Author's Note: And here we go with the final update. Cause it's a day late, I made it longer ;) Next one will be started on Monday! I hope you enjoyed, feedback is highly appreciated.

"Ow", the demon grumbled a short time later, having calmed down enough to let Willow check on her wounds while Iris had bound the unconscious Lana with a spell and had carried her off with Buffy, "careful, love, that really hurt."

"Sorry", Willow mumbled, dropping the bloodied splinter she had retrieved from one of the cuts with the help of a pair of tweezers onto the hanky she had readied for just this purpose, "but you know I have to get them out, who knows how long it'll take until you can demon out and heal."

"I know", Pat gave back, squeezing her good eye shut when the witch found yet another splinter and carefully removed it, then dabbed at the small flow of blood this had caused with a dab of cotton, "but it still hurts. Ow."

"Poor you", the witch showed sympathy, giving her a brief look which carried the same emotion, "but I think now I got them all, so all that is left is to disinfect those cuts…"

"But that hurts even worse", Pat nearly whined in reply, prompting Willow to give her another apologetic look; she took the time to tenderly kiss her, making sure not to put too much pressure into the kiss due to the taller woman's busted lip though, not wanting to make her hurt even more.

"You know", she then said as she started soaking a fresh piece of cotton with iodine, "I was quite surprised and impressed when you flamed up after stopping that awful woman from blasting me into a coma. How did you do that?"

"To be honest, I'm not even sure", Pat gave back, interrupting herself with a wince when the soaked cotton ball touched the first cut, "it was just… the thought of her taking you there, with me just lying there and watching, and then doing to you what she did to me… I couldn't let that happen to you. Not to you…"

In response, all Willow did for a few moments was look at her – before she dropped the cotton ball rather carelessly, took her face into her hands, still mindful and careful about her wounds, and kissed her, much deeper and with much more passion this time, her heart soaring to the skies when she felt Pat wrap both arms around her and pull her closer as she responded to the kiss, the fact that something very similar had been done by Lana to feed on her obviously forgotten.

"I love you", the witch breathed after the kiss, leaning her forehead against the demon's, her hands still tenderly resting on her cheeks, "and I can't even find the words to tell you how much…"

"No matter how bad I was feeling and hurting", the taller woman gave back, her voice barely above a whisper, "I couldn't let her do this you… It's… Hell, I don't even know how to describe it. It felt as if… as if she's sucking out my soul. Taking what's making me who I am… not to mention that it hurt a lot. And I mean a lot. More than her kicking me around an hour ago did. And I love you too, more than anything, which is why I couldn't let this happen to you…"

"What would I do without you?" Willow almost sighed in reply, making the demon smile slightly; she shrugged, then pulled her close for another kiss, both momentarily forgetting their injuries as the kiss deepened yet again, one of the taller woman's hands coming up to entangle in her partner's long hair, a content sigh coming from the witch as she moved even closer to her, almost ending up in her lap.

"Whoa", Pat brought out breathlessly after they finally had pulled apart again, her heart hammering in her chest, "we better stop. Or I'll forget all about the need for medical attention and just ravish you right here on the couch."

"Not sure this would be a good idea", Willow had to admit, "even though I like the thought. But you're right, first things first…"

With those words, she moved back from her partner, making her sigh in dismay, then picked up a fresh cotton wad and dribbled some iodine on it; with a grimace, Pat watched, then squeezed her good eye shut as the cotton wad was moved to her face, a pained hiss coming from her when it touched yet another cut.

"Sorry", the redhead immediately apologized, "but hey, if it makes you feel better, once I'm done with you, you'll have to take care of those burns…"

"Stupid bitch", Pat grumbled in reply, "how dare she use my fire against you… That's as if I burned you myself!"

"No, she did just that", Willow protested at once, "I know you'd never do that to me. Not on purpose, anyway, the way she did."

"Never", the demon reassured her immediately, then winced yet again as another cut was cleaned; giving her another apologetic look, Willow tried to work fast, but thorough, glad when finally, she had taken care of the last one and could toss the bloodied cotton wad aside.

"Finally", Pat sighed, feeling the sting of the disinfectant in every single wound she had taken during the battle, "I thought this would never end. Now I have to take of you though…"

"I'll be fine", Willow reassured her, giving her a calming smile, "and we still have some of that burn ointment in the bathroom, so if you'll just use that, I'll be fine."

Nodding, the demon got up from her seat, with the intention to make her way to the bathroom and get the ointment; the sound of the doorbell interrupted her though, and she frowned before she made her way to the door, surprised to find herself looking down on Iris after she had opened it.

"Iris", she stated the obvious, "what are you doing here?"

"How rude", Iris shook her head, behaving just the same way herself by pushing past the demon and into the apartment, "don't tell me you're still mad at me for cursing you? Come on, if I hadn't, you'd be long dead by now!"

"True that", the taller woman gave back as they walked into the living room together, the unexpected arrival prompting Willow to raise an eyebrow, "but if I hadn't learned to control that fire and the whole going furry thing, I might as well have died long before my time!"

"That's why it is called a curse and not a blessing", Iris argued back, "oh, and hi, Willow. How are you?"

"Okay?" Willow gave back, not sure what to think of the other witch's presence here; when she had left with Buffy and the bound Lana, she had been quite sure that she'd leave Sunnydale right after finishing her business with the magic stealer, not having expected her to come back to her place at all.

"Good to hear", Iris smiled at her, ignoring the way Pat was glaring at her now, "and I promise I won't keep you from snuggling with Miss Grumpypants here for long, I just wanted to tell you that Lana has been taken care of. She won't bother you again."

"Did you kill her?" Willow wanted to know while Pat silently started fuming at the "Miss Grumpypants" comment, obviously having recharged enough of her magic to let smoke rise from her clothes; ignoring this as well, Iris shook her head, then smiled, slightly malevolent, the sight making the redhead just a tad uneasy, giving her a glimpse of the woman she had been when she had still been putting curses on people for all kinds of offenses.

"No", she then verbally declined as well, "I did something to her which will be much worse for her. I reversed the curse. If she takes magic from anyone now, she'll age rapidly, so she'll have to live out the rest of her days without feeding on anyone, until she dies of natural causes. Or until someone kills her, whatever happens first."

"Harsh", Willow mumbled, "but can't say she didn't deserve it. All these beings she killed… I can't imagine that all of them were evil, like her."

"They weren't", Iris confirmed, "so it's about time I stopped her. Don't ask me why I waited so long. Probably because the two of you are so cute together. Pat, stop smoking, it makes you look ridiculous."

"Hrmph", the demon let out in reply, managing to stop the smoke though; turning to look at her, Iris smiled, a much kinder smile this time, her voice softer and full of honest kindness as well when she spoke on.

"I know apologizing won't help about what I did to you", she told the taller woman, "and I'm sorry, I know now it wasn't right to curse you with this. To make up for it, I not only brought news of Lana's fate, but also a little present…"

"Yeah?" Pat gave back, sceptical, "what?"

In response, Iris held her gaze for a few moments – before she, to Willow's shock and dismay, stepped forward and pressed her lips to the stunned demon's, the redhead needing a few moments to realize that she wasn't, in fact, kissing her, but breathing into her, a red glow forming between them, the witch's eyes going wide when she realized what was happening.

As if to underline her realization, her partner's hair started to darken, beginning at the roots, the black and red slowly spreading; and at the same time, the demon started to growl lowly in the back of her throat, jerking back from Iris the second her hair had finished returning to its natural colour, flames bursting from her fists moments later and spreading all over her body, a drawn-out, loud growl coming from her as her good eye flashed up red.

"There", Iris smiled, "sorry about getting kinda intimate with you there for a moment, but it was the only way I could return what she took from you."

"In that case, you're forgiven", Willow was the one to answer that, since Pat still looked quite distracted by regaining her full strength, "but next time, ask before you kiss my girlfriend."

"I'm not planning to do that again anytime soon", Iris reassured her, making her smile slightly; then, she looked at the demon again, a hint of amusement in her voice as she spoke on. "And you might want to tame the flames, my fiery friend, or you'll burn down your home."

"I can control it", Pat reassured her, finally snapping out of her blissful state and looking at the smaller woman, "no worries there. But, well… Thanks."

With those words, the flames vanished, Iris just nodding slightly in reply; then, she let the two know that she would get going now and that she still had some business to do at her home, making them nod as well.

"No hard feelings?" she asked the demon as she made her way to the door, smiling when the taller woman let out an agreeing grunting noise in reply; she briefly touched her arm, her smile widening slightly, then she opened the apartment door and let herself out while Pat returned to the living room and her girlfriend, eager to take care of her wounds now that she had all of her strength back.

"Question", the demon mumbled half an hour later, now busy with carefully spreading the ointment on the burns Lana had caused her partner, and causing her to crane her neck so she could look at her questioningly, "why didn't you just let me kill that bitch when I had her down? It's not like you've never seen me kill anyone before."

"True", the redhead admitted, "but that was different. You were pissed off quite a few times then, but… you still always killed them quickly. Beating her to death like that, that just wasn't you, I couldn't let you do that… Not to mention that you still were quite… upset."

"So if I had just calmly snapped her neck you would have let me do it?" Pat wanted to know, raising an eyebrow, "if a psychologist heard that, they might worry."

"Perhaps", Willow shrugged, interrupting herself with a wince as the taller woman's fingers spread the ointment on a particularly sensitive spot, "but he doesn't know you like I do. Even when you kill, you're in control, no matter how pissed off you are, but… with her, you weren't. And I couldn't let you do that, who knows what it might have done to you, in the state she already put you in…"

"Good point", the demon had to admit, "but perhaps it would have been better if you'd let me finish her anyway. Iris reversing her curse is all well and good, but that won't stop her from coming after us with a gun or something."

"I don't think she'll do that", Willow gave back, prompting her partner to curiously raise an eyebrow at her, a signal for her to go on and elaborate.

"Just think about it", she thus said, "she's been living for centuries feeding off other magical beings, taking their powers. Now she can't do this anymore, it must be so awful, I mean, I've been forced to make do without my magic before after just a few years of using it and it was horrible. I can't imagine how it has to feel for her…"

"Just another reason to try and get revenge", Pat shrugged, frowning, "so unless I'm not following your train of thought, I don't see how this is supposed to calm me down."

"If she reacts anything like I did, she'll be pretty much broken now", Willow explained patiently, briefly gritting her teeth as fresh pain welled up in her back again even though her lover gave her best to be gentle, "she got used to taking what she wanted, from whoever she wanted, and not only did we fight back when she snatched you and stopped her, she also lost her powers. If I was her, I'd crawl into the nearest hole and never go outside again."

"Yeah, but you're not a psychotic bitch who enjoys making others miserable", Pat pointed out, "but let's hope you're right, anyway. And I can still kill her in case she does come after us, now that Iris gave back my power."

"You'd kick her ass for sure now", Willow giggled, her pain momentarily forgotten as her partner returned to the confident behaviour she had displayed before the whole situation, her fear of the power-stealing witch apparently gone for good, "and I'd gladly help, if only for her burning me using your fire."

"Just for that I should hunt her down and kick her ass from here to next Sunday", the demon grumbled, finally getting done with applying the ointment and giving Willow a chance to turn around so she could face her, "but for now, I'm honestly not up to it. If she comes after us, I'll kick her wrinkly ass, but now, I just wanna cuddle with you."

"Good plan", the redhead agreed at once, "cause I need you for cuddling right now, so I wouldn't let you go after her."

"Not planning to go anywhere", Pat reassured her, then made her giggle yet again by opening her arms wide; smiling, the witch moved into the embrace more than gladly, a small, but happy sigh escaping her as she felt the taller woman wrap her arms around her, mindful of her injuries and making sure she wouldn't hurt her on accident.

"I love you", the taller woman mumbled to her after they had made themselves comfortable on the couch, "and thanks for getting me out of there back then. I don't know what I'd do without you…"

"That's part of the girlfriend package", Willow let her know, smiling up at her; the demon took a moment to smirk back, "I'd do it again a million times. I love you too…"

They looked at each other for a few more moments, then the black haired woman finally bent down to kiss her partner tenderly; and immediately, Willow responded to the kiss, her embrace around the demon tightening as all her pain and worries of the last few days were blown out of her mind, overwhelmed by her feelings for her partner and her relief that everything was alright again.

End.