not coming back. I'll never forget you and your kindness.)
She slid into the back seat and rode to the airport in silence. As they pulled up to the entrance, she realised she probably looked odd in her long sleeved shirt in Brazil's balmy weather, but she'd look even stranger if she'd worn short sleeves and exposed the purple bruises on her wrists and red fingermarks on her upper arms. She could easily have harnessed the Earth's energy to heal them, but she hadn't wanting to see if Kennedy noticed them or even cared about having inflicted them. She hadn't.
Willow looked upon the bustling airport as her gateway to freedom. She stepped out of the cab and waited for Eduardo to open the trunk and unload her luggage. He brought them to her and she impulsively hugged the sweet old man. He returned the embrace, remembering how happy and bright-eyed she'd looked when she'd first arrived in Brazil, not how she looked now with dark circles under her eyes.and sadness in her eyes.
"Ir agora. Ser alegre. Uma vida melhor espera a ti em que se ir," he consoled her as a few tears slipped from her eyes.(Go now. Be happy. A better life awaits you where you go)
She gave him a tremulous smile and picked up her suitcases and disappeared into the busy airport. She made her way to the ticket counter and checked her bags, receiving her boarding pass. Fortunately, she didn't have long to wait before it was time to board. Settling into her business class seat, she finally took a deep breath. Freedom was only moments away.
Chapter 2
Willow slowly began to relax as the plane landed at Heathrow. The journey had been mind-numbingly long and the extended layover in Lisbon had been hell. She'd been worried, thinking that if Kennedy had come back to the flat early and discovered her missing, she could have followed on the next flight out and caught her. She'd prayed to the Goddess that when Kennedy found her gone she would assume she'd run to Buffy in Italy or Xander in Africa, not Giles in England. But Willow had never considered going anywhere else. She felt safer with Giles than anyone else. Plus Buffy was on a 'Slayer Sorority---Slayers can do no wrong' kick and somewhat ignoring her non-Slayer friends and Dawn, much like she had done when Faith first came to Sunnydale. Willow was unsure that Buffy would even believe her about Kennedy's assaults. Xander would have easily, as he had not cared for Kennedy, but Willow wanted to go home and England had felt most like home to her.
She quickly left the plane and made her way through Customs speedily, her Watchers Council passport seeming to ease the way. She was glad of this as she was almost swaying on her feet from exhaustion. She'd not had a decent night's sleep in weeks, either being dragged from club to club dancing with Kennedy, all-night patrols Kennedy insisted she be present for, or laying awake in the dark , waiting for one of Kennedy's attacks. She wanted nothing more than to collapse on Giles' couch or even floor and sleep for days. That is, if she could find Giles. She had only an address she's managed to keep from one of his letters that Kennedy hadn't destroyed. She hoped he hadn't moved since she'd received the letter.
Stepping out of the terminal to hail a taxi, she gasped at the cold. While it was summer in Brazil, it was full-on winter in England and she had no winter coat, none being needed in Brazil. A heavy freezing rain was falling, and by the time she was able to get a cab she was drenched and chilled to the bone. In her muddled state she accidentally transposed some of the numbers of Giles' address when giving it to the driver and found herself let out about six blocks away from hsi actual apartment building. Resigning herself to the inevitable, she began slowly making her way to the correct address, pulling her suitcases behind her. She quickly discovered that London city blocks were much longer then Sunnydale's and the six blocks ended up being about three-quarters of a mile. By the time she reached the proper building, she felt half-frozen and her lips were nearly blue from the cold. Her head was getting fuzzy and all she could think of was soon she would be safe and warm with Giles. A wave of dizziness washed over her as she rode in the elevator and she leaned against the wall for support. She left the lift and accidentally headed the wrong direction down the corridor. Growing more light-headed with each step, she realised her mistake and turned around. Finally arriving at his door, Willow knocked and tried to clear her fuzzy head.
"Willow!" Giles exclaimed as he opened the door.
"Hi Giles," Willow replied and promptly fainted.
Chapter 3
Giles managed to catch Willow before she hit the floor, calling for Addie as he did so. He carried Willow to the sofa and wrapped the throw from in around her frigid, unconscious form as Addie made her appearance. Adelaide Harrington had been serving the various Council Masters for more than 30 years. She'd almost quit several times during Quentin Travers reign, being openly contemptuous of the man, but had stuck it out. Rumour had it that she'd even boxed his ears a few times. She was, however, utterly devoted to Giles and had forgone retirement to serve him. The short, squat woman with iron grey hair took in the sight of her master with the inanimate young woman in his arms and immediately took charge of the situation.
"Just you bring that poor girl back here to the spare room, " she instructed, "We'll soon get her seen to."
"Addie, could you put on a pot of tea and bring in her cases?" Giles inquired, "Willow is probably suffering from a mild case of hypothermia and we need to get her out of these soaking clothes and warm as quickly as possible."
"So this is the little witch I've heard you mention before. Don't worry, sir, we'll take care of her."
Giles carried Willow's inert form into the spare room and laid her on the bed. Grabbing the spare blanket from the foot of the bed, he wrapped that around her too, as she slowly regained consciousness. Her eyes opened, but there was no real lucidity in them yet and she began to shiver violently. Addie appeared with a tea tray and poured a cup which Giles prepared and held to Willow's lips.
"Drink this, Willow," he coaxed, "It will help get you warm."
"Mr. Giles," Addie drew his attention, "None of the clothes in these bags can be worn. They're all damp and wrinkled. It looks as if she just threw them in the suitcases willy-nilly."
Giles pondered this as he considered what to do.
"Go to my room and get a pair of my pajamas and my warmest robe. We need to get her out of these clothes as soon as possible."
Addie hastened to do as she was told. She returned in a few minutes with a pair of flannel pajamas and a heavy quilted velour robe in burgundy.
"I'll, uh, just step outside while you help her into those," he stammered, backing toward the door.
Addie slowly began to peel the blankets away from Willow, who had fallen back into a state of semi-consciousness. When she reached to unbutton Willow's blouse, Willow began to thrash about, fighting Addie's attempts to undress her.
"No, Kennedy!" she whimpered, "Not tonight! I don't want to! Please don't!"
Her struggles became so frantic it was impossible for Addie to continue. She looked up as Giles, who had heard the commotion in the hallway, rushed back in.
"Please, Kennedy, no! Don't! Just don't!"
""I'm sorry, Mr. Giles, but when I went to take off her shirt, she started to cry and beg this Kennedy person to stop," Addie explained.
Giles sat on the bed next to Willow and spoke soothingly to the obviously troubled young woman.
"It's okay, Willow," he smoothed her wet hair back from her face, "It's Giles. You're here with me and you're safe. Kennedy isn't here."
Willow slowly ceased her movements and Addie slowly opened Willow's blouse. What she saw caused her to gasp and Giles looked to see what had caused her outburst. He was equally shocked at what lay before him.
Willow's milk-pale skin was marred by dark purple bruises on her shoulders and upper arms; there were long, parallel deep scratches on her stomach, and what appeared to be bite marks partially hidden by her bra.
Giles' face hardened in anger at the evidence of the abuse Willow had suffered at the hands of her 'girlfriend.' He silently vowed that Kennedy would pay for what she had done.
As Addie removed the remainder of Willow's clothing, Giles went into the bathroom off the guestroom and brought back a towel, damp wash cloth, and some bandages and ointment for Willow's injuries. Gently cleaning the cuts, he applied the antibiotic cream and covered them with the bandages. When Addie removed Willow's jeans, Giles flushed at seeing more of his young friend than he'd ever expected to, but once again saw more proof of Kennedy's brutality. There were more gashes on Willow's inner thighs and what looked to be hand marks where Willow had been forcibly held down and subjected to this torment. He knew it had to have come at Kennedy's hands, as if had been from a demon or vampire or some such thing Willow would have simply healed herself. Noticing Willow beginning to shiver, he quickly took care of her wounds and helped Addie get her into the pajamas and robe and under the covers. He dried her sodden hair as best he could with the towel then took it and the other items back into the bathroom. Re-entering the bedroom, he moved a chair from the corner to beside the bed.
"You can go home now, Addie. I imagine she'll sleep through the night and probably longer. I'll ring you up should I need you."
"Aye, sir, you do that. You take care of the poor lass. Whoever did this to her should be horsewhipped!"
"You'll get no argument from me, " he replied, settling himself into the chair he'd moved. Nothing would budge him from Willow's side that night.
To Be Continued...