Author's Note: Here we go with the next instalment of this little series :) I hope you'll enjoy what I came up with this time ;)

Disclaimer: None of this is mine. Just borrowing it for a tiny bit :)

Ghost Brigades

"God, I feel stupid", Pat grumbled out, tugging at the collar of the button-up shirt for the hundredth time; behind her, Willow shook her head with a smile, then moved over to her, taking a moment to eat the eye candy, presented in form of her lover in rather formal wear, a well-tailored black suit and the for once white shirt, making her look quite stunning in the witch's eyes.

"No, you look amazing", she voiced those thoughts out loud, smiling as she embraced her partner and the hug was immediately returned, "and hey, at least you don't have to wear that gown and hat, like me."

"That's something", Pat smirked, bending down for a quick kiss before she checked herself over in the mirror yet again, holding back another sigh – she knew that Willow was fond of seeing her in such formal clothing, and the occasion pretty much called for it, but still she felt far from comfortable.

"See it this way", the redhead added, moving one hand to caress the taller woman's long hair, "I really… enjoy seeing you in this, and after the whole ceremony and stuff, I'll enjoy it even more to get you out of it."

"How could I say no to that", the demon smirked, finally stopping her tugging and pulling at the collar, figuring it wouldn't get any looser, "and of course I know you enjoy seeing me in this kind of clothing. Which is pretty much the only reason why I put up with it. And of course I wouldn't want to look like a slob at your ceremony…"

"It still feels strange", Willow admitted, now moving out of the embrace and turning to look into the mirror, checking herself over again once more as well; in contrast to her partner's rather masculine clothing, she had put on one of her finer dresses, made of dark green fabric which brought out her eyes and hair, said hair having been curled slightly so it wouldn't just hang flatly down her back, the waves in it now matching those her partner had naturally in hers.

"After all these years", she went on, focusing on her partner again, "it'll be my last day at the university today… I'll never go back after today, except for maybe Scoobie duties."

"I imagine this must feel weird", Pat nodded her agreement, earning a slight smile from the redhead, "college used to be such a big part of your life, and now it's just kinda… over. But on the other hand, you'll get an awesome job, which hopefully will be just as interesting as university was."

"Hopefully, yes", Willow gave back with a smile, once more amazed at how the black haired woman was able to cheer her up with just a few well-chosen words; they took a few moments to just smile at each other, then the witch stood on the tips of her toes for yet another kiss, commenting how glad she was that she'd be wearing high heels as they finally left the bedroom and made their way to the small anteroom, almost ready to leave.

"For once, I won't be a full head smaller than you", she added as she put on the shoes with said heels, "and I won't look like a dwarf up on that stage if they really seat me between Chris and that other big guy from the team."

"The hat will make you look taller, as well", the demon pointed out, chuckling slightly at the annoyed look Willow gave her in response; then, they left the apartment together, the witch feeling oddly nervous as they walked to the elevator, even though technically, she already was finished and a doctor and the ceremony was more for show than anything substantial.

"So", Pat spoke up beside her, sensing her nervousness and eager to take her mind off of it, "who's coming? The whole gang?"

"Yes", Willow nodded, immediately seeing through the little attempt, but feeling too grateful for it to point it out, "Buffy, Dawn, Xander, Anya and Giles… Oh, and I emailed my parents about the event today, but I'm not sure if they'll actually make it."

"Huh", the demon let out in response to that, a careful non-committing noise; even though they had been together for years now, she never had met the redhead's parents, only knowing their first names from Willow telling her, and aware of the fact that, the only time her mother had taken an interest in her witchcraft, it had been while she'd been under demonic influence and the whole adventure nearly had ended with the redhead burned at the stake.

"I know what you're thinking", Willow told her as they entered the elevator together and she pushed the button for the ground floor, "this is an important day in my life, and they should be here."

"Not what I'm thinking", Pat denied at once, giving her yet another smile, a warm and loving one which sped up her heart rate, "actually, I was thinking about, even if they won't be there, your real family will be. Buffy, me, and the rest of them."

"Aw", the witch found herself unable to hold back a bit of cooing, "that was so sweet. And quite true."

Smiling as well, the taller woman nodded, then took the chance given for another brief kiss before the elevator doors opened; with an exaggerated bow, she then gestured at the apartment building's main door, making the witch giggle with her next words. "Your carriage awaits, my lady… I figured public transport wouldn't be fitting for the occasion, so I ordered a taxi."

"How thoughtful of you", Willow giggled, taking hold of the taller woman's arm when it was offered; to Pat's relief, the driver clearly had kept her instructions in mind, the taxi already waiting in front of the building as they stepped out of it, the woman driving it standing next to it and smiling at the couple as they were approaching.

"You called, I imagine", she stated, moving to the back door and opened it, "to the university?"

"Yes, thank you", the taller woman gave back, discreetly slipping her a twenty for the extra effort; she waited until Willow had gotten into the car, then climbed in herself, the driver doing the same moments later and stepping down on to the gas pedal, driving off to the university.

"Oooh", Dawn gushed the moment she spotted the demon, making her roll her good eye while next to the teenager, Buffy smirked, "our favourite demon in a suit. It must have been years since I saw this."

"And with any luck, after today, it will be years again until you'll see it once more", Pat dryly gave back, then briefly hugged the two in greeting, nodding when Buffy afterwards asked her if Willow already had gone inside.

"Putting on the wonderful robe, and hat", she added with a smirk, finding her cigarettes and lighting one of them up, "which annoy her almost as much as that suit annoys me."

"But at least we're out in the open today, so you can smoke", a familiar voice chimed in from behind, prompting them all to turn and look at a smiling Xander and equally happy looking Anya, both of them dressed up as well, "just imagine, hours of speeches and you with no access to cigarettes."

"The horror", Pat gave back dramatically, making the young man chuckle slightly; and half a minute later, Giles joined the small group, greeting them all with a cheerful tone in his voice and an equally cheerful smile on his face.

"I see we all made it", he then stated the obvious, glancing around, "such a wonderful occasion."

"And we all dressed appropriately", Anya found it necessary to point out, making him smile again while he nodded, then suggested that they should find seats now; since most of the seats in the first row were already taken and they wanted to sit together, they moved to the second row, occupying five of the seats there, the demon checking her watch after she had made herself as comfortable as it was possible on the rather cheap chair.

"How much longer?" Buffy wanted to know, shifting on the chair as well in an attempt to get comfortable without having her skirt ride up or something similarly embarrassing.

"Ten minutes, if they start on time", Pat let her know, figuring that she might as well use that time and lighting up another cigarette; next to her, Buffy shifted on the seat again, then glanced around, a low "Oh great" coming from her moments later, prompting the taller woman to give her a curious look.

"Willow's parents", the blonde explained, gesturing at a couple standing a few feet away, "I don't think they noticed us yet… I'm surprised they even made it here."

"Me, too", the demon mumbled, studying the two; it was obvious from which side of the family Willow had inherited her hair and eye colour, even though her mother's hair wasn't as vibrantly red as the witch's, the redhead's facial features closer to her father's than her mother's, even though Ira's weren't quite as kind and gentle as her partner's.

"They didn't even tell Willow they'll come", Pat added, forcing herself to look away from the two again so they wouldn't notice her staring, "she told me she let them know about it, but that she didn't know if they'd be here."

"Typical", Buffy mumbled, giving them a rather poisonous look, "they weren't even there at our high school graduation. And the only time her mother took an interest in her witchcraft, it ended with Willow and me nearly being burned at the stake."

"I know about that", the taller woman told her, finishing her smoke and pocketing the cigarette butt since she didn't want to end up scolded for littering, "Willow told me. Doesn't really make her mother very sympathetic to me."

"Understandable", Buffy agreed, then fell silent as the university's principal made his way on stage, prompting the few people who still were standing to find seats as fast as possible, Willow's parents among them; holding back the urge to glare at them, both the blonde and the demon focused on the elder man up on stage, who now smiled benevolently at the audience.

"I am glad to see so many here today", he then told them, "here to celebrate these young, brilliant minds as we bid them farewell and send them out into the world."

He paused and waited for polite applause, then spoke on, talking about education and how important it was, Pat only listening with half an ear, not all too interested in his speech; to her relief, it didn't take too long until he announced the newest generation of doctors to come from UC Sunnydale, gesturing with great flourish at the curtain which had kept them hidden from sight until now.

One by one, they moved on the stage, the demon finding herself unable to stop grinning as her partner appeared, their eyes briefly meeting, a happy smile on the redhead's face as well as she moved to her seat and sat down; just as she had feared, she had been put between Chris and another quite tall guy, thus looking rather small between them, despite the hat.

Again, the principal started talking, praising the minds of the people on stage and their achievements; and again, Pat wasn't really listening though, too busy with holding her lover's gaze and feeling proud of her achievement, well aware of the fact that the witch would be the only one up there who not only had acquired one PhD, but two.

Finally, he got done with his second speech, and started handing out the diplomas; since this was done alphabetically and with a brief mention of the subject the PhD had been acquired in, it took a bit until it finally was Willow's turn, the redhead positively glowing when finally, her name was read out.

"Willow Rosenberg", the principal did just that, even managing to pronounce her surname correctly, "PhD in Computer Science and PhD in Psychology. Congratulations."

"Thank you", the redhead gave back, feeling her cheeks heat up and realizing with slight dread that she was blushing; the principal smiled at her, in an attempt to calm her down, as he handed her the diplomas, making her smile back at him before she returned to her seat.

"I'm dating a doctor now", Pat whispered to Buffy, making the blonde giggle as she nodded; afterwards, there was a bit more talking, with a speech by one of the newly made doctors, then the official part of the celebration ended with the hat-toss, accompanied by the applause of the audience, the witch still glowing as she made her way from the stage and to her friends, not even having spotted her parents yet.

"Doctor Rosenberg", Buffy greeted her with a giggle, standing up to give her a hug, the rest of the group clustering around her; they all hugged her one by one, until she found herself in her partner's arms, the couple briefly smiling at each other before they exchanged a short, but tender kiss.

"You did it", she then told her, giving her another proud grin, "all the studying and listening to boring professors finally paid off."

"Indeed", Willow agreed with a giggle, about to pull her down for another kiss when a familiar voice called out her name, startling her enough to make her flinch, her surprise showing clearly on her face when she turned to look at the speaker.

"Mom", she then brought out, "and, and Dad! When did you get here? I didn't even know you'd come…"

"It was quite the short-notice decision", her mother told her, smiling at her, but not moving to hug her, as both Buffy and Pat noticed, "we were planning to email you and tell you about it, but you know how it is with airports and their wireless networks…"

"Uh-huh", the witch let out a vaguely agreeing noise, holding back a comment about how they just could have called; Sheila gave her another smile, then her father spoke up, making them both look at him, his wife nodding her agreement to his words.

"We were at your dorm room first", Ira let her know, with a slight frown, "but only found some girl there telling us you don't live there anymore."

"Well, I don't", Willow confirmed, holding back the urge to frown as well at the lack of attention her parents obviously had been paying to the content of her emails, "haven't for a couple of years now. I'm sure I've mentioned this before? I'm living with my girlfriend, Pat…"

"Nice to meet you", the demon chose this moment to chime in, taking a step forward; looking as if they only had noticed her now, first Sheila, then Ira shook her hand, the latter giving her a rather critical once-over while the redhead's mother politely cleared her throat.

"Our pleasure", she then said, "it's nice to finally meet you, Willow has mentioned you quite a few times in our correspondence. Now that you've said it, Willow, I do believe I remember something about the two of you moving in together…"

"I think I've mentioned it more than once", the redhead pointed out, unable to keep a bit of snark out of her voice, once more wondering if this was her girlfriend rubbing off on her; if her parents had noticed anything, they didn't let it show, Sheila merely smiling slightly again while Ira finally seemed to notice the rest of her friends.

"It's nice that you all made it here", he stated, glancing from one of them to the next, momentarily surprised about the hostility he could see on Buffy's face, "on such an important day for our Willow."

"We are so proud of you", her mother finally seemed to remember that it might be appropriate to tell her that; and even though it had come quite late and didn't really sound as if it was coming from her heart, Willow found herself smiling slightly, just opening her mouth to respond – when the gunshots and the screaming started, drowning out the shocked noises coming from her parents and her friends at those unexpected sounds.